Excerpts: Iran's $100 mln assets released.Hamas hints at prisoner exchange.
No-win disaster in S.Sudan. Talks with Syria Regime 'rescheduled'. Canada
funds 2 economic growth projects in Jordan February 01, 2016

+++SOURCE: Al Arabiya News 1 Feb,’16:”Iran:$100bln in assets ‘fully released’
under nuclear deal”,by Associated Press
SUBJECT:Iran’s $100bln assets released
FULL TEXT:Iran says it now has access to more than $100 billion worth of
frozen overseas assets following the implementation of the nuclear deal with
world powers.

Government spokesman Mohammad Bagher Nobakht says much of the money had been
piling up in banks in China, India, Japan, South Korea and Turkey since
international sanctions were tightened in 2012 over Tehran’s nuclear
program. His comments were posted on the website of state-run Press TV on
Monday.

The landmark agreement brought about the lifting of international sanctions
last month after the U.N. verified that Iran had curbed its nuclear
activities.

Iran’s semi-official ISNA news agency meanwhile quoted Central Bank official
Nasser Hakimi as saying nine Iranian banks are now reconnected to SWIFT, a
Belgian-based cooperative that handles wire transfers between financial
institutions

+++SOURCE:Al Arabiya News 1 Feb.’16:”Hamas hints at prisoner exchange with
Israel”,by Agence France Presse’
SUBJECT: Hamas hints at prisoner exchange
FULL TEXT:Hamas on Sunday[31 Jan.] raised the prospect of exchanging an
Israeli soldier declared dead in the territory's 2014 war in return for
Palestinian prisoners.

Abu Obeida, spokesman for Hamas's military arm, the Ezzedine al-Qassam
Brigades, said that “the resistance has... cards in its hands that will
force the enemy to release you”, referring to prisoners in Israeli jail.

Israeli soldiers, dead or alive, have in the past proved valuable bargaining
chips.

The bodies of two soldiers killed in the 2014 Gaza war, Oron Shaul and Hadar
Goldin, are believed to be held by Hamas, which has not clarified their
fate.

On Friday[29 Jan.], the movement's Gaza chief Ismail Haniya said Qassam
Brigades were preparing “for any future clashes with the Zionist enemy”,
including by building tunnels on the border with Israel.

He said a collapsed tunnel that killed seven militants in Gaza last week was
like the one used to capture Shaul and that led to the release of
Palestinian prisoners in return for Israeli soldier Gilad Shalit in 2011.

The tunnels were “strategic weapons” against Israel, Haniya said, adding
that Hamas fighters were also training and acquiring “all the means to fight
and resist”.

Senior Hamas official Khalil al-Haya drove the point home on Sunday[31 Jan].

“The tunnel in which our seven martyrs died is the same one that was used by
Qassam to capture the soldier Oron Shaul,” he said.

Israel has accused Hamas of rebuilding tunnels destroyed during the 2014 war
with the aim of launching fresh attacks against it.

The 50-day war in July-August 2014 killed 2,200 Palestinians and 73 people
on the Israeli side, and it destroyed or damaged thousands of homes in the
besieged Gaza Strip.

The tunnels have been used in the past to store weapons or stage attacks.

On Sunday[31 Jan], Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu warned Hamas
against any attempt to attack his country.

“We are systematically preparing for all threats -- including from Hamas,”
he said.

“If we're attacked through tunnels from the Gaza Strip, we'll act very
forcefully against Hamas, with far much greater force” than two years ago.

“I hope we won't need them, but our abilities -- both defensive and
offensive -- are developing rapidly, and I wouldn't recommend anyone tries
them,” he said in a speech to Israeli diplomats.


+++SOURCE:Naharnet (Lebanon)1 Feb.’16x: “S.Sudan Troops Suffocated 50 People
in Container”,by Agence France Presse
SUBJECT: No-win disaster in S.Sudan
FULL TEXT:South Sudan government troops killed some 50 people by stuffing
them into a shipping container in baking heat, ceasefire monitors have said
in a report noting the latest atrocities in two years of war.

Despite an August peace deal, fighting continues, and the conflict now
involves multiple militia forces who pay little heed to paper peace deals,
driven by local agendas or revenge attacks.

The report, by the Joint Monitoring and Evaluation Commission (JMEC), was
submitted to the African Union (AU) summit and made public late Sunday[31
Jan].

The atrocity, titled "concerning the killing of civilians in Unity State",
was one of several listed as examples of ceasefire violations carried out by
forces on both sides.

"About 50 people suffocated in a container on about 22 October. The
investigation was protracted. Attribution of responsibility: Government
Forces," the report read.

In South Sudan, metal containers are often used as makeshift prison cells.
Temperatures in the northern battleground state of Unity regularly top 40
degrees Celsius (100 degrees Fahrenheit).

Other crimes listed include rape and murder, and the capture and looting of
UN river barges.

There was no immediate response from South Sudan's army, but spokesmen have
rejected a long list of previous reports detailing accusations of
atrocities.

- Aid blocked to starvation zones -UN rights experts last month described
"gang-rape, sexual slavery and forced abortion".

A UN panel of experts has also said South Sudan's President Salva Kiir and
rebel chief Riek Machar should face sanctions for their role in the war.

JMEC chief Festus Mogae, a former Botswana president appointed to the role
by regional bloc IGAD, warned that efforts to force through a unity
government had stalled after Kiir nearly tripled the number of regional
states, undermining a fundamental pillar of the power-sharing deal.

"The government's action has led to an impasse," Mogae said, in an appeal to
the AU.

"Given the fragility of the security situation in South Sudan, the renewed
risk of conflict, and continued insecurity affecting the humanitarian relief
effort, emphatic, stern measures should be taken by the African Union...
rhetoric alone can only do so much," Mogae said.

Both the government and rebel sides have been accused of perpetrating ethnic
massacres, recruiting and killing children and carrying out widespread rape,
torture and forced displacement of populations to "cleanse" areas of their
opponents.

East Africa's IGAD bloc also called on rival forces to allow food into
conflict zones on the brink of famine, where aid workers have warned tens of
thousands may be dying of starvation.

- Millions spent on arms as people starve -IGAD said it was "appalled by the
deterioration in the humanitarian situation in South Sudan, and demands
immediate action by the parties to ensure unconditional humanitarian
access."

Over 200,000 South Sudanese civilians are sheltering inside UN camps ringed
by razor wire, a bleak barometer of ongoing conflict despite peace efforts.

UN experts last month said Kiir has spent or committed spent $78 million to
purchase eight Mi-24 attack helicopters, while rebels have received
ammunition, weapons and uniforms from Sudan.

Mogae criticised the spending.

"Amidst rapidly declining oil revenues, the public resources of the country
have been largely squandered on financing the conflict," Mogae added.

But Nhial Deng Nhial, South Sudan's government negotiator in peace talks,
dismissed concerns negotiations were deadlocked, with violence ongoing and
fears of potential famine.

"As far as we’re concerned, the implementation of the peace process still
remains on track," Nhial told Agence France Presse during AU talks on
Saturday.[30 Jan]

SourceAgence France Presse




+++SOURCE:Naharnet (Lebanon)1 Feb.’16:”U.N. Says Talks with Syria Regime
‘Rescheduled’ “, by Agence France Presse
SUBJECT: Talks with Syria Regime ‘rescheduled
FULL TEXT:Talks between the U.N. special envoy for Syria and government
representatives tentatively planned for Monday[1 Feb] 11:00 am (1000 GMT) in
Geneva have been "rescheduled" to allow talks with the opposition first, the
U.N. said.

Khawla Mattar, spokeswoman for special envoy Staffan de Mistura, told Agence
France Presse there was "the need to meet" with opposition first, and that a
meeting with the government would happen "maybe another day".

Discussions with the opposition umbrella group the High Negotiations
Committee (HNC) were still expected to take place at the U.N.'s European
headquarters at 5:00 pm (1600 GMT), the U.N. said.

The HNC, which only reluctantly showed up late Saturday[30 Jan] and held
informal talks with de Mistura on Sunday in a Geneva hotel, is hesitating
about entering formal indirect talks envisioned under a November roadmap
agreed by outside powers.

It is demanding first that Syrian President Bashar Assad's regime allows
humanitarian access to besieged towns, stops bombarding civilians and
releases prisoners.

The regime's chief envoy, Bashar al-Jaafari, who arrived in Geneva on
Friday[[35 Jan] when he held talks with de Mistura, said Sunday[31 Jan] the
HNC was "not serious".

The hoped-for "proximity talks" are the biggest push to date to chart a way
out of the tangled almost five-year-old war that has killed more than
260,000 people and forced millions from their homes.

SourceAgence France Presse

+++SOURCE: Jordan Times 1 Feb.’16:”39m Canadian dollars to fund two
economic growth projects in Jordan”,by Merza Noghai
SUBJECT:Canada funds two economic growth projects in Jordan

QUOTE:”Canadian Minister of International Development: how hard it is for
you to welcome so many refugees; it is hard to provide all those services,
and we are delighted to help’ “

AMMAN — Jordan and Canada on Sunday[31 Jan] signed a cooperation agreement
under which the latter will fund two sustainable economic growth projects in
the Kingdom worth 39 million Canadian dollars (some JD19.8 million).

Funds allocated for those two projects will be withdrawn from a total of 185
million Canadian dollars pledged by former Canadian prime minister Stephen
Harper during his visit to Jordan in January 2014, Planning and
International Cooperation Minister Imad Fakhoury said at the signing
ceremony.

The sum is dedicated to helping Jordan face development challenges resulting
from the repercussions of the Syrian refugee influx, the minister added.

Fakhoury and Canadian Minister of International Development Marie-Claude
Bibeau signed the cooperation agreement on behalf of the Jordanian and
Canadian governments.

"The Canadian government will provide up to C$19.85 million to support [the]
'Sustainable Economic Development through Renewable Energy Project',"
Fakhoury noted.

He added that the project will be implemented in cooperation with Cowater
International Inc. and in partnership with the Renewable Energy and Energy
Efficiency Fund, which will contribute an additional sum of 2 million
Canadian dollars to the project.

The scheme, to be implemented over four years, aims at improving living
conditions and livelihoods of residents of the Jordan Valley and Ajloun by
introducing efficient energy solutions and renewable energy into households;
thus reducing families' expenditure on energy and increasing the chances of
finding resources of income, Fakhoury explained.

It also seeks to increase skills and job opportunities in renewable energy
and energy efficiency in Jordan, the minister added.

"More than 162.000 people will benefit directly of this project in the
Jordan Valley and Ajloun areas," he noted.

As for the second project, Fakhoury said the Canadian government will
provide up to 19.1 million Canadian dollars to the project of Enterprises'
Development in the Jordan Valley, in cooperation with the Canadian MEDA
Group.

The project aims at building the capacities of women and young entrepreneurs
to enable them to start successful businesses, the minister added.

"The project targets the three sectors of food processing, tourism and clean
technology, which were identified through intensive consultations with the
locals," Fakhoury highlighted.

He noted that the project seeks to engage 50,000 women and young men from
the Jordan Valley and economically connected governorates.

The minister thanked the Canadian government on behalf of the Jordanian
government for its support.

For her part, Bibeau underlined her understanding of the burdens borne by
Jordan as a result of the influx of Syrian refugees, saying the situation
"greatly affects hosting communities, in addition to… the Jordanian
economy".

"We know how hard it is for you to welcome so many refugees; it is hard to
provide all those services, and we are delighted to help," the Canadian
minister added.
====================
Sue Lerner - Associate, IMRA