Assad Calls for Expanding Iran-Led ‘Axis of Resistance’

A memorial to the commander of Al-Quds Force, Qassem Soleimani, unveiled in the countryside of Aleppo on Wednesday. (Russia Today)
A memorial to the commander of Al-Quds Force, Qassem Soleimani, unveiled in the countryside of Aleppo on Wednesday. (Russia Today)
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Assad Calls for Expanding Iran-Led ‘Axis of Resistance’

A memorial to the commander of Al-Quds Force, Qassem Soleimani, unveiled in the countryside of Aleppo on Wednesday. (Russia Today)
A memorial to the commander of Al-Quds Force, Qassem Soleimani, unveiled in the countryside of Aleppo on Wednesday. (Russia Today)

Syrian President Bashar al-Assad has called for the expansion of the “axis of resistance” led by Iran, to include Iraq, Syria, Lebanon and other local militias.

The official Syrian News Agency (SANA) quoted Buthaina Shaaban, Assad’s special advisor, as saying in a speech she gave on his behalf, that relations must be established and developed between Iran, Iraq, Syria, Lebanon, Yemen and Palestine.

Shaaban delivered the speech during a ceremony held in Damascus on Thursday, on the second anniversary of the killing of Iranian commander Qassem Soleimani in a US raid in Iraq.

Assad underlined the need to “work to strengthen communication, harmony and integration in this axis.”

“The rail and power network between Iran, Iraq and Syria may be a good start to link the countries of the region with open relations,” he said, according to the speech conveyed by Shaaban.

Damascus commemorated the second anniversary of Soleimani’s killing in an official ceremony, and unveiled a memorial in his honor in the countryside of Aleppo, while no events were held on this occasion last year.

Meanwhile, the Syrian Observatory for Human Rights (SOHR) said on Thursday that Iran-backed militias continue to train Syrian fighters in military sites affiliated with the Fourth Division, which is led by Assad’s brother, Major General Maher al-Assad.

Sources quoted by SOHR noted that the exercises “began three months ago...The military drills are held under the supervision of Iranian officers and military personnel.”

“Nearly 390 Syrian fighters loyal to regime forces and Fourth Division have conducted military exercises. However, there has been no confirmed information about the real aim behind these drills, whether it is a new way of recruiting Syrians into the ranks of Iranian proxies or for involving them in fighting and battles for Iranian interests in Syria,” the Observatory said on its website.

On Dec. 31, the Observatory reported that eight Russian helicopters arrived at Palmyra military airport from Russia’s Hmeimim base in Lattakia province.

It added that a convoy of joint forces of the Fifth Corps and Liwaa Al-Quds, comprising one hundred soldiers, armored vehicles, and tanks, headed from Deir Ezzor to Palmyra in eastern Homs countryside, at Russia’ orders. The convoy was escorted by Russian helicopters.

According to SOHR sources, “Russian forces intend to establish new military posts for the Russian-backed Fifth Corps and Liwaa Al-Quds in Palmyra city and its desert, with the aim to compete with Iranian-backed militias, which are also deployed in that region in large groups.”



Tunisia Hands Lengthy Prison Terms to Top Politicians and Former Security Officials

Leader of Tunisia's Ennahda party House Speaker Rached Ghannouchi, center, flashes a victory sign as he arrives for questioning at the judicial police headquarters in Tunis, Tunisia, April 1, 2022. (AP)
Leader of Tunisia's Ennahda party House Speaker Rached Ghannouchi, center, flashes a victory sign as he arrives for questioning at the judicial police headquarters in Tunis, Tunisia, April 1, 2022. (AP)
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Tunisia Hands Lengthy Prison Terms to Top Politicians and Former Security Officials

Leader of Tunisia's Ennahda party House Speaker Rached Ghannouchi, center, flashes a victory sign as he arrives for questioning at the judicial police headquarters in Tunis, Tunisia, April 1, 2022. (AP)
Leader of Tunisia's Ennahda party House Speaker Rached Ghannouchi, center, flashes a victory sign as he arrives for questioning at the judicial police headquarters in Tunis, Tunisia, April 1, 2022. (AP)

A Tunisian court on Tuesday handed jail terms of 12 to 35 years on high-profile politicians, including opposition leader Rached Ghannouchi and former security officials, a move that critics say underscores the president's use of the judiciary to cement “authoritarian rule”.

Among those sentenced on charges of conspiring against the state in the major mass trial, were Nadia Akacha, the former chief of staff to President Kais Saied, local radio Mosaique FM said. Akacha who fled abroad received 35 years.

Ghannouchi, 84, veteran head of the Islamist-leaning Ennahda party, was handed a 14-year term.

Ghannouchi who was the speaker of the elected parliament dissolved by Saied, has been in prison since 2023, receiving three sentences of a total of 27 years in separate cases in recent months.

A total of 21 were charged in the case, with 10 already in custody and 11 having fled the country.

The court sentenced former intelligence chief Kamel Guizani to 35 years, former Foreign Minister Rafik Abdessalem to 35 years, and Mouadh Ghannouchi, son of Rached Ghannouchi, to 35 years. All three have fled the country.

Saied dissolved the parliament in 2021 and began ruling by decree, then dissolved the independent Supreme Judicial Council and sacked dozens of judges, a move that opposition called a coup which undermined the nascent democracy that sparked in 2011 the so-called “Arab Spring” uprisings.

Saied rejects the accusations and says his steps are legal and aim to end years of chaos and corruption hidden within the political elite.

Most opposition leaders, some journalists, and critics of Saied have been imprisoned since he seized control of most powers in 2021.

This year, a court handed jail terms of 5 to 66 years to opposition leaders, businessmen and lawyers on charges of conspiring as well, a case the opposition says is fabricated in an attempt to stamp out opposition to the president.