German Chancellor Angela Merkel met with Algerian President Abdelaziz Bouteflika on Monday during a one-day visit to the country to discuss migration and the situation in neighboring Libya.

Algeria’s official APS news agency reported the meeting happened in the presence Prime Minister Ahmed Ouyahia and other government members.

The discussions take on particular significance before April’s presidential election in Algeria. No candidate has yet emerged because everyone is waiting to learn whether Bouteflika, 81, partially paralyzed from a stroke and rarely seen in public, will seek a fifth term.

Bouteflika traveled to Switzerland earlier this month for medical check-ups.

Algerian television channels showed images of Merkel and Bouteflika talking together.

In a joint news conference, Merkel and Ouyahia said they agreed on a process to send about 700 Algerian migrants identified as illegally staying in Germany back to their country.

Ouyahia suggested that German airline Lufthansa should help with their transfer in addition to Air Algeria. Algerian authorities requested that no special flight is chartered, he said.

“Algeria will take back its children staying irregularly in Germany,” he said.

Merkel said they also discussed the situation in neighboring Mali and Libya, without providing details.

Before the talks, Merkel visited the hilltop memorial to “martyrs” who died in Algeria’s war of independence with France that ended in 1962.

Germany was Algeria’s fourth-largest commercial partner in 2017, with 200 German companies working in various sectors in the North African country.

This was Merkel’s first visit to Algeria in a decade. Initially set for February 2017, it was postponed because Bouteflika was stricken with the flu.

Both countries also sought to deepen their economic cooperation.

Mohamed Saidj, professor of political science in Algiers, told The Associated Press that Merkel’s meeting with Bouteflika provided the Algerian president an occasion to “show his adversaries that he keeps assuming normally the prerogatives of his office.”

Saidj stressed that Algeria has strong economic links with Germany especially in mechanical engineering, the auto industry, renewable energy, the chemical sector and pharmaceuticals.
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Syria appears to be rejecting urgent calls to prevent a humanitarian catastrophe in its northern Idlib enclave, the country’s last rebel-held area. Despite appeals by the U.N. Commission of Inquiry on Syria, the government says it is determined to do whatever it takes to root out “terrorists.”

Military attacks by Syria and its Russian ally against Idlib have been increasing in frequency and intensity during the past weeks.

The United Nations reports dozens of people, including women and children, have been killed and wounded, and several hospitals and schools have been attacked and taken out of service. 

The United Nations warns an offensive to retake Idlib, where nearly three million civilians reside, would trigger the biggest massacre of this century.

In a presentation to the U.N. Human Rights Council, Commission of Inquiry on Syria Chairman Paulo Pinheiro notes unlike previous battles in Dara’a or eastern Ghouta civilians in Idlib have nowhere left to flee.  War in Idlib, he says, would generate a humanitarian catastrophe.

“We call on all parties to urge restraint, to prioritize meaningful political dialogue, and to refrain from embarking on such a tragic repetition,” Pinheiro said. “To spare the civilian population in Idlib, parties must come to the table and engage in genuine and constructive political dialogue.” 

In response, Syria’s ambassador to the United Nations in Geneva, Hussam Edin Aala, said his government respects all rules of international humanitarian law and has taken all necessary measures to protect civilians during operations to liberate areas from terrorist groups. 

“Regarding Idlib province, the Syrian state is determined to liberate Idlib from terrorist entities and organizations, namely the al-Nusra front, classified by the Security Council as a terrorist entity,” Aala said.  “We are also determined to recover the state’s sovereignty.”   

The United Nations estimates about 10,000 rebels are intertwined among the civilians.  The commission says risking the lives of so many innocent people in a battle to defeat a relative handful of armed fighters is too high a price to pay.
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Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdogan and his Russian counterpart Vladimir Putin say they have reached an agreement that averts a looming military offensive on the Syrian rebel-held Idlib enclave.

“We will prevent a humanitarian tragedy which could happen as a result of military action,” Erdogan said after Monday’s talks at the Russian Black Sea Sochi resort.

The two leaders agreed to create a 15 to 20 kilometer demilitarized zone in the Syrian enclave. Putin claimed the agreement would remove the threat to the Russian Hmeimim military airbase, which has been targeted by rebels, including using drones.

Putin said Russian and Turkish forces would enforce the demilitarized zone, which would see the removal of the rebels’ heavy weapons as well as the “withdrawal of all radical fighters” from Idlib, including the Al-Nusra Front.

Syrian forces, backed by Russian airpower, were threatening to overrun Idlib — the last rebel stronghold. Erdogan has warned of a looming “bloodbath.” On Monday, he said the “world was looking at Sochi” to avert a humanitarian crisis.

A top U.S. official Wednesday called the talks between Russia and Turkey “encouraging.”

“The discussions that they’re having lead us down a path the potential that you’re going to get something that’s less kinetic [based on military action],” Defense Intelligence Agency Director, Lt. Gen. Robert Ashley, told an audience in Washington.

A military campaign “does no good for the long term of Syria because all it does is continue to add to the human suffering,” he said. “We want to see the factions and the different parties come together to be able to start to look at a way we can start setting peace and start working to a sense of normalcy.”

Up to 3 million civilians are believed to be trapped in the enclave, along with tens of thousands of rebel fighters, including jihadis linked to al-Qaida and the so-called Islamic State.

Erdogan said Monday’s agreement underscored the importance of the two countries’ deepening ties.

Turkish media reported that Russian Defense Minister Sergei Shoigu said a deal would soon be reached by Russian and Syrian forces to end airstrikes on Idlib.

The Sochi meeting is being viewed as a diplomatic success for Erdogan.

“We can say this is a success, as there is a new timeline of the 15th of October, when the heavy weapons have to be evacuated [from the demilitarized zone],” said former senior Turkish diplomat Aydin Selcen, who served across the region.

“The mere fact that this meeting in Sochi could have happened — the two leaders being of the same mind as much as possible — this tells me this Russian-Turkish relationship is still very much alive,” he added.”

Securing more time for Idlib was a key priority for Ankara.

“It’s asking for more time to find a nonmilitary solution to the Idlib conundrum,” said Sinan Ulgen, head of the Edam think tank.

Ankara fears any attack on Idlib would see hundreds of thousands of refugees fleeing across the border. With over 3 million Syrian refugees in Turkey, Erdogan said the country could not take any more.

Damascus, supported by Moscow, claims the Idlib region is a center of terrorism, which threatens the whole country.

At a summit in Tehran earlier this month with Putin and Iranian President Hassan Rouhani, Erdogan proposed that Turkish forces help to differentiate rebels from designated terrorist organizations in Idlib. Putin dismissed the proposal.

Despite backing opposite sides, Ankara and Moscow have been cooperating with Tehran to end the Syrian civil war. The process was initiated in the Kazakh capital of Astana, focusing mainly on resolving battlefield issues.

Turkish-Russian cooperation on Syria is the springboard for broader deepening ties, causing concern among Turkey’s NATO allies.

“If we witnessed such an operation against Idlib, it would undermine Turkey’s trust in Russia,” Ulgen said.

Analysts suggest Putin’s apparent accommodation of Erdogan is likely motivated by his broader strategic goal of continuing to foment tensions in NATO by courting Erdogan.

“Right after this meeting in Sochi, President Erdogan will be traveling to New York,” Selcen noted. “And so, maybe Putin felt he had to sweeten this relationship enough, so not to push Turkey towards the American side once again.”

U.S.-Turkish relations remain deeply strained over a myriad of differences. However, the two sides share common ground opposing Damascus’s threatened Idlib operation.

Ankara has also been reinforcing its armed presence in the rebel enclave. Under an agreement with Moscow and Tehran, Turkey has established 12 military observation posts in Idlib.

In the last few days, the observation posts have been beefed up with tanks and heavy artillery.

“We will fulfill our responsibilities in Syria,” Erdogan said Monday before his meeting with Putin. “The protection of civilians, as well as dealing with terrorists, are a crucial matter.”

Turkish armed forces are also deployed on the Idlib border, including long-range artillery.

“Moscow was determined to avoid the danger of a confrontation between Turkey and Damascus,” Selcen said.

The Sochi agreement appears to have at least bought time for further diplomatic efforts to resolve the situation in Idlib. However, analysts warn there are good reasons for caution.

“We have to wait and see what happens in the next month or so in Idlib,” said Selcen. “How will Turkey stop groups like Hayat Tahrir al-Sham [an al Qaida-linked group] [from] fighting and give up their heavy weapons? That task will fall heaviest on Turkey. It remains to be seen how they will achieve this. That is why I am cautious.”

Jeff Seldin contributed from Washington.
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The Israeli government announced Monday that it agreed to absorb 1,000 Ethiopian Jews — accepting just a fraction of the African country’s 8,000 remaining Jews who want to move to Israel.

Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu said that a special committee had agreed to allow community members who already have children in Israel to immigrate. It was not clear what will happen to the remaining 7,000 people.

Alisa Bodner, a spokeswoman for Struggle for Ethiopian Aliyah, a group petitioning the government to allow Ethiopian Jews to immigrate, called Netanyahu’s decision an “incredible disappointment” and “another spit in the face” for Israel’s Ethiopian community. Citing his previous vows, the group is calling on the prime minister to provide a path to citizenship for the remaining 7,000 members of the Jewish Ethiopian community.

Many of the 8,000 are practicing Jews and have relatives in Israel. But Israel doesn’t consider them Jewish under strict religious law, meaning their immigration requires special approval. The 8,000 are descendants of Ethiopian Jews who were forcibly converted to Christianity around a century ago, and the Israeli government views bringing them to Israel as family reunification rather than “aliya,” or Jewish immigration.

Israel agreed in 2015 to bring the remaining Ethiopians to Israel, but has not authorized funding for their move. The families allege discrimination.

Avraham Neguise, an Ethiopian-Israeli lawmaker and member of the special committee, said that while he welcomes the government’s decision, he was disappointed that this issue has yet to be resolved.

“We won’t cease in our mission, our struggle until everyone is reunited with their family here in Israel,” he said.

Neguise said the committee did not discuss plans for the remaining 7,000 Ethiopian Jews in Monday’s meeting.

Israel is home to approximately 144,000 Jews of Ethiopian descent, the majority of whom immigrated to Israel in the 1980s and 1990s. Last year Israel approved immigration for 1,300 Ethiopians with relatives who had already immigrated.

But their assimilation into Israeli society hasn’t been smooth, with many arriving without a formal education and then falling into unemployment and poverty. Ethiopian Jews have also protested in recent years against perceived discrimination in Israeli society.
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Syria held its first municipal elections since 2011 on Sunday, amid tensions with the country’s self-administered Kurdish region, which refused to allow polls.

Turnout was modest at stations in the Syrian capital and candidates aligned with the ruling Baath party were expected to win. The Baath party has controlled Syria’s political and security apparatuses since the 1960s.

Hassan Taraqji, a Baath candidate in Damascus, said reconstruction was a top priority for voters after more than seven years of civil war.

“We hope we can meet the people’s aspirations and improve conditions and services in the city,” he said.

The war waged by President Bashar Assad’s government against local opposition forces and the Islamic State group has cost the country more than $300 billion in economic damage, according to a recent U.N. study. Observers say more than 400,000 people have been killed.

But parts of the country remain beyond Damascus’ reach, including the U.S.-backed self-administered Kurdish region in north Syria, which also includes Arab and minority populations.

The region is governed by its own Syrian Democratic Council, which refused to allow the Damascus-organized elections to proceed on its territory.

“The regime wants us to remain under its rule and under the rule of the Baath,” said Ibrahim Ibrahim, a spokesman for the administration.

Kurdish officials say they want a federalized Syria that respects the northeast’s autonomy from Damascus and guarantees rights and privileges for national minorities.

High-level meetings between representatives of the SDC and Baath and federal officials in Damascus are yet to produce a breakthrough.

Damascus insists it will assert its authority over the whole country.

Hussein Dabboul, a Member of Parliament from Aleppo, a north Syrian city near the edges of the self-administration zone, said the the SDC was “linked to foreign powers and to the United States, and it has certain objectives and targets.”

The Kurdish-led administration itself is criticized for single-party rule.

More than 40,000 candidates are competing for 18,478 council seats, according to the Ministry of Local Administration. Polls are slated to close at 7 p.m. local time (1600 GMT).

Presidential elections were held in 2014 in limited areas of government control.
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