position:senior u.s. official

Australia, U.S., India and Japan in talks to establish Belt and Road alternative: report
▻https://www.reuters.com/article/us-china-beltandroad-quad/australia-u-s-india-and-japan-in-talks-to-establish-belt-and-road-alternati

Australia, the United States, India and Japan are talking about establishing a joint regional infrastructure scheme as an alternative to China’s multibillion-dollar Belt and Road Initiative in an attempt to counter Beijing’s spreading influence, the Australian Financial Review reported on Monday, citing a senior U.S. official.

The unnamed official was quoted as saying the plan involving the four regional partners was still ”nascent“ and ”won’t be ripe enough to be announced“ during Australian Prime Minister Turnbull’s visit to the United States later this week.

The official said, however, that the project was on the agenda for Turnbull’s talks with U.S. President Donald Trump during that trip and was being seriously discussed. The source added that the preferred terminology was to call the plan an “alternative” to China’s Belt and Road Initiative, rather than a “rival.”

#OBOR

Russians, Syrians and Iranians setting up military coordination cell in Baghdad | Fox News
▻http://www.foxnews.com/politics/2015/09/25/russians-syrians-and-iranians-setting-up-military-coordination-cell-in-bagh

Russian, Syrian and Iranian military commanders have set up a coordination cell in Baghdad in recent days to try to begin working with Iranian-backed Shia militias fighting the Islamic State, Fox News has learned. 

Western intelligence sources say the coordination cell includes low-level Russian generals. U.S. officials say it is not clear whether the Iraqi government is involved at the moment. 

Describing the arrival of Russian military personnel in Baghdad, one senior U.S. official said, “They are popping up everywhere.”

Et donc, tout ce petit monde se coordonne à Bagdad, mais il n’est pas certain que le gouvernement irakien soit au courant.

#c'est_celà !

U.S. officials angry: Israel doesn’t back stance on Russia
Haaretz By Barak Ravid | Apr. 13, 2014
▻http://www.haaretz.com/news/diplomacy-defense/.premium-1.585333

White House and State Department officials in Washington have built up a great deal of anger over Jerusalem’s “neutrality” regarding Russia’s invasion of the Crimean Peninsula. Senior figures in the Obama administration have expressed great disappointment with the lack of support from Israel for the American position on the Ukraine crisis and with the fact that the Israeli government puts its relations with the United States and with Russia on the same plane.

One senior U.S. official noted that one of the reasons for the anger in the White House was Israel’s absence from the UN General Assembly vote about two weeks ago on a resolution censuring the Russian invasion and expressing support for the territorial integrity of Ukraine.

“We have been consulting closely on Ukraine not only with our partners and allies around the world," a senior U.S. official told Haaretz. "Obviously we are looking to the entire international community to condemn Russia’s actions and to support Ukraine, so we were surprised to see that Israel did not join the large majority of countries that voted to support Ukraine’s territorial integrity at the United Nations.”

U.S. may be open to Islamists joining Syrian rebel coalition
▻http://www.washingtonpost.com/world/national-security/white-house-willing-to-support-a-syrian-rebel-coalition-that-would-include-islamist-groups/2013/12/12/e400fc86-636d-11e3-aa81-e1dab1360323_story.html

3 conditions, la dernière me paraissant inexplicable si les deux premières sont remplies.

The Obama administration is willing to consider supporting an expanded Syrian rebel coalition that would include Islamist groups, provided the groups are not allied with al-Qaeda and agree to support upcoming peace talks in Geneva, a senior U.S. official said Thursday.

In addition, the official said, the Americans would like the Islamic Front groups to return U.S. vehicles, communications gear and other non-lethal equipment they seized last weekend from warehouses at the Syria-Turkey border.

Plus loin encore,

“whatever happens with the reorganization” of the armed opposition, the official said, “we want our stuff back.” The equipment, including vehicles and communications and medical equipment, was part of a program, administered by the State Department, to send U.S. non-lethal supplies to the SMC. A separate program, run by the CIA, distributes small arms and ammunition to the rebels.

En fait des contacts auraient déjà été pris dans le mois dernier, en vain,

Talks between U.S. envoy Robert Ford and Islamic Front figures held in Turkey last month were inconclusive, said the senior U.S. official, who spoke on the condition of anonymity about the developing policy.

Une nouvelle rencontre est prévue aujourd’hui,

Ford is traveling to London on Friday to meet with other international backers of the Syrian opposition, and then to Turkey for discussions with the Syrian ­Opposition Coalition, the U.S.-backed political leadership. He may also meet there with the Islamic Front, said the senior official.

Quant à Salim Idriss, il est loin d’être certain que sa « fuite » en soit une.

#Syrie #bons_djihadistes #mauvais_djihadistes #Arabie_Saoudite