ARABINFOCUS

                                            CLASHES IN SUDAN CAUSE 400 VICTIMS At least 400 people have died in the clashes that have been taking place for two weeks between the regular Sudanese army and the paramilitary forces belonging to the Rapid Support Forces (RSF), led by Mohamed "Hemdti" Hamdan Dagalo. Foreign expatriates have already begun to leave the country, while the United States has closed its embassy in Khartoum and evacuated staff. The violence was triggered by disagreement over an internationally backed plan to form a new civilian government four years after the fall of authoritarian leader Omar al-Bashir and two years after a military coup. Both sides accuse the other of thwarting the transition. When fighting broke out on April 15, both sides blamed the other for provoking the violence. The army accused the RSF of illegal mobilisation in preceding days and ...

                                        WISHES ALL YOUR READERS A VERY HAPPY EID AL-FITR  

            The Tunisian Islamist, Rached Ghannouchi, arrested at his home. The leader of the Tunisian Islamist party, Ennahdha, was arrested this Monday at his home, in a test of firmness that the president, Kaid Saied, has been demonstrating against the political opposition. During the term of the president, Zine El Abidin Ben Ali, the Islamist took refuge in Great Britain and was considered the main accuser of Ben Al. After the “Arab spring”, Ghannouchi returned to Tunisia and reinstated his political formation, which became one of the most important formations in the new Parliament He was arrested by police at his home in Tunis, Ennahdha said in a statement, denouncing "this extremely serious development" and calling for his "immediate release". Ennahdha vice-president Mondher Lounissi told a press conference that Rached Ghannouchi had been taken to a police barracks for questioning and that his lawyers had not been allowed to attend. His arrest comes a...

                                  BRINGING SYRIA BACK TO ARAB LEAGUE? According to a statement from the Saudi Foreign Ministry released yesterday, the meeting attended by all members of the Gulf Cooperation Council (GCC) focused on the importance for Arab countries to "play a leading role in initiatives to end the crisis" in Syria. They dialogued around the "mechanisms necessary for this role and agreed to increase consultations between Arab countries to guarantee the success of these efforts", continues the same source.  As at the Arab Summit in Algiers, countries including Algeria expressed the wish to see Syria resume its place in the Arab League. This is the case of Saudi Arabia, which severed relations with Damascus in 2012 but recently renewed contact with the Syrian authorities. In March, Syria and Saudi Arabia had discussions on resuming their consular services and, on Wednesday, Syrian For...

                                        TOWARDS THE END OF THE WAR IN YEMEN? Are we close to ending the conflict that divides Yemen? The question is logical considering the normalization of relations between Iran and Saudi Arabia, thanks to the medicine of Beijing. This Sunday, an official Saudi delegation, accompanied by representatives from Oman, who are acting as mediators, traveled to the Yemeni capital to negotiate a new truce with the Houthis rebels, which Tehran supports. Sanaa has been under rebel control for eight years. audi Arabia's ambassador to Yemen, Mohammed al-Jaber, was received by the rebels' political leader, Mehdi Machat, according to Houthi media, Saba news agency and Al-Massira TV channel. The latter broadcast images showing the two men shaking hands. The Saudi negotiators came "to discuss ways to move forward towards the establishment of peace", two Yemeni diplomats...

                                        HEZBOLLAH AND HAMAS MET IN LEBANON Concern is going up a notch for the region. The leaders of pro-Iranian Hezbollah in Lebanon, Hassan Nasrallah, and Palestinian Hamas, Ismaïl Haniyeh, met in Lebanon, Hezbollah announced on Sunday. Ismaïl Haniyeh has been in Beirut since Wednesday and his movement, in power in the Gaza Strip, was singled out by Israel in the firing of around thirty rockets Thursday from Lebanon. The Israeli army claimed that the unclaimed shots were "Palestinian" and most likely Hamas. It retaliated by carrying out strikes on Gaza, from where rockets had also been fired, and on southern Lebanon. During their meeting, the leaders of the two movements stressed that “the axis of the Resistance stands ready” in the face of developments and that “its components are cooperating” in the region, according to a statement from Hezbollah. The ...

                                  VIOLENCE WILL NOT SOLVE THE MIDDLE EAST CRISIS It is clear that acts of violence are not going to solve the crisis between Israelis and Palestinians. A political solution must be sought that is articulated in the creation of an independent Palestinian State with its capital in eastern Al Qods. Meanwhile, it must also be understood that in the face of the attacks perpetrated by the Israeli armed forces in Gaza and the West Bank, some Palestinian radicals promote acts of revenge. We are not saying that these acts of revenge must be approved, such as the attack that occurred on Friday in Tel Aviv where one person died and six others were injured. Accept it NOT in any way; but understanding the frustration and hatred of radical Palestinian groups is also necessary. Many of the attacks, if not all, occur in response to attacks by Israel, such as the one that occurred a few d...

                              ISRAEL BOMBS GAZA AND SOUTH LEBANON The Israeli armed forces have carried out several bombardments on Gaza and southern Lebanon in response to protest actions by some Palestinian radicals. The West Bank has become the scene of clashes between Palestinians and Israeli settlers in recent days. Violence is the worst solution to a conflict as serious as the relationship between Jews and Palestinians. But it is necessary to understand the reaction of groups of Palestinian radicals before the aggressions and provocations of Israel. Israeli forces have entered the Al Aqsa esplanade and violated this holy site of Islam. Following these attacks, Palestinian groups in Gaza have fired dozens of rockets at Israeli border towns. Rockets have also been fired from the Lebanese border strip. Meanwhile, Egypt was mediating between Israel and Hamas to pacify the situation along the Israeli border with...

THE ISRAELI POLICE INTERVENES IN AL AQSA IN THE FULL OF RAMADAN Israeli police announced on Wednesday that they had "arrested more than 350 people" during the violent clashes which pitted them overnight against what they described as "rioters" in the Al-Aqsa mosque in Jerusalem. These clashes, inside one of the most emblematic Muslim places of worship in the world, occurred as Muslims arrive in the middle of Ramadan in a particularly tense atmosphere between Israelis and Palestinians since the beginning of the year. Israeli police announced on Wednesday that they had "arrested more than 350 people" during the violent clashes which pitted them overnight against what they described as "rioters" in the Al-Aqsa mosque in Jerusalem.   These clashes, inside one of the most emblematic Muslim places of worship in the world, occurred as Muslims arrive in the middle of Ramadan and Jews celebrate Passover from Wednesday evening, in a particularly...