Muscat: Sultan Qaboos, the longest-reigning leader of the modern Arab world, has died at the age of 79, the royal court said Saturday.

“With great sorrow and deep sadness… the royal court mourns His Majesty Sultan Qaboos bin Said, who passed away on Friday,” the court said in a statement. Qaboos, who has ruled since 1970 when he deposed his father in a palace coup, had been ill for some time and had been believed to be suffering from colon cancer.

He left no apparent heir. He was unmarried and had no children or brothers. It is not clear who will succeed Qaboos, whose country has a distinct method of choosing the next ruler.

According to the Omani constitution, the royal family shall, within three days of the throne falling vacant, determine the successor. If the family does not agree on a name, the person chosen by Qaboos in a letter addressed to the royal family will be the successor.

The sultan should be a member of the royal family, as well as “Muslim, mature, rational and the legitimate son of Omani Muslim parents”.

Local experts say that more than 80 men meet the criteria, but one name stands: Asad bin Tariq. Tariq, 65, had been appointed deputy prime minister for international relations and cooperation affairs in 2017.

The move was seen as a clear message of support to the sultan’s cousin and “special representative” since 2002. Qaboos transformed the Arabian Peninsula nation from a backwater into a modern state while pursuing a moderate but active foreign policy.

Having played a role in Iran’s nuclear deal with world powers while preserving its membership in the Saudi-led Gulf Cooperation Council, Oman has emerged as the Gulf’s discreet mediator.

It remains to be seen whether the next ruler will take the same moderate approach in a region often in turmoil.

Chile’s meteorological service said on Monday that smoke from the fires was visible in Chile and Argentina.

SAO PAULO: Smoke from bushfires raging across Australia reached Brazil, an arm of the National Institute for Space Research said on Twitter.

Referring to satellite images, the agency’s Department of Remote Sensing said the smoke had arrived in Brazil’s southernmost state, Rio Grande do Sul, on Tuesday.

Private meteorological company MetSul also tweeted about the arrival of a smoke cloud to Porto Alegre, the capital of Rio Grande do Sul, but emphasised that “the presence of smoke from Australia in the air is almost imperceptible, despite the satellite showing smoke in the atmosphere over the great Porto Alegre”.

Chile’s meteorological service said on Monday that smoke from the fires was visible in Chile and Argentina.

That means the hazy cloud of smoke, sitting at about 6,000 metres (20,000 feet) in the air, travelled more than 12,000 kilometres (7,500 miles) to reach South America.

But the drifting smoke won’t negatively affect the health of the continent’s inhabitants, the Chilean service said.

Fires ravaging Australia since September have left 24 people dead and destroyed some eight million hectares (80,000 square kilometers) of land — an area the size of Ireland or the US state of South Carolina.

After a catastrophic weekend, Australian firefighters — supported by US and Canadian forces — welcomed rain and a drop in temperatures to boost their efforts early in the week before another heatwave is expected in the coming days.

Reserve troops have been deployed to help throughout the country, and the government has earmarked an initial 2 billion Australian dollars (USD 1.4 billion) for a national recovery fund for devastated communities.

The National Bushfire Recovery Agency, headed by former federal police chief Andrew Colvin, will help bushfire affected communities recover.

MELOURNE: Australian Prime Minister Scott Morrison on Monday announced an additional 2 billion dollars over two years to a new agency to coordinate a national response to rebuild communities and livelihoods following the deadly bushfire crisis.

The National Bushfire Recovery Agency, headed by former federal police chief Andrew Colvin, will help bushfire affected communities recover. The agency would be funded with an initial 2 billion Australian dollars (USD 1.38 billion) to ensure the families, farmers and business owners hit by the unprecedented bushfires would get the support they needed as they recover, the Prime Minister said.

“It’s a long road ahead and we will be with these communities every step of the way as they rebuild,” Morrison, who is facing widespread criticism in Australia for his handling of the crisis, said. The bushfire crisis has taken a very heavy toll with more than 1,500 homes already lost throughout the course of this fire season, which has been running since September, according to the government.

Over 20 people have lost their lives so far. “While the immediate focus for our emergency services and the Australian Defence Force is keeping people safe and defending against the fires hitting so many areas, we also need to be ready to hit the ground in communities where the fire-front has passed to help them rebuild. The agency will ensure the work of state and territory governments is being supported and act as a ‘one stop shop’ central team to coordinate the response. We will do whatever it takes,” he said.

Meanwhile fire continued to burn across several regions of the country including New South Wales and Victoria which on Monday received some relief following rain. Commissioner of New South Wales Rural Fire Service Shane Fitzsimmons confirmed that nearly 150 fires were still burning across the state.

“We are certainly seeing an easing of conditions right across the state. And as a matter of fact, there’s even a bit of drizzle happening down here on the south coast. And it’s certainly a welcome reprieve,” he said, adding that “‘unfortunately it is not putting out the fires. It’s not helping us with the furthering of the work of back burning and consolidation work”.

“All our fires are now off the emergency warning alert level. We’ve got nine at the watch and act alert level, which is indicative of ongoing fire behaviour and potential and fire still burning in and around lots of communities. There’s lots of damage and destruction,” he said.

In Victoria, all emergency warnings statewide were downgraded following rain however a total of 15 ‘watch and act’ warnings remained in place for the state. No Victorians were now unaccounted for because of bushfires, according to latest confirmation by state Premier Daniel Andrews who also announced a new bushfire relief agency for the state.

In South Australia, the bushfire on Kangaroo Island was still uncontrolled, burning at ‘watch and act’ level. Earlier, the fire had killed two people, burnt about a third of the Island and is believed to have killed approximately half of the Island’s Koala population.

The Mayor of Kangaroo Island said he knows at least 50 homes that have been destroyed. Water and power infrastructure has been significantly damaged in the island’s west. Repair estimates are not yet known.

Almost six million hectares have burned in Australia in the ongoing bushfire crisis, with over 20 deaths reported so far. On Saturday, Prime Minister Morrison called up 3,000 military reserve troops to combat the bushfires, the first time that reservists were called up in such a large number “in the living memory”.

Morrison was criticised for taking a family vacation in Hawaii at the start of the wildfire crisis, with many people complaining about the lack of readiness in utilisation of resources.

Last week, he was heckled when he visited a township in New South Wales where houses have been destroyed and one of them belonged to one of the three volunteer firefighters who have died in the crisis.

Over 3,000 firefighters are on the frontline, with 31 specialist strike teams in place across NSW. Australia’s military has been assisting with aerial reconnaissance, mapping, search and rescue, logistics and aerial support for months.

Although the United States and Iran have long been adversaries and engaged in a shadow war in the Middle East and elsewhere, the US has never declared formal war on Iran.

NEW YORK: After Friday’s targeted killing of Iranian Gen. Qassem Soleimani, newsrooms struggled with the question: Had the United States just carried out an assassination? And should news stories about the killing use that term?

The AP Stylebook, considered a news industry bible, defines assassination as “the murder of a politically important or prominent individual by surprise attack.”

Although the United States and Iran have long been adversaries and engaged in a shadow war in the Middle East and elsewhere, the US has never declared formal war on Iran.

So the targeted killing of a high Iranian state and military official by a surprise attack was “clearly an assassination,” said Mary Ellen O’Connell, an expert in international law and the laws of war at the University of Notre Dame School of Law.

Just as clearly, the Trump administration doesn’t agree.

Though a statement issued by the Pentagon said the attack was specifically intended to kill Soleimani and that it was ordered “at the direction of the President,” it also characterized the killing as defensive, to protect U.S. military forces abroad, and stated that Soleimani was actively developing plans “to attack American diplomats and service members in Iraq and throughout the region.” Subsequent statements by Secretary of State Mike Pompeo and President Donald Trump also characterized the killing as punishment of Soleimani for past blood on his hands.

O’Connell’s counterargument: Whether the killing is framed as part of an armed conflict between two states or as a police action intended to deter terrorism, it cannot be characterized as an act of self-defence because there was never a full-fledged and direct attack on the United States by Iran. The United States’s legal reason for being in Iraq is to deter the Islamic State group, not to fight against Iran, she noted, and the attacks against the U.S. by Iranian-backed militias in recent months have been intermittent and relatively limited.

“Assassination is prohibited both in peacetime law as well as on the battlefield,” she said.

“We have really moved to a nearly lawless state,” she said. If the justification for a military response is self-defence, the response should be “necessary and proportionate.” But that would not justify individual targeted killings, she said.

For Iran, Soleimani’s killing was a “horrific assassination,” wrote Majid Takht Ravanchi, Iran’s ambassador to the United Nations.

It is “an obvious example of state terrorism, and, as a criminal act, constitutes a gross violation of the fundamental principles of international law,” Ravanchi wrote in a letter to the U.N. secretary-general.

The premeditated killing of a specific individual commander for what they have done on the battlefield or what they may do has been prohibited by the law of armed conflict dating from the Hague Conventions of 1907, and by a protocol of the Geneva Convention in 1949 saying “it is prohibited to kill, injure or capture an adversary by perfidy,” she added.

International war law aside, there also has been a US executive order in place since 1976 forbidding the U.S. from carrying out political assassinations. The order came into being after revelations that the CIA had organized or sanctioned assassination attempts against foreign leaders including Fidel Castro.

The current version of the executive order states: “No person employed by or acting on behalf of the United States Government shall engage in, or conspire to engage in, assassination.”

It does not, however, define what constitutes an assassination, and has been generally interpreted to mean an unlawful killing of a political leader in peacetime. For instance, during the “war on terror” since 9/11, the United States is believed to have conducted a number of secret drone strikes targeting individuals, such as the attack against al- Qaida propagandist Anwar al-Awlaki, who was killed in 2011 in Yemen.

Soleimani, however, was a military leader. If he was leading forces against the United States, under the international laws of war as enunciated in the 1949 Geneva Conventions, he and his forces could be considered legitimate battle targets during any actual war or armed conflict, declared or undeclared.

The AP has mostly refrained from describing Soleimani’s death as an assassination — both because it would require that the news service decide that the act was a murder, and because the term is politically freighted.

Duke University Professor of Law Madeleine Morris, an expert on international criminal law, said the law is not terribly clear in this area.

She said that under the United Nations Charter, there is a clear right of self-defence in response to armed attacks. She noted that some might argue that the attacks the U.S. has experienced in this case do not meet at a threshold of gravity to justify this sort of targeted killing, while others would argue to the contrary that there is no explicit threshold — that if attacked a country has an absolute right to respond militarily.

”There is no obligation to kill a lot of people rather than a single person,” she said.

The question then would be whether the act of war was legal, allowed as self-defence, or would it be considered an illegal act of aggression? That would depend on the intelligence evidence offered by the United States and the imminence of any planned attack.

“The problem is that governments have good reason to make very little public in this situation, which makes it very difficult to evaluate the situation politically or legally.”

The city has been battered by more than six months of unrest with marches attended by millions, as well as confrontations in which police have fired tear gas and rubber bullets.

HONG KONG: Hong Kong police fired tear gas a few minutes into 2020 as pro-democracy protesters took their movement into the new year with midnight countdown rallies and a massive march planned for January 1.

The city has been battered by more than six months of unrest with marches attended by millions, as well as confrontations in which police have fired tear gas and rubber bullets — and protesters have responded with petrol bombs.

Before midnight on Tuesday, thousands of protesters gathered across the financial hub, including along the waterfront of Victoria Harbour and at nightlife hotspot Lan Kwai Fong.

Protesters at the harbourfront counted down chanting “Ten! Nine! Liberate Hong Kong, revolution now!” as they lit up their phones in a sea of lights.

Smaller crowds of protesters in the Mong Kok district set fire to barricades — and riot police unleashed 2020’s first volleys of tear gas in response.

Shortly before the final day of 2019 drew to a close, police used water cannon to disperse protesters in the same area while, in nearby Prince Edward neighbourhood, officers arrested several protesters staging a candlelight vigil.

Earlier in the evening, thousands of people linked arms in human chains that stretched for miles along busy shopping streets and through local neighbourhoods.

They chanted slogans, sang “Glory to Hong Kong” — a protest anthem — and held up posters calling for people to fight for democracy in 2020.

“Thanks to 2019, which tore off the ugly masks of the police and the government and let the people see the truth,” said protester Kris, a medic who joined the protest.

“The movement is kind of like at its bottleneck now. Hopefully, a huge turnout at tomorrow’s march could bring back people’s passion,” he added.

The city’s traditional New Year Eve’s bumper fireworks display was cancelled due to safety concerns, but a light show and smaller-scale fireworks took place instead.

In late November, the city’s pro-democracy camp scored a landslide victory in a municipal-level vote seen as a referendum on the Beijing-backed government’s handling of political unrest.

The protest movement has since become quieter but sporadic clashes have persisted.

In a New Year’s video message broadcast on state media, Chinese president Xi Jinping said Hong Kong’s recent upheaval was concerning and that the “people of our motherland” expected stability in the restive city.

But protesters have vowed to continue their effort to push for greater democratic freedoms and police accountability.

On Tuesday night, demonstrators also swarmed major shopping malls, which have become regular protest venues in an effort to cause economic disruption.

“2019 is a remarkable and special year for every single Hongkonger,” 25-year-old teacher Sam told AFP as he celebrated New Year’s Eve with his family at the harbourfront.

“People’s demands are loud and clear, but the government is not listening. In 2020, I really hope it will be a better year for all Hong Kong people.”

The Civil Human Rights Front, the chief organiser of marches, hopes for a huge turnout at Wednesday’s rally to urge the government to respond to the demands of the pro-democracy movement — which include an independent inquiry into the police, amnesty for arrestees and fully free elections.

Police have arrested nearly 6,500 people since June — nearly a third of them aged under 20.

“The youngsters have sacrificed a lot for justice. 2019 is a wake-up call,” a 63-year-old retiree, who gave his surname as Shiu, told AFP.

“People will be more determined in the new year. People know that the future of Hong Kong depends on whether we can achieve the five demands.”

The demonstrations were sparked by a now-abandoned bill to allow extraditions to the authoritarian mainland, but have since morphed into a popular revolt against Beijing’s control — the biggest crisis since the former British colony’s return to Chinese rule in 1997.

The December 18 report also said that for the first time in independent India’s history, a religious criterion has been added to the country’s naturalization process.

WASHINGTON: The amended Citizenship law along with a National Register of Citizens (NRC) being planned by the Narendra Modi government “may affect the status” of the Muslim minority in India, a report by the Congressional Research Service (CRS) has said.

The December 18 report also said that for the first time in independent India’s history, a religious criterion has been added to the country’s naturalization process.

The CRS is an independent research wing of the US Congress which prepares reports periodically on issues of domestic and global importance for the lawmakers to take an informed decision.

These are not considered as official reports of the US Congress.

“In tandem with a National Register of Citizens (NRC) planned by the federal government, the CAA (Citizenship Amendment Act) may affect the status of India’s large Muslim minority of roughly 200 million,” said the CRS in its first-ever report on the amended Citizenship law.

According to the Citizenship (Amendment) Act, non-Muslim refugees who came to India till December 31, 2014, to escape religious persecution in Pakistan, Bangladesh and Afghanistan will be given Indian citizenship.

Since both houses of Parliament approved amendments to the citizenship law earlier this month, protests – sometimes violent – have taken place across the country during which many protesters have died, especially in Uttar Pradesh and Karnataka.

“India’s Citizenship Act of 1955 prohibited illegal immigrants from becoming citizens.

Among numerous amendments to the act since 1955, none contained a religious aspect,” the CRS said in its two-page report.

The changes sparked significant controversy, including large-scale and sometimes violent protests.

Opponents of the CAA warn that Prime Minister Narendra Modi and his Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) are pursuing a Hindu majoritarian, anti-Muslim agenda that threatens India’s status as an officially secular republic and violates international human rights norms, it said.

The CRS claims that the amendment’s key provisions “allowing immigrants of six religions from three countries a path to citizenship while excluding Muslims” may violate certain Articles of the Indian Constitution, in particular, Articles 14 and 15.

The Citizenship (Amendment) Act was immediately challenged in the Supreme Court by scores of petitioners, but the court has refused to issue a stay on implementation and is deferring hearing petitions until January 22, it notes, adding that the government argues that the three specified countries have a state religion — Islam — resulting in persecution of religious minorities.

“Proponents say that Muslims do not face persecution in Pakistan, Bangladesh, or Afghanistan and that the CAA is constitutional because it addresses migrants rather than Indian citizens,” it said.

“Yet it is not clear why migrants from other neighbouring countries with state (or favoured) religions, such as Sri Lanka (where Buddhism is the official religion and Tamil Hindus face persecution) and Burma (where Buddhism enjoys primacy and Rohingya Muslims are persecuted), are excluded from a path to citizenship.

In addition, oppressed Muslim minority communities such as Pakistan’s Ahmadis and Shias enjoy no protection under the CAA,” the CRS said.

“The New Delhi government maintains that the NRC update is a fair and non-discriminatory process driven by the Supreme Court that does not impose a religious test or render any persons ‘stateless’,” it said adding that the United Nations, the US Commission for International Religious Freedom, and independent human rights groups have expressed concerns about NRC.

The Saudi crown prince, Mohammed bin Salman, had drawn international condemnation for the killing because several Saudi agents involved worked directly for him.

RIYADH: A court in Saudi Arabia on Monday sentenced five people to death for the killing of Washington Post columnist Jamal Khashoggi, who was murdered in the Saudi Consulate in Istanbul last year by a team of Saudi agents.

Saudi Arabia’s state-run Al-Ekhbariya TV channel reported that three others were sentenced to prison. All can appeal the verdicts.

The Saudi crown prince, Mohammed bin Salman, had drawn international condemnation for the killing because several Saudi agents involved worked directly for him. The kingdom denies that Prince Mohammed had any involvement or knowledge of the operation.

State TV also reported the Saudi attorney general’s investigation showed that the crown prince’s former top adviser, Saud al-Qahtani, had no proven involvement in the killing. Al-Qahtani, however, has been sanctioned by the United States for his alleged role in the operation.

The court also ruled that the Saudi consul-general in Istanbul at the time, Mohammed al-Otaibi, was not guilty. He was released from prison after the verdicts were announced, according to state TV.

After holding nine sessions, the trial concluded that there was no previous intent by those found guilty to murder, according to state TV.

The trials of the accused were carried out in near total secrecy, though a handful of diplomats, including from Turkey, as well as members of Khashoggi’s family were allowed to attend the sessions. In total, 11 people were on trial for Khashoggi’s death in the kingdom.

The verdicts were read by Shaalan al-Shaalan, a spokesperson from the attorney general’s office, and broadcast on state TV. No names were given for those found guilty. The attorney general’s office also said it is looking into the verdicts, which were issued by Riyadh’s criminal court, to see whether to move ahead in the appellate court.

The three suspects in eh case who face prison time were sentenced to a total of 24 years, but no individual breakdown for each person was given. Another three who were on trial were released after being found not guilty, and several others who were investigated were also released.

The killing had shocked the world and drawn condemnation from the international community, including the United Nations.

Khashoggi had walked into his country’s consulate in Istanbul on that morning in October 2018 to collect documents that would allow him to wed his Turkish fiancée, Hatice Cengiz, who waited for him outside.

He never walk out. Khashoggi’s body was never found.

Agnes Callamard, a U.N. special rapporteur who authored an inquiry into Khashoggi’s killing, later said the search for justice must not be left to the Saudi judicial system, which is “so vulnerable to political interference.”

President Donald Trump condemned the killing, and his administration sanctioned 17 Saudis suspected of being involved, though not the crown prince. Trump, however, has steadfastly resisted calls by members of his own party for a tougher response and has defended maintaining good relations with Saudi Arabia, framing its importance as a major buyer of U.S. military equipment and weapons and saying this creates American jobs.

Meanwhile, numerous critics of the Saudi crown prince remain imprisoned and face trial for their acts of dissent.

The protesters also passed a resolution requesting the Indian government to withdraw both the NRC and the CAA.

WASHINGTON: A large number of Indian-Americans gathered around the statue of Mahatma Gandhi installed in front of the Indian Embassy here and held a peaceful demonstration against the amended Citizenship Act and the proposed National Register of Citizens (NRC).

According to the Citizenship Amendment Act (CAA), members of Hindu, Sikh, Buddhist, Jain, Parsi and Christian communities who have come from Pakistan, Bangladesh and Afghanistan till December 31, 2014 following religious persecution there will get Indian citizenship.

“We are here for only a single purpose. That purpose is civil rights and religious freedom and nothing more than that,” Indian-American Mike Ghouse from the Washington-based non-governmental organisation Centre for Pluralism told the gathering, which included women, children and students.

Organised by American-Indian Muslims in association with over a dozen of similar bodies, peaceful protestors from in and around the Greater Washington Area on Sunday shouted slogans in favour of India’s unity and displayed posters and banners alleging that the country was headed in a direction that was not secular in nature and violated the ethos of the Constitution.

The protesters also passed a resolution requesting the Indian government to withdraw both the NRC and the CAA.

“All we want the (Indian government) is to repeal the laws that have been enacted recently, so that we all can be one India, one people and nation under god so that we can work together, live together and not worry and not have any tensions about who is who one people,” Ghouse said.

According to the resolution, both the CAA and the NRC are likely to push India backward as a nation.

“We therefore resolve that India’s BJP government should withdraw both of these legislations at the earliest,” said the resolution, a copy of which was submitted to the Indian Embassy.

“The possible implementation of both of these legislations is likely to cause huge conflicts between the majority and minority communities, reducing the citizenship status of Indian Muslims and causing conflagration between the ethnically and religiously diverse states and people of India.

As evidenced by the recent chaos in Assam and Kashmir, and elsewhere, these Acts are likely to cause much harm to the Indian nation and the Indian people,” it said.

According to the organisers more than 200 people joined the over two-hour protest at the Gandhi Statue in downtown Washington, in front of the Indian Embassy.

“At a time when India’s economy is in much decline, unemployment is rising, lawlessness is widespread, and public corruption is rife, the BJP government instead of working to resolve these serious issues, is coming up with strange policies that are forcing Indians to prove their being citizens,” said Kaleem Kawaja, from the American-Indian Muslims and coordinators, Rally Against NRC, CAA.

“The NRC that is being applied all over the country is forcing people to show their original government-issued birth certificate in a country where such certificates did not exist until a few decades ago, especially among the poor and illiterate communities who are about half of the country,” he said.

The NRC has been prepared to identify genuine Indian citizens living in Assam since March 24, 1971, or before, and identify illegal Bangladeshi migrants in the state.

Out of 3.3 crore applicants, over 19 lakh people were excluded from the final NRC published on August 30.

“The current government is destroying the social fabric of India gained in 70 years of our freedom. (PM) Modi and (Union Home Minister) Amit Shah have to take the policy back,” said one of the protestors.

While he was parking his car, a man came up to his cab and asked him for a lighter. Sidhu said he didn’t have one and the man left, but then he returned with another request.

NEW DELHI: A 57-year-old Indian-origin Sikh taxi driver has been brutally assaulted and hit with a with a barbeque grill cover in the head in front of his home in the US state of California, media reports said, second such attack in less than a fortnight.

Baljeet Singh Sidhu, who works as a mail carrier and an Uber driver, was attacked on Sunday while he was parking his car outside his home near Hilltop Mall, Richmond, California, after finishing his duties.

While he was parking his car, a man came up to his cab and asked him for a lighter. Sidhu said he didn’t have one and the man left, but then he returned with another request.

“He asked me and said he had USD 5 and he needed a ride. It looked suspicious,” Sidhu was quoted as saying by the KTVU television station.

He told the man his shift was over. Then the suspect came back a third time and attacked Sidhu and hit him in the head with a barbeque grill cover and then knocked down and choked.

“I was hit a number of times. Have so many wounds,” Sidhu said. There were cuts, bumps and bruises on him. His family believes the attack could be a hate crime, and he was assaulted because of his Sikh turban and appearance, the SFGate reported.

His daughter, Gaganjot Sidhu said, “His turban was off and blood all over his face. It was the most terrifying thing I’ve ever seen. Like no daughter wants to see her father in that condition.

No slurs were used, no money was robbed, but Gaganjot says her father was targeted because of how he looks.

On Wednesday, the Council on American-Islamic Relations (CAIR) expressed solidarity with the Sikh community of the San Francisco Bay Area, the report said.

“We condemn this attack and express our solidarity with the Sikh community,” said Zahra Billoo, executive director of the San Francisco Bay Area office of CAIR.

“Sidhu and his loved ones are in our prayers. We urge the Richmond Police Department to investigate a possible bias motive for this incident.” The attack is second such attack in a fortnight.

On December 5, An Indian-origin Sikh taxi driver was assaulted and racially abused in the US state of Washington in a suspected hate crime.

The head of Volkswagen’s local partner has been detained in Algeria since June in a corruption probe.

The Sovac-Volkswagen factory opened in 2017 at Relizane and assembles kits provided by the German parent.

Carmaker Volkswagen has suspended production in Algeria, where the head of its local partner has been detained since June in a corruption probe, a spokesman for the German auto giant said.

“Volkswagen is aware of a corruption investigation by Algerian authorities into Mourad Oulmi”, who heads Algerian partner Sovac, the spokesman told AFP.

“Production at the factory, operated in a co-venture with Sovac, is suspended, as are deliveries by Volkswagen” to Sovac, the spokesman added.

The Sovac-Volkswagen factory opened in 2017 at Relizane, some 250 kilometres (150 miles) southwest of Algiers, and assembles kits provided by the German parent.

In 2018, it produced around 50,000 Volkswagen, Audi, Seat and Skoda vehicles.

Contacted by AFP, a spokesman for Sovac refused to comment, but promised a statement later in the day.

Several Algerian news outlets reported that Sovac announced Sunday output at the factory stopped in October, effectively leaving 700 employees without work.

Several prominent politicians and businessmen linked to Abdelaziz Bouteflika have been detained or questioned in connection with corruption since the ailing president was forced to step down in the face of mass protests in early April.