LCCC ENGLISH DAILY NEWS BULLETIN
February 04/19

Compiled & Prepared by: Elias Bejjani

The Bulletin's Link on the lccc Site
http://data.eliasbejjaninews.com/eliasnews19/english.february04.19.htm

News Bulletin Achieves Since 2006
Click Here to enter the LCCC Arabic/English news bulletins Achieves since 2006

Bible Quotations For today
For what was sown on good soil, this is the one who hears the word and understands it, who indeed bears fruit and yields, in one case a hundredfold, in another sixty, and in another thirty
Holy Gospel of Jesus Christ according to Saint Matthew 13,18-23/”Hear then the parable of the sower. When anyone hears the word of the kingdom and does not understand it, the evil one comes and snatches away what is sown in the heart; this is what was sown on the path. As for what was sown on rocky ground, this is the one who hears the word and immediately receives it with joy; yet such a person has no root, but endures only for a while, and when trouble or persecution arises on account of the word, that person immediately falls away. As for what was sown among thorns, this is the one who hears the word, but the cares of the world and the lure of wealth choke the word, and it yields nothing. But as for what was sown on good soil, this is the one who hears the word and understands it, who indeed bears fruit and yields, in one case a hundredfold, in another sixty, and in another thirty.”

Titles For The Latest English LCCC Lebanese & Lebanese Related News published on February 03-04/19
UN ambassadors tour Hezbollah tunnels
Netanyahu: Hizbullah Controls Lebanon Govt. and We’ll Foil Any Aggression
U.S. Didn't 'Veto' Giving Health Portfolio to Hizbullah
Al-Rahi: United Arab Emirates is State of United Religions
Jumblat Slams Bassil, Gharib, Criticizes Hariri, Othman, Vows to Sue al-Jadeed
Hariri Lashes Out at Jumblat, Accuses Him of 'Distorting Facts, Disrupting Govt. Course'
The American Mideast Coalition for Democracy (AMCD) Blasts Lebanese PM Hariri for Caving to Hezbollah in Forming New Gov’t
Building on Syria War Gains, Iran Just Scored a Big Win in the Region

Litles For The Latest English LCCC Miscellaneous Reports And News published on February 03-04/19
Pope Francis arrives in Abu Dhabi for historic visit
Pope Francis urges ‘respect’ for Yemen truce accord
Iran Warns Europe Not to Force 'Strategic Leap' on Missile Range
Trapped in Shrinking Syria Holdout, IS Turns to Human Shields
France Reminds Maduro: 'Ultimatum Ends Tonight'
Israel Begins Construction of New Gaza Border Barrier
Yemen Govt., Rebels Meet aboard U.N. Ship
UK's May Says She is 'Armed with Fresh' Brexit Mandate
Syria Bus Attack Kills One, Wounds Four in Manbij
Algeria Ruling Coalition Backs Bouteflika for April Poll
Sudan's Bashir Vows Rural Development as New Protests Loom

Titles For The Latest LCCC English analysis & editorials from miscellaneous sources published on February 03-04/19
UN ambassadors tour Hezbollah tunnels/Ahiya Raved/Ynetnews/February 03/19
The American Mideast Coalition for Democracy (AMCD) Blasts Lebanese PM Hariri for Caving to Hezbollah in Forming New Gov’t/AMCD/February 03/19
Building on Syria War Gains, Iran Just Scored a Big Win in the Region/Reuters/February 03/19
The Widespread Persecution of Converts to Christianity/Uzay Bulut/Gatestone Institute/February 03/19
The Pope's Stubborn Silence on the Persecution of Christians/Giulio Meotti/Gatestone Institute/February 03/19
Analysis/The Absence of Strategy in Washington's Syria Policy/Zvi Bar'el/Haaretz/February 03/19
Austin Tice will not ‘die in the darkness’/Makram Rabah/Al Arabiya/January 03/19

Latest LCCC English Lebanese & Lebanese Related News published on February 03-04/19
UN ambassadors tour Hezbollah tunnels
Ahiya Raved/Ynetnews/February 03/19
Israeli Ambassador to the UN Danny Dannon led a delegation of UN ambassadors to the Lebanese border to view the threat posed by the tunnels up close. Dozens of United Nations ambassadors toured a site near Metula where the IDF discovered a Hezbollah terror tunnel during Operation Northern Shield. Engineering troops gave the diplomats a tour of the tunnel using a robotic camera. The tour was organized by Israeli Ambassador to the UN Danny Dannon. The diplomats met with President Reuven Rivlin and Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu in the morning before flying, with seven helicopters, from Jerusalem to the north of the country. During their meeting, Netanyahu stressed the Iranian chokehold on Lebanon via Hezbollah. "Iran has many branches, one of them is Hezbollah, which has now joined the Lebanese government. This is a misleading description — Hezbollah actually controls the Lebanese government and this means that Iran controls the Lebanese government," Netanyahu said. "It is important to convey this powerful message — just as we prevented the terror tunnels from reaching Israel, we will thwart any aggression from Lebanon, Syria or Iran itself ... We are committed to preventing this aggression and thus we are protecting not only Israel but also our neighbors and the peace of the entire world."Danny Dannon briefed the group on the tunnels discovered by the IDF. He stressed that they entered under Israeli territory and that all operations were conducted in Israel and did not cross into Lebanon. He also stressed the high cost of their construction and the Iranian funding for them. "The ambassadors hear a lot about our border with Lebanon and Hezbollah, but when you come here and see the tunnel, you cannot argue with the facts. The Iranian money reaches our border and threatens the citizens of Israel ... We say clearly that Hezbollah has established its own state in south Lebanon, a state that advances terror operations against Israel. On the day we move to defend ourselves and the UN will want to condemn us, the ambassadors standing here will understand the reality," Dannon said. The Panamanian Ambassador Melitón Arrocha Ruíz said that he came to see firsthand the hostile activities against Israel. “We will pass on what we saw and convey how Israel is thriving, open and democratic and that we all certainly share similar rule of law values,” he said. South Sudan Ambassador Akuei Bona Malwal noted the importance of coming to see the facts on the ground: “For those of us who work in NY and hear all sorts of things, the best way is to come and see and feel exactly what is happening. We came to Israel to see the challenges and how they are being handled.”
The ambassador also pointed out the absurdity of the tunnels being dug under the nose of UN peacekeepers.

Netanyahu: Hizbullah Controls Lebanon Govt. and We’ll Foil Any Aggression
Naharnet/February 03/19/Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu said Sunday that Hizbullah is “in control of the Lebanese government,” three days after a new cabinet was formed in Beirut after nine months of deadlock. “This means that Iran is controlling the Lebanese government,” Netanyahu stated in a meeting with a delegation comprised of foreign envoys to the U.N. “Iran is seeking to occupy the Middle East, to destroy Israel and to seize other large parts of the world,” the Israeli premier warned, vowing that Israel “will foil any aggression coming from Lebanon, Syria or Iran itself.”Hizbullah has three ministerial portfolios in the new government – health, sport and youth, and a state minister for parliament affairs.The party and its allies, including President Michel Aoun and his Free Patriotic Movement, control 18 out of 30 seats in the new government.

U.S. Didn't 'Veto' Giving Health Portfolio to Hizbullah
Naharnet/February 03/19/U.S. Assistant Secretary of State David Hale did not tell Lebanese leaders that the U.S. had a "veto" on the allocation of the health ministerial portfolio to a minister belonging to Hizbullah, a media report said. "He only expressed unease over the allocation of this ministry to Hizbullah, seeing as it will have major engagement with international organizations and institutions that deal with the health sector and offer Lebanon financial and technical aid in this regard," sources told Asharq al-Awsat newspaper in remarks published Sunday. "Hale did not express any negative signal suggesting that Washington is not willing to deal with a government in which Hizbullah is represented," the sources added. "He was decisive on supporting Lebanon's stability and helping it implement U.N. resolution 1701, while strongly criticizing Hizbullah's role in the destabilization of Lebanon and the region, seeing as it implements the policies dictated on it by Iran," the sources went on to say. The sources also noted that Washington was not "surprised" that Hizbullah was represented in the government but would "back efforts aimed at reining it in to prevent it from seizing control of Lebanon.""Washington will maintain its support for Lebanon, because its absence would relieve the Defiance Axis and allow it to politically control the country," the sources said.

Al-Rahi: United Arab Emirates is State of United Religions
Naharnet/February 03/19/The United Arab Emirates is “a state of united religions and a state of united cultures,” Maronite Patriarch Beshara al-Rahi said Sunday on his first day of a visit to the UAE. “As humans, we cannot live in hatred and I believe that this conference represents a call for ending all wars and conflicts,” al-Rahi told the Global Conference of Human Fraternity in Abu Dhabi. “Humanity was not created to live in war but rather in peace and serenity,” the patriarch added. He also lauded Pope Francis visit to the UAE which also kicked off on Sunday.
The patriarch is scheduled to preside in the evening over a mass for the Lebanese expat community at Abu Dhabi’s Mar Youssef Church.

Jumblat Slams Bassil, Gharib, Criticizes Hariri, Othman, Vows to Sue al-Jadeed
Naharnet/February 03/19/Progressive Socialist Party leader ex-MP Walid Jumblat on Sunday hit out at Free Patriotic Movement chief MP Jebran Bassil, warning him against “playing with fire,” as he lashed out over several other issues.Referring to Bassil’s latest press conference, Jumblat said: “We have noticed unilateralism in the formation of the government as if the premiership was nearly absent and as if Foreign Minister Jebran Bassil has laid out the broad lines of the cabinet’s policy statement and the upcoming period. This violates the Taef Accord and is tantamount to playing with fire.”Speaking to reporters after an emergency meeting for his Democratic Gathering parliamentary bloc in Clemenceau, Jumblat also revealed that a Gathering delegation will visit President Michel Aoun, Speaker Nabih Berri and Prime Minister Saad Hariri to ask the question: “What is the fate of the Taef Accord?”
Hoping to get a clear answer from Hariri, the PSP leader added: “If Hariri wants to renounce the Taef Accord, this will create a major crisis in the country.”Turning to the issue of Internal Security Forces officer Wael Malaeb, Jumblat stressed that he supports the enforcement of the law but urged ISF chief Maj. Gen. Imad Othman to “eradicate all corruption at his directorate” and to ensure a “transparent probe” in the case of Malaeb and his colleagues. “And if he has the ability, he should rein in the major scandals at Beirut’s airport, where perhaps there are regional balances,” Jumblat added.
Separately, the PSP leader slammed the new state minister for refugee affairs, Saleh al-Gharib, who is loyal to his Druze rival MP Talal Arslan, lamenting that “the new alliance” has “imposed a refugee affairs minister whose political affiliation is Syrian.”“We will not give up the issue of protecting the refugees and we will not be dragged into the will of the pro-Syria camp to send them to the holocaust and torture in Syria,” Jumblat added. As for the recent grenade attack on al-Jadeed television, Jumblat stressed that he is “against the assault” but revealed that he will file a lawsuit against the TV network. “The perpetrator is present and I will await for the right circumstances to hand him over,” Jumblat said, acknowledging that those who carried out the attack are supporters of his party. “There are certain segments of society who do not tolerate insults against their icons,” the PSP leader added, describing the ‘Abu al-Qaaqaa’ character in Charbel Khalil’s ‘Qadh-w-Jamm’ satirical TV show as “another type of attacks against Walid Jumblat.”And noting that the aforementioned segment had contained “incitement against civil peace,” Jumblat said he will file a lawsuit against al-Jadeed over the “indirect insult.”Responding to a question, the PSP leader said: “We will not withdraw our ministers from the government, they will handle their files and we will confront.”

Hariri Lashes Out at Jumblat, Accuses Him of 'Distorting Facts, Disrupting Govt. Course'
Naharnet/February 03/19/Prime Minister Saad Hariri on Sunday hit back swiftly at remarks voiced by Progressive Socialist Party leader ex-MP Walid Jumblat, with whom ties have been strained in recent days. “The remarks seeking to attack the Premiership’s role, prestige and performance… are a mere attempt at fishing in troubled waters,” Hariri said in a statement released by his press office. “They are aimed at compensating for the problems that those who voiced these remarks are facing and the concessions that they themselves had rushed to offer,” the premier added. “The Premiership will not be an easy target for anyone… and it does not need lectures in constitutional norms and requirements from anyone,” Hariri went on to say, accusing Jumblat – without naming him – of “falsifying the facts, especially as to the drafting of the cabinet’s policy statement.”He also accused him of decrying alleged corruption with the aim of “disrupting the government’s course under the excuse of seeking to rectify the situations.” Earlier in the day, Jumblat said he has “noticed unilateralism in the formation of the government as if the premiership was nearly absent and as if Foreign Minister Jebran Bassil has laid out the broad lines of the cabinet’s policy statement and the upcoming period.”Speaking to reporters after an emergency meeting for his Democratic Gathering parliamentary bloc in Clemenceau, Jumblat also revealed that a Gathering delegation will visit President Michel Aoun, Speaker Nabih Berri and Hariri to ask the question: “What is the fate of the Taef Accord?” Hoping to get a clear answer from Hariri, the PSP leader added: “If Hariri wants to renounce the Taef Accord, this will create a major crisis in the country."

The American Mideast Coalition for Democracy (AMCD) Blasts Lebanese PM Hariri for Caving to Hezbollah in Forming New Gov’t
التحالف الأميركي الشرق أوسطي للديموقراطية ينتقد بشدة رضوخ الرئيس سعد الحريري لحزب الله في تشكيل الحكومة
AMCD/February 03/19
http://eliasbejjaninews.com/archives/71774/%d8%a7%d9%84%d8%aa%d8%ad%d8%a7%d9%84%d9%81-%d8%a7%d9%84%d8%a3%d9%85%d9%8a%d8%b1%d9%83%d9%8a-%d8%a7%d9%84%d8%b4%d8%b1%d9%82-%d8%a3%d9%88%d8%b3%d8%b7%d9%8a-%d9%84%d9%84%d8%af%d9%8a%d9%85%d9%88%d9%82-2/
Washington DC: The American Mideast Coalition for Democracy took aim at Lebanese PM Saad al-Hariri for loading his cabinet with Hezbollah allies in the government he finally announced after 9 months of negotiations.
Gibran Bassil, the son-in-law of President Michel Aoun and an ally of Hezbollah, is to remain as foreign minister. The position of minister of defense has gone to Elias Bou Saab, also a Hezbollah ally. Likewise, Hezbollah friendly Ali Hassan Khalil will remain in charge of the finance ministry although the country is in severe financial trouble. Jamil Jabak will take over the health ministry for the first time. He is also a Hezbollah ally.
“It is clear that this cabinet formation signals the consolidation of power for Hezbollah, and thus Iran, in Lebanon,” said AMCD co-chair, Tom Harb. “This will pose significant challenges for the Trump administration.”
“At what point does Lebanon move from tentative friend to possible foe of the US?” asked AMCD co-chair John Hajjar. “Lebanon is quickly moving into the Iran-Russia-Assad camp in the Middle East. There is no doubt that if Hezbollah moves missile batteries within range of Israel, that America will back the Israeli response. At what point, then, does Lebanon itself become an enemy of America?”
AMCD calls on the US to send a strong warning to the Lebanese government which is now composed of a majority of Hezbollah supporters (70%). We are reminded of the 1980’s when Hezbollah took western hostages and put Lebanon at odds with western nations. We must never forget that Hezbollah was behind suicide bombing of the US Marines barracks in 1983. Hezbollah should be wiped out, not rewarded. The US should put pressure on Lebanon to implement UN Security Council Resolution 1559 which calls for all foreign militias in Lebanon, including Hezbollah, to disarm and disband – not to join and then dominate the government.
AMCD is also concerned that the State Department is sending the wrong message by issuing a statement of support for the new government. The Trump Administration should refuse to recognize a government which is so heavily controlled by a terrorist organization. And because Hezbollah is controlled by Iran, Iran is essentially controlling the government of Lebanon by proxy. Therefore, the US should not recognize this government.
http://www.americanmideast.com/custpage.cfm?frm=217418&sec_id=217418&fbclid=IwAR1As2UfQxvbRtb3Be32-prUPYd6uaiEoJ2F2wIj64WRGojxQjPL6-cvRP8

Building on Syria War Gains, Iran Just Scored a Big Win in the Region
تقرير من وكالة رويترز: بناءً على مكاسبها في سوريا، إيران قد حققت فوزاً كبيراً في المنطقة من خلال تشكيل الحكومة اللبنانية
Reuters/February 03/19
http://eliasbejjaninews.com/archives/71771/reuters-building-on-syria-war-gains-iran-just-scored-a-big-win-in-the-region-%D8%AA%D9%82%D8%B1%D9%8A%D8%B1-%D9%85%D9%86-%D9%88%D9%83%D8%A7%D9%84%D8%A9-%D8%B1%D9%88%D9%8A%D8%AA%D8%B1%D8%B2-%D8%A8/
تعكس قوة حزب الله المتسعة في لبنان تعميق النفوذ الإيراني في رقعة من الأرض تمتد من طهران عبر بغداد ودمشق. بعد أن فشلت السعودية وإسرائيل في مواجهته
ويشير دور حزب الله المتعاظم في حكومة الوحدة اللبنانية الجديدة إلى شهية متزايدة لإدارة شؤون لبنان معتمداً على نفوذ عسكري غير مسبوق يمارسه بعد أن ساعد في قلب مسار الحرب السورية
Hezbollah's expanding power in Lebanon reflects a deepening of Iranian influence in an arc of territory from Tehran through Baghdad and Damascus.
Hezbollah's bigger role in Lebanon's new unity government points to a growing appetite to shape state affairs and builds on unprecedented military clout the group is wielding after helping turn the tide in Syria's war.
Hezbollah's expanding power in Lebanon reflects a deepening of Iranian influence in an arc of territory from Tehran through Baghdad and Damascus that its foes Saudi Arabia and Israel have struggled to counter.
Deemed a terrorist organisation by the United States, Iran-backed Hezbollah has assumed control of three ministries in the government led by the Western-backed Prime Minister Saad al-Hariri, the largest number of portfolios it has ever held.
The new government was formed on Thursday, ending nine months of wrangling.
The most significant portfolio under Hezbollah control is the Health Ministry, the first time Hezbollah has controlled a ministry with a big budget, though the Shi'ite doctor it picked for the job is not a party member.
More broadly, Hezbollah and its political allies from across Lebanon's sectarian spectrum have emerged with more than half of cabinet's 30 seats, reflecting a May parliamentary election which the group declared a victory.
Salem Zahran, an analyst with links to Hezbollah leaders, said the government would go down in its history as the "first big shift and the first step along a long road" towards more influence in government.
"This transformation is because Hezbollah has accumulated an excess of power after it has nearly finished with the military battles in Syria," he said. "I believe that Hezbollah will build up even more involvement in the Lebanese state."
Hezbollah, founded by Iran's Revolutionary Guards in 1982, is by far the most powerful group in Lebanon. Its clout in the region has grown since it joined the war in Syria in support of President Bashar al-Assad.
Lebanese government posts are parcelled out according to a complicated sectarian system, capping how many any one group can hold. The post of prime minister is reserved for a Sunni Muslim, a job Hariri has now held three times because of his status as Lebanon's leading Sunni.
But Hariri's Sunni dominance was shaken by the May election in which he lost more than one third of his seats in parliament, many of them to Hezbollah-allied Sunnis. Hezbollah managed to secure a cabinet seat for one of its Sunni allies.
This is a big gain for Hezbollah and its allies who have long sought to erode the Sunni dominance built by the Hariri family after Lebanon's civil war, with the backing of Riyadh.
As Hezbollah's clout has grown, Saudi Arabia has turned its focus away from Lebanon to other parts of the region, weakening Hezbollah's opponents who had benefited from its backing.
Hariri's ally, the staunchly anti-Hezbollah Christian Lebanese Forces (LF) party, was forced to cede significant ground during nine months of political wrangling over government portfolios, though it gained seats in parliament.
Hezbollah's biggest Christian ally, President Michel Aoun and his Free Patriotic Movement, made fewer concessions.
The most significant was giving the ground needed for Hezbollah's Sunni ally to join the cabinet - a point of friction between the allies. But Aoun, who backs Hezbollah's possession of weapons, still controls one third of the cabinet.
"STRATEGIC IMBALANCE"
Nabil Boumonsef, a Hezbollah critic and An-Nahar newspaper columnist, said Hezbollah's role was "growing very clearly" and noted that Hariri allies failed to secure all their demands.
"This strategic imbalance confirms that Hezbollah's influence in this government is stronger than in the previous one for sure. This absolutely cannot be denied," he said.
This poses questions for the United States, whose Lebanon policy twins military aid to the Lebanese army and support for Hariri with growing pressure on Hezbollah through sanctions.
The U.S. State Department said in a statement it was concerned that Hezbollah would continue to occupy ministerial positions and was allowed to name the health minister.
"We call on the new government to ensure the resources and services of these ministries do not provide support to Hezbollah ... We look to all parties in the new government to uphold Lebanon's policy of disassociation from regional conflicts and its international obligations," it said.
The United States has imposed new sanctions on Hezbollah as part of its strategy to counter Iran.
The frontpage headline of the pro-Hezbollah newspaper al-Akhbar said Hezbollah needed "a government amid the storm".
"Hezbollah benefits today from the government led by Hariri specifically ... because Hariri, with his Western and Gulf (Arab) facade could be a safety net or helper, keeping options open, when it comes to escalating American sanctions", al-Akhbar wrote in its main story on the government.
A senior Western diplomat said Hezbollah's opponents would keep a close eye on how Hezbollah manages the Health Ministry.
"The other parties will closely monitor the funds Hezbollah has in the ministry and will cry foul when something is happening, because they know the Americans are looking in the same direction."
The new health minister, Jamil Jabak, has said his priorities include improving government hospitals and bringing down drug prices.

Latest LCCC English Miscellaneous Reports & News published on February 03-04/19
Pope Francis arrives in Abu Dhabi for historic visit
Staff writer, Al Arabiya English/Sunday, 3 February 2019/Pope Francis has landed in Abu Dhabi as part of his historic three-day visit to the United Arab Emirates, the first by any pontiff to the Arabian Peninsula. The visit marks an effort to boost the Vatican’s outreach to Islam. Pope Francis, who has made strengthening ties between the two largest religions a cornerstone of his papacy, is expected to have talks with the UAE’s crown prince on Monday and hold an open-air mass for 135,000 worshipers on Tuesday.

Pope Francis urges ‘respect’ for Yemen truce accord
AFP/Sunday, 3 February 2019/Pope Francis on Sunday called for urgent “respect” for a ceasefire accord in Yemen to allow humanitarian aid through in the conflict-weary country. “I appeal to all parties concerned and to the international community to allow the urgent respect of established accords to ensure the distribution of food and to work for the good of the population,” said the pope. “I am following the humanitarian crisis in Yemen with great concern,” he added. The pope was speaking before embarking on a historic three-day visit to the United Arab Emirates, the first by a pope to the Arabian Peninsula. The first papal visit to the Arabian Peninsula marks an effort to boost the Vatican’s outreach to Islam. Pope Francis, who has made strengthening ties between the two largest religions a cornerstone of his papacy, was due to arrive in Abu Dhabi later Sunday.He was to have talks with the UAE crown prince on Monday and hold an open-air mass for 135,000 worshipers on Tuesday.

Iran Warns Europe Not to Force 'Strategic Leap' on Missile Range
Agence France Presse/Naharnet/February 03/19/The deputy chief of Iran's Revolutionary Guards has warned Europe against forcing the Islamic Republic into boosting the range of its missiles by trying to halt their development. "If the Europeans, or anyone else, want to conspire to disarm Iran of missiles, we will be forced to make a strategic leap," the guards' deputy commander Brigadier-General Hossein Salami said on state TV on Saturday. "All that hear me today, come to terms with the new reality of Iran's missile might: there are no obstacles or technical limitations to us increasing (their) range," he added. The Islamic Republic develops its missile technology according to a "defensive strategy" which changes according to need, he said. Earlier Saturday, Iran announced the "successful test" of a new cruise missile with a range of over 1,350 kilometers (840 miles), coinciding with the anniversary of the country's 1979 Islamic Revolution. Defense Minister Amir Hatami said the Hoveizeh cruise missile had successfully hit its targets, calling it the "long arm of the Islamic Republic of Iran."Iran reined in most of its nuclear program under a landmark 2015 deal with major powers, but has kept up development of its ballistic missile technology. Washington withdrew from the accord in May and reimposed sanctions against Iran, citing the missile program among its reasons. European governments have stuck by the agreement, although some have demanded a new section to address Iran's ballistic missile program and its intervention in regional conflicts including Yemen. Iran has voluntarily limited the range of its missiles to 2,000 kilometers (1,250 miles), but that is still enough to hit its arch-enemy Israel and U.S. bases in the Middle East. Washington and its allies have accused Tehran of pursuing enhanced missile capabilities that also threaten Europe. Tehran denies this, insisting its missile program is "purely defensive." The weapon tested Saturday takes its name from a city in the southwestern province of Khuzestan that was devastated in the 1980-1988 war against Saddam Hussein's Iraq. Salami on Saturday warned world powers "not to seek (new) negotiations or make recommendations or requests on Iran's missile power.""Our enemies only understand the language of force," he said. "If you cannot talk to them in that language, they will use it to talk to you."

Trapped in Shrinking Syria Holdout, IS Turns to Human Shields
Agence France Presse/Naharnet/February 03/19/On a rooftop near the front line with the Islamic State group's collapsing caliphate in eastern Syria, a U.S.-backed fighter and his comrades sip tea as they await orders to restart the battle. The Syrian Democratic Forces halted their ground assault on IS' final shreds of territory last week, saying the jihadists are increasingly using civilians as human shields to block the advance. In the desert hamlet of Baghouz, held mostly by the SDF, 22-year-old Mohammed Ibrahim Mohammed points towards a dirt mound separating areas under their control and the jihadists. "Since we arrived to this point almost six days ago we haven't moved forward," explained the young fatigue-clad man from the nearby town of Hajin, who joined the SDF just five months ago. "The fighting has stopped as we wait for the remaining civilians to leave," he said.Just a few dozen meters away, on the other side of the dirt berm, trucks, motorcycles and cars driven by IS fighters zip along the front line and out towards white tents further away, surrounded by women wearing long black robes. "These are all Daesh houses," said Mohammed, using an Arabic acronym for IS. "Sometimes we see women coming to take wood" from nearby palm trees, he said. The streets of Baghouz, which the SDF entered two weeks ago, are lined with the burnt-out skeletons of cars and bullet-pocked buildings, some of them completely destroyed. SDF fighters group in clusters around some of the structures, tending small fires and exchanging small talk and cigarettes. Others perch on balconies and roofs with a view over the other side. On one terrace, a fighter uses binoculars to a get a closer look at jihadists just a stone's throw away. As the SDF, with air support from the U.S.-led coalition, ramped up its offensive in recent weeks, thousands of civilians have poured out of the beleaguered jihadist-held pocket. More than 36,000 people, mostly women and children from jihadist families, have fled since December via humanitarian corridors opened up by the SDF, according to the Britain-based Syrian Observatory for Human Rights. That figure also includes some 3,100 jihadists, the war monitor added.
'Civilians on the front lines'
But while hundreds of people a day reached SDF-held territory early last month, the flow has slowed to a trickle. Recent arrivals say there are still many civilians and foreign fighters in the besieged pocket of territory. With the final push paused, the eerie quiet is only broken by intermittent gunfire and the occasional roar of a coalition airstrike or artillery fire targeting jihadist positions. In the neighboring village of Al-Shaafa, the SDF's spokesman for the Deir Ezzor region said the assault has been put on hold to protect civilians. "The jihadists are using the civilians as human shields to block our advance," Adnan Afrin told AFP. That has forced women and children, including members of fighters' families, to remain close to the battle. "They are putting the civilians on the front lines," he said, adding that airstrikes and artillery continued to target positions further back, "where the jihadists are concentrated." IS has shown a pattern of trapping civilians among its fighters in order to slow offensives as its cross-border "caliphate", proclaimed in 2014, has withered under multiple offensives. As the jihadists withdraw, they leave minefields and booby traps to slow their attackers and prevent civilians from escaping. To help protect those that remain cornered, the SDF is pushing to open new "safe corridors" to help civilians escape before the U.S.-backed force delivers the final blow, said Afrin. And while SDF leaders prefer not to speculate on when the battle against the jihadists will finish, they are clear it will end by military means. "We do not negotiate with terrorists," Afrin said.

France Reminds Maduro: 'Ultimatum Ends Tonight'
Agence France Presse/Naharnet/February 03/19/France warned Venezuelan President Nicolas Maduro that a deadline to organize elections ran out Sunday night and that Paris was preparing to recognize his opponent, Juan Guaido. France, Germany and Spain have given Maduro until midnight on Sunday to call a presidential election. The Venezuelan leader has ignored those demands but has reiterated his call to bring forward legislative elections slated for the end of 2020 to this year. "The ultimatum ends tonight," France's European affairs minister Natalie Loiseau told French media on Sunday. "If between now and this evening Mr Maduro does not commit to organizing presidential elections, we will consider that Mr Guaido is legitimate to organize them in his place," Loiseau added "And we will consider him as interim president until the elections," she continued. Loiseau added that Maduro's suggestion of bringing forward parliamentary elections was "a farce, a tragic farce." Venezuelan parliament leader Guaido declared himself president on January 23.

Israel Begins Construction of New Gaza Border Barrier
Agence France Presse/Naharnet/February 03/19/Israel said Sunday that work to strengthen its border with the Gaza Strip had entered a new phase, with construction starting on a massive new barrier along the frontier. "Over the weekend we began building the above-ground barrier along the Gaza border," Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu told journalists before the weekly cabinet meeting.The barrier, set to stand six meters (20 feet) off the ground, "will prevent terrorists from Gaza from penetrating into our territory on the ground", he said in Hebrew. Netanyahu gave no further details but a defense ministry statement said that work on the structure began Thursday. It is set to follow the 65-kilometre (40-mile) course of an underground barrier also under construction meant to neutralize the threat of cross-border tunnels built by Gaza militants. At its western end, the statement said, the above-ground barrier would join a fortified sea wall jutting into the Mediterranean, aimed at blocking Palestinian attacks by water. "It's massive and especially strong," the ministry said in an accompanying video clip. In the last Gaza war in 2014, Israeli forces killed four Hamas militants who had managed to cross into Israel by water. Some Israeli commentators have said that Netanyahu would be unwilling to see a new uptick in hostilities with Gaza's Hamas rulers in the runup to general elections set for April 9. But the premier, who is also defense minister, on Sunday pledged the upcoming polls would not affect security decisions. "If the quiet is not maintained in Gaza, we will make the decisions even in the elections period and will not hesitate to act," he said. Palestinians have for nearly a year gathered at least weekly along the Gaza border for often-violent protests. They want to be able to return to the homes their families fled in the war surrounding Israel's creation in 1948, and are calling for an end to the Jewish state's blockade of Gaza. At least 246 Palestinians have been killed by Israeli fire in Gaza since March 30, the majority during border protests but also by tank fire and airstrikes. Two Israeli soldiers have been killed over the same period. Israel says its actions are necessary to defend the border and stop mass incursions into its territory. It accuses Hamas, with whom it has fought three wars since 2008, of seeking to use the protests as cover to carry out violence.

Yemen Govt., Rebels Meet aboard U.N. Ship
Agence France Presse/Naharnet/February 03/19/The head of the U.N. mission in Yemen launched talks between the government and Huthi rebels aboard a boat in the Red Sea on Sunday aimed at shoring up a ceasefire, a government official said.Retired Dutch General Patrick Cammaert chaired the meeting aboard a U.N. vessel docked off the coast of the flashpoint city of Hodeida after the rebels refused to hold talks in government-held areas, the official told AFP on condition of anonymity. The official said the meeting would address the implementation of an agreement reached in Sweden in December that calls for a ceasefire in rebel-held Hodeida, a pullback of forces from the port city and the opening of humanitarian corridors. The Red Sea port is the entry point for the bulk of Yemen's imported goods and humanitarian aid, providing a lifeline to millions in the Arab world's poorest country. The UN said in a statement that the parties would resume discussions on the Sweden agreement on Sunday. It is the third meeting of a joint committee on implementing the deal, which has been hailed as a major step toward ending Yemen's devastating four-year war. The Saudi-backed government and Iran-aligned Huthi rebels have accused each other of violating the ceasefire, while deadlines for the pullback of forces and a prisoner swap have slipped. Yemen's rebels have been locked in a war with government forces backed since 2015 by a Saudi-led coalition. The conflict has triggered what the UN calls the world's worst humanitarian crisis, with millions of people at risk of starvation. Some 10,000 people have been killed since 2015, according to the World Health Organization, although rights groups say the death toll could be five times higher.

UK's May Says She is 'Armed with Fresh' Brexit Mandate
Agence France Presse/Naharnet/February 03/19/British Prime Minister Theresa May said on Sunday she would be "armed with a fresh mandate and new ideas" when she meets European Union negotiators over her Brexit deal. EU officials have insisted that the deal is not open for renegotiation. But May wrote in the Sunday Telegraph that she would be "battling for Britain and Northern Ireland" in her efforts to get rid of the agreement's unpopular backstop provision. "If we stand together and speak with one voice, I believe we can find the right way forward," she said. The backstop is intended to ensure there is no return to a hard border with Ireland, but Brexit supporters fear it will keep Britain tied to the EU's customs rules. MPs voted last week to send May back to Brussels to renegotiate the clause, suggesting her deal would then be able to pass after it was roundly rejected in parliament last month. "I am now confident there is a route that can secure a majority in the House of Commons for leaving the EU with a deal," she wrote. "When I return to Brussels I will be battling for Britain and Northern Ireland, I will be armed with a fresh mandate, new ideas and a renewed determination to agree a pragmatic solution". The EU insists that the deal "remains the best and only way to ensure an orderly withdrawal," but with the clock running down until the March 29 exit date the risks of a no-deal Brexit for both Britain and the bloc are coming into sharp focus. May said opposition leader Jeremy Corbyn "also believes the potential indefinite nature of the backstop is an issue", and that the EU has "already accepted the principle of 'alternative arrangements' superseding the backstop should it ever be required."The backstop would kick in if Britain and the EU have not agreed a trade deal on their future relationship after a time-limited transition period of up to two years. The prime minister rejected accusations that plans to reopen the backstop talks risked upsetting the Irish peace process. "Nor do I have time for those who believe the verdict passed by the British people in 2016 should be overturned before it is even implemented," she added, referring to the rump of MPs calling for a second referendum. "I'm determined to deliver Brexit, and determined to deliver on time –- on March 29, 2019," she wrote. May has promised MPs that she will bring any revised deal back to be voted on by MPs on February 13.

Syria Bus Attack Kills One, Wounds Four in Manbij
Agence France Presse/Naharnet/February 03/19/A roadside bomb has struck a bus carrying teachers in Manbij killing one person, the latest in a spate of attacks in the northern Syrian city since mid-January, a war monitor said. The device exploded as the bus passed, killing the driver and wounding at least four others, Rami Abdel Rahman, head of the Syrian Observatory for Human Rights, told AFP. Sherfan Darwish, a spokesman for Manbij's military council, reported on Twitter a "terrorist explosion with an explosive device against a vehicle of teachers." Manbij is a former Islamic State (IS) group stronghold that is now held by a military council affiliated to the Syrian Democratic Forces (SDF), a Kurdish-Arab force that is supported by a U.S.-led coalition. On January 16, four Americans were among 19 people killed in a suicide attack in the city claimed by IS. On Friday, an explosion wounded a senior leader of the military council as he was on patrol, Abdel Rahman said. The attacks follow U.S. President Donald Trump's announcement in December that he would withdraw American troops from Syria, as he declared IS had been defeated. After a lightning offensive that saw it seize large swathes of Iraq and Syria in 2014, the group's self-declared "caliphate" has crumbled under pressure from multiple offensives, but the jihadists remain able to launch deadly attacks. Manbij constitutes a major point of contention between Syria's Kurdish minority, which maintains de facto autonomy in parts of northern and northeastern Syria, and neighboring Turkey. In December, Ankara threatened to launch a new offensive to dislodge the People's Protection Units (YPG) -- a Kurdish militia that forms the backbone of the SDF, but is considered a terrorist group by Turkey -- from its borders.
Syria's multi-fronted war has killed more than 360,000 people since it began in 2011 with President Bashar al-Assad's regime bloodily suppressing protests.

Algeria Ruling Coalition Backs Bouteflika for April Poll
Agence France Presse/Naharnet/February 03/19/Algeria's ruling coalition on Saturday named President Abdelaziz Bouteflika as its candidate for April polls, although the ailing incumbent has yet to officially confirm he will run. "The parties of the presidential coalition nominate Abdelaziz Bouteflika for the upcoming presidential elections," the four coalition partners said in a statement. The meeting was attended by Mouad Bouchareb, speaker of the lower house of parliament and coordinator of Bouteflika's National Liberation Front, as well as by Prime Minister Ahmed Ouyahia, head of the National Rally for Democracy. The leader of the Rally for Hope in Algeria party Amar Ghoul and Amara Benyounes, who heads the Popular Algerian Movement, also attended. In power since 1999, 81-year-old Bouteflika uses a wheelchair and has rarely been seen in public since a stroke in 2013.For the last presidential election in 2014, Bouteflika only declared his intention to run a few days ahead of the deadline. Prime Minister Ouyahia has said "there is no doubt" the president will seek a fifth term on April 18. Ouyahia said earlier this week that Bouteflika's health was not "an obstacle" to performing his duties as president. Presidential candidates have until March 3 at midnight (2300 GMT) to submit their applications. Retired general Ali Ghediri, 64, was the first to announce his candidacy after the presidency set the election date. Algeria's main Islamist party, the Movement for the Society of Peace, will also take part in the poll, backing its candidate Dr Abderrazak Makri. The country's oldest opposition party, the Front of Socialist Forces, announced on January 25 that it would not field a candidate and called for an "active, intensive and peaceful boycott" of the ballot. On Friday, the secular Rally for Culture and Democracy party said it would also boycott due to its objection to a fifth term for the ailing Bouteflika.

Sudan's Bashir Vows Rural Development as New Protests Loom
Agence France Presse/Naharnet/February 03/19/Sudanese President Omar al-Bashir on Sunday pledged to bolster rural development, as he seeks to face down anti-government demonstrations that have rocked cities and villages. The veteran leader has been on a charm offensive with rallies across the country in a bid to head off weeks of protests seen as the biggest threat to his 30-year rule. Addressing hundreds of villagers in North Kordofan state at a televised event he promised to bring clean drinking water to rural areas "across Sudan" and open a new hospital in the region. The speech came after he inaugurated a new 340-kilometre (210 miles) highway linking North Kordofan to Omdurman, the twin city of Khartoum. "Building such a road in present economic conditions is not an easy thing to achieve," said Bashir, after being escorted to the stage by dozens of men on camels. "Along this road we will bring electricity to boost the region's growth." Hours later Bashir addressed another rally where he called on the country's young men and women to help develop the country. "The youth, for whom we have built universities, have to be ready to continue with the mission of building a new Sudan," he said. The statement came afer Prime Minister Moutaz Mousa Abdallah on Saturday called the protest movement a "respectable youth movement" and said its voice should be heeded. Demonstrations erupted in Sudan in December after a government decision to triple the price of bread unleashed frustrations at years of deteriorating living conditions and growing hardship. Officials say 30 people have died in protest-related violence, while rights group Human Rights Watch says at least 51 have been killed. Bashir's attempts to rally support have so far failed to halt the wave of discontent, with the group leading the demonstrations calling for fresh protests over the next few days starting Sunday night. Bashir and other senior Sudanese officials have repeatedly said that the government can be changed only through elections. The leader, who came to power in an Islamist-backed coup in 1989, is considering running for a third elected presidential term in polls due next year.

Latest LCCC English analysis & editorials from miscellaneous sources published on February 03-04/19
The Widespread Persecution of Converts to Christianity
Uzay Bulut/Gatestone Institute/February 03/19
https://www.gatestoneinstitute.org/13630/persecution-converts-christianity
"[F]or millions of Christians -- particularly those who grew up Muslim or were born into Muslim families -- openly following Jesus can have painful consequences. They can be treated as second-class citizens, discriminated against for jobs or even violently attacked." — Open Doors, World Watch List 2019.
"The root of the problem is that the existence and functions of Protestants and other non-Muslim groups are seen as a threat by the government institutions. And therefore, it is believed that all their activities should be banned." — 2008 Report: "The Question of Places of Worship for the Protestant Community of Turkey," prepared by the Legal Committee of the Alliance of Protestant Churches of Turkey.
Azerbaijan, Turkmenistan, Kazakhstan, and Uzbekistan are all secular on paper. Yet, "the police, secret service and local authorities strictly monitor religious activities, with state authorities regularly raiding non-registered churches. In general, the Islamic culture makes life for Christian converts particularly difficult, but indigenous Christians with a Muslim background bear the brunt of persecution from the state and family, friends and community." — Open Doors, World Watch List 2019.
"While Christians are indeed experiencing a 'life of hell' in North Korea, overthrowing Kim Jong-un's regime could not only lead to a quick halt to this persecution but also to a rise of Christianity — as has happened recently in Russia... Unlike the persecution of Christians in Communist nations, persecution of Christians is perennial, existential, and... far transcends any ruler or regime. It unfortunately seems part and parcel of the history, doctrines, and socio-political makeup of Islam — hence its tenacity and ubiquity. It is a 'tradition.'" — Raymond Ibrahim.
According to the human rights organization Open Doors, the number of Christians in the world subjected to persecution -- 245 million -- is 14% higher than it was a year ago.
In its 2019 World Watch List, Open Doors reports:
"In seven out of the top 10 World Watch List countries, the primary cause of persecution is Islamic oppression. This means, for millions of Christians -- particularly those who grew up Muslim or were born into Muslim families -- openly following Jesus can have painful consequences. They can be treated as second-class citizens, discriminated against for jobs or even violently attacked."
The report also states that Muslim converts to Christianity in countries governed by sharia [Islamic] law face the most severe persecution, both by the state and by family, friends and community. The following are examples from the report:
In Iran, "Converts from Islam face persecution from the government; if they attend an underground house church, they face the constant threat of arrest."
In Qatar, "Christians experience persecution at all levels of society: The government, the local community and even one's family can be dangerous for Christians, especially for converts from Islam to Christianity. Islam is seen as the only acceptable faith, and Sharia law prescribes a wide range of rules for personal, family and community life. Evangelism is outlawed and can lead to a lengthy prison sentence.
In the United Arab Emirates, "Christian converts often lose their inheritance and parental rights, are forced to marry, are fired or are required to work for free. To avoid the death penalty or other penalties, Christian converts often feel like they must hide their faith or flee to another country."
In Pakistan, "Christians continue to live in daily fear they will be accused of blasphemy -- which can carry a penalty of death. ... Christians are largely regarded as second-class citizens, and conversion to Christianity from Islam carries a great deal of risk."
The persecution of Christians, and converts to Christianity, has a theological foundation. Under sharia law, those who leave Islam, criticize it or commit other acts of "blasphemy" are to be executed. In countries such as Saudi Arabia, according to Open Doors, "All expressions of religion other than Islam are forbidden. Anyone who commits apostasy by leaving Islam is, in theory, punishable by death."
It is not only sharia-governed countries that persecute converts to Christianity, however. Many other Muslim-majority countries that have "secular" constitutions also engage in the travesty. For example, Azerbaijan, Turkmenistan, Kazakhstan, and Uzbekistan are all secular on paper. In the case of Uzbekistan:
"The police, secret service and mahalla local authorities strictly monitor religious activities, with state authorities regularly raiding non-registered churches. In general, the Islamic culture makes life for Christian converts particularly difficult, but indigenous Christians with a Muslim background bear the brunt of persecution from the state and family, friends and community."
Another country that is secular on paper but increasingly oppressive towards Christians is Turkey. According to the Open Doors report:
"Over the last year, the situation in Turkey has deteriorated significantly for Christians as President Erdogan's powers grow. Churches there try to maintain a low profile, especially after the two-year case of U.S. Pastor Andrew Brunson who was unjustly jailed there and released in late 2018. Religious nationalism continues to grow to new heights."
Most Muslim converts to Christianity in Turkey are Protestant, yet the Turkish government does not even recognize the Protestant community as a "legal entity." The government denies the Protestant community the right freely to establish and maintain places of worship. Protestants in Turkey, therefore, have no recourse but to worship in unofficial religious foundations or church associations, which are often targeted by authorities and shut down.
According to a 2008 report, "The Question of Places of Worship for the Protestant Community of Turkey," prepared by the Legal Committee of the Alliance of Protestant Churches of Turkey:
"The root of the problem is that the existence and functions of Protestants and other non-Muslim groups are seen as a threat by the government institutions. And therefore, it is believed that all their activities should be banned."
On January 15, the European Court of Human Rights (ECHR) ruled that Turkey had violated the rights of the members of the Foundation of Turkish Seventh-day Adventists, by forbidding its registry as an official organization. The ECHR fined Turkey for violating the group's freedom of assembly and association.
Christian converts are also persecuted in non-Muslim, totalitarian, communist states, such as North Korea and China. The scholar Raymond Ibrahim explains the distinction between Christian persecution in Islamic and communist regimes as follows:
"While Christians are indeed experiencing a 'life of hell' in North Korea, overthrowing Kim Jong-un's regime could not only lead to a quick halt to this persecution but also to a rise of Christianity — as has happened recently in Russia... That 'South Korea is so distinctively Christian' reflects what could be in store — and creating fear for — its northern counterpart.
"Unlike the persecution of Christians in Communist nations, rooted to a particular regime, Muslim persecution of Christians is perennial, existential, and far transcends any ruler or regime. It unfortunately seems part and parcel of the history, doctrines, and socio-political makeup of Islam — hence its tenacity and ubiquity. It is a 'tradition.'
"If time is on the side of Christians living under Communist regimes, it is not on the side of Christians living under Islam."
It is imperative for Western governments to protect Christians and converts to Christianity in the Muslim and communist world through programs such as "Hungary Helps," and by granting persecuted Christians priority as refugees. In the words of Hungarian Prime Minister Viktor Orbán: "Protect Middle East Christians or anti-Christian persecution will come to Europe."
Uzay Bulut, a Turkish journalist, is a Distinguished Senior Fellow at Gatestone Institute. She is currently based in Washington D.C.
© 2019 Gatestone Institute. All rights reserved. The articles printed here do not necessarily reflect the views of the Editors or of Gatestone Institute. No part of the Gatestone website or any of its contents may be reproduced, copied or modified, without the prior written consent of Gatestone Institute.

The Pope's Stubborn Silence on the Persecution of Christians
Giulio Meotti/Gatestone Institute/February 03/19
https://www.gatestoneinstitute.org/13582/pope-silence-persecution-christians
Unfortunately, Pope Francis's stance on Islam seems to be coming from a fantasy world.
"Authentic Islam and the proper reading of the Koran are opposed to every form of violence", the Pope claimed, not quite accurately. It is as if all of the Pope's efforts have been directed to exonerating Islam from any of its responsibilities. He seems to have been doing this even more than observant Muslims -- such as Egypt's President Abdel Fattah el-Sisi, American author and physician M. Zuhdi Jasser, former Kuwaiti Information Minister Sami Abdullatif Al-Nesf, French-Algerian author Razika Adnani, Paris-based Tunisian philosopher Youssef Seddik, Jordanian journalist Yosef Alawnah, and Moroccan author Rachid Aylal, among many others -- have been doing.
"Pope Francis could in no way be ignorant of the heavy problems caused by the expansion... at the very heart of the Christian domain... Let us note this again... the last religion that arrived in Europe has an intrinsic impediment to integrating into the European framework that is fundamentally Judeo-Christian..." – Boualem Sansal, Algerian author, in his best-selling book "2084."
Pope Francis now faces the potential risk of a Christian world physically swallowed by the Muslim crescent -- as on the Vatican logo chosen for the Pope's upcoming trip to Morocco. It is time the appeasement is replaced.
The persecution of Christians is now an international crisis. Unfortunately, Pope Francis's stance on Islam seems to be coming from a fantasy world. (Photo by Giulio Origlia/Getty Images)
4,305 Christians were killed simply because their Christian faith in 2018. This is the dramatic number contained in the new "World Watch List 2019" just compiled by the non-governmental organization Open Doors. It reveals that in 2018, there were 1,000 more Christian victims -- 25% more -- than the year before, when there were 3,066.
These days, 245 million Christians in the world are apparently persecuted simply for their faith. Last November, The organization Aid to the Church in Need released its "Religious Freedom Report" for 2018 and reached the a similar conclusion: 300 million Christians were subjected to violence. Christianity, despite stiff competition, has been called "the most persecuted religion in the world".
In March 2019, Pope Francis will travel to Morocco, a country also listed in the Open Doors' watch list. Unfortunately, Pope Francis's stance on Islam seems to be coming from a fantasy world. The persecution of Christians is now an international crisis. Consider what happened to Christians in the Muslim world during just the last couple of months. A policeman was killed trying to defuse a bomb outside a Coptic church in Egypt. Before that, seven Christians were murdered by religious extremists during a pilgrimage. Then a mass grave was discovered in Libya containing the remains of 34 Ethiopian Christians killed by jihadists affiliated with the Islamic State. The Iranian regime, in severe new crackdowns, arrested more than 109 Christians. The Pakistani Christian Asia Bibi, three months after being exonerated for "blasphemy"and released from death row, still lives as a "prisoner": her former neighbors still want to put her to death. In Mosul, which was Iraq's center for Christians, there was a "Christmas without Christians", and in Iraq in general, 80% of the Christians have disappeared.
Cardinal Louis Raphael Sako, Patriarch of Babylon of the Chaldeans and head of the Chaldean Catholic Church, recently provided some numbers for the persecution of Christians in Iraq: "61 churches have been bombed, 1,224 Christians were killed, 23.000 houses and real estate of the Christians have been seized". The patriarch reminded the world of the policy of the Islamic State, which gave "three options to Christians": conversion to Islam, payment of a special tax or the forced and immediate abandonment of their land. "Otherwise they would have been killed." In this way, 120,000 Christians were expelled.
"The stubborn silence of European leaders on the question of religions, Islam in particular, astonishes and disappoints", wrote the Algerian novelist Boualem Sansal recently.
"Their attitude is simply irresponsible, suicidal, and even criminal...in the current context marked by [a] dizzying expansion... It's like living at the foot of an angry volcano and not understanding that it is preparing to erupt".
Sansal, who has been threatened with death by Islamists in France, as in Algeria, wrote "2084", a best-seller. In it, he writes that Pope Francis's stance on the Muslim world is similar to that of the Western leaders:
"Pope Francis could in no way be ignorant of the heavy problems caused by the expansion of radical Islam in the world and at the very heart of the Christian domain... Let us note this again... the last religion that arrived in Europe, has an intrinsic impediment to integrating into the European fundamentally Judeo-Christian framework, even if this referent, over the past centuries, has eroded."
Pope Francis did manage to explain that the "idea of conquest" is integral to Islam as a religion, but quickly added that one might interpret Christianity the same way. "Authentic Islam and the proper reading of the Koran are opposed to every form of violence", the Pope claimed, not quite accurately. He also not quite accurately remarked that "Islam is a religion of peace, one which is compatible with respect for human rights and peaceful coexistence." It is as if all of the Pope's efforts have been directed to exonerating Islam from any of its responsibilities. He seems to have been doing this even more than observant Muslims -- such as Egypt's President Abdel Fattah el-Sisi, American author and physician M. Zuhdi Jasser, former Kuwaiti Information Minister Sami Abdullatif Al-Nesf, French-Algerian author Razika Adnani, Paris-based Tunisian philosopher Youssef Seddik, Jordanian journalist Yosef Alawnah and Moroccan author Rachid Aylal, among many others -- have been doing.
The dramatic persecution of Christians in the Islamic world highlights a Western paradox: "Since their victory in the Second World War, Westerners have brought great benefits to all of humanity", wrote Renaud Girard in Le Figaro.
"Scientifically, they shared their great inventions, such as penicillin or the Internet. Human rights and democracy are far from being applied everywhere in the world, but they are the only reference for governance that exists internationally. It is undeniable that, under the impulse of Westerners, vast political, technical, health and social successes have been achieved in two generations. But there is one area where the planet has undeniably regressed since 1945 and where Western responsibility is obvious. It is the freedom of conscience and religion... By refraining from defending Christians in the East, the West made a twofold strategic error: it gave a signal of weakness by abandoning its ideological friends; it has renounced its creed".
"In the eyes of Western governments and the media", noted another report on persecution of Christians compiled by Aid to the Church in Need. "religious freedom is slipping down the human rights priority rankings, being eclipsed by issues of gender, sexuality and race".
"Political correctness does not want to know anything about the ongoing persecution and suppression of Christianity and so it is being ignored in an almost sinister way", Bishop Manfred Scheuer of Linz, in Upper Austria, recently said.
This eclipse is even more dramatic, as everybody knows that Christianity is at the risk of "extinction" in the Middle East, noted the Archbishop of Canterbury Justin Welby:
"Hundreds of thousands have been forced from their homes. Many have been killed, enslaved and persecuted or forcibly converted. Even those who remain ask the question, 'Why stay?' The Christian population of Iraq, for instance, is less than half what it was in 2003 and their churches, houses and businesses have been damaged or destroyed. The Syrian Christian population has halved since 2010. As a result, across the region Christian communities that were the foundation of the universal Church now face the threat of imminent extinction."
The West has betrayed its Christians friends in the East (such as here and here). The West might well ask: What are the Vatican and the Pope doing to fight this new religious persecution?
Criticism has already come from the Catholic world. "Just as he has little anxiety about the wave of church closings, Francis seems to have little anxiety about the Islamization of Europe", wrote the US Catholic columnist William Kilpatrick.
"Indeed, as evidenced by his encouragement of mass migration, he seems to have no objection to Islamization. Either because he truly believes the false narrative that Islam is a religion of peace, or because he believes that the self-fulfilling prophecy strategy will create a more moderate Islam, Francis seems to be at peace with the fact that Islam is spreading rapidly. Whether Francis has been misinformed about Islam or whether he has adopted a strategy of misinformation, he is taking a huge gamble—not only with his own life, but with the lives of millions".
There are now entire areas in Syria cleansed of their historical Christians. Pope Francis recently received a letter from a Franciscan priest in Syria, Father Hanna Jallouf, the Patriarch of Knayeh, a village close to Idlib, the stronghold of anti-Assad Islamist rebels. "Christians in this land are like lambs among the wolves", Jallouf wrote.
"The fundamentalists have devastated our cemeteries, they have prevented us from celebrating liturgies outside the church, stripping us of the external signs of our faith: crosses, bells, statues as well as our religious habit."
If the Pope does not want to receive more letters like that, he will need show courage and tackle one of the most urgent persecutions of our time.
Pope Benedict XVI, in his address at Regensburg, said what no Pope had ever dared to say before -- that there is a specific link between violence and Islam. To illustrate his case, Benedict cited a 14th-century dialogue between a Byzantine Christian emperor, Manuel II Paleologus, and a Persian scholar, about the concept of violence in Islam: "Show me just what Muhammad brought that was new, and there you will find things.. .such as his command to spread by the sword the faith he preached", Benedict quoted the emperor as saying to his Muslim interlocutor.
Another Pope, John Paul II, also expressed concerns. During a meeting in 1992, Mgr Mauro Longhi, who, while still a student, often accompanied the late Pope on hiking trips says, John Paul II told of an "Islamist invasion" of Europe.
"The Pope told me: 'Tell this to those whom you will meet in the Church of the third millennium. I see the Church afflicted by a mortal wound. More profound, more painful than those of this millennium,' referring to Communism and Nazi totalitarianism. 'It is called Islamism. They will invade Europe. I have seen the hordes come from the West to the East,' and then told to me each country one by one: from Morocco to Libya to Egypt, and so on till the East.
"The Holy Father added: 'They will invade Europe, Europe will be like a basement, old relics, shadows, cobwebs. Family heirlooms. You, the Church of the third millennium, must contain the invasion. Not with armies, armies will not be enough, but with your faith, lived with integrity."
John Paul II's vision resembles a continuation of Islam's historic campaign in the Christian lands: "In 637, the Islamic army seized Jerusalem, twice holy, then the heart of the entire Middle East, the historic center of Christianity", wrote the Algerian novelist Boualem Sansal. He went on to describe "the irresistible progression of Islam to the West: the Judeo-Christian North Africa, which immediately converted; Catholic Spain, which was annexed at the beginning of the VIII century; Byzantium, which they took in 1453; [then] to Vienna, which they besieged in 1529...".
Pope Francis now faces the potential risk of a Christian world physically swallowed by the Muslim crescent -- as on the Vatican logo chosen for the Pope's upcoming trip to Morocco. It is time the appeasement is replaced.
*Giulio Meotti, Cultural Editor for Il Foglio, is an Italian journalist and author.
© 2019 Gatestone Institute. All rights reserved. The articles printed here do not necessarily reflect the views of the Editors or of Gatestone Institute. No part of the Gatestone website or any of its contents may be reproduced, copied or modified, without the prior written consent of Gatestone Institute.

Analysis/The Absence of Strategy in Washington's Syria Policy
زفي بارئيل/هآرتس: غياب الإستراتيجية في سياسة واشنطن تجاه سوريا
Zvi Bar'el/Haaretz/February 03/19
http://eliasbejjaninews.com/archives/71783/zvi-barel-haaretz-the-absence-of-strategy-in-washingtons-syria-policy-%d8%b2%d9%81%d9%8a-%d8%a8%d8%a7%d8%b1%d8%a6%d9%8a%d9%84-%d9%87%d8%a2%d8%b1%d8%aa%d8%b3-%d8%ba%d9%8a%d8%a7%d8%a8-%d8%a7%d9%84/
After disconnecting from the Syrian theater both militarily and diplomatically, Congress seems to have produced legislation that will likely not impact the conduct of the Syrian regime, but will certainly harm its civilians.
It’s been an especially difficult winter for thousands of refugees and displaced persons in Lebanon and Syria, with dozens dying of the cold in temporary camps set up in both countries.
According to the World Health Organization, 29 children and newborns have died of hypothermia over the last eight weeks in Syria’s Al-Hol refugee camp alone. More than 42,000 refugees in Syria’s Rukban camp lack blankets, food and medicine, and UN aid services are having trouble reaching the camp. Moreover, aid organizations are running out of money.
This is the eighth winter that brought shocking pictures of women and children trudging through the slush and snow around their leaky tents as they desperately seek firewood for heat and cooking. Donations do arrive regularly from Arab and European countries, but as time passes, the tragedy of the Syrian refugees has gradually faded from view, as have diplomatic moves that could end the country’s civil war.
On the other side of the ocean, the Trump administration and Congress are busy fighting over the withdrawal of American forces from Syria. U.S. President Donald Trump has delayed the withdrawal until the end of April, perhaps because he understood that it might well bring disaster upon America’s Kurdish allies, or perhaps because his grandiose statements about Islamic State being destroyed have no factual basis.
The annual threat assessment published this week by Director of National Intelligence Daniel Coats, which CIA Director Gina Haspel also signed off on, said that thousands of Islamic State fighters are still active in Iraq and Syria. It also said Iran shows no signs of planning to develop nuclear weapons, whereas North Korea hasn’t gotten rid of its nuclear weapons – despite negotiations with America.
Trump, as usual, assailed this report. In an unprecedented attack, he accused the intelligence chiefs – whom he himself appointed – of being “passive and naïve” and told them to “go back to school.”
But his poisonous tweets don’t change the fact that Islamic State is alive and well in both Syria and Iraq. Tragic proof of this was supplied by the organization itself through an attack in the Syrian city of Manbij two weeks ago, which killed at least four American soldiers and 12 Syrian civilian.
The attack sparked public criticism, which quickly penetrated the halls of Congress. Several members of the House of Representatives have sponsored a bill that would bar the Pentagon from using its approved 2019 budget to finance any drawdown of American troops to below 2,000 combat soldiers – about the number currently stationed in Syria. The bill, titled the “Responsible Withdrawal from Syria Act,” hasn’t yet been passed, but it clearly signals where Congress is heading.
The bill would let the Pentagon use its budget for the withdrawal only after it responds to 15 questions, including what Islamic State’s actual strength is in Syria, how much of a threat it poses, how the administration plans to thwart this threat, whether the Kurds will continue to fight the organization and what guarantees Washington will get from Turkey to protect the Kurdish forces. Each of these questions is a roadside bomb that could destroy the withdrawal itself – not only its funding.
But the same Congress that seeks to delay and perhaps kill the U.S. withdrawal from Syria is now about to approve a new sanctions law against the Assad regime. But the logic behind the bill, first submitted in 2016 and titled the “Caesar Syria Civilian Protection Act,” is unclear.
“Caesar” is a pseudonymous Syrian photographer who officially worked for the Syrian police while secretly working for the rebels. Over the course of two years, starting in 2013, he took thousands of photographs of Syrian prisons and hospitals that proved the regime was committing war crimes. High-resolution pictures of crushed limbs, mutilated sex organs and dismembered bodies of people tortured by the regime were all downloaded to Caesar’s personal computer, which he managed to smuggle with him to Europe. There, he disseminated the photographs to the entire world.
Caesar zealously guards his anonymity for fear of his safety. But his shocking photographs spurred Congress to draft a bill meant to stop the slaughter in Syria. Now, the bill is being revived. It already passed the House of Representatives, but was held up in the Senate due to the government shutdown.
The bill calls for the president to impose sanctions not just on the Assad regime, but also on anyone helping it, in Syria or outside it. Inter alia, it would bar the sale of spare parts for both military and civilian aircraft, ban participation in any projects managed or supervised by the Syrian government and forbid sending funds for Syria’s reconstruction.
The bill is very similar to the sanctions law against Iran, and would effectively enable the U.S. government to punish European and Arab companies that sought to operate in Syria.
Trump already announced several weeks ago that America wouldn’t participate in Syria’s reconstruction as long as it lacked a stable, representative government. But in the same breath, he thanked Saudi Arabia for its willingness to finance part of the reconstruction, though without specifying how much.
It’s unclear what the administration and Congress seek to achieve through this new sanctions bill, especially when Russia and Iran continue to finance Assad’s military activity and also plan to raise money to help him rebuild the country. Neither country will be impressed by the sanctions legislation.
Nevertheless, they aren’t the only countries planning to cooperate with the Assad regime in the very near future. On Wednesday, the foreign ministers of Egypt, Jordan, Saudi Arabia, the United Arab Emirates and Bahrain met in Amman to discuss their joint policy on the Syrian crisis and whether Syria should return to the Arab League.
The UAE has already reopened its embassy in Damascus. Jordan is currently in talks with Syrian officials about resuming flights to Damascus and has raised the level of its diplomatic representation there. Additionally, Syrian and Jordanian parliamentary delegations have exchanged visits to signal their intent to restore full diplomatic relations.
So will Congress impose sanctions on Jordan, or on the UAE, which already has plans to invest in Syria? Is the goal of the sanctions to prevent money from reaching the refugees in Syria? It’s true the bill would exempt international aid organizations, but what will happen to donations from corporations and businessmen?
“Syria Civilian Protection,” which was so badly needed during the war’s early years, has now become the risible title of a bill. In its haste to show that America is doing something, after it disconnected from the Syrian theater both militarily and diplomatically, Congress seems to have produced legislation whose ability to influence the conduct of the Syrian regime is doubtful, but whose ability to harm civilians is certain.
Precisely because this bill enjoys bipartisan support, it raises questions about America’s role in solving crises in the Middle East, and not only there. The superpower’s disappearance from the Syrian theater; its apathy, not to say abdication, toward the war in Yemen; the slap in the face it received from the Saudi crown prince; the failure of the Arab coalition against Iran that was set up at the Saudis’ initiative with American support; the endlessly postponed publication of its Israeli-Palestinian peace plan; its loss of Iraq to Iran, the caprice of its withdrawal from the Iranian nuclear deal; its rift with Turkey; its betrayal of its Kurdish allies in Syria; and its cutoff of aid to the Palestinian Authority all paint a sorry and worrying picture of the diplomatic capabilities of Israel’s most important partner, at least during the first two years of Trump’s term.
Regardless of whether one agrees or disagrees with America’s policy of turning inward under Trump, it’s not really turning inward as long as it sees itself as obligated to work against Iran, disarm North Korea of its nuclear weapons, solve the Israeli-Palestinian conflict, fight Islamic State and change the Assad regime’s behavior.
And these aspirations can’t be realized through statements or tweets. They require intensive diplomatic and sometimes military engagement, consistency in defining enemies and allies, and the forging of strategic international partnerships – an area where Trump has failed in Europe and is about to fail in the Arab world, assuming the Arab states decide to restore Syria to their fold.
Trump justified the withdrawal from Syria by saying the country doesn’t have “vast wealth,” it has nothing but “sand and death.” This isn’t deep diplomatic poetry, but a worldview that seemingly maps out America’s interests according to Trump. The problem is that the map's contradictions have managed to confound those very interests.

Here’s Why U.S. Aid to Palestinians Needs to Continue
Dana Stroul and Daniel Shapiro/The Washington Institute/February 03/19
A former ambassador to Israel and a veteran congressional staffer outline concrete steps for preserving the most crucial security and humanitarian programs.
Is U.S. assistance to the Palestinians an indulgence we can do without? Will its elimination leave Israelis, Palestinians and U.S. interests better off? Unless Congress and the Trump administration act quickly, we are about to find out.
Since 1993, the United States has provided more than $5 billion in assistance to the West Bank and Gaza. This generous program continued across Republican and Democratic administrations, with bipartisan Congressional support, despite ups and downs in the peace process, spikes and drops in violence and frustrations in Washington and Jerusalem with Palestinian leaders. But the whole enterprise is now in jeopardy.
First, the Trump Administration cut the entire fiscal year 2017 economic aid program for the West Bank and Gaza and looks likely to do the same for fiscal 2018. Now the U.S. Agency for International Development (USAID) mission, with no money to spend, is on the verge of closing down, leaving ongoing projects uncompleted.
Next, the Anti-Terrorism Clarification Act, which exposes the Palestinian Authority to legal action in U.S. courts if it accepts any U.S. assistance funds, comes into force on Feb. 1. The ATCA’s passage last year prompted Palestinian Authority Prime Minister Rami Hamdallah (who resigned Tuesday) to inform Secretary of State Mike Pompeo in a late-December letter that the Palestinian Authority will no longer accept any U.S. assistance. If carried out, that will end U.S. assistance for the Palestinian Authority Security Forces, the deliberately under-the-radar and largely successful U.S. effort to develop these forces and facilitate effective security coordination with Israel in the West Bank. It will also eliminate the role of the U.S. security coordinator, a three-star general who oversees the training of the security forces and serves as a liaison between Israeli and Palestinian security officials.
Thus far, there has been minimal debate in Washington over the implications of these developments on stability in the West Bank and Gaza and the inextricable link to Israel’s security. Nor has there been a sober reckoning of the very real implications for U.S. influence.
It’s easy to be cavalier about these programs, considering the moribund peace process, Palestinian leaders who lack legitimacy with much of the U.S. public, and bouts of violence. But members of Congress, including many of Israel’s strongest supporters on both sides of the aisle, have long understood their value. While oversight has been rigorous, funding for Palestinian assistance programs has always flowed with bipartisan support because it was determined to reinforce Israel’s security and provide a measure of U.S. leverage and influence.
This logic was ratified by the support of the Israeli government for these programs. Israeli authorities understood that a breakdown in security, an economic collapse or a humanitarian crisis in the West Bank would place an enormous burden on Israel. A crisis in the West Bank could require the Israel Defense Forces to redeploy personnel from other high-risk areas like the Lebanon border or the Golan Heights.
Moreover, U.S. assistance has sustained lines of contact with Palestinian officials. During flare-ups and crises, this connective tissue has placed the U.S. in a position to defuse situations when direct Israeli-Palestinian engagement was too difficult. U.S. Security Coordinator Lt. Gen. Eric Wendt and his predecessors have at times been the only American officials able to bridge both sides in moments of high tension.
The current funding crisis runs contrary to clearly expressed Congressional intent. Last year, large bipartisan majorities passed the Taylor Force Act, which, by withholding some U.S. aid, aimed to compel the Palestinian Authority to end, among other things, its practice of providing payments to families of convicted Palestinian terrorists. But Congress also voted resoundingly to maintain key elements of assistance, including humanitarian aid, people-to-people programs, medical services and other programming with no direct connection to the Palestinian Authority.
The Israeli government, for its part, was clear in its support for the Taylor Force Act’s intent of ending U.S. assistance that could even indirectly subsidize the Palestinian Authority’s payments to terrorists’ families. But there was never Israeli support for curtailing the accounts Congress protected—programs acknowledged to maintain a modicum of stability in the West Bank and prevent a full-scale humanitarian crisis in either the West Bank or Gaza.
In other words, the Taylor Force Act’s passage underscored bipartisan Congressional support for continuing U.S. assistance to the Palestinians. Trump officials, who took an axe to the entire program, citing the Taylor Force Act, have misinterpreted the meaning of the law.
The Israeli national security establishment remains painfully aware that it will face the burden—financial, security, and otherwise—of addressing a full-scale collapse in the West Bank or Gaza if the U.S. steps away or loses all influence and credibility with the Palestinians. And if they lose cooperation with the Palestinian security forces, Israeli security forces will find themselves in the far worse position of needing to directly intervene to confront security threats in Palestinian-populated areas, rather than working through the U.S.-funded multilateral construct.
If all parties remain stuck on the current course, the biggest losers will be innocent Palestinian civilians and Israel. The winners are those benefiting from instability and the opportunity to point to the U.S. as unreliable and in retreat from the Middle East: Hamas, other assorted terrorists and Iran.
To reverse the current course, here are some steps that the administration and Congress should urgently undertake:
Fix the Anti-Terrorism Clarification Act. A straightforward legislative fix is low-hanging fruit. Congressional and administration staff recognize that ending U.S. security assistance to the Palestinian security forces only helps adversaries and empowers enemies. In recent days, Israel belatedly added its voice, making clear it wants U.S. aid to the PASF to continue. In fact, Congress and the administration should go further and seize the opportunity in this crisis to permanently protect U.S. security assistance to the Palestinian security forces.
Mitigate damage. Walking away from ongoing USAID projects in the West Bank and Gaza—unfinished roads, incomplete water projects, and piecemeal humanitarian and education programs—is a total waste of U.S. taxpayer dollars. Such visible reminders of U.S. abandonment will also inflame local sentiment against the United States. Congress should authorize and explicitly appropriate funds to complete these projects, following a thorough review of the status of U.S. programs in the West Bank and Gaza.
Pass positive legislative alternatives. Even if traditional assistance programs remain blocked, there are creative legislative proposals that preserve space for U.S. influence and enjoy bipartisan support. The Palestinian Partnership Fund Act, introduced in the last Congress, promotes economic development by connecting Palestinian entrepreneurs and companies with counterparts in the U.S., Israel, and the Middle East. An International Fund for Israeli-Palestinian Peace, long advocated by the nonpartisan Alliance for Middle East Peace, has enjoyed bipartisan support in past Congresses and would promote people-to-people peace-building activities by pooling funding from government and private sources. Now is the time for Congress to approve funding for it.
Urge Israeli clarification on U.S. assistance. Members of Congress naturally seek Israel’s views on the security and economic consequences of completely shutting down U.S. assistance programs to the Palestinians. But during the Trump administration, the answers have been murky. After Israel’s election in April, Congress should urgently seek a clear picture of the new government’s views, as members continue to vote on this much-debated set of issues.
**Dana Stroul is a senior fellow in The Washington Institute’s Geduld Program on Arab Politics and a former senior staff member on the Senate Foreign Relations Committee. Daniel Shapiro is a visiting fellow at the Institute for National Security Studies in Tel Aviv and former U.S. ambassador to Israel. This article was originally published on the NPR website.

Austin Tice will not ‘die in the darkness’
Makram Rabah/Al Arabiya/January 03/19
The peaceful protests that started in 2011 to topple the regime of Syrian dictator Bashar al-Assad and the violent conflict that ensued left Syria completely destroyed with over half a million killed, 12 million displaced and 75,000 people gone missing or forcibly disappeared.
Regrettably, most of these victims will remain anonymous at least to the outside world, whose short attention span and lack of support for the legitimate demands of the Syrian people allowed Assad to kill with impunity.
Yet, some of those killed or abducted in Syria have left traces of their names and faces as a reminder that the end to the war in Syria, contrary to what Assad and his Iranian allies may be peddling, can only come when justice is served and the fate of the missing is fully revealed. Such is the case of Austin Tice, a freelance American journalist who has worked for the Washington Post and other media outlets, who was abducted in Syria in August of 2012 in Daraya, a suburb of Damascus.
I never met Austin, although we both studied at Georgetown University. I have followed the case of this brave young journalist who felt it was his duty to report to the wider world what was happening in Syria. According to his parents, Marc and Debra, whom I had met twice during their recurrent visits to Beirut to champion their son’s cause, Austin (a former Marine Infantry Officer and a model student) felt it was imperative to suspend his law school education and make the perilous trip to Syria, where he was embedded with the rebels fighting the Assad regime and his Iranian patrons.
Tice’s brave decision might be very hard to grasp by many who cannot relate to why Austin — a poster child of American values with a bright future ahead —would leave his easy life behind to sleep in the trenches and the bombed shelters of Daraya, skirting death and injury. While Tice’s abductors technically remain anonymous, none who is familiar with the Syrian regime's tactics would think twice about who the perpetrators are. Such a crime clearly bares the marks of the Assad regime and its henchmen.
Shortly after Tice went missing, a video surfaced showing him in a rocky mountainous area, being dragged by an execution squad of masked men wearing pristine Afghani style apparel and chanting ‘Allah Akbar’ (God is Great). This theatrically staged recording simply underscores one of the essential talking points of the Assad regime, that Syria is the target of an international conspiracy that uses Islamic terrorist factions bent on destroying his so-called secular, liberal regime.
Over the years, the Assad regime has honed its skills in manipulating the West by presenting itself as the only barrier preventing anti-western religious fanatics from assuming power. Austin Tice is certainly not a captive of an Islamist opposition group, nor was he apprehended by one. The vicinity where his taxi was intercepted was under the control of the regime forces and their various security agencies. These forces have had a celebrated past in keeping people captive and to be used as bargaining chips when the time is ripe to cash them in.
The entirety of Daraya, the site of Tice’s abduction, has been reclaimed by Assad’s forces and thus the Syrian regime can no longer avoid either releasing Tice or fully disclosing his fate.
Naturally one would ask why the Assad regime has been apprehensive about divulging the fact that Tice is in its possession and is not allowing unofficial back channels to negotiate his release. Assad believes that the US government will not hold him accountable for these crimes and thus it is permissible to play the waiting game, until Tice can be used as a card for Syria reentry into the international community.
Just like the Syrian people he came to support, Tice is not merely a victim of Assad’s cunning, but also of Obama’s disappearing red lines. Assad’s crimes have been allowed to continue partly because the media has allowed for the abduction of Tice, and the regime's gassing and bombing of innocent civilians in many of the Syria's towns and villages, to become unworthy of their coverage.
Sadly, the Washington Post, whose motto “Democracy Dies in Darkness” has allowed its fixation with Trump and his populism to distract from its duty to help bring Tice home. A mission that can only be fulfilled when Assad and his Iranian patrons are prohibited from spinning the news and using the media to peddle that the region is better off with them around.