New
Age Islam News Bureau
11
January 2021
Asaduddin Owaisi, Chairman AIMIM
----
•
Israeli Rights Groups Demand Inoculation of Palestinian Prisoners against
Coronavirus
•
Taliban ‘Battered’ Across Afghanistan, ‘IEDs Defused’
•
A Malaysian High Court to Decide If Members of Ahmadiyya Are Muslims or
Otherwise
•
Only Iran Stood By Iraq in Difficult Times of Anti-Daesh Fight: Politician
•
Mine-Free River Jordan Shrine Ends 50 Year Wait for Epiphany Procession
•
Pompeo Says US Designating Yemen's Huthis A Terrorist Group
•
Saudi Arabia’s Crown Prince, Italy’s Foreign Affairs Minister Discuss Ties in
AlUla
India
•
Don’t Vote for Owaisi’s Party: Head of Bengal Imam Association Made a Public
Appeal to Voters
•
Delhi Riots, Tablighi Jamaat Vilification Leave African Muslim Refugees in
India Shaken
•
J&K witnessed 63.93% decrease in terrorist incidents in 2020: MHA
•
26/11 Mumbai attacks: India awaits Pakistan response on witness testimony
•
India Could Boost Military Assistance To Afghanistan, As Taliban Peace Talks
Resume In Doha
--------
Mideast
•
Israeli Rights Groups Demand Inoculation of Palestinian Prisoners against
Coronavirus
•
Israeli bulldozers raze Palestinian lands south of al-Aqsa Mosque
•
Pakistan’s Imran Khan: Iran capable of turning into regional economic power
•
Turkey urges citizens to abandon WhatsApp over privacy concerns
--------
South
Asia
•
Taliban ‘Battered’ Across Afghanistan, ‘IEDs Defused’
•
Afghan forces remove Taliban 'checkpoints' from Baghlan-Balkh highway
•
Afghanistan Investigates Civilian Deaths in Air Strike against Taliban in
Nimroz Province
•
Afghanistan investigating if civilians killed in strike against Taliban
•
Ex-journalist among three killed in Kabul blast
--------
Southeast
Asia
•
A Malaysian High Court to Decide If Members of Ahmadiyya Are Muslims or
Otherwise
•
Indonesia Potentially Set To Take On China and Claim Leadership of ‘Moderate’
Islam
•
Indonesia green-lights emergency use of Chinese vaccine
--------
Arab
World
•
Only Iran Stood By Iraq in Difficult Times of Anti-Daesh Fight: Politician
•
Israeli jets flying low over Lebanon airspace daily as tensions run high
•
Iraq ‘surprised’ at US sanctions for top PMU militia leader
•
Bahrain to reopen airspace to Qatar after reconciliation
•
Lebanon's biggest Christian political bloc rules out joining Hariri government
•
Saudi Arabia’s KSrelief distributes winter kits to over 100,000 families in
Lebanon
•
Policeman shot, dozens wounded in protests in Iraq’s Nasiriyah
•
Syrian protesters call for withdrawal of Turkish, SDF forces from Qamishli
•
Drone attack hits oil refineries in militant-held northern Syrian: Reports
•
US shelling in Dayr al-Zawr kills Syrian child, injures mother: SANA
--------
Africa
•
Mine-Free River Jordan Shrine Ends 50 Year Wait for Epiphany Procession
•
US envoy visits Western Sahara after Morocco-Israel normalization deal
•
Ethiopia says TPLF members killed, captured in fresh Tigray operation
•
France sends warplanes to Central African Republic as rebels attack another city
•
UNICEF condemns terrorist suicide attack in Cameroon
•
Libyan official hopes US' Biden will back stability
•
Cameroon: 18 dead, 4 injured in terror attacks
--------
North
America
•
Pompeo Says US Designating Yemen's Huthis A Terrorist Group
•
US soldiers recall devastation as Iran pounded Ain al-Assad air base in Iraq
•
US to designate Yemen’s Ansarallah as ‘terrorist’ group: Reuters
•
Pope urges Americans to shun violence, seek reconciliation in wake of Capitol
riot
•
Top Pentagon policy official in Riyadh, meets Saudi Dpty. Defence Min.
--------
Europe
•
Saudi Arabia’s Crown Prince, Italy’s Foreign Affairs Minister Discuss Ties in
AlUla
•
Second Australian arrested over Iraqi Unaoil scandal
•
Pope condemns US violence, calls for reconciliation
•
Top Turkish diplomat looking for progress in EU ties
•
Germany cancels Assad-supporter's asylum status
•
EU has priority in Turkey’s agenda: President Erdogan
Compiled
by New Age Islam News Bureau
URL: https://www.newageislam.com/islamic-world-news/dont-vote-owaisis-party-head/d/124042
--------
Don’t
Vote for Owaisi’s Party: Head of Bengal Imam Association Made a Public Appeal
to Voters
Jan
11, 2021
Asaduddin Owaisi, Chairman AIMIM
----
KOLKATA:
The head of Bengal Imam Association, Mohammad Yahya has made a public appeal to
voters in poll-bound West Bengal not to exercise their franchise in favour of
any outfit backed by Asaduddin Owaisi, chief of AIMIM. “Every vote to them is a
vote for BJP. Why does a Hyderabadi politician become active in states only
where BJP faces tough opposition in winning elections?” he said last week.
Several
senior clerics, civil society groups and youth forums have started cautioning
people that radical minority political formations have no place in West Bengal.
Last
week, clerics met under the leadership of Qari Fazlur Rahman, who said, “People
are free to vote for anybody they want and we don’t want to influence that
decision. But do remember, this time the vote will not only decide the future
of the state but of millions of people staying here. There are forces that want
to disturb the peace and drive a wedge among people, sowing seeds of hatred. Many
people may be targeted for their religious beliefs. We must arrive at a
consensus and vote responsibly.”
https://timesofindia.indiatimes.com/india/dont-vote-for-owaisis-party-bengal-imams/articleshow/80205526.cms
--------
Israeli
Rights Groups Demand Inoculation Of Palestinian Prisoners Against Coronavirus
10
January 2021
This file picture shows Palestinian prisoners at
an Israeli detention facility in the occupied territories.
------
Five
human rights organizations based in occupied Palestinian territories have
called for the COVID-19 vaccination of Palestinian prisoners against the
backdrop of a statement by Israeli Public Security Minister Amir Ohana, who has
said inoculation of the inmates was “not a priority.”
On
Sunday, the Association for Civil Rights, Physicians for Human Rights, Adalah,
the Center for the Defense of the Individual, as well as Rabbis for Human Rights
submitted a petition to the Israeli Supreme Court.
The
five organizations asked the court to order the Israel Prison Service (IPS) to
vaccinate all prisoners, not least those over the age of 60.
Adalah
said the Israeli minister’s stance violates the medical rights of prisoners,
and contradicts the guidelines of the Israeli Health Ministry as well as
professional medical ethics that guarantee equal treatment for all.
Late
last month, Israeli prison authorities closed down the Ramon prison after
detecting several coronavirus infections among prisoners and guards.
The
Palestinian Prisoner Society (PPS) said on December 27 that the closure was “a
serious indication of a possible wide outbreak of the pandemic among the
detainees.”
On
Friday, Ohana reiterated that he would not back down on his decision to deny
the vaccine to Palestinian prisoners.
The
minister insisted that the shots would only be considered after all prison
staff members are vaccinated as well as the “general population of Israelis who
are not incarcerated.”
Earlier
this month, Palestinian Health Minister Mai al-Kaila warned about an imminent
outbreak of the virus in Israel's densely crowded detention centers.
Kaila
said in a statement on January 3 that Israeli prisons are potential epicenters
of the pandemic, which means the lives of many prisoners, particularly the
elderly and the sick, are at high risk.
The
minister held Israeli authorities responsible for the lives of Palestinian
prisoners, especially those incarcerated in Ktzi'ot Prison, where more than
1,200 inmates are currently held.
More
than 7,000 Palestinian prisoners are currently behind bars in some 17 Israeli
jails.
https://www.presstv.com/Detail/2021/01/10/642691/Israeli-rights-groups-Palestinian-prisoners
--------
Taliban
‘Battered’ Across Afghanistan, ‘IEDs Defused’
By
Mohammad Haroon Alim
10
Jan 2021
Image Source: AFP/ Getty Images
------
The
Ministry of Defense said on Saturday, that three Taliban insurgents had been
killed in an Airstrike by Air Force in Wardak province.
Details
from the Investigations showed, that the incident took place in the ‘Nirkh’ and
‘Sayedabad’ districts of Wardak province.
According
to the report, three Taliban fighters were killed during incident.
Incident
inquiries indicate that the insurgents were targeted while planting mines
through Defense air raids in the regions.
In
another incident, 23 Taliban militants were killed and five others were wounded
during the clashes in Arghandab district of Kandahar province.
MoD
tweeted, that the Taliban were targeted before they could initiate their
offensives on ANDSF positions.
During
the operations, Afghan security force members defused 113 IEDs, which were
planted by the Taliban insurgents on the public roads in the Zherai, Arghandab,
and Maiwand districts of Kandahar province.
The
roadside bombs were discovered and safely removed by the Afghan National Army,
and dozens of civilian lives were saved before the mines could inflict massive
casualties.
Meanwhile,
Taliban attacks have been augmented in Kabul and some other provinces.
This
comes as 17 Taliban insurgents were killed by the ANDSF on Saturday, further
seven of the militant members were reported wounded in two separate districts
of Herat province.
A
spokesman for the Ghazni police chief, Ahmad Khan Sirat said, the Taliban had
attacked a security checkpoint in the Rowza area of the province, resulting in
the fall of the outpost to the militants.
He
added that three security personnel were captured alive by the Taliban during
the attack and two of the security members successfully escaped for safety.
Some
members of the Ghazni provincial council have reportedly criticized security
officials in the province, accusing them of negligence in managing the
conflict.
https://www.khaama.com/taliban-battered-across-afghanistan-ieds-defused/
--------
A
Malaysian High Court to Decide If Members of Ahmadiyya Are Muslims or Otherwise
V
Anbalagan
January
11, 2021
SHAH
ALAM: The High Court here has fixed March 19 to determine whether 39
individuals, including foreigners, who professed the Ahmadiyya belief are
Muslims or otherwise.
Lawyer
Hasnan Hamzah said judge Vazeer Alam Mydin Meera fixed the date after meeting
parties in his chambers for case management.
“The
parties have also been requested to file further affidavits , if required,
within two weeks from today,” he told FMT.
Hasnan
represented the Selangor shariah chief enforcement officer and prosecution
officer, state legal officer Muhammad Haziq Hashim appeared for the Selangor
government and Selangor Islamic Religious Department (JAIS), and lawyer Michael
Cheah for the individuals.
On
Aug 27 last year, a three-member Court of Appeal bench chaired by Badariah
Sahamid sent back the case and ordered the High Court to ascertain the
religious beliefs of the individuals.
Badariah,
who has since retired, had said if they were Ahmadiyya by original faith, then
the Selangor shariah court had no jurisdiction over them in the state.
She
said should it be proven that they were following the faith after converting
out of Islam, then the religious court had authority over them.
Badariah,
who sat with Zabariah Mohd Yusof and Nor Bee Ariffin to hear appeals from the
Selangor government and the religious authorities, said the information on the
identity cards on the religious status of Malaysians was not conclusive proof
of which faith one belonged to.
On
July 6, 2018, Vazeer had ruled that the Selangor religious authorities had no
right to stop religious activities of the Ahmadiyya community, who follow a
sect which Muslims generally regard as being outside the fold of Islam.
The
judge also ruled that JAIS had no right to bring charges against members of the
sect for violating a state fatwa against Ahmadiyya teachings.
The
group, including 20 Malaysians, eight Pakistani asylum seekers, two Indian
nationals and an Indonesian, who were performing Friday prayers on April 11,
2014 at the community centre at Batu Caves, Selangor, had challenged JAIS for
trying to charge them with shariah offences, on the basis that Islamic
authorities in Selangor do not recognise Ahmadiyya as Muslims.
They
were informed that they had not obtained written permission to use the premises
– a shoplot at Dolomite Park, Batu Caves – for purposes which may only be
carried out on, in or by a mosque, contrary to Section 97 of the Administration
of the Religion of Islam (State of Selangor) Enactment 2003.
https://www.freemalaysiatoday.com/category/nation/2021/01/11/court-to-decide-if-members-of-ahmadiyya-are-muslims/
--------
Only
Iran stood by Iraq in difficult times of anti-Daesh fight: Politician
10
January 2021
An
Iraqi politician has appreciated the role played by top anti-terror commander
Lieutenant General Qassem Soleimani in the fight against the Daesh terrorist
group, saying only Iran supported the Iraqi nation in its difficult times.
Hadi
al-Amiri, the head of Fatah (Conquest) Alliance at the Iraqi parliament, made
the remarks during a ceremony in the holy city of Najaf on Saturday to mark the
first anniversary of the US assassination of General Soleimani and his Iraqi
trenchmate Abu Mahdi al-Muhandis, the deputy head of the Popular Mobilization
Units (PMU).
He
said the two commanders played a significant role in stabilizing Iraq and
confronting occupation and terrorism.
Both
were assassinated along with their companions in a US drone strike authorized
by President Donald Trump near Baghdad International Airport on January 3,
2020.
“During
the difficult situation in Iraq, it was only the Islamic Republic of Iran that
stood by us and supported our nation in the fight against the Daesh terrorist
group,” Amiri said.
"We
thank Martyr Qassem Soleimani for his role in supporting the Iraqi nation in
difficulties and hardships."
In
2014, when Daesh unleashed its campaign of terror in Iraq, Iranian military
advisers rushed to the aid of Iraqi armed forces on Baghdad’s request, helping
them reverse Daesh’s gains and ultimately liberate their entire homeland from
the terrorist outfit some three years later.
According
to Iraqi leaders, the crucial aid came just as Daesh had reached the gates of
Baghdad and Iraq's desperate pleas for help from the US and other countries had
gone unanswered.
Amiri
said, “The Daesh sedition had international backing, but the fatwa (religious
decree) issued by the Iraqi religious authority thwarted and defeated it.”
He
was referring to a June 2014 fatwa issued by Iraq's most prominent Shia cleric
Grand Ayatollah Ali al-Sistani, who called on all Iraqi citizens to take arms
and defend their homeland against Daesh.
The
fatwa gathered Shia fighters, Sunni tribesmen as well as Christian and Izadi
volunteers under the umbrella of the PMU, commonly known as Hashd al-Sha’abi,
to prevent Daesh’s advances.
In
his remarks, Amiri stressed that Iraq’s stability only relies on the withdrawal
of foreign forces.
"Our
first demand is the pullout of American troops and the handover of Iraq’s
affairs to the Iraqis, because they are able to provide security and build
their country by themselves."
Two
days after Washington’s assassination of General Soleimani and Muhandis, Iraqi
lawmakers approved a bill, demanding the withdrawal of all foreign military
forces led by the United States from the country.
Amiri
emphasized that the parliamentary resolution as well as the million-strong
rallies, which were held in commemoration of the anti-terror commanders across
Iraq, served as a referendum underlining the need for foreign forces’
withdrawal.
https://www.presstv.com/Detail/2021/01/10/642672/Iraq-Hadi-Amiri-Iran-Daesh-fight
--------
Mine-free
River Jordan shrine ends 50 year wait for Epiphany procession
10
January 2021
A
shrine near the traditional site of Jesus’ baptism on the River Jordan hosted
an Epiphany procession for the first time in more than 50 years on Sunday after
it was declared free of landmines.
Father
Francesco Patton, the custodian of the Holy Land for the Roman Catholic church,
led Franciscan friars towards a shrine in what was once a war zone between
Israel and Jordan.
Although
the two countries have been at peace since 1994, seven churches laid abandoned
for more than 50 years in the area of de-mining operations. The area lies about
a kilometer from the Qasr al-Yahud baptism site in the Israeli-occupied West
Bank, which is a major draw for Christian pilgrims.
“Today,
we are back to pray,” Father Ibrahim Faltas, one of the clergymen at the
ceremony, said. Attendance at the procession, which commemorates the baptism of
Jesus by John the Baptist, was capped at 50 due to COVID-19 restrictions.
Israeli
de-mining efforts began in 2018 and included support from the Halo Trust, a Scottish-based
mine clearance group, an Israeli official said.
As
of 2021, “the danger has been completely removed,” a branch of Israel’s defense
ministry said.
After
visiting the shrine, the friars passed fading signs reading “DANGER - MINES!”
in English, Arabic and Hebrew as they went down to the river to pray.
https://english.alarabiya.net/en/News/middle-east/2021/01/10/Mine-free-River-Jordan-shrine-ends-50-year-wait-for-Epiphany-procession
--------
Pompeo
says US designating Yemen's Huthis a terrorist group
Jan
11, 2021
WASHINGTON:
The United States will designate Yemen's Huthi rebels as a terrorist group,
Secretary of State Mike Pompeo said Sunday, a late-term move that aid groups
fear will worsen a humanitarian crisis.
With
just 10 days left before President-elect Joe Biden takes office, the action
could complicate the new administration's efforts to restart diplomacy with
Iran, which has ties to the Huthis, and to reassess the US relationship with
Saudi Arabia, which has led a brutal offensive in Yemen.
"The
designations are intended to hold Ansar Allah accountable for its terrorist
acts, including cross-border attacks threatening civilian populations,
infrastructure and commercial shipping," Pompeo said in a statement, using
the official name of the Huthi movement.
It
has led a brutal campaign that has "killed many people, continues to
destabilize the region and denies Yemenis a peaceful solution to the conflict
in their country," he added.
Pompeo
pointed to a December 30 attack on an airport in Yemen's second city Aden,
which killed 26 people and was blamed by the Saudi-backed government on the
Huthis.
The
rebel group controls much of Yemen and is already under US sanctions.
But
a designation as a terrorist group is expected to scare away outside actors
from many transactions with Huthi authorities, including bank transfers and
buying food and fuel.
Aid
groups as well as members of Biden's Democratic Party have warned that the move
will severely impede efforts to address what the United Nations calls the
world's largest humanitarian crisis.
Pompeo
insisted that the designations -- which will come into effect a day before
Biden takes office on January 19 -- will not impact relief work.
"We
are planning to put in place measures to reduce their impact on certain
humanitarian activity and imports into Yemen," Pompeo said.
"We
have expressed our readiness to work with relevant officials at the United
Nations, with international and non-governmental organizations and other
international donors to address these implications."
https://timesofindia.indiatimes.com/world/us/pompeo-says-us-designating-yemens-huthis-a-terrorist-group/articleshow/80208843.cms
--------
Saudi
Arabia’s Crown Prince, Italy’s Foreign Affairs Minister discuss ties in AlUla
Rawad
Taha
Jan
11, 2021
Saudi
Arabia's Crown Prince Mohammed bin Salman met with the Italian Minister of
Foreign Affairs and International Cooperation Luigi Di Maio on Sunday in AlUla,
the official Saudi Press Agency reported.
Saudi
Press Agency added that during the meeting, the two reviewed aspects of the
Saudi-Italian relations, and ways of enhancing them in various fields. They
also discussed a number of regional and international issues.
The
meeting was attended by a number of senior officials from both sides.
https://english.alarabiya.net/en/News/gulf/2021/01/11/Saudi-Arabia-s-Crown-Prince-Italy-s-Foreign-Affairs-Minister-discuss-ties-in-AlUla
--------
India
Delhi
Riots, Tablighi Jamaat Vilification Leave African Muslim Refugees in India
Shaken
Tarushi
Aswani
Jan
11, 2021
New
Delhi: When the foreign attendees of the Tablighi Jamaat event organised at
Delhi’s Nizamuddin Markaz in March were vilified throughout the
pandemic-effected lockdown in 2020 as ‘super spreaders’ of the novel
coronavirus, referred to variously by a section of the Indian media as
“warriors of COVID-19” (ABP News Hindi),“suicide bombers” and “corona jihadis”
(Zee News), and “Corona Bombs” (India TV), Somali and Ethiopian refugees in
Delhi suffered just as badly, afraid of being accused of being jamaatis by a
volatile section of society.
Even
now, although a Delhi court acquitted the 36 foreign attendees of the Tablighi
Jamaat on December 15, 2020, and other courts around the country have done the
same, the Somali and Ethiopian refugees, many of whom live in Delhi’s Khirki
Extension, Malviya Nagar, Bhogal, Jungpura and Wazirpur areas, remain wary.
“During
the month of March, it wasn’t just COVID-19 keeping us inside; we were scared
of being linked with the Tablighi preachers,” said Khadra, a 42-year-old
refugee from Somalia. Her daughter, 17-year-old Amira, added: “For weeks we did
not step out. We made do with whatever leftovers we had at home.”
‘They
were killing their own kind’
Khadra
and her twin daughters, Amira and Samira, currently live in a shared apartment
with two other Somali refugee families in a crowded South Delhi neighbourhood.
When civil war tore their country apart, they fled to India in 2014, arriving
in Delhi with the hope of living a life free of bloodshed, Amira told The Wire.
But
between the racist nature of many Indians, the Delhi riots in February 2020 and
the vilification of the jamaatis in March the same year, Khadra and her family
have not had the kind of peace they sought.
“In
our six years in Delhi, we have been called names due to our race. Now our
religion has increased our vulnerability,” said Khadra. The fear of being
linked with the ‘super-spreaders’ stopped her from leaving her home in March to
obtain her rations from the United Nations High Commissioner for Refugees (UNHCR)
centres, which added food insecurity to her fear of racism and her diffidence
as a Muslim refugee in India.
Mustaf
Abdullahi Ahmed, a 29-year-old refugee from Somalia, was also terrified during
the Tablighi Jamaat row. A member of a minority community called Banadiri
Bandabow Bahar Sufi, which is often the target of rape, torture, abduction and
murder in Somalia, Mustaf escaped Mogadishu, Somalia’s capital city, in late
2007 after his house was captured by a majority militia clan called Habar Gidir
and his father murdered. During his stay at a displacement camp near Mogadishu
in early 2007, Mustaf, like many other young men, was abducted by Al Shabaab,
an extremist organisation, but finally made it to India in late 2007. In 2012
in Mysore, when he resisted the racist taunts and jabs of a crowd of men, he
was beaten with a cricket bat with such intensity that he needed maxillofacial
surgery to reconstruct his face.
“We
locked ourselves up and limited our movements even though I live in a
neighbourhood where people know me,” said Mustaf. “The Delhi riots had already
made us insecure. We thought: when people are killing their own kind, why would
they spare foreign Muslims?”
‘We
should go to Yemen’
Ethiopian
refugee Hanan Ali, who arrived in India in 2014 with her family, remembers
being subject to racist taunts as a student at a government-run school in
Delhi, not only instigated by her classmates but also her teachers. When she
was in class VI, a teacher asked her, ‘What will you achieve by studying?’, so
Hanan left the school and joined the National Institute of Open Schooling
instead. Already fearful of racist behaviour, the Tablighi Jamaat incident
added to her fears.
“This
piece of cloth [her hijab] has suddenly become problematic for us,” Hanan said.
“I had never felt conscious of it, but now the stares we receive are full of
unspoken taunts that not only involve our race, but also our religion.”
Hanan’s
younger sisters and her mother, Amina, have serious health issues. But they
delayed refilling their medical prescriptions in March 2020 when they saw the
news media portraying the maulvis as COVID-19 super-spreaders. Amina had
already lost her home and husband to communal hatred in Ethiopia. She did not
want to lose her family to the same thing again.
Nineteen-year-old
Farhiya Ibrahim’s family has been in Delhi since 2015. They escaped Somalia in
2011 to seek refuge in Yemen, where they lost their father and brother amid the
crises in Aden and eventually left for India. The Ibrahims had just begun to feel
at home after the years of bloodshed and trauma that forced them to move from
place to place, when the riots in Delhi and the Jamaat incident set them
trembling again.
“We
were really afraid during the riots and when they ended we thought things would
get better in some time,” said Farhiya. “But with the Tablighi Jamaat, the
hatred only escalated. Imagine! My mother wanted to go back to Yemen!”
Somalia
has been ravaged by civil war and is still a place of so much conflict that it
topped the list of failed states in the Fragile State Index (2020).
UNHCR
figures reveal that India hosted 41,000 refugees and asylum seekers from
countries such as Afghanistan, Myanmar, Tibet, Sri Lanka and Somalia in 2019.
Tarushi
Aswani is a freelance journalist based in Delhi. She tweets at @tarushi_aswani.
https://thewire.in/communalism/african-muslim-refugees-india-riots-tablighi-jamaat
--------
J&K
witnessed 63.93% decrease in terrorist incidents in 2020: MHA
Jan
11, 2021
NEW
DELHI: The number of terrorist incidents in 2020, up to November 15, decreased
by 63.93 per cent as compared to the corresponding period in 2019 in Jammu and
Kashmir, according to the Ministry of Home Affairs (MHA).
The
Ministry informed that there was also a decrease in fatalities of Special
Forces Personnel by 29.11 per cent and a decrease in casualties of civilians by
14.28 per cent in 2020 (up to November 15, 2020) as compared to the
corresponding period in 2019.
The
home ministry while giving a brief about annual achievements also said that
Adaptation of Central Laws and State Laws in the Union Territory of Jammu and
Kashmir and the Union Territory of Ladakh is one of the key achievements of the
Central government.
"Orders
were notified for adaptation of 48 Central Laws and 167 State Laws in respect of
UT of J&K. Orders relating to adaptation of 44 Central Laws and 148 State
Laws in UT of Ladakh were also notified," MHA said.
"The
Jammu and Kashmir Reorganisation (Removal of Difficulties) Order, 2020 was
notified on 31.03.2020. It removes difficulties with regard to section 75 of
the Jammu and Kashmir Reorganisation Act, 2019 for administering oath to new
judges appointed to the common High Court for Jammu and Kashmir and Ladakh. A
Bench of Central Administrative Tribunal was established at Jammu on 08.06.2020,"
MHA has said.
The
MHA also said that one-time financial assistance of Rs 5.5 lakh per family
provided to 36,384 displaced families from Pakistan occupied Jammu and Kashmir
and Chhamb under the Prime Minister Development Package.
One-time
financial assistance at the rate of Rs 5.5 Lakh per family for the 5,764
families of West Pakistan Refugees (WPRs) in Jammu and Kashmir is also being
provided at par with displaced persons of PoJK and Chhamb, it said.
In
2019, the Central government revoked Article 370 which gave special provisions
to the erstwhile state of Jammu and Kashmir. The government bifurcated Jammu
and Kashmir into two Union Territories- Jammu and Kashmir and Ladakh
https://timesofindia.indiatimes.com/india/jk-witnessed-63-93-decrease-in-terrorist-incidents-in-2020-mha/articleshow/80208995.cms
--------
26/11
Mumbai attacks: India awaits Pakistan response on witness testimony
Jan
10, 2021
NEW
DELHI: In the middle of Islamabad's apparent clampdown on UN designated
terrorists, the Mumbai attacks trial in Pakistan seems to have hit another
roadblock with the Imran Khan government not responding to India's offer to
host a judicial commission for examining witnesses in Mumbai.
Official
sources said Pakistan had ignored India's offer to facilitate the questioning
of remaining 27 witnesses in the case either through video conferencing or by
sending a team to examine witnesses. Pakistan has instead attributed the delay
in trial to India's refusal to send witnesses to Pakistan.
As
first reported by ToI on August 18 last year, the government offered to host a
judicial commission after Pakistan approached India saying that the witnesses
needed to testify within 90 days as per a court directive. This had raised
hopes of some progress finally in the 11-year-old trial that has been marred by
repeated transfer of judges and prosecution lawyers. India had later also asked
Pakistan to prosecute Pakistani-American David Headley for his role in the
Mumbai attacks.
With
individuals like Zaki-ur-Rehman Lakhvi and Hafiz Saeed still not brought to
justice for their role in the Mumbai attacks, India has described as farcical
recent actions against these designated international terrorists. Pakistan has
also refused to allow video conferencing with witnesses saying that they could
be intimidated by Indian authorities while they are examined.
The
Mumbai trial was initiated after Pakistan in 2009 arrested 7 men said to be
directly involved in the terror attack. Apart from Lakhvi, Abdul Wajid, Mazhar
Iqbal, Hamas Sadie, Shahid Jameel Riaz, Jamil Ahmed and Younis Anjum are facing
charges of abetment to murder, attempted murder, planning and executing the
2008 attacks. Pakistan hasn't booked Saeed, described by India as the
mastermind, saying there isn't enough evidence against him.
Lakhvi
too got bail in 2015 after the prosecution apparently failed to present before
court the evidence against him. The LeT commander has now been arrested and
sentenced to 15 years in jail for terror-financing but this has nothing to do
with his role in the 26/11 attacks.
The
US also asked Pakistan Saturday to hold Lakhvi accountable for his involvement
in 26/11 attacks.
Pakistan
is currently under pressure from global terror watchdog FATF to demonstrate
"effective implementation" of targeted financial sanctions against
all UN 1267 and 1373 designated terrorists and those acting for or on their
behalf. The Paris-based FATF will review Pakistan's case next month and decide
if it has done enough to avoid being black listed.
Raising
questions about the timing of Pakistan's actions, India had said last week that
UN proscribed entities and designated terrorists were acting as proxies for
Pakistani establishment to fulfill its anti-India agenda. "It is for the
international community to hold Pakistan to account and ensure that it takes
credible action against terror groups, terror infrastructure and individual
terrorists," said the foreign ministry in its response.
https://timesofindia.indiatimes.com/india/mumbai-india-awaits-pakistan-response-on-witness-testimony/articleshow/80201611.cms
--------
India
could boost military assistance to Afghanistan, as Taliban peace talks resume
in Doha
NAYANIMA
BASU
10
January, 2021
New
Delhi: India could ramp up its military assistance to Afghanistan as US troops
began drawing down, and talks between the Asian nation’s administration and the
Taliban resume in Doha, Qatar.
During
a recent phone-call between External Affairs Minister S. Jaishankar and
Afghanistan Foreign Minister Mohammed Haneef Atmar, New Delhi is believed to
have assured Kabul of greater military assistance in times to come as the US
begins the process to bring down its troop presence to 2,500 by February, from
about 5,000 troops at present, sources told ThePrint.
According
to sources, as Afghanistan now actively seeks to forge national as well as
international consensus on the Taliban peace talks, it wants to reassure itself
of the support it can seek from some of its “age-old friends” like India.
“A
great pleasure to talk to my friend Indian EAM HE @DrSJaishankar. We discussed
resumption of #AfghanPeaceTalks in Doha & garnering regional and intl
support for a ceasefire leading to a political settlement in AFG. Congrats
excellency on Covid vaccine roll out in India,” Atmar tweeted Friday.
“They
(Jaishankar and Atmar) also discussed reduction of violence, the need for the
establishment of a meaningful ceasefire, preserving the gains of the past 19
years, addressing issues related to the Afghan refugees in India, and expansion
of bilateral cooperation,” added a statement issued by the Ministry of Foreign
Affairs of Afghanistan.
Taliban
peace talks, and India’s role in Afghanistan
February
will mark the first anniversary of the signing of the ‘peace deal’ between the
US and the Taliban that formally put an end to the 18-year war in Afghanistan,
the US’ longest ever. The deal was signed in Doha on 29 February 2020 between
US Special Representative for Afghanistan Reconciliation Zalmay Khalilzad and
Taliban political chief Mullah Abdul Ghani Baradar, with US Secretary of State
Mike Pompeo as a witness.
Khalilzad,
who was appointed as President Donald Trump’s key negotiator with the Taliban,
is now back in Doha for the resumption of the peace talks. However, he has
expressed America’s concern over the growing incidents of violence in
Afghanistan, including targeted killings.
“The
current levels (sic) of violence, including targeted killings, is unacceptable.
Those perpetuating the violence seek to undermine the peace process and the
country’s future. They do not reflect the will of the Afghan people, who yearn
for peace,” he said in a tweet last week.
Since
the Afghan government and the US decided to bring the Taliban back to
mainstream politics, India has maintained that it supports a peace and
reconciliation process which is Afghan-led, Afghan-owned and Afghan-controlled.
Last year, during the visit of top Afghan leader Abdullah Abdullah, who is now
chairman of the High Council for National Reconciliation (HCNR) that’s
overseeing the Afghan government’s talks with the Taliban for a power-sharing
deal, New Delhi had assured Kabul of its “active involvement” in the peace
talks.
India
has played a key role in the restoration of peace and stability in Afghanistan,
having invested $2 billion in aid and reconstruction activities in the country,
which is facing a conflict for the past 19 years.
Since
2016, India has quietly been scaling up its military assistance to Afghanistan.
It has already supplied four attack helicopters, and there are talks of more
such assistance as the US troops completely exit the in the “coming months”,
sources said.
However,
they added, it remains to be seen how the peace talks play out under the new US
administration under President-elect Joe Biden, which is yet to spell out its
Afghanistan policy.
https://theprint.in/diplomacy/india-could-boost-military-assistance-to-afghanistan-as-taliban-peace-talks-resume-in-doha/582991/
--------
Mideast
Israeli
bulldozers raze Palestinian lands south of al-Aqsa Mosque
10
January 2021
The
Israeli authorities have confiscated a vast tract of private Palestinian land
as the Tel Aviv regime presses ahead with expansionist land-grab policies in
violation of international law and UN Security Council resolutions.
The
Palestinian Information Center, citing local sources reported on Sunday that
Israeli forces carried out large-scale bulldozing activities in the Palestinian
neighborhood of Wadi Rababa in Silwan district, south of the al-Aqsa Mosque in
the occupied holy city of Jerusalem al-Quds.
They
also chopped down hundreds of olive trees belonging to Palestinians.
Video
footage recorded by local residents showed bulldozers under the Israeli
protection leveling swathes of lands and uprooting the trees in the area.
Israeli
authorities usually demolish Palestinian homes in the occupied West Bank,
claiming that the structures have been built without permits. They also
sometimes order the Palestinian owners to demolish their own homes or pay the
demolition costs to the municipality if they do not.
Israeli
Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu has announced that he would start plans for
annexing more areas in the occupied West Bank, in accordance with US President
Donald Trump’s "deal of the century" scheme, further infuriating
Palestinians.
Trump
officially unveiled his scheme in January last year at the White House with
Netanyahu on his side, while Palestinian representatives were not invited.
The
proposal gives in to Israel’s demands while creating a Palestinian state with
limited control over its own security and borders, enshrining the occupied
Jerusalem al-Quds as “Israel’s undivided capital” and allowing the Tel Aviv
regime to annex settlements in the West Bank and the Jordan Valley.
Trump's
highly provocative scheme, which further denies the right of return to
Palestinian refugees, is also in complete disregard of UN Security Council
resolutions and rejected by the vast majority of the international community.
Israel’s
unlawful annexation push has drawn widespread criticism from the entire
international community, including the regime’s closest allies.
Palestinian
officials and resistance groups have also attributed increasing settlement
activities in occupied Jerusalem al-Quds to normalization agreements between
some Arab countries and Israel, emphasizing that such accords have emboldened
the regime to annex more Palestinian lands.
The
Palestinians have also censured the Israeli regime over attempts to change the
geographic and demographic character of occupied Jerusalem al-Quds, saying such
bids are doomed to failure.
More
than 600,000 Israelis live in over 230 settlements built since the 1967 Israeli
occupation of the Palestinian territories of the West Bank and East Jerusalem
al-Quds.
All
Israeli settlements are illegal under international law. The UN Security
Council has condemned Israel’s settlement activities in the occupied
territories in several resolutions. Palestinians want the West Bank as part of
a future independent Palestinian state with East Jerusalem al-Quds as its
capital.
Israeli
forces abduct several Palestinians in overnight raids
Separately,
Palestinian media reported on Sunday that Israeli soldiers detained several
Palestinians, including two lawyers, during overnight and predawn raids across
the occupied lands.
The
abductees were arrested from Jerusalem al-Quds, West Bank cities of Ramallah
and al-Khalil (Hebron) Nablus and Jenin, the report further said, adding that a
number of Palestinian homes and stores were also raided and damaged during the
arrests.
The
Israeli troops also snatched surveillance cameras and looted precious items
across the region.
According
to the Palestinian prisoners’ rights group Addameer, there are 5,580
Palestinian prisoners being held in Israeli prisons.
In
recent months, Israeli forces have frequently raided the houses of Palestinians
in the West Bank, arresting dozens of people, who are then transferred to
Israeli prisons, where they are kept without any charges.
The
Israeli settlers also launched a series of attacks in different parts of the
occupied West Bank.
According
to B’Tselem, an Israeli rights group, Israel has clearly allowed its settlers
to assault Palestinians for years and inflict damage on their property as one
of its policies.
This
has included provision of military protection for the attackers, and in some
cases the soldiers’ active participation in the assault.
https://www.presstv.com/Detail/2021/01/10/642703/Palestine-Israel-Aqsa-Mosque-al-Quds-West-Bank
--------
Pakistan’s
Imran Khan: Iran capable of turning into regional economic power
11
January 2021
Pakistan’s
prime minister has expressed hope that the sanctions against Tehran will be
lifted, saying the Islamic Republic of Iran has the capacity to turn into an
economic power in the region.
At
a recent meeting with top Pakistani media figures and researchers, Imran Khan
lamented the impact of the US sanctions on Iran, which were imposed after
President Donald Trump withdrew from the historic Iran nuclear agreement in May
2018.
He
said the bans have hampered the development of trade ties between Pakistan and
Iran, IRNA reported on Monday.
The
Pakistani prime minister has on several occasions called for the lifting of US
sanctions on Iran.
In
March 2020, he urged Trump to lift the unilateral bans, in the midst of Iran’s
fight against the spread of the coronavirus, until the pandemic is over.
“I
want to appeal to President Trump on humanitarian grounds to lift the sanctions
against Iran till the COVID19 pandemic is over,” Khan said.
He
added that at a time when “the people of Iran are facing untold suffering” the
brutal US sanctions on the Islamic Republic “are crippling Iran’s efforts to
fight COVID-19.”
During
the meeting, Khan said a good understanding has been established in recent
years to expand Pakistan’s relations with the Islamic Republic of Iran.
“At
the time of the start of the Movement for Justice government, bilateral
relations with Iran may not have been satisfactory, but today I can say that
there are excellent relations between the two countries,” Khan said when asked
to comment on his administration’s foreign policy and relations with
neighboring countries.
Iran
and Pakistan enjoy cultural, religious and political relations in addition to
close cooperation in security and economic sectors.
Last
month, the two states opened a border crossing point to bolster their bilateral
economic and trade ties.
The
Rimadan-Gabd border gateway was officially opened on December 19, becoming the
second border crossing between Iran and Pakistan.
“The
construction of this border gateway between the two friendly and neighboring
states and the recent inauguration of Khaf-Herat railway project show that the
Islamic Republic of Iran attaches special priority to interaction and
cooperation with its neighbors,” Iranian Foreign Ministry spokesman Saeed
Khatibzadeh said before the inauguration ceremony.
https://www.presstv.com/Detail/2021/01/11/642750/Khan-Iran-able-become-regional-economic-power
--------
Turkey
urges citizens to abandon WhatsApp over privacy concerns
11
January 2021
The
Turkish government has urged its citizens to quit WhatsApp and use local
messaging services amid concerns over the application’s new controversial
privacy policy.
Whatsapp
on Thursday asked its users to agree to its new privacy policy, which would
allow it to share more data with parent company Facebook, or lose access to the
app.
The
update sparked criticism as it forces the messaging app’s nearly two billion
users to agree to the breach of their private and possibly sensitive data.
In
reaction to the new privacy terms, the Turkish government's Presidential
Communications Directorate on Sunday said it would quit WhatsApp and would,
instead, use BiP, a local app developed by the country’s leading mobile phone
operator Turkcell, to brief journalists.
The
hashtag #WhatsAppSiliyoruz (We Are Deleting WhatsApp) has been trending on
Twitter in Turkey in the past few days.
Ali
Taha Koc, head of the Turkish Presidential Digital Transformation Office, on
Saturday decried the new terms of services as well as the announced exemption of
users in the UK and EU from the new data-sharing changes.
"The
distinction between EU member countries and others in terms of data privacy is
unacceptable! As we have cited in the Information and Communication Security
Guideline, foreign origin applications bear significant risks regarding data
security," he tweeted.
"That's
why we need to protect our digital data with local and national software and
develop them in line with our needs. Let's not forget that Turkey's data would
stay in Turkey thanks to local and national solutions."
He
urged Turks to use "national and local" apps, including BiP and Dedi.
In
July, the Turkish parliament passed a law that required social media giants
such as Facebook and Twitter to ensure they have representatives in Turkey or
face fines and a reduction of internet bandwidth.
Turkey
fined companies, including WhatsApp owner Facebook, Twitter, Instagram, and
TikTok, in November and December for not complying with the law.
https://www.presstv.com/Detail/2021/01/11/642746/Turkey-abandon-WhatsApp-privacy-concerns
--------
South
Asia
Afghan
forces remove Taliban 'checkpoints' from Baghlan-Balkh highway
JAN
11, 2021
Afghan
commando forces have removed all Taliban "checkpoints" from the
Baghlan-Balkh highway as they were being used to extort money from the
passersby.
Tolo
News quoted the security officials as saying on Sunday that the Taliban was
extorting people on the highway, "earning millions of Afghanis" a
day.
"Over
the last two days, we had successful operations in 'Highway No. 1' as well as
in Kelagai area (in Baghlan). The enemy's outposts have been removed and at
least 17 of them have been killed," said Mohammad Ali Yazdani, Commander
of 217 Shaheen Corps.
"The
enemy has been dispersed. The enemy's ability has been reduced in
Baghlan," said Mujib Rahman, a commando officer.
Tolo
News quoted Firoz, a Baghlan resident as saying, "Their 'customs' of
Afs15,000 to Afs20,000 from every vehicle had negatively impacted the prices
(of goods)."
It
is to mention that the Baghlan-Balkh highway is one of the key routes
connecting the northern part of the country with Kabul and other provinces in
the centre and east.
https://www.hindustantimes.com/world-news/afghan-forces-remove-taliban-checkpoints-from-baghlan-balkh-highway-101610357858393.html
--------
Afghanistan
Investigates Civilian Deaths in Air Strike Against Taliban in Nimroz Province
JANUARY
11, 2021
The
Afghan government is investigating an air strike by its military in the
southern province of Nimroz that local officials say resulted in the deaths of
14 civilians, as local residents brought their bodies to the provincial capital
in protest.
Government
officials confirmed the Saturday night strike, but said on Sunday that initial
information showed the deaths were all of Taliban insurgents fighting Afghan
security forces.
The
clashes came just as representatives of the Afghan government and the Taliban
kicked off the second round of peace talks in the Qatari capital Doha on
Saturday.
"An
air strike in Khashrod district has resulted in heavy casualties for the
Taliban, and investigations into allegations that civilians have been killed
are ongoing," the Afghan Ministry of Defence said in a statement on
Sunday.
A
local government official told Reuters, on condition of anonymity, that the
Afghan air force targeted a residential house where it suspected Taliban were
present.
The
official said the 14 killed were all from one family.
Local
residents told Reuters by phone that people from the area where the strike took
place had brought the bodies to the centre of Nimroz's capital, Zaranj, to
prove that the deceased were not Taliban fighters.
Taliban
spokesman Qari Muhammad Yousuf Ahmadi also denied those killed were its own
combatants, saying they were civilians, all members of one family, and included
women and children.
Continued
violence has hastened international calls for a ceasefire between the Afghan
government and the Taliban, whose representatives met on Saturday for a first
session in a second round of peace talks, where contentious issues such as a
ceasefire and power-sharing are expected to be discussed.
Both
sides, in separate statements on Saturday, said they discussed the agenda and
that the meeting took place in a positive and amicable atmosphere.
https://www.news18.com/news/world/afghanistan-investigating-if-civilians-killed-in-strike-against-taliban-3269747.html
--------
Afghanistan
investigating if civilians killed in strike against Taliban
Jan
10, 2021
The
Afghan government is investigating an air strike by its military in the
southern province of Nimroz that local officials say resulted in the deaths of
14 civilians, as local residents brought their bodies to the provincial capital
in protest.
Government
officials confirmed the Saturday night strike, but said on Sunday that initial
information showed the deaths were all of Taliban insurgents fighting Afghan
security forces.
The
clashes came just as representatives of the Afghan government and the Taliban
kicked off the second round of peace talks in the Qatari capital Doha on
Saturday.
"An
air strike in Khashrod district has resulted in heavy casualties for the
Taliban, and investigations into allegations that civilians have been killed
are ongoing," the Afghan Ministry of Defence said in a statement on
Sunday.
A
local government official told Reuters, on condition of anonymity, that the
Afghan air force targeted a residential house where it suspected Taliban were
present.
The
official said the 14 killed were all from one family.
Local
residents told Reuters by phone that people from the area where the strike took
place had brought the bodies to the centre of Nimroz's capital, Zaranj, to
prove that the deceased were not Taliban fighters.
Taliban
spokesman Qari Muhammad Yousuf Ahmadi also denied those killed were its own
combatants, saying they were civilians, all members of one family, and included
women and children.
Continued
violence has hastened international calls for a ceasefire between the Afghan
government and the Taliban, whose representatives met on Saturday for a first
session in a second round of peace talks, where contentious issues such as a
ceasefire and power-sharing are expected to be discussed.
Both
sides, in separate statements on Saturday, said they discussed the agenda and
that the meeting took place in a positive and amicable atmosphere.
https://www.tribuneindia.com/news/world/afghanistan-investigating-if-civilians-killed-in-strike-against-taliban-196573
--------
Ex-journalist
among three killed in Kabul blast
January
11, 2021
KABUL:
An Afghan journalist-turned spokesman for the country’s public protection force
was killed along with two colleagues on Sunday by a bomb targeting their
vehicle, officials said.
The
murder of Zia Wadan, who previously worked for several media networks, appeared
to be the latest in a series of targeted killings that have rocked
Afghanistan, especially Kabul.
Wadan
and his colleagues were killed in morning rush-hour traffic in an eastern part
of the capital, interior ministry spokesman Tariq Arian told reporters.
“A
vehicle carrying Zia Wadan was targeted with an IED... as a result, Wadan and
two of his colleagues were killed,” Arian said, adding that another person was
wounded.
No
group immediately claimed responsibility for the attack, but President Ashraf
Ghani blamed it on the Taliban.
“The
spike in violence by the Taliban is against (the) spirit of commitment for
peace and indicates the group still pursues their hawkish attitude to take
innocent lives and damage public facilities,” the presidential palace said on Twitter,
quoting President Ghani.
Wadan
was a spokesman for a security service under the interior ministry that deploys
guards to international organisations across Afghanistan.
https://www.dawn.com/news/1600872/ex-journalist-among-three-killed-in-kabul-blast
--------
Southeast
Asia
Indonesia
potentially set to take on China and claim leadership of ‘moderate’ Islam
James
M. Dorsey
January
9, 2021
Singapore:
President Joko Widodo’s recent cabinet reshuffle suggests that Indonesia may
adopt a more critical attitude towards China and reinforce government support
for efforts by Nahdlatul Ulama (NU), the world’s largest Muslim movement, to
reform Islam and position the Southeast Asian state as a key player in a battle
with Middle Eastern rivals for the soul of Islam.
Mr
Widodo signalled his potential policy moves with the appointment of ambassador
to the United States Muhammad Lutfi as trade minister and prominent Nahdlatul
Ulama official Yaqut Cholil Qoumas as minister of religious affairs.
Mr
Lutfi’s appointment came two months after a visit by Mike Pompeo to Jakarta in
October at the invitation of Nahdlatul Ulama during which the Secretary of
State extended Indonesia’s access to a preferential tariff arrangement and
opened the door to a free trade agreement with the United States.
Mr
Pompeo emphasized in talks with Mr Widodo and in an address to a Nahdlatul
Ulama conference the need to challenge China’s territorial claims in the South
China Sea as well as its brutal crackdown on Turkic Muslims in the People’s Republic’s
north-western province of Xinjiang.
Indonesia,
the world’s largest Muslim-majority democracy, extradited to China three
Uyghurs, the dominant Turkic ethnic group in Xinjiang, just days before Mr
Pompeo’s arrival.
Mr
Qoumas’ appointment is significant not only because of his prominent Nahdlatul
Ulama background but also given the fact that he is one of the leaders of the
movement’s most influential wing that has adopted a tough position on China’s
repression of the Uyghurs.
Indonesia
has to date sought to walk a fine line in escalating tensions between the
United States and China, including its refusal to speak out on the plight of
the Uyghurs. Indonesia has further sought to balance rejection of Chinese
maritime claims in Indonesian waters with a desire to attract Chinese
investment.
An
Islamic scholar and leader of Nahdlatul Ulama’s GP Ansor Youth Movement, Mr
Qoumas, alongside his brother, Yahya Cholil Staquf, NU’s secretary general, has
been a driving force in the promotion of the movement’s concept of Humanitarian
Islam, based on principles of tolerance, pluralism and the embrace of the
Universal Declaration of Human Rights.
Nahdlatul
Ulama’s government-backed promotion of the concept has put it in direct
competition with major efforts by Saudi Arabia, the United Arab Emirates,
Turkey, and Iran to garner religious soft power by propagating a statist
interpretation of the faith.
It
is an interpretation that in the case of the kingdom and the UAE professes
adherence to tolerance and inter-faith dialogue but demands absolute obedience
to the ruler. Turkey and Iran push interpretations of the faith that embrace
elements of political Islam as well as authoritarian governance.
In
one of his early statements as minister, Mr Qoumas appeared to be challenging
more traditional wings of Nahdlatul Ulama by declaring in remarks during a
visit to a Protestant church that he would protect the rights of Shias and
Ahmadis, two minorities that have been on the defensive amid concerns of
mounting intolerance in Indonesia.
Senior
figures within Nahdlatul Ulama continue to view Shias, who constitute a mere
1.2 per cent of the Indonesian population, as one of the foremost domestic
threats to Indonesian national security and an Iranian fifth wheel. Similarly,
many in Nahdlatul Ulama reject Ahmadis identifying themselves as Muslims
because the sect refuses to acknowledge the finality of the Prophet Mohammed.
“I
don’t want members of Shia and Ahmadiyya displaced from their homes because of
their beliefs. They are citizens (whose rights) must be protected. The
Religious Ministry will facilitate a more intensive dialogue to bridge
differences,” Mr Qoumas said, referring to attacks on minorities.
Mr
Qoumas’ Nahdlatul Ulama youth wing, together with its five-million strong
militia, has played a key role in confronting militant Islamic groups, like
Hizb ut-Tahrir and the Islamic Defenders Front (FDI).
GP
Ansor officials take pride in have engineered situations that in 2017 led to
the banning of Hizb ut-Tahrir, a controversial global movement that calls for
the restoration of the Caliphate.
The
government last month banned FDI, established as a vigilante group that was a
major organizer of mass protests in 2016 that led to the defeat of Basuki
Tjahaja Purnama, a Christian of Chinese descent better known as Ahok, in
mayoral elections in Jakarta and his subsequent sentencing on blasphemy
charges.
The
ban came weeks after the return to Indonesia from self-exile in Saudi Arabia of
FDI leader Rizieq Shahib. Mr Shahib was arrested for allegedly violating
coronavirus restrictions.
The
outlawing of Hizb ut-Tahrir and FDI on the basis of a presidential decree that
enables the government to bypass legal procedures and fast-track the banning of
groups it considers security threats prompted human rights groups to warn that
Indonesia was undermining rights of
freedom of association and expression.
Deputy
justice minister, Edward Omar Sharif Hiariej, told reporters that FPI was
outlawed because some 30 members of the group had been convicted on terrorism
charges and because the group defied Indonesia’s state ideology, Pancasila,
which stresses unity and diversity.
The
banning of FDI followed the election in November of Miftachul Akhyar, a
Nahdlatul Ulama cleric, as head of the influential Indonesian Ulama Council
(MUI) to replace Ma’ruf Amin, Mr Widodo’s vice-president who in the past took a
hardline against minorities and advocated Orthodox Sunni Muslim positions. Mr
Akhyar is Nahdlatul Ulama’s spiritual guide.
The
election further removed from the council’s leadership several clerics who had
backed the anti-Ahok demonstrations. They were replaced by at least one
supporter of Humanitarian Islam, Masdar Masudi, as well as scholars from
Muhamadiyya, Indonesia’s second largest Muslim movement, viewed as progressives.
Nonetheless,
some analysts suggest that the council, in apparent contradiction to Mr Qoumas,
will not break its discriminatory attitude towards minorities.
Said
Alexander R. Arifianto, an Indonesia scholar at Singapore’s S. Rajaratnam
School of International Studies: “When it comes to marginalized minorities, we
can expect the new MUI leadership to retain their conservative standing.
Mainstream Islamic clerics—including those within MUI—tend to share a
conservative orthodoxy in their religious interpretation toward these groups.”
Dr
James M. Dorsey is an award-winning journalist and a senior fellow at Nanyang
Technological University’s S. Rajaratnam School of International Studies in
Singapore and the National University of Singapore’s Middle East Institute.
https://www.sundayguardianlive.com/world/indonesia-potentially-set-take-china-claim-leadership-moderate-islam
--------
Indonesia
green-lights emergency use of Chinese vaccine
11
JANUARY 2021
Jakarta,
Jan 11 (AP) Indonesia''s Food and Drug Authority on Monday green-lighted
emergency use of the COVID-19 vaccine produced by China-based Sinovac Biotech
Ltd., with vaccinations of high-risk groups expected to start later this week.
Conditional
vaccination of healthcare workers and other civil servants using the vaccine,
called CoronaVac, is expected to begin this week.
“Based
on the data and considering the guidance from (the World Health Organization),
CoronaVac has met the requirements to get the permit to use the vaccine,” the
chief of Indonesia Food and Drug Monitoring Agency, Penny Lukito, said at a
news conference.
Indonesian
President Joko Widodo said he would be the first person to receive the vaccine.
“Why
is the President first? It''s not about putting myself first, but to ensure
everyone that this vaccine is safe and halal,” Widodo said on social media.
The
vaccine was cleared for emergency use after Indonesian authorities reviewed
clinical trial data from Brazil, Turkey and Indonesia, which are all taking
part in Phase III clinical trials of the vaccine.
Brazil''s
Instituto Butantan said last week that the vaccine was 78% effective in mild
cases and 100% effective against severe and moderate infections based on 220
COVID-19 cases from 13,000 volunteers.
In
December, Turkish authorities announced an efficacy rate of 91.25% from interim
analysis of 29 cases in a trial with 7,371 volunteers. Some 12,450 volunteers,
including 1,500 healthcare workers, are involved in the Phase III clinical
trials. Further results have not been made publicly available.
Indonesia
conducted its own Phase III clinical trials of the vaccine with 1,620
volunteers. Results announced at Monday''s news conference said the efficacy
rate was 65.3 per cent.
Indonesia''s
highest Islamic body, the Indonesian Ulema Council, announced last week that
the COVID-19 vaccine is halal, or fit for consumption by Muslims, further
paving the way for use and distribution in the world''s most populous Muslim
country.
But
some experts have said they would prefer more data from the clinical trials.
Griffith University epidemiologist Dr. Dicky Budiman said that many people have
questioned and expressed doubt about the vaccine, as the data Indonesia used
for emergency authorisation is only preliminary.
Research
into the vaccine is not completed yet and will still take some time, he said.
Sao
Paulo''s Butantan Institute, Sinovac Biotech Ltd.''s partner in Brazil, did not
disclose data such as results by age and gender or the number of asymptomatic
volunteers in the sample, which many epidemiologists require to assess whether
the shot complies with safety standards. Officials in Brazil said details would
be published after Brazil''s health regulatory agency approves the vaccine.
Authorities
in China and Bolivia have both issued emergency authorization for the CoronaVac
vaccine. Chinese health officials have said that some 9 million doses have been
administered in China, though the number of people being vaccinated with the
Sinovac vaccine has not been disclosed. Bolivia has yet to start vaccinations
with the CoronaVac vaccine.
Several
other countries that were not involved in clinical trials have signed
agreements or are in negotiations to secure doses from Sinovac Biotech Ltd.,
including the Philippines, Singapore, Ukraine, Bolivia and others.
Indonesia
has recorded more than 828,000 cases of the virus, including over 24,000
deaths. (AP) RS RS
https://www.outlookindia.com/newsscroll/indonesia-greenlights-emergency-use-of-chinese-vaccine/2008155
--------
Arab
World
Israeli
jets flying low over Lebanon airspace daily as tensions run high
10
January 2021
Israeli
military jets carried out several low flying flights over Beirut as
reconnaissance drones also buzzed overhead Sunday in what has become a daily
occurrence.
Israel
regularly violates Lebanon airspace, often to carry out strikes in neighboring
Syria. On Christmas Eve, Israeli jets flew low late into the night, terrorizing
Beirut residents who are no strangers to such flights. They were followed by
reported Israeli strikes in Syria.
The
frequency of low flying warplanes over the capital has intensified in the last
two weeks, making residents jittery as tensions run high in the region on the
final days of President Donald Trump’s administration.
Israel
rarely comments on these reports.
Many
fear conflict may erupt in the area before Trump leaves office in retaliation
for the US killing of Iranian commander Qassem Soleimani in Iraq last year, or
to scuttle efforts by the incoming administration of Joe Biden to negotiate
with Iran.
On
Friday, the Lebanese army recorded an Israeli flight that lasted nearly six
hours in the country’s south.
A
Twitter account that tracks aircraft movement in the Middle East, #Intel_Sky,
has recorded dozens of Israeli jets flying over Lebanon, including mock raids,
since the start of the year. #Intel_Sky called Sunday’s flights “mock raids.”
At
one point this summer, the Lebanese army said Israel violated its airspace
nearly 30 times in two days, flying reconnaissance drones and jets into
Lebanese territory.
The
United Nations Interim Force in Lebanon says Israel enters Lebanese airspace on
a daily basis in violation of UN resolutions and the country’s sovereignty.
Between
June and October 2020, UNIFIL recorded a daily average of 12.63 airspace
violations, totaling 61 hours and 51 minutes in flight time, a significant
increase from the previous four months. Drones accounted for approximately 95
percent of the violations, UNIFIL said.
Israel
and Lebanon are technically at war. Hezbollah, the powerful Lebanese militant
group backed by Iran, is a sworn enemy of Israel and the two have had a series
of confrontations, including a full-scale war in 2006.
Hezbollah’s
leader, Hassan Nasrallah, in a year-end interview, said Israel’s efforts to
curb his group’s ability to acquire precision-guided missiles have failed. He
boasted that Hezbollah now has twice as many such missiles as it had last year.
Israel
has in recent months expressed concern that Hezbollah is trying to establish
production facilities to make precision-guided missiles.
https://english.alarabiya.net/en/News/middle-east/2021/01/10/Israeli-jets-flying-low-over-Lebanon-airspace-daily-as-tensions-run-high
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Iraq
‘surprised’ at US sanctions for top PMU militia leader
09
January 2021
Iraq
voiced surprise Saturday after the US Treasury imposed “unacceptable” sanctions
against Falih al-Fayyadh, leader of the state-sponsored Popular Mobilization
Unit (PMU) militia, a powerful pro-Iranian paramilitary network.
Fayyadh
is one of the most senior Iraqi state officials to be placed on the US
sanctions blacklist.
Washington
has been threatening for months to impose sanctions on Iraqis with close ties
to Iran or accused of human rights violations, and the US Treasury said Fayyadh
was responsible for brutal attacks on protesters in October 2019.
Fayyadh’s
former deputy, Abu Mahdi al-Muhandis, was killed in US drone strike a year ago
alongside Iranian General Qassem Soleimani.
But
Iraq’s foreign ministry called the blacklisting “surprising and unacceptable,”
and said it would “work to rectify” similar US moves against Iraqis, whether by
outgoing President Donald Trump or his successor, Joe Biden.
The
sanctions, announced Friday, seek to freeze any assets a designated person has
under US jurisdiction and bans American firms – including banks and other
companies with US branches – from doing business with them.
It
poses a thorny problem for Fayyadh, an international businessman who has also
been sent by Baghdad as an envoy to the US, Iran and the Gulf.
Iraqi
national security adviser Qassem al-Araji said sanctions targeting a senior
government official were an “error.”
But
several pro-Iran groups, including Lebanon’s Hezbollah movement congratulated
Fayyadh for the “honorary badge” of sanctions, saying it signaled his services
to the “resistance.”
https://english.alarabiya.net/en/News/middle-east/2021/01/09/Iraqi-militias-Iraq-surprised-at-US-sanctions-for-top-PMU-militia-leader
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Bahrain
to reopen airspace to Qatar after reconciliation
11
January 2021
Bahrain’s
civil aviation affairs authority says the country will open its airspace to
Qatar as of Monday, following a deal to end the Saudi-led Persian Gulf row with
Doha.
The
announcement was made on Sunday, a few days after a reconciliation agreement
was reached between Qatar and the Arab quartet — Saudi Arabia, the United Arab
Emirates, Bahrain, and Egypt.
In
2017, the four countries severed diplomatic ties and transport links with
Qatar.
The
Saudi-led quartet accused Qatar of supporting terrorism, presented it with a
list of demands and gave it an ultimatum to comply with them or face
consequences.
Doha,
however, denied terrorism charges and refused to meet the conditions laid out
by the boycotting bloc, stressing that the country would not abandon its
independent foreign policy.
The
reconciliation deal was signed at a summit in Saudi Arabia’s city of al-Ula on
January 5.
Saudi
Arabia and the UAE have already announced reopening their airspace, land and
maritime borders to Qatar.
Saudi
Arabia’s foreign minister had said at the summit that the four states agreed to
restore all relations with Doha.
However,
Emirati Minister of State for Foreign Affairs Anwar Gargash said that while the
UAE could re-open trade and travel links with Qatar within a week, some issues
would take a longer time to fix.
1st
Qatar-Saudi flight to take off
On
Monday, direct flights between Qatar and Saudi Arabia were to resume.
A
Qatar Airways flight would take off from Doha at 1045 GMT and land in Riyadh at
1210 GMT, according to the airline's timetable.
It
marks the first commercial flight between the two countries in three and a half
years.
Meanwhile,
Saudi Airlines flight would depart at 1340 GMT from Riyadh to Doha, according
to its online schedule.
https://www.presstv.com/Detail/2021/01/11/642756/Bahrain-reopen-airspace-Qatar-reconciliation
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Lebanon's
biggest Christian political bloc rules out joining Hariri government
10
January 2021
The
leader of Lebanon’s largest Christian bloc, the Free Patriotic Movement (FPM),
has ruled out joining a new government led by embattled Prime
Minister-designate Saad al-Hariri.
Gebran
Bassil, leader of the FPM and son-in-law of President Michel Aoun, said in a
televised speech on Sunday that his movement would not join the cabinet as long
as Hariri insisted on choosing all the ministers.
“We
don't entrust Hariri alone with reform in Lebanon,” Bassil said. “In short we
don't want to take part in this government.”
Politicians
have been at loggerheads over the shape of a new administration since the last
one quit in the aftermath of the August 4 Beirut port explosion.
Hariri
was named premier for a fourth time in October, promising to form a cabinet of
specialists to enact sweeping reforms in the country, which is grappling with
its worst economic crisis in decades.
Bassil,
however, said Hariri did not appear to be serious about forming a government.
“Every
time he meets the president, he takes a different line-up with him,” Bassil
said of Hariri. “Someone who does that is serious and wants to form a government?
Or is wasting time?” he asked.
Efforts
to form a new government in Lebanon have hit an impasse over the past few
months.
The
resistance movement of Hezbollah and its parliamentary bloc has denounced the
United States and some other western countries over blocking efforts to
establish a new government in the Arab country.
Bassil
was placed under sanctions in November by the administration of outgoing US
President Donald Trump.
The
leader of the FPM has denounced the sanctions, saying the “unjust” and “politically
motivated” action stems from his refusal to sever ties with Hezbollah.
The
FPM has a political alliance with Hezbollah, which, in Bassil’s words, has been
a pillar of Lebanon’s national unity and stability.
Hezbollah
has said that sanctions on Bassil amount to a flagrant intervention in the
domestic affairs of Lebanon.
President
Aoun has already warned that Lebanon's new prime minister would have to work
towards reforms and fighting corruption.
Lebanon
is grappling with its worst economic crisis in decades and still reeling from
the colossal port explosion that claimed the lives of 203 people and ravaged
large parts of Beirut in early August.
https://www.presstv.com/Detail/2021/01/10/642721/Lebanon-Gebran-Bassil-Hezbollah-Saad-al-Hariri-Free-Patriotic-Movement-(FPM)-
--------
Saudi
Arabia’s KSrelief distributes winter kits to over 100,000 families in Lebanon
Tamara
Abueish
Jan
11, 2021
The
King Salman Humanitarian Aid and Relief Center (KSrelief) distributed winter
kits to 117,000 vulnerable families in Lebanon, the humanitarian center said on
Sunday.
The
families included Syrian and Palestinian refugees located in several areas
around the country, KSrelief said on Twitter.
The
kits comprised of winter bags, blankets, and clothes.
Saudi
Arabia has set up 37 humanitarian projects in Lebanon through KSrelief,
including ones focused on food security, health, and education.
Last
month, KSrelief announced it would be rebuilding the Syrian refugee camp that
was set on fire in northern Lebanon following a fight between members of the
camp and a local Lebanese family.
Hundreds
of Syrian refugees were forced to flee the makeshift camp after their tents
were torched.
While
volunteers rebuild the camp, KSrelief said it would be offering those affected
secure housing in the meantime.
Saudi
Arabia regularly offers aid to the Lebanese people and vulnerable groups living
in the country. Following the aftermath of the deadly Beirut port explosion,
KSrelief sent thousands of aid packages to victims of the blast.
The
packages included medicines, burn treatment supplies, intravenous fluids,
masks, sanitizers, and surgical sutures, as well as food baskets, flour, dates,
and shelter kits.
https://english.alarabiya.net/en/News/middle-east/2021/01/11/Lebanon-crisis-KSrelief-distributes-winter-kits-to-over-100-000-families-in-Lebanon
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Policeman
shot, dozens wounded in protests in Iraq’s Nasiriyah
11
January 2021
A
policeman was killed Sunday in Iraq, the army said, as security forces fired to
disperse a third consecutive day of protests in the city of Nasiriyah,
according to medics.
The
policeman was “killed by a bullet to the head,” a medic in the city 300
kilometers (190 miles) south of the capital Baghdad said.
The
army confirmed the death. “Thirty-three other policemen were wounded in the
events of the day,” the military added, without elaborating.
Medical
sources said several protesters were wounded.
Witnesses
said security forces opened fire to disperse demonstrators – including some
throwing stones – from a city square that served as an epicenter of a
widespread protest movement that began in October 2019.
A
sprawl of tents in Habbubi Square had remained in place until November 2020,
when eight people were killed in clashes between anti-government protesters and
followers of the Shia leader Moqtada Sadr.
Anti-government
protesters reoccupied the square on Friday, demanding the release of peers who
have been arrested in recent weeks.
Security
forces repeatedly fired in the air and launched smoke grenades towards the
protesters, whose movement for the first time penetrated other parts of the
city.
A
spokesman for the protesters told AFP that 13 demonstrators who had been
arrested were released, adding that authorities had promised other detainees
would be released the next day.
Iraq’s
protests fizzled out last year due to the COVID-19 pandemic and a crackdown
that left nearly 600 dead and 30,000 wounded.
But
kidnappings, targeted killings and arrests of protest leaders have continued.
Alongside
demanding an end to political corruption, protesters want jobs and improved
public services.
But
the state’s ability to finance these demands is hamstrung by an economic
crisis, including a yawning fiscal deficit.
https://english.alarabiya.net/en/News/middle-east/2021/01/11/Policeman-shot-dozens-wounded-in-protests-in-Iraq-s-Nasiriyah
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Syrian
protesters call for withdrawal of Turkish, SDF forces from Qamishli
10
January 2021
Hundreds
of people in Syria’s northeastern province of Hasakah have staged separate
demonstrations to denounce the Turkish military deployment to their area, in
addition to the presence of the Syrian Democratic Forces (SDF) and arbitrary
practices of the US-backed militants.
On
Sunday, residents of Halkou neighborhood in the Kurdish-majority city of Qamishli
demonstrated against poor living conditions.
The
SDF militants have had the area under siege for a week, preventing the entry of
food supplies for the locals.
The
protesters demanded an immediate end to criminal actions by the militants in
addition to their withdrawal.
Security
conditions are reportedly deteriorating in the areas controlled by the SDF in
Hasakah and Dayr al-Zawr provinces.
Locals
argue that the SDF’s constant raids and arrest campaign have generated a state
of frustration and instability, severely affecting their businesses and
livelihood.
Residents
accuse the US-backed militants of stealing crude oil and failing to spend money
on service sectors.
Local
councils affiliated with the SDF have also been accused of financial
corruption. They are said to be embezzling funds provided by donors, neglecting
services and not meeting the people’s primary needs.
A
protest was also held in Tayy neighborhood of Qamishli on Saturday, where
participants expressed resentment over the deteriorating living conditions in
their region.
On
October 9, 2019, Turkey launched a cross-border invasion of northeastern Syria
in an attempt to push Kurdish militants affiliated with the so-called People’s
Protection Units (YPG) — which Ankara views as a terror outfit — away from its
borders.
Two
weeks later, Russia and Turkey signed a memorandum of understanding that forced
the YPG militants to withdraw from the Turkish-controlled “safe zone” in
northeastern Syria, after which Ankara and Moscow began joint patrols around
the area.
Turkey
has since wrested control of several areas in northern Syria in addition to
other Kurdish-controlled areas.
Damascus
views the Turkish military presence on Syrian soil as an attack on the Arab
country's sovereignty.
https://www.presstv.com/Detail/2021/01/10/642701/Syrian-protesters-Qamishli-SDF
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Drone
attack hits oil refineries in militant-held northern Syrian: Reports
10
January 2021
An
unidentified drone has reportedly bombed oil refineries in northern Syria, an
area which is controlled by Turkish-backed armed militants, causing explosions
and fire.
The
refineries targeted on Sunday are situated in the countryside of al-Bab city in
Syria’s Aleppo Province.
The
so-called Syrian Observatory for Human Rights (SOHR) confirmed a large blaze at
the oil facilities near Tarhin village.
No
group has claimed responsibility for the drone strike and its possible
casualties are not known yet.
The
Syrian army has been fighting a host of foreign-backed terrorist groups, which
have been wreaking havoc in the country since 2011.
The
Damascus government has managed to win back control of most regions held by
takfiri elements. Syria is now engaged in an operation to liberate Idlib
Province and the small remaining parts of Aleppo.
Syrian
army gains have changed conditions on the ground, enraging the foreign sponsors
of anti-Damascus militants, among them the US which is occupying some swathes
of Syrian land dotted by oil fields in the north.
US
military build-up in Dayr al-Zawr
On
Saturday, US occupation forces brought in additional military and logistical
reinforcements to their illegal bases on the countryside of Syria’s eastern
province of Dayr al-Zawr.
Quoting
civil sources, Syria’s official SANA news agency reported that a 30-vehicle
convoy, including trucks loaded with heavy weapons, cannons and tanks, headed
from Hasakah Province to Dayr al-Zawr.
The
convoy, escorted by American helicopters, moved on the al-Khurafi road.
US
shelling kills Syrian child
Additionally
on Saturday, US troops targeted Dayr al-Zawr’s al-Azba village with mortar
shells, killing a Syrian child and injuring his mother, SANA reported.
https://www.presstv.com/Detail/2021/01/10/642678/Syria-drone-attack-Aleppo-oil-refineries
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US
shelling in Dayr al-Zawr kills Syrian child, injures mother: SANA
09
January 2021
A
Syrian child has been killed and his mother wounded in the US shelling of
Al-Azba village in Dayr al-Zawr province, east of Syria.
According
to Syria’s official news agency SANA, the US occupation forces deployed in the
northern countryside of Dayr al-Zawr killed the child by targeting al-Azba
village with mortar shells.
The
Saturday attack came shortly after several mortar shells hit the military base
occupied by US forces in Dayr al-Zawr.
The
so-called Syrian Observatory for Human Rights reported on Friday that the
projectiles landed on the US base at al-Omar oil field in eastern countryside
of the province on Thursday evening. There was some material damage but no
casualties.
The
report added that the US forces and allied militants from the Kurdish-led
Syrian Democratic Forces (SDF) launched a manhunt later on to arrest those
responsible for the assault.
No
group or individual has so far claimed responsibility for the attack on the
occupied base, which comes as a wave of anti-US protests sweeps across northern
and eastern Syria.
Earlier
on Thursday, dozens of people in the same Syrian province staged a
demonstration in protest at the deployment of US-sponsored and Kurdish-led SDF
militants and their arbitrary practices.
SANA,
citing local sources, reported that residents of Abu Hamam town in the Abu
Kamal district blocked the main roads with burning tires, demanding the
immediate release of all abducted locals and people from various areas of the
Jazira region in the neighboring Hasakah province.
Security
conditions are reportedly deteriorating in the areas controlled by the SDF in
Hasakah and Dayr al-Zawr provinces amid ongoing raids and arrests of civilians
by the US-sponsored militants.
Locals
argue that the SDF’s constant raids and arrest campaigns have generated a state
of frustration and instability, severely affecting their businesses and
livelihoods.
https://www.presstv.com/Detail/2021/01/09/642655/US-shelling-Syria-dayr-zawr
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Africa
US
envoy visits Western Sahara after Morocco-Israel normalization deal
09
January 2021
A
top US envoy visited contested Western Sahara on Saturday, after Washington
recognized Morocco’s sovereignty there in exchange for Rabat normalizing ties
with Israel.
Western
Sahara is a disputed and divided former Spanish colony, mostly under Morocco’s
control, where tensions with the pro-independence Polisario Front have simmered
since the 1970s.
Last
year Morocco joined the United Arab Emirates, Bahrain and Sudan in agreeing to
normalize ties with Israel under US-brokered deals.
In
return, US President Donald Trump fulfilled a decades-old Moroccan goal by
backing its contested sovereignty over the barren but phosphate-rich region,
which lies next to rich Atlantic fishing zones.
The
US Embassy in Rabat called the trip by David Schenker, Assistant Secretary of
State for Near Eastern Affairs, and the highest-ranking US diplomat for North
Africa and the Middle East, “a historic visit.”
Morocco’s
official news agency MAP reported that Schenker had visited Laayoune, the
capital of Moroccan-controlled Western Sahara.
Schenker,
who is on a regional tour including Algeria and Jordan, also visited a United
Nations base in the region, MAP said.
UN
peacekeepers in the Western Sahara are mandated to organize a referendum on
self-determination for the region, and despite Washington’s move, the UN
insists its position is “unchanged.”
Schenker’s
visit comes ahead of the expected opening of a provisional US consulate in the
desert region on Sunday, according to diplomatic sources in Rabat.
Last
month the US State Department announced it would open a “virtual” diplomatic
post in Western Sahara before building a consulate, slated for the southern
fishing port of Dakhla.
Joe
Biden, who will replace Trump as president on January 20, has not publicly
commented on Western Sahara.
https://english.alarabiya.net/en/News/north-africa/2021/01/09/US-envoy-visits-Western-Sahara-after-Morocco-Israel-normalization-deal
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Ethiopia
says TPLF members killed, captured in fresh Tigray operation
11
January 2021
The
military confrontation in Ethiopia's Tigray seems far from over two months
after a violent conflict erupted in the northern region, with government forces
now saying they have killed more than a dozen members of the former ruling
party in the restive region.
State-run
TV cited a military source as saying on Sunday that 15 TPLF members had been
killed and eight other party members captured.
Citing
a brigadier-general from the National Defense Force, the state-run Ethiopian
Broadcasting Corporation (EBC) said the region’s former president Abay Weldu,
also a former chairman of TPLF, was among those captured.
The
region’s former deputy police commissioner was among those killed by government
forces, EBC added.
In
late November after weeks of fighting, Ethiopia declared victory against the
Tigray People’s Liberation Front (TPLF), a political party that previously
governed the province and enjoyed huge political clout in Addis Ababa.
Prime
Minister Abiy Ahmed announced on November 28 that the federal government was
"fully in control" of the regional capital Mekelle, and was clearing
the surrounding areas of hostile rebel forces.
Fugitive
leaders of the TPLF pledged back then to resist and continue to fight the federal
government from their mountain hideouts.
The
latest announcement about fresh killings and detentions comes after the
military said on Friday that it had captured Sebhat Nega, a founding member of
the TPLF.
On
Saturday, he was transported to the capital Addis Ababa, state TV reported,
adding the region’s former vice president, Abraham Tekeste, was also captured.
However,
the whereabouts of TPLF's current leader, Debretsion Gebremichael, and other
members of the party’s central committee and many high-ranking former military
officers, remained unknown.
The
armed confrontation in the region has resulted in a serious humanitarian crisis
for the local population.
Many
of the hospitals in Tigray have been struck by artillery fire during the two
months of fighting, according to a humanitarian assessment of the devastation
as aid begins to arrive with desperately needed supplies.
The
humanitarian assessment, which was prepared by a joint mission of Ethiopia’s
government, UN agencies and aid groups that traveled to Mekelle and the
surrounding communities, did not say who fired shells at hospitals.
The
assessment cited regional authorities as saying over 4.5 million people, more
than two-thirds of the population, were in need of humanitarian assistance
including food, medical supplies and other basics.
“The
little food stock the affected communities had have either been looted, burned,
or damaged,” the assessment said, adding that a locust outbreak has worsened
the situation. “Living conditions for both recently displaced people and host
communities remain very critical.”
“As
a result of the conflict, many houses, shops, and private stores were burned or
damaged.” Schools, health centers, shops and other buildings were looted.
Transportation and communications links were damaged, as well, it added.
To
make matters worse, the United Nations warned that millions of people in the
region were susceptible to a "massive" coronavirus outbreak after
access was restricted by the government due to the conflict.
The
TPLF had dominated Ethiopian politics for nearly three decades; however, the
group's political clout declined after Abiy rose to power in 2018.
Since
then, the government has introduced a number of reforms. Many senior Tigrayan
officials, who resisted the reforms, were either detained, fired, or sidelined,
in what the federal government called a clampdown on corruption.
The
Tigrayan forces have been accused of creating fresh tensions with the intent of
dragging neighboring countries into an international conflict.
https://www.presstv.com/Detail/2021/01/11/642748/Africa-Ethiopia-Tigray-UN-Crisis
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France
sends warplanes to Central African Republic as rebels attack another city
09
January 2021
France
has dispatched warplanes to fly over the Central African Republic (CAR) in
support of the government troops on the ground, for the first time since
violence hit the nation following the disputed December election.
President
Emmanuel Macron’s office said in a statement on Saturday that Paris had
received a request from President Faustin-Archange Touadera and that the
dispatch has been made with the permission of a UN peacekeeping mission there.
On
Friday, Macron once again denounced attempts by armed groups "and certain
political leaders" to disrupt the electoral process.
Six
armed groups, controlling two-thirds of the country altogether, announced an
alliance against the central government in November, ahead of the presidential
election.
After
the election in December, which declared Touadera the winner with almost 54
percent of the votes, fighting continued in towns nationwide.
So
far, the United Nations peacekeepers, CAR's armed forces and hundreds of troops
from Russia and Rwanda have managed to keep the rebels away from the capital.
On
Saturday, the rebels launched another attack on government troops in the
western city of Bouar, UN peacekeepers said.
The
city, which came under attack by "armed elements," is the base for
the Leclerc camp, the army's headquarters in the western region.
UN
peacekeepers, who came to the aid of the government troops had themselves come
under fire, said MINUSCA spokesman Abdoulaziz Fall.
The
United Nations and Touadera accuse former President Francois Bozize of leading
the armed groups to seize the country’s fourth largest city briefly before the
election.
The
African country with a population of 4.7 million, has endured waves of violence
since 2013 that has killed thousands of people and forced more than a million
from their homes.
The
UN refugee agency said on Friday the violence has so far forced over 30,000
people to flee to neighboring countries of Cameroon, Chad, the Democratic
Republic of Congo (DRC), and the Republic of Congo.
Tens
of thousands more have been displaced inside the country, the UNHCR said.
https://www.presstv.com/Detail/2021/01/09/642641/Central-African-Republic-CAR-France-warplanes
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UNICEF
condemns terrorist suicide attack in Cameroon
Rodrigue
Forku
10.01.2021
UNICEF
has condemned a terrorist Boko Haram suicide attack in the Central African
country of Cameroon that killed at least 15 civilians, including five children
ranging from age 3 to 14.
“I
condemn this horrific act and call for the immediate cessation of attacks
against children, their families and communities. There is absolutely no
justification for the targeting or use of children to carry out attacks,”
UNICEF Executive Director Henrietta Fore said in a statement late Saturday.
The
attack took place Friday in the village of Mozogo in Cameroon's Mayo Tsanaga
department, Midjiyawa Bakari, governor of the Far North Region, told Anadolu
Agency.
Boko
Haram terrorists stormed the village, firing shots in the air. Villagers fled
to a park, where the terrorists brought a girl strapped with explosives,
according to Bakari. At least 15 people, including children, were killed in the
suicide blast.
“I
continue to be deeply concerned about the increasing number of attacks against
civilians in the Far North, North-West and South-West regions of Cameroon. The
rise in violence has exacerbated a national humanitarian crisis and there are
now an estimated 3.2 million children in need across the country,” Fore said.
“Conditions
for vulnerable children and families have only been made worse by mass school
closures, disease outbreaks and the socioeconomic consequences of the COVID-19
pandemic.”
Based
in Nigeria near the Cameroonian border, Boko Haram terrorists regularly attack
civilians and military posts in northern Cameroon.
Boko
Haram launched a bloody insurgency in 2009 in northeastern Nigeria but later
spread its atrocities to neighboring Niger, Chad, and Cameroon, prompting a
military response.
More
than 30,000 people have been killed and nearly 3 million displaced in a decade
of Boko Haram’s terrorist activities in Nigeria, according to the UN Office for
the Coordination of Humanitarian Affairs.
Violence
committed by Boko Haram has affected some 26 million people in the Lake Chad
region and displaced 2.6 million others, according to the UN Refugee Agency.
https://www.aa.com.tr/en/africa/unicef-condemns-terrorist-suicide-attack-in-cameroon/2104691
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Libyan
official hopes US' Biden will back stability
09.01.2021
Libya's
interior minister voiced hopes that incoming US President Joe Biden will
support efforts to achieve stability in his war-torn country.
“We
hope that the new administration has a major role in Libya’s stability and
reconciliation,” Fathi Bashagha said in an interview with the Associated Press
published on Friday.
Biden
is due to take office on Jan. 20.
Bashagha
noted that the US played an important role in 2016 in the fight against the
terror group Daesh/ISIS in the coastal city of Sirte.
He
said his government has told Russia that Libya is ready for talks if
Russian-supervised mercenaries leave, likely referring to the Wagner Group.
Bashagha
also said his government is planning a crackdown on militants and human
smugglers in western Libya in cooperation with Turkey. He also invited the US
to help.
The
Libyan government has been battling the militias of Khalifa Haftar since April
2019 in a conflict that has claimed thousands of lives.
Under
a security pact signed in fall 2019, Turkey has aided Libya's legitimate
government in its struggle.
On
Oct. 23, the warring parties agreed on a cease-fire under UN mediation to pave
the way for a political dialogue and settlement. However, Haftar militias have
regularly breached the cease-fire.
https://www.aa.com.tr/en/africa/libyan-official-hopes-us-biden-will-back-stability/2104132
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Cameroon:
18 dead, 4 injured in terror attacks
Aurore
Bonny
09.01.2021
Eighteen
people were killed, including civilians, in two separate terror attacks Friday
in Cameroon, the government said in a statement.
The
attacks were carried out in the Mayo-Sanaga department in the far north and in
western Cameroon.
"At
about half past midnight, an incursion by a group of heavily armed individuals
belonging to the Boko Haram sect," launched a suicide bomber attack and
shots that killed 12 people after "laying mines at the entrance of the
village Mozogo," according to Minister of Communication Rene Emmanuel
Sadi.
In
Matazem. in the West, four national defense and security forces personnel and
two civilians were killed in a "terror attack" carried out by
"secessionist rebels, unidentified individuals also armed with weapons of
war," he said in a statement.
Four
people were also wounded in the attack.
The
government "strongly” condemned the attacks and launched an immediate
investigation.
The
attacks were the latest in a series to hit Cameroon. A convoy in Momo
department’s prefect in the northwestern region was targeted Tuesday by another
group of separatists.
Four
soldiers and a journalist were killed in that attack, according to Sadi.
The
Boko Haram terror group has carried out attacks in northern Cameroon since
November 2016, as the country is experiencing a socio-political crisis in the
northwest and southwest --its two English-speaking regions.
Demands
for federalism and secession are led by separatist groups that have been the
source of several attacks.
https://www.aa.com.tr/en/africa/cameroon-18-dead-4-injured-in-terror-attacks/2103832
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North
America
US
soldiers recall devastation as Iran pounded Ain al-Assad air base in Iraq
11
January 2021
American
soldiers stationed at the Ain al-Assad air base in Iraq have recalled the
misery they went through when the base was targeted with a barrage of missiles
by Iran’s Islamic Revolution Guards Corps (IRGC) early last year in retaliation
for the assassination General Qassem Soleimani.
According
to The Washington Post, the soldiers, some of whom were briefly knocked
unconscious, scrambled from one bunker to the next as the missiles landed in
the base in what became known as the most powerful attack against US forces in
decades.
“I
still have anxiety,” said Maj. Alan Johnson, who struggled to focus after
absorbing the monstrous blast waves of several explosions.
“I
still have recurring nightmares of incoming — just that sound of those things
coming in,” Johnson said.
On
January 3 last year, US President Donald Trump directly ordered drone strikes
that killed Lieutenant General Soleimani - who was in Baghdad on an official
visit - and his Iraqi trenchmate Abu Mahdi al-Muhandis, the deputy commander of
Iraq’s Hashd al-Sha’abi anti-terror force.
Five
days later, Iran retaliated by firing dozens of missiles at Ain al-Assad air
base in al-Anbar Governorate, western Iraq, as well as another US air base in
Erbil, declaring that the attacks were part of its promised “tough revenge” for
the assassination.
According
to Pentagon, over 100 American soldiers suffered traumatic brain injuries as a
result of the missile strike against Ain al-Assad.
“I
can’t think that anyone has walked away from this without some sort of effects,
psychologically or emotionally, because of how traumatic the event was,” said
Lt. Col. Johnathan Jordan, the operations officer for an Air Force unit present
that night.
Jordan
said that a day before the attack, he and his commander, Lt. Col. Staci
Coleman, had drawn up a plan. She decided that half of the 160 airmen they
oversaw would leave on a C-130 with Jordan leading them, while the other half
would stay with Coleman, hunkering down in bunkers.
“We
were expecting just total devastation at that point,” Jordan recollected.
Staff
Sgt. Drew Davenport, another US soldier, said the first missile exploded at
1:34 a.m. about 100 yards from a mine-resistant vehicle, casting debris on the
hood. The reinforced doors were blown open by the concussive blast of missiles,
which landed about 300 yards away but sounded much closer, Davenport recalled.
While
no one was killed during the attacks, the Pentagon finally disclosed over a
month later that 110 troops had suffered traumatic brain injuries, after
initially saying that there were no casualties.
“All
is well!” Trump tweeted after the attack.
Speaking
the following morning, the US president insisted that “no Americans were harmed
in last night’s attack.”
“We
suffered no casualties, all of our soldiers are safe, and only minimal damage
was sustained at our military bases,” he added.
However,
29 soldiers, including Johnson, were in fact injured seriously enough to
receive Purple Hearts, which are awarded in the name of the US president to
those wounded or killed while serving.
“I
didn’t even have time to be scared,” Davenport recalled the attack. “I was just
so pumped full of adrenaline. I remember that mushroom cloud and that bright
red, orange color vividly. It was one of the wildest things I’ve ever seen.”
Johnson
said soldiers who had survived in bunkers were hesitant to leave them, even
after an “all clear” message went out, with some whimpering and others
vomiting.
Among
many others, Johnson was later diagnosed with a brain injury. He spent weeks
receiving physical therapy, speech therapy, occupational therapy, ocular motor
therapy and psychiatric care in Germany.
Johnson,
a flight surgeon, asked whether anyone needed medical attention. No one said
yes, prompting the initial report to the Pentagon of zero injuries that later
was announced by Trump.
“The
fact was, everyone had these symptoms of traumatic brain injury,” Johnson said.
“But those symptoms were insignificant compared to what we went through all
night.”
"The
attack left some with feelings of anger and helplessness. Survivors are still
pondering a night that increasingly seemed overlooked in a year that went on to
include the coronavirus pandemic, a fraught national conversation about race
and one of the most contentious presidential elections in American
history," the Post article reads.
https://www.presstv.com/Detail/2021/01/11/642742/US-troops-recall-misery-under-Iran-missile-attack
--------
US
to designate Yemen’s Ansarallah as ‘terrorist’ group: Reuters
11
January 2021
The
United States plans to designate Yemen’s Houthi Ansarullah movement as a
foreign “terrorist” group on Monday, three sources have told Reuters.
According
to two of the sources quoted by Reuters, the decision to blacklist the Yemeni
group could be announced as soon as Monday.
The
move comes as the administration of US President-elect Joe Biden prepares to
take over from the Trump administration on January 20.
Saudi
Arabia and a number of its regional allies launched the war on Yemen in March
2015, with the goal of bringing the government of former president Abd Rabbuh
Mansur Hadi back to power and crushing the popular Ansarullah movement.
The
US-based Armed Conflict Location and Event Data Project (ACLED), a nonprofit
conflict-research organization, estimates that the war has claimed more than
100,000 lives.
The
Houthi Ansarullah movement, backed by armed forces, has been defending Yemen
against the Saudi-led alliance, preventing the aggressors from fulfilling the
objectives of the atrocious war.
Diplomats
and aid groups worry the US designation of Ansarullah could threaten peace
talks and complicate efforts to combat the world’s largest humanitarian crisis
caused by the Saudi-led coalition’s aggression against the Yemeni nation,
Reuters reported.
“This
serves no interest at all,” Ryan Crocker, a retired US ambassador who served in
the Middle East, said of the designation.
“The
Houthis are an integral part of Yemeni society. They always have been. This is
making a strategic enemy out of a local force that has been part of Yemen for
generations,” he added.
In
November UN Secretary-General Antonio Guterres said Yemen was in “imminent
danger of the worst famine the world has seen for decades,” warning against any
unilateral moves as the United States threatened to blacklist the Houthis.
The
designation has been the subject of weeks of fierce debate within the Trump
administration and internal disagreements over how to carve out exceptions for
aid shipments held up a final decision on the blacklisting, which has been in
the works for weeks, multiple sources have said.
However,
international relief officials have said such measures have often failed to
unblock the flow of aid because banks and insurance companies are worried about
running afoul of US sanctions, and that this could also be the case with Yemen.
https://www.presstv.com/Detail/2021/01/11/642738/Yemen-ansarullah-us-designation
--------
Pope
urges Americans to shun violence, seek reconciliation in wake of Capitol riot
10
January 2021
Pope
Francis has called on Americans to avoid violence, seek reconciliation and
“protect democratic values,” days after thousands of angry protesters laid a
deadly siege to the US Capitol in support of outgoing President Donald Trump.
“I
repeat that violence is self-destructive, always. Nothing is gained by violence
and so much is lost,” the 84-year-old pontiff said in his Sunday address.
On
Wednesday, Trump’s supporters stormed the US Congress building, as members were
carrying out the ceremonial count of Electoral College votes to certify
President-elect Joe Biden's election victory.
Capitol
police were overwhelmed and House members and senators fled the scene as shots
were fired to disperse the crowd. Police later cleared the Capitol of the
rioters, enforced a curfew, and arrested dozens of people.
Five
people, including a police officer who later succumbed to his wounds, were
killed in the unpreceded violence.
“I
appeal to the authorities of the country and to the entire population to
maintain a lofty sense of responsibility in order to calm things down, promote
national reconciliation and protect democratic values that are rooted in
American society,” Francis further said.
In
the wake of the riot, dozens of people have been charged, with the FBI asking
the public to help identify those involved in the storming of the Capitol, as
footage of the riot have circulated online.
The
Pope also said that he wanted to send “an affectionate greeting” to all
Americans, noting that the country was “shaken by the recent siege on
Congress.”
The
pontiff also said that he was praying for those who lost their lives “in those
dramatic moments” and prayed that all Americans would “keep alive a culture of
encounter, a culture of caring, as the master way to build together the common
good.”
After
two months of refusing to concede defeat in the November 3 election, Trump
goaded his supporters to march from the White House to the Capitol, calling on
them to “fight like hell.”
The
breach prompted calls from some members of Congress, including House Speaker
Nancy Pelosi and Senate Democratic Leader Chuck Schumer, for the urgent removal
of Trump from power.
https://www.presstv.com/Detail/2021/01/10/642696/Pope-Francis-US-Capitol-Trump-violence
--------
Top
Pentagon policy official in Riyadh, meets Saudi Dpty. Defense Min.
10
January 2021
US
Defense Department’s acting policy chief Anthony Tata has met with Saudi
regime’s deputy defense minister in Riyadh as the out-going US President Donald
Trump pushes last minutes weapons sales to the regime before handing power over
to President-elect Joe Biden, who opposes major arms transfers to the despotic kingdom.
The
recently appointed Tata, a Trump loyalist, held talks with Prince Khalid bin
Salman – the younger brother of the kingdom’s notorious Crown Prince Mohammed
bin Salman – and discussed a “shared vision of stability for the region,” said
the younger bin Salman in a Twitter post as cited in Friday report by the
Washington-based al-Monitor news outlet.
Details
of the meeting on Thursday were not immediately unveiled by either side,
according to the report, which emphasized that the visit in waning days of
Tata’s short tenure at the Pentagon came as the Trump administration tries to
press through more weapons sales to the Saudi regime before the January 20
inauguration of Biden.
This
is while Biden has pledged to adopt a tougher stance towards the Persian Gulf
state, threatening to halt US arms sales to the regime and end Washington’s
backing of its military aggression on neighboring Yemen.
Tata’s
visit to Riyadh also came as the US military dispatched yet another pair of
nuclear-capable B-52 Stratofortress bombers to the Middle East -- the fourth
such mission in just two months – after taking off from Minot Air Force Base in
North Dakota for Jordan on Wednesday before linking up with Saudi F-15s war
planes.
The
re-dispatch of B-52 bombers -- which coincided with the redeployment of
aircraft carrier USS Nimitz to the region, in addition to the arrival of
guided-missile submarine USS Georgia to the Persian Gulf – marked persisting
fears of the US military and its regional collaborators that Iran may still carry
out its vow of revenging the Trump-ordered terror assassination of it Quds
Force commander Lt. Gen. Qassem Soleimani in Baghdad last January.
The
move came just days after the Acting US Defense Chief Chris Miller ordered the
Nimitz back to its home port just after the first anniversary of the terrorist
attack that killed Soleimani along with other senior Iraqi and Iranian military
officers, in hopes of removing American forces and military assets from the
risk of being targeted by reprisal attacks.
Miller’s
decision was heavily criticized by top US military commanders and other
officials who highlighted persisting fears that Iran and its allied forces in
the region may still launch avenge attacks against American military targets
there in the waning days of Trump administration.
According
to al-Monitor report, Saudi Arabia and the Israeli regime “have both
contributed to the [US-led] show of force, which followed calls for revenge by
the Islamic Republic’s supreme leader, Ali Khamenei, over the [terror]
assassination of a senior Iranian nuclear scientist in November.”
Tata,
the report added, also visited the Maldives earlier in the week to build on a
joint military cooperation agreement signed last September.
Hawkish
Tata, a former general, was nominated to be the Pentagon’s policy chief last
year but was never confirmed by the US Senate. He was appointed by Trump to
perform that role anyway amid a White House shake-up of Pentagon leadership
that saw political allies of Trump installed in senior policy-making positions
in November.
https://www.presstv.com/Detail/2021/01/10/642658/US-Pentagon-policy-chief-Anthony-Tata-Saudi-Arabia-Riyadh-meeting
--------
Europe
Second
Australian arrested over Iraqi Unaoil scandal
11
January 2021
Australian
police on Monday charged former Leighton Holdings executive David Savage for
allegedly being involved in the Unaoil scandal for paying US$78 million in
bribes to secure lucrative Iraqi oil contracts.
The
man, who was not named by police, was identified in media reports as former
Leighton Holdings COO, David Savage.
Police
said a 60-year-old was charged with two counts of knowingly providing
misleading information contrary to the Corporations Act.
He
was arrested on his release from 14 days in hotel quarantine after returning to
Australia from France.
Investigators
allege Leighton Offshore, an international arm of Leighton Holdings, funnelled
bribes through contractors including Monaco-based Unaoil to secure two oil
pipeline construction contracts worth almost US$1.5 billion.
In
2019, two former senior Unaoil executives pleaded guilty to being part of a
scheme to bribe foreign government officials in several countries including
Azerbaijan, Syria and Iraq.
The
latest Australian arrest comes two months after a 54-year-old man was charged
with foreign bribery offences in connection to the Leighton allegations.
The
Australian Federal Police said Iraqi Ministry of Oil officials and government
officials within the South Oil Company of Iraq were targeted in the scheme.
Their
nine-year investigation, working with US and UK police, has also resulted in an
arrest warrant for a third man who is believed to be overseas.
https://english.alarabiya.net/en/News/world/2021/01/11/Second-Australian-arrested-over-Iraqi-oil-bribes-scandal
--------
Pope
condemns US violence, calls for reconciliation
Giada
Zampano
10.01.2021
ROME
Pope
Francis called on the people of the US to reject violence and promote national
reconciliation, condemning the dramatic assault on the US Congress during his
Sunday Angelus.
Francis
extended his “loving greeting” to all US citizens who are “shaken by the recent
siege at the Congress,” and said he is praying for the five people who lost
their lives “in those dramatic moments.”
The
pontiff spoke just a few days after President Donald Trump’s supporters stormed
the Capitol Hill in Washington DC and clashed with police, as Congress met to
validate Joe Biden’s presidential win against Trump.
“Reject
violence. It’s time for healing,” the pope said. “I reiterate that violence is
always self-destructive. Nothing is gained by violence and so much is lost.”
He
then urged US authorities and the entire population to maintain “a high sense
of responsibility in order to soothe tempers, promote national reconciliation,
and protect the democratic values rooted in American society.”
In
a separate TV interview with Italian news channel Canale 5 – which will be
aired on Sunday evening – Pope Francis said he was “astonished” by the Congress
attack, especially because the US people are “so disciplined in democracy.”
But
he also noted that even in the most “mature” societies, there are violent
minorities who act against democracy and the common good.
“But
thank God this erupted and people could see it well. That way it can be
remedied,” he said, stressing that "we must always learn from
history."
During
the interview, the pope also spoke of the choice of being vaccinated against
COVID-19, an option that he described as “ethical,” since it also involves
other people’s lives.
Francis
said he had already signed up to be vaccinated as the Vatican kicks off its
vaccination campaign starting from Jan. 11.
https://www.aa.com.tr/en/europe/pope-condemns-us-violence-calls-for-reconciliation/2105135
--------
Top
Turkish diplomat looking for progress in EU ties
Sena
Guler
10.01.2021
In
a visit with EU leaders set for later this month, Turkey’s top diplomat is
looking to talk with an eye on results.
“Looking
forward to visiting Brussels for a sincere and result oriented dialogue,”
Foreign Minister Mevlut Cavusoglu said on Twitter in response to a tweet by EU
foreign policy chief Josep Borrell.
Cavusoglu
is expected to visit Brussels, the de facto EU capital, to hold talks with
Borrell on Jan. 21.
On
Saturday, Borrell tweeted after taking part in a “useful” videoconference call
on Turkish-EU relations between Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdogan and
Ursula von der Leyen, the head of the European Commission.
“We
stand ready to continue working on dialogue with Turkey,” he wrote. “I look
forward to welcoming Mevlut Cavusoglu in Brussels to pursue the tasking
received by leaders at EUCO [European Council meeting] in December.”
After
a year of ups and downs in Turkish-EU ties, including a push by some member
states to impose sanctions on Turkey over bilateral issues, Turkish leaders
have said they hope for progress in ties this year, and expect the EU to take
steps toward this end.
Turkey
has been an official candidate for EU membership since 2005, but progress
towards its accession has been stalled for years.
https://www.aa.com.tr/en/europe/top-turkish-diplomat-looking-for-progress-in-eu-ties/2104888
--------
Germany
cancels Assad-supporter's asylum status
Cuneyt
Karadag
10.01.2021
BERLIN
Germany
revoked asylum status of Armenian origin Syrian regime supporter Kevork
Almassian, local media reported.
The
Die Welt newspaper, citing the immigration authority, BAMF, said the status of
Almassian was revoked. Almassian has been in Germany since 2015.
The
reason for the move was being a supporter of the Bashar al-Assad regime and is
not under political pursuit in Syria, the newspaper reported.
Almassian
could face deportation but the uncertainty could remain for some time as the
case was taken to court, according to the newspaper
Die
Welt also reported that Almassian was working for an MP of the far-right
Alternative for Germany.
https://www.aa.com.tr/en/europe/germany-cancels-assad-supporters-asylum-status/2104586
--------
EU
has priority in Turkey’s agenda: President Erdogan
Berk
Ozkan
09.01.2021
The
Turkish president and the European Commission head on Saturday held a
videoconference call to discuss Turkey-EU relations, Turkish authorities said.
Recep
Tayyip Erdogan and Ursula von der Leyen discussed the ways to develop relations
between Turkey and the EU and addressed regional developments, Turkey’s
Communications Directorate said in a statement.
Erdogan
told von der Leyen that the EU has priority in Turkey’s agenda. He reiterated
that Turkey sees its future in Europe.
He
also pointed out the importance of resuming regular Turkey-EU summits and
high-level dialogue meetings.
Turkey
wants to open a new page in relations with the EU in the new year, Erdogan
said, adding that 2020 could not have been made use of enough due to the whims
and artificial problems that some EU members produced, according to the
statement.
He
added that this situation was not sustainable not only in terms of the future
of relations but also in terms of the broad common geography.
The
Turkish president also said that updating the 2016 refugee deal would be the
first step for a positive agenda on Turkey-EU relations.
Turkey
and the EU signed a refugee deal in 2016, which aimed to discourage irregular
migration through the Aegean Sea by taking stricter measures against human
traffickers and improving the conditions of nearly four million Syrian refugees
in Turkey.
Erdogan
pointed out that the year 2021 offers a productive environment for new
cooperation to be initiated in the field of migration.
The
Turkish president also said that the Customs Union agreement between Turkey and
EU should be updated, Turkish nationals should be allowed visa-free travel
within the Schengen area and steps should be taken in talks on Turkey’s EU
accession.
He
also mentioned re-establishing mutual trust and rerunning the consultation
mechanism.
Erdogan
underlined the need for an end to “exclusionary and discriminatory rhetoric”
against Turkey.
Von
der Leyen, for her part, said on Twitter: “Good exchange with Turkish President
@RTErdogan. We exchanged on the #COVID19 situation, the economic recovery and
the implementation of tasking of the European Council of December 2020.”
On
Friday, Turkish Foreign Minister Mevlut Cavusoglu said that Turkey is working
to turn new chapters in its relations with the EU.
The
top Turkish diplomat is expected to visit Brussels to hold talks with the EU’s
foreign policy chief Josep Borrell on Jan. 21.
https://www.aa.com.tr/en/europe/eu-has-priority-in-turkey-s-agenda-president-erdogan/2104437
--------
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