Hundreds of thousands turn out to mourn Algeria’s powerful army chief

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President Abdelmadjid Tebboune praying after laying a wreath during the funeral procession of Algeria’s late military chief Lt. general Ahmed Gaid Salah in Al-Alia cemetery in Algiers. (APS/Handout via AFP)
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Officials pray during a funeral of Algeria’s military chief Lt. general Ahmed Gaid Salah in Algiers, Algeria Dec. 25, 2019. (APS/Handout via Reuters)
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Updated 25 December 2019
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Hundreds of thousands turn out to mourn Algeria’s powerful army chief

  • Gaid Salah, who masterminded the state’s response to mass protests this year, died of a heart attack aged 79
  • Mourners gave him credit for the army’s largely restrained response to mass demonstrations that rocked cities across the country

ALGIERS: Algeria on Wednesday buried army chief Ahmed Gaid Salah, who had been the country’s de facto strongman in recent months and guardian of the ruling system challenged by a massive protest movement.
The veteran head of the armed forces died suddenly of a heart attack on Monday aged 79, days after overseeing the installation of a replacement for former president Abdelaziz Bouteflika, who resigned under pressure from huge street protests in April.
The military high command wields low-key but major influence in a ruling system in place since Algeria’s 1962 independence from France, and Gaid Salah’s death threatens to deepen the country’s political crisis at the end of a turbulent year.
His funeral was worthy of a national leader and came days after newly sworn-in President Abdelmadjid Tebboune presented him with the National Order of Merit, an award usually reserved for heads of state.
Tebboune had announced three days of national mourning but protesters defied that on Tuesday, hitting the streets with the same mass protests that have rocked the country since February.
The new president, along with senior political and military officials, held a ceremony Wednesday at the People’s Palace in central Algiers to pay their respects to Gaid Salah, who served a record 15 years as military chief of staff.
Military officers carried the coffin, draped in an Algerian flag, to the 18th century Ottoman building where it was received by the deceased general’s interim successor Said Chengriha.
Gaid Salah’s body lay in state for four hours as dignitaries and small groups of civilians entered the palace complex to pay their respects.
The funeral procession then set off on the 10-kilometer (six-mile) journey to the capital’s Al-Alia cemetary, state TV showed.
While only a few civilians entered the complex, thousands of people thronged outside the palace, along the procession route and at the gates of the cemetery, in numbers rarely seen for an official funeral.
The coffin was then placed on a gun carriage, pulled by an armored personnel carrier to cries of “Allahu akbar” (God is Greatest) and ululations from the crowd.
The convoy was led through vast crowds by officers in ceremonial uniforms on the back of a lorry, flanked by police motorcycle outriders.
While many paid tribute to Gaid Salah on Wednesday, he had been met with fierce criticism by the protest movement.
The mass demonstrations were sparked by veteran president Bouteflika’s February announcement that he would seek a fifth term in office.
Despite his departure in April, protesters have pressed on ever since, demanding an overhaul of the ruling system and the departure of establishment figures — including Gaid Salah.
The general had been instrumental in pushing through a December 12 election for Bouteflika’s successor, despite massive pushback from protesters who wanted to see deep-rooted reforms before any poll.
But crowd at the palace on Wednesday morning chanted a modified version of a protest slogan that called Gaid Salah a traitor, instead crying: “Army and people are brothers and Gaid Salah is a martyr!“
His wooden coffin was lowered into the ground at Al-Alia cemetery, where former presidents and other prominent Algerian figures are laid to rest, to a rendition of “The Last Post” and a gun salute, as senior political and military officials stood by.
The ceremony was broadcast live on state TV, with an image of Gaid Salah in a corner of the screen bearing the words “Farewell Lion of Algeria.”
In a eulogy at the graveside, defense ministry communications chief General Boualem Madi hailed Gaid Salah as “a hero” of Algeria.
“Not a drop of blood was shed and he steered Algeria back to safe harbor,” he said, referring to the army’s handling of the protest movement and of recent elections.
“God preserved his life until his mission was accomplished.


Iraq says to eliminate pollutant gas flaring by end of 2027

The sun sets behind burning gas flares at the Dora (Daura) Oil Refinery Complex in Baghdad on December 22, 2024. (AFP)
Updated 24 December 2024
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Iraq says to eliminate pollutant gas flaring by end of 2027

  • The office of Iraqi Prime Minister Mohammed Shia Al-Sudani in a statement Monday evening pointed to “a rise in the level of eliminating gas flaring” in the country

BAGHDAD: Iraqi authorities on Monday announced that the energy-rich country would eliminate the polluting practice of gas flaring by the end of 2027, a statement from the prime minister’s office said.
Gas flaring during the production or processing of crude is intended to convert excess methane to carbon dioxide, but the process is often incomplete, resulting in further methane release.
Iraq has the third highest global rate of gas flaring, after Russia and Iran, having flared about 18 billion cubic meters of gas in 2023, according to the World Bank.
The office of Iraqi Prime Minister Mohammed Shia Al-Sudani in a statement Monday evening pointed to “a rise in the level of eliminating gas flaring” in the country.
The office said that the current rate of elimination stood at 67 percent, with the aim of raising that rate to 80 percent by the end of 2025.
It added that the country aims to fully eliminate gas flaring by the end of 2027, compared to the previous administration’s target of 2030.
In 2017, Iraq joined a World Bank-led initiative aiming to end gas flaring globally by 2030.
Gas flaring is cheaper than capturing the associated gas, processing and marketing it.
In an April report, Greenpeace Middle East and North Africa said gas flaring “produces a number of cancer-linked pollutants including benzene.”
Iraq is considered by the United Nations to be one of the five countries most vulnerable to some impacts of climate change.
In recent years, it has suffered increasingly from droughts and further desertification, with the country gripped by dust storms much of the year.
 

 


Defense minister acknowledges Israel killed Hamas leader in Iran

Updated 24 December 2024
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Defense minister acknowledges Israel killed Hamas leader in Iran

  • The comments by Israel Katz appeared to mark the first time that Israel has admitted killing Ismail Haniyeh
  • Katz said the Houthis leadership would meet a similar fate to that of Haniyeh

JERUSALEM: Israel’s defense minister has confirmed that Israel assassinated Hamas’ top leader last summer and is threatening to take similar action against the leadership of the Houthi group in Yemen.
The comments by Israel Katz appeared to mark the first time that Israel has admitted killing Ismail Haniyeh, who died in an explosion in Iran in July.
Israel was widely believed to be behind the blast, and leaders have previously hinted at its involvement.
In a speech Monday, Katz said the Houthis would meet a similar fate as the other members of an Iranian-led alliance in the region, including Haniyeh.

He also noted that Israel has killed other leaders of Hamas and Hezbollah, helped topple Syria’s Bashar Assad, and destroyed Iran’s anti-aircraft systems.
“We will strike (the Houthis’) strategic infrastructure and cut off the head of the leadership,” he said.
“Just like we did to Haniyeh, Sinwar, and Nasrallah in Tehran, Gaza, and Lebanon, we will do in Hodeida and Sanaa,” he said, referring to Hamas and Hezbollah leaders killed in previous Israeli attacks.
The Iranian-backed Houthis have launched scores of missiles and drones at Israel throughout the war, including a missile that landed in Tel Aviv on Saturday and wounded at least 16 people.
Israel has carried out three sets of airstrikes in Yemen during the war and vowed to step up the pressure on the militant group until the missile attacks stop.


New conflict in northeast Syria could bring ‘dramatic consequences’, UN envoy says

Geir Pedersen, UN Special envoy to Syria, talks to media before departing Damascus, Syria December 18, 2024. (REUTERS)
Updated 24 December 2024
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New conflict in northeast Syria could bring ‘dramatic consequences’, UN envoy says

  • Turkiye regards the YPG as an extension of the Kurdistan Workers Party (PKK) militants who have fought an insurgency against the Turkish state and are deemed terrorists by Ankara, Washington and the European Union

BEIRUT: Tensions in northeast Syria between Kurdish-led authorities and Turkish-backed groups should be resolved politically or risk “dramatic consequences” for all of Syria, the United Nations envoy for the country Geir Pedersen told Reuters on Monday. Hostilities have escalated between Syrian rebels backed by Ankara and the US-backed Syrian Democratic Forces in the northeast since Bashar Assad was toppled on Dec. 8.
Syrian armed groups seized the city of Manbij from the SDF on Dec. 9 and could be preparing to attack the key city of Kobani, or Ayn Al-Arab, on the northern border with Turkiye.
“If the situation in the northeast is not handled correctly, it could be a very bad omen for the whole of Syria,” Pedersen said by phone, adding that “if we fail here, it would have dramatic consequences when it comes to new displacement.” The SDF — which is spearheaded by the Kurdish YPG — has proposed to withdraw its forces from the area in exchange for a complete truce. But Turkiye’s Foreign Minister Hakan Fidan, speaking alongside Syria’s de facto new leader Ahmed Al-Sharaa on Sunday in Damascus, said the YPG should disband totally.
Turkiye regards the YPG as an extension of the Kurdistan Workers Party (PKK) militants who have fought an insurgency against the Turkish state and are deemed terrorists by Ankara, Washington and the European Union.
Pedersen said a political solution “would require serious, serious compromises” and should be part of the “transitional phase” led by Syria’s new authorities in Damascus. Fidan said he had discussed the YPG presence with the new Syrian administration and believed Damascus would take steps to ensure Syria’s territorial integrity and sovereignty. Turkish President Tayyip Erdogan said on Monday the country will remain in close dialogue with Sharaa. Kurdish groups have had autonomy across much of the northeast since Syria’s war began in 2011, but now fear it could be wiped out by the country’s new Islamist rule. Thousands of women rallied on Monday in a northeast city to condemn Turkiye and demand their rights be respected.
Pedersen said Sharaa had told him in meetings in Damascus last week that they were committed to “transitional arrangements that will be inclusive of all.”
But he said resolving tensions in the northeast would be a test for a new Syria after more than a half-century of Assad family rule.
“The whole question of creating a new, free Syria would be off to a very, extremely ... to put it diplomatically, difficult start,” he said.

 


Rights groups say evidence of Assad abuses must be protected

Updated 23 December 2024
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Rights groups say evidence of Assad abuses must be protected

  • The Saydnaya complex, the site of extrajudicial executions, torture and forced disappearances, epitomised the atrocities committed against Assad’s opponents

BEIRUT, Lebanon: Three rights group on Monday appealed to Syria’s new rulers to urgently preserve evidence of atrocities committed under former president Bashar Assad.
Such evidence — including government and intelligence documents as well as mass graves — will be essential for establishing the fate of tens of thousands of people forcibly disappeared, and for prosecuting those responsible for crimes under international law, the groups said.
“The transitional Syrian authorities should urgently take steps to secure and preserve evidence of atrocities committed under the government of former president Bashar Assad,” said Amnesty International, Human Rights Watch and the Association of Detainees and Missing Persons in Sednaya Prison (ADMSP).
The Saydnaya complex, the site of extrajudicial executions, torture and forced disappearances, epitomised the atrocities committed against Assad’s opponents.
“Every additional minute of inaction heightens the risk that a family may never discover the fate of their missing loved one, and an official responsible for horrific crimes may never be brought to justice,” Shadi Haroun, ADMSP program manager, said in a statement issued by Amnesty.
The statement said investigators from the three organizations visited detention facilities, mass graves and the military court after Islamist-led rebels toppled Assad on December 8.
“In all of the detention facilities visited, researchers observed that official documents were often left unprotected, with significant portions looted or destroyed,” the groups said.
They said they gathered testimony that security and intelligence personnel burned some material before they fled, but in other cases the armed groups who took control of the facilities, or newly-freed prisoners, also burned and looted material.
The researchers said they themselves saw ordinary people and some journalists “take some documents.”
“These documents may contain vital information,” the watchdogs said, calling on the new authorities to coordinate with fact-finding bodies created by the United Nations, “after urgently securing these locations and ensuring that the remaining evidence is not tampered with.”
The rights groups said they also underscored to Syria’s new authorities “the importance of securing the sites of the mass graves across the country,” having seen “local residents and families of the disappeared try to dig up some of the remains.”
They said officials from Syria’s new administration had promised the visiting researchers that they would “strengthen security around key facilities.”
On Sunday Robert Petit, the visiting head of a UN investigative body for Syria, said it was possible to find “more than enough” evidence to convict people of crimes under international law, but there was an immediate need to secure and preserve it.
 

 


Women rally for equal rights in Syria after Assad’s fall to Islamists

Updated 23 December 2024
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Women rally for equal rights in Syria after Assad’s fall to Islamists

  • Hostilities between the SDF and a Turkiye-backed Syrian force known as the Syrian National Army have escalated since Assad was ousted, with the SDF driven out of the northern city of Manbij

QAMISHLI, Syria: Thousands of women rallied in the northeastern Syrian city of Qamishli on Monday to demand the new Islamist rulers in Damascus respect women’s rights and to condemn Turkish-backed military campaigns in Kurdish-led regions of the north.
Many of the protesters waved the green flag of the Women’s Protection Units (YPJ), an affiliate of the Kurdish People’s Protection Units militia (YPG) that Turkiye deems a national security threat and wants disbanded immediately.
“We are demanding women’s rights from the new state ... and women must not be excluded from rights in this system,” said Sawsan Hussein, a women’s rights activist.
“We are (also) condemning the attacks of the Turkish occupation against the city of Kobani.”
Kurdish groups have enjoyed autonomy across much of the north since Syria’s civil war began in 2011. The Kurdish YPG militia, which leads the US-backed Syrian Democratic Forces (SDF) armed group, is a major force in the area.
But Syria’s power balance has shifted away from these groups since the Islamist Hayat Tahrir Al-Sham group (HTS) swept into Damascus and toppled Bashar Assad two weeks ago, establishing a new administration friendly to Ankara.
Syria’s dominant Kurdish groups embrace an ideology emphasising socialism and feminism — in contrast to the conservative Sunni Islamist views of HTS, a former Al-Qaeda affiliate.
Turkiye views the YPG as an extension of the Kurdistan Workers’ Party (PKK), which has been waging an insurgency against the Turkish state since 1984 and is deemed a terrorist group by Turkiye, the United States and the European Union.
Hostilities between the SDF and a Turkiye-backed Syrian force known as the Syrian National Army have escalated since Assad was ousted, with the SDF driven out of the northern city of Manbij.
Syrian Kurdish leaders have warned that Turkish forces are mobilizing for an offensive on the SDF-controlled city of Kobani at the Turkish border, also known as Ayn Al-Arab.
There is widespread apprehension among Syrians that the new Damascus administration will gravitate toward hard-line Islamist rule, marginalizing minorities and women from public life.
Obaida Arnout, a spokesperson for the Syrian transitional government, said last week that women’s “biological and physiological nature” rendered them unfit for certain governmental jobs.
Hemrin Ali, an official in the Kurdish-led administration of northeastern Syria, told Reuters at Monday’s rally: “Yes to supporting the YPJ. Yes to preserving the rights and gains of the women’s revolution in northern and eastern Syria.”