MANILA: Kuwait will allow the Philippines to join an investigation into the death of a Filipino maid allegedly killed by her employer last December.
Details of the decision were announced by Kuwait’s Deputy Foreign Minister, Khaled Al-Jarallah, in a meeting with Philippines presidential adviser Abdullah Mama-o and envoy Noordin Lomondot last week.
The officials also discussed the Philippines’ decision to stop its citizens working in Kuwait until an inquiry into the death of Jeanelyn Villavende has been completed and Kuwait honors a labor agreement signed by the two countries in 2018.
Mama-o praised the Kuwaiti government for its handling of the Villavende case, including the arrest of her employers.
Kuwaiti authorities have not released the names of her employers who have been jailed since the incident. Kuwait’s Foreign Ministry is expected to release details of a police investigation and autopsy reports soon.
The Philippines and Kuwait also agreed to hold a joint meeting on a 2018 agreement on the employment of domestic workers.
Assistant Secretary Eduardo Meсez, a Department of Foreign Affairs official, told Arab News that Kuwait had “voiced its dismay over the Philippine government’s decision to impose a ban on the deployment of workers (to their country).”
Kuwaiti Assistant Foreign Minister for Consular Affairs Samie Al-Hamad said that the “appalling crime” is uncommon and “against our Islamic values.
“The legal action taken against the culprits reflects Kuwait’s keenness to apply the law, and guarantee the safety and protection of all those living on its soil,” Al-Hamad said.
Kuwait is a “favorable destination” for people of different nationalities, including 250,000 Filipino workers, he added.
Manila to join inquiry into Filipino maid’s death in Kuwait
https://arab.news/485f5
Manila to join inquiry into Filipino maid’s death in Kuwait
- They discussed the Philippines’ decision to stop its citizens working in Kuwait
- Kuwait is expected to release details of a police investigation and autopsy reports soon
Syrian government and SDF agree to de-escalate after Aleppo violence
- Turkiye views the US-backed SDF, which controls swathes of northeastern Syria, as a terrorist organization and has warned of military action if the group does not honor the agreement
DAMASCUS: Syrian government forces and the Kurdish-led Syrian Democratic Forces agreed to de-escalate on Monday evening in the northern city of Aleppo, after a wave of attacks that both sides blamed on each other left at least two civilians dead and several wounded.
Syria’s state news agency SANA, citing the defense ministry, said the army’s general command issued an order to stop targeting the SDF’s fire sources. The SDF said in a statement later that it had issued instructions to stop responding to attacks by Syrian government forces following de-escalation contacts.
The Syrian health ministry said two people were killed and several were wounded in shelling by the SDF on residential neighborhoods in the city. The injuries included two children and two civil defense workers. The violence erupted hours after Turkish Foreign Minister Hakan Fidan said during a visit to Damascus that the SDF appeared to have no intention of honoring a commitment to integrate into the state’s armed forces by an agreed year-end deadline.
Turkiye views the US-backed SDF, which controls swathes of northeastern Syria, as a terrorist organization and has warned of military action if the group does not honor the agreement.
Integrating the SDF would mend Syria’s deepest remaining fracture, but failing to do so risks an armed clash that could derail the country’s emergence from 14 years of war and potentially draw in Turkiye, which has threatened an incursion against Kurdish fighters it views as terrorists.
Both sides have accused the other of stalling and acting in bad faith. The SDF is reluctant to give up autonomy it won as the main US ally during the war, which left it with control of Islamic State prisons and rich oil resources.
SANA, citing the defense ministry, reported earlier that the SDF had launched a sudden attack on security forces and the army in the Sheikh Maqsoud and Ashrafiyah neighborhoods of Aleppo, resulting in injuries.
The SDF denied this and said the attack was carried out by factions affiliated with the Syrian government. It said those factions were using tanks and artillery against residential neighborhoods in the city.
The defense ministry denied the SDF’s statements, saying the army was responding to sources of fire from Kurdish forces. “We’re hearing the sounds of artillery and mortar shells, and there is a heavy army presence in most areas of Aleppo,” an eyewitness in Aleppo told Reuters earlier on Monday. Another eyewitness said the sound of strikes had been very strong and described the situation as “terrifying.”
Aleppo’s governor announced a temporary suspension of attendance in all public and private schools and universities on Tuesday, as well as government offices within the city center.
