Headlines:
- China to Build Military Base in Afghanistan
- The Battle for Idlib has begun
- New Scramble for Africa
- Nekkaz: EU Allergic to Muslim Women
- Iran, Iraq Stop Dollar-Based Trade
- US Military to Cancel $300 Million Pakistani Aid
China to Build Military Base in Afghanistan
Evidence has surfaced that China may have started building a training base in northern Afghanistan’s Badakhshan province. China was quick to deny the reports, but this is standard practice for Beijing when it wants to downplay its slowly expanding overseas military presence. This was a similar strategy China utilised a similar strategy before it opened a naval base in Djibouti. China is also denying its small presence in Syria as Chinese concerns grow over the potential outflow of Uighur fighters from the Syrian battlefield. For the US it has long argued China benefits from the international system but doesn’t bear the costs of providing security for the system it has benefited from. In Afghanistan the US has for long being looking for other nations to pick up the burden in order to stabilise the country.
The Battle for Idlib has begun
Russia resumed air strikes in northwestern Syria on Sep 4th ahead of an expected assault by pro-government forces on rebel-held Idlib province. Russian warplanes carried out 30 raids targeting 16 areas in the border region between Idlib and Latakia provinces, according to the Syrian Observatory for Human Rights, the UK-based, pro-opposition monitor. Idlib is the last bastion of a group of an estimated 70,000 rebels who have been corralled in the province as the Syrian government has gradually regained territory claimed by opposition groups since an uprising against Bashar al-Assad began in 2011. Turkey’s army has established a series of observation posts along the border between Idlib and Syrian government-held territory and will be playing a key role in ensuring North Idlib is secured. These Military positions have been recently fitted with anti-air defences, concrete walls as well as the building of hospitals and a helicopter field. Whilst many rebel groups are viewing Turkey as someone who will help them in the battle for Idlib, it remains to be seen if Turkey follows through on this.
New Scramble for Africa
At the opening of the Forum on China-Africa Cooperation (FOCAC), Chinese President Xi Jinping announced an additional $60 billion package of aid, investment and loans for African countries. The FOCAC has been held every three years since 2000 and has often resulted in announcements of major financing or policies. Xi also announced a $60 billion package for African countries at the summit in 2015. The Chinese premier attempted to offer the latest financial package without conditions and by waiving the debts of Africa’s poorest states. This is an attempt to deal with the perception that’s China is just the recent example of powerful states imposing on the Continent. Sri Lanka has now learnt the hard way that China does not give money as a humanitarian, but expects something in return. Usually access to resources, ports and mineral resources.
Nekkaz: EU Allergic to Muslim Women
European countries are following an “Islamophobic trend” through their support for laws that are “inherently” discriminatory to Muslim women by targeting their freedom to wear what they want, says Algerian businessman and political activist Rachid Nekkaz who was thrust into the spotlight after vowing to pay the fines of women wearing the niqab in Denmark. Nekkaz is determined to support women’s right to wear what they want, and has publicly supported their choice to not wear the veil in countries such as Sudan and Iran. France as well as Belgium, the Netherlands, Bulgaria, Switzerland, Austria, Denmark and the German state of Bavaria have all imposed some curbs on face veils in public. Women wearing full-face veils in Denmark are subject to fines and can face up to seven days in jail in the country. Supporting human rights in 18 countries through his organization, Nekkaz, whose American wife does not wear the veil, has so far paid 1552 fines totaling 315,000 euros in several European countries. He said that he is the president of the “Hassiba Human Rights League”, which defends civil liberties in Algeria and all over the world. “Thanks to my financial independence, I have the means to pay the fines of human rights activists accused by the Algerian justice system, the fines against women freely wearing a niqab in Europe, and the fines against women refusing to wear the veil in Iran. France today is no longer that of the 1980s. It has become allergic to Islam and to Muslim women. Islamophobia has become the religion of State of France. Unfortunately, since 2010, other European countries have followed this Islamophobic trend, by voting in turn for these laws which are inherently discriminatory against Muslim women: Belgium, Switzerland, the Netherlands, Austria, Bulgaria, Germany and Denmark. I’ve had to intervene personally in all these countries to communicate clearly to them that I will always assist these Muslim women in order to neutralize these unjust laws and to guarantee the freedom of clothing of these harmless women by paying all the fines that they receive while wearing their niqab on the street. [Source: YaniSafak World]
Nekkaz efforts are emanate from the freedoms that the West brags about, and will not be a long term solution to the evil practiced by Western governments against Muslim women. The radical solution which reserve Muslim women is the resumption of the Islamic way of life by re-establishing the state of Khilafah ar-Rashidah ‘ala minhaj nubuwwah (Righteous Caliphate on the method of the Prophethood). It is only the Khilafah that defend Muslim women.
Iran, Iraq Stop Dollar-Based Trade
“Dollar-based trade between Iran and Iraq has stopped and most exchanges are made in euro, rial and dinar,” Al-e Eshaq said on Saturday. He added that another part of exchanges between the Iranian and Iraqi exporters are made in the form of barter. Al-e Eshaq said “only a small portion of the $8bln trade between Iran and Iraq is funneled through the banking sector”. In a relevant development on Wednesday, Iranian Ambassador to Baghdad Iraj Masjedi called on the Iraqi foreign ministry to replace dollar with Iran’s national currency (rial) to issue visa for the country’s pilgrims who are due to visit Iraq in Arbaeen ceremony, one of the currency swap moves Iran is making to counter the US sanctions. Masjedi’s remarks, made in a meeting with Iraqi Foreign Minister Ibrahim al-Jafari in Baghdad, were in line with Iran’s policies to confront the US sanctions after Washington’s withdrawal from the 2015 nuclear deal. During Arbaeen ceremony the 40th day after the martyrdom anniversary of Imam Hossein (AS), the third Shiite Imam, is commemorated. Jafari, for his part, praised Iran for remaining beside Iraq in hard times, specially in the war on the ISIL terrorist group, and underlined Baghdad’s preparedness to cooperate and coordinate efforts with Iran to hold Arabaeen ceremony. [Source: Albawaba]
Stopping the dollar trade between the two countries will not deter America from attacking Iran. On the contrary, both Iran and Iraq need to drop their false pretenses of anti-American rhetoric and unite to expel America from the region.
US Military to Cancel $300 Million Pakistani Aid
The US military has announced that it was cancelling $300 million in aid to Pakistan over what it calls Islamabad’s failure to take action against militant groups. Pentagon spokesman Lt Col Kone Faulkner on Saturday said the US military would aim to spend the money on other “urgent priorities”, the BBC reported. “We continue to press Pakistan to indiscriminately target all terrorist groups,” Col Faulkner said in a statement, adding that the $300 million aid — which had earlier been suspended – should be used elsewhere due to “a lack of Pakistani decisive actions” in tackling the issue. The announcement comes just days before US Secretary of State Mike Pompeo is due to visit Pakistan to meet the country’s new Prime Minister Imran Khan. President Donald Trump has previously accused Pakistan of deceiving the US while receiving billions of dollars. The US state department has also slammed Pakistan for failing to deal with terrorist networks operating on its soil, including the Haqqani network and the Afghan Taliban. In January, the US government announced it was cutting almost all security aid to the country.[Source: Gulf News]
One by one the America is cutting the wages paid to the Pakistani military brass for spilling Muslim blood. Under Trump the expectation is that Pakistanis military elite will willingly kill Muslims for America’s war against Islam.