KSrelief Supervisor-General Meets UNHCR Deputy High Commissioner
Their discussion focused on humanitarian and relief efforts, as well as ways to enhance cooperation to ease the suffering of refugees worldwide.
Clements commended the forum's organization, highlighting its role in bringing together global experts to address humanitarian challenges.
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Asharq Al-Awsat
11 hours ago
- Asharq Al-Awsat
SDF Arms Dispute Derails Planned Syria Talks in Paris
A planned meeting in Paris between Syria's government and the Kurdish-led administration in northeast Syria has been postponed without explanation, the Kurdish delegation said on Thursday, as tensions persist over the future of the US-backed Syrian Democratic Forces (SDF). The talks, originally scheduled for Friday with participation from the US envoy to Syria, French Foreign Minister, and representatives from Britain and Germany, were seen as part of a Western-backed effort to revive negotiations between Damascus and the Kurdish-led Autonomous Administration of North and East Syria (AANES). But Syrian state television quoted an unnamed government source saying Damascus 'has not and will not accept any discourse based on threats or preconditions that contradict the principle of state unity.' The source warned against 'attempts to preserve armed formations or seek separation from state institutions,' saying such moves would only deepen division and tension. 'There is no room for any call for an 'independent identity,'' the official added, calling it 'a rejected separatist invitation' and reiterating that the only path to a sustainable political solution lies in returning to the 'fold of the state' and holding serious national dialogue under Syrian sovereignty and without foreign agendas. The source also dismissed 'preconditions' for any intra-Syrian dialogue and said any insistence on maintaining armed groups outside state control was incompatible with building a unified national army. Karim Qamar, the AANES representative in France, confirmed the postponement in comments to the Kurdish Hawar News Agency, saying the delegation had not yet arrived in Paris and there was no confirmed agenda for meetings with French or European officials. The US and France, along with other Western capitals, had been working to bring the two sides together after a July 19 meeting in Amman involving US envoy Ethan Goldrich, Syrian Foreign Minister Faisal Mekdad, and SDF commander Mazloum Abdi reportedly yielded 'significant progress,' according to Kurdish sources cited by Asharq Al-Awsat. The proposed Paris meeting was expected to focus on integrating SDF forces into the Syrian army and incorporating the AANES's local governance structures into national institutions — a core sticking point in long-standing negotiations. Speaking on Wednesday to Al-Youm TV, which is affiliated with the AANES, SDF spokesperson Farhad Shami said the group considered its weapons 'a red line' and viewed them as 'Syrian arms that cannot be handed over.' Shami said the key dispute with Damascus revolved around whether SDF fighters would join the army as individuals or as a unified bloc. 'We are ready to integrate as a single unit, not as individuals. Our negotiations are not a surrender but a dialogue between equals,' he said. But the Syrian government source pushed back in an interview with state-run Ikhbariya TV, stating: 'No military entity outside the official Syrian army can be considered part of the state's structure,' and reiterated that any effort to maintain armed factions independent of state control would hinder a comprehensive national solution. Kurdish sources familiar with the negotiations told Asharq Al-Awsat that Abdi's delegation had agreed with Damascus on 'broad outlines,' including retaining the SDF as a distinct formation within a single army corps, with subordinate units based in Raqqa, Deir al-Zor, and Hasakah — areas under the group's current control. The talks in Paris, now on hold, were to be a test of whether months of quiet backchannel diplomacy could overcome entrenched mistrust — particularly over the SDF's military status and the future of Kurdish self-rule in a post-war Syria.
Arab News
12 hours ago
- Arab News
Pakistan PM assures continued support in Aafia Siddiqui case during meeting with her sister
ISLAMABAD: Prime Minister Shehbaz Sharif on Friday met with Dr. Fauzia Siddiqui, the sister of Pakistani neuroscientist Dr. Aafia Siddiqui who is jailed in the US, and reaffirmed his government's commitment to providing all possible legal and diplomatic support in the high-profile case, the PM's Office said. Siddiqui, a Pakistani national, is currently serving an 86-year prison sentence in the United States after being convicted in 2010 of attempted murder of US personnel in Afghanistan. Her trial and detention have long sparked public outcry in Pakistan, with successive governments under pressure to secure her repatriation. 'The government is in no way negligent in the matter of Dr. Aafia Siddiqui,' Sharif was quoted as saying in a statement issued by his office after he met Fauzia and assured her that his administration would 'continue to provide every possible legal and diplomatic assistance' in her sister's case. The Prime Minister's Office said Sharif had earlier written a letter to then-US President Joe Biden to urge action in the matter. He has now also formed a special committee, chaired by Federal Law Minister Azam Nazeer Tarar, to pursue further progress on the case. 'The committee will remain in contact with Dr. Fauzia Siddiqui and work to provide any necessary support,' the statement said. In October 2024, Sharif wrote a letter to Biden calling for Siddiqui's release and highlighting concerns about her treatment in prison. He also warned that her deteriorating physical and mental health could lead to self-harm. This January, as he stepped down as US president, Biden rejected a petition seeking clemency for the jailed academic. Siddiqui was arrested in July 2008 by Afghan police who said she was carrying two pounds (900 grams) of sodium cyanide and crumpled notes referring to mass casualty attacks and New York landmarks. The day after her arrest, according to the indictment, Siddiqui grabbed an M-4 rifle in her interrogation room and started shooting while yelling 'death to America,' the trial jury heard. No US agents or soldiers were hit, but Siddiqui was shot and wounded in response, according to US prosecutors. She was subsequently convicted in 2010 by a New York federal jury of attempted murder, armed assault and other charges. Siddiqui was never charged with links to terrorism. Siddiqui's family says she was visiting Pakistan in 2003 when she was abducted with her three children by Pakistani intelligence officials and handed to the Central Intelligence Agency (CIA), which took her to Afghanistan. Pakistan's intelligence agencies deny the claims.
Asharq Al-Awsat
13 hours ago
- Asharq Al-Awsat
French Court to Decide if Assad Can Be Stripped of Immunity and Tried for Syrian Chemical Attacks
France's highest court is ruling Friday on whether it can strip the head of state immunity of Bashar Assad, the former leader of Syria now in exile in Russia, because of the brutality of the evidence in accusations against him collected by Syrian activists and European prosecutors. If the judges at the Cour de Cassation lift Assad's immunity, it could pave the way for his trial in absentia over the use of chemical weapons in Ghouta in 2013 and Douma in 2018, and set a precedent to allow the prosecution of other government leaders linked to atrocities, human rights activists and lawyers say. Assad has retained no lawyers for these charges and has denied he was behind the chemical attacks, The Associated Press said. Ruling could open door for prosecutions in other countries A ruling against Assad would be 'a huge victory for the victims,' said Mazen Darwish, president of the Syrian Center for Media which collected evidence of war crimes. 'It's not only about Syrians, this will open the door for the victims from any country and this will be the first time that a domestic investigative judge has the right to issue an arrest warrant for a president during his rule.' He said the ruling could enable his group to legally go after regime members, like launching a money laundering case against former Syrian Central Bank governor and Minister of Economy Adib Mayaleh, whose lawyers have argued he had immunity under international law. For over 50 years, Syria was ruled by Hafez Assad and then his son Bashar. During the Arab Spring, rebellion broke out against their tyrannical rule in 2011 across the country of 23 million, igniting a brutal 13-year civil war that killed more than half a million people, according to the Syrian Observatory of Human Rights. Millions more fled to Lebanon, Jordan, Türkiye and Europe. The Assad dynasty manipulated sectarian tensions to stay in power, a legacy driving renewed violence in Syria against minority groups despite promises that the country's new leaders will carve out a political future for Syria that includes and represents all its communities. The ruling stripping Assad's immunity could set a 'significant precedent' that 'could really set the stage for potentially for other cases in national jurisdictions that strike down immunities," said Mariana Pena, a human rights lawyer at the Open Society Justice Initiative, which helped bring the case to court. As the International Criminal Court has issued arrests warrants for leaders accused of atrocities — like Vladimir Putin in Ukraine, Benjamin Netanyahu in Gaza, and Rodrigo Duterte in the Philippines — the French judges' ruling could empower the legal framework to prosecute not just deposed and exiled leaders but those currently in power. Assad allegedly bombed, tortured and gassed civilians The Syrian government denied in 2013 that it was behind the Ghouta attack, an accusation the opposition rejected as Assad's forces were the only side in the brutal civil war to possess sarin. The United States subsequently threatened military retaliation, but Washington settled for a deal with Moscow for Assad to give up his chemical weapons' stockpile. Assad survived more than a decade longer, aided militarily by Russia and Iranian-backed proxies. Activists and human rights group accuse him of using barrel bombs, torture, and massacres to crush opponents. But then in late 2024, a surprise assault by opposition factions swept into Aleppo and then Damascus, driving the dictator to flee for his ally Russia on Dec. 8, 2024. While Darwish and others plan to press Interpol and Russia to extradite him, they know it is unlikely. But an arrest warrant issued by France could lay the groundwork for the former dictator's trial in absentia or potential arrest if he travels outside Russia. Any trial of Assad, whether in absentia or if he leaves Russia, would mean this evidence could then 'be brought to light,' Pena said, including an enormous trove of classified and secret evidence amassed by the judges during their investigations. Syrians often took great personal risk to gather evidence of war crimes. Darwish said that in the aftermath of a chlorine gas attack in Douma, for example, teams collected eyewitness testimonies, images of devastation, and soil samples. Others then tracked down and interviewed defectors to build a 'chain of command' for the regime's chemical weapons production and use. 'We link it directly to the president himself, Bashar al-Assad,' he said. Head of state immunity is 'almost taboo' Assad was relatively safe under international law. Heads of state could not be prosecuted for actions taken during their rule, a rule designed long ago to ease dialogue when leaders needed to travel the world to meet, said Jeanne Sulzer, a French lawyer who co-led the case against Assad for the 2013 chemical attack. She said that kind of immunity is "almost a taboo" regardless of the weight of the charges. "You have to wait until the person is not sitting in office to be able to prosecute,' she said. But that protection has been whittled away over the years by courts ruling that the brutality of Augusto Pinochet in Chile, Charles Taylor in Liberia, and Slobodan Milošević in Yugoslavia, to name just a few, merited a restructuring of the world's legal foundations, said James Goldston, executive director of the Open Society Justice Initiative. Ending impunity in Syria Syria today remains beholden to many awful legacies of the Assad dynasty. Poverty, sectarianism, destruction, and violence still haunt the Syrian Arab Republic. Damascus' new rulers are investigating nearly 300 people for crimes during several days of fighting on Syria's coast earlier this year. The interim authorities in Damascus have pledged to work with the United Nations on investigating further war crimes of the Assad regime and the civil war. The global chemical weapons watchdog has called on the new government of interim president Ahmad al-Sharaa to protect and dismantle Assad's stockpiles. Darwish is working on 29 cases against Assad and other regime figures who have fled to Russia, the Gulf, Lebanon and Europe. He said many Syrians hope Assad sits for a fair trial in Syria. 'It should be done in Damascus, but we need also a lot of guarantees that we will have a fair trial even for this suspect," he said. His organization has already received requests to bring to court war crimes accusations against those involved in recent bloodshed in southern Syria. 'So anyone, whatever his name, or the regime, or their authority, we will keep fighting this type of crime,' Darwish said.
