UN envoy says Syria talks at ‘very critical moment’

Pro-Turkey Syrian fighters (AFP)
Updated 25 January 2018
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UN envoy says Syria talks at ‘very critical moment’

VIENNA: The UN special envoy for Syria said that peace talks due to resume in Vienna on Thursday are taking place at a crucial moment.
“Definitely I am optimistic because it is the only way to be at such moments,” Staffan de Mistura said on Wednesday. “It is a very, very critical moment.”
He said a “full delegation of the opposition and a full delegation of the government” would be in the Austrian capital for the two days of talks.
France’s foreign minister said meanwhile in Paris that the Vienna talks are the “last hope” for reaching a political solution to the seven-year war.
“There is no prospect of a political solution today except, and it’s the last hope, the meeting that opens tomorrow in Vienna led by the United Nations and with all the stakeholders present,” Jean-Yves Le Drian said.
Speaking in parliament, Le Drian also highlighted a “considerable worsening of the humanitarian situation” in Afrin, where Turkish forces are carrying out an offensive against a Kurdish militia, as well as in Idlib and in Eastern Ghouta.
The talks hosted by de Mistura in the Austrian capital come after eight previous rounds in Geneva that failed to get the warring parties even to talk to each other.
The discussions have repeatedly stumbled over the fate of Syrian President Bashar Assad.
Representatives from his government have refused to meet the opposition directly until it drops demands that he leave office.

Nasr Al-Hariri from the main opposition group, the Syrian Negotiations Commission (SNC), said late Wednesday in Vienna that the next two days would be “a real test for all the sides.”
They will be “a real test for the opposition for how much they are committed to those international solutions; and also to the regime, how much the regime is going to be engaging; as well as the international community and how serious they are about reaching a political solution,” Hariri told reporters through an interpreter.
The talks come ahead of a peace conference in the Russian Black Sea resort of Sochi backed by Russia, Iran and Turkey on January 30.
Moscow initially hoped to convene peace talks in Sochi last November but those efforts collapsed following a lack of agreement among co-sponsors.
Syria’s main opposition group has said it would need “full and clear information” before agreeing to take part, but government representatives have said they will attend.
The Sochi summit specifically aims to set up new constitution for post-war Syria — something which the UN’s de Mistura also hopes to make progress on.
Western countries view the Sochi track with skepticism, concerned that Russia and Iran will carve out a settlement that will favor their ally Assad.
Syria’s complex, multi-sided war has claimed more than 340,000 lives, forced millions to flee their homes and left Syria in ruins.
Bolstered by Moscow’s intervention in 2015, Damascus has regained the upper hand militarily, retaking large swathes of rebel-held territory.
Russian-backed Syrian forces have also dealt severe blows to the Daesh group, whose self-proclaimed “caliphate” in Iraq and Syria has largely collapsed.
In December the first Russian troops began returning home after President Vladimir Putin ordered a pullout, saying their mission had been largely completed.
De Mistura has called on Putin to push the Assad regime to hold new elections, saying a military victory alone was not enough to “win the peace.”


Saudi development fund chief meets Congo’s finance minister

Updated 2 min 49 sec ago
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Saudi development fund chief meets Congo’s finance minister

CEO of the Saudi Fund for Development Sultan Al-Marshad met Congo’s Minister of Finance Doudou Fumba Likunde, the Saudi Fund said on X on Wednesday.

During the meeting, they reviewed development cooperation between the two sides that began 40 years ago, as well as discussing ways to enhance economic cooperation to develop vital sectors in Congo.

Ambassador of Saudi Arabia to Congo Abdulaziz Al-Badi was present during the meeting.


Book Review: ‘Rifqa’ by Mohammed El-Kurd

Updated 11 min 31 sec ago
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Book Review: ‘Rifqa’ by Mohammed El-Kurd

Mohammed El-Kurd’s “Rifqa” is a searing and lyrical exploration of identity, resistance and the enduring impact of colonization. Named after El-Kurd’s late grandmother, the poetry collection captures the Palestinian experience with an intensity that is both personal and profoundly universal.

Through vivid language and raw emotion, El-Kurd weaves together memories, history and the lived realities of occupation, crafting a work that is as much a tribute to resilience as it is a call to action.

Through poems that shift between tender recollections of family and sharp critiques of displacement and violence, El-Kurd creates a narrative that refuses to separate the personal from the political. This duality gives the work a profound resonance, as it reminds readers of the humanity at the core of resistance.

El-Kurd’s grandmother, Rifqa, emerges as a symbol of steadfastness in the face of oppression, her life embodying the spirit of defiance that runs through the collection.

His language is evocative and unrelenting, often blurring the lines between poetry and protest. His verses are charged with anger, grief and a fierce love for his homeland, making every word feel urgent and necessary.

Yet, amid the rage and sorrow, there are moments of quiet beauty — glimpses of family life, the olive trees of Jerusalem and the enduring cultural traditions that tether the poet to his roots. These moments serve as a poignant reminder of what is at stake, grounding the collection in the everyday lives and stories of Palestinians.

What sets “Rifqa” apart is its refusal to sanitize or soften its message. El-Kurd speaks truth to power with unapologetic clarity, confronting readers with the stark realities of occupation and the complicity of global systems in perpetuating injustice.

Yet, his voice is not only one of condemnation, but also of hope and resilience. The poems are a testament to the enduring spirit of a people who continue to fight for their land, their identity and their right to exist.

“Rifqa” is a powerful and deeply affecting work that demands to be read as a testament to the resilience of a people and the enduring strength of a grandmother’s legacy.

It is a book that stays with you long after the final page, urging you to listen, to feel and to act. Mohammed El-Kurd has crafted a work that is both a lament and a rallying cry, a reminder that poetry has the power to witness, to resist and to endure.


Search for Red Sea sinking survivors enters third day

Updated 14 min 53 sec ago
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Search for Red Sea sinking survivors enters third day

CAIRO: The search operation for seven people still missing from a dive boat that capsized and sank off Egypt’s east coast entered a third day on Wednesday, the governor of the Red Sea province said.

The country released video footage on Wednesday morning of the latest tourists rescued from the vessel aboard which at least four people, including one Slovak tourist, died.

The governor’s office said the search operation was continuing for seven people still missing after the “Sea Story” was struck by a wave and capsized in the middle of the night on Monday.

The vessel had set off the day before from Port Ghalib, near Marsa Alam in the southeast, on a multi-day diving trip with 31 tourists — mostly Europeans, along with Chinese and US nationals — and a 13-member crew. 

A total of 33 people have been rescued, including tourists seen in the video stepping off a speedboat, wrapped in blankets, at a marina near Marsa Alam. “We were shaking with cold,” one unidentified man said in the footage.

The tourists who appeared in the video had spent at least 24 hours inside a cabin of the overturned vessel before rescuers found them on Tuesday morning, according to a government source close to the rescue operations. Two survivors — one identified by authorities on camera as an Egyptian — were rolled out on stretchers, one of them conscious and speaking.

A Belgian tourist sobbed when she was greeted by Marsa Alam Mayor General Hazem Khalil.

Red Sea Governor Amr Hanafi said the boat capsized “suddenly and quickly within five-seven minutes” after being struck by a strong wave in the middle of the night, leaving some passengers unable to escape their cabins.


Former ICC chief prosecutor tells of ‘threats to family’ during Israel-Palestine war crimes probe

Fatou Bensouda she was subjected to “unacceptable, thug-style tactics” while working as the ICC's chief prosecutor. (AP/File)
Updated 18 min 18 sec ago
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Former ICC chief prosecutor tells of ‘threats to family’ during Israel-Palestine war crimes probe

  • Fatou Bensouda says she was subjected to ‘thug-style tactics’ while working on cases related to Israel and Palestine, and the war in Afghanistan
  • A newspaper investigation previously alleged she was threatened by the head of Israeli intelligence agency Mossad

LONDON: The former chief prosecutor at the International Criminal Court has told how she received “direct threats” to herself and her family while working there.

Fatou Bensouda’s comments about her experiences came six months after a newspaper report alleged that the head of Israeli intelligence agency Mossad had threatened her in an attempt to get her to drop an investigation into accusations of war crimes in occupied Palestinian territories.

Appearing at a legal event in London on Tuesday, Bensouda did not mention any specific threats but said she was subjected to “unacceptable, thug-style tactics” while doing her job.

She said that while working on some of the court’s toughest cases, including those related to the conflict between Israel and Palestine, and the war in Afghanistan, she received “direct threats to my person and family and some of my closest professional advisors.”

Bensouda was the ICC’s chief prosecutor from 2012 until 2021. The Guardian newspaper reported in May that Israel’s foreign intelligence services put pressure on Bensouda after she opened a preliminary investigation in 2015 into the conflict between Israel and Palestine.

The newspaper, sighting several Israeli sources, alleged that Yossi Cohen, the director of Mossad at the time, threatened Bensouda during a series of secret meetings and warned her not to proceed with a case related to alleged Israeli war crimes and crimes against humanity in the West Bank, Gaza and East Jerusalem.

Israeli authorities denied the allegations of threats and intimidation, and Bensouda opened a full criminal investigation into Israel’s actions in 2021, shortly before she left her post.

Last week, the ICC issued arrest warrants for Israel’s prime minister, Benjamin Netanyahu, his former defense minister, Yoav Gallant, and the military chief of Hamas, Mohammed Deif, accusing them of crimes against humanity.

The warrants were requested six months ago by Bensouda’s successor, Karim Khan, as part of an extension of the investigation that his predecessor initiated. Khan accelerated the case after the Oct. 7 attacks by Hamas and Israel’s subsequent war on Gaza.

During her lecture at the Bar Council on Wednesday, Bensouda, who is now Gambia’s high commissioner to the UK, said the arrest warrants issued last week focused exclusively on the events of Oct. 7 and those that followed, and did not include aspects of the wider conflict between Israel and Palestine that formed the basis of the investigation she initiated.

She said her initial probe focused on whether Hamas, other Palestinian armed groups or the Israeli military had committed war crimes in relation to hostilities that took place during 2014, and its scope included illegal Israeli settlements and the displacement of populations into the occupied West Bank.

“It will be important to ensure that the full extent of criminality in the context of this devastating … conflict is fully investigated and accountability is finally had for the benefit of its many victims on all sides of the conflict,” she said.

During her time as chief prosecutor, Bensouda also came under pressure from the US. Donald Trump’s administration imposed sanctions on her in 2020 after the ICC began investigating allegations of US war crimes in Afghanistan.

The sanctions were lifted by President Joe Biden. However, last week he described the ICC decision to issue an arrest warrant for Netanyahu as “outrageous” and said there was no equivalence between Israel and Hamas.

Neither the US nor Israel are members of the ICC. However, the 124 states that have signed up to it are obliged to act on warrants it issues if the accused visit their countries.


Amorim eyes victory in first Man Utd home game to kickstart new era

Updated 19 min 52 sec ago
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Amorim eyes victory in first Man Utd home game to kickstart new era

  • The former Sporting Lisbon boss admitted after the draw at the weekend that United would “suffer for a long time” as he puts his stamp on the club

LONDON: Ruben Amorim said struggling Manchester United need a win to kickstart his Old Trafford revolution as he prepares for a “special” first home match against Bodo/Glimt on Thursday.
United had a disappointing 1-1 draw at Ipswich on Sunday in Amorim’s first game in charge since replacing the sacked Erik ten Hag, leaving them 12th in the Premier League table.
On Thursday they face Norwegian side Bodo/Glimt in the Europa League after one win and three draws in their opening four matches in the competition.
“It is said to me that it will be a special time,” Amorim told his pre-match press conference on Wednesday. “I just want to win the game, just to give that happiness to the supporters.
“Before the match it will be like a new sensation but after the whistle it will be one more game and we want to win that match.”
Amorim, who changed United’s formation against Ipswich, said the club needed to feel “momentum.”
“It’s important when you are putting an idea,” he said. “If you win it’s a big help.”
The former Sporting Lisbon boss admitted after the draw at the weekend that United would “suffer for a long time” as he puts his stamp on the club.
And on Wednesday he admitted he did not know how long it would take players to get used to his methods, explaining it was difficult to draw parallels with his previous experiences.
“You can say that this is a different league so it’s harder than in Portugal,” he said. “But I also have more experienced players and all these guys play for national teams.
“They just need to increase their confidence and at the moment I don’t know how to answer that question. I don’t know how long.
“But I will know that with a lot of games without time to train it will be tough for me but it will be tougher for them because they are on the pitch and they will suffer a little bit.
“I will try to help and we have to manage to win some games and try to increase that idea in the team.”
Amorim said United had firepower in their ranks despite their lack of goals this season and that he would try to help out-of-form Marcus Rashford.
“We will try to find the right solution for him, as for the other players,” he said.
“He has to be Marcus, first of all, to try to return to that moment. Then he will have the help of all the staff, all the club and all the fans because he’s a Manchester United boy. But he has to be the first one to really want it.”