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President of Abkhazia Seeks to Strengthen Relations With Syria

The president of the “republic” of Abkhazia, Aslan Bzhania, upon his arrival to Damascus (SANA).
The president of the “republic” of Abkhazia, Aslan Bzhania, upon his arrival to Damascus (SANA).
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President of Abkhazia Seeks to Strengthen Relations With Syria

The president of the “republic” of Abkhazia, Aslan Bzhania, upon his arrival to Damascus (SANA).
The president of the “republic” of Abkhazia, Aslan Bzhania, upon his arrival to Damascus (SANA).

The unilaterally announced visit of the president of the “republic” of Abkhazia, Aslan Bzhania, to Syria reflected a trend towards strengthening relations between separatist regions in the former Soviet space, within the framework of supporting the Russian position and expanding trade, economic and tourism exchange with Syria to alleviate the repercussions of the Western sanctions imposed on both Moscow and Damascus.

Bzhania’s second visit to Damascus was described as “official”, with an agenda that included a wide range of meetings, including talks with Syrian President Bashar al-Assad. The visit is the second step to strengthening “bilateral cooperation between the two republics”, according to the Abkhaz statement, after the two sides exchanged embassies last October.

Damascus recognized the independence of Abkhazia in 2018. The step was followed by the recognition of the independence of South Ossetia, the second Georgian region that declared a unilateral secession from Georgia with Russian support. Syria was the fifth country to recognize the independence of the two regions, after Russia, Venezuela, Nicaragua and Nauru.

“Establishing diplomatic relations between the Republic of Abkhazia and the Syrian Arab Republic is important from the humanitarian point of view, due to the presence of an Abkhaz community living in Syria, and many Syrian citizens of Abkhazian origins currently living in Abkhazia. Mutual relations will facilitate communication between them,” said the Deputy Minister of Foreign Affairs of Abkhazia.

However, Damascus paid a heavy price for this move. Georgia, which had previously maintained neutrality regarding the internal Syrian crisis, announced the severance of its diplomatic relations with Damascus. Ukraine soon took a similar position, after Damascus recognized the annexation of Crimea to Russia. These steps also aroused widespread discontent within the European Union.

However, the position of Damascus, which was taken under the influence of the overwhelming Russian presence in the country, impacted a more dangerous issue, as Russian observers said. The Syrian government has taken steps to enhance its cooperation with the unilaterally declared Luhansk and Donetsk republics in eastern Ukraine.

Although Moscow at the official level welcomed Damascus’ recognition of the independence of the separatist regions and the decision to annex Crimea, experts played down the importance of the step. In earlier remarks, head of research at the Institute for Dialogue of Civilizations, Alexey Malashenko, noted that Moscow has pushed the Syrian government to recognize the separatist Caucasian republics.

“Given Assad’s reputation and his situation at the regional and international levels, this is not the best diplomatic move for Russia. Its harms surpass its benefits.”

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Arab World

Grundberg Warns Against Reversal of Gains in Yemen, Broader Conflict 

UN Special Envoy for Yemen Hans Grundberg addresses the Security Council. (Office of the Special Envoy of the Secretary-General for Yemen/ Abdel Rahman Alzorgan)
UN Special Envoy for Yemen Hans Grundberg addresses the Security Council. (Office of the Special Envoy of the Secretary-General for Yemen/ Abdel Rahman Alzorgan)
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Grundberg Warns Against Reversal of Gains in Yemen, Broader Conflict 

UN Special Envoy for Yemen Hans Grundberg addresses the Security Council. (Office of the Special Envoy of the Secretary-General for Yemen/ Abdel Rahman Alzorgan)
UN Special Envoy for Yemen Hans Grundberg addresses the Security Council. (Office of the Special Envoy of the Secretary-General for Yemen/ Abdel Rahman Alzorgan)

UN Special Envoy for Yemen Hans Grundberg noted on Thursday a relative improvement in conditions in areas held by the legitimate government, warning, however, that “without a wider negotiated political settlement to the conflict, gains will continue to remain vulnerable to reversal.”

In a briefing before the UN Security Council, he said 73 UN colleagues are being held in Houthi jails. “Many have been held incommunicado, with serious concerns about their conditions and wellbeing,” he added.

He called on the Houthis “to unconditionally and immediately release detained staff and rescind all court referrals,” urging regional and international actors to use their influence to push for the same outcomes.

Elsewhere, he said that “there are early positive signs in government areas, including improvements in the provision of electricity and payment of public sector salaries. However, continued tensions, recent security incidents and demonstrations, where in some cases violence and loss of life have been reported, underscore the fragility of the situation.”

“Improvements in service delivery can be reversed if security deteriorates, if economic reforms stall, or if institutions are pulled in competing directions,” he warned.

“The new cabinet under Prime Minister Shaya al-Zindani’s leadership can protect recent gains by anchoring them in strengthened institutions and economic reforms. That will require an enabling environment that shields the cabinet and the Central Bank from politicization and rebuilds confidence,” continued Grundberg.

Political process

He revealed that in recent weeks, he has been engaging with the Yemeni parties, regional actors and members of the international community to explore pathways to restart an inclusive political process. His office has also been consulting with diverse Yemenis on this question, including with governors to gain more nuanced insights into local concerns and how to address them at the national level.

Grunberg said: “Across these discussions, three reflections on the way forward are clear: First, we must be honest about what more than a decade of war has done to Yemen. The conflict has become more complex. Lines of contestation have multiplied and local dynamics have grown alongside national ones.”

“While regional tensions have increasingly fueled the conflict and been fueled by it, our common objective has remained steady and firm: Yemen needs an inclusive political process under UN auspices to reach a negotiated political settlement that can sustainably end the conflict,” he urged.

“But getting there requires that the parties adopt a forward-looking approach. We need to build on what still works, revise what are outdated assumptions, and be pragmatic in designing a political process for today’s reality.”

“Second, Yemen’s conflict is a set of interlocking files. Treating political, economic and security issues in isolation can only produce partial results that will not hold,” said the envoy. “Restarting a political process will therefore require that the parties engage across these tracks in tandem, without making engagement in one track contingent on progress in another.”

“And third, a credible process must deliver for Yemenis on two time horizons. It should enable near-term agreements that reduce suffering and demonstrate progress, including economic de-escalation measures. At the same time, it must create space for Yemenis to negotiate the longer-term issues essential to ending the conflict, including the future shape of the state, security arrangements and principles of governance,” Grundberg added.

On the issue of detainees, the envoy said the file “is a clear example of what can be achieved when the parties choose to engage in dialogue.”

“Right now, the parties are in Amman, negotiating face-to-face under UN auspices, to work through the complex task of finalizing names of detainees so a release operation can materialize, building on the agreed outcome of their meeting in Muscat in December,” he told the council.

He encouraged the parties to sustain this engagement, finalize the remaining elements “without delay, and move swiftly to implementation”. He thanked Jordan for hosting these negotiations, and the International Committee of the Red Cross for its “indispensable” role.

Broader conflict

Grundberg also noted regional tension and hoped for de-escalation.

“Whatever the regional trajectory, Yemen must not be pulled back into broader confrontation. The question of peace and war is, fundamentally, a national one. It cannot be outsourced, nor can it be appropriated by a single actor,” he said.

“No single Yemeni actor has the right to unilaterally drag the country into a regional conflict. The responsibility borne by all Yemeni actors and decision makers is first and foremost to the Yemeni people – to their security, to their livelihoods and to their future,” he added.

“Upholding Yemen’s national interest and the aspirations of all its people must remain the guiding principles at all times including in moments of heightened tension. Restraint, in this context, is an obligation,” he urged.

Arab World

ISIS Suspects Transferred from Syria to Iraq are Interrogated in a Baghdad Prison

Iraqi security forces lead suspected ISIS militants for questioning, after they were transferred from Syria to Iraq, at Al-Karkh Central Prison in Baghdad, Iraq, Thursday, Feb. 12, 2026. (AP Photo/Hadi Mizban)
Iraqi security forces lead suspected ISIS militants for questioning, after they were transferred from Syria to Iraq, at Al-Karkh Central Prison in Baghdad, Iraq, Thursday, Feb. 12, 2026. (AP Photo/Hadi Mizban)
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ISIS Suspects Transferred from Syria to Iraq are Interrogated in a Baghdad Prison

Iraqi security forces lead suspected ISIS militants for questioning, after they were transferred from Syria to Iraq, at Al-Karkh Central Prison in Baghdad, Iraq, Thursday, Feb. 12, 2026. (AP Photo/Hadi Mizban)
Iraqi security forces lead suspected ISIS militants for questioning, after they were transferred from Syria to Iraq, at Al-Karkh Central Prison in Baghdad, Iraq, Thursday, Feb. 12, 2026. (AP Photo/Hadi Mizban)

Inside a heavily guarded detention facility in Baghdad, men from scores of different countries and nationalities were brought one after another into interrogation rooms and questioned by Iraqi officers.

The prisoners are suspected members of the militant ISIS goup recently transferred from Syria to Iraq at the request of Baghdad — a move welcomed by the US-led coalition that had for years fought against ISIS.

Over a period of several weeks, the US military escorted more than 5,000 ISIS detainees from 60 different nationalities from prisons in northeastern Syria run by the US-backed and Kurdish-led Syrian Democratic Forces, to Baghdad.

The transfers have helped calm fears that the fighting in Syria would allow the ISIS prisoners to flee from detention camps there and join militant sleeper cells that even to this day are able to stage attacks in both Iraq and Syria.

On Thursday, The Associated Press was given rare access to the sprawling detention facility in western Baghdad — now known as Al-Karkh Central Prison but more widely known as Camp Cooper after the 2003 US-led invasion that ousted Saddam Hussein — where the men are being interrogated.

Laying the groundwork for trials Iraq is looking to put on trial some of the thousands of the ISIS detainees who were held for years in Syria without charges or access to the judicial system.

Iraqi Judge Ali Hussein Jafat, who is heading the committee interrogating ISIS detainees brought from Syria, says it's not easy because of the sheer numbers of prisoners involved.

It's "complicated and not easy at all,” he said, adding that the detainees are from 14 Arab and 46 other countries.

Many of the detainees have respiratory diseases, so a medical center was set up to treat them, he said.

To make room for the newcomers from Syria, thousands of prisoners long held at Al-Karkh were transferred to other prisons in Iraq.

The interrogations are usually a staggered affair — the men were brought in batches, handcuffed, in yellow or brown uniforms and wearing medical face masks and taken into a long corridor with rooms on both side.

One by one they are then taken into interrogation rooms, where they sit on a chair as an officer takes down their information. From behind a small window, the AP could observe the questioning but not discern the questions or the detainees' answers. It wasn't clear if the prisoners were under duress.

Some of the prisoners are taken to the medical center for a checkup.

How the transfer came about

The forces of Syria's new government that in December 2024 ousted strongman Bashar Assad launched an offensive in January, capturing wide swaths of territory from the Kurdish-led SDF.

A ceasefire was later reached, ending the fight and the SDF withdrew as part of the agreement.

At the time, the United States announced that many of the nearly 9,000 detainees held in more than a dozen Syrian detention centers will be transferred to Iraq.

So far, 5,383 ISIS suspects have been brought to Iraq. The last batch is expected to arrive on Sunday, Jafat said.

A dark past

When ISIS declared a caliphate — a self-proclaimed territory under a traditional form of their extremist rule — in large parts of Syria and Iraq that the militant group seized in 2014, it attracted extremists from around the world.

From the caliphate, the extremists plotted attacks around the world that left hundreds dead from Europe to Arab countries and Asia.

The group also carried out brutalities in Syria and Iraq, including the enslavement of thousands of Yazidi women and girls who were taken when the militants overran northern Iraq. Strict rules were implemented, with ISIS beheading its opponents, thieves having their hands amputated while women accused of adultery were stoned to death.

Over the years, an international campaign by a US-led coalition defeated ISIS in Iraq in 2017 and in Syria in 2019.

“Some of them are extremely dangerous,” Jafat said about the detainees.

He added that he has so far seen detainees from Australia, Canada, Türkiye, Germany, Britain and the former Soviet Union.

Many of the countries don't want the militants who are their nationals back and Jafat said it is too early to say whether the detainees could be extradited or repatriated to their countries of origin.

Those who committed crimes in Iraq will stand trials in Iraq and the proceedings will be open to the public, he added.

Arab World

Lebanon, Syria Reach Temporary Solution for Freight Trucks Crisis

Lebanese truck drivers block the road on the Lebanese side of the Masnaa border crossing in protest against Syria's decision to ban non-Syrian trucks from entering its territory, on February 10, 2025. (Photo by Hassan JARRAH / AFP)
Lebanese truck drivers block the road on the Lebanese side of the Masnaa border crossing in protest against Syria's decision to ban non-Syrian trucks from entering its territory, on February 10, 2025. (Photo by Hassan JARRAH / AFP)
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Lebanon, Syria Reach Temporary Solution for Freight Trucks Crisis

Lebanese truck drivers block the road on the Lebanese side of the Masnaa border crossing in protest against Syria's decision to ban non-Syrian trucks from entering its territory, on February 10, 2025. (Photo by Hassan JARRAH / AFP)
Lebanese truck drivers block the road on the Lebanese side of the Masnaa border crossing in protest against Syria's decision to ban non-Syrian trucks from entering its territory, on February 10, 2025. (Photo by Hassan JARRAH / AFP)

Lebanon has secured temporary exemptions for freight vehicles hauling certain goods after a recent ban by Damascus on foreign trucks.

Damascus had issued a decision on Saturday stipulating that "non-Syrian trucks will not be allowed to enter" the country, and that goods being imported by road must be unloaded at specific points at border crossings.

The decision exempts trucks that are only passing through Syria to other countries.

Lebanese and Syrian trucks will now unload and reload goods at a joint zone along the border with a temporary mechanism put in place to regulate movement over seven days.

However, goods transported in tankers, hazardous materials, cement, raw materials for cement production, as well as meat and pharmaceuticals will be exempt from these border transfers.

The two sides will meet again on February 19 before the end of the seven-day deadline to evaluate the situation.