Biden embraces Arab-Israeli deals
BAGHDAD: An Iraqi militia commander whose arrest last month sparked a standoff between the government and paramilitary groups was freed Wednesday after a judge ordered his release.
The release of Qassim Mahmoud Musleh came as Iranian Gen Esmail Ghaani, head of the expeditionary Quds Force, arrived in Baghdad to meet with militia and political leaders, two Shiite political officials said.
The officials said the meeting was to address ongoing tensions between the government and some militia groups linked to Iran following Musleh’s arrest. The officials spoke on condition of anonymity because they were not authorized to speak to media. (AP)
TEHRAN:Iran’s leading presidential candidate staged a mass rally in the country’s southeast that drew thousands of supporters, sparking controversy Thursday as the first such gathering amid the raging coronavirus pandemic that has largely halted traditional election campaigning.
Ebrahim Raisi, Iran’s hardline judiciary chief, toured the oil-rich southwestern Khuzestan province and addressed some 5,000 supporters at a sprawling football stadium in the city of Ahvaz late on Wednesday. Despite the rising infection count and scorching temperatures of 45 degrees Celsius (113 degrees Fahrenheit), roaring crowds mobbed the stadium to hear Raisi speak. (AP)
CAIRO: Sudan and Egypt renewed calls Wednesday for the international community to help in resolving their decade-long dispute with Ethiopia over a giant dam that Addis Ababa is building on the Blue Nile, the main tributary of the Nile River.
Egyptian foreign and irrigation ministers flew to Sudan’s capital, Khartoum, for talks with Sudanese counterparts focusing on Ethiopia’s dam project. (AP)
His Highness the Prime Minister Sheikh Sabah Khaled Al-Hamad Al-Sabah received at Seif Palace on Thursday India’s External Affairs Minister S. Jaishankar, who delivered a letter from his Prime Minister Narendra Modi addressed to His Highness the Amir Sheikh Nawaf Al-Ahmad AlJaber Al-Sabah. The encounter was held with the attendance of Kuwait’s Foreign Minister Sheikh Dr Ahmad Nasser Al-Mohammad
KUNA photo Al-Sabah, amongst other Kuwaiti officials. Kuwait’s foreign minister hailed the ‘depth’ of his country’s ties with India, saying bilateral relations remain on an upward trajectory. Against the backdrop of the 60th anniversary of the establishment of diplomatic ties, the Kuwaiti foreign minister, amid talks with his Indian counterpart S. Jaishankar, said relations have made tremendous progress across numerous fields. (AP)
WASHINGTON, June 10, (AP): The Biden administration is laying the groundwork for a renewed push to encourage more Arab countries to sign accords with Israel and working to strengthen existing deals after last month’s devastating war in the Gaza Strip interrupted those diplomatic efforts.
The embrace of the so-called Abraham Accords is a rare carryover of a signature Trump administration policy by President Joe Biden and other Democrats.
The Trump administration put U.S. clout and incentives into landing the country-by-country pacts by four Arab states last year, easing enmity and isolation for the Jewish state in the Middle East that had dated back to Israel’s 1948 founding. The Biden administration saw significant prospects of several other Arab governments signing accords soothing and normalizing relations with Israel. U.S. officials have declined to publicly identify the countries they regard as promising prospects.
Sudan, which signed a general declaration of peaceful intent but has not yet signed on to diplomatic relations with Israel, had been a prospect. Oman, which has a policy of non-interference that allows it to be a broker across the Middle East’s fault lines, long has been seen by Westerners as a likely contender.
But the 11-day war between Israel and Gaza’s Hamas militant rulers last month has complicated U.S.-backed diplomacy for new Abraham accords.
The fighting “has strengthened the conviction of opponents of normalization” with Israel, activist Doura Gambo said in Sudan. Sudanese were already divided over their government’s agreement last year to become one of the four Arab states signing accords. In Sudan’s case, the Trump administration offered financial relief from U.S. sanctions.
Last month’s bloodshed, which killed 254 Palestinians including 66 children and at least 22 members of one family - resonated deeply with the Arab public, including in the other countries that had signed accords with Israel: the United Arab Emirates, Bahrain and Morocco. Thirteen people died in Israel, including two children and one soldier.