English LCCC Newsbulletin For
Lebanese, Lebanese Related, Global News & Editorials
For August 21/2020
Compiled & Prepared by: Elias Bejjani
The Bulletin's Link on the lccc Site
http://data.eliasbejjaninews.com/eliasnews19/english.august21.20.htm
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Bible Quotations For today
To what should I compare the kingdom of God?
It is like yeast that a woman took and mixed in with three measures of flour
until all of it was leavened
Holy Gospel of Jesus Christ according to Saint
Luke 13/18-21/:”He said therefore, ‘What is the kingdom of God like? And to what
should I compare it? It is like a mustard seed that someone took and sowed in
the garden; it grew and became a tree, and the birds of the air made nests in
its branches.’ And again he said, ‘To what should I compare the kingdom of God?
It is like yeast that a woman took and mixed in with three measures of flour
until all of it was leavened.’
Titles For The Latest English LCCC
Lebanese & Lebanese Related News & Editorials published on August
20-21/2020
Lebanon Records 605 Virus Cases, 4 Deaths on Lockdown Eve
Hezbollah shipped explosive chemicals to Lebanon prior to Beirut blast: Report
Lebanon Awaits Macron’s Second Visit to 'Stop the Collapse'
UNHCR: Time for Int’l Community to Show Solidarity with the Lebanese
UN: Time for World to Show Solidarity with Lebanese People
Aoun Invites Representatives of Oct 17 Uprising to Partake in New Govt.
Govt. Talks Begin Based on 'French Paper', Hariri Proposals
Geagea Says STL Issued 'Quarter Verdict' Due to Difficulties
Tensions in Nabaa, Khalde and Saadnayel after Separate Incidents
1 Dead, 3 Hurt in Southern Town Shooting, 2 Killed in Jabal Mohsen
Why Do 'Non-Lethal' Weapons Maim and Kill Protesters?
Lebanon Receives Diesel from Iraq, Aid from Oman, Ukraine
Reports: Nissan Failed to Report Income for Ghosn in Japan
Berri meets with Kubis, Fahmy and Arslan
Lemoyne oversees French aid at Beirut's Hippodrome: I see the effectiveness of
our movement, and there is complete transparency in the work that we consider
exemplary
Lebanon Humanitarian Fund gives $8.5 million to support vulnerable communities
affected by Beirut explosions
Third batch of urgent Omani aid arrives in Lebanon
Army Command: Ukrainian aid plane, 31 Iraqi oil tankers arrive in Lebanon
August 18: Justice is the Lebanese People’s Right/Hanna Saleh/Asharq Al Awsat/August
20/2020
Witnessing the rise and fall of the Special Tribunal for Lebanon/Chibli Mallat/The
National/August 20/2020
Lebanese Information Centre (LIC) Statement On The Beirut Explosion/USA/August
18, 2020
Hezbollah identified with Lebanon's corruption, faces public anger/The Arab
Weekly/August 20/2020
Pressure grows for Hariri’s return as Lebanon leader/Najia Housari/Arab
News/August 20/2020
Lebanon’s momentum for change should not be wasted/Elie Al HindyThe Arab
Weekly/August 20/2020
Titles For The Latest English LCCC Miscellaneous Reports And News published
on August 20-21/2020
Iran summons Emirati envoy over killing of 2 fishermen
Iran says it detained a UAE ship and its crew on Monday
US to announce snapback of sanctions on Iran
Iran claims it has new cruise missiles and advanced drones - report
Iraq PM to Meet Trump With US Troops on the Agenda
US ‘outraged’ by assassinations of Iraqi activists
Iraq PM Mustafa al-Kadhimi says Turkish interference is unacceptable
US imposes sanctions on six Syrian government officials, military leaders
Dubai’s Emirates waiting for approval to start Israel flights after peace deal:
COO
Syrian Constitutional Committee Convenes Next Week in Geneva
Greece Denies Refugee Pushback Claims, Slams Turkey
German ISIS Bride Sells Kalashnikov She Received as Wedding Present in Syria
Hamas Responds to Netanyahu’s Threats: Killing will be Met with Killing
Israeli Tanks Shell Gaza
Sisi Calls on Army to Preserve Highest Levels of Combat Readiness
Libya's Haftar Announces Partial Resumption of Oil Exports to Ease Power Cuts
Germany Issues Travel Warning for Parts of Croatia
China Faces Questions Over 'Vaccinated' Workers Sent Overseas
Young Activists Meet Merkel, Press for Action on Climate Change
Poland's Foreign Minister Announces His Resignation
Migrant Dies After Group Tries to Cross Melilla Fence
Hong Kong Government Slams US Decision to Suspend Treaties
US Pledges Not to Seek Death Penalty Against ISIS 'Beatles'
UN Warns Humanitarian Programs in Yemen Shutting Down
Egypt Opens Mosques for Friday Prayers
Arab Coalition Spokesman Says Houthis are Subservient to Iran Agenda
WHO Seeks More Info About Russia Vaccine
How Will Office Life Be Different in a Pandemic?
Titles For The Latest LCCC English analysis & editorials from miscellaneous
sources published on August 20-21/2020
Kuwait's Anti-Israel Rhetoric in Spotlight after UAE
Deal/Seth Frantzman/The Jerusalem Post/August 20/2020
Yarmuk: ISIS’s Inspiration and “Most Consequential” Battle between Islam and the
West/Raymond Ibrahim/August 20/2020
Apple's Next Trillion Won't Come So Easily/Tae Kim/Bloomberg/August 20/2020
Pardoning Snowden Would Backfire on Trump/Eli Lake/Bloomberg/August 20/20
Outdoor Masking Isn’t Always Needed/Faye Flam/Bloomberg/August 20/20
Apple's Next Trillion Won't Come So Easily/Tae Kim/Bloomberg/August 20/2020
The Abraham Accord is not as unorthodox a deal as Trump thinks/Nick March/The
National/August 20/2020
US must back Mustafa Al Kadhimi's vision for Iraq/The National/August 20/2020
Europe must resist Erdogan in eastern Mediterranean/Vicenzino/Al Arabiya/August
20/2020
To defeat Iran, the US must first win the ideological war at home/Reza
Parchizadeh/Al Arabiya/Thursday 20 August 2020
Lifting Iran’s arms embargo a threat to regional stability/Dr. Majid Rafizadeh/Arab
News/August 20/2020
The Latest English LCCC Lebanese &
Lebanese Related News & Editorials published on August 20-21/2020
Lebanon Records 605 Virus Cases, 4 Deaths on Lockdown Eve
Naharnet/August 20/2020
Lebanon recorded 605 new coronavirus cases and four deaths over the past 24
hours, the Health Ministry said on Thursday evening. In its daily statement, the
Ministry said 597 of the cases were recorded among residents and eight among
individuals coming from abroad. Twenty-two of the cases were meanwhile recorded
among medical workers. According to the statement, 263 COVID patients were
admitted into hospitals over the past 24 hours, among them 72 into intensive
care units. The new cases raise the country’s overall tally since February 21 to
10,952 -- including 113 deaths and 3,050 recoveries.
The high number of cases comes on the eve of a two-week general lockdown and
nighttime curfew aimed at curbing a spike in infections. The new measures will
come into effect on Friday morning but they would not affect the clean-up and
aid effort following the devastating August 4 Beirut port blast. A curfew will
be imposed from 6:00 pm to 6:00 am. Malls will be closed and restaurants
restricted to delivery and takeaway, with curtailed operating hours. Social
gatherings will also be banned. The airport will operate normally and ministries
will be staffed at half capacity. Lebanon was already seeing rising cases of the
novel coronavirus before the Beirut blast but has reported a string of record
tallies in recent weeks. A previously planned lockdown was scrapped in the wake
of the explosion, which flattened neighborhoods near the port and left thousands
homeless. Health Minister Hamad Hassan warned on Monday that hospitals were
reaching maximum capacity to treat novel coronavirus patients after the Beirut
blast overwhelmed health centers already stretched by the virus. "Public and
private hospitals in the capital in particular have a very limited capacity,
whether in terms of beds in intensive care units or respirators," he said. "We
are on the brink, we don't have the luxury to take our time," he warned.
Hezbollah shipped explosive chemicals to Lebanon prior to
Beirut blast: Report
Al Arabiya English/Thursday 20 August 2020
Iran’s elite Quds Force shipped ammonium nitrate to Hezbollah in Beirut around
the same time a Moldovan-flagged tanker arrived carrying 2,750 tonnes of
ammonium nitrate – the same chemical substance that would later cause an
enormous explosion and engulf Beirut’s port and surrounding area, German media
outlet WELT reported Wednesday. Previous reports have found that Hezbollah had
stock of the substance in northwest London and Cyprus, while other reports also
indicate that stockpiles were present in Germany and Kuwait, WELT reported.
WELT, citing Western security sources, reported that Iran-backed Hezbollah had
received large deliveries of ammonium nitrate from the Islamic Revolutionary
Guard Corps (IRGC) Quds Force – a US-designated terror organization. Ammonium
nitrate, commonly used in fertilizer, can also be used in weapon production.
On July 16, 2013, a total of 270 tonnes of ammonium nitrate was delivered from
Iran to Lebanon, costing roughly 180,000 euros ($213,200, at today’s exchange
rate). Months later, on October 23, another 270 tonnes of the chemical were
delivered, costing around 141,000 euros, WELT reported. The article added that a
third shipment was made, but the amount delivered was uncertain. “A total of one
billion Iranian rials was calculated for the delivery on April 4, 2014 (around
61,438 euros). Measured against the values of the other two deliveries, this
could have been 90 to 130 tons. In total, the three deliveries are for a
quantity of 630 to 670 tons of ammonium nitrate,” the WELT article conjectured.
The cargo arriving in October 2013 was transported via plane, presumably on an
Iranian airline, such as Mahan Air, which is sanctioned by the United States.
The other deliveries were made via land or sea, the article alleged.
The explosion at the Port of Beirut has left at least 178 dead, more than 6,000
injured and destroyed vast swaths of the city. However, there is no evidence
that links Hezbollah’s shipments to the ammonium nitrate stored at the port
responsible for the explosion. Hezbollah has strongly denied that it was storing
arms at the blast site. “We have nothing in the port: not an arms depot, nor a
missile depot nor missiles nor rifles nor bombs nor bullets nor ammonium
nitrate,” he added. However, it has long been assumed that Hezbollah controls at
least some aspects of port operations. “The fact that a massive amount of
explosive material was just sitting in the Port of Beirut – long suspected to be
exploited by Hezbollah for illicit trade and smuggling – raises troubling
questions about whether the Iran-backed terror group, which is the political
glue that holds together Lebanon’s current government, had any intentions of
deploying that material in an attack,” wrote Jonathan Schanzer, the senior vice
president at Foundation for Defense of Democracies (FDD).
Obtaining ammonium nitrate
WELT places Hezbollah operative Mohammed Qasir as heading the purchasing
operation. Qasir was designated by the US Treasury in 2018 for acting as a
“critical conduit for financial disbursements” from the Quds Force to Hezbollah.
Qasir, based in Damascus, Syria, worked closely with a Quds Force unit that was
under the supervision of Iranian Commander Qassem Soleimani, who himself was
assassinated in January 2020, Washington Institute analyst Matthew Levitt wrote
in March 2019. Hezbollah has been heavily involved in neighboring Syria’s war,
and teaming up with the Quds Force meant that the Lebanon group could “develop
integrated and efficient weapons procurement and logistics pipelines through
Syria and into Lebanon that can be leveraged to greatly expand Hezbollah’s
international weapons procurement capabilities,” Levitt wrote.
There is still no explicit evidence linking Hezbollah to the nitrate stored at
the port of Beirut, but many have pointed the finger at the Iran-backed group’s
regional behavior and past track record as indication that the group was likely
linked to the chemicals stored at the port.
Lebanon Awaits Macron’s Second Visit to 'Stop the Collapse'
Beirut - Mohammed Shukair/Asharq Al-Awsat/Thursday,
20 August, 2020
French Ambassador to Lebanon Bruno Foucher is following up on the ongoing
communication between President Emmanuel Macron and Lebanon’s top officials in
preparation for his return to Beirut early next month. Well-informed European
sources told Asharq Al-Awsat that Macron’s upcoming visit should be preceded by
actual steps that would prove the Lebanese authorities’ determination to
cooperate with the French initiative. Those steps should at least include,
according to the sources, Aoun’s call for parliamentary consultations to
nominate a prime minister to form the new government. The European sources said
that wasting time was not in the interest of the ruling system or the opposition
political forces, adding that those were expected to respond to Marcon’s
initiative to support Lebanon by meeting him halfway and making concrete
decisions in this regard.
The political class is besieged and has no choice but to facilitate Macron’s
mission that is supported by the international community, according to the
sources. They stressed that Lebanon could not be dragged into a time-splitting
game, especially if Tehran wanted to postpone the formation of a rescue
government until after the US presidential elections. The sources noted that
Iran was unable to disrupt the French move, because it was already facing a
severe crisis and has failed to respond to the assassination of Al-Quds Force
commander Qassem Soleimani in Iraq.
Moreover, Tehran did not respond to the joint US-Iraqi armed campaign against
the Popular Mobilization Forces with Mustafa al-Kadhimi assuming the
premiership, in addition to its silence over the mobile explosions that targeted
Iranian facilities in a number of cities.
UNHCR: Time for Int’l Community to Show Solidarity
with the Lebanese
Asharq Al-Awsat/Thursday, 20 August, 2020
The head of the UN refugee agency said it's time for the international community
to show solidarity with the Lebanese people by offering assistance to a country
that has hosted hundreds of thousands of refugees for decades. UN High
Commissioner for Refugees Filippo Grandi also said the UNHCR is making its
capacity and expertise as a humanitarian agency available to the Lebanese people
and is ready to assist the country as part of a broader international response.
Lebanon has been going through multiple crises, including widespread corruption,
political divisions and economic difficulties, and Grandi said the international
community should find long-term interventions to assist. “All of this is a
bigger package than the humanitarian package, and this package needs to be
addressed by the international community,” he told The Associated Press in an
interview Wednesday night. Grandi, on his first official mission since March,
when lockdowns were imposed in Europe due to the pandemic, is visiting Lebanon
two weeks after a catastrophic explosion at the Port of Beirut destroyed a large
part of its capital Beirut. The Aug. 4 blast killed at least 180 people, injured
about 6,000 and left nearly 300,000 people with major damage to their homes. It
was the most destructive single incident in Lebanon’s history, leaving losses
worth between $10 and $15 billion. There are 30 still missing after the
explosion. Among those killed were 43 Syrians — a reflection of the country
being host to the largest number of refugees per capita — and Grandi said some
refugees are among those still missing. More than 1 million Syrian refugees are
in Lebanon, having fled the war next door. Grandi, who toured the site of the
explosion on Wednesday, also said he is very concerned about the impact of
Lebanon's worsening economic crisis on Syrian and other refugees in the country.
“The time has come to also show the Lebanese when they are in the hour of need
that the international community responds,” he said. The tiny country now faces
a surge in new coronavirus cases, made worse in the aftermath of the explosion,
which knocked several Beirut hospitals out of service, including two who were
hosting patients with COVID-19, the illness caused by the virus. Grandi said so
far the number of refugees who have tested positive for the virus is relatively
small. “Where we are worried, and we are worried in Lebanon as well, is the
economic impact, because as we know the lockdowns have created a lot of new
poverty among the most vulnerable in society” he said.
UN: Time for World to Show Solidarity with Lebanese People
Associated Press/Naharnet/August 20/2020
The head of the U.N. refugee agency says it's time for the international
community to show solidarity with the Lebanese people by offering assistance to
a country that has hosted hundreds of thousands of refugees for decades. U.N.
High Commissioner for Refugees Filippo Grandi also said the UNHCR is making its
capacity and expertise as a humanitarian agency available to the Lebanese people
and is ready to assist the country as part of a broader international response.
Lebanon has been going through multiple crises, including widespread corruption,
political divisions and economic difficulties, and Grandi said the international
community should find long-term interventions to assist. "All of this is a
bigger package than the humanitarian package, and this package needs to be
addressed by the international community," he told The Associated Press in an
interview Wednesday night. Grandi, on his first official mission since March,
when lockdowns were imposed in Europe due to the pandemic, is visiting Lebanon
two weeks after a catastrophic explosion at the Port of Beirut destroyed a large
part of its capital Beirut. The Aug. 4 blast killed a least 180 people, injured
about 6,000 and left nearly 300,000 people with major damage to their homes. It
was the most destructive single incident in Lebanon's history, leaving losses
worth between $10 and $15 billion. There are 30 still missing after the
explosion. Among those killed were 43 Syrians — a reflection of the country
being host to the largest number of refugees per capita — and Grandi said some
refugees are among those still missing. More than 1 million Syrian refugees are
in Lebanon, having fled the war next door. Grandi, who toured the site of the
explosion on Wednesday, also said he is very concerned about the impact of
Lebanon's worsening economic crisis on Syrian and other refugees in the country.
"The time has come to also show the Lebanese when they are in the hour of need
that the international community responds," he said. The tiny country now faces
a surge in new coronavirus cases, made worse in the aftermath of the explosion,
which knocked several Beirut hospitals out of service, including two who were
hosting patients with COVID-19, the illness caused by the virus. Grandi said so
far the number of refugees who have tested positive for the virus is relatively
small. "Where we are worried, and we are worried in Lebanon as well, is the
economic impact, because as we know the lockdowns have created a lot of new
poverty among the most vulnerable in society" he said.
Aoun Invites Representatives of Oct 17 Uprising to Partake
in New Govt.
Naharnet/August 20/2020
President Michel Aoun said in a tweet on Thursday that he seeks to include in
the new government “competent” figures representing anti-government protesters
of the October 17 uprising. “I call and seek to include competencies
(individuals) representing the voice of the street in the new government,” he
said in a tweet. Efforts are ongoing to form a new government after the
resignation of PM Hassan Diab’s cabinet over the August 4 colossal Beirut port
explosion, widely blamed on negligence and corruption by the country's ruling
class.
Anti-government protesters have also been demanding Aoun to resign, and an
overhaul of Lebanon’s sectarian political class. Since Diab’s resignation on
August 10, Aoun has not yet called lawmakers for binding parliamentary
consultations to name a new premier. The government is in a caretaker capacity,
and parties have not yet agreed on the form of the government and its premier.
But, Hizbullah chief Sayyed Hassan Nasrallah, drew in a speech a few days ago
the form of an upcoming government, demanding a national unity cabinet and
rejecting a neutral one much demanded by the Lebanese street.
Govt. Talks Begin Based on 'French Paper', Hariri Proposals
Naharnet/August 20/2020
Consultations to form a new government have kicked off based on a “French paper”
and another prepared by ex-PM Saad Hariri, TV networks said on Thursday.
“The talks over the government are based on a French paper that was delivered to
a number of Lebanese leaders,” the reports said. “It summarizes the contacts
that French President Emmanuel Macron carried out with them and is based on a
reform program that would begin with the quick formation of a government dubbed
‘mission government,’” the reports added. The reports also said that Hariri has
another paper that “intersects with the French paper, especially over topics
such as electricity reform, telecommunications, judiciary, security, financial
audit and the International Monetary Fund.”Al-Jadeed TV meanwhile reported that
Speaker Nabih Berri has launched an initiative aimed at “agreeing on a unified
reform program” for the new government.
Geagea Says STL Issued 'Quarter Verdict' Due to
Difficulties
Naharnet/August 20/2020
Lebanese Forces leader Samir Geagea on Thursday welcomed the verdict issued by
the Special Tribunal for Lebanon in the 2005 assassination of ex-PM Rafik Hariri
while describing it as incomplete. “The LF supported the STL from the very first
moment and that’s why we will accept the verdict issued by it as it is, with all
due openness and satisfaction,” Geagea said at a press conference that followed
a meeting for the LF-led Strong Republic bloc.“But honestly, it is a quarter
verdict, not because the tribunal does not enjoy the needed competency nor
because its officials are questioned nor because it is politicized, but rather
due to the circumstances in which this tribunal operated,” the LF leader added.
He cited tampering with the 2005 crime scene by Lebanese authorities, Russian
pressure at the U.N. Security Council regarding the tribunal’s statute and
restrictions on the movement of international investigators in certain Lebanese
regions. “Prior to the issuance of the court’s verdict, some assumed that it was
politicized, but after the issuance of its verdict, the rationale contained in
it and the method in which the crime was approached, it evidently turned out
that the court is not politicized,” Geagea added. He also noted that the verdict
“confirmed the direct responsibility of one of Hizbullah’s cadres, Salim Ayyash,
in the execution of the assassination as well as the participation of dozens of
the party’s members in the preparation phase.”
Tensions in Nabaa, Khalde and Saadnayel after Separate
Incidents
Naharnet/August 20/2020
The Beirut eastern suburb of Nabaa, the coastal Khalde area south of Beirut and
the Bekaa town of Saadnayel have witnessed tensions following separate incidents
over the past hours. The tensions in Nabaa erupted after the torching of a
banner related to the Shiite religious occasion of Ashoura and a picture of
Lebanese Forces leader Samir Geagea, reports said. Geagea’s picture was torn up
and torched on Tuesday evening while the Ashoura banner was burned on Wednesday
evening. The reports said Hizbullah contacted the LF to inform it that it was
not responsible for the incident. The State Security agency also told the LF
that a “fifth column” had sought to spark tensions between the two parties. On
Wednesday, the Lebanese Forces filed a complaint against unknown individuals
with the Bourj Hammoud police station, as LF supporters replaced Geagea’s
torched picture with a new one. Contacts between the leaderships of Hizbullah
and the LF were also conducted following the banner incident, contributing to
pacification efforts, as agents from State Security and the army’s Intelligence
Directorate deployed in the area to foil any escalation and contain possible
repercussions.
Elsewhere, tensions surged between supporters of Hizbullah and al-Mustaqbal
Movement in Khalde on Thursday afternoon amid conflicting reports about what
sparked the standoff. One report says a clash erupted over an “attempt to hoist
Ashoura flags” while another says it broke out over an attempt to place a
picture of Salim Ayyash, a Hizbullah member convicted Wednesday by the Special
Tribunal for Lebanon of involvement in the 2005 assassination of ex-PM Rafik
Hariri. The army immediately intervened and managed to contain the situation
amid tensions in internal neighborhoods. In Saadnayel, residents blocked the
international road in both directions facing the town’s mosque after gunshots
were fired at it overnight, the National News Agency said. Saadnayel's mayor
meanwhile held a press conference in which he announced the reopening of the
road, noting that “gunfire targeted the town’s two mosques and one of its
neighborhoods as a hand grenade was hurled into the al-Bhais area, blowing up a
power transformer.”Blaming “gangs,” he said gunmen opened fire from “a car
raising a flag.”“We call on the state and the security and military agencies to
shoulder their responsibilities towards these actions and we will no longer
tolerate any harm against Saadnayel’s dignity,” the mayor added. “We have
received phone calls of condemnation and they told us that some were seeking
strife, mentioning some names,” the mayor went on to say. MP Anwar Jomaa of
Hizbullah meanwhile condemned the incident in the name of his party, saying no
one should be allowed to “exploit any personal dispute to destroy our societal
fabric in the region.”“Our people in central Bekaa, specifically in the dear
town of Saadnayel, are facing premeditated harm aimed at pouring oil on fire and
aggravating divisions following an ordeal during which the Lebanese showed a
high level of awareness,” Jomaa added.
1 Dead, 3 Hurt in Southern Town Shooting, 2 Killed in Jabal
Mohsen
Naharnet/August 20/2020
One person was killed and three others were injured as a dispute erupted into
gunfire in the southern town of Loubieh, the National News Agency said. The
deceased person succumbed to his wounds in hospital, as security forces sought
to contain the situation in cooperation with the area’s dignitaries, NNA said.
Social media reports said the slain young man, identified as AMAL Movement
supporter Hussein Khalil, was killed in a confrontation with Hizbullah
supporters over a dispute related to the hoisting of partisan flags. Separately,
two young men were killed as a dispute between several people erupted into
gunfire in the al-Mohajireen area in Tripoli’s Jabal Mohsen, NNA said. Army
troops immediately arrived on the scene and managed to arrest the shooter, the
agency added.
Why Do 'Non-Lethal' Weapons Maim and Kill Protesters?
Agence France Presse/Naharnet/August 20/2020
Riot police from Beirut and Baghdad to Hong Kong and Minsk often use so-called
"non-lethal" weapons for crowd control -- so why do protesters keep dying and
being maimed? As street protests worldwide have multiplied, rights groups have
sounded the alarm about tear gas, rubber bullets, stun guns and other anti-riot
weapons causing serious wounds and fatalities. Law enforcement use them to avoid
firing live munitions at violent protesters who may attack them, hurl rocks,
bottles and Molotov cocktails, start fires or try to blind them with laser
pointers. But malicious and excessive use, often but not only in authoritarian
states, has long since earned riot control tools the official designation of
"less-lethal weapons". The arsenal also includes truncheons, shields and
restraints, chemical irritants, electric shock devices, baton rounds, flash-bang
grenades, water cannon and high-decibel acoustic devices.
Police forces "have at their disposal a dizzying array of weapons and kit that,
while known as 'less-lethal', can cause serious injury or even death", says an
Amnesty International report. "Some of the equipment we've surveyed is worthy of
a torture chamber and should be banned outright," said the group's specialist
Marek Marczynski in a 2015 report on the subject. In Iraq, which has been torn
by repeat anti-government protests since last year, dozens of protesters have
been killed by tear-gas canisters fired directly at them. They have died of
blunt force trauma to their eye sockets, skulls and chests as security forces
have shot the grenades in flat, not upward, trajectories and at close range.
Amnesty documented that several such deaths were caused by military-grade tear
gas and smoke grenades made in Serbia and Iran that are about 10 times heavier
than standard-issue canisters. "This has had devastating results, in multiple
cases piercing the victims' skulls, resulting in gruesome wounds and death after
the grenades embed inside their heads," said Amnesty's Lynn Maalouf.
'Excessive use of force'
Human Rights Watch reported similar severe injuries in the protests that shook
Beirut in the aftermath of the massive August 4 explosion that leveled parts of
the Lebanese capital and killed more than 180 people. HRW said it observed
"security forces fire a tear-gas canister directly at a protester's head, in
violation of international standards, severely injuring him." Security forces
were also beating demonstrators with clubs and "firing rubber bullets and
birdshot pellets indiscriminately," it said in a blog posting. Amnesty said it
had "monitored the largely peaceful protests on 8 August where tear gas, rubber
bullets and pump-action pellets were fired recklessly into crowds." Deaths have
also been caused elsewhere by so-called kinetic impact rounds, such as plastic
and rubber bullets, first used by the British army in Northern Ireland 50 years
ago. Protesters have lost eyes to them in the French yellow-vest demonstrations,
Palestinian anti-Israel protests and in the unrest that followed the George
Floyd killing in the United States. The force of such munitions, designed to
bounce off the ground and hit people's legs, can break bones, tear vessels and
cause internal bleeding when fired directly at them. Lebanese surgeon Mohammed
Jawad Khalifeh tweeted that one Beirut hospital had to perform seven eye
surgeries and treat "an exploded spleen" after one night of street clashes this
month. Amnesty has argued that the indiscriminate use of multiple such
projectiles has "no legitimate law enforcement use" and urged a ban on the most
dangerous rubber-coated metal bullets. Tear gas, says Amnesty, is also far from
harmless when fired in excessive quantities, in enclosed spaces or when it
sparks panic and triggers a crowd stampede. While most healthy people recover
from the effects of tear gas -- burning skin, streaming eyes and breathing
difficulties -- children, pregnant women, asthmatics and the elderly are at far
greater risk. The U.N. Basic Principles on the Use of Force and Firearms by Law
Enforcement Officials encourages states to develop less-lethal weapons "to
enable a graduated response in the use of force."
Amnesty has also acknowledged that less-lethal equipment can reduce the risk of
death or injury on all sides when used responsibly by "well-trained and fully
accountable" officers. But it warned that in scores of countries "law
enforcement officials commit a wide range of human rights violations using such
equipment -– including torture and other ill-treatment in custody, as well as
excessive, arbitrary and unnecessary use of force against demonstrators."
Lebanon Receives Diesel from Iraq, Aid from Oman, Ukraine
Naharnet/August 20/2020
Lebanon on Thursday received Iraqi, Omani and Ukrainian aid as part of the
relief efforts aimed at addressing the repercussions of the devastating Beirut
port blast. The Lebanese Army said a Ukrainian plane carrying medical aid landed
at Beirut airport as 31 tankers carrying diesel and dispatched by Iraq entered
the country via the al-Masnaa border crossing. Two Omani military planes
carrying 28 tons of food, medical and humanitarian aid have also landed at the
airport.“This assistance comes at the directions of Sultan Haitham bin Tariq in
support of Lebanon in the face of the repercussions of the disastrous blast at
Beirut port,” the army said.
Reports: Nissan Failed to Report Income for Ghosn in Japan
Associated Press/Naharnet/August 20/2020
The case against former Nissan executive Carlos Ghosn may have taken another
turn as Japanese media report allegations that the automaker declared as
expenses 1.15 billion yen ($10.8 million) in his taxable personal income.
Japan's National Tax Agency said Thursday it was aware of the reports but
declined comment on an individual case. Nissan Motor Co. confirmed it had
received a notice of a tax investigation from Japanese authorities. "Nissan
received a reassessment notice from the authorities and will respond
appropriately. We will not comment further," the Japanese automaker said in a
statement. Ghosn's spokesperson did not immediately respond to a request for
comment. The reports by the nationally circulated Yomiuri newspaper and Kyodo
news service say money reported as Nissan expenses was actually used for Ghosn's
personal purposes, such as use of a corporate jet and housing in Tokyo and other
places. Such expenditures included 1 billion yen ($9.4 million) over five years
through March 2019, and 150 million yen ($1.4 million) over three years before
that, the reports said. Ghosn was arrested in Japan in 2018, and was awaiting
trial on charges of under-reporting future income and breach of trust when he
jumped bail and escaped to Lebanon late last year. The Brazilian-born Frenchman
has Lebanese citizenship. Ghosn has repeatedly said he is innocent, the money
was never decided on or paid, and the payments were legitimate. He says the
charges were concocted by those who wanted to block plans for Nissan's merger
with alliance partner Renault of France. Ghosn said he fled because he believed
he could not get a fair trial in Japan, where the conviction rate in criminal
trials is more than 99%. Japan is demanding the extradition of two Americans
accused of helping Ghosn escape to Lebanon. Ghosn cannot be as easily extradited
because Japan has no extradition treaty with Lebanon. The trial of another
former Nissan executive, Greg Kelly, arrested with Ghosn, is scheduled to start
next month. Kelly, an American, is out on bail in Japan and has repeatedly
insisted on his innocence.
Berri meets with Kubis, Fahmy and Arslan
NNA/Thursday 20 August 2020
House Speaker Nabih Berri met today at Ain El-Tineh with the Special Coordinator
of the United Nations Secretary-General in Lebanon, Jan Kubis, and his deputy,
the United Nations Resident Coordinator for Humanitarian Affairs, Najat Rochdi,
with whom he broached the general prevailing situation in the country.
Afterwards, the Speaker met with Lebanese Democratic Party Head, MP Talal Arslan,
who said on emerging that the visit was a chance to review the current
conditions at various levels, especially in light of the numerous misfortunes
that have befallen Lebanon, from the health situation to the economic and
financial situations and the issues of corruption and the necessary reforms. "Of
course, we hail the efforts of Speaker Berri and all Lebanese counterparts in
working to come up with a serious reform program against corruption that will
fix all the evils that have occurred in the country over many years," said
Arslan, citing UNESCO's statistics in cautioning that more than 50% of the
Lebanese people are now below poverty line. "We have to deal with these issues
with great responsibility and seriousness, because the state can no longer bear
them," he corroborated.
"Priority now for us, as well as the House Speaker, is to rally around the
legitimate authority in the country and what remains of the legitimate authority
that represents the unity of the Lebanese...We, as politicians and as a civil
society, must rally around each other to accomplish what lies in the interest of
all Lebanese under the rooftop of unity," Arslan emphasized. On the future
government formation, the MP stressed that it ought to be "strong and capable,
with an agreed upon program," adding that "the bet must be on a coordinated
program of action between the next government, in its form, components and
determination, and the Parliament Council."The House Speaker later conferred in
the afternoon with Caretaker Interior and Municipalities Minister Mohamed Fahmy,
over the security situation and the measures undertaken by the concerned
security authorities to confront the Corona pandemic.
Lemoyne oversees French aid at Beirut's Hippodrome: I see
the effectiveness of our movement, and there is complete transparency in the
work that we consider exemplary
NNA/Thursday 20 August 2020
French Secretary of State in charge of Tourism, French Abroad and Francophonie
at the French Foreign Ministry, Jean-Baptiste Lemoyne, accompanied by French
Ambassador to Lebanon, Bruno Foucher, visited this afternoon the Beirut
Hippodrome field where the French aid is being deposited, including medical,
medicine and building materials. Lemoyne met with the NGOs that are benefiting
from this aid, and spoke to them and to the French distributors and workers in
the field of relief, in addition to Lebanese army members, in the presence of
René Mouawad Foundation President, former deputy Michel Mouawad, and a number of
volunteers, media professionals and French Embassy staff.
Lemoyne explained that his visit comes "as a follow-up to the visit of French
President Emmanuel Macron, who adheres to fully expressing French solidarity
with Lebanon, with strength and effectiveness."
"I see the efficiency of our movement in the port and in schools, where we
assist in many works, thanks to our partnerships with about 15 civil society
organizations, including the René Mouawad Foundation. Through this Foundation,
we will distribute a number of essential needs for the daily life of the
Lebanese, such as flour, and materials for home repair," said the French
official. "Our challenge lies in the speed of providing assistance to reach
effectively where it is needed, and as you notice there is complete transparency
in the work that we consider exemplary, and I salute all the crew who have been
here for about fifteen days, including the civil defense, civil security, crisis
center, and soldiers as well, for carrying out logistical work," Lemoyne went
on. He considered that all constituents "are working hard to improve the lives
of the Lebanese who were severely affected by the August 4 disaster."
In response to a question about France's help in protecting the cultural
heritage that was damaged in the capital of Lebanon, Lemoyne said: "Today I
visited a number of heritage homes that embody the historical legacy of Lebanon
and Beirut, and we will work to mobilize international institutions to save the
city's heritage and provide the required responses. There is a solidarity
movement that has emerged among professionals and specialists in unions and
among engineers, and we are witnessing many good wills combined, and the role of
our ambassador is to coordinate all these efforts and make sure that all this
aid goes to the right place.""We are working closely with the Lebanese Army,
which is cooperating logistically with the teams here, and with all sides and
civil society institutions, and I believe that everyone is mobilizing efforts
for the good of Lebanon," he corroborated.
"The Lebanese in France were shocked by what happened, like all the French, and
this shock reached all parts of France, to Paris, Lyon, Marseille and Toulouse,
due to the intertwined human relations between us...There are about 25 thousand
French-Lebanese in Lebanon, and about 200 thousand of the Lebanese community in
France...There are strong and close ties," highlighted Lemoyne. For his part,
former MP Mouawad expressed sincere gratitude and appreciation to France, "which
was the first to stand by Lebanon and the Lebanese people since the tragedy
occurred, and we felt its devotion," adding, "We need all of Lebanon's friends
not only to rebuild Beirut, but for the Lebanese people to live with dignity."
"Cooperation with the French embassy is ongoing, and the basis for any
coordination is transparency. People want to ensure that aid is delivered
transparently, far from corruption channels, and we are proud that we have
demonstrated transparency and morality at work, as well as clarity and
professionalism," Mouawad asserted.
Lebanon Humanitarian Fund gives $8.5 million to support
vulnerable communities affected by Beirut explosions
NNA/Thursday 20 August 2020
The Office for the Coordination of Humanitarian Affairs (OCHA) has commenced
disbursement of US$8.5 million from the Lebanon Humanitarian Fund (LHF) to
provide rapid support to families affected by the devastating Beirut Port
explosions, the UN Resident Coordinator and Humanitarian Coordinator for
Lebanon, Ms. Najat Rochdi, announced today. More than 180,000 people are being
reached with critical, life-saving humanitarian assistance, including through
funding to NGOs delivering health, food assistance, and protection projects.
“The catastrophic explosions has upended the lives of nearly every person in
Lebanon. In an instant it shattered entire neighbourhoods, destroyed hospitals
and schools, and tore apart families who lost their loved ones,” said Ms. Rochdi.
“This swift disbursement of $8.5 million from the Lebanon Humanitarian Fund goes
directly to NGOs working on the ground to deliver much-needed assistance to the
families and communities who so desperately need our support right now.” The LHF
funds support five international and three local NGOs already working in Lebanon
to deliver eight projects. This includes assistance to damaged primary health
care centers, so that they can continue to provide essential health care, mental
health support and manage the ongoing COVID-19 pandemic; provision of hot meals,
food parcels, hygiene and baby kits to affected families; and emergency cash to
the most vulnerable. “Given the scale of this tragedy, it is important we
expedited funding to immediately begin the process of rebuilding people’s lives
and supporting their recovery. I am further gratified that one hundred per cent
(100%) of this funding goes to NGOs in Beirut who are already working closely
with vulnerable communities, ensuring assistance reaches the people who need it
most,” said Ms. Rochdi. The explosions came as Lebanon faces multiple and
interlocking crises. In recent months, economic contraction, increasing poverty
and inflation have compounded needs among people living in Lebanon, including
refugee communities. At the same time that hospitals and clinics were damaged in
the explosions and overwhelmed with the injured, COVID-19 cases are also rising
fast. As of 19 August, 10,348 total cases had been recorded, almost doubling in
the two weeks since the explosions.
The $8.5 million LHF funding is complemented by an additional $6 million
allocation by the Central Emergency Response Fund, announced by UN humanitarian
chief Mr. Mark Lowcock on 7 August. The quick release of the combined $14.5
million again demonstrates the value of the UN pooled funds to enable
humanitarian partners to deliver timely and life-saving assistance when and
where needed.—UNIC
Third batch of urgent Omani aid arrives in Lebanon
NNA/Thursday 20 August 2020
The Sultanate of Oman continued, Thursday, to send urgent relief aid to Lebanon,
where two military aircrafts carrying 28 tons of different food supplies arrived
shortly at Beirut airport. This aid comes under the directives of Sultan Haitham
bin Tariq to support Lebanon in facing the repercussions of the Beirut Port
disaster.
Army Command: Ukrainian aid plane, 31 Iraqi oil tankers arrive in Lebanon
NNA/Thursday 20 August 2020
Lebanese Army Command - Orientation Directorate issued a communiqué this
afternoon, indicating that relief aid continued to arrive from brotherly and
friendly countries to Beirut on Thursday. In this context, a Ukrainian plane
carrying medical aid landed at Rafic Hariri International Airport between
19/8/2020 noon & 20/8/2020 noon, the communiqué indicated. Additionally, 31
tankers loaded with diesel fuel arrived to the Masnaa border crossing in the
Bekaa area today, supplied by the State of Iraq.
August 18: Justice is the Lebanese People’s Right
Hanna Saleh/Asharq Al Awsat/August 20/2020
In a dangerous precedent, Lebanese President Michel Aoun settled the controversy
over the August 4 earthquake; getting ahead of the judicial investigator and
local and international investigations, he declared that is it “impossible” for
the massive blast at the Beirut Port to have been the result of a Hezbollah
weapons depot exploding, adding that the party “did not store weapons at the
port.”
The laughable aspect here is that his verdict on this sensitive issue came
before the missing buried under the rubble of Beirut Port had been found. Its
remain a political, not a judicial verdict, as it got ahead of the findings of
the French investigators and the FBI, and ignored the crucial facts of the case
that have been disclosed, starting from the date at which the shipment of death
arrived and leading up to and ending with the destruction of Beirut on August 4,
the day a war crime was committed against the capital, its people and its
inhabitants, all of them.
Everything we know so far shows that those responsible for all the bloodshed and
the destruction and material losses, which are far higher than that of the July
war, are liable to far more than administrative-security accountability alone.
Also drolly, the settling of the issue preceded the Special Tribunal for
Lebanon’s verdict on Rafik Hariri’s assassination, a conclusion that provided an
exemplar when it broke with a long period during which blame for major political
crimes was restricted to anonymity. The murderers evaded justice. These heinous
crimes were invested in to further major political projects that subjugated the
country to foreign domination, first that of the Syrian regime and then the
Iranian regime.
Much will be said about the Special Tribunal’s verdict, and much will be
written. The constant is the consolidation of the tribunal’s legitimacy and the
attenuation of the smear campaigns and accusations that it is politicized and
not to be relied on. The verdict, with the undeniable evidence that was
provided, affirmed that the crime had been committed for political reasons.
Political factions with experience in committing acts that fall under the
category of terrorism stood behind it. The court left no room for doubt when it
found that the Syrian regime and Hezbollah had motives for committing the crime
and even ascertained that the decision to physically liquidate was made after
the Bristol Conference, which demanded the withdrawal of the Syrian regime’s
army from Lebanon.
The tribunal also ascertained the precise role played by each of the accused,
from Mustafa Badreddine, a prominent Hezbollah military commander who is said to
have been killed in Syria and thus was not charged, to the four others who were
accused. Only one of the armed group’s commanders, Salim Ayyash, was found
guilty after the court did not find evidence presented against his comrades,
Oneissi, Merhi and Sabra, sufficiently compelling, and it is known that the
absence of the precisely needed proof does not imply its absence.
For this reason, the tribunal clarified that this operation demanded a great
deal of resources and capabilities, thereby ruling out the possibility that it
had been perpetrated by a lone wolf. Instead, it ascertained that the operation
had required the collaboration of a group of individuals who are members of a
fully-fledged, highly capable organization that is not easily penetrable. It
goes on to ascertain that Ayyash was not alone and had been assisted by a
reliable group, which proves that Hezbollah cadres formed the network that
carried out the operation.
The judicial verdict, which took all these years to reach, was justified by
evidence that leaves no room for doubt and undeniable proof, not political by
analysis.
Whatever has been said, the ruling did require all the time and money that had
been spent. This would not have happened had it not been for the total lack of
justice in Lebanon, after the judiciary had been subjugated by the corrupt
ruling regime. This state remains unchanged to this day, and Baabada Palace’s
confiscation of judicial appointments is the latest manifestation. This verdict
changed the course of history that had been taken since 1975, wherein the
perpetrators of major crimes are left anonymous. The decision affirmed it is
better to receive justice late than never, and that the era of plucking out the
country’s great men, such as Kamal Jumblatt, Rene Mouwwad, Mufti Hassan Khaled,
and others, to impose political directives, is no longer possible.
This is precisely how Lebanon should deal with the genocidal crime that
destroyed half of Beirut and had catastrophic repercussions from which Lebanon
will not quickly recover.
The tragic event that took only a few minutes to unfold will remain in people’s
hearts. Realistically, no one will be capable of going back to their normal
lives or even merely continuing to abide by the restrictions imposed by the
epidemic! Therefore, there is no alternative to demanding full transparency and
serious accountability. This would slightly compensate those who paid the high
price, especially since Lebanon is now in the midst of an existential phase
characterized by extreme tensions between the majority of the Lebanese and the
ruling mafia!
Those who rose furiously in the aftermath of the Beirut blast insisted on
justice, rejecting a local investigation and demanding a joint or international
probe. This demand stems from the conviction that the Lebanese judiciary, which
does not have all of the required investigative tools, has lost its
independence, and many in the judiciary fear retaliation. The assassination of
judges on court benches more than twenty years ago has not left their memory.
The investigation into this crime against humanity needs to expose the entire
scenario of the ship of death, from who is responsible for seizing its cargo to
unloading it in warehouse No. 12; It must expose those who were part of the
poorly devised cover-up of the presence of a deadly pillow under people’s heads
by looking into internal correspondences that were of no effect.
State Security has revealed that since the 3rd of last June, the Prime Minister
has known of the details, along with the ministers of defense and labor. Then,
on July 20, Aoun and Diab received a detailed memo warning of the danger
threatening to destroy Beirut, but no one took action to save the capital and
the lives of its residents!
The investigation is called upon to go back to the date of February 21, 2014,
the day Colonel Joseph Skaf wrote to the Ministry of Finance’s Smuggling,
Inspection and Search Agency demanding that the ship “RHOSUS”, loaded with 2,750
tons of “ammonium nitrate” be removed from the port.
This has cost him his life after he was subsequently treacherously murdered, and
his family has been waiting for years to learn the details of the crime! The
question was, why wasn’t the shipment returned to its owner, only for it to
become clear that there was no known owner... so the real owner kept quiet, but
he is being covered! And because the special tribunal has demonstrated its high
degree of credibility and ended the era of political crimes going unpunished, it
is unacceptable to insist on covering it up with a local investigation, even if
Hezbollah is behind it. Just as the court has proven that the assassination of
ex-Prime Minister Hariri is a link in the broader chain of control and
subjugation, the majority of the Lebanese consider the crime of August 4 to be
the most significant link in the plan to tighten the Iranian hegemony of
Lebanon. Thus, there is no alternative to adhering to an international
investigation because it is the only way to achieve justice for the Lebanese!
Witnessing the rise and fall of the Special Tribunal for
Lebanon
Chibli Mallat/The National/August 20/2020
What began as a quest for justice, 15 years later, became a perversion of it.
The idea of forming a Special Tribunal for Lebanon first emerged on October 1,
2004, when news came of a car bomb severely injuring Marwan Hamadeh, a Lebanese
politician and journalist, in Beirut. Terje Rod-Larsen, at the time the UN
special co-ordinator for the Middle East Peace Process, and I discussed the idea
at a meeting that took place later that day in New York.
As a lawyer and activist, I had sought out Mr Rod-Larsen, who was effectively
the man in charge of Lebanon issues at the UN, to ask how he intended to
implement the recently passed UN Security Council Resolution 1559, which called
for free and fair presidential elections in Lebanon, the surrender of weapons by
the Iranian-backed Lebanese militia group Hezbollah and the withdrawal of Syrian
troops stationed in the country.
It is important to remember at this point that the Lebanese state, its
institutions and many of its politicians were being coerced by Syrian President
Bashar Al Assad into toeing the line he was imposing on Lebanon.
It was obvious to me that the attack on Mr Hamadeh was meant to serve as a
warning to his two primary allies – the Progressive Socialist Party leader Walid
Joumblatt and the prime minister Rafik Hariri – because of their stand against
Lebanon’s President, Emile Lahoud, and his Syrian backers.
I pointed out to Mr Rod-Larsen the likely emergence of a pattern of
assassination attempts with the purpose of punishing the rising anti-Syrian
coalition in Lebanon, and the need to anticipate and respond to it.
Sure enough, matters got worse in Lebanon.
Hariri was forced out of office in the second week of October, despite the fact
that, under pressure from the Syrian regime, he had voted for Mr Lahoud’s
extension. According to a later UN investigative report, President Bashar Al
Assad had told Hariri: “I will bring down the whole of Lebanon over your head if
you don’t support the extension of Lahoud’s presidency.”
Meanwhile, no arrests were made following the attack on Mr Hamadeh.
After the assassination of Hariri in another car bomb in February, 2005, I
suggested to Nick Rostow, the legal adviser to the US delegation to the UN, that
an international tribunal be set up immediately.
It is still my view that the assassination should have been treated not as
terrorism, but rather as a crime against humanity, which would have qualified it
for referral to the International Criminal Court. This would have negated the
need to build a tribunal from scratch. At the time, moreover, the ICC had shown
more competence in dealing with crimes of this nature and magnitude. Amnesty
International also agreed with that categorisation because the attack had
claimed 22 lives (including Hariri’s). It did not help matters that the word
“terrorism” was – and, in fact, remains – undefined in international law.
It was a missed opportunity.
Instead, an international probe was instituted by the UN a few weeks later,
which in turn recommended the establishment of a tribunal. Two excellent
investigators were appointed in 2005: Irish deputy police commissioner Peter
Fitzgerald and German federal prosecutor Detlev Mehlis. Both proved remarkable
in their efforts to push back against the Lebanese-Syrian security complex and
force the arrest of four Lebanese generals suspected of covering up the
assassination and deflecting the course of justice. Two prominent journalists,
Samir Kassir and Gebrane Tueni, were murdered that year – I believe, by this
security complex – yet there was progress being made in the investigation.
In January 2006, however, the probe screeched to a halt, with the dynamism of
the Cedar Revolution – a chain of nationwide demonstrations seeking truth and
justice following Hariri’s assassination – undermined by a new appointee, former
Belgian prosecutor Serge Brammertz.
After his appointment in January, little serious work was done for about two
years, during which time he worked as an investigator and then as a prosecutor,
botching the enquiry process as well as the legal work.
The four generals arrested on the request of Mr Mehlis were imprisoned without
any set court date. Meanwhile, assassinations of those who stood up to the
pro-Syrian and pro-Hezbollah forces continued unabated. Mr Lahoud and his allies
were adversarial towards the STL and, as corpses piled up, the tribunal became
little more than a paper tiger.
The prosecution would only issue the first indictments five years later, after a
courageous Lebanese investigator named Wissam Eid conducted a detailed analysis
of mobile phone signals on the day of the killing to isolate certain individuals
he suspected of being involved. One of the suspicious phone calls was made by
Salim Ayyash, a seemingly low-level Hezbollah operative. Ayyash and four others
were indicted by the STL. One of the four, Mustafa Badreddine, later died in
Syria, and proceedings against him were ended. Eid, though, was assassinated in
2008. It is worth noting that the STL did not mention his name in the public
statement.
Nor, since January 2006, has there been a single word mentioned about the openly
brutal obstruction of justice by Mr Al Assad, Mr Lahoud and Hassan Nasrallah,
the head of Hezbollah. Journalists, instead, were cited for various
insignificant leaks.
Apart from being toothless, the STL was also leaderless for a long time. For a
while Antonio Cassese, a distinguished international criminal scholar and judge,
presided over the tribunal. From my correspondence with him, I knew he wanted to
take the case forward. He was of a different calibre. But luck deserted Lebanon
again, as Cassese died of cancer shortly after his resignation in 2011.
I was, therefore, hardly surprised by how timid this week’s judgment turned out
to be.
The only person found guilty was Ayyash, who led the assassination cell, but was
the smallest fish in the conspiracy. And the STL found no grounds to condemn
Nasrallah for his steadfast refusal to surrender Ayyash either, since his
indictment in 2010.
The enquiry was botched in so many ways, with manifest errors in law. The most
shocking among them was the tribunal’s refusal to investigate those whom it said
had the strongest motives in Hariri’s killing. The legal expert in me wonders
how will any teacher of criminal law explain to his or her students that motive
is not a component of a crime – as it was bewildering to hear the STL president
say this week. The streets of a Beirut, recently battered by explosions in its
port area, seethed with disappointment and anger.
The line heard on the street aptly summarised the judgment: “The STL found that
Salim Ayyash, alone, made a telephone call.”
*Chibli Mallat is an emeritus law professor, international criminal lawyer and,
until September, co-ordinator of the Lebanese activist coalition TMT
Lebanese Information Centre (LIC) Statement On The Beirut
Explosion
USA/August 18, 2020
At around 6:10pm on Tuesday, August 4, 2020, a massive explosion rocked the
Lebanese capital, causing catastrophic damage that was unprecedented even for
Beirut, which has seen several rounds of war in the last five decades.
The blast, seemingly caused by the storage of some 2,750 tons of ammonium
nitrate in Warehouse 12 at the Beirut Port, left more than 170 dead and nearly
6,000 injured, in addition to dozens of missing persons. The explosion caused
severe damage to residential buildings, factories, shops, and hospitals
estimated at up to $30 billion. The destruction spread over miles from the
epicenter of the explosion in one of the most densely populated cities on the
Mediterranean and has left some 300,000 people without homes. Without a doubt,
it has only exacerbated the dire economic crisis gripping Lebanon for the past
year.
In view of this calamity, the LIC extends its deepest condolences to the
families of the victims and wishes the wounded a speedy recovery. We are also
very appreciative of the swift worldwide response in support of the Lebanese
people, especially from the United States, which has generously allocated $18
million to the relief effort and has provided technical support to the blast
probe through the Federal Bureau of Investigation.
In the immediate aftermath of the explosion, the LIC launched several
initiatives to aid and assist the Lebanese people:
The LIC engaged a number of Lebanese political, humanitarian and civil society
groups in Lebanon as well as the Lebanese Army command in order to determine the
most efficient pathway for aid and relay this information to decision-makers in
Washington.
The LIC contacted a number of senior officials in the U.S. State Department, the
Pentagon, members of the U.S. Congress, relevant congressional committees and
subcommittees, the U.S.-Lebanon Friendship Caucus, and the U.S. Agency for
International Development. The discussions centered around providing the most
possible aid directly to the Lebanese people, especially in medicine, food and
other crucial supplies.
The LIC mobilized its chapters around the nation, launched direct fundraising
campaigns and collaborated with other U.S.-based charity groups such as the
‘Children of Mary’ to raise hundreds of thousands of dollars in aid to those
affected by this tragedy.
In closing, the LIC:
Expresses its sincere appreciation to individuals, organizations, and countries
that have contributed to the relief effort, especially the United States.
Demands an independent international commission of inquiry into the cause of the
blast and the conditions in which these materials were stored
Condemns the irresponsible manner in which Lebanese authorities stored these
hazardous substances and their refusal to accept an international investigation.
Stands with the Lebanese people in demanding a change of power through early
parliamentary elections, allowing the country to restore the foundations of a
true sovereign state and recover from the hegemony of armed militias, neglect
and corruption.
Emphasizes that all assistance should be provided directly to those affected and
not to corrupt and irresponsible Lebanese authorities.
Remains steadfast in its commitment to help the Lebanese people in their
struggle to reclaim their country and to represent their voice in the United
States.
Hezbollah identified with Lebanon's corruption, faces public anger
The Arab Weekly/August 20/2020
BEIRUT--Fifteen years after the assassination of Lebanon's former prime minister
Rafik al-Hariri, Hezbollah has risen to become the overarching power in a
country that is now collapsing under its feet amid a series of devastating
crises.
A UN-backed tribunal on Tuesday convicted a member of the Iranian-backed group
of conspiring to kill Hariri in a 2005 bombing and acquitted three others.
The verdict came at a time when Lebanon's economy has collapsed. Institutions
from the security services to the presidency, occupied by a Hezbollah ally, have
been found wanting, and people are struggling with the aftermath of the massive
explosion that shredded central Beirut this month.
Added to this, there is no functioning government and there is a spike in the
COVID-19 pandemic.
Hezbollah leader Hassan Nasrallah has denied that the group has ever controlled
Lebanese governments or that it has a majority that would allow it to act on its
own.
But Lebanon is slipping from Hezbollah's hands, said a political source familiar
with the thinking among the group's Christian allies.
"By getting the majority (in parliamentary elections) and a president on their
side, they thought they controlled the country, but what happened now with
Hezbollah and its allies is that they got power but they lost the country and
the people."
Hezbollah has faced growing criticism for its perceived failure to deliver on
promised reforms since winning a parliamentary majority with its allies in 2018.
The government - nominated by Hezbollah and its allies after the previous
administration led by Saad al-Hariri, son of the slain PM, was toppled by a
civic uprising last October - resigned over the Aug. 4 blast.
It had tried to negotiate a rescue package with the International Monetary Fund,
but was blocked by the very powerbrokers who appointed it.
"There are so many problems internally apart from the port explosion," says
Magnus Ranstorp, a Hezbollah expert. "The country is breaking under their feet."
Fawaz Gerges, Middle East expert at the London School of Economics, adds: "This
is one of the most fundamental challenges facing Lebanon since its independence
from (France) in 1943 as you have now multiple crises facing Lebanon and
Hezbollah." "I fear this (the tribunal verdict) could provide a trigger. The
country, which is already divided, will become more polarised along sectarian
lines as opposed to political and ideological lines."
Western donors say they will not bail out Lebanon without fundamental reforms to
a corrupt system.
At rock bottom
US Undersecretary of State David Hale said on Wednesday there is no more foreign
money for a Lebanese leadership that enriches itself and spurns the popular
will.
"They (the Lebanese people) see rulers who use the system in order to enrich
themselves and to ignore popular demands," Hale said. "That era is over. There
is no more money for that. They are at rock bottom and sooner or later, I
believe, that the leadership will appreciate the fact that it is time to
change."
Asked about Hezbollah's role in any potential government, Hale said: "Reforms
are contrary to the interests of all the status quo leaders and that very much
includes Hezbollah, which today is perceived as a big part of the problem," he
said.
Mohanad Hage Ali, fellow at the Carnegie Middle East Center, said Hezbollah had
"failed miserably" to keep its election promise to fight corruption. "They
literally delivered nothing on this promise. In fact, their anti-corruption
campaign is now a popular joke." "As is the case with most of this political
class, Hezbollah hasn't been in a weaker position than they are right now," he
said.
The militant Shia movement, which has acted as a spearhead for Tehran in Syria's
civil war and across the region, is also facing public anger over the explosion
in the Beirut port that has traumatised the country.
The detonation of what authorities say was 2,700 tonnes of unsafely stored
ammonium nitrate fuelled outrage over government negligence, incompetence and
inaction. Hezbollah is not only the predominant power in Lebanon but is seen as
protecting a corrupt political class that has driven Lebanon into the ground.
"Losing the narrative"
"What Hezbollah doesn't understand about the port explosion, the outcry, the
protests, is that people view it as the latest manifestation of the corrupt
elite and they hold Hezbollah responsible for safeguarding this elite," said
Gerges. "Hezbollah is losing the narrative inside Lebanon," he said. Many
Lebanese, including some Christians who once supported Hezbollah, have turned
against the group even though it is not responsible for an economic crisis that
had piled up for years under previous governments. The mood changed after
Nasrallah gave a televised address denying responsibility for the blast and
warning protesters that any more attacks on the system and its leaders would
meet a robust response.
"You would have expected him to have reached out to the public by saying he
would do anything to find out what has happened, that 'we are with the people',"
Gerges said.But Hezbollah's priorities are geo-strategic rather than
Lebanon-centric.
It fears change in Lebanon might undermine its ability to influence a political
system that allows it to maintain its weapons and fighters, analysts say. As a
result, Hezbollah has become bogged down in Lebanon. "They want to maintain
their powerful position in the country, they want to maintain their weapons,
they want to maintain a veto in the decision-making process while at the same
time they want to tell people they are against corruption and they are different
from the corrupt ruling elite. These contradictions have caught up with
Hezbollah," Gerges said.
Khalil Gebara, Senior Policy Fellow at Issam Fares Institute for Public Policy
and International Affairs, said: "After the blast, it is clear that the
political system is also close to collapse ... Hezbollah's objective today is to
extend the life of the Lebanese political system."
Although the court found no evidence of direct involvement by the leadership of
Hezbollah, the judges said Hariri's killing was clearly a politically motivated
act of terrorism. A Hezbollah operative was also found guilty.
The verdict, analysts say, is likely to exacerbate the difficulties of
Hezbollah, already designated by the United States and several others as a
terrorist group.
"More and more countries will likely view Hezbollah as a paramilitary terrorist
organisation," Gerges said.
Ranstorp says even before the Hariri verdict the mood in Europe and Washington
had swung against a Hezbollah-dominated Lebanon, because of the axis of Shia
power Iran has built across Iraq, Syria and Lebanon.
The challenge to Hezbollah comes as it and its forces in Syria are being
regularly attacked by Israeli warplanes, and powerful allied militias in Iraq
are under pressure.
Most analysts say Hezbollah will sit tight, hoping that time will work in its
favour, either through a new US president or a possible new understanding
between Tehran and the Trump administration ahead of the November election.
"They want to preserve the (Lebanese) state as it stands today. They don't want
a strong state. But they don't want a fragmented weak one because that means
more headaches, more challenges for them," Hage Ali said.
Pressure grows for Hariri’s return as Lebanon leader
Najia Housari/Arab News/August 20/2020
BEIRUT: Lebanese President Michel Aoun said on Thursday that he plans to include
“competent figures representing the voice of the street” in the new government.
Ten days after Prime Minister Hassan Diab’s government resigned in the wake of
the Beirut port blast, Aoun is yet to set a date for parliamentary consultations
to name a leader for the next government. In a tweet on Thursday, he added that
it is not clear if talks will take place soon. Diab’s government stepped down
amid widespread public anger following the port explosion that devastated
Beirut, killing 180 people and causing widespread damage.
Opponents of Diab’s leadership claim it was a “shadow government” dominated by
Hezbollah that failed to carry out reforms demanded by the international
community. Parliament Speaker Nabih Berri is fighting to restore Saad Hariri as
prime minister.
Hariri’s government of national unity resigned in October, 2019, after violent
protests broke out amid claims of growing government corruption. Protesters
called for a transitional government to implement reforms demanded by the global
community to help Lebanon overcome its economic crisis. Aoun and Berri held a
meeting two days ago in which the parliament speaker suggested Hariri return to
the leadership. MPs have reported Berri saying that he considers Hariri “the
perfect man for the stage.”Berri also claims that he has Hezbollah’s backing for
Hariri. Sources say he is insisting on a political government, not a
technocratic one, and wants Hariri to provide it with an acceptable cover in
light of the political and economic crises facing Lebanon. However, the dispute
between Hariri and the Free Patriotic Movement (FPM) worsened during his time as
prime minister, bringing an end to the relationship between the two parties.
French President Emmanuel Macron told Lebanese leaders during his visit to
Beirut two days after the port explosion that he would return to Lebanon on
Sept. 1 to ensure reforms were being carried out.
He called on officials to “assume their responsibilities during the coming
weeks, launch reforms and form a national unity government.” Future Movement
leader Mustafa Alloush told Arab News: “The conditions for Hariri heading any
future government have not changed. What is required is an independent
government that convinces the international community of the possibility of
helping Lebanon and persuades the Lebanese of its ability to rescue (the
country). “The government must enjoy wide and exceptional powers in order to be
able to be productive and eliminate the burden of obstruction that parliament
poses.” While Berri and Hariri are expected to continue discussions, Alloush
could not predict a date for any meeting. “There is a positive endeavor that
Berri is undertaking and he has presented a government project to Aoun,” Alloush
said.
He said that “the political dispute with the FPM continues. What is required is
that the FPM — and not Hariri — changes.”
Lebanon’s momentum for change should not be wasted
Elie Al HindyThe Arab Weekly/August 20/2020
Lebanon is at a crossroad with an opportunity to take the right turn. But the
international, regional and local landscape may hinder a positive change.
As I write these words, Beirut is overwhelmed by the visit of high calibre
foreign visitors: the French president and ministers of foreign affairs and of
armed forces, the US under-secretary of state, the Turkish vice-president, the
ministers of foreign affairs of Germany, Egypt, Iran and many others…
This proves anew how much love, respect and support Lebanon and the Lebanese
people have from their friends around the world and gives hope that the dire
economic situation is not forlorn.
However, this surge in international attention on Lebanon is not necessarily all
positive. Lebanon reaches this crossroad amid the movement of political tectonic
plates in the region whose main players are often blamed — rightfully — for much
of Lebanon’s corrosion in the past, present and probably future.
US policy consistently prioritised Israel’s security. Therefore, facilitating a
deal on the Lebanese-Israeli borders might require cutting Hezbollah “some
slack” internally and delaying sanctions on the party’s brokers and allies who
are squeezing the life out of Lebanon. Also prioritising the “Deal of the
Century” that is slowly becoming a reality, although rejected by many, will
probably cause aftershocks that will be felt in the streets of Lebanon.
On the other hand, France continues to blow hot and cold reflecting its
ambivalent and perplexing policies on Lebanon. The French want to save Lebanon
but pursue horse-trading between the US and Iran. They want to replace the
Lebanese polity altogether but continue to befriend most of the Lebanese
politicians.
Meanwhile, Iran could not care less about Lebanon and considers it as a mere
pawn on the broader chess-board. They will not hesitate to sacrifice Lebanon for
the survival of the regime or of its strategic assets (i.e. Hezbollah).
On the other side of the Gulf, Lebanon’s experience with the Saudi policy is
bitter: They drag their allies into compromises and the Syrian quagmire, only to
give up later and decide not to invest any further efforts, finances, or
political support, leaving Lebanon to its doom.
With the UAE pushing for its own views, Qatar closely coordinating with both
Islamists and Hezbollah, Turkey expanding its presence and influence in northern
Lebanon as part of its regional policies, Russia focusing on defeating the US in
Lebanon, Egypt striving to resuscitate its regional role, Lebanon finds itself
dealing with a conundrum of contradictory policies and clashing interests. Such
troubled times usually end up badly for the “weakest link,” a characteristic
that has become a synonym for Lebanon.
On the internal level, the picture does not seem any brighter. The main
political forces are exploiting the Beirut blast disaster to preserve or improve
their benefits. Not only completely delusional, they are also in complete denial
that the major changes that occurred in October 17 have been further entrenched
with the port explosion. They fail to acknowledge that politics can no longer be
“business as usual.” On the other end of the spectrum, the politically immature
protest movement continues to hem and haw with the rage of a lion but the
muscles of a cat.
Is there a way out?
The humanitarian crisis resulting from the Beirut explosion and the economic
crisis that has been hitting Lebanon in the past year are only by-products of
the real political crisis that has not been dealt with so far. Thus, responding
to humanitarian needs alone will only leave Lebanon under even more significant
economic pressures. Solving the bigger economic crisis can only be done through
working out the political issues. Political reform must necessarily happen with
faithfulness to the “raison d’être” of this country that was initially created
to be a land of freedom and refuge to the persecuted, and a bridge between the
east and the west. Thus, reform must enshrine internal coexistence and external
neutrality, democracy, accountability, human rights and freedom.
While venturing into the uncalculated and unwise suggestion of “system change”
is neither relevant nor useful now, building state institutions on solid ground
is imperative. This is necessarily at odds with the presence of armed militias
as well as corrupt and uncontested leaders of various sects or populist
reformists, none of whom can be part of the solution.
At this crossroad, Lebanon needs to take the right path of a credible and
legitimate emergency government. It will certainly be met halfway by an
international community eager to help. The next government should be impartial
and independent with new figures driven by innovative governance paradigms. The
top priority of such a government should be to stabilise the situation, organise
snap elections and start immediately the long-overdue structural reforms.
In parallel, the international community should not commit the sin of trying to
revive a factitious stability through a “national unity government” or try to
provide oxygen-funding under the pretext of avoiding collapse, because this will
only delay the collapse for a few months and prolong the agony of the Lebanese
people.The momentum for taking the right turn for Lebanon is there, like it has
been many times before, but unfortunately looking at the international and local
scenery, it is very possible that this momentum could be lost and this
opportunity for change wasted.
Pity the nation that continues to be a battleground for competing international
interests. Pity the nation that continues to be led by leaders who lack basic
statesmanship and who are less, much less, than what its people deserve.
Pity the nation whose reformists are as corrupt, incompetent and shortsighted as
its establishment.
Pity the nation that is neither able to turn the page nor able to start a new
one.
Pity the nation that is unceasingly destined to rise from its own ashes and
rebuild itself.
Pity the nation… again!
**Elie Al Hindy (PhD) is an Associate Professor of Government and International
Relations and Director of the Middle East Institute for Research & Strategic
Studies.
The Latest English LCCC Miscellaneous
Reports And News published on August 20-21/2020
Iran summons Emirati envoy over
killing of 2 fishermen
NNA/Thursday 20 August 2020
Iran’s Foreign Ministry said Thursday it summoned the United Arab Emirates envoy
after Emirati Coast Guard vessels shot at several Iranian fishing boats, killing
two fishermen. The ministry said in a statement that Iran expressed its anger to
the UAE’s charge d’affaires in Tehran on Tuesday, a day after the incident. On
Monday, the UAE’s Coast Guard opened fire on some Iranian fishing boats, killing
two anglers, and seized one of the vessels and detained the fishermen, according
to Iran. Iran’s Foreign Ministry urged the Emirati envoy to release the detained
fishermen and lift the seizure of the boat and deliver the bodies of the two
killed. It also demanded compensation and that appropriate measures be taken to
prevent such incidents in the future. Emirati officials and state media did not
immediately acknowledge their diplomat being summoned in Tehran. On Monday, the
Emirates’ state-run WAM news agency reported that eight fishing boats illegally
entered UAE waters near Sir Bu Nair Island in the Persian Gulf. The WAM report
said the boats did not stop when ordered to and “rules of engagement were
applied,” without elaborating on what that meant. Meanwhile, Iran on Monday
seized an Emirati ship it said was illegally in Iranian waters and detained the
crew. --- AP
Iran says it detained a UAE ship and its crew on Monday
Reuters/August 20/2020
Tensions have risen between the two countries which face each other across the
Gulf since last week's agreement between the UAE and Tehran's arch-foe Israel to
normalize ties. Iran seized a United Arab Emirates-registered ship violating its
territorial waters this week, Iran's Foreign Ministry said on Thursday, adding
that UAE coastguards killed two Iranian fishermen on the same day. Tensions have
risen between the two oil-rich countries which face each other across the Gulf
since last week's agreement between the Gulf state and Tehran's arch-foe Israel
to normalize ties. "On Monday, an Emirati ship was seized by Iran's border
guards and its crew were detained due to illegal traffic in our country's
waters," state TV quoted the statement as saying. "On the same day, UAE guards
shot dead two Iranian fishermen and seized a boat." The statement said Iran
summoned the UAE charge d'affairs in Tehran over the incident. The UAE foreign
ministry declined to comment when contacted by Reuters. State news agency WAM
reported on Monday that the Gulf state's coastguards had tried to stop eight
fishing boats which violated the state's territorial waters northwest of Sir Bu
Nu'Ayr island, without reporting any casualties.
Latest articles from Jpost. "The UAE authorities ... in a note on Wednesday,
have expressed their deep regret over the incident and announced their readiness
to compensate for all the damage caused," Iran's statement said.
US to announce snapback of sanctions on Iran
Jerusalem Post/August 20/2020
This is what to expect from the diplomatic battle:
Following the Security Council’s rejection of an American proposal to extend the
arms embargo on Iran last week, US Secretary of State Mike Pompeo, said he would
notify the Security Council that the US is invoking the “snapback” mechanism,
which was a part of the 2015 nuclear agreement.
“Thirty days after Secretary Pompeo’s notification, a range of UN sanctions will
be restored, including the requirement that Iran suspends all enrichment-related
activities,” the Department of State said in a statement. “This will also extend
the 13-year arms embargo on Iran.”
Other members of the Security Council, such as China and Russia, argue that the
US could not announce snapback since it is no longer a participant in the
agreement. “Even though the United States formally exited the Iran deal, the
deal itself was enshrined in a UN Security Council resolution that enables the
United States to impose snapback sanctions based on violations or perceived
violations by Iran of the terms of the deal,” Dr. Jonathan Schanzer, senior vice
president for research at the Foundation for Defense of Democracies told The
Jerusalem Post.“We know that Iran has advanced its nuclear program in ways that
violate the JCPOA, so the United States has the right to invoke snapback,”
Schanzer added.
Another option for the US is to convince a current participant of the deal to
snap back the sanctions. “The focus right now is on countries like the UK and
France who, on the one hand, are allies of the United States and almost
certainly understand what’s at stake in terms of Iranian malign activity and
proliferation. But on the other hand, have opposed the Trump administration exit
of the Iran deal and are ambivalent about snapback. So this is the drama that we
are watching now,” said Schanzer.
Mike Pregent, a senior fellow at Hudson Institute, told the Post that The US has
to take this action “because Russia and China basically vetoed the request to
extend the arms embargo. It doesn’t matter that the US left the JCPOA. They
still have a vote on a snapback, and the US has a pretty strong position here.
It’s definitely the right thing to do.”“This is a power that any country that
signed up for the JCOPA has, to snap back sanctions,” he continued. “Other
members of the Security Council can’t reverse it. Chapters 11 through 15 of the
UN Security Council resolution, talk about the mechanisms that put into place
that the US as a permanent member of the Security Council could do it. The US is
on solid ground; it’s a tool that the US could use.”
Ned Price, a lecturer at Georgetown University’s School of Foreign Service and
former spokesperson of the National Security Council during the Obama
administration, told the Post that Pompeo’s attempt to snapback sanction would
be “ineffective.”
“This is the consequence of the Trump administration’s “maximum pressure”
strategy, which is equal parts reckless and feckless,” he said. “It’s a strategy
that has backfired at every turn: Iran has restarted elements of its nuclear
program, its proxies are emboldened and the promised “better deal” has never
been more elusive. At every step of the way, we were promised the
opposite.”According to Price, “The snapback ploy will be similarly ineffective,
as even our closest allies and partners won’t go along with it – and for a good
reason. And the Trump administration knows this. But they also have an ulterior
motive: at this point, they’re trying to make it as difficult as possible for a
Biden administration to revive the JCPOA. This is a move animated more by spite
than it is by any genuine effort to restrict Iran’s nuclear program. If the
letter were the goal, rejoining the JCPOA would be the most effective approach.”
Iran claims it has new cruise missiles and advanced drones - report
Jerusalem Post/August 20/2020
The new weapons are named for Muhandis and Soleimani, who the US killed in
January in Baghdad.
Iran has unveiled new missiles and drones, it claimed this week. A ballistic
missile named for former IRGC Quds Force commander Qasem Soleimani was shown off
in the presence of Iranian President Hassan Rouhani. The new exhibit also
included drones and a cruise missile named for Abu Mahdi al-Muhandis, former
head of Kataib Hezbollah. The new weapons are named for the two men the US
killed in January in Baghdad. Soleimani and Muhandis, a key Iraqi militia leader
and ally of Iran, were architects of Iran’s regional policy. Naming the weapons
after them is supposed to honor them and also threaten the US. The new cruise
missile has a turbocharged lightweight engine, according to Iranian media.
Drones are increasingly important, Rouhani told Fars News. UAVs play a larger
role today on the battlefield, he said. Iran has pioneered drones since the
1980s and now has an array of the weapons. Some are copied directly from US
platforms, while others are local and innovative. Iran has supplied them to its
allies in Yemen and elsewhere. In the field of missiles, Iran has reached real
deterrent power, Minister of Defense Amir Hatami said. Iran’s missiles can now
reach 2,000 km., and the new Abu Mahdi al-Muhandis missile can reach 1,000 km.,
he said Iran also says it has a range of up to 1,400 km. with other, solid-fuel
missiles. It is not clear if these boasts have been proven, but Iran did use
ballistic missiles to target the US in Iraq in January and has targeted ISIS in
Syria. And it has clearly increased their precision and range. When Tehran fired
them at ISIS, it used drones to monitor the strikes. It did the same thing in
2018 against Kurdish dissidents in Koya.This shows that Iran has reached
sophisticated levels of missile and drone production. It also used cruise
missiles against Saudi Arabia last year, coordinating the attack with drones,
although not all the cruise missiles made it to their targets.
Iraq PM to Meet Trump With US Troops on the Agenda
Asharq Al-Awsat/Thursday, 20 August, 2020
Iraqi Prime Minister Mustafa al-Kadhemi will meet US President Donald Trump for
the first time in Washington on Thursday, with the presence of American troops
in the country at the top of his agenda. The meeting comes as attacks on
American targets by pro-Iranian fighters have been on the rise, and with Tehran
and Washington competing for influence in Iraq, the gulf between pro-Iranian
factions and Baghdad's US-friendly premier is growing. Kadhemi, who took office
in May, faces challenges from factions of the Popular Mobilization Forces
(Hashed al-Shaabi), a coalition of Iraqi Shiite paramilitary groups with close
ties to Iran. The PMF is officially integrated into the Iraqi state, and its
political representatives have called for the expulsion of the 5,000 US troops
deployed in the country as part of anti-militant efforts. US Secretary of State
Mike Pompeo said Wednesday that "armed groups not under the full control of the
prime minister have impeded our progress," calling for them to "be replaced by
local police as soon as possible."Pompeo -- who was speaking at a press
conference with Iraqi Foreign Minister Fuad Hussein -- appeared to be referring
to Shiite paramilitary groups, though he did not identify them by name. Asked
about the plan for cutting the 5,000 US troops now in Iraq, Pompeo said he had
no numbers and urged people "not to focus on that." On the troop issue, a senior
administration official said: "There are no hard fast timelines, and there are
no hard fast numbers but that certainly would be part of the discussion, as we
evaluate what Iraq security requirements are, and what the United States
believes it can do." The official described "armed groups" as "a persistent
problem that challenges Iraqi security, has threatened US forces' interests in
the region, and certainly it's a challenge to Iraq sovereignty."
"We think that Iraq's internal security needs are best met by forces that are,
first and foremost, under the sovereign control the government of Iraq," the
official said. Pro-Iranian factions were hit hard by Washington's assassination
in January of one of their top chiefs, Abu Mahdi al-Muhandis, in a strike that
also killed top Iranian commander General Qasem Soleimani. Attacks on the rise
The PMF denies any connection to a recent spate of anti-US attacks, but videos
and claims on social media hint at its involvement, through groups operating
under other names. Kadhemi has angered armed groups by seizing border posts
where they ran lucrative smuggling networks and imposed taxes on traders.
Attacks have risen in recent weeks, with the Iraqi army reporting another rocket
attack on Tuesday evening targeting Baghdad airport, where US troops are based.
The projectile did not cause damage or casualties, the army said. From October
to the end of July, Iraqi armed factions carried out 39 rocket attacks against
American interests in the country. But after the White House earlier this month
confirmed that Trump would meet Kadhemi, the pace intensified. Between August 4
and 18, 14 bomb and rocket attacks targeted Iraqi logistics convoys for the US
military, bases housing US soldiers, and the US embassy. While the impact has
been limited, the attacks have served as a show of strength. After an attack on
a convoy in Iraq's south, a man was arrested in possession of bombs and a PMF
military ID card that allowed him to cross checkpoints without a search, an
intelligence source told AFP. At the end of June, 14 fighters from the Hezbollah
Brigades, a PMF faction, were arrested for attacks on Americans. Three days
later, 13 were released on the decision of a PMF military judge. Kadhemi over
the weekend hosted Iranian commander Esmail Qaani, Soleimani's replacement,
telling him that "no country" could interfere in Iraqi-US relations, a source
close to the discussions told AFP. The relationship between Baghdad and Tehran,
meanwhile, must be "state-to-state and not via militias," the source quoted him
as saying, adding that groups that "draw their strength from Iran" had bombed
Iraqi targets and embezzled money.
US ‘outraged’ by assassinations of Iraqi activists
Joseph Haboush, Al Arabiya English/Thursday 20 August 2020
The United States said Thursday that it was “outraged by the targeted
assassinations” of activists and attacks on protesters in Iraq, one day after
unknown gunmen assassinated Iraqi activist Dr. Reham Yacoub in central Basra.
Yacoub was one of four activists who were targeted and killed in Basra on
Wednesday night while one other activist was assassinated in the capital
Baghdad, according to Al Arabiya’s Baghdad correspondent Majid Hamid. “It is
unconscionable that the perpetrators of these horrible acts continue to act with
impunity,” a senior US official said in a statement. A number of Iraqi
protesters and activists have been killed, detained and beaten since
anti-government protests started last October. “We strongly support the right of
Iraqis to assemble peacefully and express themselves,” US State Department
Spokesperson Morgan Ortagus said, calling on the Iraqi government to hold
accountable “the militias, thugs, and criminal gangs attacking Iraqis exercising
their right to peaceful protest.” Human rights monitors sounded the alarm over a
recent spike in assassinations targeting civil rights activists in Iraq's south
on Thursday. “It seems that there is a well-programmed cleansing of activists
who were influential in the last protest movement,” said Ali al-Bayati,
spokesman for the semi-official Iraqi Independent High Commission for Human
Rights.
Iraq PM Mustafa al-Kadhimi says Turkish interference is
unacceptable
Joseph Haboush, Al Arabiya English/Thursday 20 August 2020
Iraqi Prime Minister Mustafa al-Kadhimi said Thursday that Turkey’s interference
in Iraq was unacceptable, ahead of a meeting with US President Donald Trump in
Washington. In June, after separate military operations, Baghdad summoned the
Turkish and Iranian ambassadors targetted Kurdish rebels in northern Iraq. Iraq
said the attacks were an attack on the country’s sovereignty. Nevertheless,
Turkey continues its military operations for what it says are security purposes.
“We will not accept it ... and Iraq’s constitution states that our lands will
not be [open for confrontation],” Kadhimi told reporters ahead of a closed-door
meeting with Trump. Kadhimi said Iraq was open to US investments. This comes
after Iraq and US companies signed more than $8 billion in deals on Wednesday,
including energy and oil agreements. Five American companies signed deals with
Iraqi officials in the Oil and Electricity Ministries worth over $8 billion,
according to a statement from the US Department of Energy. Among the new
agreements is a deal between Iraq and the US’s General Electric worth more than
$1 billion. For his part, Trump said Thursday that the US would stand by Iraq’s
side and reiterated previous comments of his will to see US troops completely
withdraw from Iraq. But the US president said American forces were present to
confront any Iranian threats.
US imposes sanctions on six Syrian government officials,
military leaders
Reuters, WashingtonThursday 20 August 2020
The US on Thursday blacklisted senior Syrian government officials and leaders of
several Syrian military units as Washington continues to impose sanctions aimed
at cutting off funds for Syrian President Bashar al-Assad’s government.
The Treasury said in a statement it imposed sanctions on Luna Al Shibl, Assad’s
top press officer, and Mohamad Ammar Saati bin Mohamad Nawzad, a prominent
member of the Syrian Baath Party. The US State Department on Thursday also
imposed sanctions on the leadership of several Syrian military units, including
National Defense Forces commander Fadi Saqr, over their efforts to prevent a
ceasefire, Secretary of State Mike Pompeo said in a statement. “The US and its
allies are united in continuing to apply pressure on Assad and his enablers
until there is peaceful, political solution to the conflict. Assad and his
foreign patrons know the clock is ticking for action,” Pompeo said. “The US will
continue to impose costs on anyone, anywhere who obstructs a peaceful political
solution to the Syrian conflict,” he added. Thursday’s move freezes any US
assets of those blacklisted and generally bars Americans from dealing with them.
A crackdown by Assad on protesters in 2011 led to civil war, with Iran and
Russia backing the government and the US supporting the opposition. Millions of
people have fled Syria and millions more have been internally displaced.
Dubai’s Emirates waiting for approval to start Israel
flights after peace deal: COO
Matthew Amlôt, Al Arabiya English/Thursday 20 August 2020
Dubai’s Emirates airline is waiting for an aviation agreement before flights to
Israel can begin following the historic peace deal announced last week between
the UAE and Israel, the airline’s COO said. “It’s an agreement between the two
governments and definitely there will be many other sectors within business that
will be benefiting from such an agreement, obviously aviation will be one of the
main sectors. But before we plan any flights to between here Israel or Tel Aviv
an agreement needs to be put in place between the two cities,” Adel al-Redha,
chief operating officer of Emirates told CNBC Thursday.
Israel and the UAE reached a historic peace deal last week that will lead to a
full normalization of diplomatic relations between the two Middle Eastern
nations in an agreement that US President Donald Trump helped broker. Some
business and communication agreements have already passed, including
collaboration on a coronavirus vaccine and restoration of phone lines between
the two nations. Direct flights have yet to be announced, but are part of the
overall deal. Israel’s foreign ministry has also told Al Arabiya English that
the country will likely not stamp passports of tourists traveling to Israel from
the UAE – an important move as Israel stamping a UAE passport would be
significant as certain Arab countries, such as Lebanon, place entry restrictions
on people with Israeli stamps in their passports. “I think demand will come from
both sides of the region, and there will be quite a lot of opportunity for
trading and business between the two cities and two countries,” al-Redha added.
When reached for comment, an Emirates spokesperson told Al Arabiya English that
the opening of any new route requires air traffic rights and government
approvals. “Once those are in place, Emirates will review market demand and a
range of operational factors before making any decision to start flight
services. With regards to new destinations, we have nothing further to announce
at this time,” the spokesperson said.
Syrian Constitutional Committee Convenes Next Week in
Geneva
New York- Ali Barda/Asharq Al-Awsat/Thursday, 20 August, 2020
The Small Body of the Syrian Constitutional Committee will convene next week in
Geneva for another round of talks to agree on some principles based on the
respect for the UN charter, Security Council resolution 2254, Syria’s
sovereignty, unity, independence, and territorial integrity, announced UN
Special Envoy for Syria Geir Pedersen. The Special Envoy was briefing members of
the Security Council on the political, social, economic, and security
developments in Syria. Pedersen addressed the recent blast in Beirut, saying
that many Syrians were among those killed or injured in the tragic explosion,
warning that the ramifications for Syria’s humanitarian and economic supply
chains and revenue from transit trade will be significant, given the collapsing
local economy. The Envoy admitted that holding the meeting is challenging amidst
the global COVID-19 pandemic. However, he asserted that, excluding any
developments on the pandemic, the meeting will be held on August 24 after
agreeing with the co-chairs and receiving positive responses from the committee
members. He confirmed that strict health and safety protocols will be
implemented to mitigate risks. Pederson recalled that the agreement mandates the
committee, within the context of the UN-facilitated Geneva process, to “prepare
and draft for popular approval a constitutional reform as a contribution to the
political settlement in Syria and the implementation of resolution 2254.”
Millions of Syrians continue to face immense suffering and can’t wait for a
political breakthrough, he said, asserting that a complete, immediate nationwide
ceasefire, as called for in resolution 2254, is needed to enable an all-out
effort to combat the pandemic. He urged Turkey and Russia to contain all
escalatory acts, restore stability, and continue cooperation. He also called on
all actors to ensure that any actions taken to address “Security Council-listed
terrorist groups are effective, targeted, and in line with international
humanitarian law, ensuring the protection of civilians.”Pedersen warned that
Syria’s sovereignty remains compromised and that the presence of “five foreign
armies creates a serious risk of threats to international peace and security.”
This is the Committee's first meeting since November when it held its second
round of talks and the representatives of both sides failed to agree on the
agenda.
The government wanted to discuss national constants such as terrorism and the
easing of penalties before discussing constitutional matters, while the
opposition asserted that these issues could be addressed within the
constitution.
Also, at the session, the US Ambassador, Kelly Craft, said the US is hopeful the
meeting "will yield a clear path forward for the political process," stressing
that "now is the time for urgency, compromise, and action."Craft expressed hope
that the meeting can directly address constitutional reforms and that members
are willing to remain in Geneva for weeks and agree to a future round of
meetings throughout the fall so progress can be achieved and elections can take
place. "The key to achieving a credible, long-lasting political (solution) to
the Syrian conflict is a permanent, nationwide ceasefire," she said. "We call
upon the Assad regime and its Russian and Iranian enablers to commit to this
political process by halting all further attacks."The Council members welcomed
the efforts to hold the committee's upcoming meeting, reiterating their support
for the international envoy, saying it is a step in the right direction for the
political process that “should lead to free and fair elections under the
supervision of the UN.”
Greece Denies Refugee Pushback Claims, Slams Turkey
Asharq Al-Awsat/Thursday, 20 August, 2020
Greek PM Kyriakos Mitsotakis has denied renewed claims of illegal pushbacks of
asylum-seekers at sea and accused Turkey of peddling "misinformation" about his
country's border management. "If there's any incident that needs to be explored,
if there's any exaggeration at any given point, I'm going to be the first to
look into it," Mitsotakis told CNN late Wednesday. "Greece is a country that
respects the rule of law, we've granted asylum to tens of thousands of people,"
the PM said. The New York Times on August 14 said Greece was "abandoning"
migrants at sea for the Turkish coastguard to rescue. It said it had interviewed
survivors from five such episodes, and cited additional evidence from
independent watchdogs, two academic researchers and the Turkish coastguard.
Based on its research, the Times said more than 1,000 asylum seekers had been
"dropped at sea" since March.
Mitsotakis said the reports "essentially originate from Turkey". "Some of these
reporters who do these types of exploratory journalism should be more careful in
checking their sources," he said. "These types of reports are also an insult to
our coastguard (which) has saved literally tens of thousands of refugees and
migrants at sea, and our islands have always provided shelter to those in
greater need," Mitsotakis said. Rights groups including the UN refugee agency
have repeatedly called on Greece to investigate pushback claims. "Such
allegations have increased since March and reports indicate that several groups
of people may have been summarily returned after reaching Greek territory," the
UNHCR said in June. Greece has repeatedly denied using illegal tactics to guard
its borders, and has in turn accused Turkey of sending patrol boats to escort
migrant boats into its waters. In March, thousands of migrants flocked to the
Greek border after Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdogan said he would no
longer stop migrants wishing to get to the EU. Days of chaos ensued at the
border as Greek police fired tear gas at migrants and claimed Turkish police
were helping them in trying to break through. Ankara in turn accused Athens of
beating migrants and firing live rounds at them, alleging that some died of
bullet injuries.
German ISIS Bride Sells Kalashnikov She Received as
Wedding Present in Syria
Asharq Al-Awsat/Thursday, 20 August, 2020
Prosecutors in Germany said a German woman who joined the ISIS terrorist group
was obliged to sell her wedding present, an AK47 rifle, under tough financial
circumstances. Federal prosecutors said they have indicted the woman on three
counts of participating in the activities of a “foreign terrorist organization,”
breaching arms control laws and committing a war crime. The suspect is alleged
to have traveled to Syria in 2014 to join the terrorist group, The Associated
Press reported. According to prosecutors, the woman requested a Kalashnikov
rifle as a wedding present from her second husband in 2015, but after several
weeks “it had to be sold due to a shortage of money.” She was arrested on her
return to Germany in May, where she now faces trial.
Hamas Responds to Netanyahu’s Threats: Killing will be Met
with Killing
Ramallah- Kifah Zboun/Asharq Al-Awsat/Thursday, 20 August, 2020
Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu threatened to assassinate top Hamas
and Islamic Jihad officials in the Gaza Strip if the escalations continued,
warning that every incendiary balloon is considered a missile. Speaking before
the Negev Lobby, Netanyahu announced that he informed the heads of local
councils in the area adjacent to the Strip of his absolute “commitment to
security.”“We are now relating to every fire – fires are like rockets. We have
been hitting and striking at Hamas on a daily basis, for the past eleven nights
straight. If necessary, we will do much more. They need to understand that what
happened last time will happen to them now twofold, to them and to the Islamic
Jihad.”He asserted that Israel is ready to use all means, including targeted
counter-measures, if things develop, adding that Hamas has an interest in
allowing normal life on its side and Israel will not allow the absence of normal
life on its side. “Therefore, this commitment is genuine and I am certain that
it will also bear fruit in the coming days.” Netanyahu has previously warned on
a return to the policy of assassinations in Gaza during a meeting with the heads
of the local council in the area adjacent to the Strip. Hamas responded
immediately to his threats saying it was ready to fight. “Our hands are on the
trigger, bombing will be met with bombing, missiles will be met with missiles,
killing will be met with killing." Senior Hamas Official Khalil al-Haya
downplayed Netanyahu's threats. Hamas escalated the situation last week by
launching incendiary balloons towards Israel and activating night
demonstrations. Israel responded by carrying out raids and imposing punitive
measures by preventing the entry of fuel into Gaza, which further deepened the
Strip's crisis. In an effort to contain the situation, the Egyptian delegation
held intensive talks in Tel Aviv, Ramallah and Gaza. The delegation faced
intransigence from Israel and Hamas, after Tel Aviv refused to meet any demands
before Hamas ended the escalation, while the movement rejected to stop before
its demands were met. On Monday, Hamas met with the Egyptian intelligence
officials. The movement informed the envoy about its demands, which include
Israel’s approval to implement economic infrastructure projects, permitting
imports and exports, increasing work permits to 100,000 for Gazan workers in
Israel, expanding the fishing area to 20 nautical miles, and keeping Kerem
Shalom commercial crossing opened.
As the situation worsened, Qatar has also intensified its contacts with Israel
and Hamas to contain the situation. Qatari envoy Mohammad al-Emadi said on
Wednesday that Qatari efforts are being exerted to contain the escalation in the
Strip along with its attempts to alleviate the humanitarian crisis in the
enclave.
He called upon the UN, the international community, and all sides to commit to
obligations in providing support to Gazans.
Israeli Tanks Shell Gaza
Asharq Al-Awsat/Thursday, 20 August, 2020
Israeli tanks shelled Hamas positions in the Gaza Strip overnight in response to
continued waves of incendiary balloons across the border, the army said
Thursday. "Explosive and arson balloons were launched from the Gaza Strip into
Israel," a military statement said. "In response... tanks targeted military
posts belonging to the Hamas terror organization in the Gaza Strip." Gaza
security officials said the fire hit Hamas observation posts near al-Maghazi and
Al-Bureij refugee camps in the center of the impoverished enclave, and the town
of Khan Yunis, further south.
There were no casualties, they said. The continuing cross-border violence came
despite the attempts of Egyptian security to end the flare-up, which has seen
two weeks of rocket and fire balloon attacks from Gaza and almost nightly
Israeli reprisals.
Sisi Calls on Army to Preserve Highest Levels of Combat Readiness
Cairo - Asharq Al-Awsat/Thursday, 20 August, 2020
Egypt's President Abdel Fattah el-Sisi called on the armed forces to continue to
maintain the highest levels of combat readiness to carry out any tasks entrusted
to them to protect the country's national security in light of the current
challenges in the region. This came during a meeting held on Wednesday between
Sisi and the commander of the Second Field Army, president of the Engineering
Authority of the Armed Forces, and the head of the Financial Affairs Authority
of the Armed Forces. Sisi expressed his praise and appreciation for the efforts
of the armed forces and the sacrifices they make to preserve the security and
stability of the homeland, according to a statement by Egyptian Presidential
Spokesman Bassam Radi. He also commanded the "great capacity that the Egyptian
armed forces enjoy in all branches, specializations, and armament
systems."Sisi's instructions come as the Egyptian armed forces are preparing for
a possible intervention in Libya to combat militias and foreign terrorist groups
that directly threaten Egypt's national security. Few weeks ago, Egypt’s
parliament gave the green light for military intervention in Libya that's
witnessing fierce battles between the Libyan National Army, led by Field Marshal
Khalifa Haftar, supported by Egypt, and the Turkish-backed Government of
National Accord, headed by Fayez al-Sarraj.
Libya's Haftar Announces Partial Resumption of Oil Exports
to Ease Power Cuts
Cairo - Khalid Mahmoud/Asharq Al-Awsat/Thursday, 20 August, 2020
Leader of the Libyan National Army (LNA) Khalifa Haftar has authorized a partial
lifting of a months-long blockade of oil terminals to help ease power cuts, a
military official loyal to him said. The reopening of oil terminals is taking
place "on the instructions of... Khalifa Haftar", General Naji al-Moghrabi, head
of the Petroleum Facilities Guard, announced late Tuesday, noting that for the
time being, the reopening will only involve the use of stored hydrocarbons to
supply electricity grids and to "maintain infrastructure, reservoirs and
pipelines. This "will allow crude stored at oil terminals to supply electric and
gas grids and bring relief to citizens" who are being hit by long power cuts,
Moghrabi said. Head of press for the LNA Khalifa al-Obeidi said that Haftar’s
decision to discharge oil in storage tankers at ports comes to block the
Government of National Accord (GNA) under the leadership of Fayez al-Sarraj from
blackmailing Libyans through cutting cash flows and oil supplies for power
stations. On January 17, pro-Haftar groups supported by the Petroleum Facilities
Guard blockaded key oilfields and export terminals to demand what they called a
fair share of hydrocarbon revenues. The country's oil revenues are managed by
the National Oil Corporation (NOC) and the central bank, both based in the
capital Tripoli, which is also the seat of Libya's GNA. The NOC has not reacted
to Moghrabi's announcement, but has repeatedly called for the demilitarization
of oil facilities. According to Reuters, Moghrabi said that authorities in
eastern Libya will allow limited exports from blockaded oil ports to free up
storage space and enable the production of fuel for power stations. Based on a
decision by Haftar, only what was stored in tanks at the blockaded ports would
be exported, Moghrabi told Reuters.
Germany Issues Travel Warning for Parts of Croatia
Asharq Al-Awsat/Thursday, 20 August, 2020
Germany issued a warning against travel to parts of Croatia on Thursday as
Europe's largest economy battles to contain a rising number of coronavirus cases
during the summer season. The German foreign ministry advised against travel to
the regions of Sibenik-Knin and Split Dalmatia, which are popular with tourists,
after the public health agency declared them coronavirus risk regions, making
tests for returnees mandatory. The number of new cases in Germany has been
rising steadily since early July and has accelerated in recent weeks. On
Thursday, the number of confirmed cases climbed by 1,707 to 228,621, marking
their biggest daily increase since April 26. Imported cases of the coronavirus
have risen to 39% of overall new infections in Germany this week, up from around
30% last week, Reuters reported. Croatia is the source of the third-highest
number of infections among people returning to Germany, after Kosovo and Turkey,
according to data from the Robert Koch Institute for infectious diseases.
Concern is growing that people may be getting infected while visiting family
members in those countries. Statistics from the health ministry in North
Rhine-Westphalia, Germany's most populous state and hit relatively hard by the
pandemic, found more than a third of returnees who tested positive for
coronavirus between July 1 and Aug. 16 came from Kosovo, with Turkey in second
place at almost 20%. Those returning from more traditional holiday countries,
such as Spain and Greece, made up just 2.5% and 0.5% of positive cases in the
state, respectively. Germany also urged people not to travel to the Valcea
region of Romania, but removed a warning for the regions of Ialomita, Mehedinti
and Timis. It also lifted a travel warning for Luxembourg.
China Faces Questions Over 'Vaccinated' Workers Sent
Overseas
Asharq Al-Awsat/Thursday, 20 August, 2020
China faced demands on Thursday to explain why a state-backed firm claimed it
had vaccinated dozens of staff against the coronavirus before sending them back
to work at a mine in Papua New Guinea. The China Metallurgical Group Corporation
(MCC) -- which controls a major nickel mine in the country -- warned local
authorities that 48 staff who returned from China this month may test positive
for the virus because they had received a vaccine. In response, Papua New Guinea
authorities called for "immediate clarification" from Beijing and blocked a
charter flight full of Chinese workers that was due to land Thursday. The
pandemic has disrupted operations at several lucrative mines in Papua New
Guinea, one of the Pacific's poorest nations, AFP reported. While moving its
staff into place, MMC's subsidiary firm Ramu NiCo told Papua New Guinea
authorities that any positive coronavirus test results were "the normal reaction
of the vaccination and not due to infection", according to a Chinese and
English-language statement obtained by AFP. The 48 members of staff at its
multi-billion-dollar mine had "been vaccinated with SARS-COV-2 vaccine" before
their return, it said. China has previously indicated that it would test
vaccines on military personnel and staff at state-backed companies, but it is
not clear whether these tests were carried out on workers heading overseas. "It
takes around seven days to produce antibodies in the vaccine recipient's body
after being vaccinated," the statement reads. "If they need to be tested again
for COVID-19, it is suggested to be conducted at least seven days after the
vaccination date." Papua New Guinea's pandemic tsar David Manning told AFP he
wanted answers and had blocked the arrival of a flight with around 150 Chinese
workers on board due in Port Moresby on Thursday. "I am demanding an explanation
from the Chinese ambassador as to how this has happened," he said. "I have
written to the Chinese government through the Chinese ambassador -- to explain
how these 48 employees of this state company were vaccinated."
Call for clarity -
There are growing concerns that Ramu NiCo staff may have circumvented arrival
quarantine procedures, that the vaccinations may have been administered
unlawfully in Papua New Guinea, or that they were tested on Papua New Guinea
citizens.
Anyone arriving in Papua New Guinea must receive a coronavirus test before
boarding their flight and undergo quarantine on arrival. In a letter from
Manning to the Chinese ambassador, also seen by AFP, he demanded "immediate
clarification" and stated that Papua New Guinea "does not currently acknowledge
a vaccine" for coronavirus and will not until national regulators and the World
Health Organisation have given their approval. He also issued a decree banning
coronavirus testing, trials and unapproved vaccine treatments in Papua New
Guinea.
Chinese ambassador Xue Bing told AFP: "We don't have any comments for the
moment. However, one thing is for sure, China is not doing (coronavirus) tests
here in PNG." Papua New Guinea -- which has an already under-resourced health
sector -- had largely dodged the worst of the virus outbreak until recent weeks.
The country saw 12 new cases on Thursday taking its total to 359, with 159
active cases amid low rates of testing. At least three people have died from the
virus. Coronavirus clusters recently forced the closure of major mines including
the vast Ok Tedi copper and gold mine. China's Ramu NiCo is no stranger to
controversy and was temporarily shuttered in late 2019 after spewing slurry into
the Bismarck Sea and turning parts of the surrounding coastline ochre red.
Nickel is a highly prized metal widely used in batteries, including for electric
cars.
Young Activists Meet Merkel, Press for Action on
Climate Change
Asharq Al-Awsat/Thursday, 20 August, 2020
Young activists met with German Chancellor Angela Merkel to press their demands
for tougher action to curb climate change. Swedish teenager Greta Thunberg,
Luisa Neubauer from Germany and Belgians Anuna de Wever van der Heyden and
Adélaïde Charlier arrived at the chancellery for a 90-minute meeting Thursday,
the first high-profile talks the youth activists have held with a world leader
since the start of the pandemic. The coronavirus outbreak has prevented the
Fridays for Future movement that Thunberg inspired from holding its mass rallies
in recent months. The activists argue that governments around the world are
doing too little to curb emissions of greenhouse gases that are heating up the
atmosphere. In a letter sent to world leaders last month, they called for
numerous measures including ending financing for oil and gas projects, including
all forms of man-made emissions in reduction targets and setting binding carbon
budgets, The Associated Press reported. ermany currently holds the six-month
rotating presidency of the European Union. Merkel has in the past lauded the
youth activists for putting pressure on politicians to act against global
warming.
Poland's Foreign Minister Announces His Resignation
Asharq Al-Awsat/Thursday, 20 August, 2020
Poland's foreign minister announced his resignation Thursday in the fourth
high-level departure this week from the country's right-wing government. Jacek
Czaputowicz had said last month that he was expecting to leave the government as
part of a reshuffle following the recent reelection of President Andrzej Duda,
who is closely allied with Prime Minister Mateusz Morawiecki's government.
Czaputowicz said in July that he wasn't under pressure to go. On Thursday, the
Foreign Ministry said: “The minister previously stated that after the
presidential election is a good time to change the head of Polish diplomacy and
expressed the conviction that his successor will continue the current line and
foster further strengthening of Poland’s position in the international arena."
Czaputowicz's resignation follows the departures this week of the health
minister, his deputy and the deputy minister of digitization, The Associated
Press reported.
Last weekend, he hosted US Secretary of State Mike Pompeo, who was in Warsaw to
sign a deal deepening Polish-American defense cooperation.
Migrant Dies After Group Tries to Cross Melilla
Fence
Asharq Al-Awsat/Thursday, 20 August, 2020
Spanish authorities said that an African man died and 11 other people sustained
minor injuries Thursday when around 300 migrants attempted to jump over a series
of fences that separate the Spanish enclave of Melilla from Moroccan territory.
The man who died was among the 30 who managed to reach European soil in the
early hours of Thursday, a spokesman with the Civil Guard in Melilla said. The
man had collapsed shortly after as a consequence of a heart attack and that
emergency services on the ground couldn't revive him, he added. The spokesman,
who wasn't authorized to be named in media reports, said the death has been
blamed on “natural causes.” Eight other migrants were treated for bruises and
cuts. Three Civil Guard officers who were at the site with emergency and health
services were also treated for minor injuries, the spokesman said. Moroccan law
enforcement stopped the rest of the migrants from attempting to cross, he added,
The Associated Press reported. Melilla and nearby Ceuta are two tiny territories
in northern Africa separated from neighboring Morocco by barbed-wire fences and
constant border monitoring. According to Spain's Interior Ministry, at least
1,383 migrants entered the two enclaves by land without authorization in the
first half of the year, 1,930 fewer than during the same period in 2019.
Hong Kong Government Slams US Decision to Suspend
Treaties
Asharq Al-Awsat/Thursday, 20 August, 2020
The Hong Kong government on Thursday condemned the US´s decision to suspend
bilateral extradition and tax exemption treaties with the semi-autonomous
Chinese city, saying it was being used as a pawn in geopolitics. On Wednesday,
the US suspended its extradition treaty with Hong Kong, becoming the latest
country to do so after Canada, Australia, and Britain suspended such agreements.
The US also suspended a bilateral agreement with Hong Kong on the reciprocal tax
exemptions on income derived from the international operation of ships. "The US´
unilateral decision reflects its disrespect for bilateralism and multilateralism
under the current administration and should be condemned by the international
community," the statement said. "The HKSAR Government strongly objects to and
deplores the US´ action, which is widely seen as a move to create troubles in
China-US relationship, using Hong Kong as a pawn." The government said that the
bilateral agreements were not preferential treatment given to Hong Kong, but
were negotiated in good faith to benefit both parties. Hong Kong has faced
mounting international pressure over the implementation of a national security
law, approved by Beijing, which has been viewed as an attack on the "one
country, two systems" framework under which the city has been governed since its
return to China in 1997. Jeffrey Bader, a former U.S. diplomat, said the actions
taken so far are unlikely to dissuade China. "Hong Kong is an issue that´s going
to be with us for quite some time, and in a frustrating way," said Bader. "It´s
part of China and things that are internal to China, even if they have an
international dimension, like Hong Kong and Xinjiang, the Chinese have a
demonstrated disdain for outside opinion and are inflexible in reaction to it."
Separately on Thursday, lawmakers from Hong Kong´s largest pro-democracy party,
the Democratic Party also said they planned to hold a poll and debate to
determine whether they will continue serving in the legislature another year,
following the postponement of elections due to the coronavirus outbreak.
Opinions within the pro-democracy camp differ on whether lawmakers should
boycott the extension of their term or stay to have a voice in the legislature.
Lawmakers in favor of boycotting say staying sets a precedent to delay
elections. "The public opinion is still very divided, we want the solidarity of
the people," said James To, a member of the Democratic Party, at a news
conference. "We would prepare at least one debate in order ... to have a
comprehensive range of arguments and points so that the whole society can
decide." The elections were to be held in September but have been postponed a
year after the city's virus outbreak grew again. Democratic Party lawmakers did
not specify a time frame or details of the public poll. Several pro-democracy
lawmakers have already spoken out against serving another year in the
legislature. Ray Chan, chairman of the People Power party, said on Twitter he
would boycott the "illegitimate" extension and that accepting the appointment
would mean accepting the authority of city leader Carrie Lam´s government and
would allow Beijing to "arbitrarily change the term" of legislators. "It´ll open
the floodgate for all kinds of meddling for years to come," said Chan.
US Pledges Not to Seek Death Penalty Against ISIS
'Beatles'
Asharq Al-Awsat/Thursday, 20 August, 2020
The United States will not pursue the death penalty against two members of a
notorious ISIS kidnapping and murder unit dubbed the "Beatles," Attorney General
Bill Barr said in a letter released by the Justice Department Wednesday.
In a breakthrough in a two-year impasse between Washington and London, Barr told
British Home Secretary Priti Patel that Alexanda Kotey and El Shafee Elsheikh,
who allegedly took part in grisly videotaped beheadings of Westerners, would be
spared execution if placed on trial in the US. Barr made the pledge to be able
to secure crucial evidence against the two Britons, now stripped of their
citizenship, which has been withheld by the British government due to the chance
they would face capital punishment, which is outlawed in Britain. "If imposed,
the death penalty will not be carried out," Barr said in the letter dated
Tuesday. The letter put the onus on Patel to see if the British system can
overcome a tough court challenge by Elsheikh's mother and share the evidence,
said to be damning wiretaps, with US authorities. The announcement came on the
sixth anniversary of the killing by ISIS of James Foley, a journalist who worked
for AFP and other news organizations. "This is a major breakthrough," his mother
Diane Foley said, describing Barr's decision as "a huge step which they were not
willing to do earlier." The United States wants to try the two for the murder of
journalists Foley and Steven Sotloff and aid worker Peter Kassig during a period
in 2014-2015 when ISIS used videos of their and others' deaths as propaganda.
The four-member unit Kotey and Elsheikh belonged to was dubbed "the Beatles" by
their captives due to their British accents. They tortured and killed victims,
including by beheading, and ISIS released videos of the deaths for propaganda
purposes. Kotey and Elsheikh are being held by US forces in Iraq. Britain has
refused to assume responsibility for the pair, despite their victims including
British aid workers David Haines and Alan Hennings. But British public
resistance due to the US death penalty and a British Supreme Court ruling in a
lawsuit by Elsheikh's mother, Maha Elgizouli, to block sharing the evidence have
led to a two-year impasse in having them placed on trial in the United States.
While the US Justice Department reversal was significant, barriers remain. Barr
wrote that Britain had to clear up the legal obstacles and share the evidence it
has by October 15, saying it is "not tenable" to continue holding Kotey and
Elsheikh for an extended period. If the British cannot meet that deadline, he
warned, the US would hand the two over to Iraqi authorities for prosecution.
Pressure from the families of the three as well as Kayla Mueller, an American
woman who died while being held captive by ISIS, appeared to help move the US
Justice Department to reverse its previous hard line against dropping the death
penalty option. "We want to see our children's murderers held accountable. These
things can happen only if the suspects are put on trial before a jury in an
American court of law," they wrote in the Washington Post last month. Diane
Foley said Barr's two-month deadline remained a concern. "We really need to wait
to see what the home secretary is able to do," she told AFP. "If they cannot
receive a fair but tough trial here in the US... there is no deterrent for
terrorists at all."
UN Warns Humanitarian Programs in Yemen Shutting Down
Aden - Mohammed Nasser/Asharq Al-Awsat/Thursday, 20 August, 2020
The United Nations has warned that most UN major humanitarian programs in Yemen
would shut down, including at least 70 percent of schools and 50 percent of
water and sanitation services, if funding is not urgently received in the next
weeks.
Already, 12 of the UN’s 38 major programs are shut or drastically reduced.
Between August and September, 20 programs face further reductions or closure,
the UN said in a statement on Wednesday. The warning comes as violations
committed by Houth militias against Yemenis, including the delivery of
humanitarian aid, are on the rise. “If funding is not urgently received in the
next weeks, 50 percent of water and sanitation services will be cut, medicines
and essential supplies for 189 hospitals and 2,500 primary healthcare clinics,
representing half of the health facilities in the country, will halt,” the
Office of the Resident Coordinator and Humanitarian Coordinator for Yemen said.
“Thousands of children who are suffering from both malnutrition and disease will
probably die and at least 70 percent of schools will likely be shut or only
barely able to function when the new school year starts in coming weeks. Tens of
thousands of displaced people who have nowhere else to go will be forced to live
in inhumane conditions,” it said in a statement. “World Humanitarian Day should
be a day of celebration,” said Lise Grande, Humanitarian Coordinator for Yemen.
“This year in Yemen, it’s the opposite.”
“We have no choice,” the statement quoted Grande as saying. “We have a moral
obligation to warn the world that millions of Yemenis will suffer and could die
because we don’t have the funding we need to keep going.” Humanitarians in Yemen
have saved millions of lives. Since the end of 2018, aid agencies have managed
one of the fastest and largest scale-ups of assistance in recent history
reaching an unprecedented 14 million people every month with life-saving
assistance. “This is an operation with real impact,” said Grande. “Humanitarians
have prevented large-scale famine, rolled back the worst cholera epidemic in
modern history, and provided help to millions of displaced people.”“No one can
say we haven’t made a difference,” she said in an indirect response to critics.
“Yemenis have survived this terrible war because of what humanitarians have done
and continue to do every single day.”She lamented that the impact of
under-funding is “dramatic.” “In April, food rations for more than 8 million
people in northern Yemen were halved and humanitarian agencies were forced to
stop reproductive health services in 140 facilities.”“Health services were cut
or reduced in a further 275 specialized centers for treating people with cholera
and other infectious diseases. Allowances to nearly 10,000 front-line health
workers were stopped and the supplies needed to treat trauma patients, who will
almost certainly die without immediate treatment, were halted.”The statement
reiterated that Yemen remains the world’s worst humanitarian crisis, with nearly
80 percent of the population requiring some form of humanitarian aid and
protection. It said that at the High-Level Pledging Event in Riyadh held in
June, donors pledged only $1.35 billion of the $2.41 billion needed to cover
essential humanitarian activities until the year end, leaving a gap of more than
$1 billion. The Houthi intransigence has compelled many donors, such as the
United States, to reconsider humanitarian assistance to militia-run areas.
Egypt Opens Mosques for Friday Prayers
Cairo - Asharq Al-Awsat/Thursday, 20 August, 2020
Egypt has on said that worshipers will soon be able to attend mosque for Friday
prayers after a suspension that lasted for nearly five months. The decision came
as the daily tally of confirmed new COVID-19 cases fell below 200.
Egypt’s Minister of Religious Endowment Mohamed Mokhtar Gomaa said that weekly
congregational prayers may be held starting Aug. 28. Worshipers are expected to
observe social distancing and wear face masks to prevent another viral outbreak,
Gomaa said in a statement. He said the Friday sermon, which usually lasts for
nearly an hour, will also be reduced to 10 minutes. Starting in August, the
number of new cases in Egypt has dropped significantly to less than 200 new
cases a day. Overall, Egypt has reported nearly 97,000 confirmed cases,
including 5,197 deaths, The Associated Press reported.
On Wednesday, Egypt reported 163 confirmed cases and 13 fatalities. Meanwhile,
Egypt will require all visitors to the country to present Polymerase Chain
Reaction test results for the virus on arrival from Sept. 1, Prime Minister
Mostafa Madbouly announced in televised address on Wednesday.
Arab Coalition Spokesman Says Houthis are Subservient to
Iran Agenda
London - Badr al-Qahtani/Asharq Al-Awsat/Thursday, 20 August, 2020
Arab Coalition Spokesman Colonel Turki al-Maliki described Houthi militias in
Yemen as subservient and stressed that qualitative threats will not be met with
leniency. He also reaffirmed that the Coalition, which backs Yemen’s
freely-elected government under President Abdrabbuh Mansur Hadi, will continue
to fight for establishing Yemen’s sovereignty and ending the Iran-backed coup
spearheaded by Houthis. Al-Maliki also reiterated support for efforts spent by
the UN Special Envoy Martin Griffiths for achieving a comprehensive political
solution in the war-torn country. “There is no doubt that Houthi terrorist
militias are stripped from an independent will and ability to make their own
decisions,” al-Maliki said in statements to Asharq Al-Awsat, hinting that the
group’s subservience to Iran obstructs regional and international efforts to
achieve a sustainable political settlement in Yemen.
“The Iranian Revolutionary Guard’s agenda control decision-making circles within
Houthi militias, their loyalty and execution answers to Iranian instructions,”
the spokesman added, highlighting that Houthis are ideologically linked to
Tehran.
Houthis have recently rolled back their approval for granting accesses to a team
of UN experts on board the decaying Safer oil tanker which is anchored off the
port of Hodeidah and threatens a major environmental and economic catastrophe.
The militias also used their control over access to the derelict tanker as a
pressure card against international efforts to fix the situation at Safer.
Houthis demanded rights to the oil on board the vessel in exchange for allowing
UN experts to perform maintenance work. “The Houthi militia’s failure to commit
with the UN to maintain the floating oil reservoir (FSO Safer) and their
presenting of flimsy explanations is part of the Iranian evasive strategy
adopted by the militia to procrastinate,” al-Maliki commented on the issue.
“Houthis must bear legal responsibility before the international community in
the event of an environmental and economic disaster in the southern Red Sea,” he
noted.
WHO Seeks More Info About Russia Vaccine
Asharq Al-Awsat/Thursday, 20 August, 2020
The World Health Organization’s Europe office said Thursday it has begun
discussions with Russia to try to get more information about the coronavirus
vaccine that it approved last week before the shot had passed the advanced
trials normally required to prove it works. Catherine Smallwood, a senior
emergency official at WHO Europe, said “this concern that we have around safety
and efficacy is not specifically for the Russia vaccine, it’s for all of the
vaccines under development.”She acknowledged WHO was taking an “accelerated
approach” to try to speed development of coronavirus vaccines but said “it’s
essential we don’t cut corners in safety or efficacy.” Smallwood said WHO has
begun “direct discussions” with Russia and that WHO officials have been sharing
“the various steps and information that’s going to be required for WHO to take
assessments.”The WHO wrote to every country on Tuesday urging them to quickly
join its global shared vaccine program -- and spelled out who would get its
eventual coronavirus jabs first. The World Health Organization's
director-general Tedros Adhanom Ghebreyesus said that without vaccinating the
planet's highest-risk populations simultaneously, it would be impossible to
rebuild the global economy. And he said the most exposed 20 percent of each
country's population -- including front-line health workers, adults over 65 and
those with pre-existing conditions -- would be targeted in the first wave of
vaccinations, once the WHO-led COVAX shared facility can roll out a proven safe
and effective vaccine.
How Will Office Life Be Different in a Pandemic?
Asharq Al-Awsat/Thursday, 20 August, 2020
The office you once knew is likely to look vastly different.
Companies are taking a variety of steps to keep people a safe distance apart,
such as using staggered shifts or asking people to come in on alternating days.
Cubicles may also have higher walls or there may be new partitions between desks
for added protection. Kitchens, conference rooms, and other common areas may be
closed, and some offices have implemented one-way paths to keep people from
passing each other. For essential shared spaces like elevators and bathrooms,
face coverings could be required and there may be more frequent cleanings and
limits on how many people can enter at one time. That could mean longer waits to
use them. Even with such social distancing measures, expect to wear a mask,
especially when you´re not at your desk. Your company will also likely ask you
to report if you are having any symptoms. The US Centers for Disease Control and
Prevention offers guidelines on keeping offices safe. But the specific measures
at your office will vary depending on the company and any local rules. In the
latest phase of New York state's reopening plan, for example, office capacity is
capped at 50%.
The pandemic may also prompt changes that aren´t directly about safety. At
Bergmeyer, a design firm in Boston, the lights were adjusted to make Zoom calls
look better.
The Latest LCCC English analysis & editorials from miscellaneous sources published on August 20-21/2020
Kuwait's Anti-Israel Rhetoric in Spotlight after UAE Deal
Seth Frantzman/The Jerusalem Post/August 20/2020
In sharp contrast to the reaction of other Arab Gulf states to the recent
Israel-UAE accord, Kuwait insists it will be the last country to normalize
relations with Israel. On the surface there's no reason why Kuwait, the kingdom
at the end of the Persian Gulf, would be a leading critic of Israel.
Not only does it have no historical connection to Israel, either positive or
negative, it is also far away from the Jewish state. However, in the wake of the
UAE decision to normalize relations with Israel, Kuwait has appeared to be the
coldest toward Israel of all states in the Gulf.
Kuwait has indicated it would be the last country to normalize relations with
Israel, according to a report on Sunday in the Al-Qabas daily newspaper.
Clearly, Kuwait feels pressure to comment after the Abu Dhabi decision. It is
known that Oman and Bahrain are more keen on relations with Israel and that
Qatar holds discussions with Israel in the context of funding Gaza. This leaves
Kuwait as an exception. The explanation for Kuwait's exceptionalism is complex.
In the 1960s and 70s, many Palestinians moved to Kuwait, and the country played
a formative role in their life. Later when Saddam Hussein invaded Kuwait the
Palestinians supported him, seeing him as the region's most anti-Israel leader.
This led Kuwait to expel hundreds of thousands of Palestinians after the country
was liberated by the US-led coalition.
One might imagine that Kuwait, with its many US bases and close relations with
Saudi Arabia and the West, might be more flexible regarding Israel. Instead, it
has been staunch in its pro-Palestinian approach and not wanting to deviate from
this more hardline position.
Kuwait's daily newspaper Al-Jarida, for instance, highlights comments by US
presidential advisor Jared Kushner that claimed the country's approach was
"radical." Kuwait knows that its position between Iraq, Saudi Arabia and Iran is
precarious, and wants to preserve its neutrality on some issues.
That means the West Asian country has not taken a strong stance on the dispute
between Riyadh and Doha. In 2017 Saudi Arabia led the UAE and Bahrain to break
relations with Qatar. Kuwait was more cautious. It seeks to be more like Jordan
in its affairs, a monarchy but one that does not want to have as active a role
in the tectonic shifts in the region between Turkey, Iran and Saudi Arabia.
However, Kuwait does express support for Saudi Arabia on other issues, such as
recent missile attacks by the Houthi rebels in Yemen. The Houthis are backed by
Iran. On the Palestinian issue, Kuwait continues to pay lip service to
supporting the Palestinians. It has other issues to worry about – its aging
ruler recently underwent surgery. Kuwait's historic role has been to stay out of
the spotlight. It also has had to deal with the COVID-19 crisis and unrest in
neighboring Iraq's port city of Basra. All this means that the
Israel-Palestinian issue is an easy one for it to express a hardline position
on, without actually doing much. That has been Kuwait's historic role: trying
not to cause any trouble and staying out of the spotlight. The trauma of the
1990 invasion continues to overshadow its foreign policy – and it knows how
fragile the affairs of the monarchies can be when facing larger states in the
region. Seth Frantzman is a Ginsburg-Milstein Writing Fellow at the Middle East
Forum and senior Middle East correspondent at The Jerusalem Post.
Yarmuk: ISIS’s Inspiration and “Most Consequential” Battle between Islam and the
West
Raymond Ibrahim/August 20/2020
Today in history, on August 20, 636, arguably the single most consequential
battle between Islam and the West took place—that of Yarmuk. Occurring just four
years after Muslim prophet Muhammad had died, not only did the military
engagement decide whether the Arabian creed thrives or dies; it became a chief
source of inspiration and instruction for jihadis throughout the centuries,
right down to the Islamic State. And yet, very few in the West are even aware of
the Battle of Yarmuk’s existence—much less how it motivates contemporary Islamic
terrorists.
The contestants were the Eastern Roman Empire, under Emperor Heraclius, and the
newly born Arabian caliphate, under the second caliph, Omar. After a couple
years of Muslim depredations in then Christian/Roman Syria, the two forces met
along the Yarmuk River. The pre-battle exchange between the two generals, the
Roman-Armenian Vahan and Khalid bin al-Walid—Islam’s much revered (and near
cannibalistic) “Sword of Allah”—is instructive:
The Christian commander began by diplomatically blaming Arabia’s harsh
conditions and impoverished economy for giving the Arabs no choice but to raid
Roman lands. Accordingly, the empire was pleased to provide them with food and
coin on condition that they return home. “It was not hunger that brought us
here,” Khalid responded coolly, “but we Arabs are in the habit of drinking
blood, and we are told the blood of the Romans is the sweetest of its kind, so
we came to shed your blood and drink it.
Vahan’s diplomatic mask instantly dropped and he launched into a tirade against
the insolent Arab: “So, we thought you came seeking what your brethren always
sought” — plunder, extortion, or mercenary work. “But, alas, we were wrong. You
came killing men, enslaving women, plundering wealth, destroying buildings, and
seeking to drive us from our own lands.” Better people had tried to do the same
but always ended up defeated, added Vahan in reference to the recent Persian
Wars, before continuing:
As for you, there is no lower and more despicable people — wretched,
impoverished Bedouins. . . . You commit injustices in your own nation and now
ours. . . . What havoc you have created! You ride horses not your own and wear
clothes not your own. You pleasure yourselves with the young white girls of Rome
and enslave them. You eat food not your own, and fill your hands with gold,
silver, and valuable goods [not your own]. Now we find you with all our
possessions and the plunder you took from our coreligionists — and we leave it
all to you, neither asking for its return nor rebuking you. All we ask is that
you leave our lands. But if you refuse, we will annihilate you!
The Sword of Allah was not impressed. He began reciting the Koran and talking
about one Muhammad. Vahan listened in quiet exasperation. Khalid proceeded to
call on the Christian general to proclaim the shahada—that “there is no god but
Allah and Muhammad is his messenger”—and thereby embrace Islam, in exchange for
peace, adding, “You must also pray, pay zakat, perform hajj at the sacred house
[in Mecca], wage jihad against those who refuse Allah, … and befriend those who
befriend Allah and oppose those who oppose Allah,” a reference to the divisive
doctrine of al-wala’ wa al-bara’. “If you refuse, there can only be war between
us. . . . And you will face men who love death as you love life.”
“Do what you like,” responded Vahan. “We will never forsake our religion or pay
you jizya.” Negotiations were over.
Things came to a head, quite literally, when 8,000 marching Muslims appeared
before the Roman camp carrying the severed heads of 4,000 Christians atop their
spears. These were the remains of 5,000 reinforcements who had come from Amman
to join the Roman army at Yarmuk. The Muslims had ambushed and slaughtered them.
Then, as resounding cries of “Allahu akbar” filled the Muslim camp, those
Muslims standing behind the remaining 1,000 Christian captives knocked them over
and proceeded to carve off their heads before the eyes of their co-religionists,
whom Arabic sources describe as looking on in “utter bewilderment.”So it would
be war: 30,000 Christian Romans against 24,000 Muslim Arabs along the Yarmuk
River in Syria. On the eve of battle, writes historian A. I. Akram, “the Muslims
spent the night in prayer and recitation of the Quran, and reminded each other
of the two blessings that awaited them: either victory and life or martyrdom and
paradise.”No such titillation awaited the Christians. They were fighting for
life, family, and faith. During his pre-battle speech, Vahan explained that
“these Arabs who stand before you seek to . . . enslave your children and
women.” Another general warned the men to fight hard or else the Arabs “shall
conquer your lands and ravish your women.” Such fears were not unwarranted. Even
as the Romans were kneeling in pre-battle prayer, Arab general Abu Sufyan was
prancing on his war steed, waving his spear, and exhorting the Muslims to “jihad
in the way of Allah,” so that they might seize the Christians’ “lands and
cities, and enslave their children and women.”
The battle took place over the course of six days. On August 20, 636, the sixth
and final day, a dust storm — something Arabs were accustomed to, their
opponents less so — erupted and caused mass chaos, particularly for the Romans,
whose large infantry numbers proved counterproductive. Night fell. Then,
according to historian Antonio Santosuosso, [T]he terrain echoed with the
terrifying din of Muslim shouts and battle cries. Shadows suddenly changed into
blades that penetrated flesh. The wind brought the cries of comrades as the
enemy stealthily penetrated the ranks among the infernal noise of cymbals,
drums, and battle cries. It must have been even more terrifying because they had
not expected the Muslims to attack by dark.
Muslim cavalrymen continued pressing on the crowded and blinded Roman infantry,
using the hooves and knees of their steeds to knock down the wearied fighters.
Pushed finally to the edge of the ravine, rank after rank of the remaining
forces of the imperial army fell down the steep precipices to their death. “The
Byzantine army, which Heraclius had spent a year of immense exertion to collect,
had entirely ceased to exist,” writes British lieutenant-general and historian
John Bagot Glubb. “There was no withdrawal, no rearguard action, no nucleus of
survivors. There was nothing left.”
As the moon filled the night sky and the victors stripped the slain, cries of
“Allahu akbar!” and “There is no god but Allah and Muhammad is his messenger”
rang throughout the Yarmuk valley, the Arabian chronicler narrated.
Mere decades after Yarmuk, all ancient Christian lands between Syria to the east
and Morocco to the west — nearly 4,000 miles — had been conquered by Islam. Put
differently: Two-thirds of Christendom’s original, older, and wealthier
territory was permanently swallowed up by the scimitar of jihad. (Eventually,
and thanks to the later Turks, “Muslim armies conquered three-quarters of the
Christian world,” to quote historian Thomas Madden.)
But unlike the Germanic barbarians who invaded and conquered Europe in the
preceding centuries, only to assimilate into the religion, culture, and
civilization of Christianity, and adopt its languages, Latin and Greek, the
Arabs imposed their creed and language onto the conquered peoples so that,
whereas the “Arabs” were once limited to the Arabian Peninsula, today the “Arab
world” consists of some 22 nations across the Middle East and North Africa.
This would not be the case, and the world would have developed in a radically
different way, had the Eastern Roman Empire defeated the invaders and sent them
reeling back to Arabia. Little wonder that historians such as Francesco Gabrieli
hold that “the battle of the Yarmuk had, without doubt, more important
consequences than almost any other in all world history.”
Moreover and as the alert reader may have noticed, the continuity between the
words and deeds of the Islamic State in Iraq and Syria (ISIS) and those of its
predecessors from nearly 1,400 years ago are eerily similar. This of course is
intentional. When ISIS proclaims that “American blood is best and we will taste
it soon,” or “We love death as you love life,” or “We will break your crosses
and enslave your women,” they are quoting in verbatim — and thereby placing
themselves in the footsteps of — Khalid bin al-Walid and his companions, the
original Islamic conquerors of Syria.
Similarly, ISIS’s invocation of the houris, Islam’s celestial sex-slaves
promised to martyrs, is based on several anecdotes of Muslims dying by the
Yarmuk River and being welcomed into paradise by these immortal concubines. So
too is the choreographed ritual slaughter of “infidels,” most infamously of 21
Coptic Christians on the shores of Libya, patterned after the ritual slaughter
of 1,000 captured Roman soldiers on the eve of battle.
Here, then, is a reminder that, when it comes to the military history of Islam
and the West, the lessons imparted are far from academic and have relevance to
this day — at least for the jihadis, whose mindset many in the West still refuse
to acknowledge.
Note: The above account was excerpted from Raymond Ibrahim’s Sword and Scimitar:
Fourteen Centuries of War between Islam and the West. For a more detailed
exposition, see his Master’s thesis on Yarmuk, written under the supervision of
military historian Victor Davis Hanson. Ibrahim is a Shillman Fellow at the
David Horowitz Freedom Center, a Judith Rosen Friedman Fellow at the Middle East
Forum, and a Distinguished Senior Fellow at the Gatestone Institute.
Apple's Next Trillion Won't Come So Easily
Tae Kim/Bloomberg/August 20/2020
Apple Inc. has done it again. On Wednesday, just two years after becoming the
first US company to boast a trillion-dollar market valuation, it became the
first to top $2 trillion. Getting to the next trillion may not be such a breeze.
With its shares up roughly 60% this year, Apple is among the Big Tech winners
that have benefited from a “safety premium.” Investors have piled in to the
iPhone maker’s shares as well as those of other technology darlings — including
Amazon.com Inc., Facebook Inc. and Google parent Alphabet Inc. — betting their
business models, robust balance sheets and large cash balances would make them
more resilient amid the economic fallout from the global Covid-19 pandemic.
Indeed, Apple did post impressive June quarter financial results last month on
the back of strong sales, a perfectly timed lower-cost iPhone launch and a boost
from government stimulus. But it faces a more uncertain road ahead. First,
Apple’s valuation now embeds elevated future expectations. To illustrate, Wall
Street’s current consensus for Apple’s fiscal 2020 sales ending this September
is just 3% higher than its revenue two years ago. And yet, the stock price has
more than doubled in that time frame, resulting in a heady valuation of about 33
times the next four quarters’ earnings.
Apple’s lofty valuation leaves little room for disappointment, but the success
of its upcoming slate of products isn’t a sure thing. In contrast to the cheaper
iPhone SE model that boosted its June quarter, the company is going to have to
convince consumers to buy higher-priced $1,000 iPhones when it launches new
5G-enabled models this fall. And these more expensive phones may be a tough
proposition with tens of millions of Americans facing job insecurity. Further,
I’m still skeptical there will be new apps anytime soon that will need the
faster fifth-generation wireless speeds, making phone upgrades less compelling.
Finally, according to a Bloomberg News report last week, it doesn’t look like
there will be much innovation coming from Apple on the services front either —
just a new virtual fitness-class subscription and some modest subscription
bundles.
On top of all this, Apple is facing increased regulatory scrutiny over its
dominant position in the smartphone market. In June, the European Union
announced it had opened two formal antitrust investigations into Apple, with one
of the probes specifically looking into the requirement guidelines of its in-app
purchase system. Last month, CEO Tim Cook also had to defend the company’s App
Store policies and high fee structure before a landmark House antitrust hearing
as well. Obviously, if either of these global regulators clamp down on Apple’s
business practices, it could negatively impact its profitability.
There is no doubt Apple’s stunning ascent to $2 trillion is impressive. The
climb to $3 trillion may be even more so, because it will be that much harder.
Pardoning Snowden Would Backfire on Trump
Eli Lake/Bloomberg/August 20/20
Before Donald Trump was president, he often referred to Edward Snowden, the
former National Security Agency contractor who divulged massive secrets to the
press about the American surveillance state, as a spy and a traitor. Now Trump
is thinking about issuing him a pardon. It is a reckless idea.
Snowden’s initial disclosures were in the public interest. The first stories
that appeared in the Guardian and the Washington Post exposed how the US
government was collecting and storing all telephone metadata because of a secret
legal interpretation of the Patriot Act that authorized the FBI to collect
“business records.” In 2015, Congress curtailed much of the government’s
collection of bulk phone records as a result of the leak. Even James Clapper,
the former director of national intelligence, has conceded that the broad
outlines at least of the government’s program to collect phone records should
not have been shrouded in state secrecy. The problem, though, is that Snowden
also stole and disclosed far more than that. In June 2013, while in Hong Kong,
he shared with the South China Morning Post documents that identified the exact
machines the NSA was hacking in China and Hong Kong, along with details of
whether they were still monitored and how they were attacked.
This did not advance American civil liberties. Rather, it exposed US efforts to
monitor the cyber threats of a hostile power.
Another problem is that even though the US government has conducted a damage
assessment of Snowden’s theft of state secrets and disclosures, there is still
much it doesn’t know. The reason for this is that Snowden devised a program to
scrape the classified computer networks he was administering as a contractor for
the NSA in Hawaii. The US government knows the files that Snowden’s program
probed, but it does not know which ones he stole.
Ironically, it was Michael Flynn, then the director of the Defense Intelligence
Agency, who conducted that review. Flynn acknowledged the debate “about what
kinds of information did he touch, what did he take, what do we know,” in a 2014
interview with NPR.
Flynn later said he was concerned that Snowden may have stolen information on
defense capabilities, war plans and technical intelligence collection methods.
“Does that knowledge then get into the hands of our adversaries — in this case,
of course, Russia?” Flynn asked.
For what it’s worth, Snowden has said that when he was stuck inside the airport
in Moscow after he arrived there from Hong Kong in 2013, he turned down an offer
from Russian intelligence officials to cooperate with them. But this explanation
strains credulity. He has been allowed to lead a rich online life from an
apartment in Moscow, and eventually his girlfriend (now wife) was allowed to
come to Russia and live with him. It seems unlikely that Vladimir Putin’s police
state would be so generous with Snowden unless it was getting something in
return.
Even if Snowden’s story is correct, there are still good reasons why Trump
should not grant him a pardon. As the chairman and ranking members of the House
Committee on Armed Services said in a joint statement Monday, “Not only would it
mean that Snowden cannot be held accountable for his crimes, but it would send a
dangerous message to others who are contemplating espionage and the adversaries
who would support them.”
Nonetheless, one can see why Trump and some of his advisers would be keen on
rewarding Snowden seven years after his great heist of state secrets. Trump
sincerely believes that the national security state that Snowden exposed
unfairly spied on his campaign in 2016 and stoked a meritless investigation into
his campaign’s ties to Russia for the first two and a half years of his
presidency. Pardoning Snowden would be a way of settling scores.
Trump is partially correct about the FBI’s leadership at least and some former
leaders of the US intelligence community. It is true that the FBI used
unverified and later discredited opposition research to obtain a surveillance
warrant on one of his campaign advisers. The bureau also kept open the
investigation into Flynn, after it had determined he was not a Russian agent or
asset. All the while, former senior US. intelligence officials used innuendo to
make it appear that Trump was vulnerable to Russian blackmail when they had no
such evidence.
But the system is now working toward accountability. An FBI lawyer who falsified
a document submitted to the secret surveillance court was indicted last week as
part of an investigation into the Trump-Russia probe. The Justice Department’s
inspector general in December released a devastating report, exposing the FBI’s
gaming of the surveillance court. That court has withdrawn surveillance warrants
sought against a former Trump campaign adviser, Carter Page.
This is the way a republic corrects the abuses of its intelligence community.
It’s a process that Snowden ignored. If Trump pardons him, then the president
will be helping to destroy institutions his attorney general is trying to
reform.
Outdoor Masking Isn’t Always Needed
Faye Flam/Bloomberg/August 20/20
Depending on where you live, you might be seeing masked joggers and cyclists on
the streets of your neighborhood. Or you might have gone for a run yourself,
mask-free, and been heckled to mask up. At this point, most thoughtful people
wear masks indoors in public and outdoors in crowded situations, but wearing a
mask when you’re outdoors and alone — or far away from anyone else — has become
a frontier of intense debate.
Presidential candidate Joe Biden added to the confusion when he called for a
national mask mandate last week. In no uncertain terms, he said it could save
40,000 lives over the next three months if everyone wore a mask “outside.”
But that’s not what the experts say. For one thing, there’s overwhelming
evidence that the virus is being transmitted primarily indoors. That’s why
Anthony Fauci, director of the National Institute of Allergy and Infectious
Diseases, has said he and his wife pull their masks down to their chins when
they jog outside — he only pulls it back over his nose and mouth if he has to
pass someone.
The Biden-Fauci discrepancy raises an interesting question about risk
communication: Is it better to give simple guidance even if it means being more
draconian? Or is it best to be more precise — following the best scientific
evidence to date about high-risk activities and lower-risk ones? In the case of
masks, that amounts to masking indoors in public places and outdoors only when
you can’t stay six feet away from others.
Risk communication consultant Peter Sandman says he was puzzled by Biden’s
statements. “Did he misspeak, saying ‘outdoors’ when he meant ‘indoors’? Did he
misunderstand the briefings he has been getting from experts, who surely told
him transmission is at least an order of magnitude likelier indoors than
outdoors?”The latest evidence about aerosol transmission points to indoor
environments being the primary risk. The aerosol particles that carry the virus
hang around longer indoors and disperse very quickly outdoors.
“In terms of actual prevention of transmission, the biggest bang for your buck
is when you’re going to be close to people and when you’re in an indoor
setting,” says Harvard epidemiologist Julia Marcus.
That would explain a number of contact-tracing studies done mostly in Asia and
Europe, which show that most people who get infected don’t transmit the disease
to anyone, but a few transmit it to many in so-called superspreading events.
These happen primarily indoors — not at the beach, or among people taking walks
outdoors. Emphasizing universal outdoor mask-wearing is not good risk
communication, says Sandman. How much masks help and in what circumstances is
still under some degree of debate. Over the long haul, exaggerating the benefits
of mask-wearing could undermine credibility.
Harvard professor and infectious-disease specialist Michael Klompas says the
evidence for the benefits of masks come from a variety of extrapolations — a
case study of a hair salon where confirmed infections weren’t passed on; studies
of mask use inside hospitals; studies of the mechanics of droplets being
blocked; even a study involving hamsters. But he agreed the benefit is greatest
where the risk is substantial — situations where people are in proximity for
some extended duration or indoors. The 40,000 lives Biden referred to might have
come from this estimate for the effects of requiring masks for public-facing
workers, not people out walking the dog or having a picnic.
It’s possible that making people mask up 24/7 would simplify the rule. There’s
evidence that for businesses such as restaurants, simple safety rules are more
likely to be followed than complex ones.
But Marcus says taking that approach to public health could backfire. “I
understand the instinct to keep things simple, but I think we actually do the
public a disservice when we assume people can’t handle nuance ... people are not
stupid,” she says.
“People know there isn’t a benefit to wearing a mask when you’re alone in a park
or even having a picnic with your family in a park where other families are
having picnics and they are all sitting 15 feet away. ... I think when we are
overly heavy-handed in our public health recommendations and go beyond what is
actually necessary and evidence-based that’s when we start to lose trust.”
The issue of mask-wearing outside has become politicized because it’s so
visible. “We focus on what’s visible and we focus on what makes us angry,” says
Marcus. Seeing people enjoying themselves “tends to spark moral outrage.”
Shame-based, overly extreme public health recommendations have backfired in
other areas. Marcus studied HIV prevention before this new pandemic arose. Safer
sex proved more sustainable than total abstinence, she says. “We see when you
give people more nuanced information on risk and choices on safer alternatives
to high-risk behaviors, rather than just condemning them, you actually have
better health outcomes.”
An even more elemental level of human contact is now at stake. To get through
this we’ll need the same thoughtful, science-based, compassionate approach that
public health experts deployed to get us through the AIDS crisis. Fauci has it
right. And while he may have his enemies, there’s no doubt he’s broadly credible
and wildly popular. Biden could do worse than follow his lead.
Apple's Next Trillion Won't Come So Easily
Tae Kim/Bloomberg/August 20/2020
Apple Inc. has done it again. On Wednesday, just two years after becoming the
first US company to boast a trillion-dollar market valuation, it became the
first to top $2 trillion. Getting to the next trillion may not be such a breeze.
With its shares up roughly 60% this year, Apple is among the Big Tech winners
that have benefited from a “safety premium.” Investors have piled in to the
iPhone maker’s shares as well as those of other technology darlings — including
Amazon.com Inc., Facebook Inc. and Google parent Alphabet Inc. — betting their
business models, robust balance sheets and large cash balances would make them
more resilient amid the economic fallout from the global Covid-19 pandemic.
Indeed, Apple did post impressive June quarter financial results last month on
the back of strong sales, a perfectly timed lower-cost iPhone launch and a boost
from government stimulus. But it faces a more uncertain road ahead. First,
Apple’s valuation now embeds elevated future expectations. To illustrate, Wall
Street’s current consensus for Apple’s fiscal 2020 sales ending this September
is just 3% higher than its revenue two years ago. And yet, the stock price has
more than doubled in that time frame, resulting in a heady valuation of about 33
times the next four quarters’ earnings.
Apple’s lofty valuation leaves little room for disappointment, but the success
of its upcoming slate of products isn’t a sure thing. In contrast to the cheaper
iPhone SE model that boosted its June quarter, the company is going to have to
convince consumers to buy higher-priced $1,000 iPhones when it launches new
5G-enabled models this fall. And these more expensive phones may be a tough
proposition with tens of millions of Americans facing job insecurity. Further,
I’m still skeptical there will be new apps anytime soon that will need the
faster fifth-generation wireless speeds, making phone upgrades less compelling.
Finally, according to a Bloomberg News report last week, it doesn’t look like
there will be much innovation coming from Apple on the services front either —
just a new virtual fitness-class subscription and some modest subscription
bundles.
On top of all this, Apple is facing increased regulatory scrutiny over its
dominant position in the smartphone market. In June, the European Union
announced it had opened two formal antitrust investigations into Apple, with one
of the probes specifically looking into the requirement guidelines of its in-app
purchase system. Last month, CEO Tim Cook also had to defend the company’s App
Store policies and high fee structure before a landmark House antitrust hearing
as well. Obviously, if either of these global regulators clamp down on Apple’s
business practices, it could negatively impact its profitability.
There is no doubt Apple’s stunning ascent to $2 trillion is impressive. The
climb to $3 trillion may be even more so, because it will be that much harder.
The Abraham Accord is not as unorthodox a deal as
Trump thinks
Nick March/The National/August 20/2020
Jared Kushner has emphasised Donald Trump's 'untraditional' statecraft, but the
end result is a classic peace agreement
The Democratic National Convention opened on Monday in the US, while on the same
day a senior White House official spoke on a conference call to a group of
reporters in the Middle East.
While both events considered America’s past and its immediate future, the
contrasts between the messages could hardly have been greater, even as one was a
virtual gathering that sought to replicate the carefully choreographed
hullabaloo of a party convention via videoconferencing, and the other was a
discreet discussion designed to contextualise and reinforce the White House’s
foreign policy achievements. At the convention, prominent Democrats spoke of the
need to “end the chaos” of the past four years of the Trump administration by
voting for Joe Biden.
Much of the rhetoric was designed to challenge the administration’s domestic
record during the coronavirus crisis and over recent societal schisms, but it
was set in the context of the US electorate having clear choices to make for the
future of America at home and abroad. To make sure no viewer was in any doubt,
former Ohio governor John Kasich stood outdoors at a fork in a real road to say
“America is at a crossroads”.
A little earlier, Jared Kushner, White House senior adviser, briefed a group of
reporters on the American role in the UAE-Israel accord announced last week and
the prospects for energising the broader Palestinian-Israeli peace process. He
too talked about choices that could be made to bridge divides and build a better
future. When the Abraham Accord was made public last week following a joint call
between Sheikh Mohamed bin Zayed, Crown Prince of Abu Dhabi and Deputy Supreme
Commander of the Armed Forces, Donald Trump, the US president, and Benjamin
Netanyahu, the Israeli prime minister, Mr Kushner was keen to emphasise how Mr
Trump’s “untraditional approach”, a persistent feature of his White House years,
had achieved something very significant.
It is the promise of finding a solution to what Mr Kushner referred to starkly
as “the cancers of conflict” that is the biggest headline
“You can’t solve problems that remain unsolved by doing it the same way the
people before you have tried and failed,” Mr Kushner said at the time.
The accord, which freezes all Israeli plans for annexation of Palestinian
territories in exchange for beginning the process of establishing bilateral ties
between the UAE and Israel, has been praised in the international community. The
European Union described it as “a fundamental step for the stabilisation of the
region as a whole”.
Beyond the UAE-Israel trade links and the diplomatic ties that the accord is
expected to deliver, it is the promise of finding a solution to what Mr Kushner
referred to starkly as “the cancers of conflict” that is the biggest headline.
Intriguingly, this could be seen as a conventional legacy agreement delivered
via an orthodox form of statecraft. It is, in fact, diplomacy in its most
traditional sense from a non-traditional president.
This was also Mr Trump seeking to return to a brushstroke 2016 campaign promise
of replacing “randomness with purpose, ideology with strategy and chaos with
peace”. On Monday, Mr Kushner sought to stitch together the contours of the
White House’s Middle East thinking, which in his telling is grounded in
“aligning people around shared interests, joint opportunities and shared
threats, and hopefully this leads to a whole new set of progress that can bring
the region forward.”
He said: “We need to take the cancers of conflict – we need to extract them from
the region. “But unfortunately, while people still allow some of these leaders
and these groups to exploit division, that’s going to continue to hold back the
region from achieving its true potential,” he said in reference to Iran and
extremist groups.
Mr Kushner also returned to the issue of trust several times, using the word
repeatedly, in particular saying of Israel that Mr Trump “trusts them and they
trust him and we do not believe they will go forward against the deal that we
made”.
Those words could easily be interpreted as a repurposed version of former US
president Barack Obama’s notion of “trust, but verification” when he announced
the Joint Comprehensive Plan of Action between Iran and the P5+1 group of
countries in 2015. American trust in Tehran evaporated soon afterwards, while
the relationship with Israel holds firm. Mr Trump consistently argued that the
deal to constrain Iranian nuclear ambitions was a bad one, many in this region
agreed with him, and after withdrawing from the accord in 2018 has pursued a
vigorous containment strategy against Iran grounded in sanctions.
The White House senior adviser said that Iran was a bad actor that had been
playing games for too long, adding that it should “stop trying to export terror
and extremism” and start focusing on improving the lives of its citizens.
The way forward for the US, Mr Kushner said, was working with its close allies,
creating opportunity and countering extremism. The lens through which to view
the world was one of “shared interests and common threats”.
Few would argue against the 2020 accord being a significant agreement that
changes the regional dynamic, even if some dislike what it delivers. But it is
also a conventional piece of statecraft delivered with a road map that brings
immediate results and sets out longer-term goals. It asks some questions and
answers others. In the late autumn of his first term and as Mr Trump seeks
re-election, the “untraditional” president is following a well-trodden
historical path through seeking to bridge divides and negotiate peace.
*Nick March is an assistant editor-in-chief at The National
US must back Mustafa Al Kadhimi's vision for Iraq
The National/August 20/2020
Beyond economic support, Washington must recognise the Prime Minister's efforts
towards reform
Today, Iraqi Prime Minister Mustafa Al Kadhimi is due to meet US President
Donald Trump in Washington. The two leaders are expected to further a US-Iraqi
strategic dialogue that began in June and encompasses a number of issues,
including diplomatic, trade and business ties, in addition to security
co-operation. At a time when international air travel has been largely halted
following the outbreak of Covid-19, thereby limiting most diplomatic exchanges
to video conference calls, it is significant that Mr Trump has invited Mr Al
Kadhimi to the White House.
The visit underlines the importance that the Trump administration accords its
ties with Mr Al Kadhimi’s three-month-old government. Mr Al Kadhimi came to
power at a time when Iraqis had been calling for reforms to quell corruption,
protect Iraq's sovereignty, create economic opportunities for young people and
strengthen state institutions. The US is keen to ensure that the Iraqi state is
able to govern, which means limiting militia rule and ensuring ISIS does not
make a comeback.
Furthermore, the American support to Mr Al Kadhimi comes within its broader
efforts to contain and constrain Iran’s expansionist policies across the Middle
East, not least inside Iraq. The visit also speaks to the Iraqi Prime Minister’s
desire to balance tensions between Washington and Tehran; both capitals exert
leverage in Baghdad’s corridors of power, but have become increasingly
adversarial towards one another in recent months.
Perhaps most crucially, however, Mr Al Kadhimi’s visit represents a
re-calibration in US-Iraqi relations, following a chain of events, including the
storming of the US embassy in Baghdad last December by Iranian-backed Iraqi
militias and the consequent killing of the Iranian commander Qassem Suleimani
and the Iraqi militia leader Abu Mahdi Al Muhandis by a US drone strike in the
Iraqi capital in January. These events led to the Iraqi Parliament, dominated by
Iranian-aligned political parties, to pass a bill ordering US forces out of the
country.
And yet, as much as it will serve to reset relations, it is important that
today’s meeting not be limited to a session of grip and grin. In addition to
renewed commitments to security co-operation, Iraq is desperately in need of
American economic assistance. Baghdad has sought aid to grapple with the fall in
oil prices – about 90 per cent of the energy-rich country’s budget comes from
oil revenues.
At the same time, a healthy dose of realism is also needed. Mr Al Kadhimi should
not expect an impressive American bailout, given that the world at large has
fallen on hard times due to the pandemic. The impact has been particularly acute
in the US, limiting Washington’s ability to pull its purse strings. Absent of
the ability to provide adequate aid, the Trump administration should extend
credit lines and facilitate more private American investment in Iraq.
Yesterday, however, the US announced nearly $204 million in additional
humanitarian assistance, bringing the total to more than $706m since the
beginning of fiscal year 2019. In addition, Washington provided $49.5m in
Covid-19 assistance. Iraqi Foreign Minister Fuad Hussein, meanwhile, said he was
expecting to sign MoUs in various sectors, including education, health, oil and
power.
Beyond economic support, it is paramount that Washington throws its support
behind Mr Al Kadhimi’s reform agenda, which includes delivering stability, a
functioning democracy, government accountability, sovereignty and, eventually,
prosperity in Iraq. For years, the US has viewed Iraq through the prisms of
counterterrorism and checking Iran’s strategic ambitions. It should do more than
that by vociferously endorsing the vision that the Prime Minister has promised
to ordinary Iraqis. That the people want change is evident from the months-long
demonstrations throughout the country, and it is important for the US to
recognise this. With the presidential election just two months away, few expect
Mr Trump will have the time or political capital to lead a global campaign to
support Iraq. But he should at least call for international support,
particularly from Europe and Arab neighbours, and recognise the noteworthy steps
Mr Al Kadhimi has taken since May.
An Iraqi demonstrator burns tyres to block the road during a protest over poor
public services in Najaf, Iraq. Reuters
He has responded favourably towards the protests by reaching out to the
protesters. He has detained government security personnel allegedly responsible
for the murder of some demonstrators. He has also moved to repair frayed
relations with the semi-autonomous Kurdistan Regional Government in Erbil.
Significantly, Mr Al Kadhimi has announced early elections, to be held next
year, in the hope that a new, more diverse and independent-minded Parliament
will help bring about the reforms the Iraqi people are calling for.
Until that happens, however, the Prime Minister knows his hands are tied by
those with vested interests. He does not belong to any political party, nor does
he have the backing of any militia group, in a country where militias still
wield considerable clout – and pose a serious security threat not just to
ordinary Iraqis, including those out on the streets protesting, but also the US
forces stationed in the country.
Mr Trump has taken the right step by inviting Mr Al Kadhimi to Washington. But
it should be the first of many steps towards a shared goal to rebuild Iraq.
Europe must resist Erdogan in eastern Mediterranean
Vicenzino/Al Arabiya/August 20/2020
The escalating maritime dispute between Turkey and Greece involving the
delimitation of their continental shelves can no longer be viewed as a bilateral
issue.
It must be interpreted within the broader context of Turkey-European Union
relations, President Recep Tayyip Erdogan’s strategic and geopolitical ambitions
in the Eastern Mediterranean and beyond, as well as in light of violation of the
territorial integrity and sovereignty of a NATO ally and European Union
member-state which directly undermines western security interests.
The bottom line is that Erdogan’s aggressive agenda is destabilizing the entire
region at a very critical juncture when the COVID-19 pandemic is already
wreaking enormous economic havoc globally - and particularly in Europe’s
southern flank.
In recent years, Russia’s takeover of Crimea and Chinese expansion into the
South China Sea serve as leading examples of major powers disrupting the
established international order and emboldening others with territorial claims
to take action.
Now the prime example is Erdogan in the Eastern Mediterranean.
At home, Erdogan is confronted with enormous economic challenges. His robust
regional agenda - particularly with respect to Cyprus, Greece, and Europe -
provides an outlet and distraction from Turkey’s deeper economic malaise and
strengthens his nationalist credentials - at home and abroad - as a powerful
leader defending Turkish pride and prestige and protecting Turkish interests.
However, Erdogan’s policies over time have led to increasing regional isolation
and greater responsibility for the deteriorating status quo.
The EU’s constant reluctance to act and confront Erdogan’s ambitions will only
encourage him to further pursue his dangerous game of brinksmanship and further
destabilize the region economically and politically.
Germany’s Chancellor Angela Merkel acts as the consummate mediator. However, at
times firm decision-making is required when reaching a critical crossroads -
particularly when the territorial integrity of a European Union member-state is
at stake. The Greek government has been constantly requesting assistance from
its fellow EU member-states, and NATO allies, in confronting Erdogan.
Thus far in Europe, only France has been willing to actively assist Greece
beyond rhetorical support and threats of sanctions against Erdogan.
France’s leadership fully recognizes the longer-term risks that Erdogan’s agenda
poses to the region and the need to confront it sooner rather than later.
France’s dispatching of military assets to the Eastern Mediterranean has sent a
clear message.
Over the years, Erdogan has generally been able to exploit EU divisions to his
advantage. Whether Erdogan has overplayed his hand with Europe in the Eastern
Mediterranean remains to be seen. The ball is now in Europe’s court.
For now, the Trump-Erdogan relationship remains cordial and US leadership has
been largely silent apart from the diplomatic rhetoric advocating the need for
dialogue between all sides.
However, the level of American engagement could shift with the approaching US
election - particularly should the situation in the Eastern Mediterranean
deteriorate and serious confrontation ensue.
Furthermore, Erdogan may find a less friendly occupant in the White House should
there be a change of administration after November 3.
The longer the game of brinkmanship continues in the Eastern Mediterranean, the
higher the risks for a miscalculation that could trigger a vicious downward
spiral into the abyss. The stakes for Western security are higher than ever.
Complacency and hesitancy are no longer options.
*Marco Vicenzino is a geopolitical expert and international business adviser to
senior executives operating globally.
To defeat Iran, the US must first win the ideological war
at home
Reza Parchizadeh/Al Arabiya/Thursday 20 August 2020
Since the 1979 Islamic Revolution, the US government has spent billions of
dollars on diplomacy, intelligence, and military efforts to neutralize the
ever-growing threat of the apocalyptic regime in Iran, scoring sporadic success
on those fronts. However, there is one apparent arena where the US government
has decisively lost the battle: the heart of America. By infiltrating American
academia, the Iranian regime has succeeded in getting the upper hand in the
ideological war inside the US.
The Iranian regime has greatly invested in shaping the academic discourse in the
West, especially in America. Following the former Soviet and contemporary
Chinese attempts to infiltrate and influence American academia, the regime has
become fully aware of the fact that in the West – and particularly in the US –
academia plays a significant role in day-to-day politics as well as long-term
political plans. Simply put, in our contemporary world, Western academia is a
pillar of politics. Therefore, if the regime can make Western academia
sympathetic to its vision, it can practically set up a shield in the very heart
of the West to defend itself against its adversaries.
The academic milieu in the West in general and the US in particular
automatically favors the Islamic Republic. And this makes sense. The
overwhelmingly leftist currents in academia see a strategic – if not totally
ideological – ally in the Iranian regime in their fight against the supposed
capitalism and imperialism of the Western political establishment. On top of
that, the Iranian regime’s security apparatus also consciously manipulates
Western academia through funding, shaping curriculum, and planting pro-Tehran
professors, researchers and students in American universities and other centers
of higher education and research.
The conduct of the Alavi Foundation is a brazen instance of that trend. This
institute is the successor to the Pahlavi Foundation, endowed by the late Shah
of Iran in 1973 to promote the vision of his regime in America under the guise
of cultural activities. The foundation’s ownership was transferred to the
Islamist regime after the 1979 revolution in Iran while it still maintained ties
with some of its previous well-placed personnel. Today, this institute is an
overseas arm of the Mostaz’afan Foundation of the Islamic Revolution, a powerful
political and financial conglomerate connected to the Supreme Leader and the
Revolutionary Guards.
Since the revolution in Iran, the Alavi Foundation has acted as a front
organization for the promotion of pro-regime ideas and activities in North
America. One of the favorite methods of the foundation to achieve that goal is
to fund Iranian, Islamic, and Middle East Studies departments in some of the
most prestigious centers of higher education and other institutions, including
think tanks, in North America so that they promote the specific vision of the
Iranian regime in those areas. According to a 2017 report by Conservative
Review, “The institute has financed and installed Iran-friendly professors and
curriculums at 41 universities across the United States.” Some of the
universities that have received funding from the foundation are the Ivy League
institutes of higher education such as Harvard University, Columbia University,
Princeton University, and the University of Pennsylvania.
The report continues, “Alavi has entered into a cost-sharing agreement with many
of these universities, facilitating deals that support the hiring of
tenure-track professors.”
The centers funded by the Alavi Foundation and similar institutions have a
strong tendency to employ professors, fund fellows, and admit students who work
along the Iranian regime’s ideological lines. In fact, many of these
anti-American doctors and fellows are groomed by the regime and directly
dispatched from Tehran to advance the regime’s agenda in the heart of the Great
Satan.
Coincidentally, these centers hardly ever promote Iranian dissenting experts who
do not toe the line of the Islamist regime. Along the same lines, these centers
usually publish research that, while not completely uncritical, never really
criticizes the regime on a fundamental level, and most importantly, the research
fails to lay bare the necessity to supplant the totalitarian Iranian system with
a liberal democracy.
As such, the Alavi Foundation and its sister institutions, by boosting the voice
and vision of the Iranian regime on the one hand and silencing dissenting voices
on the other, police and shape the academic discourse on Iran, Islam and the
Middle East in North America. And they duly reap the benefit of their long-term
investment. At least for a while they were able to cast Tehran’s agenda and
vision of the Middle East as US foreign policy. By constantly smearing Arabs and
Israel as the major regional allies of the United States, these influencers
succeeded in coaxing the American public to welcome the disastrous Iran nuclear
deal. In addition, they managed to whitewash the regime’s bloody intervention in
Syria and its broader imperialist designs on the Middle East.
After almost a decade of legal battles, in June 2017 the Alavi Foundation was
finally prosecuted by the US Department of Justice for acting as an instrument
of a hostile government, skirting US sanctions against the Iranian regime, and
funding pro-Tehran and anti-Israel professors. Prosecutors called the conviction
the “largest terrorism-related civil forfeiture in United States history.” In
August 2017, the Republican Congressman Dan Donovan from the state of New York
asked federal authorities to investigate how the foundation had steered millions
of dollars to dozens of American universities. However, no systematic action has
followed since to stem the broader tide of the Iranian regime’s influence
campaign in the US. As a result, even at the height of the US government’s
maximum pressure campaign against Iran, the Iranian regime’s propaganda machine
continues to target the US government on American soil with the intent to
undermine US policy toward Iran.
When a certain discourse is promoted in the media and academia in a sustained
manner over a long period of time, that discourse will become the norm. By that,
and by actively excluding from the public arena other discourses that can pose a
threat to its dominance, that discourse gets to overwhelm and guide public
opinion. As such, the regime’s strong presence in American academia poses a
significant security threat to the United States and her allies in the Middle
East.
To win the 40-year war in the Middle East, the United States must first win the
ideological war at home.
Lifting Iran’s arms embargo a threat to regional stability
Dr. Majid Rafizadeh/Arab News/August 20/2020
Iran’s leaders believe they scored a major political victory against the US, its
allies and regional powers when the UN Security Council last week voted down a
proposal to extend the 13-year-old arms embargo on Tehran, which is due to
expire in October. This means that, not only will the Iranian regime soon be
allowed to buy weapons and advance its weapons manufacturing industry, but it
will also be able to freely sell and export arms. This will undoubtedly have
severe repercussions for regional security and stability, and could potentially
trigger an arms race in the Middle East. Iranian politicians and media outlets
celebrated the outcome, with the headline of the Iranian newspaper Etemad
reading: “US is defeated in home game: Attempts in New York to convince the UNSC
member states fail.” The Iranian leaders appeared to know in advance that the US
would not garner enough support, as Foreign Minister Mohammed Javad Zarif
pointed out prior to the vote: “Not even five member states (China, Russia,
France, the UK, Germany) would vote for US-drafted resolution.”
Britain, France and Germany, which abstained from the vote, and Russia and
China, which vetoed the resolution, defended their decisions by either arguing
that the lifting of the arms ban was part of the Joint Comprehensive Plan of
Action (JCPOA) or that such a move was important in order to preserve the
nuclear deal.
However, Iran is violating all restrictions of the nuclear agreement, according
to the International Atomic Energy Agency (IAEA). The ruling mullahs increased
their stockpile of low-enriched uranium from 1.1 tons in February 2019 to 1.73
tons as of May 20 this year. This is about eight times more than what the regime
was allowed to maintain under the misbegotten JCPOA. Additionally, the Iranian
regime is still not allowing the IAEA to inspect its sites — a long-term problem
that is now a “serious concern” for the international inspectors. China and
Russia likely voted against extending the embargo as they are interested in
selling arms to Iran. This would boost their military cooperation with Tehran,
increase their influence in the region, and empower an ally that stands against
their main rival, the US. Iran and China are reported to be close to signing a
25-year strategic deal that has a military dimension. Iran’s armed forces held a
joint naval exercise with Russia and China late last year.
Iran will likely step up its acquisition of advanced weaponry, such as Russian
Sukhoi Su-30 fighters, Yakovlev Yak-130 training aircraft, T-90 tanks, the S-400
air defense system, and the Bastion coastal defense system. It is also expected
to seek to use Russian and Chinese military technology to manufacture more
advanced submarines, missiles and warships. The Russians appear more than
willing to help, as Vladimir Zhirinovsky, leader of the Liberal Democratic
Party, said in January that Moscow needs to “offer Iran an agreement on military
cooperation and urgently sell the most modern weapons so that no one dares throw
anything in the direction of Iran.”
While it is evident why Russia and China opposed the US resolution, it is
mind-boggling that the European powers also did not support the move to extend
the arms embargo, in spite of protests from several Arab states. The lifting of
the embargo on the Iranian regime is inimical to the interests of Europe.
The six-country Gulf Cooperation Council submitted a plea to the UN Security
Council to extend the Iranian arms embargo. The letter accurately stated that
Iran has “not ceased or desisted from armed interventions in neighboring
countries, directly and through organizations and movements armed and trained by
Iran. As such, it is inappropriate to lift the restrictions on conventional
weapons’ movement to and from Iran until it abandons its destabilizing
activities in the region and ceases to provide weapons to terrorist and
sectarian organizations.”
China and Russia likely voted against extending the embargo as they are
interested in selling arms to Iran.
Iranian leaders are attempting to address the concerns of its neighbors with
empty words. During a Cabinet meeting last week, President Hassan Rouhani
insisted that “Iran’s defense and weapons power is in the interest of the entire
region… Iran’s defense power is not a threat to your countries.” But Tehran’s
arming of militia groups across the region has, for example, allowed the Houthis
to launch missile attacks on Saudi Arabia, contradicting Rouhani’s statement.
After one such Houthi attack, Hossein Shariatmadari, the managing editor of the
Kayhan newspaper, who was appointed by Khamenei, wrote a report with the
provocative headline: “Ansarullah fires missiles on Riyadh. Dubai will be next.”
Earlier this year, Iran also threatened that it would attack Dubai if the US
retaliated against its strikes on American bases in Iraq.
In short, the lifting of the arms embargo on the world’s top state sponsor of
terrorism will further help the Iranian regime advance its military adventurism
and arm terror and militia groups with advanced weapons. This is a dangerous
threat to regional and global stability, and it will likely trigger a regional
arms race.
*Dr. Majid Rafizadeh is a Harvard-educated Iranian-American political scientist.
Twitter: @Dr_Rafizadeh