Page 10 - ARUBA TODAY

A10 WORLD NEWS
Thursday 15 March 2018

Turkish shelling on Kurdish Afrin intensifies Gulf Arabs relish Tillerson firing;

Iran weighs nuclear deal dispute
By SARAH EL DEEB shortages after Turkish aligned with Kurdish insur-
PHILIP ISSA forces cut supplies from gents inside Turkey. By JON GAMBRELL
Associated Press the countryside, accord- Turkey launched its military DUBAI, United Arab Emirates (AP) — U.S. Secretary of
BEIRUT (AP) — Turkish forces ing to the Britain-based Syr- offensive into the border State Rex Tillerson's firing is reverberating across a Mid-
shelled the Kurdish-held ian Observatory for Human region to drive out Syrian dle East where Iran fears his replacement will fight to
northern Syrian town of Af- Rights. Turkey has bombed Kurdish forces that it con- end the 2015 nuclear deal, a hope of Gulf Arab states
rin on Wednesday killing at several bakeries since siders to be "terrorists" and as Palestinians worry about a further-emboldened na-
least seven people, Kurdish launching its offensive on an extension of Kurdish reb- tionalist Israeli government.
forces reported, as govern- Jan. 20, according to the els fighting inside Turkey. Also at play is the ongoing diplomatic dispute between
ment shelling and airstrikes Observatory. Meanwhile, government Qatar and four Arab nations, a crisis the former oilman
killed at least 20 civilians Thousands of residents had shelling and airstrikes killed sought to reconcile with no success during his brief ten-
in the besieged eastern already fled Afrin as the at least 20 civilians in the ure as America's top diplomat.
Ghouta enclave near the Turkish troops approached, besieged eastern Ghouta How Tillerson's proposed successor, CIA director Mike
capital Damascus, activists heading toward nearby ar- enclave near the capital, Pompeo, will handle these challenges remains to be
seen. But Pompeo remains a major opponent of the
atomic accord, while Tillerson had been pursuing a deli-
cate strategy with European allies and others to try to
improve or augment the Obama-era deal.
Already in Iran, some are expressing concerns.
Iran's daily Javan newspaper, believed to be close to
the hard-line Revolutionary Guard, said that replacing
Tillerson with Pompeo signaled the end of the nuclear
deal.
"For quitting the deal, his dumping was necessary," Ja-
van said.
That was echoed by Ali Khorram, a former Iranian envoy
to the United Nations, in the pro-reform daily newspaper
Arman.
"Pompeo is very interested in waging a war similar to the
Iraq war by citing international regulations," Khorram
wrote. "European powers will play a role in balancing
his desire."
Iranian Foreign Ministry spokesman Bahram Ghasemi,
meanwhile, sought to minimize Tillerson's firing, calling it
part of the "frequent and multiple" changes in Trump's
administration.
"What matters to the Islamic Republic of Iran are the
policies and approaches of the United States in regard
to international issues and toward Iran," Ghasemi told
This photo shows a Syrian government forces soldier, left, helping a civilian who fled from fighting journalists. "We closely monitor their approaches and
between the Syrian government forces and rebels, at an army checkpoint, in eastern Ghouta, a macro policies and will take appropriate stances ac-
suburb of Damascus, Syria, Tuesday March 13, 2018. cordingly in the future."
(SANA via AP) Tillerson's firing was welcome news for Saudi Arabia and
the United Arab Emirates, which view Iran as a regional
menace. They have also pushed Washington to take a
said. eas controlled by the Syrian Damascus, activists report- harder line on Qatar, which they and other Arab na-
Shells slammed into the government, but hundreds ed. tions have boycotted since last year, accusing it of sup-
heart of Afrin at dusk at in- of thousands more remain A doctor in the town of porting extremist groups and cozying up to Iran. Tillerson
tervals just second apart, trapped in the town as Hamouria, inside the be- had sought to mediate the crisis among the U.S. allies.
forcing residents to rush for Turkish forces and support- sieged zone, said his hospi- In the UAE on Wednesday, the English-language Khaleej
cover, according to video ing Syrian opposition fight- tal was overwhelmed with Times borrowed from the U.S. president's show-biz days
published by the People's ers move to completely casualties and that for four for its headline: "YOU'RE FIRED!" Saudi Arabia's English-
Protection Units, known as encircle it. hours ambulances could language Arab News had the same headline.
the YPG. The group is be- Turkish airstrikes killed at not move the wounded for Another English-language newspaper, the state-aligned
ing targeted by Turkey as a least eight pro-government care. The National newspaper of Abu Dhabi, offered an edi-
threat to its national secu- militiamen, deployed to He spoke on condition of torial saying Tillerson's firing would "surprise few," pointing
rity. help the YPG, south of Af- anonymity out of fear for to his disagreement with Trump over Qatar.
A resident reported a wors- rin, according to the Kurd- his own safety. At least 10 The UAE, along with Bahrain, Egypt and Saudi Arabia,
ening bread shortage as ish military group. civilians were killed in Ham- cut off land, sea and air routes to Qatar in June 2017.
tens of thousands of civil- A Facebook page of the ouria. Qatar, which has backed Islamist opposition groups like
ians have flocked to the Nubl and Zahraa villages The Syrian Observatory for the Muslim Brotherhood, has denied supporting extrem-
town seeking relief from the posted photographs of the Human Rights and the Gh- ists. It shares a massive offshore natural gas field with
advancing forces, shelling, eight killed fighters, who outa Media Center said Tehran.
and airstrikes. Azad Mo- were from the villages. the towns of Arbeen, Jes- Trump has at times appeared to side with Qatar’s rivals
hamed said he waited in There was no comment reen and Saqba were also in the dispute, while Tillerson had projected a more neu-
line at Afrin's only bakery for from the Turkish or Syrian targeted. Recent gov- tral stance. ExxonMobil, which Tillerson ran before be-
eight hours for a few loaves government. ernment advances have coming secretary of state, had a long business history
of bread. He said some res- Turkey had warned the Syr- cleaved eastern Ghouta in Qatar’s natural gas plays. Abdulkhaleq Abdulla, a
idents were being turned ian government against into a northern and south- prominent Emirati professor of political science, called
away without any. coming to the aid of the ern pocket. The bombing Tillerson “the worst foreign minister in the history of Amer-
Afrin is already suffering Kurdish militia, which Anka- Wednesday focused on ica” on Twitter.q
from water and power ra considers "terrorists" and the south.q