Region

UNITED NATIONS — Teenage girls abducted by Daesh militants in Iraq and Syria are being sold in slave markets "for as little as a pack of cigarettes", the UN envoy on sexual violence said Monday.

Zainab Bangura visited Iraq and Syria in April, and has since been working on an action plan to address the horrific sexual violence being waged by Daesh militants.

"This is a war that is being fought on the bodies of women," Bangura told AFP in an interview.

The UN envoy spoke to women and girls who had escaped from captivity in Daesh-controlled areas, met with local religious and political leaders and visited refugees in Turkey, Lebanon and Jordan.

Jihadists continue to run slave markets for girls abducted during fresh offensives, but there are no figures on the numbers enslaved by the fighters.

"They kidnap and abduct women when they take areas so they have — I don't want to call it a fresh supply — but they have new girls," she said.

Girls are sold for "as little as a pack of cigarettes" or for several hundred or thousand dollars, she said.

Bangura described the ordeal of several teenage girls, many of whom were part of the Yazidi minority targeted by the militants.

"Some were taken, locked up in a room — over 100 of them in a small house — stripped naked and washed."

They were then made to stand in front of a group of men who decided "what you are worth".

Bangura gave the account of a 15-year-old girl who was sold to a Daesh leader, a sheikh aged in his 50s, who showed her a gun and a stick and asked her "tell me what you want".

"She said 'the gun' and he replied: 'I didn't buy you so that you could kill yourself'" before raping her, Bangura said.

Foreign fighters get wives 

Abducting girls has become a key part of the Daesh strategy to recruit foreign fighters who have been travelling to Iraq and Syria in record numbers over the past 18 months.

"This is how they attract young men — we have women waiting for you, virgins that you can marry," Bangura said. "The foreign fighters are the backbone of the fighting."

A recent UN report said close to 25,000 foreign fighters from over 100 countries were involved in conflicts worldwide, with the largest influx by far into Syria and Iraq.

The envoy likened the militants’ abuse of women and girls to "mediaeval" practices and said Daesh wants "to build a society that reflects the 13th century".

Despite the monstrous violence, communities like the Yazidis are welcoming the girls back and offering them support to pick up the pieces of their broken lives, said Bangura.

She praised Yazidi religious leader Baba Sheikh for publicly declaring that the girls need understanding, but noted that no such pronouncements had come from the Turkmen leaders.

Bangura returned from a tour of European capitals to discuss the plight of women and girls under Daesh and hopes to address the Security Council soon to discuss what can be done.

A UN technical team is due to travel to the region soon to work out details of the plan to help victims of Daesh sexual violence.

DUBAI — By launching a scud missile at Saudi Arabia, Yemen's former president Ali Abdullah Saleh has sent a signal that he needs to be a factor at upcoming peace talks in Geneva aimed at ending two months of war.

Saleh, the strongman who resigned following the 2011 "Arab Spring" protests after more than three decades in power, has emerged as the main military ally of Houthi Shiite fighters, now the most powerful force in the country.

Saudi Arabia has been targeting the Houthis for two months from the air in support of the government led by Saleh's successor, Abed Rabbo Mansour Hadi, who evacuated the country in the face of a Houthi advance.

The Saudi campaign, joined by other Sunni Muslim powers, is aimed in part at sending a message to the Houthis' main backers, Shiite Iran.

But Yemen watchers say the country's remaining Scuds are in the hands of Saleh and military units under his command, not the Houthi fighters that he has supported.

By firing one of the missiles on Saturday and stepping up heavy artillery attacks on border positions in battles that have killed at least six Saudi soldiers since Friday, the old master has sent a message ahead of the talks which start on Sunday, reminding Riyadh that the war won't end without him.

"The border attack was an attempt to demonstrate his strength as Yemen's top military force, maximise his influence at Geneva and give him the upper hand," said Farea al-Muslimi, a researcher at the Carnegie Middle East Centre.

The Scud targeted the largest air base in southern Saudi Arabia, the first time in the conflict that Yemeni forces have used a missile capable of hitting targets so deep in the kingdom. It was shot out of the sky by Saudi patriot missiles.

"The Houthis themselves are not yet well-trained enough to fire a missile like that. The skill and expertise needed to operate the missile and target an air base are probably only present in the rump of Saleh's army," said Michael Elleman, a senior fellow at the International Institute for Strategic Studies (IISS).

Missile message

Saleh, himself a member of the Houthis' Zaydi Shiite minority sect which ruled a thousand year kingdom in North Yemen until 1962, tried to crush the Houthis while in power. Saudi Arabia helped him during a 2009 war with the fighters.

But after giving up power to Hadi in a deal brokered by Saudi Arabia and its allies, Saleh quietly formed an alliance with the fighters. Military units loyal to him stood by, refusing to defend Hadi while the Houthis captured the capital last year.

The border fighting in recent days has seen military units still loyal to Saleh take a far more aggressive role on the battlefield.

Saudi officials had previously boasted that their air campaign destroyed Yemen's cache of ballistic missiles capable of striking the Kingdom's cities. By firing one, Saleh's forces have demonstrated that the campaign has not wiped out that capability.

The Scud launch was paired with an artillery assault on the border which Saudi-owned al-Arabiya TV said was confronted with air strikes and helicopter fire in a battle lasting ten hours.

The fighting seems aimed at changing military calculations in Riyadh before the talks that begin on Sunday. Saudi commanders had prepared for an assault on the Houthis to teach Iran a lesson, rather than a war against Yemen's army.

"The Saudi objectives in Yemen appear more about standing up to Iran and showing that it will fight back if it tries to expand its influence in the Arab world," said Elleman.

Firing the Scud proves that Hadi's Saudi-backed government never wrested control of the most powerful military units from Saleh.

"Ever since 2011 when power was transferred to Hadi, he worked to gain control over the strategic missiles, and especially the strategic Scud missiles. But the will of our heroic men and forces allowed them to take back this supply,"  Brigadier General Sharaf Luqman, a spokesman for forces loyal to Saleh, told the Houthi TV channel al-Masira on Saturday.

"We've sent a message, with a single Scud, to the Saudi-Zionist enemy so it understands what to expect as a result of its excess and arrogance," he said.

Arab air strikes on missile stores throughout the country have killed at least 100 people in over two months as the bombings set off huge secondary explosions that sent munitions flying into the air and crashing into civilian areas.

The Saudi-led alliance's spokesman, Brigadier General Ahmed Asseri, has previously said the campaign succeeded in neutralising the threat of Yemen's missiles. He rowed back on Saturday, saying 80 per cent of Yemen's estimated arsenal of 300 Scuds had been destroyed.

OCCUPIED JERUSALEM — US President Barack Obama is weighing expanding the number of training sites for Iraqi forces as a way to bolster the battle against the Daesh terror group, the top US military officer said on Tuesday, a move that could mean deploying more US forces.

But General Martin Dempsey, chairman of the joint chiefs of staff, told a small group of reporters that Obama's requests for options in Iraq left intact a US military strategy that has so far kept US ground troops off the front lines.

"We've made some recommendations on potential enhancements to the training and equip mission," Dempsey said, citing options including new training sites.

The US military was now working on Obama's follow-up questions about how such a programme would work, including what strain it might put on Pentagon resources and troops already devoted to missions elsewhere, he said.

Western strategy in Iraq has come under fire again in recent weeks after Daesh militants captured the city of Ramadi despite coalition air strikes designed to halt their advance and reverse their gains. Witnesses said Iraqi government forces abandoned their arms and fled.

Obama said on Monday the United States did not yet have a "complete strategy" for training Iraqi security forces to reconquer territory seized by Daesh militants.

Dempsey noted, however, that Obama had not asked for options that "would imply the strategy is ineffective", suggesting instead the president sought to improve the effort under way.

Dempsey suggested it was premature to discuss additional troop deployments until a plan had been fleshed out, saying the matter was still "to be determined”.

A senior US military official, speaking on condition of anonymity, said a decision by Obama to expand training of Iraqi forces would likely require some "additional trainers and support personnel".

There are about 3,000 US advisers and trainers on the ground in Iraq.

KHAN YOUNIS — The Gaza Strip, with a 40-kilometre Mediterranean coastline, was always known for its seafood until Israel restricted the fishing area.

As a result, Palestinians have begun importing fish and other seafood from Israel or Egypt and building fish farms.

Israel imposed a blockade on Gaza in 2006 after Hamas fighters captured an Israeli soldier and tightened the closure the following year after Hamas seized control of the territory. Israel says the restrictions are needed to prevent Hamas, an armed group sworn to its destruction, from smuggling weapons into the territory. The sides have fought three wars since the Hamas takeover.

At times of heightened tensions, the fishing zone was barely three nautical miles. Today, it is 9.6km, still half of the pre-blockade distance.

The fish farms have helped bring down prices of the popular sea bream fish. But another popular item, shrimp, remains extremely expensive, costing up to $25 a kilogramme.

Rezek Al Salmi, who worked at an Israeli fishery for 20 years, is trying to change this. He has built Gaza's first shrimp farm in Khan Younis in southern Gaza.

In 2014, Gaza fishermen caught only two tons of fish from the sea, meeting a small fraction of Gaza's needs, said Walid Thabet of Gaza's agriculture ministry. There are four commercial fish farms in Gaza, most of them producing bream. Last year, they produced 220 tonnes, Thabet said. Other fish is imported from Israel.

Fish Fresh, the largest grower of bream in Gaza, serves everyday people and restaurants.

"This place is a wonderful alternative to the sea for fresh fish," customer Ibrahim Moussa said.

Rafah restaurant owner Abu Al Amir Zurob said rough seas can limit catches. "Sometimes there is no fish for five days, so there is nothing but these farms to get the fish. They helped us so much."

But not everyone is welcoming the farms. "When there is a lot of fish, when the farms produce so much, its price goes down," said Sami Al Hessi, a fisherman.

CAIRO — A court sentenced 11 men to death on Tuesday for their part in Egypt's worst violence at a football stadium, in which more than 70 fans were killed in 2012.

Many of the dead were crushed when panicked fans tried to escape from the Port Said Stadium after a post-match pitch invasion by supporters of the local side Al Masry. Others fell or were thrown from terraces, witnesses said at the time. More than 1,000 were injured.

The court, whose session was televised live, sentenced one of the men to death in absentia. Ten men got 15 years in jail, 14 were sentenced to 10 years, and 15 men received a five-year sentence. The charges included murder and attempted murder.

Twenty-one people were found innocent. The verdicts can be appealed. Among those who received a five-year sentence was the former Port Said police chief.

The judge had referred the death sentence in April to Grand Mufti Shawqi Allam, the country's most senior religious authority, in a step required by law for convictions in capital cases.

Judge Mohammed Al Saeed told Reuters that the Mufti approved of the 11 defendants' death sentences.

Yasser Sayed Ahmed, a lawyer for the family of one of the victims hailed the ruling as "extremely fair and satisfactory".

Football matches are often a flashpoint for violence in Egypt. The teams in the Port Said incident — Al Masry and Cairo's Al Ahli — are longtime rivals. Witnesses said the rioting broke out after Cairo fans unfurled banners insulting the local team, which had won the match 3-1.

Since then Egypt has curbed the number of people allowed to attend and supporters have often tried to storm stadiums they are banned from entering.

In February, at least 22 people were killed outside an Egyptian soccer stadium when security forces barred fans from entering, the public prosecutor's office said at the time.

Most of the casualties suffocated when the crowd stampeded after police used tear gas to clear the fans trying to force their way into a league match between two Cairo clubs, Zamalek and Enppi, doctors and witnesses said.

The "Ultras" football fan clubs were outlawed in May. Relations between the Ultras and security forces have been tense for the past four years after the fans played a key role in the 18 days of street protests that toppled veteran autocrat Hosni Mubarak.

Separately a military court sentenced 36 Muslim Brotherhood supporters to 25 years in jail in absentia, 21 others received sentences of between 7 and 15 years over charges of storming a police station in Assyut and killing army and police forces, security sources said.

The events took place in 2013 after the army overthrow of Islamist President Mohamed Morsi following mass protests against his rule.

Florence, Italy — The West has an interest in the "fragmentation" of the Islamic world and is partly to blame for the rise of Daesh, one of the world's top Muslim clerics told AFP in an interview on Tuesday.

Speaking on the sidelines of a seminar in Florence, Ahmed Al Tayeb, the grand imam of Al Azhar in Cairo, strongly criticised Western powers and particularly the United States.

Describing himself as "an ordinary citizen" as the Sunni Muslim seat of learning has no political role, the imam said: "The emergence of Daesh in such a spontaneous manner leads us to ask what are the deep causes.

"And the man in the Arab street thinks that the West has something to do with it. The arms Daesh has are American, they are not made in the Arab world.

"IS [Daesh] developed so quickly and that required enormous amounts of capital. Where did these enormous sums of money come from. The man in the street says the West is not serious about taking on Daesh."

In support of this theory, Tayeb cited three parachute drops of arms which ended up in the arms of Daesh fighters.

"They said it was a mistake," he said, while sidestepping a question about the role of some Arab states, notably in the Gulf, in the development and financing of Daesh.

"If the world order, otherwise said America and the world, had wanted Arab cooperation in dismantling IS and its sisters and daughters, they could have done it in a single day.”

"The world order wants chaos, it seems it has the intention of fragmenting our region and IS is a very effective instrument. The IS performs a function for the great powers who do not want to see this region develop alongside Israel.”

Egypt 'convalescing' 

The imam said he would be happy to meet the Pope but played down the importance of such an encounter. "If everything was in the hands of the Pope or other religious leaders the thing could be resolved very quickly.”

But the question is not about the Pope or Al Azhar, it depends on the political regimes which plan military, economic and financial policy. It is the powers that have military bases and fleets in Arab waters."

Asked about death sentences issued to members of the Muslim Brothers in Egypt, Tayeb declined to offer any criticism of the military-backed government.

"I see that Egypt has overcome the problem. It is a stable country with a fundamental law under which a president was elected, and that was a democratic choice, completely democratic.

"Egypt is convalescing but we are seeing an influx of investors who are returning," he said.

Asked about the Syrian and Iraqi Christians forced to flee their homes at the hands of Daesh, the imam replied: "IS has killed more Muslims than Christians.”

"If you look at the percentages of victims, you will see that IS is an enemy of the Arab and Muslim world, and is perhaps working in secret coordination to fragment the Arab world."

WASHINGTON — Iraqi forces and militia fighters have rolled back the Daesh terror group in the northern town of Baiji and at a nearby oil refinery but it is too soon to declare victory in either battle, the Pentagon said Monday.

The US military's account of fighting around Baiji confirmed claims on Sunday from the Iraqi army that security forces had advanced against the Daesh militants and entered the city centre.

"We are prepared to say that friendly forces have begun moving in to the town of Baiji and are methodically beginning to root out the enemy who has entrenched themselves in that town," Pentagon spokesman Colonel Steven Warren told reporters.

But it was too early to say the town was "liberated," Warren said.

There were also signs of hard-won progress at the oil refinery just outside the town, the largest in the country.

Iraqi troops trying to defend the refinery had become encircled by Daesh militants and have been forced to rely on supplies being delivered by aircraft.

But Iraqi security forces have succeeded in opening up a supply route to the troops, according to Warren.

"Over the course of the last several days, friendly forces have opened up a line of communication . . . into the Baiji oil refinery and now are able to flow equipment and personnel to reinforce the forces that have been dug in at Baiji for several months," he said.

The fight for the vast refinery, which once produced 300,000 barrels per day of refined products, is still "hotly contested."

Most of the Iraqi troops operating at the refinery were drawn from the Baghdad government army and police while "a majority" of the force fighting in Baiji town were from Shiite and other militia units under Baghdad's authority, Warren said.

US-led coalition warplanes carried out three air raids near Baiji on Sunday, striking Daesh group positions and seven vehicles, according to a release from the milliary command overseeing the air war.

The Iraqi government regained control of Baiji — located on the road to Daesh group's bastion of Mosul — last year, but later was forced to retreat again.

Daesh swept across Iraq last June and overran the country's second city Mosul in less than 24 hours, before seizing much of the country's Sunni Arab heartland.

Daesh has been driven out of some areas north of Baghdad, but still holds much of western Iraq.

OCCUPIED JERUSALEM — Israelis and Palestinians would gain billions of dollars from making peace with each other, while both would face daunting economic losses in case of other alternatives, particularly in case of a return to violence, according to a new study released on Monday.

The RAND Corp., a US-based nonprofit research organisation, interviewed some 200 officials from the region and elsewhere during more than two years of research into the costs of the Israeli-Palestinian conflict. Its main finding was that following a peace agreement, Israelis stood to gain $120 billion over the course of a decade. The Palestinians would gain $50 billion, marking a 36-per cent rise in their average per-capita income, the report said.

In contrast, the Israeli economy would lose some $250 billion in foregone economic opportunities in a return to violence, and the Palestinians would see their per-capita gross domestic product fall by as much as 46 per cent, the report said.

The findings are in line with long-time arguments that peace is in the economic interest of both sides.

"We hope our analysis and tools can help Israelis, Palestinians and the international community understand more clearly how present trends are evolving and recognise the costs and benefits of alternatives to the current destructive cycle of action, reaction and inaction," said C. Ross Anthony, co-leader of the study and director of RAND's Israeli-Palestinian Initiative.

The study looked into five different scenarios: a two-state solution, a coordinated unilateral withdrawal, an uncoordinated unilateral withdrawal, nonviolent resistance and a violent uprising. Not surprisingly, the economic benefit for both sides dropped considerably in each alternative scenario down the ladder.

Some of the elements of the nonviolent resistance scenario are already unfolding with Palestinians taking actions to put economic and international pressure on Israel. The study found that Israelis could lose $80 billion and Palestinians could lose $12 billion relative to current trends. But compared with a two-state solution, losses from the non-violent resistance scenario become even more dramatic: about $200 billion for the Israelis and $60 billion for the Palestinians.

RAND teams are currently in the region, presenting their findings to both Israeli and Palestinians officials. The study was funded by an independent donor and the think tank insisted it was not advocating, just providing tools for leaders to make good decisions.

In reaching their conclusions, researchers devised a "cost-of-conflict calculator" that factored in issues like Israel's defence budget, its trade relations and what it would cost to relocate West Bank settlers. For Palestinians, variable costs included potential destruction of property, freedom of movement and banking regulations.

The Palestinians seek the West Bank and Gaza Strip as part of their future state, yet numerous rounds of peace talks have been unsuccessful.

"A two-state solution produces by far the best economic outcomes for both Israelis and Palestinians," said Charles Ries, co-leader of the study and an executive at RAND. "In a decade, the average Israeli would see his or her income rise by about $2,200, versus a $1,000 gain for Palestinians, compared with our projection for present trends. But that only works out to 5 per cent for each Israeli versus 36 per cent for the average Palestinian, meaning Israelis have far less and Palestinians far more economic incentive to move toward peace."

RAND spokesman Jeffrey Hiday said copies of the study had been sent to officials on both sides of the conflict, including the Israeli prime minister's office and Foreign Ministry and the Palestinian Finance Ministry.

Israeli officials declined comment, while Palestinian officials could not immediately be reached for comment.

UNITED NATIONS — The United Nations on Monday left Israel and the Palestinian group Hamas off its blacklist of states and armed groups that violate children's rights during conflicts, but criticised Israel over its 2014 military operations.

UN special envoy for children and armed conflict, Leila Zerrougui of Algeria, had included Israel's army — known as the IDF — and Hamas in a draft of the report she had sent to Secretary-General Ban Ki-moon. Ban had the final say on who was included on the blacklist, which was distributed to Security Council members on Monday.

UN sources have said that Ban's decision to override Zerrougui's recommendation was unusual.

Still, his 43-page report strongly criticised the impact that Israel's 2014 military operations had on children.

"The unprecedented and unacceptable scale of the impact on children in 2014 raises grave concerns about Israel's compliance with international humanitarian law ... particularly in relation to excessive use of force," he said.

Israel's UN Ambassador Ron Prosor issued a statement saying Ban was "right not to submit to the dictates of the terrorist organisations and the Arab states, in his decision not to include Israel in this shameful list, together with organisations like [Daesh] Al Qaeda and the Taliban."

More than 2,100 Palestinians, mostly civilians and including 540 children, were killed during last year's 50-day Gaza war between Hamas fighters and Israel, while 67 Israeli soldiers and six civilians in Israel were killed.

A UN inquiry found that Israel fired on seven UN schools, killing 44 Palestinians who had sought shelter at some sites, and that Palestinian fighters had hidden weapons and launched attacks from several empty UN schools.

Ban said that in conflicts in Central African Republic, Iraq, Israel and the Palestine territories, Nigeria, South Sudan and Syria, "children were affected to a degree which is an affront to our common humanity".

The report, which covers at least 23 situations, noted the five deadliest conflicts for children. It said 710 children were killed in Afghanistan, 679 in Iraq, 557 Palestinian children died, 368 in Syria, and 197 in Darfur, Sudan.

As in the case of Israel and the Palestinian territories, not all groups or armies were added to the blacklist.

The UN report blacklists groups or armed forces that "recruit or use children, kill or maim children, commit rape and other forms of sexual violence against children, or engage in attacks on schools and/or hospitals".

Armed groups blacklisted were involved in conflicts in Afghanistan, Central African Republic, Democratic Republic of the Congo (DRC), South Sudan, Iraq, Mali, Myanmar, Somalia, South Sudan, Sudan, Syria, Yemen, Colombia, Nigeria and the Philippines.

Countries whose national or regional armed forces were included on the blacklist were Afghanistan, DRC, Somalia, South Sudan, Sudan, Syria, Myanmar and Yemen.

BEIRUT — Government air strikes on a northwestern Syrian village Monday killed at least 49 people and left survivors screaming in anguish as they pulled bodies from the rubble, according to activists and videos of the chaotic aftermath.

The Local Coordination Committees said two air raids on the village of Janoudiyeh in Idlib province killed 60 people and wounded others. The Britain-based Syrian Observatory for Human Rights said the air raid killed 49 people, including six children. It said the death toll could rise as some people are still missing.

Conflicting reports often emerge in the chaotic aftermath of such events.

The observatory said the air raid struck a public square in Janoudiyeh, near the town of Jisr Al Shughour, which was captured by insurgents in April. It said the village has become home to many displaced people from nearby areas.

A video uploaded onto the Internet by activists showed a chaotic, smoke-filled scene, with people running past damaged cars, and bodies scattered on the street. Women screamed as men hurriedly covered bodies and pulled wounded people from the rubble before an ambulance arrived.

"My son was killed!" a man screamed. "We need cars!" another man shouted, as a third, covered in blood, sat on the debris.

Another amateur video showed dead bodies lined up on a floor. Activists asked people who recognise the bodies to inform local authorities. A body covered with a blanket had a paper that read “unknown woman”.

The videos appeared genuine and corresponded to other AP reporting.

Activists say thousands of people have been killed in government air strikes since Syria’s conflict began in March 2011. The war has killed more than 220,000 people.

The latest air raids came shortly after Syria’s prime minister called on young men to fulfil their mandatory military service obligation, promising better pay for troops on the front lines as well as one hot meal a day.

President Bashar Assad’s army has faced a severe shortage of manpower as thousands of soldiers have deserted or dodged national service. Analysts have said the military’s dwindling ranks are a key factor behind the advance of the Daesh group as well as rebels and other insurgents in recent months.

“Today we must unite more than ever in backing our army and to fulfil the call of duty through mandatory military service,” Prime Minister Wael Al Halqi told parliament, adding that the army “is the real guarantor for the unity of our land”.

Syrian men with university degrees must spend 18 months in the military, usually after graduation, while those with a high school degree or less must serve for two years starting at age 18. Since the Syrian conflict began in March 2011, many have been forced to extend their service, according to residents and activists.

In March, insurgents seized the northern city of Idlib — the second provincial capital to fall out of the government’s hands — and last month the Daesh group overran the historic central town of Palmyra. Rebels in southern Syria captured a border crossing with Jordan and a nearby strategic town earlier this year.

“Losing any city or any area in Syria does not mean that the war is lost,” Halqi said. He added that the army will strike back against militants, saying “wherever they step will be their graves”.

He said that on the orders of Assad himself, a plan is being drawn up that would pay an extra 10,000 Syrian pounds ($35) per month to soldiers on the front lines, starting next month.

He added that “the heroes standing on the front lines will receive a meal of hot food”.

There have been complaints on social media that the troops’ diet mainly consists of bread, as well as boiled eggs or potatoes.