US arrests 2 leaders of Mexico’s Sinaloa cartel: ‘El Mayo’ Zambada and son of ‘El Chapo’

US arrests 2 leaders of Mexico’s Sinaloa cartel: ‘El Mayo’ Zambada and son of ‘El Chapo’
A news program announces arrest of Mexican drug lord Ismael Zambada and the son of his former partner, Joaquin Guzman, a canteen in Mexico City on 25, 2024. (Reuters)
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Updated 26 July 2024
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US arrests 2 leaders of Mexico’s Sinaloa cartel: ‘El Mayo’ Zambada and son of ‘El Chapo’

US arrests 2 leaders of Mexico’s Sinaloa cartel: ‘El Mayo’ Zambada and son of ‘El Chapo’
  • Ismael Zambada and Guzman Lopez oversaw the trafficking of ‘tens of thousands of pounds of drugs into the United States, along with related violence’

WASHINGTON: Ismael “El Mayo” Zambada, a longtime leader of Mexico’s Sinaloa cartel, and Joaquin Guzman Lopez, a son of another infamous cartel leader, were arrested by US authorities in Texas on Thursday, the US Justice Department said.
A leader of the powerful Sinaloa cartel for decades alongside Joaquín “El Chapo” Guzman, Zambada is one of the most notorious drug traffickers in the world and known for running the cartel’s smuggling operations while keeping a lower profile.
A Mexican federal official said that Zambada and Guzman Lopez arrived in the United States on a private plane and turned themselves in to authorities. The official spoke on the condition of anonymity because he was not authorized discuss the matter.
The US government had offered a reward of up to $15 million for information leading to Zambada’s capture.
Zambada and Guzman Lopez, who have eluded authorities for decades, oversaw the trafficking of “tens of thousands of pounds of drugs into the United States, along with related violence,” FBI Director Christopher Wray said, adding that now they will “face justice in the United States.”
“Fentanyl is the deadliest drug threat our country has ever faced, and the Justice Department will not rest until every single cartel leader, member, and associate responsible for poisoning our communities is held accountable,” Attorney General Merrick Garland said in a statement.
Mexican authorities didn’t immediately comment on the arrests.
US officials have been seeking Zambada’s capture for years, and he has been charged in a number of US cases. He was charged in February in the Eastern District of New York with conspiring to manufacture and distribute the synthetic opioid. Prosecutors said he was continuing to lead the Sinaloa cartel, “one of the most violent and powerful drug trafficking organizations in the world.”
Zambada, one of the longest-surviving capos in Mexico, was considered the cartel’s strategist, more involved in day-to-day operations than his flashier and better-known boss, “El Chapo” Guzman, who was sentenced to life in prison in the US in 2019 and is the father of Guzman Lopez.
Zambada is an old-fashioned capo in an era of younger kingpins known for their flamboyant lifestyles of club-hopping and brutal tactics of beheading, dismembering and even skinning their rivals. While Zambada has fought those who challenged him, he is known for concentrating on the business side of trafficking and avoiding gruesome cartel violence that would draw attention.
In an April 2010 interview with the Mexican magazine Proceso, he acknowledged that he lived in constant fear of going to prison and would contemplate suicide rather than be captured.
“I’m terrified of being incarcerated,” Zambada said. “I’d like to think that, yes, I would kill myself.”
The interview was surprising for a kingpin known for keeping his head down, but he gave strict instructions on where and when the encounter would take place, and the article gave no hint of his whereabouts.
Zambada reputedly won the loyalty of locals in his home state of Sinaloa and neighboring Durango through his largess, sponsoring local farmers and distributing money and beer in his birthplace of El Alamo.
Although little is known about Zambada’s early life, he is believed to have gotten his start as an enforcer in the 1970s.
By the early 1990s, he was a major player in the Juarez cartel, transporting tons of cocaine and marijuana.
Zambada started gaining the trust of Colombian traffickers, allegiances that helped him come out on top in the cartel world of ever-shifting alliances. Eventually he became so powerful that he broke off from the Juarez cartel, but still managed to keep strong ties with the gang and avoided a turf war. He also developed a partnership with “El Chapo” Guzman that would take him to the top of the Sinaloa Cartel.
Zambada’s detention follows some important arrests of other Sinaloa cartel figures, including one of his sons and another son of “El Chapo” Guzman, Ovidio Guzman Lopez. Zambada’s son pleaded guilty in US federal court in San Diego in 2021 to being a leader in the Sinaloa cartel.
In recent years, Guzman’s sons have led a faction of the cartel known as the little Chapos, or “Chapitos” that has been identified as a main exporter of fentanyl to the US market.
They were seen as more violent and flamboyant than Zambada. Their security chief was arrested by Mexican authorities in November.
Ovidio Guzman Lopez was arrested and extradited to the US last year. He pleaded not guilty to drug trafficking charges in Chicago in September.
Mike Vigil, former head of international operations for the DEA, said Zambada’s arrest is important but unlikely to have much impact on the flow of drugs to the US Joaquín Guzman Lopez was the least influential of the four sons who made up the Chapitos, Vigil said.
“This is a great blow for the rule of law, but is it going to have an impact on the cartel? I don’t think so,” Vigil said.
“It’s not going to have a dent on the drug trade because somebody from within the cartel is going to replace him,” Vigil said.


Saudi ambassador to Kabul meets Afghan foreign minister, discusses bilateral ties

Saudi ambassador to Kabul meets Afghan foreign minister, discusses bilateral ties
Updated 5 sec ago
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Saudi ambassador to Kabul meets Afghan foreign minister, discusses bilateral ties

Saudi ambassador to Kabul meets Afghan foreign minister, discusses bilateral ties
  • The development comes week after the Kingdom’s embassy in Kabul resumed its diplomatic activities in Afghanistan
  • Saudi Arabia has continued to provide consular services in Afghanistan since Nov. 2021 as well as humanitarian aid

ISLAMABAD: Saudi Arabia’s Ambassador to Afghanistan Faisal bin Talaq Al-Baqmi has met Afghan Foreign Minister Mawlawi Amir Khan Muttaqi and discussed with him bilateral relations between the two countries, the Saudi embassy said on Sunday.
The development comes week after the Kingdom’s embassy in the Afghan capital of Kabul resumed diplomatic activities to provide services to the Afghan people.
The Afghan foreign ministry had welcomed Saudi Arabia’s decision to resume diplomatic operations in Kabul, more than three years after Riyadh withdrew its staff during the Taliban takeover of Afghanistan.
The meeting between the Saudi ambassador and the Afghan foreign minister was held in Kabul, according to the Saudi embassy. It was also attended by Deputy Head of Mission Mishaal Mutlaq Al-Shammari.
“The meeting discussed bilateral relations, ways to enhance them, and topics of common interest,” the Saudi embassy said on X.
Ties between Saudi Arabia and Afghanistan date back to 1932, when the Kingdom became the first Islamic country to provide aid to the Afghan people during their ordeals.
In recent years, Saudi Arabia has launched numerous projects in Afghanistan through the King Salman Humanitarian Aid & Relief Center (KSrelief), focusing on health, education services, water and food security. Riyadh has also participated in all international donor conferences and called for establishing security and stability in Afghanistan following years of armed conflicts.
Saudi Arabia has continued to provide consular services in Afghanistan since November 2021 and provided humanitarian aid through KSrelief.


Biden likely to talk with Netanyahu; hostage deal ‘very close,’ security adviser says

Biden likely to talk with Netanyahu; hostage deal ‘very close,’ security adviser says
Updated 55 min 52 sec ago
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Biden likely to talk with Netanyahu; hostage deal ‘very close,’ security adviser says

Biden likely to talk with Netanyahu; hostage deal ‘very close,’ security adviser says
  • Biden getting daily updates on talks in Doha, where Israeli and Palestinian officials said since Thursday some progress made

WASHINGTON: US President Joe Biden will likely talk with Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu soon, his national security adviser said on Sunday, as US officials race to reach a Gaza hostage and ceasefire deal before Biden leaves office on Jan. 20.
Jake Sullivan told CNN’s “State of the Union” program that the parties were “very, very close” to reaching a deal to halt the fighting in the enclave and free the remaining 98 hostages held there, but still had to get it across the finish line.
Biden was getting daily updates on the talks in Doha, where Israeli and Palestinian officials have said since Thursday that some progress has been made in the indirect talks between Israel and militant group Hamas, Sullivan said.
“We are still determined to use every day we have in office to get this done,” he said, adding that Biden “is likely, in the near term, to engage with Prime Minister Netanyahu, and we are not, by any stretch of imagination, setting this aside.”
He said there was still a chance to reach an agreement before Biden leaves office, but that it was also possible “Hamas, in particular, remains intransigent.”
Israel launched its assault in Gaza after Hamas fighters stormed across its borders in October 2023, killing 1,200 people and taking more than 250 hostages, according to Israeli tallies.
Since then, more than 46,000 people have been killed in Gaza, according to Palestinian health officials, with much of the enclave laid to waste and gripped by a humanitarian crisis, and most of its population displaced.
Vice President-elect JD Vance told the “Fox News Sunday” program in an interview taped on Saturday that he expects a deal for the release of US hostages in the Middle East to be announced in the final days of the Biden administration, maybe in the last day or two.
President-elect Donald Trump, a staunch supporter of Israel, has strongly backed Netanyahu’s goal of destroying Hamas. He has promised to bring peace to the Middle East, but has not said how he would accomplish that.


Sri Lankans rally to stop deportation of Rohingya refugees to Myanmar

Sri Lankan rights activists demonstrate in front of the president’s office in Colombo on Jan. 10, 2025. (AFP)
Sri Lankan rights activists demonstrate in front of the president’s office in Colombo on Jan. 10, 2025. (AFP)
Updated 12 January 2025
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Sri Lankans rally to stop deportation of Rohingya refugees to Myanmar

Sri Lankan rights activists demonstrate in front of the president’s office in Colombo on Jan. 10, 2025. (AFP)
  • Activists stage protests in northeastern Mullaitivu district and capital Colombo
  • Rohingya risk deadly sea crossings as fighting intensifies in Myanmar

COLOMBO: Sri Lankan civil society groups and activists are mobilizing to save more than 100 Rohingya refugees rescued off the Indian Ocean island nation last month following a government announcement that they will be deported. 

A group of about 100 Rohingya refugees, which reportedly included over two dozen children, was rescued off the coast of the northeastern Mullaitivu district on Dec. 19. 

Several protests were recently organized in Mullaitivu and the capital Colombo after Sri Lanka’s Minister of Public Security and Parliamentary Affairs Ananda Wijepala announced on Jan. 3 that the government was in talks with Myanmar authorities over the deportation of the Rohingya refugees. 

“These are stateless people, they don’t have a home to go to,” social activist Thasneema Dahlan, who took part in a protest in Colombo on Friday, told Arab News.

“The Rohingya are massacred and chased and terrorized in their own home, and that is why they fled their own country looking for greener pastures elsewhere.”  

The mostly Muslim Rohingya — the “world’s most persecuted minority,” according to the UN — have faced decades of oppression in Myanmar. 

In 2017, more than 730,000 Rohingya from Rakhine State were forced to flee to neighboring Bangladesh to escape a brutal military crackdown that UN experts have referred to as a “genocidal campaign,” amid evidence of ethnic cleansing, mass rape, and killings. 

As Rakhine became a focal point in Myanmar’s intensifying nationwide civil war, hundreds of Rohingya have been fleeing the country in recent weeks through dangerous sea crossings, often on rickety boats. Last year, more than 7,800 people made such attempts, according to the UN refugee agency — an 80 percent increase compared with 2023. 

“Their objective wasn’t to get to Sri Lanka. Their objective was to get somewhere, anywhere where they could survive,” Dahlan said. “We are urging the government to … please not send them back, not repatriate them, not deport them, because that is just sending them back to death.”

Sri Lanka, which is not a signatory to the 1951 UN Refugee Convention and its 1967 protocol, is a transit point for refugees until the UNHCR helps them resettle in another country. 

In 2022, its navy also rescued about 100 Rohingya refugees, who have been under the care of local NGOs as they await resettlement. 

Sri Lankan activists have also filed petitions with the government, urging authorities to relocate the new group of refugees from the Keppapulavu Air Force base in Mullaitivu, where they have stayed since Dec. 23. According to protesters, aid agencies, including the UN, have been stopped from meeting the Rohingya. 

“Sheltering the refugees under a militarized environment is incompatible with international humanitarian norms and basic human values,” the North-East Coordinating Committee, which organized the Mullaitivu protest on Thursday, said in a letter. 

Ruki Fernando, a human rights activist based in Colombo, said the Rohingya refugees should be “kept in a place under civil administration,” not military. 

“Many Sri Lankans have been refugees. We need to help others. It’s our legal obligation … under customary international law, non-refoulement is prohibited. It means no one fleeing a well-founded fear of persecution should be sent back,” Fernando told Arab News, referring to the hundreds of thousands of Sri Lankan Tamils who fled the country’s civil war between 1983 and 2009. 

“We also have moral, ethical obligations to welcome, care and support those in distress. Our religious and spiritual values teach us this.”  


Islam ‘places no restrictions’ on girls’ education, forum told

Pakistan and the MWL co-hosted the two-day conference “Girls’ Education in Muslim Communities: Challenges and Opportunities.”
Pakistan and the MWL co-hosted the two-day conference “Girls’ Education in Muslim Communities: Challenges and Opportunities.”
Updated 12 January 2025
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Islam ‘places no restrictions’ on girls’ education, forum told

Pakistan and the MWL co-hosted the two-day conference “Girls’ Education in Muslim Communities: Challenges and Opportunities.”
  • Muslim World League, global leaders focus on gender equality at Islamabad meeting

ISLAMABAD: Islam places no restrictions on girls’ education, Dr. Mohammed Al-Issa, secretary-general of the Muslim World League, told an international conference in Pakistan on Saturday focusing on the issue.

The MWL leader added that anyone opposing education for women deviates from the global Muslim community.

Pakistan and the MWL co-hosted the two-day conference, “Girls’ Education in Muslim Communities: Challenges and Opportunities,” under the patronage of Prime Minister Shehbaz Sharif in Islamabad.

Sharif commended the MWL for its dedication to education, saying that ensuring equal access to education for girls remains one of the most pressing challenges of the present time.

“Entrenched societal norms intensify the problem of a lack of education for girls, leading to a cycle of deprivation that affects more than one generation,” he said.

The initiative aims to raise awareness in Muslim communities about the importance of girls’ education through various themes, joint programs, and collaborative agreements.

“Our Islamic faith has always celebrated the education of every Muslim, both male and female, because the message of Islam was to enlighten all, regardless of gender,” Al-Issa told participants.

“Therefore, Muslim women in Islam have had a significant and active presence in all spheres of life — in religious matters, the sciences, politics, economics, and societal affairs throughout history.”

The MWL chief said any reservations about girls’ education must be understood as stemming from non-Islamic customs that have no basis in the Muslim faith.

He lauded the initiative as a transformative step for advancing girls’ education, emphasizing its practical and results-oriented approach.

The forum addressed the issue by signing a consensus document, “the Islamabad Declaration for Girls’ Education,” reaffirming that Islam does not prohibit women’s education in any way.

It will be presented to international governmental and nongovernment organizations. The declaration calls for the establishment of an international day dedicated to advancing its primary goal.

Al-Issa said that the declaration will serve to solidify and strengthen the initiative.

The initiative also includes the launch of a platform for international partnerships, along with the signing of several agreements with regional and international organizations focused on women’s empowerment and girls’ education.

The summit brought together over 150 dignitaries from 44 Muslim and other friendly states, according to Pakistan’s Foreign Office. It was also attended by Hissein Brahim Taha, secretary-general of the Organization of Islamic Cooperation.

Taha affirmed the organization’s readiness to support the initiative and contribute to its success for the benefit of girls across the Islamic world.

“Education forms the cornerstone of a strong society and represents a shared responsibility that facilitates progress and prosperity. At the OIC, we categorically oppose any policies or practices that violate Islam’s respectful and honorable teachings regarding women,” he said.


Trump calls California leaders ‘incompetent’ over fire response

Trump calls California leaders ‘incompetent’ over fire response
Updated 12 January 2025
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Trump calls California leaders ‘incompetent’ over fire response

Trump calls California leaders ‘incompetent’ over fire response
  • ‘The fires are still raging in L.A. The incompetent pols (politicians) have no idea how to put them out’
  • The fires have so far killed at least 16 people, displaced 150,000 more, and destroyed more than 12,000 structures

LOS ANGELES, United States: US President-elect Donald Trump accused California officials on Sunday of incompetence over their handling of deadly wildfires raging around Los Angeles.
“The fires are still raging in L.A. The incompetent pols (politicians) have no idea how to put them out,” Trump said on his Truth Social platform.
“This is one of the worst catastrophes in the history of our Country. They just can’t put out the fires. What’s wrong with them?” he wrote.
The speed and intensity of the blazes ravaging Los Angeles have tested its firefighting infrastructure and given rise to questions and criticism about the state’s preparedness.
Hydrants ran dry in the Pacific Palisades neighborhood as it was ravaged by one of the region’s five separate fires, while water shortages additionally hampered efforts elsewhere.
With just over a week before he returns to the White House, Trump has launched a series of evidence-free broadsides accusing California’s Democratic Governor Gavin Newsom of failings in response to the blazes.
Newsom has meanwhile invited Trump to visit Los Angeles and survey the devastation with him.
The fires have so far killed at least 16 people, displaced 150,000 more, and destroyed more than 12,000 structures according to state officials.
“Thousands of magnificent houses are gone, and many more will soon be lost. There is death all over the place,” Trump said in his post.
Despite firefighters’ heroic efforts, including precision sorties from aerial crews, the Palisades Fire has continued to push east toward the priceless collections of the Getty Center art museum and north to the densely populated San Fernando Valley.