Arabic press review: Sudan subterfuge and Israeli strip searches

Sudan president's right-hand man goes walkabout

A senior Sudanese official was maintaining secret contact with both Saudi Arabia and the United Arab Emirates and was plotting to overthrow President Omar al-Bashir before his sudden dismissal, Arabi21 reported.

Taha Osman Ahmed al-Hussein was sacked as the director of the office of the Sudanese president, and was either arrested shortly after being sacked while trying to flee Sudan, then released, or managed to slip past security with his family. He is now in Medina. 

The website quoted an anonymous source as saying Osman was fired by Omar al-Bashir after security services discovered Osman was carrying a Saudi passport, issued in January. He also had a residency permit for the UAE, dating back to 2015. 

The source told the website that Osman had offered to send Sudanese troops to Saudi Arabia and the UAE to fight against Qatar, in return for both Riyadh and Abu Dhabi’s support for his bid for the Sudanese presidency.

Palestinian women sue Israeli airline for strip searches

Three Palestinian-Israeli women are suing the Israeli airlines, El Al and Arkia, over what they claim was humiliating treatment during a two-hour airport security check that included degrading strip searches.

The London-based al-Quds al-Arabi newspaper reported that the women, all students from northern Israel, were back from Belgrade when they were pulled out of line and racially profiled.

The female students were asked to take off their clothes in order to conduct a manual body search and threatened with being prevented from boarding the flight.

One of the students also had the contents of her mobile phone searched and all the students were placed under strict surveillance throughout their stay at the airport.

The students flew on Arkia airline, while El Al was in charge of security checks. El Al said it would respond to the claims when they are heard in court.

Algerian aid to Gaza

An Algerian aid ship on its way to the Gaza Strip may not be allowed to deliver its goods because of the recent Israeli escalation, according to the Algerian newspaper al-Shorouk al-Yawmi.

The newspaper states the Algerian aid ship began its journey to the Gaza Strip a week ago and is currently on its way to Port Said in Egypt, where its content will be transferred by truck to the Gaza Strip.

According to the newspaper, the ship is carrying humanitarian aid worth more than $3m, including four ambulances, medical equipment, drugs and electricity generators.

Iranian militias 'near Jordanian border'

The Jordanian al-Ghad newspaper has reported that Iranian militias have been deployed on Syrian territory near the Jordanian border.

The militias have become a source of concern for Jordan, especially after the Syrian regime’s recent handover of al-Seen military airbase - Syria's third largest - to the Iranian Islamic Revolutionary Guard.

The Jordanian newspaper says al-Seen military airbase is only 73km from the Jordanian border.

The airbase has become a destination for the Ilyushin Il-76 Iranian military aircraft used to transport soldiers and military equipment.

Two of these aircraft have recently been arriving at the airbase daily, drastically multiplying the number of militia fighters and equipment, causing serious concern.