https://arab.news/jc572
MINGORA, Pakistan: A lawmaker in Pakistan’s rugged northwest was sipping tea with voters when his phone chirped to life — the Taliban were calling with a demand for “donations.”
“We hope you won’t disappoint,” read the chilling text from a shady go-between of the Pakistan chapter of the Islamists, known as Tehreek-e-Taliban Pakistan (TTP).
A second message pinged on-screen: “Refusal to provide financial support will make you a problem,” it warned.
“We believe a wise man will understand what we mean by that.”
After the Taliban takeover in neighboring Afghanistan, TTP racketeering has infested Pakistan’s borderlands, locals say, with the group emboldened by its sister movement’s success.
Since July, the provincial lawmaker — who asked to remain anonymous — has been cowed into sending the TTP sums totaling 1.2 million rupees (over $5,000).
“Those who don’t pay have to face the consequences. Sometimes they throw a grenade at their door. Sometimes they shoot,” he said.
“Most of the elites pay the extortion money. Some pay more, some pay less. But nobody talks about it.
“Everyone is scared for their life.”
The TTP share lineage with the Afghan Taliban, but were most potent from 2007 to 2009, when they spilled out of the jagged belt splitting Pakistan and Afghanistan and overran the Swat Valley just 140 kilometers north of Islamabad.
The Pakistani military came down hard in 2014, after militants raided a school for children of army personnel and killed nearly 150 people, mostly pupils.
The TTP were largely routed, their fighters fleeing to Afghanistan where they were hunted by US-led forces.
With Afghanistan back under Taliban rule, it has become an “open shelter” for the TTP, according to Imtiaz Gul, an analyst with Islamabad’s Center for Research and Security Studies.
“They now have freedom of action while living in Afghanistan,” he said.
“That’s a simple explanation for why the TTP attacks rose.”
In the year since the Taliban’s return, militant activity in Pakistan has spiked, according to the Pak Institute for Peace Studies, with around 433 people killed.
“They started the same old game: target killings, bomb blasts, kidnappings — and making calls for extortion,” Swat community activist Ahmad Shah said.
The blackmail network bankrolls the TTP, but also sows a crisis of confidence in local government the militants seek to usurp in favor of Islamist rule.
Provincial MP Nisar Mohmand estimates 80 to 95 percent of well-off residents in surrounding districts are now blackmail victims.
Fellow legislators have been targeted for refusing to pay out, and some are too fearful to visit their precincts.
“They have their own system of reward and punishment,” said Mohmand. “They have established an alternate government, so how are people supposed to resist?“
The Afghan Taliban have long-standing differences with their Pakistani counterparts, and since capturing Kabul have pledged not to host international jihadist groups.
But the first telltale sign of a TTP blackmail attempt is the phone number — starting with the +93 international code indicating an Afghan SIM card.
Then comes a suggestive text, or voice message in Pashto — spoken with a Pakistani lilt.
AFP heard one message threatening an “action squad” would be dispatched to a landlord if he declined to pay.
“The days of cruelty are near. Don’t think we are a spent force,” it warns.
The sum “owed” is then hashed out, generally through an intermediary, before it is sent to the ragged bands of TTP fighters whose silhouettes haunt the mountain steeps.
Victims expect to be “tapped up” up to five times a year, the anonymous MP said.
Since the 2014 school slaughter, which horrified Pakistanis even marginally sympathetic to their cause, the TTP has pledged to avoid civilian targets, and claims extortion is done by criminals borrowing their brand.
But a civilian intelligence official in the area insisted they were “the root cause of the menace.”
Swat — a snow-capped mountain valley split by turquoise running waters — is one of Pakistan’s most famed beauty spots, but its reputation has a dark side.
In 2012 then 15-year-old Malala Yousafzai was shot in the head by the TTP while campaigning for girls’ education, a campaign that later earned her the Nobel Peace Prize.
This summer things seemed to have slipped irredeemably back toward those dark days.
After a decade-long hiatus, the anonymous MP started receiving blackmail texts once again.
“The situation was so bad that many people were thinking of migration,” said Shah. “Life was at a standstill.”
But there has been pushback, and several protests against the TTP have been held since the group’s high-profile kidnapping of three officials in August.
Businesses shut and thousands spilled into the streets in rallies up and down the valley.
Pakistan’s military claimed reports of strong TTP in the area were “grossly exaggerated and misleading.”
Still, in Pakistan’s borderlands, attacks and extortion continue unchecked — despite a professed negotiation truce between the TTP and Islamabad.
The Taliban’s return in Kabul, despite being pounded for 20 years by the world’s strongest armies, shows military might will not end the ordeal.
“We have to search a solution which is acceptable to both sides,” said government negotiator Muhammad Ali Saif.
“A lasting settlement will have to be found.”
ROME: Saudi Arabia is a key stakeholder in the Middle East, which plays a fundamental role in regional stability, Antonio Tajani, Italy’s recently appointed foreign minister and deputy prime minister, told Arab News, 90 years since Riyadh and Rome established diplomatic ties.
Although Saudi-Italian relations are primarily commercial, Tajani said they are increasingly “multifaceted in nature, ranging from political dialogue to cultural cooperation, from scientific and technological collaboration to renewables.”
He added: “From a political point of view, we regard Riyadh as a key stakeholder in the Middle East. Saudi Arabia plays a fundamental role in regional stability.”
On Feb. 10, 1932, Saudi King Abdulaziz Al-Saud and King Victor Emmanuel III of Italy ordered their respective representatives to sign a treaty of friendship, marking the establishment of bilateral relations between Saudi Arabia and Italy.
Ninety years on, the treaty has served as the cornerstone of a robust and enduring relationship, which Tajani describes as “extremely positive.”
Earlier this year, the Embassy of Saudi Arabia in Rome arranged several events to mark the 90th anniversary.
During a visit to Riyadh in June, Luigi Di Maio, Italy’s then-foreign minister, said Rome would likewise celebrate the milestone year, which “marks a very important anniversary in our longstanding friendship.”
Over the past 90 years, Italy has prioritized its relations with the Arab Gulf countries, becoming one of the first European nations to establish diplomatic ties with the Kingdom.
The 1932 treaty — signed on behalf of the sovereigns by Guido Sollazzo, Italy’s consul in Jeddah, and Emir Faisal, Saudi Arabia’s foreign minister — set out the conditions for a long-standing partnership.
In particular, Saudi Arabia pledged to “help and protect” all Muslim Italians making the pilgrimage to Makkah.
Soon after the treaty was signed, the Italian consulate was opened in Riyadh. Later, in 1951, the Kingdom’ Embassy was inaugurated in Rome. Bilateral ties were further strengthened by reciprocal visits by the nations’ leaders over the ensuing years.
In 1973, King Faisal bin Abdulaziz visited Italy to discuss the establishment of an Islamic cultural center in Rome — the biggest such facility in Europe. Shortly after the visit, in 1975, the Saudi-Italian Committee for Economic Trade and Investment was founded.
Since the early 20th century, when Italian engineers played an active role in the planning and construction of the Hejaz railway project, the utilization of Italian engineering skills has been a key feature of the bilateral partnership.
As a result, several major infrastructure projects in Saudi Arabia and the wider region bear the mark of Italian expertise.
Saudi Arabia considers its partnership with Italy a key instrument with which to meet its strategic objectives in modernizing and diversifying its economy and in boosting intercultural dialogue.
The Kingdom is Italy’s biggest trading partner in the Gulf region and the second-biggest in the wider Arab world. According to the Italian Ministry of Foreign Affairs, the value of bilateral trade was €8.2 billion ($8.6 billion) in 2021 — a 32.9 percent increase compared with 2020.
Italy is also one of the top 10 suppliers of goods to Saudi Arabia, with exports reaching €3.28 billion in 2019, an increase of 6 percent compared to 2018. Italian imports from the Kingdom were worth €3.8 billion in 2019.
More than 70 Italian companies now operate in Saudi Arabia, mainly in the energy, infrastructure and construction industries. There is also significant cooperation between the two countries in the defense sector.
While Italy wants to boost cooperation in new technologies and the smart economy, Tajani said the nation remains committed to further developing more traditional sectors such as tourism, entertainment and renewables.
In addition to being an important commercial partner, Saudi Arabia is an increasingly important political interlocutor, given its growing status in the region and the wider Arab world. Issues such as terrorism, the situation in Iran, and developments in the Middle East represent areas of common interest.
Italy and Saudi Arabia “unite the broader areas of the Mediterranean and the Middle East,” Tajani told Arab News.
In doing so, they “can help each other better understand the dynamics and needs of our respective geographical areas, as well as the challenges and opportunities that may arise.”
He added: “The 90th anniversary of our extremely positive diplomatic relations testifies to the long-standing friendship between Italy and Saudi Arabia.
“We both believe that broader prosperity, security and cohesion may be reached if the countries succeed in jointly addressing common challenges, such as terrorism and irregular migration flows, and by taking advantage of opportunities such as the digital and green transitions.”
This is why “Italy is very keen on nurturing and even broadening an open dialogue with Riyadh on the main regional files,” he added.
Over the past five years, senior Italian officials have held several high-level meetings with their Saudi counterparts. In October 2017, Paolo Gentiloni, Italy’s then-prime minister, visited the Kingdom and was received by King Salman and Crown Prince Moḥammed bin Salman.
In 2021, both nations signed a memorandum of understanding for strategic dialogue between their respective foreign ministries. It established a structured framework for frequent institutional contact at the political and technical levels and to help focus on the most relevant bilateral and regional issues.
In June this year, the 12th Saudi-Italian Joint Commission took place in Riyadh, co-chaired by Di Maio and Mohammed Al-Jadaan, the Saudi minister of finance.
Culture, energy, and collaboration in the space sector were high on the agenda at the conference, which was followed by an investment forum in the Saudi capital, focused on tourism, energy and infrastructure.
Cooperation in the field of education is also significant. The Italian School of Jeddah, which provides kindergarten, primary and lower-secondary education, was established in 1966.
Over the years, many Saudi students have enrolled for studies in Italian universities, while Saudi academics and students continue to attend conferences and seminars in Italy.
According to the latest data, 74 Saudi students were enrolled in Italian higher education institutions during the 2020-2021 academic year. Two cooperation agreements are in place between Italian and Saudi universities.
Italy has also long been committed to supporting two archaeological projects in the Kingdom, including the recent investigation of the ruins of Dumat Al-Jandal in northwest Saudi Arabia.
Italy now intends to assign a cultural attache to its embassy in Riyadh.
Highlighting the significance of Saudi-Italian cultural relations, Tajani said prioritizing this area of cooperation had ensured “a deeper and better mutual understanding” that has further strengthened bilateral ties.
Envoys of King Abdelaziz Al-Saud and King Victor Emmanuel III signed the Treaty of Friendship on Feb. 10, 1932. Today, Saudi Arabia is Italy’s biggest trading partner in the Gulf and the second-biggest in the wider Arab world. The value of bilateral trade was $8.6 billion in 2021 — a 32.9 percent increase compared with 2020.
KUALA LUMPUR: Rescuers raced to find survivors of a deadly landslide on Friday, which killed at least 21 people, including women and children, near the Malaysian capital, Kuala Lumpur.
The landslide struck a campsite in the town of Batang Kali in Selangor, where families were sleeping in their tents on early Friday morning.
Nearly 100 people were swept away and about a dozen are still missing, feared buried under the heavy soil, the Fire and Rescue Department told reporters, as hundreds of personnel from search agencies continued to scour thick mud and downed trees.
“Total victims are 94 individuals, those confirmed dead are 21 individuals, those still missing are 12 people,” Malaysia’s Deputy Prime Minister Ahmad Zahid Hamidi told reporters at the site.
Environmental Minister Nik Nazmi Nik Ahmad said in a press release that the 500-meter-long landslide that moved 450,000 cubic meters of soil was likely a result of an embankment slope failure.
The campsite belonged to Father’s Organic Farm, located about 4 km from the Genting Highlands resort, which describes itself as a child-friendly attraction promoting organic fruit and vegetable planting.
The farm has been reportedly operating the campsite illegally.
The landslide was the deadliest such incident in the Selangor region since the 1995 incident in which a massive mudslide buried 20 people on the road leading up to Genting Highlands.
Environmental group Sahabat Alam Malaysia urged the government on Friday to promptly investigate the tragedy and make the outcome of the probe open to the public.
“How was a campsite allowed on a hilly area? Photographs showed that a major slope failure has occurred under the highway nearby in the upper reaches of the site. What triggered that to happen?” Meenakshi Raman, the group’s president, said in a statement.
“Time and again, we have been warning about allowing earthworks and other forms of activities on highlands and hillslopes, which are environmentally sensitive areas. The root causes of the tragedy must be investigated and publicly disclosed.”
The head of a Russian cultural center in the Central African Republic was taken to hospital in the capital Bangui on Friday after an assassination attempt, the Russian Embassy said.
A spokesperson for the Russian Embassy said Dmitry Syty, head of the “Russian House” culture center, had opened a mail bomb addressed to him on Friday morning.
The package from an anonymous sender exploded, injuring him seriously.
The embassy said it had tightened its own security measures following the attack, TASS reported.
Meanwhile, the founder of the Russian private military company Wagner accused France of being behind an assassination attempt on the Russian official.
“Before losing consciousness, Dmitry Syty managed to say: ‘I saw a note: This is for you from all the French, the Russians will get out of Africa’,” Yevgeny Prigozhin, a close ally of Russian President Vladimir Putin, said in a statement posted on Telegram.
“I have already applied to the Ministry of Foreign Affairs of the Russian Federation to initiate the procedure for declaring France a state sponsor of terrorism, as well as a thorough investigation of the terrorist methods of France and its Western allies – the United States and others,” Prigozhin said.
SEOUL: South Korea issued a strong protest against Japan’s territorial claim made in a national security strategy released on Friday over disputed islands known as Dokdo in Korea and Takeshima in Japan.
South Korea’s foreign ministry demanded an immediate removal of the claims from Japan’s national strategy documents, saying in a statement that the move did nothing to help “building a future-oriented relationship” between the two countries.
BERLIN: An aquarium in Berlin that was home to around 1,500 exotic fish burst early on Friday, spilling 1 million liters of water and debris onto a major road in the busy Mitte district, emergency services said.
Around 100 emergency responders rushed to the scene, a leisure complex that houses a Radisson hotel, a museum, shops and restaurants as well as what the DomAquaree complex says is the world’s largest freestanding cylindrical aquarium at 14 meters in height.
“In addition to the unbelievable maritime damage… two people were injured by glass splinters,” Berlin police said on Twitter.
A spokesperson for the Berlin fire brigade said emergency responders had been unable to access the ground floor of the building due to the debris. Search and rescue dogs were being sent to the scene, he added.
The spokesperson said it was still unclear what had caused the aquarium to burst. Neither the fire brigade nor the police commented on the fate of the fish.
Around 350 people who had been staying at the hotel in the complex were asked to pack their belongings and leave the building, the fire brigade spokesperson said.
Buses were sent to the complex to provide shelter for people leaving the hotel as outside temperatures in Berlin were around -7 degrees Celsius, police said.
Emergency services shut a major road next to the complex that leads from Alexanderplatz toward the Brandenburg Gate due to the large volume of water that had flooded out of the building.