30 April 2018 - NPWJ News Digest on Middle East and North Africa Democracy

Articles

Mike Pompeo: US 'deeply concerned' over Iran 'threats'
by Al Jazeera , 30 Apr 2018

US Secretary of State Mike Pompeo lashed out at Iran during a tour of the Middle East in advance of a crucial White House decision on whether to quit the nuclear deal with Tehran. Pompeo on Sunday accused Iran of destabilising the Middle East, including through its support for Syria's President Bashar al-Assad and Houthi rebels in Yemen. He reiterated US President Donald Trump will withdraw from the nuclear deal with Iran "if we can't fix it".

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Syrian army renews push on besieged areas
by Reuters, 30 Apr 2018

BEIRUT (Reuters) - The Syrian army began an intense bombardment of a rebel enclave near Homs on Monday, a war monitor said, as President Bashar al-Assad pushed to recapture all the remaining areas his forces have besieged. Late on Sunday, the Syrian army said missiles had struck bases in northern Syria, describing it as a “new aggression” by its enemies. A war monitor said the strikes had targeted a rocket cache and killed Iranians and Iraqi fighters.

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Quartet Group to meet in Cairo to discuss solutions to Libya’s political impasse
by The Libya Observer, 29 Apr 2018

The Quartet Group for Libya, which includes the European Union, African Union, United Nations and Arab League, will meet on Monday in Cairo, Egypt, the Arab League announced. Arab League’s spokesman, Mahmoud Afifi, told reporters that the meeting will take some steps to encourage Libyan parties to take up their responsibilities and push forward the political process, including supporting and monitoring possible upcoming Libyan elections, if Libya requested.

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10m Syrians at risk of forfeiting homes under new property law
by The Guardian, 27 Apr 2018

More than 10 million Syrians who have fled the country’s raging war have been told to lay claim to their homes by early May or risk forfeiting them to the state. A property law announced this month has raised widespread fears that Syrian citizens who have opposed Bashar al-Assad face permanent exile and that other people considered loyalists may be given access to their communities. With the majority of internally displaced and overseas refugees unable or unwilling to return to prove ownership of properties, analysts and exiles say the law, known as article 10, and the tight timeframe surrounding it could serve as an instrument of demographic change and social engineering.

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