NIAMEY: Niger’s new military rulers on Wednesday accused France, the country’s traditional ally, of having released captured militants and breaching a ban on air space on the eve of a key summit on the Sahel’s latest crisis.
Leaders of the West African bloc ECOWAS are to meet in the Nigerian capital Abuja to mull their options, with diplomacy apparently edging out military intervention at present after a showdown last weekend.
Two weeks after a coup that toppled Niger’s elected president, the regime accused France of having “unilaterally freed captured terrorists” — a term for extremists conducting a bloody eight-year-old insurgency.
The extremists then gathered to plan an attack on “military positions in the tri-border area,” a hotspot region where the frontiers of Niger, Burkina Faso and Mali converge, according to the statement issued by the coup leaders, called the National Council for the Safeguard of the Homeland (CNSP).
“Events of an extreme gravity are unfolding in Niger as a result of the behavior of the French forces and their accomplices,” it declared.
It urged the security forces to “raise their alert level across the country” and on the public “to remain mobilized and vigilant.”
The regime also accused France of having flown a “military plane” from neighboring Chad into Niger air space on Wednesday, defying a ban imposed on Sunday.
The two allegations were rejected by a French government official.
“No terrorist has been freed by French forces,” the source said, adding that the flight had been “authorized by and coordinated with” Niger’s armed forces.
Thursday’s summit of the Economic Community of West African States (ECOWAS) takes place under the chairmanship of Nigeria, the regional superpower and advocate of a hard line against the coup.
Struggling to stem a cascade of putsches among its members, the bloc gave Niger’s military rulers until last Sunday to reinstate President Mohamed Bazoum or face potential use of force.
But the coup leaders remained defiant, and the ultimatum passed without action.
On Tuesday, a bid to send a joint team of ECOWAS, UN and African Union (AU) representatives to the capital Niamey ran into the ground.
The coup leaders said they could not guarantee the mission’s “safety” in the light of what they said was public anger to sanctions imposed by ECOWAS.
Despite the failure, ECOWAS and Nigeria said they would pursue all options to resolve the crisis, and the United States emphasised a “peaceful” outcome even though it too had been rebuffed.
ECOWAS said it would “continue to deploy all measures in order to restore constitutional order” in Niger.
Nigerian President Bola Tinubu said through his spokesman that “no options have been taken off of the table” but diplomacy was the “best way forward.”
The United States sent veteran envoy Victoria Nuland to Niamey on Monday, but she came away empty-handed, being unable to meet Bazoum or even the new strongman, General Abdourahamane Tiani.
Despite this, US Secretary of State Antony Blinken said Wednesday he had spoken to Bazoum “to express our continued efforts to find a peaceful resolution” to the “current constitutional crisis.”
France, which had adopted a combative tone as the ECOWAS ultimatum loomed, also signalled a softer line.
A French diplomat said it was “up to ECOWAS to take a decision, of whatever kind, on restoring constitutional order in Niger.”
Bazoum, 63, was detained on July 26 by members of his presidential guard.
It is the fifth coup in Niger’s history since independence from France in 1960 — and the fourth in the ranks of the 15-nation ECOWAS since 2020.
Bazoum’s election in 2021 had helped Niger to cement close ties with France and the United States, which have major bases and troop deployments in the country.
Countries in the fragile Sahel are battling with an extremist insurgency that erupted in northern Mali in 2012, spread to Niger and Burkina Faso in 2015 and now is causing jitters in states on the Gulf of Guinea.
The bloody campaign has been devastating for those three countries, which have a long history of turbulence and are among the poorest nations in the world.
Since their coups, Mali and Burkina Faso have fallen out with France, the region’s former colonial power and its traditional ally.
France last year withdrew its forces from those countries and refocussed its anti-extremist strategy on Niger.
Mali and Burkina Faso have voiced solidarity with their counterparts in Niger, saying that any ECOWAS military intervention would be considered a “declaration of war” against them.
Niger coup leaders take aim at France on eve of key summit
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Niger coup leaders take aim at France on eve of key summit
- The regime also accused France of having flown a “military plane” from neighboring Chad into Niger air space on Wednesday, defying a ban imposed on Sunday.
US denounces UK, allies’ sanctions on Israeli far-right ministers
- Five Western countries imposed sanctions on Finance Minister Bezalel Smotrich and National Security Minister Itamar Ben Gvir for 'repeated incitements of violence' against Palestinians
WASHINGTON: The United States on Tuesday denounced sanctions by Britain and four mutual allies against Israeli far-right ministers, saying they should focus instead on the Palestinian armed group Hamas.
“We find that extremely unhelpful. It will do nothing to get us closer to a ceasefire in Gaza,” State Department spokeswoman Tammy Bruce told reporters.
Britain, Canada, Norway, New Zealand and Australia “should focus on the real culprit, which is Hamas,” she said of the sanctions.
“We remain concerned about any step that would further isolate Israel from the international community,” she said.
The five Western countries imposed sanctions on Finance Minister Bezalel Smotrich and National Security Minister Itamar Ben Gvir for “repeated incitements of violence” against Palestinians.
The two ministers faced repeated criticism but no formal sanctions under former US president Joe Biden. Since taking office, President Donald Trump has vowed unstinting support for Israel.
“If our allies want to help, they should focus on supporting Special Envoy (Steve) Witkoff’s negotiations and backing the Gaza Humanitarian Foundation when it comes to food and aid,” she said.
The Gaza Humanitarian Foundation has distributed aid in coordination with the Israeli military, an effort criticized by the United Nations and longstanding aid groups, which say it violates humanitarian principles.
Philippines Senate returns Sara Duterte impeachment case to lower house
- After a series of debates among members, the senators voted in favor of returning it to the lower house to certify that the complaint was constitutional
MANILA: Philippine senators on Tuesday voted to send an impeachment case against Vice President Sara Duterte back to the lower house for clarification, just hours after convening a trial that could see her banned from politics for life.
After a series of debates among members that included a motion presented by a Duterte ally to dismiss the case, the senators voted in favor of returning it to the lower house to certify that the complaint was constitutional.
The lower house in February voted to impeach the vice president for alleged high crimes and betrayal of the public trust, allegations she has vehemently denied. A majority of the senators on Tuesday approved a motion to return the case to confirm the complaint did not violate the constitution and the next session of Congress was “willing and ready” to pursue the impeachment complaint following midterm elections in May.
The decision could be a stay of execution for Duterte, a likely contender to be the next president, in a trial that could be a pivotal moment in Philippine politics.
The outcome of the trial could not only make or break Duterte, but also carries big implications for President Ferdinand Marcos Jr. and his agenda for the remaining three years of his presidency and beyond. The impeachment accusations against Duterte range from budget anomalies to amassing unusual wealth and threatening the lives of Marcos, his wife, and the house speaker. She rejects the allegations and on Tuesday, her office said the impeachment process had been weaponized.
The trial of the popular daughter of firebrand former President Rodrigo Duterte follows an acrimonious falling-out with former ally Marcos, who ran on a joint ticket that won the 2022 election in a landslide.
Marcos is limited to a single term in office and is expected to try to retain future influence by grooming a successor capable of fending off Duterte in the next election if she is acquitted. The president has distanced himself from the impeachment process, even though it was launched by his legislative allies.
Sara Duterte is the fifth top official in the Philippines to be impeached, only one of whom, Renato Corona, a former chief justice of the Supreme Court, was convicted.
US imposes sanctions on a Palestinian NGO and other charities, accusing them of ties to militant groups
- Those sanctioned include Addameer, a nongovernmental organization that was founded in 1991 and is based in the city of Ramallah in the Israeli-occupied West Bank
WASHINGTON: The US Treasury Department on Tuesday imposed sanctions on a major Palestinian legal group for prisoners and detainees along with five other charitable entities across the Middle East, Africa and Europe, accusing them of supporting Palestinian armed factions and militant groups, including Hamas’ military wing, under the pretense of humanitarian aid in Gaza.
Those sanctioned include Addameer, a nongovernmental organization that was founded in 1991 and is based in the city of Ramallah in the Israeli-occupied West Bank.
The Palestinian group provides free legal services to Palestinian political prisoners and detainees in Israeli custody and monitors the conditions of their confinement.
The federal government claims that Addameer “has long supported and is affiliated” with the Popular Front for the Liberation of Palestine, a secular, left-wing movement with a political party and an armed wing that has carried out deadly attacks against Israelis. Israel and the United States have labeled the PFLP a terrorist organization.
Addameer did not immediately have a comment on the sanctions.
Israel has alleged that Addameer funds terrorism, a claim that the United Nations previously said it could not support with compelling evidence. In a 2022 report on human rights practices, the US State Department noted Israel’s arrest of Salah Hammouri, a French-Palestinian human rights lawyer and an Addameer employee, in a section on “retribution against human rights defenders.”
The organization also works with Amnesty International, Human Rights Watch and is a member of the World Organization Against Torture.
Israel’s 2022 storming of Addameer’s offices, prompted a rebuke from the UN, who said in a statement that Israel had not provided convincing evidence to support the claim. The UN said Addameer was conducting “critical human rights, humanitarian and development work in the Occupied Palestinian Territory.”
In February, Zachor Legal Institute, an Israeli-American advocacy group that says it focuses on combatting antisemitism and terrorism, requested Addameer be added to Treasury’s sanctions list. The letter, which was written by Zachor, signed by 44 other groups and is addressed to Treasury Secretary Scott Bessent, relies in part on undisclosed evidence from the Israeli Security Agency in its call for sanctions on Addameer.
Marc Greendorfer, president of Zachor Legal Institute said in an email to the Associated Press that his group is “very pleased to see Treasury following up on our request.” He said the federal government should act “to prevent hostile foreign actors from spreading hate and violence in the United States. We applaud Treasury’s action and encourage Treasury to expand its focus to the other groups that we identified.”
Goodbye Lenin? Russians flock to see Bolshevik leader’s tomb before it closes for repairs
- Famous mausoleum set to close for two years
- Large lines of Russians form to see Lenin’s body
MOSCOW: Russians are flocking to catch what some fear could be a final glimpse of the embalmed body of Bolshevik leader Vladimir Lenin before his tomb on Moscow’s Red Square, long a place of pilgrimage for communists, closes for repairs until 2027.
The mausoleum, which houses a waxy-looking Lenin replete in a three-piece suit inside what is purportedly a bullet-proof, blast-proof glass case, is due to be structurally overhauled after an inspection uncovered problems.
Once a popular attraction for Western tourists and still a favorite for Russians visiting the capital from the regions, the red and black granite structure is expected to close in the coming weeks, with repair work set to last until June 2027.
Officials say that the body of Lenin, who died in 1924 after helping to establish the world’s first socialist state, is not going anywhere and that the central hall where he lies in state will not be touched.
But news of the temporary closure has seen long lines form to get into the mausoleum, with some visitors fearing it could be their last chance to see Lenin.
“From a historical point of view, I want to witness his being in a mausoleum because I think Lenin will be buried at some point, maybe in the future or near future,” said Tatyana Tolstik, a historian from Ulyanovsk, the city on the Volga where Lenin was born.
A young woman called Snezhana, who did not give her surname, said she wanted to “dive into the past” because she was also unsure how long it would be possible to visit the mausoleum.
The Communist Party, which ruled the country from the 1917 Bolshevik Revolution until the collapse of the Soviet Union in 1991, is fiercely opposed to the removal of Lenin’s body, and Gennady Zyuganov, the party’s veteran leader, has said President Vladimir Putin has assured him it will not happen on his watch.
The Kremlin has repeatedly denied plans to permanently close the mausoleum.
Singapore-flagged ship carrying toxic oil explodes off Indian coast
- 18 members of the vessel’s crew rescued, while 4 remain missing
- Alert for Kerala coast as containers drift between Kozhikode and Kochi
NEW DELHI: India’s Coast Guard and Navy were struggling on Tuesday to extinguish a fire on a Singapore-flagged cargo ship that exploded in the Arabian Sea, triggering an alarm over its load of 100 tonnes of bunker oil.
The MV Wan Hai 503, en route to Mumbai from Sri Lanka, reported an internal container explosion on Monday, which triggered a major fire on board as the vessel approached the coast of the southern state of Kerala.
The Indian Coast Guard said the situation was “critical” as its ships engaged in an overnight operation to douse the flames and rescue 22 members of the vessel’s crew.
Four crew remain missing. Two of them are from Thailand, one from Indonesia and one from Myanmar, according to Singapore’s Maritime and Port Authority, which sent a team to assist the Indian rescuers.
Containers falling from the ship were reported drifting between Kerala’s Kozhikode and Kochi, triggering an alert by the Indian National Centre for Ocean Information Services over a potential spill of what it identified as 100 tonnes of bunker oil.
Bunker oil is a thick, heavy and viscous fuel used to power large ships, especially cargo vessels and tankers. It is one of the dirtiest and most polluting fuels.
It contains sulfur, heavy metals and carcinogens. If spilled, it is difficult to clean up and may persist for months or years in the marine environment, suffocating coral reefs and killing fish and seabirds.
“Caution is advised about a few containers beaching between Kozhikode and Kochi,” the INCOIS said in a notification, adding that there was an “estimated 70-80 percent probability” that the containers that went overboard from the MV Wan Hai 503 might drift south-southeastwards from the accident location for the next three days.
The incident took place just two weeks after a Liberian-flagged vessel carrying hazardous cargo sank off Kerala’s coast.
The vessel went down with cargo containing calcium carbide and more than 84 metric tonnes of diesel, and 367 metric tonnes of furnace oil.
Diesel and furnace oil are both classified as marine pollutants that are toxic to marine life and can contaminate coastal ecosystems.
