Tunisian presidential candidate vows to campaign from prison

Presidential candidate Zouhair Maghzaoui meets with residents in a cafe as he visits La Goulette in the suburb of Tunis during his election campaign. (AFP)
Presidential candidate Zouhair Maghzaoui meets with residents in a cafe as he visits La Goulette in the suburb of Tunis during his election campaign. (AFP)
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Updated 20 September 2024
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Tunisian presidential candidate vows to campaign from prison

Tunisian presidential candidate vows to campaign from prison
  • Saied’s two most prominent critics, the right-wing Free Destourian Party’s Abir Moussi and the Ennahda’s Rached Ghannouchi, have also been in prison since last year

One of the candidates challenging Tunisian President Kais Saied in the country’s presidential election next month has been sentenced to prison on fraud charges that his attorney decried as politically motivated.

Two weeks after his arrest, a court in the city of Jendouba handed down a 20-month sentence for Ayachi Zammel on Wednesday evening after convicting him of falsifying the signatures he gathered to file the candidacy papers needed to run for president.

Zammel faces more than 20 charges in jurisdictions throughout Tunisia, including four that will be heard on Thursday.

The little-known businessman and head of Tunisia’s Azimoun party is one of two candidates challenging Saied in the North African nation’s Oct. 6 election.

His attorney, Abdessattar Messaoudi, said Zammel planned to conduct his campaign behind bars.

FASTFACT

A court in Jendouba has handed down a 20-month sentence for Ayachi Zammel.

“This is no surprise. We expected such a ruling given the harassment he has been subjected to since announcing his candidacy,” said Messaoudi.

Zammel is among a long list of Saied’s opponents who have faced criminal charges and prosecution in the volatile period leading up to October’s election.

In July, a court sentenced presidential candidate Lotfi Mraihi to eight months in prison on vote-buying charges and banned him from politics.

Last month, courts sentenced two candidates — Nizar Chaari and Karim Gharbi — on similar signature fraud charges.

After a court required Tunisia’s election authority to reinstate three candidates who had been ruled ineligible to run, one of them — Abdellatif El-Mekki — was arrested on charges that stemmed from a 2014 murder investigation that critics have called politically motivated.

Saied’s two most prominent critics, the right-wing Free Destourian Party’s Abir Moussi and the Ennahda’s Rached Ghannouchi, have also been in prison since last year.

Civil liberty advocates have decried the crackdown as a symptom of Tunisia’s democratic backslide.

Amnesty International this week called it “a clear pre-election assault on the pillars of human rights and the rule of law.”

Political tensions have risen since an electoral commission disqualified three prominent candidates this month.

The commission approved only the candidacies of the incumbent president, Zammel and Zouhair Magzhaoui, who was seen as close to Saied, defying Tunisia’s administrative court, the highest judicial body in election-related disputes.

 


Crew abandons Liberian-flagged, Greek-owned ship attacked in the Red Sea, UK military says

Crew abandons Liberian-flagged, Greek-owned ship attacked in the Red Sea, UK military says
Updated 07 July 2025
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Crew abandons Liberian-flagged, Greek-owned ship attacked in the Red Sea, UK military says

Crew abandons Liberian-flagged, Greek-owned ship attacked in the Red Sea, UK military says
  • The ship was first targeted by gunfire and self-propelled grenades launched from eight small boats, with armed security on the ship returning fire, UKMTO said

DUBAI, United Arab Emirates: Crew members aboard a Liberian-flagged ship set ablaze by a series of attacks in the Red Sea abandoned the vessel Sunday night as it took on water, marking the first serious assault in the vital corridor for trade after a monthslong campaign by Yemen’s Houthi rebels there.

Suspicion for the attack on the Greek-owned bulk carrier Magic Seas immediately fell on the Houthis, particularly as a security firm said it appeared bomb-carrying drone boats hit the ship after it was targeted by small arms and rocket-propelled grenades. The rebels’ media reported on the attack but did not claim it. It can take them hours or even days before they acknowledge an assault.

A renewed Houthi campaign against shipping could again draw in US and Western forces to the area, particularly after President Donald Trump targeted the rebels in a major airstrike campaign.

Shortly before midnight in Yemen, Israel’s military issued a warning for three Houthi-held ports and said airstrikes would begin shortly in Hodeidah, Ras Isa and Salif along with at the Ras Al-Khatib power station.

Attack comes at a delicate time

The ship attack comes at a sensitive moment in the Middle East, as a possible ceasefire in the Israel-Hamas war hangs in the balance and as Iran weighs whether to restart negotiations over its nuclear program following American airstrikes targeting its most-sensitive atomic sites amid an Israeli war against the Islamic Republic.

“It likely serves as a message that the Houthis continue to possess the capability and willingness to strike at strategic maritime targets regardless of diplomatic developments,” wrote Mohammad Al-Basha, a Yemen analyst at the Basha Report risk advisory firm.

The British military’s United Kingdom Maritime Trade Operations center first said that an armed security team on the unidentified vessel had returned fire against an initial attack and that the “situation is ongoing.” It described the attack as happening some 100 kilometers (60 miles) southwest of Hodeida, Yemen, which is held by the country’s Houthi rebels.

“Authorities are investigating,” it said. It later said the ship was on fire after being “struck by unknown projectiles.”

Possibly a major escalation

Ambrey, a private maritime security firm, issued an alert saying that a merchant ship had been “attacked by eight skiffs while transiting northbound in the Red Sea.”

Ambrey later said the ship also had been attacked by bomb-carrying drone boats, which could mark a major escalation. It said two drone boats struck the ship, while another two had been destroyed by the armed guards on board.

The United Kingdom Maritime Trade Operations center said the ship was taking on water and its crew had abandoned the vessel.

The US Navy’s Mideast-based 5th Fleet referred questions to the military’s Central Command, which said it was aware of the incident without elaborating.

Moammar Al-Eryani, the information minister for Yemen’s exiled government opposing the Houthis, identified the vessel attacked as the Magic Seas and blamed the rebels for the attack. The ship had been broadcasting it had an armed security team on board in the vicinity the attack took place and had been heading north.

“The attack also proves once again that the Houthis are merely a front for an Iranian scheme using Yemen as a platform to undermine regional and global stability, at a time when Tehran continues to arm the militia and provide it with military technology, including missiles, aircraft, drones, and sea mines,” Al-Eryani wrote on the social platform X.

The Magic Seas’ owners did not respond to a request for comment.

Houthi attacks came over Israel-Hamas war

The Houthi rebels have been launching missile and drone attacks against commercial and military ships in the region in what the group’s leadership has described as an effort to end Israel’s offensive against Hamas in the Gaza Strip.

The group’s Al-Masirah satellite news channel acknowledged the attack occurred, but offered no other comment on it as it aired a speech by its secretive leader, Abdul Malik Al-Houthi. However, Ambrey said the vessel targeted met “the established Houthi target profile,” without elaborating.

Between November 2023 and January 2025, the Houthis targeted more than 100 merchant vessels with missiles and drones, sinking two of them and killing four sailors. That has greatly reduced the flow of trade through the Red Sea corridor, which typically sees $1 trillion of goods move through it annually.

The Houthis paused attacks in a self-imposed ceasefire until the US launched a broad assault against the rebels in mid-March. That ended weeks later and the Houthis haven’t attacked a vessel, though they have continued occasional missile attacks targeting Israel. On Sunday, the group claimed launching a missile at Israel which the Israeli military said it intercepted. Shipping through the Red Sea, while still lower than normal, has increased in recent weeks.

The Yemeni Coast Guard, which is loyal to the exiled government, has engaged in a firefight with at least one vessel in the Red Sea in the past as well.

Pirates from Somalia also have operated in the region, though typically they’ve sought to capture vessels either to rob or ransom their crews. But neither the Yemeni Coast Guard nor the pirates have been known to use drone boats in their attacks.

 


Turkiye says methane exposure kills 5 troops in north Iraq

Turkiye says methane exposure kills 5 troops in north Iraq
Updated 07 July 2025
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Turkiye says methane exposure kills 5 troops in north Iraq

Turkiye says methane exposure kills 5 troops in north Iraq
  • The incident occurred as they were searching for the remains of a soldier who was shot dead by Kurdish fighters in the area in May 2022, whose body was never recovered, it said

ISTANBUL: Five Turkish soldiers died after being exposed to methane gas during a search operation in caves in northern Iraq on Sunday, the defense ministry said.

The incident comes at a sensitive time with Turkiye in talks to end the conflict with the Kurds after the PKK militant group agreed to end its decades-long armed struggle.

The conflict, which began in 1984, has cost more than 40,000 lives.

The incident occurred as they were searching for the remains of a soldier who was shot dead by Kurdish fighters in the area in May 2022, whose body was never recovered, it said.

At the time, Turkiye was waging Operation Claw Lock, with its troops seeking to eradicate Kurdish PKK militants holed up in caves along the border.

“During a search operation in a cave... previously known to have been used as a hospital... 19 of our personnel were exposed to methane gas.” it said.

They were immediately taken to hospital for treatment, but five of them died, it said.

News of the deaths emerged as a delegation from the pro-Kurdish DEM party was visiting jailed PKK founder Abdullah Ocalan as part of the ongoing negotiations with the Turkish government.

“During the meeting, we were informed that there were soldiers who lost their lives due to methane gas poisoning in the territory of the Kurdistan Regional Government,” the delegation said.

“This incident caused Mr. Ocalan and all of us deep sadness. We wish Allah’s mercy to those who lost their lives and offer our condolences to their families and relatives.”

 

 


Trump says there’s a good chance for Gaza hostage and ceasefire deal this week

Trump says there’s a good chance for Gaza hostage and ceasefire deal this week
Updated 58 min 41 sec ago
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Trump says there’s a good chance for Gaza hostage and ceasefire deal this week

Trump says there’s a good chance for Gaza hostage and ceasefire deal this week
  • Netanyahu earlier said he hoped his meeting with Trump could ‘advance’ Gaza deal ahead of Doha talks
  • Hamas seeking guarantees against a resumption of fighting during negotiations and of UN-led aid distribution system

WASHINGTON/JERUSALEM: US President Donald Trump on Sunday said there was a good chance a Gaza hostage release and ceasefire deal could be reached with the Palestinian militant group Hamas this week.

Trump told reporters before departing for Washington that such a deal meant “quite a few hostages” could be released.

Netanyahu said earlier in the day that he hoped his upcoming meeting with Trump could “help advance” a Gaza ceasefire deal, after sending negotiators to Doha for indirect talks with Hamas.

A Palestinian official familiar with the talks on Sunday said that indirect negotiations between Israel and Hamas toward a ceasefire deal in the Gaza Strip had started in Qatar.

“Negotiations are about implementation mechanisms and hostage exchange, and positions are being exchanged through mediators,” the official said.

Under mounting pressure to end the war, now approaching its 22nd month, the Israeli premier is scheduled to sit down on Monday with Trump, who has recently made a renewed push to end the fighting.

Speaking before boarding Israel’s state jet bound for Washington, Netanyahu said: “We are working to achieve this deal that we have discussed, under the conditions that we have agreed to.”

He said he had dispatched the team to Doha “with clear instructions,” and thought the meeting with Trump “can definitely help advance this (deal), which we are all hoping for.”

“We’ve gotten a lot of the hostages out, but pertaining to the remaining hostages, quite a few of them will be coming out,” Trump added.

He said the United States was “working on a lot of things” with Israel, including “probably a permanent deal with Iran.”

Netanyahu had previously said Hamas’s response to a draft US-backed ceasefire proposal contained “unacceptable” demands.

Since the start of Israel’s war against Hamas in Gaza, mediators have brokered pauses in fighting during which hostages were freed in exchange for Israel-held Palestinian prisoners.

Of the 251 hostages taken by Palestinian militants during the October 2023 attack, 49 are still being held in Gaza, including 27 the Israeli military says are dead.

Israel’s military campaign, lack of food and dire humanitarian conditions for more than 2 million people in the Gaza Strip has killed at least 57,418 people in Gaza, mostly civilians, according to the Hamas-run territory’s health ministry.

The United Nations considers the figures reliable.

Hamas’s October 2023 attack resulted in the deaths of 1,219 people, mostly civilians, according to an AFP tally based on Israeli official figures.

Earlier Sunday, a Palestinian official told AFP that Hamas would also seek the reopening of Gaza’s Rafah crossing to evacuate the wounded. Hamas’s top negotiator Khalil Al-Hayya was leading the delegation in Doha, the official told AFP.

Two Palestinian sources close to the discussions told AFP the proposal included a 60-day truce, during which Hamas would release 10 living hostages and several bodies in exchange for Palestinians detained by Israel.

However, they said, the group was also demanding certain conditions for Israel’s withdrawal, guarantees against a resumption of fighting during negotiations, and the return of the UN-led aid distribution system.

Israel’s retaliatory campaign has killed at least 57,418 people in Gaza, also mostly civilians, according to the Hamas-run territory’s health ministry. The United Nations considers the figures reliable.

(With AFP & Reuters)


Israel air strikes target 3 Houthi-controlled Yemeni ports, power plant and ship

Israel air strikes target 3 Houthi-controlled Yemeni ports, power plant and ship
Updated 8 min 45 sec ago
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Israel air strikes target 3 Houthi-controlled Yemeni ports, power plant and ship

Israel air strikes target 3 Houthi-controlled Yemeni ports, power plant and ship
  • Strikes came shortly after the Israeli military's evacuation warning, Houthi's Al-Masirah TV confirms
  • Strikes included Galaxy Leader merchant ship seized by Houthis in late 2023

ADEN: Israel has attacked Houthi targets in three Yemeni ports and a power plant, the Israeli military said early on Monday, marking the first Israeli attack on Yemen in almost a month.

The strikes on Hodeidah, Ras Isa and Salif ports, and Ras Qantib power plant were due to repeated Houthi attacks on Israel, the military added.

Since the start of the war in Gaza in October 2023, the Iran-aligned Houthis have fired at Israel and at shipping in the Red Sea, disrupting global trade, in what it says are acts of solidarity with the Palestinians.

Most of the dozens of missiles and drones fired toward Israel have been intercepted or fallen short. Israel has carried out a series of retaliatory strikes.

Israel also attacked Galaxy Leader ship in Ras Isa port, which was seized by Houthis in late 2023, the military added.

This photo taken on November 22, 2023, shows the Galaxy Leader cargo ship, seized by Houthi fighters earlier, at a port on the Red Sea in Yemen’s province of Hodeida. (AFP)

“The Houthi terrorist regime’s forces installed a radar system on the ship, and are using it to track vessels in international maritime space, in order to promote the Houthi terrorist regime’s activities,” the military said.

The Houthi military spokesperson said following the attacks that Houthis’ air defenses confronted the Israeli attack ‘by using a large number of domestically produced surface-to-air missiles’.

Residents told Reuters that the Israeli strikes on the Red Sea port city of Hodeidah put the main power station out of service, leaving the city in darkness.

There were no immediate reports of casualties.

Houthi-run Al-Masirah TV reported that Israel launched a series of strikes on Hodeidah, shortly after the Israeli military issued an evacuation warning for people at the three Yemeni ports.

The assault comes hours after a ship was attacked off of Hodeidah and the ship’s crew abandoned it as it took on water.

No one immediately claimed responsibility for the attack, but security firm Ambrey said the vessel fits the typical profile of a Houthi target.

Israel has severely hurt other allies of Iran in the region — Lebanon’s Hezbollah and the Palestinian militant group Hamas.

The Tehran-backed Houthis and pro-Iranian armed groups in Iraq are still standing.

The group’s leader, Abdul Malik Al-Houthi, created the force challenging world powers from a group of ragtag mountain fighters in sandals.

Under the direction of Al-Houthi, the group has grown into an army of tens of thousands of fighters and acquired armed drones and ballistic missiles. Saudi Arabia and the West say the arms come from Iran, though Tehran denies this. 

 


Israeli forces kill two Palestinians in West Bank during raid on Salem village

Israeli forces kill two Palestinians in West Bank during raid on Salem village
Updated 06 July 2025
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Israeli forces kill two Palestinians in West Bank during raid on Salem village

Israeli forces kill two Palestinians in West Bank during raid on Salem village
  • Wissam Ghassan Hasan Ishtiya, 37, was shot by Israeli forces
  • Qusay Nasser Mahmoud Nassar, 23, also from Salem, was killed by Israeli fire

LONDON: Israeli forces killed two Palestinians in the occupied West Bank and injured others during a raid in Salem on Sunday.

Wissam Ghassan Hasan Ishtiya, 37, was shot by Israeli forces in Salem, a village east of Nablus, after they stormed the area and surrounded two houses, firing live ammunition. Ishtiya was injured and detained while wounded before being pronounced dead, the Wafa agency confirmed.

Qusay Nasser Mahmoud Nassar, 23, also from Salem, was killed by Israeli fire. A 62-year-old Palestinian male was wounded by live ammunition and transported to the hospital by Palestinian Red Crescent Society paramedics on Sunday, Wafa added.

Adli Ishtiya, the head of the Salem council, told Wafa that Israeli forces stormed the town and surrounded two houses on its eastern side amid gunfire and the arrival of military reinforcements. Clashes broke out between residents and Israeli troops, during which the latter fired live ammunition at residents and their homes.

The Red Crescent Society reported that its paramedics received the body of Qusay Nassar from inside one of the two surrounding homes in Salem and transferred it to Rafidia Governmental Hospital.

Since late 2023, nearly 1,000 Palestinians have been killed in the West Bank, and 7,000 have been injured. Israeli forces conduct daily raids on various Palestinian villages in the Palestinian territories, where they have maintained a military occupation since June 1967.