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US Pledges to Support Libyan Navy

The participants of a multinational maritime exercise sponsored by the United States Africa Command (AFRICOM). Photo: US Embassy
The participants of a multinational maritime exercise sponsored by the United States Africa Command (AFRICOM). Photo: US Embassy
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US Pledges to Support Libyan Navy

The participants of a multinational maritime exercise sponsored by the United States Africa Command (AFRICOM). Photo: US Embassy
The participants of a multinational maritime exercise sponsored by the United States Africa Command (AFRICOM). Photo: US Embassy

The US has confirmed that it would continue to expand its engagement with professional military officers from across Libya, and pledged to support the Libyan Navy in strengthening unified maritime security efforts.

In a statement issued on Tuesday night, the US Embassy in Libya thanked the Libyan Navy for its participation in Phoenix Express 24, a multinational maritime exercise sponsored by the United States Africa Command (AFRICOM).

It said the exercise brought together North African, European, and US maritime forces in Tunisia to enhance cooperation and expertise in maritime security operations.

“This year witnessed the largest ever Libyan Navy presence yet in this important Mediterranean security exercise, including the ships Al Karama and Ibn Ouf and over one hundred sailors from the west and east,” said the statement.

It added that the US “will continue to expand our engagement with professional military officers from all regions of Libya, and we will strive to support the Libyan Navy in strengthening unified maritime security efforts.”

Meanwhile, EU Ambassador to Libya Nicola Orlando said Tuesday that in a wide-ranging meeting with Minister of State Adel Jumaa in Tripoli, “we reviewed the EU-Libya partnership and explored ways to deepen our cooperation.”

“I briefed the Minister on my recent consultations in Brussels, and we reaffirmed our commitment to advancing the rights-based structured dialogue initiated by President Von der Leyen and Prime Minister Abdul Hamid Dbeibah, spanning key areas like civil aviation, higher education, and health.”

He said that he underscored the EU’s willingness to support Libya in strengthening its borders.

Discussions also focused on the importance of backing the efforts of the United Nations Support Mission in Libya (UNSMIL) to promote stability and unity through dialogue, including critical steps to unify the budget and ensure the transparent and fair allocation of Libya’s resources.

“I encouraged him to continue constructive engagement with all stakeholders and reiterated the EU’s readiness to assist,” Orlando added.

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Arab World

Palestinian Leader's Loyalists Win Local Elections, including Some in Gaza

A Palestinian man votes during the municipal election at a polling station in Deir al-Balah, central Gaza Strip April 25, 2026. REUTERS/Mahmoud Issa
A Palestinian man votes during the municipal election at a polling station in Deir al-Balah, central Gaza Strip April 25, 2026. REUTERS/Mahmoud Issa
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Palestinian Leader's Loyalists Win Local Elections, including Some in Gaza

A Palestinian man votes during the municipal election at a polling station in Deir al-Balah, central Gaza Strip April 25, 2026. REUTERS/Mahmoud Issa
A Palestinian man votes during the municipal election at a polling station in Deir al-Balah, central Gaza Strip April 25, 2026. REUTERS/Mahmoud Issa

Loyalists of President Mahmoud Abbas won most races in Palestinian municipal elections, election officials said on Sunday, in a vote that for the first time in nearly two decades included a city in the Gaza Strip run by rival Hamas.

Saturday’s ballot marked the first elections of any kind in Gaza since 2006 and the first Palestinian polls since the Gaza war began more than two years ago with Hamas' cross-border attack on southern Israel.

Abbas' West Bank–based Palestinian Authority (PA) said the inclusion of the Gaza city Deir al-Balah, which suffered less damage than other areas of the coastal territory during the war, was intended to show that Gaza was an inseparable part of a future Palestinian state.

The elections, in which voter turnout was low, had been held "at a highly sensitive moment amid complex challenges and exceptional circumstances", Palestinian Prime Minister Mohammad Mustafa said as results were announced on Sunday.

But they represented "an important first step in a broader national process aimed at strengthening democratic life ... and ultimately achieving the unity of the land", he said.

POSSIBLE INDICATOR OF HAMAS SUPPORT

Hamas, which ousted the PA from Gaza in 2007, did not formally nominate candidates in Gaza and boycotted the race in the Israeli-occupied West Bank, where Fatah's victory was widely expected.

But some candidates on one of the Deir al-Balah lists were widely seen by residents and analysts as aligned with the movement, making the vote a potential indicator of support for the Islamist group.

Preliminary results showed that the list, known as Deir al-Balah Brings Us Together, won only two of the 15 seats contested in Gaza.

The Nahdat Deir al-Balah list, backed by Abbas' Fatah party and the Western-backed PA, secured six seats. The remaining seats were won by two other Gaza-based groups, Future of Deir al-Balah and Peace and Building, not affiliated with either faction.

Abbas loyalists swept the election in the West Bank, running unchallenged in many seats.

"By electing figures linked to Fatah, voters appear to be seeking unrestricted international support for municipal governance and a gradual political shift that could extend beyond the local level," said Palestinian political analyst Reham Ouda.

The recent war has left much of Gaza reduced to rubble, with many residents displaced and focused on survival. Israel has continued conducting strikes despite an October ceasefire.

In Gaza voter turnout reached just 23%, while in the West Bank it was 56%, according to Chairman of the Central Elections Commission Rami al-Hamdallah.

Al-Hamdallah said some of the ballot boxes and voting equipment did not make it into the enclave because of Israeli security restrictions, though those challenges were overcome.

Hamas' Gaza spokesperson, Hazem Qassem, downplayed the significance of the election results, saying that they had no impact on wider national issues.

 

 

 

Arab World

Arab Parliament Condemns Attack Targeting Two Border Posts in Kuwait

Arab Parliament logo
Arab Parliament logo
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Arab Parliament Condemns Attack Targeting Two Border Posts in Kuwait

Arab Parliament logo
Arab Parliament logo

Arab Parliament Speaker Mohammed Al-Yamahi has condemned the blatant attack that targeted two sites at the northern land border posts of Kuwait using two explosive-laden drones coming from Iraq, SPA reported.

In a statement, Al-Yamahi stressed the Arab Parliament’s condemnation and categorical rejection of any infringement on the sovereignty of Kuwait or any attempt to undermine its security and stability.

He stressed the Arab Parliament’s full solidarity and support for Kuwait in confronting such attacks, reiterating its backing for all measures taken to protect its security and noting that the security of Kuwait is an integral part of Arab national security.

Arab World

Syria’s First Public Trial of Assad-era Officials Opens in Damascus

Judges attend a trial session of Atef Najib, a brigadier general and former head of the Political Security Department in Daraa during Syria's ousted President Bashar al-Assad's rule, who is accused of committing war crimes, at the Palace of Justice, in Damascus, Syria, April 26, 2026. REUTERS/Khalil Ashawi
Judges attend a trial session of Atef Najib, a brigadier general and former head of the Political Security Department in Daraa during Syria's ousted President Bashar al-Assad's rule, who is accused of committing war crimes, at the Palace of Justice, in Damascus, Syria, April 26, 2026. REUTERS/Khalil Ashawi
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Syria’s First Public Trial of Assad-era Officials Opens in Damascus

Judges attend a trial session of Atef Najib, a brigadier general and former head of the Political Security Department in Daraa during Syria's ousted President Bashar al-Assad's rule, who is accused of committing war crimes, at the Palace of Justice, in Damascus, Syria, April 26, 2026. REUTERS/Khalil Ashawi
Judges attend a trial session of Atef Najib, a brigadier general and former head of the Political Security Department in Daraa during Syria's ousted President Bashar al-Assad's rule, who is accused of committing war crimes, at the Palace of Justice, in Damascus, Syria, April 26, 2026. REUTERS/Khalil Ashawi

The first public trial in Syria of officials linked to the rule of former President Bashar Assad opened in Damascus Sunday.

Atef Najib, a former Syrian army brigadier general who was head of the Political Security Branch in southern Syria's Daraa province under Assad and who is also a cousin of the former president, appeared in the courtroom to face charges related to “crimes against the Syrian people,” state-run news agency SANA reported.

Najib was in that position in 2011 when teenagers who scrawled anti-government graffiti on a school wall in Daraa were arrested and tortured. The case became a catalyst for mass protests against the repressive policies of Assad's government security forces.

The protests were met by a brutal government crackdown and spiraled into a 14-year civil war that ended with Assad's ouster in December 2024 in a lightning rebel offensive. Assad fled to Russia, while most members of his inner circle also escaped Syria.

Assad himself and his brother, Maher, former commander of the Syrian military's 4th Armored Division — which Syrian opposition activists have accused of killings, torture, extortion and drug trafficking, in addition to running its own detention centers — were charged in absentia, along with a number of other former high-ranking security officials.

Najib was the only one of the defendants who was arrested and present in person in court Sunday for a preparatory session in the trial, which will continue next month.

Crowds gathered outside the courthouse to celebrate.

The government of interim President Ahmad al-Sharaa has faced criticism over delays in launching a promised transitional justice process. Syria is struggling to heal following 14 years of civil war that left an estimated half a million people dead, millions more displaced, and the country battered and divided.

Authorities now appear to be moving more aggressively to prosecute officials linked to Assad.

Syrian authorities on Friday arrested Amjad Yousef, a former intelligence officer who appeared in a video leaked four years ago that purportedly showed him and his comrades executing dozens of blindfolded and shackled prisoners in the Damascus suburb of Tadamon during the country’s civil war.