Fatah Says Haniyeh’s Tour Aimed at Promoting ‘Deal of the Century’

Arab World

December 31st, 7:08am

Tel Aviv - Asharq Al-Awsat

Hamas politburo chief Ismail Haniyeh. (Reuters)

Tensions flared on Monday between the rival Fatah and Hamas groups after the latter accused the Palestinian Authority of trying to avoid holding legislative elections. It charged that PA chief Mahmoud Abbas had deliberately refused to issue a decree to hold the polls in order to thwart them. He said that he has delayed the decree because he is awaiting Israel’s response to a request about included East Jerusalem in the polls. Hamas then accused the PA intelligence of collaborating with Israel in the assassination of Islamic Jihad official Baha Abou al-Ata in November. Fatah responded by accusing Hamas politburo chief Ismail Haniyeh of promoting the so-called “deal of the century” US peace proposal during his ongoing foreign tour. Fatah deputy chief Mahmoud al-Aloul said that Abbas was the one to propose holding the elections and he has since rallied massive support for them. He spent long months trying to persuade Hamas to participate in them. “The movement is now accusing us of obstructing the elections in order to cover its real stance that rejects the polls,” he charged He accused Hamas of cooperating with the Israeli government and American administration in a bid to gain their support for the movement to replace the Palestinian Liberation Organization and implement the US peace proposal that “conspires against the Palestinian people.” Haniyeh has been on a foreign tour that has seen him visit Qatar, Egypt and Turkey. Hamas has not disclosed further details about his other trips. Palestinians’ last parliamentary ballot in 2006 resulted in a surprise win by Hamas, widening an internal political rift that led to the group’s seizure of the Gaza Strip in 2007 and contributed to the long delay in setting further elections. PA officials have put Israel on the spot by requesting it again allow polling stations in East Jerusalem to operate, as they had in the parliamentary ballot in 2006 and a presidential election a year earlier. Israel captured East Jerusalem in the 1967 Middle East war and annexed it in a move that has not won international recognition. It regards all of Jerusalem as its capital. Palestinians seek East Jerusalem as the capital of a state they want to establish in the West Bank and Gaza Strip. The PA’s 2.2 million registered voters are split among East Jerusalem, Gaza and the West Bank. Jerusalem is home to more than 300,000 Palestinians and 500,000 Israelis. The Palestinian Central Elections Commission says Jerusalem has 75,401 eligible Palestinian voters.

from Asharq AL-awsat https://aawsat.com/english/home/article/2059836/fatah-says-haniyeh%E2%80%99s-tour-aimed-promoting-%E2%80%98deal-century%E2%80%99

Iraq Warns US Ties at Stake after Deadly Strikes

Arab World

December 31st, 6:39am

Asharq Al-Awsat

A hole left after an air strike by US forces against the headquarters of the Kataib Hezbollah militia in Qaim, Iraq, December 30, 2019. (Reuters)

The Iraqi government warned Monday that its relations with the United States were at risk after deadly American air strikes against a pro-Iran group sparked anger on the streets, with protesters torching US flags. Baghdad said it would summon the US ambassador while Washington responded by accusing Iraqi authorities of having failed to "protect" US interests. At least 25 fighters were killed in Sunday night's attacks, which saw US planes hit several bases belonging to the Kataib Hezbollah, one of the most radical factions of of the Popular Mobilization Forces (PMF), a Tehran-backed Iraqi paramilitary coalition. The attacks came as Iraq is caught up in mounting tensions between its allies Tehran and Washington while it also grapples with huge street protests against corruption and Iran's growing political influence in the country. US Secretary of State Mike Pompeo said in a call with UN Secretary-General Antonio Guterres that the US strikes “were aimed at deterring Iran,” the State Department said in a statement. The air strikes will force Iraq to reconsider working with the US-led international coalition against ISIS, the Iraqi National Security Council said in a statement. The raid "killed 25 and wounded 51, including commanders and fighters, and the toll could yet rise," said the PMF. Victims were still being pulled from the rubble of bases near Al-Qaim, an Iraqi district bordering Syria, on Monday, it said. The Kataib Hezbollah said they will hold a mass funeral ceremony on Tuesday in Baghdad near the high-security Green Zone, where the US embassy is located. Iraq's government, acting in a caretaker capacity following the resignation of prime minister Adel Abdel Mahdi in the face of street protests, denounced the strikes and warned they could affect ties with Washington. "American forces acted on their political priorities, not those of the Iraqis," a statement said, adding that such strikes "violate the sovereignty of Iraq". The attacks "force Iraq to review its relations and its security, political and legal framework to protect its sovereignty", the government added. The warning came as demonstrators torched US flags in the Shiite-dominated southern cities of Basra and Najaf as well as in Kirkuk, north of Baghdad, while lawmakers called for US troops to be booted out of Iraq. Dozens of lawmakers called on the government to review an agreement allowing the deployment of 5,200 US soldiers in the country, saying the strikes amount to a violation that renders the pact obsolete. US Assistant Secretary of State David Schenker said the strikes were a "proportionate" response for the death Friday of a US civilian contractor in Kirkuk in a Kataib Hezbollah rocket attack. "We don't want an escalation here, we want a de-escalation," he added however. Abdel Mahdi said he had been forewarned by US Defense Secretary Mark Esper that the US would carry out the attacks. "He told me the United States would strike the Kataib Hezbollah and I told him it would be a very dangerous act that could lead to an escalation," Abdel Mahdi said. Tensions have soared between the United States and Iran since Washington pulled out of a multilateral nuclear agreement with Tehran last year and imposed crippling sanctions Iraqi leaders fear their country could become a battleground between Tehran and Washington.

from Asharq AL-awsat https://aawsat.com/english/home/article/2059786/iraq-warns-us-ties-stake-after-deadly-strikes

Sudan to Deploy Troops to West Darfur after Deadly Unrest

Arab World

December 31st, 6:29am

Asharq Al-Awsat

Sudan’s authorities will deploy military forces to West Darfur after an outbreak of violence around the regional capital. (Reuters)

Sudan’s authorities said on Monday they would deploy military forces to West Darfur and suspend peace talks with rebel groups for 24 hours after an outbreak of deadly violence around the regional capital. There were no details of the scale of the deployment or the clashes around el-Geneina, but information minister Faisal Saleh said the head of Sudan’s transitional ruling council and the prime minister would visit the city. Aircraft would be sent to evacuate the wounded to the capital, Khartoum, he said. A resident from el-Geneina told Reuters that the violence flared after a soldier from the paramilitary Rapid Support Forces (RSF) was stabbed to death with two of his relatives in apparent retaliation for incidents in which locals had been hit by cars. On Monday Arab groups responded to the soldier’s death by raiding camps for internally displaced people near el-Geneina, killing people and livestock both in el-Geneina and the camps, the resident said. A second resident confirmed the revenge attacks. It was unclear how many people had been killed and injured. The regional government declared a curfew across West Darfur. Sudan’s transitional authorities, who took power after former President Omar al-Bashir was overthrown in April following a popular uprising, have been holding talks with rebel groups to try to end conflicts in several areas of the country, including Darfur. Conflict broke out in Darfur in 2003 after rebels rose up against Khartoum. Up to 300,000 people have been killed and 2.7 million displaced, according to UN estimates. Government forces and militias known as the Janjaweed — some of whose men were later incorporated in the RSF — were accused of committing atrocities during the conflict, accusations that authorities at the time denied.

from Asharq AL-awsat https://aawsat.com/english/home/article/2059776/sudan-deploy-troops-west-darfur-after-deadly-unrest

Al-Shabaab Group Claims Deadly Mogadishu Bombing

Arab World

December 31st, 6:20am

Asharq Al-Awsat

A Somali man stands at the scene of a car bomb explosion at a checkpoint in Mogadishu, Somalia December 28, 2019. (Reuters)

Al-Shabaab militants have claimed responsibility for Saturday's massive car bomb in the Somali capital Mogadishu that killed scores of people, including two Turkish citizens. Saturday's attack hit a busy checkpoint in the southwest of the city, killing at least 90 people, including a dozen university students, in the country's deadliest assault in two years. Dozens more were wounded in the blast that left surrounding vehicles charred and twisted in an area clogged with traffic because of the checkpoint and a tax office collecting fees from trucks and buses. "...the mujahideen carried (out) an attack... targeting a convoy of Turkish mercenaries and apostate militia who were escorting them," Al-Shabaab spokesman Sheik Ali Mohamud Rage said in an audio message. Rage accused Turkey of “taking all resources of Somalia” and vowed to continue targeting their personnel in the country. “We shall always fight...the Turkish who work with the apostate government of Turkey. We are not against innocent Turkish Muslim citizens,” he said. Among the dead were 16 students from the private Banadir university whose bus was passing through the crossroads as the bomb detonated. For the first time, Al-Shabaab apologized to the civilian victims of the attack, which it justified as necessary in fight against the Somali State and its foreign backers. Al-Shabaab do not usually claim attacks that cause such high casualty rates among the civilian population, for fear of losing the support they still enjoy with some Somalis. The most deadly attack blamed on Al-Shabaab was in 2017 when a truck bomb exploded next to a fuel tanker in Mogadishu, killing nearly 600. Mogadishu is regularly hit by attacks by Al-Shabaab, which has fought for more than a decade to topple the Somali government. In 2010, Al-Shabaab declared its allegiance to Al-Qaeda. But its fighters fled positions they once held in the capital Mogadishu, and have since lost many strongholds. They retain control of large rural swathes of the country and continue to wage a guerrilla war against the authorities, managing to inflict bloody attacks at home and abroad.

from Asharq AL-awsat https://aawsat.com/english/home/article/2059756/al-shabaab-group-claims-deadly-mogadishu-bombing

Saudi Arabia Slams Attack by Iranian-backed Group against US Forces in Iraq

Gulf

December 31st, 6:08am

Asharq Al-Awsat

The headquarters of the Kataib Hezbollah militia is seen after a US air strike in Qaim, Iraq, on December 30. (Reuters)

Saudi Arabia condemned on Tuesday attacks launched last week by Iranian regime-backed militias against American forces in Iraq, reported the Saudi Press Agency. An official source said the Kingdom was following with “deep concern” the rising number of terrorist attacks in Iraq that seek to undermine its security and stability. The latest of such assaults was the one launched by “terrorist militias backed by Iran against American forces deployed in Iraq as part of the international coalition to defeat the ISIS terrorist group,” it continued. The attack near Kirkuk on December 27 prompted “defensive measures” against the terrorist groups that launched the strike, it added. The source stressed that Saudi Arabia condemns these terrorist attacks that violate Iraq’s sovereignty, security and stability and directly impact counter-terrorism efforts. It urged cooperation between the Iraqi government and coalition forces to investigate the December 27 attack and take the appropriate measures to put an end to such hostile acts by Iran-backed groups. The US military carried out air strikes on Sunday against the Kataib Hezbollah militia in response to the killing of a US civilian contractor in a Friday rocket attack on an Iraqi military base, officials said. Iraqi Prime Minister Adel Abdul Mahdi on Monday condemned the US air strikes on bases of Iranian-backed Iraqi militia.

from Asharq AL-awsat https://aawsat.com/english/home/article/2059736/saudi-arabia-slams-attack-iranian-backed-group-against-us-forces-iraq

Ghosn Flies to Lebanon, Blasts 'Rigged' Japanese Justice

World

December 31st, 5:46am

Asharq Al-Awsat

Former Nissan chief Carlos Ghosn. (Reuters)

Former Nissan chief Carlos Ghosn, who was awaiting trial in Japan on financial misconduct charges, confirmed Tuesday he had flown to Lebanon, the latest stunning twist in a rollercoaster journey that saw him fall from boardroom to detention center. In a statement, the 65-year-old tycoon said he would "no longer be held hostage by a rigged Japanese justice system, where guilt is presumed, discrimination is rampant, and basic human rights are denied." "I have not fled justice -- I have escaped injustice and political persecution," said Ghosn, who vowed to communicate "freely" with the media "starting next week." It is not clear how he managed to leave Japan, as his bail conditions prevent him from exiting the country he had been held in since his sudden arrest in November 2018 sent shockwaves through the business world. He and his lawyers have repeatedly voiced fears over the impossibility of a fair trial in Japan and have called for the case to be thrown out, citing missteps by the prosecutors' office. Lebanese media reported Ghosn had flown by private plane from Turkey to Lebanon, where his parents were born and where he spent most of his childhood, after arriving there as a toddler. Many Lebanese view Ghosn as a symbol of their country's large diaspora, and a prime example of Lebanese entrepreneurial genius and have been shocked by his arrest. But in Tokyo, the unexpected turn of events will spark questions about how he could apparently have given authorities the slip. His Japanese lawyers were seemingly caught unawares by Ghosn's travel plans and declined to comment to reporters. Public broadcaster NHK cited a foreign ministry official as saying: "He was not supposed to leave the country. Had we known about it beforehand, we would have reported that to proper law enforcement authorities." Government officials could not be reached immediately on a public holiday. 'Conspiracy' His sudden departure from Japan is nearly as dramatic as his arrest out of the blue at a Tokyo airport. Prosecutors stormed his private jet in scenes captured by a local paper, and whisked him off to a Tokyo detention center where he spent more than 100 days in spartan conditions far removed from his sometimes extravagant lifestyle. He eventually won bail, striding out of the detention center disguised in a workman's uniform complete with mask and cap in an apparent bid to fool the world's media camped outside. Then one morning in April, he was rearrested on another set of charges just days before he was due to give a hotly anticipated news conference. He released a video apparently pre-recorded in which he accused "backstabbing" Nissan executives of a "conspiracy". Later that month, he was released again on bail -- this time leaving in a business suit -- and he had been in Tokyo ever since preparing for his trial in "combative" mood, according to his lawyers. He stands accused of two counts of under-reporting his salary to the tune of 9.23 billion yen ($85 million) from 2010 to 2018, deferring some of his pay and failing to declare this to shareholders. Prosecutors also allege he attempted to get Nissan to cover around 1.85 billion yen in personal foreign exchange losses during the 2008 financial crisis. The fourth charge against him is that he allegedly transferred millions from Nissan funds to a dealership in Oman, from which the executive supposedly skimmed off $5 million for his personal use. He has consistently denied all charges against him, saying they are a "plot" by Nissan executives to get rid of him because they feared he was moving the Japanese firm to a closer tie-up with Renault. In the meantime, Ghosn has lost the business empire he was once lauded for creating. Sacked from Nissan and Mitsubishi Motors, he resigned from Renault -- the third firm in the uneasy car alliance he forged.

from Asharq AL-awsat https://aawsat.com/english/home/article/2059731/ghosn-flies-lebanon-blasts-rigged-japanese-justice

Iran Continues Repression Campaign Amid Concerns About Detainees’ Fate

Iran

December 30th, 2:42pm

London, Tehran- Asharq Al-Awsat

Police forces confront protesters who stormed central Tehran’s streets last November against the decision to increase gasoline prices (Mehr)

Security services in Iran continue their arrest campaigns across the country in light of the protests against increased fuel prices. Meanwhile, concerns grow over the fate of detainees in the recent protests. According to the Iranian Police website, Chief of Qom Province Police Brigadier General Abdolreza Aghajani said 14 people were arrested on charges of “promoting Shah’s rule.” It said the detainees are members of a group active in Qom, which is the stronghold of the conservatives and the regime base. Aghajani accused the detainees of “contacting leaders of the Shah's regime abroad and engaging in organizational work within five active branches- each having 30 members.” He said they had attempted to disrupt public and commercial transport, incite labor strikes, and infiltrate trade unions “In connection with Phoenix Project and under the direct protection of Iran’s enemies, they were trying to incite unrest all over the country,” he claimed. The founders of Phoenix Project of Iran (PPI) was launched by the exiled Crown Prince Reza Pahlavi on February 22, 2019, the anniversary of a coup that put an end to the rule of Qajar dynasty and brought his grandfather, Reza Shah, to power. Founders of the project say Phoenix is not a political organization. The mission statement of the organization says it aims to “build bridges with Iranians inside Iran and across the globe” and “empower Iranians by offering them tools and knowledge to measure and assess the performance of policies.” Mizan news agency quoted West Tehran Police Chief Mohsen Khancharli as saying that his forces had arrested eight in connection with the protests. Detainees face charges of “inciting to participate in the riots” in Islamshahr and Shahriar cities, west of Tehran, by establishing a group on Telegram that includes 300 people who are also active on Instagram. Iran still has not released any official statistics on the number of detainees and those killed in the ongoing protests for six weeks now. The country’s official news agency, IRNA, reported on Saturday that the police has arrested a person in Kazerun city near Shiraz on charges of burning a seminary and 11 banks during the protests.

from Asharq AL-awsat https://aawsat.com/english/home/article/2058841/iran-continues-repression-campaign-amid-concerns-about-detainees%E2%80%99-fate