WASHINGTON: US Secretary of State Antony Blinken heads Wednesday on an emergency tour after the overthrow of Syria’s dictatorship, in a new, last-minute attempt to shape a Middle East legacy after a turbulent year.
The top US diplomat of President Joe Biden, who has little more than one month in office, is set to press principles he has outlined for a new government including that it be inclusive of Syria’s diverse populations.
Blinken will head first to the Red Sea port of Aqaba in Jordan, Syria’s often uneasy neighbor and a key US partner in the region, before going to Turkiye, the main supporter of the Islamist movement that toppled strongman Bashar Assad over the weekend.
Blinken will stress “the United States’ support for an inclusive, Syrian-led transition to an accountable and representative government,” State Department spokesman Matthew Miller said.
He will call for a Syria that is not “a base of terrorism or posing a threat to its neighbors” — a nod to concerns of both Turkiye and Israel, which has ramped up strikes on its historic adversary since Assad’s fall.
Turkiye, despite being a NATO ally, has long butted heads with the United States over Syria but is now seen as the key foreign power after its partner Hayat Tahrir Al-Sham (HTS), a former Al-Qaeda-linked group, launched a surprise lightning offensive that ended half-a-century of iron-fisted rule by the Assad family.
In a statement on Tuesday, Blinken called for a “credible, inclusive and non-sectarian” government to replace Assad, a secular-minded member of the minority Alawite sect.
“All nations should pledge to support an inclusive and transparent process and refrain from external interference,” Blinken said.
“The United States will recognize and fully support a future Syria government that results from this process,” he said.
It will be the 12th visit to the Middle East by Blinken since October 7, 2023, when Hamas militants carried out the deadliest-ever attack on Israel, which responded with a relentless assault on the Hamas-ruled Gaza Strip.
Despite repeatedly smelling success, Blinken has been met with frustration as he failed to secure a deal in which Israel would end the war in return for the release of hostages.
Blinken on his trip will also stress “the urgent need to conclude a ceasefire agreement,” Miller said.
Defying appeals by the Biden administration, Israel expanded its war to Lebanon and hit hard the Shiite militant group Hezbollah as well as Iran, which counted on Assad as its main Arab ally.
Assad also relied on air support from Russia, which relied on Assad to maintain a Mediterranean naval base and has been distracted by its invasion of Ukraine.
Biden, under fire for his Middle East policy and failure to secure an Israel-Hamas deal, has sought credit after the fall of Assad.
“Our approach has shifted the balance of power in the Middle East,” Biden said, pointing to a combination of support for partners, diplomacy, sanctions and periodic US strikes in Syria separately targeting Iranian-linked groups and remnants of the Daesh group, which is an adversary of Shiite Iran.
President-elect Donald Trump similarly cast Syria in political terms, pointing out that Russia made inroads under former president Barack Obama.
In contrast to Biden and Blinken, Trump has scoffed at US interests in Syria, where some 900 US troops remain on a mission against the Islamic State, calling the country “a mess” to be avoided.
It will be up to Trump, who has a close relationship with Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdogan, to determine how to deal with HTS, which is designated as a terrorist group by the United States.
Blinken on Syria crisis tour with eye on Biden legacy
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Blinken on Syria crisis tour with eye on Biden legacy
- Blinken will head first to the Red Sea port of Aqaba in Jordan, before going to Turkiye, the main supporter of the Islamist movement that toppled strongman Bashar Assad
- He will call for a Syria that is not “a base of terrorism or posing a threat to its neighbors“
Emirati, Lebanese leaders agree to reopen UAE embassy in Beirut
- Sheikh Mohamed congratulated Aoun on his recent election
ABU DHABI: UAE President Sheikh Mohamed bin Zayed Al-Nahyan and Lebanon’s newly elected President Joseph Aoun agreed on Saturday to reopen the UAE embassy in Beirut, the Emirates News Agency reported.
The two leaders said during a phone call they would take required steps to ensure this would happen.
Sheikh Mohamed congratulated Aoun on his recent election, and reaffirmed the UAE’s commitment to supporting all efforts that ensure Lebanon’s security and stability and realise the aspirations of its people, according to a statement.
Sheikh Mohamed shared “his hope to work together for the mutual benefit and prosperity of both nations and their peoples,” the statement added.
In return, Aoun also affirmed his commitment to strengthening bilateral relations.
Israel’s Netanyahu sends Mossad director to Gaza ceasefire talks in Qatar
- Netanyahu’s office announced the decision Saturday
- It was not immediately clear when David Barnea would travel to Doha
JERUSALEM: Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu has approved sending the director of the Mossad foreign intelligence agency to ceasefire negotiations in Qatar in a sign of progress in talks on the war in Gaza.
Netanyahu’s office announced the decision Saturday. It was not immediately clear when David Barnea would travel to Qatar’s capital, Doha, site of the latest round of indirect talks between Israel and the Hamas militant group. His presence means high-level Israeli officials who would need to sign off on any agreement are now involved.
Just one brief ceasefire has been achieved in 15 months of war, and that occurred in the earliest weeks of fighting. The talks mediated by the United States, Egypt and Qatar have repeatedly stalled since then.
Netanyahu has insisted on destroying Hamas’ ability to fight in Gaza. Hamas has insisted on a full Israeli troop withdrawal from the largely devastated territory. On Thursday, Gaza’s Health Ministry said over 46,000 Palestinians have been killed in the war.
Gaza rescuers say eight dead in Israel strike on school building
- Agency spokesman Mahmud Bassal confirmed eight people, including two children and two women, were killed by Israeli shelling on the Halwa school
- The Israeli military, in a statement, acknowledged it conducted a strike on the facility
GAZA CITY, Palestinian Territories: Gaza’s civil defense agency said an Israeli air strike on a school-turned-shelter on Saturday killed eight people, including two children, while the Israeli military said it targeted Hamas militants.
Agency spokesman Mahmud Bassal confirmed eight people, including two children and two women, were killed by Israeli shelling on the Halwa school in the northern Gaza city of Jabalia.
Bassal said the strike wounded 30 people, including 19 children, and that the Halwa school housed “thousands of displaced people.”
The Israeli military, in a statement, acknowledged it conducted a strike on the facility.
It said the air force “conducted a precise strike on terrorists in a command-and-control center” that had previously served as the Halwa school in Jabaliya.
It said it targeted the premises because “the school had been used by Hamas terrorists to plan and execute attacks.”
The attack was the latest in a series of Israeli strikes on school buildings housing displaced people in Gaza, where fighting has raged for more than 14 months.
A strike on the United Nations-run Al-Jawni school in central Gaza on September 11 drew international outcry after the UN agency for Palestinian refugees, UNRWA, said six of its staff were among the 18 reported dead.
The Israeli military accuses Hamas of hiding in school buildings where thousands of Gazans have sought shelter — a charge denied by the Palestinian militant group.
At least 46,537 Palestinians, a majority of them civilians, have been killed in Israel’s military campaign in Gaza since the war began, according to data provided by the health ministry. The United Nations has acknowledged these figures as reliable.
The October 7 attack that triggered it resulted in the deaths of 1,208 people on the Israeli side, most of them civilians, according to an AFP tally based on official Israeli figures, which includes hostages killed in captivity.
Sudan army says entered key RSF-held Al-Jazira state capital
- The armed forces “congratulated” the Sudanese people in a statement on “our forces entering the city of Wad Madani this morning“
- A video the army shared on social media showed fighters claiming to be inside Wad Madani
PORT SUDAN: The Sudanese military and allied armed groups launched an offensive Saturday on key Al-Jazira state capital Wad Madani, entering the city after more than a year of paramilitary control, the army said.
The armed forces “congratulated” the Sudanese people in a statement on “our forces entering the city of Wad Madani this morning.”
Sudan’s army and Rapid Support Forces (RSF) paramilitaries have been at war since April 2023, leading to what the UN calls the world’s worst displacement crisis and declarations of famine in parts of the northeast African country.
A video the army shared on social media showed fighters claiming to be inside Wad Madani, after an army source told AFP they had “stormed the city’s eastern entrance.”
The footage appeared to be shot on the western side of Hantoub Bridge in northern Wad Madani, which has been under RSF control since December 2023.
The office of army-allied government spokesman and Information Minister Khalid Al-Aiser said the army had “liberated” the city.
With a months-long communications blackout in place, AFP was not able to independently verify the situation on the ground.
“The army and allied fighters have spread out around us across the city’s streets,” one eyewitness told AFP from his home in central Wad Madani, requesting anonymity for his safety.
Eyewitnesses in army-controlled cities across Sudan reported dozens taking to the streets celebrating the army offensive.
In the early months of the war between the army and the RSF, more than half a million people had sought shelter in Al-Jazira, before a lightning offensive by paramilitary forces displaced upwards of 300,000 in December 2023, according to the United Nations.
Most have been repeatedly displaced since, as the feared paramilitaries — which the United States this week said have “committed genocide” — moved further and further south.
The war has killed tens of thousands and uprooted more than 12 million overall, more than three million of whom have fled across borders.
Franco-Algerian influencer to stand trial in March
- A diplomatic row between France and Algeria has flared up over the arrests of several Algerian social media influencers accused of inciting violence
- Sofia Benlemmane, a Franco-Algerian woman in her fifties, was arrested on Thursday
LYON: A Franco-Algerian influencer, arrested as part of an investigation into online hate videos, appeared before French prosecutors on Saturday and will stand trial in March, authorities said.
A diplomatic row between France and Algeria has flared up over the arrests of several Algerian social media influencers accused of inciting violence.
Sofia Benlemmane, a Franco-Algerian woman in her fifties, was arrested on Thursday.
Followed on TikTok and Facebook by more than 300,000 people, she is accused of spreading hate messages and threats against Internet users and against opponents of the Algerian authorities, as well as insulting statements about France.
She was ordered to appear before a criminal court on March 18, the public prosecutor’s office said.
She is being prosecuted for a series of offenses including incitement to commit a crime, death threats and “public insult based on origin, ethnicity, nation, race or religion.”
The blogger had insulted a woman during a live broadcast in September, shouting “I hope you get killed, I hope they kill you.”
Her lawyer Frederic Lalliard argued that Benlemmane had committed no criminal offense, even though her comments “may irritate or shock.”
Benlemmane, a former football player, made headlines in 2001 when she was given a seven-month suspended prison sentence for entering the Stade de France pitch outside Paris with an Algerian flag during a France-Algeria friendly match.
Although she was firmly opposed to the government in Algiers in the past, her views have since changed and she now supports the current authorities in Algeria.
Several other Algerian influencers have been the target of legal proceedings in France for hate speech.
Former prime minister Gabriel Attal said that France should cancel a 1968 accord with Algeria that gives Algerians special rights to live and work in France because of the dispute over what he called “preachers of hate.”
Algeria won independence from France in 1962 after a seven-year war.
