DOHA: Thousands of migrant laborers, many of whom have worked on Qatar’s new stadiums, have formed long queues to see the World Cup trophy that will be contested in the Gulf state this year.

The price of tickets means that most of those who waited up to two hours for the chance of a selfie next to the gold trophy will not see the games that start Nov. 21.

South Asia has contributed the biggest contingent to the army of laborers that built seven new stadiums and refurbished an eighth for the first World Cup in an Arab country.

For the latest stage of its final display in Qatar before the tournament, the trophy was set up in a car park near Doha’s main cricket stadium in Asian Town.

Each person had about 15 seconds on Friday to snap a picture with the cup that is currently held by France. A Bangladeshi pop group and Indian drummers entertained the waiting hordes.

Azam Rashid, a carpenter who worked on two stadiums, said he was among the many workers who could not afford tickets but was intrigued by the cup.

“The tickets may be too expensive, but Qatar and the World Cup has given me an opportunity,” he said.

“There are long lines, but it will be worth it to see the trophy,” he said.

Some tickets costing 40 riyals ($11) have been reserved for Qatar’s 2.8 million population, most of whom are foreign workers.

Many in the line told AFP, however, that all the cheap tickets had gone and the cost of others was out of range for the mainly male workers earning Qatar’s minimum wage of $275 a month.

“The World Cup is exciting but it is definitely too much for me,” said an administrative worker who gave his name as Tarir.

Another expat, Nasim, said he was more fortunate and obtained some $10 tickets. “Everyone can afford the price I paid,” he said.

But Ahmed Kareem, a construction laborer who said he had been in Qatar for a decade, predicted that most migrants would only watch matches on TV.

BEIRUT: Lebanon’s embassies in countries with a Sunday weekend have completed their arrangements for Lebanese expats to cast their votes in parliamentary elections.

There are over 190,000 Lebanese expats living in the UAE, the US, Australia, and across Europe and Africa who registered their names with the Ministry of Foreign Affairs months ago, out of the millions of Lebanese expats around the world.

The first phase of the Lebanese expat voting process in 10 Arab and Muslim countries ended on Friday night, with a final turnout of nearly 60 percent of registered voters.

Three opposition parties topped the general electoral scene, the Lebanese Phalange Party (Kataeb), the Progressive Socialist Party, and the Lebanese Forces party. Hezbollah and the Amal movement dominated the electoral scene in Iran and Syria, which had the highest turnout.

The turnout of the Sunni voter was remarkable in the Gulf states, specifically voting in the boxes designated for Beirut’s second constituency.

It was impossible to trace the votes for the forces of change or what is known as the candidates of the revolutionary movements that took to the streets in 2019, as they had several lists which dispersed the expat vote.

Candidates are committed to an electoral silence that lasts until Monday, according to electoral law.

Arab News contacted sources close to them. One of them said on condition of anonymity: “According to our sources in the Gulf countries, especially in Saudi Arabia, Kuwait, Qatar, and Bahrain, a good percentage of expats voted for the forces of change. Voters who voted for the revolution’s lists posted pictures of their fingers dipped in blue ink.

“Votes in Beirut’s second constituency, specifically by the Sunni voter, were remarkable, although some Sunnis boycotted the elections in line with the Future Movement’s decision not to participate. Other voters boycotted because they did not find in the traditional parties’ lists anyone who would convince them to re-elect them, specifically the Shiite voter preferred to boycott the electoral process.”

According to the final results of the voter turnout, Syria had the highest, amounting to 83.79 percent, 73.83 percent in Iran, 66.45 percent in Oman, 65.59 percent in Kuwait, 49.26 percent in Saudi Arabia, 66.46 percent in Bahrain, 59.63 percent in Jordan, 48.72 in Qatar, 48 percent in Iraq, and 44 percent in Egypt.

About 18,000 expats voted in these countries, from around 31,000 registered voters. The general percentage was 58.89 percent.

In 2018, the turnout in Arab countries was about 65 percent.

The ballot boxes arrived in Lebanon on Saturday, sealed with red wax and equipped with a tracking device via DHL, with the exception of the two ballot boxes from Iran, which Lebanese ambassador Abbas Hassan brought personally by air as DHL does not deal with Iranian authorities. He said that the two boxes held 474 votes.

At the Masnaa crossing, on Lebanon’s border with Syria, the Ministry of Interior received three ballot boxes containing 853 votes.

The boxes were transferred to the Banque du Liban for safekeeping until the evening of May 15, after the end of the electoral process in Lebanon, to be sorted with the rest of the ballot boxes.

AL-MUKALLA: Heavy clashes between suspected Al-Qaeda militants and Yemeni security forces in the province of Dhale have left 10 people, including two officers and seven militants, dead, local officials and media reports said.

A local security official told Arab News that fighting erupted on Friday evening inside the headquarters of the government’s Security Belt forces, north of Dhale city, after a group of arrested Al-Qaeda militants refused to lay down their arms and began shooting at security forces.

“The forces that arrested those militants made a mistake by not disarming them immediately after arresting them and allowed them to carry weapons till they reached the headquarters,” the security official said on condition of anonymity because he was not authorized to brief reporters.

When security forces asked the militants to hand over weapons to be allowed to enter the building, they began throwing grenades and opened fire with machine guns, triggering heavy clashes and explosions.

Waled Saleh Hasan Al-Dhami, deputy commander of the Security Belt in Dhale, and Mohammed Yahiya Al-Shubaji, commander of a counterterrorism unit, were among those killed.

Another soldier died along with seven militants, while at least six troops were wounded in the fighting, the official said.

Al-Qaeda in the Arabian Peninsula, also known as AQAP, has been significantly weakened during the past six years after local military and security forces, trained and armed by the Coalition to Restore Legitimacy in Yemen, pushed them out of their major havens and strongholds, and killed and arrested dozens of fighters.

The militants’ deadly attacks have largely decreased and their attempts to return to southern provinces have been foiled.

Separately, the UN Yemen envoy, Hans Grundberg, welcomed the coalition’s release of Houthi war prisoners announced on Friday and urged the Yemeni parties to step up efforts to achieve another prisoner swap that could see hundreds of Yemeni rejoin their families.

“Last month, the parties agreed through my office on another exchange of detainees. I urge the parties to agree on the details of the release so that Yemeni families may be reunited as soon as possible,” the UN official said tweeted.

“This will be an important step toward fulfilling commitments made in Stockholm to release all conflict-related detainees.”

In a goodwill gesture to pave the way for an end to the war, the coalition said on Friday that it was releasing 163 Houthi war prisoners, including foreign nationals, and transporting them to Aden and Sanaa in cooperation with the International Committee of the Red Cross.

The internationally recognized government of Yemen agreed to receive most of the freed prisoners in Aden after the Houthis refused to recognize them as their prisoners.

CAIRO: Egypt’s military said Saturday at least 11 troops, including an officer, have been killed in a militant attack in the restive northern part of the Sinai Peninsula.

The military said in a statement that the militants attacked a water pumping station Saturday east of the Suez Canal. It did not give further details on the location.

The statement said security forces clashes with the attacking militants. It says at least five other troops were wounded in the attack. Troops were pursuing the the militants in an isolated area in Sinai, it added.

No group claimed responsibility for Saturday’s ambush, one of the deadliest attacks against Egyptian security forces in recent years.

Saudi Arabia condemned and denounced the attack.

The Kingdom affirmed its support for Egypt in the face of all threats to its security and stability, the foreign ministry announced on Saturday.

The ministry added it appreciated the role of the Egyptian armed forces in confronting attacks by terrorist organizations.

Last week, suspected militants blew up a natural gas pipeline in Northern Sinai’s town of Bir El-Abd, causing a fire but no casualties.

Egypt has been battling a Daesh-led insurgency in the Sinai since 2013. The militants have carried out scores of attacks, mainly targeting security forces and Christians.

The pace of militant attacks in Sinai’s main theater of operations and elsewhere has slowed to a trickle since February 2018, when the military launched a massive operation in Sinai as well as parts of the Nile Delta and deserts along the country’s western border with Libya.

The fight against militants in Sinai has largely taken place hidden from the public eye, with journalists, non-residents and outside observers barred from the area. The conflict has also been kept at a distance from tourist resorts at the southern end of the peninsula.

* With AP

KHARTOUM: Sudanese security forces killed a protester when an armored vehicle ran over him during the latest rally against last year’s military coup, medics said.

The unidentified protester was killed by the “vehicle belonging to the coup forces during rallies in Khartoum” headed toward the presidential palace, said the Central Committee of Sudan Doctors, a pro-democracy group of medics.

Anti-coup demonstrators routinely target the palace, where the ruling Sovereign Council is based along the Nile River.

The demonstrator’s death brings to 95 the toll from the crackdown on anti-coup protests since the October military takeover led by army chief Gen. Abdel Fattah Al-Burhan, the doctors’ committee said.

Regular rallies have taken place against Sudan’s latest coup, which derailed a political transition period set in motion after the 2019 ouster of longtime autocrat Omar Al-Bashir.

The military power grab drew wide international condemnation, including the suspension of vital aid, and upended a transition to civilian rule in one of the world’s poorest countries.

The UN, along with the African Union and regional bloc IGAD, have been pushing to facilitate Sudanese-led talks to resolve the crisis.

Senior officials from the US, UK and other Western countries have urged Sudanese factions to participate in the UN-AU-IGAD process and warned against any delay, according to an April 29 EU statement.

“They underscored that international financial support for the Sudanese government, including debt relief, could only follow establishment of a credible civilian government,” it said.

Otherwise, “Sudan might lose billions of dollars in development assistance from the World Bank, and that Sudan’s IMF program and $19 billion in associated debt relief would be imperiled,” it noted.

Last month, Sudanese authorities released several anti-coup civilian leaders arrested in the crackdown.

Burhan has pledged to free political detainees to set the stage for talks among Sudanese factions.