Month: February 2019

Iceland Allows Killing of 2,130 Whales Over 5 Years

Posted on by SeeEU

Iceland’s whaling industry will be allowed to keep hunting whales for at least another five years, killing up to 2,130 baleen whales under a new quota issued by the government.

The five-year whaling policy was up for renewal when Fisheries Minister Kristjan Juliusson announced this week an annual quota of 209 fin whales and 217 minke whales for the next five years.

While many Icelanders support whale hunting, a growing number of businessmen and politicians are against it because of to the North Atlantic island nation’s dependence on tourism.

Whaling vs. tourism

Whaling, they say, is bad for business and poses a threat to the country’s reputation and the expanding international tourism that has become a mainstay of Iceland’s national economy.

The Icelandic Travel Industry Association issued a statement Friday saying the government was damaging the nation’s “great interests” and the country’s reputation to benefit a small whaling sector that is struggling to sell its products.

“Their market for whale meat is Japan, Norway and the Republic of Palau,” the tourism statement said. “Our market is the entire globe.”

Iceland’s Statistics Agency says tourism accounts for 8.6 percent of Iceland’s economic production. In 2016, tourism produced more revenue than Iceland’s fishing industry for the first time.

Quota never filled 

Iceland has four harpoon-equipped vessels, owned by three shipping companies reported to be running them at a loss or small profit. Last year, the industry killed five minke whales and 145 fin whales, according to the Directorate of Fisheries.

Since commercial whale hunting resumed in Iceland in 2006, whaling companies have never killed their full quota. As a result, it’s considered unlikely that all 2,130 whales will be killed under this policy.

The International Whaling Commission imposed a ban on commercial whaling in the 1980s because of dwindling stocks. Japan in December said it was pulling out of the IWC because of its disagreement with that policy. Iceland is still a member of the IWC.
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Somalia’s Oldest Federal Lawmaker Fatally Shot in Mogadishu

Posted on by SeeAF

A Somali federal parliamentary lawmaker was fatally shot Saturday in Mogadishu, security officials said.

Al-Shabab militants armed with pistols shot the lawmaker, Osman Ilmi Boqorre, as he was visiting his new house that is under construction in the Karan neighborhood north of Mogadishu, according to witnesses.

A statement released by Radio Andalus, the terror group’s official mouthpiece, said “Members of  our Mujahidiin shot and killed the longest-serving member of the parliament of the apostate government.” Al-Shabab is allied with al-Qaida.

Boqorre died before the first responders arrived, police say.

Boqorre, was the oldest member of the current Somali Parliament. He was a lieutenant colonel in the army and became the deputy speaker of the Parliament of the then Somali Transitional Government (TFG) in 2007, but he resigned for health-related reasons in 2010.

One of his colleagues in the Parliament, Dahir Amin Jessow, was among those who first received news of the killing, and told VOA that Boqorre was known as a peacemaker and negotiator.

“He was a peace-loving person, the oldest, and one of the very active members of the Parliament,” Jessow said.

Boqorre is the first lawmaker to be killed in Mogadishu this year.

No one has yet claimed responsibility for the killing, but al-Shabab militants typically take credit for the assassinations of lawmakers, civil servants, other government workers and selective civil society activists.

In 2005, the group claimed responsibility for killing the late lawmaker’s son, Khadar Osman, in Mogadishu.

It’s the second high-profile assassination this week. On Wednesday, al-Shabab militants killed Deputy Attorney General Mohamed Abdirahman Mursal in Mogadishu.
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US-Backed Syrian Forces Hand Over 150 IS Militants to Iraq

Posted on by SeeEA

Iraqi security officials say they have received custody of a second batch of 150 Iraqi Islamic State fighters from U.S.-backed forces in Syria.

 

Two officials, speaking on the condition of anonymity because of media regulations, said the Syrian Democratic Forces handed over Iraqi nationals on Saturday night.

 

The fighters will be interrogated about their participation with the jihadist group, the officials said.

 

The SDF has told Iraqi authorities it has captured 650 Iraqi militants in the fighting for Baghouz, an IS-held village in eastern Syria, according to the officials.

 

On Thursday, the SDF handed over 150 militants, in the first significant transfer to Iraq.

 

Iraqi Prime Minister Adel Abdul-Mahdi has said Iraq is also preparing to receive thousands of Iraqi women and children living in SDF camps in Syria.
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Saudi Arabia Names Princess as New US Ambassador

Posted on by SeeEA

Saudi Arabia has replaced its ambassador to the United States, a royal decree announced Saturday, as the fallout over journalist Jamal Khashoggi’s murder tests relations between the two allies.

Princess Reema bint Bandar was appointed the kingdom’s first woman envoy to Washington, replacing Prince Khalid bin Salman, who was named vice defense minister.

Prince Khalid is the younger brother of Crown Prince Mohammed bin Salman, the country’s de facto ruler who also serves as the defense minister.

The reshuffle comes as ties with Washington are under strain following Khashoggi’s murder last October in the Saudi consulate in Istanbul.

After initially denying they knew anything of Khashoggi’s disappearance, the Saudis finally acknowledged that a team killed him inside the consulate, but described it as a rogue operation.

U.S. lawmakers have threatened to take tougher action against Saudi Arabia over the brutal killing amid claims that the crown prince was personally responsible.

The Saudi government has strongly denied he had anything to do with the murder of Khashoggi who was a columnist with The Washington Post.

The killing refocused attention on a Saudi-led military coalition’s bombing campaign in Yemen, which is gripped by what the UN calls the world’s worst humanitarian crisis.

Earlier this month, the U.S. House voted overwhelmingly to end American involvement in Saudi Arabia’s war effort in neighboring Yemen, dealing a rebuke to President Donald Trump who has publicly thrown his support behind the crown prince.

U.S. lawmakers this month also said they were probing whether Trump was rushing to sell sensitive nuclear technology to Saudi Arabia to please corporate supporters who stand to profit handsomely.

The House of Representatives committee has voiced fears that Saudi Arabia could convert U.S. expertise into making a nuclear bomb, heightening already severe tensions with regional rival Iran.
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German Cardinal Says Lack of Transparency Damaged Catholic Church

Posted on by SeeEU

On the third day of an unprecedented Vatican summit on clerical sexual abuse, the head of the church in Germany, Cardinal Reinhard Marx, said there was clear evidence that files on abuse were manipulated or had been tampered with.

Marx said the church obscured sexual abuse cases and an African nun told the gathering of world bishops to acknowledge the hypocrisy and complacency that had brought it to this disgraceful and scandalous place.

Marx said there was clear evidence that files on abuse were manipulated or had been tampered with.

After bishops spent two days reflecting on the issues of responsibility and accountability, Cardinal Marx used his speech to call for more “traceability and transparency.” 

“Files that could have documented the terrible deeds and named those responsible were destroyed, or not even created. Instead of the perpetrators, the victims were regulated and silence imposed on them,” he said. “The stipulated procedures and processes for the prosecution of offenses were deliberately not complied with, but instead canceled or overridden. The rights of victims were effectively trampled underfoot, and left to the whims of individuals.”

Marx added, “A full-functional church administration is an important building block in the fight against abuse and in dealing with abuse.”

He called for limiting pontifical secrecy in cases of abuse, releasing more statistics and publishing judicial procedures.

In an earlier speech to the assembled church leaders in the Vatican’s synod hall, a prominent Nigerian nun, Sister Veronica Openibo, said the church’s focus “must not be on fear or disgrace” but rather on its mission “to serve with integrity and justice.”

She said that at the present time the church is in “a state of crisis and shame.”

“We must acknowledge that our mediocrity, hypocrisy and complacency have brought us to this disgraceful and scandalous place we find ourselves as a church,” she said.

She spoke of all the atrocities that have been committed by members of the church and urged transparency saying that the church must no longer hide such events out of fear of making mistakes.

“Too often we want to keep silent until the storm has passed. This storm will not pass by. Our credibility as a church is at stake,” Openibo said.

Abuse survivors and demonstrators, meanwhile, held a demonstration in Rome calling for an end to the silence of the Vatican.

Pope Francis, who has come under intense pressure over the failure to deal with increasing cases of clerical sexual abuse, will close the summit on Sunday with a mass attended by all participants and a final speech.
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Sudan Opposition Vows to Press on Against Bashir, Despite ‘Emergency’

Posted on by SeeAF

Sudanese opposition groups, including the influential trade union association that is leading political protests against the government, are saying that they will continue their demonstrations against President Omar al-Bashir, despite a series of political shuffles he has made during the past 24 hours. Bashir declared a “state of emergency” in a Friday night speech, and replaced most of his government.

Protesters continued to chant slogans against the government and President Bashir overnight after initial hopes that he was stepping down were dashed by a televised speech he made to the nation.

He said that he was declaring a “state of emergency” across the country for a one-year period, and dissolving both the national and provincial governments, urging citizens to shun chaos in the streets, and promising leniency to young people involved in demonstrations.

Bashir made further changes Saturday, naming defense minister Gen. Awad Mohammed Ibn Auf as his new vice president. He also named former provincial government official Mohammed Taher Eyla to be the new prime minister.

Fresh impetus for opposition

Sudanese journalist Osman al-Mirghani told several Arab news channels that he did not think the changes Bashir announced were sufficient, insisting that the goal of the opposition remained the ouster of the president.

Mirghani said that the changes announced by the president were just a fresh impetus for further popular protests and the next step in the ultimate ouster of the Bashir.

Arab media reported that Mirghani was arrested after calling for Bashir’s ouster. Sudan’s intelligence ministry also continued to prevent opposition figures from speaking to Arab TV channels, interrupting many people as they spoke. U.S. broadcaster al-Hurra TV reported that several dozen opposition figures have been arrested during the past 48 hours.

The Sudanese Association of Trade Unions has called for more protests against the government and Bashir, insisting that he must step down. Despite the calls, the intensity of protests appeared to diminish a notch Saturday afternoon, as many people adopted a “wait-and-see” attitude.

No way out for Bashir

Egyptian political sociologist Said Sadek told VOA that he thinks the goal of Bashir’s political shuffle was to divide the opposition:

“The aim was that he wanted to break down the opposition between those who would accept the concessions and feel that this is enough… and the fanatics. He wants to isolate and then target them,” he said.

Sadek, however, does not believe that the strategy will work in the long term. “Bashir,” he argued, “is making the same kinds of concessions that [former Egyptian president] Hosni Mubarak and (former Tunisian president) Zein al Abidine Ben Ali made before they were forced to resign.” But the “problem with Bashir is that he has nowhere to go. This is the problem with all dictators in the Middle East. There is no safe exit for them.”

 

 
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UN Urges Egypt to Stop Executions Based on Forced Confessions

Posted on by SeeEA

The U.N. Human Rights Office is urging Egypt to halt all executions and to conduct investigations into all allegations that people are subjected to the death penalty  based on confessions obtained under torture.

Egypt has executed 15 people in February and the U.N. Human Rights Office notes the month is not yet over. The agency reports nine people were executed this week in a case related to the killing of Egypt’s General Prosecutor, Hisham Barakat.  

Regarding six other killings earlier this month, it says three men were convicted of assassinating a police officer and three others in connection with the murder of the son of a judge.

Human rights office spokesman Rupert Colville said in all cases the defendants have told the court they were subjected to torture to make them confess to the crimes of which they were accused.

“There is significant cause for concern that due process and fair trial guarantees may not have been followed in some or all of these cases, and that the very serious allegations concerning the use of torture were not properly investigated,” Colville said.  

In June 2017, the U.N. Committee against Torture completed a four-year confidential inquiry and concluded that torture is “practiced systematically” in Egypt. Colville told VOA the recent allegations of torture, in almost all of these cases, come against this well-established backdrop that torture is endemic in Egypt.  

“If torture was used to make a confession a considerable part of the prosecution’s case, then that should not be admitted in court. That confession produced under torture should not be admissible. And when these allegations have been brought up by the defense lawyers and so on, our belief is they are not being taken seriously enough by the courts,” he said.

Colville said a number of individuals convicted under similar circumstances in Egypt have exhausted all legal proceedings. He says they currently are on death row at imminent risk of execution.

 

 
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French Yellow Vest Protesters Seek Momentum on 15th Week

Posted on by SeeEU

Yellow vest protesters took to the streets across France on Saturday for a 15th straight weekend of demonstrations, trying to re-energize supporters while tamping down on the violence and anti-Semitism in the movement’s ranks.

Hundreds gathered at the Arc de Triomphe monument in Paris for a march through well-off neighborhoods to protest government policies they see as favoring the rich. It was among many rallies and marches planned around Paris and in other cities.

Five separate demonstrations were organized in the French capital.

Support for the movement has ebbed in recent weeks as it has splintered and outbreaks of violence continue. Online announcements for Saturday’s marches appealed for peaceful action, and one of the weekend protests aimed to stand up against anti-Semitism.

The extremist views of some protesters erupted in a torrent of anti-Semitic insults hurled at noted philosopher Alain Finkielkraut on the sidelines of last weekend’s Paris protest. The assault came days after the French government reported a huge rise in incidents of anti-Semitism last year.

A few hundred yellow vest protesters made the most of the sunny weather to gather at the Chambord Castle in central France for a picnic while activists reportedly blocked access to an Amazon platform in the southwestern city of Toulouse.

Local authorities in Clermont-Ferrand urged citizens to postpone their journeys to the central French city, where hundreds of yellow vest protesters gathered. The prefecture said police arrested 13 people — including seven who were placed in custody — and seized weapons including baseball bats and alarm pistols.

The yellow vest movement was named after the fluorescent garments French motorists must carry in their vehicles for emergencies. The protests started in November to oppose fuel tax hikes but have expanded into a broader public rejection of French President Emmanuel Macron’s economic policies, which protesters say favor businesses and the wealthy over ordinary French workers.   

 
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WHO: Pregnant Women Exposed to Ebola Should Get Vaccine

Posted on by SeeAF

An independent advisory body convened by the World Health Organization (WHO) recommends pregnant women and breastfeeding women in eastern Democratic Republic of Congo be vaccinated against the deadly Ebola virus.  Latest WHO figures put the number of Ebola cases in the DRC at 853, including 521 deaths since the beginning of the outbreak in August.

More than 80,000 people so far have been vaccinated against Ebola in the African country’s conflict-ridden North Kivu and Ituri provinces during the current outbreak.  The vaccine is still in its experimental stage. But since 2015 it has been given to thousands of people in Africa, Europe and the United States.  

The studies of the efficacy of the vaccine are not conclusive.  However, they indicate the serum is safe and protects people against Ebola.  On the basis of accumulated evidence, the group of immunization experts recommends continued ring vaccination for Ebola in DRC.

Ring vaccination is a strategy that prevents the spread of the disease by vaccinating only those likely to be infected with the virus.  WHO  spokesman, Tarek Jasarevic says the experts advise pregnant women at high risk of infection and death from Ebola should be given the vaccination.

“So, this aim, this vaccinating of women would protect them, provide them with more protection.  But we also know that if we use this ring vaccination that women who are in the community that is vaccinated then have a low risk.  So, it is really between risk and benefits and we hope that the use of the vaccine in pregnant women will generate some data for the future,” Jasarevic said.

The group of experts advise the vaccine be given to pregnant women in their second or third trimester as well as to breastfeeding women and babies under one year old.  

The experts also recommend that one or more of three other new experimental Ebola vaccines be tested in areas neighboring the affected regions.  They say pregnant and breastfeeding women should be included in these trials.

The WHO says all vaccinated pregnant women will be closely monitored until the birth of their babies to see if there are any adverse effects.

 
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Butina Lawyer to Russian State Media: Deportation Logistics Underway

Posted on by SeeUS

The attorney for Maria Butina, the Russian women whom U.S. federal prosecutors have charged with illegal foreign lobbying, says her passport has been handed over to U.S. immigration officials to expedite her anticipated deportation to Russia.

In an interview with Russia’s state run TASS news agency, defense attorney Robert Driscoll said he hopes the U.S. judge hearing Butina’s case will announce a verdict and sentencing date within two to six weeks of her next hearing, which is scheduled for February 26.

“Our hope would be that she’ll receive a sentence that will be equivalent to the time already served and that she will be released and deported soon after that,” Driscoll is quoted as telling TASS reporters.

Even if Butina receives a time-served sentence, which would trigger her immediate release, Driscoll said he would still need to negotiate with U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) officials to arrange for the deportation of a convicted felon.

According to Butina’s plea bargain with prosecutors, U.S. officials have the right to keep her in custody until she’s done cooperating.

“We think she is done with cooperation now, but we need to make sure the government agrees with that,” said Driscoll. “It depends on how long the government says they need, wherever there are any other cases that she needs to testify about.

“I’ve been talking to them in advance, obviously, trying to make that transition as smooth as possible so that we don’t have her in ICE detention for any significant length of time,” Driscoll said, adding that he’s hopeful her transition from her Virginia jail to Russia can happen in less than a week.

“We’re working that out,” he said. “ICE already has her [Butina’s] passport. We’re trying to make sure this happens as quickly as possible,” he continued.

Butina, who in December pleaded guilty to conspiring to act as an unregistered Russian agent, had been held in solitary confinement for months. Driscoll also told interviewers that, after her December plea, she was moved to a minimum-security cell and has since had access to a gym, meals with other female inmates, a prison chapel, and gets to watch television shows once or twice a week.

In January, Butina’s family told VOA that they were eagerly awaiting her return to her hometown of Barnaul, Siberia.

Driscoll said he’s not sure whether Butina would return to Russia via commercial or government flight.

Pete Cobus is VOA’s acting Moscow correspondent.

 
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Native Hawaiian Activists: We’ll Keep Fighting Thirty-Meter Telescope

Posted on by SeeUS

Any day now — or perhaps weeks from now — a caravan of trucks hauling heavy equipment will begin the eight-mile climb up Mauna Kea, a sleeping volcano on the “Big Island” of Hawaii, the first step toward building the Thirty Meter Telescope (TMT), the largest in the world, and the first of its kind.

Unless, that is, Kanaka Maoli (Native Hawaiian) activists and their allies can find a way to stop them, as they did in 2015.

Land use is a particularly sensitive subject for the Kanaka Maoli. Mauna Kea is part of the Crown Lands, 7,300 square kilometers (1.8 million acres) of land that belonged to the Hawaiian monarchy before it was overthrown — with U.S. help — in 1893.

When Hawaii became a U.S. state in 1959, all Crown Land was turned over to the Hawaiian government, to be held in trust managed for the benefit of the people. Five years later, the state designated Mauna Kea a conservation district.

In 1968, the state leased more than 111,000 acres of Mauna Kea to the University of Hawaii for $1 a year, a deal that benefits only the university, but not, activists say, the Kanaka Maoli themselves. Since then, 13 telescopes have been built on Mauna Kea’s summit.

‘Kid in a candy shop’

In 2003, the University of California and the California Institute of Technology began developing the TMT. Consisting of 492 mirrors aligned into one contiguous mirror, it will give astronomers an unprecedented glimpse back in time and space — as far back as the first generation of stars to emerge out of the Big Bang more than 13 billion years ago.

The TMT will shed light on some of astronomy’s biggest mysteries:  black holes, dark matter, dark energy, as well as the possibility of life on other planets.

“For an astronomer, this is like being a kid in a candy shop,” said Doug Simons, director of the Canada-France-Hawaii Telescope, explaining why scientists selected Mauna Kea as the site for the TMT.

“Mauna Kea is an absolute gem from the standpoint of astronomy,” said Simons of the 13 telescopes standing on Mauna Kea’s summit. “The site is among the darkest in the world, which means we can see faint things clearly.”

Mauna Kea also has a unique topography.

“It has a gentle slope as it rises 14,000 feet (4,200 meters) up from the Pacific Ocean. There are no jagged edges on Mauna Kea, which means trade winds blow up and over the top of the volcano with very little turbulence,” Simons said.

That means astronomers can get a better look into space from Mauna Kea than practically anywhere else.

But Lanakilaoka Mangauil, the Kanaka Maoli director of the Hawaiian Cultural Center of Hamakua, views the TMT as a violation — culturally, environmentally and legally.

“Mauna Kea is what we call the wao akua, the realm for the high gods,” he said. “Many of the deities that we recognize live on the mountain, and we don’t climb to its summit unless we have to.”

The mountain is dotted with shrines and burial sites, which Mangauil said are at risk of desecration.

TMT developers, however, say there is no cause for concern.

“Great care was taken to identify the best location for TMT out of respect for Mauna Kea’s rich ancestral history and the spiritual beliefs of Native Hawaiian culture,” said TMT spokesman Scott Ishikawa. “The selected site is below the summit, has no archaeological shrines or features, and has no burials.”

Mangauil bristled at the suggestion this is a clash of culture versus science.  For Native Hawaiians, he said, culture and science are one and the same.

“Mauna Kea is a registered ice mountain, and the permafrost in that mountain dates all the way back to the ice age,” he said. “The mountain is the crown of the aquifer and critical to our watershed.”

He listed plant and animal species, including the Weiku bug, that don’t exist anywhere outside of Mauna Kea’s summit.

“How do you protect a natural fragile natural ecosystem? You just don’t access it,” he said.

TMT’s environmental impact statement says no wells extracting groundwater exist near the summit of Mauna Kea, and that it will collect all waste and transport it down the mountain for treatment and/or disposal elsewhere.

TMT’s Ishikawa suggested it could be months before crews start clearing the site, but Mangauil said he has heard rumors they could begin within a couple of weeks.

“Right now, everybody’s on red alert, watching the roads,” he said.  “And when we see those trucks, we’ll make our way to the mountain.”
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Vote Counting Underway in Nigeria Presidential Poll

Posted on by SeeAF

Vote-counting began Saturday in Nigeria’s hotly-contested presidential election that was marred by violent outbreaks in the northeastern and southern parts of the oil-rich nation.

President Muhammadu Buhari was among the first of the country’s more than 72 million eligible voters to cast a ballot in his hometown of Daura when the polls opened Saturday for the country’s delayed election.

Just hours before voting began, explosions were heard in the northeastern Nigerian city of Maiduguri, the capital of the Borno State. Borno state police said Boko Haram insurgents tried to infiltrate the capital by launching artillery fire.

The state police added that “some missiles strayed into vulnerable locations” but no one was killed and the insurgents retreated. Other security sources said one soldier was killed and four others wounded.

In the northeastern town of Geidam, a military outpost was attacked before voting started. Military spokesman Colonel Musa Sagir said there were no casualties and people in the area were allowed to vote after calm was restored.

The electoral commission extended voting hours in some areas were polling stations opened late or ballot machines malfunctioned.

Buhari and his primary opponent, businessman Atiku Abubakar, both said as they cast ballots in an election that was delayed one week, they were confident of victory.   

In a nationally televised address Friday, Buhari said security had been mobilized across the country for the polls, and pledged that people will be able to vote without intimidation or fear.

Political tensions were high as Nigerians prepared to elect a new president and parliament. During the campaign, Buhari’s All Progressives Congress and the main opposition Peoples Democratic Party accused each other of attempting to fix the outcome.

Earlier this week, Buhari urged the military to be “ruthless” with anyone who tries to interfere in the voting process.

The remark drew sharp criticism from Abubakar, who said the military has “no role to play” in the elections.

Nigeria’s elections were initially planned for last Saturday but the electoral commission, citing logistical issues, abruptly postponed them just five hours before polling stations were set to open.

The commission said Friday it was ready to deliver free and fair elections. The chief spokesman to the commission chairman, Rotimi Oyekanmi, said officials resolved most of the problems that led to the postponement of the February 16 election.

Some 84 million Nigerians are registered to vote, but more than 72 million had received voting cards before the election began. The presidential contest is widely seen as a tight race between President Buhari and Abubakar, a former vice president.

After ruling briefly as a military dictator in the 1980s, Buhari won the 2015 election, becoming the first opposition candidate to defeat a sitting president.

VOA’s Peter Clottey contributed to this story from Abuja and VOA’s James Butty contributed from Washington.
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Hate Crimes Increasing, But Few Turn Out to be Hoaxes

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The number of hate crimes, or crimes against a protected minority, has increased over the last several years in the United States. Advocates fear the alleged false reporting of a hate crime by an American actor may cause people to doubt real victims and prevent some victims from going to the police. VOA’s Carolyn Presutti takes a look at the impact of a hate crime hoax in a country facing deep divisions.
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Lawyer for US-born Islamic State Woman: She Should Return to US

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A lawyer for an American-born woman who defected to the Islamic State says his client should be allowed to return the United States because she was born here, and he also argued that her child should be considered an American citizen.

The citizenship of Hoda Muthana has come into question after she requested to return to the United States from Syria.

U.S. Secretary of State Mike Pompeo contended Thursday that Muthana is not a U.S. citizen because her father was a Yemeni diplomat.

“She may have been born here,” Pompeo told NBC’s “Today” show. “She is not a U.S. citizen, nor is she entitled to U.S. citizenship.”

President Donald Trump said he ordered Pompeo to not allow Muthana return to the United States.

Attorney: Banishment not constitutional

Muthana’s lawyer, Charles Swift, the director of the Constitutional Law Center for Muslims in America, told VOA’s Urdu Service Friday that Muthana was born in New Jersey nearly two months after her father left his position as a diplomat in 1994, thus making her a U.S. citizen.

Swift says Muthana, now 24 and with a child, is willing to face U.S. prosecution that she willingly went to Syria and used social media to praise the killings of Westerners.

Swift argues that Muthana’s child, born in a relationship with one of her three jihadist husbands, should also be considered an American citizen.

“He would be a U.S. citizen by virtue of the fact under statute that he was born to an American U.S. citizen mother who had resided in the country for at least five years prior to his birth,” he said.

He says because the child was born in Syria, and because there was no U.S. Embassy in Syria, there would have been no way for Muthana to register the birth and receive a U.S. passport for her son.

Swift says he understands that is tempting to banish Muthana because she traveled to Syria to join Islamic State, but that would not be legal.

“Banishment is a very old punishment, except it’s not constitutional. The Supreme Court has only permitted the loss of citizenship in extraordinarily limited circumstances that aren’t really present here,” he told VOA.

He said the United States cannot “just unilaterally revoke someone’s citizenship” that they previously recognized. “The constitution exists to protect the unpopular,” he said.

Return, face punishment

Muthana has previously posted on Twitter a picture of herself and three other women appearing to burn their Western passports, including an American one.

Now, however, with territory held by IS dwindling fast, Muthana has renounced extremism and wants to return home to confront any criminal charges that could be lodged against her.

“To say that I regret my past words, any pain that I caused my family, and any concerns I would cause my country would be hard for me to really express properly,” she said in a handwritten note to her lawyers.

Standing in the way is Trump.

“I have instructed Secretary of State Mike Pompeo, and he fully agrees, not to allow Hoda Muthana back into the Country!” he said Wednesday on Twitter.

Taking back IS prisoners

Trump has attacked European allies that have not taken back hundreds of IS prisoners caught in Syria, where Trump plans to withdraw U.S. troops. By comparison, relatively few Americans have embraced radical Islam.

The Counter Extremism Project at George Washington University has identified 64 Americans who joined IS in Syria or Iraq.

Europe is debating the nationality of some extremists. Britain recently revoked the citizenship of Shamina Begum, who like Muthana traveled to Syria and now wants to return to her country of birth.

London asserted that because of her heritage she was entitled to Bangladeshi citizenship, but the Dhaka government Wednesday denied that she was eligible, leaving her effectively stateless.

VOA’s Urdu Service contributed to this report.
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Kurds Laud US Decision to Keep Some Troops in Syria 

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Kurdish groups fighting Islamic State militants in Syria welcomed the U.S. decision to keep up to several hundred troops in Syria, saying the move would be crucial to keeping peace in the region.

The White House announced Thursday that it would keep up to several hundred American military personnel in northeast Syria after the U.S. withdraws most of its troops from the country.

White House spokeswoman Sarah Sanders said in a statement that a “small peacekeeping group” would remain in Syria “for a period of time.” 

Syrian Democratic Forces (SDF), a Kurdish-led alliance that is aided by the U.S. in the fight against IS, said the decision has come at a critical time.

“This is a very positive step,” Polat Can, a senior leader in the SDF, told VOA. “The international community should know that the presence of such a force can avoid this region a real humanitarian catastrophe.” 

In December last year, U.S. President Donald Trump declared that U.S. forces would leave Syria. There are about 2,000 U.S. troops in Syria, according to Pentagon officials. 

As the war on IS is nearing its end with the U.S.-backed SDF fighters closing in on the militant group’s last stronghold in eastern Syria, Kurdish officials fear that other opponents might target them after U.S. troops withdraw. 

“In addition to Daesh, we have Iran, the Syrian regime and Turkey waiting for the U.S. troops to leave so they can attack us,” Can told VOA, using an Arabic acronym for IS. “The American decision could save thousands of innocent lives.”

The partnership between the U.S. and local Kurdish forces has been successful in pushing IS militants from nearly all territory they once held since 2014, including their de facto capital, Raqqa. 

Residents’ reaction

Local residents in northeast Syria say they believe even a limited U.S. military presence could guarantee a long-lasting peace in their region. 

“People here see this as a brave decision, which will make up for Trump’s earlier decision to pull out his troops from Syria,” said Barzan Sheikhmous, a local Kurdish journalist. 

“The presence of an American force, no matter how small it is, is seen as the only deterrent to keep Syrian regime forces and allied Iranian militias at bay,” Sheikhmous told VOA in a phone interview. 

In a recent interview, Syrian President Bashar al-Assad vowed that the Syrian military would recapture all the territory that isn’t currently under the control of his regime, including Kurdish-held areas. 

Some experts also believe that keeping a number of U.S. troops in Syria could be a sign to encourage other countries to deploy their forces to Syria.   

“Trump’s decision is acknowledgement that there needs to be a small U.S. ‘anchor force’ that remains in Syria, for the time being, to keep U.S. coalition partner militaries on the ground in Syria,” said Nicholas Heras, a Syria expert at the Center for a New American Security.

Senior U.S. lawmakers and military officials recently called on America’s allies in Europe to send troops to Syria to partake in protecting an internationally monitored safe zone in the northeastern part of the war-torn country. 

“I believe that keeping a number of American troops and a larger number of coalition troops, with air protection, will play a role in securing stability and protecting the region, too,” Abdulkarim Omar, co-chair of foreign relations of the Kurdish-led region, told the Reuters news agency.  

A win for SDF

The U.S. decision is also seen as “a big win for the SDF, and even a win for [Turkish President Recep Tayyip] Erdogan, who for the time being does not have to worry about being held responsible for the re-emergence of ISIS in Syria,” analyst Heras said, using an acronym for IS. 

Turkey, which considers Syrian Kurdish fighters affiliated with the SDF as terrorists, has long threatened to carry out a military offensive in Kurdish-held areas in Syria. Ankara has also criticized the increased U.S. support for Syrian Kurdish forces.  

“The U.S. government’s ongoing attempts to fine-tune its Syria policy results from the need to balance the conflicting interests of its Syrian Kurdish partners and NATO member Turkey,” said Aykan Erdemir, a senior fellow at the Foundation for Defense of Democracies, a Washington-based think tank. 

But Erdemir charged that local politics in Turkey could hamper U.S. efforts to ease tensions between Turkey and Syrian Kurdish forces. 

“As long as Erdogan continues his alliance with ultranationalist factions in Turkey and pursues a hard-line policy against Kurds at home and abroad, Washington might find it impossible to reconcile the incommensurable differences between its Syrian Kurdish and Turkish partners,” he added.
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California Parents of 13 Plead Guilty of Torture, Abuse

Posted on by SeeUS

A California couple pleaded guilty Friday of torture and years of abuse that included shackling some of their 13 children to beds and starving them to the point it stunted their growth.

David and Louise Turpin will spend at least 25 years in prison after entering the pleas in Riverside County Superior Court to 14 counts that included cruelty toward all but their toddler daughter, and imprisoning the children in a house that appeared neatly kept outside, but was festered with filth and reeked of human waste.

The couple were arrested in January 2018 when their 17-year-old daughter called 911 after escaping from the family’s home in Perris, about 60 miles (96 kilometers) southeast of Los Angeles.

The children, who ranged in age from 2 to 29 at the time, were severely underweight and hadn’t bathed for months. They described being beaten, starved and caged.

David Turpin appeared stoic as he pleaded guilty, but Louise Turpin’s face turned red and she began crying and dabbed her eyes with a tissue.

They ‘ruined lives’

The two face prison terms of 25 years to life when they are sentenced April 19, Riverside District Attorney Mike Hestrin said. 

 

“The defendants ruined lives, so I think it’s just and fair that the sentence be equivalent to first-degree murder,” Hestrin said.  

  

Hestrin said he was impressed by how resilient the children were when he met with them, though he said the guilty pleas were important to spare them from having to testify at a trial. 

 

The couple had faced dozens of additional counts if they went to trial. During a preliminary hearing, a judge tossed out a single count involving their youngest daughter, finding she was the only child who didn’t suffer abuse.  

The Turpins had led a mostly solitary but seemingly unremarkable life until the teenager jumped from a window and ran for help.  

  

David Turpin, 57, had worked as an engineer for both Lockheed Martin and Northrop Grumman. Louise Turpin, 50, was listed as a housewife in a 2011 bankruptcy filing.  

  

The family led a nocturnal existence and slept during the day, which kept them largely out of sight from neighbors in a middle-class subdivision. 

 

In a recording of the 911 call played in court last year, the girl who escaped said two younger sisters and a brother were chained to their beds and she couldn’t take it any longer.  

‘Help my sisters’

  

They will wake up at night and they will start crying and they wanted me to call somebody,'' she said in a high-pitched voice.I wanted to call y’all so y’all can help my sisters.”  

  

The intervention by authorities marked a new start for the children, who lived in such isolation that the teen who called for help didn’t know her address and some of her siblings didn’t understand the role of the police when they arrived at the house.  

  

Two girls had been hastily released from their chains when police showed up, but a 22-year-old son remained shackled.  

  

The young man said he and his siblings had been suspected of stealing food and being disrespectful, a detective testified. The man said he had been tied up with ropes at first and then, after learning to wriggle free, restrained with increasingly larger chains on and off over six years.  

  

Authorities said the children were deprived of food and things other kids take for granted, such as toys and games, and were allowed to do little except write in journals.  

Although the parents filed reports with the state that they home-schooled their children, the oldest child had completed only the third grade and a 12-year-old couldn’t recite the full alphabet. 

 

An investigator testified that some suffered from severe malnutrition and muscle wasting, including an 11-year-old girl who had arms the size of an infant’s.  

  

The kids, whose names all begin with the letter J, were rarely allowed outside, though they went out on Halloween and traveled as a family to Disneyland and Las Vegas, investigators said. The children spent most of their time locked in their rooms except for limited meals or using the bathroom.  

  

All the children were hospitalized immediately after they were discovered. Riverside County authorities then obtained temporary conservatorship over the adults.  

Happy not to testify

  

Jack Osborn, an attorney who represents the seven adult children in probate court, said they were happy the guilty plea spared them from testifying.  

  

“They are relieved they can now move forward with their lives and not have the specter of a trial hanging over their heads and all the stress that would have caused,” Osborn said. 

 

The adult children are all living together, attending school and getting healthy while leading lives similar to those of their peers. He said they value their privacy. 

 

The social services agency tasked with overseeing the younger children declined to comment on their cases, citing confidentiality laws. 

 

Jessica Borelli, a clinical psychologist and professor of psychological science at University of California-Irvine, said children who suffer such trauma face many challenges but she has seen people make miraculous recoveries. The guilty pleas from their parents, she said, could help, especially since many abuse survivors struggle with feelings of self-doubt. 

 

It is a pretty clear affirmation of how they were mistreated,'' she said.If there is any part of them that needs validation that how they were treated was wrong and was abuse, this is it.” 

 

The children have not spoken publicly, though they will be allowed to speak at the sentencing if they choose to, Hestrin said. 

I was very taken by their optimism, by their hope for the future, for their future,'' Hestrin said.They have a zest for life and huge smiles and I am optimistic for them, and I think that’s how they feel about their future.” 
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Iowa Sportscaster Suspended for ‘King Kong’ Comment 

Posted on by SeeUS

The play-by-play announcer who calls University of Iowa men’s basketball games was suspended Friday for the rest of the season for referring to the University of Maryland’s Bruno Fernando as “King Kong” during a game.

Hawkeye Sports Properties, the multimedia rights manager for University of Iowa athletics, announced the suspension of Gary Dolphin just hours before the 21st-ranked Hawkeyes were to host Indiana University. 

 

Fernando had 11 points and 11 rebounds, including a go-ahead putback with 7.8 seconds left, to help No. 24 Maryland beat Iowa 66-65 on Tuesday night in Iowa City. In describing the game’s closing moments, Dolphin said the 6-foot-10-inch, 240-pound African-American who was born in Angola “was King Kong at the end of the game.”

The reference was to a movie monster, resembling a huge gorilla, that has appeared in films and other media since 1933.

This was Dolphin’s second suspension of the season.

He sat out two games after being caught on an open microphone criticizing Iowa guard Maishe Dailey in a win over the University of Pittsburgh in late November. Coach Fran McCaffery called Dolphin’s comments about Dailey “inexcusable.”

Jim Albracht will replace Dolphin for the rest of the season. Bobby Hansen, Iowa’s color commentator, will continue in that role.

Dolphin, a fan favorite who is also Iowa’s football play-by-play man, apologized in a statement released Friday.

“During the broadcast, I used a comparison when trying to describe a talented Maryland basketball player. In no way did I intend to offend or disparage the player,” he said. “I take full responsibility for my inappropriate word choice and offer a sincere apology to him and anyone else who was offended. I will use this as an opportunity to grow as a person and learn more about unconscious bias.”

Iowa’s athletic department released a statement supporting Dolphin’s suspension, saying it “values diversity and is committed to creating a welcoming environment for all members of its campus community.”
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Trump Denies Reversal of Syria Troop Decision

Posted on by SeeUS

U.S. President Donald Trump said Friday that his decision to leave a small number of U.S. troops in Syria did not constitute a reversal of his plan to withdraw all troops from the country.

“I am not reversing course,” Trump told reporters at the White House. 

“It’s a very small, tiny fraction of the people we have,” he said, referring to the more than 2,000 American troops in Syria who are supporting Kurdish forces fighting the last of the Islamic State group.

Administration officials said the United States would leave several hundred troops in Syria while the rest would be withdrawn. 

Preventing ‘resurging’

A senior U.S. defense official, using an acronym for Islamic State, told VOA that the troops would remain in Syria to help “enable local forces to keep ISIS from resurging.” The official said the presumption was that the several hundred troops would be part of an international peacekeeping force.

Trump said Friday, “We have had tremendous success in defeating the caliphate.” He added the United States “can leave a small force along with others … whether it’s NATO troops or whoever it might be, so that it [the caliphate] doesn’t start up again.”

In December, Trump, anticipating the defeat of IS in Syria, made a surprise announcement that all U.S. forces would be out of Syria by the end of April. In doing so, he confounded many of America’s European allies and angered some of his own allies in Washington.

Republican Sen. Lindsey Graham of South Carolina, one of Trump’s closest allies on Capitol Hill, called it one of the “dumbest” ideas he’d heard. 

 

According to Graham, acting Defense Secretary Patrick Shanahan agreed that a complete U.S. withdrawal from Syria could lead to a resurgence of Islamic State and a Turkish assault on Kurdish forces, and could give Iran an advantage inside Syria.

Reluctance among European leaders

European leaders have said they will be reluctant to fill the security gap when U.S. forces leave.

But Shanahan said U.S. allies had not rejected the idea of staying in Syria as an observer force.

He met Thursday at the Pentagon with a representative of one of the European allies, Belgian Defense Minister Didier Reynders, who said there had not been a blanket refusal from all U.S. allies to take part in a Syrian force.

“We are waiting for preparation of the withdrawal of U.S. troops and we are waiting now for more discussions about the way to prepare something,” Reynders said.

Shanahan told reporters Friday that “our mission remains unchanged in terms of the defeat of ISIS.” He said, “We’re working towards stabilization and to enhance the security capability of local security forces.” 

Phone call to Erdogan

Trump spoke by telephone Thursday with Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdogan. The White House said they agreed to keep working on creating a “potential safe zone” inside Syria, which would keep Kurdish forces safe from possible a Turkish attack.

America’s Kurdish allies in Syria are concerned they would face Turkey’s wrath following a U.S. withdrawal.

Turkey says the Syrian troops are allied with the Kurdistan Workers’ Party (PKK), which has been fighting for greater Kurdish autonomy inside Turkey.   

Turkey regards the PKK as a terrorist group.

VOA’s Carla Babb at the Pentagon, Patsy Widakuswara at the White House and national security correspondent Jeff Seldin contributed to this report. 
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Turkish Rights Crackdown, Global Outcry Both Intensify

Posted on by SeeEU

Turkish authorities have issued hundreds of arrest warrants for military personnel accused of involvement in a 2016 failed coup against President Recep Tayyip Erdogan. All are accused of links to the U.S.-based Turkish cleric Fethullah Gulen, who is blamed for masterminding the botched takeover.

Security forces carried out simultaneous raids on the homes of 295 military personnel early Friday, with senior officers, including colonels, being among those sought by authorities.

The prosecutor’s office said the arrests were the result of a surveillance operation centering on the use of public pay phones, allegedly by members of an underground network affiliated with Gulen.

Gulen, who lives in self-imposed exile in the United States, is accused of using his network of followers within the security forces to try to seize power, a charge he denies.

70,000 jailed

Mass arrests are continuing across Turkish society in connection with the attempted coup, with more than 70,000 people currently jailed. As the crackdown intensifies, however, critics increasingly accuse the government of seeking to stifle dissent rather than protect democracy.

On Tuesday, a Turkish appeals court upheld the convictions of 14 journalists and officials working for Cumhuriyet, the last critical mainstream newspaper. All face jail sentences on terrorism charges, linked to supporting Gulen.

The convictions have provoked widespread criticism and incredulity given the paper has been an outspoken opponent of Gulen for decades, writing exposes on his followers’ alleged infiltration of the Turkish state.

“We only have two days to live. It is not worth it to spend these days kneeling in front of vile people,” said journalist Ahmet Sik in reaction to his conviction and a seven-year jail sentence. Sik is now a member of parliament of the pro-Kurdish HDP.

Four of those convicted face jail, with their appeals process exhausted. The remaining continue to challenge their verdicts. 

Since the failed coup, scores of journalists have been jailed, and international human rights groups and media rights groups regularly cite Turkey as the world’s worst jailer of journalists. Ankara maintains that all those in prison were put there for non-journalist activities.

Turkey vs. PKK

The convictions Thursday of 27 academics by an Istanbul court on terror charges is adding further to criticism of the crackdown. The academics were jailed for two years because they signed a petition calling for an end to a decades-long conflict between the Turkish state and Kurdish rebels of the PKK. Turkey, the United States and European Union have designated the PKK as a terrorist organization.

So far, 129 academics have been convicted, with hundreds more still standing trial. Their prosecutions have drawn worldwide condemnation. 

The European Parliament’s patience with Ankara appears to be running out. The parliament’s Committee on Foreign Affairs called Tuesday for a full vote in March to suspend Turkey’s membership bid, citing the deterioration of human rights and the establishment of a partisan judiciary.

“Human rights violations and arrests of journalists occur on an almost daily basis while democracy and the rule of law in the country are undermined further,” European Parliament member Marietje Schaake said in a statement.

“Baseless allegations [are] a new sign of the European Parliament’s prejudice against our country,” Turkish Ministry of Foreign Affairs spokesman Hami Aksoy responded.

The European Parliament vote, however, is not binding, with Europe’s leaders having the final say on the fate of Turkey’s membership bid.

With Turkey an important gatekeeper to migrants seeking to enter Europe, analysts suggest European leaders will be reluctant to incur Ankara’s wrath.

On Wednesday, the legal crackdown widened further, with Osman Kavala, a leading philanthropist and millionaire businessman, accused of sedition, a charge that carries punishment of life in prison without parole upon conviction. He has been in jail for more than a year pending charges.

Kavala is one of the main supporters of civil society in Turkey, seeking to build bridges across cultural, religious and ethnic divides.

​Alleged Gezi ties

In a 657-page indictment, Kavala and 15 others are accused of supporting and facilitating the 2013 nationwide anti-government protests known as the Gezi movement.

The Gezi protests were one of the most dangerous challenges to Erdogan, who was then prime minister.

With the Turkish economy facing a deep recession and soaring inflation, the broadening of the legal crackdown to cover the 2013 civic protects is seen by analysts as a warning.

“The government realizes more and more that things are definitely not going the right way,” said political scientist Cengiz Aktar. “The government sends the message: Don’t dare to take to the streets and protest against my policies. I will be very harsh in repressing these kinds of protests.”

International outrage over Kavala’s prosecution continues to grow, with condemnation from the Council of Europe and European parliamentarians.

“Shocked, outraged and sad at the same time … accusing him of attempting to destroy the Republic of Turkey is totally crazy,” tweeted Kati Piri, European Parliament deputy and rapporteur on Turkey.

“President Erdogan and his government have concocted an entirely politically motivated case against Osman Kavala and 15 others,” said Kenneth Roth, executive director of U.S.-based Human Rights Watch. “Reinventing the Gezi protests as an externally funded coup attempt organized by Kavala is a cynical attempt to rewrite history and justify decimating Turkey’s independent civil society.” 
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Battle Over Franco’s Remains Plays into Spain’s Constitutional Crisis

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Spain’s long battle over the legacy of its 20th century leader, the dictator General Francisco Franco, is entering a new chapter as the government presses ahead with plans to move his remains from their current site in the mountains outside Madrid. Ministers have given Franco’s family until the end of the month to decide where the remains should be moved. As Henry Ridgwell reports, the planned exhumation has sparked fierce debate — just as Spain is undergoing an intense constitutional crisis.
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One Killed, 6 Hurt as US Gas Giant’s Convoys Attacked in Mozambique

Posted on by SeeAF

A Mozambican worker was killed and six others were wounded when two road convoys operated by US gas giant Anadarko came under attack in northern Mozambique, an area grappling with jihadist violence, the company said Friday.

The convoys were targeted Thursday on a highway linking Mocimboa da Praia to Afungi Bay in Palma, the nerve center of Mozambique’s nascent gas industry.

They are the first such attacks by militants targeting gas operators in the area.

Anadarko said there were “two related attacks” that occurred around 5 pm (1500 GMT) some 20 kilometres (12 miles) from an LNG project construction site at Afungi Bay.

“The first involved a convoy where six contract personnel sustained non-life-threatening injuries and were either treated or are receiving treatment, and we have accounted for all personnel,” it said.

“Tragically, the second attack, which involved the firm contracted to construct an airstrip for the project, resulted in one fatality,” it said in a updated statement.

A journalist in Mocimboa da Praia town told AFP that the worker, identified by the company as Gabriel Couto, was beheaded.

Armed men blocked the road and attacked the convoy with firearms, company sources told AFP, with local media suggesting that 15 attackers were involved.

Anadarko is among international corporations investing billions of dollars to exploit major gas reserves discovered off Mozambique’s northeastern coast.

Anadarko last month advertised in the local media for the supply of armoured vehicles for use in its northern Mozambique operations.

Threat to gas operations

In the latest statement, Anadarko said the construction site would remain on lockdown.

“We also remain in close contact with government authorities to ensure appropriate measures are in place to protect our workforce,” it said.

“We are still working to gather information and continue to actively monitor the situation”.

Anadarko early last year temporarily evacuated workers from the area and halted operations after the US embassy in Maputo issued an alert warning of imminent attacks.

Hardline Islamists have launched several deadly attacks in the Muslim-majority, oil and gas-rich Cabo Delgado province in the past year, stoking unrest just as Maputo pushes ahead with exploration efforts.

The Islamist fighters — reportedly seeking to impose Sharia law in the Muslim-majority province — have since October 2017 terrorised remote communities in the gas-rich region, killing about 200 people, including beheadings, and forcing thousands from their homes.

The Islamists belong to a group originally known as Ahlu Sunnah Wa-Jama — Arabic for “followers of the prophet” — but commonly referred to by locals and officials as “Al-Shabaab”, although it has no known link to the notorious Somali jihadist group of the same name.

Nick Branson, an analyst at the London-based consultancy Verisk Maplecroft, said the latest attack “marks a shift in tactics, as attacks have historically focused on coastal government positions and civilians, and have largely been carried out with machetes.”

“Militants now possess the capacity to threaten LNG operations on the mainland,” he said.
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More Than Half of South Sudan’s Population Facing Food Crisis

Posted on by SeeAF

Three leading United Nations agencies warn that more than half of South Sudan’s population is suffering extreme hunger, and humanitarian aid is urgently needed.

Nearly 7 million people in the country could face severe food shortages at the peak of the lean season between May and July, according to a report released by the Food and Agriculture Organization, the U.N. Children’s Fund and World Food Program, in collaboration with the government of South Sudan.

The lean season is a period of poor rainfall and little or no harvest, when food stocks are depleted and people often go hungry. Parts of the country that are at highest risk are the Greater Upper Nile, Bahr el Ghazal and Equatoria regions.

At the root of the hunger crisis is South Sudan’s five-year civil war. But World Food Program spokesman Herve Verhoosel says a series of poor harvests and large-scale displacements, which prevent people from planting crops, are other factors contributing to the food shortages.

“Poor families in the worst-hit areas are already experiencing food gaps,” Verhoosel said. “As many as 50,000 people will face famine-like conditions at the height of the lean season in July. … Sixty percent of the population will be unsure where their next meal will come from.”

WFP aims to provide food aid for 5.4 million people this year, requiring $662 million to cover the needs for the first six months, Verhoosel said. WFP still needs $145 million to meet this goal, he added. 

U.N. agencies report malnutrition levels are critical in many areas, with some 860,000 children under the age of five severely malnourished. Acute malnutrition is expected to increase throughout the country during the coming lean season.
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Nigeria’s President Promises Safe Voting

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Nigeria’s president says polling stations will be safe Saturday when the country holds national elections after a one-week delay.

In a nationally televised address Friday, President Muhammadu Buhari said security has been mobilized across the country for the polls, and pledged that people will be able to vote without intimidation or fear.

Political tensions are running high as Nigerians prepare to elect a new president and parliament. During the campaign, Buhari’s All Progressives Congress and main opposition Peoples Democratic Party accused each other of attempting to fix the outcome.

Earlier this week, Buhari urged the military to be “ruthless” with anyone who tries to interfere in the voting process.

The remark drew sharp criticism from his main challenger, Atiku Abubakar, who said the military has “no role to play” in the elections.

Nigeria’s elections were initially planned for last Saturday but the electoral commission, citing logistical issues, abruptly postponed them just five hours before polling stations were set to open.

The commission said Friday it is ready to deliver free and fair elections. Rotimi Oyekanmi, chief press secretary to commission chairman Mahmood Yakubu, said officials have resolved most of the problems that led to postponement of the February 16 vote.

Some 84 million Nigerians are registered to vote in the polls. The presidential contest is widely seen as a tight race between President Buhari and Abubakar, a former vice president.

After ruling briefly as a military dictator in the 1980s, Buhari won the 2015 election, becoming the first opposition candidate to defeat a sitting president.

VOA’s Peter Clottey contributed to this story from Abuja and VOA’s James Butty contributed from Washington.

 

 
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Civilian Trucks Seen Leaving Syria’s Last IS Enclave

Posted on by SeeEA

Trucks carrying civilians were seen Friday leaving the eastern Syrian village of Baghuz, the last remaining enclave of the Islamic State terror group’s self-declared caliphate.

It was not immediately clear how many civilians remain in the remote enclave near the Iraqi border.

The Associated Press reported the truck convoy was escorted by “gun-mounted pick-up trucks belonging to the U.S.-backed Syrian Democratic Forces.

Coalition warplanes launched new airstrikes Thursday against Baghuz, after efforts to evacuate civilians stalled.

The strikes, accompanied by artillery fire, targeted the outskirts of Baghuz  a day after 2,000 civilians were evacuated from the area.

“Coalition warplanes hit several targets on the western front,” said Adnan Afrin, a commander with the U.S.-backed Syrian Democratic Forces, told VOA.

“This created mayhem among the [IS] terrorists and gave an opportunity to some civilians in their captivity to flee,” he added.

The strikes allowed hundreds of civilians to escape the IS enclave by foot, Afrin added, noting some fighters were taken into custody.

Coalition and SDF officials say they believe hundreds of IS fighters remain holed up in Baghuz, many taking refuge in a collection of tents spanning no more than several hundred square meters. Officials, however, fear many IS fighters are also hidden in a network of tunnels and caves below the village, using an untold number of civilians as human shields.

Efforts to negotiate the release of the civilians has been slow, as a core group of the remaining IS fighters refuses to surrender.

Previous attempts to evacuate civilians, most of them from IS families, were slowed or delayed when fighters opened fire on those trying to flee.

SDF officials say once all remaining civilians have been evacuated, they intend to clear Baghuz of IS for good.

They say the IS fighters are running low on supplies such as ammunition and medicine, but admit it may be several days before they can move in.

“SDF can’t launch the last offensive with them remaining in the camp,” SDF Commander Zana Amedi tweeted Wednesday. “Operations to rescue civilians are likely to continue in coming days, since thousands remain trapped.”

Complicating efforts, SDF officials and observers on the ground say IS fighters, either from Baghuz or from sleeper cells located nearby, have launched a series of counterattacks on the outskirts of Baghuz and in nearby areas.

Kurdish officials, as well as the London-based Syrian Observatory for Human Rights, Thursday blamed the terror group for a suicide bombing at the al-Omar oil field, in the nearby town of Al-Sahil.

SOHR monitors on the ground said the blast targeted a convoy or workers. They said at least 20 people were killed, including six members of the SDF.

Despite such setbacks, Kurdish forces say they expect total defeat of IS in Syria by the end of the week.

Thousands of people, including civilians and some suspected foreign fighters who had joined IS, have streamed out of Baghuz over the past several weeks.

Many have ended up in camps like al-Hol in northeastern Syria, unsure of what will become of them. And SDF officials have said they have 800 to 1,000 foreign fighters in custody.

Late Tuesday, the SDF transferred more than 150 IS fighters to Iraqi custody, sending them by truck across the Syrian border. Iraqi officials said the move was part of a deal to repatriate and prosecute members of the terror group.

Still, question remain about what to do with thousands of other foreign fighters and their families. Many anti-IS coalition members, including the United States, Britain, France and Germany, have refused to take some back.

There are also concerns that once Baghuz is liberated, IS still has the capacity to wage an insurgency in both Syria and Iraq.  

U.S. defense and intelligence officials warn up to 30,000 IS fighters are still spread across the two countries.

VOA Extremism Watch Desk’s Sirwan Kajjo contributed to this report.

 
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