A UAE minister says Emirates sought ‘fundamental change and restructuring’ and not shutting down Al Jazeera.

Media watchdogs, human rights groups and prominent commentators have condemned the demand to close Al Jazeera [Sorin Furcoi/Al Jazeera]

by Al Jazeera

Saudi Arabia and three other Arab countries that have imposed a political and economic blockade on Qatar are to drop their demand that the Al Jazeera Media Network be shut down.

Saudi Arabia, the United Arab Emirates, Bahrain and Egypt imposed a land, sea and air blockade on Qatar on June 5.

The anti-Doha quartet then issued a 13-point list of demands that included shutting down Al Jazeera Media Network, severing all ties with the Muslim Brotherhood and with other groups, including Hezbollah, al-Qaeda and ISIL (also known as ISIS), limiting Qatar’s ties with Iran and expelling Turkish troops stationed in the country.

In an interview published by The Times newspaper on Wednesday, Noura al-Kaabi, the UAE minister for the federal national council, said the Emirates sought “fundamental change and restructuring” of Al Jazeera rather than to shut it.

“The staff at the channel can keep their jobs and Qatar can still fund a TV channel but not one which provides a platform for extremists and where the English channel is a protective shield for the much more radical Arabic one,” Kaabi told The Times.

She also said that the Saudi-led group was ready to negotiate with Qatar.

“We need a diplomatic solution. We are not looking for an escalation.”

The group previously called the list of demands “non-negotiable”.

In response to the concessions expressed by the UAE minister, Al Jazeera Media Network rejected outside intervention.

“Al Jazeera Media Network rejects any external intervention pertaining to its organisational structure or journalistic mission, and reiterates its independence & professional editorial stance,” the Network said in a statement.

“Al Jazeera continues to stand by journalists and media institutions globally for their right to practise journalism without fear or intimidation. One of the cornerstones of free media is ensuring its ability to operate independently, without interference or censorship from governments or any other party.

“Over the past 20 years, Al Jazeera has demonstrated its editorial independence and refusal to bow down to pressures from anyone, serving as a testament to our commitment to the universal values of journalism.

“It’s clear that recent attempts by governments in the region and elsewhere to throttle the independence of the media is being met by condemnation by all international media institutions, with an urgent demand for an end to interference, intimidation, and threats.

Press freedom and human rights advocates, journalists and social media users from all over the world condemned the demand by the Saudi-led group to shut down Al Jazeera and other media outlets in Qatar, calling it “unacceptable”.

“We are really worried about the implication and consequences of such requirements if they will ever be implemented,” Alexandra El Khazen, head of the Middle East and North Africa desk at Reporters Without Borders, said last month.

Sarah Leah Whitson, executive director of the Middle East and North Africa Division at Human Rights Watch, called the Saudi-led group’s demand “absurd”.

“This is just an attempted expansion of the cowardly censorship they have inflicted on their own citizens, but it will fail,” said Whitson.

The Guardian newspaper, in an editorial published last month, said the demand was “wrong”, “ridiculous” and “must be resisted”, joining the growing chorus of voices raising concerns about suppression of press freedom in the Gulf.

Republican says Saudi crown prince may have made ‘rookie mistake’ over Qatar blockade, as diplomatic efforts continue.

Corker has previously threatened to block US arms sales to the GCC until there was a clear path for settling the dispute [AFP]

by Al Jazeera

An influential US Republican senator has criticised the Saudi Crown Prince, Mohammed bin Salman, over a blockade on Qatar by the kingdom and three other Arab states.

The comments by Bob Corker, chairman of the US Senate Foreign Relations Committee, came as tensions in the region continue over the crisis, with US Secretary of State Rex Tillerson expected to make an unscheduled stop in Doha on Thursday.

“The amount of support for terrorism by Saudi Arabia dwarfs what Qatar is doing,” Corker said on Wednesday.

Saudi Arabia, the United Arab Emirates (UAE), Bahrain and Egypt cut ties with Qatar on June 5 and imposed a land, air and sea blockade on the country.

The quartet accuse Qatar of funding “terrorism”, an accusation Qatar rejects as “baseless”.

Corker said he was “really disappointed to see what Saudi Arabia did after having a great summit and bringing everybody together”, referring to May’s Riyadh conference that saw leaders of the GCC and other Arab states meet US President Donald Trump.

“I think this is quite possibly a rookie mistake by a crown prince who I think could be the future for Saudi Arabia,” Corker added.

The Tennessee senator made the comments while addressing the former US ambassador to Israel during a legislative committee hearing.

Al Jazeera’s Heidi Zhou-Castro, reporting from Washington, DC, said the Saudi crown prince is “widely seen as among the blockade’s chief architects and a chief organiser of the alliance behind it”.

She said that Corker has been among the blockade’s strongest US critics, adding that the senator has threatened to block weapons sales to members of the GCC until there was a clear path for settling the dispute.

Andreas Krieg, an assistant professor at King’s College London, told Al Jazeera that Corker’s comments are a lot to take in for the Saudi-led group.

“Saudi Arabia actually thought they had the Trump administration, especially the Republicans, on their side,” Krieg said. “That’s why they escalated so quickly and now they realise they actually don’t and the Trump administration has actually rolled back from earlier comments, and that is quite something to swallow for the UAE and Saudi Arabia.”

Tillerson’s Gulf visit

Corker’s comments came as Tillerson wrapped up the third leg of his four-day trip to the Gulf aimed at helping solve the GCC crisis.

Having shuttled between Kuwait, Qatar and Saudi Arabia in an effort to help solve the GCC crisis, Tillerson is set to make an unexpected return to Doha on Thursday before returning to the United States.

On Wednesday, Tillerson met the Saudi king, crown prince and his counterparts from the Saudi-led quartet.

The Jeddah visit followed meetings in Doha with the Qatari emir and foreign minister on Tuesday.

Tillerson told reporters that the Qatari government had “reasonable” views during the crisis.

“I think Qatar has been quite clear in its positions, and I think those have been very reasonable,” he said.

Tillerson and the Qatari foreign minister also announced that the US and Qatar had signed an agreement on combating “terrorism” and its financing during the visit.

Foreign Minister Sheikh Mohammed bin Abdulrahman Al Thani said the memorandum of understanding was not related to the current dispute.

But Saudi Arabia, Egypt, Bahrain and the UAE called the agreement “insufficient” and the result of “repeated calls” from the Saudi-led group over the past few years.

Rights group calls for investigation into whether war crimes were committed in the battle to retake the city from ISIL.

More than 890,000 people were displaced due to fighting in Mosul [Felipe Dana/AP]

Amnesty International has said it had identified a pattern of attacks by Iraqi forces and the US-led military coalition backing them that violated international humanitarian law and may amount to war crimes.

It also said that ISIL fighters flagrantly violated that same law by deliberately putting civilians in harm’s way to shield its fighters and impede the advance of Iraqi and coalition forces.

In a report published a day after the Iraqi forces declared victory in city, the human rights watchdog called for a thorough investigation into whether war crimes were committed in the battle for the city.

Iraqi Prime Minister Haider al-Abadi formally declared victory in Mosul on Monday, three years after the Islamic State of Iraq and the Levant (ISIL, also known as ISIS) group seized the city.

With air support from the US-led coalition, Iraqi forces launched the battle for Mosul in October, retaking the eastern part of the city in January and starting the operation for its western part the next month.

‘Disproportionate attacks’

Amnesty said Iraqi forces and the coalition carried out a series of unlawful attacks in west Mosul, relying heavily on Improvised Rocket Assisted Munitions (IRAMs), explosive weapons with crude targeting capabilities that wreaked havoc in densely populated areas.

“Even in attacks that seem to have struck their intended military target, the use of unsuitable weapons or failure to take other necessary precautions resulted in needless loss of civilian lives and in some cases appears to have constituted disproportionate attacks,” the report said.

Amnesty also slammed ISIL for a host of crimes that have been documented previously.

According to the report, ISIL fighters rounded up residents in contested villages and neighbourhoods and forced them to move into conflict zones in west Mosul for use as human shields. As clashes neared, they trapped the civilians inside houses without access to food or medical care, it said.

Amnesty acknowledged the challenges of protecting civilians given ISIL tactics, but blamed Iraqi authorities and the US-led coalition for failing to take feasible precautions to protect civilians from air strikes. It said leaflet drops warning of attacks had been virtually useless because ISIL heavily restricted civilian movement.

Neither the Iraqi defence ministry nor coalition officials were immediately available to comment on the Amnesty report.

Chatham House fellow Renad Mansou told Al Jazeera that while “war crimes have certainly” been committed by all sides in Mosul, the extent remains to be unknown.

“The question is whether the Iraqi goverment will be able to address the human right violations,” he said from London.

‘Hell on earth’

Also on Tuesday, UN human rights chief Zeid Ra’ad Al Hussein called for accountability and dialogue to heal the trauma of Mosul in the aftermath of the nearly nine-month long battle.

“The women, children and men of Mosul have lived through hell on earth, enduring a level of depravity and cruelty that is almost beyond words,” Zeid said.

The UN high commissioner demanded that the offenders be brought to justice and all violations thoroughly probed. He also urged Iraq to join the International Criminal Court (ICC).

“The root causes of violence and conflict in Iraq need to be addressed in terms of human rights violations suffered by all communities in the country over several decades. Only then can secure foundations be laid for the lasting peace that the Iraqi people deserve,” Zeid said.

He added that “ISIL forced tens of thousands of people from their homes in and around the city and used them as human shields, a war crime under international humanitarian law and a violation of the most basic standards of human dignity and morality”.

The UN said on Monday there was no end in sight to Iraq’s humanitarian crisis.

Of the more than 897,000 people displaced from Mosul, the UN said thousands of residents will probably not be able to return to the city because of “extensive damage caused during the conflict”.

US secretary of state, while visiting Doha, says Qatar’s views in Gulf crisis have been clear and ‘very reasonable’.

Tillerson met with Qatar’s Foreign Minister Sheikh Mohammed bin Abdulrahman al-Thani in Doha [Tom Finn/Reuters]

by Al Jazeera

US Secretary of State Rex Tillerson told reporters in Doha that the Qatari government had “reasonable” views in the month-old diplomatic crisis with Arab neighbours.

“I think Qatar has been quite clear in its positions, and I think those have been very reasonable,” Tillerson said after his arrival in Doha on Tuesday.

The quartet accuse Qatar of funding “terrorism”, an accusation Qatar rejects as “baseless”.

Tillerson is holding talks with Qatar’s emir and foreign minister on the second leg of his four-day trip to the Gulf to help seek a resolution to the crisis.

The US State Department said Tillerson would first meet with Emir Sheikh Tamim bin Hamad Al Thani, before holding talks with Foreign Minister Sheikh Mohammed bin Abdulrahman Al Thani.

The visit to Doha follows a meeting with the Emir of Kuwait, Sheikh Sabah al-Ahmad al-Sabah and other senior Kuwaiti officials on Monday.

“We are trying to resolve an issue that concerns not just us but the whole world,” Sheikh Sabah told Tillerson.

US officials said Tillerson does not expect an immediate breakthrough, which they warned could be months away.

Rather, they said, he wants to explore possibilities for sparking negotiations.

Saudi Arabia, the United Arab Emirates, Bahrain and Egypt cut ties with Qatar on June 5 and imposed a land, air and sea blockade on the country.

On June 22, they issued a 13-point list of demands, including the shutdown of Al Jazeera, limiting ties with Iran and expelling Turkish troops stationed in the country, as a prerequisite to lift the sanctions.

Doha rejected the demands and the countries now consider the list “null and void”.

Kuwait is still trying to mediate the dispute.

The US has been supporting Kuwait’s mediation efforts, but Tillerson’s trip marks a new level of US involvement.

Al Jazeera’s Rosiland Jordan, reporting from Kuwait City, said Tillerson was basically visiting each side to “take the temperature in this dispute”.

“After some initial missteps from the White House, in which the president seemed to take sides with the Saudis and their allegations, the US’ position now is to try to shore up the Kuwait efforts to mediate the crisis and to try to bring some presure from Washington, if it’s appropiate,” she said.

Senior Tillerson adviser R.C. Hammond said the package of demands, as issued by Qatar’s neighbours, was not viable, but said there were individual items on the list “that could work”.

Hammond would not elaborate on which demands Qatar could meet, but said concessions from the others would be required.

“This is a two-way street,” he said of a dispute among parties who each have been accused of funding “extremists” in some way. “There are no clean hands.”

First meeting between Trump and Putin wrapped up with the announcement of a truce deal covering southwestern Syria.

The deal was reached during Trump and Putin’s meeting in Hamburg [Reuters]

by Al Jazeera

Russian President Vladimir Putin and his US counterpart Donald Trump have agreed on a ceasefire deal covering southwestern Syria, during talks at the G20 summit, officials from both countries said.

The deal was reached during the two leaders’ meeting in Hamburg on Friday on the sidelines of the G20 summit of industrialised and developing nations.

“Russian, American and Jordanian experts … agreed on a memorandum of understanding to create a de-escalation zone” in the regions of Daraa, Quneitra and Suweida, Russian Foreign Minister Sergei Lavrov said on Friday.

“There will be a ceasefire in this zone from midday Damascus time [9:00 GMT] on July 9,” he added.

US Secretary of State Rex Tillerson confirmed the agreement, saying that it showed that the US and Russia were able to work together in Syria and that they would continue to do so.

“We had a very lengthy discussion regarding other areas in Syria that we can continue to work together on to de-escalate the areas and the violence, once we defeat ISIS,” he said, using an acronym for the Islamic State of Iraq and the Levant (ISIL) group.

‘Resident feel unsafe’

Previous ceasefires in Syria have collapsed or failed to reduce violence for long, and it was unclear whether this deal would fare any better.

Al Jazeera’s Natasha Ghoneim, reporting from Gaziantep, Turkey, said that despite such announcements of ceasefires, fighting continues and residents feel unsafe.

“This week there were peace talks in Astana and ahead of those talks, a ceasefire was announced, but in the west of the country, rebels are in a fierce battle with the Syrian forces who are trying to regain control and along the southern border there is sporadic fighting going on, the Syrian opposition is in control for the most part along the border with Jordan, but clearly fighting continues despite these ceasefires,” she said.

“We have spoken to residents in the southwest portion of Syria and they say that despite a ceasefire, they don’t feel safe and humanitarian aid doesn’t reach them.”

The Syrian conflict has killed nearly half a million people, according to the Britain-based Syrian Observatory for Human Rights, and forced millions of others to flee the country.

Russia is one of Syrian President Bashar al-Assad’s most important backers and the survival of his regime is critical to maintaining Russian interests there. The US has argued that Assad’s regime must be toppled and backs “moderate” rebels fighting Syria government forces.

Scores of Uighurs forced to flee in Cairo and Alexandria after police sweep on Beijing’s request, rights groups say.

Some 20 Uighur students from Cairo’s Al-Azhar University were arrested in Alexandria [File: AP]

by Al Jazeera

Egyptian police have detained scores of Chinese students from the Uighur ethnic minority on Beijing’s request, forcing dozens into hiding or to flee to Turkey, activists have said.

The sweep began on Tuesday when police raided two restaurants frequented by Uighur students in Cairo and detained at least 37 people, Abduweli Ayup, a Uighur activist in Turkey, told Al Jazeera on Friday.

Dozens more have been arrested since, Ayup, said, including 20 from Cairo’s Al-Azhar University who were stopped in the city of Alexandria on their way out of the country late on Wednesday.

They were told they would be deported to China, Ayup said.

“Students, especially those who study religion, are being targeted,” Ayup said. “The police are searching apartment by apartment … In Cairo, people are in hiding. They are terrified. They are afraid to go out.”

The detentions come amid reports that authorities in the Uighur homeland of Xinjiang in western China are seeking the immediate return of Uighurs studying abroad.

China blames unrest in Xinjiang, which has included bombings and vehicle and knife attacks, on exiled Uighur separatist groups.

A traditionally Muslim group, many Uighurs complain of cultural and religious repression and discrimination by China.

Forced return

Lucia Parrucci, a spokeswoman for the Unrepresented Nations and Peoples Organization advocacy group, said rights groups have moved some 60 Uighur students out of Egypt to safety in Turkey on Thursday alone.

Many of those remaining in Cairo “told us that they are afraid to sleep at home out of fear of their own arrest,” she said in an email to Al Jazeera.

Some 80 Uighur students have been arrested since the sweep began, she said.

The Chinese government has forced thousands of Uighur students abroad to return home since January 2017, she said, adding that some 90 percent of the estimated 7,000 – 8,000 Uighurs living in Egypt had returned to China.

“We have learned that many of the students have been arrested directly at the airport upon their return and sent to re-education camps. None of them have been able to see family members and no information was provided to their families about their whereabouts,” she said.

Human Rights Watch urged Egypt on Wednesday not to send Uighur detainees back to China, saying they faced “persecution and torture” there.

Sarah Leah Whitson, HRW’s Middle East director, also urged authorities to disclose the whereabouts of Uighur detainees and grant them access to lawyers.

Unverified videos shared on Twitter showed more than 70 Uighurs sitting on a floor in a government building and others being driven in a truck in handcuffs.

Ayup said rights groups lost touch with the detainees on Friday.

Abdullah, an Asian student of Islam at Al-Azhar university, told the Associated Press news agency that Uighurs were being detained in the Hay el Sabia area of Cairo’s Nasr City district. He gave only his first name for fear of reprisals.

“They’re mostly arresting the young men,” Sumaya, a Uighur woman living in Cairo, told The Middle East Eye on Thursday. “But I know of women who have been taken too, though we hide when we hear the government knocking on our door.”

A Chinese foreign ministry spokesman appeared to acknowledge on Thursday that Chinese citizens had been detained in Egypt, saying at a regular briefing that consular officials would visit them.

Geng Shuang, a foreign ministry spokesman, said that “as far as I know, China’s embassy in Egypt has sent consular officials to conduct consular visits”. He gave no further details.

The Egyptian police denied requests for comment.