Al-Nusra Front Frees 45 U.N. Peacekeepers Held for Two Weeks

The United Nations reported 45 Fijian peacekeepers held since August 28 by al-Nusra Front have been released and are in good condition. The peacekeepers were part of the U.N. Disengagement and Observation Force monitoring the cease-fire line between Israel and Syria in the Golan Heights. They were captured during clashes between rebel groups and Syrian government forces near the Quneitra crossing. Fijian authorities said al-Nusra Front’s initial demands included being taken off the United Nations’ terrorist list, humanitarian aid deliveries to parts of Syria, and compensation for three fighters killed in clashes with UNDOF. A U.N. spokesman said no ransom was requested nor paid for the return of the peacekeepers and Qatar claimed its mediation efforts helped to secure their release. 

Syria-Iraq

U.S. Secretary of State John Kerry is meeting with President Recep Tayyip Erdogan and Prime Minister Ahmet Davultoglu in Turkey Friday in a campaign to bolster support for a coalition to counter Islamic State militants. The visit has come a day after Kerry met in Saudi Arabia with representatives from 10 Arab countries, which committed to the U.S. strategy to destroy the militant group. They issued a joint communiqué vowing to stop the flow of fighters to the group and cut off its financing. Turkey was at the meeting in Saudi Arabia, but did not sign the communiqué. Syria, Iran, and Russia expressed concerns over President Barack Obama’s strategy, with the Russian Foreign Ministry saying a military action without a U.N. Security Council resolution would be a violation of international law. Meanwhile, the CIA said the Islamic State group could have up to 31,000 fighters, which is three times greater than its previous estimate.

Headlines

• Talks continued Thursday between the Yemeni government and Houthi rebels after parties released conflicting information about signing an agreement to end weeks of protest.
• Palestinian Authority President Mahmoud Abbas said he reached a deal with Israel and the United Nations to import construction materials for the reconstruction of Gaza.
• Bombings in three Shiite cities in Iraq and a mainly Shiite district in Baghdad killed 17 people Thursday.
• Libya’s constitutional committee is hoping to submit a draft for a referendum in December despite ongoing violence.

Arguments and Analysis

‘Confronting the Islamic State‘ (Hassan Hassan, Sada)

"These complexities will make the fight against ISIS that much more difficult. The dilemma is obvious: in areas currently ruled by ISIS, local forces are unwilling to initiate a ground-up uprising against ISIS unless the group is weakened, and it cannot be seriously weakened without help from local forces. The U.S.-led coalition will have to consider aligning with rebel groups from adjacent areas outside ISIS control, combined with effective air operations, before expecting a popular impetus against the group. A leadership role for the political opposition will be needed to make that happen. 

A main setback for the political opposition is that its relationship with even its most committed backers has turned sour, mostly because of crippling infighting. Saudi Arabia, for example, has not held any official bilateral meetings with the National Coalition since the new leadership was formed in June, and did not invite it to recent meetings, which countries like Jordan and Egypt attended, even though the discussions were about Syria and the U.S. strikes."

‘Qatar Just Isn’t That Evil‘ (David B. Roberts, New America)

"What is more likely is that Qatar wants to use its role with the likes of the Taliban and Jabhat Al Nusra as political gambits to reinforce the critical niche role that it can fulfil for important international allies. In a region that sees a major conflict every decade and where Qatar is a tiny, relatively intrinsically defenceless state, boxed in by historically belligerent, far larger states – Saudi Arabia and Iran – the central tenet of Qatar’s modern foreign policy has been to make the state as important as possible to as wide a range of important actors as possible."

— Mary Casey