Germany: NATO chief in talks with Germany, Turkey over air base spat

The chief of NATO says he's in touch with both Germany and Turkey regarding their latest dispute over visiting rights to a Turkish air base where German soldiers are stationed.

Secretary General Jens Stoltenberg told German daily newspaper Bild on Sunday he's focused on finding a solution and won't speculate over hypothetical questions, including a possible withdrawal of German troops from the Incirlik air base.

The German government said last week it was considering withdrawing the soldiers from Turkey.

Turkey recently blocked a request for German lawmakers to visit their country's 270 soldiers at the Incirlik air base. The moved raised the possibility that Germany might relocate planes supporting a multi-national campaign against the Islamic State group.

Stoltenberg says he regrets the quarrel between the two NATO partners.

German Defense Minister Ursula von der Leyen has announced that an airbase in Jordan shows potential as a replacement for Turkey's Incirlik base.

EU-Digest

Russia is key to end ‘third world war,’ Jordan’s king tells euronews

Russia is best positioned to bring a resolution to the war in Syria, Jordan’s King Abdullah II bin Al-Hussein has told Euronews.

In an exclusive interview in Amman, the King urged all sides to cooperate in the face of what he described as a “third world war.”

“For a political solution in Syria, Moscow is key. They are the ones that can give the guarantees to the regime that they have a stake in the future,” he told Isabelle Kumar in an interview for Global Conversation.

Jordan has taken in more than a million refugees fleeing fighting between forces loyal to Syria’s president Bashar al Assad, ISIS and other groups. Refugees now make up around a fifth of the population, putting a strain on heath and education systems and costing the country around $3 billion a year.

The arrival of refugees in Europe has given impetus to address a crisis that has been felt by Syria’s neighbours for more than 4 years and King Abdullah urged European leaders and Moscow to take the opportunity to set aside their differences.

For the complete extract of the interview go to: Russia is key to end ‘third world war,’ Jordan’s king tells euronews | euronews, world news

US Sends Forces To Jordan As Check On Syria

The United States has sent troops to Jordan to bolster its military capabilities in the event Syria's civil war escalates, U.S. Defense Secretary Leon Panetta said Wednesday, reflecting U.S. concerns about the conflict spilling over allies' borders and about the security of Syria's chemical weapons arsenal.

Speaking at a NATO conference of defense ministers, Panetta said the U.S. has been working with Jordan to monitor chemical and biological weapons sites in Syria and also to help Jordan deal with refugees pouring over the border from Syria.

About 150 U.S. troops, largely Army special operations forces, are working out of a military center near Amman, two senior defense officials said on condition of anonymity because they were not authorized to speak publicly about the mission. The troops have moved back and forth to the Syrian border as part of their work, which is joint planning and intelligence gathering, one official said.

The revelation of U.S. military personnel so close to the 19-month-old Syrian conflict suggests an escalation in the U.S. involvement in the conflict, even as the Obama administration pushes back on any suggestion of a direct intervention in Syria.

Read more: US Sends Forces To Jordan As Check On Syria : NPR

Syria’s Collapse Would Reverberate in Mideast

If Assad’s regime is toppled, the ensuing power struggle might bring with it revenge killings by or against his minority Shiite Alawite sect, which controls the military and the economy, said Aaron David Miller, a fellow at the Woodrow Wilson International Center for Scholars in Washington.

Assad’s closest allies, Iran and Russia, would be the likely losers if power shifts to Assad’s rivals. Lebanon, Jordan and Israel would benefit if Syria’s new leadership ceases to provide a conduit for arms and assistance from Iran to terrorist groups in Lebanon and along the Israeli border, officials and analysts said. 

Whoever the winners, the major concern is, “When is the retribution going to come?” Miller said.
Many Sunnis will want to take revenge against Alawites and Christians who backed Assad, said David Schenker, director of the program on Arab politics at the Washington Institute for Near East Policy.

“You can have a violent and bloody situation at home that creates continued refugee flows into Jordan and Turkey, and instability and sectarian tension in Lebanon,” where the Shiite Hezbollah militia, long backed by Syria and Iran, will face an emboldened Sunni and Christian population.

Read more: Syria’s Collapse Would Reverberate in Mideast - Businessweek

Statement by EU High Representative Catherine Ashton on the meeting of Israeli and Palestinian negotiators in Amman

Catherine Ashton, the High Representative of the Union for Foreign Affairs and Security Policy and Vice-President of the Commission, issued the following statement today:

"Israeli and Palestinian negotiators met today [3 January] in Amman with Quartet Envoys and Quartet Representative Tony Blair, at the invitation of the Jordanian Minister of Foreign Affairs. I would like to express my deep appreciation to his Majesty the King of Jordan and Foreign Minister Judeh for facilitating this meeting in the framework of the Quartet statement of 23 September.

For more: European Union - EEAS (European External Action Service) | Statement by EU High Representative Catherine Ashton on the meeting of Israeli and Palestinian negotiators in Amman

Egypt: Against Geopolitical And Engineering Odds, Plans Emerge To Build A Red Sea Bridge

Post-revolution Egypt is reportedly about to embark on an audacious joint construction project with Saudi Arabia: A bridge over the Red Sea that would link the two country's roads and railways. The bridge is slotted to take the form of a series of suspension spans and causeways on the lines of the San Francisco-Oakland Bay Bridge. Although the bridge is not expected to interfere with shipping, nearby Israel and Jordan are livid that construction could potentially hurt their geopolitical position--and the Egyptian public is worried the crossing is a sign of increased Saudi influence.

The proposed 20-mile bridge would be built over the Red Sea at the Straits of Tiran, a series of narrow sea passages between Egypt and Saudi Arabia located near some of the world's best scuba diving. However, the Straits of Tiran are also a highly strategic waterway--both Jordan's lone seaport of Aqaba and Israel's only Red Sea port, Eilat, send all their cargo through the straits. United Nations peacekeepers actively patrol the Straits of Tiran to guarantee freedom of navigation.

Building a successful road/rail bridge between Egypt and Saudi Arabia would have massive economic and geopolitical implications. Saudi Arabia would be able to export oil via rail to African markets--and African ports--by land. Shipping patterns would change massively as a significant portion of Red Sea maritime traffic would disappear. Israel would have to deal with the likelihood of an unfriendly Egypt being able to easily block Red Sea shipping traffic passing through the bridge in the future. Jordan would be pushed firmly into the Saudi economic camp due to a drop in seaport traffic, while Saudi Arabia would gain a massive amount of influence over unstable post-revolution Egypt. For the first time since Israel's declaration of independence in 1948, the Arab states of Africa and Asia would be linked by road and rail. Due to the poor state of relations between Israel and most of the Arab world, rail traffic has not been able to pass through Israel from one Arab state to another and automobile traffic has been severely circumscribed. Meanwhile, the talk in Egyptian newspapers is of Saudi Arabia trying to lead the Egyptian “counterrevolution.”

For more: Against Geopolitical And Engineering Odds, Plans Emerge To Build A Red Sea Bridge | Fast Company

Egyptians, Inspired by Tunisia, Use Facebook to Set Up Protest March Today

On Facebook, more than 85,000 people have pledged to attend a nationwide antigovernment protest planned for today Jan. 25, in Egypt.

The Middle East is walking into an anxious week after a busy weekend, one that saw authoritarian regimes from Algeria to Yemen experience the ripple effect of the fall of Tunisia's President, Zine el Abidine Ben Ali.

Large antigovernment demonstrations broke out in Jordan, Yemen and Algeria, while more men —
particularly in Egypt and Algeria — have joined the ranks of self-immolators inspired by Mohammed Bouazizi, the Tunisian whose suicide sparked that country's revolution. "What is very important about what happened in Tunisia, regardless of whether it spreads, is that it certainly raised a lot of hope among Egyptians and among other Arab people in different countries," explains Hassan Nafaa, a political-science professor at Cairo University and a vocal critic of the regime of President Hosni Mubarak.

Beyond the wave of protests, that hope has found a voice in independent newspapers across the region and in new, audacious political demands made by opposition groups. In Jordan and Yemen, analysts say, verbal attacks by opposition groups show an unprecedented confidence and ferocity, including calls by Jordanian opposition members to have an elected Prime Minister and turn King Abdullah of Jordan's nominally constitutional monarchy into a real one.


For more: Egyptians, Inspired by Tunisia, Use Facebook to Set Up Protest March - TIME

Lebanon, Turkey, Jordan and Syria plan economic bloc

Istanbul: Syria, Lebanon, Turkey and Jordan announced the establishment of an economic council to follow up on creating a free trade zone among these countries, according to Syrian Arab News Agency (SANA).
The announcement came at the first round of the quadripartite meeting of Ministers of Trade and Economy of the four countries held in Istanbul on Saturday. The free trade zone will contribute to promoting competitiveness, supporting scientific research and building a strategic partnership to boost trade exchange and support small and medium-sized institutions to overcome obstacles facing trade.

“Establishing a free trade zone among Syria, Lebanon, Jordan and Turkey aims at creating a regional economic bloc to help these countries face the repercussions of the global economic crisis and strengthen their economies,” Syrian Minister of Economy and Trade Lamia Assi said at the meeting.

For more: Lebanon, Turkey, Jordan and Syria plan economic bloc