Page 10 - ARUBA TODAY

A10 WORLD NEWS
Thursday 6 June 2019
Saudi Arabia flies Iranian to hospital off 'hostile' ship

DUBAI, United Arab Emir- ciated Press showed men
ates (AP) — Saudi Arabia on the vessel dressed in
said it evacuated an Ira- camouflaged military-style
nian crew member from a fatigues, as well as small
"hostile" ship off the coast of boats capable of ferrying
Yemen amid its war against cargo to the Yemeni coast.
the Iranian-backed Houthi Video broadcast of the
rebels, the second-such ship last year by the Saudi-
aid it has offered in recent owned satellite news chan-
weeks amid heightened nel Al-Arabiya showed
tensions between the U.S. what appeared to be a
and Iran. covered machine gun
The Saudi military flew res- bolted to the ship's deck.
cue paramedics to the A July 2018 analysis from
Saviz, an Iranian vessel the Washington Institute
some 95 nautical miles for Near East Policy called
northwest of Yemen's con- the Saviz an "Iranian moth-
tested port city of Hodeida, ership" in the region. It de-
spokesman Col. Turki al- scribed the ship as a cargo
Maliki said. They then flew vessel docked at the time
the injured Iranian to a mili- off the Dahlak archipela-
tary hospital in Jizan, Maliki go, a chain of islands off
said. An F/A-18 fighter jet flies over the deck of the USS Abraham Lincoln aircraft carrier in the Arabian the coast of the nearby Af-
Iran's mission to the United Sea, Monday, June 3, 2019. rican nation of Eritrea in the
Nations had made a re- Associated Press Red Sea. "The Iranian mili-
quest to aid the Iranian, tary is likely using the Saviz
Maliki said. The mission did lamic religion and human maritime routes and global 2017 have alleged the to provide targeting data
not immediately respond values, despite the threat trade in the Red Sea," Ma- Saviz served as a maritime for Houthi antishipping at-
to a request for comment represented by this suspect liki said in a statement Tues- base and weapons trans- tacks" in the Red Sea, the
Wednesday. vessel, and the hostile acts day. shipment point for Iran's institute alleged, without
"The leadership of the joint it carries out against coali- The statement did not paramilitary Revolutionary elaborating. The institute's
forces has dealt with the tion forces and the inter- elaborate. Saudi Arabia Guard. Briefing materials analysts routinely have ac-
situation according to ests of the Yemeni people and Iran are chief Mideast from the Saudi military ear- cess to Gulf and Israeli mili-
what is dictated by our Is- and its continued threats to rivals and the Saudis since lier obtained by The Asso- tary sources.q

Syrian Kurds send 8 American IS women, children back to US

Associated Press tem, awaiting trial.
BEIRUT (AP) — Kurdish au- Many Western nations
thorities in northern Syria have refused to repatriate
have transferred eight U.S. their nationals, citing secu-
women and children who rity concerns.
were captured with the Is- Others, however, have
lamic State group back to been taking back their na-
America, Kurdish officials tionals on case by case ba-
said Wednesday. sis.
Abdulkarim Omar, a senior On Monday, Kurdish au-
official in the Kurdish self- thorities handed over to a
rule administration, said the Norwegian envoy five or-
group includes two women phans of IS members who
and six children. He said were killed in Syria. Last
they were returned at the week, Iraq handed over to
request of the U.S. govern- Turkey 188 Turkish children
ment and based on their of suspected IS members.
own desire to return "with- Omar said only "humani-
out any pressure or coer- tarian cases" are currently
cion." being repatriated, adding
Omar didn't identify the that any fighters or women
women and children in- accused of working with
volved, and there was no the Islamic State will remain
immediate confirmation or In this Friday, March 1, 2019 file photo, a woman is frisked by a U.S.-backed Syrian Democratic in detention, pending trial.
comment from U.S. officials. Forces (SDF) fighter at a screening area after being evacuated out of the last territory held by Kurdish authorities, who
It was not clear when they Islamic State group militants, in the desert outside Baghouz, Syria. drove the Islamic State
left Syria, who they were Associated Press group from its last strong-
handed over to, or where holds in Syria, have called
in the U.S. they will be tak- Since the Islamic State families they left behind has around 74,000 people who for setting up an interna-
en. It is the second such re- group's territorial defeat become a priority. Thou- are being sheltered at al- tional tribunal to prosecute
patriation of U.S. nationals in Syria and Iraq, the issue sands of IS members and Hol camp in Hasakeh prov- hundreds of foreigners
from Syria. Earlier this year, of which authorities should their families are in camps ince. rounded up in the five-year
a woman and four children prosecute IS foreign fight- and detention centers in Thousands of others are campaign against the ex-
were returned to the U.S. ers and what to do with the northern Syria, including caught in Iraq's judicial sys- tremist group.q