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US admits Qatar into visa waiver program

US admits Qatar into visa waiver program
The U.S. Department of Homeland Security and the Department of State said in a statement that Qatar is the first Gulf country to be admitted to the U.S. Visa Waiver Program, commending Doha for meeting the strict security requirements to join. (Shutterstock/File)
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Updated 47 sec ago
Reuters
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US admits Qatar into visa waiver program

US admits Qatar into visa waiver program
  • Qatar is the first Gulf country to be admitted to the US Visa Waiver Program
  • “Qatar’s fulfillment of the stringent security requirements to join the Visa Waiver Program will deepen our strategic partnership,” Secretary of State Antony Blinken said
Updated 47 sec ago
Reuters
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WASHINGTON: The United States on Tuesday announced it was admitting Qatar into its visa waiver program, allowing visa-free travel by Qatari citizens for up to 90 days starting no later than Dec. 1.
The US Department of Homeland Security and the Department of State said in a statement that Qatar is the first Gulf country to be admitted to the US Visa Waiver Program, commending Doha for meeting the strict security requirements to join.
The tiny Gulf state has played a key role in mediation talks with Hamas and Israeli officials in relation to the war in Gaza and the release of hostages captured by the Palestinian Islamist group in its Oct. 7 cross-border attack on Israel.
An administration official told reporters the US has a strong defense relationship with Qatar and praised Doha for taking the lead on pressing the Taliban on human rights and providing assistance in Sudan, among other issues.
“Qatar’s fulfillment of the stringent security requirements to join the Visa Waiver Program will deepen our strategic partnership and enhance the flow of people and commerce between our two countries,” Secretary of State Antony Blinken said in a statement.
For admission to the program allowing visitors traveling for tourism or business purposes to stay up to 90 days without a visa, Washington requires countries to meet requirements on issues such as counterterrorism, law enforcement, immigration enforcement, document security, and border management.
Qatar put forth a “significant whole-of-government effort to meet all program requirements,” including on partnering to share information on terrorism and serious crimes, according to the statement.
Qatar is the 42nd member of the program, with nations added infrequently. Croatia was added in 2021 and Israel last year. The program requires countries to allow US citizens similar visa-free travel.
US citizens can currently travel to Qatar without a visa, but starting on Oct. 1 they will be allowed to stay for up to 90 days instead of 30.

Topics: Qatar US Visa Waiver Program

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French extremist admits role in kidnapping of aid workers in Yemen

French extremist admits role in kidnapping of aid workers in Yemen
Updated 5 sec ago
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French extremist admits role in kidnapping of aid workers in Yemen

French extremist admits role in kidnapping of aid workers in Yemen
  • Amelie, one of the hostages, had already testified at the trial that she recognized Cherif as the translator with the captors
  • Cherif was linked to a Paris extremist cell and was named in the enquiry into the January 2015 attack on satirical magazine Charlie Hebdo
Updated 5 sec ago
PARIS: A French extremist linked to the perpetrators of the 2015 massacre at satirical magazine Charlie Hebdo made a surprise admission Tuesday that he was involved in the 2011 kidnapping of three French aid workers in Yemen.
Peter Cherif, 42, also known as Abou Hamza, is being tried in Paris for terrorism-related offenses committed between 2011 and 2018, when he allegedly belonged to Yemen-based militant group Al-Qaeda in the Arabian Peninsula (AQAP).
Arrested in Djibouti in 2018, he had previously denied involvement in the kidnapping.
But on Tuesday he told the court that “I accept the facts, I was the translator” between his fellow French and their captors.
“I regret being involved in all this,” he said, claiming that he was not aware of the plot to kidnap the aid workers and that they were better treated because of his presence.
Even before his unexpected admission, prosecutors had established that he was in Yemen in May 2011 when the three aid workers from the Triangle Generation Humanitaire charity were abducted as they returned to their lodgings in the village of Seiyun.
They were released in November 2011 after spending their captivity in desert caves.
Amelie, one of the hostages, had already testified at the trial that she recognized Cherif as the translator with the captors, who spoke neither English nor French.
Cherif was linked to a Paris extremist cell and was named in the enquiry into the January 2015 attack on satirical magazine Charlie Hebdo, due to his regular contact with the perpetrators, Said and Cherif Kouachi.
Twelve people were killed in the massacre that sent shock waves across France. The brothers died in a shootout with police two days later.
Investigating judges believe Cherif recruited the brothers into AQAP and had knowledge of the plan to carry out an attack in France.
According to several witnesses, AQAP advised foreign fighters in Yemen to return to their countries of origin to stage attacks.
In 2020, Cherif was called as a witness during a trial over the 2015 attacks and claimed to have had “nothing to do” with the massacre.
Cherif, who converted to Islam in 2003, faces life in prison if convicted.
In 2004, Cherif left Paris to fight in Iraq and was captured by coalition forces in the ruins of Fallujah a few months later.
He escaped to Syria in 2007, eventually reporting to the French embassy in Damascus and was deported in early 2008.
He went on trial in early 2011, but before he was sentenced to five years in prison, he fled to Yemen where he joined AQAP.
He spent seven years there before traveling under a false identity with his wife and two children in 2018 to Djibouti, where he was arrested and handed over to France.
The trial is scheduled to last until early October.

Qatari emir criticizes ‘international failure’ of Palestine in UNGA address

Qatari emir criticizes ‘international failure’ of Palestine in UNGA address
Updated 13 min 54 sec ago
Arab News
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Qatari emir criticizes ‘international failure’ of Palestine in UNGA address

Qatari emir criticizes ‘international failure’ of Palestine in UNGA address
  • Sheikh Tamim: ‘There are those in Israel who entertain wishful thinking to eliminate the Palestinian people’
  • ‘Israel is currently waging a war on Lebanon, and no one knows to what extent this war could escalate’
Updated 13 min 54 sec ago
Arab News

NEW YORK CITY: Qatar’s emir criticized the international community on Tuesday for failing Palestine and for being content with “illusions of making peace” in the Israeli-Palestinian conflict.
“Every year I stand on this podium and I begin by talking about the Palestinian cause, the absence of justice, the perils of believing that it can be neglected, and the illusions of making peace without a just solution to the Palestinian cause,” Sheikh Tamim bin Hamad said during his address at the UN General Assembly in New York.
“There are those who are tempted by the possibility of marginalizing this issue to get rid of its burden, but the Palestinian cause is resistant to marginalization because it’s an issue of indigenous people on their own land, a people who are subjected to a settler-colonial occupation.
“It seems there are those in Israel who entertain wishful thinking to eliminate the Palestinian people.
“The ongoing Israeli aggression for nearly a year is nothing but a result of the absence of a sincere political will, a deliberate international failure to resolve the Palestinian issue with a just solution, and insistence of the occupying Israeli parties to impose a fait accompli on the Palestinians and the world.”
Sheikh Tamim’s address focused on the war in Gaza, the escalation of violence in the West Bank, and increasing tensions between Israeli forces and Hezbollah in Lebanon.
Qatar will “spare no effort” to bring about a peaceful resolution to the unrest, but “we won’t achieve this goal except with a serious partner who is aware of the importance of renouncing this war and ending the occupation and all forms of aggression so we can reach together the desired peace in the Middle East,” he said.
“Israel is currently waging a war on Lebanon, and no one knows to what extent this war could escalate. This is what we’ve repeatedly warned against.”
Sheikh Tamim highlighted Qatar’s role in mediating and working toward resolutions to conflicts in the Middle East and beyond, saying Doha is actively seeking peace in Yemen, Syria, Sudan and Ukraine.
He pointed out Qatari-led efforts to reunite Ukrainian children with their families, and successfully securing last year’s US-Venezuela prisoner swap.
“We affirm the state of Qatar will spare no effort in working with its international partners and the UN to firmly consolidate the pillars of peace, security, sustainable development, human rights and the rule of law — at all levels — and to address global challenges to achieve a better future for all,” he said.

Topics: UNGA79 Sheikh Tamim bin Hamad Al-Thani Palestine

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International community has ‘moral duty’ to protect Palestinians: Jordan’s king

International community has ‘moral duty’ to protect Palestinians: Jordan’s king

International community has ‘moral duty’ to protect Palestinians: Jordan’s king
Updated 24 September 2024
Arab News
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International community has ‘moral duty’ to protect Palestinians: Jordan’s king

International community has ‘moral duty’ to protect Palestinians: Jordan’s king
  • ‘Consecutive Israeli governments, emboldened by years of impunity, have rejected peace and chosen confrontation’
  • ‘The unprecedented scale of terror unleashed on Gaza is beyond any justification,’ he tells UN General Assembly
Updated 24 September 2024
Arab News

DUBAI: The international community has a “moral duty” to “establish a protection mechanism” for Palestinians “across the Occupied Territories,” Jordan’s King Abdullah told the UN General Assembly on Tuesday.
He also condemned “those who continue to propagate the idea of Jordan as an alternative homeland” for Palestinians. “Let me be very, very clear: That will never happen.”
The king said no country in the region benefits from escalation, adding: “We’ve seen that clearly in the dangerous developments in Lebanon over the past few days. This has to stop.
“For years, the Arab world has extended a hand to Israel through the Arab Peace Initiative, offering full recognition and normalization in exchange for peace.
“But consecutive Israeli governments, emboldened by years of impunity, have rejected peace and chosen confrontation instead.”
The UN “is facing a crisis that strikes at its very legitimacy and threatens a collapse of global trust and moral authority. The UN is under attack, literally and figuratively,” said the king, adding that for nearly a year, the organization has been powerless to protect innocent civilians from Israeli bombardment of its shelters and schools in Gaza.
UN aid trucks sit motionless just miles away from starving Palestinians, its workers are disparaged and targeted, and the rulings of the UN’s International Court of Justice “are defied and its opinions are disregarded,” he said.
“So it’s no surprise that both inside and outside this hall, trust in the UN’s cornerstone principles and ideals is crumbling.”
He said many people see that some nations are above international law and that human rights are selective.
Addressing the UNGA, he said: “Ask yourselves, if we aren’t nations united in the conviction that all people are equal in rights, dignity and worth, and that all countries are equal in the eyes of the law, what kind of world does that leave us with?”
He reminded the audience that the Oct. 7 Hamas attack against Israel was condemned by countries all over the world, including Jordan.
“But the unprecedented scale of terror unleashed on Gaza since that day is beyond any justification,” the king said.
“The Israeli government’s assault has resulted in one of the fastest death rates in recent conflicts, and one of the fastest rates of starvation caused by war … and unprecedented levels of destruction.”
He accused Israel of killing more children, journalists, aid workers and medical personnel than in any other war in recent memory, “and let us not forget the attacks on the West Bank.”

Topics: UNGA79 Jordan King Abdallah

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Israel defense minister says UN not fulfilling obligations in preventing Hezbollah attacks

Israel defense minister says UN not fulfilling obligations in preventing Hezbollah attacks
Updated 47 min 18 sec ago
Reuters
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Israel defense minister says UN not fulfilling obligations in preventing Hezbollah attacks

Israel defense minister says UN not fulfilling obligations in preventing Hezbollah attacks
  • “The UN is neither acknowledging their actions, nor fulfilling its fundamental obligation,” he said
  • Gallant, in a discussion with troops, said more strikes were coming
Updated 47 min 18 sec ago
Reuters

JERUSALEM: The United Nations is shirking its responsibility in preventing rocket attacks into Israel by Iran-backed Hezbollah in Lebanon, Israeli Defense Minister Yoav Gallant said on Tuesday.
Gallant said in a statement on the X social-media platform in a response to comments from UN Secretary General Antonio Guterres that Hezbollah has taken “Lebanon hostage.”
“The UN is neither acknowledging their actions, nor fulfilling its fundamental obligation — preventing Hezbollah attacks and demanding the implementation of resolution 1701,” he said of the resolution that requires Hezbollah to disarm.

Guterres earlier said, “Lebanon is at the brink. The people of Lebanon – the people of Israel – and the people of the world — cannot afford Lebanon to become another Gaza.”

Earlier on Tuesday, Gallant said Israel will continue to batter Iran-backed Hezbollah targets in Lebanon until the goal of ensuring the safe return of Israel’s northern residents to their homes is achieved.
Gallant, in a discussion with troops, said more strikes were coming.
“Hezbollah today is not the same Hezbollah we knew a week ago. (It) has suffered a sequence of blows to its command and control, its fighters, and the means to fight. These are all severe blows,” he said.

Topics: War on Gaza Israeli Defense Minister Yoav Gallant Lebanon Hezbollah UN chief Antonio Guterres

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Iran president says Hezbollah ‘cannot stand alone’ against Israel

Iran president says Hezbollah ‘cannot stand alone’ against Israel

Iran president says Hezbollah ‘cannot stand alone’ against Israel
Updated 24 September 2024
AFP
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Iran president says Hezbollah ‘cannot stand alone’ against Israel

Iran president says Hezbollah ‘cannot stand alone’ against Israel
  • On Monday, nearly 500 people were killed in Israeli strikes in Lebanon, according to the country’s health ministry
  • Iranian President Masoud Pezeshkian calls on international community to 'not allow Lebanon to become another Gaza'
Updated 24 September 2024
AFP

TEHRAN: Iran’s President Masoud Pezeshkian said Tuesday that its ally Hezbollah “cannot stand alone” against Israel which carried out its deadliest day of air strikes on Lebanon since 2006.
“Hebzollah cannot stand alone against a country that is being defended and supported and supplied by Western countries, by European countries and the United States,” Pezeshkian said in an interview with CNN translated from Farsi to English.
He called on the international community to “not allow Lebanon to become another Gaza,” in response to a question if Iran would use its influence with Hezbollah to urge restraint.
On Monday, nearly 500 people, including 35 children, were killed in Israeli strikes in Lebanon, according to the country’s health ministry.
The Israeli military said it had hit about 1,600 Hezbollah targets on Monday, killing a “large number” of militants, and had carried out more on Tuesday morning.
Iran called on the UN Security Council to “take immediate action” against the “insane” Israeli escalation.
“Iran will NOT remain indifferent,” Foreign Minister Abbas Araghchi said in a post on X late Monday.
“We stand with the people of Lebanon and Palestine.”
The Israeli strikes came less than a week after coordinated sabotage attacks targeting Hezbollah’s communication devices killed 39 people and wounded almost 3,000.
Iranian media blamed Israel for the apparent slide toward all-out war.
“The Zionist regime has pressed the all-out war button,” said the ultraconservative Javan newspaper, while its rival Kayhan asked: “Has the big war begun?“
Government daily Iran warned “the region is on the verge of a massive explosion.” Reformist newspaper Etemad said “peace in Lebanon is hanging by a thread.”
Pezeshkian, who has been in New York for the annual UN General Assembly, accused Israel of warmongering.
“We know better than anyone that if a larger war erupts in the Middle East, it will benefit no one globally,” Pezeshkian told journalists at a roundtable.
“It is Israel that seeks to create this wider conflict.”
He said Iran had “never started a war in the last 100 years” and was “not looking to cause insecurity.”
But he insisted that Iran “will never allow a country to force us into something and threaten our security and territorial integrity.”

Topics: Iran Lebanon Gaza Israel

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