Russia draws new rules of engagement: British weapons making their way Ukraine, if used to attack targets in Russia, will be responded to by attacks on "decision-making positions in Kyiv"

Russia draws new rules of engagement: British weapons making their way Ukraine, if used to attack targets in Russia, will be responded to by attacks on "decision-making positions in Kyiv"

    Tuesday, April 26, 2022   No comments

After the statements of the British Deputy Defense Minister, that there would be no problem if the weapons supplied by Britain to Ukraine were used to "hit targets inside Russian territory", Moscow responded.

Russia draws new rules of engagement: British weapons making their way Ukraine, if used to attack targets in Russia, will be responded to by attacks on "decision-making positions in Kyiv"

The Russian Ministry of Defense confirmed that it will respond by striking decision-making positions in Kyiv, if the latter uses British weapons provided to it to strike targets inside Russian territory.

"We want to stress that London's direct provocation with such measures, if implemented, will immediately lead to an appropriate response on our part," the ministry said in a statement.

"There will be no problem if the weapons supplied by Britain to Ukraine are used to strike targets inside Russian territory," Hebei said earlier.

"As we previously warned, the Russian armed forces are on standby around the clock to launch long-range and precisely targeted strikes against decision-making centers in Kyiv," the Russian statement added.

"In the event of a response and strikes on the Ukrainian decision-making headquarters in Kyiv, advisers and citizens of one of the Western countries will not pose a problem to Russia," the statement continued, using a phrase Hebe said in his statements.

Two weeks ago, British Prime Minister Boris Johnson announced, during his meeting with his Ukrainian counterpart in Kyiv, that his country would provide a new package of financial and military aid, noting that this aid "is a testament to Britain's commitment to Ukraine's struggle against Russia."

In a related context, British Defense Minister Ben Wallace threatened to use nuclear weapons to protect the "NATO" alliance against Russia, noting that "some missiles are under water, and the British Navy is ready to launch nuclear weapons if necessary... Russia should not forget that." 

Turkish FM says some NATO states want Ukrainian war to continue

Turkish FM says some NATO states want Ukrainian war to continue

    Thursday, April 21, 2022   No comments

Some NATO member countries want the Russia-Ukraine war to prolong so Russia gets weaker, Foreign Minister Mevlüt Çavuşoğlu said on April 20, stressing that rival states must not see Ukraine as an arena of competition.

 

“After the talks in Istanbul, we did not think that the war would take this long. There are those who want this war to continue,” the minister told broadcaster CNN Türk.

 

“But, following the NATO foreign ministers’ meeting, it was the impression that... there are those within the NATO member states that want the war to continue, let the war continue and Russia gets weaker. They don’t care much about the situation in Ukraine,” he added.

 

Çavuşoğlu stressed that Ukraine must not be seen as an arena of competition.

  

Source: Hurriyet Daily News

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Is US, UK, and Australia cooperation to develop hypersonic weapons under AUKUS alliance driving China to support Russia in its war in Ukraine?

Is US, UK, and Australia cooperation to develop hypersonic weapons under AUKUS alliance driving China to support Russia in its war in Ukraine?

    Sunday, April 10, 2022   No comments

Is US, UK, and Australia cooperation to develop hypersonic weapons under the framework of the new AUKUS alliance driving China to support Russia in its war in Ukraine?

This analysis seems to make the connection.

As the US, the UK and Australia announced they would cooperate to develop hypersonic weapons under the framework of the new AUKUS alliance and the NATO leaders are set - for the first time ever - to discuss China's influence and "coercive policies" in its next strategic concept, analysts said that the US is making use of the Ukraine crisis to speed up the coordination of NATO and the "Asian version of NATO" to serve its purpose of containing China and keep its global hegemony, which will bring greater harm to both regional and global peace, and risk a regional arms race. 

read the article in its source

China send a fleet of Y-20 transport planes loaded with missiles to Serbia

China send a fleet of Y-20 transport planes loaded with missiles to Serbia

    Sunday, April 10, 2022   No comments

BELGRADE, Serbia (AP) — Russian ally Serbia took the delivery of a sophisticated Chinese anti-aircraft system in a veiled operation this weekend, amid Western concerns that an arms buildup in the Balkans at the time of the war in Ukraine could threaten the fragile peace in the region.

Media and military experts said Sunday that six Chinese Air Force Y-20 transport planes landed at Belgrade’s civilian airport early Saturday, reportedly carrying HQ-22 surface-to-air missile systems for the Serbian military.

The Chinese cargo planes with military markings were pictured at Belgrade’s Nikola Tesla airport. Serbia’s defense ministry did not immediately respond to AP’s request for comment.

The arms delivery over the territory of at least two NATO member states, Turkey and Bulgaria, was seen by experts as a demonstration of China’s growing global reach.

“The Y-20s’ appearance raised eyebrows because they flew en masse as opposed to a series of single-aircraft flights,” wrote The Warzone online magazine. “The Y-20′s presence in Europe in any numbers is also still a fairly new development.”

Serbian military analyst Aleksandar Radic said that “the Chinese carried out their demonstration of force.”

read more from the AP story...

China's major English language online outlet said this about the event:

A fleet of six Y-20 cargo planes of the Chinese People's Liberation Army (PLA) Air Force was reportedly spotted in Serbia on Saturday, with observers saying on Sunday that it could be the largest overseas operation by the Chinese domestically developed large transport plane yet, displaying the country's strategic transport capabilities.

Citing commercial flight trackers, US news website thedrive.com reported on Saturday that the six Y-20 aircraft were first spotted heading west in Turkish airspace late Friday night, and later local residents took photos of the Y-20s, which allegedly landed in Nikola Tesla Airport in Belgrade, Serbia. The aircraft later flew over the Bosphorus Strait in Turkey again on their way back to China.

China has not made an official announcement about the mission as of press time, but the Global Times learned that the Y-20s indeed have carried out such a flight.

Read GT story here...

Analysts have already connected this event to the war in Ukraine.

As the Ukraine war rages on, Serbia is feeling the heat because of its ties with Russia. While in the U.N. General Assembly, Serbia voted in favor of the resolution condemning the Russian invasion of Ukraine and supporting Ukrainian territorial integrity, Belgrade avoided imposing economic sanctions against Russia.

With its partnership with Russia under duress, Serbian ties with Beijing appear carefree in comparison. Indeed, the war in Ukraine provides Serbia with an opportunity to continue and boost the policy, which was already unfolding even before the war, of replacing Russia with China as Serbia’s primary non-Western partner. This policy is even more appealing as Serbia is about to undergo an electoral cycle in April 2022, making China a perfect instrument of domestic promotion for the Serbian leadership.

 

Paper: Turkish government exploring plans to "initiate a dialogue with the Syrian government"

Paper: Turkish government exploring plans to "initiate a dialogue with the Syrian government"

    Tuesday, April 05, 2022   No comments

 The Turkish newspaper, Hurriyet, reported on Monday that the Turkish authorities are currently in discussions to initiate a dialogue with the Syrian government, which would restore relations between the two countries to normal.

The newspaper quoted informed sources as saying that "the policy of balance recently adopted by Turkey, and the role that Ankara has played in recent months, especially toward resolving the war in Ukraine"... makes the current timing good for resolving Turkey's crisis in Syria.

The sources pointed out that Turkey, "in all its contacts with the Syrian administration," emphasizes 3 indispensable things, namely "preserving the unitary structure and the unity of the Syrian territories, and ensuring the security of refugees returning to their country," in addition to "the activity of the Kurdistan Workers' Party."

According to the newspaper, Ankara conveyed these important messages to Damascus, especially before the visit of Syrian President Bashar al-Assad to the UAE.

This development is one in many initiated by Erdogan's government to stablaize the economy before the elections. Turkish economy suffered due the the Syrian war, which Erdogan assumed would end fast. That did not. Now the Turkish economy is under stress due the war in Ukraine.

A Reuters poll showed, Monday, that "the annual inflation rate in Turkey is expected to rise to 61.5% in April, and only decrease to 52.2% by the end of the year, due to the country's impact on the crisis in Ukraine and the rise in commodity prices."

The average estimate of 17 institutions for annual inflation in April was 61.5%, with expectations ranging between 58.25% and 62.7%, and the decline of the lira and the rise in food and energy prices pushed inflation in February to its highest level in 20 years, recording 54.4% This is despite tax cuts on basic goods and government support for some electricity bills to ease the burden on household budgets.

Turkey's consumer price index has risen since last fall, with the lira weakening after the central bank in September began the 500 basis point cut cycle that Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdogan had long sought.

Economists pointed to "expectations of global consumer price inflation, in the wake of the Russian military operation, with energy prices reaching their highest levels in several years after the West imposed sanctions on Moscow," explaining that "Turkey imports almost all of its energy needs."

A Chicago synagogue officially designates itself 'anti-Zionist'

A Chicago synagogue officially designates itself 'anti-Zionist'

    Tuesday, April 05, 2022   No comments

The Tzedek Chicago membership has voted to add anti-Zionism to the core values of our congregation.

The Tzedek Chicago membership has voted to affirm a unanimous board decision to change “non-Zionism” to “anti-Zionism” in our core values statement. This vote followed on a months-long series of membership meetings and collective discernment - and the Tzedek leadership is immensely grateful to the many members who participated so actively and honestly in this process. Beyond this one decision, we are committed to continuing this important and sacred conversation together as a community -  and how we might create and live out a Judaism beyond Zionism.

We will be putting a committee together to draft a public statement that will explain our decision. We intend to include many of the comments and insights that were shared during our community process, so that the statement may reflect the depth and complexity of our conversation.

Here is the original board Q&A explaining the reason for its decision:

Why Did Tzedek Chicago originally include “Non-Zionism” as part of our core values?

read more from the source... 

Russian President Vladimir Putin's approval in Russia rises while Biden's drops in US

Russian President Vladimir Putin's approval in Russia rises while Biden's drops in US

    Thursday, March 31, 2022   No comments

 

Approval numbers regarding Russian President Vladimir Putin's activities since the start of the Russia-Ukraine War have seen a steep increase in recent months, according to a new poll from independent pollster Levada.

The poll showed that approval of Putin's actions increased from 69 percent in January to 83 percent in March.

But in the U.S., Putin's confidence rating has dropped to dismal lows, according to another new poll from the Pew Research Center. Just 6 percent of surveyed U.S. adults said that they have confidence in Putin after his decision to invade Ukraine.

....

The Pew Research poll found that 72 percent of Americans have some or a lot of confidence in Zelensky, the highest rating out of any global leader included in the survey.

When it comes to U.S. President Joe Biden's handling of international affairs, Americans are much more divided. Of the respondents, 48 percent said that they have confidence in Biden's handling of international affairs, while 52 percent said that they have no confidence or not too much confidence.

A Quinnipiac University national poll, conducted between March 10 and 14, found that 49 percent of respondents have a negative view of Biden's response to the war, compared to 42 percent who approve.

Read the source article...

Saudi Arabia announces the cessation of military operations in Yemen

Saudi Arabia announces the cessation of military operations in Yemen

    Tuesday, March 29, 2022   No comments

The Saudi coalition announced, on Tuesday evening, the cessation of military operations in Yemen, starting from 6 am tomorrow, Wednesday.

In the details, Saudi media reported that "the coalition announced the cessation of military operations inside Yemen in response to the invitation of the Secretary-General of the Gulf Cooperation Council."

The Gulf Cooperation Council called on the leadership of the "Saudi coalition" and all Yemeni parties to "stop the military operations that have been going on for nearly seven years in Yemen."

According to a statement by the council, its president, Nayef Falah Mubarak Al-Hajraf, issued an appeal "calling on the leadership of the Saudi coalition in Yemen and all Yemeni parties to stop military operations inside Yemen."

On March 26, the head of Yemen's Supreme Political Council, Mahdi al-Mashat, announced unilaterally, "the suspension of missile and drone strikes and all military actions towards Saudi Arabia, by land, sea and air, for a period of 3 days."

Al-Mashat affirmed, "Sana'a's readiness to turn this declaration into a final and firm commitment, if Saudi Arabia commits to end the siege and stop its raids on Yemen, once and for all."

The initiative announced by Al-Mashat went into effect last Sunday, at six o'clock in the evening, Sana'a time.

Meet the nuke the U.S. keeps in Europe, just waiting to not be used

Meet the nuke the U.S. keeps in Europe, just waiting to not be used

    Tuesday, March 29, 2022   No comments

Media review: 

Near steep vineyards of riesling grapes, in an underground vault at an air force base in western Germany, sits an American nuclear bomb. More than one of them, actually. Each bomb is about the length of two refrigerators laid down end to end and as heavy as the average adult male musk ox. The bombs are slender and pointy and a little more than a foot wide.

Experts estimate that there are about 100 such bombs stored among five NATO countries, ready to be loaded on jets and dropped by the United States and its allies - old-school style, parachute and all - toward an enemy target. One version of this bomb can carry the explosive equivalent of 11 Hiroshimas.

source: 

... countinue reading the original article

Ukrainian government representatives appear to accept Russia's demands, including neutral status, disarmament, and non-NATO membership

Ukrainian government representatives appear to accept Russia's demands, including neutral status, disarmament, and non-NATO membership

    Tuesday, March 29, 2022   No comments

Based on the optimism of the first round of talks between Russia and Ukraine, it would appear that Ukraine will in fact give up its drive to join NATO, remove or limit nuclear capacity, allow for a referendum on autonomy or independence of eastern regions, where Russian speaking people are majority, and negotiate the status of Crimea. Should Ukraine agree to these terms now, Volodymyr Zelensky, the president of Ukraine, would appear to have made the costliest miscalculations. Since these are the same terms put forth by Russia before the war, had he accepted them then, he would have saved many lives, avoided the destruction of the nation's infrastructure, and perhaps reached even a more favorable agreement. But his home that EU and the West will step in to help led him to believe that Russia will not attack. He now negotiates from a weaker position, with Russian troops just miles away from his seat of government, not outside the border. 

Here is a summary of the first day of talks held in Turkey:

The head of the Russian delegation, Vladimir Medinsky, confirmed today, Tuesday, that "the negotiations with Ukraine were constructive," at the conclusion of the first round of negotiations between the Russian and Ukrainian delegations in Istanbul.

Medinsky added, "We have received written proposals from Ukraine confirming its quest to be a neutral state free of nuclear weapons," which was confirmed by the Ukrainian negotiating delegation, explaining that "Kyiv proposed adopting a neutral situation in exchange for security guarantees."

Medinsky said that "Russia will study Ukraine's proposals," noting that "President Vladimir Putin will see them."

The chief Russian negotiator pointed out that "a meeting between Russian President Vladimir Putin and Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky is possible, but after preparing the text of the agreement between the two countries."

He stressed in the context that "negotiations will continue in the coming weeks," noting that "if negotiations continue in this way, reaching an agreement will be much easier and faster."

Head of the Ukrainian delegation: Kyiv will not join "NATO"

In turn, the head of the Ukrainian delegation stressed that his country "will not join NATO" and that it will not host foreign military bases on its territory.

He added, "We are seeking security guarantees," noting that "Turkey may be among the guarantor countries."

With regard to the Donbas region, the head of the Ukrainian delegation considered that "a completely different issue, and a popular referendum can be held in the region," explaining that "the issue of Crimea can also be discussed calmly and without resorting to arms and fighting."

President Volodymyr Zelensky said earlier that "the issue of Ukraine's neutrality, which is one of the central items in negotiations with Russia to end the conflict, is being studied in depth."

The delegations of Moscow and Kiev had held 3 rounds of negotiations in Belarus, and a meeting in Turkey, between the foreign ministers of the two countries, Sergey Lavrov and Dmitry Kuleba.

Russia-Ukriane War, after 1 month of fighting: about 1 Russian solier dead for every 10 Ukrainians, plus global economic costs

Russia-Ukriane War, after 1 month of fighting: about 1 Russian solier dead for every 10 Ukrainians, plus global economic costs

    Friday, March 25, 2022   No comments

Today, the Russian war on Ukraine completes its first month, amid continuing battles on several fronts, tightening sanctions against Russia and its leaders, and Western summits threatening Moscow with further escalation.

The Russian army announced Friday that 1,351 of its soldiers had died since the start of the country's war on Ukraine on February 24, accusing Western countries of making a "mistake" in delivering weapons to Kiev.

"During the special military operation, 1,351 soldiers were killed and 3,825 others were wounded," Deputy Chief of Staff Sergei Rudskoy told a press conference.

On the Ukrainian side, the Russian Defense Ministry announced that more than 14,000 Ukrainian soldiers were killed and about 16,000 wounded during the month of the war.

Control map after one month of fighting:

On the anniversary of the outbreak of the events that led to his islation by Gulf States, President Assad of Syria visits the UAE

On the anniversary of the outbreak of the events that led to his islation by Gulf States, President Assad of Syria visits the UAE

    Friday, March 18, 2022   No comments

Syrian President Bashar al-Assad visited UAE, where he met Abu Dhabi Crown Prince Sheikh Mohammed bin Zayed and Prime Minister Sheikh Mohammed bin Rashid, Friday. 

The Emirates News Agency said that the Crown Prince of Abu Dhabi received the Syrian President, and discussed with him "brotherly relations, cooperation and joint coordination."

The agency added that the UAE Prime Minister affirmed his country's keenness to "discover new paths for constructive cooperation with Syria, and to monitor opportunities through which various aspects of cooperation can be pushed forward."

The agency indicated that Assad left the UAE after meeting with senior officials.

The UAE has been at the fore in the efforts of some Arab countries to normalize relations with Syria in recent times.

Al-Assad received in Damascus the UAE Foreign Minister, Abdullah bin Zayed, last November, and this was the first visit of a high-ranking Gulf official since several Gulf countries cut diplomatic relations with the Syrian government following the outbreak of violence in Syria in 2011. The United States expressed its dissatisfaction with the visit.

Other Gulf States, especially, Qatar, is holding back normalization with the Syrian government given their initial support of the armed groups that wanted to overthrow the Syrian government. In 2012, Qatar hosted the Arab League Summit, its leader, Hamad, offered Syria's seat to an opposition figure, which they recognized as the only legitimate representative of the Syrian people. Saudi Arabia, too, held the position that "Assad must go--peacefully or violently." 

It is not clear if UAE will try to mend relations between Syria and Saudi Arabia, though it is unlikely that it will advocate for the warming of relations between Qatar and Syria goven that UAE still has frosty relations with its neighbor.

View from China: China sends tough signal ahead of Xi-Biden talk to set firm position on bilateral ties, Ukraine issue

View from China: China sends tough signal ahead of Xi-Biden talk to set firm position on bilateral ties, Ukraine issue

    Friday, March 18, 2022   No comments

 

Just hours before the phone call between Chinese President Xi Jinping and US President Joe Biden on Friday, China, in a rare move, sent tough signals, stating it will never accept US threats and coercion over the Ukraine issue and vowing to make a strong response if the US takes measures harming China's legitimate interests. 

In an exclusive interview with the Global Times, an anonymous Chinese official said China accepted the US' proposal for the phone call between the heads of the two countries on China-US relations and the Ukraine situation out of considerations of bilateral relations, promoting peace talks and urging the US to take right stance. 

Continue to read the article...

Pakistan's Prime Minister Imran Khan to Western leaders: "We are not your Slaves"

Pakistan's Prime Minister Imran Khan to Western leaders: "We are not your Slaves"

    Tuesday, March 08, 2022   No comments

Ukraine Russia War: Pakistani Prime Minister Imran Khan on Sunday responded to a joint letter by the heads of diplomatic missions of the European Union urging Pakistan to condemn Russia’s attack on Ukraine. In response to this joint letter, Imran said, ‘What do you think about us.. You think that we are your slaves.. That we will do whatever you say?’

Imran Khan fiercely targeted Western envoys during a rally in Islamabad on Sunday. He said that I want to ask the ambassadors of the European Union whether they have sent a similar letter to India to abstain from voting? Given that Pakistan’s arch rival had also not participated, the EU did not send the letter to India. He said that the United Nations has never condemned India for its actions in Kashmir.

Imran Khan further says, ‘We are friends with Russia, and we are also friends with America, we also have good relations with China and Europe. We are not in any camp.” Khan said Pakistan would remain “neutral” and work with those who are trying to end the war in Ukraine.

Media bias or media doing what it has always done: mainstream propaganda

Media bias or media doing what it has always done: mainstream propaganda

    Monday, March 07, 2022   No comments

 Not every war gets the same coverage as Russia's invasion — and that has consequences

It's a fact of modern life that some wars get more attention than others. And Russia's invasion of Ukraine has captured the public's attention in the West in a way that other recent wars — like those in Yemen or Ethiopia — simply haven't.

The reason is obvious, says Christopher Blattman, an economist at the University of Chicago and the author of Why We Fight: The Roots of War and the Paths to Peace. This is more than a regional conflict. It's a potential global conflagration. Superpowers are taking sides. There are fears that it could lead to nuclear escalation.

read more...

    

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Media coverage of Ukraine shows it's time to rethink what we know about Africa

"It's very emotional for me because I see European people with blue eyes and blonde hair being killed." These were the words of Ukraine's Deputy Chief Prosecutor, David Sakvarelidze, during a recent BBC interview about the Russian invasion of Ukraine.

It wasn't so much what he said, it was more what was implied; that not all lives have equal value. And that idea -- the belief that some races are superior to others -- is a fundamental principle of racism. It's alarming to me that Sakvarelidze was left unchallenged during his interview.

As a Black, African woman without the benefit of blue eyes or blonde hair, it's been equally emotional to see the number of racist and ignorant comments in the coverage on Ukraine that have passed unchallenged by the interviewers and media platforms that have aired them. CBS, Aljazeera, France's BFM TV and ITV have all reported the invasion in ways that illustrate deep bias, informed by a belief system that screams of an old-world, White-led, order.

ITV News correspondent Lucy Watson on ITV reporting back to the studio summed up the collective hypocrisy and underlying narrative that the Ukrainian war has exposed when she said: "The unthinkable has happened...this is not a developing, third-world nation; this is Europe!"

read more ...

How the world covers the war in Ukraine

How the world covers the war in Ukraine

    Sunday, February 27, 2022   No comments

 How the world covers the war in Ukraine:

When war Remind us, again, that not all human beings are created equal;

Some human beings, in some countries, could be conquered, occupied, and exploited;

When they resist, they become terrorists, uncivilized;

Other countries cannot be invaded;

When countries of this kind of people are invaded, the world must supply them with everything to resist… everything…

Sanaa Government Likely to impose and end to the war with its imminent control over the richest province in Yemen

Sanaa Government Likely to impose and end to the war with its imminent control over the richest province in Yemen

    Saturday, October 16, 2021   No comments

 Oct. 15, 2021

The government of the outgoing president, Abd Rabbo Mansour Hadi, lost the 12th district of the Marib governorate, after the latter fell yesterday, to the Yemeni army and the "People's Committees", following bloody battles that lasted for several days, and the failure of air support by the Saudi-Emirati coalition. in resolving it in the interest of his allies. This development came in the wake of the coalition's refusal to respond to the tribal mediation that intervened to prevent bloodshed in the district, bearing in mind that Abdiya had symbolically fallen since late last month, with the army and "committees" closing in on it from all directions, and giving them an opportunity for Hadi forces' fighters to get out safely. with their own weapons.

 Tribal sources confirmed to Al-Akhbar newspaper that the district fell completely yesterday, in a military operation by the army and the “committees” in which the Abdiya tribes cooperated, after Hadi’s forces and the Islah party militias refused to respond to the 22-day deadline, to withdraw. The sources pointed out that hundreds of members of those forces and militias were forced to surrender recently, despite the "coalition" threatening them, last week, with bombing, in the event of handing over the Directorate, following their demand from Saudi Arabia to intervene to lift the siege on them, so the response came from the operations room of the joint forces in Riyadh. Promising to carry out an airdrop within days. However, Saudi Arabia broke its promise, leaving more than 2,000 Hadi forces and allied tribal fighters victims of a losing war in Abdiya. The sources indicated that the "Coalition" warplanes launched a series of intensive raids during the past two days, which failed to impede the progress of the army and the "committees" and caused the death of a number of Hadi's forces with mistaken raids.

For his part, a military source in Sanaa confirmed to Al-Akhbar that the army and the “committees” had taken control of the entire Al-Abdiyyah district with “an active contribution from the tribes,” pointing out that the areas near the Jabal Murad district are currently being combed, searching for “dozens of terrorists.” Al-Qaeda and ISIS elements fleeing the district. Al-Qaeda, which admitted its active participation alongside Hadi forces in the Abdiya front two weeks ago, mourned one of its most prominent military leaders, Yasser Al-Omari, nicknamed "Abu Tariq Al-Omari", who fell on the aforementioned front Tuesday. The organization indicated, in a statement, that Al-Omari had “a long march of fighting in the ranks of the organization, starting from Afghanistan through Iraq and the Levant,” adding that the dead man “was among the wanted by the American intelligence services, and he was arrested in Saudi Arabia and placed in the prisons of the House of Saud for several years.” , before the authorities released him and sent him five years ago to fight in Yemen. Also, a number of leaders of the "156th Brigade" of Hadi's forces were killed during the confrontations of the past weeks, led by the commander of the Abdiya Front, Brigadier General Nasser al-Saidi, in the Bani Abd area, which represented the first line of defense for the Abdiya district over the past weeks.

Final communiqué of the Syrian National Dialogue Congress (Full Text)

Final communiqué of the Syrian National Dialogue Congress (Full Text)

    Tuesday, January 30, 2018   No comments

[Rough draft, unofficial translation]

We, the participants in the Syrian National Dialogue Congress, representatives of all segments of Syrian society, its political and civil forces, and its ethnic, religious and social groups. We met at the invitation of the friendly Russian Federation in Sochi, with the aim of putting an

end to seven years of suffering. The need to save the country from armed confrontation, social and economic devastation, restore its prestige on the regional and international arenas, and provide basic rights and freedoms for all its citizens, foremost of which is the right to a safe and free life without violence and terrorism. With the objective of political settlement of the challenges facing our country, based on the following principles:

UN report on yemen humanitarian crisis: “Either stop the war or fund the crisis. Option three is, do both of them”

UN report on yemen humanitarian crisis: “Either stop the war or fund the crisis. Option three is, do both of them”

    Tuesday, September 05, 2017   No comments

WFP’s Executive Director David Beasley: “Saudi Arabia should fund 100 percent of the needs of the humanitarian crisis in Yemen... Either stop the war or fund the crisis. Option three is, do both of them.”

The United Nations human rights chief has called for an independent, international investigation into the allegations of serious violations of human rights and international humanitarian law in Yemen, in a new report published today.

“An international investigation would go a long way in putting on notice the parties to the conflict that the international community is watching and determined to hold to account perpetrators of violations and abuses,” said UN High Commissioner for Human Rights Zeid Ra'ad Al Hussein in a news release on the report.

“I appeal to all the parties to the conflict, those supporting them and those with influence over them to have mercy on the people of Yemen, and to take immediate measures to ensure humanitarian relief for civilians and justice for the victims of violations,” he added.

    
According to the report, which records violations and abuses of human rights and international humanitarian law since September 2014, such acts continue unabated in Yemen, with civilians suffering deeply the consequences of an “entirely man-made catastrophe.”

Between March 2015, when the Office of the UN High Commissioner for Human Rights (OHCHR) began reporting on civilian casualties, and 30 August, at least 5,144 civilians have been documented as killed and more than 8,749 injured.

Children accounted for 1,184 of those who were killed and 1,592 of those injured. Coalition airstrikes continued to be the leading cause of child casualties as well as overall civilian casualties. Some 3,233 of the civilians killed were reportedly killed by Coalition forces.

The report states that the past year witnessed airstrikes against funeral gatherings and small civilian boats, in addition to markets, hospitals, schools, residential areas, and other public and private infrastructure.

The Popular Committees affiliated with the Houthis and the army units loyal to former President Abdullah Saleh (the Houthi/Saleh forces) were responsible for some 67 per cent of the 1,702 cases of recruitment of children for use in hostilities.

The report stresses that “the minimal efforts towards accountability in the past year are wholly insufficient to respond to the gravity of violations and abuses continuing every day in Yemen,” adding that the National Commission established to investigate human rights violations in Yemen is not perceived to be impartial.

The report also found that the governorates most affected by the conflict were Aden, Al-Hudaydah, Sana'a and Taizz.

The humanitarian crisis – with nearly 18.8 million people in need of humanitarian aid and 7.3 million on the brink of famine – is a direct result of the behaviour of parties to the conflict, including indiscriminate attacks, attacks against civilians and protected objects, sieges, blockades and restrictions on movement, the report states.

“In many cases, information obtained…suggested that civilians may have been directly targeted, or that operations were conducted heedless of their impact on civilians without regard to the principles of distinction, proportionality and precautions in attack. In some cases, information suggested that no actions were taken to mitigate the impact of operations on civilians,” the report states. Source

Syrian army on the verge of ending ISIL's siege of the city of Deir Ezzor

Syrian army on the verge of ending ISIL's siege of the city of Deir Ezzor

    Sunday, September 03, 2017   No comments

Syrian government soldiers and allied fighters have advanced to the edge of a government enclave besieged by the Islamic State group in the country's east, a monitoring group said Sunday.

Syria's army, backed by Russian military support, has been advancing towards the city of Deir Ezzor on several fronts for weeks.
Units from the Syrian Arab Army continued their campaign against the self-proclaimed Islamic State (IS, formerly ISIS, ISIL) in the eastern city of Deir Ezzor on Saturday.

The soldiers conducted a raid in the direction of Tallet Alloush and the surrounding areas, attacking IS militants and seizing their weapons and ammunition.