Leaders depart UN facing prospect of a wider Mideast war — but with a blueprint for a better future

António Guterres, United Nations Secretary-General, speaks during the 79th session of the United Nations General Assembly, Tuesday, Sept. 10, 2024. Cameroon’s former Prime Minister Philemon Yang, seated behind Guterres, took over the presidency of the UN General Assembly on Tuesday. (AP)
António Guterres, United Nations Secretary-General, speaks during the 79th session of the United Nations General Assembly, Tuesday, Sept. 10, 2024. Cameroon’s former Prime Minister Philemon Yang, seated behind Guterres, took over the presidency of the UN General Assembly on Tuesday. (AP)
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Updated 01 October 2024
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Leaders depart UN facing prospect of a wider Mideast war — but with a blueprint for a better future

Leaders depart UN facing prospect of a wider Mideast war — but with a blueprint for a better future
  • In the last few days, Yang said, the world has seen “an extremely dramatic escalation” between Israel and Hezbollah in Lebanon that risks war in the entire Middle East

UNITED NATIONS: They gathered at the United Nations surrounded by unsettling warnings of an escalating conflict that could engulf the Middle East and further shatter international relations that are based on “multilateralism” — nations working together and sharing power. A week later, world leaders headed home with the prospect of a broader war intensifying and global divisions front and center, not only in the Mideast but elsewhere.
There was no expectation of major breakthroughs in the public and private meetings at the annual UN General Assembly meeting of presidents, premiers and other leaders. There rarely is. But this year was especially grim, with no end in sight to the three major conflicts in Gaza, Ukraine and Sudan, and Israeli military action in Lebanon escalating.
UN Secretary-General Antonio Guterres’ warning that multilateralism needs to be brought back “from the brink” added to the gloom, along with speech after speech decrying failures to tackle climate change and address growing inequalities between rich and poor nations, and warning of artificial intelligence with no guardrails and the potential of killer weapons with no human control.
General Assembly President Philémon Yang concluded the weeklong, high-level meeting Monday afternoon, calling it “particularly tumultuous” and pointing to the “violent conflicts” that are raging.
“This is, unfortunately, not an exhaustive list of the crises and conflicts affecting member states of the United Nations,” he lamented.
Parts of the world are broken
There was no disagreement that multilateralism is broken, that this founding principle of the United Nations – established in 1945 on the ashes of World War II — needs urgent resuscitation to deal with the challenges the world faces today.
One example: During the very hour on Friday when Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu told the General Assembly that his country genuinely wants peace — a goal stressed by virtually every leader — Israeli warplanes were bombing areas around Beirut in a lethal barrage.
In the last few days, Yang said, the world has seen “an extremely dramatic escalation” between Israel and Hezbollah in Lebanon that risks war in the entire Middle East. “As we speak, peace in the Middle East is hanging delicately on a shoestring,” he warned..
UN spokesman Stephane Dujarric said this year’s meeting of leaders – with its marquee speeches known in UN-speak as the “general debate” – took place at “a very serious and a very intense time.”
“The world doesn’t stop for the general debate,” he told reporters Monday. “So we were focused very much on what member states said, but we continue to be very much focused on what is going on in the world outside of this building.”
There was one positive development welcomed by Secretary-General Antonio Guterres and many leaders: The adoption of a “Pact for the Future” at a summit just before world leaders began their addresses to the General Assembly. The 42-page blueprint aims to bring the 193 UN member nations together to meet today’s challenges, from climate change and artificial intelligence to escalating conflicts and increasing inequality and poverty.
It challenges leaders of countries large and small, rich and poor, to turn promises into actions. Whether that happens remains to be seen. Yang, the assembly president, said his office has already instituted “an awareness-raising campaign” to spur implementation.
Screeds against selfishness abounded
In an illustration of the blend of woe and weary hope that percolated through the gathering, Burundi’s foreign minister, Albert Shingiro, on Monday decried an international community where “most of us act like we were alone in the world, like others didn’t exist or didn’t count.”
Still, he said, the consensus on the Pact for the Future “shows that multilateralism is not dead and buried.”
From the vantage points where leaders of smaller or less powerful nations sit, the UN can’t change the world without changing itself. Founded with 51 member countries, it now has 193, and many feel included only to a point.
“We must ensure that global institutions give developing countries, especially small, vulnerable ones like my own, seats at the tables of decision-making,” said Barbados’ prime minister, Mia Mottley. “The anger and mistrust of our citizens in institutions, in leaders and in multilateralism and its processes which exclude, while yielding much talk and little action, is very real.”
Nobel peace laureate Muhammad Yunus, head of Bangladesh’s interim government, said “time demands new attitudes, new values, new compacts, across communities and countries.”
“I believe, the world needs to engage on a shared vision of ‘three zeroes’ that we can materialize together, targeting zero poverty, zero unemployment, and, zero net carbon emissions — where a young person anywhere in the world will have opportunities to grow, not as a job seeker but as entrepreneur,” he told the assembly.
During the global gathering, the assembly heard from 190 countries – all but Brunei, Myanmar and Afghanistan. The speakers included 71 heads of state, 42 heads of government, six vice presidents and crown princes, eight deputy prime ministers, 53 ministers, three vice-ministers and seven heads of delegations. Usually, the UN Security Council holds one meeting during the high-level week, but this year the council met about a half-dozen times because of the global conflicts and crises.
For all the alarm, leaders here are politicians, and many made a point of appealing at least somewhat to optimism. Perhaps none stressed it as much as US President Joe Biden, making his last speech at the annual meeting after more than a half-century in public life.
He noted that humanity has brought to a close some of the seemingly intractable threats, conflicts and injustices that beset the world when he was elected as a senator in 1972, from the Cold War to apartheid in South Africa.
“Things can get better,” Biden said. “We should never forget that.”

 


President Trump urged to declassify US files on Lockerbie bombing

President Trump urged to declassify US files on Lockerbie bombing
Updated 19 sec ago
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President Trump urged to declassify US files on Lockerbie bombing

President Trump urged to declassify US files on Lockerbie bombing
  • Incident killed 259 passengers and crew, 11 people on ground

LONDON: A prominent lawyer who represented the British victims of the 1988 Lockerbie bombing has urged President Donald Trump to declassify US intelligence files related to the attack, Sky News reported on Friday.

Prof. Peter Watson, who served as secretary for the Lockerbie Disaster Group, has called on Trump to release the documents, arguing that the families of those killed “deserve transparency, truth and answers.”

Trump has previously moved to declassify files concerning the assassinations of John F. Kennedy, Robert Kennedy, and Martin Luther King Jr., and Watson said he believes Lockerbie should be next.

“Nearly four decades later, as new trials and investigations continue, the pursuit of truth and justice for the victims and their families endures,” he said.

“The families of the victims are entitled to know as much as possible about what happened on the night of the bombing, and we know there are documents held by the US and UK intelligence services that fill the vacuum of understanding that remains today.”

Pan Am Flight 103 was blown out of the sky over the Scottish town of Lockerbie on Dec. 21, 1988, killing 259 passengers and crew on board, along with 11 people on the ground.

Libya accepted responsibility for the bombing in 2003 and compensated the families of the victims to the tune of £2.1 billion ($2.7 billion), but significant questions about the attack remain with no public inquiry into the bombing held to date.

Former Libyan intelligence officer Abdelbaset Al-Megrahi was convicted for the bombing but was released on compassionate grounds in 2009 after being diagnosed with cancer. He died in 2012.

Libyan suspect Abu Agila Masud, who is alleged to have built the bomb, will stand trial in the US in May. He denies all charges.

Watson sent his declassification request in a letter to Matthew Palmer, the charge d’affaires at the US Embassy in London.

He wrote: “We have seen a move from President Trump to declassify a number of federal secrets, and we believe Lockerbie should be next.

“The families have waited far too long. They deserve transparency, truth and answers.”


European naval force helps free ship seized by pirates

European naval force helps free ship seized by pirates
Updated 6 min 40 sec ago
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European naval force helps free ship seized by pirates

European naval force helps free ship seized by pirates
  • Piracy off the Somali coast peaked in 2011 when 237 attacks were reported

DUBAI: A European naval force in the Middle East helped free a Yemeni fishing boat seized by suspected Somali pirates off the Horn of Africa, authorities said.
The naval force, EUNAVFOR Atalanta, said late on Thursday that the incident remained under investigation. It said the 12 mariners on board were safe and uninjured.
It said the attack that began last week targeted a dhow, a traditional ship that plies the waters of the Mideast off the town of Eyl in Somalia.
“The immediate presence of Atalanta forces in the area, especially the helicopter, was decisive in the fishing vessel liberation,” EUNAVFOR said.
“The crew confirmed that the alleged pirates abandoned the vessel after stealing personal objects and two skiffs belonging to the dhow.”
Piracy off the Somali coast peaked in 2011 when 237 attacks were reported.
Somali piracy in the region at the time cost the world’s economy some $7 billion — with $160 million paid out in ransoms, according to the Oceans Beyond Piracy monitoring group.
The threat was diminished by increased international naval patrols.

 


Poland jails Russians over Wagner sticker ‘propaganda’

Poland jails Russians over Wagner sticker ‘propaganda’
Updated 21 min 48 sec ago
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Poland jails Russians over Wagner sticker ‘propaganda’

Poland jails Russians over Wagner sticker ‘propaganda’
  • Poland’s Interior Minister Tomasz Siemoniak wrote on X that the arrest was “a major blow for the Russian sabotage network in Europe“
  • The stickers posted by the two sentenced Russians bore the Wagner logo, a slogan in English saying “We are here. Join us“

WARSAW: A Polish court on Friday jailed two Russian men for more than five years each under espionage laws for distributing alleged propaganda for the now-disbanded Wagner mercenary group.
The pair, identified by Polish counter-intelligence as Alexei T. and Andrei G., were detained in August 2023 for distributing stickers in Warsaw and Krakow for Russia’s once-powerful mercenary group.
Also on Friday, Poland’s Prime Minister Donald Tusk posted on X that a Russian suspected of sabotage against Poland and its allies had been arrested.
The Russian, “suspected of coordinating sabotage acts against Poland, the United States and other allies, and who was hiding in Bosnia and Herzegovina, has been deported to Poland and placed under arrest,” Tusk said.
Poland’s Interior Minister Tomasz Siemoniak wrote on X that the arrest was “a major blow for the Russian sabotage network in Europe.”
The stickers posted by the two sentenced Russians bore the Wagner logo, a slogan in English saying “We are here. Join us,” and a QR code directing people to a Russian website about the mercenary group.
Poland’s counter-intelligence agency said at the time: “The Russians had on them more than 3,000 propaganda leaflets promoting the Wagner group.”
“These activities were an element of the hybrid warfare aimed at our country,” judge Ewa Karp-Sieklucka said Friday, media in Krakow, where the trial was held, reported.
They were sentenced to five years and six months in jail.
While they did not deny distributing the stickers, they pleaded not guilty, arguing they had not been aware they were taking part in a recruitment campaign.
Poland’s historically strained relations with neighboring Russia have dipped to new lows over Moscow’s invasion of Ukraine.
Almost three years into the war, Poland remains a staunch ally of Kyiv. It has become a major logistics hub for military equipment the West has been transferring to the war-torn country.
Warsaw officials have frequently blamed Russia for orchestrating sabotage attempts on its soil, which they say are aimed at destabilising the EU member.
In one of its largest espionage trials, Poland in 2023 convicted 14 citizens of Russia, Belarus and Ukraine of preparing sabotage on behalf of Moscow as part of a spy ring.
They were sentenced for preparing to derail trains carrying aid to Ukraine, and monitoring military facilities and critical infrastructure.
In October, Poland ordered the closure of the Russian consulate in Poznan, western Poland, over “the hybrid war” it accused Moscow of waging.


Sweden jails man for joining Daesh, in first under new legislation

Policemen stand guard in Stockholm. (AFP file photo)
Policemen stand guard in Stockholm. (AFP file photo)
Updated 36 min 11 sec ago
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Sweden jails man for joining Daesh, in first under new legislation

Policemen stand guard in Stockholm. (AFP file photo)
  • The case is the first conviction for “participation in a terrorist organization” under a law adopted by parliament in 2023

STOCKHOLM: A Swedish court on Friday sentenced a man to three years in jail for joining Daesh, the country’s first conviction since new legislation was introduced banning participation in a terrorist group.
The 22-year-old man was convicted of “participation in a terrorist organization,” as well as financing terrorism and three counts of foreign travel for terrorism purposes, the court said in a statement.
According to the court, all charges concerned Daesh, and the three trips were all to Somalia.

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Sweden has been adopting stricter anti-terror laws since 2017, after an Uzbek asylum seeker drove a truck down a busy shopping street in Stockholm, killing five people.

His sentence was set to three years and three months in prison.
The case is the first conviction for “participation in a terrorist organization” under a law adopted by parliament in 2023.
Sweden had been adopting stricter anti-terror laws since 2017, after an Uzbek asylum seeker — who had sworn allegiance to Daesh — drove a truck down a busy shopping street in Stockholm, killing five people.
However, the legislation on participation in a terrorist group required the country first to amend its constitution as it was deemed to infringe on Sweden’s freedom of association laws.
The adoption of the bill also came as Turkiye was holding up Sweden’s bid to join NATO — with Ankara demanding that Sweden crack down on extremist groups.
After Russia invaded Ukraine, Sweden ended two centuries of military non-alignment and applied to join the alliance in May 2022 — eventually joining in March 2024.

 


Congo rebels seize 2 more towns as president seeks support abroad

Congo rebels seize 2 more towns as president seeks support abroad
Updated 44 min 33 sec ago
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Congo rebels seize 2 more towns as president seeks support abroad

Congo rebels seize 2 more towns as president seeks support abroad
  • On the ground, rebels seized the town of Katana on Friday morning, according to an M23 source, a resident and a civil society leader
  • A UN source said M23 had advanced beyond Katana to just 5 km from the airport in Kavumu

ADDIS ABABA: Rwandan-backed M23 rebels fighting in eastern Congo seized two towns on their march toward a provincial capital, residents and the rebels said on Friday, as the president seeks international support to end the crisis.
The rebels have been trying to push south toward Bukavu, the capital of South Kivu province, since they seized Goma, the largest city in eastern Democratic Republic of Congo, at the end of last month.
Congolese President Felix Tshisekedi will not attend the African Union summit focusing on efforts to halt the conflict, his spokesperson Tina Salama said.
Prime Minister Judith Suminwa Tuluka will instead represent Congo at the event, Salama said on Friday.

FASTFACT

The UN refugee agency voiced concern at the ‘rapidly deteriorating’ situation, saying the war had left around 350,000 displaced people with no roof over their heads.

The conflict will be high on the agenda at the annual two-day meeting in the Ethiopian capital.
The UN refugee agency voiced concern on Friday at the “rapidly deteriorating” situation, saying the war had left around 350,000 displaced people with no roof over their heads.
On the ground, rebels seized the town of Katana on Friday morning, according to an M23 source, a resident and a civil society leader.
The commercial center lies 11 km from the strategic town of Kavumu, where Bukavu’s airport is located.
A video taken by the resident showed armed men in fatigues walking through Katana.
“M23 soldiers are blocking the road and are heading toward Kavumu — they already have control of Katana,” the resident said.
The town of Kabamba, north of Katana, was taken on Thursday, according to the same M23 source, civil society leader, and a resident who said that cellular networks were down there.
A UN source said M23 had advanced beyond Katana to just 5 km from the airport in Kavumu.
Two people who work at the airport said it had been emptied and effectively closed, with Congolese forces removing equipment, including an aircraft.
The M23 source said Congo’s army had abandoned Kavumu.
Rebel leader Corneille Nangaa said the rebels had been attacked and were defending themselves.
A reporter said that as the fighting rages in the east, a heavier military presence has also been visible throughout the country’s capital, Kinshasa, some 1,600 km west of Goma, over the past week.
After the fall of Goma, protesters in Kinshasa attacked a UN compound and embassies, including those of Rwanda, France, and the US, expressing anger at what they said was foreign interference.
Looters ransacked the embassy of Kenya.