Public reports ‘clearly show’ Assad’s use of chemical weapons: US

MUNICH: US National Security Adviser HR McMaster said on Saturday that, despite denials, public reports showed that Syrian President Bashar al-Assad was using chemical weapons, and added that it was time for the international community to hold the Syrian government to account.

“Public accounts and photos clearly show that Assad´s chemical weapons use is continuing,” McMaster said at a major international security conference taking place in Munich. “It is time for all nations to hold the Syrian regime and its sponsors accountable for their actions and support the efforts of the Organization for the Prohibition of Chemical Weapons,” he said. McMaster did not specify which public accounts or pictures he was referring to.

Earlier this month, US Defense Secretary Jim Mattis said the Syrian government had repeatedly used chlorine gas, but stressed that the US did not have evidence of sarin gas use. French President Emmanuel Macron has said that “France will strike” if chemical weapons are used against civilians in the Syrian conflict in violation of international treaties, but that he had not yet seen proof this is the case. The Syrian government has repeatedly denied using chemical weapons and said it targets only armed rebels and militants. In recent weeks, rescue workers, aid groups and the United States have accused Syria of repeatedly using chlorine gas as a weapon against civilians in Ghouta and Idlib. Earlier this month, Syrian government forces, who are backed by Russia and Iran, bombarded the areas, two of the last major rebel-held parts of Syria. Diplomatic efforts have made scant progress towards ending a war now approaching its eighth year, which has killed hundreds of thousands of people and forced half the pre-war Syrian population of 23 million from their homes.

NORTH KOREA: McMaster called on the international community to do more on North Korea. “We must pressure the Kim regime, using all available tools, to ensure that this cruel dictatorship cannot threaten the world with the most destructive weapons on earth,” he said, referring to North Korean leader Kim Jong Un. The United States has appeared to endorse closer post-Olympics engagement between North and South Korea with an eye to eventual US -North Korean talks, but has agreed with Seoul that sanctions must be intensified to push Pyongyang to negotiate an end to its nuclear weapons program. The prospect of negotiations comes after months of tension over North Korea´s nuclear and missile programs, in which US President Donald Trump and the North Korean leader traded insults and threats, while the UN tightened sanctions. “Nations that evade full enforcement and fail to take these steps are acting irresponsibly, now is the time to do more,” McMaster said, calling on countries to cut off military and commercial ties with Pyongyang.—Reuters

WARNS OF GROWING POWER OF IRAN´S “NETWORK OF PROXIES”: Iran is building and arming an increasingly powerful network of proxies in countries like Syria, Yemen and Iraq that can turn against the governments of those states, US National Security Adviser H. R. McMaster said on Saturday. “What’s particularly concerning is that this network of proxies is becoming more and more capable, as Iran seeds more and more . . . destructive weapons into these networks,” McMaster told the annual Munich Security Conference. “So the time is now, we think, to act against Iran,” he said.

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Maldives seeks foreign helpto investigate arrested judges’ wealth

Ag Reuters

GENEVA: Maldives will seek help from other countries to investigate judges suspected of taking bribes and “hijacking” the Supreme Court to drag the island nation into political crisis, a senior Maldives diplomat told Reuters in an interview.

The tiny Indian Ocean archipelago, best known for its luxury hotels and dive resorts, imposed a 15-day state of emergency on Feb. 5 to annul a ruling from the court ordering the release of nine leading opposition figures. “That was a direct attempt by the Supreme Court to halt the whole country and go into a deadlock,” said Ahmed Shiaan, Maldives ambassador to the European Union.

He showed Reuters a Maldives police statement which said a bag containing $215,000 and 150,000 rufiyaa ($9,700) belonging to one Supreme Court judge had been found, and that $2.4 million had been separately wired to the judge by a private firm. Shiaan said that judge, and a second judge on the Supreme Court, had been arrested on suspicion of accepting bribes from former president Maumoon Abdul Gayoom to deliver certain verdicts in his favour. Gayoom himself has been arrested over allegations that he solicited bribes to topple the government. “Together, it amounted to collusion to use the Supreme Court to overthrow a democratically elected and constitutional government,” Shiaan said in the interview. Gayoom´s lawyer Maumoon Hameed said he was detained under the state of emergency without any evidence or due process, which was unacceptable. “If this is such a huge investigation and Gayoom is a dangerous person of interest why have they not questioned him in over 140 hours?”Lawyers for the two judges said their clients also denied all the charges. One said his client had been refused permission to deny the charges.

CALL FOR FOREIGN ASSISTANCE: “So far what we know is that they (the two judges) have made at least 12 visits in the past few months to various countries, including India, Sri Lanka, Malaysia, the Netherlands and UK. And they have bought or acquired very expensive items (or) properties,” Shiaan said. “So the investigation is not limited to Maldives. Hence, we would need assistance from other countries for the investigation. “Property purchases abroad needed to be disclosed and $2.4 million is beyond the reach of a judge´s salary, Shiaan said. He said the two judges had persuaded the other three Supreme Court justices to pass rulings “at midnight, out of the blue and without any new evidence”, to free political prisoners and order the retrial of ex-president Mohamed Nasheed, who was sentenced to 13 years in prison in 2015.Shiaan said they also tried to remove the attorney-general, prosecutor-general, police commissioner and President Abdulla Yameen, who declared the emergency to reverse the court´s actions. “I think when that happened the other three (judges) basically came out and said how everything was hijacked and how this actually unfolded,” Shiaan said. Opposition legislators in the past have complained of authorities targeting them with false allegations. Yameen has denied such accusations. Most of the opposition leaders likely to challenge Yameen in a presidential vote later this year are facing jail sentences. Some have urged India to intervene.

The United Nations, United States, Britain and India have called for the judges to be freed, while independent experts reporting to the UN Human Rights Council have said the rule of law in the Maldives is “under siege”.