After US bombs Iran, North Korea watches closely – DW – 06/24/2025
North Korea on Monday condemned the US attacks against three of Iran's key nuclear sites, accusing Washington of violating Iran's territorial integrity and the United Nations Charter.
"The just international community should raise the voice of unanimous censure and rejection against the US and Israel's confrontational acts," North Korea's Foreign Ministry said, according to the Yonhap news agency.
Pyongyang had previously described Israeli missile attacks against Iran as a "hideous act."
Nuclear-armed North Korea has maintained friendly ties with Iran.
For decades, Tehran and Pyongyang have been suspected of military cooperation, including in developing ballistic missiles that Irainian scientists have reportedly since enhanced.
Around 20 years ago, North Korea began dispatching engineers with specialist deep tunneling expertise.
Since the three-year Korean War began in 1950, North Korea has concealed much of its own key military capabilities in underground bases.
The regime will be keen to determine the effectiveness of its underground bunkers, while looking at the impact of the GBU-57 "massive ordnance penetrator" weapons dropped by the US on Iranian targets in Operation Midnight Hammer.
"They are definitely watching very closely what is going on in Iran," said Chun In-bum, a retired lieutenant general in the Republic of Korea Army and now a senior fellow with the National Institute for Deterrence Studies.
"I believe the conclusions that North Korea will come to will be that they need to accelerate their nuclear weapons capabilities, that they need to further fortify their storage areas," he told DW.
Chun added that the North Koreans need to adopt additional protective measures, such as enhanced air defense and retaliatory options.
Asked whether there is any likelihood of the attacks encouraging Pyongyang to return to dialogue, Chun said, "Absolutely not. It is just not in their nature."
Nevertheless, North Korea was almost certainly as shocked as much of the rest of the world at the "decisive nature" of President Donald Trump's administration, he said.
"This is an America that we have not seen for a long time and would have caught the North by surprise," Chun said.
"The priority there now will be to ensure that the same thing does not happen to them, which is why I am sure they will be observing closely and accelerating their weapons programs."
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Pyongyang will be aware that its situation is starkly different from that of Tehran, however, both in terms of the geography of the country, the proximity of allies, and the status of the two nations' nuclear programs, said Leif-Eric Easley, a professor of international studies at Ewha Womans University in Seoul.
"Pyongyang's nuclear program is much more advanced, with weapons possibly ready to launch on multiple delivery systems, including ICBMs," he said. "The Kim [Jong Un] regime can threaten the US homeland, and Seoul is within range of many North Korean weapons of various types."
"In Iran's case, Israel aggressively exploited Tehran's strategic and tactical errors, using superior intelligence, technology, and training to degrade Iran's air defenses, high-value personnel, and retaliatory capabilities," he pointed out.
"North Korea will learn from Iran's mistakes, South Korea is more risk-averse than Israel, and China and Russia are better positioned to help Pyongyang than Tehran."
North Korean leader Kim Jong Un will also lean on his alliance with Russian President Vladimir Putin, he said, to obtain the latest weapons and technology and in sufficient amounts to preserve his regime.
"It is no coincidence that Moscow was quick to host Iran's foreign minister after the US strikes, and that Putin sent Sergei Shoigu to meet Kim Jong Un while the G7 was gathering in Canada," he said.
"Russia's coordination with Iran and North Korea shows how security across multiple regions is increasingly linked."
Ultimately, however, Kim's priority is ensuring his own personal safety and the future of the only hereditary communist dictatorship, said Chun.
And he will have been deeply alarmed at Trump's hints that the US military knew where Iranian supreme leader Ayatollah Ali Khamenei was hiding and that he favors regime change in Tehran.
"Even now, Kim is very well protected from the threat of a 'decapitation strike,' with veils of secrecy around his location and movements," Chun said.
"I am sure he will maintain that secrecy and make sure that the information on his whereabouts at any time is as limited as possible."
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DW
6 hours ago
- DW
Middle East: Israel 'deeply regrets' strike on Gaza church – DW – 07/17/2025
Three people were killed and several others were injured in the strike on Gaza's only Catholic church, which was widely condemned. Follow DW for more. Israeli strike hits Gaza's only Catholic church, 3 killed Pope Leo 'deeply saddened to learn of the loss of life' at churchIsrael said it "deeply regrets" striking the only Catholic church in Gaza City. "Every innocent life lost is a tragedy. We share the grief of the families and the faithful," Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu's office said in a statement. Three people were killed and several others injured, including the parish priest, in the attack. Pope Leo said he was "deeply saddened" and called for "an immediate cease-fire." He also expressed his "profound hope for dialogue, reconciliation and enduring peace in the region" in a telegram signed by the Vatican secretary of state, Cardinal Pietro Parolin. The message made no mention of Israel. Netanyahu's office said it was "grateful to Pope Leo for his words of comfort." "Israel is investigating the incident and remains committed to protecting civilians and holy sites," the statement posted on social media said. Earlier, the Israeli military said it was looking into the incident. Israel's Foreign Ministry vowed the results of the investigation would be published. To view this video please enable JavaScript, and consider upgrading to a web browser that supports HTML5 video The White House says President Donald Trump did "not" have a "positive reaction" to an Israeli strike on Gaza's only Catholic church. Trump called Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu to speak about the strike, White House press secretary Karoline Leavitt said. Netanyahu told Trump the strike had been a mistake, she added. "It was a mistake by the Israelis to hit that Catholic church, that's what the prime minister relayed to the president," Leavitt said. Three people were killed and several others injured in the strike. Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdogan accused Israel of exploiting the Druze minority in Syria to justify its expansion into the war-torn country. "Israel, using the Druze as an excuse, has been expanding its banditry into neighboring Syria over the past two days," Erdogan said after a Cabinet meeting. Syrian government forces withdrew from Sweida after intervening in response to sectarian clashes that erupted Sunday between Druze militias and Bedouin tribes. Following the escalation, Israel also struck targets in Syria, including the Defense Ministry in Damascus, in what it said was an effort to protect the Druze minority. Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu vowed Thursday to keep southern Syria demilitarized and to protect the Druze community, which has a sizeable population in Israel. Erdogan said this shows that Israel does not want peace in the region. "At this stage, the biggest problem in our region is Israel's aggression... If the monster is not stopped immediately, it will not hesitate to throw first our region, then the world, into flames," he said. Erdogan said he spoke by phone with Syria's interim President Ahmed al-Sharaa on Thursday after Syrian troops pulled out of Sweida. Days of deadly fighting in Syria's Sweida province will have "major consequences," Fawaz Gerges, professor of international relations at the London School of Economics and Political Science, told DW. "Syria could easily descend into all-out violence in the next few weeks and next few months," he said. Syrian government forces withdrew from Sweida after intervening in response to sectarian clashes that erupted between Druze militias and Bedouin tribes. Following the escalation, Israel also struck targets in Syria, including the Defense Ministry in Damascus, in an effort to protect the Druze minority, according to Israel. "It has undermined the authority and the credibility of the new Syrian government," Gerges said. To view this video please enable JavaScript, and consider upgrading to a web browser that supports HTML5 video The government's failure to expand its influence in Sweida has fueled perceptions of a lack of inclusivity and legitimacy. "There is a widespread perception that the single government is not really broadly based, it's not inclusive, and in fact, I would not be surprised if Ahmad al-Sharaa, the president, faces a major reckoning within his own Islamist base of support, in particular from the hardliners." Gerges said it could also embolden Kurdish forces to push for greater autonomy in the northeastern and eastern regions they control. "Because if the Syrian government cannot take on the Druze community, surely it cannot take on the Kurds, who are much more powerful than the Druze community in Syria." He also said Israeli military action "turned Syria from a potential neutral neighbor into a better enemy." This, he added, would be a headache for regional powers, European nations and the United States, which had embraced Syria's transitional government under al-Sharaa. "They were hoping that the new government would become more stable, more secure, more inclusive." Iraq has announced a deal to resume oil exports from its semi-autonomous Kurdish region, ending a two-year freeze. Under the agreement, the Iraqi Kurdish regional government (KRG) will supply at least 230,000 barrels per day to Iraq's state oil company, SOMO. Baghdad will pay an advance of $16 (€14) per barrel. Exports were halted in 2023 after an international court ruled that only the federal government could market Iraqi oil. Before that the Kurdish region had unilaterally exported oil through an independent pipeline to the Turkish port of Ceyhan. The new deal follows months of negotiations over revenue-sharing and production costs. The KRG said in a statement it "welcomes" the deal, and hoped all agreements would be respected. The latest agreement should also solve the long-standing issue of unpaid salaries for civil servants in the Kurdish region, which has been tied to the tension over oil. A fire at a newly opened mall in Kut, Iraq, killed at least 61 people, including children. Most died from suffocation. Civil defense teams rescued 45 people. The cause is under investigation, with early reports pointing to the fire having begun on the cosmetics floor of the Corniche Hypermarket Mall. Read more about the deadly blaze by clicking here. The Latin Patriarchate of Jerusalem has said that two people were killed and several injured in an apparent Israeli strike on Gaza's sole Catholic church. "Two persons were killed as a result of an apparent strike by the Israeli army that hit the Holy Family Compound this morning," the Patriarchate, which oversees the church, said. An earlier statement had claimed there had been no casualites. The church was being used as a shelter for both Christians and Muslims, including a number of children with disabilities, according to Fadel Naem, acting director of Al-Ahli Hospital, which received the wounded. Of the around 2 million people living in Gaza, some 1,000 are Christians, mostly Orthodox, including around 135 Catholics. The Israeli Defense Forces (IDF) said it was "aware of reports regarding damage caused to the Holy Family Church in Gaza City and casualties at the scene. The circumstances of the incident are under review." "The IDF makes every feasible effort to mitigate harm to civilians and civilian structures, including religious sites, and regrets any damage caused to them," its statement added. "Israel never targets churches or religious sites and regrets any harm to a religious site or to uninvolved civilians," the Foreign Ministry said on X. There have been numerous reports of mosques and other religious buildings being destroyed during Israel's military operations in Gaza. A statement from the Vatican said Pope Leo XIV was "deeply saddened" by the deaths and that he had called for an immediate ceasefire in Gaza in a telegram for the victims of the attack. The deaths at the church compound came as Gaza's civil defense agency reported at least 20 other people dead in Israeli strikes in the Palestinian enclave. German Foreign Minister Johann Wadephul has warned that Syria must not be turned into a battleground for regional conflicts after Israeli airstrikes on Wednesday escalated tensions in the war-torn country. The airstrikes, according to Israel, were aimed at protecting Syrian Druze communities. "Following the Israeli strikes — including in Damascus — I urge all domestic and foreign actors to back off from any steps that could further destabilize Syria or derail the fragile transition process," Wadephul said Thursday. Israel will raise its defense spending by 42 billion shekels (€10.8 billion, $12.5 billion) this year and the next, the Finance and Defense Ministries said on Thursday. In a joint statement, the ministries pointed to the security challenges facing the country to justify the steep rise. The budget agreement will allow the Defense Ministry to "advance urgent and essential procurement deals critical to national security," the statement said. In 2024, Israel's defense budget grew by 65% to reach $46.5 billion (€40.4 billion), according to a report by the Stockholm International Peace Research Institute (SIPRI) published in April. That brought its military spending to 8.8% of GDP — the second-highest rate in the world after Ukraine. The European Union has urged Israel to desist from conducting strikes on neighboring Syria and called on it and other countries to uphold Syria's sovereignty as the country transitions from the autocratic rule of longtime dictator Bashar Assad. "We urge Israel to immediately cease its strikes on Syrian territory, including on key institutions in Damascus, which jeopardize the lives of civilians and risk undermining Syria's transition," the EU's foreign affairs spokesperson, Anouar El Anouni, told DW's Richie Birchard. "We also call on Syria's transitional authorities to de-escalate the situation in Sweida, which has already resulted in a high number of casualties," he said. "We call on Israel and all other foreign actors to ensure the respect of Syria's sovereignty and territorial integrity. The EU condemns any violations of Syria's independence, sovereignty, unity and territorial integrity." Israel has conducted several strikes on Damascus and southern Syria in recent days that it says were in support of the minority Druze community, which came under attack from Sunni Bedouin tribes in the city of Sweida and province of the same name. Russia and China have both cited a need to uphold Syria's sovereignty in comments about recent Israeli strikes on its neighbor. "These attacks, which constitute a gross violation of the country's sovereignty and international law, deserve strong condemnation," Russia's Foreign Ministry said in a statement. China warned against any actions that could escalate the already fragile security situation in the Middle East. "Syria's sovereignty and territorial integrity should be respected," Foreign Ministry spokesman Lin Jian said. "Amid the ongoing turbulence in the Middle East, actions that could escalate the situation must be avoided." Israel has carried out several attacks in Damascus and southern Syria in the past few days, saying they were in support of Syria's Druze minority amid sectarian violence in the Druze heartland in the view this video please enable JavaScript, and consider upgrading to a web browser that supports HTML5 video Italian Prime Minister Giorgia Meloni has described as "unacceptable" an attack on a Catholic parish in the Gaza Strip in which two people are reported to have been killed. Witnesses described the attack as being an Israeli tank shelling. Doctors at the Al-Ahli Hospital in Gaza City said two women died and several other people were injured in the strike, which damaged the Holy Family Church, the sole Catholic church within the Palestinian enclave. The Latin Patriarchate of Jerusalem, which oversees the church, however said in a statement that there were no known fatalities at present. Italy's ANSA news agency said six people had been seriously injured in the strike. The parish priest, Father Gabriele Romanelli, suffered slight leg injuries, the agency said. It said Romanelli used to give regular updates on the war to the late Pope Francis. Syrian government forces have withdrawn from southern Sweida province and the city of the same name after their deployment there amid clashes between fighters from the Druze minority and Sunni Bedouin tribes, an NGO and witnesses have said. Footage from Reuters news agency showed Syrian forces moving out of Sweida overnight, while the UK-based Syrian Observatory for Human Rights told AFP news agency that security was now being overseen by Druze fighters. "The Syrian authorities have withdrawn their military forces from the city of Sweida and the whole province, and Druze fighters have deployed" in their place, Observatory head Rami Abdel Rahman said. The editor in chief of the Suwayda 24 news website, Rayan Maarouf, told AFP that "the city of Sweida seems devoid of any government forces presence." The withdrawal comes after interim President Ahmed al-Sharaa said in a televised address that "responsibility" for security in Sweida would be put in the hands of religious elders and some local factions "based on the supreme national interest." Israel had also called for the withdrawal, with Eyal Zamir, Israel's military chief of staff, saying, "We will not allow southern Syria to become a terror stronghold," in apparent reference to the former links of Syria's rulers to the terrorist group al-Qaeda. Israel has carried out several strikes on Damascus and southern Syria in recent days, saying its actions were in support of Syria's Druze community. To view this video please enable JavaScript, and consider upgrading to a web browser that supports HTML5 video Syrian interim President Ahmad al-Sharaa on Thursday accused Israel of attempting to drag his country into a war but said it would not succeed in doing so. "We, the people of Syria, know very well who is trying to drag us into war and who is working to divide us," Sharaa said in a speech broadcast on national television. "We will not give them the opportunity to entangle our people in a war that serves only to fragment our homeland and sow destruction." Sharaa blamed Israel for exploiting instability in Syria after Islamist-led militias ousted longtime ruler Bashar Assad in December. "The Israeli entity resorted to a wide-scale targeting of civilian and government facilities", he said, saying this could have provoked a "large-scale escalation, except for the effective intervention of American, Arab, and Turkish mediation, which saved the region from an unknown fate." In recent interventions, Israel on Wednesday conducted several strikes in Damascus — including within the compound of Syria's Defense Ministry — and Sweida, saying they were in support of Syria's minority Druze community. Israel has also opposed the deployment of Syrian government forces to southern regions with the aim of restoring order amid the recent clashes between Druze fighters and Bedouin tribes. Israeli forces have launched repeated strikes on Syria over the past few years. They advanced into the UN-controlled buffer zone inside Syria last December from positions in the illegally occupied Syrian Golan Heights. To view this video please enable JavaScript, and consider upgrading to a web browser that supports HTML5 video The Britain-based Syrian Observatory for Human Rights said clashes between the Sunni Bedouin and Druze minorities in southern Syria in recent days have led to the loss of 360 lives. The Observatory, which was founded in 2006 to monitor human rights abuses in Syria under the regime of Bashar Assad, later focused on events in the country's civil war from 2011. It relies on a network of sources on the ground in Syria. The information it provides is generally considered credible, though independent verification of its figures is not always possible.
DW
6 hours ago
- DW
What are Israel's objectives in Syria? – DW – 07/17/2025
Israel's attacks on Syrian territory served other purposes than to protect the Druze minority, observers say. What is driving Benjamin Netanyahu's agenda in Syria? Even before the sun had risen on Thursday, Syrian President Ahmed al-Sharaa had already made several announcements on national television. In a dawn speech, he said that the internal unrest between Sunni Bedouins and the Druze minority, resulting in the deaths of around 360 people in the southern province of Sweida, had ended. He also confirmed government forces were no longer deployed in the area. Al-Sharaa then underscored his commitment to protect the rights and freedoms of the Druze community and reaffirmed their place in Syrian society. But the main part of his speech was directed at Syria's neighbor Israel. This week, Israel launched attacks on Syrian government buildings in Damascus and Syrian troops in the Sweida region, resulting in the deaths of 20 people. According to Israel's Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu, the attacks were necessary "to save our Druze brothers and to eliminate the gangs of the regime." Yet, in al-Sharaa's view, Israel was only exploiting the unrest by targeting civilian infrastructure and seeking to derail peace and reconstruction efforts in his country. "We, the people of Syria, know very well who is trying to drag us into war and who is working to divide us," al-Sharaa said, adding that "we will not give them the opportunity to entangle our people in a war that serves only to fragment our homeland and sow destruction." The latest strikes on the Syrian capital mark an escalation of Israel's military campaign in the country. Israel started bombing Syria much more frequently after the overthrow of the country's dictator, Bashar Assad, in early December 2024, ostensibly to ensure that Assad's weapons didn't fall into the hands of the new government. According to Charles Lister, head of the Washington-based Middle East Institute's Syria initiative, Israel has carried out just under 1,000 strikes on Syria, and occupied 180 square kilometers of the country since December 2025. Lister notes that Syria's government has not retaliated at all. Officially, the countries have been at war since 1967. That year, Israel occupied Syria's Golan Heights, a strategic plateau at the border, and then effectively annexed it in 1981. However the international community regards the Golan Heights as Syrian territory under Israeli military occupation. The US and Israel recognize the territory as Israeli. After Assad's fall, Israeli troops have moved beyond a demilitarized zone along the Israel-Syria border that's been monitored by the United Nations since a 1974 ceasefire deal between the two countries. "Israel is trying to carve out an informal buffer zone in southern Syria," Ryan Bohl, senior Middle East and North African analyst at the US-based security intelligence firm Rane Network told news agency Bloomberg this week. Earlier in March, Israel's Netanyahu said Syria's south must be a demilitarized zone. "The recent strikes are a message to the government in Damascus that Israel follows with interest and concern what is happening in Syria," Yossi Mekelberg, a professor of international relations at London's Regent's University, told DW. "One of the problems with the current Israeli government is that its only modus operandi is using force," he added. "There is pressure in Israel to protect the Druze, as there is a long and deep-rooted alliance between the Druze and Jews in Israel," Mekelberg said. In Israel, the Druze are a community of around 150,000. Druze men regularly serve in the Israeli military. In Syria, around 700,000 Druze make up one of Syria's largest minorities. But it's been suggested that the timing of Israel's strikes on Syria this week was also key. On Wednesday, Netanyahu had to appear in court as part of his ongoing corruption trial. His coalition government has also become increasingly fragile after two parties left it earlier this month. This could lead to general elections at the beginning of 2026. Netanyahu has also been under increasing pressure by the US and European states to end the war in Gaza and is faced with calls for the return of the hostages still held by Gaza-based militant group Hamas, which is classified as a terrorist group by the US and many other countries. And Netanyahu is dealing with domestic and international condemnation for the humanitarian catastrophe in Gaza as a result of Israel's ongoing military campaign there. "Considering Netanyahu's show of unabated cynicism and opportunism he could be using situations [such as the clashes involving Syria's Druze minority] to deflect from his legal affairs and the crisis within his coalition," Mekelberg said. "Keeping at least one front open and portraying himself, despite October 7, as 'Mr. Security,' especially when he might contemplate early general elections, is the way that he has always operated." Next week the Israeli parliament goes on summer break which will pause domestic politics until October. Israel's other objective is for Syria to be a very weak state or to be a broken state so that it is unable to threaten Israel, the Rane Network's Bohl told Bloomberg. This seems to be happening, says Nanar Hawach, senior Syria analyst at the think tank International Crisis Group. "Damascus came out weakened from the recent clashes, it was forced to retreat militarily [and] it lost the trust of not only the Druze community but also of different communities that are not aligned with the state," he told DW. In his view, Syria is now even more fragile. "Damascus also lost geopolitically as the government has now less presence in the south, especially in Sweida," he said. He doubts that Syria's interim president Ahmad al-Sharaa could keep his promise and protect the Druze minority. "It seems to be more a political gesture than a credible guarantee," Hawach said, explaining that government forces were seen as siding with anti-Druze militias and there were credible reports of some units abusing Druze civilians. "Unless Damascus reforms its security approach and holds its forces accountable, it will struggle to convince the Druze, or other minority communities, that it can genuinely ensure their safety," he concluded. 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Int'l Business Times
8 hours ago
- Int'l Business Times
France Court Orders Release Of Lebanese Militant After 40 Years In Jail
A French appeals court Thursday ordered the release of pro-Palestinian Lebanese militant Georges Ibrahim Abdallah, imprisoned for 40 years for the 1982 killings of two foreign diplomats. Abdallah, 74, is one of the longest-serving prisoners in France, where most convicts on life sentences are freed after less than 30 years. He has been up for release for 25 years, but the United States -- a civil party to the case -- has consistently opposed him leaving prison. Abdallah was detained in 1984 and sentenced to life in prison in 1987 for his involvement in the murders of US military attache Charles Robert Ray and Israeli diplomat Yacov Barsimantov in Paris. Lebanese of Maronite Christian heritage, he has always insisted he is not a "criminal" but a "fighter" for the rights of Palestinians, whom he said were targeted, along with Lebanon, by the United States and Israel. The Paris Appeals Court ordered he be freed from a prison in the south of France on July 25, on condition that he leave French territory and never return. It said the length of his detention had been "disproportionate" and that he no longer represented a danger to the public. Several sources before the hearing said that it was planned for him to be flown to Paris and then to Beirut. Prosecutors can file an appeal with France's highest court, the Court of Cassation, but any such request is not expected to be processed fast enough to halt his release next week. The detainee's brother, Robert Abdallah, in Lebanon told AFP he was overjoyed. "We're delighted. I didn't expect the French judiciary to make such a decision nor for him to ever be freed, especially after so many failed requests for release," he said. "For once, the French authorities have freed themselves from Israeli and US pressure," he added. Lebanese authorities have repeatedly said Abdallah should be freed from jail, and had written to the appeals court to say they would organise his return home. Abdallah's lawyer Jean-Louis Chalanset also welcomed the decision, calling it a "political scandal he was not released earlier". Israel's embassy in Paris meanwhile released a statement saying it regretted the decision to release Abdallah. "Such terrorists, enemies of the free world, should spend their life in prison," it said. Lebanon's charge d'affaires in Paris, Ziad Taan, told AFP the country was "extremely satisfied" by the decision, adding that Abdallah will be "welcome" in Lebanon. In November last year, a French court ordered Abdallah to be released on condition that he leave France. But France's anti-terror prosecutors, arguing that he had not changed his political views, appealed the decision, which was suspended. A verdict was supposed to have been delivered in February, but the Paris appeals court postponed it over compensation payments. The court re-examined the latest request for his release last month. During the closed-door hearing, Abdallah's lawyer told the judges that 16,000 euros had been placed in the prisoner's bank account at the disposal of civil parties in the case, including the United States, according to several sources who attended. Abdallah was wounded as a teenager when Israel invaded Lebanon in 1978 in the early years of the country's civil war. As an adult, he founded the Lebanese Armed Revolutionary Factions (LARF), a Marxist pro-Syria and anti-Israel group that has now been dissolved. After his arrest in 1984, French police discovered submachine guns and transceiver stations in one of his Paris apartments. The appeals court in February however noted that the FARL "had not committed a violent action since 1984" and that Abdallah "today represented a past symbol of the Palestinian struggle". Lebanon hosts tens of thousands of Palestinians, according to the United Nations, most descendants of those who fled or were expelled from their land during the creation of Israel in 1948. He is to be released from the Lannemezan prison in southern France next week AFP Georges Abdallah, here seen in 2010, had been denied multiple previous requests for release AFP
