Egypt to Host International Conference on Combating Corruption

Egypt to Host International Conference on Combating Corruption
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Egypt to Host International Conference on Combating Corruption

Egypt to Host International Conference on Combating Corruption

Egypt is scheduled to host the ninth session of the Conference of the States Parties to the United Nations Convention against Corruption (UNCAC/COSP9) in Sharm El Sheikh from 13 December to 17, 2021.

The conference is considered one of the most important international conferences that brings together member states, parliamentarians, international, regional and non-governmental organizations, civil society and the private sector, to discuss anti-corruption matters.

It will review the UN Convention against Corruption, which is the only legally binding universal anti-corruption instrument.

According to Egypt’s state-run Middle East News Agency (MENA), participants will discuss means to prevent and reduce corruption, enhance international cooperation to better confront all forms of corruption, and discuss the ways to recover from the pandemic and to move forward following the first UN General Assembly special session against corruption (UNGASS) that was was held in June.

The conference will touch on various relevant topics, including preventing corruption through education, and through women’s role in promoting integrity, the Stolen Asset Recovery Initiative, anti-corruption efforts in Africa, the Arab Anti-Corruption and Integrity Network, and the challenges and opportunities offered by ICTs and digitalization to fight corruption and the urban governance initiatives intended to reduce corruption.

Cairo had stressed during its participation in the General Assembly’s special session in June on the importance of bolstering international and regional cooperation in the field of building human, technical and technological capacities to pursue corruption crimes.

Egypt said its participation in the special session’s activities reflect “keenness on strengthening efforts to combat corruption being a harmful scourge that undermines efforts to achieve development,” the foreign ministry had stated.



Syria Arrests Officer Linked to Notorious ‘Death Checkpoint’ Near Damascus

Maj. Gen. Mowaffaq Nazeer Haidar, a former commander of the Syrian army’s Third Armoured Division (Interior Ministry) 
Maj. Gen. Mowaffaq Nazeer Haidar, a former commander of the Syrian army’s Third Armoured Division (Interior Ministry) 
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Syria Arrests Officer Linked to Notorious ‘Death Checkpoint’ Near Damascus

Maj. Gen. Mowaffaq Nazeer Haidar, a former commander of the Syrian army’s Third Armoured Division (Interior Ministry) 
Maj. Gen. Mowaffaq Nazeer Haidar, a former commander of the Syrian army’s Third Armoured Division (Interior Ministry) 

Syrian authorities said on Tuesday they had arrested Maj. Gen. Mowaffaq Nazeer Haidar, a former commander of the Syrian army’s Third Armored Division, over allegations of war crimes and abuses committed at a notorious checkpoint near Damascus.

Haidar, who oversaw the Qutayfah checkpoint along the Damascus-Homs highway north of the capital, is accused of playing a direct role in the disappearance of thousands of Syrians during the country's civil war.

The checkpoint, located near the Third Division’s headquarters, one of Syria's most powerful military units, was widely known among Syrians as a site of torture and arbitrary detention.

In a statement, the Internal Security Directorate in the coastal city of Latakia said Haidar had been detained and described him as a “criminal responsible for the so-called ‘death checkpoint’ at Qutayfah,” and a leading figure in raids carried out by pro-government forces across various parts of the country.

He has been referred to the counter-terrorism unit for interrogation on charges including war crimes and grave violations against civilians, the statement added.

The Qutayfah checkpoint, located at the northern entrance to Damascus, was one of the most notorious and feared military checkpoints during Syria’s civil war, widely associated with the regime’s crackdown on dissidents and army deserters.

Once operated by the Syrian army’s powerful Third Armored Division, the checkpoint was known by Syrians under grim monikers such as the “Death Checkpoint,” the “Checkpoint of Fear,” the “Checkpoint of Horror,” and the “Checkpoint of Arrests and Executions.”

It became a symbol of terror, particularly for residents of the Qalamoun region, but also for Syrians across the country.

According to earlier media reports, thousands of Syrians vanished at the Qutayfah checkpoint during the height of the conflict, many detained without formal charges or due process, often on mere suspicion of opposition sympathies or draft evasion.