US, Turkmen Foreign Ministers Discuss Strengthening Regional Security
US Secretary of State Marco Rubio and Turkmenistan's Foreign Minister Rashid Meredov discussed strengthening regional security during their meeting in Washington.
The US State Department said in a statement on Wednesday that Rubio reaffirmed the United States' commitment to continuing to work with Turkmenistan to expand economic and trade ties, promote regional integration through the C5+1 diplomatic platform, and enhance regional security.
Rubio thanked his counterpart, Meredov, for Turkmenistan's assistance to American citizens fleeing Iran during the recent conflict between Israel and Iran.
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Al-Ahram Weekly
14 minutes ago
- Al-Ahram Weekly
Israeli prison visit sparks protests - World - Al-Ahram Weekly
In a move that has sparked widespread outrage, Israel's far-right National Security Minister Itamar Ben-Gvir this week visited the Hadarim Prison where prominent Palestinian leader Marwan Barghouti has been held since 2002, serving five life sentences. The visit, widely covered by the Israeli media, appeared to be as much a political message to the Israeli public as a provocation against the prisoners and their families, underscoring the agenda of Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu's far-right government. Analysts said Ben-Gvir's incursion into the prison was not an isolated event but a deliberate political statement signalling to Palestinians and the international community that Israel's current government is willing to violate international law to gain domestic popularity, even at the expense of prisoners' dignity and rights. According to sources from the Palestinian Prisoners' Affairs Commission and the Palestinian Prisoners' Club, Ben-Gvir entered the section housing Barghouti accompanied by a special police unit known as Yamaz and was filmed issuing strict security instructions. Sources said the minister made a point of ordering harsher detention conditions in what was described as a 'show of force aimed at humiliating prisoners and their symbolic leaders.' Prisoner organisations said the visit carried political motives, with Ben-Gvir, known for his extremist rhetoric, seeking to boost his image among Israeli settlers and the ultra-Orthodox right by targeting a figure of Barghouti's stature, a Palestinian national symbol of resistance and resilience. Barghouti's wife, lawyer Fadwa Barghouti, described the visit as part of a 'revenge policy aimed at undermining the will and resilience of prisoners.' 'What happened amounts to a political and moral crime. The extremist minister is attempting to use Marwan's name as an electoral tool to strengthen his position in Israeli politics. Marwan does not face the occupation alone; he represents an entire people striving for freedom and independence. The raid on his cell is an assault on all Palestinians and on international laws that protect prisoners,' she said. Prisoner organisations, including the Palestinian Prisoners' Club and the Palestinian Prisoners' Affairs Commission, issued statements holding Ben-Gvir fully responsible for the prisoners' lives and safety. Former Palestinian Authority (PA) minister for prisoner affairs Issa Qaraqe told Al-Ahram Weekly that the incursion and threats are part of a broader Israeli escalation and bloody campaign against the Palestinians in Gaza and the West Bank. He added that such acts reflect the Israeli occupation's failure to break the Palestinian people's resolve and right to freedom and self-determination, driving it to commit cowardly retaliatory crimes against unarmed prisoners who are symbols of national dignity and unity. Qaraqe, a respected figure among prisoners and himself close to Barghouti, warned that the occupation's prisons are witnessing medical neglect, torture, solitary confinement, starvation, humiliation, the denial of basic rights, and brutal assaults. He cautioned that the threats have escalated to threats of killing, raising fears of potential massacres under the cover of political and media incitement by Israeli government ministers. Abdullah Al-Zaghari, head of the Palestinian Prisoners' Society, said the filmed threats by Ben-Gvir against Barghouti constitute a clear declaration of Israel's intent to assassinate detained leaders amid unprecedented abuses since the onset of the war on Gaza. Al-Zaghari said Barghouti and dozens of other imprisoned leaders were subjected to harsh and tragic conditions, including starvation, the denial of medical care, and systematic assaults, including beatings during crackdowns carried out by heavily armed special units. Repeated attacks have left prisoners with varying injuries, while the prison administration continues to obstruct visits and transfer detainees under violent conditions. Qaraqe emphasised that under international humanitarian law, Palestinian prisoners held in the context of armed conflict are considered 'prisoners of war' and are entitled to the protections outlined in the Four Geneva Conventions, particularly Article 13 of the Third Convention, which mandates humane treatment and forbids any assault on their lives or dignity. He said Ben-Gvir and the Israeli government's psychological and physical harassment of prisoners constitutes a clear breach of these conventions. International organisations, including the Human Rights Watch, have documented similar violations such as visitation bans, solitary confinement, retaliatory measures, death threats, and torture and have called for immediate international action to protect prisoners. Although international bodies have condemned the incursion, including the UN High Commissioner for Human Rights, Qaraqe stressed that statements alone are insufficient given the ongoing torture, killings, and oppression of Palestinian prisoners. He called for urgent international protection and investigations into crimes committed in Israeli prisons, particularly amid increasing reports of slow killings and torture. Inside Israel, Ben-Gvir's raid also drew criticism, with some Hebrew-language newspapers calling it a 'political stunt' aimed at boosting his presence on the far-right scene amid growing government divisions. Israeli opposition circles described the incursion as 'reckless,' warning it could ignite unrest in prisons and trigger uncontrollable protests. Even some former security officials cautioned against 'playing with fire,' noting that targeting symbolic leaders like Barghouti could have far-reaching political and security consequences. * A version of this article appears in print in the 21 August, 2025 edition of Al-Ahram Weekly Follow us on: Facebook Instagram Whatsapp Short link:
Al-Ahram Weekly
44 minutes ago
- Al-Ahram Weekly
Palestinian camps in Lebanon to start disarming: Committee - Region
Armed Palestinian groups in Lebanon's refugee camps began handing over their weapons to the Lebanese authorities on Thursday, a joint committee said. "Today marks the beginning of the first phase of the process of handing over weapons from inside the Palestinian camps," Lebanese-Palestinian Dialogue Committee chairman Ramez Dimashkieh said in a statement. The process began in the Burj al-Barajneh camp in Beirut, where an initial batch of weapons was placed in the custody of the Lebanese army, according to Dimashkieh. A Palestinian security official told AFP, on condition of anonymity, that "Fatah will begin handing over its weapons in Burj al-Barajneh camp within the framework of the coordination with the Lebanese army." An AFP photojournalist saw dozens of fighters in military fatigues carrying Kalashnikov rifles as crowds gathered outside the Beirut headquarters of Palestinian president Mahmud Abbas's Fatah movement. The move follows a deal reached in May during a visit by Abbas to Beirut, during which he and Lebanese president Joseph Aoun agreed that all arms in Palestinian refugee camps would eventually be surrendered to the Lebanese state. A Palestinian security source at Burj al-Barajneh described Thursday's move as largely symbolic, saying: "Fatah's initiative in beginning to hand over weapons is symbolic, and came as a result of an agreement between Aoun and the Palestinian president's son, Yasser Abbas, who is currently visiting Beirut." "It aims to encourage the remaining (Palestinian armed) factions to take the same step," the source added, while noting that the other influential groups in the camp "have not yet decided to hand over their weapons". Badie al-Habet, a member of the Fatah leadership in Beirut, said the handover would see the "turning over of illegitimate weapons in the hands of illegitimate individuals". He added that weapons held by Palestinian security personnel inside the camps would not be included. Lebanon hosts around 222,000 Palestinian refugees, according to the UN agency UNRWA, most of them living in overcrowded and impoverished camps that remain largely outside of state control. The majority are descendants of those who were forcibly displaced during the Nakba, when more than 700,000 Palestinians were expelled from their lands by Zionist militia paving the way for the creation of Israel in 1948. Among the camps is Ain al-Hilweh, near the southern city of Sidon — the largest in Lebanon. The disarmament was originally scheduled to begin in mid-June but was delayed. In an interview with Saudi-owned broadcaster Al Arabiya last week, Aoun attributed the hold-up to the Iran-Israel war that broke out that month, as well as to "internal considerations within the Palestinian Authority". The Palestinian Authority does not exercise control over many of the armed groups in the camps — most notably Hamas — and some factions have resisted the call to disarm. Follow us on: Facebook Instagram Whatsapp Short link:
Al-Ahram Weekly
an hour ago
- Al-Ahram Weekly
Egypt backs Saudi initiatives supporting Palestinian cause: El-Sisi to bin Salman
President Abdel Fattah El-Sisi affirmed Egypt's support for Saudi initiatives to achieve a just resolution of the Palestinian cause, including the outcomes of the Two-State Solution conference co-hosted by the Kingdom in late July. This came during a meeting between the Egyptian president and Saudi Crown Prince and Prime Minister Mohammed bin Salman in Neom, Saudi Arabia on Thursday. Earlier on Thursday, the Saudi Crown Prince received President El-Sisi at NEOM Bay Airport at the start of his official visit to the Kingdom. According to the Egyptian presidency, both leaders agreed during their talks on rejecting any attempts to displace Palestinian people from their land or to reimpose Israeli military occupation on the Gaza Strip. They also reviewed Egypt's efforts to achieve a ceasefire in Gaza in coordination with various parties, stressing the need to accelerate the unhindered delivery of humanitarian aid to the strip, and secure the exchange of captives and detainees. El-Sisi and bin Salman further emphasised the necessity of halting Israeli violations against the Palestinians in the occupied West Bank. The meeting between the two leaders comes amid intensive Egyptian and Qatari efforts to secure a ceasefire in the 22-month-old Gaza war between Israel and Hamas. It also comes as Tel Aviv pounds north Gaza, as it gears up to launch a major assault on Gaza City amid plans to reoccupy the entire strip. Cairo and Doha have intensified their mediation with various international partners to halt the war in Gaza, deliver urgent humanitarian aid to the strip, and prevent further deterioration of the catastrophic situation as famine grips 2.3 million Palestinians in the strip. On Tuesday, Cairo and Doha confirmed that Hamas has agreed to a 60-day truce proposal that was previously agreed to by Israel. Tel Aviv has not responded yet. In late July, Saudi Arabia and France co-chaired a high-level UN conference in New York in an attempt to revive stalled talks on a two-state solution between Israel and Palestine. Egyptian-Saudi ties According to the Egyptian presidency, both sides addressed bilateral cooperation, where they affirmed the importance of strengthening joint investments and expediting the launch of the Egyptian-Saudi Higher Coordination Council as a comprehensive framework for advancing ties at all levels. El-Sisi and bin Salman also agreed to initiate further partnerships in the fields of industrial integration, localisation of technological industries, transportation, new and renewable energy, and urban development. During the meeting, the Egyptian president expressed profound appreciation and deep gratitude for the warm welcome and generous hospitality he received during his visit, praising the close historical bonds linking Cairo and Riyadh. He also expressed keenness to continue building on the qualitative leap achieved in bilateral relations, in a way that contributes to strengthening economic and trade partnership and aligns with the aspirations of both peoples. In turn, the Saudi Crown Prince expressed the Kingdom's pride in its deep-rooted fraternal ties with Egypt, reaffirming his keenness to enhance frameworks of bilateral cooperation across various fields, and elevate them towards broader and more sustainable horizons that serve the interests of both nations. In 2024, trade between Egypt and Saudi Arabia grew by 18.8 percent to $6.5 billion, up from $5.5 billion in 2023, according to Head of the Egyptian Commercial Office in Saudi Arabia Osama Basha . He also noted that Saudi investments in Egypt reached $37 billion across more than 6,830 companies, while Egyptian investments in Saudi Arabia totalled $5 billion through 805 companies. Egypt now ranks seventh among Saudi Arabia's largest trading partners, Basha said. Both leaders also discussed the latest regional and international developments. According to the Egyptian presidency, El-Sisi and bin Salman stressed the importance of supporting the stability of the region's states, preserving their territorial integrity, and safeguarding their national institutions. The Egyptian president and Saudi Crown Prince affirmed their determination to continue coordination and consultations amid the rapid developments in the Middle East. For his part, bin Salman praised Egypt's pivotal role in consolidating regional security, stability, and development, based on its historical influence and strategic position. Follow us on: Facebook Instagram Whatsapp Short link:
