عربي English Türkçe اردو فارسى
Logo
Latest News
World

Lukashenko Says Issue of Relocating Wagner Forces Not Yet Resolved

Belarusian President Alexander Lukashenko speaks during his meeting with foreign correspondents, in Minsk, Belarus, Thursday, July 6, 2023. (AP Photo/Alexander Zemlianichenko)
Belarusian President Alexander Lukashenko speaks during his meeting with foreign correspondents, in Minsk, Belarus, Thursday, July 6, 2023. (AP Photo/Alexander Zemlianichenko)
TT
20
TT

Lukashenko Says Issue of Relocating Wagner Forces Not Yet Resolved

Belarusian President Alexander Lukashenko speaks during his meeting with foreign correspondents, in Minsk, Belarus, Thursday, July 6, 2023. (AP Photo/Alexander Zemlianichenko)
Belarusian President Alexander Lukashenko speaks during his meeting with foreign correspondents, in Minsk, Belarus, Thursday, July 6, 2023. (AP Photo/Alexander Zemlianichenko)

Belarusian leader Alexander Lukashenko on Thursday said the issue of relocating forces from Russia's Wagner mercenary group had not yet been resolved, Russia's TASS news agency reported.

Lukashenko, who last month brokered a deal to end an armed mutiny in Russia by the Wagner force, said Russian mercenary leader Yevgeny Prigozhin was now no longer in Belarus but back in St. Petersburg in Russia.

Lukashenko said his offer to accommodate some of Wagner's fighters in Belarus still stood. Russia has said they can go to Belarus, sign up with its regular armed forces or demobilize.

Prigozhin took control of the southern Russian city of Rostov-on-Don on June 24, seized the command center there where Russia coordinates its war in Ukraine, and sent a column of fighters towards Moscow before standing down after striking a deal with the Kremlin.

Russian state TV on Wednesday launched a fierce attack on Prigozhin and said an investigation into what had happened was still being vigorously pursued.

In a program called "60 Minutes" broadcast on Wednesday evening on the state Rossiya-1 TV channel, what was billed as exclusive footage shot during law enforcement raids of Prigozhin's office in St. Petersburg and one of his estates there was shown.

Most Viewed

 
World

France Plans to Take Iran to Int’l Court over Citizen Detentions

French Foreign Minister Jean-Noel Barrot (R) during a North Atlantic Treaty Organization (NATO) Ministers of Foreign Affairs meeting in Brussels, Belgium, 03 April 2025. EPA/OLIVIER HOSLET
French Foreign Minister Jean-Noel Barrot (R) during a North Atlantic Treaty Organization (NATO) Ministers of Foreign Affairs meeting in Brussels, Belgium, 03 April 2025. EPA/OLIVIER HOSLET
TT
20
TT

France Plans to Take Iran to Int’l Court over Citizen Detentions

French Foreign Minister Jean-Noel Barrot (R) during a North Atlantic Treaty Organization (NATO) Ministers of Foreign Affairs meeting in Brussels, Belgium, 03 April 2025. EPA/OLIVIER HOSLET
French Foreign Minister Jean-Noel Barrot (R) during a North Atlantic Treaty Organization (NATO) Ministers of Foreign Affairs meeting in Brussels, Belgium, 03 April 2025. EPA/OLIVIER HOSLET

Two French citizens held in Iran for almost three years have not had consular services for more than a year prompting Paris to prepare a complaint at the International Court of Justice (ICJ), France's foreign ministry said on Thursday.
Cecile Kohler and her partner Jacques Paris have been held since May 2022. Iranian state television aired a video later that year with them appearing to confess to acting on behalf of French intelligence services, something categorically denied by Paris.
Held in Tehran's Evin prison, France has accused Iran of keeping them in conditions akin to torture.
French officials have toughened their language towards Iran, notably over the advancement of its nuclear program and regional activities, but also the detention of European citizens in the country.
Speaking after a rare cabinet meeting to broadly discuss Iran on Wednesday, France's Foreign Minister Jean-Noel Barrot indicated Paris would soon take the matter of violating the right to consular protection to the ICJ.
"We are putting together a complaint that we will file at the ICJ," Foreign ministry spokesman Christophe Lemoine told reporters at a news conference on Thursday, adding that the Kohler and Paris were being held in "shocking" conditions.
According to Reuters, Lemoine declined to say when it would be filed and acknowledged that procedures at the ICJ were long, but insisted that Tehran needed to be called out on the issue because the embassy and consulate had not had access to their citizens for more than a year.
"It's in violation of Iran's obligations," he said, citing the Vienna convention on consular relations.
In recent years, Iran's Revolutionary Guards have arrested dozens of dual nationals and foreigners, mostly on charges related to espionage and security.
Rights groups have accused Iran of trying to extract concessions from other countries through such arrests.
Iran, which does not recognize dual nationality, denies taking prisoners to gain diplomatic leverage.