Gaddafi’s Son Confirmed to Remain in Confinement

Al Saadi Gaddafi, the third son of Libyan leader Muammar Gaddafi (portrait on left), speaks at a news conference in Sydney in this February 7, 2005 file photo Reuters
Al Saadi Gaddafi, the third son of Libyan leader Muammar Gaddafi (portrait on left), speaks at a news conference in Sydney in this February 7, 2005 file photo Reuters
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Gaddafi’s Son Confirmed to Remain in Confinement

Al Saadi Gaddafi, the third son of Libyan leader Muammar Gaddafi (portrait on left), speaks at a news conference in Sydney in this February 7, 2005 file photo Reuters
Al Saadi Gaddafi, the third son of Libyan leader Muammar Gaddafi (portrait on left), speaks at a news conference in Sydney in this February 7, 2005 file photo Reuters

The Libyan Attorney General's office calmed fears of late President Muammar Gaddafi’s family concerning the alleged disappearance son Al-Saadi Gaddafi from his prison cell in Tripoli.

In a statement issued by the office, Al-Saadi was said to still be in confinement and waiting to be put to trial.

The Gaddafi family said it lost contact with Al-Saadi for a while now and is completely in the dark on his condition.

“All we know is that he is being held hostage in a prison run by the militias in the capital,” one of the family members came out as saying.

In a statement circulated to the local media, the Gaddafi family called on all human rights organizations, social leaders, honorable and free people to act to protect Al-Saadi.

The statement held militias and all three governments and the judicial authorities responsible for his safety.

Head of the investigations department at the Libyan prosecutor's office Siddiq Sour told Xinhua on Thursday that Saadi Gaddafi has been in prison in Tripoli for three years.

"He is inside prison in Tripoli and he is fine."

"The defendant Al-Saadi Gaddafi is currently being tried for charges against him according to Libyan law," Sour added.

The Libyan official made his remarks in response to a statement issued on Tuesday by the Gaddafi family, in which they claimed that contact with Al-Saadi was lost a while ago.

"All the family has learned is that he is in a prison run by militias," The Gaddafi family said in a statement, adding that they had lost contact with Al-Saadi for quite a while and neither they nor his lawyer had been able to contact him.

"Despite testimonies of witnesses and consensus on his acquittal of charges against him, his trial has been repeatedly postponed and he was isolated from his lawyer," the statement said.

Al-Saadi is the third son of late Libyan leader Muammar Gaddafi. Al-Saadi was the former deputy commander of security units in the former regime. Libyan authorities accuse him of involvement in suppressing the 2011 uprising that overthrew his father's rule.

After losing the fighting between Gaddafi's army and Libyan rebels in 2011, Al-Saadi fled to Niger, which handed him over in 2014 to the Libyan authorities. He has since been held captive and his trial was postponed several times.

More on the war-torn country, Libya’s National Commission for Human Rights says that it holds the Presidency Council and its Government of National Accord responsible for the suffering and tragedy of the people of Tauorga, now in their seventh year of living in dire conditions in camps.

This has to end, The Libya National Commission for Human Rights has said, expressing its deep concern at the flooding and cold currently faced by those in camps in Tripoli as a result of the torrential rain and cold.
Tauorga is a town in Libya that is under administrative jurisdiction of the city of Misrata.

There has to be urgent humanitarian assistance for them, it has said.

Tauorga refugees, mainly from the Falah camp near Tripoli’s Airport Road, protested on Friday outside the prime minister’s office demanding to be allowed to return to their hometown but also to be given adequate shelter.

Once again, their camp has been flooded.

Social media reports that five Tauorga people have drowned in the camps at Falah and Janzour as a result of the flooding have not been confirmed.



Syria Imposes Night Curfew on Port City of Latakia

People watch as Syrian Security forces are deployed after clashes erupted during a protest in the city of Latakia, Syria, 28 December 2025. EPA/AHMAD FALLAHA
People watch as Syrian Security forces are deployed after clashes erupted during a protest in the city of Latakia, Syria, 28 December 2025. EPA/AHMAD FALLAHA
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Syria Imposes Night Curfew on Port City of Latakia

People watch as Syrian Security forces are deployed after clashes erupted during a protest in the city of Latakia, Syria, 28 December 2025. EPA/AHMAD FALLAHA
People watch as Syrian Security forces are deployed after clashes erupted during a protest in the city of Latakia, Syria, 28 December 2025. EPA/AHMAD FALLAHA

Syrian authorities imposed an overnight curfew in the coastal city of Latakia on Tuesday.

Authorities announced a "curfew in Latakia city, effective from 5:00pm (1400 GMT) on Tuesday, December 30, 2025, until 6:00am (0300 GMT) on Wednesday, December 31, 2025".


Jailed Turkish Kurd Leader Calls on Government to Broker Deal for Syrian Kurds

(FILES) Supporters display a poster depicting jailed leader of the Kurdistan Workers' Party (PKK) Abdullah Ocalan, after he called on the Kurdistan Workers' Party (PKK) to disarm and dissolve itself in Diyarbakir, southeastern Türkiye, on February 27, 2025. (Photo by Yasin AKGUL / AFP)
(FILES) Supporters display a poster depicting jailed leader of the Kurdistan Workers' Party (PKK) Abdullah Ocalan, after he called on the Kurdistan Workers' Party (PKK) to disarm and dissolve itself in Diyarbakir, southeastern Türkiye, on February 27, 2025. (Photo by Yasin AKGUL / AFP)
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Jailed Turkish Kurd Leader Calls on Government to Broker Deal for Syrian Kurds

(FILES) Supporters display a poster depicting jailed leader of the Kurdistan Workers' Party (PKK) Abdullah Ocalan, after he called on the Kurdistan Workers' Party (PKK) to disarm and dissolve itself in Diyarbakir, southeastern Türkiye, on February 27, 2025. (Photo by Yasin AKGUL / AFP)
(FILES) Supporters display a poster depicting jailed leader of the Kurdistan Workers' Party (PKK) Abdullah Ocalan, after he called on the Kurdistan Workers' Party (PKK) to disarm and dissolve itself in Diyarbakir, southeastern Türkiye, on February 27, 2025. (Photo by Yasin AKGUL / AFP)

Jailed Turkish Kurd leader Abdullah Ocalan said Tuesday that it was "crucial" for Türkiye’s government to broker a peace deal between the Kurdish-led Syrian Democratic Forces (SDF) and the Damascus government.

Clashes between Syrian forces and the SDF have cast doubt over a deal to integrate the group's fighters into the army, which was due to take effect by the end of the year, reported AFP.

Ocalan, founder of the Kurdistan Workers' Party (PKK) group, called on Türkiye to help ensure implementation of the deal announced in March between the SDF and the Syrian government.

"It is essential for Türkiye to play a role of facilitator, constructively and aimed at dialogue," he said in a message released by Türkiye's pro-Kurdish DEM party.

"This is crucial for both regional peace and to strengthen its own internal peace," Ocalan, who has been jailed for 26 years, added.

"The fundamental demand made in the agreement signed on March 10 between the SDF and the government in Damascus is for a democratic political model permitting (Syria's) peoples to govern together," he added.

"This approach also includes the principle of democratic integration, negotiable with the central authorities. The implementation of the March 10 agreement will facilitate and accelerate that process."

The backbone of the US-backed SDF is the YPG, a Kurdish group seen by Türkiye as an extension of the PKK.

Türkiye and Syria both face long-running unrest in their Kurdish-majority regions, which span their shared border.

In Türkiye, the PKK agreed this year at Ocalan's urging to end its four-decade armed struggle.

In Syria, Sharaa has agreed to merge the Kurds' semi-autonomous administration into the central government, but deadly clashes and a series of differences have held up implementation of the deal.

The SDF is calling for a decentralized government, which Sharaa rejects.

Turkish Foreign Minister Hakan Fidan, whose country sees Kurdish fighters across the border as a threat, urged the SDF last week not to be an "obstacle" to stability.

Syrian Kurdish leader Mazloum Abdi said Thursday that "all efforts" were being made to prevent the collapse of talks.


Yemen's PLC Imposes No Fly-Zone, Sea and Ground Blockade on All Ports and Crossings

Chairman of Yemen's Presidential Leadership Council Dr. Rashad al-Alimi. (Saba)
Chairman of Yemen's Presidential Leadership Council Dr. Rashad al-Alimi. (Saba)
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Yemen's PLC Imposes No Fly-Zone, Sea and Ground Blockade on All Ports and Crossings

Chairman of Yemen's Presidential Leadership Council Dr. Rashad al-Alimi. (Saba)
Chairman of Yemen's Presidential Leadership Council Dr. Rashad al-Alimi. (Saba)

Chairman of Yemen's Presidential Leadership Council Dr. Rashad al-Alimi declared on Tuesday a state of emergency throughout the country in wake of the "internal strife caused by the military rebellion in eastern provinces aimed at dividing the republic."

He called for all military formations and forces in the Hadhramaut and Al-Mahra governorates to coordinate completely with the Coalition to Restore Legitimacy in Yemen, represented by Saudi Arabia, and to immediately return to their original positions without a fight. They should cede their positions in the two governorates to the National Shield forces.

Al-Alimi said the state of emergency will last 90 days, which can be extended. He also imposed a no fly-zone, sea and ground blockade on all ports and crossings for 72 hours.

The move also stems from "the commitment to the unity of Yemen, its sovereignty, independence, and territorial integrity and the need to confront the Houthi coup that has been ongoing since 2014," he stressed.

Moreover, al-Alimi called on "all United Arab Emirates forces to leave the country within 24 hours."

"We will firmly deal with any rebellion against state institutions," he warned.

He called on the Southern Transitional Council to "return to reason and quickly and unconditionally withdraw its forces from Hadhramaut and Al-Mahra."

Al-Alimi announced the state of emergency shortly after the Saudi-led Arab coalition carried out a "limited" airstrike targeting a military shipment that had arrived in Yemen's Al-Mukalla port.

In a statement, coalition spokesman Major General Turki al-Malki said the forces detected on Saturday and Sunday the arrival of two vessels from the Port of Fujairah to Mukalla without obtaining any permits from the Joint Forces Command.

Saudi Arabia expressed on Tuesday its disappointment in the United Arab Emirates for pressuring the STC to carry out military operations on the Kingdom's southern borders in Hadhramaut and Al-Mahra.

A Saudi Foreign Ministry statement said: "The steps taken by the UAE are considered highly dangerous, inconsistent with the principles upon which the Coalition to Restore Legitimacy in Yemen was established, and do not serve the coalition's purpose of achieving security and stability for Yemen."

"The Kingdom stresses that any threat to its national security is a red line, and the Kingdom will not hesitate to take all necessary steps and measures to confront and neutralize any such threat," it declared.