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Nations to boost aid to Syria rebels until Assad goes
Nations to boost aid to Syria rebels until Assad goes (AFP) / 23 May 2013 World powers urged Syrian President Bashar Al Assad to commit to peace, but warned on Thursday that if he fails to negotiate a political transition they would boost their backing of the opposition. The stark warning came from a meeting of the Friends of Syria group, which held talks on Wednesday in Amman to try to agree the contours of a peace conference to end the war. The conflict, now in its third year, has claimed some 94,000 lives. The United States and Russia have backed opposite sides in the conflict, but hope to bring the warring sides together at the conference next month, although a date and venue remain unclear. “We would call on President Assad to exhibit the same commitment to trying to find peace in his own country. That is critical,” US Secretary of State Kerry told a joint press conference with Jordanian Foreign Minister Nasser Judeh ahead of the talks. After meeting late into the night, the 11 ministers from the Friends of Syria group laid out a grim choice for Assad: he and his associates with “blood on their hands” had no role to play in the future of Syria, they said. If the regime refused to negotiate a transitional government, then they would boost their support for the opposition, they said. “The ministers also emphasized that until such time as the Geneva meeting produces a transitional government, they will further increase their support for the opposition and take all other steps as necessary,” a final statement said. A US official would not confirm whether that meant Washington would finally overcome its reluctance to send arms to the rebels. “All of the countries agreed that the support to the opposition is a tactic that works towards achieving a strategy of securing a negotiated political settlement,” the official said, asking not to be named. “We’ve long said that it’s important to change (Assad’s) calculation, and in order to change his calculation the balance of power on the ground must change. “So, the communique states we will increase our support to the opposition and the goal of that is to change the balance on the ground.” The ministers met for over two hours, first behind closed doors at an Amman hotel, then holding three hours of talks with the interim president of the Syrian National Coalition, George Sabra, and two other rebel leaders. The communique denounced ethnic cleansing, “identified as the corner stone of a political solution the formation of a transitional governing body through mutual consent.” In another sign of the growing impatience with Assad, French President Francois Hollande and British Prime Minister David Cameron said they would seek European support for their proposal to arm the Syrian opposition. “We are prepared to lift the arms embargo further so that the opposition can present themselves as the legitimate voice of the Syrian people,” Cameron told reporters during a brief stopover in Paris. The foreign ministers of Britain, Egypt, France, Germany, Italy, Jordan, Qatar, Saudi Arabia, Turkey, the United Arab Emirates and the United States attended the meeting in the Jordanian capital. Qatari Foreign Minister Hassem bin Jassem Al Thani unleashed a furious tirade against Assad, accusing him of “continuing to kill his people with outside help and using banned weapons. “Syria is totally destroyed, and all so that the regime can stay in place. We are with you and we will stay with you,” he told Sabra. All eyes are likely now to turn to Istanbul where the opposition is to start meetings on electing a new president, expand its “parliament” and begin the process of choosing an interim government. Neither the opposition nor Damascus has yet publicly said who they would send to attend the peace conference, likely to be held in June. But US officials said Washington had been told by third parties that the Syrian regime delegation would be led by Prime Minister Wael Al Halqi. US ambassador to Syria Robert Ford was Thursday on his way back to Istanbul for meetings with the opposition. In Syria itself, regime forces and their allies pushed to retake the key rebel stronghold of Qusayr in central Homs province. The Syrian opposition urged fighters across the country to “rush to the rescue” of Qusayr and appealed to the international community to set up a humanitarian corridor to the embattled town. French Foreign Minister Laurent Fabius also revealed France was now ready to call for the military wing of Hezbollah to be blacklisted by the European Union as a terrorist organisation because of its intervention in Syria. Continue reading
Hawksbill turtles return to Saadiyat Beach for nesting
Hawksbill turtles return to Saadiyat Beach for nesting (Wam) / 21 May 2013 The environmental services team at the Tourism Development and Investment Company (TDIC), master developer of major tourism, cultural and residential destinations in Abu Dhabi, has spotted the first sea turtle nest on Saadiyat Island, marking the start of this year’s nesting season. The critically endangered Hawksbill sea turtles will now start to nest on the destination’s beachfront and will be under the observation of TDIC’s environmental services team, as part of the company’s Hawksbill Turtle Conservation Programme, the only one of its kind in the Arabian Gulf. The nests, which can contain between 90 and 100 eggs, will be clearly marked to ensure hotel guests and staff don’t disturb them. Hatching is expected within 50-70 days. The Saadiyat Beach plays host to several Hawksbill turtle nests every year. The Hawksbill is listed as critically endangered on the International Union for Conservation of Nature’s Red List, as its population has declined by more than 80 per cent worldwide over the last three generations due to habitat destruction and poaching. TDIC has taken serious steps to ensure the protection of Saadiyat’s coastal dune system and the safety of the Hawksbill turtles that come to shore every year to lay its eggs. As a result, TDIC restricts resort development on Saadiyat Beach to at least 60 metres back from the seaward edge of the coastal dunes, creating a buffer zone which serves as a physical barrier between construction and operations and the Saadiyat Dune Protection Zone nesting beach. Part of the Hawksbill Turtle Conservation Programme, this ensures that the turtles continue to nest even during the construction and operations of projects on the island. “It has always been our priority to make sure that Saadiyat remains a natural habitat for marine life. We are delighted that this is the case for the sea turtles that continue to come to shore to lay their eggs year after year. This goes on to show the success of our environmental programme, which surely wouldn’t be made possible without the cooperation of our partners, residents and contractors and their willingness to adhere to the strict guidelines imposed by our environmental team,” said Deputy Managing Director at TDIC Ali Al Hammadi. Since the start of the programme in early 2010, some 650 eggs have hatched successfully on Saadiyat. Operational guidelines further protect the nesting sites by restricting beach access to pedestrians who reach the beach via elevated boardwalks, therefore preventing people from walking through the delicate dune system and potentially disturbing the nests. “When the nesting season starts, our main priority becomes to make sure that the sea turtles are not obstructed or disturbed when they land on the beach to dig their nests, lay their eggs and return to the sea,” said Head of Environmental Services at TDIC Dr Nathalie Staelens. “Once baby turtles start to hatch, we then aim to make sure they all make it safely to the sea by ensuring there are no nearby light sources that could disorient them,” she said.Strong lights and noise may distract the baby turtles, causing them to head in the wrong direction and away from the sea. This has led TDIC to take further measures including lighting guidelines and assessments of operational developments, and a dedicated environmental resource that monitors and audits properties operating on Saadiyat. For example, during nesting season, night lighting is reduced to aid the baby turtles’ orientation towards the sea; nests are logged and avoided by beach maintenance crew, and all beach furniture is moved off the beach at night. TDIC also requests its residents on Saadiyat Beach to help ensure the continuation and safety of the turtles’ nesting activities by asking them to switch off outdoor lights when they are not outside, close their curtains at night to minimise light spill, refrain from going to the beach after dark and avoid turtle tracks so they can be recorded by TDIC. Hawksbill turtles nest on a number of islands in the UAE, with Saadiyat’s deep sand beaches and natural dune system beyond the high tide line providing them with a good nesting habitat. Just how long turtles have been nesting on Saadiyat is unknown, however after 30 years, breeding Hawksbill females return to their birth place to lay their eggs. Continue reading
