Syrian Kurds Ready for Dialogue with Damascus

Syrian Kurds celebrate Nowruz in Al-Hasakah Governorate on March 21 (AFP)
Syrian Kurds celebrate Nowruz in Al-Hasakah Governorate on March 21 (AFP)
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Syrian Kurds Ready for Dialogue with Damascus

Syrian Kurds celebrate Nowruz in Al-Hasakah Governorate on March 21 (AFP)
Syrian Kurds celebrate Nowruz in Al-Hasakah Governorate on March 21 (AFP)

The Kurdish Autonomous Administration, which controls large areas in northern and northeastern Syria, has expressed its willingness to meet with the Syrian government, in a move that comes in parallel with an accelerating Arab openness towards Damascus.

In a statement distributed on Tuesday night and reported by AFP, the Administration said: “We affirm our readiness to meet and talk with the Syrian government and with all Syrian parties to hold discussions and present initiatives for a solution.”

It also urged “Arab countries, the United Nations and international forces... to play an active and positive role in searching for a common solution.”

Since 2018, the Autonomous Administration has engaged in several rounds of talks with Damascus, without achieving any results.

Syrian President Bashar al-Assad has repeatedly accused the Kurds - who spearheaded the confrontation against ISIS and managed to defeat it in large areas in north and northeastern Syria, with American support - of “collaborating” with Washington, which is leading an international coalition against the extremist organization.

In an interview during his recent visit to Moscow, last month, Assad responded to a question about the Kurdish units, saying that any party or individual “working for a foreign power is simply a traitor and a collaborator.”

Underlining Syria’s “territorial integrity”, the Kurdish Autonomous Administration called for the country’s resources to be shared “fairly”, including oil and gas fields, which are mostly located in the areas under its control.

The Kurdish authorities noted that they were ready to share resources including oil and gas “through an agreement with the Syrian government” following “dialogue and negotiation”.

The Kurds are afraid of losing the gains they made during the first years of the conflict, after they suffered for decades from a policy of marginalization imposed on them by the successive Syrian governments.

They were also excluded from several rounds of negotiation, including the UN-led talks in Geneva between representatives of the government and the opposition.



Egypt Needs to Import $1.18 Billion in Fuel to End Power Cuts, PM Says

The moon is seen after the day of Strawberry Moon over old houses in Cairo, Egypt, June 22, 2024. (Reuters)
The moon is seen after the day of Strawberry Moon over old houses in Cairo, Egypt, June 22, 2024. (Reuters)
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Egypt Needs to Import $1.18 Billion in Fuel to End Power Cuts, PM Says

The moon is seen after the day of Strawberry Moon over old houses in Cairo, Egypt, June 22, 2024. (Reuters)
The moon is seen after the day of Strawberry Moon over old houses in Cairo, Egypt, June 22, 2024. (Reuters)

Egypt needs to import around $1.18 billion worth of mazut fuel oil and natural gas to end persistent power cuts exacerbated by consecutive heat waves, its Prime Minister Mostafa Madbouly said in a televised address on Tuesday.

It hopes the shipments will arrive in full around the third week of July, by which point the government aims to stop cutting power during the remaining summer months, he added.

It has already started contracting for 300,000 tons of mazut worth $180 million to boost its strategic reserves which are expected to arrive early next week.

Egypt's government on Monday extended daily power cuts to three hours from two hours previously in response to a surge in domestic electricity consumption during the latest heat wave.

These three-hour cuts will continue until the end of June, before returning to two hours in the first half of July with the aim of stopping completely for the rest of the summer, Madbouly said on Tuesday.

Egyptian social media has lit up with complaints about the impact of the blackouts, with some saying they have been forced to purchase private power generators.

The problem has particularly affected teenagers preparing for the crucial high school certificate, with some posting about students studying by candlelight and others in coffee shops.

A wedding hall owner in the coastal city of Port Said said he would turn one of his ballrooms into a study hall.

Since July last year, load shedding linked to falling gas production, rising demand and a shortage of foreign currency has led to scheduled two-hour daily power cuts in most areas.

"We had said that we planned to end load shedding by the end of 2024... we do not have a power generation problem or a network problem, we are unable to provide fuel," Madbouly said on Tuesday.

"With the increase in consumption related to the major development and population increase, there has been a lot of pressure on our dollar resources," he added.

He said production in a neighboring country's gas field had come to a full halt for 12 hours leading to an interruption in the supply, without naming the country or the gas field.

Egypt's Abu Qir Fertilizers said on Tuesday three of its plants had halted production because their supply of natural gas was cut.