Syria opposition picks delegation for new peace talks…Read full details

(FILES) This file photo taken on September 7, 2014 shows Secretary-General of the Syrian National Coalition Nasr al-Hariri (C) leaving a meeting with veteran Syrian opposition figure and prominent Syrian human rights activist Haitham al-Maleh and the Arab League's Secretary-General, Nabil al-Arabi, on September 6, 2014 at the Arab League headquarters in Cairo, Egypt. Syria's opposition on Sunday announced its 21-member delegation, including 10 rebel representatives, for a new round of UN-sponsored peace talks in Geneva scheduled for February 20.<br />The delegation will be headed by Nasr al-Hariri, a member of the opposition National Coalition, replacing Assad al-Zoabi, who led the opposition at several previous rounds of talks in Geneva last year.<br />Mohamed el-Shahed / AFP

Syria’s opposition on Sunday announced its 21-member delegation, including 10 rebel representatives, for a new round of UN-sponsored peace talks in Geneva scheduled for February 20.

The delegation will be headed by Nasr al-Hariri, a member of the National Coalition, replacing Assad al-Zoabi, who led the opposition at several previous rounds of talks in Geneva last year.

The delegation’s chief negotiator was named as Mohamed Sabra, a lawyer who was part of the opposition’s technical team during negotiations in Geneva in 2014.

He replaces Mohamad Alloush, a rebel from the powerful Army of Islam faction.

Alloush served as negotiator during three rounds of peace talks in Geneva as well as negotiations in the Kazakh capital Astana in January organised by Turkey and Russia.

Neither Alloush nor the Army of Islam were listed as members of the delegation to Geneva, though it was unclear if the group was boycotting the talks or would be represented by other delegates.

No reason was given for the decision to replace either Zoabi or Alloush.

The delegation includes representatives from several rebel groups, including Faylaq al-Sham, an Islamist faction active around Damascus, and Liwa Sultan Murad, a battalion close to Turkey.

The umbrella High Negotiations Committee (HNC) opposition group said the delegation to the talks would for the first time include representatives from two additional opposition groupings, known informally as the Moscow group and the Cairo group.

But representatives from both groups denied they were included in the delegation.

In the past, the HNC has opposed including the two rival opposition groupings in its delegation, accusing members of the coalitions of being too flexible with regard to the Syrian government.

The Moscow grouping includes former minister Qadri Jamil, and is close to the Russian leadership, while the Cairo grouping includes former foreign ministry spokesman Jihad Makdissi.

Invitations to the talks in Geneva have yet to go out, having been delayed in part to allow the opposition to decide on the composition of their delegation.

UN envoy Staffan de Mistura warned last week that he would pick the opposition delegates to the talks if they could not decide on time.

But he later appeared to backtrack and said he would delay dispatching invites.

Ahead of the talks, Kazakhstan has invited Syrian rebels and government officials back to Astana on February 15-16, but neither party has said officially yet if they will attend.

De Mistura will not attend the Astana meeting, but will send a “technical team,” his spokeswoman said.

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Morocco set to join AU after 33 years of absence (Read full details)

Morocco is set to rejoin the African Union (AU) during the 28th African summit scheduled for Jan. 30 to Jan. 31 in Addis-Ababa, after leaving the pan African organisation three decades ago.

In 1984, Morocco decided to withdraw from the Organisation of African Unity, which later became the AU, over the admission of the Sahrawi Arab Democratic Republic (SADR) as a full member of the organisation.

SADR claims sovereignty over the whole Western Sahara territory, which Morocco claims as its own.

For over three decades, Morocco has refused to be part of the organisation, but recently the country has changed its policing, making the readmission to the AU on the top of its agenda.

In July 2016, King Mohammed VI of Morocco sent a message to the 27th AU summit in Kigali, Rwanda, saying that his country “should not remain outside its African institutional family, and it should regain its natural, rightful place within the AU.”

The king however, explained the reasons for returning to the pan African organisation.

He mentioned the repeated call of many African friends of the kingdom as well as a thorough reflection, which concluded that “when a body is sick, it is treated more effectively from the inside than from the outside.”

He also stressed that from within, “Morocco will contribute to making the AU a more robust organisation, one that is both proud of its credibility and relieved of the trappings of an obsolete era.”

Two months after the king’s message to the African leaders, the North African kingdom formally submitted a request to re-join the continental body in September.

The request was submitted after Morocco received the support of a group of 28 AU member states, representing over the majority of the 54 AU member states required for admission.

Following this request, the Moroccan king toured numerous African countries, including some that Rabat has long regarded as hostile to its territorial unity, on the top of which the African giant, Nigeria.

Consequently, Morocco raised the total of the supporters to 40 as was announced by its Foreign Minister Salaheddine Mezouar during a parliamentary session to review the constitutive act of AU a week earlier.

Recently, both houses of the Moroccan parliament unanimously adopted the constitutive act of AU, its additional protocol and the bill on the approval of the act, preparing the ground for the Kingdom’s return to the AU.

On Jan. 10, the council of ministers, which is chaired by the king, approved the draft texts.

While Morocco has not being a part of AU, it has developed strong ties with many countries in the continent, particularly in French-speaking states in West and Central Africa.

Report says Morocco is already the top investor in West Africa and the second largest African investor in the continent.

In addition, Moroccan firms have strong holds in the many African markets, especially those related to banking, insurance, air transport, telecommunications and housing.

According to official statistics from the country’s economy and finance ministry, over the decade ending in 2016, Morocco’s investment in sub-Saharan Africa represented 85 per cent of its overall foreign direct investment stocks.

In addition to economic relations, Morocco has strong cooperation with many African countries, particularly in the fields of security, peacekeeping operations and managing religious affairs.

Morocco looks ahead to expand its influence in the continent and also to join hands with member states to meet the countless challenges facing the continent, through rejoining of the AU.

Morocco set to join AU after 33 years of absence