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AFP at December 06, 2017 0
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US President Donald Trump, seen here visiting the Western Wall, had pledged to recognize Jerusalem as Israel's capital (AFP/File / MANDEL NGAN)

President Donald Trump will recognize Jerusalem as Israel's capital Wednesday, upending decades of careful US policy and ignoring dire warnings of a historic misstep that could trigger a surge of violence in the Middle East.

A senior administration official said Trump would make the announcement -- ignoring frantic warnings from US allies in the region and around the world -- at 1:00 pm (1800 GMT) from the White House.

"He will say that the United States government recognizes that Jerusalem is the capital of Israel," a senior administration official said, speaking on condition of anonymity.

"He views this as a recognition of reality, both historic reality," the source added, "and modern reality."

Plunging further into a decades-long dispute over a city considered holy by Jews, Muslims and Christians, Trump will also order to begin planning to move the US embassy from Tel Aviv to Jerusalem.

"It will take some time to find a site, to address security concerns, design a new facility, fund a new facility and build it," the official said, indicating that the move would not be immediate.

"It will be a matter of some years, it won't be months, it's going to take time."

The status of Jerusalem is a critical issue in the Israeli-Palestinian conflict, with both sides claiming the city as their capital.

In a frantic series of calls, the leaders of Saudi Arabia, Egypt, Jordan, the European Union, France, Germany and Turkey all warned Trump against the move.

Anticipating protests, US government officials and their families have been ordered to avoid Jerusalem's Old City and the West Bank.

Trump's move comes close to fulfilling a campaign promise, and will delight his political donors and the conservative and evangelical base so vital for the embattled president.

- 'Red line' -

Most of the international community does not formally recognize Jerusalem as Israel's capital, insisting the issue can only be resolved in final status negotiations.

US officials talk of "threading the needle" -- fulfilling Trump's campaign pledge, while keeping the peace process on the rails.

The White House argues that such a move would not prejudge final talks and would represent the reality that west Jerusalem is and will continue to be part of Israel under any settlement.

"President Trump remains committed to achieving a lasting peace agreement between the Israelis and the Palestinians and is optimistic that peace can be achieved," a second official said.

Trump "is prepared to support a two State solution... If agreed to by the two parties."

Critics say Trump's approach is more like "splitting the baby" and could also extinguish his own much-vaunted efforts to broker Middle East peace while igniting the flames of conflict in a region already reeling from crises in Lebanon, Syria, Iraq, Yemen and Qatar.

The armed Islamist Hamas movement has threatened to launch a new "intifada" or uprising.

Saudi Arabia's King Salman warned his close ally that moving the US embassy was a "dangerous step" that could rile Muslims around the world.

"Mr Trump! Jerusalem is a red line for Muslims," Turkey's President Recep Tayyip Erdogan said in a raucous televised speech on Tuesday, echoing alarm expressed by Palestinian and Arab leaders.

The move already impacted the stock market in far away Japan, which closed down nearly two percent Wednesday in part over concerns on the fate of Jerusalem.

The issue could be "an unsettling factor to the global order," said Makoto Sengoku, market analyst at Tokai Tokyo Research Centre.

- 'Embassy Act' -

Israel seized the largely-Arab eastern sector of Jerusalem during the 1967 Six-Day War and later annexed it, claiming both sides of the city as its "eternal and undivided capital."

But the Palestinians want the eastern sector as the capital of their future state and fiercely oppose any Israeli attempt to extend sovereignty there.

Trump was pushed to act on the embassy as a result of the 1995 Jerusalem Embassy Act, which stated that the city "should be recognized as the capital of the State of Israel" and that the US embassy should be moved there.

An inbuilt waiver has been repeatedly invoked by successive US presidents, postponing the move on grounds of "national security" once every six months, meaning the law has never taken effect.

Several peace plans have unravelled in the past decades over the issue of how to divide sovereignty or oversee sites in Jerusalem, with questions over the status of the city repeatedly sparking anger on both sides of the conflict.
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AFP at December 06, 2017 1
Police patrol near Oxford street as they respond to an incident in central London in November (AFP/File / Daniel LEAL-OLIVAS)

Two men have been charged with a plot to kill British Prime Minister Theresa May and a court hearing on the case is expected on Wednesday, British media reported.

Naa'imur Zakariyah Rahman, 20, and Mohammed Aqib Imran, 21, planned to blow up security barriers outside May's Downing Street office and then stab the British leader to death, the reports said.

The reports came a day after Home Secretary Amber Rudd told parliament that 22 Islamist terror plots had been thwarted since the killing of a British soldier on a London street by two Islamist extremists in 2013.

Nine of the plots have been uncovered following an attack outside the British parliament in March in which five people were killed, Rudd said.

"The UK is facing an intense threat from terrorism, one which is multi-dimensional, evolving rapidly and operating at a scale and pace we have not seen before," London's Metropolitan Police said on Tuesday.

The police said there were now 500 counter-terrorism investigations involving 3,000 people and more than 20,000 other people have been investigated in the past.

Britain has seen five terror attacks this year, which killed 36 people and injured more than 200 others. Four of them were claimed by the Islamic State group.

Three of the perpetrators were known to security services, according to an internal review which said opportunities to stop the Manchester Arena bombing attack were missed by security services.
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AFP at December 05, 2017 0
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AFP / JOHN THYS


British Prime Minister Theresa May scrambled Tuesday to salvage a deal over the post-Brexit border in Ireland after it was rejected by her DUP allies, exposing the weakness of her position in EU negotiations.

May was expected to hold talks with Northern Ireland's small Democratic Unionist Party (DUP), which keeps her Conservative minority government in office, after it blocked agreement on a major issue holding up Brexit talks.

Sources said Britain had agreed to keep EU trade rules for British-controlled Northern Ireland, even if the country as a whole withdrew from the European single market and customs union.

This followed a demand from Dublin for guarantees that Brexit would not lead to the return of frontier checks, amid fears of inflaming sectarian tensions in a region plagued by violence in the 1970s, 1980s and 1990s.

But as May sought to close the deal over lunch with European Commission chief Jean-Claude Juncker in Brussels on Monday, the DUP made clear that any special deal for Northern Ireland was unacceptable.

"As I understand it, the DUP were spoken to about the proposal but the precise wording it seems was not made clear," former British Brexit minister David Jones told BBC radio on Tuesday morning.

"Clearly the prime minister has got a lot of talking to do with (DUP leader) Arlene Foster today."

Ireland said it would not change the text agreed with the EU and London, but European affairs minister Helen McEntee told the state broadcaster RTE that "further clarification was needed".

May met her cabinet on Tuesday morning, and British Finance Minister Philip Hammond said the government was still "very confident" of reaching a deal.

He said that May would return to Brussels later this week for fresh talks.

The frenzied diplomacy caused the pound, which had rallied on Monday on hopes of a deal, to fall on the currency markets against the euro and the dollar.

- Special deal for 'entire UK' -

May's domestic critics seized on her failure to secure a deal on Ireland, one of three issues on which she must make progress if EU leaders are to agree to open trade talks with Britain at a summit next week.

"Each passing day provides further evidence that Theresa May's government is completely ill-equipped to negotiate a successful deal for our country," said main opposition Labour leader Jeremy Corbyn.

A deal on Britain's financial settlement is largely agreed, although differences remain on the role of the European Court of Justice in securing the rights of EU citizens in Britain after Brexit, UK officials say.

However, failure to reach a deal on Ireland could hold up the entire process -- and if trade talks cannot start later this month, it makes it much harder for Britain to secure a trade deal before it leaves the EU in March 2019.

May cannot just ignore the DUP. She needs their 10 MPs to pass legislation through the House of Commons, after her Conservatives lost their majority in a June snap election.

"The fact that they managed to stall the negotiations yesterday I think demonstrates the precise strength of their position," Jones said.

Some Conservative MPs are also threatening trouble over a proposal that would effectively move the trade border from Ireland into the Irish Sea, jeopardising the territorial integrity of Britain.

"The government doesn't have a majority for that," leading Brexit supporter Jacob Rees-Mogg said.

One unnamed senior MP told The Times that if May went too far, "then we and the DUP will withdraw support and there could be a leadership change this side of Christmas".

Scottish Conservative leader Ruth Davidson also weighed in on Tuesday, warning that while nobody wanted a hard border in Ireland, "jeopardising the UK's own internal market is in no-one's interest".

The leaders of Scotland, Wales and London have said they would seek special status for their own regions if it were granted to Northern Ireland.

Davidson, who opposed Brexit, went further, saying: "If regulatory alignment in a number of specific areas is the requirement for a frictionless border, then the prime minister should conclude this must be on a UK-wide basis."
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AFP at December 05, 2017 0
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Qatari Foreign Minister Mohammed bin Abdulrahman al-Thani at the GCC foreign ministers' meeting in Kuwait City on December 4, 2017 (AFP)

Regional powerhouse Saudi Arabia snubbed its former ally Qatar at the annual summit Tuesday of Gulf monarchies as King Salman stayed away despite the presence of the Qatari emir.

The crisis-hit Gulf Cooperation Council summit was going ahead in Kuwait City despite uncertainty over which leaders from among Riyadh and its allies would in the end join their Qatari rival for the talks.

The future of the six-nation GCC -- formed 36 years ago to bring together energy-rich Sunni-led Gulf Arab states -- appeared to be hanging in the balance.

This year's meeting comes with Saudi Arabia and its allies engaged in a bitter dispute with fellow GCC member Qatar, in the worst crisis ever to hit the bloc.

Qatari Emir Sheikh Tamim bin Hamad Al-Thani accepted an invitation to attend, but just hours before the talks were due to begin, Saudi King Salman sent his foreign minister, Adel al-Jubeir, in his stead.

State television showed Kuwaiti Emir Sheikh Sabah al-Ahmad Al-Sabah receiving Jubeir at the airport as the head of the kingdom's delegation.

Bahrain sent its deputy premier and Emirati media said the state minister for foreign affairs would represent Abu Dhabi.

Those three Gulf states, together with Egypt, cut all ties with Qatar on June 5, accusing the gas-rich emirate of supporting Islamist extremists and of being too close to Shiite Iran, Riyadh's arch-rival.

Qatar denies the allegations and has accused the Saudi-led bloc of aiming to incite a change of regime in Doha.

Kuwait has been leading mediation efforts within the GCC to resolve the crisis, but so far with little success.

Casting further doubt on the group's future, the UAE said Tuesday it was forming a new military and economic committee with Saudi Arabia separate from the GCC.

The committee "will coordinate between the two countries in all military, political, economic, trade and cultural fields," according to a decree issued by UAE President Sheikh Khalifa bin Zayed Al-Nahyan.

Founded in 1981, the GCC is a political and economic union grouping Qatar with Bahrain, Saudi Arabia and the United Arab Emirates as well as Oman and Kuwait.

- GCC future in doubt -

Dominated by Riyadh, it has been a regional counterweight to Iran.

On Monday, the foreign ministers of Saudi Arabia and Qatar attended round-table talks ahead of the gathering, in their first such encounter since the diplomatic crisis erupted in June.

Omani Minister of State for Foreign Affairs Yussef bin Alawi sat between them at the meeting which the foreign ministers of the UAE, Bahrain and Kuwait also attended.

After cutting off all ties with Qatar, Saudi Arabia and its allies imposed a land, sea and air blockade of the emirate and issued a list of 13 demands to have it lifted.

Bahrain in October called for Qatar's membership of the GCC to be suspended until it accepted the demands.

Experts warn that the crisis could lead to the demise of the once-powerful GCC.

"The justifications for the existence of the GCC bloc amidst the continued crisis are no longer present like before," said Sami al-Faraj, head of the Kuwait Center for Strategic Studies.

"As long as our enemy has changed from Iran to Qatar, the GCC will not continue."

The failure of the GCC members to solidify long-delayed plans for economic unity may also threaten its future.

The Gulf states have approved a customs union, a common market, a single currency and a single central bank, but most of these have yet to be implemented.

Speaking at Monday's meeting, Kuwait's Foreign Minister Sheikh Sabah Khaled Al-Sabah stressed the determination of member states to preserve the GCC.

"The GCC is a continuous project in which the will of member states meets to build a unified Gulf body," he said.
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AFP at December 05, 2017 0
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The status of Jerusalem is one of the most contentious issues of the long-running Israeli-Palestinian conflict (AFP / THOMAS COEX)


International leaders warned US President Donald Trump Tuesday that he risked outraging Muslims and jeopardising Middle East peace efforts if he recognized Jerusalem as the Israeli capital and moved the US embassy there.

Trump delayed a controversial decision on the ancient holy city on Monday, following frantic public warnings from allies and private phone calls between world leaders.

Jerusalem's status is a key issue in the Israeli-Palestinian conflict, with both Israelis and Palestinians claiming the city as their capital.

Warnings multiplied on Tuesday, with Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdogan warning Trump in a speech that the status of Jerusalem is a "red line" for Muslims and could even prompt Turkey to cut ties with Israel.

Arab League chief Ahmed Abul Gheit said member states had decided to meet in Cairo "given the danger of this matter, if it were to happen, and the possible negative consequences not only for the situation in Palestine but also for the Arab and Islamic region".

US officials said Trump was expected to stop short of moving the embassy to Jerusalem outright -- a central campaign pledge which his administration has postponed once already.

But domestic politics may still push him to break with decades of US policy recognizing Jerusalem as Israel's capital instead in a gesture towards conservative voters and donors.

"The president has been clear on this issue from the get-go: It's not a matter of if, it's a matter of when," said White House spokesman Hogan Gidley.

He said a declaration on the move would be made "in the coming days."

- Warnings over peace drive -

Trump has said he wants to relaunch frozen peace talks between Israel and the Palestinians in search of the "ultimate deal" -- but recognizing Jerusalem as Israel's capital would destroy that effort, a senior Palestinian official warned.

"That totally destroys any chance that he will play a role as an honest broker," Nabil Shaath, an adviser to Palestinian president Mahmud Abbas, told reporters Tuesday.

Saeb Erakat, secretary general of the Palestine Liberation Organization, earlier warned that a change in the US stance on Jerusalem would spell disaster.

Palestinian leaders have been lobbying regional leaders to oppose any shift in US policy, and the armed Islamist movement Hamas has threatened to launch a new "intifada" uprising.

Gheit called on Washington to reconsider.

And US ally Saudi Arabia voiced "grave and deep concern" over the possible move.

"This step will have serious implications and will further complicate the Palestinian-Israeli conflict," the official Saudi Press Agency said, citing a foreign ministry source.

"It will also obstruct the ongoing efforts to revive the peace process."

French President Emmanuel Macron earlier warned Trump that Jerusalem's status must be decided "within the framework of negotiations between Israelis and Palestinians."

- Israel sees 'historic opportunity' -

Amid internal White House disagreements, several US administration officials were unable or unwilling to say with certainty what Trump would decide.

Israeli's defense minister Avigdor Lieberman however urged Trump to grasp a "historic opportunity."

All foreign embassies in Israel are located in Tel Aviv, with consular representation in Jerusalem.

Trump was supposed to decide Monday whether to sign a legal waiver delaying by six months plans to move the US embassy from the Holy City.

"The president is still considering options," a State Department official said when asked about a possible move.

Trump is now expected to sign the waiver this week, but diplomats and observers said he may also make a speech on Wednesday announcing his support for Israel's claim on Jerusalem as its capital.

In a phone conversation with US Secretary of State Rex Tillerson on Sunday, Jordan's Foreign Minister Ayman Safadi warned that any change to the status of Jerusalem would have "grave consequences."

It was crucial, he said, "to preserve the historical and legal status of Jerusalem and refrain from any decision that aims to change that status," the official Petra news agency reported.

- 'Eternal capital'-

In 1995, the US Congress passed the so-called Jerusalem Embassy Act recognizing Jerusalem as Israel's capital and stating that the US embassy should be moved there.

But an inbuilt waiver, which allows the president to temporarily postpone the move on grounds of "national security," has been repeatedly invoked by successive US presidents, from Bill Clinton to George W. Bush and Barack Obama -- meaning the law has never taken effect.

Israel seized the largely-Arab eastern sector of Jerusalem during the 1967 Six-Day War and later annexed it. It claims both halves of the city are its "eternal and undivided capital."

But the Palestinians want the eastern sector as capital of a Palestinian state and fiercely oppose any Israeli attempt to extend sovereignty there.

Several peace plans have unraveled over disagreement on whether, and how, to divide sovereignty or oversee sites in the city that are holy for Christians, Jews and Muslims.

burs-arb/ch/rlp
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AFP at December 05, 2017 0
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US Secretary of State Rex Tillerson will hold talks over lunch with European Union foreign ministers (AFP/File / SAUL LOEB)


US Secretary of State Rex Tillerson met his European counterparts in Brussels Tuesday to shore up ties, with allies insisting he still plays a "key role" despite doubts over his future.

Tillerson held talks over lunch with European Union foreign ministers and the bloc's diplomatic chief Federica Mogherini, before a two-day NATO meeting set to focus on North Korea's missile programme and concerns over perceived hostility from Russia.

But his visit comes against a difficult backdrop -- a rift with President Donald Trump has led to reports he could be replaced within weeks, calling into question his authority to speak for Washington.

And there are major differences between Washington and Europe on a number of key policy areas, notably the Iran nuclear deal which Trump has vehemently condemned but which Brussels is desperate to preserve.

President Donald Trump's possible decision to recognise the contested holy city of Jerusalem as the Israeli capital could also prove to be thorny, after the EU warned the move could provoke "serious repercussions".

Tillerson was welcomed by Mogherini at the European Council building in Brussels, after an earlier meeting with US embassy staff.

NATO chief Jens Stoltenberg said Monday it was vital international powers worked together to tackle the North Korean crisis, after Pyongyang tested a long-range missile it said could hit anywhere in the continental United States.

"Last week's launch of an intercontinental ballistic missile showed that all allied nations could be within range," Stoltenberg said on Monday.

"The whole world needs to apply maximum pressure on North Korea in order to achieve a peacefully negotiated solution."

He said the 29-member alliance had been "clear and consistent" in its condemnation of Pyongyang's weapons programme, which has seen the reclusive state carry out a series of ballistic missile and nuclear tests in defiance of international sanctions.

The EU has been ramping up economic sanctions on the North in a bid to force it to the negotiating table -- but with no success so far.

- 'Key role' -

But if the US and EU can present a unified front on North Korea, the deal with Iran to end the Islamic republic's nuclear programme in return for the lifting of sanctions is more problematic.

Trump has slammed the historic 2015 accord, agreed after years of painstaking talks between Iran and the United States, Britain, France, China, Germany and Russia, as a bad deal and threatened to pull America out.

European powers are keen to maintain the deal and Mogherini last month travelled to Washington to lobby US lawmakers not to withdraw from the agreement.

"Preserving the nuclear deal with Iran and its full implementation is a key security priority for Europe," Mogherini said on Friday.

Tillerson's Brussels visit comes at the start of a European tour taking in Paris and Vienna for the 57-member Organization for Security and Cooperation in Europe.

Anonymous White House leaks have suggested Tillerson could be out of a job within weeks and even while denying this on Friday, President Donald Trump reminded him: "I call the final shots."

On Monday Stoltenberg gave his backing to Tillerson's efforts in tackling the North Korean crisis -- an issue where Trump has publicly criticised his top diplomat, saying he was "wasting his time" pursuing contacts with Pyongyang.

"Secretary Tillerson has played a key role, both in sending the message of deterrence, the unity and the resolve of the whole alliance, but also when it comes to the need for continuing to work for a peaceful solution," Stoltenberg said.

Tillerson has dismissed as "laughable" reports that Trump's closest aides want him to resign, but rumours were expected to dog him when he sat down with his European peers.
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AFP at December 04, 2017 0
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US President Donald Trump, seen here meeting Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu in New York in September, is expected to make a decision on whether to recognize Jerusalem as Israel's capital this week (AFP / Brendan Smialowski)

US President Donald Trump is close to a decision on whether to recognize Jerusalem as Israel's capital, his son-in-law and Middle East peace envoy Jared Kushner said Sunday.

Palestinian leaders are lobbying desperately against such a move, which the Arab League chief Ahmed Abul Gheit said would boost fanaticism and violence while sinking hopes for peace.

But Kushner, the 36-year-old head of a small and tight-knit White House negotiating team, made a rare public appearance to put an optimistic face on his efforts.

"The president's going to make his decision," Kushner told the Saban Forum, choosing not to deny reports Trump will declare Jerusalem Israel's capital on Wednesday.

"He's still looking at a lot of different facts and when he makes his decision he'll be the one who wants to tell you. So he'll make sure he does that at the right time."

On Monday, Trump must decide whether to sign a legal waiver that would delay plans to move the US embassy from Tel Aviv to Jerusalem for another six months.

Every US president has done this since 1995, judging the time not ripe for such a move, and Trump is expected to begrudgingly do so for a second time this week.

But, according to diplomats and observers, he is also now expected to announce in a speech on Wednesday that he supports Israel's claim on Jerusalem as its capital.

- New intifada? -

Arab League leader Abul Gheit meanwhile said his organization was closely following the issue and is in contact with the Palestinian authorities and Arab states to coordinate the Arab position if Trump takes the step.

"It is unfortunate that some are insisting on carrying out this step without any regard to the dangers it carries to the stability of the Middle East and the whole world," he told reporters in Cairo on Sunday.

"Nothing justifies this act... it will not serve peace or stability, instead it will nourish fanaticism and violence," said Abul Gheit.

Palestinians have been lobbying regional leaders to oppose the decision and the armed Islamist movement Hamas has threatened to launch a new "intifada."

Palestinian president Mahmud Abbas spoke to Hamas leader Ismail Haniya late Sunday, a Hamas statement said, with the two sides agreeing their opposition to any shift in US policy.

The rare call between the two comes as attempts at implementing a reconciliation deal have faltered in recent days.

But Kushner, addressing a sympathetic audience at an annual meeting of Israeli and US policy-makers hosted by businessman Haim Saban, sees grounds for optimism.

The real estate developer turned presidential adviser is working closely with Israeli officials and has developed ties with the young Saudi and Emirati monarchs.

He sees an opportunity for peace if the Sunni Arab countries of the region align themselves with Israel in opposition to the threat of Iran.

Israel's Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu shares this hope, although he dares hope an accommodation with Arab countries could precede any Palestinian deal.

Kushner, in common with US official thinking under previous administrations, sees a Israeli-Palestinian settlement as coming before any great re-alignment.

"You've got to focus on solving the big issue," he told a friendly but frankly skeptical Saban, and an audience of dignitaries and policy experts.

"The regional dynamic plays a big role in what we think the opportunities are because... a lot of these countries look and say they all want the same thing.

"And they look at the regional threats and I think that they see Israel, who is traditionally their foe, is a much more natural ally to them than it was 20 years ago," Kushner added.

"You've a lot of people who want to put this together, but you have to overcome this issue of the Israeli-Palestinian conflict in order for that to happen."

Kushner was speaking just two days after Trump's ex-national security advisor Michael Flynn pleaded guilty to lying to the FBI about his communications with Russia's ambassador during the presidential transition.

Kushner reportedly directed him to speak with Moscow's envoy to sway a United Nations Security Council vote on a resolution condemning Israeli settlements shortly before Trump took office.

Newsweek reported that Kushner had failed to disclose to the Office of Government Ethics his role as co-director of a foundation that funded an illegal Israeli settlement.

- 'Regime will fall' -

Earlier, Netanyahu also addressed the forum by video link from Israel, and also spoke of the opportunity for reconciliation in the region.

But his focus was firmly on the threat of Iran, which he again compared to Nazi Germany in its alleged determination to "murder Jews."

His address barely touched on the Palestinian issue, but did speak of regional peace, under a longer timeframe than the one Kushner has in mind.

"And that's just one reason why I'm so hopeful about the future. Today Israel is more welcomed by the nations of the world than ever before," Netanyahu said.

"When I look forward 50 and 100 years, I believe Israel will be embraced openly by its Arab neighbors rather than in secret in the way it's done today."

Saeb Erekat, secretary general of the Palestine Liberation Organization, was less optimistic, warning a change in the US stance on Jerusalem would spell disaster.

In a statement, he warned the United States would "be disqualifying itself to play any role in any initiative towards achieving a just and lasting peace."
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AFP at December 04, 2017 0
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President Joseph Kabila took office after his father Laurent was assassinated in 2001 (AFP/File / Bryan R. Smith)

Former militants were recruited by the Democratic Republic of Congo government for a bloody crackdown on protests against the president that left dozens of people dead last year, a rights group alleged Monday.

Human Rights Watch said President Joseph Kabila's regime had drafted in fighters previously active in the M23 rebel group from Uganda and Rwanda to suppress the December 2016 demonstrations, which erupted when he refused to step down at the end of his term in power.

The right group's allegations came as the country faces a new flare-up of violence after Kabila pushed back a much-delayed new vote until December 2018, with the opposition demanding that the veteran leader resign sooner.

"Senior security force officers in the Democratic Republic of Congo mobilized over 200 former M23 rebel fighters from neighboring countries to quash protests against President Joseph Kabila in December 2016," HRW said in a report.

It said Congolese security forces acting with M23 fighters killed at least 62 people and arrested hundreds more as the protests swept through the vast African country between 19 and 22 December 2016.

M23, a mostly ethnic Tutsi rebel group, was defeated in November 2013 at the hands of Congolese and UN forces. Hundreds of fighters fled the country but officials and residents in the eastern region of Kivu have said they had seen militants return.

Congo's resource-rich eastern provinces have suffered years of brutal conflict, with neighbouring states backing rebel groups in a civil war against Kinshasa's authority, and roaming armed militia triggering the mass flight of terrorised civilians.

HRW said its research was based on more than 120 interviews and that during the protests, "M23 fighters patrolled the streets of Congo's main cities, firing on or arresting protesters or anyone else deemed to be a threat to the president".

"Covert operations to recruit fighters from an abusive armed group to suppress any resistance show how far President Kabila and his coterie are willing to go to stay in power," said Ida Sawyer, the organisation's Central Africa director.

"Congolese officials should end all unlawful use of force against protesters and allow peaceful political activities by activists and the political opposition."

Opposition forces are demanding Kabila -- who took office after his father Laurent was assassinated in 2001 -- step down on December 31, but authorities made several arrests ahead of an opposition march earlier this month.
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AFP at December 04, 2017 0
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Puigdemont's lawyer has said he will remain in Belgium until after the elections. (AFP / PAU BARRENA)

Axed Catalan separatist leader Carles Puigdemont arrived Monday for an extradition hearing in Belgium as Spain seeks to have him sent back to face sedition charges over his region's independence drive.

A judge sitting behind closed doors in Brussels will hear from lawyers for Puigdemont and four of his former ministers, who all fled to Belgium in October despite a summons to appear in court in Spain, claiming they would not get a fair trial.

Prosecutors last month asked the judge to approve the European arrest warrant issued by Madrid for the five in the opening round of what could become a protracted courtroom battle.

A police source said Puigdemont and the others had arrived for the hearing, which comes on the eve of the official start of campaigning for December 21 elections in Catalonia.

Madrid wants the polls to "restore normality" to the wealthy northeastern region, which declared independence unilaterally following a hotly disputed October 1 referendum.

Puigdemont's lawyer said at the weekend he will remain in Belgium until after the elections.

"No matter what, they will be (in Brussels) till at least December 21 and according to my calculations this could go on till mid-January," lawyer Jaume Alonso Cuevillas told Catalan radio Rac1, referring to Puigdemont and the four former ministers.

"I am convinced that no matter what happens they will have recourse to an appeal," the lawyer said.

- Legal tangle? -

Spanish prosecutors want to prosecute Puigdemont and his former ministers for rebellion -- which carries a maximum 30-year jail sentence -- and sedition for their role in the independence drive, as well as for misusing public funds.

Meanwhile a Spanish Supreme Court judge is set to decide whether or not to free 10 other separatist leaders who were jailed pending a probe into their role in the Catalan independence drive.

Any release on bail would mark a turn in the election campaign, particularly for separatist parties who have repeatedly accused Madrid of taking "political prisoners" and "repression" after their attempt to declare unilateral independence fell flat.

Puigdemont and his cadres say the charges against them are politically motivated and as both sides are likely to appeal if the judge rules against them in the extradition hearing, the case could drag on for months, according to the Belgian justice minister.

Christophe Marchand, lawyer for two of Puigdemont's ex-ministers, told AFP that "the facts as written in the arrest warrant are not punishable under Belgian law", saying the case was an attempt to punish a "political process that passed off peacefully".

After Monday's hearing the court is expected to make its ruling in eight to 10 days, according to the Brussels prosecutor's office.

A spokesman for Puigdemont said Friday he would "respect the schedule" of the Belgian legal process.
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AFP at December 04, 2017 0
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The five-day Vigilant Ace drill -- involving 230 aircraft and tens of thousands of troops -- began Monday morning, Seoul's air force said (YONHAP/AFP / -)

The US and South Korea on Monday kicked off their largest ever joint air exercise, an operation North Korea has labelled an "all-out provocation", days after Pyongyang fired its most powerful intercontinental ballistic missile.

The five-day Vigilant Ace drill -- involving 230 aircraft, including F-22 Raptor stealth jet fighters, and tens of thousands of troops -- began Monday morning, Seoul's air force said.

Pyongyang over the weekend blasted the drill, accusing US President Donald's Trump's administration of "begging for nuclear war".

The annual exercise comes five days after the nuclear-armed North test-fired a new ICBM, which it says brings the whole of the continental United States within range.

As tensions surged, US Senator Lindsey Graham, an influential Republican and foreign policy hawk, warned that the US was moving closer to "preemptive war" with the North.

"If there's an underground nuclear test (by the North), then you need to get ready for a very serious response by the United States," Graham told the CBS show "Face the Nation".

The isolated and impoverished North has staged six increasingly powerful atomic tests since 2006 -- most recently in September.

In recent years Pyongyang has accelerated its drive to bring together nuclear and missile technology capable of threatening the US, which it accuses of hostility.

"The preemption is becoming more likely as their technology matures. Every missile test, every underground test of a nuclear weapon, means the marriage is more likely," Graham said.

His remarks echoed those of Trump's National Security Adviser HR McMaster, who told a security forum on Saturday that the potential for war with the North "is increasing every day".

This year's US and South Korean wargames feature a number of powerful jet fighters newly mobilised for the event, including six F-22s and 18 units of F-35 combat jets, the US air force said.

It also involves simulated precision attacks on the North's military installations, including its missile launch sites and artillery units, Yonhap news agency said, citing unnamed Seoul sources.

- Risks of war -

The North has boasted that the Hwasong 15 ICBM tested on Wednesday is capable of delivering a "super-large" nuclear warhead anywhere in the US mainland.

Analysts agree that the latest test showed a big improvement in potential range, but say it was likely achieved using a dummy warhead that would have been quite light.

They say a missile carrying a much heavier nuclear warhead would struggle to travel as far.

They are also sceptical that Pyongyang has mastered the sophisticated technology required to protect such a warhead from the extreme temperatures and stresses encountered as the missile hurtles back to Earth.

The latest launch, which saw the missile drop into Japan's economic waters, was condemned by Tokyo's parliament Monday, which slammed the North's rogue weapons programme as an "imminent threat".

"This is a frontal challenge against the international community that must not be tolerated," added the resolution by Japan's upper house, which came as the country's hawish Prime Minister Shinzo Abe said talking to the reclusive state was "meaningless".

The North's leader Kim Jong-Un has presided over significant progress in the country's widely-condemned nuclear and missile programmes since taking power in 2011.

A nuclear standoff between Kim and Trump in recent months has seen the pair trade personal insults.

The tensions have fuelled concerns of another conflict, more than six decades after 1950-53 Korean War that left much of the peninsula in ruins.

But even some Trump advisers say US military options are limited when Pyongyang could launch an artillery barrage on the South Korean capital Seoul -- only around 50 kilometres (30 miles) from the heavily-fortified border and home to 10 million people.

Estimates on the potential casualties from another war vary widely.

The North has thousands of conventional artillery units along the border with the South that analysts say could kill tens of thousands.

In one of the latest estimates, Scott Sagan, senior fellow at the Centre for International Security and Cooperation at Stanford University, said the toll could be as high as one million people from just the first day of a conflict.
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