the times | Saturday December 18 2021 2GM 53
baby was being cared for, he
narrowly survived a kidnapping
attempt. Two men posed as
journalists and asked Hamedullah
for an interview about his
experience. After asking if they
could take a photograph of the
child, Hamid said that “they
suddenly punched me and threw
me on the floor of my own house.
They grabbed the boy and tried to
flee, but my wife saw them and
screamed to our neighbours for
help. One of them heard us and
came in time to tackle the man and
get Suhail. Thanks to God the child
was unharmed.”
He says they called the Taliban
police but by the time they arrived,
the attackers had managed to flee.
The family is now waiting for the
US government to arrange the
child’s transport to America to
rejoin his elated family.
Additional reporting: Elhan AfzaliOMAR HAIDIRI/AFP/GETTY IMAGES; ELHAN AFZALFour babies were separated from
their families, including both infants
above; Suhail Ahmad was rescued
separately by Hamid Hammedullah
Florida governor
tells parents to
sue woke schools
Page 57Art treasures in peril
as €500,000 grant
goes begging
Page 55shops run by neo-Nazis offer clothes
and products that are unmistakably far
right but legal because they use Ger-
manic symbols that are not banned
such as the swastika-like black sun logo
and references to the German Reich.
One offers baby products such as
dummies with the black sun printed on
them and romper suits with eagle sym-
bols. The range also includes a teddy
bear wearing a T-shirt with “braunbär”
printed on it, referring to brown
Nazi uniforms. At Christmas,
outlets sell seasonal goods
such as a black T-shirt
with KKK hoods and the
words “Schöne Weisse
Weihnachten” (Happy
White Christmas).
Nicholas Potter, an an-
alyst of the far right at the
Amadeu Antonio Founda-
tion, an anti-racism group,
said: “Far-right web shops, as
well as the far-right rock music scene,
are very important for neo-Nazis as a
source of income, but also in terms of
ideology.
“Prominent neo-Nazis have difficul-
ty getting regular jobs so they earn
money this way and the buyers get
products with which they can identify
themselves as belonging to the group.”
Potter said that instead of Christmas,
neo-Nazis celebrate a “Yule festival”
based on Germanic traditions linked to
the winter solstice.Russia has demanded that Nato, Amer-
ica and Britain withdraw all military
bases and troops from central and
eastern European countries, including
those within the EU.
The Russian foreign ministry yester-
day published Moscow’s demands to
Nato, the US and allies on “security
guarantees” in return for withdrawing a
massive troop build up on Ukraine’s
border.
The publication of the demand in the
form of two draft legal treaties is highly
unusual in international diplomacy
and is regarded as an ultimatum that
threatens the existence of the western
alliance and the EU.
The draft treaties call on Nato and
Washington to halt any future enlarge-
ment of the alliance eastwards and
“not to deploy weapons and forces”
where it “would be perceived by the
other side as a threat to national
security”. Demands include an incendi-
ary call for all troop deployments in
eastern Europe to be rolled back to pre-
1997 levels, effectively removing Nato
protection from all countries that have
joined since.
“[Nato and the US must] not station
any additional military personnel or
weapons outside the countries where
they were stationed as of May 1997 (pri-
or to the accession to the alliance of
Eastern European countries) except inGet your tanks off my lawn and
don’t come back, Putin tells Nato
Russia
Bruno Waterfield Brussels
Felix Light Moscow
Hugh Tomlinson Washingtonterritory of the other party.” The Rus-
sian demand was dismissed by the US
yesterday. Jen Psaki, the White House
press secretary, said: “There will be no
talks on European security without our
European allies and partners.” A Euro-
pean diplomat said: “This is fantasy ge-
opolitics. Putin is living in the USSR
past. If he wants to be taken seriously he
must engage with the reality of the
present which is that Nato has en-
larged.”
A Nato statement last night said the
alliance was “aware of Russia’s Euro-
pean security proposals”.
Andrey Kortunov, head of the Rus-
sian International Affairs Council, a
Kremlin-linked think tank, said: “This
is likely an opening gambit. The Krem-
lin does not seriously believe the US
will agree to such terms, but is hoping to
force some partial concessions.”
Russia’s demands are an escalation
after weeks of rising tensions over
Ukraine, a former Soviet state, with
about 175,000 Russian troops readied
near the border since October.
The Kremlin previously sought
assurances that Ukraine would not be
admitted to Nato, a pledge Biden de-
clined to make during a December 7
video conference with President Putin.
“Any dialogue with Russia would
have to proceed on the basis of reci-
procity, address Nato’s concerns about
Russia’s actions, be based on the core
principles and foundational documents
of European security, and take place in
consultation with Nato’s European
partners,” said the Nato statement.exceptional cases with the consent of
Russia,” said the demands, according to
RIA Novosti news agency.
Poland, Hungary and the Czech
Republic joined Nato in 1999, followed
in 2004 by Bulgaria, Romania, Slova-
kia, Slovenia and the former Soviet
republics of Estonia, Latvia and Lith-
uania. “Putin is demanding that Presi-
dent Biden abolish Nato,” said a diplo-
mat from an Eastern European country
in the alliance. “If the West blinks then
the alliance that stopped Soviet aggres-
sion and protected the peace is dead.”
Sergei Ryabkov, Russia’s deputy for-
eign minister, warned relations with
Nato and the West were at a “dangerous
point” and called for talks with the US
in Geneva on the demands.
“We are ready to immediately to go
for talks with the US,” he said.
Other demands include a US com-
mitment “not to establish military bas-
es in former Soviet countries” or “to
develop military co-operation” with
countries that include EU members
Latvia, Estonia and Lithuania.
White House national security ad-
viser Jake Sullivan said that the United
States was prepared for dialogue with
Russia. “We’re going to put on the table
our concerns,” Sullivan said at a
Council on Foreign Relations event. He
also said the latest assessment from the
US is that Putin has not made a decision
to invade Ukraine.
Russia is additionally demanding a
ban on the deployment of Nato, US and
Russian warships and aircraft to “areas
where they can strike targets on theSwastika baubles seized
in Nazi memorabilia raid
Germany
David Crossland Berlin
Christmas tree baubles decorated with
swastikas have been seized in a raid on
a neo-Nazi merchandise store. Police
confiscated more than 100 items, in-
cluding seasonal Nazi “smoking man”
figures that emit incense and candle-
holders with the Nazi eagle clutching a
swastika in its talons.
T-shirts and calendars were
also seized at the property in
Zwickau, eastern Germany,
during an eight-hour
search. The 39-year-old
owner, who has not been
named, faces prosecu-
tion for distributing ille-
gal propaganda and pos-
sessing illegal weapons.
“We have succeeded in
shutting an outlet distribut-
ing Nazi propaganda beyond
the region,” said Lutz Rodig, police
chief of Zwickau. “We are convinced we
have dealt a serious blow to distribution
structures of the far-right scene.”
However, analysts have pointed out
that there is a thriving market in far-
right merchandise sold by retailers who
avoid prosecution by stopping short of
selling products with banned symbols,
such as the swastika and SS runes.
The Zwickau trader was caught
because he flouted the law by dealing in
overtly Nazi symbols. Other onlineNazi u
outle
suc
wi
w
W
Waly
AAm
ttion,
said: “Fa
well as the far-ry in
y,
rn
ut-
eyond
Rodig, policeSenior gang
smuggled loot
on train trips
Philip Willan RomeItalian police have uncovered a smug-
gling ring that used elderly couriers to
transport illegally excavated antiqui-
ties to northern Europe by train to
avoid arousing suspicion.
The alleged ringleader of the group,
13 of whose members have been identi-
fied by police so far, is a 79-year-old re-
tired teacher who was arrested in the
Dutch city of Delft, where he had taken
artefacts to a laboratory for restoration.
Police have recovered more than
2,000 artefacts dating from the 6th to
the 2nd century BC. Most were dug up
by grave robbers around Taranto, in the
heel of southern Italy.
The items included ceramic statu-
ettes, bronze tools, gold coins and a
bronze Corinthian helmet thought to
be worth up to £60,000 on the illegal
antiquities market.
Paolo Salvatori, who led the inquiry,
said the traffickers were often highly
educated people. “If they don’t know
what they have found they risk not get-
ting the right price for it,” he said.
Four elderly couriers with links to the
main organiser have been identified.
They chose to travel discreetly by train,
despite the length of the journey, rather
than run the gauntlet of tight controls
at international airports.