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Thousands of People Mourn Slain Lebanese Forces Official

Mourners carry the coffin of Pascal Sleiman, an official of the Lebanese Forces party, during his funeral in Jbeil, Lebanon, 12 April 2024. (EPA)
Mourners carry the coffin of Pascal Sleiman, an official of the Lebanese Forces party, during his funeral in Jbeil, Lebanon, 12 April 2024. (EPA)
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Thousands of People Mourn Slain Lebanese Forces Official

Mourners carry the coffin of Pascal Sleiman, an official of the Lebanese Forces party, during his funeral in Jbeil, Lebanon, 12 April 2024. (EPA)
Mourners carry the coffin of Pascal Sleiman, an official of the Lebanese Forces party, during his funeral in Jbeil, Lebanon, 12 April 2024. (EPA)

Thousands of Lebanese on Friday mourned a slain Lebanese Forces official authorities said was killed by a Syrian gang, with supporters pointing the finger at Lebanon's Hezbollah group.

Pascal Sleiman was a coordinator in the Jbeil area north of Beirut for the Lebanese Forces (LF) Christian party, which opposes the government in neighboring Syria and its Lebanese ally Hezbollah.

On Monday, the army said that Sleiman, who had gone missing the day before, was killed in a carjacking by Syrian gang members who then took his body across the border.

His party said it would consider Sleiman's death a "political assassination until proven otherwise".

Hezbollah chief Hassan Nasrallah has denied that his party was involved.

Speaking after Sleiman's funeral, LF leader Samir Geagea called for the "failed, corrupt" authorities in Lebanon to be changed.

Geagea blamed their failure, among other things, on "illegal weapons" -- a barely veiled reference to Hezbollah.

The Iran-backed group is the only party in Lebanon that has kept its weapons arsenal after the end of the 1975-1990 civil war, and it wields great influence on the country's political life.

Since the Israel-Hamas war broke out on October 7, Hezbollah has traded near-daily cross-border fire with Israeli forces in actions opposed by the LF and other parties.

"We don't want to wake up one day, as we did now, and find ourselves involved in a never-ending war," Geagea said Friday.

Maronite Patriarch Beshara Rai, spiritual leader of Lebanon's largest Christian sect, held back tears as he presided over Sleiman's funeral in Jbeil.

Outside the St Georges church, LF supporters waved the party's white flag with its cedar tree -- the symbol of Lebanon -- circled in red.

Mourners told AFP they were unconvinced by the army's version that car thieves killed Sleiman.

"This story never convinced me. It is not coherent at all," said Jean Habshi, 50, who came to pay his respects.

"Enough with Hezbollah, enough with the illegal weapons," Roba Hajal, 24, told AFP outside the church.

"If they (Hezbollah) did not kill him, at the very least they allowed the Syrians in. We are all at risk of meeting Pascal's fate," she said.

Lebanon has a long history of political assassinations that have taken place with impunity.

Years of economic meltdown have further strained a weak judiciary that has been widely accused of succumbing to political interference.

Ziad Hawat, an LF lawmaker from Jbeil, on Friday called for a "serious, transparent" probe into Sleiman's murder, adding that the party had concerns "based on past experiences".

"We do not want the killer to be known to all," he added, while "remaining unknown to the judiciary".

On Tuesday, caretaker Interior Minister Bassam Mawlawi vowed to get tough on Syrians after several were arrested on suspicion of involvement in Sleiman's killing.

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Arab World

ISIS Attack Kills Iraqi Policeman Near Kirkuk

Iraqi police patrol vehicles are stationed outside the Karkh Court house during the trial of six French citizens accused of terrorism in Baghdad, on October 5, 2026. (AFP)
Iraqi police patrol vehicles are stationed outside the Karkh Court house during the trial of six French citizens accused of terrorism in Baghdad, on October 5, 2026. (AFP)
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ISIS Attack Kills Iraqi Policeman Near Kirkuk

Iraqi police patrol vehicles are stationed outside the Karkh Court house during the trial of six French citizens accused of terrorism in Baghdad, on October 5, 2026. (AFP)
Iraqi police patrol vehicles are stationed outside the Karkh Court house during the trial of six French citizens accused of terrorism in Baghdad, on October 5, 2026. (AFP)

At least ‌one Iraqi federal policeman was killed and four others wounded on Monday when ISIS militants attacked a federal police site southwest of the oil-rich city of Kirkuk, two security sources told Reuters.

The attackers used semi-automatic machine guns and sniper fire against the federal police regiment stationed near Hawija, about 70 km (43 miles) southwest of Kirkuk, the sources said.

There ‌was no ‌immediate claim of responsibility. But ‌security and ⁠army sources said ⁠ ISIS militants, who are still active in the area, were involved in the attack.

The attack is the first reported assault by ISIS on Iraqi security forces since US forces completed their withdrawal ⁠from Iraq on September 30, ending ‌the military mission in ‌the country.

The United States had led a ‌coalition that supported Iraqi forces in the fight ‌against ISIS, including efforts to prevent the militant group from regrouping.

Washington said it would continue to provide targeted training and intelligence support after ‌the withdrawal, while Iraqi forces would take full responsibility for the country’s security ⁠and ⁠for suppressing ISIS remnants.

Despite the defeat of ISIS nearly a decade ago, the group retains sleeper cells in Iraq, Iraqi security officials told Reuters ahead of the US withdrawal.

The withdrawal had raised concerns that a security vacuum could provide an opening for ISIS to regain strength, with some officials warning that Iraqi forces would now have to contain the group without the coalition’s military presence.

Arab World

UN Rights Council Condemns Drone Strikes Plaguing Sudan

A view shows a large plume of smoke and fire rising from fuel depot in Port Sudan on May 6, 2025. (AFP)
A view shows a large plume of smoke and fire rising from fuel depot in Port Sudan on May 6, 2025. (AFP)
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UN Rights Council Condemns Drone Strikes Plaguing Sudan

A view shows a large plume of smoke and fire rising from fuel depot in Port Sudan on May 6, 2025. (AFP)
A view shows a large plume of smoke and fire rising from fuel depot in Port Sudan on May 6, 2025. (AFP)

The UN Human Rights Council on Monday condemned indiscriminate drone strikes and attacks on civilians in Sudan, and slammed outside forces fueling the conflict with weapons and mercenaries.

The United Nations' top rights body decided to extend the mandate of the council's independent international fact-finding mission for Sudan for a further year.

The investigation, which gathers evidence of abuses and atrocities, concluded in February that the siege and capture of the city of El-Fasher bore "the hallmarks of genocide".

The draft resolution was adopted by 28 votes to 10, with nine abstentions in the 47-country council.

Sudan said the resolution did not take its reservations into account and had called on all states to vote against it.

The war between Sudan's army and the paramilitary Rapid Support Forces (RSF) has killed more than 200,000 people, aid workers estimate, displaced more than 13 million and created the world's largest hunger and displacement crises.

The rights council resolution said there was "no military solution to the crisis" in Sudan.

It called for "an immediate and complete ceasefire by all parties, without preconditions, the establishment of an independent monitoring mechanism of the ceasefire, the rehabilitation of critical basic infrastructure, (and) a negotiated and peaceful resolution to the conflict".

The resolution condemned violations of international humanitarian law and abuses of human rights by all sides.

It slammed "indiscriminate attacks against civilians, indiscriminate aerial bombardments and drone strikes, resulting in civilian deaths and the destruction of critical infrastructure", including schools and hospitals.

In recent months, both the army and the RSF have increasingly deployed drones, killing more than 1,100 during the first five months of this year alone, according to United Nations figures.

- African opinion shifting -

Those voting for the resolution included Brazil, Britain, France, Italy, Japan, Mexico and South Korea.

Those against included China, Cuba, Egypt, Indonesia, Iraq, Pakistan and Qatar.

Britain, which brought forward the resolution, hailed the change in African opinion on the council.

This time, four of its 13 members backed the resolution renewing the investigation -- The Gambia, Malawi and Mauritius joining South Africa -- with seven abstentions and two voting no.

Last year, only South Africa voted yes, with eight abstentions and four nos.

"This is a hugely significant shift," Britain's ambassador Eleanor Sanders told AFP.

"Tragically, it speaks to the scale and gravity of what is happening in Sudan.

"The mandate, and this African support, increases the pressure and therefore increases the cost on the warring parties for what they're doing," she added.

"We hope that it might mitigate the scale and barbarity of some of the atrocities. It might also, in doing that, make the sides a bit more willing to take steps towards an end to this devastating conflict."

The Gambia's representative Cherno Marenah told the council his country's Yes vote was "guided by our overriding consideration for the millions of victims of the war in Sudan, who continue to bear the devastating consequences of this conflict".

Arab World

US Envoy Holds Rare Meeting with Sudan’s Top General in Push to Seek End to Fighting

White House senior adviser Massad Boulos speaks to reporters at the White House, July 21, 2026, in Washington. (AP)
White House senior adviser Massad Boulos speaks to reporters at the White House, July 21, 2026, in Washington. (AP)
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US Envoy Holds Rare Meeting with Sudan’s Top General in Push to Seek End to Fighting

White House senior adviser Massad Boulos speaks to reporters at the White House, July 21, 2026, in Washington. (AP)
White House senior adviser Massad Boulos speaks to reporters at the White House, July 21, 2026, in Washington. (AP)

A US envoy met over the weekend with Sudan's top general as the Trump administration pushes for diplomatic efforts to end a war that has created what many describe as the world’s largest humanitarian crisis.

Massad Boulos, President Donald Trump’s senior adviser for Arab and African affairs, met Saturday with Sudanese Gen. Abdel Fattah Burhan at a luncheon hosted by Egyptian President Abdel Fattah al-Sisi on the sidelines of the mid-year coordination meeting of the African Union, according to a social media post.

“These efforts aim to enable Sudan to restore its security and stability, embark on reconstruction and development, and, through an inclusive Sudanese-owned and Sudanese-led national dialogue, transition toward a civilian-led government,” Boulos wrote on X.

The rare meeting between Boulos and Burhan comes as the US, Egypt and other intermediaries seek to renew pressure on the warring parties in Sudan to negotiate an end to the fighting that has killed at least 59,000 people, displaced some 13 million and pushed many parts of the African nation into famine.

It also took place less than two weeks after Sudanese Foreign Minister Mohieldin Salim Ahmed Ibrahim accused the US of denying a visa for Burhan to attend the high-level week of the UN General Assembly last month in New York, saying it was a betrayal of Washington's host country obligations. The State Department declined to comment at the time, citing visa privacy laws.

The war in Sudan, which has entered its fourth year, has been overshadowed over the past year by the conflicts in the Middle East.

The African country first plunged into chaos in April 2023 when a power struggle between the military and the paramilitary Rapid Support Forces exploded into open fighting in the capital, Khartoum, and elsewhere in the country.

Although repeated attempts at peace talks in recent months have failed to end the war, Boulos and other Trump administration officials have said they believe there is still a chance for a regional agreement to secure an immediate humanitarian truce, including certain withdrawals and the establishment of safe humanitarian corridors.

“The United States stands ready to support all efforts leading to a comprehensive dialogue among the Sudanese political forces, leading to a preliminary road map of the future of the Sudan,” Boulos said in his post.