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Syria Port Authority Shuts All Ports Due to Bad Weather

Waves are pictured during high winds in the Syrian port city of Banias, Syria March 29, 2023. (SANA/Handout via Reuters)
Waves are pictured during high winds in the Syrian port city of Banias, Syria March 29, 2023. (SANA/Handout via Reuters)
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Syria Port Authority Shuts All Ports Due to Bad Weather

Waves are pictured during high winds in the Syrian port city of Banias, Syria March 29, 2023. (SANA/Handout via Reuters)
Waves are pictured during high winds in the Syrian port city of Banias, Syria March 29, 2023. (SANA/Handout via Reuters)

Syria's port authority has shut down all the country's sea ports including Tartous due to poor weather and high winds, state media reported on Wednesday.

The port of Tartous had initially been exempt from the closure but the country's ports authority later said it was shutting down as conditions worsened.

"There are winds and high waves in bursts and we cannot risk opening the ports at this time," Brigadier General Samer Kobrosli, the director general of the authority, told Reuters.

The war-ravaged country operates seven sea ports through which it brings in basic needs including food and petroleum products.

Kobrosli said the port authority's decision did not include oil terminals. There was no immediate comment from Syria's oil ministry on whether the terminals were operational.

The winds also caused a power blackout across the southern province of Sweida after a number of electrical towers collapsed, according to Syrian state TV.

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Tunisia Groups Urge Inclusion of Rejected Candidates in Poll

FILE PHOTO: Tunisian President Kais Saied attends a signing ceremony with Chinese President Xi Jinping (not pictured) at the Great Hall of the People in Beijing, China May 31, 2024. REUTERS/Tingshu Wang/Pool/File Photo/File Photo
FILE PHOTO: Tunisian President Kais Saied attends a signing ceremony with Chinese President Xi Jinping (not pictured) at the Great Hall of the People in Beijing, China May 31, 2024. REUTERS/Tingshu Wang/Pool/File Photo/File Photo
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Tunisia Groups Urge Inclusion of Rejected Candidates in Poll

FILE PHOTO: Tunisian President Kais Saied attends a signing ceremony with Chinese President Xi Jinping (not pictured) at the Great Hall of the People in Beijing, China May 31, 2024. REUTERS/Tingshu Wang/Pool/File Photo/File Photo
FILE PHOTO: Tunisian President Kais Saied attends a signing ceremony with Chinese President Xi Jinping (not pictured) at the Great Hall of the People in Beijing, China May 31, 2024. REUTERS/Tingshu Wang/Pool/File Photo/File Photo

A petition signed by prominent Tunisians and civil society groups was published on Saturday urging that rejected candidates be allowed to stand in the October 6 presidential election, Agence France Presse reported.

Signed by 26 groups including Legal Agenda, Lawyers Without Borders and the Tunisian Human Rights League, it welcomed an administrative court decision this week to reinstate three candidates who had been disqualified.

They are Imed Daimi, who was an adviser to former president Moncef Marzouki, former minister Mondher Zenaidi and opposition party leader Abdellatif Mekki.

The three were among 14 candidates barred by the Tunisian election authority, ISIE, from standing in the election.

If they do take part, they will join former parliamentarian Zouhair Maghzaoui and businessman Ayachi Zammel in challenging incumbent President Kais Saied.

Saturday's petition was also signed by more than 180 civil society figures including Wahid Ferchichi, dean of the public law faculty at Carthage University.

It called the administrative court "the only competent authority to adjudicate disputes related to presidential election candidacies.”

The petition referred to statements by ISIE head Farouk Bouasker, who on Thursday indicated that the authority will soon meet to finalize the list of candidates, "taking into consideration judicial judgements already pronounced.”

This has been interpreted as suggesting the ISIE may reject new candidacies if they are the subject of legal proceedings or have convictions.

The administrative court's rulings on appeals "are enforceable and cannot be contested by any means whatsoever,” the petition said.

It called on the electoral authority to "respect the law and avoid any practice that could undermine the transparency and integrity of the electoral process.”