Page 10 - ARUBA TODAY

A10 WORLD NEWS
Wednesday 24 January 2018
Iraq seeks aid to rebuild after IS, but donors could be wary

BAGHDAD (AP) — Iraq extremists from nearly all States and Saudi Arabia to convince them that Iraq Dhannoon Qader works to
hopes to raise billions of the territory they once held, support the initiative, the is open for business." clear rubble from the Old
dollars at a conference but three years of grueling details of which have yet to Iraqi officials have esti- City neighborhood where
next month to fund recon- combat has taken a dev- be made public. mated they will need up to he once lived with his fam-
struction after its costly war astating toll, leaving entire The U.S. Embassy in Bagh- $100 billion to rebuild after ily. Without outside aid, he
against the Islamic State towns and neighborhoods dad says the meeting the war against IS. Mosul — doesn't believe the city's in-
group, but many fear the in ruins. should "provide an impor- Iraq's second largest city — frastructure can be rebuilt.
country's endemic corrup- Neighboring Kuwait will tant opportunity for the was one of the hardest hit But he acknowledged that
tion could undermine the host an international con- Iraqi government to show- areas. Some 40,000 homes many fear government mis-
appeal. ference in mid-February case attractive investment there need to be rebuilt or management.
Iraq declared victory over aimed at rallying support opportunities for foreign restored, according to a "We don't want them to
the Islamic State group in for Iraq's reconstruction. The investors, including many preliminary study conduct- steal the money from every
December after driving the United Nations, the United American companies, and ed by the U.N. single project," he said.q
Turkey urged to show restraint in assault on Syrian Kurds

BEIRUT (AP) — France and dramatic" as the war on IS.
the United States on Tues- French President Emmanu-
day urged Turkey to exer- el Macron spoke Tuesday
cise restraint in its offen- with Turkish President Re-
sive against a Kurdish-held cep Tayyip Erdogan, ex-
enclave in northern Syria, pressing his concern about
where the U.N. says an es- the operation, according
timated 5,000 people have to a statement from Ma-
been displaced by the cron's office.
fighting. He stressed the importance
Turkish troops and allied Syr- of seeking a lasting political
ian fighters pressed ahead solution for Syria alongside
with their operations in Af- fighting IS and ensuring the
rin for the fourth day, ap- delivery of humanitarian
proaching from three sides aid.
and meeting stiff resistance U.S. Defense Secretary Jim
from the U.S.-allied Kurdish Mattis, who is currently trav-
militia that controls the en- eling in Asia, said the fight-
clave. A convoy of Turkish Army armoured personnel carriers led by a tank are driven toward the border ing "disrupts what was a rel-
The U.N. said most of the with Syria, in the outskirts of Hassa, Turkey, Tuesday, Jan. 23, 2018. atively stable area of Syria"
displaced are still inside (Ibrahim Mase/DHA-Depo Photos via AP) and "distracts from the in-
Afrin because Kurdish ternational efforts to ensure
forces are preventing ci- gained control of a village bases in Kurdish-controlled France's Foreign Minister the defeat of ISIS," using an-
vilians from leaving and breached by Turkish forces. territory in northern Syria Jean-Yves Le Drian said other acronym for IS.
Syrian government forces The Turkish forces were also but not in or near Afrin. the intense fighting in re- Gen. Joseph Votel, the
are keeping them out of repelled from a hill they Ankara views the YPG as a cent days is a sign that new head of the U.S. Central
adjacent areas. Interna- seized a day earlier on the threat because of its links conflicts could erupt in the Command, and Brett Mc-
tional aid groups have no eastern edge of the district. to the decades-old Kurdish region as the IS group is de- Gurk, the White House en-
presence in Afrin, which is The YPG is a key U.S. ally insurgency in Turkey. Tur- feated. voy for the war against IS,
surrounded by Turkey and against IS and played a key says it aims to create a He warned that without have been in eastern Syria
rival Syrian forces. major role in driving the 30-kilometer (20-mile) deep a political solution to the since Monday, meeting
On Tuesday, the Kurdish mi- extremists from much of "secure zone" in Afrin, which multi-sided Syrian civil war, with Kurdish officials and
litia, known as the People's northern and eastern Syria. is in northwestern Syria near the region could again ex- discussing Afrin and other
Defense Units or YPG, re- The U.S. military operates the border. plode, with conflicts "just as issues.q

Egypt's military arrests ex-general running for president

CAIRO (AP) — Less than El-Sissi, himself an ex-gen- in Egypt, a country of about upheld on appeal, he will gations against him, a se-
two weeks after announc- eral, is considered virtually 100 million people. Ahead be ineligible. The next ap- curity official said, speaking
ing his candidacy, Egypt's certain to win re-election of the vote, the overwhelm- peal hearing is scheduled on condition of anonymity
former chief of staff was in the March 26-28 ballot- ingly pro-el-Sissi media for March 7. An aide at Ali's because he was not au-
arrested Tuesday on suspi- ing. But Annan could have have been building a per- campaign, Khaled Abdel- thorized to talk to the press.
cion of incitement against drawn a substantial protest sonality cult portraying him Hameed, told The Associ- The arrest was also con-
the armed forces and other vote, bolstered by his own as the only man qualified ated Press that Ali and his firmed by two of Annan’s
charges in what appeared army credentials and his to lead, while denouncing campaign leaders would aides, Mustapha al-Shall to
to be a calculated move calls for political inclusion. each potential challenger. assess the situation follow- the AP and Mahmoud Re-
to force out the last poten- With one would-be candi- With Annan out of the race, ing Annan's arrest. "All op- faat on Twitter. The circum-
tially serious challenger to date after another drop- only one serious potential tions are open, including stances of his arrest were
President Abdel-Fattah el- ping out of the race, ana- challenger is left: Prominent quitting the race," he said. not clear, but there were
Sissi. Former Gen. Sami An- lysts have said the election rights lawyer Khaled Ali. But Annan, who was the unconfirmed reports that
nan became the latest in a could end up being much his candidacy is also at risk armed forces’ chief of staff he was arrested by mili-
series of potential contend- like the one-candidate because he was convicted until 2012, was arrested tary intelligence personnel
ers who have dropped out referendums for president in September of making an Tuesday at the same time while being chauffeured in
or been driven from the that took place during de- obscene hand gesture in that the military put out a Cairo en route to his cam-
presidential campaign. cades of authoritarian rule public, and if that ruling is statement listing the alle- paign headquarters.”q