one of China’s main strategic regional projects was the economic region (or belt) of the 21st century Great Silk Road and the Maritime Silk Road, which intends to create a wide area of Chinese economic presence from China’s western borders to Europe
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Putin brings China into Middle East strategy - Al-Monitor: the Pulse of the Middle East - 0 views
www.al-monitor.com/...-consequences-middle-east.html
putin china middle east syria strategy politics
shared by fcastro2 on 04 Feb 15
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Chinese leader opened the Sixth Ministerial Meeting of the China-Arab Cooperation Forum on June 5 in Beijing
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energy cooperation; infrastructure construction and creation of favorable conditions for trade and investment; and high-tech domains of nuclear energy, the space rocket sector and new energy sources
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suggested that the creation of a free trade zone between China and the Gulf Cooperation Council (GCC) be accelerated
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China supports the peace process and the establishment of an independent Palestinian state within the borders of June 4, 1967, with East Jerusalem as its capital, "enjoying full sovereignty."
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, why shouldn’t Russia and China in the current situation — given the proximity of their interests and positions — undertake joint initiatives to unblock the peace process, while initiating steps to "introduce this activity within an institutional framework?
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, the unilateral efforts by US Secretary of State John Kerry to promote the Israeli-Palestinian peace process are not bearing fruit
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Russia is interested in using this unprecedented convergence with China in its operations on the Middle East arena, where Moscow has in many ways already been acting in unison with Beijing
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, the Middle East Quartet is one of few international platforms where Russia can constructively engage with the United States and the EU
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China's growing economic cooperation with Arab countries not a cause for concern in Moscow, but it is also viewed in a very favorable light
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will not one day replace the United States as the security guarantor for the transportation routes of these resources
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Moscow’s and Beijing’s interests converge in the joint countering of terrorism, extremism and separatism
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. Among the militants from radical groups fighting against government troops in Syria, there are people hailing not only from Russia and Central Asia (fewer in numbers to those coming from Arab and Islamic as well as Western countries), but also from the Uighur minority in China.
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recently, Beijing came under harsh criticism from Ankara for its actions in the Xinjiang Uighur Autonomous Region against the Uighur population, which the Turks believe to be their next of kin
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. Disappointed by the failure of EU accession, the Turkish leadership has even started talking about the desire to join the SCO as an observer
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Ankara expresses its willingness to cooperate with China in the fight against terrorists and condemns the separatism coming from some groups in Xinjiang
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There is no doubt that a comprehensive strategic partnership, in which Russia and China would act in concert along the political consensus reached by their two leaders, would in the short term
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According to both, this convergence is neither a union nor a tournament of predators, but a very pragmatic integrationist instrument of protection and projection of interests by the two powers, including in the Middle East.
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roughly 50 agreements ushering in a period of unprecedented convergence between the two countries
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Such consensus includes Syria, despite Beijing’s lesser involvement on this issue, relative to Moscow; Iran, within the P5+1 (the five permanent UN Security Council members plus Germany) negotiations with Tehran over its nuclear program; the fight against terrorism and extremism; the creation of a weapons of mass destruction-free Middle East; the condemnation of external intervention and the strategy of "regime change" as well as the push for "color revolutions;" the policy to reach a settlement in the Middle East; and relations with the new Egyptian regime and with respect to the Sudanese issues.
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Turkey says training of Syrian rebels to begin on March 1 - 0 views
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A program to train and equip moderate syrian rebels will get under way on March 1, the Turkish Foreign Ministry
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Tanju Bilgiç, came after Turkey and the us recently announced the signing of a long-anticipated deal to train and equip the rebels.
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some 2,000 Syrian rebels will be trained and equipped in Turkey within a year as part of the program
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The agreement comes at a time when fighting has escalated between rebels and the Syrian regime in and around Aleppo and talks of a cease-fire in the northern province are taking place.
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Turkey was one of the three countries that publicly said it was ready to open its territory for the training of the Syrian rebels.
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US had earlier said it was considering initially dispatching at least 400 troops to train the rebels outside of Syria
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We have been saying for a long time that the international community has the responsibility to support the National Coalition for Syrian Revolutionary and Opposition Forces, which is recognized by 114 countries and the groups related to the coalition,” said Çavuşoğlu, adding that the training agreement is an important step taken within this framework.
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“England is also carrying out similar training [programs] in Libya. Saudi Arabia and Qatar have also announced that they will be hosting a train-and-equip program,”
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The deal between Ankara and Washington is a positive development between the two long-standing allies, despite strains over Middle Eastern policy. Turkey wants President Bashar al-Assad's departure to be the focus in Syria, while Washington's priority remains battling ISIL insurgents.
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The NATO ally has also has been facing backlash for its reluctance to join the US-led coalition efforts to eliminate ISIL, feeding speculation that this reluctance stems from some Turkish officials being ideologically close to the terrorist group.
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Turkish authorities have strongly condemned the terrorist acts of ISIL militants and say these actions have nothing to do with Islam.
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Turkey has announced that, along with the US, they will be training some 2,000 Syrian rebels. Tensions have been rising between Syria and Turkey ever since Turkey went into Syria to retrieve a historical figure and relocate him but they are hoping this move will calm the tensions between the two states.
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U.N. concerned by Islamic State's ability to unite Afghan insurgents - 0 views
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The United Nations is concerned by the presence of Islamic State in Afghanistan but says the militant group's power to unite insurgents is more significant than its capabilities in the war-torn country
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attempts are under way to broker an end to 13 years of conflict between the Taliban, who were ousted in a U.S.-led war in 2001, and Afghan and foreign
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growing numbers of disgruntled Taliban fighters have joined the militant group that has seized swathes of territory in Syria and Iraq
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significance is not so much a function of its intrinsic capacities in the area but of its potential to offer an alternative flagpole to which otherwise isolated insurgent splinter groups can rall
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U.N. Secretary-General Ban Ki-moon's latest report to the Security Council on Afghanistan said a handful of Taliban commanders had declared allegiance to Islamic State and that an increasing number were seeking funding or cooperation with Islamic State.
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The radical Islamist group has declared a caliphate in the territory it controls in Syria and Iraq. A U.S.-led alliance has been targeting Islamic State with air strikes in Iraq and Syria for some six month
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Militants loyal to Islamic State have also been exploiting chaos in Libya, while Boko Haram, which is seeking to carve an Islamist emirate out of northeastern Nigeria, has pledged its allegiance to Islamic State
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"an alignment of circumstances that could be conducive to fostering peace talks" between the Afghan government and the Taliban. Officials said last month the Afghan Taliban has signaled it is willing to open peace talks.
ISIS Affiliate Expands in Egypt - 0 views
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Turkish Military Evacuates Soldiers Guarding Tomb in Syria - NYTimes.com - 0 views
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The Turkish Army sent armored troops deep into Syria late Saturday on a rescue mission, to recover the remains of a major historical figure and to evacuate the guards at his besieged tomb
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The tomb of Suleyman Shah, grandfather of the founder of the Ottoman Empire, is 20 miles south of the Turkish border, but it has been considered Turkish territory under a 1921 treaty with France
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there were no clashes during the mission and only one casualty, a soldier who was killed in an accident
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He said Turkey notified the Syrian government, rebel leaders and the coalition forces fighting the Islamic State about the operation.
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Turkish flag was lowered, and the tomb and security station were destroyed to prevent any possible use by extremists.
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clashes were likely to erupt nearby between forces of the Islamic State, also known as ISIS or ISIL, and Kurdish troops known as pesh merga, and that the tomb could become a target.
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“The Suleyman Shah tomb has been a point of vulnerability for Turkey for a long time, and with this operation, such weakness has been eliminated
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“The Islamic State could have used the presence of the tomb as leverage in case of any confrontation with Turkey
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in accordance with the 1921 treaty, a new tomb for Suleyman Shah was being established in a part of Syria that is under Kurdish control
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when conditions in Syria permitted, the tomb would be moved back again to the site that was evacuated, near the village of Karakozak
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Tensions have mounted around the tomb since March, when the Islamic State took control of the surrounding area and began threatening to destroy the tomb unless guards there lowered the Turkish flag.
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The militant group raided Turkey’s consulate in Mosul, Iraq, last June and seized 46 Turks and 3 Iraqis as hostages; they were released three months later on terms that were not disclosed
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crisis discouraged Turkey from joining the United States-led military coalition conducting strikes against the Islamic State, though Turkey has cooperated with the United States in other ways,
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Turkey has lobbied intensively for international military action in Syria, including no-fly zones and a presence on the ground to strengthen the more moderate Syrian rebel groups who are fighting both the extremists and the Syrian government.
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Syrian government issued a statement on Sunday calling the military operation a “flagrant aggression” because Turkey did not wait for permission from Damascus to mount i
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Mr. Ulgen, the analyst, said the choice of route was a sign of some improvement in relations between the Turkish government in Ankara and the Syrian Kurds, whom the Turks have regarded with deep suspicion.
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UK security 'failed' to stop girls from going to Syria, family says - 0 views
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BBC News - Can Iraqi militants be kept off social media sites? - 0 views
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The Iraqi government responded by blocking social media sites and, in some provinces, barring access to the internet entirely.
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The BBC spoke to a number of social networks, all of which said they did not actively monitor their sites for content promoting terrorism, but rather responded to requests from governments and individuals to remove offending material.
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One Ask.fm account offered advice on how to join Isis fighters in Iraq, as well as what weapons one could expect to be equipped with on arrival.
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rminated any account registered by a member of a foreign terrorist organisation - as designated by the US secretary of state - and used in an official capacity to further its interests.
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Libya's civil war: That it should come to this | The Economist - 3 views
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It is split between a government in Beida, in the east of the country, which is aligned with the military; and another in Tripoli, in the west, which is dominated by Islamists and militias from western coastal cities
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the revolutionaries cobbled together a National Transitional Council (NTC) claiming to represent all of Libya
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Volunteers from students to bank managers took up arms, joining popular militias and only sometimes obeying the orders of defecting army commanders trying to take control
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In August Western bombing of government bases surrounding Tripoli cleared an avenue for the revolutionaries to take the capital.
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Recognised abroad, popular at home and enjoying the benefits of healthy oil revenues—97% of the government’s income—the NTC was well placed to lay the foundations for a new Libya
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he judges, academics and lawyers who filled its ranks worried about their own legitimacy and feared confrontation with the militias which, in toppling Qaddafi, had taken his arsenals for their own.
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The NTC presided over Libya’s first democratic elections in July 2012, and the smooth subsequent handover of power to the General National Congress (GNC) revived popular support for the revolution.
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Islamist parties won only 19 of 80 seats assigned to parties in the new legislature, and the process left the militias on the outside
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tried to advertise its moderation by putting an unveiled woman at the head of its party list in Benghazi
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The incumbent prime minister, Abdurrahim al-Keib, a university professor who had spent decades in exile, fretted and dithered
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He bowed to militia demands for their leaders to be appointed to senior ministries, and failed to revive public-works programmes
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Many received handouts without being required to hand in weapons or disband, an incentive which served to swell their ranks
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the number of revolutionaries registered with the Warriors Affairs Commission set up by the NTC was about 60,000; a year later there were over 200,000. Of some 500 registered militias, almost half came from one city, Misrata.
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In May 2013 the militias forced parliament to pass a law barring from office anyone who had held a senior position in Qaddafi’s regime after laying siege to government ministries.
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In the spring of 2014, Khalifa Haftar, a retired general who had earlier returned from two decades of exile in America, forcibly tried to dissolve the GNC and re-establish himself as the armed forces’ commander-in-chief in an operation he called Dignity
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The elections which followed were a far cry from the happy experience of 2012. In some parts of the country it was too dangerous to go out and vote
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Such retrenchment has been particularly noticeable among women. In 2011 they created a flurry of new civil associations; now many are back indoors.
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Turnout in the June 2014 elections was 18%, down from 60% in 2012, and the Islamists fared even worse than before
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Dismissing the results, an alliance of Islamist, Misratan and Berber militias called Libya Dawn launched a six-week assault on Tripoli. The newly elected parliament decamped to Tobruk, some 1,300km east
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Grasping for a figleaf of legitimacy, Libya Dawn reconstituted the pre-election GNC and appointed a new government
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So today Libya is split between two parliaments—both boycotted by their own oppositions and inquorate—two governments, and two central-bank governors.
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The army—which has two chiefs of staff—is largely split along ethnic lines, with Arab soldiers in Arab tribes rallying around Dignity and the far fewer Misratan and Berber ones around Libya Dawn.
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General Haftar’s Dignity, which has based its government in Beida, has air power and, probably, better weaponry
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the Dignity movement proclaims itself America’s natural ally in the war on terror and the scourge of jihadist Islam
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Libya Dawn’s commanders present themselves as standard-bearers of the revolution against Qaddafi now continuing the struggle against his former officers
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Ministers in the east vow to liberate Tripoli from its “occupation” by Islamists, all of whom they denounce as terrorists
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threatens to take the war to Egypt if Mr Sisi continues to arm the east. Sleeping cells could strike, he warns, drawn from the 2m tribesmen of Libyan origin in Egypt.
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The struggle over the Gulf of Sirte area, which holds Libya’s main oil terminals and most of its oil reserves, threatens to devastate the country’s primary asset
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And in the Sahara, where the largest oilfields are, both sides have enlisted ethnic minorities as proxies
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ibya Dawn has drafted in the brown-skinned Tuareg, southern cousins of the Berbers; Dignity has recruited the black-skinned Toubou. As a result a fresh brawl is brewing in the Saharan oasis of Ubari, which sits at the gates of the al-Sharara oilfield, largest of them all.
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On January 3rd, IS claimed to have extended its reach to Libya’s Sahara too, killing a dozen soldiers at a checkpoint
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have since been conspicuous by their absence. Chastened by failure in Afghanistan and Iraq, they have watched from the sidelines
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Dignity is supported not just by Mr Sisi but also by the United Arab Emirates, which has sent its own fighter jets into the fray as well as providing arms
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If oil revenues were to be put into an escrow account, overseas assets frozen and the arms embargo honoured he thinks it might be possible to deprive fighters of the finance that keeps them fighting and force them to the table
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Until 1963 Libya was governed as three federal provinces—Cyrenaica in the east, Fezzan in the south and Tripolitania in the west
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the marginalised Cyrenaicans harked back to the time when their king split his time between the courts of Tobruk and Beida and when Arabs from the Bedouin tribes of the Green Mountains ran his army
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July 2011 jihadists keen to settle scores with officers who had crushed their revolt in the late 1990s killed the NTC’s commander-in-chief, Abdel Fattah Younis, who came from a powerful Arab tribe in the Green Mountains. In June 2013 the Transitional Council of Barqa (the Arab name for Cyrenaica), a body primarily comprised of Arab tribes, declared the east a separate federal region, and soon after allied tribal militias around the Gulf of Sirte took control of the oilfields.
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In the west, indigenous Berbers, who make up about a tenth of the population, formed a council of their own and called on larger Berber communities in the Maghreb and Europe for support
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Derna—a small port in the east famed for having sent more jihadists per person to fight in Iraq than anywhere else in the world
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opposed NATO intervention and insisted that the NTC was a pagan (wadani) not national (watani) council
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Some in Derna have now declared their allegiance to Abu Bakr al-Baghdadi, the caliph of the so-called Islamic State (IS) in Syria and Iraq.
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In December the head of America’s Africa command told reporters that IS was training some 200 fighters in the town.
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Bad Move, ISIS: Why America and Iran Should Work Together - 0 views
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Turkey shuts border crossings as fighting worsens around Syria's Aleppo | Reuters - 0 views
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Turkey has closed two border crossings with Syria as a security precaution as fighting around the northern Syrian city of Aleppo intensifies
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crossings at Oncupinar and Cilvegozu in Turkey's southern Hatay province have been shut to vehicles and individuals crossing from Syria since Monday,
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"Turkey has some security concerns and it is natural for measures to be taken based on the threat assessment conducted
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Humanitarian aid will not be affected, the government official said. Syrians with passports are still allowed to cross into Syria
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Turkey has kept its borders open to refugees since the start of Syria's civil war four years ago, but it has come under criticism for doing too little to keep foreign fighters crossing and joining militant groups including Islamic State
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divided between government forces and insurgent groups fighting to topple President Bashar al-Assad in a conflict estimated to have killed 200,000 people
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UN plan to relocate Syrian refugees in northern Europe | World news | The Guardian - 0 views
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“orderly relocation” of thousands of Syrian refugees from southern Europe to richer countries in the north, and is pressing the EU to agree to a year-long pilot programme
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the UN refugee agency, the UNHCR, has approached senior EU figures to get backing for its pilot programme
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is a radical departure from current EU policy, which forces asylum seekers to apply for asylum in their first country of entry, under legislation known as the Dublin law.
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We need to convince them that it is better to go legally, that there is an alternative to months of suffering
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More than 3 million people are estimated to have fled the country in the past four years, and although the vast majority have remained in neighbouring countries – Lebanon, Turkey and Jordan – thousands have tried to make the perilous journey to Europe.
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Most of those who survive the Mediterranean crossing – and more than 3,000 died last year – end up in Italy and Greece
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apply for asylum in their country of arrival. But only a tiny minority do. In practice, many migrants simply slip through the net and move, vulnerably, around Europe.
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Syrians who chose to move irregularly across Europe could be reduced if people were allowed to legally travel onwards to join family or move to countries where they have language skills or work opportunities
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The proposed relocation, which would start as a one-year pilot programme, would focus only on Syrians who have been recognised as refugees in Italy and Greece and would depend on an initial voluntary commitment from member states
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previous attempts to reform the Dublin law have been met with fierce resistance during internal EU discussions
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UK and other northern European countries have fought in both domestic and European courts to defend the right to return asylum seekers to their first country of entry
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the commission is discussing with the member states on how to ensure a more balanced distribution of resettled refugees among all member states. We wil
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Cochetel acknowledged that only a significant interest in building a new system would create a change in behaviour among desperate migrants
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massive irregular secondary movements feeding trafficking, leading to human suffering and exploitation
Women in Jihad - 0 views
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Tunis Bardo Museum attack: Thousands join protest march - BBC News - 0 views
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The people of Tunisia responded to the attack on the museum with an anti-terrorism march. The people walked around the streets chanting "'Tunisia is free! Terrorism out!'". Political leaders supported the people on this one. Tunisian President Beji Caid Essebsi said, "' The Tunisian people proved today that they do not bow to terrorism, and that as one man and one woman, they defend the nation. When Tunisia is targeted, the whole nation stands as one'". The march was to show that they are democratic people, Tunisians are moderate and there is no room for terrorists here. Some leftist political groups chose to boycott the rally because they feel it is a participation of an Islamist party and they are the ones accountable for the rise of Islamic extremism in the country.
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ISIS releases new video of Paris attackers - CNN.com - 0 views
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Footage shows Britain's Prime Minster David Cameron and the vote in the British House of Commons last year in which the United Kingdom voted to join the anti-ISIS coalition conducting airstrikes on Syria.
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"The following are the final messages of the nine lions of the khilafah who were mobilized from their dens to bring an entire country -- France -- to her knees," the video reads.
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Exclusive: EgyptAir mechanic suspected in Russian plane crash - 0 views
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Investigations are still going on about the airplane that crashed leaving Egypt in October. Egypt is still saying it was not terrorism but it is known that a worker might have a link to a cousin who joined the Islamic State. This is an issue because tourism is one of Egypt's main economic contributors, but since the attack no foreigners from Europe or Russia have been able to travel there.
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Online Activism to Real-World Activism: Social Media's Role in the Egyptian Revolution ... - 0 views
revolutionegypt.blogs.wm.edu/...tion-of-2011-and-its-aftermath
Revolt Egypt Internet Usage Cyber Activism
shared by aacosta8 on 16 Nov 14
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This article is statistically strong with lots of factoids about the Egyptian Revolution and more specifically its ties to social media. It says that social media has three downfalls in the Egyptians revolution. These 3 things being, "enabling passive "activism," romanticizing the revolution, and failing to provide structure for a cohesive plan with leaders". This article discusses the idea of anonymous activism and what role it actually plays for uprisings. They also talk about how "perverting activism" was popular when starting the revolution. This was when people would post shocking images and videos of the carnage from protests being shut down by police. This would get everyone's attention, but would not carry the revolution itself.
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Egypt Targets Journalists In Crackdown On Muslim Brotherhood : NPR - 1 views
www.npr.org/...rackdown-on-muslim-brotherhood
#CommiteeToProjectJournalists #Journalists #Al-Jazeera #PressFreedoms
shared by kristaf on 22 Sep 14
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Egypt's top prosecutor has ordered a 15-day detention for several journalists on suspicion of joining the brotherhood,
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nd Morsi took a style, attitude toward the press and towards the station, and publicly accuse them of inciting violence which started the divide in the Egyptian media and also a divide between those who support the army and those who support the Muslim Brotherhood and President Morsi
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Committee to Protect Journalists, a nonprofit that promotes the freedom of the press around the world.
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Syria remains the most dangerous environment for journalists. Last year in 2013, there were 29 killed. I
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Turkey and Iran remain the top two jailers of journalists around the world, which makes the Middle East a very hostile environment for freedom of the press overall.
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The article mentions the imprisonment of journalist in Egypt, who were believed to be members of the Muslim Brotherhood. Egypt was identified as "one of the top jailers of journalists" according to the Committee to Project Journalists. Along with Egypt, Syria, Turkey, and Iran are also among the most dangerous places for journalists.
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The article mentions the imprisonment of journalist in Egypt, who were believed to be members of the Muslim Brotherhood. Egypt was identified as "one of the top jailers of journalists" according to the Committee to Project Journalists. Along with Egypt, Syria, Turkey, and Iran are also among the most dangerous places for journalists.
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Control and crucifixions: Life in Libya under IS - BBC News - 0 views
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of retributions. We spoke to people who have been forced to leave the city, to escape Islamic State.
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My dad is a senior policeman and was getting threats in Sirte. Anyone who works with the police can be kidnapped or killed unless you join them
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S was quite laid back at the start in terms of implementing their harsh interpretation of Sharia, or Islamic law. You get the feeling that they were focussing on building loyalty and allegiances from the tribal society of Sirte
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It was only in August when Islamic codes of dress and behaviour began to be implemented more noticeably. It was also then when crucifixions and lashings began to be meted out to anyone convicted. These usually take place after Friday prayers.
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