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Business Recorder
a day ago
- Politics
- Business Recorder
Syrian security forces take up position on roads near Sweida
DAMASCUS: Residents reported calm in Syria's Sweida on Sunday after the Islamist-led government announced that Bedouin fighters had withdrawn from the predominantly Druze city and the United States stepped up calls for an end to days of fighting. With hundreds reported killed, the Sweida bloodshed is a major test for interim President Ahmed al-Sharaa, prompting Israel to launch airstrikes against government forces last week as it declared support for the Druze. Fighting continued on Saturday despite a ceasefire call. Interior Minister Anas Khattab said on Sunday that internal security forces had managed to calm the situation and enforce the ceasefire, 'paving the way for a prisoner exchange and the gradual return of stability throughout the governorate'. Reuters images showed interior ministry forces near the city, blocking the road in front of members of tribes congregated there. The Interior Ministry said late on Saturday that Bedouin fighters had left the city. Kenan Azzam, a dentist, said there was an uneasy calm but the city's residents were struggling with a lack of water and electricity. 'The hospitals are a disaster and out of service, and there are still so many dead and wounded,' he said by phone. Another resident, Raed Khazaal, said aid was urgently needed. 'Houses are destroyed ... The smell of corpses is spread throughout the national hospital,' he said in a voice message to Reuters from Sweida. The Syrian state news agency said an aid convoy sent to the city by the government was refused entry while aid organised by the Syrian Red Cresent was let in. A source familiar with the situation said local factions in Sweida had turned back the government convoy. The Druze are a small but influential minority present in Syria, Israel and Lebanon who follow a religion that is an offshoot of a branch of Shi'ite Islam. Some hardline Sunnis deem their beliefs heretical.
Dubai Eye
a day ago
- Politics
- Dubai Eye
Calm returns to Syria as fighters pull back
Residents reported calm in Syria's Sweida on Sunday after the government declared that Bedouin fighters had withdrawn from the predominantly Druze city and the United States stepped up calls for an end to days of fighting. With hundreds of people reported killed, the Sweida bloodshed has marked a major test for interim President Ahmed al-Sharaa, prompting Israel to carry out airstrikes last week as it declared support for the Druze. Fighting continued on Saturday despite a ceasefire call. On Sunday morning, residents reported no sound of gunfire in the city after the interior ministry announced late on Saturday that Bedouin tribal fighters had left. Reuters images showed interior ministry security forces deployed in an area near the city, blocking the road in front of members of tribes congregated there. Kenan Azzam, a dentist, described the situation on Sunday morning as "a tense calm" but told Reuters residents were still struggling with a lack of water and electricity. "The hospitals are a disaster and out of service, and there are still so many dead and wounded," he said by phone. Another Sweida resident, Raed Khazaal, said humanitarian aid was urgently needed in the city. "Houses are destroyed ... The smell of corpses is spread throughout the national hospital", he said in a voice message to Reuters from inside Sweida. Tom Barrack, the U.S. envoy for Syria, said "brutal acts by warring factions on the ground undermine the government's authority and disrupt any semblance of order". "All factions must immediately lay down their arms, cease hostilities, and abandon cycles of tribal vengeance. Syria stands at a critical juncture—peace and dialogue must prevail—and prevail now," he wrote on X. The Druze are a small but influential minority group present in Syria, Israel and Lebanon who follow a religion that is an offshoot of a branch of Shi'ite Islam. Some hardline Sunnis deem their beliefs heretical. CHECKPOINTS The fighting began a week ago with clashes between Bedouin and Druze fighters. Damascus then sent troops to quell the fighting, but they were drawn into the violence and accused of carrying out widespread violations against the Druze. Residents of the predominantly Druze city have described friends and neighbours being shot at close range in their homes or in the streets by Syrian troops, identified by their fatigues and the insignia on them. Sharaa, in a speech on Thursday, promised to protect the rights of Druze, accountability for violations, and also vowed to hold to account those who committed violations against "our Druze people". He has blamed the violence on "outlaw groups". Israel bombed Syrian government forces in Sweida and also hit the defense ministry in Damascus last week. Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu said on Thursday Israel had established a policy demanding the demilitarisation of a swathe of territory near the border, stretching from the Israeli-occupied Golan Heights to the Druze Mountain, east of Sweida. He reiterated Israel's policy to protect the Druze. The United States however said it did not support the Israeli strikes. On Friday, an Israeli official said that Israel agreed to allow Syrian forces limited access to the Sweida area for two days. A Syrian security source told Reuters that internal security forces had taken up positions near Sweida, establishing checkpoints in both the western and eastern parts of the province where retreating tribal fighters had gathered. The source said some tribal groups had already returned to Damascus and northern areas. The Syrian Observatory for Human Rights, a British-based monitoring group, has said clashes since last week around Sweida had killed at least 940 people. Reuters could not independently verify the toll.
The Print
10-06-2025
- Politics
- The Print
Explainer-Who are Yemen's Houthis and why are they under attack by Israel?
In the late 1990s, the Houthi family in the far north of Yemen set up a religious revival movement for the Zaydi sect of Shi'ite Islam, which had once ruled Yemen, but whose northern heartland had become impoverished and marginalized. WHAT IS THE HISTORY OF THE HOUTHIS? By Maha El Dahan and Michael Georgy (Reuters) -Yemen's Houthi rebels, who were threatened with an air and naval blockade by Israel on Tuesday, are one of Iran's few allies still standing since the Gaza war spilled across the Middle East. As friction with the government in the capital Sanaa grew, they fought a series of guerrilla wars with the national army and a brief border conflict with Sunni Muslim Saudi Arabia. WHO IS THE HOUTHI LEADER? Abdul Malik al-Houthi created the defiant force challenging world powers from a group of ragtag mountain fighters in sandals. Al-Houthi established a reputation as a fierce battlefield commander before emerging as head of the Houthi movement. Under the direction of al-Houthi, who is in his 40s, the group has grown into an army of tens of thousands of fighters and acquired a huge arsenal of armed drones and ballistic missiles. Saudi Arabia and the West say the arms come from Iran, though Tehran denies this. Al-Houthi is known for rarely staying long in one place, for never meeting the media and for extreme reluctance to make scheduled public appearances. HOW DID THE HOUTHIS COME TO CONTROL MUCH OF YEMEN? A civil war erupted in Yemen in late 2014 when the Houthis seized Sanaa. Worried by the growing influence of Shi'ite Iran along its border, Saudi Arabia led a Western-backed coalition in March 2015, which intervened in support of the Saudi-backed government. The Houthis established control over much of the north and other large population centres, while the internationally recognised government based itself in the port city of Aden. Yemen enjoyed a period of relative calm amid a U.N.-led peace push, but a sharp escalation in regional tensions since the start of the Gaza war has increased risks of a new conflict between the militia and Riyadh. WHY ATTACK SHIPS? The Houthis have waded into the Gaza conflict with attacks on shipping routes in the Red Sea as a show of support for the Palestinians and Hamas, the Islamist group that controls Gaza. They have also claimed attacks on ships they say are linked to Israel in the Gulf of Aden, the Arabian Sea, the Indian Ocean and the Mediterranean Sea. The Houthi attacks have disrupted global shipping, forcing firms to re-route to longer and more expensive journeys around southern Africa. While the militia has said it attacked only vessels with links to Israel, the United States and Britain, shipping industry sources have said all ships were at risk. The U.S. and Britain had retaliated with air strikes against the Houthis as part of international efforts to restore the free flow of trade along a key route between Europe and Asia that accounts for about 15% of the world's shipping traffic. A period of relative calm started in January alongside the Gaza ceasefire but the group then warned in March it would resume its naval operations if Israel did not lift a blockage of aid into Gaza. The Houthis then announced on March 12 a resumption of attacks with immediate effect. In May, President Donald Trump declared the U.S. would stop bombing the Houthis in Yemen, saying that the group had agreed to halt interrupting important shipping lanes in the Middle East. After Trump made the announcement, Oman said it had mediated the ceasefire deal, marking a major shift in Houthi policy since the start of Israel's war in Gaza in October 2023. WHAT ARE THE HOUTHIS' LINKS WITH IRAN? The Houthis are part of what has been called the 'Axis of Resistance' – an anti-Israel and anti-Western alliance of regional militias including Hamas, Hezbollah, the Houthis and armed groups in Iraq, backed by Iran. The Houthis' slogan is 'Death to America, Death to Israel, curse the Jews and victory to Islam'. The Saudi-led coalition accuses Tehran of arming and training the Houthis, a charge both deny. The coalition also says Lebanon's Iran-backed Hezbollah is helping the Houthis, an accusation it rejects. While Iran champions the Houthis, the Houthis deny being puppets of Iran, and Yemen experts say they are motivated primarily by a domestic agenda. (Editing by Peter Graff, Lincoln Feast, William Maclean) Disclaimer: This report is auto generated from the Reuters news service. ThePrint holds no responsibility for its content.
Khaleej Times
06-02-2025
- Business
- Khaleej Times
Prince Rahim becomes 50th Aga Khan imam after passing of father
Prince Rahim Al-Hussaini was named the 50th hereditary Imam, or spiritual leader of Ismaili Muslims on Wednesday after the will of his late father Prince Karim Aga Khan IV was unsealed, the Aga Khan Development Network said. His father, known for his dazzling wealth and development work around the world, died in Lisbon, the seat of the Ismaili Imamat, at age 88 on Tuesday. The funeral is expected to take place in Portugal's capital "in the coming days", as soon as arrangements are finalised, the Imamat said on its website. The world's Ismaili community, a branch of Shi'ite Islam, comprises around 15 million people who live in Central Asia, the Middle East, South Asia, sub-Saharan Africa, Europe and North America. Stay up to date with the latest news. Follow KT on WhatsApp Channels. Born on Oct. 12, 1971, the U.S.-educated, Swiss-based Rahim is the eldest son of the Aga Khan IV and his first wife, Princess Salimah - née Sarah Croker Poole, a British ex-model. The couple had a daughter and two sons together. Rahim has two sons through his marriage with former American fashion model Kendra Spears. He has served on the boards of many agencies of the Aga Khan Development Network and chairs its Environment and Climate Committee, according to the website. "Prince Rahim has been particularly concerned with the AKDN's drive to protect the environment and mitigate the effects of climate change," it said, also highlighting his attention to the institution's work "addressing the needs of those living in the greatest poverty". As Aga Khan — derived from Turkish and Persian words to mean commanding chief — he is believed by Ismailis to be a direct descendant of the Prophet Mohammad through the prophet's cousin and son-in-law, Ali, the first Imam, and his wife Fatima, the Prophet's daughter. The title was originally granted in the 1830s by the emperor of Persia to Karim's great-great-grandfather when the latter married the emperor's daughter. Set up in 1967, the AKDN group of international development agencies employs 80,000 people helping to build schools and hospitals and providing electricity for millions of people in the poorest parts of Africa and Asia. Aga Khan IV mixed his development work with private business, owning for example in Uganda a pharmaceutical company, a bank and a fishnet factory. Aga Khan IV also kept up his family's long tradition of thoroughbred racing and breeding. His stables and riders, wearing his emerald-green silk livery, enjoyed great successes at the top international derbies.
