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Despite President Trumps reluctance to get deeply involved in the Syrian civil war, the United States now finds itself in the middle of an escalating battle in the countrys south that last week led to a clash between the U.S. military and Iranian-backed pro-government forces. If he can seize the opportunity, Trump could deal a blow to Iranian regional influence and help save Syria in the process.

To hear the Trump administration tell it, the coalition airstrike May 18 near the al-Tanf base on Syrias border with Jordan and Iraq was a one-off event. A statement from U.S. Central Command said that pro-regime forces had crossed into an established de-confliction zone, posing a threat to opposition forces and the U.S. troops who are training them.

But the skirmish near al-Tanf was not an isolated incident. According to officials, experts and rebel leaders on the ground, an ongoing and rapidly accelerating confrontation in that area was triggered by an offensive by Iranian-backed militias. Iran is trying to establish strategic control over territory creating a corridor from Lebanon and Syria through Baghdad to Tehran.

If successful, the Iranian campaign would drastically reshape the regional security situation, harm the fight against the Islamic State in the nearby city of Deir al-Zour and directly undermine U.S. efforts to train and equip an indigenous Sunni Arab fighting force, which is essential to establishing long-term stability.

In short, its a fight that the United States cannot and should not avoid. Its also an opportunity for Trump to accomplish what his administration says it wants to do in the Middle East: Push back against Iranian aggression and expansionism.

So far, the White House doesnt see it in that light. An official told me that the decision to strike regime and Iranian-backed forces last week was made by military commanders on the ground, not by the White House. The commanders have the authority to strike whenever they believe U.S. troops are under threat, the official said, stating that there has been no change in U.S. policy in Syria.

There was no large, big-picture change that resulted in this scenario, the official said.

The strikes did change Tehrans calculus. The Middle East Institutes Charles Lister said that the bombs hit a militia backed by the Iranian Revolutionary Guard Forces called Kataib Imam Ali. After the strikes, the Iranian FARS news agency reported that Iran will send 3,000 Hezbollah fighters to the al-Tanf region to thwart a U.S. plot.

A Syrian opposition rebel leader who works with the U.S. military said that while there are a mix of regime, Iranian and militia forces fighting in the area, the Iranians are in command of the campaign. Their first goal is to establish control over a security triangle that would give them free movement between the eastern Syrian towns of Palmyra and Deir al-Zour and Baghdad.

The Iranians second goal is to block the U.S.-supported rebels in al-Tanf from Deir al-Zour. If the rebels take the city from the Islamic State, it would be a huge boon for the Sunni opposition to the regime of Syrian President Bashar al-Assad.

Two Syrian rebel groups opened up a front against the Iranian-backed forces about two weeks ago, in response to the Iranian campaign, the rebel leader said. One of them is working directly with the U.S. military. The other is supported by the military operations center led by the CIA and allies in Jordan.

Even absent public acknowledgment from Washington, the rebel groups believe they have tacit support from the United States to prevent Iran and the regime from taking over the area. That belief is uniting rebel groups on the ground, who have long wanted to fight Iran and the regime, in addition to the Islamic State.

Those who support the Syrian opposition in Washington are also noticing a shift in the U.S. approach toward confronting Iran in Syria. Whether that represents mission creep or a deliberate change in approach on a policy level is unclear and ultimately irrelevant. Perhaps by accident, Trump is moving toward a Syria policy that is tougher on Iran and the Assad regime, and its having real effects on the ground.

The United States has two major adversaries in Syria, that is Iran and ISIS. Both represent huge risks to U.S. national security and interests in the region, said Mouaz Moustafa, executive director of the Syrian Emergency Task Force.

The battle for Syrias south is on, and the Trump team must decide if the United States will play a decisive role. Trump could fulfill his promises to thwart Iran and bring greater stability to Syria if he acts fast.

Read more from Josh Rogins archive, follow him on Twitter or subscribe to his updates on Facebook.

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How Trump could deal a blow to Iran and help save Syria - The ... - Washington Post

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Ford is replacing its chief executive in a shake-up designed to reverse a plummeting share price and bolster development of electric and autonomous vehicles. The US auto company has yet to confirm the replacement of Mark Fields and other executives, but an announcement is expected today. He is likely to be replaced by James Hackett, who currently heads the companys smart mobility unit, which includes driverless technology.

The global auto industry is facing increasing disruption from Silicon Valley, which is spending millions on developing technology for driverless and electric vehicles. The cost of owning an electric car is predicted to be the same as owning a traditional vehicle as early as next year, according to some analysts, prompting manufacturers to shift resources in an effort to adapt to the change. (FT, Forbes)

Trumps battle cry on Iran The US president attacked Iran in a speech to Muslim leaders in Saudi Arabia, blaming the regime for most of the instability in the region. It came just one day after Iranians voted overwhelmingly for re-engagement and openness with the world. Tehran said the US should worry about another 9/11 instead. (FT, Independent)

Divine winner The Church of Englands 7.9bn investment fund disclosed returns of 17.1 per cent last year, making it the worlds best-performing endowment fund. Over 10 years, it outsripped Yale University endowments annual 8.1 per cent returns. Fund director Tom Joy says active investment was the key to success although some suspect inspiration from a higher being. (FT)

Barclays hits back at prankstersThe British bank has tightened its email security after a prankster posed as its chairman and sent a series of messages to chief executive Jes Staley. Mr Staley was heavily criticised at a recent shareholder meeting for attempting to unmask a whistleblower. (FT)

The great olive oil crisis The price of extra virgin olive oil has surged by almost a quarter this year, as drought afflicts production at major growers around the Mediterranean. World production is forecast to fall 14 per cent. Adverse weather events have been affecting olive oil production in the region more frequently, agricultural and weather experts have noted. (FT)

North Koreas secret cyber warfare cell Unit 180 is thought to have launched some of the most daring and successful cyber attacks in recent years, and there is evidence that could link it to the WannaCry attack. Heresa look inside. Meanwhile, Pyongyangtest-fired another ballistic missile on Sunday, in defiance of threats of tougher UN sanctions. It claims it can now mass produce intermediate-range missiles. (Reuters, NAR)

Athens calls on creditors to strike a deal Greeces finance minister said his country had done its bit, most would say more than its bit, and now it was time for IMF officials and eurozone finance ministers to make a deal that would allow it to honour billions of euros in debt repayment when they meet. (FT)

Trump to outline Mideast peace deal When Donald Trump arrives in Israel and the West Bank today, he will outline what he has called theultimate peace deal. Meanwhile, an angry Benjamin Netanyahu has ordered his ministers to attend the airport reception for Mr Trump, after discovering a number had planned to skip it. (FT, Guardian)

Keep up with the important business, economic and political stories in the coming days with the FTsWeek Ahead.

Too scared to spend Latino consumers in the US are spooked by Donald Trumps immigration policies. Families once willing to fork out $5,000 or more on baby showers are hoarding cash in case they or their relatives are swept up in raids. (FT)

Wanted: princes and princesses The engagement of Japanese imperial princess Mako to her floppy-haired university sweetheart last week has highlighted a tricky issue: the chrysanthemum throne isrunning out of royals. (FT)

The quants now run Wall Street For decades, investors imagined a time when data-driven traders would dominate financial markets. That day has arrived. (WSJ)

Fetishising crisis There is a virulent strain of management thinking that sees every crisis as an opportunity. In fact, it is mainly consultants who benefit. Instead, good leaders should avoid crisis in the first place, writes Andrew Hill. (FT)

The mystery of the wasting house cats Forty years ago, feline hyperthyroidism was impossibly rare today,its an epidemic. Research suggests common household chemicals may be to be blame so what are they doing to humans? (NYT)

The week ahead Vanessa Kortekaas provides a briefing of thestories to watch in the week ahead, including US president Donald Trump travelling to Brussels, the release of eurozone PMI data and first-quarter results from jewellery-maker Tiffany. (FT)

Sample the FTs top stories for a week

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Daily briefing: Ford to replace chief, Trump attacks Iran, fetishising crisis - Financial Times

ABU JARBUAH, Iraq (AP) As Omar Rashads combine clutters down the barley field in northern Iraq, the farmer shields his eyes from the scorching sun and points at the tall berm at the end of his land, just past a cluster of agricultural buildings.

The berm he points to marks the de facto border between federal Iraq and its self-governing Kurdish region in the north. It was built in November after Kurdish Peshmerga forces pushed about 5 kilometers (3 miles) into the Nineveh plains outside Mosul with the support of the U.S.-led coalition, retaking a cluster of towns and villages from the Islamic State group.

Now, more than half of Rashads land, some 20 hectares (50 acres), is on the other side of the line in Iraqi federal territory. Crossing over to it is so complicated requiring daily approval from both Iraqi and Kurdish authorities that he has given up.

This is our village and here is the berm. The berm divides our land into two halves, said Rashad, an Iraqi who fled to Kurdish territory when IS militants came to his town. Its our land and we want to plant and harvest there. But now we cant. You can say that we lost that half.

Since 2014, Iraqs Kurds have expanded the territory they control by about half at the expense of Iraq. The status of some of these areas, such as the city of Kirkuk, is supposed to be decided by plebiscite under Iraqs constitution. Others, including most of the governorate of Nineveh, technically belong to Iraq.

The berm, with fortified positions every half kilometer (half mile) or so, cuts through the land in a fairly straight line, but it separates some communities from their land, from their administrative centers and from each other.

If you want to do anything on the other side, you cant. The berm has paralyzed everything, Rashad said. This is my land, my fathers and grandfathers land, how can they divide our land like this?

On the Iraqi side of the berm, in the village of Darawish, farmer Raad Khalil is faced with an additional problem. He, too, has lost access to land about 8 hectares (20 acres) leaving him dependent on aid. But he has also in effect been left without a government.

All government functions are in Bashiqa, he said, referring to the biggest town in the area that is now on the Kurdish side of the line. Health care, education, electricity. Now you have to go to Mosul for everything but then they tell you that we belong to Bashiqa and I must go there.

Crossing from Iraq into the Kurdish region is even more complicated than the other way around because the Peshmerga demand a Kurdish residency permit or a sponsor.

The berm separates these some small communities from themselves, though for now not everybody seems to mind. Arriving in Abu Jarbuah on the Iraqi side of the berm, Shamsaddeen Nouraddeen, a Kurd, said he had been given a day permit to come over for a relatives funeral.

He said he hoped the berm would eventually be removed but added that for now it made him feel safer because he was worried there were still IS sleeper cells in some of the villages on the Iraq side.

The situation is made more delicate by the fact that the inhabitants of these villages are a mix of Sunni and Shiite Shabaks, a Kurdish-speaking minority in northern Iraq. While most Shiite residents fled IS, many of the Sunnis stayed, and that sowed mistrust among the Shabaks.

Back on the Kurdish side of the berm, Omar Rashad, a Sunni Muslim, said he has gone back to his village once but some of his Shiite neighbors made it clear that he wasnt welcome. He was now wearing a pistol and two spare clips on his hip for personal security, he said.

Its like cutting a person in half and thats exactly what happened to us, he said. The Shabaks are a minority who have been damaged by all these rivalries. They have been divided into two as well.

___

Associated Press writer Salar Salim contributed to this report from Darawish.

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Boundary between Iraq, Kurdish territory divides communities - The Seattle Times

(Erbil) Iraqi government-allied troops arbitrarily detained at least 100 men in late April 2017, in some cases torturing them during interrogations, Human Rights Watch said today.

Human Rights Watch interviewed three men from al-Hadar, a village 90 kilometers southwest of west Mosul, who were detained by the Popular Mobilization Forces (known as the PMF or Hashd al-Sha'abi) and two local officials who had knowledge of the detention operations in the area. The men said the fighters detained them as they fled their homes because of the fighting, and held them for up to 15 days in a school building and in one case a home in an area solely under PMF control. Their captors interrogated them about possible Islamic State (also known as ISIS) links, and in two cases beat them with thick metal cables, before releasing them and a small number of other detainees. Other detainees told them they had also been beaten during interrogations.

Given the previous track records of PMF abuse in the area of screening and detaining local men, Baghdad should treat these findings with the gravest concern, saidLama Fakih, deputy Middle East director at Human Rights Watch. Authorities should do all in their power to ensure that families fleeing the fighting around Mosul are able to get to safety, not tortured in secret facilities.

Human Rights Watch heard similar accounts from other men fleeing the fighting earlier in 2017 and raised the issue with the government, but the detentions and abuse seem to have continued. Prime Minister Haider al-Abadi should issue a decree banning screening and detention by the PMF and hold those who have committed abuses accountable.

One man, Hassan, said that his family and a group of others fled al-Hadar, which was under ISIS control, on April 25, for a camp for displaced people run by the PMF. After two days there, he and 10 of his relatives were then taken to a building they said was a school and held there in a room, along with about 40 others from their village. His family group was interrogated for a week, then released.

Hassan and the other two men interviewed said that they were able to determine that they were being held in a school by speaking to fellow prisoners and guards, and by lifting their blindfolds. A government official from Tal Abta told Human Rights Watch that the PMF held the men in the Tal Abta Janubia primary school and provided the GPS coordinates. The official said that his office had documented the names of 100 men from the area who the PMF had detained as they fled, over the same period, based on calls from their families.

Ali Al-Ahmadi, director of al-Hadar district, told local media outlets on May 1, that the PMF had detained at least 160 people upon their arrival at camps for people displaced by the fighting. The same reports said that the governor of Mosul was calling for a high-level emergency session to discuss these detentions.

Earlier in the Mosul operation, Human Rights Watch documented cases of the PMF arbitrarily detaining, torturing, and executing civilians. Following a Human Rights Watch report, the PMF Commission issued a statement in early February denying that its forces had screened or detained anyone. The statement said the PMF hands over captured ISIS suspects to state security forces who have a mandate to screen suspects.

But in a meeting on February 6, a PMF Commission representative told Human Rights Watch that in limited circumstances they do detain people captured on the battlefield for at least short periods before transferring them to Iraqi authorities with a detention mandate. One man the PMF had detained for eight days and an aid worker confirmed that.

Iraqi authorities should only allow those with the requisite legal authority to screen people. The authorities should ensure that anyone detained is held in a recognized detention center accessible to independent monitors, and granted their due process rights under international and Iraqi law. All detention should be based on clear domestic law, and every detainee should be brought promptly before a judge to review the legality of their detention. Iraqi law requires authorities to take detainees before an investigative judge within 48 hours.

Human Rights Watch has also documented that Iraqi forces, including PMF forces, have used schools for security or military purposes such as for screening and as detention centers. Such use of schools can delay the re-opening of the schools to teach and provide other services to children, and damage classrooms and equipment. Iraqi forces should avoid using schools except as a last resort, when no other facilities are available.

The United Nations Convention against Torture, which Iraq ratified in 2011, obliges member countries to investigate and prosecute torture and to compensate victims.

While there may be grounds to detain some people fleeing the fighting who are suspected of criminal acts under ISISs rule, they have to be given their rights under Iraqi law, Fakih said. That includes the right not to be ill-treated.

Detainees Accounts

Hassan

Hassan said that on April 25, when the village of al-Hadar, where he lived, was still under ISIS control, his family and about 15 others managed to escape in several cars. The convoy spent two nights out in the desert just north of al-Hadar, before unidentified security forces arrived and told the families to go to Jarbua, a PMF-run camp for displaced people, 30 kilometers north of Tal Abta.

After they spent two nights at the camp, Hassan said, at around 9 p.m., a group of fighters with PMF badges rounded him up, along with 10 of his relatives, blindfolded them, then drove them to another location where they were held in a room of a large building. When he was able to, he said, he pulled down his blindfold quickly because his hands were bound in front and saw that he was in a room with about 40 other detainees, all from al-Hadar.

After seven days, guards released him and the other 10 men detained with him without explanation, he said. Throughout his detention, he said, the same guards moved him in and out of the room with the other detainees for interrogation, asking why he had remained living under ISIS, whether he had joined ISIS, and for names of ISIS fighters. Hassan said he was blindfolded throughout his captivity but said that he was held and interrogated by fighters with southern accents whom he thought were from the PMF.

Ahmed

Ahmed said that on the morning of April 26, as Iraqi forces began an operation to retake al-Hadar, more than 60 other families fled the area in cars. Six were families from al-Hadar and the rest were families previously displaced by the fighting, mostly from villages in Tal Abta district, just to the north, he said. When they were about six kilometers north of the village, they reached a base of a large number of fighters carrying flags identifying them as belonging to the PMF unit Ali al-AkbarBrigade (Liwa Ali al-Akbar), with fighters from southern Iraq.

The fighters made them wait for several hours, then checked the mens identity cards. By then it was evening, and the fighters told them it was too late to take them to the nearest camp, which they said was at least 40 kilometers away. They told the families to stay in their cars or erect tents, he said.

At midnight, Ahmed said, he was standing with five of his relatives, including his brother, by their cars when three Ali al-Akbar fighters with PMF badges approached them and said they needed the men to come with them so they could interview them about their area. Ahmed said that the PMF fighters blindfolded him and his relatives, drove them for about five minutes, and then held them in a school, where the fighters detained them for 10 days. His hands were bound in front, so he was able to slip off the blindfold on various occasions. Ali said he saw guards bringing in about 90 men, who told him they were from al-Hadar.

For four days, Ahmed said, guards with southern accents whom he thought were PMF interrogated him blindfolded in a separate room once each day, asking why he had joined Al-Qaeda and ISIS, and beating him for about 10 minutes each time with thick metal cables. Ahmed said that twice the guards held a plastic bag over his head until he lost consciousness. He said he insisted he had not joined any extremist group. After four days of abuse, he asked the 40 or so men held in a room with him if they had confessed and all said they had, to stop the abuse, Ahmed said. He said all his relatives told him the guards also beat them with thick metal cables.

The next morning, Ahmed said, he confessed to being affiliated with ISIS. Later that afternoon, he was again brought into a separate room and a man who sounded different from his interrogators asked if his confession was true, and he admitted it had not been.

While the PMF held them, he and the other two detainees said they were only given one cup of water and limited food every day. The guards moved Ahmed among three rooms. In two he estimates there were a total of another 40 detainees, with one room full of men he did not recognize as from al-Hadar, and about 50 from al-Hadar in the other. After the other man questioned him, Ahmed said, guards loaded him and 11 other men, including his brother and other relatives into cars and drove them to a house about two hours away, where they were held in the same room and interrogated separately for another two days. At that point, guards with the same southern accents as the Ali al-Akbarfighters brought in 20 to 30 men from al-Hadar whom Ahmed recognized as also having been held at the school. One said that PMF fighters had bused all 90 to the house together.

That night, guards with southern accents took him and 10 of the other men, including four of his relatives, to al-Hadar village and let them go. They eventually made their way to displaced camps in Jadah, 54 kilometers northwest, where they rejoined their families. As of May 17, he said, his brother was still in detention.

An official from the area working on the detainees release told Human Rights Watch that the house the PMF detained the men in was referred to as Yaseens house.

Kareem

Kareem said he fled al-Hadhra on April 26, with about 10 families to a nearby village. The next day, they drove 40 kilometers to a PMF checkpoint. Four PMF fighters with badges checked the mens identity cards. The fighters selected him and seven other men, blindfolded them, and bound their hands, then drove them to a nearby large building. Kareem said the building held many other prisoners but he was unable to count because he was afraid he would be caught if he lifted his blindfold.

He said he was held for 15 days and that guards interrogated him daily about ISIS affiliation and beat him with thick metal cables. An older man from his village held with him died from an illness that predated his detention. Kareem said he did not want to speak about what the guards had done to him, but he had visible bruising and scaring around his wrists and up his right arm when he spoke to Human Rights Watch, two days after he was released.

Excerpt from:
Iraq: Scores of Men Imprisoned in Schoolhouse - Human Rights Watch

ERBIL, Kurdistan Region Around 20,000 people from other parts of Iraq will flock to the capital of the Kurdistan Region on Monday night, as Erbil hosts Iraqs first internationally sanctioned football match since 2013.

We hope this match will be in line with both teams levels in terms of support by fans and performance by the players in order to present a positive message to the Fdration Internationale de Football Association (FIFA). I also call on the fans to come and show great support for their team, Air Force Club coach Basim Qassem told Rudaw.

Just 70 kilometers from war-torn Mosul, the sprawling metropolis of Erbil has been largely spared from the violence that engulfed much of Iraq, but getting fans from the two Baghdad-based clubs into the Kurdish capital poses a potential challenge with additional security screening.

FIFA, the worlds football governing body had banned Iraq from hosting international football matches for nearly four years due to the rise of ISIS and anti-ISIS efforts.

However, FIFA lifted the ban earlier this month and the AFC has agreed to allow the first match since 2013 to be hosted in the safety of Erbil.

FIFA is imposing a three-month trial period in the country to ensure that the country can organize and host football matches according to international standards.

Staff at Erbils Franso Hariri Stadium are preparing for upwards of 20,000 fans.Iraq's Ministry of Youth and Sports announced that it would cover travel expenses for 1,000 fans from each of the two clubs, which have hired buses to transport supporters to see the match.

According to the Kurdish union of hotels and restaurants there are nearly 4,000 guesthouses, eateries, and vacation sites in the Kurdistan Region which primarily earn their revenues through holidaymakers who had come in their thousands in the past. Many new hotels and holiday facilities were built over the past few years to attract more guests from south and central Iraq who often vacationed in the Kurdish norths cool temperatures in the summer months.

But the double shock of plummeting oil prices and the ISIS war hit the hotel industry hard as tourists increasingly chose to stay away.

I think the tide has turned in our favor now, Malawi Jabar, the Director of the Kurdistan Tourism Board previously told Rudaw. Most hotels and motels have already been booked ahead of this summers holiday season, which are great signs.

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Kurdistan Region hosts Iraq's first international sporting event - Rudaw