Tunisia Recalls Ambassador to Rabat for Consultation

Tunisia Recalls Ambassador to Rabat for Consultation
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Tunisia Recalls Ambassador to Rabat for Consultation

Tunisia Recalls Ambassador to Rabat for Consultation

Morocco recalled its ambassador to Tunisia on Friday after Tunisian President Kais Saied held talks with the head of the Polisario Front movement

Morocco said Tunisia’s decision to invite Brahim Ghali to a Japanese development summit for Africa that Tunis is hosting this weekend was “a grave and unprecedented act that deeply hurts the feelings of the Moroccan people.”

It also said it would no longer take part in the summit.

In response, Tunisia announced it was recalling its ambassador to Rabat for consultation.

Tunisia’s ministry of foreign affairs said in a statement early on Saturday that the country maintains its complete “neutrality over Western Sahara issue in compliance with international legitimacy.”

It said the African Union had circulated a memorandum inviting all members of the African Union, including the head of the Polisario Front movement, to participate in the activities of the Tokyo International Conference on African Development Summit in Tunisia.



Lebanon Army Says 3 Troops Killed in Munitions Blast in South

A Lebanese army soldier and forensics experts inspect a burnt-out vehicle in Braiqaa, in south Lebanon's Nabatiyeh district, after what the military called a munitions blast. Mahmoud ZAYYAT / AFP
A Lebanese army soldier and forensics experts inspect a burnt-out vehicle in Braiqaa, in south Lebanon's Nabatiyeh district, after what the military called a munitions blast. Mahmoud ZAYYAT / AFP
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Lebanon Army Says 3 Troops Killed in Munitions Blast in South

A Lebanese army soldier and forensics experts inspect a burnt-out vehicle in Braiqaa, in south Lebanon's Nabatiyeh district, after what the military called a munitions blast. Mahmoud ZAYYAT / AFP
A Lebanese army soldier and forensics experts inspect a burnt-out vehicle in Braiqaa, in south Lebanon's Nabatiyeh district, after what the military called a munitions blast. Mahmoud ZAYYAT / AFP

Lebanon's military said a munitions blast in the country's war-torn south killed an officer and two soldiers on Sunday, days after an explosion killed another soldier.
Under a November truce deal that ended a war between Israel and Iran-backed Hezbollah, the army has been deploying in south Lebanon and dismantling the militant group's infrastructure there, said AFP.

"An army officer and two soldiers were killed and a number of citizens were injured due to an explosion of ammunition as it was being transported inside an army vehicle" in Braiqaa, in south Lebanon's Nabatiyeh district, an army statement said.

Specialized army units were investigating the circumstances of the incident, the statement added.

An AFP correspondent in Braiqaa, around 20 kilometers (12 miles) from the Israeli border, saw several charred and burnt vehicles on the road, with some damage to nearby shops and flats.

The army had cordoned off the area.

President Joseph Aoun offered his condolences for the three servicemen "who fell while performing their mission to preserve security and stability" and to keep south Lebanon residents from harm, a presidency statement said.

On Monday, the army said a soldier was killed and three others wounded in an explosion in the country's south, where Aoun said they had been dismantling mines in a tunnel.
According to the ceasefire, Hezbollah was to pull its fighters north of Lebanon's Litani River. Israel was to withdraw all its forces but has kept troops in five places it deems "strategic".