US sanctions head of Wagner mercenaries in Mali

US sanctions head of Wagner mercenaries in Mali
The United States slapped sanctions Thursday on the head of Russia’s Wagner private military group in Mali, which the group is allegedly using as a conduit for arms for Moscow’s war in Ukraine. (Reuters)
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Updated 25 May 2023

US sanctions head of Wagner mercenaries in Mali

US sanctions head of Wagner mercenaries in Mali
  • The US Treasury said Ivan Aleksandrovich Maslov works closely with Malian officials to build Wagner's presence in Mali and elsewhere in Africa
  • "The Wagner Group may be attempting to obscure its efforts to acquire military equipment for use in Ukraine," the Treasury said

WASHINGTON: The United States slapped sanctions Thursday on the head of Russia’s Wagner private military group in Mali, which the group is allegedly using as a conduit for arms for Moscow’s war in Ukraine.
The US Treasury said Ivan Aleksandrovich Maslov works closely with Malian officials to build Wagner’s presence in Mali and elsewhere in Africa.
The powerful paramilitary group, controlled by Yevgeny Prigozhin, a businessman close to President Vladimir Putin, moved into Mali last year to help the ruling junta with security issues and to seek business opportunities in mining after French soldiers pulled out.
“The Wagner Group may be attempting to obscure its efforts to acquire military equipment for use in Ukraine, including by working through Mali and other countries where it has a foothold,” the Treasury said in a statement.
It said Wagner could be using false documentation to hide the acquisition and transit of mines, uncrewed aerial vehicles, radar and counterbattery systems for use in Ukraine.
It described Mali as a hub for Russian expansion in the region.
As Mali Wagner head, Maslov “arranges meetings between Prigozhin and government officials from several African nations,” the Treasury said.
The Wagner group has also been accused of taking part in a massacre by Malian troops of hundreds of people last year.
A United Nations report in early May did not name Wagner, but said foreign fighters took part in the execution of at least 500 people during an anti-jihadist operation in the Moura area of Mali in March 2022.
But a UN expert group in January accused Wagner of being involved.
“We are disturbed by the apparent increased outsourcing of traditional military functions to the so-called Wagner Group in various military operations,” the experts said.
In a parallel action, Thursday the State Department blacklisted two Mali military officials, Col. Moustaph Sangare and Major Lassine Togola, saying they were responsible for the Moura killings.


First Sri Lankan pilgrims depart for Hajj with hopes, prayers for crisis-hit nation

First Sri Lankan pilgrims depart for Hajj with hopes, prayers for crisis-hit nation
Updated 16 sec ago

First Sri Lankan pilgrims depart for Hajj with hopes, prayers for crisis-hit nation

First Sri Lankan pilgrims depart for Hajj with hopes, prayers for crisis-hit nation
  • Sri Lanka is sending more than 3,500 people to this year’s pilgrimage
  • Island nation showing ‘tentative signs of improvement,’ IMF said on Friday

COLOMBO: More than 60 Sri Lankans departed for Hajj on Sunday, the first group of over 3,500 pilgrims expected to perform the spiritual journey in Saudi Arabia this year as the crisis-hit country shows signs of improvement.
As the Hajj returned in 2023 to pre-pandemic arrangements, Saudi Arabia initially approved the pilgrim quota of 3,500 for Sri Lanka and later added over a 100 more.
Sri Lanka fulfilled its entire quota this year after only about 960 pilgrims, or slightly more than the 2022 quota, were able to perform the Hajj last year.
“This year, 3,500 pilgrims from Sri Lanka are performing Hajj. They all hope and pray for Sri Lanka to recover from the current economic crisis, and for peace, harmony and unity among all communities in Sri Lanka,” Ibrahim Sahib Ansar, who oversees Hajj logistics at the Ministry of Religious Affairs, told Arab News.
“The religious belief has become strong among Sri Lankan Muslims. The gap of three years in performing Hajj has also made the desire of Sri Lankan Muslims to be firm and strong.”
Most of the pilgrims are younger than 50 and about 35 percent of them are women, Ansar said.
As there are no direct flights from Colombo to Jeddah, Sri Lankans will fly via Middle Eastern capitals with Emirates Airlines, Qatar Airways, Gulf Air and Oman Air.
The first batch of Sri Lankan pilgrims, comprising more than 60 people, left Colombo on Sunday morning.
Foreign Minister Ali Sabry, who helped to negotiate Sri Lanka’s additional Hajj quota this year, said the past few years have been a “struggle” for Sri Lankans.
“It was a very tough affair for the Sri Lankans, but we are happy that things have returned to normal,” Sabry told Arab News.
“We are happy Sri Lankan Muslims are exercising their religious rights with a lot of pride and dignity in undertaking pilgrimage to holy cities. I wish them a meritorious journey.”
In 2022, Sri Lanka faced a political crisis as the country was gripped by the worst financial downturn since independence in 1948 and defaulted on foreign debt repayments. 
Though “economic recovery remains challenging,” the island nation is “showing tentative signs of improvement,” the International Monetary Fund said on Friday.
Sri Lanka’s inflation rate, which reached a record high of around 70 percent in September last year, eased to about 25 percent in May.  
“This year, we have regained our economy in a great way and our rupees have strengthened against the US dollar,” Rizmi Reyal, who heads the Sri Lanka Hajj Travel Operators Association, told Arab News.
“People have regained confidence in the country’s economy, and they are spending their savings on Hajj since they can feel they can earn their bucks easily because of the developing economy.”
In a send-off ceremony also attended by Sri Lankan officials early on Sunday, Saudi Ambassador to Colombo, Khalid bin Hamoud Al-Kahtani, “praised the level of coordination and cooperation” among Hajj authorities of the two countries, the Kingdom’s embassy in Sri Lanka said in a statement.
“The government of the Custodian of the Two Holy Mosques attaches great importance to the pilgrims of the House of the Almighty Allah and all measures have been taken to ensure the comfort of the pilgrims in order to perform Hajj rituals with great ease,” the statement added.


Hundreds of Albanians have returned home from UK: minister

Hundreds of Albanians have returned home from UK: minister
Updated 31 min 13 sec ago

Hundreds of Albanians have returned home from UK: minister

Hundreds of Albanians have returned home from UK: minister
  • Deal has facilitated increase in returns to Balkan nation, Robert Jenrick tells Sky News
  • British PM has made tackling illegal migration a core aim of his administration

LONDON: UK Immigration Minister Robert Jenrick has revealed that hundreds of Albanian migrants have been repatriated as part of a “gold-standard” deal with the government in Tirana. 

Jenrick, who initially suggested “thousands” had been removed, told Sky News that it was “early days” and that “spurious last-minute claims” were delaying deportations.

He said while “thousands of Albanian illegal migrants returned home and the numbers crossing from that country (are) significantly reducing,” only hundreds of people had left on flights as part of the deal with Albania.

He also admitted that a number of Albanian asylum-seekers remained in temporary accommodation or had “absconded.”

The UK government announced in April that “over 1,000” Albanians had been deported since December, including “failed asylum-seekers, foreign national offenders and voluntary returns.”

Around 16,000 Albanians claimed asylum in the UK in 2022, with Jenrick coming under fire for suggesting that they should be “excluded” from doing so as their country is safe.

The deal to “enhance cooperation” between the two countries was agreed between UK Prime Minister Rishi Sunak and his Albanian counterpart Edi Rama during the latter’s visit to London in December last year.

The agreement focused on “security issues and home affairs (with the main focus on the fight against organized crime and illegal immigration),” as well as “economic growth and investment” and “innovation, youth and education,” with a plan to set up a “joint migration task force” to “manage illegal migration of Albanian citizens to the UK.”

Sunak has made tackling illegal immigration a core issue of his premiership. 

Jenrick said a second “landmark” deal with France had led to a “big increase in the number of interceptions” of boats carrying migrants across the English Channel, resulting in around 33,000 people being turned back.

Rama previously told Sky News that his meeting with Sunak had demonstrated “important signs of regret and embarrassment” from the UK government over rhetoric used by Home Secretary Suella Braverman, who referred to Albanian migration across the Channel as an “invasion,” and to migrants themselves as “criminals.”


Indian railways minister says signaling system error led to crash that killed over 300 people

Indian railways minister says signaling system error led to crash that killed over 300 people
Updated 04 June 2023

Indian railways minister says signaling system error led to crash that killed over 300 people

Indian railways minister says signaling system error led to crash that killed over 300 people
  • Authorities worked to clear mangled wreckage of the two passenger trains that derailed Friday night in Balasore

BALASORE, India: The train derailment in eastern India that killed more than 300 people and injured hundreds more was caused by an error in the electronic signaling system that led a train to wrongly change tracks, India’s railways minister said Sunday.
’’Who has done it and what is the reason will come out of an investigation,” Ashwini Vaishnaw said in an interview with New Delhi Television network.
The explanation came as authorities worked to clear the mangled wreckage of the two passenger trains that derailed Friday night in Balasore district of eastern Odisha state, in one of the country’s deadliest rail accidents in decades.
Preliminary investigations revealed that a signal was given to the high-speed Coromandel Express to enter the main track line, but the signal was later taken off, and the train instead entered an adjacent loop line where it rammed into a goods train. The collision flipped Coromandel Express’s coaches onto another track, causing the incoming Yesvantpur-Howrah Express from the opposite side to derail, triggering a three-train collision.
The passenger trains were carrying 2,296 people total.
Trains that carry goods are often parked on an adjacent loop line on the side so the main line is clear for a passing train.
Fifteen bodies were recovered on Saturday evening and efforts continued overnight as heavy cranes were used to remove an engine that had settled on top of a rail car. No bodies were found in the engine and the work was completed on Sunday morning, said Sudhanshu Sarangi, director-general of fire and emergency services in Odisha.
The accident occurred at a time when Prime Minister Narendra Modi is focusing on the modernization of the British colonial-era railroad network in India, which has become the world’s most populous country with 1.42 billion people. Despite government efforts to improve rail safety, several hundred accidents occur every year on India’s railways, the largest train network under one management in the world.
Chaotic scenes erupted on Friday night as rescuers climbed atop the wrecked trains to break open doors and windows using cutting torches to try to save people who were trapped inside the rail cars.
Modi visited the crash site on Saturday to examine the relief effort and talk to rescue officials. He also visited a hospital where he asked doctors about the treatments being given to the injured, and spoke to some of the patients.
Modi told reporters he felt the pain of those who suffered in the accident. He said the government would do its utmost to help them and strictly punish anyone found responsible.
Ten to 12 coaches of one train derailed, and debris from some of the mangled coaches fell onto a nearby track. The debris was hit by another passenger train coming from the opposite direction, causing up to three coaches of the second train to also derail, said Amitabh Sharma, a Railroad Ministry spokesperson.
In 1995, two trains collided near New Delhi, killing 358 people in one of the worst train accidents in India. In 2016, a passenger train slid off the tracks between the cities of Indore and Patna, killing 146 people.
Most train accidents in India are blamed on human error or outdated signaling equipment.
More than 12 million people ride 14,000 trains across India every day, traveling on 64,000 kilometers (40,000 miles) of track.


Pentagon says concerned over China’s ‘increasingly risky’ actions in Asia

Pentagon says concerned over China’s ‘increasingly risky’ actions in Asia
Updated 04 June 2023

Pentagon says concerned over China’s ‘increasingly risky’ actions in Asia

Pentagon says concerned over China’s ‘increasingly risky’ actions in Asia

SINGAPORE: The Pentagon voiced concern on Sunday over the Chinese military’s “increasingly risky and coercive activities” in Asia.
“We remain concerned about the PLA’s increasingly risky and coercive activities in the region, including in recent days,” said Pentagon spokesman Brig. Gen. Pat Ryder, who is with US Defense Secretary Lloyd Austin at a security conference in Singapore.

 


Five Greek police officers in custody pending trial for assisting illegal migrant crossings

Five Greek police officers in custody pending trial for assisting illegal migrant crossings
Updated 03 June 2023

Five Greek police officers in custody pending trial for assisting illegal migrant crossings

Five Greek police officers in custody pending trial for assisting illegal migrant crossings
  • The five officers had been testifying before an examining magistrate since Saturday morning at the border town of Orestiada
  • Agents from the internal affairs division of the Greek police had been monitoring the five officers since October 2022

THESSALONIKI, Greece: Five police officers accused of cooperating with human traffickers to facilitate the entry of at least 100 migrants into Greece are being held in custody pending trial.
The five officers had been testifying before an examining magistrate since Saturday morning at the border town of Orestiada, in northeastern Greece.
Agents from the internal affairs division of the Greek police had been monitoring the five officers, who serve in a special border guard unit, since October 2022. They also listened into their phone conversations, whose transcripts run into over 2,000 pages. The officers had aroused suspicion by volunteering to patrol at certain times, together.
Authorities say the offices facilitated at least 12 border crossings, collaborating with four traffickers of undetermined nationality who operated from Turkiye.
Authorities allege that the accused officers took a cut from the money the traffickers received from the migrants to take them across the border. When the officers were arrested last Monday in the border town of Didymoteicho, police confiscated some 26,000 euros ($28,000) in cash, and nearly 60 mobile phones.
Almost all the land border between Greece and Turkiye is formed by the Evros River, called Meric in Turkiye. The Evros is a key crossing point into Greece for people seeking a better life in the European Union. Greece has built a high fence along much of the border to prevent migrants crossing, and is planning to further extend it.