As the conflict between the Polisario Front and Morocco intensifies, more than eight Arab countries rush to declare their full support for the kingdom, while Egypt simply calls on the parties to show restraint and refrain from any provocative actions.
Syrian President Bashar al-Assad’s call on Syrian refugees to return to the homeland has sparked many reactions, as some still fear returning to cities and towns occupied by Iranian forces accused of violations and abuses against the locals.
Senior Iranian nuclear scientist Mohsen Fakhrizadeh-Mahabadi, a high-profile figure in the country’s nuclear energy program, has been assassinated in Damavand, east of Tehran.
According to several media reports, the scientist was killed on Friday, Nov. 27, 2020, in the Absard region of Davamand.
The Libyan Interior Ministry said it had instructed all security apparatuses to secure the National Oil Corporation (NOC) after its headquarters was subjected to an attack by an armed group.
The Interior Ministry said in a statement that the security apparatuses in the capital had tackled the attack of the armed group on the NOC as they were authorized to use force of needed and to make arrests of all the perpetrators.
Libya’s state National Oil Corporation (NOC) confirmed that today there was an attempt by armed militias to storm its Tripoli headquarters.
The NOC confirmed media news that at noon today ‘‘some armed outlaw gangs attempted to forcefully enter the headquarters of the National Oil Corporation in the Libyan capital, Tripoli, and the Petroleum Facilities Guard, charged with protecting the Corporation’s building, was surprised by the arrival of armed vehicles in the opposite direction to traffic, making some chaotic movements, withdrew weapons and tried to break into the outer fence to the institution building’’.
Egypt is reportedly seeking an alliance with Sudan and Israel to counter Turkish moves in the Red Sea.
In an attempt to counter the Turkish influence in the Red Sea and Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdogan’s ambitions in the region, there have been reports that Egypt has formed a tripartite front with Israel and Sudan.
Qatar has signed an agreement with the Tripoli-based Libyan government to build and train military forces in what some see as an attempt to undermine the current progress toward a political solution in Libya.
In what observers considered a new challenge for the 5+5 Joint Military Commission talks in Geneva and a desire to obstruct the peace endeavors between Libyan parties, Qatar signed a military agreement Nov. 13 with the Government of National Accord (GNA) based in western Libya to “train and build military capacities.” This step allows Qatar to boost its military presence on Libyan territories.
As dusk fell in Abu Dhabi on July 20, the LED screen affixed to the face of the 65-story headquarters of the emirate’s national oil company presented a peculiar sight: a photograph of Chinese President Xi Jinping stretching over 1,000 feet high, looming over the Persian Gulf. In nearby Dubai, the Burj Khalifa, the world’s tallest skyscraper, was lit from top to bottom in the colors of the Chinese flag. Even by the standards of a country with little use for subtlety, the United Arab Emirates went all out to mark Xi’s state visit.
At a time when China seems poised to take on a more assertive role in the Middle East, such pageantry seems fitting. The Chinese government has been rolling out new agreements and commitments under the auspices of its sprawling international infrastructure initiative, known as One Belt, One Road, which is certain to have a profound geopolitical impact in the region. Xi’s trip to Abu Dhabi came just a week after he hosted the eighth ministerial meeting of the China-Arab States Cooperation Forum in Beijing, where he pledged $20 billion in development loans to Arab countries.
Migration barely came up at the recent G-7 summit in France—a far cry from just two years ago, when Italy hosted the G-7 in Sicily, which has seen an influx of migrants and asylum-seekers given its proximity to North Africa. The most prominent mention of migration in Biarritz took place on the sidelines of the summit, when President Donald Trump’s adviser, Stephen Miller—the architect of the administration’s restrictionist immigration policies—defended Trump’s efforts to make migrating to the United States even more onerous than it already is.
Yet even if migration has fallen off the front pages, each member of the G-7, with the possible exception of Japan, still has to address it on a policy level. Managing immigration and dealing with influxes of refugees and asylum-seekers remain delicate issues, with political consequences at home and economic repercussions within and across borders.
During his presidential bid, Donald Trump hammered on about the threat posed to America by the self-styled Islamic State, and how he would defeat it. As an issue, it was perfect for him, since the Islamic State’s sociopathic brutality fueled fear and anger among his core supporters—emotions that candidate Trump was able to harness and use to his benefit.