West Asia News and Discussions (YEMEN, gulf)

All threads that are locked or marked for deletion will be moved to this forum. The topics will be cleared from this archive on the 1st and 16th of each month.
Locked
Lalmohan
BRF Oldie
Posts: 13257
Joined: 30 Dec 2005 18:28

Re: West Asia News and Discussions

Post by Lalmohan »

yes, with kurdistan close to being born, erdogan has to show them who's the daddy
schinnas
BRFite
Posts: 1773
Joined: 11 Jun 2009 09:44

Re: West Asia News and Discussions

Post by schinnas »

Kurds seem to follow a very moderate form of Islam with lot of freedom for females and strong preservation of ethnic and linguistic identities (not making them subservient to an pan-Islamic concept). It is good if they are socialists and encourage communist thoughts. Communism is probably one of the good neutralizers of fanatical religious bigotry.
vijaykarthik
BRFite
Posts: 1169
Joined: 11 Aug 2016 06:14

Re: West Asia News and Discussions

Post by vijaykarthik »

deejay wrote: YPG is the unofficial women's arm of PKK which is downright Communistic. One reason YPG was given prominence was because PKK is labelled as terrorists. It was easier for sympathisers to supply arms to YPG than to PKK. I did not find any mention of PKK in those Kobane standoff videos. All Kurdish videos highlighted YPG (Pronounced Oo-Pa_Ga) and YPJ (men's pronounced Oo - Pa -Ja).
I think you are conflating 2 different wings. The YPG [Kurdish: Yekîneyên Parastina Gel‎] is the armed liberation wing which is unisex. The YPJ is the armed women's wing. The YPJ gained prominence in the Kobani fight but the YPG has been around for a longer time now.
vijaykarthik
BRFite
Posts: 1169
Joined: 11 Aug 2016 06:14

Re: West Asia News and Discussions

Post by vijaykarthik »

More on PKK from what I remember, FWIW: Ocalan tried to get into a ceasefire (and did too, IIRC) and also made some headway [Turkey also accepted Kurdish as a medium of language and allowed them to use it / learn it etc?] before there was some problem. PKK is banned by lots of countries and they operate more in Iraqi Kurdistan than Syria for the perfectly adequate reason that Turkey doesn't appreciate PKK and thinks they are a threat to the region [breakup of Kurds etc]. But PKK was indeed part of the Syrian IS siege [Mt Sinjar? Perhaps Kobani too?] And I also distinctly remember Turkey making lots of noises about the HPJ units joining the YPG and helping them - (remember that about 300-500 men moved from Iraqi Kurds during the peak of IS days?)

But you are right in saying that most of the Kurds are socialists / communists / Marxists / Leninists etc. But we also need to keep in mind: if there isn't a lot of option to grow / build industries / improve technological needs etc, is any other form of government / governance possible?

I think Ocalan is also moving towards Democratic Confederation of some sort. Alteast used to earlier. Not been in track of what Ocalan has been upto for the last 1 yr or so.
deejay
Forum Moderator
Posts: 4024
Joined: 11 Aug 2016 06:14

Re: West Asia News and Discussions

Post by deejay »

vijaykarthik wrote:
deejay wrote: YPG is the unofficial women's arm of PKK which is downright Communistic. One reason YPG was given prominence was because PKK is labelled as terrorists. It was easier for sympathisers to supply arms to YPG than to PKK. I did not find any mention of PKK in those Kobane standoff videos. All Kurdish videos highlighted YPG (Pronounced Oo-Pa_Ga) and YPJ (men's pronounced Oo - Pa -Ja).
I think you are conflating 2 different wings. The YPG [Kurdish: Yekîneyên Parastina Gel‎] is the armed liberation wing which is unisex. The YPJ is the armed women's wing. The YPJ gained prominence in the Kobani fight but the YPG has been around for a longer time now.
Oops, yes I got YPJ and YPG mixed.

But here is the origin of YPG from wiki:
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/People's_Protection_Units
The People's Protection Units or People's Defense Units (Kurdish: Yekîneyên Parastina Gel‎, pronounced [jɑkinæjen pɑrɑstinɑ gæl]) (YPG) is the armed wing of the Kurdish Democratic Union Party (PYD) in Rojava.[3][4] The group is one of the Kurdish forces in Syria that had initially taken a defensive position in the Syrian Civil War,[3][5] fighting against any group that tried to take control of the Kurdish areas. Later it started to make advances into territories controlled by ISIS and inhabited mostly by Sunni Muslims, such as the border town of Tell Abyad in June 2015.[6] The group was founded by the Kurdish Democratic Union Party (PYD) after the 2004 al-Qamishli riots.[3] Following the signing of the 2012 Arbil Agreement by PYD and the Kurdish National Council (KNC), it came under the nominal command of the Kurdish Supreme Committee.
and
The YPJ[edit]
The Women's Protection Units (Women's Defense Units) are the YPG's female units. The YPJ was set up in 2012. Kurdish media have said that YPJ troops became vital in the battle against Islamic State in Kobanî.[17]
The Kurdish Democratic Party has this connection to the PKK (as mentioned in https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Democrati ... ty_(Syria)) and quoting from there
The Democratic Union Party (Kurdish: Partiya Yekîtiya Demokrat‎, PYD; Arabic: حزب الاتحاد الديمقراطي‎, Ḥizb Al-Ittiḥad Al-Dimuqraṭiy) is a Rojava political party established in 2003 by Kurdish activists[1] in northern Syria. An affiliate of the Kurdistan Workers' Party (PKK) and a founder member of the National Coordination Body for Democratic Change, it is described by the Carnegie Middle East Center as "one of the most important Kurdish opposition parties in Syria".[2] It is said to control a number of towns in northern Syria.[3] Chemical engineer Saleh Muslim became its chairman in 2010, and Asiyah Abdullah its co-chairwoman in June 2012.[2]
So the link to PKK and their left leaning is clear. YPG has been active for some time now and has fought with the FSA in the Syrian action to protect Kurdish territories.

It is interesting to note who treats PKK as terrorists and most specifically India does not treat PKK as terrorists.

Again source wiki: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Kurdistan_Workers'_Party

and I found this segment of the wiki entry intereresting:
From 1984 to 2013, the PKK waged an armed struggle against the Turkish state for cultural and political rights and self-determination for the Kurds in Turkey,[12] who comprise between 10% and 25% of the population and have been subjected to official repression[vague] for decades.[22] The group was founded in 1978 in the village of Fis (near Lice) by a group of Kurdish students led by Abdullah Öcalan.[23] The PKK's ideology was originally a fusion of revolutionary socialism and Kurdish nationalism, seeking the foundation of an independent, Marxist–Leninist state in the region, which was to be known as Kurdistan.
However, since his capture and imprisonment in 1999, the leader of the PKK, Abdullah Öcalan, has abandoned Marxism-Leninism,[24] leading the party to adopt his new political platform of "Democratic Confederalism" (influenced strongly by the libertarian socialist philosophy of communalism) while ceasing its official calls for the establishment of a fully independent country. In May 2007, former members of the PKK helped form the KCK, an umbrella organisation of Kurds from Turkey, Iran, Iraq and Syria. On 20 March 2005,[25] Öcalan described the need for a democratic confederalism and went on to say:
The democratic confederalism of Kurdistan is not a State system, it is the democratic system of a people without a State... It takes its power from the people and adopts to reach self-sufficiency in every field including the economy.
In 2013, the PKK declared a ceasefire agreement and began slowly withdrawing its fighters to the Kurdistan Region of northern Iraq as part of the so-called "solution process" between the Turkish state and the long-disenfranchised Kurdish minority.
The name 'PKK' is usually used interchangeably for the name of its armed wing, the People's Defence Force (HPG), which was formerly called the Kurdistan National Liberty Army (ARGK).[26] The PKK is listed as a terrorist organization internationally by several states and organizations, including the North Atlantic Treaty Organisation (NATO), the United States, and the European Union.[21] However countries such as India, China, Russia, Switzerland and Egypt have not accepted the PKK as a terrorist organization.[27][28][29]
In 2014, the PKK joined battles against ISIS in North Syria and Iraqi Kurdistan with 600 troops which caused politicians worldwide to reconsider the group's position as a terrorist organisation.[16][30][31][32]
Singha
BRF Oldie
Posts: 66589
Joined: 13 Aug 2004 19:42
Location: the grasshopper lies heavy

Re: West Asia News and Discussions

Post by Singha »

Est 150 people massacred in kobani and neighbouring village.

must have been a surprise attack facilitated by the turks at night.
Lalmohan
BRF Oldie
Posts: 13257
Joined: 30 Dec 2005 18:28

Re: West Asia News and Discussions

Post by Lalmohan »

The car bomb and associated gun attacks claimed a lot, plus massacre in nearby village

Interestingly the Druze are getting agitated and this might drag Israel into Syria again. Seems 30% of IDF is Druze and they ain't happy about what is happening to their birathers at the hands of isis and al nusra
disha
BR Mainsite Crew
Posts: 8423
Joined: 03 Dec 2006 04:17
Location: gaganaviharin

Re: West Asia News and Discussions

Post by disha »

Several pages and moons back, I had propounded the 'Cyst theory' - that is ISIS is like a cyst that will continue to expand. I projected (and that is due to my own biases) that the cyst will eventually expand to Kuwait and thence to Saudi Barbaria.

The cyst has progressed. Today it has crossed into Kuwait.

http://www.bbc.com/news/world-middle-east-33287136

25 killed in shia mosque bomb blast in Kuwait.

Given that the cyst is ultra-green anything less green is a target. The only discriminatory factor in choosing the target will be that the less'est of the green (or non-greens) will be first. This we have seen in Bakistan and already gamed in BRF.

Before going to Saudi Barbaria, the cyst may do the right thing and go to Bahrain, Qatar and UAE! Eventually, the cyst will take over Saudi Barbaria and create a caliphate of ISIS spanning Syria to Barbaria.
Tuvaluan
BRFite
Posts: 1816
Joined: 11 Aug 2016 06:14

Re: West Asia News and Discussions

Post by Tuvaluan »

Qatar has heavy US presence -- IS will not be allowed to make progress there. Neither will it be allowed near Bahrain (too close to Dammam)..UAE may be fair game for IS.
vijaykarthik
BRFite
Posts: 1169
Joined: 11 Aug 2016 06:14

Re: West Asia News and Discussions

Post by vijaykarthik »

IS did a couple of bombings in KSA too in the initial days. I think we are forgetting that
vijaykarthik
BRFite
Posts: 1169
Joined: 11 Aug 2016 06:14

Re: West Asia News and Discussions

Post by vijaykarthik »

BTW, this is interesting: http://www.globalsecurity.org/wmd/libra ... jin%2e1c1b

If its true, it crushes the Turkish angle and that's how the men came in.
Lalmohan
BRF Oldie
Posts: 13257
Joined: 30 Dec 2005 18:28

Re: West Asia News and Discussions

Post by Lalmohan »

Turks are playing their own game against Assad and the Kurds, more complications
Multatuli
BRFite
Posts: 612
Joined: 06 Feb 2007 06:29
Location: The Netherlands

Re: West Asia News and Discussions

Post by Multatuli »

IS kills 164 civilians in assault on Syria's Kobane

The killing spree, which took place mostly inside Kobane itself, was widely seen as vengeance for a series of defeats inflicted on the jihadists by Kurdish militia in recent weeks.

...

The assault -- in which 42 IS fighters and 10 Kurds also died -- began Thursday when three IS suicide bombers blew up vehicles at the entrances to Kobane, a symbol of Kurdish resistance.

...

"According to medical sources and Kobane residents, 120 civilians were executed by IS in their homes or killed by the group's rockets or snipers," Observatory director Rami Abdel Rahman told AFP.

http://news.yahoo.com/kills-120-civilia ... 47739.html
habal
BRF Oldie
Posts: 6922
Joined: 24 Dec 2009 18:46

Re: West Asia News and Discussions

Post by habal »

these could be turkish special forces disguised as IS. Whatever happens on the turkish border is mostly turkish doings. Nobody else is remotely interested over what goes on there.
vijaykarthik
BRFite
Posts: 1169
Joined: 11 Aug 2016 06:14

Re: West Asia News and Discussions

Post by vijaykarthik »

^ while there is no guarantee... there is a belief that the attackers came from Jarabulus... which makes it an attack from the South... the SW to nitpick. And its not as if the YPG is v good when it comes to defending their porous borders either

https://www.google.co.in/maps/dir/Koban ... 6667?hl=en

What could've happened: The fighters could have moved north / NE from Aleppo or could have moved in from Gaziantep. Lets remember that the Gaziantep is sufficiently Jihadi Islamized and a lot of the people there have joined the IS or harbor strong feelings for the IS. Mmmh

There are other possibilities too. But these seem like the obvious points of interest currently, IMO.
Bhurishrava
BRFite
Posts: 477
Joined: 11 Aug 2016 06:14

Re: West Asia News and Discussions

Post by Bhurishrava »

http://www.dailymail.co.uk/wires/reuter ... media.html
Turkey has has looked askance as Syrian Kurds have made military advances against Islamic State militants in neighbouring Syria, fearing that could lead to the creation of an automous Kurdish state there and further embolden Turkey's own 14 million-strong Kurdish minority.

"We will never allow the establishment of a state in Syria's north and our south. We will continue our fight in this regard no matter what it costs," local media quoted Erdogan as saying during a dinner late on Friday.
Mukesh.Kumar
BRFite
Posts: 1410
Joined: 06 Dec 2009 14:09

Re: West Asia News and Discussions

Post by Mukesh.Kumar »

BBC: Kuwait Shia mosque attack: Bomber 'was Saudi'

Image

The fire's spreading as Disha had remarked a few posts earlier. The strange thing is the comment from the Kuwaiti authorities that the individual who had flown into Kuwait a few hours earlier was in Kuwait illegally. The problem is that GCC citizens can travel between the countries without a passport. It's going to be hard to stop such individuals from spreading the fire to the other states.

Bad days ahead.
Last edited by Mukesh.Kumar on 28 Jun 2015 20:33, edited 1 time in total.
SSridhar
Forum Moderator
Posts: 25382
Joined: 05 May 2001 11:31
Location: Chennai

Re: West Asia News and Discussions

Post by SSridhar »

The bomber could have been a Saudi but there was local support for him in terms of logistics, suicide vest, reconnaissance etc. The Kuwaitis cannot whitewash their involvement by simply shifting the blame to a Saudi. Kuwait is an easy target for IS, just as it was for Saddam.

Bad days ahead, no doubt.
Mukesh.Kumar
BRFite
Posts: 1410
Joined: 06 Dec 2009 14:09

Re: West Asia News and Discussions

Post by Mukesh.Kumar »

SSridhar wrote:The bomber could have been a Saudi but there was local support for him in terms of logistics, suicide vest, reconnaissance etc. ....

Bad days ahead, no doubt.
True SS. What worries me is the impunity with which this happened. Disha's words seem prophetic. What prevents the next hit on Dubai? Will the terrorists keep Dubai aside considering it to be the safe haven- Pressure let off valve- financial hub of the Middle East? A few more bombs and I am sure the clamor for pulling out the WC from Qatar and Expo 2020 from DXB will start. Whatever growth is their in the region slumps- indirectly affecting Indian firms and workers invested in the region. Please remember Indian expatriate workers from GCC account for close to46%of total inbound repatriation.

Image
Lalmohan
BRF Oldie
Posts: 13257
Joined: 30 Dec 2005 18:28

Re: West Asia News and Discussions

Post by Lalmohan »

and now we hear that uk-stan's sunnis have started harassing their shia birathers in the mosques and high streets of uk-stan
let them have at it i say
RamaY
BRF Oldie
Posts: 17249
Joined: 10 Aug 2006 21:11
Location: http://bharata-bhuti.blogspot.com/

Re: West Asia News and Discussions

Post by RamaY »

Lalmohan wrote:and now we hear that uk-stan's sunnis have started harassing their shia birathers in the mosques and high streets of uk-stan
let them have at it i say
[Sri Bharat Karnad's voice] Shia Sunni fight is a spiritual discussion between two suicide bombers!

He calls Indo-Pak war is Hindu Muslim riots with Tanks
Lalmohan
BRF Oldie
Posts: 13257
Joined: 30 Dec 2005 18:28

Re: West Asia News and Discussions

Post by Lalmohan »

Well, Syrian war is football match between birathers, if u lose ball just chop another head and play on
vijaykarthik
BRFite
Posts: 1169
Joined: 11 Aug 2016 06:14

Re: West Asia News and Discussions

Post by vijaykarthik »

Looks like Erdogan is very upset that Kurds are winning everywhere in Syria and is more worried that the timing is propitious for them to start holding land --> leads to a lot of headaches with a lot of regions in question [there are perfectly reasonably reasons why Iraq / Iran / Syria and Turkey will be worried with a call for a referendum and also create an Independent Kurdish state]. Long story short: looks like there is a proposal doing the rounds as to whether there should be more overt Turkish men and material used to thwart the Kurds. Directly so the threat is negated.

It used to be that Turkey was a NATO member and so idealogically aligned with NATO interests. They still are. Which makes it interesting as to how this problem is going to be dealt with.

However, to Erdogans credit; if they like, they could create commotion even covertly which is evidently what they are doing now - and seems like it isn't helping too much. Ouch. Caught between the devil and the deep blue sea.

What happens if Turkey willingly / unwillingly moves out of NATO? Mmh...
Singha
BRF Oldie
Posts: 66589
Joined: 13 Aug 2004 19:42
Location: the grasshopper lies heavy

Re: West Asia News and Discussions

Post by Singha »

i dont think anyone in nato barring the US is willing to safeguard turkey. for various reasons the rest think turkey is in nato only due to its strategic location and not due to wealth, shared culture or ideology etc
Prem
BRF Oldie
Posts: 21234
Joined: 01 Jul 1999 11:31
Location: Weighing and Waiting 8T Yconomy

Re: West Asia News and Discussions

Post by Prem »

Turkas are upset at the victories of Kurds in Syria because Erdogan is eating up big chunk of Kurdish oil revenue. Kurdo ki Jootian owrr Kurdo Ka Sarr. Only escape for Kurdistan is to have water outlet via Syria and logic dictates Syria will help them by "leasing" corridor and wait for Kurds to change Turkish demographics in long run.
ramana
Forum Moderator
Posts: 60273
Joined: 01 Jan 1970 05:30

Re: West Asia News and Discussions

Post by ramana »

Singha wrote:i dont think anyone in nato barring the US is willing to safeguard turkey. for various reasons the rest think turkey is in nato only due to its strategic location and not due to wealth, shared culture or ideology etc

And don't want to lose Turkey to Islamist hordes again.

Istanbul is only 800 miles from Vienna.

WWII side politics was to keep Turkey neutral unlike in WWI.
Falijee
BRF Oldie
Posts: 10948
Joined: 11 Aug 2016 06:14

Re: West Asia News and Discussions

Post by Falijee »

Wikileaks Explains Saudi Check Book Diplomacy

Bush - Bin Laden Business Connections Exposed

Perspective of An Ex - RAW Chief
Two days after the disaster, when all airports in America were closed and all aircraft grounded, just one aircraft took off for Saudi Arabia. The passengers were the Saudi princes, potentates and a smattering of notables from the bin Laden family holidaying in America. Despite the magnitude of the tragedy for which George W Bush had publicly accused Al Qaeda, there was some noblesse oblige in rescuing the Saudi Royals. The escape had been organised by :wink: Prince Bandar bin Sultan, Saudi Arabia’s long serving Ambassador in the US and quite the éminence grise of successive Saudi monarchs.

But of far greater interest in India would be the US-Saudi relationship that has grown stronger with time and circumstance. The latest US-Iran negotiations may have dampened Saudi fervour but that is expected to be restored eventually. Revelations about Saudi’s relationship with the US and with several European leaders and countries would be confirming and embellishing what is mostly known. Also of interest globally, and especially in India, would be the Saudi-Pakistan nuclear links and their military arrangements.


Nothing new that the Saudis have the 'insurance protection' of the Paki nuclear umbrella ( if you want to call it that !) :twisted:
Meanwhile, not related to this but more to crony capitalism,[*] was the annual, highly secretive and exclusive Bilderberg Conference held last month in Tirol, Austria. Attended by Americans and European corporate and political leaders, the discussions were on several global issues but China and India were not listed. Nor were they invited to the august table, presumably to keep discussions about them within the cosy caucus. Major think tanks like Carnegie, American Enterprise, Council on Foreign Relations and Hudson were represented. Google, Goldman Sachs, JP Morgan, and Henry Kissinger were some of the other big guns that were slated to participate.


[*] Is not 'crony capitalism' :eek: outlawed in this day and age of globalization and free trade.

So, 'conspiracy theorists' are still waiting to be proven wrong :D
vijaykarthik
BRFite
Posts: 1169
Joined: 11 Aug 2016 06:14

Re: West Asia News and Discussions

Post by vijaykarthik »

Interestingly, the Houthis had launched a scud into KSA and it has hit near a mil base [or hit directly]. See how the Saudi media has hushed up the news nicely.
The incident happened 2 nights ago I think.

Reports say that it was intercepted and no casualties. But no very clear.

http://www.tradearabia.com/news/MISC_285274.html
http://www.nbcnews.com/news/world/saudi ... en-n370921
Multatuli
BRFite
Posts: 612
Joined: 06 Feb 2007 06:29
Location: The Netherlands

Re: West Asia News and Discussions

Post by Multatuli »

Turkey Plans to Invade Syria, But to Stop the Kurds, Not ISIS

http://www.thedailybeast.com/articles/2 ... e-war.html


Erdogan and Turkey move toward once-unthinkable grand coalition

Turkish President Tayyip Erdogan has built a career on attacking the elite, secularist tradition reviled by many of his pious supporters. In the heat of political battle, he has even accused secular opponents of allying with terrorists.

But now, the Islamist-rooted AKP party Erdogan created is moving tentatively towards a once-unthinkable coalition with the opposition Republican People's Party (CHP), founded in the 1920s by the 'father' of modern Turkey Mustafa Kemal Ataturk as guardian of that secularist state order.

...

Erdogan has warned, however, that Turkey would not tolerate the creation of an autonomous Kurdish state on its southern borders and newspapers have carried reports he is considering the creation of a buffer zone across the border, where Kurdish militia and Islamist militants vie for control.

CHP leader Kemal Kilicdaroglu warned on Tuesday against military action, employing language hardly conducive to successful coalition talks. War is not a child's game, he said.

"A good politician knows that feeding off chaos and war will bring disaster instead of success," he said on Twitter, in comments clearly aimed at Erdogan."

"This country is not a plaything for your ambition."

http://news.yahoo.com/erdogan-turkey-mo ... iness.html


Sudan says students with Western passes believed on way to Syria

Twelve Sudanese medical students, most carrying Western passports, are believed to have travelled to Turkey with the intention of crossing into Syria to join Islamist militant groups, the university's dean of students said on Sunday.

If confirmed by authorities, the group would be the second of its kind from Khartoum's University of Medical Sciences and Technology (UMST), founded by a Sudanese Islamist lawmaker, to head to Syria this year.

"Twelve students, nine male and three female, in the faculty of medicine left for Turkey last Friday, most of them on Turkish Airlines, without the knowledge of their families," Ahmed Babaker, UMST's dean of students, told Reuters.

Babaker said seven carried British passports, two carried Canadian passports and one student had a U.S. passport. Two held only Sudanese passports.

http://news.yahoo.com/sudan-says-studen ... 59395.html
Last edited by Multatuli on 01 Jul 2015 10:26, edited 2 times in total.
Tuvaluan
BRFite
Posts: 1816
Joined: 11 Aug 2016 06:14

Re: West Asia News and Discussions

Post by Tuvaluan »

Turkey is bankrolling ISIS, so that is not completely surprising that their actions are aimed to help ISIS rather than weaken ISIS.
Multatuli
BRFite
Posts: 612
Joined: 06 Feb 2007 06:29
Location: The Netherlands

Re: West Asia News and Discussions

Post by Multatuli »

IS fighters stage surprise attack on key Syrian border town

Islamic State fighters on Tuesday launched a surprise attack on a Syrian border town recently seized by U.S.-backed Kurdish forces, taking positions in the eastern part of the town and waging fierce gun battles with its defenders, activists said.

he attack on Tal Abyad resembled another surprise assault by the IS group last week on the border town of Kobani, where Kurdish forces backed by U.S.-led airstrikes had driven out the extremists in January. The two attacks brutally displayed the extremists' resilience and signaled a possible change in tactics following a string of defeats at the hands of Kurdish forces.

Kurdish activist Mustafa Bali said Tuesday that IS fighters killed 233 people in Kobani, including 100 children, saying most of those killed were shot in cold blood, some inside their homes. He said 35 Kurdish fighters were killed following the June 25 attack.

Rami Abdurrahman, head of the Syrian Observatory of Human Rights, a U.K.-based monitoring group with a network of activists inside Syria, said 223 civilians were killed in Kobani, including "scores" of women and children, as well as 37 Kurdish fighters. It was not immediately possible to reconcile the slightly different tolls.

...

Bali and a senior Kurdish defense official, Nasser Haj Mansour, told The Associated Press that the small group of IS fighters might have been a sleeper cell that came from inside the town. Bali said that after a fierce battle lasting up to three hours, the fighters took shelter in an empty school building. He later said all the IS fighters were killed.

http://news.yahoo.com/syrian-troops-reg ... 45306.html


Israel says Syria's Assad may be left with rump state
Israel and its neighbor Syria are long-term enemies, but the remarks by Amos Gilad, strategic adviser to Israeli Defense Minister Moshe Yaalon, reflect concerns by states across the region that Syria is undergoing a de facto partition after four years of civil war.

"Syria is gone. Syria is dying. The funeral will be declared in due time. This Bashar Assad, he will be remembered in history textbooks as the one who lost Syria," Gilad told an intelligence conference organized by the Israel Defense journal on Monday.

"Until now he has lost 75 percent of Syria ... He is, practically, governor of 20 percent of Syria. And his future, if I may predict it, is shrinking all of the time. And maybe we will have him as the president of 'Alawistan'," Gilad added.
http://news.yahoo.com/israel-says-syria ... 14945.html
Multatuli
BRFite
Posts: 612
Joined: 06 Feb 2007 06:29
Location: The Netherlands

Re: West Asia News and Discussions

Post by Multatuli »

IS car bomb kills Yemen Shiites, as rebels open prison doors

An attack on Huthi rebel leaders in Yemen's capital claimed by the Islamic State group has killed at least 28 people, medics said Tuesday, in the latest anti-Shiite assault by the Sunni extremists.

Meanwhile, rebels fleeing pro-government forces who captured a jail from them threw open its doors and freed around 1,200 prisoners, a loyalist source said.

Yemen was previously the preserve of IS's jihadist rival Al-Qaeda, which controls swathes of the south and east, but IS has claimed a string of high-profile attacks since March.

...

Eight women were among the dead.

IS said online it had organised the attack on a "Shiite nest".

The group considers Shiites heretics and has repeatedly targeted them, not only in Yemen but across the region.

...

The attacks have overshadowed the operations of Al-Qaeda in the Arabian Peninsula, which overran Mukalla, capital of Hadramawt province in southeast Yemen, in March.

Washington still regards AQAP as the network's most dangerous branch and has kept up a drone war against its leaders inside Yemen.

But analysts say IS is now clearly in the ascendant.

IS is "in the process of supplanting AQAP, which is becoming just one of a number of forces in the Sunni tribal camp in southern Yemen," said Mathieu Guidere, Islamic studies professor at France's University of Toulouse.

...

On Tuesday, Huthi rebels fleeing an attack by pro-government forces released around 1,200 prisoners from a jail, a loyalist source said, in what may have been an attempt to cover their withdrawal.

The captives, including convicted murderers, were being held outside Taez in southwestern Yemen, when the jail was overrun by fighters of the pro-government's Popular Resistance Committees.

...

Yemen's official Saba news agency, controlled by the Huthis, reported early Tuesday that the rebels had fired a Scud missile at Al-Salil military base in Riyadh province, deep inside Saudi Arabia.

"This is another message to the forces of oppression," a military spokesman was quoted as saying, promising "new surprises in the coming days".

Saudi Arabia denied a Scud had hit its territory.

"We're not aware of anything. Not a square metre (yard) was damaged in Saudi Arabia," an official in Riyadh told AFP, adding there had been no radar contact and no missile intercepted.

A Saudi civil defence spokesman, however, said two civilians were lightly wounded Tuesday when a projectile fired from inside Yemen hit their house.

Bombardments and skirmishes along the border have killed at least 45 Saudi troops and civilians, including a soldier hit by rebel fire on Monday.

http://news.yahoo.com/28-dead-attack-sh ... 20736.html


France bets on Arab Sunni states as Iran nuclear deal nears

http://news.yahoo.com/france-bets-arab- ... 42402.html
vijaykarthik
BRFite
Posts: 1169
Joined: 11 Aug 2016 06:14

Re: West Asia News and Discussions

Post by vijaykarthik »

Yet another day and yet another blast in Sinai. 10 mil types killed.

I wonder if its timed to perfection - lots of court convictions came out, with an anniversary date of MB ouster plus just on the heels of the public prosecutors death.

http://www.bbc.com/news/world-middle-east-33340458
schinnas
BRFite
Posts: 1773
Joined: 11 Jun 2009 09:44

Re: West Asia News and Discussions

Post by schinnas »

Mukesh.Kumar wrote: A few more bombs and I am sure the clamor for pulling out the WC from Qatar and Expo 2020 from DXB will start. Whatever growth is their in the region slumps- indirectly affecting Indian firms and workers invested in the region. Please remember Indian expatriate workers from GCC account for close to46%of total inbound repatriation.

Image
It is difficult to believe that Indian "expats" in USE account for 23% of all remittances. Lot of it could be hawala dealings or black-to-white conversions. The remittances do not tally with the number of Indians working in these countries.

See: http://moia.gov.in/writereaddata/pdf/nrispios-data.pdf

KSA and US have more Indians in their countries than UAE and number of people of Indian origin in UK is very close to that of UAE. I tend to think that NRI income in US or UK would be on average higher than that of those in Dubai. Even if we assume that NRI in middle east remit more to home, there is something odd about the very high percentage of remittance from Dubai.
Multatuli
BRFite
Posts: 612
Joined: 06 Feb 2007 06:29
Location: The Netherlands

Re: West Asia News and Discussions

Post by Multatuli »

The Syrian armed forces are fighting a war of attrition against the various terrorist groups (IS, Al Nusra and the so called moderate outfits supported by the West), this is not going to end well for the Syrian Army/Government since they can not replace the soldiers killed. Reports say that the Syrian army lost more than 50,000 men. The terrorist groups have received large numbers of anti-tank missiles and MANPADS, thus neutralizing the Syrian army tanks, helicopters and to a great extent even attack aircraft. This means that the Syrian army has to rely even more on man-to-man combat to retake towns, putting further pressure on Syrian army troops. We know that the attacking force suffers heavy losses in this type of combat.

From the reports I read, it appears to me that the various terrorist groups fighting the Syrian army have received large numbers of new recruits (both foreign fighters and Syrians who may have been forced to join the IS (conscription)) and trained (by the West in Jordan) fighters, ready to join the battle.

The IS, Al Nusra and 'moderate' terrorist groups are changing the demographic of Syria through:

1. Ethnic cleansing, genocide against minorities.

2. Giving foreign recruits 'citizenship' of the Islamic State (the regions they captured and control).

So what should the Syrian government do to turn the tide and to make up for the losses in army troops?

The Syrian Army needs an urgent injection of professional/regular soldiers of about 2 divisions (10,000 troops each division). Only Iran can provide this.

This is not enough in the long term and it won't reverse the Sunni demographic engineering. So I would advise Iran and Syria to recruit 30,000 to 40,000 young Afghan Shia's and at least 40,000 young Pakistani Shia's to fight in Syria. Of course, these recruits need to be trained first in the types of combat they will encounter in Syria. The training has to be thorough to prevent unnecessary losses, so I guess it would take a 9 month period of intensive training in Iran (the first 7 or 8 months) and Syria (the last 1 or 2 month(s)) to get them battle ready. The training could be provided by Iranian, Syrian and Russian instructors. Iran can not bear the cost alone: Russia, China and possibly the Shia's in Iraq have to chip in.

Furthermore, to make this proposal attractive for Afghan and Pakistani recruits, the Syrian government should offer full citizenship for each recruit and 4 of their close relatives. Land, homes, businesses and other properties confiscated from Sunni's who joined or helped/sympathized with the terrorists should also be given to the Shia recruits from Afghanistan and Pakistan. This would guarantee a steady stream of volunteers from those countries and it would also serve to somewhat change the Syrian demographics to the advantage of the Alawite and other minorities (and it would punish the Sunni terrorists as well).
Falijee
BRF Oldie
Posts: 10948
Joined: 11 Aug 2016 06:14

Re: West Asia News and Discussions

Post by Falijee »

Saudi Arabia: Prince Alwaleed bin Talal to give entire $32 billion fortune to charity
Billionaire Saudi Arabian Prince Alwaleed bin Talal has said he will give his $32bn (£20bn) fortune to charity when he dies. :rotfl:
He said the donation "will be allocated according to a well-devised plan throughout the coming years"[*] but added there was no time limit on when the donation should be spent.
[/b]

[*]Confirmation that this is a PR gimmick :D
In April Prince Alwaleed promised to give each of the 100 fighter pilots that took part in Riyadh's latest air strikes in Yemen a brand new Bentley.[*] After a backlash on Twitter, in which he holds a $300m stake, the prince withdrew the pledge.
[/b]

[*]This pretty well tells you his true nature inspite of his grand pronouncements ! :shock:
vijaykarthik
BRFite
Posts: 1169
Joined: 11 Aug 2016 06:14

Re: West Asia News and Discussions

Post by vijaykarthik »

Multatuli wrote:The Syrian armed forces are fighting a war of attrition against the various terrorist groups (IS, Al Nusra and the so called moderate outfits supported by the West), this is not going to end well for the Syrian Army/Government since they can not replace the soldiers killed. Reports say that the Syrian army lost more than 50,000 men. The terrorist groups have received large numbers of anti-tank missiles and MANPADS, thus neutralizing the Syrian army tanks, helicopters and to a great extent even attack aircraft. This means that the Syrian army has to rely even more on man-to-man combat to retake towns, putting further pressure on Syrian army troops. We know that the attacking force suffers heavy losses in this type of combat.

From the reports I read, it appears to me that the various terrorist groups fighting the Syrian army have received large numbers of new recruits (both foreign fighters and Syrians who may have been forced to join the IS (conscription)) and trained (by the West in Jordan) fighters, ready to join the battle.

The IS, Al Nusra and 'moderate' terrorist groups are changing the demographic of Syria through:

1. Ethnic cleansing, genocide against minorities.

2. Giving foreign recruits 'citizenship' of the Islamic State (the regions they captured and control).

So what should the Syrian government do to turn the tide and to make up for the losses in army troops?

The Syrian Army needs an urgent injection of professional/regular soldiers of about 2 divisions (10,000 troops each division). Only Iran can provide this.

This is not enough in the long term and it won't reverse the Sunni demographic engineering. So I would advise Iran and Syria to recruit 30,000 to 40,000 young Afghan Shia's and at least 40,000 young Pakistani Shia's to fight in Syria. Of course, these recruits need to be trained first in the types of combat they will encounter in Syria. The training has to be thorough to prevent unnecessary losses, so I guess it would take a 9 month period of intensive training in Iran (the first 7 or 8 months) and Syria (the last 1 or 2 month(s)) to get them battle ready. The training could be provided by Iranian, Syrian and Russian instructors. Iran can not bear the cost alone: Russia, China and possibly the Shia's in Iraq have to chip in.

Furthermore, to make this proposal attractive for Afghan and Pakistani recruits, the Syrian government should offer full citizenship for each recruit and 4 of their close relatives. Land, homes, businesses and other properties confiscated from Sunni's who joined or helped/sympathized with the terrorists should also be given to the Shia recruits from Afghanistan and Pakistan. This would guarantee a steady stream of volunteers from those countries and it would also serve to somewhat change the Syrian demographics to the advantage of the Alawite and other minorities (and it would punish the Sunni terrorists as well).
2 things:

a. The Syrian Army does very little when compared to the Badr brigades / Hizb / Shia militias. And they are surely run by the Quds. more to the pt: by Qassem Suleimani. And its been a very long time since they actually reported to the Syrian army - they take their own individual decisions and are considered even better than the Syrian army [except for the presidential guards]. The Syrian army has actually got tired of this war too.
b. There were reports of an infusion of an imminent 10k troops of the same kind of hue that you are mentioning. I think I referred to that possibility a few weeks ago. Particularly when there was a big setback and Syrian Army lost a lot of ground. But Iran is going slow currently and also denied the reports [it appears as if they are waiting and watching with the US deal in discussion? Its likely that they are *going slow* because more alarms in the battle now might frighten the Sunnis more? Who knows?] For some strange reason, they aren't. Russia doesn't mind giving up on Assad either or so a few reports say.

Its possible that Syria has irreversibly become a rump state already and hence no one wants to do much except cut their losses except (and / or) share the spoils and ensure strategic reaches are safeguarded. Or its possible that people are waiting and watching and will move once the period of volatility with the n-deal is done with. We should know in a few weeks / months. Iran still considers Syria a strategic asset but no one knows what they really mean by "Syria" anymore. Who knows a straight channel of a sliver of land from Iran to Iraq to Syria to Lebanon will even suffice?
Arjun
BRF Oldie
Posts: 4283
Joined: 21 Oct 2008 01:52

Re: West Asia News and Discussions

Post by Arjun »

schinnas wrote:KSA and US have more Indians in their countries than UAE and number of people of Indian origin in UK is very close to that of UAE. I tend to think that NRI income in US or UK would be on average higher than that of those in Dubai. Even if we assume that NRI in middle east remit more to home, there is something odd about the very high percentage of remittance from Dubai.
Doesn't make sense to compare remittances from the GCC to that from UK or US. Unlike in the latter countries where they gain citizenship, all GCC 'éxpats' have a temporary resident mentality.

UAE remittances should be compared to Kuwait and Qatar. Are the remittances still unnaturally high after accounting for any difference in profile of NRIs in these regions (eg white-collar percentage may be much higher in UAE)? Remittances through cash are highly regulated activity by many central banks including RBI so not sure how much of a hawala angle there could be here.
Singha
BRF Oldie
Posts: 66589
Joined: 13 Aug 2004 19:42
Location: the grasshopper lies heavy

Re: West Asia News and Discussions

Post by Singha »

some indics in gulf have local partners to funnel investments into india. for example several bengaluru realty groups court investments from there, and one ceo made his fortune and lives there while running a hugely successful realty group here.
arabs with a lot of money tend to park some for safety in europe (if things head south) but beyond that they want to invest and make it grow....and one of the better options is india, if they can find reliable investment vehicles and partners.
Multatuli
BRFite
Posts: 612
Joined: 06 Feb 2007 06:29
Location: The Netherlands

Re: West Asia News and Discussions

Post by Multatuli »

Islamic State weaves web of support in Gulf Arab states

When a Saudi Arabian man flew to Kuwait in the early hours of Friday to carry out the country's worst militant attack, a bomb vest, Kuwaiti-style Arab robes, a place to prepare, and a car and driver to take him to his target were all lined up for him.

The vest had been ferried across from Saudi Arabia a few days before in a complex operation suggesting Islamic State now commands a capable network of militants, propagandists and sympathizers on the Arabian peninsula, a security source said.Among those Fahd Suliman Abdul-Muhsen al-Qabaa contacted when his overnight flight via Bahrain landed, one had a family tie to Islamic State and another links to al Qaeda attacks in Kuwait a decade earlier, a security source and Kuwaiti media have reported.

Hours later, CCTV cameras recorded the young man entering Imam al-Sadeq mosque, his figure made portly by the bomb-laden vest concealed beneath his robe. He paused briefly to examine the 2,000 Shi'ite Muslim men prostrated in prayer, then detonated the device.

The timing of his entry, when few in the mosque were in a position to ask intrusive questions of a stranger, was another sign of the attention to detail of the cross-border team, which also appears to have coordinated propaganda around the attack.

...

The assault has raised concerns about the number of young Saudi men willing to travel to attack Shi'ites in smaller Gulf Arab states and so make good on a threat by Islamic State to step up violence in the holy fasting month of Ramadan.

Officials worry this could be a model for future bombings in the energy-rich Gulf states: A bomber drawn from Saudi Arabia's large pool of radicalized Islamists who flies or drives into a neighboring state -- Gulf Arabs enjoy visa free travel between their countries -- and works with a local cell.

ENCRYPTED MESSAGING

Aimen Dean, a Saudi former al Qaeda insider who now ruins a Gulf-based security consultancy, said Islamic State's cells posed "a more flexible threat" that would be harder to track down than those deployed by al Qaeda in its 2003-06 campaign.

This was in part due to the spread of encrypted messaging systems, enabling dispersed groups of militants to be directed from abroad, whereas al Qaeda in Saudi Arabia in 2003-06 was centrally managed and therefore easier to infiltrate, he said.

http://www.reuters.com/article/2015/07/ ... 5420150701
Locked