Africa
Syria holds indirect talks with Israel to prevent escalation
Syria’s interim President Ahmad al-Sharaa said Wednesday that his country is holding indirect talks with Israel to prevent recent hostilities from getting out of control.
He spoke on his first visit to Europe since taking office in January, and as he seeks to broaden ties to Western countries.
Israel carried out a series of airstrikes on parts of Syria last week, saying it aims to protect the country’s Druze minority from coming under attack by pro-government gunmen.
Speaking to reporters in Paris, al-Sharaa said, ″Regarding negotiations with Israel, there are indirect talks through mediators to calm down the situation so that they don’t get out of control.″
He did not say who the mediators are.
There was no immediate public comment from Israel.
Israel has its own Druze community and officials have said they would protect the Druze of Syria and warned Islamic militant groups from entering predominantly Druze areas.
Al-Sharaa met earlier Wednesday with French President Emmanuel Macron, who said he would push the EU and U.S. to lift sanctions on Syria to boost its economy.
Macron also called for continued U.S. and international military presence in Syria to fight terrorist groups threatening security in the Mideast and Europe.
Al-Sharaa took power after his Islamist group, Hayat Tahrir al-Sham (HTS), led an offensive that toppled former President Bashar Assad in December.
Assad, a member of Syria’s Alawite minority, ruled for more than two decades.
The Syrian leader’s visit to Paris comes a week after clashes between forces loyal to al-Sharaa and fighters from the minority Druze sect that left nearly 100 people dead.
This followed earlier violence in Syria’s coastal region between Sunni gunmen and members of the minority Alawite sect, which left more than 1,000 people dead, many of them Alawite civilians killed in revenge attacks.
Religious minorities in Syria, including Alawites, Christians and Druze, fear persecution under the predominantly Sunni Muslim-led government.
Al-Sharaa has repeatedly pledged that all Syrians will be treated equally regardless of religion or ethnicity.
The 14-year conflict has killed nearly half a million people and displaced millions.
Syria’s infrastructure lies in ruins, and international sanctions remain a major barrier to reconstruction.
The visit to Paris is being closely watched as a potential test of Europe’s willingness to engage with Syria’s new leadership.
The European Union has begun easing sanctions, suspending measures targeting Syria’s oil, gas and electricity sectors, as well as transport, including aviation, and banking restrictions.
The EU said that it would monitor developments in Syria to see whether other economic sanctions could be lifted, but its 27 member states are divided on whether to go further.
The electoral process for Gabon’s local and legislative elections is officially underway.
The timetable for the September 27 vote has been announced and members of the national election commission have been sworn in by the Constitutional Court.
The revision of electoral rolls across the country begins on July 14 and continues until August 12. This will ensure new voters are added and deceased or ineligible voters removed from the rolls. It will also register any changes of voting centre and update personal data.
People aged 18 and over with a Personal Identification Number (PIN) are automatically registered and need only choose their polling center.
Local electoral commissions will be set up by July 26 and deployed across the country and abroad.
Nominations for the legislative and local elections are open from July 27 to August 7.
Fifth Republic
The Ministry of the Interior and national election commission reaffirmed their commitment to ensuring “credible, transparent and peaceful” elections, and called on citizens to play an active part in building the Fifth Republic.
Last week, two years after seizing power in a coup, President Brice Oligui Nguema unveiled a new political party, the Democratic Union of Builders, or UDB. Oligui secured nearly 95 percent of the vote in April’s presidential election.
The launch of the UDB appears to signal Oligui’s intent to transition from military leader to long-term political figure. While he initially presented himself as a reformer leading a transitional government, the creation of a political party gives structure to his leadership and a platform for future governance.
Scheduled to take place for the first time in almost forty years, local and municipal elections in the Central African Republic have been once again postponed.
Initially planned for the end of August, officials say the vote will now be held in December, in conjunction with the legislative and presidential elections.
President Touadéra, who has been in office since 2016, launched a biometric voter registration exercise last year to update the electoral roll.
Authorities say the postponement is due to a delay in mobilizing funds as well as technical and organizational hiccups.
Members of the opposition BRDC are calling for an overhaul of the electoral authority and a dialogue with President Touadéra.
CAR has been battling conflict since 2013 when predominantly Muslim rebels seized power and forced the then-president from office. The United Nations has said the elections represent a ”crucial opportunity” to strengthen democratic governance, promote reconciliation and consolidate stability.
The landlocked country is one of the poorest in the world, despite having significant natural resources, including uranium, oil, gold and diamonds.
After 10 days of negotiations, including a final overnight marathon, France has reached an agreement with New Caledonia. The deal grants the South Pacific territory more autonomy — but stops short of the independence sought by many indigenous Kanaks.
President Macron hailed the deal as historic but it still needs final approval in New Caledonia. If passed, it would create a state of Caledonia within the French Republic incscribed in the French constitution and a Caledonian nationality alongside French nationality.
The talks stemmed from deadly rioting last year prompted by proposed changes to electoral rules that pro-independence groups said would marginalize Indigenous voters.
The territory has held three referenda on the question of independence, with voters each time opting to remain with France.
A special congress will be held to finalize next steps. Media reports say they could include more sovereignty for New Caledonia over international affairs, security and justice.
The accord could also eventually allow New Caledonians to change the territory’s name, flag and hymn.
Negotiators stressed the importance of rehabilitating and diversifying New Caledonia’s indebted economy, which depends heavily on nickel mining, and making it less reliant on the French mainland.
France colonized the Pacific archipelago in the 1850s, and it became an overseas territory after World War II, with French citizenship granted to all Kanaks in 1957.
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