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Russia Offers Securing Transfer of Hannibal Gaddafi from Lebanon to Moscow

Hannibal Gaddafi (Ismail Zitouny- Reuters)
Hannibal Gaddafi (Ismail Zitouny- Reuters)
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Russia Offers Securing Transfer of Hannibal Gaddafi from Lebanon to Moscow

Hannibal Gaddafi (Ismail Zitouny- Reuters)
Hannibal Gaddafi (Ismail Zitouny- Reuters)

A senior Lebanese official confirmed an earlier report by Asharq Al-Awsat on Moscow’s efforts to uncover the truth about the continued detention of Hannibal Muammar Gaddafi in Beirut.

Hannibal was detained more than three years ago on charges of concealing information about the disappearance of the founder of the Supreme Islamic Shiite Council, Imam Moussa Sadr during a visit to Libya in August 1978.

Political sources had earlier told Asharq Al-Awsat that Moscow decided to join the Syrian regime in working on this file at the request of Saif al-Islam Gaddafi, brother of Hannibal, who currently resides in a mountainous area of Libya, under the protection of loyal tribal groups.

Saif al-Islam, who “maintains a good relationship, even by correspondence, with Moscow,” sent his representatives to the Russian capital, asking officials to intervene to release his brother who was arrested in Lebanon on charges of concealing information that is punishable by a maximum of three years of imprisonment, according to the sources.

The Director-General of the General Security, Major General Abbas Ibrahim, conveyed a message in this regard to Speaker Nabih Berri, and that Ibrahim met with Gaddafi at his detention cell in the Information Division prison.

According to the senior official, the Russian government has sent a letter to the Lebanese State, expressing its willingness to secure the transfer of Gaddafi’s son to the Russian capital in preparation for granting him the Russian citizenship.

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Arab World

Dutch Court Jails ‘Assad Torturer’ for 26 Years for Torture, Rape

A demonstrator stands on a photograph of President Bashar al-Assad during a protest outside the Syrian consulate in Istanbul, Türkiye, on Dec. 8, 2024. (Getty Images/AFP)
A demonstrator stands on a photograph of President Bashar al-Assad during a protest outside the Syrian consulate in Istanbul, Türkiye, on Dec. 8, 2024. (Getty Images/AFP)
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Dutch Court Jails ‘Assad Torturer’ for 26 Years for Torture, Rape

A demonstrator stands on a photograph of President Bashar al-Assad during a protest outside the Syrian consulate in Istanbul, Türkiye, on Dec. 8, 2024. (Getty Images/AFP)
A demonstrator stands on a photograph of President Bashar al-Assad during a protest outside the Syrian consulate in Istanbul, Türkiye, on Dec. 8, 2024. (Getty Images/AFP)

A Dutch court Monday sentenced a Syrian man to 26 years in jail for the torture and rape of opponents of former president Bashar al-Assad during the country's civil war.

The 58-year-old man, identified as Rafik A., was head of the interrogation unit of the National Defense Force (NDF) in the western Syrian city of Salamiyah in 2013 and 2014.

The paramilitary NDF violently suppressed dissent against the Assad regime and imprisoned and tortured opponents.

The court said victims were "handcuffed and blindfolded, beaten with various objects and kicked for prolonged periods, folded up inside a car tire, hung upside down, or electrocuted, often being forced to be naked."

A. was also found guilty of sexually abusing multiple victims and raping one of them, the court said.

"Time and again, the suspect created conditions of mortal terror, threat, pain, hopelessness and powerlessness," said the court in The Hague.

He was convicted of 19 counts of crimes against humanity against eight victims.

The court said the sentence was justified by "the exceptional gravity of the offences and the suffering of the victims".

It was the first time anyone had been tried in the Netherlands for sexual violence as a crime against humanity.

A. arrived in the Netherlands in 2021 and won temporary asylum, settling in the central town of Druten with his family.

Police arrested him shortly afterwards following a tip.

During his trial, A. denied the charges against him which he dismissed as a "conspiracy".

His lawyers said A. himself was tortured by militias and is suffering from post-traumatic stress syndrome.

Several European countries are trying suspects from the Syrian civil war under the legal tool of universal jurisdiction, allowing judges to rule on alleged serious crimes committed abroad.

Similar cases have been heard in France, Germany, Sweden, Belgium and Austria.

Arab World

Palestinian Leader Abbas Announces Presidential Election in Early 2027

Palestinian President Mahmoud Abbas. (AFP file photo)
Palestinian President Mahmoud Abbas. (AFP file photo)
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Palestinian Leader Abbas Announces Presidential Election in Early 2027

Palestinian President Mahmoud Abbas. (AFP file photo)
Palestinian President Mahmoud Abbas. (AFP file photo)

Palestinian president Mahmoud Abbas has issued a decree calling for presidential elections in early 2027 and for legislative elections to be held in November of this year, official Palestinian news agency Wafa reported, without saying if he would run. 

Abbas, 90, won the last Palestinian presidential election in 2005 with a mandate of four years, meaning his term should have expired in 2009. 

However his term was extended and no presidential election has been held since, with Abbas ruling by presidential decrees, courting criticism at home and abroad. 

"President Mahmoud Abbas announced that presidential elections will be held in early 2027," Wafa said, citing a statement from the presidency. 

The nonagenarian leader's decree also calls for legislative elections to take place in November of this year, it added. 

In his decree, Abbas emphasized he was "fully prepared to organize the Palestinian National Council elections scheduled for November, which include the general legislative elections in the homeland and elections abroad". 

The Palestinian National Council (PNC) is the parliament of the Palestine Liberation Organization (PLO), which has over 700 members from the Palestinian territories and abroad. 

The last legislative elections in the Palestinian territories were held in 2006, when Hamas won, defeating Abbas' Fatah party, which had previously dominated Palestinian politics. 

As a result, the Palestinian Legislative Council, which is the parliament of Abbas' Palestinian Authority, has not met since 2007. 

Holding elections is part of the reforms demanded by the international community, which supports the Palestinian Authority financially. 

Palestinian legal researcher Mahmud Al-Afranji said there was both political will and international pressure on the Palestinian Authority to hold the elections. 

But he told AFP that a lack of guarantees that elections would be held in occupied east Jerusalem and the Gaza Strip remained "an obstacle to holding the legislative elections". 

In 2021, Abbas announced legislative and presidential elections to be held in May and July of that year respectively. 

They were then postponed indefinitely due to the absence of guarantees that voting could take place in east Jerusalem, which Israel has occupied since 1967. 

In April, Palestinians went to the polls to elect municipal council heads in the occupied West Bank, in the first vote since the outbreak of the Gaza war in October 2023. 

Arab World

MSF Sacks 18 Staff Over Abuse of Sudanese Refugees in Chad

International Organization for Migration (IOM) Deputy Director General SungAh Lee visits the IOM registration office for returnees at the Adre border post on June 8, 2026. (AFP)
International Organization for Migration (IOM) Deputy Director General SungAh Lee visits the IOM registration office for returnees at the Adre border post on June 8, 2026. (AFP)
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MSF Sacks 18 Staff Over Abuse of Sudanese Refugees in Chad

International Organization for Migration (IOM) Deputy Director General SungAh Lee visits the IOM registration office for returnees at the Adre border post on June 8, 2026. (AFP)
International Organization for Migration (IOM) Deputy Director General SungAh Lee visits the IOM registration office for returnees at the Adre border post on June 8, 2026. (AFP)

Dozens of Doctors Without Borders staff have been accused of sexually abusing Sudanese refugees in Chad, the organization said Monday, adding that it dismissed 18 workers after investigations found "serious misconduct".

The medical charity, which goes by its French acronym MSF, said it had launched a series of investigations into "serious allegations of sexual exploitation and abuse" put forward in late 2024 by Sudanese refugees hosted in eastern Chad.

Since breaking out in April 2023, Sudan's civil war between the army and the paramilitary Rapid Support Forces has killed tens of thousands of people and displaced more than 12 million people, nearly one million of whom have fled west to Chad, according to the United Nations.

In an email confirming information first reported by the Associated Press, MSF -- one of the biggest organizations providing aid in the refugee camps in eastern Chad -- said its investigations had found a number of cases of "serious misconduct".

"We deeply regret the harm caused," it said.

The medical charity described how its investigations had over several months "identified allegations of misconduct, including sexual harassment, exploitation and abuse".

"While some of the 59 allegations were corroborated by the review, others remained unverified as in some cases neither victims nor perpetrators could be identified," it said, stressing that "where investigations established serious misconduct, immediate disciplinary action was taken".

"As a result, 18 staff have been dismissed and are now barred from working with MSF."

The organization said the accused workers belonged to several employment categories, including contracted staff, daily workers, external contractors and suppliers.

"To protect the confidentiality, privacy and safety of those affected, in line with a survivor-centered approach, we are not able to share further details on individual cases or outcomes," the organization said.

The charity stressed that "this misconduct represents a serious breach of MSF's values and responsibilities.

"We continue to work to strengthen our prevention, detection and response systems," it said.

"We encourage staff, patients and community members to report to us any misconduct and are committed to ensuring that our reporting channels are safe, accessible and trusted."