Middle East & North Africa

29 Sep 2019; MEMO: Syria’s Foreign Minister Walid al-Moualem on Saturday demanded an immediate withdrawal of all US and Turkish troops from his country and warned that Syrian government forces had the right to take countermeasures if they refused, Reuters reports.

The United States has around 1,000 troops in Syria tackling Islamic State militants. Turkey has also launched military incursions into northern Syria, targeting Islamic State and Kurdish YPG fighters.

AMMAN, Jordan, Sept 29 (NNN-PETRA) – An International Monetary Fund (IMF) mission, concluded its recent visit to Jordan, to assess recent economic developments in the country, said a statement by the IMF on Saturday.

The new mission Chief for Jordan, Chris Jarvis, was introduced during the visit, it said.

A mission to complete the third review of the IMF’s Extended Fund Facility (EFF) will take place after IMF holds its annual meetings in Oct, the statement added.

DAMASCUS, Sept 29 (NNN-SANA) – The U.S.-backed Syrian Democratic Forces (SDF) are kidnapping young men for forceful recruitment in northeastern Syria.

Through its checkpoint, the Kurdish-led SDF kidnapped 23 people, to make them fight in its ranks, said the report, adding that, the SDF fighters are also raiding homes and taking young men for the same reason.

Meanwhile, the SDF fighters have also displaced dozens of families from the city of Hasakah, in northeastern Syria, under false pretexts.

WEST BANK, Palestine, Sept 29 (NNN-OCHA) – The high level of Israeli settler violence against Palestinians continues, as the annual olive harvest begins. Since the start of 2018, OCHA has documented 217 incidents attributed to Israeli settlers that have resulted in Palestinian casualties (60 incidents) or in damage to Palestinian property (157 incidents).

As a monthly average, this is the highest level of incidents recorded since 2014 and represents a 57 and 175 percent increase compared with 2017 and 2016 respectively.

UNITED NATIONS, Sept 28 (NNN-AGENCIES) — Sudan’s prime minister said on Friday he had held useful talks with U.S. officials while at the United Nations this week, and expressed hope Khartoum could reach an agreement to be removed from Washington’s state-sponsored terrorism list “very soon.”

Abdalla Hamdok, an economist, was appointed in August as leader of a transition government, vowing to stabilise the country and repair an economy battered by years of U.S. sanctions and government mismanagement during Omar al-Bashir’s 30-year rule.

28 Sep 2019; MEMO: Saudi Arabia has agreed to a ceasefire with Yemen’s Ansar Allah group (Houthi) in four regions of Yemen, according to Western media reports published on Friday.

28 Sep 2019; MEMO: A four-hour meeting between the Likud and Blue and White parties has ended on Friday afternoon, without reaching a deal on a coalition government, Arab48.com reported.

Teams from both parties have agreed to resume their talks next week, on the basis of the plan initiated by Israel’s president, Reuven Rivlin, stipulating a rotation of leadership.

28 Sep 2019; MEMO: On Friday, the Iranian president Hassan Rouhani revealed via his official website, that the US have offered to lift all sanctions imposed on Tehran, in return for holding discussions.

DUBAI/STOCKHOLM (Reuters) - A British-flagged tanker that was detained by Iran for 10 weeks was approaching docks in Dubai on Saturday, after a standoff that has stoked tensions along a vital global shipping route for oil.

The Stena Impero sailed out of Iranian waters on Friday, having been seized by Iran’s Revolutionary Guards on July 19 shortly after British forces detained an Iranian tanker off the territory of Gibraltar. The Iranian ship was released in August.

GAZA, Sept. 27 (Xinhua) -- At least 63 Palestinians were injured on Friday during the weekly anti-Israel protests in eastern Gaza Strip, close to the border with Israel, medics said.

Ashraf al-Qedra, spokesman of the health ministry in Gaza, said that among the injured, 32 were shot and wounded by Israeli soldiers' gunfire in eastern Gaza.