RABAT: Moroccan security forces stopped groups of people who sought to force their way across the border into Spain’s North African enclave of Ceuta following a call on social networks for a mass migration attempt, authorities said.
Some attempted to breach a border fence that has long been a flashpoint for sporadic migration tensions, but none successfully made it into Spain, the Spanish Interior Ministry said Monday. It said Spanish and Moroccan security efforts over recent days ″allowed the situation to be brought under control.”
Online messages in recent days had called for people to head for Ceuta on Sunday to cross the border into Europe. Videos posted by local networks showed groups of people in the hills around the Moroccan border town of Fnideq, and a heightened Moroccan security presence, including helicopters.
Moroccan authorities also arrested 60 people suspected of inciting a mass migration attempt on social networks, Moroccan intelligence agency DGSN said in a Facebook post.
Ceuta and Melilla — two tiny Spanish territories in North Africa bordering the Mediterranean — have long been targeted by migrants and refugees seeking better lives in Europe. Many attempt to climb over barbed wire fences encircling the autonomous cities or reaching the exclaves by sea.
Nationwide, Moroccan security forces stopped more than 45,000 migration attempts from January to early September, according to the Moroccan Interior Ministry. In August alone, more than 11,000 migration attempts were prevented in the region around Ceuta and another 3,000 in the area around Melilla, it said in a statement.
Last month, thousands of migrants attempted to cross into Ceuta, including hundreds of young people who tried to swim their way around controls, according to Spanish authorities.
Moroccan authorities stop migration attempt into Spanish enclave of Ceuta
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Moroccan authorities stop migration attempt into Spanish enclave of Ceuta
- Some attempted to breach a border fence that has long been a flashpoint for sporadic migration tensions, the Spanish Interior Ministry said
- Moroccan authorities also arrested 60 people suspected of inciting a mass migration attempt on social networks
Blinken meets Erdogan for talks in Turkiye
Blinken headed straight into talks with Erdogan
ANKARA: US Secretary of State Antony Blinken headed straight into talks with Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdogan after landing in Ankara on Thursday, a US official said.
The plane touched down at 8:14 p.m. (1714 GMT), an AFP correspondent traveling with him said. Blinken headed straight into talks with Erdogan “in the VIP lounge” at Ankara’s Esenboga airport, the US official said.
Washington’s top diplomat flew in from the Jordanian Red Sea resort of Aqaba where he kicked off a regional tour on Thursday to discuss fallout from the ouster of Syria’s Bashar Assad.
Turkiye was expected to put heavy emphasis on its security concerns following the upheaval in Syria, where it has been fighting a Kurdish-led force that Washington backs as a key player in the fight against Daesh group militants.
Before leaving Aqaba, Blinken said the role of the US-backed Syrian Democratic Forces (SDF) was “critical” to preventing a resurgence of Daesh militants in the country.
Chemical weapons watchdog warns of dangers of Syria strikes
- The director-general of OPCW Fernando Arias, said his group was "following closely" reports of strikes on military facilities
- "Such airstrikes could create a risk of contamination"
THE HAGUE: Strikes on Syrian chemical weapons sites risk contaminating and destroying valuable evidence, the head of the international watchdog warned Thursday, admitting the group did not yet know whether sites have been affected.
There has been widespread global concern about the fate of Syria's stockpile of chemical weapons since the dramatic overthrow of Bashar al-Assad.
On Monday, Israel said it had struck "remaining chemical weapons or long-range missiles and rockets in order that they will not fall in the hands of extremists".
The director-general of the Organisation for the Prohibition of Chemical Weapons (OPCW), Fernando Arias, said his group was "following closely" reports of strikes on military facilities.
"We do not know yet whether these strikes have affected chemical weapons related sites. Such airstrikes could create a risk of contamination," said Arias in a speech.
"Another real risk would be the destruction of valuable evidence for investigations by different independent international bodies related to past use of chemical weapons," he added.
In 2014, the OPCW set up what it called a "fact-finding mission" to investigate chemical weapons use in Syria.
This team has issued 21 reports covering 74 instances of alleged chemical weapons use, according to the OPCW.
Investigators concluded that chemical weapons were used or likely used in 20 instances.
"Additionally, we also have to consider the risk of any dangerous chemicals or equipment being lost, without any control," warned Arias in his speech.
Palestinian President Mahmoud Abbas opens new embassy building in Vatican City
- Abbas calls on countries to recognize Palestine
- President meets Pope Francis, senior Vatican officials
LONDON: Palestinian President Mahmoud Abbas officially inaugurated the new building of Palestine’s Embassy in Vatican City on Thursday.
Abbas called on countries that have not yet recognized Palestine to do so, and to acknowledge the right of the Palestinian people to self-determination, the news and information agency WAFA reported.
After raising the Palestinian flag, Abbas spoke of efforts to gain full UN membership and achieve greater international recognition for Palestine.
The Vatican officially recognized the State of Palestine on May 13, 2015. On June 26 of the same year, the Vatican’s Holy See and the Palestinian Authority signed a comprehensive agreement for mutual recognition.
Armenia was the last country — the 149th — to recognize Palestine, on June 21, 2024. There are Palestinian embassies, consulates, and diplomatic missions in 110 countries.
The opening ceremony of the new embassy building was attended by several Palestinian Authority officials, including Ziad Abu Amr, the first deputy prime minister, and Issa Kassissieh, the Palestinian ambassador to the Vatican.
Earlier, Abbas had a private audience with Pope Francis and senior Vatican officials. He is also scheduled to meet Italian Prime Minister Giorgia Meloni and President Sergio Mattarella in Rome.
Blinken says US working to bring home US citizen found in Syria
- In media reports, the man was identified as Travis Timmerman
AQABA, Jordan: The United States is working to get a U.S. citizen found on Thursday in Syria out of the country and bring him home, U.S. Secretary of State Antony Blinken said in Jordan, where he held meetings to discuss the situation in Syria.
In media reports, the man was identified as Travis Timmerman. Blinken said he had no update on American journalist Austin Tice, who was abducted in Syria in 2012, but said the U.S. was continuing work to find him.
At least nine die, six missing as migrant boat sinks off Tunisia
- The coast guard has so far rescued 27 people
- The boat had been carrying at least 42 people when it sank
TUNIS: Tunisia’s coast guard has recovered the bodies of nine migrants while six others are still missing after their boat sank off the Tunisian coast, a judicial official said on Thursday, in the latest migrant boat disaster in the Mediterranean.
The coast guard has so far rescued 27 people who were on the boat when it broke down and took on water due to bad weather. According to survivors’ testimonies, the boat had been carrying at least 42 people when it sank.
Judge Farid Ben Jha told Reuters that a search was underway for at least six migrants who had been on the boat when it sank off the coast of Chebba.
All the migrants on the boat were from sub-Saharan African countries.
Tunisia is grappling with an unprecedented migration crisis and has replaced Libya as the major departure point for both Tunisians and people from elsewhere in Africa seeking a better life in Europe.
