Iraqis turn to budding ecotourism to save marshes

A tourist sketches a drawing of a palm reed-woven house in the marshes of the southern Iraqi district of Chibayish in Dhi Qar province, about 120 km northwest of the southern city of Basra. (AFP)
Updated 26 May 2019
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Iraqis turn to budding ecotourism to save marshes

  • Around 90 percent of the once-expansive marshes were drained, and the area’s 250,000 residents dwindled down to just 30,000

CHIBAYISH, Iraq: Thirty years after Saddam Hussein starved them of water, Iraq’s southern marshes are blossoming once more thanks to a wave of ecotourists picnicking and paddling down their replenished river bends.
A one-room home made of elaborately woven palm reeds floats on the river surface. Near it, a soft plume of smoke curls up from a firepit where carp is being grilled, Iraqi-style. A few canoes drift by, carrying couples and groups of friends singing to the beat of drums.
“I didn’t think I would find somewhere so beautiful, and such a body of water in Iraq,” said Habib Al-Jurani.
He left Iraq in 1990 for the US, and was back in his ancestral homeland for a family visit.
“Most people don’t know what Iraq is really like — they think it’s the world’s most dangerous place, with nothing but killings and terrorism,” he said.
Looking around the lush marshes, declared in 2016 to be Iraq’s fifth UNESCO World Heritage site, Jurani added: “There are some mesmerising places.”
Straddling Iraq’s famous Tigris and Euphrates rivers, the Mesopotamian marshes are a rare aquatic ecosystem in a country nearly half of which is covered in cracked desert.
Legend has it, they were home to the biblical Garden of Eden.
But they were also a haven for political opposition to dictator Saddam Hussein, who cut off water to the site in retaliation for the south’s uprising against him in 1991.
Around 90 percent of the once-expansive marshes were drained, and the area’s 250,000 residents dwindled down to just 30,000.
In the ensuing years, severe droughts and decreased water flows from the twin rivers’ source countries — Turkey and Iran — shrunk the marshes’ surface from some 15,000 sq. km. to less than half that. It all culminated with a particularly dry winter last year that left the “ahwar,” as they are known in Arabic, painfully parched.
But heavier rains this year have filled more than 80 percent of the marshes’ surface area, according to the UN, compared to just 27 percent last year.
That has resurrected the ancient lifestyle that dominated this area for more than 5,000 years.
“The water returned, and with it normal life,” said 35-year-old Mehdi Al-Mayali, who raises water buffalo and sells their milk, used to make rich cream served at Iraqi breakfasts.
Wildlife including the vulnerable smooth-coated otter, Euphrates softshell turtles, and Basra reed warbler have returned to the marshlands — along with the pickiest of all species: Tourists.

BACKGROUND

Straddling Iraq’s famous Tigris and Euphrates rivers, the Mesopotamian marshes are a rare aquatic ecosystem in a country nearly half of which is covered in cracked desert. Legend has it, they were home to the biblical Garden of Eden.

“Ecotourism has revived the ‘ahwar.’ There are Iraqis from different provinces and some foreigners,” Mayali said.
A day in the marshes typically involves hiring a resident to paddle a large reed raft down the river for around $25 — not a cheap fare for Iraq. Then, lunch in a “mudhif” or guesthouse, also run by locals.
“Ecotourism is an important source of revenue for those native to the marshes,” said Jassim Assadi, who heads Nature Iraq.
The environmental activist group has long advocated for the marshes to be better protected and for authorities to develop a long-term ecotourism plan for the area.
“It’s a much more sustainable activity than the hydrocarbon and petroleum industry,” said Assadi, referring to the dominant industry that provides Iraq with about 90 percent of state revenues.
The numbers have steadily gone up in recent years, according to Assaad Al-Qarghouli, tourism chief in Iraq’s southern province of Dhi Qar.
“We had 10,000 tourists in 2016, then 12,000 in 2017 and 18,000 in 2018,” he told AFP.
But there is virtually no infrastructure to accommodate them.
“There are no tourist centers or hotels, because the state budget was sucked up by war the last few years,” Qarghouli told AFP.
Indeed, Daesh overran swathes of Iraq in 2014, prompting the government to direct its full attention — and the bulk of its resources — to fighting it back.

Iraq’s government declared victory in late 2017 and has slowly begun reallocating resources to infrastructure projects.
Qarghouli said the marshes should be a priority, and called on the government to build “a hotel complex and touristic eco-village inside the marshes.”
Peak season for tourists is between September and April, avoiding the summer months of Iraq when temperatures can reach a stifling 50 degrees Celsius.
But without a long-term government plan, residents worry that water levels will be hostage to fluctuating yearly rainfalls and shortages caused by Iranian and Turkish dams.
These dynamics have already damaged the marshes’ fragile ecosystem, with high levels of salination last year killing fish and forcing other wildlife to migrate.
Jurani, the returning expatriate, has an idea of the solution.
“Adventurers and nature-lovers,” he said, hopefully.


Lebanese foreign minister discusses reforms, weapons control with Saudi ambassador to Beirut

Updated 20 sec ago
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Lebanese foreign minister discusses reforms, weapons control with Saudi ambassador to Beirut

  • Youssef Rajji and Waleed Al-Bukhari consider latest developments in Lebanon and the Middle East
  • Al-Bukhari confirms the Kingdom’s full support for the reform process in Lebanon

BEIRUT: The Lebanese minister of foreign affairs reassured Saudi Ambassador Waleed Al-Bukhari that Beirut is committed to financial reforms and restricting the possession of weapons outside the state’s control. 

Youssef Rajji met with Al-Bukhari in Beirut on Thursday to discuss the latest developments in Lebanon and the Middle East

Rajji said that Lebanon is committed to implementing the necessary economic, financial, and administrative reforms and ensure that weapons are held exclusively by the state. He said this policy will “put Lebanon on the trail of recovery and advancement,” the National News Agency reported.

He expressed gratitude to the Saudi leadership for supporting Lebanon and its people and said that relations between Riyadh and Beirut have reinstated Lebanon to its rightful place among its Arab neighbors.

Al-Bukhari reaffirmed the Kingdom’s full support for Lebanon’s reform process, which is led by President Joseph Aoun, Prime Minister Nawaf Salam, and the government formed in February.


Killed Gaza medic’s mother says he ‘loved helping people’

Updated 16 min 42 sec ago
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Killed Gaza medic’s mother says he ‘loved helping people’

  • Rifaat Radwan, a medic from the Palestine Red Crescent Society, was one of 15 killed in an attck by Israel that has sparked outrage
  • His family describe their sorrow at losing their son said being a medic 'was his calling'

GAZA: Umm Rifaat Radwan, the mother of a Gaza medic killed alongside 14 colleagues by Israeli soldiers, had hoped her son’s body would not be among those retrieved after the attack.
Rifaat Radwan was part of a team of medics and rescuers from the Palestine Red Crescent Society and Gaza’s civil defense agency who were shot dead on March 23 near Rafah as they responded to calls for help after an Israeli air strike.
Their deaths sparked international condemnation and renewed scrutiny over the risks aid workers face in Gaza, where war has raged since Hamas’s October 7, 2023 attack on Israel triggered Israel’s military campaign.
Israel’s army chief, Lt. Gen. Eyal Zamir, has ordered an investigation into the March 23 incident.
The bodies of the 15 emergency personnel were discovered buried in the sand days later, and were recovered in two separate operations, the United Nations and the Red Crescent said.
“They began pulling them out two by two” from a hole, Umm Rifaat, 48, told AFP, describing how the bodies were retrieved from what rescuers called a “mass grave.”
“I thought maybe he wasn’t among them — perhaps he had been detained. I even prostrated after the afternoon prayer in gratitude.
“Then my husband told me that Rifaat had been found inside the hole,” she said.
The 23-year-old Rifaat and his family hailed from Rafah, but had been displaced during the war to the central Gazan city of Deir el-Balah.
On March 23, he and the 14 others were killed in the Tal Al-Sultan area near Rafah, in what the sole survivor of the attack, Mundhir Abed, described as a violent ambush by Israeli forces.
Abed told AFP earlier that the team was shot dead by Israeli soldiers in the early morning.
Umm Rifaat, wearing a long black abaya and veil exposing only her eyes, spoke with quiet composure as she recalled the moment her worst fears were confirmed.
Some of the bodies recovered by rescuers had been handcuffed, according to the Red Crescent, but an Israeli military official denied this.
On Thursday, government spokesman David Mencer repeated Israel’s claim that “six Hamas terrorists” were among the dead.
“What were Hamas terrorists doing in ambulances?” he asked.
The Israeli attack appears to have occurred in two phases.
Rifaat himself partly captured video and audio of the second assault on his convoy of ambulances and a firetruck before he was killed.
The Israeli military official told journalists that soldiers who were in the area received a report about a convoy “moving in the dark in a suspicious way toward them” without headlights, prompting them to fire at the vehicles from a distance.
“They thought they had an encounter with terrorists,” the official said.
But Rifaat’s video, released by the Red Crescent, contradicted this account.
The footage from the phone found on Rifaat’s body shows ambulances moving with their headlights and emergency lights clearly switched on.
“He proved his innocence with his own hands, that he is innocent in the face of the (Israeli) army’s allegations,” Rifaat’s mother said.
“What happened to them is beyond the mind’s comprehension. It is unacceptable by any measure — legal, religious or human.”
Speaking to AFP from the displaced family’s makeshift shelter in Deir el-Balah, Umm Rifaat scrolled through photos of her son on her phone.
Her husband recalled the passion with which Rifaat worked as a paramedic.
“Every day he came home from work with his clothes stained in blood,” Anwar Radwan said, adding that his son had volunteered to do the job after the Gaza war erupted in October 2023.
“He never sought a salary — this was rather a calling he loved with all his blood and soul. What drove him was simply his humanity,” Rifaat’s father said.
“He loved helping people,” added Umm Rifaat.
His father saw Rifaat’s body and told Umm Rifaat that their son’s face had been “deformed.”
She chose not to see the body, preferring instead to preserve her memory of him as he was in life.
“He was like the moon — handsome and fair-skinned,” Umm Rifaat said.


Kurds to push for federal system in post-Assad Syria

Updated 49 min 51 sec ago
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Kurds to push for federal system in post-Assad Syria

  • Kurdish parties agree on federalism as common political vision, sources tell Reuters

QAMISHLI: Syrian Kurds are set to demand a federal system in post-Assad Syria that would allow regional autonomy and security forces, a senior Kurdish official told Reuters, doubling down on a decentralized vision opposed by the interim president.

The demand for federal rule has gathered momentum as alarm spread through Syria’s minorities over last month’s mass killings of Alawites, while Kurdish groups have accused interim President Ahmed Al-Sharaa and his Islamist group of setting the wrong course for the new Syria and monopolising power.
Rival Syrian Kurdish parties, including the dominant faction in the Kurdish-run northeast, agreed on a common political vision — including federalism — last month, Kurdish sources said. They have yet to officially unveil it. Kurdish-led groups took control of roughly a quarter of Syrian territory during the 14-year civil war. The Kurdish-led Syrian Democratic Forces, backed by the US, last month signed a deal with Damascus on merging Kurdish-led governing bodies and security forces with the central government.
While committed to that deal, Kurdish officials have objected to the way Syria’s governing Islamists are shaping the transition from Bashar Assad’s rule, saying they are failing to respect Syria’s diversity despite promises of inclusivity.
Badran Jia Kurd, a senior official in the Kurdish-led administration, told Reuters that all Kurdish factions had agreed on a “common political vision” which emphasizes the need for “a federal, pluralistic, democratic parliamentary system.”
His written statements in response to questions from Reuters mark the first time an official from the Kurdish-led administration has confirmed the federalism goal since the Kurdish parties agreed on it last month.
The Kurdish-led administration has for years steered clear of the word “federalism” in describing its goals, instead calling for decentralization. Syria’s Kurds say their goal is autonomy within Syria — not independence.
Sharaa has declared his opposition to a federal system, telling The Economist in January that it does not have popular acceptance and is not in Syria’s best interests.
The Kurds, mainly Sunni Muslims, speak a language related to Farsi and live mostly in a mountainous region straddling the borders of Armenia, Iraq, Iran, Syria and Turkiye. In Iraq, they have their own parliament, government and security forces.
Jia Kurd said the fundamental issue for Syria was “to preserve the administrative, political, and cultural specificity of each region” which would require “local legislative councils within the region, executive bodies to manage the region’s affairs, and internal security forces affiliated with them.”
This should be set out in Syria’s constitutional framework, he added.
Neighbouring Turkiye, an ally of Sharaa, sees Syria’s main Kurdish group, the Democratic Union Party, and its affiliates as a security threat because of their links to the Kurdistan Workers Party (PKK), which, until a recently declared ceasefire, fought a decades-long insurgency against the Turkish state.
Last month’s meeting brought the PYD together with the Kurdish National Council (ENKS), a rival Syrian Kurdish group established with backing from one of Iraq’s main Kurdish parties, the Kurdish Democratic Party (KDP) led by the Barzani family. The KDP has good ties with Turkiye.
ENKS leader Suleiman Oso said he expected the joint Kurdish vision to be announced at a conference by the end of April. He said developments in Syria since Assad’s ouster in December had led many Syrians to see the federal system as the “optimal solution.” He cited attacks on Alawites, resistance to central rule within the Druze minority, and the new government’s constitutional declaration, which the Kurdish-led administration said was at odds with Syria’s diversity.
Hundreds of Alawites were killed in western Syria in March in revenge attacks which began after Islamist-led authorities said their security forces came under attack by militants loyal to Assad, an Alawite. Sharaa, an Al-Qaeda leader before he cut ties to the group in 2016, has said those responsible will be punished, including his own allies if necessary. The constitutional declaration gave him broad powers, enshrined Islamic law as the main source of legislation, and declared Arabic as Syria’s official language, with no mention of Kurdish.
“We believe that the optimal solution to preserve Syria’s unity is a federal system, as Syria is a country of multiple ethnicities, religions, and sects,” said Oso.
“When we go to Damascus, we will certainly present our views and demands.”


UAE and India strengthen ties with 8 new cooperation agreements

Updated 10 April 2025
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UAE and India strengthen ties with 8 new cooperation agreements

MUMBAI: The UAE and India signed eight Memorandums of Understanding on Thursday across a broad range of sectors including infrastructure, healthcare, higher education, logistics and maritime services.

Sheikh Hamdan bin Mohammed bin Rashid Al-Maktoum, Dubai’s crown prince and UAE defense minister, and Indian Minister of Commerce and Industry Piyush Goyal witnessed the signing at an event organized by Dubai Chambers in Mumbai.

Sheikh Hamdan, who is on his first official visit to India, said the two nations were “bound by a deep-rooted friendship and a shared dedication to shaping the future through innovation, opportunity, and sustainable growth.”

He added they “continue to build on a strong foundation of trust and collaboration,” guided by the vision of UAE President Sheikh Mohamed bin Zayed Al-Nahyan, UAE Vice President and Prime Minister and Dubai ruler Sheikh Mohammed bin Rashid Al-Maktoum, and Prime Minister Narendra Modi of India.

“These MoUs broaden and deepen our strategic partnership in line with our mutual commitment to creating resilient economies, empowering communities, and advancing knowledge, technology and human development. Together, we are advancing a model of international cooperation that delivers real impact and long-term benefits for the people of our two countries,” said Sheikh Hamdan.

Dubai Chambers signed three MoUs with leading Indian business bodies — the Confederation of Indian Industry, the Federation of Indian Chambers of Commerce and Industry, and the Indian Merchants’ Chamber — to support mutual market expansion, facilitate networking and promote participation in trade missions and exhibitions.

The agreements aim to boost information-sharing and enhance bilateral trade.

DP World signed two MoUs — one with Rail India Technical and Economic Service to develop advanced, tech-enabled supply chains and multimodal logistics infrastructure through the UAE-India Virtual Trade Corridor, and another between Drydocks World and Cochin Shipyard to jointly develop ship repair clusters in Kochi and Vadinar.

In the education sector, Dubai’s Department of Economy and Tourism signed an MoU with the Indian Institute of Management Ahmedabad to establish a new campus in Dubai. The facility will initially open in Dubai International Academic City, with plans for a permanent campus by 2029.

Healthcare collaboration was also a major focus. Dubai Health and key business figures from both countries signed an MoU to establish the UAE-India Friendship Hospital in Dubai, a philanthropic project offering inclusive healthcare services.

Additionally, Dubai Medical University and the All India Institute of Medical Science signed a cooperation agreement to facilitate joint research, academic exchange and collaboration in digital health and artificial intelligence applications in medicine.

Sheikh Hamdan said the continued growth in trade, investment and cooperation between the UAE and India highlighted the “strategic depth of the relationship” and the “vast potential” of their collaboration.

He added: “We look forward to accelerating progress in sectors that matter most for our collective future, building on the strong momentum we have achieved through frameworks like the Comprehensive Economic Partnership Agreement and the Bilateral Investment Treaty.”


UAE mediates prisoner exchange between US and Russia in Abu Dhabi

Updated 10 April 2025
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UAE mediates prisoner exchange between US and Russia in Abu Dhabi

  • UAE’s Ministry of Foreign Affairs facilitated the exchange of one Russian citizen for one US citizen
  • It is the second swap since President Donald Trump returned to office as Moscow and Washington push for closer ties

LONDON: The UAE mediated a prisoner exchange between Russia and the US on Thursday, which took place on its soil in Abu Dhabi.
The Ministry of Foreign Affairs facilitated the exchange of one Russian citizen for one US citizen, with representatives from both countries present in Abu Dhabi.
The ministry expressed appreciation for the confidence placed in the UAE by the American and Russian governments in designating Abu Dhabi as the location for the prisoner exchange process, WAM reported.
It added that “choosing Abu Dhabi for the prisoner exchange process reflects the close friendship ties of both countries with the UAE.”
Abu Dhabi hopes these efforts will de-escalate tensions and enhance dialogue, contributing to regional and international security and stability, WAM added.
It is the second swap since President Donald Trump returned to the White House as Russia and the US push for closer ties.
Moscow released US-Russian ballet dancer Ksenia Karelina, who had been sentenced to 12 years in prison on treason charges, with US Secretary of State Marco Rubio confirming early Thursday she was on a plane to the United States.
In exchange, the United States released Arthur Petrov, a Russian-German citizen who had been facing up to 20 years in a US prison for violating export controls and who was arrested in Cyprus in 2023 at Washington’s request for allegedly exporting sensitive microelectronics.
Abu Dhabi airport
CIA Director John Ratcliffe was present at the Abu Dhabi airport, where the exchange took place on Thursday, the AFP reported.
A CIA spokeswoman told the Wall Street Journal that “the exchange shows the importance of keeping lines of communication open with Russia, despite the deep challenges in our bilateral relationship.”
“While we are disappointed that other Americans remain wrongfully detained in Russia, we see this exchange as a positive step and will continue to work for their release,” she said.
Russia has yet to confirm the swap, which would be the second since Trump returned to the White House in January.
Trump and Russian leader Vladimir Putin have since pushed for a restoration of closer ties between the two countries that were severely damaged by Moscow’s invasion of Ukraine.
Several meetings between the two sides have taken place, with a new round of talks beginning Thursday in Istanbul on restoring some of the embassy operations that were scaled back following the Ukraine invasion.
Who are the prisoners?
Karelina, who was born in 1991 and lived in Los Angeles, was serving a 12-year prison sentence for having donated around $50 to a pro-Ukraine charity.
She was arrested in the Urals city of Yekaterinburg in January 2024 while on a trip to visit her family. She was charged with “treason.”
Russia’s Federal Security Service accused her of collecting funds for Ukraine’s army that were used to purchase “equipment, weapons and ammunition” — charges she denied. Her supporters say she donated to a US-based organization that delivers humanitarian aid to Ukraine.
Petrov was accused by US authorities of illegally exporting electronic components to Russia for military use, in violation of Washington’s sanctions against Moscow over the conflict in Ukraine.
In mid-February, following a call between Putin and Trump, Russia released Kalob Wayne Byers, a 28-year-old US citizen who was arrested at a Moscow airport for transporting cannabis treats.
Washington and Moscow also exchanged US teacher Marc Fogel for Russian computer expert Alexander Vinnik in early February.
The largest US-Russia prisoner exchange since the end of the Cold War took place on August 1, 2024. It involved the release of journalists, including WSJ reporter Evan Gershkovich, and dissidents held in Russia in exchange for alleged Russian spies held in the West.
Several US citizens remain incarcerated in Russia, with Washington denouncing “hostage-taking” to obtain the release of Russians — including alleged spies — imprisoned in the West.

*Additional reporting from AFP