Fighting desertification and land degradation for future generations

HASSAKEH, Syria: The commander of the main US-backed force in Syria said Sunday the recent ouster of the Assad family from power should be followed by building a secular, civil and decentralized state that treats all its citizens equally no matter their religion or ethnicity.
The commander of the Kurdish-led Syrian Democratic Forces, Mazloum Abdi, said in an interview Sunday that he recently met with Syria’s newly named interim President Ahmad Al-Sharaa in Damascus. He said the two sides are negotiating with the help of mediators to find compromises regarding Syria’s future — including the future of the Kurds.
Abdi added that US troops should stay in Syria because the Daesh group will benefit from a withdrawal, which would affect the security of the whole region.
A new leader chosen after the fall of Assad
The Assad family’s 54-year rule in Syria came to an end in early December when insurgents led by the Islamist Hayat Tahrir Al-Sham, or HTS, captured Damascus. The fall of Bashar Assad on Dec. 8. came after a nearly 14-year conflict that has killed half a million people and displaced half the country’s population.
Syrian factions that toppled Assad met in Damascus last week and named HTS leader Al-Sharaa as the country’s interim president. The groups suspended the country’s constitution adopted by Assad in 2012 and officially dissolved the army and Syria’s dreaded security agencies.
“The fall of the regime was a historic step and based on that a new Syria should be built without restoring the Baath party or its ideology,” Abdi said referring to Assad’s once ruling Baath party that was also dissolved last week. “We want to move Syria forward together.”
‘The matter was not discussed with us’
Asked about the meeting in Damascus last week in which Al-Sharaa was named interim president while the parliament, constitution and the army were dissolved, Abdi said: “We were not present there and we will not comment.”
“The matter was not discussed with us,” Abdi said adding that there are negotiations between Al-Sharaa and the SDF and “our stance will be based on the results of the negotiations.”
Abdi said that visits by SDF officials to Damascus will continue to try to reach an understanding with the new authorities. “We will continuously try to see how Syria of the future will look like,” Abdi said, adding that the vision of the SDF is based on dialogue and understanding.
Abdi revealed that members of the US-led coalition to fight the Daesh group, including the US, Britain and France, are mediating between the SDF and authorities in Damascus. He did not go into details.
Abdi said his group wants Syria to remain a united country with a central government in Damascus.
“Our vision of Syria is a decentralized, secular and civil country based on democracy that preserves the rights of all of its components,” he said referring to the country’s different religious groups, such as Sunni Muslims, Christians, Alawites, Druze and Yazidis and ethnic groups such as Arabs, Kurds, Turkmen and Armenians.
“Syria is mixed and is not made up of Sunnis only. There are other identities,” Abdi said referring to the country’s Sunni Muslims who are the majority in the country. There have been concerns that HTS, which is rooted in the Salafi-jihadi ideology, might be working on turning Syria into an Islamic state, although in recent years Al-Sharaa has distanced himself from the group’s earlier stances and preached religious coexistence.
Kurds want a decentralized state but not autonomy
Abdi said the Kurds of Syria do not want to break away from the country or set up their own autonomous government and parliament as is the case in northern Iraq. He said the people of northeast Syria want to run their local affairs in a decentralized state.
“Syria is not Iraq and Iraq is not Syria and northeast Syria is not (Iraq’s) Kurdistan,” Abdi, whose forces control 25 percent of Syria, said.
Most of the country’s former insurgent factions have agreed to dissolve and to become part of the new army and security services, although it remained unclear exactly how that will work in practice. The SDF has not so far agreed to dissolve.
Asked whether he is ready to dissolve the SDF, Abdi said that in principle they want to be part of the defense ministry and part of Syria’s defense strategy. He said the details still need to be discussed and they have sent a proposal regarding this issue to Damascus and “we are waiting for the response.”
He said the SDF fighters have been fighting IS for 12 years and the rights of his fighters should be guaranteed.
US troops should stay in Syria
Speaking about IS, which his group played a major role in defeating, Abdi said that the extremists took advantage after the fall of Assad and captured large amounts of weapons from posts abandoned by Assad’s forces.
Abdi said US troops should stay in Syria because they are needed in the fight against IS.
In 2019, President Donald Trump decided on a partial withdrawal of US troops form the northeast before he halted the plans. “The reason for them (US troops) to stay is still present because Daesh is still strong,” Abdi said, using an Arabic acronym to refer to IS.
“We hope that the coalition does not withdraw,” Abdi said, adding that they are not aware of any US plans to withdraw from Syria. “We ask them to stay.”

WASHINGTON: US billionaire Elon Musk attacked the US Agency for International Development on Sunday, calling it a “criminal organization” after President Donald Trump moved to freeze the bulk of Washington’s foreign assistance for three months.

USAID, an independent agency established by an act of Congress, manages a budget of $42.8 billion meant for humanitarian relief and development assistance around the world.

But it is one of the targets of the so-called Department of Government Efficiency (DOGE) headed by Musk, whom Trump has tasked with cutting the government workforce and slashing what the Republican calls waste and unnecessary spending.

Trump ordered a freeze on almost all US foreign aid, saying his administration will review spending to ensure money is distributed in line with his “America First” foreign policy.

The Trump administration has since issued waivers for food and other humanitarian aid. But aid workers say uncertainty reigns — and that the impact is already being felt by some of the world’s most vulnerable.

USAID is a criminal organization,“ Musk wrote on his X platform, replying to a video alleging USAID involvement in ”rogue CIA work“ and ”internet censorship.“

In a subsequent post, Musk doubled down and, without giving evidence, asked his 215 million X followers, ”Did you know that USAID, using YOUR tax dollars, funded bioweapon research, including Covid-19, that killed millions of people?“

He did not elaborate on the allegations, which officials in the previous administration linked to a Russian disinformation campaign.

Mayhem

Two top USAID security officials were reportedly removed during the weekend after they tried to stop DOGE representatives from gaining access to restricted parts of the building, three sources said on Sunday.

The action added to the dozens of staff at USAID being removed from their positions, as Trump’s team moves to abolish the agency’s independence and possibly bring it under the control of the State Department.

USAID’s account on X had been disabled, and the agency’s website was still offline.

Nearly 30 career staff in the agency’s Legislative and Public Affairs bureau lost access overnight to their emails, at least five sources said, bringing the total number of senior USAID career staff who have been put on leave over the past week close to 100.

“DOGE did access the building yesterday,” a senior Senate Democratic aide said, requesting anonymity to discuss the incident. USAID security officers tried to turn away DOGE personnel without security clearances.

“They (security personnel) were threatened with action by the federal Marshals Service,” the aide said. Following the incident, the director of USAID security John Voorhees and his deputy were removed from their positions and put on leave, sources said.

Members of the group from DOGE were allowed to access several secure spaces, including the office of security and the agency’s executive secretariat.

There was no record of what information DOGE officials were able to obtain in those areas, but the offices they accessed included classified files and personal information about Americans who work at USAID, the sources said.

Katie Miller, a DOGE spokesperson, said on social media platform X that no classified material was accessed without proper security clearances.

Matt Hopson, who was appointed as chief of staff by the Trump administration, has resigned, five sources familiar with the matter said. A congressional source said his resignation followed the incident with DOGE officials. USAID did not respond to a request about Hopson.

Legal battle looms

Congressional Democrats said the changes appeared to violate US laws establishing USAID and funding it as a separate agency. Two senior Senate Democratic aides said lawmakers and staff had been meeting on Sunday and would meet again on Monday to consider further steps, including legal action.

Senior Democratic members of the Senate Foreign Relations Committee including its chair Jeanne Shaheen on Sunday sent a letter to US Secretary of State Marco Rubio seeking an explanation over the incident. Shaheen said that she was working to gather Democrats and Republicans to ask for answers.

The global freeze on most of US foreign aid is already sending shockwaves around the world. Field hospitals in Thai refugee camps, land mine clearance in war zones, and drugs to treat millions suffering from diseases such as HIV are among the programs at risk of elimination.

US House Foreign Affairs Committee Chair Brian Mast on Sunday said that he would support moving USAID under the State Department and that there needs to be “more command and control.’

Asked on CBS’ “Face the Nation” if congressional approval was needed or whether Trump could act unilaterally, Mast did not answer. The “purging of people throughout the State Department, other agencies” and freezing aid were “all very important and necessary steps to make sure that we secure America,” he said.

The State Department and USAID did not respond to requests for comment.