(ANI): The White House on Friday announced the killing of al-Qaida leader Qassim al-Rimi and his deputy Ayman al-Zawahiri, in counter-terrorism operation conducted by US forces in Yemen. Qassim al-Rimi, is the leader of the terror organisation in the Arabian Peninsula. “At the direction of President Donald Trump, the US conducted a counterterrorism operation in Yemen that successfully eliminated Qasim al-Rimi, a founder and the leader of al-Qa’ida in the Arabian Peninsula (AQAP) and a deputy to al-Qa’ida leader Ayman al-Zawahiri,” a White House tweet read. The US officials claimed that Rimi had committed crimes against civilians in Yemen and has conducted several attacks on the United States forces. “Under Rimi, AQAP committed unconscionable violence against civilians in Yemen and sought to conduct and inspire numerous attacks against the United States and our forces,” the statement read. The White House has further stated that Washington will continue to protect the interests of American people and its allies. “The United States, our interests, and our allies are safer as a result of his death.
We will continue to protect the American people by tracking down and eliminating terrorists who seek to do us harm,” it further added. Last month, Qassem Soleimani, the head of Iran’s Revolutionary Guards’ elite Quds Force, was killed in a US drone strike ordered by President Donald Trump at Baghdad International Airport. — Russia to make call on oil output cuts ‘in coming days’ MOSCOW, Feb. 7 : (AFP) – Russia said on Friday it will decide within days whether to back oil output reductions with its OPEC partners to counter crude price falls since the deadly spread of a coronavirus. Energy Minister Alexander Novak’s announcement came a day after Russia rejected proposals to slash crude output at an OPEC+ meeting, media reported, and asked instead for more time to assess the virus’ impact on the world economy and demand for crude. OPEC+ groups together the Organization of the Petroleum Exporting Countries with Russia and other non-members. They already have a production cut agreement in place, but OPEC kingpin Saudi Arabia and others have called for additional rapid cuts to support the oil price which stands close to 20 percent lower than a month ago.
“We’ll see how the situation evolves over coming days,” Novak told Russian news agencies Friday. “The matter will be resolved in the coming days.” The spread of the novel coronavirus in and from China has sparked worries that Chinese economic growth will suffer, in turn impacting world growth and with it demand for oil. China buys two thirds of its crude from OPEC and its allies, mostly from Saudi and Russia. Russia, whose finances are fragile, fears that production cuts will hurt its income too much, according analysts. The country has embarked on a gigantic public investment plan to rekindle economic growth and meet President Vladimir Putin’s targets by 2024 when his mandate ends. The programme depends heavily on steady income from crude sales.
