Saudi envoy returns to Doha as rift ends

November 18, 2014

Saudi envoy
Riyadh, Nov 18: Three leading GCC countries — Saudi Arabia, UAE and Bahrain — have resolved their eight-month-old dispute with another GCC member Qatar on Sunday and decided to send back their ambassadors to Doha.

The move initiated by Custodian of the Two Holy Mosques King Abdullah has been widely welcomed by foreign diplomats, journalists and scholars in the Kingdom.

The annual GCC summit would now take place on Dec. 9 and 10 in Doha, the GCC said in a statement. The Gulf leaders stated this would see a new phase of relations, which would provide stability as the region faces several economic and political challenges ahead.

“We ask God to protect the GCC states from harm and danger, and to sustain its security, stability and prosperity moving forward,” the statement said. The GCC leaders also urged all members to redouble their efforts to protect the Gulf’s people.

The emergency GCC summit in Riyadh was attended by leaders from Saudi Arabia, UAE, Qatar, Kuwait and Bahrain in addition to Deputy Crown Prince Muqrin and GCC Secretary-General Abdullatif Al-Zayani. The king had chaired the proceedings.

Qatari Emir Sheikh Tamim bin Hamad Al-Thani commended King Abdullah for playing a vital role to end the dispute. He called the king on telephone on Monday and discussed major regional and international developments.

Foreign Ministry spokesman Ambassador Osama Nugali said Saudi Ambassador to Qatar Abdullah Al-Aifan has already arrived in Doha to resume duty.

“It’s a positive development that would further strengthen the GCC countries,” South African Ambassador Mohammad Sadiq Jaafar told Arab News. He said the move was welcome because it showed the commitment of the GCC countries to bolster their unity.

Bangladesh Ambassador Mohamed Shahidul Islam described it as a significant development. “The decision will enhance the understanding among the member countries and have a positive impact on global developments.”

Musaed Al-Zayani, a senior Saudi journalist based in Dubai, said it was good news for GCC citizens and others interested in regional and global development.

“The GCC plays a dominant role in social, economic and political development in the region and globally,” he said.

Sri Lankan Ambassador Mohamed Hussein Mohammed said it was an encouraging sign to see the GCC return to its previous strength. “Such united efforts of the GCC countries will ensure peace and security in the region, which will contribute to global peace and prosperity.”

“This is a welcome development because the GCC countries belong to one family. Whatever differences they have must be solved within the family,” said Mohsin Shaikh Al-Hassan, a Saudi author, Islamic scholar and television host.

“It’s good news. There will be more business in the region with the differences patched up. The reconciliation was expected since the concerned countries are bound by one faith which propagates unity and peace,” said Khaldoon Said, a public relations specialist.

Seyed Hamid Mowlana, a prominent expatriate writer in the Kingdom, said: “The expat community welcomes the successful talks to end the Qatar-GCC row. If we remember right this is the first ever difference of opinion to be experienced by the GCC, which has been mended in a friendly and brotherly manner.”

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News Network
October 2,2024

Yemeni Armed Forces have launched a series of attacks on Israeli military positions deep inside the occupied territories, in solidarity with Palestinian and Lebanese people amid the Tel Aviv regime’s ongoing offensives in the Gaza Strip and across Lebanon.

Delivering a televised statement broadcast live from the capital Sana’a on Wednesday morning, Yemen’s military spokesman Brigadier General Yahya Saree said the country’s missile units had fired three domestically-developed Quds-5 cruise missiles at the strategic installations.

He added that the missiles managed to strike the designated targets precisely, despite the Zionist regime’s attempts to conceal the losses it sustained in the aftermath of the missile attack.

Saree also hailed the Islamic Republic of Iran’s retaliatory attack, dubbed Operation True Promise II, against Israel, stressing that Yemeni Armed Forces are prepared to participate in any joint military operation against the Zionist enemy in support of the Palestinian and Lebanese nations, and in response to Israeli atrocities.

“The continued US and British support for the Israeli enemy will put their interests in the region in jeopardy. Yemeni Armed Forces will not hesitate to expand their military operations against the Zionist enemy and its sponsors until the ongoing aggression against Gaza stops, the siege on the coastal territory is completely lifted, and the attacks on Lebanon come to an end,” he pointed out.

Yemenis have declared their open support for Palestine’s struggle against the Israeli occupation since the regime launched a devastating war on Gaza on October 7, 2023, after the territory’s Palestinian resistance movements carried out surprise Operation Al-Aqsa Storm against the occupying entity.

The Yemeni Armed Forces have said they will not stop their attacks until unrelenting Israeli ground and aerial offensives in Gaza end.

So far, Israel has killed at least 41,638 Palestinians, mostly women and children, and injured 96,460 others in Gaza.

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News Network
October 2,2024

The Ministry of External Affairs (MEA) has issued a travel advisory for Indian citizens in light of the escalating tensions in the Middle East, specifically advising against non-essential travel to Iran.

"We are closely monitoring the recent escalation in the security situation in the region. Indian nationals are advised to avoid all non-essential travel to Iran. Those currently residing in Iran are requested to remain vigilant and stay in contact with the Indian Embassy in Tehran," the Ministry of External Affairs said.

For those already residing in the country, the MEA advised vigilance and recommended staying in close contact with the Indian Embassy in Tehran for any assistance. The situation continues to be under observation as tensions in the region unfold.

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News Network
September 24,2024

lebanon.jpg

The Israeli regime’s warplanes have conducted extensive airstrikes against towns and villages across Lebanon, killing at least 492 people.

Lebanon’s health ministry announced the death toll on Monday, saying the victims included 35 children and 58 women.

The ministry said at least 1,645 others had also been wounded in the attacks that targeted the areas earlier in the day.

Lebanon’s health minister Firass Abiad said that the health ministry is working to ensure those injured in Israeli strikes are getting the health care they need.

The health minister said he had asked hospitals to stop taking regular, light cases to make space for the wounded from the south.

“We working on directives for the first-aid centres to be turned into places that can receive the wounded. The displaced people who have cancer, kidney failure and other chronic diseases, we have the plan to continue their treatment in different medical centers,” he said.

The country’s media outlets said the aircraft had bombed all the towns and villages lying on the southern border as well as their surroundings.

Israeli warplanes also reportedly targeted eastern Lebanese areas, including the Bekaa Valley and Baalbek.

Lebanese sources said the airstrikes had targeted a total of more than 40 areas in Lebanon during the attacks.

The Sheikh of the Druze community reached out to the Deputy Head of the Supreme Islamic Shia Council and expressed solidarity and reaffirmed support for the people of southern Lebanon, the southern suburbs, and the Bekaa during this critical period for the country.

The Commissioner of Marjayoun-Hassbaya in the Muslim Scouts, Sheikh Hussein Al-Nader, was killed in an Israeli airstrike that targeted his home in the town of Dibbine, Marjayoun district, South Lebanon.

Three people were injured in an Israeli airstrike targeting the Deir El-Zahrani highway, in South Lebanon.

A family of four was killed in Hermel, Bekaa, due to the recent Israeli airstrikes.

Israeli media outlets, meanwhile, alleged that the attacks had hit locations lying as far as 125 kilometers (77 miles) inside the Lebanese territory.

Israeli military spokesman Danieh Hagari said the regime "will engage in [more] extensive and precise strikes” against Lebanon, adding that the attacks would "go on for the near future.”

The regime has markedly intensified its attacks against the country since October 7, when it launched a genocidal war on the Gaza Strip.

Lebanon’s Hezbollah resistance movement has responded with numerous strikes against the occupied Palestinian territories as a means of both retaliating against the regime and displaying support for the war-hit Gazans.

On Sunday, the group staged its farthest-reaching strikes against the territories since October, firing scores of rockets against the Ramat David Airbase, 20 kilometers (12 miles) southeast of the city of Haifa, and the Rafael weapons manufacturing facility in the Zevulun area north of the city.

It described the strike against the facility as its “initial response” to the regime’s detonation of thousands of booby-trapped pagers and walkie-talkie radios that killed at least 39 people and wounded 3,000 others across Lebanon over Tuesday and Wednesday.

Also on Sunday, Hezbollah’s Deputy Secretary General Sheikh Naim Qassem said the movement was in a "new phase" in its battle against the regime.

"Threats will not stop us... We are ready to face all military possibilities,” he noted.

Qassem made the remarks while attending the funeral of Ibrahim Aqil, one of the group’s senior commanders.

Aqil had been martyred alongside 37 others, including three children and seven women, during an Israeli attack on a residential building in a southern suburb of Lebanon’s capital Beirut on Friday.

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