Qatari emir becomes first Arab leader to visit Syria since fall of Assad

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The Emir of Qatar, Sheikh Tamim bin Hamad Al-Thani and Ahmed Al-Sharaa, the interim president of Syria. (QNA)
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Updated 31 January 2025
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Qatari emir becomes first Arab leader to visit Syria since fall of Assad

  • Interim Syrian President Ahmed Al-Sharaa greets Sheikh Tamim bin Hamad Al-Thani at Damascus airport
  • Visit signals a significant resumption of Qatari-Syrian relations, with Qatar to play major role in reconstruction

LONDON: The Emir of Qatar, Sheikh Tamim bin Hamad Al-Thani arrived in Damascus on Thursday, becoming the first Arab leader to visit Syria since the collapse of Bashar Assad’s regime.

Ahmed Al-Sharaa, declared interim president of Syria during a conference on Wednesday evening, welcomed Sheikh Tamim at Damascus International Airport on his arrival.

Syrian Prime Minister Mohammed Al-Bashir, Foreign Minister Asaad Al-Shaibani, and Defense Minister Murhaf Abu Qasra were also present.

Qatar supported Syrian opposition factions during the country’s 13-year civil war before Assad fled Damascus for Moscow in early December.

Sheikh Tamim’s visit marks a significant resumption of Qatari-Syrian relations, with Qatar expected to play a major role in reconstruction, according to the Qatar News Agency.

Political analyst and author Khaled Walid Mahmoud told QNA that Shiekh Tamim’s visit is “highly symbolic and historically significant, being the first by an Arab leader since the fall of the former regime.”

The visit could reopen diplomatic channels and support a sustainable political resolution in Damascus, highlighting Qatar’s strong ties with the US and Turkiye, as well as its role as a trusted mediator in Syria and the Middle East, he added.

Qatar will play a crucial role in the reconstruction of Syria, especially in key sectors such as energy, transportation, and housing, which were devasted by the civil war.

Ahmed Qassim Hussein, a researcher at the Arab Center for Research and Policy Studies, told QNA that the emir’s visit signals an evolving Qatari role in Syria’s political, economic, and security spheres.

Qatar’s support for the new Syrian leadership led by the insurgent-turned-president Al-Sharaa was evident in its decision to reopen the embassy in Damascus following its closure in 2011.

He said that “(the visit) reflects Qatar’s commitment to restoring diplomatic relations and fostering cooperation with Syria,” adding that Doha is guiding the Syrian leadership in navigating Syria’s transitional phase and fostering long-term stability.


EU must condemn Israeli atrocities at top-level meeting: Human Rights Watch

Updated 24 February 2025
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EU must condemn Israeli atrocities at top-level meeting: Human Rights Watch

  • ‘There can be no business as usual with a government responsible for crimes against humanity and acts of genocide’
  • ‘Unless the EU drastically changes course, it will provide a blank check for further abuses’

LONDON: EU officials must condemn Israeli atrocities and violations of international law at the EU-Israel Association Council meeting on Monday, Human Rights Watch has urged.

The meeting will be led by EU High Representative Kaja Kallas and Israeli Foreign Minister Gideon Saar.

Kallas will be joined by EU foreign ministers. Together, they should “signal an end to the bloc’s reluctance to acknowledge and address Israel’s war crimes, crimes against humanity — including apartheid — and acts of genocide,” HRW said.

Last February, Spain and Ireland requested a suspension to the EU-Israel Association Agreement due to Israel’s grave abuses of its human rights obligations. The request has yet to be answered by the EU.

The Association Council is the EU’s top-level bilateral meeting with Israel, held as part of the agreement.

The last meeting took place in October 2022 following a 10-year pause initiated by Israel over discontent with the EU’s condemnation of settlement-building in the Occupied Territories.

Claudio Francavilla, associate EU director at HRW, said: “There can be no business as usual with a government responsible for crimes against humanity, including apartheid, and acts of genocide, and whose sitting prime minister is wanted for atrocity crimes by the International Criminal Court.

“The only purpose of this Association Council meeting should be to call out those crimes and to announce long overdue measures in response.”

More than 100 civil society organizations, including HRW, urged the EU in a letter to center discussions with Saar on the potential suspension of the agreement.

Article 2 names human rights and democratic principles as “essential elements” which, if violated, can lead to the suspension of the treaty.

HRW has documented extensive abuses by Israel during the conflict in Gaza, including war crimes, ethnic cleansing, crimes against humanity and acts of genocide.  

The EU has yet to adopt any “concrete measure to press Israeli authorities” to halt these abuses, HRW warned. Any move by the bloc requires unanimous approval by its 27 members.

Several EU foreign ministers have criticized the International Criminal Court’s issuing of arrest warrants for Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu and former Defense Minister Yoav Gallant.

The EU approved two rounds of sanctions against Israeli settlers who had committed abuses in the West Bank, but fell short of punishing the authorities who have enabled them, HRW said.

EU states also continue to export weapons to Israel despite the risk of complicity in war crimes.

A smear campaign led by Israel also saw the EU and its member states pause, and in some cases fully end, support for the UN Relief and Works Agency, which provides vital services to Palestinian refugees.

Francavilla said: “Europe’s reluctance to condemn and address Israel’s atrocity crimes has fueled them and given rise to well-grounded accusations of EU double standards.

“Unless the EU drastically changes course, it will provide a blank check for further abuses and continue to undermine the EU’s stated commitment to human rights and the rules-based international order.”


Iraqi Kurdistan can start oil flows within days on Turkish approval, minister says

Updated 24 February 2025
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Iraqi Kurdistan can start oil flows within days on Turkish approval, minister says

  • Iraqi Kurdistan authorities have agreed with the federal oil ministry to restart Kurdish crude exports based on available volumes
  • A speedy resumption of exports from semi-autonomous Kurdistan region would help to offset a potential fall in Iranian oil exports

BAGHDAD: Iraq is waiting for Turkiye’s approval to restart the oil flows from the Iraqi Kurdistan region, the Iraqi oil minister said on Monday, adding that Kurdish oil exports will hopefully be ready in two days.
Asked if resuming Kurdish oil exports will affect Iraq’s OPEC compliance, Hayan Abdel-Ghani told reporters that Baghdad is committed to the OPEC+ decisions and exported volumes under the control of the Iraqi oil ministry.
Iraqi Kurdistan authorities have agreed with the federal oil ministry to restart Kurdish crude exports based on available volumes, Kurdistan’s regional government said on Sunday.
The pipeline was halted by Turkiye in March 2023 after the International Chamber of Commerce (ICC) ordered Ankara to pay Baghdad $1.5 billion in damages for unauthorized exports between 2014 and 2018.
US President Donald Trump’s administration is putting pressure on Iraq to allow Kurdish oil exports to restart or face sanctions alongside Iran, sources have told Reuters. An Iraqi official later denied pressure or the threat of sanctions.
A speedy resumption of exports from Iraq’s semi-autonomous Kurdistan region would help to offset a potential fall in Iranian oil exports, which Washington has pledged to cut to zero as part of Trump’s “maximum pressure” campaign against Tehran.
Asked if the northern oil exports through neighboring Turkiye’s Ceyhan port will include crude oil produced from Iraq’s Kirkuk fields, Hayan Abdel-Ghani told reporters: “Production from Kirkuk fields will be for local use.”


EU suspends sanctions on key Syria economic sectors

Updated 24 February 2025
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EU suspends sanctions on key Syria economic sectors

  • Sanctions relief in bid to help the country’s reconstruction after the fall of Bashar Assad

BRUSSELS: The European Union on Monday eased sanctions on Syria’s energy, transport and banking sectors in a bid to help the country’s reconstruction after the fall of Bashar Assad.
“The EU aims to facilitate engagement with Syria, its people, and businesses, in key areas of energy and transport, as well as to facilitate financial and banking transactions associated with such sectors and those needed for humanitarian and reconstruction purposes,” the bloc said in a statement.


UN chief ‘gravely concerned’ at Israeli settler violence in West Bank

Updated 24 February 2025
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UN chief ‘gravely concerned’ at Israeli settler violence in West Bank

  • Israel earlier announced expanded military operations in the occupied Palestinian territory

GENEVA: The UN chief voiced alarm Monday at rising violence by Israeli settlers in the West Bank and calls for annexation after Israel announced expanded military operations in the occupied Palestinian territory.
“I am gravely concerned by the rising violence in the occupied West Bank by Israeli settlers and other violations, as well as calls for annexation,” Antonio Guterres told the United Nations Human Rights Council in Geneva.


10th pro-Kurdish party mayor removed in eastern Turkiye

Updated 24 February 2025
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10th pro-Kurdish party mayor removed in eastern Turkiye

ISTANBUL: Turkiye’s interior ministry announced on Monday the removal of a 10th pro-Kurdish party mayor in eastern Turkiye in less than a year for alleged ties.
The development targeting a mayor of DEM party — the third largest political group in the parliament — comes as the party leads negotiations with jailed leader of outlawed Kurdish militants Abdullah Ocalan to end the four-decade conflict.
“Mehmet Alkan, mayor of the Kagizman district in the province of Kars, has been temporarily suspended from his duties by the interior ministry because he was sentenced to six years and three months in jail on charges of membership of an armed terror group,” the interior ministry said in a statement.
The DEM condemned the action as part of the ruling Justice and Development (AKP) Party’s “war against the people’s right to vote and to be elected,” in a message on X.
Ankara has stepped up the pressure on pro-Kurdish movements and sympathizers accused of “terrorism,” even as it pursues talks with the Kurdistan Workers’ Party (PKK) listed as a terror group by Turkiye and much of the international community.
The PKK has waged an insurgency against the Turkish state since 1984 that has left more than 40,000 people dead.