Middle East & North Africa

3 Nov 2019; MEMO: Five candidates will run in Algeria’s presidential election next month, including two former prime ministers, the head of the election authority said on Saturday, amid mass protests rejecting the vote.

The authorities have repeatedly said the December 12 vote would be the only way to get out of a crisis Algeria been facing since the resignation of President Abdelaziz Bouteflika in April under pressure from protesters.

JERUSALEM, November 3. /TASS/: Russian citizen Alexei Burkov, who has been held in an Israeli prison by the request of the US since 2015, told reporters at the Israeli High Court of Justice in Jerusalem on Sunday that he expects to return to Russia.

"Return to Russia," Burkov told Russian reporters when asked what he was counting on.

Burkov also called the decision of Israeli Justice Minister Amir Ohana to extradite him to the United States "aggressive."

He made it clear that he wants the documents of his case to be made public.

DUBAI/DHAHRAN, Saudi Arabia (Reuters) - Saudi Aramco said it does not expect a recent attack on its oil plants to have a material impact on finances and operations as it launched an initial public offering (IPO) on Sunday by announcing its intent for a domestic flotation.

Aramco CEO Amin Nasser told a news conference after the IPO intent statement was published that the world’s largest oil firm was still the most reliable oil company globally.

Dubai (Reuters) - Iran will not lift its ban on talks with the United States, Supreme Leader Ayatollah Ali Khamenei said on Sunday, describing the two countries as implacable foes on the eve of the 40th anniversary of the seizure of the U.S. embassy in Tehran.

“One way to block America’s political infiltration is to ban any talks with America. It means Iran will not yield to America’s pressure,” Khamenei, who is Iran’s top authority, was quoted by state TV as saying.

“Those who believe that negotiations with the enemy will solve our problems are 100% wrong,”

BAGHDAD (Reuters) - Security forces killed a protester and wounded 91 others in Baghdad on Saturday, security and medical sources said, as tens of thousands of Iraqis gathered in mass anti-government protests in the capital and blocked roads leading to a major port.

Protesters have been congregating in the capital’s central Tahrir Square for weeks, demanding the fall of the political elite in the biggest wave of mass demonstrations since the fall of Saddam Hussein.

DUBAI (Reuters) - Iran’s supreme leader poured scorn on French President Emmanuel Macron on Sunday for trying to promote talks between the United States and Iran.

“The French president, who says a meeting will end all the problems between Tehran and America, is either naive or complicit with America,” Ayatollah Ali Khamenei said in remarks reported by state television.

Macron tried to arrange a failed meeting between Iranian President Hassan Rouhani and U.S. President Donald Trump on the sidelines of the U.N. General Assembly in September.

TEHRAN, Nov. 2 (Xinhua) -- The Iranian Foreign Ministry said on Saturday that Iran has forwarded a peace plan over the Strait of Hormuz to the regional states, official IRNA news agency reported.

The full text of the Hormuz Peace Initiative has been sent to the members of the Gulf Cooperation Council as well as Iraq, said the ministry spokesman Abbas Mousavi.

Iran's move indicates its seriousness in preserving the stability and security of the Gulf region, Mousavi noted.

ISTANBUL, Nov. 3 (Xinhua) -- Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdogan signalled lately that he had second thoughts about his planned visit to the United States after the U.S. legislative adopted moves against Ankara, but analysts think the president would meet with his U.S. counterpart hoping a tete-a-tete could help settle thorny issues.

DUBAI, United Arab Emirates (AP) — Saudi Arabia formally started its long-anticipated initial public offering of its state-run oil giant Saudi Aramco on Sunday, which will see a sliver of the firm offered on a local stock exchange in hopes of raising billions of dollars for the kingdom.

An announcement from the kingdom’s Capital Market Authority serves as a starting gun for an IPO promised by Crown Prince Mohammed bin Salman since 2016.

BEIRUT (Reuters) - The powerful Lebanese Hezbollah group said on Friday a new government must listen to the demands that fueled protests against the country’s rulers and led Saad al-Hariri to quit as prime minister this week.

The unprecedented, nationwide protests that erupted on Oct. 17 tipped Lebanon into political turmoil as it grapples with the worst economic crisis since the 1975-90 civil war.

Lebanese banks reopened for the first time in two weeks on Friday, with dozens of people waiting at some branches.