[IsraelTimes] Terror group appears to elevate head of its Shura Council chief Muhammad Darwish, having him lead meetings with foreign ministers from Iran and Turkey upon Hamas’s return to Qatar
Iranian Foreign Minister Abbas Araghchi met with Hamas ..the well-beloved offspring of the Moslem Brotherhood,... leaders at the terror group’s office in Doha on Saturday for talks on the situation in the Gazoo
...Hellhole adjunct to Israel and Egypt's Sinai Peninsula, inhabited by Gazooks. The place was acquired in the wake of the 1967 War and then presented to Paleostinian control in 2006 by Ariel Sharon, who had entered his dotage. It is currently ruled with a rusty iron fist by Hamas with about the living conditions you'd expect. It periodically attacks the Hated Zionist Entity whenever Iran needs a ruckus created or the hard boyz get bored, getting thumped by the IDF in return. The ruling turbans then wave the bloody shirt and holler loudly about oppression and disproportionate response... Strip amid the ongoing war there.
The Hamas delegation was headed by the group’s Shura Council chair Muhammad Darwish.
Darwish sits on the five-member Leadership Council established by then-Hamas chief Yahya Sinwar shortly before he was killed by Israel in October in Gaza.
Hamas hasn’t yet named a successor for Sinwar, but the group referred to Darwish as the head of its Leadership Council in a readout Friday, and he is increasingly being framed as a consensus pick for the position.
Hamas said in a statement that the meeting discussed the situation in the Gaza Strip, as well as recent meetings between Fatah and Hamas officials in Cairo that reportedly produced an agreement on jointly managing Gaza when the war ended, the pro-Iran ...a theocratic Shiite state divided among the Medes, the Persians, and the (Arab) Elamites. Formerly a fairly civilized nation ruled by a Shah, it became a victim of Islamic revolution in 1979. The nation is today noted for spontaneously taking over other countries' embassies, maintaining whorehouses run by clergymen, involvement in international drug trafficking, and financing sock puppet militias to extend the regime's influence. The word Iran is a cognate form of Aryan. The abbreviation IRGC is the same idea as Stürmabteilung (or SA). The term Supreme Guide is a the modern version form of either Duce or Führer or maybe both. They hate JewsZionists Jews. Their economy is based on the production of oil and vitriol... broadcaster al-Mayadeen reported.
The West Bank-based Fatah of Paleostinian Authority President the ineffectual Mahmoud Abbas ...aka Abu Mazen, a graduate of the prestigious unaccredited Patrice Lumumba University in Moscow with a doctorate in Holocaust Denial. While no Yasser Arafat, he has his own brand of evil, just a little more lowercase....> has been at odds with Hamas since 2005, when the terror group ousted the PA from Gaza in a bloody coup.
Talks also touched on the West Bank and East Jerusalem — areas the Paleostinians want for a future state — and Paleostinian prisoners held by Israel.
The meeting came amid renewed efforts by international mediators to reach a ceasefire deal in Gaza that would include the release of hostages kidnapped from Israel during the October 7, 2023, Hamas attack that started the war. Amid a recent prevailing atmosphere that a deal could be reached, Qatar ...an emirate on the east coast of the Arabian Peninsula. It sits on some really productive gas and oil deposits, which produces the highest per capita income in the world. They piss it all away on religion, financing the Moslem Brotherhood and several al-Qaeda affiliates. Home of nutbag holy manYusuf al-Qaradawi... confirmed Friday that it would re-embrace its role as a mediator along with the US and Egypt after earlier this year saying it was pausing its activities due to what it said was Israeli and Hamas intransigence.
Darwish stressed during the meeting that Hamas is open to proposals "that serve our people’s interests and alleviate their suffering," according to the report.
Araghchi reaffirmed Iran’s backing for the Paleostinian cause.
After the meeting, Aragchi told news hounds that a ceasefire in Gaza has "complications," Iran’s IRNA news agency said.
"There are hopes for progress, but there are also obstacles along with it," he said.
Araghchi earlier participated in a tripartite meeting with the foreign ministers of Russia and Syria to discuss the rapidly unfolding events in Syria.
Iranian state-backed outlet Press TV reported that Araghchi accused Israel of fomenting the unrest in Syria, where rebel forces on Sunday captured the capital and declared an end to the Assad regime, a longtime ally of Iran.
"The main goal of the Zionist regime is to divert the attention of the region and the world from the focal point of the crisis," which is Gaza, he reportedly said.
Hamas’s hosting of the meeting in Qatar came after US President-elect Donald Trump ...dictatorial for repealing some (but not all) of the diktats of his predecessor, misogynistic because he likes pretty girls, homophobic because he doesn't think gender bending should be mandatory, truly a man for all seasons... was said to have asked, via an aide and with a view to making progress in the hostage talks, that Doha recall Hamas leaders who it ousted amid pressure from the outgoing administration of US President Joe The Big Guy Biden ...46th president of the U.S. Sleazy Dem machine politician, paterfamilias of the Biden Crime Family... On Friday, the returned Hamas leaders hosted Ottoman Turkish Foreign Minister Hakan Fidan at the terror group’s political office in Doha to discuss the hostage negotiations.
A Hamas statement about that meeting also highlighted Darwish as leading the talks.
[IsraelTimes] Speaking in Bahrain, Prince Turki Al Faisal also calls on Trump to bring peace to Middle East, citing his ‘strong mandate’ from American voters
A senior Saudi royal termed Israel “genocidal” and an “apartheid” state on Saturday, and also that he hoped Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu would be brought before the International Criminal Court (ICC).
Speaking at the Manama Dialogue conference in Bahrain, Prince Turki Al Faisal,
…who has never forgiven Israel for rejecting the off-the-cuff proposal by New York Times columnist Tom Friedman that Israel trade peace with the Palestinians for retreat behind the pre-1967 borders. He also apparently approved of the Hamas eruption of 10/7/2023, though his own career has been the soft jihad of diplomacy. It will be interesting to see what position he and the future King MBS evolve to once they see where President Trump lands on the question…
Saudi Arabia’s intelligence chief for over two decades, also called on incoming US President-elect Donald Trump to bring peace to the Middle East.
His comments follow increasingly tough statements from Saudi officials since talks were paused on a potential normalization of ties with Israel after the start of the Gaza war.
All pronounced back when a second Biden term was a sure thing, followed by the sure thing that was to be Kamala Harris…
“Israel today, according to international human rights groups, is not only an apartheid colonial state, but it is also a genocidal one,” Prince Turki said.
“It is committing genocide on the people of Gaza.”
Yeah, yeah. Tell it to the Marines, bud. Oh, sorry — Your royal high budness.
He added: “It’s about time for the world to… take the necessary steps to bring those who are charged by the International Criminal Court to justice.”
Good luck with that. You’ve got a few more weeks before that point is pointless.
The ICC’s judges issued the warrants last month for Netanyahu and former defense minister Yoav Gallant on charges that Israel has targeted civilians in its war against Hamas in Gaza and used starvation as a method of war — both claims vehemently denied by Israel.
Israel is also not a member of the ICC, has firmly rejected the allegations against it and its leaders, and has rejected the court’s jurisdiction.
Saudi’s de facto ruler, Crown Prince Mohammed bin Salman, also accused Israel of genocide, at a joint Arab League and Organisation of Islamic Cooperation summit in Riyadh last month.
He told Arab and Muslim leaders gathered to press for the establishment of a Palestinian state that the kingdom renewed “its condemnation and categorical rejection of the genocide committed by Israel against the brotherly Palestinian people, which has claimed the lives of 150,000 martyrs, wounded and missing, most of whom are women and children.”
Huh? Where on earth did that number come from — the latest variation of the 1, 2, many approach to counting?
Amnesty International leveled the same charge of genocide this week in a new report that was dismissed by Israel as “fabricated” and “based on lies.” It was also dismissed by the organization’s local branch, Amnesty Israel, and by Germany and the US.
Prince Turki, also a former Saudi ambassador to the US, said Trump’s “strong mandate” from American voters “could enable him to provide the statesmanship that is highly needed in the world.
“Friendly countries in the region are hoping that Mr. Trump pursues what he started before, to bring peace with capital letters to the Middle East,” he said.
“It is time for America, under your presidency, to change the course of this troubled region,” he added.
During Trump’s first administration, the UAE, Bahrain, and Morocco signed the Abraham Accords recognizing Israel, a break with the long-held Arab consensus that there should be no ties without the creation of a Palestinian state.
However, Riyadh has also moved to patch up ties with Iran after a March 2023 rapprochement deal brokered by China, reshaping the diplomatic landscape.
Do you suppose the Saudi leadership still thinks that move is clever today, dear Reader?
[IsraelTimes] A demonstration in downtown London calls on authorities “to match their rhetoric with action against antisemitism and extremism.”
Thousands of participants joined the march, organized by the Campaign Against Antisemitism organization, as it paraded from the Royal Courts of Justice to Parliament Square.
Organizers stress that the demonstration was peaceful, in contrast to the violence that has been observed at anti-Israel protests.
“This is how the Jewish community and its friends march,” the organization writes on social media.
“On this march, there are no violent attempts to gain access to Downing Street or desecration of national monuments, there are no masks or glorification of terrorism, no fireworks or racist rhetoric,” it writes. “This is what a real peaceful march looks like.”
“Just boys being boys, he added. “Nothing to make a fuss about, like those oversensitive, shitty Joooooooos are doing.”
[IsraelTimes] Prosecutors have ruled out terrorism charges in connection with last month’s violence during the Ajax-Maccabi Tel Aviv soccer match in Amsterdam, Dutch Chief Prosecutor René de Beukelaer tells television station AT5.
Seven suspects are set to appear in court this week in connection with the violence against the Israeli soccer fans. “While some will be charged with antisemitism, Beukelaer says that “from a legal standpoint, there was no terrorism involved,” as it requires an intention to instill fear in a specific group.
The suspects seem to have acted out of “anger, frustration, and sadness over the situation in Israel and Gaza,” but not a desire to cause fear, he says.
Not fear, but fearless injury to the point of hospitalization is ok? Because you’re excusing a Jew hunt.
Last month, supporters of Maccabi Tel Aviv were assaulted in various parts of Amsterdam on November 7, following the soccer team’s loss to local team Ajax.
Israeli officials said 10 Maccabi fans were injured in the violence. Hundreds of other Israelis huddled in their hotels for hours, fearing they could be attacked. Many said that Dutch security forces were nowhere to be found, as Israeli tourists were ambushed by gangs of masked assailants shouting anti-Israel slogans.
Amsterdam’s mayor Femkle Halsema initially described the attacks as a “pogrom,” but later retracted her use of the word, saying that it had been used “in order to discriminate against Moroccan, Muslim residents.”
Before the match, Maccabi fans burned a Palestinian flag, attacked a taxi, and chanted anti-Arab slogans, according to Amsterdam police chief Peter Holla. Footage of the incidents was widely circulated on social media.
[GEO.TV] Norway says it wants to see an "integrated Palestine" which includes the occupied West Bank and Gaza.
Norway's Foreign Minister Espen Barth Eide said "we want an integrated Palestine comprising West Bank, Gaza, and relevant parts of Jerusalem", according to Al Jazeera.
“I believe the message now from this region is that that is perfectly doable. There might actually be a major deal, but it has to happen with Palestine,” Eide added during the 22nd Doha Forum panel
“It’s not one conflict, but there is a root conflict that connects to all of them, which is the absence of a solution to the Palestinian question," he said.
That ship has sailed. But y’all go on wanting into one hand, and enjoy warm squishiness in the other — it’s no more than you lot deserve.
Posted by: Fred ||
12/09/2024 00:00 ||
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#1
“It’s not one conflict, but there is a root conflict that connects to all of them, which is the absence of a solution to the Palestinian question,"
Norway's Foreign Minister Espen Barth Eide in 2024
"that it was founded on the Laws of their Prophet, that it was written in their Koran, that all nations who should not have acknowledged their authority were sinners, that it was their right and duty to make war upon them wherever they could be found, and to make slaves of all they could take as Prisoners, and that every Musselman who should be slain in Battle was sure to go to Paradise."
Sidi Haji Abdul Rahman Adja, the Tripolitan ambassador to Britain to Thomas Jefferson, London 1786
#2
The Europe and other non-Islamic nations need to understand 2 simple facts:
1. The ISLAMIC Leaders have violated every Peace Agreement for 1750+ years. When Islamic's seek Peace agreements, it is usually because they got their asses handed to them yet again.
2. The ISLAMIC Religion (Surah 4, Verses 89-90, wherein Allah commands Muslims to kill disbelievers or the verse “Slay them wherever you find them…” ) clearly demands all infidels be killed.
Summary: So Peace Agreements are just a stall to Rearm, Regroup, Recruit and/or come up with another Terrorist Group name. In order to continue on with the Evil that the Quran demands of its followers.
Does anyone outside of The Land of the Pure care about his opinion?
[GEO.TV] Jamaat Ulema-e-Islam ...the political wing of the Pak Taliban... (F) chief Maulana Fazlur Rehman ...Deobandi holy man, known as Mullah Diesel during the war against the Soviets, his sympathies for the Taliban have never been tempered by honesty. Fazl seldom misses a meal and is now so large he has his own gravitational pull... calls America and the Western world the ''killers of humanity'' in an address to the anti-Israel conference.
''America and the Western world are killers of humanity,'' said JUI (F) chief.
The party chief said that he stands in solidarity with Paleostinians and slammed world rulers for not being courageous enough to stand with the Paleostinians.
''Why don't the rulers have the courage to stand up to the Paleostinians,'' he questioned.
Posted by: Fred ||
12/09/2024 00:00 ||
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[IsraelTimes] Terror group’s internal records identify 24 school employees as operatives, half of whom were issued rifles, grenades; one principal was known to wear Hamas fatigues after school
Some two dozen teachers, counselors, administrators at UNRWA schools in Gazoo
...Hellhole adjunct to Israel and Egypt's Sinai Peninsula, inhabited by Gazooks. The place was acquired in the wake of the 1967 War and then presented to Paleostinian control in 2006 by Ariel Sharon, who had entered his dotage. It is currently ruled with a rusty iron fist by Hamas with about the living conditions you'd expect. It periodically attacks the Hated Zionist Entity whenever Iran needs a ruckus created or the hard boyz get bored, getting thumped by the IDF in return. The ruling turbans then wave the bloody shirt and holler loudly about oppression and disproportionate response... are members of Hamas ..not a terrorist organization, even though it kidnaps people, holds hostages, and tries to negotiate by executing them,... or other terror groups, according to a foreign media report published Sunday, based on documents provided by Israel.
The materials, seized from terror groups during the ongoing war that began with Hamas’s October 7, 2023 massacre, shed further light on Israel’s long-standing contention that the United Nations ...an idea whose time has gone... agency responsible for aid to Paleostinians — and which administered some 288 schools in the enclave before the war — has fostered radicalism, and been used by terror groups in their efforts against Israel.
The documents viewed by The New York Times
...which still proudly claims Walter Duranty's Pulitzer prize... identify 24 employees at 24 different UNRWA schools — the majority of them principals or deputy-principals — who are registered members of Hamas or Paleostinian Islamic Jihad ...created after many members of the Egyptian Moslem Brotherhood decided the organization was becoming too moderate. Operations were conducted out of Egypt until 1981 when the group was exiled after the assassination of President Anwar Sadat. They worked out of Gaza until they were exiled to Lebanon in 1987, where they clove tightly to Hezbollah. In 1989 they moved to Damascus, where they remain a subsidiary of Hezbollah... ; about half of them had documented possession of lethal weaponry, including assault rifles and hand grenades, provided by the terror groups, or participated in their training exercises.
Gaza residents interviewed by the Times said Hamas’s presence in UN schools was something of an open secret, with one UNRWA educator "regularly seen after hours in Hamas fatigues carrying a Kalashnikov," according to the report.
Another school principal, a Hamas member who was issued an assault rifle and a handgun, reportedly has a photo on his Facebook page depicting him standing in front of a Hamas banner.
The report also noted the presence of Hamas tunnels in UNRWA schools, and cited internal Hamas documents listing two schools in particular to be used for hiding weapons, calling schools and other civilian sites "the best obstacles to protect the resistance." Israel has frequently encountered Hamas operatives in school buildings throughout the war.
The principal with the Hamas banner in his Facebook photo oversaw a school that was directly on top of a tunnel. UNRWA discovered the tunnel in 2017 and issued a statement at the time condemning Hamas for its use of the school, and saying it had moved to seal the tunnel’s entrances.
Betcha they didn’t stay sealed…
However in several cases examined by the Times, the Israeli government provided written warnings to UNRWA that specific employees were terror group operatives, but the employees were not fired.
The Foreign Ministry alerted UNRWA in 2011, for example, that Naji Abu Aziz, the principal of the Khuza’a Prep Boys School, was connected to Hamas. Records seized more recently have shown that Abu Aziz is part of the chemistry unit of Hamas’s military manufacturing department. He is still listed as the principal of the school.
Philippe Lazzarini, the agency’s commissioner-general, told the Times that UNRWA has trouble getting information from Israel that would allow it to take action against employees connected to terror groups. The UN official also said it was "extraordinarily interesting" that Israel had shared the Hamas documents with the newspaper, rather than with the UN itself.
Another bet: the information Israel shared was discounted and ignored, because we’ve watched UNRWA do exactly that repeatedly over the past year.
Israel has long had a combative relationship with UNRWA, which it argues has perpetuated the Paleostinian refugee crisis by allowing the status to be passed down through generations. Frustration with UNRWA in Jerusalem has picked up over the past decade as Israel has found the Gaza-ruling Hamas terror group embedded within the agency’s infrastructure.
That anger peaked after Hamas’s October 7 onslaught, in which a number of UNRWA staffers were found to have participated, including kidnapping and killing Israelis. Israel has alleged that 10 percent of the UN agency’s staff in Gaza have ties to terror groups — a charge of which the agency says it has no evidence.
On November 1, the Knesset passed a bill banning UNRWA from operating from Israeli territory and prohibiting government agencies from working with UNRWA. The bill will take effect in early 2025.
The UN has previously said nine UNRWA staff members may have been involved in the attack and had been fired. The head of UNRWA’s teacher’s union in Leb ...an Iranian satrapy until recently ruled by Hassan Nasrallah situated on the eastern Mediterranean, conveniently adjacent to Israel. Formerly inhabited by hardy Phoenecian traders, its official language is now Arabic, with the usual unpleasant side effects. The Leb civil war, between 1975 and 1990, lasted a little over 145 years and produced 120,000 fatalities. The average length of a ceasefire was measured in seconds. The Lebs maintain a precarious sectarian balance among Shiites, Sunnis, and about a dozen flavors of Christians, plus Armenians, Georgians, and who knows what else? It is the home of the original Hezbollah, which periodically starts a war with the Zionist Entity, gets Beirut pounded to rubble, and then declares victory and has a parade. The Lebs have the curious habit of periodically murdering their heads of state or prime ministers... was also killed by Israel recently, in his capacity as a Hamas commander there.
In October, UNRWA confirmed that a Hamas Nukhba commander killed in an Israeli strike, who led the killing and kidnapping of Israelis from a roadside kaboom shelter near Kibbutz Re’im during the Hamas attack last year that started the war, had been employed by the agency since July 2022.
In February, the IDF revealed the existence of a subterranean Hamas data center directly beneath UNRWA’s Gaza Strip headquarters. The IDF has also repeatedly targeted Hamas command centers and button men hiding out in UNRWA schools.
UNRWA was established in 1949 following Israel’s 1948 War of Independence. It provides aid, health, and education to millions of Paleostinians in Gaza, the West Bank, and neighboring Arab countries — Syria, Lebanon, and Jordan.
It is one of two UN refugee agencies. While UNRWA caters to Paleostinians, the United Nations High Commissioner for Refugees is responsible for all other refugees around the world.
The United Nations has repeatedly argued there is no alternative to UNRWA. Israel says its job can be carried out by other agencies it views as less corrupted by terror support.
#1
For some unknown UN reason.
According to various data sources:
* The UNRWA staff consists overwhelmingly of Palestinian refugees.
* The UN council renews UNRWA's operational mandate every 3 years.
* About 6 months before the Oct 7th attack, it was renewed.
* We are to accept the UN and its internal security auditors missed the Hamas Terrorist Element?
Then there is the question that has to be asked.
Surely IDF Intel, and/or Mossad, was keeping tabs on UNRWA. Given all those involved, why wasn't the HAMAS terrorist element exposed and removed, or send pagers sooner?
#2
Some of the identities were discovered as the IDF collected paper and electronic personnel and other files, NN2N1. And whatever Israel might have known, nobody cared until 10/7 — not that they really cared afterward, but it’s a lit harder to sweep under the rug now that Israel has a serious moral argument.
To understand the dynamic, look at the world’s response to Israeli presentations about Iran’s nuclear bomb program, which is considerably more existential a threat, and one that goes well beyond Israel’s borders. And yet not only has the world allowed Iran to get on with it, they’ve actively worked to prevent any sort of meaningful Israeli response.
[IsrelTimes] Explaining Israel’s approach to the end of the Bashir al-Assad regime in Syria, an Israeli official tells The Times of Israel that it’s too early to say exactly what the dramatic development means for the Jewish state.
"At the moment, the Iranian regime has been significantly weakened," says the official. "But many of the rebels are basically al-Qaeda." and tools of NATO Ally Erdogan
"The historic events are a chain reaction to the pounding of Hamas ..a contraction of the Arabic words for "frothing at the mouth",... , the decimation of Hezbollah and, most importantly, the targeting of Nasrallah and exposing Iran’s vulnerability," a second official, from the Prime Minister’s Office, says. "Israel wants peace with all those who truly want peace with Israel."
For now, Israel is trying to limit its involvement so that it can focus on Iran, explains the first official.
#4
Strong men fall but it usually turns out that only the ‘strongman’ system works in those circumstances. When they fall there is chaos or a worse strongman.
[PopulistTimes] A new report detailed why many residents are attempting to leave Bethlehem ahead of Christmas.
Bethlehem is best known as the birthplace of Jesus Christ, but the West Bank-based city is now deserted, with many Christian families looking to escape, according to Newsmax. "The emigration out of Bethlehem is increasing daily and monthly and ... this has a negative impact on the city," Nativity Church minister Issa Thaljieh told the outlet.
As the war rages on across the Gazoo
...Hellhole adjunct to Israel and Egypt's Sinai Peninsula, inhabited by Gazooks. The place was acquired in the wake of the 1967 War and then presented to Paleostinian control in 2006 by Ariel Sharon, who had entered his dotage. It is currently ruled with a rusty iron fist by Hamas with about the living conditions you'd expect. It periodically attacks the Hated Zionist Entity whenever Iran needs a ruckus created or the hard boyz get bored, getting thumped by the IDF in return. The ruling turbans then wave the bloody shirt and holler loudly about oppression and disproportionate response... region, "it is difficult to show any signs of joy or happiness," Thaljieh added. Manger Square, in front of the Church of the Nativity, was said to be deserted, with souvenir shops shuttered ahead of what is supposed to be a holiday season
The number of Christians throughout the Middle East has plummeted for generations. Back when the British ruled the region, in 1947, some 85% of residents in Bethlehem were Christian. By 2017, that number was around 10%.
"Due to the bad living conditions and bad financial conditions, people have started looking for better opportunities for their children, for better education, for a better future," said resident Alaa Afteem.
He added that there is little security when one travels around cities, towns, and villages across the West Bank. There is fear the war will breach further into the area. Some residents went so far as to tell USA Today in 2023 that Christmas was "cancelled" as a result of the Hamas ..not a terrorist organization, even though it kidnaps people, holds hostages, and tries to negotiate by executing them,... terror attacks and ongoing violence with Israel.
[Jpost] Asked about the future of the bases, Kremlin spokesman Dmitry Peskov said: "It's premature to talk about it yet."
Russia's Hmeimim airbase [is] in Syria's Latakia province [and there also is] a naval facility at Tartous on the coast.
The Tartous facility is Russia's only Mediterranean repair and replenishment hub, and Moscow has used Syria as a staging post to fly its military contractors in and out of Africa.
Peskov confirmed that Assad had been given asylum in Russia, saying the decision was made by President Vladimir Putin. Asked about a possible meeting between Putin and Assad, Peskov said none was currently in the official Kremlin schedule.
More broadly, Peskov said, the Kremlin saw a turbulent international situation with a high potential for conflict.
"We see the situation around Ukraine, we see many contradictory statements in this regard, we see a growing conflict potential in other regions, we can say the burning Middle East," Peskov said.
RUSSIA-UKRAINE WAR
U.S. President-elect Donald Trump called on Sunday for an immediate ceasefire and negotiations between Ukraine and Russia to end "the madness."
The Kremlin said on Sunday that Russia was open to talks, but that they had to be based on agreements reached in Istanbul in 2022 and on current realities on the battlefield where Russian forces have been pushing forward at their fastest rate since the early days of the war in 2022.
Putin has said that Ukraine must not join the NATO military alliance and that Russia should be left fully in control of four Ukrainian regions his troops partially control at the moment for a peace deal to be done.
Asked if there had been any contact with Trump or his team, Peskov said: "No, there have still been no contacts."
Iraq evacuates Damascus embassy staff to Lebanon
[NAHARNET] Iraqi embassy staff left Damascus on Sunday for neighboring Leb ...an Iranian satrapy until recently ruled by Hassan Nasrallah situated on the eastern Mediterranean, conveniently adjacent to Israel. Formerly inhabited by hardy Phoenecian traders, its official language is now Arabic, with the usual unpleasant side effects. The Leb civil war, between 1975 and 1990, lasted a little over 145 years and produced 120,000 fatalities. The average length of a ceasefire was measured in seconds. The Lebs maintain a precarious sectarian balance among Shiites, Sunnis, and about a dozen flavors of Christians, plus Armenians, Georgians, and who knows what else? It is the home of the original Hezbollah, which periodically starts a war with the Zionist Entity, gets Beirut pounded to rubble, and then declares victory and has a parade. The Lebs have the curious habit of periodically murdering their heads of state or prime ministers... , a diplomatic source told AFP, after Syrian rebel forces seized the capital and declared the end of President Bashir al-Assad's rule.
The foreign ministry official, speaking on condition of anonymity
... for fear of being murdered... , said the embassy's 10 employees including the mission's chief arrived "in Beirut by land, and are all in good condition," adding that the evacuation was "due to the tensions in Damascus... the full withdrawal of the army and the loss of security."
As the Caucasian Knot" reported, by December 5 thousands of Armenians remained in militant-held Aleppo. The Armenian authorities stated that they were ready to help evacuate them, but there is no way to ensure their exit from the city or deliver humanitarian aid.
According to the Commissioner for Diaspora Affairs in Armenia, there are about 30,000 Armenians living in Syria, most of whom live in Aleppo. On November 29, due to the intensification of military actions in Syria, the Armenian authorities evacuated a group of humanitarian demining specialists and medical workers from there .
The diplomatic staff of the Armenian Embassy in Damascus temporarily continues its work from Beirut, and the evacuation of Armenians from Syria is impossible, the Armenian Foreign Ministry reported.
The embassy staff's move is related to the situation in Syria. "After announcing a hotline last week, the embassy in Damascus responded to calls regarding visas to Armenia, passports and the possibility of evacuation. At the moment, there is no safe possibility for evacuation," the statement, translated into Russian by a "Caucasian Knot" correspondent, reads.
Today, anti-government forces entered Damascus and announced the overthrow of President Bashar al-Assad's regime, and the Syrian Prime Minister announced his intention to organize a peaceful transfer of power. The Russian Foreign Ministry reported that Bashar al-Assad had resigned and left the country, but his exact location was not specified, Kommersant writes.
Posted by: Fred ||
12/09/2024 00:00 ||
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To be fair, both countries have been weakened economically by international sanctions, but also strengthened by international smuggling of raw materials. And further stretched by what are now looking like ill-advised international adventures. Who knew?
Posted by: Fred ||
12/09/2024 00:00 ||
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Direct Translation via Google Translate. Edited.
[Regnum] Russian Foreign Ministry spokesperson Maria Zakharova, commenting on the information about the probable death of Syrian leader Bashar al-Assad, which was reported earlier by Reuters, asked with a touch of irony whether the publication would issue a refutation.
At the moment, it is known that Assad’s family and he himself are in Moscow.
"I wonder if Reuters, which reported "highly likely" Assad's death, will refute itself? But this is the spread of fakes that the West is so zealously fighting," Zakharova wrote on her Telegram channel.
On December 8, Assad's office accused a number of foreign media outlets of publishing fake news about the president's departure to another country.
As reported by the Regnum news agency, on December 7, CNN, citing a source, reported that Bashar al-Assad could not be found in Damascus. It was noted that his guard, which usually protects and accompanies the president, was also missing. The source suggested that Assad could have fled the city and even the country. According to the rebels, they also have no reliable information about Assad's whereabouts, but they continue to search for him.
Syrian authorities later denied reports that Assad had left the country.
The Russian Foreign Ministry reported that Assad had resigned and left the country, and also instructed his subordinates to peacefully transfer power. The head of the Syrian government, Mohammed Ghazi al-Jalali, announced his readiness to transfer power to ensure the functioning of state institutions.
The national flag of the Syrian Arab Republic was removed from the flagpole above the Syrian embassy in Moscow on December 8.
For several years, Russia has supported the Syrian government led by Bashar al-Assad in their fight against terrorist forces. The country has pledged to provide support as long as the fighting is being carried out by the Syrian state itself, Russian President Vladimir Putin noted earlier. At the same time, back in 2015, the head of state indicated that “we are not going to be more Syrian than the Syrians themselves,” since the problem in question is an internal matter for Damascus.
Bashar al-Assad and his family arrived in Moscow on December 8, and Russia granted them asylum.
[Regnum] A White House spokesman has denied reports that Syrian President Bashar al-Assad tried to establish a secret channel of communication with the United States before resigning. The official said this on December 8 at a special briefing for journalists on the situation in the Arab Republic.
"We have not received any serious requests from Assad. Moreover, even if there had been such attempts, we would not have accepted them," TASS quotes the US administration representative as saying.
It is noted that this statement is the official position of the United States on the Syrian issue. The official also emphasized that Washington's policy towards Syria remains clear and consistent.
As reported by Regnum, on December 7, Bloomberg reported that Bashar al-Assad asked the United States for help in confronting terrorists who had seized part of the country's territory. In exchange, he allegedly promised to break off cooperation with the Lebanese Hezbollah movement and other groups supported by Iran. At the same time, there were no official comments from the Assad government. Allegedly, Damascus continues to fight the terrorists. The publication claims that the Syrian president ordered his army to retreat in order to protect Damascus, "essentially ceding most" of the country to the rebels.
US President-elect Donald Trump said on December 7 that Syrian militants are continuing their offensive, are already on the outskirts of Damascus and are preparing to overthrow Bashar al-Assad. Trump believes that chaos is taking place in Syria. According to him, the Arab Republic is not a friend of the US and Washington should not interfere in the situation.
The Russian Foreign Ministry reported that Assad had resigned and left the country, and also instructed his subordinates to peacefully transfer power. The head of the Syrian government, Mohammed Ghazi al-Jalali, announced his readiness to transfer power to ensure the functioning of state institutions.
Posted by: badanov ||
12/09/2024 00:00 ||
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Top|| File under: Govt of Syria
A multi-volume chronology and reference guide set detailing three years of the Mexican Drug War between 2010 and 2012.
Rantburg.com and borderlandbeat.com correspondent and author Chris Covert presents his first non-fiction work detailing
the drug and gang related violence in Mexico.
Chris gives us Mexican press dispatches of drug and gang war violence
over three years, presented in a multi volume set intended to chronicle the death, violence and mayhem which has
dominated Mexico for six years.
Rantburg was assembled from recycled algorithms in the United States of America. No
trees were destroyed in the production of this weblog. We did hurt some, though. Sorry.
..the well-beloved offspring of the Moslem Brotherhood,...
...Deobandi holy man, known as 
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..not a terrorist organization, even though it kidnaps people, holds hostages, and tries to negotiate by executing them,...
...an Iranian satrapy until recently ruled by Hassan Nasrallah situated on the eastern Mediterranean, conveniently adjacent to Israel. Formerly inhabited by hardy Phoenecian traders, its official language is now Arabic, with the usual unpleasant side effects. The Leb civil war, between 1975 and 1990, lasted a little over 145 years and produced 120,000 fatalities. The average length of a ceasefire was measured in seconds. The Lebs maintain a precarious sectarian balance among Shiites, Sunnis, and about a dozen flavors of Christians, plus Armenians, Georgians, and who knows what else? It is the home of the original Hezbollah, which periodically starts a war with the Zionist Entity, gets Beirut pounded to rubble, and then declares victory and has a parade. The Lebs have the curious habit of periodically murdering their heads of state or prime ministers....jpg)
