LCCC ENGLISH DAILY NEWS BULLETIN
April 26/2019
Compiled & Prepared by: Elias Bejjani

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Bible Quotations For today
Am I now seeking human approval, or God’s approval? Or am I trying to please people? If I were still pleasing people, I would not be a servant of Christ.
Letter to the Galatians 01/01-10: “Paul an apostle sent neither by human commission nor from human authorities, but through Jesus Christ and God the Father, who raised him from the dead and all the members of God’s family who are with me, To the churches of Galatia:Grace to you and peace from God our Father and the Lord Jesus Christ, who gave himself for our sins to set us free from the present evil age, according to the will of our God and Father, to whom be the glory for ever and ever. Amen. I am astonished that you are so quickly deserting the one who called you in the grace of Christ and are turning to a different gospel. not that there is another gospel, but there are some who are confusing you and want to pervert the gospel of Christ. But even if we or an angel from heaven should proclaim to you a gospel contrary to what we proclaimed to you, let that one be accursed! As we have said before, so now I repeat, if anyone proclaims to you a gospel contrary to what you received, let that one be accursed! Am I now seeking human approval, or God’s approval? Or am I trying to please people? If I were still pleasing people, I would not be a servant of Christ..

Titles For The Latest English LCCC Lebanese & Lebanese Related News published on April 25-26/19
US Targets 2 Men, 3 Firms for Helping Hezbollah Avoid Sanctions
Aoun welcomes World Forum of Religions, German delegation: dialogue at United Nations peace on paper
Hariri receives AlRoudan, Grindlay, Djerejian
Berri: Lebanon Should Begin Preparations for New Electoral Law
KSrelief Launches Humanitarian Projects in Lebanon's Beqaa
Lebanon's Cabinet Convenes in Baabda, Budget Not on Agenda
U.S. Hits Hizbullah ‘Financiers, Firms’ with New Sanctions
Lebanese Army chief at launch of 'Special Forces Training Center' in Akkar's Sheikh Taba: Through our firm will, we face surrounding challenges
Illegal hiring: Kanaan says Court of Audit to settle on contravening contracts
Geagea during Commemoration of Armenian genocide in Meerab: Quest for a strong and effective republic is a comprehensive national endeavor
Chidiac, Aliyyeh talk public transactions' development affairs
Report: LF, FPM at Loggerheads over Information Leaks
ISF Police Found Dead with Gunshot Wound Near AUB
UNIFIL Confirms Third Tunnel Crossing Blue Line
Lebanese Government to Start Discussing Draft Budget Next Week
Samy Gemayel, Yaacoubian Submit Draft Law on Bank Secrecy
Carlos Ghosn Wins Second Bail in Japan
IRGC Designation: A Lost Opportunity to Weaken Hezbollah in Lebanon

Titles For The Latest English LCCC Miscellaneous Reports And News published on April 25-26/19
Israel Allows Gaza's Christians to Pray In Jerusalem
Sisi in Beijing to Attend 'Belt and Road Forum'
Palestinian Authority Looks to Soft Loans amid Financial Crisis
Damascus’ Allies, Opponents Race Over Strategic Gains
Syria Negotiators in Kazakhstan for Talks
Sudan Military Chiefs Resign as Deal Struck with Protestors
3 Members of Sudan Military Council Resign
Egypt Confirms Death Sentence for 2 Monks over 2018 Murder of Bishop
Kim, Putin Vow to Seek Closer Ties at First Talks

Titles For The Latest LCCC English analysis & editorials from miscellaneous sources published on April 25-26/19
IRGC Designation: A Lost Opportunity to Weaken Hezbollah in Lebanon/David Daoud/ Atlantic Council/April 25/19
359 “People Were in Pieces!” Easter Day Islamic Terror in Sri Lanka/Raymond Ibrahim/Gatestone Institute/April 25/19
The Difficult Road to Defense/Peter Huessy/Gatestone Institute/April 25/19
Algerian Backgrounds/Hazem Saghieh/Asharq Al Awsat/April 25/19
Free Speech in Denmark/Judith Bergman/Gatestone Institute/April 25/19
Snuffing out Iran’s Oil Will Bring Stability to the World/Salman Al-dossary/Asharq Al Awsat/April 25/19
Columnist In Syrian Daily Close To Assad Regime: As Russia-Iran Disagreements In Syria Increase, Each One Pressures Regime To Accept Its Initiative For The Region/MEMRI/April 25 kdshkL19
Iran’s investments in Syria in jeopardy thanks to US sanctions/Dr. Majid Rafizadeh/Arab News/April 25/19
By Punishing Iran, Trump Is Weakening America/Henry Farrell and Abraham Newman/Foreign Policy/April 25/19
ISIS’s Newest Recruiting Tool: Regional Languages/Krishnadev Calamur/The Atlantic/April 25/19

The Latest English LCCC Lebanese & Lebanese Related News published on April 25-26/19
US Targets 2 Men, 3 Firms for Helping Hezbollah Avoid Sanctions
Asharq Al-Awsat/April,25/2019/The US Treasury, moving to boost pressure on Hezbollah, imposed sanctions on Wednesday against two people and three firms that Washington accuses of being involved in schemes to help the Iran-backed party evade American sanctions, reported Reuters. The Treasury’s Office of Foreign Assets Control (OFAC) said it was targeting Belgium-based Wael Bazzi because he acted on behalf of his father Mohammad Bazzi, a Hezbollah financier. OFAC also took action against two Belgian companies and a British-based firm controlled by Bazzi. In addition, the US Treasury designated Lebanon-based Hassan Tabaja, who it said had acted on behalf of his brother Adham Tabajha, also a Hezbollah financier. The two men and three businesses were targeted for sanctions under US regulations aimed at suspected terrorists or those who support them, the Treasury said in a statement. Hezbollah is considered a foreign terrorist organization by the United States. “Treasury is relentlessly pursuing Hezbollah’s financial facilitators by dismantling two of Hezbollah’s most important financial networks,” Treasury Undersecretary Sigal Mandelker said in a statement.
“By targeting Hassan Tabaja and Wael Bazzi and their European-based companies, this administration is continuing to disrupt all avenues of financial support relied upon by Hezbollah,” he said. The US action freezes their assets and property and prevents US citizens and businesses from dealing with them. The US State Department earlier this week offered a reward of up to $10 million for information that could help disrupt Hezbollah’s financing. The move to boost pressure on the group comes at a time of growing US concern about its role in the Lebanese government. Hezbollah has also sent fighters to Middle East conflicts, including the war in Syria, where it supported regime leader Bashar Assad, and the conflict in Yemen.

Aoun welcomes World Forum of Religions, German delegation: dialogue at United Nations peace on paper
Thu 25 Apr 2019/NNA - "Dialogue at the United Nations is not useful for it is establishing peace on paper only. Without dialogue between peoples, there can be no peace," President Michel Aoun said this Thursday. "The implementation of the objectives of the Human Academy for Encounter and Dialogue shall promoting democracy and establish peace among peoples," he added. President Aoun's remarks came during his welcoming at the Baabda Palace to the president of the World Forum for Religions and Humanity, Joel Rizkallah Jabr, at the head of a German delegation from FREUNDE ABRAIHAMS, and members of the forum. The delegation briefed Aoun on the activities of the organization at the global level, in terms of dialogue between religions and openness to the other. "The Friends of Abraham organization was founded 18 years ago at the University of Munich and is interested in the history of the region and its religions, as well as its political history before the spread of religions," said Kathrin Neumann. "Studying this history would help build bridges between the past and the present and understand what is happening now, especially in Europe."The President welcomed the delegation, stressing "his continuous efforts to expand the framework of dialogue in the world through the project he submitted before the UN last year to establish the Human Academy for Encounter and Dialogue in Lebanon under the auspices of the International Organization; a project to be voted on this year by the General Assembly." "The Middle East has suffered from terrorism recently, and its repercussions are still obvious, reaching Europe as a delayed reaction to the tragedies that preceded the stages of the emergence of heavenly religions," said the President. Aoun pointed out that "Lebanon is in contact today with various countries, especially the European pro-Academy ones, and that India supported the project and China will respond positively.""Respect for the right of difference is not only between individuals but also among civilizations, within the principle of respecting the freedom of belief for one another. This is a universal call for peace," he said, stressing that the uniqueness of Lebanon makes it the best platform for such an academy.

Hariri receives AlRoudan, Grindlay, Djerejian
Thu 25 Apr 2019/NNA - The President of the Council of Ministers Saad Hariri received this afternoon at the Center House the Kuwaiti Minister of Commerce and Industry Khaled Nasser Abdullah Al-Roudan, accompanied by the Kuwaiti Ambassador to Lebanon Abdel-Aal al-Kinai. After the meeting, Al-Roudan said that discussions focused on the bilateral relations between the two countries and increasing the trade exchange since the current figures are not up to the ambitions of the two countries. He added: "An economic team will discuss ways to enhance the volume of exchange between our two countries, which are linked by brotherly relations."Hariri also met with the director of the Rice University's Baker Institute for Public Policy, former US Ambassador Edward Djerejian, who said after the meeting: "We had a very productive meeting focused on the situation in the region and the good Lebanese-American relations, in addition to what Lebanon faces on the economic level and Prime Minister Hariri's plans to face these burdens."Hariri then received the Australian Ambassador to Lebanon Rebekah Grindlay. He met separately with the ambassadors of Lebanon in Ukraine Ali Daher, Algeria Mohamad Hassan and Morocco Ziad Atallah.

Berri: Lebanon Should Begin Preparations for New Electoral Law
Naharnet/April 25/19/Head of Development and Liberation parliamentary bloc, Speaker Nabih Berri said Lebanon should start preparations for a new parliamentary electoral law, noting that his bloc prepared a “law initiative” in that regard, al-Joumhouria daily reported on Thursday. “The current electoral law created great imbalance and an overwhelming complaint from everyone," said Berri, “experience has shown it to be a “mini Orthodox” law. We must therefore take advantage of the lessons that the elections have given.'"We are working with a great deal of care to prepare a modern law that is based on Lebanon's relative size and on the aspirations of the Lebanese who wish to be represented fairly and correctly,” Berri told the daily. The Speaker said his bloc has prepared a law initiative that sees Lebanon as one constituency on the basis of proportionality. In 2018, Lebanon held its legislative elections based on a new electoral law adopted in 2017 that provides a proportional representation system for the first time in the history of the country. On the timing of his call noting that Lebanon held its elections only a year ago, Berri said: “We don’t want to be short of time.”The so-called Orthodox electoral law was proposed in 2012 by former Deputy Speaker Elie Ferzli. It calls for each sect to elect its own MPs within the country as a single district. Criticisms said it would aggravate sectarian divisions in the country.

KSrelief Launches Humanitarian Projects in Lebanon's Beqaa
Beirut - Asharq Al-Awsat/Thursday, 25 April, 2019/Advisor to the Royal Court, General Supervisor of King Salman Humanitarian Aid and Relief Center (KSrelief) Dr. Abdullah bin Abdulaziz Al-Rabiah toured on Wednesday Lebanon's Beqaa Governorate, where he launched a number of relief projects in the presence of Saudi Ambassador to Lebanon Walid bin Abdullah Bukhari. During the tour, Dr. Al-Rabiah participated in the distribution of food baskets to the displaced Syrians within the project of Ramadan food baskets. He also met with Commissioner-General of the United Nations Relief and Works Agency for Palestine Refugees (UNRWA) Pierre Krahenbuhl, in the presence of Saudi Ambassador to Lebanon Waleed Bukhari. During the meeting, they discussed the issues of common interest in the fields of humanitarian and relief as well as the issues and ways of enhancing joint cooperation between KSrelief and UNRWA in the field of providing aid to the Palestine refugees. Dr. Al-Rabiah also met with UN Resident and Humanitarian Coordinator Philippe Lazzarini, during which they discussed issues of common interest in the fields of humanitarian and relief as well as the issues and ways of enhancing joint cooperation between KSrelief and the UN Humanitarian Office in the field of providing aid to the Lebanese, Syrian and Palestinian needy refugees.

Lebanon's Cabinet Convenes in Baabda, Budget Not on Agenda
Naharnet/April 25/19/The Cabinet convened at the Presidential Palace in Baabda on Thursday to discuss 38 items on its agenda that does not include the 2019 state’s budget. President Michel Aoun chaired the meeting in the presence of PM Saad Hariri and the government ministers. Aoun and Hariri held a closed-door meeting before joining the ministers. The country’s budget was not listed on the Cabinet agenda because it has not been distributed to ministers, which raises potentials that an agreement has not yet been reached on the austerity measures the government plans to implement.

U.S. Hits Hizbullah ‘Financiers, Firms’ with New Sanctions
Naharnet/April 25/19/The U.S. Treasury Department announced on Wednesday that it had imposed new sanctions on two individuals and three entities on charges of financing Hizbullah and trying to circumvent U.S. sanctions. According to the Office of Foreign Assets Control, the two individuals are “Wael Bazzi, a Belgian resident who worked on behalf of his father and Hizbullah financier Mohamed Bazzi; and Lebanon-based Hassan Tabajeh, who acted on behalf of his brother Adham Tabjba, a member of Hizbullah and one of its financiers.”The U.S. sanctions against the two men and their three European-based firms freezes their assets and property and prevents businesses from dealing with them. Early this week, the Trump administration said it is offering rewards of up to $10 million each for information that disrupts the finances of Hizbullah organization.

Lebanese Army chief at launch of 'Special Forces Training Center' in Akkar's Sheikh Taba: Through our firm will, we face surrounding challenges
Thu 25 Apr 2019/NNA - Army Commander, General Joseph Aoun, on Thursday patronized the launch of the Audi Bank-funded "Special Forces Training Center" in the region of Akkar's Sheikh Taba. The launch ceremony took place in the presence of scores of official figures, local dignitaries and senior army officers. "Our firm will and our faith in our message remain our weapon in the face of all surrounding challenges," Maj. Gen. Aoun said, stressing that the process of building a modern and sophisticated army is not solely confined to armament, but also to training "which is equally important."

Illegal hiring: Kanaan says Court of Audit to settle on contravening contracts
Thu 25 Apr 2019/NNA - The Finance and Budget House committee convened in a session at the Parliament Thursday, under the chairmanship of MP Ibrahim Kanaan, to follow up on the discussion of the illegal hiring inside the state institutions and administrations. "Today's session was devoted to put the final touches on what we have accomplished during the past month regarding the hiring dossier since October 2018," Kanaan told reporters. "We now have facts and a clear image about what happened; we will basically conclude the hearing sessions and venture into the preparation of our final report," he said. Kanaan indicated that the Court of Audit was now responsible to settle on the illegal contracts. "We will hold the contravening political power responsible and we will name the contravening side," he stressed. "Our report will be conclusive, comprehensive, transparent and within the reach of everybody," he added.

Geagea during Commemoration of Armenian genocide in Meerab: Quest for a strong and effective republic is a comprehensive national endeavor
Thu 25 Apr 2019/NNA - The Lebanese Forces Party on Thursday commemorated the 104th anniversary of the Armenian Genocide during a ceremony held in Meerab in the presence of scores of political, social, religious and media dignitaries. In his delivered word, Lebanese Forces leader, Samir Geagea, saluted the martyrs of the Armenian massacres, eulogizing them as the martyrs of truth, duty and humanity. Geagea said today's occasion comes to renew loyalty to the Armenian cause and that of the Syriac, Assyrian and Chaldean causes that shall never die out despite the years and decades.
Turning to the internal domestic scene, Geagea underlined that the current delicate stage necessitates staying away from the politics of axes and exclusivity in making decisions outside the governmental consensus.The Lebanese Forces leader stressed continual, unremitting efforts to realize a strong republic, saying "the pursuit of a strong and effective republic is a comprehensive national endeavor, rather than a narrow partisan goal."

Chidiac, Aliyyeh talk public transactions' development affairs
Thu 25 Apr 2019/NNA - A meeting was held on Thursday between Minister of State for Administrative Development Affairs, Dr. May Chidiac, and the Director General of Tenders Department, Jean Aliyyeh, within the framework of the support provided by Minister Chidiac's Office to the Tenders' Department. The meeting took place on the sidelines of the conclusion of a series of training seminars on the objective criteria for the management of public transactions hosted by the Office of the Ministry of State for Administrative Development Affairs.Aliyyeh thanked Chidiac for the Ministry's efforts to develop the capabilities of public employees, especially the staff of his Department and members of Tenders’ committees in public administrations to carry out their duties in accordance with the laws in effect, and to acquaint them with the international standards and best practices in this domain.
Discussions also focused on the importance of implementing the outputs of the EU-funded Public Transactions' Development Project, managed by the Office of the Minister of State for Administrative Development Affairs.

Report: LF, FPM at Loggerheads over Information Leaks
Naharnet/April 25/19/The Lebanese Forces and Free Patriotic Movement are still in an open conflict over many internal issues the most recent was over leaking of minutes of meeting between Lebanese officials and Marshall Billingslea, assistant secretary for terrorist financing in the United States Department of the Treasury, al-Joumhouria daily reported on Thursday. The MOM between Deputy Prime Minister Ghassan Hasbani and Economy Minister Mansour Btesih with Billingslea in Washington were leaked twice in the last week. Although FPM chief and Foreign Minister Jebran Bassil has requested opening an internal investigation into the incident, LF sources said the move came “belated.”“There is a double trouble here regarding this leak. There was a first leak and a second one yesterday. Despite that the Foreign Ministry did not launch investigations or issue an apology or a condemnation. This should have been issued personally by Minister Bassil,” LF sources told the newspaper. “This is damaging to the image of Lebanon, to its credibility, to its diplomacy, to the confidence of the international community, and to its relations with foreign countries,” they added, noting “we will question the government and foreign ministry, we won’t ignore this file.”The sources concluded, "It is very unfortunate that some embassies have become a place for the leak of records. What happened is shameful, and the Ministry of Foreign Affairs must bear the responsibility and show the truth.”

ISF Police Found Dead with Gunshot Wound Near AUB
Naharnet/April 25/19/A member of the Internal Security Forces was found dead with a gunshot wound near the American University of Beirut, VDL (93.3) radio station said on Thursday. Unnamed “sources believed he could have shot himself,” according to VDL. The circumstances of the incident are still unclear, it added. Investigation were run to uncover the details.

UNIFIL Confirms Third Tunnel Crossing Blue Line
Kataeb.org/Thursday 25th April 2019/The United Nations peacekeeping force in Lebanon, UNIFIL, on Thursday confirmed the presence of a third tunnel along the Blue Line on the Lebanese southern border with Israel. “Recently, UNIFIL carried out a technical inspection of the last tunnel discovered by the IDF in northern Israel close to the Blue Line and across from the Lebanese village of Ramyah and following an independent assessment, it confirms that this tunnel crosses the Blue Line in violation of resolution 1701,” the statement read. Israel had reported six tunnels but UNIFIL’s investigation has so far confirmed the presence of five, including three crossing the Blue Line. “The Lebanese authorities have been informed about the violation and urgent follow-up actions have been requested in accordance with the responsibilities of the Government of Lebanon pursuant to resolution 1701,” the statement added. “UNIFIL remains engaged with the parties to ensure that all activities in sensitive areas are duly coordinated, the Blue Line is fully respected by both sides, and to help the parties uphold their respective obligations towards the cessation of hostilities under resolution 1701,” the statement affirms.

Lebanese Government to Start Discussing Draft Budget Next Week
Kataeb.org/Thursday 25th April 2019/The government is set to start discussing the 2019 draft budget next week, Finance Minister Ali Hassan Khalil announced on Thursday. “Starting Tuesday, the government will hold continuous sessions until the budget is approved,” Khalil told reporters following the Cabinet session at the Baabda Palace. Khalil pointed out that the amended budget plan will be distributed to the ministers today so that they would be able to examine it ahead of next week's discussions. The Finance minister refuted "rumors" about salaries cut as unfounded. Cabinet will hold a session next week dedicated to discussing the 2019 state budget, Finance Minister Ali Hasan Khalil said following a Cabinet session Thursday. A copy of the latest draft budget will be distributed to ministers ahead of the session, set for Tuesday, in accordance with a request from Prime Minister Saad Hariri. "We will hold continuous sessions until we have finished with the budget," Khalil added. During Thursday's session, the government approved salary hikes for employees at the Port of Tripoli and the Railways and Public Transport Authority in accordance with the salary scale law. Finance minister highlighted that the government has decided to stop covering trips except for those carried out by President Aoun and PM Hariri for emergency political motives.

Samy Gemayel, Yaacoubian Submit Draft Law on Bank Secrecy
Kataeb.org/Thursday 25th April 2019/Kataeb leader Samy Gemayel and MP Paula Yaacoubian on Thursday announced that they will submit a new draft law on bank secrecy aimed at curbing corruption and control bribery in the public sector. “The draft law that was submitted to the Parliament was made in a way to remain unapproved because it has complicated mechanisms; it is a stillborn proposal," Gemayel said during a joint press conference with Yaacoubian at the Parliament. "We have reformulated the existing draft law in a way that does not allow it to be contested before the Constitutional Council. We have facilitated its mechanisms and included in it political parties and their heads as well as contractors,” he explained. “Influence peddling will not be curbed unless bank secrecy is lifted off companies and contractors that are dealing with the government." “We hope that the draft law gets ratified as soon as possible so that we put an end to outbidding. We also hope that the voting would be done by roll call so that people would know who voted in favor of it and those who did not,” he stressed. “By proposing this draft law, we are committing to the Kataeb's electoral platform in which we pledged to work on this issue," Gemayel affirmed. For her part, Yaacoubian highlighted that the draft law is aimed at boosting transparency, noting that it is more expanded than the one put forth by the Free Patriotic Movement as it includes more people and officials whose bank accounts should be disclosed. “According to the draft law, everyone involved in the public service and anyone who takes part in public tenders should be subject to the lifting of bank secrecy,” Yaacoubian stated. "The draft law also reduces the bank guarantee from LBP10 million to just LBP1 million," she added. Turning to the lingering waste management crisis, Gemayel warned against an environmental disaster in the summer should this problem remains unaddressed, pledging to keep up confronting shady deals. “The country is heading towards an environmental disaster amid plans to expand the existing landfills,” he warned, condemning the ruling authority's failure to keep its decentralization promises. “It is as if they are waiting until we reach a dead end so they force us to accept the de facto reality of landfills expansion,” he said. Yaacoubian also slammed the Parliament for not passing the law pertaining to garbage sorting, adding that it would have spared a large amount of waste being landfilled. “I have been in touch with the Minister of Environment and he is willing to advocate sorting. Had we started three years ago, the situation wouldn’t have been as catastrophic as it is today. It is the lawmakers' duty to pass the waste sorting law,” she added. “I hope that words would be turned into actions by accelerating the endorsement of laws that are necessary to save the country,” she concluded.

Carlos Ghosn Wins Second Bail in Japan
Kataeb.org/Thursday 25th April 2019/Former Nissan chief, Carlos Ghosn, won his second bail for $4.5 million in Japan on Thursday as he faces four charges ranging from concealing part of his salary from shareholders to syphoning off Nissan funds for his personal use.
The court has set bail conditions specifying that Ghosn cannot leave Japan or see his wife, subjecting him to other restrictions to prevent him from attempting to flee or destroy evidence relating to the case. Ghosn’s lawyer Junichiro Hironaka told reporters Ghosn's bail conditions included an "approval system" to see his wife, Carole. "If the court approves it, she will be able to meet him," he affirmed. "Further discoveries related to Ghosn's misconduct continue to emerge," a Nissan spokesman said in a statement. "It was extremely regrettable that (the court) approved his bail even as it recognized that the accused had planned to work with people related to the case,” Deputy prosecutor Shin Kukimoto at the Tokyo District Public Prosecutors Office told AFP as they fear some evidence of the crime might be destroyed.

IRGC Designation: A Lost Opportunity to Weaken Hezbollah in Lebanon
David Daoud/ Atlantic Council/April 25/19
Designating Iran’s Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps (IRGC) as a foreign terrorist organization (FTO) stirred panic in Lebanon. Hezbollah’s allies in the Lebanese government—such as the Free Patriotic Movement (FPM) and Amal—worried they too would soon bear the brunt of American sanctions. But US officials reassured a hastily dispatched delegation of the group’s allies last week that despite the more aggressive stance on Iran, they would suffer no consequences for empowering its primary proxy. In doing so, the United States lost an opportunity to weaken Hezbollah through deterring its allies.
Because Hezbollah has enmeshed itself in almost every level of Lebanese government and society, countering its growing strength without harming the integrity of the Lebanese state remains a challenge. Differing but insufficient solutions to this dilemma exist. Israel, for example, prefers collectively punishing Hezbollah and the Lebanese state without distinction, while France opts for virtual inertia against the group to preserve Lebanon’s fragile stability. In the end, either option would only strengthen Hezbollah.
By contrast, the United States has adopted the theoretically preferable approach of robustly sanctioning Hezbollah while simultaneously strengthening Lebanon. This too, however, has borne little practical fruit because it has focused almost exclusively on the group’s finances, without targeting its vulnerabilities.
Hezbollah’s governmental power should be easiest to erode. Unlike its social influence or military power, it’s not a reflection of its own efforts, or numbers in parliament or the cabinet. Hezbollah holds only twelve out of 128 parliamentary seats, and three of 30 cabinet ministries. Instead, its alliances with larger parties—namely FPM and Amal—allow the group to punch above its weight in Beirut.
Despite the longevity of Hezbollah’s alliances with these groups, their partnership is fragile. Amal might also be Shia, but it is a secular party loyal to Lebanon. Though Amal and Hezbollah now form the Lebanese political arena’s “Shia duo,” they fought a mini inter-sectarian war in the late 1980s, and their enmity periodically resurfaces in clashes between their respective supporters. Parliament Speaker Nabih Berri, Amal’s leader, maintains a pragmatic alliance with Hezbollah because challenging the group head-on risks costing him the support of Shias and his political power.
Hezbollah’s alliance with FPM is even more tenuous, lacking the sectarian “glue” that uncomfortably binds it with Amal. FPM is also Lebanese nationalist, but with a Christian—predominantly Maronite—base, espousing a version of the same “Political Maronitism” ideology condemned by Hezbollah in its 1985 Open Letter.
FPM’s founder, Michel Aoun, once ranked among the Shia group’s staunchest political opponents. He only allied with it in 2006 because he correctly calculated that it would serve as the vehicle of his ascendancy to the presidency. Foreign Minister Gebran Bassil—Aoun’s son-in-law and FPM’s current leader who also has presidential aspirations—is betting on Hezbollah for the same reason.
In short, these parties are bound to Hezbollah not by conviction or shared ideology, but by self-interest. Hezbollah possesses advantages—like a committed foreign backer, a robust military arsenal, and the social support of an ever-expanding number of Shias, by all estimates Lebanon’s fastest-growing sect—that its opponents lack. This comparative advantage allows Hezbollah to reward its allies with tangible political gains, like securing Aoun’s decades-long ambition of becoming president. With no price to pay as a counterweight, FPM and Amal have little reason to abandon this otherwise beneficial alliance.
The IRGC designation could have changed that calculus, potentially signaling Washington’s readiness to hold Lebanese entities and individuals criminally liable for providing material support to the IRGC and Hezbollah, and to even style additional Lebanese political parties themselves as FTOs in the future to counter Tehran’s hegemonic ambitions. In short, the designation created fear that US patience with Hezbollah’s political enablers was at an end.
The designation’s timing increased this initial impression. It followed shortly after US Secretary of State Mike Pompeo’s recent tense stopover in Lebanon, during which Hezbollah’s main allies—Aoun, Bassil, and Berri—defended the group, its “resistance,” and place in Lebanon’s political and social pantheon. Pompeo left them with a warning: Lebanon could choose to confront Hezbollah, or face “unprecedented” American pressure on Tehran, its proxy, and their allies.
Heightening the designation’s impact, it also overlapped with reports that Washington was already mulling separate sanctions against Lebanese officials—including Berri and his inner circle—for facilitating Hezbollah’s power. Lebanese media claimed Aoun could be next, and that the United States warned Bassil to distance himself from the Shia group. Pompeo also declined to dispel these reports, stressing he’d “made very clear” to Lebanese officials that Washington would “evaluate sanctions for all those that were connected” to Hezbollah.
Berri appeared unperturbed, even sanguinely defending Hezbollah’s “resistance” at the 140th Inter-Parliamentary Union Assembly in Doha. But he and Aoun quickly dispatched their three-man delegation to the United States—which included Berri’s personal spokesman and FPM’s Ibrahim Kanaan—to lobby against sanctions.
Washington didn’t actually have to sanction FPM or Amal. It merely needed to maintain the impression that it intended to do so, to achieve its desired effect of distancing those two parties from Hezbollah. But by promptly reassuring them, however, the United States negated its ability to leverage the fear aroused by the IRGC designation to distance them from Hezbollah.
Curtailing Iran’s regional expansionism will fail without weakening Hezbollah. Designating the IRGC as an FTO—and the fear of what comes next from the label—would have provided Washington with a deterrent effect as it relates to FPM and Amal. Instead, the United States assuaged their fears and ensured that such future measures will be received with Lebanese indifference. Hezbollah’s allies will continue reaping the benefits of the partnership, as the group and Tehran continue to grow their power in Lebanon and the region unchecked.

Latest LCCC English Miscellaneous Reports & News published on April 25-26/19
Israel Allows Gaza's Christians to Pray In Jerusalem
Tel Aviv - Asharq Al-Awsat/Thursday, 25 April, 2019/After intervention from Western countries, the Israeli government reversed its decision and allowed Palestinian citizens in the Gaza Strip to cross the border checkpoints to Jerusalem and Bethlehem to participate in prayers on the occasion of Easter. Israel has denied the Christians of Gaza this right without giving a convincing explanation, and rejected all demands in this regard by Christian citizens and priests. After several officials from Europe and the United States raised this matter, Israeli authorities decided to grant 500 Palestinian Christians permits to leave, 300 of them to the West Bank and Jerusalem and 200 to Jordan. The number of Palestinian Christians in the Gaza Strip has decreased significantly in recent years; as most of them have left abroad. According to a report issued by the Palestinian Central Bureau of Statistics (PCBS) in February 2018, 1,138 Christian Palestinians live in Gaza; they have relatives in Jerusalem, the West Bank and Israel.

Sisi in Beijing to Attend 'Belt and Road Forum'
Cairo - Asharq Al-Awsat/Thursday, 25 April, 2019/Egyptian President Abdel Fattah el-Sisi has started an official visit to the Chinese capital to attend the Belt and Road Forum for International Cooperation, which is held on April 25-27, with the participation of 37 heads of state and government. Ambassador Bassam Radi, spokesman for the Egyptian presidency, said that Sisi’s participation in the summit “comes within the framework of Egypt’s keenness to participate in the Belt and Road initiative, as one of the pivotal partners of China, in light of the strategic importance of the Suez Canal, the key maritime corridor of world trade.”Sisi’s visit to China is the sixth since he took office in 2014. According to a statement issued by Radi, the president will hold a summit with his Chinese counterpart to discuss ways to strengthen strategic partnership. The Egyptian president is also scheduled to hold meetings with a number of officials and the Chinese business community to discuss ways of boosting economic, trade and investment cooperation between the two sides. On the sidelines of the summit, the president will meet with a number of heads of state and government to discuss ways of boosting bilateral cooperation on various regional and international issues.

Palestinian Authority Looks to Soft Loans amid Financial Crisis
Ramallah – Asharq Al-Awsat/Thursday, 25 April, 2019/The United States’ accusation that the Palestinian Authority (PA) was allegedly creating a financial crisis drew fierce backlash from the Fatah movement. Fatah was very vocal against fiscal measures taken by Tel Aviv and Washington, blaming them for the deteriorating living conditions enduring by Palestinians. The Trump administration, at a UN Security Council session on the issue at the request of Kuwait and Indonesia, said Palestinians set off a crisis by rejecting the first monthly sums to be taxed from Israel in 2019. Public sector employees in PA-run territories have not received last month’s paycheck, with no news for a date for when their salaries will be disbursed. More so, the PA is predicted to hold back parts of civil servant salaries several months to come until a new government is formed in Israel after the parliamentary elections earlier this month. The Palestinian Ministry of Finance has also started implementing a plan based on borrowing from banks, increasing domestic revenues and rationalizing spending. Suing Israel for “piracy of its fund,” is also on the table for PA officials. US President Donald Trump's Middle East envoy Jason Greenblatt pinned the blame for unpaid civil servants on the PA. Israel's security cabinet had withheld tax transfers to the PA over its payments to prisoners jailed for attacks on Israelis. The Israeli government justified the move by saying it was implementing a law passed last year allowing Israel to withhold funds used to pay stipends to Palestinian attackers and their families from taxes Israel collects on the PA’s behalf. Greenblatt stressed that the payments encourage violence. PA officials lamented the decision, saying it will scale up the PA’s general budget deficit from $450 to $600 million dollars. The Arab League pledged to pay $100 million a month to the PA to plug the gap left when Israel blocked tax transfers, Seeking a bandage solution for the financial crisis, PA head Mahmoud Abbas met with the President of the Islamic Development Bank in Amman, Jordan. The Palestinian Minister of Finance, in his capacity as supervisor of seven banks operating in the Palestinian territories, also met with Shoukri Bishara, Governor of the Central Bank of Jordan. Soft loans and grants given to the PA reached $1.3 billion last year.

Damascus’ Allies, Opponents Race Over Strategic Gains
London - Ibrahim Hamidi/Asharq Al-Awsat/Thursday, 25 April, 2019/Allies and opponents of Damascus continue to benefit from the country’s political and economic weaknesses to win strategic gains that can limit the abilities of any Syrian government for the next decades. Western diplomatic sources said Wednesday that the Iranian economic concessions in Syria have stirred Russian sensitivities as Moscow and Tehran compete on securing their shares of influence in the country as a prize for supporting the regime of Bashar Assad during the past years. The sources said Moscow was mostly concerned when Damascus accepted to grant Iran the right to manage the port of Latakia, which is located near the two Russian bases in Latakia and Tartous and for allowing Iran to be the first in reaching the Mediterranean Sea, leaving the Tehran-Mediterranean route open. As a response, Moscow was quick to announce its long-term control over the Syrian Tartous port through disclosures made by its Deputy Prime Minister, Yury Borisov, who said the port will be leased to Russia for 49 years for transportation and economic usage. While Russia and Iran benefited from Syria’s military losses in 2015 to enhance their military presence across the country, they both currently benefit from the economic crisis to gain strategic concessions. In return, US President Donald Trump accepted to keep around 1,000 troops in east Syria while European-US contacts continue with an aim to shape a common perception for their future presence east the Euphrates. Meanwhile, Ankara and Moscow currently hold talks over a swap deal of Tal Rifaat in the Aleppo countryside with the Shaghur Bridge, which was mysteriously attacked on Wednesday.

Syria Negotiators in Kazakhstan for Talks
Agence France Presse/Naharnet/April 25/19/Delegations from Iran, Russia and Turkey were in Kazakhstan's capital Nur-Sultan on Thursday seeking an end to the conflict in Syria while shoring up their interests in any future political settlement. Kazakhstan's foreign ministry confirmed that teams from the three powers as well as negotiators from the Syrian regime and its armed opponents had arrived in the capital Thursday. Talks will take place throughout the day in "two-way and three-way formats" ahead of an expected plenary session on Friday, the ministry said in a statement. United Nations Syria envoy Geir Pedersen would arrive later in the day, the ministry added.  The situation on the ground in the northwestern region of Idlib, under the administrative control of Syria’s former Al-Qaeda affiliate Hayat Tahrir al-Sham (HTS), is expected to feature prominently in the talks. Idlib has been protected from a massive regime offensive by a September deal inked by Damascus ally Russia and rebel backer Turkey. But regime bombardment has increased since HTS took full control of the region from rival rebels in January. Other items expected to be included in negotiations include prisoner swaps and the distribution of humanitarian aid. Russia, a backer of Syrian President Bashar al-Assad, has taken a lead role in diplomatic efforts in Kazakhstan that has largely sidelined UN diplomacy. Tehran, like Moscow, is an ally of Assad's regime, while Ankara has aligned itself with the rebels but has repeatedly threatened to attack Kurdish fighters on the Syrian side of its southern border that it views as "terrorists". A Western diplomat told AFP that Moscow will be aware of perceptions that recent rounds of the so-called "Astana process" have made little progress and may push to speed up the creation of a long-awaited constitutional committee. The capital of Kazakhstan was called Astana until last month, when it was renamed after the country's outgoing president. The committee is of particular interest to the UN which favours a Syrian-led resolution to the conflict but it may be hamstrung from the outset, the diplomat warned. "Even if a Constitutional Committee is created, it will then take a long time to reach a very uncertain result," the diplomat told AFP. Any proposal would therefore be "low risk" for Moscow, whose military intervention in 2015 has helped Damascus assert control over two-thirds of the country's territory. Syria's war has killed more than 370,000 people and displaced millions since the conflict began with the repression of anti-government protests in 2011.

Sudan Military Chiefs Resign as Deal Struck with Protestors
Agence France Presse/Naharnet/April 25/19/Three members of Sudan's ruling military council resigned Wednesday after it said it reached "agreement on most demands" with protest leaders who have called for a million-strong march to demand a civilian government. The 10-member military council had invited the protest leaders for a meeting after the leaders suspended talks with the army rulers on Sunday. "We have an agreement on most demands presented in the document of the Alliance for Freedom and Change," Lieutenant General Shamseddine Kabbashi, spokesman of the ruling military council, told reporters after the meeting between the council and leaders of the umbrella group leading the protest movement. He did not elaborate on the key demand of handing power to a civilian government, but said there "were no big disputes". One of the protest leaders who attended the meeting, Ahmed al-Rabia, said the two sides had also agreed to form a joint committee, but did not elaborate for what.Minutes later in a separate statement the military council announced that three members of the ruling body had resigned. They were Lieutenant General Omar Zain al-Abdin, Lieutenant General Jalaluddin Al-Sheikh and Lieutenant General Al-Tayieb Babikir. Wednesday's late night developments came as Siddiq Farouk, one of the leaders of the protests, told reporters that the demonstrators were "preparing for a general strike" if the ruling military council refuses to hand power to a civilian administration. He also said that a "million-strong march" is planned, confirming a call for the mammoth protest Thursday by the Sudanese Professionals Association (SPA), the group that initially launched protests against longtime leader Omar al-Bashir in December. For the first time, Sudanese judges said they would join an ongoing sit-in outside army headquarters "to support change and for an independent judiciary". The demonstrations initially began in the central town of Atbara on December 19 against a decision by Bashir's government to triple bread prices.
They swiftly turned into nationwide rallies against his rule and that of the military council that took his place.
'We demand civil rule'
The council, led by General Abdel Fattah al-Burhan since his predecessor quit after barely 24 hours in the post, says it has assumed power for a two-year transitional period. Hundreds of protesters came from the central town of Madani to join the sit-in on Wednesday, the second major batch of new arrivals from outside the capital in as many days. A train laden with demonstrators had rolled in from Atbara -- the crucible of the protests -- on Tuesday. "Revolutionaries from Madani want civilian rule," the latest arrivals chanted, according to witnesses. The protesters suspended earlier talks with the council Sunday over its refusal to transfer power immediately. But the military council invited the protesters to fresh talks Wednesday, acknowledging their role in "initiating the revolution and leading the movement in a peaceful way until the toppling of the regime" of Bashir.
'Ready to talk'
Earlier in a press conference, senior opposition figure Omar el-Digeir said protest leaders were prepared to meet directly with Burhan. "We are ready to talk with the chief of the military council and I think the issue can be solved through dialogue," he told reporters. Thousands have camped outside the military headquarters in central Khartoum since before Bashir was deposed, and have vowed not to leave the area until their demands have been met. Late Wednesday, crowds of protesters carrying Sudanese flags marched through the protest site outside the army headquarters, an AFP correspondent reported. "Fall or not, we are staying," the protesters chanted. Protester Ayman Ali Mohamed said he was planning to join Thursday's march. "We fear that the military council might steal our revolution, so we have to participate until the transfer to civilian rule is accomplished," he said. "We are standing our ground no matter what."The protesters have found support in Washington, which has backed their call for civilian rule. "We support the legitimate demand of the people of Sudan for a civilian-led government, and we are here to urge and to encourage parties to work together to advance that agenda as soon as possible," State Department official Makila James told AFP on Tuesday. On Tuesday several African leaders, who had gathered in Cairo at the behest of Egyptian President Abdel Fattah al-Sisi, insisted on "the need for more time" for a transition, according to Sisi's office.
The leaders urged the African Union to extend by three months an end-of-April deadline for the council to hand power to a civilian body.

3 Members of Sudan Military Council Resign
Asharq Al-Awsat/Thursday, 25 April, 2019/Three members of the Sudanese Transitional Military Council resigned on Wednesday. Lieutenant-General Omar Zain al-Abideen who heads the TMC’s political committee was one of the resigning members, the TMC said in a statement. The two others were Lieutenant-General Jalal al-Deen al-Sheikh and Lieutenant-General Al-Tayeb Babakr Ali Fadeel. Their resignations are yet to be accepted, the council said late on Wednesday. The resignations came after the Sudanese Professionals’ Association, the main protest organizer, called for a million-strong march to take place on Thursday. One of the SPA’s demands was that the three lieutenant-generals, Abideen, Fadeel and Sheikh, be dismissed and tried over their alleged role in a crackdown that killed dozens of protesters. The SPA had planned to announce a transitional civilian government during the rally, but Ahmed Rabie, a senior member of the group, said it will delay the announcement and instead focus on forming different committees to hold talks with the military. Earlier on Wednesday evening, the opposition and the TMC agreed to form a committee to resolve their disagreements, amid tensions over how long it will take to move to civilian rule after the overthrow of autocrat Omar al-Bashir. “We are partners working together to bring Sudan to safety,” TMC spokesman Shams El Din Kabbashi said on state TV following a meeting with the umbrella group Forces of the Declaration of Freedom and Change, which includes the SPA. The TMC had invited the opposition to the talks, saying that “the doors of dialogue and negotiation are open.”The opposition movement voiced a willingness to participate in the talks. “The Forces of the Declaration of Freedom and Change decided to respond to the invitation and listen with an open mind to what the president of the military council will propose, asserting that our desire is the peaceful transfer to a transitional civilian authority that reflects the forces of the revolution,” the SPA said in a statement. The military council has said it is in talks with all Sudan's political parties to name a prime minister and civilian government to run the country for two years. The TMC and the opposition had appeared on a collision course in recent days over popular demands for democratization under civilian government. The SPA had declared on Sunday it would suspend talks with the military council. While the opposition has insisted on a swift handover of power to civilians, the TMC has said the process could take up to two years. Bashir ruled for 30 years after taking power in a military coup in 1989. The SPA has called for the formation of a legislative council in which at least 40 percent of the members would be women. It would draft laws and oversee a Cabinet of technocrats until a new constitution is written.

Egypt Confirms Death Sentence for 2 Monks over 2018 Murder of Bishop
Asharq Al-Awsat/Thursday, 25 April, 2019/An Egyptian court on Wednesday confirmed the death sentence for two monks, who are accused of the 2018 murder of a bishop. In a case that shocked the Middle East's largest Christian community, Coptic Bishop Epiphanius was found dead with a head wound in July at the Saint Macarius monastery in the plains of Wadi al-Natrun, northwest of Cairo. Prosecutors said one of the monks, Isaiah, confessed to striking the cleric with a metal bar as the second monk, Philotheos, kept watch. The authorities blamed the killing on unspecified "differences" between the bishop and the two monks, one of whom was later defrocked. The defendants can still appeal. In its ruling, the court said that the defendants had carried out "one of the greatest crimes", according to a court official. "(Their) status as monks did not stop them from carrying out this crime, the place of the crime did not deter them, and they did not care about the advanced age of the victim or his religious status," it said, according to AFP. In the wake of the bishop's killing, Egypt's Coptic Church placed a one-year moratorium on accepting new monks. It also banned monks from social media, tightened financial controls and refocused attention on spiritual life.

Kim, Putin Vow to Seek Closer Ties at First Talks
Agence France Presse/Naharnet/April 25/19/Russian President Vladimir Putin and North Korean leader Kim Jong Un vowed to seek closer ties as they met face-to-face Thursday for the first time. The meeting in Russia's Far Eastern city of Vladivostok came with Kim looking for support in his nuclear stand-off with Washington and Putin keen to put Moscow forward as a player in another global flashpoint. In brief statements before heading in to the talks, both leaders expressed their hopes for strengthening historic ties. "I think it will be a very useful meeting in developing the relationship between the two countries, who have a long friendship and history, into a more stable and sound one," Kim said. "As the world is focused on the Korean peninsula, I think we will hold a very meaningful dialogue."Putin told Kim he supports ongoing efforts to ease tensions on the Korean peninsula and wants to boost economic ties.
"I am confident that your visit... will help us to better understand how we can resolve the situation on the Korean peninsula and what Russia can do to support the positive processes that are currently taking place," Putin said. "In terms of bilateral relations, we have a lot to do to develop economic relations."The meeting was Kim's first face-to-face talks with another head of state since returning from his Hanoi summit with US President Donald Trump, which broke down without a deal on North Korea's nuclear arsenal in February.
North Korean labourers
Among the issues likely to be on the table is the fate of some 10,000 North Korean labourers working in Russia and due to leave by the end of this year under sanctions. Labour is one of North Korea's key exports and sources of cash. Pyongyang has reportedly asked Russia to continue to employ its workers after the deadline. Kim, whose government has told the United Nations it is facing food shortfalls this year, will also be keen to see Moscow continue or boost its aid. Russia has provided some $25 million in food aid to North Korea in recent years, according to the Kremlin. One delivery in March saw more than 2,000 tonnes of wheat supplied to the port of Chongjin, news agency TASS reported. For Putin, the summit is a chance to push Russia's agenda of opposing US international influence. In an interview with China's official People's Daily published on Thursday, Putin lashed out at "countries claiming sole global leadership". "They carelessly trample on the norms and principles of international law, resort to blackmail, sanctions and pressure, and try to force their values and dubious ideals on entire countries and populations," said Putin, who is heading to China after the talks for another summit. The Vladivostok meeting follows repeated invitations from Putin since Kim embarked on a series of diplomatic overtures last year. Since March 2018, the formerly reclusive North Korean leader has held four meetings with Chinese President Xi Jinping, three with South Korea's Moon Jae-in, two with Trump and one with Vietnam's president. At the meeting with Trump in Hanoi, the cash-strapped North demanded immediate relief from sanctions, but the talks broke up in disagreement over what Pyongyang was prepared to give up in return. North Korea last week launched a blistering attack on US Secretary of State Mike Pompeo, insisting he be removed from the negotiations just hours after announcing it had carried out a new weapons test. Pompeo said on Wednesday he expected "bumpy" talks ahead with Pyongyang but that he still hoped to reach a potentially landmark denuclearisation deal.
Soviet-era allies
Russia has already called for the sanctions to be eased, while the US has accused it of trying to help Pyongyang evade some of the measures -- accusations Russia denies. The Kremlin has said the focus of Thursday's talks will be on finding "a political and diplomatic solution to the nuclear problem on the Korean Peninsula" but that no joint statement or signing of agreements was planned. Moscow was a crucial backer of Pyongyang for decades and their ties go back to the founding of North Korea, when the Soviet Union installed Kim's grandfather Kim Il Sung as a leader. The USSR reduced funding to the North as it began to seek reconciliation with Seoul in the 1980s, but Pyongyang was hit hard by its demise in 1991. Soon after his first election as Russian president, Putin sought to normalise relations and met Kim Jong Il -- the current leader's father and predecessor -- three times, including a 2002 meeting also held in Vladivostok. China has since cemented its role as the isolated North's most important ally, its largest trading partner and crucial fuel supplier, and analysts say Kim could be looking to balance Beijing's influence. While ties between Moscow and Pyongyang have remained cordial, the last meeting between their leaders came in 2011, when Kim Jong Il told then-president Dmitry Medvedev that he was prepared to renounce nuclear testing. His son has since overseen by far the country's most powerful blast to date, and launch of missiles which Pyongyang says are capable of reaching the entire US mainland.

Latest LCCC English analysis & editorials from miscellaneous sources published on April 25-26/19
359 “People Were in Pieces!” Easter Day Islamic Terror in Sri Lanka
ريموند إبراهيم: جايتستون: 259 انسان مزق الإرهاب الإسلامي أجسادهم في سيريلنكا يوم عيد القصح
Raymond Ibrahim/Gatestone Institute/April 25/19
http://eliasbejjaninews.com/archives/74209/74209/
https://www.gatestoneinstitute.org/14125/sri-lanka-easter-attacks
On Easter Sunday, April 21, Islamic terrorists launched a bombing campaign targeting Christians in Sri Lanka; the current death toll is 359 with more than 500 wounded.
Eight separate explosions took place, at least two of which were suicide bombings: three targeted churches celebrating Easter Sunday Mass; four targeted hotels frequented by Western tourists on Easter holiday; and one house blast, which killed three police officers, occurred during a later security operation.
At least 39 foreigners—including citizens from the United States, Britain, Australia, and Portugal—were among the slain.
Most fatalities occurred in the three church bombings. The worst took place in St. Sebastian’s, a Catholic church in Negombo; there at least 150 Christian worshippers were killed. At St. Anthony’s Shrine, another Catholic church in Colombo, the nation’s capital, 52 were killed; and at the evangelical Zion Church, 38 were killed.
The Sri Lankan government said a local Islamic extremist group, the National Thowheed Jamaath, was responsible for the carnage; 21 people affiliated with the group were subsequently arrested. Although “[a]ll are locals,” said a government official during a news conference, “there was an international network without which these attacks could not have succeeded.” Two days later, the Islamic State claimed the attack, though “the group’s wording did not make clear whether it had direct ties to the [local] bombers, or if the attackers were heeding the Islamic State’s calls for Muslims to attack in their home countries.”
One India, a news site, gives more context: The problem of the Islamic State has been rampant in Sri Lanka since 2016. That year the Parliament was told that 32 Muslims from elite families had joined the ISIS. The following year, scores of Sri Lankan ISIS terrorists had returned from Syria, following which there was a spike in Jihadi activity. It may also be recalled that a postgraduate student from Sri Lanka, Mohammad Nizamdeen was charged with ISIS affiliated terror related offence in Australia. He was accused of being part of a plot to assassinate an Australian politician. Incidentally he is the nephew of MP Faiszer Musthapha, a cabinet minister in the Sri Lankan government
According to Sri Lanka’s 2012 census, Christians account for 7.4 percent of the population, whereas Muslims account for 9.7 percent. The majority are Buddhist—70 percent—with 12.6 percent Hindu.
Negombo, where the worst church attack occurred, “is fondly called the ‘little Rome,’ with shrines and ancient churches,” explained a local. “[S]ince the churches in these areas date back to 19th century, people flock in huge numbers to attend the Mass on Easter and Christmas”—making it an ideal target for terrorists looking for maximum casualties.
“I don’t have words to express my pain,” said another Christian man who survived St. Sebastian bombing in Negombo:
We lost so many people…. The smell of flesh is all around me…. We are a peace-loving community in this small city, we had never hurt anyone, but we don’t know from where this amount of hate is coming. This city has become a grave with blood and bodies lying around…. Since the past three years, we don’t know why, but we see an extremist’s mindset developing among the Muslims. I know many good Muslims, but there are also a lot who hate us, and they have never been so before. It is in these three years that we see a difference.
“People were in pieces,” recalled Ms. Silviya, 26, concerning the bombing of St. Anthony’s Shrine in Colombo. “Blood was everywhere. I closed my son’s eyes, took him out, passed him off to a relative and ran back inside to look for my family.”
Hotels celebrating Easter and offering special platters were especially targeted. The Hindu describes one such attack: “The suicide bomber waited patiently in a queue for the Easter Sunday breakfast buffet at Sri Lanka’s Cinnamon Grand hotel before setting off explosives strapped to his back. Carrying a plate, the man, who had registered at the hotel the night before as Mohamed Azzam Mohamed, was just about to be served when he set off his devastating strike in the packed restaurant,” which “was having one of its busiest days of the year for the Easter holiday weekend.” “There was utter chaos,” recalls the manager. “It was 8:30 am and it was busy. It was families. He came up to the top of the queue and set off the blast.”
Minutes before a bomb ripped through another hotel, the Shangri-La, a young girl posted a family photo (below) depicting seven smiling people sitting around a table. “Easter breakfast with family,” she had written on Facebook.
The suicide bomber of that hotel is believed to have been popular Muslim cleric Zahran Hashim. He is on record preaching all the usual hostility for non-Muslims, including by extolling the doctrine of al-wala’ w’al-bara’—which calls on Muslims to be befriend and be loyal to fellow Muslims, while hating all non-Muslims—and asserting that “Even if a Kafir [non-Muslim] does good things, i [sic] hate him, because he is a nonbeliever.”
Although Cardinal Archbishop of Colombo, Malcolm Ranjith, said that “we never expected such a thing to happen and especially on Easter Sunday,” Islamic terror attacks targeting Christians during Easter Sunday are hardly uncommon.
In 2017 in Egypt, Islamic terrorists bombed two Coptic Christian churches during Palm Sunday mass, which inaugurates Easter week, leaving 50 dead and 120 injured. On Easter Sunday, 2016 in Pakistan, an Islamic suicide bomber detonated near the children rides of a public park where Christians were known to be congregated and celebrating; over 70 people—mostly women and children—were killed and nearly 400 injured. On Easter Sunday, 2012 in Nigeria, Islamic terrorists bombed a church, leaving some 50 worshippers dead.
The recent Sri Lankan terror attack—which in death toll eclipses all other Muslim attacks on Christians during Easter—is a reminder that, if the Islamic State is on the retreat in the Middle East, the hate-filled ideology it and likeminded Muslims adhere to continues to spread, finding new recruits and new victims around the globe.
*Raymond Ibrahim, author of the new book,Sword and Scimitar, Fourteen Centuries of War between Islam and the West, is a Distinguished Senior Fellow at the Gatestone Institute and a Judith Rosen Friedman Fellow at the Middle East Forum.

The Difficult Road to Defense
Peter Huessy/Gatestone Institute/April 25/19
https://www.gatestoneinstitute.org/14127/nuclear-missile-defense
Ronald Reagan expressed opposition to the policy of détente, and stated that Soviet leaders "reserve unto themselves the right to commit any crime, to lie, to cheat... and we operate on a different set of standards."
"Missile defense is now seen as a key, critical part of strategic deterrence," because it is imperative to place uncertainty in the mind of an enemy force about its ability to achieve its objectives. — U.S. Air Force Lieutenant General (ret.) Henry ("Trey") Obering, former director of the Missile Defense Agency
Taken as a whole, missile defense today not only defends America's homeland, but protects U.S. allies, assets and military forces abroad.
In 1983, when U.S. President Ronald Reagan launched the Strategic Defense Initiative (SDI), also known as Star Wars -- a research program aimed at developing missiles to protect Americans from a Soviet nuclear attack -- he was accused of engaging in "red-scare tactics."
At the root of the criticism was the assumption that the nuclear balance between the Soviet Union and the United States could only remain stable if both sides adhered to the doctrine of Mutual Assured Destruction (MAD). That doctrine led to the ratification in 1972 of the Anti-Ballistic Missile (ABM) Treaty, which prohibited the deployment of missile defenses by both the U.S.S.R. and the U.S. beyond a minimal amount of interceptors.
The ABM Treaty had come about in large part as a result of Defense Secretary Robert McNamara's announcement in 1967 that the U.S. was going to embark on a missile-defense effort aimed at protecting the country from a small but expanding Chinese missile arsenal. Although then-President Lyndon Johnson was concerned about the growing Soviet missile threat, McNamara talked him into a far more limited endeavor.
Even McNamara's limited proposal, however, provoked a hysterical response, with, for instance, political cartoonists drawing caricatures of Uncle Sam "bullying" the Kremlin.
The assumption apparently made by these and other critics of the plan, including the Soviets, was that the Johnson administration was trying to trick everyone by describing the defense measure as aimed at China, when it was in fact directed against the U.S.S.R.
McNamara pushed back, arguing that although China's nuclear arsenal was small, given the aggressive and unstable nature of the Chinese regime, it was particularly dangerous. Therefore, according to McNamara, an emergency insurance policy of a limited missile-defense system made sense.
Moscow did not see it that way. In 1968, Soviet Secretary-General Leonid Brezhnev phoned the newly elected U.S. president, Richard Nixon, to request a summit. Brezhnev not only wanted nuclear arms limited; he wanted anti-ballistic missile defenses to be basically prohibited.
Nixon's view -- certainly his State Department's -- was that the next four years should become an era of "negotiation" and "détente," to establish a "structure of peace," not conflict. Soviet officials were happy to go along with this idea. It fit into their long-term objective: to use the cover of "détente" to continue to arm the Soviet Union to defeat the U.S.
The 1972 Strategic Arms Limitation Talks (SALT I) nuclear agreement, signed on May 26, 1972 by Nixon and Brezhnev, was part of this agenda. Although described as an arms-control deal, SALT I allowed the Soviets to add 10,000 new nuclear warheads to their missile arsenal. At the SALT I signing ceremony, the ABM Treaty was also signed, pending Senate ratification, which it ultimately received.
Under the ABM Treaty, the U.S. could build a nominal 100 missile interceptors to protect its Minuteman missile field in North Dakota from incoming Soviet warheads. After building the ABM site, however, the U.S. Army determined it was not worth the cost, because a mere 100 missile interceptors could not protect against a potential Soviet attack. Thus, in 1974, Congress decided to mothball and dismantle the defenses.
For the rest of the decade, missile-defense research and development were placed on the back burner, while nuclear arsenals continued to grow in both the U.S. and Soviet Union. Although described as an "arms control" agreement, SALT I allowed for the addition of thousands of nuclear warheads to Soviet and American arsenals.
The SALT II treaty, which further codified how each country could increase its nuclear arsenals, was signed in June 1979 by Brezhnev and U.S. President Jimmy Carter. The Soviet invasion of Afghanistan in December that year, however, caused Carter to withdraw the treaty from consideration by the Senate. It remained in limbo for the rest of the Carter administration.
At his first presidential press conference in January 1981, Ronald Reagan was asked whether his administration would proceed with SALT II. Reagan replied that a treaty that allowed the Soviet Union to build up its arsenal of nuclear weapons to more than 10,000 could hardly be characterized as "arms control."
Reagan also expressed opposition to the policy of détente, and stated that Soviet leaders "reserve unto themselves the right to commit any crime, to lie, to cheat... and we operate on a different set of standards."
Two years later, Reagan launched SDI, understanding that it would take many years, even decades, to achieve its goal of appropriate defense against nuclear weapons. He also knew that nuclear deterrence would remain primarily a matter of balancing U.S.-Soviet offensive nuclear weapons and maintaining a highly secure retaliatory capability. Still, the U.S. under Reagan was finally challenging the Soviets in a realm in which America excelled: high technology.
SDI not only got the Soviets' attention; it brought them to the negotiating table. This led to two key treaties -- the Intermediate Nuclear Forces (INF) Treaty and the 1991 Strategic Arms Limitation Treaty (START I) -- which, for the first time ever, eliminated thousands of nuclear warheads.
When presented with the moral logic of defending the country from nuclear attack by competing with the Soviets on the high-tech plane, some of Reagan's key critics in the Democratic Party decided to support his "peace through strength" strategy. That is how -- as was explained to this author recently by Reagan's then-National Security Adviser, Robert ("Bud") McFarland -- in spite of the House of Representatives being controlled by the Democrats (244-191), Reagan was able to secure an increase in defense spending and funding for missile-defense research, as well as to modernize America's nuclear arsenal.
With the end of the Cold War, many analysts assumed that there was no longer a need for missile defenses. Yet, in negotiations with the new Russian government, led by President Boris Yeltsin, the administration of U.S. President George H.W. Bush secured a general agreement to have both countries build robust missile defenses, capable of intercepting some 200 incoming warheads, and the deployment of space-based interceptors.
Yeltsin then proposed that the U.S. and Russia not only reduce their nuclear arsenals by many additional thousands of weapons, but simultaneously deploy robust global and layered missile defenses.
Tragically, however, when President Bill Clinton took office in January 1993, he nixed the proposal, and his defense secretary, Les Aspin, eliminated most missile-defense funding from the defense budget, boasting that he was "taking the stars out of Star Wars."
In spite of this setback, the 1990s did see progress in U.S. missile defense. Both Iraq's use of missiles in the 1991 Gulf War to attack Israel and American forces in Saudi Arabia got the attention of missile-defense proponents, such as Curt Weldon in the House of Representatives, and Ted Stevens and Thad Cochran in the Senate.
Moreover, sufficient evidence accumulated during that decade about missile threats from North Korea and Iran to cause Congress, having flipped to Republican control in 1995, to pass the Missile Defense Act of 1999.
Nevertheless, the Clinton administration refused to go ahead and test a national missile-defense system in the summer of 2000, keeping the US completely vulnerable to nuclear-armed missile attack. Ironically, a few months earlier, Russian President Vladimir Putin had adopted a strategy of threatening to use nuclear-armed missiles in a limited manner early in a crisis or conflict. In parallel, Russia's parliament (the Duma) in 2000 rejected the START II requirement that the U.S. and Russia deploy only a limited number of missiles and bombers, as single-warhead land-based missiles became too expensive to hold most of the Russian arsenal. Each warhead requires building an entire missile to put it into the field. While submarine-launched missiles could have multiple warheads, only one-third to one-fourth of a submarine fleet is on patrol and alert at any one time, dramatically reducing the number of warheads available for a first strike.
In that context, with huge numbers of warheads backing up his threats, and no U.S. missile defense to blunt an attack, Putin seems to have assumed that his threats, even of limited nuclear missile strikes, would be highly credible, and that the U.S. would stand down in a crisis or conflict, and not be willing to risk the cost of coming to the defense of America's allies.
Less than a year later, in January 2001, George W. Bush assumed the office of the U.S. presidency. More concerned with ballistic-missile threats than his immediate predecessor, Bush sought actually to implement the Missile Defense Act of 1999, and announced that the U.S. would be withdrawing from the ABM Treaty: "I cannot allow the United States to remain in a treaty that prevents us from developing effective defenses, " he said.
Bush also secured Congressional support for the deployment of a missile defense system in Alaska and California to safeguard the continental U.S. against missile strikes, especially from North Korea and Iran.
Bush subsequently got Russia to agree to a deal that would drastically reduce the number of American and Russian nuclear weapons allowed in START I. The Strategic Offensive Reductions Treaty (SORT) , also known as the Treaty of Moscow, was signed by both countries on June 1, 2003, and would remain in force until the end of 2012.
The Bush accomplishments above completely flummoxed arms-control enthusiasts who had predicted that the end of the ABM Treaty would also mean the end of arms control. In fact, however, the withdrawal from the treaty, coupled with the deployment of a missile-defense system and the SORT Treaty, actually contributed to arms control.
Equally important, as a result of Bush's three-pronged strategy, the previous view that missile defenses somehow undermined Mutual Assured Destruction (MAD) diminished significantly.
As retired U.S. Air Force Lieutenant General Henry ("Trey") Obering, former director of the Missile Defense Agency, told Gatestone, "Missile defense is now seen as a key, critical part of strategic deterrence," because it is imperative to place uncertainty in the mind of an enemy force about its ability to achieve its objectives.
In this context, with the advent of a new Russian policy to use limited nuclear strikes in a conflict, or to threaten to do so in a crisis, it is highly likely that a robust U.S. missile-defense system -- on land, air, sea and space -- would effectively deter or blunt a limited strike.
Moreover, the U.S.'s current land-based missile-interceptor system is roughly 85% effective in a one-on-one engagement. A simultaneous use of multiple interceptors raises that percentage to nearly 100.
According to the proposed 2020 defense budget, the U.S. will increase its deployed interceptors in Alaska from 44 to 64, hopefully on the way to 100. Such a deployment, Obering explained to Gatestone, would seriously complicate the plans of any attacker using a limited number of missiles as a form of coercion. A sound and robust missile defense, both for the U.S. and its allies, would make such coercion "obsolete," Obering said. In addition, the old criticism that missile defenses had to be 100% effective against even large-scale attacks in order to be worth funding can now be discarded.
Furthermore, U.S. defense-system tests against long-range missiles are getting more and more effective -- so much so that five of the recent six tests of U.S. interceptors have been successful. Even more significant is the latest successful interception of two ICBM-class targets.
The U.S. is also successfully building missile defenses in Romania, Spain and Poland, using Aegis ship-based systems, and in the Arabian Peninsula, using land-based THAAD and Patriot systems. They have intercepted more than 100 missiles launched by the Iran-allied Houthi terrorists in Yemen.
There are also Israel's missile-defense systems, such as the Arrow, David's Sling, and the short-range Iron Dome, which have successfully intercepted hundreds of Hamas rockets.
Finally, there are the THAAD, Patriot and Aegis deployments in Japan, the Republic of Korea and in the Pacific, which further reinforce America's new effort to challenge China's illegitimate missile deployments, as part of Beijing's efforts to establish itself as the hegemon in the region.
Taken as a whole, missile defense today not only defends America's homeland, but protects U.S. allies, assets and military forces abroad.
As for the cost: Since 1983, the U.S. has spent $200 billion on missile defense. This pales in comparison to the cost of the September 11, 2001 attacks on the World Trade Center and Pentagon, which has been estimated at $3.3 trillion. Imagine the cost -- in lives and money -- of a nuclear strike on New York or Washington.
Unless the United States moves with what General John E. Hyten, commander of the U.S. Strategic Command, recently called the "speed of relevance," the requirement to deploy more effective and advanced defenses in the future will not be met. Without such technologies as space-based interceptors -- a testbed capability required in the defense bill passed by Congress last year -- the promise of continued peace and prosperity envisioned by Reagan in 1983, when he announced the launch of SDI, cannot be realized.
*Dr. Peter Huessy is President of GeoStrategic Analysis, a defense consulting firm he founded in 1981, as well as Director of Strategic Deterrent Studies at the Mitchell Institute for Aerospace Studies. He was also for 20 years, the senior defense consultant at the National Defense University Foundation.
© 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.

Algerian Backgrounds
Hazem Saghieh/Asharq Al Awsat/April 25/19
Some see the difference between Algeria and Sudan as wide. The first, because of a long and costly revolution (1954-1962), formed a national group that remained strange to the second. This statement may sound true, but in depth, it is not.
The “One Million Martyrs Revolution” was - like the Janus temple - two-faced. Its other face is that it has turned the army into the only form of the state’s existence. As a result of the concealment that brought about the revolutionary forces, lack of transparency became one of the political conditions in the independent state. Security services have thus turned into the leading bodies.
Blood and conspiracy poured heavily before and after independence. The first prominent victim was Messali el-Hadj, the father of Algerian nationalism, and a professor of the subsequent generation of rulers and dissidents. He wanted to explore the potential of the political struggle by taking advantage of the decolonization conditions that followed World War II. His followers were uprooted from inside Algeria in 1957, and then in France in what was known as the "Cafe Wars". The man spent the year 1974 in Paris.
The second prominent victim was Abane Ramadan, the “revolutionary thinker” and the “architect of the Soummam Conference” in 1956, which brought about the National Liberation Army. On the border with Morocco, his fellow, Abdelhafid Bousouf, hanged him with his necktie.
With independence, there were multiple victims: Ferhat Abbas, head of the interim government. He was imprisoned by Ahmed Ben Bella and remained in prison until he was ousted in 1965. Later, Houari Boumediene imposed a house arrest on him from 1976 until the president’s departure in 1978. Benyoucef Benkhedda, the second president of the interim government, waged the "province war" against his supporters, which killed hundreds of people. Benkhedda was defeated and returned to practice his profession as a pharmacist.
Mohamed Boudiaf and Hussein Ait Ahmed, both leaders of the revolution, were charged with conspiracy and sentenced to death. They both lived in exile.
In 1965, Boumediene turned against Ben Bella. He consolidated the authoritarian power, while the country was emptied of prominent opponents. But this was not the case outside the country: in 1967, Mohamed Khider was assassinated in Spain. In 1970, Krim Belkacem was assassinated in Germany. They both came from the historical revolutions. In 1976, the internal crisis was exported in the form of war with Morocco.
Another explosion of the 1980s was the “Amazigh Spring”. It was strange that this happened in Algeria. It was a linguistic revolution.
The Amazighs, who constitute the quarter of the Algerian population, protested for their language rights. The protest turned into civil disobedience. But its crushing did not prevent it from exploding again in 2011 when 120 people were killed before Amazigh was recognized as a national language.
After the death of Boumediene, the urgent task of finding a president became the facade of the military-security complex. The results came as follows:
Chadli Bendjedid: he ruled during 1979 - 1992. He was a military and officer in the Liberation Army. He defended openness. Under his tenure, political pluralism was declared in 1990, to be later abolished in 1991 with the victory of the Salvation Front in the first half of the elections.
He was forced to resign, but the civil war broke out, claiming the lives of 200,000 people.
Social decadence appeared in the most hideous form, with beheadings and assassinations practiced by all the fighters (but later, with the issuance of the law of civil accord, the perpetrators from both camps were pardoned.)
Mohamed Boudiaf, the historical leader of the revolution, was summoned from exile because the regime was now lacking symbols. He was chosen in 1992. He ruled for four months before being assassinated by his personal guard.
Ali Kafi: He also fought in the revolution. He ruled until 1994. Mystery led to his ousting. Mystery at that time, in parallel with the civil war and its atrocities, surrounded the closed circle of the regime. Other prominent figures were assassinated, such as Kasdi Merbah in 1993 and Abou Bakr Belkaid in 1995.
Liamine Zeroual: He participated in the revolution. The army nominated him for the presidency. A new party was created for him in a bid to hint at a serious change. The new party and its present achieved victory in manipulated elections. Zeroual ruled between 1995 and 1998. He resigned and kept silent on the reasons, but he was reportedly opposed to the marginalization of the army of his role, when dealing with Islamic militants in fighting and negotiations.
Abdelaziz Bouteflika: Boumediene’s historical foreign minister. He became president in 1999 and stayed in power until a few weeks ago.
Meanwhile, the young men and women of Algeria read Frantz Fanon’s book, “The Wretched of the Earth” and how violence against the French colonizer was a cure for the Algerian colonizer. They, no doubt, laughed a lot.

Free Speech in Denmark
Judith Bergman/Gatestone Institute/April 25/19
https://www.gatestoneinstitute.org/14136/free-speech-denmark
What is shocking is that a state agency has threatened to remove a foster child from her only family, not because there is the slightest suspicion of ill-treatment of the child, but because of the foster mother's exercising her freedom of speech.
"If people start to change their legal, democratic statements because somebody wants to hurt them or try to kill them, well, then we don't have a democracy anymore. So, I am not at fault whatsoever that there is a threat to my person... We do not believe that assailants and murderers should decide where the limits of free speech should be...." — Rasmus Paludan, chairman of the Danish anti-Islam party, Stram Kurs.
The value at stake here is whether freedom of speech, regardless of what or whom it insults, can be guaranteed when it is met with violence and riots.
Jaleh Tavakoli is a Danish-Iranian blogger, an outspoken critic of Islam, and author of the book, Public Secrets of Islam. Denmark's Social Supervisory Authority has threatened to remove Tavakoli's foster child from her care, not because there is the slightest suspicion of ill-treatment of the child, but because of Tavakoli's exercising her freedom of speech. (Image source: Jaleh Tavakoli video screenshot)
In Denmark, in recent weeks, the issue of free speech has figured prominently in the news.
This March, an outspoken critic of Islam, Jaleh Tavakoli, Danish-Iranian blogger and author of the book, Public Secrets of Islam, was threatened by the Social Supervisory Authority (Socialtilsyn Øst) that her foster-daughter would be removed from her care after Tavakoli shared an online video of the rape and murder by Islamic State terrorists in Morocco of two Scandinavian young women. She was informed in a letter that the government agency's approval of her husband and her as foster parents -- they had been raising the 8-year-old since she was a newborn baby -- had been rescinded and that the girl might be taken away from them, as the authority did not consider them to "have the necessary quality to have children in your care." The letter also said:
"As a generally approved foster family, one assumes a special task in relation to taking care of children with special needs, so that the family's morality or ethics must not be questionable to any significant extent".
In its letter, the Social Supervisory Authority mentioned that Tavakoli has been charged -- but not convicted -- under Danish criminal law for sharing the video of the jihadist murder of Louisa Vesterager Jespersen. Under Danish law, it is illegal "improperly to disclose messages or images relating to someone else's private affairs or otherwise pictures of the person... in circumstances which it may be... required to keep out of the public [sphere]".
Tavakoli explained that she shared the video because the international media was reporting that the Danish woman had been beheaded, while no such information was to be found in the Danish media.
The Social Supervisory Authority wrote to Tavakoli:
"It can be problematic for your foster child that you, Jaleh, are charged with a serious offense as a result of your video sharing as part of your public participation [in the] debate ... the way you, Jaleh, have chosen to expose yourself and communicate politically in the current case of sharing a violent video... and the fact that you appear in the public debate... in leading Danish media, both printed and electronic, can compromise your role as a foster parent... that you, Jaleh, as one of the primary role models for your foster child is so heavily exposed and in this connection has passed on a very violent video, may constitute a complicated situation for your foster child... That you, Jaleh, through your behavior on social media in the present case, [do not] act as the 'digital role model' a foster parent must be... In this context, your activities may confuse and cause serious doubts in a child about how to act in the digital universe..."
"It is the worst kind of abuse of power I have ever seen" said Danish lawyer Karoly Németh, who is representing Tavakoli and her husband. The Social Supervisory Authority's letter caused widespread outrage in Denmark, including among politicians across the political spectrum. The Minister for Children and Social Affairs, Mai Mercado, wrote on Facebook:
"I am speechless. I cannot go into the specific case, which I understand is not yet settled. I must say quite clearly that if the rules in any way cause children in foster care to get caught [in the system], then I am ready to change the rules immediately and I have already been informed that it can be urgently dealt with if necessary".
The Social Supervisory Authority, since it sent its letter, seems to be backtracking. Its officials sent a new letter to Tavakoli and her husband in which they said they "would like to note that the social supervision has not intended to relate to the freedom of expression of the foster family, as foster families have the same freedom of expression as all other citizens in Denmark".
The case is ongoing and Tavakoli still has not received a final answer about what will happen to her foster daughter. What is shocking is that a state agency has threatened to remove a foster child from her only family, not because there is the slightest suspicion of ill-treatment of the child, but because of the foster mother's exercising her freedom of speech.
In a separate attempt to shut down free speech, the state-owned and taxpayer-funded Danish media outlet, which includes radio, television and internet, DR (formerly Danmarks Radio), also known as dr.dk., contacted Facebook at the beginning of April, complaining about a small, independent Danish internet media site, 24nyt.dk. The site has been critical of the EU, the consequences of Muslim immigration into Denmark and the Danish establishment in general. After DR lodged its complaint with Facebook, Facebook deleted 24nyt.dk's Facebook page. "A week ago, DR contacted Facebook and presented them with a number of facts and questions regarding 24nyt's actions on their platform," DR wrote in an article on its website.
"Facebook confirms in a text message to DR News that, based on that study [which DR conducted of 24nyt], they have closed 24nyt, but have not yet elaborated on exactly what the reason is."
Later, DR, without explanation, changed the wording of the article so that it did not admit DRs crucial role and therefore now stated:
"Facebook says to DR that they have closed 24nyt's Facebook page because of 'non-authentic and misleading behavior'. Facebook has so far not elaborated on what it actually means".
Social media expert Johan Farkas of Sweden's Malmö University called the measure "extraordinary". "It is highly unusual that Facebook throws out a Danish media site. As far as I know, this is the first time...", he said.
Perhaps some of the explanation for DRs wish to have the small news outlet removed from Facebook can be found in the fact that 24nyt.dk was a competitor. According to an article in DR:
"Over the past year, 24nyt have reached 295,000 likes, responses, sharing and comments on Facebook. DR has found this based on data from Facebook. Thus, the relatively young medium has received more interactions than the daily [mainstream] newspaper Børsen, and it is approaching the level of the [larger mainstream] newspapers Information and Kristeligt Dagblad."
The timing of the shutdown was also noteworthy. General elections in Denmark will take place at the latest on June 17, 2019. In addition, elections to the European Parliament are scheduled to take place May 23-26, 2019. 24nyt.dk is not only critical of the EU and Danish immigration policies but also of political establishment policies.
Is it acceptable for a state-owned media juggernaut, such as DR, to crush a small private competitor that has no public funding, by having its official page deleted from Facebook? In Denmark, virtually no one in the mainstream media or in the political establishment appears to care.
The limits of freedom of speech in Denmark were tested most dramatically, however, when on April 14, Rasmus Paludan, chairman of the small anti-Islam party, Stram Kurs -- which is trying to run in the upcoming elections -- held one of his many anti-Islam demonstrations, this time in the Copenhagen neighborhood of Nørrebro, which has a high percentage of Muslim residents. Paludan, who calls himself, "the soldier of freedom, the protector of the weak, the guardian of society, the light of the Danes", has been touring Denmark with his anti-Islam protests for the past year. His demonstrations frequently feature a "Koran stunt". In it, Paludan either throws a Koran around, burns it or puts bacon on it. In April, Paludan was handed a suspended sentence of 14 days in prison for making allegedly racist statements about Africans in a video he uploaded to the internet. Paludan has appealed the sentence.
"It is important to continue until there are no longer Muslims or others in this country who believe they can decide what the limit of freedom of expression should be," Paludan, who is under police protection after receiving death threats, explained in an interview.
"If people start to change their legal, democratic statements because somebody wants to hurt them or try to kill them, well, then we don't have a democracy anymore. So, I am not at fault whatsoever that there is a threat to my person... There are two things in Denmark that are completely legal, but which no one dares to do: To defile the Koran by burning it, throwing it or putting bacon in it, and to draw the prophet Muhammad. The reason is that the risk of being attacked or killed is very high. We do not believe that assailants and murderers should decide where the limits of free speech should be, and therefore we think it is important to do just that".
The demonstration on Nørrebro on April 14 only lasted 15 or 20 minutes. Paludan, and especially the police who were protecting him there, were assaulted by local Muslims and far-left activists, and Paludan had to be removed for his safety. There followed violent riots in the neighborhood for hours, including arson and stone-throwing at the police. The riots later spread to other parts of Copenhagen, with 20 instances of arson and 23 arrests. As a result, the police forbade Paludan from demonstrating in Copenhagen for a week.
"Freedom of speech is seriously imperiled when violence and riots [are allowed] to stop demonstrations" said Jonas Christoffersen, director of the Danish Institute for Human Rights. "It is a problem that Rasmus Paludan cannot be allowed to express himself. What we have seen is extremely serious in a democracy that has such riots", he said, advising dissatisfied citizens to protest Paludan with peaceful counter-demonstrations or to simply ignore him.
"If the tendency of groups of people stopping other people from expressing themselves through violence or riots continues, this could dissuade others from uttering their opinions. It can have the effect that people generally will not speak or are afraid to speak because they fear the reactions."
Several senior politicians appeared to be blaming Paludan for his actions more than blaming those who were violently assaulting the police and him. Even if one thinks that Paludan's actions were insensitive and insulting to Muslims, his actions are legal and protected under Danish law. The right to freedom of speech protects the minority from the tyranny of the majority. Soothing, politically correct speech does not need protection. Prime Minister Lars Løkke Rasmussen tweeted following the riots:
"[I] strongly disagree with Paludan's meaningless provocations that have no purpose other than to sow divisions. Meet him with arguments - not with violence. Protect democracy and freedom of speech. Do not let derogatory actions aimed at specific groups in DK [Denmark] ruin our unity."
Minister of Justice Søren Pape Poulsen tweeted:
"A sad Sunday. Paludan's circus where it is only about sowing divisions between people and provoke[ing], and the other side with very violent anti-democrats who are so insane as to throw stones at the police. Violence is never the answer! Use arguments - or better yet - ignore Paludan."
Notably, neither minister explicitly mentioned who was behind the violence against Paludan.
As some Danish commentators have pointed out, however, the value at stake here is not Paludan, but whether freedom of speech, regardless of what or whom it insults, can be guaranteed when it is met with violence and riots.
That question seems already to have been answered in 2006, after the Danish cartoon drawings of Mohammad, when riots broke out in the Muslim world. They resulted in attacks and even arson on Danish embassies in some Muslim countries, such as Syria. The Danish cartoonists received death threats; one of the cartoonists was the victim of an attempted murder. Instead of standing with the Danish cartoonists, many chose to qualify the value of free speech. British Foreign Secretary Jack Straw, for instance, in 2006 criticized European newspapers for republishing the cartoons:
"There is freedom of speech, we all respect that. But there is not any obligation to insult or to be gratuitously inflammatory. I believe that the republication of these cartoons has been unnecessary. It has been insensitive. It has been disrespectful and it has been wrong."
Similarly, also in 2006, the US State Department said:
"These cartoons are indeed offensive to the belief of Muslims. We all fully recognize and respect freedom of the press and expression but it must be coupled with press responsibility. Inciting religious or ethnic hatreds in this manner is not acceptable."
The question appeared to receive its final answer ten years later, when the French satirical magazine Charlie Hebdo published cartoons of Mohammad and paid with the lives of many of its staff. The magazine's editors later said that there would be no more Mohammed cartoons.
Paludan's attempts to turn back the clock on the issue by resorting to Koran-burnings and the like are unlikely to change the situation, as the large number of policemen needed to protect his safety amply demonstrates. Precisely because of that, both in Denmark and throughout Europe, it is urgent to keep freedom of speech from eroding any further.
*Judith Bergman, a columnist, lawyer and political analyst, is a Distinguished Senior Fellow at Gatestone Institute.
© 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.

Snuffing out Iran’s Oil Will Bring Stability to the World
Salman Al-dossary/Asharq Al Awsat/April 25/19
http://eliasbejjaninews.com/archives/74220/%D8%B3%D9%84%D9%85%D8%A7%D9%86-%D8%A7%D9%84%D8%AF%D9%88%D8%B3%D8%B1%D9%8A%D8%AA%D8%B5%D9%81%D9%8A%D8%B1-%D9%86%D9%81%D8%B7-%D8%A5%D9%8A%D8%B1%D8%A7%D9%86-%D8%A7%D8%B3%D8%AA%D9%82%D8%B1/
When the US administration - in its strategy to deal with Iran - relied on a strong whip of sanctions, promising to bring Iran’s oil exports to zero and threatening anyone who deals with Tehran, the latter bet on US President Donald Trump’s failure to convince the world of his position.
The rest of the world rebelled against the American actions. Even in July, Iran’s President Hassan Rouhani mocked Trump’s threat to halt Iranian oil exports, saying his country had a dominant position in the Gulf and the Strait of Hormuz.
Today, as Washington pursued its strategy by announcing that it would end all sanctions exemptions starting May 2 – the waivers that had so far allowed eight countries to buy Iranian oil without falling under US penalties – it dealt the strongest blow with the aim to reduce Iran’s crude oil exports to less than one million barrels per day, compared to 3.6 million barrels per day in 2016.
The allies rallied against Iran have come to realize that the sanctions would have no effect on the structure of the regime unless the waivers are canceled, which has already happened.
We can say that decreasing the export of Iranian oil is the effective way for the US strategy to exert pressure on Tehran. It is true that the declared goal of bringing Iran’s future oil exports to zero may be difficult and will take a long time, but it is certain that exports will decrease significantly, which will be painful for the Iranian economy.
Trump’s administration, when it abandoned the nuclear deal, knew that the mere withdrawal would be futile if it was not accompanied by pressure on the regime. Hence, the US sanctions are now targeted at driving Iran’s oil sales to zero.
Consequently, mounting economic pressure, further financial crises and rising unemployment levels will lead to what is required to “change the behavior” of the Tehran regime, which will be deprived of 40 percent of its revenues from oil sales.
Greece, Italy and Taiwan, for example, one of the top 10 buyers of Iranian oil, said they had permanently stopped their imports from Tehran, even though that they were under the US exemptions.
Since the start of US sanctions on Iranian oil exports, there has been a remarkable decline in Iran’s role abroad, as it faces the risk of not being able to finance its agents in the Middle East, such as the militias that fight proxy wars in Syria, in addition, the Hezbollah party has started to openly show its financial crisis.
Preventing Iran from obtaining the funds it needs to finance its foreign policy, its agents and its missile program, is the best solution to change its behavior without firing a single bullet. A stable Middle East cannot be envisioned if Iran continues to fund its militias throughout the Arab world.
Apart from Iran’s repeated heroic rhetoric and its latest threat - perhaps the 100th - to close the Strait of Hormuz, the most telling description of its current reality was expressed by its Oil Minister, Bijan Zangeneh, who in February said US sanctions were tougher than the eight-year war his country had waged with Iraq.If the sanctions that allowed some exceptions to Tehran’s oil export had a huge impact on the country, what will be the case when Iran loses 20 percent of its income only a few days from now?!

Columnist In Syrian Daily Close To Assad Regime: As Russia-Iran Disagreements In Syria Increase, Each One Pressures Regime To Accept Its Initiative For The Region
MEMRI/April 25 kdshkL19
In a scathing column published April 22, 2019 in the Syrian daily Al-Watan, which is affiliated with the regime of Syrian President Bashar Al-Assad, Rif'at Ibrahim Al-Badawi accused Syria allies Russia and Iran of individually pressuring Syria politically and economically to accept political proposals leading to the actualization of each of their interests – even if it means suffering for the Syrian people. Al-Badawi argued that the once-hidden Russia-Iran disagreements are now out in the open, and that the two countries are now in a frantic race to convey messages promoting divergent initiatives to the Syrian leadership. While Iran is attempting to improve, and even revive, Syria-Turkey relations, with the aim of forming a regional alliance, Russia is working to nudge the Assad regime closer to Saudi Arabia and the other Arab countries, with the aim of weakening Iran's influence on Syria and in the entire region.
Al-Badawi writes that both Russia's and Iran's actions are tainted by economic and political strategic interests. Further, he accuses Syria's allies, particularly Russia, of deliberately planning and creating the fuel crisis – which has been paralyzing the country for weeks – as they collaborate with Syria's rivals with the aim of pressuring Syria into accepting their proposals. Al-Badawi stresses, however, that Syria is carefully and judiciously examining the proposals and will choose one that is compatible with its interests and will preserve its Arab character.
Rif'at Ibrahim Al-Badawi (Source: watanipress.com, December 14, 2018).
In this context, it is noteworthy that in recent months, there has been an increasing number of reports, particularly on Syrian opposition websites but also in the Arab and foreign press, on Russia-Iran struggles for influence in Syria. Each is striving to strengthen its influence in the Syrian security apparatuses and in the militias fighting on the ground, while weakening the other side's influence and presence. These struggles are manifested in fierce clashes on the ground between pro-Iran and pro-Russia militias, that have reportedly claimed many deaths on both sides.[1] Likewise, there have been reports of arrests of pro-Iran Syrian activists, both by Syrian security apparatuses acting on instructions from Russia, and by the Russian military police force itself in Syria.[2] It has also been reported that the changes earlier this month in the upper echelons of Syria's state security apparatus – including the replacement of the chief of staff – were a result of Russian pressure, and were aimed at weakening President Assad's brother, Maher Al-Assad, who is considered close to Iran, and his associates, and to replace them with officials loyal to Russia.[3]
The following are excerpts from Al-Badawi's column:[4]
"The frequency of the visits to Damascus by Iranian and Russian officials, one after the other, is not incidental. These visits were a hectic race to convey messages to the Syrian leadership, including proposals aimed at reaching an arrangement with Syria... [The proposals of] each [i.e. Russia and Iran] are in accordance with the language and perspective [of each vis-à-vis Syria]... It is clear that Syria is in no hurry... and that it is judiciously examining the new proposals to see which are compatible with Syrian interests – for fear that it will become embroiled in disputes and conflicts of interest and [will then be subject to] additional pressures – especially in light of the severe fuel crisis in the country because it is besieged.
"It is also clear that this time, the messages of Syria's allies [Russia and Iran] are coming from opposite directions, reflecting the unique and separate view of each. What is certain is that generous proposals from [two] rival [countries], Turkey and Saudi Arabia, have been streaming into Damascus, and are aimed at establishing routes for political and security cooperation; they have been described as positive.
"Damascus, [as noted,] is diligently considering all options and initiatives. Tehran is pushing Damascus to adopt what it calls a high-quality initiative, which is aimed at reshuffling the cards of the conflict between Syria and its neighbors, chief of them the [Turkish] Ottoman neighbor. The purpose of Iranian Foreign Minister Mohammad Zarif's [April 16, 2019] Syria visit was to relay [reciprocal] messages between Ankara and Damascus, as part of an Iranian effort to promote political and security arrangements to the point where relations between the two countries are revived – even if initially limited to intelligence cooperation...
"Russia, [on the other hand,] seeks to bring Damascus's positions closer to those of Riyadh, by pushing Syria to implement UN Resolution 2254 and to accelerate the formation of the constitutional committee [so that this will happen] prior to the Sochi summit slated for the end of the month [April]. Russia is depicting this effort as serving the interest of rapprochement among the Arab states, preparing ground for Syria's return to the Arab League, and contributing to breaking the political siege [on Syria] and defusing the existing conflict [between Syria and the Arab states], in preparation for a future resolution of the crisis.
"However, it is impossible to separate the fast pace of events and the influx of initiatives to Damascus from [the fact] that these countries... [are seeking] to strengthen their roles and their alliances and secure their strategic interests – even if it causes suffering for the Syrian people.
"From Iran's efforts with its Ottoman neighbor, it can be learned... that Iran is acting [now] with absolute determination to create common interests among countries that border [it], so as to ensure the broadest possible coordination [among them], and also to secure the interests of the peoples, primarily those linked to Iran via Islam and ideology. This would assure Iran a larger role, and grant it considerable political influence in laying out the characteristics of the region, especially with regard to the struggle with the Israeli enemy.
"Thus, the [once-]concealed disagreements among Syria's allies are now out in the open. It is no longer a secret that Russia, in response to a clear demand from the Gulf, aspires to weaken Iran's influence, which is growing and expanding at the expense of the influence of Arab Gulf states in the region – a situation that explains the Russian-Saudi rapprochement in the face of the Iran-Turkey rapprochement. It is now clear that the glut of initiatives is not for political purposes alone, because the outcomes will be translated into economic profits…
"In light of the tangle [of interests and relations of the various forces operating within it], Syria is experiencing a true crisis and a suffocating siege, amid the slump in the import of crucial fuels... This crisis cannot be isolated from the pressure Syria is experiencing to actualize the aims of the initiatives and proposals presented to it. This is because the fuel crisis currently facing Syria did not happen even at the peak of the war there; thus, one wonders at its timing.
"There are strident voices from [Syria's] Russian ally giving excuses for [Russia's] refraining from supplying fuel to Syria, claiming that transporting it is costly – even though it is half the distance from Russia's ports to Syria's ports than from Iran's ports to Syria's ports. [Even though] transporting fuel from Iran to Syria costs much more than transporting it from Russia, Syria consistently [manages to] pay this cost.
"As for Iraq's failure to help Syria in this crisis regardless of its geographic proximity to it, our Iraqi brothers replied that they are committed to the U.S.-Saudi resolution [prohibiting providing fuel] to Syria that is aimed at ratcheting up the pressure on it.
"What is happening in the Syrian arena in the wake of the suffocating crisis is deliberately planned by Syria's allies and rivals, together and separately, with the aim of pressuring [Syria] into accepting either the Russian or the Iranian proposal. That is, the boycott on Syria is a disguised boycott aimed at achieving particular aims that will secure the interests of one of the allies...
"As we await the opening of the envelopes [containing] the proposals and arrangements, we say to those so expert at fishing in murky waters and at seizing opportunities to play upon people's pain and whose shrill voices are heard on social media and elsewhere: Play no part in pressuring Syria. [Rather,] come to its aid, because what [Syria's] rivals and allies have not accomplished with bloodshed they will not accomplish today with a disguised boycott, whose goals are now clear.
"We say with full confidence that the Syrian leadership will consider only a proposal that guarantees that the heart of the Syrian Arab Republic will continue to be fully Arab."
[1] For example, it was reported in January 2019 that power struggles were taking place in Damascus between pro-Iran and pro-Russia militias; in January and February 2019, clashes erupted in the Sahl Al-Ghab region in northern Hama between the Syrian Army's Fourth Division, headed by Maher Al-Assad, the president's brother who is considered close to Iran, and the Fifth Corps, set up by Russia and headed by Suhail Al-Hassan, reputed to be a Russian protégé. Reports surfaced in January and March 2019 on clashes in the southern Syrian city of Dar'aa between pro-Russia and pro-Iran militias, while similar clashes were reported in April in the town of Al-Mayadin, in the Deir a-Zour region, and in eastern Aleppo. Baladi-news.com, January 20, 2019; Al-Quds Al-Arabi (London), January 21, 2019; Orient-news.net, January 22, 2019, January 23, 2019, February 27, 2019; Horanfree.com, March 26, 2019; Aljazeera.net, April 19, 2019; Al-Modon (Lebanon), April 20, 2019.
[2] Orient-news.net, February 17, 2019, March 6, 2019, April 11, 2019; Syriahr.com., February 2, 2019.
[3] Al-Modon (Lebanon), April 5, 2019; Orient-news.net, April 8, 2019.
[4] Al-Watan (Syria), April 22, 2019.

Iran’s investments in Syria in jeopardy thanks to US sanctions
Dr. Majid Rafizadeh/Arab News/April 25/19
Sanctions leveled by the US on the Iranian government’s military institution — the Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps (IRGC) and its affiliates — as well as the banking system and the oil sector are placing significant pressure on the Islamic Republic.
Iran’s economy shrank last year and is expected to decrease by 3.6 percent or more this year, according to a recent report published by the International Monetary Fund. Iran’s oil exports have also declinedby more than half, and its national currency, the rial, continues to lose its value, while the flood disaster is adding further weight to the economic crisis.
But it is not only inside the country that the Iranian leaders are feeling the economic losses; Tehran’s economic influence, investments and assistance to other countries, particularly Syria, are being negatively impacted too.
In addition to military and geopolitical assistance, economic interference was one of the most important tools that the Iranian regime utilized to intervene in Syria, make profits, control the Arab state, and help keep President Bashar Assad in power.
While the two countries played almost equal roles in bilateral economic trade, business dealings and investments before the conflict in Syria erupted, Tehran has since provided considerable amounts of financial assistance and made significant investments across the country. This granted Iran economic leverage over Damascus and caused its debt and dependence on Iran to increase dramatically.
For example, a few months after the conflict began, the Iranian authorities signeda $10 billion agreement with Syria and Iraq for the construction of a natural gas pipeline that would start in Iran, run through Syria, Lebanon and the Mediterranean, and reach several Western countries.
Tehran also opened a credit line for Syria and investeda considerable amount of resources, skilled forces and labor in Damascus. Iranian Supreme Leader Ali Khamenei supportedthe allocation of billions of dollars in aid to Syria, including $5.8 billion that was provided by Iran’s Center for Strategic Research, which concentrates on Tehran’s strategies in six areas, including foreign policy research, Middle East and Gulf research, and international political economy research.
Tehran also began establishing military bases across Syria, while Iranian authorities and Assad made plans for more comprehensive agreements that sought to establish a regional economic bloc. This included a 17-article agreementthat was signed by both parties and focused on “trade, investment, planning and statistics, industries, air, naval and rail transportation, communication and information technology, health, agriculture, (and) tourism.”
While the two countries played almost equal roles in bilateral economic trade, business dealings and investments before the conflict in Syria erupted, Tehran has since provided considerable amounts of financial assistance and made significant investments across the country.
Iran’s investments in Syrian infrastructure, power generation capabilities and its gas market also increased as part of the reconstruction process.
But Iran cannot afford to maintain its business dealings in Syria. One day after Foreign Minister Mohammed Javad Zarif visited Syria on April 16, Syrian newspaper Al-Watan revealed, in an unprecedented move, that Tehran had halted its credit line to Damascus.
Tehran has also been incapable of shippingoil to Syria in the last six months. Accordingto Al-Watan, this has caused significant fuel shortages because Syria only produces roughly 25 percent of the fuel that the nation needs.
The fact that a Syrian newspaper made such disclosures just after Zarif’s visit indicates that Damascus most likely failed to convince Tehran to extend its credit line and oil exports.
The US sanctions on currency transactions have also impacted Iran’s dealings with Syria because the Iranian-Syrian economic alliance has operated using multi-level contracts involving state and semi-private organizations through the adoption of the dollar for transactions.
One of the major reasons that the Iranian government was previously capable of offering billions of dollars of credit, free oil exports and investments in Syria was due to the nuclear deal, which lifted four rounds of UN sanctions against Tehran and increased the regime’s revenues remarkably.
Another area that has been impacted is the military cooperation between the two nations thanks to the recent designation of the IRGC as a terrorist group by the US. Arms trade with Damascus is critical for Khamenei and the senior cadre of the IRGC to strengthen Syria’s defense systems because the survival of the Assad regime is considered a matter of national security for Iran.
In a nutshell, US sanctions are putting significant pressure on Iran domestically and regionally. Tehran has invested billions of dollars in Syria, but its investments are currently at risk as the regime cannot afford to spend such amounts assisting Assad. To the Syrian president’s dismay, Iran cannot act as Syria’s economic lifeline any longer.
*Dr. Majid Rafizadeh is a Harvard-educated Iranian-American political scientist. He is a leading expert on Iran and US foreign policy, a businessman and president of the International American Council. Twitter: @Dr_Rafizadeh
Disclaimer: Views expressed by writers in this section are their own and do not necessarily reflect Arab News' point-of-view

By Punishing Iran, Trump Is Weakening America
Henry Farrell and Abraham Newman/Foreign Policy/April 25/19
Last week, U.S. Secretary of State Mike Pompeo complained about Republicans in Congress who were grandstanding for harsher sanctions on Iran. Now, he has joined the grandstanders, announcing that the Trump administration is stepping up its maximum pressure campaign against Iran by ending waivers that had allowed some states to import Iranian crude oil.
This may have significant consequences for global oil markets. It will have bigger consequences for U.S. power. Trump administration unilateralists, together with their Capitol Hill supporters and anti-Iran lobby groups, such as the Foundation for Defense of Democracies, think they can use sanctions as a tool of regime change. They are wrong. The increasingly desperate efforts of the United States to ratchet up sanctions are likely to backfire, hardening the resolve of the Iranian regime and driving both allies and competitors away from the U.S.-dominated global financial system.
The administration’s sanctions unilateralists are making a fundamental mistake about the nature of U.S. financial power. U.S. clout is not a direct product of its military might or even its large domestic economy. Instead, it is a byproduct of the unique topography of globalization—the system of networks that allows global financial transfers and trade to take place. These networks did not come into being through any grand master plan but instead were the result of an uncontrolled and decentralized process of adaptation to the new opportunities of globalization.
The United States is well placed to control key elements of these networks, such as the dollar clearing system and the SWIFT financial messaging system. This, in turn, has allowed it to press foreign financial institutions and firms into service as instruments of U.S. power: No international bank wants to be denied access to dollar clearing, and it is nearly impossible to carry out global financial transfers without SWIFT.
These circumstances have permitted the United States, with the support of European allies, to penalize countries such as North Korea and to cut Iran out of the world financial system. International financial networks became a massive force multiplier for U.S. power. The United States was able to carry out global coercion on the cheap. When the United States designated foreign businesses, organizations, or individuals as the targets of sanctions, other businesses avoided them as if they were bearers of the plague. No bank wanted to face the unlovely choice between paying massive fines with little hope of legal appeal and being excluded from the dollar clearing system. For a decade or more, it seemed as if the United States had discovered one weird trick for achieving global financial hegemony while imposing most of the costs on foreign banks and businesses.
Now, the United States is trying to do this on an even larger scale. Pompeo announced that he wants zero Iranian oil exports. It is probably impossible for any single state to control global oil markets because oil is a commodity. However, the United States can target the financial institutions that provide payments for Iranian oil, the shipping companies that transport it, insurance companies that underwrite shipping, and the myriad other corporations that support trade in Iranian oil. Even where the United States has no direct levers against these companies, it may have levers against other companies that do business with them, perhaps allowing it to isolate them from the global economy. If shipping insurance on freighters moving between Kharg Island and Shanghai is not provided by a U.S. financial institution, it is probably provided by a company with exposure to U.S. markets. As Pompeo acknowledged in his announcement, “To conduct these transactions, one almost always needs to participate in financial markets. We intend to enforce the sanctions.”
The problem is that weird tricks work until they stop working. There is plenty of reason to believe that the United States is overplaying its hand. There is no immutable law declaring that foreign states and businesses have to use U.S.-dominated global financial networks to carry out their business. As the political risk of using these networks increases, their attractions are dwindling remarkably quickly. The graveyards of economic history are filled with the corpses of once indispensable international financial arrangements.
It is unclear whether the United States has the clout to actually deliver on its threats. The countries with waivers include China and India, as well as Greece, Italy, Japan, South Korea, Taiwan, and Turkey. China in particular is less integrated into the global financial system than most other large economies. It is hence less susceptible to pressure and more likely to react angrily to any efforts to target its businesses. The Trump administration has already partly backed down from a sanctions fight over the Chinese telecommunications giant ZTE and is embroiled in a politically complex sanctions dispute over Huawei. Large-scale actions against Chinese energy importers or the domestic banks that work with them would represent a dramatic escalation and invite substantial retaliation.
Efforts to punish European banks, which conduct many of the transactions for Chinese firms, would be nearly as risky. Even before the most recent escalation, European states had started to explore ways to escape the reach of U.S. economic power. Most notably, Germany, France, and the United Kingdom announced in January that they would develop a special purpose vehicle known as the Instrument in Support of Trade Exchanges (INSTEX), which allows for the clearing of Iranian transactions without using U.S. dollars or financial networks. Just days ago, Turkish Foreign Minister Mevlut Cavusoglu announced that Turkey is looking into establishing a similar INSTEX system to circumvent U.S. pressure.
It is unlikely that either the renminbi or euro (let alone the lira) will replace the dollar as a global reserve currency anytime soon. However, these efforts slowly chip away at the zones of U.S. control. U.S. officials have hinted that they may use sanctions to bring European allies to heel, specifically targeting businesses or even perhaps government officials who are associated with the new arrangements. If the United States delivers on these threats, it is more likely to alienate its allies than to cow them. Why should they trust a country that harshly punishes them for trying to maintain an agreement with Iran that the United States itself negotiated before its unilateral withdrawal?
The United States is not only alienating allies but reshaping the incentives of private actors. The head of Barclays’s Americas sanctions office has noted that even if the dollar is unlikely to be displaced, there is growing “comfort with processing certain types of transactions” in other currencies to circumvent U.S. sanctions. Last week’s unrelated decision by the administration to waive Title III of the Helms-Burton Act, allowing U.S.-based individuals and businesses to sue foreigners over the expropriation of Cuban property, may dramatically accelerate the flight of foreign businesses from contact with the United States. As private financial institutions experiment with ways to go around the U.S.-led financial system, they are gnawing away at the supports of U.S. financial power.
Over the years, the United States benefited from spreading a fear of contagion. When states or businesses or individuals incurred the displeasure of U.S. financial authorities, they were treated by others as though they had the plague. They worried that pariah status might be catching (even accidental or innocent contact with a sanctioned party might be interpreted in unfortunate ways), and hence they avoided all association. This sometimes turned out to be a nuisance for U.S. policymakers. For example, businesses rarely took advantage of sanctions exemptions that were supposed to allow the export of freedom-enhancing technologies to Iran for fear that they might accidentally do something that the United States would punish. However, in general, this fear increased the efficacy of sanctions, by discouraging businesses from trying to game the rules.
If the United States continues along its current path, the fear of contagion may start to have quite different consequences. Instead of leading states and businesses to minimize contact with the targets of U.S. sanctions, it may lead states and businesses to minimize their contact with the U.S.-led global financial system and to start to construct their own workarounds. Over time, those workarounds might even begin to accumulate into an effective alternative system. Financial arrangements such as SWIFT and dollar clearing were responses to the incentives and profit opportunities of globalized financial markets. Now, U.S. unilateralism is changing those incentives and profit opportunities in unpredictable ways.

ISIS’s Newest Recruiting Tool: Regional Languages
Krishnadev Calamur/The Atlantic/April 25/19
When ISIS claimed responsibility for the coordinated bombings in Sri Lanka that killed more than 350 people, it did so, as one would expect, in Arabic and English. But it also issued statements in other languages—including Tamil.
There is yet no independent verification of the terrorist group’s claim, but the pronouncement in a language spoken by about 70 million people, overwhelmingly in the southern Indian state of Tamil Nadu and in northern and eastern Sri Lanka, as well as in Malayalam, spoken by about 35 million people mostly in the southern Indian state of Kerala, suggests the organization has recruits fluent in what are essentially regional languages with relatively few speakers.
It is this sort of targeted outreach at which ISIS is particularly good: Like other militant groups, ISIS exploits weak governments, but it also capitalizes on disenfranchisement among Muslim minorities, speaks to their particular grievances, and looks to recruit educated professionals for its sophisticated propaganda efforts. On the face of it, ISIS’s influence in South Asia is limited. About 180 Indians are said to have joined the group out of a population of 170 million Indian Muslims, according to the Observer Research Foundation (ORF), a think tank in New Delhi. (Muslims are the largest religious minority in the nation of 1.2 billion.) But the majority of those who did are from the south. Sri Lanka’s case is similar: About 32 Sri Lankan Muslims have fought with ISIS in Syria, ORF says. (Muslims make up about 10 percent of Sri Lanka’s population of 21 million.)
“Overall, they haven’t been successful,” Kabir Taneja, who studies terrorism in South Asia at ORF, told me. “The number of cases compared to the population, especially compared to the Muslim population, is really, really low.”
ISIS’s real success in recruitment has come in the places one would expect: the Arab world, Central Asia, and western Europe. But while it struggled to attract recruits in places such as India, it has drawn fighters from as far afield as Trinidad and Tobago (which Simon Cottee wrote about for The Atlantic), Cambodia, Australia, parts of Southeast Asia, and even Chile. It has been able to do this mainly through its tremendous success on the battlefield in Iraq and Syria, as well as its declaration of a caliphate, which it trumpeted aggressively in its propaganda and media operations.
“There’s a lot of hyperbole that surrounds the Islamic State, but two areas in particular that weren’t hyperbole: how much money the group made, and the sophisticated nature of its media apparatus,” Colin Clarke, an expert on ISIS who is a senior research fellow at the Soufan Center, a security-focused think tank, told me.
He said ISIS specifically targeted, as a headhunting firm would, people with a background in graphic design and production and with media degrees. That would make southern Indian states and Sri Lanka, with their high literacy rates, fertile ground for recruitment. (The notorious ISIS Twitter troll Shami Witness was unmasked in 2014 as a corporate executive in one of India’s largest conglomerates.)
Sri Lankan Prime Minister Ranil Wickremesinghe said some of the attackers may have traveled overseas before the bombings. He did not elaborate, but Taneja said that fits in with the pattern of “diaspora coming back and trying to radicalize and sell the argument of the Islamic State among the local population.”
For those who intend to cause harm, Sri Lanka—like other places with prolonged conflicts, such as Northern Ireland—offers another advantage: The island nation has only just recovered from a nearly three-decade-long civil war that ended in 2009. There are leftover weapons, ammunition, and explosives available to those who know where to find them. But weapons are insufficient if there’s no local grievance.
Indeed, ISIS’s efforts to appeal to small numbers of people dovetail with the public and hostile anti-Muslim rhetoric seen more and more in South Asia, which, fueled by social media, has resulted in violence against Muslims in India, Sri Lanka, and elsewhere. Militant groups have seized on this by focusing on local complaints rather than on the group’s plans for a global caliphate. That’s how “they were able to appeal to a local audience as well as a transnational audience,” Clarke said.
That strategy appears to have worked. The attacks in Sri Lanka came immediately after an assault failed in Saudi Arabia, one succeeded in Afghanistan, and the group gained a toehold in the Democratic Republic of Congo. Just weeks ago, President Donald Trump was declaring victory over ISIS. Even if it emerges that ISIS did not play a direct role in Sri Lanka, its propaganda efforts show that it remains a serious threat. “This puts them back in the news cycle in a positive way and allows them to claim what they’ve been saying along,” Clarke said. In effect, he continued, they were telling potential recruits, “We’re going to continue to survive and expand.”