Page 10 - ARUBA TODAY

A10 WORLD NEWS
Tuesday 16 January 2018
Gunbattle in Libya’s capital kills 20, closes airport

By RAMI MUSA are ostensibly allied with airport official said staff- The Special Deterrent The Presidency Council —
Associated Press the internationally-backed ers were evacuated from Force, a militia which con- one of the three ruling bod-
BENGHAZI, Libya (AP) — government, underscor- Matiga airport and that trols the airport, was fight- ies in Tripoli — said al-Baqa-
Heavily armed Libyan mi- ing the lingering instability five flights have been can- ing a rival militia led by local ra’s men wanted to release
litias clashed in Tripoli on in the country seven years celed. A picture posted strongman Bashir al-Baqa- suspected al-Qaida and
Monday, killing at least 20 after a popular uprising on the airport’s Facebook ra. Both are allied with the Islamic State members held
people and forcing the toppled long-ruling dicta- page showed a passenger internationally recognized at a prison near the airport
capital’s only airport to tor Moammar Gadhafi. plane with its roof blown government in Tripoli. A ri- that is also run by the Spe-
close, officials said. Civilians were among the off. val government and par- cial Deterrent Force. The
The Health Ministry said dead, including an airline The official spoke on condi- liament rule in Libya’s east, government has ordered
another 63 people were employee who was trying tion of anonymity because but across the country real al-Baqara’s men to hand
wounded in the fighting to get home after Mati- he was not authorized to power is held by a dizzying over their weapons and
between two militias that ga airport shut down. An speak to the press. array of armed groups. disband.q

UAE says Qatar fighter jets intercept flights, Doha denies

By JON GAMBRELL claiming he’s being held
Associated Press against his will in the UAE,
DUBAI, United Arab Emir- an allegation denied by
ates (AP) — The United Abu Dhabi.
Arab Emirates on Monday The video of Sheikh Abdul-
claimed that Qatari fighter lah bin Ali Al Thani recalled
jets intercepted two of its the bizarre, now-reversed
commercial airliners in in- resignation of Lebanese
ternational airspace on the Prime Minister Saad Hariri
way to Bahrain, allegations while on a trip to Saudi Ara-
denied by Qatar. bia, a Nov. 4 decision that
The claims could further es- was widely seen as orches-
calate tensions between trated by Riyadh.
Qatar and the four Arab The UAE is home to two
nations that have been major national carriers,
boycotting it for months, Abu Dhabi-based Etihad
among them the UAE, and Dubai-based Emirates.
home to the world’s busiest Both airlines declined to
international airport. They comment when reached
also could affect long-haul by the AP, though Bahrain’s
airline travel, as the re- Foreign Ministry identified
gion’s carriers are a crucial one of the affected aircraft
link between the East and as Emirates flight No. EK837.
West. It follows two com- Turkey’s President Recep Tayyip Erdogan, right, shakes hands with Qatar’s Sheikh Tamim bin That flight was scheduled
Hamad Al Thani, prior to their meeting in Ankara, Turkey, Monday, Jan. 15, 2018. Al Thani’s visit
plaints by Qatar to the Unit- comes as the United Arab Emirates on Monday claimed that Qatari fighter jets intercepted two to depart Dubai at 8:20
ed Nations about Emirati of its commercial airliners in international airspace on the way to Bahrain, allegations promptly a.m. Monday, but pushed
military aircraft allegedly denied by a Doha official. off nearly an hour late. It
violating its international (Yasin Bulbul /Pool Photo via AP) flew out over international
airspace amid the diplo- of the GCAA, as saying the did it elaborate on details UAE is trying to draw at- waters near the northern
matic crisis. The UAE denies intercepts happened at of the purported encoun- tention away from other tip of Qatar, a peninsular
the allegations. 10:30 a.m. and 11 a.m. He ters. The GCAA did not im- incidents that have caused nation that juts out like a
The UAE’s state-run WAM said Bahraini radar, as well mediately respond to ques- media crises,” it said. thumb into the Persian Gulf,
news agency made the as crew and passengers on tions from The Associated That appeared to refer- before arriving in the island
claim about the Qatari jet board, saw the military air- Press. ence a video released Sun- nation of Bahrain 46 min-
fighters on Monday, citing craft, “which constituted a Qatar’s Foreign Ministry day night of an exiled Qa- utes after takeoff.
the country’s General Civil clear and explicit threat to called the UAE’s allega- tari ruling family member, That’s been the standard
Aviation Authority. the lives of innocent civil- tions a “totally false claim” once promoted by Saudi route of all Emirati commer-
WAM quoted Saif al-Su- ians.” WAM did not identify in a statement Monday Arabia as an alternative to cial airliners since the crisis
waidi, the director-general the aircraft involved, nor night. “It seems that the the country’s ruling emir, began. q
Egypt’s leader seeks to defuse tension with Sudan, Ethiopia

By HAMZA HENDAWI stream dam in Ethiopia that spires nor meddles in in any- he added. The Egyptian of filling the reservoir be-
Associated Press Cairo fears could cut into one’s internal affairs. We leader also called on his hind the dam, which is ex-
CAIRO (AP) — Egypt’s pres- its share of the Nile River, are determined to have country’s media to cease pected to begin soon and
ident on Monday sought to which provides nearly all its good relations (with Sudan attacks on Sudan, saying it could cut into Egypt’s share
defuse tensions with Ethio- freshwater. It has accused and Ethiopia). Our region should follow the example of the Nile.
pia and Sudan, reassuring Sudan of siding with Ethio- has seen enough the past of his administration which, Ethiopia says the $5 billion
them that his country was pia, and of reviving a long- few years,” he said. he said, refrained from in- dam is essential for its eco-
not meddling in their inter- standing border dispute. “We are not prepared to sulting its neighbors even nomic development and
nal affairs or planning to go But in televised comments, go to war against our breth- in the face of accusations argues that the vast major-
to war against them. President Abdel-Fattah el- ren or anyone else for that and intentional slights. ity of its 95 million people
Egypt has expressed Sissi said Egypt’s strategic matter. I am saying this as a Egypt says Ethiopia is not lack electricity, which the
mounting alarm over a choice was peace, not clear message to our broth- doing enough to ease its dam’s hydroelectric plant
soon-to-be-completed up- war. “Egypt neither con- ers in Sudan and Ethiopia,” concerns about the effects will generate. q