UNITED NATIONS (AP) - The Latest on the U.N. General Assembly’s annual gathering of world leaders (all times local):
9 p.m.
Yemen’s new foreign minister is vowing that the government will “end any attempt to tear apart our homeland.” He’s sharply criticizing Iranian-backed Houthi rebels who control much of the country’s north and the United Arab Emirates, which supports forces seeking their own nation in the south.
Mohammed Abdullah al-Hadrami called Iran “the main sponsor of terrorism throughout the world” and urged an end to “this Iranian-Houthi coup d’etat in Yemen.” He thanked Saudi Arabia for helping his internationally recognized government resist Houthi “militias who are dreaming of a theocracy.”
Al-Hadrami told the U.N. General Assembly Saturday that attacks he said were carried out by Emirati air assets in the south have also “undermined the stability of our homeland.” And he said the UAE “aggression” has undermined the Saudi-led coalition’s goal of assisting the government.
A Saudi-led coalition that included the UAE has been fighting the Houthis since 2015 on behalf of the internationally recognized government. The civil war has killed tens of thousands of people and sparked the world’s worst humanitarian crisis in the Arab world’s most impoverished country.
Al-Hadrami said he hopes that “we will meet next year at a time when peace will have reigned in Yemen.”
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6:10 p.m.
Myanmar wants Rohingya Muslim refugees in Bangladesh repatriated to their former homes so they can live in a “more conducive environment” than the one they fled.
Kyaw Tint Swe is Myanmar’s minister for the office of the state counselor. He says Myanmar is working with Bangladesh and the U.N. to find “long-term and practical solutions” to bring home some of the tens of thousands of Rohingya in the country’s Rakhine state. That state borders Bangladesh.
Speaking at the U.N. on Saturday, he also warned of “destructive movements in the camps aimed at preventing repatriation.”
Myanmar’s military began a harsh counterinsurgency campaign against minority Rohingya Muslims in August 2017 in response to an insurgent attack.
More than 700,000 Rohingya fled, many to Bangladesh, from what has been called an ethnic cleansing campaign involving mass rapes, killings and burning of thousands of their homes.
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5 p.m.
The United Arab Emirates and Bahrain have called on world leaders to take a firm stance with Iran, siding squarely with Saudi Arabia after an attack on its oil facilities earlier in the month that has been widely blamed on Tehran.
UAE Foreign Minister Abdullah bin Zayed Al-Nahyan said Saturday that Iran’s nuclear agreement with world powers should have included the Arab Gulf states, and addressed its ballistic missile program and support for armed groups.
“We are speaking here about a country that seeks to export its revolution,” he said, referring to Iran’s 1979 revolution that brought its Shiite clerical leadership to power.
Bahrain accused Iran of perpetuating terrorism, and of specifically endorsing militant groups that have transformed Iraq “into a launching pad to hit its targets.”
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1:30 p.m.
U.N. Secretary-General Antonio Guterres says the committee to draft a new constitution for Syria will meet under U.N. auspices in Geneva for the first time on Oct. 30.
Guterres made the announcement in a document on terms of reference and rules of procedure for the committee released Saturday.
It says the new constitution is a step toward a political settlement of the more than eight-year Syrian conflict, and will be followed by “free and fair elections under United Nations supervision.”
Guterres announced agreement between the government and opposition on formation of the 150-member constitutional committee on Monday.
Under the terms, the Syrian-led committee will amend the current 2012 constitution or draft a new constitution.
It will have a 150-member large body with 50 representatives each from the government, opposition and civil society, and a 45-member small body with 15 representatives from each of the three parties.
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12:20 p.m.
Cuba is blasting the Trump administration for its “baseness and rot” as it denounces the U.S. decision to impose a travel ban to the United States on former Cuban President Raul Castro.
“This is an action that is devoid of any practical effect and is aimed at offending Cuba’s dignity and the sentiments of our people,” Foreign Minister Bruno Rodriguez Parrilla told a gathering of world leaders Saturday at the United Nations. “It is a vote-catching crumb being tossed to the Cuban-American extreme right.”
Earlier this week, Secretary of State Mike Pompeo announced a travel ban on Castro and his immediate family on grounds of human-rights abuses, saying they would not be allowed into the United States.
Pompeo said the ban was in response to “gross human rights abuses” in Cuba and supporting Venezuelan leader Nicolas Maduro in his crackdown on the opposition.
Castro is no longer president of Cuba but remains at the top of the Cuban Communist Party.
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11:15 a.m.
Syria is demanding the immediate withdrawal of all foreign forces, saying it reserves the right to take action if they remain.
“The United States and Turkey maintain an illegal military presence in northern Syria.” Syrian Foreign Minister Walid al-Moallem told the U.N. General Assembly on Saturday. “Any foreign forces operating in our territories without our authorization are occupying forces and should withdraw immediately.”
Over more than eight years, Syria’s devastating civil war has drawn numerous foreign militaries and thousands of foreign fighters battling for power.
Most of the country has returned to government control. But rebels and extremists still hold Idlib in the northwest, and the oil-rich northeast, held by U.S.-backed Kurdish groups.
10:25 a.m.
The Holy See is urging the international community to give special attention to the conflicts in Syria and Yemen to “put an end to the suffering of so many people.”
In a wide-ranging speech that he, like many speakers, dedicated to the theme of multilateralism, Vatican’s secretary of state, Cardinal Pietro Parolin on also highlighted the conflict between the Israelis and the Palestinians as “an area of perennial concern.”
The U.N. General Assembly is scheduled to hear from Syria, which has been wracked by eight years of war, later Saturday.
Parolin also highlighted the dire political and economic situations in Venezuela and Nicaragua, and spoke up for the protection of the Amazon, which has been ravaged by a surge of fires.
Parolin also urged the world to do more to protect women and children who have been raped and victimized in wars. He did not mention the clergy sex-abuse scandal that has shaken the Catholic Church.
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9:45 a.m.
Syria, divided, devastated and now in its ninth year of war, is expected to plead its case before world leaders at the United Nations. Leaders from Cuba and Mexico also will address the General Assembly later Saturday.
Syria’s plight remains one of the world body’s thorniest issues. But now that most of the country has returned to government control, Syrians worry the world has accepted the idea of President Bashar Assad ruling them.
Only the opposition-held bastion of Idlib in the northwest, and the oil-rich northeast, held by U.S.-backed Kurdish groups, elude Assad’s grasp.
Earlier this week, the U.N. secretary-general announced that a long-awaited committee that would draft a new Syrian constitution has been formed. The U.N. hopes that will put the war-ravaged country on track for a political solution.
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