Iraq Holds Military Parade Celebrating ISIS Defeat

Sunday, 10 December, 2017

An Iraqi military parade celebrating final victory over Islamic State is underway in Baghdad’s heavily fortified Green Zone, Reuters quoted an Iraqi military spokesman as saying on Sunday.

Almost one year after the launch of military operations from Mosul, north Iraq, Prime Minister Haider al-Abadi announced on Saturday that his country’s forces have “completely controlled” the Syrian-Iraqi borders, declaring that the war against ISIS has officially ended.

“Our forces are in complete control of the Iraqi-Syrian border and I, therefore, announce the end of the war against ISIS,” Abadi told a conference in Baghdad.

The Prime Minister added that Iraq’s enemy “wanted to kill our civilization, but we have won through our unity and our determination. We have triumphed in little time.”

In another speech delivered at the Defense Ministry in the presence of representatives from the entire armed forces, Abadi announced that Iraq’s next battle would be to defeat the scourge of corruption.

“Weapons should only be in the state’s hands,” Abadi confirmed.

He said that the rule of law and respect for it are the way to build the state and achieve justice, equality, and stability, adding that the unity of Iraq and its people is the most important and greatest accomplishment.

Authorities in Iraq announced a public holiday on Sunday “to celebrate the victory.”

The prime minister’s declaration came three years after the militant group captured some third of Iraq’s territory.

Meanwhile, Naim el-Kaoud, leader of the al-Bounmar tribes in Anbar told Asharq al-Awsat on Saturday the “battles that continued following the liberation of Rawa, including the western desert, were now completed and the area is now combined to the entire border with Syria after clearing ISIS militants.”

For his part, Hisham al-Hashemi, an expert on jihadist groups, told Asharq Al-Awsat that although the terrorist group was military defeated in Iraq, ISIS would still hold some pockets in some Iraqi areas.

He said that around 800 fighters were still present in the country, especially in east Tigris, and the Hamrin Mountains.

Source: Asharq al-Awsat.
Link: https://aawsat.com/english/home/article/1108881/iraq-holds-military-parade-celebrating-isis-defeat.

PM announces on state TV Iraq's war against IS has ended

December 09, 2017

BAGHDAD (AP) — After more than three years of combat operations, Iraq announced Saturday that the fight against the Islamic State group is over after the country's security forces drove the extremists from all of the territory they once held. Iraqi and American officials warned, however, that key challenges remain despite the military victory.

Prime Minister Haider al-Abadi formally announced the victory in an address to the nation aired on Iraqi state television Saturday evening. "Honorable Iraqis, your land has been completely liberated," he said. "The liberation dream has become a reality. We achieved victory in difficult circumstances and with God's help, the steadfastness of our people and the bravery of our heroic forces we prevailed."

"The flag of Iraq is flying high today over all Iraqi territory and at the farthest point on the border," he added, standing before the most senior members of Iraq's security forces. Following al-Abadi's remarks, his office declared a public holiday Sunday in celebration of the victory, according to an official statement from the prime minister's office.

Iraqi forces mopped up the last pockets of IS fighters from Iraq's western deserts Saturday, securing the country's border with Syria, a step that marked the end of combat operations against the extremists.

"All Iraqi lands are liberated from terrorist Daesh gangs and our forces completely control the international Iraqi-Syrian border," said Lt. Gen. Abdul-Amir Rasheed Yar Allah, a senior Iraqi military commander, in a statement Saturday afternoon.

The U.S. applauded the prime minister's announcement. The U.S. offers "sincere congratulations to the Iraqi people and to the brave Iraqi Security Forces, many of whom lost their lives heroically fighting ISIS," State Department spokeswoman Heather Nauert said in a written statement, using an alternative acronym for IS.

"Our coalition will continue to stand with Iraq to support its security forces, economy and stabilization to help ensure that ISIS can never against threaten Iraq's people or use its territory as a haven," said Brett McGurk, U.S. special presidential envoy to the anti-IS coalition, in a statement posted to his official Twitter account.

"We mark today's historic victory mindful of the work that remains," he added. Iraq's government remains faced with significant security threats, an economic crisis and the enormous task of rebuilding swaths of territory decimated by the IS fight.

IS fighters overran nearly a third of Iraqi territory, including Mosul, the country's second largest city and Tikrit, the capital of Iraq's central Salahuddin province in the summer of 2014. The following year, IS fighters also overran Anbar's provincial capital of Ramadi.

Over the past 3 ½ half years, Iraqi ground forces closely backed by the U.S.-led coalition and mostly Shiite paramilitary forces backed by Iran have slowly retaken all of that territory. The pace of the anti-IS operation accelerated last year as coalition-backed Iraqi ground forces prepared for the assault on Mosul that was formally launched in October 2016.

After more than nine months of mostly grueling urban combat, Al-Abadi declared victory over IS in Mosul in July. In the months that followed Iraqi forces retook a handful of other IS held towns including Tal Afar in August, Hawija in September and Qaim in October. In November, Iraqi forces retook the last Iraqi town held by IS — Rawah, near the border with Syria.

However, IS fighters remain capable of carrying out insurgent attacks in Iraq, and the group has recovered from past setbacks. IS insurgent networks continue to pose a threat to Baghdad and other Iraqi cities, a senior Iraqi security official said, speaking on condition of anonymity in line with regulations. The official said intelligence gathering would become increasingly important in the post-military phase of the fight against IS.

"The triumph of military operations alone is not enough without stability," government spokesman Saad al-Hadithi said, explaining that rebuilding in the wake of military victories against IS remained a "big challenge" for the Iraqi government.

Additionally, some 3 million Iraqis remain displaced by the fight against IS, according to the United Nations. Al-Abadi also remains faced with a political and military stand-off with the country's Kurdish region over a referendum held on independence.

Federal government troops remain deployed throughout a string of disputed territories claimed by both Baghdad and Iraq's Kurds — who were also backed by U.S.-led coalition forces in the fight against IS. While Baghdad and Irbil have both stated a willingness to talk, negotiations to end the dispute have not yet begun.

As he closed his national address, al-Abadi acknowledged the challenges that remain for Iraq. "I urge everyone to refrain from returning to the inflammatory and sectarian discourse that empowered gangs to occupy our cities and villages," he said.

"Our people have paid a dear price," he added. "We must turn this page forever."

Associated Press writer Sinan Salaheddin contributed from Baghdad.

Demands to Postpone Iraqi Elections

Tuesday, 28 November, 2017

Despite continuous assertions by Shiite political figures and forces – led by Iraqi Prime Minister Haidar al-Abadi – on holding the parliamentary elections in mid-May, Sunni political figures insist on postponing the elections due to the absence of required conditions in Sunni provinces that were ruled by ISIS for around three years.

Several parties, including the UN and its mission to Iraq, are concerned over the lack of conditions to hold elections on its specific date. Special representative of the UN for Iraq Jan Kubis, in his report to the Security Council last week, said that the newly assigned council for Iraqi elections had a tough mission ahead.

Kubis sees that the council, that should completely comply with the constitution and hold the elections on time, “faces several challenges including the use of a new voting technology and holding two election processes (the parliament and the local councils) simultaneously and within a tight timeline and complex electoral laws.”

He further pointed to the security challenges, especially issues pertaining to the return of displaced people and urged Iraqi parties to confront these challenges in the coming months. In his report, before the Security Council, he declared that “holding elections while some parts of Iraq remain unsafe with large numbers of its citizens still displaced (namely from the Sunnis) may raise doubts about the credibility and comprehensiveness of elections.”

Media and political parties considered the last part of Kubis statement a call for postponing the elections.

Other deputies on the Iraqi National List share same concerns with the UN regarding the absence of required conditions for holding elections. Among them is Abdul Karim Abtan who told Asharq Al-Awsat that he agreed with on-time elections but “the question is, will the government provide these conditions?”

Abtan listed the conditions to be provided, saying they were the same conditions stated by the PM when he set mid-May as a deadline for elections. These include the return of displaced persons, the provision of a suitable environment, the non-participation of armed groups in the elections and a free and fair e-election system," he stated.

Source: Asharq al-Awsat.
Link: https://aawsat.com/english/home/article/1097311/demands-postpone-iraqi-elections.

Iraq withdraws controversial 'child marriage law'

23 November, 2017

A proposal in Iraq's parliament to lower the minimum age for Muslim girls to marry to nine years old has been withdrawn, the British embassy in Baghdad said.

The amendment stirred outrage among critics who viewed it as a licence "to rape children".

Conservative Shia deputies on October 31 proposed an amendment to a 1959 law that set the minimum age for marriage at 18.

The initial legislation, passed shortly after the fall of the Iraqi monarchy, transferred the right to decide on family affairs from religious authorities to the state and its judiciary.

But the new bill looked to go back on that - and would have authorized the marriage of any girl if it had the consent of the religious leaders from the Shia or Sunni Muslim community to which her parents belong.

Campaigners across all sects and ethnicities voiced strong opposition against what they called a flagrant violation and backward step for the rights of girls and women.

"This amendment was tried by Islamic parties in 2014, but it failed miserably because of the strong opposition within the parliament.

"Today, the same parties are returning to parliament, exploiting the security situation of the country and the public's preoccupation with the deteriorating security situation in the north of the country," women's rights activist Zeinab al-Waeli told The New Arab.

On Thursday, the UK's consulate in Baghdad tweeted that parliament had withdrawn the amendment.

"Draft amendments to the Personal Status Law have been withdrawn from the agenda of #Iraq's #Parliament," it said. "The amendments would have been a major setback for the rights of #women & #girls."

It added: "The UK stood shoulder to shoulder with civil society & parliamentarians to oppose these amendments & we welcome their withdrawal."

Other amendments to the personal status law were also proposed.

The original personal status law grants mothers the right to custody and gives wives the right to inherit their husband's estate, while the religious jurisprudence says the custody of children is a matter for the father and that women do not have the right to inherit real estate or land.

A spokesman from the British embassy confirmed to The New Arab "the full package" of draft amendments was withdrawn from the agenda.

Source: The New Arab.
Link: https://www.alaraby.co.uk/english/News/2017/11/23/Iraq-withdraws-controversial-child-marriage-law.

Iraq retakes Rawa, last town held by IS

2017-11-17

BAGHDAD - The Iraqi army retook the last town in the country still held by the Islamic State group on Friday as the jihadists' self-proclaimed "caliphate" faced collapse on both sides of the border with Syria.

The lightning recapture of the small Euphrates valley town of Rawa in an offensive launched at dawn came as the jihadists were also under attack for a second day in the last town they still hold in Syria, Albu Kamal just over the border.

The Islamic State group (IS) has lost 95 percent of the cross-border "caliphate" it declared in Iraq and Syria in 2014, the US-led coalition fighting it said on Wednesday.

Its losses include all of its major bastions, virtually confining it to pockets of countryside.

Government troops and paramilitary units "liberated the whole of Rawa and raised the Iraqi flag on all of its official buildings," General Abdelamir Yarallah of Iraq's Joint Operations Command (JOC) said in a statement.

An army general contacted at the front had predicted that the battle would be swift as "the majority of IS fighters who were in the town have fled towards the Syrian border."

The JOC said appeals had been made for several days to the town's Sunni Arab residents to listen to radio broadcasts for instructions on what to do when the army entered.

Rawa was bypassed in an offensive by the Iraqi army that resulted in the recapture of the strategically important border town of Al-Qaim earlier this month.

The stretch of Euphrates valley abutting the border with Syria has long been a bastion of Sunni Arab insurgency, first against US-led troops after the invasion of 2003 and then against the Shiite-led government in Baghdad.

The porous frontier became a magnet for foreign fighters entering Iraq from Syria, which Baghdad accused of turning a blind eye, and a key smuggling route for arms and illicit goods.

US-led troops carried out repeated operations with code names like Matador and Steel Curtain in 2005 to flush out Al-Qaeda jihadists.

The region swiftly fell to IS when its fighters swept through the Sunni Arab heartland north and west of Baghdad in 2014 before proclaiming its "caliphate".

- Jihadist dream in tatters -

The jihadists once controlled a territory the size of Britain but they have successively lost all their key strongholds, including Raqa in Syria and Mosul in Iraq.

Over the border in Syria, IS still holds around 25 percent of the countryside of Deir Ezzor province but are under attack not only by government forces but also by US-backed Kurdish-led fighters.

In the border town of Albu Kamal, the Syrian army was battling IS fighters who mounted a surprise counterattack last week, pushing out government forces who had retaken it last month.

The Syrian Observatory for Human Rights, a Britain-based monitor of the war, said the new army offensive had successfully penetrated the town, with troops backed by Russian air strikes advancing from the west, east and south.

"More than 7.5 million people have now been liberated" from IS, Washington's envoy to the coalition, Brett McGurk, said late Wednesday, adding that the group's finances are now "at their lowest levels to date".

With the jihadists' dreams of statehood lying in tatters following the battlefield defeats, Western attention is increasingly pivoting to trying to block foreign fighters from returning home to carry out attacks.

McGurk insisted that flows of foreign IS fighters into Syria have "nearly stopped", and that jihadists are increasingly being picked up as they cross borders.

"We are enhancing cooperation and border security, aviation security, law enforcement, financial sanctions, counter-messaging, and intelligence sharing to prevent ISIS from carrying out attacks in our homelands," he said.

Analysts have warned that in some areas recaptured from IS, government control remains weak and the jihadists retain the capability to wage a low-level insurgency.

"We still have places by the Baghdad belt, areas including Ramadi and Fallujah... that are not well controlled at all," Michael Knights of the Washington Institute for Near East Policy said earlier this month.

"They (the jihadists) are back where they were in 2013... They will restart insurgency all over again."

Source: Middle East Online.
Link: http://www.middle-east-online.com/english/?id=85981.

Self-designed homes could provide sustainable future for liberated Mosul

Saturday 11 November 2017

LONDON: Self-designed homes based on traditional Iraqi architecture could be the solution to the drastic housing crisis facing Mosul, where hundreds of thousands are expected to return following the end of three years of Daesh occupation.

An award-winning design would see returning residents create their own neighborhoods in modules that can grow and evolve to suit their needs.

“The shape of the housing is completely up to the inhabitants,” said Ania Otlik, the winner of inaugural Rifat Chadirji Prize, which challenged architects to find a practical and sustainable solution to the Iraqi city’s housing needs.

“Having one measure that fits all is almost impossible, especially when it comes to such a diverse society ... which varies in religion, culture, background (and) family size.”

Nearly 1 million civilians fled in the three years since Daesh militants took the city, which Iraq declared liberated in July, according to the UN.

Iraqi government officials have estimated it will take at least five years and billions of dollars to rebuild Mosul.

Otlik, a graduate of Wroclaw University of Science and Technology in Poland, researched traditional Iraqi architectural designs, poring over sketches and schemes to create her housing plan.

Each dwelling is constructed around a central patio, providing outside space around which rooms and spaces can be arranged.

“The plan of the house can be a little more open when the family decides it this way, or maybe another family is strictly Islamic so they will build it in their own traditional way,” she told the Thomson Reuters Foundation.

Building materials that are easy to source in the battle-scarred city — such as rubble and mud — could be used for construction until more permanent replacements become available, she said.

Otlik drew inspiration from her native Poland, whose capital Warsaw was entirely rebuilt after it was razed by Nazi troops during the Second World War.

Other finalist designs featured garden bridges over the Tigris river to provide housing and urban farms, and homes connected via a metro repurposed from a system of subterranean tunnels constructed by Islamic State to aid its fighters.

“It was not a problem finding a winner,” said Ahmed Al-Mallak, founding director of the independent Tamayouz Excellence Award, which oversaw the competition.

Source: Arab News.
Link: http://www.arabnews.com/node/1191621/middle-east.

Iraq forces defeat IS jihadists in town of Al-Qaim

2017-11-03

BAGHDAD - Iraqi forces Friday captured the biggest town under Islamic State group control in Iraq, Prime Minister Haider al-Abadi said, driving another nail into the coffin of the jihadists' self-styled caliphate.

Abadi hailed the "liberation of Al-Qaim in record time" in a statement, just hours after Iraqi troops backed up by local Sunni tribal militia fighters entered the key town on the border with Syria.

The fall of Al-Qaim leaves IS fighters in Iraq holding just the smaller neighboring town of Rawa and surrounding pockets of barren desert along the Euphrates river.

That is all that remains in the country from the vast swathes of territory that the group seized in 2014 as it rampaged across Iraq and neighboring Syria.

The US-led coalition supporting Iraqi forces with air strikes had predicted that the battle for Al-Qaim would be the "last big fight" of the punishing military campaign to dismantle their brutal experiment in statehood.

But the town appeared to have fallen in lightning time after commanders announced that Iraqi troops pushed into the town of some 50,000 inhabitants on Friday morning.

Source: Middle East Online.
Link: http://www.middle-east-online.com/english/?id=85761.

Iraqi forces recaptures crossing on Syria border from IS

2017-11-03

BAGHDAD - Iraqi forces said they recaptured an important crossing on the border with Syria from the Islamic State group on Friday as they advanced into the jihadists' last bastion in Iraq.

Iraq's Joint Operations Command said troops had "regained full control" of the Husaybah border post on the edge of the town of Al-Qaim after launching a push to oust the jihadists.

Prime Minister Haider al-Abadi released a statement congratulating the armed forces for "entering into Al-Qaim and liberating" the border crossing.

An Iraqi army officer said that the jihadists "deserted the border post after several of them were killed" and headed off into Syria.

Al-Qaim and the surrounding areas are the last remnants of the self-styled caliphate IS declared after rampaging across Iraq and Syria in 2014.

Iraqi forces backed up by air strikes from a US-led coalition launched the operation last week to seize back the strategically located pocket of barren desert along the Euphrates river.

IS is simultaneously battling for survival in its holdouts across the border in Syria, where government troops said they ousted the group from the key city of Deir Ezzor on Friday.

Source: Middle East Online.
Link: http://www.middle-east-online.com/english/?id=85756.

Iraq to hold parliamentary elections May 15

2017-11-01

BAGHDAD - Iraq plans to hold parliamentary elections on May 15 to choose a prime minister, a statement from the prime minister's office said late on Tuesday.

Prime Minister Haider al-Abadi hasn't yet said if he plans to seek a new term. Most executive power is held by the prime minister, who is also commander of the armed forces.

The May 15 date, agreed at a government meeting on Tuesday, has yet to be approved by parliament.

Abadi took over the premiership in 2014 from Nuri al-Maliki, a close ally of Iran held responsible for the army's collapse as Islamic State militants swept through a third of Iraq.

Abadi is credited for quickly rebuilding the army and defeating Islamic State in its main Iraqi stronghold, Mosul, last July, with strong assistance from a US-led coalition.

Maliki holds the ceremonial title of vice-president. As head of the Shiite Dawa party and the largest block in parliament, he remains a powerful political figure.

The prime minister's office is reserved for Iraq's majority Shiite Arab community under a power-sharing system set up after the 2003 US-led invasion that toppled Saddam Hussein, a Sunni Arab.

The largely ceremonial office of president is reserved for a Kurdish member of parliament. The speaker of parliament is drawn from Sunni Arab MPs.

Source: Middle East Online.
Link: http://www.middle-east-online.com/english/?id=85705.

Iraqi army takes control of Turkey border from Kurds

2017-10-31

ANKARA - Iraqi government forces on Tuesday took control of the key border crossing with Turkey in the Iraqi Kurdistan region after weeks of tensions between Baghdad and Arbil, the Turkish prime minister said.

The border crossing "has been handed over to the central government" of Iraq, Turkish Prime Minister Binali Yildirim told his ruling party at a televised meeting in Ankara.

He said all controls at the border will now be carried out by Iraqi and Turkish officials on their respective sides.

The Iraqi forces deployed at the Ibrahim Al Khalil crossing alongside Turkish forces with whom they have been carrying out joint exercises over the last weeks, the state-run Anadolu news agency said.

They were to raise the Iraqi national flag and take down the flag of the Kurdish Regional Government (KRG) which had until now controlled the crossing, it said.

The border crossing was closed while the handover was being carried out, leading to long queues, it added. There were no reports of any clashes.

The Kurdish region has found itself increasingly isolated after holding a non-binding independence referendum on September 25 that was opposed not just by Baghdad but also Iran, Turkey and the Kurds' Western allies.

Turkey, which over the last years had cultivated strong trade ties with the KRG, reacted with fury to the referendum, fearing the move could encourage separatism amongst its own Kurdish minority.

Deemed by many analysts to have severely overplayed his hand by holding the referendum, the KRG's leader Massud Barzani said at the weekend that he was stepping down.

Source: Middle East Online.
Link: http://www.middle-east-online.com/english/?id=85691.

Iraqi forces advance to edge of final IS bastion Al-Qaim

2017-10-31

BAGHDAD - Iraqi forces on Tuesday battled up to the edge of Al-Qaim, the largest town still held by the Islamic State group in the country, as they pushed a final assault on the jihadists.

Iraq's Joint Operations Command said government troops -- backed by US air strikes and Sunni tribal fighters -- captured the village of Al-Obeidi, some 20 kilometers (12 miles) from the Syrian border on the eastern outskirts of the town.

"IS fighters resisted the advance of the troops, but the majority retreated to positions in the center of Al-Qaim," it said in a statement.

Al-Qaim and the surrounding pocket of barren desert territory along the Euphrates river is now the last remnant in the country of the self-styled caliphate IS declared after rampaging across Iraq and Syria in 2014.

Iraq launched the offensive on the Al-Qaim region -- which also includes the smaller town of Rawa -- on Thursday to finish off a punishing campaign that saw it force the jihadists out their major urban stronghold Mosul in July.

Al-Obeidi was "one of the most important locations for IS fighters, who were there in great numbers," local tribal militia commander Qatari al-Obeidi said.

"They had arms caches and production lines for making explosives and preparing suicide bombers."

Since the start of the offensive last week government forces have also retaken a cement plant and phosphate processing facility, said operation commander General Abdel Amir Yarallah.

As Iraq makes its final push, IS is also battling for survival against competing offensives backed by the US and Russia in territory just over the porous border in Syria.

Long before the rise of IS, Al-Qaim became renowned as a hotbed of jihadist insurgency in the wake of the US-led invasion in 2003.

The roughly 150,000 people living in the Al-Qaim region -- with 50,000 inside the town itself -- are Sunni Muslims from a small number of influential tribes.

Under IS, the town has been a vital supply route between its forces in Iraq and the oil-rich province of Deir Ezzor it once dominated over the border in Syria.

Source: Middle East Online.
Link: http://www.middle-east-online.com/english/?id=85701.

Lebanon Investigates Visit of Iraqi Militia Leader to the South

Sunday, 10 December, 2017

The appearance of the head of an Iran-backed Iraqi militia during a visit to Lebanon’s border with Israel, accompanied by Hezbollah fighters, sparked a wave of anger, especially as it came shortly after the government announced the adoption of a policy to dissociate the country from external conflicts.

In a video released on Saturday, Qais al-Khazali, leader of the Iraqi paramilitary group Asaib Ahl al-Haq, declared his readiness “to stand together with the Lebanese people and the Palestinian cause”, just four days after the Lebanese political parties announced the adoption of the policy of “dissociation” from external and regional conflicts.

The video showed an unidentified commander, presumably from Hezbollah, gesturing toward military outposts located along the borders, while Khazali was talking to another person through a wireless device, telling him: “ I am now with the brothers in Hezbollah in the area of Kfarkila, which is a few meters away from occupied Palestine; we declare the full readiness to stand together with the Lebanese people and the Palestinian cause.”

Lebanese Prime Minister Saad Hariri ordered the security apparatus to conduct the necessary investigations into the presence of the Iraqi leader on the Lebanese territories, which he said violated the Lebanese laws.

Presidential sources told Asharq al-Awsat newspaper that President Michel Aoun has requested further information about the video, while military sources denied that Khazali has entered the Lebanese territories in a legitimate way.

“The entry of any foreigner to this border area requires a permit from the Lebanese Army, which did not happen,” the sources said, stressing that Khazali has entered the area illegaly.

A statement issued by the premier’s office said: “Hariri contacted the concerned military and security officials to conduct the necessary investigations and take measures to prevent any person or party from carrying out any military activity on the Lebanese territory, and to thwart any illegal act as shown in the video.”

The Lebanese prime minister also ordered that Khazali would be banned from entering Lebanon again, the statement added.

Source: Asharq al-Awsat.
Link: https://aawsat.com/english/home/article/1108901/lebanon-investigates-visit-iraqi-militia-leader-south.

Morocco's Justice and Development Party to Elect New Secretary General

Sunday, 10 December, 2017

Morocco's ruling Islamist Justice and Development Party (PJD) held on Saturday its 8th national congress to elect a new leader, after its former leader Abdelilah Benkirane bid the party farewell, confirming that the party is determined to proceed with the reforms despite the party's difficult situation.

Speaking at the inaugural session at the Prince Moulay Abdellah Stadium, Benkirane indicated that national congress comes this year following several issues the party suffered from and after its success in the 2016 elections.

He stated that PJD managed to win the elections and defeat its opponents, hinting at its political rival Authenticity and Modernity opposition party.

King Mohammed VI chose Saadeddine Othmani as Prime Minister, which Benkirane described as a "huge blow" to the party.

"The party was supposed to take a very difficult stance and become part of the opposition, however, we eventually decided to react positively to the statement of the Royal Court," stated Benkirane

“I know that a lot of brothers and sisters in the party treasure me, if not all,” he said. “But I am also human, anything could happen to me. In all cases, even if I were a good man, eventually I would have to leave the party," he added in his farewell speech.

Benkirane had previously condemned PJD members who did not support him in his re-election for a third term.

“It is because of me that the party made political and electoral progress,” he said, adding that: “despite the tense and difficult conflict the party witnessed, we made the decision based on our internal laws and democracy, despite the fact that they suffer from shortcomings.”

“Perhaps, we made a mistake. We could have discussed the issue within the congress, but it’s too late for that now. You will have to choose a new secretary general. I ask you to listen to all candidates and make the right decision. May God be with you,” he concluded.

The leader of PJD is supposed to be announced on Sunday, following Benkirane's two mandates, which started in 2008, where he led the party to three major wins in Morocco's local and parliamentary elections, in 2011, 2015 and 2016. He also led the government from 2011 to 2017.

However, after failing to form a government following five months of post-election deadlock, King Mohammed VI decided to replace PM Benkirane with Othmani, which created a huge political turmoil within the party.

The king took the decision “in the absence of signs that suggest an imminent formation” of a government and due to “his concern about overcoming the current blockage” in political negotiations, the royal statement said.

The king thanked Benkirane for his service as prime minister, praising him for his “effectiveness, competence and self-sacrifice”.

Observers expect Othmani to rule the party following Benkirane, in order to avoid any conflicts between the positions of party's secretary general with the presidency of the cabinet.

Source: Asharq al-Awsat.
Link: https://aawsat.com/english/home/article/1108916/moroccos-justice-and-development-party-elect-new-secretary-general.

Macedonia's Zaev set to warm up ties with Greece, Kosovo

December 12, 2017

PRISTINA, Kosovo (AP) — Macedonia's prime minister reiterated his will on Tuesday to reach a solution with Greece following more than two decades of disputes over his country's name. Zoran Zaev said Macedonian and Greek officials were working "to reconfirm their will of resuming essential talks ... to reach a solution."

Zaev, in power since spring, has vowed to improve relations with Greece, which has opposed Macedonia's name since it declared it and won recognition by the United Nations after Yugoslavia's breakup in 1991.

Greece says Macedonia's name harbors territorial pretensions on Greece's northern province of the same name. Greece blocked Macedonia from joining NATO in 2008 under its provisional name. In Kosovo on the first-ever visit by a Macedonian prime minister to its neighbor, Zaev also vowed to warm ties there.

He said Skopje would acquiesce to Kosovar demands for a new, international investigation into a 2015 attack by militants from Kosovo in the northern Macedonian town of Kumanovo. Eight police officers and 10 militants were killed in fighting that was hotly disputed by both sides and was the worst outbreak of violence in Macedonia since a nine-month insurgency by fighters from its Kosovar minority in 2001.

"Such an issue is in the interest of our cooperation and that should not remain an obstacle to our ties," Zaev said at a news conference with his host counterpart Ramush Haradinaj. Macedonia has a large ethnic Albanian minority — which is the main single ethnic group in neighboring Kosovo and also Albania — that regularly plays an important part in creating governing coalitions.

"We share the same aspirations for membership into the European Union and NATO because the future of the whole Western Balkans is in EU and NATO," said Zaev.

Associated Press writer Llazar Semini contributed from Tirana, Albania.

Macron's climate summit in Paris finds new money, tech help

December 12, 2017

PARIS (AP) — World leaders, investment funds and energy magnates promised Tuesday to devote new money and technology to slow global warming at a summit in Paris that President Emmanuel Macron hopes will rev up the Paris climate accord that U.S. President Donald Trump has rejected.

Trump wasn't invited to the event but his name was everywhere. One by one, top world diplomats, former California governor Arnold Schwarzenegger, business leaders like Michael Bloomberg and even former U.S. Secretary of State John Kerry insisted that the world will shift to cleaner fuels and reduce emissions regardless of whether the Trump administration pitches in or not.

Central to Tuesday's summit is finding ways to counter Trump's main argument: that the 2015 Paris accord on reducing global emissions would hurt U.S. business. Macron — a 39-year-old former investment banker who's using this summit to seize the global limelight — argues that the big businesses and successful economies of the future will be making and using renewable energy instead of pumping oil.

Bill Gates and Elon Musk are among the 164 prominent figures at the summit, where participants are announcing billions of dollars' worth of projects to help poor countries and industries reduce emissions.

The summit, co-hosted by the U.N., the World Bank and Macron, is being held on the second anniversary of the Paris climate accord, which was ratified by 170 countries. More than 50 heads of state and government are taking part.

Activists kept up pressure with a protest in the shadow of the domed Pantheon monument on Paris' Left Bank, calling for an end to all investment in oil, gas and resource mining. That wasn't far from the message opening the summit: Top officials agreed that the global financial system isn't shifting fast enough away from carbon emissions and toward energy and business projects that don't aggravate climate change.

"Financial pledges need to flow faster through more streamlined system and make a difference on the ground," said Fiji's Prime Minister Frank Bainimarama, whose island nation is among those on the front lines of the rising sea levels and extreme storms worsened by human-made emissions.

"We are all in the same canoe," rich countries and poor, he said. Japanese Foreign Minister Taro Kono described ways that Japan is investing in climate monitoring technology and hydrogen energy but said "we have to do more and better."

As the day progressed, announcements started rolling in. A group of 225 investment funds managing more than $26 trillion in assets promised to pressure companies to curb their greenhouse gas emissions and to disclose climate-related financial information.

The group, which includes the California Public Employees' Retirement System, the largest U.S. public pension fund, says it will focus on 100 of the world's largest corporate greenhouse gas emitters. Financial institutions are using the meeting to highlight the need to ensure that their investments don't suffer from, or contribute to, the effects of climate change, such as rising sea levels and more extreme weather.

Macron also hosted leading world philanthropists Tuesday morning to encourage more climate-related investment. Bloomberg, the former New York mayor, says environmentalists owe Trump a debt of "gratitude" for acting as a "rallying cry" for action on climate change. Bloomberg said the private sector coalition called "America's Pledge," that promises to honor goals set in 2015, "now represents half of the U.S. economy."

Kerry told The Associated Press that many Americans remain "absolutely committed" to the Paris accord. He said 38 states have legislation pushing renewable energy and 90 major American cities support the Paris accord fighting global warming.

Some 3,100 security personnel fanned out around Paris for Tuesday's event, including extra patrol boats along the Seine River. Macron will accompany the visiting leaders to the summit site on a river island by boat.

On Monday, Macron awarded 18 climate scientists — most of them based in the U.S. — multimillion-euro grants to relocate to France for the rest of Trump's term. The "Make Our Planet Great Again" grants — a counter to Trump's "Make America Great Again" campaign slogan — are part of Macron's efforts to counter Trump on the climate change front. Macron announced a contest for the projects in June, hours after Trump declared he would withdraw the U.S. from the Paris climate accord.

German Chancellor Angela Merkel, who was once labeled the 'climate chancellor' for her efforts to curb global warming, faced domestic criticism for failing to attend the summit. Meanwhile, in the Dutch city of The Hague, experts launched a plan Tuesday aimed at addressing threats created by problems such as water and food shortages. It called for the United Nations to create a special "climate security" envoy and urged better coordination on international migration issues.

It also demanded action to counter food shortages in Africa's Lake Chad Basin, security issues in Mali and water management in Iraq.

Frank Jordans in Berlin and Masha Macpherson in Paris contributed.

Austria: 1 dead, 21 hurt in explosion at natural gas plant

December 12, 2017

BERLIN (AP) — An explosion Tuesday at a major natural gas facility near Austria's border with Slovakia left one person dead and 21 injured, and caused some gas flow disruptions to other countries, authorities said.

One person was seriously injured and 20 others slightly hurt in the morning blast at the plant in Baumgarten an der March, east of Vienna, police said. No one was in a life-threatening condition. The facility's operator said all the victims were Austrian.

The explosion set off a fire, which operator Gas Connect said was quickly contained and completely extinguished by mid-afternoon. The facility was "shut down in a controlled state and is offline," the company said.

Police wrote on Twitter that the explosion was triggered by a "technical cause," but didn't elaborate and said that local authorities are investigating. Gas Connect said it also suspects an unspecified technical fault.

Gas Connect describes the Baumgarten plant, where pipelines bringing gas from Russia, Norway and other countries connect and gas is compressed and cooled, as one of Europe's most important gas supply hubs.

"Austria's natural gas supply can be covered for the foreseeable future," the company said on its website. However, "transit through Austria to the south and southeast regions is currently negatively impacted," it added.

Neighboring Italy's Economic Development Ministry declared an emergency after the explosion interrupted the flow of natural gas to the country, but said Italy's supply of gas would be ensured by existing stockpiles.

Italy's SNAM natural gas transport network said flows could resume in the course of the day if it is confirmed that no transport infrastructure was damaged.

Philippine Congress votes to extend martial law in south

December 13, 2017

MANILA, Philippines (AP) — The Philippine Congress voted overwhelmingly Wednesday to approve President Rodrigo Duterte's request to extend martial law in the south by a year after the military warned that terrorist threats continue to lurk despite the defeat of a disastrous pro-Islamic State group siege.

A majority of the Senate and the House of Representatives — with 240 approving and 27 opposing — voted to extend martial law across the Mindanao region through the end of 2018. The vote followed warnings by Defense Secretary Delfin Lorenzana and other officials that pro-IS militants were trying to recover from their defeat in southern Marawi city and were plotting new attacks.

"The rebellion has not stopped, it has just moved to another place," Lorenzana told the senators and House members in a joint session. Opponents argued that extending martial law in the south is unconstitutional and expressed fears that such a move can be a prelude for Duterte to declare martial law throughout the Philippines.

Sen. Francis Pangilinan, who heads the main opposition Liberal Party, rejected the martial law extension without a clear constitutional basis. "We will be in danger of becoming the monsters that we seek to defeat, those who have no regard for law, order or respect for the constitution," he said.

The Marawi violence left more than 1,100 combatants and noncombatants dead, displaced about half a million people and turned mosque-studded Marawi's central business and residential districts into a smoldering war zone.

The uprising, which began on May 23, prompted Duterte to declare martial law and reinforced fears that the Islamic State group was taking steps to gain a foothold in Asia and elsewhere as it faced battle setbacks in Syria and Iraq.

Some gunmen and commanders managed to escape during the fighting and are now recruiting new militants, while extremist groups in other southern provinces, including the brutal Abu Sayyaf group, continue to pose threats, according to the military.

Filipinos remain hypersensitive to threats to democracy and civil liberties more than three decades after they ousted dictator Ferdinand Marcos in a 1986 "people power" revolt that became a harbinger of change in authoritarian regimes worldwide.

Under Putin, Russia increases clout in the Middle East

December 13, 2017

MOSCOW (AP) — When Russia launched a military campaign in Syria two years ago, President Vladimir Putin sought to save his ally from imminent collapse and break Russia's international isolation over a crisis in Ukraine.

He achieved that and more, emerging as a key stakeholder in the Middle East who has brokered deals with many of its key players — from Iran to Saudi Arabia to Turkey and Israel. It's a regional footprint that comes with a degree of clout that even the Soviet Union, which depended on a handful of Arab allies, couldn't dream of during the Cold War era.

And it was accomplished with limited resources and a lot of audacity. "Vladimir Putin is determined to restore a greater role for Russia as a global power ... and the Middle East is really the main area where Russia has that potential, in part because the Soviet Union played that role in the Soviet period," said William Courtney, an adjunct senior fellow at RAND Corporation.

With just a few dozen jets and several thousand troops, Russia waded into Syria's war and stubbornly pressed its campaign despite international scorn and an outcry over resulting civilian casualties. Russia's bold intervention in Syria came as the United States under President Barack Obama steered clear of military engagement and found itself in a series of acrimonious disputes with key allies, including Israel and Saudi Arabia. Under the vastly inconsistent policies of Donald Trump, and in an era of an inward looking, America-first U.S. policy, Russia's maneuvers became all the more poignant on the global stage.

Putin's success in the region was on full display Monday, with the confident and upbeat leader moving between Syria, Egypt and Turkey in a whirlwind tour a week after announcing he will seek re-election for another six-year term in March.

Speaking to Russian troops on the tarmac at Hemeimeem air base in Syria, Putin declared victory over the Islamic State group and Syrian rebels and announced he had ordered a scaling down of the Russian contingent in Syria. In Egypt, he signed a deal for the construction of a nuclear reactor on the country's Mediterranean coast and sought to strengthen his relationship with a key regional power that has in the past three years bought billions of dollars in Russian weapons. And in Turkey, a NATO member, the Russian leader appeared to be on the same page with strongman Recep Tayyip Erdogan on key issues.

The Russian president was frequently derided for his penchant for a 19th century-style Realpolitik characterized by cynical political calculus. But Putin's approach paid off in Syria, where he managed to play on the conflicting interests of regional powers and strike deals with various players.

When Putin decided to intervene in Syria, President Bashar Assad was on the verge of collapse, his forces losing on all fronts. Within weeks, the Russian military had airlifted supplies needed to set up a base in Assad's heartland and launched an air campaign at the end of September 2015.

At first, observers were skeptical about Putin's Syria adventure given Russia's economic troubles and the overwhelming negative odds on the chaotic Syrian battlefield, where the Islamic State group, al-Qaida militants and a motley collection of rebels backed by Saudi Arabia, Qatar, Turkey and others were routing Assad's shrinking military.

Many in the West and in Russia predicted Syria would turn into another Afghanistan — a botched Soviet intervention that led to massive losses and ended in a humiliating 1989 withdrawal after nearly a decade of fighting. Putin argued that Russia needed to intervene in Syria to fight a terror threat, but made it clear that he wasn't going to walk into a trap like the Soviet war in Afghanistan.

Another reason for skepticism was the Russian military meltdown that followed the Soviet collapse. The army's vulnerabilities were highlighted by separatist wars in Chechnya and a brief 2008 war with Georgia, where the lack of modern communications and weapons, lack of coordination between various military branches and poor discipline were woefully apparent.

But the Syrian campaign suddenly saw a different Russian military — one armed with sophisticated precision weapons, well-trained, neatly-dressed and proud of its mission. "Putin managed to explain to the Russian people why Syria was important and not only did he explain it, he also showed them Syria wasn't going to be Afghanistan," Dmitry Trenin, director of the Moscow Carnegie Center, told The Associated Press.

The war saw the combat debut of an array of Russian weapons, including long-range cruise missiles that were fired from surface navy ships, submarines and bombers. The display of Moscow's revamped arsenals also served another key goal — to show the U.S. and its NATO allies that Russia no longer exclusively relies on nuclear weapons. The new cruise missiles gave Putin a long-sought long-range precision cruise capability that only the U.S. had before.

Early in the campaign, Moscow found itself on the verge of a military conflict with Ankara after a Turkish fighter jet downed a Russian warplane on the Syrian border in November 2015. But just a few months later, Putin mended ties with Turkey, offering President Recep Tayyip Erdogan strong support after a failed coup attempt. They struck a deal on Syria, setting up de-escalation zones that helped reduce fighting.

Russia also reached out to other key players — from Iran, which staunchly backed Assad, to the Saudis, the Qataris and others who supported the opposition. It also communicated with Israel to make sure the conflict didn't hurt their friendly relationship.

Russian military successes in Syria and its rapprochement with Turkey paved the way for another Putin diplomatic coup — a warming of ties with Saudi Arabia, Moscow's opponent since Cold War times when it armed Afghan fighters battling the Soviet invasion. In a first-ever visit by a Saudi monarch, King Salman visited Russia in October.

While declaring victory in Syria, Putin made it clear Russia is there to stay. He plans to expand the air base and turn a crumbling Soviet-era naval supply facility in Syria's port of Tartus into a full-fledged navy base capable of hosting big ships.

Russia has also drafted a deal with Egypt to allow its warplanes to use bases there — a deployment unseen since the times when Egypt was a key Soviet ally in the Mideast before going to the U.S. side in the mid-1970s.

Courtney, the RAND analyst, said despite Putin's successes in the region, Russia will remain a limited great power that serves mainly as a military supplier because it lacks the resources and capability that the West has for nation building or reconstruction.

"The challenge for Putin is to turn the use of his military force and military weapons supplies in the Middle East to something that is a lasting success, and we don't yet see how Russia is going to get there," he said.

Karam reported from Beirut.

Russian youth activists canvass uphill for opposition leader

December 12, 2017

MOSCOW (AP) — Moscow teenagers Kirill Strizhov and Alexander Pelevin have never known a Russia without President Vladimir Putin. Now, they say, the time has come for a younger leader. While most of their classmates relax at home, the two dedicate their weekends to canvassing for opposition leader Alexei Navalny, the 41-year-old anti-corruption crusader who triggered mass protests this year when he released an investigation into assets, including opulent mansions in Russia and abroad, allegedly accumulated by Prime Minister Dmitry Medvedev.

Navalny declared his intention to run for president in the March 18 election, even though an embezzlement conviction he calls politically motivated officially bars his candidacy. He's organized a grass-roots campaign across the country and staged waves of rallies to pressure the Kremlin to allow him to register for the race. But authorities have so far shown no inclination to let him run, and Navalny has threatened to call for boycotting the vote.

Youth volunteers like Strizhov, 15, and Pelevin, 17, made up a large part of crowds who've marched in support of Navalny, from the westernmost city of Kaliningrad to Vladivostok in the Far East. "A lot of young people watch Navalny's YouTube channel — it's a new, informative platform for us," says Strizhov, who volunteered full-time following the Medvedev investigation. He says that before he had been apolitical, but that "Navalny explains complicated subjects in a way that we can understand."

In today's Russia, there's a growing gap between the Soviet-born older generation — dependent on state television airing government propaganda — and Russia's Western-looking, tech-savvy millennials. Polls show Putin has the broadest support, however, including among the youth.

This discrepancy is no more apparent than when the boys visit apartment blocks on the city outskirts, trying to engage pensioners with Navalny's anti-Putin message. "Look lad, vote for Putin, and all will be well!" shrieks an old lady as Strizhov tries to press a leaflet into her hand.

"Alexei Navalny is a homosexual, Western agent!" shouts another in a stream of expletives. Pelevin's parents, Tatiana and Alexander, know the risks their son is taking in supporting the man who poses a very real, political threat to Putin. In 2012 their older son was detained and fined for joining massive rallies in Moscow against Putin's rule — the largest protests during his tenure.

Local news reports say Navalny volunteers and their families in towns such as Vladimir and Kemerovo have been threatened, intimidated and fired from their jobs. Last week, ultra-nationalists attacked his campaign headquarters in Chelyabinsk.

"I do suffer sometimes but I support his choice" says Tatiana, a painter. "Our children will only be able to live a normal life once this country becomes democratic and lawful." Alexander, a geologist turned poet, and himself a vocal Navalny supporter, was surprised by how seriously his son takes his activism.

"He goes out canvassing and doesn't return until nine or 10 at night. exhausted!" Navalny's supporters say his conviction was retaliation for political activity and assume he will run anyway. "Navalny has returned real, street politics to Russia," said Sergei Boiko, a campaign manager, noting that regardless of what happens, the campaign has visibly inspired and mobilized thousands of young people.

"The main question is what's next?" said Pelevin.

Thousands of Russian private contractors fighting in Syria

December 12, 2017

MOSCOW (AP) — Before he was killed by a sniper in Syria at age 23, Ivan Slyshkin wrote a poignant message on social media to his fiancee: "We will see each other soon — and I will hold you as tight as I possibly can."

But Slyshkin's name won't be found among the Russian Defense Ministry's official casualties in the fight against Islamic State extremists. That's because the young man who left his hometown of Ozyorsk in the Ural mountains was one of thousands of Russians deployed to Syria by a shadowy, private military contractor known as Wagner, which the government doesn't talk about.

Slyshkin's gravestone depicts him holding a machine gun, according to a local news website Znak.com that sent a reporter to his March 2 funeral in Ozyorsk, where friends said he joined Wagner to earn money to pay for his wedding.

"He was in Wagner's group," his friend Andrei Zotov told The Associated Press, adding that Slyshkin was killed as the security forces were advancing on the Al-Shayer oil field north of Palmyra. "There are many good guys there. He volunteered to join the company," Zotov said. "Like many Russian fighters, he wanted to solve his money issues."

The St. Petersburg-based website Fontanka reported that about 3,000 Russians under contract to the Wagner group have fought in Syria since 2015, months before Russia's two-year military campaign helped to turn the tide of the civil war in favor of Syrian President Bashar Assad, a longtime Moscow ally.

When Putin went to a Russian air base in Syria on Monday and told Russian troops that "you are coming back home with victory," he did not mention the private contractors. Russian troops are expected to remain in Syria for years while the contractors are likely to stay to guard lucrative oil and gas fields under a contract between the Syrian government and another Russian company allegedly linked to a businessman known as "Putin's chef" for his close ties to the Kremlin.

Proxy fighters like Slyshkin have played a key role in Syria. In addition to augmenting troops officially sent by Moscow, their secret deployment has helped keep the official Russian death toll low as Putin seeks re-election next year.

The Russian Defense Ministry has said 41 of its troops have died in Syria. But according to Fontanka, another 73 private contractors have been killed there. The Kremlin and the Defense Ministry have stonewalled questions about Russians fighting in Syria in a private capacity. Private contractors have been used by countries like the United States in Iraq and Afghanistan for years; Russian law forbids the hiring of mercenaries or working as one.

But Russia has used such proxies before — in the conflict to help pro-Moscow separatists in eastern Ukraine since 2014. One Russian commander boasted of working alongside Russian troops who said they were "on vacation" while fighting in Ukraine.

The Defense Ministry has refused to say how many of its troops are in Syria, although one estimate based on absentee ballots cast in the Russian parliamentary election last year indicated 4,300 personnel were deployed there. That number probably rose this year because Moscow sent Russian military police to patrol "de-escalation zones."

"The Russian people are not very enthused by the idea of an empire that would involve their boys coming home in body bags. There's clearly a lack enthusiasm for this conflict," said Mark Galeotti, senior researcher at the Institute of International Relations in Prague.

"By having this military company Wagner, they can have a force they can actually deploy ... but when people die, it doesn't have to be announced," Galeotti said. Fontanka, which is respected for its independent reporting, has obtained what it described as Wagner's spreadsheets and recruitment forms that indicate thousands of Russians have fought in Syria. Of about 3,000 Wagner employees deployed to Syria over the years, the single largest contingent at a given time has been about 1,500, said Denis Korotkov, a reporter for Fontanka.

Since 2015, at least 73 of them have died, he said. Another investigative group, Conflict Intelligence Team, or CIT, put the number of private contractor deaths at 101. Both outlets say those are conservative estimates.

"The most important proof is people, dead and alive, who have said they are mercenaries and their relatives say there are mercenaries," said CIT founder Ruslan Leviev. "How would hundreds of people all over the country collude and come up with the same story?"

Activists with CIT made a name for the group by combing social media and other records for Russia's involvement in Ukraine and are doing the same for Syria. Both Fontanka and CIT published photos from what they called a Wagner training base in the Krasnodar region of southern Russia. Some of the facilities look identical to those seen in official Defense Ministry photos of a military base in Molkino, in the same area.

Agreements signed with the security companies have kept the private contractors and members of their families from speaking to the media about their activities. Survivors receive generous compensation for keeping silent, and most attempts by AP to contact relatives and friends of those killed have been unsuccessful.

Media in southern Russia reported the death of Alexander Karchenkov in Syria in November 2016. The BelPressa website showed the mayor of his hometown of Stary Oskol giving a medal to Karchenkov's tearful widow, Marina, and mother.

Marina Karchenkova said her husband went to Syria as a contract soldier because he "had children to raise." In a handwritten form dated December 2015, Karchenkov said he was unemployed, serving in the Soviet army in 1989-1991 and as a volunteer in Kosovo in 1998-2000.

In October, the Islamic State group released video of two Russian captives it said had been fighting in Syria, and one of them identified himself as Roman Zabolotny and said the other was Grigory Tsurkanu. The Defense Ministry denied they were Russian servicemen, and media reports said they were working for Wagner. Their fate at the hands of the extremists is unknown.

The Wagner group was founded by retired Lt. Col. Dmitry Utkin, who came under U.S. sanctions in June after the Treasury Department said the company had recruited former soldiers to join the separatists fighting in Ukraine. Utkin was photographed a year ago at a Kremlin banquet thrown by Putin to honor military veterans.

Also under U.S. sanctions is Yevgeny Prigozhin, the St. Petersburg entrepreneur dubbed "Putin's chef" by Russian media because of his restaurants and catering businesses that once hosted the Kremlin leader's dinners with foreign dignitaries. In the more than 10 years since establishing a relationship with Putin, his business expanded to other services for the military.

Earlier this year, an anti-corruption foundation run by opposition leader Alexei Navalny detailed how Prigozhin's firms have come to dominate Defense Ministry contracts. The U.S. State Department put Prigozhin on its sanctions list in 2016 related to the Ukrainian conflict, citing his "extensive business dealings" with the Defense Ministry.

Among the firms linked to Prigozhin is Evro Polis, a Moscow-registered company that Fontanka reported has become a front for Wagner's operations in Syria. In 2016, Evro Polis listed the sale of food products as its core activities, according to the Spark Interfax database. But this year, it listed mining, oil and gas production, and opened an office in the Syrian capital of Damascus.

The AP obtained a copy of a 48-page contract between Evro Polis and Syria's state-owned General Petroleum Corp., which said the Russian company would receive 25 percent of the proceeds from oil and gas production at fields its contractors capture and secure from Islamic State militants. While the five-year contract could not be authenticated, Fontanka reported the same deal in June.

"The link between Evro Polis and Prigozhin is significant and is not in doubt," said Fontanka's Korotkov. "We believe that this firm is just a cover for the private company Wagner, and it could be an attempt to legalize this group, possibly for a commercial use later on."

Both Evro Polis and Prigozhin's Concorde Management and Consulting were unavailable for comment, and the Defense Ministry did not reply to AP's request for comment. An AP reporter who went to Evro Polis' Damascus office in November found it closed, with no sign on the door.

Syria's Ministry of Petroleum and Mineral Resources declined comment when asked about the Evro Polis deal. Asked about the contract, the Russian Energy Ministry told Fontanka it cannot divulge "commercial secrets," and declined comment to the AP.

As the Russian campaign in Syria draws to a close, the private contractors will probably stay, analysts say. Wagner is "is likely to cement its footing because we saw that there were not only military goals to pursue ... but there is a commercial motive," Leviev said. "Someone needs to guard the oil fields."

Associated Press writer Albert Aji in Damascus, Syria, contributed.

NATO prolongs chief Stoltenberg's term for 2 more years

December 12, 2017

BRUSSELS (AP) — NATO extended Secretary-General Jens Stoltenberg's tenure for two more years at the head of the world's biggest military alliance on Tuesday. Stoltenberg has held the post since 2014 and his term has been marked by a spike in security challenges, including a resurgent Russia and foreign fighters returning to Europe from Syria and Iraq.

NATO said in a statement that the 29 NATO nations decided to prolong the former Norwegian prime minister's term until Sept. 30, 2020. It said the allies "congratulate the Secretary-General and have full confidence in his ability to continue his dedicated work to advance NATO's adaptation to the security challenges of the 21st century."

British Prime Minister Theresa May lauded Stoltenberg as a "true champion of the NATO alliance." She said "he has made sure that NATO has stood strong but not stood still, meeting Russian aggression in eastern Europe while reforming to face developing threats such as cyberattacks and hybrid-warfare."

Last week, the German government backed a two-year extension of Stoltenberg's term. Defense Minister Ursula von der Leyen said Stoltenberg had "the full support of Germany," adding that he had "done excellent work modernizing NATO and adapting its structures to a changed security situation."

She also praised his strong support of closer cooperation between NATO and the European Union, which have 22 member states in common. Stoltenberg took up the position just after Russia had annexed Ukraine's Crimean Peninsula and the Islamic State group had seized cities in Syria and Iraq, inspiring a new, more brutal form of terrorism that would wreak havoc in European capitals.

For the NATO secretary-general "2014 was a turning point," he told The Associated Press during a trip to Poland in late August for talks with top officials and to thank some of about 4,000 NATO troops stationed in eastern Europe to deter an increasingly aggressive Moscow.

"Suddenly the world really changed," Stoltenberg said.