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Obama seeking congress nod for Syria action
Obama seeking congress nod for Syria action (Agencies) / 1 September 2013 Delaying what had loomed as an imminent strike, President Barack Obama abruptly announced on Saturday that he will seek congressional approval before launching any military action meant to punish Syria for its alleged use of chemical weapons in an attack that killed hundreds. With Navy ships on standby in the Mediterranean Sea ready to launch their cruise missiles, Obama said he had decided the United States should take military action and that he believes he has “the authority to carry out this military action without specific congressional authorisation.” At the same time, he said, “I know that the country will be stronger if we take this course and our actions will be even more effective.” Congress is scheduled to return from a summer vacation on September 9. The president didn’t say so, but his strategy carries enormous risks to his and the nation’s credibility, which the administration has argued forcefully is on the line in Syria. Obama long ago said the use of chemical weapons was a “red line” that Syrian President Bashar Assad would not be allowed to cross with impunity. British Prime Minister David Cameron, who suffered a humiliating defeat when the House of Commons refused to support his call for military action against Syria, said on Saturday that he understood President Barack Obama’s decision to ask the US Congress to authorise military action against Syria. “I understand and support Barack Obama’s position on Syria,” the British prime minister said in a tweet. The developments marked a stunning turn in an episode in which Obama has struggled to gain international support for a strike, while dozens of lawmakers at home urged him to seek their backing. Halfway around the world, Syrians awoke on Saturday to state television broadcasts of tanks, planes and other weapons of war, and troops training, all to a soundtrack of martial music. Assad’s government blames rebels in the August 21 attack, and has threatened retaliation if it is attacked. Russian President Vladimir Putin, saying he was appealing to a Nobel Peace laureate rather than to a president, urged Obama to reconsider. A group that monitors casualties in the long Syrian civil war challenged the United States to substantiate its claim that 1,429 died in a chemical weapons attack, including more than 400 children. The new timetable gives time for UN inspectors to receive preliminary lab results from the samples they took during four days in Damascus. Fully assessing the evidence collected by weapons inspectors could take up to three weeks, the organisation in charge of the investigation said on Saturday. United Nations inspectors arrive at the headquarters of the Organisation for the Prohibition of Chemical Weapons (OPCW), in The Hague, on August 31. -AFP The team, which included nine experts from the Organisation for the Prohibition of Chemical Weapons (OPCW) and three from the World Health Organisation, arrived at the OPCW’s Hague headquarters on Saturday evening after leaving Syria early in the morning. “The evidence collected by the team will now undergo laboratory analysis and technical evaluation according to the established and recognised procedures and standards,” the OPCW said in a statement. The group’s leader was expected to brief Secretary-General Ban Ki-moon on Sunday. Republicans expressed satisfaction at Obama’s decision, and challenged him to make his case to the public and lawmakers alike that American power should be used to punish Assad. “We are glad the president is seeking authorisation for any military action in Syria in response to serious, substantive questions being raised,” House Speaker John Boehner of Ohio and other House Republican leaders said in a joint statement. “In consultation with the president, we expect the House to consider a measure the week of September 9th. This provides the president time to make his case to Congress and the American people.” It appeared that effort at persuasion was already well underway. The administration arranged a series of weekend briefings for lawmakers, both classified and unclassified, and Obama challenged lawmakers to consider “what message will we send to a dictator” if he is allowed to kill hundreds of children with chemical weapons without suffering any retaliation. While lawmakers are scheduled to return to work September 9, officials said it was possible the Senate might come back to session before then. Obama said on Friday that he was considering “limited and narrow” steps to punish Assad, adding that US national security interests were at stake. He pledged no US combat troops on the ground in Syria, where a civil war has claimed more than 100,000 civilian lives. With Obama struggling to gain international backing for a strike, Putin urged him to reconsider his plans. “We have to remember what has happened in the last decades, how many times the United States has been the initiator of armed conflict in different regions of the world, said Putin, a strong Assad ally. “Did this resolve even one problem?” Even the administration’s casualty estimate was grist for controversy. The Syrian Observatory for Human Rights, an organization that monitors casualties in the country, said it has confirmed 502 deaths, nearly 1,000 fewer than the American intelligence assessment claimed. Rami Abdel Rahman, the head of the organisation, said he was not contacted by US officials about his efforts to collect information about the death toll. “America works only with one part of the opposition that is deep in propaganda,” he said, and urged the Obama administration to release the information its estimate is based on. In the hours before Obama’s Rose garden announcement, he was joined at the White House by top advisers. Vice-President Joseph Biden, who had planned a holiday weekend at home in Delaware, was among them. So, too, were Defence Secretary Chuck Hagel, Secretary of State John Kerry and other top administration officials. Continue reading
UN experts quit Syria as Obama weighs strike
UN experts quit Syria as Obama weighs strike AFP / 31 August 2013 UN experts probing a suspected chemical weapons attack quit Syria on Saturday, opening a window into a possible US strike after Washington concluded the Damascus regime unleashed posion gas on civilians. The 13 inspectors, led by Ake Sellstrom , left their Damascus hotel before dawn and crossed early morning into Lebanon at the town of Chtaura in a convoy of vehicles, an AFP reporter said. They are due to report back immediately to UN chief Ban Ki-moon , who has appealed to the West to allow time for their findings to be assessed. Their departure heightened expectations of a US-led military strike on the Syrian regime, after US President Barack Obama on Friday gave his clearest indication yet that an attack was imminent. “We cannot accept a world where women and children and innocent civilians are gassed on a terrible scale,” Obama told reporters at the White House. “We are looking at the possibility of a limited, narrow act,” he said, while stressing no final decision had been taken on unleashing military strikes against Bashar Al Assad’s regime. His remarks came after the United States released an intelligence report that concluded the regime had launched a chemical onslaught in the suburbs of Damascus last week, killing 1,429 people, including at least 426 children. “This kind of attack is a challenge to the world,” Obama said. “The world has an obligation to make sure we maintain the norm against the use of chemical weapons,” the president said, slamming the failure of the UN Security Council to agree on action. Obama said he was looking at a “wide range of options” but had ruled out “boots on the ground” or a “long-term campaign.” France gave its backing to the US plans, saying a “strong message” should be sent to the Assad regime, but British lawmakers have voted against any involvement in military action and other close US allies said they would not sign up. Russia, Syria’s most powerful ally, has questioned US intelligence about the August 21 gas attacks and has warned against any military strikes without UN backing. US Secretary of State John Kerry cited “multiple streams of intelligence” indicating that the Syrian government had carried out the chemical attack and that Assad himself is the “ultimate decision maker”. Kerry said failure to act would not only erode the nearly century-old norm against the use of chemical weapons, but would embolden Syrian allies Iran and Hezbollah. But the United States, faced with an impasse at the Security Council and the British parliament’s shock vote Thursday, has been forced to look elsewhere for international partners. While Germany and Canada ruled out joining any military strikes, French President Francois Hollande — whose country was a strident opponent of the US-led war on Iraq — said the British decision would not affect his government’s stance. Hollande said he and Obama “agreed that the international community cannot tolerate the use of chemical weapons, that it should hold the Syrian regime accountable for it and send a strong message.” Turkey, Syria’s neighbour, went further still, demanding not just surgical strikes to send a message about chemical weapons but a sustained campaign to topple the regime. Gruesome pictures of some of the reported victims of the attacks, including children, have shocked the world and piled on the pressure for a response that could draw a reluctant West into the vicious Syrian civil war. But Russia and Iran, and even some US allies, have warned against any intervention, saying it risks sparking a wider conflict. The military buildup continued, with US warships armed with cruise missiles converging on the eastern Mediterranean. In Damascus, the mood was heavy with fear and security forces were making preparations for possible air strikes, pulling soldiers back from potential targets. The capital’s streets were largely empty on Saturday with few cars or pedestrians, although this is normal for the second day of the Syrian weekend. Residents were seen stocking up with fuel for generators in case utilities are knocked out in any military strike. The sound of bombardments in the distant suburbs could be heard, with the Syrian Observatory for Human Rights reporting shelling near Beit Sahem, on the way to the international airport; Al Nabak in the north and in East Ghouta, one of the sites of the suspected poison gas attacks. Syria has denied using chemical weapons and the foreign ministry said that the US intelligence report was “entirely fabricated stories” spread by “terrorists” — its term for rebels. More than 100,000 people have died since the conflict erupted in March 2011 and two million have become refugees, half of them children, according to the United Nations. Continue reading
Africa To Establish Free Trade Area By 2015: Zuma
JOHANNESBURG, (Xinhua) — African countries are expected to establish a free trade area by 2015, combining the markets of 26 countries with a population of nearly 600 million people and a combined GDP of 1 trillion U.S. dollars, South African President Jacob Zuma said on Tuesday. “Importantly, this will form the basis for an Africa-wide Free Trade Area, which could create a single market of 2.6 trillion U.S. dollars,” Zuma told delegates attending the first meeting of the BRICS Business Council in Johannesburg. This will enable African countries to further promote intra- African trade, Zuma said, adding that under the auspices of the African Union, African countries are launching an ambitious Tripartite free trade area, bringing together countries of Eastern and Southern Africa. “Africa is becoming a remarkable success story which augurs well for the BRICS partnership,” Zuma said. BRICS is an acronym for the powerful grouping of the world’s leading emerging markets, namely Brazil, Russia, India, China and South Africa. At the 5 th BRICS Durban summit in March, special focus was put on BRICS’ cooperation with Africa. The BRICS-Africa engagement and dialogue signals a new departure and a new avenue to take forward the continent’s development agenda. The ongoing meeting of the BRICS Business Council, which was set up at the Durban summit, will address three key issues—investment opportunities, value-added trade and the BRICS Development Bank. Zuma devoted much of his speech to the potentials of Africa. Africa’s output, he said, is expected to expand by 50 percent by 2015, resulting in a 30 percent rise in the continent’s spending power. “It is becoming well-known as well that the rate of return on foreign investment in Africa is higher than in any other region in the world. This is not surprising given the competitive edge of the continent,” Zuma noted. Africa’s advantages include its extraordinary mineral wealth and agricultural potential. South Africa’s own mineral wealth is estimated at 2.5 trillion U.S. dollars. In addition, the continent has a young working population and a growing middle class with considerable and growing purchasing power. In moves to promote intra-African trade, South Africa will play its own part to promoting investments within the continent, Zuma said. Over the last few years, the South African Reserve Bank approved nearly 1,000 large investments into 36 African countries. These mutually beneficial investments generate tax revenue, dividends and jobs between countries. “While we appreciate that our intra-African trade is still marginal, real barriers are not tariffs, but include other factors such as under-developed production structures and inadequate infrastructure,” Zuma said. He said Africa is poised to make further progress given the focus on improving systems and policies. JOHANNESBURG, (Xinhua) — African countries are expected to establish a free trade area by 2015, combining the markets of 26 countries with a population of nearly 600 million people and a combined GDP of 1 trillion U.S. dollars, South African President Jacob Zuma said on Tuesday. “Importantly, this will form the basis for an Africa-wide Free Trade Area, which could create a single market of 2.6 trillion U.S. dollars,” Zuma told delegates attending the first meeting of the BRICS Business Council in Johannesburg. This will enable African countries to further promote intra- African trade, Zuma said, adding that under the auspices of the African Union, African countries are launching an ambitious Tripartite free trade area, bringing together countries of Eastern and Southern Africa. “Africa is becoming a remarkable success story which augurs well for the BRICS partnership,” Zuma said. BRICS is an acronym for the powerful grouping of the world’s leading emerging markets, namely Brazil, Russia, India, China and South Africa. At the 5 th BRICS Durban summit in March, special focus was put on BRICS’ cooperation with Africa. The BRICS-Africa engagement and dialogue signals a new departure and a new avenue to take forward the continent’s development agenda. The ongoing meeting of the BRICS Business Council, which was set up at the Durban summit, will address three key issues—investment opportunities, value-added trade and the BRICS Development Bank. Zuma devoted much of his speech to the potentials of Africa. Africa’s output, he said, is expected to expand by 50 percent by 2015, resulting in a 30 percent rise in the continent’s spending power. “It is becoming well-known as well that the rate of return on foreign investment in Africa is higher than in any other region in the world. This is not surprising given the competitive edge of the continent,” Zuma noted. Africa’s advantages include its extraordinary mineral wealth and agricultural potential. South Africa’s own mineral wealth is estimated at 2.5 trillion U.S. dollars. In addition, the continent has a young working population and a growing middle class with considerable and growing purchasing power. In moves to promote intra-African trade, South Africa will play its own part to promoting investments within the continent, Zuma said. Over the last few years, the South African Reserve Bank approved nearly 1,000 large investments into 36 African countries. These mutually beneficial investments generate tax revenue, dividends and jobs between countries. “While we appreciate that our intra-African trade is still marginal, real barriers are not tariffs, but include other factors such as under-developed production structures and inadequate infrastructure,” Zuma said. He said Africa is poised to make further progress given the focus on improving systems and policies. Continue reading
