IRBIL, Iraq: Vice President Mike Pence worked to reassure the United States’ Kurdish allies in an unannounced trip to Iraq on Saturday, the highest-level American trip since President Donald Trump ordered a pullback of US forces in Syria two months ago.
Flying in a C-17 military cargo jet to preserve the secrecy of the visit, Pence landed in Irbil to meet with Iraqi Kurdistan President Nechirvan Barzani. The visit was meant to hearten the United States’ regional partners in the fight against the Daesh group after the US pulled troops from northern Syria, leaving the Kurdish allies in neighboring Syria to face a bloody Turkish assault last month following the Trump-ordered withdrawal.
Earlier, Pence received a classified briefing at Iraq’s Al-Asad Air Base, from which US forces are believed to have launched the operation in Syria last month that resulted in the death of Daesh leader Abu Bakr Al-Baghdadi. Pence also spoke by phone with Iraqi Prime Minister Adel Abdul Mahdi.
It was Pence’s second trip to the region in five weeks. Trump deployed him on a whirlwind trip to Ankara, Turkey, last month to negotiate a cease-fire after President Recep Tayyip Erdogan seized on the US withdrawal to launch the offensive on US-allied Kurdish fighters in northern Syria. Trump’s move had sparked some of the most unified criticism of his administration to date, as lawmakers in both parties accused Trump of forsaking longtime Kurdish allies and inviting Russia and Iran to hold even greater sway in the volatile region.
Pence said he welcomes “the opportunity on behalf of President Donald Trump to reiterate the strong bonds forged in the fires of war between the people of the United States and the Kurdish people across this region.”
Asked if the United States was facing a sense of betrayal from Iraqi and Syrian Kurdish allies over Trump’s actions in Syria, Pence said both groups, including Syrian Kurdish forces “who fought alongside us,” had no doubts about the US commitment to them. “It’s unchanging,” Pence said.
A senior US official said Pence’s visit was also meant to reassure the many Americans who have long supported the region’s Kurds that the Trump administration remained committed to the alliance. The visit was also designed to show Pence’s focus on foreign policy as Washington is gripped by the drama of impeachment.
When the US forces withdrew, Syria’s Kurds — seeking protection from their No. 1 enemy, Turkey — invited Syrian government and Russian forces into parts of northeastern Syria where they had not set foot in years. More are now deploying along large parts of the border region under a Russian-Turkish deal, including to at least one former US garrison in northern Syria.
The Ankara agreement required Syrian Kurds to vacate a swath of territory in Syria along the Turkish border in an arrangement that largely solidified Turkey’s position and aims.
Pence hailed the cease-fire as the way to end the bloodshed caused by Turkey’s invasion. The deal includes a halt to American economic sanctions and no apparent long-term consequences for Turkey for its actions.
The Syrian-led Kurdish forces say the cease-fire is persistently violated and fighting raged Saturday between them and Turkey-backed forces outside the Syrian town of Ein Issa, once home to US bases and the Kurdish administration.
A senior Syrian Kurdish official agreed on Saturday that the relationship remains unchanged, but was critical of Washington’s lack of response to Turkey’s violations of the cease-fire.
Limiting the US partnership to military cooperation over a limited area with the Syrian Kurdish fighters, “while condoning the killing of civilians, is not a very honest relationship and cooperation,” the official, Ilham Ahmed, said.
On Nov. 13, Trump feted Erdogan with a White House visit over the objection of a bipartisan group of lawmakers who argued Erdogan should be denied the honor of a West Wing visit in the aftermath of the invasion and because of his decision to purchase Russian-made surface-to-air missiles over the objection of NATO allies.
Barzani thanked Pence for the US military support in the fight against the Daesh group, adding that his “visit at this particular time is an important indication of your continued support to Kurdistan and Iraq.”
The US collaboration with the Iraqi Kurds has not changed in the wake of US withdrawal from northern Syria. In neighboring Syria, after declaring the near-complete withdrawal of US forces from Syria, Trump decided that roughly 800 would stay to keep eastern Syria’s oil fields from falling back into the hands of Daesh.
Just years ago, the militant group seized control of vast stretches of Syria and Iraq, with its extremist ideology spreading from its self-declared “caliphate” across the globe. In March, American troops and Syrian Kurdish forces routed the last Daesh territorial holdings. But the militant group, which arose from the remnants of Al-Qaeda in Iraq after that group’s defeat by US-led forces in 2008, has ambitions to regenerate again. And it remains a dangerous threat in Iraq, Syria, Afghanistan and beyond.
Trump also agreed to keep about 150 US troops at a base in southern Syria as a check on Iranian influence in the region.
While Trump has claimed that the US was now “keeping” the oil in Syria, Pentagon officials indicated the US presence is not intended to improve the oil infrastructure but to keep it in the hands of the Kurdish-led Syrian Democratic Forces.
Pence, joined on the trip by his wife, Karen Pence, also greeted US troops ahead of the Thanksgiving holiday, serving turkey and accompaniments to hundreds of troops at the two locations.
“While you come from the rest of us, you’re the best of us,” Pence told service members in a dusty hangar at Al-Asad. He said the Trump administration is working to secure another pay increase for the armed services and suggested the ongoing impeachment inquiry in Washington was slowing the way.
“Partisan politics and endless investigations have slowed things down in D.C.,” Pence said.
Pence’s visit to Iraq comes as the country has been plagued by widespread anti-corruption protests. At least 320 protesters have been killed and thousands have been wounded since the unrest began on Oct. 1, when demonstrators took to the streets in Baghdad and across Iraq’s mainly Shiite south to decry rampant government malfeasance and a lack of basic services despite Iraq’s oil wealth. The protests have exposed long-simmering resentment at Iran’s influence in the country, with protesters targeting Shiite political parties and militias with close ties to Tehran.
Pence spoke by phone with Abdul Mahdi after the Iraqi leader declined an invitation to meet with Pence at the air base after security concerns prevented Pence from traveling into Baghdad. US Ambassador to Iraq Matthew Tueller said Pence expressed support for a free, sovereign and independent Iraq — a subtle warning against Iranian influence in the country, which has weakened cooperation between the US and Iraq.
Pence also encouraged the Iraqi government to show restraint with the protesters. According to one official, Abdul Mahdi expressed regret for the violence and cast it as growing pains for the country and its security services, more used to war than democratic protest.
The leaderless, mass protests aim to sweep aside Iraq’s sectarian system imposed after the 2003 US invasion and its political elite, including Abdul Mahdi, blamed for massive corruption.
US officials assess that the protests won’t subside unless Abdul Mahdi’s government makes substantial concessions, potentially up to the resignation of the government and the calling of early elections.
Pence’s visit comes days after the release of hundreds of pages of purported Iranian intelligence documents detailing Iran’s extensive influence in Iraq.
The revelation came after dozens of demonstrators attacked the Iranian consulate in Karbala earlier in November, scaling concrete barriers and saying they rejected the influence of the neighboring country in Iraqi affairs.
“We want to see an Iraq that is free from the malign influence of Iran, and is also respecting the rights and voices of all its people,” Pence said.
On Iraq visit, US VP Pence reassures Kurds and discusses protests with premier
On Iraq visit, US VP Pence reassures Kurds and discusses protests with premier
- The visit was previously unannounced due to for security reasons
- This is Pence’s first visit to Iraq and comes nearly one year since Trump’s surprise visit to the country
Turkiye halts all trade with Israel
- Turkiye’s trade ministry: ‘Export and import transactions related to Israel have been stopped, covering all products’
“Export and import transactions related to Israel have been stopped, covering all products,” Turkiye’s trade ministry said in a statement.
“Turkiye will strictly and decisively implement these new measures until the Israeli Government allows an uninterrupted and sufficient flow of humanitarian aid to Gaza.”
Palestinian groups say top Gaza surgeon died in Israeli custody
- Dr. Adnan Ahmed Atiya Al-Barsh died at the Israeli-run Ofer prison in the West Bank last month: advocacy groups
- Latest deaths brought to 18 the number of deaths in Israeli custody since the war began on October 7, groups said
RAMALLAH, Palestinian Territories: Palestinian advocacy groups said Thursday that the head of orthopedics at Gaza’s largest hospital Al-Shifa has died in Israeli custody, alleging he had been tortured during his detention.
Dr. Adnan Ahmed Atiya Al-Barsh died at the Israeli-run Ofer prison in the occupied West Bank last month, the Palestinian Prisoners Affairs Committee and the Palestinian Prisoners Club said in a joint statement.
Contacted by AFP about the reported death in custody, the Israeli army said: “We are currently not aware of such (an) incident.”
Barsh, 50, had been arrested with a group of other doctors last December at Al-Awda Hospital near the Jabalia refugee camp in northern Gaza.
He died on April 19, the prisoners groups said, citing Palestinian authorities.
“His body is still being held,” they added.
The groups said they had also learnt that another prisoner from Gaza, Ismail Abdel Bari Rajab Khadir, 33, had died in Israeli custody.
Khadir’s body was returned to Gaza on Thursday, as part of a routine repatriation of detainees by the army through the Kerem Shalom border crossing, the groups said, citing authorities on the Palestinian side of the crossing.
The groups said evidence suggested the two men had died “as a result of torture.”
They alleged that Barsh’s death was “part of a systematic targeting of doctors and the health system in Gaza.”
The health ministry in Hamas-ruled Gaza said the surgeon’s death amounted to “murder,” adding that it brought to 492 the number of health workers killed in Gaza since the war erupted nearly seven months ago.
The prisoners groups said the latest deaths brought to 18 the number of deaths in Israeli custody since the war began on October 7.
There have been repeated Israeli military operations around Gaza’s hospitals that have caused heavy damage.
Medical facilities are protected under international humanitarian law but the Israeli military has accused Hamas of using Gaza’s hospitals as cover for military operations, something the militant group denies.
The Al-Shifa hospital, where Barsh worked, has been reduced to rubble by repeated Israeli military operations, leaving what the World Health Organization described last month as an “empty shell.”
The war started with an unprecedented Hamas attack on southern Israel that resulted in the deaths of 1,170 people, mostly civilians, according to an AFP tally of Israeli official figures.
Israel estimates that 129 captives seized by militants during their attack remain in Gaza. The military says 34 of them are dead.
Israel’s retaliatory offensive against Hamas, has killed at least 34,596 people in Gaza, most of them women and children, according to the health ministry.
Lebanon urged to conclude working arrangement with EU border agency to prevent illegal migration
- Berri: Lebanon ready to discuss implementation of UN Resolution 1701 after Gaza aggression ends
- The EU assistance is tied to Lebanon’s need to implement the required reforms and control its borders and illegal crossings with Syria
BEIRUT: The EU has announced an aid package for Lebanon of 1 billion euros ($1.06 billion) to help boost border control and halt the flow of asylum-seekers and migrants from the country across the Mediterranean Sea to Cyprus and Italy.
It comes against a backdrop of increasing hostility toward Syrian refugees in Lebanon and a major surge in irregular migration of Syrians from Lebanon to Cyprus.
The UN High Commissioner for Refugees, meanwhile, has decided to reduce healthcare coverage for registered Syrian refugees by 50 percent.
EU Commission President Ursula von der Leyen said during her visit to Beirut with Cypriot President Nikos Christodoulides that they hoped Lebanon would conclude a “working arrangement” with Frontex, the EU’s border agency.
Von der Leyen said the aid’s distribution will start this year and continue until 2027.
The aid will be dedicated to the most vulnerable people, including refugees, internally displaced people, and host communities.
The EU assistance — which is tied to Lebanon’s need to implement the required reforms and control its borders and illegal crossings with Syria — came in the wake of continued hostilities on the southern front between Hezbollah and the Israeli military.
The two officials arrived in Beirut following the European Council’s special meeting last month.
At the end of the meeting, the council confirmed the EU’s “determination to support the most vulnerable people in Lebanon, strengthen its support to the Lebanese Armed Forces, and combat human trafficking and smuggling.”
It also reaffirmed “the need to achieve conditions for safe, voluntary and dignified return of Syrian refugees, as defined by UNHCR.”
The visit lasted hours in Lebanon and included a meeting with caretaker Prime Minister Najib Mikati and Parliament Speaker Nabih Berri.
Following a tripartite meeting and an expanded discussion in which ministers and security officials participated, Mikati commended the EU’s understanding of the Lebanese state’s demand to reconsider some of its policies regarding assistance to Syrian refugees in the country.
Mikati said: “Lebanon has borne the greatest burden, but it can no longer endure the current situation, especially since the refugees constitute around one-third of Lebanon’s population, which results in additional difficulties and challenges and exacerbates Lebanon’s economic crisis.”
He added: “What is more dangerous is the escalating tension between Syrian refugees and the Lebanese host community due to the crimes that are increasing and threatening national security.”
Mikati emphasized that “Lebanon’s security is security for European countries and vice versa,” adding that “our cooperation on this matter constitutes the real entry point for stability.”
He added: “We refuse to let our country become an alternative homeland, and everyone knows that the solution is political excellence.”
Mikati called for the EU and international actors to recognize that most Syrian areas have become safe, which would facilitate the refugees’ repatriation and allow them to be supported in their home country.
As a first step, those who entered Lebanon in 2016 must go back, as most of them fled for economic reasons and are not considered refugees, said Mikati.
He warned against “turning Lebanon into a transit country to Europe,” saying that “the problems occurring on the Cypriot border are a sample of what might happen if the matter was not radically addressed.”
Von der Leyen, the first European Commission president to visit Lebanon, affirmed her “understanding of the Lebanese position.”
She said: “We want to contribute to Lebanon’s socio-economic stability by strengthening basic services and investments in, for example, education, social protection, and health for the people of Lebanon.
“We will accompany you as you take forward economic, financial, and banking reforms.
“These reforms are key to improving the country’s long-term economic situation. This would allow the business environment and the banking sector to regain the international community’s trust and thus enable private sector investment.”
The EU official said that the support program for the Lebanese military and other security forces “will mainly focus on providing equipment, training and the necessary infrastructure for border management.
“In addition, it would be very helpful for Lebanon to conclude a working arrangement with Frontex, particularly on information exchange and situational awareness.”
She continued: “To help you manage migration, we are committed to maintaining legal pathways open to Europe and resettling refugees from Lebanon to the EU.
“At the same time, we count on your cooperation to prevent illegal migration and combat migrant smuggling.”
Von der Leyen said: “We will also look at how we can make the EU’s assistance more effective. This includes exploring how to work on a more structured approach to voluntary returns to Syria, in close cooperation with UNHCR.”
She also stressed that the international community should strengthen support for humanitarian and early recovery programs in Syria.
Von der Leyen added: “We are deeply concerned about the volatile situation in southern Lebanon, and believe that the security of both Lebanon and Israel cannot be disassociated.
“So, we call for the full implementation of UN Security Council Resolution 1701.
“This needs to be part of a negotiated diplomatic settlement. The Lebanese armed forces are critical here, too, and the EU is ready to work on bolstering their capabilities.”
Christodoulides said that European assistance, which also includes “combating smuggling and managing borders and monitoring them,“ would “enhance the Lebanese authorities’ ability to confront various challenges such as monitoring land and sea borders, ensuring the safety of citizens, combating human trafficking, and continuing counterterrorism efforts.”
The Cypriot president said the “reverberations of the issues and challenges” that Lebanon was facing directly affected Cyprus and the EU.
“We need to work with our partners and UNHCR to discuss the issue of voluntary returns and reconsider the situation of some areas in Syria.”
He emphasized that Lebanon must implement the “necessary and deep reforms in line with the International Monetary Fund’s demands and address issues of accountability, and Cyprus will support Lebanon’s efforts to elect a new president, a development that will send a strong political and symbolic message for change and moving forward.”
Parliament Speaker Berri told the European official that Lebanon “does not want war, and since the moment the Israeli aggression began, it has remained committed to the rules of engagement, which Israel continues to violate, targeting the depth of Lebanon, not sparing civilians, media personnel, agricultural areas, and ambulances, using internationally banned weapons.”
Berri said that Lebanon, “while awaiting the success of international efforts to stop the aggression on the Gaza Strip, which will inevitably reflect on Lebanon and the region, will then be ready to continue the discussion on the implementation of UN Resolution 1701, to which Lebanon was and still is committed and adheres.”
Berri urged “the concerned parties to engage with the Syrian government, which now has a presence over most of its territories, in addressing the refugee issue.”
Red Cross says gunmen kill two of its drivers in Sudan
- The team was on its way back from Layba to assess the humanitarian situation of communities affected by armed violence
- “We are in deep mourning for our dear colleagues,” said Pierre Dorbes, head of the ICRC delegation in Sudan
GEENVA: Gunmen killed two drivers working for the International Committee of the Red Cross in war-torn Sudan on Thursday and injured three other staff, the ICRC said.
“The team was on its way back from Layba to assess the humanitarian situation of communities affected by armed violence in the region when the incident occurred” in South Darfur, the ICRC said in a statement.
“We are in deep mourning for our dear colleagues. We extend our sincere condolences to their families, and we hope for a speedy recovery for our injured co-workers,” said Pierre Dorbes, head of the ICRC delegation in Sudan.
A brutal conflict between the Sudanese army led by General Abdel Fattah Al-Burhan and the paramilitary Rapid Support Forces of his ex-deputy Mohamed Hamdan Dagalo has torn the country apart for more than a year.
The war has killed tens of thousands of people and forced millions more to flee their homes in what the United Nations has called the “largest displacement crisis in the world.”
It has also triggered acute food shortages and a humanitarian crisis that has left the northeast African country’s people at risk of starvation.
Houthi leader vows ‘fourth phase’ of Red Sea ship attacks
- Abdul Malik Al-Houthi: ‘We are preparing for a fourth round of escalation if the Israeli enemy and the Americans continue their intransigence’
- Al-Houthi said that 452 attacks by US and UK armies on militia-controlled regions had killed 40 people and injured 35 others since January
AL-MUKALLA: The leader of the Houthi militia vowed to escalate attacks on ships in the Red Sea until Israel ends its war in Gaza and the US stops attacking Yemen.
“We are preparing for a fourth round of escalation if the Israeli enemy and the Americans continue their intransigence,” Abdul Malik Al-Houthi said in a televised speech on Thursday.
Al-Houthi said that his forces launched 606 ballistic missiles and drones against 107 Israeli, US, and UK ships in the Red Sea, Bab Al-Mandab Strait, Gulf of Aden, and recently in the Indian Ocean during the Red Sea ship campaign that began in November.
In the last seven days alone, the Houthis have fired 33 ballistic missiles and drones at six ships in international seas off Yemen’s coast, as well as Israel’s city of Eilat.
Al-Houthi said that 452 attacks by US and UK armies on militia-controlled regions had killed 40 people and injured 35 others since January.
His warning came after the militia’s media said on Thursday that the US and UK carried out five airstrikes on Hodeidah airport in the Red Sea’s western city of Hodeidah.
On Tuesday, the US carried out another strike on the port of Al-Saleef in Hodeidah after the US Central Command reported its troops stopped a Houthi assault with a drone boat on the same day.
The Houthis have seized a commercial ship, sunk another, and launched hundreds of missiles and drones at international navy and commercial ships in the Red Sea since November, claiming to be in support of Palestinians and pressuring Israel to cease its war in Gaza.
As a response to the attacks, the US formed a coalition of marine forces to protect the Red Sea.
It also launched strikes on Houthi targets in Sanaa, Saada, Hodeidah, and other Yemeni areas controlled by the Houthis.
