LET PEACE ENTER SYRIA

Monday, January 14, 2019 SYRIAN peace initiatives have moved ahead and it is good to read that the President Donald Trump announced that Us-led coalition in Syria has begun withdrawing its troops (“The Us-led coalition in Syria has begun withdrawing its troops”, Jan.12, 2019, The Gulf Today).

All efforts that lead Syria towards peace and prosperity are counts. May God help all stockholders of

this horrifying war.

Although it remained unclear how long it would take Washington to withdraw its forces, which have led the battle against the Daesh group since 2014.

Adding to the confusion, a military spokesman said the US had already begun “the process of our deliberate withdrawal” from Syria.

On the other hand A Kurdishled group, the Syrian Democratic Forces, is currently flushing the militants from the last pockets of land they control in the Euphrates River Valley.

The battle against die-hard extremists in remote areas along the Iraqi-syrian border and the hunt for Daesh supremo Abu Bakr Al Baghdadi, the world’s most wanted man, could last indefinitely.

The Us-led coalition, which also

includes countries such as France and Britain, was formed in mid-2014 to counter Daesh, which had seized swathes of Iraq and Syria. Mohammed Irfan

By email CHANGE IS GOOD FINALLY Macedonia has agreed to change its name to the Republic of Northern Macedonia after reaching a historic deal with Greece, (“Macedonia renamed”, Jan 12, The Gulf Today.)

Macedonia’s parliament passed on Friday an amendment to the constitution to rename the country Republic of North Macedonia, as agreed with Greece to put an end to a 27-year dispute.

In 1963 the People’s Republic of Macedonia was renamed the “Socialist Republic of Macedonia” when the Federal People’s Republic of Yugoslavia was renamed the Socialist Federal Republic of Yugoslavia. It dropped the “Socialist” from its name a few months before declaring independence from Yugoslavia in September 1991.

Eighty-one deputies in the 120seat parliament voted in favour. Representatives of the opposition VMRODPMNE, who opposed the agreement with Greece, boycotted the vote.

The agreement signals an end to the 27-year dispute over the exyugoslav republic’s name, Macedonia prime minister Zoran Zaev said on Tuesday.

The use of the name “Macedonia” is disputed between the southeastern European countries of Greece and the Republic of Macedonia, formerly a state within Yugoslavia.

Jack Thompson

Dubai