Region

Gaza City, Palestinian Territories — Hatem is only 14 but has already lived through three wars with Israel. Now the young Gazan says he is making sure he'll be ready to fight in the next one.

"The Israelis killed my niece last summer. Now I want to kill them," he told AFP after completing a weeklong youth training camp with fighters from the Izzeddine Al Qassem Brigades, the armed wing of the Islamist Hamas movement.

"I will become a resistance fighter," the boy said proudly during a graduation ceremony in Gaza.

Hatem is one of 17,000 youngsters who graduated late last month from two military training camps where Hamas — the de facto power in Gaza — said it was preparing the next generation to fight against Israel.

Last summer, Israel and Hamas fought a 50-day war that killed nearly 2,200 Palestinians and 73 on the Israeli side, mostly soldiers, and left swathes of the impoverished enclave in ruins.

It was their third conflict in less than five years, following an eight-day bombardment in 2012 and a 22-day war in late 2008 and early 2009.

Children were on the frontline of the latest conflict, with UN figures showing about 500 were killed.

And just five months after the war ended, thousands of those who survived signed up to join the Hamas training camps.

"I want to join the Qassem Brigades because they are the strongest in Gaza," said 15-year-old Mohammed Abu Harbid, who also took part in the training.

With the humanitarian situation in post-war Gaza growing steadily worse, a fresh flare-up with Israel seems likely.

And with many schools being used to shelter the displaced and unemployment standing at 41 percent, it was not difficult to convince youngsters to join the camps.

Hamas insists that teaching children how to fight is a legitimate part of "resistance" activities against Israel.

But the camp, which accepts boys and men aged 14 to 21, has incensed human rights activists who accuse Hamas of exploiting children traumatised by war.

'Trained intensively' 

Hamas has been running summer camps for youngsters for years, but this weeklong session was a much more serious affair.

Run for the first time by militants from the Qassem Brigades, there were no "fun" sessions — and no mid-week visits to Gaza's zoo.

"They were trained intensively in using light and heavy weaponry and were taught how to ambush, so they can lead the next battle for liberation," the brigades said on its website.

Hamas has rushed to defend the military training.

"The Western media accuse Hamas of militarising society with their training camps, but what has the West done to stop the enemy from carrying out its crimes?" senior Hamas official Bassem Naim said.

"What have we gained from 20 years of futile negotiations?"

The latest round of US-led peace talks between Israel and the Palestinians broke down in April 2014 and the war in Gaza has further distanced any hope of a return to negotiations to end the decades-long conflict.

"We are an occupied people and international law guarantees us the right to resist," Naim wrote on Facebook.

But local human rights groups are accusing Hamas of exploiting children for political purposes.

"We are not disputing the right of an occupied people to resist, but it must be done by adults, not children," one human rights activist told AFP, speaking on condition of anonymity.

"The camps are making young people aggressive instead of educating them and teaching them to abide by the law," the activist said.

Issam Yunis, head of Gaza-based human rights group Al Mezan, said the camps were a dangerous development in a territory where more than half of the population is
under 15.

"Gazan children are traumatised by the violence, so some are attracted by the military training," he said.

"But the priority today should be to take care of their social and physical well-being."

CAIRO — President Vladimir Putin arrived on Monday in Egypt as Russia seeks to expand its reach in the Arab world's most populous country at a time when Cairo-Washington ties remain frayed.

Putin's first visit to Egypt in a decade comes after a 2011 popular uprising that ousted ex-strongman Hosni Mubarak, whom the leader met on his previous trip in 2005.

President Abdel Fattah Al Sisi welcomed Putin on arrival at Cairo International Airport where the two leaders held talks for half an hour, officials said.

From the airport they proceeded to Cairo Opera House in the capital's central district of Zamalek for a cultural evening.

Putin is a key non-Arab backer of Sisi, who faces harsh US criticism for his deadly crackdown on dissent since Islamist leader Mohamed Morsi was ousted by the then army chief in July 2013.

Hundreds of Morsi supporters have been killed and thousands imprisoned in a subsequent crackdown.

Experts say Putin’s visit is also aimed at showing that he is not isolated internationally, despite the crisis in Ukraine.

“The leaders will pay special attention to ramping up trade and economic ties between the two countries,” the Kremlin said ahead of the visit.

Egypt-Russia accords 

They will hold formal talks on Tuesday and sign several agreements after which Putin and Sisi will hold a joint news conference, Sisi’s office said.

They are also expected to discuss Iraq, Syria and Libya, as well as the Israeli-Palestinian conflict.

Russia had hosted Sisi’s predecessor Morsi during his one-year presidency, despite banning the Islamist’s Muslim Brotherhood as a “terrorist group” in 2003.

But Russia was also one of the first countries to endorse Sisi’s presidential bid last year.

Posters of Putin were put up on Cairo’s main roads greeting the Russian leader in Russian, Arabic and English.

Sisi himself visited Russia when he was defence minister soon after ousting Morsi amid deteriorating relations with Washington and followed it up with another trip in August 2014 as president.

At their meeting last summer at Putin’s summer residence in Sochi, the two discussed Russia supplying weapons to Egypt, which is fighting an insurgency in the Sinai Peninsula that has killed scores of policemen and soldiers.

Moscow has sought to secure a larger slice of the Egyptian arms market after Washington suspended some weapons deliveries in the immediate aftermath of Sisi’s crackdown on Morsi supporters.

Arms purchase plan 

Cairo also hosted the Russian defence and foreign ministers in November — the first such visit since the Soviet era — for discussions on an Egyptian arms purchase plan.

At the time, Russian media said the two sides were close to signing a $3-billion (then 2.2 billion euros) deal for Moscow to supply missiles and warplanes including MiG-29 fighters and attack helicopters.

However, in recent months Washington has warmed to Cairo again and resumed its annual $1.5 billion in aid to Egypt, also delivering Apache helicopter gunships to fight jihadists in Sinai.

Ties between Egypt and the United States still remain far from what they were before Morsi’s ouster, with Washington criticising Sisi’s regime for repressing Islamist as well as secular dissent.

“Putin continues to take advantage of ambiguity and contradictions in Western policies toward the Middle East,” said Anna Borshchevskaya of The Washington Institute For Near East Policy.

As long as Washington criticises “Egypt’s democratic backslide... it keeps open the door for Putin... to gain influence in Egypt at the expense of US interests,” said the expert on Moscow’s policy towards the Middle East.

BEIRUT — At least 15 people were killed and dozens wounded on Monday in government air strikes on an area outside the capital Damascus, the Syrian Observatory for Human Rights monitor said.

There were no immediate details on the breakdown of those killed in the strikes, which are the latest to hit the town of Douma in the rebel stronghold of Eastern Ghouta.

At a field clinic in the area, an AFP photographer saw a girl in a purple headscarf and another child in a woolly hat crying as doctors treated the wounded, among them a young boy.

His eyes stared wide in apparent shock from a face streaked with blood and white dust. His arm was bandaged and attached to a rudimentary drip.

In the streets outside, locals picked through rubble, carrying the wounded to the clinic, while a civil defence worker trained a hose on a fire set by the strikes.

The opposition bastion, east of Damascus, was still reeling from a massive government aerial assault on Thursday that came after rebels fired more than 120 rockets and mortar rounds into the capital.

The rebel barrage killed 10 people in Damascus, including a child, while the government air strikes and surface-to-surface missiles fired at Eastern Ghouta killed at least 82 people, among them 18 children.

Eastern Ghouta has been under government siege for nearly two years as the army tries to break the rebel hold over the area.

The siege has created medical and food shortages, exacerbating dire humanitarian needs created by regular government bombardment of the area.

More than 210,000 people have been killed in Syria since the beginning of the country's conflict in March 2011.

SANAA — Yemeni political factions resumed UN-brokered talks on Monday aimed at resolving the country’s political crisis but one group quickly walked out, underlining the difficult path ahead.

The Nasserite pan-Arab party left the talks saying it had been threatened by a powerful Shiite militia that grabbed power last week.

Saudi Arabia on Monday joined other countries in denouncing the militia, known as Houthis, for carrying out a “coup”.

Yemen, which is dominated by tribal divisions and awash with weapons, has been engulfed in crisis since veteran strongman Ali Abdullah Saleh was forced from power in 2012 following a bloody year-long uprising against his rule.

The country is also battling an Al Qaeda insurgency and facing a separatist movement in the formerly independent south.

The crisis escalated after the Houthis last month took control of key government buildings, prompting Western-backed President Abed Rabbo Mansour Hadi to tender his resignation.

The Houthis on Friday said they had dissolved parliament and created a “presidential council” to bring the country out of crisis.

UN envoy Jamal Benomar has warned Yemen is at a “crossroads” and urged political leaders to “take up their responsibilities and achieve consensus” as he battles for a negotiated solution.

But as the fresh talks got underway behind closed doors in a Sanaa hotel Monday, the Nasserite party walked out and vowed not to return.

“We will not return to the table of negotiations,” Nasserite party chief Abdullah Nooman told reporters.

He charged that the Houthis were insisting on holding talks based on the “constitutional declaration” under which they took over the government on Friday.

The Houthis have also “threatened to take measures” against the Nasserite party and Al Islah, a Sunni Islamist party whose supporters have battled the Shiite militia, he added.

The Houthis seized Sanaa in September after sweeping into the capital unopposed from their northern stronghold. Despite a UN-brokered deal, they have refused to withdraw their fighters from the city.

Time running out 

Benomar, who announced the resumption of talks between the Houthis and Yemen’s fractured parties on Sunday, has warned that time is running out for a “peaceful solution”.

But militia leader Abdel Malek Al Houthi insisted at the weekend that the Houthis would only take part in talks centred on their consitutional declaration, and demanded that their rivals “rectify their policies”.

The government takeover by the Houthis has drawn international condemnation, with UN chief Ban Ki-moon calling on Sunday for Hadi to be restored to power.

“The situation is very, very seriously deteriorating, with the Houthis taking power and making this government vacuum. There must be restoration of legitimacy of President Hadi,” Ban said.

State news agency Saba, which is under Huthi control, reported that the president had told visitors his resignation is “irrevocable”.

Ban also voiced concern that Saleh, considered an ally of the Houthis, had “been undermining the transition process” in Yemen, although Saleh’s party has been among those denouncing the militia’s actions.

The Houthis have said they will set up a national council of 551 members to replace the legislature as well as a five-member presidential council that would form a transitional government to run Yemen for two years.

They have set up a security commission to run affairs until the presidential council is formed.

The fall of Hadi’s government has sparked fears that impoverished Yemen — strategically located next to oil-rich Saudi Arabia and on the key shipping route from the Suez Canal to the Gulf — could plunge into chaos.

The Saudi government, in a statement Monday, said the Huthi initiative was akin “to a coup against legitimate authorities”.

France meanwhile called on Yemeni politicians to quickly reach a “consensual solution to put end the crisis and push ahead with transition”.

BRUSSELS — European Union foreign ministers threatened sanctions on Monday against "spoilers" who obstruct efforts by the United Nations to halt fighting in Libya.

Libya has been in chaos since a NATO-backed revolt ousted Muammar Qadhafi nearly four years ago, with rival governments allied to armed groups fighting for legitimacy in a conflict that threatens to split apart the oil-producing nation.

UN Special Envoy Bernadino Leon has been struggling to arrange talks between the main factions and EU foreign ministers said after a meeting in Brussels that the bloc was ready to penalise anyone blamed for thwarting dialogue.

"Those responsible for violence and those who obstruct or undermine Libya's democratic transition must face consequences for their actions," they said in a statement. Ministers gave no details of what sort of sanctions might be imposed.

A confidential discussion paper drawn up by the EU's diplomatic service and seen by Reuters last month set out a range of options for possible sanctions, including imposing a full oil embargo.

A more likely option was to draw up a shortlist of Libyans who could face sanctions, typically visa bans and asset freezes, for undermining peace efforts, it said.

EU ministers on Monday condemned actions that risked damaging Libya's assets, financial institutions and natural resources, saying this might deprive "the Libyan people of the benefits of the sustainable development of their economy”.

"The EU believes that the independence and proper functioning of the Central Bank of Libya, National Oil Corporation and other key financial institutions must be preserved and protected," it said.

Doha — A Qatar-based senior Hamas leader on Monday praised the Gulf state's "courageous" foreign minister, Khalid Al Attiyah, after an apparent spat with Israel's Intelligence Minister Yuval Steinitz at a German security conference.

In a statement, Izzat Al Rishq, a member of Hamas' political bureau in Doha, backed Qatar's foreign minister for his "strong, courageous statements and response to the lies of the 'Zionists', and his defence of Hamas and the resistance during the Munich security conference".

At Sunday's conference, Attiyah said during a panel discussion that failure to make progress in the Israeli-Palestinian peace process was "the main igniter to all the turbulence in the Middle East".

Qatar's foreign minister also asked why Israel wanted to be recognised as a Jewish state.

"The world is fighting a group calling itself Islamic State, and you want to come and say [you are] a Jewish state," he said.

In response, Steinitz questioned why Qatar is "supporting a jihadist organisation like Hamas or Islamic State, instead of putting all its efforts into eliminating such jihadi organisations".

The exchange between the two ministers was reported in several media outlets, including on Al Jazeera Arabic.

Qatar denies backing the Islamic State group or extremist movements.

Hamas chief Khaled Mishaal, who is based in the Gulf state, was told by Attiyah last month that he remained welcome amid reports that the Palestinian leader had been asked to leave.

Attiyah said Mishaal was "a dear guest in Qatar. He is in fact at home".

STOCKHOLM — Palestinian President Mahmoud Abbas arrived in Stockholm on Monday for an official visit tainted by a diplomatic row with Israel following Sweden's recognition of Palestine.

Swedish relations with Israel sank to an all-time low after the Nordic country's centre-left government decided in October to recognise Palestine, just weeks after it took office.

Foreign Minister Margot Wallstroem — who last month postponed a trip to Israel — has said she will use the Abbas visit to "prepare for a revived peace process".

"It's of course not about being the most central actor in potential peace talks," political scientist Ann-Marie Ekengren at Gothenburg University told AFP.

"But perhaps Wallstroem sees Sweden's role as a facilitator which sets the stage for future negotiations."

Abbas' visit — his first to Sweden since 2009 — comes a month after a senior Israeli official said Wallstroem was not welcome for official visits to the country.

"It does not make us happy to see [Abbas] here on a visit with a new government that very quickly decided to recognise Palestine," Israel's Ambassador to Stockholm Isaac Bachman told news agency TT.

Sweden is the only major western European country to have recognised Palestine.

According to the Palestinian Authority, around 135 countries have recognised the state of Palestine including several that are now EU members.

Peace talks between Israel and the Palestinians collapsed in April last year, and a bloody war in Gaza erupted just a few months later.

CAIRO — An Egyptian court said it ordered a retrial of Al-Jazeera journalists due to a lack of evidence showing their alleged links to the blacklisted Muslim Brotherhood, state media reported Monday.

The court of cassation had on January 1 ordered a retrial of three Al Jazeera journalists, overturning a lower court's verdict which found them guilty of aiding the Islamist movement.

The lower court had sentenced Australian Peter Greste, Canadian-Egyptian Mohammad Fahmy and Egyptian producer Baher Mohammad to up to 10 years in jail for spreading "false news" during their coverage of protests after the ouster of president Mohamed Morsi in 2013.

The three were arrested in December 2013 just days after the authorities designated the Brotherhood as a "terrorist group".

Greste was deported on February 1 under a presidential decree after the retrial was ordered.

In a bid to secure his own deportation, Fahmy has renounced his Egyptian nationality and is awaiting a return to Canada, where he also has citizenship.

However, the third journalist, producer Mohammad, remains in jail as he only has Egyptian nationality.

The three journalists were among 20 defendants initially tried by the lower court.

Of the rest, 12 were Egyptians who were found guilty of belonging to a "terrorist organisation".

Two defendants were acquitted, while the remaining three — also foreigners — were convicted in absentia for spreading "false news".

On Monday the court of cassation gave its reasoning for overturning the lower court's ruling.

"The criminal court's verdict lacked evidence to support its ruling," the appeals court said, according to state news agency MENA.

"The criminal court was hasty in pronouncing its verdict.”

"The court did not wait for medical and legal reports which it had requested after several defendants spoke of being under physical and moral pressure" to make confessions, the appeals court said.

The initial trial came against the backdrop of strained relations between Egypt and Qatar, which supported the Islamist movement of Morsi, whom then army chief and now President Abdel Fattah Al Sisi deposed on
July 3, 2013.

Since Morsi's ouster, a government crackdown against his supporters has left hundreds dead and seen thousands jailed.

OCCUPIED JERUSALEM — Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu said Monday he is determined to address Congress next month over Iran's nuclear programme, brushing off US fears his intervention could derail talks with Tehran.

"I am determined to address Congress that is why I decided to go to Washington and present Israel's position," Netanyahu told participants at an election event by his Likud Party.

The White House has already voiced concern over the premier's speech, and it announced Friday that US Vice President Joe Bien would not attend the address.

President Barack Obama said he will not meet Netanyahu during his visit, which comes a few weeks before the prime minister seeks re-election. The speech before Congress is expected on March 3.

Obama's allies fear the trip could be used by Israel and by US Republicans, who control Congress and issued the invitation, to undercut ongoing nuclear talks with Tehran.

The West and Israel accuse the Islamic republic of trying to build a nuclear bomb, a charge it denies.

Several opposition officials in Israel have pleaded with Netanyahu to cancel the speech so as not to undermine the "special relationship" it has with the US.

Speaking Monday, Obama acknowledged "a very real difference" with Netanyahu over ongoing nuclear talks.

But the Israeli leader brushed aside fears of a dispute, saying: "From the day Israel was established to this day, there have been essential differences between Israel and the US, and relations remained sound — this will be the case this time as well."

Iran is locked in negotiations with the P5+1 powers — Britain, China, France, Russia and the United States, plus Germany — aimed at a deal to resolve a long-running dispute over its nuclear programme.

Under an interim deal, Iran's stock of fissile material has been diluted from 20 per cent enriched uranium to five per cent in exchange for limited sanctions relief.

But scepticism is mounting about whether a permanent agreement is possible, after two deadlines for a comprehensive accord were missed.

WASHINGTON — US President Barack Obama said on Monday extending the March deadline for a nuclear deal with Iran would not be useful if Iran does not agree to a basic framework that assures world powers it is not pursuing nuclear arms.

"At this juncture I don't see a further extension being useful if they have not agreed to the basic formulation and the bottom-line that the world requires to have confidence that they're not pursuing a nuclear weapon," he said at the White House after meeting with German Chancellor Angela Merkel.

Obama said if the framework for a deal were agreed and "people have a clear sense of what is required, and there's some drafting" required, that would be a different issue.

"We now know enough that the issues are no longer technical," he said. "The issues now are: does Iran have the political will and the desire to get a deal done?"

Iran's supreme leader said on Sunday he could accept a compromise in nuclear talks and said he would "firmly" back a fair deal.

Negotiators have set a June 30 final deadline for an accord, and Western officials have said they aim to agree on the substance of that deal by March.

The nuclear talks with Iran are being conducted by the United States, Russia, China, Britain, France, and Germany.

"We're at a point where they need to make a decision," Obama said of Iran.

"There should be the possibility of getting a deal. They should be able to get to 'yes'. But we don't know if that's going to happen. They have their hard-liners, they have their politics."