Headlines:
- Russia Seeks to Up Middle East Influence with Egypt Mission
- Jewish State Warns of War from Iran 'Bad Deal'
- Russia Fears Return of Fighters Waging Jihad In Syria
- America Exits Afghanistan, Trouble May Come Visiting India
Details:
Russia Seeks to Up Middle East Influence with Egypt Mission
Russia is launching a new front in its attempt to wrest power in the Middle East away from America, dispatching a high-level delegation to sell arms and influence in Egypt. Both the foreign and defence ministers, Sergei Lavrov and Sergei Shoigu, will meet their opposite numbers in Cairo on Thursday - in the latter case, Gen Abdulfattah al-Sisi, who has emerged from three years of troubles as Egypt's new "pharaoh" or strongman. Egypt is looking to buy military equipment following a partial withdrawal of support by its western allies, including the United States and Britain, over the killings of thousands of protesters in the summer after the army's overthrow of President Mohammed Morsi. Among the items it is believed to want are riot control equipment and high-end arms for special forces to use in the battle against Islamist insurgents in the Sinai peninsula. The shopping list is said by the Russians to extend as far as MI 29 fighter aircraft, though deals on such major purchases are further off and depend on Egypt's ability to pay amid a financial crisis. Egypt's military, backed by anti-Islamist television channels, were furious with the United States for its perceived support for Mr Morsi and his Muslim Brotherhood, though the US itself said it merely backed the democratic process. The arms deals being negotiated would be the largest for decades, according to reports from Moscow. Nabil Fahmy, the new Egyptian foreign minister, said in his first press conference that he intended to move Cairo's foreign policy beyond that of ex-President Hosni Mubarak, who was closely tied to Washington. Since then, the head of Russia's foreign intelligence service, Mikhail Fradkov, has visited, and according to several reports opened discussions over the possibility of establishing a Russian naval base in Egypt. Moscow's only current base in the Mediterranean, at Tartous in Syria, is under serious threat from the war there. On Monday, a Russian warship, the Varyag, docked at Alexandria on an official visit and was met with marching bands and a 21-gun salute. "National co-operation between Egypt and Russia never stopped," Badr Abdelatty, the foreign ministry spokesman, said last night. "For the two ministers to come together is a strong political signal that they are interested in deepening the relationship in all things. "We are expressing our strong interest in enhancing the relationship." [Source: The Daily Telegraph]
Jewish State Warns of War from Iran 'Bad Deal'
Jewish Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu warned on Wednesday that a "bad deal" with Iran on its nuclear programme could lead to war and his aides challenged U.S. assertions to have offered Tehran only "modest" relief from sanctions. As details emerged of a Western proposal that could let Iran sell oil and gold in return for curbs on its nuclear activities, a Jewish minister said the deal would negate up to 40 percent of the impact of sanctions, reducing pressure on Tehran to halt a programme the West says has a military motive. The Jewish state, which calculated the value of direct sanctions relief on offer at $15-20 billion, has lobbied hard against any such deal and says the United States, its closest ally, is being misled by overtures of detente coming from Tehran. Negotiations between Iran and six U.N. powers - the United States, Britain, France, Germany, Russia and China - are scheduled to resume on November 20 with both sides saying they are optimistic following talks at Geneva last weekend. The Jewish state is believed to be the sole nuclear power in the Middle East, has long warned it could use force to prevent Iran from gaining a nuclear weapon that would threaten the Jewish state, creating tensions with the Obama administration. [Source: Reuters]
Russia Fears Return of Fighters Waging Jihad in Syria
Moscow now fears that hundreds of Russian-born militants it says are fighting in Syria will return experienced in warfare to join an insurgency in Dagestan and its other North Caucasus provinces by militants fighting for an Islamic state. Violence in the region claims lives almost daily. Fifteen men from Novosasitli alone have died in shootouts with Russian forces in the last four years, locals say. Analysts say fighters could also try to strike during the 2014 Winter Olympics in February in nearby Sochi. President Vladimir Putin, who has staked his reputation on the Games, has said militants returning from Syria pose "a very real" threat and signed off on a law this month to jail any who come home. "The militant groups did not come out of nowhere, and they will not vanish into thin air," Putin said on Sept 23. In Novosasitli, where walls are tagged with graffiti supporting rebels fighting for an Islamic state, villagers say at least eight out of 2,000 inhabitants have gone to Syria. "There are whole brigades of our boys there," village council member Akhmed Khaibulayev said. Three of them were arrested by Russian forces on their way home via a land route crossing the border from Azerbaijan back into Dagestan, he said, but five have returned, underscoring the ease with which Russians travel to and from Syria. "They are at home now, waiting for when the security forces come for them," Khaibulayev said. The flow of Russians from the North Caucasus going to Syria increased this year, officials and locals say, as pleas for help from rebels grew more acute following a poison gas attack in the suburbs of Damascus. In June, Russia's FSB security service said 200 Russians were fighting with al Qaeda affiliated groups in Syria. By September, it said as many as 400 Russians were there. "They will come back, and that poses a huge threat," FSB deputy director Sergei Smirnov, said on September 20. Russian estimates of the number of fighters may not be accurate, experts say, because of the large numbers of its citizens studying abroad or who have emigrated to Europe, Jordan, Turkey and elsewhere. Since Putin rose to power 13 years ago and crushed a Chechen separatist revolt, he has said he would not allow the Caucasus provinces to split from Russia. But the nationalist cause that inspired Chechens to revolt after collapse of the Soviet Union has mutated into an Islamic one that spread to nearby Caucasus mountain lands. [Source: Reuters]
America Exits Afghanistan, Trouble May Come Visiting India
India is bracing for more militancy in battle-scarred Jammu and Kashmir, believing that fighters now focused on resisting US-led troops in Afghanistan will shift toward the flashpoint with Pakistan. Some say increased violence recently along India's heavily militarised border with Pakistan proves that shift is already underway. As a result, India is increasing use of drones, thermal sensors and foot patrols as it tries to catch out any battle-hardened militants moving through the forested mountains near the frontier. At the same time, India's troops have increasingly been engaging in skirmishes with Pakistan's military. The United States' 60,000 troops will be halved by February 2014 in Afghanistan and troops from the UK (7,900), Germany (4,400), Italy (2,800), Poland (1,550) and Georgia (1,550) will all pull out by the end. Rebels "are testing us. They're making their presence felt by launching audacious attacks," an Indian army commander in Kashmir said on condition of anonymity in line with army policy. "They have started recruiting young people into their folds. They are training some of these boys locally." US officials and experts acknowledge there are valid concerns. Though the US government has not discussed such a risk publicly, the chief of its forces in the Pacific says the US is increasingly discussing terrorist movements with countries in the region."We are thinking about it more and more each day, and this includes dialogue with our partners in India and Pakistan," admiral Samuel Locklear told reporters in Washington this week. "We need to be vigilant, we need to be prepared and we need to be alert for any such eventuality," the Indian Army's Northern Commander Lt Gen Sanjiv Chachra said in a TV interview recently. "I think the drawdown (of US forces in the region) will definitely have effect. As a professional army we are keeping a tag of it." Within India "there is widespread anticipation that Pakistan will divert elements of Jihadi forces (in Afghanistan) to this side," GK Pillai, a former Indian Home Secretary, said. In the past, some rebels in Kashmir were either trained in Afghanistan or were Afghan nationals, India says. "Our worry is not the number of militants," the Indian army commander said on condition of anonymity. "The worry is the quality of the people who are likely to come. They're battle-hardened, aggressive and smart. They know the warfare." This year's fighting between India and Pakistan has unusually extended southward from the Line of Control to border areas that are not disputed by India. And while Pakistani troops in the past would fire across the border to provide cover for infiltrating militants, such fire is now coming regardless of any rebels being present, according to police chief Ashok Prasad in Kashmir. [Source: Hindustan Times]
