Mali troops redeploy toward rebel stronghold: Security officials

A security official said the convoy was made up of 119 vehicles and was currently stopped on the road to the north of Gao. (Reuters/File)
Short Url
Updated 03 October 2023
Follow

Mali troops redeploy toward rebel stronghold: Security officials

  • Kidal lies more than 1,500 kilometers from the capital Bamako and hundreds of kilometers from the cities of Gao and Timbuktu

DAKAR: The Malian army began redeploying troops on Monday toward the northern rebel stronghold of Kidal, two security officials said, amid a resumption of hostilities in the region.

“As part of the reorganization of our arrangements in the north, we have begun the redeployment of our forces in the northeastern region of Kidal,” a Mali military official who spoke on condition of anonymity said.

A convoy left the northern city of Gao, which lies 300 kilometers southwest of Kidal, early Monday, the source added.

Another security official said the convoy was made up of 119 vehicles and was currently stopped on the road to the north of Gao.

National security chiefs made the deployment decision at a meeting late on Sunday, he added.

Kidal is a crossroads region in the north that is not under the control of the Malian state but of a coalition of predominantly Tuareg groups called the Coordination of Azawad Movements.

Since the end of August, the north of Mali has seen a resumption of hostilities by the CMA and an intensification of militant attacks against the army. The fact that Kidal is still controlled by the ex-rebels continues to pose a sovereignty issue and remains a source of irritation for Bamako, including for the junta. Junta leaders have made re-establishing state control across the whole country one of their main messages.

Kidal lies more than 1,500 kilometers from the capital Bamako and hundreds of kilometers from the cities of Gao and Timbuktu.

It is a crucial stopover between Mali and Algeria.

When an insurrection broke out in 2012, the region was one of the first in Mali to fall into the hands of the rebels.

It was taken over by the CMA in 2013 following military intervention by France, and has remained in their hands despite a 2014 attempt by the Malian army to regain control.

In 2015, the rebels signed the so-called Algiers peace agreement with pro-government armed groups and the state.

The 2012, insurrection paved the way for armed groups linked to Al-Qaeda to conquer most of the north, triggering France’s intervention and plunging the Sahel into war that has left thousands dead.

The Al-Qaeda-affiliated militant alliance now operates over large swathes of the north and center of Mali as well as on the outskirts of the capital Bamako.

In the northeast, groups affiliated to Daesh have extended their hold over almost all of the Menaka region.

The insurgency that erupted in northern Mali in 2012 spread to Niger and Burkina Faso in 2015.

Following back-to-back coups in 2020 and 2021, the Malian junta pushed out France’s anti-rebel force in 2022.

Northern Mali has seen a series of attacks on the army in recent weeks which coincides with the ongoing withdrawal of the UN stabilization force MINUSMA.

MINUSMA has been handing over its camps to Malian authorities, but the separatists claim they should be returned to their control.

The UN mission has still to vacate its camp at Kidal and two other sites further north by the end of December.

Mali’s junta chief Col. Assimi Goita, speaking on the anniversary of the West African nation’s 1960 independence from France last month, pledged to retake control of the country from militant groups and rebels.


Ukraine says Russian shells hit private homes, four killed

Updated 1 sec ago
Follow

Ukraine says Russian shells hit private homes, four killed

KYIV: Russian shells struck a residential building and private houses on Tuesday, killing four and injuring at least five people, local Ukrainian officials said.
A five-story building was hit in the morning in the southern town of Nikopol, Dnipropetrovsk region governor Serhiy Lysak said.
“A 63-year-old man was killed. Two women, aged 65 and 63, were injured. There may be people under the rubble,” he said on Telegram messenger.
In a separate attack in the afternoon, Russian shelling destroyed at least five private houses in a northern settlement just on the border with Russia, Sumy regional prosecutors reported.
Two bodies have been recovered from the rubble, and a 7-year-old girl died in hospital after a car she was in came under fire, the prosecutors said on Telegram. Three people have been injured.
Russia has denied deliberately targeting civilians although many have been killed in its frequent air strikes.

Sri Lanka eyes Saudi investment to modernize tourism sector

Updated 20 min 51 sec ago
Follow

Sri Lanka eyes Saudi investment to modernize tourism sector

  • Tourism is a key industry for Sri Lanka, accounting for 12 percent of GDP in 2019
  • Officials also discussed possibility of Saudia Airlines launching direct flight to Colombo

COLOMBO: Sri Lanka is looking for Saudi investment to modernize its tourism and other sectors, top officials in Colombo have said following an official visit of Saudi Economy and Planning Minister Faisal Al-Ibrahim. 

Al-Ibrahim was in the Sri Lankan capital on Monday, where he met President Ranil Wickremesinghe and Foreign Minister Ali Sabry to discuss ways to strengthen economic ties. 

“President Ranil Wickremesinghe … further highlighted that the tourism and agriculture sectors were areas open to greater investment, as the country is committed to modernizing these domains,” the presidential secretariat said in a statement. 

Tourism and agriculture are key industries for Sri Lanka, accounting for about 12 percent and 7 percent of its 2019 GDP respectively. The country has been working to revive its crisis-hit economy following a severe financial crisis that drove the country to bankruptcy last year. 

Al-Ibrahim said that he was honored to meet Wickremesinghe. 

“We discussed both countries’ ambitions and transformation journeys as well as strengthening our bilateral economic ties and trade and investment growth opportunities,” Al-Ibrahim wrote on X, the social media platform formerly known as Twitter. 

During Al-Ibrahim’s meeting with Sabry, the two officials discussed Saudi investment, as well as manpower and tourism cooperation, the foreign minister said.  

“We also discussed (ways) to improve the tourism traffic between the two countries and further strengthen people-to-people contact. We also discussed the possibility of Saudia Airlines commencing direct flights to Colombo,” Sabry told Arab News. 

“We decided to explore possibilities of Saudi investment in Sri Lanka and opportunities for the Sri Lankans for further skilled employment opportunities in Saudi Arabia in its planned construction boom,” he said, alluding to the Kingdom’s various megaprojects under Vision 2030.  

“All in all, we had a very productive discussion and agreed to have a clear plan to continue our cooperation.” 

Saudi Arabia and Sri Lanka have expanded ties in the past year. They agreed to broaden their political consultation following their first joint committee meeting in May and earlier this year launched a new employment scheme aimed at boosting Colombo’s manpower exports to the Kingdom.


Finland closes Russian border for 2 weeks to stop asylum seekers

Updated 56 min 57 sec ago
Follow

Finland closes Russian border for 2 weeks to stop asylum seekers

  • Some 900 asylum seekers from nations including Kenya, Morocco, Pakistan, Somalia, Syria and Yemen have entered Finland from Russia in November

HELSINKI: Finland will close its entire border with Russia to travelers for the next two weeks in a bid to halt a flow of asylum seekers to the Nordic nation, the government said on Tuesday.
Finland last week shut all but one of its remaining border posts to travelers from Russia, keeping open only the northernmost crossing located in the Arctic. But this too would now close, allowing only goods transport, the government said.
Some 900 asylum seekers from nations including Kenya, Morocco, Pakistan, Somalia, Syria and Yemen have entered Finland from Russia in November, an increase from less than one per day previously, according to the Finnish Border Guard.
The decision means only freight traffic can pass between the two countries.


Singapore sees logistics, green energy opportunities under Saudi Vision 2030

Updated 28 November 2023
Follow

Singapore sees logistics, green energy opportunities under Saudi Vision 2030

  • Saudi Arabia, Singapore elevated their ties to strategic partnership during PM Lee’s visit last month 
  • Manpower Minister Tan See Leng tells Arab News about Singapore’s interests in deepening cooperation 

SINGAPORE: Singapore sees growth opportunities in logistics, transport and green energy under the Saudi Vision 2030, Manpower Minister Tan See Leng said on Tuesday, as the two countries have recently elevated their ties to a strategic level. 

Saudi Arabia and Singapore agreed to strengthen relations during an official visit by Prime Minister Lee Hsien Loong to the Kingdom and his meeting with Saudi Crown Prince Mohammed bin Salman last month. 

The visit was preceded by seven memoranda of understanding to facilitate investment opportunities, which were inked during the third session of the Saudi-Singapore Joint Committee held in Riyadh, led by Tan, who is also the city state’s second minister for trade and industry, and Saudi Transport and Logistic Services Minister Saleh Al-Jasser. 

“Minister of Transport and Logistic Services Eng. Saleh bin Nasser Al-Jasser and I reaffirmed our commitment to growing our countries’ bilateral ties,” Tan told Arab News. 

“With Saudi Arabia’s Vision 2030, the country has seen new growth areas for Singapore’s businesses on many fronts, such as in logistics, transport and green energy. I had shared with His Excellency Al-Jasser Singapore’s interests to deepen our cooperation in the ports and logistics sectors and Singaporean companies’ interest to participate in projects arising from Vision 2030.” 

Singapore’s Manpower Minister Tan See Leng signs an agreement with Saudi Transport and Logistic Services Minister Saleh Al-Jasser, Riyadh, Oct. 17, 2023. (Tan See Leng)

Singapore, Asia’s top logistics hub, has been ranked by the World Bank as the first in the world for logistics competence, infrastructure and timeliness of services. 

During the Saudi-Singapore Joint Committee’s recent sessions, the Saudi Ports Authority, known as Mawani, and Saudi Global Ports, a subsidiary of Singapore’s port operator PSA, signed an agreement to establish an integrated logistics zone at the King Abdulaziz Port in Dammam. 

“The development of the integrated logistics zone is one of SGP’s partnerships with Mawani on its Vision 2030 roadmap to grow Saudi Arabia as a logistics hub,” Tan said. 

“On the energy front, I was pleased that Minister of Energy Prince Abdulaziz bin Salman and I signed the Energy Cooperation Roadmap. Through this, we will see closer cooperation in areas such as low-carbon solutions and technologies, renewable energy, energy efficiency and innovation for decarbonization. Prince Abdulaziz and I also discussed our countries’ commitment to our energy transition.” 

This year’s joint committee meeting also saw in attendance representatives of the private sector from the Federation of Saudi Chambers and the Singapore Business Federation, as well as members of a business delegation from Singapore, which signed five memoranda with the Saudi Ministry of Investment to facilitate their entry into the Kingdom. 

Tan said that Singaporean companies were also interested in working together with Saudis in the fields of oil and gas, tourism and hospitality, urban infrastructure and education sectors. 

He gave as an example Surbana Jurong, a Singaporean government-owned consulting company focusing on infrastructure and urban development, which has already established offices in Riyadh to work on design consultancy in NEOM, the Kingdom’s flagship smart-city megaproject under Vision 2030. 

“I am also glad that (the Saudi Ministry of Investment) has set up a Singapore office earlier this year in September, to promote investments into the Kingdom and facilitate Saudi companies tapping into Singapore to expand into Asia,” Tan said. 

“With these developments, I hope that in the years to come, there will be greater presence by Singapore companies in the Kingdom, and that more Saudi companies will explore using Singapore as a launchpad into Southeast Asia.”


Baltic nations’ foreign ministers pull out of OSCE meeting over Russian foreign minister attendance

Updated 28 November 2023
Follow

Baltic nations’ foreign ministers pull out of OSCE meeting over Russian foreign minister attendance

  • Lavrov said Monday he planned to travel to Skopje for the OSCE foreign ministers’ meeting
  • “For the past two years we have witnessed how one OSCE participating state has actively and brutally tried to annihilate another,” the Baltic foreign ministers said

SKOPJE: The foreign ministers of the three Baltic states have said they will boycott a meeting by the Organization for Security and Cooperation in Europe being held this week in North Macedonia, in objection to the participation of Russia’s foreign minister.
The foreign ministers of Estonia, Latvia and Lithuania issued a joint statement Tuesday saying they “deeply regret the decision enabling the personal participation” of Russia’s Sergey Lavrov. “It will only provide Russia with yet another propaganda opportunity.”
Lavrov said Monday he planned to travel to Skopje for the OSCE foreign ministers’ meeting, a trip which would mark his first visit to a NATO member country since Russia invaded Ukraine. In September, he was in New York to attend the United Nations’ annual gathering of world leaders.
The 57-nation OSCE was set up during the Cold War to help defuse tension between East and West. North Macedonia currently holds the organization’s rotating presidency and its foreign minister invited Lavrov to the two-day meeting starting Thursday.
“For the past two years we have witnessed how one OSCE participating state has actively and brutally tried to annihilate another,” the Baltic foreign ministers said in their statement. “Let us be very clear: Russia’s war of aggression and atrocities against its sovereign and peaceful neighbor Ukraine blatantly violate international law.”
They also accused Russia of “obstructive behavior within the OSCE itself,” citing Russia’s prevention of an OSCE presence in Ukraine and by blocking Estonia’s chairmanship of the organization in 2024. Lavrov’s attendance at the Skopje meeting “risks legitimizing aggressor Russia as a rightful member of our community of free nations, trivializing the atrocious crimes Russia has been committing,” they added.
Speaking to reporters at NATO headquarters in Brussels Tuesday, North Macedonia’s foreign minister, Bujar Osmani, said he believed he would be meeting Lavrov in Skopje.
“Lavrov is not coming to Skopje, in a way. Lavrov is coming to the OSCE just as he went to (the) UN in New York a few months ago,” Osmani said. “I won’t be meeting him as the foreign minister of North Macedonia, but as the OSCE chairman in office.”
Asked what he would say to Lavrov, Osmani said: “I think the Russian Federation has violated (the) commitments of OSCE principles that we have voluntarily subscribed to 50 years ago.”
“We have condemned the aggressor throughout our chairpersonship. And also we have turned (the) OSCE into a platform for political and legal accountability of the Russian Federation for its deeds in Ukraine, and we will continue to do so. And this is what I am going to tell to Mr. Lavrov as well.”
There was no immediate reaction from the Russian Foreign Ministry to the statement by the three Baltic states.