PARIS: The leader of a resistance movement to the Taliban has vowed to never surrender but is open to negotiations with the new rulers of Afghanistan, according to an interview published by Paris Match on Wednesday.
Ahmad Massoud, the son of legendary Afghan rebel commander Ahmad Shah Massoud, has retreated to his native Panjshir valley north of Kabul along with former vice president Amrullah Saleh.
“I would prefer to die than to surrender,” Massoud told French philosopher Bernard-Henri Levy in his first interview since the Taliban took over Kabul. “I’m the son of Ahmad Chah Massoud. Surrender is not a word in my vocabulary.”
Massoud claimed that “thousands” of men were joining his National Resistance Front in Panjshir valley, which was never captured by invading Soviet forces in 1979 or the Taliban during their first period in power from 1996-2001.
He renewed his appeal for support from foreign leaders, including French President Emmanuel Macron, and expressed bitterness at being refused weapons shortly before the fall of Kabul earlier this month.
“I cannot forget the historic mistake made by those I was asking for weapons just eight days ago in Kabul,” Massoud said, according to a transcript of the interview published in French.
“They refused. And these weapons — artillery, helicopters, American-made tanks — are today in the hands of the Taliban,” he said.
Massoud added that he was open to talking to the Taliban and he laid out the outlines of a possible agreement.
“We can talk. In all wars, there are talks. And my father always spoke with his enemies,” he said.
“Let’s imagine that the Taliban agreed to respect the rights of women, of minorities, democracy, the principles of an open society,” he added. “Why not try to explain that these principals would benefit all Afghans, including them?
Massoud’s father, a francophile with close links to Paris and the West, was nicknamed the “Lion of Panjshir” for his role in fighting against the Soviet occupation of Afghanistan in the 1980s and the Taliban regime in the 1990s.
He was assassinated by Al-Qaeda two days before the September 11, 2001 attacks.
Afghan resistance leader vows ‘no surrender’ to Taliban
https://arab.news/jv937
Afghan resistance leader vows ‘no surrender’ to Taliban
- Ahmad Massoud, the son of legendary Afghan rebel commander Ahmad Shah Massoud, has retreated to his native Panjshir valley
Opposition leaders in Kashmir accuse Indian government of sabotaging their campaigns
- Omar Abdullah says police canceled permissions for his rallies, asking him to reschedule without giving reasons
- Mehbooba Mufti of People’s Democratic Party also accused the police of not allowing her to hold campaign events
NEW DELHI: Opposition leaders in India’s troubled Kashmir valley have accused Prime Minister Narendra Modi’s administration of denying or canceling permissions to hold campaign events, to help his party’s “proxies.”
Omar Abdullah, a leader of the largest regional political party, the National Conference, said Modi’s government was trying to sabotage his campaign ahead of voting in the first of Kashmir’s three seats on Monday.
Modi’s Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) is skipping elections in Kashmir for the first since 1996, which analysts and politicians in the region say belies his narrative of integrating Kashmir with the rest of the country and bringing peace and normality to the valley ravaged by a 35-year-old uprising against India’s rule.
In 2019, Modi revoked Jammu and Kashmir state’s partial autonomy, removed its statehood and divided it into two federally-controlled territories: Muslim-majority Kashmir with Hindu-dominated Jammu, and a mountainous Buddhist territory of Ladakh.
While the BJP has not fielded any candidate in Kashmir’s three seats, it has said that, as part of its grand strategy, it would instead support other smaller regional parties, without naming which.
In a letter to the federal poll watchdog, the Election Commission of India, on Thursday, Abdullah said the police, which are under the federal government’s control, canceled permissions for his rallies, asking him to reschedule without providing any reasons.
He said on social media platform X that it was done to help the BJP’s “proxy candidates.”
His rival Mehbooba Mufti, who heads the other regional political powerhouse the People’s Democratic Party (PDP), also accused the police of not allowing her to hold campaign events.
“This attitude of the police, in which they curtail our movement to support the proxy parties of the BJP, is against the guidelines of the Election Commission of India,” she said at a rally in Srinagar on Thursday.
V.K. Birdi, the police official responsible for Kashmir, did not immediately respond to a request seeking comment.
Both Abdullah and Mufti have said they were opposed to the BJP and would support an opposition Congress-led alliance of more than two dozen parties federally.
The state unit of the election watchdog has also asked PDP’s Srinagar candidate, Waheed ur Rehman Para to refrain from calling this election a “referendum” against scrapping of semi-autonomy of the region in 2019 in his speeches.
While Srinagar will vote on May 13, the elections in the other two seats will be held on May 20 and 25.
Nuclear-armed neighbors India and Pakistan control parts of Kashmir, but claim it in full, and have fought two of their three wars over the region.
Philippines invites Saudi partnerships in halal industry, renewables
- Govt wants renewables to contribute 35% to energy mix by 2030
- It launched strategic plan to develop domestic halal industry in January
MANILA: The Philippines says it is open to expanding partnerships with Saudi Arabia in its top priority sectors, including renewable energy and the halal industry.
The use of renewable energy was announced as the main issue in the country’s climate agenda during President Ferdinand Marcos Jr.’s first state of the nation address in 2022.
Renewable energy contributes about 30 percent to the Philippines’ energy mix, which is dominated by coal and oil. The government seeks to increase it to 35 percent by 2030 and 50 percent by 2040, and make renewables more accessible to the public.
“Given the Kingdom’s role in the supply of conventional and renewable energy, the Philippines is open to possible partnerships in the field of renewables,” Foreign Affairs Secretary Enrique Manalo told Arab News this week.
An agreement to enhance cooperation in the field was reached in October, during President Ferdinand Marcos’ visit to the Kingdom at the invitation of Saudi Crown Mohammed bin Salman.
A business delegation accompanying the president signed investment agreements collectively worth more than $4.26 billion with Saudi business leaders.
“With Saudi Arabia’s role as a regional business and political hub, we wish to increase investments,” Manalo said.
“Further, amidst the region’s changing landscape and economic diversification initiatives, we aspire to expand our partnership in the fields of agriculture, tourism and the halal industry.”
In January, the predominantly Catholic Philippines — where Muslims constitute about 10 percent of the almost 120 million population — launched its Halal Industry Development Strategic Plan to tap into the global halal market, which is estimated to be worth more than $7 trillion.
The plan aims to double the industry’s output in the next four years, create 120,000 new jobs and attract $4 billion in investments by 2028.
Greece to bring in Egyptian farm workers amid labor shortage
- Greece will take in around 5,000 seasonal farm workers under the 2022 deal signed with Egypt
ATHENS: Greece will start bringing in workers from Egypt this summer to take on temporary farming jobs under a deal between the countries to tackle a labor shortage, the migration ministry said on Friday.
After a decade of pain, the Greek economy is forecast to grow nearly 3 percent this year, far outpacing the euro zone average of 0.8 percent.
But an exodus of workers during Greece’s economic crisis, a shrinking population and strict migration rules have left the country struggling to find tens of thousands of workers to fill vacancies in farming, tourism, construction and other sectors.
Greece will take in around 5,000 seasonal farm workers under the 2022 deal signed with Egypt.
The countries have discussed expanding the “mutually beneficial” scheme to the Greek construction and tourism sectors, the Greek Migration Ministry said in a statement.
Migration has long been a divisive issue in Europe, but the plan had won broad support from employers groups keen to find workers.
Greek Migration Minister Dimitris Kairidis met Egyptian Labour Minister Hassan Shehata in Cairo this week and said the countries should also step up cooperation to fend off illegal migration flows in the region.
Egyptian officials have said their country deserves recognition for largely stopping migrants setting off from its northern coast across the Mediterranean to Europe since 2016.
The European Union this year announced a multi-billion euro funding package and an upgraded relationship with Egypt, part of a push to cut down on the number of migrants crossing over from North Africa.
Rights groups have criticized Western support for Egyptian President Abdel Fattah El-Sisi, who came to power a decade ago after leading the overthrow of Egypt’s first democratically elected leader.
India says Canada has shared no evidence of its involvement in killing of Sikh separatist leader
- Three Indian nationals who had been temporarily living in Canada were arrested on Tuesday in the June slaying of Hardeep Singh Nijjar
- PM Trudeau set off a diplomatic spat with India in Sept. when he cited ‘credible allegations’ of India’s involvement in the Sikh’s murder
NEW DELHI: India said Thursday that Canada has shared no evidence to back its allegation that the Indian government was involved in the slaying of a Sikh separatist leader in Canada last year, despite the recent arrests of three Indian men in the crime.
India’s External Affairs Ministry spokesman Randhir Jaiswal also reiterated India’s longstanding allegation that Canada harbors Indian extremists.
Three Indian nationals who had been living in Canada temporarily were arrested on Tuesday in the slaying last June of Hardeep Singh Nijjar in British Columbia. Canadian Prime Minister Justin Trudeau had set off a diplomatic spat with India last September when he cited “credible allegations” of India’s involvement in the slaying of the Sikh separatist. India rejected the accusations.
Canadian Mounted Police Superintendent Mandeep Mooker said after the men’s arrests that the investigation into whether they had ties to India’s government was ongoing.
Jaiswal said the two governments are discussing the case but that Canada has forwarded no specific evidence of the Indian government’s involvement.
Meanwhile, Jaiswal said New Delhi has complained to Canadian authorities that separatists, extremists and those advocating violence against India have been allowed entry and residency in Canada. “Many of our extradition requests are pending,” he said.
“Our diplomats have been threatened with impunity and obstructed in their performance of duties,” Jaiswal added. “We are having discussions at the diplomatic level on all these matters,” he said.
The three Indian men arrested in Canada haven’t yet sought any access to the Indian diplomats there, Jaiswal said.
The three — Kamalpreet Singh, 22, Karan Brar, 22, and Karanpreet Singh, 28 — appeared in court Tuesday via a video link and agreed to a trial in English. They were ordered to appear in British Columbia Provincial Court again on May 21.
They were arrested last week in Edmonton, Alberta. They have been charged with first-degree murder and conspiracy to commit murder.
Spain, Ireland to recognize Palestinian state on May 21 — EU’s Borrell
- Calls for end to Palestinian-Israeli conflict have grown along with the death toll from Israel’s war on Gaza
- Spain, others agreed to recognition of Palestinian state, seeing a two-state solution as essential for peace
MADRID: Spain, Ireland and other European Union member countries plan to recognize a Palestinian state on May 21, the EU’s foreign policy chief, Josep Borrell, said late on Thursday ahead of an expected UN vote on Friday on a Palestinian bid to become a full member.
Spanish Prime Minister Pedro Sanchez said in March that Spain and Ireland, along with Slovenia and Malta, had agreed to take the first steps toward recognition of a Palestinian state alongside Israel, seeing a two-state solution as essential for lasting peace.
Asked on local Spanish radio station RNE if May 21 was when Spain, Ireland and other EU countries would recognize a Palestinian state, Borrell said yes, mentioning Slovenia as well.
“This is a symbolic act of a political nature. More than a state, it recognizes the will for that state to exist,” he said, adding that Belgium and other countries would probably follow.
Previously, Spanish Foreign Minister Jose Manuel Albares had said the decision on recognition had been made, although he did not give a date.
International calls for a ceasefire and permanent end to Palestinian-Israeli conflict have grown along with the death toll from Israel’s offensive in Gaza to rout out Hamas after the militants’ deadly cross-border attack on Oct. 7.
Israel has said plans for Palestinian recognition constitute a “prize for terrorism” that would reduce the chances of a negotiated resolution to the Gaza conflict.
On Friday the United Nations General Assembly is set to back a Palestinian bid to become a full UN member by recognizing it as qualified to join and sending the application back to the UN Security Council to “reconsider the matter favorably.”
Ireland’s national broadcaster RTE said on Thursday that Spain, Ireland, Slovenia and Malta had been waiting for the UN vote and were considering a joint recognition on May 21.
A spokesperson for the Spanish Foreign Ministry did not immediately respond to a request for comment. There was no immediate comment on the date from the other countries.
Slovenian Prime Minister Robert Golob said earlier this week his country would recognize Palestine’s statehood by mid June.
Since 1988, 139 out of 193 UN member states have recognized Palestinian statehood.
