World Friday, February 19, 2021 07 Libya’s interim NATO chief defers decision on PM in Cairo for pulling troops from Afghanistan first visit abroad dpa cil have promised to work Cairo on uniting state institutions, The Taliban have threatened reprisals if the withdrawal doesn’t go ahead as agreed in a peace deal with NATO which have been divided for Libya’s new interim Prime years between a UN-backed dpa Minister Abdul-Hamid government in Tripoli and an Brussels Dbeibeh met Egyptian Presi- eastern-based one allied with dent Abdel-Fattah al-Sissi in military strongman Khalifa NATO has pushed back a de- Cairo on Thursday, during his Haftar. cision on whether to keep its first trip outside Libya since Egypt has been a supporter troops in Afghanistan past his election two weeks ago. of Haftar. a May deadline agreed with Dbeibeh was elected ear- Dbeibeh’s visit to Cairo the Taliban in a peace deal lier this month during a UN- comes few days after an Egyp- last year, risking retaliatory brokered process as part of a tian delegation visited the Lib- attacks from the radical Is- four-member transitional ad- yan capital Tripoli to discuss lamist group. ministration to lead the war- re-opening the embassy there. “We are faced with many torn country until national Libya has been in turmoil dilemmas, and there are no elections scheduled for De- since the 2011 overthrow of easy options at this stage,” cember. dictator Moamer Gaddafi and NATO Secretary Gener- Dbeibeh is yet to form a has become a battleground al Jens Stoltenberg told re- cabinet, and is required by the for rival proxy forces that has porters following talks with UN to present his line-up to drawn in foreign powers, in- the alliance’s defence minis- parliament by February 26. cluding Russia and Turkey. ters on Thursday. In Cairo, Dbeibeh ex- Meanwhile, Libyan Air- The 30 NATO coun- pressed to al-Sissi his coun- lines resumed flights between tries are to remain in close try’s appreciation for Egyptian the two countries on Thurs- consultation in the coming efforts to help solve the Libyan day. weeks, he added. crisis as well as fight terrorism Egypt’s Civil Aviation Au- In view of the perilous and extremist groups, accord- thority chief Ashraf Noweir security situation on the ing to a statement by the Egyp- said operations are resuming ground, NATO seems poised tian presidency’s spokesman. between Libya’s Benghazi city to stay put. Stoltenberg has The meeting was attended and Egypt’s coastal city of Al- repeatedly argued that the by Egyptian Prime Minister exandria on Thursday. It is Taliban have reneged on Moustafa Madbouli and intel- expected to operate this route their side of the bargain and ligence chief Abbas Kamel. three times per week. must cut back on bloodshed Al-Sissi said the election Flights from Mitiga air- and sever ties with terrorist of the new Libyan administra- port in Tripoli to Alexandria groups. tion is a “promising start for will also resume next week, he The Taliban has threat- a new phase where all Libyan added. ened reprisals if the with- institutions work together in Libyan Airlines stopped drawal doesn’t go ahead. unity and harmony,” the state- flights to Egypt in November Germany - which has the ment added. 2019, though another state- second-largest share of the Dbeibeh and the three- run airline, Afriqiyah Airways, roughly 10,000 NATO and NATO Secretary General Jens Stoltenberg in Brussels on Wednesday. (AFP) member Presidency Coun- has been operating. partner-country troops in Afghanistan - has spoken out committed to renouncing And if the Taliban regains down the road on Afghani- in favour of staying in the violence and entering peace Germany - which has the definitive control of the ter- stan on Thursday, they did country for now. talks with the government. ritory, this could take the al- agree to beef up their Iraq But the alliance is still The US invaded Afghani- second-largest share of lies back to square one. mission to help prevent the waiting for a nod to stay or go stan and with NATO allies the roughly 10,000 NATO The Taliban movement, resurgence of the Islamic from new US President Joe ejected the Taliban from and partner-country which still controls roughly State terrorist group. Biden, who is reviewing the power in the wake of the troops in Afghanistan - 10 per cent of Afghanistan, The number of person- policy course set out by his September 11, 2001 attacks has spoken out in favour has continued carrying out nel the states deploy to predecessor, Donald Trump. in order to stop the country of staying in the country attacks in various parts of train Iraqi security forces Under the Trump admin- from serving as a haven for for now the country despite the start is to increase from 500 to istration, the United States international terrorists. of direct peace talks between some 4,000, Stoltenberg an- signed an agreement with Close to two decades of the internationally backed nounced. the Taliban that provides for bloody conflict have claimed dreds of billions of dollars. Afghan government and the The activities are also to the gradual withdrawal of all the lives of more than 40,000 If the alliance pulls out, it militants in Qatar in mid- expand beyond Baghdad, he NATO forces from the coun- Afghan civilians, plus tens of risks jeopardising the gains September. added. try by the end of April. thousands of Afghan and for- made on education, health While the NATO defence The non-combat mission Egyptian President Abdel Fattah al Sisi (right) with Libya’s interim In return, the Taliban eign fighters, and cost hun- and women’s rights. ministers kicked the can was set up in 2018. prime minister Abdul Hamid Dbeibah in Cairo on Thursday. (afp)

Chaos in HK over News virus tracing app Erdogan sues opposition leader in brief Israel returns two Syrian shepherds as dpa for criticising failed rescue mission Hong Kong part of reported prisoner swap Tel Aviv: Israel’s army on Thursday said it returned two Syrian Social distancing measures dpa ation in the mountainous Gara shepherds to the Syrian-controlled side of the Golan Heights, in Hong Kong were eased on Istanbul region, some 35 kilometres reportedly as part of a prisoner swap between the countries. Thursday, but government re- south of the Turkish border. “A short while ago, IDF [Israel Defence Forces] troops returned quirements to record personal Turkish President Recep The PKK, designated as a two shepherds to Red Cross representatives through the Qu- information for tracing infec- Tayyip Erdogan has sued the terrorist organization by Tur- neitra Crossing, in accordance with an Israeli Government di- tion chains caused chaos in reo- country’s opposition leader key, the United States and the rective,” a statement from the army said. Israeli troops appre- pened businesses. for criticising a failed rescue European Union, rejected the hended the shepherds several weeks ago, after they crossed The government expanded mission of Turkish hostages in claim. the so-called “Alpha” armistice line from Syria into Israeli-ruled opening hours for restaurants northern Iraq. The complaint brought territory. They were caught east of the Israeli-constructed secu- and allowed several businesses Erdogan is demanding against Kilicdaroglu accused rity fence on the Golan Heights, said the statement. The news to open their doors again. It is 500,000 lira (about 71,000 him of wanting to damage the of the shepherds comes amid reports of Russian-mediated now however mandatory for dollars) from the leader of president’s “honour and repu- negotiations between Israel and Syria over the release of a businesses to record custom- main opposition Republican tation” by clearing the PKK young Israeli woman who entered Syria by mistake. (dpa) ers’ personal information either People’s Party (CHP), Kemal and holding Erdogan respon- manually or via the govern- Kilicdaroglu, because of re- sible for the failed rescue mis- ment’s LeaveHomeSafe app. marks made during a meeting sion, which was a “groundless India’s protesting farmers block trains in Local media reported tense on Tuesday, state-run news US President Joe Biden (left) with Turkish President Recep Tayyip and baseless assessment” and several states scenes across Hong Kong as agency Anadolu reported on Erdogan. (AFP) a “serious attack on personal customers were unable to use Thursday. rights.” According to official New Delhi: Thousands of Indian farmers were blocking trains or download the app. Kilicdaroglu framed Er- tary offensive against the were killed by Kurdish mili- estimates, the hostages had in several states on Thursday, holding sit-ins on tracks to dem- Many Hong Kongers were dogan as the person chiefly banned Kurdistan Workers’ tants during the mission. been held captive by the PKK onstrate against the government’s planned agricultural laws. either reluctant to give out their responsible for the failure. Party (PKK) in northern Iraq Ankara said the hostages, for five to six years, after most Trains in several states had to be cancelled or redirected due personal information or had “These people could have been last week, which was also in- who included police officers of them were kidnapped in to the protests, local broadcaster NDTV reported. Some farm- phones unable to download the rescued unharmed,” he said. tended to rescue 13 Turkish and soldiers, were executed Turkey and taken to northern ers had also climbed onto locomotives during the four-hour- software. Turkey conducted a mili- hostages, who Ankara said shortly before the rescue oper- Iraq. long agitation, while more security forces had been deployed in the affected areas, according to the report. A large number of farmers, led by their unions, have camped at Delhi’s borders since late November demanding the withdrawal of three new agricultural laws that they say will leave them vulnerable to big Submarine cable fault Mountaineers missing on K2 corporations and the vagaries of the free market. (dpa) interrupts internet in Pak in Pakistan declared dead HK media mogul Jimmy Lai denied bail for a second time dpa to manage the flow temporar- dpa ary 5. attempt on K2 to honour his Islamabad ily but that arrangement could Islamabad A search involving heli- late father. Hong KONG: Hong Kong media tycoon Jimmy Lai was denied not prevent the slowdown, PTA copters, satellite imagery K2 in the Karakorum bail for the second time on Thursday, just one week after Thousands of internet users spokesman Khurram Mehran Three climbers who went and high-altitude porters range in northern Pakistan the High Court ruled that granting bail previously had been a in Pakistan have experienced told dpa. missing on K2, the world’s was launched within a day near the country’s border mistake, local media reported. The decision comes one day interruptions in services after Egyptian engineers are second highest peak, dur- when the climbers didn’t re- with China is thought to after Lai, founder of the newspaper Apple Day, was re-arrested one of the four submarine ca- working to repair the damaged ing a winter expedition turn to the base camp. be world’s most dangerous on a second national security violation charge. Lai faces a bles linking the country with the cable and the fault could be re- this month were declared “We have reached the mountain, and a winter sum- growing catalogue of charges in connection with his alleged in- worldwide web has developed a move by the evening on Thurs- dead by Pakistani officials conclusion keeping in mind mit has always been a chal- volvement in the 2019-2020 protest movement, now including fault in the sea near Egypt. day, Mehran said. on Thursday after a frantic weather conditions they are lenge for mountaineers. two national security violation charges carrying sentences of Internet services have been NayaTel, one of several ser- weeks-long search failed to dead,” said Raja Nasir, tour- It was last month that a three to 10 years and life imprisonment. The owner of Next slowed down in the central and vice providers, said their cus- locate them. ism minister in the northern team of climbers from Nepal Digital media group is a fierce critic of China’s Communist the north-eastern regions in- tomers in Islamabad and the Pakistani mountaineer Pakistani region of Gilgit- completed a winter summit Party leadership and of the national security law imposed cluding the capital Islamabad, eastern city of Lahore are facing Mohamed Ali Sadpara, John Baltistan, where K2 is locat- of the peak for the first time by Beijing, which he is accused of violating. Lai’s media the Pakistan Telecommunica- problems such as partial inter- Snorri of Iceland as well as ed. Sajid Ali, Sadpara’s son, in history. headquarters were raided in August last year as part of a fraud tion Authority (PTA) said on ruptions and slow speed. Mohr Prieto from Chile were who was part of the expedi- At least three other investigation. Since then Lai has been arrested over several Thursday. A fifth of Pakistan’s 220 mil- part of the team that at- tion but decided to abandon climbers died while try- protest-related offences amid what critics say is a widespread Service providers have put lion population uses the inter- tempted to summit the most it at 8,200 metres, said he ing to reach the summit crackdown on pro-democracy activists. (dpa) the traffic on alternative routes net, according to a 2020 survey. treacherous peak on Febru- would make another winter in January.