Free Republic

In this Friday, Oct. 26, 2018 file photo, released by Oman News Agency, Oman's Sultan Qaboos, left, receives Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu in Muscat, Oman. (Oman News Agency via AP, File) The “last decade,” notes James Sinkinson in a perceptive article, has seen a “sea change” in Israel’s ties with “key Arab states.” And that last decade is also the one in which Benjamin Netanyahu (again, after a stint in the 1990s) has been Israel’s prime minister — specifically since March 2009.True, conditions for enhanced Arab-Israeli ties have been propitious — particularly the behavior of regional bully Iran, a...

BEIRUT, LEBANON (3:20 P.M.) – The semi-official Syrian newspaper, Al-Watan, published the first scenes of the destruction left by the Israeli strikes in the Hama countryside this morning. The photos published by the Syrian newspaper on its official Facebook page show the great destruction caused by the raids on some installations, buildings and structures in the Al-Salamiyah District of Hama. The Syrian newspaper did not state the name of these buildings, the location, or the total number of losses from these strikes. At approximately 12:45 A.M. (local time) last night, the Israeli Air Force fired several missiles at the eastern...

As Turkey touts its humanitarian aid deliveries to Syria's Idlib, critics weigh the six truckloads of supplies against its thousands of tons of allegedly looted Syrian grain. Turkey’s state-run Anadolu news agency reported that on Monday, two Turkish charities had sent six trucks carrying humanitarian aid to the rebel-held province of Idlib in northwest Syria. “Truckloads of supplies including flour, clothing and dry food [donated] by the Adana Dosteller and Eskisehir Gunisigi charities entered Idlib through the Yayladagi border crossing in Turkey’s southern Hatay province. The aid will be distributed among families living in tents in Idlib,” Anadolu reported. Turkey’s...

KOBANI, Syria (North Press) – Four women lost their lives including a feminist activist and many others injured on Tuesday evening in an aerial bombardment allegedly by Turkish air force that targeted the village of Helenj, east of the town of Kobani, north Syria, local sources said. The sources in the village told North Press that a feminist activist, named Zahra Barkal, was among the women who lost their lives in the bombardment. Barkal was an official in the Kurdish Women Organization, known as Kongreya Star, which activities focus on the feminist movement in northeastern Syria. Barkal was visiting a...

ERBIL (Kurdistan 24) – A Turkish drone strike on Tuesday evening killed three civilian females at a residence in the village of Helincê, located outside the northern Syrian city of Kobani, according to local security forces. The General Command of the Kurdish-led Internal Security Forces (ISF), also known as the Asayesh, in an official statement said blamed the “Turkish occupation” for the attack. “We in the General Command of the Internal Security Forces (ISF) for Northeast Syria condemn the crimes of the Turkish occupation against our people and we also call on the International Coalition and the Russian Federation to...

State Department spokeswoman Morgan Ortagus said in a statement Saturday that the U.S. is "concerned" by a request for military support by the Government of National Accord (GNA). The U.S. is also concerned about the Libyan National Army's (LNA) "threat to use foreign-supplied air assets and mercenaries." Forces led by the LNA's Khalifa Haftar have been supported by Egypt, the United Arab Emirates and Russian mercenaries, according to the wire service, which cited diplomats and Tripoli officials. A U.S. official told Reuters that the presence of the Russian forces is "creating a bloodier conflict." "More civilian damage, damage to infrastructure...

Libyan leader threatens EU with 800,000 more migrants, including “criminals and terrorists” JUL 18, 2019 11:00 AM BY CHRISTINE DOUGLASS-WILLIAMS “Libyan Prime Minister Fayez al-Sarraj, head of the U.N.-backed Government of National Accord (GNA), warned on Tuesday that 800,000 more migrants could be driven into Europe unless the assault on Tripoli by warlord Khalifa Haftar ends soon.” Since when did Tripoli’s internal problems with warlord Khalifa Haftar become the EU’s problem? It is astonishing how Islamic supremacist thugs are now giving orders to the EU. This is the fault of globalists who have surrendered their countries’ sovereignty. Al-Sarraj also warned:...

An airstrike on a migrant detention center in the Tajoura suburb of Libya's capital killed at least 44 people early Wednesday morning, according to the United Nations. More than 100 people were injured. The strike hit a hangar within the Tajoura Detention Center, obliterating what had been a shelter that was housing roughly 120 people. The death toll has grown as local health authorities report casualties. The U.N.-recognized government in the capital, Tripoli, has accused strongman Khalifa Haftar and his Libyan National Army of carrying out the attack. As NPR's Jane Arraf reports, the migrants' hangar is next to a...

Reports say clashes between Gen Khalifa Haftar's rebels and pro-government groups are taking place in three suburbs to the south of the city. Tripoli is the base of the UN-backed, internationally recognised government. The UN's Libya envoy has insisted that a planned conference on possible new elections will still go ahead. In a televised address the head of the UN-backed government, Prime Minister Fayez al-Sarraj, accused Gen Haftar of launching a coup. Mr al-Sarraj said his government had "extended our hands towards peace", but said Gen Haftar will now be met with "nothing but strength and firmness". Tripoli residents have...

European officials are hoping Donald Trump’s surprise expression of support for the Libyan warlord Khalifa Haftar can be reversed amid division in Washington over US policy on the north African country. A clarification of US policy is considered necessary in order to build an international consensus condemning the attack on Tripoli that has claimed nearly 300 lives and injured more than 1,000, including migrants trapped in detention centres, since it began this month. Haftar is seen by Britain and the UN as the immediate aggressor in the conflict. Diplomats were surprised last week when an official White House readout of...

The EU and US urge "strongman" Khalifa Haftar to return oil ports to the "Libyan people". We're glad that Washington has a sense of humor ___ Libya was the richest, most developed, most educated country in North Africa. It was a model of much-needed stability in the region, with a government that was considerably less terrible than NATO's numerous medieval dictator-allies. Before the "revolution", the Libyan government used oil revenues to subsidize a whole range of social benefits for its citizens. And now that Libya is a moon crater, the U.S. and its European poodles are whining about "returning oil...

An armoured vehicle of Libyan forces allied with the U.N.-backed government is pictured during a battle with Islamic State militants in neighbourhood Number Three in Sirte, Libya October 9, 2016. REUTERS/Ismail Zitouny ************************************************************* TRIPOLI (Reuters) – Libyan pro-government forces are advancing into the last area controlled by Islamic State in the coastal city of Sirte, surrounding the militants after a five-month campaign backed by U.S. air strikes, military officials say.At least eight pro-government fighters were killed over the weekend as their forces pushed into the 600 block, an area in central Sirte, with snipers and boobytraps posing the main obstacles...

Libyan renegade general Khalifa Haftar, who leads the Libyan militias fighting against Islamists in eastern Libya, has said he does not mind "cooperating with Israel and receiving various forms of support from it". General Haftar initially fought on the side of Muammar Gaddafi, before turning against him to fight with Islamist groups in 2011. He recently re-emerged as the leader of a military campaign to eradicate Islamist factions in the country. The editor in chief of Egypt's Al-Mesryoon newspaper, Gamal Sultan, quoted a statement made by Haftar during an interview with the Italian newspaper Corriere della Sera on Sunday, in...

A statement shown on screen on An-Nabaa television, regarded as close to the Islamists, said: "Fajr Libya announces that it totally controls Tripoli international airport." Earlier on Saturday, leaders of the Islamist coalition, partly comprising men from Misrata, east of Tripoli, said their forces were advancing on the airport, having taken a bridge and a military base. The strategic site 30 kilometres (20 miles) south of the Libyan capital, has been shut since July 13 amid skirmishes between the Islamists and the Zintan force, allies of rogue general Khalifa Haftar, based at Benghazi in eastern Libya and hostile to the...

President Abdel Fatah al-Sisi checked on the forces in the Western Military Zone Saturday telling them, "The Egyptian Army is one of the strongest in the region. Yet, it is a wise army that protects but doesn't threaten, and is able to defend the national security of Egypt within and beyond its borders." The president said that the Air Force, the Special Forces, and the Border Guards have been securing 1,200 kilometers of borders with Libya for seven years, and accomplishing missions that have not been disclosed... The president warned in his speech in Sidi Barani district in Matrouh Governorate...

BEIRUT, LEBANON (10:30 A.M.) – On Saturday, the Greek Army announced its readiness to respond to any steps by Turkey, threatening to “burn everyone who sets foot on Greek soil.” A Greek news website quoted the statements of the Chief of Staff of the Greek Army, Constantius Florus, who did not rule out the occurrence of a “military conflict with Turkey in the event that Ankara proceeded to cross the red lines,” noting that “the military conflict is possible, and no one can exclude this possibility. And if anything like that happens, this will not be limited to one point,...

Turkish President Recep Tayyip ErdoÄŸan has again upset the Christian world with his plans to reconvert the world-famous Agia Sophia in Istanbul, currently functioning as a museum, back into a mosque. Agia Sophia was built in the 6th century as an Orthodox Christian cathedral and served in the capacity until the fall of Byzantium to the Ottoman invaders in 1453, after which it was converted into a mosque. A 1934 presidential decree secularized the building and turned it into a state museum. But now, on July 2, the State Council of Turkey will review the possibility of changing the status...

Last month has proven to be catastrophic for the credibility of one of Russia’s most touted air defense systems. The troubles for the Pantsir S1 air defense system in Libya began when Khalifa Haftar’s yearlong Tripoli offensive against the Ankara-backed Government of National Accord (GNA) began to collapse. Believed to have been supplied to the Libyan strongman as early as last year by his backers in the Gulf, the Russian system was meant to be used as a trump card against Turkey’s combat unmanned aerial vehicle (UAV) air interdiction operations. Yet, after a major GNA counteroffensive last month, and the...

Dr. Reza Parchizadeh, a political theorist and analyst, recently noted on Twitter that “the Iranian regime has turned the late #George_Floyd into Saint George, Shiite-style!” And sure enough, Parchizadeh posted a painting of Floyd depicting him in the way Shi’ite Muslims often depict their holy figures: in a green robe and surrounded by an aura of holy light. The Iranian regime has turned the late #George_Floyd into Saint George, Shiite-style! #Beware_Foreign_Influence pic.twitter.com/ofTtW5J3px— Dr. Reza Parchizadeh (@rezaparchizadeh) June 1, 2020 As incongruous as the image is, it’s perfectly fitting: Floyd, whose murder touched off the rage for destruction that is...

Before the music lets talk about plans for next week in Idaho with legislators seeking to end martial law and the emergency rule of Republican Governor Brad Little. They intend to attempt a meeting on Tuesday morning at 9 am in Boise at the State Capitol...... And Dame Vera Lynn passed away this week at the age of 103. She is remembered for her wartime singing but of course that song "We'll Meet Again" was the closing of "Dr. Strangelove's" working the government officials to dictate our lives.... I guess this is a good lead into John Bolton and his...