Page 9 - ARUBA TODAY

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WORLD NEWS Thursday 9 November 2017
Fuel crisis hits Yemen’s capital as Saudis tighten blockade

By AHMED AL-HAJ prices. crisis in the impoverished, A U.N. official said aid agen- U.N. Office for the Coordi-
Associated Press A Saudi-led military coali- war-torn country. cies were given no prior no- nation of Humanitarian Af-
SANAA, Yemen (AP) — Hun- tion tightened its block- Fuel prices have spiked by tice of the Saudi decision fairs in Yemen.
dreds of cars lined the main ade in Yemen this week 50 percent since Monday. to shut down all land, air “We want to be crystal
roads of Yemen’s capital after a ballistic missile fired Hassan al-Zaydi, a spokes- and seaports in the coun- clear to the international
after the rebels who control by Houthi rebels was in- man for the Houthi-run Oil try, and had learned about community. Any disrup-
the city ordered fuel sta- tercepted near the Saudi Ministry, said merchants it from media. tion will have catastrophic
tions to close on Wednes- capital. had refused orders to keep “It will aggregate the al- consequence on the lives
day, accusing merchants Aid groups say the mea- prices fixed, prompting au- ready dire humanitar- of hundreds of thousands
of taking advantage of sures will exacerbate an al- thorities to shut the fuel sta- ian situation,” said George people and children,” he
a Saudi blockade to hike ready severe humanitarian tions down. Khoury, the head of the said.q

Iran’s president accuses Saudis of meddling in Lebanon

By SARAH EL DEEB In his call to Aoun late
Associated Press Tuesday, Rouhani said the
BEIRUT (AP) — Iran’s Presi- Lebanese people will over-
dent Hassan Rouhani come “this sedition” and
criticized Saudi Arabia on “will not allow Lebanon to
Wednesday over what he become a battlefield for
called “unprecedented” foreign powers.”
interference in Lebanese Washington has said it had
affairs, adding his voice to no prior indication that
those who suspect the Gulf Hariri would resign, and
kingdom forced Lebanon’s pledged to continue sup-
prime minister to resign. porting the Lebanese gov-
Rouhani’s remarks fol- ernment.
lowed a phone call to his “The United States strongly
Lebanese counterpart the supports the legitimate in-
previous day, in which the stitutions in the Lebanese
Iranian president pledged state,” State Department
support for Lebanon’s sta- spokeswoman Heather
bility following the resigna- Nauert told reporters Tues-
tion of Saudi-backed Prime day. She added that Wash-
Minister Saad Hariri. ington still considers Hez-
The surprise resignation, an- bollah a terrorist organiza-
nounced on TV from Saudi In this photo released by the Lebanese Government, Lebanese President Michel Aoun, center, tion. The U.S. has recently
Arabia, threw the Leba- meets with a delegation from the World Bank, at the Presidential Palace in Baabda, east of Beirut, imposed new sanctions on
nese government into dis- Lebanon, Wednesday, Nov. 8, 2017. World Bank officials reaffirmed their support of Lebanon’s the Shiite group, includ-
array and dragged Leba- government Wednesday, which is facing a crisis following last week’s surprise resignation of Prime ing a bounty on two of
non back into the increas- Minister Saad Hariri while he was in Saudi Arabia. Hezbollah’s senior military
ingly tense regional rivalry (Dalati Nohra/Lebanese Government via AP) commanders. The Leba-
between Sunni-led Saudi interfere (in) their internal militant group Hezbollah of by the United States, Israel nese military “has done an
Arabia and Shiite Iran. affairs.” holding Lebanon hostage. and the Saudis to foment excellent job” combatting
Lebanese President Michel “You are making mistake Hezbollah has members in tensions in Lebanon and Islamic State militants and
Aoun said Hariri’s resigna- if you think Iran is not your the Lebanese unity govern- the region. other terrorists, U.S. Ambas-
tion will not be considered friend and the U.S. and Is- ment that Hariri formed last Saudi Arabia’s increasingly sador Elizabeth Richard
until he hears from him di- rael are your friends,” Rou- year. powerful Crown Prince Mo- said during a meeting with
rectly. hani said, according to Saudi Arabia meanwhile hammed bin Salman has Lebanese officials Wednes-
Rouhani’s official website the semi-official ISNA news accused Hezbollah of de- stepped up its confron- day. The bizarre circum-
quoted the Iranian presi- agency. claring war on the kingdom tation with Iran. The two stances surrounding Hariri’s
dent as saying “there is no In his announcement Sat- through its alleged support camps support rival sides in resignation left Lebanese
case in history that a coun- urday, Hariri accused Iran for Yemen’s Houthi rebels, countries across the region, politicians grappling to find
try forces another one’s of meddling in Arab af- while Iranian officials called as well as in the wars in Ye- a way out of a political
authority to resign only to fairs and the Iran-backed the resignation a “plot” men and Syria. deadlock. q

Syrian troops encircle last Islamic State-held town

BEIRUT (AP) — Syrian troops rounded the eastern town border. from around 15 kilometers would give the Syrian gov-
and allied fighters encir- of Boukamal, on the border The Britain-based Syr- (9 miles) away. Boukamal is ernment its first official Iraq
cled the last Islamic State- with Iraq. The Central Mili- ian Observatory for Human the last town controlled by border crossing since the
held town on Wednesday tary Media Center, an out- Rights said the Iraqi forces IS in Syria and Iraq and was frontier region was taken
after linking up with Iraqi let affiliated with the Syrian entered Syria to help sur- on a key IS supply route. over by insurgents in 2012.
forces, pro-government military, said Syrian troops round the town. Hezbollah U.S.-backed Syrian forces IS seized Boukamal and the
media and a Syrian opposi- and allied fighters have be- and other Iran-backed mi- have been battling IS in surrounding area in 2014,
tion monitoring group said. gun entering the town. The litias are fighting alongside the surrounding province when it swept across large
Al-Manar TV, the media arm two outlets said earlier that Syrian troops. The Observa- of Deir el-Zour, and were parts of Syria and Iraq, cap-
of the Lebanese Hezbollah Syrian troops had linked up tory said government forc- believed to be eyeing the turing several towns and
group, said troops have sur- with Iraqi forces across the es are shelling Boukamal town. Capturing Boukamal cities. q