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A10 WORLD NEWS
Wednesday 6 december 2017
Lebanese PM Hariri revokes resignation after consensus deal

By ZEINA KARAM ing an end to one of the ing Hariri’s stunning move a a main reason for stepping release from top Lebanese
Associated Press most bizarre interludes in month ago. down. The nature of the officials.
BEIRUT (AP) — Lebanese Lebanese politics. Hariri announced his res- announcement raised sus- The move thrust Lebanon to
Prime Minister Saad Hariri The announcement came ignation in a Nov. 4 tele- picions that it was orches- the forefront of the regional
revoked his resignation at the end of the first Cabi- vised broadcast from Saudi trated by Saudi Arabia, his rivalry between Saudi Ara-
Tuesday following a con- net meeting to be held Arabia, citing the Iranian- main backer, and that he bia and Iran and shattered
sensus deal reached with since Lebanon was thrown backed Hezbollah’s med- was being held against his the national unity govern-
rival political parties, mark- into a political crisis follow- dling in regional affairs as will, prompting calls for his ment that Hariri headed. q

Two-day Gulf summit ends within hours amid Qatar crisis

stranger to disputes among groups and has too-cozy
its members, especially dur- ties to Iran. Qatar has long
ing the mid-1990s. denied funding extremists,
In the time since, the group but Doha shares a mas-
had grown more clubby, sive offshore natural gas
buoyed by rising oil and field with Tehran that gives
energy prices. It made visa- its citizens the highest per-
free travel arrangements capita income in the world.
among its members and It restored diplomatic rela-
pushed toward greater tions with Iran after the cri-
economic cooperation. sis, marking a setback for
But a drop in oil prices, the Saudi Arabia, which views
2011 Arab Spring and its af- Tehran as its main regional
termath, and other political rival. A similar dispute in-
maneuvers led to the Qa- volving Qatar erupted in
tar diplomatic crisis. 2014. But this time positions
The dispute began in June, have hardened against
following what Qatar de- Qatar, whose support for
scribed as a hack of its Islamist opposition groups
state-run news agency and has angered the Arab na-
the circulation of incendi- tions now boycotting it. The
ary comments attributed UAE in particular views Is-
to its ruler, Sheikh Tamim bin lamists as a threat to hered-
Hamad Al Thani. Soon af- itary rule in its federation of
ter, GCC members Bahrain, seven sheikhdoms. Egypt,
Qatar’s emir, Sheikh Tamim bin Hamad Al Thani, attends the Gulf Cooperation Council summit
in Kuwait City, Tuesday, Dec. 5, 2017. Kuwait hosted a meeting Tuesday of the Gulf Cooperation Saudi Arabia and the UAE angered by Qatar’s sup-
Council that saw Qatar’s ruling emir attend, but other rulers stayed away amid the ongoing closed off their airspace port for the Muslim Brother-
boycott targeting Doha. and seaports to Qatar, as hood and the nation’s de-
(AP Photo/Jon Gambrell) well as the small peninsular posed President Moham-
By JON GAMBRELL with Saudi Arabia to coor- “The GCC has been suc- nation’s sole land border med Morsi, is also boycot-
Associated Press dinate “all military, political, cessful at, in essence, bor- with Saudi Arabia. The boy- ting Doha. The U.S., which
KUWAIT CITY (AP) — A economic, trade and cul- ing things that do not make cott initially riled Doha, but has some 10,000 troops sta-
planned two-day summit tural fields,” the basic goal it to public consciousness Qatar soon replaced food tioned at Qatar’s sprawling
of Gulf Arab countries fell of the GCC. — hence successes in ar- products with those flown al-Udeid Air Base as part of
apart within hours of start- Abu Dhabi and Riyadh al- eas of economic harmoni- in from Turkey and Iran. its campaign against the
ing Tuesday over the on- ready enjoy close ties and zation,” said David B. Rob- However, Qatar’s foreign Islamic State group and
going boycott of Qatar, previously signed a simi- erts, an assistant professor reserves have dropped by the war in Afghanistan,
underscoring the difficulty lar agreement last year, at King’s College London. some $10 billion — a fifth of also has sought to end the
of ending the crisis and suggesting the latest an- “But whenever an issue is their value — since the dis- crisis. Its military has halted
suggesting that unifying the nouncement was meant controversial, political or pute began. Those reserves some regional exercises to
bloc of U.S. allies is slipping to scuttle any possible rec- actually important, the or- are crucial in supporting put pressure on the GCC to
further from reach. onciliation in Kuwait City. It ganization typically fails.” the nation’s riyal, which resolve the crisis. However,
Even before Kuwait’s also highlighted the inher- The GCC, composed of is pegged to the U.S. dol- President Donald Trump in
88-year-old emir began the ent weakness of the six-na- Bahrain, Kuwait, Oman, lar, as well as funding the the meantime made com-
summit of the Gulf Coop- tion GCC already exposed Qatar, Saudi Arabia and upcoming 2022 FIFA World ments seemingly support-
eration Council, the United by the monthslong dispute the UAE, formed in 1981, in Cup that Doha will host. ing the Arab nations’ efforts
Arab Emirates announced between half of its mem- part as a counterbalance The boycotting nations al- at isolating Qatar, compli-
it formed a new partnership bers and Qatar. to Shiite power Iran. It’s no lege Qatar funds extremist cating those efforts.q

Saudi strikes rock Yemeni capital after ex-president slain

By AHMED AL-HAJ populated neighborhoods cial said at least 25 airstrikes the rebels unraveled. Sanaa, said Saleh’s wound-
MAGGIE MICHAEL in apparent retaliation for hit the capital over the past Saleh’s body, which had ed sons had been hospital-
Associated Press the killing of former Presi- 24 hours. The Saudi-led co- appeared in a video by ized, without providing fur-
SANAA, Yemen (AP) — dent Ali Abdullah Saleh by alition battling the rebels the militias with a gaping ther details.
Heavy airstrikes by the Sau- the Shiite rebels who con- had thrown its support be- head wound, was taken to “All means should be tack-
di-led coalition rocked Ye- trol the city. hind Saleh just hours before a rebel-controlled military led for the Yemeni people
men’s capital on Tuesday, Residents reported heavy his death, as the longtime hospital. A rebel leader, to get rid of this black night-
striking Sanaa’s densely bombing, and a U.N. offi- strongman’s alliance with speaking to a mass rally in mare,” he said.q