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WORLD NEWS

ANTAKYA, Turkey—A shaky

cease-fire took hold in north-

western Syria on Friday fol-

lowing an agreement by Tur-

key and Russia aimed at

ending hostilities that height-

ened the risk of war between

the two powers.

The truce, announced by

Turkey’s President Recep Tayyip

Erdogan and Russia’s President

Vladimir Putin in Moscow

Thursday night, went into effect

just after midnight, producing a

relative lull in violence follow-

ing an offensive by Russia and

the Syrian regime of President

Bashar al-Assad that forced

nearly a million people to flee

over the past three months.

Hours after the agreement

went into effect, forces loyal to

the Syrian president shelled

rebel-held areas, according to

opposition activists and the

Syrian Organization for Human

Rights, a monitoring group.

Separately, 15 government and

rebel fighters were killed in

Idlib province, according to the

war monitor.

The agreement does little to

address the mass civilian exo-

dus triggered by the Russian

and Syrian regime’s assault on

rebel-held Idlib. Many displaced

people won’t be able to return

to their previous homes under

the deal, since it allows the re-

gime and Russian forces to

maintain control of areas cap-

tured in recent months.

Inside Idlib, many fear the

deal will collapse, as previous

agreements between Russia and

Turkey triggered more death

and displacement, including a

2018 deal that unraveled when

the Syrian regime went on the

offensive last year.

“It seems we are doomed to

suffer. We are doomed to die,”

said Abdulkafi Alhamdo, an

English teacher in Idlib.

Nearly a million Syrians

have fled since December, and

hundreds of thousands are

now sheltering in overcrowded

camps along Syria’s border

with Turkey.

The crisis could draw in Eu-

rope after Mr. Erdogan opened

Turkey’s borders to Greece and

Bulgaria, sending refugees there

to pressure Europe into sup-

porting Ankara. Greek police re-

fused to allow them to cross, us-

ing tear gas on the crowds.

The standoff has left thou-

sands of migrants stranded in

precarious conditions along the

Turkish side of a border river

stretching more than 100 miles.

The Turkish president has

said he won’t budge.

“We do not have time to ar-

gue with Greece,” Mr. Erdogan

was quoted as saying by Turk-

ish media on the plane that re-

turned him from Russia over-

night. “The refugees will go as

far as they can. We’re not forc-

ing them out.”

The cease-fire follows a

surge in violence after Turkey

launched a military campaign

aimed at reversing recent

gains by the Assad regime.

Turkish leaders announced the

operation in late February as

Ankara faced mounting mili-

tary losses in Syria. At least 50

Turkish soldiers were killed in

Syria last month.

The campaign was a glimmer

of hope for some Syrians in

Idlib who hoped it would help

prevent civilian deaths and roll

back recent gains by the Assad

regime. The cease-fire pauses

the operation, dimming the

hopes of some.

“The war is not over,” said

Yakzan Shishakly, founder of

the Maram Foundation, a relief

organization helping civilians in

Idlib. “It’s not a good deal over-

all, because people are not go-

ing back to their original lands.”

—David Gauthier-Villars

and Nazih Osseiran

contributed to this article.

WORLD WATCH

VATICAN

Pope Accepts French

Cardinal’s Resignation

The pope accepted the resig-
nation of France’s most-senior
Catholic cleric, the Vatican said,
weeks after a French court over-
turned his conviction for failing
to report child sex abuse.
Cardinal Philippe Barbarin of
Lyon last year became the first
high-ranking official in the Cath-
olic Church to be convicted of
covering up abuse.
Cardinal Barbarin was found
guilty in March 2019 of failing to
report an allegation made by a
man who said he was abused as
a child by the Rev. Bernard
Preynat, a priest in the archdio-
cese of Lyon. Cardinal Barbarin
was given a six-month sus-
pended jail sentence.
But in January, an appeals
court struck down that conviction,
saying the cardinal wasn’t obli-
gated to report the allegation be-
cause the victim was an adult in
2014 when he reported the al-
leged abuse and therefore capa-
ble of alerting authorities himself.
The judges ruled that if Cardi-
nal Barbarin were to be held re-
sponsible then friends and parents
who also knew about the allega-
tions could face similar charges.
Still, the judges added it was
morally questionable that it took
the archdiocese nearly a year to
remove Father Preynat from
parish work and to bar him from
contact with children after it be-
came aware of the allegation.
There is no evidence that
Cardinal Barbarin tried to dis-
suade the victim from filing a
complaint against Father

Preynat, the judges said.

On Friday, Cardinal Barbarin

told a French Catholic TV channel

that “These past four years have

been ones of great suffering, I

think it’s good to turn the page.”

After the initial ruling in

March 2019, Cardinal Barbarin

tendered his resignation to Pope

Francis. But the pontiff declined

to accept it, a decision that drew

fire from victims and their advo-

cates in France and abroad.

—Francis X. Rocca

TUNISIA

Suicide Bombers Are

Said to Target Police

Two suicide bombers blew

themselves up near the U.S. Em-

bassy in Tunisia, killing one po-

lice officer and wounding four

others, the Interior Ministry said.

Lawmaker Yosri Dali, head of

the armed forces and security

commission, confirmed eyewit-

ness reports that the bombers

were on a motorcycle. Mr. Dali

said in an interview with Radio

Mosaique that they blew them-

selves up when a police patrol

stopped them to ask where they

were going.

Hundreds of police swarmed

around the embassy on the out-

skirts of Tunis, the Tunisian capi-

tal, after the bombings.

A ministry spokesman said

one of the five officers injured in

the blast had died after surgery.

The spokesman insisted the

dead attackers had targeted the

officers on patrol and not the

U.S. Embassy. An angry crowd

of hundreds of people stormed

the embassy compound in 2012.

—Associated Press

Two Saudi Royal Princes Held,

Accused of Plotting a Coup

Saudi Arabia’s Crown Prince Mohammed bin Salman

ANDREW CABALLERO-REYNOLDS/PRESS POOL

where about 13,000 service

members currently help train

the country’s military and

carry out limited operations

against Taliban, al Qaeda and

Islamic State fighters.

The U.S.-Taliban deal calls

for release of up to 5,000 Tali-

ban prisoners as a precursor

to Tuesday’s talks. But Afghan

President Ashraf Ghani has re-

buffed appeals from the U.S. to

release any prisoners as a

good-faith gesture before the

talks begin.

Zalmay Khalilzad, the spe-

cial U.S. envoy who negotiated

the deal with the Taliban, re-

turned to Kabul this week to

try to work out a compromise.

Mr. Ghani and Mr. Abdullah

remain at odds over the recent

presidential election, which

ended with the Afghan presi-

dent securing a second five-

year term. Mr. Abdullah has

challenged the results and is

preparing to hold a rival inau-

guration on Monday, on the

same day as Mr. Ghani.

On Feb. 29 the Trump ad-

ministration signed a land-

mark deal with the Taliban

that charts a course for the

U.S. to pull all of its forces out

of Afghanistan by July 2021.

The Pentagon has already

given orders for the U.S. mili-

tary to begin withdrawing

forces from Afghanistan,

Earlier this week, Mr. Ghani

declined to meet with Mr.

Khalilzad, according to Afghan

officials, creating more fric-

tion between Washington and

Kabul.

On Thursday, Secretary of

State Mike Pompeo urged “all

sides to stop posturing, start

practical discussion about

prisoner releases, knuckle

down and prepare for the up-

coming inter-Afghan negotia-

tions.”

Earlier this week, the U.S.

military in Afghanistan ac-

cused the Taliban of squander-

ing an opportunity by step-

ping up their attacks on

Afghan forces after signing the

deal with the U.S. in Doha, Qa-

tar.

Friday’s violence rattled the

Afghan capital. It took more

than six hours for Afghan se-

curity forces to kill the gun-

men, who were holed up in a

nearby building. It couldn’t be

learned how many fighters

were involved, but Afghan se-

curity forces said they killed

two militants.

Omid Maisam, a deputy

spokesman for Mr. Abdullah

who was in the front row

when the shooting started,

said he took cover with other

people behind a wall as the in-

surgents used rocket-propelled

grenades and machine guns to

target the gathering.

“It was such a horrific and

terrible day,” he said. “I have

lost many friends.”

KABUL—Gunmen opened
fire on a political gathering in
Kabul on Friday, killing at
least 32 and wounding 58,
against a backdrop of tensions
between the Afghan govern-
ment and the U.S. over the
Trump administration’s plan
with the Taliban toward end-
ing 18 years of war.
Politicians, including the
country’s main opposition
leader, scrambled for cover as
gunmen targeted an outdoor
event commemorating the
1995 killing by the Taliban of a
revered local figure.
Abdullah Abdullah, the
country’s former chief execu-
tive, escaped unharmed, offi-
cials said.
The Taliban denied respon-
sibility for the attack. Hours
later, Islamic State claimed re-
sponsibility and said two of its
fighters carried out the as-
sault.
Some people speculated
that the attack might have
been an effort by insurgent
spoilers trying to undermine
the fragile U.S.-led efforts to
end the war in Afghanistan.
The special U.S. envoy to
the region is working to pave
the way for breakthrough talks
between the Taliban and Af-
ghan government, set to begin
Tuesday. But there were few
signs that the scheduled talks
would begin as planned.

BYEHSANULLAHAMIRI
ANDDIONNISSENBAUM

Gunmen Kill 32 at Afghanistan Political Gathering

A man awaits an ambulance to carry the dead body of his 17-year-old daughter. Islamic State claimed responsibility for Friday’s attack.

HEDAYATULLAH AMID/EPA/SHUTTERSTOCK

BYJAREDMALSIN

Uprooted Syrians See Little Hope in Truce

Turkish military vehicles drive past a camp for displaced people in Syria’s Idlib province.

Saudi Arabian authorities
detained two of the kingdom’s
most prominent figures for an
alleged coup attempt, further
consolidating the power of the
king’s son, Crown Prince Mo-
hammed bin Salman, and clear-
ing away once-formidable ri-
vals to the throne, according to
people familiar with the matter.

The detentions occurred
early Friday morning when
guards from the royal court
wearing masks and dressed in
black arrived at the homes of
the two men, took them into
custody and searched their
homes, according to people fa-
miliar with the matter.
Prince Ahmed bin Abdulaziz
al Saud, a brother of Saudi
King Salman, and Prince Mo-
hammed bin Nayef bin Abdu-
laziz al Saud, the king’s nephew

known as MBN, were both ac-

cused of treason, the people

said. The guards also arrested

one of MBN’s brothers.

The Saudi royal court ac-

cused the two men of plotting

a coup to unseat the king and

crown prince, according to

people familiar with the situa-

tion.

The two men who poten-

tially had once been in line for

the throne are now under

threat of lifetime imprison-

ment or execution, people fa-

miliar with the situation said.

The details of the alleged coup

attempt couldn’t be learned.

Prince Ahmed and MBN

spent time as minister of the

interior, a powerful position

with oversight of troops and

Saudi Arabia’s large intelli-

gence service. MBN had close

ties to U.S. intelligence and

was respected for his knowl-

edge of security and terror

threats in the Middle East. But

over the past few years, their

standing in the royal family

has diminished as King Salman

consolidated power and in-

stalled his son Mohammed bin

Salman—known as MBS—as

crown prince and the king-

dom’s day-to-day ruler.

The arrests cast aside two

men who could have been ri-

vals to MBS’s claim to the

throne if 84-year-old King Sal-

man died or decided to abdi-

cate. MBN had been first in line

for the throne as King Salman’s

crown prince until 2017, when

MBS was elevated over him.

Early in MBS’s ascent, his

social and economic reforms

pleased many Western offi-

cials who had long called for

the kingdom to lift restrictions

on women and foster a more

diversified economy.

But the prince’s tactics for

cracking down on corruption,

silencing dissent and margin-

alizing rivals have since alien-

ated many in the U.S. and Eu-

rope.

To curb corruption, MBS

launched a surprise dragnet in

2017 that saw many of the

kingdom’s most powerful busi-

nessmen and royals locked up

in the Riyadh Ritz-Carlton Ho-

tel and accused of ripping off

the government. Many were

released only after agreeing to

pay tens of millions of dollars

to the royal court.

The next year, Saudi dissi-

dent Jamal Khashoggi, a col-

umnist for the Washington

Post, was murdered and dis-

membered in Turkey by men

working for MBS. The back-

lash presented the biggest

threat yet to the crown prince.

In a further crackdown on

dissent, Prince Mohammed

has arrested online critics and

used armies of Twitter ac-

counts to criticize people who

question his governance. Men

working for him were also ac-

cused by the U.S. Justice De-

partment last year of paying

two Twitter employees for pri-

vate information on dissi-

dents.

The arrest of MBN follows

sharp bipartisan criticism of

Saudi Arabia in the U.S. Con-

gress, where support for the

kingdom already has waned

because of Mr. Khashoggi’s

killing and widespread civilian

casualties in Yemen caused by

a Saudi-led coalition using

American-supplied weaponry.

MBN was for years a

trusted contact for U.S. secu-

rity and intelligence officials.

As the head of Saudi counter-

terrorism efforts, he shared

information with American

counterparts about planned

attacks and gained allies

throughout the State Depart-

ment and Central Intelligence

Agency.

Many U.S. officials were

dismayed by his ouster in

2017, said several former intel-

ligence and State Department

officials, since they felt he was

the U.S.’s most reliable ally

within the royal family.

MBN has been under house

arrest for much of the time

since MBS stepped in front of

him, though he did appear at

private events during an in-

vestment conference last fall,

said people familiar with the

matter.

Prince Ahmed’s role has

been more complicated. Some

members of the royal family

wanted to see the crown

passed to Ahmed, the king’s

brother, rather than to MBS,

people familiar with the mat-

ter said.

—Bradley Hope

contributed to this article.

BySummer Saidin

Dubai,Justin Scheck

in New York

andWarren Strobel

in Washington

IBRAHIM YASOUF/AGENCE FRANCE-PRESSE/GETTY IMAGES