Excerpts: No hajj deal Saudi Arabia,Iran. Khamenei warns new MPs of
Westerns 'Schemes'. American soldiers aid Kurdish-Arab fighters battle
Daesh. Food crisis in Africa May 28, 2016

+++SOURCE:Al Arabiya News 28 May ’16:”Saudi Arabia and Iran fail to reach
hajj
deal”,by Saudi Gazette
SUBJECT:No hajj deal Saudi Arabia,Iran
FULL TEXT:An Iranian delegation wrapped up its visit to Saudi Arabia on
Friday[27 May] without signing a final agreement on arrangements for the
annual Hajj pilgrimage, the Saudi Ministry of Hajj and Umrah has said.

The ministry said the delegation decided to return to Tehran without signing
the final agreement despite two days of extensive talks.

“The Iranian Organization of Hajj and Visit will be held responsible before
God and the people of Iran for the inability of its pilgrims to perform Hajj
this year,” the ministry said in a statement carried by the Saudi Press
Agency.

The ministry said it offered many solutions to meet a string of demands made
by the Iranian delegation, which arrived in Saudi Arabia on Tuesday[24 May].

Agreements had been reached in some areas, including electronic visa
issuance as Saudi diplomatic missions in Iran remain closed. Riyadh cut ties
with Tehran in January after protesters torched the Saudi Embassy in Tehran
and the consulate in Mashhad.

The ministry said Riyadh agreed to allow Iranians to obtain visas through
the Swiss Embassy in Tehran, which is looking after Saudi interests since
the countries severed ties.

Saudi Arabia also agreed to allow Iranian carriers to fly half of the
pilgrims into Saudi Arabia and back despite a ban on Iranian airlines
following the diplomatic row, the ministry said.

Saudi rejects Iranian attempts to politicizing Hajj
The talks were the second attempt by both countries after an unsuccessful
first round last month to iron out differences and reach a deal on
organizing this year’s Hajj journey for Iranian pilgrims.

According to the statement, the ministry formally received the delegation
and provided all facilities for the members, including arrangements to
perform Umrah.

Marathon talks continued on Wednesday[25 May] and Thursday[26 May], with
both sides raising all topics that had figured in the previous round. The
ministry suggested a number of solutions for all issued raised by the
Iranian side.

It proposed issuing electronic visas within Iran in accordance with a
mechanism agreed by the Saudi Foreign Ministry.

It suggested Saudi and Iranian national carriers equally share the
responsibility of transporting the Iranian pilgrims. It also approved an
Iranian request to allow the Swiss Embassy to take care of the interests of
Iranian pilgrims during their stay in Saudi Arabia.

“The ministry immediately coordinated with the competent authorities to
implement the agreements. But early Friday morning, the Iranian mission
expressed its desire to return home without signing the final Hajj
agreement,” the ministry said.

The ministry clarified that the Kingdom has reiterated its categorical
rejection of attempts to politicize Hajj rituals.

Tehran had banned its pilgrims from coming to Saudi Arabia to perform Umrah
this year.

+++SOURCE:Naharnet(Lebanon)28 May’16:”Iran’s Khamenei Warns of Western
‘Schemes’
as New MPs Meet”.by Agence France Presse
SUBJECT:Khamenei warns new MPs of Western ‘schemes’

FULL TEXT:Iran's supreme leader Ayatollah Ali Khamenei urged newly-elected
lawmakers Saturday[28 May] to resist "schemes" from the West as
parliamentarians met in Tehran for the first time since elections finished
in April.

"The turbulent state of the region and the world and the international
adventurism of oppressors and their vassals have confronted the Islamic Iran
with conditions more complicated than before," said a message from Khamenei,
read to a packed parliament chamber.

Khamenei, who has the final say on all matters in the country, repeated his
familiar call for loyalty to the principles of the 1979 revolution and
resistance against Western infiltration.

"It is the revolutionary and legal duty of you to make the parliament a
stronghold against the schemes, charms and impudently excessive demands of
the Arrogance," his message read.

"Arrogance" was a term first used by the Islamic republic's founder
Ayatollah Ruhollah Khomeini to describe Western powers, especially the
United States.

The 290-member parliament was inaugurated in the presence of 265 members,
with three seats vacant after votes for two MPs were nullified by Iran's
constitutional oversight body, the Guardian Council, and a third member died
in a car accident.

Elections for the key position of house speaker and the presiding board are
expected on Sunday or Monday.

Only after the position is filled will be clear whether Iran's conservatives
or the moderate-reformist allies of President Hassan Rouhani have a working
majority.

According to an AFP count, no single party won an overall majority in
elections that saw Rouhani make huge gains.

Reformists took 133 of the 290 seats, short of a majority but ahead of
conservatives, who took 125 seats.

The role of the independent members will be critical in the balance of
parliament's partisan powers.

Incumbent conservative speaker Ali Larijani and reformist Mohammad Reza Aref
are the top candidates standing for the position.

Iranian media say Larijani, who supported last year's nuclear agreement with
major powers, seems to have the upper hand.

Parliamentary polls were held in late February. A second round took place in
April for 68 seats where no candidate had obtained a minimum 25 percent of
first round votes.

Saturday's opening session comes less than a year after long negotiations
between Rouhani's government and world powers culminated in a nuclear
agreement that took effect in January and saw economic sanctions eased on
Tehran.

Rouhani addressed lawmakers and said that to reach its growth target of
eight percent, Iran needed $30-50 billion dollars in annual foreign
investment.

"Through elections people demanded improved lifestyle and relations in peace
and dignity with the outside world," he said.

"We need interaction to solve the problems and crises of the country."

Rouhani also praised Larijani for his support of the nuclear the deal and
called for more interaction between the government and parliament.


+++SOURCE:Jordan Times 28 May ’16:”US-backed forces battle Daesh near Syria
stronghold, Iraqi city,by Agence France Presse

SUBJECT:American soldiers aid Kurdish-Arab fighters battle Daesh

QUOTE:” To definitivly defeat Daesh Iraqi and Syrian fighters would have to
address local concerns,sectarian politics and ethnic divisions “

FULL TEXT:BEIRUT — Kurdish-Arab fighters aided by American soldiers battled
the Daesh terror group north of its Syrian stronghold of Raqqa Thursday[26
May] as Iraqi forces edged towards the jihadist-held city of Fallujah.

The twin offensives are two of the most significant ground assaults against
the extremists since they declared a self-styled "caliphate" in Iraq and
Syria in 2014.

The assaults came as Syria's UN envoy said trapped civilians risk starvation
unless Damascus and rebel groups allow greater access to humanitarian aid
convoys.

Near the front line, north of Raqqa city, an AFP photographer saw US
soldiers on Wednesday assisting a Kurdish-dominated alliance known as the
Syrian Democratic Forces (SDF).

The SDF is working its way through villages and farmland south of the town
of Ain Issa, less than 60 kilometres from Raqqa city.

It said its fighters had "advanced seven kilometres from Ain Issa and
liberated five villages and four fields".

"We liberated the villages of Fatisah, Namroudiya, and Wastah as well as
several fields. The coming battle will hold a lot of big surprises," SDF
field commander Baraa Al Ghanem told AFP.

The Syrian Observatory for Human Rights said SDF fighters on Thursday[26
May] were shelling Daesh positions near Ain Issa as warplanes from the
US-led coalition carried out nearly non-stop air raids.

The Britain-based monitor, which relies on a network of sources on the
ground, updated its death toll for the five-year war, which it says has now
killed more than 280,000 people.

A fragile truce agreed between the US and Russia in February had curtailed
the bloodshed despite consistent allegations of violations, but the
international fight against Daesh was excluded from the ceasefire deal.

The first of 250 members of the US special operations forces were due to
arrive this week in northeast Syria to support the campaign, joining dozens
of advisers already on the ground.

An SDF field commander told AFP that US ground forces were “taking part” in
operations north of Raqqa.

“There are US forces using [anti-tank] TOW missiles to fire on the
explosives-rigged cars that Daesh is using to attack the SDF,” said Hawkar
Kobane.

Asked about the men seen on the front line, US defence officials did not
dispute that they were American special operations forces.

Observatory head Rami Abdel Rahman said Daesh is “concentrating 2,000
fighters along the front lines north of Raqqa” to repel the SDF offensive.

“Daesh has prepared for this fight in recent months by digging tunnels and
lining them with explosives, as well as preparing car bombs and hiding in
buildings among civilians,” Abdel Rahman added.

The SDF has insisted its current campaign is only for the rural area north
of Raqqa city — but Daesh’s de facto Syrian capital is expected to be the
end goal.

“The ultimate purpose is Raqqa city. It may not be short-term or mid-term,
but besieging the city and blocking Daesh movements is also very important,”
said Washington-based analyst Mutlu Civiroglu.

The battle for Raqqa province was announced on Tuesday[24 May] with much
fanfare, just one day after a major offensive began across the border for
Daesh-held Fallujah.

Iraqi troops backed by pro-government militias have been advancing towards
the city from surrounding areas.

As they close in on the city, the UN’s humanitarian coordinator in Iraq said
she was receiving “distressing reports” of trapped civilians unable to flee.

The UN said that only 800 people of an estimated 50,000 had been able to
flee Fallujah since May 22, “mostly from outlying areas”.

The UN’s Syria envoy Staffan de Mistura said “plenty of civilians” would
starve across Syria unless aid deliveries are sped up.

Enormous’ challenges

The United States and its allies have set their sights on Raqqa, Fallujah,
and eventually Mosul in their bid to defeat Daesh.

But experts said ground efforts are likely to be drawn out and complicated.

“The challenges involved in weakening and dislodging the Islamic State
[Daesh] from long-held fortified positions are enormous”, wrote the New
York-based Soufan Group.

To definitively defeat Daesh, Iraqi and Syrian fighters would have to
address local concerns, sectarian politics, and ethnic divisions.

The Soufan Group said recapturing Fallujah “poses the biggest military
challenge Iraqi forces have faced in the two years” since Daesh seized
Mosul, their main Iraqi city.

In Syria, it wrote, Daesh militants’ “determination” to defend Raqqa will
make the fight to retake it “one of the fiercest yet”.

And ethnic considerations are also complicating the effort, as much of Raqqa
province is populated by Sunni Arabs while the SDF is a Kurdish-majority
force.



+++SOURCE:Naharnet (Lebanon) 28 May ’16:”Across Africa, the Worst Food
Crisis since 1985 Looms for 50 Million”

by Naharnet Newsdesk May 26, 2016


Harvest should be the time for celebrations, weddings and full bellies in
southern Malawi. But Christopher Witimani, Lilian Matafle and their seven
children and four grandchildren had nothing to celebrate last week as they
picked their meagre maize crop.

Last year’s drought, followed by erratic rains, hit the village of
Nkhotakota hard. But this year the rains never came and, for a second year
running, the family grain store is empty. If they manage their savings
carefully and eat just one small meal a day, they may just have enough food
for two more months.

By August, said Irish charity Concern Worldwide, they and tens of thousands
of other small farmers in southern Malawi will have completely run out of
food, with no prospect of another harvest for at least seven months. With
nothing to sell and no chance of earning money, Witimani, Matafle and family
will starve.

“I am worried the children will starve to death. I don’t know what to do,”
said Matafle.

“We need food. We are in a desperate situation,” her husband added.

Countries are just waking up to the most serious global food crisis of the
last 25 years. Caused by the strongest El Niño weather event since 1982,
droughts and heatwaves have ravaged much of India, Latin America and parts
of south-east Asia. But the worst effects of this natural phenomenon, which
begins with waters warming in the equatorial Pacific, are to be found in
southern Africa. A second consecutive year without rain now threatens
catastrophe for some of the poorest people in the world.

The scale of the crisis unfolding in 10 or more southern African countries
has shocked the United Nations. Lulled into thinking that Ethiopia in 1985
was the last of the large-scale famines affecting many millions, donor
countries have been slow to pledge funds or support. More than $650m and
7.9m tonnes of food are needed immediately, says the UN. By Christmas, the
situation will have become severe.

Malawi, Mozambique, Lesotho, Zimbabwe, Namibia, Madagascar, Angola and
Swaziland have already declared national emergencies or disasters, as have
seven of South Africa’s nine provinces. Other countries, including Botswana
and the Democratic Republic of the Congo, have also been badly hit.
President Robert Mugabe has appealed for $1.5bn to buy food for Zimbabwe and
Malawi is expected to declare that more than 8 million people, or half the
country, will need food aid by November.

More than 31 million people in the region are said by the UN to need food
now, but this number is expected to rise to at least 49 million across
almost all of southern Africa by Christmas. With 12 million more hungry
people in Ethiopia, 7 million in Yemen, 6 million in Southern Sudan and more
in the Central African Republic and Chad, a continent-scale food crisis is
unfolding.

“Food security across southern Africa will start deteriorating by July,
reaching its peak between December 2016 and April 2017,” says the UN’s
office for humanitarian affairs. The regional cereal deficit already stands
at 7.9m tonnes and continues to put upward pressure on market prices, which
are already showing unprecedented increases, diminishing purchasing power
and thereby reducing food access. As food insecurity tightens and water
scarcity increases due to the drought, there are early signs of acute
malnutrition in Madagascar, Malawi, Mozambique and Zimbabawe.

For Coco Ushiyama, head of the UN’s World Food Programme in Lilongwe, Malawi’s
capital, just working out how to import a million tonnes of food, needed to
support between five million and eight million people in Malawi over the
next 12 months, is proving nightmarishly difficult. With no guarantees of
money from donors, she cannot buy the food on the open market, or book ships
and transport.

“We are very concerned. Last year, like many other countries in the region,
Malawi had a double disaster with erratic rains and then floods which led
into droughts,” said Ushiyama. “Last year, 2.8 million people were affected.
Then we had a deficit of 220,000 tonnes of food. This year, we are
anticipating it will be four times as bad. The maize price is already
exceptionally high.

“We are monitoring 50 markets throughout the country and already they are
seeing abnormally high prices. We have very worryingly high admission rates
for childhood malnutrition in health clinics. In some areas it is very
serious already and it is likely to get much more serious. It will be a
regional issue,” she said.

The government has declared a disaster and will publish a new assessment of
its needs in the next few weeks. The vice-president, Saulos Chilima, has
said that about 1.3m tonnes of maize will be needed.

Politicians may talk of going on to the world market to buy a million tonnes
of maize, but Ushiyama is unsure where it will come from. There is usually
enough food in the region, but South Africa, which usually exports a million
tonnes of food a year, will need to import 3.5m tonnes this year. Only
Zambia may have enough food to export and it has imposed restrictions, she
said.

“South Africa is in trouble. Nearby Zambia has had a better harvest than
most countries but it has put export restrictions on its food. If we import
it [from outside Africa], the food will take four to six months [to arrive].
We have learned from experience that the rains start in November so the
roads will be terrible when the food is most needed and some lorry drivers
will refuse to come. By November, we will need to have pre-positioned food
in key areas. But to get it there by then means ordering the food right
now,” she said.

Finding the cash to feed possibly 50 million people for eight or more months
is the biggest problem of all, says the UN, because Africa’s slow-burn
crisis must compete with Middle East wars, refugees and natural disasters
for attention. According to the UN, which is holding an unprecedented
humanitarian summit this week in Istanbul, 125 million people worldwide need
long-term assistance and a further 60 million have been forced from their
homes by war, violence and disaster.

More than $1.5bn has been requested by southern African governments, says
Ocha, the UN’s Office for the Coordination of Humanitarian Affairs, but less
than a quarter of this has been pledged. Officially, the deficit is $677
million (87%) but this will grow when countries complete their assessments
of the harvests in the next few weeks.

“The window for responding in a meaningful manner is closing rapidly,” said
Shadrack Omol, senior adviser to the UN children’s fund, Unicef. “The
concern is that slow-onset emergencies, like the one we are dealing with in
southern Africa, do not get enough attention because they creep up on us.”

John Makina, Oxfam country director in Malawi, said: “The donors just do not
have the money; there is donor fatigue. Malawi has been hit by drought, then
floods, then drought. The donors are getting tired of it. In 2015, Malawi
alone needed $170m. In 2016-17, it will be far more.

“The full impact will be felt from October to March 2017. It’s looking
really bad. The most affected will be the poorest and jobless. They will end
up selling what little they possess. The price of maize flour has already
gone to 9,000 kwachas (£8.70) for 50kg. It will double again for sure,” he
said.

International development minister Nick Hurd, who has visited Mozambique,
wants Britain to lead the humanitarian effort. But money cannot be given
directly to the country following a corruption scandal, and the government
must work through a consortium of NGOs, providing food vouchers, medical aid
and food-for-work schemes.

“We cannot and will not stand idly by while millions suffer. Britain is
playing a leading role in helping countries across Africa to cope with the
impact of El Niño. Support for people affected by El Niño is important to
Africa and also firmly in Britain’s national interest,” says Hurd.

In villages across southern Africa, people are fearful, unsure how they will
survive. In Mozambique, where Britain is contributing £11.8m over three
years, some food aid has arrived in the village of Mblalava.

The women are ecstatic: “It’s been two and a half years since we had good
rain,” said Rosita Chauque, a mother of three. “When the drought started we
used to be able to find vegetables in the bush, but even these have gone
now. We used to make and sell charcoal, but there are so many other people
doing that now it’s not possible. We have thought of leaving, but where to?
We have no crops in the fields, no food for the cattle and nothing for
ourselves. There is no water, no grass. People are selling their animals.
They have no other resources. There is a lot of suffering.”

“The situation is critical,” said Abdoulaye Balde, the World Food Programme
country director in Mozambique’s capital, Maputo. “We are at the point of no
return.”

Droughts and “hungry seasons” are common throughout southern Africa, but the
breadth of this year’s crisis is very unusual, says Caoimhe de Barra, Malawi
country director of Concern Worldwide. Her frontline workers see rural
people already employing traditional coping strategies, including eating
wild foods, taking children out of school, selling their animals and assets.

“Early action is key. If we can start supporting people now, we can save
lives and prevent an even worse situation later this year. People are not
currently dying of hunger but the overall health of the population will be
severely affected by hunger-related illnesses. Malnutrition will blight the
life chances of countless more Malawian children,” she said.

The secretary general of the International Red Cross, Elhadj As Sy, who
visited Malawi and Zimbabwe last week, said: “Much more needs to be done to
support communities to survive and strive over the coming months. We met
families who have received no external support and who are simply desperate.
We need to urgently scale up our interventions to prevent this situation
from becoming a catastrophe,” he said.

Relief from Africa’s long drought may finally be coming, says the World
Meteorological Organisation, which is monitoring the temperature of waters
in the Pacific. These are said to be cooling rapidly and are expected to be
“neutral” by mid-June. That, says the UN, signals the coming end of the El
Niño, the droughts and the worldwide heatwaves.

The effects, however, will not be felt in southern Africa until April 2017
when the next main harvest should be in. But, says the WMO, there may be a
sting in the tale. There is a 50:50 chance that the continent will be hit
from September by El Niño’s climatic “twin”, known as La Niña, which
develops as the Pacific Ocean equatorial waters cool after an El Niño.

Instead of droughts, La Niña usually brings heavier monsoon rains in
south-east Asia and much cooler and wetter conditions in southern Africa.

“We pray hard for rain and then we must pray harder that it stops. Is there
no end of extreme weather?” said Malawian villager Richard Kapenda.

SOURCE: theguardian.com -
http://www.theguardian.com/global-development/2016/may/22/africa-worst-famine-since-1985-looms-for-50-million?CMP=twt_a-environment_b-gdneco

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of any party/institution.

Source: Tamara van Vliet/OCHA
======================================
Sue Lerner - Associate, IMRA