Putin tells Armenia, Azerbaijan leaders to 'ensure' end to Karabakh clashes

Yahoo – AFP, 5 April 2016

Russian President Vladimir Putin (AFP Photo/Alexander Zemlianichenko)

Moscow (AFP) - Russian President Vladimir Putin on Tuesday urged the leaders of Armenia and Azerbaijan to ensure a halt to deadly clashes over the disputed Nagorny Karabakh region after a truce was agreed.

"Putin called on both sides to urgently ensure a complete cessation of military hostilities and respect for the ceasefire," the Kremlin said in a statement after Putin spoke to the two presidents separately by telephone.

Putin voiced "serious concern" after four days of fighting killed at least 64 people in the the worst outbreak of violence over the territory since since an inconclusive truce in 1994.

Putin also underlined the need to restart internationally moderated peace negotiations that have failed to definitively end the bitter feud over the past two decades.

Azerbaijan and Armenian separatists in Nagorny Karabakh on Tuesday said were ending their fighting after four days of bloodshed, as international powers scrambled to resolve the worst violence in decades over the disputed region.

Armenian and Azeri forces said they had agreed a ceasefire to halt the fighting from 0800 GMT.

The truce came after Azerbaijan's army claimed to have snatched control of several strategic locations inside Armenian-controlled territory, effectively changing the frontline for the first time since the 1994 truce.

Separatists backed by Yerevan seized control of mountainous Nagorny Karabakh, a majority ethnic Armenian region lying inside Azerbaijan, in an early 1990s war after the Soviet Union crumbled that claimed some 30,000 lives.

The sides have never signed a peace deal despite the 1994 ceasefire and sporadic violence regularly claims lives of soldiers on both sides, though the latest outbreak represented a serious escalation.

While ex-Soviet master Moscow has sold arms to both sides and treads a careful line between the two, it has a military alliance with, and base in, Armenia and far closer ties to Yerevan.

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Obama draws pledges of 40,000 troops for UN peacekeeping

Yahoo – AFP, Carole Landry, 29 Sep 2015

More than 50 countries have pledged a further 40,000 troops for United Nations

peacekeeping operations around the world (AFP Photo/Albert Gonzalez Farran)

United Nations (United States) (AFP) - More than 50 countries pledged 40,000 troops for United Nations peacekeeping at a US-led summit called to shore up missions under strain from the rise in global crises.

China scaled up its contribution, taking the lead in setting up an 8,000-strong standby police force while Colombia made a first-time offer of as many as 5,000 troops.

The pledges represent a major boost to UN peacekeeping, which relies on voluntary contributions from UN member states to run its 16 missions worldwide.

More than 125,000 troops and police

 from 124 countries serve in UN peace

missions (AFP Photo/Alain Wandimoyi)

US President Barack Obama told leaders that peace operations were "experiencing unprecedented strains" and are being deployed in "more difficult and deadlier conflicts."

"We know that peace operations are not the solution to every problem," Obama told the summit held on the sidelines of the UN General Assembly.

"But they do remain one of the world's most important tools to address armed conflict," he said.

The new contributions include helicopters, engineering units, field hospitals and bomb-detonating expertise that are desperately needed to bolster UN peace missions.

Obama opened the summit by announcing a tally of 30,000 new troops for peace missions, but after leaders took turns at the podium to announce contributions, the total reached 40,000.

A key player in peacekeeping in Africa, Rwanda offered two attack helicopters, two field hospitals, an all-female police unit and 1,600 new troops.

Indonesia boosted its participation with training and 2,700 new troops while India pledged 850 additional soldiers.

British Prime Minister David Cameron announced 70 troops for the UN-African Union mission in Somalia and up to 300 troops for South Sudan, where the UN mission is grappling with one of the world's worst humanitarian crises.

Pledges rolled in from smaller nations such as Armenia and Fiji and bigger players like Brazil, Turkey, Germany and Australia.

A key player in peacekeeping in Africa, Rwanda, whose troops are pictured on

 November 22, 2005, offered two attack helicopters, two field hospitals, an

all-female police unit and 1,600 new troops (AFP Photo/Jose Cendon)

More than 125,000 troops and police from 124 countries serve in UN peace missions.

China steps up

The United States had hoped to draw more pledges from European countries that have gradually pulled their troops out of peacekeeping and contributed to the NATO-led mission in Afghanistan.

In the end, the European pledges remained modest, but officials stressed the importance of highly-trained troops from Britain, the Netherlands, Spain and Italy to peacekeeping.

In contrast, China -- which has strong economic interests in Africa -- offered more engineering soldiers, transport and medical staff and pledged to train 2,000 peacekeepers from other countries to carry out de-mining operations.

President Xi Jinping said China would provide $100 million to the African Union to support a new African standby force and send the first peacekeeping helicopter squad to Africa.

Bangladesh, Ethiopia, India, Pakistan and Rwanda are currently the top five troop-contributing nations to peace missions.

In his address, Obama stressed that strengthening peacekeeping would serve "our common security" and pledged to double the number of US officer staff serving under the blue flag.

US President Barack Obama delivers remarks during a Peacekeeping Summit

 to coincide with the United Nations General Assembly on September 28, 2015 (AFP

Photo/Andrew Kelly)

There are just 78 Americans serving in UN peace missions but Washington remains by far the largest financial backer, providing 28 percent of the UN peacekeeping budget of $8.3 billion.

Boosting troop contributions will help the United Nations tackle a wave of sexual abuse allegations that have hit its missions, notably in the Central African Republic.

The new commitments will give Secretary General Ban Ki-moon the leeway to remove units whose soldiers face accusations and replace them without weakening a mission.

French President Francois Hollande, who pledged to step up training of African forces, referred to the sexual abuse scandal in his address to the summit, saying countries "must not allow the UN flag to be tarnished."

France is investigating allegations that 14 soldiers from its Sangaris military force sexually abused children in the Central African Republic in return for food, from December 2013 until June 2014.

While the French troops were not serving in a UN peacekeeping mission, the Sangaris operation was authorized by a UN Security Council resolution.

UN reform urged by veteran diplomats

Calls for major reform within the United Nations have been made by veteran diplomats led by America's Madeleine Albright. Their report calls for a larger Security Council, less veto powers and special conflict mediators.

Deutsche Welle, 16 June 2015

The 14-member commission comprising numerous ex-foreign ministers issued adamant calls for UN reform on Tuesday. Co-chairman Ibrahim Gambari of Nigeria cited what he called a "crisis in global governance."

Albright, a former US secretary of state Albright, warned that continuing failure within the world body "risks prolonging and deepening" global crises.

The panel said a cadre of experience UN mediators should be created to better handle conflicts.

And, it recommended the transformation of the UN Peacekeeping Commission into a better financed "Peace-building Council."

It said an expanded World Court was needed alongside a new UN Global Partnership to push issues such as women's rights, migration, and job training.

Re-think Security Council urges panel

Veto at UN "unfair," says Gambari

Without going into detail, the panel called for an expanded UN Security Council and a new voting mechanism to replace the existing full-blown veto often exercised by former Cold War powers.

Gambari, who is a UN undersecretary for political affairs, said the existing veto exercised by five former Cold War powers was widely perceived as "unfair" by nations outside the 15-member council. Russia and China, for example, have often blocked action on Syria, sought by the US and its allies.

21st-century threats must be "grappled" in new ways by world leaders, Albright said.

New issues-related forums

The panel also recommended the creation of new forums to handle pressing issues such as climate change, cybersecurity and economic shocks.

New approaches needed, says Albright

Improved coordination was needed between the Group of 20 major economies and the International Monetary Fund (IMF) to prevent the spread of cross-border financial shocks.

"Our small, dense, interconnected would cannot prosper if more than a billion inhabitants fail to cross a basis threshold for a safe, dignified life," said the 158-page report.

It noted a "visible increase" in mass atrocities in various countries that had "reversed" the trends that had begun with the end of the Cold War.

"We want to really build a global constituency in favor of a change," said Gambari.

Groundwork for 21st century

The report lays the groundwork for changes over the next five years, with decisions to be made at a World Conference on Global Institutions in 2020.

Its release coincides with the 70th anniversary of the world body and precedes a gathering in September of world leaders to discuss new goals to reduce poverty.

The reform panel includes six former foreign ministers from Brazil, Canada, India, Japan, the Netherlands and Tanzania.

ipj/jil (AP, AFP)

Pope hails Iran accord, urges end to 'absurd violence' in Easter message

Yahoo – AFP, Jean-Louis De La Vaissiere, 5 April 2015

Pope Francis speaks from the central loggia of St Peters' basilica during the

 "Urbi et Orbi" blessing for Rome and the world following the Easter Mass in the

Vatican on April 5, 2015 (AFP Photo/Filippo Monteforte)

Vatican City (AFP) - Pope Francis appealed Sunday for an end to "absurd violence" in hotspots around the world and said the international community must not stand by in the face of the "immense humanitarian tragedy" in Syria and Iraq.

In his traditional Easter message, the 78-year-old pontiff said he was praying for those killed in armed conflict, including the students massacred by Somali gunmen at a university in Kenya.

Tens of thousands of pilgrims huddled under a sea of umbrellas in a rain-soaked St Peter's Square to hear the pope deliver his "Urbi et Orbi" (To the City and World) blessing, broadcast live to dozens of countries.

Pope Francis greets the crowd from the

 popemobile after the Easter Mass at

 St Peter's square in the Vatican on

April 5, 2015 (AFP Photo/Gabriel Bouys)

In his third Easter message since his election as pope in 2013, the head of the world's 1.2 billion Catholics prayed "for peace, above all, for Syria and Iraq, that the roar of arms may cease".

He called on the international community to "not stand by before the immense humanitarian tragedy unfolding in these countries and the drama of the numerous refugees" created by the two conflicts.

He also prayed for the victims of Thursday's attack in Kenya that left 148 people dead, with survivors sayng the militants spared Muslim students but taunted Christian and Jewish students before killing them.

"I think in particular of the young people who were killed last Thursday at Garissa University College in Kenya," he said.

Earlier Francis greeted pilgrims personally as he rode through the flower-bedecked square aboard his open Popemobile after presiding over Easter mass.

The most important and joyous moment of the Catholic calendar, Easter celebrates the day when Christians believe Jesus rose from the dead.

Pope Francis greets the crowd from 

the popemobile after the Easter Mass 

at the Vatican on April 5, 2015 (AFP

Photo/Filippo Monteforte)

Speaking from the balcony of St Peter's Basilica, Francis also said the framework nuclear accord reached Thursday between Iran and six major world powers inspired hope for "a definitive step toward a more secure and fraternal world".

The Argentine pope pleaded for "absurd bloodshed and all barbarous acts of violence" in Libya to be halted, and voiced his "desire for peace, for the good of the entire people" in war-battered Yemen and Ukraine.

Without referring to a particular hotspot, Francis said: "Those who bear within them God's power, his love and his justice, do not need to employ violence."

Be 'respectful, ready to help'

He prayed for "all who have been kidnapped, and for those forced to abandon their homes and their dear ones" in armed conflict and attacks by extremists in Nigeria and South Sudan as well as parts of Sudan and the Democratic Republic of Congo.

In addition, he urged "peace and freedom for the many men and women subject to old and new forms of enslavement on the part of criminal individuals and groups (and) for the victims of drug dealers... And we ask peace for this world subjected to arms dealers."

Pope Francis greets the crowd from

 the popemobile after the Easter Mass

 at the Vatican on April 5, 2015 (AFP

Photo/Filippo Monteforte)

Francis also sounded his trademark appeal to the rich and powerful to care for the world's poor and downtrodden, saying: "The world proposes that we put ourselves forward at all costs, that we compete."

Instead, Christians should "seek to live in service to one another, not to be arrogant, but rather respectful and ready to help," he said.

Sunday's Easter observances capped a long and demanding Holy Week that left Francis at times appearing tired.

On Friday he presided over the traditional Via Crucis (Way of the Cross) procession at Rome's Colosseum evoking the last hours of Jesus's life.

The day before Francis celebrated two masses -- one for priests, and the other at Rome's Rebibbia prison, where he washed the feet of 10 inmates symbolically evoking Christ's humility -- a theme he took up again on Sunday.

"To enter into the mystery, we need to 'bend down', to abase ourselves," Francis said.

Related Article:

Obama hopes to sway skeptics with "good" Iran deal

Reconstruction funds pledged for Gaza

Pledges for the reconstruction of Gaza have been made at an international meeting in Cairo. There were also renewed calls for peace talks between Israel and the Palestinians.

Deutsche Welle, 12 Oct 2014

Thirty international envoys gathered in Cairo on Sunday to discuss reconstruction of the Gaza strip. Some 18,000 homes in Gaza together with major parts of the territory's infrastructure were destroyed in the seven-week conflict with Israel this summer. The Palestinians have put the full cost of reconstruction at about $4 billion (3.16 billion euros) over three years.

"The state of Qatar announces its participation with an amount of $1 billion for the reconstruction of Gaza," Qatari Foreign Minister Khaled al-Attiya said at the meeting.

US Secretary of State John Kerry announced $212 million in US aid to Palestinians in the Gaza Strip. "The people of Gaza do need our help, desperately, not tomorrow, not next week, they need it now," Kerry told the meeting.

European Union member states will contribute a total of 450 million euros ($568 million) to Gaza, the bloc's foreign policy chief Catherine Ashton said. Foreign Minister Frank-Walter Steinmeier announced Germany is to contribute 50 million euros to reconstruction efforts in Gaza: "We can't allow the people in Gaza to sink into despair," he said in a statement.

Britain is to provide $32 million for reconstruction according to the country's ambassador in Cairo.

Palestinians put the cost of reconstruction
at about $4 billion

Israel was not invited to the conference but Foreign Minister Avigdor Lieberman said any effort would need his government's consent: "Gaza cannot be rebuilt without the cooperation and participation of Israel," Lieberman told the Ynet news service. He added that Israel would be "receptive" to plans for "the reconstruction of civilian infrastructure in Gaza."

Renewed peace calls

At the conference on Sunday there were also renewed calls for a peace process between the Palestinians and Israel.

"Out of this conference must come not just money but a renewed commitment from everybody to work for peace that meets the aspirations of all, for Israelis, for Palestinians for all people of this region," Kerry said. "And I promise you the full commitment of president Obama, myself and the United States to try to do that."

Egypt renewed its call for a wider Middle East peace deal based on a 2002 initiative proposed by Saudi Arabia, offering full recognition of the Jewish state, if it gave up all land seized in the 1967 Middle East war and agreed to a "just solution" for Palestinian refugees.

Palestinian leader Mahmoud Abbas also said the 2002 Arab plan could be the framework for a new comprehensive approach to the Palestinian-Israeli conflict.

Israel has previously rejected this initiative.

jm/rc (Reuters, AFP)

US Secretary of State John Kerry (L) greets Palestinian Authority President

 Mahmud Abbas (C) at Andalus Villa in Cairo on October 12, 2014, on the

sidelines of the Gaza Donor Conference (AFP Photo/Carolyn Kaster)

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Turkey pushes for more than 'dropping tons of bombs' on IS

Yahoo – AFP, Burak Akinci, Oct 1, 2014

Turkey's President Recep Tayyip Erdogan (C) addresses the Turkish parliament

 in Ankara after it reconvened following the summer recess on October 1, 2014

(AFP Photo/Adem Altan)

Ankara (AFP) - Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdogan pressed the West on Wednesday to find a long-term solution to the crises in Syria and Iraq, saying dropping "tons of bombs" on Islamic State militants would only provide temporary respite.

Erdogan has pushed for the ousting of President Bashar al-Assad throughout the Syria crisis to settle the conflict and said that international action had to go well beyond air strikes.

"Dropping tons of bombs from the air is only a temporary solution and only delays the threats and the danger," Erdogan told parliament in a keynote address on the opening day of its new session.

A Syrian Kurd arrives in the southeastern

 town of Suruc in the Sanliurfa province

 after crossing the border into Turkey on

October 1, 2014 (AFP Photo/Bulent Kilic)

"The world should know that Turkey is not a country that will allow itself to be used in the search for a palliative solution," he added.

Erdogan's comments came a day ahead of a debate in parliament when the government will seek authorisation for military action by Turkish armed forces in the Syria and Iraq crises.

After months of reticence in the fight against IS that exasperated the West, Turkey has now shifted its policy and indicated it is willing to join the international coalition.

Ankara has not yet indicated what form its assistance could take although Erdogan has repeatedly called for a buffer zone on the Turkish border inside Syria -- backed by a no-fly zone -- to ensure security.

"Turkey has no intention of intervening in any country's internal affairs or grabbing any other country's land," Erdogan told parliament.

"But peace and stability in the region means peace and stability in Turkey," he added.

Parliament urged to back measures

According to the Hurriyet daily, quoting sources in Turkey's central command, the request seeks permission from parliament for the presence and transit of foreign soldiers in Turkish territory and deployment of Turkish military forces to Iraq or Syria.

The armed forces want to allow Turkey's allies the use of Turkish bases for humanitarian aid and logistical support, including the Incirlik air base which the US is keen to use for sorties against IS, it said.

But is for the government to determine the terms and conditions under which the bases, including Incirlik, can be used, Hurriyet said.

The ruling Justice and Development Party (AKP) has a strong majority in parliament but Erdogan called on the opposition to also vote for the mandate.

"Parties in parliament should take this into consideration when voting for the mandate," Erdogan said.

Turkey's President Recep Tayyip Erdogan (C) addresses the Turkish Parliament 

during a debate as the Parliament reconvenes after a summer recess in Ankara, 

October 1, 2014 (AFP Photo/Adem Altan)

"Remaining silent means betraying our history."

Turkey has been accused of playing a role in the growth of IS with its past support of Islamist Syrian groups in the hope they would aid the ousting of Assad.

But Erdogan angrily lashed out at suggestions of collusion between Turkey and IS.

"It is out of the question to tolerate or to have the slightest sympathy on our territory, region or planet for such a terrorist group," he said.

Ankara has previously justified its low-key role in the fight against IS by saying its hands were tied by concerns over the fate of dozens of Turkish hostages abducted by IS in Iraq.

But those hostages were freed September 20, prompting what Erdogan has acknowledged as a major change in Turkish policy.

Related Article:

Russia, West unite against 'Islamic State' terrorists

International arms trade treaty gains momentum

As the 50th country is expected to ratify the international arms trade treaty, the treaty will finally enter into force 90 days later. Amnesty International's Rasha Abul-Rahim explains the treaty's global significance.

Deutsche Welle, 25 Sep 2014

The Arms Trade Treaty (ATT) is the first-ever United Nations treaty that regulates the international arms trade. It's aimed at halting the flow of weapons to countries that are known to use them to commit or facilitate serious human rights abuses.

Along with other groups, Amnesty International has been campaigning for this treaty for more than two decades.

DW: What exactly does this arms trade treaty regulate, and who will control whether arms trading will happen according to the treaty?

Rasha Abdul-Rahim: The treaty regulates a series of conventional weapons that include things like small arms and light weapons, ammunition, explosives, bombs, missiles, tanks, military vehicles, military aircraft, naval ships, et cetera. Under the terms of the treaty, the onus is on the governments to control these weapons and to assess the risk that transferring the arms, the ammunition or the components to another country could be used for serious human rights violations or violations of international humanitarian law.

The treaty asks states to establish and maintain effective national control systems to control the export, the import, the transit of arms. States are also asked to maintain a national control list which they share with other states that are party to the treaty. On the other part of the treaty, states are actually obliged to report annually on their arms exports.

Abdul-Rahim says the treaty will
be a giant leap forward

For Amnesty International, the most important provision of the treaty is the one to do with human rights. There's a prohibition that states are not allowed to transfer arms if they will be used for serious crimes, like war crimes, crimes against humanity, genocide, and the like. The second part is more of a risk assessment - the states have to conduct a risk assessment to assess whether there's a substantial risk that the arms they're transferring to another country could be used for serious human rights abuses.

When we look at the current situation in Iraq, where there's talk about supplying Kurdish fighters with weapons, how can it be ensured that such arms are not used to commit human rights violations?

Amnesty International is calling for a more preventive approach and strict safeguards to mitigate and remove the substantial risk of arms being used. So before there's any chance that military equipment is authorized, we're asking governments to use concrete, enforceable, transparent and verifiable mechanisms to make sure that the military equipment being supplied isn't likely to be misused, or diverted and then misused. That's really to prevent the people on the ground and prevent serious human rights violations from occurring.

That sounds very theoretical, given that many countries have not signed or will certainly not ratify this agreement, like for instance Syria. Won't arms and equipment continue to be sold to these countries, whether legally or illegally?

To tackle the illicit trade, we first need to control the legal and legitimate trade - most of the weapons that end up in the illegal trade start in the authorized trade. To reduce the risk of diversion for unauthorized uses, and to minimize the risk of loopholes and weaknesses being exploited by unscrupulous arms dealers, we need a global treaty like an arms trade treaty with strong human rights protections and we need that treaty to be effectively implemented.

What difference will it make for people on the ground - who are now victims of conflict - that this treaty will now come into effect this December?

If the treaty is implemented effectively, it could help stop irresponsible arms flows from fueling serious violations that we're seeing in places like Syria and Iraq. It's about making a real difference to people's lives by stopping arms from going to places where they're used for atrocities.

No one is saying the treaty is a panacea. But if it's effectively and robustly implemented, it'll be a giant leap forward in making sure there's greater protection for the hundreds of millions of people whose lives and livelihoods are affected by this.

Of course, we want more states to ratify and effectively implement the ATT, but there's already real international momentum building behind this. It's important, obviously, that the world's largest arms-exporting countries are part of the treaty. But it's also important to stress that over half of all [the world's] states have already signed the ATT, and over a quarter have ratified it in a little over a year - which is really a fast pace for such a global treaty.

So if civil society keeps pushing, the most skeptical states will join the treaty eventually. Five of the top ten arms-exporting states have already ratified the treaty - including the UK, Germany, France, Italy and Spain.

What about the United States?

We're often [told], well the US will never ratify. That may be the case, because there's a huge pro-gun lobby inside the US. But, for example, in January 2014, the US issued a new policy directive on conventional arms sales, and that was the first one since the mid-90s. Basically the directive pledges not to export arms where there's a likelihood that the weapons transferred will be likely to be used for genocide or other atrocities, or will be used to violate human rights law or international humanitarian law. This is a positive development and an indication that the US could ratify in the future.

If you look at the mine ban convention that came into force in 1999 - the US had not signed it. But in June 2014, the Obama administration announced the US would no longer produce anti-personnel landmines, or acquire new ones. The US also said it was diligently pursuing other policies that would allow it to agree to the landmine treaty. This is more than 15 years after the treaty came into force. Just the other day (22.09.2014), the US pledged to destroy existing stockpiles of anti-personnel landmines outside the Korean Peninsula. So the arms trade treaty will have an effect, even if it takes a long time.

Rasha Abdul-Rahim is an expert on arms control, security, trade and human rights with Amnesty International in London.

At West Point, SBY Stresses Importance of Soft Power and Politics

Jakarta Globe, Bastiaan Scherpen, Sep 23, 2014

Presiden Susilo Bambang Yudhoyono waving to reporters at Halim Perdanakusuma
International Airport in Jakarta. (Antara Photo/Prasetyo Utomo)

Jakarta. President Susilo Bambang Yudhoyono in a speech at the elite US military academy at West Point said that in a world that is “witnessing the emergence of the geopolitics of emotions,” soft power remains crucial in defeating terrorist movements like Islamic State.

“Once ISIS [Islamic State in Iraq and Syria] can be defeated militarily, we will urgently need to come up with subsequent measures to ensure that future generations will not take up their diabolical cause again,” Yudhoyono said on Monday in the United States, according to the Indonesian presidential website. “This is not the task of militaries but the task of politicians, diplomats, religious leaders and civil society.”

The US military and its allies on Monday night started bombing IS targets in Syria, the US Department of Defense announced on Tuesday. A news release said Bahrain, Jordan, Saudi Arabia, Qatar and the United Arab Emirates “participated in or supported” the airstrikes, part of US President Barack Obama’s “comprehensive strategy to degrade and ultimately defeat” IS.

Addressing the role of the military in a changing world, Yudhoyono, himself a retired four-star general, argued that it is much more difficult to end a war than to start one. “This is where politics and effective diplomacy are much needed, based on the strong commitment by world political leaders to select political and diplomatic options in pursuing their national interests,” he said.

Citing the successes of his own administration in ending decades of conflict in Aceh and achieving peaceful reconciliation with Timor-Leste after decades of Indonesian occupation, the president stressed the importance of strong political will and confidence-building measures between nations.

Strong inter-military relations are also important in preventing conflict, Yudhoyono said, because “if relations between the military and the relations between business and economic actors are strong, then the politicians will think twice before declaring war.”

“In the case of the United States, which is a super power, your country shares a great responsibility to help create a peaceful, just and prosperous world,” the president told the American cadets. “The world has high hope on your country’s leadership — a leadership that is constructive, wise, and beneficial to all nations.”

The United States is one stop on the longest overseas trip of Yudhoyono’s presidency, which ends when President-elect Joko Widodo is inaugurated on Oct. 20. Yudhoyono visited Portugal before crossing the Atlantic and will fly to Japan after attending the 69th United Nations General Assembly and the 2014 UN Climate Summit.

Qatar-Gulf deal forces expulsion of Muslim Brotherhood leaders

Move comes under heavy pressure from Saudi Arabia, UAE and other neighbours, with threat posed by Isis used as lever

theguardian.com, Ian Black, Middle East editor, Tuesday 16 September 2014

The Qatari capital, Doha, is is seen by the Egyptian government and its conservative
Gulf backers as a centre of subversive Islamist activity. Photograph: Rex Features

Qatar has pledged to expel exiled leaders of Egypt's Muslim Brotherhood as one of the conditions of an agreement forced on the wealthy Gulf state by Saudi Arabia, the United Arab Emirates and other neighbours.

In a move that reflects shifting political alignments in a deeply divided Middle East, seven senior Brotherhood figures were ordered at the weekend to leave Doha, which is seen by the Egyptian government and its conservative Gulf backers as a centre of subversive Islamist activity. They include its acting leader, Mahmoud Hussein, and two other senior colleagues.

Qatar also agreed to stop attacking Egypt in al-Jazeera broadcasts. The TV network is based in Doha and is seen across the region as a reflecting the emirate's policies and preferences.

The conditions were part of an agreement signed in Riyadh in November 2013 and designed to patch up an angry quarrel in which Qatar was blamed for backing the Brotherhood in Egypt and Islamist groups from the neighbouring UAE to Libya. It has never been made public, and until recently had not been implemented.

Fears about the threat from Islamic State (Isis) in Iraq and Syria helped to convince Qatar to back down, diplomats said.

Turkish media reported that the country's president, Recep Tayep Erdoğan, had extended a welcome to the exiled leaders. Amr Darrag, the Brotherhoods's foreign relations officer, has already arrived in Turkey, according to al-Jazeera Turk. Gamal Abdul Sattar, the former deputy head of Egypt's religious affairs directorate, was planning to move to Istanbul, it said.

For the last four years Qatar and Turkey have been the chief backers of the Islamist movements that flourished during the Arab spring uprisings only to experience crushing defeat in Egypt when the Brotherhood's democratically-elected president Mohammed Morsi was overthrown by the army. Morsi's fall was openly supported by the other Gulf states and implicitly backed by the west. Under his successor, Abdel-Fatah al-Sisi, hundreds of Brotherhood supporters have been killed or imprisoned and the group has been outlawed as a terrorist organisation.

The departure of the Egyptian Brotherhood leaders from Doha was announced at the weekend and described as intended to spare Qatar embarrassment.

Details of the Riyadh deal, revealed by Gulf sources, underline the heavy pressure brought to bear. In March, in one of the worst spats the region has seen in recent years, Saudi Arabia, the UAE and Bahrain all withdrew their ambassadors from Doha. Kuwait and Oman, the other two members of the Gulf Co-operation Council (GCC), are less hawkish. Riyadh tried to impose new conditions, including the closure of US thinktanks based in Doha. "The Saudis wanted to go beyond the original agreement and dictate to the Qataris, and the Qataris said no," said a well-placed Arab source.

Palestinian sources denied reports on Tuesday that the Hamas leader, Khaled Meshal, had also been asked to leave Doha. Qatar has played an important role backing the group, which is linked to but distinct from the Muslim Brotherhood. Israel has attacked Qatar in recent weeks for its support for Hamas. Doha has also been under fire for alleged links with Isis, which it has flatly denied. Like Saudi Arabia, it backed Islamist groups in Syria, some of which morphed over time into Isis.

Pressure on Qatar to implement the Riyadh agreement peaked in late August, when the Saudi foreign minister, interior minister and intelligence chief visited Doha. On 6 September, Qatar was given one further week to begin implementation.

"The Qataris have been forced into a situation where they have had to step back," said Michael Stephens of the Doha office of the Royal United Services Institution. "They tried as best they could to maintain their foreign policy without interference from other parties, but they were always going to have to make some kind of compromise. I am only suprised it has taken so long.

"This is a big deal in terms of understanding the balance of power in the Gulf. There's definitely a sense that they have to give some ground, that they can't just be this maverick state with its fingers in so many pies in the region."

Qatar has signalled that it will continue to support the Brotherhood more discreetly, while backing Gulf-wide efforts to fight Isis.

Emir assures Merkel: Qatar has never supported 'IS' militants

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