Cyclone Kenneth has hit the French Indian Ocean island of Mayotte and is barreling toward Mozambique. Downpours and strong winds pulled down trees and sent the most vulnerable resident fleeing to shelters in local schools. The tropical storm is expected to pass the north of the island Thursday and make landfall in Mozambique. Authorities in Mozambique are warning that close to 700,000 people could be affected. VOA’s Zlatica Hoke has more.
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Month: April 2019
Cyclone Kenneth Heads for Mozambique
Cyclone Kenneth has hit the French Indian Ocean island of Mayotte and is barreling toward Mozambique. Downpours and strong winds pulled down trees and sent the most vulnerable resident fleeing to shelters in local schools. The tropical storm is expected to pass the north of the island Thursday and make landfall in Mozambique. Authorities in Mozambique are warning that close to 700,000 people could be affected. VOA’s Zlatica Hoke has more.
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Saudi Accepted at Michigan School Was Among 37 Beheaded
Some material for this report came from The Associated Press.
Saudi Arabia’s beheading of 37 Saudi citizens Tuesday included a young man who had been accepted for admission to Western Michigan University seven years ago.
Mujtaba al-Sweikat was 17 when he was detained at King Fahd International Airport in 2012, according to the Detroit Free Press. Al-Sweikat reportedly attended a pro-democracy rally at the same time as the Arab Spring, which led to his arrest, the Free Press reported. He was reportedly imprisoned, beaten, tortured, kept in solitary confinement and not allowed to see his family.
“The violent killing of Mutjaba al-Sweikat is disturbing,” U.S. Rep. Debbie Dingell, D-Mich., said in an online statement. “Mutjaba had a bright future ahead of him and Michigan was prepared to welcome him as a student. Instead, he faced inhumane torture and pain ultimately leading to his execution.
“Every human, regardless of where they may be in the world, should have the right to speak openly without fear of persecution or death. Right now, I stand in unity with Mutjaba’s family and friends. I will never stop speaking up for all who promote free speech and due process around the world,” Dingell’s statement said.
Saudi dissident Ali Al-Ahmed, who runs the Gulf Institute in Washington, said 34 of those executed were Shiites, a religious minority in Sunni-led Saudi Arabia.
‘This is political’
Al-Ahmed described Tuesday’s executions as a politically motivated message to Iran. Saudi Arabia and Iran do not have diplomatic relations and compete for dominance in the Middle East because of religion, geopolitics and oil production.
“This is political,” he said. “They didn’t have to execute these people, but it’s important for them to ride the American anti-Iranian wave.”
Critics say the Saudi kingdom and its Sunni-led Arab allies have been bolstered by their relationship with the United States, which has been pressuring Iran’s Shiite clerical leadership to behave according to its expectations.
The Saudi Interior Ministry said those executed had been convicted of charges that included adopting extremist ideologies, forming terrorist cells to spread chaos and provoke sectarian strife, attacking security installations with explosives, killing a number of security officers, and cooperating with enemy organizations against the interests of the country.
It said the individuals had been found guilty under Saudi law and ordered executed by the Specialized Criminal Court in Riyadh, which handles terrorism trials.
The statement was carried on state-run media, including the Saudi news channel al-Ekhbariya. It opened with a verse from the Quran that condemns attacks that aim to create strife and disharmony and warns of great punishment for those who carry out such attacks.
The human rights group Amnesty International said the individuals were convicted in “sham trials” that relied on confessions extracted through torture.
Saudi students offer views
In a dissertation written by Molly Heyn in 2013 at Western Michigan University, some male Saudi students discussed their views about geopolitics after studying in the U.S. as international students.
“Freedom is a big thing because if [Americans] see something wrong in the government or anything, [they] can talk,” a student identified in the dissertation as Fahed said. Americans “can go on television and speak … [they] can change something … it doesn’t matter what it is, they can change it.”
A student identified as Mansoor in the dissertation said he learned about his own country while studying in the U.S.
“I met international students and I learned about Saudis. I spoke with Saudis from different parts of Saudi and from different families. It made me realize different cultures and like styles of life,” Mansoor said. “I think more about things and think from others’ perspectives. It makes me more aware of the differences and there are people from different cultures and that some people did not get a chance to see a different culture, to see a different people.”
In 2017, when faculty at Western Michigan were made aware of al-Sweikat’s imprisonment, they issued a statement, according to the Free Press.
“As academics and teachers, we take pride in defending the rights of all people, wherever they may be in the world, to speak freely and debate openly without hindrance or fear. We publicly declare our support for Mujtaba and the 13 others facing imminent execution. No one should face beheading for expressing beliefs in public protests,” their statement read.
The statement continued: “Mujtaba showed great promise as an applicant for English language and pre-finance studies. He was arrested at the airport gates as he readied to board a plane to visit our campus. We were unaware that at the moment we were ready to welcome him, he was locked away, beaten and tortured and made to ‘confess’ to acts for which he was condemned to death.”
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UN Evacuates Refugees From Tripoli Detention Center
The United Nations has evacuated about 325 refugees from a government-run detention center in Tripoli after some were allegedly attacked for protesting bad conditions.
Fighting between rival governments in Libya has made living in and near the capital extremely hazardous for civilians.
“The dangers for refugees and migrants in Tripoli have never been greater than they are at present,” Matthew Brook, deputy head of the U.N. mission, said Wednesday. “It is vital that refugees in danger can be released and evacuated to safety.”
The U.N. refugee agency said its decision to urgently move the refugees out of the Qaser Ben Gasheer detention center was triggered by reports that some had been beaten and threatened with gunshots for complaining about crowded conditions and the lack of food.
Twelve people were sent to a hospital.
U.N. officials say they are deeply concerned for the safety of about 3,000 migrants inside various detention centers in Tripoli. They say the fighting is making it hard to provide lifesaving help to the migrants, and that it is vital the civilians are freed from the centers and given a chance to get away from the fighting.
Thousands of migrants from Libya and elsewhere try to make the dangerous journey to Europe across the Mediterranean Sea from Libyan shores every year.
‘Dangerous and unsuitable’
U.N. refugee officials said Wednesday that Libya is a “dangerous and unsuitable place” for refugees and migrants, and that “no effort should be spared to prevent those rescued at sea from being returned to Libya.”
Along with a call for an immediate cease-fire, U.N. humanitarian officials said they urgently need more than $10 million to continue helping beleaguered civilians in Libya.
The officials said they have received just 6% of pledges so far.
Forces loyal to Gen. Khalifa Haftar and his rival government in the east have launched a military offensive against Tripoli and the internationally recognized administration of Prime Minister Fayez al-Sarraj. The fighting has been primarily centered in the suburbs south of the capital.
Libya has been in chaos since longtime dictator Moammar Gadhafi was toppled and killed in 2011. Numerous armed factions and militias have been jockeying for power and control of Libya’s oil wealth. The U.N. fears not only that the fighting will create a new refugee crisis in North Africa, but that terrorist groups such as Islamic State will take advantage of the chaos to dig in deeper inside Libya.
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IS Down But Still a Threat in Many Countries
Driven from its self-styled caliphate in Iraq and Syria, Islamic State is down but not out.
Where once they confronted armies, the extremist Islamist group’s adherents have now staged hit-and-run raids and suicide attacks. In some cases, the group has claimed responsibility for atrocities, including the bombings of churches and hotels in Sri Lanka that killed more than 350 people.
Its involvement is not always proven, but even if the link is ideological rather than operational, Islamic State still poses a security threat in many countries.
Iraq
After its defeat by U.S.-backed forces, IS has reverted to the guerrilla tactics it was once known for. Sleeper cells have regrouped in Diyala, Salaheddin, Anbar, Kirkuk and Nineveh provinces, where they carry out frequent attacks, including kidnappings and bombings aimed at undermining the Baghdad government.
In February, two people were killed and 24 wounded when a car bomb went off in Mosul, once the group’s Iraqi capital.
The Pentagon said in January that IS was regenerating faster in Iraq than in Syria. Analysts estimate that 2,000 active combatants now operate in Iraq.
Syria
After serious military setbacks, IS slipped into the shadows, staging suicide bombings and ambushes.
IS has carried out bomb attacks in towns and cities of northeast Syria in recent months, including some targeting U.S. forces.
Syrian Kurdish forces, which control the region and crushed the jihadists with U.S. help, have sounded the alarm about the group’s new tactics.
They believe sleeper cells have mushroomed across eastern Syria and expect guerrilla attacks to escalate. They also warn of the risk posed by holding thousands of militants in prison camps.
IS fighters still hold some ground in Syria’s remote central desert, where they have staged attacks in recent days.
Nigeria
Nigerian group Boko Haram has carried out attacks in the northeast since 2009 in pursuit of a caliphate. It has killed 30,000 people and forced 2 million to flee their homes.
The group split in 2016 and one faction pledged allegiance to IS. Islamic State’s West Africa Province (ISWAP) has focused on attacking military bases in raids over the last year. It has become the dominant militant group in the region as a result of these raids.
ISWAP’s activities are concentrated around Lake Chad, which borders Nigeria, Cameroon, Chad and Niger.
IS claims attacks in the Lake Chad region through its Amaq news agency. However, the extent of support provided by Islamic State to ISWAP is unclear and many security experts say the relationship is mainly in name rather than direct funding and logistical support.
Numbers are hard to pin down, but analysts put ISWAP’s strength at between 5,000 and 18,000.
ISWAP raises money through taxes on traders, smugglers and fishermen in the Lake Chad region. Inducements such as seeds and fertilizer have also been offered to locals.
Egypt
Egypt has seen no large attacks over the past year, but smaller incidents persist and the military is mounting a campaign against Islamist insurgents, mainly on the Sinai Peninsula.
The military says several hundred militants have been killed since it launched a major campaign in February 2018 to defeat fighters linked to Islamic State in Sinai.
Three civilians and four police personnel were killed this month by a suicide bomber in the North Sinai town of Sheikh Zuweid, the Interior Ministry said. Claiming the attack, IS said 15 people were killed or wounded.
In November, gunmen killed seven Christians on a bus in Minya province, south of Cairo. IS claimed responsibility.
H.A. Hellyer, senior associate fellow at the Royal United Services Institute (RUSI) and the Atlantic Council in London, said IS remains a threat in Egypt via two avenues: in the Sinai Peninsula, where part of the Ansar Bayt al-Maqdis group pledged allegiance to IS years ago; and in sporadic cells elsewhere, made up of more recent recruits and possibly returning fighters from Syria and Iraq.
Saudi Arabia
IS militants have carried out deadly bombings and shootings in Saudi Arabia against security forces and minority Shiite Muslims, after the authorities crushed an al-Qaida insurgency over a decade ago.
Saudi security forces said they foiled an attack by four IS militants north of Riyadh on Sunday, and arrested 13 others on Monday in connection with planning other attacks.
The security forces also raided a house they said the militants were using as a bomb factory, and seized suicide vests, homemade bombs, rifles and IS publications.
On Tuesday, the Interior Ministry said it had executed 37 people “for adopting extremist terrorist ideologies and forming terrorist cells to corrupt and disrupt security as well as spread chaos and provoke sectarian strife.”
Kamran Bokhari, a director at the Center for Global Policy, a Washington research group, said IS does exist in the kingdom but the Saudi security forces and intelligence service are “pretty much on top of things.”
Bokhari said that from IS’s point of view, Saudi Arabia is “the grand prize” because of because of the kingdom’s oil wealth and its prominent position in the Islamic world.
Michael Stephens, research fellow for Middle East Studies at London’s RUSI think tank, said the Saudi security forces are tracking a few hundred people, including some who have been to Syria, but there is no evidence that they have become operational.
Afghanistan
Islamic State in Khorasan (ISIS-K), which took its name from an historical region that covered much of modern-day Afghanistan and parts of Central Asia, appeared in late 2014 in the eastern province of Nangarhar, where it retains a stronghold. It announced its formation in January 2015.
The group’s leadership has pledged allegiance to Abu Bakr al-Baghdadi, the leader of IS, but it is not clear that ISIS-K has direct operational links with the main movement.
It has claimed attacks on civilian targets in cities including Kabul and fought the Afghan Taliban for control of a number of rural districts. U.S. commanders say its forces number fewer than 2,000.
The movement is little understood and many Afghan officials in Kabul doubt the veracity of some of its claims of responsibility.
Democratic Republic of the Congo
Islamic State claimed its first attack in Congo on Thursday, and declared it the “Central Africa Province” of the “Caliphate.”
Congo’s President Felix Tshisekedi said the defeat of IS in Syria and Iraq meant the group might come to Africa and take advantage of poverty and chaos in an attempt to set up a caliphate.
A spokesman for the U.S. Africa Command said the Allied Democratic Forces, a local militant group, had meaningful ties to Islamic State, to which it claimed allegiance in 2017.
Yet analysts see scant evidence for this. Marcel Heritier Kapiteni, a Belgian-based Congolese researcher, said there were no clear links between ADF activity and “international terrorism.”
He said it was likely that Islamic State was taking false credit for the Congo attack. IS “is losing battles in the usual bastions, which is pushing it to embark on a media war,” he said. “But the DRC’s terrain is not socially favorable to radical Islam.”
Sri Lanka
Islamic State claimed the Easter Sunday bomb attacks on churches and hotels and released a video showing eight men declaring loyalty to Baghdadi.
IS claims the men in the video, released on Tuesday by its Amaq news agency, carried out the suicide bombings.
One man in the video is Mohamed Zahran. Sri Lankan intelligence officials believe that Zahran, a Tamil-speaking preacher well-known for his militant views, may have masterminded the attacks.
Sri Lankan officials have blamed two domestic Islamist groups with suspected ties to Islamic State. The scale and sophistication of the attacks suggested the involvement of an external group such as Islamic State, said Alaina Teplitz, the U.S. ambassador to Sri Lanka.
Indonesia
Indonesia is the world’s most populous Muslim-majority country and most people practice a moderate form of Islam. But there has been a resurgence in militancy, and authorities have said they believe thousands of Indonesians draw inspiration from Islamic State, while about 500 Indonesians are thought to have gone to Syria to join the group.
A court sentenced a cleric, Aman Abdurrahman, to death last year for masterminding deadly attacks. Abdurrahman is considered the ideological leader of Jemaah Ansharut Daulah (JAD), a loose grouping of Islamic State sympathizers in Indonesia.
Suicide bombings in May last year in Surabaya that killed more than 30 were linked to JAD cells.
The Philippines
The Philippines fears that extremists fleeing Iraq and Syria could find a safe haven in the jungles and remote villages of Muslim areas of Mindanao, where there is a long history of lawlessness, clan rivalry, and separatist and Islamist rebellion.
Several splinters of the myriad armed groups in the southern Philippines have pledged allegiance to Islamic State, although none are known to have been endorsed as its Southeast Asian affiliate.
Islamic State often claims responsibility for bombings and rebel clashes with government troops in Mindanao, but their veracity is often disputed.
Security experts are concerned Islamic State could, through offers of money or through radical teachings, find fertile recruitment ground among disenfranchised youth in Muslim Mindanao.
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Trump’s Fed Pick Moore Draws Fire From Democrats; Republicans Silent
Stephen Moore, the economic commentator that U.S. President Donald Trump has said he will nominate to the Federal Reserve Board, is drawing new fire from top Democrats for his comments denigrating, among other targets, women and the Midwest.
But Republicans, whose 53 to 47 majority in the U.S. Senate gives them the final say on whether Moore’s pending nomination is confirmed, have not weighed in since news surfaced this week documenting Moore’s long history of sexist remarks, some of which he says were made jokingly.
As a Fed governor, Moore would have a say on setting interest rates for the world’s biggest economy. Some economists and Democratic lawmakers have questioned his competence, citing his support for tying policy decisions to commodity prices and his fluctuating views on rates. This week though, it is his comments about gender and geography that are drawing criticism.
“What are the implications of a society in which women earn more than men? We don’t really know, but it could be disruptive to family stability,” Moore wrote in one column in 2014.
In 2000, he opined that “women tennis pros don’t really want equal pay for equal work. They want equal pay for inferior work.” The New York Times among others has documented many other instances where he expressed similar viewpoints.
It’s just added evidence that Moore is unfit for the Fed job, vice chair of the joint economic committee Carolyn Maloney told Reuters.
“Those include his reckless tendency to politicize the Fed as well as his bizarre and sexist comments about women in sports that came to light this week,” she said.
Republicans, she said, “should also take note that Moore has said capitalism is more important than democracy. That’s a dangerous comment that further confirms my belief that Moore shouldn’t be allowed on the Fed Board.”
Maloney earlier this month sent a letter urging Republican Senator Mike Crapo and Democratic Senator Sherrod Brown to oppose Moore’s nomination. Crapo and Brown are the chair and vice chair, respectively, of the Senate banking committee, which would be Moore’s first stop in any confirmation hearings.
Senators Elizabeth Warren and Charles Schumer, both Democrats, have also publicly criticized Moore as well as businessman Herman Cain, who withdrew his name from consideration for the Fed this week amid mounting objections.
Cain said he stopped the process because he realized the job would mean a pay cut and would prevent him from pursuing his current business and speaking gigs.
The Senate banking panel’s 13 Republican members, contacted by Reuters about their views on Moore’s suitability for the Fed role after his derisive commentary about women came to light, all either did not respond or declined to comment.
But Brown on Wednesday blasted Moore for comments he made in 2014 calling cities in the Midwest, including Cincinnati, the “armpits of America.” Brown demanded an apology.
“It would be your job to carefully consider monetary and regulatory policies that support communities throughout the country” even those you apparently consider beneath you,” Brown wrote in a letter to Moore. “Based on your bias against communities across the heartland of our country, it’s clear that you lack the judgment to make important decisions in their best interest.”
your ad hereTrump’s Fed Pick Moore Draws Fire From Democrats; Republicans Silent
Stephen Moore, the economic commentator that U.S. President Donald Trump has said he will nominate to the Federal Reserve Board, is drawing new fire from top Democrats for his comments denigrating, among other targets, women and the Midwest.
But Republicans, whose 53 to 47 majority in the U.S. Senate gives them the final say on whether Moore’s pending nomination is confirmed, have not weighed in since news surfaced this week documenting Moore’s long history of sexist remarks, some of which he says were made jokingly.
As a Fed governor, Moore would have a say on setting interest rates for the world’s biggest economy. Some economists and Democratic lawmakers have questioned his competence, citing his support for tying policy decisions to commodity prices and his fluctuating views on rates. This week though, it is his comments about gender and geography that are drawing criticism.
“What are the implications of a society in which women earn more than men? We don’t really know, but it could be disruptive to family stability,” Moore wrote in one column in 2014.
In 2000, he opined that “women tennis pros don’t really want equal pay for equal work. They want equal pay for inferior work.” The New York Times among others has documented many other instances where he expressed similar viewpoints.
It’s just added evidence that Moore is unfit for the Fed job, vice chair of the joint economic committee Carolyn Maloney told Reuters.
“Those include his reckless tendency to politicize the Fed as well as his bizarre and sexist comments about women in sports that came to light this week,” she said.
Republicans, she said, “should also take note that Moore has said capitalism is more important than democracy. That’s a dangerous comment that further confirms my belief that Moore shouldn’t be allowed on the Fed Board.”
Maloney earlier this month sent a letter urging Republican Senator Mike Crapo and Democratic Senator Sherrod Brown to oppose Moore’s nomination. Crapo and Brown are the chair and vice chair, respectively, of the Senate banking committee, which would be Moore’s first stop in any confirmation hearings.
Senators Elizabeth Warren and Charles Schumer, both Democrats, have also publicly criticized Moore as well as businessman Herman Cain, who withdrew his name from consideration for the Fed this week amid mounting objections.
Cain said he stopped the process because he realized the job would mean a pay cut and would prevent him from pursuing his current business and speaking gigs.
The Senate banking panel’s 13 Republican members, contacted by Reuters about their views on Moore’s suitability for the Fed role after his derisive commentary about women came to light, all either did not respond or declined to comment.
But Brown on Wednesday blasted Moore for comments he made in 2014 calling cities in the Midwest, including Cincinnati, the “armpits of America.” Brown demanded an apology.
“It would be your job to carefully consider monetary and regulatory policies that support communities throughout the country” even those you apparently consider beneath you,” Brown wrote in a letter to Moore. “Based on your bias against communities across the heartland of our country, it’s clear that you lack the judgment to make important decisions in their best interest.”
your ad hereDiplomats Walk Out as Venezuela Hits US in UN Speech
Several dozen diplomats walked out from the U.N. General Assembly Wednesday to protest a speech by Venezuela’s foreign minister, who denounced U.S. calls on the world body to recognize opposition leader Juan Guaido as interim president.
Foreign Minister Jorge Arreaza took the General Assembly rostrum in the name of the Non-Aligned Movement as part of a special U.N. session devoted to the value of multilateralism.
Walking out were between 30 and 40 diplomats from the Lima Group, the coalition of Latin American nations and Canada that have nearly all recognized Guaido and declared the leftist Nicolas Maduro to be illegitimate after widely criticized elections.
In his speech, Arreaza accused the United States of wanting to “impose a dictatorship” at the United Nations through its “blatant attempt to expel or withdraw recognition of the credentials of member-states with full rights such as Venezuela.”
“This is discriminatory and unacceptable,” he told the session, in which the United States was not participating.
U.S. Vice President Mike Pence traveled earlier this month to the United Nations where he denounced Maduro as a “dictator,” part of a U.S. push for the world body to recognize Guaido instead.
Venezuela is facing the worst crisis in its modern history with inflation expecting to soar a mind-boggling 10 million percent this year, contributing to a shortage of basic goods that has caused more than 2.7 million people to flee since 2015, according to the United Nations.
Iran, another nation under heavy U.S. pressure, also appealed at the U.N. session for more multilateralism.
Foreign Minister Mohammad Javad Zarif denounced the “unlawful, unilateralist policies” of President Donald Trump, ranging from withdrawing from a European-backed denuclearization deal with Iran to threatening the International Criminal Court for taking up accusations of war crimes against U.S. troops.
“To defend multilateralism, it is imperative to deny the U.S. any perceived benefit from its unlawful actions and to forcefully reject any pressure it brings to bear on others to violate international law and Security Council resolutions,” Zarif said.
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Diplomats Walk Out as Venezuela Hits US in UN Speech
Several dozen diplomats walked out from the U.N. General Assembly Wednesday to protest a speech by Venezuela’s foreign minister, who denounced U.S. calls on the world body to recognize opposition leader Juan Guaido as interim president.
Foreign Minister Jorge Arreaza took the General Assembly rostrum in the name of the Non-Aligned Movement as part of a special U.N. session devoted to the value of multilateralism.
Walking out were between 30 and 40 diplomats from the Lima Group, the coalition of Latin American nations and Canada that have nearly all recognized Guaido and declared the leftist Nicolas Maduro to be illegitimate after widely criticized elections.
In his speech, Arreaza accused the United States of wanting to “impose a dictatorship” at the United Nations through its “blatant attempt to expel or withdraw recognition of the credentials of member-states with full rights such as Venezuela.”
“This is discriminatory and unacceptable,” he told the session, in which the United States was not participating.
U.S. Vice President Mike Pence traveled earlier this month to the United Nations where he denounced Maduro as a “dictator,” part of a U.S. push for the world body to recognize Guaido instead.
Venezuela is facing the worst crisis in its modern history with inflation expecting to soar a mind-boggling 10 million percent this year, contributing to a shortage of basic goods that has caused more than 2.7 million people to flee since 2015, according to the United Nations.
Iran, another nation under heavy U.S. pressure, also appealed at the U.N. session for more multilateralism.
Foreign Minister Mohammad Javad Zarif denounced the “unlawful, unilateralist policies” of President Donald Trump, ranging from withdrawing from a European-backed denuclearization deal with Iran to threatening the International Criminal Court for taking up accusations of war crimes against U.S. troops.
“To defend multilateralism, it is imperative to deny the U.S. any perceived benefit from its unlawful actions and to forcefully reject any pressure it brings to bear on others to violate international law and Security Council resolutions,” Zarif said.
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Trump Plan Doesn’t Include Jordan-Palestinian Union, US Envoy Says
An architect of a still-secret U.S. plan to end the Israeli-Palestinian conflict took to Twitter again on Wednesday to disclose another element that it would not contain a confederation with neighboring Jordan.
U.S. President Donald Trump’s Middle East envoy, Jason Greenblatt, had already tweeted “False!” on Friday to what he said were reports that the proposal would give part of Egypt’s Sinai desert to the adjacent Palestinian enclave of Gaza, which is ruled by the Islamist Hamas group.
On Wednesday, Greenblatt denied that the plan envisages a confederation involving Jordan, Israel and the Palestinian Authority, which administers limited self-rule in the occupied West Bank.
“@KingAbdullahII & #Jordan are strong US allies. Rumors that our peace vision includes a confederation between Jordan, Israel & the PA, or that the vision contemplates making Jordan the homeland for Palestinians, are incorrect. Please don’t spread rumors,” Greenblatt wrote.
White House senior adviser Jared Kushner, another main architect of the peace proposal, said on Tuesday it would be made public after the Muslim fasting month of Ramadan ends in June.
Kushner, who is married to Trump’s daughter Ivanka and spoke at a Time magazine forum in Washington, did not say whether the plan called for a two-state solution, a goal of past U.S. peace efforts.
Palestinian leaders have called for the establishment of an independent state alongside Israel in the West Bank and Gaza Strip, with East Jerusalem as its capital.
Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu, who won a fifth term in an election two weeks ago, laid down a series of conditions for Palestinian statehood in a major policy speech in 2009.
But U.S.-brokered peace talks collapsed in 2014, partly over the expansion of Israeli settlements in occupied territory Palestinians seek for their state.
In a last-minute election campaign promise that angered Palestinians, Netanyahu said he planned to annex Jewish settlements in the West Bank if he was again chosen as Israel’s leader.
The U.S. proposal, which has been delayed for a variety of reasons over the last 18 months, has two major components. It has a political piece that addresses core issues such as the status of Jerusalem, and an economic part that aims to help the Palestinians strengthen their economy.
Palestinian leaders have said Trump cannot be an honest broker after he broke with long-standing U.S. policy and recognized Jerusalem as Israel’s capital in 2017 and moved the American embassy to the city last May.
your ad hereTrump Plan Doesn’t Include Jordan-Palestinian Union, US Envoy Says
An architect of a still-secret U.S. plan to end the Israeli-Palestinian conflict took to Twitter again on Wednesday to disclose another element that it would not contain a confederation with neighboring Jordan.
U.S. President Donald Trump’s Middle East envoy, Jason Greenblatt, had already tweeted “False!” on Friday to what he said were reports that the proposal would give part of Egypt’s Sinai desert to the adjacent Palestinian enclave of Gaza, which is ruled by the Islamist Hamas group.
On Wednesday, Greenblatt denied that the plan envisages a confederation involving Jordan, Israel and the Palestinian Authority, which administers limited self-rule in the occupied West Bank.
“@KingAbdullahII & #Jordan are strong US allies. Rumors that our peace vision includes a confederation between Jordan, Israel & the PA, or that the vision contemplates making Jordan the homeland for Palestinians, are incorrect. Please don’t spread rumors,” Greenblatt wrote.
White House senior adviser Jared Kushner, another main architect of the peace proposal, said on Tuesday it would be made public after the Muslim fasting month of Ramadan ends in June.
Kushner, who is married to Trump’s daughter Ivanka and spoke at a Time magazine forum in Washington, did not say whether the plan called for a two-state solution, a goal of past U.S. peace efforts.
Palestinian leaders have called for the establishment of an independent state alongside Israel in the West Bank and Gaza Strip, with East Jerusalem as its capital.
Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu, who won a fifth term in an election two weeks ago, laid down a series of conditions for Palestinian statehood in a major policy speech in 2009.
But U.S.-brokered peace talks collapsed in 2014, partly over the expansion of Israeli settlements in occupied territory Palestinians seek for their state.
In a last-minute election campaign promise that angered Palestinians, Netanyahu said he planned to annex Jewish settlements in the West Bank if he was again chosen as Israel’s leader.
The U.S. proposal, which has been delayed for a variety of reasons over the last 18 months, has two major components. It has a political piece that addresses core issues such as the status of Jerusalem, and an economic part that aims to help the Palestinians strengthen their economy.
Palestinian leaders have said Trump cannot be an honest broker after he broke with long-standing U.S. policy and recognized Jerusalem as Israel’s capital in 2017 and moved the American embassy to the city last May.
your ad hereNYT: Potential Russian Meddling in 2020 US Election Sensitive Issue for Trump
Special Counsel Robert Mueller concluded that Russia engaged in “sweeping and systematic” interference in the 2016 U.S. election to help Donald Trump become president, but a new account says the issue is still too sensitive to discuss in front of Trump as it relates to what Moscow might do when he runs for re-election in 2020.
Former Homeland Security chief Kirstjen Nielsen tried to focus the attention of top U.S. officials on combating Russian influence in next year’s election in the months before Trump forced her to resign in early April after protracted conflict over immigration policies, The New York Times reported Wednesday.
But the newspaper quoted an unnamed senior Trump administration official as saying that acting White House chief of staff Mick Mulvaney warned Nielsen against raising the issue in front of Trump, who has equated discussion of Russian meddling in the 2016 election with questions of whether his election victory was legitimate.
The Times quoted a senior administration official as saying Mulvaney told Nielsen that Russian meddling in the upcoming presidential election “wasn’t a great subject and should be kept below his level.”
Mulvaney disputed the account, saying, “I don’t recall anything along those lines happening in any meeting.”
He blamed Trump’s predecessor, former president Barack Obama, for not forcefully confronting Russia about its ongoing election interference, although Obama and others raised the issue with Moscow in the lead-up to the 2016 election.
“Unlike the Obama administration, who knew about Russian actions in 2014 and did nothing, the Trump administration will not tolerate foreign interference in our elections, and we’ve already taken many steps to prevent it in the future,” Mulvaney said.
“In fact, for the first time in history, state, local and federal governments have coordinated in all 50 states to share intelligence. We’ve broadened our efforts to combat meddling by engaging the Department of Homeland Security, the Department of Justice, and the FBI, among others, and we have even conducted security breach training drills to ensure preparedness,” Mulvaney said.
Mueller concluded that Russian meddling in the 2016 election was widespread, including fake postings on U.S. social media accounts aimed at helping Trump defeat his Democratic challenger, Hillary Clinton, and hacking and disclosing emails written by Democratic officials that reflected poorly on Clinton.
But the prosecutor also concluded that while there were numerous contacts between Trump campaign aides and Russians, neither Trump nor his campaign conspired with Russia. In Trump’s frequent refrain, there was “no collusion.”
Jared Kushner, a White House adviser and Trump’s son-in-law, said Tuesday that Mueller’s 22-month investigation was “more harmful” to the U.S. than Russia’s 2016 election interference.
“You look at what Russia did, buying some Facebook ads and trying to sow dissent. It’s a terrible thing,” Kushner said. “But I think the investigations and all of the speculation that’s happened for the last two years has a much harsher impact on our democracy than a couple Facebook ads.”
“I think they said they spent $160,000,” Kushner said. “I spent $160,000 on Facebook every three hours during the campaign. If you look at the magnitude of what they did, the ensuing investigations have been way more harmful.”
your ad hereNYT: Potential Russian Meddling in 2020 US Election Sensitive Issue for Trump
Special Counsel Robert Mueller concluded that Russia engaged in “sweeping and systematic” interference in the 2016 U.S. election to help Donald Trump become president, but a new account says the issue is still too sensitive to discuss in front of Trump as it relates to what Moscow might do when he runs for re-election in 2020.
Former Homeland Security chief Kirstjen Nielsen tried to focus the attention of top U.S. officials on combating Russian influence in next year’s election in the months before Trump forced her to resign in early April after protracted conflict over immigration policies, The New York Times reported Wednesday.
But the newspaper quoted an unnamed senior Trump administration official as saying that acting White House chief of staff Mick Mulvaney warned Nielsen against raising the issue in front of Trump, who has equated discussion of Russian meddling in the 2016 election with questions of whether his election victory was legitimate.
The Times quoted a senior administration official as saying Mulvaney told Nielsen that Russian meddling in the upcoming presidential election “wasn’t a great subject and should be kept below his level.”
Mulvaney disputed the account, saying, “I don’t recall anything along those lines happening in any meeting.”
He blamed Trump’s predecessor, former president Barack Obama, for not forcefully confronting Russia about its ongoing election interference, although Obama and others raised the issue with Moscow in the lead-up to the 2016 election.
“Unlike the Obama administration, who knew about Russian actions in 2014 and did nothing, the Trump administration will not tolerate foreign interference in our elections, and we’ve already taken many steps to prevent it in the future,” Mulvaney said.
“In fact, for the first time in history, state, local and federal governments have coordinated in all 50 states to share intelligence. We’ve broadened our efforts to combat meddling by engaging the Department of Homeland Security, the Department of Justice, and the FBI, among others, and we have even conducted security breach training drills to ensure preparedness,” Mulvaney said.
Mueller concluded that Russian meddling in the 2016 election was widespread, including fake postings on U.S. social media accounts aimed at helping Trump defeat his Democratic challenger, Hillary Clinton, and hacking and disclosing emails written by Democratic officials that reflected poorly on Clinton.
But the prosecutor also concluded that while there were numerous contacts between Trump campaign aides and Russians, neither Trump nor his campaign conspired with Russia. In Trump’s frequent refrain, there was “no collusion.”
Jared Kushner, a White House adviser and Trump’s son-in-law, said Tuesday that Mueller’s 22-month investigation was “more harmful” to the U.S. than Russia’s 2016 election interference.
“You look at what Russia did, buying some Facebook ads and trying to sow dissent. It’s a terrible thing,” Kushner said. “But I think the investigations and all of the speculation that’s happened for the last two years has a much harsher impact on our democracy than a couple Facebook ads.”
“I think they said they spent $160,000,” Kushner said. “I spent $160,000 on Facebook every three hours during the campaign. If you look at the magnitude of what they did, the ensuing investigations have been way more harmful.”
your ad hereNotre Dame Fire Highlights Plight of France’s Underfunded Patrimony
France’s government met Wednesday to draft a framework for donations to rebuild Notre Dame Cathedral in Paris. While more than $1 billion has been raised in response to last week’s massive blaze, many other historic monuments across France crumble for lack of funds to preserve them.
The 12th-century Senanque Abbey — also called Notre Dame — in southern France is gradually decaying. Massive cracks in the abbey’s structure have forced the Cistercian monks living there to close part of it to visitors, and there are not sufficient funds available to fully restore it.
“We do not feel forgotten, but maybe a bit underestimated,” the abbey’s prior, Father Jean Marie, told French TV.
While Paris’ Notre Dame is grabbing the headlines, many other French monuments are also suffering. The Cistercian monastery has managed to raise several hundred thousand dollars for needed repairs, but it is still short about half-a-million.
Experts estimate about 2,000 historical monuments are at risk across France, including many cathedrals and village churches.
Public financing to preserve the country’s cultural heritage has shrunk steadily over the years.Today, France’s patrimony budget amounts to a tiny fraction of state spending. Local governments and the private sector are in charge of many historic monuments, but their budgets are limited.
President Emmanuel Macron’s patrimony adviser, Stephane Berne, told French radio that revitalizing rural communities starts with restoring local historic monuments that can deliver returns on the investment with jobs and tourism.
Berne is in charge of a new lottery program to raise money for preservation, but that totals just more than $20 million annually for all of France’s cultural heritage sites, compared to the billion-plus dollars raised for Notre Dame Cathedral.
“In each village, there is a Notre Dame that sometimes burns by the flame of indifference,” one group wrote in an editorial this week.
However, private fundraising efforts are growing. A couple of years ago, for example, a crowdfunding campaign raised nearly $2 million to save a 13th-century chateau in western France. Like Notre Dame, it had been partially destroyed by fire.
And some people have suggested reallocating a portion of the Notre Dame donations — which may exceed what is needed to restore the cathedral — to save other cultural treasures.
…
Notre Dame Fire Highlights Plight of France’s Underfunded Patrimony
France’s government met Wednesday to draft a framework for donations to rebuild Notre Dame Cathedral in Paris. While more than $1 billion has been raised in response to last week’s massive blaze, many other historic monuments across France crumble for lack of funds to preserve them.
The 12th-century Senanque Abbey — also called Notre Dame — in southern France is gradually decaying. Massive cracks in the abbey’s structure have forced the Cistercian monks living there to close part of it to visitors, and there are not sufficient funds available to fully restore it.
“We do not feel forgotten, but maybe a bit underestimated,” the abbey’s prior, Father Jean Marie, told French TV.
While Paris’ Notre Dame is grabbing the headlines, many other French monuments are also suffering. The Cistercian monastery has managed to raise several hundred thousand dollars for needed repairs, but it is still short about half-a-million.
Experts estimate about 2,000 historical monuments are at risk across France, including many cathedrals and village churches.
Public financing to preserve the country’s cultural heritage has shrunk steadily over the years.Today, France’s patrimony budget amounts to a tiny fraction of state spending. Local governments and the private sector are in charge of many historic monuments, but their budgets are limited.
President Emmanuel Macron’s patrimony adviser, Stephane Berne, told French radio that revitalizing rural communities starts with restoring local historic monuments that can deliver returns on the investment with jobs and tourism.
Berne is in charge of a new lottery program to raise money for preservation, but that totals just more than $20 million annually for all of France’s cultural heritage sites, compared to the billion-plus dollars raised for Notre Dame Cathedral.
“In each village, there is a Notre Dame that sometimes burns by the flame of indifference,” one group wrote in an editorial this week.
However, private fundraising efforts are growing. A couple of years ago, for example, a crowdfunding campaign raised nearly $2 million to save a 13th-century chateau in western France. Like Notre Dame, it had been partially destroyed by fire.
And some people have suggested reallocating a portion of the Notre Dame donations — which may exceed what is needed to restore the cathedral — to save other cultural treasures.
…
EU Envoy: Trump Cuba Policy Worries European Companies
The Trump administration’s crackdown on business with Cuba’s communist government is causing unprecedented concern among European companies on the island, according to the European Union’s ambassador.
“There’s enormous worry,” Ambassador Alberto Navarro told The Associated Press.
“There are businesspeople who’ve been here 20, 30 years, who’ve made bets on investing their financial resources in Cuba to stimulate commerce, tourism, international exchange, and many of them tell me that they haven’t lived through a similar situation,” Navarro said in an interview at the EU embassy Tuesday afternoon.
The Trump administration announced last week that it would allow Americans to sue foreign companies whose partnerships with the Cuban government make use of commercial and industrial properties confiscated from Americans in Cuba’s 1959 revolution. The measure also allows suits by the large number of Cubans who fled the island and later became Americans.
The first lawsuits can be filed starting May 2.
Navarro said the European Union will vigorously defend European companies doing business in Cuba in court and before the World Trade Organization.
“I think I have said with great clarity, any country can adopt whatever legislation it wants, and apply the law within its own country, we can criticize whether we like it or not. What that country cannot do is impose its legislation on others,” Navarro said. “We are the front line of defense in Cuba, and obviously have legitimate interests in Cuba and we want to defend them and protect our citizens and our investors.”
The EU is Cuba’s largest trading partner, with some 2.6 billion euros in annual trade with the island, all but 400 million euros a year in exports from the EU to Cuba.
The Trump administration has imposed a series of recent measures meant to damage the Cuban economy, saying they are meant to prevent Cuba from aiding President Nicolas Maduro’s socialist administration in Venezuela.
your ad hereEU Envoy: Trump Cuba Policy Worries European Companies
The Trump administration’s crackdown on business with Cuba’s communist government is causing unprecedented concern among European companies on the island, according to the European Union’s ambassador.
“There’s enormous worry,” Ambassador Alberto Navarro told The Associated Press.
“There are businesspeople who’ve been here 20, 30 years, who’ve made bets on investing their financial resources in Cuba to stimulate commerce, tourism, international exchange, and many of them tell me that they haven’t lived through a similar situation,” Navarro said in an interview at the EU embassy Tuesday afternoon.
The Trump administration announced last week that it would allow Americans to sue foreign companies whose partnerships with the Cuban government make use of commercial and industrial properties confiscated from Americans in Cuba’s 1959 revolution. The measure also allows suits by the large number of Cubans who fled the island and later became Americans.
The first lawsuits can be filed starting May 2.
Navarro said the European Union will vigorously defend European companies doing business in Cuba in court and before the World Trade Organization.
“I think I have said with great clarity, any country can adopt whatever legislation it wants, and apply the law within its own country, we can criticize whether we like it or not. What that country cannot do is impose its legislation on others,” Navarro said. “We are the front line of defense in Cuba, and obviously have legitimate interests in Cuba and we want to defend them and protect our citizens and our investors.”
The EU is Cuba’s largest trading partner, with some 2.6 billion euros in annual trade with the island, all but 400 million euros a year in exports from the EU to Cuba.
The Trump administration has imposed a series of recent measures meant to damage the Cuban economy, saying they are meant to prevent Cuba from aiding President Nicolas Maduro’s socialist administration in Venezuela.
your ad hereSudan Protesters Call for ‘Million March’ for Civilian Rule
Sudan’s protest leaders have called for a million people to march on Thursday to demand the military give power to a civilian council. The call came after the head of Sudan’s transitional military council said it would hand over power “within days” if civilian groups can agree on who will be in a new government.
Sudan’s main protest group, the Sudanese Professionals Association, has called for a million people to take to the streets on Thursday.
Omer Eldigair, the head of Sudan’s Congress Party, which has backed the SPA in the recent protests, says the demonstrators will not accept military rule.
He said yes they have escalatory measures, they are ready for a million-person march, and preparing for a nationwide political strike. They will not give up the people’s demand for a civilian government.
On Tuesday, Sudan’s army chief and head of the transitional military council, Lieutenant General Abdel Fattah Abdelrahman Burhan, said the military would turn over power to civilians within days if the protest groups agree on the composition of a new government.
Burhan made the comments during an interview with the BBC’s Hardtalk program, when he underscored that Sudan’s troops would not attack protesters who have been camped around military headquarters since April 6.
But protesters dispute Burhan’s characterization that a consensus has not been reached.
Waddah Salih said it could be done within one month if the opposition parties create a united government. The list of civilian members of government has been submitted, he said, so the ball is in the military council’s court and they should accept it within a month.
The military ousted president Omar al-Bashir on April 11 after three decades in power and four months of anti-government protests. But protesters have continued their sit-in, demanding civilian rule and not the military’s announced two-year transition.
Protester Amjad Nimir said the transition period is too long and they consider it stalling by the military council to not hand over power to a civilian government immediately.
Sudan’s military is under international pressure to move more quickly to civilian rule.
On Tuesday, the African Union gave the military a new three-month deadline to hand over power or have Sudan’s membership suspended. The bloc had earlier given the military 15 days.
Visiting U.S. Deputy Assistant Secretary of State of African Affairs Makila James met separately Tuesday with members of the military council and protest leaders.
They discussed what the State Department has called the Sudanese people’s legitimate demands for an inclusive, civilian-led transition.
The U.S. has said there will be no talks on lifting U.S. sanctions on Sudan for sponsoring terrorism until the military hands over power to a civilian administration.
your ad hereSudan Protesters Call for ‘Million March’ for Civilian Rule
Sudan’s protest leaders have called for a million people to march on Thursday to demand the military give power to a civilian council. The call came after the head of Sudan’s transitional military council said it would hand over power “within days” if civilian groups can agree on who will be in a new government.
Sudan’s main protest group, the Sudanese Professionals Association, has called for a million people to take to the streets on Thursday.
Omer Eldigair, the head of Sudan’s Congress Party, which has backed the SPA in the recent protests, says the demonstrators will not accept military rule.
He said yes they have escalatory measures, they are ready for a million-person march, and preparing for a nationwide political strike. They will not give up the people’s demand for a civilian government.
On Tuesday, Sudan’s army chief and head of the transitional military council, Lieutenant General Abdel Fattah Abdelrahman Burhan, said the military would turn over power to civilians within days if the protest groups agree on the composition of a new government.
Burhan made the comments during an interview with the BBC’s Hardtalk program, when he underscored that Sudan’s troops would not attack protesters who have been camped around military headquarters since April 6.
But protesters dispute Burhan’s characterization that a consensus has not been reached.
Waddah Salih said it could be done within one month if the opposition parties create a united government. The list of civilian members of government has been submitted, he said, so the ball is in the military council’s court and they should accept it within a month.
The military ousted president Omar al-Bashir on April 11 after three decades in power and four months of anti-government protests. But protesters have continued their sit-in, demanding civilian rule and not the military’s announced two-year transition.
Protester Amjad Nimir said the transition period is too long and they consider it stalling by the military council to not hand over power to a civilian government immediately.
Sudan’s military is under international pressure to move more quickly to civilian rule.
On Tuesday, the African Union gave the military a new three-month deadline to hand over power or have Sudan’s membership suspended. The bloc had earlier given the military 15 days.
Visiting U.S. Deputy Assistant Secretary of State of African Affairs Makila James met separately Tuesday with members of the military council and protest leaders.
They discussed what the State Department has called the Sudanese people’s legitimate demands for an inclusive, civilian-led transition.
The U.S. has said there will be no talks on lifting U.S. sanctions on Sudan for sponsoring terrorism until the military hands over power to a civilian administration.
your ad hereSudanese Military Invites Protesters to Talks Amid Tensions
Sudan’s ruling military council has proposed a meeting with the organizers of the protests that toppled President Omar al-Bashir after they suspended talks with the generals over the weekend.
The council says it is willing to discuss proposals from the coalition of groups behind the protests for an immediate transfer of power to a transitional civilian government.
The Sudanese Professionals Association and its allies, who organized the four months of demonstrations that drove al-Bashir from power on April 11, have not yet accepted the invitation to Wednesday’s meeting.
The military has said it is meeting with all political factions to discuss the transition. The protesters fear the military intends to hold onto power or leave much of al-Bashir’s regime intact.
your ad here
Sudanese Military Invites Protesters to Talks Amid Tensions
Sudan’s ruling military council has proposed a meeting with the organizers of the protests that toppled President Omar al-Bashir after they suspended talks with the generals over the weekend.
The council says it is willing to discuss proposals from the coalition of groups behind the protests for an immediate transfer of power to a transitional civilian government.
The Sudanese Professionals Association and its allies, who organized the four months of demonstrations that drove al-Bashir from power on April 11, have not yet accepted the invitation to Wednesday’s meeting.
The military has said it is meeting with all political factions to discuss the transition. The protesters fear the military intends to hold onto power or leave much of al-Bashir’s regime intact.
your ad here
Analysts: US Initiative First of Many Actions to Drain Hezbollah’s Financing
A United States initiative toward three key figures within Hezbollah’s financial networks would be the first in a series of actions against the Lebanese militant group to drain it of resources, analysts predict.
The U.S. on Monday offered $10 million for information on three financiers of the Lebanese terror group.
“This looks like it will be one move of many targeting the funding streams Hezbollah uses,” Phillip Smyth, a research fellow at the Washington Institute for Near East Policy, told VOA on Tuesday.
“While some offers for rewards have been better with some groups over others, this may show further cracks within the group regarding overseas financiers and those linked to them,” he added.
Cash rewards program
The U.S. announcement is part of the State Department’s Rewards for Justice Program, which has largely focused on offering cash rewards for information that leads to the capture of wanted terrorists around the world.
U.S. officials said this announcement marks the first time that the U.S. State Department has offered a reward for information on Hezbollah financial networks.
“In previous years, Hezbollah has generated about $1 billion annually through direct financial support from Iran, international businesses and investments, donor networks, and money-laundering activities,” Assistant Secretary for State for Diplomatic Security Michael T. Evanoff said during a press briefing on Monday.
Evanoff said the Shiite group uses these funds to support its destructive activities throughout the world, including Syria and Yemen, and surveillance and intelligence gathering operations in the U.S.
Hezbollah has been increasingly targeted by U.S. sanctions over the past few months.
In 1997, Hezbollah was designated a foreign terrorist organization by the U.S. State Department. In October 2018, the Department of Justice named Hezbollah as one of the top five transnational criminal organizations in Latin America.
Targeted figures
The three Hezbollah figures targeted in the cash rewards program — Mohammed Bazzi, Ali Charara and Adham Tabaja — are key figures in the group’s financial network that operates on four continents, U.S. officials said Monday.
“Together, these individuals comprise key parts of Hezbollah’s financial modus operandi, and they have networks that span four continents, with links to the formal financial sector as well as the drug trade and corrupt foreign governments,” said Marshall Billingslea, assistant secretary of the Treasury for Terrorist Financing.
In 2015, the U.S. Treasury designated Tabaja, who has direct ties with Hezbollah’s senior leadership, and three branches of his business in Lebanon and other countries including Iraq, Ghana and Sierra Leone.
In 2016, the Treasury designated Charara, Hezbollah’s personal wealth manager, and his Lebanese-based company, Spectrum Investment Group Holdings SAL.
And Bazzi, who funded Hezbollah from his transcontinental business holdings, was designated as a Specially Designated Global Terrorist by the Treasury in May 2018. Bazzi has closely worked with the Central Bank of Iran to expand banking access between Lebanon and Iran, U.S. officials said.
Ties with Iran
Iran, Hezbollah’s main sponsor, also has been targeted by U.S. sanctions in recent months. Since May 2018, when the U.S withdrew from the 2015 nuclear deal with Iran, the U.S. has imposed a series of sanctions against Tehran.
“We’re talking about Hezbollah today, but any conversation about Hezbollah must begin in Tehran,” said Nathan Sales, ambassador-at-large and coordinator for counterterrorism, who was also at the Monday’s briefing.
This week, the U.S. ended its sanctions waivers for five countries importing Iranian oil, with the hope to put new pressure on Tehran to curb its military aggression in the Middle East.
“Iran remains the world’s leading state-sponsored terrorism… The regime spends nearly a billion dollars a year on its terrorist proxies around the world, and that includes up to $700 million for Hezbollah alone,” Sales said.
Sales added that Iran also actively engages in terrorism itself.
Earlier this April, the U.S. labeled Iran’s elite Revolutionary Guard Corps (IRGC) a foreign terrorist organization for what U.S. officials call its destabilizing role in the Middle East.
With concurrent sanctions on Iran and Hezbollah, U.S. officials hope both sides will be forced to reduce their military activities in the Middle East and beyond.
“If Hezbollah can’t count on the same levels of support from Tehran, the group increasingly will need to raise money to support terrorism itself. In this administration, we use every tool at our disposal to dismantle Hezbollah’s global financing network,” Sales said.
…
Analysts: US Initiative First of Many Actions to Drain Hezbollah’s Financing
A United States initiative toward three key figures within Hezbollah’s financial networks would be the first in a series of actions against the Lebanese militant group to drain it of resources, analysts predict.
The U.S. on Monday offered $10 million for information on three financiers of the Lebanese terror group.
“This looks like it will be one move of many targeting the funding streams Hezbollah uses,” Phillip Smyth, a research fellow at the Washington Institute for Near East Policy, told VOA on Tuesday.
“While some offers for rewards have been better with some groups over others, this may show further cracks within the group regarding overseas financiers and those linked to them,” he added.
Cash rewards program
The U.S. announcement is part of the State Department’s Rewards for Justice Program, which has largely focused on offering cash rewards for information that leads to the capture of wanted terrorists around the world.
U.S. officials said this announcement marks the first time that the U.S. State Department has offered a reward for information on Hezbollah financial networks.
“In previous years, Hezbollah has generated about $1 billion annually through direct financial support from Iran, international businesses and investments, donor networks, and money-laundering activities,” Assistant Secretary for State for Diplomatic Security Michael T. Evanoff said during a press briefing on Monday.
Evanoff said the Shiite group uses these funds to support its destructive activities throughout the world, including Syria and Yemen, and surveillance and intelligence gathering operations in the U.S.
Hezbollah has been increasingly targeted by U.S. sanctions over the past few months.
In 1997, Hezbollah was designated a foreign terrorist organization by the U.S. State Department. In October 2018, the Department of Justice named Hezbollah as one of the top five transnational criminal organizations in Latin America.
Targeted figures
The three Hezbollah figures targeted in the cash rewards program — Mohammed Bazzi, Ali Charara and Adham Tabaja — are key figures in the group’s financial network that operates on four continents, U.S. officials said Monday.
“Together, these individuals comprise key parts of Hezbollah’s financial modus operandi, and they have networks that span four continents, with links to the formal financial sector as well as the drug trade and corrupt foreign governments,” said Marshall Billingslea, assistant secretary of the Treasury for Terrorist Financing.
In 2015, the U.S. Treasury designated Tabaja, who has direct ties with Hezbollah’s senior leadership, and three branches of his business in Lebanon and other countries including Iraq, Ghana and Sierra Leone.
In 2016, the Treasury designated Charara, Hezbollah’s personal wealth manager, and his Lebanese-based company, Spectrum Investment Group Holdings SAL.
And Bazzi, who funded Hezbollah from his transcontinental business holdings, was designated as a Specially Designated Global Terrorist by the Treasury in May 2018. Bazzi has closely worked with the Central Bank of Iran to expand banking access between Lebanon and Iran, U.S. officials said.
Ties with Iran
Iran, Hezbollah’s main sponsor, also has been targeted by U.S. sanctions in recent months. Since May 2018, when the U.S withdrew from the 2015 nuclear deal with Iran, the U.S. has imposed a series of sanctions against Tehran.
“We’re talking about Hezbollah today, but any conversation about Hezbollah must begin in Tehran,” said Nathan Sales, ambassador-at-large and coordinator for counterterrorism, who was also at the Monday’s briefing.
This week, the U.S. ended its sanctions waivers for five countries importing Iranian oil, with the hope to put new pressure on Tehran to curb its military aggression in the Middle East.
“Iran remains the world’s leading state-sponsored terrorism… The regime spends nearly a billion dollars a year on its terrorist proxies around the world, and that includes up to $700 million for Hezbollah alone,” Sales said.
Sales added that Iran also actively engages in terrorism itself.
Earlier this April, the U.S. labeled Iran’s elite Revolutionary Guard Corps (IRGC) a foreign terrorist organization for what U.S. officials call its destabilizing role in the Middle East.
With concurrent sanctions on Iran and Hezbollah, U.S. officials hope both sides will be forced to reduce their military activities in the Middle East and beyond.
“If Hezbollah can’t count on the same levels of support from Tehran, the group increasingly will need to raise money to support terrorism itself. In this administration, we use every tool at our disposal to dismantle Hezbollah’s global financing network,” Sales said.
…
Alcohol Shops in Mosul Reopen Two Years After Its Recapture From IS
Almost two years after Iraqi forces recaptured the city of Mosul from Islamic State (IS), small shops selling alcohol are reopening their doors and new ones are appearing.
Customers purchase bottles or cans of liquor which are then placed in black plastic bags, or emptied out into nondescript plastic bottles.
Mosul was home to two million people before being overrun in 2014 by IS, which proclaimed a “caliphate” stretching into neighboring Syria. It held Mosul for three years.
Under the militant group’s strict rule, items such as alcohol and cigarettes were banned. Shops that sold alcohol were burned down and destroyed.
Liquor store owner Nemat Hassan said IS burned his store down in the city.
“There was more than $40,000 worth of stock. They burned it,” he said.
Since the city was recaptured, some have decided to return to what remains of their homes and rebuild their stores. Hassan reopened his shop and said he hasn’t faced any problems.
“When we came back after Daesh (Islamic State), the security forces were controlling Mosul. There are no problems, thank God.
There have been no threats by any groups, no problems in Mosul.”
Another liquor store owner, Adel Jindy, said many more stores are appearing in the neighborhood as more licenses are being granted.
“Before there were four stores in Al Dawasah (neighborhood) now there are many licensed shops,” he said.
Business is generally good – the only time customers are afraid of coming in is after an attack or a car bomb. But once the initial panic fades, it’s business as usual, said Jindy.
In Iraq members of the Yazidi and Christian religious minorities are allowed to have alcohol licenses. Alcohol is prohibited by Islam.
Mosul has been the site of several bomb blasts in recent months. In an attack this March, a car packed with explosives blew up killing two people and wounding another 24 near Mosul University.
Nearly two million Iraqis are still displaced by the fight against IS, according to a survey by REACH, a non-governmental organization. Many say they are not ready to go home because of the destruction and lack of services.
…