Druze leader Jumblatt paves way for Lebanese-Syrian relationship without Assad

Update Lebanese Druze leader Walid Jumblatt, left, shakes hands with Syrian leader Ahmed Al-Sharaa during a visit to Damascus on Dec. 22, 2024. (AFP)
Lebanese Druze leader Walid Jumblatt, left, shakes hands with Syrian leader Ahmed Al-Sharaa during a visit to Damascus on Dec. 22, 2024. (AFP)
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Updated 22 December 2024
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Druze leader Jumblatt paves way for Lebanese-Syrian relationship without Assad

Druze leader Jumblatt paves way for Lebanese-Syrian relationship without Assad
  • Ahmed Al-Sharaa: ‘Syria’s interference in Lebanese affairs was negative’ in the past
  • Walid Jumblatt said Assad’s ouster should usher in new constructive relations between Lebanon and Syria

BEIRUT: Syria’s new leader, Ahmed Al-Sharaa, vowed in a meeting in Damascus on Sunday not to negatively interfere in neighboring Lebanon.

A major political and religious delegation headed by prominent Lebanese Druze leader Walid Jumblatt met with Hayat Tahrir Al-Sham leader Al-Sharaa at the People’s Palace.

This marks the first visit of a Lebanese political figure to Syria following the fall of Bashar Assad’s regime.

Al-Sharaa made a series of unprecedented statements about Lebanese-Syrian ties following decades of strained and sometimes bloody relations with the former Syrian regime.

Al-Sharaa said, “Syria was a source of concern and disturbance for Lebanon, and its interference in Lebanese affairs was negative,” adding that “the former Syrian regime killed Kamal Jumblatt, Bashir Gemayel, and Rafik Hariri.”

He emphasized that Syria, in its new era, would “stay at equal distance from everyone in Lebanon” and no longer engage in “negative interference in Lebanon.”

Al-Sharaa said that “Lebanon needs a strong economy and political stability that Syria will support” and called on the Lebanese to "erase from their memory the legacy of the old Syria in Lebanon.”

The international community was unable to solve the Syrian problem over 14 years, Al-Sharaa said.

“We took a different path because we believe that people can claim their rights by taking matters into their own hands only,” he added.

Commenting on Hezbollah’s years-long involvement in Syrian affairs in support of Assad’s regime, he said: “This is a new chapter with all components of the Lebanese people, regardless of previous stances.”

Jumblatt saluted the Syrian people for their “great victories and for getting rid of oppression and tyranny.”

He said: “We have a long way to go, and we are suffering from Israeli expansion, so I will present a memorandum on Lebanese-Syrian relations on behalf of the Democratic Gathering.”

Jumblatt believes that “the crimes committed against the Syrian people are similar to those committed in Gaza and Bosnia-Herzegovina and constitute crimes against humanity,” adding that “it is worth referring the matter” to international inquiries.

The delegation headed by Jumblatt included Sheikh Akl of the Unitarian Druze Community, leader of the Progressive Socialist Party Dr. Sami Abi Al-Muna, Taymour Jumblatt, Druze MPs and religious figures.

Jumblatt said: “We hope that Lebanese-Syrian relations will return through the embassies and that all of those who committed crimes against the Lebanese will be held accountable.

“We also hope that fair trials will be held for all those who committed crimes against the Syrian people.”

Also on Sunday, the Lebanese Public Prosecution said that it received a telegram from the American judiciary regarding the arrest of Maj. Gen. Jamil Al-Hassan, director of administration for the Air Force Intelligence under the collapsed Assad regime.

Unconfirmed reports suggest that several officers from the Assad regime fled to Lebanon in the early hours following the collapse of the regime, utilizing illegal crossings managed by Hezbollah.

Those who entered Lebanese territory illegally included members of the Fourth Division, previously led by Maher Al-Assad, including officers of various ranks.

Security reports indicated that “several of them were apprehended while in possession of hundreds of thousands of dollars and quantities of gold, and the detainees were subsequently handed over to the Lebanese General Security.”

Interior Minister Bassam Mawlawi confirmed last week that “some Syrian figures crossed overland into Lebanon, and some of them traveled via Beirut airport.”

He also said that photos of wanted Syrian officers had been disseminated to Lebanese air, sea, and land ports for their capture.

In a telegram circulated through Interpol, the US judiciary accuses Gen. Hassan of “war crimes, including genocide committed against the Syrian people by dropping explosive barrels.”

The international warrant has been disseminated to security services, which, as stated by a security source, are currently engaged in efforts to “ascertain whether Hassan is present in Beirut, in anticipation of his arrest and subsequent transfer to the judiciary.”

In a related incident on Sunday, unknown gunmen kidnapped Col. Ahmed Khair Beyk of the Syrian army on the Beirut Airport Road.

A security source linked the kidnapping to “drug and Captagon trafficking,” stating that “the perpetrators are a gang involved in the drug trade.”

Beyk had previously served as an aide to Brig. Gen. Ghassan Bilal in the Syrian army’s Fourth Division.

In other developments, the issue of detainees and opponents of the Syrian regime, held in Lebanese prisons for years, has resurfaced following the fall of the Assad regime in Syria.

Their families held a sit-in in downtown Beirut on Sunday to demand general amnesty.

The protesters called for “speeding up trials and releasing their sons, notably the religious leaders among them.”

The number of detainees stands at 350, including 180 Lebanese and 170 Syrians, many of whom were arrested for supporting the Syrian opposition and labeled as terrorists.

On the other side of the border, the Lebanese Red Cross received seven Lebanese citizens at the Naqoura crossing.

They had been kidnapped by Israeli forces that infiltrated Lebanese territory and subjected them to interrogation.

The Israeli army claimed through its spokesperson Avichay Adraee that the forces of the 188th Brigade uncovered a large Hezbollah combat complex that contained eight weapons depots above and below ground, connected through a network of underground tunnels.

Communication and electrical devices, anti-tank missiles aimed at northern Israeli towns, explosives, computers, and other items were found, said the spokesperson.

The complex was destroyed, and the weapons were seized.


Ukraine’s Zelensky says in UAE for official visit

Ukraine’s Zelensky says in UAE for official visit
Updated 10 sec ago
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Ukraine’s Zelensky says in UAE for official visit

Ukraine’s Zelensky says in UAE for official visit
  • The UAE has been an important mediator between Russia and Ukraine, helping with prisoner exchanges
KYIV: Ukrainian leader Volodymyr Zelensky said Sunday he had arrived in the United Arab Emirates for a visit with a “large humanitarian program,” ahead of an expected meeting between Donald Trump and Vladimir Putin.
Zelensky posted a video of him getting off the plane in UAE and holding talks with officials.
“An official visit with the First Lady to the United Arab Emirates,” Zelensky said on Telegram.
“The priority is to bring even more of our people home from captivity. As well as investment and economic partnership. A large humanitarian program,” he added.
He said this week that he planned to visit the country – as well as Turkiye and Saudi Arabia – in the coming days.
But he said on Friday that he had no plans to meet with Russian or US officials there.
Moscow and Washington are preparing for a summit between their two leaders, with Europe and Kyiv worried they will try to settle the three-year war in Ukraine without them.
The UAE has been an important mediator between Russia and Ukraine, helping with prisoner exchanges and the return of Ukrainian children from Russia, throughout the war.

In northern Syria, displaced owners return to houses with no roofs

In northern Syria, displaced owners return to houses with no roofs
Updated 17 February 2025
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In northern Syria, displaced owners return to houses with no roofs

In northern Syria, displaced owners return to houses with no roofs
  • An aerial video of the area shows rows of houses that are still standing but with their roofs missing

MARAAT AL-NUMAN, Syria: After a decade of war and displacement, many Syrians are returning to their homes, only to find them looted and roofless.
In towns like Maarat Al-Numan and Kfar Nabl in northern Syria, residents who fled years ago have returned since the fall of former President Bashad Assad but are now confronting the harsh reality of widespread theft and destruction.
Strategically located on the route between the cities of Aleppo and Damascus, Maarat Al-Numan became a touchpoint in the Syrian civil war.
Assad’s forces seized the area back from rebel control in 2020. After that, groups affiliated with Assad looted houses and demolished some of them to extract valuable materials and furniture, human rights groups said. Steel and wires were taken out of rooftops to be sold.
An aerial video of the area shows rows of houses that are still standing but with their roofs missing.
Anmar Zaatour, a resident who left in 2019, said he came back in 2025 to find his home destroyed.
“There was nowhere to put our children,” he said. “This destruction isn’t from the bombing, it was the military. And it’s not just mine, it’s my neighbors, and friends.”
Zakaria Al-Awwad burst into tears of mixed joy and sorrow upon his return to Maarat Al-Numan. His house was destroyed, “one of the first ones to get hit,” he said.
“There is no place like home,” he said. “Even if I have to put on a sheet of cloth, it is better than anything else. We have freedom now, and that is priceless.”
Others were more circumspect about the future.
“The problem is, it’s impossible to resume a life without a roof,” said returning resident Hassan Barbesh. “Maarat Al-Numan is an impoverished town. It’s a very difficult task to start from scratch.”
 

 


Netanyahu signals he’s moving ahead with Trump’s idea to transfer Palestinians from Gaza

Netanyahu signals he’s moving ahead with Trump’s idea to transfer Palestinians from Gaza
Updated 17 February 2025
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Netanyahu signals he’s moving ahead with Trump’s idea to transfer Palestinians from Gaza

Netanyahu signals he’s moving ahead with Trump’s idea to transfer Palestinians from Gaza

JERUSALEM: Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu on Sunday signaled that he was moving ahead with US President Donald Trump’s proposal to transfer the Palestinian population out of Gaza, calling it “the only viable plan to enable a different future” for the region.
Netanyahu discussed the plan with US Secretary of State Marco Rubio, who kicked off a Middle East visit by endorsing Israel’s war aims in Gaza, saying Hamas “must be eradicated.” That created further doubt around the shaky ceasefire as talks on its second phase are yet to begin.
Rubio, in his upcoming stops in Saudi Arabia and the United Arab Emirates, is likely to face more pushback from Arab leaders over Trump’s proposal, which includes redeveloping Gaza under US ownership. Netanyahu has said all emigration from Gaza should be “voluntary,” but rights groups and other critics say that the plan amounts to coercion given the territory’s vast destruction.
Netanyahu said he and Trump have a “common strategy” for Gaza. Echoing Trump, he said “the gates of hell would be open” if Hamas doesn’t release dozens of remaining hostages abducted in the militant group’s attack on southern Israel on Oct. 7, 2023, that triggered the 16-month war.
The ceasefire’s first phase ends in two weeks. Negotiations were meant to begin two weeks ago on the second phase, in which Hamas would release dozens of remaining hostages in exchange for more Palestinian prisoners, a lasting truce and the withdrawal of Israeli forces
Trump’s special Middle East envoy, Steve Witkoff, told Fox News that “phase two is absolutely going to begin” and he had ”very productive” calls Sunday with Netanyahu and officials from Egypt and Qatar, which serve as mediators, about continuing talks this week. He also said hostages to be released include 19 Israeli soldiers and “we believe all of them are alive.”
Netanyahu’s office said Israel’s security Cabinet would meet Monday to discuss the second phase.
Trump later told journalists it is “up to Israel what the next step is, in consultation with me.”
In another sign of closing ranks, Israel’s Defense Ministry said it received a shipment of 2,000-pound (900-kilogram) MK-84 munitions from the United States. The Biden administration paused a shipment of such bombs last year over concerns about civilian casualties in Gaza.
Resuming the war could doom hostages
This week marks 500 days of the war. Netanyahu has signaled readiness to resume the fighting after the ceasefire’s current phase, though it could be a death sentence for remaining hostages.
Rubio said peace becomes impossible as long as Hamas “stands as a force that can govern or as a force that can administer or as a force that can threaten by use of violence,” adding, “It must be eradicated.”
Hamas reasserted control over Gaza when the ceasefire began last month, despite suffering heavy losses.
Netanyahu has offered Hamas a chance to surrender and send top leaders into exile. Hamas has rejected that scenario and insists on Palestinian rule. Spokesman Abdul Latif Al-Qanou told The Associated Press the group accepts a Palestinian unity government or a technocratic committee to run Gaza.
Netanyahu instructed negotiators to leave for Cairo on Monday to discuss further implementation of the ceasefire’s first phase, as issues over delivery of shelter materials continue.
The Israeli military, meanwhile, said it carried out an airstrike on people who approached forces in southern Gaza. The Hamas-run Interior Ministry said it killed three of its police officers while they secured the entry of aid trucks near Rafah on the Egyptian border.
‘If someone has a better plan ... that’s great’
In an interview last week, Rubio indicated that Trump’s Gaza proposal was in part aimed at pressuring Arab states to make their own postwar plan that would be acceptable to Israel.
Rubio also appeared to suggest that Arab countries send troops to combat Hamas.
“If the Arab countries have a better plan, then that’s great,” Rubio said Thursday on the “Clay and Buck Show.”
But “Hamas has guns,” he added. “Someone has to confront those guys. It’s not going to be American soldiers. And if the countries in the region can’t figure that piece out, then Israel is going to have to do it.”
Rubio wasn’t scheduled to meet with Palestinians on his trip.
Arabs have limited options
For Arab leaders, facilitating the mass expulsion of Palestinians from Gaza or battling Palestinian militants on behalf of Israel are nightmare scenarios that would bring fierce domestic criticism and potentially destabilize an already volatile region.
Egypt hosts an Arab summit on Feb. 27 and is working with other countries on a counterproposal that would allow for Gaza’s rebuilding without removing its population. Human rights groups say the expulsion of Palestinians would likely violate international law.
Egypt has warned that any mass influx of Palestinians from Gaza would undermine its nearly half-century peace treaty with Israel, a cornerstone of US influence in the region.
The UAE and Saudi Arabia also have rejected any mass displacement of Palestinians.
The UAE was the driving force behind the 2020 Abraham Accords in which four Arab states — Bahrain, the UAE, Morocco and Sudan — normalized relations with Israel during Trump’s previous term. Trump hopes to expand the accords to include Saudi Arabia, potentially offering closer US defense ties, but the kingdom has said it won’t normalize relations with Israel without a pathway to a Palestinian state.
Rubio won’t be visiting Egypt or Jordan, close US allies at peace with Israel that have refused to accept any influx of Palestinian refugees. Trump has suggested he might slash US aid if they don’t comply, which could be devastating for their economies.
Rubio is also skipping Qatar.
Arab and Muslim countries have conditioned any support for postwar Gaza on a return to Palestinian governance with a pathway to statehood in Gaza, the West Bank and east Jerusalem, territories that Israel seized in the 1967 Mideast war.
Israel has ruled out a Palestinian state and any role in Gaza for the Western-backed Palestinian Authority, whose forces were driven out when Hamas seized power there in 2007.
 


US military says airstrike in Syria kills leader of Al-Qaeda affiliate Hurras al-Din

US military says airstrike in Syria kills leader of Al-Qaeda affiliate Hurras al-Din
Updated 17 February 2025
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US military says airstrike in Syria kills leader of Al-Qaeda affiliate Hurras al-Din

US military says airstrike in Syria kills leader of Al-Qaeda affiliate Hurras al-Din

RIYADH: A senior official of an Al-Qaeda affiliate was killed during an airstrike by American forces in northwest Syria, the US Central Command, or Centcom said on Sunday.

In a statement posted on the X platform, CENTCOM said the "precision airstrike" targeted and killed "a senior finance and logistics official in the terrorist organization Hurras al-Din (HaD), an Al-Qaeda affiliate."

It said the operation "is part of CENTCOM's ongoing commitment, along with partners in the region, to disrupt and degrade efforts by terrorists to plan, organize, and conduct attacks" against civilians and military personnel from the US and its allies.

"We will continue to relentlessly pursue terrorists in order to defend our homeland, and US, allied, and partner personnel in the region,” the statement quoted Centcom chief Gen. Michael Erik Kurilla as saying.

Last January 30 in Syria, a Hurras al-Din leader was also reported killed in a US military airstrike that targetted his vehicle on a highway near the village of Batabo in northwest Syria.

The US military has around 900 troops in Syria as part of the international coalition against the Daesh group. The coalition was established in 2014 to help combat the armed group, which had taken over vast swaths of Iraq and Syria.

(With AFP)

 

 


Turkish opposition party delegation meets with Kurdish leader in Iraq as part of PKK peace efforts

Turkish opposition party delegation meets with Kurdish leader in Iraq as part of PKK peace efforts
Updated 17 February 2025
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Turkish opposition party delegation meets with Kurdish leader in Iraq as part of PKK peace efforts

Turkish opposition party delegation meets with Kurdish leader in Iraq as part of PKK peace efforts
  • Ocalan, 75, founded the PKK, in 1978, which began an armed insurrection for an autonomous Kurdish state in Turkiye’s southeast in 1984, costing tens of thousands of lives

BAGHDAD: A Turkish opposition party delegation arrived in Iraq’s semiautonomous Kurdish region Sunday against the backdrop of peace efforts between Ankara and a banned Kurdish separatist movement in Turkiye.
The delegation led by Sirri Sureyya Onder and Pervin Buldan, two senior officials with the pro-Kurdish People’s Equality and Democracy Party, or DEM, in Turkiye, met with Masoud Barzani, the head of the Kurdistan Democratic Party — the dominant Kurdish party in Iraq — in Irbil Sunday.
Barzani’s office said in a statement that they discussed “the peace process in Turkiye” and that the Turkish delegation conveyed a message from Abdullah Ocalan, the imprisoned leader of Turkiye’s banned Kurdistan Workers’ Party, or PKK.
Barzani “stressed the need for all parties to intensify their efforts and endeavors to enable the peace process to achieve the desired results” and reiterated “his full readiness to provide assistance and support to the peace process in Turkiye and make it a success,” the statement said.
The DEM party has long pressed for greater democracy in Turkiye and rights for the country’s Kurdish population, and also to improve conditions for the imprisoned Ocalan.
Ocalan, 75, founded the PKK, in 1978, which began an armed insurrection for an autonomous Kurdish state in Turkiye’s southeast in 1984, costing tens of thousands of lives. The group is considered a terrorist organization by Turkiye and its Western allies. The central Iraqi government in Baghdad announced a ban on the group, which maintains bases in northern Iraq, last year.
Captured in 1999 and convicted of treason, Ocalan has been serving a life sentence on Imrali island in the Marmara Sea.
The government of Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdogan has traditionally had an antagonistic relationship with the left-wing DEM party, frequently ousting its elected officials on charges of ties to the PKK and replacing them with state appointed officials.
However, this icy relationship began thawing last October, when Erdogan’s coalition partner, far-right nationalist politician Devlet Bahceli suggested that Ocalan could be granted parole, if his group renounces violence and disbands.
The peace effort comes at a time when Erdogan may need support from the DEM party in parliament to enact a new constitution that could allow him to stay in power for unlimited terms.
The Turkish Constitution doesn’t allow Erdogan, who has been in power since 2003 as prime minister and later as president, to run for office again unless an early election is called — something that would also require the support of the pro-Kurdish party.
Even as the latest peace efforts are underway, Erdogan’s government has widened a crackdown on the opposition, arresting journalists and politicians. Several elected Kurdish mayors have been ousted from office and replaced with state appointed officials, the latest this Saturday, when the mayor of Van municipality in eastern Turkiye was removed from his post and replaced with the state-appointed governor.
Meanwhile, conflict is ongoing between Turkish-backed armed groups and Kurdish forces in northeastern Syria.
Turkiye views the Syrian Democratic Forces, a US-backed military Kurdish alliance in Syria, as an extension of the PKK. The SDF is in negotiations with the new government in Damascus following the ouster of then Syrian President Bashar Assad in a rebel offensive.
While most former insurgent groups have agreed to dissolve and integrate into the new Syrian army, the SDF has refused so far.
Turkish Foreign Minister Hakan Fidan said Saturday that the government would reconsider its military presence in northeastern Syria if that country’s new leaders eliminate the presence of the PKK in the area. Also Saturday, Kurds in northeastern Syria staged a mass protest to demand Ocalan’s release.