Middle East - The Christian Science Monitor

Redrawing Syrian and Iraqi borders is no easy task | The National
▻http://www.thenational.ae/opinion/comment/redrawing-syrian-and-iraqi-borders-is-no-easy-task

Variations sur l’idée de #Sunnistan(s) par Taylor Luck

Behind closed doors, one scenario is gaining popularity: a Sunni partitioning of Iraq and Syria. Under various proposals, the southern Syrian province of Daraa, Suwayda and Quneitrah would form a separate state, while mainly Sunni Anbar in west Iraq would be combined with Mosul to become an autonomous region. Iraqi Sunni tribesmen have been lobbying Washington for months.

Meanwhile, the Free Syrian Army’s southern forces have been acting independently for more than a year – answering only to the US and Saudi-run Military Operations Centre in Amman.

[...]

But when faced with the facts, autonomous Sunni regions in Syria and Iraq are more fantasy than feasible, even if the idea of sovereign states in southern Syria and west Iraq do have their roots in history.

Sur un thème proche, le même avec Nicholas Blanford :
Syrian war : As neighbors seek border enclaves, a de facto partition ?
▻http://www.csmonitor.com/World/Middle-East/2015/0803/Syrian-war-As-neighbors-seek-border-enclaves-a-de-facto-partition-video

Voir la déconstruction du discours sur l’Irak comme pays artificiel, voir le remarquable essai de Sarah Pursley sur Jadaliyya
▻http://www.jadaliyya.com/pages/index/21759/lines-drawn-on-an-empty-map_iraq%E2%80%99s-borders-and-the
Une version arabe est maintenant publiée : ▻http://www.jadaliyya.com/pages/index/21946/%D8%AE%D8%B7%D9%88%D8%B7-%D9%85%D8%B1%D8%B3%D9%88%D9%85%D8%A9-%D8%B9%D9%8
#irak #Syrie #jordanie

What WikiLeaks reveals about Saudi diplomats
▻http://www.csmonitor.com/World/Middle-East/2015/0620/What-WikiLeaks-reveals-about-Saudi-diplomats

One of the most inflammatory memos carries the claim that Gulf countries were prepared to pay $10 billion to secure the freedom of Egypt’s deposed strongman, Hosni Mubarak. The memo, written on a letterhead bearing only a single palm tree and crossed scimitars above the words “top secret,” quotes an unnamed Egyptian official as saying that the Muslim Brotherhood would agree to release Mubarak in exchange for the cash “since the Egyptian people will not benefit from his imprisonment.”

Although the document is undated, the political situation it describes suggests it was drafted in 2012, when the Muslim Brotherhood appeared poised to take power. Senior Brotherhood official Mohammed Morsi served as Egypt’s president from June 2012 to July 2013, before being ousted by the military.

But it’s not clear the idea of paying the Brotherhood to secure Mubarak’s release ever coalesced into a firm offer. A handwritten note at the top left of the document says the ransom “is not a good idea.”

“Even if it is paid the Muslim Brotherhood will not be able to do anything regarding releasing Mubarak,” the unknown author writes. “It seems there are no alternatives for the president but to enter prison.”

Still, the memo’s existence adds credence to the claim made in 2012 by senior Muslim Brotherhood leader Khairat el-Shater that Saudi Arabia had offered billions of dollars in return for Mubarak’s freedom — something Saudi officials hotly denied at the time.

#saudileaks

Returning jihadis: At luxurious rehab center, a Saudi cure for extremism - CSMonitor.com

▻http://www.csmonitor.com/World/Middle-East/2015/0517/Returning-jihadis-At-luxurious-rehab-center-a-Saudi-cure-for-extremism

http://images.csmonitor.com/csm/2015/05/0515-deradicalizaion-saudi-rehab-center-DO-NOT-REMOVE.jpg?alias=standard_900x600

Riyadh, Saudi Arabia — At the Mohammad bin Naif Counseling and Care Center, some 250 patients have daily access to art therapy, water aerobics classes, ping-pong, Jacuzzis, and gourmet chefs.

In several palm-shaded, private chalets, complete with air-conditioned sitting rooms and private pools, Saudi psychologists, imams, and sociologists help prepare the patients for their reintroduction to the outside world.

#is #ISIS #irak #syrie #arabie_saoudite

UN reveals Israeli links with Syrian rebels - Diplomacy and Defense Israel News | Haaretz
▻http://www.haaretz.com/news/diplomacy-defense/.premium-1.630359

Reports by UN observers in the Golan submitted to 15 members of Security Council detail regular contact between IDF officers and armed Syrian opposition figures at the border.

C’est normal puisqu’ils ont été relâché des geôles du régime par l’affreux Bachar... Tout cela est follement logique et on sent que la Syrie va être super libérée avec tous ces gens qui aiment tant le soulèvement syrien...

In Jordan, slashed UN food aid has even ’well off’ Syrians feeling the pinch

With Jordan limiting job opportunities and the UN reducing food aid, even middle-class refugees from war-torn Syria are asking how, and where, they can survive.

http://www.csmonitor.com/var/ezflow_site/storage/images/media/content/2014/1016-world-ojordanfood/19162733-1-eng-US/1016-world-ojordanfood_full_600.jpg

#Jordanie #réfugiés #asile #migration #Syrie

Stranded in Morocco, Syrians join African migrants in storming Europe’s door

Some Syrians have fled as far as Morocco seeking refuge, which remains elusive because they cannot obtain the papers that would allow them to work or send children to school.

http://www.csmonitor.com/var/ezflow_site/storage/images/media/content/2014/0228-stranded-in-morocco/18160548-1-eng-US/0228-stranded-in-morocco_full_380.jpg

▻http://www.csmonitor.com/World/Middle-East/2014/0228/Stranded-in-Morocco-Syrians-join-African-migrants-in-storming-Europe-s-do

#Syriens #réfugiés #asile #Maroc #migration

Leaked Iranian letter warned US that Syrian rebels have chemical weapons - CSMonitor.com
▻http://www.csmonitor.com/World/Middle-East/2013/0909/Leaked-Iranian-letter-warned-US-that-Syrian-rebels-have-chemical-weapons

Leaked Iranian letter warned US that Syrian rebels have chemical weapons

According to leaked diplomatic correspondence, Iran has been warning Washington since July 2012 that Sunni rebel fighters have acquired chemical weapons, and called on the US to send “an immediate and serious warning” to rebel groups not to use them.

Fleeing Syria, Palestinians find little support from their brethren in Lebanon - CSMonitor.com
▻http://www.csmonitor.com/World/Middle-East/2013/0803/Fleeing-Syria-Palestinians-find-little-support-from-their-brethren-in-Leb

Peu de soutien car peu de moyens.

Upon arrival at the Lebanese border, Syrian nationals are granted free six-month visas with one renewal, effectively granting them legal residency for one year. But Palestinians must purchase a five-day visa that costs $17 and can’t be extended more than 10 days, although UNRWA says that recent lobbying has prompted the government to waive this fee, at least temporarily.

After that, they must purchase renewable three-month visas for up to a year for $33 each. After one year, both the Syrian and Palestinian refugees must pay $200 for a renewable six-month visa.

Despite the many challenges their arrival poses, Richards notes that there are no reports of Palestinians either being sent back or arrested for failing to maintain the frequent visa renewals required to maintain legal status.

But stories abound of refugees, particularly Palestinians, being refused entry elsewhere – at Syria’s border with Jordan.

“It’s clear that the number of refugees is having an impact [in Lebanon], but they’re still letting them in,” she says. “Sometimes, we need to also acknowledge the positives, the small victories.”

#Palestiniens

Israel sees prestigious academic prize as tool to engage increasingly hostile academic world
▻http://www.csmonitor.com/World/Middle-East/Olive-Press/2013/0606/Israel-sees-prestigious-academic-prize-as-tool-to-engage-increasingly-hos

The Dan David Prize, which gives $3 million annually to a handful of laureates – almost none of whom are Israeli – is intended to reward innovation in a variety of disciplines.

But the prize is also aimed at helping Israel further integrate with the rest of the world, says Ariel David, president of the Dan David Foundation and the son of its namesake. Headquartered at Tel Aviv University, it requires each laureate to come to Israel to collect his or her award, and partake in a cross-pollination of ideas with Israeli professors and students.

“Isolating Israel and putting it in the corner just reinforces its existential fear, which isn’t completely unjustified,” says Mr. David, citing Iran, Hamas, and Hezbollah. “On the contrary, the more Israel gets the feeling that it’s part of the international community economically, culturally, and politically, the easier it is to set aside its existential fear.”

Chorus grows against Obama administration’s sanctions-heavy Iran policy - CSMonitor.com
▻http://www.csmonitor.com/World/Middle-East/2013/0425/Chorus-grows-against-Obama-administration-s-sanctions-heavy-Iran-policy

The Obama administration’s effort to end Iran’s nuclear program has focused on punitive measures, with little diplomatic outreach. Critics say this jeopardizes negotiations.

...

“I was in the [State] Department when they kept talking about the so-called two-track policy, and it was clear the whole thing was nonsense, there never were two tracks,” says John Limbert, the former US deputy assistant secretary of state for Iran from 2009 to 2010.

“The sanctions took all the air out of the room. It was 95 percent sanctions, and that was on a good day.”

...

Report: Sanctions may be speeding Iran’s nuclear advancement - CSMonitor.com
▻http://www.csmonitor.com/World/Middle-East/2013/0326/Report-Sanctions-may-be-speeding-Iran-s-nuclear-advancement

Il y a plus de 20 ans, Benjamin Netanyahu annonçait déjà que l’Iran serait capable de fabriquer des armes nucléaires dans un délai de 3 à 5 ans. Bon sang, ces fadaises sont inusables !
▻http://www.csmonitor.com/World/Middle-East/2011/1108/Imminent-Iran-nuclear-threat-A-timeline-of-warnings-since-1979/Israel-paints-Iran-as-Enemy-No.-1-1992

1992: Israeli parliamentarian Benjamin Netanyahu tells his colleagues that Iran is 3 to 5 years from being able to produce a nuclear weapon – and that the threat had to be “uprooted by an international front headed by the US.”

À peine prononcée l’accusation officieuse par la Bulgarie, le Christian Science Monitor (entre autres), qui est un journal américain, se passionne pour une unique question : le placement du Hezbollah sur la liste européenne des organisations terroristes. C’est vraiment formidable de voir la presse libre américaine se passionner spontanément pour les mêmes choses que Benyamin Netanyahou.

Bulgaria blames Hezbollah for 2012 bombing, refueling terrorist listing debate
▻http://www.csmonitor.com/World/Middle-East/2013/0205/Bulgaria-blames-Hezbollah-for-2012-bombing-refueling-terrorist-listing-de

The long-awaited results of the Bulgarian investigation into the bombing will place greater pressure on the European Union to proscribe Hezbollah as a terrorist organization, a classification repeatedly called for by the US and Israel but so far rejected by the EU.

In Gaza’s smuggling tunnels, Egypt’s interests trump Brotherhood ties - CSMonitor.com
►http://www.csmonitor.com/World/Middle-East/2012/1015/In-Gaza-s-smuggling-tunnels-Egypt-s-interests-trump-Brotherhood-ties

Egypt began destroying tunnels as part of a security crackdown in the Sinai after militants attacked an Egyptian army checkpoint near Rafah on Aug. 5, killing 16 Egyptian soldiers before crossing the border to attack Israel.

The operation has slowed the tunnel trade, leading to price increases in #Gaza on items like building materials and food. The Hamas government has protested the closure of tunnels, but it has also used the opportunity to press Egypt to allow legal trade between the two sides and abolish the tunnels entirely.

While Hamas, an offshoot of Egypt’s Muslim Brotherhood, might have expected a friendlier partner across the border when the Brotherhood’s Mohamed Morsi became president, President Morsi has rebuffed the request for a free trade zone while clamping down on smuggling.

#contrebande #blocus

Un article intéressant du Christian Science Monitor évoque le retour de bâton intérieur du choix de l’implication militaire par la direction turque dans la crise syrienne qui s’aggrave. Deux points sont notamment évoqués : l’exaspération des habitants dans l’ex-Sanjak d’Alexandrette encore en grande partie arabe alaouite (province du Hatay), mais celle de la forte minorité alévie (turque et kurde) qui perçoit la politique de soutien aux opposants syriens d’Ankara comme dictée par un sectarisme sunnite. A quoi il faut ajouter la rupture des liens commerciaux qui appauvrissent les provinces du sud et l’aggravation de la question kurde en lien avec la crise syrienne...
Article original en anglais ici : ►http://www.csmonitor.com/World/Middle-East/2012/0828/In-Turkish-border-city-Erdogan-s-backing-of-Syrian-rebels-draws-ire
Traduction en français par le blogger Djazaïri là : ►http://mounadil.wordpress.com/2012/08/29/syrie-montee-de-lexasperation-en-turquie

#Syria conflict: 5 warring factions - The Assad regime - ►http://CSMonitor.com ►http://www.csmonitor.com/World/Middle-East/2012/0607/Syria-conflict-5-warring-factions

abuhatem
Exclusive: Veteran Lebanese fighter trains new generation of jihadis – for Syria ►http://www.csmonitor.com/World/Middle-East/2012/0530/Exclusive-Veteran-Lebanese-fighter-trains-new-generation-of-jihadis-for-S

Syrian activists to rebels: Give us our revolution back
►http://www.csmonitor.com/World/Middle-East/2012/0416/Syrian-activists-to-rebels-Give-us-our-revolution-back

Syrian activist Mohamed Alloush has fled his native country for Lebanon, but it wasn’t President Bashar al-Assad’s regime that drove him away. It was the rebels of the Free Syrian Army who ran him out of his hometown of Homs.

“In September last year I had been arrested again by the regime for organizing protests,” says Mr. Alloush, speaking on a cafe terrace in Beirut. "After they released me, I ran into a group of men I knew as members of the Free Syrian Army. I walked up to them and screamed: “You guys have stolen our revolution! You are just as bad as the shabiha,” the pro-regime militia in Syria.

The rebels kept Alloush for four days, after which they told him not to show his face in Homs again.

Bahrain suspends opposition newspaper - CSMonitor.com
►http://www.csmonitor.com/World/Middle-East/2011/0403/Bahrain-suspends-opposition-newspaper

Bahrain’s government suspended the country’s only opposition newspaper Sunday, accusing it of printing false information about the ongoing democratic protest movement and of plagiarizing.

The newspaper’s closure comes amid a campaign of intimidation by the government to suppress the protests that began in February demanding democratic reform and an end to discrimination against the kingdom’s majority Shiite population. Al Wasat is the only newspaper in Bahrain without connections to the ruling family, and was one of few domestic news sources for information on the protest movement.

#Bahreïn

WikiLeaks cable portrays IAEA chief as ’in US court’ on Iran nuclear program
►http://www.csmonitor.com/World/Middle-East/2010/1202/WikiLeaks-cable-portrays-IAEA-chief-as-in-US-court-on-Iran-nuclear-progra

“The leaked October 2009 cable was quoted on Wednesday by the Guardian of London, one of a handful of media organizations that received in advance a trove of more than 250,000 classified US State Department documents currently being released by WikiLeaks.”

“The cable reportedly stated: “Amano reminded [the] ambassador on several occasions that he would need to make concessions to the G-77 [the developing countries group], which correctly required him to be fair-minded and independent, but that he was solidly in the US court on every key strategic decision, from high-level personnel appointments to the handling of Iran’s alleged nuclear weapons program.””

“A previous US cable from July 2009, also described by the Guardian and, like the one quoted above, not yet published by WikiLeaks, describes how Amano saw his role as different from that of ElBaradei. Amano saw the top post as a “neutral and impartial party to Iran’s safeguards agreement rather than as ‘an intermediary’…” the cable states. “He [Amano] stressed that the IAEA could not replace the P5[+]1 political framework for dialogue with Iran, nor vice versa.””

““He’s a wizened diplomat, [and] of course if we saw the cables going to France, Britain, Germany, Russia and China, maybe they’d say exactly the same thing; in other words, he may have been dancing on a pin to satisfy all,” says Mr. Large.”

J’avais déjà référencé un câble évoquant Amano:
►http://seenthis.net/messages/5931

#cablegate #AIEA #Iran