Qatar seeks options at UN to overcome crisis in Gulf

IS claims deadly attack on US-backed forces

UNITED NATIONS, July 29, (Agencies): Qatar’s foreign minister on Thursday accused Arab states of violating international law in their boycott of the country and described the United Nations as the “right place” for Doha to seek options to overcome measures imposed against it.

Saudi Arabia, Egypt, the United Arab Emirates (UAE) and Bahrain severed relations with Qatar on June 5, accusing the major gas-exporting Gulf state of financing terrorism and cozying up to their archrival Iran. Doha denies the charges.

The four states have cut air and sea links with Qatar and sanctioned dozens of groups and individuals. The United Arab Emirates said on Saturday that Doha needed to change its policies before a dialogue could take place.

“The entire campaign represents a series of violations of international law,” Qatar Foreign Minister Sheikh Mohammed bin Abdulrahman Al-Thani told reporters after meeting with UN Secretary-General Antonio Guterres.

“The state of Qatar is not going to spare any effort in order to overcome those violations and try to solve it through the right channels. The United Nations is the right platform to start from,” he said without giving further details.

UAE Ambassador to the United Nations Lana Nusseibeh said the measures taken were “entirely legal, justified and proportionate” and accused Qatar of grave violations.

“We hope to see a diplomatic solution at the regional level through genuine engagement from their side,” she told Reuters, adding that the United Nations has an important role to play in countering terrorism and that the countries would keep Guterres and the Security Council updated.

In June, Qatar asked the Montreal-based UN aviation agency to intervene after its Gulf neighbors closed their airspace to Qatar flights.

While Egypt last week accused Qatar of adopting a “pro-terrorist” policy that violated UN Security Council resolutions and described it as “shameful,” that the 15-member body has not held Qatar accountable.

Any push to impose UN sanctions would likely be difficult as it needs either consensus approval behind closed doors by the Security Council or a vote on a resolution, which would need nine votes

BEIRUT, July 29, (Agencies): Syrian government troops entered the last Islamic State group stronghold in the country’s Homs province on Friday after jihadists began withdrawing, a monitor said.

Al-Sukhna, some 70 kms (45 miles) northeast of the famed ancient city of Palmyra, is the last town on the road to the eastern city of Deir Ezzor, where a government garrison has held out under IS siege since early 2015.

The Syrian Observatory for Human Rights, a Britain-based monitor, earlier reported clashes on the city’s outskirts and said government troops were firing artillery and rockets at IS positions.

By early evening, the monitor said government forces had entered the southwestern part of the town.

“The Islamic State organisation has carried out successive withdrawals from the town,” it added.

“Regime forces have line-of-fire effective control of the town after the withdrawals,” said Observatory director Rami Abdel Rahman.

He said the streets were reportedly empty, but it was unclear if pockets of IS fighters remained.

Since May, Syria’s army has been conducting a broad military campaign with Russian support to recapture the vast desert that separates the capital Damascus from Deir Ezzor and other towns along the Euphrates Valley.

Already defeated in its Iraqi bastion of Mosul, IS is facing multiple assaults in Syria.

The US-backed Syrian Defence Forces now control more than half of its most important remaining stronghold Raqqa.

Islamic State militants have carried out a deadly attack on US-backed forces in Syria, killing and wounding many fighters and civilians, Syrian monitors and an IS-linked media outlet said Friday.

The assault took place on Thursday near the northern city of Raqqa — the Islamic State group’s de facto capital, where US-backed Syrian fighters are battling to rout the extremists from their stronghold.

The Syrian Democratic Forces have captured wide areas from IS in northern Syria since late last year, and on June 6, the US-backed forces launched an offensive to capture the city of Raqqa. The fighting recently has been concentrated inside the city but IS staged Thursday’s surprise attack on a village about 17 kms (11 miles) away from Raqqa.

The Aamaq news agency said the attack killed 53 SDF members and damaged two armored vehicles. It added that IS fighters returned to their base safely afterward.

Nisreen Abdullah, a spokeswoman with the US-backed SDF, said IS has been carrying out attacks against the SDF but strongly denied the high number of casualties given by Aamaq.

“DAESH is trying to boost the morale of its fighters,” Abdullah said by telephone from northern Syria, using the Arabic acronym for IS.

“DAESH is facing collapse,” she added, referring to the loss of the group of almost half of Raqqa in the fighting so far in the city.

Rami Abdurrahman, who heads Britain-based Syrian Observatory for Human Rights, said IS fighters used motorcycles in the Thursday attack. He said they were able to kill and kidnap dozens of SDF fighters and civilians.

Meanwhile, near the Syrian capital of Damascus, members of an al-Qaeda-linked group opened fire at protesters who demanded that the hard-liners leave the eastern suburbs known as eastern Ghouta.

Members of the powerful Hay’at Tahrir al Sham militant alliance — Arabic for Levant Liberation Committee — shot toward the protesters but did not cause any casualties among them, according to the Observatory and Ghouta-based activist Anas al-Dimashqi.

The al-Qaeda faction is also known as HTS.

flew a helicopter near the Resalat oil and gas platform and approached the force’s ships,” the Guards said.