Perturbed over Pakistan, Qatar and Turkey's outreach to Taliban, Saudi Arabia eyes closer ties to India

Saudi Prince, Faisal bin Farhan Al Saud is expected to be in New Delhi this weekend as part of his first visit to India as foreign minister where talks will mostly focus on the evolving situation in Afghanistan

FP StaffSeptember 16, 2021 

Prime Minister Narendra Modi and Saudi Arabia's Crown Prince Mohammed bin Salman in Riyadh. AFP

Saudi Arabia foreign minister Prince Faisal bin Farhan Al Saud is expected to visit India this weekend to discuss the unfolding situation in Afghanistan and the Taliban’s takeover of the country.

Prince Faisal, scheduled to land in India on 19 September, is expected to hold meetings with External Affairs Minister Dr S Jaishankar, National Security Advisor (NSA) Ajit Doval and also Prime Minister Narendra Modi.

This meet comes after Prime Minister Narendra Modi discussed the Afghanistan situation with UAE crown prince Sheikh Mohammed bin Zayed Al Nahyan on 3 September over the telephone, External Affairs Minister S Jaishankar hosted Dr Anwar Gargash, diplomatic advisor to UAE president, on 30 August and exchanged notes on the Kabul crisis.

Qatar, Turkey’s and Pakistan’s proximity to Taliban

India's allies in West Asia, Saudi Arabia and the UAE, are worried about the security ramifications of a Taliban-led Afghanistan and the ties shared by the Taliban and global terrorist networks.

The two nations are also said to have been perturbed by the active role played by Qatar, Turkey and Pakistan in engaging with the Taliban regime.

Qatar has turned out to be a trusted mediator in this conflict.

Doha has become a key broker in Afghanistan following last month's withdrawal of US forces, helping evacuate thousands of foreigners and Afghans, engaging the new Taliban rulers and supporting operations at Kabul airport.

Since the US pullout, Qatar Airways planes have made several trips to Kabul, flying in aid and Doha's representatives and ferrying out foreign passport holders.

Meanwhile, Turkey, which has strong historical and ethnic ties in Afghanistan, has been on the ground with non-combat troops as the only Muslim-majority member of the NATO alliance there.

According to analysts, it has developed close intelligence ties with some Taliban-linked militia. Turkey is also an ally of neighbouring Pakistan, from whose religious seminaries the Taliban first emerged.

Last week, it was reported that Turkish officials held talks with the Taliban lasting over three hours. Some of the discussions were about the future operation of the airport itself, which Turkish troops have guarded for six years.

President Recep Tayyip Erdogan has also stated: "Turkey is ready to lend all kinds of support for Afghanistan's unity but will follow a very cautious path."

Professor Ahmet Kasim Han, an expert on Afghan relations at Istanbul's Altinbas University, while speaking to BBC said that he believes dealing with the Taliban will provide President Erdogan with an opportunity.

He says Turkey may try to position itself as "guarantor, mediator, facilitator", as a more trusted intermediary than Russia or China, who have kept their embassies open in Kabul.

"Turkey can serve that role," he says.

According to experts, the Taliban takeover in Afghanistan has delivered a strategic victory to Pakistan, establishing a friendly government in Kabul for the first time in nearly 20 years.

Pakistan has backed the Taliban from their earliest days. Islamabad was one of only three countries to recognise the Taliban government in the 1990s and the last to break formal ties with it in 2001.

It also provided safe havens to Taliban leaders and medical facilities for wounded fighters. This assistance helped sustain the Taliban, even as they lost thousands of foot soldiers.

Pakistan last week sent supplies such as cooking oil and medicine to authorities in Kabul, while the country's foreign minister called on the international community to provide assistance without conditions and to unfreeze Afghanistan’s assets.

Additionally, a Pakistan International Airlines plane from Islamabad flew to Kabul on Monday, making it the first flight to land in Afghanistan from neighbouring Pakistan since the chaotic final withdrawal of US troops last month.

Saudi-Taliban ties

In the past, they worked together. But today, Saudi Arabia and the Taliban are separated by political and cultural differences, as well as some problematic history.

The last time the Taliban ran Afghanistan, between 1996 and 2001, Saudi Arabia was one of only three countries in the world to officially recognise the Islamist group's government. Neighbouring Pakistan and the United Arab Emirates (UAE) were the other two.

The situation changed dramatically for Saudi Arabia and the UAE after Al-Qaeda, the Sunni Muslim terrorist group, carried out suicide attacks in the US on 11 September, 2001, resulting in the deaths of over 3,000 people.

This was because Saudi Arabia had a diplomatic relationship with the United States since 1940 and the American were the Kingdom's strongest allies in trade and security.

Experts note that Saudi Arabia's once-close ties will not be revived any time soon.

The Saudi-US alliance remains important, and the country's ongoing cultural changes also play a part in this.

Saudi's controversial crown prince, Mohammed bin Salman, is trying to modernise his country and the idea of a more liberal and open Saudi Arabia doesn't sit well with lending support to Islamist extremists in other countries.

Moreover, Kabir Taneja, a fellow at the India-based think tank Observer Research Foundation, wrote, "To maintain its image as an upcoming investment mecca, Riyadh will have to make sure it does not once again become home to mass migration of fighters flying in and out of the Afghanistan … or become a hub of funding enabling extremist activities."

Where does India come in?

India’s policymakers must look to Saudi Arabia to expand cooperation in anti-terrorism activities and expand dialogue on relations between the two, which will help protect the India's interests related to Afghanistan.

Saudi Arabia also believes that closer ties to India will help re-balance the geopolitics of the region, whereas India believes a good relationship with Saudi will give it a chance to counter a hostile China-Pakistan axis gaining strategic depth across the Khyber.

Inputs from agencies

 

Power vacuum, earthquake and crime -- Haiti sinks deeper into gloom

Issued on: 16/09/2021 - 

A street market in Haiti, where people are struggling to get by as the country drifts rudderless  Richard Pierrin AFP

Port-au-Prince (AFP)

Haiti sunk deeper into confusion and fear Wednesday, a day after the Port-au-Prince prosecutor was sacked for requesting the indictment of the prime minister on suspicion of involvement in the assassination of President Jovenel Moise.

The country has been rudderless and beset by a worsening humanitarian and political crisis since an armed hit squad killed the president on July 7, a crisis only worsened by a deadly earthquake a month later.

- Prime Minister in hot seat -

Moise's last political act was to appoint Ariel Henry as head of government as prime minister. But even before the funeral of the head of state, a standoff had erupted between Henry and his former interim predecessor, Claude Joseph.

Amid pressure from various countries, tensions seemed to ease, with politicians in Port-au-Prince unanimously demanding that those responsible for the president's slaying be brought to justice. Henry solemnly pledged to do so.

But over the following weeks, the new premier proved incapable of keeping another promise: to create a climate conducive to the organization of fresh elections.

Worse, Henry is now suspected of having had telephone exchanges in the hours after the attack with one of the main suspects of the president's assassination. Henry has swept away the accusation without any response, other than dismissing the prosecutor who leveled the accusations against him.

- Power vacuum -

The abrupt presidential void since July 7 was a final blow for Haitian democracy. Moise had not held any elections since coming to power in 2017, and as a result Haiti now has only 10 elected officials.

Members of parliament left their seats in January 2020, leaving only a third of the Senate as the sole symbolic guarantor of legislative power. But they lacked any ability to legislate or control the actions of a government whose legitimacy was contested.

Moise, criticized by the opposition for authoritarian overreach, also weakened the justice system by not appointing new judges to the higher ranks of the judiciary.

In February, after denouncing an attempted coup, the late president illegally forced three judges on the Appeals Court into retirement. Lacking sufficient members to convene, the highest court of justice in the country is now paralyzed.

- No referee in sight -

With a hollowed-out political class, any interim management of Haiti is now adrift.

After dozens of military coups, Haiti demobilized its army in 1995, but it was reconstituted by Moise in 2015. It still has only about 500 members, mostly engineers more capable of tackling natural disasters than any foreign foes.

The ranks of the National Police force may have grown since its foundation in 1995, but it still has fewer than 20,000 officers serving a crime-wracked country of 10 million, and has been shaken by internal disputes

The force has also seen its credibility undermined by the fact that no police officer protecting the president was even injured during the assassination.

Over the past five years, the United Nations has steadily reduced its presence in the Caribbean country. The UN first withdrew its peacekeepers -- sent in 2004 after the ouster of President Jean-Bertrand Aristide -- in 2017, and then in 2019 wound up its police mission.

And Haiti's modern troubles come barely a decade after a 2010 earthquake killed some 200,000 people and a subsequent cholera outbreak killed another 10,000.

Foreign diplomats have observed all this with a silence that speaks volumes. Even if any informal exchanges have been organized with the Haitian political class, no official note on the crisis has been issued by the Core Group, made up of representatives of the United Nations, the European Union and the Organization of American States, as well as various embassies, since July 17.

- Poverty, insecurity, earthquake -

At a time when most Haitians struggle to put food on the table, widespread insecurity is hindering any prospect of economic recovery.

Heavily armed gangs control several suburbs of the capital, from where they carry out kidnappings with impunity and regularly block all access to the only oil terminals in the country.

Finally, a month after the earthquake that devastated southwestern Haiti and killed more than 2,200 people, some 650,000 Haitians, including 260,000 children and adolescents, continue to need emergency humanitarian aid, Unicef said Tuesday.

© 2021 AFP

Stranded migrants protest in southern Mexico

Issued on: 15/09/2021 

Migrants march in the southern Mexican city of Tapachula to demand the right to travel freely to the United States CLAUDIO CRUZ AFP

Tapachula (Mexico) (AFP)

Dozens of mostly Haitian migrants stranded in southern Mexico protested on Wednesday to demand the right to travel freely to the United States.

Around 200 people marched through the city of Tapachula near the border with Guatemala to the immigration office to ask for documents that would allow them to head north.

Mexican security forces have recently broken up several migrant caravans attempting the journey, prompting accusations of excessive use of force

Rights activists are seeking a court order allowing the migrants to leave Tapachula, where thousands have been stranded for months without permission to cross Mexican territory.

Campaigners on Wednesday submitted five injunction requests for urgent cases to the federal courts, said Luis Garcia of the Center for Human Dignification.

"Today these families are going to go on foot, by bus or however they can towards the northern border," he told reporters.

Migrants stuck in Tapachula face overcrowding, inadequate healthcare and the risk of coronavirus infection, medical aid group Doctors Without Borders (MSF) said last week.

On Monday campaigners will seek permission for 7,000 migrants to travel in a caravan to Mexico City and demand a solution from President Andres Manuel Lopez Obrador, Garcia said.

"We're going to go to Mexico City no matter what. Tapachula is not a garbage dump," he added.

Activists including Garcia ended a 72-hour hunger strike they held to demand free transit and an end to the use of force against migrants.

The National Migration Institute (INM) recently suspended two of its agents for mistreating a Haitian migrant while dispersing one of the caravans.

Mexico has seen increased arrivals of migrants fleeing violence and poverty since US President Joe Biden took up residence in the White House with a promise of a more humane approach toward migrants.

Mexican authorities have arrested more than 147,000 undocumented migrants so far this year -- three times more than in the same period of 2020, according to the INM.

© 2021 AFP

Haiti government begins unraveling as newly accused PM fires justice minister

Issued on: 16/09/2021 -

Prime Minister Ariel Henry poses with Minister of Justice and Public Security Rockefeller Vincent (R) during a ceremony at La Primature in Port-au-Prince, Haiti, on July 20, 2021. © Valerie Baeriswyl, AFP

Text by:NEWS WIRES

Haiti’s government is starting to crumble as Prime Minister Ariel Henry faces increased scrutiny from authorities investigating the president’s slaying, with Henry firing the justice minister late Wednesday, just hours after another top official resigned and accused Henry of obstructing justice in a sharply worded letter.

Henry’s dismissal of Justice Minister Rockfeller Vincent came a day after he fired Port-au-Prince’s chief prosecutor, who had linked the prime minister to a key suspect in the killing of President Jovenel Moïse.

Meanwhile, Renald Lubérice, who served more than four years as secretary general of Haiti’s Council of Ministers, said he could not remain under the direction of someone who is under suspicion and who “does not intend to cooperate with justice, seeking, on the contrary, by all means, to obstruct it.”

Lubérice also said he is concerned about the alleged evidence against Henry in the killing.

“May each minister put himself at the height of his mission at this historic crossroads,” he said

A spokesman for Henry declined to comment. Vincent tweeted that the confidence Moïse showed him allowed him to serve with “dignity, competence, loyalty and a sense of public service.”

Vincent added that Haiti is obligated to bring those responsible to justice: “It is a matter of national dignity. I am counting on the independence of the justice of my country to shed light on this emblematic case and all the other pending cases.”

Henry appointed Liszt Quitel as justice minister and Josué Pierre Louis as the council’s secretary general. Quitel had been serving as interior minister under Henry and was once an adviser to then Haitian President René Préval.

The appointments come less than a week after then Port-au-Prince chief prosecutor Bed-Ford Claude asked Henry to meet with him Tuesday to explain why he had two phone conversations with a key suspect just hours after the July 7 killing of Moïse at his home. The suspect, Joseph Badio, was fired from the government’s anti-corruption unit in May and remains a fugitive, according to police, who seek him on charges including murder.

On Tuesday, Claude ordered the judge overseeing the case to charge and investigate the prime minister based on that evidence. Hours later, a new chief prosecutor replaced Claude on orders of Henry, who accused Claude of an undefined, “serious administrative fault.”

The day before Claude was fired, Vincent ordered that the chief of Haiti’s National Police increase security for the prosecutor, saying he had received “important and disturbing threats” in recent days.

The developments underline that Moïse’s Tèt Kale party is fracturing, said Robert Fatton, a Haitian politics expert at the University of Virginia.

Some politicians are aligning themselves with Henry and others are breaking away, threatening to further destabilize the country as it tries to recover from the turmoil of the assassination and a recent earthquake that killed more than 2,200 people as it prepares for upcoming presidential and legislative elections.

Among those breaking away is Senate President Joseph Lambert, a one-time Moïse ally who recently proclaimed himself as provisional president in a move that has only received support from several politicians and has not been recognized by Henry’s administration or anyone in the international community.

“I don’t know how long the power struggle can continue,” Fatton said. “All of it is bewildering. We’ll have to wait to see if the situation settles and if Ariel Henry wins that battle.”

Henry, who Moïse named as prime minister shortly before he was killed, has not spoken publicly on the issue this week, saying only over the weekend that he is focused on stabilizing Haiti and would not be distracted by summons, maneuvers or threats.

Haiti’s ombudsman-like Office of Citizen Protection recently called on Henry to resign and asked the international community to stop supporting him.

On Wednesday evening, a key group of diplomats issued a statement saying it encouraged efforts by Henry and other political leaders to reach an agreement and form an inclusive government “to preserve national cohesion and allow the country to resume its journey towards political stability.”

The Core Group, composed of ambassadors from Germany, Brazil, Canada, Spain, the U.S., France, the European Union and representatives from the United Nations and the Organization of American States, also demanded that “full light be shed on the assassination” of Moïse.

More than 40 suspects have been arrested in the slaying, including 18 Colombian ex-soldiers who have accused Haitian authorities of torturing them while they are in custody. The investigation has faced several setbacks, including death threats that have forced court clerks to go into hiding and a judge to step down after one of his assistants died in unclear circumstances.

(AP)

THIS IS YOUR GRANPAPIES GOP

Viral montage reveals 'despicable' GOP history of rape comments: 'This is the Republican Party'

Alex Henderson, AlterNet
September 15, 2021

Rick Santorum (CNN)

When a reporter recently asked Gov. Greg Abbott to address the fact that Texas' draconian new anti-abortion law makes no exception for rape or incest victims, his bizarre response was that the law doesn't punish rape victims because Texas will "work tirelessly" to "eliminate all rapists" in his state. Abbott has drawn widespread criticism for that comment, and some of the criticism has come from the progressive group MeidasTouch — which, this week, released a scathing video showing some of the appalling things that Republicans have said about rape in the past.

Tweeting the video, MeidasTouch urged Twitter users to retweet it if they "agree the GOP are the most despicable force for evil in America" — and the comments from Republicans are, to be sure, despicable.

One of the comments is from former Rep. Todd Akin, who former Democratic Sen. Claire McCaskill (now an MSNBC contributor) defeated in Missouri's 2012 U.S. Senate race before losing to now-Sen. Josh Hawley in 2018. Akin, in 2012, infamously commented, "If it's a legitimate rape, the female body has ways to try to shut that whole thing down."

Former Sen. Rick Santorum of Pennsylvania, who was voted out of office in 2006, is seen in the video urging rape victims to "make the most of a bad situation" and "accept what God is giving to you."

Former Indiana State Treasurer Richard Mourdock, in the video, says of pregnant rape victims, "Even when life begins in that horrible situation of rape, it is something that God intended to happen."

The video shows former Rep. Steve King of Iowa commenting, "If not for rape and incest, would there be any population left?"

Another Republican seen in the video is former Maine State Rep. Lawrence Lockman, who said, "If a woman has the right to an abortion, why shouldn't a man be free to use his superior strength to force himself on a woman? At least the rapist's pursuit of sexual freedom doesn't, in most cases, result in anyone's death."

MeidasTouch, after showing that montage of Republicans, tells viewers, "This is the Republican Party. Never forget."

The video, according to HuffPost, has "garnered more than 700,000 views on Twitter."

Three ex-US intelligence officers admit cyberspying for Emiratis

by Reuters

15 September 2021

---

Three former US intelligence operatives who worked as cyber spies for the United Arab Emirates admitted to violating U.S. hacking laws and prohibitions on selling sensitive military technology, under a deal to avoid prosecution announced on Tuesday.

The operatives - Marc Baier, Ryan Adams and Daniel Gericke - were part of a clandestine unit named Project Raven, first reported by Reuters, that helped the UAE spy on its enemies.

At the behest of the UAE’s monarchy, the Project Raven team hacked into the accounts of human rights activists, journalists and rival governments, Reuters reported.

One of the three ex-officials, Daniel Gericke, is the CIO at ExpressVPN, one of the largest virtual private network (VPN) providers. Kape Technologies announced acquiring ExpressVPN for $936 million this Monday.

ExpressVPN released a statement claiming the company was aware of Gericke's employment past. 

"Daniel has a deep understanding of the tools and techniques used by the adversaries we aim to protect users against, and as such is a uniquely qualified expert to advise on defense against such threats," reads the statement.

Reuters report that the three men admitted to hacking into computer networks in the United States and exporting sophisticated cyber intrusions tools without gaining required permission from the U.S. government, according to court papers released in U.S. federal court in Washington, D.C., on Tuesday.

The former operatives and their attorneys did not respond to requests for comment by Reuters. The UAE embassy in Washington, D.C., did not immediately respond to a request for comment.

As part of the deal with federal authorities to avoid prosecution, the three former intelligence officials agreed to pay a combined $1.69 million and never again seek a U.S. security clearance, a requirement for jobs that entail access to national security secrets.

“Hackers-for-hire and those who otherwise support such activities in violation of U.S. law should fully expect to be prosecuted for their criminal conduct,” Acting Assistant Attorney General Mark J. Lesko for the Justice Department’s National Security Division said in a statement.

Revelations of Project Raven in 2019 by Reuters highlighted the growing practice of former intelligence operatives selling their spycraft overseas with little oversight or accountability.

“This is a clear message to anybody, including former U.S. government employees, who had considered using cyberspace to leverage export-controlled information for the benefit of a foreign government or a foreign commercial company,” Assistant Director Bryan Vorndran of the FBI’s Cyber Division said in a statement. “There is risk, and there will be consequences.”

Lori Stroud, a former U.S. National Security Agency analyst who worked on Project Raven and then acted as a whistleblower, said she was pleased to see the charges.

“The most significant catalyst to bringing this issue to light was investigative journalism - the timely, technical information reported created the awareness and momentum to ensure justice," she said.

The Reuters investigation found that Project Raven spied on numerous human rights activists, some of whom were later tortured by UAE security forces. Former program operatives said they believed they were following the law because superiors promised them the U.S. government had approved the work.

Baier, Adams and Gericke admitted to deploying a sophisticated cyberweapon called “Karma” that allowed the UAE to hack into Apple iPhones without requiring a target to click on malicious links, according to court papers.

Karma allowed users to access tens of millions of devices and qualified as an intelligence gathering system under federal export control rules. But the operatives did not obtain the required U.S. government permission to sell the tool to the UAE, authorities said.

Project Raven used Karma to hack into thousands of targets including a Nobel Prize-winning Yemeni human rights activist and a BBC television show host, Reuters reported.

Reporting by Christopher Bing and Joel Schectman; Editing by Kieran Murray and Stephen Coates. Additional info by CyberNews.

DEADLY FLIP FLOP TOO LITTLE TOO LATE

Alberta to bring in COVID-19 passport, declares health emergency

Alberta Premier Jason Kenney, facing a COVID-19 crisis that is collapsing the province's health-care system, says his government will implement a vaccine passport.

Kenney also declared Wednesday a state of public health emergency, with strict new limits on gatherings, and warned the province is at risk of exhausting intensive care beds and staff within 10 days.

Kenney said he was reluctant to approve what he called the "restriction exemption program."

"With unvaccinated patients overwhelming now our hospitals, this is now the only responsible choice that we have," he said.

Several provinces are bringing in vaccine passports, which compel people to prove they have been vaccinated before being allowed to use non-essential services such as pubs and restaurants.

Kenney had resisted such measures for health privacy reasons. But critics said he did so for political reasons to prevent a revolt by anti-restriction members of his United Conservative caucus.

Alberta lifted almost all public health restrictions more than two months ago and is facing skyrocketing COVID-19 cases that have pushed intensive care beds beyond normal capacity and forced mass cancellation of non-urgent surgeries.

Kenney apologized Wednesday and said lifting the restrictions was the wrong call.

"The government’s first obligation must be to avoid large numbers of preventable deaths. We must deal with the reality we are facing. We cannot wish it away."

Alberta has more than 18,000 active cases — the most of any province. On Wednesday, there were 877 people in hospital with the illness, including 218 in intensive care.

This report by The Canadian Press was first published Sept. 15, 2021.

The Canadian Press

Australian species saved from extinction in 'incredible first' - with help from guard dogs


By Adam Vidler

Sep 15, 2021

Today has seen a remarkable first for Australian wildlife, with an animal species classified as extinct in the wild being saved from a complete wipeout - and even getting their own guard dogs in the process

The eastern barred bandicoot in Victoria has been the focus of a 30-year-long rescue program after its population shrank to just 150 animals in the wild in 1989, near the Victorian town of Hamilton.

The once-common species had been driven to the brink of extinction by habitat destruction and by the predations of foxes and cats - neither native to Australia.

The eastern barred bandicoot has been officially brought back from the brink of extinction. (Zoos Victoria)

Volunteers and government agencies have since managed to establish populations at feral predator-free sites at Woodlands Historic Park, Hamilton Community Parklands, Mt Rothwell, and Tilverton.

At a further two sites at Skipton and Dunkeld, bandicoot populations are protected by guardian dogs trained by Zoos Victoria.

The dogs are actually bonded to protect flocks of sheep on the same reserves, but are trained to leave the bandicoots alone and focus on driving away foxes.

READ MORE: Koala bushfire survivor spotted in wild with joey

The once-common Victorian animal had been declared extinct in the wild, but populations have now been returned from captivity to reserves. (Zoos Victoria)

"The dogs are not bonded directly to the bandicoots as they are solitary and nocturnal – so they do not flock," Zoos Victoria guardian dog coordinator David Williams said.
Bandicoots from captive breeding programs and fenced reserves have also been successfully translocated to secure, fox-free habitats on Phillip, Churchill and French Islands, where significant populations are now thriving.
These combined sites are now home to about 1500 eastern barred bandicoots, prompting the species to be reclassified from "extinct in the wild" to "endangered".

At two of the reserves, the bandicoots will be protected from foxes by guardian dogs trained by Zoos Victoria. (Zoos Victoria)

Victoria Environment Minister Lily D'Ambrosio announced the success of the program today, calling it an "incredible first for Australia".

"This success is due to the efforts of every member of the recovery team," she said.
"Community volunteers have played a big role at many of the reintroduction sites, helping check fences, count bandicoots and remove weeds and pests."

Hope for rare mammal thought wiped out by Australian bushfires

Australian species saved from extinction in 'incredible first' - with help from guard dogs

Guardian dogs protecting endangered bandicoots

Australia’s extinction crisis

Koalas are facing extinction

NAFTA RAILROAD

Canadian Pacific clinches $27-billion Kansas City Southern deal as rival bows out

(Reuters) -Canadian Pacific Railway Ltd inked a $27.2 billion cash-and-stock deal to buy Kansas City Southern on Wednesday after Canadian National Railway Co conceded it could not save its own $29.6-billion deal for the U.S. railway.

FILE PHOTO: A Canadian National Railway train travels westward on a track in Montreal

The combination will create the first direct railway linking Canada, the United States and Mexico, with a network spanning 20,000 miles and approximately $8.7 billion of annual revenue. It marks the end of a high-stakes bidding war.

The $300 per share cash-and-stock deal that Canadian Pacific clinched is higher than the $275 per share cash-and-stock deal that it had secured in March to buy Kansas City Southern. That deal was scrapped when Canadian National wooed Kansas City Southern in May with a $325 per share cash-and-stock offer.

Kansas City Southern shares were little changed at $281.55 in Wednesday trading in New York.

Canadian National suffered a blow when the U.S. Surface Transportation Board (STB) rejected a temporary “voting trust” structure last month that would have allowed Kansas City Southern shareholders to receive the deal’s consideration without having to wait for full regulatory approval.

Canadian Pacific has had its proposed voting trust cleared by the STB and so Kansas City Southern shareholders will receive the $300 per share in cash and stock even if the regulator shoots down the deal. The regulatory certainty this provided convinced Kansas City Southern’s board to switch to a deal with Canadian Pacific, even though its offer was lower than Canadian National’s.

Canadian National had also faced pressure from some of its investors, including hedge fund TCI Management Ltd, to abandon its pursuit of Kansas City Southern. Canadian National shares jumped 3.7% on Wednesday to C$150.97, as its investors expressed relief the attempted deal was abandoned.

This is because a new offer would need to compensate Kansas City Southern for the regulatory risk of sticking with the Canadian National deal. This would have likely required a significantly higher price, as well a regulatory break-up fee that would be much higher than the $1 billion Canadian National offered previously.

The STB said last month that even though the overlap of Canadian National’s and Kansas City Southern’s networks was confined to 70 miles (113 km) between Baton Rouge and New Orleans, the two railways operated parallel lines in the central portion of the United States and could be under less pressure to compete if the voting trust for that deal was approved.

“There have been significant changes to the U.S. regulatory landscape since Canadian National launched its initial proposal which have made completing any Class I merger much less certain, including an executive order focused on competition issued by President Biden in July,” the company said in a statement on Wednesday.

There is a silver lining for Canadian National. It is now entitled to a $700 million break-up fee from Kansas City Southern, in addition to the $700 million it paid the latter to pass on to Canadian Pacific as a break-up fee for terminating their March deal. Canadian Pacific had said it will cover both payments.

CANADIAN PACIFIC NOT IN THE CLEAR YET

There are still potential pitfalls for Canadian Pacific. While no major Canadian Pacific shareholder has come out against the Kansas City Southern deal, as happened with Canadian National, Canadian Pacific still needs a majority of its investors to vote for the new agreement.

It is also possible that the STB shoots down Canadian Pacific’s deal for Kansas City Southern, even though it approved the voting trust for it. More likely, however, would be for the STB to require some concessions from Canadian Pacific, such as limited divestments or commitments on how much its charges customers, to clear the deal, people familiar with the matter said. It is possible that some of the concessions could erode Canadian Pacific’s profitability.

The STB did not immediately respond to a request for comment.

If the STB rejects the deal, Canadian Pacific’s voting trust would have to divest Kansas City Southern. Canadian National could then attempt to buy it, though the U.S. railroad has also attracted acquisition interest in the past from private equity firms.

Reporting by Greg Roumeliotis in New YorkAdditional reporting by Aishwarya Nair, Aakriti Bhalla and Abhijith Ganapavaram in Bengaluru; Editing by Rashmi Aich, Arun Koyyur and Bernadette Baum

REMEMBER ; TRUMP DEFEATED ISIS

17 Pro-Iran Militants Killed, Injured in ISIS Attack in Central Syria

Wednesday, 15 September, 2021

Members of the Liwa Fatemiyoun during training in eastern Syria.

 (Euphrates Post file photo)
Idlib, Qamishli, Damascus – Firas Karam, Kamal Sheikho and Asharq Al-Awsat

Seventeen members of the pro-Iran Liwa Fatemiyoun militia were killed and wounded in an attack carried out by the ISIS terrorist group in the Homs countryside in central Syria.

A source told Asharq Al-Awsat that the militants, who are affiliated with the Iranian Revolutionary Guards, were killed in an ISIS ambush on Monday night.

The ambush targeted a Liwa Fatemiyoun military position in the Doubayat gas field area that is a stronghold of the militia.

Eight members of the militia were killed in the attack. Nine others were wounded and they were taken to a field hospital in Palmyra for treatment.

Groups affiliated with the IRGC in Palmyra attempted to dispatch military reinforcements to the site of the attack, but it was targeted by another ISIS ambush along the road connecting Plamyra to al-Sukhna region.

This forced Russian jets to intervene. They carried out over 20 strikes against ISIS in the area.

An opposition activist in the city of Salamiyah said ISIS has increased its activity in the Syrian desert in Hama, Homs and central parts of the country in recent weeks. It has staged surprise attacks against IRGC positions and regime convoys in the desert (Badia).

Vehicles transporting pro-Iran militants, of various nationalities, cross Salamiyah on a daily basis headed towards the Hama desert to reinforce positions there, he revealed.

Several pro-Iran militants have been killed in ISIS attacks in recent days in regions in eastern Hama. Convoys transporting regime fighters, including officers, have also been targeted by the extremists. Thirteen regime forces were killed and five others were captured in one attack.

The regime and pro-Iran militias, backed by Russian air cover, have launched a large-scale operation to crackdown on ISIS remnants in the Syrian Badia in Hama and Homs, extending to the southern and eastern parts of the Raqqa and Deir Ezzor provinces in the east.

Despite these efforts, the operation has not curbed ISIS’ renewed activity. The group has resorted to ambushes and surprise attacks. Over 115 regime loyalists, including Iranians and Afghan mercenaries, have been killed in ISIS attacks in recent months.