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Monday, July 28, 2014
Excerpts: Hamas disarmament.Saudi-Egypt-Israel ties 'baseless lies'. ISIS re Iraq Kurds 28 July 2014

Excerpts: Hamas disarmament.Saudi-Egypt-Israel ties 'baseless lies'. ISIS re
Iraq Kurds 28 July 2014

+++SOURCE:Naharnet 28 July ’14:”. . . Kerry Says Any Truce Must Lead to
Hamas Disarmament”, Agence France Presse
SUBJECT: Hamas disarmament
· QUOTE:”Kerry said on Monday [28 July] that international efforts to
agree a truce between Israel and the Palestinians in Gaza must lead to
disarmament of Hamas”

EXCERPTS: . . .On the diplomatic front, U.S. Secretary of State John Kerry
said on Monday [28 July]that international efforts to agree a truce between
Israel and the Palestinians in Gaza must lead to the disarmament of Hamas.

Kerry, who arrived back in Washington late Sunday after a week-long mission
in the Middle East to try to stop the fighting, told reporters he was
continuing to work "toward establishing an unconditional humanitarian
ceasefire."

Such a truce "could honor Eid which begins now and that will stop the
fighting, allow desperately needed food and medicine and other supplies into
Gaza and enable Israel to address the threat which we fully understand and
which is real, the threat posed by tunnel attacks."

"We believe the momentum generated by a humanitarian ceasefire is the best
way to be able to begin to negotiate and find out if you can put in place a
sustainable ceasefire on that addresses all of the concerns," the top U.S.
diplomat insisted.

But he added: "We also believe that any process to resolve the crisis in
Gaza in a lasting and meaningful way must lead to the disarmament of Hamas
and all terrorist groups."

"Regrettably, there were misunderstandings about 12 hours versus 24 hours"
which blighted his efforts last week to extend a short 12-hour ceasefire,
Kerry said.

"So we are trying to work hard to see if these issues can be clarified in a
way that allows Israel and the Palestinian Authority and factions, the other
countries involved, working through the Egyptian initiative, to be able to
find a way to silence the weapons long enough to be able to begin to
negotiate." . . .




+++SOURCE: Saudi Gazette 27 July ‘`4:”Kingdom:Reports on Israeli ties
‘baseless lies’ “, by Agencies
SUBJECT: Saudi-Egypt-Israeli ties ‘baseless lies’

FULL TEXT:LONDON — Saudi Arabia’s ambassador in the UK has slammed Middle
East Eye editor David Hearst for a comment piece in which he accused the
Kingdom of colluding with Egypt and Israel to crush Hamas.

In the letter, which the Ambassador Prince Nawaf Al-Saud made public via the
embassy website on Friday[25 July], Saudi Arabia accused Hearst of
publishing “utter rubbish” and “baseless lies” regarding the partnership,
which has seen Israeli officials publicly confirm that Saudi funds will be
relied upon to rebuild Gaza once Hamas has been rooted out.

“Is it your intention to insult? Or are you just completely ignorant of the
history or politics of the Middle East?” ran the first line of the acerbic
letter, which has also been published in Arabic.

Directing harsh words toward Israel, too, the Saudi ambassador accused it of
committing “genocide”, warning that Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu will
answer for his crimes “before a higher authority than here on earth.”

Hearst’s original commentary, published on July 20, detailed the links
between Saudi Arabia, Egypt and Israel, who according to the piece have the
joint enemy of Hamas in their sights.

Saudi Arabia’s refutation of Hearst’s commentary came hours after the
publication of similar reports by a source close to Israel’s primary
intelligence agency.

Debkafile, a news site known to be close to the intelligence agency Mossad,
published a report on Friday [26 July] substantiating many of Hearst’s
assertion.

Saudi Arabia is a key source of funding for newly-elected Egyptian President
Abdel Fattah El-Sisi, whose role in closing the Rafah border crossing
between Egypt and Gaza has been a key flashpoint of the conflict.

Egypt’s failure to open the border crossing and allow wounded Gazans to seek
treatment across the frontier has sparked criticism from officials and
activists, who say the refusal to open the crossing proves Egypt’s support
for Israel and inaction toward Palestinians. — Agencies

+++SOURCE: Saudi Gazette 25 July ’14:”Is Iraq’s Kurdish region outside of
ISIS calculus?”, by Al Arabiya News,Dina Al-Shibeeb
SUBJECT: ISIS re Iraq Kurds
QUOTE:”Iraqi Kurds have remained unscathed do far from any major assault by
ISIS”
FULL TEXT:
Iraqi Kurds have remained unscathed so far from any major assault by the
Islamic State of Iraq and Syria not only because of their defensive force
represented in the Peshmerga but also because of ISIS’ priority of toppling
the government of Iraqi Prime Minister Nouri Al-Maliki, according to
analysts.

Initially, some observers believed that the lack of an overt confrontation
between ISIS and Kurds in Iraq was due to some understanding between the two
sides. In addition, Maliki accused the Kurdistan Regional Government of
supporting the ISIS. “The loose alliance of insurgents is united by only one
common objective: a desire to take Baghdad and topple Maliki’s regime, which
they consider to be an Iranian proxy,” Ali Khedery, who was the longest
continuously serving American official in Iraq from 2003 to 2009, told Al
Arabiya News.

“They haven’t attacked Kurdistan because they don’t want to open a second
front while they battle,” Khedery, who is now chairman and chief executive
of the Dubai-based Dragoman Partners, added.

“I believe Maliki accused the Kurds of helping ISIS because he considers the
entire Sunni Arab insurgency to be composed of ISIS. In reality, the forces
fighting Maliki’s government are 5 to 10 percent ISIS, 20 percent Baathist
elements, and 70-75 percent Sunni Arab tribal elements.”

Iraq’s late leader Saddam Hussein ruled the country under the socialist
Baath Party from 1979 until he was toppled during the US invasion of 2003.

“Since some of the Baathist and tribal leaders like Sheikh Ali Hatem and
Ahmed Dabbash now have a base in Arbil [KRG’s capital], Maliki believes
there is a master conspiracy against him,” Khedery said.

Michael P. Pregent, a former US Army officer who was an embedded advisor
with Peshmerga forces in the cities of Mosul and Dahuk, described Maliki’s
accusation as “false,” saying that the incumbent prime minister “is upset
that the Kurds that they didn’t fight ISIS in Mosul,” which is still held by
the militants since a lightning offensive by the radical group in June.

Pregent told Al Arabiya News that “the main reason ISIS isn’t fighting the
Kurds in Iraq is because in Iraq the Kurds have a national border that they
protect and man with checkpoints with well-armed Peshmerga [tanks,
artillery, heavy crew served weapons].”

Unlike the rest of Iraq and Syria, where the security situations are
characterized by increasing deterioration, the Kurds have excelled at
maintaining security to high levels. “[The Kurds in Iraq] know who comes in
and who comes out [of their territory],” Pregent, who is now an adjunct
lecturer at the National Defense University, College of International
Security Affairs in Washington, said.

“They have a very experienced and disciplined Peshmerga militia that will
protect Kurdish areas and interests,” he added, highlighting how “Sunnis,
Christians, and even Shiites go to Kurdistan to escape violence in Iraq
because they know the Kurdish areas are well protected.”

Like Khedery, who pointed to ISIS’s political agenda to topple Maliki’s
administration, Pregent believes that the premier’s disenfranchisement of
the Sunnis led to a fertile ground for ISIS to operate in.

“ISIS’ success depends on an oppressive Shiite government that marginalizes
Sunnis in both Syria and Iraq — ISIS will not gain supporters in Kurdish
areas because the Kurds are already protecting their areas from Maliki’s
oppressive government,” the former army officer said.

Alliance with Arab tribes

Kirkuk-based strategic analyst Abdulrahman Al-Sheikh described how Sunni
Arab tribes in Kirkuk are paramount in fending off the ISIS threat from
creeping into Kirkuk as they enjoy the respect of both the Peshmerga and the
Islamists.

“There are strong ties between Kurds and the Sunni Arab tribes in Kirkuk, so
the fears are less in comparison [to the ISIS-held] Tikrit,” Sheikh said.

Iraq state forces, facing heavy opposition, withdrew from the northern city
of Tikrit this week after a renewed effort to take back Saddam’s hometown.

In spite of KRG’s strengths, there were clashes between ISIS and Peshmerga
forces 20 km south of Kirkuk.

“This was an attempt to provoke the Peshmerga,” said Sheikh, “but respected
Arab tribes intervened to end the skirmish.”

While Pregent expects that there will be fighting “in areas not
traditionally under Kurdish control,” he said “so far we haven’t seen any
incursions into recognized Kurdish areas.” — Al Arabiya News

=====
Sue Lerner - Associate, IMRA

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