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Sisi Pardons More than 3,000 Egyptian Inmates

Hamdeen Sabahi welcomed Hossam Moniss upon his release from prison with a presidential pardon. (Asharq Al-Awsat via activists)
Hamdeen Sabahi welcomed Hossam Moniss upon his release from prison with a presidential pardon. (Asharq Al-Awsat via activists)
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Sisi Pardons More than 3,000 Egyptian Inmates

Hamdeen Sabahi welcomed Hossam Moniss upon his release from prison with a presidential pardon. (Asharq Al-Awsat via activists)
Hamdeen Sabahi welcomed Hossam Moniss upon his release from prison with a presidential pardon. (Asharq Al-Awsat via activists)

Egyptian President Abdel Fattah al-Sisi has pardoned more than 3,000 inmates, including a journalist who was jailed for “spreading false news,” local media and officials said Wednesday.

Hossam Moniss, who is also a prominent leftist organizer, was sentenced to four years in prison in November over the charge.

Moniss was arrested in 2019 along with a number of opposition figures preparing to run for the “Hope Coalition” in 2020 parliamentary elections.

An emergency court convicted Moniss, along with five others including former lawmaker Ziad el-Elaimy -- a prominent figure in Egypt's 2011 revolution who is still in jail -- to between three and five years in prison.

Upon his release from Tora prison, Moniss met with several politicians and activists, including Head of the Karama Party and former presidential candidate Hamdeen Sabahi, and film director Khaled Youssef.

News of his pardon came just days after 41 political prisoners were ordered released from pre-trial detention, including another Hope Coalition activist, Hassan al-Barbary.

Egyptian political analyst Dr. Amr al-Shobaki said releasing Moniss is “wonderful and joyful” news that gives hope for the imminent release of all prisoners of conscience.

He underlined the clear difference between those who incite violence and vandalism and who have different opinions and political orientations.

Shobaki further referred to the other prisoners of conscience who are still behind bars hoping that their cases would be closed soon.

The interior ministry said in a later statement that 3,273 prisoners convicted in criminal cases had received presidential pardons.

Earlier this week, Sisi tasked the Youth National Conference with coordinating with political parties, movements, and youth groups to hold political dialogue.

He made his remarks during the annual Egyptian Family Iftar banquet in Cairo, which was attended by senior government officials, politicians, partisans, and families of the army and police martyrs.

Notable among the attendees were figures who had been absent from recent formal occasions, including Sabahi and political activist Khaled Dawoud, who was released from detention just months ago.

Sis had last week called for reactivating the Presidential Pardon Committee and expanding its work base in cooperation with the relevant agencies and civil society organizations.

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Arab World

Ten ISIS Suspects from Türkiye Arrested in Syria

Turkish soldiers are seen in the center of Afrin, Syria. REUTERS/Khalil Ashawi
Turkish soldiers are seen in the center of Afrin, Syria. REUTERS/Khalil Ashawi
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Ten ISIS Suspects from Türkiye Arrested in Syria

Turkish soldiers are seen in the center of Afrin, Syria. REUTERS/Khalil Ashawi
Turkish soldiers are seen in the center of Afrin, Syria. REUTERS/Khalil Ashawi

Ten Turkish citizens accused of being ISIS members have been arrested in Syria, Turkish state media said on Saturday.

The 10 -- for whom Interpol had issued international alerts, or Red Notices -- were apprehended in a joint operation by the Turkish and Syrian intelligence services, they said.

Nine of the 10 were returned to Türkiye, said the Anadolu news agency and state TV channel TRT.

One is suspected of having ties to the perpetrators of an attack in Ankara's central railway station in late 2015, in which more than 100 people died.

Two others are accused of planning or participating in attacks on Turkish soldiers deployed in northern Syria.

Turkish state media said the 10 were thought to have joined ISIS between 2014 and 2017. They did not say exactly when or where the suspects were arrested.

Arab World

Iraqi Court Hears First Challenge to Zaidi’s Premiership

This handout picture released by the Iraqi Prime Minister's Media Office shows Iraq's new Prime Minister Ali al-Zaidi giving an address after assuming office in Baghdad on May 16, 2026. (Photo by IRAQI PRIME MINISTER'S PRESS OFFICE / AFP)
This handout picture released by the Iraqi Prime Minister's Media Office shows Iraq's new Prime Minister Ali al-Zaidi giving an address after assuming office in Baghdad on May 16, 2026. (Photo by IRAQI PRIME MINISTER'S PRESS OFFICE / AFP)
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Iraqi Court Hears First Challenge to Zaidi’s Premiership

This handout picture released by the Iraqi Prime Minister's Media Office shows Iraq's new Prime Minister Ali al-Zaidi giving an address after assuming office in Baghdad on May 16, 2026. (Photo by IRAQI PRIME MINISTER'S PRESS OFFICE / AFP)
This handout picture released by the Iraqi Prime Minister's Media Office shows Iraq's new Prime Minister Ali al-Zaidi giving an address after assuming office in Baghdad on May 16, 2026. (Photo by IRAQI PRIME MINISTER'S PRESS OFFICE / AFP)

Iraq’s Federal Supreme Court has set July 1 for its first hearing in a lawsuit challenging the validity of Ali al-Zaidi’s designation as prime minister, the first legal move of its kind since the current government was formed.

The court date comes as political forces that failed to push through their ministerial nominees look for legal ways to challenge parliamentary voting procedures, amid a deepening dispute over the constitutional mechanisms for forming the government.

Former lawmaker Raad al-Maliki said in a press statement that he had received the official notice by email, along with a response memorandum submitted by the president’s representative in the case.

The memorandum, according to Maliki, argued that the plaintiff had no legal interest in the case and that the claim had been directed at the wrong party. It said the designation, in the plaintiff’s view, was made by the largest parliamentary bloc, not by the president.

It also raised issues related to the nominee’s competence, political ties and ownership of media outlets, and whether these could create a conflict of interest after he took office.

Al-Zaidi, a businessman who owns companies with his brother and partners, including Al-Oweis, Al-Janoob, and Dijlah TV, remains a little-known figure in Iraqi politics. His designation caught political circles by surprise.

The memorandum said that, after taking office, senior officials must give up private interests to avoid conflicts of interest or risk legal accountability.

Maliki said he would press ahead with the lawsuit and file a detailed response to the arguments presented. He said the challenge concerned “public law” and should not be tied to direct personal interest.

Legal view

Constitutional expert Ali al-Tamimi said the Federal Supreme Court, which operates under Law No. 30 of 2005 and its amended rules of procedure, first reviews legal interest and proper standing before considering the substance of a case.

He said the court would examine whether the designation was constitutional under Article 76, whether the requirements for nominating the prime minister and completing the cabinet had been met, and whether the parliamentary vote was valid.

Tamimi said the court could seek additional evidence, including recordings or the testimony of technical experts. He said predicting its decisions was “extremely difficult,” and that it could either reject or accept the case.

On the political side, Tamimi said al-Zaidi was a “consensus candidate” after former Prime Minister Nouri al-Maliki withdrew from the race. He said al-Zaidi’s nomination had the support of a major parliamentary bloc within complex political balances.

Tamimi said the court could delay its ruling for more than a month, adding that its decisions are final, binding and cannot be appealed.

Arab World

Last Australians Leave Syria Camp Holding Suspected Militant Relatives

Zeinab Ahmad, one of two women linked to alleged ISIS militants, is seen being taken away in an armored police vehicle outside the Melbourne Magistrates’ Court in Melbourne on May 8, 2026, following her court appearance. (Photo by Martin KEEP / AFP)
Zeinab Ahmad, one of two women linked to alleged ISIS militants, is seen being taken away in an armored police vehicle outside the Melbourne Magistrates’ Court in Melbourne on May 8, 2026, following her court appearance. (Photo by Martin KEEP / AFP)
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Last Australians Leave Syria Camp Holding Suspected Militant Relatives

Zeinab Ahmad, one of two women linked to alleged ISIS militants, is seen being taken away in an armored police vehicle outside the Melbourne Magistrates’ Court in Melbourne on May 8, 2026, following her court appearance. (Photo by Martin KEEP / AFP)
Zeinab Ahmad, one of two women linked to alleged ISIS militants, is seen being taken away in an armored police vehicle outside the Melbourne Magistrates’ Court in Melbourne on May 8, 2026, following her court appearance. (Photo by Martin KEEP / AFP)

The last Australian women and children held in a northeast Syria camp housing relatives of suspected foreign militants left the site this week seeking to return home, a camp official told AFP on Saturday.

"Twenty-one Australians left Roj camp" on Thursday -- seven women and 14 children, aged eight to 14 -- the Kurdish administrative official said, speaking on condition of anonymity.

Syrian Kurdish forces control the Roj camp, where relatives of suspected foreign militants including Westerners have been held for years.

"They were handed over to the Syrian government and transferred to the Syrian capital with the aim of sending them to Australia," the official said, adding: "There are no more Australians remaining in Roj."

Earlier this month, 13 more Australians -- four women and their nine children -- flew home from Syria.

Two of the women, a mother and a daughter, were arrested on arrival, with police accusing them of having kept a female slave after travelling to Syria in 2014 to support the ISIS, and of crimes against humanity.

They had been detained by Kurdish forces in 2019.

A third woman was also arrested on arrival in Australia and charged with entering a restricted area and joining a "terrorist organization.”

The fourth woman was not arrested.

Small groups of women and children flew back to Australia in 2019, 2022 and 2025.