Suspension of visas to EU diplomats hampers Syria aid work

Syrian security forces inspect a burned car at the site of an explosion in Latakia, near President Bashar Assad’s ancestral village, on Tuesday. (AP)
Updated 25 January 2019
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Suspension of visas to EU diplomats hampers Syria aid work

  • The special permission to use multiple-entry Syrian visas for access to Damascus was rescinded at the start of January

BRUSSELS, BEIRUT: Syrian President Bashar Assad has suspended special multiple-entry visas for EU diplomats to Damascus.

“We are continuing as the EU ... to do whatever we can to avoid it having an impact on the important work we are doing on the ground,” a European Commission spokeswoman said on Thursday.

The special permission to use multiple-entry Syrian visas for access to Damascus was rescinded at the start of January with no explanation from the Syrian regime, complicating efforts to distribute humanitarian aid to civil war victims.

 


Blasts over Jerusalem after Israel detects missiles fired from Iran: AFP

Updated 4 sec ago
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Blasts over Jerusalem after Israel detects missiles fired from Iran: AFP

JERUSALEM: Blasts were heard over Jerusalem on Thursday, AFP journalists said, after the Israeli military detected missiles fired from Iran.
“A short while ago, the IDF identified missiles launched from Iran toward the territory of the State of Israel. Defensive systems are operating to intercept the threat,” the military posted on Telegram.