Region

BRUSSELS — Enabling Iraqis to fight the Daesh terror group is the best solution to stop the return of the extremist organisation, NATO Secretary General Jens Stoltenberg said on Thursday.

Speaking at a press conference following a meeting of the North Atlantic Council Defence Ministers' session in Brussels, Stoltenberg said: “Training local forces is one of the best weapons we have against ISIS [Daesh].”

He said that the Iraqi forces “have proven that they are capable of fighting Daesh”.

The alliance chief said that NATO will follow up on developments in close consultation and coordination with the Iraqi government, based on its invitation. 

“Every step we take will be in consultation and based on invitation and only when we are welcomed by the Iraqi government,” he said.

“We will also, of course, consider to step up. But those are decisions we have to take later on, based on developments,” he said.

NATO, he said, is already in the wider Middle East region with its training mission in Iraq, and its presence in Afghanistan. 

“We work closely with countries like Jordan and Tunisia, helping them with intelligence, special operation forces. This is both about military activities, but also political support and cooperation with countries in the region.”

The alliance chief said that NATO has had “a very good and constructive dialogue” with countries in the region and with the government of Iraq.

Touching on Libya, the NATO chief noted that the alliance is not present in the war-ravaged country.

“We strongly support the UN-led efforts to find a peaceful negotiated solution. And that’s the message from NATO and from NATO allies,” he said.

Stoltenberg said that NATO is ready to help Libya with capacity-building measures if it is requested.

The alliance chief hailed the recent Berlin Conference on Libya, noting it as an important initiative to get the peace talks and the political process moving.

TEHRAN — Campaigning kicked off in Iran on Thursday ahead of next week's crucial parliamentary election at which conservatives are expected to win most seats after thousands of moderates and reformists were disqualified.

The February 21 election comes after months of escalating tensions between Iran and its arch enemy the United States.

The Guardian Council, which vets candidates, said more than 7,000 qualified to stand in the election, but even more were disqualified, semi-official news agency ISNA reported.

"In this election 7,148 will compete for the parliament's 290 seats... and 7,296 have been disqualified," it quoted National Elections Commission chief Jamal Orf as saying.

Most of the barred candidates come from the ranks of moderate conservative President Hassan Rouhani's alliance with reformists.

There was not much fanfare seen on the streets of Tehran where posters went up for the first day of campaigning, an AFP correspondent reported.

State news agency IRNA said campaign posters and banners of candidates were also going up in other cities and towns in the country.

The purge of candidates is likely to discourage many Iranians from voting, but supporters of conservatives and ultra-conservatives are still expected to make a strong showing.

The parliament — or Majles — drafts legislation, ratifies international treaties and approves the country's budget.

But analysts say the election will be a rare opportunity to gauge sentiment of the Iranian public after months of turmoil.

Backing for Rouhani and the reformists has fallen away since US President Donald Trump withdrew from a nuclear deal that was supposed to give Iran relief from sanctions.

Since the withdrawal, Trump has slapped wave after wave of sanctions on Iran as part of a stated campaign of "maximum pressure".

The campaign has battered the economy of the Islamic republic, which saw nationwide protests against a fuel price hike turn violent in November before they were crushed by the security forces.

In January, Iran came to the brink of an all-out confrontation with the United States for the second time in seven months when it fired missiles at US troops in Iraq in retaliation for the killing of one of its top generals.

BAGHDAD — The United States will grant Iraq a brief 45-day extension to a waiver allowing Baghdad to continue importing Iranian gas despite American sanctions, an Iraqi official told AFP on Wednesday.

The US slapped tough sanctions on the Iranian energy sector in late 2018 and initially granted Iraq a 45 day waiver before repeatedly extending it for 90 or 120 days.

Baghdad relies on gas and electricity imports from its neighbour Tehran to supply about a third of its power grid, crippled by years of conflict and poor maintenance.

"The extension this time will be for just 45 days, with some strict conditions," the senior Iraqi official said.

The two countries were still in talks over what exactly those conditions were.

Washington has repeatedly insisted Iraq wean itself off Iran by partnering with American companies to capture natural gas to use for its power plants and to improve transmission of electricity into homes to reduce waste.

Iraq signed a memorandum of understanding with US powerhouse General Electric last year and has been in talks with other energy firms, but contracts have not yet been signed.

Both American and Iraqi officials told AFP the US was frustrated with Baghdad's slow progress.

The latest waiver was set to expire this week but the US did not want to create additional pressure on prime minister-designate Mohammad Allawi, who is trying to form a new cabinet at a time of turmoil in Iraq.

"Washington didn't want to hamstring Allawi just as he was starting out," the official said.

Failing to renew the waiver could have exposed Iraq to secondary sanctions for dealing with Iran's energy sector and central bank, both blacklisted by the US.

The waiver has allowed Iraq to continue importing about 1,400 megawatts of electricity and 28 million cubic metres of Iranian gas over the last 15 months.

Baghdad pays for the imports by depositing Iraqi dinars into an account at the state-owned Trade Bank of Iraq, which Iran is technically allowed to use to purchase non-sanctioned goods.

A few payments have been made but Iran had been unable to access the funds due to ongoing technical disputes.

TBI Chairman Faisal Al Haimus told AFP last month that if the waiver was not renewed, his bank would be forced to stop processing the payments.

BEIRUT/ ISTANBUL — The Syrian army on Wednesday pushed on with its offensive in the country's northwest, securing areas along a key national highway they seized, as tensions spiralled with Turkey which supports rebel groups.

The Syrian army has made major inroads in the last opposition-held area in the northwest since December, seizing a string of towns and villages from rebels and fighters in the west of Aleppo province since Tuesday night, according to the Syrian Observatory for Human Rights and Al Watan newspaper. 

Hours after completely retaking the vital M5 highway linking the country's four largest cities, they cleared all areas directly west of the road in Aleppo province of rebels and extremists.

"Areas adjacent to the M5 from the west in Aleppo province are now under regime control", observatory head Rami Abdul Rahman told AFP.

The M5 links the capital Damascus to the second city of Aleppo, and has been a key target for the government as it seeks to rekindle a moribund economy.

Its recapture will secure Aleppo, the country's former industrial hub, which still comes under sporadic rocket fire from holdout rebel groups.

Syria's last major opposition pocket, which is home to three million people, is dominated by extremists of the Hayat Tahrir Al Sham alliance and their rebel allies.

Meanwhile, Turkey's president accused Russia of committing "massacres" in its support of the Syrian government on Wednesday, escalating a war of words as more Turkish reinforcements arrived on the ground.

Recep Tayyip Erdogan threatened to strike Syrian forces "everywhere" if its soldiers come under renewed attack, but Russia hit back and accused the Turks of failing to "neutralise terrorists" in the northwestern province of Idlib.

Turkey has shored up its positions in recent days in Idlib — the last rebel bastion in Syria — with hundreds of vehicles carrying artillery and soldiers.

And a new convoy of Turkish armoured vehicles arrived on Wednesday in the town of Binnish, northeast of Idlib city, in a new deployment, an AFP correspondent said.

Turkish officials say they have lost 14 soldiers in the past nine days and claim to have killed scores of Syrian government troops.

"The army, backed by Russian forces and Iran-backed militants, are continuously attacking civilians, committing massacres and shedding blood," Erdogan told a meeting of his ruling party in parliament.

He said Turkey would do "whatever necessary" to push Syrian forces back behind the 12 observation posts it set up in Idlib under the Sochi deal.

"I hereby declare that we will strike Syrian forces everywhere from now on regardless of the Sochi deal if any tiny bit of harm comes to our soldiers at observation posts or elsewhere," he added.

In return, Russia accused Turkey of failing to honour the 2018 deal, with Kremlin spokesman Dmitry Peskov saying the Turkish side "had taken upon itself an obligation to neutralise terrorist groups" in Idlib.

But "all these groups are mounting an attack on the Syrian army from Idlib and are acting aggressively towards Russian military installations," he added.

'Differing interpretations' 

Russian Foreign Ministry spokeswoman Maria Zakharova dismissed Erdogan's claims of attacks on civilians, telling journalists: "We have differing interpretations from Turkey."

Under the bilateral agreements, radical groups were required to withdraw from a demilitarised zone in the Idlib region held by an array of rebels.

The Russian defence ministry also blamed the crisis in Idlib on "Turkish colleagues' failure to fulfil their obligations on separating fighters from the moderate opposition from terrorists."

Russian President Vladimir Putin and Erdogan spoke by phone on Wednesday, with the Kremlin urging Ankara to implement the Sochi deal.

The Turkish presidency confirmed the call but did not provide details.

Erdogan's threats also prompted an angry response from the Syrian government, accusing the Turkish leader of being "disconnected from reality".

"The head of the Turkish government comes with empty... statements only issued by a person disconnected from reality," state news agency SANA quoted a source at the foreign ministry as saying.

A Russian delegation including military and intelligence officials held two rounds of talks in Ankara this week, but no concrete agreement emerged.

Foreign Minister Mevlut Cavusoglu said a Turkish delegation would now go to Moscow "in the next few days".

"Continuing to work with Russia, we are working to secure a lasting ceasefire. But even if nothing results from this, our determination is clear and we will do what is necessary," he said.

KHARTOUM — Rights groups pushed on Wednesday for the swift handover of Sudan's ousted strongman Omar Al Bashir to the International Criminal Court(ICC) after the country's new authorities pledged to bring him to justice for alleged war crimes in Darfur.

Top Sudanese officials said on Tuesday that the new rulers had agreed with rebel groups to send Bashir and three former aides to The Hague-based court for their role in the conflict in the western Darfur region.

"The Sudanese authorities should translate these words into action" and immediately transfer all four, said Amnesty International acting secretary general Julie Verhaar.

"Omar Al Bashir is wanted by the ICC over the murder, extermination, forcible transfer, torture and rape of hundreds of thousands of people during the conflict in Darfur.

"A decision to hand him over to the court would be a welcome step towards justice for victims and their families."

The conflict in Darfur, a region the size of France, erupted in 2003 when ethnic minority rebels took up arms against Bashir's then Arab-dominated government, accusing it of economic and political marginalisation.

The ICC has charged Bashir with genocide, war crimes and crimes against humanity for his role in the conflict.

Bashir, who is detained in Sudan after being convicted of corruption, denies the allegations. He evaded arrest for more than a decade, travelling overseas in open defiance of the ICC.

The court has also indicted three of his former aides, Ahmed Haroon, Abdulrahim Mohamed Hussain and Ali Kushied.

'Beyond time' 

Bashir and the three others wanted by the ICC "have to go there", Mohamed Hassan Al-Taishay, a member of Sudan's new ruling sovereign council, said on Tuesday.

"We agreed that we fully supported the ICC and we agreed... that the four criminals have to be handed over," Taishay said in the South Sudanese capital Juba where a government delegation was meeting rebel groups from Darfur.

He did not specify when they would be transferred to The Hague.

Rights groups say widespread abuses have taken place in Darfur, where the United Nations says about 300,000 people have been killed and millions displaced since the conflict began.

"Sudanese security forces' widespread attacks on civilians under Bashir's campaign of terror, including pervasive sexual violence as a weapon of war, have had devastating impacts on the lives and livelihoods of their victims," US-based NGO Physicians for Human Rights said in a statement.

"It is beyond time that his victims and their families receive justice."

Taishay said that the Juba talks had focused on several mechanisms for achieving peace in Darfur, including the establishment of a special court to investigate crimes in the region.

Sudanese government spokesman Faisal Mohamed Salih told reporters on Wednesday that "details of how Bashir and others will be presented in front of the ICC will be discussed with the ICC and armed groups".

Economic woes persist 

The International Federation for Human Rights (FIDH) said the ICC faced a major responsibility ahead.

"The court needs to get this right: it must re-engage with victims and affected communities and publicise its work effectively so that justice is visible to the people affected by the crimes," its president Alice Mogwe said in a statement.

Bashir was ousted by the army in a palace coup last April after months of protests against his three decades of iron-fisted rule.

He was arrested and later sentenced to two years in a detention centre on corruption charges.

Anti-Bashir protesters, residents of Darfur and rebel groups from the region have consistently demanded that he be handed over to the ICC.

Years of conflict in Darfur and other regions and the secession of South Sudan in 2011 left the country's economy in a shambles — the key factor for nationwide protests against Bashir last year.

Ten months after his ouster, acute shortages of bread, fuel and foreign currency continue to hamper Sudan's economic revival.

Long queues still form at bakeries, and rows of vehicles can be seen outside fuel stations across Khartoum.

"Every family is divided these days in a way," said Hassan Ahmed, a private sector employee waiting to fill his car at a fuel station.

"Some members are standing in a queue for bread, some for fuel and others for cooking gas. We are suffering a lot."