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Russian-Arab Ministerial Meeting Asserts Need to Maintain Safety of Maritime Navigation

The Arab-Russian ministerial meeting (Asharq Al-Awsat)
The Arab-Russian ministerial meeting (Asharq Al-Awsat)
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Russian-Arab Ministerial Meeting Asserts Need to Maintain Safety of Maritime Navigation

The Arab-Russian ministerial meeting (Asharq Al-Awsat)
The Arab-Russian ministerial meeting (Asharq Al-Awsat)

Russian Foreign Minister Sergei Lavrov said that the threats in the Middle East necessitate a "common" position to solve dangers that pose challenges for the region.

Lavrov was speaking at the opening of the 6th session of the Arab Russian Forum, which kicked off in Marrakech.

"This meeting is held in a context marked by an unprecedented escalation of the situation in the Middle East and lingering turmoil in the world, "Lavrov said at the opening ceremony of the Forum, chaired by Morocco's Minister of Foreign Affairs, African Cooperation and Moroccan Expatriates, Nasser Bourita.

Lavrov addressed the Israeli-Palestinian conflict, describing the situation as "unprecedented," stressing that Russia's current priorities are to stop the bloodshed and provide the necessary conditions for humanitarian assistance.

Lavrov emphasized that the current situation will persist and recur until the root causes of the conflict are addressed.

Russia also regrets the "long-standing lack of justice and the failure to achieve the aspirations of the Palestinian people to establish their state with its capital in East Jerusalem on the 1967 borders."

The Russian top diplomat stated that Moscow's position is similar to the stances expressed by Arab countries during the Arab Islamic Summit held in Riyadh last year.

"Our joint task is to support the conflicting parties in initiating a negotiation process and resolving all disputes within it, and we need a common diplomatic mechanism to implement the international community's decisions.

For his part, Bourita highlighted the tangible progress in Russian-Arab cooperation since establishing the partnership in 2009.

He emphasized the maturity of the Forum, underlining its significance as a framework for dialogue and collaboration aligned with mutual expectations.

The Moroccan FM aspired to elevate the Forum to a level of genuine and effective Arab-Russian strategic dialogue, emphasizing "respect, shared responsibility, openness, solidarity, and commitment" as the pillars of this partnership.

He called for a balanced approach that considers both partners' political and economic interests alongside the realities, capabilities, and aspirations.

Morocco reiterated its concerns about the situation in Gaza, and Bourita stressed the need for an immediate de-escalation in Gaza amid Israeli aggression.

The FM reiterated King Mohammed VI's call for collective action to de-escalate the situation and achieve a permanent and monitorable ceasefire to protect civilians.

He said this aims to facilitate the flow of humanitarian aid to Gaza and establish a political horizon for the Palestinian issue based on the internationally agreed upon two-state solution.

Bourita added that King Mohammed VI repeatedly stressed that no alternative to peace in the region guarantees the Palestinians their legitimate rights within the framework of the two-state solution and an independent Palestinian state with East Jerusalem as its capital.

Addressing the Libyan crisis, Bourita expressed hope for the completion of the political process in the country through inter-Libyan efforts free from external influences and intervention.

According to Boruita, this would mark the beginning of a new phase in Libya, characterized by stability, legitimacy, and response to the Libyan people's aspirations.

Also at the Forum, Arab League Sec-Gen Ahmed Aboul Gheit said in his speech that Arab-Russian ties have proven their effectiveness throughout history through close cooperation and mutual trust.

Aboul-Gheit explained that the Arab region witnessed security and political challenges in recent years, highlighting that overcoming these complex crises in Syria, Yemen, Sudan, and Somalia requires understanding and cooperating among major international powers, including Russia, as a genuine partner of many Arab countries.

The Palestinian cause remains a primary concern facing the region, said the diplomat, recalling that the Israeli crimes in Gaza are a disgrace to everyone who supported them or stood against an immediate ceasefire in the Strip.

Aboul Gheit also stressed that addressing the Gaza tragedy and preventing its recurrence requires a radical solution, noting that "this means implementing the two-state solution as quickly as possible."

The final statement of the Forum said that its participants stressed the principle of freedom of maritime navigation in international waters by international laws and sea agreements.

The communique stressed the need to guarantee the safety and security of maritime traffic in the Gulf and the Red Sea.

It also called for securing energy supply lines, rejecting actions targeting the security and safety of navigation and maritime facilities, energy supplies, oil pipelines, and oil installations in the Arabian Gulf and other waterwa

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Arab World

Lebanon PM Pledges Reconstruction on Visit to Ruined Border Towns

This handout picture released by the Lebanese Government Press Office shows Lebanon's Prime Minister Nawaf Salam being showered with confetti as he is received by locals during a tour in the heavily-damaged southern village of Dhayra near the border with Israel on February 7, 2026. (Lebanese Government Press Office / AFP)
This handout picture released by the Lebanese Government Press Office shows Lebanon's Prime Minister Nawaf Salam being showered with confetti as he is received by locals during a tour in the heavily-damaged southern village of Dhayra near the border with Israel on February 7, 2026. (Lebanese Government Press Office / AFP)
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Lebanon PM Pledges Reconstruction on Visit to Ruined Border Towns

This handout picture released by the Lebanese Government Press Office shows Lebanon's Prime Minister Nawaf Salam being showered with confetti as he is received by locals during a tour in the heavily-damaged southern village of Dhayra near the border with Israel on February 7, 2026. (Lebanese Government Press Office / AFP)
This handout picture released by the Lebanese Government Press Office shows Lebanon's Prime Minister Nawaf Salam being showered with confetti as he is received by locals during a tour in the heavily-damaged southern village of Dhayra near the border with Israel on February 7, 2026. (Lebanese Government Press Office / AFP)

Lebanese Prime Minister Nawaf Salam visited heavily damaged towns near the Israeli border on Saturday, pledging reconstruction.

It was his first trip to the southern border area since the army said it finished disarming Hezbollah there, in January.

Swathes of south Lebanon's border areas remain in ruins and largely deserted more than a year after a US-brokered November 2024 ceasefire sought to end hostilities between Israel and the Iran-backed group.

Lebanon's government has committed to disarming Hezbollah, and the army last month said it had completed the first phase of its plan to do so, covering the area between the Litani River and the Israeli border about 30 kilometers (20 miles) further south.

Visiting Tayr Harfa, around three kilometers from the border, and nearby Yarine, Salam said frontier towns and villages had suffered "a true catastrophe".

He vowed authorities would begin key projects including restoring roads, communications networks and water in the two towns.

Locals gathered on the rubble of buildings to greet Salam and the delegation of accompanying officials in nearby Dhayra, some waving Lebanese flags.

In a meeting in Bint Jbeil, further east, with officials including lawmakers from Hezbollah and its ally the Amal movement, Salam said authorities would "rehabilitate 32 kilometers of roads, reconnect the severed communications network, repair water infrastructure" and power lines in the district.

Last year, the World Bank announced it had approved $250 million to support Lebanon's post-war reconstruction, after estimating that it would cost around $11 billion in total.

Salam said funds including from the World Bank would be used for the reconstruction and rehabilitation projects.

The second phase of the government's disarmament plan for Hezbollah concerns the area between the Litani and the Awali rivers, around 40 kilometers south of Beirut.

Israel, which accuses Hezbollah of rearming, has criticized the army's progress as insufficient, while Hezbollah has rejected calls to surrender its weapons.

Despite the truce, Israel has kept up regular strikes on what it usually says are Hezbollah targets and maintains troops in five south Lebanon areas.

Lebanese officials have accused Israel of seeking to prevent reconstruction in the heavily damaged south with repeated strikes on bulldozers, excavators and prefabricated houses.

Visiting French Foreign Minister Jean-Noel Barrot on Friday said the reform of Lebanon's banking system needed to precede international funding for reconstruction efforts.

The French diplomat met Lebanon's army chief Rodolphe Haykal on Saturday, the military said.

Arab World

Over 2,200 ISIS Detainees Transferred to Iraq from Syria, Says Iraqi Official

One of the American buses transporting ISIS fighters, according to a security source from the Syrian Democratic Forces, heads from Syria towards Iraq, in Qamishli, Syria, February 7, 2026. (Reuters)
One of the American buses transporting ISIS fighters, according to a security source from the Syrian Democratic Forces, heads from Syria towards Iraq, in Qamishli, Syria, February 7, 2026. (Reuters)
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Over 2,200 ISIS Detainees Transferred to Iraq from Syria, Says Iraqi Official

One of the American buses transporting ISIS fighters, according to a security source from the Syrian Democratic Forces, heads from Syria towards Iraq, in Qamishli, Syria, February 7, 2026. (Reuters)
One of the American buses transporting ISIS fighters, according to a security source from the Syrian Democratic Forces, heads from Syria towards Iraq, in Qamishli, Syria, February 7, 2026. (Reuters)

Iraq has so far received 2,225 ISIS group detainees, whom the US military began transferring from Syria last month, an Iraqi official told AFP on Saturday.

They are among up to 7,000 ISIS detainees whose transfer from Syria to Iraq the US Central Command (CENTCOM) announced last month, in a move it said was aimed at "ensuring that the terrorists remain in secure detention facilities".

Previously, they had been held in prisons and camps administered by the Kurdish-led Syrian Democratic Forces (SDF) in northeast Syria.

The announcement of the transfer plan last month came after US envoy to Syria Tom Barrack declared that the SDF's role in confronting ISIS had come to an end.

Saad Maan, head of the security information cell attached to the Iraqi prime minister's office, told AFP on Saturday that "Iraq has received 2,225 terrorists from the Syrian side by land and air, in coordination with the international coalition", which Washington has led since 2014 to fight IS.

He said they are being held in "strict, regular detention centers".

A Kurdish military source confirmed to AFP the "continued transfer of ISIS detainees from Syria to Iraq under the protection of the international coalition".

On Saturday, an AFP photographer near the Kurdish-majority city of Qamishli in northeastern Syria saw a US military convoy and 11 buses with tinted windows.

- Iraq calls for repatriation -

ISIS seized swathes of northern and western Iraq starting in 2014, until Iraqi forces, backed by the international coalition, managed to defeat it in 2017.

Iraq is still recovering from the severe abuses committed by the extremists.

In recent years, Iraqi courts have issued death and life sentences against those convicted of terrorism offences.

Thousands of Iraqis and foreign nationals convicted of membership in the group are incarcerated in Iraqi prisons.

On Monday, the Iraqi judiciary announced it had begun investigative procedures involving 1,387 detainees it received as part of the US military's operation.

In a statement to the Iraqi News Agency on Saturday, Maan said "the established principle is to try all those involved in crimes against Iraqis and those belonging to the terrorist ISIS organization before the competent Iraqi courts".

Among the detainees being transferred to Iraq are Syrians, Iraqis, Europeans and holders of other nationalities, according to Iraqi security sources.

Iraq is calling on the concerned countries to repatriate their citizens and ensure their prosecution.

Maan noted that "the process of handing over the terrorists to their countries will begin once the legal requirements are completed".

Arab World

Drone Attack by RSF in Sudan Kills 24, Including 8 Children, Doctors’ Group Says

Displaced Sudanese wait to receive humanitarian aid at the Abu al-Naga displacement camp in the Gedaref State, some 420km east of the capital Khartoum on February 6, 2026. (AFP)
Displaced Sudanese wait to receive humanitarian aid at the Abu al-Naga displacement camp in the Gedaref State, some 420km east of the capital Khartoum on February 6, 2026. (AFP)
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Drone Attack by RSF in Sudan Kills 24, Including 8 Children, Doctors’ Group Says

Displaced Sudanese wait to receive humanitarian aid at the Abu al-Naga displacement camp in the Gedaref State, some 420km east of the capital Khartoum on February 6, 2026. (AFP)
Displaced Sudanese wait to receive humanitarian aid at the Abu al-Naga displacement camp in the Gedaref State, some 420km east of the capital Khartoum on February 6, 2026. (AFP)

A drone attack by a notorious paramilitary group hit a vehicle carrying displaced families in central Sudan Saturday, killing at least 24 people, including eight children, a doctors’ group said.

The attack by the Rapid Support Forces occurred close to the city of Rahad in North Kordofan province, said the Sudan Doctors Network, which tracks the country’s ongoing war.

The vehicle transported displaced people who fled fighting in the Dubeiker area of North Kordofan, the doctors’ group said in a statement. Among the dead children were two infants, the group said.

The doctors’ group urged the international community and rights organizations to “take immediate action to protect civilians and hold the RSF leadership directly accountable for these violations.”

There was no immediate comment from the RSF, which has been at war against the Sudanese military for control of the country for about three years.

Sudan plunged into chaos in April 2023 when a power struggle between the military and the RSF exploded into open fighting in the capital, Khartoum, and elsewhere in the country.

The devastating war has killed more than 40,000 people, according to UN figures, but aid groups say that is an undercount and the true number could be many times higher.

It created the world’s largest humanitarian crisis with over 14 million people forced to flee their homes. It fueled disease outbreaks and pushed parts of the country into famine.