Middle East & North Africa

TEHRAN, Dec. 30 (Xinhua) -- "The United States is only fueling insecurity in the Gulf through its presence in the strategic region," said Chairman of the Chief of Staff of the Iranian Armed Forces Mohammad Baqeri on Sunday.

"The Americans have always sowed insecurity wherever they had a presence," Baqeri told reporters in the southern Iranian port city of Bandar Abbas, according to Press TV.

He emphasized that the Gulf countries are capable of ensuring security on their own and the U.S. presence in the region has only created insecurity.

KHARTOUM, Dec. 30 (Xinhua) -- Sudanese President Omar al-Bashir on Sunday said the government will not tolerate sabotage or damage to personal or property security.

He made the remarks when addressing leaders of the Sudanese police in capital Khartoum.

"We will not neglect the security of the homeland, of the citizens, or of the public and private properties as this is our duty (to protect them)," he said.

Bashir further said the police forces are doing great at their duty.

ANKARA, December 29. /TASS/. The first group of American military servicemen has left Syria in the aftermath of US President Donald Trump’s decision to withdraw troops from that country, Anadolu Agency reported on Saturday.

According to the news agency, on December 28, at least 50 troops left a warehouse with weapons and ammunition in Syria’s Al-Hasakah Governorate, heading towards Iraq in armored cars.

Jerusalem, Dec 30 (AP) Two senior Israeli Cabinet ministers announced Saturday that they are forming a new party to run in April elections, hoping to present a hard-line alternative to Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu's Likud Party.

Education Minister Naftali Bennett and Justice Minister Ayelet Shaked said they were leaving the Jewish Home party and would instead lead a new list of candidates.

The Jewish Home is a hard-line nationalist party that is especially popular with religious voters and West Bank settlers.

SANAA, Yemen (AP) — Yemen’s Shiite rebels on Saturday handed over control of the main port in the Red Sea city of Hodeida to the country’s navy and coast guard under U.N. supervision, security officials said, in a significant step in the implementation of a deal reached during peace talks in Sweden earlier this month.

29 Dec 2018; AFP: Egyptian police killed 40 alleged "terrorists" in a crackdown on Saturday after a roadside bomb hit a tour bus claiming the lives of three Vietnamese holidaymakers and an Egyptian guide.

The suspects were killed in separate raids in Giza governorate, home to Egypt's famed pyramids and the scene of Friday's deadly bombing, and in the restive Sinai Peninsula, the interior ministry said.

ANKARA, December 29. /TASS/. The Turkish heavy military equipment is being deployed to the border with Syria, Anadolu Agency reported on Saturday.

Convoys with tanks, howitzers and armored vehicles set off from the republic’s western provinces toward the border, the agency reported.

GAZA, Dec. 29 (Xinhua) -- An Israeli army helicopter attacked early on Saturday morning a military facility that belongs to Islamic Hamas movement's military wing in central Gaza Strip, no injuries reported, medics and security officials said.

Security officials said that the Israeli airstrike on central Gaza Strip was carried out shortly after Gaza militants fired a rocket into southern Israel.

No one claimed responsibility for the rocket attack and no injuries or damages were caused, according to Israeli media reports.

CAIRO, Dec. 28 (Xinhua) -- Two Vietnamese tourists were killed Friday when a home-made bomb hit a bus carrying foreign tourists in Marioutiya area near the Giza Pyramids, Egyptian interior ministry said.

In a statement, the ministry said a roadside home-made bomb hit a tourist bus carrying 14 Vietnamese in Marioutiya area near the Pyramids on the outskirts of the capital Cairo.

The ministry added that 10 Vietnamese tourists, the Egyptian driver and an Egyptian tour guide were also injured in the attack.

28 Dec 2018; AFP: Saudi Arabia's King Salman ordered a sweeping government reshuffle Thursday, replacing key security and political figures including the foreign minister, as the kingdom grapples with the international fallout over critic Jamal Khashoggi's murder.

The surprise shake-up saw the appointment of new ministers of the powerful National Guard, information and education, as well as the head of a new space agency, but the energy and finance ministries were unaffected despite an economic downturn.