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officials have discussed the merits of removing a $10m bounty on Hay'at Tahrir al-Sham (HTS) leader Abu Mohammad al-Jolani, whose rebel group swept into Damascus and toppled the government of Bashar al-Assad on Sunday, a senior Arab official briefed by the Americans told Middle East Eye. Ahmed al-Sharaa, commonly known as Jolani, has been designated as a terrorist by the United States since 2013, whilst his organisation, HTS, was proscribed by the Trump administration in 2018 when a $10m bounty was placed on his head. For years, HTS lobbied to be delisted, but its pleas largely fell on deaf years with the group relegated to governing just a sliver of northwest Syria. But the lightning blitz by the rebels, which saw Assad's iron-grip rule end in spectaular fashion on Sunday, has since forced Washington to rethink how it engages with the former al-Qaeda affiliate. The senior Arab official, who requested anonymity due to sensitivities surrounding the talks, told MEE that the discussions had divided officials in the Biden administration. Meanwhile, when asked about the discussions, one Trump transition official disparaged the Biden administration. Jowlani, 42, gave a rousing victory speech in Damascus' iconic Umayyad Mosque on Sunday and is widely expected to play a key role in Syria's transition after 54 years of Assad family rule. "Today, Syria is being purified," Jolani told a crowd of supporters in Damascus, adding that "this victory is born from the people who have languished in prison, and the mujahideen (fighters) broke their chains". He said that under Assad, Syria had become a place for "Iranian ambitions, where sectarianism was rife," in reference to Assad's allies Iran and its Lebanese proxy Hezbollah. Speaking several hours after the fall of Damascus, US President Joe Biden called the rebel takeover a "fundamental act of justice," but cautioned it was "a moment of risk and uncertainty" for the Middle East. "We will remain vigilant," Biden said. "Make no mistake, some of the rebel groups that took down Assad have their own grim record of terrorism and human rights abuses," adding that the groups are "saying the right things now." "But as they take on greater responsibility, we will assess not just their words, but their actions," Biden said. Later, a senior Biden administration official, when asked about contact with HTS leaders, said Washington was in contact with Syrian groups of all kinds. The official, who was not authorised to publicly discuss the situation and spoke on condition of anonymity, also said the US was focused on ensuring chemical weapons in Assad's military arsenal were secured. Meanwhile, the New York Times reported that US intelligence agencies were in the process of evaluating Jolani, who it said had launched a "charm offensive" aimed at allaying concerns over his past affiliations. Jowlani was born to a family originally from the occupied Golan Heights and fought in the Iraq insurgency and served five years in an American-run prison in Iraq, before returning to Syria as the emissary of Islamic State founder Abu Bakr al-Baghdadi. "A charm offensive might mean that people are turning over a new leaf and they think differently than they used to so you should hear them out. On the other hand, you should be cautious because charm offensives can sometimes be misleading," the US official said. "We have to think about it. We have to watch their behavior and we need to do some indirect messaging and see what comes of that," the official added. But, US President-elect Donald Trump, who will be entering office in just five weeks, has left few doubts where he stood on the conflict, saying Washington "should have nothing to do with it [Syria]." In a social media post on Saturday, Trump wrote that Assad “lost” because “Russia and Iran are in a weakened state right now, one because of Ukraine and a bad economy, the other because of Israel and its fighting success”. Trump used Assad's fall as an opportunity to call for an end to the war in Ukraine, without mentioning the Syrian opposition or the US' Syrian allies. Assad's ouster has seen Nato-ally Turkey cement its status as the main outside power in Syria at the expense of a bruised and battered Iran and Russia. But the US holds vast amounts of territory in Syria via its allies, who joined a race to replace the Assad regime as its soldiers abandoned villages and cities en masse. The US backs rebels operating out of the al-Tanf desert outpost on the tri-border area of Jordan, Iraq and Syria. The Syrian Free Army (SFA) went on the offensive as Assad's regime collapsed taking control of the city of Palmyra. The SFA works closely with the US and its financing is mainly run out of Jordan. The SFA also enjoys close ties to Jordanian intelligence. A former Arab security official told MEE that Jordan's King Abdullah II met with senior US officials in Washington DC last week and lobbied for continued support for the Syrian Free Army. However, maintaining stability in post-Assad Syria will be key for Jordan as it looks to send back hundreds of thousands of refugees and ensure a powe vacuum does not lead to more captagon crossing its border, the former official said. In northeastern Syria, the US has roughly 900 troops embedded with the Kurdish-led Syrian Democratic Forces (SDF). Arab tribes linked to the SDF swept across the Euphrates River on Friday to take a wide swath of strategic towns, including Deir Ezzor and al-Bukamal. The latter is Syria’s strategic border crossing with Iraq. The US's support for the SDF is a sore point in its ties toTurkey, which views the SDF as an extension of the outlawed Kurdistan Workers’ Party (PKK). The PKK has waged a decades-long guerrilla war in southern Turkey and is labelled a terrorist organisation by the US and the European Union. Turkey's concerns about the PKK led it to launch an invasion of Syria in 2016, with the aim of depriving Kurdish fighters of a quasi-state along its border. Two more military forays followed in 2018 and 2019. The SDF is already being squeezed in the north with Turkish backed rebels called the Syrian National Army entering the strategic city of Manbij. According to Reuters, the Turkish backed fighters already control 80 percent of the territory around the city center. During Syria's more than decade long war, the US slapped sanctions on Assad's government, enabled Israel to launch strikes on Iran inside Syria, and backed oppositions groups that hold sway over around one-third of the country.Fury as boss of Keir Starmer's 'viper's nest' union - the GMB - 'bullied and harassed' female staffers and even told one: 'We've got better lawyers than you' By IZZY LYONS and TOM KELLY Published: 17:00 EST, 24 November 2024 | Updated: 17:05 EST, 24 November 2024 e-mail View comments The head of Sir Keir Starmer ’s union is embroiled in allegations of harassing and bullying women. Former senior officials claim the GMB – one of Labour’s biggest backers which boasts the Prime Minister among its 500,000-plus members – is a ‘vipers’ nest’, and workers’ subs are ‘used like confetti’ to fight complaints. General secretary Gary Smith, who endorsed Sir Keir for PM, was allowed to run for the role despite four counts of bullying and harassment against a female union rep being upheld in their entirety by an internal GMB investigation in 2020. After securing the £148,000-a-year job, Mr Smith was secretly recorded warning a female employee ‘we’ve got better lawyers than you’ after she brought a sexual harassment claim against another official. Mr Smith admitted that the man the woman had complained about was ‘a scumbag who abused you’, but added: ‘Once you get into a fight with a big organisation, yep, we are going to come out swinging, and we’ve got better lawyers than you, and they’ll be more expensive. That’s just what happens. ‘You put a gun on the table... people just start shooting back.’ The woman signed a settlement agreement with a confidentiality clause before eventually leaving the union. ‘[They] crush anyone who tries to speak up,’ she said. The GMB says Mr Smith’s comments in the recording were taken out of context and that an independent barrister investigated the employee’s experience and found she was ‘politically motivated’ against Mr Smith. GMB head Gary Smith has been accused of harassing and bullying female staff members in the union Sir Keir Starmer with GMB general secretary Gary Smith at the Union's 2023 congress. Details of the PM's membership of the union emerged in the list of ministers' interests published this month Details of Sir Keir’s membership of the GMB emerged in the list of ministers’ interests published this month. It’s not clear why the former human rights lawyer joined the general industry union, but it is likely a nod to his late father’s factory job as a tool-maker. The GMB, which donates more than £1 million to Labour every year, is the UK’s third-biggest union with members from a wide range of industries, including the NHS, social care, retail, schools and local government. Many are in low-paid jobs. The Mail has spoken to numerous former and current GMB workers who likened the union to an ‘old men’s club’. Anne Chandler, an official who claimed she was forced out in 2022 after 25 years, said the GMB was ‘riddled with sexism’. Ms Chandler, 69, lodged a bullying complaint in 2021 against two male colleagues who hatched a ‘wholly inappropriate’ plan to sack her. Her complaint was upheld. The probe found that the two senior male figures told Ms Chandler’s new boss: ‘Your first job will be to sack Anne Chandler.’ In a letter to Ms Chandler, the regional GMB secretary who carried out the investigation admitted: ‘The fact that the two senior organisers are men seeking to influence a third male senior organiser against a woman officer colleague is deeply concerning.’ The two men were disciplined but remain working in the GMB. Ms Chandler said she felt like she had no option but to retire five years earlier than planned, adding: ‘In the end, the pressure became so bad... I just bit the bullet and said, I can’t do this any more. The whole process of the bullying was dreadful, and I’ve witnessed bullying and harassment throughout the organisation.’ Anne Chandler, 69, an official who claimed she was forced out in 2022 after 25 years, said the GMB was ‘riddled with sexism’ A GMB union stand set up during industrial action outside an Amazon warehouse in Coventry in March A female rep in the GMB, who asked to remain anonymous out of fear of repercussions, said the union was full of ‘scared people’ who were ‘frightened of being suspended if they say anything’. Another, who has worked in the union movement for three decades, said: ‘The amount of fear from people is just horrible.’ Our shocking exposé comes after a damning 2020 report into the GMB concluded that ‘bullying, misogyny, cronyism, and sexual harassment were endemic’, and branded the union ‘institutionally sexist’. Karon Monaghan KC’s investigation found the GMB was a ‘hostile environment’ for women and said a ‘complete transformation’ in culture and practices was required. When Mr Smith was elected general secretary in 2021, he promised to implement the recommendations of the Monaghan Report in full and was even described as its ‘moral compass’. But members say the situation is worse under him. Paul Maloney, a former regional secretary who worked for the union for 40 years, hit out at Labour’s close affiliation with the GMB. He said: ‘It’s not very ethical that [Labour] are saying we stand for what’s right, and yet we take money from an organisation that will keep doing wrong from within and punishing women.’ A current female rep criticised the use of expensive lawyers such as top firm Carter-Ruck. ‘My members are paying for that,’ she said. ‘They are cleaners and low-paid workers – why should they be paying for Carter-Ruck?’ A spokesman for the GMB said: ‘We categorically deny claims of a bullying culture and do not recognise our union in the accounts of these former members of staff. ‘We now have clear, comprehensive and transparent procedures to fully investigate and effectively deal with any allegation of bullying, sexism or harassment. ‘We do not use non-disclosure agreements and staff leaving the organisation are asked to sign standard settlement agreements, similar to those used by virtually every organisation across the public and private sectors. ‘It is untrue to suggest Anne Chandler was compelled to leave GMB after she chose to retire two years ago. She voluntarily chose to withdraw complaints raised at an Employment Tribunal and has taken no further action.’ Mr Smith and the Labour Party were approached for comment but did not respond. Labour Keir Starmer Share or comment on this article: Fury as boss of Keir Starmer's 'viper's nest' union - the GMB - 'bullied and harassed' female staffers and even told one: 'We've got better lawyers than you' e-mail Add commenthttps games 747 live casino 。

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