The Middle East Crisis

[sweep_shot]

Nearly 40 people have been killed in Iraq on one of the bloodiest days since anti-government protests began last month, medics and officials say.

At least 25 people died when security forces opened fire to clear bridges in the southern city of Nasiriya.

Another four protesters died in Baghdad and 10 more in the city of Najaf, where Iran's consulate was also burnt.

Iraqis have been taking to the streets to demand more jobs, an end to corruption and better public services.

The Iraqi military has announced it is setting up military "crisis cells" to quell unrest. The military command said an emergency unit had been created to "impose security and restore order".

At least 350 people have been killed and thousands wounded since the unrest began.

What happened in Nasiriya and Baghdad?
The military had sent reinforcements to tackle unrest in Nasiriya, the birthplace of Prime Minister Adel Abdul Mahdi and a hotspot for protests.

Troops used live ammunition and tear gas to clear sit-ins on two bridges, medics and security sources reported, with protesters responding by torching a police station.

Amnesty International's Middle East research director, Lynn Maalouf, said the scenes "more closely resemble a war zone than city streets and bridges", accusing security forces of "appalling violence against largely peaceful protesters".

Agence France-Presse, quoting Iraqi state media, said Mr Abdul Mahdi had now sacked Gen Jamil Shummary, one of the commanders sent to restore order in Nasiriya.

Late in the evening, Iraqi media reported that the governor of Dhi Qar, of which Nasiriya is the capital, had resigned.

Live rounds were also fired at the strategic Ahrar Bridge in Baghdad, sources said, as protesters tried to cross towards the so-called Green Zone that hosts the country's parliament.

As well as the four who died there, more than 20 people were wounded.

What happened in Najaf?
Clashes broke out between protesters and police in the city on Thursday, leaving three demonstrators dead and 18 more wounded, medical sources said.

Security forces were cracking down after protesters set fire overnight to the Iranian consulate in the city - the seat of Iraq's Shia religious authority and the location of the revered Imam Ali shrine, where the son-in-law of the Prophet Muhammad is buried.

Protesters chanted "Iran out of Iraq" as flames engulfed the building.

Reports say staff at the consulate managed to flee just before protesters broke in. Iran swiftly condemned the attack and said that the Iraqi government was responsible for protecting its consulate.

This is the second attack on an Iranian consulate in Iraq this month after an office in the Shia holy city of Karbala was targeted three weeks ago.

Although Iraq's anti-government protests have been directed mainly at the country's political leaders, many of those taking part have also expressed anger at Iran's influence over Iraq's internal affairs, which has steadily grown since the US-led invasion that toppled Saddam Hussein in 2003.

Protesters accuse Iran of complicity in what they see as Iraq's governance failure and corruption.

What's the background to the protests?
Mr Abdul Mahdi took office just over a year ago, promising reforms that have not materialised.

Young Iraqis angered by his failure to tackle high unemployment, endemic corruption and poor public services took to the streets of Baghdad for the first time at the beginning of October.

After the first wave of protests, which lasted six days and saw 149 civilians killed, Mr Abdul Mahdi promised to reshuffle his cabinet and cut the salaries of high-ranking officials, and also announced schemes to reduce youth unemployment.

But the protesters said their demands had not been met and returned to the streets in late October.

The demonstrations escalated and spread across the country after security personnel responded with deadly force.

President Barham Saleh has said Mr Abdul Mahdi will resign if parties can agree on a replacement.

Source: https://www.bbc.com/news/world-middle-east-50584123.

 

[sweep_shot]

Iraqi Prime Minister Adel Abdul Mahdi is to submit his resignation, his office says, after more than 40 people were killed on the bloodiest day since anti-government protests began.

Iraq's top Shia Muslim cleric condemned the use of force against protesters and called for a new government.

About 400 people have been killed in protests since the start of October, and at least 15 died on Friday.

Iraqis are demanding jobs, an end to corruption and better public services.

UN Secretary General Antonio Guterres said he was "deeply concerned over reports of the continued use of live ammunition against demonstrators" and called for "maximum restraint".

Why is Abdul Mahdi resigning?
The statement said he would present his resignation to parliament so lawmakers could select a new government.

It came after Grand Ayatollah Ali al-Sistani called for a new government.

"In response to this call, and in order to facilitate it as quickly as possible, I will present to parliament a demand [to accept] my resignation from the leadership of the current government," the statement signed by Mr Abdul Mahdi said.

The statement did not say when his resignation would take place. On Sunday parliament will hold an emergency session to discuss the crisis.

Earlier on Friday Ayatollah Sistani said the government appeared to have been "unable to deal with the events of the past two months".

"Parliament, from which the current government emerged, must reconsider its choices and do what's in the interest of Iraq," he said in remarks delivered by his representative during a televised sermon in the city of Karbala.

The ayatollah said attacks on peaceful protesters were "forbidden" and also urged demonstrators to avoid violence and "eject vandals" from their midst.

Mr Abdul Mahdi has offered his resignation before but the intervention by Ayatollah Sistani, the most influential man in the country, makes things different now, BBC Middle East editor Jeremy Bowen reports.

What is happening in Iraq is part of a wave of unrest across the region, much of it driven by the anger of those under the age of 30 who are fed up with unemployment, unreliable public services and what they consider as corruption by the country's elite, our correspondent adds.

Mr Abdul Mahdi had earlier ordered an investigation into Thursday's violence in Dhi Qar and Najaf provinces.

Source: https://www.bbc.com/news/world-middle-east-50600495.

 

[sweep_shot]

Embattled Iraqi PM bows out

BAGHDAD: The government of Iraq’s Prime Minister Adel Abdel Mahdi ended on Sunday after two months of violent unrest that has left more than 420 people dead and thousands mourning them in nationwide marches.

Spoiler

As anti-government demonstrators across the strife-torn country massed to honour the fallen activists, parliament met to accept the resignation which the 77-year-old had offered two days before.

While Abdel Mahdi stays on initially to lead a caretaker government, President Barham Saleh will now be asked to name a successor to face the challenge of resolving the political chaos that has engulfed the nation.

The protest movement is Iraq’s biggest since the US-led invasion of 2003 toppled Saddam Hussein and installed a democratic system in the oil-rich but poverty-plagued nation.

Tens of thousands have vented their anger at a governing class they despise as inept, corrupt and beholden to foreign powers, especially Iran, whose consulate in the city of Najaf was torched last Wednesday.

Some protesters cautiously welcomed the departure of the premier, who came to power just a year ago based on a shaky alliance between rival parties, but they demanded far more deep-rooted change. “Abdel Mahdi should go — and so should parliament and the political parties and Iran!” said one young demonstrator in the capital.

Observers said Iraq’s fractured political scene will struggle to reach a consensus on a new premier.

With the parliament’s main Shia blocs “fragmented, no largest faction exists”, wrote Dlawer Ala’Aldeen, president of the Arbil-based Middle East Research Institute.

Even if they agreed on a candidate, he or she would also need the backing of the emboldened street. “Demonstrators are hard to please,” said Ala’Aldeen. “The carnival goes on and, meanwhile, violence continues.” Just before the parliamentary session began, another protester was shot dead in the capital, medical sources said.

But, in a victory for the movement, an Iraqi court sentenced a police officer to death after convicting him of killing demonstrators, the first such sentence in the two months of deadly civil unrest. The Kut criminal court sentenced the police major to be hanged and it jailed a police lieutenant colonel for seven years over the deaths of seven protesters in the southern city on Nov 2, judicial sources said.

Iraq’s constitution has no provision for the resignation of a premier, and lawmaker Sarkawt Shamsaddin said on Sunday that the body did not actually hold a vote.

“The speaker said that the Federal Court was consulted and the understanding is that [there is] no need to vote,” he said. The speaker had then asked if any lawmaker was against the resignation and “nobody objected”.

Source: https://www.dawn.com/news/1520017/embattled-iraqi-pm-bows-out.

 

[sweep_shot]

Pompeo says Iran the common villain in Mideast protests

Spoiler

United States Secretary of State Mike Pompeo said on Monday that Iran was the uniting factor behind protests around the Middle East, saying demonstrators in Iraq, Lebanon and Iran itself opposed the clerical regime.

While acknowledging diverse local reasons for the unrest that has swept the Middle East as well as other regions, Pompeo pointed the finger at Iran, considered an arch-enemy by President Donald Trump's administration.

Iraqi premier Adel Abdel Mahdi resigned "because the people were demanding freedom and the security forces had killed dozens and dozens of people. That's due in large part to Iranian influence," Pompeo insisted.

"The same is true in Lebanon, the protests in Beirut," he said at the University of Louisville.

"They want Hezbollah and Iran out of their country, out of their system as a violent and a repressive force," he said.

He said that protests inside Iran — which Amnesty International says have killed more than 200 people — showed that Iranians were also "fed up".

"They see a theocracy that is stealing money, the ayatollahs stealing tens and tens of millions of dollars," he said.

In both Iraq and Lebanon, protesters have primarily called for an end to corruption, greater efforts to create jobs and a restructuring of the political system.

In Iraq, Abdel Mahdi had close ties with fellow Shii-majority Iran but also enjoyed support from the US. Protesters last week torched the Iranian consulate in Najaf.

In Lebanon, the US has been seeking to isolate Hezbollah, the pro-Iranian militant movement that is also a political party with berths in the previous government.

The Trump administration, which has close ties with Iran's adversaries Saudi Arabia and Israel, has put a priority on curbing Tehran's regional influence including by imposing sweeping sanctions.

Source: https://www.dawn.com/news/1520046/pompeo-says-iran-the-common-villain-in-mideast-protests.

 

[sweep_shot]

Protests grip Iraq's capital and south despite rising toll

Spoiler

Thousands of Iraqi protesters streamed into streets and public squares in the capital and restive south on Sunday, saying they were not deterred by deadly violence meant to “scare” them.

In Baghdad, crowds of anti-government demonstrators thronged Tahrir Square, the epicentre of their movement.

Late Friday, unidentified gunmen attacked a parking complex near Tahrir where demonstrators had been squatting for weeks, leaving 20 protesters and four police officers dead, medics told AFP.

Protesters feared it signalled that their movement would be derailed but by Sunday, the numbers gathered under the sun in Tahrir were staggering.

“They're trying to scare us in whatever ways they can, but we're staying in the streets,” said Aisha, a 23-year-old protester.

At least 452 people — the vast majority of them protesters — have died and 20,000 have been wounded since the rallies erupted.

In Nasiriyah, a protest hotspot where dozens were killed in a spree of violence last month, protesters regrouped downtown along with representatives of powerful tribes.

“We will keep protesting until the regime collapses,” pledged Ali Rahim, a student.

In other southern cities, local authorities had declared Sunday — the first day of the work week in Iraq — a holiday for civil servants.

Road blocks and massive strikes also disrupted work in Hilla, Amara, Diwaniya, Kut and the shrine city of Najaf, AFP's correspondents there said.

The rallies have persisted despite the resignation of premier Adel Abdel Mahdi earlier this month, with protesters demanding the complete ouster of the ruling class.

Iraq is ranked the 12th most corrupt country in the world by watchdog group Transparency International, with billions of dollars pilfered each year from the state budget of the Organisation of the Petroleum Exporting Countries's second largest producer.

Source: https://www.dawn.com/news/1521153/protests-grip-iraqs-capital-and-south-despite-rising-toll.

 

[Last Monetarist]

https://www.reuters.com/world/middle-east/arab-states-call-un-security-council-meet-over-ethiopiam-dam-2021-06-15/

Arab states are calling on the U.N. Security Council to discuss the dispute over Ethiopia's plan to fill a giant dam it is building on the Blue Nile, Arab League Secretary General Ahmed Aboul Gheit said on Tuesday after a foreign ministers' meeting.

Ethiopia is pinning its hopes of economic development and power generation on the dam. Egypt relies on the river for as much as 90% of its fresh water and sees the dam as an existential threat. Sudan is concerned about the operation of its own Nile dams and water stations.

The ministers, meeting in Qatar, agreed on "steps to be taken gradually" to support Egypt and Sudan in the dispute, Qatari Foreign Minister Mohammed Bin Abdulrahman Al-Thani told a news conference, without giving details.

The Arab states called on Ethiopia to negotiate "in good faith" and refrain from any unilateral steps that would harm Egypt and Sudan.

Such steps included completing the second phase of filling the dam's reservoir in the rainy season this year without an agreement on filling and operating the dam, the Arab League said in a statement.

Ethiopia rejected the Arab League resolution in its entirety, its Foreign Ministry said in a statement.

The country previously rejected calls from Egypt and Sudan to involve mediators outside the African Union.

Sudan and Egypt had already agreed this month to work together on all levels to push Ethiopia to negotiate "seriously" on an agreement, after African Union-sponsored talks remained deadlocked.

The two countries, which are downstream from the Grand Ethiopian Renaissance Dam, called on the international community to intervene. Aboul Gheit described the water security of Egypt and Sudan as an integral part of Arab national security.

Sudan said on Monday it was open to a partial interim agreement on the multibillion-dollar dam, with specific conditions.

Tuesday's meeting was the first such gathering of Arab states that Qatar has hosted since Saudi Arabia and its allies imposed a boycott on Doha in mid-2017 over accusations that Qatar supported terrorism, a charge it denies.

Saudi Arabia, the UAE, Bahrain and Egypt agreed in January to restore diplomatic, trade and travel ties with Doha.

 

[Last Monetarist]

https://www.reuters.com/world/middle-east/sisi-makes-first-visit-iraq-by-egyptian-leader-decades-2021-06-27/

Egypt's President Abdel Fattah al-Sisi, Iraqi Prime Minister Mustafa al-Kadhimi and Jordan's King Abdullah met in Baghdad on Sunday during the first visit by an Egyptian head of state to Iraq since Saddam Hussein invaded Kuwait in 1990.

The first Gulf War ruptured diplomatic relations between Iraq and Egypt, but these have improved in recent years with many senior officials from both countries exchanging visits.

The United States has been urging Iraq to boost ties with Arab nations to counter Iran's influence and Sisi's visit is for a third round of talks between Egypt, Jordan and Iraq aimed at closer security, economic, trade and investment cooperation.

In recent years, Iraq had signed cooperation deals in the energy, health and education sectors with both countries.

On Sunday, the three leaders discussed several areas of regional interest, including the recent development on the Palestinian issue, combating terrorism and economic cooperation, an Egypt presidency statement said.

"The leaders stressed the need to intensify consultation and coordination between the three countries on the most important regional issues," it added.

Kadhimi, Sisi and Abdullah held a summit in Amman last year and were due to hold another in Baghdad in April, but this was delayed after a deadly train crash in Egypt.

Egypt signed 15 deals and memoranda of understanding in sectors including oil, roads, housing, construction and trade in February after Iraq's cabinet in December approved renewing its contract to supply the Egyptian General Petroleum Corporation (EGPC) with 12 million barrels of Basra light crude for 2021.

Iraq is also planning to build a pipeline that is meant to export 1 million barrels per day of Iraqi crude from the southern city of Basra to Jordan's Red Sea port of Aqaba.

"There is genuine economic benefits that come from the "Arab Alliance" for all three partners, notably on energy diplomacy," Hafsa Halawa, non-resident scholar at the Middle East Institute, said, adding that there was an expectation that stronger relationships could reinvigorate U.S. engagement in the region.

"The hope remains that certain aspects of this alliance can pull Iraq slightly out of Iran's orbit of influence, but not by rushing back into U.S. arms and falling into the binary of being stuck between Washington and Tehran," she added.

 

[Last Monetarist]

https://www.reuters.com/world/africa/tunisia-pushing-un-action-ethiopia-dam-ethiopia-opposed-2021-07-07/

Tunisia has proposed the U.N. Security Council push for a binding agreement between Ethiopia, Sudan and Egypt on the operation of a giant hydropower dam within six months, according to a draft resolution seen by Reuters on Wednesday.

Tunisia circulated the draft text to the 15-member Security Council ahead of a council meeting on the Grand Ethiopian Renaissance Dam (GERD) on Thursday, though it was not immediately clear when it could be put to a vote.

A senior Ethiopian diplomat in New York told Reuters the draft resolution would "effectively scuttle" an African Union-led mediation process between the three countries, and Ethiopia was working to make sure that it would not be adopted.

"Africa is watching and watching closely because the precedence is huge to bear and disrupts African Unity," the diplomat said on condition of anonymity. "Ethiopia does not believe the matter falls within the purview of the council."

Tunisia's U.N. mission did not respond to a request for comment.

The draft text "calls upon the three countries to refrain from making any statements, or taking any action that may jeopardize the negotiation process, and urges Ethiopia to refrain from continuing to unilaterally fill the GERD reservoir."

Egypt's irrigation minister said on Monday he had received official notice from Ethiopia that it had begun filling the reservoir behind the dam for a second year. Egypt said it rejected the measure as a threat to regional stability.

Ethiopia says the dam on its Blue Nile is crucial to its economic development and to provide power.

But Egypt views it as a grave threat to its Nile water supplies, on which it is almost entirely dependent. Sudan, another downstream country, has expressed concern about the dam's safety and the impact on its own dams and water stations.

 

[Last Monetarist]

https://www.theguardian.com/global-development/2021/jul/09/it-will-be-a-catastrophe-fate-of-syrias-last-aid-channel-rests-in-russias-hands

Just over half a mile away from the Bab al-Hawa border crossing connecting Syria and Turkey a 6th-century triumphal arch still stands, the remains of a Roman road stretching straight as an arrow on either side. For millennia this part of the world has been a crossroads of trade, culture and history. Today, it’s more important than ever.

Bab al-Hawa is Syria’s last lifeline, through which vital UN aid supplies for 3.4 million people living in the war-torn north-west of the country arrive. But before 10 July, the security council must vote in New York on whether to keep the aid flowing. What might seem like an obvious decision to outsiders is actually far from certain: Russia may use its veto power as a permanent member of the council to close the UN’s last access point, as it has managed to do with the other three aid crossings.

That the UN’s assistance for Syrians living outside the regime’s control could suddenly end this week is a reminder not just that the international community has failed the Syrian people, but how the conflict has broken the mechanisms built to keep the world safe.

Compared with many areas deeper inside the country, Bab al-Hawa is an island of order and stability: manicured lawns and trees surround the crossing offices and the asphalt is clean and smooth. Hundreds of aid and commercial lorries pass through each day.

Employees inspect more than 30,000 tonnes of aid a month, about 60% of which comes from the UN. The vast majority – 87.5% – is food, with the rest made up of medicine, other health supplies, clothes, sanitation and hygiene equipment, according to the crossing’s spokesperson, Mazen Alloush.

“If the UN aid entry is suspended, the crossing won’t close, but it will be a catastrophe,” aid worker Bakri al-Obeid said. “The knock-on effects would be huge: about 1.8 million people living in camps will lose food supplies, 2.3 million will lose clean water, and half of the hospitals will lose funding. Food prices will go up and bakeries will close down.”

Across north-west Syria, need is acute. After a decade of war, the area is the last that remains outside Bashar al-Assad’s control, after military intervention from his Russian allies in 2015 turned the tide of the war in the government’s favour. The population of Idlib city and the surrounding countryside has swollen from one million to about 3.4 million as displaced people have fled the regime’s advance, with two-thirds living in camps or other makeshift accommodation.

The region is, for the most part, ruled by an Islamist militant group, leaving civilians trapped between the two forces. A 2020 ceasefire is routinely ignored: regime airstrikes regularly target civilian infrastructure, stretching the limited health facilities to breaking point.

Last year’s collapse of the Syrian pound sent food prices soaring, and the arrival of Covid-19 has exacerbated the level of need across the entire country – but the north-west is suffering the most.

“If the aid crossing is closed, we would have to shut down the hospital operations within a week,” said Dr Tarraf al-Tarraf, a urologist who switches to emergency surgery whenever there is a new wave of bombings. “It will be a total disaster … Closing Bab al-Hawa is using aid as a weapon.”

International aid has been deeply politicised since the beginning of the Syrian crisis. “It was clear right from 2011 that it was going to be hard to get the Russians to engage in any meaningful way,” a senior western diplomat said of early UN efforts to stop the regime’s violence against Arab spring protesters.

After it became clear that a series of peace talks known as the Geneva process, along with other diplomatic efforts, were not going to bring a timely end to the fighting, many at the UN decided to focus on what could be done to alleviate the humanitarian situation.

Eventually, in 2014, member states agreed on Resolution 2165, built on legal justifications, which allowed the UN to operate without the permission of the Damascus government and provide aid directly to rebel-held areas through four border crossings – two with Turkey, one with Iraq and one with Jordan.

“It was a very difficult negotiation, but we were able to push it through by taking advantage of the fact the Ukraine crisis was unfolding as well as the Winter Olympics in Sochi, putting Moscow on the back foot,” the diplomat said. “It was a huge breakthrough in our efforts to bring relief to the people of Syria. Even if it didn’t work as smoothly as we would have liked, it was a big step.”

In January 2020, however, arguing that the ground situation had changed, Russia used the threat of a total veto to cut the crossing on the Iraqi border; in July, it cut another in the north-west. (Al-Ramtha, on the Jordanian border, became less crucial after 2018, when the regime took back control of the area.)

Today, only Bab al-Hawa remains – and the Russian delegation to the UN has hinted again that it will veto extending the resolution’s mandate when it expires next week.

Moscow has long maintained that all, rather than part of the UN’s aid to Syria should be distributed centrally through the Syrian government, blaming Hayat Tahrir al-Sham, the militant group in control in Idlib, along with Turkey, which backs some rebel groups, for not allowing aid from Damascus.

Based on bitter experience, however, Syrians in the north-west know that if the regime controls the flow of aid, they are unlikely to see any of it. “When eastern Ghouta was under siege the only humanitarian corridor was with the regime,” said Obeid. “People there starved to death.”

Efforts to keep Bab al-Hawa open – and restore the other two crossings – have gone into overdrive in capitals across the world before the New York showdown. Mark Cutts, the UN’s deputy regional humanitarian coordinator for Syria, said it is crucial that member states understand the scale of the potential crisis.

“We have managed to run a massive aid operation for 10 years, supporting civilians on different sides of the front line. We need security council support to continue providing cross-border aid in north-west Syria, where there is artillery shelling and bombing virtually every day,” he said.

“The war is not over. Our cross-border operation from Turkey has proven to be the safest and most direct route. To cut off that lifeline would be a crime.”

While aid agencies have realised since the first crossing was closed in 2020 that they may need to make contingency plans to bypass the UN and rely instead on local partners, there is no real or immediate working alternative to Bab al-Hawa.

The vote is also being watched warily by Washington and Moscow as a harbinger of future relations. “The problem is that, even if Moscow doesn’t use its veto this time, it just kicks the can down the road for six months, or maybe a year, depending on how long the mandate is extended for,” said Dareen Khalifa, senior Syria analyst with the International Crisis Group.

“Putting the lifeline of three million Syrians up for negotiations every six to 12 months, is an unsustainable situation. And Syrian civilians end up paying the price.”

 

[OMB]

Canadian admits fabricating terrorism tale detailed in New York Times podcast

The man, Shehroze Chaudhry, had spread fabricated stories of life as a terrorist in Syria on social media beginning in 2016, according to an agreed statement of facts between prosecutors and the defense.

A Canadian man admitted in court Friday that he made up tales about being an Islamic State fighter and executioner in Syria. In exchange, Canadian authorities dropped criminal charges against him of perpetrating a hoax involving the threat of terrorism.

The man, Shehroze Chaudhry, had spread fabricated stories of life as a terrorist in Syria on social media beginning in 2016, according to an agreed statement of facts between prosecutors and the defense. He then repeated them to several news outlets, including The New York Times, which then amplified his tales, the statement said.

Chaudhry, who is now 26, had come to regret giving interviews to the news media and “wanted to finish school and turn his life around,” the statement said.

Prosecutors agreed to drop the charges because Chaudhry’s tales “were mistakes borne out of immaturity — not sinister intent and certainly not criminal intent,” his lawyer, Nader R. Hasan, wrote in an email.

Chaudhry was, however, required to post a so-called peace bond for $10,000, which would be forfeited if he violates terms of the deal. The prosecutor was not immediately available for comment.

Under the name Abu Huzayfah, Chaudhry, who lives in the Toronto suburb of Burlington, Ontario, was the central figure in the Times’ 10-part podcast series “Caliphate.” The release of that series in 2018, and other reports based on Chaudhry’s tales, created a political firestorm in Canada’s Parliament among opposition parties that repeatedly attacked Prime Minister Justin Trudeau’s government for seeming to allow a terrorist killer to freely roam the streets of suburban Toronto.

But in truth, there was little to no risk to the public. The statement of facts presented in the Ontario Court of Justice in Brampton on Friday concluded: “Mr. Chaudhry has never entered Syria nor participated in ISIS operations anywhere in the world.”

Last year, Chaudhry was arrested in Canada on charges that he perpetrated a hoax that terrified and threatened the public. After his arrest, the Times reexamined the “Caliphate” series and found “a history of misrepresentations by Mr. Chaudhry and no corroboration that he committed the atrocities he described in the ‘Caliphate’ podcast.” The podcast did not hold up, the Times said.

The reexamination of the series found that “Times journalists were too credulous about the verification steps that were undertaken and dismissive of the lack of corroboration of essential aspects of Mr. Chaudhry’s account,” said Danielle Rhoades Ha, a spokesperson for the Times. “Since that time, we’ve introduced new practices to prevent similar lapses,” she said.

In 2019, “Caliphate” won an Overseas Press Club prize and a Peabody Award. The Overseas Press Club rescinded its award, and the Times returned the Peabody. The Pulitzer Prize Board also rescinded its recognition of the podcast as a finalist.

The Royal Canadian Mounted Police interviewed Chaudhry in April 2017 — a year before the “Caliphate” podcast — based on information about his social media postings. At that time, he told them he had made up his tales of being an Islamic State fighter in Syria.

Despite that admission to police, he continued to portray himself in news media interviews and on social media as a former Islamic State fighter almost up to his arrest in September of last year.

The statement of facts presented in court Friday said a Times journalist, Rukmini Callimachi, pushed Chaudhry to spin his false narrative.

“At times during the podcast, Ms. Callimachi expressly encouraged Mr. Chaudhry to discuss violent acts,” the statement says. “When Mr. Chaudhry expressed reluctance to do so, she responded, ‘You need to talk about the killings.’ ”

Chaudhry’s trial on the terrorist hoax charges was scheduled to begin in February. Prosecutors agreed to drop the charges in exchange for his confession, as well as his consent to post the peace bond and abide by its conditions.

Under the terms of the peace bond, which is reserved for people who the authorities fear may commit terrorist acts, Chaudhry must remain in Ontario for the next year and live with his parents. He is prohibited from owning any weapons, must continue to receive counseling and is required to report any changes in his virtual or physical addresses to police.





Instagram posts starting in 2016 — made under Chaudhry’s name and posted along with an identifiable photograph of his face — said Chaudhry had traveled to Syria in 2014 and been made part of the Islamic State group’s Amniyat section, a wing responsible for internal security, “for a bit less than a year.”

“I’ve been on the battlefield,” the posts said. “I support the brothers fighting on the ground.”

All the while, however, Chaudhry had been at his family’s home in Burlington or working at a restaurant it owns in neighboring Oakville, Ontario.

In November 2016, the Middle East Media Research Institute, a group based in Washington, compiled Chaudhry’s online claims of terrorist activity into a report that was distributed to Callimachi and the Royal Canadian Mounted Police, among others.

That report prompted an anti-terrorism unit with members from various Canadian law enforcement and intelligence agencies, including the Mounties, to open the terrorism investigation.

After confirming Chaudhry’s identity by matching an online portrait against the photo on his driver’s license, police also obtained his travel records. In a meeting with police April 12, 2017, Chaudhry confirmed that he had written those posts.

“He also readily admitted that he never went to Syria,” according to the joint statement of facts presented in court.

The statement also said that shortly after receiving the research group’s report, Callimachi emailed Chaudhry to ask if he would speak about his supposed experiences inside the Islamic State group. She soon traveled to Toronto to record interviews that were used for “Caliphate.”

https://indianexpress.com/article/india/canadian-admits-fabricating-terrorism-tale-detailed-in-new-york-times-podcast-7563356/

 

[FearlessRoar]

Erdogan's Landmark Visit to Egypt: A New Dawn for Middle East Geopolitics?

President Erdogan's upcoming visit to Egypt after 11 years signals a potential turning point in regional geopolitics. With key issues such as the Israel-Hamas conflict, economic cooperation, and strategic partnerships on the agenda, this visit could mark a new era for the Middle East.

President Recep Tayyip Erdogan of Turkey steps onto Egyptian soil after a decade-long hiatus, signaling a potential turning point in the Middle East's geopolitical landscape. The highly anticipated visit, scheduled for February 14, 2024, aims to mend fences and forge new alliances between the two regional powerhouses.

The last time Erdogan set foot in Cairo was in 2012, before relations soured due to differences on various regional issues. However, the past year has seen both countries taking steps towards reconciliation, appointing ambassadors to each other's capitals in 2021.

The thaw in relations is evident in the recent meetings between Erdogan and Egyptian President Abdel Fattah El-Sisi in various countries, hinting at a shared desire to cooperate on pressing regional matters.

One of the key issues expected to dominate the agenda during Erdogan's visit is the ongoing Israel-Hamas war. As a vocal critic of Israel's actions, Erdogan is keen to work with Egypt to prevent further displacement of Palestinians and promote peace in the region.

Moreover, both countries have a mutual interest in addressing the Libyan file and ensuring regional stability. The potential for increased cooperation between Turkey and Egypt could significantly impact the Middle East's power dynamics.

Beyond political matters, the visit is also expected to focus on strengthening economic ties. Turkey is currently Egypt's fifth-largest trade partner, and recent developments indicate a growing willingness to collaborate on economic, trade, tourism, energy, and defense matters.

One notable example is the finalized agreement for Turkey to provide drones to Egypt, showcasing the potential for strategic military cooperation between the two nations.

As Erdogan prepares to meet El-Sisi, the world watches with bated breath, hoping that this visit will indeed mark the beginning of a new era of cooperation and stability in the Middle East.

Source: BNN

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[FearlessRoar]

If President Erdogan's visit to Egypt goes well, it could really help the Middle East. The cooperation between Turkey and Egypt on issues like the Israel-Hamas conflict and regional stability might bring some positive changes. It looks like both countries are trying to work together, and if they succeed, it could be a step towards a more stable and cooperative Middle East.