Iran Archives - Jean-Jacques Cornish

An equitable spread of COVID vaccine dominates the meeting of the world’s richest countries

Jean-Jacques Cornish — Wed, 05 May 2021 16:53:49 +0000

The equitable distribution of COVID vaccine has seized the gathering in London of Foreign ministers from the world’s richest countries by the scruff of the neck.

The practical issues of fighting the pandemic is best summed up in the assertion that no-one if safe until everyone is safe.

The moral issues, equally plain, have been more problematic as rich nations grab more of the vaccine than they need to save their faltering economies.

The foreign ministers of Britain, Canada, France, Germany, Italy, Japan and the United States had a packed agenda preparing for next month’s G7 summit to be hosted in Britain.

In pre-meeting briefings they listed Russia, Myanmar and Iran ahead of COVID a.

Then members of the Indian delegation – invited as observers along with Australia, the Association of South East Asian Nations, the European Union, South Africa and South Korea- reported cases of COVID and were forced into self-isolation.

India and Brazil are responsible for the overwhelming majority of COVID cases as the pandemic goes into its third wave.

The media covering the deliberations at Lancaster House in London’s West End have eyes for nothing else.

Former British Prime Minister Gordon Brown set the moral tone calling on the G7 to fund the global push for COVID vaccine.

Speaking as the UN Envoy for Global Education he called on the richest nations raise $60 billion over two years, saying inaction now would lead to greater global division.

“By our failure to extend vaccination more rapidly to every country, we are choosing who lives and who dies”, he warned.

“And I say the world is already too deeply divided between rich and poor to allow a new unbridgeable divide to become entrenched between the world’s vaccinated who live, and the under-vaccinated who are at risk of dying.”

Brown asserted that mass global vaccination is not an act of charity, but “the best insurance policy for the world”. Though costing billions now, the result will be “trillions of additional economic output, made possible when trade resumes in a COVID-free world.”

Brown will be remembered as the British premier who hosted the G20 summit in 2009, where the world’s major economies committed an additional $1.1 trillion to address the fallout from the global financial crisis,

World Health Organization chief Tedros Adhanom Ghebreyesus thanked Brown for his call to the world’s economic and political leaders.

“The G7 are also home to many of the world’s vaccine producers. We will only solve the vaccine crisis with the leaders of these countries”, he said.

For those of a more cynical or dubious bent, a poll by the People’s Vaccine Alliance shows that70 percent of G7 citizens believe their governments should ensured pharmaceutical companies share the formulas and technology of their vaccines.

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Western Sahara confident of South African solidarity facing Moroccan aggression

Jean-Jacques Cornish — Fri, 20 Nov 2020 16:45:40 +0000

Breaking the COVID diplomatic lockdown, the ambassadors of 17 countries presented their credentials of President Cyril Ramaphosa at the Sefako Makgatho Presidential Guest House in Pretoria.

Social distancing was enforced as the envoys made short speeches expressing wishes of broadening and deepening bilateral relations with South Africa before presenting the president with the letters from their heads of state.

Some of the ambassadors managed to make powerful use of the two minutes allotted to them.

Sweden’s Håkan Joholt recalled how he’d become an anti-apartheid activist at age 25 before serving 23 years as a member of parliament.

“I have come here to build bridges and to forge people-to-people ties between Swedes and South Africans,” he said. “What we can do together is fight for democracy, human rights, peace and a sustainable environment,” he said.

Entering his second term as ambassador of the Saharawi Arab Democratic Republic, Mohammed Beissat said Polisario and the ANC forged ties as liberation movements at the most difficult times for their countries.

He recalled how Oliver Tambo visited the Western Sahara and returned to South Africa with apartheid-built tanks captured by the Saharawi from the Moroccan.

“Now Mr President the Western Sahara faces fresh aggression from Morocco,” he said referring to the kingdom breaking the 30 year old truce signed under UN auspices that ended the war that followed Morocco’s 1975 invasion of the former Spanish colony.

“We are confident we can overcome yet another challenge from the illegal occupier, especially since we are assured of your support and the solidarity of your government and people,” said the ambassador.

Braving a heatwave that took the mercury into the thirties, the ambassadors were greeted by a guard-of-honour before entering the guest house to have their exchange with the President.

In addition to the Western Sahara and Sweden, Ramaphosa received credentials from the ambassadors of

Vietnam, North Korea, Iran, Botswana, Cote’Ivoire, Bangladesh, Ukraine, Egypt, China, Sweden, Mauritius, Pakistan, Sudan and South Sudan, Slovenia, Finland.

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Markets spooked by coronavirus

Jean-Jacques Cornish — Mon, 24 Feb 2020 22:00:00 +0000

The spread of the coronavirus has spooked markets around the world.

The World Health Organization is looking to help Africa to prepare for and respond to the storm.

South Africa, Nigeria, Ethiopia, Algeria and Egypt are identified as the African countries with the highest risk importing COVID19.

As China insists its winning the battle to contain coronavirus, markets are reacting to the spread of 77 000 cases to 30 countries.

Any complacency has been swept aside by the substantial increase of cases in Iran, South Korea and `italy

The Down Jones industrial index plunged more than1000 points – its biggest fall in two years.

The FTSE index suffered its worst fall in three years.

Shares in Apple, Disney and Nike all fell indicating how much is made in China and how important it is.

Airline stocks fell reflecting the mass cancellation of travel to avoid the virus.

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Sudan says it’s in the middle of an international Muslim power play

Jean-Jacques Cornish — Thu, 27 Dec 2018 22:00:00 +0000

The Khartoum government says it’s experiencing growing domestic protests because it’s at the centre of an international Muslim power play.

It’s blaming Saudi Arabia and the United Arab Emirates for fomenting riots and violence that’s cost at least 37 lives.

Saudi Arabia and the the UAE want to exclude Turkey from the international Muslim community.

They offered Sudanese President Omar Al Bashir generous aid if he cut ties with Ankara.

They also made their aid to Sudan conditional on it turning its back on Iran and Qatar.

Al Bashir, who’s an Islamist, refused.

Highly placed advisers in in the ruling Sudanese National Congress say Saudi and UAE support for the protests against a tripling of the bread price and fuel and food shortages is designed to make Al Bashir reconsider.

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World needs to build backbone to stand up to challenges from US: de Villepin

Jean-Jacques Cornish — Mon, 14 May 2018 22:00:00 +0000

Former French Prime Minister Dominique de Villepin says Africa and Europe must stand together to counter the threats and challenges posed by the United States in a unipolar world.

He was speaking at the South African Institute for International Affairs in Johannesburg.

Dominque de Villepin says the Africa Europe partnership will be driven by crisis management.

This is evidenced in the Sahel by the security crisis posed by jihadism from Mali to Nigeria.

There is no simple military solution to this.

The root causes are the lack of political and social inclusiveness and the accountability of administrations and elites.

Crisis management is necessary in the Democratic Republic of Congo, the Horn of Africa.

De Villepin says there are wider issues.

“We are facing huge challenges and difficulties. The world’s stability is at stake. We can see it everyday. We can see it today in the decision taken by the US administration to transfer the US embassy from Tel Aviv to Jerusalem. We have seen it in the last week in the decision Donald Trump to renounce the nuclear agreement with Iran. The world has not sufficient backbone to be able to stand such challenges alone, ” says de Villepin.

He believes it is necessary to reinforce the backbone of the world.

The first of these involved reinforcing the axis of Paris, Berlin, Moscow and China to give more stability and perspective to Eurasia.

The second axis requiring reinforcement is Europe and Africa.

This will give a bigger capacity for the world to stand in front of both local and global crisis that threaten to emerge again like in the cold war era.

There was a special mentality and rules that applied in that era.

Today there are no regulations or any help to monitor the dificulties that arise.

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Beat the world to Sudan

Jean-Jacques Cornish — Wed, 15 Apr 2015 22:00:00 +0000

It is one of the great sights on a great continent. In fact, you have not seen Africa until you have seen the confluence of of the White and Blue Nile.
Laying eyes on the meeting of the churning White and the smooth Blue gives meaning to the word arteriaL
A lone angler sits on the aquatically busy corner gently dipping his line into the water where the rivers converge, probably grateful that the Sudanese authorities have not done must to embellish this attraction.
An eight arch bridge nearby joins the capital with Omdurman across the White Nile. The troika of these two cities plus Bahri resemble a giant elephant with the river forming the trunk.
That is what Khartoum means in Arabic: elephant.
The island of Tuti fits in here somewhere – although residents of what amounts to the capital’s vegetable garden are legendary misfits.
Their antiquated water pumps thump noisily. They have refused government offers to replace them with new devices because they are suspicious that there might be strings attached.
They did not like the building of a bridge with the mainland – a gift from Turkey – which brought the first cars onto the island. So they fiercely oppose building hotels and villas.
They say: bLet the residents of the capital have their giant orange-squeezer shaped, Libyan-built Burj, the Hall of Friendship, which is one many Chinese expressions of gratitude for accessing virtually every drop of oil this country can pump, and other impressive pieces of cutting edge architecture. They will keep growing greens.
Sudan is still on Washington’s list of terrorist-sponsoring countries and subject to some US sanctions.
But like Cuba and Iran it is coming in from the cold.
The conventional wisdom is one should get into Cuba and Iran now, before the world does.
The same applies to Sudan.
My advice is take this Madhi-Kalmis-Ter-I tour before the marketing buffs get in.
Arabic is essential for business but English more than gets one buy in this country with a strong British colonial background .
Before you say: ah cricket! remember that the Brits were not here long enough to instill an appreciation of willow on leather.
The Mahdi rather spoiled things by sending his troops from Omdurman just across the river to fetch Gordon who was under siege in Khartoum trying to evacuate British troops and citizens.
The Mahdi’s men went totally off message and removed the British administrator’s head.
There is a brass plaque on the steps of the Presidential Palace indicating the site of this slaying.
I was not able to see it this time because chez Gordon has become the old palace – replaced by an impressive Chinese-built replica. Both old and new are now under security lockdown.
My rambling, slightly-foxed hotel on the banks of the Blue Nile was the first five-star establishment in Khartoum.
It has the same architect as Singapore’s famous Raffles. Don’t try walking into the bar and ordering a Sudanese Sling though. There is no bar is this very dry country.
And don’t trying walking into the fancy hotel next door because that is the headquarters in Sudan of the China National Petroleum Company.
My hotel has housed Queen Elizabeth II and Winston Churchill.
It has also accommodated Thomas Cook which is ironic because foreign credit cards are not accepted in sanctions-hit Sudan.
My source on the famous guests is the editor of Sudan Vision. It is one of three English-language newspapers in this country.
Navigating the convoluted contents confirms the harsh reality that because the King’s tongue is indeed the second most spoken language on the globe does not mean it is always delivered as she should be.
This piece first appeared on jjcornish.com

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Sudan wants to be next in line to fall into US favour

Jean-Jacques Cornish — Sat, 11 Apr 2015 22:00:00 +0000

By Jean-Jacques Cornish
Days after a handshake ended a half century of US enmity with Cuba and weeks after Washington ended 36 years of daggers drawn with Tehran by striking a deal limiting Iran’s nuclear enrichment capacity, Sudan is voicing expectations of being next in line for better treatment by the last remaining superpower.
The country made it onto the U.S. terrorism list for, among other things, sheltering Osama Bin Laden and stayed there because of its harsh suppression of separatism in its western province of Darfur. Sudan’s president Omar al Bashir is still wanted by the International Criminal court to face charges of crimes against humanity in Darfur.
But in 2011 it accepted the secession by South Sudan, earning kudos from Washington and the international community at large.
On Monday, 13 million registered voters head for the polls for presidential, parliamentary and state elections that the Sudanese government is at pains to demonstrate are free and fair.
It is doing this in the face of a boycott by a small but vociferous group of parties who maintain Bashir has stalled on the political dialogue he launched at the start of 2014.
Washington, together in the western troika on Sudan with Norway and Britain have criticised holding the election before the promised national dialogue.
The European Union holds that this timing undermines the legitimacy of the process.
This provoked an angry response from Khartoum that the EU stance amounts to spiritual support for armed rebel movements fighting the government in the Blue Nile and South Kordofan provinces.
The Sudanese government says its constitutionally obliged to hold elections now. It’s statement stipulates that it will return to national dialogue after the poll.
The dialogue was necessitated by violent protests against Bashir in 2013 that left a number of dead.
Nafi Ali Nafi, who as presidential advisor until last year was considered the third most powerful man in Sudan and is now a parliamentary candidate, says the dialogue was bogged down in procedural issues raised by the opposition.
“They were not interested in engaging on substantive matters,” says Nafi. “They were insisting on the government dissolving and becoming a transitional administration.
“In other words they wanted their prize even before the talks proper started.”
Bashir, who came to powering coup 25 years ago and subsequently won two elections , has further complicated matters by going back on an undertaking not to seek another term.
“That was not his decision to make,” insists Nafi. “It is a matter for the ruling National Congress Party to decide.”
While there is a significant body of international opinion dismissing the poll as a sham, Washington is coming around to the view that Bashir is the best of a number of bad options.
US sources say the strongman manages to maintain stability in a dangerous neighbourhood.
By supporting the government in Yemen against mounting rebel attack, Sudan is squarely onside with the U.S.
Above all, though, the fear in Washington and indeed in other Western capitals, is of a repetition of the Libyan nightmare where they pushed for and won the first prize of getting rid of Muammar Gadaffi and ended up with a catastrophic failed state feeding and arming terrorists in the region and beyond.

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