Saudi Arabia and India agree to expand military ties after landmark visit

Lieutenant General Fahd Bin Abdullah Mohammed al-Mutair's visit to India underscores burgeoning ties between India and Saudi Arabia

Commander of Royal Saudi Armed Forces of Saudi Arabia Fahd Bin Abdullah Mohammed Al-Mutair (R) inspects the guard of honor prior to a meeting with India Army Chief General MM Naravane (not pictured) in New Delhi on 15 February, 2022. (AFP)

By MEE staff
Published date: 15 February 2022 

Saudi Arabia and India will expand their defence ties after a landmark meeting between Lieutenant General Fahd Bin Abdullah Mohammed al-Mutair and Indian army chief General Manoj Mukund Naravane, Indian media reported on Tuesday.

Mutair's three-day visit to Delhi, the first by a serving Royal Saudi Land Forces commander, underscored "a deepening bilateral defence cooperation between the two countries", the Indian defence ministry said.

Al-Mutair met the Indian chief of the Army Staff "for significant bilateral discussions and was briefed on security aspects," the statement said.

Mutair's visit comes 14 months after Naravane travelled to Saudi Arabia in what was then the first visit by an Indian army chief to the kingdom.

The Print, an Indian digital publication, wrote that the move "appears to represent the next step in the recent shift in relations between India and Saudi Arabia, a nation that historically had close ties with Pakistan".

"Rifts between Saudi Arabia and Pakistan were previously reported in August 2020, over the Gulf state’s position on the scrapping of Article 370 in the erstwhile state of Jammu & Kashmir," The Print said.

Article 370 of the Indian constitution gave special status to Jammu and Kashmir, a state formerly administered by India.
Why Pakistan might be about to side with Saudi Arabia against IranRead More »

Mutair's visit also comes roughly a week after Prince Abdulaziz bin Saud bin Naif, Saudi Arabia's interior minister, travelled to Pakistan for what experts say was an attempt to win over Pakistan's military and diplomatic support in its fight against Houthi rebels in Yemen, where Riyadh is leading a military coalition in support of the government against the rebels.

On Tuesday, the Organisation of Islamic Cooperation (OIC), based in Saudi Arabia, expressed deep concern for the plight of Muslims in India, following calls for genocide by Hindu right-wing leaders in January and the ongoing ban on headscarves in schools in the southern state of Karnataka. The OIC said the ongoing incidents of violence against Muslims indicated rising Islamophobia in India.

In the first three quarters of 2021, India became Saudi Arabia's second-largest trading partner.

According to the Indian government, ties with the kingdom are predicated on a string of common interests, including ending terrorism, economic development and tackling climate change.

"Defence diplomacy forms one of the major tenets of the overall relationship," the department of defence said.

Why some Iranians fear China ditched them for Saudi Arabia

News of a Riyadh-Beijing missile project is a reminder that despite their fledgling alliance, China’s loyalty to Iran has its limits

Iranian Defence Minister Hossein Dehqan saluting with Chinese counterpart Chang Wanquan during a welcome ceremony in Tehran for the latter on 14 November 2016 (AFP)

By MEE correspondent
Published date: 12 February 2022

The recent news that Saudi Arabia is building ballistic missiles with help from China reopened a decades-old foreign policy debate among Iran’s political class.

On one side stand the reformists, who push for Iran to maintain ties with both western and eastern powers.

On the other, the hardline authorities, who in recent years have grown distrustful of the West and bet on alliances with China and Russia.

Tehran was included in China’s Belt and Road initiative last year, a 25-year agreement paving the way for Chinese investment in Iran, and authorities are working on a similar agreement with Russia.

But when CNN revealed in December that US intelligence officials had been briefed on large transfers of missile technology from Beijing to Riyadh, it was hard not to see the news as a setback for the hardline camp.

Satellite images indicate the Saudis are manufacturing ballistic missiles at a test site near Dawadmi, Saudi Arabia, with the help of China, according to experts. Planet Labs PBC/AFP)

The country’s arch-rival teaming up with one of its closest eastern allies was all over Iranian media.

Critics pointed out the “paradox” of calling China “Iran’s strategic partner” while it was helping Saudi Arabia develop ballistic missiles. The hardliners sought to downplay the news.

"China has relations with both countries without interfering in the relations between Iran and Saudi Arabia, and we respect its preferences,” Mahmoud Abbaszadeh Meshkini, spokesman for the National Security and Foreign Policy Commission, said.

“We are not worried about the relationship between Beijing and Riyadh.”

But having prioritised ties with China and Russia, a reformist journalist who asked to remain anonymous fearing repercussions from authorities told MEE, “[the government] probably know that they are being discredited among the people.”

‘Look East’

The two camps have long clashed over how Tehran chooses its allies.

One of the key slogans of the 1979 Islamic Revolution was "neither East nor West".

But hardliners including current president Ebrahim Raisi have abandoned that strategy, arguing that the West has proven untrustworthy and that Iran should focus on building alliances with China and Russia.

After the US withdrawal in 2018 from the historic nuclear deal between Iran, western powers, China and Russia, limiting Iran’s nuclear proliferation in return for the removal of sanctions, Iran’s Supreme Leader Ayatollah Ali Khamenei said Iran "should look east, not west”.

“Pinning our hope on the West or Europe would belittle us as we would beg them for favours and they would do nothing," he added.

Reformists, such as ex-president Hassan Rouhani, fear however that Iran will become a pawn in a modern-day cold war if it chooses sides and, instead, push to repair ties with the US and the West while nourishing relationships in the East.

It was Rouhani and his foreign minister, Mohammad Javad Zarif, who steered Iran into the 2015 nuclear deal and a year later began the negotiations with Beijing that resulted in the 2021 agreement.

Zarif has argued that Iran can’t have one without the other, as US sanctions hinder proper implementation of the China deal.

The Raisi government returned this week to the fraught, indirect talks with the US in Vienna about the revival of the 2015 nuclear deal. But negotiators have insisted they feel under no pressure to strike a deal, telling MEE in December the ball is “in America’s court”.

Meanwhile, authorities have emphasised they are channelling efforts into strengthening ties with the East.

But the news of the Riyadh-Beijing missile collaboration was a reminder that despite their fledgling alliance, China’s loyalty to Iran has its limits.

Should Iran worry?

The boost to Saudi Arabia's military will likely “raise the level of competition between Tehran and Riyadh”, an Iran-based foreign policy journalist told MEE.

Riyadh has faced restrictions on weapons sales from its traditional US ally since the arrival of President Joe Biden in the White House, and appears to be turning to Beijing as an alternative partner on missile defence.

Analysts diverge on how this will change the Beijing-Tehran alliance.

“I do not see this cooperation seriously damaging China-Iran relations,” Samuel Ramani, an associate fellow at London-based Rusi think tank, told MEE. “Tehran is cognisant of China's policy of balancing ties between Saudi Arabia and Iran, and favouring a de-escalation of tensions between them.”

“Cooperation between Saudi Arabia and China in the missile sphere began in 1987 and has intermittently continued in the years that followed,” he added.

Iran, China and Russia hold joint naval drills in show of unity

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Saudi Arabia is clearly concerned by the growing threat of Houthi missile strikes on its territory, he said, “and the timing of the latest announcements are aimed at creating a deterrent”.

“The big question is whether China responds by aiding Iran's ballistic missile programme,” said Ramani, “but it seems as if Beijing is more inclined to support Iran's right to modernise its military and pursue self-defence capabilities, while refraining from transformative military assistance.”

A former Iranian diplomat, speaking anonymously fearing attention from the authorities, is more concerned.

“This move not only helps Saudi Arabia redress the imbalance with Iran, which has so far had the upper hand in missile power, but also damages Iran's deterrence in this region,” he told MEE.

“It also undermines the traditional belief that Iran is… the only potential and reliable strategic partner for China in the Middle East.”

Why Pakistan might be about to side with Saudi Arabia against Iran
Pakistan has traditionally remained neutral in the conflict between the Gulf kingdom and Iran. That might be about to change

Security officials and relatives attend a funeral ceremony of a slain policeman, who was killed in an attack in the border town of Chaman, Balochistan, on 28 January 2022 (AFP/Abdul Basit)

By Sal Ahmed
Published date: 7 February 2022

Saudi Interior Minister Prince Abdulaziz bin Saud bin Naif arrived in Pakistan on his day-long visit on Monday looking to secure an ally.

Saudi Arabia, which has now been embroiled in its war in Yemen since 2014, is searching for military and diplomatic support in its fight against the Iran-aligned Houthis, particularly after the US pulled its Patriot missile systems from the country last year.

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Pakistan, too, needs a friend in the region.

A recent attack by Iran-based Baloch separatists on a major Pakistani military base ended with many dead and wounded.

The Pakistani establishment is currently discussing how to respond to what it sees as Iran's efforts to destabilise the region by allowing the separatists to operate from within its borders.

It has traditionally remained neutral in the conflict between Saudi Arabia and Iran, but analysts say that may be about to change.

Middle East Eye asked experts what Saudi Arabia and Pakistan want - and need - from each other.

Firepower against the Houthis

Prince Abdulaziz is in Islamabad to test the waters and try to persuade Pakistan to take a harder stance against Iran, says Umer Karim, a visiting fellow at the Royal United Services Institute (RUSI), a British think tank.

The Saudis want help fighting the Houthis in Yemen, he told MEE. “Ideally, they want intelligence sharing and a Pakistani military brigade in Saudi Arabia, in a defensive role.”

'I am very sure that Pakistan will not send its forces to Saudi Arabia, but the country's establishment will be looking to diplomatically confront Iran'

- Kamal Alam, the Atlantic Council

Muhammad Athar Javed, director general of Pakistan House, a think tank based in Islamabad, says Saudi Arabia's security situation looks bleak, with air defence capabilities running dangerously low since the US withdrew support.

In 2021, the Houthis conducted 375 cross border attacks on Saudi Arabia, including missile and drone attacks, according to US Special Envoy to Yemen Tim Lenderking.

“They definitely want to stop Houthi missiles flying into Saudi airspace, because now Houthi targets are becoming more and more strategic, with oil refineries and oil fields, airports and shipping ports.

“Boots on the ground in Yemen would play directly into the hands of Houthis and their Iranian backers, and that's not what the Saudis want,” he added.
Halting recruitment

Another major point on Abdulaziz’s agenda is intelligence sharing.

The Saudis fear Iran will bolster Houthi numbers with mercenaries returning from the war in Syria, says Karim of RUSI, and feel Pakistan may be able to help.

“The Zeinabiyoun militia brigade is mainly made up of Shia Pakistanis recruited by the Iranian Revolutionary Guard,” he told MEE. “They have been fighting for a while alongside government forces in Syria, but many of them have now returned,” says Karim.

He explains that Esmail Qaani of the IRGC is of major concern to the Saudis and Pakistanis. Qaani currently heads the Quds force, Iran's elite unit tasked with overseas operations, and is an expert in Afghan and Pakistani affairs.

Saudi Arabia fears Qaani could intensify recruitment of young Shia men in Afghanistan and Pakistan, pair them up with former battle-hardened Zeinabiyoun fighters and redirect them to Yemen, says Karim.


“The Saudis want Pakistan to stop any such recruitment processes in Pakistan and Afghanistan. Previously when the Pakistani intelligence agencies noticed IRGC recruiting Pakistani Shia men for the brigade, they allowed it to happen, but now the Saudis would want the Pakistanis to stop that.”

Pakistan is likely to share such intelligence now, he adds.

“This serves a joint purpose, Pakistani intelligence has been keeping a close eye on returning mercenaries from Syria and if there might be any further efforts by Iranians to recruit more Shia men.”

Kamal Alam, senior fellow at the Atlantic Council, says the Saudis also want more in the way of diplomatic support to pressure the Iranians to stop funding and arming the Houthis.

“Pakistan's civilian government has good links with Iran and is likely to be pressed by the Saudis to use their clout to reduce the current tensions.”
The Baloch question

Scarred by its own history of sectarian violence, Pakistan has previously been reluctant to play an active combat role against the Houthis in Yemen.

As the Balochistan insurgency drags on, however, that stance may be shifting.

In 2018, Pakistan sent a brigade of air defence experts, special forces and anti-mining operators to Saudi Arabia.

Waiting for peace in the Khyber Pass: Why Pakistan fears instability in Afghanistan

Read More »

Separatists have waged an insurgency in Pakistan’s vast southwestern province of Balochistan for years, fuelled by anger that its abundant reserves of natural resources are not relieving citizens from crushing poverty.

“Pakistan has its own issues with Iran these days,” says Alam. “Pakistan accuses Iran of harbouring Baloch separatist militants on its soil, from where they have been launching attacks against the Pakistani state.”

Pakistan has been losing on average five soldiers a day recently, says Alam, angering Pakistan's strategic community.

“I am very sure that Pakistan will not send its forces to Saudi Arabia, but the country's establishment will be looking to diplomatically confront Iran,” he told MEE.
What next?

What’s to come largely depends on how the situation develops in Balochistan, says Alam.

Pakistani soldiers have in the past conducted border security operations in Saudi Arabia, says Javed of Pakistan House, but not crossed into Yemen.

Instead of risking open conflict with Iran-backed militias, he told MEE, “I think Pakistan will limit itself to strategy, consulting and training roles.”

The country is in a bind, analysts agree. It has to appease the Saudis but keep enough distance from the Saudi-led war in Yemen, while keeping a lid on tensions with Iran.

“Saudi Arabia's reputation is at stake,” says Javed, “that's why the desperation to approach Pakistan.”

Iraq: Ericsson employees may have paid bribes to Islamic State
Swedish company's CEO suggests payments were made for transport through IS-controlled areas in Iraq

A member of the Iraqi forces checks his phones as troops advance towards Mosul's Old City on 18 June 2017, during the offensive to retake the last district held by Islamic State (AFP)
By MEE staff
Published date: 16 February 2022 

Employees of telecoms company Ericsson may have bribed Islamic State officials in Iraq, the company's CEO said on Wednesday.

The comments by Borje Ekholm caused the Swedish giant's share price to tumble in opening trading on the Stockholm stock exchange.

Speaking to Swedish financial daily Dagens Industri, Ekholm said people linked to his organisation had "paid for road transport through areas controlled by terrorist organisations, including ISIS.

"With the means we have, we haven't been able to determine the final recipients of these payments," he added.

The comments came in the wake of an internal investigation at Ericsson, as well as enquiries by state broadcaster SVT and the International Consortium of Investigative Journalists (ICIJ), which according to the company found "serious breaches of compliance rules and the company's code of business ethics" with regards to vendors, employees and suppliers in Iraq between 2011 and 2019.

A statement by the company said it had found "evidence of corruption-related misconduct" which included "making a monetary donation without a clear beneficiary; paying a supplier for work without a defined scope and documentation; using suppliers to make cash payments; funding inappropriate travel and expenses; and improper use of sales agents and consultants.

"Payment schemes and cash transactions that potentially created the risk of money laundering were also identified."

The investigation also found violations of Ericsson's internal financial controls, as well as conflicts of interest and non-compliance with tax laws.

The statement said several employees left the company as a result of the investigation, which had faced internal obstruction, alongside other disciplinary actions. However, it added that "the investigation could not identify that any Ericsson employee was directly involved in financing terrorist organisations".
Probes into bribery

Ericsson released the statement following media enquiries into its internal investigation in 2019 about its conduct in Iraq, which was triggered by "unusual expense claims" from 2018.

However, the ICIJ said on Tuesday that some questions put to Ericsson by the leading investigative media group and SVT still remain unanswered.

"Despite the statement from Ericsson, the company has not addressed specific questions put to it by our journalists in relation to a wide range of corrupt behaviour in connection to its business in Iraq and elsewhere," ICIJ said, adding that a final report and their findings on the matter will be released soon.

SVT reported that Ericsson had addressed the violation of rules and business ethics in its statement. These included payments to intermediaries and the use of alternate transport routes in connection with circumventing Iraqi Customs, when IS ruled some of the transport routes in northern Iraq.

'Financing terrorism is completely unacceptable and something we do not allow at all'– Borje Ekholm, CEO, Ericsson

Ekholm, Ericsson's CEO since January 2017, said the company had spent “considerable resources trying to understand this as best we can" and had disclosed its findings with US officials.

"Financing terrorism is completely unacceptable and something we do not allow at all," he added.

In December 2019, Ericsson agreed to pay penalties totalling $1bn to settle a series of probes into bribery and corruption in Asia and the Middle East, after it reached an agreement with the US Department of Justice (DoJ).

The probes, separate from the recent Iraqi one, were into Ericsson's conduct of bribing officials in countries such as China, Vietnam, Djibouti, Indonesia and Kuwait, over a period of time.

Mads Rosendal, an analyst with Danske Bank Credit Research, told Reuters that if the DoJ finds reason to look into the recent bribery allegations in Iraq, Ericsson may end up facing large fines.

"We believe the key is what may come out of the investigation and if there is any reason for authorities to have a closer look," Rosendal said.

Bloomberg reported that Ericsson shares dived by almost 14.5 percent on Wednesday afternoon, following the release of its statements on Tuesday evening - the company's biggest fall in a day since July 2017.
IS resurgence

IS has not regained territory since 2019, but a recent prison break attempt in Hasakah, northeast Syria, was yet another sign that the group still has weapons and loyal combatants.

In the nearby al-Hol camp, where Kurdish authorities hold women suspected of being IS members and their children, the group has assassinated detainees, beheading several people.

Eleven Iraqi soldiers were killed in January in an overnight attack by IS fighters against their base in Iraq's eastern province of Diyala.

The US State Department’s envoy to the US-led coalition battling the group warned last July that deteriorating economic conditions in Iraq and Syria are paving the way for IS to reconstitute.

Iraq: Kurds denounce 'unjust' oil and gas ruling as energy feud escalates

In unprecedented move, Iraq's Supreme Court orders Kurdistan region to cede control of all oil and gas to Baghdad

An Iraqi oil employee checks pipelines at the Bai Hassan oilfield, west of Kirkuk, 19 October 2017 (AFP)

By Alex MacDonald
Published date: 16 February 2022 

The long-running saga of the Iraqi-Kurdish energy feud escalated late on Tuesday, when Iraq's autonomous Kurdish region hit back at an order by the country's top federal court for it to hand control of all of its oil and gas to Baghdad.

Earlier on Tuesday, the federal Supreme Court had ordered the Kurdistan Regional Government (KRG) to hand all crude oil in its territories and neighbouring areas directly to the federal government.

The KRG condemned the court ruling as "unjust", saying it "violates the rights and constitutional authorities of the Kurdistan region".

'This will likely not stop the Kurdistan Regional Government from selling its oil, but make it more difficult to sell' - Abdulla Hawez, researcher

"The Kurdistan Regional Government will not forfeit the rights of the Kurdistan region as codified in the Iraqi constitution, and will continue its attempts to reach a constitutional solution with the federal government on this matter," read a statement issued late on Tuesday.

Masoud Barzani, leader of the Kurdistan Democratic Party (KDP) and former KRG president, said in a statement that the move was an attempt to "antagonise the Kurdistan Region and the federal system in Iraq".

The court ruling declared all KRG contracts with oil companies invalid, including agreements on exploration, extraction, export and sales.

The KRG, officially recognised as an autonomous region of Iraq since 2005, has for decades been developing its oil and gas resources independently of the federal Iraqi government, passing its own oil law in 2007 to administer control of resources in its territory.

Abdulla Hawez, an Iraqi Kurdish journalist and researcher, told Middle East Eye that the Supreme Court's decision was very significant, as it marked the "first time in Iraq’s history that the top court... has ruled that the region’s oil and gas exporters are illegal".

A deal struck in 2019 between Baghdad and the Kurdish capital Erbil saw the KRG officially deliver 250,000 of its more than 400,000 barrels of oil per day to Baghdad, in return for its share of the federal budget, which is used to pay the salaries of civil servants and armed forces. However, the KRG has continued to maintain contracts with foreign oil companies independently of Baghdad - an arrangement that is now under threat.

"This will likely not stop the KRG from selling its oil, but it will make it more difficult to sell so it has to trade it at an even steeper discount," said Hawez. "This will increase the pressure on the KRG, which is already facing severe financial pressure."

A troubled relationship

Although there had long been tensions over the KRG's decision to independently sell its oil and gas, things deteriorated significantly after 2014, when the KRG's Peshmerga armed forces seized control of the city of Kirkuk after it was stormed by Islamic State (IS) fighters.

The KRG remained in control of Kirkuk and its lucrative surrounding oilfields until October 2017, when - in the wake of a controversial independence referendum in the Kurdish region - Baghdad's forces retook the city. Since then, the KRG has faced repeated economic crises - and government austerity measures have sparked a fierce backlash.

Iraq court orders Kurdistan to ship all oil to Baghdad

The latest argument also takes place against a backdrop of talks to form a new government in Iraq, following poorly attended parliamentary elections in October.

The KDP, the most powerful party in the KRG, has been in talks with the Sairoun alliance of influential Shia cleric Muqtada al-Sadr - which won the highest number of seats in October - over forming what Sadr has called a "national majority government".

The proposed alliance, which has also seen discussions with Sunni political parties, has excluded other Shia parties, prompting an angry response.

Taif Alkhudary, a researcher at the London School of Economics Middle East Centre, told MEE that in the midst of all this, the court's move was potentially an attempt to "put pressure on Barzani, and it's also a means for the federal court to establish itself as an independent and important actor".

Whoever comes out on top in the government formation will be in charge of a country that is the second largest oil producer in the Organization of the Petroleum Exporting Countries (Opec).

The Supreme Court ruling came a day after France’s TotalEnergies struck a $27bn deal with Iraq that Baghdad hopes could reverse the exit of oil majors from the country. According to Reuters, Iraq expects the deal to be completed from March onwards.

Iraq court orders Kurdistan to ship all oil to Baghdad

The ruling declared the Kurdish Regional Government's contracts with oil companies invalid, including exploration, extraction, export, and sales agreements

Workers walk past installations at the Basrah Gas company, at Khor al-Zubair in Iraq's southern Basra governorate, on 22 September 2021 (AFP)

By MEE and agencies
Published date: 15 February 2022

The top federal court in Iraq ordered Iraqi Kurdistan to deliver all of the oil it produces to Baghdad, calling the autonomous region's oil and gas law unconstitutional.

The Kurdish Regional Government (KRG) has been developing oil and gas resources independently of the federal government, and in 2007, it created its own oil law that established how the region would administer the resources.

On Tuesday, the court’s decision stated that the Kurdish government must hand over all crude from the KRG and neighbouring areas directly to the federal government, represented by the oil ministry in Baghdad.

Iraq’s KDP isn’t after the presidency. It wants Kirkuk instead

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The ruling declared KRG contracts with oil companies invalid, which includes exploration, extraction, export and sales agreements.

This comes a day after France’s TotalEnergies (TTEF.PA) and Baghdad struck a $27bn deal in hopes of reversing the exit of oil majors from the country, Reuters reported. Iraq expected the deal to be completed sometime from March onwards.

Kurdistan leader, Masoud Barzani, described the federal court’s opinion as “purely political” and contrary to the Iraqi federal constitution. “The aim of it [the court’s decision] is to antagonise the Kurdistan Region and the federal system in Iraq,” Barzani, the leader of the ruling Kurdistan Democratic Party, said.

“We hope that the governments of Iraq and the Kurdistan Region will be able to overcome the obstacles and agree on the oil and gas file,” Barzani added in a statement.

Oil and gas are valuable to Iraq’s economy, which is the second-largest producer in the Organization of the Petroleum Exporting Countries (OPEC).

In 2020, Iran produced less than two million barrels per day of crude oil, and that was a 40-year low, according to the US Energy Information Administration. According to The Law Reviews, if the Kurdistan region “were an independent country, the amount of oil and gas reserves would place it among the top 10 oil-rich countries in the world”.

The Kurdish region delivers 250,000 of its more than 400,000 barrels of oil per day to Baghdad, in return for its share of the federal budget, as per a deal between Baghdad and the Kurdish capital Erbil, AFP reported. The share is used to pay the salaries of Kurdish civil servants and Peshmerga fighters.

The ruling could reignite long-standing tensions, with Kurdish authorities unlikely to comply, given years of disputes over Baghdad's share of Kurdish petrol.

Will the Europe-Africa summit help heal the rifts?

Four years after the last summit between the African Union and the European Union, leaders from both sides are to meet in Brussels from February 17 to 18. With relations strained, they'll have a lot to talk about.


EU Commission president, Ursula von der Leyen, and AU chair, Macky Sall, clearing details before the summit

The European Commission's president, Ursula von der Leyen, is leaving nothing to chance. A few days before the meeting between officials from the European Commission and the African Union, she flew to Dakar to personally clarify details with the Senegalese President and current AU chairperson, Macky Sall.

"Our two unions share the same vision of a common area of stability and prosperity. This summit must ascertain concrete ways and means to achieve it," von der Leyen said after meeting Sall. Signaling Brussels' goodwill, she added that the EU would mobilize €150 billion ($170 billion) over the next few years to help develop African infrastructure.

The EU needs the meeting to be successful because relations with the African Union have been frayed for a long time. The summit planned for 2020 fell through — officially because of the pandemic. Observers saw other reasons for the cancellation. "It was also a political signal," Nils Keijzer of the German Development Institute told DW.

The European Union is aware of the need to match China's help for infratructure building in Africa

'Colonial model' and 'vaccine apartheid'

The signal came from Africa specifically because the list of grievances from Europe's neighbors has grown long in recent years.

Economist Carlos Lopes from the University of Cape Town explained the consequences.

"We are still living a colonial model, where Africans are only exporters of commodities that are not transformed. There is a lot of frustration that pushes Africa to look for new partnerships that contribute to the industrialization of the continent," he told DW. China, Russia and Turkey have accordingly expanded their influence in Africa.

"Of course we have differences," the website Politico quoted AU Commission chief Moussa Faki as saying after a meeting with von der Leyen in 2020. They ranged from international criminal justice to the issue of sexual orientation, the death penalty or AU's role in African crises, Faki said at the time. The COVID-19 pandemic has further exacerbated the situation. Many African leaders bitterly resent the lack of vaccines for even getting started on sufficiently inoculating their population, while Europe is already boosting its people. South Africa's president, Cyril Ramaphosa, called it "vaccine apartheid."

The EU is countering these negative views through a charm offensive and a lot of paperwork. "African countries and the AU would prefer the current agendas to be implemented and completed. The EU has put more focus on developing new ideas and strategies. That has sometimes caused some tension in the relationship," said analyst Keijzer

Africa wants an agreement with the EU on the production of anti-COVID vaccines

AU wants more of a say

Africa is not very excited about Brussels' many new plans. "The European Union has the right to develop and publish its own strategies. What we regret is that there is little consultation before the announcements, and that the implementation of these announcements often falls far short of expectations," said Lopes.

These issues are unlikely to play an official role at the summit. "Since the 2007 debates, the EU has tried to keep controversial issues like the Economic Partnership Agreements away from the summits. They want to focus on new strategies and initiatives", said Keijzer.

Nevertheless, the summit could help solve at least some of the problems, like the issue of vaccines. "Africa's interests include the agreement on vaccine production, better access to vaccines and a common structure for the partnership [between the EU and the AU]. And so far I think it looks promising; we are going to have those outcomes," Lopes believes.

For their part, the EU is keen to adopt a common vision with Africa for 2030. But whether the African side wants to embrace that is questionable.

This story was originally written in German.


HOW AFRICAN AND EUROPEAN ARTISTS CAPTURE THE SPIRIT OF AFRICA
Jacques Majorelle: "Le marché aux dattes"
The French artist preferred to paint on black paper and experiment with glue-based distemper mixed with gold and silver powder. That enabled him to create contrasting metallic gloss effects, as seen in "The Date Market" above. The painting was created between 1940 and 1945 and depicts two date dealers talking to each other at a market in Marrakech.
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No Ukraine attack 'in the coming month' says Russia's EU ambassador

Vladimir Chizhov has ruled out an imminent attack on Ukraine. "There will be no escalation in the coming week, or in the week after that, or in the coming month," he told Die Welt.


Russia's ambassador to the EU Vladimir Chizhov

Russia's envoy to the European Union, Vladimir Chizhov, has rejected suggestions that his country is about to attack Ukraine.

The New York Times cited a US intelligence source as saying that Moscow was discussing this Wednesday (February 16) as a date for military action in Ukraine, which Chizhov denied in remarks published in German newspaper Die Welt.

What did Chizhov say?

"As far as Russia is concerned, I can assure you that there will be no attack this Wednesday," Chizhov told Die Welt.

"There will be no escalation in the coming week either, or in the week after that, or in the coming month."

"Wars in Europe rarely start on a Wednesday," Chizhov added.

Moscow's ambassador to Brussels made similar comments in December.

Since then US officials have said their intelligence shows Russia could be planning to attack Ukraine before the end of the Winter Olympics on February 20.

UKRAINE: WORKING JOURNALISTICALLY IN TIMES OF WAR
Staying calm in the face of war
A war always plays on people’s vulnerabilities, civil societies’ shortcomings and influences freedom of speech and democracy. And even after eight years of war, Ukrainian society stays calm and mobilizes itself. There is a new sense of unity. According to a poll, every third Ukrainian would fight to protect Ukraine’s integrity against a Russian invasion.
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'So where's the evidence?'

Chizhov condemned the US allegations of a possible invasion of Ukraine.

"When you make allegations, especially very serious allegations against Russia, you also have a responsibility to present evidence. Otherwise it's slander," Chizhov said.

"So where's the evidence?" Chizhov asked.

He urged the West to take Russia's security concerns seriously, saying "when our partners finally listen to our legitimate concerns, a process of detente will not be long in coming."

"That would be in the interest of all Europeans from Lisbon to Vladivostok, but also of all other nations in the world," he added.

Russia has demanded that NATO restrict activities in Eastern Europe and promise not to give Ukraine membership in the alliance. The Kremlin has also demanded a ban on deploying weapons systems off Russia's borders.

sdi/jsi (dpa)

Kremlin Responds to 'Invasion' News: Ukrainians Should Set Alarms & See If Anything Happens

© Sputnik / Alexei Danichev

MOSCOW (Sputnik) - The Kremlin reacted ironically to the reports of a number of Western media about the Russian "invasion" of Ukraine next morning, with spokesman Dmitry Peskov suggesting that the Ukrainians should set alarms and see if anything happens.

Earlier this week, UK tabloids announced the time of "Russia's invasion into Ukraine," scheduling it for 3 a.m. Wednesday local time (01:00 GMT). The Mirror wrote about this citing US intelligence sources, who allegedly reported this to the publication's employees in Kiev. The Sun also announced 3 a.m. as the most likely time for the invasion, citing US intelligence.

"It’s better for them to set alarms for this time and see for themselves," Peskov told Sputnik whether the Ukrainians should worry or they could sleep peacefully today.

Washington earlier announced it was relocating some of its diplomatic personnel from the Ukrainian capital to the city of Lviv amid security concerns. According to US State Secretary Antony Blinken, the departure of most of the American staff at the US embassy in Kiev was ordered because the "risk of Russian military action is high enough and the threat is imminent enough that this is the prudent thing to do."

In the past few months, the West and Ukraine have accused Russia of a troop build-up near the Ukrainian border in alleged preparation for an "invasion." Moscow has denied these accusations, repeatedly stating that it is not threatening anyone and at the same time expressing strong concerns over NATO's military activity near the Russian borders, which it deems a threat to its national security. Moscow has also said Russia has the right to move troops within its national territory.

Could Moldova's Breakaway Transdniester Play A Role In Russian Attack On Ukraine?

February 15, 2022 
By Tony Wesolowsky

For decades, Russia has had more than 1,000 troops in Transdniester, a breakaway region of Moldova, and Ukrainian officials are wary.

Ukraine is on edge as it faces what analysts call the greatest buildup of military forces in Europe in decades.

Russia has nearly encircled Ukraine, deploying an estimated 130,000 troops and military hardware on three fronts: in Crimea to the south, on the Russian side of the two countries' border, and in Belarus to the north.

Rarely mentioned, however, is the small contingent of Russian troops on Ukraine's southwestern border.

For decades, Russia has had more than 1,000 troops in Transdniester, a breakaway region of Moldova -- one of Europe's oldest so-called frozen conflicts -- and Ukrainian officials are wary. While largely overlooked, some military experts say the region could be a key spot if Russia does opt for a large-scale invasion of Ukraine.



And Washington appears worried as well. On February 14, the State Department issued a statement urging U.S. citizens not to travel to Moldova due to COVID-19 and the "unusual and concerning Russian military activity around Ukraine, and the unresolved conflict between the breakaway region of Transdniester and the central government."

"U.S. citizens in Transdniester should depart immediately via commercial or private means," the statement added.

Russian political leaders deny Western accusations that it is planning to invade Ukraine, but say it could take unspecified "military-technical" action unless a range of demands are met, including barring Kyiv from ever joining the NATO alliance.

Where And What Is Transdniester?

Home to some 450,000 people, Transdniester is a sliver of land, sandwiched between Ukraine and Moldova proper, with its own currency -- the Transdniestrian ruble -- and much nostalgia for Soviet times, including lots of statues of Soviet founder Vladimir Lenin amid dreary communist-era architecture.

Its mainly Russian-speaking populace declared independence in 1990, and two years later fought a five-month war against Moldovan forces. A cease-fire was signed in 1992, but a resolution to the conflict has proved elusive. The Organization for Security and Cooperation in Europe (OSCE) spearheads efforts within a so-called 5+2 format to resolve the issue.

Soldiers from Transdniester take part in an Independence Day celebration in Tiraspol, the capital, on September 2, 2012.

A few rogue republics, including the Georgian breakaway regions of South Ossetia and Abkhazia, have recognized its independence, but not a bona fide state, including Russia.

Despite that, Moscow wields its influence. It provides energy to Transdniester, but sends the bill to Moldova. And like in other breakaway regions, Moscow has handed out Russian passports to the people of Transdniester; apparently some 200,000 since 2002.

How Many Russian Troops?

Shortly after the cease-fire was signed in 1992, Russian troops moved in. They were described as a peacekeeping force. Exactly how many are there now is unclear, but estimates range from some 1,200 to 1,500. Part of their stated mission is guarding what is considered Eastern Europe's largest munitions depot --22,000 tons -- at Cobasna, just 2 kilometers from the border with Ukraine. Russia has dragged its feet to either liquidate or remove the munitions, as Moldova and the OSCE have called for.

Moscow recently rejected calls from NATO and the United States to remove its troops from Transdniester -- as well as Crimea, South Ossetia, and Abkhazia -- in exchange for dialogue on arms control. Russia said the troops were needed in Transdniester to protect Russian citizens and as a "safety factor" to ensure no resumption of hostilities.

Separatist Transdniester also has its own armed forces, which number between 4,000 and 7,500. According to a 2017 report, some of them were forced to join the ranks.

SEE ALSO:
'Deserter' Case Throws Spotlight On Torture Allegations In Breakaway Moldovan Region

Transdniester: A Further Threat To Ukraine?

Amid the current tension and fears that Transdniester could be a source of further instability, Ukraine has banned vehicles with Transdniestrian license plates from entering the country. That rule took effect on September 1, 2021.

Tensions ratcheted up further in January, when Ukrainian intelligence accused the Russian special services in Cobasna of planning provocations on Russian armed forces that would be exploited as a pretext to launch an attack on Ukraine.

Just a month later, Ukrainian fears were heightened when Russian troops staged military drills in Transdniester.

SEE ALSO:
Russian Military Forces Near Ukraine's Borders

Amid the current tensions and increased activity in Transdniester, the Moldovan government is concerned. "At the moment, we're not seeing any unusual activity in Transdniester, but we are worried that could change," Moldovan Foreign Minister Nicu Popescu recently told Foreign Policy. "We are consistently calling for the withdrawal of Russian troops from Moldovan territory, and we stand for the fact that it's our sovereign right to make that decision."

According to a U.S. military and intelligence assessment, cited by NBC News on February 10, one of the probable routes into Ukraine in a full-scale Russian invasion could include plans "to create a land bridge to Moldova and control much of the Black Sea coast."

Other analysts have said it's possible Russian forces in the Black Sea would target the Ukrainian city of Odesa, with the possible aim of creating a "link up with Russian forces in Transdniester."

The Russian-founded Conflict Intelligence Team, which monitors open-source information to track the movements of the Russian military, has noted a huge buildup of Russian troops and hardware in Crimea, which Russia seized from Ukraine in 2014, as well as a large naval buildup in the Black Sea, including "11 large landing ships, 6 of which arrived from the Baltic and Northern fleets, as well as other landing craft transferred from the Caspian Flotilla."

Tony Wesolowsky is a senior correspondent for RFE/RL in Prague, covering Belarus, Ukraine, Russia, and Central Europe, as well as energy issues. His work has also appeared in The Philadelphia Inquirer, the Christian Science Monitor, and the Bulletin Of The Atomic Scientists.
WesolowskyA@rferl.org

NARCO-STATE

Guinea-Bissau: Government critics under increasing pressure

After what authorities said was a coup by drug dealers aiming to kill President Umaro Sissoco Embalo, a new spate of violence against critics of the government is compounding the feeling of insecurity in Guinea-Bissau.


Nightly raids by security forces are fuelling insecurity


They came in the night, when Rui Landim was alone at home with his grandchildren: Armed and hooded men in an unmarked car tried to break into his home without success. They fired into the house and threw tear gas through a window, choking a child. They left only when neighbors started gathering in the street.

Political analyst Rui Landim is a well-known critic of Guinea-Bissau's government and its president, Umaro Sissoco Embalo. He has a weekly show on Radio Capital called "Dotting the I's" in which he dissects Embalo's policies. Recently, Landim accused the president of having staged the failed military coup of February 1 himself, as a ploy to secure his power.

Political analyst Landim says he fears for his life

The attack on Landim's house came a day after assailants destroyed the radio station's offices and wounded five employees. Journalist Maimuna Bari was so badly hurt that she had to be flown to Portugal for treatment.

'Democracy under threat'

In view of the recent violence, the Guinean Human Rights Association (LGDH) concluded that democracy today was under the greatest threat ever. That's saying something in a country that has lived through four military coups since gaining independence from Portugal in 1975.

The last successful putsch from the military's point of view took place in the spring of 2012. But it caused Guinea-Bissau endless domestic and international problems. Ever since, those wanting to secure their power have opted for other means.

"A number of people realized that the best way to exert influence is this kind of low-noise, physical pressure on critics," Vincent Foucher, senior consultant at the International Crisis Group, told DW.

"It's always masked attackers. You can always deny it's you. And it still sends a message."

Foucher was surprised that the police openly downplayed the violence against Radio Capital. "You're not supposed to do that. Is this a clue to where this is coming from? Maybe," he said. But it remained speculation, he added.

President Embalo said he was the target of an assassination attempt

Who's behind the attacks?

The government of Guinea-Bissau condemned the recent attacks, promising to investigate. But Rui Landim said his assailants were wearing the uniform of the Rapid Intervention Police Unit, however his claim has not been confirmed.

"These operations are ordered directly by the president," Landim maintained, calling the attackers "death squads."

Analyst Foucher called for caution in apportioning blame in an exceedingly opaque and complicated system.

"The state structures themselves are quite factionalized and sometimes fight one another. There have been several incidents, for instance, in which the judicial police got into trouble with the army or with the National Republican Guard," he said. Anyone can hire young men to physically attack or intimidate opponents, Foucher stressed.

The analyst did not hold out much hope for the results of an official investigation. After all, the world was still waiting for clarification of the assassinations of President Joao Bernardo Vieira and army chief of staff, General Tagme Na Waie, back in March 2009, he pointed out.

The truth about the recent coup attempt will perhaps never be known, feeding rumors and conspiracies that will not contribute to the country's stabilization. Guinea-Bissau is one of the poorest nations in the world. According to the UN, two-thirds of its 1.8 million inhabitants live on less than a dollar a day. It has the reputation of being the "narco state" of West Africa.

Nightly raids

The feeling of increased repression in the country is compounded by recent raids of private homes by security forces — allegedly looking for arms. "No one can sleep easy anymore," said Odete Semedo, vice president of the main opposition African Party for the Independence of Guinea and Cape Verde (PAIGC). "They come knocking at midnight to search your house without a warrant," she told DW. There were also reports by human rights organizations of beatings and looting during the raids.

Besides material damage, the attack on an independent radio station left five people wounded

Semedo said political oppression was nothing new under the current president, but had grown in intensity. In the aftermath of the failed coup — which President Embalo now depicts as an attempt against his life for his part in fighting drug dealers — the PAIGC decided to postpone its 10th congress, originally planned for February 17–20.

Fear for one's life

The PAIGC said it would comply with the government's COVID rules, although it deemed them discriminatory. More compliant parties, said Semedo, "have already held their congresses without the use of masks, with crowds running around, not respecting anything and no hindrance at all."

But, a week ago, the police prevented a meeting of the local chapter of the PAIGC from taking place in the capital, Bissau, she pointed out.

The number of verbal threats against party members and their families is also growing, Semedo said. Analyst Rui Landim fears for his life.

"I am a target for assassination and have been for a long time. If anything should happen to me, it will be the responsibility of that self-proclaimed president," he said.

Russian strikes on farms in Syria could be war crimes: report

Rights groups have said the suspected Russian bombing of chicken farms and water stations in Idlib, one of Syria's last rebel-held areas, is meant to push out displaced locals. It may have been a war crime.

Life in Idlib, Syria's last opposition area, is already tough enough


The Syrian Archive, a Berlin-based group that digitally monitors and documents human rights violations in Syria, released a report on Tuesday that indicates the use of new methods targeting anti-government rebels in the country, as well as civilians living under their rule.

The report, obtained exclusively by DW, details the bombing of the Arshani water pumping station in northwestern Syria, near the last enclave of opposition fighters in Idlib. Russian planes are suspected to be behind the strikes. Russia has backed the forces of Syrian President Bashar Assad since the conflict started more than a decade ago.

The attack on the water pumping station, which took place on January 2 around midday, was widely reported at the time, but the Syrian Archive has since used open-source verification techniques and almost 100 pieces of visual evidence, including videos and pictures, to come up with a more complete picture of what happened that day.


The damaged water pump in Arshani village supplies about 225,000 people in Idlib. The area is home to around 2.8 million people, around half of whom fled fighting elsewhere but who don't want to live under the Assad regime.

About 1.7 million of them are internally displaced, and many live in tent cities that have sprung up around Idlib. Human Rights Watch has said that three-quarters of the population rely on regular humanitarian assistance because of damaged infrastructure and economic hardship.

'It's more than an attack'

Idlib is now mostly controlled by Islamist militia groups opposed to the Assad government. But in its report, the Syrian Archive showed that the water pumping station was far from any sites that could possibly be considered military targets.

"It's really in the middle of nowhere," said Hamoud, the Syrian Archive's primary researcher on the report. He preferred not to give his full name for security reasons.

In January, news agency Reuters and other media reported that eye witnesses said Russian warplanes had bombed the water station. The Syrian Archive cross-checked those reports with flight tracking data from various sources, all of which showed that a Russian plane, most likely a Russian Air Force Su-34, was in the area at the time of the attack.

Russia's Defense Ministry and the Russian Embassy in Syria did not respond to DW's request for a statement on the incident.

Two bombs were dropped, and one worker at the station was injured. According to DW's sources on the ground, the station has since been repaired and is working again.

It is likely that attacking infrastructure, like this water pump, is a tactic to pressure or force civilians to leave the area, Haneen, the Syrian Archive's project manager responsible for the report, told DW. She also did not give her full name for security reasons.

"It's more than an attack," Haneen said. "It has a significant negative impact on the possibility of life in such an area."

AID IN NORTHWEST SYRIA REMAINS VITAL

The need is great

View of one of the refugee camps in Idlib province in northwest Syria, run by the Turkish Red Crescent. The region, which is not far from the Turkish border, is still controlled by the Syrian opposition. This is probably the reason why many displaced people from the conflict — already into its tenth year — have fled to this area.

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Haneen explained that such strikes worsen the already difficult humanitarian plight of Idlib's displaced people.

Targeting chickens

January's bombing is not an isolated incident, the United Nations Office for the Coordination of Humanitarian Affairs (UNOCHA) recently confirmed.

"At the start of 2022, there has been an increase in airstrikes on infrastructure, including farms and water pumping stations," UNOCHA noted in one of its most recent situation reports.

In particular, poultry farms had been targeted by Russian warplanes, the Syrian Civil Defense group — more commonly known as the White Helmets — said in a January 5 field report.

From November 11 through January 4, there were aerial attacks on seven farms around Idlib, the organization wrote. Most were poultry farms, but one also had cows. As a result, eight civilians were killed and 11 others wounded. Tens of thousands of chickens also died.

An attack on January 3 killed an estimated 14,000 chickens, sources said

Bombing these farms "poses a threat to the incomes of hundreds of families," the Syrian Civil Defense said in its report. Destroying agricultural facilities also leads to a general rise in prices for basic goods, the organization noted, something that the millions of displaced Syrians in the area, many of whom do not have jobs, can hardly afford.

War crimes?

This is not the first time warplanes have targeted civilian infrastructure during the Syrian civil war. Human rights organizations, including Amnesty International and Human Rights Watch, recorded dozens of attacks on civilian infrastructure during a Syrian-Russian military campaign to retake opposition-held areas around Idlib beginning in April 2019.

That included attacks on schools, hospitals and even popular markets. In July 2019, a handful of attacks on water pumping stations and water tanks were also recorded.

An estimated 1,600 civilians were killed during the campaign, which only ended in March 2020, when Russia and Turkey, which supports opposition forces in the area, brokered a cease-fire for Idlib.


Two-thirds of Idlib's residents are displaced; many live in the about 1,500 tented camps

Attacks on civilian infrastructure appear to have increased again at the beginning of this year.

The bombing of the water station, and even the chicken farms, could potentially be prosecuted as war crimes in the future. International humanitarian law rules out deliberate attacks on civilian infrastructure in armed conflict zones — that includes water pumping stations.

Tracking human rights violations

The same principle about not attacking civilian infrastructure could ostensibly apply to the farms in Idlib, said Anne Schroeter, a legal researcher and project coordinator at the European Center for Constitutional and Human Rights, or ECCHR, based in Berlin.

"[Those attacks] could constitute war crimes if the farms can be seen as civilian objects or infrastructure, and they were not used for military purposes," said Schroeter, adding that recent Saudi airstrikes on farms, factories and warehouses in Yemen have also been described as possible war crimes.

Researchers from the Syrian Archive also took their own pictures of the damaged water pumping station

Although Tuesday's report by the Syrian Archive would be helpful in encouraging prosecuting authorities to take a closer look at a war crime, it's not enough to base a whole case on, said Schroeter.

"These kinds of reports are helpful, but they need to be accompanied with additional material, which in turn will depend on the framework the specific investigation takes place in," she added.

The investigators at the Syrian Archive will now add their latest report to a database they are compiling, which already includes about 3.5 million videos.

"If this information can be used to prevent targeting like this in the future, it will be amazing," said project manager Haneen.


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HRW: Syria and Russia targeted civilian infrastructure

Human Rights Watch has declared Syrian and Russian strikes against Idlib to be war crimes. The report blasts the strategic attacks on civilian targets as a "callous disregard" for life.

Damascus, Moscow accused of 'war crimes' in northwestern Syria

Schools and clinics in northwestern Syria were targeted in 18 attacks between April last year and February, according to Amnesty International. The rights group accuses Syria's regime and Russian forces of "war crimes."

Relative calm in Syria's Idlib as ceasefire takes hold

A ceasefire in northern Syria agreed between Russia and Turkey has come into force in a move to halt intense fighting in Idlib. A recent increase in violence has sparked a humanitarian disaster.

Lingering colonial legacies: The study of skin is too white

The historical lack of racial representation in dermatology textbooks isn't just a problem in countries with majority white populations, but across the globe.


Just 3% of working dermatologists in the US are people of color, studies show

When Seye Abimbola was training to become a doctor in Nigeria in the early 2000s, all the images in his textbooks featured white skin.

Most of his textbooks came from the US or the UK, where Caucasian medical illustrations are the norm.

When it came to dermatology, Abimbola couldn't translate what he saw on the page to his reality. Nearly the entire population of Nigeria is Black, he and his classmates were Black, and his teachers were Black.

"I went and bought an Indian textbook, because I just couldn't transfer in my head what a lesion looked like in white skin [to] what it looked like in black skin…there was just no reference point," Abimbola told DW.

"But it was easier with the Indian textbook. I didn't think much of it at the time," he added.

Dermatologists in South Africa and Uganda reported similar experiences during their studies.

When South African dermatologist Ncoza Dlova was completing her training, nearly all the images in her textbooks featured white skin, she said. Dlova finished her training in the late 1990s, shortly after apartheid ended in South Africa, becoming one of the country's first black dermatologists.

"That was difficult for us to comprehend because… most of our patients are Black," she said.

"Someone with psoriasis would be described as having a salmon-colored skin patch, and we would wonder: 'How does that look?' As it did not fit what we were seeing in our Black patients," said Dlova.

Conditions that were very common in Black skin, like keloid scars and albinism, were not given enough attention, she said, and when they were featured in coursebooks, the content was brief and inadequate for diagnosis.

South African dermatologist Cebi Sibisi's university experience was similar. Around 95% of the images she encountered in her courses featured white skin, she said.

"Skin of color suffers a lot from hyperpigmentation issues — facial lichen planopilaris, dark inner thighs, dark elbows — which are day-to-day issues that we see in our clinics and don't know how to deal with because these were never dealt with [at university]," Sibisi told DW.

 

Underrepresented — and exploited

A German study published in late September 2021 evaluated over 5,300 images from 17 dermatology textbooks recently published by German doctors using the Fitzpatrick framework, which classifies skin color. They discovered that 91% of the images featured white skin, around 6% featured medium/olive-colored skin and less than 3% featured brown skin. The darkest shade, Type 6, was only featured in one image.

A US textbook analysis published in 2021 had similar findings: Just 14% of the images featured dark skin.

While Dlova rarely saw images of Black skin in her textbooks, she said it wasn't uncommon to come across them when studying sexually transmitted diseases, which often manifest first in the skin.

Black people were exploited in early US research on syphilis, one of the most common sexually transmitted diseases. In the 1930s, doctors from the US government's Public Health Service enrolled hundreds of Black men in the now-infamous Tuskegee Study to track the progression of the disease. When the experiment started, it had no known treatment.

Over the next 15 years, medical researchers discovered penicillin could be used as a treatment for syphilis but did not offer it to the men — the doctors wanted to watch the disease follow its course until the end of their lives.

By the time a reporter made the experiment public in the early 1970s, more than two dozen men had died preventable deaths from syphilis, and many others had passed it on to their children and families.

The impact of knowledge systems

While the Tuskegee Study was being facilitated in the US in the late 1940s, the first medical school was founded in Nigeria by the British, said Abimbola, a health systems researcher and senior lecturer at the University of Sydney's School of Public Health in Australia.

"It was during colonial rule. The founders were very explicit about what the curriculum was meant to be like. And what they wanted were doctors who could practice in the UK," Abimbola told DW.

This meant that doctors were trained to treat diseases and ailments specific to the UK, rather than Nigeria.

"If you can imagine Nigeria in 1948 and England in 1948…you have to make a choice [about] what you're training doctors for," says Abimbola, "because if you're training them to practice in the UK, then you're almost saying that you are training them to not practice in Nigeria."

This logic played a key role in how Nigerian medical school programs were run, even after the country gained independence in 1960, Abimbola said.
Local experts needed

Abimbola is the appointed editor-in-chief of BMJ Global Health, which is part of the British Medical Journal. It aims to cover global health issues that often go unacknowledged in journals that focus on one region.

"The job of a local journal is to service local people. So some of the problem arises when we expect, for some reason, the British Medical Journal to serve the needs of people in Lagos, or Accra," Abimbola said.

While visiting a European dermatologist, Dlova saw first hand the lack of experience with skin conditions common in Africa.

The dermatologist had a patient from Congo, and the staff wanted to do a biopsy to determine a diagnosis.

Dlova recognized it immediately — sarcoidosis, a serious disease that can cause a rash with red or purple bumps, skin lesions, discoloration, and growths under the skin.

"I just said to them, this is sarcoidosis. You don't have to do a biopsy."

Medical journals need to invite experts from Africa to write about these skin conditions, said Dlova.

"[They should] not get someone who's not familiar with the conditions — let's say an American or European dermatologist — they must get Africans who know these conditions, who have studied them," she said.

Things have slowly started changing since Dlova, Abimbola and Sibisi were in medical school.

Dlova published the book Dermatology: A Comprehensive Handbook for Africa in 2017, and she was part of an international team that in 2019 discovered a gene that helps explain why many Black women experience hair loss.

In December 2021, Nigerian medical student Chidiebere Ibe's drawing of a Black baby in a mother's womb went viral. People from across the world responded to the image saying it was they'd seen their skin color represented in a medical illustration.

Last month, Ibe announced plans to illustrate a new online dermatology textbook Mind the Gap, which launched in the UK in 2020.

It's one of the first online resources dedicated solely to depicting how skin conditions present in Black skin.

Edited by: Louisa Wright


VITAMIN C: GOOD FOR THE IMMUNE SYSTEM AND FOR FIGHTING INFECTIONS
Eat me!
Most mammals can synthesize vitamin C i.e., produce it themselves. But humans can't; we must ingest this water-soluble micronutrient with our food. Vitamin C can be found in kiwis, oranges and grapefruits, but also in vegetables such as brussels sprouts, broccoli and peppers. Unfortunately, it is somewhat heat-sensitive — so be careful when cooking!
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