Latest news with #alQaeda
Time of India
19 hours ago
- Politics
- Time of India
US urges UN Security Council to adjust sanctions on Syria
The United States urged the United Nations Security Council on Monday to adjust its sanctions on Syria to help the country's government prevail in what the acting U.S. ambassador described as "the fight against terrorism." After 13 years of civil war, Syria's President Bashar al-Assad was ousted in December in a lightning offensive by insurgent forces led by the Islamist Hayat Tahrir al-Sham (HTS). Formerly known as the Nusra Front, HTS was al Qaeda's official wing in Syria until breaking ties in 2016. Since May 2014, the group has been on the United Nations Security Council's al Qaeda and Islamic State sanctions list and subjected to a global asset freeze and arms embargo. Show more Show less
Asharq Al-Awsat
2 days ago
- Politics
- Asharq Al-Awsat
Al-Qirbi to Asharq Al-Awsat: Saddam Told Me Iraq Fight Was for Arab Dignity
When al-Qaeda's planes tore through New York's skyline on September 11, 2001, Yemen's then-Foreign Minister Abubakr al-Qirbi cut short a visit to Berlin and rushed back to Sana'a, confronting a moment that would reshape global politics and Yemen's foreign policy for years to come. The attacks – among their many repercussions – pushed Yemeni President Ali Abdullah Saleh to fully align with the United States in its war on terror. One of Saleh's first moves was to seek an urgent meeting with President George W. Bush, hoping to convince the White House that Yemen was not a breeding ground for al-Qaeda. In the first part of an interview with Asharq Al-Awsat, al-Qirbi, who served as Yemen's top diplomat from April 2001 until 2014, recounts his experience navigating regional upheaval, from the USS Cole bombing off Aden in October 2000 to the US-led invasion of Iraq. He also reflects on Saleh's last-ditch attempt to persuade Saddam Hussein to cooperate with the United Nations – a message the Iraqi leader rejected, declaring instead: 'This is a battle for the dignity of the nation, and we will pay the price.' Below are excerpts from the interview: Q: Your first major test as foreign minister was the September 11 attacks. Where were you when they happened, and how did you react? A: I was on an official visit to Berlin, having lunch with the German foreign minister at the time. We were preparing for a river cruise and a reception with German officials and Arab diplomats when we were stunned by the news. We gathered around the television and immediately cancelled the event. Q: How did President Saleh respond to the 9/11 attacks? A: I wasn't in Yemen at the time, so I can't speak to his immediate reaction. But it was deeply concerning for all of us, especially coming so soon after the USS Cole bombing. That incident had already cast Yemen as a hub for al-Qaeda and terrorism. We knew the attacks in New York would only intensify that perception. Q: When you returned from Berlin and met President Saleh, was the potential fallout from 9/11 your main concern? A: Absolutely. We were not only concerned about Yemen but also the wider region. Our priority was to shield Yemen from the consequences. That's why our first step was to arrange a swift visit for President Saleh to Washington. He was among the first Arab leaders to arrive there after the attacks, meeting President Bush in November of that year. Saleh's Confrontation with Bush at the White House Q: How would you describe the meeting between President Saleh and President Bush? A: It was, in many ways, a confrontation – but a diplomatic one. Saleh aimed to convince Bush that Yemen was not a terrorist haven and should not be punished for the 9/11 attacks. Q: Did Bush accuse Saleh directly? A: No, he didn't. But he did emphasize the importance of fighting terrorism and acknowledged the presence of extremists in Yemen. In the end, President Saleh defused the situation by pledging Yemen's cooperation with the international community in combating terrorism. That marked the beginning of a new chapter in Yemen-US relations. Q: Did the US make specific demands during President Saleh's visit to Washington in late 2001? A: Not at that time. But eventually, the main concern became how to cooperate in combating al-Qaeda operatives within Yemen. Q: Did Yemen take serious action on that front? A: Absolutely. We launched operations to pursue the group responsible for the USS Cole bombing, and our security services arrested some of them. Investigations began shortly thereafter. The US requested direct participation in those interrogations, but Yemen declined, insisting that the investigations were the government's responsibility. However, we allowed US observers to attend the sessions and submit questions through Yemeni investigators. Q: Did the investigations uncover anything significant about 9/11? A: I can't recall specific details from the security files, but there was definitely intelligence exchanged between the two countries' agencies. From Security Cooperation to Military Invasions Q: Intelligence cooperation between Yemen and the US became more structured. As foreign minister, did you anticipate that the US would launch military campaigns in Afghanistan and then Iraq? A: We knew the US was deeply wounded by 9/11, but I didn't expect it to act so hastily. In my view, the rush into war dragged the US into complications later on. Q: Did President Saleh view the US as both a powerful partner and a potentially dangerous one? A: Definitely. During his visit to the US, Saleh recognized how volatile the American position was for Yemen and the wider region. That was reflected in his positions on many Arab issues—whether the Palestinian cause or later the Iraq war. We were constantly trying to avoid provoking the US Our main concern was to spare Yemen from becoming a target. Saleh's Final Message to Saddam Hussein Q: After the US invaded Afghanistan and toppled the Taliban, did you grow concerned as Washington turned its focus to Iraq? A: The Iraq campaign came later, around 2003, and stemmed from different motives. It wasn't directly linked to Afghanistan. The US seemed determined to expand its influence in the region—politically, strategically, and economically. After 2001, there was a clear shift toward targeting Arab regimes, including through initiatives like the 'Greater Middle East Project' and what former Secretary of State Condoleezza Rice called 'creative chaos.' That deeply unsettled many Arab governments. In the Arab League, we foreign ministers discussed how to send clear messages to Washington—that Arab states were not sponsors of terrorism and that we supported political and economic reform. Q: As the US prepared to invade Iraq, how did President Saleh and the Yemeni government respond? A: Our role was first through the Arab League. We wanted a unified Arab position to confront the looming US aggression, but unfortunately, the region was divided. The second step was to try to convince Saddam Hussein to avoid war. I was the last Arab official to visit Iraq carrying a personal message from President Saleh to Saddam—this was about six to eight weeks before the invasion. Q: Was that message directly from President Saleh? A: Yes, it was. Q: And you personally handed it to Saddam Hussein? A: Yes, I delivered it to him in person. The message urged Saddam to preserve Iraq and its achievements and avoid dragging the country into a destructive war. Saddam, however, refused. He thanked President Saleh for his concern and support. But he said: 'This is a battle for the dignity of the Arab nation. We must pay the price to defend it.' Saddam's only request was that Saleh protect Yemen's national unity. Saleh's Plea Rejected Q: What exactly did Saleh's message to Saddam Hussein contain? A: It urged him to comply with United Nations demands—demands largely driven by the United States at that point. Q: Did Saddam show any willingness to compromise? A: No. He saw meeting American demands as a humiliation to the Arab nation. Q: As a foreign minister hearing that this was about Arab dignity, did you feel Iraq was in danger? A: Absolutely. After I delivered the message in an official capacity, I asked to speak to him as an Arab citizen speaking to an Arab leader. I told him: yes, this may be a battle for dignity, but it also requires wisdom. Iraq had built institutions, achieved development, and possessed military capabilities—those gains could be lost. I warned that the war wouldn't end with an invasion and that all Arabs might pay the price. Saddam replied: 'We in Iraq will bear that responsibility.' Q: Did you meet with any Iraqi officials on that trip? A: No, only President Saddam Hussein. Q: When you relayed his response to President Saleh, how did he react? A: He was pained by it. He sensed Iraq was heading toward war and feared the consequences. Q: What is it like for an Arab foreign minister to sit face-to-face with Saddam Hussein? A: You're sitting with a leader who achieved much for his country. But in the Arab world, decisions of war and peace are often made by one man. That's a core problem in our region—decisions are taken unilaterally, without consultation with military, security, or political institutions. Q: Did you have the same feeling about Saddam's 1990 invasion of Kuwait? A: Certainly. Much of what we suffer from today stems from that same tragedy: the concentration of power. Q: Do Arab leaders feel they are entrusted with historic missions? Was Saleh also a unilateral decision-maker? A: Sometimes, yes. But Saleh evolved. After years of war and political conflict, he initiated a national dialogue to bring political forces together. Still, some decisions remained personal. Q: Did Saleh ever describe Saddam as stubborn or autocratic? A: He didn't say that explicitly, but I believe he thought Saddam had made a grave mistake. Preparing for the Inevitable Q: As the invasion of Iraq loomed, how did Saleh respond? A: For months, the Arab League debated ways to avert war. Some states tried to contain the conflict, while others, I wouldn't say encouraged it, but refrained from opposing the US. Yemen believed war was inevitable. We viewed it as a disaster and sent several envoys to Iraq before I went personally. Q: After Saddam's regime collapsed, did Saleh fear for his own future? A: No. Q: Yet when Saddam was executed, Saleh was visibly affected. What do you recall of that? A: I remember it well—I was in Amman at the time. His execution on Eid had a strong emotional impact on Saleh. He felt it was vengeful and driven by deep hatred. We had hoped for a fair trial and a more humane process. Q: In an Arab summit, Saleh made a comment: 'Before they shave your head, shave it yourself.' Was that a reference to Saddam's fate? A: Yes, that was his phrasing. He meant: before others impose their will on you, take the initiative and fix things yourself. A Bond Forged in Shared Causes Q: What was behind the strong personal bond between Saleh and Saddam? Was it Yemen's support for Iraq during the Iran-Iraq War? A: That support stemmed from an already close relationship between the two leaders. They shared a pan-Arab stance, a firm position on Israel, and solidarity with the Palestinian cause. Their chemistry was real—and they were very close. Saddam's Support for Yemen? 'I Don't Know' Asked whether Saddam Hussein ever provided concrete support to Yemen, al-Qirbi said he was not aware of such assistance. Yemen, however, joined Egypt, Jordan, and Iraq in the so-called 'Arab Cooperation Council,' a bloc seen by some as an effort to reshape regional balances. 'Unfortunately, the Arab world was facing one crisis after another,' he said. 'Some leaders formed new councils either to escape collective Arab action or to strengthen it. In reality, these councils achieved little on the ground.' A Trusted Ally: Saudi Arabia's King Abdullah Among Arab leaders, Saleh's closest relationship in the 2000s was with Saudi Arabia's then-Crown Prince and later King Abdullah bin Abdulaziz. Their bond deepened after Yemen signed a border agreement with the Kingdom. 'That trust translated into tangible support,' al-Qirbi said. 'With Foreign Minister Saud al-Faisal, we worked to strengthen Yemen's position, alongside Qatari FM Hamad bin Jassim and UAE's Abdullah bin Zayed.' But the relationship began to sour around 2008 during the war with the Houthis. Miscommunication, al-Qirbi suggested, led Saudi Arabia to question Saleh's stance on ending the conflict. Outside the Gulf, Ethiopian Prime Minister Meles Zenawi was another key ally. Both he and Saleh viewed Eritrea's actions—particularly its threats to Yemeni islands and its war with Ethiopia—as destabilizing to the region. Post-Eritrea Tensions, Quiet Mediation Saleh also had cordial ties with Eritrean President Isaias Afwerki until territorial disputes soured the relationship. Yemen later attempted to mediate between Eritrea and Ethiopia, with al-Qirbi visiting both countries several times in an effort to mend relations. Syria, Iraq, and the Perils of Foreign Intervention During his tenure, al-Qirbi said Yemen maintained only limited ties with Hafez al-Assad. But when Syria plunged into conflict years later, Saleh opposed any external military intervention. 'Saleh believed—whether in Iraq or Syria—that foreign intervention ultimately destroys the country,' he said. Saleh and Gaddafi: A Strained Arab Brotherhood The relationship between Saleh and Libya's Muammar Gaddafi was marked by what al-Qirbi called 'political sparring.' 'Gaddafi saw himself as the heir to Nasser's Arab nationalist mantle,' he said. 'Saleh thought he exaggerated his role as a pan-Arab leader.' Q: Did Saleh mock Gaddafi privately? A: No. He didn't mock him but did criticize his frequent calls for Arab unity, especially after so many failed attempts. Q: Why did Gaddafi support the Houthis? A: I don't know his motives. Perhaps to pressure Saleh—or to put pressure on Saudi Arabia. Q: Did Gaddafi send weapons or money to the Houthis? A: I have no information, but he did have contact with them. Putin, China, and Yemen's Future In 2008, al-Qirbi accompanied Saleh on a visit to Russia, where he met President Vladimir Putin amid growing unrest in Yemen. 'The atmosphere was very warm. Putin understood Yemen's political situation,' he said. 'Yemen relied heavily on Russian military equipment, and the two leaders discussed ways to strengthen that cooperation.' Putin invited Saleh to a military parade showcasing advanced weaponry. 'It was clear that Putin saw Saleh as one of the Arab leaders closest to Moscow,' al-Qirbi said, adding that Saleh greatly admired the Russian president. 'He said Putin would restore Russia's global role.' While Saleh held some admiration for Western leaders like France's Valéry Giscard d'Estaing and US President George W. Bush—whom he met multiple times—his primary focus remained the Arab world. China was another rising partner. In one of Saleh's final visits to Beijing, he sought to open Yemen to Chinese investment. The Chinese agreed to lend Yemen $1 billion for development projects as part of their Belt and Road Initiative, but Yemen's parliament ultimately stalled the agreement over repayment terms. Arab Diplomacy Through Al-Qirbi's Eyes Reflecting on fellow Arab diplomats, al-Qirbi spoke warmly of Saudi Arabia's late foreign minister, Prince Saud al-Faisal. 'He was known for his wisdom and patience, even when hearing views he didn't like,' al-Qirbi said. 'He always sought consensus.' Other standout figures included Oman's Yousef bin Alawi, Sudan's Mustafa Osman Ismail—'a leading figure during the Iraq crisis'—and Libya's Ali Treki, a staunch Arab nationalist often at odds with Gaddafi's more erratic stances. Q: Did you know Libya's former foreign minister Abdel Rahman Shalgham? A: Yes. A cultured man. I remember once in Cairo, during a dinner gathering, he played the oud and sang for us. Q: What about Amr Moussa? A: I admired him when he was Egypt's foreign minister—especially his firm stance on the Palestinian cause. That admiration only grew when I worked with him at the Arab League. I consider him among the League's best secretary-generals during my time—not just as foreign minister but as an observer of the League's work. He always held firm to Arab principles. Unfortunately, decisions at the Arab League are shaped by powerful member states and their foreign ministers—not the secretary-general. From Medicine to Diplomacy... and Arabic Poetry A physician by training, al-Qirbi's love for classical Arabic poetry has endured. Q: Who is your favorite poet? A: Al-Mutanabbi. Q: Why him? A: His verses are full of timeless wisdom and values. To me, they are like proverbs for life.
Gulf Insider
4 days ago
- Politics
- Gulf Insider
US Raid Takes Out Senior ISIS Leader In Northern Syria
It's 2025, a 'former' emissary of the Islamic State's top leadership is now president of Syria – who happens to also be the founder of al Qaeda in Syria (al-Nusrah Front, since rebranded the ruling Hayat Tahrir al-Sham/HTS) – and the United States is still claiming that its occupying forces are busy fighting ISIS across various parts of the country. US Central Command (CENTCOM) on Friday says a raid in the Aleppo region took out senior ISIS Leader Dhiya' Zawba Muslih al-Hardani and his two adult ISIS-affiliated sons, Abdallah Dhiya al-Hardani and Abd al-Rahman Dhiya Zawba al-Hardani. It happened in the early morning hours in al-Bab, Aleppo Governate, as the ISIS individuals were described as posing a threat to 'US and Coalition Forces, as well as the new Syrian Government.' The announcement also mentioned the presence of civilians at the location of the raid. The statement indicated that 'Three women and three children were also on the target and were unharmed.' Click here to read more.. .
Business Recorder
6 days ago
- Politics
- Business Recorder
The throne atop a thousand fault lines
Old timers in the Levantine press are not surprised at all that Israel chose this time to strike deep inside Syria. They warned – while the rest of the world was still digesting Assad's sudden exit – that Ahmad al Sharaa and his throat-cutting, suicide-bombing jihadist buddies from al Qaeda and ISIS would waste no time in going after Syria's many minorities. Also that nobody would blink when they massacre Alawis across the Mediterranean coastline around Latakia, the Assad family's home town – indeed there were hundreds of summary executions, also by 'men wearing shalwar qameez', according to surviving witnesses. But Israel would step in when the Druze come under attack because unlike Latakia, their base Sweida hugs the Golan Heights – exactly the area Israel has been looking to envelop and fortify for more than 50 years. Yet they are wondering if Erdogan is surprised. It's out in the open now that he was equal partners with Israel and the US in the project to throw out Assad; Turkey provided the hardware and Israel gave intelligence like only Mossad can, and together with Uncle Sam's blessings they were able to install an uneducated Salafi jihadi extremist, who's openly called for war with west, ethnic cleansing of Muslim minorities, and the imposition of medieval law, as head of one of the most secular countries in the world. It seems the half-century of Assad family rule made the world forget how quickly careers, and often lives, of Syrian sovereigns can come to an end. Hafez al Assad was the longest serving ruler of Syria since the Ummayad caliph Muawiya, after all. And Bashar's time at the top is second only to his. For a throne that has sat upon a thousand fault lines for millennia, such stats matter. Apparently al Sharaa fled to Idlib, where the Turks have built him a fortress, when the Israelis hit the outer wall of the presidential palace, a minute after bombing substantial portions of the main defence ministry building. But what if he had been killed? Or, what if he's assassinated – a likelihood closer to the norm than the exception in thousands of years of Syrian history. Who'd his jihadi deputies call for the line of succession? Ankara, Tel Aviv, or Washington? Deep in Robert Fisk's earliest works you'll find references to 'old man Hafez' predicting that Syria would never fall to an invader, it would implode. And while Hafez was an ice veined master of the merciless, zero-sum politics that alone ensures regime, and self, survival in Damascus, his son Bashar was not cut from the same cloth. So Hafez crushed all rebellion, negotiated with all stakeholders, and positioned Syria as such a critical power broker in the Middle East that US presidents from Richard Nixon to Bill Clinton indulged him. But his son did not have the same instincts and, when push came to shove and outside help was not coming, he could no longer keep a lid on the implosion. In a way the dynasty's fate was sealed when Bashar's elder brother Basil, Hafez's original heir apparent, died in a car crash in 1994. They say when Hafez was told he quietly withdrew from a big meeting room and howled so loudly that it echoed across Damascus. Years later, when Sharaa's men celebrated victory by desecrating his grave, they only proved him right. Syria had imploded. Now, with a mullah regime whose existence is so antithetical to the secular DNA of Syria counting on some countries keeping other countries and their influences from destroying it, how far is Syria from another implosion? If Sharaa is killed, or destabilised (as he is already), how long before Iranian, Iraqi and Lebanese influences, suddenly deprived of their own leverage, fuel more fires? Whatever happens, Israel's creeping ingress into Syria will increase, and the Jewish state will be the only clear winner in all this, even though its big plan, so masterfully implemented with the destruction of Hamas, wholesale eradication of Hezbollah's command structure, and the historic fall of Damascus, couldn't quite come full circle when it went for the jugular of the ayatollahs in Tehran. Israel did want the regime in Iran to fall — that was the final piece, of course. And it might have, if not for Iran's shocking resistance in the war, which stalled the advance and forced a recalibration. How that particular endgame plays out remains to be seen. But it is clear that what remains of Syrian statehood is held together by a militia in borrowed robes, propped up by foreign actors who have neither roots nor memory in this land. And as usual, when the foreign calculus shifts, so will the sands under their feet. The throne of Damascus has always been a temporary seat – sometimes for kings, sometimes for clerics, sometimes for soldiers. Never for long. Because this land has never tolerated stillness. It lies at the edge of too many fault lines, pulls at too many empires, and sometimes collapses too easily under its own weight. So once again Syria sleepwalks into implosion; and it won't be the last time. Just another turn in a cycle that's older than the countries now playing their moves on its board. Copyright Business Recorder, 2025
Spectator
6 days ago
- Politics
- Spectator
Lefties on a Plane: my real-life horror movie
Trapped in the middle seat next to a Dublin businessman in the window seat, I was subjected to a monologue on the 'far right'. 'It's not Islamic extremism we need to be worried about,' he said. I wanted very badly to say it absolutely is Islamic extremism we need to be worried about, but I kept my mouth shut. If it had kicked off between us, the pilot might have decided to turn around and do an emergency landing. Snakes on a Plane was a silly movie, completely unrealistic. I have an idea for a much more convincing sequel about being trapped on an aircraft with a terrifying menace, and it's called Lefties on a Plane. This has happened to me twice, both times on budget airlines where the narrowness of the seat made it all the more horrifying. The Dublin businessman was a know-it-all who wanted to showcase his political knowledge. He leaned in and told me conspiratorially that the reason he knew so much was that he worked for the government. His firm did secret contracts to do with intelligence and security, he claimed. He ordered a drink and glugged it down. I let him blurt out everything he wanted to blurt, in case he turned out to be someone important, which I'm pretty sure he wasn't. I was so offended by what he was saying about ordinary working-class people that I wanted to ask the stewardess to change my seat, but the plane was packed. There was no threat from al Qaeda or Isis, he said. The threat was all from the far right, by which sweeping definition it turned out he simply meant people who were poor and ignored. 'We've had our eye on this for a long time. We saw it coming. After Brexit it all took off…' Here we go, I thought. It was a struggle for the next hour not to spark an incident and force the plane into an emergency landing. Ever since being trapped next to him, I've paid extra to book the window seat on Ryanair on the basis that I can slump against the window and pretend to go to sleep. The other day, flying from Gatwick to Cork, I was in this window seat when an Irish lady took the middle seat and began to read her book, indicating she would be no trouble. But then an English lady arrived in a flutter of fuss to take the aisle seat. She got settled in the way an upper-middle-class English person does on Ryanair, by making derisory comments about the unspeediness of the boarding and the lack of leg room, as though she had paid £500 for the ticket, not £50. The plane had not even begun taxiing when she started. She introduced herself to the Irish lady, the Irish lady politely asked if she was going on holiday, clutching the open book she was hoping to read, and the English lady said she had a second home in Ireland. Oh, this will be good, I thought. The Irish lady said that was nice, whereupon the English lady decided to talk at the poor Irish woman all the way to Cork. Donald Trump was awful, very volatile, always changing his mind. Who can the Democrats get in? The governor of Philadelphia, perhaps. People were destitute, living in tented communities. (Whether she meant in LA or Worthing was hard to tell.) She was appalled by the lack of action on debt and spending. Also, why didn't the M25 work? I heard myself muttering: 'Oh for goodness sake.' I'd have taken a python making its way down the aisle any day over this. As the trolley approached, I tried to order a drink by offering the refreshment credit I had been sent on my Ryanair app as we had been delayed. The stewardess apologised and said she didn't know how to do that and I said fine, don't worry. The stewardess went to move off, but the lady intervened. Speaking very loudly and slowly at me, she said: 'You need to present that to a shop or restaurant in the terminal!' Then she sat back and recommenced her monologue. 'I do a lot of birding,' she said. Please, I thought, can someone tell me what is wrong with the phrase 'bird-watching'? Did I miss that memo? Is 'watching' too invasive an upset of a word to the dignity of the bird? Does it impinge on the tweetie's civil rights? Birding. Oh please. If ever a word was invented by lefties in denial about reality, it's birding. She had plans all the way to Christmas and beyond. By the time she was detailing her social schedule for January I wanted to wrestle the emergency door off and jump out. I watched the Isle of Wight go past beneath me as she listed her opinions about every news item that day. Everything in the world was puzzling her. 'What I don't understand,' she said, 'is why does Trump look so good?' The Irish woman could not enlighten her. So she moved on. 'What I don't understand is, don't all these royals with cancer have the best private healthcare screening?' She was puzzled about everything, I decided, because no conspiracy theory was getting through to her. She was so far from having a risqué Google of a wacky blog that she had no ideas, not even wacky ones, to explain all the crazy stuff that's been happening. Once the obvious had been eliminated, she was stumped. The plane was wobbling down to land, but she didn't draw breath as it thumped on to the tarmac. As passengers filled the aisles to get off, she harrumphed: 'Nothing very speedy about this is there?' No, there's not meant to be. Speedy disembarkation isn't a thing, not unless you count being told to climb out on to the wing in an emergency which, on Ryanair, can be arranged, but that was the sort of recent news story that would have left her confused. 'What I don't understand,' she would have said, 'is why Ryanair is allowed to evacuate planes like that…' 'Well, we've sorted out the world,' she said, as she took up her bag and bid her new friend farewell. 'We could run things better than them. They should be asking us!' It could have been worse, I decided. It could have been me in the middle seat.
