Wildfires in Greece kill 74 in deadliest blazes in decades

July 24, 2018

RAFINA, Greece (AP) — The death toll from Greece's deadliest wildfires in decades climbed to 74 Tuesday as rescue crews searched on land and sea for those who sought to escape the blazes that engulfed popular summer resort spots near Athens.

The number of victims appeared set to go even higher, with crews checking charred homes and vehicles and the coast guard scouring beaches and deeper waters. There was no definitive count of the missing.

Fueled by 80 kph (50 mph) winds that frequently changed direction, the fires — one to the west of Athens near the town of Kineta and another to the northeast near the port of Rafina — spread at speeds that surprised many, trapping hundreds on beaches and cutting off escape routes.

All the casualties appeared to be from the fire near Rafina, a popular seaside area that is a mix of permanent residences and vacation homes. The blaze broke out Monday afternoon during a hot, dry spell but the cause was not immediately clear. Aerial photos showed charred swathes of forest and homes.

Prime Minister Alexis Tsipras declared three days of national mourning. Apart from the dead, which included children, hospitals treated 187 people, most for burns, with 10 listed in serious condition.

Although it had abated by Tuesday afternoon, the blaze was far from extinguished and more than 230 firefighters were still trying to put it out, helped by volunteers and water-dropping aircraft. Another five fires continued to burn, with flare-ups reported in the blaze near Kineta. Authorities ordered the evacuation of some communities as a preventive measure.

Authorities urged the public to contact them about the missing. Many took to social media, posting photos and what was believed to be their last location before the fires hit. Twenty-six of the dead were found after dawn Tuesday, huddled in a compound near the sea in the community of Mati, the worst-hit area near Rafina, about 50 kilometers (30 miles) west of Athens.

Red Cross rescuers said they appeared to be families or groups of friends because they were found hugging in groups of threes and fours. Hundreds of homes and cars were believed to have been burned. Many vehicles were found with the keys still in the ignition and doors open, a sign of the urgency with which their occupants sought to flee the flames. Narrow roads quickly became jammed, forcing many to try to escape on foot. The ferocity of the fire melted cars' metal hub caps.

Many ran to beaches, but even there the fire got so close and the smoke was so thick that dozens swam out to sea despite the rough weather. Coast guard and private boats picked up more than 700 survivors from beaches and the sea — but also recovered six bodies.

"It happened very fast. The fire was in the distance, then sparks from the fire reached us. Then the fire was all around us," said Nikos Stavrinidis, who had gone with his wife to fix up his summer home for a visit by his daughter.

Stavrinidis, his wife and four friends swam out to sea to escape the smoke, but they quickly became disoriented, losing sight of shore and being swept out farther by the wind and currents. Two of his group didn't survive.

"It is terrible to see the person next to you drowning and not being able to help him," Stavrinidis said, his voice breaking. The rest of the survivors were picked up by a fishing boat with an Egyptian crew who jumped into the water to rescue them.

Rafina's dock became a makeshift hospital overnight as paramedics examined survivors, some wearing only their bathing suits, after being dropped off by rescue boats. Rafina Mayor Evangelos Bournous said his home had burned down and his family escaped by going into the sea.

The speed of the fires caught many by surprise. "Everything happened in seconds," said Andreaas Passios, who lives next to the compound in Mati where the 26 bodies were found. "I grabbed a beach towel. It saved my life. I soaked it, grabbed my wife and we ran to the sea."

Passios said he and his wife stayed by the sea for two hours. "It was unbelievable. Gas canisters were exploding. Burning pine cones were flying everywhere," he said. Among the survivors was former Greek Communist Party leader Aleka Papariga.

"The police tried to direct us away from the fire, but we couldn't escape it," she said. "We got stuck in traffic and the flames were on top of us. We managed to find a small gap and we made it out." Local officials provided housing, food and clothes for those affected.

Greece sought help in fighting the fires from the European Union. Spain sent two firefighting aircraft, while Cyprus sent in 60 firefighters. Israel, Turkey, Macedonia, Bulgaria, Croatia, Italy and Germany also offered assistance.

Over the two days, 47 brush and forest fires broke out across Greece, with most of them quickly extinguished, the fire department said. Heavy rain was forecast Wednesday across southern Greece, and there was hope that could help firefighters.

Forest fires are common during Greece's hot, dry summers and temperatures recently reached up to 40 degrees Celsius (104 Fahrenheit). In 2007, more than 60 people were killed when huge fires swept across the southern Peloponnese region.

Becatoros reported from Athens. Associated Press writer Costas Kantouris in Thessaloniki contributed.

Bodies found clasped in hugs as Greek wildfires kill 50

July 24, 2018

RAFINA, Greece (AP) — Wildfires raged through seaside resorts near the Greek capital, torching homes, cars and forests and killing at least 50 people, authorities said Tuesday. Twenty-six of the dead were believed to be groups of families or friends who were found huddled together, some of them hugging.

Rescue crews were searching the charred remains of homes and cars in the deadliest of the fires, the one in the Rafina area northeast of Athens, and there were fears the death toll could rise. More than 170 people were treated in hospitals for injuries including burns.

The country's prime minister, Alexis Tsipras, declared three days of national mourning for those killed in the deadliest fire season to hit Greece in more than a decade. With the flames whipped up by gale-force winds that frequently changed direction, many tourists and residents fled toward the coastline. Some swam out to sea, braving rough water and strong currents to escape the ferocious flames and choking smoke. A flotilla of boats, including some from the coast guard, evacuated more than 700 people by sea from threatened beaches overnight, authorities said.

"It happened very fast. The fire was in the distance, then sparks from the fire reached us. Then the fire was all around us," said resident Nikos Stavrinidis, who had gone with his wife to fix up his summer home for a visit by his daughter.

Stavrinidis, his wife and four friends swam out into the sea to escape the smoke, but they quickly became disoriented, losing sight of the shore and being swept out further by the wind and currents. Two of the group didn't survive.

"It is terrible to see the person next to you drowning and not being able to help him," Stavrinidis said, his voice breaking. The remaining survivors were picked up by a fishing boat with an Egyptian crew who jumped into the water to rescue them.

Others never made it to the beach. The head of Greece's Red Cross, Nikos Oikonomopoulos, told Skai television that a Red Cross rescue team found 26 bodies in a compound northeast of Athens, some of them clutching each other in groups of threes and fours.

"Everything happened in seconds," said Andreaas Passios, who lives next to the compound. "I grabbed a beach towel. It saved my life. I soaked it, grabbed my wife and we ran to the sea." Passios said he and his wife stayed by the sea for two hours.

"It was unbelievable. Gas canisters were exploding. Burning pine cones were flying everywhere," he said. When the flames died down, Spyros Hadjiandreou came searching for loved ones. "My niece and cousin were staying here on holiday. I don't know if they made it out," he said. "I don't know if they are OK. I haven't heard from them."

The death toll stood at 50 by Tuesday morning, government spokesman Dimitris Tzanakopoulos said. By early afternoon, the Health Ministry's emergency operations said 71 adults continued to be hospitalized, 10 of them in serious condition. Twenty-three children were also being treated for injuries in hospitals, none of them in serious condition.

The two largest wildfires — one 30 kilometers (20 miles) northeast of Athens near Rafina, the other 50 kilometers (30 miles) west of the capital in Kineta — broke out Monday during hot, dry summer conditions. Fanned by gale-force winds, the flames spread rapidly into seaside towns, moving too fast for many who were in their cars or homes to flee, fire department spokeswoman Stavroula Malliri said.

"The police tried to direct us away from the fire, but we couldn't escape it," said Aleka Papariga, a former Greek Communist Party leader who lives near Rafina. "We got stuck in traffic and the flames were on top of us. We managed to find a small gap and we made it out."

Evangelos Bournous, the mayor of Rafina, blamed the winds. "We were unlucky," he said. "The wind changed and it came at us with such force that it razed the coastal area in minutes." Tzanakopoulos said 715 people were evacuated from beaches and the coastline by navy vessels, yachts and fishing boats. The coast guard said 19 people were rescued at sea, some of whom had swum out to escape the flames.

Rafina's dock became a makeshift hospital during the night as paramedics checked survivors, some clad in only their bathing suits, who emerged from coast guard vessels and private boats. In all, 47 brush and forest fires broke out across Greece on Monday and early Tuesday, with most of them quickly extinguished, the fire department said. Ten were still burning late Tuesday morning, including blazes in Corinth, Crete and in central and northern Greece.

More than 400 firefighters and volunteer firefighters were battling the two fires near Athens, supported by seven water-dropping helicopters and three aircraft. Greece sought international help through the European Union. Spain was sending two firefighting aircraft while Cyprus was sending in 60 firefighters. Israel and Turkey both also offered assistance.

Heavy rain was forecast across southern Greece on Wednesday, with hopes they could help in the firefighting effort. Forest fires are common in Greece during the hot, dry summers, and temperatures recently reached up to 40 degrees Celsius (104 Fahrenheit).

In 2007, more than 60 people were killed when huge fires swept across the southern Peloponnese region.

Becatoros reported from Athens. Associated Press writer Costas Kantouris in Thessaloniki contributed to this report.

Death toll set to rise in Greek seaside wildfires

July 24, 2018

RAFINA, Greece (AP) — The death toll from twin wildfires that raged through Greek seaside areas looked set to increase to around 50 Tuesday after rescue crews reported finding the bodies of more than 20 people huddled closely together near a beach northeast of the capital, Athens.

Greece sought international help through the European Union as fires on either side of Athens left lines of cars torched, charred farms and forests, and sent hundreds of people racing to beaches to be evacuated by navy vessels, yachts and fishing boats.

The official death toll stood at 24 early Tuesday. Authorities said that more than 100 people were injured, including 11 in serious condition. They could not immediately confirm reports of many more deaths, but rescue crews working through the charred areas where the fire had passed through to the northeast of Athens told local media that at first light, they had found the bodies of more than 20 people gathered in one place near a beach.

The head of Greece's Red Cross, Nikos Oikonomopoulos, told Skai television a member of a Red Cross rescue team had told him the crew had found 26 bodies, apparently families, huddled tightly together, many of them hugging.

Merchant Marine deputy minister Nektarios Santorinios, whose ministry is in charge of the coast guard, said more than 700 people had been evacuated by sea by the coast guard. Winds reached 80 kph (50 mph) as authorities deployed the country's entire fleet of water-dropping planes and helicopters to give vacationers time to escape. Military drones remained in the air in the high winds to help officials direct more than 600 firefighters on the ground.

"We were unlucky. The wind changed and it came at us with such force that it razed the coastal area in minutes," said Evangelos Bournous, mayor of the port town of Rafina, a sleepy mainland port that serves Greek holiday islands.

The dock area became a makeshift hospital as paramedics checked survivors, some of them clad in only their bathing suits, when they came off coast guard vessels and private boats. The operation continued through the night.

At daybreak Tuesday, Ambulance Service deputy director Miltiadis Mylonas said the number of casualties was likely to rise as the more gutted homes and cars were checked. "It took people by surprise and the events happened very fast. Also, the fires broke out on many fronts, so all these factors made the situation extremely difficult," he said.

"The task we face now is organizing the identification of victims by members of their families." The fire posed no immediate threat to Greece's famed ancient monuments, but as it raged inland, children's' summer camps and holiday homes were hastily abandoned. Fleeing drivers clogged highways into the capital, hampering the firefighting effort, and flecks of ash swirled onto central Athens.

It was the deadliest fire season to hit Greece in more than a decade. More than 60 people were killed in 2007 when huge fires swept across the southern Peloponnese region. "It's a difficult night for Greece," Prime Minister Alexis Tsipras said after cutting short a trip to Bosnia and returning to Athens.

Authorities said Cyprus and Spain offered assistance after the request for EU help was made. Greek Fire Service officials issued public pleas for residents in fire-affected areas to comply with evacuation orders and not stay on in an effort to save their homes.

Rafina's mayor said he believed about 100 houses in that area had burned. The fire service was not able to confirm the figure. Showers that passed over the Greek capital Monday missed the two big fires — one at Rafina, 30 kilometers (18 miles) to the east, and the other at Kineta, 55 kilometers (35 miles) to the west. Heavy rain is forecast across southern Greece on Wednesday.

Forest fires are common in Greece during the hot, dry summers, and temperatures recently hit highs up to 40 degrees Celsius (104 Fahrenheit).

Associated Press writer Costas Kantouris in Thessaloniki contributed to this report.

London airports, trains disrupted by extreme weather

July 28, 2018

LONDON (AP) — Tourists and Britons hoping to go on vacation are enduring another day of travel trouble in Britain after severe weather led to flight cancellations and delays on cross-Channel trains. A week of extreme heat gave way to thunderstorms Friday, touching off travel delays on Saturday.

Budget airline Ryanair says Friday night's thunderstorms, along with air traffic control staff shortages, led to 14 cancelled flights at Stansted Airport. Other London-area airports — Luton, Gatwick and Heathrow — also warned of delays.

Nats, the UK air traffic control service, says the unpredictable nature of the storms means aircraft are not able to fly their usual routes. The service says the thunderstorms "effectively block large swathes of airspace because aircraft cannot fly through them."

Eurotunnel passengers faced a third day of disruption on the cross-Channel service.

New UK Brexit chief: We may not pay exit fee if no deal

July 22, 2018

LONDON (AP) — Britain's slow move away from the European Union took a new twist Sunday as the new Brexit chief suggested that Britain might not pay its 39 billion pound ($51 billion) divorce bill if no trade agreement with the European Union is reached.

Brexit Secretary Dominic Raab told the Sunday Telegraph that there must be "conditionality" between Britain making the hefty exit payment and its ability to create a new relationship with the EU. "You can't have one side fulfilling its side of the bargain and the other side not, or going slow, or failing to commit on its side," he said, implying that the threat of withholding payment might get Brexit talks back on track.

Britain and the EU remain far apart on terms of a new trade setup. British Prime Minister Theresa May's Conservative Party is also deeply split over what Brexit policy to support. Raab replaced David Davis, who resigned two weeks ago to protest May's "soft" Brexit plan.

May has faced a substantial rebellion from party colleagues who favor a complete break with the EU — a so-called "hard" Brexit — rather than May's proposal, which calls for a "common rule book" with European nations that would govern trade in goods.

EU negotiator Michel Barnier is also lukewarm on May's latest proposal, asking many questions about its viability Friday. Raab, however, says he is still hopeful a deal can be concluded by October so the EU parliament and national parliaments of EU nations can ratify the deal before Britain leaves in March.

"Actually the fact Michel Barnier is not blowing it out the water but asking questions is a good positive sign — that's what we negotiate on," Raab said, looking forward to more Brexit discussions Thursday in Brussels.

But former Prime Minister John Major warned that the hardliners in his own Conservative Party are making the situation worse. "The danger at the moment is that they will frustrate every move the government seeks to make and by accident, because nothing can be agreed, we will crash out without a deal," he said on the BBC.

Major said holding a second referendum to gauge public sentiment now that more is known about the true impact of Brexit would be "morally justified" because Brexit advocates made so many inflated claims ahead of the June 2016 vote.

"If you look back at the Leave campaign, a great many of the promises they made were fantasy promises," he said. "We now know they are not going to be met."

Sweden sends home foreign firefighters as wildfires die down

July 30, 2018

COPENHAGEN, Denmark (AP) — Foreign firefighters who helped their Swedish colleagues with raging wildfires in the past weeks have begun returning home as the fires die down, emergency authorities in Sweden said Monday.

Britta Ramberg, operative director of the Swedish Civil Contingencies Agency, said firefighters from France, Germany and Portugal have been assisting in efforts against dozens of wildfires mostly in central, western and northern Sweden.

Residents from a small town near the Arctic Circle who had been evacuated because of the wildfires were allowed to return home Monday, Sweden's TT news agency reported. Ramberg says local firefighters now could handle the several fires still remaining. She added a few of the international helpers and equipment would remain in Sweden.

On Monday, Sweden's center-left government earmarked 1.2 billion kronor ($355 million) to the country's farmers hit by the extremely dry weather. Finance Minister Magdalena Andersson said the "crisis package" came after "a shortage of fodder for the animals ... makes us feel very worried about the Swedish food supply."

With focus on Mexico, apprehensions grow at Canadian border

July 24, 2018

DERBY LINE, Vt. (AP) — While the Trump administration fortifies the southern border, there's growing concern over the number of foreigners entering the country illegally across the porous northern border with Canada.

People crossing the border between Vermont and Quebec have paid smugglers up to $4,000, usually payable when the immigrants reach their U.S. destination, according to officials and court documents. While the number of arrests is tiny compared with the southern border, the human smuggling is just as sophisticated.

"They are very well organized. They have scouted the area. They have scouted us," said U.S. Border Patrol Agent Richard Ross. "Basically, we are not dealing with the JV team; this is the varsity." Driving the increase here, officials say, is the ease of entry into Canada, where visas are no longer required for Mexicans, and a border that receives less scrutiny and resources than the southern border, where thousands fleeing violence in Central America are being detained.

In the Border Patrol sector that covers 300 miles (480 kilometers) of border with New York, Vermont and New Hampshire, agents have apprehended 324 people who crossed illegally from Canada so far this fiscal year, compared with 165 in all of 2017. Last month, agents apprehended 85 people across the three states, compared with 17 in June 2017 and 19 in June 2016, statistics show.

So far this fiscal year, there have been at least 267 apprehensions along Canada's border with Vermont alone, compared with 132 all of last year, according to statistics compiled by federal prosecutors in Vermont.

The statistics show no corresponding spike in illegal immigration or apprehensions elsewhere along the northern frontier. Border Patrol agents speculate it's because the area that includes Vermont is the first stretch of land border east of the Great Lakes and is a short drive from the population centers of Canada and the U.S. East Coast.

The northern border numbers are still small compared with the southern border. Federal statistics show that in fiscal 2017 there were 303,916 apprehensions on the U.S. border with Mexico, compared with 3,027 on the entire northern border.

Still, there is a growing sense of unease among U.S. law enforcement authorities. "The number of illegal alien apprehensions at the Vermont-Canada border has skyrocketed," said Christina Nolan, Vermont's U.S. attorney.

Much of the illegal border crossing activity in Vermont appears to be focused on a 30-mile (50-kilometer) segment of the Vermont-Quebec border where Interstate 91 reaches the Canadian border at Derby Line, about 50 miles (80 kilometers) southeast of Montreal.

From Derby Line, it's about a six-hour drive to New York and its teeming immigrant communities. Guarding the border here is tricky because Derby Line and the neighboring Quebec town of Stanstead comprise one community where homes and buildings happen to be bisected by an international border.

The community library was purposely built straddling the border to serve people in both communities. Quebecers simply cross an international boundary marked outside the library by pots of petunias. Occasionally, illegal border crossers will walk, or even drive, across near the library.

"This is really a town with an invisible border going through it," said Stanstead resident Matthew Farfan, who has written a book about life along the border, after he left the library's Vermont entrance and prepared to cross back into Canada.

As part of a broader recent immigration crackdown, U.S. Customs and Border Protection has set up highway checkpoints in Maine, New Hampshire and upstate New York. One person was apprehended in New York on charges she had picked up four people crossing from Canada.

Visa-less entry into Canada for countries like Mexico and Romania, another nationality noted by Nolan and Border Patrol agents as contributing to a spike in apprehensions, play a role by making the northern border more attractive for people seeking to enter the U.S. illegally, Nolan said. A plane ticket from Mexico City to Montreal or Toronto can cost less than $350.

The Canadian government in late 2016 lifted its requirement that Mexican citizens apply for visas to enter the country as part of broader efforts to strengthen ties with Mexico. A similar requirement for Romanian citizens took effect in late 2017.

Canada views the recent visa changes for Mexico and Romania as having a minimal impact on the border, said Beatrice Fenelon, a spokeswoman for Immigration, Refugees and Citizenship Canada. In the past two months, agents in Vermont have chased border crossers through the woods near Derby Line; there have been car chases and cases in which agents have lost sight of suspects in the woods, only to apprehend them days later.

"They have kind of gone southern-border style where they are taking a hike and they are coming through the tall grass," Ross said. "It's something I would have seen years ago when I worked in Harlingen, Texas."

The agents won't guess how many make it across. The flow of illegal border crossers goes in both directions. Since around the time President Donald Trump took office, thousands of immigrants in the U.S. have fled north to Canada seeking asylum.

Last October in the largest single case in memory of Border Patrol agents in the Derby Line area, 16 people were apprehended at a hotel after 14 had entered the United States west of Derby Line. The other two were the smugglers.

In another case east of Derby Line, a group of eight Mexican immigrants met at a McDonald's restaurant in Montreal after flying into Toronto and Montreal, where they hired two taxis to take them to Stanhope, Quebec, not far from where Quebec meets Vermont and New Hampshire.

After the immigrants walked six hours through the forest, they were apprehended by U.S. Border Patrol agents in Norton, Vermont, while riding in a taxi from Albany, New York, court documents say. The Royal Canadian Mounted Police, responsible for border security in Canada, made arrests last month in two human-smuggling cases between Stanstead and Derby Line.

In one case, the suspect, a Mexican who did not have legal status in Canada, has been convicted of bringing immigrants to the Vermont border and was sentenced to six months in jail, after which he will be deported.

The Mounties are aware of the cases and ready to help their U.S. counterparts, said RCMP spokeswoman Sgt. Camille Habel. But the RCMP doesn't appear to view the problem with the same urgency as U.S. officials: "It's not a trend yet," Habel said.

Contributing to this report were Associated Press writers Rob Gillies in Toronto; Michael Hill in Derby Line, Vermont; and David Sharp in Portland, Maine.

Counting starts after Zimbabweans vote in pivotal election

July 30, 2018

HARARE, Zimbabwe (AP) — With hope and pride, millions of Zimbabweans voted peacefully Monday in an election that many believe is their best chance to escape the toxic politics and dead-end economics of the era of Robert Mugabe, who wasn't on the ballot for the first time in the nation's nearly four-decade history.

But opposition activists used to the violence, intimidation and vote-tampering that marred elections under Mugabe called for vigilance against the same kind of skullduggery this time around. Western monitors noted some problems at polling stations, but said it wasn't yet clear whether they reflected a deliberate effort to manipulate the elections.

"They may be peaceful, but we don't know how credible they are," said 51-year-old Classified Chivese, a voter who, like many Zimbabweans, is unemployed. Zimbabwe's political climate has opened up since 94-year-old Mugabe, who once said he would rule for life, resigned in November after a military takeover and ruling party move to impeach him. Throngs celebrated the removal of Mugabe, in power since independence from white minority rule in 1980, but many Zimbabweans view Monday's election as an equally important milestone.

More than 5.5 million people were registered to vote in an election featuring a record more than 20 presidential candidates and nearly 130 political parties vying for parliamentary seats. If no presidential candidate wins more than 50 percent of the vote, a runoff will be held Sept. 8.

The two main contenders were 75-year-old President Emmerson Mnangagwa, a former deputy president and longtime enforcer for Mugabe who has reinvented himself as a candidate for change; and 40-year-old Nelson Chamisa, a lawyer and pastor who became head of the main opposition party a few months ago after the death of its leader, Morgan Tsvangirai.

After polls closed at 7 p.m. and vote-counting began, Mnangagwa appealed to Zimbabweans to be patient and wait for the Zimbabwe Electoral Commission to announce results. The final, official tally is expected within five days.

"Today, Zimbabwe experienced a beautiful expression of freedom & democracy," Mnangagwa tweeted. "No matter which way we voted, we are all brothers and sisters." Earlier, however, Chamisa said on Twitter that voting delays in urban areas, where his support is strong, were a "deliberate attempt" to undermine his election bid. The allegations by the head of the Movement for Democratic Change party intensified concerns about management of the election and the prospect of a dispute over its outcome.

The head of the European Union mission monitoring Zimbabwe's elections said his team saw "huge differences" in the pace of voting at polling stations. Voters at one location waited less than an hour to cast their ballots while others at a nearby station waited more than half the day, Elmar Brok said.

"In some cases, it works very smoothly," Brok said. "But in others, we see that it's totally disorganized and that people become angry, that people leave." He noted a case of the ruling ZANU-PF party delivering 100 people by bus to vote in a district where they didn't live. Observers have to check whether it was a single example or part of a pattern "which might have influence on the result of the elections," Brok said.

The fact that Brok and other Western observers were even in Zimbabwe and free to operate wherever they liked reflected a new transparency after years of Mugabe banning outside monitors. Still, there were concerns about bias in state media, a lack of transparency in ballot printing and reports of intimidation by pro-government traditional leaders who are supposed to stay neutral.

Among opposition objections was that the ballots listed presidential candidates in two columns of 14 and nine names, with Mnangagwa at the top of the second column — a spot that would presumably make it easier for people to vote for him. Observers say the law requires a single column of names in alphabetical order.

Also, millions of Zimbabweans living abroad, including in neighboring South Africa, were barred from voting unless they traveled home to do so. The government said it did not have the resources to organize voting for expatriates, many of whom are believed to support the opposition.

The Zimbabwe Electoral Commission, accused of manipulating election wins for Mugabe in the past, has said this vote will be free and fair. "We need peace and we need everyone to be comfortable, to go out and exercise their right to vote without fear," Priscilla Chigumba, a judge who chairs the commission, said during voting Monday.

Chigumba also said police have been informed about two presidential candidates who might have violated the law by campaigning after the cutoff time. She didn't name them, but they are likely to be Chamisa and Mnangagwa, both of whom issued public statements on Sunday.

Despite Mugabe's troubled legacy, dozens of cheering Zimbabweans gathered outside the polling station in the capital where he voted. Struggling to walk, Mugabe raised his fist to acknowledge them. He made his way into the polling center, had his finger inked and was assisted by his wife into the booth.

On Sunday, Mugabe said Chamisa was the only viable candidate and rejected Mnangagwa and the ruling party, saying: "I cannot vote for those who have tormented me." Mnangagwa hopes an election viewed as credible will bring international legitimacy and investment to Zimbabwe, though a seriously flawed process could signal more stagnation. The president is himself the target of U.S. sanctions imposed on some government leaders and companies over human rights concerns during the Mugabe era.

Despite expectations that the elections could bring a better life, Zimbabwe remains plagued by the hopelessness of unemployment, cash shortages and moribund industries. Many problems are due to mismanagement exacerbated by the country's old status as an international pariah.

"We need change because we have suffered a lot here," said 65-year-old Mable Mafaro, a voter in Harare. Another voter was exultant, comparing the election to the end of white minority rule. "I'm so happy," said 28-year-old Tapiwa Kahondo. "This is 1980 for Zimbabwe. We are so happy for today."

Associated Press journalist Bram Janssen contributed to this report.

Zimbabwe polls close, counting begins in pivotal election

July 30, 2018

HARARE, Zimbabwe (AP) — Polling stations in Zimbabwe closed on Monday after the country's first election without former leader Robert Mugabe on the ballot, and election officers prepared to start counting.

Zimbabwe's electoral commission has said it will announce final results within five days. Earlier, the main opposition leader in this southern African nation said reports of voting delays were a "deliberate attempt" to undermine his supporters. The allegations by Nelson Chamisa, leader of the Movement for Democratic Change party, intensified concerns about management of the election and the prospect of a dispute over its outcome.

President Emmerson Mnangagwa, a former deputy president, has promised a credible vote that he hopes will bring international legitimacy and investment. A seriously flawed process could signal more stagnation. Mugabe, 94, ruled Zimbabwe from independence in 1980 until his resignation in November, and many people are anxious for change.

Chamisa is concerned about delays at polling stations in urban areas, where support for the opposition has traditionally been strong while the ruling ZANU-PF party has dominated many rural areas in past elections marred by violence and irregularities.

"There seems to be a deliberate attempt to suppress and frustrate" urban voters through "unnecessary delays," Chamisa said on Twitter. He acknowledged that there was a "good turnout." After the 7 p.m. closure of one polling station, the presiding officer asked party polling agents to inspect voting booths to ensure there were no ballot papers. Then the polling agents inspected the ballot boxes, noting serial numbers on the locks.

Twelve hours earlier, long lines had formed outside many polling stations in Harare, the capital, and elsewhere. Anyone in line as of the 7 p.m. closing time could still vote, though opposition parties were concerned that their supporters could drift away if forced to wait for hours, in the open and without food or drink.

Some observers welcome Zimbabwe's freer political environment but cite worries about bias in state media, a lack of transparency in ballot printing and reports of intimidation by pro-government traditional leaders who are supposed to stay neutral.

The Zimbabwe Electoral Commission, accused of engineering flawed election wins for Mugabe in the past, has said this vote will be free and fair. "We need peace and we need everyone to be comfortable to go out and exercise their right to vote without fear," said Priscilla Chigumba, a judge who chairs the Zimbabwe Electoral Commission. She said she was confident that voting at most of the country's nearly 11,000 polling stations would be completed by the closing time.

About 5.5 million people were registered to vote in an election viewed by many as an opportunity to move beyond decades of political and economic paralysis. A record of more than 20 presidential candidates and nearly 130 political parties were participating. If no presidential candidate wins 50 percent of the vote, a runoff will be held Sept. 8.

"I want to do this and get on with my business. I am not leaving anything to chance. This is my future," said Emerina Akenda, a first-time voter. The two main contenders are 75-year-old Mnangagwa, who took over after Mugabe stepped down under military and ruling party pressure last year, and 40-year-old Chamisa, a lawyer and pastor who became head of the main opposition party a few months ago after the death of its leader, Morgan Tsvangirai.

After voting, Mnangagwa said the election was peaceful and that he is committed to a Zimbabwe in which people have the "freedom to express their views, negative or positive." Piercing whistles and cheers greeted Chamisa as he voted outside Harare. He said he hoped voting in rural areas, where most of Zimbabwe's voters are and where the ruling party usually holds sway, will be fair.

Despite Mugabe's troubled legacy, dozens of cheering Zimbabweans gathered outside the polling station in the capital where he voted. Struggling to walk, Mugabe raised his fist to acknowledge them. He made his way into the polling center and had his finger inked, and was assisted by his wife into the booth.

Mugabe on Sunday said Chamisa was the only viable candidate and rejected Mnangagwa and the ruling party, saying: "I cannot vote for those who have tormented me." Chigumba, the electoral commission chief, said police have been informed about two presidential candidates who might have violated the law by campaigning after the cutoff time. She didn't name them, but they are likely to be Chamisa and Mnangagwa, both of whom issued public statements on Sunday.

Even though it was a public holiday, some government offices were open so that those who had lost identity cards could get replacements and then cast their ballots. Inside polling stations, voters were given three ballot papers: one for their presidential pick, another for member of parliament and a third for local councilor. Polling officers helped voters put each ballot paper in the right box.

"We need change because we have suffered a lot here," said 65-year-old Mable Mafaro while voting in Harare. "We have suffered a lot. That's all."

South Africa rejects Saudi, UAE pressure to boycott Qatar

July 21, 2018

South Africa has rejected Saudi and UAE pressure to severe relations with Qatar, Al-Khaleej Online reported Pretoria’s envoy to Doha saying.

During a celebration to remember South African freedom icon Nelson Mandela in Doha on Wednesday, Faizel Moosa said that his country rejected such pressure “because it was against the values that Mandela fought for – not to interfere in the others’ internal affairs.”

“Qatari-South African relations are developing continuously,” Moosa said at the event. Commercial exchange between the two countries rose to 70 per cent after the siege imposed by Saudi Arabia, the UAE, Bahrain and Egypt in June last year, and there would be more mutual investments, he added.

A new station is being built in South Africa to allow for the delivery of Qatar gas, and businessmen from the small Gulf state are investing in South Africa.

He went on to hail Qatar’s role in Africa which has increased following the Emir of Qatar’s recent tour of the region.

Source: Middle East Monitor.
Link: https://www.middleeastmonitor.com/20180721-south-africa-rejects-saudi-uae-pressure-to-boycott-qatar/.

Mali votes in presidential election amid insecurity

July 29, 2018

BAMAKO, Mali (AP) — Thousands of Malians voted in presidential elections Sunday in the capital, but others struggled in parts of the country's north where some ballot boxes were burned and in the central region where voters feared threats by extremist groups.

Voters have expressed concern about being targeted after al-Qaida's Mali branch have warned for months against going to the polls. Deadly communal clashes between ethnic groups and accusations of heavy-handed counterterror operations have complicated what President Ibrahim Boubacar Keita hopes will be an election victory leading him to a second term.

The 73-year-old, who was elected in 2013, faces 23 candidates in the first round. As he voted in Bamako, Keita commended Malians on a successful and peaceful day of voting. "It is a real pleasure for me to perform this citizen act, and it is the start of victory for the people of Mali, who have voted in calm and serenity," he said. "This vote will have demonstrated our democratic maturity and our status as a great people."

His main challenger is 68-year-old Soumaila Cisse, his rival in 2013, who has criticized the president for not addressing Mali's rising insecurity. No polling stations opened in some central Mali Fulani villages under the control of jihadists, including Yamassadiou and Onde. And despite the presence of Mali's army in Boulikessi, stations didn't open there, said a security official in the region who spoke on condition of anonymity because he wasn't permitted to speak to the press.

Only a few stations were closed in Douentza district in Mali's central Mopti region, where armed men kidnapped the head of a polling station in Gandamia village, the official said. Though that particular station reopened, people fear going to the polls.

Opposition leader Cisse, who voted in his village, Niafounke in the Timbuktu region, said that in Dianke, ballot boxes were taken away. He also said that ballot materials for another village Berre, remained in Timbuktu.

"Despite the difficulties of insecurity and transport, it was a duty for me to come and vote here with the people who trust me," Cisse said. "Malians must vote, it is very important. Each Malian must also be vigilant against attempts of electoral fraud. There must be transparency."

Several political parties have expressed doubts about a valid election after duplicate and fictitious polling stations were listed on the electoral commission's website. The government and the electoral commission have promised a smooth vote, but many in Mali are still worried about postelection violence should Keita win in the first round.

"I voted, but all that people are saying is worrying me. I do hope there won't be an election crisis," said 67-year-old Ibrahim Traore. More than 8 million voters are registered. If no candidate wins more than 50 percent in the first round, Malians will vote in a second round on Aug. 12.

Experts say Mali is less secure than in 2013, when French-backed forces pushed extremists in the north from their strongholds. A more assertive response by Mali's security forces to the attacks has led to accusations by human rights groups of extrajudicial killings. In some areas neighbors have turned on each other, amid suspicions of influence by extremist groups.

Oumar Toure, a leader of a local civic association in Mopti, said things have shifted there. "The current president IBK considers Mopti region his enemy, and he left it ... that's why all the insecurity of the north has come to settle here," said Toure. "In Mopti, it's the law of the strongest."

United Nations Secretary-General Antonio Guterres called on Malians to maintain a peaceful course and said in a statement Saturday he was encouraged by a peaceful campaigning period, despite security challenges in the north and center.

"The Secretary-General urges all political actors in Mali to commit to making this poll a peaceful, free and transparent process, and to resolve any possible dispute through the appropriate institutions in accordance with the law," his statement said.

Meanwhile, Iyad Ag Ghaley, the leader of al-Qaida's Mali branch known by its French acronym JNIM, sent a message on Telegram and Twitter saying that his organization opposes the elections.

AP writer Carley Petesch in Dakar, Senegal contributed

Israeli settlers commit more arson in occupied West Bank

July 28, 2018

A group of extremist Jewish settlers have set fire to Palestinian property in the village of Jaloud on the outskirts of the occupied West Bank city of Nablus, Quds Press has reported.

Witnesses said that the settlers set fire to Palestinian farmland as well as a house in the area, which was severely damaged. At least 2.5 acres of wheat was also burnt. The settlers also cut down dozens of Palestinian-owned trees in the area. No fatalities were reported.

This is the latest in a series of attacks by Jewish settlers against Palestinians and their property in the occupied West Bank and Jerusalem.

On Thursday, a Palestinian youth was killed by Israeli occupation forces after he allegedly stabbed three Jewish settlers in an illegal settlement in the occupied Palestinian territories.

Source: Middle East Monitor.
Link: https://www.middleeastmonitor.com/20180728-israeli-settlers-commit-more-arson-in-occupied-west-bank/.

2 Italian artists leave Israel after arrest over mural

July 30, 2018

JERUSALEM (AP) — Two Italian artists, arrested over the weekend for painting a large mural of a formerly imprisoned teenage Palestinian protester on Israel's West Bank separation barrier, left Israel on Monday, their lawyer said.

The two artists — Jorit Agoch and Salvatore De Luise — were arrested on Saturday in the West Bank city of Bethlehem after spending days creating the mural depicting Ahed Tamimi, a prominent Palestinian protester imprisoned by Israel for eight months for slapping two soldiers.

They were caught in the act and, along with a Palestinian, arrested for vandalism, according to police, who said they tried to flee the scene. The artists were held in two separate detention facilities and on Sunday, Israel canceled their visas and ordered them to leave the country within three days.

Their lawyer, Azmi Masalha, told The Associated Press that Israeli authorities did not pursue any criminal charges. Beyond ordering their departure, Israel barred them from entering the country again for 10 years.

A spokeswoman for Israel's immigration authority did not immediately respond to requests for comment. Tamimi, 17, was arrested in December after she slapped two Israeli soldiers outside her family home. Her mother filmed the incident and posted it on Facebook, where it went viral and, for many, instantly turned Tamimi into a symbol of resistance to Israel's half-century-old military rule over the Palestinians.

In Israel, she is seen by many either as a provocateur, an irritation or a threat to the military's deterrence policy. Tamimi's case has drawn international attention and she received a hero's welcome when she was released from prison on Sunday.

The lawyer, Masalha, said the artists drew the mural in a sign of "solidarity" with Tamimi. Masalha said he viewed with suspicion the artists' arrest when there are countless works of graffiti on the separation barrier and questioned the timing so close to Tamimi's release.

"They were arrested on the fourth day of carrying out this graffiti painting despite the fact that there is an observation tower of the military there and they were under this observation point from the first day and it's interesting as to why this incident occurred on the fourth day," he said.

Masalha said diplomatic officials from Italy were involved in securing the artists' release. Three recent posts on an Instagram account believed to be Agoch's had a photo of the mural in progress, a photo of an Israeli police vehicle and a black and white handwritten note reading: "Free thank all of you."

The two artists left Israel on a Monday morning flight to Naples, Italy.

Israel adopts racist Jewish nation-state law

July 19, 2018

Israel passed a law on Thursday to declare that only Jews have the right of self-determination in the country, something members of the Arab minority called racist and verging on apartheid, Reuters reports.

The “nation-state” law, backed by the right-wing government, passed by a vote of 62-55 and two abstentions in the 120-member parliament after months of political argument. Some Arab lawmakers shouted and ripped up papers after the vote.

“This is a defining moment in the annals of Zionism and the history of the state of Israel,” Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu told the Knesset after the vote.

Largely symbolic, the law was enacted just after the 70th anniversary of the birth of the state of Israel. It stipulates that “Israel is the historic homeland of the Jewish people and they have an exclusive right to national self-determination in it”.

The bill also strips Arabic of its designation as an official language alongside Hebrew, downgrading it to a “special status” that enables its continued use within Israeli institutions.

Israel’s Arabs number some 1.8 million, about 20 percent of the 9 million population.

Early drafts of the legislation went further in what critics at home and abroad saw as discrimination towards Israel’s Arabs, who have long said they are treated as second-class citizens.

Clauses that were dropped in last-minute political wrangling – and after objections by Israel’s president and attorney-general – would have enshrined in law the establishment of Jewish-only communities, and instructed courts to rule according to Jewish ritual law when there were no relevant legal precedents.

Instead, a more vaguely-worded version was approved, which says: “The state views the development of Jewish settlement as a national value and will act to encourage and promote its establishment.”

Even after the changes, critics said the new law will deepen a sense of alienation within the Arab minority.

“I announce with shock and sorrow the death of democracy,” Ahmed Tibi, an Arab lawmaker, told reporters.

Netanyahu has defended the law. “We will keep ensuring civil rights in Israel’s democracy but the majority also has rights and the majority decides,” he said last week.

Israel’s Arab population is comprised mainly of descendants of the Palestinians who remained on their land during the conflict between Arabs and Jews that culminated in the war of 1948 surrounding the creation of the modern state of Israel. Hundreds of thousands were forced to leave their homes or fled.

Those who remained have full equal rights under the law but say they face constant discrimination, citing inferior services and unfair allocations for education, health and housing.

In Ma’alot-Tarshiha, a municipality in northern Israel which was created by linking the Jewish town of Ma’alot and the Arab town of Tarshiha, there was anger among Arab residents.

“I think this is racist legislation by a radical right-wing government that is creating radical laws, and is planting the seeds to create an apartheid state,” said physician Bassam Bisharah, 71.

“The purpose of this law is discrimination. They want to get rid of the Arabs totally,” said Yousef Faraj, 53, from the nearby Druze village of Yanuh. “The Israelis want to destroy all the religions of the Arabs.”

Adalah, the Legal Center for Arab Minority Rights in Israel, called the law a bid to advance “ethnic superiority by promoting racist policies”.

Source: Middle East Monitor.
Link: https://www.middleeastmonitor.com/20180719-israel-adopts-racist-jewish-nation-state-law/.

Israel weapons found in Daesh arms depot

July 18, 2018

Israeli-made weapons have been found among a cache of arms belonging to the terrorist group Daesh.

The discovery was made by Syrian government troops in the south of Hama province, during a large-scale military operation to clear the area of mines, Sputnik reported citing Syrian sources.

The depot, which was found in the town of Aqrab, contained Israeli-made bombs and assault rifles, pistols, as well as other military hardware including Kalashnikov machine guns, mortar shells and sniper rifles.

Syrian Army engineering units are said to have found the depot while clearing out Aqrab of booby traps, ammunition and weapons left by Daesh.

A similar discovery is reported to have been made last week, when Syrian government forces found a huge cache of Western-made arms in Daraa. The depots were identified as the Syrian Army launched an offensive in Daraa.

Israel’s support for the terrorist group has been closely tracked since the beginning of the Syrian civil war in 2011. A report released last year by an Israeli intelligence bureau suggested that in confronting Iran, the interests of Daesh and Israel could converge, making them temporary allies.

Last year, a UN report confirmed that Israel gave aid to armed extremists in Syria. It found that there had been a significant increase in interaction between Israeli soldiers and individuals from members of the Syrian opposition forces.

The friendship appears to be more than just the arming of rebel forces by Israel. A member of the Israeli Knesset has even accused Tel-Aviv of buying oil from Daesh.

Source: Middle East Monitor.
Link: https://www.middleeastmonitor.com/20180718-israel-weapons-found-in-daesh-arms-depot/.

Philippine officials: Duterte OKs Muslim rebel autonomy deal

July 26, 2018

MANILA, Philippines (AP) — Philippine President Rodrigo Duterte has signed legislation creating a new Muslim autonomous region aimed at settling nearly half a century of Muslim unrest in the south, where troops crushed an attempt last year by Islamic State group-linked militants to turn a city into a stronghold.

Presidential spokesman Harry Roque and another key aide, Bong Go, told reporters without elaborating late Thursday that Duterte signed the bill creating the region, to be called Bangsamoro. The autonomy deal, which has been negotiated for more than two decades under four presidents, was ratified earlier this week by both chambers of Congress.

"This is to announce that the president has just signed the BOL into law," Roque said in a cellphone message, referring to the Bangsamoro organic law. It's the latest significant attempt by the government to end Muslim fighting that has left more than 120,000 people dead and hampered development in the country's most destitute regions. The deal was negotiated with the Moro Islamic Liberation Front, the largest Muslim rebel group in the south, although about half a dozen smaller IS-linked radical groups remain a threat in the region, the homeland of minority Muslims in the largely Roman Catholic nation.

Al Haj Murad Ebrahim, chairman of the Moro rebel front, told a news conference Tuesday that 30,000 to 40,000 armed fighters would be "decommissioned" if the autonomy deal is fully enforced. The disarming would be done in batches based on compliance with the accord, with the final 40 percent of the guerrillas turning over their weapons once there is full compliance.

Murad added that six of the largest guerrilla camps in the south were already being converted into "productive civilian communities" to help the insurgents return to normal life. Murad appealed to the international community to contribute to a trust fund to be used to finance the insurgents' transition from decades of waging one of Asia's longest rebellions.

"We will decommission our forces, the entire forces," Murad said. He declined to immediately cite the number of weapons that "will be put beyond use." The military has estimated the Moro rebel group's size at a much lower 11,000 fighters.

The Bangsamoro replaces an existing poverty- and conflict-wracked autonomous region and is to be larger, better-funded and more powerful. An annual grant, estimated at 60 billion to 70 billion pesos ($1.1 billion to $1.3 billion), is to be set aside to bolster development in the new region.

Murad's guerrilla force is the second in the south to drop a demand for a separate Muslim state in exchange for autonomy. The Moro National Liberation Front forged a 1996 peace deal with the government that led to the current five-province Muslim autonomous region, which has largely been regarded as a failure.

Western governments have welcomed the autonomy pacts. They worry that small numbers of Islamic State group-linked militants from the Middle East and Southeast Asia could forge an alliance with Filipino insurgents and turn the south into a breeding ground for extremists.

Murad said it's crucial for the peace agreement to be fully enforced, citing how earlier failed attempts prompted some guerrillas to break away and form more hard-line groups like the Abu Sayyaf, a brutal group listed by the United States and the Philippines as a terrorist organization.

Hundreds of militants, including those who broke off from Murad's force, were among black flag-waving fighters who swore allegiance to the Islamic State group and laid siege to the southern Islamic city of Marawi last year. Troops backed by U.S. and Australian surveillance aircraft routed the militants after five months of airstrikes and ground assaults that left more than 1,200 people, mostly Islamic fighters, dead and the mosque-studded city in ruins.

"We can roughly conclude that all these splinter groups are a result of the frustration with the peace process," Murad said.

Pussy Riot members who disrupted WCup re-arrested in Moscow

July 30, 2018

MOSCOW (AP) — Four members of the Russian punk protest group Pussy Riot who disrupted the World Cup final have been detained just after being released from jail in Moscow. Three female activists were clearly surprised when they walked out of a Moscow detention center Monday evening and were re-arrested. Pyotr Verzilov, the fourth protester, said on Twitter that he was also detained again and was going to be held overnight.

He tweeted, "What a turn of events!" The four activists had just served 15-day sentences for the World Cup protest. It was unclear what prompted the new detentions. The activists dressed in police uniform and ran onto the soccer field to briefly disrupt the match between France and Croatia. Pussy Riot said they were protesting policing powers and demanding reforms in Russia.

3 arrested after Russian opposition rally on pension age

July 29, 2018

MOSCOW (AP) — Three Russian opposition leaders were detained by police minutes after a demonstration to protest a government plan to raise the age for receiving state retirement pensions ended Sunday.

The demonstration in central Moscow had been authorized by city authorities and attracted thousands of people. No reason for the arrests was immediately given. Oleg Stepanov, a top aide to Russian opposition leader Alexei Navalny, reported his detention on Twitter. He posted a photo of himself and the two others sitting in what appeared to be a police vehicle.

The Libertarian Party of Russia organized the demonstration. Kirll Samodurov, the party's deputy chief, told the Interfax news agency that party chairman Sergei Boiko and rally leader Mikhail Chichkov were the other detainees.

The government's proposal to raise the pension age for men from 60 to 65 and from 55 to 63 for women has sparked dissent across the political spectrum. The Communist Party sponsored a Moscow rally attended by an estimated 10,000 on Saturday.

The Bely Schetchik organization, which tracks attendance at public rallies, estimated the crowd at Sunday's event at about 6,000. Navalny, who is President Vladimir Putin's most prominent foe, attended the demonstration, but did not address the crowd. He has been arrested multiple times for calling unauthorized protests.

The government says increasing the age for collecting pensions is necessary because of rising life expectancy rates, but opponents characterize it as robbery. "This is not some hypothetical robbery. It's not even corruption. It's blatantly taking hundreds of thousands of rubles or even up to a million ($16,000) from some people," Navalny said while standing in the crowd Sunday.

The average pension currently is about 14,000 rubles ($230) a month.

Iran lifts ban on non-Muslim city council member after outcry

July 22, 2018

A top Iranian body on Saturday lifted a ban imposed by a hardline-led council on a politician from the minority Zoroastrian religion who had been elected to a city council in the central city of Yazd, the state news agency IRNA reported.

The rare reversal came after a widespread public outcry, lobbying by reformists and criticism by President Hassan Rouhani over of the ban by the Guardian Council, which vets laws and elections for compliance with Iran’s Islamic constitution.

The Expediency Council, tasked with resolving conflicts between parliament and the Guardian Council, backed parliamentary amendments allowing members of recognized religious minorities to run for city councils, IRNA reported.

The ruling allows Sepanta Niknam, a Zoroastrian elected to Yazd’s city council, to join the assembly after being suspended by the Guardian Council in 2017, which said only Muslims were allowed to run in the election.

Rouhani, a pragmatic Muslim cleric, had contacted the parliament speaker over Niknam’s case and last month called his suspension “saddening”, according to the presidential website.

Iran’s constitution mandates a total of five reserved seats in the 290-seat parliament for recognized religious minorities – Christians, Jews and Zoroastrians.

Zoroastrianism is Iran’s pre-Islamic religion. The Baha’i faith, which also has followers in Iran, is not a recognized religion in Iran, where the Shia religious establishment considers it a heretical offshoot of Islam.

Source: Middle East Monitor.
Link: https://www.middleeastmonitor.com/20180722-iran-lifts-ban-on-non-muslim-city-council-member-after-outcry/.

Cambodians vote in polls with main opposition party silenced

July 29, 2018

PHNOM PEHN, Cambodia (AP) — With the main opposition silenced, Cambodians were voting in an election Sunday virtually certain to return to office Prime Minister Hun Sen and his party who have been in power for more than three decades.

Although 20 parties are contesting the polls, the only one with the popularity and organization to mount a credible challenge, the Cambodian National Rescue Party, was dissolved last year by the Supreme Court. Its leaders have called on supporters to boycott the polls, charging they are neither fair nor free.

Along with fracturing the political opposition, Hun Sen's government also silenced critical voices in the media and ahead of the polls, ordered the temporary blocking of 17 websites, citing regulations prohibiting media from disseminating information that might affect security. The blocked websites included those of the U.S. government-funded Voice of America as well as local media.

Hun Sen, whose 33 years in power makes him the world's longest serving national leader, promised peace and prosperity at a rally on the last day of campaigning on Friday, but attacked the opposition's boycott call and called those who heed it "destroyers of democracy." Hun Sen and his wife cast their ballots south of the capital shortly after polling stations opened.

His ruling Cambodian People's Party was alarmed by the last general election in 2013, when the race was close enough for the opposition to claim that it would have won except for manipulation of the voter registration process.

"This Cambodian election is not going to be genuine and it's not going to be free or fair," said Phil Robertson from Human Rights Watch. "The problem is the opposition party - the CNRP - which won 44 percent in the local elections in 2017 has been barred. You're talking about an election without an opposition."

Hun Sen, 65, said that he intends to stay in power for at least two more five-year terms. He was a member of the radical communist Khmer Rouge during its successful five-year war to topple a pro-American government, then defected to Vietnam during Khmer Rouge leader Pol Pot's 1975-79 genocidal regime that left nearly 2 million dead. He became prime minister in 1985 in a Vietnamese-backed single-party communist government and led Cambodia through a civil war against the Khmer Rouge, which eased off with the 1991 Paris Peace Accords that also installed a democratic political framework.

Exiled opposition leader Sam Rainsy made a final appeal to Cambodians by urging them not to vote. On his Facebook page, he said that the sham election was destroying Cambodia's future and called Hun Sen a "real traitor."

Hun Sen on Saturday met with foreign election observers, including those from Russia, China and Indonesia. The U.S., the EU and Japan declined to send poll watchers, saying the election was not credible.

U.N. Secretary-General Antonio Guterres said that the inclusive elections in Cambodia where civil society and political parties exercise their democratic rights are essential to safeguard the country's progress in consolidating peace.

Last week, the U.S. Congress passed the Cambodia Democracy Act "to promote free and fair elections, political freedoms and human rights in Cambodia and impose sanctions on Hun Sen's inner circle." The measure, which strongly condemns Hun Sen's regime, would bar individuals designated by President Donald Trump from entering the U.S. and block any assets or property they may possess. It suggested a list of those who should be sanctioned include Hun Sen, several of his close family members and about a dozen top officials and military officers.

Cambodian officials and ruling party members rejected the measure as counterproductive interference in Cambodia's affairs. About 8.3 million people are registered to vote. Polling stations close at 3 p.m. and preliminary results are expected on Sunday night.

Associated Press writer Grant Peck in Bangkok contributed to this report.

Cambodian elections a choice between strongman or boycott

July 28, 2018

BANGKOK (AP) — Cambodians voting in the general election on Sunday will have a nominal choice of 20 parties but in reality, only two serious options: extend Prime Minister Hun Sen's 33 years in power or not vote at all.

The key factor virtually ensuring a walkover by Hun Sen's party is the elimination of any credible opposition, accomplished last November when the Supreme Court declared the Cambodian National Rescue Party complicit in trying to overthrow the government in a plot encouraged by the United States. The far-fetched allegation appears unsupported by any evidence.

The court ordered the party dissolved, also banning its leaders from holding office for five years and expelling its members from the elective positions they held. One party leader already was in exile and the other in jail awaiting trial on the treason charge.

Along with fracturing the political opposition, Hun Sen's government silenced critical voices in the media, shutting down about 30 radio stations and gutting two English-language newspapers that provided independent reporting. A law was passed putting burdensome restrictions on the country's brave and vibrant civil society organizations.

With control of the legislature and the bureaucracy, as well as influence over the judiciary, there are no checks and balances on Hun Sen's administration. "Cambodia's election is a sham process that is designed to prolong Hun Sen's authoritarian rule and will plunge the country into further misery and repression," said Debbie Stothard, secretary-general of the Paris-based International Federation for Human Rights.

The leaders of the now defunct opposition party, most of whom have fled into exile to avoid arbitrary arrest, have called for a boycott of the polls. "Going to vote on 29 July 2018 means that you play the dirty game of a group of traitors led by Hun Sen who is killing democracy and selling off our country," Sam Rainsy, the popular, self-exiled former leader of the CNRP, wrote on his Facebook page earlier this month. "Boycotting that fake and dangerous election means that we uphold our ideals by remaining loyal to our people and determined to rescue to our Motherland."

Ironically, a practice to fight vote fraud — dipping a finger in indelible ink to prevent multiple voting — makes Cambodians who fail to cast their ballots high-profile targets for any officials seeking to spot and punish opposition supporters.

The "Clean Finger" campaign promoted by the opposition is a form of political mobilization, said Mu Sochua, a former lawmaker and CNRP vice president. According to her, not voting, not dipping one's finger in indelible ink, is a political gesture: "This little finger that I have, that each of you have, is a symbol of what we stand for, what you want, democracy, freedom, liberty, justice."

Officials, claiming advocacy of the boycott is illegal, have made several arrests, but the opposition has effectively used social media to publicize its call. Nineteen small parties registered to challenge Hun Sen's Cambodian People's Party, but almost all are vanity affairs or vehicles serving as window-dressing to give the illusion of democratic choice.

Hun Sen has always ruled with a carefully modulated amount of repression, swinging between violence and reconciliation, but the slide into more serious authoritarian rule was triggered by the last general election in 2013, when the opposition CNRP won 55 seats in the National Assembly — a gain of 26 seats, while Hun Sen's party lost 22. The race was close enough for the opposition to claim that it would have won except for manipulation of the voter registration process.

In local elections last year, the CNRP showed a similar dramatic upward trend. The results were alarming news for Hun Sen, who at 65 insists he will serve two more five-year terms. Hun Sen can take credit for helping put an end to the long-running threat of the Khmer Rouge, the radical communist group whose 1975-79 genocidal rule left almost 2 million dead. A Khmer Rouge officer himself, Hun Sen defected to neighboring Vietnam, with whose army he returned to help oust his former comrades. He became prime minister in a Hanoi-backed regime, and continued to battle Khmer Rouge guerrillas into the 1990s.

More recently, he has presided over a period of impressive economic growth that has helped fund the expansion of infrastructure, his major campaign promise. But with economic growth came corruption, land-grabbing and cronyism as well as a culture of impunity typical of a broken justice system.

Demographics also appear to work against Hun Sen's party. A younger generation, without firsthand acquaintance of their country's history of war and instability, are less likely to pay heed to his warnings. Economic growth, as well as the expanded horizons that come with a connected, globalized world, fuel rising expectations.

The breadth and depth of Hun Sen's crackdown is a break with his historical behavior, where he teased, taunted, threatened and employed violence against his enemies, but usually paid at least lip service to the norms of democratic rule.

That seems all over now, said Sebastian Strangio, author of a 2014 biography of the prime minister. Hun Sen was beholden to the Western aid donors who funded the massive peacekeeping and nation-building U.N. mission to rehabilitate Cambodia in 1992-1993. Introduction of liberal democracy to replace the classical communist single-party state Hun Sen had been running was part of the deal.

Further financial assistance was needed to develop Cambodia, so Hun Sen at least maintained enough of a democratic framework to satisfy his benefactors. They tolerated a strongman who may not have been desirable but was capable.

If the 2013 and 2017 election results were the motivation for Hun Sen's smackdown of his opponents, China was the enabler, said Strangio, obviating the need for Western development aid by providing hundreds of millions of dollars of infrastructure loans and other forms of financing with few strings attached.

For its part, Beijing gets a solid political ally in Southeast Asia who can be relied upon in international forums to back up China's position on issues such as territorial disputes in the South China Sea.

"Over the past year we've seen the government decisively roll back the zones of freedom it once preserved in Cambodia as a sop to Western donor governments," said Strangio. "Now the government doesn't really have any need for Western support and they're able to make more permanent adjustments to the Cambodian political landscape in line with their long-held resentments and their current political interests," he said.

Syria war shifting gears as it enters eighth year

2018-03-13

BEIRUT - Syria enters its eighth year of war on Thursday, free of the jihadist "caliphate" but torn apart by an international power struggle as the regime presses its blistering reconquest.

The conflict that started on March 15, 2011 as the government of President Bashar al-Assad cracked down on mostly peaceful protests is raging on relentlessly and getting more complex.

According to the Britain-based Syrian Observatory for Human Rights, nearly 354,000 people have been killed in seven years. More than half of Syria's pre-war population of 20 million has been displaced.

International efforts have consistently failed to stop one of the deadliest wars of the century: hundreds of children are still being killed and thousands of people forced from their homes.

Assad, who once looked on the brink of losing the office he has held since 2000, was given a new lease on life by Russia's 2015 military intervention and is sealing an unlikely recovery.

"Today, the regime controls more than half of the territory. He holds the big cities... it's clear that he has won," said Syria analyst Fabrice Balanche.

The government's latest operation to retake the ground it lost in the early stages of the war is being conducted in Eastern Ghouta, at the gates of the capital Damascus.

Government and allied forces have waged an intense air and ground offensive on the rebel enclave, killing more than 1,100 civilians -- a fifth of them children -- in an assault whose ferocity has shocked the world.

Deadly barrel bombs and suspected chemical munitions have been dropped on civilian areas, forcing families to cower in basements and turning entire towns into fields of ruins reminiscent of World War II.

- 'Scramble for Syria' -

The past few months had seen the death of the Islamic State group's "caliphate", an experiment in jihadist statehood that temporarily gave rival forces a shared goal and shifted the focus away from Assad's fate.

The proto-state IS declared in 2014 in swathes of Syria and Iraq it controlled was gradually defeated by a myriad different forces, and 2017 saw the caliphate's final collapse.

The organization that once administered millions of people still has a few fighters hunkering down in desert hideouts, but its territorial ambitions have been dashed.

"It is very difficult for IS to get its feet back on the ground," said Joshua Landis, director of the Center for Middle East Studies at the University of Oklahoma.

He warned that jihadists would retain the ability to carry out spectacular attacks and suicide bombings.

As they invested forces and equipment in the war on the jihadists, world powers were also staking their claim to increased influence in the region.

After foreign militaries finished wresting back one IS bastion after another, parts of Syria that had seen a relative lull in fighting became the focus once again.

"What we are seeing is the scramble for Syria right now," said Landis.

"The main trend is going to be the division of Syria" into three blocs, he said, with the lion's share going to the regime, which is backed by Russia and Iran.

- Faltering talks -

US-backed Kurds hold oil-rich territory in northeastern Syria covering 30 percent of the country and a motley assortment of Turkey-backed Arab rebels are carving a third haven in the northwest.

"Turkish and American influence on the ground, inside of Syria, will continue to spread," predicted Nicholas Heras of the Center for New American Security.

"In this way, 2018 will continue the trend of consolidating Syria into zones of control, even as Bashar al-Assad's forces make gains in some areas of the country," he said.

The regime is now bent on breaking any resistance in Eastern Ghouta, which lies on the capital's doorstep, within mortar range of key institutions.

Balanche predicted that the rebel enclave will not hold out very long and that evacuation deals will be reached.

"For the regime, 2018 is the year it fully retakes Damascus and its agglomeration," said Balanche, a visiting fellow at Stanford University's Hoover Institution.

UN-sponsored talks in Geneva as well as Russian-brokered negotiations in Sochi have failed to raise any credible prospect of a political solution to the conflict.

The assault on Ghouta marks one of the seven-year conflict's darkest episodes, with the international community apparently powerless to stop the bloodshed.

It has left the United Nations virtually speechless, with its children agency UNICEF issuing a blank statement last month to demonstrate its outrage at the carnage in Ghouta.

Source: Middle East Online.
Link: http://www.middle-east-online.com/english/?id=87652.

Turkish-backed rebels poised to encircle Afrin city after days of swift advances

MAR. 12, 2018

AMMAN: Turkish-backed Syrian rebels are moving to “surround and isolate Afrin city,” the eponymous capital of a Kurdish-held enclave that has been the target of a months-long military operation, a rebel spokesman told Syria Direct on Monday.

Free Syrian Army fighters “are now on the outskirts of Afrin city,” Suheil al-Qasim, the spokesman for Failaq a-Sham, a rebel faction participating in the Turkish-backed offensive on Afrin canton, told Syria Direct on Monday.

Ankara-backed rebels seized control over a series of “strategic hills” overlooking Afrin city in recent days, the spokesman added.

Less than two kilometers currently separate Free Syrian Army (FSA) factions from Afrin city, following three days of swift advances against the Kurdish People’s Protection Units (YPG).

Afrin is the capital of an eponymous canton in northwestern Aleppo that is mainly governed by the Kurdish-led Democratic Union Party (PYD) and its armed wing, the YPG. Ankara considers both groups to be offshoots of the Kurdistan Workers’ Party (PKK), which has waged an insurgency inside Turkey for decades.

On January 20, Turkey launched a military operation dubbed “Operation Olive Branch” in coordination with allied Syrian rebel groups with the stated goal of “eliminating terrorists” near Turkey’s border with northwestern Syria.

FSA factions supported by Turkish airstrikes and artillery fire seized the Kurdish-held enclave’s entire border region with Turkey from YPG fighters by early February, Syria Direct reported.

Olive Branch factions advanced towards the canton’s capital along two major axes over the past week after capturing cities and villages southwest and northeast of Afrin city.

Today, roughly six kilometers separate the two FSA salients. By joining the two frontlines, Olive Branch forces would encircle Afrin city as well as large swathes of countryside to the east.

Syria Direct contacted Nouri Mahmoud, official spokesman for the YPG, on Monday for confirmation of Operation Olive Branch advances. He said YPG fighters inflicted “heavy losses and destroyed military vehicles” belonging to the Turkish Armed Forces, but did not elaborate on the advances. 

Turkey’s state-run Anadolu Agency reported “rapid advances” by the rebel factions of Operation Olive Branch on Monday, claiming that 1,100 square kilometers of Afrin were “cleared of terror threats” since the operation began in January.

Coinciding with the latest advances by Turkish-backed rebels, pro-government militias that entered Afrin in support of the YPG last month withdrew from the canton, the state-funded news outlet Russia Today reported on Sunday. 

YPG spokesman Nouri Mahmoud did not confirm that pro-government militias withdrew from Afrin canton, but said that the fighters were “evading their duties.”

“The groups belonging to the Syrian Army are not capable of protecting the unity of Syrian territory,” the spokesman said.

‘Brink of catastrophe’

Olive Branch forces are now closing in on a capital city teeming with displaced people, as tens of thousands of residents are taking shelter there after fleeing ground battles, shelling and Turkish airstrikes elsewhere in Afrin in recent weeks.

Afrin city and its surrounding villages are now home to 800,000 people, one canton official told Syria Direct. YPG spokesman Nouri Mahmoud claimed “more than one million Syrian citizens” are currently in Afrin. Syria Direct could not independently verify either statistic.

“The city is overcrowded with a huge number of displaced residents who came here,” a member of Afrin’s Executive Council told Syria Direct from inside the city on Monday. He asked to not be identified by name as he is not authorized to speak to the media.

In the first two weeks of the Turkish military operation alone, up to 30,000 residents fled their homes, with the majority seeking shelter in Afrin city, Syria Direct reported at the time.

Now, civilians in the enclave’s capital are fleeing deeper into the city center after FSA forces reached the outskirts, two residents on the ground told Syria Direct on Monday.

Some Afrin residents are taking shelter underground, resident Jano told Syria Direct on Monday. He said he fears “a massacre” if Turkish airstrikes hit the packed urban center. Jano asked that his full name and personal details not be published, fearing reprisals if Turkish-backed rebels seize the area.

“The city is on the brink of catastrophe,” he said.

Resident Jano and the council member said some Afrin city residents are fleeing towards the Kurdish-held countryside to the east, but both estimated that most residents remain in the city center.

“It is difficult to leave as the roads leading out [of the city] are being bombed,” the council member said, adding that Turkish air and artillery fire struck the outskirts of Afrin city on Monday. The Kurdish news outlet Rudaw reported Turkish airstrikes near Afrin city on Monday.

Syria Direct contacted the Kurdish Red Crescent on Monday for statistics regarding Afrin city’s current population and rates of displacement, but were told that those figures were not available.

A report by Anadolu Agency on Monday claimed that YPG fighters are barring civilians from leaving the city and accused the Kurdish militia of using civilians as “human shields.”

The same report added that YPG “shelters are largely located in Afrin’s city center.”

Source: Syria Direct.
Link: http://syriadirect.org/news/turkish-backed-rebels-poised-to-encircle-afrin-city-after-days-of-swift-advances/.

More civilians leave Syrian rebel enclave as army advances

March 12, 2018

BEIRUT (AP) — Syrian TV says another group of civilians has left the rebel-held enclave of eastern Ghouta outside Damascus through a corridor established by the Syrian army The state-run TV broadcast footage showing a small group of men, women and children it says left the town of Madyara on Monday. The town was captured by Syrian troops on Sunday.

Syrian government forces split eastern Ghouta in two amid rapid weekend advances, dealing a major setback to the rebels and threatening to exacerbate an already dire humanitarian situation at the doorstep of the country's capital.

The advances also cut off key towns of Douma and Harasta from the rest of the enclave, further squeezing the residents inside them. The U.N. estimates nearly 400,000 civilians are living under a crippling siege in eastern Ghouta.

Government forces split East Ghouta apart, leaving residents with 'nowhere to go'

MAR. 11, 2018

AMMAN: Syrian government forces advanced and cut East Ghouta in two on Sunday, state media reported, while residents said they have “nowhere” to seek safety from a barrage of aerial and ground attacks in the rebel enclave.

The Syrian Arab Army (SAA) captured the central East Ghouta town of Mudayra on Sunday after “fierce battles with terrorist organizations,” state media outlet SANA reported.

The advance severed rebel supply routes and movement between the pocket’s northern and southern sections, SANA said.

Syria Direct could not independently confirm the capture of Mudayra by government forces, which pro-opposition media outlets did not immediately report on Sunday.

In an earlier advance, Syrian government forces captured the central East Ghouta town of Misraba on Saturday, effectively “cutting off” the enclave’s largest city, Douma, from the rest of of the pocket, Hamza Beriqdar, the spokesman for the rebel faction Jaish al-Islam told Syria Direct.

Jaish al-Islam is one the two major rebel factions in control of East Ghouta.

Today, East Ghouta is divided into two main pockets: a northern section, where Douma lies, and a southern section containing a cluster of other cities and towns. The town of Harasta, near Douma, sits in a third pocket of its own, surrounded on three sides by government forces. Roads connecting Harasta to the rest of East Ghouta are within range of government fire and therefore impassable.

“There’s nowhere to go,” Khadeja Homs, a resident of the East Ghouta town of Hamouriyah told Syria Direct on Sunday.

Pro-government forces have encircled and bombarded East Ghouta, where an estimated 400,000 people live, since 2013. Damascus intensified attacks on the enclave last month in an ongoing aerial and ground campaign that has left approximately 1,100 civilians dead and many more injured.

SAA units and their allies have captured more than half of East Ghouta since the escalation began, Iran’s Fars New Agency reported on Sunday, citing Syrian military sources. The UK-based Syrian Observatory for Human Rights reported the same statistic last week.

As government forces advanced in East Ghouta over the weekend, “the bombing increased in its strength, intensity and duration” Douma resident and journalist Haytham Bakkar told Syria Direct on Sunday from a bomb shelter in the city. “The bombing hasn’t stopped since the morning,” he said.

Airstrikes and shelling over cities across East Ghouta killed at least five civilians on Sunday, according to the Civil Defense.

Increasingly hemmed in by advancing government frontlines, civilians told Syria Direct that their options for places to seek safety from the bombing are narrowing.

“We are now running from neighborhood to neighborhood, street to street and building to building,” journalist Bakkar said.

Abu Anas, another Douma resident who spoke to Syria Direct on Sunday just before the capture of Mudayra, listed a number of towns that were once available to him, should the need to flee his city arise: Misraba, Saqba, Hamouriya. Now, those towns are inaccessible.

“Today, it’s impossible for me to flee,” he said. “There’s only Douma.”

East Ghouta residents moved underground in recent weeks, seeking to ride out government bombings in basements and cellars. But as thousands of East Ghouta residents pack into shrinking pockets of rebel territory, not everybody can find shelter underground.

“There are some who have no place in a shelter,” journalist Bakkar said, “especially after the wave of displacement to Douma that took place after [the fall of] Misraba, Otaya and Bayt Sawa,” all towns captured by pro-government forces over the past two weeks.   

‘Fear of the unknown’

Jaish al-Islam spokesman Beriqdar told Syria Direct on Sunday that his faction is not in negotiations with the Syrian government to leave East Ghouta.

On Friday, Jaish al-Islam released 13 militants with Hay’at Tahrir a-Sham (HTS)—previously part of Al-Qaeda affiliate Jabhat a-Nusra—from rebel prisons in East Ghouta. The fighters then departed East Ghouta with their families and headed for rebel-held Idlib province.

The departure followed “consultations” between Jaish al-Islam, the United Nations and “a number of international actors,” the faction said via a statement published to its official Twitter account.

Expelling “Jabhat a-Nusra” and its affiliates from East Ghouta is often cited by the Syrian government as the reason for its campaign on the pocket.

Further negotiations regarding the evacuation of a second group of militants are underway, Major General Vladimir Zolotukhin, spokesman for the Russian Defense Ministry’s Center for Syrian Reconciliation said on Sunday, Russian state media outlet Sputnik reported. The center is a party to the talks.

HTS fighters who departed East Ghouta on Friday left via the al-Wafideen crossing northeast of Douma, TASS reported. Russia designated the crossing as a “humanitarian corridor” in a unilateral decision last month.

The corridor is meant to facilitate civilian departures from the enclave, but few civilians have been able to leave East Ghouta through it so far, Syria Direct recently reported. Russia and the Syrian government accuse rebels of shelling the area to prevent civilians from leaving. Rebels deny the claims. 

Underground in East Ghouta, civilians waiting out the fighting know little about any negotiations to decide their fate, said journalist Bakkar.

“The fighters aren’t telling us what’s going on,” he said from his Douma shelter, “and the politicians aren’t saying where they’re headed.”

“Fear of the unknown is ruling the situation now.”

Source: Syria Direct.
Link: http://syriadirect.org/news/government-forces-split-east-ghouta-apart-leaving-residents-with-%E2%80%98nowhere-to-go%E2%80%99/.

Turkish army, FSA 'capture Jinderes town' in Syria's Afrin

March 08 2018

The Turkish military and Free Syrian Army captured Jinderes town in Syria's northwestern Afrin district from People’s Protection Units (YPG) militants on March 8.

Turkey launched “Operation Olive Branch” on Jan. 20 along with elements of the Free Syrian Army (FSA) to clear Afrin of the YPG.

Turkey sees the YPG as a terror group for its ties to the outlawed Kurdistan Workers’ Party (PKK), which is listed as a terror group by Turkey, the U.S. and the European Union.

More than 3,000 YPG militants ‘neutralized’ in Turkey’s Afrin op: Army

Some 3,055 YPG militants have been “neutralized” in Turkey’s ongoing cross-border operation in Syria’s northwestern Afrin district, the Turkish Armed Forces said in a statement on March 8.

“In ‘Operation Olive Branch,’ so far 112 villages, 30 critical positions, and a total of 142 spots have been taken under control,” Bekir Bozdag, Deputy Prime Minister said on March 5.

Defense Minister Nurettin Canikli said on March 2 that 41 Turkish soldiers and 116 FSA militants have been killed since the start of “Operation Olive Branch.” Another 119 have been wounded, state-run Anadolu Agency reported the following day.

The army announced on March 6 that another soldier succumbed to his wounds.

Source: Hurriyet.
Link: http://www.hurriyetdailynews.com/turkish-army-fsa-capture-jinderes-town-in-syrias-afrin-128422.

Gaza residents pray near Israel, as Muslims mark major feast

June 15, 2018

GAZA CITY, Gaza Strip (AP) — Gaza worshipers knelt on prayer rugs spread on sandy soil, near the perimeter fence with Israel, joining hundreds of millions of Muslims around the world Friday in marking the holiday that caps the fasting month of Ramadan.

The three-day Eid al-Fitr holiday is typically a time of family visits and festive meals, with children getting new clothes, haircuts and gifts. In the Middle East, celebrations were once again marred by prolonged conflict in hot spots such as Syria, Afghanistan and Yemen.

In the Gaza Strip, some worshipers performed the traditional morning prayers of the holiday in areas several hundred meters (yards) away from the heavily guarded fence with Israel. Friday's prayers marked the continuation of weeks-long protests against a blockade of Gaza, imposed by Israel and Egypt after the 2007 takeover of the territory by the Islamic militant group Hamas. Since late March, more than 120 protesters have been killed and more than 3,800 wounded by Israeli army fire in the area of the fence.

Ismail Haniyeh, the top Hamas leader, joined worshipers in an area east of Gaza City. At one point, as the faithful bowed their heads on their prayer mats in unison, a young man on crutches — presumably injured in previous protests — followed the ritual while he remained standing. Some activists later approached the fence, burning tires.

Protest organizers said they planned to release large numbers of kites and balloons with incendiary materials rags throughout the day Friday, in hopes they will land in Israel. Such kites with burning rags attached have reportedly burned hundreds of acres of crops and forests in Israel.

Protest organizer Mohammed al-Tayyar, a member of a group calling itself the "burning kites unit," said Friday larger balloons with greater potential for damage would be released after 10 days unless the blockade is lifted. Israel's defense minister has said Israel is determined to stop such kites and balloons.

The protests have been organized by Hamas, but turnout has been driven by growing despair in Gaza about blockade-linked hardships; unemployment now approaches 50 percent and electricity is on for just a few hours every day.

Hamas has also billed the protests as the "Great March of Return," suggesting they would somehow pave the way for a return of Palestinian refugees and their descendants — about two-thirds of Gaza's residents — to return to ancestral homes in what is now Israel.

Hundreds of thousands of Palestinians were expelled or fled in the Mideast war over Israel's 1948 creation. Haniyeh told reporters after Friday's prayers, which were also being held outdoors in another location east of the town of Khan Younis, that protests would continue.

He said a recent U.N. General Assembly resolution blaming Israel for the Gaza violence "shows that the marches of return and breaking the siege revived the Palestinian issue and imposed the issue on the international agenda." The resolution also said Israel had used excessive force against Palestinian protesters.

Israel says it is defending its territory and civilians living near Gaza. It has accused Hamas of trying to use the protests as cover for damaging the fence and trying to carry out cross-border attacks. Israel and Egypt argue that the blockade is needed to contain Hamas which has a history of violence and refuses to disarm.

In Jerusalem, senior Muslim cleric Muhammad Hussein told tens of thousands of worshipers that a plan for an Israeli-Palestinian peace deal, expected to be unveiled by the Trump administration, is unfair and "aims at the liquidation of the Palestinian cause."

President Donald Trump has promised to negotiate the "ultimate deal" but the plan's reported, though unconfirmed parameters have been dismissed by the Palestinians as siding with Israel. The Palestinian issue also loomed large in Iran.

Supreme Leader Ayatollah Ali Khamenei, addressing worshipers Friday, praised citizens for showing up at massive rallies last week in support of the Palestinians on Jerusalem Day. That day was initiated by Iran in 1979 to express support for the Palestinians and oppose Israel.

Iranian President Hassan Rouhani said in an Eid al-Fitr message that he believes the "land of Palestine will be returned to owners of the land with the help if God." Iran and Israel are bitter foes. In Syria, President Bashar Assad attended Eid prayers in the town of Tartous, part of an area that has remained loyal to him throughout seven years of civil war. The coastal region is home to Syria's minority Alawite population that has been the core of Assad's support. Assad, an Alawite, traces his family's origins to Qardaha, a town in the mountains nearby.

Tens of thousands of men from the coastal region are believed to have been killed fighting for the president since 2011, according to Syrian monitoring groups. Assad is now in control of Syria's largest cities and its coastal region.

In Afghanistan, President Mohammad Ashraf Ghani touted a three-day holiday cease-fire with the Taliban, calling for a longer truce and urging the Taliban to come to the negotiating table. The Taliban agreed to the cease-fire but leader Haibaitullah Akhunzada reiterated his demand for talks with the U.S. before sitting down with the Afghan government.

Associated Press writer Karin Laub in Jericho, West Bank and Ian Deitch in Jerusalem contributed reporting.