Qatar’s prime minister in US for Gaza truce negotiations
NewsFeed Qatar’s prime minister, Sheikh Mohammed bin Abdulrahman bin Jassim Al Thani, is in Washington, DC, to meet with top US officials. In an interview with the Atlantic Council, he discussed where negotiations stand for a ceasefire in the Israel-Gaza war and the push for the release of captives. Published On 29 Jan 202429 Jan 2024 Adblock test (Why?)
How will UNRWA function as more donor countries cut funding?
Israel says some of the UN agency’s staff members were involved in Hamas’s October 7 attacks. The United Nations Relief and Works Agency for Palestine Refugees – UNRWA – offers a lifeline for nearly 6 million people. Established in 1949, its mission is to provide relief to Palestinians forced from their homes when the state of Israel was created and for their still displaced descendants. Now, the agency’s future – and that of those who depend on it to survive – is under threat. Several Western nations have suspended their funding to UNRWA in the wake of Israeli accusations that some of its staff members were involved in the attacks by Hamas on southern Israel on October 7. The agency has dismissed some employees and opened an investigation What impact will the aid suspension have on the Palestinian people – both in Gaza and beyond? Presenter: Nastasya Tay Guests: Samir Zaqout – Palestinian rights and social activist who lives in Gaza and has been displaced by Israel’s war Ardi Imseis – professor of international law at Queen’s University and former legal counsel to UNRWA Raymond Johansen – secretary-general of Norwegian People’s Aid and former Norwegian state secretary for foreign affairs Adblock test (Why?)
Israeli ministers join convention calling for Gaza resettlement
NewsFeed Israeli government ministers spoke at a far-right conference which called for Israel to rebuild settlements in Gaza, a policy that would be against international law. Published On 29 Jan 202429 Jan 2024 Adblock test (Why?)
US, Britain announce sanctions on network that targeted critics of Iran
The United States and the United Kingdom have imposed sanctions on a network of people who targeted Iranian opposition activists for assassination under Iran’s orders, the US Treasury Department has said. The US Treasury said the network was directed by Iran’s Ministry of Intelligence and Security and put sanctions on 11 people connected to it, including Iranian narcotics trafficker Naji Ibrahim Sharifi-Zindashti. “The Iranian regime’s continued efforts to target dissidents and activists demonstrate the regime’s deep insecurity and attempt to expand Iran’s domestic repression internationally,” said Brian Nelson, Treasury’s undersecretary for terrorism and financial intelligence. There was no immediate comment from Iran. The Treasury said that the network, led by Sharifi-Zindashti, had carried out assassinations and kidnappings across several jurisdictions to silence perceived critics of Tehran. The Treasury action freezes any US assets of those targeted and generally bans Americans from dealing with them. The Treasury said that in 2021 the network had recruited a Canadian national and British Columbia-based Hells Angels Outlaw Motorcycle Group member, Damion Patrick John Ryan, to assassinate individuals in the US who fled Iran. Ryan also allegedly recruited Canadian national and Hells Angels affiliate Adam Richard Pearson to carry out the murders, the Treasury said. Both are currently imprisoned abroad on unrelated charges. The sanctions come amid soaring tensions in the Middle East. The US and UK accused Iran-backed groups earlier on Monday of a drone attack in Jordan near the border with Syria that killed three US military personnel. Britain imposed sanctions on Iranian officials it said were involved in threats to kill journalists on British soil and others it said were part of international criminal gangs linked to Tehran. The UK Foreign Office said it would “sanction seven individuals and one organisation, including senior Iranian officials and members of organised criminal gangs who collaborate with the regime.” “The Iranian regime and the criminal gangs who operate on its behalf pose an unacceptable threat to the UK’s security,” British Foreign Secretary David Cameron said in a statement. “The UK and US have sent a clear message – we will not tolerate this threat,” he added. Adblock test (Why?)
Chaos during Maldives parliament session
NewsFeed MPs went after each other, throwing punches, pulling hair and blowing toy trumpets during a session of parliament in the Maldives. The fight came after the opposition party refused to approve 4 new cabinet ministers – who are members of the newly-elected president’s party. Published On 29 Jan 202429 Jan 2024 Adblock test (Why?)
Israeli intelligence accuses UNRWA staff of kidnap, seizing body
Israeli intelligence dossier alleges that a dozen UN agency employees were involved in the October 7 attack on Israel. An Israeli intelligence document that prompted several countries to halt funds for the United Nations Relief and Works Agency for Palestine Refugees (UNRWA) includes allegations that some staff took part in abductions and killings during the Hamas-led attack against Israel on October 7. The Israeli dossier alleges that some 190 UNRWA employees, including teachers, have doubled as Hamas or Islamic Jihad fighters, the Reuters news agency reported. Palestinian officials have accused Israel of falsifying information to tarnish UNRWA. The UN has fired nine of the accused workers, condemned “the abhorrent alleged acts” and launched an investigation into the allegations. UN Secretary-General Antonio Guterres met the head of internal investigations at the world body to ensure an inquiry into the allegations “will be done swiftly and as efficiently as possible,” a UN spokesperson said on Monday. Hamas launched a surprise attack on southern Israel on October 7, killing at least 1,139 people and taking 240 others captive, according to Israeli figures. Israel responded to the attack with a devastating bombardment, siege and ground invasion of Gaza. More than 26,600 people have been killed in the Israeli assault on Gaza, according to Palestinian authorities, and vast areas of the territory have been reduced to rubble. The Israeli document listed 12 people, their alleged roles in the October 7 attack, job descriptions and photos. The findings detailed in the document could not be independently confirmed. The dossier said of the 12 workers, nine were teachers and one a social worker. Seven of the employees were accused of crossing into Israel on October 7. Of those, one was accused of taking part in a kidnapping, another of helping to abduct the body of a dead soldier and three others of participating in the attacks. One was accused of arming himself with an anti-tank missile the night before the attack, while the document claimed another took photos of a female hostage. Ten were listed as having ties to Hamas and one to the Islamic Jihad militant group. Two of the 12 have been killed, according to the document. The UN previously said one person was still being identified. Funds suspension The allegations against UNRWA staffers led several donor countries to freeze funds for the agency. UNRWA provides crucial day-to-day assistance for 2.3 million Palestinians in Gaza who are living through a dire humanitarian catastrophe amid the Israeli assault. The agency said on Monday that it would not be able to continue operations in Gaza and across the region beyond the end of February if funding were not resumed. More than 10 countries, including major donors the United States, United Kingdom and Germany, have halted their funding to the agency. Some donor countries have said they would continue to fund UNRWA, while others have urged donors to resume their cooperation. Saudi Arabia urged the agency’s supporters to “carry out their role in supporting the humanitarian tasks toward Palestinian refugees”. Lebanon called the suspension of funding a “historic mistake”, and Qatar’s Prime Minister Sheikh Mohammed bin Abdulrahman bin Jassim Al Thani said UNRWA should not be punished over claims against individual staff members. Since the war began, most Palestinians in Gaza have come to depend on the agency’s programmes for “sheer survival”, including food and shelter, UNRWA chief Philippe Lazzarini has said. Long-standing tensions The allegations have stoked long-standing tensions between Israel and UNRWA. Israel says Hamas uses the agency’s facilities to store weapons and launch attacks. UNRWA says it does not knowingly tolerate such behaviour and has internal safeguards to prevent abuses and discipline any wrongdoing. Even before the latest allegations, Lazzarini had announced that he was ordering an external review of the agency’s operations and its safeguards. Israeli Foreign Minister Israel Katz said he had cancelled a Wednesday meeting between Israeli officials and Lazzarini, and called on the UNRWA head to resign. Adblock test (Why?)
‘Kharkiv is their priority’: Deadly Russian attacks hit Ukraine’s northeast
Kharkiv, Ukraine – Like an enormous scalpel out of a surreal horror movie, a Russian missile sliced off an entire section of a five-storey apartment building, killing 10 people and wounding 60. After putting out the fire in last week’s predawn attack, rescue workers found the victims buried in the rubble that used to be the walls, ceilings and furniture of their apartments. “We dug out a guy, alive, but his family – a wife and an eight-year-old daughter – were dead,” one of the distressed rescue workers, with his hands and uniform black from the soot and dust, told Al Jazeera on Wednesday. The strike hit Building 7 on Proskury Street in northern Kharkiv, Ukraine’s second-largest city that sits only 40km (25 miles) from the Russian border. Ukrainian officials said Kharkiv was targeted by 15 Russian missiles of three types in one of the largest attacks on the city since the war began 23 months ago. There were remodelled S-300 missiles, parts of air defence systems that intercept and destroy other missiles midair, and X-22 hypersonic missiles designed to destroy warships. The largest and most lethal weapons were Iskanders, 7-metre-long monsters that cost $3m, weigh almost 4 tonnes and carry up to 480kg (1,058 pounds) of explosives – or a nuclear warhead. Ukrainians in Kharkiv dodge shards of glass and rush to survive when Russia intensifies shelling [Mansur Mirovalev/Al Jazeera] Ukrainian officials have not yet specified what missile type hit Building 7, but a military expert said Russia “most likely” used an S-300 missile. “They’re not precise, this is moral and psychological pressure to destroy the city further,” Lieutenant-General Ihor Romanenko, former deputy chief of Ukraine’s General Staff of the Armed Forces, told Al Jazeera. “Kharkiv is their priority, because [President Vladimir] Putin can’t forgive the fact that a Russian-speaking city didn’t want to become part of the Russian world,” he said. Moscow habitually denies it targeted civilians. Russia “doesn’t hit civilian infrastructure and residential areas, unlike the Kyiv regime”, Kremlin spokesperson Dmitry Peskov said. The Itar Tass news agency reported that Russia delivered “pinpointed strikes on the quarters for mercenaries”. Hitting Kharkiv The city with a pre-war population of 1.5 million is Ukraine’s most vulnerable urban centre. Russia lies north and east of it, and the border of Moscow-annexed Luhansk region is about 150km (90 miles) to the southeast. Almost 5,000 windows in 222 buildings were broken by the blasts and shockwaves throughout the region on January 23, officials said. In Building 7, communal workers, working quickly and efficiently, yanked out razor-sharp glass shards and covered each gaping hole with yellow, honeycomb-like rectangles of strand board to keep the biting cold away. They checked each apartment for natural gas leaks, fixed damaged entrance doors and started removing bricks the blast broke in half, pieces of glass, plastic and other debris. It was business as usual on the verge of exhaustion. “Their salaries are 5,400 hryvnia [$145] a month, but the amount of work is colossal – to collect it all, load [onto trucks] and take away,” district head of communal services Vera Fyodorovna told Al Jazeera. Two excavators were fumbling for the debris near Building 7, just 30 metres (about 100 feet) away from where another Russian bomb landed in April 2022. Since day one of the full-scale invasion, Russian forces have tried to seize Kharkiv, dispatching armed personnel carriers almost to the city centre. Moscow has deployed strategic bombers, ballistic or cruise missiles, and Iranian or Russian-made drones that only take minutes to reach the city from across the border. Unlike the capital, Kyiv, which received advanced Western air defence systems within months, Kharkiv remains almost defenceless. Residents and authorities have had to adapt quickly as any delays mean lost lives. The city’s subway system served as a 24/7 bomb shelter – and some stations occasionally became classrooms for the schoolchildren waiting out the air raids. The Kharkiv subway system has long served as a bomb shelter [Mansur Mirovalev/Al Jazeera] Public gatherings, museum exhibitions and even classes in community centres were banned. Gyms and swimming pools warn their patrons about each air raid, but let them decide whether to leave or stay. Daring Ukrainian missile and drone attacks forced Moscow to relocate the strategic bombers to airfields hundreds of kilometres away from the border. They do not cross into Ukrainian airspace any more, but their speed gives an additional boost to the missiles they launch. Each time satellites spot their takeoff, Kharkiv residents receive warnings and information on possible trajectories via Telegram or Viber channels. Old-fashioned air raid sirens also begin howling – but many residents are so used to their high-pitched sound that they simply do not wake up. That is why Tamara Karnaukhova woke up only when her balcony door fell on her bed. Tamara Karnaukhova, pensioner, pictured in her damaged kitchen [Mansur Mirovalev/Al Jazeera] The retired 76-year-old did not know whether to stay in her modest one-bedroom apartment in Building 7 or run away. The shockwave crumbled most of the windows and damaged the front door. “I wasn’t scared, I was confused,” she told Al Jazeera. After the blast, she ran downstairs as smoke gushed from broken windows and glass cracked under her feet. While she was at her neighbour’s, marauders sneaked into her apartment, rummaging in the kitchen but taking no valuables. Karnaukhova still cannot fathom why Russia invaded. “Do they need land? Resources?” she wondered aloud. “They already have it all.” ‘Lost count’ When the war began, Valerii Ivakhno joined a volunteer group that rides around in a minivan and hands out hot drinks, snacks and porridge to shelling victims. His 85-year-old mother’s apartment in central Kharkiv was heavily damaged in 2022, and he spent all of his savings to renovate it. But on Tuesday morning, the brand-new windows were knocked out. Luckily, his mother knew the “be between two walls” rule and rushed to the corridor seconds before the shards of glass showered her bed. Ivakhno said he is glad
What is Tower 22, the Jordan-based US outpost targeted in a drone strike?
The United States military announced on Sunday that three US soldiers were killed and at least 34 were wounded in a drone attack targeting Tower 22, a remote logistics outpost near the Jordan-Syrian border. The attack has elicited a strong reaction from Washington with President Joe Biden pledging to hold the attackers to account. The Islamic Resistance in Iraq, an umbrella group of Iran-backed armed groups in the region, claimed the attacks, saying it was in response to US support to Israel’s war on Gaza, which has killed more than 26,000 people. Here is what we know about the drone strike and the attack site: What is Tower 22 and where is it located? Tower 22, which houses a small US logistics outpost, is located in Jordan’s northeast close to the borders with Iraq and Syria. Public information about the outpost is limited. However, according to media reports, Tower 22 serves as a supply hub for the nearby US garrison of al-Tanf located across the border in Syria. At least 350 US Army and Air Force soldiers are also stationed there. It is unclear what type of weapons are kept at the outpost and the nature of air defences used. Since the beginning of Syria’s war in 2011, Washington has spent hundreds of millions of dollars to help Amman set up an elaborate surveillance system known as the Border Security Programme to stem infiltration by armed fighters from Syria and Iraq. Al-Tanf, located on the Baghdad-Damascus highway, had been key in the fight against the ISIL (ISIS) armed group and has assumed a role as part of a US strategy to contain Iran’s military build-up in eastern Syria. Currently about 2,500 US troops are stationed in Iraq while 900 deployed in north-east Syria. Jordan has a close security pact with the US and is one of the few regional allies who hold extensive exercises with American troops. Jordan’s army is one of the largest recipients of Washington’s foreign military financing. What do we know about the drone strike in Jordan? The killing of three US service members in an overnight drone strike is the first since Israel launched its brutal military campaign in Gaza on October 7, which has killed more than 26,000 people and triggered responses from regional armed groups. The unmanned aerial strike targeted the living quarters in Tower 22 wounding 34 soldiers, some of whom sustained minor cuts or brain trauma, according to media reports. The US military said that at least eight of the wounded soldiers were flown out of Jordan for treatment. Experts have raised questions about why the outpost’s air defences failed to detect the drone. The identity of the soldiers killed in the attack has not been released yet. How has the Biden administration reacted? President Biden said he will hold those responsible to account. “While we are still gathering the facts of this attack, we know it was carried out by radical Iran-backed militant groups operating in Syria and Iraq,” Biden said in a statement. Iran has denied it was behind the attack. “Iran had no connection and had nothing to do with the attack on the US base,” Tehran’s mission to the United Nations said in a statement on Monday published by the state news agency IRNA. “There is a conflict between US forces and resistance groups in the region, which reciprocate retaliatory attacks.” How have others reacted to the attack? Jordan condemned the “terrorist attack” and said it was cooperating with ally Washington to secure its frontier and “fight terrorism” on Sunday. Former US President Donald Trump also condemned the attack, blaming it on the Biden administration: “This brazen attack on the United States is yet another horrific and tragic consequence of Joe Biden’s weakness and surrender.” US Defense Secretary Lloyd Austin and Republican Senate Leader Mitch McConnell, as well as Senator Roger Wicke, all attributed the attack to Iran. Democratic leaders including Chuck Schumer, Jacky Rosen and Hakeem Jeffries also voiced in favour of holding those responsible accountable. Heartbroken and outraged by the death of three U.S. service members and the wounding of many others during the horrific terrorist attack in the Middle East. Praying hard for all affected. Every single malignant actor responsible must be held accountable. — Hakeem Jeffries (@RepJeffries) January 28, 2024 Israel’s Foreign Affairs Minister Israel Katz said: “We stand united in our values and battle against a common enemy. Their sacrifice will always be remembered. Rest in peace. Wishing a speedy recovery to the injured.” Egypt’s Ministry of Foreign Affairs also released a statement, affirming the country’s “strong condemnation of any terrorist acts that threaten the security and stability of the Hashemite Kingdom of Jordan, expressing full solidarity with Jordan in this delicate situation”. Have there been other attacks on US interests in the region? The latest attack comes amid an increasing risk of spillover of the Gaza war as tensions rise and spread in the region. The US-based, non-profit think tank, Institute for the Study of War, reported that Iran-backed militias have launched over 170 attacks targeting US bases in Iraq and Syria since Israel’s war on Gaza in the wake of the deadly Hamas attack on October 7. On January 21, the US Central Command said that Iranian-backed groups attacked the Ain al-Assad airbase in Iraq. The Islamic Resistance in Iraq has claimed responsibility for dozens of attacks against bases housing US troops in Iraq and Syria. The group said on Sunday that it will continue its attacks as a response to “the massacres committed by the Zionist entity [Israel] against our people in Gaza” on the “strongholds of the enemies.” Israel has been dragged to the International Court of Justice by South Africa over the accusations of genocide committed in Gaza. The group on Monday carried out a drone strike on Israel. Iranian-backed Militants Attack Al-Assad Airbase, Iraq At approximately 6:30 p.m. (Baghdad time) time Jan. 20, multiple ballistic missiles and rockets were launched by Iranian-backed militants in Western Iraq targeting al-Assad Airbase. Most
Two vessels freed following Somali pirate hijackings
The rise in pirate activity off Somalia suggests the impact of the Gaza war continues to spread across the region. One Sri Lankan and one Iranian vessel are reported to have been freed following hijackings by Somali pirates. Seychelles forces rescued a Sri Lankan fishing boat on Monday, according to President Wavel Ramkalawan’s office. Meanwhile, the Indian Navy said it had freed an Iranian-flagged fishing vessel. The attacks on the vessels “by armed Somali pirates”, according to the Seychelles statement, raise further concerns over security in the region’s waters. Amid the war in Gaza, Yemen’s Iran-backed Houthi rebels have waged a campaign targeting ships in the Red Sea. “Seychellois special military forces boarded the boat with utmost courage to take complete control of the vessel and rescue our Sri Lankan brothers,” the presidency said in the statement. Sri Lanka had earlier reported that diplomats were talking with Somali authorities trying to ascertain the whereabouts of a fishing vessel and its six crew members. The apparent abduction had come two weeks after Sri Lanka said it would join the US-led operation to protect merchant vessels sailing in the Red Sea against the Houthi attacks. Meanwhile, the Indian Navy announced that it had freed an Iranian fishing vessel hijacked off the coast of Somalia. “The fishing vessel had been boarded by pirates and the crew taken as hostages,” Indian Navy spokesman Commander Vivek Madhwal said, naming the vessel as the Iranian-flagged Iman. An Indian naval warship had “ensured the successful release of all 17 crew members along with the boat,” he added. The suspected hijackings in waters off Somalia have raised concerns that Somali pirates have resumed activity, a decade after they caused chaos in international shipping. The hijacking of the Sri Lankan vessel occurred in international waters about 840 nautical miles (1,555km) east of Somalia, 1,100 nautical miles (2,040km) from Sri Lanka and north of Seychelles, Sri Lankan Navy spokesman Captain Gayan Wickramasuriya said. Two to three armed men had arrived in a 23m (75-foot) vessel, boarded the fishing trawler, fired shots apparently to warn away other fishing boats nearby, and taken away the fishing trawler and the fishermen, said Susantha Kahawatta, a top official in Sri Lanka’s Fisheries Department. Kahawatta added that all details of the abduction were provided by fishermen in the other trawlers, and they identified the attackers as Somali. Yemen’s Iran-backed Houthi rebels have launched scores of attacks in the Red Sea and Gulf of Aden in response to Israel’s war in Gaza against the Palestinian militant group Hamas. International naval forces previously patrolling the Gulf of Aden have diverted north into the Red Sea in a bid to halt the attacks. That has sparked fears that Somali pirates could seek to exploit the vacuum. A first successful case of Somali piracy since 2017 was recorded in December. Adblock test (Why?)
Taking Modi on: Can a crumbling opposition alliance beat India’s PM?
New Delhi, India — Over the weekend, a popular joke on Indian social media featured Nitish Kumar, the 72-year-old nine-time chief minister of the east Indian state of Bihar. Kumar’s Janata Dal (United) party, or just JD(U), had been a part of the INDIA opposition bloc – a group of more than two dozen political outfits that hopes to take on the Prime Minister Narendra Modi-led Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) in national elections between March and May. But on Sunday, he broke away and instead joined hands with the National Democratic Alliance (NDA), a coalition of parties led by the BJP. He resigned as chief minister, then was sworn in again, this time with his new partners — all within hours. The joke (when translated) read: “Nitish Kumar is the only chief minister, who while being chief minister, resigns as chief minister so that he can remain chief minister.” The BJP and its allies might well be laughing. Two months before nearly a billion Indians vote to elect their next government, Kumar’s exit from the INDIA alliance serves as a blow to the opposition’s chances of challenging Modi, who is aiming for a third term as prime minister. It also reveals deeper fissures in the opposition alliance. Also last week, Mamata Banerjee, the chief minister of the neighbouring state of West Bengal and leader of the Trinamool Congress (TMC) party, pulled out of the alliance, which is led by India’s principal opposition party, the Congress. Apart from the Congress, the alliance primarily consists of regional, state-specific parties. Both Banerjee and Kumar cited rifts with the Congress for their exit from the alliance. The main bone of contention: who gets to contest how many of the 543 parliamentary seats in the country. Congress vs regional parties The INDIA bloc is hoping to leverage India’s first-past-the-post electoral system by fielding one joint opposition candidate against the BJP and NDA in all parliamentary constituencies. Such a move, opposition parties argue, would ensure that the anti-BJP votes are consolidated and not divided among various opposition players. But agreeing on consensus candidates is easier said than done. “The charges all the regional parties are making is that Congress is trying to put a lot of pressure on them and demanding a larger number of seats than they should get,” Sanjay Kumar, political analyst and psephologist, told Al Jazeera. That assertion was corroborated by KC Tyagi, general secretary of JD(U). Speaking to Al Jazeera, he said the Congress was keen on occupying political space but did not want to cede space to regional parties. “In the states where Congress is strong, they are not parting with even one seat. And then in the states where regional parties are strong, they want a disproportionate number of seats,” said Tyagi. “It’s not just us but all constituents of the alliance were uncomfortable with them.” Similarly, TMC’s Banerjee, while announcing her decision to break away from the alliance, cited a failure in seat-sharing talks with the Congress as one of the reasons for going into the polls solo. What has also irked the TMC and the JD(U) is that Rahul Gandhi, a Congress parliamentarian and scion of the Gandhi family that has headed the party for decades, has embarked on a journey from the east to the west of the country, without adequately consulting them. The journey is called the Bharat Jodo Nyay Yatra, which loosely translates into Uniting India through Justice March, a sequel to Gandhi’s Bharat Jodo Yatra last year where he walked more than 4,000km (2,485 miles) from the south to the north of India. Both Banerjee and Nitish Kumar said they were not asked about the route of the yatra that goes through the states they rule. The JD(U) further said that instead of a Congress programme – which only builds Gandhi’s image – the party should have organised a nationwide programme under the INDIA banner. The constituents of the alliance also accuse the Congress of delaying seat-sharing talks. Over the last year, the Congress won provincial elections in the crucial southern state of Karnataka and in the hilly northern state of Himachal Pradesh. While this provided the party (and India’s opposition) with some momentum against Modi, losses in the three crucial north Indian states of Madhya Pradesh, Chhattisgarh and Rajasthan in December came as a blow for the Congress. Banerjee and Kumar have said the Congress postponed seat-sharing talks in the hope of winning these three states where it was in a one-on-one contest with the BJP. A win in these states would have put the Congress in a better bargaining position in the alliance. INDIA vs INDIA The alliance also faces a challenge in states like Punjab and Kerala, where INDIA partners are the main rivals and the BJP has a negligible presence. In Punjab, the Aam Aadmi Party (AAP), an INDIA constituent, is the governing party and the Congress is the main opposition party. The AAP also runs the government in the national capital territory of Delhi. Similarly, in Kerala, the Left Front rules the state, while the Congress is in opposition. While Banerjee and Kumar were making their exits last week, the AAP chief minister of Punjab, Bhagwant Mann, announced that his party will go solo in the state and will not ally with the Congress. Officially, however, the AAP says that while seat negotiations in Punjab are a work in progress, it has reached a preliminary understanding with the Congress in a few other states, including Delhi. “We have had two meetings with the Congress which were attended by their senior leaders. We had a very constructive dialogue with them and had discussions on some of the states,” Saurabh Bharadwaj, an AAP spokesperson and legislator in Delhi, told Al Jazeera. “We’ll soon close the discussion.” “With respect to Punjab, our state unit is not very keen to have an alliance. But we have not taken our final call yet”, he added. Negotiating the interests of the state units with