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Request made to Dutch authorities to prosecute senior Israeli intelligence officers

An exterior view of the International Criminal Court in the Hague, Netherlands. (File/Reuters)
An exterior view of the International Criminal Court in the Hague, Netherlands. (File/Reuters)
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Updated 19 sec ago
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Request made to Dutch authorities to prosecute senior Israeli intelligence officers

An exterior view of the International Criminal Court in the Hague, Netherlands. (File/Reuters)
  • Case brought after Guardian report suggested Israel had run a 9-year covert campaign against the International Criminal Court in the Hague
  • Activities began after investigation opened in 2015 into Israeli activity in the occupied Palestinian territories
Updated 19 sec ago
Arab News
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LONDON: A request has been filed in the Netherlands asking for authorities to prosecute senior Israeli intelligence officials over claims they interfered with an International Criminal Court investigation into crimes in the occupied Palestinian territories.

A group of 20 complainants have brought the claim following a Guardian report that uncovered a nine-year campaign by Israeli intelligence to “undermine, influence and allegedly intimidate the ICC chief prosecutor’s office.”

The report, conducted with Israeli-Palestinian +972 Magazine and Hebrew language Open Call outlet, led the Dutch government, which hosts the ICC in the Hague, to raise its concerns with the Israeli ambassador to the Netherlands.

The complainants’ legal team claims: “Israel’s many attempts to influence, sabotage and stop the investigation constitute a direct violation of (their clients’) right to justice.”

They added that the Israeli activity may have broken Dutch law as well as contravened the Rome Statute and that a case against senior intelligence officers should be brought. A number of Dutch MPs have also called for an inquiry into the allegations.

A spokesperson for the Dutch prosecution service said: “The complaint has been received … and will be studied.”

A spokesperson for the Dutch Ministry of Foreign Affairs said the government of the Netherlands has “continuous and good contact with the ICC.” 

They added: “Let one thing be clear: The Netherlands is doing its utmost to allow the ICC to do its work safely, undisturbed and independently.”

The ICC has been investigating allegations of Israeli crimes in the occupied Palestinian territories in 2015. In May this year, its Chief Prosecutor Karim Khan applied for warrants to arrest senior Hamas figures Yahya Sinwar and Ismail Haniyeh, and Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu and Foreign Minister Yoav Gallant, for alleged war crimes and crimes against humanity.

The warrants have yet to be approved. Haniyeh was assassinated in Iran in July.

A spokesperson for the ICC prosecutor’s office said: “The office remains deeply concerned by the ongoing attempts to improperly influence its activities through threats and intimidation of its officials.”

The Israeli Embassy in the Netherlands did not respond to a request for comment.

Topics: War on Gaza Israeli Dutch

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Biggest Kashmir party opposed to India’s stripping of region’s autonomy wins most seats in election

Biggest Kashmir party opposed to India’s stripping of region’s autonomy wins most seats in election
Updated 10 sec ago
AP
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Biggest Kashmir party opposed to India’s stripping of region’s autonomy wins most seats in election

Biggest Kashmir party opposed to India’s stripping of region’s autonomy wins most seats in election
  • National Conference won 41 seats and was leading in one constituency, mainly from the Kashmir Valley, the heartland of anti-India rebellion
  • Indian Prime Minister Narendra Modi’s Bharatiya Janata Party secured 29 seats, all from the Hindu-dominated areas of Jammu, the data showed
Updated 10 sec ago
AP

SRINAGAR: Kashmir’s biggest political party on Tuesday won most seats in the local election for a largely powerless local government in Indian-controlled Kashmir, official data showed, in a vote seen as a referendum against the 2019 move by Indian Prime Minister Narendra Modi’s government that stripped the disputed region of its special status.
National Conference, or NC, won 41 seats and was leading in one constituency, mainly from the Kashmir Valley, the heartland of the anti-India rebellion, the data showed. Modi’s Bharatiya Janata Party secured 29 seats, all from the Hindu-dominated areas of Jammu.
India’s main opposition Congress party, which fought the election in alliance with the NC, succeeded in six constituencies.
“People have supported us more than our expectations. Now our efforts will be to prove that we are worth these votes,” Omar Abdullah, the NC leader and the region’s former chief minister, told reporters in the main city of Srinagar.
His father and president of the party, Farooq Abdullah, said that the mandate was to run the region without “police raj (rule)” and try freeing people from jails. “Media will be free,” he said.
Hundreds of the NC workers gathered outside counting centers and at the homes of the winning candidates to celebrate the party’s victory.
It was the first such vote in a decade and the first since Modi’s Hindu nationalist government scrapped the Muslim-majority region’s long-held semi-autonomy in 2019.
The unprecedented move downgraded and divided the former state into two centrally governed union territories, Ladakh and Jammu-Kashmir. Both are ruled directly by New Delhi through its appointed administrators along with unelected bureaucrats and security setup. The move — which largely resonated in India and among Modi supporters — was mostly opposed in Kashmir as an assault on its identity and autonomy amid fears that it would pave the way for demographic changes in the region.
The region has since been on edge with civil liberties curbed and media gagged.
India and Pakistan each administer a part of Kashmir, but both claim the territory in its entirety. The nuclear-armed rivals have fought two of their three wars over the territory since they gained independence from British colonial rule in 1947.
Authorities tallied votes as thousands of additional police and paramilitary soldiers patrolled roads and guarded 28 counting centers. Nearly 8.9 million people were eligible to vote in the election, which began on Sept. 18 and concluded on Oct. 1. The overall turnout was 64 percent across the three phases, according to official data.
In the region’s legislature, five seats are appointed and 90 elected, so a party or coalition would need at least 48 of the 95 total seats to form a government. The alliance of the National Conference and the Congress have 48 seats combined.
Authorities have said the election will bring democracy to the region after decades of strife, but many locals viewed the vote as an opportunity not only to elect their own representatives but also to register their protest against the 2019 changes.
Except for the BJP, most parties who contested the election campaigned on promises to reverse the 2019 changes and address key issues like rising unemployment and inflation. The Congress party favored restoring the region’s statehood. The BJP has also stated that it will restore statehood, but has not told when it would do.
The BJP has vowed to block any move aimed at undoing most of the 2019 changes but promised to help in the region’s economic development.
Meanwhile, Modi’s BJP appears to be heading for a victory in the northern state of Haryana, bordering New Delhi, which it has ruled for 10 years, leading in 50 constituencies and the Congress in 35 out of 90.
The BJP has so far won 18 seats and is leading in 32 constituencies while the Congress has won 15 seats and is leading in 20, according to the Election Commission of India.
A victory would give the BJP a record third five-year term in the state.
The voting trend in Haryana state is a surprise since most exit polls had predicted an easy victory for the Congress party.
The vote will allow Kashmir to have its own truncated government and a regional legislature, called an assembly, rather than being directly under New Delhi’s rule.
However, there will be a limited transition of power from New Delhi to the assembly as Kashmir will remain a “union territory” — directly controlled by the federal government — with India’s Parliament as its main legislator. Kashmir’s statehood must be restored for the new government to have powers similar to other states of India.
The region’s last assembly election was held in 2014, after which the BJP for the first time ruled in a coalition with the local Peoples Democratic Party. But the government collapsed in 2018, after the BJP withdrew from the coalition.
Polls in the past have been marked with violence, boycotts and vote-rigging, even though India called them a victory over separatism.
Militants in the Indian-controlled portion of Kashmir have been fighting New Delhi’s rule since 1989. Many Muslim Kashmiris support the rebels’ goal of uniting the territory, either under Pakistani rule or as an independent country.
India insists the Kashmir militancy is Pakistan-sponsored terrorism. Pakistan denies the charge, and many Kashmiris consider it a legitimate freedom struggle. Tens of thousands of civilians, rebels and government forces have been killed in the conflict.

Topics: Kashmir elections

UAE’s largest sovereign wealth fund starts operations in India

UAE’s largest sovereign wealth fund starts operations in India
Updated 8 min 44 sec ago
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UAE’s largest sovereign wealth fund starts operations in India

UAE’s largest sovereign wealth fund starts operations in India
  • Abu Dhabi Investment Authority is one of the world’s largest sovereign wealth funds
  • Indian government expects its Gujarat International Finance Tec-City operations to drive more UAE investment
Updated 8 min 44 sec ago
Sanjay Kumar

NEW DELHI: The UAE’s largest sovereign wealth fund has started its operations in India, in a move expected to increase investment activity in the region.

Established in 1976, Abu Dhabi Investment Authority is one of the largest sovereign wealth funds in the world that invests funds on behalf of the government of Abu Dhabi.

The start of its operations at the GIFT City (Gujarat International Finance Tec-City) was announced at a meeting of the India-UAE High Level Joint Task Force on Investments in Mumbai on Monday, which was co-chaired by Indian Commerce Minister Piyush Goyal and Sheikh Hamed bin Zayed Al-Nahyan, managing director of ADIA.

“The office is expected to drive further intensification of ADIA’s investment activities in India,” the Ministry of Commerce and Industry said in a statement.

“ADIA’s presence in the GIFT City underlines the strong interest from UAE’s institutional investors in India’s growing and dynamic economy. It also buttresses GIFT City’s reputation as a world-class financial services center, operating under a robust regulatory and legal framework.”

A flagship project in Prime Minister Narendra Modi’s home state, the GIFT City has been promoted by the Indian government as a “robust gateway for global capital and financial services” for the Indian economy.

Companies operating in GIFT City enjoy a complete tax exemption on business profits for any 10 consecutive years within a 15-year period, and no taxes on the transfer of funds from overseas jurisdictions.

“India is one of the world’s fastest-growing economies and has been a key focus for ADIA’s investment activities for a number of years. We have built an extensive portfolio that spans asset classes, and we remain confident in India’s long-term growth prospects,” Sheikh Hamed said, as quoted by the Emirati state news agency WAM.

“Establishing ADIA’s subsidiary at GIFT City underlines our belief in the opportunities presented by India’s continued growth. GIFT City is creating a dynamic, world-class financial services ecosystem, operating under a strong regulator and a robust legal framework.”

The establishment of ADIA’s presence in the Gujarat hub was announced during Modi’s state visit to Abu Dhabi in July 2023.

The UAE is the largest Middle Eastern investor in India, with investments amounting to around $3 billion in the financial year 2023-24, according to Indian government data.

Topics: sovereign wealth fund UAE India Abu Dhabi Investment Authority

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Record $73m bribe lands former investigator in Russian jail

Record $73m bribe lands former investigator in Russian jail
Updated 23 min 22 sec ago
Reuters
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Record $73m bribe lands former investigator in Russian jail

Record $73m bribe lands former investigator in Russian jail
  • Marat Tambiyev was found guilty of accepting the bribes, mainly in bitcoin, from members of an organized crime group
Updated 23 min 22 sec ago
Reuters

MOSCOW: A former Russian state investigator was jailed for 16 years on Tuesday for taking bribes equivalent to around $73 million, the largest in the history of modern Russia, state news agency TASS said.
Marat Tambiyev was found guilty of accepting the bribes, mainly in bitcoin, from members of an organized crime group. He had protested his innocence.
Kristina Lyakhovenko, a lower-ranked colleague of Tambiyev, was jailed for nine years. Lawyers for both of them said they would appeal.
Russia is currently pursuing a spate of high-profile bribery investigations, many involving senior figures in the military.

Topics: Russia bitcoin bribery

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Europe court condemns Cyprus over return of Syrian refugees to Lebanon

Europe court condemns Cyprus over return of Syrian refugees to Lebanon
Updated 18 min 43 sec ago
AFP
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Europe court condemns Cyprus over return of Syrian refugees to Lebanon

Europe court condemns Cyprus over return of Syrian refugees to Lebanon
  • In a damning verdict, the ECHR said that Cyprus had committed four violations of the European Convention on Human Rights, which the Strasbourg-based court enforces, by returning the two refugees to Lebanon
Updated 18 min 43 sec ago
AFP

STRASBOURG: The European Court of Human Rights (ECHR) on Tuesday condemned Cyprus for returning to Lebanon two Syrian refugees who had arrived on a small boat, without examining their asylum claim.
In a damning verdict, the ECHR said that Cyprus had committed four violations of the European Convention on Human Rights, which the Strasbourg-based court enforces, by returning the two refugees to Lebanon.
The pair fled the Syrian city of Idlib and the civil war in their home country in 2016, staying in refugee camps in Lebanon. In 2020 they paid a smuggler to take them across the Mediterranean to Cyprus along with over two dozen other migrants, the ECHR said.
The boat was intercepted by the Cypriot maritime authorities who said they had entered Cypriot territorial waters without permission and swiftly returned then to Lebanon where they still remain.
Cypriot authorities had essentially returned the pair to Lebanon “without processing their asylum claims and without all the steps required under the refugee law,” said the verdict.
Cyprus failed to conduct “any assessment of the risk of lack of access to an effective asylum process in Lebanon or the living conditions of asylum-seekers there,” it added.
Nicosia had also not assessed the risk of “refoulement” — the forcible return of refugees to a country such as Syria where they might be subjected to persecution, it added.
The Court said the two plaintiffs, named as M.A. and Z.R. said they had been “tricked” into thinking that they would be led ashore on arrival in Cyprus and were instead forced to board another boat that took them back to Lebanon.
The Court ordered Cyprus to pay 22,000 euros in damages to each applicant and 4,700 euros jointly for costs and expenses.
The ECHR is part of the 46-member Council of Europe, the continent’s top rights body and an entirely separate entity from the European Union.

Water gushes through palm trees and sand dunes after rare rain in the Sahara Desert

Water gushes through palm trees and sand dunes after rare rain in the Sahara Desert
Updated 08 October 2024
AP
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Water gushes through palm trees and sand dunes after rare rain in the Sahara Desert

Water gushes through palm trees and sand dunes after rare rain in the Sahara Desert
  • Southeastern Morocco’s desert is among the most arid places in the world and rarely experiences rain in late summer
Updated 08 October 2024
AP
RABAT: A rare deluge of rainfall left blue lagoons of water amid the palm trees and sand dunes of the Sahara desert, nourishing some of its most drought-stricken regions with more water than many had seen in decades.
Southeastern Morocco’s desert is among the most arid places in the world and rarely experiences rain in late summer.
The Moroccan government said two days of rainfall in September had exceeded yearly averages in several areas that get an average of less than 250 millimeters (10 inches) annually, including Tata, one of the areas hit hardest. In Tagounite, a village about 450 km (280 miles) south of the capital Rabat, more than 100 mm (3.9 inches) was recorded in a 24-hour period.
The storms provided more rainfall than had been seen in decades, leaving striking images of bountiful water gushing through the Saharan sands amid castles and desert flora.
In desert communities frequented by the many tourists who visit the Sahara, 4x4s motored through the puddles and residents surveyed the scene in awe.
“It’s been 30 to 50 years since we’ve had this much rain in such a short space of time,” said Houssine Youabeb of Morocco’s General Directorate of Meteorology.
Such rains, which meteorologists are calling an extratropical storm, may indeed change the course of the region’s weather in months and years to come as the air retains more moisture, causing more evaporation and drawing more storms, Youabeb said.
Six consecutive years of drought have posed challenges for much of Morocco, forcing farmers to leave fields fallow and cities and villages to ration water consumption.
The bounty of rainfall will likely help refill the large groundwater aquifers that lie beneath the desert and are relied upon to supply water in desert communities. The region’s dammed reservoirs reported refilling at record rates throughout September. However, it’s unclear how far September’s rains will go toward alleviating drought.
Yet water gushing through the sands and oases left more than 20 dead in Morocco and Algeria and damaged the farmers’ harvests, forcing the government to allocate emergency relief funds, including in some areas affected by last year’s earthquake.
NASA satellites showed water rushing in to fill Lake Iriqui, a famous lakebed between Zagora and Tata that had been dry for 50 years.

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Record $73m bribe lands former investigator in Russian jail

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