US warns that Daesh extremists still a world threat

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US and Italy urge representatives of the 77 other countries and five organizations that make up the Global Coalition not to drop their guard against Daesh. (SPA)
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Updated 29 June 2021
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US warns that Daesh extremists still a world threat

  • Blinken and Di Maio urged representatives of the 77 other countries and five organizations that make up the coalition not to drop their guard
  • ‘We must not lose sight of the fact that the threat of this organization still exists,’ Saudi FM says

WASHINGTON DC/LONDON: As the US works on its military withdrawal from Afghanistan, members of the global coalition fighting Daesh met Monday to chart future steps against the extremist group.
The meeting came just a day after the US launched airstrikes against Iran-backed militias near the Iraq-Syria border.
US Secretary of State Antony Blinken and Italian Foreign Minister Luigi Di Maio co-chaired the gathering of senior officials from the seven-year-old, 83-member bloc. Participants were taking stock of current efforts to ensure the complete defeat of Daesh, whose remnants still pose a threat in Iraq and Syria and have shown signs of surging in parts of Africa.
Amid significant other international priorities, including taming the coronavirus pandemic and stepping up the fight against climate change, the coalition is hoping to stabilize areas liberated from Daesh, repatriate and hold foreign fighters accountable for their actions and combat extremist messaging.
Blinken and Di Maio urged representatives of the 77 other countries and five organizations that make up the coalition not to drop their guard.
“We must step up the action taken by the coalition, increasing the areas in which we can operate,” said Di Maio.
Outside of Iraq and Syria, he said there was an “alarming” surge in Daesh activity, particularly in the Sahel, Mozambique and the Horn of Africa. He called for the coalition to create a special mechanism to deal with the threat in Africa.
Blinken noted that despite their defeat, Daesh elements in Iraq and Syria "still aspire to conduct large-scale attacks."
“Together, we must stay as committed to our stabilization goals as we did to our military campaign that resulted in victory on the battlefield,” he said.
Saudi Arabia’s Foreign Minister Prince Faisal bin Farhan said that his country appreciated the great role played by the coalition, which had a decisive role in eliminating Daesh’s expansion and spread in Iraq and Syria, and liberating nearly 8 million people from its control in those areas.
“Despite these achievements, we must not lose sight of the fact that the threat of this organization still exists, which requires everyone to continue efforts and coordination to contain its spread and eliminate it completely,” he said.


Prince Faisal, who headed the Kingdom’s delegation at the ministerial meeting on a joint invitation from the US and Italy, thanked Blinken and Di Maio for the invite and welcomed the new members of the global coalition and said he was looking forward to working together to continue joint efforts to combat Daesh.
“Saudi Arabia continues to maintain its firm position toward supporting the efforts of the global coalition against Daesh, and this position stems from the Kingdom’s keenness on Iraq’s stability and the extension of its influence and sovereignty over its entire territory,” he added.
He also praised Iraq’s efforts and its continuous coordination with the global coalition to eliminate the terrorist organization.
He said the Kingdom was keen to support the coalition through its five military tracks, including supporting stability, eliminating the phenomenon of foreign terrorist fighters, preventing the financing and flow of funds to the terrorist organization, and combating Daesh’s ideology.

The Saudi foreign minister also said the Kingdom recognized the need to unify efforts, exchange information and effectively coordinate to eliminate the spread of Daesh in the African continent, and specifically the Sahel regions, “given the threats this organization and other terrorist organizations pose to international peace and security.”
Prince Faisal said: “We stress the importance of cooperation and the development of an action mechanism with partners in the African continent and international partners, with full respect for the rules of international law, to combat Daesh and prevent its spread in those areas.”
He also welcomed the presence of a number of delegations of African countries as observers at the meeting.


Blinken announced a new US contribution of $436 million to assist displaced people in Syria and surrounding countries and called for a new effort to repatriate — and rehabilitate or prosecute — some 10,000 IS fighters who remain imprisoned by the Syrian Defense Forces.
“This situation is simply untenable,” Blinken said. “It just can’t persist indefinitely.”
He also announced sanctions against Ousmane Illiassou Djibo, a native of Niger, who is a key leader of a Daesh affiliate in the greater Sahara. Djibo was designated a global terrorist, meaning that any of his US are frozen and Americans are barred from any transactions with him.
In addition to the meeting on Daesh, foreign ministers of countries concerned about the broader conflict in Syria met in Rome ahead of a critical UN vote on whether to maintain a humanitarian aid corridor from Turkey. Russia has resisted reauthorizing the channel amid stalled peace talks between the Syrian government and rebel groups.
The Saudi foreign minister said the Syria meeting comes as a step that shows the continued interest in one of the worst international crises, and added the Kingdom was looking forward to putting an end to the suffering of the Syrian people that has continued for more than ten years.
He reiterated the Kingdom’s affirmation that a political solution is the only solution to the Syrian crisis, in accordance with Resolution No. 2254 and other related international resolutions.


He called for international consensus to stop the human suffering of the Syrian people, to find a solution to the border crossings crisis, and to ensure the flow of international aid to those who need it.
He said it was important not to politicize the humanitarian issue in Syria, not to neglect the humanitarian needs of the Syrian people, and that neglecting this provided a suitable environment for the growth and spread of terrorist organizations and extremist ideology.
“The absence of an effective international will to solve the Syrian crisis contributed to the opportunity for some parties to implement expansionist, sectarian and demographic projects aimed at changing Syria’s identity, and portends the prolonged Syrian crisis and its regional and international effects,” Prince Faisal said.
He called for uniting efforts to resume the negotiating process, support the efforts of the UN and its special envoy to Syria Geir Pedersen, and provide all aspects of support required for his mission to succeed.
Last week, the UN special envoy for Syria, Geir Pederson, said there were worrying signs that Daesh may be getting stronger in the country and called for a boost in cooperation to counter it. Pederson has also joined calls for new international talks on ending Syria's civil war.
Since the Syrian conflict erupted in March 2011, numerous high-level gatherings aimed at ending the fighting and guiding the country to a political transition have failed. The UN, US, Russia and many other countries support a 2015 Security Council resolution endorsing a road map to peace in Syria that calls for a new constitution followed by UN-supervised elections.
Blinken also hailed the state of US-European relations, noting that Italy, France and Germany — the three countries he visited on his current European tour — are the only members of NATO, the Group of Seven and the European Union.
“We share a deep commitment to promoting democracy and human rights,” he said. “We see the same big challenges on the horizon. And we recognize that we can’t tackle them alone.”
Blinken and Di Maio downplayed differences between the US and Italy over China, saying there was an increasing awareness of the complexities and dangers of dealing with Beijing.

(With AP)


Recovering pope expected to delight crowds at Easter Sunday mass

Updated 5 sec ago
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Recovering pope expected to delight crowds at Easter Sunday mass

  • Catholic faithful gathered Easter Sunday in St. Peter’s Square on the holiest day of the Christian calendar, hoping Pope Francis would make an appearance despite his frail health that has kept him from

VATICAN CITY: Catholic faithful gathered Easter Sunday in St. Peter’s Square on the holiest day of the Christian calendar, hoping Pope Francis would make an appearance despite his frail health that has kept him from most Holy Week events.
The 88-year-old pontiff traditionally delivers his “Urbi et Orbi” benediction from a balcony overlooking the square following mass to mark the holiday.
But given his delicate health following treatment for pneumonia, it is still unknown whether the leader of the world’s 1.4 billion Catholics will be present, and in what capacity.
The Holy See’s press service has said the pope hopes to attend but has not confirmed his participation, insisting it depends on his health.
That did not stop crowds of faithful from gathering Sunday under hazy skies in the sprawling plaza decorated with brightly-colored tulips in front of St. Peter’s Basilica, hoping to catch a glimpse of the Jesuit pope.
Marie Manda, 59, from Cameroon, was one of those thinking positive.
“Of course we hope to see the pope but if he’s not here and he’s still suffering we’ll see his representative,” she told AFP.
“But we want to see the pope, even sick we want to see him!“
Indian tourist Rajesh Kumar, 40, however, said he had no idea it was Easter when he booked his holiday with his wife.
“After coming here we realized there is a festival going on, the pope is going to give a speech, so we just entered and we are ready for it,” he said.
Francis was released from hospital on March 23, after five weeks of treatment for pneumonia, from which he nearly died.
His voice remains weak, despite improvements in his breathing. In the last week, Francis has appeared in public twice without the nasal cannula through which he has been receiving oxygen.
He could delegate the reading of his Easter text — usually a reflection on conflicts and crises around the world — to someone else.
For the first time since becoming pope in 2013, Francis has missed the majority of Holy Week events, such as Friday’s Stations of the Cross at the Colosseum and Saturday’s Easter vigil at Saint Peter’s Basilica, where he delegated his duties to cardinals.
He did, however, make a brief appearance inside the basilica Saturday, where he prayed and gave candies to some children among the visitors.
Some 300 cardinals, bishops and priests will be present at Sunday’s Easter mass.
Organizers expect even bigger crowds than usual due to the Jubilee, a “Holy Year” in the Catholic Church which comes around once every quarter of a century and attracts thousands of pilgrims to the Eternal City.


The weekend was also noteworthy for the presence of US Vice President JD Vance in Rome.
He held talks on Saturday with the Vatican’s secretary of state, Cardinal Pietro Parolin, and Paul Richard Gallagher, the Holy See’s secretary for relations with states.
That came just two months after a spat between Francis and the administration of US President Donald Trump over its anti-migrant policies.
Neither the Vatican nor the vice president’s office have commented on any possible meeting between Francis and Vance, and it was unknown whether the vice president planned to attend Sunday mass.
Italian Cardinal Giovanni Battista Re, dean of the college of cardinals, presided over Saturday night’s solemn Easter vigil in place of Francis.
Francis performed one official engagement this Holy Week, visiting a jail in Rome, but he did not perform the traditional foot-washing ritual, which seeks to imitate Jesus Christ’s washing of his disciples’ feet.
Asked by a journalist after his visit what he felt about this Easter week in his current condition, the pope replied: “I am living it as best I can.”
This year’s Easter is unusual as it falls on the same weekend in both the Catholic and Protestant branches of Christianity, which follow the Gregorian calendar, and the Orthodox branch, which uses the Julian calendar.


German police launch manhunt after 2 people shot dead

Armed police stand guard at the compound of the court builing in Celle, northern Germany (AFP)
Updated 20 April 2025
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German police launch manhunt after 2 people shot dead

  • There was no information yet about the "circumstances, or the motive of the perpetrators", they said.

BERLIN: A large police operation was under way in Germany on Sunday to find one or more shooters who killed two men the day before in the center of the country, police said.
The bodies of the two victims, both with gunshot wounds, were found in front of a residential address in Bad Nauheim, a town north of Frankfurt, on Saturday afternoon, Giessen city police said.
“A big force deployment” of police from uniformed, plain clothes and special forces branches have fanned out, backed by a helicopter, to find the perpetrator or perpetrators, it said.
“The current understanding is that there is no danger for inhabitants or other people,” police said.
There was no information yet about the “circumstances, or the motive of the perpetrators,” they said.
Police and prosecutors have opened an investigation.
Bad Nauheim is 25 kilometers (15 miles) north of Frankfurt and has a population of around 33,000. It was famous for being where Elvis Presley did US military service between 1958 and 1960 and where he met his future wife, Priscilla Presley.


South Korea, US, to hold trade talks this week, Seoul says

Updated 20 April 2025
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South Korea, US, to hold trade talks this week, Seoul says

  • South Korea hopes to lower the 25% "reciprocal" tariff that President Donald Trump has announced for the country.

SEOUL: South Korea and the United States will hold trade consultations this week in Washington at the suggestion of the United States, Seoul’s trade ministry said on Sunday.
Finance Minister Choi Sang-mok and Trade Minister Ahn Duk-geun will meet with Trade Representative Jamieson Greer and Treasury Secretary Scott Bessent on the sidelines of the spring meetings of the International Monetary Fund and World Bank, the ministry said in a statement.
South Korea hopes to lower the 25 percent “reciprocal” tariff that President Donald Trump has announced for the country, which he has since paused along with high tariffs slapped on a string of countries.
Ahn will leave on Wednesday, the statement said. It did not specify the agenda or give other details.


China’s US envoy urges end to trade war, but warns Beijing ready to fight

China's ambassador to the United States Xie Feng. (AFP)
Updated 20 April 2025
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China’s US envoy urges end to trade war, but warns Beijing ready to fight

  • The trade war has all but frozen the mammoth trade between the world's two largest economies
  • Trump said on Friday the U.S. is having good conversations privately with China amid the two countries' trade war.

DUBAI: China’s ambassador to the United States, Xie Feng, has urged Washington to seek common ground with Beijing and pursue peaceful coexistence while warning that China stood ready to retaliate in the escalating trade war.
Speaking at a public event in Washington on Saturday, details of which were posted on the Chinese embassy’s web site, Xie said tariffs would devastate the global economy and drew a parallel between the Great Depression and tariffs imposed by the US in 1930.
Referring to concepts in traditional Chinese medicine like the need to balance the opposing forces of yin and yang, Xie said harmony should guide relations between the world’s two largest economies.
“A good traditional Chinese medicine recipe usually combines many different ingredients which reinforce one another and creates the best medical effect,” he said.
“Likewise, the earth is big enough to accommodate both China and the US,” he said. “We should pursue peaceful coexistence rather than collide head-on, and help each other succeed rather than get caught in a lose-lose scenario.”
The trade war has all but frozen the mammoth trade between the world’s two largest economies with tariffs over 100 percent in each direction and a suite of trade, investment and cultural restrictions.
China’s top shipbuilding association on Saturday attacked a US plan to apply port fees on China-linked ships.
While Japan, Taiwan and others are already in talks or preparing to negotiate with Washington over President Donald Trump’s “Liberation Day” tariffs, there is currently no high-level dialogue planned with China.
Trump said on Friday the US is having good conversations privately with China amid the two countries’ trade war.
“By the way, we have nice conversations going with China,” he told reporters at the White House. “It’s, like, really very good.” He did not offer additional details.
China has said the US should show respect before any talks can take place.
Xie said China opposed the trade war and would retaliate to any country imposing tariffs on it.


Putin attends Orthodox Easter service after declaring ceasefire in Ukraine

Updated 20 April 2025
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Putin attends Orthodox Easter service after declaring ceasefire in Ukraine

  • The traditionally sung service starts late on a Saturday and lasts into the early hours of Sunday
  • Zelensky says Russian army ‘trying to create impression’ of Easter ceasefire

President Vladimir Putin and Moscow Mayor Sergei Sobyanin joined other worshippers for an Easter service led by the head of Russia’s Orthodox Church, Patriarch Kirill, a faithful backer of the Russian leader and an advocate for the war in Ukraine.
Hours after declaring a unilateral Easter ceasefire that Kyiv said was just words as fighting continued, Putin and Sobyanin stood in Moscow’s main church, the Cathedral of Christ the Savior, while Kirill led a procession, video of the service showed.
Holding a lit thin red candle and donning a dark suit, white shirt and a red tie as in years past, the Russian leader crossed himself several times when Kirill announced “Christ is risen.”
The traditionally sung service starts late on a Saturday and lasts into the early hours of Sunday.
For Putin, the Orthodox faith is central to his world view and he always attends services during major church holidays. For Orthodox Russians, Easter is the most important religious holiday.
At the service, Krill called for “lasting and just peace can be established in the vast expanses of historical Rus,” RIA state news agency reported, in what was a reference to a medieval territory that encompassed parts of what is now Ukraine, Belarus and Russia. “How wonderfully it was said, do not do evil to another and do not treat others as you would not want them to treat you,” TASS agency cited Kirill as saying.
“If people adhered to this holiday commandment, then life would be completely different: family and social life and — let me say this — inter-governmental.”
Kirill has strongly backed the war in Ukraine, now in its fourth year. Thousands have been killed, the vast majority of them Ukrainians, and millions driven from their homes since Putin ordered the invasion of Ukraine in February 2022.

Zelensky says Russian army ‘trying to create impression’ of Easter ceasefire

President Volodymyr Zelensky said on Sunday that the Russian army is making a pretense of an Easter ceasefire declared by President Vladimir Putin, continuing overnight attempts to inflict front-line losses on Ukraine.
“In general, as of Easter morning, we can say that the Russian army is trying to create a general impression of a ceasefire, but in some places it does not abandon individual attempts to advance and inflict losses on Ukraine,” Zelensky said in a post on social media.

Early on Sunday, Ukrainian forces reported 59 instances of shelling and five assault attempts along the front line, he said.
“Russia must fully comply with the conditions of silence,” Zelensky said.
He reiterated that Kyiv was willing to extend the ceasefire for 30 days but said that if Russia kept fighting on Sunday, so would Ukraine.
“Ukraine will continue to act in a mirror manner,” he said.