Saudi foreign minister warns of mass atrocities if Shiite militias enter Mosul

October 18, 2016

Baghdad, Oct 18: Iraqi forces advanced Monday after launching an offensive aimed at retaking Mosul and dealing a death blow to the Daesh group’s “caliphate” in the city where it was declared two years ago.

mosul

The start of the long-awaited assault raised deep concerns for hundreds of thousands of civilians trapped in Iraq’s second-largest city, with aid groups warning of a massive humanitarian crisis.

Some 30,000 federal forces are leading the offensive, backed by air and ground support from a 60-nation US-led coalition, in what is expected to be a long and difficult assault on Daesh’s last major Iraqi stronghold.

Iraqi forces could be seen readying weapons and ammunitions as columns of armored vehicles headed toward Mosul from the town of Al-Shoura, some 45 km south of the city.

The Pentagon described the operation as a “decisive moment” in the fight against Daesh but the US-led coalition’s top commander warned it could last weeks or more. It said early indications were that Iraqi forces were meeting objectives and were ahead of schedule.

Iraqi Prime Minister Haider Al-Abadi announced the beginning of the assault in a televised address in the early hours of Monday. “Today I declare the start of these victorious operations to free you from the violence and terrorism of Daesh,” Abadi said.

Meanwhile, Saudi Arabia said that Riyadh had urged the Iraqi government not to let Shiite militias enter Mosul, fearing “mass atrocities.”

Foreign Minister Adel Al-Jubeir warned against a repeat of the events in Fallujah, which Daesh was chased out of in June. “We oppose any kind of involvement by the Shiite militias,” Al-Jubeir told a press conference in London.

Comments

Naren kotian
 - 
Tuesday, 18 Oct 2016

Butcher wahabis ...we are with u shites ....later Kurdistan will become independent and becomes ally for our Israel ....Islamic state must be kicked out from everywhere ....Saudis must feel heat ....

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News Network
April 15,2020

Dubai, Apr 15: Saudi Arabia reported 493 new cases of coronavirus, bringing the total number of infections in the country to 5869, the Ministry of Health announced on Wednesday.

According to the ministry of health, the number of recoveries today are 42 cases, making total of recoveries in the kingdom 931. And 71 critical cases in intensive care.

The ministry also confirmed 6 deaths bringing the total number of deaths in the kingdom to 79.

Saudi Arabia imposed a 24-hour curfew and lockdown on the cities of Riyadh, Tabuk, Dammam, Dhahran and Hofuf and throughout the governorates of Jeddah, Taif, Qatif and Khobar. This week the curfew was extended until further notice.

Overall, Saudi Arabia has reported one of the lowest rates of infection in the region, with around 5,000 cases in a population of over 30 million. Mecca was one of the first Saudi cities to be placed under a full-day curfew, and authorities took unprecedented precautions, suspending religious tourism in February and closing mosques across the country in March.

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News Network
March 18,2020

Dubai, Mar 18: Emirates, one of the world's biggest international airlines, has asked pilots to take unpaid leave to help it mitigate the impact of the coronavirus pandemic that has shattered demand for global travel.

"To this end you are strongly encouraged to make use of this opportunity to volunteer for additional paid and unpaid leave," the airline said in an internal email to pilots, seen by Reuters.

Emirates earlier this month asked some staff to take unpaid leave, although at that time it was not available to pilots.

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Agencies
March 1,2020

Paris, Mar 1: Most of the riders and teams taking part in the abandoned UAE Tour, and who had been quarantined in their Abu Dhabi hotels since Thursday after a coronavirus scare, were cleared to leave the country, sources said.

"The pleasure of going home after several days spent at the hotel," tweeted 2018 world champion Alejandro Valverde, one of the top stars of the race along with Chris Froome, the four-time winner of the Tour de France.

"We are doing well and soon we will fly to Spain."

However, there was confusion over how many competitors and officials will be allowed to leave.

All 133 cyclists who were still in contention as well as team members were tested after it was announced by organisers Thursday that two Italian staff members on the race had tested positive for the COVID-19 virus.

Earlier Saturday, the UAE Tour, quoting health officials, said that 167 people had been tested and all were negative.

The Department of Health-Abu Dhabi were "still monitoring the condition of the remaining cases of contacts, whose lab testing findings will be available in the next few hours."

The UAE Tour cancelled its last two stages on Thursday after the coronavirus cases were confirmed.

Danish cyclist Michael Morkov of the Deceuninck-Quick-Step team, who took part in the first four stages, was placed in isolation in his hotel room after arriving in Berlin to take part in the world track championships.

However, on Saturday, he too was cleared to take part.

"The rider present in Berlin is currently in excellent health, with no suspicious clinical signs, and we are also guaranteed that he has not contacted the two members of the management of a team participating in the UAE Tour, originally suspected of coronavirus," governing body UCI said in a statement.

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