ABU DHABI // Dr Anwar Gargash, the Minister of State for Foreign Affairs, expressed “astonishment” yesterday at accusations made by the US vice president Joseph Biden that the UAE helped arm Syrian extremists.
Mr Biden, speaking at the John F Kennedy Jr Forum at Harvard University’s Institute of Politics, blamed the US’s Sunni allies for funding and arming extremists in Syria. He specifically named Turkey, Saudi Arabia and the UAE.
“Our allies in the region were our largest problem in Syria,” he said, claiming that Turkey, Saudi Arabia and the UAE were “so determined to take down Assad,” that in a sense they started a “proxy Sunni-Shia war” by pouring “hundreds of millions of dollars and tens of thousands of tons of weapons” towards anyone who would fight against Assad.
“And we could not convince our colleagues to stop supplying them,” said Mr Biden. “Except that the people who were being supplied were Al Nusra and Al Qaeda and the extremist elements of jihadis coming from other parts of the world.”
But Dr Gargash hit back yesterday, saying that these statements “are far from the truth, especially with relation to the UAE’s role in confronting extremism and terrorism and its clear and advanced position in recognising the dangers, including the danger of financing terrorism and terrorist groups”.
Dr Gargash said that Mr Biden had “ignored the steps and effective measures” taken by the UAE and its clearly announced position in the past about financing terrorism, “which comes as part of a more comprehensive political stand against this plague”, the state news agency, Wam, reported.
The UAE, Saudi Arabia, Jordan, Bahrain and Qatar all took part in US-led airstrikes at the end of last month, with the UAE Air Force launching its first strikes against ISIL targets on September 22.
On Saturday, Mr Biden’s office said that “the vice president apologised for any implication that Turkey or other allies and partners in the region had intentionally supplied or facilitated the growth of ISIL or other violent extremists in Syria”.
However, Dr Gargash called for a clarification of Mr Biden’s statement.
He said it gave a negative and inaccurate impression of the UAE and its track record in fighting terror – particularly at a time when the country is supporting efforts aimed at confronting ISIL.
“The UAE’s counter-terrorism approach reflects a pioneering national commitment that recognises the extent of the danger posed by terrorism to the region and to its people,” Dr Gargash said.
newsdesk@thenational.ae
* Additional reporting by AFP
Picture of Joumblatt and Hariri breaking bread sets Twitter alight
Mr Joumblatt’s pessimism regarding the Lebanese political situation didn’t stop him from enjoying a cheerful dinner on Tuesday with several politicians including Mr Hariri.
Caretaker Culture Minister Ghattas Khoury tweeted a picture of the group sitting around a table at a discrete fish restaurant in Beirut’s upscale Sodeco area.
Mr Joumblatt told The National that the fish served at Kelly’s Fish lounge had been very good.
“They really enjoyed their time”, remembers the restaurant owner. “Mr Hariri was taking selfies with everybody”.
Mr Hariri and Mr Joumblatt often have dinner together to discuss recent political developments.
Mr Joumblatt was a close ally of Mr Hariri’s assassinated father, former prime minister Rafik Hariri. The pair were leading figures in the political grouping against the 15-year Syrian occupation of Lebanon that ended after mass protests in 2005 in the wake of Rafik Hariri’s murder. After the younger Hariri took over his father’s mantle in 2004, the relationship with Mr Joumblatt endured.
However, the pair have not always been so close. In the run-up to the election last year, Messrs Hariri and Joumblatt went months without speaking over an argument regarding the new proportional electoral law to be used for the first time. Mr Joumblatt worried that a proportional system, which Mr Hariri backed, would see the influence of his small sect diminished.
With so much of Lebanese politics agreed in late-night meetings behind closed doors, the media and pundits put significant weight on how regularly, where and with who senior politicians meet.
In the picture, alongside Messrs Khoury and Hariri were Mr Joumbatt and his wife Nora, PSP politician Wael Abou Faour and Egyptian ambassador to Lebanon Nazih el Nagari.
The picture of the dinner led to a flurry of excitement on Twitter that it signified an imminent government formation. “God willing, white smoke will rise soon and Walid Beik [a nickname for Walid Joumblatt] will accept to give up the minister of industry”, one user replied to the tweet. “Blessings to you…We would like you to form a cabinet”, wrote another.
The next few days will be crucial in determining whether these wishes come true.
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