26, March 2019
US will not ‘stand idly’ as Russia dispatches troops in Venezuela 0
Secretary of State Mike Pompeo warned Russia Monday the United States will not “stand idly by” as Moscow inserts military personnel into Venezuela to support the regime of President Nicolas Maduro.
In a phone call with Foreign Minister Sergei Lavrov, Pompeo denounced the growing Russian military reinforcements as prolonging the political crisis in the South American country.
Pompeo told Lavrov “the United States and regional countries will not stand idly by as Russia exacerbates tensions in Venezuela,” the State Department said in a statement.
“The continued insertion of Russian military personnel to support the illegitimate regime of Nicolas Maduro in Venezuela risks prolonging the suffering of the Venezuelan people who overwhelmingly support interim President Juan Guaido,” he said.
Sergei Lavrov reacted later on Monday by releasing a statement accusing the United States of plotting a “coup” against Venezuelan President Nicolas Maduro.
Guaido is supported by the United States and most Latin American and European nations but he retains the support of Russia and China, US rivals who have offered political and economic support to him.
Pompeo urged Russia to “cease its unconstructive behavior” and support Guaido.
(FRANCE 24 with AFP)
31, March 2019
Arab League expected to oppose US decision over Golan Heights 0
Arab heads of state, long divided by regional rivalries, are expected to unite at a summit on Sunday in the Tunisian capital to oppose a US decision recognising Israel’s annexation of Arab lands captured in 1967.
Arab leaders are already grappling with unrest in Algeria and Sudan, international pressure over the war in Yemen, regional splits over Iran’s influence in the Middle East and a bitter Gulf Arab dispute.
They face a new challenge after US President Donald Trump signed a proclamation last week recognising the Golan Heights as Israeli, less than four months after recognising Jerusalem as Israel’s capital. Palestinians want East Jerusalem as the capital of a future state.
Arab officials said the summit would be dominated by the Golan Heights and Palestinian demands for an independent state in the West Bank and Gaza Strip, areas also occupied by Israel in the 1967 war.
Lebanese Foreign Minister Gebran Bassil said on Saturday Arab ministers had expressed support for a proposal to declare that the US move violated the UN charter against acquiring land by force.
They also agreed to back Syria’s right to regain Golan and Lebanon’s right to the Shebaa farms, a small strip of land next to the Golan claimed by Beirut, he tweeted.
Call for peace with Israel
Summit spokesman Mahmoud Al-Khmeiry said Arab leaders would repeat an Arab call for peace with Israel in exchange for occupied Arab lands and would reject any initiative not in line with UN resolutions.
Khmeiry appeared to be referring to a still-unannounced US peace plan by White House adviser Jared Kushner and Trump son-in-law that Palestinians have refused to discuss.
Trump’s aides have said his moves have drawn a less severe private reaction from Arab states than experts had predicted.
While opposition to Israel and its actions can unite the 22-member Arab League, Arab states remain divided over a range of other issues, including pro-democracy protests that have erupted in the region since 2011 and over Iran’s Middle East influence.
Ibrahim al-Assaf, foreign minister of Sunni Muslim powerhouse Saudi Arabia, said on Friday that Shi’ite Muslim rival Iran remained the biggest threat to the region.
The Tunis summit will be the first time the rulers of Saudi Arabia and Qatar have attended the same gathering since 2017, when Riyadh and its allies imposed a political and economic boycott on Doha. Saudi Arabia and its allies accuse Qatar of supporting terrorism and cosying up to Iran, a charge Doha denies.
The leaders of Sudan and Algeria are not expected to attend, with both nations roiled by anti-government protests.
Abdelaziz Bouteflika, Algeria’s ailing, 82-year-old president who has ruled for 20 years, and Sudanese President Omar al-Bashir, in power for three decades and wanted by international prosecutors for alleged war crimes in his country’s Darfur region, are both facing calls to step down.
Syria has been suspended from the Arab League since 2011 over its crackdown on protesters at the start of the civil war. The League has said there was still no consensus to allow Syria’s reinstatement.
(FRANCE 24 with REUTERS)