Latest news with #Baghdad
The Independent
17 hours ago
- Politics
- The Independent
Keir Starmer used to stand up for the kinds of protesters he now labels terrorists
Two days before the missiles started raining down on Baghdad in March 2003, Josh Richards packed a mixture of petrol and washing-up liquid into his rucksack and headed off to RAF Fairford base in Gloucestershire. His plan was to set fire to the wheels of a B-52 USAF bomber to prevent it from joining in the imminent shock and awe. He was caught before he could act, but he was not the only person with the idea of mounting a last-ditch attempt to hinder a war which many considered illegal. A few days earlier, Margaret Jones and Paul Milling had cut their way into the same airbase and damaged a number of fuel tankers and bomb trailers. Another two men in their thirties, Phil Pritchard and Toby Olditch, armed themselves with paint, nuts and bolts, with the intention of damaging the bombers' engines. Today, this group of five would be labelled terrorists. See the government's reaction last week when pro-Palestinian activists broke into RAF Brize Norton and – just like their earlier counterparts at Fairford – damaged two military planes with red paint. "A disgraceful act of vandalism," said the prime minister, Keir Starmer. Within days, home secretary Yvette Cooper was on her feet in the House of Commons announcing that the group involved, Palestine Action, would be added to the list of organisations proscribed under the Terrorism Act 2000. If you dare donate so much as a fiver to it in future, you will be committing a crime. Twenty-odd years ago, we lived in a kinder, gentler age. Society was not so harsh in their judgements about the group which became known as the Fairford Five. The protestors lawyered up and their briefs decided on an original defence, arguing that their actions were justified, morally and legally, because they were aimed at preventing a greater evil – ie. the war in Iraq and its probable consequences. They were, in short, willing to commit crimes in order to prevent greater crimes. Among the barristers who came up with this intriguing defence was a rising star of the human rights bar, Keir Starmer QC. He argued the case on behalf of Josh Richards, first at the Court of Appeal in June 2004 and then again before the House of Lords in March 2006. The presiding judge, Lord Bingham, went out of his way to praise the "erudition" involved. The appeal did not totally succeed, but in his judgment Lord Hoffmann articulated a humane view of how, in the UK, he believed we have traditionally regarded such acts of protest. "Civil disobedience on conscientious grounds has a long and honourable history in this country," he wrote (at paragraph 89). "People who break the law to affirm their belief in the injustice of a law or government action are sometimes vindicated by history. The suffragettes are an example which comes immediately to mind. It is the mark of a civilised community that it can accommodate protests and demonstrations of this kind." Hoffman outlined the "conventions" he thought should govern such acts of civil disobedience in his "civilised community". The law-breakers had to behave with a sense of proportion and avoid excessive damage. The law-enforcers, on the other hand, should "behave with restraint [and] … take the conscientious motives of the protesters into account". I imagine Mr Starmer QC read those words with some pleasure at the time: they have been quoted many times in courts over the years by his learned friends in defending clients acting on conscientious grounds. But now, at the behest of his government, such people are to be defined as terrorists. Forget trying to understand their conscientious motives. Lock them up and ban them. What happened? Let's try some hypotheses. The first possible explanation is that Starmer in 2004 was just operating on the "cab rank" principle. He didn't actually believe all that stuff he argued in the posh courts: he was just making the best case he could. But one former Doughty Street Chambers colleague told me Starmer "totally" believed in the right to protest. Some argue he is simply a massive hypocrite. He couldn't care less that there's a yawning gulf between what he then argued and what he now advocates. Or maybe he has just changed his mind? Perhaps he had some sympathy with the Fairford cause (Iraq) and less for the Brize Norton protests (Palestine)? Perhaps he still holds the same views he expressed 20 years ago, but has been advised it would be politically unwise to voice them. Reform is storming ahead in the polls and is demanding tough action. Now's not the time to out yourself as a bleeding-heart liberal. So you can show your toughness by outlawing the very sort of people you once defended. And, while you're about it, tell Glastonbury to drop another "terrorist" – in this case, the Irish language rap group Kneecap. Or maybe he believes in nothing? That, after all, is what a significant slew of even his own backbenchers are coming to assume. Twenty years ago, the public took a more forgiving view of protestors. Juries initially failed to agree on a verdict on charges against four of the Fairford defendants. Olditch and Pritchard were subsequently cleared of all charges after two trials. Josh Richards was also tried twice after admitting he wanted to set fire to a B-52 bomber. Twice, he walked free. Only Margaret Jones and Paul Milling were found guilty – at the second attempt – and were treated relatively leniently. Milling was given a conditional discharge and a £250 fine. Dr Jones was given a five-month curfew order. So perhaps this explains what's going on in Starmer's mind. He, of all people, knows that juries are quite likely to side with conscientious protestors on an issue like Gaza. So it is cleaner simply to outlaw protest groups from the start. For someone who believes in the rule of law, it's a clever way of getting round the rule of law. "Yes, they should stand trial. Yes, they've committed criminal damage," Baroness Helena Kennedy, a fellow civil rights lawyer told me. "But to label them terrorists seems extraordinary to me. It's going down the old Trump road, and I don't like it at all. There's a sense in which you have a US government which has no respect for the rule of law and there's now a kind of poison seeping into our own legal aquifer." As I write, another four protestors have been arrested by counter-terror police at Brize Norton. You can't help wondering whether the concept of terrorism itself is being somewhat watered down by the Starmer government. And you can't help wonder at the philosophical somersaults taking place in Starmer's mind as he stands everything he argued for 20 years ago on its head.
The Independent
a day ago
- Politics
- The Independent
Iranian Kurdish dissidents abroad watch for signs of Tehran vulnerability after war with Israel
From abroad, Iranian Kurdish dissident groups have been watching closely for signs that Iran's theocracy could falter in its grip on the country, battered by Israeli airstrikes in the intense, 12-day war until a U.S.-negotiated ceasefire halted the fighting. Israel launched the strikes on June 13, drawing Iranian missiles that targeted Israel. But it was not until the United States inserted itself into the war and hit Iranian nuclear sites on Sunday, including with 30,000-pound bunker-buster bombs, that the war came to a watershed moment. Now, with the fragile ceasefire holding and many Iranians trying to return to a normal life, questions swirl about whether and how much the war has weakened Iran's clerical rule, in place since the 1979 Islamic Revolution. Iranian Kurdish exiles in Iraq mull their options A handful of Iranian Kurdish groups — many with a distinctly militant past — have long found a safe haven in northern Iraq's semiautonomous Kurdish region, but their presence has been a point of friction between the central government in Baghdad and Tehran. Iraq in 2023 reached an agreement with Iran to disarm the groups and move them from their bases near the border areas with Iran — where they potentially posed an armed challenge to Tehran — into camps designated by Baghdad. Their armed bases were shut down and their movement within Iraq restricted, but the groups have not entirely given up their weapons. Officials with two prominent Iranian Kurdish groups in Iraq told The Associated Press they are trying to organize politically to ensure that they would not be sidelined should the administration in Iran lose its hold on power. When asked if their groups were preparing an armed uprising, they either denied it or avoided a direct response. Mixed expectations of any real change in Tehran President Donald Trump floated the idea of 'regime change' in Tehran in the wake of the U.S. strikes, only to have his administration later say that was not the goal. Some of the Kurdish dissidents say they expect no immediate upheaval in Iran's ruling theocracy. 'Some of the parties think this war between Iran and Israel is a good opportunity for us' to advance the Kurdish cause, said Khalil Naderi, spokesperson for the Kurdistan Freedom Party, or PAK, a separatist Iranian Kurdish group based in Iraq. But Naderi disagreed with that premise. "The U.S. and Israel attacked Iran to protect themselves from its weapons, not for Kurdish rights,' he said. Any premature armed mobilization on their part could endanger both the Kurdish groups and the fragile security of the Kurdish areas, both in Iraq and across the border in Iran, Naderi said. His stand was a contrast to that of PAK leader Hussein Yazdanpanah, who days after the outbreak of the Israel-Iran war, called on X for Kurdish youth to rise against the authorities in Tehran. 'Attack the enemy, its centers, and its facilities' and 'avenge the blood" of their fallen, Yazdanpanah posted. And last week in Washington, where he had been pushing U.S. officials to include the Kurds in plans for a potential 'day after' in Iran, Abdullah Mohtadi, the head of the leftist Komala Party from Iran's Kurdish regions, said he hopes the Israel-Iran war could represent a turning point. 'War can bring about internal domestic change," he said. "We hope that this time this will be the case.' Lessons from war Mohtadi denied that any external player, including the U.S. and Israel, had encouraged Kurdish groups to take up arms. But he didn't rule out the possibility that they would. 'We haven't at the moment called for an uprising, or we haven't called for an armed struggle, but we are monitoring developments very closely,' he said. Mohtadi maintained that Komala has avoided an armed struggle for nearly 30 years and that its camps in northern Iraq are purely for 'self defense.' Both Komala and the PAK, as well as another exiled Kurdish group, the Democratic Party of Iranian Kurdistan or KDPI, have fought Iranian authorities in the past — but also sometimes fought against each other. The groups have different approaches to the question of Kurdish separatism. PAK advocates for an independent Kurdish state, while Komala and KDPI want a system in Iran similar to that in northern Iraq, where Iraqi Kurds have a semiautonomous and self-governed region. Iran has occasionally launched strikes on the Iranian Kurdish dissidents, but none during the Israel-Iran war this month. Divisions among the groups The dissident groups are walking a fine line, balancing the differences among themselves and with their hosts in Iraq, the Iraqi Kurds and the Iraqi government in Baghdad — neither of which they want to antagonize. Despite having shared grievances over the marginalization of Kurds in Iran, the Iranian Kurdish parties have not been able to build a consensus "We haven't been able to unite, even though we would like to,' Naderi said. In March, ahead of Nowruz, the Persian New Year, the Kurdish dissident groups had planned to 'meet and discuss" Kurdish rights and destiny, but plans fell through. Even now, he said, coordination remains elusive. Kawsar Fattahi, a central committee member of Komala, said the dissidents should not plan for 'the fall of the regime, but on what will happen after that.' 'Because our goal is to rebuild a new Iran,' she said. Mohtadi, the Komala leader, said he has tried to reassure Washington that his group is not separatist but wants a 'democratic, secular federal Iran where the rights of Kurds and other ethnic groups are protected by the new constitution.' He denied anyone is pushing Komala into armed conflict. 'We aren't puppets,' Mohtadi said. 'Nobody has asked us to rise (up). We will decide when is the right time.' ___ Knickmeyer reported from Washington.
Associated Press
a day ago
- Politics
- Associated Press
Iranian Kurdish dissidents abroad watch for signs of Tehran vulnerability after war with Israel
IRBIL, Iraq (AP) — From abroad, Iranian Kurdish dissident groups have been watching closely for signs that Iran's theocracy could falter in its grip on the country, battered by Israeli airstrikes in the intense, 12-day war until a U.S.-negotiated ceasefire halted the fighting. Israel launched the strikes on June 13, drawing Iranian missiles that targeted Israel. But it was not until the United States inserted itself into the war and hit Iranian nuclear sites on Sunday, including with 30,000-pound bunker-buster bombs, that the war came to a watershed moment. Now, with the fragile ceasefire holding and many Iranians trying to return to a normal life, questions swirl about whether and how much the war has weakened Iran's clerical rule, in place since the 1979 Islamic Revolution. Iranian Kurdish exiles in Iraq mull their options A handful of Iranian Kurdish groups — many with a distinctly militant past — have long found a safe haven in northern Iraq's semiautonomous Kurdish region, but their presence has been a point of friction between the central government in Baghdad and Tehran. Iraq in 2023 reached an agreement with Iran to disarm the groups and move them from their bases near the border areas with Iran — where they potentially posed an armed challenge to Tehran — into camps designated by Baghdad. Their armed bases were shut down and their movement within Iraq restricted, but the groups have not entirely given up their weapons. Officials with two prominent Iranian Kurdish groups in Iraq told The Associated Press they are trying to organize politically to ensure that they would not be sidelined should the administration in Iran lose its hold on power. When asked if their groups were preparing an armed uprising, they either denied it or avoided a direct response. Mixed expectations of any real change in Tehran President Donald Trump floated the idea of 'regime change' in Tehran in the wake of the U.S. strikes, only to have his administration later say that was not the goal. Some of the Kurdish dissidents say they expect no immediate upheaval in Iran's ruling theocracy. 'Some of the parties think this war between Iran and Israel is a good opportunity for us' to advance the Kurdish cause, said Khalil Naderi, spokesperson for the Kurdistan Freedom Party, or PAK, a separatist Iranian Kurdish group based in Iraq. But Naderi disagreed with that premise. 'The U.S. and Israel attacked Iran to protect themselves from its weapons, not for Kurdish rights,' he said. Any premature armed mobilization on their part could endanger both the Kurdish groups and the fragile security of the Kurdish areas, both in Iraq and across the border in Iran, Naderi said. His stand was a contrast to that of PAK leader Hussein Yazdanpanah, who days after the outbreak of the Israel-Iran war, called on X for Kurdish youth to rise against the authorities in Tehran. 'Attack the enemy, its centers, and its facilities' and 'avenge the blood' of their fallen, Yazdanpanah posted. And last week in Washington, where he had been pushing U.S. officials to include the Kurds in plans for a potential 'day after' in Iran, Abdullah Mohtadi, the head of the leftist Komala Party from Iran's Kurdish regions, said he hopes the Israel-Iran war could represent a turning point. 'War can bring about internal domestic change,' he said. 'We hope that this time this will be the case.' Lessons from war Mohtadi denied that any external player, including the U.S. and Israel, had encouraged Kurdish groups to take up arms. But he didn't rule out the possibility that they would. 'We haven't at the moment called for an uprising, or we haven't called for an armed struggle, but we are monitoring developments very closely,' he said. Mohtadi maintained that Komala has avoided an armed struggle for nearly 30 years and that its camps in northern Iraq are purely for 'self defense.' Both Komala and the PAK, as well as another exiled Kurdish group, the Democratic Party of Iranian Kurdistan or KDPI, have fought Iranian authorities in the past — but also sometimes fought against each other. The groups have different approaches to the question of Kurdish separatism. PAK advocates for an independent Kurdish state, while Komala and KDPI want a system in Iran similar to that in northern Iraq, where Iraqi Kurds have a semiautonomous and self-governed region. Iran has occasionally launched strikes on the Iranian Kurdish dissidents, but none during the Israel-Iran war this month. Divisions among the groups The dissident groups are walking a fine line, balancing the differences among themselves and with their hosts in Iraq, the Iraqi Kurds and the Iraqi government in Baghdad — neither of which they want to antagonize. Despite having shared grievances over the marginalization of Kurds in Iran, the Iranian Kurdish parties have not been able to build a consensus 'We haven't been able to unite, even though we would like to,' Naderi said. In March, ahead of Nowruz, the Persian New Year, the Kurdish dissident groups had planned to 'meet and discuss' Kurdish rights and destiny, but plans fell through. Even now, he said, coordination remains elusive. Kawsar Fattahi, a central committee member of Komala, said the dissidents should not plan for 'the fall of the regime, but on what will happen after that.' 'Because our goal is to rebuild a new Iran,' she said. Mohtadi, the Komala leader, said he has tried to reassure Washington that his group is not separatist but wants a 'democratic, secular federal Iran where the rights of Kurds and other ethnic groups are protected by the new constitution.' He denied anyone is pushing Komala into armed conflict. 'We aren't puppets,' Mohtadi said. 'Nobody has asked us to rise (up). We will decide when is the right time.' ___ Knickmeyer reported from Washington.
CairoScene
a day ago
- Entertainment
- CairoScene
Lebanon's Oakenfest 2025 Announce First Wave Line-Up July 25th-27th
Lebanon's Oakenfest 2025 Announce First Wave Line-Up July 25th-27th Oakenfest comes to Lebanon from July 25th to the 27th, featuring Bu Nasser, Boshoco, 3yooni, Joy Moughanni and Tarabeat. The 2025 edition of Lebanon's Oakenfest is on the horizon. Known for its intimate, eco-conscious setting and genre-defying curation, the three-day camping and music festival will return to the oak forests of Lehfed from July 25th to the 27th, bringing with it a fresh wave of artists who reflect the region's evolving soundscape. This year's first wave of performers is led by Bu Nasser, a defining voice in Lebanon's hip-hop underground. A poet, writer, and rapper whose work has echoed across streets and protests, his journey began with Touffar's 2009 release Ashab El Ard. Since then, Bu Nasser has carved a solo path rooted in inquiry, resistance, and community, weaving revolutionary sound with sharp, layered lyricism. On the electronic front, Boshoco brings a percussive, emotionally charged energy shaped by his upbringing in Aleppo. Drawing from the city's centuries-old blend of cultures, Boshoco's DJ sets and productions fuse breakbeat, indie electronica, and soulful techno into mixes that carry both emotional depth and dancefloor momentum. 3yooni, whose debut album 'Baghdad' is already making quiet waves, blends synth-forward electronic sound with dreamy Iraqi vocals and deeply poetic lyricism. His work navigates themes of identity, language, and orientalism, balancing rage with grace, rhythm with resistance. Joy Moughanni - producer, songwriter, engineer, and Tunetork Studios partner - is another key name in Beirut's alternative scene. Formerly of projects like Pomme Rouge and Gizzmo, Joy's solo work leans ambient and textured, the product of years of sonic mentorship under the likes of Fadi Tabbal. Rounding out the first announcement is Tarabeat, an ambitious electro-tarab project that draws on maqamat, classical rhythms, and traditional instruments. Inspired by Sufi, folk, and regional Tarab traditions, the result is a bold, energetic sound that travels between past and present with rhythmic precision. Tickets for Oakenfest 2025 are now available.
Daily Mail
2 days ago
- Politics
- Daily Mail
EXCLUSIVE Desperate plea for Penny Wong to save Aussie dad after four years trapped in a Middle Eastern hellhole - but all he's getting is radio silence: 'Humiliation, torture room'
A Sydney father and mechanical engineer who was detained in an Iraqi prison for almost four years is still in limbo as conflict in the Middle East escalates. Robert Pether had been living in a heavily-guarded facility on the outskirts of Baghdad since he was arrested while helping the war-ravaged country rebuild on April 7, 2021. It was confirmed in early June that he would be released on bail, with the breakthrough lauded by Foreign Minister Penny Wong at the time. 'His case has been raised with Iraqi authorities over 200 times, including at the highest level by the Prime Minister and myself,' Senator Wong said. 'I want to thank Australian officials for their tireless work on Mr Pether's case.' But, three weeks later, concerns have grown regarding the engineer's welfare after the Albanese government was accused of leaving him stranded. Senator David Shoebridge told Daily Mail Australia on Tuesday that the engineer's security was even more at risk amid the violent escalations in the Middle East. 'I'm advised that, since DFAT accompanied Robert from his prison release on June 5, there's been effectively no communication,' he said. The Greens politician, who has long been an advocate for Mr Pether, said this was 'extremely troubling', particular with the heightened tensions in the region. 'Robert was already in a perilous situation, having been held to ransom by the Iraqi authorities. Of course, his security is even more at risk with the ongoing violent escalations in the region,' he said. Shoebridge said the Department of Foreign Affairs and Trade (DFAT) had previously kept close communication with Mr Pether prior to his release. 'The dramatic change in behavior is hard to understand,' he said. 'In the three weeks since Robert's release, he's been in an incredibly vulnerable situation with no financial support, no safe accommodation and no identity documents. 'At a minimum, you would expect Australia's embassy in Iraq to be urgently addressing these basic needs so that Robert is safe and he has his documentation in place.' Daily Mail Australia has contacted DFAT regarding the status of Australia's embassies in the Middle East and its alleged lack of support for Mr Pether. Shoebridge said Mr Pether should not be left vulnerable. Since he was released on bail, an Australian senator has sounded the alarm that Mr Pether (pictured) has not received support from the federal government 'It's moments of crisis where you need support from Australia's network of embassies, which has only been highlighted in Robert's case,' he said. 'That, however, is not a sufficient reason to leave somebody with such clear vulnerability as Robert without the support they need. 'Robert's facing an ongoing travel ban from the Iraqi authorities who continue to hold him as a form of commercial blackmail.' Pether had travelled to Baghdad in 2021 to discuss a multimillion-dollar blowout in the cost of building a new headquarters for the government-owned Central Bank of Iraq. He was charged with deception and was sentenced to five years behind bars and a $16million fine. Pether has always maintained his innocence. Mr Pether shared his fears he would die in prison in a letter first published by this publication amid a life-threatening battle with melanoma and a lung condition. 'Robert is suffering the health consequences of prolonged, brutal confinement,' Shoebridge said. 'There are very real concerns that this health condition, that his lung condition, may be malignant, and that only adds to the stress.' Shoebridge said he had contacted the foreign minister on Tuesday, calling for the department to 'actively intervene' and provide Mr Pether with basic essentials. In his February letter, Mr Pether said he was worried he would never see his wife, Desree, or children, Flynn, 20, Oscar, 18, and Nala, 11, again. The engineer claimed he was unlawfully held captive as part of a sinister plot to extort millions of dollars from his boss's construction company. A United Nations report on arbitrary detention from 2022 concluded the detention of Mr Pether was 'being used to exercise leverage in a commercial transaction, in violation of international law'.
