Russian mercenaries, a discrete weapon in Syria

Syria's President Bashar al-Assad visits a Russian air base at Hmeymim, in western Syria in this handout photo posted on SANA on June 27, 2017, Syria. (REUTERS)
Updated 18 February 2018
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Russian mercenaries, a discrete weapon in Syria

MOSCOW: The death of Russian citizens in Syria from a US coalition strike last week, which has been played down by both Moscow and Washington, has exposed the role of Russian mercenaries in the multi-front conflict.
The incident followed a steady trickle of reports about Russians dying in battle in Syria while employed as guns for hire in a privately-owned outfit whose role may be securing oilfields for President Bashar Assad.
Russia on Thursday has finally recognized that five Russian citizens, not officially affiliated with the Russian military, were likely killed in the strikes in eastern Syria, in the first admission of non-military combat casualties.
The US had said the coalition acted in self-defense when an enemy unit of 300-500 people launched an attack on an established SDF position east of the Euphrates river in Deir Ezzor province.
The coalition warned the Russian military and proceeded to strike the formation, killing up to 100 people. The Russian military said it had no troops in the area.
While US officials have refused to disclose the nationality of the attackers, various reports indicated a death toll of up to several hundred Russians from the strike.
Russia can legally prosecute mercenaries under an existing law which has been applied against several citizens fighting in Ukraine and Syria in recent years.
In 2014, two Russian men, Vadim Gusev and Yevgeny Sidorov, were sentenced to three years in prison after they recruited over 200 former military soldiers to an outfit called the Slavonic Corps for a trip to Syria’s Deir Ezzor.
According to Fontanka website, which has chronicled the involvement of private military contractors in Syria, the Slavonic Corps later became the core of a new mercenary group recruited by former member Dmitry Utkin, nicknamed Wagner.
The Wagner group has no website or social networking page, instead attracting men with military experience through word of mouth.
Utkin and the Wagner group was blacklisted by the US Treasury in 2016 for having “recruited and sent soldiers to fight alongside separatists in eastern Ukraine.”
It is known to train at a military base in a village called Molkino outside Krasnodar in southern Russia. According to Fontanka, the Wagner group has fought in Syria since late 2015.
Unlike Gusev and Sidorov, Wagner has not been prosecuted. Instead, he was honored in the Kremlin in December 2016. Kremlin spokesman Dmitry Peskov said at the time that Utkin was invited as a decorated military veteran.

According to Fontanka, Wagner is associated with a Russian company Yevro Polis, which has signed a deal with the Syrian government.
Under the deal, the company would capture and secure oil and gas infrastructure in Syria in exchange for a 25 percent share in future resource production.
Fontanka has tied Yevro Polis to the empire of Yevgeny Prigozhin, a Saint-Petersburg businessman running the company Concord Catering which controls several restaurant businesses and has won many contracts from the Russian defense ministry.
Prigozhin, and Concord Catering, were blacklisted by the US Treasury for “having materially assisted” Russian officials and being tied to a company building a military base near Ukraine’s border. Yevro Polis is also on the blacklist.
The US special prosecutor investigating Moscow’s meddling in the 2016 presidential election indicted Prigozhin Friday for running an influence campaign on the Internet through a “troll farm” company in Saint-Petersburg.
Prigozhin has denied ties both to the Internet company and to Wagner group.
Mercenaries not directly affiliated with the Russian military may be convenient for Moscow’s business interests in Syria while assuring deniability of government involvement.
But after numerous reports of casualties in Syria and capture of two Russians, reportedly from the Wagner group, by Daesh last year, Russian officials have called for legalizing mercenaries.
Foreign Minister Sergei Lavrov in January said legislation was needed to “protect these people,” referring to Russians in private military companies.
“Everybody understands the need for a law,” said Mikhail Yemelyanov, an MP in the Just Russia party, who is one of the authors of a bill on private military companies currently being reviewed by government.
Asked if the need was due to Russians fighting in Syria, Yemelyanov told AFP that it’s “because it’s not just Russians fighting there” and because private military companies are legal in many countries.
Some reports have said that the Russian defense ministry did not know about Russian citizens fighting in the area at the time of the US coalition strike. This would be impossible under the new bill, Yemelyanov said.
“We wrote in the bill that the defense ministry would coordinate and that participation in armed conflicts would only be with their permission,” he said.
“If our bill would be passed, everyone would know who is fighting where.”


Governor Koike discusses areas of cooperation with Egyptian Prime Minister Madbouly

Updated 10 sec ago
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Governor Koike discusses areas of cooperation with Egyptian Prime Minister Madbouly

  • Dr. Mostafa Madbouly congratulated Koike on her re-election as Governor of Tokyo
  • The Prime Minister also lauded Japan’s contribution to implementing the Japanese Tokkatsu educational system

TOKYO: Governor of Tokyo, Koike Yuriko, who is visiting Cairo, met Egyptian Prime Minister Dr. Mostafa Madbouly on Friday at the government headquarters in the New Administrative Capital and discussed several cooperation initiatives, Tokyo Metropolitan Government (TMG) officials told Arab News Japan.
The officials said Dr. Amr Talaat, Egypt’s Minister of Communications, and Information Technology; Ambassador Ahmed Shahin, Assistant Minister of Foreign Affairs for Asian Affairs; Mr. Katsunobu Takada, Chargé d’Affaires at the Japanese Embassy in Cairo, and Governor Koike’s accompanying delegation attended the meeting.
At the beginning of the meeting, the Prime Minister warmly welcomed Governor Koike and her delegation. He underscored the strategic and historical relations between Egypt and Japan, a testament to the enduring bond that continues to flourish in various fields.
Dr. Mostafa Madbouly congratulated Koike on her re-election as Governor of Tokyo in July for the third consecutive term and expressed his hopes for continued close coordination on various areas of bilateral cooperation.
The Prime Minister also expressed his fervent hope that Japan’s Prime Minister, alongside Governor Koike, will grace the official opening ceremony of the Grand Egyptian Museum once the project is finalized. He also extended his gratitude for Japan’s substantial contributions to major development projects in Egypt, including the museum.
Dr. Madbouly highlighted the Grand Egyptian Museum project as one of the foremost examples of cooperation between Cairo and Tokyo, along with the Egyptian Japanese educational partnership, exemplified by the Egypt-Japan University of Science and Technology and Japanese Egyptian schools.
The Prime Minister also lauded Japan’s contribution to implementing the Japanese Tokkatsu educational system, affirming that Egypt is planning to expand this system. He attributed this decision to President Abdel Fattah El-Sisi’s directive, acknowledging the system’s remarkable success and high quality.
Dr. Madbouly also highlighted the ongoing cooperation between the Ministry of Communications and Information Technology and TMG through the “SUSHI Tech Tokyo” initiative, a platform for promoting technological innovation, and the “Tokyo Innovation Base” platform, a hub for fostering entrepreneurial activities and technological advancements.
In turn, Governor Koike praised the bilateral cooperation between Egypt and Japan, expressing her happiness to visit Egypt, where she has unforgettable memories, having studied at Cairo University.
Koike also commended the well-organized 12th World Urban Forum, a global platform for discussing urban issues and solutions, which attracted a wide global audience.
In the meeting, Tokyo Governor Koike invited the Prime Minister, the Minister of Communications, and other Egyptian entities to participate in the upcoming “SUSHI Tech Tokyo” forum, scheduled for the first half of 2025. She noted that Japan has worked over the years to establish itself as a hub for startups and a welcoming environment for entrepreneurs.
Dr. Amr Talaat discussed several collaborative programs with Koike in information and communication technology, artificial intelligence, cybersecurity, and entrepreneurship. They explored the potential for experience exchange in business incubators for small projects across various sectors, including financial services, health care, and education.
Talaat highlighted that one of the main areas of cooperation with Tokyo’s government is in the startup and entrepreneurship sectors.
Governor Koike is in Egypt on the first leg of a tour of the region that includes Abu Dhabi of the UAE.


Germany brushes off Musk calling Scholz a ‘fool’

Updated 49 min 49 sec ago
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Germany brushes off Musk calling Scholz a ‘fool’

  • Government spokeswoman Christiane Hoffmann took a playful dig at the US tycoon, saying that “on X, you have Narrenfreiheit,” which translates to the freedom to act like a fool
  • A tight-lipped Scholz simply called it “not very friendly“

BERLIN: German officials on Friday brushed off tech billionaire Elon Musk labelling Olaf Scholz a “fool” on his social media platform X after the dramatic collapse of the chancellor’s coalition government.
In a comment Thursday above a post about the implosion of Scholz’s long-troubled coalition, the world’s richest man tweeted in German: “Olaf ist ein Narr” — “Olaf is a fool.”
Asked about Musk’s comment, government spokeswoman Christiane Hoffmann took a playful dig at the US tycoon, saying that “on X, you have Narrenfreiheit,” which translates to the freedom to act like a fool.
The word refers to revellers during Germany’s traditional carnival season, which starts next week, having the freedom to act without inhibitions.
Historically, the term echoes the notion of the “jester’s privilege” — the right of a court jester to mock those in power without being punished by the king.
Asked later about the comment, a tight-lipped Scholz simply called it “not very friendly,” adding that Internet companies are “not organs of state so I did not even pay it any attention.”
Musk strongly supported US election winner Donald Trump, and is now positioned to take up a role in his administration as a deputy tasked with restructuring government operations.
It is not the first time the Tesla boss has had run-ins with German officials online.
Last year he said Berlin-funded migrant rescue operations in the Mediterranean could be seen as an “invasion” of Italy, sparking a terse response from the German foreign ministry.
He has also expressed sympathy for some of the positions of Germany’s far-right AfD party, which has notched up a string of recent electoral successes and is riding high in the opinion polls.


First flight with Israelis evacuated from Amsterdam lands in Tel Aviv

Updated 08 November 2024
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First flight with Israelis evacuated from Amsterdam lands in Tel Aviv

  • The plane that arrived in Tel Aviv had passengers evacuated from Amsterdam

TEL AVIV: The first flight carrying Israelis evacuated from Amsterdam after violent clashes following a football match there landed on Friday at Ben Gurion International Airport, the Israel Airports Authority said.
“The plane that arrived in Tel Aviv now has passengers evacuated from Amsterdam,” Liza Dvir, spokeswoman for the airport authority told AFP.


India’s Modi rejects calls to restore Kashmir’s partial autonomy

Updated 08 November 2024
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India’s Modi rejects calls to restore Kashmir’s partial autonomy

  • Modi revoked partial autonomy in 2019 and split the state into the two federally administered territories of Jammu and Kashmir and Ladakh 
  • Jammu and Kashmir held its first local election in a decade this year, newly-elected lawmakers passed resolution this week seeking restoration

NEW DELHI: Indian Prime Minister Narendra Modi strongly backed his government’s contentious 2019 decision to revoke the partial autonomy of Jammu and Kashmir, days after the territory’s newly elected lawmakers sought its restoration.
“Only the constitution of Babasaheb Ambedkar will operate in Kashmir... No power in the world can restore Article 370 (partial autonomy) in Kashmir,” Modi said, referring to one of the founding fathers of the Indian constitution.
Modi was speaking at a state election rally in the western state of Maharashtra, where Ambedkar was from.
Modi’s Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) government revoked partial autonomy in 2019 and split the state into the two federally administered territories of Jammu and Kashmir and Ladakh — a move that was opposed by many political groups in the Himalayan region.
Jammu and Kashmir held its first local election in a decade in September and October and the newly-elected lawmakers passed a resolution this week seeking the restoration.
Jammu and Kashmir’s ruling National Conference party had promised in its election manifesto that it would restore the partial autonomy, although the power to do so lies with Modi’s federal government.
Jammu and Kashmir’s new lawmakers can legislate on local issues like other Indian states, except matters regarding public order and policing. They will also need the approval of the federally-appointed administrator on all policy decisions that have financial implications.
Under the system of partial autonomy, Kashmir had its own constitution and the freedom to make laws on all issues except foreign affairs, defense and communications.
The troubled region, where separatist militants have fought security forces since 1989, is India’s only Muslim-majority territory.
It has been at the center of a territorial dispute with Pakistan since the neighbors gained independence from British colonial rule in 1947.
Kashmir is claimed in full but ruled in part by both India and Pakistan, which have fought two of their three wars over the region.


Kyiv says Russia has returned bodies of 563 soldiers

Updated 08 November 2024
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Kyiv says Russia has returned bodies of 563 soldiers

  • The exchange of prisoners and bodies of killed military personnel remains one of the few areas of cooperation
  • The announcement represents one of the largest repatriations of killed Ukrainian servicemen

KYIV: Ukraine said on Friday it had received the bodies of 563 soldiers from Russian authorities, mainly troops that had died in combat in the eastern Donetsk region.
The exchange of prisoners and bodies of killed military personnel remains one of the few areas of cooperation between Moscow and Kyiv since Russia invaded in 2022.
“The bodies of 563 fallen Ukrainian defenders were returned to Ukraine,” the Coordination Headquarters for the Treatment of Prisoners of War said in a statement on social media.
The announcement represents one of the largest repatriations of killed Ukrainian servicemen since the beginning of the war.
The statement said that 320 of the remains were returned from the Donetsk region and that 89 of the soldiers had been killed near Bakhmut, a town captured by Russia in May last year after a costly battle.
Another 154 of the bodies were returned from morgues inside Russia, the statement added.
Neither Russia nor Ukraine publicly disclose how many military personnel have been killed fighting.