Biden’s Pick For Pentagon Chief, Retired Army Gen. Lloyd Austin, Says Pak Action Against LeT, JeM ‘Incomplete’
20 January 2021
Retired Army Gen. Lloyd Austin. (REUTERS)
-----
• Iraqi Source: US Attack against Jurf Al-Nasr Aimed
at Paving Ground for ISIL’s Revival
• Former Israeli Intelligence Officer Reported To Be
Working In Keir Starmer's Office
• Antony Blinken, Biden's Nominee For Secretary Of
State Says To Review Taliban Deal
• Uttar Pradesh Govt Seeks Transfer Of All Pleas
Against Anti-Conversion Law To SC
• Pakistan Arrests Suspected Islamic State
'Fundraiser', Umar Bin Khalid
• Iran’s Rouhani Calls On US President-Elect Biden To
Return To Nuclear Deal
• At Least 48 Dead In Militia Attack On El Geneina,
West Darfur - SUNA
North America
• Biden’s Pick For Pentagon Chief, Retired Army Gen.
Lloyd Austin, Says Pak Action Against LeT, JeM ‘Incomplete’
• FBI Probes Possible Connections Between Extremist
Groups At Heart Of Capitol Violence
• Pompeo: Chinese Genocide Against Muslims 'Crime of
the Century'
• Biden Administration To Revive Military-To-Military
Ties With Pakistan
• Iran sanctions US President Trump, Secretary Pompeo,
other American officials
• US not close to rejoining Iran deal, says Biden’s
pick for national intelligence
• US soldier charged with plotting ISIS attack on 9/11
memorial
• Incoming US intel chief vows to release report on
who ordered Khashoggi murder
• US engaged in 30-year futile war in Middle East:
Expert
--------
Arab World
• Iraqi Source: US Attack against Jurf Al-Nasr Aimed
at Paving Ground for ISIL’s Revival
• Gulf States, Israel Demand Seat At Iran Nuclear Deal
Negotiations: UAE Diplomat
• Iraq tightens security along Syria border to curb
ISIS movement: Military
• Did Islamic State make comeback to opposition areas
in countryside of Aleppo?
• Obscure Islamist Group Targets Turkish Military in
Northwest Syria
• ISIS Landmines Kill 10 Russia-backed Fighters in
Syria’s Homs
• Israel, Syria officials discuss removal of Iran and
its militias from Syria: Report
• Lebanon returns two stolen 18th-century religious
icons to Greece
--------
Europe
• Former Israeli Intelligence Officer Reported To Be
Working In Keir Starmer's Office
• Azerbaijan says lost 2,855 troops in
Nagorno-Karabakh war
• Greece arrests suspected Syrian militant wanted in
Netherlands
• 2 Syrians charged with terrorism over army officer's
killing
• ‘Extremist’ Sydney Man Accused Of Breaching
Anti-Terrorism Control Order Over Online Material
--------
South Asia
• Antony Blinken, Biden's Nominee For Secretary Of
State Says To Review Taliban Deal
• Myanmar Agrees To Start Taking Back Rohingya This
Year
• Afghan Security Members Face Heavy Casualties in
Kunduz
• Taliban attacks, violence kills dozens: Afghan
officials
• Peace talks at 'snail's pace' due to Taliban, says
Afghan government
--------
India
• Uttar Pradesh Govt Seeks Transfer Of All Pleas
Against Anti-Conversion Law To SC
• Major infiltration bid foiled in Jammu: Three
militants killed, four soldiers injured
• India: Muslim comedian detained over anti-Hindu
jokes he might crack
--------
Pakistan
• Pakistan Arrests Suspected Islamic State
'Fundraiser', Umar Bin Khalid
• Pakistan opposition demand swift verdict against
Imran and his party in graft case
• NAB let Dar off the hook after getting his help: UK
judge
• Qureshi says Pakistan’s focus has shifted to
geo-economics
• Bilawal asks ECP to respond to allegation of PTI’s
foreign funding
• Cross-examination in defamation suit: Iffat says
can’t recall details of harassment on Meesha
--------
Mideast
• Iran’s Rouhani Calls On US President-Elect Biden To
Return To Nuclear Deal
• US fighting alongside Daesh, al-Qaeda against Yemen:
Houthi official
• Israeli settlements in occupied Palestine constitute
intl. law violation: UN chief
• Iranian Army Divers Conduct Combined Operations in
Ground Force Wargames
• Iran: No Message Received from Biden’s Team
• Spokesman: Uranium Metal Necessary to Treat Iranian
Patients with Special Needs
• Pro-Hezbollah journalist says party cannot continue
with current ties with Iran
• US issues sanctions waivers to UN, ICRC in Yemen
after Houthi sanctions
• Israeli tanks attack Gaza after alleged rocket fire
into occupied lands
--------
Africa
• At Least 48 Dead In Militia Attack On El Geneina,
West Darfur - SUNA
• Tunisia rocked by four consecutive nights of riots
• Sudan deploys troops to Darfur to contain tribal
violence
• Tunisians press on with protests against poverty,
high cost of living
• Residents flee Islamist insurgent attack on town in
northeast Nigeria
• Armed group captures military base in northeast
Nigeria
--------
Southeast Asia
• Group Slams Deputy Minister For ‘Political’ Attack
On LGBT When Country Suffering From Covid-19
• US declares China guilty of committing ‘genocide’
against Uighurs
• Most Umno leaders in favour of PPBM alliance, says
Hadi
• Remembering the Malaysia-Indonesia Confrontation, 58
years on
Compiled by New Age Islam News Bureau
URL: https://www.newageislam.com/islamic-world-news/bidens-pick-pentagon-chief-retired/d/124108
--------
Biden’s Pick For Pentagon Chief, Retired Army Gen.
Lloyd Austin, Says Pak Action Against LeT, JeM ‘Incomplete’
By Rezaul H Laskar
JAN 20, 2021
Retired Army Gen. Lloyd Austin. (REUTERS)
-----
Gen (retired) Lloyd Austin, president-elect Joe
Biden’s pick to head the Pentagon, has described China’s “increasingly
aggressive actions” across the Indo-Pacific as key concern for the US and said
that Pakistan’s actions against anti-India terror groups such as LeT and JeM
are “incomplete”.
At a Senate Armed Services Committee hearing on
Tuesday, Austin also said that if he is confirmed for the post, he will work to
continue elevating the defence partnership with India and work to “further
operationalise India’s ‘Major Defense Partner’ status”.
Austin, 67, would be the first African American to run
the department of defence but needs to be granted a waiver by both the House of
Representatives and the Senate because the National Security Act requires the
secretary of defence to wait seven years after active duty service before
taking up the job.
He retired in 2016. The former four-star general has
served as head of the US Central Command, which oversees operations in
Afghanistan and Iraq.
In his testimony to the Senate committee, Austin said
on the global stage, Asia must be the focus of the US effort, and that he sees
“China, in particular, as the pacing challenge for the Department”.
“Globally, I believe the most significant challenge I
will face will be to ensure the Department of Defense’s continued efforts to
prepare and strengthen the US military for a dynamic, future security landscape
driven by accelerating competitions with China and with Russia – with China as
our pacing threat in most areas – while still ensuring our ability to deter
today’s range of threats,” he said in written replies to advance policy
questions from the committee.
He said he assessed the “rapid development and
operational focus” of China and the modernisation of the People’s Liberation
Army, including its ability to conduct information, cyber and space operations,
“constitutes a significant and long-term security threat to the United States
and to our allies and partners”.
China’s “increasingly aggressive actions” in the
Indo-Pacific too are concerning and the US needs a “more resilient and
distributed force posture in the Indo-Pacific in response to China’s
counter-intervention capabilities and approaches”, he said.
Asked if there had been any change in Pakistan’s
cooperation with the US after American security aid was cut off in 2018, Austin
replied: “I understand Pakistan has taken constructive steps to meet US
requests in support of the Afghanistan peace process. Pakistan has also taken
steps against anti-Indian groups, such as Lashkar-e-Tayyiba and
Jaish-e-Mohammed, although this progress is incomplete.”
He added, “Many factors in addition to the security
assistance suspension may impact Pakistan’s cooperation, including Afghanistan
negotiations and the dangerous escalation following the Pulwama terrorist
attack.”
Austin said Pakistan will continue to play an
“important role in any political settlement in Afghanistan” and the US also
needs to work with the country to defeat al-Qaeda and the Islamic
State-Khorasan Province and enhance regional stability.
He added that he intended to “press Pakistan to
prevent its territory from being used as a sanctuary for militants and violent
extremist organizations”. Continuing to build relationships with Pakistan’s
military will “provide openings for the United States and Pakistan to cooperate
on key issues”, he said.
In response to a question on his priorities for India,
Austin said his “overarching objective for our defense relationship with India
would be to continue elevating the partnership”.
He added, “I would further operationalise India’s
‘Major Defense Partner’ status and continue to build upon existing strong
defence cooperation to ensure the US and Indian militaries can collaborate to
address shared interests. I would also seek to deepen and broaden our defence
cooperation through the Quad security dialogue and other regional multilateral
engagements.”
https://www.hindustantimes.com/india-news/bidens-pick-for-pentagon-chief-says-pak-action-against-let-jem-incomplete-101611119883610.html
--------
Iraqi Source: US Attack against Jurf Al-Nasr Aimed at
Paving Ground for ISIL’s Revival
2021-January-19
A senior Iraqi source said that the early Tuesday
airstrikes against Jurf al-Nasr region at the bordering areas of Iraq and Syria
were aimed at preparing the ground for the ISIL to enter the country.
------
Al-Qadir news network quoted a "special
source" as saying on Tuesday that the attack on Iraqi army units in Jurf
al-Nasr area was part of the US ongoing attempts to destabilize Iraq.
He added that the air raids targeted a number of Iraqi
army units, killing several forces and wounding a number of others.
The source noted that the US attacks were aimed at
undermining Iraq's military power in the region in a bid to the pave the ground
for the ISIL terrorists to penetrate into Jurf al-Nasr area from the Syrian
border, specially from the US-occupied Al-Tanf base.
Loud explosions were heard South of Iraq's capital of
Baghdad Tuesday overnight, according to Lebanese Al-Meyadeen TV.
Al-Meyadeen also reported that American warplanes were
heard flying over Syria's border with Iraq prior to the explosions.
The explosions were heard in Jurf al-Nasr, some 60
kilometers (37 miles) Southwest of Baghdad, an area taken by the ISIL in 2014
and liberated that year by the Iraqi army and popular forces.
https://www.farsnews.ir/en/news/13991030000846/Irai-Srce-US-Aack-agains-Jrf-Al-Nasr-Aimed-a-Paving-Grnd-fr-ISIL%E2%80%99s
--------
Former Israeli Intelligence Officer Reported To Be
Working In Keir Starmer's Office
19 January 2021
Labour leader Keir Starmer urged to act over ‘Islamophobic’
property developer
Keir Starmer
----
The opposition Labour Party under Keir Starmer’s
direction appears to be shifting ever closer to Israel and pro-Zionist causes,
this time by employing a former Israeli intelligence officer.
According to the specialist online publication, The
Electronic Intifada (which covers the Israeli-Palestinian conflict), Assaf
Kaplan has been recruited by the Labour Party to help manage and improve the
party’s social media operations.
According to the Electronic Intifada, Kaplan is a
former officer in Unit 8200, an intelligence wing of the Israeli military.
Unit 8200’s core mission is to collect signals
intelligence and decrypt intercepted encrypted communications.
Electronic Intifada claims it has established that
Kaplan served in Unit 8200 from May 2009 to November 2013, initially working as
an intelligence analyst before getting promoted to officer level.
The job now occupied by Kaplan was advertised by the
labour Party in September 2020 and he started work three months later, a source
reportedly informed the Electronic Intifada.
Kaplan’s full job title is “Social Listening and
Organizing Manager”, which mostly involves monitoring online conversations
about Labour Party policies and positions.
The former Israeli intelligence officer is reportedly
working inside the office of party leader, Keir Starmer, thus adding to worries
about Labour’s profound pro-Zionist shift under the latter’s leadership.
https://www.presstv.com/Detail/2021/01/19/643392/UK-Labor-Party-Israel-Spy-Social-Media-Recruitment
--------
Antony Blinken, Biden's Nominee For Secretary Of State
Says To Review Taliban Deal
Jan 20, 2021
WASHINGTON: President-elect Joe Biden's pick for his
top diplomat said Tuesday he would undertake a review of a deal with
Afghanistan's Taliban and believed the United States needed means to prevent
any resurgence of terrorism.
Outgoing president Donald Trump's administration signed
a deal on February 29 last year with the Taliban to end America's longest war
but controversially kept some annexes classified.
"We want to end this so-called forever war. We
want to bring our forces home. We want to retain some capacity to deal with any
resurgence of terrorism, which is what brought us there in the first
place," Antony Blinken, Biden's nominee for secretary of state, told his
Senate confirmation hearing.
"We have to look carefully at what has actually
been negotiated. I haven't been privy to it yet."
In the accord signed in Doha, the United States said
it would withdraw all troops from Afghanistan by May 2021 and the Taliban
pledged not to allow extremists to operate from Afghanistan, although the group
continued attacks on government forces.
The removal of al-Qaida was the original reason for
the US invasion following the September 11, 2001 attacks.
But the agreement came with annexes that remain
classified, leading to criticism in the United States that there were secret
understandings with the Taliban.
On its way out, the Trump administration said Friday
it had reduced troop levels to just 2,500, the lowest in decades.
Biden was an early advocate of ending the war in
Afghanistan but his aides have more recently spoken of the need for a small
force to counter outbreaks of violence -- a stance unlikely to be stomached by
the Taliban.
Under questioning from Senator Jeanne Shaheen, a
fellow Democrat, Blinken promised to consider the rights of women and girls
whose freedoms were severely curtailed during the Taliban's 1996-2001 regime.
"I don't believe that any outcome that they might
achieve," Blinken said of nascent talks between the Taliban and Afghan
government, "is sustainable without protecting the gains that have been
made by women and girls in Afghanistan over the last 20 years."
"I would acknowledge to you that I don't think
that's going to be easy, but we will work on it."
https://timesofindia.indiatimes.com/world/south-asia/biden-state-nominee-says-to-review-taliban-deal/articleshow/80361286.cms
--------
Uttar Pradesh govt seeks transfer of all pleas against
anti-conversion law to SC
Jan 19, 2021
PRAYAGRAJ: The Uttar Pradesh government has informed
the Allahabad high court that it has filed a petition before the apex court
seeking transfer of all the writ petitions, which have challenged the recent
ordinance against religious conversion, from the HC to the Supreme Court for
adjudication.
Additional advocate general, Manish Goyal,
representing the state government made this disclosure during the hearing of a
bunch of writ petitions against Uttar Pradesh Prohibition of Unlawful
Conversion of Religion Ordinance, 2020.
Taking this statement, moved on behalf of the
additional advocate general on record, a division bench comprising chief
justice Govind Mathur and Justice Saurabh Shyam Shamshery said that “in view of
the statement so given, we deem it appropriate to adjourn this petition for
writ. Let this petition along with other similar petitions be listed for final
hearing at this stage on January 25, 2021”. The court passed this order on a
PIL filed by one Saurabh Kumar.
It is relevant to mention that the UP government
passed the anti-conversion ordinance in November which was challenged through
multiple PILs and writs in the high court. The government recently approached
the Supreme Court seeking transfer of all pending writ petitions from the Allahabad
high court to the apex court.
In addition to it, an application was also filed in
the high court on behalf of Association for Advocacy and Legal Initiatives
through its managing trustee Tulika Srivastava to join the writ proceedings.
The court allowed this application for the reasons
mentioned therein, saying “The Association for Advocacy and Legal Initiatives
through its Managing Trustee - Tulika Srivastava is allowed to participate in
the writ proceedings as an intervenor."
The court further directed the counsel for the
intervenor to supply the grounds on which she wanted to support the writ
petition to additional advocate general, Manish Goyal.
The court passed this order on January 18.
https://timesofindia.indiatimes.com/city/allahabad/uttar-pradesh-govt-seeks-transfer-of-all-pleas-against-anti-conversion-law-to-sc/articleshow/80352763.cms
--------
Pakistan Arrests Suspected Islamic State 'Fundraiser',
Umar Bin Khalid
By Ayaz Gul
January 18, 2021
ISLAMABAD - Authorities in Pakistan said Monday they have
arrested a university student in the southern port city of Karachi for
allegedly collecting and sending funds to Islamic State militants fighting in
Syria.
Separately, the Pakistani military said its forces
raided a hideout near the country’s western border with Afghanistan and killed
two senior “terrorists” in the ensuing firefight. It said that a third militant
“got injured and apprehended.”
The counterterrorism department in Sindh province, of
which Karachi is the capital, identified the detained suspected IS operative as
Umar Bin Khalid, a final year student at the city’s NED University of
Engineering and Technology. He was trying to board a train before being taken
into custody on Sunday.
The department noted that a “forensic examination” of
Khalid’s two cellphones established his links to a group “raising funds in
Pakistan for Daesh and sending them to Syria.” Daesh is the Arabic name for
Islamic State.
The statement said the detainee was involved in the
fundraising activity for the last two years, and he was in contact “directly
with families of terrorists plotting terrorism in Pakistan and Syria.”
IS has taken credit for plotting deadly attacks in
Pakistan in recent years. They include the kidnapping and slaughtering earlier
this month of 10 coal miners in the southwestern Baluchistan province.
Raid near Afghan border
The Pakistani military, while sharing details of
Monday’s raid in the South Waziristan border district, said the two slain
militants were “active members” of the outlawed Tehreek-e-Taliban Pakistan,
commonly known as the Pakistani Taliban.
The statement said the men were “terrorist trainers,”
experts in bomb-making, and plotted attacks against security forces in the
region. One of the slain militants, it said, played a role in a bomb attack
three months ago that killed six soldiers and injured several others.
South Waziristan and the adjoining North Waziristan
districts had until a few years ago served as sanctuaries for local and foreign
militants blamed for terrorist attacks on both sides of the
Pakistan-Afghanistan border.
However, Pakistani officials say sustained security
operations in recent years have killed thousands of militants and forced others
to take refuge in volatile Afghan border areas.
https://www.voanews.com/south-central-asia/pakistan-arrests-suspected-islamic-state-fundraiser?utm_source=iterable&utm_medium=email&utm_campaign=1914666_
--------
Iran’s Rouhani calls on US President-elect Biden to
return to nuclear deal
20 January 2021
Iranian President Hassan Rouhani urged US
President-elect Joe Biden on Wednesday to return to a 2015 nuclear deal and
lift crippling sanctions on the Islamic Republic.
Biden, who takes office on Wednesday, has said the
United States will rejoin the pact that includes restrictions on Iran’s nuclear
work if Tehran resumes strict compliance.
“The ball is in the US court now. If Washington
returns to Iran’s 2015 nuclear deal, we will also fully respect our commitments
under the pact,” Rouhani said in a televised cabinet meeting.
“Today, we expect the incoming US administration to
return to the rule of law and commit themselves, and if they can, in the next
four years, to remove all the black spots of the previous four years,” he said.
Tensions have grown between Tehran and Washington
since 2018, when US President Donald Trump exited the deal between Iran and six
world powers that sought to limit Tehran’s nuclear program and prevent it
developing atomic weapons. Washington reimposed sanctions that have crippled Iran’s
economy.
Iran, which denies ever seeking nuclear arms,
retaliated to Trump’s “maximum pressure” policy by gradually breaching accord.
Tehran has repeatedly said it can quickly reverse those violations if US
sanctions are removed.
Antony Blinken, Biden’s choice for secretary of state,
said on Tuesday the United States would not take a quick decision on whether to
rejoin the pact.
“US President Donald Trump’s political career is over
today and his ‘maximum pressure’ policy on Iran has completely failed,” Rouhani
said. “Trump is dead but the nuclear deal is still alive.”
https://english.alarabiya.net/en/News/middle-east/2021/01/20/Iran-nuclear-deal-Iran-s-Rouhani-calls-on-US-President-elect-Biden-to-return-to-nuclear-deal
--------
At least 48 dead in militia attack on El Geneina, West
Darfur - SUNA
JANUARY 17, 2021
KHARTOUM (Reuters) - At least 48 people died and 97
people were injured in a militia attack on the West Darfur city of El Geneina
on Saturday, Sudan’s state news agency SUNA said, citing a local doctors union.
The attack came just weeks after UN peace-keepers
began withdrawing from the region, where violence is increasing, and was
triggered when a member of the Masalit tribe stabbed a member of an Arab tribe,
human rights organisation the Darfur Bar Association said in a statement.
“Armed militias took advantage of the incident and
attacked El Geneina from all sides,” the association said, as well as the
nearby Kreinding camp for internally displaced people, from where SUNA said
there was now a wave of people moving towards the city.
The association accused the militias of looting and
human rights abuses.
Similar incidents have occurred in Darfur since
conflict began in 2003, when the government of Omar al-Bashir armed militias to
help repress a revolt.
“We have warned several times about the deteriorating
security situation in Darfur ... as armed militias still pose a constant
threat,” a coordinating committee for IDP camp residents said in statement.
Camp residents have protested the exit of UNAMID, the
peace-keeping mission that had patrolled the region until its mandate ended on
January 1.
On Saturday, the governor of West Darfur declared a
state of emergency, authorising the use of force in order to stabilise the
situation and imposing a curfew.
While the military had begun to deploy, the bar
association said the commander for the region had not responded to the state
governor’s directives.
The West Darfur doctors union said it had asked for
help protecting medical facilities and staff, but called the response “weak”,
SUNA reported.
Sudan’s civilian Prime Minister Abdalla Hamdok has
dispatched a high-level group led by the public prosecutor to El Geneina, his
office said in a statement.
https://www.reuters.com/article/us-sudan-security-darfur/at-least-48-dead-in-militia-attack-on-el-geneina-west-darfur-suna-idUSKBN29M0BZ?utm_source=iterable&utm_medium=email&utm_campaign=1914666_
--------
North America
FBI probes possible connections between extremist
groups at heart of Capitol violence
By Devlin Barrett and Spencer S. Hsu
Jan. 19, 2021
The FBI investigation of the Capitol riot has begun to
zero in on potential key figures in the chaos, including some self-styled
militia members who in some videos and photos appear to be planning or urging further
violence.
Though no one has been charged with leading or
directing the violence, investigators are working to find out whether certain
individuals helped coordinate aspects of the attack, before and during the
chaos, or were merely opportunistic instigators.
In nearly two weeks since the assault, the Justice
Department has charged more than 100 people — mostly individuals who revealed
themselves as participating in the Jan. 6 riot through social media boasts. But
the weekend arrests of people with alleged ties to extremist groups reflects
the FBI’s increasing attention to the more prepared, organized and determined
groups among the larger mass of rioters.
One of those newly charged was Robert Gieswein, 24, of
Woodland Park, Colo. Charging documents and videos indicate he may have links
to the three extremist groups that have drawn the most attention from the FBI:
the Proud Boys, Oath Keepers and Three Percenters. Some of the videos appear to
include members who discussed storming the Capitol about an hour ahead of the
riot.
In court papers, FBI agents say Gieswein — charged
with assaulting police, civil disorder and obstruction of police and government
— runs a private paramilitary training group and is affiliated with the Three
Percenters. The FBI said in court filings that Gieswein was apparently recorded
multiple times inside and outside the Capitol on Jan. 6, decked out in military
garb with two distinctive markings that made it easier for investigators to
trace his actions that day — a patch for his paramilitary group, the Woodland
Wild Dogs, and a black pouch on his chest that said, “MY MOM THINKS I’M
SPECIAL,” evocative of the Proud Boys anthem, “Proud of Your Boy.”
Someone who appears to match the description of
Gieswein laid out in FBI arrest affidavits shows up on a live-streamed Proud
Boys video from about 11:14 a.m. to 12:55 p.m. that day. About 30 minutes into
the video, viewed by The Washington Post, one member in the group with people
in blaze-orange hats, camouflage backpacks and military-style vests yells,
“Let’s take the f---ing Capitol!” Someone else then admonishes, “Let’s not
f---ing yell that.”
The group in the video waits at the Capitol until
12:48 p.m. to link up with milling supporters of President Trump who have made
their way to the west front of the Capitol after the president’s speech at the
Ellipse, the live stream shows. Once there, the Proud Boys group surges
forward, toppling barricades and charging up the steps, with a Proud Boys
narrator saying, “We’re storming the Capitol!”
Then, about 2:13 p.m., according to FBI affidavits,
Gieswein appears in a different video with a helmeted group breaking a window
on the Senate side of the Capitol using a riot shield and a piece of lumber,
one of the earliest breaches of the building.
Gieswein turned himself in to authorities Monday and
was in custody in Colorado. Information about his attorney was not available.
Efforts to reach Gieswein and relatives, including people associated with his
addresses and inoperative Web domains he registered in 2019, such as
rockymountainoathkeepers.com and woodlandwilddogs.com, were unsuccessful.
The charges filed against Gieswein on Saturday do not
include accusations that he conspired with others to attack Congress. But
investigators are still working to better understand his role and interactions
with others on the day of the attack and in the run-up to the violence,
according to people familiar with the case who spoke on the condition of
anonymity because the investigation is ongoing.
Before the attack, Gieswein gave a media interview in
which he echoed anti-Semitic conspiracy theories, the affidavit said, and said
his message to Congress was “that they need to get the corrupt politicians out
of office. Pelosi, the Clintons . . .
every single one of them, Biden, Kamala.”
On Monday, prosecutors unsealed charges against a
Texas man associated with the Three Percenters who allegedly threatened to kill
his children if they exposed him and a Pennsylvania 29-year-old accused of
attacking police with a metal barricade.
Others also charged in recent days include a
heavy-metal guitarist from Indiana and two self-styled militia members from
Ohio — further signs that the FBI is ratcheting up its investigation of the
role extremist organizations played in storming the building.
Jon Schaffer, who founded the band Iced Earth, turned
himself in to FBI agents in Indianapolis on Sunday afternoon, officials said.
On Jan. 6, Schaffer was photographed inside the Capitol, wearing a hat that
said “Oath Keepers Lifetime Member.”
Schaffer was charged with six crimes, including
engaging in an act of physical violence. Authorities said Schaffer was among
the rioters who targeted Capitol Police with bear spray. At a pro-Trump march
in November attended by Oath Keepers, the FBI said, Schaffer said: “We’re not
going to merge into some globalist, communist system. It will not happen. There
will be a lot of bloodshed if it comes down to that, trust me.”
Also arrested Sunday were Donovan Crowl, 50, a former
Marine interviewed by the New Yorker, and Army veteran Jessica Watkins, 38. A
bartender, Watkins recently told the Ohio Capital Journal that she formed the
“Ohio State Regular Militia” in 2019 — a unit of the Oath Keepers, the FBI said
— and that the group has appeared at a dozen rallies to “protect people.”
The FBI said Watkins posted to Parler a photograph of
herself in uniform on Jan. 6, writing: “Me before forcing entry into the
Capitol Building. #stopthesteal #stormthecapitol #oathkeepers #ohiomilitia.”
Watkins and Crowl were among about 10 people recorded
at the Capitol wearing combat helmets, ballistic goggles, tactical vests and
Oath Keepers patches who were shown to “move in an organized and practiced
fashion and force their way to the front of the crowd” outside the Capitol, FBI
affidavits said.
Attorneys for Crowl, Watkins and Schaffer could not
immediately be identified.
The Oath Keepers, the Three Percenters and the Proud
Boys, a male-chauvinist group with ties to white nationalism, have drawn
particular attention from FBI agents investigating the attack on Congress as
they work to determine whether those groups organized or directed the violence
to block certification of President-elect Joe Biden’s election victory.
Officials have said the Proud Boys in particular are an important focus of the
FBI investigation.
“All these extremist groups are being looked at in
terms of their participation at the Capitol,” Michael Sherwin, acting U.S.
attorney for the District of Columbia, said Friday.
Oath Keepers patches and logos were prominently worn
by a number of those in the mob that day. It is one of the largest
self-described militia groups in the United States, claiming tens of thousands
of members who assert the right to defy what they deem “illegal” government
orders.
The Oath Keepers gained a measure of notoriety last
summer when members showed up at Black Lives Matter protests wearing military
gear and carrying weapons as a kind of self-declared vigilante force to prevent
vandalism. Before that, they appeared at the 2014 standoff at the Bundy ranch
in Nevada and the protests in Ferguson, Mo.
A related group, the Three Percenters, formed in 2008
and is named after the bogus claim that only 3 percent of the population fought
against the British in the American Revolution. The self-described militia
group espouses right-wing libertarian ideals and has embraced Trump. The group
also has provided security services for various right-wing protests and
movements, the FBI said.
Overall, many of those charged by the Justice
Department have been what one senior law enforcement official characterized as
“low-hanging fruit” — people who revealed themselves as participating in the
riot on Jan. 6.
Federal investigators are now accelerating efforts to
determine whether the assault was planned and led by groups of people — rather
than an impulsive outburst of violence — particularly because some of the men
shown on video laying siege to the building were equipped with handheld radios
and headsets and at times appeared to work in unison on particular objectives,
investigators said.
“There are breadcrumbs of organization in terms of
what maybe was taking place outside the Capitol . . .
with perhaps some type of communication with core groups of people ingressing
into the Capitol,” Sherwin said, but he cautioned it could be weeks or months
before the FBI settles on an answer “to find out the actual motivations of some
of those groups.”
Even before the riot, the Oath Keepers had garnered
attention and alarmed law enforcement officials. Stewart Rhodes, a former Army
paratrooper who founded the group in 2009, threatened ahead of November’s
election to deploy members to polling places, preemptively accusing Democrats
of voter fraud on Alex Jones’s online show “Infowars.”
Members also demonstrated in Washington after the
election in support of Trump. Rhodes, who has predicted the nation will descend
into civil war, said allies would not recognize Biden’s victory as legitimate,
adding in an interview with news outlet the Independent, “We’ll end up
nullifying and resisting.”
Before the riot, law enforcement agencies were also
increasingly concerned about the Proud Boys. The group’s chairman, Enrique
Tarrio, had planned to attend Trump’s Jan. 6 rally but was arrested when he
arrived in D.C. and charged with misdemeanor destruction of property in
connection with the burning of a Black Lives Matter banner taken from a Black
church during an earlier protest in Washington. He is also accused of felony
possession of two extended gun magazines.
Tarrio told The Post last week that his group did not
organize the Capitol siege.
“If they think we were organizing going into the
Capitol, they’re going to be sadly mistaken,” he said. “Our plan was to stay
together as a group and just enjoy the day. We weren’t going to do a night
march, anything like that. That’s it as far as our day.”
In the Proud Boys’ Jan. 6 live-stream video, marchers
refer to Tarrio and some address him via the stream. One leader taunts police
by bullhorn, shouting before the riot, “You took our boy in, and you let our
stabber go,” apparently referring to Tarrio’s arrest and a man allegedly
involved in stabbing several Proud Boys in a December march on D.C.
U.S. authorities on Friday arrested Dominic Pezzola,
43, of Rochester, N.Y., a former Marine and Proud Boys member known as“Spaz” or
Spazzo” who is allegedly visible helping Gieswein climb through the
riot-shield-shattered Capitol window and confronting police with him inside the
building. In court papers, the FBI cited a witness who told them that the group
Pezzola was with would have killed “anyone they got their hands on,” including
House Speaker Nancy Pelosi (D-Calif.) and Vice President Pence.
Since the attack, Proud Boys leaders have urged
members to pull out of pro-Trump protests planned around Biden’s inauguration
Wednesday.
Tarrio said he is actively discouraging members from
attending planned armed marches. The Proud Boys, he said, are on a “rally
freeze and will not be organizing any events for the next month or so.”
https://www.washingtonpost.com/national-security/oath-keeper-three-percenter-arrests/2021/01/17/27e726f2-5847-11eb-a08b-f1381ef3d207_story.html?utm_source=iterable&utm_medium=email&utm_campaign=1914666_
--------
Pompeo: Chinese Genocide Against Muslims 'Crime of the
Century'
By Sandy Fitzgerald
19 January 2021
The Chinese Communist Party's "crimes against
humanity" against the Uyghurs and other Muslim minorities have been the
"crime of the century" and the State Department's declaration that
genocide is being committed is a move to convince the Chinese government to
cease its actions, Secretary of State Mike Pompeo said Tuesday.
"We've been working on this for a long time in
the Trump administration," Pompeo said on Fox News' "America's
Report." "We sanctioned officials. We have told businesses they
couldn't bring products out of those regions ... this is forced labor, forced
sterilizations, forced abortions, the kinds of thing we haven't seen in a long
time in this world, crimes against humanity and genocide."
Before the interview, Pompeo in a statement accused
the Chinese ruling Communist Party of committing “crimes against Muslims and
members of other ethnic and religious minority groups in Xinjiang as far back
as March 2017, reports Politico.
The declaration, coming on the last full day of the
outgoing Trump administration, comes as a culmination of the pressure that has
been put on China's communists over its internment of the Muslim minorities in
work and reeducation camps.
The House has also passed a bill to ban any imports
from Xinjiang unless companies can prove that forced labor had not been used to
produce products, but the bill has stalled in the GOP-controlled Senate.
Pompeo Tuesday defended the eleventh-hour nature of
the announcement, saying that it was a "serious matter" that was not
taken lightly and that as it was a bipartisan analysis, "we want to
continue to work."
"There were vigorous discussions across the
United States government," said Pompeo. "We relied on facts that came
from nongovernmental entities, journalists, to make sure we had everything
right. We wouldn't have done this if we didn't think this determination that I
issued today was proper, appropriate, and would hopefully lead to better lives
for people in this region."
He added that he is "counting on" the Biden
administration to be able to handle the threat China continues to pose to the
United States.
"The threat from the Chinese party is real,"
he said. "I have great confidence that the American people have come to
understand this challenge from the Chinese Communist Party."
Meanwhile, he said he hopes his probable successor
Antony Blinken will not launch an "apology tour" after the Biden
administration takes office.
"I'm proud of this country," he said.
"This is the most exceptional nation in the history of civilization. I'm
proud of the work the Trump administration has done in the Middle East, China.
We made life better for people all across the world ... let's not be an America
we should apologize for. We should be proud of the greatness, uniqueness, and
exceptionalism of the United States of America."
https://www.newsmax.com/world/globaltalk/pompeo-china-genocide-uyghurs/2021/01/19/id/1006268/
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Biden administration to revive military-to-military
ties with Pakistan
Anwar Iqbal
January 20, 2021
The Biden administration sees Pakistan as an
“essential partner” in any peace process in Afghanistan and believes that
“continuing to build relationships with Pakistan’s military will provide
openings for the United States and Pakistan to cooperate on key issues,” says
its nominated defence chief Gen Lloyd J Austin.
Gen Austin made these remarks during his confirmation
hearing for the post of secretary of defence before the United States Senate
Armed Services Committee on Tuesday.
“Pakistan is an essential partner in any peace process
in Afghanistan," Austin, a former head of the US Central Command, told the
committee. "If confirmed, I will encourage a regional approach that
garners support from neighbours like Pakistan, while also deterring regional
actors, from serving as spoilers to the Afghanistan peace process.”
When asked what changes he would recommend to US
relations with Pakistan as the new defence chief, Gen Austin said: “I will
focus on our shared interests which include training future Pakistan military
leaders through the use of International Military Education and Training funds.
Pakistan will play an important role in any political settlement in Afghanistan.
We also need to work with Pakistan to defeat al Qaeda and the Islamic State
Khorasan Province (ISIS-K) and to enhance regional stability.”
Asked if he has perceived any change in Pakistan’s
cooperation with the US since the Trump administration’s decision in 2018 to
withhold security assistance, Gen Austin said: “I understand Pakistan has taken
constructive steps to meet US requests in support of the Afghanistan peace
process. Pakistan has also taken steps against anti-Indian groups, such as
Lashkar-i-Taiba and Jaish-i-Mohammad, although this progress is incomplete.”
The general, however, acknowledged that “many factors
in addition to the security assistance suspension may impact Pakistan’s
cooperation, including Afghanistan negotiations and the dangerous escalation
following the Pulwama terrorist attack.”
“Pakistan is a sovereign country,” he said when asked
what tools and options the US had to influence Pakistan.
“I will press Pakistan to prevent its territory from
being used as a sanctuary for militants and violent extremist organisations.
Continuing to build relationships with Pakistan’s military will provide
openings for the United States and Pakistan to cooperate on key issues.”
Peace deal review
Meanwhile, Tony Blinken, who appeared before the
Senate Foreign Relations Committee for his confirmation hearing for the post of
secretary of state, said he wanted to review the US-Taliban peace deal but
clarified that the new administration would also continue the peace process
started by the Trump administration.
Blinken, who is a former State Department official,
would undertake a review of the peace deal because like the outgoing Trump
administration, which negotiated the deal, the new US rulers also want to end
the almost 20-year long war in Afghanistan.
“We want to end this so-called forever war," he
insisted. "We want to bring our forces home. We want to retain some
capacity to deal with any resurgence of terrorism, which is what brought us
there in the first place," Blinken said. “We have to look carefully at
what has actually been negotiated. I haven't been privy to it yet."
America's President-elect Joe Biden has stated that
while he would reduce the number of combat troops in Afghanistan, he would not
withdraw US military presence.
Last year, during a debate between Democratic
presidential candidates, Biden had said: "We can prevent the United States
from being the victim of terror coming out of Afghanistan by providing for
bases — insist the Pakistanis provide bases for us to air lift from and to move
against what we know."
In his hearing on Tuesday, Blinken also promised to
consider the rights of Afghan women and girls whose freedoms were severely
curtailed during the Taliban regime.
"I don't believe that any outcome that they might
achieve," Blinken said of nascent talks between Taliban and the Kabul
government, "is sustainable without protecting the gains that have been
made by women and girls in Afghanistan over the last 20 years."
Relations with India
The Biden administration, Blinken said, would also like
to continue a close relationship with India.
“India has been a bipartisan success story of our
successive administrations. It started towards the end of the Clinton
administration,” he said.
“During the Obama administration, we deepened
cooperation on defence procurement and information sharing. The Trump
administration carried that forward including its concept of Indo-Pacific and
to make sure we were working with India so that no country in the region,
including China, could challenge its sovereignty.”
The US, he said, would also continue to work with
India on concerns that the two countries share about terrorism.
“There are many ways we can deepen that cooperation
that successive administrations have put us on," Blinken told the Senate
Foreign Relations Committee.
https://www.dawn.com/news/1602541/biden-administration-to-revive-military-to-military-ties-with-pakistan
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Iran sanctions US President Trump, Secretary Pompeo,
other American officials
Yaghoub Fazeli and Emily Judd
19 January 2021
Iran’s foreign ministry imposed sanctions on outgoing
US President Donald Trump, US Secretary of State Mike Pompeo, and several
current and former members of the Trump administration, on Tuesday.
Current American officials sanctioned include Trump,
Pompeo, acting Secretary of Defense Christopher Miller, Secretary of the
Treasury Steven Mnuchin, CIA Director Gina Haspel, US Special Representative to
Iran and Venezuela Elliot Abrams, and Office of Foreign Assets Control (OFAC)
chief Andrea Gacki.
Former Trump national security adviser John Bolton,
former US envoy for Iran Brian Hook, and former Secretary of Defense Mark Esper
were also sanctioned.
The US State Department told Al Arabiya English it was
aware of the reports of the Iranian sanctions and called the move a
“transparently political stunt.”
“This is a transparently political stunt by the
Iranian government that does not deserve the seriousness of a substantive
response,” a State Department spokesman told Al Arabiya English.
Iran sanctioned the officials for their alleged
involvement in the killings of top Iranian military commander Qassem Soleimani
and nuclear scientist Mohsen Fakhrizadeh, as well as “supporting acts of terror
against Iran” and imposing sanctions against the Islamic republic, the semi-official
ISNA news agency cited foreign ministry spokesman Saeed Khatibzadeh as saying.
The sanctions are based on a law that was approved by
Iran’s parliament in 2017, meant to “confront America’s human rights violations
and adventurist and terrorist acts in the region.”
According to the law, sanctioned individuals are not
allowed entry to Iran, any assets they own within the Islamic republic are
confiscated, and their bank accounts in the country are frozen.
Last month, Iran also blacklisted the US ambassador in
Yemen, one day after Washington imposed terrorism-related sanctions on Tehran’s
envoy to the Yemeni Houthis.
Tensions between Iran and the US have escalated since
Trump pulled out of the 2015 nuclear deal and reimposed crippling sanctions on
Tehran in 2018 as part of a “maximum pressure” campaign.
Experts argue the maximum pressure campaign has
created leverage for US President-elect Joe Biden to negotiate a better nuclear
deal.
Biden has pledged to rejoin the accord if Iran returns
to complying with it. However, his incoming Director of National Intelligence
Avril Haines said the US is not close to rejoining the deal during her
confirmation hearing on Tuesday.
https://english.alarabiya.net/en/News/middle-east/2021/01/19/Iran-sanctions-US-President-Trump-Secretary-Pompeo-other-American-officials
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US not close to rejoining Iran deal, says Biden’s pick
for national intelligence
Joseph Haboush
19 January 2021
The United States is not close to rejoining the Iran
nuclear deal, incoming Director of National Intelligence Avril Haines said
during her confirmation hearing Tuesday.
“I think, frankly, we are a long ways” from Iran
coming back into compliance with the nuclear deal, also known as the Joint
Comprehensive Plan of Action (JCPOA), Haines said.
President-elect Joe Biden’s nominee suggested that
Iran’s ballistic missile program and other destabilizing activities in the
region needed to be studied as well.
Separately, Haines said China would be a priority and
a challenge. “It’s something I will have to focus on,” she said.
https://english.alarabiya.net/en/News/middle-east/2021/01/19/US-not-close-to-rejoining-Iran-deal-says-Biden-s-pick-for-national-intelligence
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US soldier charged with plotting ISIS attack on 9/11
memorial
20 January 2021
A US Army soldier was arrested on Tuesday for
allegedly trying to help ISIS fighters attack American troops and targets in
New York, including the 9/11 Memorial.
Cole James Bridges – who is 20 and from the state of
Ohio – faces federal terrorism charges, United States prosecutors said in a
statement.
Bridges – a private based at Fort Stewart, Georgia –
began researching extremist ideology and expressing support for ISIS on social
media shortly after joining the army in September 2019, prosecutors say.
In October 2020, they claim that he started
communicating online with an undercover FBI agent posing as an ISIS supporter
who claimed to be in contact with ISIS fighters in the Middle East.
“During these communications, Bridges expressed his
frustration with the US military and his desire to aid ISIS,” said the
statement issued by the Southern District of New York.
“Bridges then provided training and guidance to
purported ISIS fighters who were planning attacks, including advice about
potential targets in New York City, such as the 9/11 Memorial.”
He is accused of later providing information about how
to attack US forces in the Middle East, including by providing “specific
military maneuvers.”
This month, Bridges sent the agent a video of himself
in body armor standing in front of an ISIS flag, the prosecutors added.
“Bridges betrayed our country and his unit when he
plotted with someone he believed was an ISIS sympathizer to help ISIS attack
and kill US soldiers in the Middle East,” said William Sweeney, an official at
the FBI’s New York office.
Bridges has been charged with attempting to provide
material support to a designated foreign terrorist organization and attempting
to murder US military service members.
The two counts carry up to 20 years in prison each.
https://english.alarabiya.net/en/News/world/2021/01/20/US-soldier-charged-with-plotting-ISIS-attack-on-9-11-memorial
--------
Incoming US intel chief vows to release report on who
ordered Khashoggi murder
20 January 2021
US President-elect Joe Biden’s nominee for the United
States’ top intelligence position has pledged to release an unclassified report
on who directed the murder of dissident Saudi journalist Jamal Khashoggi as per
a congressional demand that the outgoing Donald Trump administration defied.
Biden’s nominee for director of national intelligence
(DNI), Avril Haines, made the pledge during her confirmation hearing at the US
Senate Select Committee on Intelligence on Tuesday in response to a question by
a ranking Senator on whether the DNI under her watch would release the
Khashoggi report as mandated by Congress.
“Yes, senator, absolutely we’ll follow the law,”
Haines said when pressed by Oregon’s Democratic Senator Ron Wyden whether she
would “submit to the Congress the unclassified report required by the law.”
The Senator reminded Haines that the US lawmakers had
passed a law requiring the DNI to submit to Congress the unclassified report on
who was responsible for the brutal murder of Khashoggi inside Saudi Arabia’s
consulate in Istanbul.
Wyden, who has been pushing for the release of the US
intelligence community’s findings on Khashoggi’s killing, called on Haines to
reverse the Trump administration’s “excessive secrecy and lawlessness.”
The incoming spy chief also responded affirmatively in
written testimony — with a simple “Yes” — when asked a similar question about
releasing the long-sought report.
Later on Tuesday, Wyden hailed Haines’ commitment to
releasing the report in a Twitter post, saying, “This is huge: Incoming DNI,
Avril Haines, just committed to releasing an unclassified report on the brutal
murder of Jamal Khashoggi.”
“For two years, I’ve been fighting for transparency
and accountability for those responsible. We are closer than ever to getting #JusticeForJamal,”
he added.
Khashoggi, a US resident and columnist for both the
US-based Washington Post and the UK-based Middle East Eye, was killed by Saudi
regime agents at the kingdom’s consulate in Istanbul, Turkey, in 2018.
With Democrats set to control the Senate by the end of
the month with the swearing-in of two new members who won races in Georgia
earlier this year, Haines and other Biden appointees are expected to easily win
confirmation, barring the emergence of any major opposition.
The outgoing administration of Republican President
Trump had been pushing to shield the despotic Saudi regime from criticism,
citing the Persian Gulf Arab kingdom’s arms purchases from the US — worth
hundreds of billions of dollars — as well as Washington’s geopolitical alliance
with the Saudi rulers against Iran’s growing influence in the region.
In Congress, however, many lawmakers have been pushing
to punish Riyadh over Khashoggi’s murder, as well as the regime’s brutal
military aggression against neighboring Yemen and other human rights abuses.
In late 2019, US legislators included a provision in
the Pentagon budget calling on the DNI to submit to Congress within 30 days an
unclassified report outlining “the advance knowledge and role” of any Saudi
official in “the directing, ordering, or tampering of evidence in the killing
of Khashoggi.”
More than a year after the passage of the legislation,
Congress has only received a single unclassified page from the DNI stating that
it will not release the information publicly to protect “sources and methods.”
The Washington Post has reported that the CIA
established in late 2018 that Saudi Crown Prince Mohammed bin Salman personally
ordered the murder — an assessment shared by lawmakers who received classified
intelligence briefings on the assassination.
Meanwhile, the United Nations rapporteur on
extrajudicial killings, Agnes Callamard, who also found in 2019 that the
killing of Khashoggi was a state-sanctioned crime, has been calling on
Washington to share what it knows about the murder case with the rest of the
world.
“From an international legal standpoint and an
international political standpoint, the public release of a document with the
CIA assessment - a document that could be probed by others - will make it far more
difficult for the rest of the world, particularly governments, to ignore
Mohammed bin Salman’s personal involvement in the operation that led to the
killing and dismemberment of Jamal Khashoggi,” Callamard said in an interview
with the Middle East Eye last year.
https://www.presstv.com/Detail/2021/01/20/643439/Incoming-top-US-intelligence-official-vows-to-release-report-on-Khashoggi-murder
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US engaged in 30-year futile war in Middle East:
Expert
19 January 2021
An American political commentator has said that the
United States has been engaged in a 30-year long futile war in the Middle East
to regain the monopoly on the world's energy reserves.
Bill Dores, a writer for Struggle/La Lucha and
longtime antiwar activist, made the comments in an interview with Press TV on
Monday.
“Today we celebrate the life of great Black leader Dr.
Martin Luther King Jr. who fought for peace and justice and was likely murdered
by agencies of the US government,” he said.
“Dr. King pointed out the bombs the United States was
then dropping on Vietnam also explode at home, destroying the possibility of a
decent life for millions here, especially for working class and oppressed
people. Washington's wars and sanctions still have that effect today,” he
added.
“For the past 30 years, the United States has been
engaged in a long and futile war to try and regain the monopoly that US oil
companies once had on the world's energy reserves. This is only for the benefit
of a handful of multibillionaires not the majority of people,” the analyst
said.
“We do not benefit from sanctions on other countries,
or giant war fleets roaming the seas thousands of miles away, or the endless
stream of arms and aid to Israel, which occupies Palestine and bombs and shells
Gaza and Syria, on an almost daily basis,” he stated.
Iran’s ambassador to the United Nations says the
United States should stop its hostility toward Iran and recognize the Islamic
Republic as a regional power in order to improve its image in the eyes of its
own and world people.
“Americans must stop hostility toward Iran and
understand that Iran is a definite reality and a powerful country in the
region, which intends to live in peace with its neighbors within framework of
the international law,” Majid Takht-Ravanchi said on Monday.
Iran’s UN envoy made the remarks in an exclusive
interview with IRNA when asked about the possible impact of a change in the US
foreign policy apparatus under the new administration of president-elect, Joe
Biden.
“The ambassador said that the United States should
recognize Iran as a regional power. Iran is part of the region. It has helped
other nations in West Asia to develop their economies, and defend themselves.
The United States intervention there has been purely destructive. The sanctions
have killed millions on top of the bomb. These cruel and inhumane sanctions
must end right now,” Dores said.
“The United States has no business trying to dictate
to the people of the region. Endless wars and sanctions enrich the few and
prevent the possibility of a better world for people everywhere. The US should
get all its military forces out of that region, out of the so-called Middle
East and stop funding the Israeli occupation of Palestine. It should engage in peaceful trade and
relations with Iran and the other countries in the region,” he noted.
https://www.presstv.com/Detail/2021/01/19/643386/US-engaged-in-30-year-futile-war-in-Middle-East:-Expert
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Arab World
Gulf states, Israel demand seat at Iran nuclear deal
negotiations: UAE Diplomat
Rawad Taha
20 January 2021
The UAE does not have a problem with rapprochement
with Iran but that any talks of a nuclear deal need to be conditional and
participatory, a UAE diplomat told CNBC during an interview.
“We need to be able to engage also with the Biden
administration, with the Iranians, with the region. I think that was the
problem with the JCPOA [nuclear deal], is that it didn’t take our concerns into
account. It treated us as bystanders and spectators when we felt that it was
directly concerned with our security,” said UAE’s Assistant Minister of Culture
and Public Diplomacy at the Foreign Ministry Omar Ghobash.
US President-elect Joe Biden has stated his intention
to return to the Iran nuclear deal, if Tehran fully complies with the
agreement. The original nuclear deal signed under the Obama administration
between Iran and international actors did not include the Gulf states and
Israel and did not tackle Iran’s ballistic missile program and proxies in the
region.
“We do business with Iran and we have sort of a
significant Iranian population here. We don’t have an issue with that. We do
have an issue with ballistic missiles, nuclear technology, looking at a nuclear
weapon and the corrosive influence that they have on many Arab economies. So,
if we can put an end to all of that, fantastic, everybody would be very happy
to deal with Iran and on an equal basis when we think about how this is all
going to play out in the future,” he added.
Ghobash added that it’s kind of “low hanging fruit” to
use the UAE’s relationship with Israel to present a more unified position
across the region in terms of what happens with Iran.
“We do have common interests [with Israel], it’s
clear, because we stand on the side of stopping nuclear proliferation in the
region and we stand on the side of sort of developing local economies and
developing our human resources. In that sense, we stand on the same side, how
the Biden administration will take that into account, it’s something that we
all need to work on,”
“We in the Emirates are a positive influence. The Gulf
states are a positive influence. And it’s our belief that the Biden
administration and the group of nations that have been negotiating with Iran
take us on board and see the positive influence that we can bring to
discussions on Iran,” Ghobash added.
https://english.alarabiya.net/en/News/gulf/2021/01/20/Gulf-states-Israel-demand-seat-at-Iran-nuclear-deal-negotiations-UAE-Diplomat
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Iraq tightens security along Syria border to curb ISIS
movement: Military
19 January 2021
Iraq is tightening security along its 600 km (400
mile) border with Syria to curb the movement of ISIS militants, drug smuggling
and other illegal activities.
Iraqi commanders on Monday toured the remote desert
frontier controlled by various different forces, including the Iraqi military,
Iran-aligned militias, the Syrian army, anti-Damascus opposition forces, and
US-backed Kurdish forces.
The border is a flashpoint for tension between
Iran-backed groups and the United States and is also tense because of ISIS
incursions and Turkish pressure on Kurdish rebel groups.
At an outpost facing into Syria, Lieutenant-General
Abdul Amir al-Shammari said the Iraqi side was under the control of state
forces and was being more tightly secured, but that the main challenges came
from inside Syria.
“One of the biggest challenges is there’s no one
single or unified security partner on the Syrian side,” he said.
“In this area, the Syrian Democratic Forces (SDF) are
across the border - whom we coordinate with via the (US) coalition,” he said,
referring to US-backed, Kurdish-dominated paramilitaries battling ISIS remnants
and also opposed to Turkey.
“Further south, there’s the Syrian army, and in some
areas beyond that, control by Syrian opposition groups,” Shammari said.
Iraq was stepping up use of high-tech thermal cameras
and observation balloons, he said.
Reuters reporters touring the border by air with the
military saw diggers making deeper trenches along large sections of the Iraqi
side of the frontier, which is sparsely peppered with border guard towers,
earth berms and metal fences.
Shammari said some families of ISIS fighters had
recently been detained after crossing from al-Hol, a displacement camp on the
Syrian side housing tens of thousands of people who fled ISIS’s final enclaves.
Officials worry al-Hol is a breeding ground for
extremism and fear the return of thousands of Iraqis with ties to ISIS.
The border has recently also seen Israeli air strikes
against Iranian-linked targets including Revolutionary Guards commanders as
Israel increases pressure on allies of Iran and of Syrian President Bashar
al-Assad.
The Iraqi military is in the difficult position of
coordinating with state paramilitaries that include the Iran-aligned groups
which are facing off with Israel and the United States and transfer weapons and
personnel across the frontier.
Iraq also navigates a growing relationship with Turkey
which wants Baghdad to help clamp down on activities of the Kurdish PKK
insurgent group, which has bases in northern Iraq and allies in the SDF.
https://english.alarabiya.net/en/News/middle-east/2021/01/19/Iraq-tightens-security-along-Syria-border-to-curb-ISIS-movement-Military-
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Did Islamic State make comeback to opposition areas in
countryside of Aleppo?
Khaled al-Khateb
Jan 16, 2021
ALEPPO, Syria — Syria TV correspondent and journalist
Bahaa al-Halabi survived an assassination attempt Jan. 6 in the Turkish-backed
opposition-controlled city of al-Bab in the northeastern countryside of Aleppo.
The attempt took place outside Halabi's home, as masked individuals intercepted
his private car and fired their bullets directly at him.
The incident sparked controversy and fear among
activists and journalists in the opposition areas in the countryside of Aleppo.
Speculations soared about the entity behind this type of operations. Some
believe the incident is due to the security chaos that al-Bab and other
opposition-controlled areas are experiencing in the countryside of Aleppo. They
believe bombings and assassinations are usually carried out by agents of the
Syrian regime or the Syrian Democratic Forces (SDF), which both share an interest
in perpetuating the security chaos in the region.
Other journalists believe the attempt to assassinate
Halabi has the Islamic State's (IS) fingerprints all over it. IS members excel
in this type of assassination. In their view, the incident ushers in the return
of the organization to the opposition areas in the countryside of Aleppo
through its agents.
On Dec. 12, 2020, journalist Hussein Khattab was
assassinated in a similar manner in al-Bab. Two masked individuals shot him in
the city center while he was preparing a press report. Opposition police and
public security forces have so far been unable to reveal the perpetrators’
identity.
The Union of Syrian Media in Aleppo countryside issued
a statement Jan. 6, calling on “all authorities that have set themselves up as
trustees and responsible for the region, its security and the protection of its
residents to assume their role in maintaining security and deterring terrorist
cells.”
“We will not stand by idly while we watch our safe
areas turn into a hotbed of terrorism,” it warned.
Al-Monitor met President of the Union of Syrian Media
Saad al-Saad, who said, “The attempt to assassinate Halabi and the
assassination of Khattab reaped terror in the hearts of journalists and
activists in the opposition areas. All of us could be a target for terrorism if
the security situation is not controlled and the agents working in favor of the
terrorist organizations are not prosecuted. I do not rule out that IS could be
the culprit, but the regime or SDF may be behind these operations as well. This
matter is open to many speculations since the opposition police forces have so
far been unable to determine the identity or affiliation of the perpetrators."
Galal Talawi, journalist and member of the Union of
Syrian Media, told Al-Monitor that opposition security and military
institutions must intensify their efforts in managing the security situation in
al-Bab and Aleppo's countryside. “Terrorists could expand their activities in
the coming period if they are not prosecuted and hit with an iron fist,” he
said.
Fears of an IS comeback in the opposition-controlled
areas in the countryside of Aleppo through operations carried out by IS cell
members seem justified right now.
IS is witnessing a revival and has spread in the areas
of the Syrian desert (Badia). Its fighters are constantly attacking the regime
forces and allied militias. IS has been also targeting SDF in the areas it
controls in northeastern Syria, and will naturally try to penetrate and target
opposition-controlled areas in northwestern Syria. What’s more, IS claimed
responsibility for previous assassinations in al-Bab.
Of note, IS claimed about 600 attacks in Syria during
2020, most of them in eastern Syria. According to a Jan. 6 statement published
by the IS-affiliated Amaq news agency, 593 attacks were carried out in Syria
during 2020. IS stated that its operations killed 1,327 persons and wounded 901
individuals affiliated with the SDF, 407 Syrian regime forces and 19 fighters
from various opposition factions.
Most of IS’ attacks and operations concentrated in
Deir ez-Zor, where IS said it conducted 389 attacks, followed by 59 in Raqqa,
38 in Homs, 39 in Hasakah, 36 in Aleppo and 29 in Daraa. According to the
statement, the attacks destroyed and damaged 292 vehicles, including 172 in
Deir ez-Zor, 51 in Raqqa and 25 in Homs. The Amaq statement noted that 256 of
the attacks were carried out with explosive devices, 191 were assassinations and
123 clashes.
Meanwhile, journalist Majed Abdel Noor argued that
recently, through its security cells, IS has penetrated deep into the city of
al-Bab. He told Al-Monitor, “IS cells are carrying out operations in broad
daylight. The problem is the security failure and shortcomings shown by the
opposition's security institutions. These instructions ought to exert all
possible efforts and tap on any capabilities to eradicate these criminals.”
Abdel Noor noted, “The eradication of these cells must
begin as soon as possible, otherwise we will soon wake up to see IS expanding
tremendously. Then the available security solutions will not be enough.”
He added that the method of these assassinations
provide several signs about the perpetrator. “IS is the most capable opponent
to penetrate our regions so easily. All opponent parties — including the SDF
and the Syrian regime — are involved in the terrorist operations carried out in
the liberated area. However, operations of this kind — targeting journalists —
bear the hallmarks of IS cells,” he concluded.
https://www.al-monitor.com/pulse/originals/2021/01/syria-is-aleppo-idlib-terrorism.html?utm_source=iterable&utm_medium=email&utm_campaign=1914666_
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Obscure Islamist Group Targets Turkish Military in
Northwest Syria
By Sirwan Kajjo
January 17, 2021
WASHINGTON - A small Islamist militant group has
claimed responsibility for an attack on Turkish forces in the northwestern
Syrian province of Idlib.
The Ansar Abu Bakr al-Siddiq Squadron said it was
behind the attack Saturday that targeted a Turkish military outpost in the
northern countryside of Idlib.
“The sniper platoon of the Abu Bakr al-Siddiq Squadron
targeted one of the main bases of the ‘Turkish NATO’ military stationed near
the town of Batbo, north of Idlib,” the extremist group said Sunday in a
statement published on social media.
Three Turkish soldiers were wounded as a result of the
assault, according to local news media. The Turkish government has not
commented.
Idlib is the last major stronghold controlled by
forces opposed to the government of Syrian President Bashar al-Assad.
Hayat Tahrir al-Sham (HTS) is the most powerful
Islamist group present in Idlib, but other al-Qaida-affiliated groups and
Turkish-backed rebels also have a significant presence in the Syrian
enclave.
The HTS, formerly known as al-Nusra Front, is
considered a terrorist organization by the United States.
As part of a de-escalation agreement with Russia,
Turkey has deployed forces in Idlib and set up several observation posts
throughout the rebel-held parts of the province.
Russia has been a staunch supporter of the Assad
government, while Turkey backs several rebel groups.
New group
Since its founding in August 2020, Ansar Abu Bakr
al-Siddiq has claimed responsibility for at least three other attacks on
Turkish forces in Idlib.
Experts say the extremist group represents a trend
among jihadis in northwest Syria that openly oppose the HTS and Turkey.
“They actually believe that you have to actively fight
against the Turkish presence in northwest Syria because they think it’s an
apostate occupation of Muslim lands,” said Aymenn Jawad al-Tamimi, a Syria
researcher at Swansea University in Britain.
Although the group has no allegiance to al-Qaida or
the Islamic State terror groups, its leaders promote the establishment of a
strict Islamist state in Syria.
“Khayal al-Manhaj is considered as the main theorist
of Ansar Abu Bakr al-Siddiq whose works support these trends,” al-Tamimi told
VOA.
It is not clear how many fighters are in Ansar Abu
Bakr al-Siddiq, but experts believe most of its members have defected from the
HTS and other al-Qaida-affiliated groups.
Several other Islamist factions also have emerged in
recent months in Idlib in opposition to a new cease-fire deal reached between
Turkey and Russia in March 2020. Their attacks have primarily targeted
Russian-Turkish joint patrols on the strategic M4 highway.
https://www.voanews.com/extremism-watch/obscure-islamist-group-targets-turkish-military-northwest-syria?utm_source=iterable&utm_medium=email&utm_campaign=1914666_
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ISIS Landmines Kill 10 Russia-backed Fighters in
Syria’s Homs
18 January, 2021
Ten Russia-backed fighters were killed when ISIS
landmines exploded in al-Tayba area in al-Sukhna, in Syria's eastern Homs
countryside near the administrative border with the Deir Ezzor province.
Meanwhile, Russian warplanes carried out on Sunday 40
airstrikes targeting ISIS positions in Aleppo, Hama and Raqqa.
The Russia-backed forces launched a security campaign
in the deserts of Deir Ezzor and Homs, where forces from the al-Quds Brigade,
5th Corps and National Defense militias continue to comb the area from Kabajib
and al-Shoula to al-Sukhna, in an attempt to secure the Deir Ezzor-Homs road.
ISIS has recently increased its attacks against regime
forces, killing and injuring dozens.
Analysts believe this reflects the difficulty of
completely eliminating ISIS remnant cells operating in the Badia desert area
stretching from eastern Homs, in central Syria, to the easternmost parts of the
Deir Ezzor province in the east.
On December 30, ISIS targeted three busses carrying
pro-regime militants and members of the 4th Division, in al-Shula desert on
Deir Ezzor-Homs road, killing 39 and injuring others.
The terrorist organization also ambushed various
vehicles on the Damascus-al-Raqqah highway in the beginning of the year. The
attack resulted in the death of 12 regime soldiers and affiliated militias, as
well as three civilians, including a little girl.
The Syrian Observatory for Human Rights has documented
the killing of at least 1,199 regime soldiers and loyalists of various
nationalities, including two Russians and 145 Iran-backed militants.
They were all killed during ISIS attacks, bombings and
ambushes in the deserts of Deir Ezzor, Homs and al-Suwaida from March 2019 to
this day.
The Observatory also announced that during the same
period, four civilians working in gas fields, 11 shepherds and four other
people were killed in terrorist attacks, while 633 ISIS members died in attacks
and bombardment.
https://english.aawsat.com/home/article/2749156/isis-landmines-kill-10-russia-backed-fighters-syria%E2%80%99s-homs?utm_source=iterable&utm_medium=email&utm_campaign=1914666_
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Israel, Syria officials discuss removal of Iran and
its militias from Syria: Report
Rawad Taha
20 January 2021
Israel’s demand to remove Iran and its militias from
Syria was discussed by Syrian and Israeli officials last month at the Russian
Hmeimim base in Syria’s Latakia, according to the Syrian Bridges Center for
Studies.
According to the report, the meeting included the
Director of Syria’s National Security Office Major General Ali Mamlouk,
Security Advisor at the Syrian Palace Bassam Hassan, Israel’s former chief of
staff of the Israeli army Gadi Eisenkot and former Mossad general Ari bin
Menashe. Alexander Tchaikov, the commander of the Russian forces in Syria, was
also present at the meeting.
Observers and international affairs experts have been
monitoring Russia’s work as a mediator between Syria and Israel in recent
weeks. Sources have confirmed that Israeli army has been informing the Russians
of airstrikes on Syria beforehand. After the recent “Abraham Accords” peace
deals between Israel and Arab states, some have speculated that Syria may be
next, despite Iranian presence on its soil, after multiple Syrian officials
openly discussed the possibility of peace after negotiations.
The center said that the Syrian delegation requested
facilitating the return to the Arab League and obtaining financial aid to pay
off Iranian debts along with stopping western sanctions to open the way for
Syria to expel Iran.
The center added that Israeli demands included
“completely removing Iran, Hezbollah and Tehran's militias and forming a
government that includes the opposition, restructuring the security and
military establishment.”
The center added that the meeting did not conclude
with specific agreements, but that it constituted the beginning of a path that
Russia is pushing toward and is expected to witness a major expansion in 2021.
The report added that Moscow believes that building a
direct relationship between the regime and Israel could constitute a lifeline
for the regime and obtain international support for its political project in
Syria.
Last Tuesday, Israel, with US support, launched the
heaviest raids on Iranian and Syrian sites in northeastern Syria.
The Israeli army announced in its annual report for
2020 that it carried out 50 air strikes on targets in Syria and launched more
than 500 missiles and smart missiles during the past year, with the aim of
preventing Iran's positioning in Syria.
https://english.alarabiya.net/en/News/middle-east/2021/01/20/Israeli-Syrian-officials-discussed-Iran-and-its-militias-presence-in-Syria-Report
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Lebanon returns two stolen 18th-century religious
icons to Greece
19 January 2021
Lebanon handed back two 18th-century religious icons
of Jesus and Mary to Greece on Tuesday after they were seized during an
auction, a judicial source said.
The paintings were stolen from an exhibition in Athens
in 2016, and Greece put out an international notice calling for their return.
Icons are Christian religious paintings, often of
saints, and are viewed as sacred.
Lebanon has launched an investigation, but it is not
clear who stole them, or how they were brought to the country.
“The person who bought the paintings at the auction in
Lebanon was questioned,” the source said, adding that the buyer was about to
ship them to Germany “to sell them on at an international auction there.”
The paintings were handed to the Greek ambassador in
Beirut.
Greece has retrieved several other religious icons
worth thousands of dollars in recent years.
In 2011, Greek officials blocked the sale of a dozen
religious icons by two art galleries in Britain and the Netherlands after
finding the items had been stolen years before.
The icons, which dated from before the 18th century
and could have each fetched from $7,000 to $21,000, were stolen from unguarded
monasteries and churches in the sparsely-populated Epirus region of
northwestern Greece.
In 2008, Britain returned to Greece a 14th-century
icon stolen from a Greek Orthodox monastery 30 years earlier, and found in the
hands of a London-based collector.
https://english.alarabiya.net/en/life-style/art-and-culture/2021/01/19/Lebanon-returns-two-stolen-18th-century-religious-icons-to-Greece
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Europe
Azerbaijan says lost 2,855 troops in Nagorno-Karabakh
war
19 January 2021
Azerbaijani says it lost more than 2,800 troops during
the 44-day war with neighboring Armenia over the breakaway Nagorno-Karabakh
region.
In a statement released on Tuesday, the Azeri Defense
Ministry said that the army had lost at least 2,855 soldiers during the war
with Armenia over the region.
It updated the death toll from the war after learning
of some funerals and the identities of the deceased soldiers.
The ministry added that at least 50 Azerbaijani
troopers were also still missing.
Baku had previously provided a slightly lower death
toll from the war.
Armenia has announced that 2,317 of its troops were
killed during the war, which also killed more than 90 Azerbaijani and 50
Armenian civilians.
Karabakh is internationally recognized as part of
Azerbaijan, but it has been occupied by ethnic Armenian separatists backed by
Armenia since 1992 when they broke from Azerbaijan in a war that killed some
30,000 people.
The conflict erupted on September 27 last year and
ended on November 10 with a Russian-brokered truce.
As part of the truce agreement, Armenia returned
swathes of territory it had occupied for decades to Azeri control.
The agreement was signed after the Azerbaijani army
overwhelmed Armenian forces and threatened to advance on Karabakh’s main city
of Khankendi, which Armenians call Stepanakert after a 19th-century Bolshevik
militant.
The truce, which was warmly welcomed as a victory in
Azerbaijan, has prompted anger in Armenia, with protesters demanding the
resignation of Prime Minister Nikol Pashinyan.
Also under the ceasefire, nearly 2,000 Russian
peacekeepers have been stationed along the Lachin corridor in Azerbaijan, a
60-kilometer-long route that links Khankendi to Armenia.
Once the handover of the occupied territories is
complete, the next phase of the ceasefire would include the withdrawal of
Armenian forces and separatists from Karabakh and the return of refugees to
their homes, where Azerbaijanis and Armenians are about to live together under
the suzerainty of Baku.
https://www.presstv.com/Detail/2021/01/19/643378/Azerbaijan-says-lost-2,855-troopers-in-Nagorno-Karabakh-war
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Greece arrests suspected Syrian militant wanted in
Netherlands
JANUARY 15, 2021
ATHENS (Reuters) - Greek authorities have arrested a
37-year-old Syrian asylum seeker wanted in the Netherlands for suspected
terrorism offences, a police official said on Friday.
The man arrived on the island of Samos from Turkey on
Oct. 4, 2018, and was later transferred to a migrant facility near Thessaloniki
where he was arrested on Wednesday under an international arrest warrant issued
by Dutch authorities, according to the official.
Two earlier applications for asylum in Greece had been
rejected, he added.
The unnamed man was suspected of terrorist offences
and being a member of al Nusra, a Syrian group affiliated with al Qaeda as well
as migrant trafficking. Extradition procedures were under way.
Tens of thousands of migrants have arrived in Greece
in recent years, many fleeing the civil war in Syria.
https://www.reuters.com/article/us-greece-security-arrests/greece-arrests-suspected-syrian-militant-wanted-in-netherlands-idUSKBN29K1WI?utm_source=iterable&utm_medium=email&utm_campaign=1914666_
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2 Syrians charged with terrorism over army officer's
killing
18 January 2021
BERLIN -- Two Syrians have been charged in Germany for
alleged links to a terrorist organization on suspicion they were involved in
the killing of an army officer in their homeland in 2012, prosecutors said
Monday.
Khedr A.K. was charged with membership in a terrorist
organization while Sami A.S. was charged with supporting a terrorist
organization on allegations they were acting on behalf of the Nusra Front, as
al-Qaida’s affiliate in Syria was known at the time of the alleged offenses.
Neither of their last names were given in line with
German privacy laws.
The two were arrested last summer in Naumburg, in
eastern Germany, and in the western city of Essen.
The pair are suspected of taking part in the killing
of a captured lieutenant colonel of the Syrian government forces in July 2012,
prosecutors said. They said that Khedr A.K. guarded the man as he was brought
to the execution site. Sami A.S. is suspected of filming the officer’s shooting
and preparing the footage for use as propaganda.
It was not immediately clear when the two came to
Germany.
https://abcnews.go.com/International/wireStory/syrians-charged-terrorism-army-officers-killing-75320432?utm_source=iterable&utm_medium=email&utm_campaign=1914666_
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‘Extremist’ Sydney man accused of breaching
anti-terrorism control order over online material
JANUARY 16, 2021
A Sydney man has been arrested after he allegedly
failed to comply with a condition of a control order by accessing online
material that supported executions, beheadings and torture.
Australian Federal Police acting commander Alex
Nicholson fronted the media on Saturday, detailing how the 25-year-old was
accused of breaching the Federal Court of Australia direction.
The man, who was released from jail on January 1, was
subject to the control order until December 30.
“The man has an extremist ideology aligned to the ISIS
terror network,” acting commander Nicholson said.
The AFP High Risk Terrorist Offenders team arrested
the man at his Denistone home on Saturday morning.
Commander Nicholson said there was no threat to the
community.
“This man is now the fifth person arrested by the AFP
for breaching a control order since July,” he said.
“While we are continuing to see high risk terrorist
offenders breach their control orders, police are ensuring offenders who
breached their orders are arrested, charged and face the consequences of their
actions.
“AFP offices continue to work with our state and
territory counterparts and security agencies to protect the community from
extremist material and the violence it promotes.”
The man has been charged with three counts of
contravening a Federal Court of Australia control order.
He faces a maximum penalty of five years in jail if
found guilty.
The man was arrested in July 2019 by the NSW Joint
Counter Terrorism team for being or associating with people suspected to be
part of an ISIS terrorist network, according to acting commander Nicholson.
He was sentenced on December 12 after pleading guilty
to two counts of associating with a terrorist organisation and was released
from jail about two weeks ago.
Conditions vary for each individual under a control
order, and the man had a curfew and restrictions on accessing particular
material online, acting commander Nicholson said.
Anyone with information about extremist activity or
possible threats to the community should contact the National Security Hotline
on 1800 123 400.
https://www.theaustralian.com.au/breaking-news/extremist-sydney-man-accused-of-breaching-antiterrorism-control-order-over-online-material/news-story/26290a49944315fa15e9fe1cb128af22?utm_source=iterable&utm_medium=email&utm_campaign=1914666_
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South Asia
Myanmar agrees to start taking back Rohingya this year
SM Najmus Sakib
20.01.2021
DHAKA, Bangladesh
Myanmar agreed to calls by Bangladesh at a tripartite
meeting facilitated by China to start the much-awaited repatriation of Rohingya
in the second quarter of this year, officials said Tuesday.
Bangladesh pushed hard to begin the repatriation, but
Myanmar again delayed it, seeking time for logistical arrangements.
“We pushed to initiate the repatriation in the first
quarter, but Myanmar sought more time for logistical arrangements and some
physical arrangements. So we asked to start repatriation in the second quarter,
and they agreed on it,” Bangladesh’s Foreign Secretary Masud Bin Momen said
after the meeting.
In addition, China and Myanmar also understood and
agreed on the proposal pushed by Bangladesh to maintain the international
community’s presence in Myanmar’s Rakhine State when the repatriation occurs,
added the official, who led the Bangladeshi side in the virtual trilateral
meeting with Myanmar and China on the Rohingya.
China will provide free COVID-19 vaccinations to the
Rohingya people in the first phase of repatriation.
Days before the meeting, Bangladeshi Foreign Minister
AK Abdul Momen said “repatriation is the only solution to end the Rohingya
crisis, and there will be no alternative.”
Bangladesh also proposed a village-based repatriation
of the Rohingya to their homeland while Myanmar wanted a sporadic collection of
refugees who are currently taking shelter in Cox’s Bazar in Bangladesh
following a military crackdown in Myanmar in 2017 and repatriation.
China’s Vice Minister Luo Zhaohui virtually joined in
the first secretary level meeting between Bangladesh and Myanmar under the
mediation of China.
A proposal was also tabled at the meeting to send a
group of Rohingya to visit Rakhine directly to create an environment for those
returning.
Myanmar’s preparation for repatriation
Myanmar’s Deputy Minister for International
Cooperation U Hau Do Suan participated in the tripartite meeting held via
videoconference.
The Ministry of Foreign Affairs in a statement issued
later said: “Myanmar has made all necessary arrangements for the repatriation
and reaffirmed Myanmar’s readiness to receive the verified displaced persons in
line with the bilateral agreements.”
The statement, however, did not mention a specific
date for the repatriation to take place.
“The Pilot Project is underway for the repatriation of
displaced persons. Myanmar is willing to commence the process with verified
displaced persons who will be repatriated under the Pilot Project,” the
statement added, quoting the deputy minister.
He also highlighted the need for prospective returnees
to fill in and sign the agreed forms containing two points to ensure their
voluntariness to return and obligation to abide by the existing laws of
Myanmar.
The deputy minister urged Bangladesh to address the issue
of terrorist elements intimidating and threatening the displaced persons not to
return to Myanmar.
Bangladesh, however, said it does not and will not
allow any insurgents in the country and is aware of the issue.
The last two attempts to take back Rohingya under a
bilateral agreement between Bangladesh and Myanmar signed in 2017 failed to
achieve any results, despite Myanmar’s repeated assurances to commence
repatriation.
The last tripartite meeting was held on Jan. 20 last
year in New York, and since then, Myanmar has been allegedly postponing the
bilateral talks despite repeated attempts by Bangladesh.
Persecuted people
According to Amnesty International, more than 750,000
Rohingya refugees, mostly women and children, fled Myanmar and crossed into
Bangladesh after Myanmar forces launched a crackdown on the minority Muslim
community in August 2017.
Since Aug. 25, 2017, nearly 24,000 Rohingya Muslims
have been killed by Myanmar’s state forces, according to a report by the
Ontario International Development Agency (OIDA).
More than 34,000 Rohingya were thrown into fires, over
114,000 more were beaten, and as many as 18,000 Rohingya women and girls were
raped by Myanmar’s army and police, said the OIDA report, titled Forced
Migration of Rohingya: The Untold Experience.
Over 115,000 Rohingya homes were burned and 113,000
others vandalized, the report added.
https://www.aa.com.tr/en/asia-pacific/myanmar-agrees-to-start-taking-back-rohingya-this-year/2115960
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Afghan Security Members Face Heavy Casualties in
Kunduz
By Mohammad Haroon Alim
19 Jan 2021
Chahar Darreh district, Kunduz province,
Afghanistan.MITCH MAKOWICZ/U.S. ARMY
Kunduz officials reported that 13 members of the
Afghan national army and four NDS members were killed in a Taliban attack on
two security checkpoints in the province.
Sources in Kunduz province confirmed to Khaama Press,
that 13 ANA soldiers and 4 members of the National Directorate of Security were
killed and 5 others were wounded in a Taliban attack on a security checkpoint
in Dasht-e-Archi district of Kunduz Province.
Reports indicate that 15 Taliban fighters were also
killed during the skirmish.
On the other hand, Zabiullah Mujahid, a spokesman for
the Taliban tweeted, that 21 Afghan security members had been killed in an
attack on two security checkpoints in the Dasht-e-Archi district of the Kunduz.
Kunduz is one of the most insecure provinces in the
country, where the Taliban are present in large numbers.
https://www.khaama.com/afghan-security-members-face-heavy-casualties-in-kunduz-554433/
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Taliban attacks, violence kills dozens: Afghan
officials
JAN 19, 2021
A wave of Taliban attacks and violence has killed
dozens across Afghanistan, even as talks are underway between the government
and the insurgents in Qatar, officials said on Tuesday.
A statement from the defence ministry said four army
soldiers were killed late Monday night in Taliban attacks on checkpoints in
Kunduz province.
According to the ministry, 15 Taliban fighters were
also killed and 12 were wounded. The details were impossible to independently
verify as Kunduz is off limits to journalists and the Taliban hold sway across
most of the province's rural areas.
However, Ghulam Rabani Rabani, a provincial council
member in Kunduz, gave a significantly higher casualty toll. At least 25
members of the security forces were killed by the Taliban in separate attacks
in the Dasht-e-Archi district, including 13 soldiers and four policemen, he
said.
At least eight other soldiers were killed near Kunduz
city, the provincial capital, he said.
Taliban spokesman, Zabihullah Mujahid, said the
insurgents were behind all the attacks. The Taliban were able to seize weapons
and ammunition from the checkpoints, he said.
Meanwhile, in southern Helmand province, Abdul Zahir
Haqyar, administration chief in Washer's district, was shot and killed by
unknown gunmen on Monday night, said Abdul Nabi Elham, the provincial governor
of Helmand.
Two of Haqyar's bodyguards were wounded in the
shooting. No one immediately claimed responsibility for that attack.
Separately, in southern Urozgan province, at least 10
people, including women and children, were wounded, when a sticky bomb placed
on a motorcycle exploded, according to the provincial governor, Mohammad Omar
Sherzad.
A private car belonging to police officers was the
target of the explosion, he said.
The Islamic State group has claimed responsibility for
multiple attacks in the capital of Kabul in recent months, including on
educational institutions that killed 50 people, most of them students. IS has
claimed responsibility for rocket attacks in December targeting the major US
base in Afghanistan. There were no casualties.
Taliban representatives and the Afghan government
earlier this month resumed peace talks in Qatar, the Gulf Arab state where the
insurgents maintain an office. The stop-and-go talks are aimed at ending
decades of conflict. Frustration and fear have grown over the recent spike in
violence, and both sides blame one another.
There has also been growing doubt lately over a
US-Taliban deal brokered by the outgoing Trump administration. That accord was
signed last February. Under the deal, an accelerated withdrawal of US troops
ordered by Trump means that just 2,500 American soldiers will still be in
Afghanistan when President-elect Joe Biden takes office on January 20.
https://www.hindustantimes.com/world-news/taliban-attacks-violence-kills-dozens-afghan-officials-101611059139339.html
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Peace talks at 'snail's pace' due to Taliban, says
Afghan government
Jan 20, 2021
Afghan authorities lambasted the Taliban Wednesday for
failing to actively participate in peace talks seeking to end the country's
long-running war.
Following months of deliberations and a first-round
that failed to achieve any major breakthrough, the Afghan government and
Taliban are meeting again in Qatar, but so far only discussing the agenda for
round two.
"Unfortunately, the talks are going at a snail's
pace," Waheed Omar, media adviser to President Ashraf Ghani told
reporters.
"The Taliban have no clear vision. We see no
changes in them."
Kabul is pushing for a permanent ceasefire and to
protect governance arrangements in place since the ouster of the Taliban by a
US-led invasion following the September 11, 2001 terror attacks.
But since the second round of talks began on January 6
in Doha there has been no significant announcement about how negotiations were
proceeding.
The talks have been marred by a surge in violence,
with a recent spate of high-profile killings of officials, judges, journalists
and activists leaving the war-weary country reeling.
Omar said there was no plan to release more Taliban
prisoners to help spur the talks along, saying the government's previous
experience of releasing insurgents failed to reduce fighting.
"The Taliban not only did not reduce the
violence, but they increased the violence," Omar said.
Before the start of the peace talks on September 12,
authorities released more than 5,000 Taliban inmates as demanded by the group
in a deal with Washington last year.
In return, the Taliban agreed to give some security
guarantees and participate in peace talks aimed at ending the country's war.
Under the landmark deal signed last year, the US
pledged to pull out all foreign forces from Afghanistan by May 2021.
Both the Taliban and the Afghan government are
anxiously awaiting President-elect Joe Biden's inauguration and any new policy directions
from the incoming administration.
https://www.wionews.com/south-asia/peace-talks-at-snails-pace-due-to-taliban-says-afghan-government-357909
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India
Major infiltration bid foiled in Jammu: Three
militants killed, four soldiers injured
January 20, 2021
Three militants were killed while four soldiers
sustained injuries after the Army foiled a major infiltration bid along the LoC
in the Keri Battal area of Jammu’s Akhnoor.
According to army sources, on the intervening night of
January 18-19, a group of five heavily armed militants tried to sneak into this
side through the Keri Battal sector, but they were intercepted and challenged
by alert troops leading to an exchange of fire between the two sides.
Three militants were killed, sources said, adding
searches were going on for the other two who may have gone back or may be
hiding in the area.
Four soldiers also sustained gunshot wounds and were
evacuated to the hospital.
https://indianexpress.com/article/india/major-infiltration-bid-foiled-in-jammu-three-militants-killed-four-soldiers-injured-7153956/
--------
India: Muslim comedian detained over anti-Hindu jokes
he might crack
Seerat Chabba
20.01.2021
Indian stand-up comedian Munawar Faruqui is facing
legal action in two states after he was arrested for allegedly insulting Hindu
deities, in a case that critics say is an attack on freedom of speech.
Faruqui and four others were detained in India’s
central city of Indore on January 1 after the leader of a right-wing vigilante
group filed a complaint against them for hurting religious sentiments.
Eklavya Singh Gaur is the son of Malini Gaur, a
politician from India’s ruling Bharatiya Janata Party. He said he and his
associates were in the audience when the comedian made the objectionable
remarks. They created a ruckus and forced the event to stop, local media outlet
NDTV reported.
Legal action in two states
The 28-year-old performer has been booked on suspicion
of outraging religious feelings and helping the spread of disease.
He has also been asked to appear before a court in the
state of Uttar Pradesh over an earlier case of “insulting” Hindu deities as
well as senior BJP leader Amit Shah, local news publication The Wire reported.
Nearly three weeks later, Faruqui has been denied bail
by lower courts. His lawyers approached the Madhya Pradesh High Court last week
but the hearing was adjourned after the police failed to produce the case diary.
Talking to NDTV, Faruqui's defender Anshuman
Shrivastav said this was the result of police "negligence" and that
the document was located in a police station across the street from the court.
Police: Lack video evidence doesn't matter
Authorities are pursuing the case despite Indore
police admitting they had no evidence, Indian Express reported.
"There’s no evidence against him for insulting
Hindu deities or Union Minister Amit Shah," local police officer Kamlesh
Sharma told the news daily days after the initial arrest. He added that the two
videos submitted by the complainant were of another comedian.
Last week, Indore’s Superintendent of Police Vijay
Khatri told news portal Article 14 that Faruqui was arrested after Gaur, son of
the BJP politician, said he overheard some jokes during rehearsal. The lack of
video evidence was not important.
"Doesn’t really matter," Khatri told the
website. "There was ruckus at the venue even before Faruqui could perform.
But, we were told [by the complainants] that they [the comedians] were cracking
jokes about Ram and Shiv ji [the Hindu deities] while rehearsing."
Rising intolerance
Faruqui’s arbitrary arrest and prolonged detention
have been criticized as an attempt to stifle freedom of speech in India. Fellow
comedians and activists have come out in support of their colleagues.
Comedian Vir Das took to Twitter to share a screenshot
of Prime Minister Narendra Modi’s 2017 tweet that talked about the importance
of humor.
"I think we need more satire and humour. Humour
brings happiness in our lives. Humour is the best healer," Modi had said
in the tweet.
Others, including popular comedians Rohan Joshi,
Kaneez Surka and Abish Mathew, shared a video where Faruqui is trying to reason
with those offended with his jokes.
"Turns out now you can just assault people while
they’re doing their job and the cops will take 'them' to the police
station," Joshi said on Instagram.
https://www.dw.com/en/india-muslim-comedian-detained-over-anti-hindu-jokes-he-might-crack/a-56280748
--------
Pakistan
Pakistan opposition demand swift verdict against Imran
and his party in graft case
Jan 20, 2021
ISLAMABAD: Pakistan Democratic Movement (PDM), the
anti-government alliance of opposition parties, on Tuesday held a protest rally
outside the Election Commission of Pakistan (ECP) in Islamabad, demanding a
swift verdict in a foreign funding case against the ruling Pakistan Tehreek-i-Insaf
(PTI).
The foreign funding case was filed in November 2014 by
Akbar S Babar, a founding member of PTI, alleging serious financial
irregularities in the party’s accounts. The allegations included illegal
sources of funding, concealment of bank accounts in Pakistan and abroad, money
laundering, and using private bank accounts of PTI employees as a front to
receive illegal donations from the US and countries in Europe and Middle East.
The ECP is expected to hear the funding case against
the ruling party on Wednesday.
Addressing the mammoth rally, ex-prime minister Nawaz
Sharif’s daughter and vice-president of Pakistan Muslim League-Nawaz (PML-N)
Maryam Nawaz said the PDM parties had gathered outside the ECP to remind it of
its constitutional obligations.
Terming the PTI foreign funding case the “biggest
fraud in Pakistan’s history”, she said that cases against her father were
expedited and decided within days but the ECP had only held 70 hearings of the
case against PTI since 2014.
“Today the PDM and public ask you, if you (PM Imran
Kahn) did not steal, then why did you try to stop the case 30 times?” Maryam
said, referring to requests submitted by the PTI in the court that the ECP
could not decide the foreign funding case.
“If you (Imran) were so innocent why did you give
applications to keep the proceedings secret? Maryam asked. “This means theft
took place and very big theft was done,” she added.
Maryam said the State Bank of Pakistan had identified
23 secret accounts of the PTI which, according to her, were being operated
through Imran’s signatures. “The person crying chor-chor (thief) turned out to
be the biggest thief,” Maryam said, alleging that funds had come into Imran’s
accounts through ‘hundi’ channels. She also alleged that Imran had received
funds from Israel and India, saying: “Do you know who funded him from India?
BJP member Inderjeet Dosanjh. And the Israeli who funded him was Barry
Sisheps.”
The rally was also addressed by other opposition
leaders, including PDM chief Maulana Fazlur Rehman and former PM Raja Pervez
Ashraf.
Ahead of the rally, authorities had completely sealed
the ECP headquarters and buildings surrounding it with concrete blocks and
barbed wire. More than a thousand security officials, including police and 300
personnel of paramilitary force, were also deployed outside the ECP building.
https://timesofindia.indiatimes.com/world/pakistan/pakistan-opposition-demand-swift-verdict-against-imran-and-his-party-in-graft-case/articleshow/80354036.cms
--------
NAB let Dar off the hook after getting his help: UK
judge
January 20,
2021
ISLAMABAD: UK’s arbitrator Sir Anthony Evans in his
December 2018 final award on quantum in the Broadsheet LLC case has highlighted
that the National Accountability Bureau (NAB) never agreed to include former
finance minister Ishaq Dar as a target since he had rendered some assistance to
the bureau during 2000-01 on the assets belonging to the Sharif family.
“Talat Ghumman — a witness in the quantum award
hearing and who remained in NAB until 2004 — said in his evidence that there
was a reason why NAB never agreed to its inclusion, because Mr Dar gave some
assistance to NAB regarding Sharif family’s assets in 2000/1,” noted the
quantum award.
Mr Dar had been a prominent politician even before the
establishment of NAB and closely associated with former premier Nawaz Sharif
throughout that period and to date. The ex-minister had been the subject of the
investigations by the Joint Investigation Team (JIT) constituted by the Supreme
Court in 2017-08 during the Panama Papers case, recalled the award.
He was never in the list of registered persons in the
Schedule 1 to the June 2000 Asset Recovery Agreement (ARA) signed between NAB
and the Broadsheet LLC, but his name was included in a list submitted by Broadsheet
through its letter of August 12, 2000 and again in a further letter from
Broadsheet to NAB on Jan 5, 2001.
It was stated during the hearing on behalf of the
respondents (NAB) that there was no evidence that they ever agreed to its
inclusion in the list, as required by clause 1.2 of the ARA, the award said,
adding that a number of procedural issues regarding Mr Dar’s inclusion or
otherwise was raised at the quantum hearing and in their respective closing
submissions, after the August 2016 liability hearing, the claimants
(Broadsheet) produced a list of registered persons which included Dar’s name,
but the respondents (NAB) disputed it.
One of the agreed issues for decision in the liability
award was on the true construction of Schedule 1 of the ARA, which individuals
or entities were registered as targets pursuant to clause 1.2 of the ARA and
although the liability award did not adopt the parties list, it included
references to the agreed list, the award recalled.
The respondents submitted that the claimant was barred
from raising the issue as to Dar’s inclusion and it was indicated to the
parties on the first day of the quantum hearing that they might like to
consider their positions regarding this issue overnight, the award said, adding
that no further application was made in this regard.
Mr Ghumman’s third witness statement testified that
NAB never agreed Dar could be a registered target, recollecting that there were
no investigations against Dar during his time at NAB (until August 2004), the
award said. In the end, the award held that Mr Dar was never a registered
target under the ARA.
When Broadsheet, registered in the Isle of Man, was
formally dissolved in April 2007, negotiations were under way between NAB
represented by distinguished lawyer Ahmer Bilal Soofi and Jimmy James’s
associates representing another company International Asset Recovery (IAR) that
had made an agreement similar to the ARA but relating to other parts of the
world also in 2000 at about the same time as he entered into the ARA on behalf
of Broadsheet, the award said.
In addition, the award said, James representing
Broadsheet without disclosing that the company was in liquidation and was
recently formally dissolved began to negotiate a settlement agreement with NAB,
which was represented by Advocate Soofi. His purpose in doing so can readily be
inferred from the facts that at about this time he formed a new Colorado
company (also called Broadsheet) that he represented as a successor to
Broadsheet LLC. When the settlement agreement was signed on May 20, 2008, it
provided that NAB would make payments totalling $1.5 million in settlement of
the claim made under the ARA, not to Broadsheet or its liquidator but to
Broadsheet Colorado that James controlled in effect to him personally, the
award said.
When these facts became known to Kaveh Moussavi of the
Broadsheet LLC, he took steps to have the dissolution of Broadsheet set aside
and a new liquidator was appointed who authorised these arbitration proceedings
against NAB, the award said.
The settlement agreement was authorised for NAB by an
executive decision in which Ahmer Bilal Soofi was not involved and there was no
evidence who the decision-makers were, the award said, also stating that in
addition to $1.5m paid under the settlement agreement, NAB also paid $2.25m in
settlement of the claim by IAR also in about 2008. James later died in 2011-12.
Meanwhile, Ahmer Bilal Soofi in a statement clarified
that he was neither present in London at the Pakistan High Commission’s meeting
nor was he invited to attend it and, therefore, he did not make payments via
cheques to Jerry James.
The August 2016 final award on liability, which was
based on evidence, also recorded that Mr Soofi was not personally involved in
the signing and execution of the settlement agreement.
Mr Soofi said it was an admitted fact that he was kept
out of the meeting in London for reasons unknown to him in which James was
required to bring the complete record illustrating the requisite authorisation
and necessary documents.
https://www.dawn.com/news/1602481/nab-let-dar-off-the-hook-after-getting-his-help-uk-judge
--------
Qureshi says Pakistan’s focus has shifted to
geo-economics
Peerzada Salman
January 20, 2021
KARACHI: A nasty and vulgar cyberspace invasion from
Indian individuals tried, but failed, to sabotage a webinar on ‘Reset of
US-Pakistan Relations’ organised by the Karachi Council on Foreign Relations
(KCFR) on Tuesday evening as the event went on successfully.
The principal speaker was Foreign Minister Shah Mahmood
Qureshi. He said Indian leaders have publicly spoken about their desire to use
military force against Pakistan. Nothing can be more irresponsible in a
nuclearised environment.
He said while Pakistan will continue to work with the
US for peace in the region, our relationship has to be larger. The advent of a
new administration in Washington gives us an opportunity to have a long-term,
broad-based and multidimensional relationship. Such a partnership will require
an institutionalised and structural engagement that is based on mutual respect.
[There should be] a strong US-Pak relationship on its own merits and on its own
weight. It is compelling because of geo-economics.
Pakistan is a nation of 220 million people, two-thirds
of whom are under 30 years of age. We sit at crossroads of China, South and
Central Asia. Pakistan envisions itself as a future hub for trade in the
region.
Experts suggest a broad-based approach to Pak-US ties
in view of a new administration in Washington
Mr Qureshi said Pakistan and the US must work together
to strengthen Afghanistan and seek opportunities for co-investment by Pakistan,
Afghanistan, US and China. The potential for Pak-US relations in the economic
sector is immense. The US is emerging as a major energy supplier.
Pakistan’s emphasis on providing high-quality
subsidised healthcare to all its citizens actually predated the Covid-19 crisis
but has acquired a greater urgency. Similarly, Pakistan has been a regional
trailblazer in combating climate change. Our massive tree plantation drives
have won international acclaim. We hope to get the Biden administration’s
assistance in mitigating the health crisis and its economic fallout as well as
combating climate change.
The foreign minister said eradiating corruption is
high on our agenda. We welcome President Biden’s call on cracking down on money
laundering and illicit safe havens that inflict enormous damage on developing
countries. The people of Pakistan have always had personal affinity with the
US. The commonality of values is ultimately the bedrock of any strong
relationship.
“Our shared interests, common aspirations for economic
development and enhanced connectivity in the region, and the rare moment of
hope for peace in Afghanistan, provide a strong foundation for both sides to
take the bilateral relationship forward,” he said.
After the speech, the foreign minister in response to
a question said: “Our focus has shifted towards geo-economics and that demands
peace in the region. That is why we have a new approach to Afghanistan,
facilitating peace over there. We want a healthy relationship with India as
well, but unfortunately the present regime [in India] has by their actions
vitiated that.”
‘Disconnect is emerging in US-Pak relations’
Analyst Michael Kugelman of Woodrow Wilson
International Centre said the US-Pak relationship already experienced a reset a
few years ago when the Trump administration decided that it wanted to work with
Pakistan to help launch a bilateral negotiation with the Taliban.
Once the two started cooperating on the Afghan
reconciliation process the relationship stabilised. That remains the case
today. The big question is whether the relationship [with the incoming Biden
administration] will lose or progress the momentum that it enjoyed over the
last two years. The simple answer is that it can go either way.
“I do feel that a disconnect is emerging in the
relations. The government in Pakistan has been relatively quiet. What’s being
said about Pakistan’s hopes for the relationship may not find that much sympathy
with the next administration,” he said.
Ambassador Zamir Akram said foreign policy of any
country is driven by its national security interests. The change of
administration in Washington does not necessarily mean that the parameters of
US foreign policy will change.
Former US ambassador Robin L. Raphel said a certain
reset has already taken place but there’s still need for more to be done. The
key to any constructive reset is to be honest with ourselves, with each other
and tell each other the truth. The important truths are twofold. One, Pakistan
is an important country. Two, the US is still the preeminent global power.
Despite this, from the Pakistani perspective the US has appeared to be an
inconstant friend, unable to take into account Pakistan’s national security
concerns particularly with regard to India.
The US, for its part, has been frustrated when it saw
Pakistan’s insufficient support for its efforts in Afghanistan. And the US has
been perplexed by what it saw as Pakistan acting against its own long-term
interests, particularly in support of various militant groups. Neither side
worked hard enough to understand one another, she said.
Ambassador Aizaz Ahmad Chaudhry in his address made
three initial points.
One, Pak-US relations have always oscillated. Second,
the people-to-people contact has been robust. Third, the US has seen Pakistan
through five lenses: security, China, Afghanistan, India and nuclear programme
which has underrated Pakistan’s importance.
He argued with the Biden administration in place a
broad-based approach to the ties was needed.
The event was moderated by Kalim Farooqui.
https://www.dawn.com/news/1602521/qureshi-says-pakistans-focus-has-shifted-to-geo-economics
--------
Bilawal asks ECP to respond to allegation of PTI’s
foreign funding
A.B. Arisar
January 20, 2021
UMERKOT: Pakistan Peoples Party chairman Bilawal
Bhutto-Zardari has said that the Election Commission of Pakistan (ECP) will
have to answer the questions about alleged funding of the Pakistan
Tehreek-i-Insaf (PTI) from India and Israel.
He was speaking at a public meeting organised here on
Tuesday to celebrate the victory of PPP candidate Syed Ameer Ali Shah in
Monday’s by-election for PS-52 Umerkot-II.
He pointed out that democratic forces of the country were
protesting outside the ECP office today to seek its answer to the question
being raised since 2014.
“To date, the ECP has not been able to give an
answer,” he said, and asked the commission to explain why the matter had not
been taken up over the years.
He insisted that the ECP should disqualify PTI chief
Imran Khan. “If this was not done now, the people of Umerkot will march to
Islamabad to forcibly oust him,” he said.
Mr Bhutto-Zardari recalled that that his mother and
former prime minister Benazir Bhutto had been labelled ‘security risk’ on
certain allegations but now “those who have brought PTI into power by funding
it from foreign countries must be exposed and the selected and sponsored PTI
government must be disqualified”.
He thanked the people of Umerkot for using their right
to vote for the “right person”.
He claimed that farmers and workers had lost their
lives “in the tsunami of inflation”, and alleged that the person who had been
raising a hue and cry over alleged corruption himself turned out to be a
corrupt. “His entire party turned out to be corrupt,” he added.
The PPP chairman said that the people of Umerkot had
sent a clear message to Islamabad by voting for PPP in the by-election and by
rejecting the “selected one”.
He said that the people of Umerkot also adequately
responded to the “political orphans the way they deserved as they were with
[General Pervez] Musharraf yesterday and are with Imran Khan today”.
Paying homage to the late MPA, Syed Ali Mardan Shah,
Bhutto-Zardari said that he had always stood by the PPP and supported the party
leadership. He said he was sure that Syed Ameer Ali Shah, like his late father,
would always support and help the people of Umerkot.
Earlier, speaking at the meeting, Chief Minister Syed
Murad Ali Shah said that people of Umerkot had always rejected anti-democratic
forces. “People need protection and PPP has always protected them,” he said,
and added that under the leadership of Bilawal Bhutto-Zardari, PPP would sweep
by-elections in Sanghar, Tharparkar and Malir soon.
Minister for Culture Syed Sardar Ali Shah alleged that
on the polling day, around “30,000 vandals” were brought to Umerkot to sabotage
the election process.
https://www.dawn.com/news/1602513/bilawal-asks-ecp-to-respond-to-allegation-of-ptis-foreign-funding
--------
Cross-examination in defamation suit: Iffat says can’t
recall details of harassment on Meesha
Wajih Ahmad Sheikh
January 20, 2021
LAHORE: Actor Iffat Omar said on Tuesday during her
cross-examination in the court that though singer Meesha Shafi had told her
about two alleged incidents of sexual harassment, she did not remember the
exact details of the occurrences.
“It is correct that I was not present on the occasion
when the alleged incidents of sexual harassment took place. I don’t remember as
to who was present when Meesha told me about the incidents, but I was present
at Meesha’s mother’s house [when informed of it],” said Ms Omar during her
cross-examination by the counsel for actor-cum-singer Ali Zafar, who faced the
charges of causing sexual harassment to Ms Shafi.
Additional District and Sessions Judge Imtiaz Ahmad,
who is seized with a defamation suit of Zafar, administered the
cross-examination, while the counsel for Ms Shafi was also present in the
court.
Responding to the queries of the plaintiff’s counsel,
Ms Omar said Meesha had told her that the first alleged incident took place in
a jamming session, and the second one at the house of Zafar’s in-laws.
The actor said only Ms Shafi could explain as to why
she and her husband attended the birthday party of Zafar even after the alleged
incidents of sexual harassment.
To a question, she denied having come across any woman
who made false accusations of sexual harassment against someone and started a
defamatory campaign.
To a query about the allegations of rape levelled by
US blogger Cynthia D. Ritchie against former prime minister Syed Yousuf Raza
Gilani and former interior minister Rehman Malik, Ms Omar admitted that she, in
a video, had said that Ms Ritchie launched a defamatory campaign against the
two politicians. She also admitted having said that Ms Ritchie’s allegation of
sexual harassment and rape were political stunt and false. She said it was
correct that Ritchie, being a woman, falsely levelled serious allegations against
Mr Gilani and Mr Malik.
Plaintiff’s counsel Umar Tariq Gill also played the
video clip featuring Ms Omar before posing his query to the witness.
To another query about another case of alleged sexual
harassment involving actor Omair Rana, the witness said she did not make any
statement in support of the female students since they did not come forward
publically to accuse the actor.
“It is incorrect to say that my opinion as to who is
right and who is wrong, especially viz-a-viz Ali Zafar and Meesha, Omair Rana
and students, Cynthia and Rehman Malik – Yousuf Raza Gilani is based on my
personal likes and dislikes,” the actor said.
Shafi’s witness, who also hosts a political satire
show on Youtube, said she believed the allegations of sexual harassment levelled
by former MNA Ayesha Gulalai against Prime Minister Imran Khan were true.
“I agree if a false allegation is made by a woman
against any person, then she is damaging the case of real victims,” she said
and added that even a false allegation could destroy a person and his family.
She said any person leveling false accusations must be
burdened with heavy damages.
As the cross-examination of the actor was in process,
the judge adjourned hearing on the request of the lawyers from both sides.
https://www.dawn.com/news/1602420/cross-examination-in-defamation-suit-iffat-says-cant-recall-details-of-harassment-on-meesha
--------
Mideast
US fighting alongside Daesh, al-Qaeda against Yemen:
Houthi official
19 January 2021
A senior Yemeni official has slammed the US for
designating the country’s Houthi Ansarullah movement as a “terrorist”
organization, saying Washington is fighting alongside Takfiri terror outfits
such as Daesh and al-Qaeda against Yemen.
“This American description [of Ansarullah] comes from
the same people, who is fighting on the same front with Daesh and al-Qaeda
against us,” Mohammed Ali al-Houthi, a member of Yemen’s Supreme Political
Council, told Russia Today on Monday.
Washington announced the decision to label the Houthi
movement as a foreign “terrorist” organization on the weekend.
US Secretary of State Mike Pompeo said three leaders
of what it called the “Iran-backed” Yemeni group would also be branded as
“especially designated global terrorists.”
The designation went into effect as of today, just a
day before the administration of US President Donald Trump leaves office.
Al-Houthi said the US was supporting the two terror
groups so it can use them as “its two arms” to fight Yemen’s defense forces.
Washington, he added uses similar labels against the
Palestinian resistance movements that are defending their nation against the
Israelis. The Israeli regime, however, is conversely spared such “terrorist”
designations, al-Houthi said.
However, the official said, such American maneuvers
bore no significance for Yemen’s revolutionary and political leaders.
‘Killer of Yemeni people’
The official, meanwhile, denounced the US as the
“killer of the Yemeni people,” which had to apologize to the nation and
compensate it.
He was referring to the unreserved arms, logistical,
and political support that Washington has been lending Saudi Arabia and its
allies during a war they have been waging against Yemen since March 2015.
Tens of thousands of Yemenis have died, millions more
been displaced, and the entire impoverished country turned into the site of the
world’s worst humanitarian crisis.
The US-backed Saudi-led war was launched to restore
Yemen’s former Riyadh-backed officials, who had fled the country amid a power
crisis and refused to stay behind and negotiate.
Al-Houthi said the fugitive officials did not
represent the nation, calling them “the former regime’s thieves, who [rather]
preferred their own interests.”
https://www.presstv.com/Detail/2021/01/19/643397/Yemen-United-States-Daesh-al-Qaeda
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Israeli settlements in occupied Palestine constitute
intl. law violation: UN chief
19 January 2021
UN Secretary-General Antonio Guterres has condemned
the Israeli regime’s recent plan to construct hundreds of new settler units in
the occupied West Bank, saying such structures are considered illegal under
international law.
“The establishment by Israel of settlements in the
Palestinian territory occupied since 1967, including East Jerusalem al-Quds,
has no legal validity and constitutes a flagrant violation under international
law,” Guterres said in a statement on Monday.
He added, “Settlement expansion... further erodes the
possibility of ending the occupation and establishing a contiguous and viable
sovereign Palestinian State, based on the pre-1967 lines.”
The UN chief also said the Tel Aviv regime’s latest
decision to build approximately 800 units in the settlements of Beit El, Tal
Menashe, Rehelim, Shavei Shomron, Barkan, Karnei Shomron and Givat Zeev, is “a
major obstacle to the achievement of the (so-called) two-state solution, and a
just, lasting and comprehensive peace” in the Middle East.
Italy urges Israel to reconsider new land grab scheme
Separately, the Italian Foreign Ministry renewed
Rome’s deep concern about Israel's decision to start building some 800 new
housing units in the West Bank.
The ministry, in a statement released on Monday,
called on the Israeli authorities to reconsider their decision.
The statement noted that Israel's settlements
expansion activities in the West Bank violate international law, and threaten
to undermine the viability of a just and sustainable solution to the
Israeli-Palestinian conflict in line with internationally-recognized standards
and relevant United Nations resolutions.
The ministry called on Israel to refrain from any
unilateral action that undermines the ongoing efforts to restore the climate of
confidence between the two parties and jeopardizes the resumption of direct
negotiations with the Palestinians.
Ireland expresses disappointment at Israel's plan
Furthermore, Irish Foreign Minister Simon Coveney
expressed extreme disappointment at the announcement by Israeli authorities to
build new settler units in the West Bank.
“Settlement activity in the occupied Palestinian
territory is illegal under international law,” he said in a press statement.
"I continue to be very concerned about the tender
for construction of a new settlement of over 1,200 housing units in Givat
Hamatos,” the top diplomat said.
The expansion of settlements in the strategically
sensitive area between Jerusalem al-Quds and Bethlehem will undermine the
viability and territorial contiguity of a future Palestinian state and the
possibility of a negotiated "two-state solution" in line with internationally-agreed
parameters, the statement pointed out.
“I reiterate my call on Israel to reverse this
decision and to halt all settlement activity. I urge all parties to respect
international law and to avoid unilateral actions which erode trust and
confidence - critical components to the resumption of meaningful negotiations -
between the parties,” it concluded.
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 as they are built on occupied land.
After outgoing US President Donald Trump took office
in December 2016, Israel stepped up its settlement construction activities in
defiance of United Nations Security Council Resolution 2334, which pronounce
settlements in the West Bank and East Jerusalem al-Quds “a flagrant violation
under international law.”
But US President-elect Joe Biden has indicated his
administration will restore US policy opposing settlement expansion in the
occupied Palestinian territories.
https://www.presstv.com/Detail/2021/01/19/643371/Israeli-settlements-in-occupied-Palestinian-lands-constitute-intl--law-violation-UN-chief
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Iranian Army Divers Conduct Combined Operations in
Ground Force Wargames
2021-January-19
"In this phase of the drills, divers of the
Special Forces Brigade 65 were divided into two groups and landed on the
surface of the water with Chinook helicopters and penetrated deep into the sea,
destroying naval targets; the second group destroyed bases located on the
coast," Deputy Commander of the Iranian Army Ground Force and Spokesman of
the Drills Brigadier General Kiomars Sharafi said.
Relying on their multiple skills, the divers conducted
various skills, including free fall and tactical penetration from land, air and
sea, in Eqtedar (Might) 99 drills of the Ground Force and successfully
implemented infiltration and offensive tactics, he added.
General Sharafi said that disrupting the enemy's
command and control systems and electronic warfare and communications system at
sea as well as combined operations of the Army Ground Force’s diver
paratroopers with the support of various helicopters of the Airborne Unit on the
surface and in the waters of the Sea of Oman were among the tactics
successfully performed in these drills.
Earlier today, the paratroopers of the Iranian Army
Ground Force had also launched offensive operations during the first phase of
Eqtedar 99 wargames along the country’s Makran coasts in the Sea of Oman.
“In the first phase of the drills, the Airborne
Brigade 55 of the Army Ground Force performed parachuting operations and
launched offensive operations using BMP2 personnel carriers which were performed
in combination for the first time during the wargames,” General Sharafi said.
He added that hundreds of Airborne forces on several
C-130 aircraft landed at designated points to operate as paratroopers with
airdropped weapons and military equipment, including motorcycles, 107-mm rocket
launchers and 23-mm cannons in the general zone of the drills, attacking and
capturing targets on the beach.
General Sharafi said using upgraded personnel carriers
by the Airborne unit, carrying out raid operations by means of a variety of
weapons, capturing coastal areas, loading and mounting armored equipment and
semi-heavy weapons in the shortest possible time and carrying out operations
based on reality-based battle scenes are among the strong points of the
Airborne unit and rapid-reaction forces of the Iranian Army Ground Force.
The Iranian Army Ground Force started wargames,
codenamed Eqtedar 99, in the country’s Southeastern regions on Tuesday morning.
The drills are participated by the airborne units,
special forces and rapid reaction brigades, and Army Chief Commander Major
General Abdolrahim Mousavi, Army Ground Force Commander Brigadier General
Kiomars Heidari and other senior military officials.
According to General Heidari, the offensive wargames
will involve rapid reaction units and mobile and offense brigades.
He said the troops attending the drill will be
receiving logistical and combat support from the Air Force and the Army Ground
Force Airborne Division in the coastal areas.
General Heidari noted that the main purpose of the
wargames is to evaluate the mobility and offense power of the rapid reaction
brigades and corps and the mobile offense units of the Army Ground Force.
https://www.farsnews.ir/en/news/13991030000908/Iranian-Army-Divers-Cndc-Cmbined-Operains-in-Grnd-Frce-Wargames
--------
Iran: No Message Received from Biden’s Team
2021-January-19
"We have not received any message from Mr.
Biden's team," Rabiyee told reporters in Tehran on Tuesday.
He added that negotiations are pointless until Iran
will be assured that the US fully fulfills its legal responsibilities while
returning to its nuclear deal undertakings unconditionally.
“Our focus now is on the full revival of the nuclear
deal by all parties to the agreement and we expect the new US administration to
focus on gaining Iran's trust through the full and immediate implementation of
all its undertakings. The US government should first implement its undertakings
under the nuclear deal and the UN Security Council Resolution 2231, and this is
the only way forward for the new US administration,” Rabiyee said.
“This reality will not change that the policy of
maximum pressure on the Iranian people has turned into a lasting scandal in
history; today, the US accountability and respect for international laws and
norms is a global demand. The new US administration should not make up for the
legacy and, in fact, the stigma left by the previous administration
selectively,” he added.
In relevant remarks on Monday, Iranian Envoy and
Permanent Representative to the UN Majid Takht Ravanchi underlined that if
Biden decides to return to the nuclear deal, Washington should comply with all
its undertakings in exact accordance with the internationally-endorsed
agreement.
“We make decision and take reciprocal action
considering Biden's moves vis a vis the nuclear deal. We have repeatedly
demanded the US to return to the nuclear deal and this return should be
complete and without preconditions, that is to say, no issue related or
unrelated to the nuclear deal should be put forward for discussion,” Takht
Ravanchi said.
“It should only be clear that the US international
undertakings cannot be half-fulfilled. If they claim to return to the nuclear
deal, this return should be accompanied by the full implementation of their
undertakings with no hesitation or controversy,” he added.
Takht Ravanchi stressed Iran’s clear position towards
the nuclear deal, and said, “We live up to our undertakings.”
He referred to the parliament’s bill to take strategic
measures to counter the US sanctions against Iran, and said, “There is a
timetable in the parliament’s bill and we are moving in the same direction, so
we (at the foreign ministry) are not entitled to specify the period for how
long we will wait. In the first place, we make decisions based on national
interests, and secondly, we should act on the basis of and within the framework
of the parliamentary bill.”
His remarks came after Head of the Atomic Energy
Organization of Iran (AEOI) Ali Akbar Salehi announced that the country is at
present producing nearly half a kilo of uranium enriched to the 20% purity
level, meantime, saying that Tehran’s steps to reduce nuclear deal undertakings
after the West’s disloyalties can all be backtracked.
“Based on the latest news I have, they (the Iranian
scientists at nuclear installations) are producing 20 grams (of 20% enriched
uranium) every hour; meaning that practically, we are producing half a kilo
every day,” Salehi said in an interview with the Persian-language Khamenei.ir
website released on Monday.
“We produce and store this 20% (enriched uranium) and
if they return to the nuclear deal, we will return to our undertakings too,” he
added.
Asked about the recent bill approved by the parliament
to adopt strategic measures to remove sanctions against Iran, Salehi said that
the AEOI is required to implement it.
“It is a reality and both the government and the AEOI
have declared that they do not have any technical problems with implementation
of the parliament’s bill and we launched 20% enrichment within 24 hours,” he
said.
Salehi also underlined the need for Washington to
remove all sanctions against Iran, specially those which prevent the country’s
oil sales and banking transactions.
Iranian legislators last Tuesday praised the AEOI for
restarting enrichment of uranium at 20-percent purity level, and called for the
full implementation of the recent parliamentarian law to counter the illegal US
sanctions against the country.
In a statement on Tuesday, 190 legislators expressed
their support for the AEOI’s resumption of 20% uranium enrichment and urged the
body to fully and precisely implement the law ratified as a counteractive move
to the sanctions illegally imposed on the country, especially those by the
United States.
The lawmakers said the parliament approved the
‘Strategic Counteractive Plan for Lifting Sanctions and Safeguarding Rights of
Iranian People’ to highlight Iran’s legitimate right to use peaceful nuclear
technology and the importance of lifting all cruel sanctions against the country.
The Iranian parliamentarians in a meeting on December
1, 2020 ratified the generalities of a bill to adopt strategic measures to
remove sanctions against the country and defend the nation’s interests.
The lawmakers, in November, had given the green light
to the single-urgency of the strategic motion, but the plan turned into a
double-urgency on Sunday after the assassination of the Iranian nuclear
scientist Mohsen Fakhrizadeh.
Iranian nuclear scientist Mohsen Fakhrizadeh's car was
targeted by an explosion and machinegun fire in Damavand's Absard 40 kilometers
to the East of Tehran on Friday November 27, 2020.
Under the bill, the AEOI is required to start in two
months after the approval of the present bill to produce at least 120 kg of
20%-enriched uranium annually at Fordow nuclear site and store it inside the
country, increase the enrichment capacity and production of enriched uranium to
at least 500 kg per month, start the installation of centrifuges, gas
injection, enrichment, and storage of materials up to proper purity levels
within 3 months, via at least 1000 IR-2m centrifuges in the underground part of
Shahid Ahmadi Roshan facility in Natanz, transfer any enrichment, research, and
development operations of IR-6 centrifuges to the nuclear site of Shahid Ali
Mohammadi in Fordow, and start enrichment operation via at least 164
centrifuges and expand it to 1000 by the end of 20 March 2021 (end of the
Iranian calendar year) and return the 40 megawatts Arak heavy water reactor to
its pre-JCPOA condition by reviving the heart (calandria) of the reactor within
4 months from the date of the adoption of this law.
Also, the government is required to suspend the
nuclear deal-based regulatory access beyond the Additional Protocol within 2
months after the adoption of the law based on the articles 36 and 37 of the
nuclear deal.
Also, after 3 months from the adoption of this law, if
Iran's banking relations in Europe and the amount of oil purchases by them from
Iran is not back to normal and to satisfactory conditions, the government is
required to stop the voluntary implementation of the Additional Protocol.
Meantime, if after 3 months from the adoption of the
law, the nuclear deal parties return to fulfill their undertakings, the
government is required to submit a proposal to the parliament for Iran's
reciprocal action to return to the nuclear deal undertakings, the bill said.
Iran signed the JCPOA with six world states — namely
the US, Germany, France, Britain, Russia, and China — in 2015.
Outgoing US President Donald Trump, a stern critic of
the historic deal, unilaterally pulled Washington out of the JCPOA in May 2018,
and unleashed the “toughest ever” sanctions against the Islamic Republic in
defiance of global criticism in an attempt to strangle the Iranian oil trade,
but to no avail since its "so-called maximum pressure policy" has
failed to push Tehran to the negotiating table.
In response to the US’ unilateral move, Tehran has so
far rowed back on its nuclear commitments four times in compliance with Articles
26 and 36 of the JCPOA, but stressed that its retaliatory measures will be
reversible as soon as Europe finds practical ways to shield the mutual trade
from the US sanctions.
Tehran has particularly been disappointed with failure
of the three European signatories to the JCPOA -- Britain, France and Germany
-- to protect its business interests under the deal after the US' withdrawal.
On January 5, Iran took a final step in reducing its
commitments, and said it would no longer observe any operational limitations on
its nuclear industry, whether concerning the capacity and level of uranium
enrichment, the volume of stockpiled uranium or research and development.
Meantime, Biden has recently said in a CNN article
that he wants a renegotiation of the contents of the deal before he agrees to
rejoin the agreement.
“I will offer Tehran a credible path back to
diplomacy. If Iran returns to strict compliance with the nuclear deal, the
United States would rejoin the agreement as a starting point for follow-on negotiations.
With our allies, we will work to strengthen and extend the nuclear deal's
provisions, while also addressing other issues of concern,” he wrote,
mentioning that he wants changes to the contents of the nuclear deal and
guarantees from Tehran that it would be open for compromise to strike multiple
deals over its missile and regional powers as well as a number of other issues
that have been the bones of contention between the two sides in the last four
decades.
In response, Iranian Foreign Minister Mohammad Javad
Zarif had stressed that the US has violated the nuclear deal and is in no
position to ask for any conditions for its return to the JCPOA, adding that
it's Tehran that has its own terms to allow the US back into the
internationally endorsed agreement.
The foreign minister has reiterated time and again
that Tehran would not change even a single word of the agreement, and cautioned
the US that it needs to pay reparations for the damage it has inflicted on Iran
through its retreat from the nuclear agreement and give enough insurances that
it would not go for initiating the trigger mechanism again before it could get
back to the deal.
In relevant remarks earlier this month, Spokesman for
the AEOI Behrouz Kamalvandi said his country enjoys the capability to produce
120 kg of uranium with 20% purity in 8 months, that's 4 months faster than the
one-year period required by a recent parliament approval.
https://www.farsnews.ir/en/news/13991030000503/Iran-N-Message-Received-frm-Biden%E2%80%99s-Team
--------
Spokesman: Uranium Metal Necessary to Treat Iranian
Patients with Special Needs
2021-January-19
“As announced by the Atomic Energy Organization of
Iran (AEOI), operation of Isfahan Metal Uranium Production Plant under the bill
approved by the parliament and the production of advanced fuel (silicide) for
use in Tehran research reactor are two completely different issues. What the
(International Atomic Energy) Agency has reported is the start of R&D
activities to design a more advanced fuel for Tehran research reactor called
silicide fuel and Iran had informed the Agency of its plan two years ago, and
recently provided it with relevant design plan,” Khatibzadeh said on Tuesday in
reaction to the three European states’ statement about Iran’s plans to produce
uranium metal.
He explained that in the process of producing silicide
fuel, metal uranium is an intermediate product, and said, “The design
information questionnaire of Isfahan Metal Uranium Plant has not been submitted
to the Agency yet and it will be performed after making the necessary
arrangements and within the deadline set by rules and regulations.”
Khatibzadeh criticized the “baseless” hues and cries
about Iran’s decision, and said, “Metal uranium also has peaceful uses, and
some countries are now using metal uranium-based fuel for their reactors which
does not violate the NPT and the safeguards undertakings.”
“At the same time, this technology is a requirement
for Iran which should provide its patients with the best quality radiomedicine,
and it has a completely humanitarian and peaceful use,” he added.
Last week, Iran's Ambassador and Permanent
Representative to Vienna-based International Organizations Kazzem Qaribabadi
announced that the country has kicked off research and development activities
to produce an advanced type of fuel for the Tehran research reactor.
“This activity is carried out in three stages, and in
the first stage, metal uranium is produced using natural uranium,” Qaribabadi
said on Wednesday.
He added that the IAEA director-genera has released a
report on Wednesday and informed the member countries about the matter.
“This measure will technically place Iran among the
leading countries in the production of new fuels,” Qaribabadi said.
He added that all these steps have been notified to
the Agency and the IAEA's inspectors have also visited the fuel plate factory
three days ago.
In a statement on Saturday, France, Germany and the
United Kingdom – the three European signatories of Iran’s 2015 nuclear deal
with world powers – claimed that Tehran’s plans to produce uranium metal has
“potentially grave military implications” and the country has “no credible
civilian use” for the product.
https://www.farsnews.ir/en/news/13991030000243/Spkesman-Uranim-Meal-Necessary-Trea-Iranian-Paiens-wih-Special-Needs
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Pro-Hezbollah journalist says party cannot continue
with current ties with Iran
19 January 2021
Pro-Hezbollah Lebanese journalist Kassem Kassir said
Hezbollah cannot continue with its current relationship with Iran and that it
must become a Lebanese political party.
Kassir’s statements have been heavily attacked by
supporters of the Iran-backed Hezbollah militia after his interview aired on
NBN TV station which is largely funded by Hezbollah’s Shia ally movement Amal.
Kassem Kassir is a political writer who specializes in
Islamist movements and has written a book about the change in Hezbollah’s
discourse between 1982 and 2016. He has been seen as a writer who has generally
supported Hezbollah, according to observers. Kassir’s recent comments on
Hezbollah come at a time of rising frustration from Iran’s growing influence in
Lebanon and an international and regional pressure to suspend Iran’s presence
in Syria via Hezbollah and other militia groups.
“There are two issues that Hezbollah must resolve. The
first issue is the relation with Iran, Hezbollah cannot continue with the same
relationship it has had with Tehran, Hezbollah has to become a Lebanese
political party, [it is fine if] there is a religion or sentimental
relationship with Iran, but Hezbollah shouldn’t be led with orders from Wali
al-Faqih [Supreme leader Ali Khamenei],” Kasser said during the interview.
The second issue that Kassir discussed was Hezbollah’s
role in “resisting Israeli threats” to Lebanon.
“Hezbollah cannot stay resisting alone, it must fall
under a national defense strategy, the idea that the Shiaa have a transnational
role to play must seize to exist, they must integrate within their countries’
communities” Kassir added.
“We need Hezbollah, and the Shia in general, to
[remain humble],” he added.
“In the past 10 years, for geo-political reasons,
Hezbollah was pressured into mobilizing outside of Lebanon, however, Hezbollah
in its internal organization and manifesto states that is must not interfere in
other nation’s issues, Hezbollah learned from the experiments of other
resistance movements, like Fatah,” Kassir added.
“Hezbollah meddled in Syrian affairs for one reason or
another, that has happened, I don’t have to state my position on that matter,
but from now on Hezbollah must return to Lebanon”, Kassir added.
Kassir commented on the mass media campaign that was
held on Soleimani’s death memorial saying that it has negatively impacted
Lebanon internally.
“Regardless of the role Soleimani has played in
Lebanon during the 2006 war with Israel, we must do an internal critic,
[everything that is over-done has negative consequences],” he added.
Kassir received different reactions on his prior
statements which were heavily criticized by some of Hezbollah’s followers.
NBN channel removed his statements from its social
media networks.
Kassir had to clarify his stances in a social media
post where he mentioned that he is not partisan and does not have role or
responsibility within Hezbollah.
“I am just a writer, a journalist, or a humble viewer
and a university researcher who works to spread dialog. I was and still am with
the resistance in Lebanon and Palestine and against every occupier. I wish for
those who want to discuss opinions to do so calmly in the interest of our
nation and for the sake of the unity of our country. I have worked and still
work within my conviction and freedom,” he added.
https://english.alarabiya.net/en/News/middle-east/2021/01/19/Pro-Hezbollah-journalist-says-party-can-t-continue-with-current-ties-with-Iran
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US issues sanctions waivers to UN, ICRC in Yemen after
Houthi sanctions
19 January 2021
The US on Tuesday exempted aid groups, the United
Nations, the Red Cross and the export of agricultural commodities, medicine,
and medical devices from its designation of Yemen’s Houthi movement as a
foreign terrorist organization.
It was not immediately clear whether the carve-outs
would be enough to allay UN fears that the Houthi blacklisting would push the
country into a large-scale famine. The United Nations describes Yemen as the
world’s biggest humanitarian crisis, with 80 percent of its people in need.
US Secretary of State Mike Pompeo announced the move
against the Iran-aligned Houthis last week and it took effect on Tuesday, one
day before Democratic President-elect Joe Biden succeeds Republican President
Donald Trump.
Biden’s incoming national security adviser Jake
Sullivan posted on Twitter on Saturday: “Houthi commanders need to be held
accountable, but designating the whole organization will only inflict more
suffering on Yemeni people and impede diplomacy critical to end the war.”
An Arab-led military coalition intervened in Yemen in
2015, backing government forces fighting the Houthis in a war widely seen as a
proxy conflict between US ally Saudi Arabia and Iran. UN officials are trying
to revive peace talks to end the war as the country’s suffering is also
worsened by an economic and currency collapse and the COVID-19 pandemic.
The designation freezes any US-related assets of the
Houthis, bans Americans from doing business with them and makes it a crime to
provide support or resources to the movement. The United Nations has urged
Washington to revoke the designation.
UN officials and aid groups have warned it will scare
off commercial trade in Yemen, which relies almost solely on imports, creating
a gap that the humanitarian operation cannot fill regardless of US humanitarian
exemptions.
The US Treasury said on Tuesday that official business
of the United Nations and its agencies, the International Committee of the Red
Cross, and the International Federation of Red Cross and Red Crescent Societies
would be exempt from the designation.
It also approved work by aid groups to support
humanitarian projects to meet basic human needs in Yemen, democracy building,
education and environmental protection, and the export of agricultural
commodities, medicine and medical devices.
https://english.alarabiya.net/en/News/gulf/2021/01/19/US-issues-sanctions-waivers-to-UN-ICRC-in-Yemen-after-Houthi-sanctions
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Israeli tanks attack Gaza after alleged rocket fire
into occupied lands
20 January 2021
Israeli tanks have targeted the Gaza Strip in a new
act of aggression against the blockaded Palestinian territory.
In a statement released on Tuesday night, the Israeli
army said its tanks had attacked outposts belonging to the Hamas resistance
movement in Gaza.
Hamas-linked media also reported that the Israeli
assault had lightly injured a Gaza resident.
Elsewhere in its statement, the Israeli military
claimed the tank fire was “a response” to an incident earlier on Tuesday, in
which a rocket launched from Gaza hit an open field near the community of
Kibbutz Nahal Oz in the southern parts of the occupied territories.
There were no immediate reports of injuries or damage.
On Monday, Israeli warplanes bombed Hamas sites in
southern Gaza following the alleged firing of two rockets from the coastal
sliver toward Ashdod in the occupied lands.
The Israeli regime often launches strikes against
positions in the blockaded enclave, accusing the resistance groups there of
launching rockets.
Gaza has been under a crippling Israeli siege since
June 2007. The blockade has caused a decline in living standards as well as
unprecedented levels of unemployment and unrelenting poverty in the Gaza Strip.
Since 2008, Israel has waged three wars against Gaza,
killing and injuring thousands of Palestinians.
The Gaza-based resistance movements have warned Tel
Aviv against trying a new bout of adventurism against the besieged enclave,
saying any such aggression will be met with a firm response.
https://www.presstv.com/Detail/2021/01/20/643430/Israel-tanks-Gaza-rocket
--------
Africa
Tunisia rocked by four consecutive nights of riots
19 January 2021
Tunisia was rocked by a fourth night of street clashes
between riot police and youths in mostly working class neighbourhoods, and
there were calls on social media for more rallies on Tuesday.
More than 600 people had been arrested by Monday over
the disturbances in which teenagers and adolescents have hurled rocks and
Molotov cocktails at police who have fired volleys of teargas at them.
The social unrest comes at a time of economic crisis,
worsened by the impact of the Covid-19 pandemic on the tourism-reliant North
African country, that has deepened poverty and driven up inflation and
unemployment.
In the latest unrest until the early hours of Tuesday,
hundreds of youths in the capital battled police in several districts including
the vast Ettadhamen city on the outskirts of Tunis.
In Sfax, the second largest city, protesters blockaded
roads with burning tyres, an AFP correspondent reported. Clashes were also
reported in the towns of Gafsa, Le Kef, Bizerte, Kasserine, Sousse and
Monastir.
https://english.alarabiya.net/en/News/north-africa/2021/01/19/Tunisia-rocked-by-four-consecutive-nights-of-riots
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Sudan deploys troops to Darfur to contain tribal
violence
20 January 2021
Sudan's transitional government has deployed military
units to the conflict-ridden Darfur region in an attempt to help restore calm
there following three days of tribal violence.
The heavy deployment of troops on Tuesday came after
violent clashes claimed at least 155 lives, wounded scores, and displaced tens
of thousands in the restive state.
The violence reportedly started as a local dispute on
Saturday between the Massalit tribe and Arab nomads in El Geneina, the capital
of West Darfur State, before quickly morphing into broader fighting involving
armed militias in the area.
State Governor Mohamed Abdalla al-Douma said at least
100 people were killed, more than 130 others were injured and up to 50,000
people were forced to flee areas in and around the Kerindig camp for internally
displaced persons (IDPs).
Sudanese authorities imposed a state-wide curfew in
West Darfur, while the Khartoum government dispatched a
"high-profile" delegation to help contain the situation.
On Sunday, the head of Sudan's ruling body, army chief
General Abdel Fattah al-Burhan, met top security chiefs to discuss the
violence.
"There have been no clashes since Sunday, but
there were incidents of looting, especially of houses and farms of people
living at the Kerindig IDP camp," Douma said.
Douma said houses were burned and farm produce stolen
in villages near El Geneina, but added that "we sent security to surround
these villages and they are now secure."
"The situation is calm in the state as security
forces have spread in and around the city of El Geneina and Kerindig," he
added.
Separate clashes on Monday in South Darfur between
members of the Fallata ethnic group and the Arab Rizeigat tribe also claimed
the lives of at least 55 people and wounded 37 others.
Sudan's state news agency, SUNA, reported that a heavy
troop presence had also restored order in the town of Gereida, where the deadly
clashes took place.
"The situation is calm today in our village in
South Darfur. There are no clashes," tribal leader Mohamed Saleh said. But
he said people were "tense, fearing a renewed outbreak of violence."
The latest attacks came just weeks after a
long-running peacekeeping mission ended its operation in the region.
On December 31, the hybrid United Nations African
Union Mission in Darfur (UNAMID) formally ended its operations in the region.
It plans a phased withdrawal of its approximately 8,000 armed and civilian
personnel within six months.
People in Darfur protested the departure of the UN
peacekeepers, citing fears of renewed violence.
EU foreign policy chief Josep Borrell said on Tuesday
that "any further violence needs to be prevented and perpetrators brought
to justice."
He also called for the "fast implementation"
of a peace deal that was signed in early October last year with rebel groups to
end years of conflict in Sudan, and cooperation with the newly established UN
political mission installed in Darfur after the end of UNAMID's mandate.
UN Secretary-General Antonio Guterres has already
expressed concern about the violence in Darfur.
"The Secretary-General calls on the Sudanese
authorities to expend all efforts to de-escalate the situation and bring an end
to the fighting, restore law and order and ensure the protection of
civilians," his spokesman Stephane Dujarric said in a statement on Sunday.
Brokering lasting peace in Darfur and other parts of
Sudan is one of the main challenges facing military and civilian authorities
sharing power following the overthrow of former president Omar al-Bashir last
April.
Conflict broke out in Darfur in 2003 after mostly
non-Arab rebels rose up against Khartoum. Up to 300,000 people have been killed
and 2.5 million displaced, including more than 180,000 displaced in West
Darfur, according to UN estimates.
Back then, the Arab-dominated government in Khartoum
responded by recruiting and arming a notorious Arab-dominated militia known as
the Janjaweed. The main conflict has subsided over the years, but ethnic and
tribal clashes still flare periodically.
Sudan is undergoing a rocky political transition after
the ouster of Bashir in April 2019 triggered by mass protests against his rule.
Bashir, who is currently in custody in Khartoum, is wanted by the International
Criminal Court for alleged genocide and war crimes in Darfur perpetrated over a
decade ago.
https://www.presstv.com/Detail/2021/01/20/643445/Sudan-deploys-troops-to-Darfur-to-contain-tribal-violence
--------
Tunisians press on with protests against poverty, high
cost of living
20 January 2021
Tunisians have once again protested against poverty
and high cost of living, in the fourth night of street clashes between riot
police and protesters in the North African country.
Tunisian people, in their hundreds, held on Tuesday
another protest against economic hardships in the capital, Tunis, after several
nights of violent street demonstrations across the country.
The protesters chanted slogans against the government
and called for its downfall.
In Sfax, the second largest city in Tunisia,
protesters blocked roads with burning tires. Clashes were also reported in the
towns of Gafsa, Le Kef, Bizerte, Kasserine, Sousse and Monastir.
"There is a denial and an underestimation of the
anger among young people," said Olfa Lamloum, who heads the International
Alert peace-building campaign group in Tunisia.
She underlined that Tunisia's past 11 governments
"have not had a strategy to answer the central question of employment.”
Lamloum also warned that "as long as there is a
purely security response, with mass arrests, and no social or political
response, tensions will remain high.”
The powerful labor union and other rights groups have
voiced support for peaceful protests against “policies of marginalization,
impoverishment and starvation.”
They accuse the Tunisian government of dashing the
hopes generated by the 2011 revolution.
The demonstrations began on Friday after a video went
viral showing an officer mishandling a shepherd, with more than 600 people
having been arrested and troops been deployed in some regions since then.
The protests come even as Tunisian Prime Minister
Hichem Mechichi announced on Saturday a major cabinet reshuffle amid
unprecedented economic crisis in the country.
A decade ago, Tunisia was beset by violence following
a massive uprising – sparked after a fruit seller set himself ablaze in the
central town of Sidi Bouzid following an altercation with a police officer --
that led to the downfall of long-time ruler Zine El Abidine Ben Ali.
The revolt inspired other revolutions in a host of
Arab dictatorships across the Middle East and North Africa. However, Tunisia
was the only nation among other Arab countries in the region that maintained a
smooth, peaceful transition to democracy.
The Tunisian economy, which has been crippled in
recent years by high debt and declining public services, deteriorated due to
the coronavirus pandemic, and a year of political instability has complicated
efforts to address such issues.
Tunisia’s tourism-dependent economy shrank 21.6
percent in the second quarter of 2020, compared with the same period last year,
due to the COVID-19 outbreak.
Since a general election in 2019, the political class
in Tunisia has been more fragmented than ever and paralyzed by infighting,
fueling discontent over the continued economic crisis.
https://www.presstv.com/Detail/2021/01/20/643418/Tunisia-protest-poverty-street-clashes-
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Residents flee Islamist insurgent attack on town in
northeast Nigeria
JANUARY 17, 2021
MAIDUGURI, Nigeria (Reuters) - Government troops and
several hundred residents have been forced to flee after Islamist insurgents
overran a town in northeast Nigeria in an attack claimed by Islamic State,
security sources said on Saturday.
Friday’s assault on Marte, which lies on Lake Chad in
Borno state, came just two months after residents driven from their homes by
Islamist attacks had returned to the town under a government programme.
It underscores the precarious security situation in
northeast Nigeria, where Boko Haram and Islamic State West Africa Province
(ISWAP) are active, and the difficulties the government faces as it tries to
return people displaced by the violence.
Soldiers fled during Friday’s assault and Marte
remained under the control of the militants on Saturday, the sources said.
An unspecified number of wounded people could not be
reached, and it was not immediately clear whether there had been any deaths.
The sources said they believed the insurgents were part of ISWAP.
An army statement said troops “tactically withdrew” to
defend against a militant attack outside Marte. Troops had “effectively
destroyed” seven gun trucks and “decimated” an unconfirmed number of attackers,
it said.
Islamic State later posted a statement on its Amaq
news channel on Telegram claiming responsibility for the attack.
Without giving further details, it said seven people
had been killed, and one captured, and that its fighters had seized weapons,
ammunition and six four-wheel-drive vehicles, as well as burning down the army
barracks.
Sources from the military and police said most
residents had fled to the nearby Dikwa local government area and to Maiduguri,
Borno’s state capital.
“The situation is grim,” one said.
On Thursday, five soldiers were killed and 15 others
wounded by a landmine planted by Boko Haram in the remote village of Chibok in
the southern part of Borno, two military sources told Reuters.
https://www.reuters.com/article/uk-nigeria-security/residents-flee-islamist-insurgent-attack-on-town-in-northeast-nigeria-idUSKBN29M04T?utm_source=iterable&utm_medium=email&utm_campaign=1914666_
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Armed group captures military base in northeast
Nigeria
16 Jan 2021
Government troops and hundreds of residents have been
forced to flee after an armed group overran a town and captured a military base
in northeast Nigeria’s Borno state in an attack claimed by the ISIL (ISIS)
group, security sources said.
Machinegun-wielding fighters from the Islamic State
West Africa Province (ISWAP) attacked the base in the town of Marte in the Lake
Chad area overnight on Friday into Saturday, two sources told AFP news agency.
“The priority now is to reclaim the base from the
terrorists and an operation is under way,” one of the sources said on Saturday.
“We took a hit from ISWAP terrorists. They raided the
base in Marte after a fierce battle.”
The second source said the army had “incurred losses”
but it was not yet clear how many people had died or the level of destruction
inflicted by the armed group.
An army statement said troops “tactically withdrew” to
defend against an attack outside Marte. Troops had “effectively destroyed”
seven gun trucks and “decimated” an unconfirmed number of attackers, it said.
The ISIL later posted a statement on its Amaq news
channel on Telegram claiming responsibility for the attack.
Without giving further details, it said seven people
had been killed, and one captured, and that its fighters had seized weapons,
ammunition and six four-wheel-drive vehicles, as well as burning down the army
barracks.
Marte remained under the control of the armed group on
Saturday, security sources told Reuters news agency.
Precarious situation
Friday’s assault came just two months after residents
driven from their homes by the violence had returned to the town under a
government programme.
It underscores the precarious security situation in
northeast Nigeria, and the difficulties the government faces as it tries to
return people displaced by the violence.
ISWAP, which split from Boko Haram in 2016, maintains
camps on islands in Lake Chad – where Nigeria, Niger, Cameroon and Chad meet –
and the area is known to be the group’s bastion.
Last week, the fighters attacked the Marte base but
were repelled, prompting them to mobilise more fighters for the overnight raid,
sources said.
The raid was seen as a “fightback” after recent losses
– troops recently overran ISWAP’s second-largest camp in Talala village,
according to sources.
The town, 130km (80 miles) from the regional capital
Maiduguri, was once considered the breadbasket of the Lake Chad region.
At least 36,000 people have been killed in the armed
conflict since 2009 and violence has spread into neighbouring Niger, Chad and
Cameroon, prompting the formation of a regional military coalition.
https://www.aljazeera.com/news/2021/1/16/armed-group-captures-military-base-in-northeast-nigeria?utm_source=iterable&utm_medium=email&utm_campaign=1914666_
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Southeast Asia
Group slams deputy minister for ‘political’ attack on LGBT
when country suffering from Covid-19
20 Jan 2021
BY SHAHRIN AIZAT NOORSHAHRIZAM
KUALA LUMPUR, Jan 20 — Rights group Lawyers For
Liberty (LFL) today chided Putrajaya for intending to prescribe harsher
punishments against the lesbians, gays, bisexuals and transgenders (LGBT)
community.
In a statement, LFL accused the remark by deputy
religious affairs minister Ahmad Marzuk Shaary from Islamist party PAS as a
mere “political ploy” to distract the public from focusing on the real issue
affecting Malaysians, especially amid the Covid-19 pandemic.
“In a time when the country is in crisis due to the
Covid-19 pandemic, it is disappointing that the deputy minister chooses to focus
on the vilification of the LGBT community, which is nothing more than a tired
and cheap political ploy to detract from the real issues currently affecting
Malaysian citizens,” the group said.
LFL said the move amounts to targeted harassment by
the government to invade the rights and privacy of LGBT Muslims, explaining
that any heavier punishments would place the community under undue hardships.
“This would be in clear violation of Article 8 of the
Federal Constitution as LGBT Muslims are entitled to equality before the law
and therefore deserve protection from laws that target them solely due to their
sexual orientation,” it said.
Article 8 states that “all persons are equal before
the law and entitled to the equal protection of the law”.
Yesterday, deputy minister in the Prime Minister’s
Department was reported saying the government does not rule out the possibility
of amending the Shariah Courts (Criminal Jurisdiction) Act 1965, also known as
Act 355, to provide for heavier punishments on LGBT community.
The deputy minister added that the current punishment
under the Act, which provides for a three year imprisonment, a fine of RM5,000
and six strokes of the cane, was deemed “ineffective”.
LGBT Muslims already face a number of Shariah offences
directed at them under Shariah law, and remain among marginalised groups which
are now more affected by the pandemic due to the public stigma.
LFL also urged the government to follow in the
footsteps of other Muslim-majority countries such as Egypt and Iran, which have
recognised LGBT rights and avoid taking restrictive view of Islamic law.
“Egypt and Iran have issued ‘fatwas’ since the 1980s
that allows gender reassignment surgeries, and even Pakistan has enacted the
Transgender Persons (Protection of Rights) Act in 2018 which is a formal
recognition of transgender rights in Pakistan.
“It is obvious therefore that the recognition and
protection of the transgender community is not contrary to the precepts of
Islam and is in fact mandatory under our Federal Constitution,” it added.
https://www.malaymail.com/news/malaysia/2021/01/20/group-slams-deputy-minister-for-political-attack-on-lgbt-when-country-suffe/1942198
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US declares China guilty of committing ‘genocide’
against Uighurs
January 20, 2021
WASHINGTON: The US declared Tuesday that China is
carrying out genocide against the Uighurs and other mostly Muslim people, with
Secretary of State Mike Pompeo dramatically raising pressure over Beijing’s
sweeping incarceration of minorities on his last full day in office.
“I believe this genocide is ongoing, and that we are
witnessing the systematic attempt to destroy Uighurs by the Chinese
party-state,” Pompeo said in a statement.
“We will not remain silent. If the Chinese Communist
Party is allowed to commit genocide and crimes against humanity against its own
people, imagine what it will be emboldened to do to the free world, in the
not-so-distant future,” he said.
Pompeo’s vociferous criticism of Beijing has been a
hallmark of his tenure but he had earlier danced around directly alleging
genocide, saying repeatedly that the treatment of Uighurs was reminiscent of
Nazi Germany’s policies.
Pompeo urged all international bodies including courts
to take up cases over China’s treatment of the Uighurs and voiced confidence that
the US would keep raising pressure.
Rights groups believe that at least one million
Uighurs and other Turkic-speaking Muslims are incarcerated in camps in the
western region of Xinjiang.
Witnesses and activists say that China is seeking to
forcibly integrate the Uighurs into the majority Han culture by eradicating
Islamic customs, including by forcing Muslims to eat pork and drink alcohol,
which are both forbidden by their faith.
China denies wrongdoing and contends that its camps
are vocational training centres meant to reduce the allure of Islamic extremism
in the wake of attacks.
Unlike many decisions by Pompeo seen as boxing in Joe
Biden, the incoming president had called for more pressure on China on human
rights with his campaign last year using the term genocide.
Antony Blinken, Biden’s pick to succeed Pompeo, agreed
with the genocide determination, saying in response to a question at his
confirmation hearing, “That would be my judgment as well.”
Blinken and other Biden nominees all promised firm action
against China, although Pompeo’s statement potentially allows the next
administration to avoid the expected blowback by Beijing.
Culmination of pressure
Omer Kanat, executive director of the Washington-based
Uyghur Human Rights Project, hoped that the genocide determination would lead
to further steps such as a boycott of next year’s Beijing Winter Olympics.
“The implications are enormous. It’s unthinkable to
continue ‘business as usual’ with a state committing genocide and crimes
against humanity,” he said in a statement.
The Trump administration has already taken a number of
steps to pressure China over its treatment of the Uighurs, including blocking
all imports of cotton from Xinjiang – one of the major global producers of yarn
used in textile manufacturing.
Pompeo – described this week by Beijing as a “praying
mantis” – has not been shy about criticising China but made the determination
after extended debate on the legal implications at home and abroad.
Previous administrations have been cautious about
using the term.
George W Bush’s administration described Sudan’s
scorched-earth campaign in Darfur as genocide, while Barack Obama’s
administration said likewise about the Islamic State extremist group’s mass
killings, rape and enslavement of Christians, Yazidis and other religious
minorities.
Lawmakers across the political spectrum have called on
the US to declare that China is carrying out genocide against the Uighurs,
saying that evidence was increasingly clear.
In a study last year, German researcher Adrian Zenz
found that China has forcibly sterilised large numbers of Uighur women and
pressured them to abort pregnancies that exceed birth quotas.
China denied the account, saying that Uighur women
were breaking free from “extremism” by using contraception.
Pompeo in his statement called on China to “abolish
its system of internment, detention camps, house arrest and forced labour” and
“cease coercive population control measures, including forced sterilisations,
forced abortion, forced birth control, and the removal of children from their
families”.
He also urged China to “end all torture and abuse” in
custody and allow Uighurs and other minorities to emigrate.
https://www.freemalaysiatoday.com/category/world/2021/01/20/us-declares-china-guilty-of-committing-genocide-against-uighurs/
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Most Umno leaders in favour of PPBM alliance, says
Hadi
Ainaa Aiman
January 19, 2021
PETALING JAYA: PAS president Abdul Hadi Awang says the
majority of Umno leaders are in favour of working with PPBM as part of the
Muafakat Nasional (MN) alliance.
He was responding to a question during an online forum
organised by the National Professors Council today, on whether Umno and PPBM
being at loggerheads would prevent the formation of a strong Malay-Muslim
coalition for the next general election (GE15).
Hadi said PAS and Umno had already agreed to invite
similarly-aligned organisations and parties to join their MN coalition to form
a strong Malay-Muslim leadership.
“However, when it came time for us to invite them
(PPBM), there was a political conflict between Umno and PPBM. Despite that,
thank God, the majority of Umno leaders were positive (about the alliance),” he
said.
When asked who PAS would support in the event of a
snap GE15, he said the party would still push for a strong Malay-Muslim
leadership, because “there would be no one party that could win the elections
on their own”.
“We need to strengthen MN and reinforce Perikatan
Nasional (PN). This is so that the Malay-Muslim leadership can be united.”
Earlier this month, a majority of the 191 Umno party
divisions passed resolutions calling for Umno to withdraw its cooperation with
PPBM.
As a result, the Umno Supreme Council said any
decision on the party’s support for PPBM was to be finalised at its annual
general assembly, which was scheduled to be held on Jan 31 but has since been
postponed due to the movement control order (MCO) and the emergency.
https://www.freemalaysiatoday.com/category/nation/2021/01/19/most-umno-leaders-in-favour-of-ppbm-alliance-says-hadi/
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Remembering the Malaysia-Indonesia Confrontation, 58
years on
Noel Wong @ FMT Lifestyle
January 20, 2021
Indonesia is one of Malaysia’s closest neighbours
today, with mutually beneficial relationships forged between the two countries.
However, this was not always the case. At one point in our history, we were at
each other’s throats.
From Jan 20, 1963 to Aug 11, 1966, Malaysia and
Indonesia were embroiled in an undeclared war, better known as the
Confrontation, which mostly took place in the frontier regions of Sabah and
Sarawak.
The fighting was on a small scale but the death toll
was still high, with about 700 killed.
But why the bloodshed? What led to this series of
unfortunate events between the two countries?
When Malaysia was first formed in 1963, opposition
emerged from the Philippines and Indonesia.
Indonesia, which was led by President Sukarno at the
time, was something of a powerhouse in Southeast Asia, having thrown off the
yoke of Dutch colonialism during the Indonesian War of Independence. It
demanded that the Dutch also cede control of Western New Guinea, now known as
Papua.
The Dutch, under international pressure, agreed to
this in 1962.
However, the Indonesian government was suspicious that
the formation of Malaysia was a neo-colonial ploy to maintain British power in
Southeast Asia.
Some people have suggested that the existence of
Malaysia was a spanner in the works for Sukarno, who had ambitions of uniting
Malaya and Borneo under Indonesian rule.
Hence, on Jan 20, 1963, the Indonesian government
published a declaration of Confrontation which denounced the formation of
Malaysia.
Thankfully, unlike bloodier proxy wars such as the
Korean War and the Vietnam War, the Confrontation did not feature invasions by
full-scale armies.
Instead, small-scale conflicts were largely triggered
by squads of Indonesian special forces slipping past the borders from
Kalimantan into Sabah and Sarawak.
There were also occasions when Indonesian troops
crossed the Straits of Melaka to conduct operations in West Malaysia.
The first recorded infiltration and attack took place
on April 12, 1963, when a police station in the Malaysian border town of Tebedu
was attacked and captured by Indonesian soldiers. Then, infiltrators made their
way to other parts of Borneo.
For the average civilian, these incidents were sudden
and stressful affairs.
Cecelia Polo, 66, was only eight when the conflict
took place in Kalabakan, Tawau.
“It was Dec 29, 1963. That night, we were celebrating
my father’s birthday when suddenly, the lights went off, a siren blared and
sandflies were all over us,” she told FMT.
“But they were not sandflies, they were bullets! So,
we laid down on the floor to take cover. The next morning, we went out and we
saw dead men in front of our house. And we saw armies, Gurkha battalions,
marching everywhere.”
According to Polo, the soldiers told her family to dig
a hole under the house, stock up on food and hide inside the hole if there were
any more fights.
Her sister, Erlinda, 70, meanwhile, thought the loud
explosions were early new year celebrations.
“Friends that were present peeped through the window
and saw that the rapid “fireworks” were actually machine guns!”
She also shared her opinion as to why Kalabakan was
the point of attack.
“They wanted to capture the resident general manager
of the Bombay Burma Trading Company, which was run by the British at the time.
They wanted him and his wife for ransom and as a bargaining factor.
“Fortunately, they were not in their residence as they
were out at the monthly show at the club.”
Come morning, the manager did his rounds and told
people to stay home as there would be curfews to avoid more casualties. He,
too, advised them to dig a hole underneath their houses to hide.
And they did. Erlinda said they had to spend long
hours in the holes, even chasing away frogs that decided to share their
hideouts, especially when it rained.
“There were many casualties of the Malaysian army.
Food was rationed and it was pitch dark during the nights. My father, being a
driver, had to drive the army into the jungles to search for insurgents – dead
or alive,” said Erlinda.
Another civilian, James Escobia, 60 who grew up in
Kalabakan, Tawau, was only five years old when the Confrontation happened.
“A few days before the Confrontation, my father told
us that there was an intelligence report saying Indonesian soldiers had
infiltrated Kalabakan,” said Escobia, who added that his father was employed
with North Borneo Timber (NBT) at the time.
On the night of the attack, his father had returned to
his office around 6pm to send his latest report to NBT and inform them that
everything was peaceful in Kalabakan Camp.
He was very wrong. Within an hour after he reached
home, the attack started at the police station.
“The attack was timed exactly during the Muslim prayer
time when the policemen were praying. My dad believed that even when he was
communicating with NBT, the infiltrators had been nearby,” said Escobia.
Gunfire erupted throughout the night, not directed at
local civilians, but at the police station and the British army camp.
“The next day, nobody was allowed to leave their
houses. We heard that a few policemen were killed.
“In the days that followed, all encounters with the
infiltrators happened outside the camp, and the army even requested Filipino
truck drivers to drive and guide them in the jungles.”
Indonesian employees, on the other hand, were advised
to stay at home – perhaps because the infiltrators were Indonesians.
While Malaysia was a fledgling nation back then, it
was still a member of the Commonwealth, which proved to be a boon to its
security.
Troops from the British, New Zealand and Australian
armies, as well as Gurkha troops, were sent to defend the country, and these
soldiers would fight alongside newly-founded Malaysian regiments.
In addition to small-scale attacks, the Indonesian
authorities hoped to stir up ethnic tension in Malaysia, by sowing division and
distrust among the many ethnic groups living in Borneo.
The attacks did not go only one way, however. When a
concentration of Indonesian troops was detected near Kuching, the British
decided to launch Operation Claret to harass them.
They laid ambushes near the border and pursued any
Indonesian forces across the border, forcing the Indonesians to go on the
defensive there.
But how did it all finally end?
The fall of Sukarno proved to be instrumental in
ending the pointless fighting, with the man being replaced by Suharto in 1966.
Suharto was not interested in continuing his
predecessor’s policies, and peace negotiations began in May 1966 and finally
ended with a ratified agreement on Aug 11, 1966, three years after the
formation of Malaysia.
Since then, relations between Malaysia and Indonesia
have normalised and it is common for many people in east Malaysia as well as
the peninsula to have relatives from both sides of the border.
Peace, after all, is something that citizens of both
nations would benefit from.
https://www.freemalaysiatoday.com/category/leisure/2021/01/20/remembering-the-malaysia-indonesia-confrontation-58-years-on/
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