Gazette 082914

Friday August 29th 2014

Syria conflict: UN says more than 3m have fled war

More than three million Syrians are now registered as refugees and the desperate crisis is only getting worse, the UN's refugee agency says.

The UNHCR says Syria is now "the biggest humanitarian emergency of our era" with almost half of all Syrians forced to flee their homes.
The majority of refugees have fled to countries neighbouring Syria, with most now seeking shelter in Lebanon.
More than 190,000 have been killed in Syria's three-year civil war.
Opposition groups in Syria have been fighting forces loyal to President Bashar al-Assad since his government violently suppressed protests against his rule in March 2011.
The situation has been worsened in recent months by the formation and advance of the Islamic State group, which now controls large swathes of Syria and Iraq.
'Exhausted and scared' The UNHCR says one in every eight Syrians has fled across the border and a further 6.5 million are displaced within Syria. It says more than half of those uprooted are children.
The number of registered Syrian refugees has soared from two million just under a year ago.
Families arriving at refugee camps in neighbouring countries are exhausted and scared, with some having spent a year or more fleeing from village to village inside Syria.

Fighting in Syria spawns separate civil war in global jihadist movement

Syria’s bloody civil war has spawned a separate rift with ramifications well beyond the region known as the Levant -- a battle for the very soul of the global jihad movement.
Islamic militants who poured into the embattled nation to help the Free Syrian Army in its bid to topple dictator Bashar Assad are now fighting Assad, the rebels and each other in a barbaric free-for-all. At the center is the split between Al Qaeda’s regional affiliate, Jabhat al-Nusra, and the newly emerged Islamic State, which are fighting each other on the battlefield and in the war for recruits to the cause of Islamic terrorism.

“The two groups are now in an open war for supremacy of the global jihadist movement,” according to Middle East scholar Aaron Zelin in a research paper published by the Washington Institute for Near East Policy, a U.S.-based think tank.
Throw in the jihadist-led insurgency in neighboring Iraq, which has become intertwined in the insurrection in Syria, and the shifting alliances are becoming for many even harder to understand.

Islamic State militants 'behead Kurdish man' in Iraq

Islamic State (IS) has released a video appearing to show the beheading of a Kurdish man as a warning to forces fighting the group in northern Iraq.

The video, entitled a Message in Blood, shows several men in orange jumpsuits said to be captured Kurdish fighters.
The victim is then seen kneeling near a mosque in the IS-held city of Mosul before he is beheaded.
The jihadists warn that others will be killed if Kurdish leaders continue to back the US.
Kurdish "peshmerga" fighters from the autonomous Kurdistan Region of northern Iraq have been trying to counter an advance by IS, backed by US air strikes.
Earlier, IS videos from Syria appeared to show the mass killing of Syrian soldiers taken prisoner after their base was overrun.

Iran confirms US Coast Guard fired at fishing boat

TEHRAN, Iran –  The chief of Iran's Revolutionary Guard navy confirmed in remarks published Friday that a U.S. Coast Guard vessel fired on an Iranian fishing boat in the Persian Gulf this week but insisted the incident was not a "clash."
The U.S. Navy's Bahrain-based 5th Fleet said that personnel on a small boat dispatched from the U.S. Coast Guard patrol boat Monomoy fired a single shot on Tuesday when they saw crew on a nearby Iranian dhow training a .50-caliber machine gun on them and preparing to fire.

No one was hurt in the encounter, which came as the two countries work to hammer out a lasting deal over Iran's controversial nuclear program.
The shot from the U.S. patrol boat was fired "in the air about three miles away" from the Iranian boat, Adm. Ali Fadavi was quoted as saying by the Tasnim News Agency.
"It wasn't a clash but a single shot in the air ... there was no clash between Iranian and American forces," Fadavi said, adding that "Americans feared and felt danger from a fishing dhow."
Dhows are traditional wooden boats common to the region that are typically used for trade.

NATO Military Officer: More Than 1,000 Russian Troops Operating Inside Ukraine

NATO believes well over 1,000 Russian troops are operating inside Ukraine, a NATO military officer said on Thursday.

The officer, briefing reporters on condition of anonymity, referred to the Russian actions as "incursions" rather than an invasion.
"We assess well over 1,000 Russian troops are now operating inside Ukraine," he said at NATO's military headquarters in southern Belgium. "They are supporting separatists (and) fighting with them."

Ukraine accused Russia on Thursday of bringing troops into the southeast of the country in support of pro-Moscow separatist rebels.
The NATO officer showed reporters a satellite picture, dated Aug. 23, of Russian self-propelled artillery lined up inside eastern Ukraine.
"This is highly sophisticated equipment which requires a well-trained crew. It takes months to train crews like that. It's extremely unlikely these sorts of units are manned by separatists," he said.
"Russia is trying to prevent a defeat of the separatists and wants to hold on to this area. The recent upsurge and now even direct involvement of Russian troops inside Ukraine is aimed at this," the official said.

Putin likens Ukraine's forces to Nazis and threatens standoff in the Arctic

President hits back at invasion accusations as Nato accuses Russia of 'blatant violation' of Ukraine's sovereignty

Russian president Vladimir Putin has hit back at accusations that he has effectively invaded Ukraine, accusing Ukrainian forces of behaving like Nazis in the conflict in the east, and ominously threatening to take his standoff with the west into the disputed Arctic.
Hours after Barack Obama accused Russia of sending troops into Ukraine and fuelling an upsurge in the separatist war, Putin retorted that the Ukrainian army was the villain of the piece, targeting residential areas of towns and cities like German troops did in the former Soviet Union.
He added that Russians and Ukrainians "are practically one people", reprising a theme of an earlier statement in which he referred to the disputed areas of southeastern Ukraine as Novorossiya – a throwback to tsarist times when the area was under Moscow rule.
And he made a pointed reference to the Arctic, which with its bounteous energy reserves and thawing waterways is emerging as a new potential conflict between Russia and its western rivals. "Our interests are concentrated in the Arctic. And of course we should pay more attention to issues of development of the Arctic and the strengthening of our position," Putin told a youth camp outside Moscow.
Russia's latest alleged interventions in Ukraine, in which it stands accused of sending as many as 1,000 soldiers and military hardware across the border to bolster the flagging separatist insurrection, has prompted a flurry of emergency meetings.

Pakistan's Protest Leader Looks Isolated As Crisis Reaches Crossroads

Pakistani opposition politician Imran Khan appeared isolated in his struggle to bring down the prime minister on Thursday after a fellow protest leader announced he was ready to allow thousands of anti-government demonstrators to go home.

Pakistan has been gripped by mass rallies for two weeks, with thousands of protesters led by Khan, a cricketer-turned-politician, and cleric Tahir ul-Qadri camped outside parliament demanding the resignation of Prime Minister Nawaz Sharif.

Both leaders had warned that Thursday would be a decisive day in their efforts to bring down the government, but Qadri's camp unexpectedly issued a statement saying the government had met none of their demands and therefore protesters could leave.

The statement from Qadri's political party said he would make a speech to his supporters later in the day to deliver the message. It was not clear from the statement whether this means his camp had given up on its demands.

"Dr Qadri is expected to say to the crowd that they are free to go back," the party said in the statement. "Pakistanis have been burning in the flames of hunger, poverty and injustice but nobody cares for them."

Islamic State: Arab leaders reluctant to heed US call for 'allies against Isis'

Saudi Arabia, UAE and Jordan know dangers of Isis but tribal ties and fears of boosting Syria's Assad are prompting caution

No one is falling over themselves to respond to Barack Obama's quest for a new "coalition of the willing" to attack the jihadis of the Islamic State in Iraq and Syria – least of all, it seems, the Arab governments that are most immediately threatened by its brutal, border-demolishing agenda.
The dangers are not in doubt: Jordan has been suffering the jitters since Islamic State (Isis) fighters took the northern Iraqi city of Mosul in June. This week it announced the arrest of 40 alleged extremists as a "precautionary measure".
The Saudi authorities have rounded up "sleeper cells" said to be recruiting terrorists. The normally taciturn Saudis have been vocal in denying they support or finance Isis, and insist they abhor its extremist and revolutionary ideology – even though their own penchant for beheadings is often cited by critics as one unpleasant likeness.
Elsewhere in the Gulf, the UAE has made clear it considers Islamists of all hues a threat, at home and abroad. Even Kuwait, probably the biggest single source of private funding for extremists fighting in Syria, has cracked down. It and other states that looked the other way when their citizens funded jihad against Bashar al-Assad are now cooperating with the US Treasury department. Qatar has cleaned up its act as well.
The Gulf's limitless financial resources alone were never enough to guarantee a coherent effort in the war against Assad. Bandar Bin Sultan, the last Saudi intelligence chief, was adept at delivering cash to rebel groups, but there was too much competition and not enough strategy and control.

UN: Ebola Could Eventually Infect 20,000 People

GENEVA (AP) — The Ebola outbreak in West Africa is accelerating and could grow six times larger to infect as many as 20,000 people, the World Health Organization said Thursday. The U.N. health agency unveiled a new road map for containing the virus, and scientists are fast-tracking efforts to find a treatment or vaccine.
Ebola has menaced Africa for 40 years, but previously struck in remote villages and was contained fairly quickly. This time, it has spread to major cities in four countries, provoking unrest as whole neighborhoods and towns have been sealed to the outside.
An experimental vaccine developed by the U.S. government and GlaxoSmithKline will be tested on humans starting next week, the U.S. National Institutes of Health announced Thursday. The NIH trial will use healthy adult volunteers in Maryland, and British experts will simultaneously test the same vaccine in healthy people in the U.K., Gambia and Mali.

China vows to respond to US surveillance flights

BEIJING: China said on Thursday that it will continue responding to US military surveillance flights off its coast, rejecting American accusations that one of Beijing's fighter jets acted recklessly in intercepting a US Navy plane last week.

Defense ministry spokesman Yang Yujun said China's military would closely monitor US flights and reiterated calls for the US to scale back or end such missions altogether.

"According to different situations we will adopt different measures to make sure we safeguard our air and sea security of the country," Yang said at a monthly news briefing.

China has long complained about US surveillance flights that just skim the edge of China's territorial airspace. However, Yang said such flights this year have become more frequent, are covering a wider area and are coming even closer to the Chinese coast.

US sea and air surveillance missions occur most frequently during Chinese military exercises or weapons tests, raising the risk of accidents and misunderstandings, Yang said.
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Hitting the Brakes? Obama downplays prospect of imminent strikes in Syria

President Obama on Thursday downplayed the prospect of any imminent U.S. airstrikes in Syria, saying "we don't have a strategy yet" and stressing that military advisers are still reviewing options...

President Obama on Thursday downplayed the prospect of any imminent U.S. airstrikes in Syria, saying "we don't have a strategy yet" and stressing that military advisers are still reviewing options for confronting Islamic State militants.
At the same time, the president bluntly ruled out U.S. military action for dealing with another international crisis -- mounting evidence of Russian incursions into eastern Ukraine. "We are not taking military action to solve the Ukrainian problem," Obama said. 

The president addressed both crises during remarks in the White House briefing room late Thursday afternoon, as Congress prepares to return from the summer recess. In recent days, lawmakers on both sides of the aisle have demanded that the U.S. strategy for targeting the Islamic State be put to a vote on Capitol Hill, amid speculation the military campaign might expand into Syria.

Obama: 'Russia Is Responsible For The Violence In Eastern Ukraine'

President Barack Obama made a statement Thursday on the situation in Ukraine, saying he spoke with German Chancellor Angela Merkel and that the two agree "Russia is responsible for the violence in eastern Ukraine."
"The new images of Russian forces inside Ukraine make that plain for the world to see," Obama said.
Obama said he would meet with Ukrainian President Petro Poroshenko next month at the White House.

Obama is meeting with his national security team Thursday afternoon to discuss the threat of the Islamic State, the militant group formerly known as ISIS, in Syria and Iraq. During the press conference, Obama announced he has asked Secretary of State John Kerry to travel to the region. He also said it was too early to go to Congress over the matter, but said he will eventually "consult with Congress and make sure their voices will be heard."
"I don't want to put the cart before the horse," Obama said. "We don't have a strategy yet."
Responding to criticism from several Republican senators about the lack of a strategy against the Islamic State, White House officials noted later on Thursday that the president addressed the matter in his opening remarks.

For Landrieu, residency questions in Louisiana

NEW ORLEANS — In Washington, Sen. Mary Landrieu lives in a stately, $2.5 million brick manse she and her husband built on Capitol Hill.
Here in Louisiana, however, the Democrat does not have a home of her own. She is registered to vote at a large bungalow in New Orleans that her parents have lived in for many decades, according to a Washington Post review of Landrieu’s federal financial disclosures and local property and voting records.
On a statement of candidacy Landrieu filed with the Federal Election Commission in January, she listed her Capitol Hill home as her address. But when qualifying for the ballot in Louisiana last week, she listed the family’s raised-basement home here on South Prieur Street.
The New Orleans house, which Landrieu claims as her primary residence, is a new flash point in one of the most closely contested Senate races in the country. Republicans are considering taking legal action to question Landrieu’s residency in the state, arguing that since winning her seat in 1996 she has become a creature of Washington.
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Support for U.S. overseas involvement jumps, poll finds 

Public support for a more active U.S. foreign policy has grown sharply since last year as Americans see the world becoming more dangerous.
Those findings, from a newly released Pew Research Center survey, provide an important backdrop for President Obama’s decision-making regarding U.S. military action against Islamic militants in Iraq and Syria and possible steps to counter Russia’s invasion of Ukraine.
The increased support for an active U.S. policy overseas could have a big effect on the race to succeed Obama in 2016, especially among Republicans.

Gregory and Collin Gordon, Calgary brothers, join ranks of Canadians fighting for ISIS

Abdul Malik and Khalid, born Gregory and Collin Gordon, disappeared in late 2012, sources say

Two more Canadians have joined the ranks of foreign fighters with the Islamic State of Iraq and Syria (ISIS), CBC News has learned. Both are relatively recent converts to Islam from Calgary — and they are brothers.
Gregory and Collin Gordon converted to Islam and became known to members of Calgary's Muslim community as Abdul Malik and Khalid. Between 2011 and 2012, they shared an apartment in the same downtown Calgary highrise that once housed Damian Clairmont and Salman Ashrafi.
Ashrafi was identified as a suicide bomber in an ISIS operation in Iraq last November that took the lives of 46 people. Clairmont was killed fighting in Syria earlier this year.  
Another Calgarian, Farah Shirdon, who once attended a "study group" with Ashrafi, Clairmont and the Gordon brothers, joined ISIS and was reported to have been killed in battle a few weeks ago.

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