UK £2 Issue 239, Year 5 EU €2.50 January 12, 2020 www.thearabweekly.com Lebanon’s Five years after Tunisian parliament faltering Charlie Hebdo deals stinging blow tourism sector massacre to Islamists Page 21 Page 19 Page 5 Weakened by showdown with US, After Sultan Qaboos dies, Iran faces outcry over plane downing first Omani Iranians are unlikely to quietly accept their government’s responsibility in the catastrophe Thomas Seibert transition in Istanbul 50 years fter a roller-coaster week Mohammed Alkhereiji that saw the assassina- tion of a top Iranian gen- A eral by the United States, London an Iranian calculated retaliation against US troops in Iraq, attempts he death of Sultan Qaboos at de-escalation and the death of bin Said Al Said, the region’s 176 people in a plane crash caused longest-ruling monarch, at by an Iranian missile, the regime in T the age of 79, ushered in the Tehran finds itself embattled and first Omani leadership transition in weakened both internationally and nearly 50 years. at home. Sultan Qaboos, who died January It was embroiled in a major new 10, was rumoured to have been suf- domestic and international crisis af- fering from cancer for several years ter it had to admit January 11 that it and his health took a turn for the had downed a Ukrainian passenger worse last year, sparking rumours of jet earlier in the week. an imminent succession. The killing of Qassem Soleimani, Ending years of speculation over the head of Iran’s al-Quds Force, who would succeed Qaboos, who January 3 in Baghdad, was a major was unmarried and had no heirs, the blow to the Iranian regime but its Omani government announced that leaders sought to capitalise on the Culture Minister Haitham bin Tariq event, which triggered an outpour- Al Said, a cousin of the late sultan’s, ing of grief that saw thousands of would be the new sultan of the Gulf Iranians attend funeral ceremonies. Arab country. While Iran was as clearly careful Sultan Haitham, 65, ascended on to avoid a full-blown confronta- the recommendation of Sultan Qa- tion with the United States, Islamic Crisis within the crisis. Mourners attend an outdoor vigil for the victims of a Ukrainian passenger jet boos. Oman state TV said the Omani Revolutionary Guard Corps (IRGC) which crashed in Iran, in Toronto, Canada, January 9. (Reuters) Defence Council opened the enve- leaders did not seem to accept the lope in which Sultan Qaboos had Erbil missile strike as the extent of “Armed Forces’ internal investi- mad Javad Zarif appeared to hold Some took to social media to vent named his successor. Iranian revenge. Senior IRGC com- gation has concluded that, regret- Washington partly responsible, cit- their anger over the regime’s incom- Sultan Qaboos rose to power July mander Abdollah Araghi, speaking tably, missiles fired due to human ing “US adventurism.” petence and failed efforts to cover 23, 1970, following a bloodless coup. after US President Donald Trump error caused the horrific crash of Experts said mounting interna- up the affair. He led Oman since the age of 29 and said Iran appeared to be “standing the Ukrainian plane & death of 176 tional scrutiny would have made it “I know it’s not the first time ‘hu- helped steer the country through down,” proclaimed Iran would take innocent people,” Iranian President all but impossible to hide signs of man error’ leads to a catastrophe the political turmoil that came with “harsher revenge soon.” Hassan Rohani posted on Twitter a missile strike in an investigation but ‘intentionally’ trying to conceal the “Arab spring” protests in 2011, as By the end of the week, the re- January 11. and Iran may have felt a swift policy the reality for three days is a sign of well as economic uncertainties that gime had wasted all political and It was unclear whether the mis- reversal to admit responsibility was the total moral collapse of #Iran’s resulted from fluctuating oil prices. psychological capital it might have sile was fired by the regular army or better than battling rising criticism government,” Hamidreza Azizi, an He oversaw the sultanate’s inde- amassed at home by presenting it- the IRGC but the official IRNA news abroad, as well as facing growing assistant professor at Shahid Be- pendent — and at times controver- self as the victim of an unprompted agency said the IRGC would offer an anger and grief over the crash at heshti University in Tehran, wrote sial — foreign policy, taking stances US attack. Following initial denials, apology and an explanation for the home because most victims were on Twitter. not always in the government was forced to admit crash. Iranian. alignment with responsibility for the catastrophic Iranian Supreme Leader Ayatollah After weeks of protests over living Thomas Seibert is an Arab Weekly the Gulf Co- January 8 crash of a Ukrainian pas- Ali Khamenei ordered the country’s conditions, Iranians are unlikely to correspondent. operation senger jet, in which 57 Canadians armed forces to address “shortcom- quietly accept their government’s Council. were among the 176 people killed. ings” and Foreign Minister Moham- responsibility in the catastrophe. P3,6,8,16-17 Erdogan and Putin’s call for Libya ceasefire rejected, reports of first Turkish casualties The Arab Weekly staff give the two countries a bigger role and Putin, tried and failed to hijack a government it has gained a signifi- A 2010 file picture shows in Libya as well as more leverage on German initiative to organise a peace cant source for the purchase of Turk- Oman’s Sultan Qaboos bin Said Europe, which is concerned about a conference in Berlin. ish military hardware and influence Al Said saluting at the start of a Tunis flow of illegal migrants from Libya’s Turkey and Russia have developed in the future of Eastern Mediterra- military parade at a stadium in coast to its southern shores. Turkey a close relationship in recent years nean gas,” said Simon Waldman, an Muscat. (AFP) fforts by Turkey and Russia also hopes the alliance with Russia in that seeks to maximise joint benefits associate fellow at the Henry Jackson to put aside conflicting in- Libya will strengthen Ankara’s posi- despite supporting opposing sides in Society. “Today we lost a historic and re- terests in Libya and present tion in a row with its neighbours over the Syrian war. In November, Erdogan signed a naissance figure of high class with E themselves as peacemakers the ownership of natural gas reserves maritime delimitation agreement the death of Sultan Qaboos,” UAE suffered a major setback when a in the Eastern Mediterranean. with Sarraj that outraged Greece, Minister of State for Foreign Affairs joint bid to enforce a ceasefire in the Turkey backs Fayez al-Sarraj’s Trip- Ankara is seeking Egypt and Cyprus because it gives Anwar Gargash wrote on Twitter. North African country fell flat amid oli-based internationally recognised geostrategic and Turkey exploration rights in a gas- Dubai ruler Sheikh Mohammed bin reports of Turkish casualties in the Government of National Accord and economic advantages rich area of the Mediterranean where Rashid al-Maktoum in a Twitter post conflict. has said it would send military advis- through intervention in the three countries have significant described Sultan Qaboos as the sul- Field-Marshal Khalifa Haftar’s ers, mercenaries and possibly troops Libya. interests. tan of honour, affection and wisdom. eastern-based Libyan National Army to reinforce its support. Russian mili- As Erdogan met with Putin on Jan- “Sultan Qaboos had such charis- (LNA) rejected the Turkish-Russian tary contractors have been said to be While Putin is the most important uary 8, France, Greece, Egypt and Cy- matic authority and became so syn- ceasefire call and said it would con- deployed alongside the LNA, which ally of Syrian President Bashar Assad, prus declared “null and void” agree- onymous with Oman as a modern tinue its campaign to oust the gov- took control of Sirte, a strategically Erdogan has backed militant groups ments between Ankara and Libya nation-state that it will naturally be ernment in Tripoli. important city in the centre of Libya’s fighting the Damascus government assigning Turkey rights over a vast difficult for any successor to repli- The Libya Review website, based Mediterranean coastline, in a rapid but the arrangements reached in Syr- area of the Eastern Mediterranean. A cate that, at least at the beginning,” in Tripoli, said three Turkish soldiers advance January 7 and was seeking ia seem difficult to duplicate in Libya. statement by the foreign ministers of Kristian Coates Ulrichsen, of Rice had been killed in Libya. There was to consolidate gains. Beside the economic benefits it the four countries said the controver- University’s Baker Institute, told no official statement from the Turk- Despite being on different sides of sees in Libya’s reconstruction, Anka- sial agreements undermined regional Reuters. ish government. The Syrian Observa- the conflict, Turkish President Recep ra is seeking other advantages. stability. tory for Human Rights, a war monitor Tayyip Erdogan and Russian Presi- “By sending troops (and Turkey- Mohammed Alkhereiji is Gulf close to the Syrian opposition, said dent Vladimir Putin issued a call for backed Syrian fighters), Turkey has See full version in www. section editor of The Arab Weekly. “several” Syrian fighters had been a ceasefire in Libya during a meeting managed to give itself a place on the thearabweekly.com killed in clashes in Libya. January 8 in Istanbul. table when the future of Libya is dis- See full version in www.