Syrians prepare for ‘predetermined’ election

Syrians prepare for ‘predetermined’ election
People walk past electoral campaign posters ahead of parliament elections in Damascus, on July 10, 2024. (AFP)
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Updated 12 July 2024
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Syrians prepare for ‘predetermined’ election

Syrians prepare for ‘predetermined’ election

DAMASCUS: Campaign posters have sprung up across Damascus as Syria prepares to hold a parliamentary election in government-held areas on Monday that is designed to renew the ruling Baath party’s grip on power.

It will be the fourth election to Syria’s largely rubber-stamp parliament since civil war erupted in 2011. As in the previous ones, President Bashar Assad’s Baath party, in power since 1963, is expected to secure most of the 250 seats.

“Although there are new candidates... the old ones that we’re used to seeing” are still running, said Fawaz Hanna, 56.

“Our demands are solely focused on living conditions,” said Hanna, referring to the hyperinflation caused by the war, which has driven millions into poverty.

“We urge candidates to take responsibility for their slogans and to keep their promises,” he added.

Outside his photography studio in central Damascus, candidates have put up campaign posters promising to revive the economy.

On one banner, a candidate pledged “to support small businesses,” while another, a few meters away promised “a competitive industry... a thriving economy.”

The Baath party and its secular left-wing and Arab nationalist allies are running virtually unopposed in the election with independents the only alternative.

Polling stations will operate only in government-controlled areas, effectively disenfranchising the millions of Syrians who live in the Kurdish-controlled northeast or in areas along the Turkish border controlled by Ankara-backed rebels or by jihadists.

Candidates are still contesting seats allocated to the north and northeast but only voters who have moved to government-controlled areas can cast ballots in the designated polling stations.

The millions of Syrians who have found refuge abroad also have no vote.

Syria’s exiled opposition issued a statement Wednesday condemning the election as “absurd” and saying that polls organized by the government “only represent the ruling authority.”

Authorities said 8,953 candidates, including 1,317 women, are competing for a seat in parliament.

“Most of the candidates are men, I only saw pictures of two female candidates,” said Aya Jdid, 22, a Damascus University student.

In another part of the city, a group presenting themselves as independents set up a tent with pictures of candidates on their list — mostly businessmen wearing suits.

“I don’t expect these elections to be any different than the previous ones, because we’re seeing the same” candidates, said 46-year-old event planner Johnny Arbash.

“However, we ask that they work in the interest of the people, who are tired after years of war,” he said.

Arbash said the fledgling rehabilitation of Assad’s government on the regional diplomatic stage gave him some hope for the economy.

“We are following news of political openings with Saudi Arabia and a possible rapprochement with Turkiye, and we hope this will have an impact on... living conditions,” Arbash said.

Last year, Damascus was readmitted to the Arab League after reconciling with Gulf Arab states that had championed its suspension from the regional bloc.

Earlier this month, President Recep Tayyip Erdogan said he might invite Assad to Turkiye “at any moment.”

Geography teacher Hossam Shaheen, 40, told AFP he was excited to vote and had urged his friends to do so too.

“We must vote instead of watching and criticizing,” he said.

But Bashir, 33, who gave only his first name, said he intended to spoil his ballot in protest at the “predetermined” outcome.

“I don’t believe in any of the candidates, but at the same time... it’s my right to participate,” he said.

“I will cast a blank vote.”


UAE president, king of Bahrain discuss ties in Abu Dhabi

UAE president, king of Bahrain discuss ties in Abu Dhabi
Updated 30 sec ago
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UAE president, king of Bahrain discuss ties in Abu Dhabi

UAE president, king of Bahrain discuss ties in Abu Dhabi
  • Several Emirati and Bahraini officials attended the meeting
  • Leaders explored ways to strengthen Abu Dhabi-Manama ties in support of shared interests

LONDON: UAE President Sheikh Mohamed bin Zayed Al-Nahyan visited King Hamad bin Isa Al-Khalifa of Bahrain at his residence in Abu Dhabi on Thursday to discuss relations between the two countries.

The two leaders discussed cooperation between Manama and Abu Dhabi, exploring ways to strengthen their ties in support of shared interests and aspirations for continued progress, development and prosperity, the Emirates News Agency reported.

Several UAE officials attended the meeting, including Sheikh Theyab bin Mohamed bin Zayed Al-Nahyan, deputy chairman of the Presidential Court for Development and Martyrs Families affairs, and Sheikh Hamdan bin Mohamed bin Zayed Al-Nahyan, deputy chairman of the Presidential Court for Special Affairs.

The Bahraini side included Lt. Gen. Sheikh Nasser bin Hamad Al-Khalifa, the national security adviser, Royal Guard commander and secretary general of the Supreme Defense Council of Bahrain, and Sheikh Khalid bin Hamad Al-Khalifa, the first deputy chairman of the Supreme Council for Youth and Sports and president of the General Sports Authority of Bahrain.


Wildfires kill two in western Turkiye, little-known group claims arson attacks

Wildfires kill two in western Turkiye, little-known group claims arson attacks
Updated 03 July 2025
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Wildfires kill two in western Turkiye, little-known group claims arson attacks

Wildfires kill two in western Turkiye, little-known group claims arson attacks
  • The latest casualty was a backhoe operator, Ibrahim Demir, who died while battling the flames in the Odemis district
  • A group calling itself “Children of Fire” claimed responsibility

ISTANBUL: A wildfire killed a second person in Türkiye’s western Izmir province on Tuesday as blazes raged for a seventh day across several regions, while a little-known group claiming ties to Kurdish militants said it was behind dozens of arson attacks.

The latest casualty was a backhoe operator, Ibrahim Demir, who died while battling the flames in the Odemis district, the state-run Anadolu news agency said.

Earlier, an 81-year-old bedridden man who was home alone in the same area died when fire reached his house, marking the first death since the fires began.

A group calling itself “Children of Fire” claimed responsibility for “tens of fires across six Turkish cities”, according to a statement shared online.

The group, which is little known, says it is affiliated with the outlawed Kurdistan Workers Party (PKK), designated a terrorist group by Türkiye, the United States and European Union. The PKK, which said in May that it was ending a 40-year insurgency and disbanding, has not commented on the claim.

Firefighters continued to battle flames with helicopters and planes dropping water over mountainous terrain in Izmir, while authorities closed some roads to the Aegean resort town of Cesme, Anadolu said.

Broadcasters showed footage of flames lining the main highway as water tankers arrived.

Türkiye, Greece and other countries in the Mediterranean are in an area scientists dub “a wildfire hotspot” — with blazes common during hot and dry summers. These have become more destructive in recent years due to a fast-changing climate.

Wildfires across Türkiye’s west have damaged around 200 homes and victims have been provided alternative accommodation, Interior Minister Ali Yerlikaya said. Some 50,000 people were temporarily evacuated earlier this week from areas of fires fueled by high temperatures, low humidity and strong winds.

New fires also broke out on Thursday in the southern resort province of Antalya and in forested areas near Istanbul, Türkiye’s largest city, Anadolu said. Authorities have managed to contain several of the blazes.


US imposes fresh sanctions targeting Iran oil trade, Hezbollah

US imposes fresh sanctions targeting Iran oil trade, Hezbollah
Updated 03 July 2025
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US imposes fresh sanctions targeting Iran oil trade, Hezbollah

US imposes fresh sanctions targeting Iran oil trade, Hezbollah
  • Action targets network of companies buying and shipping billions of dollars worth of Iranian oil disguised as, or blended with, Iraqi oil

WASHINGTON: The US imposed sanctions on Thursday against a network that smuggles Iranian oil disguised as Iraqi oil, and on a Hezbollah-controlled financial institution, the Treasury Department said.

A network of companies run by Iraqi-British national Salim Ahmed Said has been buying and shipping billions of dollars worth of Iranian oil disguised as, or blended with, Iraqi oil since at least 2020, the department said.

“Treasury will continue to target Tehran’s revenue sources and intensify economic pressure to disrupt the regime’s access to the financial resources that fuel its destabilizing activities,” Treasury Secretary Scott Bessent said.

The US has imposed waves of sanctions on Iran’s oil exports over its nuclear program and funding of militant groups across the Middle East.

Reuters reported late last year that a fuel oil smuggling network that generates at least $1 billion a year for Iran and its proxies has

flourished in Iraq since 2022.

Thursday’s sanctions came after the US carried out strikes on June 22 on three Iranian nuclear sites, including its most deeply buried enrichment plant Fordow. The Pentagon said on Wednesday the strikes had degraded Iran’s nuclear program by up to two years, despite a far more cautious initial assessment that had leaked to the public.

The US and Iran are expected to hold talks about its nuclear program next week in Oslo, Axios reported.

The Treasury Department also issued sanctions against several senior officials and one entity associated with the Hezbollah-controlled financial institution Al-Qard Al-Hassan.

The officials, the department said, conducted millions of dollars in transactions that ultimately benefited, but obscured, Hezbollah.


One person killed, 4 injured in Israeli airstrike on car in Beirut

Lebanese soldiers cordon off the site after a reported Israeli strike on a vehicle in Khaldeh, south of the capital Beirut.
Lebanese soldiers cordon off the site after a reported Israeli strike on a vehicle in Khaldeh, south of the capital Beirut.
Updated 03 July 2025
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One person killed, 4 injured in Israeli airstrike on car in Beirut

Lebanese soldiers cordon off the site after a reported Israeli strike on a vehicle in Khaldeh, south of the capital Beirut.
  • Israeli military spokesperson says the army ‘targeted a terrorist in Lebanon who was involved in arms smuggling and advancing terrorist plots against Israeli citizens and army forces’
  • Israeli army forces enter Kfar Kila, the closest Lebanese town to Israel, on Thursday morning and blow up a civilian home

BEIRUT: An Israeli drone attack hit a car on Khaldeh Road in southern Beirut at about 5 p.m. on Thursday. Initial reports suggested one person was killed and at least four injured.

The drone fired two guided missiles at the vehicle, scoring direct hits. The road on which it was traveling was described as a typically busy road.

The Israeli army confirmed the attack. In a message posted on social media platform X, military spokesperson Avichay Adraee said: “The Israeli army targeted a terrorist in Lebanon who was involved in arms smuggling and advancing terrorist plots against Israeli citizens and army forces on behalf of the Iranian Quds Force.”

The attack took place three days before US envoy Thomas Barrack is due visit to Beirut to receive Lebanon’s response to US disarmament proposals designed to restrict control of weapons in the country to the Lebanese state, and a day after Hezbollah reiterated its rejection of the demand.

Hezbollah’s secretary-general, Naim Qassem, said on Wednesday that the group “categorically rejects any efforts to disarm. We do not accept being led into humiliation, nor surrendering our land or weapons to the Israeli enemy.”

The matter of weapons is “an internal Lebanese issue that must be addressed internally, without external supervision or interference,” he added.

“The party will not submit to any external threat or pressure. No one decides for us or imposes choices on us that we do not accept. Our weapons are our legitimate and legal right to confront the Israeli occupation.”

On Thursday morning, Israeli army forces entered the southern town of Kfar Kila and blew up a civilian home. Located across the border from the Israeli settlement of Metula, Kfar Kila is the closest Lebanese town to Israel, separated only by a border fence. The UN Interim Force in Lebanon and the Lebanese army maintain a permanent presence in the area.


Algeria jails historian who questioned Amazigh culture

Algeria jails historian who questioned Amazigh culture
Updated 03 July 2025
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Algeria jails historian who questioned Amazigh culture

Algeria jails historian who questioned Amazigh culture
  • He was arrested on May 3 for “the crime of undermining national unity“
  • Belghit’s lawyer Toufik Hichour said on Facebook that a court sentenced him to five years

ALGIERS: An Algerian court on Thursday sentenced historian Mohamed Amine Belghit to five years in prison for offending national symbols, his lawyer said, after remarks questioning the existence of the native Amazigh culture.

Belghit sparked outrage in the North African country when he said in a recent interview that “the Amazigh language is an ideological project of Franco-Zionist origin,” and that “there’s no such thing as Amazigh culture.”

He was arrested on May 3 for “the crime of undermining national unity” by targeting “symbols of the nation and the republic” as well as “disseminating hate speech,” the prosecution said at the time.

On Thursday, Belghit’s lawyer Toufik Hichour said on Facebook that a court outside the capital Algiers sentenced him to five years behind bars.

The prosecutor had requested seven years jailtime and a fine of 700,000 dinars ($5,400).

Algeria in 2016 granted official status to Tamazight, the language of the Amazigh people, who are also known as Berbers.

The Berber new year celebration, Yennayer, was added in 2017 to the list of national holidays.

Belghit, a university professor, is no stranger to controversies.

His remarks often cause uproar, with critics accusing him of historical revisionism and hostility toward the Amazigh people.