LCCC ENGLISH DAILY NEWS BULLETIN
April 16/2019

Compiled & Prepared by: Elias Bejjani

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Bible Quotations For today
What will it profit them if they gain the whole world but forfeit their life
Holy Gospel of Jesus Christ according to Saint Matthew 16/24-28: “Then Jesus told his disciples, ‘If any want to become my followers, let them deny themselves and take up their cross and follow me. For those who want to save their life will lose it, and those who lose their life for my sake will find it. For what will it profit them if they gain the whole world but forfeit their life? Or what will they give in return for their life? ‘For the Son of Man is to come with his angels in the glory of his Father, and then he will repay everyone for what has been done. Truly I tell you, there are some standing here who will not taste death before they see the Son of Man coming in his kingdom.”
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Titles For The Latest English LCCC Lebanese & Lebanese Related News published on April 15-16/19
They are ass kissing champions.
Dima Jamali Retains Parliament Seat After By-Election Win
Hariri receives Kubis and Rampling
Berri tackles developments with ambassadors of France, Australia
Jumblat Decries Bassil Wage Cut Calls, Disagrees with Hizbullah over Meeting Place
Defense Council Meets in Baabda amid Reported Pay Cuts
Bassil Flies to Moscow
Bassil, Lavrov meet in Moscow
Minister of Culture, Egyptian Ambassador discuss means to develop cultural ties
MP Says Servicemen Not Responsible for Budget Deficit
El Hassan, Bukhari tackle overall situation
Jarrah talks bilateral ties with Turkish Ambassador
No pie in the sky will lead Lebanon out of dark tunnel

Titles For The Latest English LCCC Miscellaneous Reports And News published on April 15-16/19
Fire erupts at Notre Dame Cathedral in Paris
Iran Turns to Sovereign Fund for Relief after Devastating Floods
2 million in need of aid after Iran floods: Red Crescent
Tehran Wants Int’l Position on Trump's Step against IRGC
Iran: Global Oil Market Fragile due to US Pressure
Exclusive - Houthis Use Mosques as Platforms to Spread Sectarianism in Sanaa
Israel's President Starts Consultations on Selecting Next PM
In First Cabinet Meeting after Elections, Netanyahu Announces Military Exhibition
Palestinian Presidency Rejects Pompeo’s Comments on Settlements
Abbas: We’ll Send Delegation to Cairo for Reconciliation
Sudan Military Council Appoints New Army Chief of Staff
Sudan Leaders Face Pressure for Transfer to Civilian Rule
Haftar Receives Egypt’s Backing in Combating Terrorism in Libya
Jewish Canadian Mayor: Ban On Wearing Religious Symbols "Ethnic Cleansing"
Deal Of The Century Will Not Include Palestinian Atatehood
Iranian Women Sentenced To Jail For Refusing To Wear Hijab
UN Envoy in Damascus: All Issues at the Table
Syria: New Measures to Confront Fuel Crisis
Erdogan’s Party Insists on Extraordinary Appeal for Istanbul Re-run
Germany Warns of ISIS Danger despite its Military Defeat
Belgium Says Number of Extremist Imams Doubled… State Security Watches Them
Canada's Statement on WTO panel ruling against U.S. duties on Canadian softwood lumber
Canada imposes additional sanctions on the Maduro regime in Venezuela
Macron to Set Out Fix for 'Yellow Vest' Anger
Danish police arrest 23 after unrest in Copenhagen
Hundreds protest against Bill 21 at dual rallies in Montreal

Titles For The Latest LCCC English analysis & editorials from miscellaneous sources published on April 15-16/19
They are ass kissing champions/Roger Bejjani/Face Book
No pie in the sky will lead Lebanon out of dark tunnel/Makram Rabah/The Arab Weekly/April 15/19
Rumors Fly That Body Of Legendary Israeli Spy Eli Chohen Was Found/Jerusalem Post/April 15/19
Germany: Talk of 'European Army' was Meant 'Allegorically'Stefan Frank/Gatestone Institute/April 15/19
Pakistan Releasing Christian Woman,Asia Bibi Long Imprisoned for Blasphemy/The Media Line/April 15/19
The EU Still Appeasing the Mullahs/Majid Rafizadeh/Gatestone Institute/April 15/19
Sudan: Lessons Of Revolts, Uprisings/Ghassan Charbel/Asharq Al-Awsat/April 15/19
The Libyan Army and the Drive on Tripoli/James Stavridis/Bloomberg/April 15/19
The Stunning Revenge of Sudan's Former 'Janjaweed'/Alberto M. Fernandez/MEMRI/April 15/19

The Latest English LCCC Lebanese & Lebanese Related News published on April 15-16/19
They are ass kissing champions.
Roger Bejjani/Face Book/April 15/19
People who state that “Hezbollah is a Lebanese component” either think that the Lebanese people are all morons ready to swallow any idiotic story and/or they are dumb themselves and/or they are ass kissing champions. Same applies to the people who state “Hezbollah is not a terrorist organization”.Unfortunately those people include Saad Hariri and the LF. I have not heard the Kataeb saying otherwise neither. Of course I am not counting the MorAouns who are all of the above: they think that we are dumb, they are dumb and they are ass kissing champions.

Dima Jamali Retains Parliament Seat After By-Election Win
Kataeb.org/ Monday 15th April 2019/Future Movement candidate Dima Jamali has retained her seat in the Parliament after winning Tripoli's by-election on Sunday. Jamali won 19387 out of 28364 votes, Interior Minister Rayya Al-Hassan announced late on Sunday. According to the Interior Ministry, voter turnout slumped to an unprecedented low, as only 12.5% of the eligible 241,534 electors cast their ballots; a rate that the Lebanese Association for Democratic Elections (LADE) said it's the lowest since the 1992 polls. Among the 32963 voters who showed up at polling stations on Sunday, 1951 cast blank ballots, as per the Interior Ministry figures. The electoral district of Tripoli and Minieh-Doniyeh on Sunday witnessed another voting round after the Constitutional Council had annulled the win of MP Dima Jamali in the 2018 parliamentary elections, eight months after the polls were held. The annulment was based on an appeal submitted by unsuccessful candidate Taha Naji who refrained from running for office and boycotted the polls. Although Naji won the electoral appeal, the Constitutional Council decided to hold a by-election rather than naming him as Jamali’s replacement.

Hariri receives Kubis and Rampling
Mon 15 Apr 2019/NNA - The President of the Council of Ministers Saad Hariri received today at the Grand Serail the British Ambassador to Lebanon Chris Rampling.At the end of the meeting, Rampling said: “It is always a pleasure to meet with Prime Minister Saad Hariri. We discussed the latest developments and I welcomed the Prime Minister’s strong commitment in tackling the government deficit through measures in the 2019 budget, as well as the political consensus over taking the necessary steps to reform the electricity sector. As I told the Prime Minister, the rest of the international community and I look forward to seeing the implementation of these plans. Lebanese and Internationals are looking for those steps. While they are difficult, they are crucial in sending the positive signs that Lebanese needs.
The Prime Minister and I also discussed the latest regional situation, including relations with neighbors and I am sure we will continue discussing those urgent issues. Finally, I congratulated the Prime Minister on Dima Jamali’s electoral success in Tripoli and I look forward to working with her. On my last visit to the city I saw evidence of the many projects the UK is supporting in Tripoli, including the revitalization of the Old city, the souks and the corniche, in education, conflict resolution and also many other areas.
I told the Prime Minister that the UK will continue to support projects to improve the lives of Lebanese citizens in Tripoli and throughout Lebanon and that the UK is now working up ideas for further support to Tripoli and other towns outside Beirut. Improving services, education and the economic situation in Lebanon is crucial to the United Kingdom.”Hariri also met with the UN Special Coordinator for Lebanon Jan Kubis and discussed with him the situation and the activities of the United Nations in Lebanon. He received later on the Mufti of Zahle and Bekaa Sheikh Khalil al-Mais, the Mufti of Sidon Sheikh Salim Soussan, the Mufti of Hasbaya and Marjeyoun Sheikh Hassan Dalli, the Mufti of Bekaa and Hermel Sheikh Khaled al-Solh and the Mufti of Tyre Sheikh Medrar Habbal, in the presence of Mohammed al-Sammak and Hariri’s advisor for religious affairs Ali al-Janani. The muftis congratulated Premier Hariri on his recovery after his heart procedure.

Berri tackles developments with ambassadors of France, Australia
Mon 15 Apr 2019/NNA - Speaker of the House, Nabih Berri, on Monday welcomed at his Ein Teneh residence French Ambassador to Lebanon, Bruno Foucher, with whom he discussed bilateral relations, the situation in Lebanon, the budget, and most importantly reforms. Talks between the pair also touched on the maritime borders and developments in this regard. Also, the French diplomat extended an official invitation to Berri to visit Paris, and the latter promised to visit the city on a date to be fixed later. In addition, Berri received Australian Ambassador to Lebanon, Rebekah Grindlay, with whom he broached bilateral ties.

Jumblat Decries Bassil Wage Cut Calls, Disagrees with Hizbullah over Meeting Place
Naharnet/April 15/19/Progressive Socialist Party leader ex-MP Walid Jumblat criticized the Foreign Minister’s call to cut wages of the government employees as part of austerity measures, and noted that his recent conflict with Hizbullah arose over the place of a meeting scheduled between the two, al-Joumhouria daily reported on Monday. “What Bassil is ushering for is a faux pas,” Jumblat told the daily, stressing that the government can impose austerity measures on several other sectors that involve waste of public funds and corruption. “Many other facilities can be approached that involve waste and corruption,” he said, “there are a million other sources where the government can impose measures other than the wages of these employees.”Over the weekend, Foreign Minister Jabran Bassil said that cuts to the salaries of government employees must be one of the options to cut spending. Lebanon’s government gears up to discuss and approve its state budget amid economic woes and a likelihood to cut the salaries of ministers and deputies. On reported tense ties between Jumblat and Hizbullah due to disagreement over the place of a scheduled meeting between the two, he said that Hizbullah wanted to hold it in Haret Hreik (Hizbullah’s stronghold) but that he prefers it to be held at his place. “We have agreed on a joint meeting between the two parties this week but disagreed on the location. I understood from (PSP Minister) Wael (Abou Faour) that (Hizbullah official) Hajj Hassan Khalil has asked it be held in Haret Hreik which I frankly refused. The party (Hizbullah) should take the initiative and visit us this time,” said Jumblat, noting that it was pre-scheduled before Hizbullah changed plans. Hizbullah-PSP ties were tense and the said meeting was supposed to ease the conflict.

Defense Council Meets in Baabda amid Reported Pay Cuts
Naharnet/April 15/19/A few days before the weekly cabinet meeting scheduled to start in Baabda to begin discussions of the 2019 draft budget law, a meeting was held at the Presidential Palace reportedly to "review pensions and compensations of the public sector," media reports said on Monday.
The Higher Defense Council convened at the behest of President Michel Aoun, with the participation of Prime Minister Saad Hariri, the concerned ministers, and chiefs of military and security apparatus, said the National News Agency. Secretary-general of the Higher Defense Council, Brig. Gen. Mahmoud al-Asmar said in a statement after the meeting that "talks focused on the security situation and the question of people and goods smuggling across the border and illegal labor."Asmar did not elaborate further but said: “It is to note that the Council's decisions are kept confidential.”Al-Joumhouria daily quoted unnamed sources who said that discussions focused on "a project to review the financial compensations for military personnel acquired under measure "No. 3" in order to reclassify the beneficiaries between the operational forces and administrative ones and to reach a formula that reduces the financial burden of the Treasury." However they added that this review "will not affect the basic salaries of military personnel or their financial, social, medical and educational benefits, nor the end of service benefits."Over the weekend, Foreign Minister Jebran Bassil suggested cuts to the salaries and allocations of government employees as one of several measures to cut spending in line with the government's austerity measures. "The agenda is full and the discussions will also focus on the security situation and the arrangements in parallel with Easter and the situation on the southern border," they added.

Bassil Flies to Moscow
Naharnet/April 15/19/Foreign Minister Jebran Bassil traveled to Moscow on Monday to take part in the upcoming ministerial session of the Russian-Arab Cooperation forum. Held by Russia and the Arab League, the meeting will take place on April 16. The Minister will reportedly raise the issue of repatriation of Syrian refugees. He will brace for International support for Lebanon’s call.

Bassil, Lavrov meet in Moscow
Mon 15 Apr 2019/NNA - Foreign Affairs Minister, Gebran Bassil, is currently meeting in Moscow with his Russian counterpart, Sergei Lavrov, with talks reportedly touching on the bilateral relations and issues of mutual concern.

Minister of Culture, Egyptian Ambassador discuss means to develop cultural ties
Mon 15 Apr 2019/NNA - Minister of Culture, Mohammad Daoud, on Monday welcomed Egyptian Ambassador to Lebanon, Mohammad Nazih Al-Najari, who felicitated him upon assuming his ministerial post. The visit had been an opportunity to discuss bilateral relations between the two countries at various levels, especially cultural ones. Minister Daoud also met with the Ambassador of the Sultanate of Oman in Lebanon, Badr bin Mohammed bin Badr Al-Mundhiri. The pair discussed the "House of Culture and Arts, the Lebanese-Omani Center", which will be constructed in downtown Beirut.

MP Says Servicemen Not Responsible for Budget Deficit
Naharnet/April 15/19/As reports emerge that the government might cut financial benefits for public sector employees, MP Shamel Roukoz said that servicemen are not responsible for the country’s budget deficit or the waste of public money, stressing that there are others areas to recover funds. "Military men do not bear the responsibility for the waste of funds, the deficit, and the theft of state funds throughout the years," the lawmaker told Voice of Lebanon radio station on Monday. "There are other sectors to recover money from, like mobile phones and vehicles' mechanical inspection," he said.. "Officials are looking for easy ways, while overlooking other areas which are likely to allow the state make bigger profits," he added. Lebanon’s government began austerity measures to cut spending as it weighs a number of measures to reduce the country’s aggravating state deficit. Over the weekend, Foreign Minister Jabran Bassil said that cuts to the salaries of government employees must be one of the options to cut spending.

El Hassan, Bukhari tackle overall situation
Mon 15 Apr 2019/NNA - Interior and Municipalities Minister, Rayya El Hassan, on Monday welcomed in her office at the Ministry the Saudi Ambassador to Lebanon, Waleed Bukhari. Talks between the pair reportedly touched on the overall situation and the Lebanese-Saudi bilateral relations. On the other hand, Minister El-Hassan met with the Parliamentary State Secretary at the Federal Ministry of the Interior, Building and Community of the Federal Republic of Germany, Günter Krings, at the top of a delegation from the ministry. Discussions reportedly dwelt on how the German Ministry can assist municipalities in Lebanon in terms of supporting development projects, especially communities hosting displaced Syrians.

Jarrah talks bilateral ties with Turkish Ambassador
Mon 15 Apr 2019/NNA - Information Minister, Jamal Jarrah, on Monday welcomed at his Ministerial office, Turkish Ambassador to Lebanon, Hakan ?akil. "Today, I paid a courtesy call to his Excellency, Minister of Information Jamal Jarrah. We exchanged views about bilateral Turkish-Lebanese relations, and discussed a number of regional problems," ?akil said on emerging. "We have also discussed the means to develop our bilateral ties. Turkey highly values its bilateral relations with Lebanon, and it seeks to improve its ties with Lebanon on every level. The Minister and I have also decided to keep in touch and do our best to develop our relationship in the service of both of our countries," the Turkish diplomat added. "We discussed general issues. However, on the level of media, Turkey enjoys a very advanced and developed media sector and is willing to cooperate with Lebanon whether on the level of visual, audio, or written media," he said in response to a question on the nature of media ties between Lebanon and Turkey.

No pie in the sky will lead Lebanon out of dark tunnel
Makram Rabah/The Arab Weekly/April 15/19
The same “public servants” who celebrate feats have been in power for decades and this is not their first and certainly their last unicorn-like promise.
One year has elapsed since the Lebanese government appealed to the international community at the CEDRE conference in Paris to kick-start the country’s staggering economy. Lebanese Prime Minister Saad Hariri pledged his government would undergo structural reforms that would allow it to receive $11 billion in grants and investment pledges. While Hariri and the Lebanese political establishment pronounced CEDRE a victory, portraying it as a lifeline for the country’s economic salvation, many analysts, including this writer, were extremely sceptical of the ability of the government to deliver on its promises, mainly because of a lack of vision and political resolve. The adoption of the new electricity master plan is ample proof of the incorrigible nature of the Lebanese political elite, who dress up their corruption as reform and good governance. The electricity crisis in Lebanon has been a chronic one, which, since the end of the civil war in 1990, has cost the state around $2 billion annually yet has failed to provide the Lebanese with 24-hour service. Some regions outside Beirut experience more than 20 hours of blackouts each day. Following a long and arduous tug-of-war between the various factions, the Hariri government announced it had initiated a plan that would theoretically resolve the electricity problem and settle this matter. This so-called electricity salvation plan theoretically proposed the build-operate-transfer and the public-private partnership model, which aims to privatise the sector. On the surface, this plan looks acceptable with ostensible signs of reform and transparency but closer inspection confirms this is a red herring that masks corruption at its core. During his latest visit to Lebanon, Pierre Duquesne, the French inter-ministerial delegate for the Mediterranean in charge of following up on the implementation of CEDRE, underscored the need for the setting up or populating three essential regulatory committees: telecommunications, energy and civil aviation. These much-needed commissions encourage transparency and efficiency and invite investments into their respective sectors.
In the case of the electricity plan, the electricity regulatory committee has not been established; instead the authority to oversee the bidding process of the multimillion-dollar project falls to the Ministry of Energy and Water, which, for the last decade, has been controlled by Lebanese President Michel Aoun’s son-in-law, Foreign Minister Gebran Bassil.
Hariri’s ironclad alliance with Bassil allowed them to derail the establishment of this essential regulatory body and permit them theoretically to control the outcome of the bidding process. As soon as the cabinet adjourned, Hariri requested parliament Speaker Nabih Berri to include in the next parliamentary session a proposed amendment to Law 288.This exceptional law, passed in 2014, gave the Lebanese cabinet, for a period of two years, the power to grant permits to produce electricity, a law that was extended twice before expiring in 2018. The Hariri cabinet’s two-pronged amendment however is no mere procedural matter. Its second article is an explicit breach of government and legal procedures. Alarmingly, Article 2 of these proposed amendments stipulates that “no laws that pertain to general accounting and the norms of the bidding process shall apply to the bids that pertain to the electricity projects which are the subject of this law.”Such an amendment erodes government transparency and grants the cabinet and more importantly the Ministry of Energy and Water unmitigated power over the bidding process and allows both Bassil and Hariri to rig its outcome. To conceal this major legal violation, the electricity master plan authorises the Committee for Administration of Public Tenders to lead the process. However, the proposed amendment to Law 288, which will most probably pass in parliament, would render this committee useless. For anyone convinced of the governments promises of providing 24-hour electricity, be wary that the same “public servants” who celebrate feats, which are part and parcel of their constitutional mandates, have been in power for decades and this is not their first and certainly their last unicorn-like promise. The electricity master plan will go down in Lebanon’s history as another case of corruption that was awkwardly dressed up as reform, a dark tragedy that no future plan will redeem.

Latest LCCC English Miscellaneous Reports & News published on April 15-16/19
Fire erupts at Notre Dame Cathedral in Paris
Dylan Stableford/Yahoo/April 15/19/A massive fire broke out at Notre Dame Cathedral in central Paris on Monday afternoon, sending flames shooting out of the roof and toppling its spire as firefighters desperately fought to save the iconic Catholic landmark. A fire official told Agence France-Presse that the main structure is “saved and preserved.”The cause of the blaze is not yet known, and there have been no reports of injuries or fatalities. Officials said the fire was potentially linked to the renovation of the building. Scaffolding could be seen ablaze on the roof of the famous façade. Earlier, officials had expressed fear the entire cathedral could be lost. Church spokesman Andre Finot told French media that the church’s frame was also aflame. “Everything is burning,” Finot said. On Twitter, Paris Mayor Anne Hidalgo urged residents of the French capital to stay away while firefighters tried to control the flames. French President Emmanuel Macron arrived at the scene of the fire early Monday evening. “Notre-Dame de Paris in flames,” Macron tweeted. “Emotion of a whole nation. Thought for all Catholics and for all French. Like all our compatriots, I am sad tonight to see this part of us burn.” Hundreds of people gathered in the streets below to watch the blaze, some in tears, others simply shouting its name. A CNN International correspondent said that blowing cinders were falling on their heads. The spire begins to fall. Dramatic images posted to social media showed the roof of the medieval cathedral engulfed in flames and its spire collapsing into the church.

Iran Turns to Sovereign Fund for Relief after Devastating Floods
Asharq Al-Awsat/Monday, 15 April, 2019/Iran’s supreme leader Ali Khameni approved on Monday the use of the country’s sovereign wealth fund for relief and construction efforts following devastating floods. “Using the National Development Fund is authorized if no other sources are available,” he said in a letter to President Hassan Rouhani read out on Monday on state television. However, he urged the government to explore other budgetary measures to fund the relief efforts before tapping the sovereign fund. Rouhani last week asked Khamenei to release about $2 billion from the development fund. The fund, established in 2000, collects some of the country's foreign revenue and uses it for emergency needs. It is worth about $92 billion, according to the Sovereign Wealth Fund Institute, which tracks the industry. On Sunday, Interior Minister Abdolreza Rahmani Fazli said the weeks of heavy rain across the country had caused an estimated $2.5 billion in damage to roads, bridges, homes and farmland. Iran’s worst floods in 70 years had killed at least 76 people and forced more than 220,000 into emergency shelters, state media cited ministers as telling lawmakers. In Geneva, the International Federation of Red Cross and Red Crescent Societies said on Monday an estimated 2 million people needed humanitarian assistance as a result of the floods.It had launched an international emergency appeal seeking 5.1 million Swiss francs ($5.1 million) to expand support by Iran’s Red Crescent to an additional 30,000 families - equivalent to about 150,000 people. The floods have affected 4,400 villages, damaged 14,000 kilometers (8,700 miles) of roads and destroyed more than 700 bridges. They have left aid agencies struggling to cope and the armed forces have been deployed to help those affected. Iran’s government has said it will pay compensation to all those who have incurred losses, especially farmers, but the state budget is already stretched as US sanctions on its energy and banking sectors have halved oil exports and restricted access to some revenues abroad. Iranian officials have repeatedly said the floods have not affected oil production and development, nor impeded the flow of crude through pipelines to client markets.

2 million in need of aid after Iran floods: Red Crescent
AFP /Mon 15 Apr 2019/NNA - The devastating floods that have swamped many parts of Iran since March have left two million people in need of humanitarian aid, the Red Crescent said Monday. The International Federation of Red Cross and Red Crescent Societies called the floods the "largest disaster to hit Iran in more than 15 years". According to the IFRC, the floods have killed at least 78 people and injured more than 1,000 others. An estimated 10 million people across 2,000 cities and towns have been affected, with more than half a million displaced, it said. "In all, more than 457,000 people have been reached by Red Crescent services," and emergency accommodation provided for 239,000. Heavy rainfall in eastern Iran since Saturday prompted authorities to renew flood warnings for large swathes of the country, with local media reporting rivers bursting their banks and roads being swept away. Iran has been hit by massive floods since March 19 following heavy rainfall in the normally arid country. Alternating between the country's north, west and southwest, the floods have caused between $2.2 and $2.6 billion of damages. Officials said Sunday that 25 out of Iran's 31 provinces have been affected and more than 14,000 kilometres (8,700 miles) of roads damaged.--AFP

Tehran Wants Int’l Position on Trump's Step against IRGC
London - Asharq Al-Awsat/Monday, 15 April, 2019/Iran will ask the international community to take a position on the US designation of its Iranian Revolutionary Guard Corps (IRGC) as a terrorist organization, said Foreign Minister Mohammad Javad Zarif on Sunday. “Today we will send messages to foreign ministers of all countries to tell them it is necessary for them to express their stances, and to warn them that this unprecedented and dangerous US measure has had and will have consequences,” Zarif was quoted as saying by state news agency IRNA. Iran condemned US President Donald Trump’s step last week as illegal after he designated the IRGC as a terrorist organization. Iranian President Hassan Rouhani warned against pragmatic steps to Trump’s decision after Iran’s Supreme National Security Council designated the US Central Command (CENTCOM) as a terrorist group in retaliation to the American president’s move. Relations between Tehran and Washington took a turn for the worse last May when Trump pulled out of the 2015 nuclear deal between Iran and six world powers and reimposed sanctions. The US has already blacklisted dozens of entities and people for affiliations with the IRGC but had not previously targeted the organization as a whole. IRGC commanders have repeatedly said that US bases in the Middle East and US aircraft carriers in the Gulf are within range of Iranian missiles. Tehran has also threatened to disrupt oil shipments through the Strait of Hormuz in the Gulf if the United States tries to strangle Iran’s economy by halting its oil exports. Iran’s Oil Minister Bijan Zanganeh said on Sunday that the supply-demand balance in the global oil market is fragile due to US sanctions on Iran and Venezuela and tensions in Libya, and warned of consequences for increasing pressures on Tehran.
France, Britain and Germany, other signatories of the nuclear accord, have set up a new mechanism for non-dollar trade with Iran to protect against US sanctions. Zarif complained on Sunday about the delay in the implementation of the mechanism and urged Europe to make it operational as quickly as possible. “The Europeans should not believe that Iran will wait for long,” he said. Russia's foreign ministry spokeswoman Maria Zakharova considered last Thursday that designating IRGC a terrorist group is a continuity of US methodology in demoralizing Iran, according to Russia Today.

Iran: Global Oil Market Fragile due to US Pressure
London - Asharq Al-Awsat/Monday, 15 April, 2019/Iran’s Oil Minister Bijan Zanganeh said on Sunday that US sanctions on Iran and Venezuela and tensions in Libya have made the supply-demand balance in the global oil market fragile, warning of the consequences of increase pressure on Tehran. Oil prices have risen more than 30 percent this year on the back of supply cuts led by the Organization of the Petroleum Exporting Countries (OPEC), US sanctions on oil exporters Iran and Venezuela and the escalating conflict in OPEC member, Libya. “Oil prices are increasing every day. That shows the market is worried,” Zanganeh was quoted as saying by the Tasnim news agency. “Venezuela is in trouble. Russia is also under sanctions. Libya is in turmoil. Part of US oil production has stopped. These show the supply-demand balance is very fragile,” he added. “If they (the Americans) decide to increase pressures on Iran, the fragility will increase in an unpredictable way,” he continued. The US reimposed sanctions on Iran in November after pulling out of a 2015 nuclear accord between it and six world powers. The sanctions have already halved Iranian oil exports. US President Donald Trump eventually aims to halt Iranian oil exports, choking off Tehran’s main source of revenue. Washington is pressuring Iran to curtail its nuclear program and stop backing militant proxies across the Middle East. OPEC and its allies will meet in June to decide whether to continue withholding supply. OPEC’s greatest producer, Saudi Arabia, is believed to be keen on maintaining this policy, but sources within the group said it could raise output from July if disruptions continue elsewhere. The producer group’s supply cuts have been aimed largely at offsetting record crude production in the United States. Sources familiar with the matter told Reuters that OPEC could raise oil output from July if Venezuelan and Iranian supply drops further and prices keep rallying because extending production cuts with Russia and other allies could over-tighten the market. Venezuelan crude production has dropped below 1 million barrels per day (bpd) due to US sanctions. Iranian supply could fall further after May if, as many expect, Washington tightens its sanctions against Tehran. The combined supply cuts have helped drive more than 30 percent rally in crude prices this year to nearly USD72 a barrel, prompting pressure from Trump for OPEC to ease its market-supporting efforts. OPEC has been saying the curbs must remain, but that stance is now softening. “If there was a big drop in supply and oil went up to USD85, that’s something we don’t want to see so we may have to increase output,” one OPEC source said.

Exclusive - Houthis Use Mosques as Platforms to Spread Sectarianism in Sanaa
Sanaa - Asharq Al-Awsat/Monday, 15 April, 2019/The Iran-backed Houthi militias have imposed their sectarian ideology in Yemen in their attempt to introduce a culture that is alien to the local population. “We have abandoned our mission of delivering the peaceful message of Islam and its noble values after we realized that the Houthi agenda demands that we give up our principles and values to transform into a mouthpiece to stoke sedition and sectarianism among the people,” said Sheikh Abbas, an imam at a mosque in Houthi-held Sanaa. He told Asharq Al-Awsat of the suffering and threats clerics and mosque imams have to endure at the hands of the militias that want to impose their ideology. “Had I known the extent of the danger of the Houthi ideology on Yemeni society, I would not have quit the mosque and would have kept up my duty of guiding the people,” he lamented. “The majority of the people are not aware that this militia harbors long-term goals. Its main purpose is to destroy the Yemeni identity, culture and social fabric to ignite a sectarian war,” said Sheikh Abbas. Fortunately, he revealed that the Houthis are “at this moment facing monumental difficulties in convincing the people of their legitimacy.”If they, however, continue to enjoy such liberties in delivering their hateful ideology, many people will be fooled into believing them, he warned, saying the high illiteracy rates among Yemenis is being exploited by the militias.
Among the lies they promote is the claim that heading to the battlefront to fight for their cause is a form of jihad. Sheikh Abbas quit his mosque a year-and-a-half ago after he refused to comply with Houthi demands to promote their ideology during his Friday sermons.Since capturing Sanaa, the militias sought to spread their sectarian ideology among the population. They took over the Ministry of Awqaf, which manages religious affairs, and transformed it into a platform to propagate their destructive Iranian agenda. One mosque-goer recalled how the Houthis told worshippers that they should bring in their children to the mosque where they can benefit from “religious and cultural teachings, instead of wasting time on the streets.”Most of the worshippers were angered by this last remark, saying they would rather spend their time on the street than attending sectarian lectures. One Houthi official at a mosque in Sanaa follows up each prayer with sectarian sermons that incite the people to head to the battlefronts and fight the legitimate army and Arab coalition, describing them as “enemies of Islam.”
He even urged worshippers to abandon their prayers and head to battle. A former Awqaf Ministry official told Asharq Al-Awsat that the Houthis have adopted a systematic methodology at mosques to spread their Khomeinist ideology. It sought to take control of the majority of the mosques in Sanaa, appointed its own imams and clerics and confiscated religious books that contradict with their Khomeinist teachings. Moreover, he revealed that the Houthis force imams to attend sectarian courses to train them on spreading sectarianism that is aimed at tearing apart Yemeni society. Some of the changes at mosques include altering the call to prayer according to Houthi ideology, organizing exhibits that display images of their sectarian symbols and posting posters of their slogans and dead fighters. The Houthis exploited the poverty among the people “to buy the loyalty of several clerics and religious scholars to act as mouthpieces to spread the Khomeinist ideology in Yemen,” said the ministry official.
Yemeni rights groups said that the Houthis have seized more than 300 mosques in Yemen and used them as weapons caches. They have also forced the displacement of 1,300 religious scholars and arrested 180 preachers. They also smuggled in Lebanese and Iranian figures, whose purpose is to spread Iranian ideology among the people. Moreover, the Awqaf Ministry said that between 2014 and 2016, the Houthis bombed and looted over 750 mosques, including 282 in Sanaa. Some 80 mosques were completely destroyed. They kidnapped 150 imams throughout Yemen and held them in secret jails where they are tortured for refusing to accept the Houthi sectarian agenda.

Israel's President Starts Consultations on Selecting Next PM
Asharq Al-Awsat/Monday, 15 April, 2019/Israeli President Reuven Rivlin launched on Monday a series of consultations with political parties that will lead to his appointment of a candidate to form a government. Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu's nomination seemed virtually ensured after his right-wing Likud won the largest number of parliamentary seats in Tuesday's ballot, and his closest rival, Benny Gantz of the centrist Blue and White party, conceded defeat. The consultations were broadcast live from the residence of Rivlin, who said he would announce his choice on Wednesday after meeting with all of the parties that captured seats in the 120-member Knesset. "The process should reflect the people's will, as reflected in their vote," said Rivlin, a former Likud member whose relationship with Netanyahu has been tense at times. Under Israeli law, after consultations with the parties the president taps a legislator whom he believes has the best chance of forming a government, delegating 28 days, with a two-week extension if necessary, to complete the task. Netanyahu said he intends to build a coalition with five far-right, right-wing and ultra-Orthodox Jewish parties that would give a Likud-led government 65 seats, four more than the outgoing administration he heads. Four of those parties have already said they would back Netanyahu, bringing his tally of seats to 60. Former Defense Minister Avigdor Lieberman of the ultranationalist Yisrael Beitenu party, which won five seats and meets Rivlin on Tuesday, has not formally declared he would join a Likud-led coalition. But political commentators, noting Lieberman's sharp differences with left-wing and Arab parties whose support Gantz would need to govern, predicted he would sign up with Netanyahu after pressing for concessions in coalition negotiations. Gantz, a former military chief whose party won 35 parliamentary seats, would likely be next in line to try to put together a government if Netanyahu fails.

In First Cabinet Meeting after Elections, Netanyahu Announces Military Exhibition
Tel Aviv - Asharq Al-Awsat/Monday, 15 April, 2019/In the first cabinet meeting after winning elections, Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu discussed the military exhibition, which will be held on the streets of Jerusalem on “Independence Day” on May 9. Netanyahu commended the members of the cabinet and said: “I congratulate the government on four years of achievements and achievements, which is reflected in the public's trust, and we will continue to do so in the next government.”He then recalled watching the military exhibition when he was 10 years old and recalled the impact it had on him when he realized Israel had an army. “Therefore, today we will decide to hold our own exhibition in Jerusalem, so that it will reflect the great contribution of the military to the state of Israel and its security,” he said. Moreover, Netanyahu ignored the challenges he will face in forming his new government, namely the cases against him filed by the prosecution for his involvement in corruption. Netanyahu finished by speaking of Israel’s failed attempt to land the Beresheet spacecraft on the moon last week. “It [Israel] became one of the seven countries to reach lunar orbit and one of four countries to land on the moon, although not in the optimal way,” he said. He pledged that Israel will launch a second spaceship, named Beresheet II, hoping it will be successful. “We will try again and again until we succeed. I estimate that we will have a better chance of succeeding the second time. According to what I have heard and the mishaps that I saw there, people will evaluate the problem and are also capable of dealing with it.”Furthermore, he welcomed the International Criminal Court (ICC) in The Hague's decision not to investigate alleged war crimes committed by the United States in Afghanistan. "They're picking on the United States and Israel, two democracies, which by the way are not members of the international court, but there's no doubt that we have the best judicial systems in the world," Netanyahu said. He condemned putting American or Israeli soldiers on trial, saying it is a “reversal of the whole original point of the ICC.”"Therefore, what we have here is a correction of injustice, and it is an act that has far-reaching influence with regard to the conduct of the international system in relation to Israel," added the prime minister. Netanyahu also congratulated the United States, President Trump and his administration for their support to Israeli citizens and the army which, as in previous times, proved that Israel has no better friend than the United States, and “we very much appreciate this support in other areas as well.”

Palestinian Presidency Rejects Pompeo’s Comments on Settlements
Ramallah - Asharq Al-Awsat/Monday, 15 April, 2019/Palestinian Presidential Spokesman Nabil Abu Rudeineh said that all forms of settlement on Palestinian territories occupied in 1967 were illegal, in line with the resolutions of international legitimacy. His comments came in response to recent statements made by US Secretary of State Mike Pompeo that Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu’s talk of extending Israeli sovereignty to West Bank settlements would not hurt the US ‘deal of the century.’“These statements are unacceptable and irresponsible,” Abu Rudaineh said. “They contravene international law and provoke the Palestinian people, who will remain steadfast in their legitimate rights, foremost of which is Jerusalem and its holy sites, and its right to freedom, independence and the establishment of an independent state on all its national soil.”He stressed that such rhetoric would only lead to more tension in the region and the world, reiterating the Palestinian people’s rejection of the ‘deal of the century.’“Those who believe the deal will pass are mistaken,” the Palestinian spokesman emphasized. In a televised interview with CNN last week, Pompeo said Netanyahu’s comments on annexing some Israeli settlements in the West Bank “don’t harm the United States’ peace plan.”He went on to say: “I think that the vision that we’ll lay out is going to represent a significant change from the model that’s been used.”“We have had a lot of ideas for 40 years. They did not deliver peace between the Israelis and the Palestinians,” Pompeo said. “Our idea is to put forward a vision that has ideas that are new, that are different, that are unique, that tries to reframe and reshape what’s been an intractable problem.”

Abbas: We’ll Send Delegation to Cairo for Reconciliation
Ramallah - Kifah Ziboun/ Asharq Al-Awsat/Monday, 15 April, 2019/Palestinian Authority (PA) President Mahmoud Abbas said he will send a delegation to Cairo, in two days, to follow up with the Palestinian reconciliation issue. “We are determined to restore national unity between Gaza and the West Bank,” he said while chairing the new Palestinian cabinet’s first session. “As you know, we’ve been trying with our Arab brothers since 2007 to reach reconciliation and solve the Gaza issue,” he said, adding that Hamas took over Gaza Strip. He urged them to sit and talk to solve this issue, stressing that they are both partners in Gaza, West Bank, and Jerusalem. Abbas blamed Hamas for violating an agreement reached in 2017 by Egyptian mediation, stressing that despite this, his party wants to reach a reconciliation since it’s not possible to have a “state in Gaza or a state without Gaza.”
“We will seek national unity at all costs, and within two days, a delegation from Fatah will head to Cairo to follow up on this issue,” Abbas noted. He also expressed reservations about the truce talks carried out by Egypt in the Strip, accusing Hamas of working on a project to separate the Strip from the West Bank. Abbas's decision comes after forming a new government, which has ended the role of the national unity government, of which Hamas took part in its formation. “The Palestinian cause is passing through difficult circumstances, but Palestinians and their leadership are responsible,” he noted.
Addressing the ministers, Abbas said this mission is difficult, adding that the new government will face many challenges, mainly the Deal of the Century, or the US peace plan, whose content has all been declared. He told the ministers that the Palestinians have rejected the US plan because it excluded Jerusalem from Palestine. “Therefore, we don't want to hear the rest of the plan,” he stressed. Ties between the United States and the PA were severed after US President Donald Trump declared in late 2017 that Jerusalem is the capital of Israel and moved his country’s embassy from Tel Aviv to the city in 2018.

Sudan Military Council Appoints New Army Chief of Staff
Asharq Al-Awsat/Monday, 15 April, 2019/Sudan's military council on Monday said it was restructuring the military command council and appointed Colonel General Hashem Abdel Muttalib Ahmed Babakr as army chief of staff. Colonel General Mohamed Othman al-Hussein was appointed as deputy chief of staff, the council said in a statement. The appointment came as Sudanese protesters moved to block an attempt on Monday to break up a sit-in outside the Defense Ministry, where demonstrators have been pushing for a quick transition to civilian rule after President Omar al-Bashir was ousted, a Reuters witness said. Troops had gathered on three sides of the sit-in and tractors were preparing to remove stone and metal barricades, but protesters joined hands and formed rings around the sit-in area to prevent them. The protesters chanted "Freedom, freedom" and "Revolution, revolution", and appealed to the army to protect them. Earlier, Sudan's main protest group, the Sudanese Professionals Association (SPA), issued an urgent call for people to join the sit-in and foil any attempt to disperse it. "We hope that everyone will head immediately to the areas of the sit-in to protect your revolution and your accomplishments," the SPA said. The sit-in outside the compound, which also includes the intelligence headquarters and the presidential residence, began on April 6, after more than three months of protests triggered by a deepening economic crisis.

Sudan Leaders Face Pressure for Transfer to Civilian Rule
Agence France Presse/Naharnet/April 15/19/Sudan's military rulers faced pressure from demonstrators and Western governments to hand power to a new civilian government Monday as activists warned of an attempt to disperse a 10-day-old mass protest outside army headquarters. Thousands remained camped outside the complex in Khartoum overnight after protest leaders issued demands to the military council set up following the ouster of veteran president Omar al-Bashir. The organisation that spearheaded the months of protests leading to Bashir's fall, the Sudanese Professionals Association, called on their supporters to boost the numbers at the complex. "There is an attempt to disperse the sit-in from the army headquarters area, they are trying to remove the barricades," the SPA said in a statement, without saying who was responsible. "We call on our people to come immediately to the sit-in area to protect our revolution." Witnesses said several army vehicles had surrounded the area and that troops were seen removing the barricades which demonstrators had put up as a security measure. The SPA has urged the military council "to immediately transfer power to a civilian government".
It said the resulting transitional government and the armed forces must bring to justice both Bashir and officials from his feared National Intelligence and Security Service (NISS). The United States, Britain and Norway urged the military council and other parties to hold talks over the country's transition to civilian rule. In a joint statement by their embassies on Sunday, they warned against any use of violence to break up the protests, and said the "legitimate change" the Sudanese people demanded had not taken place. "It is time for the transitional military council and all other parties to enter into an inclusive dialogue to effect a transition to civilian rule," they said. "This must be done credibly and swiftly, with protest leaders, political opposition, civil society organisations, and all relevant elements of society, including women."
Council 'committed' to transition
The military council on Sunday met with political parties and urged them to agree on an "independent figure" to be prime minister, an AFP correspondent at the meeting said. "We want to set up a civilian state based on freedom, justice and democracy," a council member, Lieutenant General Yasser al-Ata, told members of several political parties. A 10-member delegation representing the protesters delivered a list of demands during talks with the council late Saturday, according to a statement by the Alliance for Freedom and Change umbrella group. But in a press conference, the council's spokesman did not respond to the protesters' latest demands. He did however announce the appointment of a new NISS head after the intelligence agency's chief Salih Ghosh resigned on Saturday. The foreign ministry said military council head General Abdel Fattah al-Burhan was "committed to having a complete civilian government" and urged other nations to back the council in order to achieve "the Sudanese goal of democratic transition". American actor George Clooney, who has campaigned hard to draw attention to the conflict in Sudan's Darfur region, over the weekend urged world powers to pressure the military "to turn over full executive power to a civilian-led transitional government". "The most potent form of leverage would be to go after the assets laundered by Bashir and his allies through the international financial system," Clooney wrote in a joint Washington Post column with rights activist John Prendergast. "Sudan's courageous protesters need more than words: They need strong international action for real change to have a chance."On Saturday, Burhan vowed to dismantle Bashir's regime, lifting a night-time curfew with immediate effect. He also pledged that individuals implicated in killing protesters would face justice and that protesters detained under a state of emergency imposed by Bashir during his final weeks in power would be freed. Bashir ruled Sudan with an iron fist for 30 years before he was deposed last week following mass protests that have rocked the country since December. Tens of thousands of people have massed non-stop outside the army headquarters since April 6, initially urging the military to back their demand for Bashir's removal. But his departure in a coup failed to satisfy the protesters, who have demanded justice for Bashir-era officials. The SPA has also called for the confiscation of properties belonging to the ousted president's National Congress Party and the release of soldiers who sided with their movement. Late on Sunday, the military council said it has set up a committee to register NCP properties and seize control of them.

Haftar Receives Egypt’s Backing in Combating Terrorism in Libya
Cairo - Khaled Mahmoud/Asharq Al-Awsat/Monday, 15 April, 2019/Libyan National Army commander Khalifa Haftar received on Sunday Egypt’s backing for his operation to liberate Tripoli from terrorist groups after he held talks in Cairo with President Abdul Fattah al-Sisi. His surprise visit to Cairo coincided with Government of National Accord (GNA) head Fayez al-Sarraj visiting the operations command center in Tripoli. Haftar and Sisi discussed the latest developments in Libya, with Egypt voicing its support for the unity, stability and security of Libya. Presidential spokesman Bassam Rady said that Sisi stressed to Haftar Cairo’s support for efforts to combat terrorism, gangs and extremist militias in order to achieve the security and stability of the Libyan people throughout their country. Haftar’s office issued a brief statement, saying that he discussed with Sisi “several issues of joint interest, particularly counter-terrorism.”In Tripoli, Sarraj held talks at the operations command center with his military commanders on the “assault on the capital.” He said that the attack “serves as an opportunity that has been awaited by the terrorists and extremists to meddle with Libya’s security and stability.”“We were hoping to meet today at a national conference that brings together Libyans at a dialogue table to discuss ways to end the crisis, but one party insists on embroiling the country in a war where no side will emerge victorious,” he added. “We always call for peace and we have always sought dialogue and consensus, but we are ready to defend our nation, people, capital and all of our cities,” he stressed. The United Nations had planned to hold a national conference for Libya on April 14-16, but the LNA’s operation and ensuing unrest forced it to postpone it. A GNA spokesman, Mohannad Younes said that Sarraj’s government will not accept a ceasefire in wake of the ongoing LNA attack on Tripoli.
A ceasefire is possible when the forces return to their bases, he added. Younes replaced Mohammed al-Sallak, who quit his post without offering an official explanation. Younes revealed that the GNA was documenting the ongoing violations of international law by LNA forces in order to take legal measures against them. His remarks coincided with a warning by the UN mission in Libya against the bombing of schools, hospitals, ambulances and civilians areas, which is “strictly prohibited by International Humanitarian Law.”“The mission is monitoring and documenting all acts of war that violate this law in order to brief the Security Council and the International Criminal Court,” it tweeted. Meanwhile, the GNA’s Interior Ministry said that its counter-terrorism and organized crime unit arrested ISIS terrorist Anas Abrik al-Mabrouk al-Zouki, known as Abu Abdullah al-Dernawi. Investigations with him revealed that he was in Tripoli to carry out terrorist operations. He had resided in the eastern city of Benghazi for two years before departing it in 2017. On the ground, LNA spokesman Ahmed al-Mismari announced that terrorist militia jets targeted on Saturday civilian homes and private and public property in Ain Zara in the eastern Tripoli suburbs.He charged that the planes took off from the capital’s Mitiga airport and targeted a position in Qasr bin Ghashir, leaving four Sudanese nationals dead. GNA officials meanwhile, said that an LNA jet was shot down over the Wadi al-Rabih region south of Tripoli, with social media users circulating photos of the pilot ejecting out of the aircraft before it crashed. The LNA confirmed the incident, adding that the pilot survived, but denied that he was arrested by pro-GNA forces.

Jewish Canadian Mayor: Ban On Wearing Religious Symbols "Ethnic Cleansing"
Proposed Canadian law would ban certain public workers from wearing religious symbols; mayor says he meant “ethnic cleansing” only in a “non-violent” sense.
Jerusalem Post/April 15/19
MONTREAL (JTA) — The Jewish mayor of a Canadian town compared a proposed bill that would bar religious symbols on some public workers to “ethnic cleansing.” Canadian Prime Minister Justin Trudeau asked William Steinberg, mayor since 2005 of the affluent town of Hampstead in Montreal’s west end, to apologize for the remark.“We shouldn’t use words like that,” Trudeau, who opposes the bill, told reporters in Ottawa last Friday. “We don’t need to go to extremes.”Steinberg instead defended using the term, saying he meant “ethnic cleansing” only in a “non-violent” sense.The Centre for Israel and Jewish Affairs, B’nai Brith and human rights groups have denounced the proposed law as discriminatory and contrary to Canadian human rights charters, but polls consistently show most Quebecers supporting it by a healthy majority.
Critics say the real targets of the law are women in hijabs, but supporters say the law is in line with Quebec’s long-standing goal of making the state religiously neutral and more secular. It will bar public school teachers, judges, police officers and others from wearing kippahs, turbans, or hijabs at work. Quebec premier Francois Legault, head of the right-leaning Coalition Avenir Québec government behind Bill 21, wants to pass it before the legislature goes on holiday in June.
Steinberg’s town, with a population of about 8,000, is more than 70 per cent Jewish and less than 2 per cent Muslim. To avoid stirring more controversy, he said he would not attend an April 14 rally in the west-end municipality of Cote St. Luc protesting the bill.

Deal Of The Century Will Not Include Palestinian Atatehood
Jerusalem Post/April 15/19/According to "The Washington Post," comments from Kushner and other US officials suggest that "the plan does away with statehood as the starting premise of peace efforts."The Trump administration's peace plan, known as the "deal of the century" will reportedly include "practical proposals" for improving the lives of Palestinians, but it will probably stop short of recommending the establishment of a sovereign Palestinian state alongside Israel, The Washington Post reported Monday night. The deal is expected to be published soon, following more than two years in which it was formulated by a small group of special envoys of US President Donald Trump’s, including special representative Jason Greenblatt and senior advisor Jared Kushner. According to the Post report, comments from Kushner and other US officials suggest that "the plan does away with statehood as the starting premise of peace efforts" as it has been over the last 20 years or so. The report goes on to quote several people who have spoken to Kushner's team as saying that "Kushner and other US officials have linked peace and economic development to Arab recognition of Israel and acceptance of a version of the status quo on Palestinian 'autonomy,' as opposed to 'sovereignty.'"“What we’ve tried to do is figure out what is a realistic and what is a fair solution to the issues here in 2019 that can enable people to live better lives,” Kushner said in a rare interview with Sky News Arabia, as he sought Arab support on a visit to the region in February.
“We believe we have a plan that is fair, realistic and implementable that will enable people to live better lives,” a senior White House official said Friday. “We looked at past efforts and solicited ideas from both sides and partners in the region, with the recognition that what has been tried in the past has not worked. Thus, we have taken an unconventional approach founded on not hiding from reality, but instead speaking truth.” Although Palestinian Authority President Mahmoud Abbas has said that the US is biased, one of his chief advisers reportedly said they would not reject Trump's plan outright.Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu has promised to consider the plan, which Trump emphasized "will ask concessions of both sides," The Washington Post reported. Kushner has described the plan as having four pillars: freedom, respect, security and opportunity for all parties involved. In an interview with Army Radio on Tuesday, Strategic Affairs Minister Gilad Erdan responded to the Post's report about the deal of the century, saying that "if the American administration understands that the idea of ​​a Palestinian state has no justification, feasibility, or chance, this is significant news."Meanwhile, a letter published in The Guardian by former EU officials, including six prime ministers and 25 foreign ministers, called for postponing the "deal of the century" because it is unfair to the Palestinians. In the letter, which was sent to the European Union and EU governments, the former leaders argue that Europe must stand by the two-state solution and condemn the Trump administration's policy, which they claim is unilaterally in favor ofIsrael.

Iranian Women Sentenced To Jail For Refusing To Wear Hijab
Jerusalem Post /April 15/19/The image of Vida Movahedi holding her headscarf aloft on a stick at a protest became famous in Iran. The repeat offender will now be punished for "encouraging corruption and debauchery."
She took her traditional hijab off her head and held it aloft on a stick in protest. Now, Vida Movahedi has been sentecnes to one year in an Iranian jail for her act during the dramatic protests during the winter of 2017 - 2018. The young woman's lawyer, Payam Derafshan, confirmed to AFP news an earlier statement he made to Iran's IRNA state news agency that his client was convicted of "encouraging corruption and debauchery" for breaking the law requiring women to wear the traditional headscarf. This was not the first time Movahedi had engaged in protests and her act was imitated by several other young Iranian women who also face criminal charges for going bareheaded in public. "The judge was very sympathetic to the fact that Ms. Movahedi has a two-year-old daughter and that she had not had a political motive for her actions," Derafshan told AFP.She has been in jail for the past five months and has unsuccessfully sought parole. The original protest took place in Enghelab Square in Tehran, Iran's capital city. The name means Revolution Street and Movahedi was dubbed Revolution Street Girl in Iranian media as a result. The protests were eventually quashed and the government subsequently organized massive pro-Iranian regime rallies. But dissent against the Islamic Republic continued. At one protest in June of 2018 some protesters could be heard chanting "Death to Palestine," "Help us, not Gaza," and "Leave Syria alone and deal with Iran," calling on the Iranian regime to invest in its own economy rather than interfering in other spheres throughout the Middle East. Jangravi was one of at least 39 women arrested last year in connection with hijab protests, according to Amnesty International, which said another 55 people were detained for their work on women’s rights, including women who tried to enter football stadiums illegally and lawyers advocating for women. Amnesty cited the case of Shaparak Shajarizadeh, who “was sentenced to 20 years in prison, 18 of which were suspended, for her peaceful protest against forced hijab. She fled Iran after she was released on bail and has since described in media interviews how she was subjected to torture and other ill-treatment in solitary confinement and denied access to her lawyer.”Iran’s economy has faced instability in recent months, with the national currency, the rial, fluctuating in value, making it difficult for many Iranians to make ends meet. Sporadic protests linked to the tough economic situation have been led by truck drivers, farmers, workers, merchants and teachers, occasionally resulting in violent confrontations with security forces. Iran’s economy has been particularly hard hit by US sanctions that were reimposed November 5, after the United States withdrew from the 2016 Iran nuclear deal in May. Reuters contributed to this report.

UN Envoy in Damascus: All Issues at the Table
Damascus - Asharq Al-Awsat/Monday, 15 April, 2019/United Nations envoy to Syria resumed talks Sunday on the political process during a visit to Damascus during which he will hold “detailed” talks with officials. Geir Pedersen arrived on a two-day visit to Damascus on Saturday, in his third official visit to the country since assuming his post in January. He met Sunday morning with Syrian Foreign Minister Walid al-Muallem. “We have had very detailed substantial discussions,” Pedersen told reporters after the meeting. “We are now addressing all the issues so all the issues are at the table,” AFP quoted him as saying. State news agency SANA said Pedersen and Muallem discussed ongoing efforts to advance the political process, including moves to form a committee tasked with drawing up a post-war constitution. Pedersen first visited Damascus in January then on March 17, when he discussed with Muallem the political solution to the ongoing eight-year conflict. He became the fourth UN negotiator aiming to resolve the war following the resignation of his predecessor Staffan De Mistura. Since early January, he has traveled extensively to meet with the regime, opposition and others. The veteran diplomat faces a difficult task of reviving negotiations between the regime and the opposition at the UN after his predecessor failed to reach a solution due to conflicting demands from both sides of the conflict. De Mistura’s efforts focused on the formation of the constitutional committee proposed by the three guarantors of the peace process in Astana, which are Damascus’s allies Russia and Iran and opposition supporter, Turkey.
The opposition is demanding a new constitution for the country, while the regime wants to discuss the existing constitution and amend some of its articles.

Syria: New Measures to Confront Fuel Crisis
Damascus - Asharq Al-Awsat/Monday, 15 April, 2019/Syria adopted new measures Sunday to curb fuel shortages that the regime has blamed on strangling Western sanctions on the war-torn country. The ministry of petrol and mineral resources in April temporarily slashed the daily cap on subsidized petrol by half, from 40 to 20 liters per vehicle. On Sunday the cabinet blamed the crisis on "economic sanctions" that are targeting the energy sector and "preventing the arrival of oil tankers in Syria", in comments on the ministry's Facebook page.
But it promised an easing of the crisis in the coming days, Agence France Presse reported. The cabinet said it is seeking to "regulate the distribution at petrol stations."In recent months fuel and oil shortages have rocked regime-held areas of Syria. Authorities estimate that since 2011 Syria's oil and gas sector has suffered some $74 billion in losses. Prime Minister Emad Khamis, quoted in local press, said Iranian tankers supplying Syria had been halted due to US sanctions on Tehran.

Erdogan’s Party Insists on Extraordinary Appeal for Istanbul Re-run
Ankara - Saeed Abdelrazek/Asharq Al-Awsat/April 15/19/Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdogan’s Justice and Development Party (AKP) has worsened the dispute on the results of the local elections in Istanbul, announcing that it will make an extraordinary appeal for a re-run of the vote in the city.
Ali Ihsan Yavuz, AKP deputy chairman, said the ruling party is preparing to make an extraordinary appeal to the country’s electoral council on the March 31 local poll results in Istanbul. “We will submit our petition to Turkey’s Supreme Election Council (YSK) very soon,” Yavuz said in a Twitter post. Unofficial results of the elections revealed the victory of Republican People’s Party (CHP) candidate Ekrem Imamoglu over AKP’s candidate Binali Yildirim with a difference of 29,000 votes. AKP submitted objections and appeals before the YSK demanding a vote recount in eight districts and a recount of invalid votes in all of the 39 districts of Istanbul. The recount showed that Imamoglu, the opposition’s candidate, is still in the lead, although the difference shrank to 14,000 votes. Muharrem Ince, CHP deputy chairman, stated that there are attempts to pressure YSK members to relinquish their position regarding Erdogan's attempt for a re-run of the Istanbul vote. Former President Abdullah Gul called on his former party - AKP - to put an end to the dispute on the result of the elections, warning the current situation is harmful to Turkey. “Turkey hasn’t witnessed (a similar situation) for the past 70 years,” he said. Temel Karamollaoglu, the head of the Islamist Felicity Party, accused Erdogan into turning the country into an “empire of intimidation,” saying voters have chosen AKP candidates out of fear of the consequences of its loss. In the same context, the Izmir Bar Association rejected the AKP claims of irregularities in the voting process. Further, the Ankara Bar Association criticized the practices of the ruling party against anyone who rejected to vote in its favor.

Germany Warns of ISIS Danger despite its Military Defeat
Berlin - Raghida Bahnam/Asharq Al-Awsat/April 15/19/Germany is not capable of monitoring all extremists in the country and ISIS could launch an attack at any time despite its defeat in Syria and Iraq, announced head of the Federal Office for the Protection of the Constitution (BfV) Thomas Haldenwang. "I cannot give an all-clear on ISIS," he said. "It can launch an attack in Germany any time."Haldenwang told German Welt am Sonntag newspaper that the number of extremists in Germany rose to 2,240 in 2018. However, he admitted that it is only possible for authorities to monitor “extremely dangerous” suspects. “We'll need at least four people to monitor one such person. We are only focusing on those who could be extremely dangerous.”Haldenwang called for a legal change to allow authorities to monitor children of ISIS returnees, adding that some of them have witnessed ISIS violence and that they worship their fathers as heroes. “We ask ourselves: is this the new generation of terrorists?” he wondered. “If we are allowed to take their data, then we can, for example, give the information to the youth welfare office," he said, adding that these children are themselves victims. He described the children as “victims” of the extremists and should be treated as such, noting that if there information was gathered, it could be given to the youth welfare office. German law prohibits the monitoring of children under the age of 16 and children under the age of 14 can not be held accountable. The government refused to reclaim from ISIS its citizens and their families in Syria, however, last week it announced that nine children of ISIS fighters returned from Iraq. In a complicated process, authorities retrieved a mother and her children from Syria. The woman, 31, was immediately placed under arrest when she arrived at Stuttgart airport. The three children were handed over to their German father, who was left behind the woman in 2015. She escaped to Syria with their children, where she married an ISIS fighter. In addition, Haldenwang also proposed the unit be allowed to monitor messenger services and not just tapping on phone calls.“We can monitor regular telephones for superficial feuds. What happens on messenger chats often remains hidden from us.”He explained that extremists and terrorists know exactly how they can interact with each other without being noticed, adding that they use applications like WhatsApp and Facebook, as well as chats in online games. The official warned against another possible danger from the far-right groups, calling on the authorities to “pay more attention” to them. He said the BfV had noticed that the groups were more and more “interlinked” and that the lines between them and ordinary “citizen protesters” were increasingly blurred.

Belgium Says Number of Extremist Imams Doubled… State Security Watches Them
Brussels - Abdullah Mustafa/Asharq Al-Awsat/April 15/19/The number of imams suspected of having a hardline ideology in Belgium and have been under Belgian State Security Service control had amounted to 72 in 2018. The figure has doubled over the past two years compared to 2016 when it was 37. Back then terrorists carried out attacks in Belgium, targeting an airport and a train station in which 32 were killed and another 32 were injured. These figures were presented by Justice Minister Koen Geens in a written response to a parliamentary interpellation by a member of the right-wing Vlaams Belang Party Barbara Pas. “I can’t understand the government's failure to take firm steps against these imams, who should have been considered unwanted and deported outside Belgium,” said Pas, in response to these figures. “They pose a significant threat through their extremist religious rhetoric and discourse and a major source spreading hardline Islam in Belgium.” “The Belgian government must take firm actions in order to end this threat,” she stressed. In remarks to Asharq Al-Awsat, Head of Belgium’s Conference of Imams Sheikh Mohamed Toujgani expressed regret over the situation of imams, mosques and the Muslim minority in Europe due to growing hatred. “We hear a great deal about the training of imams although there are currently competent imams in various fields,” said Toujgani when asked whether training imams is a priority over solving their problems and sufferings due to being classified as extremists. Toujgani explained that training imams is a necessity as they should always be keen to develop themselves and cooperate with others.

Canada's Statement on WTO panel ruling against U.S. duties on Canadian softwood lumber
April 15, 2019 - Ottawa, Ontario - Global Affairs Canada
The Honourable Chrystia Freeland, Minister of Foreign Affairs, today issued the following statement on a recent WTO dispute resolution panel decision on U.S. duties on Canadian softwood lumber:
“Canada’s forest industry sustains hundreds of thousands of good, middle-class jobs in communities across our country. We firmly believe that the U.S. duties on Canadian softwood lumber are unfair and unwarranted. That is why we are challenging these duties at the WTO and under NAFTA.
“We welcome the recent WTO panel ruling that the United States did not follow the rules in calculating its anti-dumping duties on Canadian softwood lumber. The United States must bring its measures into conformity with its WTO obligations.
“Canada will be appealing the WTO panel’s separate findings on the U.S. practice of zeroing and its use of the differential pricing methodology. The WTO has ruled more than 20 times that zeroing, a method of calculating and applying artificially high and unfair duty rates, is inconsistent with WTO rules.
“We will continue to work closely with the provinces and territories and our softwood lumber industry to defend our softwood sector and its workers, and we expect to prevail as we have in the past.”

Canada imposes additional sanctions on the Maduro regime in Venezuela
April 15, 2019 – Ottawa, Ontario - Global Affairs Canada
In response to the Maduro regime’s attempts to strengthen its authoritarian rule over Venezuela, Canada today announces its fourth round of sanctions against key figures in the regime, adding to the 70 that have already been sanctioned.
Under the Special Economic Measures Act, the Honourable Chrystia Freeland, Minister of Foreign Affairs, is today announcing targeted sanctions against 43 individuals responsible for the deteriorating situation in Venezuela. They are high ranking officials of the Maduro regime, regional governors and/or directly implicated in activities undermining democratic institutions.
These measures are being taken in response to the Maduro regime’s anti-democratic actions, particularly relating to the repression and persecution of the members of the interim government, censorship, and excessive use of force against civil society, undermining the independence of the judiciary and other democratic institutions.
Quotes/“During the Lima Group meeting held in Ottawa on February 4, 2019, we called on the international community to take action against the Maduro regime. Today, Canada is taking that action by holding 43 more people accountable for their roles in worsening the situation in Venezuela.”
- Hon. Chrystia Freeland, P.C., M.P., Minister of Foreign Affairs

Macron to Set Out Fix for 'Yellow Vest' Anger
Agence France Presse/Naharnet/April 15/19/French President Emmanuel Macron was to set out a series of major policy announcements Monday in response to five months of nationwide "yellow vest" protests, in what has been billed as a make-or-break moment for his presidency. Yet the task of trying to satisfy the many, sometimes competing demands coiled up in the protests will be a tricky one for the 41-year-old leader, who was elected two years ago on promises of sweeping changes. His reform drive was abruptly knocked off course by the yellow vests, whose movement erupted in November against social inequality. Macron responded by embarking on a major voter-listening exercise between January and March called the "Great National Debate", in which grievances were aired during thousands of town hall-style meetings. "We have decided to transform the anger into solutions," Macron wrote on Twitter. "For several months you told us what you think and we heard... (Monday) night I will respond to you." The centrist will give a speech at 1800 GMT Monday setting out the "first concrete measures", the presidency told AFP. One of Macron's aides told AFP that the country could look forward to "a new act" marked by "profound changes" aimed at drawing the line under the enduring and often violent anti-government protests. Summing up the weight of anticipation on Macron's shoulders Senate leader Gerard Larcher, a member of the opposition Republicans, told Le Figaro newspaper on Saturday: "He won't get a second chance." French media said the content of the speech of Macron could determine whether he wins re-election in 2022. "It's double or quits for Macron," Le Journal du Dimanche weekly newspaper wrote Sunday. "Macron's five years is at stake," said Le Figaro Monday, adding that the head of state has "no room for error".Left-leaning Liberation said Macron had to decide whether to side with conservative supporters or placate those wanting a softer approach.
'Lower taxes'
In one of the most important weeks of the president's career, he is also due to hold a press conference at the Elysee on Wednesday in an unusual move for a man who has kept his distance from the French media. What Macron intends to announce has been kept under wraps. He has much work to do if he is to convince French citizens outside of his hardcore support base that he really cares about them. According to an Ifop poll published on Sunday, 85 percent of French think that Macron should pay greater attention to their concerns. One option Macron is examining is to curb the privileges enjoyed by senior civil servants and former presidents. Another is push ahead with plans to reduce the number of national lawmakers. Prime Minister Edouard Philippe, who met Macron on Sunday, said last week that the clear message from the nationwide debates was that the French wanted lower taxes. "We need to lower taxes, and lower them more quickly," Philippe. The yellow vest movement, named after the fluorescent safety jackets worn by demonstrators, began in rural and small-town France over fuel taxes and quickly snowballed into a broader anti-capitalist, anti-establishment rebellion. Macron, a former investment banker and ex-economy minister, was caught off guard when protesters began occupying roundabouts to denounce policies widely seen as tilted towards the rich and big business. Admitting to failures, he unveiled a 10-billion-euro ($11-billion) package of tax cuts and income top-ups for the working poor and pensioners and travelled into the rural heartland to try to reconnect with voters. But most yellow vests boycotted the consultations. They accused Macron of prejudging the outcome by taking their top demands -- including the return of a popular "solidarity tax" on the rich which he cut and citizen-sponsored referendums -- off the table from the outset.

Danish police arrest 23 after unrest in Copenhagen
Mon 15 Apr 2019/ NNA - Twenty-three people were arrested in connection with riots in Copenhagen, Danish police said on Monday, as counter-protests against a demonstration by a right-wing activist escalated. The unrest spread on Sunday to several parts of the capital after Rasmus Paludan, the founder of the anti-immigrant party Hard Line, held a demonstration. "I strongly disagree with Paludan's meaningless provocations that have no other purpose than sow disunity. Meet him with arguments - not with violence," Prime Minister Lars Lokke Rasmussen said on Twitter. Police said they had arrested 23 people and some of them would be questioned by a judge later today about suspected arson and violence against police officers.--Reuters

Hundreds protest against Bill 21 at dual rallies in Montreal
Mon 15 Apr 2019/NNA - Montrealers took to the streets to protest Quebec's proposed religious neutrality bill at two separate rallies on Sunday, in Côte Saint-Luc and in downtown Montreal. If adopted, Bill 21 would prevent public employees, including teachers, police officers and judges, from wearing religious symbols at work. Several hundred people gathered in front of the Bernard Lang Civic Centre on Cavendish Boulevard Sunday morning for a protest organized by the City of Côte Saint-Luc. They were joined by a coalition of mayors, city councillors, school board commissioners and representatives from provincial and federal governments. Anthony Housefather, the Liberal MP for Mount-Royal, said he came to the rally because the proposed law would deny the rights of some of the citizens he represents. "I have residents that elected me that wear hijab, a kippa, a turban, and their rights would be violated," he said. "They wouldn't be allowed to apply for certain jobs or hold certain jobs in society. It's just not right."--CBC

Latest LCCC English analysis & editorials from miscellaneous sources published on April 15-16/19
Rumors Fly That Body Of Legendary Israeli Spy Eli Chohen Was Found
Jerusalem Post/April 15/19
http://eliasbejjaninews.com/archives/73857/%D8%AC%D9%8A%D8%B1%D9%88%D8%B2%D8%A7%D9%84%D9%8A%D9%85-%D8%A8%D9%88%D8%B3%D8%AA-%D8%B1%D9%81%D8%A7%D8%AA-%D8%A5%D9%8A%D9%84%D9%8A-%D9%83%D9%88%D9%87%D9%8A%D9%86-%D9%81%D9%8A-%D8%B7%D8%B1%D9%8A%D9%82/
Israeli officials silent after flimsy social media accounts claim his body was on it's way from Syria to Israel.
Rumors swirled Sunday night that the remains of legendary Israeli spy Eli Cohen were on their way to Israel from Syria with a Russian delegation just weeks after an IDF soldier missing for close to four decades was brought back for burial.
Israeli cabinet ministers have refused to comment on the rumors which were first published by Channel 12 News Sunday night which were also questioned by other news channels as there were no official Syrian opposition reports rather only flimsy social media accounts
Cohen, an Egyptian-born Jew, was a legendary undercover Israeli agent for the Mossad intelligence agency in Syria under the alias Kamal Amin Ta’abet, providing Israel with considerable details on Syrian political and military matters.
He was able to build close ties with business, military and government leaders becoming the Chief Advisor to the Syrian Defense Minister. Cohen’s suggestion to the Syrians to plant trees on the Golan near each of their fortifications enabled the IDF to capture the Golan Heights in the Six Day War two years after his death.
After his cover was blown, he was hanged in Martyrs Square in the Syrian capital of Damascus 1965 and in an effort to prevent Israel from retrieving his body the Syrian government moved his remains several times.
Last year, his widow Nadia implored the government of Bashar Assad to return her husbands remains to Israel for burial.
"I implore you, even beg of you, to release Eli's remains. I'm 83 years old, look at us and forgive,” she said during a speech at the International Multidisciplinary Conference on the Treatment of War Injuries at the Galilee Medical Center in Nahariya. "I thank those who came up with the idea that I speak to Assad's heart. I sent him letters 18 years ago as well as photos of our children, and grandchildren to soften his heart and release Eli's body," she was quoted by Ynet news as saying. "Eli was an angel who [came into this world] to fulfill a certain role, to protect his country and his people..He adored Israel and the piece of land we had received. He was a Zionist who contributed and helped [the State of Israel] and left behind three children that don't even know him," she said. Last year his watch was obtained in a special Mossad operation and was presented to his family by Mossad chief Yossi Cohen.
The Prime Minister’s Office did not explain how it retrieved the watch, which had been in “enemy hands” and Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu praised the intelligence service for the operation.
“I commend the fighters of the Mossad for the determined and courageous operation, the sole objective of which was to return to Israel a memento from a great fighter who greatly contributed to the security of the state,” he said.
The rumors of Cohen’s body being removed from Syria come just weeks after the remains of IDF soldier Sgt. Zachary Baumel were returned to Israel with Russia’s help after nearly 40 years since he was declared missing in action during the First Lebanon War in 1982.
https://www.jpost.com/Israel-News/Rumors-fly-that-body-of-legendary-Israeli-spy-Eli-Cohen-was-found-586894

Germany: Talk of 'European Army' was Meant 'Allegorically'
Stefan Frank/Gatestone Institute/April 15/19
https://www.gatestoneinstitute.org/14065/germany-european-army-allegory
Since taking office in 2013, German Defense Minister Ursula von der Leyen has done little to alleviate the problems in the military. The best-known projects during her tenure were kindergartens for the soldiers' families; the procurement of flat screen television sets and mini-fridges for the barracks; the announcement of efforts to make the German army "more attractive for gay, lesbian and transgender people"; buying uniforms for pregnant soldiers, and making battle tanks suitable for pregnant soldiers. As worthwhile as these efforts may be, they do little to address the core problems.
"Apparently the readiness of the Bundeswehr is so bad that the public should not be allowed to know about it." — Tobias Lindner, a Greens Party member, serving on the budget and defense committees.
The German government recently revealed that when German Chancellor Angela Merkel said in November that she wanted to "create a real, true European army", she was only speaking "allegorically" -- not about instituting a new military project, but merely diplomacy between European countries. Pictured: Soldiers of the Franco-German brigade, a military unit founded in 1989, jointly consisting of units from the French Army and German Army. (Photo by Sean Gallup/Getty Images)
"We are committed to the emergence of a European army", German chancellor Angela Merkel pledged in January, backing a plan first launched by French president Emmanuel Macron in 2017. Merkel thus confirmed a position she had voiced in November 2018, when, speaking to the European parliament in Strasbourg, she said: "We have to look at the vision of one day creating a real, true European army."
Members of the opposition Free Democratic Party (FDP) in the German federal parliament (Bundestag) wanted to know what was meant by the term "European army" and submitted this question to the government.
In early March 2019, Die Welt reported the answer and voiced surprised about how long it had taken the government to reply:
"The answer was obviously not easy to find.... It required an intensive coordination process between the Chancellery, Ministry of Defense and the Foreign Office. Twice the government requested an extension of the deadline before, after two and a half months, it was able to submit a wording agreed between the departments."
The government's eventual answer was:
"The concept of the European Army is in the opinion of the Federal Government allegorical [sinnbildlich] of the political demand for a progressive European integration in the area of security and defense and should support the implementation of the strategic goals of the Federal Government in the area of security and defense of Europe."
So, it is allegorical. According to Merriam-Webster, allegorical means: "having hidden spiritual meaning that transcends the literal sense of a sacred text". Thus, when Merkel said she wanted to "create a real, true European army", she was not speaking about instituting a new military project, but merely diplomacy between European countries. Die Welt commented: "One could also say: The 'real European army' is an empty phrase. The government is not concerned with an actual common force, but with more cooperation between nationally sovereign armies. A clarification, after all."
Why would Chancellor Merkel even start talking about a European army? Gatestone Institute asked Wilfried von Bredow, a professor emeritus at the University of Marburg who specializes in German politics and has published several books about Germany's army, the Bundeswehr. "Actually, there is no real debate about a European army", von Bredow said.
"Because everyone with the slightest political knowledge knows that it's a mirage: politically, militarily and not least for constitutional reasons. Nonetheless, there are various groups who try to float this idea from time to time: On the one hand, there are simplistic Europe enthusiasts who think that everything that is labelled 'European' instead of 'nationalistic' serves the ends of progress and cosmopolitanism. Then there are simplistic budget politicians who think or hope that a European army could save a lot of money due to synergies. And finally, there are those who panic because transatlantic relations are in bad shape, and with them, NATO. That is why they want to reinforce the so-called European pillar of Western defense, to strengthen it and make it more durable. Principally, that is not a bad idea. However, the European states have only minuscule capability for joint military and strategic action."
Indeed, many German newspaper columnists pointed out that the Bundeswehr is not in a condition that would enable it to assume more international responsibility. Dr. Alexander Will, political commentator of the daily Nordwest-Zeitung wrote:
"The key question is: How many battalions does Merkel actually have to back up all these words in the case of an emergency?... The Bundeswehr has no soldiers, their equipment has rotted. [...] Tanks do not drive and planes do not fly. China, Russia and the United States can be sure: Angela Merkel's words remain hollow, because they simply have no material basis."
As every year in January, the Parliamentary Commissioner for the Armed Forces (Wehrbeauftragter) recently issued his report about the state of the armed forces and the soldiers' complaints, and, as every year, it was devastating.
"The operational readiness of large equipment remained largely unsatisfactory in the year under review", it said. The availability of "tanks, ships and aircraft ready for deployment" was sometimes "well below 50 percent of the total stock.
"A case in point is the main battle tank Leopard 2, a central weapon system of the army. The low actual availability of battle tanks ready for deployment in 2016 and 2017 could not be significantly increased in the year under review. This situation continues to have a significant impact on the training, exercises and operations of the army.
"Helicopters, as in the past year, are still in short supply. The number of actually operational helicopters - NH-90, Tiger and CH-53 — has been at a very low level for years. Indications of significant improvements are not apparent.
"Of the total stock of Euro-Fighter and Tornado combat aircraft, fewer than half of the aircraft were actually capable of flight in the year under review. The new Luftwaffe inspector himself painted a gloomy picture in the middle of the year. Lack of spare parts and delays in the approval process are the cause of the inadequate operational readiness of the fighter jets.
"A large proportion of the submarines also failed in the year under review. None of it seems to be fully operational. Serious technical defects, spare parts shortage and considerable extensions of shipyard lay times, as well as an accident, were the causes. Without a sufficient number of fully functional submarines, full training of submarine crews is not possible.
"The precarious situation of the navy, which has repeatedly been emphasized in the past, has not improved significantly in the year under review. Whole crews were literally on dry land, as several ships and boats were not available for seafaring as planned.
"The Bundeswehr had no tankers in the second half of 2018. Both marine fuel transports were not operational due to engine damage."
"Germany's Navy Is a Total Embarrassment" is the title of an article in the defense journal National Interest, in which John Beckner and Helmoed Heitman wrote:
"It boggles the mind that the wealthiest country in the EU cannot even afford to support a U Boat fleet of six vessels ... These vessels are designed for the Baltic and due to their hydrogen fuel-cell propulsion system can stay underwater for as long as two weeks ... One shudders to think how long it would take Germany to up the readiness of its tiny U Boat fleet should the Russians become more aggressive against the NATO Baltic countries."
While the submarines, tanks and fighter jets suffer from a shortage of spare parts, the procurement of new weapon systems is apparently another major headache. "German Engineering Yields New Warship That Isn't Fit for Sea", the Wall Street Journal reported in January 2018. The German Navy had ordered four of these frigates, at total costs of about €3.1 billion ($3.5 billion). Even if they were technically operational, however, the ships could not be put to use because the Navy forgot to train the necessary sailors. According to a damning report by Germany's comptroller's office, not even the necessary training center had been built yet. The list of failures goes on and on. One of the biggest embarrassments in recent years -- reported by the international media -- occurred in 2015, when, during a NATO maneuver in Norway, it was leaked that due to the notorious lack of spare parts, the missing machine gun of an armored fighting vehicle was emulated by a broomstick.
Since taking office in 2013, German Defense Minister Ursula von der Leyen has done little to alleviate the problems. The best-known projects during her tenure were kindergartens for the soldiers' families; the procurement of flat screen television sets and mini-fridges for the barracks; the announcement of efforts to make the German army "more attractive for gay, lesbian and transgender people"; buying uniforms for pregnant soldiers, and making battle tanks suitable for pregnant soldiers.
As worthwhile as these efforts may be, they do little to address the military's core problems. Harald Kujat, the former Chief of Staff of Germany's military forces, summed them up in a recent radio interview:
"The citizens have to know that the politicians neglect the Bundeswehr on purpose, that it can't fulfill its duties and that it is in a lamentable state. ... We have the lowest level of operational readiness and morale among the troops since the Bundeswehr's inception [in 1955]."
The statement that the German military was neglected on purpose becomes clear if one recalls that in March 2019, the German government reneged on its promise to increase the defense budget and bring it closer to NATO's guideline of spending a minimum of 2% of its Gross Domestic Product (GDP) on defense by 2024. On March 13, Der Spiegel reported that these plans were off the table. The defense budget will increase just enough to hold Germany's defense spending at the current rate of 1.35% of GDP. Der Spiegel added that the purchase of badly needed equipment, such as new transport helicopters, will likely be canceled due to a lack of funding.
"NATO members clearly pledged to move toward, not away, from 2 percent by 2024," Richard Grenell, the U.S. ambassador to Germany, told reporters after budget numbers were first floated.
"That the German government would even be considering reducing its already unacceptable commitments to military readiness is a worrisome signal to Germany's 28 NATO allies."
Just two days earlier, Inspector General Eberhard Zorn -- Germany's highest-ranking officer -- had announced that the annual report on the combat readiness of the Bundeswehr would henceforth be kept classified "for security reasons", a move criticized by opposition lawmakers. Tobias Lindner, a Greens Party member who serves on the budget and defense committees, said: "Apparently the readiness of the Bundeswehr is so bad that the public should not be allowed to know about it."
*Stefan Frank is a journalist and author based in Germany.
© 2019 Gatestone Institute. All rights reserved. The articles printed here do not necessarily reflect the views of the Editors or of Gatestone Institute. No part of the Gatestone website or any of its contents may be reproduced, copied or modified, without the prior written consent of Gatestone Institute.

باكسان تفرج عن المسيحية اسيا بيبي بعد سجن انفرادي لمدة 9 سنوات على خلفية اتهامات ملفقة بالتجديف
Pakistan Releasing Christian Woman,Asia Bibi Long Imprisoned for Blasphemy
The Media Line/April 15/19
http://eliasbejjaninews.com/archives/73865/%D8%A8%D8%A7%D9%83%D8%B3%D8%A7%D9%86-%D8%AA%D9%81%D8%B1%D8%AC-%D8%B9%D9%86-%D8%A7%D9%84%D9%85%D8%B3%D9%8A%D8%AD%D9%8A%D8%A9-%D8%A7%D8%B3%D9%8A%D8%A7-%D8%A8%D9%8A%D8%A8%D9%8A-%D8%A8%D8%B9%D8%AF-%D8%B3/
After nine years in solitary confinement for insulting Islam, Asia Bibi to be allowed to join family in Canada
[Islamabad] Pakistani Prime Minister Imran Khan has announced that Asia Bibi, a Christian woman who last year was saved from death row after being accused of blasphemy against Islam, will soon leave Pakistan to be reunited with her family.
“She will leave Pakistan in a couple of weeks,” Khan told foreign journalists in Islamabad.
News of the impending release came on the heels of British Foreign Secretary Jeremy Hunt’s statement in the UK Parliament earlier this month that Bibi’s freedom was being negotiated.
“Making sure that she is safe and has somewhere safe to go is a top priority for this government,” Hunt told legislators. “We have had numerous discussions in private with [the] Pakistani government about how to progress on this. We are making progress, and I’m very hopeful that this will have a positive outcome.”
Pakistani authorities confirmed to The Media Line that the necessary documentation, including visa and air tickets, was ready.
“She is all set to travel abroad. We are waiting for the green signal from concerned authorities in this regard,” a senior government official told The Media Line on condition of anonymity.
Bibi, a Christian mother of five, had been on death row since 2010. She was accused of committing blasphemy in 2009, when she left home early one June morning for farm work, like many of the women in her village.
On that fateful day, as she was picking berries under the scorching sun, she was asked by her colleagues to fetch some water from the nearby well. She set off, jug in hand. But on her way back, she took a sip of the water before handing it over to her Muslim co-workers, which made them furious.
In Pakistan, most Muslims refrain from eating or drinking with people of other faiths, whom they believe are impure. Angered by Asia’s taking a sip of water, her Muslim colleagues told her she was dirty and not worthy of drinking from the same cup as they.
A fierce argument erupted and harsh words were exchanged, climaxing with the Muslim workers accusing Bibi of insulting the Prophet Muhammad.
Several days later, police barged into Bibi’s house and arrested her on suspicion of blasphemy. During her trial, she maintained her innocence, but in 2010 was sentenced to death. She spent the past nine years in solitary confinement.
Bibi’s case came under scrutiny on January 4, 2011, when Salmaan Taseer, one of Pakistan’s most prominent politicians and the governor of Punjab, the country’s biggest province, was assassinated in Islamabad by one of his bodyguards, apparently for trying to secure Bibi’s release. International media described the assassination as “one of the most traumatic events in Pakistani history.”
Hopes for Bibi’s early release sank following Taseer’s death, but her family never lost hope, her husband appealing the death sentence before Pakistan’s Supreme Court.
On October 31, 2018, the court acquitted Bibi, citing “material contradictions and inconsistent statements of the witnesses” that “cast a shadow of doubt on the prosecution’s version of the facts.”
The ruling sparked nationwide protests headed by right-wing Islamist parties. Meanwhile, human rights groups such as International Christian Concern, Open Doors and Aid to the Church in Need widely hailed the decision.
The government filed a review petition before the Supreme Court against her acquittal. Meanwhile, on November 7, the authorities released her, moving her to a safe house in Islamabad in response to death threats. One of the threats came from hardline Muslim cleric Maulana Yousaf Qureshi, who offered a reward of 500,000 rupees ($3,700) to anyone who would kill her.
On January 29, the government petition appealing Bibi’s acquittal was rejected, lifting the last legal hurdle in the case and paving the way for her to leave the country. Her family had already moved to Canada due to the death threats.
“I am missing her so much,” Bibi’s youngest daughter, Eisham Ashiq, 18, told The Daily Mail on Sunday. “I think about her all the time and I speak to her on the phone all the time. I say to her, ‘Have faith in God, because if God can release you from jail, God can release you from where you are now. He will bring you out.’”
Pakistani Foreign Office spokesman Mohammad Faisal told The Media Line that Asia was free following the court’s decision.
“To the best of my knowledge, Asia Bibi is still in Pakistan. She is a free woman. Only she can decide whether to live in Pakistan or move abroad,” Faisal said.
Ahmer Shaheen, managing editor of Pakistan’s The Daily Times, says Pakistan is not doing anyone a favor by letting an innocent person go.
“Asia Bibi’s case was high profile,” he told The Media Line. “Punjab’s former governor Shaheed Salman Taseer and former federal minister of minorities Shaheed Shahbaz Bhatti gave their lives to highlight her plight. [But] many more languish in jails, as the state is not ready to give them justice as yet…. The state needs to be sympathetic toward all its citizens, because that is its primary responsibility. Acting on international pressure will always be too little too late.”
While many in Pakistan and abroad have hailed the prime minister’s statement about Bibi’s imminent release and reunion with her family abroad, her case is highly unlikely to change the situation for Pakistan’s Christian community.
In February, a teenage Christian girl was allegedly abducted and forcefully converted to Islam. The victim’s family claims her abductors are using the country’s legal system to keep her from returning home.
According to International Christian Concern (ICC), 13-year-old Sadaf Masih was abducted by three men identified as Maqbool Hussain, Mubashir Hussain Baloch and Azhir Hussain Baloch. Eight days after her abduction, her family was told that she had converted to Islam and married a Muslim man.
ICC noted that abductions and forced conversions to Islam were common among religious minorities in Pakistan. An estimated 1,000 women from the country’s Christian and Hindu communities are abducted, raped, and forcefully converted to Islam each year.
https://themedialine.org/top-stories/pakistan-releasing-christian-woman-long-imprisoned-for-blasphemy/

The EU Still Appeasing the Mullahs
د. ماجد رافيزادا: لا يزال الإتحاد الأوروبي مستمراً في استرضاء ملالي في إيران
Majid Rafizadeh/Gatestone Institute/April 15/19
http://eliasbejjaninews.com/archives/73862/majid-rafizadeh-the-eu-still-appeasing-the-mullahs-%d8%af-%d9%85%d8%a7%d8%ac%d8%af-%d8%b1%d8%a7%d9%81%d9%8a%d8%b2%d8%a7%d8%af%d8%a7-%d9%84%d8%a7-%d9%8a%d8%b2%d8%a7%d9%84-%d8%a7%d9%84%d8%a5%d8%aa/
**The more the EU appeases the ruling clerics of Iran, the more it will also empower them to continue carrying out terror and assassination plots on European soil
**While President Donald Trump may have his critics, his hard-line sanctions are the only kind of political message that Iran’s leaders can understand
Despite Iran's destructive behavior, such as support for terror and militia groups across the region, the European Union has chosen to help the ruling mullahs of Iran, ostensibly to maintain the flimsy, illegal, never-signed, unratified "nuclear deal" -- but possibly even more as an embarrassingly transparent attempt, if the EU could be embarrassed, to navigate around US economic and political pressure and continue doing business with the regime.
If the EU does not change its position and continues its support of Iranian leaders and the nuclear deal, Tehran's aggressive policies in the Middle East will persist, and Tehran will keep on pursuing its subversive agenda of attacking Saudi Arabia and the Gulf States via Yemen, Israel through Syria and Lebanon, and the US via Venezuela.
While President Donald Trump may have his critics, his hard-line sanctions are the only kind of political message the Iranian leaders can understand.
The Trump administration's decision to designate Iran's Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps (IRGC) as a foreign terrorist organization is part of its tougher stance towards Iran's dark and hegemonic ambitions. Meanwhile, the European Union has chosen to help the ruling mullahs of Iran.
The European Union, in an unfathomable move, has been taking the side of the Iranian government, and turning its back on its old transatlantic partner, the United States, which recently announced plans to designate Iran's Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps (IRGC) as a foreign terrorist organization (FTO), reportedly to take effect this week.
The Trump administration has taken a tougher stance towards Iran's dark and hegemonic ambitions. Meanwhile, despite Iran's destructive behavior, such as support for terror and militia groups across the region, the European Union has chosen to help the ruling mullahs of Iran, ostensibly to maintain the flimsy, illegal, never-signed, unratified "nuclear deal" -- but possibly even more as an embarrassingly transparent attempt, if the EU could be embarrassed, to navigate around US economic and political pressure and continue doing business with Iran's regime.
This loyalty to a tyranny has taken place has despite terror and assassination plots that Iran has brought to the EU since the establishment of the nuclear deal, such as several political assassination attempts committed in the EU by Iran's agents.
One evening in November 2017, as Ahmad Mola Nissi returned to his home in The Hague, an assassin gunned him down at his front door. The 52-year-old Dutch citizen of Iranian origin had been a critic of the Iranian government and prominent figure in the Arab Struggle Movement for the Liberation of Ahvaz. He had fought for the safety and liberation of others and was gunned down where he should have felt the safest.
The Dutch authorities publicly announced for the first time that it had "strong indications" the Iranian government had commissioned the murder.
Not only was Nissi targeted for his political beliefs, but, despite supposedly friendly dynamics between Iran and the EU, his murder was carried out on European soil.
His death is not an isolated case. Another of Tehran's political opponents, Mohammad Reza Kolahi Samadi, was killed in similar circumstances in Amsterdam in 2015. He had apparently been targeted for his opposition to the Iranian government the 1980s. Without any trial, without any valid proof, his life had been taken, again with complete disregard to the political alliance between the EU and Iran.
Tehran, in fact, has a long and distinguished track record of complete disregard for human rights (for example, here, here and here) and international law (here, here, here and here )
The evidence does not stop there. In fact, in recent years, a series of four assassination and terrorist plots across Europe, some successful and others not, have been traced back to Tehran. These include a foiled a terrorist attack in Paris in July of 2018 that targeted a large convention, attended by high-level speakers including former US House of Representatives Speaker Newt Gingrich, ex-New York Mayor Rudy Giuliani, and former Canadian Foreign Minister John Baird. In another case -- in which an Iranian diplomat and several other individuals of Iranian origin were arrested in France, Belgium and Germany -- French officials concluded that the Iranian regime was behind a foiled bomb plot.
Iran's latest acts of terror in Europe reveal that those leaders who are appeasing Tehran, despite its terrorist plots, are most likely damaging their nations' national security and leaving their countries more vulnerable to the Iranian government's violent behavior.
Ever since the nuclear deal, Iran's destructive actions in its own surrounding region have also increased, as has its funding and arming of known terrorist sects or militia groups. These include Hezbollah, the Houthis and Hamas. The militant groups' indiscriminate firing of rockets into other countries has made peace in the region impossible.
Iran's series of assassinations and attacks highlights that its government will resort to acts of terrorism to achieve its fundamentalist, extremist and revolutionary objectives, such as sponsoring and funding terrorist groups, as well as inciting anti-Americanism and anti-Semitism.
The theocratic establishment of Iran -- the same Iran that the EU is aiding -- continues to be the world's leading state sponsor of terrorism.
The Iranian leaders are making a mockery of the EU, and benefiting from the chaos it sows throughout Europe, the Middle East and South America. If the EU does not change its position and continues its support of Iranian leaders and the nuclear deal, Tehran's aggressive policies in the Middle East will persist, and Tehran will keep on pursuing its subversive agenda of attacking Saudi Arabia and the Gulf States via Yemen, Israel through Syria and Lebanon, and the US via Venezuela.
While President Donald Trump may have his critics, his hard-line sanctions are the only kind of political message that Iran's leaders can understand. Coming into force last November, Trump's secondary sanctions have hit most of Iran's major industries, including oil, shipping and banking. Commercial relations with all blacklisted entities are prohibited. Anyone who trades with Iran can no longer trade with the US. This policy may seem harsh, but it is well-informed and ultimately can significantly damage the ruling clerics' ability to carry out their aggressive goals. This policy might also win the US back its leverage.
The more the EU appeases the ruling clerics of Iran, the more it will also empower them to continue carrying out terror and assassination plots on European soil. How long will the EU continue its misinformed, dangerous policy of kissing up to the mullahs? The EU instead, for its own security, would do better to suspend its business transactions with Iran for a while and commit itself instead to putting a stop to the Iranian government's unending rapacious behavior.
*Dr. Majid Rafizadeh, is a business strategist and advisor, Harvard-educated scholar, political scientist, board member of Harvard International Review, and president of the International American Council on the Middle East. He has authored several books on Islam and US Foreign Policy. He can be reached at Dr.Rafizadeh@Post.Harvard.Edu
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https://www.gatestoneinstitute.org/14027/eu-appeasing-iran

Sudan: Lessons Of Revolts, Uprisings
Ghassan Charbel/Asharq Al-Awsat/April 15/19
If Libya lost four decades under Colonel Muammar Gaddafi, three decades went in vain under Omar Hassan al-Bashir’s rule of Sudan. It is no exaggeration to say that Sudan, since its independence in 1956, spent those years lost between generals and uprisings, until it attained the current change, exhaustedly.
Successive revolutions and revolts drained the country’s resources and stability, shattered its unity and shrunk its map. The mastery of Sudanese parties to dispel the space of democracy perfectly matches the ability of the military to seize any chance to re-impose its grip on power and decision-making.
Only two years after the independence, the radio cut its programs and broadcast the number-one statement. The army, led by General Ibrahim Abboud, seized power and left it only after an uprising – the revolution of 1964. The parties could not organize the dance of return to democratic rule. They have long argued over the system of governance and the constitution and wasted both the time and the decision.
On May 25, 1969, the radio cut its programs again to broadcast the top news. The ship fell in the hands of a captain named Marshall Gaafar Nimeiry. During the reign of the president, the blood of Communists and Ansar was shed, in addition to the flowing river of blood in the South. Nimeiry lived long, and in those days, many parts of the world were sinking under the hats of salvaging generals. The Sudanese got tired of his face and overthrew him in a coup in 1985. The parties did not learn from previous lessons and began to argue about the system, the constitution, and the references. They disregarded a brilliant player – the Islamic Movement – which was lurking amid their confusion, waiting for the opportunity to attack. On June 30, 1989, the radio will cut its programs to broadcast the number-one news.
The country fell into the hands of a paratrooper named Omar Hassan al-Bashir. In the beginning, he hid his real identity to mislead neighboring countries and major powers. And this is what happened next.
The story is exciting. A day before the so-called "Salvation Revolution" they brought Bashir to Khartoum to meet with the supposed leader and "mentor", Dr. Hassan al-Turabi.
Turabi addressed the officer, saying: “You will go to the palace as president and I will go to prison.” He was then taken to Kober prison and the Bashir era began.
Al-Tijani al-Tayeb, a member of the Communist Party leadership, recounted how the plot was uncovered and that Uthman Omar of the Democratic Unionist Party yelled loudly from his prison cell: “This is the first time in history that the leader of the successful coup d'etat is arrested with the other detainees.” Turabi was smiling.
In prison, Turabi hid the story of the plot. He chatted with his fellow prisoners and led the prayers. But he did not veil his delight when the Soviet Union started to decline. He later expressed joy at the collapse of the “Great Satan”, in reference to the Soviet Union.
I later asked Turabi about accusations by the West that he was the spiritual mentor of Bashir’s regime. He replied: “Yes because the West knows about religion. If it enters politics, it becomes a church, and it is the pope who rules. They remember the early days when they fought it; now they want to bind Omar al-Bashir to Turabi, so they get rid of Turabi because they hate Islam, but they don’t hate the military or inherited rule.”
He continued: “They think we are a church where the pope is the decision-maker, like the pope whom they fought and drove out of power. They know nothing about our country. They did not study our history and do not know our language; we studied their history and know their religion and their language.”
Turabi’s projects were bigger than Sudan’s ability to handle them. His overwhelming presence was greater than Bashir’s tolerance. It is difficult for the president general to accept a civilian general, even if it was the man who sent him to the palace and decided to go to prison to facilitate the coup. Each of the two men went in his own way, but this time, the president did not hesitate to send the "mentor" to prison.
In 1999, I asked Bashir about accusations against Turabi. He defended him. But the days have changed. In January 2017, I met him in Riyadh during an interview with Asharq Al-Awsat. I asked him about the most difficult man he had dealt with in Sudan. He replied: “It is Hassan Abdullah al-Turabi, may God have mercy on him.”I said that the relationship was strange. He replied: “He is a charismatic figure who has been in control of the Islamic Movement for a long time. He experienced many conflicts within the movement before he clashed with us. He was always the winner in his struggles for leadership within the movement, but he lost for the first time in his struggles with us.”Bashir’s regime squandered three decades of Sudan’s life, at a time when the world was witnessing major transformations and scientific and technological revolutions. Bashir kept the seals, despite what happened in the south and Darfur, despite the ICC’s decision, and the seasons of dancing with terrorism. Bashir thought that his long tenure would fortify him against any possible spring. But the story of Sudan says coups are meant to follow the path of revolutions.
Sudan turned the page of Omar al-Bashir. Now it is important to listen to people, to restore their confidence and to avoid the risk of sliding into chaos. It is time to return to the institutions and to strengthen them. It is about time parties and unions learned the lessons of the past and the military understood the same experiences. Sudan needs stability that is protected by the will of its citizens and a government that seeks to compensate for what has been lost, a government that cares about the problems of poverty, unemployment, and education.
Sudan needs to draw lessons from the successive coups and uprisings.

The Libyan Army and the Drive on Tripoli
James Stavridis/Bloomberg/April 15/19
In so many ways, Libya should be a successful and prosperous nation. Its lengthy Mediterranean coastline is dotted with significant ports and infrastructure. Its oil reserves are the largest in Africa and top 10 in the world. Libya has a relatively educated population of just 6 million, and close proximity to Europe. Yet since the death of the former dictator Muammar Qaddafi in 2011, the nation has spiraled deeper into chaos. Now, things have devolved into a long-running civil war between the government in Tripoli, which is supported by the United Nations, and the forces of General Khalifa Haftar, which are advancing on the capital. Don’t bet against Haftar. I commanded the NATO forces that intervened in Libya in 2011 at the request of the UN to prevent Qaddafi from massacring a significant portion of his population. I met Haftar, who is a charismatic figure with a fascinating background.
He was an officer in Qaddafi’s army, but turned against the dictator and eventually took refuge in the US, where he lived for two decades. He speaks Italian, English and Russian in addition to Arabic. After the NATO intervention, he returned to Libya and consolidated power in the east, eventually conquering the port city of Benghazi. He is backed by some Arab countries and at times received support from European nations, including France and Italy.
Despite a recent stint in a French hospital, he seems to have the energy and drive to continue consolidating the country under his rule.
There are four principal problems at the heart of Libya’s troubles. First is the complex system of tribal allegiances that a dictator like Qaddafi was able to keep under control by brutal repression. Not unlike when Yugoslavia splintered in the 1990s and the resulting wars tore apart the Balkans, post-Qaddafi Libya faces ongoing violence from tribal conflict. A second difficulty is the rise of terrorist organizations amid the mayhem, including al-Qaeda and ISIS. They want to continue destabilizing Libya and use it as a base for infiltrating and attacking Europe across the narrow stretch of the Mediterranean that separates it and Italy.A third issue is the flow of refugees out of the war-torn country. These are not only Libyans, but also tens of thousands of sub-Saharan Africans who make their way to the ports of Libya in hopes of transportation to Italy and then into the European Union. Many cannot find passage and stay in Libya. And among them there are certainly some returning militants and deserters from ISIS.
Finally, Russia is exerting increasing influence according to many analysts. The Russians had longstanding ties to Qaddafi, and are hoping to achieve economic benefits by supporting Haftar. While reports that Haftar is “Moscow’s man in Libya” seem overblown, any increasing Russian presence is a legitimate concern. Most observers believe that the US has a limited role to play, even if Haftar is a dual Libyan-American citizen with children living in the US. From the moment the NATO campaign ended – a moment that will go down in military history as the first conflict whose end was announced on Twitter - it has been clear that the US wanted no part of reconstructing Libya, feeling it was a job for the Europeans.
This may have been a justifiable approach in terms of policy. But the Europeans have failed to provide the economic aid, reconstruction support and counterterrorism assistance needed to bring about a negotiated truce. Haftar, with his backers, has filled the void. The potential for Libya to turn even more violent is rising.Haftar’s recent gains notwithstanding, an ultimate military victory by either side appears unlikely. What’s needed is a top-down diplomatic approach, with the UN Security Council approving talks under the auspices of the European Union. Just as the Security Council provided the legal umbrella for the military intervention in 2011, it can provide legitimacy for discussions to end the fighting. The US could be most helpful to bring Haftar to the table.
The goal would be persuading the two parties into a power-sharing arrangement akin to what ended the conflict in Colombia, in which the FARC rebels were guaranteed seats in the national legislature. (This is also the best approach to ending the 18-year-war in Afghanistan.)
Haftar is cagey enough to understand that a negotiated settlement is the only way forward - and his drive on Tripoli may be designed to give him a stronger bargaining position when such talks get underway. That can’t happen soon enough.

The Stunning Revenge of Sudan's Former 'Janjaweed'
Alberto M. Fernandez/MEMRI/April 15/19
The fall of the nearly 30-year regime of Sudan's president Omar al-Bashir was almost entirely due to the heroism and steadfastness of the Sudanese people – ordinary people, youth, women and the urban poor – rallying without fear since December 2018 until April 11, 2019 and beyond. Led initially by the Sudanese Professionals Association (SPA) and by civil society, it was later embraced by traditional opposition parties and armed rebel groups. Dozens of demonstrators were killed and hundreds arrested and abused by a regime skilled in repression and violence that had successfully suppressed for years various waves of civil unrest through a combination of force and the illusory offer of dialogue and reform.
This time the result was different.[1] The usual tactics did not work. Bashir may just have lost his touch and have been in power too long. But the national security establishment he depended on for so long, an establishment that he had honed and manipulated for years, in the end reportedly refused to follow his demand for greater violence against demonstrators. The initial statement by the first, brief leader of the interim military council, Defense Minister Awad Mohamed Ahmed Ibn Awf, made it seem as if it were a call for a more violent crackdown that caused the military to move against Bashir.
The initial impression made was less of a coup d'etat overthrowing a regime than a regime making an internal course correction. The Defense Minister said that the Council would remain in power for two years, maintain a state of emergency for three months, and enforce a nightly curfew. It didn't turn out that way. Ibn Awf made it clear in that first statement that the move against Bashir was made by the Sudanese Armed Forces (SAF), the police, the National Intelligence and Security Service (NISS), and the shock troops of the Rapid Support Forces (RSF). But almost immediately, the fissures in the ruling cupola appeared.
Little noticed at first was the fact that the RSF refused to take its seats in the interim military council and publicly called for a much stronger embrace of the demands of Sudan's civilian demonstrators, including a quicker return to civilian rule.[2]
For those who know Sudan, this was an interesting turn of events. The RSF, forged by Khartoum out of the violence of the Darfur conflict, is the latest iteration of the notorious Janjaweed, paramilitary forces drawn from Darfur's Arab tribes and used by the regime in bloody counter insurgency work, first in Darfur and later in other border areas of Sudan and eventually, in 2013-2014, even in suppressing demonstrations in Khartoum.
As U.S. Charge d'Affaires in Sudan from 2007 to 2009, I spent a considerable amount of time meeting with the Darfuri Arab tribes, particularly the camel herders (Abbala Rizeigat) from where the Janjaweed were principally drawn. I was even able to meet two of their most emblematic (or notorious) leaders, Musa Hilal and Muhammad Hamdan Dagalo, commonly known in Sudan as "Hemeti."
Although bitter rivals, both told a similar tale of their relationship with Khartoum. Faithful executioners of a brutal security policy in Darfur, they were acutely conscious of being used by Khartoum, of being manipulated as marginalized people. Dependent on NISS for funding and weapons, they also resented how NISS would play them, encouraging tribes to fight each other. Both expressed a deep ambivalence about their symbiotic relationship with the center and emphasized that they were not partisans of the ruling Islamist National Congress Party. Indeed, both would at some point briefly revolt against Khartoum and flirt with joining the armed opposition.
Darfur's Arab tribes were certainly victims who had turned into victimizers. Mostly poor and poorly educated, they were actually little different from marginalized tribes all along Sudan's periphery, from their rivals and victims in Darfur to the Misseriyya of Kordofan and the Beja of Eastern Sudan. Like colonial authorities, the powers that be in Sudan played one tribe against another, punishing one while rewarding another. Such behavior had been honed in the decades long war against the South Sudanese, but continued after the independence of the South in 2011. Bashir and the NCP merely continued and accelerated practices previous governments had implemented to maintain control.
Musa Hilal initially seemed like Khartoum's main Janjaweed commander and favored interlocutor. In 2008 he was named an advisor to the Ministry of Federal Affairs. He was elected to Sudan's parliament as part of Bashir's NCP.[3] But Hilal tried to maintain his power base in Darfur and violently resisted merging his forces into the Rapid Support Forces headed by his rivals. In November 2017 he was arrested by Khartoum and as of early 2019 remained in prison.[4]
Hemeti would in the end prove to be a more adroit power player. The nephew of the traditional chief of the Awlad Mansour section of the Mahariyya clan of the Rizeigat, Hemeti ostensibly worked for NISS after the creation of the RSF in 2013 and reported to a NISS general based in Khartoum.[5] Over time, Hemeti would become more independent of NISS and seems to have been able to play NISS and SAF against each other while giving Sudan's President an autonomous "third option" to use against the much larger army and intelligence services. While creditably accused of human rights abuses and war crimes in Darfur,[6] the RSF also benefited from being used as brutal shock troops at the beck and call of Khartoum beyond Darfur; in 2016, a decree placed them directly under presidential control.[7]
This reputation of being a force that is both essential and expendable, a sort of Praetorian Guard dependent only on the Sudanese head of state, would see the RSF sent to fight in Yemen as part of Sudan's contribution to the Saudi-led coalition effort against Iran-backed Houthi rebels.[8] It is in Yemen that the RSF solidified a connection with then Brigadier Abdel Fattah Burhan. Burhan also had a connection with Sudan's border guards where some of these Darfur Arab paramilitaries had served. Burhan's role as coordinator for the Sudanese war effort in Yemen also placed him in contact with allies in the United Arab Emirates and Saudi Arabia.[9]
In contrast with the aloof and arrogant Ibn Awf, Burhan was photographed meeting with demonstrators, at the same time as the RSF openly sided with demonstrators and demanded a stronger position by the interim military council in aligning with the popular will. Less than 48 hours after the removal of Bashir, Burhan would be sworn in as head of the council.[10] Not only would Ibn Awf fall from grace, but also NISS chief Salah Gosh, the onetime master and creator of the RSF, would fall as well.[11] His replacement Shams al-Din al-Kabashi was a graduate of the same batch at Sudan's military college as Burhan. And stunningly sworn in as deputy to Burhan on April 13, ostensibly interim "Vice-President" of the military council was the 46-year old RSF commander Muhamad Hamdan Dagalo "Hemeti."[12] This was an astonishing, meteoric rise to power in less than 10 years, from Darfuri Arab paramilitary field commander to ostensibly the second most powerful position in Sudan.
Given the volatile political situation in Sudan, there is no guarantee that the correlation of forces in place right now will last. Sudan is a political and economic basket case and will face difficult times even with a competent civilian government, should one emerge. The masses have seen the beginnings of change and clearly want much more. It is not clear how long the surprising honeymoon between the new military leadership, including the RSF, and demonstrators will last. And there is no guarantee that it will all not end in tears, although Western diplomats have begun meeting with Hemeti, and the UAE and Saudi Arabia have promised new assistance to Sudan. But in the end, the brutal henchmen that Khartoum had unleashed to bloodily impose its will in Darfur would turn against him and help give Sudan a chance – how much of a chance is still unclear – for a better future.
* Alberto M. Fernandez is President of Middle East Broadcasting Networks (MBN). The views expressed herein are solely those of the author and do not necessarily reflect the official views of the U.S. Government.
[1] Washingtoninstitute.org/policy-analysis/view/after-bashirs-fall-whats-next-for-sudan, April 11, 2019.
[2] Xinhuanet.com/english/2019-04/12/c_137972485.htm, April 12, 2019.
[3] Aljazeera.com/indepth/opinion/2017/09/sudan-renegade-sheikh-170909175651542.html, September 10, 2017.
[4] Africanews.com/2017/11/27/musa-hilal-the-powerful-militia-chief-from-
[5] Dabangasudan.org/en/all-news/article/background-who-are-the-rapid-support-forces-in-sudan, September 9, 2015.
[6] Hrw.org/report/2015/09/09/men-no-mercy/rapid-support-forces-attacks-against-civilians-darfur-sudan, September 9, 2019.
[7] Smallarmssurveysudan.org/fileadmin/docs/issue-briefs/HSBA-IB-27-Sudanese-paramilitary-forces.pdf, November 27, 2017.
[8] Jamestown.org/program/sudans-controversial-rapid-support-forces-bolsters-saudi-efforts-yemen/, October 27, 2017.
[9] Aa.com.tr/en/middle-east/who-is-new-head-of-sudans-transitional-council/1451074, April 13, 2019.
[10] France24.com/en/20190413-veteran-soldier-burhan-becomes-sudans-new-ruler, April 13, 2019.
[11]Aawsat.com/english/home/article/1679931/profile-sudans-ex-intelligence-chief-salah-gosh, April 15, 2019.
[12] Dabangasudan.org/en/all-news/article/rsf-militia-commander-sworn-in-as-sudan-s-interim-v-p, April 13, 2019.