Middle East & North Africa

TEHRAN, Oct 14 (NNN-IRNA) – Iran’s supreme leader, Ayatollah Ali Khamenei, on Sunday, called for ending the Yemeni war politically.

Iran “has long proposed a plan to end the war in Yemen, which, if implemented, can end the war in a proper way, which can have positive effects on the region,” Khamenei said, in a meeting with visiting Pakistani Prime Minister, Imran Khan, in Tehran.

The Iranian leader was alluding to Iran’s “four-point peace plan for Yemen” which was submitted to the United Nations by Iranian Foreign Minister, Mohammad Javad Zarif, in Apr, 2015.

DAMASCUS, Oct 14 (NNN-SANA) – The Kurdish Autonomous Administration of North and East Syria, known as Rojava, said, it reached an agreement with the Syrian government, to confront the Turkish assault.

“An agreement has been reached with the Syrian government, for the entry and deployment of the Syrian army along the Syrian-Turkish border, to aid the Kurdish-led Syrian Democratic Forces (SDF) in facing the Turkish offensive and recapturing areas that fell to the Turkish forces,” Rojava said in a statement.

DAMASCUS, Oct 14 (NNN-XINHUA) – U.S.-led warplanes struck a convoy of the Syrian army, near the northern city of Raqqa on Sunday, with no reports on casualties.

The planes targeted the Syrian military convoy in the al-Rasafeh area, in the southwest of Raqqa, as the convoy was moving towards Tabaqa, in the west of Raqqa, the Syrian Observatory for Human Rights said.

The Britain-based watchdog group said the U.S. is trying to hinder the deployment of Syrian army in northern Syria.

SANAA, Oct 14 (NNN-SABA) – Yemen’s Shiite Houthi rebels said, they shot down a “spy drone” over the Yemeni Red Sea port city of Hodeidah on Sunday.

“The spy drone of the aggressors’ forces was downed over the Kilo 16 area,” the rebels’ TV al-Masirah reported, without giving further details.

The Saudi Arabia-led coalition, did not comment on the rebels’ claim.

RAMALLAH, Palestine, Oct 14 (NNN-WAFA) – Saudi Arabia’s national football team, arrived for the first time in the West Bank on Sunday, to play against its Palestinian counterpart, as part of the 2020 World Cup Asian qualifiers.

The Saudi sports delegation consisting of more than 100 members, entered the West Bank in three buses through the King Hussein Bridge, on the border between Jordan and the West Bank.

ISTANBUL, Oct 14 (NNN-ANADOLU) – Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdogan, said that, Turkish forces would “go down to a depth of 30-35 km” into Syrian territory, as planned under Ankara’s safe-zone project.

“Then, the operation would be completed, after taking control of Hasaka and Ayn al-Arab,” Erdogan said.

He announced that, Turkish forces and their allies from the Syrian rebels, had so far taken control of 109 square km of land in Syria, including 17 villages around Tel Abyad.

TUNIS, Tunisia (AP) — A conservative, Islamist-backed law professor looked set to assume Tunisia’s presidency after polling agencies suggested he overwhelmingly won Sunday’s runoff election in the country that unleashed the Arab Spring pro-democracy uprisings.

Kais Saied’s supporters exploded with joy, celebrating on the main boulevard of Tunis, and Saied thanked his supporters and announced plans to travel to neighboring Libya and Algeria and to champion the Palestinian cause.

BEIRUT (AP) — The latest on Turkey’s offensive in Syria (all times local):

08:15 a.m.

Australia’s foreign minister says Turkey is solely responsible for the escape of Islamic State group fighters from custody in Syria.

Foreign Minister Marise Payne was commenting in the Australian Senate after hundreds of Islamic State families and supporters escaped from a holding camp on Sunday amid fighting between Turkish forces and the Kurds.

AKCAKALE, Turkey (AP) — Syria’s Kurds said Syrian government forces agreed Sunday to help them fend off Turkey’s invasion — a major shift in alliances that came after President Donald Trump ordered all U.S. troops withdrawn from the northern border area amid the rapidly deepening chaos.

The shift could lead to clashes between Turkey and Syria and raises the specter of a resurgent Islamic State group as the U.S. relinquishes any remaining influence in northern Syria to President Bashar Assad and his chief backer, Russia.

TEHRAN (Iran), Oct 13 (APP): Prime Minister Imran Khan Sunday reiterated that Pakistan was ready to act as facilitator between the brotherly Muslims countries Iran and Saudi Arabia to sort out their differences through dialogue.

Addressing a joint press stakeout along with Iranian President Hassan Rouhani, the prime minister said in the past, Pakistan had hosted Saudi Arabia and Iran and again willing to facilitate the brotherly countries to iron out their differences.

“The issue is complex one but it is possible to sort out differences through dialogue,” he emphasised.