Syrian rebels agree to attend peace talks in Khazakstan

Monday 16 January 2017

Syrian rebel groups have decided to attend peace talks backed by Russia and Turkey in Kazakhstan to press for implementation of a widely violated ceasefire, rebel officials said on Monday, in a boost for Moscow-led diplomacy.

Russia, the most powerful ally of President Bashar al-Assad, set the new diplomatic effort in motion after the Syrian opposition suffered a major defeat last month when it lost the rebel-held districts of eastern Aleppo.

Rebel groups took the decision at meetings that are under way in Ankara, and are now working to form a delegation that will be different to one sent to peace talks in Geneva last year by a Saudi-backed opposition group.

The talks are scheduled for 23 January in Astana.

"The factions will go and the first thing they will discuss will be the matter of the ceasefire and the violations by the regime," said an official in a Free Syrian Army rebel group who declined to be identified because the rebel groups had yet to appoint a spokesman.

A second official, Zakaria Malahifji of the Fastaqim rebel group, said: "The majority of the groups decided to attend. Discussions will be on the ceasefire - the humanitarian issues - aid deliveries, release of detainees."

Turkey has been a major backer of the rebellion against Assad, but its priorities in Syria appear to have shifted away from toppling Assad towards combating both Kurdish groups and Islamic State in areas of northern Syria near its border.

The Saudi-backed opposition body, the High Negotiations Committee, said on Saturday that it had supported efforts towards the planned peace talks in Kazakhstan, and viewed the meeting as a preliminary step for resuming the next round of political negotiations in Geneva.

The HNC, formed in Riyadh in December 2015, includes both political and armed opponents of Assad.

Malahifji said the new delegation would be formed in coordination with the HNC, but it would differ from it because "the Russians are focusing very much on the military factions".

"The committee stresses its support to the military delegation... and expresses hope that the meeting would reinforce the truce," the HNC said.

The HNC also expressed hope that the meeting would "establish a phase of confidence" through the implementation of UN Security Council Resolution 2254, especially articles concerning ending sieges of cities and towns, delivering aid and releasing detainees.

The HNC said it "appreciates efforts" to make the Astana talks fruitful, adding that the meeting represents a step that "paves the way for political talks" in Geneva next month.

The statement, which did not clarify whether the HNC has been invited to the Astana talks, stressed that "discussing the political track ... should be held under the UN sponsorship and supervision".

Source: Middle East Eye.
Link: http://www.middleeasteye.net/news/syrian-rebels-agree-attend-peace-talks-khazakstan-17265393.

IS launches new assault on besieged eastern city in Syria

January 14, 2017

BEIRUT (AP) — Islamic State militants launched their biggest assault in a year on government-held areas of the contested city of Deir el-Zour Saturday, attacking from several fronts and triggering intense fighting in the eastern region bordering Iraq, the Syrian government and opposition activists said.

Syrian state TV said three people were killed and nine were wounded in IS rocket attacks on several neighborhoods of the city. Intense fighting broke out between Syrian troops and the extremist group's fighters both inside the city and around the vicinity of a nearby military airport controlled by government forces. The militants had launched their multi-pronged attack starting from the area of Baghaliyeh near the northwestern tip of the city. Deir el-Zour carries strategic significance for IS as it links the group's Iraq territory to its de facto capital of Raqqa in Syria.

Loud explosions that shook the city were reported. Activists said Syrian warplanes were taking part in the battles. The Deir Ezzor 24 news network reported ongoing clashes since the morning near Deir el-Zour military airport and other fronts in the city and said Syrian warplanes targeted Baghaliyeh and Ayash areas and the vicinity of an army base known as Brigade 137 west of the city.

The extremist group, which controls most of Deir el-Zour province, has kept the provincial capital under siege since 2014. Government forces have withstood the encirclement thanks to air-dropped humanitarian assistance and weapons and ammunition flown into the airport. Remaining residents have reported malnourishment and starvation amid severe shortages of food, water and fuel.

IS has tried to capture the government-held neighborhoods of Deir el-Zour and the city's suburbs over the past months without much success. The Syrian Observatory for Human Rights said Saturday's offensive was the most intense since mid-January 2016, when the group killed dozens of people, most of them pro-government militiamen, in wide-scale attacks on the city that saw the group make significant advances. Most of those casualties took place in Baghaliyeh and the killings — many people were shot dead or beheaded — were some of the worst carried out by the extremist group.

The Observatory said the group has recently brought in reinforcements, including large amounts of ammunition and fuel, in preparation for the battle. It said at least 32 people were killed in Saturday's fighting, including 12 soldiers and allied militiamen and 20 IS fighters.

The Islamic State group, which in 2014 seized large parts of Iraq and Syria and established a so-called Islamic "caliphate" straddling both sides of the border, is under intense pressure in both countries where it has lost significant territory in recent months.

Meanwhile in northern Syria, opposition activists reported a series of government airstrikes on Idlib province over the past 24 hours, including an attack that killed at least 11, mostly civilians, in Maaret Misrin.

In Damascus, the government maintained its offensive to uproot rebels in control of a nearby valley that provides the capital with the majority of its water supply, further threatening a fragile cease-fire that appeared to be fraying.

State-run news agency SANA reported later Saturday that "terrorists" had assassinated Ahmad al-Ghadban, who was appointed by the government to coordinate with rebels in the opposition-held Barada Valley to stop the fighting and allow maintenance workers to fix the water facility there.

For days negotiations have stalled and failed to restore the water flow to the capital — restricted since Dec. 22 — and to end the government offensive to uproot the rebels in the valley. The U.N. says the capital has suffered a water shortage that has affected nearly 5.5 million residents. The fighting has trapped nearly 100,000 residents of the opposition-held valley.

The cease-fire brokered by Russia and Turkey, who support opposing sides in the Syrian civil war, went into effect on Dec. 30. It excludes extremist groups such as the Islamic State group.

Associated Press writer Albert Aji in Damascus contributed to this report.

Blast in Syrian town on Turkish border kills nearly 50

January 07, 2017

BEIRUT (AP) — A car bomb ripped through a busy commercial district in a rebel-held Syrian town along the Turkish border Saturday, killing nearly 50 in a huge explosion that damaged buildings and left rescuers scrambling to find survivors amid the wreckage, opposition activists said.

Rescuers and doctors said the explosion was so large there were nearly 100 wounded and burned. Over 50 wounded were transported to the Turkish border town of Kilis for treatment, as local hospitals couldn't cope.

There was no immediate claim of responsibility. Locals said a rigged tanker caused the explosion and blamed Islamic State militants, who have carried out attacks in the town before. The militant group has been increasingly pressed in Syria and Iraq, and has escalated its attacks against Turkey — which backs Syrian opposition fighters in a campaign against the group in northern Syria.

Azaz, only a couple of miles from the Turkish border, is a key town on a route used by opposition fighters moving between Syria and Turkey, and is a hub for anti-government activists as well as many displaced from the recent fighting in Aleppo city. Activists say its pre-war population of 30,000 has swelled.

It is also sandwiched between rival groups, including Kurdish fighters to the west and Turkey-backed opposition groups to the east. Islamic State militants, who have tried to advance on the key border town before have been pushed back farther east in recent months in the Turkey-backed offensive.

The bomb went off early Saturday afternoon outside a local courthouse and security headquarters operated by the opposition fighters who control the town, resident and activist Saif Alnajdi told The Associated Press from Azaz.

"It hit the busiest part of the town," Alnajdi said, referring to the administrative part of town. A medical worker speaking to a local media outfit, al-Jisr, said many charred bodies, and body parts mixed with bones and mud, were piled up in local hospitals.

Rami Abdurrahman, the head of the Syrian Observatory for Human Rights monitoring group, said at least 48 people were killed, including 14 fighters and guards to the local courthouse. He said the explosion was caused by a rigged water or fuel tanker, which explained the large blast and high death toll. The activist-operated local Azaz Media center and Shabha Press put the death toll at 60, adding that search and rescue operations continued for hours after the explosion.

Alnajdi said rescue workers were still working to identify and remove the bodies from the area, suggesting that the death toll was not final. He said some of the severely wounded were transported across the border into the Turkish town of Kilis for treatment. The Turkish state-run Anadolu news agency said 53 wounded Syrians were brought to Kilis' local hospital for treatment, including five in critical condition, transferred to Gaziantep. The agency said one later died.

Media activist Baha al-Halabi, based in Aleppo province and who gathered information from Azaz residents, said witnesses reported many unidentified bodies. Footage shared online showed a large plume of black smoke rising above the chaotic street with the sound of gunfire in the background as onlookers gathered around the site. In one instance, a father ran away from the scene, carrying his child to safety.

The court house and the security headquarters were damaged, as well as the Red Crescent and municipality offices, according to activists in the area. Many rebels and civilians who were pushed out of Aleppo city during a massive government offensive late last year have resettled in Azaz. Syrian Kurdish forces control territory to the west of Azaz, and have often tried advancing toward the town, causing friction with Turkish troops and allied Syrian opposition fighters. To the east, opposition fighters backed by Turkey have been pushing back Islamic State extremists, gaining territory and advancing on the IS-stronghold town of al-Bab, further east. Turkey considers Syria Kurdish factions there terrorists, linked to a local group it is battling at home.

A nationwide week-long cease-fire has mostly held across most of Syria after Russia and Turkey, who support opposite sides of the conflict, reached an agreement late December. It is set to pave the way for peace talks between Assad's government and the opposition in Kazakhstan later this month. The Islamic State group and al-Qaida-linked group Fatah al-Sham Front are not included in the deal, according to the Syrian government.

Associated press writer Zeynep Bilginsoy in Istanbul contributed to this report.

Hamas elects military hardliner as Gaza chief

2017-02-13

GAZA - Hamas elected in secret a hardline member of the Palestinian Islamist movement's armed wing as its new Gaza leader on Monday, indicating a tougher stand against longtime adversary Israel.

Yahya Sinwar was elected to head the Hamas political office in the Gaza Strip, officials from the party said on condition of anonymity.

An influential military figure, Sinwar represents for some the hardest line within the Islamist movement which has fought three wars against Israel since 2008.

He will succeed politician Ismail Haniya and becomes the second most important figure in the party after Khaled Meshaal.

Sinwar was held in Israeli jail for more than 20 years until 2011, when he was released along with more than 1,000 other Palestinian prisoners in exchange for Gilad Shalit, an Israeli soldier captured five years earlier.

He has since become a senior figure in the Ezzedine al-Qassam Brigades, Hamas's military wing.

In September 2015, Sinwar's name was added to the US terrorism blacklist alongside two other Qassam members.

Mukhaimer Abu Saada, a political analyst in Gaza, said the appointment showed the military wing was asserting its dominance in Hamas.

Israel's foreign ministry and prime minister's office declined to comment, but the defense ministry body responsible for the Palestinian territories labelled him the head of Hamas's "radical camp".

- Secretive -

A graduate in Arabic, Sinwar was born in the Khan Younis refugee camp of southern Gaza in 1962 and founded "Majd," one of Hamas's intelligence services.

In 1988, he was arrested by Israel for "terrorist activity" and eventually sentenced to four life sentences.

Hamas took control of the Gaza Strip in 2007, two years after Israel pulled its forces out but Sinwar remained in jail for another four years.

He was released in October 2011 as part of a mammoth deal for Shalit, who was captured in 2006.

Washington accuses Sinwar of pushing for kidnapping more Israeli soldiers as a bargaining chip for Palestinian prisoners.

Hamas currently claims to be holding four Israelis in captivity in Gaza, though Israel says the two soldiers among them were killed in the 2014 war.

After his release from jail, Sinwar initially made a number of public appearances.

Later, however, he disappeared from public view and was presented in Hamas media as the commander of Qassam's elite units.

On Monday, he seemed set to step back into the public sphere at a time when Hamas has been holding elections.

The election process, ongoing for months, is shrouded in mystery and it was unclear how Sinwar was appointed and if and when other appointments will be announced.

There was no reference to his appointment on the Hamas website Monday afternoon.

Haniya is seen by many observers as the most likely successor to Hamas's overall leader Meshaal, who currently lives in exile.

Sinwar, however, could have significant freedom inside Gaza.

- 'Escalation' -

Both Palestinian and Israeli analysts said the appointment could make another conflict between the two sides more likely.

"I think it is an indication that we might see an escalation with the Israeli occupation in the coming stage," said Abu Saada, the Gaza analyst.

"Sinwar is known to not accept any facilitation that eases the tense situation with the occupation," Abu Saada said.

"We might see in the coming stage further provocations against Israel and violent responses against Gaza."

Israel last year appointed hardline rightwinger Avigdor Lieberman as its defense minister.

After his appointment, he warned the next war with Gaza would be the last as "we will completely destroy them".

Kobi Michael, an analyst and former head of the Palestinian desk at Israel's strategic affairs ministry, said the appointment would alarm Israeli politicians.

"He represents the most radical and extreme line of Hamas," he told reporters. "Sinwar believes in armed resistance. He doesn't believe in any sort of cooperation with Israel."

In the 2014 war, 2,251 Palestinians and 74 Israelis died.

The Jewish state maintains a crippling blockade on Gaza which it says is necessary to restrict Hamas's ability to rearm but which the UN says amounts to collective punishment.

Source: Middle East Online.
Link: http://middle-east-online.com/english/?id=81418.

Time to prioritize Latin America's solidarity with Palestine

February 8, 2017

Last Saturday, Nicaragua hosted a conference themed “Building Bridges with the Palestinian Diaspora in Central America”; it was organised by the United Nations and the Committee on the Exercise of Inalienable Rights of the Palestinian People. The 50th year of Israel’s military occupation of the West Bank and Gaza Strip provided a departure point for the conference, while also taking into consideration the recent developments triggered by Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu regarding colonial expansion in the occupied Palestinian territories.

A lengthy report regarding the conference published on the UN website depicts the intervention by Nicaraguan Foreign Affairs Minister Denis Ronaldo Moncada Colindres as taking an almost comprehensive approach, particularly in his recognition that the conference, apart from imparting regional support for Palestine, should also serve as an incentive to strengthen ties between Latin American countries.

The common struggles faced by Palestine and Latin America provide a formidable context for reciprocal support and solidarity. Speakers representing Palestinian communities in Latin America spoke about the importance of maintaining a united approach in legal matters which shifted international attention towards Israel’s political violence. An unnamed speaker from the Palestinian community in Honduras emphasized the importance of organised mobilization by Palestinians in the diaspora: “An organised diaspora is one of the greatest contributions we can make to Palestine.”

Former Prime Minister of Belize Said Musa — who is of Palestinian descent — declared the importance of going “back to basics”. Highlighting Palestinian history through a discussion of the 1917 Balfour Declaration and the Nakba in 1948, Musa insisted that the Palestinian right of return as outlined in UN Resolution 194 remains unacknowledged by Israel as a direct result of the colonial entity’s denial of the Nakba.

The valid and strong assertions were, however, diminished by perpetual adherence to the two-state compromise, which seemed to form a compulsory clause for participants’ contributions. Permanent Observer for the State of Palestine Riyad Mansour voiced a reminder of the debacle, insisting that ending “the occupation” was imperative in order for Palestinians “to enjoy the State of Palestine with East Jerusalem as its capital, so that two states would live side by side in peace.” There should be no burden upon Palestinians to achieve a semblance of a state based upon international and Israeli aspirations; history and the unfolding events are more than enough proof of Israel’s quest to colonize all of Palestinian territory.

Compared to other professed support for Palestine, such as that from the EU, Latin America still retains a lead that should be explored and encouraged further. The region’s history is one of several anti-colonial triumphs, while other battles still need to be won against prevailing policies which have targeted indigenous populations such as the Mapuche in Chile. Venezuela and Cuba are facing different imperialist tactics seeking to thwart their respective revolutions, yet have consistently supported Palestine, albeit still departing from the two-state imposition which is a far cry from the historical anti-colonial legacy of the late Fidel Castro.

If Latin American support for Palestine is to provide a challenge to the international approach which has normalized Israel’s colonial violence, it is important for Palestinians to be allowed the freedom to assert and sustain their will collectively and internationally. Instead, they have to make do with the Palestinian Authority compromising a support network which, although a departure from mainstream rhetoric, still necessitates further detachment from international requirements that promote, rather than halt, Israeli colonization.

Source: Middle East Monitor.
Link: https://www.middleeastmonitor.com/20170208-time-to-prioritise-latin-americas-solidarity-with-palestine/.

Fatah, Hamas agree to form unity government

2017-01-18

MOSCOW - The main Palestinian parties on Tuesday announced a deal to form a national unity government prior to the holding of elections, after three days of reconciliation talks in Moscow.

"We have reached agreement under which, within 48 hours, we will call on (Palestinian leader) Mahmud Abbas to launch consultations on the creation of a government" of national unity, senior Fatah official Azzam al-Ahmad told a press conference, speaking in Arabic.

Ater the government is formed, the Palestinians would set up a national council, which would include Palestinians in exile, and hold elections.

"Today the conditions for (such an initiative) are better than ever," said Ahmad.

The non-official talks in Moscow began on Sunday under Russian auspices with the goal of restoring "the unity of the Palestinian people." Representatives came from Fatah, Hamas, Islamic Jihad and other factions.

Abbas's secular party Fatah and the Islamist Hamas have been at loggerheads since the latter seized Gaza in a near civil war in 2007.

Last year the Palestinian government postponed the first municipal polls in the occupied West Bank and Gaza Strip in 10 years after the high court ruled they should be held only in the Fatah-run West Bank.

The last time the Palestinians staged elections in which both Hamas and Fatah took part was in 2006.

The Palestinian representatives also met on Monday with Russian Foreign Minister Sergei Lavrov, and asked him to dissuade incoming US president Donald Trump from carrying out a campaign pledge to move the US embassy in Israel from Tel Aviv to Jerusalem.

Israel captured east Jerusalem during the 1967 war and later annexed it -- in a move not recognized by the international community -- declaring all of the city its unified capital.

"We sensed understanding on the part of Mr. Lavrov," said Ahmad.

Ahmad and Moussa Abu Marzouk of Hamas spoke derisively of the Quartet -- the United States, Russia, the EU and UN -- in its years-long effort to end the Israeli-Palestinian conflict.

"The Quartet's work completely failed. It was unable to advance the decisions taken by the international community, including (UN) resolutions," said Ahmad.

"It is imperative to find a new working mechanism for the Israeli-Palestinian conflict," he said.

Abu Marzouk, a senior Hamas official, said he no longer wanted to work with the Quartet but instead with countries and organisations on an individual basis.

"Russia can play a substantial role" in the region, he said.

Source: Middle East Online.
Link: http://middle-east-online.com/english/?id=80933.

New Lebanese army chief warns against 'Israeli schemes'

March 10, 2017

Joseph Aoun, Lebanon’s newly-appointed military chief, said Friday that the Lebanese army must remain on guard against “Israeli ambitions and schemes” in the region.

Addressing army officers in Beirut, Aoun cited perceived threats to Southern Lebanon.

“I have full confidence that you will… be prepared to protect our southern border from the Israeli enemy’s sabotage,” he asserted.

Aoun also stressed Lebanon’s readiness to cooperate with the international community with a view to applying UN Security Council Resolution 1701, which was adopted following Lebanon’s 2006 conflict with Israel.

Resolution 1701 called on Israel to withdraw its forces from Southern Lebanon to allow the deployment of UN peacekeepers along the border between the two countries.

Aoun also said that the Lebanese military would continue to work for the release of nine Lebanese soldiers captured by the Daesh terrorist group three years ago.

In mid-2014, Daesh militants captured several Lebanese military personnel following clashes in the Lebanese town of Arsal on the Syrian border.

Aoun was made commander of Lebanon’s armed forces on Wednesday after being promoted to the rank of general.

Replacing General Jean Kahwaji at the post, Aoun is known to be close to Lebanese President Michel Aoun, although the two are not related.

Before assuming the post, Aoun had commanded the Lebanese Army’s 9th Brigade, which is deployed on Lebanon’s border with Syria.

Source: Middle East Monitor.
Link: https://www.middleeastmonitor.com/20170310-new-lebanese-army-chief-warns-against-israeli-schemes/.

Aoun makes first Egypt visit as Lebanese president

2017-02-13

CAIRO - Lebanese President Michel Aoun on Monday started his first visit to Cairo since his election in October and held talks with his Egyptian counterpart Abdel Fattah al-Sisi.

"Hopes of the role that Egypt could play are high. An Egypt of moderation and openness... could launch an Arab rescue initiative based on a strategy to fight terrorism," Aoun said at a joint press conference.

He said Egypt could "work on finding political solutions for the crises in the Arab world and especially Syria".

The two sides "agreed on the need to stand together against the dangers of terrorism", Sisi said, adding that Egypt was ready "to support the capabilities of Lebanon's army and its various security bodies".

Aoun, a Maronite Christian, was to meet later the same day with the leader of Egypt's Coptic Church, Pope Tawadros II, and also hold talks with Grand Imam Ahmed al-Tayeb of Al-Azhar, the highest institution of Sunni Islam.

On Tuesday, the Lebanese president is scheduled to meet Ahmed Aboul Gheit, secretary general of the Cairo-based Arab League.

Aoun, who was elected with the support of the powerful Iranian-backed Shiite movement Hezbollah, visited Saudi Arabia last month on a mission to patch up relations with Riyadh.

A Lebanese official source said at the time that Saudi Arabia and Lebanon had agreed to hold talks on restoring a $3-billion military aid package that Riyadh froze last year.

Mainly Sunni Saudi Arabia, a fierce regional rival of Iran, froze the aid deal over what it said was Hezbollah's dominance in Lebanon.

Aoun's election ended a two-year deadlock between Iran- and Saudi-backed blocs in the Lebanese parliament.

Source: Middle East Online.
Link: http://middle-east-online.com/english/?id=81415.

Is Jordan signalling a shift in its Syria strategy?

2017-02-27

Jordan’s position towards the Syrian civil war has often appeared unclear: It supports moderate rebel groups from the Syrian Free Army (FSA) yet there is no great display of animosity between Amman and Da­mascus.

The Syrian regime has refrained from painting Jordan with the same damning brush as it does Turkey, Qatar and Saudi Arabia. In turn, the Jordanians have not been as vocal in the call for Syrian President Bashar Assad to step down, as some of their allies have.

Some analysts said Jordan has been maintaining a balancing act: accommodating the position of its US and Gulf financiers without adopting an anti-Assad stance wholeheartedly.

There are many tribal relations between Jordanians and Syrians and King Abdullah II cannot afford to appear to be totally indifferent to the death and suffering of civilians at the hands of pro-Assad forces.

There are more than 600,000 Syrian refugees in Jordan.

Observers, however, pointed to a recent change in Jordan’s policy towards the Syrian conflict that appears to focus on the increasing threat of terror from Islamic State (ISIS) militants and other groups.

“Analysts say that these developments pushed Jordan out of its so-called grey zone and disengage from the Gulf position towards the Syrian issue,” wrote Khalil Qandil in the Jordanian website Assabeel.net.

Jordanian political analyst Amer al-Sabaylah said Jordan was preparing to protect its borders from threats of terror and was looking at Turkey’s Operation Euphrates Shield in Syria as an example.

“Jordan’s priority in fighting terror requires finding a partner in the Syrian south to replicate the Turkish intervention in Syria but without a direct Jordanian involvement,” Sabaylah told Assabeel.net.

His views were shared by other Jordanian analysts.

“Unlike Turkey, Jordan cannot afford nor does it want to carry out a military incursion into southern Syria, a region that is vital to its national security,” wrote Amman-based commentator Osama al-Sha­rif in the Jordan Times.

“Instead, it is building a coalition of moderate rebel groups and local tribal fighters to fend off possible advance by Daesh,” he added, using the Arabic acronym for ISIS. “It is also carrying out preemptive aerial strikes against Daesh positions in southern Syria.”

Jordanian political science Professor Hassan al-Khalidi told the website 24.ae that Amman was primarily concerned with its own security.

“The Jordanian maneuvers in the Syrian issue are primarily aimed at protecting (Jordan’s) northern borders in the event that they are flooded with the remnants of terrorist groups fleeing areas under pressure in Syria and Iraq.”

Brigadier-General Sami Kafawin, the commander of Jordan’s border guards, told the Associated Press that ISIS was expanding its influence in a makeshift border camp that hosts tens of thousands of displaced Syrians.

Jordan also appears to fear that the FSA faction it backs in Southern Syria would be weakened by the resumed Russian air strikes against moderate rebels in Deraa, which would allow ISIS and other radical groups to flourish on its borders.

As a result of new clashes between FSA rebels and the regime, two projectiles reportedly fell on the Jordan side of the border, slightly wounding one person.

Diplomatically, at the invitation of Russia, Jordan attended as a monitor the latest round of talks between the Syrian regime and rebels in Astana. It was also invited to be present during the Geneva talks on February 23rd.

King Abdullah II had also met with Lebanese President Michel Aoun, a staunch supporter of Assad, to discuss the Syrian crisis.

The pro-Hezbollah Lebanese newspaper Addiyar reported that top intelligence official Ali Mam­louk recently met with the Jordanian king in Amman to “coordinate together against terror”.

Many Syrians have looked with suspicion towards what they say is a friendly relationship between As­sad and Amman, despite Jordan’s backing of the FSA.

They say that King Abdullah’s support of Syrian moderate rebels has always been in Jordan’s favour — to counter radical groups — and that Amman is now being more open about it, dismissing the suggestion that there is a shift in strategy.

The Syrians are not alone in thinking that. Jordanian analyst Fahad al-Khitan said that Jordan’s priority for a long time has been to secure its border areas from the threat of militant groups such as ISIS. “Noth­ing changed in that strategy,” he wrote in the Jordanian newspaper al-Ghad.

Jordan will be hosting the next Arab League annual meeting on March 29th but, as was the case in previous summits, Assad will not be invited since the bloc suspended Syria’s membership in 2011.

“How the invitations are dealt with will be based on the decisions of the Arab League, and we will abide by what it has decided,” Jordanian Foreign Minister Ayman Sa­fadi said.

Russian Foreign Minister Sergei Lavrov has called for the Syrian government to be permitted to re­join the bloc but Jordan is unable to fulfil Moscow’s request, even if it wanted to.

Source: Middle East Online.
Link: http://middle-east-online.com/english/?id=81722.

Mythic creatures dance through Dublin on St. Patrick's Day

March 17, 2017

DUBLIN (AP) — Performers dressed as colorful creatures from Irish myth and legend danced Friday down the chilly streets of Dublin as Ireland commemorated its national saint in a St. Patrick's Day parade witnessed by hundreds of thousands.

Throngs of tourists and Dubliners, many of them donning leprechaun costumes, braved gusty winds to pack the route for the parade as it traveled down O'Connell Street across the River Liffey and on to St. Patrick's Cathedral. Dublin's parade, by far the largest of dozens nationwide, forms the centerpiece of a four-day festival that marks the start of Ireland's tourist season.

Irish President Michael D. Higgins and his wife, Sabina, and other dignitaries watched the hour-long procession from a bandstand. The spectacle was heavy on artistic flair and worldwide connections, featuring marching bands from Germany, France, Switzerland, the Bahamas and the U.S. states of Illinois, Indiana, Oregon and Washington. Firefighters from Berkeley, California, and Westchester, New York, also marched.

Before the parade, Higgins took part in a Roman Catholic service during which sprigs of shamrock were blessed. In his holiday address, the president noted that St. Patrick's Day was celebrated worldwide because the Irish have been emigrating in great volumes for centuries.

This globe-trotting tradition represented "a constant feature of the Irish experience, defining us as a people," he said. This week, Prime Minister Enda Kenny and 27 government ministers — virtually the entire government — left Ireland to promote the country's business, arts and culture at more than 100 events in 27 nations.

On Thursday, Kenny met U.S. President Donald Trump at the White House, continuing a holiday tradition that dates back to the Eisenhower administration. Since 2010, Ireland tourism boosters have worked with governments worldwide to floodlight famous landmarks in green each March 17. The Tourism Ireland agency said Friday that this year's "Global Greening" program transformed a record 275 sites in 44 countries, including Niagara Falls, the Great Wall of China, the Colosseum in Rome, the Manneken Pis statue in Brussels, and the Christ the Redeemer statue overlooking Rio de Janeiro.

For the Kremlin, boosting turnout is key task for 2018 vote

March 17, 2017

MOSCOW (AP) — With a year to go before Russia's presidential election, there's little room for intrigue. President Vladimir Putin is set to glide easily to another term against a familiar pack of torpid rivals — leftovers from past races.

But the Kremlin must figure out how to overcome one major problem in Russia's political environment: public apathy. Putin's strategists are searching for ways to draw more people to the polls in March 2018 to make his expected victory as impressive as possible.

"The Kremlin is trying to encourage people, various population groups, to turn out for vote," said Gleb Pavlovsky, a former political consultant for the Kremlin. "It's a nervous moment for both Putin and his entourage."

The date of the vote hasn't been officially set, but pro-Kremlin lawmakers have proposed March 18, the day in 2014 when Ukraine's Crimean Peninsula officially was declared part of Russia in a move that bolstered Putin's popularity.

Putin, whose approval ratings have topped 80 percent despite a two-year recession, has refrained so far from declaring his intention to seek another six-year term. It's a familiar course for the Russian leader, who prefers to enter the race at the last moment.

The Kremlin's goal, according to the Russian media, is for Putin to poll 70 percent of the vote with a turnout of 70 percent of the electorate — a result that would represent a majority of the population and prove that his popularity hasn't withered during his long rule.

It's an ambitious task. Putin polled 64 percent in 2012, with 65 percent of voters casting their ballots, but last fall's parliamentary elections attracted fewer than 48 percent of voters. The lack of competition has progressively drained public interest in politics, and the lineup of presidential contenders for 2018 can hardly cause any excitement.

Lev Gudkov, the head of the Levada Center, a leading independent pollster, said his organization's polls indicate that Putin could easily win 65 percent of the vote, but that authorities would need other tactics to achieve the 70 percent mark.

In 2012, Putin mobilized his support base with anti-U.S. rhetoric. Now, however, he is hoping for a rapprochement with Washington, although such expectations are looking dim amid congressional scrutiny of links between President Donald Trump's aides and Russia.

Gudkov said the Russian public has grown tired of tensions with the West and expects Putin to negotiate a new detente. "A long and dangerous confrontation caused strong public fear of a big war," he said, adding that Trump's victory eased those fears and softened a negative public perception of the U.S.

Putin is still riding the wave of patriotic fervor fueled by the annexation of Crimea, Gudkov said, and most Russians still see him as irreplaceable despite brewing discontent over the economy and official corruption.

"There are no other real candidates. The political field has been burned out," Gudkov said. Communist leader Gennady Zyuganov, ultranationalist Vladimir Zhirinovsky and liberal Grigory Yavlinsky have signaled they intend to run. All luckless veterans of many races since the 1990s, they can be expected to campaign in the same stolid, predictable way.

To boost turnout, some theorize the Kremlin might allow opposition leader Alexei Navalny to run. The charismatic leader of massive 2011-2012 anti-Putin protests in Moscow has a considerable following among the middle class in the capital and other big cities. His level of support is clearly inferior to Putin's, but it's enough to add a touch of excitement to the race.

But the Kremlin has seemed to conclude that letting Navalny into the field would be too risky. Last month, a court convicted Navalny in a retrial of a 2013 fraud case and handed him a suspended sentence that bars him from running. Navalny and his supporters say the charges were politically motivated.

In the absence of any real rivals, Putin's political consultants are looking for other attractions to overcome voter apathy. Even though Putin has remained coy about his plans, the appointment of a new Kremlin domestic policy chief was widely seen as a precursor to the campaign. Sergei Kiriyenko, a one-time prime minister and chief of the state nuclear corporation, was appointed to the job last fall.

The Kremlin has stayed focused on Putin's base of blue-collar workers and state employees, burnishing his image as a tough leader who cares for his people and is unrelenting against his foes. But the appointment of Kiriyenko marked a new effort to reach out to those who have a more critical view of Putin.

In an apparent bid to show a gentler face, authorities recently released several people convicted in controversial criminal cases, including Ildar Dadin, an opposition activist jailed for taking part in peaceful protests. The Kremlin even hinted that the draconian law that landed him in prison could be amended.

"Voters must receive some political gifts, such as the release of political prisoners, the softening of the regime," Pavlovsky said. He noted the move should also send soothing signals to Russia's liberal-minded elite.

"It's not a thaw; it's the Kremlin games with liberal factions in the business community and the establishment," he added. The Kremlin also has launched a massive personnel reshuffle to infuse fresh blood into Russia's corrupt and inept bureaucracy. Several provincial governors have lost their jobs in what was widely seen as an attempt to quell public discontent with unpopular local administrators and rejuvenate the ruling elite.

One of the governors named in the past year is Alexei Dyumin, who was appointed to lead the Tula region, home to sprawling arms factories. The rise of the 44-year-old former Putin bodyguard followed his role in directing Russia's special forces during the annexation of Crimea — the act that earned him the country's highest medal.

Dyumin's quick promotion and the unusually strong coverage of his activities by state TV have led some commentators to speculate that Putin could be grooming him as a potential successor. Pavlovsky said the appointment of new governors, some in their 30s, is also intended to encourage a new generation of public servants.

"It's a signal to young bureaucrats: Wait a little and you also will go up, your careers will grow," he said. Russian media reported the Kremlin apparently hopes to generate interest in the election by emphasizing it would be Putin's last under the constitution that limits the president to two consecutive six-year terms.

"The aim is ... to create a feeling of intrigue and uncertainty regarding the nation's future," wrote Tatyana Stanovaya of the Center for Political Technologies think-tank. Putin served two four-year presidential terms from 2000-2008 under the old law before shifting into the premier's seat for four years in line with the constitutional limit. His placeholder as president, Dmitry Medvedev, oversaw the presidential term extended to six years before stepping down to allow Putin's comeback in 2012.

If Putin serves another six-year term, his two decades in power would make him the longest-tenured Kremlin leader since Soviet dictator Josef Stalin, who ruled for 29 years. Pavlovsky said the plan might help raise the turnout, but it could also trigger an early succession battle among Putin's lieutenants, eroding stability.

"Immediately after the vote, a struggle will begin in his inner circle between those aspiring to be his successors," he said. "He will become a lame duck from the very start."

Iulia Subbotovska and Veronika Silchenko contributed to this report.

Activist: Basque separatist group ETA to disarm by April 8

March 17, 2017

MADRID (AP) — Basque civil society groups will fully disarm the separatist group ETA by April 8, a French environmental activist with ties to the Basque community promised Friday. The militants announced a permanent cease-fire in 2011, but the governments of Spain and France have so far refused to take part in its disarmament because ETA tied it to the future of its militants, both in and out of jail. The two countries have demanded that ETA lay down its weapons without conditions and disband.

Txetx Etcheverry, a prominent figure in the French Basque community who tried to arrange a disarmament in 2016, told The Associated Press that the new initiative was agreed upon with the ETA and will be carried out whether French authorities agree to receive the weapons or not.

"If the French government doesn't take responsibility, the Basque civil society will take a step forward. We can't imagine five more years of inaction," Etcheverry said, pledging that "ETA will be disarmed by midnight on April 8."

ETA, which in Basque stands for "Basque Country and Freedom," was founded in 1959 during the Spanish dictatorship of Gen. Francisco Franco. It has killed 829 people in its nearly four-decade campaign to create a Basque homeland in a region straddling northern Spain and southwest France.

The group was most violent in the 1980s, staging hundreds of shootings of police, politicians and businesspeople. One year after its last deadly attack, the killing of a French police officer near Paris in March 2010, the ETA announced it was renouncing violence.

In recent years, police operations have weakened the ETA. If the disarmament was completed, would primarily be symbolic, given that the group's reduced arsenal is believed to be obsolete. ETA has linked its total dissolution to allowing imprisoned members to serve their sentences closer to home in northern Spain, among other demands.

But on Friday, Prime Minister Mariano Rajoy rejected any concessions. "ETA has chosen to disarm unilaterally. It should do it and should also disband," Rajoy, who leads Spain's conservative Popular Party, said at a party meeting. "The government of Spain will do what it has always done — to apply the law, which is the same for everybody."

Etcheverry, member of the Basque environmental organization Bizi, was among five Basque activists arrested in December in the southern French town of Louhossoa after police said they had discovered a suspected ETA weapons trove. They were charged with possession of explosives and weapons, released on bail and are awaiting trial.

The activists said the arrests by French and Spanish police targeted peace activists who were managing ETA's disarmament. Etcheverry said the group would disclose details of the disarmament on Saturday in the southern French town of Biarritz.

He said the group was aiming to "unblock other important issues in the Basque peace process," such as the future of imprisoned ETA members and the reconciliation in the Basque society. He didn't mention the ETA disbanding.

Basque regional leader Inigo Urkullu said its government is ready to assist in the disarmament process and asked the governments of Spain and France to work to reach a permanent solution. Groups representing ETA victims in Spain urged the government not to make any concessions.

Mari Mar Blanco, who represents the victims' group FTV and whose brother was kidnapped and murdered by ETA in 1997, said the ETA should cooperate with the judicial system in shedding light on the more than 300 unresolved killings.

"It's time for the relatives to close their mourning by identifying the assassins of their loved ones," Blanco said. The economically powerful Basque region, which has a strong cultural identity and its own Basque language, is one of 17 semi-autonomous regions in Spain.