Afghanistan reopens its embassy in Oman, the Taliban say

An exterior view of Afghanistan's Embassy in Muscat, Oman. (Twitter @HafizZiaAhmad)
An exterior view of Afghanistan's Embassy in Muscat, Oman. (Twitter @HafizZiaAhmad)
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Updated 17 September 2024
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Afghanistan reopens its embassy in Oman, the Taliban say

An exterior view of Afghanistan's Embassy in Muscat, Oman. (Twitter @HafizZiaAhmad)
  • The Foreign Ministry said that 39 diplomatic missions are now under Taliban control

DUBAI, United Arab Emirates: Afghanistan’s Embassy in Oman has reopened, an official in Kabul said Tuesday, the latest sign of the growing inclusion of the Taliban among Gulf Arab countries following the United Arab Emirates’ acceptance of a Taliban ambassador last month.
The development also comes after the Taliban said in July that they no longer recognize diplomatic missions set up by the former, Western-backed government. Most countries still have not accepted the Taliban as Afghanistan’s legitimate government.
According to Zia Ahmad Takal, deputy spokesman of the Foreign Ministry in Kabul, the embassy in Muscat, Oman’s capital, resumed operations on Sunday.
There was no immediate confirmation from Omani authorities and no reports from the sultanate’s state-run news agency about the embassy’s reopening.
“The work of the embassy is carried out regularly by diplomats of the Foreign Affairs Ministry of the Islamic Emirate of Afghanistan,” said Takal, using the Taliban name for their government.
“The resumption of embassy activities in cooperation with the host country will play a constructive role in strengthening the political, economic, social and religious relations between Kabul and Muscat,” Takal added.
The Foreign Ministry said that 39 diplomatic missions are now under Taliban control.
There is a deepening divide in the international community on how to deal with the Taliban, who have been in power for three years and face no internal or external opposition. And even though the Taliban and the West remain at loggerheads, Afghanistan’s rulers have pursued bilateral ties with major regional powers.
Last month, Uzbek Prime Minister Abdulla Aripov arrived in Afghanistan in the highest-level visit by a foreign official since the Taliban seized power in Afghanistan in August 2021.
As part of expanding their reach, the Taliban have moved to take control of the country’s embassies and consulates overseas.
The embassies in London and Oslo announced their closures this month, while others in Europe and beyond have continued to operate.

 


Military board substantiates misconduct but declines to fire Marine who adopted Afghan orphan

Military board substantiates misconduct but declines to fire Marine who adopted Afghan orphan
Updated 09 October 2024
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Military board substantiates misconduct but declines to fire Marine who adopted Afghan orphan

Military board substantiates misconduct but declines to fire Marine who adopted Afghan orphan
  • The Afghan couple who raised the child for 18 months in Afghanistan is seeking to have Mast’s adoption of her undone

CAMP LEJEUNE, N.C.: A US Marine whose adoption of an Afghan war orphan has spurred a yearslong legal battle and raised alarms at the highest levels of government will remain on active duty.
A three-member panel of Marines found Tuesday that while Maj. Joshua Mast acted in a way unbecoming of an officer in his zealous quest to bring home the baby girl, it did not warrant his separation from the military.
Lawyers for the Marine Corps argued Mast abused his position, disregarded orders of his superiors, mishandled classified information and improperly used a government computer in his fight over the child who was found orphaned on the battlefield in rural Afghanistan in 2019.
Mast and his wife, Stephanie, then lived in rural Fluvanna County, Virginia. They persuaded a judge there to grant them an adoption of the child, even though she remained in Afghanistan as the government there tracked down her extended family and reunited her with them. Mast helped the family flee Afghanistan after the Taliban took over in 2021. Once in the US, Mast used the adoption papers to get the federal government to take the child from her Afghan relatives and give her to him. She has remained with his family ever since.
A five-day board of inquiry hearing held partially behind closed doors at the Marine Forces Special Operations Command at Camp Lejeune was administrative, not criminal, and intended to determine whether Mast was fit to remain in the military. The worst outcome Mast might have faced was an other-than-honorable discharge.
Mast, 41, who now lives in Hampstead, North Carolina, denied the allegations against him, insisting he never disobeyed orders but was encouraged by his supervisors, and was simply upholding the code of the Marine Corps by working tirelessly to ensure the girl was safe. At the front of the room, he set up poster-sized photos of the child as a baby at Afghanistan’s Bagram Airfield and as a smiling toddler in North Carolina.
But because the board substantiated misconduct, a report will be entered into Mast’s file, which could affect promotions and assignments, the Marines said Tuesday. The board’s report will be sent up the ladder to the Secretary of the Navy, who will close the case against Mast.
The child’s fate, however, remains in limbo. The Afghan couple who raised the child for 18 months in Afghanistan is seeking to have Mast’s adoption of her undone. The US Department of Justice has intervened and contended that Mast lied to the Virginia court and federal officials to justify taking the girl, and his actions threaten America’s standing around the world.
The Virginia Court of Appeals ruled earlier this year that the adoption should have never been granted but the case is stalled at the Virginia Supreme Court.
Lawyers for the Afghan couple did not immediately respond to a request for comment.
Much of the government’s case in the hearing was held in secret because lawyers were presenting classified information. Everyone present in the nondescript conference room was dressed identically in camouflage. And Mast chose to make an unsworn statement in a closed session, which meant he was not subject to cross-examination.
But his wife, Stephanie, testified publicly, offering rare insight into the couple’s motivation for working so vigorously to bring the child into their home. The Masts have long declined to talk to The Associated Press about their actions and the Virginia court file remains sealed. The Masts, as well as the Afghan couple, are now barred from speaking to the media about the state court case.
Stephanie Mast wept as she described her husband’s decision to work to bring the girl back to the United States as exemplary of his commitment to Marine Corps values.
“It was very much an American response,” she said. “We value human life. As Marines, you serve and protect.”
The deciding panel of two lieutenant colonels and a colonel was allowed to ask questions, and one asked Stephanie Mast why she and her husband continued to try to adopt the girl even after she had been reunited with relatives in Afghanistan. They noted that multiple high-ranking officials, including then-Secretary of State Michael Pompeo and a federal judge, told them to stop.
When she responded that getting the child to the United States was their highest priority, the board asked whether the assumption that a child would be better off in the US rather than Afghanistan was a product of Western bias.
“They have a survival mentality,” she said of Afghans. “We believe in life, liberty and the pursuit of happiness. And we wanted her to have that.”


Afghan man in Oklahoma City arrested for plotting Election Day attack

Afghan man in Oklahoma City arrested for plotting Election Day attack
Updated 09 October 2024
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Afghan man in Oklahoma City arrested for plotting Election Day attack

Afghan man in Oklahoma City arrested for plotting Election Day attack
  • Tawhedi and an underage co-conspirator were arrested on Monday after they met with FBI assets to buy two AK-47 rifles and ammunition

WASHINGTON: An Afghan man was arrested in Oklahoma for allegedly plotting an election day “terrorist attack,” the US Department of Justice said on Tuesday.
The man, Nasir Ahmad Tawhedi, 27, living in Oklahoma City after entering the US in 2021 on a special immigrant visa, was plotting the attack in the name of Islamic State, according to the indictment. The Special Immigrant Visa program, which admits up to 50 people a year, is available to people who worked with the US armed forces or under chief of mission authority as a translator or interpreter in Iraq or Afghanistan.
The indictment did not indicate whether Tawhedi worked as translator or interpreter in Afghanistan. The Department of Justice did not immediately respond to a request for comment.
Tawhedi searched online for information on how to access cameras in the capital, Washington, D.C., and for states that did not require a license to get a firearm, according to the indictment. He also visited the White House and Washington Monument webcameras.
Tawhedi and an underage co-conspirator, who is his brother-in-law, were arrested on Monday after they met with FBI assets to buy two AK-47 rifles and ammunition.
In his post-arrest interview, Tawhedi said the attack planned to target large gatherings of people, during which he and his co-conspirator expected to die as martyrs.
“We will continue to combat the ongoing threat that Daesh and its supporters pose to America’s national security, and we will identify, investigate, and prosecute the individuals who seek to terrorize the American people,” US Attorney General Merrick Garland said in a statement.
Last week, in a “homeland threat assessment,” the Department of Homeland Security said the US threat environment was expected to remain high in the coming year due to factors including the 2024 election cycle and the war in Gaza.
“Lone offenders and small groups continue to pose the greatest threat. Meanwhile, foreign terrorist organizations, including the Islamic State and Al-Qaeda maintain their enduring intent to conduct or inspire attacks in the Homeland,” the department said in an assessment released on Oct. 2.
The Islamic State militant organization killed and executed thousands of people in the name of its extreme religious interpretation before it was territorially defeated in Iraq in 2017 and Syria in 2019.


Israel’s defense minister cancels visit to Washington, Pentagon says

Israel’s defense minister cancels visit to Washington, Pentagon says
Updated 09 October 2024
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Israel’s defense minister cancels visit to Washington, Pentagon says

Israel’s defense minister cancels visit to Washington, Pentagon says
  • Biden said on Friday he thought Israel had not yet concluded how to respond to Iran and added that he would think about alternatives to striking Iranian oil fields if he were in Israel’s shoes

WASHINGTON: Israeli Defense Minister Yoav Gallant has canceled a Wednesday visit to the Pentagon, the Pentagon said, as Israeli media reported Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu wanted first to speak with US President Joe Biden.
The surprise cancelation on Tuesday comes amid soaring tensions between Israel and Iran as Israel weighs options to respond to Tehran’s missile attack last week, its second this year against Israel.
The Pentagon declined to say why Gallant canceled his visit, and referred reporters to Israel’s ministry of defense. Offices for Netanyahu and Gallant did not immediately respond to a request for comment. “We were just informed that Minister Gallant will be postponing his trip to Washington,” Pentagon spokesperson Sabrina Singh told a news briefing. Israel’s Ynet news outlet reported that Gallant had hoped his US visit would strengthen coordination on Iran but hours before departure, Netanyahu set two preconditions: the call with Biden and cabinet approval of the response to Iran.
The White House referred questions about the Gallant visit to the Israeli government. Biden and his aides have spoken of a possible call with Netanyahu since the end of September. But the White House did not immediately respond to a query on whether such a call had now been scheduled.
Biden said on Friday he thought Israel had not yet concluded how to respond to Iran and added that he would think about alternatives to striking Iranian oil fields if he were in Israel’s shoes.
Iran on Tuesday warned Israel not to follow through on threats of retaliation.
Its foreign minister said any attack on Iran’s infrastructure would be avenged while a senior Iranian official told Gulf states it would be “unacceptable” and would draw a response if they allowed their airspace to be used against Iran.
Western powers are seeking a diplomatic solution, fearing the conflict could roil the wider, oil-producing Middle East.

 


Milton returns to Category 5 as Florida braces for next hurricane

Milton returns to Category 5 as Florida braces for next hurricane
Updated 09 October 2024
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Milton returns to Category 5 as Florida braces for next hurricane

Milton returns to Category 5 as Florida braces for next hurricane

TAMPA: Storm-battered Florida braced for a direct hit from Hurricane Milton which restrengthened to a Category 5 storm Tuesday, as President Joe Biden begged residents to flee what he warned could be the worst natural disaster to hit the US state in a century.

As the second huge hurricane in as many weeks rumbled toward Florida’s west coast, a sense of looming catastrophe spread as people raced to board up homes and flee.

“It’s a matter of life and death, and that’s not hyperbole,” Biden said from the White House, urging those under orders to leave to “evacuate now, now, now.”

Biden’s warning came amid a bitter pre-election quarrel, with his Democratic vice president Kamala Harris castigating her rival Donald Trump for peddling false claims that recovery efforts after the first storm, Hurricane Helene, were diverted away from Republicans.

As of Tuesday, Milton restrengthened to the maximum Category 5 designation, generating maximum sustained winds of 165 mph (270 kph), the National Hurricane Center said.

“Fluctuations in intensity are likely while Milton moves across the eastern Gulf of Mexico, but Milton is expected to be a dangerous major hurricane when it reaches the west-central coast of Florida Wednesday night,” the NHC said.

Governor Ron DeSantis, at a news conference, ticked off town after town and county after county that are in danger.

“Basically the entire peninsula portion of Florida is under some type of either a watch or a warning,” he said.

Airlines put on extra flights out of Tampa, Orlando, Fort Myers and Sarasota, as highways clogged up with escaping traffic and gas stations sold out of fuel.

Hurricane expert Michael Lowry warned that in the Tampa area, home to some three million people, Milton’s storm surge “could double the storm surge levels observed two weeks ago during Helene,” which brought massive flooding.

Biden postponed a major trip to Germany and Angola to oversee the federal response, as storm relief efforts have emerged as a political battleground ahead of the presidential election on November 5.

Trump has tapped into frustration about the emergency response after Hurricane Helene and fueled it with disinformation, falsely claiming that disaster money had been spent instead on migrants.

Biden on Tuesday slammed Trump’s comments as “un-American,” while presidential hopeful Harris called the claims the “height of irresponsibility and frankly callousness.”

“I fear that he really lacks empathy on a very basic level,” she said.

In a scene of frantic preparation repeated all over Florida, dozens of cars lined up at a sports facility in Tampa to pick up sandbags to protect their homes from flooding.

John Gomez, 75, ignored official advice and traveled all the way from Chicago to try to save a second house he has in Florida.

“I think it’s better to be here in case something happens,” Gomez said as he waited in line.

Scientists say global warming has a role in intense storms as warmer ocean surfaces release more water vapor, providing additional energy for storms, which exacerbates their winds.

The National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration on Tuesday released footage from a specialist plane called “Miss Piggy” as it flew into the hurricane to collect data.

Paperwork, equipment and personal items were sent flying as the plane was shaken by wind and rain.

On the ground, communities hit by the deadly Hurricane Helene, which slammed Florida late last month, have rushed to remove debris that could become dangerous projectiles as Milton approaches.

In Mexico’s Yucatan, strong winds toppled trees and pylons, and heavy rain caused flooding, but the peninsula avoided major damage or casualties as the storm barreled offshore.

Across the southeastern United States, emergency workers are still struggling to provide relief after Helene, which killed at least 230 people across several states.

It hit the Florida coastline on September 26 as a major Category 4 hurricane, causing massive flooding in remote inland towns in states further north, including North Carolina and Tennessee.

Helene was the deadliest natural disaster to hit the US mainland since 2005’s Hurricane Katrina, with the death toll still rising.


Harris holds slight edge nationally over Trump: poll

Harris holds slight edge nationally over Trump: poll
Updated 09 October 2024
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Harris holds slight edge nationally over Trump: poll

Harris holds slight edge nationally over Trump: poll
  • The national poll conducted by Siena College and The New York Times found Harris ahead by 49 percent to 46 percent

NEW YORK: Kamala Harris has taken a slim lead over Donald Trump in the US presidential race, a new poll showed Tuesday, as the Democrat slammed her rival for “weakness” during a media blitz four weeks before the election.

Vice President Harris and Republican former president Trump — who was doing a three-hit airwaves blitz of his own Tuesday — are deadlocked as they scramble to get out the vote and reach the sliver of Americans who remain undecided.

The national poll conducted by Siena College and The New York Times found Harris ahead by 49 percent to 46 percent, with registered voters crediting her more than Trump with representing change and caring about people like themselves, but giving the edge to Trump on who is the stronger leader.

The rivals were tied at 47 percent in a mid-September Times/Siena poll shortly after the two clashed in their presidential debate.

The overall result is largely in line with an aggregate of national polling collated by RealClearPolitics.com, which has Harris ahead by two percentage points.

In the seven battleground states seen as likely to determine the election outcome, the race is even tighter.

With Trump critics warning the election is nothing less than a referendum on American democracy, Harris conceded the knife-edge race is keeping her up at night.

“I literally lose sleep — and have been — over what is at stake in this election,” she told radio icon Howard Stern in a 70-minute live interview Tuesday.

“This is an election that is about strength versus weakness, and weakness as projected by someone who puts himself in front of the American people and does not have the strength to stand in defense of their needs, their dreams, their desires.”

Harris, the new poll showed, has begun making inroads with the rival party, with nine percent of Republicans saying they planned to support her, up from five percent last month.

She touched on the issue during a Tuesday appearance on popular ABC television show “The View,” where she talked about campaigning recently with Republican former congresswoman Liz Cheney.

There are more than 200 former officials from past Republican presidents George W. Bush and George H.W. Bush, as well as officials tied to Republican heavyweights John McCain and Mitt Romney, who have endorsed her, Harris said.

“We really are building a coalition around some very fundamental issues, including that we love our country and that we have to put country before party,” she said.

The Democrat, who turns 60 next week, also accused Trump of “full-time perpetuating lies and misinformation,” and said voters have grown “exhausted” with the strategy.

Trump meanwhile maintained his aggressive posture, attacking Harris as a “very low intelligence person” and claiming she has been “missing in action” over the federal response to Hurricane Helene — even though Harris traveled to the disaster zone last week.

And the 78-year-old Republican insisted on conservative influencer Ben Shapiro’s podcast that he has the stamina to finish strong on the campaign trail.

“I’ve worked about 28 days in a row, I have about 29 days left” before the election, he said, “and I’m not taking any days off.”

In addition to the poll, Harris got another potential boost Tuesday after a pro-Palestinian group threatening to draw votes from her in swing state Michigan came out strongly against Trump.

The Uncommitted movement stopped short of explicitly endorsing Harris, but warned in a video that “it can get worse” under Trump.