‘There is no blank check’: Syrian leader told to rein in militants

‘There is no blank check’: Syrian leader told to rein in militants
Syria’s President Ahmed al-Sharaa has a lot to prove to win over Western powers. If the first few weeks of his rule are anything to go by, he may be heading in the wrong direction. (Reuters/File)
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Updated 26 March 2025
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‘There is no blank check’: Syrian leader told to rein in militants

‘There is no blank check’: Syrian leader told to rein in militants
  • “The abuses that have taken place in recent days are truly intolerable,” said French Foreign Ministry spokesman Christophe Lemoine
  • In addition to the challenge of quelling sectarian violence, Sharaa must also contend with a host of foreign powers from the United States to Russia, Israel, Turkiye and Iran

DAMASCUS: Syrian Arab Republic’s President Ahmed Al-Sharaa has a lot to prove to win over Western powers. If the first few weeks of his rule are anything to go by, he may be heading in the wrong direction.
The West is watching Syria’s leaders closely to ensure they rein in the Islamist militants who killed hundreds of Alawites, create an inclusive government with effective institutions, maintain order in a country fractured by years of civil war and prevent a resurgence of Daesh or Al-Qaeda.
To hammer home the message, three European envoys made clear in a March 11 meeting with Foreign Minister Asaad Al-Shibani in Damascus that cracking down on the militant fighters was their top priority and that international support for the nascent administration could evaporate unless it took decisive action.
The meeting has not previously been reported.
“The abuses that have taken place in recent days are truly intolerable, and those responsible must be identified and condemned,” said French Foreign Ministry spokesman Christophe Lemoine, when asked about the message delivered in Damascus.
“There is no blank check for the new authorities.”
Reuters spoke to the three European envoys as well as four regional officials during a trip to Damascus. They all stressed that the authorities must get a grip on security across the country and prevent any repeat killings.
“We asked for accountability. The punishment should go on those who committed the massacres. The security forces need to be cleaned up,” said one European envoy, who was among the group of officials who delivered the message.
Washington has also called on Syria’s leaders to hold the perpetrators of the attacks to account. US State Department spokesperson Tammy Bruce said they were monitoring the interim authority’s actions to determine US policy for Syria.
The problem for Sharaa, however, is that his Hayat Tahrir Al-Sham (HTS) group only comprises around 20,000 fighters, according to two assessments by Western governments.
That makes him reliant on the tens of thousands of fighters from other groups — including the very hard-line militant factions he is being asked to combat – and moving against them could plunge Syria back into war, five diplomats and three analysts said.
Thousands of Sunni Muslim foreigners, from countries including China, Albania, Russia and Pakistan, joined Syria’s rebels early in the civil war to fight against the rule of Bashar Assad and the Iran-backed Shiite militias who supported him, giving the conflict a sectarian overtone.
One of the reasons Sharaa now depends on a relatively small force of some 20,000 fighters from several disparate groups, including the foreign militant, is because he dissolved the national army soon after taking power
While the step was meant to draw a line under five decades of autocratic Assad family rule, diplomats and analysts said it echoed Washington’s decision to disband the Iraqi army after the fall of Saddam Hussein — and could lead to similar chaos.
Sharaa’s move, along with mass dismissals of public sector workers, has deepened divisions in Syria and left hundreds of thousands without income, potentially pushing trained soldiers into insurgent groups or unemployment, worsening Syria’s instability, according to five European and Arab officials.
Neither Sharaa’s office nor the Syrian foreign ministry responded to requests for comment for this story.

STUCK IN A PARADOX
In addition to the challenge of quelling sectarian violence, Sharaa must also contend with a host of foreign powers from the United States to Russia, Israel, Turkiye and Iran — all turning Syria’s territory into a geopolitical chessboard.
Turkiye holds the north, backing opposition forces while suppressing Kurdish ambitions. US-backed Kurdish-led forces control the east with its vital oil fields, while Israel capitalized on Assad’s fall to bolster its military foothold. It now controls a 400-square-km demilitarised buffer zone, supports the Druze minority and is opposed to the Syrian leadership.
In response to the massacres of civilians, Sharaa has established an investigation committee and promised to punish those responsible, even those close to him.
But any action against the militants who carried out the killings could ignite factional infighting, purges and power struggles — leaving the new government stuck in a paradox, the diplomats and analysts said.
“Obviously Sharaa doesn’t control the foreign militants and does not call all the shots,” said Marwan Muasher, vice president of the Carnegie Endowment for International Peace. “What is clear is that the massacres were carried out by people who are Salafi militants, and are not listening to what he’s saying.”
While diplomats recognize that the inquiry is a step in the right direction, they said its credibility would have been far stronger with UN and international observers.
Ultimately, they said, the true test of Sharaa’s leadership lies not just in the commission’s findings but in how he deals with the fighters responsible for the atrocities.
The massacres were, however, a stark reminder of the forces at play in post-Assad Syria, signalling a brutal reality that toppling a dictator is the beginning of a larger, more perilous battle to shape the country’s future.
Abdulaziz Sager, founder of the Saudi-based Gulf Research Center, said the presence of “rogue groups” — the foreign militants — operating outside the law would lead to a collapse in security and undermine the state’s authority.
“Therefore, the new leadership has no choice but to take firm action against such violations,” he said.
An Arab diplomat said political support from Arab states was also not unlimited, and would need to be matched by concrete steps, including inclusive governance, protection of minorities and real progress on the ground.
That means genuine power-sharing with Alawites, Christians, Kurds and other minorities — and only then can the new leadership stabilize Syria and garner US and European support, the Arab diplomat said.
Washington and European states have tied the lifting of sanctions, imposed under Assad, to the new authorities proving their commitment to inclusive governance and the protection of minorities. Removing these sanctions is crucial to reviving Syria’s shattered economy, Sharaa’s most pressing challenge.

SAME PLAYBOOK?
But despite promises of reform, the five-year constitution Sharaa unveiled this month gave him absolute power as president, prime minister, head of the armed forces and chief of national security, as well as granting him the authority to appoint judges, ministers and a third of parliament — dashing hopes for democratic reforms.
The constitution also enshrines Islamic law as “the main source” of legislation.
Critics argue that the constitution swaps autocracy for Islamist theocracy, deepening fears over Sharaa’s roots as the leader of a hard-line Islamist faction once allied with Al-Qaeda.
Kurds, who control northeastern Syria and recently agreed to integrate with the new government, criticized the temporary constitution for “reproducing authoritarianism in a new form.”
Syria’s dilemma, analysts say, mirrors the trials faced by Arab states a decade ago when, in 2011, a wave of uprisings ousted dictators in Egypt, Tunisia, Libya and Yemen.
The “Arab Spring” upheavals promised democratic revival, but takeovers by Islamists, military coups, and violent fragmentation turned these hopes into setbacks. The victories were short-lived, with states such as Yemen and Libya descending into violence and chaos.
Syria, having endured a far longer and bloodier conflict, now stands at a similar crossroad.
Analysts say if Syria’s rulers adopt exclusionary policies that ignore the cultural, religious, ethnic diversity of its citizens, they are bound to fail.
In Mursi’s case, his divisive constitution failed to meet the people’s diverse demands and led to his toppling by the army. Such a policy in Syria, the analysts add, would fuel domestic resistance, antagonize neighbors, and prompt foreign intervention.
“Some internal and external forces wanted a secular state, while the constitutional declaration reaffirmed the state’s religious-Islamic identity, stating that Islamic law (Sharia) would be the primary source of legislation,” said Sager. “A possible compromise could have been a model similar to Turkiye’s — a secular state governed by an Islamic party.”
Muasher at the Carnegie Endowment said Assad’s fall should serve as a warning to those who replaced him in Syria.
He said Sharaa must decide whether to adopt the same playbook that made Assad vulnerable and led to the mass Sunni uprising that eventually ousted him — or adopt a different course.
“Syria’s new rulers must recognize that the brutal authoritarian model of the regime they replaced was ultimately unsustainable, as is any political system based on exclusion and iron-fisted rule,” Muasher said.
“If they fall back on repression, they will subject Syria to a grim fate.”


‘Heartbroken’ Christians in Gaza recall Pope Francis’ nightly calls during Israeli war

‘Heartbroken’ Christians in Gaza recall Pope Francis’ nightly calls during Israeli war
Updated 5 sec ago
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‘Heartbroken’ Christians in Gaza recall Pope Francis’ nightly calls during Israeli war

‘Heartbroken’ Christians in Gaza recall Pope Francis’ nightly calls during Israeli war
  • Holy Family Church pays tribute to late pontiff, who died on Monday
  • Pope Francis’ phone calls to check on Gaza’s Christian community became routine

LONDON: Christians in the Palestinian territory of the Gaza Strip have told of their heartbreak following the death of Pope Francis, who had called them “every day” during the Israeli conflict that began in late 2023.

Gaza’s Holy Family Church paid tribute to the late pontiff, who passed away on Monday.

Father Gabriel Romanelli, the pastor of the parish, shared details about the pope’s last phone call with the Catholic community, revealing that he called them on Saturday and said: “Thank you … for all that we made here.”

During an interview with Sky News, Romanelli added that the pope had “asked (for) prayer and gave the blessing for all the people, for the Christian community and for all the citizens in Gaza.”

He added that the late pope “was a very humble servant of the Lord.”

Romanelli said: “All the time he told us, for more than a year-and-a-half (of the Israeli war), and he called every day, every day. He asked to help people, to protect the children.”

Pope Francis called for peace in conflict-ridden areas, including the Middle East and Sudan, throughout his 12-year tenure as head of the Catholic Church.

He called for an investigation into whether Israel had committed genocide in Gaza following the attack by Hamas on Israel in October 2023. He also called for an immediate ceasefire in Gaza and the release of Israeli hostages during his final public appearance on Easter Sunday.

He said: “I express my closeness to the sufferings of Christians in Palestine and Israel and to all the Israeli people and the Palestinian people.

“I appeal to the warring parties: call a ceasefire, release the hostages and come to the aid of a starving people that aspires to a future of peace.”

Pope Francis died on Monday at the age of 88 after enduring a severe bout of double pneumonia.

George Antone, the head of the emergency committee at the Holy Family Church in Gaza, told the Vatican News Service: “We lost a saint who taught us every day how to be brave, how to keep patient and stay strong.”

The pope’s nightly phone calls to check on Gaza’s Christian community had become routine during the conflict. He also made it a point to speak to everyone in the room and not just the priest, Antone said.

He added: “We are heartbroken because of the death of Pope Francis, but we know that he is leaving behind a church that cares for us and that knows us by name, every single one of us.

“He used to tell each one: I am with you, don’t be afraid.”


Israel shares, then deletes, condolences over pope’s death

Israel shares, then deletes, condolences over pope’s death
Updated 11 min 43 sec ago
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Israel shares, then deletes, condolences over pope’s death

Israel shares, then deletes, condolences over pope’s death
  • The foreign ministry said the pope had made 'statements against Israel' and that the social media post had been published in 'error'
  • Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu, who leads a far-right coalition of religious and nationalist parties, has not commented on the pope’s death

JERUSALEM: The Israeli government shared and then deleted a social media post offering condolences over the death of Pope Francis, without saying why, though an Israeli newspaper linked the decision to the late pontiff’s criticism of the war in Gaza.
The verified @Israel account had posted on Monday a message on social media platform X that read: “Rest in Peace, Pope Francis. May his memory be a blessing,” alongside an image of the pope visiting the Western Wall in Jerusalem.
The Jerusalem Post quoted officials at the foreign ministry as saying that the pope had made “statements against Israel” and that the social media post had been published in “error.”
The foreign ministry, which social media platform X states on its website is linked to the verified @Israel account, did not immediately respond to a Reuters request for comment.
Francis, who died on Monday aged 88, suggested last November that the global community should study whether Israel’s military campaign in Gaza constitutes a genocide of the Palestinian people, in some of his most explicit criticism yet of Israel’s conduct in its war with Hamas that began in Oct. 2023.
In January the pope also called the humanitarian situation in Gaza “shameful,” prompting criticism from Rome’s chief Jewish rabbi who accused Francis of “selective indignation.”
Israel says accusations of genocide in its Gaza campaign are baseless and that it is solely hunting down Hamas and other armed groups.
Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu, who leads a far-right coalition of religious and nationalist parties, has not commented on the pope’s death.
However, Israeli President Isaac Herzog on Monday sent a message of condolence to Christians in the Holy Land and around the world, describing Francis as “a man of deep faith and boundless compassion.”
Relations between the Catholic Church and Judaism have improved in recent decades, after centuries of animosity.
Pope Francis was usually careful during his 12-year pontificate about taking sides in conflicts, and he condemned the growth of antisemitic groups, while also speaking by phone with Gaza’s tiny Christian community every evening during the war.
Francis in 2014 visited the Western Wall — the most sacred prayer site in Judaism — and also prayed at a section of a wall built by Israel in the occupied West Bank dividing Jerusalem and Bethlehem.


Detained Palestinian activist in Vermont prison says he’s ‘in good hands,’ focused on peacemaking

Detained Palestinian activist in Vermont prison says he’s ‘in good hands,’ focused on peacemaking
Updated 53 min 4 sec ago
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Detained Palestinian activist in Vermont prison says he’s ‘in good hands,’ focused on peacemaking

Detained Palestinian activist in Vermont prison says he’s ‘in good hands,’ focused on peacemaking
  • “I’m staying positive by reassuring myself in the ability of justice and the deep belief of democracy,” Mahdawi said
  • The US Justice Department has not said why he’s being detained

VERMONT, USA: A Palestinian man who led protests against the war in Gaza as a student at Columbia University and was recently arrested during an interview about finalizing his US citizenship says he’s “in good hands” at the Vermont prison where he is being held.
Mohsen Mahdawi, a legal permanent resident, was arrested April 14 in Colchester, Vermont. He met Monday with US Sen. Peter Welch of Vermont, a Democrat, who posted it on X.
“I’m staying positive by reassuring myself in the ability of justice and the deep belief of democracy,” Mahdawi said in Welch’s video. “This is the reason I wanted to become a citizen of this country, because I believe in the principles of this country.”
Welch’s office said Mahdawi was being detained at the Northwest State Correctional Facility in St. Albans, Vermont. His case is scheduled for a status conference Wednesday. His lawyers have called for his release.
The US Justice Department has not said why he’s being detained. The New York Times reported April 15 that Secretary of State Marco Rubio wrote a memo that says Mahdawi’s activities could “potentially undermine” the Middle East peace process.
“We do not comment on on any ongoing litigation,” the State Department press office said in response to an email seeking comment.
Rubio has cited a rarely used statute to justify the deportation of Columbia University graduate student Mahmoud Khalil. It gives Rubio power to deport those who pose “potentially serious adverse foreign policy consequences for the United States.”
An immigration judge ruled April 11 that Khalil can be forced out of the country as a national security risk, after lawyers argued the legality of deporting the activist who participated in pro-Palestinian demonstrations. His lawyers plan to appeal.
Mahdawi said that in studying for his citizenship test, he learned “that the freedom of speech and religion and assembly is guaranteed to everyone in the United States, which is part of the foundation of this country.”
Mahdawi said his work “has been centered on peacemaking.”
“My empathy, as I mentioned before, extends beyond the Palestinian people and my empathy extends to the Jews and to the Israelis,” he said. “And my hope and my dream is to see this conflict, if one might say, to see an end to the war, an end to the killing, to see a peaceful resolution between Palestinians and Israelis. How could this be a threat to anybody, except the war machine that is feeding this?”
Welch responded, “It would be good for everybody for us to have peace.”
Mahdawi said, “I want to tell everyone that I feel so loved and so supported. And I am here in good hands. I am centered, I am clear, I am grounded. And I don’t want you to worry about me.”
According to the court filing, Mahdawi was born in a refugee camp in the West Bank and moved to the United States in 2014. He recently completed coursework at Columbia and was expected to graduate in May before beginning a master’s degree program there in the fall.
As a student, Mahdawi was an outspoken critic of Israel’s military campaign in Gaza and organized campus protests until March 2024.


Man missing after reported shark attack off Israel’s coast

Man missing after reported shark attack off Israel’s coast
Updated 22 April 2025
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Man missing after reported shark attack off Israel’s coast

Man missing after reported shark attack off Israel’s coast
  • Shark attacks have not been reported in Israel for decades
  • Police spokesman Aryeh Doron said that “several findings have been sent for examination“

HADERA, Israel: Israeli police have been searching for a man reported missing following a suspected shark attack off the country’s Mediterranean coast, the force said on Tuesday.
Shark attacks have not been reported in Israel for decades.
Police spokesman Aryeh Doron said that “several findings have been sent for examination,” without specifying the nature of the recovered evidence.
Search operations continued Tuesday in the southeastern Mediterranean, near the area of the central city of Hadera where the swimmer had disappeared.
“The search area is very large, very complex, especially due to the danger posed by diving near sharks,” said Doron Elmashali, commander of the fire and rescue unit involved in the operation.
He said underwater cameras were being used in the operation.
Emergency organizations Magen David Adom and Zaka on Monday said they had been informed of a man’s disappearance off the coast near Hadera, after witnesses said he had been attacked by a shark.
An AFP journalist at the site saw shark silhouettes with dorsal fins breaking through the water’s surface.
Israeli media have broadcast several videos in recent days showing sharks swimming near bathers, including children. One video appears to show a swimmer being attacked.
Police said Tuesday that a ban on entering the sea along large stretches of the coast would remain in effect.
Shark attacks in the calm waters of the Mediterranean are rare, but shark sightings, particularly off the coast of Hadera, are well documented, as dozens are known to gather near the local power station in winter months.
The plant uses sea water to cool its turbines, then discharges the warm water which is believed to attract sandbar and dusky sharks.
Although these species can grow to several meters in length, they are generally not aggressive toward humans.
The seasonal shark population off Hadera has increased in recent years, likely due to the expansion of the power plant and the implementation of legislation prohibiting their capture.
The Israeli Nature and Parks Authority and the Israeli diving association have issued warnings urging divers drawn by the presence of the sharks not to approach them.


Oman, China discuss strategic relations in political, economic sectors

Oman, China discuss strategic relations in political, economic sectors
Updated 22 April 2025
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Oman, China discuss strategic relations in political, economic sectors

Oman, China discuss strategic relations in political, economic sectors
  • China commended Oman’s role ‘in promoting the settlement of regional hotspot issues’
  • Two sides discussed their bilateral cooperation in political, economic and cultural fields

LONDON: Oman and China held the 14th round of strategic consultations in Beijing to deepen their political, economic and cultural cooperation this week.

Khalifa Ali Al-Harthy, the undersecretary of the Omani foreign ministry for political affairs, and Liu Bin, the Chinese assistant minister of foreign affairs, led their respective delegations.

The two sides discussed their bilateral cooperation in political, economic and cultural fields on Monday, exploring ways to enhance strategic relations, the Oman News Agency reported.

Special Envoy Zhai Jun, of the Chinese government on the Middle East issue, said that the strategic partnership between Beijing and Muscat had continued to develop steadily, with successful cooperation in various fields.

“China appreciates the important role played by Oman in promoting the settlement of regional hotspot issues and easing regional tensions,” Jun said, according to a statement on the Chinese Ministry of Foreign Affairs’ website.

Khalifa met Jun and Zhang Xiaoqiang, executive vice chairman of the China Center for International Economic Exchanges and vice chairman of the National Development and Reform Commission, the ONA reported.

Nasser Mohammed Al-Busaidi, the Omani ambassador to China, and Abdulaziz Mohammed Al-Hosni, head of the Asia and Pacific Department at the Foreign Ministry, attended the consultations session.