President Putin visits UAE & Saudi Arabia Dec 6 before meeting next day in Russia with Iran president

Report from BBC News

By George Wright

Dated Wednesday, 06 December 2023 - excerpts:

Russian President Putin lands in UAE

Image Source, Reuters. Image caption, 

Vladimir Putin was welcomed by the UAE's foreign minister

Mr Putin told UAE President Sheikh Mohamed bin Zayed Al Nahyan that "our relations have reached unprecedented levels".

Trade and oil will be on the agenda in the UAE, which a Kremlin statement said is "Russia's main economic partner in the Arab world".

The Russian president is scheduled to travel to Saudi Arabia later on Wednesday to meet with the kingdom's de facto ruler, Crown Prince Mohammed bin Salman.

The two leaders will "consider ways to promote de-escalation" in the conflict between Israel and Hamas, the Kremlin said.

Conflicts in Syria, Yemen, and Sudan will also be discussed in both the UAE and Saudi Arabia, Russian presidential assistant Yuri Ushakov stated.

Kremlin officials have also announced that Mr Putin will meet with Iranian President Ibrahim Raisi on Thursday to discuss the war in Gaza.

Full story: https://www.bbc.co.uk/news/world-europe-67636648

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Related report 

From Oil Price dot com

By RFE/RL staff 
Dated Wed, 05 Dec 2023, 10:00 AM CST - here is a copy in full:

Putin Makes Rare Trip Abroad With Visit To Saudi Arabia, UAE

• In a rare trip abroad as an international arrest warrant hangs over him, Russian President Vladimir Putin will visit Saudi Arabia and the United Arab Emirates on December 6.

• The Kremlin said on December 5 that bilateral relations and the Palestinian-Israeli conflict will be discussed during the meetings.

• Following the one-day trip, Putin will return home and meet Iranian President Ebrahim Raisi, the Kremlin said.

In a rare trip abroad as an international arrest warrant hangs over him, Russian President Vladimir Putin will visit Saudi Arabia and the United Arab Emirates on December 6 before heading home for a meeting with Iran's president the next day.

The Kremlin said on December 5 that bilateral relations and the Palestinian-Israeli conflict will be discussed during the meetings, while issues concerning the oil market, "are also always on the agenda."

The International Criminal Court (ICC) in March issued arrest warrants for Putin and his children's commissioner, Maria Lvova-Belova, for being responsible for the deportation of Ukrainian children to Russia -- a war crime under international legislation.

While Putin did not make many foreign trips before the warrant was issued, he has curtailed his travel even more since.

He did not attend the G20 summit in India in September, and has limited his recent trips to countries such as China and states of the former Soviet Union.

With the warrant, Putin became the third serving head of state to be targeted in an arrest warrant from the ICC, the world's permanent war crimes tribunal, along with Sudan's Omar al-Bashir and Libya's Muammar Qaddafi.

The Kremlin did not give details of Putin's agenda, but the online news outlet Shot, which first reported the trip, quoted Kremlin foreign policy aide Yury Ushakov as saying the Russian leader would travel first to the U.A.E. before heading on to Saudi Arabia, where talks would include a meeting with Crown Prince Muhammad bin Salman.

Putin and the prince have developed close ties over the years as they worked to form a group of leading oil producers, now known as OPEC+, in late 2016. The group has worked to support the price of oil, and last week announced voluntary supply cuts.

Following the one-day trip, Putin will return home and meet Iranian President Ebrahim Raisi, the Kremlin said.

Putin visited Iran in July 2022, while Russian Foreign Minister Sergei Lavrov visited Tehran in October.

Since Russia's invasion of Ukraine in February 2022, Iran has widely been accused of delivering cheap but effective kamikaze drones to Moscow.

While Iran denies the allegations, saying it only sold drones to Moscow before the war started, U.S. officials have repeatedly accused Tehran of supplying Shahed-136 Iranian drones that Russia has used to destroy civilian infrastructure in Ukraine. There has been evidence of Iranian drones rebranded as Russian Geran-2s being used on the battlefield.

And as the two countries have increased military-technical cooperation, Iran's Defense Ministry has routinely showcased its ballistic, cruise, anti-tank, and air-defense missile systems to Russian officials.

This has raised fears Moscow and Tehran could try to expand their existing arms dealing to include more advanced weaponry, know-how, and technology that could boost both Russia's war effort in Ukraine and Iran's ballistic-missile and drone programs.

By RF/ERL

View original:

https://oilprice.com/Geopolitics/Middle-East/Putin-Makes-Rare-Trip-Abroad-With-Visit-To-Saudi-Arabia-UAE.html

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End To Killing Of Children, UN Committee Urges

THERE are 468 million children worldwide living in armed conflict zones, according to Save the Children’s research, accounting for about 20% of the world’s 2.4 billion children population, based on UNICEF’s statistics. One out of every five children worldwide are living within armed conflict zones.

Read more from Scoop Media

Press Release: UN Treaty Bodies
Dated Tuesday, 21 November 2023, 1:30 am - here is a copy in full:

End To Killing Of Children In Armed Conflict, UN Committee Urges

World’s Children Day
20 November 2023

GENEVA (20 November 2023) – With one out of every five children worldwide living within armed conflict zones, the UN Committee on the Rights of the Child marks World Children’s Day in a sombre mood and calls for ceasefires and a return to basics of humanitarian law to safeguard all children. The Committee today issued the following statement:

“World Children’s Day has generally been regarded as a day to celebrate the gains made since the United Nations adopted the Convention on the Rights of the Child in 1989. Thirty-four years later today, it, however, has become a day for mourning for the many children who have recently died in armed conflict. 

More than 4,600 children have been killed in Gaza in only five weeks. This war has claimed the lives of more children in a shorter time and with a level of brutality that we have not witnessed in recent decades.

The Committee has previously urged for a ceasefire. Unfortunately, the UN Security Council has not put its weight behind that call. While the 15 November 2023 resolution of the Security Council calling for humanitarian pauses and corridors is a positive step by the international community, it does not end the war that is waging on children – it simply makes it possible for children to be saved from being killed on some days, but not on other days.

There are 468 million children worldwide living in armed conflict zones, according to Save the Children’s research, accounting for about 20% of the world’s 2.4 billion children population, based on UNICEF’s statistics.

On World Children's Day, the Committee also wants to underscore that while the armed conflict in the Occupied Palestinian Territory is at the forefront of our minds, we remain acutely concerned that thousands of children are dying in armed conflict in many parts of the world, including in Ukraine, Afghanistan, Yemen, Syria, Myanmar, Haiti, Sudan, Mali, Niger, Burkina Faso, Democratic Republic of the Congo and Somalia. Verified figures show that in 2022, the global figure of children killed or maimed was 8,630. Of deep concern is the fact that up to 4,000 children were denied humanitarian access last year. 

Given the current situation in Gaza, the number of child victims of these grave human rights violations is rising exponentially.

The plight of girls affected by armed conflict is also at a crisis point. In Sudan and Haiti, there are verified reports of abduction and rape of girls, and concerns have been raised by the Special Rapporteur on trafficking in persons, especially women and children about the deterioration in access to humanitarian services is driving girls towards being recruited by armed groups.

Children of so-called ‘foreign fighters’ are a further area of concern. The Committee has recommended in three complaints under its communications procedure that children in the camps in Northeast Syria should be repatriated. 

While some States have acted to return children and their mothers, an estimated 31,000 children are still living in abysmal conditions in the camps. The Committee also remains very concerned about boys who are being separated from their mothers when they reach early adolescence, as well as several hundred boys who are in prison.

The Committee recognises World Children’s Day in a sombre mood. In the face of wars affecting children around the globe, we call again for ceasefires, for a return to the basics of humanitarian law, and for thorough investigations by competent authorities of all grave violations against children in the context of armed conflict.”

View original: https://www.scoop.co.nz/stories/WO2311/S00140/end-to-killing-of-children-in-armed-conflict-un-committee-urges.htm

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Turkey's Erdogan, Sudan's Burhan discuss Gaza

Report from AA - Alperen Aktas
Dated Saturday, 18 November 2023 - here is a copy in full:

Turkish President Erdogan, Sudan's leader Burhan discuss Gaza

Erdogan says there should be unity on all issues concerning the Islamic world

Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdogan (R) and Chairman of Sudan’s Sovereign Council Abdel Fattah al-Burhan (L) hold a joint press conference at the Presidential Complex in Ankara, Turkey on August 12, 2021. Photo : ( Emin Sansar - AA )

ISTANBUL

Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdogan on Saturday discussed with chairman of Sudan's Sovereignty Council Abdel Fattah al-Burhan the situation in Gaza, where Israeli attacks since Oct. 7 have killed at least 12,000 Palestinians, Türkiye's Communications Directorate said in a statement.

During the phone call, the latest situation in the besieged enclave, and efforts to deliver humanitarian aid to the Palestinians were discussed.

President Erdogan said there should be unity on all issues concerning the Islamic world, and it is important to implement the decisions taken at the Organization of Islamic Cooperation's recent summit in Riyadh.

View original: https://www.aa.com.tr/en/politics/turkish-president-erdogan-sudans-leader-burhan-discuss-gaza/3057949

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VIDEO TRANSCRIPT: ICC Prosecutor's statement after visiting Rafah Border between Egypt & Gaza

“International Criminal Court Prosecutor Karim A.A. Khan KC addresses journalists after visiting the Rafah Border Crossing between Egypt and the Gaza Strip on 29 October 2023. From Cairo, the Prosecutor gives a statement on the current situation in Israel and the State of Palestine”. 

Video courtesy of Al Arabiya - english.alarabiya.net.  

Transcript

Follow along using the transcript facility at the video.

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VIDEO: ICC Prosecutor speaks in Cairo on the situation in Israel and Palestine after his visit to Rafah

#ICC Prosecutor @KarimKhanQC addresses journalists after visiting the Rafah Border Crossing between Egypt and the Gaza Strip on 29 October 2023.

From Cairo, the Prosecutor gives a statement on the current situation in Israel and the State of Palestine👇https://t.co/666En6yBIT

— Int'l Criminal Court (@IntlCrimCourt) October 29, 2023

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ICC prosecutor at Rafah border crossing between Egypt and Gaza says he hopes to visit Gaza, Israel

Report at Al Arabiya - english.alarabiya.net

With AFP (Agence France-Presse)
Published Sunday, 29 October 2023: 08:57 PM GST
Updated Monday, 30 October 2023: 01:52 AM GST - here is a copy in full:

ICC prosecutor at Rafah border crossing says hopes to visit Gaza, Israel

International Criminal Court Prosecutor Karim Khan speaks during an interview with Reuters about the violence in Israel and the occupied Palestinian territories in The Hague, Netherlands October 12, 2023. (File photo: Reuters)

International Criminal Court prosecutor Karim Khan said Sunday preventing access to humanitarian could be a crime, after visiting Egypt’s Rafah crossing with Gaza, the main entry point for international aid.

“Impeding relief supplies as provided by the Geneva conventions may constitute a crime within the court jurisdiction,” Khan told reporters in Cairo.

He said he wanted “to underline clearly to Israel that there must be discernible efforts without further delay to make sure civilians” in the Hamas-run Palestinian territory “receive basic food, medicines”.

“I saw trucks full of goods full of humanitarian assistance stuck where nobody needs them, stuck in Egypt, stuck at Rafah,” Khan said.

“These supplies must get to the civilians of Gaza without delay.”

On Sunday the United Nations warned it feared a breakdown of public order after looting at food aid centres in Gaza run by its agency for Palestinian refugees, UNRWA.

UN chief Antonio Guterres said the situation was “growing more desperate by the hour” as casualties in the war increase and essential supplies of food, water, medicine and shelter dwindle.

People in the Palestinian territory have lived under Israeli blockade for 16 years and under complete siege for the past three weeks after the territory’s Hamas rulers launched deadly attacks into Israel that sparked a war.

Hamas militants stormed across the Gaza border on October 7 in the deadliest attack in Israel’s history, killing 1,400 people, mostly civilians, and kidnapping 239 others, according to Israeli officials.

The Palestinian health ministry in Gaza says the retaliatory Israeli bombardment has killed more than 8,000 people, mainly civilians and half of them children.

Khan said his office had an ongoing investigation into “any crimes committed on the territory of Palestine and any crimes committed, whether it’s by Israel and Palestine or whether it’s acts committed on the territory of Palestine or from Palestine into Israel.”

“This includes current events in Gaza and also current events in the West Bank,” Khan said, adding that he was “very concerned also by the spike of the number of reported incidents of attack by settlers against Palestinian civilians” in the territory Israel has occupied since 1967.

Khan also said hostage taking was a breach of the Geneva Conventions.

“I call for the immediate release of all hostages taken from Israel and for their safe return to their families,” Khan said.

The British lawyer said “Israel has clear obligations in relation to its war with Hamas, not just moral obligations but legal obligations” to comply with the laws of conflict.

“These principles equally apply to Hamas in relation to firing indiscriminate rockets into Israel,” he said.

View original: https://english.alarabiya.net/News/middle-east/2023/10/29/ICC-prosecutor-at-Rafah-border-crossing-says-hopes-to-visit-Gaza-Israel

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VIDEO: ICC Prosecutor speaks outside compound by Rafah border crossing between Egypt and Gaza Strip

THE International Criminal Court (ICC) Prosecutor Karim Khan KC was at the Rafah crossing point between Egypt and the Gaza Strip this weekend. Watch his remarks on the current situation in Israel and the State of Palestine in this clip filmed outside the compound of the Rafah crossing.

Le Procureur de la #CPI @KarimKhanQC était au point de passage de Rafah entre l'Égypte et la bande de Gaza ce week-end.

Regardez ses remarques sur la situation actuelle en Israël et dans l’État de Palestine (en anglais). 👇 pic.twitter.com/WC8rcf71mD

— CPI-Cour pénale int. (@CourPenaleInt) October 30, 2023

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RESCUE MISSION British SAS troops on standby in Cyprus to rescue hostages and Brits stranded in Gaza

Exclusive report at The Sun - thesun.co.uk
By Jerome Starkey
Dated Fri 27 Oct 2023; Updated: 1:05, Sat 28 Oct 2023 - here is a full copy:

RESCUE MISSION SAS troops on standby in Cyprus to rescue hostages and Brits stranded in Gaza

Officials also fear the war could spread, trapping more Brits in Egypt’s Sinai peninsular and Lebanon.

SAS troops are now in Cyprus on standby for hostage rescue missions in Gaza.

The elite soldiers are also braced to free UK citizens trapped by the bloodbath.

SAS troops are now in Cyprus on standby for hostage rescue missions in Gaza Credit: BBC

200 Brits are stranded in Gaza after Israel and Egypt sealed the strip’s borders Credit: 2023 Anadolu

Some 200 Brits are stranded in Gaza after Israel and Egypt sealed the strip’s borders and five are held there by Hamas terrorists.

Britain’s military bases in Cyprus offer a strategic presence in the eastern Med.

And the SAS sabre squadron has been joined on the island by a 100-strong crisis command team.

Their primary focus is the Gaza Strip but officials fear the war could spread, trapping more Brits in Egypt’s Sinai peninsular and Lebanon.

The SAS in Cyprus have the Special Forces Support Group with them and a fleet of their modified helicopters.

A similar joint force scrambled to Cyprus ahead of the Khartoum Airlift that rescued some 2,000 from war-torn Sudan in spring.

A source told The Sun: “The UK has permanent bases in Cyprus.

"You would expect us to make use of them when there is a crisis in the region like this.”

Defence and Border Force staff have also been deployed to Egypt in the hope that Cairo relaxes its chokehold on Gaza’s Rafah border crossing.

The MoD refused to comment on details of Special Forces operations.

Meanwhile, the Israeli army’s most elite fighting force Sayeret Matkal is likely to spearhead any hostage rescue in Gaza.

The shadowy unit, who wear maroon berets, are modelled on the SAS and have the same “Who Dares Wins” motto.

Israeli PM Benjamin Netanyahu is a former team leader in the crack military group, as was his brother.

Yonatan Netanyahu was killed in the famous air hijack hostages rescue involving Sayeret Matkal commandoes at Entebbe, Uganda, in 1976.

View original: https://www.thesun.co.uk/news/24552018/sas-troops-standby-cyprus-rescue-gaza-hostages-brits/

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