UN fears for hundreds of thousands if Syria troops encircle Aleppo Hundreds of thousands of civilians could be cut off from food if Syrian government forces encircle rebel-held parts of Aleppo, the United Nations said on Tuesday, warning of a new exodus of refugees fleeing a Russian-backed assault.
The army aims to secure the border with Turkey and recover control of Aleppo, a senior adviser to Syrian President Bashar al-Assad told Reuters, adding that she did not expect diplomacy to succeed while foreign states maintain support for insurgents.
Syrian government forces, backed by Russian air strikes and Iranian and Lebanese Hezbollah fighters, have launched a major offensive in the countryside around Aleppo, which has been divided between government and rebel control for years.
It marks one of the most important shifts of momentum in the five-year civil war that has killed 250,000 people and already driven 11 million from their homes.Since last week, fighting has already wrecked the first attempt at peace talks for two years and led rebel fighters to speak about losing their northern power base altogether.
The U.N. is worried the government advance could cut off the last link for civilians in rebel-held parts of Aleppo with the main Turkish border crossing, which has long served as the lifeline for insurgent-controlled territory.
« It would leave up to 300,000 people, still residing in the city, cut off from humanitarian aid unless cross-line access could be negotiated, » the United Nations Office for Coordination of Humanitarian Affairs said.If government advances around the city continue, it said, « local councils in the city estimate that some 100,000 – 150,000 civilians may flee ». Aleppo was once Syria’s biggest city, home to 2 million people.
Air strikes continued on Tal Rifaat, Anadan and other towns in the Aleppo countryside, the Syrian Observatory for Human Rights, which monitors the war, and activists said, adding that they were almost certainly from Russian planes.
Independent Doctors’ Association official Mahmoud Mustafa said at least two people had been killed and 30 wounded in air strikes near Tal Rifaat and villages near Azaz. The death toll could be higher since his figures referred only to victims brought to the organisation’s hospital on the Syrian side of the Oncupinar border crossing with Turkey.In a residential area of Damascus, a suicide bomber drove his car into a police officers’ club on Tuesday, blowing himself up, a Syrian interior ministry statement said. The state news agency SANA reported three dead and 14 wounded.The Observatory said eight police officers had been killed and 20 wounded in the blast. Islamic State claimed responsibility.While mortar and missile attacks have been a common feature of life in Damascus, this was the first bombing of its kind in many months in the centre of the capital.
Damascus vows to recapture Aleppo from rebels Damascus aims to secure Syria’s border with Turkey and recapture the city of Aleppo with its latest military offensive, a top adviser to President Bashar al-Assad said on Tuesday. In an interview in her Damascus office, Bouthaina Shaaban held out little hope for diplomatic efforts to end the five-year civil war, telling Reuters proposals for a ceasefire were coming from states that « do not want an end to terrorism » and wanted to shore up insurgents who are losing ground.
The Syrian army, backed by Russian air strikes and Iranian and Lebanese Hezbollah fighters, has launched a major advance in recent weeks near Aleppo, once Syria’s biggest city, now divided between rebel- and government-held sectors.
The offensive, one of the biggest shifts in momentum of the five year civil war, has brought government forces closer than they have been in years to a border crossing with Turkey that has served as the main supply route into rebel-held territory.
There would be no letup in an army advance, which aimed « to liberate cities and villages that were controlled by the terrorists for 3-1/2 years, and also an attempt to liberate the city of Aleppo from the crimes of terrorism », Shaaban said.
Damascus intended « to control our borders with Turkey, because Turkey is the main source of terrorists, and the main crossing for them ».
The United Nations said on Tuesday it was worried about the fate of up to 300,000 people still living in rebel-held parts of Aleppo, who could be cut off from food supplies if the government advance succeeds in surrounding the city and blocking access from Turkey.Tens of thousands of people have fled the area, and Turkey, which has already taken in 2.5 million Syrian refugees, has so far mostly kept the border closed to them, despite U.N. calls to allow them to flee.
Shabaan said Turkey was using the refugee crisis to blackmail European states, criticising Ankara and its « Ottoman ambitions » as the prime cause of the war that has driven 11 million people from their homes and killed 250,000 people.
The Syrian army and its allies have gained ground in recent weeks in the provinces of Latakia and Aleppo, which border Turkey to the north, and Deraa, which borders Jordan to the south. They have also advanced against Islamic State to the east of Aleppo.
The advance helped derail the first peace talks in two years, which collapsed last week before they had begun in earnest, with rebels demanding a halt to bombardment – something the Syrian government criticised as pre-conditions for talks.International powers are expected to meet later this week to revive diplomacy, with Washington seeking a truce.
The gains have helped to tip the momentum Assad’s way after Damascus lost ground last year to an array of insurgents in western Syria including the al Qaeda-linked Nusra Front, other Islamist groups, and « Free Syrian Army » rebels that have received U.S. backing.The Syrian government describes all the groups fighting it as terrorists. »We hope that the operation will continue in the north until we control the borders and stop the terrorists who Turkey has since the start of the crisis worked to send to Syria, » Shabaan added. Asked if military operations would continue at the same pace, she said: « Certainly, God willing ».
U.N.-led efforts to launch peace talks in Geneva last week were suspended as the government offensive gained ground. U.N.envoy Staffan de Mistura aims to reconvene the talks later this month. However, diplomats say they have little hope for a resumption of talks as long as the Russian-backed government offensive is under way full bore. Shaaban said she did not expect success for diplomacy, saying the problem remained one of foreign support for militants in Syria and if there had been « a real international desire » to end the problem the crisis would been resolved years ago. »The states that support terrorism in Syria, behind the financing and weapons, did not take a decision to halt this financing and arming, and therefore we do not see success for the diplomatic efforts », she said.
Syrians recount ‘hell’ of Aleppo life under air strikes Syrian farmer Mahmud Turki was sitting on his couch at sunset watching the news with his family after eating supper. Then an air strike hit his home and turned his life upside down.
His story is typical of accounts of the « hell » that is life in the war-scarred region around the northern city of Aleppo, where up to 31,000 people have fled as government forces press an offensive against rebels, according to the UN.
« The moment of the air strike… nobody can describe it, » Turki — stitches still in his head and his body covered in bruises — said from his hospital bed in neighbouring Turkey, where he was among just a few allowed across for treatment.
« I lost consciousness. The roof fell on me and on my children. I remember hearing the voice of my wife asking me if I was alive or dead, » he told AFP.Turki, 45, was admitted to hospital in the border town of Kilis on Friday after being pulled alive by his friends from the rubble of his home in Minnigh. Fierce fighting in Aleppo province — sparked by a week-long government assault backed by Russian air support — have displaced tens of thousands of people.
Alaa Najjar also arrived in Turkey on Friday to be treated for a shoulder injury incurred during an aerial bombardment in Marea, also just north of Aleppo. »It was like hell. We couldn’t stand the bombings. Even the animals couldn’t stand them, » he told AFP, saying there were up to four air strikes a day.
« I had a kitten. When the kitten heard the sound of the planes, she ran directly under the bed. If animals were intimidated that much, how can human beings endure it? »Russia launched a bombing campaign in Syria last year at the request of President Bashar al-Assad, saying it was targeting the Islamic State group and other jihadist organisations.
The West has accused Russia of targeting more moderate factions that oppose Assad’s regime, and Syrian activists say the strikes have killed civilians, allegations Moscow dismisses as « absurd ».Russian backing has helped Assad’s forces make significant advances in recent months – including its latest offensive seeking to encircle rebel-held areas of Aleppo and sever their supply lines to Turkey.
Rebel fighter Mohammad crossed the border on Tuesday, walking with crutches and bandages around his right leg and a finger. »The situation is very bad. People are fleeing. The town was completely destroyed by Russian air bombardment, » the 30-year-old — whose father was killed when six Russian air strikes hit his town — told AFP.
UN urges Turkey to open borders, end to bombing of Aleppo The United Nations urged Turkey to let in tens of thousands of Syrians fleeing a regime offensive around Aleppo on Tuesday, adding to calls for Russia to end air strikes ahead of fresh peace efforts.
Up to 31,000 people have fled Aleppo and surrounding areas since last week, as government forces backed by Russian warplanes press an offensive that threatens to encircle the rebel-held eastern part of Syria’s second city.
« The highest need and the best humanitarian response is for the bombing to stop, » UN aid chief Stephen O’Brien said, when asked if Russia should halt its air campaign in Aleppo. « All bombings should stop. »
UN refugee agency (UNHCR) spokesman William Spindler urged Turkey to open its border to « all civilians from Syria who are fleeing danger and seeking international protection ».
Huge crowds of Syrians, most of them women and children, have spent days waiting at the Oncupinar border crossing into Turkey, sleeping in the open or packed into tents.Ahmad al-Mohammad, a field worker with medical aid group Doctors Without Borders, known by its French initials MSF, said crowded conditions were causing health problems including diarrhoea.
UN to discuss Syria humanitarian situation ahead of Munich talks The U.N. Security Council will discuss the alarming humanitarian situation in Syria and the recent displacement of tens of thousands of people fleeing a Russian-backed assault around Aleppo, New Zealand’s U.N. envoy said on Tuesday.The closed-door consultations are scheduled for 11:30 a.m.ET (1630 GMT) on Wednesday and were jointly requested by New Zealand and Spain, backed by other Western powers.
« There are reports of at least 30,000 people displaced from Aleppo and it’s the middle of winter, » New Zealand Ambassador Gerard van Bohemen said in a statement to Reuters. « New Zealand and Spain considered this was a situation the Security Council could not ignore. » Hundreds of thousands of civilians could be cut off from food if Syrian government forces encircle rebel-held parts of Aleppo, the United Nations said on Tuesday, warning of a new exodus of refugees fleeing a Russian-backed assault.
It was not clear what, if anything, the 15-nation Security Council will agree on Wednesday. The council usually finds it difficult to reach consensus on Syria because Russia, one of the five permanent veto powers, strongly backs the government of Syrian President Bashar al-Assad.
The council session comes just ahead of a crucial meeting of major powers in Germany.International powers, including Russia, the United States, Saudi Arabia and Iran, are due to meet on Thursday in Munich in a bid to resurrect the talks. But diplomats have little hope for negotiations as long as the offensive continues. Rebels say they will not attend without a halt to the bombing.
Syrian government forces, backed by Russian air strikes and Iranian and Lebanese Hezbollah fighters, have launched a major offensive in the countryside around Aleppo, which has been divided between government and rebel control for years.It marks one of the most important shifts of momentum in the five-year civil war that has killed 250,000 people and already driven 11 million from their homes.U.S. Secretary of State John Kerry urged Russia on Tuesday to join efforts to bring about a ceasefire. »Russia’s activities from Aleppo and in the region are making it much more difficult to be able to come to the table and be able to have a serious conversation, » Kerry told reporters.
Turkey summons U.S. envoy over comments on Kurdish PYD in Syria Turkey summoned the U.S.ambassador to express its displeasure on Tuesday after a State Department spokesman said Washington did not regard Syria’s Kurdish Democratic Union Party (PYD) as a terrorist organisation, a Turkish foreign ministry official said.
Tensions between the two NATO allies have flared over the PYD, which Washington supports in its struggle against Islamic State militants in Syria.Ankara sees it as a sister of the Kurdistan Workers Party (PKK), with which it has been embroiled in fierce fighting in southeast Turkey since their decades-old conflict reignited last July. The PKK is classed as a terrorist organisation by Turkey, the United States and the European Union.
Asked about the difference in opinion with Turkey on Monday, State Department Spokesman John Kirby said: « This is not a new concern, as I said, that the Turks have proffered. And we don’t, as you know, recognise the PYD as a terrorist organization. » On Tuesday, Kirby confirmed that U.S. Ambassador to Turkey John Bass met senior Turkish officials on Tuesday, although he declined to describe what they discussed. The spokesman also said the United States has not changed its views on the PYD.
Turkey fears advances by Kurdish YPG militia, backed by the PYD, on the Syrian side of the two countries’ 900-km (560-mile) border will fuel separatist ambitions among its own Kurds.It has been conducting a violent crackdown on the PKK in the southeast, with hundred of militants, security force members and civilians killed.President Tayyip Erdogan has previously hinted that Turkey may conduct military operations in Syria to halt the YPG’s advance.
Kuwait backs alliances against Islamic State, but no troops Kuwait backs international efforts against hardline Islamist groups in Iraq and Syria although the Gulf Arab state’s constitution prevents it from fighting in anything but defensive wars, a senior Kuwaiti official said.
Kuwait, a U.S. ally and neighbour of Saudi Arabia and Iraq, is part of a 34-nation alliance announced by Riyadh in December aimed at countering Islamic State and al Qaeda in Iraq, Syria, Libya, Egypt and Afghanistan.
Several Gulf Arab states including Kuwait also provide varying kinds of support to a U.S.-led coalition that has been fighting Islamic State in Syria since 2014.The issue of Gulf Arab participation in Iraq and Syria has come to the fore because Saudi Arabia said on Monday it was open to sending special forces to Syria, and the United Arab Emirates has said it would be willing to send troops to train and support a U.S.-led coalition against Islamic State.
« Kuwait stands shoulder-to-shoulder with our brothers in Saudi on all fronts. We are always ready and able to provide what is needed to our Gulf partners within the confines of our constitution, » said Sheikh Mohammad al-Mubarak Al-Sabah, Kuwait’s minister for cabinet affairs, in an interview in Dubai.Speaking late on Monday, he said this could be « intelligence-sharing, the provision of establishments required by the coalition to facilitate their activities ». He did not elaborate.
Libya must lead anti-Islamic State effort, Egypt’s foreign minister says Libya needs to form a unified government before the United States and European allies opt for any military intervention against thousands of Islamic State fighters in the chaotic North African country, Egypt’s foreign minister said on Tuesday.
« This has to be a Libyan-led process, » Egyptian Foreign Minister Sameh Shoukry told Reuters in an interview, while acknowledging that efforts to forge a single government from two rivals in neighboring Libya have been « difficult. » U.S. counter-terrorism officials have been alarmed at the growth of an Islamic State affiliate in Libya, where it has amassed thousands of fighters, seized a coastal strip that includes the city of Sirte and attacked oil infrastructure.
The Arab country plunged into chaos in the aftermath of the uprising against longtime dictator Muammar Gadaffi, whose fall was helped by a NATO-led air campaign in 2011.Speaking to the U.S. Congress on Tuesday, Director of National Intelligence James Clapper said Islamic State’s Libya affiliate is « one of its most developed branches outside Syria and Iraq. » The affiliate, he said, « is well positioned to expand territory under its control in 2016. » U.S. officials have debated increasing air strikes in Libya or deploying U.S. Special Operations Forces, but they say any military campaign is still weeks or even months away.
Shoukry suggested that international intervention without Libyan approval could backfire. « The experience in the past … might have been met by the Libyan people with a little bit of concern, the outcome of the last intervention, » he said, referring to turmoil that followed in the wake of the West’s help in bringing down Gadaffi.
Obama to propose $200 mln to battle Islamist militants in Africa President Barack Obama is proposing about $200 million in new military spending to confront Islamist militants in north and west Africa, U.S.defense officials said ahead of Tuesday’s budget rollouts for the next fiscal year.
U.S. officials declined to specify to which nations the funding would be directed. The disclosure comes as the United States and its allies discuss ways to halt the spread of Islamic State in Libya and elsewhere in Africa from its self-declared caliphate in Syria and Iraq.The proposed increase in U.S. defense spending for north and west Africa is a component of a larger $7.5 billion Pentagon request for fiscal year 2017 to counter Islamic State.
« The marginal increase is on the order of about $200 million associated with north Africa, » one U.S. defense official said, speaking on condition of anonymity to a small group of reporters.Another U.S. defense official told Reuters the funds would also be directed to west Africa.Vice Chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff Air Force General Paul Selva said the new funding was aimed at addressing threats from militant groups across Africa, including al Shabaab in the east, Boko Haram in the west, and Islamic State in Libya.
« The monies that we’ve put into the budget to address those threats in Africa are to be able to work with indigenous forces as well as partner forces to get at those three particular threats and others that might emerge, » Selva said.U.S. Defense Secretary Ash Carter last week announced his intention to ramp up spending to counter Islamic State as he unveiled the broad details of Obama’s proposed $582.7 billion defense budget.A key part of the $7.5 billion would go to munitions. Carter said the United States has used so many smart bombs and laser-guided rockets in Iraq and Syria that it is running low and needs to invest $1.8 billion for 45,000 more.
The Air Force budget includes about 4,500 small diameter bombs, doubling the previous year’s purchase. It also calls for more than 30,000 Boeing Co Joint Direct Attack Munition tail kits, which turn unguided bombs into all-weather smart munitions using GPS guidance systems, compared to about 22,000 the previous year. The Navy is slated to buy 100 Hellfire missiles built by Lockheed Martin Corp, with the Air Force planning to buy around 280.The U.S. officials also said some of the $7.5 billion would go toward training and equipping Iraqi forces and fighters in Syria to counter Islamic State.
Lieutenant General Vincent Stewart, director of the Defense Intelligence Agency, warned on Monday of the group’s expansion to Libya, Egypt’s Sinai Peninsula, Nigeria, Algeria and elsewhere.The United States has a limited permanent military presence in Africa, largely centered on a U.S. base in Djibouti. Islamic State forces have attacked Libya’s oil infrastructure and taken control of the city of Sirte, exploiting a power vacuum in which two rival governments have been battling for supremacy.The Pentagon has said planning is underway to confront the group in Libya, although significant political hurdles could slow any new campaign by the U.S. and its allies there.
French plan advances to strip passports from those convicted of terrorism President Francois Hollande’s plan to strip French citizenship from people convicted of terrorism passed a first hurdle on Tuesday when the lower house of parliament backed controversial proposals introduced after Islamic extremists killed 130 people in Paris last November.
The National Assembly voted by 162-148 late on Tuesday to write a passport-stripping clause into the Constitution, despite misgivings by some lawmakers that it was too extreme.The vote appeared to only partially defuse concerns of a broad rebellion scuttling a proposal that some, notably members of the ruling Socialist Party, consider an ineffective, symbolic measure in France’s battle against terrorism.
Hollande’s government launched the long process to change the Constitution after the Nov. 13 Paris attacks, for which the militant group Islamic State claimed credit.French Prime Minister Manuel Valls welcomed the vote’s result.
Asked by reporters if the tight outcome meant there was a risk the reform could fail to pass the next legislative steps to make it definitive, Valls said, « Tomorrow, we will hold another vote. I think the approval will be broader and the constitutional reform will go ahead. » A follow-up vote is scheduled for Wednesday in which the lower house is due to reaffirm the vote.
Critics have said that any law is likely to stigmatise French citizens with dual nationality, such as those from former French colonies in Africa. Under international law, governments cannot make citizens stateless.
Iraq’s troubled finances slow efforts to rebuild Ramadi Strain on Iraq’s budget from falling oil prices is delaying the removal of Islamic State explosives in Ramadi and the restoration of basic services needed for displaced civilians to return to the western city.The army declared victory in December over Islamic State (IS) after elite counter-terrorism forces seized the Anbar provincial capital’s main government building. On Tuesday those forces reclaimed strategic territory linking the city to a major army base nearby.
The recapture of Ramadi was the first major gain for the U.S.-trained army since it collapsed in the face of an assault by the ultra-hardline Sunni militants in 2014. Its recovery boosted Prime Minister Haider al-Abadi in his quest to oust IS from Mosul, northern Iraq’s biggest city, later this year.But Ramadi’s hundreds of thousands of residents will not be able to go home until bombs are removed and infrastructure damaged by six months of fighting is rehabilitated – operations that require tens of millions of dollars Baghdad cannot spare.
« We know that the government has its back against the wall fiscally. In order to stabilize areas and to help displaced families go back, we’ve got to do more, » said Lise Grande, the United Nations’ humanitarian coordinator in Iraq. She appealed to international donors for at least $40 million more for initial reconstruction efforts. Iraq, with income nearly exclusively from oil, is struggling to pay its bills amid the fall in global crude prices. Anbar Governor Sohaib al-Rawi said his provincial government had not received its share of the federal budget in about two months.
« The local government has accumulated debts from last year which will be paid from this budget, » al-Rawi told reporters in Baghdad, declining to define the size of the debt.Besides U.N.-funded activities, he said efforts to prepare Ramadi for the return of civilians were being financed « through local efforts » of provincial authorities, without providing details.
Iraq PM says to bring in technocrats in cabinet reshuffle Iraqi Prime Minister Haider al-Abadi said on Tuesday he would reshuffle his cabinet to appoint technocrats to replace ministers appointed on the basis of political affiliations.He gave no details about the timing of the change or what positions would be affected, but promised decisions soon including ones related to fighting corruption.
« Out of my responsibility … to lead the country to safety, I call for a radical cabinet reshuffle to include professionals, technocrats and academics, » Abadi said in a televised speech which focused largely on economic challenges facing Iraq, a major OPEC oil exporter.
By replacing ministers chosen on the basis of party affiliation or ethnic or sectarian identity, Abadi risks disturbing the delicate balance of Iraq’s governing system in place since the U.S.-led invasion in 2003 which toppled dictator Saddam Hussein.He acknowledged in his speech that the reshuffle would replace ministers chosen by political blocs and approved by parliament in accordance with the constitution, but urged politicians to cooperate.
Emboldened last summer by popular protests and a call for action by Iraq’s top Shi’ite cleric, Abadi unilaterally moved at the time to dismantle the country’s patronage system and root out corruption undermining the battle against Islamic State.
The ultra-hardline Sunni militant movement seized nearly a third of the country’s northern and western territory in 2014 and regularly claims bomb attacks in Iraqi cities.Abadi’s reform campaign, however, soon got bogged down by legal challenges and opposition from entrenched interests. He has since been criticised for failing to take decisive action.
« It was our ambition to unite the efforts of all politicians, political blocs and lawmakers, » he said. « We were answered with a smear campaign which we did not respond to in order to prioritise the public interest. » Iraq, whose income comes almost exclusively from oil sales, has struggled to pay its bills amid the fall in global crude prices. The 2016 budget projects a 24 trillion Iraqi dinar ($20.44 billion) deficit financed largely by aid from international organisations such as the World Bank.
Islamic State unlikely to be ejected from Mosul in 2016 – U.S. general An Iraqi-led operation to retake the Islamic State stronghold of Mosul is unlikely to take place this year, a top U.S. intelligence official told Congress on Tuesday. The comments by Marine Corps Lieutenant General Vincent Stewart were more pessimistic than some recent predictions by U.S. and Iraqi officials about the pace of the campaign against the militant group.
« Mosul will be a complex operation. … I’m not as optimistic that we’ll be able to turn that in the near term, in my view, certainly not this year, » Stewart, director of the Defense Intelligence Agency, told the Senate Armed Services Committee.
« We may be able to begin the campaign, do some isolation operations around Mosul, » he said. « But securing or taking Mosul is an extensive operation and not something I see in the next year or so. » Iraqi forces, backed by U.S. airstrikes, reclaimed the city of Ramadi from Islamic State in late December.Mosul, however, is a far larger city with a populace made up of many sects. And even in Ramadi, Iraqi forces are still working to secure that city and its environs.
Top Iraqi officials recently have suggested that Mosul, which fell when Islamic State forces routed the Iraqi army in 2014, would be liberated this year.Vice President Joe Biden said in late January: « I promise you, after Ramadi, watch what happens now in Raqqa in Syria and what happens in Mosul, by the end of this year. » Raqqa is the capital of Islamic State’s self-styled caliphate.
Stewart said that in addition to securing Ramadi, Iraqi forces must secure the Euphrates River valley between the cities of Hit and Haditha before turning to encircling Mosul.Other U.S. officials believe an operation against Mosul, while not imminent, is still possible before the end of U.S.President Barack Obama’s term. The key, they said, is for the United States and its allies to train additional Iraqi forces.
Sudan’s Bashir replaces military chief of staff Sudanese President Omar Hassan al-Bashir replaced the head of his joint chiefs of staff on Tuesday with a loyal general who has played a leading role in negotiations with anti-government rebels.
Lieutenant General Emadeddine Mostafa Adawi replaces Lieutenant General Mostafa Obeid, who held the position for less than three years, Sudan’s military spokesman told Reuters.The move came as part of a reshuffle in which Bashir replaced several senior military leaders.The armed forces are a key player in Sudanese politics.Bashir himself was an army officer when he seized power in a 1989 coup.The military spokesman gave no reason for the change.
Egyptian policeman who killed man in custody jailed for 8 years A police officer in Egypt’s eastern city of Ismailia has been sentenced to eight years in jail for beating a man to death in custody and falsifying police records, judicial sources said on Tuesday.
Human rights groups say police brutality is widespread in Egypt and that there is a culture of impunity. Trials such as this are rare and when they do occur, sentences are usually appealed and subsequently reduced. The court sentenced the officer to five years for « torture and beating leading to death » and three years for falsifying police records regarding the case. The verdict can be appealed.The victim was a middle-aged veterinarian had died in custody hours after being hauled from his wife’s pharmacy on Nov. 25. Protesters burned tyres in the street shortly after his death.
U.S. intelligence chief warns of ‘homegrown’ security threat Attacks by « homegrown » Islamist extremists are among the most imminent security threats facing the United States in 2016, along with dangers posed overseas by Islamic State and cyber security concerns, the top U.S. intelligence official said on Tuesday.
In his annual assessment of threats to the United States, Director of National Intelligence James Clapper warned that fast-moving cyber and technological advances « could lead to widespread vulnerabilities in civilian infrastructures and U.S.government systems. » In prepared testimony before the Senate Armed Services and Intelligence Committees, Clapper outlined an array of other threats from Russia and North Korean nuclear ambitions to instability caused by the Syrian migrant crisis.
« In my 50 plus years in the intelligence business I cannot recall a more diverse array of crises and challenges than we face today, » Clapper said.Islamic State poses the biggest danger among militant groups because of the territory it controls in Iraq and Syria, and is determined to launch attacks on U.S. soil, Clapper said. It also has demonstrated « unprecedented online proficiencies, » he said.
While the United States « will almost certainly remain at least a rhetorically important enemy » for many foreign militant groups, « homegrown violent extremists … will probably continue to pose the most significant Sunni terrorist threat to the U.S.homeland in 2016, » he said, referring to Sunni Muslim jihadists. »The perceived success » of attacks by such extremists in Europe and San Bernardino, California, « might motivate others to replicate opportunistic attacks with little or no warning, » Clapper said.
U.S.-Iranian businessman’s jailing sends chilling message to investors When Iran and the United States sealed the implementation of a deal to curb Tehran’s nuclear programme with a prisoner exchange last month, Siamak Namazi was among the detainees some expected to be freed by the Iranian authorities.
The businessman with dual U.S.-Iranian citizenship was on a list of four prisoners to be released published by the official Islamic Republic News Agency and the Tabnak website on the day of the swap, Jan. 16. His name was withdrawn with an apology but no explanation.
U.S. Secretary of State John Kerry told reporters the following day he had commitments from Iran that Namazi’s case would be resolved.But the 44-year-old Dubai-based executive, distinguished by the World Economic Forum as a « Young Global Leader », is still in Tehran’s Evin prison, where former political inmates say torture is frequent during interrogations. Close friends say his conditions have deteriorated.
While Iran announces multi-billion-euro deals with European multinationals, Namazi’s case sends a chilling message to expatriates who hope to participate in the economic opening following the lifting of sanctions.Far from being welcomed back for their skills and international connections, they may end up behind bars or worse.
Namazi has not been charged with any offence and Iranian justice authorities declined in response to Reuters requests to give an official explanation for his continued detention.Asked what it was doing to win his release, the U.S. State Department declined comment on the individual case, citing « privacy concerns ».
« The U.S. government does everything and will continue to do everything it can on behalf of its citizens detained around the world who request our assistance, » said Sam Werberg, press officer for the Office of Iranian Affairs.Friends say Namazi may have become a pawn in factional struggles among hardliners, pragmatists and reformers, each with economic as well as political interests. Some fear he may be being softened up for a televised « confession » – a speciality of Iran’s judicial system.
Conservatives close to Supreme Leader Ayatollah Ali Khamenei have warned that Iranian-Americans may use business ventures to infiltrate Iran and bring about a soft version of the « regime change » that U.S. hawks have long sought to achieve in Tehran.
« They connect dual citizens like Siamak who are active in business and society as ‘agents of infiltration’, which is a complete misperception, » said Bijan Khajehpour, a Vienna-based business consultant who is Namazi’s cousin by marriage.Some Iranian political experts, unwilling to be identified because of the sensitivity of the case, say Namazi may have been arrested because he is seen as part of business circles close to ex-president Akbar Hashemi Rafsanjani, a veteran power broker.
Rafsanjani and current President Hassan Rouhani are backing pragmatic and reformist candidates in an effort to wrest control of parliament from conservatives in elections on Feb. 26.Hardline clerics in the Guardian Council loyal to Khamenei have barred hundreds of candidates from contesting the poll, questioning their loyalty to the Islamic Republic system.
Iran says ready to talk with Saudi over oil market conditions- Press TV Iranian Oil Minister Bijan Zangeneh said on Tuesday that Tehran is ready to negotiate with Saudi Arabia over the current conditions in the global oil markets, Iran’s Press TV reported. « We support any form of dialogue and cooperation with OPEC member states including Saudi Arabia, » Press TV cited Zangeneh as saying
Italy’s state train company to help Iran develop rail system Italy’s state railway company, Ferrovie dello Stato (FS), signed an agreement with its Iranian counterpart on Tuesday to develop Iran’s rail system, Ferrovie said.Foreign firms are keen to exploit opportunities in Iran after the country emerged from years of economic isolation last month when nuclear-related sanctions were lifted.
Ferrovie Chief Executive Renato Mazzoncini signed the agreement with Iranian Deputy Transport Minister and railway chief Mohsen Pour Sayed Aghaei during the third mission of Italian businesses to Tehran in recent months.The deal includes up to 5 billion euros ($5.65 billion) in export credits from Italy for Iran’s RAI railway company, a statement from Ferrovie said.
« The FS group will supply assistance to the Iranian railways .. for both high-speed and conventional rail lines, including a complete programme for training personnel, » it said.It said FS will be on the « frontline » for the planning and construction of high-speed rail links between the Iranian cities of Tehran and Hamadan, and between Arak and Qom.
Iran is seeking to expand its rail network to 25,000 km (15,500 miles) from 10,000 currently, with 7,500 km already under construction, the statement said.Last month, Italy rolled out the red carpet for Iranian President Hassan Rouhani in a bid to rebuild commercial ties following the end of sanctions. ($1 = 0.8843 euros)
White House hopefuls Trump, Sanders capture New Hampshire Riding a wave of voter anger at traditional politicians, billionaire Donald Trump won New Hampshire’s Republican presidential nominating contest on Tuesday and U.S. Senator Bernie Sanders of Vermont won the Democratic primary.Disenchanted with the economy and Washington politicians, voters in the first two U.S. primary voting races have responded enthusiastically to candidates for the Nov. 8 presidential election they view as outsiders.
The results, though decisive, did little to clear up confusion about who would emerge as the establishment contender to Trump on the Republican side, and the campaign of Sanders’ rival, former Secretary of State Hillary Clinton, were defensive about her future prospects.In a somber speech, New Jersey Governor Chris Christie said he would weigh his next steps in the campaign, depending on final results in the Republican race that appeared to show him far behind.
Trump’s win solidifies his front-runner status in the race to be the party’s White House nominee. The former reality television star has been cheered by his supporters for comments that others have derided as politically incorrect.
Trump, 69, has campaigned to deport illegal immigrants and temporarily ban Muslims from entering the United States.
Trump was in first place with 34 percent of the vote. Ohio Governor John Kasich, aged 63, who staked the viability of his campaign on the New Hampshire outcome, was in second place with 16 percent, CNN said, based on an estimated 67 percent of returns.
Trump congratulated other candidates in the race but promised to soon return to his pugnacious approach. « Tomorrow: boom, boom, » he said, shadow boxing while his supporters cheered.
In his victory speech, Trump said Sanders « wants to give away our country. » He pledged to have business experts negotiate better trade deals and to « knock the hell out » of Islamic State militants.Sanders, who describes himself as a democratic socialist, has called for eradicating income inequality, breaking up the big banks and providing free college tuition.
« Together we have sent the message that will echo from Wall Street to Washington, from Maine to California, and that is that the government of our great country belongs to all of the people and not just a handful of wealthy campaign contributors, » Sanders said in his victory speech.Independent voters wield special clout in New Hampshire, second in the series of state-by-state contests that lead to the parties’ formal presidential nominating conventions in July, because they can vote in either party’s primary.
GLOBAL MARKETS-Asia dips amid smouldering banking sector concerns, yen stands tall Asian stocks dipped early on Wednesday amid smouldering banking sector concerns, particularly banks in Europe, while the safe-haven yen stood atop large gains made overnight.MSCI’s broadest index of Asia-Pacific shares outside Japan edged down 0.2 percent. The decline was limited after Wall Street shares cut most of their losses overnight and gave battered risk assets some relief.Australian stocks fell 1 percent. Japan’s Nikkei lost 0.2 percent after sinking 5.4 percent on Tuesday.
Equity markets remained wobbly after being hit hard early in the week by worries about the health of the euro zone banking sector, with a very easy monetary policy seen crimping bank profits and consequently their ability to repay debt.Trouble for equities has meant a boon for government bonds, with the Japanese government bond 10-year yield dropping into the negative for the first time on Tuesday and the U.S. Treasury benchmark yield declining to a one-year trough.The yen, often sought in times of financial market turmoil, has also received a strong boost this week. The dollar traded at 114.96 yen after sinking to a 15-month low of 114.205 overnight. The euro was flat at $1.1288 after scaling a four-month high of $1.1338 overnight on the dollar’s broader weakness.
After a tumultuous start to the week, markets looked to Federal Reserve Chair Janet Yellen, who will address the U.S.Congress later in the session, for fresh cues and possible relief.While Yellen is expected to defend the Fed’s first rate hike in a decade and likely insist that further rises remain on track, any signs of a departure from such a stance could provide risk assets with a breather.
« The narrative that she faces is that the U.S. economy and asset markets are being sucked into the downdraft caused by oil, China, emerging markets, reserve manager and sovereign wealth fund asset selling, commodities, currency war, the strong dollar, weak European banks, weak Japanese banks, weak US banks and policy ineffectiveness…to name a few, » wrote Steven Englander, global head of FX strategy at Citi.
In commodities, crude oil prices trimmed some of their sharp losses suffered overnight. U.S. crude was up 1.6 percent at $28.39 a barrel. Crude sank nearly 6 percent on Tuesday after weak demand forecasts from the U.S. government and a rout in equities pressured prices.Spot gold fetched $1,189.36 an ounce, staying near a 7-1/2-month peak of $1,200.60 stuck on Monday on the back of the risk aversion in the wider markets.
Tourism: a tenth of the world economy Terrorism and epidemics now and again make a dent in tourism numbers, but the sector usually quickly rebounds and it now employs hundreds of millions and accounts for a tenth of global output.
Here are five key points about the sector, which grew 4.4 percent last year to nearly 1.2 billion people taking a trip outside of their country:
– Europe (including Russia) remains the most visited region with 609 million visiting last year, followed by the the Asia-Pacific region at 277 million visitors, and the Americas at 190 million. However the number of visitors to north Africa fell by 8 percent according to data from the UN World Tourism Organization (UNWTO).
– In 2014, international tourism receipts from lodging, meals, transportation and purchases hit $1.5 trillion, up from 900 billion in 2010. The Chinese were the biggest spenders, followed by Americans.
– Tourism accounts for 10 percent of gross domestic product and accounts for one in 11 jobs, according to the UNWTO.
– China, the United States and Britain led outbound travel growth in 2015, while Russians and Brazilians travelled less due to the economic crises in their countries.
– the share of emerging markets has passed from 30 percent in 1980 to 45 percent in 2014 and should rise to 57 percent by 2030, which corresponds to an additional 1 billion international tourist arrivals.
Some are wary after attacks, but Paris magic still enchants tourists Some visitors may be steering clear of the world’s top tourist destination after terror attacks in the French capital, but for lovers, shoppers and gourmands who dare to go, Paris will always be Paris.
Quaint Parisian streets have been a little quieter and lines outside the Louvre museum or under the Eiffel Towel a little shorter since a November jihadist attack which killed 130 people. Francois Navarro, head of the Paris region tourist board, said hotel reservations were down about 20 percent, with many cancellations from Japanese, Chinese and Russian tourists in the wake of the second devastating attack to hit the City of Light within a year.He said it had taken the Paris region three months to recover from the January 2015 attacks on the Charlie Hebdo magazine and a Jewish supermarket.
« There has been more of an impact » after gunmen and suicide bombers went on a killing spree at Paris nightspots in November, Navarro said. »But security has also never been as high in Paris. That reassures tourists, » he said, adding that visitor figures were expected to pick up again in March.
The full impact of the terror attacks on 2015 tourism figures is not yet known, but while some backed out of their dream trip, the allure of Paris was too strong for others.
« At first, I didn’t want to come at all, because of the attacks. But I decided not to give into fear… Visiting Paris had always been one of my wishes, » said Annika, a 23-year-old German on her first solo trip abroad.
« I came to realise that I could just as easily be hit by a car anywhere in the world anytime and I wouldn’t be able to do much about it either, » she said.Her attitude reflects that of many who keep coming to Paris, said Navarro, adding that travellers today have « adapted to the fact that these tragic events can happen anywhere. »
U.S. has room to fight any future downturn with spending -Furman The White House’s top economic adviser, Jason Furman, said on Tuesday that the United States has ample capacity to boost spending to cushion any future economic downturn. Furman, at a news conference on President Barack Obama’s final budget proposal, said that gross domestic product growth may be slowing somewhat, but that is being offset in a fiscal context by lower unemployment and lower-than-expected interest rates, and a continued decline in healthcare costs.
« Our country has the fiscal room, if and when it is ever needed at some hypothetical future date, to use fiscal policy as one of the tools that we would deploy in those circumstances, » Furman said.
Even staple food demonstrates Nigeria’s economic vulnerability Cassava, the starch rusty-coloured root that is a staple in Nigeria, is a paradigm of the problem the import-dependent nation now faces as the plunge in oil prices crimps the economy.
The root is used to make « eba » and « fufu » — filling pastes that are beloved dishes in Nigerian homes — but there are a myriad of uses for cassava, including making flour and beer. The problem — and opportunity — that cassava production presents is that Nigeria, Africa’s most populous nation, does not produce as much as it could, nor of the quality to make it a thriving business.
To enable Nigeria to wean itself off imports of rice and wheat, a project aims to help farmers ramp up cassava production through a new scheme with the support of the Bill and Melinda Gates Foundation.
« Nigeria spends 635 billion naira ($3.2 billion) annually on wheat importation, » a leading agronomist and representative of the agriculture minister, Comfort Doyin Awe, said.
Cassava should emerge as a wheat substitute instead, with Nigerians baking loaves of cassava bread, she told experts at a meeting organised by the International Institute of Tropical Agriculture (IITA) in the southwestern city of Ibadan late last month.As it is eaten across west Africa, cassava could even become a much-needed foreign currency earner, if Nigerian farmers and processors can improve the quality of their production.
« We don’t add value to our cassava. It will help Nigeria if we do that. We need good quality cassava flour, » Awe said.While prices are high Nigeria’s oil exports bring in plenty of foreign exchange earnings, helping underpin an exchange rate for the naira that allows the country to import major amounts of wheat flour.
But as prices have crashed from above $100 per barrel in July 2014 to around $30 now the country can no longer afford to do so.So far the leaders have preferred to limit access to foreign currency to support the exchange rate for the naira, but that approach will soon choke off imports and many see the government ultimately being forced to devalue the unit, making imported wheat unaffordable for many.
That means Nigerians will increasingly look to cassava farmers like Sifawu Safiu. But that hope looks forlorn as she yanks out tubers from the red soil in a village on the outskirts of Ibadan, shaking her head with disappointment. »I am not happy with the cassava my farm is yielding, » the 61-year-old told AFP.
« I don’t use fertiliser. I need financial help to improve my yield. »Fatima Taju, another farmer working on a nearby farm, said she needs better tools. Unable to afford machines to do the heavy work, small farmers use hoes and machetes to harvest their crops.The mostly illiterate farmers have scarce funds to buy fertilisers or pesticides and often cannot access resources to learn better cultivation methods.As a result, cassava output in sub-Saharan Africa stands at 10 tonnes per hectare, far below potential yields of more than 30 tonnes.
Decades of neglect of the farming industry will have to be overcome quickly if the nation of about 170 million people is to dodge an impending food crisis due to a reliance on rice and wheat imports.That is where the African Cassava Agronomy Initiative steps in with $14.4 million in funding from the Gates’ foundation.
In boost to self-driving cars, U.S. tells Google computers can qualify as drivers U.S. vehicle safety regulators have said the artificial intelligence system piloting a self-driving Google car could be considered the driver under federal law, a major step toward ultimately winning approval for autonomous vehicles on the roads.
The National Highway Traffic Safety Administration told Google, a unit of Alphabet Inc, of its decision in a previously unreported Feb. 4 letter to the company posted on the agency’s website this week.Google’s self-driving car unit on Nov. 12 submitted a proposed design for a self-driving car that has « no need for a human driver, » the letter to Google from National Highway Traffic Safety Administration Chief Counsel Paul Hemmersbaugh said.
« NHTSA will interpret ‘driver’ in the context of Google’s described motor vehicle design as referring to the (self-driving system), and not to any of the vehicle occupants, » NHTSA’s letter said.
U.S. judge deports Qatar military officer accused of enslaving servants A U.S. judge ordered the immediate deportation on Tuesday of a Qatar military officer and his wife after they were accused of holding two female servants in slave-like conditions in their upscale San Antonio home.
Hassan al-Homoud, 46, who received military training at San Antonio’s Camp Bullis, and his wife, Zainab al-Hosani, a citizen of the United Arab Emirates, pleaded guilty to federal charges in December.U.S. District Judge Orlando Garcia said he had hoped to hand down a harsher sentence than deportation in the case, since engaging in forced labor is a crime punishable by up to 10 years in prison.But a plea agreement was offered to the couple because the servants – one from Bangladesh and the other from Indonesia – refused to testify against them.
Homoud pleaded guilty in December to visa fraud while his wife pleaded guilty to knowing that a felony was taking place and failing to report it. The couple also agreed to pay $60,000 restitution to each of their victims.The couple held the servants in « virtual slavery, » in primitive conditions, withholding their wages, confiscating their cell phones and passports, and giving them barely enough food to survive, prosecutors said.Garcia said the couple would be immediately removed from the country and never allowed back.
The servants told officials they had never been paid and a federal affidavit said they were forced to live in a « run-down apartment with no furnishings, no linens, utensils, clothing, television, reading material or even toilet paper. » The U.S. Attorney’s office said Hosani had « threatened the workers with arrest and incarceration in Qatar if they failed to perform their work obligations. » In a statement read in court, Homoud said he took full responsibility for his actions. « My conduct has brought shame upon myself, my lovely wife, upon my family and upon my country, » he said.
Olympic medals prospect Kenya causes stir in weighing Zika and Rio Kenya, with its stellar medal prospects for the Rio Games, caused a stir on Tuesday when the head of its Olympics committee said the team might withdraw because of Zika, but officials said later it was too soon to decide on the impact of the virus.
The mosquito-borne virus, which is widespread in Brazil and has been linked to birth defects, has prompted concern among athletes and sports officials around the world as they prepare for the Aug. 5-21 Games in Rio de Janeiro.
National Olympic Committee of Kenya (NOCK) head Kipchoge Keino said on Tuesday the country would not « risk taking Kenyans there if this Zika virus reaches epidemic levels, » and that he was seeking reassurance from organizers.But NOCK played down the comments, saying the East African country was monitoring the potential health threats from the disease and receiving regular updates.
« It is too early to make a determination on the status of the virus during the Games time which is six months away, » said NOCK’s chief of mission for Rio, Stephen Soi.NOCK said Keino « may have been quoted out of context ».Kenya’s sports minister Hassan Wario said on Tuesday the country has not yet decided whether to take part after meeting with health officials, according to the best-selling Daily Nation newspaper.
(World news summary compiled by Maghreb news staff)