US, Allies Short on Options Over Syria
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SUBSCRIPTION SATURDAY, OCTOBER 3, 2015 THULHIJJA 19, 1436 AH No: 16656 Kuwait hopes to Obama calls for Kuwaiti swimmer reach Schengen action as 10 die wins 200m visa agreement4 in school9 carnage freestyle47 event US, allies short on options over Syria Min 29º 150 Fils Russia, Iran flex muscle • No one counts on Obama Max 44º BEIRUT: Across the Middle East, America’s traditional allies are watch- ing with disbelief as Russia and Iran mount a show of force in Syria, and they are wondering how it will end. The US-led coalition, created Master forger arrested to combat the jihadi threat from Islamic State in Syria and Iraq, has been wrong footed by the Russian jets pounding the rebels fighting Syrian President Bashar Al-Assad, and by an influx of Iranian forces. By Hanan Al-Saadoun The question on everyone’s mind is: Will the United States and its European and regional Sunni allies intervene to stop President KUWAIT: A Tanzanian was arrested for forging official Vladimir Putin from reversing the gains made by mainstream Syrian transactions, security and civil IDs, birth certificates rebels after more than four years of war? and passports, said security sources, noting that the Few are holding their breath. Many say, often with vehemence, suspect had been in this illicit business for three years. that the current drama is the consequence of ongoing Western inac- He was caught with a large number of fake IDs and tion and US retreat at critical moments in an ever more uncontrol- passports. lable conflict, whose regional dimensions are fast becoming global. Interior Ministry’s assistant undersecretary for crim- Nobody in the Middle East is counting on US President Barack inal security Maj General Abdul Hameed Al-Awadhi Obama. The gloomy prediction of most is that a war that has killed at announced in a statement that the 52-year-old sus- least a quarter of a million people and displaced half the Syrian popu- pect was found to hold four fake passports himself. lation is about to get much, much worse. Awadhi added that criminal investigators had been The conflict has taken a deadly trajectory throughout. It began as tipped off concerning the suspect’s activity in forging a popular uprising against Assad, part of the ‘Arab Spring’, then Kuwaiti passports, IDs, bedoon IDs, driving licenses, became a sectarian war with regional patrons such as Iran and Saudi birth certificates and various official and banking doc- Arabia backing their local proxies. Military interventions by Russia and uments in a most professional and undetectable way. Iran have pushed the war to the brink of a full-blown international Sources added that the suspect had been offering conflict. Faisal Al-Yafai, chief commentator at the UAE-based newspa- per, The National, recalled the words of David Petraeus, the US gener- his services to wanted people to change their identi- al who led the “surge” of American military reinforcements into Iraq in ties for up to KD 4,000. Awadhi said that the suspect’s 2007-08 - “Tell me how this ends”. apartment in Salmiya was raided and that detectives After the Russian “surge” into Syria, he said, “America and its allies found 20 fake Kuwaiti passports, over 45 fake stamps, now look like the only group without a plan”. He believes the emerg- MoI and MoH documents, a PC, photocopy machines, ing military alliance between Russia and Assad’s other main backers - flash drives and various tools he used for forgery. Iran and Lebanon’s Hezbollah - does have an idea of “how this ends”. Awadhi added that a search was in progress for peo- The same is true of Islamic State, he said. The end for the Assad family, ple who had used the suspect’s services to bring them he argues, is its survival. For Islamic State, it is to carve out and consoli- to justice. date the caliphate it declared in large swathes of Syria and Iraq last year. But for Russia and Iran, it is “nothing less than the replacement of the US-Israel axis with one of their own”. With the Kremlin’s creation in Baghdad of a centre to share intelli- gence among Syria, Iraq, Iran and Russia, a Moscow-backed network now runs from Tehran, through Baghdad and Damascus, and via Hezbollah into Lebanon. The new axis is taking shape as the United States has withdrawn ground troops from Iraq and is winding down its military presence in Afghanistan. While it continues to police Gulf waterways from a base in Bahrain and maintains an airforce presence in Qatar and Turkey, Washington appears determined to avoid deep- er military entanglements in the Middle East. Analysts and diplomats say the turning point in Syria came two years ago when Obama and his European allies shied away from responding to the Assad army’s alleged nerve gas attacks on civilians in the rebel enclaves east of Damascus - even though the US presi- dent had repeatedly declared that a “red line”. “It was the point when the Assad regime and mainly the Iranians realized that the Americans are not serious, that they really didn’t care enough,” Yafai said. For that reason, he doubts whether Russian intervention will lead to a proxy war in the Middle East with Russia. “You have to ask that question in a different way,” he said. “What would it take to make the Americans intervene? Would it take children and women being slaughtered? Well that happened. Will it take millions of people on the move? That happened. Will it take hundreds of thousands of civil- ians murdered? Well that happened,” Yafai told Reuters. “America wasn’t willing at any point to intervene so why now would it sudden- KUWAIT: Forgery tools and fake documents are seen at the Salmiya flat of a suspected forger (left) yesterday. — KUNA ly intervene? It is a free field for Putin and the Russians.” — Reuters LOCAL SATURDAY, OCTOBER 3, 2015 Woman molested by driver KUWAIT: The mother of a Farwaniya school- that the total overdue rent is now KD 6,700. child reported that a school bus driver He added that the tenant made excuses in the approached her and touched her body when beginning, but when he was asked to evict the kids were leaving school at the end of the the apartment, he refused. A case was filed school day. The woman reported that she and the man was summoned and detained screamed for help, which scared the driver off. pending further investigations. After reporting to the police and on checking with the school administration, the suspect, Egyptian arrested who fled the scene leaving his bus and the An Egyptian was arrested for stealing cash kids in it, was found to be a bedoon. A case from several shops in Hawally, said security was filed and the suspect is being summoned. sources. Case papers indicate that the man In another development, a citizen filed a com- went into a store asking a Filipina cashier for plaint against two detectives accusing them KD 20 change, and on handing it out, he of insulting him during interrogation. Security snatched the money and fled without giving sources said that the two officers were being the KD 20 bill. The man was chased and Minister of State for Cabinet Affairs Sheikh Mohammad Abdullah Al-Mubarak Al-Sabah summoned for further investigations. apprehended by a store staff member and police were called. Mobile phone stolen Success at Expo shores up A Filipina beautician informed Jabriya police Landmine found that her mobile phone was stolen from the The bomb squad dealt with a landmine found beauty salon she works in. She accused three in Jahra near the road leading to Camp Kuwait’s global position Kuwaiti clients who were present when the Virginia, said security sources, noting that a mobile phone disappeared. A case was filed citizen had spotted the mine and informed MILAN: Minister of State for Cabinet Affairs the international event reflected the Kuwaiti and further investigations are in progress. the police. The mine was detonated onsite. Sheikh Mohammad Abdullah Al-Mubarak Al- people’s sincere desire for opening up and Sabah touted the weighty presence and terrific communication with, and amity towards, peo- 60 liquor bottles Phone insult success of the Kuwaiti Pavilion at Expo Milan ple across the world, Sheikh Mohammad An Asian was arrested in Farwaniya with a bag A female customs employee reported that 2015 as having greatly buttressed Kuwait’s Abdullah pointed out.”This success should lead filled with 60 homemade liquor bottles ready someone she did not know kept calling her international position. Kuwait’s participation in to more successes in all domains,” he said, cit- for sale, said security sources. Case papers mobile number, showering her with insults. this international event is primarily intended to ing it as a sign of the Kuwaiti people’s ability to indicate that a police patrol suspected the She added that the speaker spoke in a good deliver its cultural and humanitarian message to give more and more. man who was carrying a large travel bag. On GCC dialect and that she did not know any the world, the minister said in an interview to He attributed Kuwait’s great international approaching him, the suspect dropped the reason for such insults. Checking on the KUNA before leaving Italy late Thursday. During position to the fact that His Highness the Amir bag and ran, but he was chased and appre- caller’s number, detectives found that it was a his stay here, the Kuwaiti Minister represented Sheikh Sabah Al-Ahmad Al-Jaber Al-Sabah, the hended.