World Briefs … Iraq warns of ‘danger of war’ as Iranian FM visits

BAGHDAD – Iraqi leaders have warned of the risks of war during a visit by Iranian foreign minister Mohammad Javad Zarif, whose country is locked in a tense stand-off with the United States.

Zarif’s visit to neighbouring Iraq – which is caught in the middle of its two allies the US and Iran – follows a decision by Washington to deploy 1 500 additional troops to the Middle East. Iraqi prime minister Adel Abdel Mahdi warned of the “danger of a war” during a meeting with Zarif on Saturday night, his office said. Abdel Mahdi pleaded for the “stability of the region and the upholding of the nuclear deal,” it said, referring to a 2015 agreement between Tehran and major powers. Iraqi president Barham Saleh discussed with Zarif “the need to prevent all war or escalation,” his office said. On Saturday, Zarif called the deployment of extra US troops to the region “very dangerous and a threat to international peace and security.”

Trump approves US$8b Saudi weapons sale

WASHINGTON – US president Donald Trump is approving the sale of billions of dollars’ worth of weapons to Saudi Arabia, citing Iranian threats to its arch-rival. Trump invoked a rarely used aspect of federal law to push through the US$8billion (N$120billion) deal – bypassing congress. He did so by declaring that ongoing tensions with Iran amounted to a national emergency. The move has angered those who fear the weapons may be used against civilians in Yemen by Saudi-led forces. Some Democrats accused the president of bypassing congress because the sale of weapons – including precision-guided bombs – would have been strongly opposed on Capitol Hill. Weapons will also reportedly be sold to the United Arab Emirates and Jordan. Members of congress have heavily criticised Saudi Arabia’s human rights record over its role in the Yemen conflict.

US plan could naturalise Palestinian diaspora

BEIRUT – The head of Lebanon’s Shiite movement, Hezbollah, warned on Saturday that a long-delayed US peace plan could see Palestinian refugees permanently settled in host countries across the region. Speaking days after the US announced a May conference in Bahrain to lay out economic aspects of its long-awaited Israeli-Palestinian peace plan, Hezbollah chief Hassan Nasrallah warned of an “ominous deal aimed at eliminating the Palestinian cause”. He said the conference’s focus on economic issues “may open the door widely to the question of naturalising the Palestinian brothers in Lebanon and the countries where they are located”. The right of return for more than 700 000 refugees who were expelled or fled during the creation of the state of Israel in the late 1940s – and their millions of descendants – is a key pillar of the Palestinian cause.

Venezuelan prison clashes leave 29 dead

CARACAS – At least 29 inmates died after clashes broke out at a prison inside a Venezuelan police station, authorities have said. Oscar Valero, public security chief for Portuguesa state, said at least 19 police officers were wounded. He said the violence broke out when police special forces tried to stop a “massive” break-out. The jail, in Acarigua, is designed to hold 250 people but currently has around 540, rights groups said. Valero told reporters that police officers had faced “a hail of gunfire”, and that inmates detonated grenades in Friday’s incident. A prisoners’ rights group, Una Ventana a la Libertad, said the clashes broke out when officers tried to rescue visitors who had been taken hostage by inmates on Thursday. “This morning (authorities) sent the police, and there was a clash,” director Carlos Nieto told AFP news agency.

– Nampa-AFP-BBC News

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