DUBAI: The United Arab Emirates said on Thursday it would resume flights to Tunisia after an exchange of security information.
A statement by the foreign ministry on state news agency WAM said the decision was taken in light of extensive security cooperation and information received from the Tunisian side that eased the national carriers’ concerns.
“In light of preventing dangers and threats that should be avoided to the largest degree, and in light of an extensive security dialogue and information received from the Tunisian side, the concerned authorities in the UAE have decided to return to normal procedures before the extraordinary circumstance,” the statement said.
Tunisia banned Emirates airline from landing in the capital Tunis after a number of Tunisian women were prevented from boarding its flights.
The move came amid widespread anger in Tunisia, with rights groups condemning “racist and discriminatory” measures.
The transport ministry said the measure would stay in place until Emirates was able to “operate flights in accordance with law and international agreements.”
The UAE said “security information” had caused the delays.
“We contacted our Tunisian brothers about security information that necessitated taking specific procedures,” Emirati Foreign Minister Anwar Gargash said on Twitter.
“We highly value Tunisian women and respect them,” he added.
Strained ties
Tunisian government officials said the UAE had banned Tunisian women from flying to or transiting through its territory.
On Friday the Tunisian government said it had asked the UAE ambassador to clarify what was happening and had been told that the measures had been temporary and had already been lifted.
Local media reported that Tunisian women had been blocked from boarding Emirates flights to Dubai over several days.
According to AFP news agency, some Tunisian women said their journeys to the UAE had been delayed and some that their visas had to undergo additional examination.
Tunisia has been trying to improve relations with the UAE that were damaged by its 2011 revolution.
UAE says to resume flights to Tunis after security cooperation
UAE says to resume flights to Tunis after security cooperation
Take back and prosecute your jailed Daesh militants, Iraq tells Europe
RAQQA: Baghdad on Friday urged European states to repatriate and prosecute their citizens who fought for Daesh, and who are now being moved to Iraq from detention camps in Syria.
Europeans were among 150 Daesh prisoners transferred so far by the US military from Kurdish custody in Syria. They were among an estimated 7,000 militants due to be moved across the border to Iraq as the Kurdish-led force that has held them for years relinquishes swaths of territory to the advancing Syrian army.
In a telephone call on Friday with French President Emmanuel Macron, Iraqi Prime Minister Mohammed Shia Al-Sudani said European countries should take back and prosecute their nationals.
An Iraqi security official said the 150 so far transferred to Iraq were “all leaders of the Daesh group, and some of the most notorious criminals.” They included “Europeans, Asians, Arabs and Iraqis,” he said.
Another Iraqi security source said the group comprised “85 Iraqis and 65 others of various nationalities, including Europeans, Sudanese, Somalis, and people from the Caucasus region.”
They all took part in Daesh operations in Iraq, he said, and were now being held at a prison in Baghdad.
US Secretary of State Marco Rubio has said that “non-Iraqi terrorists will be in Iraq temporarily.”
The Kurdish-led Syrian Democratic Forces jailed thousands of militant fighters and detained tens of thousands of their relatives in camps as it pushed out Daesh in 2019 after five years of fighting.
