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Sabtu, 29 Februari 2020

U.S., Taliban set to sign peace deal, a turning point in 18-year war in Afghanistan - The Washington Post

Parwiz Reuters Afghan men celebrate in anticipation of a U.S.-Taliban agreement in Jalalabad, Afghanistan, on Friday.

KABUL — The United States is set to sign a peace deal Saturday with the Taliban, its adversary in Afghanistan’s 18-year war. The deal marks a turning point in a conflict marred by years of both military and diplomatic stalemate.

One provision of the agreement is the full withdrawal of American troops that is “heavily conditions based,” according to two U.S. officials who have been briefed on the deal. The officials declined to elaborate on the conditions. They spoke on the condition of anonymity because they were not authorized to discuss the deal publicly.

Separate from the provision for a full withdrawal, the signing of the deal will begin an initial drawdown to 8,600 U.S. troops upon President Trump’s orders. The top U.S. commander in Afghanistan, Gen. Austin “Scott” Miller said several times this week that he is prepared for such orders as he traveled across Afghanistan to visit soldiers. Current U.S. troop levels are at around 12,000 in Afghanistan.

In exchange, the deal stipulates that the Taliban will pledge to enter into talks with the Afghan government and not to harbor terrorist groups intent on attacking the West.

http://www.washingtonpost.com/video/world/the-signing-of-a-us-taliban-peace-deal-would-be-historicbut-might-not-end-the-war-in-afghanistan/2020/02/26/85361381-ed59-42c1-8ba4-8af1282006d3_video.html

Secretary of State Mike Pompeo is in Doha, Qatar, to witness the signing. Defense Secretary Mark T. Esper is in Kabul for a ceremony there with NATO Secretary General Jens Stoltenberg and Afghan President Ashraf Ghani.

“From the first day that Americans came, neither we wanted them to stay for centuries, nor they wanted that,” acting Afghan defense minister Asadullah Khalid said ahead of the ceremony in Kabul. He said the departure of a “few thousand” U.S. troops would not affect security in Afghanistan.

Afghan national security adviser Hamdullah Mohib said the timeline for the complete withdrawal of U.S. forces is 18 months, “but it is conditional on the agreement between the Taliban and the U.S. If those conditions are not met, this date [could] also obviously change.”

Both officials spoke to the press in remarks that were carried by Afghan state television.

After the deal is signed, the Afghan government must assemble a negotiating team and navigate a planned prisoner exchange.

The Taliban provided U.S. negotiators a list of 5,000 Taliban prisoners currently held in detention by the Afghan government. And the militants announced 1,000 members of the Afghan security forces in Taliban captivity would be released in exchange.

“This is a test for the Americans,” said former senior Taliban official Abdul Salam Zaeef. “When this step is taken properly, then we’ll go to negotiations.” Afghan government officials have said that such an exchange would only occur during inter-Afghan talks or after they are complete.

Another potential obstacle after the deal is signed is the formation of an inclusive negotiating team to represent the Afghans who are not aligned with the Taliban. The announcement of disputed election results earlier this month has left the government in Kabul deeply divided and has the potential to undermine Ghani’s mandate to form that team.

An unofficial Afghan government delegation tried to meet Taliban officials in Doha Friday, but the Taliban declined the meeting. Suhail Shaheen, a Taliban spokesman, said “We have neither invited nor will meet the delegation,” according to Radio Mashaal.

A peace deal with the Taliban has been a critical foreign policy goal for President Trump, who campaigned on ending the war.

In a statement Friday, Trump called the deal “a powerful path forward to end the war in Afghanistan and bring our troops home.” But the president has faced fierce criticism from the Afghan government as well as from fellow Republicans at home.

Afghan officials have repeatedly criticized the United States for excluding them from talks with the Taliban. Any significant withdrawal of U.S. forces from the country is expected to place increased pressure on Afghan government forces, whose casualty rates continue to rise.

On Thursday, a group of Republican lawmakers released a letter warning that the Taliban has “a history of extracting concessions in exchange for false assurances.”

“A full-scale U.S. withdrawal” would “allow terrorist groups in Afghanistan to grow stronger and establish safe havens from which to plot attacks against us,” the letter continued.

Trump’s Friday statement said “ultimately it will be up to the people of Afghanistan to work out their future. We, therefore, urge the Afghan people to seize this opportunity for peace and a new future for their country.”

U.S. and Taliban negotiators were close to signing a peace deal in September, but the effort was scuttled by Trump after an attack by the Taliban killed a U.S. soldier.

Since then, chief U.S. negotiator Zalmay Khalilzad sought confidence-building measures to bring both sides back to the table. In November, the Taliban released two Western hostages in exchange for the release of senior militants linked to the Taliban by the Afghan government. And over the last week both sides reduced violence nationwide.

It is unclear if the reduction in violence will hold in the coming weeks as Afghan government officials and the Taliban begin talks. The Afghan government initially demanded a cease-fire before agreeing to talks with the Taliban.

As peace talks between the U.S. and the Taliban gained momentum last year, violence in Afghanistan intensified. The United Nations annual report on civilian casualties released this month said that in 2019 3,403 civilians were killed and 6,989 injured.

The United Nations Assistance Mission in Afghanistan has documented more than 100,000 civilian casualties since the organization began its tally in 2009.

Sharif Hassan in Kabul and Sarah Dadouch and Haq Nawaz Khan in Doha, Qatar, contributed to this report.

A glimpse of peace in Afghanistan: With fighting paused, soldiers invite Taliban over for chicken

Inside the U.S. military’s historic week in Afghanistan ahead of a peace deal with the Taliban

Today’s coverage from Post correspondents around the world

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2020-02-29 12:43:00Z
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Syria war: Turkey says thousands of migrants have crossed to EU - BBC News

Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdogan says 18,000 migrants have crossed Turkish borders into Europe after the country "opened the doors" for them to travel.

The number is expected to hit 25,000 to 30,000 in the coming days, he said.

Turkey could no longer deal with the amount of people fleeing Syria's civil war, he added.

Greece says it has blocked thousands of migrants from entering "illegally" from Turkey.

Greek authorities fired tear gas to attempt to disperse the crowds.

Turkey's decision followed a deadly attack on Turkish troops by Syrian government forces in northern Syria this week.

At least 33 Turkish soldiers were killed in a bombardment in Idlib, the last Syrian province where Syrian rebel groups hold significant territory.

Syrian government forces, supported by Russia, have been trying to retake Idlib from jihadist groups and Turkish-backed rebel factions.

Turkey is hosting 3.7 million Syrian refugees, as well as migrants from other countries such as Afghanistan - but had previously stopped them from leaving for Europe under an aid-linked deal with the EU.

But Mr Erdogan accused the EU of breaking promises.

"We said months ago that if it goes on like this, we will have to open the doors. They did not believe us, but we opened the doors yesterday," President Erdogan said in Istanbul on Saturday.

He said that some 18,000 refugees had "pressed on the gates and crossed" into Europe by Saturday morning. He did not provide evidence of these numbers.

"We will not close these doors in the coming period and this will continue. Why? The European Union needs to keep its promises. We don't have to take care of this many refugees, to feed them," he said.

Brussels had not given full financial aid agreed in the 2018 Turkey-EU refugee deal, he said.

Greece said it had averted more than 4,000 attempts to cross into the country. There were further clashes between migrants and Greek police on Saturday.

"The government will do whatever it takes to protect its borders," government spokesman Stelios Petsas told reporters.

The Turkish president also said that he had asked Russian President Vladimir Putin - a close ally of Syrian President Bashar al-Assad - to stand aside and let Turkey "do what is necessary" with the Syrian government by itself.

Russia and Turkey are backing opposing sides in the civil war. Turkey is opposed to the government of Bashar al-Assad and supports some rebel groups.

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2020-02-29 12:07:05Z
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Coronavirus Travel Advisories: Map Shows CDC's Areas Of Concern : Goats and Soda - NPR

The Centers for Disease Control and Prevention regularly issues "Travel Health Notices" that address disease outbreaks and other health-related matters in international destinations. The newly discovered coronavirus is now a topic of concern.

The point of the warnings is to indicate countries where the CDC believes there is a risk of infection with COVID-19, the disease caused by the virus.

Don't see the graphic above? Click here.

There are three levels of notices based on the risk presented by the outbreak and what precautions are needed to prevent infection.

China and South Korea are in the highest notice level — "Warning Level 3." CDC advises travelers to avoid all nonessential travel to these countries. As part of the warnings, which were issued in late February, the CDC also cites limited access for visitors to adequate medical care. If travel is necessary, CDC advises travelers to discuss with their health-care provider.

Hong Kong, Macau and the island of Taiwan are excluded from this notice.

The only other country with a Warning Level 3 notice is Venezuela; CDC cites "outbreaks of infectious diseases" as well as the breakdown of the country's health-care infrastructure.

During the Ebola outbreak in 2014, this warning level was issued to Sierra Leone, Guinea and Liberia.

The second notice level, "Alert Level 2," suggesting that potential travelers "practice enhanced precautions," has been issued for travel to Iran, Italy and Japan, three countries experiencing person-to-person and community spread of COVID-19. This notice, according to CDC, is directed at older adults and those with "chronic medical conditions," who are at greater risk of developing a severe case of COVID-19 if infected. CDC advises them to consider postponing nonessential travel to these countries.

The third notice level is "Watch Level 1." At this level, the CDC does not recommend canceling or postponing travel but advises potential travelers to practice general precautions such as avoiding contact with sick people and washing hands for 20 seconds with soap and water or an alcohol-based hand sanitizer with 60% to 95% alcohol.

The CDC also currently has other travel health notices unrelated to COVID-19. For example, it has issued the Level 2 Alert for several countries in Africa and Asia because of polio and a Watch Level 1 for some parts of Central and South America for dengue.

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Many countries with confirmed cases of COVID-19 do not currently have travel advisories from the CDC. Dr. Lin Chen, president of the International Society of Travel Medicine, said when deciding to go to these countries, travelers should look into the country's health-care system and make sure they have travel medical insurance that will provide coverage in their destination.

"I think it's important to identify what a traveler would do if they become sick," Chen said. "Having travel medical insurance is actually really important and gives you, perhaps, a peace of mind if you're going into a country that has some [confirmed] cases."

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2020-02-29 10:00:00Z
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Risk of coronavirus spreading globally now 'very high', World Health Organisation says - South China Morning Post

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2020-02-29 07:53:26Z
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U.S. Expected to Sign Deal With Taliban to Withdraw Troops From Afghanistan - The New York Times

DOHA, Qatar — The United States is expected to sign a peace deal with the Taliban insurgency on Saturday that for the first time after two decades of grinding warfare would lay out the prospect of a final withdrawal of American troops from Afghanistan.

The signing in Doha, Qatar, is seen as a vital step toward negotiating a more sweeping peace deal that could end the insurgency altogether, after years of unrelenting violence that took the lives of more than 3,500 Americans and coalition troops and tens of thousands of Afghans since the U.S. invasion in 2001.

But the agreement is dependent on the Taliban’s fulfillment of major commitments that have been obstacles for years, including breaking with international terrorist groups such as Al Qaeda. And it hinges on far more difficult negotiations between the two Afghan sides to come, addressing the shape of a potential power-sharing government and a lasting cease-fire — both anathema to the Taliban in the past.

The Trump administration has cast the deal as its pledge to a war-weary American public, for whom the Afghanistan war has defined a generation of loss and trauma and roughly $2 trillion in expenditures but has yielded no victory.

“If the Taliban and the government of Afghanistan live up to these commitments, we will have a powerful path forward to end the war in Afghanistan and bring our troops home,” President Trump said on Friday ahead of the signing of the deal, which he dispatched Secretary of State Mike Pompeo to attend.

“These commitments represent an important step to a lasting peace in a new Afghanistan, free from Al Qaeda, ISIS, and any other terrorist group that would seek to bring us harm.”

At the height of the war, there were more than 100,000 American troops in the country, and tens of thousands of others from about 40 nations in the United States-led NATO coalition.

In recent years, it has been Afghan soldiers and police who have borne the brunt of the fighting, at a horrific cost in casualties and trauma.

From the start of the talks, late in 2018, Afghan officials were troubled that they were not at the table with American and Taliban officials. They worried that Mr. Trump would abruptly withdraw troops from Afghanistan without securing any of the conditions they saw as crucial, including a reduction in violence and a Taliban promise to negotiate in good faith with the government.

The best-case prospect laid out by the deal expected to be signed on Saturday is alluring: ultimately, the possibility for Afghans of an end to conflict that in one form or other has stretched for 40 years.

But behind that hope lies a web of contradictions.

The United States, which struggled to help secure better rights for women and minorities and instill a democratic system and institutions in Afghanistan, is reaching a deal with an insurgency that has never renounced its desire for a government and justice system rooted in a harsh interpretation of Islam. Though the Taliban would get their primary wish granted by this agreement, the withdrawal of American troops, they have made no firm commitments to protect civil rights for people they brutally repressed when in power.

Among the Taliban, bringing the world’s premier military power to the point of withdrawal has widely been seen as a victory with few caveats. And the public messaging from Taliban officials has not been conciliatory.

“This is the hotel that tomorrow will turn into a historic hotel,” the Taliban’s multimedia chief posted on Twitter on Friday with a photograph of the Sheraton in Doha, site of the signing. “From here, the defeat of the arrogance of the White House in the face of the white turban will be announced.”

The expected deal provides a conditional schedule for the withdrawal of the 12,000 remaining American troops. In the first phase, about 5,000 are to leave in a matter of months. The withdrawal of the rest is expected to happen over the next 14 months, depending on the Taliban keeping their end of the bargain.

The insurgents had to pledge to break with international terrorist networks and forbid Afghanistan’s use as a base for attacks by groups like Al Qaeda, which launched the Sept. 11 terrorist attacks on the United States from the haven the Taliban granted it in Afghanistan.

As part of the deal, the Taliban would also agree to open talks directly with the Afghan government and other leaders, ostensibly to negotiate a political settlement and an eventual cease-fire. But an immediate cease-fire to address the bloodshed that regularly rips through Afghanistan is not part of the agreement.

While American diplomats had pushed for a cease-fire, they settled for a “reduction in violence” and tested it over a stretch of seven days before the signing. Officials said attacks had dropped by as much as 80 percent during that period, and the hope was that the reduction could continue in the next phase, until the two Afghan sides could agree to a more comprehensive cease-fire.

Zalmay Khalilzad, the veteran diplomat leading the American peace efforts and himself a native of Afghanistan, long insisted that the United States was not simply seeking a withdrawal agreement, but “a peace agreement that enables withdrawal.”

The Taliban’s willingness to enter negotiations with other Afghans, including the government, over a political settlement has offered hope and fear to the Afghan people.

The hope is that a durable peace can be reached after generations of conflict and suffering. The fear is that the most difficult work lies ahead, and that the Taliban will come to the negotiations emboldened by the American withdrawal announcement after years of insurgent gains on the battlefield against the badly bloodied Afghan security forces.

The nearly two decades of war have been devastating, both in human and economic terms, though exact numbers are in many cases hard to come by.

Much of the peace negotiations happened in a year of record violence from both sides. In just the last quarter of 2019, the Taliban carried out 8,204 attacks, the highest in same period over the past decade. The United States dropped 7,423 bombs and missiles during the year, a record since the Air Force began recording the data in 2006.

In the past five years, about 50,000 members of the Afghan security forces have been killed, and tens of thousands of others wounded. The Taliban’s losses are harder to verify, but their casualty rate is believed to be comparable. Out of about 3,550 NATO coalition deaths in Afghanistan, nearly 2,400 have been Americans.

Lara Jakes contributed reporting from Washington, and Thomas Gibbons-Neff from Kabul.

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2020-02-29 08:00:00Z
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US and Taliban poised to sign historic agreement - CNN

President Donald Trump announced Friday that he had dispatched Secretary of State Mike Pompeo to "witness the signing of an agreement with representatives of the Taliban" and Defense Secretary Mark Esper to "issue a joint declaration with the government of Afghanistan."

"If the Taliban and the government of Afghanistan live up to these commitments, we will have a powerful path forward to end the war in Afghanistan and bring our troops home," Trump said in a statement. "These commitments represent an important step to a lasting peace in a new Afghanistan, free from Al Qaeda, ISIS, and any other terrorist group that would seek to bring us harm."

NATO Secretary General: Why we're in Afghanistan and what a peace deal could do

The deal will be inked in Doha, Qatar, which served as the base for on-and-off talks between US and Taliban negotiators for more than a year. Those negotiations have been led on the US side by Special Representative for Afghanistan Reconciliation Zalmay Khalilzad. The two sides had reached "an agreement in principle" in early September 2019, Khalilzad said at the time. Shortly thereafter, Trump called off the talks and said he canceled a secret Camp David summit with the militant group after they took credit for a deadly attack in Kabul that killed a US service member.

In a surprise visit to Afghanistan in November, Trump announced that the talks had restarted. The US President made the announcement shortly after the Taliban released an American and Australian professor in exchange for the release of three Taliban prisoners by the Afghan government. The State Department announced in early December that Khalilzad had rejoined talks with the Taliban in the Qatari capital.

The signing of the agreement would see the realization of a campaign promise for Trump, who has sought to diminish US involvement in wars overseas. Under the plan, the American military presence would be reduced to 8,600 troops from the current 12,000 to 13,000 over the course of 135 days, according to two sources familiar with the agreement.

Pompeo, speaking at the State Department Tuesday, noted that such a drawdown would be "conditions-based," adding that it "sets a high bar for the things that will take place in order for America to ensure that we can accomplish both of those missions: a peace and reconciliation solution in Afghanistan and ensuring that the homeland continues to be as risk free as we can possibly make it."

A senior Afghan politician told CNN Friday that Afghan government is wary about the upcoming deal, which is meant to trigger intra-Afghan dialogue between Afghan stakeholders and the Taliban.

"These negotiations, if they take place, will be the first time that Afghans representing all sides of the conflict will sit down together and begin the hard work of reconciliation," Pompeo said Tuesday.

Developing the team to send to the talks has been deeply challenging but the tentative plan is for each side -- the Afghans and the Taliban -- to have 15 representatives, sources told CNN earlier this week.

If the Taliban regain power, I could lose everything

Members of Congress and regional experts have raised concerns about the deal, which has yet to be made public. On Wednesday, Rep. Liz Cheney led a group of 21 other Republican lawmakers in expressing "serious concerns" about the anticipated agreement.

In a letter to Pompeo and Esper, they wrote that they are "are seeking assurances that you will not place the security of the American people into the hands of the Taliban, and undermine our ally, the current government of Afghanistan."

There were a record high number of attacks carried out in Afghanistan last year by the Taliban and other anti-government groups. The violence in Afghanistan has continued this year, with the Taliban killing two US service members earlier this month.

There are also concerns that a deal with the Taliban could put at risk the gains made by Afghan civil society and women. Repeatedly pressed about a commitment to women's rights, Pompeo on Tuesday did not specifically answer.

"Our mission set there has been much broader than that," Pompeo said.

"Our mission set there is to deliver good security outcomes for the Afghan people, to let their political process work its way through," he said. "I'm very confident that the very concerns that you raised will be addressed as part of these conversations."

CNN's Kylie Atwood, Nic Robertson and Nicole Gaouette contributed to this report.

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2020-02-29 05:43:00Z
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Jumat, 28 Februari 2020

NATO Meets After Turkey Says Russian-Backed Force Killed 33 Troops In Syria - NPR

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Syrians in the northwestern city of Idlib perform funerary prayers for Turkish soldiers Friday. Turkey sought an urgent NATO meeting after at least 33 Turkish soldiers were killed in Syria's Idlib province Thursday. Abdulaziz Ketaz/AFP via Getty Images hide caption

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Abdulaziz Ketaz/AFP via Getty Images

NATO is condemning "indiscriminate air strikes by the Syrian regime and Russia," Secretary General Jens Stoltenberg says, after 33 Turkish soldiers died in an attack near Idlib Thursday. The bombing caused Turkey to request an urgent NATO security meeting that was held Friday.

The NATO meeting was held in solidarity with Turkey, which says the troops were killed in an area where Russian-backed Syrian forces are fighting anti-regime militants. Russia denies playing a role in the strike, which came after weeks of heightened violence in Idlib province.

"I call on them to stop their offensive, to respect international law and to back U.N. efforts for a peaceful solution," Stoltenberg said. "This dangerous situation must be de-escalated."

Stoltenberg did not lay out any changes NATO might make to its current security arrangement in the area. But Turkey says its military struck 200 Syrian regime targets Friday, in retaliation for the strikes.

"This attack occurred even though the locations of our troops had been coordinated with Russian officials in the field," Defense Minister Hulusi Akar said, according to Turkey's state-run Anadolu Agency.

Listing the damage of the retaliatory attacks, Akar said, "Turkish forces destroyed five Syrian regime choppers, 23 tanks, 10 armored vehicles, 23 howitzers, five ammunition trucks, a SA-17, a SA-22 air defense system as well as three ammunition depots, two equipment depots, a headquarter and 309 regime troops."

Turkey requested the NATO meeting under Article 4 of the organization's founding treaty. The provision allows any ally to "request consultations whenever, in the opinion of any of them, their territorial integrity, political independence or security is threatened."

Russia's Defense Ministry says its military did not conduct any airstrikes in the area where the Turkish soldiers were killed, NPR's Lucian Kim reports from Moscow.

On Thursday, Russia's foreign ministry acknowledged that the country's air force is supporting the Syrian army's "Dawn over Idlib" operation. But the agency also said the offensive "focuses exclusively on the terrorists who are holed up in the deescalation zone."

Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdogan spoke with Russian President Vladimir Putin by phone on Friday, in a conversation that the Kremlin says included a "substantive exchange of views" on Syria and an agreement to improve coordination between Russia's and Turkey's defense ministries.

"The two leaders have a thorny relationship," NPR's Lucian Kim reports from Moscow. "Putin has sold Erdogan an advanced air defense system and last month opened a natural-gas pipeline from Russia. But in 2015, Russia nearly went to war after Turkey shot down a Russian fighter plane."

In Friday's phone call, Putin and Erdogan agreed to look at the possibility of "soon holding a meeting at the highest level," the Kremlin says.

Stoltenberg said Turkey's NATO allies are "constantly looking" for ways to support Turkey, as a bloody and destabilizing civil war plays out in neighboring Syria. He added that the group will continue to augment Turkey's air defense, to prevent missile attacks from Syria.

"There's a Patriot missile battery in southern Turkey and AWACS flights keeping an eye from above," Teri Schultz reports for NPR's Newscast. "Turkey has reportedly asked the U.S. directly to share more missile-defense capabilities."

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2020-02-28 15:36:00Z
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