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Thousands Attend Burial of Seif al-Islam Gaddafi

Thousands of Libyans surround an ambulance carrying the coffin of Seif al-Islam, son of former Libyan leader Moammar Gaddafi, in Bani Walid city, Libya, Friday, Feb. 6, 2026. (AP)
Thousands of Libyans surround an ambulance carrying the coffin of Seif al-Islam, son of former Libyan leader Moammar Gaddafi, in Bani Walid city, Libya, Friday, Feb. 6, 2026. (AP)
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Thousands Attend Burial of Seif al-Islam Gaddafi

Thousands of Libyans surround an ambulance carrying the coffin of Seif al-Islam, son of former Libyan leader Moammar Gaddafi, in Bani Walid city, Libya, Friday, Feb. 6, 2026. (AP)
Thousands of Libyans surround an ambulance carrying the coffin of Seif al-Islam, son of former Libyan leader Moammar Gaddafi, in Bani Walid city, Libya, Friday, Feb. 6, 2026. (AP)

Thousands turned out on Friday for the burial of the slain son of former Libyan ruler Moammar al-Gaddafi in a town that still holds allegiance to the late longtime leader. 

Seif al-Islam Gaddafi, once seen by some as Libya's heir apparent, was shot dead in his home in the northwestern city of Zintan on Tuesday. 

His burial in the town of Bani Walid, some 175 kilometers (110 miles) south of Tripoli, brought together thousands of Gaddafi loyalists, nearly 15 years after the ruler was toppled and killed in a 2011 NATO-backed uprising. 

Libya has struggled to recover from chaos that erupted since. It remains split between Abdelhamid Dbeibah's Government of National Unity based in Tripoli and an eastern administration backed by Libyan National Army commander Khalifa Haftar. 

Dbeibah condemned the killing, saying that "assassinations never provide stability... but rather deepen division". 

His interior ministry had announced that it would "ensure the security of the funeral" in the town of some 100,000 people. 

Each year, Bani Walid celebrates the anniversary of a 1969 coup that brought Gaddafi to power, with people parading through the streets with portraits of the ex-leader and Libya's green flag from before the uprising. 

Ahead of the burial on Friday, locals also carried those portraits and flags while chanting pro-Gaddafi slogans and declaring that "the martyrs' blood will not be shed in vain". 

Marcel Ceccaldi, a French lawyer who had been representing Seif al-Islam, told AFP a "four-man commando" killed him. 

Authorities said they were probing his death as the assailants remained at large. 

Saadi Gaddafi, Seif al-Islam's younger brother, said his dead sibling would be buried "next to his brother Khamis Gaddafi", who was killed during the 2011 unrest. 

Under his father's 40-year rule, Seif al-Islam was described as the de facto prime minister, cultivating an image of moderation and reform despite holding no official position. 

But that reputation soon collapsed when he promised "rivers of blood" in retaliation for the 2011 uprising. 

He was arrested that year on a warrant issued by the International Criminal Court for alleged crimes against humanity, and a Tripoli court sentenced him to death, although he was later granted amnesty. 

In 2021 he announced he would run for president, but the elections were indefinitely postponed. 

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Arab World

EU Announces Restrictions on Trading Sudanese Gold

An artisanal miner operates an ore-processing machine used to separate gold-bearing material at a mining site in Dalago Mahas, Sudan’s Northern State, Thursday, May 7, 2026.(AP Photo/Mohnd Blal)
An artisanal miner operates an ore-processing machine used to separate gold-bearing material at a mining site in Dalago Mahas, Sudan’s Northern State, Thursday, May 7, 2026.(AP Photo/Mohnd Blal)
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EU Announces Restrictions on Trading Sudanese Gold

An artisanal miner operates an ore-processing machine used to separate gold-bearing material at a mining site in Dalago Mahas, Sudan’s Northern State, Thursday, May 7, 2026.(AP Photo/Mohnd Blal)
An artisanal miner operates an ore-processing machine used to separate gold-bearing material at a mining site in Dalago Mahas, Sudan’s Northern State, Thursday, May 7, 2026.(AP Photo/Mohnd Blal)

The European Union announced on Monday new sanctions against Sudan by targeting the country's gold trade, which it said was being used ‌to finance ‌the military conflict ‌in ⁠the country, reported Reuters.

"The decision ⁠introduces a ban on the purchase, import or transfer of gold originating ⁠in Sudan. It ‌also ‌bans the sale, supply, ‌transfer or export ‌of mercury and cyanide to Sudan," said a statement by the ‌Council of the European Union.

The ⁠conflict ⁠between Sudan's army and the paramilitary Rapid Support Forces began more than three years ago, and it has caused a vast humanitarian crisis.

Arab World

Iran Further Undermines Yemen’s Sovereignty as Houthis Violate the Truce

Smoke rises following airstrikes on Sanaa airport in Sanaa, Yemen, 13 July 2026. (EPA)
Smoke rises following airstrikes on Sanaa airport in Sanaa, Yemen, 13 July 2026. (EPA)
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Iran Further Undermines Yemen’s Sovereignty as Houthis Violate the Truce

Smoke rises following airstrikes on Sanaa airport in Sanaa, Yemen, 13 July 2026. (EPA)
Smoke rises following airstrikes on Sanaa airport in Sanaa, Yemen, 13 July 2026. (EPA)

Yemen's legitimate government said it struck Houthi-controlled Sanaa airport on Monday, its biggest flare-up in years with the militants.

The government said it had wanted to prevent an Iranian plane from landing in the capital, after failing to convince a Houthi delegation that went to Tehran for the late Iranian supreme leader's funeral to board a Yemenia flight instead.

The latest escalation threatens to unravel a truce that has been holding since 2022 despite expiring, and comes at a time of heightened tensions as the United States and Iran trade attacks impacting the Gulf and traffic in the Strait of Hormuz.

Yemen's Defense Ministry accused the Houthis of "allowing an Iranian plane to violate Yemeni territory; consequently, the airport runway was targeted".

Following the strikes, the head of Yemen's Presidential Leadership Council, Dr. Rashad al-Alimi, said he had "ordered that the scope of the confrontation not be expanded".

He held the Houthis “fully accountable for the escalation,” saying they had insisted on welcoming a new Iranian flight despite objections and attempts to contain the crisis and avert more tensions.

The government had run out of political and legal options before the arrival of the flight. He added that the government had offered to operate the flight through the Yemenia airline seeing as it is the national carrier.

The Houthis rejected the proposal and insisted on welcoming the Iranian plane outside official channels, stated al-Alimi, saying this was evidence that the militants “were not serving the people or easing their suffering, but deepening the division and imposing a status quo that serves foreign agendas.”

He ordered the army and security forces “to be on the highest level of alert and take the necessary political, diplomatic, legal and military measures allowed by the constitution and international law to protect Yemen’s airspace and land and sea ports.”

Prime Minister and Foreign Minister Shaya al-Zindani held an extraordinary government meeting in the interim capital Aden to discuss the escalation.

The cabinet tasked the Foreign Ministry with intensifying its contacts with friendly nations and regional and international organizations to urge them against the use of Yemen’s airspace outside official channels.

Smoke rises after reports of an airstrike hitting near the Sanaa International Airport, as seen from Sanaa, Yemen, July 13, 2026. (Reuters)

It held the Houthis “fully responsible for the escalation and its consequences”, accusing them of “undermining peace efforts and exposing Yemen and the region to more dangers”.

It also held the Iranian regime responsible for the escalation given its continued support to the Houthis.

Ahead of the strike, the Defense Ministry had urged citizens to evacuate the airport and its vicinity for their safety.

It vowed that it would “deal with any party or plane that tries to violate Yemen’s airspace or orders issued by relevant authorities.”

Government authorities had for days warned that flights to Sanaa should only take place through state institutions.

Houthi sources later said the plane, which was carrying a Houthi delegation, landed in Hodeidah airport.

Yemeni authorities held the Houthis responsible for the escalation for insisting on imposing their own arrangements away from official regulations.

Monday’s escalation took place after the Houthis insisted on receiving Iranian flights at Sanaa airport amid the government’s refusal to operate flights outside official channels.

The United Nations Special Envoy for Yemen, Hans Grundberg, urged the parties to turn to diplomacy, saying his office has "contacted military representatives from all sides".

Earlier in the day, the Yemeni government accused the Houthis of preventing an International Committee of the Red Cross (ICRC) aircraft from leaving Sanaa airport and holding the pilot and co-pilot "hostage".

"All ICRC staff and the crew of the plane are safe and accounted for," ICRC spokesman for the Middle East Hachem Osseiran told AFP.

Arab World

Spanish PM to Visit Algeria in Bid to Mend Ties

Spain's Prime Minister Pedro Sanchez talks to media during a visit in the area of a wildfire that killed at least 13 people, at the command post set in Turre, Almeria Province, on July 13, 2026. (AFP)
Spain's Prime Minister Pedro Sanchez talks to media during a visit in the area of a wildfire that killed at least 13 people, at the command post set in Turre, Almeria Province, on July 13, 2026. (AFP)
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Spanish PM to Visit Algeria in Bid to Mend Ties

Spain's Prime Minister Pedro Sanchez talks to media during a visit in the area of a wildfire that killed at least 13 people, at the command post set in Turre, Almeria Province, on July 13, 2026. (AFP)
Spain's Prime Minister Pedro Sanchez talks to media during a visit in the area of a wildfire that killed at least 13 people, at the command post set in Turre, Almeria Province, on July 13, 2026. (AFP)

Spanish Prime Minister Pedro Sanchez will travel to Algeria next week for an official visit aimed at ending years of tensions between the two countries over the Western Sahara dispute, his office said on Monday.

The visit on July 20 will be Sanchez's first trip to Algeria since relations deteriorated in 2022 after Madrid shifted its longstanding position of neutrality on Western Sahara and backed Morocco's autonomy plan for the disputed territory.

Spain's move was part of a diplomatic rapprochement with Morocco, ending its decades of ambiguity on the issue but angering Algeria, which supports the pro-independence Polisario Front, which opposes Rabat's claim over the former Spanish colony.

Western Sahara, a mineral-rich desert territory with significant phosphate reserves and fishing resources, was controlled by Spain until 1975.

Morocco now controls most of the territory.

In response to the policy shift in Madrid, Algeria suspended a 2002 friendship treaty with Spain and restricted trade ties between the two countries.

Relations have gradually improved since 2025, with commercial exchanges beginning to recover.