GENEVA/BEIRUT: Months of deadlock over medical evacuations from Syria’s biggest remaining siege broke late on Tuesday when a deal between Damascus and a rebel faction allowed the Red Crescent to evacuate a handful of critically ill patients.
Four patients were evacuated from eastern Ghouta, where almost 400,000 people have been under siege by regime forces since 2013, the Syrian American Medical Society (SAMS) said in a statement. The evacuees were taken to hospitals in Damascus.
The enclave is a densely populated pocket of satellite towns and farms and the only major rebel stronghold near the capital Damascus.
The Jaish Al-Islam group in Eastern Ghouta said it was releasing 29 detainees. In return, the government is allowing the evacuation of 29 of the most critical cases.
The International Committee of the Red Cross (ICRC) said it had facilitated the deal, which came two months after the UN asked Assad’s government to allow the urgent evacuation of the 29 patients. The operation was still in a very early phase, it said.
“Happy that our negotiations reached this important goal. This is a signal of hope for the future Syria,” Francesco Rocca, president of the International Federation of the Red Cross, wrote in a tweet.
Deputy Reconciliation Minister Ahmed Mounir said a deal was struck for a number of sick people to leave eastern Ghouta in return for the release of what he called kidnapped people. The number of people involved could increase, he said on television.
A Jaish Al-Islam political official in Ghouta said the Syrian Arab Red Crescent (SARC) mediated between Damascus and the rebels for the swap.
“We worked to get them out through the Red Crescent, and we are working on evacuating the rest of the nearly 500 cases out,” said Yasser Delwan. But there was no indication of whether more evacuations would be allowed, he added.
The UN has pleaded for the government to allow evacuation of around 500 patients, including children with cancer, and has said there was no excuse for not permitting their evacuation to go ahead.
Residents and aid workers said the government has tightened the siege in recent months in what they called a deliberate use of starvation as a weapon of war, a charge the government denies.
On Sunday, Turkish President Tayyip Erdogan said Turkey was working with Russia, Assad’s ally, on the evacuations.
The number of people needing urgent evacuation has shrunk because they keep dying while waiting for help, the UN has said. It has a priority list of 494 patients, while SAMS put the number of critical cases at 641, and said 17 had already died.
The remainder of the 29 patients included in the deal would be evacuated over the coming days, said SAMS, a nonprofit that supports hospitals mostly in opposition areas.
“The list includes 18 children and 4 women suffering from heart disease, cancer, kidney failure, and blood diseases, in addition to cases requiring advanced surgery that are not available in the besieged area,” it said.
Syrian prisoner release deal breaks deadlock on Ghouta medical evacuations
Syrian prisoner release deal breaks deadlock on Ghouta medical evacuations
Babar and Rizwan lead Pakistan smash-and-grab T20 series win over Ireland
- The Pakistani captain calls the match ‘good practice’ ahead of the T20 World Cup next month
- Shaheen Shah Afridi finished with 3-14 off four overs while Mohammad Amir contributed 1-32
DUBLIN: Pakistan blew away Ireland by six wickets and won its Twenty20 series 2-1 on Tuesday.
The Pakistanis chased down 193 with 3.1 overs to spare on Sunday to level the series and had no problems overhauling Ireland’s 178 on Tuesday with three overs remaining.
Captain Babar Azam and Mohammad Rizwan crushed the home bowling in a second-wicket stand of 139 runs.
Babar lashed 75 off 42 balls and Rizwan clobbered 56 off 38. They were out in consecutive overs on the verge of victory.
Successive sixes by Azam Khan wrapped it up 181-4 to 178-7.
“Big tournament coming up and this is good practice,” Babar said with the T20 World Cup next month.
Rizwan hardly saw the strike in the first three overs but once he lost his opening partner Saim Ayub, he opened up. Rizwan hit three sixes and four boundaries.
Babar struck four sixes in one Ben White over — the 14th — and finished with five maximums and six boundaries.
His 39th fifty-plus score broke Virat Kohli’s record in T20s.
Ireland were looking good for eclipsing its Sunday total halfway through its innings.
Captain Lorcan Tucker and opener Andy Balbirnie blazed 85 runs for the second wicket. Balbirnie made 35.
Tucker hit 73 off 41 with 13 boundaries but when he was caught at deep extra cover, Ireland folded in the face of outstanding death bowling.
Shaheen Shah Afridi finished with 3-14 off four overs, Mohammad Amir contributed 1-32 and Imad Wasim was an economical 1-23.
Pakistan move to England for a four-match T20 series starting on Tuesday.
Army major killed in gunfight with militants in Pakistan’s southwest
- The intelligence-based operation was conducted in Zhob district of Pakistan’s restive Balochistan province
- Balochistan is the site of a low-level insurgency by separatists who have recently carried out multiple attacks
ISLAMABAD: An army major and three militants were killed in a gunfight in Pakistan’s southwestern Balochistan province, the Pakistani military said on Tuesday.
The exchange of fire occurred during an intelligence-based operation in Sambaza area of Balochistan’s Zhob district, according to the Inter-Services Public Relations (ISPR), the military’s media wing.
Security forces effectively engaged the militants and killed three of them, seizing weapons, ammunition and explosives from the scene.
“During the intense exchange of fire, leading his troops from the front, Major Babar Khan (age: 33 years, resident of District Mianwali) having fought gallantly, paid the ultimate sacrifice and embraced Shahadat,” the ISPR said in a statement.
“Sanitization operation is being conducted to eliminate any other terrorist present in the area.”
Balochistan, which borders Afghanistan, is the site of a low-level insurgency by separatists, who have recently carried out a number of attacks in the region.
In one of the major attacks, gunmen last month killed nine people, who hailed from the eastern Punjab province, after abducting them from a bus on a highway near the Noshki district. The outlawed Balochistan Liberation Army (BLA) group claimed responsibility for the attack.
Although the government says it has quelled militancy, violence by various groups has persisted in the region.
Biden administration is giving $1 billion in new weapons and ammo to Israel, congressional aides say
Biden administration is giving $1 billion in new weapons and ammo to Israel, congressional aides say
- The package being sent includes about $700 million for tank ammunition, $500 million in tactical vehicles and $60 million in mortar rounds, the aides said
- Israel has killed more than 35,000 Palestinians in Gaza, mostly women and children, according to the health ministry in the Hamas-run territory
WASHINGTON: The Biden administration has told key lawmakers it is sending a new package of more than $1 billion in arms and ammunition to Israel, three congressional aides said Tuesday.
It’s the first arms shipment to Israel to be announced by the administration since it put another arms transfer — consisting of 3,500 bombs — on hold earlier in the month. The administration has said it paused that earlier transfer to keep Israel from using the bombs in its growing offensive in the crowded southern Gaza city of Rafah.
The congressional aides spoke on condition of anonymity to discuss an arms transfer that has not yet been made public.
The package being sent includes about $700 million for tank ammunition, $500 million in tactical vehicles and $60 million in mortar rounds, the aides said.
There was no immediate indication when the arms would be sent. Israel is now seven months into its war against Hamas in Gaza.
The Wall Street Journal first reported the plans to move the package.
House Republicans were planning this week to advance a bill to mandate the delivery of offensive weaponry for Israel. Following Biden’s move to put a pause on bomb shipments last week, Republicans have been swift in their condemnation, arguing it represents the abandonment of the closest US ally in the Middle East.
The White House said Tuesday that Biden would veto the bill if it were to pass Congress. The bill also has practically no chance in the Democratic-controlled Senate. But House Democrats are somewhat divided on the issue, and roughly two dozen have signed onto a letter to the Biden administration saying they were “deeply concerned about the message” sent by pausing the bomb shipment.
In addition to the written veto threat, the White House has been in touch with various lawmakers and congressional aides about the legislation, according to an administration official.
“We strongly, strongly oppose attempts to constrain the President’s ability to deploy US security assistance consistent with US foreign policy and national security objectives,” White House press secretary Karine Jean-Pierre said this week, adding that the administration plans to spend “every last cent” appropriated by Congress in the national security supplemental package that was signed into law by Biden last month.
‘Long live Saudi Arabia!’: Tyson Fury’s father hails Kingdom, promises sons will only fight in KSA
- John Fury: Only Saudi Arabia could have set up Tyson-Usyk fight
- Tells Arab News he expects a good fight from the veterans on Saturday
RIYADH: The father of British boxing champion Tyson Fury has promised his sons will only fight in Saudi Arabia going forward as he hailed the hospitality of the people of the Kingdom, and even said he wants to be like them.
“Tyson Fury and the Fury family will only fight again in Saudi Arabia,” John Fury said. “This is where our heart is, we love it, the people love us”.
“Long live Saudi Arabia!” he said lifting his hands to the sky, during a passionate press conference in Boulevard City in Riyadh.
Tyson Fury faces Oleksandr Usyk for the undisputed heavyweight world title on Saturday at Kingdom Arena.
“I can’t express how much I enjoy this country and the people,” he said. “And I just want to be like them…because the worst man in Saudi Arabia is better than John Fury”.
“The Brits are traitors, aren’t they?’ Fury said, without elaborating on who he was referring to, and accused them of committing treason against ‘their King,’ a reference to Tyson’s nickname ‘Gypsy King’.
“Forget Great Britain, our heart, look here, beating in my body, is in Saudi Arabia because we get treated like proper people, how we deserve to be treated.”
He went on to say that Britain had never made him “feel well” and because “they could not get behind the champion,” they stand to miss out.
Saudi Arabia has become a hub for premier world boxing contests over the past few years with authorities investing heavily to bring the biggest bouts to local and international audiences.
Turki bin Abdulmohsen Alalshikh, the head of the Kingdom’s General Entertainment Authority, has spearheaded this boxing revival.
Fury snr. had high praise for the authority’s chief, “he has done the best job in the world,” he said, adding that only Saudi Arabia could have set up the Tyson-Usyk fight.
“Nobody could ever have put this fight on except Turki Alalshikh and the great Kingdom of Saudi Arabia.”
Previous bouts in the country have garnered the attention of fans globally and has marked the Kingdom as a new home of international boxing.
In March, British heavyweight Anthony Joshua knocked out Francis Ngannou in the second round.
Another member of the Fury family, Tommy, beat YouTuber-turned-fighter Jake Paul on points in a contest in Diriyah last year.
In 2022, Usyk successfully defended his belts in a rematch against Joshua in Jeddah on points, with the Londoner failing to win back his titles against the Ukrainian.
In 2019, Joshua defeated Andy Ruiz Jr. in a revenge match at Diriyah Arena in Riyadh after the American surprised the Brit with a defeat in New York.
George Groves was knocked out by Callum Smith in the seventh round in an all-British grudge match in Jeddah in 2018.
Tyson-Usyk was delayed in February after a freak cut to Tyson during sparring, but both spectators and organizers are glad that the boxing spectacle is set for this weekend.
Fury snr. told Arab News that both fighters are at the top of their game and are veterans of the sport.
“It’ll be a good fight”.
Court probing Ukraine, Gaza wars vows to defy threats
- Israel has killed more than 35,000 Palestinians in Gaza, according to Gaza’s Health Ministry
- In May of last year Russia put Kahn on its list of wanted persons after the court issued an arrest warrant against President Vladimir Putin for his role in the deportation of Ukrainian children to Russia as part of the war
UNITED NATIONS, United States: The International Criminal Court prosecutor said Tuesday he will not be intimidated by threats as his office probes possible war crimes in Ukraine and Gaza.
During a UN Security Council meeting on his probe into war crimes in Libya, prosecutor Karim Khan was challenged by the ambassadors of Russia and Libya, who criticized what they called his inaction as Israel wages war on Hamas in the Gaza Strip.
“One wonders if the effectiveness of the ICC on this track is affected by the fact that a new bipartisan bill has been submitted to the US Congress to sanction ICC officials involved in investigating not only the US but also its allies,” said the Russian ambassador Vasily Nebenzia.
Nebenzia was alluding to news reports that a bill to this end has been submitted to the US Congress.
Khan responded by citing what he said were threats against him and his office to make him halt his probes.
“We will not be swayed, whether it’s by warrants for my arrest or the arrest of elected officials of the court by the Russian Federation, or whether it’s by other elected officials in any other jurisdiction,” Khan said.
In May of last year Russia put Kahn on its list of wanted persons after the court issued an arrest warrant against President Vladimir Putin for his role in the deportation of Ukrainian children to Russia as part of the war.
In early May Kahn’s office said on X that the court’s “independence and impartiality are undermined, however, when individuals threaten to retaliate against the court or against court personnel.”
It did not say where the threats are coming from.
“Such threats, even not acted upon, may constitute an offense” against the ICC’s “administration of justice,” the office warned, calling for an end to such activity.
The court made this comment after US and Israeli media reports which suggested the ICC prosecutor could issue warrants against Israeli politicians including Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu and Hamas leaders.
“We have a duty to stand up for justice, to stand up for victims,” Kahn said Tuesday.
“And I am fully cognizant that there are Goliaths in this room. There are Goliaths with power, with influence” he said.
He added: “We have something called the law. All I can do is say that we will stand up to the best of our ability. We will stand up by the law with integrity with independence.”
