First UN ‘mercy flight’ leaves Yemen’s rebel-held Sanaa
/ 3 February 2020

First UN ‘mercy flight’ leaves Yemen’s rebel-held Sanaa

Yemeni children in critical need of medical care were evacuated Monday from the rebel-held capital Sanaa, in what the United Nations hopes will be the first of more mercy flights. Seven young patients and their relatives flew out of Sanaa airport, which has been closed to commercial flights since 2016, aboard a UN-marked plane bound […]

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/ 4 April 2008

UN warns of ‘very grave’ problems in Iraq

A top United Nations official warned on Friday of ”very grave” humanitarian problems in Iraq, including a lack of food and the internal displacement of more than two million people. ”There are very grave humanitarian problems. The most serious is the internal displacement of the Iraqis,” UN Undersecretary General for Humanitarian Affairs John Holmes said.

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/ 30 July 2007

Oxfam: Violence masks humanitarian crisis in Iraq

Oxfam warned in a report on Monday that unabated violence in Iraq is masking a humanitarian crisis that has worsened since the United States-led invasion in 2003, putting at risk almost eight million Iraqis. While violence dominates the lives of millions of ordinary people inside Iraq, ”another kind of crisis” has been slowly unfolding, said the report.

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/ 26 July 2007

Iraq warns of war refugee ‘humanitarian crisis’

Iraq warned of a humanitarian crisis on Thursday as it appealed to the international community to help countries hosting hundreds of thousands of Iraqis uprooted by war. ”The Iraqi government calls on the international community, in particular neighbouring countries, to support Iraq,” said Mohammed al-Hajj al-Hmud of Iraq’s Foreign Ministry.

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/ 15 May 2007

Olmert says he is ready to meet Arabs on peace bid

Israeli Prime Minister Ehud Olmert on Tuesday said he was ready to meet Arab leaders to discuss their peace initiative but that no conditions should be set in advance. "I invite these 22 leaders of the Arab nation that are ready to make that kind of peace with Israel to come, whenever they want, to sit down with us and start to talk," Olmert said in Jordan.

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/ 7 March 2007

Jordanians accused of plot to kill Bush

Three suspected Jordanian Islamists appeared in court on Wednesday accused of plotting to assassinate United States President George Bush when he visited the country last year. Nidal Momani, Sattam Zawahra and Tharwat Ali Draz were arrested on November 28, a day before Bush visited Jordan, and later indicted on charges of ”conspiracy to carry out terrorist plots”.

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/ 23 February 2007

Saddam lawyer plans book on president’s ‘secrets’

Saddam Hussein’s Iraqi lawyer said on Friday he will write a book revealing ”many secrets” told to him by the executed dictator about the fall of Baghdad, his arrest and imprisonment. ”The book will contain information never before revealed and many secrets about the fall of Baghdad,” Khalil al-Dulaimi told Agence France-Press in a telephone interview about the book he is planning.

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/ 28 January 2007

‘Little Iraq’ emerges in neighbouring Jordan

Hundreds of thousands of Iraqis have sought safe haven from the violence at home in neighbouring Jordan, where the influx of migrants has triggered concerns over inflation and job losses. The United Nations High Commissioner for Refugees has said more than 700 000 Iraqis fled to Jordan in the aftermath of the United States-led 2003 war.

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/ 30 November 2006

Bush praises Iraq leader after talks

United States President George Bush praised Iraqi Prime Minister Nuri al-Maliki as a ”strong leader” on Thursday and said he agreed with him that any partition of Iraq would only increase violence. Bush’s show of support for Maliki came after US officials insisted the Iraqi leader had not snubbed Bush on Wednesday when the two had been expected to meet.

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/ 28 September 2006

Saddam lawyers call for halt to trial

Saddam Hussein’s defence team on Thursday called for a halt to his genocide trial, saying it was a political "farce" to seek revenge against the ousted Iraqi leader. "We call upon the public opinion with all its organisations and segments to work to stop this farce after it intentionally prejudiced the feelings of Iraqis, Arabs and all good people … ," it said in a statement.

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/ 30 May 2006

Jordan editors sentenced to jail over cartoons

A Jordanian court on Tuesday sentenced to prison two newspaper editors for ”attacking religious sentiment” by reprinting cartoons deemed offensive to Prophet Muhammad, their lawyer said. Jihad Momani, former editor of the weekly Shihane tabloid, and Hisham al-Khalidi, editor-in-chief of the tabloid Al-Mehwar, ”were each sentenced to two months in prison”, attorney Mohammed Kteishat told Agence France-Presse.

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/ 12 February 2006

Saddam planning hunger strike

Ousted Iraqi dictator Saddam Hussein and his seven co-defendants have decided to go on hunger strike, one of his Jordan-based lawyers said on Sunday. "The [former] president and his comrades have decided to stage a hunger strike to protest against the tribunal’s attempts to force them to appear" in court, Zyad Najdawi told Agence France-Presse.