Colombia and FARC sign historic pact ending 52-year war

Colombian President Juan Manuel Santos and Marxist rebel leader Timochenko used a pen made from a bullet on Monday to sign an agreement ending a half-century war that killed a quarter of a million people and made their nation a byword for violence.
After four years of negotiations in Havana, Santos, 65, and Timochenko - a nom de guerre for 57-year-old revolutionary Rodrigo Londono - shook hands on Monday on Colombian soil for the first time.
Some 2,500 foreign and local dignitaries attended the ceremony in the walled, colonial city of Cartagena.
The agreement to end Latin America's longest-running conflict turns the FARC fighters into a political party fighting at the ballot box instead of the battlefield they have occupied since 1964.
The special pen was used "to illustrate the transition of bullets into education and future", said Santos, who staked his reputation on achieving peace.

Colombia and FARC set to sign historic peace pact

Guests included United Nations chief Ban Ki-moon, Cuban President Raul Castro, US Secretary of State John Kerry and victims of the conflict.
"The UN will assist in the implementation of the accord and offer Colombians our complete support at a time that sees a new destiny for the nation," Ban said.
The European Union said on Monday it was removing the group from its "terror" list simultaneously with the peace signing.
Kerry lauded the deal during a visit to a training centre for war victims, ex-combatants and other young people.
"Anybody can pick up a gun, blow things up, hurt other people, but it doesn't take you anywhere ... Peace is hard work," he said.
The US Department of State has pledged $390m for Colombia next year to support the peace process. Washington would also review whether to take the FARC off its list of "terrorist organizations", Kerry said.
http://www.aljazeera.com/news/2016/09/colombia-farc-sign-historic-pact-52-year-war-160926211928052.html

Islamic State and the crisis in Iraq and Syria in maps

 

Who is fighting 'Islamic State'?

The US-led coalition has conducted more than 9,600 air strikes against IS targets in Iraq since August 2014.
The UK launched its first air strikes on the group in Iraq the following month. Other nations taking part include Australia, Belgium, Denmark, France, Jordan, and the Netherlands.

 

 Where are the refugees?

More than 4.8 million Syrians have fled abroad to escape the fighting in Syria, according to the UN. Most have ended up in neighbouring Turkey, Lebanon and Jordan, but in 2015 a growing number tried to reach Europe.

Since then a deal between the EU and Turkey has curbed the flow of migrants across the Mediterranean - although Syrians still form the largest group of asylum-seekers in Europe.

http://www.bbc.com/news/world-middle-east-27838034

UN calls for stepped up security for planes and airports

UNITED NATIONS — Responding to increasing attacks on airports and aircraft, the U.N. Security Council on Thursday unanimously approved its first-ever resolution to address extremist threats to civil aviation and urge beefed-up security.

The U.N.’s most powerful body called for stepped up screening and security checks at airports worldwide to “detect and deter terrorist attacks.” And it called on all countries to tighten security at airport buildings, share information about possible threats, and provide advance passenger lists so governments are aware of their transit or attempted entry.

“The Security Council has delivered a resounding call to action for the international community,” said Britain’s Foreign Secretary Boris Johnson. “This is the first U.N. Security Council resolution ever to focus on the threats by terrorists to civil aviation and it demonstrates our joint resolve to protect our citizens from an escalating danger.”

The resolution reflected growing global anxiety following attacks on airplanes and airports from Ukraine, Egypt and Somalia to Brussels and Istanbul.

While aviation security has improved, Johnson said the recent tragedies demonstrate “the urgency of our task” and the dangers posed by “terrorists who probe relentlessly the chinks in our collective armor.”

The British-drafted resolution expresses the council’s concern “that terrorist groups continue to view civil aviation as an attractive target, with the aim of causing substantial loss of life, economic damage” and air links between countries.

https://www.washingtonpost.com/world/un-to-call-for-stepped-up-security-for-planes-and-airports/2016/09/22/e22614fc-80c8-11e6-9578-558cc125c7ba_story.html

Boris Johnson urged to back probe into international law violations in Yemen

Boris Johnson has been urged by two senior MPs to back an independent probe into whether international law has been violated during the Yemen conflict.
The Commons committee chairs told the Foreign Secretary the matter was urgent in the light of a growing death toll in the country, where Saudi Arabian forces have led an intense bombing campaign.

Chris White, chairman of the Committees on Arms Export Controls, and International Development Committee Chair Stephen Twigg said an inquiry was needed because almost 7,000 people have died in the Yemen conflict, including some 1,100 children.
Their letter to Mr Johnson said: “We urge you to seize this opportunity and support the establishment of an international, independent mechanism under the auspices of the UN.
“Hopefully this will serve to deter future violations of international humanitarian law as well as providing independent and conclusive evidence in relation to allegations that have been levelled at both sides of the conflict.”
They said the international community could not be sure inquiries already set up by Saudi Arabia and Yemen were “transparent” and “credible”.
A Saudi-led air campaign was launched in March last year and aimed to put down a rebellion by Houthis, a Shia Muslim minority from the north of the country, who have backing from Iran.
http://www.independent.co.uk/news/uk/politics/boris-johnson-urged-to-back-probe-into-international-law-violations-during-yemen-war-a7321496.html?

Syria toxic gas inquiry report delayed; France, Britain urge U.N. action

The inquiry was due to submit its report this week, but Ban told the 15-member council in a letter, seen by Reuters on Thursday, that the inquiry needed extra time and wanted to delay its deadline until Oct. 21. The council has extended its mandate until Oct. 31.
In its most recent report to the Security Council last month, the joint United Nations and Organization for the Prohibition of Chemical Weapons (OPCW) inquiry said that Syrian government troops were responsible for two toxic gas attacks and Islamic State militants used sulfur mustard gas.
France, Britain and other council members want the body to act after receiving the next report, the inquiry's fourth.
"There have been two incidents documented by the UN/OPCW of the dropping of chlorine gas. How can we sit by and let that happen? Burning, blistering, barbaric chlorine gas being dropped on innocent people," British Foreign Secretary Boris Johnson told a Security Council meeting on Syria on Wednesday.
http://www.reuters.com/article/us-mideast-crisis-syria-chemicalweapons-idUSKCN11T021

Overnight airstrikes on rebel-held Aleppo kill dozens

"Aleppo has suffered its worst bombardment in months with dozens of civilians killed overnight, hours before talks between the US and Russia talks in New York attempted to restore Syria’s shattered ceasefire."
https://www.theguardian.com/world/2016/sep/22/overnight-airstrikes-rebel-held-aleppo-kill-syrians?

A resumption in fighting signals even darker days for Syria

"A ceasefire that had taken months to negotiate took only hours to unravel. “They were unloading the aid in a warehouse when the bombs hit. I spent the night pulling the dead out,” says Ammar al-Selmo, the director of Aleppo’s White Helmets, a volunteer civil defence force that works in rebel-held areas, of the attack on the UN aid convoy."

http://www.economist.com/news/middle-east-and-africa/21707495-resumption-fighting-signals-even-darker-days-syria-ceasefire-unravels

South Korea says time to reconsider North Korea's U.N. membership

South Korean Foreign Minister Yun Byung-se accused North Korea on Thursday of "totally ridiculing" the authority of the United Nations through its nuclear and missile tests and said it was time to reconsider whether it was qualified for U.N. membership.
In an address to the annual United Nations General Assembly, Yun said the U.N. security Council should adopt "stronger, comprehensive" sanctions on North Korea after its fifth nuclear test on Sept. 9 and close loopholes in existing measures.
"North Korea's repeated violations and non-compliance of Security Council resolutions and international norms is unprecedented and has no parallel in the history of the U.N.," Yun said.
http://www.reuters.com/article/us-un-assembly-southkorea-northkorea-idUSKCN11T04N

Shell Fired by ISIS at U.S. and Iraqi Troops May Have Contained Chemical Agent

WASHINGTON — Fighters with the Islamic State fired a shell onto a military base in northern Iraq, home to American and Iraqi troops, that may have contained a chemical agent, military officials said on Wednesday.

The shell did not explode, and the officials said no American or Iraqi troops were injured in the attack.

http://www.nytimes.com/2016/09/22/world/middleeast/iraq-isis-chemical.html?ref=world&_r=0 

U.S. calls on Russia and Syria to ground all aircraft in northwest Syria

UNITED NATIONS — Secretary of State John F. Kerry called on Russia and Syria on Wednesday to “immediately ground all aircraft” flying in key areas of northwest Syria where a humanitarian convoy was destroyed Monday, and accused Moscow of inventing its “own facts” to explain the air attack for which Russia is responsible.
“The simple reality is we cannot resolve this crisis if major parties . . . are unwilling to do what’s necessary to avoid escalation,” Kerry told the U.N. Security Council. “We don’t get anywhere by ignoring facts and denying common sense.”

https://www.washingtonpost.com/world/national-security/us-calls-on-russia-and-syria-to-ground-all-aircraft-in-northwest-syria/2016/09/21/ea602cbc-8013-11e6-8d0c-fb6c00c90481_story.html

Conselho de Segurança da ONU se reúne para discutir situação na Síria

 "A porta-voz Maria Zakharova disse que os ataques teriam provocado a morte de 62 soldados sírios. "Vamos exigir de Washington explicações completas e muito detalhadas que deverão ser expostas ao Conselho de Segurança da ONU", afirmou Zakharova.

Segundo a portz-voz, a Rússia se mostrou "muito preocupada" com esses bombardeios que "atingiram diretamente o exército sírio que combatia os contingentes do grupo EI".

"Esses ataques colocam em risco tudo o que foi conquistado até agora pela comunidade internacional", pelo Grupo Internacional de Apoio à Síria, por Moscou e por Washington, padrinhos do processo de paz na Síria, afirmou Zakharova.

Ainda neste sábado, i Pentágono admitiu que é "possível" que bombardeio da coalizão internacional tenha atingidos membros e veículos do Exército do governo sírio na cidade de Deir al-Zor, no leste da Síria.

"O ataque aéreo foi interrompido imediatamente quando funcionários da coalizão foram informados pelas autoridades russas que era possível que pessoal e veículos postos no alvo fossem parte do Exército sírio", informou o Pentágono em comunicado."

http://g1.globo.com/mundo/noticia/2016/09/conselho-de-seguranca-da-onu-se-reune-para-discutir-situacao-na-siria.html

UN Identifies Parts of Syrian Military Held Responsible for Chlorine Bomb Attacks

An international inquiry has identified two Syrian Air Force helicopter squadrons and two other military units it holds responsible for chlorine gas attacks on civilians, a Western diplomat told Reuters.

The finding by the United Nations and the Organization for the Prohibition of Chemical Weapons, the global chemical weapons watchdog, is based on Western and regional intelligence, the diplomat said.

"It was the 22nd Division, the 63rd Brigade and the 255 and 253 squadrons of the Syrian government," the envoy said.
read more: http://www.haaretz.com/middle-east-news/1.742436

One million refugees have fled South Sudan: UN

South Sudan, the world's youngest nation, has now joined "Syria, Afghanistan and Somalia as countries which have produced more than a million refugees", Leo Dobbs, spokesman for the UN refugee agency, the UNHCR, said on Friday.
"This is a very sad milestone," he added.
"Most of those fleeing South Sudan are women and children. They include survivors of violent attacks, sexual assault, children that have been separated from their parents or travelled alone, the disabled, the elderly and people in need of urgent medical care," he said.

South Sudan gained independence from Sudan in 2011, but civil war erupted two years later when Kiir accused Machar of plotting a coup.
A peace deal reached a year ago under international pressure has been violated repeatedly by fighting, and Machar fled the country in recent weeks.

http://www.aljazeera.com/news/2016/09/million-refugees-fled-south-sudan-160916145301080.html

Amid fears of Trump, Europe tries to make its security less dependent on the U.S.

European leaders gathered Friday to discuss the torrent of challenges facing their continent after Britain’s decision to leave the European Union, offering broad new defense efforts amid growing concerns that they are too dependent on the United States for security.
https://www.washingtonpost.com/world/europe/amid-fears-oftrump-europe-triesto-make-itssecurity-less-dependent-on-the-us/2016/09/15/f0094f38-79d1-11e6-8064-c1ddc8a724bb_story.html

Should we let 9/11 victims sue Saudi Arabia? Not so fast.

In short, to the extent the revised bill isn’t merely symbolic, it’s mischievous. Mr. Obama has repeatedly called it a precedent other countries could easily turn against the United States. It is not a far-fetched concern, given this country’s global use of intelligence agents, Special Operations forces and drones, all of which could be construed as state-sponsored “terrorism” when convenient. Even if a future administration did succeed in blocking a lawsuit, the mere filing of it could irritate the target country or countries. Members of Congress have repeatedly claimed enough votes to override Mr. Obama’s veto threat, and they may be right. Mr. Obama should carry it out anyway. If long-standing principles of law and policy are to be discarded so lightly, at least let it be done without his approval.
https://www.washingtonpost.com/opinions/should-we-let-911-victims-sue-saudi-arabia-not-so-fast/2016/09/15/f0067338-791f-11e6-bd86-b7bbd53d2b5d_story.html?utm_term=.d0f2fc0d8975

CrisisWatch August 2016

The month saw Yemen’s peace talks collapse with violence there intensifying, and the Syrian conflict escalate following Ankara’s launch of a cross-border ground offensive against Islamic State (IS) and Kurdish forces, days after a major terror attack in Turkey’s south east. Troop deployments in Western Sahara threatened to bring about clashes, and violence flared in the Central African Republic. In Ethiopia and Zimbabwe, security forces brutally suppressed anti-government protests, while in Gabon, the president’s disputed re-election triggered violent clashes. In Asia, a suicide bombing killed over 70 people in Pakistan, while suspected militants in Thailand’s southern insurgency launched attacks on targets outside the traditional conflict zone. In positive news, peace talks between the Philippines government and communist rebel groups resumed after a four-year hiatus. On 24 August, Colombia and the Revolutionary Armed Forces of Colombia (FARC) declared that they had reached a final peace accord, paving the way for an end to 52 years of armed conflict.

https://www.crisisgroup.org/crisiswatch