Category: General

WASHINGTON – The Justice Department has accused Thomas Barrack, a longtime friend of former President Donald Trump and his 2017 inaugural committee chairman, of engaging in a wide-ranging scheme to favorably influence U.S. policy toward the United Arab Emirates without registering as a foreign agent as required by U.S. law.

A seven-count indictment was handed down Tuesday against Barrack, 74, and two other associates, one American and the other a UAE national.

Prosecutors allege that Barrack, who has known Trump since the 1980s, sought to influence him starting in April 2016, when Trump was campaigning for president, and extending through April 2018, during the first year-plus of Trump’s four-year term in the White House.

The indictment against Barrack also accuses him of obstructing justice and making numerous false statements to federal law enforcement agents when they interviewed him on June 20, 2019.

After Barrack was arrested Tuesday, his lawyer told U.S. news outlets that Barrack “has made himself voluntarily available to investigators from the outset. He is not guilty and will be pleading not guilty.”

Acting Assistant Attorney General Mark Lesko of the Justice Department’s National Security Division said in a statement that Barrack and his co-defendants “repeatedly capitalized on Barrack’s friendships and access to a candidate who was eventually elected president, high-ranking campaign and government officials, and the American media to advance the policy goals of (the UAE) without disclosing their true allegiances.”

Lesko said their conduct “is nothing short of a betrayal of those officials in the United States, including the former president. Through this indictment, we are putting everyone — regardless of their wealth or perceived political power — on notice that the Department of Justice will enforce the prohibition of this sort of undisclosed foreign influence.”

Prosecutors allege that Barrack was an informal adviser to Trump during his 2016 campaign, chaired his inaugural committee and then “informally advised senior U.S. government officials on issues related to U.S. foreign policy in the Middle East.”

Barrack at the time was executive chairman of a global investment management firm headquartered in Los Angeles, while one of his co-defendants, Matthew Grimes, 27, reported directly to Barrack at the investment company. The third defendant was identified as Rashid Sultan Rashid Al Malik Alshahhi, 43, a UAE national who worked as a UAE agent.

Prosecutors allege that Barrack and the others took several actions to advance UAE interests without registering with the U.S. government as foreign agents.

They accuse Barrack in May 2016 of inserting language praising the UAE into a Trump campaign speech about U.S. energy policy. The prosecutors say that Barrack, either directly or through Grimes or Alshahhi, was repeatedly in contact with senior UAE leaders.

The Justice Department alleges in a statement that Barrack and the others “sought and received direction and feedback, including talking points, from senior UAE officials in connection with national press appearances Barrack used to promote the interests of the UAE.”

After one such public statement, Barrack emailed Alshahhi, saying, “I nailed it. . . for the home team,” referring to the UAE.

On another occasion, according to the government, Barrack and Grimes sought advice from senior UAE officials before Barrack wrote an opinion piece for a national magazine in October 2016 and “removed certain language at the direction of senior UAE officials, as relayed by Alshahhi.”

The government says that after Trump won the 2016 election, Barrack in December asked the UAE for a “wish list” of its short-term and longer-range goals it wanted from the incoming Trump administration.

Prosecutors accuse Barrack, shortly after Trump took office, with providing Alshahhi with non-public information about the reaction of U.S. government officials after they held a White House meeting with senior UAE officials.

The indictment alleges that in September 2017, Alshahhi told Barrack that the UAE was against a proposed summit in the U.S. concerning an ongoing dispute between Qatar, the UAE and other Middle Eastern governments. The Justice Department alleges that Barrack “sought to advise” Trump about the UAE stance and the summit never occurred.

Throughout his representation of the UAE, prosecutors said Barrack used a dedicated cellphone and installed a secure messaging application so he could converse with top UAE officials.

During Barrack’s 2019 interview with FBI agents, the government alleged that he lied repeatedly, including denying that Alshahhi had ever requested that he take any actions advancing UAE interests.

Source: Voice of America

In a report released Tuesday, Human Rights Watch accused the Kenyan government of failing to properly handle a cash transfer program intended to help the poor during the COVID-19 pandemic. The rights group says the money instead went to people connected with officials and politicians.

Anette Okumu, 42, lost her business due to COVID-19. She and her neighbors in the Kibera section of Nairobi registered for a government cash support program in April to help her feed her nine children.

Okumu says her husband was jobless, and she really needed that money because she has a child who has sickle cell anemia and the disease requires her to feed her child healthy food. Okumu says she was hopeful that she would receive help from the government. She says she did not get the money — but others did.

In May of last year, President Uhuru Kenyatta ordered the Treasury to release some $100 million to support the country’s most vulnerable people for at least eight months.

The head of Human Rights Watch in East Africa, Otsieno Namwaya, says that money never served its intended purpose.

“Most of the households that were supposed to have received support from the government never received anything,” he said. “The few who received something did not receive the amount the government said it had sent to them. The majority over a period of eight months received 3,000 – 4,000 shillings. The government was saying it was sending a total of 35,000 for the period of eight months.”

The Washington-based rights group says its investigators spoke to 136 government employees and Nairobi residents for its eight-month study.

The researchers found that the cash transfer program lacked transparency in multiple ways, from the registration process to the distribution of funds.

A report released by the Office of the Auditor-General in April 2021 said that some $4 million was dispersed to help nearly 100,000 Kenyans in a poor section of Nairobi for one month.

But the investigators said they could not verify the identities and addresses of more than 97,000 alleged recipients. Their report concluded “the lawfulness and utilization of the $4 million could not be confirmed.”

Namwaya says most of the money instead went to friends and family of officials and the employees of certain government agencies.

“Politicians and government officials actually ensured that official aides, people working offices and relatives were benefiting from the money when the evidence suggests that these people did not deserve to get the money. While the people who really deserve the money, people who were going hungry for even as far as four days a week were not getting the money,” he said.

The program was run by the Ministry of Labor and Social Protection. VOA reached out to the principal secretary of the ministry for comment but received no response.

Human Rights Watch is calling on Kenyan authorities to investigate the issue and extensively review and strengthen internal mechanisms for implementing such programs in the future.

Source: Voice of America

His Majesty King Hamad bin Isa Al-Khalifa has today sent a cable of congratulations to the President of the Republic of Columbia Iván Duque Márquez on the occasion of his country’s Independence Day.

HM the King extended deepest congratulations to the Columbian president, wishing him good health and happiness on this national occasion.

Source: Bahrain News Agency

Manama: His Royal Highness Prince Salman bin Hamad Al Khalifa, the Crown Prince and Prime Minister, today sent a cable of congratulations to HM King Philippe of Belgium on the occasion of the Belgian National Day.

His Royal Highness extended his best wishes to HM King Phillippe and the citizens of Belgium, wishing them further progress and prosperity.

His Royal Highness sent a similar cable to the Prime Minister of Belgium, HE Alexander De Croo.

Source: Bahrain News Agency

Speaker of the Council of Representatives, Fawzia bint Abdulla Zainal, has lauded His Majesty King Hamad bin Isa Al Khalifa’s unwavering support for the efforts of Team Bahrain, led by His Royal Highness Prince Salman bin Hamad Al Khalifa, the Crown Prince and Prime Minister.

She stressed that the royal support is a catalyst for more landmark achievements, noting that Team Bahrain’s accomplishments and success stories in fighting the novel Coronavirus have been acclaimed locally and globally.

The speaker pointed out that the outstanding results achieved thanks to the well-thought-out plans and appropriate precautionary measures have led to a significant drop in the number of active cases, noting that Team Bahrain’s successes are the outcome of HM the King’s sound directives and the close follow-up of HRH Crown Prince and Prime Minister.

The speaker expressed sincere congratulations to the Bahraini people on Eid Al-Adha, paying tribute to the frontline heroes, Team Bahrain members and all those responsible for the National Vaccination Campaign for their dedicated efforts.

She affirmed the Representatives Council’s support for Team Bahrain’s efforts aimed at ensuring Bahrain’s success in overcoming the pandemic and reinstating normalcy, expressing confidence in the Bahraini people’s ability to overcome the current crisis thanks to their sense of responsibility and commitment to community partnership.

She prayed to Allah the Almighty to protect HM the King and HRH Crown Prince and Prime Minister, and to bless them with abundant health, happiness and long life.

She also wished Bahrain further progress, and the citizens and residents health and wellness.

Source: Bahrain News Agency

His Majesty King Abdullah II voiced optimism by launching a new path that restores hope and confidence to the Middle East region’s peoples, leading to a future of development and prosperity, adding that: “It seems that there is a new spirit of cooperation and coordination among many of my friends in the region, so I came here to Washington to see how we can turn 2021 into a positive year.”

His Majesty made his remarks, on Thursday, as he met with Speaker of the United States House of Representatives Nancy Pelosi at the Capitol, in the presence of His Royal Highness Crown Prince Al Hussein bin Abdullah II, stressing that Jordan and the United States see eye-to-eye on the region’s challenges and issues related to them.

His Majesty appreciated the warm welcome by Pelosi and her colleagues in the U.S. Capitol, noting that a long time had passed since the last visit to Washington due to what was imposed by the COVID-19 pandemic.

His Majesty said: “We are happy to be back here, because what we have learned from the last year with the pandemic is that we no longer speak to each other in the same familiar language that we should use, and here we are in Washington to build on our brotherly relationship with this country.”

His Majesty thanked the United States for the COVID-19 vaccines that it recently granted to Jordan, noting that this issue helps the Kingdom in its efforts to confront the pandemic.

In his concluding remarks, His Majesty praised the United States’ continued support to the Kingdom including the U.S, administration, the Congress and the people, expressing his conviction that there is serious work that the two countries will do once again.

For her part, Speaker of the United States House of Representatives Nancy Pelosi expressed her happiness over the presence of His Majesty again in the Capitol, accompanied by Her Majesty Queen Rania Al Abdullah and HRH Crown Prince Al Hussein bin Abdullah II.

Pelosi recalled her recent visit chairing a delegation to the Kingdom prior to the COVID-19 pandemic, noting that the dialogue with His Majesty focused on the region’s security and stability, peace in the Middle East, and issues related to economic growth and resilience.

She expressed her gratitude to His Majesty and Jordan for receiving a large number of Syrian refugees.

Pelosi praised level of the Jordan-US relations by saying: “The United States is grateful for this relationship and I’m personally proud to have worked with King Hussein, may God have mercy on him, and King Abdullah II, and I know that he adds a great deal of knowledge, intelligence, strategic thinking, and values to the discussions that take place between us. We always learn a lot from him, and we are very happy that he is with us today at the Capitol.”

During His Majesty’s meeting with the U.S. House of Representatives leaderships, the historical friendship that brings together Jordan and the United States was highlighted, as well as, programs implemented by Jordan to mitigate the economic impacts of the COVID-19 pandemic.

A wide range of regional issues were discussed, where His Majesty stressed the need to re-launch peace negotiations between Palestinians and Israelis based on the two-state solution which will lead to establish an independent, sovereign and viable Palestinian state on the 4 June 196and lines, with East Jerusalem as its capital.

On Iraq, His Majesty stressed the need to support Baghdad’s efforts in enhancing security and stability.

On Syria, His Majesty noted the importance of intensifying the international efforts to reach a political solution that preserves unity of Syria and its people and guarantees the safe return of refugees, underscoring the need for the international community to shoulder its responsibilities toward the refugees and the hosting communities.

The meeting was attended by the Deputy Prime Minister and Minister of Foreign Affairs and Expatriates, Director of His Majesty’s Office, and the Kingdom’s Ambassador in Washington.

Source: Jordan News Agency

Scores of Palestinians were injured, on Thursday, when an explosion tore through a house in a popular market in the Gaza Strip, the interior ministry said.

It was not immediately clear what caused the explosion.

The blast in the Al-Zawiya area collapsed large parts of the house and damaged dozens of buildings and shops nearby, according to the ministry.

Police explosives engineering teams continue to investigate the causes of the explosion. Civil defense teams and the police were able to control the resulting fire.

Source: Jordan News Agency

Hundreds of women displaced by recent inter-communal fighting in the Al Geneina town of West Darfur are suffering from anxiety and depression as they shoulder the responsibility of caring for their families without husbands, say women’s rights activists in Sudan’s western region.

The fighting that erupted in April left more than 200 people dead and a little more than 200 others wounded.

Thousands of families have been sheltering in government buildings, schools and mosques in overcrowded conditions with limited access to proper sanitation, according to Sumeya Musa, a women’s advocate with the local nongovernmental organization, Strategic Initiative for Women in the Horn of Africa.

“Some don’t have a place to sleep, some lose their job and property and everything. Some are suffering from social pressure, raising children alone, taking care of elderly and sick people and yet they don’t earn anything for life, so these economic and social pressures have really affected their lives,” Musa told VOA’s South Sudan in Focus program.

Sixty-five-thousand people — mostly women and children — were displaced in the wake of the violence, according to the United Nations.

Musa said some women reported being raped or sexually harassed but most incidents of sexual violence are covered up for fear of stigma.

“There are a lot of women who got miscarriages and they really are in need of psycho-social support. There are those who have unwanted pregnancy through rape cases and other forms of gender-based violence. We all know that during war time, a lot of things happen,” Musa told VOA.

Sudanese women are hoping peace will be restored soon so they can return to their homes, said Musa. She said many of the women know that a peace deal was signed between the transitional government and armed groups but are not clear on what it entails regarding women’s rights.

South Sudan’s President Salva Kiir mediated the talks between Sudan’s transitional government and the armed groups in the South Sudanese capital, Juba. The transitional government was created following the ouster of President Omar al-Bashir after three decades in power. Women were key players in the pro-democracy revolution in Sudan. Women helped organize protests that led to al-Bashir’s removal from office.

Several women in the gathering sites do not want to talk about the abuses they suffered during the recent fighting, believing they will not receive help or see justice in the court system, said Musa.

“The most important thing is to give full protection to women against all forms of violence. Especially at homes or on the streets against sexual harassment when they are going out to look for work or they are returning back to the camp,” Musa told VOA.

The United Nations Population Fund has set up five temporary spaces where social workers coordinate with midwives deployed by the state health ministry to provide sexual and reproductive health services and support victims of gender-based violence.

Musa says she hopes more social workers, psychologists and health care providers will be deployed so that the women of West Darfur get the help they need.

Source: Voice of America

Somali commandos coming under attack from the al-Shabab terror group got some help from above, for the first time in months, in the form of a U.S. airstrike.

The Pentagon late Tuesday confirmed U.S. forces were behind the single strike near Galkayo, about 580 kilometers north of the capital of Mogadishu, which was first announced by Somali officials earlier in the day.

A Pentagon official told VOA the strike was authorized under existing authorities to defend U.S. partner forces and came even though no U.S. troops were on the ground.

“U.S. forces were conducting a remote ‘advise and assist’ mission in support of designated Somali partner forces,” U.S. Defense Department spokesperson Cindi King said. “There were no U.S. forces accompanying Somali forces during this operation.”

Tuesday’s airstrike targeting al-Shabab is the first such strike in six months, and the first carried out since U.S. President Joe Biden took office.

U.S. officials declined to elaborate on why this strike was approved or whether U.S. Africa Command will start conducting a more intensive air campaign in support of Somali forces, like those the U.S. has deployed in previous years.

The U.S. carried out 63 airstrikes against al-Shabab in 2019 and 53 airstrikes in 2020.

Another seven airstrikes were launched in the first two-and-a-half weeks of 2021, before former U.S. President Donald Trump left office.

U.S. officials explained the slowdown by citing on a Biden administration review of the military’s airstrike policy. Still it, sparked concern among senior Somali officials, causing some to warn the change would allow al-Shabab “to come out of hiding.”

Since then, Somali officials have repeatedly called for the resumption of U.S. airstrikes.

Somali Army spokesman Colonel Ali Hashi Abdinur told VOA earlier this week he hoped the U.S. would resume the strikes, especially to target the al-Qaida-linked fighters in areas where the Somali infantry can’t reach.

“We have good cooperation and collaboration with the U.S.,” he said. “There are hard-to-reach areas in the forests where the airstrikes used to target their leaders.”

Somali officials have also said they would like to see expanded support from the U.S., not just airstrikes.

Last week, the U.S. military gave Somali special forces six armored personnel carriers (APCs), doubling the number of vehicles capable of protecting their elite Danab units from improvised explosive devices (IEDs).

But Somali military officials say they need more.

“We have AK-47s (automatic rifles),” one senior Somali military officer told VOA. “We need extra weapons like heavy machine guns, mortars … RPG (rocket-propelled grenades).”

“We also need medical support, uniform, camps for troops to sleep and rest, and rations,” he added.

Top U.S. military commanders have likewise warned about the growing danger, some admitting that the decision by the Trump administration to pull out almost all U.S. forces from Somalia has made the situation worse.

“Since that time, we have been commuting to work,” AFRICOM commander General Stephen Townsend told lawmakers this past April. “There’s no denying the reposition of forces outside Somalia has introduced new layers of complexity and risk.”

“Our understanding of what’s happening in Somalia is less now than it was when we were there on the ground,” he added.

In the meantime, AFRICOM has been trying to make do, sending troops into Somalia for periodic training missions to supplement about 100 troops now working mostly out of the U.S. Embassy.

AFRICOM officials have also made their final recommendations regarding troop numbers in Somalia and all of Africa as part of the Pentagon’s ongoing force posture review, which is expected to wrap up around the end of August.

For now, however, warnings about the danger posed by al-Shabab continue to abound.

“Al-Shabab still enjoys a lot of freedom of action,” Vice Admiral Hervé Bléjean, director-general of the European Union Military Staff, said at a virtual defense forum last month. “You can really feel the atmosphere of the insecurity there.”

Yet there is some disagreement as to whether airstrikes, whether carried out by the U.S. or others, are the solution.

Records kept by the Armed Conflict Location and Event Data Project (ACLED), a U.S.-based nonprofit research group, suggest that the danger to civilians in Somalia from al-Shabab actually decreased in the absence of airstrikes.

ACLED said it found 155 incidents in which al-Shabab targeted civilians in the six months before Biden took office, and just 90 in the six months after he became president.

One former Danab officer, speaking on the condition of anonymity, also questions the dependency on airstrikes, even though he told VOA that “there is nothing that al-Shabab hates more.”

The officer said U.S. airstrikes have killed about 100 of the terror group’s commanders, including former leaders Ahmed Abdi Godane and Aden Hashi Ayro, almost to no avail.

“The strategy has failed,” he said. “We need to change the training. We need to change the dynamics and training. We have to have mobile forces, prepare the forces for guerrilla war, good at shooting.”

An Africa Union official who asked not to be identified because he does not have authorization to speak to media agreed.

“Airstrikes cannot have an impact until the ground forces are effective,” the official said. “Until you cripple the command and control, their capacity to regroup, to be organized to be led — that is when the airstrikes will be effective.”

“But they still have leaders replaced, so what you are doing is quite minimal,” he added.

Source: Voice of America

His Royal Highness Prince Salman bin Hamad Al Khalifa, the Crown Prince and Prime Minister, today exchanged Eid al-Adha congratulatory cables with GCC, Arab, Islamic and friendly nations leaders, crown princes, and prime ministers.

In the cables, His Royal Highness wished them continued good health and greater success in maneuvering challenges presented by the COVID-19 pandemic.

Source: Bahrain News Agency