JERUSALEM: An Israeli court on Thursday rejected a request from Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu to limit the number of days each week he’ll have to testify when he finally takes the the stand in his years-long corruption trial.
Netanyahu’s lawyers have made numerous requests to delay his testimony, which is expected to begin next Tuesday and last several weeks.
His lawyers had requested that he testify fewer than three days a week, because of the demands of dealing with the Mideast wars and the fighting in the Gaza Strip and Lebanon.
Jerusalem district court judges ruled on Thursday that they “found no compelling reason” to allow the request.
Netanyahu is charged with fraud, breach of trust and accepting bribes in three separate scandals in which he is accused of trading favors with powerful media moguls and wealthy associates.
He denies wrongdoing.
Israeli court rejects Netanyahu’s request to limit how often he’ll testify
https://arab.news/mvp69
Israeli court rejects Netanyahu’s request to limit how often he’ll testify
- Netanyahu’s lawyers have made numerous requests to delay his testimony
- Netanyahu is charged with fraud, breach of trust and accepting bribes
Hundreds mourn in Syria’s Homs after deadly mosque bombing
- Officials have said the preliminary investigations indicate explosive devices were planted inside the mosque but have not yet publicly identified a suspect
HOMS: Hundreds of mourners gathered Saturday despite rain and cold outside of a mosque in the Syrian city of Homs where a bombing the day before killed eight people and wounded 18.
The crowd gathered next to the Imam Ali ibn Abi Talib Mosque in the Wadi Al-Dhahab neighborhood, where the population is predominantly from the Alawite minority, before driving in convoys to bury the victims.
Officials have said the preliminary investigations indicate explosive devices were planted inside the mosque but have not yet publicly identified a suspect.
A little-known group calling itself Saraya Ansar Al-Sunna claimed responsibility for the attack in a statement posted on its Telegram channel, in which it indicated that the attack intended to target members of the Alawite sect, an offshoot of Shia Islam whom hard-line Islamists consider to be apostates.
The same group had previously claimed a suicide attack in June in which a gunman opened fire and then detonated an explosive vest inside a Greek Orthodox church in Dweil’a, on the outskirts of Damascus, killing 25 people as worshippers prayed on a Sunday.
A neighbor of the mosque, who asked to be identified only by the honorific Abu Ahmad (“father of Ahmad“) out of security concerns, said he was at home when he heard the sound of a “very very strong explosion.”
He and other neighbors went to the mosque and saw terrified people running out of it, he said. They entered and began trying to help the wounded, amid blood and scattered body parts on the floor.
While the neighborhood is primarily Alawite, he said the mosque had always been open to members of all sects to pray.
“It’s the house of God,” he said. “The mosque’s door is open to everyone. No one ever asked questions. Whoever wants to enter can enter.”
Mourners were unable to enter the mosque to pray Saturday because the crime scene remained cordoned off, so they prayed outside.
Some then marched through the streets chanting “Ya Ali,” in reference to the Prophet Muhammad’s cousin and son-in-law whom Shiite Muslims consider to be his rightful successor.
