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☆ How Qatar swayed Israel and Hamas to make a truce work
▼ + stars: | 2023-11-30 | by ( Andrew Mills | ) www.reuters.com time to read: +10 min

It was necessary to clarify all the points in the agreement and make sure they meant the same thing to Israel and Hamas, a source briefed on the negotiations said. Qatar's foreign ministry told reporters that Hamas and Israel negotiated in Doha until "the early morning" of Nov. 23 and agreed on a plan to implement the truce deal the next day. Qatari negotiators shepherded Israel and Hamas to agree on exactly where in Gaza Israeli tanks would be stationed during the truce. Israel vets all financial transfers Qatar makes to Palestinians in Gaza, Qatari sources have said. Despite proximity to Hamas officials, Qatari negotiators did not speak directly to the group's leaders in Gaza, but through its representatives based in Doha.

Persons: Qatar’s, Abdullah Al Sulaiti, Imad Creidi, Qatar's, Sheikh Mohammed bin Abdulrahman Al Thani, Sheikh Mohammed, David Barnea, Israel, Benjamin Netanyahu, Netanyahu, shepherded Israel, Al Shifa, Emir Sheikh Tamim bin Hamad Al Thani, Joe Biden, Sheikh Tamim, Mehran Kamrava, We've, Al Sulaiti, I've, Ahmed Mohamed Hassan, Matt S, Dan Williams, David Gauthier, Frank Jack Daniel Organizations: Hamas, National Command Centre, REUTERS, Rights DOHA, Qatari, Qatar's Ministry of Foreign Affairs, U.S . Department of State, U.S, Gaza, Bild, Palestinian, Georgetown University, Thomson Locations: Israel, Palestinian, Doha, Qatar, Palestinian Territories, Egypt, Gaza, Moscow, London, Hamas, U.S, Russia, Gulf, Berlin, Syria, Qatari, Cairo, Washington, Jerusalem

Oleg Panteleev, head of the AviaPort aviation think-tank in Moscow, said Russian airlines have "solved the problem" of operating under Western sanctions. When those firms stopped providing services – Lufthansa Technik said it suspended sales to Russia from Feb. 28, 2022 – Russian airlines turned to a pool of far smaller suppliers. Ivan Melnicov, chief executive of Air Rock and another aircraft parts distributor in Moldova called Aerostage Services, denied selling products to Russia. Most of the shipments listed in Russian customs records as having been made by Air Rock and Aerostage took circuitous routes, transiting through the UAE or Kyrgyzstan. He said Skyparts had procured one of the Northrop Grumman parts from a U.S. supplier but denied ever sending it to Russia.

Persons: Paul Hanna, Northrop, Oleg Panteleev, Kirill Skuratov, Northrop Grumman, Ivan Melnicov, Melnicov, Aerostage, Kafolati Komil, Mahmadbashir Yakubov, Kafolati, Skyparts FZCO, Lisa Barrington, Saeed Abdulloev, Skyparts, Karine Bukrey, Ramses Turizm, Bukrey's, Ramazan, Bukrey, Akpinar, Nordwind, Valery Pashaev, Pashaev, Maurice Tamman, David Clarke, Daniel Flynn Organizations: Ural Airlines Airbus, Palma de Mallorca, REUTERS, Rights, U.S ., Northrop Grumman, Central Asia, Airbus, Boeing, Ural Airlines, Northrop, United Arab Emirates, Western, Reuters, of Commerce, European Union, Russian, S7 Airlines, Reuters Graphics Reuters, Aeroflot, Lufthansa Technik, Engineering, Rock Solutions, Air Rock, Aerostage Services, Airlines, UAE, Istikloliyat, Skyparts, Nordwind Airlines, Thomson Locations: Palma de, Spain, Russian, Yekaterinburg, U.S, Moscow, Russia, Central, Ukraine, Tajikistan, UAE, Turkey, China, Kyrgyzstan, Swiss, Germany, Moldova, Air, Moldovan, Saudi Arabia, Komilchon, Ural, Dubai, United Arab, Turkish, Antalya, Nusret, Technic, New York

This account of how Niger's coup unfolded is based on 15 interviews with Nigerien security officials, politicians, as well as current and former Western government officials. In his first address following the July 26 coup, Tiani said he had ousted the president for the good of the country. But in recent months, Bazoum had curtailed the size of the presidential guard, which was about 700-strong at the time of the coup, and started to scrutinize its budget. Issoufou was elected in 2011, a year after a previous military coup. Almost all the different branches of Niger's security apparatus had a member in the group, including the police, army, air force and presidential guard.

Persons: Emmanuel Macron, Mahamadou Issoufou, Regis, Mohamed Bazoum, Bazoum, Abdourahamane Tiani, Tiani, Keen, Issoufou, Spokespeople, swirled, Salifou Mody, Mody, Hassoumi Massaoudou, Amadou Abdramane, Ahmad Sidien, Moussa Aksar, David Lewis, David Gauthier, Michel Rose, Edward McAllister, Alexandra Zavis, David Clarke Organizations: Niger, REUTERS, Nigerien, Reuters, West African States, Reuters Graphics Reuters, Western, Niger Armed Forces, United Arab Emirates, National Guard, Thomson Locations: Sahel, French, Pau, France, NIAMEY, United States, Niamey, Diffa, Niger, Mali, Burkina Faso, Russia, West Africa, Tiani, Nairobi, Villars, Istanbul, Paris, Dakar

☆ Exclusive: Wagner fighters neared Russian nuclear base during revolt
▼ + stars: | 2023-07-10 | by ( ) www.reuters.com time to read: +20 min

Reuters GraphicsOnce the Wagner fighters reach more rural regions, the surveillance trail goes cold – about 100 km from the nuclear base, Voronezh-45. But in an exclusive interview, Ukraine's head of military intelligence, Kyrylo Budanov, said that the Wagner fighters went far further. The only barrier between the Wagner fighters and nuclear weapons, Budanov said, were the doors to the nuclear storage facility. It is one of Russia's 12 "national-level storage facilities" for nuclear weapons, according to a report by U.N. scientists. Another female resident also said Wagner had widespread support in the town, and that many Wagner fighters are from Boguchar.

Persons: Wagner, Ukraine's, Kyrylo Budanov, Budanov, Alexander Lukashenko, Adam Hodge, Yevgeny Prigozhin, Matt Korda, Vladimir Putin's, Hans Kristensen, David Jonas, Amy Woolf, Jonas, Prigozhin, Dmitry Utkin, Putin, Sergei Shoigu, Staff Valery Gerasimov, Shoigu, Oleksiy Danilov, Don, Anna Sandrakova, Maxim Yantsov, Mikhail Vedernikov, Talovaya, Alexei Yablokov, Kristensen, Alexsandr Lukashenko, Dmitry Peskov, Lukashenko, he's, Mari Saito, Tom Balmforth, John Shiffman, Phil Stewart, Polina, Maria Tsvetkova, Anton Zverev, Christian Lowe, David Gauthier, Stephen Grey, Reade Levinson, Eleanor Whalley, Milan Pavicic, Daria Shamonova, Janet McBride Organizations: Reuters, Kremlin, Belarusian, U.S, White, National Security, Nuclear, Federation of American, Federation of American Scientists, U.S . National Nuclear Security Administration, Library, Congress, Wagner, State, Staff, Russian, Defence Ministry, Defence Council, Main, Russian Defence, U.S . Congress, Telegram, Thomson Locations: Moscow, Russian, Voronezh, United States, Ukraine, Russia, Rostov, Talovaya, Soviet, Washington, dabble, Syria, Libya, Mali, ., Pavlovsk, Elizavetovka, Vorontsovka, Buturlinovka, Talovaya district, Pskov, Soviet Union, Belarus, Minsk, he's, St Petersburg, Kyiv, London, New York, Paris, Villars, Istanbul, Gdansk

A screengrab from the website of U.S. company Extreme Networks shows Russian manager Sergey Gusakov. The IT equipment sold in Russia by Gusakov's company Vektor-T is assembled in China and contains U.S. microprocessors, according to the people familiar with the matter and photographs seen by Reuters. "These violations will lead to a heavy strike to the reputation of the Extreme company against the background of the war in Ukraine," the complaint said. The photographs obtained by Reuters of the insides of switches sold by DCN and Vektor-T clearly show one of each. "The U.S. technology proportion of DCN products is very small," he said.

Persons: Sergey Gusakov, Gusakov, haven't, Sergey Gusakov’s, spokespeople, DCN, Marvell, Lattice, David Gauthier, Aram Roston, Daniel Flynn Organizations: Marvell Technology Inc, Lattice Semiconductor Corp, Reuters, Handout, REUTERS, Extreme Networks Inc, U.S ., Extreme Networks, Extreme, CIS, China Information Technology Ltd, Marvell, Lattice, U.S, Thomson Locations: China, U.S, Russia, Ukraine, Soviet, Moscow, Gusakov, Kazakhstan, Russian, Oryol, Wilmington , DE, Hillsboro, Villars, Istanbul, Washington

☆ Special Report: US, Swedish prosecutors study graft complaint naming son of Turkey's Erdogan
▼ + stars: | 2023-06-26 | by ( David Gauthier-Villars | ) www.reuters.com time to read: +16 min

The proposed plan was detailed in communications and business documents seen by Reuters, as well as by a person familiar with the matter. A screengrab shows information about the AL-100K dashboard breathalyzer on the website of Swedish company Dignita Systems. Reuters was unable to confirm independently whether President Erdogan and his son Bilal were aware of, or had involvement in Dignita's alleged kickback scheme. Ibn Haldun University was founded by Turgev, a charity organization President Erdogan helped create in the 1990s, when he was mayor of Istanbul. In 2016, Italian prosecutors conducted a money-laundering probe into Bilal Erdogan on suspicion he had brought cash into the country without declaring it.

Persons: Recep Tayyip Erdogan, Erdogan, Dignita, Bilal Erdogan, Anders Eriksson, Bilal, Dignita's, Scott Greytak, Ibn Haldun, Turgev, Erdogan's, Eriksson, Irfan Gunduz, Gunduz, Erdogan’s, " Eriksson, Bilal –, Bilal Erdogan –, – Dignita, Smart, Matthew Strausz, Anders, David Gauthier, Daniel Flynn Organizations: Reuters, Dignita Systems, Dignita's U.S, Turkish, U.S . Department of Justice, International U.S, DOJ, Smart, Apollo Global Management, North Atlantic Treaty Organization, NATO, Nordic, Swedish, Ibn Haldun University, Ibn, Dignita, Tugva, BMZ, Islamic, Smart Start, Thomson Locations: United States, Sweden, Swedish, U.S, Turkey, Washington, States, Texas, Ankara, Stockholm, Istanbul, Turkish, Tugva, Islamic State, Syria, Russia, American, Gunduz

☆ Best actress at Cannes returns to polarised Turkey on runoff day
▼ + stars: | 2023-05-28 | by ( Deniz Uyar | ) www.reuters.com time to read: +2 min

ISTANBUL, May 28 (Reuters) - Merve Dizdar, best actress winner at the Cannes Film Festival, returned to Turkey on Sunday and was met both by cheering fans and sharp criticism, highlighting the extreme polarisation in the country. “I am overwhelmed with the support I see here,” Dizdar told Reuters after casting her vote at an Istanbul school. In her Cannes speech, Dizdar said that she didn’t need to rehearse for the teacher’s role because she has known how such women feel “by heart since the day I was born". "You shall first learn to respect your own country, Merve Dizdar,” Uslu said on Twitter. The Turkish actress was unapologetic.

☆ French prosecutors accuse Lebanon central bank chief of hiding fraud
▼ + stars: | 2023-04-21 | by ( ) www.reuters.com time to read: +3 min

BEIRUT/PARIS, April 21 (Reuters) - French prosecutors have told Lebanon's central bank governor Riad Salameh they plan to press preliminary fraud and money laundering charges against him, partly based on allegedly forged bank statements used to conceal his wealth, according to French court documents seen by Reuters. During that hearing, French prosecutors intend to press the preliminary charges and formally name him a suspect. As part of his response to accusations, Salameh sent French prosecutors a 65-page memo supplied by Marwan Kheireddine, the chairman of Lebanon's AM Bank. But according to the French court documents seen by Reuters, French investigators have reached the conclusion the bank statements were fake. Salameh "used fake records of bank accounts at AM Bank… provided by Marwan Kheireddine, to justify in a deceitful manner the origin of his properties or revenues," French prosecutors say in the court documents.

The Lebanese bank did not respond to a message seeking comment. Bank statements seen by Reuters show how the Salameh accounts at AM Bank ballooned from $15 million in 1993 to more than $150 million by 2019. Lebanese prosecutors suspect the accounts, from which regular cash withdrawals were made, were used to conceal money laundering activity, a Lebanese judicial source said on Saturday. According to the lawyer, French prosecutors have summoned his client with a view of naming him a formal suspect. If French prosecutors suspected Salameh of wrongdoing, they could not hear him as a witness, Sur said.

MALATYA, Turkey, March 4 (Reuters) - The Trend Garden Residence, an upscale serviced apartment building in the Turkish city of Malatya, boasted a gym, freshly-furnished rooms and a roof-top cafeteria. Erdogan, who has led Turkey since 2003, said following the disaster that building standards have improved under his watch. Among those arrested as part of the Trend Garden probe is Engin Aslan, according to the government officials. Corporate records show he is the majority owner of a Turkish company that, according to land registration documents, owns the building. A spokesperson for the Yesilyurt district municipality, where Trend Garden was located, declined to comment about the building’s registration history.

BEIRUT, Jan 20 (Reuters) - Lebanese bankers told European prosecutors they believed that commissions now at the centre of a graft probe had been paid to the central bank, four sources said, while investigators suspect the cash illegally ended up with the governor's brother. They suspect central bank governor Riad Salameh and his brother Raja illegally took more than $300 million from the central bank between 2002 and 2015 and invested some of the funds in Europe. The bankers and officials told the visiting European prosecutors that they were not aware that the funds had gone to Forry Associates, the four sources said. The four sources said former central bank officials and private bankers had told the European prosecutors they first heard of Forry Associates when the investigation began and the name appeared in the media. A separate but related Lebanese probe charged Riad Salameh with illicit enrichment in March, which he has denied.

☆ French prosecutors name Ukrainian suspect in Lebanese central bank probe
▼ + stars: | 2022-12-05 | by ( David Gauthier-Villars | ) www.reuters.com time to read: +3 min

Dec 5 (Reuters) - French prosecutors said on Monday they have put a Ukrainian woman linked to the governor of Lebanon's central bank under formal investigation as part of a cross-border probe into alleged fraud to the detriment of the Lebanese state. A lawyer for Kosakova said he and his client would "react very soon" to the French prosecutors' decisions. Salameh, who has not been named as a suspect by French prosecutors but who had some of his real estate assets in France seized as part of the investigation, did not respond to a message seeking comment. A French lawyer for Salameh, Pierre-Olivier Sur, said the June decision on Kosakova "doesn't change anything". In the interview with Reuters, Riad Salameh has said he bought real estate assets with his own money, earned when he worked as an investment banker.

More than three-quarters of the deliveries list the supplier as Gap Europe Ltd, a London-based unit of Gap Inc. The Russian customs records are drawn from several commercial providers of trade data and go through Sept. 30. The Gap shipments included everything from "knitted children’s socks" and "children’s pajamas" to "textile blouses for women" and "textile shorts for men." Some items are missing.”Russian customs records show more than 1,200 shipments of Gap clothing to Russia between March 11 – the day after Gap Inc’s announcement that it was halting shipments – and June 21. After July 16, the customs records show no shipments to Gap Retail in Moscow, indicating that the apparel flow to Russia had stopped.

Ukraine has accused Russia of deploying missiles made by MMZ Avangard against ground targets since Russia launched what it terms its "special operation" on Feb. 24. "Extreme equipment is used on Russian warships," the complaint said, "in communications systems." "It was necessary to use a cover because the Russian company is blacklisted in the U.S.," one of the people familiar with the shipments said. The executive said he had never heard of Extreme or of DEMZ buying Extreme equipment for itself or on behalf of others. Like MMZ Avangard, United Shipbuilding has been listed as a "blocked" entity by the U.S. Treasury since July 2014.

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