Sixteen months ago, gunmen in southern Iraq abducted 26 Qatari hunters. Last Friday, civilians in four towns in northern and southern Syria, and the wider region, paid the price for the release of the hostages.
The hunters were released as part of a deal brokered by Qatar and Iran. The process involved two negotiation routes, one between the Iraqi militia and Doha and the other between Shia and Sunni extremists in northern and southern Syria. Details about the agreement, relayed to the author, highlight the deeply problematic nature of the role played by regional countries to secure a deal that only adds fuel to the fire.
The negotiations about the four Syrian towns – namely Al-Foua and Kefraya, in Idlib, and Madhaya and Zabadani, south of Damascus – built on a 2015 ceasefire agreement reached between Iran and local Syrian militias in six towns that included the four ones in which a new deal was reached last week.
In 2015, Hizbollah had waged a three-month offensive to recapture Zabadani, a town near the Lebanese border. After the failure of the offensive, which was part of an effort to clear all the Qalamoun region near Lebanon, broader negotiations began in the southern and northern towns between Hizbollah and the jihadist-led Jaish Al Fateh, under the auspices of Iran and Qatar. According to the old agreement, the regime would not fly helicopters or warplanes in certain areas controlled by Jaish Al Fateh, a defunct alliance of jihadist and Islamist groups, including to drop aid and ammunition to fighters on the ground.
The old deal also stipulated that neither side could set up new bases or trenches on the immediate front-lines, which would effectively create buffers between the two warring sides. Enforcing a humanitarian or logistical blockade outside those towns was also prohibited. Sources with Jabhat Al Nusra, which later became Hayat Tahrir Al Sham (HTS), praised the deal at the time as favourable to the jihadist-led alliance.
The new agreement upholds the banning of aerial bombardment and clashes in those towns as part of a ceasefire for nine months. It also allows humanitarian access to these towns. The regime is required to release 1,500 prisoners, mostly women. These are the positive parts
The deal also stipulates a demographic shift. Three-thousand rebel fighters along with their families are required to leave Zabadani with light weapons to a destination of their choice. A similar number of regime soldiers and 5,000 civilians are allowed to evacuate Foua and Kafraya, although families have the right to remain in their towns if they wish to do so. In the rebel-held town of Madhaya, civilians who wish to remain are reassured they will not be subject to arbitrary arrest or collective punishment. After an outcry from the Syrian opposition against the deal, HTS defended it as favourable to the opposition and achieving more than the opposition could through the Geneva and Astana processes.
The other route involved negotiations between Qatar and Kata’ib Hizbollah, a Shia militia in Iraq, which abducted the Qatari and Saudi hunters on December 16, 2015, in southern Iraq near the Saudi border.
The deal involved the payment of a handsome amount of cash to the parties involved in the negotiations, including the HTS, the Al Qaeda offshoot in Syria, Ahrar Al Sham, a Syrian group operating mostly in the north, and Kata’ib Hizbollah. Hamed Al Mutlaq, member of the Iraqi parliament’s defence and security committee, was quoted by Arabi21 as saying that Iraqi authorities seized money estimated to be in the hundreds of millions of dollars in Baghdad International Airport. He said the money was presumably to seal the deal.
The overall deal has several problematic aspects. It shows the power Iran wields in three countries, Lebanon and Syria through Hizbollah and Iraq through militias beholden to it.
In Syria, it makes sense for Iran and Hizbollah to decide the terms of the deal due to Hizbollah’s lead role in the fighting in those towns, especially those near the Lebanese border. In Iraq, however, there is no question that the deal denigrates the government in Baghdad. A militia beholden to Iran kidnapped hunters, who held government-issued permits, and Baghdad could do nothing about it but Tehran could. According to a senior official briefed on the broader deal, Haider Al Abadi, the Iraqi prime minister, was disturbed by the hefty ransom payment to Kata’ib Hizbollah. Former Iraqi foreign minister, Hoshyar Zebari, also wrote on Twitter: “Release of Qatari hunters in Iraq after 16 months in captivity by a pro-Iranian & Hizbollah Shia armed group is a travesty of sovereign Iraq.”
In Syria, the payment comes at a time when financial support to the moderate rebels through the United States-managed operation centres is suspended. Turkey even banned several humanitarian relief organisations from operating inside Syria, including Mercy Corps, which used to deliver urgent and critical assistance to 350,000 to 500,000 civilians each month.
The deal empowers extremists from both Sunni and Shia sides, fuels conflicts and strengthens Iran’s hands in the region. The episode sums up the current direction in three major Arab countries, where Iran and extremist militias increasingly call the shots. It is not just a travesty of Iraqi sovereignty. It is also a travesty of the US-led campaign to fight extremism in the region.
Hassan Hassan is a senior fellow at the Tahrir Institute for Middle East Policy and co-author of ISIS: Inside the Army of Terror.
On Twitter: @hxhassan
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If you go...
Fly from Dubai or Abu Dhabi to Chiang Mai in Thailand, via Bangkok, before taking a five-hour bus ride across the Laos border to Huay Xai. The land border crossing at Huay Xai is a well-trodden route, meaning entry is swift, though travellers should be aware of visa requirements for both countries.
Flights from Dubai start at Dh4,000 return with Emirates, while Etihad flights from Abu Dhabi start at Dh2,000. Local buses can be booked in Chiang Mai from around Dh50
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The rules on fostering in the UAE
A foster couple or family must:
- be Muslim, Emirati and be residing in the UAE
- not be younger than 25 years old
- not have been convicted of offences or crimes involving moral turpitude
- be free of infectious diseases or psychological and mental disorders
- have the ability to support its members and the foster child financially
- undertake to treat and raise the child in a proper manner and take care of his or her health and well-being
- A single, divorced or widowed Muslim Emirati female, residing in the UAE may apply to foster a child if she is at least 30 years old and able to support the child financially
How to apply for a drone permit
- Individuals must register on UAE Drone app or website using their UAE Pass
- Add all their personal details, including name, nationality, passport number, Emiratis ID, email and phone number
- Upload the training certificate from a centre accredited by the GCAA
- Submit their request
What are the regulations?
- Fly it within visual line of sight
- Never over populated areas
- Ensure maximum flying height of 400 feet (122 metres) above ground level is not crossed
- Users must avoid flying over restricted areas listed on the UAE Drone app
- Only fly the drone during the day, and never at night
- Should have a live feed of the drone flight
- Drones must weigh 5 kg or less
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Important questions to consider
1. Where on the plane does my pet travel?
There are different types of travel available for pets:
- Manifest cargo
- Excess luggage in the hold
- Excess luggage in the cabin
Each option is safe. The feasibility of each option is based on the size and breed of your pet, the airline they are traveling on and country they are travelling to.
2. What is the difference between my pet traveling as manifest cargo or as excess luggage?
If traveling as manifest cargo, your pet is traveling in the front hold of the plane and can travel with or without you being on the same plane. The cost of your pets travel is based on volumetric weight, in other words, the size of their travel crate.
If traveling as excess luggage, your pet will be in the rear hold of the plane and must be traveling under the ticket of a human passenger. The cost of your pets travel is based on the actual (combined) weight of your pet in their crate.
3. What happens when my pet arrives in the country they are traveling to?
As soon as the flight arrives, your pet will be taken from the plane straight to the airport terminal.
If your pet is traveling as excess luggage, they will taken to the oversized luggage area in the arrival hall. Once you clear passport control, you will be able to collect them at the same time as your normal luggage. As you exit the airport via the ‘something to declare’ customs channel you will be asked to present your pets travel paperwork to the customs official and / or the vet on duty.
If your pet is traveling as manifest cargo, they will be taken to the Animal Reception Centre. There, their documentation will be reviewed by the staff of the ARC to ensure all is in order. At the same time, relevant customs formalities will be completed by staff based at the arriving airport.
4. How long does the travel paperwork and other travel preparations take?
This depends entirely on the location that your pet is traveling to. Your pet relocation compnay will provide you with an accurate timeline of how long the relevant preparations will take and at what point in the process the various steps must be taken.
In some cases they can get your pet ‘travel ready’ in a few days. In others it can be up to six months or more.
5. What vaccinations does my pet need to travel?
Regardless of where your pet is traveling, they will need certain vaccinations. The exact vaccinations they need are entirely dependent on the location they are traveling to. The one vaccination that is mandatory for every country your pet may travel to is a rabies vaccination.
Other vaccinations may also be necessary. These will be advised to you as relevant. In every situation, it is essential to keep your vaccinations current and to not miss a due date, even by one day. To do so could severely hinder your pets travel plans.
Source: Pawsome Pets UAE
