Middle East & North Africa

BASRA, Iraq (Reuters) - Dozens of U.S. citizens working for foreign oil companies in the Iraqi oil city of Basra were preparing to leave the country on Friday, company sources told Reuters.

The U.S. embassy in Baghdad urged all citizens to depart Iraq immediately, hours after the U.S. killed Iranian Quds Force leader Qassem Soleimani and Iraqi militia commander Abu Mahdi al-Muhandis in an air strike.

The evacuation will not affect operations, production or exports, Iraqi oil officials said.

BAGHDAD (Reuters) - Iraqi President Barham Salih condemned on Friday the U.S. air strike on Baghdad airport that killed Qassem Soleimani, commander of Iran’s elite Quds force, and urged restraint from all parties.

Iraq must put its put national interest first and avoid the tragedies of armed conflict that have plagued it over four decades, he said in a statement.

ISTANBUL (Reuters) - Turkish private aircraft operator MNG Jet said on Friday that its planes were used illegally in the escape from Japan of ex-Nissan boss Carlos Ghosn, adding it had filed a criminal complaint.

Ghosn has become an international fugitive after he revealed on Tuesday he had fled to Lebanon to escape what he called a “rigged” justice system in Japan, where he faces charges relating to alleged financial crimes.

TEHRAN, Jan 3 (NNN-IRNA) — Iran’s Supreme Leader Ayatollah Seyyed Ali Khamenei has announced three days of public mourning following the assassination of the Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps (IRGC) commander Qasem Soleimani.

The message came following the death of Soleimani and the acting commander of the volunteer Iraqi Shia Forces, known as the Deputy Commander of the Iraqi Popular Mobilization Forces (the Hash al-Shaabi) Abu Mahdi Al-Mohandes.

In a message on Friday, the Supreme Leader said that he announced three days of public mourning.

TUNIS, Jan. 2 (Xinhua) -- Tunisian Prime Minister-designate Habib Jemli announced on Thursday the lineup of his government that will be submitted to the parliament for approval.

The new cabinet is composed of 42 members, including 25 ministers, three ministers to the prime minister, and 14 secretaries of state.

Imed Derouiche will be the defense minister, Sofiene Sliti, the interior minister, Khaled Sehili, the foreign minister, and Abderrahmen Khachtali, the finance minister.

ANKARA, Jan. 2 (Xinhua) -- Turkish parliament passed a motion on Thursday authorizing the government to deploy troops to Libya in support of the UN-backed government.

The lawmakers voted on the motion in an emergency session. The motion was approved with 325 votes in favor and 184 against.

The bill was supported by the ruling Justice and Development Party (AKP), Nationalist Movement Party (MHP) and Felicity Party.

TEHRAN, Iran (AP) — For Iranians whose icons since the Islamic Revolution have been stern-faced clergy, Maj. Gen. Qassem Soleimani widely represented a figure of national resilience in the face of four decades of U.S. pressure.

For the U.S. and Israel, he was a shadowy figure in command of Iran’s proxy forces, responsible for fighters in Syria backing President Bashar Assad and for the deaths of American troops in Iraq.

BAGHDAD (AP) — Iran has vowed “harsh retaliation” for a U.S. airstrike near Baghdad’s airport that killed Iran’s top general and the architect of its interventions across the Middle East, as tensions soared in the wake of the targeted killing.

The killing of Gen. Qassem Soleimani, the head of Iran’s elite Quds Force, marks a major escalation in the standoff between Washington and Iran, which has careened from one crisis to another since President Donald Trump withdrew from the 2015 nuclear deal and imposed crippling sanctions.

02 Jan 2019; MEMO: Anti-establishment protesters in Baghdad’s Tahrir Square on Tuesday denied reports that they were linked to pro-Iran protesters who besieged the US embassy building in the Iraqi capital.

“The protests in Tahrir Square and the surrounding area have nothing to do with what is happening in front of the US embassy in the Green Zone, central Baghdad,” the protesters said in a statement.

02 Jan 2019; MEMO: Israel’s former Defence Minister Avigdor Lieberman said on Wednesday that the right-wing bloc led by Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu has been dissolved, Quds Press has reported.

Speaking to Israeli General Radio, the leader of Yisrael Beiteinu said that he had information from the Haredi parties that the bloc no longer exists. Furthermore, Lieberman said, there will be “a lot of surprises” during the next two months.