Middle East & North Africa

28 Aug 2021; MEMO: The Turkish Ministry of Defence has announced the completion of evacuating its soldiers from Afghanistan, after 20 years of successfully performing duties there.

On Friday, the Ministry of Defence welcomed via Twitter the Turkish soldiers who returned to their homeland.

27 Aug 2021; MEMO: Moroccan Prime Minister Saad-Eddine El-Othmani announced yesterday that his country is ready for "unconditional" dialogue with Algeria's President Abdelmadjid Tebboune.

28 Aug 2021; MEMO: Lebanon is heading towards complete collapse unless action is taken to remedy the crisis caused by its financial meltdown, Reuters reported Grand Mufti Sheikh Abdul Latif Derian, the state's most senior Sunni Muslim cleric, warning today.

The economic collapse that began in 2019 has plumbed new depths this month, leading to fuel shortages that have crippled even essential services and causing numerous security incidents involving scrambles for gasoline.

ALGIERS, Aug 28 (NNN-AGENCIES) — Algeria said it was ready to divert all its Spain-bound natural gas exports via an undersea pipeline that bypasses Morocco, state media said, days after Algiers cut ties with its North African rival.

In a meeting with Spanish Ambassador Fernando Moran, Energy Minister Mohamed Arkab stressed “Algeria’s full commitment to cover all of Spain’s natural gas supplies through the Medgaz” pipeline, said a statement quoted by the official APS news agency.

DUBAI, Aug 28 (Reuters) - A top Iranian security official accused U.S. President Joe Biden on Saturday of illegally threatening Iran after he said he may consider other options if nuclear diplomacy with Tehran fails.

"The emphasis on using 'other options' against (Iran) amounts to threatening another country illegally and establishes Iran's right to reciprocate ... against 'available options'," Ali Shamkhani, secretary of Iran's Supreme National Security Council, said on Twitter.

BAGHDAD, Aug 28 (Reuters) - Several Middle Eastern leaders and French President Emmanuel Macron met in Baghdad on Saturday at a summit hosted by Iraq, which wants its neighbours to talk to each other instead of settling scores on its territory.

Iraq's security has improved in recent years but it is still plagued by big power rivalries and heavily armed militia groups.

CAIRO, Aug. 27 (Xinhua) -- Egyptian Foreign Minister Sameh Shoukry on Friday urged for dialogue to end the diplomatic rift between Algeria and Morocco.

Shoukry made the remarks during two separate phone conversations with his Algerian and Moroccan counterparts Ramtane Lamamra and Nasser Bourita, the Egyptian Foreign Ministry said in a statement.

During the two conversations, Shoukry discussed the recent developments in the relations between the two countries, stressing the need to overcome the current crisis.

28 Aug 2021; MEMO: Israel is set to grant a loan worth $800 million to the Palestinian Authority (PA) to help cope with its financial crisis, Gulf News reported Israeli Channel 12 revealing on Friday.

The PA will receive the loan in instalments until the end of the year, the Israeli TV channel disclosed.

BEIRUT (AP) — A few days after the Taliban takeover of Afghanistan, a convoy of militants drove through the city of Idlib in northwestern Syria in cars bearing the group’s white-and-black flags, honking horns and firing their guns in the air.

The celebrations by an al-Qaida affiliate in a remote corner of war-torn Syria were an expression of the triumph felt by radical Islamic groups from the Gaza Strip to Pakistan and West Africa who see America’s violence-marred exit from Afghanistan an opportunity to reassert their presence.

RAMALLAH, Aug 27 (NNN-WAFA) – A Palestinian official announced yesterday that, a three-way summit will be held in the Egyptian capital, Cairo, within the coming days, to discuss the Palestinian issue.

Azzam al-Ahmad, member of the executive committee of the Palestine Liberation Organisation (PLO), told reporters that, leaders of Palestine, Jordan and Egypt, will hold a three-way summit meeting, to discuss the current situation of the Palestinian question.