• Oman and Iran : Peace dividends | The Economist

    http://www.economist.com/blogs/pomegranate/2014/03/oman-and-iran?fsrc=scn/tw_ec/peace_dividends

    BUSINESSMEN say that investor interest in Oman has jumped since the tiny Gulf state in 2013 hosted clandestine talks between America and Iran that led to the interim deal on the latter’s nuclear programme. Trade between the two countries reached $600m in 2013; up threefold from 2010. If sanctions on Iran are fully lifted, Oman will benefit further.

    The tiny country of 3.3m has acted as a go-between for America and Iran since the Iranian revolution in 1979 that split the two former allies. As a Gulf friend of America, but also a maritime neighbour of Iran, which lies just 39km across the Strait of Hormuz, Oman didn’t have the luxury of picking sides. As Iran was isolated by sanctions, Oman’s rulers maintained that Iran had a role as a regional power.

    In 2009, an opportunity arose for Oman to bring the two sides together. When three American hikers were arrested in Iran, Oman’s Sultan Qaboos sent an envoy to broker their release, footing the $1m bill for bail. Later, he offered up his villas in Muscat for talks. Despite one of them being in the fancy Qurum area where the elite live, the meetings remained secret.

    Oman’s role has gone down well at home. Locals are proud, helping to subdue discontent that has simmered since 2011 when small protests erupted in several cities. The sectarian tone of conflicts in Syria, Iraq and Bahrain has spooked many Omanis, over half of whom are Ibadis, an offshoot of Islam that is neither Sunni nor Shia. Bringing Iran back into the international fold, they argue, could limit Tehran’s urge to seek asymmetric influence through conflict and deflate some of the anti-Iranian rhetoric from arch-rival Saudi Arabia.

    Perhaps as importantly, over hundreds of years as a trading nation, the Omanis have learned that peace is good for business. The United Arab Emirates has long hosted an Iranian community and informal trade. But while some small business and oil smuggling goes on in Oman’s north, the country is starting from almost scratch.

  • Human trafficking in the #Sinaï. Houses of #torture

    HERE is a bit of bright news from Egypt. Since the coup on July 3rd that toppled the Muslim Brotherhood-led government, Egypt’s army has gone on the offensive against criminal gangs in the lawless northeast corner of the Sinai peninsula, along the borders of Israel and Gaza. Its main targets have been armed jihadist cells, as well as smugglers of arms, drugs and government-subsidised fuel to Gaza, whose Hamas-led government Egypt’s new rulers dislike.

    http://www.economist.com/blogs/pomegranate/2013/12/human-trafficking-sinai?fsrc=scn/tw_ec/houses_of_torture

    #migration #asile #réfugié #trafic_d'êtres_humains #traite #Egypte

  • Syrian refugees in Lebanon
    Still suffering
    http://www.economist.com/blogs/pomegranate/2013/10/syrian-refugees-lebanon

    More than 30% of Syrian households in Lebanon soon will be ineligible for assistance, as UN agencies begin to target their aid more narrowly. Laure Chadraoui, WFP’s spokesperson, says lack of funds—the Lebanon appeal is only 44% funded—is not the only reason for curtailing the programme. “We have always planned to target the most vulnerable people,” she says.

    The WFP says the eligibility assessment is based on a range of factors, but neither aid workers nor refugees know the exact criteria. With a population of 4m, Lebanon is Syria’s smallest neighbour, but it is carrying the biggest burden in terms of refugees. More than 800,000 have so far registered with UNHCR. If guest workers and unregistered refugees are included the number of Syrians in the country probably exceeds 1.2m.

    (...)

    The World Bank estimates that the financial cost of the conflict to Lebanon this year will reach $2.6 billion. That could rise to $7.5 billion in total by the end of next year. GDP growth could be as low as 1.5%, the bank says, and the country’s infrastructure is under immense pressure: “Across all core public services, the surge in demand is currently being partly met through a decline in public service access and quality.”

    Healthcare in Lebanon is under particular strain; Syrians now account for 40% of hospital visits. The number of confirmed cases of Measles has soared from nine in 2012 to more than 1,300 so far this year. Polio, which was eradicated from Lebanon in 2002, threatens to return, as 22 suspected cases of the disease were discovered last week in the Syrian province of Deir Ez-Zor. Lebanon plans to inoculate 700,000 children over the next two months, thanks to vaccines donated by UNICEF. But the country’s infrastructure is creaking ever more volubly.

  • Syria’s fighters: An interview with Jabhat al-Nusra | The Economist
    http://www.economist.com/blogs/pomegranate/2013/05/syrias-fighters-0

    Syria has long been known for its sectarian diversity. How do you view the other sects?

    The other sects are protected by the Islamic state. Muhammad, peace be upon him, had a Jewish neighbour, for example, and he was always good to him. But the power and authority must be with the believers [Sunnis], not the unbelievers.

    What about other Sunnis who are more moderate than you?

    We will apply sharia law to them.

    What about Alawites?

    Allah knows what will happen to them. There is a difference between the basic kuffar [infidels] and those who converted from Islam. If the latter, we must punish them. Alawites are included. Even Sunnis who want democracy are kuffar as are all Shia.

  • Iraq and Syria
    A Syrian awakening ?- http://www.economist.com/blogs/pomegranate/2013/05/iraq-and-syria

    Un article trés malhonnête qui non seulement présente le mouvement « Sahwa » en Irak comme spontané et couronné de succès (l’Irak est aujourd’hui à feu et à sang) mais présente implicitement la réalité comme une propagande de AQ.

    In Iraq the term, Arabic for “awakening”, referred to Sunni tribal militias who paired up with the Americans to squash al-Qaeda in Iraq. Farouq got the sahwa label (the plural is sahwat) after clashing with Jabhat al-Nusra in areas where both vie for power.

    ...

    On the other side of the spectrum, the jihadi blogosphere is awash with warnings against the threat of a sahwa developing under American, Jordanian or Saudi tutelage.

  • La Corée du Nord vu à travers la presse arabe

    What the Arab papers say : On North Korea | The Economist

    http://www.economist.com/blogs/pomegranate/2013/04/what-arab-papers-say?fsrc=scn/fb/wl/bl/onnorthkorea

    ESCALATING uncertainty on the Korean peninsula has set off a stream of sarcastic commentary in the Arabic-speaking quarters of Twitter. Other media outlets however, have taken a more sober tone, drawing parallels with the Arab world’s experience of both militaristic, dictatorial regimes and the nuclear tensions between Iran, its neighbouring states, and the international community.

    #corée-du-nord #monde-arabe

  • Obama : pas vraiment impressionnés, les Palestiniens... Holy fuck, quelle litote !

    Obama and the Palestinians : Less than impressed | The Economist

    http://www.economist.com/blogs/pomegranate/2013/03/obama-and-palestinians?fsrc=scn/fb/wl/bl/lessthanimpressed

    FEW Palestinians will doubt Barack Obama’s commitment to a negotiated two-state settlement of their conflict with Israel following his brief visit to Ramallah, the seat of the Palestinian Authority. What will worry them, though, are the terms.

    In contrast to his first-term position, the American president made no call for an Israeli settlement freeze, and did not state, as he had previously, that the pre-June 1967 armistice line would serve as the basis for the frontiers of a Palestinian state. Speaking at a joint press conference with the head of the Palestinian Authority, Mahmoud Abbas, Mr Obama declared settlement construction unconstructive for a two-state settlement, but said that his visit had given him “a better understanding” of the [internal] “constraints” that militated against Israel’s prime minister, Binyamin Netanyahu, halting the expansion of Jewish housing on occupied land

    #palestine #israël #obama #états-unis