‘I Will Only Go To A Madrasa, I’m Scared Of Hindu Children’ - North-East Delhi's Muslim Children Leave School, Join Madrasas
New Age Islam News Bureau
29 January 2021
A Maulvi supervises students at a madrasa in Lal Bagh
Mandi. North-East Delhi Photo: Tarushi Aswani.
----
• US State Secretary Offers To Prosecute Omar Sheikh
Following SC Acquittal
• Amnesty International Urges EU To Follow Biden’s
UAE, Saudi Weapons Freeze
• Saudi Arabia Hires Over Dozen Lobbying Firms In US
To Launder Its Reputation
• Taliban Risks Losing International Legitimacy
• Public Trial Not Suitable For Singapore Youth Who
Planned To Attack Muslims, May Deepen Religious Divides, Says Shanmugam On Use
Of ISA
• Foreign Minister Hopeful Country Will Get Out Of
FATF Grey List Next Month
• Israel Downplays Biden Administration’s Suspension
Of US Fighter Jets Sale To UAE
• 'We Want To Kill Boko Haram': Nigerians Welcome New
Army Chiefs
India
• ‘I Will Only Go To A Madrasa, I’m Scared Of Hindu
Children’ - North-East Delhi's Muslim Children Leave School, Join Madrasas
• Uttar Pradesh: Court Dismisses 9 Pleas For Becoming
Party In Mathura Mosque Land Suit
• Any military confrontation between India, Pak would
be disaster of unmitigated proportion: UN chief
• PM Modi, Abu Dhabi Crown Prince Discuss Ways To
Boost Post-Covid-19 Partnership
• India: Pak’s true intent on tackling terror
showcased
• Pak returns Poonch woman after 4 months
--------
North America
• US State Secretary Offers To Prosecute Omar Sheikh
Following SC Acquittal
• Former Obama aide Malley expected to be named
Biden's envoy on Iran: Sources
• Biden taps Hady Amr as US Deputy Assistant Secretary
for Israel-Palestinian Affairs
• DHS Issues Its First National Terrorism Bulletin for
Domestic Extremists
• Member of Extremist Group Pleads Guilty in Michigan
Governor Kidnapping Plot
• Saudi Arabia serves as key pillar of regional
security, major US partner: Pentagon
• US calls on Russia, Turkey to ‘immediately’ withdraw
troops from Libya
--------
Europe
• Amnesty International Urges EU To Follow Biden’s
UAE, Saudi Weapons Freeze
• UK bans direct flights from UAE, shutting world's
busiest international route
• US charges Iraqi-born UK national with bribery
scheme to obtain Iraq contracts
• Europe complicit in Yemen humanitarian disaster by
selling arms to Saudi Arabia, UAE: Lawmaker
• German Woman Charged With Plotting Attack on
Muslims, Others
--------
Arab World
• Saudi Arabia Hires Over Dozen Lobbying Firms In US
To Launder Its Reputation
• Pope Francis To Meet Shia Cleric Sistani During
Visit To Iraq: Cardinal
• Lebanon’s caretaker PM condemns overnight violence
in Tripoli
• Iraq Announces Killing Of Senior ISIS Commander One
Week After Deadly Baghdad Bombing
• Lebanese man dies of wounds after lockdown protests
• Security forces kill Daesh self-proclaimed leader in
Iraq: PM Kadhimi
--------
South Asia
• Taliban Risks Losing International Legitimacy
• Taliban Violence Raises Questions About US Troop
Withdrawal
• No decision yet on future force posture in
Afghanistan: Pentagon
• Bangladesh sends 3rd group of Rohingya refugees to
remote island
• Pentagon: Taliban are not honouring commitments to
US
• Biden admin ditches May obligation to withdraw
troops from Afghanistan
--------
Southeast Asia
• Public Trial Not Suitable For Singapore Youth Who
Planned To Attack Muslims, May Deepen Religious Divides, Says Shanmugam On Use
Of ISA
• Perlis Allows Obligatory Prayers In Mosques Held At
Maximum Capacity
--------
Pakistan
• Foreign Minister Hopeful Country Will Get Out Of
FATF Grey List Next Month
• Pakistan: Lashkar-e-Islam Terrorist Group Head
Mangal Bagh Killed In Afghanistan
• Pak Defence Ministry Opposes Request For Removal Of
Ex-ISI Chief’s Name From No-Fly List
• Turkey-Pakistan nexus on proxy warfare working on to
create disturbances in Afghanistan and Kashmir
• Alvi for Pakistan, Jordan to boost defence and
economic ties
• Pakistan wants closer engagement with US for
regional stability
• Police claim to have nabbed two ‘TTP militants’
--------
Mideast
• Israel Downplays Biden Administration’s Suspension
Of US Fighter Jets Sale To UAE
• UNRWA: US Aid Too Little After Biden Resumes Funding
Palestinians
• Iran Dismisses US Call To Be The First To Return To
Nuclear Deal
• Iranian FM Advises US Counterpart Not to Forget
Trump's Failure
• Iran's Top Diplomat Meets Georgian President, PM on
Bilateral Ties, Regional Issues
• President Rouhani: US Defeated by Iranian People's
Unity, Resistance
• Speaker's Aide Underlines Positive Prospect of Cooperation
between Iran, India
• Israel downplays US review of UAE arms sales,
Netanyahu believes deal will move ahead
• Iran exceeds its uranium enrichment goals despite
Western criticism
• Yemeni families seek justice for 34 deaths in US
drone strikes
--------
Africa
• 'We Want To Kill Boko Haram': Nigerians Welcome New
Army Chiefs
• Tunisia Presidential Staffer Suffers Symptoms After
Opening Suspect Envelope
• Amnesty: Nigeria trying to cover up Lagos massacre
• Israel might be behind Tunisian president’s failed
assassination: Party leader
• Somalia: Army Kills Militants in Operation Against
Al-Shabaab
• Militant killings more than doubled in Congo in
2020, UN says
Compiled by New Age Islam News Bureau
URL: https://www.newageislam.com/islamic-world-news/i-only-go-madrasa-im/d/124178
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‘I Will Only Go To A Madrasa, I’m Scared Of Hindu
Children’ - North-East Delhi's Muslim Children Leave School, Join Madrasas
A Maulvi supervises students at a madrasa in Lal Bagh Mandi. North-East Delhi Photo: Tarushi Aswani.
----
Tarushi Aswani
January 29, 2021
New Delhi: When the Assam government approved a
proposal last month to shut down about 600 madrasas (Islamic schools) in the
state, Muslim children and their parents, still terrified by the anti-Muslim
riots that had taken place in northeast Delhi in February 2020, began to feel
trapped. Now even their last resort for a good education seemed to be in
danger.
In the past one year owing to a number of instances
demonstrating clear targeting of Muslims – the Citizenship Amendment Act (CAA),
which is distinctly anti-Muslim; the riots that followed protests against the
CAA, which made them fearful of communities other than their own; the pandemic
that closed schools; and the lackadaisical manner in which the Delhi Police has
been conducting inquiries into the riots – children from the community in
northeast Delhi have increasingly been dropping out of government, public and
private schools and joining local mosques and madrasas instead, for the sake of
safety and some peace of mind.
Fifteen-year-old Mohammed Talib, for instance, had
been enrolled in a government-run senior secondary school in Karawal Nagar and
was due to take his board exams, but dropped out to join a madrasa, because
both his school and his coaching classes are located in Hindu-dominated areas.
During the riots, Talib had been badly bruised on his
left leg and other members of his family had been hurt when a mob claiming to
be ‘Ram bhakts’ (believers in Ram, an avatar of Vishnu, the Hindu god who
protects and preserves the universe) pelted his house with stones.
As classes continued at the madrasa, a dimly-lit room
sheltered by tin sheets, and boys ranging in age from nine to 15 swayed back
and forth while reciting the Surah Qariah from the Quran, Mohammed Shahrukh, a
student from Johripur, recalled witnessing the riots from their terrace.
“Ab Madarase Mein Hi Parhunga, Yahan Safe Lagta Hai,
Ab Hindu Bacchon Se Darr Lagta (Now I will only go to a Madrasa, I’m scared of
Hindu children),” says Shahrukh, explaining that the public school he had
attended earlier had a majority of Hindu students and was located in a
Hindu-dominated area.
Though a Hindu friend apologised to him for the riots,
Sharukh believes that their friendship will never be the same, because even the
sights and sounds of temples, Bhagwa flags and Hindu chants send him spiralling
back to memories he do not want to revisit. A 14-year-old, Shahrukh says he now
feels more Muslim than ever, not because he is a believer but because his
community was targeted.
‘The children here are our kind’
Abdul Rehman, a student who quit a public school in
Karawal Nagar, says he never wants to go back to that school, and only wants to
study among Muslims now. Aged 11, Abdul says, “I saw masked men setting houses
on fire, throwing stones. I was very scared and didn’t go out to play for
months.”
Abdul’s father, Haji Mohammed Ilyas has told The Wire,
“Agar Mandir se bhi Jai Shri Ram ki awaaz aati hai, humare bacche darr jaatay
hain. Dango ne bacchon ko bhi Hindu-Muslim ka farq sikha diya hai (When chants
of Jai Shri Ram are heard from the temples, our children are scared. The riots
made even children aware of the difference between Hindus and Muslims).”
Maulana Mohammed Akbar, head of the Madrasa Islamia
Arbia Miftahul Quran, says that most of the parents who send their children to
his madrasa are more concerned about the children’s safety than their
education. While the madrasa does offer English, Maths and Hindi in addition to
Islamic subjects, but that is not the primary concern of parents.
The madrasa was also attacked during the riots and
reopened only a few weeks ago, catering to its regular students as well as many
new school dropouts.
Aliya Saifi, a 13-year-old former student of the
S.E.S. Public School, Shiv Vihar, says that after rioters burned her father’s
cycle repair shop, the family didn’t have enough money to continue sending her
to school.
Aliya faintly remembers the mob that attacked her
father’s shop, many of the men wielding swords and petrol bombs. Her only
question is: “Jab humne kuch kiya hi nahi kisi ko toh humri dukaan kyu jalaai
(We didn’t do anything to anybody, so why did they burn our shop)?”
Her classmate at the madrasa, 14-year-old Simran
Hanif, quit the government school in Sherpur. Simran’s memory of the riots is
mainly to do with the horror of fire, the utter chaos that prevailed on the
streets and in the colonies of northeast Delhi and the painful sounds of
shrieks. She says she feels safer at the madrasa than she might have felt at
her old school since she believes the students here are her ‘kind’.
‘Hindu chants frighten our children’
During the riots, Tayyaba Masjid in Lal Bagh Mandi
area was torched and severely damaged. Rioters apparently even burned copies of
the Quran in the masjid. Now renovated and ready to welcome believers, its
madrasa has more students than it did before the riots. The masjid’s Imam,
Abdul Khalid Qasmi, says he has noticed an interest among children to join
Quran lessons since last year.
Rehan, a 13-year-old, who quit Bhagwati Memorial
Public School in Karawal Nagar after the riots, regularly attends Quran lessons
at Tayyaba Masjid. His grandfather claimed that there has been a very drastic
change in Rehan’s behaviour since the day he saw his house being torched by
rioters.
“Rehan has become anxious since then. On Diwali, when
Hindus chanted slogans in the lanes, he frantically shut all the doors.”
Mohammed Usman, a nine-year-old who opted out of a
government school in Karawal Nagar explains that he had always disliked going
to school because the Hindu children taunted him for being a ‘mullah’
(literally a learned Islamic scholar, but used as a pejorative in this case).
After the riots, his identity became more of an issue.
“Humare poore ghar mein aag laga di thi, aur woh log bhi humme ‘Mullah, Mullah’
keh rahe thhe (They torched our house entirely all the while yelling ‘Mullah,
Mullah’),” recounts Usman.
The boy is now terrified of being identified as a
Muslim. He is sure, he says, that his classmates from his earlier school would
tease him even more now if he had continued in that school after the riots.
While most of the children who have newly joined the
madrasas clearly express how they feel more vulnerable in the presence of Hindu
children, a few also had to leave their schools because of a lack of money
after their homes and family-owned shops were reduced to ashes in the riots.
With little or no social security and diminishing
cultural currency, even those Muslims who wanted a modern education have been
forced by the anti-Muslim activities now prevalent in the country to step back
into ghettos and restrict themselves to madrasas.
https://thewire.in/communalism/delhi-riots-muslim-children-madrasa
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US State Secretary Offers To Prosecute Omar Sheikh Following
SC Acquittal
In this March 29, 2002 file photo, Ahmed Omar Saeed
Sheikh, the alleged mastermind behind Wall Street Journal reporter Daniel
Pearl's kidnap-slaying, appears at the court in Karachi. — AP/File
-----
Anwar Iqbal
January 29, 2021
In his first statement on Pakistan as the United
States secretary of state, Antony Blinken said America was ready to prosecute
Omar Saeed Sheikh — the principal accused in the 2002 beheading of American
journalist Daniel Pearl — in US courts, a day after he was acquitted by the
Supreme Court.
On Thursday, a three-judge Supreme Court bench
acquitted Sheikh by extending the benefit of the doubt to him and ordered his
release. The Supreme Court issued the verdict on a petition filed by the Sindh
government and Pearl's parents against a Sindh High Court (SHC) order for
Sheikh's acquittal and immediate release.
Blinken, in a statement issued by his office late on
Thursday evening, said he was "deeply concerned by the Pakistani Supreme
Court’s decision to acquit those involved in Daniel Pearl’s kidnapping and
murder and any proposed action to release them".
“We are also prepared to prosecute Sheikh in the
United States for his horrific crimes against an American citizen," the
statement read further.
"We are committed to securing justice for Daniel
Pearl’s family and holding terrorists accountable.”
The chief US diplomat, who took charge of his office
on Wednesday, recalled that Sheikh had been indicted in the US in 2002 for
hostage-taking and conspiracy to commit hostage-taking, resulting in the murder
of Pearl, the South Asia Bureau Chief for the Wall Street Journal, as well as
the 1994 kidnapping of another American citizen in India.
Blinken termed the verdict as an "affront to
terrorism victims everywhere" and said that the US expected Pakistan's
authorities to “expeditiously review its legal options to ensure justice is
served”.
“The court’s decision is an affront to terrorism
victims everywhere, including in Pakistan. The United States recognises past
Pakistani actions to hold Omar Sheikh accountable and notes that Sheikh
currently remains detained under Pakistani law,” he said.
Blinken also took note of the attorney general of
Pakistan's statement which said that the latter intended to seek a review of
the verdict.
The US state secretary expressed similar sentiments in
a tweet posted on Friday, where he said: "I am deeply concerned by the
Pakistani Supreme Court’s decision to acquit those involved in Daniel Pearl’s
kidnapping and murder. We are committed to securing justice for the Pearl
family and holding terrorists accountable."
This is not the first time the US has offered to
prosecute Sheikh in America.
In a statement last month, the then US acting Attorney
General Jeffrey Rosen said America “stands ready to take custody of Omar Sheikh
to stand trial here” after the SHC overturned a government detention order that
Sheikh should remain in custody.
Yesterday, White House spokeswoman Jen Psaki said the
US was "outraged by the Supreme Court decision to affirm the acquittals of
those responsible” for Pearl's slaying and underscored the administration's
commitment to securing justice for Pearl's family.
At her daily briefing, Psaki called on the Pakistani
government to quickly review legal options including letting the US prosecute
those acquitted.
Pearl's murder and legal action
Yesterday, a three judge Supreme Court bench comprising
Justice Sardar Tariq Masood and Justice Yahya Afridi and headed by Justice
Mushir Alam dismissed a petition by the Sindh government against the Sindh High
Court (SHC) order for Sheikh's acquittal on murder charges and his immediate
release.
With a majority of two to one, the bench ruled that
Sheikh, along with other suspects including Fahad Naseem Ahmed, Syed Salman
Saqib and Shaikh Muhammad Adil be set free forthwith, if not required to be
detained in connection with any other case. The detailed reasons for the
judgement will come later.
In a dissenting note, however, Justice Afridi
partially allowed the appeals against acquittal with regard to conviction of
Sheikh and Naseem under Sections 365-A and Section 120-B of the Pakistan Penal
Code (PPC) and Section 7 of the Anti-Terrorism Act of 1997 and sentencing to
life imprisonment on each count.
The top court's verdict was termed as a "travesty
of justice" by Pearl's parents and their legal counsel said that the only
legal avenue following the court's decision upholding Sheikh's release would be
to ask for a review of the court decision.
“We also hope that the Pakistani authorities will take
all necessary steps to rectify this travesty of justice,” the statement by the
journalist's parents said, adding that no amount of injustice would “defeat our
resolve to fight for justice for Daniel Pearl”.
The Sindh government has also decided to seek a review
of the SC decision, provincial Information Minister Syed Nasir Hussain Shah
said in a statement yesterday.
Later, a spokesman for the office of the AGP said that
the federal government was in contact and fully engaged with the government of
Sindh in respect to the judgement in the Pearl case. It was confirmed that a
petition seeking review and recall of the order of acquittal passed by the
Supreme Court will be filed at the earliest.
Sheikh was accused of kidnapping Pearl in Karachi in
Jan 2002 while he was carrying out research on religious extremism in the city.
Later a graphic video showing his decapitation was delivered to the US
consulate after a month of his abduction. Sheikh was arrested in 2002 and
sentenced to death by a trial court.
In April 2, 2020, the SHC overturned Sheikh's
conviction for Pearl's murder but maintained his conviction on a lesser charge
of abetting the kidnapping, for which he was sentenced to seven years in
prison.
Since Sheikh had been incarcerated since 2002, that
sentence was counted as time already served by the high court. The SHC had also
acquitted three other men namely Naseem, Adil and Saqib, who had been earlier
sentenced to life imprisonment by a Karachi anti-terrorism court.
https://www.dawn.com/news/1604289/us-state-secretary-offers-to-prosecute-omar-sheikh-following-sc-acquittal
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Amnesty International urges EU to follow Biden’s UAE,
Saudi weapons freeze
29 January 2021
A Yemeni mother feeds her malnourished daughter as the
girl receives medical treatment in al-Sabeen hospital in Sana’a, Yemen, on
December 13, 2020. (Photo by Xinhua news agency)
------Amnesty International has welcomed the United States decision to freeze arms sales to Saudi Arabia and the United Arab Emirates (UAE), calling on European countries to follow suit and end weapons exports to the two countries involved in the devastating war on Yemen.
“President [Joe] Biden’s decision to freeze arms sales
to Saudi Arabia and the UAE represents a welcome relief in an otherwise
shameful chapter of history. Almost six years of conflict in Yemen, fueled by
irresponsible arms transfers, have left 14 million Yemenis in dire need of
humanitarian assistance,” Philippe Nassif, advocacy director for the Middle
East and North Africa at Amnesty International USA, said on Thursday.
He added, “The suspension of arms sales by the US is a
step in the right direction and ups the pressure on European countries, most
notably the UK and France, to follow suit and stop fueling the human misery in
Yemen.”
Nassif highlighted that Amnesty International has been
for years warning Western states against complicity in war crimes being
perpetrated in Yemen as they continue to supply the Saudi-led coalition with
arms.
“The Biden administration is finally acknowledging the
disastrous effects of these continued sales, and puts to shame other states
that continue to ignore the mountain of evidence of probable war crimes
collected by Yemenis, the United Nations, and human rights organizations over
the course of the past six years,” he pointed out.
On Wednesday, Mick Wallace, an independent Member of
the European Parliament (MEP) slammed Europe’s support for the ongoing
Saudi-led military onslaught on Yemen, arguing that EU nations have done little
to condemn the attacks and deal with the humanitarian catastrophe there.
“We are complicit in this humanitarian disaster,” the
Irish politician wrote in a post published on his official Twitter page.
He criticized European countries for their arms
exports to Saudi Arabia and the UAE, stating that the Saudi-led coalition has
put millions of people in Yemen at risk of starvation.
“Saudi Arabia and the UAE deliberately starve millions
in Yemen - and the EU can't even stop its Member States from arming them,”
Wallace said.
The International Rescue Committee (IRC) warned in December
that Yemen is the country most at risk of a humanitarian catastrophe in 2021.
The organization noted that continued conflict,
widespread hunger and a collapsing international aid response threaten to
dramatically worsen the current crisis in the impoverished Arab country.
According to the UN, 80 percent of Yemen’s 30 million
people need some form of aid or protection.
About 13.5 million Yemenis currently face acute food
insecurity, including 16,500 people living in famine-like conditions, UN data
shows.
Saudi Arabia and a number of its regional allies
launched the war on Yemen in March 2015, with the goal of bringing the
government of former president, Abd Rabbuh Mansur Hadi, back to power and
crushing the popular Houthi Ansarullah movement.
The Ansarullah movement, backed by the Yemeni armed
forces and allied popular groups, has gone from strength to strength against
the Saudi-led invaders, leaving Riyadh and its allies bogged down in the
county.
https://www.presstv.com/Detail/2021/01/29/644095/Amnesty-urges-European-countries-to-end-arms-exports-to-Saudi-Arabia,-UAE
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Saudi Arabia hires over dozen lobbying firms in US to
launder its reputation
29 January 2021
Saudi authorities have reportedly hired more than a
dozen lobbying firms to help boost relations with the United States and improve
the Riyadh regime’s image as new US President Joe Biden assumes office.
According to foreign agent registration filings with
the US Justice Department, Riyadh has used at least 16 firms “to largely
restore its influence machine in the capital [Washington] and in other parts of
the country, and help boost US-Saudi trade relations.”
The lobbying effort will be even more crucial during
the term of new US President Joe Biden, whose administration decided on
Wednesday to freeze arms sales to Riyadh pending a review, said a Foreign
Policy report.
Saudi authorities are already in hot water over issues
including Riyadh’s devastating war on Yemen, its treatment of women and the
murder of exiled dissident journalist Jamal Khashoggi inside the Saudi
consulate in Istanbul in 2018.
Foreign agents hired to lobby on behalf of Saudi
interests have apparently contributed almost $2 million in political donations
to federal candidates, including Trump and new Democratic President Joe Biden,
said the report.
Among these firms is the powerhouse Edelman, which
heavily favors Democratic candidates in its political donations and signed a
$225,000 contract, after the November presidential election, to provide
services to the controversial Neom megacity project that is planned to be
constructed in Tabuk region of northwestern Saudi Arabia on the Red Sea in an
area nearly the size of Belgium.
Israeli prime minister Benjamin Netanyahu and Saudi
Crown Prince Mohammed bin Salman (MBS) reportedly held a secret meeting in Neom
city in late November.
Edelman communications firm was also hired by
state-owned Saudi Basic Industries in early 2020 to provide strategic
communications in a $5.6 million contract.
Additionally, the Riyadh regime struck deals with
companies seen as close to the Republican Party. Just before the presidential
vote, the Saudi Embassy in Washington hired Off Hill Strategies, a firm run by
a couple with a long history in conservative politics, for $75,000 to lobby for
them through January 2021.
“The Saudis need to maintain their influence within
the Republican Party post-Trump in hopes the Republican Senate can [help] block
any bills that might hurt them, like prohibitions on arms sales or withdrawing
troops from Yemen,” Ben Freeman of the Center for International Policy’s
Foreign Influence Transparency Initiative, which seeks to promote transparency
and accountability in global relations, said.
He added “there was this public perception that the
Saudi lobby went into hiding” following Khashoggi’s murder.
“But that’s not true at all—what we saw is that
actually they doubled down, giving money to think tanks and US universities to
help launder their reputation,” Freeman said.
He noted that the kingdom hired the multinational firm
Qorvis to a $10 million contract just three months after Khashoggi’s death in a
bid to improve its image and reputation.
Andrea Prasow, the deputy Washington director at Human
Rights Watch, said Riyadh used lobbyists to “whitewash” its image, citing the
failure of the Saudi crown prince and de facto ruler who has presented himself
as reformer to Western governments.
Biden has vowed to be tougher on Saudi Arabia than
Trump, who bragged about protecting bin Salman in the aftermath of the
Khashoggi murder.
Several intelligence agencies, including the CIA, have
reportedly concluded that MBS ordered Khashoggi’s killing. Riyadh has denied
the accusations in return.
Saudi Arabia’s human rights record has come under
intense scrutiny following the murder of the Saudi journalist.
Rights group urges UN to secure release of top Saudi
dissident cleric
Separately, amid a brutal crackdown led by the Saudi
crown prince against pro-democracy activist, Muslim preachers and intellectuals
in the kingdom, a Swiss-based human rights organization has called upon the
United Nations (UN) to intervene and secure the release of distinguished
dissident cleric Sheikh Salman al-Ouda.
Alkarama asked the Committee on the Rights of Persons
with Disabilities (CRPD) to pursue the case, and urged independent experts to
visit the imprisoned 64-year-old clergyman to examine him, and report on his
condition and needs.
The human rights organization called on the UN body to
“intervene and urge Saudi authorities to release the prominent scholar Dr.
Salman al-Ouda, who was arbitrarily detained, and stop the reprisals against
his family,” the cleric’s son, Abdullah, wrote in a post published on his
official Twitter page on Thursday.
The Arabic-language Saudi newspaper Okaz reported on
September 4, 2018 that Saudi public prosecutors had leveled 37 counts against
Ouda, and even demanded his execution.
Saudi authorities detained the prominent Muslim
scholar on September 7, 2018 and have been holding him in solitary confinement
without charge or trial ever since. Officials have imposed travel bans on
members of his family as well.
A family member told Human Rights Watch that the
distinguished cleric was being held over his refusal to comply with an order by
Saudi authorities to tweet a specific text to support the Saudi-led blockade of
Qatar.
Ouda, instead, posted a tweet, saying, “May God
harmonize between their hearts for the good of their people,” - an apparent
call for reconciliation between the Persian Gulf littoral states, the US-based
rights group said in a statement.
Earlier this month, Saudi Arabia, the United Arab
Emirates, Bahrain and Egypt signed a declaration on the eve of the Persian Gulf
Cooperation Council (GCC) leaders’ summit in the ancient desert city of al-Ula,
to ease a rift with Qatar, signaling the end of a three and a half year embargo
of the energy-rich Persian Gulf country.
In June 2017, the four countries accused Qatar, among
other things, of supporting “terrorism” and having close ties to Iran, and
severed economic and diplomatic ties. A blockade was also imposed by the four
countries by land, sea and air.
Qatar repeatedly denied the claims and said there was
no justification for severing relations.
https://www.presstv.com/Detail/2021/01/29/644089/Saudi-Arabia-hires-over-dozen-lobbying-firms-in-US-to-launder-its-reputation
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Taliban Risks Losing International Legitimacy
M.K. Bhadrakumar
29 Jan 2021
A high-level delegation led by Mullah Abdul Ghani
Baradar, the senior leader of the Taliban and its chief negotiator at the Doha
talks, held consultations in Tehran and Moscow this week through January 26-29
amidst growing uncertainty over the Afghan peace process.
A commentary by the US government-funded RFERL said on
Thursday that “the fate of the nearly year-old (US-Taliban) agreement is in the
balance,” as the Afghan government led by President Ashraf Ghani is “eager to
exploit the growing fractures between the Taliban and Washington and is pushing
at the very least to disrupt the (Doha) agreement.”
The RFERL adds: “Sensing an opportunity to advance
their interests, Afghan officials are now pushing to keep a U.S.
counterterrorism force beyond the May deadline for complete withdrawal. (US
President) Biden has long advocated keeping a counterterrorism force in
Afghanistan as a deterrent against possible terrorist threats.”
Indeed, if an alibi is needed for extended US troop
deployment to Afghanistan, the outgoing Trump administration might just have
provided one, with the Treasury Department notifying the Pentagon vide a memo
dated January 4 that:
“As of 2020, al-Qaeda is gaining strength in
Afghanistan while continuing to operate with the Taliban under the Taliban’s
protection”;
“Al-Qaeda capitalises on its relationship with the
Taliban through its network of mentors and advisers who are embedded with the
Taliban, providing advice, guidance, and financial support”;
“Senior Haqqani Network figures have discussed forming
a new joint unit of armed fighters in cooperation with and funded by al-Qaeda.”
The Doha agreement of February last year had envisaged
that the US troop would completely withdraw its troops by coming May but that
would be conditional on the Taliban severing its links with al-Qaeda. In
principle, that conditionality is now becoming a deal breaker. The Taliban
feels cheated and has reacted in indignation, saying, “some circles are seeking
the extension of this imposed war on the Afghan nation in pursuit of their
interests and malicious objectives.” Taliban suspects — with good reasons —
that the US is shifting the goal post on the basis of intelligence inputs by
the Afghan intelligence.
Indeed, the US Secretary of State Antony Blinken
hinted at his first press conference in Washington after assuming office on
January 27 that a policy review on Afghanistan may be on cards, since “one of
the things that we need to understand is exactly what is in the agreements that
were reached between the United States and the Taliban (in Doha) to make sure
that we fully understand the commitments that the Taliban has made as well as
any commitments that we’ve made.”
On January 28, Blinken called President Ashraf Ghani
and “shared that the United States is reviewing the February 2020 US-Taliban
agreement and whether the Taliban are living up to their commitments to cut
ties with terrorist groups, to reduce violence in Afghanistan, and to engage in
meaningful negotiations with the Afghan government and other
stakeholders.”
The Biden Administration is distancing itself from the
explicit commitment on a total withdrawal of US troops by May, as per the Doha
pact. Therefore, the timing of Mullah Baradar’s journey to Tehran can be put in
perspective as a frantic attempt by the Taliban to shore up regional support.
Interestingly, Baradar reportedly said at his meeting in Tehran on January 27
with the secretary of Iran’s Supreme National Security Council Ali Shamkhani,
“We do not trust the United States an inch, and will fight any party that
serves as its mercenary.”
Baradar assured Shamkhani that Taliban is open to the
participation of all ethnic groups in shaping the future of Afghanistan and
that Taliban will maintain the security of the Afghan-Iran border. These are of
course Tehran’s core concerns. However, Shamkhani’s remarks were non-committal
— although he voiced criticism of the US intentions. Shamkhani underscored that
Iran is totally opposed to a Taliban takeover in Afghanistan. He also stressed
the importance of power sharing and an inclusive peace settlement.
Despite the US-Iran tensions, Tehran attaches the
highest importance to the stabilisation of Afghanistan and will not play the
role of a spoiler vis-a-vis the efforts for a negotiated settlement.
Fundamentally, Iran assesses that the US is a much diminished power today, and
is no longer in a position to impose its will or act unilaterally in regional
conflicts.
A prominent Iranian expert on Afghanistan and Pakistan
issues Pir Mohammad Mollazehi, recently referred to a behind-the-scenes
agreement between the Trump administration and the Taliban to mobilise local
radical Islamic forces in Afghanistan who have fought in Iraq and Syria, to pit
them against Russia, China and Iran. But
he assessed that the Biden team will not allow any such full-fledged takeover
of power by the Taliban and may have plans to engage with Russia and China or
even Iran.
As he put it, Biden will also try to distribute power
in a future set-up in Kabul between the three main currents — Abdullah
Abdullah, Ashraf Ghani and the Taliban — and if that happens, there will be a
new government in which all factions will have a share in power. Curiously,
Tehran is sanguine that Pakistan is also inclined to encourage the Taliban to
share power in Kabul.
From Tehran, the Taliban delegation proceeded to
Moscow and held talks with Russian officials on January 29. A Russian Foreign
Ministry press release said, “The Russian side spoke out in favour of launching
substantive and constructive intra-Afghan talks as soon as possible so as to
put an end to the bloody civil war and create an effective national government
in Afghanistan.”
Again, despite the tensions in Russian-American
relations, Moscow has so far refrained from undermining the US diplomacy
vis-a-vis the Taliban. At the weekly foreign ministry press briefing in Moscow
on December 16, spokesperson Maria Zakharova specifically addressed this
aspect, saying,
“In recent years the Russian Federation and the US
have established a constructive dialogue on the peaceful settlement in
Afghanistan. Our special envoys have stayed in touch, and since 2019, together
with our Chinese and Pakistani partners, we have set up the format of expanded
“troika” that has proven effective in promoting a peaceful settlement in the
intra-Afghan conflict.”
“We hope that once the new US president takes office,
the Russian-American contacts for achieving peace in Afghanistan will continue
as soon as possible, along with the efforts to neutralise the threats of
terrorism, extremism and drug trafficking emanating from that country.”
In principle, Russia remains supportive of the US’
insistence that Taliban should jettison its links with all terrorist groups
(which include Chechen militants from Chechnya and Central Asia) and agree to a
ceasefire so that peace talks can take place in a conducive atmosphere. China’s
position also cannot be any different, given its concerns over the presence of
Uighur militants on Afghan soil. And this will continue to be so despite the
Biden administration’s adversarial mindset toward Russia and China.
All in all, if the Biden Administration keeps its word
to forge “a collective strategy to support a stable, sovereign, democratic, and
secure future for Afghanistan,” — as
Blinken promised Ghani on Thursday — its efforts to get the Taliban to the
negotiating table “to engage in meaningful negotiations with the Afghan
government and other stakeholders” will have international backing.
The point is, no one wants the present scale of
violence to continue in Afghanistan. Put differently, the Taliban once again
faces the spectre of international isolation, as had happened in the 1990s,
although the Ghani government itself is extremely unpopular and is ill-reputed
as a cabal of self-seeking corrupt people devoid of any political base or
legitimacy.
https://www.newsclick.in/taliban-risks-losing-international-legitimacy
--------
Public Trial Not Suitable For Singapore Youth Who
Planned To Attack Muslims, May Deepen Religious Divides, Says Shanmugam On Use
Of ISA
28 Jan 2021
SINGAPORE, Jan 28 — The 16-year-old Singaporean who
had made plans to attack Muslims here will get a hearing under the Internal
Security Act (ISA), rather than be tried in open court, as making the details
of the teenager’s motives public may run the risk of deepening religious divides.
It was also important to intervene early via the ISA
instead of waiting for him to carry out an attack before detaining him, said
Minister for Home Affairs K Shanmugam.
Shanmugam was speaking to the media today after a
closed-door meeting with Christian and Muslim leaders at the Yusof Ishak Mosque
in Woodlands, which was one of the mosques targeted by the teenager.
The boy, who was detained by the Internal Security
Department (ISD) in December last year, is a Protestant Christian of Indian
ethnicity and is believed to have acted alone. He was not named because of his
age.
Shanmugam said that the boy’s age was not taken into
consideration on whether or not he should be detained under the ISA.
“I think we agree that he is capable of doing harm.
And until he’s rehabilitated, if we leave him out, and if he carries out what
he intends to do, I think we’ll all be very sorry,” he said.
However, the boy’s age should be taken into account
when deciding the rehabilitation process, he said.
“Given his age there must be considerable hope that he
can be rehabilitated.”
Laying out the reasons for why the secondary school
student will not be tried in court, Shanmugam said the criminal process is not
suitable in this case as it can be argued that the teenager has not yet
performed any criminal acts so far.
“In many countries, that’s part of the issue. You have
to wait for them to do something and often that’s too late,” said Shanmugam,
who is also the Minister for Law.
In court, Shanmugam added that the teenager will also
take the stand and talk about how he was inspired by far-right extremist
Brenton Harrison Tarrant, who livestreamed the massacre of more than 50 Muslims
at mosques in Christchurch, New Zealand in 2019, and this could stir up
negative sentiments among Christians and Muslims.
“(That is why) I think our people support the approach
where we intervene very early,” he said.
Shanmugam was also asked if religious institutions
should step up their security measures in response to the news.
In his reply, he said places of worship are meant to
be open and people should feel welcomed in these institutions, so the
authorities should be “careful about going in that direction”.
Still, he said those in charge of the administration
within religious institutions should “raise their alertness levels”. The
authorities must also ensure that emergency forces can reach any part of
Singapore within a short period of time.
Incident a ‘wake up call’ for community
Following the closed door meeting, the president of
the National Council of Churches of Singapore Reverend Keith Lai and Mufti of
Singapore Dr Nazirudin Mohd Nasir made statements to the media reaffirming the
warm relationship between the two religious communities.
Said Reverend Lai: “When the Christian community heard
about the alarming news it really pained us, and we were in shock and disbelief
that this had happened, especially coming from a 16-year-old.
“This is a wake up call for us as a community, not
just the Christian community, but as a nation, on how we can help young people
and guide and mentor them in the right way.”
Echoing his statements, Dr Nazirudin said religious
communities should now focus on helping the young to understand the world
through real friendships rather than through stereotypes and prejudices.
“We know that hate and extremist ideologies, not
scripture or faith, is the real threat that can drive a sharp wedge between
communities,” he said.
“It is a growing threat that we must confront and
arrest with conviction.” — TODAY
https://www.malaymail.com/news/singapore/2021/01/28/public-trial-not-suitable-for-singapore-youth-who-planned-to-attack-muslims/1944903
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Foreign Minister Hopeful Country Will Get Out Of FATF
Grey List Next Month
Baqir Sajjad Syed
January 29, 2021
ISLAMABAD: Foreign Minister Shah Mehmood Qureshi on
Thursday expressed the hope that the Financial Action Task Force (FATF), the
global illicit financing watchdog, would delist Pakistan from its grey list at
its next plenary meeting.
The meeting is scheduled to take place virtually from
Feb 22 to 25.
Briefing the Senate Foreign Affairs Committee, the
foreign minister said he was optimistic that no politically motivated decision
would be taken by the FATF.
The meeting was chaired by Chairman of Senate Foreign
Affairs Committee Senator Mushahid Hussain Sayed.
Pakistan has been on the FATF’s ‘grey list’ for
deficiencies in its counter-terror financing and anti-money laundering regimes
since 2018.
In its last meeting held in October last year, the
watchdog had decided to retain Pakistan on the list of ‘jurisdiction under
enhanced monitoring’ till the review in February 2021 when the status of its
compliance with recommendations would be assessed again.
Pakistan has so far fully complied with 21 of the 27
actions recommended by FATF. It was, however, deemed to have crucially fallen
short on action against the organisations linked to the terror groups listed by
the UN Security Council; and prosecution and conviction of banned individuals.
Similarly, it was said to have done little to tackle terror financing through
narcotics and smuggling of precious stones.
Mr Qureshi said he expected a positive decision would
be made in Pakistan’s case as “substantial progress” had been made on the
remaining six items.
OIC CFM
Foreign Minister Qureshi said that Pakistan would host
the next meeting of Organisation of Islamic Cooperation’s (OIC) Council of
Foreign Ministers (CFM) later this year.
He said Pakistan would keep the focus of the meeting
on the situation in India-occupied Kashmir. The government, he said, would
ensure that human rights and the issue of Kashmiri political prisoners remained
at the forefront.
Pakistan had after the annexation of occupied Kashmir
in Aug 2019 tried to convene a special meeting of the OIC CFM, but could not
get the support of Arab countries, which hold a virtual veto on the 57-member
bloc of Muslim countries.
OIC foreign ministers had at their last meeting held
in Niamey (Niger) in November 2020 reiterated their support for the Kashmir
cause.
“We reiterate the OIC’s principled position on the
Jammu and Kashmir dispute for a peaceful settlement in accordance with relevant
United Nations Security Council resolutions,” the foreign ministers said in the
Niamey Declaration.
Mr Qureshi also briefed the committee on the progress
on CPEC. He said CPEC was now in the second phase in which relocation of
Chinese industry, job creation and the activation of two new Joint Working
Groups (JWGs) on agriculture and international cooperation, respectively, will
be a force-multiplier for the project.
The foreign minister later presented the dossier on
“Indian state sponsorship of terrorism and destabilisation in Pakistan” to
Senator Mushahid Sayed.
https://www.dawn.com/news/1604219/qureshi-hopeful-country-will-get-out-of-fatf-grey-list-next-month
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Israel downplays Biden administration’s suspension of
US fighter jets sale to UAE
29 January 2021
Israel has played down a possible set-back for efforts
to build up relations with the United Arab Emirates following a decision by US President
Joe Biden’s administration to suspend the sale of F-35 fighter jets to the
Persian Gulf country.
“I don’t think so. I think we have passed the point of
no-return,” Israeli prime minister Benjamin Netanyahu said on Thursday, when
asked by reporters whether the US move would affect the regime’s ties with the
UAE and other Arab countries.
“Everyone understands that there are huge advantages
here. It’s peace in exchange for peace ... I think it’ll move ahead,” Netanyahu
said, according to Reuters.
Benny Gantz, Israeli minister of military affairs,
also claimed the US move was “routine”.
The newly-inaugurated Biden administration on
Wednesday put a hold on the sales of several major foreign arms initiated by
former US President Donald Trump, including the sale of US F-35 jets to the
UAE.
“The department is temporarily pausing the
implementation of some pending US defense transfers and sales under Foreign
Military Sales and Direct Commercial Sales to allow incoming leadership an
opportunity to review,” the State Department said in a statement.
The UAE was expected to receive 50 stealth F-35 jets
and 18 advanced Reaper drones under a deal with the Trump administration,
following a promise to Abu Dhabi to be given a chance to purchase them when it
agreed to normalize relations with the Israeli regime last August.
The UAE-Israel agreement, which was brokered by the
Trump administration, sparked protests and condemnations in the Muslim world,
who described it as an act of treason and a stab in the back of Palestinians.
“Everyone understood that this was a historic step and
that there were enormous benefits here,” Netanyahu said of the deal. “It’s
somewhere else already. I think it’s going to move forward.”
Israel apologizes to UAE over COVID-19 comments
Meanwhile, recent remarks by an Israeli health
official, who blamed the UAE for a sharp rise in the coronavirus cases among
Israelis returning from vacations in Dubai, prompted Emirati officials to
contact Israeli premier’s office to express their frustration.
According to Thursday reports by the Israeli media,
officials in the Israeli prime minister’s office apologized for the comments by
Sharon Alroy-Preis after being contacted by Emirati officials.
Alroy-Preis, head of the Israeli Health Ministry’s
public health department, had reportedly told hospital chiefs earlier this week
that “in two weeks of peace [with the UAE] more people died than in 70 years of
war.”
Tens of thousands of Israelis have traveled to the UAE
since the much-criticized normalization deal went into force. According to
Israel’s Channel 13, since the beginning of December, 906 Israelis who returned
from the UAE tested positive for the coronavirus.
Last Sunday, Israel announced that it had opened its
embassy in Abu Dhabi with the arrival of the regime’s envoy there. The UAE also
approved a decision to establish its embassy in Tel Aviv.
Israel regards Jerusalem al-Quds as its capital,
although most of the international community does not recognize the claim.
Back in December 2017, Trump recognized Jerusalem
al-Quds as Israel’s capital. In May 2018, the US officially announced the
opening of its new embassy there.
https://www.presstv.com/Detail/2021/01/29/644091/Israel-downplays-US-suspension-jets-sale-UAE
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'We want to kill Boko Haram': Nigerians welcome new
army chiefs
January 27, 2021
Residents of an internally displaced camp in the
northeastern Nigerian city of Maiduguri have welcomed President Muhammadu
Buhari's decision to replace the country's top military commanders as security issues
mount.
"To be sincere, the outgoing service chiefs have
tried their best but in some instances their best isn't enough at all, despite
the fact that we are not security experts, but we know that they have
failed." said Ummate Abubakar, an internally displaced person from the
village of Monguno.
The Boko Haram insurgency and its deadly affiliate,
the Islamic State in West Africa, has killed some 36,000 people and displaced
millions since it waged its war for a caliphate in the northeast in 2009.
The group controlled vast swathes of the region in
2015 but were pushed back.
But Boko Haram still conducts deadly attacks and
ambushes on civilians and the military.
"What we want is not to repel the Boko Haram but
to kill them, not to repel them but to kill them, to finish them at once, not
to repel them again," said Sunday Ishaya, an internally displaced person
from the village of Monguno.
"We are repeating what all the time we do, that
is the reason why we are not after them. We want somebody that will just degrade
them, complete them, wipe them away."
Nigeria also faces criminal gangs in the northwest,
who were blamed by authorities for the kidnapping of some 300 schoolboys in
December.
While in the central regions farmers clash with cattle
herders.
https://www.africanews.com/2021/01/27/we-want-to-kill-boko-haram-nigerian-s-welcome-new-army-chiefs/?utm_source=iterable&utm_medium=email&utm_campaign=1945447_
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India
Uttar Pradesh: Court dismisses 9 pleas for becoming
party in Mathura mosque land suit
Jan 28, 2021
AGRA: The Mathura district court on Thursday dismissed
nine pleas filed by various organisations including the Akhil Bhartiya Tirth
Purohit Mahasabha, Mathur Chaturvedi Parishad and Hindu Mahasabha to become a
party in the case filed earlier for the removal of a 17th century mosque from
near the Krishna Janmasthan temple in Mathura.
The next hearing on the revision petition filed by
Lucknow resident Ranjana Agnihotri is scheduled on March 22.
While priests bodies had condemned the petition for
the removal of the Shahi Idgah mosque built within the Katra Keshav Dev temple,
on grounds that the issue can create “communal disturbance in the town”, other
organisations including Hindu Mahasabha had claimed that the Eidgah, adjacent
to “Krishna’s birthplace, is illegal.
Talking to TOI, district government counsel Shivram
Singh, said all the pleas have been dismissed by the court as the “appeal” had
been modified into a “revision” petition. In such a situation, no one can
become the party in the suit filed by Lucknow-based advocate Ranjana Agnihotri
and seven others.
Last year on October 16, Mathura district court had
admitted an appeal filed against the dismissal of a civil suit on September 30,
seeking ownership of 13.37 acre Sri Krishna Janmabhoomi land and removal of
Shahi Idgah mosque from its face.
Earlier this month, the management trust committee of
Shahi Idgah moved an application in the District court objecting to the
admission of an appeal filed against the dismissal of a civil suit as it was registered
as a “miscellaneous” petition, which was dismissed by the court. While hearing
the objections raised by the committee, the district judge directed for the
modification of the petition and its registration as a “revision” petition on
January 18.
https://timesofindia.indiatimes.com/city/agra/uttar-pradesh-court-dismisses-9-pleas-for-becoming-party-in-mathura-mosque-land-suit/articleshow/80513690.cms
--------
Any military confrontation between India, Pak would be
disaster of unmitigated proportion: UN chief
Jan 29, 2021
UNITED NATIONS: UN Secretary-General Antonio Guterres
has said it is “absolutely essential” for India and Pakistan to be able to come
together and seriously discuss their problems, cautioning that any military
confrontation would be a “disaster of unmitigated proportions” for both
countries and the whole world.
“Well, what I said in the statement...is unfortunately
the same that I can say today. I mean, I do believe that it is absolutely
essential to have a de-escalation of the situation, namely in the Line of
(Control)," the UN chief said.
Guterres was responding to a question by a Pakistani
journalist on tensions between India and Pakistan over the situation in
Kashmir. The question also referred to the statement Guterres had issued in
August 2019 on the situation in Jammu and Kashmir where he had appealed for
maximum restraint.
"I think it's absolutely essential for the two
countries to be able to come together and seriously discuss their problems, and
I think it's essential that human rights are fully respected in all territories
that you mentioned,” Guterres said during his press briefing on Thursday.
“Now, things have not moved in the right direction.
Our good offices are always available, and we will insist within it of finding
peaceful solutions for problems that have no military solution. It is clear,
when seeing Pakistan and India, any military confrontation between the two
would be a disaster of unmitigated proportions for both countries and for the
whole world,” he said.
Tensions between India and Pakistan spiked after New
Delhi abrogated provisions of Article 370 of the Constitution to withdraw Jammu
and Kashmir's special status and bifurcated it into two Union Territories in
2019.
Pakistan downgraded its diplomatic relations with
India and expelled the Indian high commissioner following the revocation of
Article 370 in Jammu and Kashmir on August 5.
India has asserted that the abrogation of Article 370
was its "internal matter".
https://timesofindia.indiatimes.com/india/any-military-confrontation-between-india-pak-would-be-disaster-of-unmitigated-proportionun-chief/articleshow/80558298.cms
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PM Modi, Abu Dhabi crown prince discuss ways to boost
post-Covid-19 partnership
JAN 28, 2021
Prime Minister Narendra Modi and Abu Dhabi Crown
Prince Sheikh Mohammed Bin Zayed Al Nahyan on Thursday discussed ways to
diversify trade and investment links and strengthen the India-UAE partnership
in the post-Covid-19 world.
The phone conversation between the two leaders came a
day after the United Arab Emirates (UAE) took the unprecedented step of
providing in-air refuelling for three Rafale combat jets on a non-stop flight
from France to India. The French-made jets were part of the latest batch of
Rafales to join the Indian Air Force (IAF).
UAE’s move reflected the growing defence ties between
the two sides. Last month, Indian Army chief Gen MM Naravane became the first
head of one of the three services to visit Saudi Arabia and the UAE.
Modi and the crown prince, who is also deputy supreme
commander of the UAE armed forces, discussed the impact of the pandemic in the
region and expressed satisfaction that cooperation between the two countries
hadn’t halted during the crisis.
“They agreed to continue close consultations and
cooperation to further strengthen the India-UAE partnership in the
post-Covid-19 world. In this context, they discussed the opportunities for
further diversifying trade and investment links,” the external affairs ministry
said.
Modi expressed his special appreciation for the
personal attention and care that the crown prince has “always shown for the
well-being of the expatriate Indian community”.
“The two leaders shared their confidence that the
Covid-19 crisis would soon be overcome, and looked forward to meeting in person
in the near future,” the ministry said.
The UAE is home to 3.42 million Indians, one of the
largest concentrations of expatriates in West Asia. Experts believe the recent
normalisation of ties between Israel and the UAE could open up new
opportunities for trilateral cooperation with India, which has close relations
with both countries.
https://www.hindustantimes.com/india-news/pm-modi-abu-dhabi-crown-prince-discuss-ways-to-boost-post-covid-19-partnership-101611857401145.html
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India: Pak’s true intent on tackling terror showcased
Jan 29, 2021
India on Thursday described the release of al-Qaida
terrorist Omar Sheikh as a “travesty of justice” and said it truly demonstrated
Pakistan’s intent on taking action on the terror front. Sheikh was one of the
terrorists freed by India to secure the release of passengers of flight IC-814
which was hijacked in 1999. “I had mentioned earlier about the very low
conviction rate in Pakistan when it comes to sentencing of terror accused,” MEA
spokesperson Anurag Srivastava said.
“This case truly demonstrates Pakistan’s intent on
taking action on the terror front. It is a travesty of justice not to find Omar
Saeed Sheikh guilty of any charges in this heinous act of terror. Our position
on Pakistan taking sustained, verifiable, credible and irreversible action
against terrorism and terrorist funding emanating from all territory under its
control remains unchanged,” he said.
Before he was freed by Indian authorities,
British-born Sheikh was serving a prison term in India for kidnapping western
tourists in the country.
Pearl, 38, was the South Asia bureau chief for Wall
Street Journal when he was kidnapped in Karachi in 2002. A graphic video
showing Pearl’s decapitation was delivered to the US consulate in Karachi
nearly a month after his abduction.
Pearl’s murder took place three years after Sheikh,
along with JeM chief Masood Azhar and Mushtaq Ahmed Zargar, was released by
India in 1999 and given safe passage to Afghanistan in exchange for nearly 150
passengers of hijacked Indian Airlines flight IC-814.
White House outraged: The White House expressed
outrage over the ruling. White House spokeswoman Jen Psaki called the decision
“an affront to terror victims everywhere.”
https://timesofindia.indiatimes.com/india/india-paks-true-intent-on-tackling-terror-showcased/articleshow/80541555.cms
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Pak returns Poonch woman after 4 months
Jan 29, 2021
JAMMU: A woman from Poonch, who had inadvertently
crossed over to Pakistan-occupied Kashmir (PoK) around four months ago, was on Thursday
handed over to the Indian authorities.
Confirming repatriation of the woman, Poonch SSP
Romesh Angral said, “A woman, Zareena Bi (36), resident of Chela Dangri of
Mandi in Poonch district, who had crossed over to the other side, has been
handed back the by PoK authorities.” The SSP said the woman was received on
this side at Chakkan-Da-Bagh in Poonch after four months of her crossing over.
Legal formalities are going on, he added.
Earlier, as a goodwill gesture, the Indian and
Pakistani sides had repatriated two youths who had inadvertently crossed the
Line of Control (LoC) in December 2020 in Poonch sector to their respective
territories on January 8.
With the support of Jammu and Kashmir Police and the
civil administration, Ali Haider, a 14-year old boy from PoK’s Mirpur, was
repatriated via the Poonch-Rawalakot crossing point, while the Pakistani
authorities also handed over Mohammed Bashir, who had been in their custody
since December 24.
Prior to this, two minor girls from Kahuta area of
PoK, who had inadvertently crossed over to this side of the LoC on December 6,
2020, were handed over to the Pakistani authorities at Chakkan-da-Bagh in
Poonch on December 7. Identified as Laiba Zabair, 17, and Sana Zabair, 13,
residents of Abbasspur village in Kahuta tehsil of PoK, these sisters had
strayed to the Indian side from Mendhar sector in Poonch.
https://timesofindia.indiatimes.com/india/pak-returns-poonch-woman-after-4-months/articleshow/80518819.cms
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North America
Former Obama aide Malley expected to be named Biden's
envoy on Iran: Sources
29 January 2021
US President Joe Biden is expected to name Robert
Malley, who served as a top Iran adviser in the administration of former
President Barack Obama, as his special envoy on Iran, according to two sources.
Malley’s appointment could be announced as soon as
Friday, one of the sources told Reuters on Thursday.
While some Republican lawmakers and pro-Israel groups
expressed concern that he would be soft on Iran and tough on Israel, several
foreign policy veterans supported his appointment.
Observers believe concerns about his appointment are
part of a broader effort against diplomacy with Iran and reversing former
Republican President Donald Trump's aggressive approach towards Iran.
Malley was a key member of Obama’s team that
negotiated the Iran nuclear deal – known as the Joint Comprehensive Plan of
Action (JCPOA) – an agreement which Trump abandoned in 2018.
The deal was initially signed between Iran and six
major world states — the US, Germany, France, Britain, Russia and China — in
2015 and was ratified in the form of UN Security Council Resolution 2231
shortly afterwards.
Trump withdrew the US from the accord and reinstated
the anti-Iran sanctions that had been lifted by the deal.
His administration also launched what it called a
maximum pressure campaign against Iran, targeting the Iranian nation with the
“toughest ever” restrictive measures.
If confirmed, Malley will be put at the forefront of
Biden’s efforts to find a way to deal with Iran after years of deteriorating
relations under Trump.
He held numerous senior positions in the Democratic
administrations of Obama and former President Bill Clinton.
He informally advised Biden’s team during his
presidential campaign and served as the president of the International Crisis
Group, a non-profit organization that deals with global conflict.
Additionally, Malley was an informal adviser to
Obama’s presidential campaign in 2008 but resigned after it was revealed that
he had met with representatives of the Palestinian resistance movement, Hamas,
while working for the organization.
Malley was later brought into the Obama administration
and held a position with a focus on Middle East and Persian Gulf policymaking.
Biden has said that he may return the US to the deal,
but Iranian officials have stressed that Tehran should see genuine actions not
mere words from Washington.
They underscore that the US needs to first lift all
its sanctions to prove its goodwill and then ask Iran to resume its
obligations.
https://www.presstv.com/Detail/2021/01/29/644083/US-Joe-Biden-Iran-envoy-Robert-Malley-
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Biden taps Hady Amr as US Deputy Assistant Secretary
for Israel-Palestinian Affairs
Joseph Haboush
January 29, 2021
A former diplomat in the Obama administration is set
to become US President Joe Biden’s Deputy Assistant Secretary for Israel and
Palestinian Affairs, sources familiar with the move have said.
Hady Amr has accepted the role, and he has informed
friends and family of the decision, sources told Al Arabiya English.
Amr’s bio page on the Washington-based Brookings
Institution says that he is “currently serving in the Biden administration as
deputy assistant of state for Israeli-Palestinian affairs.”
An official announcement was made Thursday by the
State Department.
The sources said that Biden would not appoint a
special envoy specifically for the Palestinian-Israeli peace process.
Amr was former President Barack Obama’s deputy special
envoy for the Israeli-Palestinian Negotiations for Economics and Gaza.
With his experience and close ties to the Palestinian
leadership, he is expected to restore some of the lost trust in Washington
during the Trump administration.
The Biden administration has already reversed several
decisions made by the previous White House administration, viewed as heavily
biased toward Israel.
Biden officials have announced that the US will
restore ties with the Palestinian leadership, reopen the Palestine Liberation
Organization's diplomatic mission in Washington, and renew aid to the UN agency
that deals with Palestinian refugees around the world (UNRWA).
Palestinian officials welcomed the announcements on
Wednesday.
Amr, born in Lebanon, is one of the multiple
appointments of Arab-Americans made by Biden.
Appointed as the deputy-director of the White House
Office of Legislative Affairs, Reema Dodin, is of Palestinian descent. Dana
Shubat, is now a senior legal affairs advisor to Biden. Her parents are
Jordanian.
Separately, Biden has asked Maher Bitar to become a
director for intelligence on the National Security Council. Bitar is also of
Palestinian descent.
On the medical team, Biden previously appointed Dr.
Bechara Choucair as the White House Vaccinations Coordinator. Choucair is of
Lebanese descent.
https://english.alarabiya.net/News/middle-east/2021/01/28/Biden-taps-former-Obama-official-as-new-US-envoy-for-Palestinian-Israeli-affairs
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DHS Issues Its First National Terrorism Bulletin for
Domestic Extremists
By Rachael Levy and Ben Kesling
Jan. 27, 2021
The Department of Homeland Security issued its
first-ever national terrorism bulletin about violent domestic extremists,
warning they could attack in the coming weeks, emboldened by the Jan. 6 riot at
the U.S. Capitol.
DHS, in an advisory Wednesday, said violent extremists
opposed to the government and the presidential transition “could continue to
mobilize to incite or commit violence,” though the department said it doesn’t
have evidence of a specific plot.
The bulletin said that violent extremists have been
“motivated by a range of issues, including anger over Covid-19 restrictions,
the 2020 election results, and police use of force” as well as “long-standing
racial and ethnic tension, including opposition to immigration.”
DHS has commonly issued terrorism bulletins, though
those warnings usually focus on foreign-inspired threats. While this advisory
mentions terrorists inspired by foreign ideologies, it is notable for its focus
on domestic violent extremists—the first such bulletin ever published,
according to a DHS spokesman.
The most recent DHS bulletin—a warning that Iran had
the potential to carry out cyberattacks—came a year ago. DHS didn’t issue a
bulletin ahead of the planned Jan. 6 rally in Washington, D.C. that devolved
into a mob attack at the Capitol, despite public chatter online about the
extremists’ plans.
https://www.wsj.com/articles/dhs-issues-national-terrorism-alert-for-domestic-extremists-11611770893?utm_source=iterable&utm_medium=email&utm_campaign=1945447_
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Member of Extremist Group Pleads Guilty in Michigan
Governor Kidnapping Plot
By Neil MacFarquhar
Jan. 27, 2021
One member of an antigovernment group accused of
plotting to kidnap Gov. Gretchen Whitmer of Michigan last fall pleaded guilty
on Wednesday in federal court, with documents revealing new details about the
group’s plans to storm the Michigan Capitol and commit other violence.
Ty G. Garbin, a 25-year-old airplane mechanic, agreed
to testify against the other five defendants charged in federal court in
Western Michigan, according to the plea agreement filed by prosecutors. Eight
other men have been accused in state court of cooperating with the violent
plans, and Mr. Garbin will serve as a witness against them, too, it said.
Under questioning by Judge Robert J. Jonker in court,
Mr. Garbin said he realized that his testimony might end up hurting people he
knows. His sentencing was scheduled for July 8.
The defendants, arrested in October, were accused of
planning to kidnap Ms. Whitmer around the time of the Nov. 3 election and to
either abandon her in a boat in the middle of Lake Michigan or take her to
another state, possibly Wisconsin, and put her on trial.
They accused Ms. Whitmer of acting like a “tyrant” for
restrictions the state had put in place to combat the spread of the coronavirus.
The plot came amid heightened political tensions surrounding the presidential
election, tensions that had been building all year in Michigan with protests
against lockdowns that armed groups helped to organize starting in April.
Former President Donald J. Trump had tweeted “Liberate
Michigan!” at that time, and two of the accused in the state case were among
the protesters who entered the Michigan Statehouse last spring carrying long
guns and dressed in camouflage.
Other plans discussed by the group included a
military-style assault on the Statehouse, as well as carrying out attacks
against the Michigan State Police, and the plea agreement included new details
about those scenarios.
Mr. Garbin and several of the others accused in the
plot were members of the Wolverine Watchmen, a secretive armed organization
that spent much of 2020 discussing and rehearsing various efforts to attack the
government, according to the court papers. The plans were laid out at several
meetings and “field training exercises” in Michigan, Wisconsin and Ohio.
At one “field training exercise” in Cambria, Wis., in
July the defendants used plywood, shipping pallets and a door frame to
construct a “shoot house” to practice breaching the Michigan Capitol or other
buildings, according to the documents. Adam D. Fox, the accused leader of the
group, had allegedly sought to recruit 200 men for the attack, but it was later
abandoned because it was too complicated and some members of the group opposed
it.
In the plot to kidnap the governor, the defendants
visited Ms. Whitmer’s vacation home in Michigan twice and planned to buy $4,000
worth of explosives to blow up a bridge to try to prevent the police from
responding to their plan.
The group discussed waiting until after the election,
as members anticipated widespread civil unrest that might make it easier to
carry out the plan, the agreement said. At a field training exercise near
Luther, Mich., the men also built a “shoot house” to simulate an attack on the
governor’s house and practiced attacking it with firearms, the plea agreement
stated.
The field training exercises also included attempts to
build homemade bombs that included gunpowder, shrapnel and fireworks for
ignition. Two attempts to explode such devices failed, according to court
papers.
Gary K. Springstead, the lead lawyer defending Mr.
Garbin, said his client already faced a life sentence for the kidnapping
charge, a felony. Further charges for weapons or explosives were possible as
federal officials released more details about what the group had done. The plea
agreement could help lower the amount of jail time for the kidnapping plot and
also stave off further charges, said Mr. Springstead.
During the preliminary hearings in October, Mr.
Springstead and other lawyers in the case had focused on the idea that the men
were practicing their First and Second Amendment rights when denigrating the
governor.
The fact that the men had cased the governor’s house
made any such defense much harder, he said. “There was a line that was crossed,
something that you cannot undo,” the lawyer said.
Mr. Fox had posted pictures and video of the vacation
home on the group’s encrypted chat. In addition, Mr. Garber had joined with the
other men in discussing what to do if President Biden won the election,
selected Ms. Whitmer for his Cabinet and assigned her Secret Service
protection. The men talked about attacking her security detail, including
possibly using a shoulder-fired weapon to destroy a lead vehicle in her convoy.
One defendant, Barry G. Croft Jr., from Delaware, said
he had brought an AR-15 military-style rifle with projectile launcher for that
purpose, the plea agreement said. Mr. Fox had also told the group that he had
zip ties and a Taser to help “neutralize” the governor, the agreement said.
The government used two informants from among the
armed paramilitary group and two undercover agents to build the case against
the men, but Mr. Springstead said his client could tell the entire story.
Mr. Springstead said Mr. Garbin regretted what he had
done.
“Everyone is entitled to their thoughts about what the
governor should or should not do, but he realized that he had made a terrible
mistake,” he said.
https://www.nytimes.com/2021/01/27/us/ty-garbin-whitmer-kidnapping-plot.html?utm_source=iterable&utm_medium=email&utm_campaign=1945447_
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Saudi Arabia serves as key pillar of regional
security, major US partner: Pentagon
Tamara Abueish
29 January 2021
Saudi Arabia is a major partner of the United States
and an important pillar of regional security, the Pentagon said on Friday, the
pan-Arab daily newspaper Asharq al-Awsat reported.
The US will maintain talks with its regional partners
in the Middle East to determine the capabilities required to deter Iran and
support stability in the region, Lieutenant Colonel in the Marine Corps Anton
Semelroth, a spokesman for the Pentagon, said.
For all the latest headlines follow our Google News
channel online or via the app.
Washington has been preparing to expand its bases in
the Kingdom in the coming weeks.
“As we work to de-escalate tensions in the region
through principled diplomacy…we will also help our partner Saudi Arabia defend
against attacks on its territory and hold those who attempt to undermine
stability to account,” The Wall Street Journal cited US Department of State
spokesman Ned Price as saying on Monday.
The Pentagon this week concluded a preliminary
arrangement with Riyadh for the use of various air bases and sea ports in the
western regions of the country should a possible conflict with Iran arise, the
head Central Command on the Middle East General Kenneth Mckenzie told
reporters.
This comes as the Royal Saudi Navy, US Navy, and the
British minesweepers concluded joint naval exercises in the Arabian Gulf on
Thursday, according to Saudi Arabia’s Ministry of Defense.
Participating vessels executed a number of marine
formations, as well as boarding and searching ships, floating mines and
reconnaissance operations, port training and defense, drone operations and
shooting air and surface enemy targets with live ammunition.
https://english.alarabiya.net/News/gulf/2021/01/29/Saudi-Arabia-is-major-US-partner-important-pillar-of-regional-security-Pentagon
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US calls on Russia, Turkey to ‘immediately’ withdraw
troops from Libya
28 January 2021
The United States on Thursday called for the immediate
withdrawal of Russian and Turkish forces from Libya, after a deadline for them
to leave was ignored.
“We call on all external parties, to include Russia,
Turkey and the UAE, to respect Libyan sovereignty and immediately cease all
military intervention in Libya,” the acting US ambassador Richard Mills said
during a UN Security Council meeting on Libya, which has seen a decade of
fighting since the overthrow of former Libyan dictator Muammar Gaddafi.
For all the latest headlines, follow our Google News
channel online or via the app.
Under a UN-backed ceasefire signed October 23, foreign
troops and mercenaries were to pull out of Libya within three months. That
deadline passed on Saturday with no movement announced or observed on the
ground.
“Per the October ceasefire agreement we call on Turkey
and Russia to immediately initiate the withdrawal of their forces from the
country and the removal of the foreign mercenaries and military proxies that
they have recruited, financed, deployed and supported in Libya,” said Mills.
The UN estimates there are some 20,000 foreign troops
and mercenaries in Libya helping the warring factions: the Government of
National Accord in Tripoli and Commander of the Libyan National Army (LNA)
Khalifa Haftar.
The GNA has received military support from Turkey.
Haftar has the backing of the United Arab Emirates and Egypt as well as Russia.
https://english.alarabiya.net/News/north-africa/2021/01/28/US-calls-on-Russia-Turkey-to-immediately-withdraw-troops-from-Libya-
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Europe
UK bans direct flights from UAE, shutting world's
busiest international route
January 29, 2021
Britain is banning direct passenger flights from the
United Arab Emirates (UAE) from Friday (today), shutting down the world's
busiest international airline route from Dubai to London.
Britain said it was adding the UAE, Burundi and Rwanda
to its coronavirus travel ban list because of worries over the spread of a more
contagious and potentially vaccine-resistant Covid-19 variant first identified
in South Africa.
“This means people who have been in or transited
through these countries will be denied entry, except British, Irish and third
country nationals with residence rights who must self-isolate for ten days at home,”
UK Transport Minister Grant Shapps said on Twitter on Thursday.
On its website, Emirates said it would suspend all UK
passenger flights from 1300 GMT, when the ban takes effect. Etihad Airways said
it would only suspend flights to Britain, with those from the UK remaining
unaffected.
In a statement, Dubai airport advised those booked on
flights due to arrive in Britain after the ban not to go to the airport and
instead contact their airline.
Britain's transport department advised nationals now
in the UAE to use indirect commercial routes to fly back to Britain.
Border closures caused by Covid-19 made Dubai to
London the world's busiest international route in January, with 190,365
scheduled seats over the month, airline data provider OAG said.
Emirates and Etihad normally carry large numbers of
passengers connecting from Britain to destinations like Australia through their
airport hubs, meaning the decision to cancel those flights will have
far-reaching implications.
The Australian government said it will add more
charter flights from Britain if needed as a result of the Emirates and Etihad
cancellations.
Eran Ben-Avraham, an Australian stranded in Britain
due to strict limits on the number of arrivals in Australia, said his options
for getting home were continually shrinking.
“At the moment it is only giving us three options of
flying; Qatar, ANA or Singapore Airlines,” he told the Australian Broadcasting
Corporation.
“Every day it is making it more difficult to get home.
The flights back are anywhere from like 4,000 pounds ($5,487).”
https://www.dawn.com/news/1604298/uk-bans-direct-flights-from-uae-shutting-worlds-busiest-international-route
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US charges Iraqi-born UK national with bribery scheme
to obtain Iraq contracts
28 January 2021
An Iraqi-born British national has been criminally
charged in New Jersey with involvement in a bribery scheme to obtain millions
of dollars of U.S. Army Corps of Engineers reconstruction contracts in Iraq,
the U.S. Department of Justice said on Wednesday.
The defendant, Shwan Al-Mulla, and his co-conspirators
allegedly received confidential information to get an edge in the bidding
process for the contracts, in exchange for more than $1 million in bribes paid
from 2007 to 2009 to a USACE employee deployed in Tikrit, Iraq.
For all the latest headlines follow our Google News
channel online or via the app.
Al-Mulla, 60, the former owner of Baghdad-based Iraqi
Consultants & Construction Bureau (ICCB), was charged with seven counts of
honest services wire fraud and one count of conspiracy to commit bribery.
Each fraud count carries a maximum 20-year prison
term.
The charges were announced by Acting U.S. Attorney
Rachael Honig in New Jersey. Her office said Al-Mulla is at large.
A lawyer for Al-Mulla could not immediately be
located.
The USACE employee, John Salama Markus of Nazareth,
Pennsylvania, pleaded guilty to fraud, money laundering and tax offenses in
2012 and is serving a 13-year prison term.
Another co-conspirator, Ahmed Nouri, pleaded guilty to
a conspiracy charge in 2018 and has yet to be sentenced, Honig's office said.
ICCB paid $2.7 million in 2013 to resolve Justice
Department allegations it violated the federal False Claims Act by paying
bribes to Salama Markus.
https://english.alarabiya.net/News/world/2021/01/28/US-charges-Iraqi-born-UK-national-with-bribery-scheme-to-obtain-Iraq-contracts
--------
Europe complicit in Yemen humanitarian disaster by
selling arms to Saudi Arabia, UAE: Lawmaker
28 January 2021
A member of the European Parliament has denounced Europe’s
support for the ongoing Saudi-led military onslaught on Yemen, arguing that EU
nations have done little to condemn the attacks and deal with the humanitarian
catastrophe there.
“We are complicit in this humanitarian disaster,”
independent Irish politician Mick Wallace wrote in a post published on his
official Twitter page on Wednesday.
He also railed against European countries for their
arms exports to Saudi Arabia and the United Arab Emirates, stating that the
Saudi-led coalition has put millions of people in Yemen at risk of starvation.
“Saudi Arabia and the UAE deliberately starve millions
in Yemen - and the EU can't even stop its Member States from arming them,”
Wallace said.
Saudi Arabia and the UAE deliberately starves millions
in #Yemen - and the #EU can't even stop its Member States from arming them.
Over 100,000 children have died there and the @UN
takes Saudi Arabia off the Child-Killer Blacklist
We are complicit in this humanitarian disaster
pic.twitter.com/IdmZzGFPPn
— Mick Wallace (@wallacemick) January 27, 2021
The MEP also censured the United Nations over last
June’s decision to remove the Saudi-led military alliance from a blacklist for
killing and injuring children in Yemen, saying more than 100,000 children have
lost their lives in the conflict-plagued Arab country.
Earlier last month, Yemeni officials raised the alarm
about a deteriorating humanitarian catastrophe because of the Saudi-led
military campaign and tight blockade against the crisis-hit country, saying
that “a child dies every 10 minutes” in Yemen.
The Yemeni Health Ministry issued the warning on
December 1, noting that shortfalls in aid funding were aggravating the
humanitarian situation there.
According to the United Nations, acute malnutrition
rates among Yemeni children under five are the highest ever recorded.
Saudi Arabia and a number of its regional allies
launched the war on Yemen in March 2015, with the goal of bringing the
government of former president, Abd Rabbuh Mansur Hadi, back to power and
crushing the popular Houthi Ansarullah movement.
The Ansarullah movement, backed by the Yemeni armed
forces and allied popular groups, has been successfully defending Yemen against
the Saudi aggression, leaving Riyadh and its allies bogged down in the county.
Former US president Donald Trump had long overlooked
and defended the Saudi-led coalition’s acts of aggression in Yemen in favor of
lucrative arms sales to the regime in Riyadh.
His successor, Joe Biden, has pledged to “end US
support for Saudi Arabia’s war in Yemen.”
https://www.presstv.com/Detail/2021/01/28/644052/Europe-complicit-in-Yemen-humanitarian-disaster-lawmaker-says
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German Woman Charged With Plotting Attack on Muslims,
Others
Jan. 27, 2021
BERLIN (AP) — A GERMAN woman has been charged with preparing
a far-right attack and other crimes on allegations she was in the process of
building a bomb to target Muslims and local politicians in Bavaria, Munich
prosecutors said Wednesday.
Susanne G., whose last name wasn't given in line with
privacy laws, also faces charges of making threats and violations of weapons
laws, among other things. She has been in custody since her arrest.
Prosecutors allege that the woman started planning a
firebombing attack no later than May 2020, motivated by her xenophobic and
extreme-right views.
She is alleged to have downloaded information on bomb
building online and have gathered materials for the construction, including
gasoline, fireworks and fuses, by the time of her arrest in September.
Between December 2019 and March 2020 the suspect is
alleged to have sent six anonymous letters, five including a live bullet, with
death threats to a local politician in the Nuremberg area, a Muslim community
association, and an asylum seeker aid organization.
During the summer of 2020, she started focusing on
local police officers and a different local politician than the one threatened
by letter as other possible targets, and began scouting their homes and cars.
https://www.usnews.com/news/world/articles/2021-01-27/german-woman-charged-with-plotting-attack-on-muslims-others?utm_source=iterable&utm_medium=email&utm_campaign=1945447_
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Arab World
Pope Francis to meet Shia cleric Sistani during visit
to Iraq: Cardinal
28 January 2021
Pope Francis is to meet top Shia cleric Grand
Ayatollah Ali Sistani during the first-ever papal visit to Iraq in March, a
senior Catholic cleric told AFP on Thursday.
Louis Sako, patriarch of Iraq’s Chaldean Catholic
Church, said it would be a “private visit” between the two religious figures “without
formalities.”
Sako said he hoped the two figures would sign the
document on “human fraternity for world peace,” an inter-religious text
condemning extremism that Pope Francis signed with the leading Sunni cleric,
the grand imam of Al-Azhar, Sheikh Ahmed al-Tayeb, in 2019.
Pope Francis is set to be in Iraq from March 5 to 8,
with visits planned to the capital Baghdad, the northern city of Mosul and Ur,
where Abraham is said to have been born.
Iraq once counted more than 1.5 million Christians,
but the community has been ravaged by successive conflicts.
Following the US-led invasion of 2003, sectarian
warfare prompted followers of Iraq’s multiple Christian denominations to flee
and attacks by the ISIS in 2014 further hit all minority communities.
Now, an estimated 400,000 Christians remain in Iraq.
Many have expressed hope that the Pope’s visit will
highlight the challenges facing the community, including prolonged displacement
and little representation in government.
https://english.alarabiya.net/News/middle-east/2021/01/28/Pope-Francis-to-meet-Shia-cleric-Sistani-during-visit-to-Iraq-Cardinal-
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Lebanon’s caretaker PM condemns overnight violence in
Tripoli
29 January 2021
Lebanon’s caretaker prime minister on Friday condemned
overnight violence in the city of Tripoli, where protesters angry over a strict
lockdown clashed with security forces and set the municipality building on
fire.
Thursday was the fourth straight night of unrest in
one of Lebanon’s poorest cities, after the government imposed a 24-hour curfew
to curb a COVID-19 surge that has killed more than 2,500 people.
“The criminals who set the municipality on fire and
attempted to burn the court ... represent a black hatred for Tripoli,” Hassan
Diab said in a statement.
“The challenge now is in defeating these criminals by
arresting them one by one and referring them to the judicial system.”
Flames engulfed the government building after it
caught fire just before midnight on Thursday. Police had been firing tear gas
at protesters hurling Molotov cocktails.
A funeral for a man who died after being shot by a
bullet on Wednesday night had given fuel to the further protests.
Security forces said they had fired live rounds to
disperse rioters trying to storm the government building.
Diab’s statement on Friday did not mention the
killing; Human Rights Watch has called for it to be investigated.
“We promise to work quickly to restore the
municipality building of Tripoli so that it remains an expression of its
dignity and pure heritage,” Diab said.
The lockdown, in effect since Jan. 11, is piling extra
hardship on the poor, now more than half the population, with little government
aid.
For more coronavirus news, visit our dedicated page.
Lebanon has been in the throes of its worst financial
crisis since 2019 and anger has erupted into protests over the economy, state
corruption and political mismanagement.
A currency crash has triggered fears of rising hunger,
but Lebanese leaders have yet to launch a rescue plan or enact reforms to
unlock aid, prompting rebukes, including from foreign donors.
Diab is steering the government in a caretaker role as
fractious politicians remain unable to agree on a new administration since his
quit in the aftermath of the Aug. 4 Beirut port explosion leaving Lebanon rudderless
as poverty soars.
https://english.alarabiya.net/News/middle-east/2021/01/29/Beirut-explosion-Lebanon-s-caretaker-PM-condemns-overnight-violence-in-Tripoli-
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Iraq announces killing of senior ISIS commander one
week after deadly Baghdad bombing
Joseph Haboush
28 January 2021
Iraqi security forces killed a top ISIS commander,
Prime Minister Mustafa al-Kadhimi announced Thursday, exactly one week after a
deadly suicide bombing rocked Baghdad.
“Our heroic armed forces have eliminated Daesh (ISIS)
commander Abu Yaser Al-Issawi as part of an intelligence-led operation,”
Kadhimi said in a tweet.
The Iraqi premier said he gave his word to pursue ISIS
terrorists and “we gave them a thundering response.”
The bombing killed more than 30 people and wounded
over 100 more.
https://english.alarabiya.net/News/middle-east/2021/01/28/Iraq-announces-killing-of-senior-ISIS-commander-one-week-after-deadly-Baghdad-bombing
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Lebanese man dies of wounds after lockdown protests
28 January 2021
A man died of his wounds Thursday in Lebanon after
clashes between security forces and protesters angered by the combined impact
of a severe economic crisis and a coronavirus lockdown.
Omar Tayba sustained a bullet wound late Wednesday
when protests in the northern city of Tripoli turned violent for the third
night running, his brother Ahmad told AFP.
“My brother was in Tripoli watching the protests when
he was hit,” he said. “He was transferred to hospital and died this morning.
The 29-year-old man, who was employed in a bakery,
became the first fatality -- reported also by local media -- of the protests
that erupted earlier this week in Tripoli.
According to the National News Agency, a total of 226
people received treatment Wednesday night.
Tripoli was already one of Lebanon’s poorest areas
before the coronavirus pandemic piled new misery onto a chronic economic
crisis.
Many of its residents have been left without an income
since Lebanon imposed a full lockdown earlier this month in a bid to stem a
surge in Covid-19 cases and prevent its hospitals from being overwhelmed.
A round-the-clock curfew is in force nationwide and
grocery shopping is restricted to home deliveries -- a service that is often
unavailable in poorer areas.
Authorities have extended the lockdown by two weeks to
February 8.
https://english.alarabiya.net/News/middle-east/2021/01/28/Lebanese-man-dies-of-wounds-after-lockdown-protests
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Security forces kill Daesh self-proclaimed leader in
Iraq: PM Kadhimi
28 January 2021
Iraqi Prime Minister and Commander in Chief of the
Armed Forces Mustafa al-Kadhimi says the country’s security forces have managed
to eliminate a high-profile member of the Daesh Takfiri terrorist group during
a counter-terrorism operation.
Kadhimi wrote in a post published on his official
Twitter page that Abu Yaser al-Issawi, the self-proclaimed leader of the terror
group in Iraq and its “deputy caliph,” had been killed. He, however, did not
provide any information about when and where the top-brass terrorist had been
eliminated.
“We promised and fulfilled. I gave my word to pursue
Daesh terrorists, we gave them a thundering response,” the Iraqi prime minister
tweeted.
He added, “Our heroic armed forces have eliminated
Daesh commander Abu Yaser al-Issawi as part of an intelligence-led operation.
Long live Iraq and its patriotic armed forces.”
We promised and fulfilled. I gave my word to pursue
Daesh terrorists, we gave them a thundering response. Our heroic armed forces
have eliminated Daesh commander Abu Yaser Al-Issawi as part of an
intelligence-led operation.
Long live Iraq and its patriotic armed forces.
— Mustafa Al-Kadhimi مصطفى الكاظمي
(@MAKadhimi) January 28, 2021
Iraq declared victory over Daesh in December 2017
after a three-year counter-terrorism military campaign.
نعرض على شعبنا العراقي الأبي صورة الإرهابي الهالك جبار
سلمان علي الملقب " أبوياسر " والذي يشغل منصب والي #العراق ونائب الخليفة
المزعوم لتنظيم داعش التكفيري، والذي قُتل برشقةبالرأس من بنادق رجال جهاز مُكافحةالإرهاب
بعملية نوعية نُفذت بالتنسيق مع جهاز المخابرات الوطني في
وادي الشاي pic.twitter.com/fnoaZ3Nb6R
—
جهاز مكافحة الإرهاب (@iraqicts)
January 28, 2021
The terror outfit’s remnants, though, keep staging
sporadic attacks across Iraq, attempting to regroup and unleash a new era of
violence.
Daesh has intensified its terrorist attacks in Iraq
since January 2020, when the United States assassinated top Iranian anti-terror
commander Lieutenant General Qassem Soleimani and Abu Mahdi al-Muhandis, the
deputy head of the Popular Mobilization Units (PMU), along with their
companions in a drone strike authorized by former US president Donald Trump
near Baghdad International Airport.
In its latest attack, Daesh claimed responsibility for
a rare twin explosion that tore through a busy area of central Baghdad on
January 21, killing at least 32 people and wounding 110 others.
The first attacker drew a crowd at the bustling market
in the capital’s Tayaran Square by claiming to feel sick, then detonated his
explosives belt, the Interior Ministry said.
As more people then flocked to the scene to help the
victims, a second suicide bomber set off his explosives.
https://www.presstv.com/Detail/2021/01/28/644057/Daesh-deputy-caliph-so-called-governor-of-Iraq-eliminated-PM-Kadhimi
--------
South Asia
Taliban Violence Raises Questions About US Troop
Withdrawal
JANUARY 29, 2021
WASHINGTON: The Pentagon on Thursday said the
Taliban’s refusal to meet commitments to reduce violence in Afghanistan is
raising questions about whether all U.S. troops will be able to leave by May as
required under the peace agreement.
Pentagon chief spokesman John Kirby said the U.S.
stands by its commitment for a full troop withdrawal, but the agreement also
calls for the Taliban to cut ties with al-Qaida and reduce violence. Echoing
what senior military and defense leaders have asserted in recent months, Kirby
said the Taliban has not yet met the requirements set in the peace agreement.
Without them meeting their commitments to renounce
terrorism and to stop the violent attacks against the Afghan National Security
Forces, it’s very hard to see a specific way forward for the negotiated
settlement,” Kirby said. “But were still committed to that.
White House and State Department officials have made
it clear that President Joe Biden’s administration plans to take a new look at
the peace agreement, which was signed last February with the Trump White House.
The White House said Bidens national security adviser,
Jake Sullivan, told his Afghan counterpart in a phone call last Friday that the
new administration will review the deal. And newly installed Secretary of State
Antony Blinken said Wednesday the administration wanted to take a detailed look
to “understand exactly what is in the agreement before deciding how to proceed.
The Taliban are not meeting their commitments to
reduce violence and reduce their ties to al-Qaida, Kirby told a Pentagon press
conference on Thursday. As long as they’re not meeting their commitments, it’s
going to be difficult for anybody at that negotiating table to meet their
commitments. In fact it wouldnt be the wise course. We obviously are still
committed to ending this war, but we want to do it in a responsible way.
The peace agreement called for the U.S. to reduce
troop levels to 2,500, and then to remove all forces by May. Former President
Donald Trump ordered U.S. troops levels in Afghanistan cut to 2,500 just days
before he left office, presenting Biden with difficult decisions about how to
retain leverage against the Taliban in support of peace talks.
A key concern in the Pentagon is the continued high
levels of Taliban violence against the Afghans. And some U.S. officials have
questioned the wisdom of fully withdrawing if violence remains high.
Military officials have said there are now 2,500 U.S.
troops in Afghanistan, mainly conducting counterterror operations.
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. But frustration and fear have grown over a recent spike in
violence, and both sides blame the other.
https://www.news18.com/news/world/taliban-violence-raises-questions-about-us-troop-withdrawal-3357659.html
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No decision yet on future force posture in
Afghanistan: Pentagon
Jan 29, 2021
WASHINGTON: No decision has been made about the future
presence of the US troops in Afghanistan, the Pentagon has said, asserting that
the Biden administration is committed to responsibly end the war in the
strife-torn country with the diplomatic process.
The previous Trump administration had signed the peace
deal with Taliban in February last in Doha. The accord drew up plans for
withdrawal of US troops from Afghanistan in exchange for security guarantees
from the insurgent group.
As part of the deal, the US committed to withdraw its
12,000 troops from Afghanistan within 14 months. There are currently only 2,500
American troops left in the war-torn country.
“We obviously are still committed to ending this war,
but we want to do it in a responsible way, and I don't think it's helpful to be
drawn now into specific hypothetical questions about the troop numbers on a
specific calendar basis,” John Kirby, the Pentagon press secretary, said on
Thursday.
"We are still committed to ending this war, and
we obviously, the president has made it clear he wants to bring American troops
home from Afghanistan, but we are going to do it in lockstep with the
diplomatic process to try to find a negotiated settlement,” he said.
“If any decision of force levels in Afghanistan is
going to be driven by our security requirements there, our security commitments
there and driven by conditions, and I think we have been very clear about that.
They will be conditions-based. We obviously want to see a responsible end to
this war. We obviously want to see successful negotiated settlements to end
it,” he said.
Responding to a question, Kirby said the Taliban are
not meeting their commitments to reduce violence and to renounce their ties to
al-Qaida, and they're not meeting their commitments.
“As long as they are not meeting their commitments,
it's going to be difficult for anybody at that negotiating table to meet their
commitments. In fact, it wouldn't be the wise course,” he said.
The United States, Kirby said, is still involved in
trying to get a negotiated settlement.
“The Taliban have not met their commitments. As you
know, there is a looming deadline of early May that is before everybody in
terms of wanting to have a solution here,” he said.
“But without them meeting their commitments to
renounce the terrorism and to stop the violent attacks on the Afghan national
security forces and by dint of that the Afghan people, it's very hard to see a
specific way forward for the negotiated settlement. But we're still committed
to that. There's no question about that,” he said.
Defence secretary Lloyd Austin has been clear in
testimony that the US needs to find a reasonable rational end to this war, and
that it's got to be done through a negotiated settlement. That includes the
Afghan government having to be involved in this. And thus far, the Taliban has
been, to put it politely, reticent to meet their requirements, Kirby said.
Both General Miller, the commander in Afghanistan, and
of course the chairman of the Joint Chiefs, General Milley has made it clear
that they believe that that is a sufficient number to accomplish the mission,
which is largely a counterterrorism mission right now, he said, adding that
there are many NATO (the North Atlantic Treaty Organisation) partners in
Afghanistan as well.
“There hasn't been any decisions made now about what
that force presence is going to look like going forward. I would say this to
leaders of the Taliban, that it is going to be--they make it that much more
difficult for final decisions to be made about force presence by their
reticence to commit to reasonable, sustainable, and credible negotiations at
the table,” Kirby said.
The Taliban is committed to prevent other groups,
including Al Qaeda, from using Afghan soil to recruit, train or fund raise
toward activities that threaten the US or its allies.
Although the Taliban stopped attacks on international
forces as part of the historic deal, it continued to fight the Afghan
government. As a condition of starting talks with the Afghan government, the
Taliban demanded that thousands of their members be released in a prisoner
swap.
Direct talks between the Afghan government and the
Taliban began in Doha in September last year, but a breakthrough is yet to be
reached.
Levels of violence in Afghanistan remain high with
journalists, activists, politicians and women judges among those killed in
targeted assassinations.
https://timesofindia.indiatimes.com/world/south-asia/no-decision-yet-on-future-force-posture-in-afghanistan-pentagon/articleshow/80564715.cms
--------
Bangladesh sends 3rd group of Rohingya refugees to
remote island
JAN 29, 2021
More than 1,700 Rohingya refugees, members of a Muslim
minority who have fled Myanmar, will be moved to a remote island with more
readying to go on Saturday after Bangladesh earlier relocated around 3,500
people despite calls by rights groups not to carry out further moves, citing
the risk of storms and floods lashing the site.
They are the newest addition to the roughly 3,500
Rohingya refugees from neighboring Myanmar that Bangladesh has sent to the
island of Bhasan Char in the Bay of Bengal since early December from border
camps where a million live in ramshackle huts.
"Today we are expecting 1,700-plus people to
arrive here," Commodore Abdullah Al Mamun Chowdhury, the officer in charge
of the island, told Reuters by telephone on Friday. More Rohingya who
volunteered to shift to the island were being transferred to the nearest port
city of Chittagong from the camps, he added.
"Tomorrow they will be moved to Bhasan Char. All
together we are expecting 3,000-plus people," Chowdhury said. The island
is several hours' journey away from the southern port.
The Rohingya, a minority group who fled violence in
Buddhist-majority Myanmar, are not allowed to move off the island without
permission from the government. Bangladesh says the relocation is voluntary,
but some of the first group, sent in December, spoke of being coerced.
The island surfaced only 20 years ago and was not
previously inhabited. It was regularly submerged by monsoon rains but now has
flood protection embankments, houses, hospitals and mosques built by the
Bangladesh Navy at a cost of more than $112 million. The island's facilities
are designed to accommodate just a fraction of the million Rohingya Muslims who
fled waves of violent persecution in their native Myanmar and are currently
living in crowded, squalid refugee camps in Cox's Bazar district, whereas many
as a dozen people share a single shelter and there is scarce access to soap and
water in some areas.
The government says overcrowding in the Cox's Bazar
district camps is fuelling crime, as efforts to return them to Myanmar
flounder.
"What options do we have? How long can we live in
the crowded camps under tarpaulins?" asked Mohammed Ibrahim, 25, en route
to the island where some of his relatives have already been moved. "This
is going nowhere, the way the international community is handling our
crisis," he told Reuters by mobile telephone.
Dhaka has dismissed flood concerns over the island,
citing that the government built a 12-kilometer (7.5-mile) embankment that is 2
meters (6.5 feet) high. In addition, housing for 100,000 people, hospitals and
cyclone centers have been erected.
Bangladesh has drawn criticism for its reluctance to
consult with aid bodies, including the United Nations High Commissioner for
Refugees, over the transfers. The agency says it has not been allowed to
evaluate the safety and sustainability of life on the island.
"We look forward to continuing a constructive
dialogue with the government regarding its Bhasan Char project, including the
proposed U.N. technical and protection assessments," it said in an email.
Bangladeshi authorities sent the first group of 1,642
Rohingya to the island on Dec. 4, despite calls for a halt by human rights
groups. International aid agencies and the U.N. have opposed the relocation
since it was first proposed in 2015, expressing fear that a big storm could
overwhelm the island and endanger thousands of lives.
The United Nations wants the refugees to be allowed to
make a "free and informed decision” about whether to relocate. Amnesty
International and Human Rights Watch (HRW) have urged the government to cancel
the plan. An influential Cabinet minister and general secretary of the
governing party, Obaidul Quader, said that the Rohingya are being moved to the
island because their repatriation to Myanmar has been delayed. He said refugees
who were earlier taken to Bhashan Char have expressed satisfaction.
Bangladesh has attempted to start sending refugees
back to Myanmar under a bilateral agreement, but no one was willing to go. The
Rohingya are not recognized as citizens in Myanmar, rendering them stateless
and face other state-sanctioned discrimination.
Bangladesh and Myanmar resumed negotiations, mediated
by China, on the repatriation of the Rohingya on Jan. 19 after a year of
silence. Dhaka called on Naypyitaw to create conditions in which refugees would
agree to return. Both sides tentatively discussed a new attempt to begin
repatriation in the second quarter of the new year, although it was not
immediately clear what guarantees the Rohingya would receive regarding their
safety and livelihoods as planned.
“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,” Naypyidaw’s Ministry
of Foreign Affairs said in a statement earlier in January.
About 750,000 Rohingya Muslims, mostly women and
children, fled from Buddhist-majority Myanmar to Bangladesh after August 2017,
when Naypyitaw's military began a harsh crackdown on the minority group
following an attack by insurgents. 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 were beaten and 18,000 Rohingya women and girls were raped by the
Myanmar army and police, according to OIDA's "Forced Rohingya Migration:
An Ineffable Experience." The report also states that more than 115,000
Rohingya homes were burned down and another 113,000 were destroyed.
https://www.dailysabah.com/world/asia-pacific/bangladesh-sends-3rd-group-of-rohingya-refugees-to-remote-island?gallery_image=undefined#big
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Pentagon: Taliban are not honouring commitments to US
29 Jan 2021
US department of defense on Thursday said, that the
Taliban have not stayed to the promise they made during the Taliban-US peace
deal, the group has not reduced their violence and did not sever ties with
Al-Qaeda.
As per the agreement, US troops are required to fully
withdraw from Afghanistan by May 2021, but the Pentagon announced that the
Biden administration would not commit to full troops’ drawdown in May, as The
Taliban have not Honored their deal with the US, CNN reported.
“We are still involved in trying to get a negotiated
settlement. The Taliban have not met their commitments,” said John Kirby,
spokesman for Pentagon, ” adding that “Without them meeting their commitments
to renounce terrorism and to stop the violent attacks on the Afghan national
security forces, and by dint of that the Afghan people, it’s very hard to see a
specific way forward for the negotiated settlement.”
Kirby indicated that the Biden administration will
remain committed to the US Taliban deal, but the requirements are that the
Taliban halt attacks on US troops, decrease violence in the region, cut ties
with other groups like Al-Qaeda, and advance with Afghan peace negotiations.
Based on full troops withdrawal, “What I’m saying is
that any decision of force levels in Afghanistan is going to be driven by our
security requirements, there are security commitments there, and driven by
conditions,” Kirby added.
“no decision
has been made on future force posture”, Kirby said.
There has been no change in US commitments in the
peace deal, But the Taliban were not committed to a reduction in violence and
renounced ties with Al-Qaeda, according to Kirby.
“it’s going to be difficult for anybody at that
negotiating table” to meet their commitments, Kirby said.
Taliban spokesman Zabiullah Mujahid has reportedly
denied the Pentagon’s claim that the Taliban had not fulfilled its obligations
under the Doha agreement, and said that the group was committed to all the
requirements of the agreement.
He also called on the United States to practically
implement their commitments agreed in Doha and urged the US to fully adhere to
the deal.
This comes as Secretary of state Antony Blinken talked
to President Ghani about the Afghan peace process and US commitment to enduring
US-Afghanistan partnership, the US department said in a statement.
“The Secretary highlighted robust diplomatic support
for the peace process focused on helping the parties to the conflict achieve a
durable and just political settlement and permanent and comprehensive ceasefire
that benefits all Afghans,” the statement read.
According to the statement, Blinken “shared that the
United States is reviewing the February
2020 US-Taliban agreement and whether the Taliban are living up to their
commitments to cut ties with terrorist groups, to reduce violence in
Afghanistan, and to engage in meaningful negotiations with the Afghan government
and other stakeholders.”
“The Secretary reiterated his desire for all Afghan
leaders to support this historic opportunity for peace while preserving the
progress made over the last 20 years with regard to human rights, civil
liberties, and the role of women in Afghan society”, the statement said.
“The Secretary
committed to consultations with the Government of Afghanistan, NATO allies, and
international partners regarding a collective strategy to support a stable,
sovereign, democratic, and secure future for Afghanistan.”, the statement
concluded
https://www.khaama.com/pentagon-taliban-are-not-honoring-commitments-to-us-5656565/
--------
Biden admin ditches May obligation to withdraw troops
from Afghanistan
29 January 2021
The Pentagon says the Biden administration will not
commit to a full withdrawal of troops from Afghanistan by May after it accused
the Taliban of not honoring the commitments they made in their deal with the
United States.
The US reached an agreement with the Taliban in
February last year on the withdrawal of 12,000 US troops from Afghanistan in
exchange for the Taliban’s halting of their attacks on American forces.
Under the deal, the former President Donald Trump’s
administration promised to bring the number of US forces in Afghanistan to zero
by May 2021.
"The Taliban have not met their commitments. They
are not meeting their commitments and as long as they are not meeting their
commitments, it is going to be difficult for anybody at that negotiating table
to meet their commitments,” Pentagon spokesperson John Kirby said at a news
briefing.
"... it's very hard to see a specific way forward
for the negotiated settlement. I don't think it is helpful to be drawn now into
specific hypothetical discussions about troop numbers on a specific calendar
basis,” he added.
Kirby also said no decision had been made by the Biden
administration about future troop levels in Afghanistan.
Earlier, US Secretary of State Antony Blinken had
hinted at a review of the withdrawal plan.
He told reporters on Wednesday that he was working to
understand "exactly what is in the agreements that were reached between
the United States and the Taliban to make sure that we fully understand the
commitments that the Taliban has made as well as any commitments that we've
made."
Blinken called Afghanistan "a real
challenge" during his confirmation hearing last week.
Last Friday, Biden's newly appointed national security
advisor, Jake Sullivan, informed his Afghan counterpart Hamdullah Mohib about
the “United States' intention to review” the February deal.
He said Washington wanted to check that the Taliban
side was "living up to its commitments to… reduce violence in Afghanistan,
and to engage in meaningful negotiations with the Afghan government and other
stakeholders."
On Wednesday, a senior Taliban official said the US
was provoking the continuation of war in Afghanistan.
Ali Shamkhani, the secretary of Iran’s Supreme
National Security Council, agreed with Taliban’s top political leader Mullah
Abdul Ghani Baradar in Tehran that the United States is not seeking peace and
security in Afghanistan, and that Washington’s policy is to prolong militancy
and bloodshed among various Afghan factions.
The US invaded Afghanistan in October 2001 under the
pretext of the so-called war on terror, overthrowing the Taliban regime.
Since the US invasion of Afghanistan, Washington has
spent more than two trillion dollars waging war on the impoverished country,
according to some estimates. Over 2,400 American soldiers and tens of thousands
of Afghan civilians have been killed.
https://www.presstv.com/Detail/2021/01/29/644092/Pentagon-Biden-administration-SU-troop-withdrawal-Afghanistan
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Southeast Asia
Perlis allows obligatory prayers in mosques held at
maximum capacity
28 Jan 2021
KANGAR, Jan 28 — Obligatory prayers in mosques in
Perlis will be allowed to be held at maximum capacity according to the size of
the mosque beginning tomorrow.
The Raja Muda of Perlis Tuanku Syed Faizuddin Putra
Jamalullail in a statement issued by the Islamic Religious Council and Malay
Custom Perlis (MAIPs) today said the matter had been consented to by the Raja
of Perlis Tuanku Syed Sirajuddin Putra Jamalullail.
Tuanku Syed Faizuddin, who is also MAIPs president
said the permission was given as the pandemic was currently under control in
the state.
“Beginning from dawn (prayers) tomorrow (January 29)
until Isyak time on February 4, 2021, or until a later date which may be
determined, mosques will be allowed to hold congregational prayers with maximum
attendance according to the size of the mosque,” he said.
He said, however, the permission only applied to
mosques and hostel suraus, while activities in other suraus in the state were
still put on hold.
“Members of the congregation should be from the kariah
(vicinity) of the mosque, aged between 15 and 59,” he said, while reminding the
public to always adhere to the health and safety standard operating procedures
that have been set. — Bernama
https://www.malaymail.com/news/malaysia/2021/01/28/perlis-allows-obligatory-prayers-in-mosques-held-at-maximum-capacity/1944943
--------
Pakistan
Pakistan: Lashkar-e-Islam terrorist group head Mangal
Bagh killed in Afghanistan
29 January 2021
Pakistan's Lashkar-e-Islam terrorist group head Mangal
Bagh was killed in a bomb blast in Afghanistan's eastern Nangarhar province on
Thursday.
Bagh was killed in blast in the Bandari locality of
Achin district, Pajhwok Afghan News reported.
"Mangal Bagh, the leader of Lashkar-e-Islam
terrorist group, was killed along with two of his comrades in a roadside bomb
blast in the Bandar Dara area of Achin district of Nangarhar this
morning," provincial governor Ziaulhaq Amarkhil tweeted.
Bagh was reported dead several times, however, he
continued to reappear, The Express Tribune reported. According to US State
Department, Mangal Bagh carried up to USD 3 million of bounty on his head.
"Mangal Bagh is the leader of Lashkar-e-Islam, a
militant faction affiliated with Tehrik-e-Taliban Pakistan (TTP). His group
earns revenue from drug trafficking, smuggling, kidnapping, raids on NATO
convoys, and taxes on transit trade between Pakistan and Afghanistan,"
State Department's Reward for Peace data said.
According to the State Department, Bagh has led
Lashkar-e-Islam since 2006 and has routinely shifted alliances to protect
illicit revenue streams while enforcing an extreme version of Deobandi Islam in
the areas of eastern Afghanistan and western Pakistan that he controls,
particularly Nangarhar Province, Afghanistan.
Born in Khyber Agency, Pakistan, he is believed to be
in his mid-forties. Bagh is a member of the Afridi tribe. He studied at a
madrasa for several years and later fought alongside militant groups in
Afghanistan.
http://www.catchnews.com/international-news/pakistan-lashkar-e-islam-terrorist-group-head-mangal-bagh-killed-in-afghanistan-209605.html
--------
Pak defence ministry opposes request for removal of
ex-ISI chief’s name from no-fly list
Jan 29, 2021
ISLAMABAD: Pakistan’s defence ministry has opposed a
request seeking removal of the name of former Inter-Services Intelligence (ISI)
chief Lt Gen (retired) Asad Durrani from the Exit Control List (ECL), or no-fly
list, stating that he had been “interacting with hostile elements”, including
Indian spy agency Research and Analysis Wing (RAW), since 2008 and was likely
to be involved in future activities against the interest of the country.
Durrani had put himself in a difficult situation after
co-authoring a book — The Spy Chronicles: RAW, ISI and the Illusion of Peace —
with ex-RAW chief Amarjit Singh Dulat in 2018.
Following the book’s publication, the interior
ministry had placed Durrani’s name on ECL after being asked by the Military
Intelligence (MI) to prevent him from leaving Pakistan. It had prompted Durrani
to challenge the move in the Islamabad high court in 2019. The federation of
Pakistan, defence and interior ministers were made respondents in the case.
In a written reply submitted in the HC on Wednesday in
response to Durrani’s petition, the defence ministry said the former ISI chief’s
name was placed on the no-fly list for “his involvement in anti-state
activities”.
The Spy Chronicles, according to the ministry’s
statement, contained “certain contents concerning the national security of
Pakistan, being in contravention of the provisions of the Official Secrets
Acts, 1923”.
“It is further highlighted that there are a number of
such publications on the way, supported by hostile elements, which contain
content to create misperceptions, confusions, question marks against the top
leadership circles at country level and to target the common people (sic),”
read the ministry’s reply.
According to the document, Durrani had been
“affiliated/interacting with hostile elements, especially Indian RAW, since
2008”. It further stated that although he had submitted an affidavit committing
to the government to refrain from such activities but the same had still not
been seen “in tangible terms”.
It said Durrani’s name could not be removed from ECL
“at this stage”. “The former ISI chief wanted to travel abroad with the
intention of participating in international conferences, forums and talks,
which will have serious national security implications as evident from the
recently published book ‘Honour Among Spies’, which was also authored by
Durrani and published through Indian publishers/RAW supported elements,” the
defence ministry said.
Moreover, the ministry stated, the petitioner also
appeared on social media on October 12 and 13, 2020, and expressed his views
which cannot be well received by any patriotic citizen.
While noting that Durrani had remained part of the
army for 32 years and served on important and sensitive positions, the ministry
said: “It was inappropriate of his stature to co-author a book, that too with
an ex-Indian RAW chief and Indian journalist, on matters concerning the
national security of the country… Hence, a sufficient cause for placing the
petitioner’s name on ECL exists.”
The ministry said after Durrani’s book was evaluated
from a “security perspective”, it was confirmed by the Court of Inquiry that it
contained contents “which were against the interests of Pakistan”.
It asserted that no fundamental right of the
petitioner had been infringed upon by the placement of his name on the no-fly
list, saying: “If a citizen, which includes a person performing function[s] in
connection with the affairs of the state, does not obey the constitutional
commands, then he is not performing his obligation imposed by the
Constitution.”
Durrani’s petition will be taken up again by the HC on
February 12.
In February 2019, the Pakistan Army had announced that
Durrani had been found guilty of violating the military’s code of conduct and a
Court of Inquiry was ordered against him for writing the book. A military court
subsequently stripped him of his pension and other post-retirement benefits.
Durrani then challenged that order before the Lahore
HC. In October 2020, Durrani informed the HC that the government had restored
his pension.
https://timesofindia.indiatimes.com/world/pakistan/pak-defence-ministry-opposes-request-for-removal-of-ex-isi-chiefs-name-from-no-fly-list/articleshow/80519053.cms
--------
Turkey-Pakistan nexus on proxy warfare working on to
create disturbances in Afghanistan and Kashmir
By: Manish Shukla
Jan 27, 2021
New Delhi: In the series of back to back visits by the
top brass of Pakistani armed forces to Turkey, Chief of Pakistani Air Force,
General Mujahid Anwar Khan travelled to the country and met Adnan Tanriverdi —
a close confidante of President Erdogan and his former military advisor on 15th
January 2021. The Pakistani General discussed the strategies on ‘supporting’
the Turkish organisation Justice Defenders Strategic Research Centre
Association (ASSAM) and firm Tanriverdi-led SADAT for their operations in
Pakistan.
Zee News has learnt that a major objective behind the
trip was to plan and coordinate a common strategy between Turkey and Pakistan
to build capabilities on two fronts — proxy warfare and exploiting terrorists
by deploying them as mercenaries in different parts of the world. On the
Pakistani side, ISI is believed to be heading the strategy, whereas Adnan
Tanriverdi is coordinating from the Turkish side.
According to Turkish media reports, General Mujahid
Anwar reiterated his commitment to security and ‘training’ by capitalising on
the respective strengths of each side. Digging deeper into the past
developments and exposures, highlight the actual objective between meetings of
the military leadership of both the countries.
Pakistani Army officers and ISI operatives have accelerated
their meetings with Tanriverdi to strengthen Turkey-Pakistan cooperation in
proxy warfare. Experts argue that Pakistan has an experience spanning many
years in proxy warfare in Afghanistan and Kashmir and is helping Turkey out to
build its capacity in this specific genre of warfare.
Tanriverdi is the founder of the pro-Erdogan
paramilitary force SADAT International Defence Consultancy — an outfit
operating as a firm that provides security services and training. Geopolitical
experts and Turkish dissidents have, at multiple times, highlighted that
Erdogan deploys mercenaries across the world through SADAT.
https://zeenews.india.com/world/turkey-pakistan-nexus-on-proxy-warfare-working-on-to-create-disturbances-in-afghanistan-and-kashmir-2338162.html
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Alvi for Pakistan, Jordan to boost defence and
economic ties
January 29, 2021
ISLAMABAD: President Dr Arif Alvi said on Thursday
Pakistan attached great importance to its ties with Jordan and wanted to
maintain mutually beneficial cooperation in all fields of mutual interest,
particularly strengthening defence and economic cooperation.
He said both countries enjoyed excellent relations
which were based on common faith, cultural affinities and shared perceptions of
regional and international issues.
Dr Alvi said this during a meeting with the visiting
Chairman of Joint Chiefs of Staff of Jordan Armed Forces, Major General Yousef
Ahmed Al-Hnaity, at the President House here. He expressed satisfaction over
the cordial relations and emphasised the need for further strengthening the
defence and economic cooperation between the two brotherly countries.
He also highlighted the sufferings of Muslims in
India, particularly the atrocities being committed by Indian security forces
against the Muslim population of occupied Jammu and Kashmir.
The President said the continued restrictions against
the Muslim population of held Kashmir by India were hampering dissemination of
information, supply of medicines and other essentials.
He emphasised the need for a united call by the
international community to force India to lift the restrictions against Muslim
population in the held territory. He commended Jordan’s efforts to ensure peace
and stability in the Middle East region.
Earlier, the President conferred Hilal-i-Imtiaz
(Military) on Major General Al-Hnaity—in recognition of his illustrious
services for promoting defence cooperation between the armed forces of the two
countries—at a special investiture ceremony. The event was attended by senior
military and civil officials.
https://www.thenews.com.pk/print/781834-alvi-for-pakistan-jordan-to-boost-defence-and-economic-ties
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Pakistan wants closer engagement with US for regional
stability
January 29, 2021
ISLAMABAD: Pakistan on Thursday emphasised the need
for a closer engagement with the United States for regional stability.
Foreign Office spokesman Zahid Hafeez Chaudhri, at the
weekly media briefing, said that Islamabad valued its ties with Washington,
which had helped maintain regional peace and stability.
“We have achieved a lot by working together in the
past. The logic for continued engagement and coordination is even more
compelling in the context of shared geopolitical and security challenges,” he
said while replying to a question about the strategy to engage the new US
administration.
Prime Minister Imran Khan had soon after President Joe
Biden’s inauguration last week congratulated him.
Mr Khan had in his tweet said that Pakistan was
looking forward to working with President Biden for building a stronger bilateral
partnership through trade and economic engagement; countering climate change;
improving public health; combating corruption; and promoting peace in the
region and beyond.
Urges world to take forceful action on India’s human
rights violations in held Kashmir
“We look forward to working with the new
administration to further strengthen our bilateral ties to make it
multifaceted, sustainable and mutually beneficial and continue our partnership
to achieve peace, stability and prosperity in the region,” the FO spokesman
said.
He recalled that Pakistan and the US had cooperated
for peace in Afghanistan.
Mr Chaudhri noted the progress made in the peace
process during last one year, including signing of the US-Taliban Agreement,
start of the intra-Afghan negotiations and agreement on the rules and
procedures for the talks.
“We believe that the intra-Afghan negotiations have
now advanced into an important phase where all the negotiating sides are
required to show continued commitment and responsibility for moving forward
towards reaching a comprehensive political settlement. It is important for
Afghans to seize this historic opportunity,” he said.
The spokesman said Pakistan has been calling on all
sides for taking measures for reduction in violence leading to ceasefire. He,
however, pointed out that the progress in this regard was linked to forward
movement in the intra-Afghan negotiations.
Regarding Kashmir, he said Pakistan would continue to
sensitise the international community, including the US, about India’s
continued defiance of the international law and consistent UN Security Council
resolutions.
He urged the international community to take forceful
action on India’s egregious human rights violations in the occupied territory
and denial of right to self-determination of the people of Kashmir.
The spokesman refused to comment on the Supreme
Court’s verdict in the Daniel Pearl case.
“We have seen the media reports. The detailed
judgement of the court is still awaited. I am not in a position to offer any
further comments,” he maintained.
https://www.dawn.com/news/1604220/pakistan-wants-closer-engagement-with-us-for-regional-stability
--------
Police claim to have nabbed two ‘TTP militants’
January 29, 2021
KARACHI: Police claimed on Thursday to have arrested
two suspected militants associated with the banned Tehreek-i-Taliban Pakistan
(TTP) from Qayyumabad.
The arrests were made in a combing operation conducted
following intelligence-based reports, said an official of the Counter Terrorism
Department of Sindh police.
“The suspects were arrested during a combing operation
conducted in Qayyumabad,” he said. “The police have also recovered two hand
grenades, an Awan bomb and three pistols from their possession. Initial
findings suggest that the suspects are associated with the TTP.”
The arrested suspects originally hailed from Khyber
Pakhtunkhwa and Balochistan, he said and added that the investigators found key
evidence about their involvement in terror financing.
“The police have reasons to believe that the arrested
suspects have more aides in the city and efforts are being made for their
arrests as well,” he said. “They have a history of militancy and more facts are
[being] gathered about cases lodged against them in the city and other parts of
the country.”
The authorities identified them as Hazrat Bilal and
Siddiqullah who, they said, were also involved in smuggling of chemicals which
were used in making bombs and other explosive materials.
“Acetic anhydride is a chemical which they used to
smuggle from Afghanistan and other countries,” he said. “Law-enforcement
agencies were looking for these suspects for a long time. Technical support and
cooperation were also sought from police in Punjab, Khyber Pakhtunkhwa and
Balochistan, which finally led to the success.”
The suspects were also wanted by Pakistan Customs for
smuggling and Anti Narcotics Force (ANF), he said.
“The two federal agencies have found that the arrested
accused were involved in smuggling of a banned chemical from Dubai and Tanzania
to finance terrorists,” he added. “They have been running an active network for
smuggling. For their high-profile crimes both the accused are also wanted by
international agencies.”
https://www.dawn.com/news/1604153/police-claim-to-have-nabbed-two-ttp-militants
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Mideast
UNRWA: US aid too little after Biden resumes funding
Palestinians
28 January 2021
The United Nations Relief and Works Agency (UNRWA)
welcomes the new US administration's decision to resume aid to Palestinian
refugees, but says the contribution is too little to cover all their needs.
The administration of former US president Donald Trump
decided to cancel all the US funding to UNRWA in 2018 under its extremely
pro-Israeli policies.
US interim ambassador to the UN, Richard Mills, said
Thursday Biden intends to “restore US assistance programs that support economic
development and humanitarian aid for the Palestinian people”, without
mentioning UNRWA by name.
UNRWA’s spokeswoman Tamara Alrifai warmly hailed the
move.
“We welcome the Biden administration's decision to
restore assistance to Palestinians and look forward to continuing conversation
with them about the resumption of aid to” the UN agency for Palestinian
refugees, she said.
Nevertheless, Alrifai said, the 2021 financial year for
UNRWA "looks very difficult.”
UNRWA, whose headquarters are in Jordan and the
besieged Gaza Strip, was originally founded in 1949 to protect hundreds of
thousands of Palestinians displaced by the 1948 Arab-Israeli war mainly through
providing them with humanitarian aid. It was initially set up as a temporary
agency but has continued to support the Palestinian refugees for the better
part of six decades.
It currently supports an estimated 5.7 million
Palestinians with refugee status across the Gaza Strip, the occupied West Bank,
Jordan, Syria, and Lebanon, providing them with healthcare, education, and
social services. Most are descendants of the roughly 700,000 Palestinians who
were driven out of their homes or fled the 1948 war, which led to the creation
of Israel.
Before Trump's cuts, the US had been providing UNRWA
$365 million a year, roughly a third of its core annual budget.
Alrifai said, "While the overall budget will
remain at US$806 million, same as 2020, the income forecast in the best
estimates will lead to an expected shortfall equivalent to three months of
operations.”
Therefore, she added, the agency expects a cash flow
crisis as of March of the current year, warning that the expected deficit would
be untenable and could lead to a financial collapse of UNRWA.
“Our financial forecast takes into consideration the
expected re-engagement of the US administration, so we predict a bit more
income than 2020 but this slightly improved income will not cover the huge
liabilities that UNRWA already has,” Alrifai added.
According to the official, the agency began 2021 with
liabilities of $75 million from the last financial year, and its annual deficit
is expected to reach $200 million in the current year.
Back in November, UNRWA chief Philippe Lazzarini warned
that the “worst financial crisis” the UN agency has ever experienced could
spell “disaster” in the besieged Gaza Strip and cause insecurity in Lebanon.
“It is in the interest of no one to see schools
suddenly suspended... health services being suspended (in Gaza), at a time when
people are hit by the (coronavirus) pandemic,” he said at the time, adding, “It
would be a total disaster.”
Lazzarini said the agency had to raise $70 million by
the end of November to be able to pay full salaries to its staff for the months
of November and December.
Some 28,000 staffers of the agency across the West
Bank, East Jerusalem al-Quds, the Gaza Strip, Lebanon, and Jordan will be
affected by the shortfall. Most of the staffers are refugees themselves.
https://www.presstv.com/Detail/2021/01/28/644045/Palestine-UNRWA-US-aid-Trump-Biden-shortfall
--------
Iran dismisses US call to be the first to return to
nuclear deal
28 January 2021
Iran dismissed Thursday a call by the US for it to
return to full compliance of a nuclear deal first, insisting it had only taken
“remedial measures” since America’s withdrawal.
The administration of new US President Joe Biden on
Wednesday confirmed its willingness to return to the deal, which has been
hanging by a thread since his predecessor Donald Trump’s decision to withdraw
from it in 2018.
But Secretary of State Antony Blinken, who made the
announcement, said the US would only return to the deal agreed with major
powers in 2015 once Iran resumes its commitments.
Iran’s top diplomat, Mohammad Javad Zarif, on Thursday
dismissed the demand.
“Reality check for @SecBlinken: The US violated (the)
JCPOA,” Zarif tweeted, referring to the accord by its formal name, the Joint
Comprehensive Plan of Action.
Zarif said that as well as its unilateral withdrawal,
the US had also imposed sanctions that “blocked food/medicine to Iranians” and
“punished adherence” to a UN resolution.
“Now, who should take 1st step? Never forget Trump’s
maximum failure,” the foreign minister added, stressing Iran had “abided by the
JCPOA” and had only taken “foreseen remedial measures”.
Trump withdrew the US from JCPOA and imposed crippling
sanctions on Iran in 2018, maintaining a policy of “maximum pressure” against
the Islamic republic.
Iran a year later responded by suspending its
compliance with most key nuclear commitments in the deal, under which it was
promised economic relief for limits on its nuclear program.
On January 4, Iran announced it had stepped up its
uranium enrichment process to 20 percent purity, far above the 3.67 percent
level permitted by the deal, but far below the amount required for an atomic
bomb.
Tehran has called on Washington to “unconditionally”
lift sanctions imposed by Trump to salvage the nuclear deal.
It has said it will return to full compliance once all
parties to the accord fulfil their commitments to the agreement.
https://english.alarabiya.net/News/middle-east/2021/01/28/Iran-nuclear-deal-Iran-dismisses-US-call-to-be-the-first-to-return-to-nuclear-deal-
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Iranian FM Advises US Counterpart Not to Forget
Trump's Failure
2021-January-28
"Reality check for Secretary Blinken; The US
violated JCPOA, blocked food/medicine to Iranians, punished adherence to UNSCR
2231. Throughout that sordid mess, Iran abided by JCPOA, only took foreseen
remedial measures," Zarif wrote on his twitter page on Thursday.
He asked Blinken that given the aforementioned cases
of disloyalty by the US towards the nuclear deal and the Resolution 2231
"now, who should take 1st step?"
"Never forget Trump's maximum failure,"
Zarif stressed.
His tweet came as Blinken in his recent remarks said,
"With regard to Iran, President Biden has been very clear in saying that
if Iran comes back to compliance with obligations under the JCPOA, the United
States would do the same thing."
"And then we would use that as a platform to
build with our allies and partners what we call a longer and stronger agreement
and to deal with others issues that are deeply problematic in the relationship
with Iran," he added.
In relevant remarks last Wednesday, Iranian President
Hassan Rouhani voiced pleasure with the end of Trump’s tenure, saying that the
new administration in the White House should take the opportunity to implement
all Washington’s nuclear deal undertakings.
“Today, thanks God, Trump's black page will be closed
forever, and we say thanks God when any oppressor is overthrown,” Rouhani said,
addressing a cabinet meeting in Tehran.
He added that during his 4-year tenure, Trump left no
legacy but making the US society bipolar, adding that Washington DC has become
a military garrison for the swearing-in ceremony of the new president and all
these Armed Forces have come to establish security in this city, and this is
one of the fruits of Trump's naive or authoritarian actions.
“We have never seen a president in the US who
explicitly admits assassination of a major military commander (General
Soleimani) in another guest country (Iraq) to make the official announcement
that he had ordered the assassination. I mean, we really saw a stupid terrorist
in history, and state terrorism was recorded in the forehead of the White
House, and he did it,” Rouhani said.
He called on the new US administration to return to
the international laws, undertakings and the UNSC resolutions, specially
Resolution 2231, and said, “Of course, if they return to the law, our answer
will be positive, and if they show their sincerity in action based on the law,
the resolution that they voted for and the undertakings that they have signed,
we will naturally fulfill all our undertakings too.”
Rouhani referred to Trump’s economic terrorism against
Iran which even blocked the country’s purchase of medicine and vaccine, and
said, “Thanks God, they have failed. Today, we see that despite all these
pressures, our non-oil exports path is normalizing, and our oil exports are
much better than the previous months, and our oil products export are moving in
the right direction and this means complete failure of this policy.”
He said that Trump was not a politician but was a
businessman and a tower builder, adding that the new US administration includes
people who are familiar with political affairs.
“If they give a signature on their undertakings under
the Resolution 2231, they will see a signature in Iran, and if they issue a
decree, they will see a decree for it in Iran too, nothing more; if they
fulfill their undertakings effectively, they will witness effective
implementation of all undertakings by this side too. Today the ball is in the
US and Washington’s court,” President Rouhani stressed.
He noted that Trump’s political life has ended and the
nuclear deal is still alive, adding, “He made every attempt to destroy the
nuclear deal but he failed, and the extremists in Israel and Saudi Arabia all
sought this but failed, and the nuclear deal is alive and well today better
than yesterday.”
Rouhani stressed that the maximum pressure policy has
failed completely.
Also, last week, 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 last week.
“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 earlier this month 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, 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.
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, 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/13991109000531/Iranian-FM-Advises-US-Cnerpar-N-Frge-Trmp's-Failre
--------
Iran's Top Diplomat Meets Georgian President, PM on
Bilateral Ties, Regional Issues
2021-January-28
During the meeting with Zourabichvili in Tbilisi,
Zarif expressed hope for the expansion of mutual cooperation in various fields
of mutual interest, specially in trade and economic sectors.
Zarif also called on the Georgian government to help
resolve the problems caused for the Iranians residing in Georgia as well as
truck drivers.
He further explained the Islamic Republic's position
on using the recent post-conflict situation in the Nagorno-Karabakh region as
an opportunity to expand regional cooperation based on the interests of all
parties.
The top Iranian diplomat also invited the Georgian
president to pay a visit to Tehran.
Zourabichvili, for her part, referred to the
Iran-Georgia historical ties and the issues related to the transportation
routes between the Persian Gulf and the Black Sea.
She further emphasized the importance of economic
relations between the two countries and joint investments, as well as
cooperation to counter the coronavirus pandemic.
Additionally on Thursday, the Iranian foreign minister
discussed regional issues with Georgian Prime Minister Giorgi Gakharia.
Zarif also held a telephone conversation with his
Georgian counterpart, David Zalkaliani, who is in self-isolation after he
tested positive for COVID-19.
Zarif is in Georgia on the fourth leg of his
five-nation tour, which has already taken him to Azerbaijan, Russia and Armenia
with Turkey as his next stop.
https://www.farsnews.ir/en/news/13991109000549/Iran's-Tp-Diplma-Mees-Gergian-Presiden-PM-n-Bilaeral-Ties-Reginal
--------
President Rouhani: US Defeated by Iranian People's
Unity, Resistance
2021-January-28
Despite all tough sanctions by the US, Iran exported
some $28 billion non-oil commodities over the past 10 months of the current
Iranian year (started on March 20), Rouhani said, addressing a ceremony to
inaugurate a number of agricultural projects on Thursday.
He also said that Iranian imports stood at $30 billion
during the past 10-month period.
He said that Iran’s trade could be even more than the
current figure but the COVID-19 outbreak has caused a decline in the country’s
foreign trade over the past one year.
Rouhani hailed the resistance of the Iranian people to
the US maximum pressure, saying that the people joined hands and maintained
unity to reach their lofty goals.
Also, on Wednesday, Iran's First Vice-President Eshaq
Jahangiri said that the Iranian nation's resistance made the US surrender in
economic war against the country.
Failure of the US economic war against the Islamic
Republic of Iran indicated that the resistance of the Iranian nation has made
the US surrender, Jahangiri said.
The future of Iran is bright and no one is allowed to
disappoint the young generation, he added.
Victory of the Islamic revolution is also indebted to
the martyrdom and dedication of the Iranian nation, Jahangiri said.
https://www.farsnews.ir/en/news/13991109000443/Presiden-Rhani-US-Defeaed-by-Iranian-Peple's-Uniy-Resisance
--------
Speaker's Aide Underlines Positive Prospect of
Cooperation between Iran, India
2021-January-28
Amir Abdollahian made the remarks in a meeting with
Indian Ambassador to Tehran Gaddam Dharmendra on Wednesday.
Relations between Tehran and New Delhi have always
been in a friendly and growing manner, he added, expressing hope to see further
development of relations, regardless of the unconstructive behavior of others.
Reviewing the parliamentary, political, and economic
cooperation between the two countries, he described the prospect of the
cooperation as positive.
Amir Abdollahian referred to the central and constructive
role of the Republic of Iran in the region, saying that Iran has always
extended its hand of friendship and cooperation to friendly countries and all
neighbors.
Dharmendra, for his part, described Iran as a country
with socio-political stability, saying that Iran emphasizes sustainable
security in the region and plays an important role in this regard.
Cooperation between Iran and India at the regional and
international levels reflects the commonality of the two countries in regional
and global spheres, he added.
Talks between the two countries especially at the
level of parliamentary speakers are influential and important in relations
between the two countries, the Indian envoy said.
Iran and India have tried to expand their economic and
trade relations and cooperation.
Iran’s Southeastern Port of Chabahar has attracted
neighboring countries for transit of their commodities due to lowering of costs
and discount on tariffs, according to a senior official at the Ports and
Maritime Organization.
“A 70% discount on tariffs and lowering the cost of
transit of goods through Chabahar Port have increased the loading and unloading
figure to two million tons while it was merely 200,000 tons before,” Deputy
Head of Iran's Ports and Maritime Organization Farhad Montasser Kouhsari said,
adding, “Customers choose Chabahar to ship their imports and exports, as well
as raw material.”
India proposed to hold a "Chabahar Day" on
the sidelines of the upcoming Indian-hosted International Maritime Summit and
the other participants welcomed it, the Indian foreign ministry said in a press
release.
The Chabahar Port is strategically located on Iran's
energy-rich Southeastern coast in the Gulf of Oman and is connected to
Afghanistan by a railroad. For India, it is a convenient route to trade with
landlocked Central Asian countries bypassing Pakistan.
https://www.farsnews.ir/en/news/13991109000296/Speaker's-Aide-Underlines-Psiive-Prspec-f-Cperain-beween-Iran-India
--------
Israel downplays US review of UAE arms sales, Netanyahu
believes deal will move ahead
28 January 2021
Israeli leaders played down on Thursday a possible
Biden administration review of US arms sales to the United Arab Emirates that
girded the Gulf power’s rapprochement with Israel.
Washington said on Wednesday it had temporarily paused
some pending arms sales to US allies. The Trump administration, having brokered
formal Israel-UAE ties in September, approved a first sale of F-35 warplanes
and other weaponry for Abu Dhabi.
For all the latest headlines, follow our Google News
channel online or via the app.
Reviews of this sort are typical after a US
presidential handover.
The UAE said it had anticipated the move and would
work closely with the Biden administration.
Israel is the only country in the region to have the
F-35.
After initially voicing misgivings at its sale to the
UAE, Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu and Defence Minister Benny Gantz
relented amid Trump administration assurances that Israeli military superiority
would be preserved.
Asked by reporters if the review might set back
Israel’s efforts to build up relations with the UAE and other Arab countries,
Netanyahu said: “I don’t think so. I think we have passed the point of
no-return.”
“Everyone understands that there are huge advantages
here.
It’s peace in exchange for peace ... I think it’ll
move ahead.”
Gantz described the review as “routine.”
https://english.alarabiya.net/News/gulf/2021/01/28/Israel-downplays-US-review-of-UAE-arms-sales-Netanyahu-believes-deal-will-move-ahead
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Iran exceeds its uranium enrichment goals despite
Western criticism
28 January 2021
Iran has exceeded 17 kilograms of 20 percent enriched
uranium within a month’s time, state TV reported Thursday, moving its nuclear
program closer to weapons-grade enrichment levels amid heightened tensions with
the US.
Parliament Speaker Mohammad Bagher Qalibaf, during a
visit to the country’s Fordo nuclear facility, said in a televised speech that
in less than a month, scientists passed 17 kilograms (37.5 pounds) of 20
percent enriched uranium.
For all the latest headlines, follow our Google News
channel online or via the app.
Uranium enriched to 20 percent is a short technical
step away from weapons-grade 90 percent enrichment. Western nations have
criticized Iran’s enrichment activity and called on Tehran to adhere to a 2015
nuclear accord.
Iran has said it would produce 120 kilograms (44
pounds) of 20 percent enriched uranium per year, or 12 kilograms per month on
average, so 17 kilograms would exceed that timetable.
Roughly 250 kilograms (550 pounds) of 20 percent
enriched uranium are needed to convert it into 25 kilograms of the 90 percent
enriched needed for a nuclear weapon.
The development brings Iran closer to crossing the
line between nuclear operations with a potential civilian use, such as
enriching nuclear fuel for power-generating reactors, and nuclear-weapons work,
something Tehran has long denied ever carrying out.
Former US President Donald Trump in 2018 unilaterally
withdrew America from Iran’s nuclear deal, in which Tehran had agreed to limit
its uranium enrichment in exchange for the lifting of economic sanctions. After
the US then ramped up sanctions, Iran gradually and publicly abandoned the
deal’s limits on its nuclear development.
President Joe Biden, who was vice president when the
deal was signed during the Obama administration, has said he hopes to return
the US to the deal.
https://english.alarabiya.net/News/world/2021/01/28/Iran-exceeds-goals-of-uranium-enrichment-despite-Western-criticism
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Yemeni families seek justice for 34 deaths in US drone
strikes
28 January 2021
Two Yemeni families have filed a petition against the
US government over the “unlawful” killing of 34 relatives, including 17
children, in American attacks.
The Yemeni families lost their relatives and property
between 2013 and 2018 in six drone airstrikes and a special operations raid
conducted by American forces, said human rights group Reprieve, which submitted
the petition to the Inter-American Commission on Human Rights on behalf of the
affected families.
“It is averred that the seven attacks at issue have
resulted in the unlawful killing of at least 48 people, including 17 children,
and in the serious injury of at least seven others, as well as the destruction
of their personal property and livelihoods,” said the petition cited by AFP on
Thursday.
The petition showed that of those killed 34 were
members of the al-Ameri and al-Taisy families, who are requesting the
commission to pressure the US government on taking immediate measures to stop
further harm.
Reviewing such files is often a long process that can
take years.
According to the petition, the first deadly strike
occurred in December 2013 during the administration of former president Barack
Obama, when a wedding procession convoy was targeted, claiming the lives of at
least 12 people, including seven al-Ameri family members and five people from
the al-Taisy family.
The remaining six operations were all carried out
during the tenure of former US president Donald Trump.
“What the families are hoping for from the commission
is first and foremost recognition of the harm that's been done to them,” said
Jennifer Gibson, a lawyer with Reprieve, adding that they had tried several
times to engage Washington to halt the strikes, “and yet they've continued.”
Saudi Arabia and a number of its regional allies
launched a devastating war on Yemen in March 2015, with the goal of bringing
the government of former president Abd Rabbuh Mansur Hadi, a staunch ally of
Riyadh, back to power and crushing the popular Houthi Ansarullah movement.
More than 110,000 Yemenis have been killed since the
onset of war, which has destroyed much of the impoverished country’s
infrastructure.
At least 80 percent of the 28-million-strong
population of Yemen is reliant on aid to survive in what the UN has called the
world’s worst humanitarian crisis.
The brutal war has destroyed or closed half of Yemen’s
hospitals and clinics, leaving Yemenis helpless particularly at a time when
they are in desperate need of medical supplies to fight the COVID-19 pandemic.
https://www.presstv.com/Detail/2021/01/28/644066/Yemen-US-airstrikes-petition-Reprieve-Trump-Saudi-Arabia
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Africa
Tunisia presidential staffer suffers symptoms after
opening suspect envelope
28 January 2021
The office manager for Tunisia's president suffered a
headache and short-term vision loss after opening a suspect envelope on Monday,
the presidency said on Thursday.
The office manager was transferred to a military
hospital. Another presidential employee also suffered a headache after the
envelope was opened, it said in a statement.
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channel online or via the app.
Reports emerged on social media on Wednesday saying
President Kais Saied had been sent a letter that may have contained poison.
The statement said Saied was in good health and that
the presidency had not commented earlier in order to prevent public alarm.
A source at the presidency told Reuters on Wednesday
that a suspicious letter had arrived at Saied's office and that an
investigation was underway.
https://english.alarabiya.net/News/north-africa/2021/01/28/Tunisia-presidential-staffer-suffers-symptoms-after-opening-suspect-envelope
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Amnesty: Nigeria trying to cover up Lagos massacre
28 January 2021
Amnesty International says the Nigerian government is
desperately attempting to cover up the killing of a dozen citizens during
peaceful protests in Nigeria’s biggest city of Lagos last October.
In a statement on Thursday, the leading rights group
held Nigeria's much-loathed Special Anti-Robbery Squad (SARS) accountable for
the brutality that resulted in multiple deaths and injuries in Lagos on October
20 last year.
"Nigerian authorities have failed to bring to
justice those suspected to be responsible for the brutal crackdown by security
forces on peaceful #EndSARS protesters at Lekki toll gate and Alausa in Lagos
in October 2020 and have brazenly attempted to cover up the violence,"
Amnesty said in the statement, released to mark 100 days since the shootings.
Amnesty's country director Osai Ojigho also accused
the Nigerian authorities of persecuting
and targeting members of the peaceful protest movement.
"Since the assault by security forces, which
killed at least 12 people, Nigerian authorities have targeted supporters of the
protests against police brutality by the disbanded SARS," she said.
Some of the movement's supporters have had their bank
accounts frozen, she added.
The Britain-based right group also challenged the
Nigerian government to suspend accused officials and to ensure the victims'
access to justice.
Youth-led demonstrations in Nigeria began against
police abuse, quickly spiraling in broader calls for reform. But they ended
weeks later when security forces shot at demonstrators in Lagos, killing at
least 12 people.
Amnesty said nearly five dozen people had lost their
lives across Nigeria since the protests began on October 8.
Nigeria is a tinderbox of deep economic and social
grievances, and demonstrations have snowballed from anger over police violence
to broader demands.
Heavy-handed crackdown on Shia Muslims
The Nigerian police also maintain a heavy-handed
crackdown on peaceful protests by the country’s Shia Muslims.
The demonstrators have been calling for the release of
top cleric Sheikh Ibrahim Zakzaky, who has been in detention since December
2015 when his residence in the city of Zaria was brutally raided by Nigerian
forces.
In the most recent incident this week, police in Abuja
shot dead at least two protesters demonstrating against the continued detention
of Zakzaky and his wife, Mallimah Zeenat, who have been held for several years
on trumped-up charges.
The latest demonstrations erupted in response to the
revelation that Zakzaky’s wife has contracted COVID-19 while in police custody.
Those attending the protests called for the immediate
and unconditional release of Zakzaky, who is the leader of the Islamic Movement
in Nigeria (IMN), and his wife.
London-based Islamic Human Rights Commission (IHRC)
made a recent plea with Nigerian President Muhammadu Buhari, reminding the
illegal grounds on which the duo is being kept.
“Mallimah tested positive for COVID-19 this week in
Kaduna state prison,” the IHRC said, referring to the facility in the
northwestern city of Kaduna where they are being kept.
Their release, it added, is necessary “to protect them
from the spread of COVID-19 in the country’s jails.”
IHRC chief Massoud Shadjareh also said, “It is nothing
short of scandalous that justice continues to be denied to both Mallimah and
Sheikh Ibrahim al-Zakzaky even after six years in custody during which the
authorities have failed to bring any conviction and in which scores have been
murdered in cold blood for protesting the injustice.”
“How long is the international community going to
allow the Nigerian government to continue murdering its own citizens?” he said.
In 2015, at least 348 people were killed and 347
bodies secretly buried in the Nigerian city of Zaria in police attacks on Shia
mourners, according to the official account. The real death toll is said to
have been much higher.
The massacre took place when the Nigerian army stormed
a religious ceremony, organized by the IMN, which represents the Shia Muslim
minority in the country.
Not only has the Nigerian government refrained from
paying compensation for the lives it took, it has also incarcerated followers
of the movement and their leader, Sheikh Zakzaky, whose health is deteriorating
in prison.
https://www.presstv.com/Detail/2021/01/28/644061/Amnesty-International-Lagos-SARS-Shia-Muslims-Abuja-Zakzaky--
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Israel might be behind Tunisian president’s failed
assassination: Party leader
28 January 2021
A Tunisian party leader says Israel might have been
behind the failed assassination of Tunisian President Kais Saied, who has been
highly critical of the agreements of normalization between a number of Arab
states and the Tel Aviv regime.
On Wednesday evening, Tunisian media reported that the
62-year-old Saied had survived an assassination attempt with ricin, a very
toxic substance sent to him in a mail parcel at the Carthage Palace.
According to experts, if inhaled, the substance is
much more toxic than when it is injected or ingested, and a few milligrams of
it are sufficient to cause immediate death.
Following the reports, the president’s office issued a
statement, confirming the accounts.
“All private mail messages are currently being tested
and sorted at the Carthage Palace, and examined at an off-site facility before
reaching the presidential palace,” it added.
Furthermore, the president’s brother, Nofal, confirmed
that his brother was fine and well and that the assassination attempt against
the president had failed.
The incident is currently under investigation to
determine who has sent the toxic package and who or what entity was behind the
assassination attempt.
On Thursday, Zaheer al-Magzawi, the leader of the
People’s Movement, said in an interview with the Lebanese al-Mayadeen
television channel that Israel might have been behind the attempt as Saied has
time and again denounced the idea of normalization of ties with the regime in
Tel Aviv.
“We are waiting for the Tunisian presidency and
security services to explain the assassination attempt against President Kais
Saied,” he said.
“Every possible perpetrator could be behind this
assassination attempt against the Tunisian president, particularly Israel,
because of the Tunisian president’s stance on normalizing relations with the
regime,” Magzawi added.
Back in October 2019 and during a pre-election debate,
Saied slammed the idea of normalizing ties with Israel, stressing that Tunisia
was in a state of war with the occupying regime and that anybody who normalized
relations with Tel Aviv had to be tried for treason.
In a number of much-condemned US-brokered agreements,
the United Arab Emirates (UAE), Bahrain, Sudan, and Morocco have recently
normalized their relations with Israel.
https://www.presstv.com/Detail/2021/01/28/644031/Israel-might-be-behind-Tunisian-president%E2%80%99s-failed-assassination--Party-leader
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Somalia: Army Kills Militants in Operation Against
Al-Shabaab
26 JANUARY 2021
Somali security forces on Tuesday killed seven
Al-Shabaab militants and wounded several others in the country's southwestern
Bay region, officials said.
The forces targeted al-Shabaab positions in the town
of Seydhelow and its surrounding areas and liberated the town, according to
Amiin Mohamed Daruur, Bay region police commissioner.
"The operation was carried out by our forces in
Seydhelow where at least seven al-Shabaab terrorists were killed. The area is
now under the control of the government forces," Daruur told Somali
National News Agency (SONNA).
Ali Isack Hassan, a military official in Baidoa, the
administrative capital of the Bay region, told Anadolu Agency by phone that no
soldier was killed or wounded during the military operation.
He said the operation against al-Shabaab will continue
until the group is kicked out of the region.
Seydhelow is a strategic town located 205 kilometers
(127 miles) southwest of the Somali capital Mogadishu.
The Horn of Africa country is battling al-Shabaab
militants who have intensified attacks on security forces
https://allafrica.com/stories/202101270306.html?utm_source=iterable&utm_medium=email&utm_campaign=1945447_
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Militant killings more than doubled in Congo in 2020,
UN says
JANUARY 27, 2021
GOMA, Democratic Republic of Congo (Reuters) -
Killings by armed groups in the Democratic Repubic of Congo more than doubled
last year, the United Nations said on Wednesday, underlining spiralling
violence in the country’s east two years after Felix Tshisekedi became
president.
The U.N. Joint Human Rights Office (UNJHRO) said
militias executed at least 2,487 civilians in 2020, up from 1,029 the previous
year.
Fighters from the Allied Democratic Forces (ADF), a
Ugandan Islamist armed group, were responsible for a third of the deaths, which
included the killing of more than 200 women and 26 children in the restive
provinces of North Kivu and Ituri, it said.
“These attacks are part of the ADF’s strategy of
sowing terror in these areas in retaliation against the operations by the
(army) and to control territory in order to carry out various trafficking
activities,” UNJHRO said in a statement.
Islamic State has claimed responsibility for many
suspected ADF attacks in the past, although U.N. experts have been unable to
confirm any direct link between the two groups.
Tshisekedi emerged as the victor of a disputed
election in January 2019, pledging to address decades of armed conflict in the
mineral-rich east.
https://www.reuters.com/article/uk-congo-security/militant-killings-more-than-doubled-in-congo-in-2020-un-says-idUSKBN29W1P4?utm_source=iterable&utm_medium=email&utm_campaign=1945447_
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