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Xinhua Middle East news summary at 2200 GMT, Feb. 16

Xinhua, February 17, 2015 Adjust font size:

Egypt conducted air strikes on Islamic State (IS) targets in Libya on Monday, a day after the group released a video purporting to show the beheading of 21 Egyptians in the neighboring country.

"Your armed forces on Monday carried out focused air strikes in Libya against Daesh camps, places of gathering and training, and weapons depots," the military said in a statement, referring to the IS group. (Egypt-IS-Libya)

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KHARTOUM -- Sudan, the African Union and the UN continue their talks in Khartoum Monday on an exit strategy for the UN-AU Mission in Darfur (UNAMID), after Khartoum repeatedly demanded that the hybrid mission leave the area.

The meeting, which has no time ceiling, is expected to continue until a deal is reached on UNAMID's gradual exit from the country, according to Ambassador Abdalla Al-Azraq, head of the Sudanese side. (Sudan-UN-AU)

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TRIPOLI -- Italy closed its embassy in Libya on Sunday, citing worsening security conditions here, a diplomatic source in the capital of Tripoli told Xinhua on condition of anonymity.

"All the staff of the Italian embassy evacuated for security fears after receiving a piece of information on a possible attempted bombing on the embassy," the official said, noting that "no date of return has been specified." (Italy-Libya-Embassy)

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RABAT -- Morocco decided to close airspace and ban Libyan airlines temporarily from flying over its territory, and ordered its national carrier Royal Air Maroc (RAM) to stop serving Libyan cities as of Monday, said a joint statement of the Moroccan Ministry of Interior and Transport.

This temporary ban is dictated by non-matching procedures for the conduct of flight, from the Libyan airports to the safety standards imposed by the international civil aviation bodies, said the statement published by official news agency MAP. (Morocco-Libya)

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GAZA -- Israel decided to ease a security blockade that has been imposed on the Gaza Strip for around eight years, a senior Palestinian official said on Monday.

Ma'roof Zahran, an official with the Palestinian civil coordination office in the Palestinian National Authority (PNA), told Xinhua that Israel informed his office that it decided to carry out a series of relaxing measures to the blockade. (Israel-Gaza Strip) Endit