Red Cross pushes for aid corridors into war-torn Myanmar

“There’s a total absence in certain regions of medical services, I mean, a complete collapse,” Spoljaric told Reuters. (AFP)
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Updated 11 September 2024
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Red Cross pushes for aid corridors into war-torn Myanmar

  • ICRC chief met Myanmar’s ruling general this week
  • Access, restrictions limiting scope of aid operation

BANGKOK: Cmmittee of the Red Cross (ICRC) is in talks with Myanmar’s ruling junta, its armed opponents and its neighbors to provide cross-border humanitarian assistance into the war-torn country, its chief said on Wednesday.
Myanmar has been mired in conflict since February 2021 when top generals ousted the elected government of Nobel laureate Aung San Suu Kyi, triggering widespread protests that grew into an armed rebellion challenging the powerful military.
With wide swathes of the country in turmoil, about a third of Myanmar’s 55 million people require humanitarian assistance but the ICRC cannot operate in many areas because of access restrictions and security risks, said Mirjana Spoljaric.
“There’s a total absence in certain regions of medical services, I mean, a complete collapse,” Spoljaric told Reuters.
“There’s not even medicine coming in at the moment, and there’s very little food available.”
During a visit to Myanmar that ended this week, Mirjana said she told junta chief Min Aung Hlaing that the ICRC has the capacity to deliver more assistance.
“The problem is access,” she said. “It’s critical at the moment because we can’t even go and assess the humanitarian needs, and this is something that we need to remedy.”

CROSS-BORDER APPROACH
In an effort to push more aid into Myanmar, the ICRC is engaging multiple parties on the possibility of sending assistance through neighbors such as Bangladesh and Thailand.
“This was a constant topic of conversation,” Spoljaric said, “The cross-border issue is on the table.”
In March, Thailand delivered some aid into Myanmar, as part of an initiative backed by the Southeast Asian bloc ASEAN to open a humanitarian corridor.
“The lesson learned is you need to have everybody’s agreement in order to operate. But this could potentially provide entry points for some level of ceasefire, local ceasefire negotiations going forward,” Spoljaric said.
Another potential route to deliver aid into the country is through Bangladesh, which borders Myanmar’s Rakhine state, where the Arakan Army rebel group has taken control of significant territory and beaten back the military.
The fighting in Rakhine has led to a fresh exodus of the mainly Muslim minority Rohingya community into Bangladesh, which already has over a million Rohingya refugees in sprawling camps.
“What we seek is the direct dialogue with all the parties to a conflict with all weapon bearers and those who have control over them,” Spoljaric said.
“But at the same time as in every conflict we try to mobilize states that can have an influence.”
A former Swiss diplomat, Spoljaric did not detail the response of the Myanmar junta chief to the proposal, which she said is also being discussed with armed groups opposed to the military, neighboring countries and ASEAN.
“I am hoping that my meeting with the chairman will improve channels of communication and will at least show some openings on their side to increase operational space,” she said, referring to Min Aung Hlaing.


Mauritania ex-leader Aziz jailed on appeal for 15 years

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Mauritania ex-leader Aziz jailed on appeal for 15 years

Aziz had appealed his original five-year sentence after his conviction two years ago of using his power to amass a fortune
Aziz, 68, remained impassive when the decision was announced

NOUAKCHOTT: An appeals court sentenced Mauritania’s former president Mohamed Ould Abdel Aziz to 15 years in prison on Wednesday for abuse of office and illicit enrichment.

Aziz, who came to power in a 2008 coup, had appealed his original five-year sentence after his conviction two years ago of using his power to amass a fortune.

The former leader, who has been in custody since his original trial began in January 2023, appeared alongside several former top officials and advisers also facing charges of abuse of office, illicit enrichment, influence peddling and money laundering.

The court in the capital Nouakchott also upheld the confiscation of Aziz’s assets and the stripping of his civic rights.

Aziz, 68, remained impassive when the decision was announced, an AFP journalist saw.

Investigators estimate that Aziz, who led the northwest African country of 4.5 million people for more than a decade, accumulated assets and capital worth $70 million during his presidency.

He was found guilty and sentenced to five years in jail in December 2023.

Aziz was excluded from the 2019 presidential election, won by his former right-hand man, Mohamed Ould Cheikh El Ghazouani, who had been at his side for the coup and acted successively as his chief of staff then defense minister.

Aziz led the country linking the Maghreb and sub-Saharan Africa until 2019, returning to general stability a nation once prone to coups and jihadist activities.

He groomed Ghazouani as his successor and handed over to him after elections in 2019 in what was the first peaceful transition of power in a country that proclaimed independence from France in 1960 but then saw decades of political unrest.

At the time of his indictment investigators estimated that Aziz, the son of a merchant, had amassed wealth and capital of 67 million euros ($75 million) over his time in power.

Although not denying his wealth, Aziz has always strenuously contested the accusations against him, seeing a conspiracy to oust him from political life.

His successor has always denied any interference in the case. After remaining discreet about where he had obtained his wealth, Aziz surprised everyone toward the end of his trial by implicating his successor.

He claimed that, the day after the 2019 election, Ghazouani had handed him two suitcases filled with several million euros.

Neo-Nazis plotted terrorist attacks on UK mosques and synagogues

Updated 13 min 2 sec ago
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Neo-Nazis plotted terrorist attacks on UK mosques and synagogues

  • Court in Britain convicts three far-right extremists who stockpiled more than 200 weapons

LONDON: Three far-right extremists were convicted in a UK court on Wednesday of planning terrorist attacks against mosques and synagogues.

The men were part of an online neo-Nazi group that had stockpiled more than 200 weapons and were close to finishing a 3-D printed semi-automatic gun.

Brogan Stewart, 25, Marco Pitzettu, 25, and Christopher Ringrose, 34, were found guilty of multiple terrorism and firearms offenses, following a nine-week trial at Sheffield Crown Court. They will be sentenced in July.

The group were arrested in February last year after an investigation by counter terrorism police found that the men were intent on carrying out a violent attack.

“These extremists were plotting violent acts of terrorism against synagogues, mosques and Islamic education centers,” said Bethan David, head of the Crown Prosecution Service’s Counter Terrorism Division. “By their own admission, they were inspired by SS (Nazi) tactics and supremacist ideology.”

Counter terrorism police said that the men belonged to an online group that provided an echo chamber of extreme right-wing views. They shared horrific racial slurs, glorified mass murderers and encouraged violence.

The group, which idolized the Nazi Germany regime, prepared for what they claimed would be a “race war” by sourcing body armor and weapons including machetes, hunting knives, swords and crossbows.

“They were a group that espoused vile racist views and advocated for violence, all to support their extreme right-wing mindset,” said Detective Chief Superintendent James Dunkerley, head of Counter Terrorism Policing North East. “All three took real-world steps to plan and prepare for carrying out an attack on innocent citizens.”


Saudi crown prince hopes India-Pakistan ceasefire restores ‘calm’ between neighbors

Updated 10 min 26 sec ago
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Saudi crown prince hopes India-Pakistan ceasefire restores ‘calm’ between neighbors

  • India and Pakistan exchanged missiles, drone attacks and artillery fire last week before agreeing to ceasefire
  • Saudi Arabia was one of several countries that defused tensions between nuclear-armed India and Pakistan

ISLAMABAD: Saudi Crown Prince Mohammed bin Salman on Wednesday hoped the recent ceasefire agreement between India and Pakistan would contain escalation and “restore calm” between the two neighbors, the Saudi Press Agency (SPA) reported.

Pakistan has credited Saudi Arabia and several other nations for playing a constructive role in defusing its tensions with India last week after fighting erupted between the two. US President Donald Trump announced on Saturday that Washington had brokered a ceasefire between India and Pakistan, calming fears of an all-out war between the nuclear-armed states.

The Saudi crown prince welcomed the ceasefire during his opening address at the GCC-USA summit in Riyadh on Wednesday, which was held in Trump’s presence.

“We welcome the ceasefire agreement between Pakistan and India and hope that it will contain escalation and restore calm between the two countries,” the crown prince said as per the SPA.

The Saudi crown prince said the Kingdom aimed to work with Trump and GCC countries to de-escalate tensions in the region, end the war in Gaza and seek a “lasting and comprehensive solution” to the Palestinian cause.

“Our objective is to ensure security and peace for the peoples of the region,” he said. “We reiterate our support for all endeavors aimed at resolving crises and halting conflicts through peaceful means.”

The fragile ceasefire has temporarily halted hostilities with India and Pakistan trading blame for the conflict.


Judge says Georgetown student can be released from immigration detention as case proceeds

Updated 53 min 45 sec ago
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Judge says Georgetown student can be released from immigration detention as case proceeds

  • Khan Suri was arrested by masked, plain-clothed officers on the evening of March 17

VIRGINIA, USA: A federal judge on Wednesday ordered that a Georgetown scholar from India be released from immigration detention after he was detained in the Trump administration’s crackdown on foreign college students.

Khan Suri was arrested by masked, plain-clothed officers on the evening of March 17 outside his apartment complex in Arlington, Virginia. Officials said his visa was revoked because of his social media posts and his wife’s connection to Gaza as a Palestinian American.

They accused him of supporting Hamas, which the US has designated as a terrorist organization.

By the time Khan Suri’s petition was filed, authorities had already put him on a plane to Louisiana without allowing him to update his family or lawyer, Khan Suri’s attorneys said.

A few days later, he was moved again to Texas.


German Chancellor Merz says Israel should bring hostages back alive

Updated 14 May 2025
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German Chancellor Merz says Israel should bring hostages back alive

  • Merz said that in principle it should be possible for an Israeli prime minister to visit Germany

BERLIN: Germany wants to see the hostages held by Hamas in Gaza, including Germans, brought back alive and Israel should consider this in its military actions in the strip, Chancellor Friedrich Merz said on Wednesday.

Asked whether Germany would implement an arrest warrant by the International Criminal Court against Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu, Merz said that in principle it should be possible for an Israeli prime minister to visit Germany.

How this could happen would be clarified when necessary, he said at the joint press conference with UN Secretary General Antonio Guterres in Berlin, adding that no bilateral visits by him or Netanyahu were currently planned.

Merz said future financial support for UNRWA, the United Nations’ agency for Palestinian refugees, was conditional on the organization being reformed.