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Baghdad, Irbil Near Final Agreement on Fishkhabur Crossing

People return back to Kirkuk, 290 kilometers (180 miles) north of Baghdad, Iraq October 17, 2017. (AP)
People return back to Kirkuk, 290 kilometers (180 miles) north of Baghdad, Iraq October 17, 2017. (AP)
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Baghdad, Irbil Near Final Agreement on Fishkhabur Crossing

People return back to Kirkuk, 290 kilometers (180 miles) north of Baghdad, Iraq October 17, 2017. (AP)
People return back to Kirkuk, 290 kilometers (180 miles) north of Baghdad, Iraq October 17, 2017. (AP)

Following three meetings held between the Iraqi army and Kurdish Peshmerga forces in the presence of representatives from the Coalition Forces, the two sides reached a joint agreement concerning several disputed issues, including the administration of the Fishkhabur crossing.

The two sides will jointly administer the crossing and deploy forces from both parties in disputed areas still under Peshmerga control.

“The military team of the Kurdistan Region has reached yesterday a preliminary agreement with the Iraqi military team concerning a number of subjects. However, the two sides have not yet announced the final agreement concerning those issues,” a Kurdish military official told Asharq Al-Awsat on condition of anonymity.

He added that there is a joint agreement on several issues between Baghdad and Irbil.

Fishkhabur is located on a border triangle between the Turkish, Iraqi and Syrian territories. Ankara has an eye on the area, which constitutes a linking point for the Kurds with the two sides of the Iraqi-Syrian border.

The Iraqi government is asking the Kurdistan Region to pull out its forces to the 2003 border line. The line was set by the International Coalition in 1991 as a no-fly zone above the 36th line of latitude to protect Kurdistan from any attacks by former Iraqi leader Saddam Hussein during his invasion of Kuwait and the “Spring Uprising” that erupted in Kurdistan against the Baath Iraqi government in the spring of 1991.

Although Peshmerga already withdrew from vast areas, including Kirkuk on October 16, those forces still control eight disputes regions in the province of Nineveh. During the past two weeks, the Peshmerga engaged in fierce battles with the Iraqi forces and the Popular Mobilization Forces and had prevented them from entering the province.

According to the Kurdish official, both sides have reached an agreement to deploy joint forces from the Iraqi army and the Peshmerga in the areas of al-Mahmoudiya, al-Shikhan, Sahila, al-Qush, Khazir, Fayde, Gwer and Maqloub, all located in east and west Mosul.

“There is also a proposal to deploy joint forces in the Fishkhabur border crossing,” he said.

The official said that the two sides have also agreed to solve all other disputed issues between Baghdad and Irbil based on the Iraqi Constitution.

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Arab World

Rescue Teams Search for Survivors in Building Collapse that Killed at Least 2 in Northern Lebanon

A Lebanese flag is pictured, in the aftermath of a massive explosion, in Beirut's damaged port area, Lebanon August 17, 2020. REUTERS/Hannah McKay
A Lebanese flag is pictured, in the aftermath of a massive explosion, in Beirut's damaged port area, Lebanon August 17, 2020. REUTERS/Hannah McKay
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Rescue Teams Search for Survivors in Building Collapse that Killed at Least 2 in Northern Lebanon

A Lebanese flag is pictured, in the aftermath of a massive explosion, in Beirut's damaged port area, Lebanon August 17, 2020. REUTERS/Hannah McKay
A Lebanese flag is pictured, in the aftermath of a massive explosion, in Beirut's damaged port area, Lebanon August 17, 2020. REUTERS/Hannah McKay

At least two people were killed and four rescued from the rubble of a multistory apartment building that collapsed Sunday in the city of Tripoli in northern Lebanon, state media reported.

Rescue teams were continuing to dig through the rubble. It was not immediately clear how many people were in the building when it fell.

The bodies pulled out were of a child and a woman, the state-run National News Agency reported.

Dozens of people crowded around the site of the crater left by the collapsed building, with some shooting in the air.

The building was in the neighborhood of Bab Tabbaneh, one of the poorest areas in Lebanon’s second largest city, where residents have long complained of government neglect and shoddy infrastructure. Building collapses are not uncommon in Tripoli due to poor building standards, according to The AP news.

Lebanon’s Health Ministry announced that those injured in the collapse would receive treatment at the state’s expense.

The national syndicate for property owners in a statement called the collapse the result of “blatant negligence and shortcomings of the Lebanese state toward the safety of citizens and their housing security,” and said it is “not an isolated incident.”

The syndicate called for the government to launch a comprehensive national survey of buildings at risk of collapse.

Arab World

Israel to Take More West Bank Powers and Relax Settler Land Buys

A view of Israeli settlement of Maale Adumim, in the West Bank, Sunday, June 18, 2023. (AP)
A view of Israeli settlement of Maale Adumim, in the West Bank, Sunday, June 18, 2023. (AP)
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Israel to Take More West Bank Powers and Relax Settler Land Buys

A view of Israeli settlement of Maale Adumim, in the West Bank, Sunday, June 18, 2023. (AP)
A view of Israeli settlement of Maale Adumim, in the West Bank, Sunday, June 18, 2023. (AP)

Israel's security cabinet approved a series of steps on Sunday that would make it easier for settlers in the occupied West Bank to buy land while granting Israeli authorities more enforcement powers over Palestinians, Israeli media reported.

The West Bank is among the territories that the Palestinians seek for a future independent state. Much of it is under Israeli military control, with limited Palestinian self-rule in some areas run by the Western-backed Palestinian Authority (PA).

Citing statements by Finance Minister Bezalel Smotrich and Defense Minister Israel Katz, Israeli news sites Ynet and Haaretz said the measures included scrapping decades-old regulations that prevent Jewish private citizens buying land in the West Bank, The AP news reported.

They were also reported to include allowing Israeli authorities to administer some religious sites, and expand supervision and enforcement in areas under PA administration in matters of environmental hazards, water offences and damage to archaeological sites.

Palestinian President Mahmoud Abbas said the new measures were dangerous, illegal and tantamount to de-facto annexation.

The Israeli ministers did not immediately respond to requests for comment.

The new measures come three days before Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu is scheduled to meet in Washington with US President Donald Trump.

Trump has ruled out Israeli annexation of the West Bank but his administration has not sought to curb Israel's accelerated settlement building, which the Palestinians say denies them a potential state by eating away at its territory.

Netanyahu, who is facing an election later this year, deems the establishment of any Palestinian state a security threat.

His ruling coalition includes many pro-settler members who want Israel to annex the West Bank, land captured in the 1967 Middle East war to which Israel cites biblical and historical ties.

The United Nations' highest court said in a non-binding advisory opinion in 2024 that Israel's occupation of Palestinian territories and settlements there is illegal and should be ended as soon as possible. Israel disputes this view.

Arab World

Arab League Condemns Attack on Aid Convoys in Sudan

A general view shows the opening session of the meeting of Arab foreign ministers at the Arab League Headquarters (Reuters)
A general view shows the opening session of the meeting of Arab foreign ministers at the Arab League Headquarters (Reuters)
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Arab League Condemns Attack on Aid Convoys in Sudan

A general view shows the opening session of the meeting of Arab foreign ministers at the Arab League Headquarters (Reuters)
A general view shows the opening session of the meeting of Arab foreign ministers at the Arab League Headquarters (Reuters)

Arab League Secretary-General Ahmed Aboul Gheit strongly condemned the attack by the Rapid Support Forces on humanitarian aid convoys and relief workers in North Kordofan State, Sudan.

In a statement reported by SPA, secretary-general's spokesperson Jamal Rushdi quoted Aboul Gheit as saying the attack constitutes a war crime under international humanitarian law, which prohibits the deliberate targeting of civilians and depriving them of their means of survival.

Aboul Gheit stressed the need to hold those responsible accountable, end impunity, and ensure the full protection of civilians, humanitarian workers, and relief facilities in Sudan.