The Syrian Observatory for Human Rights said 14 out of 29 killed by US-led air raids were members of the same family.

A man and woman flee Raqqa, Syria [Rodi Said/Reuters]

by Al Jazeera

US-led coalition raids on Raqqa in northern Syria have killed 29 civilians over the past 24 hours as American-backed forces battle the Islamic State of Iraq and the Levant group, a monitor said on Tuesday.

The Britain-based Syrian Observatory for Human Rights said nine women and 14 children had been killed in coalition air raids on Raqqa city since Monday evening.

It said 14 of the dead were members of one family, who had fled to Raqqa from Palmyra.

The death toll could rise because of the number of critically wounded, it added.

A US-backed Arab-Kurdish alliance is battling to overthrow ISIL, also known as ISIS, from Raqqa, its main Syrian stronghold, and has taken around 45 percent of the city.

A spokesman for the US-led coalition could not immediately be reached for comment. The coalition has previously said it strenuously tries to avoid civilian casualties and investigates all reports that its attacks have killed civilians.

The coalition said in July that its attacks had killed at least 600 civilians in both Iraq and Syria since it began operations in 2014, a figure that is far lower than those given by independent monitors.

Meanwhile, Syrian activists say pro-government forces have intensified their bombardment of the capital’s rebel-held Eastern Ghouta suburbs, one day after rebels frustrated a government attempt to advance.

The opposition-affiliated Ghouta Media Centre said one civilian was killed and several others injured in government shelling and aerial bombardment.

Rebels and other witnesses said shelling and air raids increased on Monday and the bombardment was at its heaviest in a two-month Syrian army campaign.

People had retreated to shelters, one resident said, noting that at least five buildings had collapsed under the shelling in two days.

Many locals have left the area over recent weeks because of the bombardment and, even under military assaults, they will still be able to do so, the resident said.

“This isn’t Aleppo, where people were surrounded. Ghouta is a bigger space and the towns are more open to each other. No town is surrounded.”

However, there was little movement between Eastern Ghouta towns because of fighting over territory between rival rebel groups who control that area.

Comments come as email leak suggests Emirati FM was disappointed US chose Doha over Abu Dhabi to host group’s office.

[Reuters]

by Shereena Qazi, Al Jazeera

Qatar played a major role in facilitating peace talks between Afghan officials and the Taliban by opening an office for the group in Doha, a senior Taliban offical told Al Jazeera.

The Taliban official’s comments on Tuesday come as a series of leaked emails from UAE diplomats suggest the Emirati foreign minister was disappointed that US officials had chosen Doha over Abu Dhabi to host the office.

The June 2013 opening of the unofficial embassy allowed for talks to develop, said the Taliban official, who is based in the Qatari capital.

“We got a chance to discuss with Afghan diplomats, journalists and analysts face-to-face on how peace can be achieved in Afghanistan,” he told Al Jazeera, speaking on the condition of anonymity.

In 2016, Pugwash Conferences on Science and World Affairs, an international crisis group, organised a meeting in Doha bringing Afghan diplomats, analysts and journalists to the table with the Taliban to discuss how to achieve peace.

“We’ve conducted many peace conferences in Doha and discussed many issues with the help of Qatari officials who played the role of mediators, and nothing else.”

That conference was not a part of the official process between officials from Afghanistan, Pakistan, China and the US aimed at charting a roadmap to peace.

But the Taliban official said such meetings were important.

He also noted a separate meeting was held between the Taliban and Afghan journalists where both sides were able to discuss their ideas for peace.

The official went on to say that demands on Doha by a Saudi-led bloc currently boycotting the peninsula are “unfair”, and that the quartet should not “accuse Qatar of supporting terrorism”.

Leaked UAE emails

As part of its attempt to isolate the peninsula, the kingdom, UAE, Bahrain and Egypt have derided Qatar for hosting an office for the Afghan armed group.

But a series of leaked emails show UAE diplomats lobbied US officials so Abu Dhabi could host the office.

Reported by the New York Times on Monday, the emails from UAE ambassador to the US Yousef Al Otaiba apparently contradict a mounted campaign against Qatar for its alleged support of “terrorist groups”.

Otaiba said he received an “angry call” from UAE Foreign Minister Abdullah bin Zayed Al Nahyan, complaining that the Taliban had ended up in Qatar and not the UAE, according to messages in the ambassador’s Hotmail account.

“I got an angry call from [Zayed] saying how come we weren’t told,” Otaiba wrote to an American official.

The newspaper obtained another email dated September 12, 2011, in which an Emirati official questioned the US position on the Taliban office’s location.

“There is an article in the London Times that mentions US is backing setting up a Taliban embassy in Doha,” the diplomat, Mohamed Mahmoud al-Khaja, wrote to Jeffrey Feltman, then assistant secretary of state for near east affairs.

“HH says that we were under the impression that Abu Dhabi was your first choice and this is what we were informed”, Khaja said in the email, referring to bin Zayed.

The latest email leak comes from a group called “GlobalLeaks”, which is not affiliated with the software developer, GlobaLeaks.

GlobalLeaks told Newsweek that the recent messages are proof of the “biggest hypocrisy” in the Qatar crisis.

The office was part of a broader US-led effort to facilitate peace talks in Afghanistan – not to support their ideology or the group itself.

Qatar agreed to open the mission for the Taliban with Washington’s blessing four years ago.

In 2011, when the emails were sent, the Obama administration was making efforts to hold peace talks between the Taliban and the Afghan government as it sought to remove NATO troops from the country.

Most of the troops withdrew in 2014, but peace was not achieved.

The opening of the office enraged the Afghan president at the time, Hamid Karzai, by styling itself as an unofficial embassy for a government-in-exile.

Karzai broke off bilateral talks with the Americans and threatened to boycott any peace process altogether after the Taliban opened the offices with a flag-raising ceremony for the “Islamic Emirate of Afghanistan” – the name of the country under Taliban rule.

That flag has since been removed.

Foreign minister says there has been no suggestion by any Qatari official about internationalising the pilgrimage issue.

Mohammed bin Abdulrahman Al Thani. [Reuters]

by Al Jazeera

Qatar’s foreign minister has rebutted accusations by his Saudi counterpart that Qatar is trying to politicise the annual Islamic Hajj pilgrimage to Mecca.

Adel al-Jubeir, Saudi Arabia’s foreign minister, appeared to accuse Qatar on Sunday of politicising the issue and “declaring a war” against the kingdom by demanding the internationalisation of the Hajj pilgrimage.

The claim was rejected by Sheikh Mohammed bin Abdulrahman Al Thani in an interview with Al Jazeera.

“Qatar never politicised the issue of Hajj,” he said.

“It was Saudi Arabia trying to politicise the Hajj pilgrimage amid the Gulf crisis.

“There has been no suggestion by any Qatari official about internationalising the issue.”

The Hajj is an annual pilgrimage to Mecca attended by hundreds of thousands of Muslims from around the world.

Jubeir was quoted by Al Arabiya’s website as saying: “Qatar’s demands to internationalise the holy sites is aggressive and a declaration of war against the kingdom … We reserve the right to respond to anyone who is working on the internationalisation of the holy sites.”

Jubeir’s statement

In a separate statement in the Bahraini capital of Manama on the same day, Jubeir denied what he called claims that Saudi Arabia was trying to politicise the Hajj.

“We reject attempts by Qatar to politicise the issue and consider it disrespect to the Hajj and pilgrims,” he said.

Qatar accused the Saudis of politicising the Hajj and addressed the UN Special Rapporteur on Freedom of Religion on Saturday, expressing concern about obstacles facing Qataris who want to attend Hajj this year.

Qataris are allowed to go to Hajj by Saudi authorities, but they can access the country via only two designated airports: King Abdulaziz Airport in Jeddah and Prince Mohammed bin Abdulaziz Airport in Medina.

The citizens of Qatar who are abroad will have to return to the country, during the Hajj period at the end of August and beginning of September, to be able to enter Saudi Arabia by way of one of the designated airports.

Furthermore, Saudi Arabia’s General Authority of Civil Aviation has said Qatar Airways flights are banned even for pilgrims during the Hajj period.

The land border with Saudi Arabia has been closed since June 5, preventing pilgrims from reaching Saudi Arabia via land.

The fact that Qatari diplomatic missions in Saudi Arabia are also closed means there is no authority to appeal to for Qataris in case issues come up during Hajj.

The moves are designed “to set obstacles for the pilgrims from Qatar to Mecca”, according to Qatar’s Ministry of Endowments and Islamic Affairs (Awqaf).

‘Registrations reach 20,000’

Ali Sultan al-Misifry, director of Hajj and Umrah department at Awqaf, said the number of registrations by national and resident pilgrims had reached 20,000.

“Many of these registrants have joined Hajj campaign to begin their holy ritual. However, then the Saudi ministry’s refusal to communicate and to provide safety guarantees led to the apprehension of the pilgrims,” Misifry said, according to Qatari news media.

Saudi Arabia, the UAE, Egypt and Bahrain previously issued a list of 13 demands for Qatar, which included curtailing its support for the Muslim Brotherhood, shutting down the Doha-based Al Jazeera channel, closing a Turkish military base and downgrading its relations with Gulf enemy Iran.

On Sunday, foreign ministers of the four countries said they were ready for dialogue with Qatar if it showed willingness to tackle their demands and “fights terrorism”.

Rights group files complaint to UN special rapporteur over restrictions imposed on Qatari pilgrims amid GCC crisis.

As custodian of Islam’s holiest sites in Mecca and Medina, Saudi Arabia organises the annual Hajj [File: Reuters]

by Al Jazeera

Qatar has accused Saudi Arabia of politicising the Hajj, claiming Riyadh has imposed restrictions on Qatari nationals planning to travel to Mecca for the annual Muslim pilgrimage.

Qatar’s National Human Rights Commission (NHRC) said on Saturday that Qatari citizens have been told they can only enter Saudi Arabia through two airports, and that they must travel via Doha to be allowed in.

This would be challenging for Qataris who do not live in Doha, such as those studying abroad.

The NHRC said it has filed a complaint with the UN special rapporteur on freedom of belief and religion over the restrictions, which it said were in “stark violation of international laws and agreements that guarantee the right to worship”.

The restrictions are part of a boycott launched on June 5 by Saudi Arabia, United Arab Emirates, Bahrain and Egypt, which saw the group sever diplomatic ties with Qatar and impose a blockade. They accuse Qatar of funding terrorism, allegations Qatar has strongly denied.

The four Arab states cut transport links with Qatar, and Saudi Arabia has closed the peninsula’s only land border.

As the custodian of Islam’s holiest sites in Mecca and Medina, Saudi Arabia organises the annual Hajj.

The pilgrimage is one of the five pillars of Islam, which every able-bodied Muslim who is able to afford the journey is obliged to undertake at least once in a lifetime.

Hajj is due to begin in early September.

The NHRC said it was “extremely concerned over [Saudi Arabia] politicising religious rituals and using [Hajj] to achieve political gains”.

“The Saudi authorities have allowed the Qatari pilgrims to enter Saudi Arabia only through two airports via Qatar only, thus any Qatari citizen located outside Qatar, must first return to Qatar then travel to Saudi Arabia,” it said.

The civil liberties group also said that it will lodge a second complaint against Saudi Arabia with UNESCO for subjecting Qatari nationals to harassment and threats in Saudi territory.

During the Islamic holy month of Ramadan, the group claimed that officials in Saudi Arabia forced Qataris who were visiting religious sites to leave their hotel rooms. Unable to fly on commercial flights, which had been blocked from travelling from Saudi Arabia to Qatar, they were forced to use charter flights.

In June, the Doha-based Al Sharq newspaper reported that Saudi authorities barred Qatar nationals from entering the Grand Mosque in Mecca.

The NHRC said that its complaints were part of a wider effort to highlight Saudi Arabia’s violations of religious freedom and the right to worship, and expose them to the international community.

Islamabad: Former petroleum minister and senior Pakistan Muslim League-(Nawaz) leader Shahid Khaqan Abbasi will be appointed as interim prime minister of Pakistan after Nawaz Sarif was disqualified by the Supreme Court in Panamagate case.

Pakistan Finance Minister Ishaq Dar was also disqualified by the Supreme Court in the case.

Abbasi will run the government as interim prime minister until Nawaz Sharif’s brother Shahbaz is elected as member of parliament.

After a consultative session of the ruling PML-N, Shahbaz has emerged as the most likely candidate to be the next prime minister of Pakistan after an interim premier has served the 45-day period, Geo News reported.

(Agencies)

Doha-based outlet says Israel leader’s defamatory claims are latest episode of ‘ongoing viscous attack’ against network.

Netanyahu threatens to shut down Al Jazeera’s offices in Jerusalem accusing the network of inciting tensions around Al-aqsa [Reuters]

by Al Jazeera

Al Jazeera has denounced a threat by the Israeli Prime Minister to close the network’s Jerusalem office, saying it will continue to cover events in the Palestinian territories professionally and objectively.

The Doha-based media network responded on Thursday, hours after the Israeli leader posted defamatory comments about the outlet’s coverage to his Facebook page, saying Al Jazeera journalists “incite violence”.

Al Jazeera “denounces such arbitrary accusations and hostile statements”, a press release from the network said.

Netanyahu’s comments mark “yet another episode of the ongoing vicious attack” against Al Jazeera, the statement read, referring to calls by a Saudi-led group boycotting Qatar to close the network.

“Al Jazeera stresses that it would take all necessary legal measures in case they act on their threat,” the statement continued.

“The network moreover reiterates that it will continue covering the news and events of the occupied Palestinian territories, and elsewhere, both professionally and objectively.”

Netanyahu has long complained of Al Jazeera’s coverage.

His latest comments come amid a major fallout between Israeli authorities and Palestinians over al-Aqsa Mosque.

“The Al Jazeera network continues to incite violence around the Temple Mount,” he wrote on social media late on Wednesday, referring to recent events at the holy site in Jerusalem known as Temple Mount to Jews.

“I have appealed several times to law enforcement authorities demanding the closure of the Al Jazeera Jerusalem office,” he continued. “If this does not happen because of legal interpretation, I will work to legislate the required laws in order to remove Al Jazeera from Israel.”

Religious officials say Palestinians should celebrate victory as Israel lifts security following mass demonstrations.

Muslim elders urged faithful to pray at al-Aqsa Mosque after Israel removed security measures [Reuters]

by Al Jazeera

Muslim leaders of the al-Aqsa Mosque compound in Jerusalem have given their approval for Palestinians to re-enter the site after Israel removed new security measures, following almost two weeks of protests that saw several Palestinians killed and hundreds injured.

Officials of the Islamic Waqf authority that administers the holy site said on Thursday that Muslims should claim victory after Israel backed down, and urged them to once again pray inside the mosque.

The first prayer is expected to take place at around 13:00 GMT.

“We will be able to offer prayers inside the compound,” said Abdel-Azeem Salhab, director of the Islamic Waqf Council.

“The Israeli occupation forces have been trying for decades to violate al-Aqsa Mosque compound. Now, you are living in the new era of victory. We totally appreciate the masses who have been gathering,” he added.

Israel had erected railings, gates and scaffolding where cameras were mounted at the al-Aqsa Mosque compound entrance, claiming the measures were necessary for security after an attack on July 14.

Palestinians protested against increased security, which they viewed as an encroachment of Israeli control over the holy site, and a form of collective punishment.

With the discriminatory security measures, they feared that Israel was attempting to change the status quo of al-Aqsa, which gives Muslims religious control over the compound and Jews the right to visit, but not pray there.

Deadly street protests

Instead of praying inside al-Aqsa, thousands worshipped in the streets.

They also demonstrated, often clashing with police. At least six Palestinians were killed in that violence – one of whom was shot by a settler, and hospitals were unable to keep up with the number of injured.

“We had to sacrifice everything, we had to win this battle, and we finally won,” Ahmed Abulawa, a resident of occupied East Jerusalem, told Al Jazeera. “Jerusalem is our soul, our faith and we cannot live without it and al-Aqsa.

“Everyone here will sacrifice everything for al-Aqsa, and this is what made us victorious.”

A Palestinian also allegedly broke into the home of a Jewish settlement in the occupied West Bank and killed three Israelis.

By Tuesday, Israel had removed metal detectors from the entrance.

The measures, which also saw Palestinian men under the age of 50 banned from Friday prayers, were imposed after the alleged attack almost two weeks ago at the compound, carried out by Palestinian gunmen who killed two Israeli security guards.

As workmen removed the extra security installations on Thursday, Palestinians gathered to celebrate, with whistling and constant horns from cars.

“The message here is that the people have won,” said Al Jazeera’s Stefanie Dekker, reporting from occupied East Jerusalem. “It is a very special time for the Palestinians, who have never really experienced this kind of victory. They have achieved what they wanted.”

Mahmoud Abbas, the Palestinian president, backed calls to return to al-Aqsa Mosque.

“The prayers will happen, God willing, inside the al-Aqsa Mosque,” Abbas told a press conference.

Jordan welcomed Israel’s removal of all new security measures as “an essential step towards calm”, said Mohammad al-Momani, information minister.

The compound houses al-Aqsa Mosque and the Dome of the Rock shrine, Islam’s third holiest site after Mecca and Medina, but also the ruins of the Biblical Jewish Temple.

Israeli police earlier confirmed that all security measures had been removed.