Man dubbed 'Jihadi Jack' urges all Britons to convert to Islam as he brands PM 'evil creature' 'Jihadi Jack' Letts interview: Former Oxford schoolboy calls on British people to convert to Islam as he brands David Cameron an 'evil creature'

Man dubbed 'Jihadi Jack' urges all Britons to convert to Islam as he brands PM 'evil creature'

'Jihadi Jack' Letts interview: Former Oxford schoolboy calls on British people to convert to Islam as he brands David Cameron an 'evil creature'

Exclusive: Mr Letts tells The Independent that he is not a member of Isis but says he fears arrest if he returns to the UK

Jack Letts, in a picture he posted on Facebook, near the Tabqa Dam in Syria Facebook

A former Oxford schoolboy has denied reports he has joined Isis in an exclusive interview with The Independent – but labelled David Cameron "an evil creature"and described the US-led bombing of Syria as a “diseased” plot designed to kill off all Muslims "one by one".
In his first interview since reports accused him of becoming the first white British man to travel to Syria and join the jihadist group, Jack Letts insists he has travelled to the so-called Islamic State to spread the word of Allah and help "take down" the government of Bashar al-Assad.
"I can speak Arabic and English," he said. "That’s like my only skill. I’ve spent efforts to take down the Syrian government."
In the interview, conducted over messaging app Telegram, Mr Letts, who has been widely dubbed "Jihadi Jack", confirms he is still in Syria and admits he will probably be put in prison if he tries to return to the UK.
He also calls on British people to convert to Islam and says David Cameron is "f not actually mentally ill… [then] an evil creature".
"If Britain stopped bombing Muslims in Syria, the Muslims in Syria would stop attacking them... is that hard to understand?" he says.
The 20-year-old says Isis has been subjected to a "media frenzy", insisting militants are not committing atrocities in Syria as bad as the US-led coalition, which has been bombing positions in the country for the past 18 months.
"The US-led coalition is a plan concocted in the diseased hearts and minds of some of Allah's enemies," he says.
"A plot with the intention of collecting sincere Muslims who believe in taking action for their religion in one place and then killing them off one by one.
"Despite the media frenzy surrounding them, I’ve never seen Isis kill Muslim kids. I have, however, seen the coalition do so."
On Sunday, Mr Letts was named as having joined the jihadist group. The reports were accompanied by a picture of him seemingly giving the one-fingered salute many associate with Isis.
Mr Letts, who attended Cherwell School in Oxford, converted to Islam as a teenager and left his home more than a year ago. He was accused of admitting to his parents that he was with the group in September 2014.
He subsequently posted private messages to hisFacebook account - also seen by The Independent - in which he accused the press of telling lies about him because of his Islamic faith. His Facebook account appears to have since been suspended.
His parents, John and Sally Letts, an organic farmer and former books editor respectively, have described him as "kind, funny and gentle", and said they feel "betrayed" by the media coverage of their son.
There is no way of corroborating the accuracy of Mr Letts’ claims.
In order to confirm his identity, The Independent asked Mr Letts to provide a sound recording of his voice, which was then verified with two unrelated people who know him. They both said it was Mr Letts' voice.
While there is no indication Jack Letts was speaking while under duress during the interview, it has not been possible to verify for certain that his answers were given with no immediate influence from other parties.
Mr Letts' parents have not responded to The Independent's request for comment.
A full transcript of the interview is provided below.
What made you leave the UK? What was the deciding factor?
To come to Syria. To leave dar al kufr [the land of disbelievers].
Why are you out in Syria?
To spread the religion of Allah and to help Muslims. I can speak Arabic and English. That’s like my only skill. I’ve spent efforts to take down the Syrian government. That’s all I want to say
There have been reports in the UK that you've joined Isis, what do you make of that?
I’ve made a clear response to this already. If you’re gonna ask me questions, I’m not going to repeat something I’ve already addressed, Insha’Allah.
Have you joined Isis?
I’m not Isis, but I believe in the Sharia. I believe we should follow Islam how the first Muslims did.
I also think that whatever I say, the media will probably freestyle with it and make up more nicknames for me as a result of the void they have in their lives.
What do you think about Isis? Can you give us an insight into what's going on Syria with Isis? They've recently released a video saying they'll attack the UK - what are your thoughts on that?
I’m doing my own thing. I don’t focus that much on what Isis does. Also this may sound strange but this is genuinely the first time someone’s told me they threatened to attack the UK, which is probably a bit embarrassing, seeing as I’m in Syria and you’d expect I’d hear these things. If Britain stopped bombing Muslims in Syria the Muslims in Syria would stop attacking them. Is that hard to understand?
What do you think of the treatment of Muslims in Syria?
The Muslims in Syria are burned alive, raped, abused, imprisoned and much more. I also think that some of Muslims I met here are living like walking mountains. Full of honour.
Who do you think is responsible?
I think a number of different people/nations are responsible. Bashaar and his buddies, Russia and their buddies etc. The media.
Do you think you'll ever come back to Britain? Also - do you have a message to people in Britain?
They won’t let me come back without putting me in prison probably. I would like to make it clear that David Cameron, if not actually mentally ill, is an evil creature who failed to understand his own existence correctly. With this foundation as his character, he ended up chatting rubbish and lying his way into power before taking out what, I expect, is built-up stress from being bullied for his forehead at school, on the rest of the world with the weapons his buddy America gave him.
My message for them is to embrace Islam. To think, well, did this universe come from nothing or did it create itself? To not be confused by the media or the fact that the Koran is in Arabic etc. Islam is the same religion of all the prophets and Allah decided to send the final prophet in Makkah. Leave your worship of money, celebrities, and other filth and direct all worship to the one who truly deserves it. I hope like this you will realise why people sacrifice all they have for the religion of Mohamed (Peace be upon him). Learn the declaration of faith, understand it, say it sincerely and then act by it. That’s how you will succeed.
Can I ask if you agree with what Isis is doing? And if you have plans to join Isis? What are the aspects you agree with and disagree with?
I believe in ruling by the Sharia.
Can I ask you your thoughts towards the US-led coalition? And towards Isis?
I believe the US-led coalition is a plan concocted in the diseased hearts and minds of some of Allah's enemies. A plot with the intention of collecting sincere Muslims who believe in taking action for their religion in one place and then killing them off one by one. It’s fuelled by their hatred for the truth and their sickening world view that even non-Muslims hate them for. Of course, I differ with any one of my Muslim brothers who makes a mistake with regards to his mistake, and they remain my brother as long as they don’t commit disbelief. Regardless of who they are. But I believe the US and her bedfellows use things like Isis to alienate their enemies and dehumanise the brothers and sisters they present to their dead-hearted pilots as target practice, which, I suppose, leads us back to their hatred of Islam and the Muslims.
I’ve seen Muslims burned alive as a result of what the US calls 'hellfire missiles'. I’ve seen the little girls that lived around the corner from me at my old house hide from American jets and plugging their ears from the sound. Isis has huge mistakes, I don’t deny that, but the coalition has far worse mistakes. As a separate point, despite the media frenzy surrounding them, I’ve never seen Isis kill Muslim kids. I have, however, seen the coalition do so.

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Turkey summons Russian ambassador, claiming Su-34 fighter jet violated airspace

Turkey summons Russian ambassador, claiming jet violated airspace

A Russian Sukhoi Su-34 bomber lands at the Russian Hmeimim military base in Latakia province, in the northwest of Syria, on 16 December, 2015 PAUL GYPTEAU/AFP/Getty Images

Turkey has summoned the Russian ambassador to Ankara, saying a Russian Su-34 fighter jet has violated its airspace.
In a statement, the foreign ministry said the jet had been warned in Russian and English before it entered Turkish airspace on Friday.
It called the alleged violation "a type of irresponsible behaviour" and warned it would hold Russia "fully responsible" for all "undesirable grave consequences" which may follow, Russia Today reports.
Tensions have remained high between the two countries after Turkey shot down a Russian Su-24 jet after it entered Turkish airspace in November.
In response, Vladimir Putin signed a decree imposing a number of sanctions against Turkey.
Russia has been conducting air strikes against troops fighting Syrian President Bashar al-Assad since September.
The foreign ministry said it views the violation as a clear sign Russia is seeking to escalate tensions with Turkey.
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Hand guns, assault rifles, red wine and pasta: Inside a secret underground Mafia lair

Police arrest two of Italy's 'most wanted' mafia members in underground bunker stocked with guns, pasta and red wine

Fugitives Giuseppe Ferraro, 47, and Giuseppe Crea, 37, were found sleeping in a underground bunker

The walls were lined with about dozens of automatic weapons, including pump-action shotguns, pistols and an AK-47 assault rifle AP

After years of skirmishes and close calls, two of Italy's most dangerous fugitives have been caught by police in an underground bunker – where they discovered the most Mafia things ever: guns, pasta and ricotta cheese.

According to Italian news agency Ansa, police found and arrested mobsters Giuseppe Ferraro, 47, and Giuseppe Crea, 37, in the countryside of southern Italy’s Calabria region. The pair, who are part of the dangerous criminal organisation 'Ndrangheta, were reported to be sleeping at the time.

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The 'Ndrangheta mafia – formed in the 1860s – and are known participate in kidnappings, corruption, drug trafficking, gambling and murders, according to the FBI. The majority of their 100-200 members in the United States are based in New York and Florida.

Ferraro, a fugitive since 1998, was found guilty of murder and Mafia association decades ago. Crea was convicted of Mafia association and had been on the run for nine years. Their capture is the result of months of police investigation.

The underground hideout, the entrance of which was concealed by bushes and trees, was equipped with a kitchen and bathroom. Its inner walls were lined with about dozens of automatic weapons, including pump-action shotguns, pistols and an AK-47 assault rifle.

One of the prosecutors in the operation, Federico Cafiero De Raho, remarked: “They were living like animals, a life of separation and cold.”

The number of weapons suggested that the gangsters were ready for “war”, said the prosecutor. “It confirms how dangerous these people are. They are two of Italy's most wanted fugitives.”

Angelino Alfano, the country’s interior minister, said of their arrest: "Today is another wonder day for everyone and for the country because justice has won."
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Unions Lean Democratic, but Donald Trump Gets Members’ Attention Unions Lean Democratic, but Donald Trump Gets Members’ Attention

Labor Leaders Fear Trump’s Appeal With Rank and File

By NOAM SCHEIBER

Some union leaders are anxious that Donald J. Trump, with his unapologetically populist positions on certain economic issues, may draw an unusually large number of union voters in a general election matchup.

Unions Lean Democratic, but Donald Trump Gets Members’ Attention

By NOAM SCHEIBERJAN. 29, 2016

Ryan Leenders, a member of the International Association of Machinists in Washington State, estimated that one-quarter to one-third of his factory’s union workers were supporters of Donald J. Trump. Credit Mike Kane for The New York Times

WASHINGTON — Of all the voters who might be expected to resist the charms of Donald J. Trump, the two million members of the Service Employees International Union would most likely be near the top of the list.

The union, which endorsed Hillary Clinton in November, is widely regarded as one of the more progressive in the labor movement. It skews female and racially diverse — roughly the opposite of a Trump rally, in other words.

But the union’s president, Mary Kay Henry, acknowledged that Mr. Trump holds appeal even for some of her members. “There is deep economic anxiety among our members and the people we’re trying to organize that I believe Donald Trump’s message is tapping into,” Ms. Henry said.

In expressing her concern, Ms. Henry reflected a different form of anxiety that is weighing on some union leaders and Democratic operatives: their fear that Mr. Trump, if not effectively countered, may draw an unusually large number of union voters in a possible general election matchup. This could, in turn, bolster Republicans in swing states like Ohio, Pennsylvania, Michigan and Wisconsin, all of which President Obama won twice.

The source of the attraction to Mr. Trump, say union members and leaders, is manifold: the candidate’s unapologetically populist positions on certain economic issues, particularly trade; a frustration with the impotence of conventional politicians; and above all, a sense that he rejects the norms of Washington discourse.

“They feel he’s the one guy who’s saying what’s on people’s minds,” Thomas Hanify, the president of the Indiana state firefighters union, said of his rank and file.

Mr. Hanify said that Mr. Trump has so far dominated the “firehouse chatter” in his state. While he allowed that his members tilt Republican, he estimated that most followed the lead of the union’s international leadership and supported Mr. Obama in 2008 and 2012.

Ms. Henry and other labor leaders remain confident that they can keep their members in the fold by making a case that the Republicans’ economic agenda, including Mr. Trump’s, runs counter to the interests of working people. But they also see Mr. Trump as posing particular risks.

“Anyone who talks about dividing people in the country as a solution is a threat to the country, to democracy, the economy, and to working people, and we take every one of those seriously,” said Richard L. Trumka, the president of the A.F.L.-C.I.O.

The potential pairing of Mr. Trump and union members could be helped along by a sense that Mr. Trump, unlike more conventional Republicans, has historically enjoyed a cordial relationship with labor on many of his real estate projects.

“He has put his fair share into hiring union people,” said Richard Sabato, the president of a building and construction trades council in northern New Jersey. “He’s done that in Manhattan, in New Jersey.”

But that is not always the case. The owners of Trump International Hotel Las Vegas filed objections to a recent vote by roughly 500 of its workers to unionize, and the National Labor Relations Board has found merit to the claims that the hotel violated workers’ labor rights. (The Trump campaign did not respond to requests for comment.)

Mr. Sabato said that his members, who lean Republican but in many cases voted for Mr. Obama, would “march behind” Mr. Trump on the issue of illegal immigration.

Even more important for many union members has been the issue of economic globalization. Mr. Trump has railed against the Trans-Pacific Partnership, the 12-country trade deal the administration finished negotiating last year. And he has bemoaned the administration’s failure to stand up to what he and many union members see as China’s mercantilist policies.

He has also fulminated against plans by the company that owns Nabisco to shift some production to Mexico — “I love Oreos,” he said, “I will never eat them again” — and vowed to impose a punishing tariff on imports of Ford cars unless the company canceled a $2.5 billion investment in plants in that country.

“We like that he does not support TPP, that he has taken the position that there should be trade tariffs for a company that moves jobs overseas,” said Ryan Leenders, 30, a member of the International Association of Machinists in Washington State. Mr. Leenders, who estimated that one-quarter to one-third of his factory’s union workers were Trump supporters, said he voted for Mr. Obama in 2008 and wrote in Ron Paul in 2012.

Reflecting the anti-establishment mood that has engulfed parts of the labor movement, Mr. Leenders said he believed that more than half of his union’s workers support Senator Bernie Sanders, while very few support Mrs. Clinton, despite the fact that the machinists union endorsed her last summer. (A machinists spokesman said that, “At this point, any estimates of support for a candidate are more a passing snapshot of popularity.”)

Many union officials are grappling with a similar dynamic, including the Teamsters, whose members have a “Teamsters for Trump” Facebook page, with more than 650 likes.

John Bulgaro, the president of Teamsters Local 294 in Albany, said that Mr. Trump had generated excitement among his members, but that “a lot of people like Bernie Sanders.” He cautioned that they would need to hear more about Mr. Trump’s position on labor rights.

To be sure, polling of union voters shows that Mrs. Clinton remains broadly popular and would carry most Sanders supporters in a matchup against Mr. Trump. But the same polling suggests that Mr. Trump could perform unusually well among these voters for a Republican nominee.

Christopher M. Shelton, the president of the Communications Workers of America, which endorsed Mr. Sanders in December, said that while polling of his members showed Mr. Trump’s support lagging far behind support for Mr. Sanders and Mrs. Clinton, it was higher than Republican presidential candidates typically net.

Despite Mr. Trump’s appeal, particularly among white working-class men, longtime labor officials and political operatives point out that Mr. Trump’s popularity before a single primary vote has been cast is a vastly different proposition than whether he would be able to retain that support in the fall.

“In every election around this time there are stories suggesting that union members will defect — ‘Oh, white union men won’t vote for Obama,’” Steve Rosenthal, a former political director of the A.F.L.-C.I.O. and progressive political organizer, wrote in an email response to questions.

In the end, Mr. Rosenthal said, union voters almost always end up voting overwhelmingly Democratic in presidential elections. White male union members favored Mr. Obama in 2008, and John Kerry in 2004, by roughly 20 percentage points, according to polling commissioned by the A.F.L.-C.I.O., even as white men over all favored the Republican candidate by a large margin.

Mr. Rosenthal said that unions have proved adept at building support among their members for Democratic nominees who generally embrace their economic agenda and at undermining support for Republicans.

In a recent study of working-class voters in Ohio and Pennsylvania based on over 1,500 interviews, Working America, a labor-affiliated group, found genuine support for Mr. Trump among Democrats. But Matt Morrison, the group’s deputy director, said that many Trump supporters were receptive to information that suggested a gap between the candidate’s words and deeds.

“Just delivering a little bit of new information, we could see that his brand takes a hit,” Mr. Morrison said, referring to reports that Mr. Trump may have used undocumented workers on some of his development projects.

Other experts cautioned that even if Mr. Trump were to retain substantial support among white male union members without college degrees, that would not necessarily yield him an electoral advantage in November if he became the Republican nominee.

The voters whom labor unions must typically work the hardest to turn out, like younger voters and Latinos, “are groups that will be highly motivated” against Mr. Trump, said Guy Molyneux, a pollster who has surveyed union voters extensively over the years.

Mr. Molyneux also said that many of the union voters attracted by Mr. Trump were among the 30 percent of union voters who already vote reliably Republican.

Still, unlike most other Republicans, whose appeal to union voters rarely extends beyond cultural issues like gun rights, Mr. Trump’s economic pronouncements have a greater potential to scramble the standard political calculus.

“I do think that Trump is a threat,” said Mike Lux, a progressive activist who is a former labor official and veteran of President Bill Clinton’s administration. “If the Democratic nominee is Hillary, and she’s mushy at all on the trade issue, Trump will take that issue and drive it and drive it and drive it.”

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Labor Leaders Fear Trump’s Appeal With Rank and File Unions Lean Democratic, but Donald Trump Gets Members’ Attention

Labor Leaders Fear Trump’s Appeal With Rank and File

By NOAM SCHEIBER

Unions Lean Democratic, but Donald Trump Gets Members’ Attention

By NOAM SCHEIBERJAN. 29, 2016

“They feel he’s the one guy who’s saying what’s on people’s minds,” Thomas Hanify, the president of the Indiana state firefighters union, said of his rank and file.

Mr. Sabato said that his members, who lean Republican but in many cases voted for Mr. Obama, would “march behind” Mr. Trump on the issue of illegal immigration.

Many union officials are grappling with a similar dynamic, including the Teamsters, whose members have a “Teamsters for Trump” Facebook page, with more than 650 likes.

Mr. Molyneux also said that many of the union voters attracted by Mr. Trump were among the 30 percent of union voters who already vote reliably Republican.

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Berlin gegen Beteiligung an humanitärer Hilfe aus der Luft in Syrien

30/01/2016 - 14:20

Berlin gegen Beteiligung an humanitärer Hilfe aus der Luft in Syrien

30 Jan 2016

0

afp.com / UNICEF /

Eine Unicef-Helferin untersucht ein Kind in Madaja

Das Schicksal der hungerleidenden Menschen im belagerten Madaja ist zum Symbol für den Schrecken des syrischen Bürgerkriegs geworden: In der Stadt sind nach Angaben von Ärzte ohne Grenzen weitere 16 Menschen an Unterernährung gestorben. Die Zahl der Hungertoten sei damit seit Anfang Dezember auf mindestens 46 gestiegen.
"Die wirkliche Zahl ist höchstwahrscheinlich höher", teilte die Hilfsorganisation am Samstag der Nachrichtenagentur AFP mit. Ärzte ohne Grenzen lägen Berichte vor, wonach Menschen in ihren Häusern an Hunger sterben.
Die in der Provinz Damaskus gelegene Stadt wird seit einem halben Jahr von Regierungstruppen belagert. Damit die rund 42.000 Einwohner Madaja nicht verlassen, haben die Soldaten von Machthaber Baschar al-Assad rund um die Stadt Minen gelegt.
Im Fokus internationaler Hilfsorganisationen stehen außerdem die ebenfalls von regierungstreuen Truppen belagerte Stadt Sabadani sowie die durch oppositionelle Kämpfer von Versorgungslieferungen abgeschnittenen Städte Fua und Kafraja. Trotz einer im vergangenen September geschlossenen Vereinbarung über die Lieferung von Hilfsgütern wurden Helfer bislang kaum durchgelassen.
Das Auswärtige Amt beobachtet die Lage der Bewohner mit Beunruhigung und nennt die Situation "besorgniserregend". Der von der Assad-Regierung genehmigte Zugang für Helfer nach Madaja stelle bisher nur einen Einzelfall dar, heißt es in einem AFP vorliegenden Schreiben des Staatsministers im Auswärtigen Amt, Michael Roth (SPD), an die Grünen-Abgeordnete Franziska Brantner.
"Zugänge zu anderen belagerten Gebieten werden insbesondere aufgrund der fehlenden Zustimmung des Regimes immer wieder verwehrt", heißt es in dem Brief weiter. "Erzielte Öffnungen sind nicht auf Dauer angelegt, sondern werden zum Teil sogar wieder zurückgenommen."
Für Außenminister Frank-Walter Steinmeier (SPD) ist die Situation der Menschen in den belagerten Städten ein Knackpunkt bei den am Freitag in Genf aufgenommenen Syrien-Friedensgesprächen. Damit die Verhandlungen Erfolg haben könnten, sei es "dringend notwendig, dass es im humanitären Bereich echte Fortschritte gibt", sagte Steinmeier der "Welt am Sonntag". Unter anderem müssten die eingeschlossenen Gebiete mit Nahrung und Medikamenten versorgt werden.
Die UNO hatte dazu aufgerufen, eine Versorgung der hungerleidenden Menschen in den eingeschlossenen syrischen Städten aus der Luft zu prüfen. Doch die Bundesregierung lehnt eine Beteiligung der Bundeswehr an einer solchen Luftbrücke ab. "Ein Einsatz der Bundeswehr zur humanitären Versorgung aus der Luft ist derzeit nicht geplant", teilte Roth in seinem Schreiben an Brantner mit.
Die Grünen-Politikerin kritisierte die Haltung der Bundesregierung. "In den vergangenen Jahren hat der UN-Sicherheitsrat mehrfach einstimmig Resolutionen verabschiedet, die die Versorgung der Zivilbevölkerung mit humanitärer Hilfe einfordern", sagte Brantner zu AFP. "Da dies auf dem Landweg fast immer scheitert, muss auch der syrische Luftraum für die Lieferung von Hilfsgütern genutzt werden. Hier sollte Deutschland sich nicht verweigern."
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Syrisches Oppositionsbündnis nun doch bei Gesprächen in Genf

30/01/2016 - 15:00

Syrisches Oppositionsbündnis nun doch bei Gesprächen in Genf

30 Jan 2016

AFP / HANDOUT

Baschar al Dschaafari (r.) und Staffan de Mistura

Fast fünf Jahre nach dem Beginn des syrischen Bürgerkriegs mit mehr als 260.000 Toten kommt es doch noch zu einem Dialog der Konfliktparteien, wenn auch nur indirekt. Nach langem Zögern kündigte das Hohe Verhandlungskomitee (HNC), ein Bündnis bewaffneter und ziviler Gegner der syrischen Regierung, für Samstagabend sein Eintreffen in Genf an. Dort hatten bereits am Freitag Vertreter der syrischen Regierung mit UN-Vermittler Staffan de Mistura gesprochen.
Ein HNC-Sprecher sagte, eine Delegation des Bündnisses werde wahrscheinlich am Sonntag mit de Mistura zusammentreffen. HNC-Kreisen zufolge setzt sich die Abordnung aus 17 Unterhändlern und 25 weiteren HNC-Vertretern zusammen. Im Kurzbotschaftendienst Twitter verkündete die Allianz, sie beteilige sich in Genf an "Diskussionen, nicht Verhandlungen".
Das von Saudi-Arabien geförderte Bündnis hatte zuvor tagelang in Riad über eine Teilnahme an den Genfer Gesprächen beraten. Als Vorbedingungen hatte es zuvor stets die Beendigung von Luftangriffen auf Zivilisten sowie Belagerungen syrischer Städte durch die Armee genannt.
HNC-Delegationsleiter Assaad al-Soabi sagte dem Sender Sky News Arabia am Freitagabend, die Opposition habe Zusagen für humanitäre Maßnahmen von den USA und Saudi-Arabien erhalten. Er bezog sich dabei auf ein Ende der Bombardierung ziviler Gebiete und einen Zugang zu belagerten Orten.
Zu Moskaus großem Missfallen wurde die kurdische Partei der Demokratischen Union (PYD) nicht nach Genf eingeladen. Sie gilt mit ihrem bewaffneten Arm als Speerspitze im Kampf gegen die Dschihadistenmiliz Islamischer Staat (IS) im Norden Syriens. Ankara sieht in der PYD den syrischen Ableger der in der Türkei verbotenen Arbeiterpartei Kurdistans (PKK). PYD-Vertreter reisten am Freitag aus Genf ab. Auch der Syrische Demokratische Rat, dem kurdische, arabische und christliche Kräfte angehören, ist in Genf nicht vertreten.
Steinmeier sagte der "Welt am Sonntag", er erwarte "schwierige Verhandlungswochen". Es werde "auch Rückschläge geben". Die Vorbehalte der syrischen Opposition könne er verstehen. Aber nur am Verhandlungstisch könne sich zeigen, "ob beide Seiten bereit sind, schmerzhafte Kompromisse einzugehen".
Unterdessen gab die Hilfsorganisation "Ärzte ohne Grenzen" bekannt, in der von der syrischen Armee belagerten Stadt Madaja an der Grenze zum Libanon seien seit Eintreffen eines Hilfskonvois Mitte des Monats weitere 16 Menschen verhungert. Ingesamt waren es demnach seit Dezember 46. Dutzende seien vom Hungertod bedroht.
Die Bundesregierung lehnt eine Beteiligung der Bundeswehr an einer humanitären Versorgung hilfsbedürftiger Menschen in Syrien aus der Luft ab. "Ein Einsatz der Bundeswehr zur humanitären Versorgung aus der Luft ist derzeit nicht geplant", teilte der Staatsminister im Auswärtigen Amt, Michael Roth, in einer der Nachrichtenagentur AFP vorliegenden Antwort auf eine Anfrage der Grünen mit.
Die Genfer Gespräche sollen indirekt geführt werden - das heißt, die Delegationen befinden sich in getrennten Sälen, UN-Vermittler pendeln zwischen ihnen hin und her. Grundlage des Dialogs ist eine Resolution des UN-Sicherheitsrats vom 18. Dezember. Diese sieht einen Zeitplan zur Beendigung des Konflikts mit einem Waffenstillstand, der Bildung einer Übergangsregierung innerhalb von sechs Monaten, der Ausarbeitung einer neuen Verfassung und Wahlen innerhalb von 18 Monaten vor. Die letzten Syrien-Gespräche waren im Februar 2014 ergebnislos zu Ende gegangen.
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"Spiegel": BND nutzt Flüchtlinge als Informanten

30 Jan 2016

afp.com / dpa / Michael Kappeler

BND nutzte Asylbewerber als Informanten

Der Bundesnachrichtendienst (BND) und das Bundesamt für Verfassungsschutz sind dem "Spiegel" zufolge in den Jahren 2000 bis 2013 an 850 Asylbewerber herangetreten, um von ihnen nachrichtendienstliche Informationen abzuschöpfen. Das berichtete das Nachrichtenmagazin am Samstag unter Berufung auf eine Antwort der Bundesregierung auf eine Anfrage der Linken.
Dem Bericht zufolge ist diese Praxis umstritten, da den Flüchtlingen oft ein Schutzstatus zugesprochen wurde, den sie unter Umständen ohne die Kooperation nicht hätten erhalten können. Womöglich seien potenzielle Informanten mit der rechtlichen Besserstellung gelockt worden.
Verantwortlich war demnach die inzwischen aufgelöste "Hauptstelle für Befragungswesen" des BND. Allerdings würden vom BND weiterhin Flüchtlinge auf "freiwilliger Basis" als Informanten genutzt, berichtete der "Spiegel" unter Berufung auf Informationen aus Sicherheitskreisen.
Die Linken-Abgeordnete Martina Renner kritisierte das Vorgehen. "Wenn Geheimdienste fortgesetzt Flüchtlinge unter Druck setzen, ist das nicht nur moralisch verwerflich", sagte sie dem "Spiegel". "Auch der Wahrheitsgehalt der so gewonnenen Informationen muss in Zweifel gezogen werden."
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Procurando minha galera