Erdogan says Turkish troops inside Syria’s Al-Bab

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Turkey-backed-opposition fighters advance in an armoured personnel carrier on the western outskirts of the northern Syrian city of al-Bab in a bid to enter the city and retake control of it from the Islamic State (IS) group on February 9, 2017.<br />Saleh ABO GHALOUN / AFP

President Recep Tayyip Erdogan on Sunday said Turkish troops and their Syrian rebel allies have entered the centre of the Islamic State-held bastion Al-Bab, saying its capture was just a “matter of time”.

“Al-Bab is now besieged from all fronts … Our forces entered the centre” with Syrian rebels, Erdogan told journalists in Istanbul before leaving for a tour of Gulf countries.

Erdogan said it was “only a matter of time” before the allied forces took full control of the flashpoint town.

“Daesh forces have begun leaving Al-Bab completely,” he said, using Arabic acronym for IS group.

Turkish forces and allied rebels on Saturday entered Al-Bab to drive IS jihadists from the flashpoint northern town, the Syrian Observatory for Human Rights said.

The Turkish army launched an ambitious campaign inside Syria on August 24 codenamed Euphrates Shield to clean its border from IS jihadists and stop the advance of Kurdish militia.

But the clashes in Al-Bab have proved the toughest in the campaign, with Turkish military fatalities surging.

One Turkish soldier was killed and three others wounded in clashes with jihadists on Sunday, the private Dogan news agency reported, citing military sources.

The latest casualty raised the number of Turkish troops killed in the Syria offensive to 67.

The three injured troops were evacuated from Al-Bab and taken to hospitals in Turkey’s Kilis and Gaziantep provinces near the Syrian border, Dogan reported.

Al-Bab is the jihadist group’s last stronghold in the northern province of Aleppo and is also being targeted by regime forces.

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We went easy on battered Arsenal, says Hazard…See full details

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Chelsea's Belgian midfielder Eden Hazard (R) shoots to scores their second goal during the English Premier League football match between Chelsea and Arsenal at Stamford Bridge in London on February 4, 2017. PHOTO: Ian KINGTON / AFP

Eden Hazard said runaway Premier League leaders Chelsea could easily have won by double the 3-1 scoreline that extinguished Arsenal’s title hopes for another season.

The Belgian tore through the Arsenal defence at Stamford Bridge on Saturday for a stunning Chelsea second goal but suggested the champions-elect held back from inflicting further damage on Arsene Wenger’s demoralised men.

“We could score two or three more goals. We didn’t, we keep it for the next game, I think,” Hazard told Chelsea TV, after Antonio Conte’s side blew Arsenal away. They now have a nine-point lead over Tottenham Hotspur at the Premier League summit.

Reflecting on his solo goal, after he powered his way from the halfway line, he added: “I score a few goals, a few beautiful goals

“But this one is special. It’s against Arsenal and we won the game.

“This one is one of the best.”

Conte’s side are now training their sights on next Sunday’s trip to Burnley.

“The gap is more big now. We want to stay there, top of the league forever,” Hazard said.

Marcos Alonso scored the opener for Chelsea and Cesc Fabregas lobbed in a third, before Olivier Giroud nodded in a late consolation as Wenger watched grimly from the Stamford Bridge stands as he serves a touchline ban.

Chelsea might hold a handsome lead and have all the impetus, but Conte — who dived into the home fans to celebrate — was in more cautious mood afterwards and said he wanted even more from Hazard.

The Italian said: “He played very well. I hope to play always in this way.

“He has great talent and we need this talent.”

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Morocco set to join AU after 33 years of absence

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Morocco is set to rejoin the African Union (AU) during the 28th African summit scheduled for Jan. 30 to Jan. 31 in Addis-Ababa, after leaving the pan African organisation three decades ago.

In 1984, Morocco decided to withdraw from the Organisation of African Unity, which later became the AU, over the admission of the Sahrawi Arab Democratic Republic (SADR) as a full member of the organisation.

SADR claims sovereignty over the whole Western Sahara territory, which Morocco claims as its own.

For over three decades, Morocco has refused to be part of the organisation, but recently the country has changed its policing, making the readmission to the AU on the top of its agenda.

In July 2016, King Mohammed VI of Morocco sent a message to the 27th AU summit in Kigali, Rwanda, saying that his country “should not remain outside its African institutional family, and it should regain its natural, rightful place within the AU.”

The king however, explained the reasons for returning to the pan African organisation.

He mentioned the repeated call of many African friends of the kingdom as well as a thorough reflection, which concluded that “when a body is sick, it is treated more effectively from the inside than from the outside.”

He also stressed that from within, “Morocco will contribute to making the AU a more robust organisation, one that is both proud of its credibility and relieved of the trappings of an obsolete era.”

Two months after the king’s message to the African leaders, the North African kingdom formally submitted a request to re-join the continental body in September.

The request was submitted after Morocco received the support of a group of 28 AU member states, representing over the majority of the 54 AU member states required for admission.

Following this request, the Moroccan king toured numerous African countries, including some that Rabat has long regarded as hostile to its territorial unity, on the top of which the African giant, Nigeria.

Consequently, Morocco raised the total of the supporters to 40 as was announced by its Foreign Minister Salaheddine Mezouar during a parliamentary session to review the constitutive act of AU a week earlier.

Recently, both houses of the Moroccan parliament unanimously adopted the constitutive act of AU, its additional protocol and the bill on the approval of the act, preparing the ground for the Kingdom’s return to the AU.

On Jan. 10, the council of ministers, which is chaired by the king, approved the draft texts.

While Morocco has not being a part of AU, it has developed strong ties with many countries in the continent, particularly in French-speaking states in West and Central Africa.

Report says Morocco is already the top investor in West Africa and the second largest African investor in the continent.

In addition, Moroccan firms have strong holds in the many African markets, especially those related to banking, insurance, air transport, telecommunications and housing.

According to official statistics from the country’s economy and finance ministry, over the decade ending in 2016, Morocco’s investment in sub-Saharan Africa represented 85 per cent of its overall foreign direct investment stocks.

In addition to economic relations, Morocco has strong cooperation with many African countries, particularly in the fields of security, peacekeeping operations and managing religious affairs.

Morocco looks ahead to expand its influence in the continent and also to join hands with member states to meet the countless challenges facing the continent, through rejoining of the AU.

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