London Mayor Sadiq Khan accused of ‘flip-flopping’ over UK Hezbollah ban

Mayor of London Sadiq Khan pays his respects at the Hyde Park memorial on the anniversary of the 7/7 attacks in London in this file photo. (Reuters)
Updated 15 January 2018
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London Mayor Sadiq Khan accused of ‘flip-flopping’ over UK Hezbollah ban

LONDON: The Mayor of London Sadiq Khan has been accused of “flip-flopping” over whether Hezbollah should be completely banned in the UK.
A spokesman for the mayor’s office told Arab News that he had not called for a total ban on the organization, despite a number of media outlets reporting that Khan had agreed to write to the UK’s home secretary to make such representations during an exchange last week in the London Assembly.
London Assembly member Andrew Boff said: “The mayor was explicit in his answer just days ago that he would be writing to the home secretary urging her to ban Hezbollah in its entirety.
“If he is reneging on that commitment it is the third time he has changed his mind on this issue in a matter of weeks. He is flip-flopping in order to give a changing audience what it wants to hear.”
Khan appeared to have agreed to a call by Labour member Andrew Dismore to write to Home Secretary Amber Rudd to make “urgent representations” to ban Hezbollah in its entirety during an exchange in the London Assembly on July 6.
Dismore asked the mayor: “Can I ask you to make urgent representations to the home secretary to make a long overdue decision to proscribe Hezbollah in its entirety as it has been in so many other countries?”
In his response, the mayor said he was “happy to make representations to the home secretary” but without detailing specifics of what he intended to write.
The row erupted following the appearance of Hezbollah flags at the annual Al Quds Day parade in London last month.


The mayor was questioned in the London Assembly after some marchers waved flags at the parade, which is usually held on the last Friday of Ramadan, and which was originally launched by Iran’s late revolutionary leader, Ayatollah Ruhollah Khomeini.
Hezbollah is also among the 60 groups defined as foreign terrorist organizations by the US Department of State, while the group’s military wing is also named in the EU’s list of terror groups.
The UK government proscribed the military wing of Hezbollah in March 2001. That ban was extended to its Jihad Council in 2008. Those wings of Hezbollah are among 71 banned organizations that also include Hamas.
Hezbollah’s political wing is not however subject to a ban in the UK.
The UK home secretary has the power to proscribe an organization and freeze its assets while membership of such groups carry jail sentences of up to 10 years.
The intervention of the mayor of London has focused attention on the political and military activities of the armed militia that emerged in the wake of the Israeli invasion of South Lebanon in 1982.
Terror experts said that there should be no separation between its political and military wings and that a total ban was necessary.
“Hezbollah is a vicious terror and criminal organization with both American and European blood on its hands,” said David Ibsen, executive director of the Counter Extremism Project, a non-profit organization formed to combat extremist ideologies.
“The idea that there is a separation between Hezbollah’s political and military wings is a dangerous fantasy.”
“Policymakers and security officials who indulge this absurd fiction are only emboldening one of the world’s most proficient terror organizations and facilitating Hezbollah’s penetration of European communities.”
Tally Helfont, the director of the program on the Middle East at the Philadelphia-based Foreign Policy Research Institute believes that the distinction between the military and political wings of Hezbollah is a rhetorical one and reflects “different power levers” all working toward the same hegemonic ambitions.
“It is all smoke and mirrors,” she said. “Countries across the globe, from the United States to the Gulf states, have deemed the activities of this violent organization to be acts of terror, carried out to sow chaos and do the bidding of Iran. Making a distinction between a political wing and a militant wing is simply a matter of perpetuating the false narrative that group is peddling and amounts to a PR win for Hezbollah, and for Iran.”
The Washington-based Foundation for Defense of Democracies (FDD) policy institute says that the separate treatment of Hezbollah’s political and military wings in Europe allows it to use front companies to fundraise and recruit.
“In 2016, the German government exposed a Hezbollah money-laundering operation in Europe that enabled it to amass nearly $2 million a week over two years. In turn, Hezbollah can use this to threaten the very countries that hesitate to fully ban the organization. These terror finance sources should be plugged,” said FDD Senior Vice President Toby Dershowitz.
“It is noteworthy that Hezbollah does not view itself as bifurcated into political and military wings; the group’s top leader — Hassan Nasrallah — fully controls the organization in its entirety.”
The EU designated Hezbollah’s military wing as a terrorist entity in 2013 following the bombing of a bus full of Israeli tourists in the Black Sea city of Burgas in 2013. Five Israeli tourists were killed along with the driver and the bomber.
The Hezbollah media office did not immediately respond to questions when contacted by Arab News.


Pentagon watchdog to review Hegseth’s use of Signal app to convey plans for Houthi strike

Updated 04 April 2025
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Pentagon watchdog to review Hegseth’s use of Signal app to convey plans for Houthi strike

  • Hegseth and other members of the Trump administration are required by law to archive their official conversations

WASHINGTON: The Pentagon’s acting inspector general announced Thursday that he would review Defense Secretary Pete Hegseth’s use of the Signal messaging app to convey plans for a military strike against Houthi militants in Yemen.
The review will also look at other defense officials’ use of the publicly available encrypted app, which is not able to handle classified material and is not part of the Defense Department’s secure communications network.
Hegseth’s use of the app came to light when a journalist, Jeffrey Goldberg of The Atlantic, was inadvertently added to a Signal text chain by national security adviser Mike Waltz. The chain included Hegseth, Vice President JD Vance, Secretary of State Marco Rubio, Director of National Intelligence Tulsi Gabbard and others, brought together to discuss March 15 military operations against the Iran-backed Houthis.
“The objective of this evaluation is to determine the extent to which the Secretary of Defense and other DoD personnel complied with DoD policies and procedures for the use of a commercial messaging application for official business,” the acting inspector general, Steven Stebbins, said in a notification letter to Hegseth.
The letter also said his office “will review compliance with classification and records retention requirements.”
Hegseth and other members of the Trump administration are required by law to archive their official conversations, and it is not clear if copies of the discussions were forwarded to an official email so they could be permanently captured for federal records keeping.
The Pentagon referred all questions to the inspector general’s office, citing the ongoing investigation.
President Donald Trump grew frustrated when asked about the review.
“You’re bringing that up again,” Trump scoffed at a reporter. “Don’t bring that up again. Your editors probably — that’s such a wasted story.”
In the chain, Hegseth provided the exact timings of warplane launches and when bombs would drop — before the men and women carrying out those attacks on behalf of the United States were airborne.
The review was launched at the request of Sen. Roger Wicker, R-Mississippi, chairman of the Senate Armed Services Committee, and Rhode Island Sen. Jack Reed, the committee’s top Democrat.
In congressional hearings, Democratic lawmakers have expressed concern about the use of Signal and pressed military officers on whether they would find it appropriate to use the commercial app to discuss military operations.
Both current and former military officials have said the level of detail Hegseth shared on Signal most likely would have been classified. The Trump administration has insisted no classified information was shared.
Waltz is fighting back against calls for his ouster and, so far, Trump has said he stands by his national security adviser.
On Thursday, Trump fired several members of Waltz’s staff after far-right activist Laura Loomer urged the president to purge staffers she deemed insufficiently loyal to his “Make America Great Again” agenda, several people familiar with the matter said.
In his Senate confirmation hearing Tuesday, Trump’s nominee for chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff, Lt. Gen. Dan Caine, would not say whether the officials should have used a more secure communications system to discuss the attack plans.
“What I will say is we should always preserve the element of surprise,” Caine told senators.


Putin envoy says diplomatic solution possible but differences remain after US talks

Updated 04 April 2025
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Putin envoy says diplomatic solution possible but differences remain after US talks

WASHINGTON: A senior Russian envoy on Thursday said differences remain between the US and Russia but a diplomatic solution to bring an end to the war in Ukraine is possible.
“I think (with) the Trump administration, we are now in realm of thinking about what is possible, what can really work, and how we can find a long term solution,” Kirill Dmitriev, Russian President Vladimir Putin’s investment envoy, told CNN following talks with US President Donald Trump’s administration in Washington.


US Senate Republican pushes for congressional approval of president’s tariffs

Updated 04 April 2025
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US Senate Republican pushes for congressional approval of president’s tariffs

  • The Republican critics in Congress of Trump’s tariff moves remained a distinct minority

WASHINGTON: Republican US Senator Chuck Grassley introduced a bill on Thursday that would require congressional approval for new tariffs, the day after President Donald Trump unveiled sweeping new taxes on a vast array of imported goods.
Grassley, whose home state of Iowa relies heavily on the global agricultural trade, joined Democratic Senator Maria Cantwell of Washington for the “Trade Review Act of 2025” which would require Congress to sign off on new tariffs within 60 days of their imposition or automatically block their enforcement. The move, made the day after four other Senate Republicans voted for a measure that would lift Trump’s tariffs on Canadian goods, was the latest sign of dissent among Republicans as Trump’s aggressive moves fanned recessionary fears and sparked Wall Street’s worst day since 2022.
Neither Grassley’s bill nor the measure that passed the Senate on Wednesday were seen as likely to become law while Trump’s Republicans hold majorities in both the Senate and House of Representatives, where many of their members are voicing support for Trump’s moves.
Trump, who has long advocated for tariffs, said that the highest US trade barriers in more than a century would both raise federal revenue and drive manufacturing back to the US Economists have voiced deep skepticism about both possibilities.
Grassley, the longest-serving member of the US Senate, did not directly criticize Trump in introducing his bill. He noted that he had proposed a similar trade approach during Trump’s first administration, citing the US Constitution establishing congressional authority over trade issues, but that over time the legislature has ceded this power to the executive branch.
But some Republicans have indicated unease with parts of Trump’s tariff plans.
“I would have expected more targeted tariffs to meet the needs of where countries are taking advantage of us, and perhaps a more modest approach in the amounts,” Republican Senator Jerry Moran told reporters. He also expressed concerns that tariffs placed on US allies in Southeast Asia were similar to those placed on China, which he called a “damaging” economy to the US
Republican Senator James Lankford said he was surprised by the 17 percent tariff on Israel and hoped the US Trade Representative could explain why the tariff level on Israel was different from other countries. Republican senators Susan Collins, Lisa Murkowski, Rand Paul and Mitch McConnell — the chamber’s former Republican leader — provided the votes on Wednesday to pass Democratic Senator Tim Kaine’s disapproval resolution on the Trump trade approach toward Canada.
“Tariffs drive up the cost of goods and services. They are a tax on everyday working Americans,” McConnell said in a statement on Thursday.
About half of Americans, and one in five Republicans, believe that increasing tariffs on imports will do more harm than good, a Reuters/Ipsos poll completed on Wednesday found. The Republican critics in Congress of Trump’s tariff moves remained a distinct minority. Indeed, the House earlier this month passed a measure meant to strip Congress’ power to challenge new tariffs imposed by the president.
“The president has been talking about unfair trade against the United States for 40 years, so he’s been very consistent on this,” said Senator John Barrasso, the chamber’s No. 2 Republican. “Long-term, I think this is very important for the country, bringing jobs and manufacturing back to America, focusing on our economy.”
Grassley’s Democratic co-sponsor, Cantwell, said that Trump’s tariffs risked long-term damage to the US economy.
“We can’t afford a trade war that lasts for two or three years, leaving our product off the shelves,” Cantwell said. “We cannot have arbitrary policies that create chaos and uncertainty.”


Gaza heritage and destruction on display in Paris

Updated 04 April 2025
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Gaza heritage and destruction on display in Paris

  • Bouffard said the damage to the known sites as well as treasures potentially hidden in unexplored Palestinian land “depends on the bomb tonnage and their impact on the surface and underground”

PARIS: A new exhibition opening in Paris on Friday showcases archaeological artifacts from Gaza, once a major commercial crossroads between Asia and Africa, whose heritage has been ravaged by Israel’s ongoing onslaught.
Around a hundred artifacts, including a 4,000-year-old bowl, a sixth-century mosaic from a Byzantine church and a Greek-inspired statue of Aphrodite, are on display at the Institut du Monde Arabe.
The rich and mixed collection speaks to Gaza’s past as a cultural melting pot, but the show’s creators also wanted to highlight the contemporary destruction caused by the war, sparked by Hamas’s attack on Israel in October 2023.
“The priority is obviously human lives, not heritage,” said Elodie Bouffard, curator of the exhibition, which is titled “Saved Treasures of Gaza: 5,000 Years of History.”
“But we also wanted to show that, for millennia, Gaza was the endpoint of caravan routes, a port that minted its own currency, and a city that thrived at the meeting point of water and sand,” she told AFP.
One section of the exhibition documents the extent of recent destruction.
Using satellite image, the UN’s cultural agency UNESCO has already identified damage to 94 heritage sites in Gaza, including the 13th-century Pasha’s Palace.
Bouffard said the damage to the known sites as well as treasures potentially hidden in unexplored Palestinian land “depends on the bomb tonnage and their impact on the surface and underground.”
“For now, it’s impossible to assess.”
The attacks by Hamas militants on Israel in 2023 left 1,218 dead. In retaliation, Israeli operations have killed more than 50,000 Palestinians and devastated the densely populated territory.

The story behind “Gaza’s Treasures” is inseparable from the ongoing wars in the Middle East.
At the end of 2024, the Institut du Monde Arabe was finalizing an exhibition on artifacts from the archaeological site of Byblos in Lebanon, but Israeli bombings on Beirut made the project impossible.
“It came to a sudden halt, but we couldn’t allow ourselves to be discouraged,” said Bouffard.
The idea of an exhibition on Gaza’s heritage emerged.
“We had just four and a half months to put it together. That had never been done before,” she explained.
Given the impossibility of transporting artifacts out of Gaza, the Institut turned to 529 pieces stored in crates in a specialized Geneva art warehouse since 2006. The works belong to the Palestinian Authority, which administers the West Bank.

The Oslo Accords of 1993, signed by the Palestine Liberation Organization and Israel, helped secure some of Gaza’s treasures.
In 1995, Gaza’s Department of Antiquities was established, which oversaw the first archaeological digs in collaboration with the French Biblical and Archaeological School of Jerusalem (EBAF).
Over the years, excavations uncovered the remains of the Monastery of Saint Hilarion, the ancient Greek port of Anthedon, and a Roman necropolis — traces of civilizations spanning from the Bronze Age to Ottoman influences in the late 19th century.
“Between Egypt, Mesopotamian powers, and the Hasmoneans, Gaza has been a constant target of conquest and destruction throughout history,” Bouffard noted.
In the 4th century BC, Greek leader Alexander the Great besieged the city for two months, leaving behind massacres and devastation.
Excavations in Gaza came to a standstill when Hamas took power in 2007 and Israel imposed a blockade.
Land pressure and rampant building in one of the world’s most densely populated areas has also complicated archaeological work.
And after a year and a half of war, resuming excavations seems like an ever-more distant prospect.
The exhibition runs until November 2, 2025.
 

 


Uganda’s president arrives in S.Sudan as crisis deepens

Updated 03 April 2025
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Uganda’s president arrives in S.Sudan as crisis deepens

  • The Ugandan leader, whose military was invited into South Sudan last month to help secure the capital, did not refer directly to the crisis in public remarks at the airport in Juba

NAIROBI: Uganda’s President Yoweri Museveni arrived in neighboring South Sudan on Thursday, in the highest level mission there since clashes and the detention of the vice president triggered regional fears of a return to civil war.
Museveni was met at the airport by South Sudan’s President Salva Kiir, whose administration has accused First Vice President Riek Machar of stoking rebellion and put him under house arrest.
The Ugandan leader, whose military was invited into South Sudan last month to help secure the capital, did not refer directly to the crisis in public remarks at the airport in Juba.
The visit follows mediation missions by the African Union and an East African regional body this week to de-escalate the crisis.
Museveni told reporters he would hold talks “aimed at strengthening bilateral relations and enhancing cooperation between our two nations.”
Kiir said the two leaders would discuss “current political developments in the country.”
The standoff between Kiir and Machar, who led opposing forces in a 2013-2018 civil war that killed hundreds of thousands, has prompted the UN to warn that the world’s young nation could be on the brink of all-out conflict along ethnic lines.
Uganda backed Kiir’s forces during the civil war.
It sent troops last month amid fighting between South Sudan’s military and an ethnic Nuer militia in Upper Nile state in the northeast.
Machar’s predominantly Nuer forces were allied with the White Army militia during the civil war, but his party denies government accusations of ongoing links.
Uganda’s military chief, Muhoozi Kainerugaba, also Museveni’s son, said on Tuesday he had ordered Ugandan forces to stop attacking the White Army so long as it ceases offensives against Ugandan troops.
Machar’s party says the Ugandan intervention violates South Sudan’s arms embargo.
Analysts say Kiir, 73, appears to be attempting to shore up his position amid discontent within his political camp and speculation about his succession plan.