Middle East & North Africa

BAGHDAD, Oct 22 (NNN-NINA) – The Prime Minister of Norway, Erna Solberg, arrived in the Iraqi capital Baghdad on Monday, to meet with top Iraqi officials over boosting bilateral ties and regional issues.

Iraqi Prime Minister, Adel Abdul Mahdi received Solberg in his office, and the two discussed means of enhancing bilateral ties in various fields, and continuing cooperation in fighting against terrorism, as well as regional issues.

DAMASCUS, Oct 22 (NNN-SANA) – The U.S. forces in Syria have moved more than 1,500 Daesh women from Syria to Iraq, since Turkey launched an assault in northern Syria on Oct 9.

As the U.S. forces are withdrawing from northern Syria, in tandem with the Turkish assault on the Kurdish militia, the U.S. troops have so far taken with them 1,500 Daesh women from the al-Hol camp, in the northeastern province of Hasakah to Iraq.

ISTANBUL, Oct 22 (ANSAMed-NNN) — Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdogan on Tuesday said 700-800 Kurdish ”terrorists” with the YPG have left the Turkish safe zone in northern Syria since the start of the truce.

Speaking before he left for Sochi, where he will be meeting Russian President Vladimir Putin on Tuesday, just a few hours before the end of the ceasefire, Erdogan said that another ”1,200-1,300 are quickly leaving the area”.

The truce is scheduled to expire at 10 pm local time on Tuesday/

PRINCE SULTAN AIR BASE (Reuters) - U.S. Defense Secretary Mark Esper said on Tuesday that Washington aimed to bring U.S. troops withdrawing from Syria back to the United States, and not for them to stay in Iraq “interminably”.

“The aim isn’t to stay in Iraq interminably, the aim is to pull our soldiers out and eventually get them back home,” Esper said in front of a Patriot missile battery at the Prince Sultan Air Base near Riyadh, Saudi Arabia.

ANKARA/MOSCOW (Reuters) - Hundreds of Kurdish forces remain near to Syria’s northeast border despite a U.S.-brokered truce demanding their withdrawal and Turkey could resume its offensive in the area when the ceasefire expires, Turkish President Tayyip Erdogan said.

The five-day truce in Turkey’s cross-border offensive to allow the withdrawal of Kurdish YPG fighters from the border area ends at 10 pm (1900 GMT) on Tuesday.

BAGHDAD (Reuters) - An Iraqi government committee investigating a wave of unrest found that 157 people, mostly civilians, were killed because security forces used excessive force and live fire to quell protests, according to a report by the panel seen by Reuters.

Protests over high unemployment, poor public services and corruption erupted on Oct. 1, prompting a violent security crackdown. Protesters blame graft and infighting among political leaders for failing to improve their lives even in peacetime, two years after Islamic State was declared defeated in Iraq.

22 Oct 2019; MEMO: A Libyan military prosecutor has ordered the arrest of General Khalifa Haftar and three other retired commanders, as reported by Anadolu Agency. 

According to a statement by the military chief prosecutor’s office, Haftar and three retired commanders were accused of commanding a Russian group that carried out kidnappings and murders in September.

22 Oct 2019; MEMO: Palestinian prisoners inside Saudi jails are being interrogated and tortured by foreign agents, senior Hamas official Sami Abu Zuhri said yesterday.

Speaking to the Shehab News Agency, Abu Zuhri said: “Sadly, the prisoners are being interrogated and severely tortured by foreign interrogators of different nationalities.”

22 Oct 2019; MEMO: Palestinian MP Jamal Al-Khodari revealed yesterday that there is a $200 million deficit in the budget for the reconstruction of homes destroyed during the Israeli offensive on Gaza in 2014, Quds Press reported.

In a press release, Al-Khodari said that many regional donors have not fulfilled pledges they gave five years ago, following the devastating Israeli offensive.

22 Oct 2019; MEMO: Turkey issued a warning Monday to its citizens travelling to Lebanon over mass protests in the country, as reported by Anadolu Agency. 

Local and inter-city roads and roads leading to the airport could be blocked by protests, said the Foreign Ministry in a statement.

It urged the public to take this into account “when considering visits to Lebanon for trade, tourism, or other purposes,” it said.