Biden to host Iraqi leader with talks underway on winding down coalition against Daesh/node/2481181/middle-east
Biden to host Iraqi leader with talks underway on winding down coalition against Daesh
U.S. President Joe Biden will host Iraqi Prime Minister Mohammed Shia Al-Sudani at the White House on April 15, the White House said on Friday. (Reuters/File)
Biden to host Iraqi leader with talks underway on winding down coalition against Daesh
The leaders will “consult on a range of issues,” including the fight against Daesh
The two countries have a delicate relationship due in part to Iran’s considerable sway in Iraq
Updated 22 March 2024
AP
WASHINGTON: President Joe Biden plans to host Iraqi Prime Minister Mohammed Shia Al-Sudani, who is visiting next month as the countries hold formal talks about winding down the mission of a US-led military coalition formed to fight the Daesh group in Iraq.
The meeting is scheduled for April 15, the White House said Friday.
The leaders will “consult on a range of issues,” including the fight against Daesh and “ongoing Iraqi financial reforms to promote economic development and progress toward Iraq’s financial independence and modernization,” the White House said.
The two countries have a delicate relationship due in part to Iran’s considerable sway in Iraq, where a coalition of Iran-backed groups brought Al-Sudani to power in October 2022.
The US in recent months has urged Iraq to do more to prevent attacks on US bases in Iraq and Syria that have further roiled the Middle East in the aftermath of Hamas’ Oct. 7 attack on Israel. It’s also sought to apply financial pressure over Baghdad’s relationship with Tehran, restricting Iraq’s access to its own dollars in an effort to stamp out money laundering said to benefit Iran and Syria.
The US and Iraq, meanwhile, held a first session in January to discuss ending the coalition created to help the Iraqi government fight Daesh, with some 2,000 US troops remaining in the country under an agreement with Baghdad. Iraqi officials have periodically called for a withdrawal of those forces.
The visit will also come a year after the kidnapping in Baghdad of Elizabeth Tsurkov, a Russian-American academic at Princeton University who is believed to be held by an Iran-backed militia, Kataib Hezbollah, that is regarded by Washington as a terrorist group and is seen as one of the most powerful armed groups in Iraq. It was formed during the power vacuum that followed the 2003 US-led invasion of Iraq, with support from Iran’s Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps.
On Thursday, Tsurkov’s sister, Emma, urged the State Department to declare Iraq a state sponsor of terrorism and called on the White House to make the Al-Sudani meeting contingent on the prime minister arranging for the release of her sister — something she said that he was empowered to do.
“I am appalled that Sudani will be allowed to shake President Biden’s hand while his other hand holds the keys to my sister’s shackles,” Tsurkov said at event outside the Iraqi Embassy in Washington.
Hamas names hostages to be freed after accusing Israel of breaching ceasefire
Updated 14 sec ago
Ohad Ben Ami, Eli Sharabi, and Or Levy will be handed over on Saturday, Hamas said The Hamas prisoners’ media office said Israel was expected to free 183 Palestinians in exchange
CAIRO/JERUSALEM: Hamas on Friday announced the names of three Israeli hostages to be released on Saturday in exchange for Palestinian prisoners after a delay that underlined the obstacles hanging over a fragile deal meant to end the war in Gaza. Ohad Ben Ami and Eli Sharabi, both taken hostage from Kibbutz Be’eri during the cross-border Hamas-led attack on Oct 7, 2023, and Or Levy, abducted that day from the Nova music festival, will be handed over on Saturday, Hamas said. The Hamas prisoners’ media office said Israel was expected to free 183 Palestinians in exchange, including 18 who have been serving life sentences, 54 serving long sentences and 111 who were detained in the Gaza Strip during the war. Earlier the Palestinian militant group accused Israel of breaching their ceasefire accord and held off announcing the names of the three Israelis until a 4 p.m. (1400 GMT) deadline had passed. It was not immediately clear whether the delay would affect the scheduled exchange on Saturday. Hamas accused Israel of delaying the entry of hundreds of trucks carrying food and other humanitarian supplies agreed under the truce deal that took effect on January 19, and holding back all but a fraction of the tents and mobile homes needed to provide shelter to people returning to their bombed-out homes. “This demonstrates clear manipulation of relief and shelter priorities,” Hamas said in a statement. COGAT, the Israeli military agency that is overseeing the aid deliveries into Gaza, denied the accusation and warned that Israel would “not tolerate violations by Hamas.” The spat compounds the uncertainty around the ceasefire that had already mounted following US President Donald Trump’s surprise announcement this week that he expected Gaza to be taken over by the United States. Trump said on Tuesday he wanted to move the population of Gaza to a third country like Egypt or Jordan and place the small coastal enclave under US control to be developed into the “Riviera of the Middle East.” The statement underlined the fragility of the deal reached last month with Egyptian and Qatari mediators and backed by the United States. Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu endorsed Trump’s vision for Gaza as a “remarkable” plan, but it was immediately rejected by Arab countries, Palestinian groups including Hamas and the Palestinian Authority, and many Gazans, who said they would rebuild their homes and restaurants themselves. However Israeli leaders have repeated the line that Gazans who wish should be able to leave and Defense Minister Israel Katz ordered the army on Thursday to prepare a plan to allow for the departure of Gaza residents who wanted to go. So far, 13 Israeli hostages of the 33 children, women and older men set to be released in the first, 42-day phase of the agreement have come home, and hundreds of Palestinian prisoners and detainees have been released in exchange. Five Thai hostages have also been returned. Work on the second stage of the multi-phase agreement, aimed at securing the release of around 60 male hostages and the withdrawal of Israeli troops from Gaza, has begun and an Israeli negotiating team was expected to fly on Saturday to Doha, Israeli media reported on Friday. However the accusations levelled by Hamas against Israel underscored how little trust there was between the two sides following more than 15 months of the bloodiest episode in the decades-long conflict. The Israeli military said on Friday that commanders were conducting situational assessments ahead of the next phase of the agreement currently being discussed, with troops deployed at various points around the Gaza Strip.
’CLEAR MANIPULATION’ Hamas said only 8,500 trucks out of the 12,000 that should have arrived so far had entered the territory, most containing food and secondary goods including chips and chocolate instead of more urgent items. In addition, only 10 percent of the 200,000 tents and 60,000 caravans needed to provide shelter had arrived, Hamas said, leaving hundreds of thousands in harsh winter weather. Finally, heavy machinery needed to clear millions of tons of rubble and recover the thousands of bodies thought to be buried had not arrived. Almost three weeks after the start of the ceasefire, “the catastrophic humanitarian situation in Gaza continues to deteriorate dangerously,” the Hamas statement said. Israel has rejected accusations that it is dragging its feet on enabling the entry to aid supplies as “a completely unfounded claim,” saying it has allowed in thousands of trucks, including tents and shelters. COGAT said more than 100,000 tents had entered Gaza since the agreement came into force last month and that caravans were also being allowed in, while tractors had entered from Egypt since Sunday. It said 12,600 trucks had entered Gaza so far. But hundreds of thousands of people are still marooned in tents and other makeshift shelters worn out by months of use as the fighting raged last year. So far, despite accusations of ceasefire breaches levelled by both sides, the truce has held, leaving the way still open to an end to the war and rebuilding densely populated Gaza, which now lies in ruins. Hamas-led gunmen attacked Israel on Oct. 7, 2023, killing some 1,200 people and seizing more than 250 as hostages in Israel’s heaviest loss of life in a single day since the founding of the state in 1948. In response, Israel launched an air and ground war in Gaza that has killed more than 47,000 Palestinians, according to Gaza health authorities, and devastated the narrow enclave.
UAE’s highest court approves extraditing notorious trafficker Mehdi Charafa to France
Charafa appealed the decision to the Federal Supreme Court, which dismissed his appeal and upheld the extradition
The accused is described as “a notoriously wanted narco bandit” by France’s Justice Minister Gerald Darmanin
Updated 33 min 59 sec ago
Arab News
ABU DHABI: The UAE’s highest court has approved an extradition request lodged by the French authorities to repatriate Frenchman Mehdi Charafa, a notorious drug trafficker, the Emirates News Agency reported on Friday.
The UAE Federal Supreme Court has approved the extradition of Charafa to the authorities in France following an extradition request filed with the UAE government on charges of drug trafficking and money laundering, WAM’s report said.
After the completion of all relevant legal procedures by the accused and in alignment with the extradition treaty signed between both countries on May 2, 2007, the court made its decision to repatriate Charafa.
The Abu Dhabi Federal Appeal Court issued a decision approving the accused’s extradition. Consequently, Charafa appealed the decision to the Federal Supreme Court, which dismissed his appeal and upheld the extradition on Jan. 14, 2025.
WAM said that the procedures reflected the UAE’s commitment to continued collaboration with international partners in the pursuit of international justice.
According to The Pinnacle Gazette, on Jan. 23 France’s Justice Minister Gerald Darmanin announced that the UAE had accepted the extradition of an individual (without naming Charafa) wanted by France, during a visit to Agen, Lot-et-Garonne while inspecting the National School for Prison Administration.
Charafa is described as “a notoriously wanted narco bandit” by Darmanin, particularly pursued by the Interregional Specialized Jurisdiction of Bordeaux, which focuses on organized crime.
The nature of his criminal activities includes the use of the “go-fast” methodology — a high-speed transport method commonly employed by drug traffickers to evade law enforcement.
The extradition agreement with France is one of more than 45 agreements signed in recent years with several countries, with the UAE committed to pursuing further accords, WAM reported.
These agreements demonstrate the keenness of the UAE to enhance cooperation in legal and judicial matters according to the best international practices in this field, aiming to reinforce efforts that combat global crimes.
France confident Lebanon can form government representing the country’s diversity
The spokesman said that France hopes the Lebanese prime minister will find a formula to resolve the impasse
Updated 07 February 2025
Reuters
PARIS: France has full confidence that Lebanese authorities can form a government that can bring together the Lebanese people in all their diversity, a French foreign ministry spokesman said on Friday.
Asked about US red lines over Hezbollah’s presence in the Lebanese government, he said that France hopes the Lebanese prime minister will find a formula to resolve the impasse.
The United States has set a “red line” that Shiite armed group Hezbollah should not be a member of Lebanon’s next government after its military defeat by Israel last year, USdeputy Middle East envoy Morgan Ortagus said in Lebanon on Friday.
Israeli victims will continue to work with ICC after US sanctions, says lawyer
Israeli families want to continue engaging with it as part of efforts to seek justice, said lawyer Yael Vias Gvirsman
“Victims are ever more committed to have direct contact with the court and to pursue the justice they deserve“
Updated 07 February 2025
Reuters
THE HAGUE: Israeli victims of the Hamas attack that triggered the Gaza war will still work with the International Criminal Court even after US President Donald Trump imposed sanctions on the tribunal, a lawyer for victims and victims’ families said on Friday.
The sanctions are in retaliation for the court’s issuing of arrest warrants for Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu and his former defense chief Yoav Gallant, who are accused of war crimes and crimes against humanity in Gaza.
The ICC’s prosecutor is also investigating the Hamas-led Oct. 7, 2023 attacks that killed 1,200 people, according to Israeli tallies. Prosecutors sought arrest warrants for three Hamas leaders for the crimes, but they were all killed in the past 16 months of war in Gaza, according to Israel and Hamas.
While sanctions will complicate dealings with the ICC, the Israeli families want to continue engaging with it as part of efforts to seek justice, said Yael Vias Gvirsman, a lawyer who represents over 350 victims and families of victims.
“Sanctions could complicate the communications channels between Israeli citizens and the court, but victims are ever more committed to have direct contact with the court and to pursue the justice they deserve,” Gvirsman said in an interview with Reuters.
The Gaza conflict has killed more than 47,000 Palestinians since October 2023, the Gaza health ministry says.
The US sanctions, which focus on punishing the court for investigating Israeli officials, can also affect the prosecution’s probe into crimes committed by Hamas, says Vias Gvirsman.
“It will be a dilemma for the court how to engage with Israeli citizens and assess if contact with the court endangers them,” she said.
US has set ‘red line’ that Hezbollah not join Lebanese govt, envoy says
Morgan Ortagus first senior US official to visit Lebanon since US President Donald Trump took office
Updated 07 February 2025
Reuters
Beirut: The United States has set a “red line” that Shiite armed group Hezbollah should not be a member of Lebanon’s next government after its military defeat by Israel last year, US deputy Middle East envoy Morgan Ortagus said in Lebanon on Friday.
Ortagus is the first senior US official to visit Lebanon since US President Donald Trump took office and since Joseph Aoun was elected president in Lebanon.
Her visit comes amid a stalled cabinet formation process in Lebanon, where government posts are apportioned on sectarian lines. Hezbollah’s ally Amal has insisted on approving all Shiite Muslim ministers, keeping the process in deadlock.
Speaking to reporters after meeting President Aoun, Ortagus said she was “not afraid” of Iran-backed Hezbollah “because they’ve been defeated militarily,” referring to last year’s war between the group and Israel.
“And we have set clear red lines from the United States that they won’t be able to terrorize the Lebanese people, and that includes by being a part of the government,” she said.
Ortagus had been widely expected to deliver a tough message to Lebanese officials about Hezbollah, which was battered by months of Israeli air strikes and ground operations in southern Lebanon last year.
Fighting ended in late November with a ceasefire brokered by the United States and France that set a deadline of 60 days for Israel to withdraw from south Lebanon, Hezbollah to pull out its fighters and arms and Lebanese troops to deploy to the area.
That deadline was extended to Feb. 18. Ortagus referred to the new date on Friday but did not explicitly say the Israeli army (IDF) would withdraw from Lebanese territory.
“February 18 will be the date for redeployment, when the IDF troops will finish their redeployment, and of course, the (Lebanese) troops will come in behind them, so we are very committed to that firm date,” she said.
Ortagus is expected to meet Lebanese prime minister-designate Nawaf Salam, Lebanon’s parliament speaker Nabih Berri — who also heads Amal — and make a trip to southern Lebanon with the Lebanese army
