Month: May 2023

Mr Assad was shunned by many fellow leaders after his government’s violent crackdown on pro-democracy protests triggered a civil war in which half a million people have been killed.

Syria was readmitted this month after states which had backed the opposition accepted his grip on power was secure.

They include summit hosts Saudi Arabia.

The rapprochement accelerated following the devastating earthquake that hit Turkey and north-western Syria in February, when once-hostile powers decided to send humanitarian aid to Syrian government-controlled areas.

China also brokered a surprise agreement in March that saw Saudi Arabia restore diplomatic ties with its long-time regional rival Iran, which along with Russia has helped Mr Assad’s forces regain control of Syria’s biggest cities.

Large parts of the country are nevertheless still held by Turkish-backed rebels, jihadists, and Kurdish-led militia fighters supported by the United States.

Half of Syria’s pre-war population of 22 million have had to flee their homes. Some 6.8 million people are internally displaced, while another 6 million are refugees or asylum-seekers abroad.

Even before the earthquake struck an estimated 15.3 million people inside Syria were in need of some form of humanitarian assistance – an all-time high since the war began.

President Assad arrived on Thursday night in the Red Sea port city of Jeddah, where this year’s Arab League summit is taking place.

At a meeting of the foreign ministers of the 22 member states on Wednesday, Arab League Secretary General Ahmed Aboul Gheit declared that he hoped that “Syria’s regaining of its seat is a precursor to the end of its conflict”.

Saudi Foreign Minister Prince Faisal bin Farhan Al Saud also welcomed Syria.

“Our world today is facing numerous challenges and difficulties that place us at a crossroads,” he said. “It is necessary for us to stand together and try harder to strengthen joint Arab action to meet them.”

But not every country was enthusiastic about Syria’s reinstatement.

Qatar’s foreign minister told a news conference in Doha that it had dropped its opposition only because it did not want to “deviate from the Arab consensus”.

The US meanwhile said it did “not believe that Syria merits readmission”.

“Our position is clear – we are not going to normalise relations with the Assad regime, and we certainly don’t support others doing that as well,” state department spokesman Vedant Patel told reporters.

The Scottish Conservatives claim she broke the ministerial code by delaying vital rail works, costing taxpayers £1m.

They said Ms Gilruth gave “preferential treatment to her constituents”.

The first minister insisted the Tories were “throwing mud” and said her decisions benefitted the whole network.

Scottish Tory leader Douglas Ross raised the issue at first minister’s questions on Thursday.

He called for an urgent independent investigation into the claims Ms Gilruth intervened inappropriately to delay a rail upgrade for purely political reasons.

Following the session, he confirmed that he had written to the first minister formally requesting that Ms Gilruth be investigated.

The row centres on proposed line electrification work between Edinburgh Haymarket and Dalmeny, which would have caused eight days of disruption from Boxing Day last year.

It was part of a “decarbonisation” scheme to replace diesel trains with electric units on rail routes from Edinburgh to Fife.

Ms Gilruth, who represents Mid Fife and Glenrothes as an MSP and is now education secretary, asked for the works to be postponed.

The Tories say that officials told the Scottish government this would lead to an extra £1m in cost and cause disruption to 9,000 passengers a day due to the work taking place at non-holiday times.

The work has still not been carried out.

Mr Ross said: “Ms Gilruth appears to have forced a change in order to give preferential treatment to her constituents at a higher cost to taxpayers and far more disruption to passengers”.

He said that a freedom of information response the party had received made clear that, “instead of a few days of closures after Christmas, Jenny Gilruth pushed for more than six weeks of disruption, including four full weekend closures”.

He added it looked like a “clear-cut sackable offence”.

He read out Scottish Rail Holdings Board papers, which stated: “The board is asked to note that Network Rail and ScotRail chose to do the work at this time precisely to minimise the number of passengers impacted, and Transport Scotland were fully aware of and endorsed this approach.”

He said the board papers also showed that Chris Gibb, who worked in the rail industry for more than 40 years and chaired ScotRail in 2022, raised concerns over “micromanagement by Scottish ministers, advisors and officials”.

Mr Gibb resigned just a few weeks after Ms Gilruth’s decision.

First Minister Humza Yousaf said Mr Ross was making “very serious accusations indeed” and there would be an “appropriate investigation”.The first minister insisted Douglas Ross was “throwing mud”

However, he said the situation was not as Mr Ross described, saying the decision was made for the “correct reasons” in order to benefit the “entire network”.

Mr Ross then quotes emails he had obtained. He said that ScotRail officials told the government the changes would lead to “greater cost, with more customers disrupted or inconvenienced with the revised access plan”, he said.

Mr Yousaf said the works would have led to disruption further afield than Fife and Ms Gilruth had said she wanted more done to avoid more delays on the rail network over the festive period.

Mr Ross said: “She should not even have been involved in this decision, she should have recused herself because of the clear potential for a conflict of interest.”

He suggested the “political interference” forced Chris Gibb to resign as chief executive of ScotRail Holdings.

Ms Gilruth’s decision led to a poorer service, he said, and “looks like a clear breach of the ministerial code”.

Mr Yousaf said: “What (Mr Ross) is hoping to do, because he is undoubtedly desperate, is throwing as much mud as possible and hoping that some of it sticks.”

The first minister said Mr Ross was being “selective” in his reading of the emails.

He said it was “pretty clear” that Ms Gilruth made the decision to minimise disruption for passengers across the network.

Scottish Labour were also critical of the decision.

Their business manager, Martin Whitfield, said: “We urgently need an investigation into what appears to be a breach of the ministerial code.

“It would be grossly inappropriate for a minister to use their position to try and win favour with local voters.”

Speaking to the BBC’s Chris Mason at the G7 summit in Hiroshima, the prime minister said he was leading the way with new sanctions on Russia.

He said he hoped other countries would follow suit.

Russian diamond imports to the UK are among the items that will be banned by the government.

The Russian diamond industry was worth $4bn (£3.2bn) in exports in 2021.

Russian-origin copper, aluminium and nickel imports will also be blocked, under legislation to be introduced later this year.

“We believe in democracy, freedom, the rule of law – and it’s right that we stand up for those things,” Mr Sunak told the BBC.

“I’m hopeful and confident that our partner countries will follow as they have done when we’ve done this previously.

“That will make the sanctions more effective, ensure that Russia pays a price for its illegal activity.”

The UK government said it was also planning to target 86 more people and companies connected to President Vladimir Putin, including people who were “actively undermining the impact of existing sanctions”.

Since Russia’s attack on Ukraine, the UK has targeted more than 1,500 individuals and entities and frozen more than £18bn assets under the sanctions regime.

Last year the UK, US, Canada and Japan banned imports of Russian gold in an effort to hit the country’s ability to fund the war in Ukraine.

Downing Street said more than 60% of President Putin’s war chest has been “immobilised” – worth about £275bn.

Both the US and the EU have announced similar sanctions on Russia – with US President Joe Biden setting out plans to ban Russian diamonds, seafood and vodka last year.

The President of the European Council, Charles Michel, says the EU also wants to restrict trade in Russian diamonds to try to further isolate Moscow.

Mr Sunak is in Hiroshima for the G7 summit, which is comprised of some of the world’s richest nations.

The prime minister visited the Hiroshima Peace Park, the site where the US dropped the first nuclear bomb, alongside other G7 leaders before the meeting, where the Ukraine war and economic security are likely to be high on the agenda.

Russia has significantly increased the frequency of its missile attacks on Ukraine recently, while Ukraine appears to be shooting down more of Russia’s missiles.

At the meeting, Mr Sunak is expected to warn other world leaders “against complacency in defending our values and standing up to autocratic regimes”.

On Sunday, he will meet the prime minister of India, Narendra Modi, who is attending the G7 summit as a guest.

Mr Modi has remained neutral on Russia’s invasion of Ukraine, calling for peaceful dialogue to end the conflict.

Mr Sunak told reporters travelling with him in Japan that he had seen “positive” steps from India in its stance on the war.

The prime minister said the sanctions demonstrated the G7 was unified in the face of the threat from Russia.

He said: “We are meeting today in Hiroshima, a city that exemplifies both the horrors of war and the dividends of peace.

“We must redouble our efforts to defend the values of freedom, democracy and tolerance, both in Ukraine and here in the Indo-Pacific.”