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WASHINGTON, LELEMUKU.COM - The Wall Street Journal reported Friday the U.S.-allied Kurdish Syrian Democratic Forces (SDF) has been selling oil from fields that it controls in the east of Syria, despite U.S. economic sanctions. The Syrian government and the Kurds have been discussing possible autonomy conditions with Damascus in light of the expected U.S. pullout from the north of the country in April, and Arab media reports that oil resources are one of the main topics of negotiation.

Arab media reports say Kurdish negotiators from the U.S.-allied SDF in the north of Syria and Syrian government officials, including intelligence chief Ali Mamlouk, have been holding autonomy talks since mid-January, in Damascus and at the Russian Hmeimem Airbase in Latakya.

The Syrian government is reportedly discussing control of oil fields in the northeast of the country, now under Kurdish control, along with Kurdish demands to continue an education program in Kurdish, which Damascus rejects.

The U.S. daily Wall Street Journal reported Friday the Syrian-owned Qatirji Group is purchasing oil from the SDF and refining it for use in areas of the country that it controls. The head of the group was recently placed under U.S. economic sanctions.

University of Paris Professor Khattar Abou Diab tells VOA he thinks the oil sales are mostly "black market" deals and the Islamic State group had also sold oil from the same fields to the Syrian government when they controlled them.

He says U.S. forces are planning to complete their withdrawal by April, and that (all parties) are preparing for that moment in order to fill the void to the east of the Euphrates River. In this race against the clock, he stresses, Turkey is negotiating with both the United States and Russia, while the Kurds are negotiating with the United States and the Syrian government.

American University of Beirut Political Science Professor Hilal Khashan said the parties in the Syrian conflict are involved in "pragmatic business dealings", rather than issues of "morality."

"The war in Syria is a proxy war and everyone there is fighting on behalf of someone else. The Kurds need cash. If they do not get it from the Syrian government through the sale of oil, then they might be asking the United States for the money. So, I do not see any ideological issue for the United States. Politics is about pragmatism. These people are selling oil. If Assad does not get oil from the Kurds, he will get it from another source," said Khashan.

Lebanese economist and former finance minister Georges Corm told VOA he believes the Kurds in the north of Syria have an "interest in establishing a constructive dialogue with the Syrian government," given the "threats by Turkish President Erdogan to set up a security zone in northern Syria."

He said Syria is being aided by powerful countries with economic resources like China, Russia and Iran, so he does not think U.S. economic sanctions will have a major effect on the Syrian government. He also argues the Syrian economy has traditionally been self-sufficient, so it is less dependent on outside forces.

Arab media, however, reported in recent weeks the Syrian currency has lost more of its value to the dollar, currently trading on the black market at between 600 and 700 Syrian lira to the dollar, causing increasing economic hardships for many people.. (VOA)

DAMASCUS, LELEMUKU.COM- Talks between Syrian Kurdish forces and Damascus are seen as the latest repercussion from Washington’s decision to pull troops out of Syria. The talks could force Ankara to end its freeze in diplomatic relations with Damascus. Both developments are key objectives of Russian President Vladimir Putin.

Putin on Wednesday praised the Syrian Kurdish group, the PYD,for "establishing a dialogue between Damascus and representatives of the Kurds.”

Moscow has been lobbying the PYD and its military wing, the YPG, to sit down with Damascus in a bid to pry away the Kurdish groups from Washington's influence.

Earlier this month, White House national security adviser John Bolton appealed to the YPG to refrain from dialogue with Damascus. "I think they know who their friends are," Bolton said, referring to the Kurds.

The YPG's allies in the U.S.-led war against Islamic State had largely resisted Moscow’s overtures. With American military backing, the Kurdish militia had taken control of a broad swath of Syria. However, U.S. President Donald Trump’s December decision to withdraw troops from Syria is seen as forcing the Kurdish militia to turn to Damascus.

“It’s the main driver, Washington's decision to withdraw its military presence. It pushed the YPG or PYD to direct talks with Damascus,” said former senior Turkish diplomat Aydin Selcen.

“We also see press reports one of the top YPG commanders flew to Moscow for talks,” he added. “The decision by the U.S. to withdraw has changed the whole ball game. All [Syrian President Bashar] al-Assad has to do is to wait for the U.S. to leave for the YPG to fall into his lap.”

With as much as one-fifth of Syrian territory under Syrian militia control, Damascus will be accommodating to Syrian Kurdish groups, according to international relations professor Huseyin Bagci of Ankara’s Middle East Technical University.

“At the moment the Syrians have learned lessons from the past, of how counterproductive it is to crack down on the Kurds,” said Bagci. “They will negotiate with the Kurds. The Russians are also there, putting the Syrian regime and the Kurds together. I think Turkey will be excluded.”

Ankara considers the YPG and PYD terrorist organizations as linked to an insurgency inside Turkey.Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdogan is threatening to launch a military strike against YPG-controlled Syrian territory bordering Turkey. Turkish forces remain massed along the frontier.

Analysts say a deal between the YPG and Damascus could thwart a military strike. Putin appeared to make a gesture to Erdogan, though, at a joint press conference Wednesday after talks in Moscow. The Russian president claimed a 1998 Syrian-Turkish counterterrorism agreement was still active.

Adana agreement

The so-called Adana agreementallows Turkish counterterrorism operations in Syria against the Kurdish rebel group PKK, which has been waging a decades-long war against Turkey. Ankara claims the YPG and PYD are affiliated with the PKK.

“It's definitely a gesture by Putin. Many people will be surprised he [Putin] mentioned this,” said Selcen. The catch for Ankara is that for the Adana agreement to work, it requires Turkey to restore diplomatic relations with Damascus.

“Putin is playing chess with Turkey, trying to get Ankara to start talking with Assad,” said Bagci. Moscow is working to end Damascus’ diplomatic isolation.

Erdogan severed ties with Syria at the start of the Syrian civil war and vowed diplomatic relations would not be restored while Assad remained in power. With Putin resurrecting the Adana agreement, however, that could facilitate a softening in Ankara’s stance.

“Definitely for Adana to work, you need diplomatic ties,” said Aydin. “Turkish Foreign Minister [Mevlut] Cavusoglu indicated there is indirect contact with Damascus and Ankara, and it may now realize it's high time to get in touch with Damascus directly. However, the problem is [that] in diplomacy, one should not paint oneself into a corner, and I am afraid Ankara did this with Syria.”

Erdogan has heavily played the anti-Assad card in domestic politics to whip up his conservative Islamic base, which strongly backs the Syrian rebel opposition.

“Sooner or later, Turkey will have to have talks with Bashar al-Assad, but the problem is how to convince the Turkish public,” said Bagci. “But Erdogan is a very pragmatic man. He can do this. He can say, 'Yesterday it was like this, but today we have changed our minds. Let us look to the future, and we can have economic and security gains,' and no one will oppose.”

Complicating matters for Erdogan: In March there are key local elections across Turkey. In addition, restoring relations with Damascus could put Ankara on a collision course with Washington, which continues to lobby for Syria’s isolation.

“To restart negotiations with Damascus is a difficult political step [for Turkey],” said Selcen.

“But the clock is ticking for Turkey, because the UAE, Saudi Arabia, are going back to Damascus, along with the Arab League, so that Turkey could find itself out of step. But Mr. Erdogan is a popular leader. Perhaps Erdogan might wait and see how his party does in March’s local elections, and perhaps we could see a thaw in relations with Syria." (VOA)

DAMASCUS, LELEMUKU.COM - An Islamic State suicide bomber targeted a joint convoy of U.S. and allied Kurdish forces in northern Syria on Monday, marking the second attack against U.S. troops in less than a week and further highlighting the dangers surrounding U.S. plans to withdraw forces after a declaration that the extremist group had been defeated.

U.S. military Col. Sean Ryan said there were no casualties among the U.S.-led coalition members. He added: “We can confirm a combined U.S. and Syrian partner force convoy was involved” in the suicide bomb attack.

“We will continue to review the situation and provide updates as appropriate,” he added.

Monday's bombing came days after a suicide attack killed 19 people, including two U.S. service members and two American civilians, in the northern Syrian town of Manbij. That bombing was the deadliest assault on U.S. troops in Syria since American forces moved into the country in 2015 and underscored the threat still posed by IS militants, even as President Donald Trump has claimed the group's defeat.

The extremist group claimed both attacks in statements carried by its Aamaq news agency. IS has been driven from virtually all the territory it once held in Syria and Iraq but continues to carry out attacks in both countries.

The Kurdish Hawar news agency, based in northern Syria, said Monday's blast targeted a Syrian Kurdish checkpoint as a coalition convoy was passing near the town of Shaddadeh. It said two Kurdish fighters were lightly wounded in the blast. The Britain-based Syrian Observatory for Human Rights said the blast killed five people and wounded others.

In a Dec. 19 tweet announcing the withdrawal from Syria, Trump declared, “We have defeated ISIS in Syria, my only reason for being there during the Trump Presidency.” He said the troops would begin coming home “now.” That plan triggered immediate pushback from military leaders and led to the resignation of Defense Secretary Jim Mattis.

Over the past month, Trump and others have appeared to adjust the timeline, and U.S. officials have suggested it will likely take several months to safely withdraw the approximately 2,000 U.S. troops from Syria.

'An Iraq on steroids'

Sen. Lindsey Graham, a leading U.S. voice on foreign policy and close ally of the president, said during a visit Saturday to Turkey that an American withdrawal from Syria that had not been thought through would lead to “chaos” and “an Iraq on steroids.” Graham urged Trump not to get out without a plan and said the goal of destroying IS militants in Syria had not yet been accomplished.

A statement from Turkey's President Recep Tayyip Erdogan's office said he and Trump spoke on the telephone early Monday about the town of Manbij, and that Erdogan told his American counterpart that Turkey is “ready to take over the security” of the town “without losing time.”

The fate of the Syrian town, controlled by U.S.-backed Syrian Kurdish fighters whom Turkey considers terrorists, has been a source of tension between Ankara and Washington. Turkey insists on the withdrawal of the Syrian Kurdish militia, which liberated Manbij from IS in 2016.

Erdogan also called last week's suicide attack in Manbij a “provocation meant to affect the U.S. decision to withdraw from Syria” and said the two leaders agreed their military chiefs would “speed up” consultations about a safe zone in northeastern Syria.

In a separate development on Monday, the European Union added 11 businessmen and five companies to its list of Syrians under sanctions for backing President Bashar Assad's government.

EU foreign ministers imposed travel bans and asset freezes on them, saying they “are involved in luxury estate development and other regime-backed projects, and as such support and/or benefit from the Syrian regime.”

The EU sanctions list now includes 270 people and 72 “entities,” which are usually companies, organizations or agencies.

The EU began imposing sanctions on Assad and his supporters in 2011, after peaceful protests erupted against his family's decades-long rule and the government launched a violent crackdown on dissent. The sanctions are reviewed every year.

The measures include an oil embargo, investment restrictions, a freeze on Syrian central bank assets held in the EU, and export bans on equipment that could be used to crack down on civilians. (VOA)

BRUSSELS, LELEMUKU.COM - The European Union has imposed chemical weapons sanctions on nine Russian and Syrian officials, including the chief of Russia’s GRU military intelligence agency.

The European Union accuses those sanctioned of being responsible for chemical weapons attacks in Syria and for "possession, transport and use" of the nerve agent used in poisoning Russian double agent Sergei Skripal and his daughter last year in Britain.

Russia has denied charges it was behind the nerve agent attack on the Skripals. (VOA)

JERUSALEM, LELEMUKU.COM - In a rare public admission, Israel confirmed early Monday that it carried out airstrikes on Iranian military targets inside Syria.

"We have started striking Iranian Quds targets in Syrian territory. We warn the Syrian Armed Forces against attempting to harm Israeli forces or territory," the military tweeted.

It gave no further details.

But Israel launched the airstrikes after it intercepted a missile over the Golan Heights, hours after what Syria says were missiles fired near the Damascus airport.

Israel rarely makes any comments on military action in Syria. But Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu said during a visit to Chad, "We have a defined policy— to harm Iranian entrenchment in Syria and to harm anyone who tries to harm us."

Israel wants to avoid getting involved in Syria's civil war. It has appealed to Russia— the Syrian government's top ally— to keep Iranian forces away from a zone near the Syrian-Israeli border. (VOA)

BEIRUT, LELEMUKU.COM - Lebanon used an Arab economic summit on Sunday to call for the return of Syrian refugees to safe areas of their war-torn country, where the nearly eight-year civil war is still underway despite a recent series of government victories.

President Michel Aoun told the opening session that Lebanon is overwhelmed by the presence of Syrian and Palestinian refugees, who make about half the population of the tiny country, which is struggling with an economic crisis.

The meeting is the first economic and development summit to be held since 2013, and comes as Syria, Yemen and Libya remain gripped by violence and Iraq confronts a massive reconstruction challenge after its costly victory over the Islamic State group.

Arab League Secretary General Ahmed Aboul-Gheit said nearly half of all refugees "come from our Arab world."

Qatar's ruler attended the summit, which has been marred by divisions over readmitting Syria to the Arab League. But Sheikh Tamim bin Hamad Al Thani arrived shortly before the summit and left minutes after it began.

Qatar has been one of the main backers of Syrian insurgents trying to overthrow President Bashar Assad.

The United Arab Emirates and Bahrain have reopened their embassies in Damascus, and the visit by Qatar's ruler is widely seen as a first step to restoring relations with Syria.

Sheikh Tamim and the president of Mauritania were the only heads of state from the 22-member Arab League who came to Beirut to attend the summit. Other countries sent lower-level delegations.

The other leaders' absence appeared to be a snub to Lebanon, where groups led by the Iranian-backed Hezbollah had insisted that Assad should be invited.

"We regret the absences of some brotherly kings and presidents who have their justified excuses," Aoun said without elaborating.

"We call for a safe return of Syrian refugees to their country, especially to stable areas that can be reached and areas of low levels of violence," Aoun said in his opening address. "This should not be linked to reaching a political solution."

Lebanon is home to some 1 million Syrian refugees, or a quarter of the country's population. (VOA)

DAMASCUS, LELEMUKU.COM - A bombing in the Syrian capital Sunday targeted a military checkpoint on a main highway during rush hour, state media reported.

There was no immediate word on casualties from the blast in the southern neighborhood of Qazaz, near the highway leading into central Damascus. State TV gave few details about the explosion, which happened on the first working day of the week, but said it appeared to have been “a terrorist act.”

State news agency SANA said the blast targeted a military checkpoint in the area, adding that nearby roads were closed. It added that a second attack in the same area was thwarted by security forces.

However, the Britain-based Syrian Observatory for Human Rights told the French news agency that the blast targeted a military intelligence department and left a number of dead and wounded.

“The explosion took place near a security branch in the south of the city. There are some people killed and injured, but we could not verify the toll immediately,” the war monitor told AFP.

It was unclear if the blast was caused by a bomb that was planted or a suicide attack, according to the monitor, which relies on a network of sources inside the country.

It said that shooting followed the explosion.

Attacks have been rare in Damascus since Syrian government forces captured the last rebel-held neighborhoods and suburbs of the capital last year.

Bombings had left hundreds dead over the course of the nearly eight-year civil war. (VOA)

BERLIN, LELEMUKU.COM - Germany has banned Iran's Mahan Air from landing in the country with immediate effect, citing security concerns and the airline's involvement in Syria, officials said Monday.

Mahan Air is on a U.S. sanctions list and Washington has long urged allies to ban the airline from their territory.

The decision to ban it came after consultations with European allies and the U.S., Chancellor Angela Merkel's spokesman Steffen Seibert told reporters.

"It cannot be ruled out that this airline carries out transports to Germany that affect our security concerns," he said.

"This is especially true against the backdrop of terrorist activities, intelligence on terrorist activities from the Iranian side and Iranian entities in Europe in the past."

U.S. Secretary of State Mike Pompeo welcomed the German decision.

"The airline transports weapons and fighters across the Middle East, supporting the Iranian regime's destructive ambitions around the region," he said in a tweet. "We encourage all our allies to follow suit."

The airline had several weekly flights between Tehran and German cities.

Foreign Ministry spokesman Christofer Burger said the decision was taken to safeguard Germany's "foreign and security policy interests," citing increasing evidence of Iranian intelligence activity in Europe.

In addition, he said the airline has ties to Iran's Revolutionary Guard and provides military transport flights to Syria. Iran has supported Syria's President Bashar Assad.

The move comes at a time of particularly sensitive relations with Iran. Germany plays a large role in trying to salvage the 2015 nuclear deal with Tehran after U.S. President Donald Trump's decision to unilaterally pull out last year.

It was the latest of several issues, however, that have caused friction.

Among other things, German prosecutors said last week they had detained a 50-year-old German-Afghan dual citizen who had worked as a translator for the army on suspicion he had been spying for Iran.

Iran's Foreign Ministry dismissed the allegations on the weekend, saying that "enemies" were aiming to "sour relations" between Iran and Europe.

And last year, Germany's central bank changed its conditions allowing it to block transfers unless it receives assurances a transaction doesn't violate financial sanctions or money-laundering rules - prompting Iran to rescind a request to repatriate 300 million euros ($341 million) from a Hamburg-based bank. (VOA)

WASHINGTON, LELEMUKU.COM - The U.S.-led coalition against the Islamic State (IS) Friday denied it was blocked by Iran-backed Popular Mobilization Forces (PMF) from conducting a military inspection in Iraq's Anbar province near the Syrian border.

In an email to VOA, the U.S.-led international coalition's Combined Joint Task Force Operation Inherent Resolve (CJTF-OIR) said the operation in western Anbar earlier this week was coordinated with the Iraqi Security Forces (ISF) and the purpose of it was to survey Iraqi border security posts with Syria as a part of the ongoing effort to defeat IS.

"This survey was planned, coordinated and conducted with the ISF, and occurred without incident," CJTF-OIR told VOA.

"Coalition forces and the ISF work together to secure the borders of Iraq, protecting the people of Iraq and supporting security that ensures the lasting defeat of ISIS," it added, using an acronym for the militant group.

The response from the coalition comes as Iraq's Popular Mobilization Forces (PMF) in a statement Tuesday said it prevented the U.S. forces with the anti-IS coalition from carrying out a "suspicious reconnaissance" operation on the Iraqi border with Syria.

"The Anbar command of the Mobilization Forces prevented the American forces from completing the survey, forcing them to return to their base and not to approach the units of Popular Mobilization Forces," Qasem Musleh, the PMF field operations commander in Anbar, said in the statement.

Musleh accused the U.S. of violating Iraqi sovereignty, claiming the U.S.-led coalition collected "dangerous" information about the Iraqi border patrol, the number of combat points, the quantity of ammunition, the type of weaponry and the number of personnel present at each border point.

"American provocations have come to reveal secret information about our troops stationed at the border," he said, adding, "This information reveals the secret of the forces stationed there, making it easy to target."

Popular Mobilization Forces (PMF)

The PMF is an umbrella organization of several Shiite militias formed in 2014 after the Iraqi army fled the area following IS attacks. The group includes U.S. terror-designated militias, such as Asa'ib Ahl al-Haq and the Badr organization, and Iranian-friendly parties such as the Islamic Supreme Council of Iraq.

Empowered by Iran, the group played a key role in driving U.S.-backed Kurdish peshmerga forces out of Kirkuk and other disputed territories in northern Iraq following a Kurdish referendum for independence in late 2017.

U.S. officials in the past have stated the group works as a regional proxy to Iran and is increasingly threatening and provoking American troops in Iraq and Syria.

An assessment of the U.S. anti-IS operations by the Pentagon's Office of the Inspector General (OIG) last November warned that the PMF's increased military and political power, along with their willingness to act independently of the Iraqi security forces, could further Iran's influence in Iraq.

The Pentagon report said the Iranian proxies continued their threatening rhetoric against the U.S. presence in Iraq. It added Iran-backed militias were likely behind two attacks targeting U.S. facilities in Iraq last September, including mortar attacks that targeted Baghdad's Green Zone and landed near the U.S. embassy, and rocket attacks that targeted the Basra Airport, near the U.S. consulate.

The mortar fire on the U.S. Embassy in Baghdad then prompted the White House's National Security Council to ask the Pentagon for plans to attack Iran, according to aWall Street Journalreport.

The U.S. consulate in Basra has been closed since Sept. 28, when U.S. Secretary of State Mike Pompeo announced the U.S. would be relocating diplomatic personnel from the city following increasing threats from Iran and Iran-backed militia. (VOA)

DAMASCUS, LELEMUKU.COM - The one family still living in a Christian village devastated by Islamic State is working to revive Christmas traditions that have brought at least a few of its people home for the holiday.

Tel Nasri was one of dozens of Assyrian Christian villages in northern Syria targeted by the jihadist group when it was near the peak of its power. They blew up its 80-year-old church on an Easter Sunday and abducted hundreds of people.

Kurdish forces and local fighters seized the village a few months later, in May 2015, but nobody has returned.

“I was born and raised in Tel Nasri, I’m still here and I’m staying,” said Sargon Slio, 51, a farmer who stayed on with only his brother and two cousins. Before the fighting, the village was home to nearly 1,000 people, he said.

Some 265 Assyrians were kidnapped from Tel Nasri, Slio said, and on their release, like the rest of the villagers, they fled.

“There used to be hundreds of people celebrating. You’d see dancing and hear singing. Everyone decorated the houses and Christmas trees,” Slio said. “Now we are four people.”

His mother, Zekta Benjamin, 73, has returned from Belgium for Christmas - the second time since she left in 2015. Another relative has come from Australia.

“I miss a lot the life of the village and my neighbors and relatives and everything in this place,” said the mother of 11, most of whom now are in Europe and the United States.

Along with his relatives, Slio tends to farms and makes repairs to a small church. He runs the abandoned village as part of a committee to protect the properties of minorities, which the Kurdish-led authority in the north set up.

“Being here in the village ... it’s my moral duty to protect these homes as much as I can,” he said.

He hopes to get funding from Syria’s Assyrian Church and aid agencies to rebuild the big 80-year-old church of the Virgin Mary which the militants leveled.

He is also trying to encourage others to come home.

“These are our families, our loved ones ... They say when the region becomes stable, we will all return.” (VOA)

WASHINGTON, LELEMUKU.COM - The parents of an American journalist kidnapped in Syria six years ago appealed on Tuesday for the United States and Syria to work together to find their son and said they had applied for Syrian visas to lobby there for his release.

was 31 years old when he was detained in August 2012 at a checkpoint while reporting in Damascus on the uprising against Syrian President Bashar al-Assad.

He has not been heard from publicly since a video posted online weeks after he disappeared showed him in the custody of armed men, though both Washington and his parents say they believe he is alive.

"We urge both the United States government and the Syrian government to work together to resolve this humanitarian issue," Marc Tice said at a conference in Beirut.

This is the eighth trip Debra and Marc Tice have made to Beirut in their quest to seek their son's release and they say they have increased hope that the administration of President Donald Trump could make progress in the case.

"One of the continuous requests we make of the U.S. government is that they make direct contact with their peers in Syria. And that never occurred during Obama administration," Marc Tice said. "We are very encouraged during this new administration."

Robert O'Brien, U.S. President Donald Trump's special envoy for hostage affairs, said in November the United States believes Tice is alive but did not elaborate on his condition.

O'Brien urged Russia, a close ally of Assad, to push for Tice's release. The Syrian government says it is unaware of Tice's whereabouts.

Marc and Debra Tice did not comment on who might be holding their son, but said they believed he was in Syria and that the Syrian government was best placed to help find him.

The United States Federal Bureau of Investigation has offered a reward of $1 million for information that leads to Austin's safe return. Recently, a coalition of media and other organizations in the United States announced plans to match the FBI reward.

"Through these long years we have periodically been told by reliable sources that Austin is alive and is being properly cared for," Debra Tice said. (VOA)