The Wall Street Journal - 13.03.2020

(C. Jardin) #1

A16| Friday, March 13, 2020 **** THE WALL STREET JOURNAL.


ing a series of far-right, racist
and anti-Semitic terrorist at-
tacks and foiled conspiracies.
The AfD has denied links to
the crimes.
But Mr. Haldenwang said
pronouncements by Mr. Höcke
and his allies—including
speeches vilifying Islam, call-
ing for the mass deportation
of migrants, and portraying
political opponents as enemies
of the people—showed it qual-
ified as an extremist group
and a threat to the state.
“Right-wing extremism and
terrorism are currently the
biggest danger in Germany,”
Mr. Haldenwang said. “We
know now that democracies
can fail if they are torn apart

AfD’s 35,000-strong member-
ship ranks. The faction has
been growing in influence af-
ter Björn Höcke, its public fig-
urehead and the AfD chief in
the eastern state of Thuringia,
won a quarter of the votes at
a state election in October.
Nationwide, the AfD scored
just under 13% at the last gen-
eral election, in 2017, and cur-
rently polls a few points above
this level. It has appealed to
voters disappointed by Ms.
Merkel’s open-arms asylum
policy after more than a mil-
lion asylum seekers entered
Germany in 2015 and 2016.
Other parties have ostra-
cized the anti-Islam AfD and
recently accused it of inspir-

string of politically motivated
attacks that have claimed 13
livesinlessthanayear.
The party said that it
would challenge the agency’s
decision in court.
The agency, the Federal Of-
fice for the Protection of the
Constitution, keeps a close eye
in Germany on extremist
groups it sees as posing a
danger to democracy. Other
groups under surveillance in-
clude Islamists, neo-Nazis and
far-left extremists.
The Wing doesn’t have for-
mal structures and doesn’t di-
vulge the size of its member-
ship, but the government
agency estimates adherents
make up about 20% of the

WORLD WATCH


GREECE


EU Offers to Pay


Migrants to Leave


The European Union offered
to pay up to 5,000 migrants in
squalid, overcrowded camps on
the Greek islands to voluntarily
return home.
Nearly 42,000 people live in
the camps, and the Greek gov-
ernment says it plans to move
10,000 to the mainland to ease
overcrowding.
During a visit to Athens on
Thursday, EU Home Affairs
Commissioner Ylva Johansson
said migrants who sign up
would each receive €2,
($2,240) “of financial and techni-
cal support for their departure
and towards reintegration in
their home countries.”
Ms. Johansson also said that
seven EU countries so far have
pledged to take in more than
1,600 unaccompanied minors
trapped in Greece.
“I am confident more pledges
could come,” she said.
—Associated Press


EAST AFRICA


Supercomputer Aids


Fight Against Locusts


A supercomputer is boosting
efforts in East Africa to control
a locust outbreak that raises
what the U.N. food agency calls
“an unprecedented threat” to the
region’s food security.
The computer, a donation
from Britain, uses satellite data
to track locust swarms and pre-
dict their next destination.
Quickly sharing the information
of the locusts’ movements with
regional authorities is key to
controlling the outbreak, as even
a small swarm of locusts in a
single day can move nearly 100
miles and consume the amount
of crops that would otherwise
feed 35,000 people.
The supercomputer system
“produces extensive weather
forecasts to predict the high
winds, rainfall, and humidity that


provide ideal breeding conditions
for locusts so climate experts
can predict their next destina-
tion,” the U.K.’s Department for
International Development said
in a statement. “By improving
early warning systems we are
helping charities and African
governments to take rapid ac-
tion to protect vulnerable com-
munities.”
Kenya, Somalia and Uganda
have been battling the worst lo-
cust outbreak that parts of East
Africa have seen in 70 years.
Swarms have also been sighted
in Djibouti, Eritrea, Tanzania,
Congo and South Sudan, a coun-
try where roughly half the popu-
lation already faces hunger after
years of civil war.
Locust swarms, sometimes

as large as some cities, can de-
stroy crops and devastate pas-
ture for animals. Aerial spraying
is generally considered the only
effective control method.
Officials in Kenya’s capital,
Nairobi, where the supercom-
puter is based, said the technol-
ogy will boost their efforts in
tracking locust swarms.
“The forecast is quite useful
because it helps them to focus
their efforts in the areas that
are most likely to be affected by
the desert locust in the coming,
say, 10 days,” said Abubakr Salih
Babiker, a climate scientist at
Nairobi’s regional climate center.
“In this way they are more effi-
cient in allocating their re-
sources, allocating the financial
capacity to control the desert lo-

cust. It is a very innovative and
new way of using technology to
solve a real-life problem like the
desert locust.”
—Associated Press

IRAN

Top Official Demands
End to Sanctions

Iran’s foreign minister de-
manded that the U.S. immedi-
ately halt what he called a “cam-
paign of economic terrorism”
and lift sanctions, saying they
have made it increasingly diffi-
cult to export oil and virtually
impossible to import medicine
and medical equipment, including
to identify and treat coronavirus
patients.

Javad Zarif said in a letter to
U.N. Secretary-General António
Guterres that U.S. sanctions
have also left thousands of Irani-
ans stranded abroad and se-
verely disrupted air links with
Europe.
He called on the U.S. to “im-
mediately halt its campaign of
economic terrorism against the
Iranian people and lift all sanc-
tions it has illegally imposed on
my country.
“To this end,” Mr. Zarif said,
“it is imperative that the United
Nations and its member states
join the Iranian people in de-
manding that the government of
the United States abandon its
malign and fruitless approach
against Iran.”
—Associated Press

EGYPT CRASH: A train collided with another in Cairo, injuring a number of passengers and triggering a suspension in nationwide rail services.

AGENCE FRANCE-PRESSE/GETTY IMAGES

WORLD NEWS


lier this year.
The rocket attack on
Wednesday drew fresh atten-
tion to the hostile environment
for U.S. forces in Iraq, where
they have repeatedly come un-
der fire in recent months. It
also put Iraq back in the
crosshairs of a potential flare-
up in the simmering conflict
between Washington and Teh-
ran. Iraq has proved unable or
unwilling to meet U.S. and al-
lied demands in the past to rein
in activities of militias.
Tensions had recently eased
since flaring in January after
the U.S. killed a top Iranian
commander, Maj. Gen. Qassem
Soleimani, in an airstrike after
he arrived at Baghdad airport.

before conducting the strikes
early on Friday morning in
Iraq, officials said.
Before the U.S. strikes, mili-
tary officials did not identify
which group they believed had
carried out the attack on Camp
Taji, and no group had claimed
responsibility. Two Iran-backed
militias praised the attack.
Kataib Hezbollah, which the
U.S. has blamed for previous
rocket attacks, congratulated
the perpetrators and urged
other militias to follow their
example. The group said the
U.S. must face the conse-
quences of staying in Iraq after
the country’s parliament
passed a nonbinding resolution
in favor of their expulsion ear-

ately be independently verified
and the Iraqi government did
not comment on the attack. Ira-
nian officials did not respond
to a request for comment.
The U.S. strikes came after a
series of attacks in recent
weeks against bases in Iraq
where American military per-
sonnel are stationed. Before
Wednesday, those strikes had
not been considered successful
by U.S. officials. Wednesday’s
strike at Camp Taji, north of
Baghdad, killed the two Ameri-
cans and the British service
member, and wounded more
than a dozen others, spurring
the U.S. to act.
U.S. commanders consulted
with the White House Thursday

to the threats posed by Iranian-
backed militias operating in
Iraq. The U.S. has about 5,
troops based in Iraq.
“The United States will not
tolerate attacks against our
people, our interests, or our al-
lies,” Defense Secretary Mark
Esper said. “As we have dem-
onstrated in recent months, we
will take any action necessary
to protect our forces in Iraq
and the region.”
A TV channel linked to the
Kataib Hezbollah militia said
four paramilitary fighters had
been wounded and two federal
policemen killed, along with a
civilian who was hit in a strike
on an airport under construc-
tion. The toll couldn’t immedi-

bases where American service
members are based.
The strikes aimed to de-
grade the group’s ability to
conduct future attacks against
U.S. and coalition forces, the
Pentagon said in a statement. It
gave no estimate of casualties
among members of the militia,
but officials estimated there
were as many as three to four
dozen casualties.
The U.S. had been consult-
ing with the British govern-
ment on the operation, but the
retaliatory strikes were con-
ducted by U.S. forces alone,
U.S. officials said.
The strikes were “defensive
and proportional,” the Penta-
gon said, and were in response

The U.S. conducted a series
of airstrikes against an Iran-
backed militia group in Iraq,
U.S. officials said Thursday,
entering into a new phase of a


military confrontation with
Iran and its allies by retaliat-
ing for the deaths earlier this
week of two Americans and a
British service member.
The U.S. strikes targeted five
weapons-storage facilities in
Iraq associated with Kataib
Hezbollah, a Shiite militia
group that U.S. officials said
has frequently targeted Iraqi


CANBERRA, Australia—Aus-
tralia’s highest court withheld
its decision on an appeal by
former Vatican finance chief
Cardinal George Pell of his
conviction for child sex abuse,
prolonging a legal battle that
has bitterly divided Australian
society and Catholics around
the world.
Cardinal Pell is the high-
est-ranking Catholic official
to be convicted of child-sex
crimes. The 78-year-old prel-
ate is serving a six-year
prison sentence after a jury
found him guilty of assaulting
two 13-year-old choirboys in
a Melbourne cathedral while
he was archbishop in the
1990s.
This week’s appeal was po-
tentially the last bid to clear
his name. During two days of
hearings, the High Court
heard arguments from Cardi-
nal Pell’s lawyers as to why
the appeal should be allowed,
and arguments from the pros-
ecution for upholding his con-
viction.
The judges decided Thurs-
day to reserve their decision,
meaning they won’t offer a
verdict yet. Reserving judg-
ment gives the judges more
time to consider the argu-
ments and make written state-
ments outlining their reasons.
They could acquit the cardi-
nal or uphold his conviction,
or they could send the case to
be reheard at the Victoria
Court of Appeals. It may be
days or months before the
High Court releases its deci-
sion. If the judges believe an
innocent person is behind
bars, they could make an or-
der soon, paving the way for
his release, and publish the
reasons later, experts said.
Outside the court in Can-
berra, Cardinal Pell’s support-
ers sang hymns and waved
Australian flags and signs say-
ing “Keep the Faith” and “May
the Australian legal system be
inspired by the Holy Spirit.”
An advocate for abuse victims
held up a sign saying: “Burn in
Hell Pell.”
The cardinal was convicted
by a unanimous verdict in De-
cember 2018 after a jury in an
earlier trial was deadlocked. In
August 2019, a panel of appellate
judges in Victoria state ruled 2-
to uphold his conviction.
The prosecution case relied
on the evidence of one of the
former choirboys, now in his 30s
with a young family. He reported
the abuses to the police in 2015,
after his friend died from an ac-
cidental drug overdose. The
other choirboy never publicly
made accusations against Cardi-
nal Pell.
A lawyer for the cardinal
told the High Court there had
been a “reversal of onus,”
where the cardinal was ex-
pected to establish his inno-
cence, rather than the prose-
cution proving the crimes
were committed beyond rea-
sonable doubt. The lawyer,
Bret Walker, said the two ap-
pellate judges overlooked
grounds for doubt about the
opportunity for Cardinal Pell
to offend, given how busy the
inner-city cathedral was after
Sunday Mass, when his ac-
cuser said the attacks oc-
curred.
The Holy See has reserved
judgment until the appeal pro-
cess is exhausted, even as it
continues to be roiled by alle-
gations of clerical sex abuse
around the world.

BYRACHELPANNETT

Decision


On Pell’s


Appeal


Is Delayed


from the inside by their ene-
mies.”
The agency estimates there
are 32,000 far-right extrem-
ists in the country, 13,000 of
whom it considers violent.
Mr. Höcke dismissed Mr.
Haldenwang’s findings as er-
roneous and rejected all accu-
sations of extremism.
“The tendentious and one-
sided interpretations of the
agency do not capture what I
actually meant to say with the
cited quotes,” Mr. Höcke wrote
in a statement posted online
Thursday. He added: “Some
formulations I would not use
today and my rhetorical style
has generally developed over
the years.” Mr. Höcke referred
specifically to his past re-
marks calling for the de-Is-
lamization of Germany, label-
ing the religion a threat, and
denouncing racial diversity.
Mr. Höcke is a deeply po-
larizing figure here. His sup-
porters celebrate him as a re-
freshing antiestablishment
figure and plain talker not
afraid to challenge Ms.
Merkel’s liberal views on im-
migration policy. Detractors
see him as a provocateur har-
boring fascist views.
In a 2017 interview with The
Wall Street Journal, Mr. Höcke
dismissed the notion that Hit-
ler was “absolutely evil.”
“The world has—man has—
shades of gray,” Mr. Höcke said
when asked about Hitler. “Even
the worst severe criminal per-
haps has something good,
something worth loving, but
he is still a severe criminal.”

BERLIN—Germany’s domes-
tic intelligence agency said
that it would put a group
within the nativist AfD oppo-
sition party under surveillance
as an extremist organization
amid rising concern about
growing far-right violence in
the country.
The measure caps a year-
long investigation and means
the agency can start covertly
monitoring members of Der
Flügel, or The Wing, a net-
work within the Alternative
for Germany party, or AfD.
The surveillance could include
tapping phones, monitoring
electronic communications,
and inserting undercover
agents into the network.
“This is a warning to all en-
emies of democracy,“ Thomas
Haldenwang, head of the intel-
ligence agency, told journalists
on Thursday.
The decision is a setback
for the AfD, the federal parlia-
ment’s largest opposition
party, which had long criti-
cized the probe. While nation-
alists have gradually increased
their influence in the party
over more moderate voices,
the AfD still paints itself as a
conservative yet reputable al-
ternative to Chancellor Angela
Merkel’s center-right Christian
Democratic Union.
Some AfD leaders have
stirred controversy with com-
ments that appeared to play
down Nazi-era crimes. At the
same time, concern about far-
right extremism rose after a


BYBOJANPANCEVSKI


German Party Wing Under Surveillance


ByGordon Lubold,
Nancy A. Youssef
andIsabel Coles

U.S. Strikes Iran-Backed Militia in Iraq


Björn Höcke, the public figurehead of a network within the conservative Alternative for Germany party.

MARTIN SCHUTT/DPA/ZUMA PRESS
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