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A10 WORLD NEWS
Saturday 4 February 2017
UN refugee chief pushed back on ‘safe zones’ in Syria

Turkey and Lebanon, try’s population.
which both border Syria, Grandi criticized the U.S.
are also pushing for safe and Western nations for
zones across their borders. “not doing enough” to
The two countries host 3.75 share the burden of reset-
million refugees between tling Syrian refugees.
them. “(Lebanon) hosted more
Grandi cited terrorism and than 1 million people in the
the fragmentation of Syria last three years,
and its warring parties as why can’t rich countries
obstacles to creating work- host even a much smaller
ing safe zones in the coun- number?” he said.
try. Meanwhile,
Damascus has expressed Turkey hosted talks with
its deep concern over the Syrian opposition members
various proposals, saying on Friday ahead of U.N.-
they would have to be set backed negotiations with
up in coordination with the the Damascus government
Syrian government. in Geneva later this month.
Trump plunged the interna- Participants included po-
tional refugee system into litical and military repre-
crisis last week when he is- sentatives of the Syrian op-
sued an executive order position such as Riad Hijab
forbidding refugees to en- of the High Negotiations
This photo claims to show a Russian Military engineer distributing juice to local children in Aleppo, ter the U.S. for 120 days. Committee,
Syria. Syrians cut off from the world are cannibalizing their houses for wood to stay warm as gov- Grandi called the execu- and Syrian National Coali-
ernment forces and other combatants refuse for the fifth consecutive winter to allow international- tive order a “dangerous tion President Anas al-Ab-
ly-mandated relief to reach the country’s sixteen besieged areas. Lost in the political negotiations weakening” of the estab- dah, according to Turkish
over Syria is the collective hardship of nearly one million people trapped in a constellation of lished international norms Foreign Ministry officials.
bitter and unremitting sieges.
(Russian Defense Ministry Press Service photo via AP) to protect refugees. Those attending de-
He spoke in Beirut a day nounced “federalism” as
PHILIP ISSA ning safe zones that will not has floated safe zones as a after returning from a field a solution for war-torn Syria
The Associated Press be set up because they substitute for resettling refu- mission to Syria. and spoke out against a
BEIRUT (AP) — The U.N.’s top will not be safe for people gees in the United States He said the war-torn coun- “new constitution, autono-
official on refugees pushed to go back,” said Filippo and elsewhere around the try was “devastated” and my and federalism.
back against a proposed Grandi, the U.N. High Com- globe. likened many urban zones ” They also affirmed that
initiative that has gained missioner on Refugees. The president explored to “ghost cities.” those opposing Syria’s unity
recent traction to create “Let us concentrate on schemes with Jordanian “These are people that flee have no place in Geneva,
“safe zones” in Syria for ref- making peace so that ev- King Abdullah II in a face- from danger, they are not according
ugees, saying the country erywhere becomes safe. to-face meeting in Wash- dangerous themselves,” he to Turkish officials who
was “not the right place” That should be the invest- ington, D.C. on Thursday. said of refugees. requested anonym-
for the initiative. ment,” he said. Jordan is host to some The six-year-long war has ity in line with government
“Let’s not waste time plan- U.S. President Donald Trump 650,000 Syrian refugees. displaced half the coun- regulations.q
US-led coalition trains Mosul police, plans for IS-free Iraq

ALI ABDUL-HASSAN tougher fight in a dense
Associated Press and overcrowded urban
BASMAYA, Iraq (AP) — The environment. The opera-
U.S.-led coalition is plan- tion to free Iraq’s second-
ning for the day when Iraq largest city has been the
will be free of the Islamic most complex challenge
State group, ramping up for Iraqi forces to date.
training of a future Mosul With more than 100,000
police force — even as the soldiers, police, tribal and
battle for the rest of the city militia fighters deployed for
is briefly on hold. the offensive, Iraqi leaders
Sometime during the lull, sig- are aware that after IS mili-
nificant numbers of the se- tants are routed from Mo-
curity forces are expected sul, a well-trained police
to move into villages scat- force will be needed on
tered across the plains of the ground — to keep the
Ninevah province around hard-won victory.
Mosul and also into parts In the blistery winter wind,
of the city retaken from IS a few hundred police re-
over the past three months. cruits shuffled in place to
The Iraqi military declared keep warm during a re-
Mosul’s eastern half “fully cent training exercise at a
Nineveh police forces train with Spanish coalition members at Basmaya base 40 kilometers liberated” in January and coalition base run by the
southeast of Baghdad, Iraq. The U.S.-led coalition is planning for the day Iraq will be free of the
Islamic State group, ramping up the training of a future Mosul police force -- even as the battle is now preparing to battle Spanish Army in Basmaya,
for the city is temporarily on hold. for the city’s western sec- east of the Iraqi capital,
(AP Photo/Karim Kadim) tor — likely to be a much Baghdad.q