Latest news with #militarypresence
Khaleej Times
7 days ago
- Politics
- Khaleej Times
Diplomatic breakthrough: Syrian, Israeli officials meet in Baku
A Syrian and an Israeli official met face to face in Baku on Saturday on the sidelines of a visit to Azerbaijan by President Ahmed Al Sharaa, a diplomatic source in Damascus said. The meeting marked a major step for the two countries which have been foes for decades, and comes after Israel initially cold-shouldered Sharaa's administration as militant because of his past links to Al-Qaeda. "A meeting took place between a Syrian official and an Israeli official on the sidelines of Sharaa's visit to Baku," the source said, requesting anonymity because of the sensitivity of the issue. Israel is a major arms supplier to Azerbaijan and has a significant diplomatic presence in the Caucasus nation which neighbours its arch foe Iran. Sharaa himself did not take part in the meeting, which focused on "the recent Israeli military presence in Syria", the source added. After the overthrow of longtime ruler Bashar Al Assad in December, Israel carried out hundreds of air strikes in Syria to prevent key military assets falling into the hands of the Islamist-led interim administration headed by Sharaa. It also sent troops into the UN-patrolled buffer zone that used to separate the opposing forces in the strategic Golan Heights, from which it has conducted forays deeper into southern Syria. Sharaa has said repeatedly that Syria does not seek conflict with its neighbours, and has instead asked the international community to put pressure on Israel to halt its attacks. His government recently confirmed that it had held indirect contacts with Israel seeking a return to the 1974 disengagement agreement which created the buffer zone. Late last month, Foreign Minister Gideon Saar said Israel was interested in striking a peace and normalisation agreement with Syria. A Syria government source quoted by state media responded that such talk was "premature". But during a visit to Lebanon this week, US special envoy to Syria Tom Barrack said: "The dialogue has started between Syria and Israel". After meeting Sharaa in Riyadh in May, US President Donald Trump told reporters he had expressed hope that Syria would join other Arab states which normalised their relations with Israel. "(Sharaa) said yes. But they have a lot of work to do," Trump said. During his visit to Baku, Sharaa held talks with his counterpart Ilham Aliyev, the two governments said. Azerbaijan announced it would begin exporting gas to Syria via Turkey, a key ally of both governments, a statement from the Azerbaijani presidency said.
Al Arabiya
7 days ago
- Politics
- Al Arabiya
Syrian, Israeli officials to meet in Baku: Diplomatic source in Damascus
A Syrian and an Israeli official are expected to meet in Baku later Saturday on the sidelines of President Ahmed al-Sharaa's visit to Azerbaijan, a diplomatic source in Damascus with knowledge of the issue said. 'There will be a meeting between a Syrian official and an Israeli official on the sidelines of the visit being conducted by [al-Sharaa] in Baku,' said the source, who requested anonymity due to the sensitivity of the issue. Israel is a major arms supplier to Azerbaijan and has a significant diplomatic presence in the Caucasus nation which neighbors its arch foe Iran. The diplomatic source stressed that al-Sharaa himself would not attend the Baku meeting, which would focus on 'the recent Israeli military presence in Syria.' After the overthrow of longtime ruler Bashar al-Assad in December, Israel carried out hundreds of air strikes in Syria. It also sent troops into the UN-patrolled buffer zone that used to separate the opposing forces on the strategic Golan Heights, from which it has conducted forays deeper into southern Syria. Al-Sharaa has said repeatedly that Syria does not seek conflict with its neighbors, and has instead asked the international community to put pressure on Israel to halt its attacks. His government recently confirmed that it had held indirect contacts with Israel seeking a return to the 1974 disengagement agreement which created the buffer zone. Israel has repeatedly characterized al-Sharaa's government as extremist, in reference to his past links with al-Qaeda. But late last month, Foreign Minister Gideon Saar said Israel was interested in striking a peace and normalization agreement with Syria. A Syria government source quoted by state media responded that such talk was 'premature.' But during a visit to Lebanon this week, US special envoy to Syria Tom Barrack said: 'The dialogue has started between Syria and Israel.' After meeting al-Sharaa in Riyadh in May, US President Donald Trump told reporters he had expressed hope that Syria would join other Arab states which normalized their relations with Israel. '[al-Sharaa] said yes. But they have a lot of work to do,' Trump said. The Syrian president arrived in Baku earlier Saturday for talks with his counterpart Ilham Aliyev.
Al Arabiya
7 days ago
- Politics
- Al Arabiya
Syrian, Israeli officials meet in Baku: Diplomatic source in Damascus
A Syrian and an Israeli official met face to face in Baku Saturday on the sidelines of a visit to Azerbaijan by President Ahmed al-Sharaa, a diplomatic source in Damascus said. The meeting marked a major step for the two countries which have been foes for decades, and comes after Israel initially cold-shouldered al-Sharaa's administration because of his past links to al-Qaeda. 'A meeting took place between a Syrian official and an Israeli official on the sidelines of al-Sharaa's visit to Baku,' the source said, requesting anonymity because of the sensitivity of the issue. Israel is a major arms supplier to Azerbaijan and has a significant diplomatic presence in the Caucasus nation which neighbors its arch foe Iran. Al-Sharaa himself did not take part in the meeting, which focused on 'the recent Israeli military presence in Syria,' the source added. After the overthrow of longtime ruler Bashar al-Assad in December, Israel carried out hundreds of air strikes in Syria to prevent key military assets falling into the hands of the interim administration headed by al-Sharaa. It also sent troops into the UN-patrolled buffer zone that used to separate the opposing forces in the strategic Golan Heights, from which it has conducted forays deeper into southern Syria. Al-Sharaa has said repeatedly that Syria does not seek conflict with its neighbors, and has instead asked the international community to put pressure on Israel to halt its attacks. His government recently confirmed that it had held indirect contacts with Israel seeking a return to the 1974 disengagement agreement which created the buffer zone. Late last month, Foreign Minister Gideon Saar said Israel was interested in striking a peace and normalisation agreement with Syria. A Syria government source quoted by state media responded that such talk was 'premature.' But during a visit to Lebanon this week, US special envoy to Syria Tom Barrack said: 'The dialogue has started between Syria and Israel.' After meeting al-Sharaa in Riyadh in May, US President Donald Trump told reporters he had expressed hope that Syria would join other Arab states which normalized their relations with Israel. '(Al-Sharaa) said yes. But they have a lot of work to do,' Trump said. During his visit to Baku, al-Sharaa held talks with his counterpart Ilham Aliyev, the two governments said. Azerbaijan announced it would begin exporting gas to Syria via Turkey, a key ally of both governments, a statement from the Azerbaijani presidency said.
Yahoo
21-06-2025
- Politics
- Yahoo
Senator Alex Padilla calls out JD Vance for wrongly calling him ‘José': ‘The Vice President knows my name'
Senator Alex Padilla called out Vice President JD Vance for — he claims — intentionally getting his first name wrong when he was giving comments about Immigration and Customs Enforcement raids in Los Angeles. During a visit to LA on Friday to inspect President Donald Trump's domestic troop deployment, Vance called Padilla "José." 'Well, I was hoping José Padilla would be here to ask a question, but unfortunately, I guess he decided not to show up because there wasn't the theater, and that's all it is,' Vance said. He was referring to Padilla being dragged out of Homeland Security Secretary Kristi Noem's June 12 press conference, pulled to the ground and handcuffed. The senator said in a comment on X that the vice president knows his name, and called the remark a "petty slight." "The Vice President knows my name. But that's not the point," Padilla wrote. "He should be focused on removing the thousands of unnecessary troops from the streets of Los Angeles, not petty slights." He also shared a clip of a MSNBC news program he appeared on in which he said Vance should be spending his time learning more about the effects of the ICE raids and speaking with families who are being "terrorized" by the federal agents. In the clip, Padilla challenges Vance to talk to the Marines and National Guard members who he says do not want to be stationed in LA, to the city officials and the LA sheriff whose jobs, he says, have been made more difficult by the presence of the military in the city, or to fire victims who have still not received federal aid. "We've got a lot of important work to do, but this is how the vice president chooses to act," he said. 'Sadly, it's just an indicator of how petty and unserious this administration is ... you'd think he'd take the situation in Los Angeles more seriously.' Padilla and Vance served together in the 100-member U.S. Senate between January 2021 and January 2025. As vice-president, Vance is now president of the Senate. Padilla wasn't the only one unimpressed by Vance's comments in LA. The city's mayor, Karen Bass, called his commentary "an attempt to provoke division and conflict" and that he spent his time "spewing lies and utter nonsense." 'We were able to handle the violence and the vandalism that occurred,' Bass said. 'Our streets have been peaceful, and even when there was vandalism at its height, you are talking about a couple hundred people who were not necessarily associated with any of the peaceful protests.' She also accused Vance of disrespecting the senator by calling him the wrong name. 'How dare you disrespect our senator?' she said during a press conference. 'The last time I checked, the vice president of the United States is the president of the U.S. Senate. You serve with him today, and how dare you disrespect him and call him José? But I guess he just looked like anybody to you. Well, he's not just anybody to us. He is our senator.' Governor Gavin Newsom also waded into the fight, implying that Vance was being intentionally dismissive and disrespectful to the senator. 'JD Vance served with Alex Padilla in the United States Senate,' the governor wrote on X. 'Calling him 'José Padilla' is not an accident.'
Reuters
12-06-2025
- Politics
- Reuters
North Korea's Kim Jong Un attends launch of restored destroyer, KCNA says
SEOUL, June 13 (Reuters) - North Korean leader Kim Jong Un attended on Thursday the launching ceremony of a destroyer that had been damaged upon its first attempt to launch, state media KCNA said on Friday. Kim said the restoration of the destroyer "had not delayed" North Korea's attempts to enhance naval power, and said plans were in place "to build two more 5,000-ton destroyers next year", KCNA said. Kim called for the country to strengthen its maritime military presence in the Pacific Ocean in the face of what he said were U.S. provocations, KCNA said.
