Qatar is closely following current developments in Libyan capital: Al Khulaifi
DOHA: Minister of State at the Ministry of Foreign Affairs HE Dr Mohammed bin Abdulaziz bin Saleh Al Khulaifi has held a phone call with UN Secretary General's Special Representative for Libya and Head of the United Nations Support Mission in Libya, Hanna Serwaa Tetteh.
During the call, they discussed the latest developments in Libya.
The Minister of State at the Ministry of Foreign Affairs affirmed that the State of Qatar is closely following the current developments in the Libyan capital, Tripoli, calling on all parties to avoid escalation and resolve differences through dialogue.
He also affirmed the State of Qatar's firm position on Libya's unity and the realisation of its people's aspirations for stability and development, and its full support for the Libyan political process, the efforts of the UN Mission, relevant Security Council resolutions, and all peaceful solutions that preserve its sovereignty.
Hashtags
Try Our AI Features
Explore what Daily8 AI can do for you:
Comments
No comments yet...
Related Articles
Al Jazeera
7 hours ago
- Al Jazeera
China warns US not to ‘play with fire' over Taiwan
China has warned the United States against 'playing with fire' over Taiwan in response to US Defense Secretary Pete Hegseth calling the Asian power a 'threat to the region' at a high-profile summit in Singapore. Speaking at the Shangri-La Dialogue on Saturday, Hegseth said China was 'credibly preparing' for military action to shift Asia's power balance, accusing Beijing of rehearsing a potential invasion of Taiwan. China considers Taiwan, a separately governed island, to be a part of its territory and has vowed reunification by force if necessary. Taiwan's government rejects Beijing's sovereignty claims, saying only the island's people can decide their future. Hegseth's remarks provoked a swift rebuke from China's Ministry of Foreign Affairs, which stressed that Taiwan remains a domestic matter, warning foreign powers against using the issue as leverage. It described US actions in Asia Pacific as turning the region into a 'powder keg'. 'The US should not entertain illusions about using the Taiwan question as a bargaining chip to contain China, nor should it play with fire,' it said. Hegseth had called on allies in the Asia Pacific region, including key security ally Australia, to spend more on defence after warning of the 'real and potentially imminent' threat from China. Calling the US a 'true destabilising' force in the Asia Pacific, Beijing accused Washington of deploying offensive weapons in the South China Sea and aggravating regional tensions. Beijing accused Hegseth of 'vilifying China with defamatory allegations' and promoting a 'Cold War mentality'. 'Hegseth deliberately ignored the call for peace and development by countries in the region, and instead touted the Cold War mentality for bloc confrontation, vilified China with defamatory allegations, and falsely called China a threat,' the ministry said, adding that it had lodged a formal protest with the US over what it described as 'inflammatory rhetoric'. China and the Philippines contest sovereignty over some islands and atolls in the South China Sea, with growing maritime run-ins between their coastguards as both vie to patrol the waters. Beijing also rejected US claims about threats to maritime navigation, insisting it has consistently promoted dialogue to resolve regional disputes and safeguarded its territorial rights within the bounds of international law. 'The US is the biggest factor undermining peace and stability in the South China Sea,' the statement read. China's Defence Minister Dong Jun skipped the annual Shangri-La Dialogue, Asia's premier security forum, with Beijing sending a delegation of lower-ranking representatives instead. It was the first time since 2019 that China has not dispatched its defence minister to the high-level dialogue on regional defence, except when the event was cancelled in 2020 and 2021 due to the COVID-19 pandemic. Tensions are already high between China and the US – the world's two biggest economic powers – over Trump's ongoing trade war and tariff threats.
Al Jazeera
7 hours ago
- Al Jazeera
Bangladesh ex-PM Hasina charged with ‘systematic attack' as trial opens
Fugitive former Prime Minister Sheikh Hasina orchestrated a 'systematic attack' on protests against her government, Bangladeshi prosecutors have said at the opening of her trial over last year's deadly crackdown. 'Upon scrutinising the evidence, we reached the conclusion that it was a coordinated, widespread and systematic attack,' Mohammad Tajul Islam, chief prosecutor at Bangladesh's domestic International Crimes Tribunal (ICT), told the court in his opening speech on Sunday. 'The accused unleashed all law enforcement agencies and her armed party members to crush the uprising,' Islam said as he charged the 77-year-old former leader and two other officials of 'abetment, incitement, complicity, facilitation, conspiracy, and failure to prevent mass murder' during the student-led mass uprising. The United Nations says nearly 1,400 Bangladeshis were killed between July and August 2024 when Hasina's government launched a brutal campaign to silence the protesters. Bangladesh has charged her with crimes against humanity over the killings. Hasina – who remains in self-imposed exile in neighbouring India, her old ally – has rejected the charges as politically motivated. She fled by helicopter to New Delhi in August last year after the nationwide protests ended her 'autocratic' 15-year rule marked by allegations of repeated human rights violations, including attacks, imprisonment, and even targeted killings of opposition figures, dissenters, and critics. She has since defied an arrest warrant and extradition order to return to Dhaka. The ICT is also prosecuting former senior figures connected to the ousted government of Hasina and her now-banned Awami League party, including former Interior Minister Asaduzzaman Khan Kamal and former police chief Chowdhury Abdullah Al-Mamun. Their prosecution has been a key demand of several political parties now jostling for power. The interim government has promised to hold elections before June 2026. Prosecutors submitted their report in the case against Hasina last month, with the court expected to issue formal charges on Sunday. ICT chief prosecutor Tajul Islam said on May 12 that Hasina faces at least five charges, including 'abetment, incitement, complicity, facilitation, conspiracy and failure to prevent mass murder during the July uprising'. Investigators have collected video footage, audio clips, Hasina's phone conversations, records of helicopter and drone movements, as well as statements from victims of the crackdown as part of their probe. The ICT opened its first trial connected to the previous government on May 25. In that case, eight police officials face charges of crimes against humanity over the killing of six protesters on August 5, 2024 – the day Hasina fled the country. Four of the officers are in custody and four are being tried in absentia. The ICT was set up by Hasina in 2009 to investigate crimes committed by the Pakistani army during Bangladesh's war for independence in 1971. It sentenced numerous prominent political opponents to death, and many saw it as a means for Hasina to eliminate rivals.
Al Jazeera
a day ago
- Al Jazeera
Arab ministers condemn Israel's ‘ban' on planned West Bank visit
The foreign ministers of five Arab countries who had planned to visit the occupied West Bank this weekend have condemned Israel's decision to block their plans. The ministers condemned 'Israel's decision to ban the delegation's visit to Ramallah [on Sunday] to meet with the president of the State of Palestine, Mahmud Abbas', the Jordanian foreign ministry said in a statement on Saturday. Ministers from Egypt, Jordan, Qatar, Saudi Arabia and the United Arab Emirates were expected to take part in the meeting alongside Turkiye. Israel late on Friday said it will not allow the meeting of Arab foreign ministers, who would have required Israeli consent to travel to the occupied West Bank from Jordan because Israel controls the Palestinian territory's borders and airspace. 'The Palestinian Authority – which to this day refuses to condemn the October 7 massacre – intended to host in Ramallah a provocative meeting of foreign ministers from Arab countries to discuss the promotion of the establishment of a Palestinian state,' the Israeli official said late on Friday. 'Israel will not cooperate with such moves aimed at harming it and its security.' The Israeli move came ahead of an international conference, co-chaired by France and Saudi Arabia, due to be held in New York on June 17-20 to discuss the issue of Palestinian statehood. Israel has come under increasing pressure from the United Nations and European countries which favour a two-state solution to the Palestinian-Israeli conflict, under which an independent Palestinian state would exist alongside Israel. French President Emmanuel Macron said on Friday that recognising a Palestinian state was not only a 'moral duty but a political necessity'. Last week, Israeli forces opened fire near a diplomatic convoy near Jenin refugee camp in the occupied West Bank, triggering an international outcry. The convoy included diplomats from the European Union, the United Kingdom, Russia and China. The Israeli military claimed its soldiers fired 'warning shots' after the group deviated from an agreed-upon route. Israel has also allowed the expansion of illegal settlements in the occupied Palestinian territory, with the government announcing plans to establish 22 new settlements, including retroactively legalising a number of unauthorised outposts. The move has been condemned by Palestinian officials and global human rights groups. The International Court of Justice declared last July that Israel's longstanding occupation of Palestinian territories is illegal, and called for the evacuation of all settlements in the West Bank and East Jerusalem. Since the start of the Israeli war on Gaza on October 7, 2023, at least 972 Palestinians have been killed and more than 7,000 injured in attacks by the Israeli army and settlers across the occupied West Bank, according to the Palestinian Ministry of Health. An estimated 1,139 people were killed in Israel during the Hamas-led attacks on October 7 and more than 200 were taken captive. Since then, at least 54,381 Palestinians have been killed in the Gaza Strip and 124,054 wounded, according to the Palestinian Health Ministry. The Strip's Government Media Office has updated the death toll to more than 61,700, saying thousands of people missing under the rubble are presumed dead.
