KABUL, 04 January 2021, (TON): The negotiating team of the Islamic Republic of Afghanistan leave for Doha on Monday (today) to begin the next round of the negotiations on Jan. 5. 

“The talks are going to be very complicated and time-consuming,” Ghulam Farooq Majroh, a government negotiator said.

“But we are hopeful to arrive at a result as soon as possible as people are tired of this bloody war.”

The Taliban did not offer any comment.

The negotiations follow a landmark troop withdrawal deal signed in February by the Taliban and Washington, which saw the US pledge to pull out all foreign forces from Afghanistan by May 2021.

Both sides of the negotiations have been discussing the agenda of the talks with their respective leaders over the last 22 days. The Republic team has put ceasefire on the top of their list while the Taliban has insisted that they will talk about ceasefire after an agreement on a future government.

CAIRO, 4 Januray, 2021, (TON): Ministers of foreign affairs and irrigation of Egypt, Sudan and Ethiopia agreed on Sunday to hold a week-long round of negotiations to discuss the substantive aspects and controversial points over the disputed Grand Ethiopian Renaissance Dam (GERD).

Previous three-way talks have failed to produce an agreement on the filling and operation of the vast reservoir behind the 145-metre (475-foot) tall Grand Ethiopian Renaissance Dam (GERD), a hydropower project which broke ground in 2011.

On Sunday, the three countries held a new round of talks by video conference in the virtual presence of South African officials, as well as other international observers. South Africa currently holds the African Union's rotating chair.

At the end of this week, the ministry added, another ministerial meeting will be held, chaired by South Africa, the current chair of the AU, to review the outcomes of the tripartite round of negotiations.

During the meeting, Egypt stressed the need to reach an agreement before the start of the second phase of filling the dam reservoir, in a way that achieves the common interests of the three countries.

Ethiopia, which started building the US$4-billion GERD in 2011, expects to produce over 6,000 megawatts of electricity to push the country's development. Egypt, a downstream Nile Basin country that relies on the river for its fresh water, is concerned that the dam might affect its 55.5-billion-cubic-meter annual share of the water resources.

The Nile, the world's longest river, is a lifeline supplying both water and electricity to the 10 countries it traverses. Its main tributaries, the White and Blue Niles, converge in the Sudanese capital Khartoum before flowing north through Egypt to drain into the Mediterranean Sea.

NEW YORK, 4 Januray, 2021, (TON): The UN mission in the Central African Republic (CAR) condemned, in the strongest terms, succeeding assaults launched by armed groups in Damara on Saturday and Bangassou on Sunday. 

"There is no doubt that all these attacks take place in a context of disruption of the elections - before, during and after the polls," the UN special representative and head of the Multidimensional Integrated Stabilization Mission in CAR (MINUSCA), Mankeur Ndiaye, said in a statement on Sunday.

According to UN News, despite attempts by rebel groups to obstruct presidential and legislative elections, nearly 2 million Central Africans cast their votes.

Ndiaye reminded that "within the framework of Resolution 2552, MINUSCA has a role of securing the elections."

"I reaffirm the mission's determination to keep this commitment," he added.

Armed elements allied with former Central African President François Bozizé attacked the city of Damara in the prefecture of Ombella-M'Poko on Saturday morning, according to the MINUSCA. 

While the response of the national armed forces, called FACA, prompted the attackers to flee, the UN peacekeepers increased their patrols both within and around the city. 

The bodies of eight armed combatants were found.

The next day, in the southeast Mbomou prefecture, attacks against Bangassou began around 5.30 a.m. in what Mr. Ndiaye described as “heavy weapon fire against the FACA military post”. 

“The MINUSCA peacekeepers immediately intervened to protect civilians, secure the local authorities and continue the robust patrols”, said MINUSCA, adding that “the force is also securing the camp for internally displaced persons”. 

The latest attacks follow violence in the western part of the country, which has triggered civilians to flee and humanitarians to suspended much-needed aid. 

“All armed groups will be held accountable for their actions”, assured the Mission.

The mission reaffirmed its resolute mandated commitment to protect civilians and the authorities. 

RIYADH, 04 January 2021, (TON): Saudi Arabia is set to host the 41st Gulf Cooperation Council (GCC) Summit at the ancient capital of historic civilizations, AlUla.

In his weekly Cabinet meeting, King Salman said that he hoped the summit would succeed in promoting joint action and expanding cooperation and integration among member states. At King Salman’s request, the secretary-general of the GCC, Nayef Falah Al-Hajjraf, invited the leaders of the member states to the summit.

“The 41st summit marks the beginning of a new chapter for the GCC as it enters its fifth decade,” Al-Hajjraf said.

Sheikh Ali Al-Khalid Al-Sabah, the Kuwaiti ambassador to Saudi Arabia, underscored the significance of the 41st session of the Gulf summit due to the region’s recent political developments.

The envoy said that the summit hosted by the Kingdom would have a positive and fraternal atmosphere. The atmosphere among GCC leaders reflected “the spirit of responsibility and sincere belief in the importance of strengthening Gulf solidarity in facing common challenges and establishing peace and stability for the benefit” of the council.

The Kingdom is hosting the GCC summit for the 10th year.

BRUSSELS, 04 January 2021, (TON): The European Union has announced additional funding to help vulnerable migrants and refugees in Bosnia and Herzegovina, but stressed the government there to rebuild a camp that burned down.

In a statement, EU foreign policy chief Josep Borrell said Brussels was ready to add another 3.5 million euros ($4.2m) to its humanitarian support for Bosnia. But he warned that 900 people were still exposed on the grounds of the destroyed camp, and that 800 more were without shelter in the region.

“The situation in Una Sana canton is unacceptable. Winter-proof accommodations are a prerequisite for humane living conditions, which need to be ensured at all times,” he said.

“Local authorities need to make existing facilities available and provide a temporary solution until Lipa camp is rebuilt into a permanent facility.”

Earlier, fire engulfed the Lipa migrant centre in northwestern Bosnia on December 23No causality were reported from burning but much of the infrastructure was destroyed. Resultantly, the crisis deepened as the Bosnian authorities are unable so far to arrange new accommodation for thousands of migrants now homeless.

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TEHRAN, 04 January 2021, (TON): A number of Iranian political and military officials warned against any possible hostile movements to target Tehran as the country commemorated the first death anniversary of Qasem Soleimani, the former commander of the Quds Force of the Islamic Revolution Guards Corps (IRGC).

"New intelligence from Iraq indicate that Israeli agent-provocateurs are plotting attacks against Americans-putting an outgoing Trump in a bind with a fake casus belli," Foreign Minister Mohammad Javad Zarif said in a statement on social media.

Iran's chief diplomat called on the US President Donald Trump to "be careful of a trap".

Major General Hossein Salami, commander in chief of the Islamic Revolution Guards Corps (IRGC), also issued a warning against hostile action taken against Iran.

"We have shown it in practice, and we announce that we will respond to any action taken by the enemy against us with a reciprocal, decisive and solid blow," he said. 

Soleimani, 63, and Abu Mahdi al-Muhandis, deputy head of Iraq's Hashd al-Shaabi, were killed on January 3, 2020, in a US airstrike that targeted their convoy near the Baghdad International Airport.

WASHINGTON, 04 January 2021, (TON): The UN Support Mission in Libya on Saturday announced the establishment of the Advisory Committee of the Libyan Political Dialogue Forum (LPDF).

"The committee's mandate will be strictly time-bound and its main mission shall be to discuss outstanding issues related to the selection of a unified executive and to put forward concrete and practical recommendations upon which the plenary shall decide," the mission said in a statement.

"In line with the LPDF's core principle of inclusivity, the mission has expanded the membership of the advisory committee to 18 members to ensure broad geographical and political diversity as well as the participation of women, youth, and cultural components," the statement added.

During the LPDF held on November 7-15, 2020 in Tunisia's capital Tunis, 75 Libyans representing the social and political spectrum of the Libyan society discussed a political roadmap to achieve lasting peace in war-torn Libya.

It was agreed to hold general elections in Libya on December 24, 2021 and on a mechanism to select a unified executive authority of the country.

BAGHDAD, 04 January 2021, (TON): A mock funeral procession marked the anniversary of the assassination of Iran’s top general and a senior Iraqi militia leader in a U.S. drone strike that heightened fears of a military escalation in the region.

Thousands of mourners joined the march on the highway leading to the Baghdad airport Saturday evening where the strike that killed Gen. Qassem Soleimani and senior Iraqi militia leader Abu Mahdi al-Muhandis took place. Soleimani's killing dramatically ratcheted up tensions in the region and brought the U.S. and Iran to the brink of war.

Meanwhile, Iraqi militia leaders on Sunday called for the withdrawal of foreign forces from Iraq on the first anniversary of a US drone strike that killed two senior commanders of Shiite militias.

"The stability of the region depends on the stability of Iraq, and the latter can only be stabilised with the departure of all foreign forces from its lands," al-Ameri said during the rally to mourn the death of the Iranian commander Qassem Soleimani and deputy chief of Iraq's paramilitary Hashd Shaabi forces Abu Mahdi al-Muhandis.

Soleimani headed Iran’s Revolutionary Guard’s elite Quds Force, responsible for the Islamic Republic’s foreign operations and frequently shuttled between Iraq, Lebanon and Syria while Abu Mahdi was an Iraqi leader, and commander of the Popular Mobilisation Committee. At the time of his death, he was deputy chief of the Popular Mobilisation Committee (Al-Hashd Al-Sha'abi).

MOSCOW, 04 January 2021, (TON): The Russian Strategic Missile Forces will carry out more than 200 exercises of various levels in 2021, the Defence Ministry said in a statement.

 "In 2021, the Strategic Missile Forces will have than 200 exercises of various levels, including tactical and special tactical exercises with missile regiments and missile divisions, as well as a number of command-and-staff exercises with missile formations," the Ministry stated on Sunday.

 "The intensity of activities during the exercises will change significantly with a general tendency to maintain their duration," the statement added.

 Russia's latest missile systems and about 10 models of modern special equipment will be used during the drills, according to the Ministry.

The service personnel for the missile forces will perform a number of tasks, including intensive manoeuvers on combat patrol routes, it added.

 In 2020, also over 200 command-and-staff and tactical exercises were conducted by the Strategic Missile Forces.

KHARTOUM, 3 January 2021, (TON):  Egypt, Sudan and Ethiopia held next round of talks Sunday over the Grand Ethiopian Renaissance Dam (GERD) issue under the patronage of

African Union (AU). The meeting is chaired by South African Minister of International Cooperation given that South Africa is currently the chair of the African Union (AU) mediating the negotiations. Egyptian Minister of Foreign Affairs Sameh Shokry and Minister of Irrigation and Water Resources Mohamed Abdel Aty were of the view that fundamentals of the Egyptian stance is mandating the crystallization of a legal binding agreement among Ethiopia, Sudan, and Egypt on the rules of dam operation and reservoir filling. Sudanese side which attended the meeting comprised of Foreign Minister Omar Kamar El Din.

Earlier, Sudan on rejected Ethiopian proposal regarding the filling and operation of the GERD that an agreement should only be about the first phase of the filling of the GERD, while it links the agreement with reaching a comprehensive treaty regarding the Blue Nile water. Sudanese officials said, proposal constitutes a violation of the Declaration of Principles signed by Sudan, Egypt and Ethiopia in March 2015.

Sources said, the meeting discussed Sudan's proposal aimed at reactivating the negotiations via giving a greater role for the AU experts to reach a binding legal agreement on the GERD, however, there was no breakthrough

Ethiopia, which started building the US$4-billion GERD in 2011, expects to produce over 6,000 megawatts of electricity to push the country's development. Egypt, a downstream Nile Basin country that relies on the river for its fresh water, is concerned that the dam might affect its 55.5-billion-cubic-meter annual share of the water resources.