UK signs deals with Iraq aimed at curbing irregular immigration/node/2581102/middle-east
UK signs deals with Iraq aimed at curbing irregular immigration
Britain’s Home Secretary Yvette Cooper and Iraq’s Minister of Interior Abdul Amir Al-Shimmari, front right, shake hands after signing a joint statement on border security following a meeting at the Ministry of Interior of Iraq in Baghdad, Iraq, Nov. 26, 2024. (AP)
UK signs deals with Iraq aimed at curbing irregular immigration
“Organized criminals operate across borders, so law enforcement needs to operate across borders too,” Cooper said
Pacts include a joint UK-Iraq “statement on border security” committing both countries to work more closely in tackling people smuggling and border security
Updated 28 November 2024
AFP
LONDON: The UK government said Thursday it had struck a “world-first security agreement” and other cooperation deals with Iraq to target people-smuggling gangs and strengthen its border security.
Interior minister Yvette Cooper said the pacts sent “a clear signal to the criminal smuggling gangs that we are determined to work across the globe to go after them.”
They follow a visit this week by Cooper to Iraq and its autonomous Kurdistan region, when she met federal and regional government officials.
“Organized criminals operate across borders, so law enforcement needs to operate across borders too,” she said in a statement.
Cooper noted people-smuggling gangs’ operations “stretch back through Northern France, Germany, across Europe, to the Kurdistan Region of Iraq and beyond.”
“The increasingly global nature of organized immigration crime means that even countries that are thousands of miles apart must work more closely together,” she added.
The pacts include a joint UK-Iraq “statement on border security” committing both countries to work more closely in tackling people smuggling and border security.
The two countries signed another statement on migration to speed up the returns of people who have no right to be in the UK and help reintegration programs to support returnees.
As part of the agreements, London will also provide up to £300,000 ($380,000) for Iraqi law enforcement training in border security.
It will be focused on countering organized immigration crime and narcotics, and increasing the capacity and capability of Iraq’s border enforcement.
The UK has pledged another £200,000 to support projects in the Kurdistan region, “which will enhance capabilities concerning irregular migration and border security, including a new taskforce.”
Other measures within the agreements include a communications campaign “to counter the misinformation and myths that people-smugglers post online.”
Cooper’s interior ministry said collectively they were “the biggest operational package to tackle serious organized crime and people smuggling between the two countries ever.”
Residents of south Syria fear Israeli escalation after strikes
Updated 12 sec ago
AFP
KISWEH, Syria: In the Syrian region of Kisweh, southwest of Damascus, residents jolted awake by Israeli strikes voiced their fears Wednesday of a fresh escalation after similar attacks had appeared to taper off in recent weeks.
Israel said it had targeted military sites containing weapons in the Tuesday night raids, which came just days after Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu demanded the demilitarization of Syria’s south.
The Syrian Observatory for Human Rights said at least two people were killed at the headquarters of a military unit in Kisweh, while other raids struck military sites in Daraa province to the south.
“We heard successive strikes followed by explosions. The sky lit up, then we saw tongues of flame rising,” said Ahmed Mohammed, who works at a service station near the military site in Kisweh.
“We fear the resumption of Israeli strikes and an Israeli incursion.”
Members of the new Syrian government’s armed forces occupied the site, located in a large field.
Aerial photos taken by AFP showed 20 tanks at the site, three of them blackened by flames.
The owner of a nearby car dealership, who gave his name as Rayan, said most of the tanks had been moved there after they were abandoned by the former Syrian armed forces around the time of the fall of president Bashar Assad.
“When the missiles fell, the houses and windows shook,” he said, adding that a drone had been filming in the area about an hour beforehand.
After the strikes, the Israeli military said that military assets in southern Syria “pose a threat to the citizens of Israel,” adding it would “continue to operate in order to remove” such threats.
The nighttime raids came hours after demonstrations in several Syrian cities in response to Netanyahu’s call on Sunday for the “complete demilitarization” of the country’s south.
Following the toppling of Assad in December, Israel carried out a wave of hundreds of strikes against positions formerly held by his military, while also sending troops into a UN-patrolled buffer zone that has separated Israeli and Syrian forces on the strategic Golan Heights since 1974.
“While the strikes were previously focused on border crossings and abandoned weapons warehouses, they are now directly targeting vital military sites and strategic hills,” Observatory head Rami Abdel Rahman told AFP.
Netanyahu, he added, was starting “to put his threats into action.”
Syria’s new authorities have condemned Israel’s strikes in their territory, but the country’s interim President Ahmed Al-Sharaa has also said it is too exhausted by years of civil war to undertake any new conflicts.
At Security Council, concerns over ‘fragmentation’ of Sudan
The war has triggered the world’s largest displacement and hunger crisis
Updated 7 min 46 sec ago
AFP
UNITED NATIONS, United States: Several members of the UN Security Council on Wednesday voiced concern over the declaration of a parallel government by Sudan’s paramilitary Rapid Support Forces, while Kenya pushed back against accusations that it had recognized the entity.
RSF rebels and their allies fighting government forces on Sunday agreed to form a rival government, triggering diplomatic tensions between Sudan and Kenya.
The parties to the agreement, inked behind closed doors in Nairobi, said the charter establishes a “government of peace and unity” in rebel-controlled areas of the northeast African country.
“Attempts by the RSF and aligned actors to establish a government in RSF-controlled territory in Sudan are unhelpful for the cause of peace and security in Sudan, and risks a de facto partition of the country,” US Representative John Kelley told a Security Council meeting.
British Ambassador Barbara Woodward also expressed “deep concern” over the development.
“Respect for Sudan’s charter rights, its unity, sovereignty and territorial integrity is vital and will be necessary for a sustainable end to this war,” she said.
Envoys from France and China echoed that view, with Chinese Ambassador Fu Cong saying the move “risks increasing the fragmentation of the Sudan.”
Deputy Algerian Ambassador Toufik Laid Koudri, speaking on behalf of the Council’s three African members Algeria, Somalia, Sierra Leone as well as Guyana, urged “the RSF and their allies to put the unity and national interest of Sudan above all other considerations.”
Sudanese Ambassador to the UN Al-Harith Idriss Al-Harith Mohamed denounced the move as “an unprecedented violation of the UN Charter and the AU constitution,” and accused Kenya of taking “a step that aims to dismantle the Sudan.”
His Kenyan counterpart Erastus Lokaale denied the claim.
“I reiterate that neither President William Ruto nor the Government of Kenya has recognized any independent entities in the Sudan or elsewhere,” he said.
The war in Sudan, which has claimed tens of thousands of lives, erupted after a rift emerged between Burhan and Dagalo over the future structure of the government.
The war has triggered the world’s largest displacement and hunger crisis.
Both warring sides face accusations of committing grave atrocities against civilians, with their leaders sanctioned by the US.
Is Hezbollah sincere in ceding ‘resistance’ to Lebanon’s government?
Hezbollah remains Lebanon’s dominant armed force, raising questions about whether the government can reclaim full control
The group has professed confidence in the new administration, but many doubt it will coordinate with the army to implement ceasefire deal
Updated 21 min 14 sec ago
Nadia Alfaour
DUBAI: Thousands gathered in Beirut on Sunday to mourn Hezbollah’s founding leader, Hassan Nasrallah, as his body was finally laid to rest nearly five months after his killing. The elaborate funeral, held under the watchful eye of Israeli fighter jets overhead, served as a stark reminder of the Iran-backed group’s ongoing conflict with Israel.
Israeli Defense Minister Israel Katz made it clear that figures like Nasrallah would continue to meet their demise, stating: “You will specialize in funerals, and we will in victories.”
Last November, Hezbollah’s new leader, Sheikh Naim Qassem, pledged to coordinate closely with the Lebanese army to implement a ceasefire deal between the governments of Lebanon and Israel. “There will be high-level coordination between the Resistance (Hezbollah) and the Lebanese army to implement the commitments of the deal,” he said in an address to supporters.
But as the dust settles from Nasrallah’s funeral, a critical question emerges: Is Hezbollah truly committed to ceding control of “resistance” to the Lebanese state, as many assumed?
Long the dominant force in Lebanon, Hezbollah suffered heavy losses during its 14-month conflict with Israel from Oct. 8, 2023, the day after a Hamas-led attack by Palestinian militants on Israel. Nasrallah was killed on Sept. 27, 2024, when Israeli forces bombed a building in southern Beirut where he was meeting with Hezbollah commanders.
But as the dust settles from Nasrallah’s funeral, a critical question emerges: Is Hezbollah truly committed to ceding control of “resistance” to the Lebanese state, as many assumed? (AFP)
What made matters worse was the fall in December of ally Bashar Assad in Syria, a reliable conduit for Middle East militant groups for weapons from Iran.
It is undeniable that Hezbollah is facing mounting challenges. A recent Wall Street Journal report cited an anonymous source close to Hezbollah as saying that fighters not originally from the south had been told to vacate their positions and that the Lebanese Armed Forces would be allowed to take control of the area as per the terms of the ceasefire.
The source also said the war had emptied Hezbollah’s coffers, making it impossible for it to fulfill its financial obligations to the families of slain soldiers, and supporters who lost their businesses and homes during the war.
The WSJ report also quoted residents as saying that Al-Qard Al-Hassan, Hezbollah’s primary financial institution, had “frozen payments for compensation checks that had already been issued.”
At the same time, Israel has extended its presence in five strategic positions on the Lebanese side of the Blue Line, citing security concerns. Nadav Shoshani, an Israeli military spokesperson, described it as a “temporary measure” to protect displaced northern Israeli communities.
Lebanese officials, however, view it as an “occupation” and are engaged in diplomatic efforts with Washington and Paris to secure a full Israeli withdrawal.
Nasrallah’s successor Sheikh Naim Qassem told supporters his group’s resistance will continue. (AFP)
In his televised address to mourners on Sunday, Qassem vowed to continue in his predecessor’s footsteps, asserting that “the resistance is not over.” He accused the Lebanese government of bowing to American pressure, particularly in preventing two Iranian planes from landing at Beirut’s Rafic Hariri International Airport.
That decision, reportedly influenced by US warnings of an imminent Israeli strike, sparked protests, with Hezbollah supporters storming the streets and attacking a UN convoy, injuring two peacekeepers.
The attack on UNIFIL peacekeepers prompted swift condemnation. President Joseph Aoun called it a “flagrant violation of international law” and vowed that security forces would act against those destabilizing the country. Meanwhile, Hezbollah dismissed the government’s actions as merely following “an Israeli order.”
Lebanon’s new government finds itself in a precarious position, balancing the need for international credibility with the reality of Hezbollah’s entrenched power.
On Tuesday, Lebanon’s parliament began a two-day debate on the government’s ministerial statement, which sets out the objectives of the new administration.
Israel has extended its presence in five strategic positions on the Lebanese side of the Blue Line. (AFP)
Opening the debate, Prime Minister Nawaf Salam reiterated the state’s monopoly on the use of force, emphasizing the need to enforce UN Resolution 1701, which calls for Hezbollah’s disarmament south of the Litani River, and to his commitment to Lebanon’s sovereignty and territorial integrity.
Deputy Speaker Elias Bou Saab, meanwhile, called for national unity, warning that “if the state fails to act, alternative forces will take over.”
In a sign that Hezbollah is perhaps willing to work with the new administration for the collective good of Lebanon, Mohammad Raad, head of the group’s parliamentary bloc, issued a statement on Tuesday in support of Salam’s government.
“We give our confidence to the government,” said Raad, expressing hope the new administration would “succeed in opening the doors to real rescue for the country.”
“We are keen on cooperating to the greatest extent to preserve national sovereignty and its stability and achieve reforms and take the state forward,” he added.
FASTFACTS
• Hassan Nasrallah, who helped found Hezbollah in 1982, following Israel’s invasion of Lebanon, was killed on Sept. 27 last year.
• Nasrallah’s funeral was held on Sunday at the 48,000-seat Camille Chamoun Sports City Stadium located in southern Beirut.
• The funeral also honored Hashem Safieddine, who led Hezbollah for just a week after Nasrallah’s death before he was killed by Israel.
While Prime Minister Salam has reaffirmed Lebanon’s commitment to UN Resolution 1701, there is little indication that the state can enforce this mandate without Hezbollah’s consent.
“The current government has a limited life and has several priorities; implementing the ceasefire agreement is at the top of them,” Nadim Shehadi, an economist and political adviser, told Arab News.
“How quick this will be is as much a logistical as it is a political question. It is wrong to assume that the Lebanese army can disarm Hezbollah without its political consent. There are competing interpretations of the ceasefire agreement.”
Shehadi added: “Nasrallah’s funeral on Sunday was significant. It was a political show of force accompanied by a defiantly uncompromising speech by Qassem.”
Sheikh Naim Qassem, pledged to coordinate closely with the Lebanese army. (AFP)
The US has made clear its stance on Hezbollah’s disarmament, tying Lebanon’s financial aid to progress on this front. The Trump administration recently froze all foreign aid through the State Department and USAID, citing misalignment with US interests.
In 2024, Lebanon received $219 million from USAID and an additional $17 million from the State Department. President Donald Trump’s decision to suspend aid was seen by many as a means to pressure Lebanon into fully implementing Resolution 1701 and preventing Hezbollah’s rearmament.
“American aid cuts are less chaotic than expected and are in fact linked to performance. The devil is everywhere, including the details,” Shehadi said. “Given the amount of bureaucracy involved and the immensity of cuts that the administration is carrying out across the board, one worries more about the implementation than about the principle.”
Hezbollah’s massive turnout for Nasrallah’s funeral underscored its continued influence. “Our struggle in support of Gaza is part of our faith in the liberation of Palestine,” Qassem, the new Hezbollah chief, told the mourners.
“We confront the Zionist regime and its supporter, the great tyrant, the US, which is conspiring against Gaza, Palestine, Lebanon, Iraq, and Iran.”
By contrast, President Aoun told a visiting Iranian delegation that was in Beirut for the funeral that Lebanon was “tired” of external conflicts playing out on its territory. “Lebanon has grown tired of the wars of others on its land,” he said, according to an official statement.
“Countries should not interfere in the internal affairs of other countries.”
In a recent op-ed for Arab News, Dania Koleilat Khatib, a specialist in US-Arab relations, said: “The US should be wise enough to realize that the continued presence of Israeli forces in Lebanon and their operations aimed at eliminating Hezbollah members will only strengthen the group in the long run.
Hezbollah’s massive turnout for Nasrallah’s funeral underscored its continued influence. (AFP)
“For stability, Israel must withdraw, and the Lebanese state must be strengthened. If this happens, Hezbollah will eventually be decommissioned as an armed movement.”
Despite Hezbollah’s assurances that it would coordinate closely with the Lebanese government to implement the ceasefire, its words and actions tell a different story.
Even now, it remains Lebanon’s most powerful armed entity, seen by its critics as undermining the state’s sovereignty while blaming external actors for its challenges.
The group’s financial troubles may weaken it in the long term, but for now its grip on Lebanon’s security landscape appears as firm as ever.
Whether the Lebanese government can assert full control over national defense — or whether Hezbollah will remain a state within a state — remains an open and pressing question.
Morocco announces $2.9 billion deal for French, Spanish and South Korean trains
They include 18 high-speed trains from Alstom
The ONCF said the purchases aimed to contribute to “the successful joint organization of the 2030 FIFA World Cup“
Updated 54 min 23 sec ago
AFP
RABAT: Morocco announced on Wednesday it would buy up to 168 trains from Spain’s CAF, South Korea’s Hyundai and France’s Alstom for $2.9 billion as part of preparations for the 2030 FIFA World Cup it is co-hosting with Spain and Portugal.
The National Railway Office (ONCF) said in a statement that it had awarded the contracts for the “new train acquisition program, with a total cost of 29 billion dirhams, as part of the development plan for 2030.”
They include 18 high-speed trains from Alstom, sealing a deal first mentioned during French President Emmanuel Macron’s visit to Rabat in October.
Morocco already has one 350-kilometer (220-mile) high-speed railway line between the coastal cities of Tangier and Casablanca, and is planning a second that will extend 400 kilometers (250 miles) from Kenitra on the coast to Marrakech in the interior.
The first line, built by Alstom, has been in operation since 2018.
The contract with Spain’s CAF is for 30 intercity trains with an option for a further 10, while the deal with Hyundai Rotem is for 110 commuter trains.
The ONCF said the purchases aimed to contribute to “the successful joint organization of the 2030 FIFA World Cup.”
It said it also aimed to develop the domestic railway industry, with a local factory for commuter trains and “the ambition to export trains in the medium and long term.”
Gaza reconstruction needs political clarity, stability, UAE’s Gargash says
Gaza does need a reconstruction plan, a massive one, but that reconstruction plan cannot really take place without a clear path to a two-state solution
Updated 26 February 2025
Reuters
ABU DHBAI: Anwar Gargash, the diplomatic adviser to UAE’s president, said on Wednesday a Gaza reconstruction plan cannot happen without a clear path to a two-state solution for Israel and the Palestinians.
Investment in the project would need political stability, he added in remarks to the Investopia 2025 conference in Abu Dhabi.
“Gaza does need a reconstruction plan, a massive one, but that reconstruction plan cannot really take place without a clear path to a two-state solution. So, clearly here, you need political stability of a roadmap in order for these big investments to come to place,” Gargash said.
Arab states are weighing a post-war plan for Gaza to counter US President Donald Trump’s proposal to redevelop the strip under US control and displace Palestinians, a prospect that has angered regional leaders. The mainly Egyptian proposal may include up to $20 billion in funding over three years from the region, sources familiar with the discussions have said.
Egypt and Jordan held discussions with Gulf states in Riyadh last week to discuss the proposal ahead of an emergency summit to be held in Egypt on March 4 to discuss Gaza reconstruction.
Gargash added: “You know, you can’t just go and sort of invest billions without that political clarity and come back to see yet another conflict. I think that position is very clear.”
When asked if Trump’s proposal for Gaza was intentionally provocative to force Arab states to come up with a plan, Gargash said: “President Trump is a disruptor in many areas and the Arab, let’s say state system, was up to the challenge in my opinion. And I think it allowed the Arab state system to step up.”
