News Story: Chinese peacekeeping force's authority transfer ceremony held in Lebanon

BEIRUT, May 22 (Xinhua) -- Chief of Staff of the United Nations Interim Force in Lebanon (UNIFIL) Brig. Gen. Pierre Liot De Nortbecourt chaired on Monday the 15th CHINBATT Transfer of Authority (rotation) ceremony.

De Nortbecourt supervised the 15th Chinese Peacekeeping Operation Force Transfer of Authority to the 16th one along with the Captain of the 16th Chinese Multifunctional Engineering Contingent in the south Lebanese village of Hinnieh by the port city of Tyre.

The ceremony was attended by China's Ambassador to Lebanon Wang Kejian, Brig. Gen. Khalil Al-Gemayel representing Lebanon's Minister of Defense, the governor of Tyre and other various military and political figures.

De Nortbecourt expressed his gratitude for the work accomplished by the parting 15th Chinese contingent.

He specifically highlighted his appreciation for "the construction of a 300-meter shooting range in Naqoura which was built in a very difficult environment and which enables UNIFIL to benefit from what is an essential operational training asset."

Read the full story at Xinhua

News Report: No More Money for Nothing - Trump’s Budget Proposal May Frustrate Ukraine, Others

US President Donald Trump

A budget proposal to be submitted this week by the administration of US President Donald Trump will include conditions that replace American military grants to foreign countries with loans, potentially ending several billion dollars in weapons and logistics giveaways by Washington.

The US State Department, in an internal memo obtained by the Wall Street Journal, identified Vietnam, Tunisia, Colombia, Lebanon, the Philippines, Pakistan and Ukraine as countries that would be offered loans to purchase US military equipment, instead of receiving cash as a grant.

These military grants allow countries allied with the US to acquire American-built ammunition, ground transportation, aircraft and naval vessels.

Currently Israel receives about $3 billion in US military grants annually, while Egypt gets $1.3 billion. Jordan is the recipient of some $350 million in military giveaways and Pakistan gets about $265 million.

News Story: Aussie jihadists captured in Middle East could be stripped of citizenship - gov't

CANBERRA, April 28 (Xinhua) -- Three dual-national Australians, alleged to have been Islamic State (IS) jihadists captured by army forces in Lebanon, could have their Australian citizenships stripped, according to Defence Industry Minister Christopher Pyne on Friday.

The men, believed to be Lebanese-Australians, were arrested at gunpoint during army raids after a Syrian-born colleague, who was captured last year, admitted to living with the three dual nationals while working with IS.

Pyne told the Nine Network Friday that the men could have their Australian passports cancelled if they are found guilty, thanks to laws introduced by the government last year.

It has been reported, however, that the three men do not wish to return to Australia despite their dual citizenship.

Read the full story at Xinhua

News Story: Australia revokes citizenship of Islamic State fighter

CANBERRA, Feb. 11 (Xinhua) -- The Australian Government has used anti-terrorism laws to strip an Islamic State (IS) terrorist of Australian citizenship.

A secret panel of intelligence officers, police, bureaucrats and lawyers reportedly made the decision to revoke Ahmed Sharrouf's citizenship earlier in 2017.

Sharrouf, 35, rose to notoriety after posting a picture of his son holding a severed head of a Syrian government official in 2014.

He was the target of wide-ranging anti-terrorism laws passed by the Australian parliament in 2015 which included granting the immigration minister the power to strip citizenship if it can be proved that a person was a member of a terrorist organization.

The law only applies to people who are dual-nationals due to Australia being a signatory to international convention that forbids it from leaving people stateless.

National security sources told News Limited on Saturday that the decision to strip Sharrouf's citizenship was based on his association with IS, which he joined in 2014.

Read the full story at Xinhua

News Story: Refugees Play an Important Role in Foreign Relations

US President Donald Trump

Victoria Macchi

WASHINGTON — “Do you believe it?” U.S. President Donald Trump tweeted late Wednesday.

“The Obama Administration agreed to take thousands of illegal immigrants from Australia. Why?” he raged, pledging to “study this dumb deal!”

What Canberra and Washington agreed late last year had nothing to do with illegal immigrants though. Instead, it was another domestically contentious issue in the U.S. The previous administration agreed to take an undisclosed number of asylum-seekers intercepted at sea while trying to get to Australia by boat.

Do you believe it? The Obama Administration agreed to take thousands of illegal immigrants from Australia. Why? I will study this dumb deal!

— Donald J. Trump (@realDonaldTrump) February 2, 2017

In other words, the U.S. would take in refugees from a longtime ally to help the ally out.

By some media accounts, the deal sparked a testy phone exchange Saturday between Trump and Australian Prime Minister Malcolm Turnbull — a day after Trump suspended the U.S. refugee resettlement program.

News Story: Trump Immigration Order Shakes US-Iraq Alliance Against ISIS

US President Donald Trump

By: Joe Gould

WASHINGTON — US President Donald Trump’s executive order on immigration is rocking the relationship with Iraq, America's key ally in the fight against the Islamic State group.

As the US and Iraq prepare to take the ISIS stronghold of Mosul, the Iraqi parliament has passed a measure banning Americans from traveling to the country in response to Trump's ban on travel from Iraq and six other Muslim-majority countries, The Associated Press reported. 

“This decision by the U.S. is arbitrary,” Intisar Al-Jabbouri, a Sunni lawmaker from northern Iraq, told Time magazine. “The Iraqi government has the right to reciprocate.”

The Trump administration is facing political heat domestically over its order, which includes a 90-day ban on travel to the US by citizens of Iraq, Syria, Iran, Sudan, Libya, Somalia and Yemen, and a 120-day suspension of the US refugee program. 

The order has also reverberated among US allies in the Muslim world, where it should be found “pretty disturbing,” said Ryan Crocker, a former US ambassador to Iraq, Pakistan, Syria, Kuwait, Lebanon and Afghanistan. That’s because the US signed a bilateral agreement with Iraq that calls for strategic cooperation at every level.

“They know we’re heavily involved in the fight to take Mosul, and they have to be asking themselves, if they’ll do this to the Iraqis, they’ll do it to us,” Crocker said. 

The move raised concerns of both a violent backlash against US advisers and troops, who are in the Middle East for the counter-ISIS fight, and that ISIS could use a perceived Muslim immigration ban as a recruiting tool.

“The Iraqis are of course going nuts, just as they’re about to do the next phase against the Islamic State, and Islamic State social media is celebrating,” Crocker said. 

Read the full story at DefenseNews

News Story: Saudi Arabia sees China rise as stabilising

The rise of China will be a source of global stability not conflict, major oil supplier Saudi Arabia said at the World Economic Forum in Davos on Tuesday.

"As China gets integrated into the world, and into the world financial and economic systems, it has a tremendous interest in stability of those systems," Saudi Foreign Minister Adel al-Jubeir said.

"And so I think the rise of China should be one that is welcomed, not one that is viewed as a source of a threat," he told a discussion in the Swiss resort, where 3,000 members of the political and business elite gathered for annual talks.

Asia is the number one market region for Saudi Arabian oil.

Jubeir's comments came after China's President Xi Jinping warned, also at Davos, against scapegoating globalisation for the world's ills or retreating behind protectionist walls.

US President-elect Donald Trump has blamed China and globalisation for the loss of millions of American factory jobs.

Washington is a longstanding ally of Saudi Arabia but ties were strained under President Barack Obama, who hands power to Trump on Friday.

Read the full story at SpaceDaily

News Story: China, Lebanon vow to deepen military exchange

BEIRUT, Nov. 17 (Xinhua) -- China is keen to develop all-round ties with Lebanon and expand military exchanges between the two armies, said Fan Changlong, Vice Chairman of China's Central Military Commission, here on Thursday.

On his two-day visit to Beirut from Nov. 16-17, Fan held talks with Lebanese President Michel Aoun, Prime Minister Saad Hariri and Army Chief Jean Kahwagi, highlighting good chance for closer cooperation.

Read the full story at Xinhua

News Story: IS commander found dead in Lebanese border town

BEIRUT, Oct. 9 (Xinhua) -- A commander from the extremist Islamic State group (IS), Abu Bakr al-Raqqawi, was found dead on Sunday in the northeastern border town of Arsal, reported the National News Agency (NNA).

Raqqawi is thought to be behind the assassination of Internal Security Forces (ISF) soldier, Zaher Ezzeddine, earlier in January, the NNA said.

Militants from IS and Fateh al-Sham Front - formerly al-Qaida's al-Nusra Front - are located along the Lebanese-Syrian border and the army regularly shells their posts.

Read the full story at Xinhua

News Story: New Zealand extends commitment to UN peacekeeping in Golan Heights

WELLINGTON, Sept. 29 (Xinhua) -- The New Zealand military contribution to the United Nations peacekeeping mission in the Golan Heights has been extended until September 2018, Defence Minister Gerry Brownlee said Thursday.

"The United Nations Truce Supervision Organisation is the United Nations' oldest peacekeeping operation, and is an important and visible mission to help preserve peace between Israel and its neighbors," Brownlee said in a statement.

"The New Zealand Defence Force has been a longstanding and respected contributor since 1954 through the monitoring role played by our military observers."

The renewed commitment would see eight personnel continue to support the mission, which was New Zealand's largest current contribution to a UN-led peacekeeping operation.

Read the full story at Xinhua

News Story: Brunei to send 30 soldiers on peacekeeping mission in Lebanon

BANDAR SERI BEGAWAN, Sept. 1(Xinhua) -- A send-off ceremony was held Thursday for 30 personnel of the Royal Brunei Armed Forces (RBAF) who will be on a peacekeeping mission to Lebanon.

These RBAF military personnel will be deployed for a one-year peacekeeping mission under the United Nations Interim Force in Lebanon (UNIFIL).

Brunei's Deputy Defence Minister Admiral (Rtd) Abdul Aziz placed berets on the UNIFIL peacekeepers and attached UN patches on their sleeves to mark their deployment during the ceremony at the Bolkiah Garrison in Bandar Seri Begawan.

Read the full story at Xinhua

News Story: Lebanese caution U.S. interference in Asian islands dispute "risky"

BEIRUT, June 26 (Xinhua) -- The Lebanese Communist Party's Secretary General Hanna Gharib accused Sunday the United States of interfering in South China's Sea islands issue.

Gharib said that the United States is attempting to interfere through pressuring the Philippines to raise the issue to the International Arbitration Court.

"Basically, problems or conflicts among neighboring states should be solved without any foreign interference particularly by those who are not involved in the matter," Gharib told Xinhua in an interview.

He said that "adopting dialogue instead to reach a solution to a problem among the concerned parties is in the best interest of the regional states and its peoples."

Gharib said that the Association of South Eastern Asian Nations (ASEAN) countries launched an initiative in this respect which China accepted, and henceforward all the regionally concerned parties should engage in dialogue to solve the issue for their best interests.

Read the full story at Xinhua

News Story: Islamic State seen shifting to more international attacks - UN

By Carole LANDRY

The Islamic State group is moving into a new phase of warfare that is likely to lead to more attacks on international civilian targets, according to a new report by UN Secretary-General Ban Ki-moon.

In the last six months, IS has been linked to attacks in 11 countries that have killed over 500 people, in Bangladesh, Belgium, Egypt, France, Germany, Indonesia, Lebanon, Pakistan, Russia, Turkey and the United States.

"Recent international attacks perpetrated by members of ISIL demonstrate that the terrorist group is now moving into a new phase, with the increased risk that well-prepared and centrally directed attacks on international civilian targets may become a more frequent occurrence," said the report obtained by AFP on Wednesday.

UN member-states are reporting a marked increase in the number of foreign fighters returning from Syria and Iraq where IS has suffered military setbacks, Ban said in the report to the Security Council.

The Paris and Brussels assaults demonstrate the jihadist group's "ability to mount complex, multi-wave attacks" that were coordinated by foreign fighters returning from Syria, with some direction from IS leaders.

Read the full story at SpaceWar

AUS: Military and Security Communication Workshop Strengthens Regional Ties

The role of military and security public information in addressing violent extremism was the centrepiece of an international military workshop held in Canberra this week (2-6 May 16).

A total of 24 military and security personnel from 10 countries attended the strategic communication workshop hosted by the Department of Defence, the fourth of its kind held since 2010 in support of the Defence Cooperation Program.

The strategic communication workshop provided a forum for Australian and foreign military and security officers to discuss the military’s role in the provision of public information.

Participating countries include Pakistan, Indonesia, the Philippines, Singapore, Thailand, Malaysia, Jordan, Lebanon, Papua New Guinea and Vanuatu.

Participants contributed to discussions on public information support to major events, countering violent extremism, and the use of social media.

Think Tank: Sea, air and land updates (5-APR-2016)

Oyashio class submarine (Image: Wiki Commons)

Dione Hodgson, Ashleigh Sharp and Lachlan Wilson

Sea State

The British Ministry of Defence (MoD) rejected claims made by The Independent last week that the Falkland Islands have been left without the protection of a warship for the first time since the 1982 Falkland’s War. The report alleged that due to a major manpower crisis, engine difficulties with the Type 45 destroyers and preoccupation with monitoring Russian naval movements, there hadn’t been a warship dispatched to the region since November 2015. A MoD spokesman rebutted the claims, stating that the Falklands remained well protected by an offshore patrol vessel and approximately 1,200 UK personnel operating Royal Air Force Typhoons and ground defences.

A Japanese submarine docked in the Philippines for the first time in 15 years on Sunday, signalling the strengthening ties between the two countries. Oyashio and two Japanese destroyers docked in the former US naval base at Subic Port—just 200km from a Chinese-held shoal—as part of a routine visit. In February, Japan offered to supply military hardware to the Philippines—including the lease of three TC-90 surveillance planes—to help it to improve its naval capabilities and surveillance capacity in the South China Sea. The visit coincides with military drills between the US and the Philippines, which commenced on Monday in Manilla.

Editorial: Cambodia Marks Milestone in UN Peacekeeping Contributions

By Prashanth Parameswaran

It is the tenth year the ASEAN state has sent peacekeepers abroad.

On January 2, Cambodia dispatched a new batch of peacekeepers to Lebanon as the nation marks its decade-long involvement in United Nations (UN) peacekeeping, Khmer Times reported.

According to Gen. Sem Sovanny, director-general of the Cambodian National Center for Peacekeeping Forces, Mines, and ERW Clearance, the sixth batch of 184 peacekeepers being deployed to Lebanon would replace the fifth batch, whose one-year mission had concluded.

“It marks the tenth year that Cambodia has sent peacekeepers to war-torn countries,” he said during a sending-off ceremony at the Phnom Penh International Airport.

Read the full story at The Diplomat

News Story: Australia Urges More European Nations To Join IS Airstrikes

Australian Foreign Minister Julie Bishop
(Image: Flickr User - UN Geneva)

SYDNEY — Australia on Monday urged more European nations to begin airstrikes against Islamic State group in Syria and Iraq as a way of tackling the escalating refugee crisis gripping the continent.

Foreign Minister Julie Bishop said jihadists were responsible for driving hundreds of thousands of migrants to Europe and a broadening of the coalition fighting them was necessary.

"Over 40 percent of the people currently seeking asylum in Europe are from Syria, and we need a united front to defeat the terrorist organizations that are driving the displacement of so many people," she told reporters in Sydney.

"Already there are about 60 countries that are providing support in one way or another to the US-led coalition.

"But there's more countries can do in terms of supporting the air strikes which are proving effective in stopping Daesh (IS) from claiming territory off sovereign governments and from inflicting so much barbaric violence."

Read the full story at DefenseNews

Brunei: RBAF joins 'Exercise Keris Aman Capstone 2015'in Malaysia

PORT DICKSON, MALAYSIA, Tuesday 11 August 2015 – A delegation of 5 officers and 3 other ranks from the Royal Brunei Armed Forces (RBAF), headed by Major (U) Azmie Iskandar bin Ariffin, is participating in the ‘EXERCISE KERIS AMAN CAPSTONE 2015’ which begins today until 24 August 2015 at the Malaysia Peacekeeping Training Centre (MPTC), Army Academy, Port Dickson, Negeri Sembilan, Malaysia.  

The delegation is supported by the RBAF contingent who is presently attending the Force Integration Training (FIT) program at the MPTC in preparation for the United Nations Interim Force in Lebanon (UNIFIL) mission under the command of the Malaysian Battalion 850-3 (UNIFIL MALBATT 850-3). This military exercise is a multinational Peacekeeping Operations (PKO) exercise and hosted by the Malaysian Armed Forces in cooperation with the United States Pacific Command’s (USPACOM) Global Peace Operations Initiative (GPOI) program.

Editorial: 23 Countries Want India's Help in Yemen Evacuation Operations

INS Mumbai (Image: Flicke User - MEAphotogallery)

By Ankit Panda

India’s success in evacuating its citizens from Yemen hasn’t gone unnoticed.

As the Saudi Arabia-led military campaign–Operation Decisive Storm–continues against the Houthi rebels who have overrun large swathes of Yemen, several countries are evacuating their citizens from the country. For India, the evacuation effort represents a mammoth undertaking. Over the weekend, New Delhi carried out the largest aerial evacuation of any country in Yemen since hostilities began: it evacuated 670 Indian citizens on three Air India flights. Additionally, India’s Navy was sent to retrieve over a thousand Indian citizens. Overall, New Delhi has successfully rescued 2,300 of its own citizens so far.

India’s rescue efforts in Yemen, codenamed Operation Raahat, haven’t gone unnoticed. According to reports on April 6, 23 countries have requested Indian assistance in evacuating their citizens from Yemen. According to a tweet by Syed Akbaruddin, spokesperson for India’s Ministry of External Affairs, the list of countries comprises Bangladesh, Cuba, Czech Republic, Djibouti, Egypt, France, Germany, Hungary, Iraq, Indonesia, Ireland, Lebanon, Malaysia, Nepal, Philippines, Romania, Slovenia, Sri Lanka, Singapore, Sweden, Turkey, the United States, and Yemen.

Indian Prime Minister Narendra Modi, an active user of social media himself, expressed his support of India’s international rescue efforts: “I am also glad that India has rescued several non-Indian citizens from Yemen,” he remarked on Twitter. “Our evacuation efforts in Yemen reflect willingness to serve our people & readiness to help others in distress, which is India’s ethos,” he added. According to reports in the Indian press, Modi was in direct contact with Saudi Arabia’s King Salman after the initiation of Operation Decisive Storm. India had to negotiate extensively with Saudi Arabia to gain safe access for its aircraft to Yemeni airports for evacuation operations. 

Read the full story at The Diplomat

Think Tank: Rapid Fire (17-Feb-2015)

By Sarah Hately

Welcome to Rapid Fire, a weekly wrap of recent developments in international land warfare, to run alongside other regular ASPI updates like the long-running Cyber Wrap and the more recently added Sea State and The Beat. This week, we look at operations against Islamic State; Boko Haram and Chad; military aid to Lebanon; the ceasefire agreement in Ukraine; Ebola aid workers; and North Korean missiles.

Coalition support for the fight against Islamic State forces continues in Iraq where ground troops have received extensive training and supplies. Support for the Iraq army is intensifying around reports of a ground campaign planned ‘in the weeks ahead’ to reclaim major cities, specifically Mosul. A US official in Baghdad said of the plans: ‘To win this thing, we’re going to have to have Iraqi ground troops go into the places that are really being held by Daesh…You’re not going to win this just with airstrikes.’ If or when that occurs, the US Special Presidential Envoy for the Global Coalition to Counter ISIS, General (rtd) John Allen, has promised that the coalition will provide ‘major firepower’.