LCCC ENGLISH DAILY NEWS BULLETIN
January 20/19
Compiled & Prepared by: Elias Bejjani
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Bible Quotations For today
But many who are first will be last, and the last
will be first.
Mark 10/28-31: “Peter began to say to Jesus, ‘Look, we have left everything and
followed you.’Jesus said, ‘Truly I tell you, there is no one who has left house
or brothers or sisters or mother or father or children or fields, for my sake
and for the sake of the good news, who will not receive a hundredfold now in
this age houses, brothers and sisters, mothers and children, and fields, with
persecutions and in the age to come eternal life. But many who are first will be
last, and the last will be first.
Titles For The Latest English LCCC Lebanese & Lebanese Related News published on
January 19-20/19
Aoun’s Hosting of Economic Summit Vexes Syria
Divisions overshadow Lebanon’s Arab summit as few leaders come to Beirut
Palestinian, Omani, Algerian Envoys Arrive in Lebanon for Summit
Hariri: Success is in Holding Summit after Attempt to Thwart It
Egypt FM Meets Hariri, Urges Formation of 'Consensus Govt.'
Shoukri Visits Jumblat in Clemenceau
Qatari Emir to ‘Personally’ Attend Beirut Economic Summit
Report: Govt. Formation Talks Didn’t Stop Despite Preoccupation with Summit
Sarraf Meets Firouznia, Kardel in Yarzeh
Bazzi to UNIFIL Commander: Lebanon will not relinquish its sovereign right to
its land and sea borders
Merehbi addresses memorandum to Aboul Gheit on Syrian displaced dossier
Citibank warns of Lebanon's "unsustainable long-term fiscal path"on one hand,
and the lopsidedness of its imports and exports.
How Pressing Is Lebanon’s Financial Challenge?
Ghosn Received 8m Euro in 'Improper' Payments, Nissan Says
First highlevel Mashreq Conference on Women's Economic Empowerment opens at the
Grand Serail
Litles For The Latest English LCCC Miscellaneous Reports And News published
on January 19-20/19
Syria’s Manbij attack victims include daughter of US police official
New war in Syria could be ‘Iraq on steroids’ Trump told
US Confirms Arrest of American-Iranian Anchor as Witness in Federal Probe
Six Civilians Dead in US-Led Strike on ISIS in Syria: Monitor
Nasr Hariri Sees Window for Political Solution in Syria
UN experts: Fuel from Iran is financing Yemen’s Houthis
Top Republican Urges Slow US Pullout until IS 'Truly Defeated'
Canada PM Renews Calls for Saudi Blogger's Release
Macron's Debate Put to Test as 'Yellow Vests' Stage Tenth Protest
U.S. Senator Says Saudi Crown Prince Must Be 'Dealt with' over Khashoggi Murder
Special Counsel Disputes Explosive Report on Trump Lawyer Testimony
Brexit Bullion: Fear of No-Deal Triggers Irish Gold Rush
Titles For The Latest LCCC English analysis & editorials from miscellaneous
sources published
on January 19-20/19
Aoun’s Hosting of Economic Summit Vexes SyriaظMohamed Choucair/Asharq Al-Awsat/
January/2019
Divisions overshadow Lebanon’s Arab summit as few leaders come to
Beirut/Reuters/January 19/19
Citibank warns of Lebanon's "unsustainable long-term fiscal path"on one hand,
and the lopsidedness of its imports and exports/Georgi Azar/Annahar/January
19/19
How Pressing Is Lebanon’s Financial Challenge/Reuters/January 19/19
First highlevel Mashreq Conference on Women's Economic Empowerment opens at the
Grand Serail/NNA/January 19/19
Bashar al-Assad’s 10-year challenge/Makram Rabah/Al Arabiya/January 19/19
Will the Taliban finally sit down with the Afghan government/Dr. Azeem
Ibrahim/Al Arabiya/January 19/19
Is Chechnya Putin’s blueprint for Syria/Anna Borshchevskaya/The Hill/January
19/19
Analysis/Biggest Challenge Facing New Israeli Army Chief: A Wild Card Thousands
of Miles Away/Amos Harel/Haaretz/January 19/19
Analysis/ At anti-Iran Conference, Trump Will Try to Form an 'Arab NATO' – and
Likely Fail/Zvi Bar'el/Haaretz/January 19/19
Palestinians' Anti-Semitic Stereotyping of Jews/Bassam Tawil/Gatestone
Institute/January 19/19
What next for Iran as the US continues to pile on the pressure/Camelia
Entekhabifard/Arab News/January 19/19
Latest LCCC English Lebanese & Lebanese Related News
published
on January 19-20/19
Aoun’s Hosting of Economic Summit Vexes Syria
Mohamed Choucair/Asharq Al-Awsat/
January/2019
Syria has been annoyed by Lebanese President Michel Aoun’s failure to heed calls
from his allies to postpone the Arab Economic and Development Summit in Beirut
after the Arab League did not send an invitation to Damascus.
Lebanese ministerial sources told Asharq Al-Awsat on Friday that the Syrian
regime had high hopes that an initiative by Aoun and its allies in Beirut would
lead to the postponement of Sunday’s summit. The Arab League suspended Syria in
November 2011, as the death toll rose in the regime's brutal repression of
anti-government protests. “Any decision to postpone the summit would have
constituted a victory for the Syrian regime. However, the regime realized that
managing Lebanese affairs from Damascus has become history,” the sources said.
They added that Assad has begun to understand that Aoun is not former President
Emile Lahoud, and therefore, the Damascus regime no longer has its tools to
taking decisions inside Lebanon. “In other terms, Assad was not pleased when
Aoun gave the AL a green light to kick off administrative and logistic
preparations for the summit despite the absence of Syria,” the sources
explained. Lebanon’s caretaker Foreign Minister Gebran Bassil, who is Aoun's
son-in-law, called on Friday for the League to readmit Syria. Bassil was
speaking at a joint press conference with Arab League Secretary-General Ahmed
Aboul Gheit at the Phoenicia Hotel following the opening session of the meeting
by the Arab Foreign Ministers and members of the Economic and Social Council in
preparation for Sunday’s summit.
Divisions overshadow Lebanon’s Arab summit as few leaders come
to Beirut
Reuters/January 19/19
/Divisions among Arab states over Syria, and internal Lebanese disputes, have
overshadowed a summit to be held in Beirut this weekend, with several leaders
who had planned to come now staying away. At least eight heads of state were
originally expected in Beirut, said a source in the organising committee, but
only the Somali and Mauritanian presidents will now join Lebanese President
Michel Aoun in attending. A big point of contention, in a region plagued by
bellicose politics, is whether to welcome Syria back into the Arab fold now that
President Bashar al-Assad has restored control over most of his country.
Lebanese Foreign Minister Gebran Bassil, at a pre-summit meeting on Friday,
called for Syria to return to “our embrace” in the Arab League after being
suspended for seven years. The group’s secretary general, Ahmed Aboul Gheit, was
cited by Lebanese state media on Thursday as saying there was “no Arab agreement
over the return of Syria”. The issue has played into divisions inside Lebanon,
as has a row over Libya’s attendance, harking back to the disappearance of a
Lebanese cleric there in the 1970s. Lebanese leaders had hoped to agree a new
government before the summit to showcase a fresh political dynamic after months
of gridlock. But government formation talks drag on amid fears for the Lebanese
economy. Having closed down many Beirut streets, shutting schools and businesses
in the city centre, the summit was on Friday portrayed in Lebanese media as a
let down.
“The summit of excuses and Arab disappointment,” was the headline in al-Jumhuriya
daily newspaper. That of another daily, al-Nahar, was: “Beirut’s shock... a
summit without presidents”. Still, some of the 20 countries taking part in the
Arab Economic and Social Development Summit are sending prime ministers, foreign
ministers or finance ministers, and officials played down the notion that the
meeting would be poorly attended. “It doesn’t take away from the importance of
the issues (to be decided at the meeting),” said the Arab League assistant
secretary general Hussam Zaki. Flags of Arab League member countries on display
at Beirut's Phoenicia Hotel, Lebanon January 18, 2019. (Reuters)
Syria and Libya disputes
Although the economic summit has a lower profile than the Arab League summit, to
be held in Tunisia in March, it still attracted numerous leaders when it was
last held, in Saudi Arabia, in 2013. Syria was suspended from the Arab League in
2011, but some members are pushing for its reinstatement and others have
reopened shuttered embassies in Damascus. In Lebanon, where Syrian forces were
present for about three decades, the extent of relations with Damascus remains
controversial. Lebanon’s powerful Iran-backed Hezbollah fought alongside Assad
in Syria and wants Arab states to normalize ties with Damascus. Some other
Lebanese parties are wary of Damascus’ role. “No Arabs without Damascus,” was
the headline on Friday in the pro-Hezbollah al-Akhbar newspaper. Meanwhile,
members of the Amal party, a Hezbollah ally, on Sunday tore down a Libyan flag
near the summit venue and burned it. They are angry over the disappearance of
Shi’ite cleric Imam Musa al-Sadr while visiting Libya in 1978. Libya was then
ruled by Muammar Gaddafi, who was overthrown in 2011, but Amal politicians
accuse the internationally recognized government in Tripoli of not cooperating
with investigations into Sadr’s disappearance. The Libyan government has
boycotted the summit in protest and pointed out that thousands of Libyans also
disappeared under Gaddafi’s four decades of autocratic rule. “I don’t think this
was necessary. It’s just two or three presidents,” said chocolate shop employee
Mustafa Shatila in Beirut, bemoaning the closure of streets. “They’ve always
convened here and other places and no firm decisions that come out... they’ll be
done in three days and leave as if nothing happened.”
Palestinian, Omani, Algerian Envoys Arrive in Lebanon for Summit
Naharnet/January 19/19/Prime Minister-designate Saad Hariri received at the
Rafik Hariri International Airport, the Palestinian Prime Minister Rami
Hamdallah who arrived in Lebanon to take part in Beirut’s economic summit.
Earlier on Saturday, President Michel Aoun also received at the airport, the
personal representative of Sultan Qaboos bin Said of Oman, deputy Prime Minister
Assad bin Tariq al-Said, and the accompanying delegation who arrived in Lebanon
to partake in Sunday’s summit. Later in the day, Abdul-Qadir bin Saleh, Speaker
of the Algerian National Assembly, arrived in Lebanon. He was received by Hariri
at the airport.The Algerian envoy will be representing President Abdelaziz
Bouteflika at the summit.
Hariri: Success is in Holding Summit after Attempt to Thwart It
Naharnet/January 19/19/Prime Minister-designate Saad Hariri on Friday downplayed
the absence of the majority of Arab leaders and senior officials from Beirut's
Arab Economic and Social Development Summit, saying success lies in holding the
summit despite the controversy that has surrounded it. “Regardless of
representation, success lies in holding this summit because there was an attempt
to prevent it from taking place,” Hariri told reporters after meeting Arab
League chief Ahmed Abul Gheit. “What's important is that the summit has taken
place and any present delegation is representing its country,” the PM-designate
added. “I expect the summit to achieve positive results and its convention in
Lebanon is a very good thing,” Hariri went on to say. Organizers of the summit
initially said that seven Arab heads of state would attend Sunday's summit which
is being held in Lebanon for the first time. But only two heads of state are now
expected, the leaders of Somalia and Mauritania, after several others pulled out
despite previously having confirmed their attendance. Their absence appeared to
be a snub to Lebanon, where pro-Syrian groups led by the Iranian-backed
Hizbullah have insisted that the Syrian government should be invited. The
summit, which Lebanon had hoped would boost Lebanon's sinking economic
credentials, has been marred by controversy days before delegates arrive.
Inviting Syria was only one issue. A days-long debate raged over whether Libya
should get an invitation, because of the unresolved mystery surrounding the
disappearance of revered Lebanese Shiite cleric Moussa al-Sadr in Libya four
decades ago. Libya decided to stay away from the meeting after Lebanese
supporters of the cleric tore down a Libyan flag on a Beirut street. The AESD
was formed in 2009 as an exclusively economic and development conference that
tends to involve the private sector, including banks, chambers of commerce,
industry and agriculture. The agenda does not include the reconstruction of
Syria, much of it ruined in nearly eight years of civil war.
Egypt FM Meets Hariri, Urges Formation of 'Consensus Govt.'
Naharnet/January 19/19/Egyptian Foreign Minister Sameh Shoukry held talks Friday
with Prime Minister-designate Saad Hariri at the Center House and called for the
speedy formation of a “consensus government” in Lebanon. “It was a fruitful
meeting during which I held with the prime minister a detailed discussion on the
bilateral ties between Egypt and Lebanon. We also tackled the Arab and regional
situations,” Shoukry said after the meeting. He added: “I underlined Egypt's
stance which supports Lebanon's security and stability and backs the formation
of a consensus Lebanese government as soon as possible, not because this is a
foreign demand, but rather because it would achieve the interest of Lebanon and
the Lebanese before anything else.”Shoukry said he also agreed with Hariri on
“intensifying bilateral cooperation between Egypt and Lebanon.”“The current
cooperation between the two countries represents key support for the economies
of the two countries and there are possibilities to develop this cooperation in
vital sectors, such as energy and other fields,” the minister added. “I relayed
to the PM the greetings and appreciation of President Abdel Fattah al-Sisi and
his pledge that cooperation will continue on all fronts,” Shoukry went on to
say. The minister had earlier in the day participated in the opening session of
Beirut's Arab Economic and Social Development Summit.
Shoukri Visits Jumblat in Clemenceau
Naharnet/January 19/19/Egyptian Foreign Minister Sameh Shoukri visited leader of
the Progressive Socialist Party, ex-MP Walid Jumblat at his residence in
Clemenceau, the National News Agency reported on Saturday. The two held talks in
the presence of ex-Minister Ghazi Aridi and PSP deputy chief Dureid Yaghi.
Qatari Emir to ‘Personally’ Attend Beirut
Economic Summit
Naharnet/January 19/19/Emir of Qatar Tamim Bin Hamad al-Thani informed the
Presidential Palace that he will personally head Qatar’s delegation attending
the Arab Economic and Social Development Summit held in Beirut on Sunday, a
statement from the Lebanese Presidency said Monday. The emir of Qatar was
planning to send a delegation to represent him at the summit which has been
overshadowed by divisions and controversy over Syria's participation. Organizers
of the Arab Economic and Social Development Summit, or AESD, initially said that
seven Arab heads of state would attend Sunday's summit which is being held in
Lebanon for the first time. But only two heads of state are now expected, the
leaders of Somalia and Mauritania, after several others pulled out despite
previously having confirmed their attendance. Somalia later announced that its
president won’t be attending the summit for “family reasons,” and that a
delegation representing the President will be sent. Syria's membership in the
22-member Arab League was suspended in 2011 after the Syrian government's
military crackdown on protesters calling for reforms.
Report: Govt. Formation Talks Didn’t Stop
Despite Preoccupation with Summit
Naharnet/January 19/19/Despite the political controversy accompanying Beirut’s
Arab Economic and Development Summit and the preoccupation with preparations for
the meeting in Bkirki, contacts to resolve the government formation impasse “did
not stop,” al-Joumhouria daily reported on Saturday. “Regardless of the
preparations for the summit in Beirut and the problems that accompanied it,
contacts on the government formation did not stop,” caretaker Foreign Minister
Jebran Bassil told the daily. Bassil said we “insist to form the government,”
pointing to “some proposals made by Prime Minister-designate Saad Hariri that
preserve our right for representation and at the same time garners approval of
all” parties. Noting Hariri’s ongoing efforts to end the impasse, he said “I am
helping him,” adding “as for Hizbullah, it is demanding that the opposition
Sunni group be represented which is their right. But, there is a problem with
the form they were supposed to address but did not.” Bassil stressed “we are
working on a fair solution, but the requirement to choose one of the six Sunni
deputies will never be achieved.”We are looking for “an alternative to Jawad
Adra,” he added. The representation of pro-Hizbullah Sunni MPs of the
Consultative Gathering is the latest obstacle hampering the formation after
several hurdles related to the Christian and Druze representation were eased.
Sarraf Meets Firouznia, Kardel in Yarzeh
Naharnet/January 19/19/Caretaker Defense Minister Yaacoub Sarraf held talks on
Saturday at his ministry office in Yarzeh, the Iranian Ambassador to Lebanon
Mohammad-Jalal Firouznia, where discussions highlighted the general situation in
Lebanon and the region, as well as the bilateral ties between the two countries,
the National News Agency reported on Saturday. Sarraf also met with the United
Nations Special Coordinator for Lebanon, Pernille Dahler Kardel, who paid him a
farewell visit upon winding up his mission in Lebanon, NNA added. The pair dwelt
on the issue of the Syrian refugees and its repercussions on the economic and
security situation in Lebanon, in the wake of the rise in the number of
displaced Syrians convicted by the military court, said the agency. Talks also
tackled the issue of the terrorists who entered Syria and the danger they pose
to regional and international communities. Finally, they discussed the issue of
the alleged tunnels on the southern border and Lebanon's commitment to
international laws and resolutions, especially the UN Resolution 1701.
Bazzi to UNIFIL Commander: Lebanon will not relinquish its
sovereign right to its land and sea borders
Sat 19 Jan 2019/NNA - "Development and Liberation" Parliamentary Bloc Member, MP
Ali Bazzi, conferred Saturday with UNIFIL Chief, General Stefano Del Col, on the
subject of the continued Israeli violations of Lebanese sovereignty, stressing
that Lebanon "will not relinquish its sovereign right to its land and sea
borders." He added that "the solution which guarantees this right lies in
placing the whole dossier on the table of discussion, not in part, and to
implement what is agreed upon." "Lebanese national sovereignty is indivisible,"
emphasized Bazzi. This came during a meeting between Bazzi and Del Col on the
sidelines of a working lunch hosted by al-Kalaa Municipalities Union Head, Nabil
Fawaz, at his home in Tibnin, South Lebanon.
Merehbi addresses memorandum to Aboul Gheit on Syrian displaced dossier
Sat 19 Jan 2019/NNA - Caretaker State Minister for Displacement Affairs, Moueen
al-Merehbi's Press Office disclosed in a statement on Saturday that the Minister
has handed a memorandum to the Arab League Secretary-General, Ahmed Aboul Gheit,
through the League's Ambassador in Beirut, Abdel Rahman Solh, following the
press conference held today at the Ministry headquarters. The memorandum focused
on the item included in the agenda of the Arab Development Summit in Beirut
concerning the Syrian refugees' dossier.
Citibank warns of Lebanon's "unsustainable long-term fiscal path"on one hand,
and the lopsidedness of its imports and exports.
Georgi Azar /Annahar/January
19/19
http://eliasbejjaninews.com/archives/71262/reuters-how-pressing-is-lebanons-financial-challenge-%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-%d9%83%d9%85-%d9%87/
Lebanon's financial
strains can be easily traced back to its double deficit, the debt to GDP ratio.
BEIRUT: Citibank is the latest major financial institution sounding the alarm
over Lebanon's dire economic state, warning of its "unsustainable long-term
fiscal path."In a report issued Friday, Citibank noted that Lebanese bonds
remain under pressure, as front-end yields "stay very close to cyclical highs"
amid contested news of a debt restructuring plan. Last week, markets were
rattled after the unsuspecting comments of caretaker Finance Minister Ali Hassan
Khalil made rounds before other officials including President Michel Aoun
scrambled to alleviate concerns and prop up investors' confidence. Lebanon's
financial strains can be easily traced back to its double deficit, the debt to
GDP ratio on one hand, and the lopsidedness of its imports and exports.
Despite remittances falling steadily, Citibank credits the Central Bank's
buildup of FX reserves, "which has quadrupled in the past 10 years" to value
around $40 billion, for partly offsetting Lebanon's "vulnerability and
mismatches in the public sector." Yet the public debt remains unsustainable in
the long run, it warns, with large primary surpluses required to stabilize the
public debt path. Ideally, Lebanon would have to achieve the target of a real
GDP growth rate of 4 percent, which "might be quite ambitious considering
domestic political upheaval and global economic slowdown."Talk of capital
controls to be followed by haircuts have also gained traction in recent weeks,
yet Citibank remains adamant up to this point that "authorities will try as much
as they can to deviate from a USD debt restructuring decision."To bring
Lebanon's debt/GDP ratio to a sustainable level in case the macro environment
forced it, an "implied haircut of 38 percent would be necessary given a primary
surplus of five percent and a real GDP growth rate of one percent.""There are
other less painful routes to be explored [in regards to possible debt
restructuring]," the report notes, "in particular the route of an USD11bn CEDRE
international donor investment package conditional on the formation of a new
government and fiscal reform implementation."
How Pressing Is Lebanon’s Financial Challenge?
تقرير من وكالة رويترز: كم هي ضاغطة التحديات المالية في لبنان
Reuters/January 19/19
http://eliasbejjaninews.com/archives/71262/reuters-how-pressing-is-lebanons-financial-challenge-%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-%d9%83%d9%85-%d9%87/
The country has one of
the world’s biggest public debts compared to the size of its economy.
Financial strains in Lebanon have been brought into focus by turbulence on
markets, where its dollar-denominated sovereign bonds suffered a heavy sell-off
earlier this month following comments by the finance minister about the public
debt.
The bonds recovered last week on assurances the government is “absolutely not”
planning to restructure the debt and is committed to paying its maturing debt
and interest payments at predetermined dates.
But the episode has added to debate about Lebanon’s debt sustainability after
warnings from politicians, the IMF and World Bank over economic and financial
conditions in a country that has suffered years of low economic growth.
Lebanon’s factional politics has led to years of policy paralysis and obstructed
reforms needed to boost investor confidence. More than eight months after an
election, politicians have been unable to agree a new government.
What are the problems?
Lebanon has one of the world’s biggest public debts compared to the size of its
economy, largely generated through servicing existing debt and high state
spending. It amounts to roughly 150% of gross domestic product.
The World Bank has estimated that financial transfers to the state-owned power
producer alone averaged 3.8% of GDP from 2008 to 2017. A public-sector wage
increase in 2017 and higher interest rates have added to pressures on the budget
deficit. Lebanon also has a current account deficit because it imports far more
than it exports.
Financing these two deficits has depended on financial transfers from the
Lebanese diaspora, but questions over this model have grown.
“At the heart of concerns is the recent slowdown in remittance/deposit inflows,
which have traditionally funded a large part (if not all) of Lebanon’s financing
requirement,” Goldman Sachs said in a December 3 analysis.
The World Bank, in an October report, said Lebanon was exposed to significant
refinancing risks. “Attracting sufficient capital, and in particular deposits,
to finance significantly larger budgetary and current account deficits is
proving challenging in light of slower deposit growth.”
Lower oil prices have been seen by economists as a major cause of the slowdown,
with many Lebanese working in oil-producing Gulf Arab states. Political
instability and lower growth in Lebanon have also been cited as factors.
Economic growth has fallen to between 1% and 2% from between 8% and 10% in the
four years before Syria’s civil war began in 2011.
How urgent is the situation?
The central bank governor, Riad Salameh, said last month the banking sector was
capable of financing the state’s foreign and domestic debt in 2019. The central
bank’s net foreign assets stand at around $40 billion.
The financial system has proved resilient through political crises,
assassinations and war. The Lebanese pound peg against the dollar has been
stable for over two decades.
Often in the absence of effective government, the central bank has maintained
stability using stimulus packages and unorthodox financial operations, made
possible by large diaspora deposits into the banks.
But since 2016, the slowdown in nonresident inflows prompted the central bank to
embark on “financial engineering” to draw more dollars to its reserves.
The World Bank and IMF have praised the central bank for a critical role. But
the World Bank’s October report noted that some central bank tools were becoming
less effective and that Lebanon’s risk profile was rising sharply.
Confidence is critical to encouraging the inflows upon which the system rests.
This would be boosted if a new government formed and moved quickly toward making
reforms of the power sector.
This could unlock some $11 billion in funding pledged by foreign states and
institutions last year for a capital-investment program.
The power wielded by the Iran-backed Lebanese Shi’ite group Hezbollah is at the
heart of tension between Lebanon and Gulf states such as Saudi Arabia that once
supported Beirut but have turned their attention elsewhere in recent years.
Goldman Sachs noted that one cause of the slowdown in remittance and deposit
growth was “the perceived reduced likelihood of external support in light of
heightened tensions between Lebanon and the oil-rich Gulf countries.”
Where does Hezbollah figure in this?
The heavily armed group is listed as a terrorist group by the United States and
fought a war with Israel in 2006.
“We have warned for some time that if there was a fresh escalation of tensions
with Gulf countries or Israel, that could lead to another period of capital
flight that puts the dollar peg under pressure,” said Jason Tuvey of Capital
Economics.
The United States has tightened financial sanctions against Hezbollah, part of
its wider effort to counter Iran. The Lebanese banking sector has been applying
these measures and anti-money laundering legislation.
Lebanon lobbied Washington in 2017 to balance its tough anti-Hezbollah stance
with the need to preserve the country’s financial stability. Consequently,
sanctions were altered enough to allay fears of major economic damage.
The application of such measures may have weighed on some inflows to Lebanon,
though it is difficult to know to what extent, Tuvey said.
Can the next government fix the problem?
Once Prime Minister-designate Saad al-Hariri manages to form a government,
investors will be looking for follow-through on promises of reducing the budget
deficit. But there are concerns that politics could get in the way of reforms
once again.
“Lebanese and international stakeholders agree that the budget deficit needs to
narrow, but a credible, actionable plan for achieving this is still lacking and
it remains unclear if political dynamics will allow for a concerted fiscal
adjustment,” Fitch Ratings said.
Ghosn Received 8m Euro in 'Improper' Payments, Nissan Says
Agence France Presse/Naharnet/January 19/19/Former Nissan boss Carlos Ghosn
received nearly eight million euros in "improper payments" from a
Netherlands-based joint venture, the Japanese car giant alleged Friday,
threatening to sue to recover the funds. Nissan said Ghosn entered into a
personal employment contract with Nissan-Mitsubishi B.V. (NMBV), a company
formed "with the mission of exploring and promoting synergies within the
Nissan-Mitsubishi Motors partnership.""Under that contract, he received a total
of 7,822,206.12 euros (including tax) in compensation and other payments of NMBV
funds," Nissan said, citing an ongoing investigation into alleged wrongdoing by
Ghosn. The firm said the contract was signed without consultation with current
Nissan CEO Hiroto Saikawa or Mitsubishi Motors CEO Osamu Masuko. "Nissan views
the payments Ghosn received from NMBV to be the result of misconduct and will
consider measures to recover from Ghosn the full sum," the firm said in a
statement. Since his out-of-the-blue arrest on November 19, Ghosn has been kept
in a Tokyo detention centre and has made only one public appearance in court
when he passionately rejected the accusations against him. Ghosn faces three
formal charges. First, he is accused of under-declaring his income by five
billion yen ($46 million) between 2010 and 2015 in official documents to
shareholders, apparently to fend off criticism he was overpaid. Second, he
stands accused of continuing this practice for three more years, understating
his pay by a further four billion yen. A third, more complex, charge relates to
allegations he sought to transfer personal investment losses to the firm and
paid a Saudi intermediary from company funds to stump up collateral for him.
Global Donation Advisory Council
The 64-year-old auto tycoon rejects all the charges, arguing in court that he
has been "wrongly accused and unfairly detained based on meritless and
unsubstantiated accusations." He has appealed several times to be released on
bail and filed another appeal earlier Friday. So far, the appeals have all been
rejected, with the court reasoning that he is a flight risk and could tamper
with evidence. His lawyers have vowed to lodge an appeal with the Supreme Court
against his continued detention, but even his lead attorney has told reporters
it is unlikely he will taste freedom before a trial -- and that could take six
months at least.
Meanwhile, the allegations continue to stack up against Ghosn -- once revered as
a corporate genius who saved Nissan from the verge of bankruptcy. He is said to
have had luxury houses in Beirut and Rio de Janeiro paid for by the company --
plus costly renovations for the first property. It is also alleged one of his
sisters received $755,000 for work carried out between 2003 and 2016 as part of
a "Global Donation Advisory Council" -- a body which has never existed according
to sources close to Nissan. Nissan is thought to be looking into other payments
such as donations to universities in Lebanon or a subscription to a yacht club
in Brazil for $63,000. Ghosn has been unable to defend himself against these new
allegations and they do not form part of the formal charges against him. But the
Japanese firm is ramping up its probe into its former leader and more
revelations are likely as it continues.
Nissan has also been slapped with formal charges over the affair as they
submitted the documents to shareholders that allegedly under-declared the
executive's income.
First highlevel Mashreq Conference on Women's Economic
Empowerment opens at the Grand Serail
Hariri announces national action program to increase women's participation in
the labor market by 5 percent in 5 years
NNA/January 19/19
The first high-level Mashreq Conference on Women's Economic Empowerment opened
this morning at the Grand Serail in Beirut, under the patronage of Prime
Minister-designate Saad Hariri.
The conference, organized by the World Bank Group and the Governments of Lebanon
and Canada, on the eve of the Arab Summit for Economic and Social Development,
gathered a large number of participants from governments, private sector, civil
society, academia, international organizations, multilaterals, and donors.
In the opening session, Prime Minister Hariri said that "empowering women
economically in our countries and activating their role in all fields is a
sustainable process that requires close cooperation between the governments, the
private sector and the civil society", and listed the steps recently taken in
Lebanon towards this goal.
He announced "Lebanon's commitment to a national action program aimed at
empowering Lebanese women economically, through which we aim to increase women's
participation in the labor market by at least 5 percent in the next five years".
For his part, the World Bank Vice President for Middle East and North Africa
Ferid Belhaj reiterated the Bank's "strong and unwavering support to Lebanon,
Iraq, and Jordan in implementing their Action Plans and its commitment to
mobilizing its technical and financial resources to assist with this
implementation".
In turn, the Chief Operating Officer of the International Finance Corporation,
Stephanie Von Friedeburg, said that "IFC sees tremendous potential in Mashreq",
and noted the importance of the "launch today of the World Bank Group's
multi-donor Gender Mashreq Financing Facility, the first facility that we have
launched in the MENA region dedicated to increasing women's participation in the
workforce".
Canadian Ambassador Emanuelle Lamoureux said that "giving women and girls the
opportunity to develop their full potential and use their talents and skills is
not only good for women, it's simply good economics", adding that "these are
some of the reasons why Canada has placed gender equality and women's economic
empowerment at the centre of its international development efforts in this
region".
For their parts, the Secretary General of the Iraqi Council of Ministers
Dr.Mahdi Mohsen Al-Alak, and the Jordanian Minister of Planning and
International Cooperation Dr. Mary Kamel Kawar,
presented the steps taken by both countries to improve women's economic
empowerment.
The Secretary-General of the League of Arab States Ahmad Abu al-Ghaith explained
the efforts exerted by the Arab League and said that the agenda of the Arab
Summit for Economic and Social Development includes a number of issues related
to the empowerment of women and the promotion of their social and economic
rights.
Belhaj
Belhaj delivered the following speech:
"It is my great pleasure to open the First High-level Mashreq Conference on
Women's Economic Empowerment and to welcome this distinguished audience. I am
pleased to welcome our visitors from Iraq and Jordan, as well as from the
region, Europe and the United States.
I would like to start by expressing my sincere appreciation to His Excellency
Mr. Saad Hariri, not only for hosting this unique and timely event, but also for
being a champion and leader for the cause of women's empowerment in Lebanon.
The achievements of your government in this domain, Your Excellency, is
commendable and has inspired the World Bank Group to co-sponsor this event. I
would also like to express my thanks to the Government of Canada, which has been
a close partner and collaborator with us in the MENA region and globally on
gender equality actions. I also thank the Swiss Agency for Development and
Cooperation for supporting the conference.
It is not by coincidence that our event is taking place on the eve of the Arab
Summit for Economic and Social Development. Women's empowerment is at the center
of economic and social development. It is also at the very center of the World
Bank agenda. We fervently believe that gender equality is smart economics, as it
contributes to poverty reduction, strengthens resilience and boosts shared
prosperity. Empowering women and girls has intrinsic value and is instrumental
to achieve more inclusive institutions, sound policies, and effective
development outcomes.
The Middle East and North Africa is a region that takes pride in one of its
strongest constituents, which is the "power of youth". If current demographic
trends persist, ceteris paribus, the MENA region will need to create north of
300 million jobs by the year 2050, or 10 million jobs per year, starting today.
We view this abundance of youth energy as a remarkable dynamic capable of
transforming economies and creating growth. Harnessing the potential of 300
million youth is not an easy task, and will require a "moonshot" approach that
aims at liberating the digital futures of MENA's millions of technologically
savvy youth. This approach will require the active engagement of both women and
men equally, for together they hold the key to MENA's future.
However, in light of the persistent challenges that women in particular continue
to face in the areas of economic opportunities, voice and agency, and the
context-specific complications triggered by fragility and conflict in MENA, this
only leaves women and girls with less than half a chance to engage in the
region's economic cycle.
MENA registers the lowest Female Labor Force Participation of all regions, lower
than expected by level of economic development; and with large gaps across all
countries. Despite the elevated rate of female enrollment in education and their
high academic achievements, compared to men, only 1 in 5 women is economically
active in the Mashreq countries.
Evidence demonstrates low rates of women's financial inclusion, numerous
constraints to women's voice and agency, and high prevalence of gender-based
violence. Such indicators alert us that MENA loses significant amounts in
regional income due to gender-based discrimination in laws, social norms and
practices that constrain women's rights and opportunities.
In light of such findings, the World Bank launched a comprehensive MENA Gender
Action Plan in 2017, aiming to address and enhance women's economic
opportunities as fundamental elements towards achieving economic growth,
sustainable development, and peace and stability in the region.
In addition, the Women Entrepreneurs Finance Initiative (We-Fi), which was
announced at the G20 Leaders' Summit in July 2017 and launched by the World Bank
in October of the same year, aims at supporting women entrepreneurs by primarily
providing access to financial products and services, and opportunities to link
with domestic and global markets.
Through its recently launched Human Capital Project, the World Bank will seek to
improve gaps in endowments, particularly in terms of access to health and
education. It will also aim at designing operations to enhance women's- and
men's- digital skills to enable them to meet labor market requirements and to
build a thriving digital economy.
In the Mashreq countries, through this conference today, we are hoping to
elevate the dialogue, and to support countries' commitments to enhance women's
economic empowerment - commitments that you will hear about throughout the
course of the day.
And as I look around the room, it is clear to me that the Mashreq countries are
committed to closing their gender gaps. The Governments of Iraq, Jordan and
Lebanon have developed evidence-based, progressive plans, which include 5-year
ambitious targets to increase women's labor force participation in their
respective countries.
Once again, the World Bank reiterates its strong and unwavering support to
Lebanon, Iraq, and Jordan in implementing their Action Plans. We are committed
to mobilizing our technical and financial resources to assist with the
implementation of the said action plans, in close collaboration with all our
partners. The Mashreq Gender Facility, which will be officially launched before
the closure of the day, is the first milestone towards providing the required
tools and knowledge base for the three Governments to achieve their targets.
I am a strong believer that the private sector will play a key role as a
catalyst for providing innovative, women-empowering business models that can
overcome challenges that women face in accessing the work force, the
entrepreneurship space, and in securing financial assets.
Moreover, for a transformative change in women's economic empowerment and
participation, addressing social norms and gender stereotypes remains of utmost
importance. In addition, lifting existing legal barriers, in all shapes and
forms, will be a crucial element towards achieving this objective.
We look forward to learning about all of this, and more, from the different
panels scheduled for the day. Today, the Mashreq is setting an example for all
the MENA region, and we hope to expand these efforts to cover all countries of
the region.
Economies will not grow to their full potential if half of the population is
absented from economic activity on the basis of their gender. Societies will not
prosper if legal systems and policies are only responsive to the needs of half
of the population. Peace and stability will not prevail if women are not given
equal chance to engage in economic life, to make their voices heard, to fulfill
their aspirations, and to contribute to building their nations".
Von Friedburg
Von Friedburg delivered the following speech:
"It's an honor and pleasure to be here today to speak about the very important
issue of women's economic participation in the Mashreq countries.
As you know, women's economic participation is not an option. It is a necessity
for global economic growth.
According to recent studies, if women participated in the economy at the same
rate as men, global GDP could rise by up to $28 trillion by 2025.
Women have the potential to drive growth around the world, but they simply do
not receive the needed support.
Consider female entrepreneurs in this region. Fifty-five percent of women-owned
micro, small and medium enterprises have no access to credit. Think of the lost
opportunity, the jobs never created. In addition, legal and social limitations
make it difficult for women to formalize their businesses. 104 economies still
have laws preventing women from working in specific jobs.
The Middle East and North Africa region has taken large strides over the past
four decades to bridge gender gaps, starting in education. Across MENA, the gap
between boys and girls in secondary schooling has halved from 11% to 5% over the
past four decades. But these achievements have not translated into greater
economic participation, especially in the Mashreq region.
Across the Mashreq countries, female unemployment is twice as high as that of
males. And, for women who do work, they earn, on average, less than their male
counterparts, and are under-represented in C-level positions.
In the Middle East and North Africa, for every female entrepreneur, there are
six women who want to start a business but cannot-- far below the world average.
Bridging this gender gap and benefitting from the full economic potential of the
region will require an enabling environment and access to capital for women.
So, how do we make this happen?
It starts with countries changing laws that discourage women from entering the
workforce or opening their own business. Here, we are just removing barriers to
entry.
Childcare, safe transport to work, enhanced security, these are examples of
services that must be in place to ensure women can fully participate in the
labor force. And, access to capital is crucial. The estimated credit demand by
women-owned SMEs in MENA is US$50 billion per year. Without that cash flow, most
female-owned firms will never grow, thereby never having the chance to create
much-needed jobs.
At IFC, we recognize that it is about changing the upstream regulatory and
social environment, and mobilizing capital that will have the greatest
development impact. This is at the heart of IFC's strategy of Creating Markets.
By changing the policies and the enabling environment, we will unlock female
entrepreneurship that will demand more capital and create jobs.
Banks will play a significant role in meeting the new demand for capital.
Lebanon has been a pioneer in this area.
BLC, an IFC client, was the first bank in the region to focus on addressing the
gaps in women's access to finance.
We worked with BLC to develop a set of financial and non-financial products and
services targeted toward women. New market opportunities for gender finance in
the region were created drawing from lessons from BLC's experience. And if we
get this right, we will see great success. We don't have to look to far to see
this happening. Here in MENA, women lead in the tech/start up space.
Women entrepreneurs in MENA are 60% more likely than their male counterparts to
offer innovative solutions. Think of the economic growth this could spur.
Let me close by underscoring that IFC sees tremendous potential in Mashreq.
This is why I am so excited about the launch today of the World Bank Group's
multi-donor Gender Mashreq Financing Facility.
This is the first facility that we have launched in the Middle East and North
Africa region dedicated to increasing women's participation in the workforce.
Through collaboration between the public and private sectors, civil society, and
development partners, it builds on the success of the global Women Entrepreneurs
Financing Initiative, WEFI, which we helped launch last year.
We believe these targeted initiatives, which take a holistic approach and
harness the power of a wide range of sectors and players, are the best way to
support gender participation and create new opportunities for women in this part
of the world".
Lamoureux
Ambassador Lamoureux started by thanking Prime Minister Hariri, Mr Abu Al-Ghaith,
Mrs Kawar and Mr Al-Alak.
She added:
"As well, we are fortunate to have with us today a diverse group of
stakeholders. I note particularly the presence of women's groups; your role in
bringing about change in any society is crucial and your input is vital to
today's proceedings.
For my part, I bring greetings and best wishes for a successful conference from
Canada's Prime Minister Trudeau, who sends the following message: "Canada
commends the leadership taken by Lebanon, Jordan and Iraq in coming together for
this conference and preparing country action plans on women's economic
empowerment. The empowerment of women and girls is critical to building peace,
reducing poverty, growing our economies, and achieving sustainability. We are
proud to be a partner with the World Bank and the International Finance
Corporation in organizing this conference and supporting Lebanon, Jordan and
Iraq in eliminating barriers hindering women and girls from their full
participation in society."
All of us today share one goal, and that is to help identify opportunities to
advance the economic empowerment of women in the region.
All three governments have already taken important steps to improve the
political, social and economic status of women in their countries. For example,
Lebanon and Jordan have abolished laws that allowed rapists to avoid prison by
marrying their victims. And, Iraq was the first country in the Middle East to
adopt a National Action Plan under United Nations Security Council resolution
1325 on Women, Peace and Security. But we know there are great strides that
remain to be taken.
While women outnumber men in tertiary education in most Arab countries, they
face higher levels of unemployment than male counterparts.
We know that when women are not treated as economic equals, a country wastes
half of its total brainpower. International Labour Organisation research has
found that closing the gender gap in labour participation rates by even one
quarter could boost GDP by as much as 9 percent in Lebanon, 10 percent in Jordan
and 11 percent in Iraq. So, giving women and girls the opportunity to develop
their full potential and use their talents and skills is not only good for
women, it's simply good economics.
These are some of the reasons why Canada has placed gender equality and women's
economic empowerment at the centre of its international development efforts in
this region.
In Jordan, for example, Canadian funded programming has supported more than
4,400 young people, including about 3,000 women to enter the workforce or start
their own businesses after being trained in business skills development.
In Lebanon, Canadian-funded programming is helping improve women and girls'
access to more gender responsive education, health and protection services. It
is also providing them with livelihoods opportunities in agriculture and
entrepreneurship, while supporting governmental institutions in mainstreaming
gender considerations into policies and interventions.
And in Iraq, Canada is supporting civil society to build the capacity and
confidence of women peace activists in provinces liberated from Daesh. Although
these women come from diverse backgrounds, they have joined together to present
a united vision for reconciliation for their country.
I look forward to hearing about the National Action Plans, which will be
presented today. These will identify obstacles that prevent Lebanese, Jordanian
and Iraqi women from taking their rightful place in economic decision-making,
and more importantly, provide solutions to bring women into the economic
mainstream.
Canada is committed to supporting the governments of the Mashreq in implementing
their respective Action Plans. By harnessing the economic power of the women in
Iraq, Jordan and Lebanon, and by giving them access to the education and
financial tools they need to contribute fully to their communities, you will be
doing your entire societies an enormous service and helping to develop the
strong nations and economies we all hope to see thrive in this region".
Al-Alak
Al-Alak delivered the following speech:
"I am pleased to represent the Prime Minister of the Republic of Iraq, Mr. Adel
Abdul Mahdi, and to convey to you his greetings and best wishes for this
conference held under the auspices of the Prime Minister of Lebanon and the
Lebanese Government, as well as the support of the World Bank, the Canadian
Government and the Swiss Government. We also express our gratitude for the great
efforts exerted to organize this conference.
Recent decades have seen great international interest in women's issues in
general, and many international resolutions and commitments have been issued to
ensure gender equality in the economic, political, social and developmental
aspects of life.
This helped to draw attention at the national level in many of our countries to
the plight of women and to the need to give attention to gender equality
programs. Therefore, the plans for improving the levels of education, health,
social welfare and others have witnessed a clear growth, with differences
between countries and between one field and another
In Iraq, the Constitution of the Republic of Iraq in 2005 affirmed women's
rights and their equality with men and supported the promulgation of laws that
affirm women's competence in building the society and the state and provide them
with equal opportunities in all fields. The constitution stipulated that women's
participation in the Chamber of Deputies should not be less than 25%. Women have
also not been restricted from reaching any position in the State.
The State was also keen to complete the social and institutional structures to
ensure the follow-up and implementation of strategies, policies and programs to
improve the status of Iraqi women.
There is no doubt that Iraq faced great challenges to complete this and the
strongest was that Daesh occupied large areas of our country, and the heinous
crimes that affected all segments of society.
However, Iraqi women faced, with patience, murder, displacement, rape and
kidnapping. And there were dozens of women and girls who exposed the practices
of terrorism and its crimes. This is evidenced by the great role played by the
Iraqi Yazidi militant Nadia Murad, who drew the world's attention to these
practices and was the first woman in the history of our region to win the Nobel
Peace Prize.
The importance of this conference lies in highlighting the most important
challenge facing women in our region, which is economic empowerment. Studies in
our countries have shown that the percentage of economic activities (as an
indicator of women's desire to work) is very low, accompanied by low wages, weak
vocational qualification and unwillingness to enter the labor market in the
private sector due to weakness of the social insurance systems adopted in our
countries in general.
The importance of this conference also lies in bringing out a plan of action and
policies for women's economic
empowerment and the enhancement of their capacities to improve the economic and
development situation in our countries, especially if combined with improving
the educational and vocational qualifications. It is not enough for women to
engage in the labor market in work conditions characterized by poverty,
exploitation and low incomes.
In order to be realistic in addressing this challenge, we must explore ways to
encourage women to enter the labor market in the private sector.
As the number of graduates from colleges and institutes increases, the
development of curricula and vocational training should take new paths that
respond to the needs of the labor market, on which do not have accurate studies
in our countries.
Another important issue is the development and modernization of social security
systems that should establish rules and regulations to a large extent for the
benefits offered to private sector workers as compared to the public sector, and
provide a favorable and encouraging working environment for women's entry into
the labor market.
We in Iraq are looking forward to important results from this conference which
will contribute to deepening the role of women economically and raising their
levels of empowerment for the benefit of our societies".
Kawar
Dr Kawar gave the following speech:
"First allow me to extend my thanks and gratitude to the Lebanese government and
people for hosting this important conference on the economic empowerment of
women in Mashreq, focusing on Lebanon, Jordan and Iraq.
I also want to thank the World Bank Group for sponsoring this qualitative event,
which comes at a stage that requires all of us to join efforts to promote the
status of women and empower them in all political, economic and social fields,
stressing the importance of joint Arab action and the role played by the Arab
League in this direction.
As we meet today on the eve of the Arab Economic and Social Development Summit,
we look forward to support the role of women in the decision-making process and
the full partnership between the concerned institutions in the three countries
to achieve the Sustainable development goals from a national and global
perspective that takes into account national needs and priorities.
This conference takes place 40 years after the adoption of the Convention on the
Elimination of All Forms of Discrimination against Women (CEDAW) in 1979. This
Convention, provided the international framework and standard for the
elimination of discrimination against women.
As Arab States begin to prepare to report progress towards achieving the Beijing
Declaration and Platform for Action (after 25 years + 25) next year, we must
celebrate the progress achieved in increasing the political and economic
participation of women and the achievements in the levels and quality of
services provided in education, health, social affairs and others. However, we
cannot say that gender equality has been achieved, not only in our own countries
but on a global scale. We must continue to make further efforts to revitalize
international commitments and strengthen the political will at the national,
regional and international levels.
Here lies the importance of this event that enjoys political attention and
high-quality participation, to reaffirm that it is time to mobilize more
energies to accelerate the pace of equality between citizens, women and men.
The empowerment of women is an incentive to build more inclusive societies and a
means to achieve sustainable growth rates. It is impossible to talk about a
society's economic, political or social progress if women do not participate.
Jordan is still facing challenges. We cannot distance ourselves from its direct
effects on the homeland and its citizens, women and men. They are the modest
economic growth as a result of the continuing instability in the region, which
led to delay the desired economic growth, a deficit in the budget, an increase
in the ratio of public debt to the gross domestic product, a decline in the
volume of exports, and a continued rise in energy prices. This led to an
increase in the unemployment rate, especially among young men and women, and low
per capita income and standard of living.
Since Jordan is aware of this, we launched "Jordan 2025" a ten-year national
vision and strategy that sets a path for the future and sets an integrated
framework that will govern the economic and social policies based on giving
opportunities to everyone.
The government also launched its priorities for work for the years (2019-2020)
as a first step for the national revival project, which aims at engaging the
Jordanians and meeting their aspirations for a better future. The program aims
to preserve the dignity and improve their quality of life of the Jordanians,
within three tracks:
The first track: Implement the law on all, promote transparency and integrity,
protect public funds and deepen citizenship and participation.
The second track: Use all energies to raise the standard of living of citizens,
promote the principle of self-reliance, enhance economic growth and the role of
the private sector.
Third track: Preserve the dignity of citizens and protect him from poverty by
providing high quality public services.
Nevertheless, the success of this process depends on the principle of equality
of rights and duties between all Jordanians and both sexes. We cannot succeed
without being deeply aware of what prevent women from participating in the
public and economic life. Some studies have shown that there are direct and
indirect effects of the weak participation of women that is reflected in
limiting the increase in GDP and the existence of lost opportunity due to the
absence of exploiting the potential of women, despite the investment of the
state in education. We are required to highlight these challenges and the main
obstacles to the empowerment of women.
In this context, I would like to seize this opportunity to highlight some
important aspects that enhance the economic participation of Jordanian women
(which is still considered to be relatively low and have not grown significantly
over the past years):
In terms of the legislative and legal environment, I inform you with great pride
that the Jordanian Parliament approved, few days ago, amendments to the labor
law. These amendments seek to remove obstacles to women's economic participation
by introducing the concept of flexible work, approving paternity leave and
guaranteeing the right of work for the children of Jordanian women married to
non-Jordanians, provide a family-friendly work environment through the
establishment of nurseries in the workplace in the private sector, and
introducing amendments to certain articles to ensure equal pay for equal work.
This was the result of continuous efforts for seven years of active discussion
and dialogue between the various civil society organizations, employers,
workers, the government and parliament, in addition to the introduction of a
flexible work system in the ministries and official institutions.
Jordan recently introduced several reforms to facilitate women's entry into the
labor market to achieve a decent work environment. This led to the international
recognition of Jordan's efforts through the national commission for equal pay.
Jordan was invited in 2018 to join the Equal Pay International Coalition (EPIC)
in late 2017 by the International Labor Organization, the United Nations Entity
for Gender Equality and the Empowerment of Women and the Organization for
Economic Cooperation and Development. This affirms Jordan's commitment to work
to close the wage gap between the sexes through bank transfers of wages in
sectors dominated by women such as education and health as a first step.
Emphasizing the political will and government commitment to achieve gender
equality and the empowerment of women, a sectoral team has been formed within
the government's executive program to merge social and gender equality to ensure
gender mainstreaming in all sectors and the implementation of the fifth goal of
the Sustainable development goals on gender equality.
A ministerial committee for the empowerment of women has been set up under the
chairmanship of the minister of planning and international cooperation, the
membership of the relevant ministers and the national committee for women
affairs, which plays an important role in government coordination at the
ministerial level to ensure the adoption and implementation of policies, plans
and programs, and allocate resources to implement them with government budgets.
Those were examples of some of the developments in supporting the economic role
of women, based on the active dialogue and partnership between civil society,
government and the private sector towards institutionalizing and maximizing the
role of women in the economic and social life. Although the road ahead is still
long, there is a political commitment and awareness of the importance of
translating legislation and laws into programs, projects and indicators of
successes.
Women are partners in success. We need women's efforts in various political,
social and economic spheres, and our states have passed important steps to
promote women's rights. However, we still have a lot of work to do, hoping that
the partnership, cooperation and exchange of experience between our countries,
Lebanon, Iraq and Jordan, will be strengthened to adopt policies, strategies and
programs that contribute to the economic empowerment of women in the Mashreq.
His Majesty the King of Jordan, Abdullah II Ibn Al-Hussein, stressed the
importance of enhancing the role of women in educational, social and economic
fields, so that her contribution would be effective and influential within the
various institutions of society and to activate her participation in development
and community building, thus allowing her to overcome challenges.
In conclusion, allow me once again to express my happiness to be with you and to
extend my thanks to all the participants for their efforts in supporting and
promoting women's issues, which will undoubtedly contribute to the achievement
of the development goals they set up to improve the levels of balanced economic
participation in the Arab region".
Abu Al-Ghaith
Mr Abu Al-Ghaith gave the following speech:
"I am pleased to be with you at the opening of the Mashreq Conference on Women's
Economic Empowerment in Beirut, on the eve of the Fourth Session of the Arab
Economic and Social Summit.
In this regard, I would like to point out that the agenda of the Summit includes
a number of issues related to the empowerment of women and the promotion of
their social and economic rights. This is part of the awareness of the diverse
challenges faced by Arab women, whether related to historical circumstances and
legacies that have become rooted in some societies, due to the absence of
awareness, the spread of poverty, the lack of basic health services, the decline
in education and other negative factors, or those arising from armed conflicts
in the region over recent years, which negatively affected the status of women
in Syria, Libya, Yemen, in addition to the historical suffering of Palestinian
women in light of the violations and arbitrary practices of the Israeli
occupation.
All these conditions constitute major preoccupations for the Arab League, and
represent at the same time one of the main axes of the cooperation between the
General Secretariat of the League and regional and international bodies in the
field of economic empowerment.
The agenda of this important conference includes a number of important topics
related to achieving social mobility and stimulating the role of the private
sector as an essential engine for the empowerment of women and girls in
societies, which is especially important in light of the growing practical need
to integrate women into economic life and raise the awareness of society about
the importance of women's participation in the labor market, both at the
employee and employer levels.
The issue of women's economic empowerment is linked to other important issues,
like the social protection of women, the eradication of poverty, access to
health services and education issues which are at the heart of the UN 2030
Sustainable Development Agenda at the international and regional levels.
The rapid and successive developments in economic work are making it very
important that the Arab League put the issue of economic empowerment of women
among the main issues in the field of social and economic work. The efforts
exerted by the General Secretariat and the Member States come as a confirmation
of the values, principles and objectives contained in the regional and
international conventions and charters on the rights of women in general and
economic empowerment in particular, and consistent with the objectives of
sustainable development listed in the context of UN Agenda 2030, to ensure the
economic participation of women in public life.
I am pleased to note in this context the efforts exerted by the General
Secretariat of the League of Arab States in the framework of the implementation
of the Cairo Declaration and the Strategic Plan of Action for the Arab Women
Development Plan 2030 adopted by the Council of the League of Arab States in its
28th Session held at the Hashemite Kingdom of Jordan in March 2017.
The strategic plan of action represents a summary of the views, positions and
opinions developed by Arab experts, specialists and civil society and presented
by the member states of the League. The Secretariat, in coordination with member
states, is currently following up on the measures taken to implement this plan
through the development of measuring indicators at the Arab level to monitor the
progress made in the implementation of the strategic plan of action and to
prepare progress reports to measure the development of women in the Arab region.
The Arab League works continuously, in cooperation with the various government
mechanisms in member states and regional and international concerned
organizations, to develop policies that deal with the issues of women in the
Arab region to ensure effective and serious coordination between these
mechanisms and programs in the framework of a coordinated system of work aimed
at enhancing the status of women to achieve comprehensive sustainable
development in its broadest sense.
One of the main targets of this system is to create a full social awareness
about the pivotal role of women in the society, to consolidate the principle of
equality of opportunity between men and women and to empower women politically,
economically and socially.
In this context, I would like to mention that the Arab League launched the Arab
network for women economic empowerment, in coordination with the European Union
and United Nations regional office for women in the Arab countries, in September
2015, during the regional forum on enhancing the economic empowerment of women
in the Arab region. This network is the first Arab initiative to create a
platform for Arab economic empowerment.
This platform works to enhance the economic empowerment of women by ensuring a
safer work environment for women, equal opportunities to reach leadership and
decision making positions, capacity-building and the development of laws and
legislations for the work women in the economy.
It is also a platform to exchange knowledge, support mechanisms for the
empowerment of women in the economic life of the Arab region and to allow the
participation of all sectors in promoting women's economic empowerment at the
regional level.
In the end, I renew my thanks to Lebanon for the appreciated efforts it exerted
for the advancement of Arab joint action. I also extend my thanks to the World
Bank and the Canadian government for their support to organize this important
conference, hoping it would be a success.
I reiterate the faith of the Arab League in the importance of enhancing the
economic empowerment for women and girls and ensure job opportunities for them
because they represent half of the society and an indispensable partner in
achieving the advancement of societies and in ensuring a better future and a
decent life for their children".
Hariri
Prime Minister Hariri gave the following speech:
"Good morning to all, to the Lebanese woman, the Jordanian woman, the Iraqi
woman, the Mashreq woman and the Arab woman, who is achieving every day a new
accomplishment, new creativity and new successes that contribute to the
development of our societies and their advancement.
Good morning and welcome to the Grand Serail, for the Mashreq Conference on
Women's Economic Empowerment. I welcome in particular our dear guests from Iraq
and Jordan, and from the various Arab and international organizations and
institutions.
First, I would like to thank the World Bank Group, the Canadian Government and
the Swiss Development Agency for this very important initiative in its content
and timing.
Our conference is being held on the eve of the fourth Arab Economic and Social
Development Summit in Beirut, at a time where our region is undergoing many
transformations. We hope the next period to be a period of reconstruction and
advancement in all our countries, particularly the Mashreq countries that were
directly or indirectly affected by the successive crises and conflicts.
I fully believe that we cannot look towards the future of the Mashreq countries
and prepare for the next stage without the active participation of women in
shaping this future.
A recent study by the World Bank indicates that women in our region constitute
half of the society, with the highest levels of education, but their actual
participation in the labor market remains slim despite all exerted efforts in
this context.
The absence of women from the labor market is the absence of half of the
society. This is a definite loss in the gross domestic product, in growth and in
the renewal of human resources. It is also loss in productivity and
competitiveness.
Based on this conviction, our efforts in Lebanon in the past years focused on
the empowerment of women and activating their role in all political, economic
and social fields, in line with United Nations sustainable development goals.
We took many steps in this context:
Our government's ministerial statement included a commitment to strengthen the
role of women in public life, particularly leadership positions and a pledge to
remove from the laws any discrimination against women. Also the Minister of
State for Women's Affairs and the National Commission for Women's Affairs have
been tasked with amending laws, building a culture of equality through media and
education, empowering women and building their capacities.
We worked hard to appoint a number of women in high positions in public
institutions, as presidents or members of public institutions boards, and in the
diplomatic corps and the security forces.
The government also prepared a number of laws, most importantly those that aim
to punish sexual harassment, grant paternity leave to the father, amend the
social security law to guarantee equality in pay and in maternity leave, and
adopt the principle the one third quota in the municipal councils.
This is on the national level. On the personal level, the equation is clear as
more than half of my work team are women. I have full confidence in their
potentials and I rely on them daily in all fields. I look forward to the time
when a woman would assume the Presidency of the Council of Ministers in Lebanon
because the Lebanese woman has wisdom, creativity, efficiency, energy and the
ability to initiate and implement.
The World Bank Group launched today a mechanism to finance the implementation of
policies aimed at achieving gender equality in the Mashreq region. This is a
very important initiative that will help us all move from the policy-making
phase to the implementation phase.
We in Lebanon welcome and highly appreciate this mechanism, and I would like to
thank the Canadian Government for its valuable contribution to support and
finance this mechanism, and I hope that other countries will follow suit.
I am also pleased to announce Lebanon's commitment to a national action program
aimed at empowering Lebanese women economically, through which we aim to
increase women's participation in the labor market by at least 5 percent in the
next five years.
Empowering women economically in our countries and activating their role in all
fields is a sustainable process that requires close cooperation between the
governments, the private sector and the civil society.
Today, this priority is very important because this issue is directly related to
the future of our children, our states and the revival that we will witness in
the coming years.
I am confident that the future of our region is promising, and I am also
confident that women in our countries will be the basis of the coming
renaissance.
In the end, I thank everyone who participated in the preparation of this
conference, and I welcome you again in Beirut, which will remain a forum for
dialogue on vital issues, foremost the issues of Arab women". - {PM Press
Office}
Latest LCCC English Miscellaneous Reports & News published
on January 19-20/19
Syria’s Manbij attack victims include
daughter of US police official
The Associated Press, New York/Saturday, 19 January 2019/One of the four
Americans killed in a suicide bomb attack in Syria this week was a Navy sailor
and married mother of two whose father is a high-ranking officer in the New York
State Police, officials said Friday.
The attack targeted US-led coalition forces in the northern Syrian city of
Manbij on Wednesday. Manbij has been held by US-backed fighters allied to the
Kurdish YPG militia since they took it from ISIS in 2016. It is located near
areas held by Russian-backed Syrian government forces and by anti-Assad fighters
backed by Turkey. The Pentagon identified three of the four Americans killed in
Wednesday’s attack in the northern Syrian town of Manbij. They are Army Chief
Warrant Officer 2 Jonathan R. Farmer, 37, of Boynton Beach, Florida, who was
based at Fort Campbell, Kentucky; Navy Chief Cryptologic Technician
(Interpretive) Shannon M. Kent, 35, of Pine Plains, New York, and based at Fort
Meade, Maryland; and a civilian, Scott A. Wirtz, from St. Louis. The Pentagon
hasn’t identified the fourth casualty, a civilian contractor. The attack,
claimed by ISIS, also wounded three US troops and was the deadliest assault on
US troops in Syria since American forces went into the country in 2015. The
Pentagon’s statement said Kent was from upstate New York but didn’t give a
hometown. New York Gov. Andrew Cuomo said in a statement Friday that she was
from Pine Plains and was the daughter of state police field commander Col.
Stephen Smith, the agency’s third-highest position. “We owe her our eternal
gratitude for her selfless dedication and sacrifice,” Cuomo said while ordering
flags on state government buildings to be flown at half-staff in Kent’s honor.
New war in Syria could be ‘Iraq on steroids’ Trump told
Arab News/January 19/19/ANKARA: US President Donald Trump was urged on Saturday
to delay the withdrawal of troops from Syria until Daesh was destroyed, or risk
an “Iraq on steroids.”Leading Republican Senator Lindsey Graham, on a visit to
Ankara, said he believed US military Chief of Staff Joseph Dunford was working
on a plan with Turkey to move Syrian Kurdish YPG fighters and heavy weapons away
from the Turkish border. Turkey says the YPG is a terrorist organization and an
extension of the outlawed Kurdistan Workers Party (PKK). Graham also said the
political arm of the YPG was interlinked and interconnected with the PKK, which
has waged a decades-long insurgency on Turkish soil. “A withdrawal that does not
outline the points I have made will not end the war against Daesh, it will start
a new war,” the senator said. “This war will be a necessity by Turkey, to go
into Syria and clear out armed elements that Turkey believes poses a threat to
its sovereignty.”Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdogan said last week he had
discussed a safe zone with Trump, which Turkey would set up inside Syria along
their border. Trump himself traveled to Dover Air Force Base in Delaware on
Saturday to receive the remains of four Americans killed in a Daesh suicide
bombing on Wednesday in Manbij in northern Syria. Meeting their families was a
duty that “might be the toughest thing I have to do as president,” he said.
Trump said his Syria policy had made progress, but added: “We’re killing Daesh
for Russia, for Iran, for Syria, for Iraq, for a lot of other places. At some
point you want to bring our people back home.”
US Confirms Arrest of American-Iranian Anchor as Witness in
Federal Probe
Asharq Al-Awsat/Saturday, 19 January/19 /An American-born Iranian television
anchor has been arrested as a material witness in a federal probe, a federal
court order said Friday. The arrest of Marzieh Hashemi, an anchor for Iran’s
English-language Press TV news channel, has fueled tensions in already strained
ties between Tehran and Washington.The order, which approved the partial
unsealing of information in the case, said Hashemi was arrested on a material
witness warrant issued by a federal judge and that she was assigned an attorney
but “has not been accused of any crime.”It did not disclose further details of
the case. Hashemi has made two court appearances, and the US government expects
her immediate release after she finishes testifying before a federal grand jury
investigating violations of US criminal law, the order continued. Iran has
called for the immediate release of Hashemi, who state-run Press TV said was
arrested on Sunday by the FBI at St. Louis Lambert International Airport. Press
TV on Saturday quoted Hashemi’s son as saying US officials had banned family
members from speaking to media. The television did not give further details and
the report could not be immediately confirmed. The FBI and the Justice
Department declined to confirm her arrest or comment on the case. A US
government source told Reuters it appeared that the grand jury was examining
whether Press TV is a propaganda outlet that failed to register with the Justice
Department as an agent of a foreign government. Press TV said on Wednesday that
Hashemi was born Melanie Franklin in the United States and changed her name
after converting to Islam. Iranian Foreign Minister Mohammad Javad Zarif was
quoted by the ISNA news agency as saying that Hashemi received Iranian
citizenship after marrying an Iranian.
Six Civilians Dead in US-Led Strike on ISIS in Syria: Monitor
Beirut- Asharq Al-Awsat/Saturday, 19 January, 2019/A US-led airstrike on the
ISIS terrorist group's embattled enclave in eastern Syria has killed at least
six civilians, including four children, a monitor said on Saturday. The Friday
strike on the Euphrates Valley village of Baghouz killed 10 ISIS fighters as
well as the six civilians, the Syrian Observatory for Human Rights said. Baghouz
is part of an enclave of less than 15 square kilometers that is all that is left
of ISIS territory in Syria following a grueling Kurdish-led offensive launched
with coalition support last May. The Britain-based Observatory said the
coalition had stepped up its airstrikes against ISIS since the militants killed
19 people, four of them Americans, in a suicide bombing on a restaurant in the
flashpoint northern town of Manbij on Wednesday. "The strikes are continuing,
and have intensified since the Manbij attack," AFP quoted Observatory chief Rami
Abdel Rahman as saying. The US losses were the biggest since Washington deployed
troops in Syria in 2014 in support of the Kurdish-led Syrian Democratic Forces.
Previously it had reported just two combat losses in separate incidents. The
Manbij bombing rekindled controversy triggered by President Donald Trump last
month with his surprise announcement of a full withdrawal from Syria. The US
president justified the order with the assertion that the militants had now been
largely defeated" in Syria, a claim that the attack threw into renewed question.
Nasr Hariri Sees Window for Political Solution in Syria
London- Asharq Al-Awsat/Saturday, 19 January, 2019/Syria’s chief opposition
negotiator said on Saturday he saw bright prospects for reaching a political
solution to the country's devastating eight-year war as ceasefires have brought
calm to many areas of the country,
“I think now that we have an opportunity, because nearly in Syria we have a
ceasefire now, in the northeast of Syria and the north of Syria, and the efforts
of fighting terrorism has achieved good results,” Nasr Hariri told Reuters in an
interview. Hariri, the opposition’s chief negotiator in UN peace talks, met with
the newly appointed United Nations Special Envoy to Syria Geir Pedersen on
Friday. “Now it is time to invest all of these developments: the ceasefire,
fighting terrorism, the belief of the majority of the Syrian people that the
only solution to the Syrian crisis is the political solution,” Hariri added. In
December, Russia, Iran, and Turkey failed to agree on the makeup of a
UN-sponsored Syrian Constitutional Committee but called for it to convene early
next year to kick off a viable peace process. Head of Syrian regime Bashar
al-Assad, whose forces have reclaimed most of Syria with Russian and Iranian
support apart from the northern province of Idlib, has clung to power throughout
the conflict and is widely seen as being loath to yield power after it ends.
Hariri stressed the importance of reaching a political solution, saying that
without it, "the normalization with the (Assad) regime would be impossible”.
UN experts: Fuel from Iran is financing Yemen’s Houthis
AFP, UN /Saturday, 19 January 2019/Fuel is being shipped illegally from Iran to
Houthi militias in Yemen to finance their war against the government, according
to a report by a UN panel of experts seen by AFP. The findings are expected to
again raise questions about Iran's support for the Houthis in the war. In its
final report for 2018, the panel said it had "identified a small number of
companies, both within Yemen and outside, which operated as front companies,"
using fake documents to conceal fuel donations. The fuel was "for the benefit of
a listed individual" who is on a UN sanctions blacklist, it added. "The revenue
from the sale of this fuel was used to finance the Houthi war effort," said the
85-page report sent to the Security Council. The panel found that the "fuel was
loaded from ports in the Islamic Republic of Iran under false documentation" to
avoid UN inspections of the cargo, it added. The experts have in past reports
pointed to a possible Iranian link to missiles fired by Houthi rebels at Saudi
Arabia, after they traveled to Riyadh to examine weapons debris. In a previous
report, the experts said they were investigating monthly fuel donations from
Iran valued at $30 million. Iran has repeatedly denied that it is providing
military support to the Houthis. The experts also said the Arab Coalition
backing Yemen’s government made “significant progress” against the Houthis in
2018. At the same time, the experts said “the Houthi leadership has continued to
consolidate its hold over government and non-government institutions.”
Top Republican Urges Slow US Pullout until IS 'Truly Defeated'
Agence France Presse/Naharnet/January 19/19/A senior Republican senator on
Saturday urged President Donald Trump to slow down the withdrawal of US ground
troops from Syria until jihadists were defeated to avoid a "nightmare" for
Washington's allies. "I would hope that President Trump would slow the
withdrawal until we truly destroy ISIS," Lindsey Graham told a press conference
in Ankara, using an acronym for the Islamic State extremist group. He warned any
hasty pullout could lead to a "nightmare" scenario for Israel because of
increasing Iranian influence in the war-torn country and for Turkey because of
its national security concerns. The South Carolina lawmaker was in Turkey from
Friday for a two-day visit during which he met Turkish officials including
President Recep Tayyip Erdogan and Foreign Minister Mevlut Cavusoglu. His talks
with Erdogan lasted for over two hours after which he was invited by the Turkish
leader to a concert on Friday night by pianist Fazil Say. Ankara welcomed
Trump's announcement last month that the US would pull out its 2,000 military
personnel from Syria but American officials and security experts have been more
cautious, worried about withdrawing too early. Graham, who as a member of the
Senate Armed Services committee has frequently visited US troops in combat
zones, said he believed the "goal of destroying ISIS is not yet accomplished".
Their defeat had been "accomplished territorially" but there were "thousands of
ISIS fighters that lurk in Syria", Graham warned. Four Americans, including two
service personnel, were among those killed in a suicide attack this week claimed
by the group in the key city of Manbij in Syria's north. Washington has also
expressed concern over Turkey's plans to launch a cross-border military
operation against the US-backed Syrian Kurdish People's Protection Units (YPG)
militia. Trump last weekend warned of devastating economic consequences for
Turkey over any attack on Kurdish forces. US support for the YPG has caused
tension with Ankara which views the militia as a "terrorist offshoot" of the
outlawed Kurdistan Workers' Party (PKK). The PKK, which has waged an insurgency
inside Turkey since 1984, is blacklisted as a terrorist organisation by Ankara,
the US and the European Union. Graham previously warned that "Kurds will get
slaughtered" if the US withdrew immediately. But on Saturday, the senator said
the YPG's political branch, the Democratic Union Party (PYD), "is interlinked
with the PKK" as he acknowledged Turkey's concerns over the militia.
Canada PM Renews Calls for Saudi Blogger's Release
Agence France Presse/Naharnet/January 19/19/Prime Minister Justin Trudeau
renewed calls for the release of Saudi blogger Raif Badawi after meeting his
wife on Friday, calling the issue "a priority" for him and all Canadians.
Trudeau said Canadians' view of Saudi Arabia had been defined in part by its
treatment of Badawi, who was jailed for 10 years for insulting Islam and has
received 50 lashes of 1,000 to which he was sentenced. Badawi's wife and three
children have lived in Canada since being granted asylum in 2013, a year after
his jailing. "Freeing Raif Badawi is a priority not just for me and for his
family but for all Canadians," Trudeau said. "We continue to try to convince the
Saudis and apply pressure on them both behind the scenes and in public to
liberate Raif Badawi," including asking for a pardon, he said. Trudeau said he
had raised the case in conversation with Crown Prince Mohammed bin Salman,
highlighting Badawi's status as the face of Canada-Saudi relations. The two
leaders met at the G20 summit in Buenos Aires in early December. "It's the same
message that I delivered a few months earlier to the King of Saudi Arabia when
we spoke" by telephone, Trudeau added. Canada-Saudi relations soured last August
after Ottawa demanded the "immediate release" of jailed human rights
campaigners, including Badawi's sister Samar. The kingdom reacted with fury,
expelling the Canadian ambassador and severing all trade and investment ties in
protest. Canada's granting of asylum last week to a young Saudi woman, Rahaf
Mohammed al-Qunun, who fled her family, was widely expected to further strain
relations with the kingdom.
Macron's Debate Put to Test as 'Yellow Vests' Stage Tenth
Protest
Agence France Presse/Naharnet/January 19/19/France's "yellow vests" took to the
streets on Saturday for a 10th straight weekend of anti-government protests,
defying attempts by President Emmanuel Macron to channel their anger into a
series of town hall debates. A police source said the authorities expected the
protests to be "at least as big as last week" when over 80,000 people
demonstrated over inequality, the privileges enjoyed by senior public servants
and the governing style of a president accused of arrogance. Last week's turnout
confirmed that, after a lull at the end of the year, the protesters behind the
biggest crisis in Macron's presidency remain fully mobilised. The centrist
leader is hoping that the launch this week of a "grand national debate" on
policy will mark a turning point. One of the yellow vests' top demands is that
ordinary citizens be given a greater say in policy-making. Macron this week
kickstarted two months of public consultations on issues ranging from taxation
to public services, spending over 12 hours in total debating with mayors at two
separate gatherings in the north and south-west of the country. The debates mark
a return to form for the 41-year-old president who won election at the head of a
grassroots movement that went door-to-door asking the French what kind of
changes were needed. A prodigious debater he appeared this week to relish the
return to campaign-style politics. But many yellow vests have announced plans to
boycott the discussions scheduled in dozens of towns and villages, seeing them
as an attempt to drain support from a movement that erupted in mid-November over
fuel taxes and quickly broadened into a campaign of weekly protests that have
regularly ended in clashes with police and destruction of property. The growing
number of demonstrators to suffer serious injuries at the hands of the police
has compounded their anger towards the state. The "Disarm" collective, a local
group that campaigns against police violence, has counted 98 cases of serious
injuries, including 15 cases of people losing an eye, mostly after being hit by
rubber bullets.On Saturday, protesters plan to march from Invalides war museum
in Paris through the left bank of the Seine.Some 80,000 security force members
are on duty again nationwide, 5,000 of them in Paris.
Warning against debate 'bluff'
Macron is pinning his hopes on the debate to quash the image of a leader
out-of-touch with the concerns of people in rural France. Polls show mixed
feelings among the French, with around 40 percent saying they would like to take
part but around two-thirds saying they do not believe the consultations will end
the protests. "I'm warning you, Mr President. This debate must not become a big
bluff," the mayor of the south-central village of Saint-Cirgues, Christian
Venries, warned Macron at a public meeting Friday in his region. To fend off
accusations that his policies favour rich urbanites the most, former investment
banker Macron has already scrapped a controversial fuel tax hike that would have
squeezed car-dependent rural-dwellers. He has also unveiled a 10-billion-euro
($11.5-billion) package of wage increases and tax relief for low earners and
retirees that threw off France's deficit targets. The measures fell short of the
mark for the protesters, who are demanding a radical policy shift in favour of
low earners, buoyed by polls that show widespread sympathy for their cause.
U.S. Senator Says Saudi Crown Prince Must Be 'Dealt with'
over Khashoggi Murder
Agence France Presse/Naharnet/January 19/19/A key US senator on Saturday said
the Saudi crown prince was responsible for Jamal Khashoggi's murder and must be
"dealt with", as he threatened new sanctions. Republican Lindsey Graham, an
influential ally of President Donald Trump, has previously said that Crown
Prince Mohammed bin Salman was complicit in the grisly killing of Washington
Post contributor Khashoggi in October. "I have concluded that the relationship
between Saudi Arabia and the United States cannot move forward until MBS has
been dealt with," Graham said, using the initials for the crown prince. Graham
also threatened new sanctions against those suspected of involvement in the
murder during a press conference in Ankara.Western countries including the US,
France and Canada have placed sanctions on nearly 20 Saudi nationals as the case
has tarnished Riyadh's international reputation. "We will start sanctioning
those involved in the killing of Mr Khashoggi. We'll make a definitive statement
that MBS knew about it and is responsible for it and come up with a series of
sanctions," the South Carolina lawmaker said. Turkey says Khashoggi was killed
by a team of 15 Saudis who strangled him during a visit to the Saudi consulate
in Istanbul on October 2 to obtain paperwork ahead of his upcoming marriage. The
remains of the insider turned critic of the kingdom have yet to be found, three
months after this murder. Riyadh has denied any claims of the crown prince's
involvement but the case has caused strains with Washington. Earlier this month
the trial of 11 accused opened in Saudi Arabia with the attorney general seeking
the death penalty for five defendants. Graham acknowledged that he had been
"enthusiastic" in his support of Prince Mohammed but accepted he had been
"wrong". "What has transpired in the last couple of years is unnerving to say
the least," he said. Graham said the sanctions were intended to send the message
that the murder was "not what you do if you're an ally of the United States".
Special Counsel Disputes Explosive Report on Trump Lawyer
Testimony
Agence France Presse/Naharnet/January 19/19/Special Counsel Robert Mueller's
office took the rare step Friday of disputing a news report on his Russia
investigation, saying a BuzzFeed article alleging that US President Donald Trump
directed his former lawyer to lie to Congress is "not accurate."Trump's
lieutenants had already strongly pushed back against the report, which said that
the president ordered Michael Cohen to lie about a Russian skyscraper project
they pursued during the 2016 election. "BuzzFeed's description of specific
statements to the Special Counsel's Office, and characterization of documents
and testimony obtained by this office, regarding Michael Cohen's Congressional
testimony are not accurate," spokesman Peter Carr said in a statement. Mueller's
investigation into Russian interference in the 2016 vote and possible collusion
between Trump's campaign and Moscow is the subject of frequent articles and even
more frequent speculation. But it is extremely rare -- if not unprecedented --
for Mueller's office to issue such a statement. BuzzFeed's editor-in chief
however said the news organization stood by its work. "We stand by our reporting
and the sources who informed it, and we urge the Special Counsel to make clear
what he's disputing," Ben Smith tweeted. The statement was nevertheless a cause
for celebration for the president, who retweeted numerous supporters slamming
BuzzFeed and later wrote it was "A very sad day for journalism, but a great day
for our Country!""Fake News is truly the ENEMY OF THE PEOPLE!" he added, a now
familiar refrain when talking about critical media. Trump's lawyer Rudy Giuliani
had earlier called the allegation in the BuzzFeed report "categorically false"
in a comment sent to several White House reporters, while Deputy White House
Spokesman Hogan Gidley labeled the report "ridiculous." He said Cohen is someone
"who now quite frankly has been proven to be a liar." Democrats in Congress had
pledged to investigate the report to see if the president had committed an
impeachable felony. "These allegations may prove unfounded, but, if true, they
would constitute both the subornation of perjury as well as obstruction of
justice," said Adam Schiff, the chairman of the House Intelligence Committee.
BuzzFeed reported late Thursday that Cohen, who worked for Trump for more than a
decade, has told investigators that the president personally instructed him to
lie about the Moscow Trump Tower plan in testimony in 2017 to the House and
Senate Intelligence Committees. The BuzzFeed article was based on interviews
with two anonymous "federal law enforcement officials" who are familiar with
Cohen's testimony to the investigation led by Mueller. "Any suggestion -- from
any source -- that the president counseled Michael Cohen to lie is categorically
false. Michael Cohen is a convicted criminal and a liar," Giuliani said in a
statement quoted by New York Times reporter Maggie Haberman.
"Lying to reduce his jail time!" Trump said on Twitter of Cohen, who was
convicted last year of fraud and perjury.
A plea deal
No other media have confirmed BuzzFeed's reporting. It came two months after
Cohen pleaded guilty in a New York court to making "false, fictitious and
fraudulent" written testimony to the House and Senate intelligence committees in
August 2017 in connection with the Moscow project. A statement of the facts in
his November 29 plea deal with Mueller's prosecutors suggested that his
testimony had been prepared in consultation with unnamed people in the White
House. Cohen had told the two committees that the Moscow project talks ended in
January 2016, when in fact, as he later admitted, they went on at least six
months longer, to June 2016 when Trump had already secured the Republican
nomination for president. Cohen had also testified that others in the campaign,
including Trump, were not informed about the project. But in the November plea
deal, Cohen also admitted the project had been discussed with Trump --
designated "Individual 1" in court documents -- several times in early 2016.
"Cohen made the false statements to minimize links between the Moscow project
and Individual 1... in hopes of limiting the ongoing Russia investigations,"
prosecutors wrote.
Trump's right-hand man
Cohen was the president's right-hand man for years at the Trump Organization,
the umbrella company, often relied upon to quietly fix difficult problems and
negotiate deals for the real estate mogul. But he turned on his former boss
after he was charged with giving hush money to women alleging affairs with Trump
ahead of the 2016 election -- payments that violated campaign finance laws.
Cohen, who has been sentenced to three years in jail, said Trump ordered him to
make the payments, and now says he regrets his work for the president. While
Democrats could not confirm the BuzzFeed report, they said they were poised to
further probe the allegations. "Our committee is already working to secure
additional witness testimony and documents related to the Trump Tower Moscow
deal and other investigative matters," said Intelligence Committee chairman
Schiff.
Brexit Bullion: Fear of No-Deal Triggers Irish Gold Rush
Agence France Presse/Naharnet/January 19/19/In a vault under the streets of
Dublin a pot of gold owned by anxious investors is growing every day Britain
edges closer to leaving the EU without a deal. "They're worried about a
significant devaluation in sterling if there's a hard Brexit," said Seamus Fahy.
Fahy is co-founder of Merrion Vaults, a gold brokerage and safe deposit facility
in the centre of the Irish capital. Over 2018 -- as the prospect of Britain
crashing out of the EU turned from a scare story into a very real prospect -- he
has seen a 70 percent rise in clients from the British province of Northern
Ireland. "Customers are taking money -- physical money -- out of the bank and
they're buying gold bullion with us to store it, and it's a hedge," Fahy
explained. There is no equivalent facility in Northern Ireland. With the border
only an hour away it is no long trip to secure peace of mind as Britain risks a
split with the EU critics are branding a "cliff-edge Brexit".
A hidden investment
Set in the basement of an unassuming grey office block, Merrion Vaults does not
advertise its presence to passersby, marked only with a coy plaque reading "Merrion
Private". Down an elevator, past a manned security booth and a fingerprint
scanner -- as well as a hefty metal safe door -- is a caged vault, ranked with
3,000 double-locked deposit boxes. Their full contents are known only to
clients. But Fahy knows that inside many are glimmering stashes of gold.
Numerous customers have spent over £500,000 (560,000 euros) on their precious
nest eggs. The most popular items are one ounce (30 gram) gold bars and coins:
handsomely polished South African Krugerrands, Canadian Maple Leafs and British
Britannias worth in the region of £1,100 (1,200 euros) each. They have increased
in value by around 10 per cent in the past six months, according to Fahy's
ledger. When news of the 2016 Brexit vote broke, gold surged as sterling plunged
to levels not seen since 1985. The result was an historic 22 per cent jump in
gold valued in British currency terms. In December, when British Prime Minister
Theresa May pulled the parliamentary vote on her Brexit deal, Fahy also saw a
"big uptick" in demand. Pundits saw that as the most foreboding indication yet
of a no-deal Brexit on March 29.
- 'Flight to safety' -
The prospect of the fallout sinking sterling seems to be making investors
skittish. "In times of crisis you always see what's called this 'flight to
safety' -- so people go into US government bonds, gold bullion, Swiss francs
etc.," said Fahy. The future status of Northern Ireland -- the so-called "Irish
backstop" -- is at the crux of the Brexit conundrum and has added particular
concerns on the island. "You often see local events driving local demand," said
Alistair Hewitt, head of market intelligence at the World Gold Council. But
Hewitt said that the Brexit gold rush may have already peaked in the rest of
Britain, with "an upsurge of activity" around the vote itself. "Over the course
of the past two years that's probably petered out a little bit. I think lots of
investors have probably suffered a bit of Brexit fatigue."
Latest LCCC English analysis & editorials from miscellaneous sources published
on January 19-20/19
Bashar al-Assad’s 10-year challenge
Makram Rabah/Al Arabiya/January 19/19
Over the past few weeks, social media has been taken over by the 10-Year
Challenge: the latest online fad where users post two pictures themselves 10
years apart, allowing them to reminisce and engage with their friends and
family. This trivial internet craze led me to ponder what Bashar al-Assad would
post on his social media account if he had the chance, and how this would be
reflective of his career and future aspirations. The Arab Economic Summit,
taking place in Lebanon over the weekend, is in its own right an Assad 10-Year
Challenge as his were desperately scrambling to turn this venue into an occasion
to normalize Syria’s relations with its Arab neighbors. The zeal to reinstate
Syria’s membership in the Arab League, according to Assad’s supporters, would be
the last act in securing Iran’s supposed victory in the region. Ultimately,
Assad wishes to show both his supporters as well as his opponents that he, and
equally his regime, are older yet stronger having endured eight years of
gruesome war yet survived.
Ten years have passed since Saudi King Abdullah’s wishful attempt to skew Assad
from his joint venture with the Iranian regime, an attempt that led Assad to
cooperate further with Tehran and to allow it more access to both Lebanon and
Syria
This normalization blitz led by Assad’s Lebanese allies, mainly Speaker of
Parliament Nabih Berri and Lebanon’s Foreign Minister and President Michel
Aoun’s son-in-law Gebran Bassil, clearly demonstrates how Assad and his Iranian
associates have no real understanding of the steps needed to achieve proper
normalization. In Assad’s dictionary, normalization simply means continuing to
play both sides of the political spectrum and promising the Arab Gulf countries
to abandon his “sacred alliance” with Iran in exchange for the billions needed
to rebuild Syria and its razed infrastructure.
Growing Iranian influence
Assad simply misconstrued some of the Arab countries’ initiatives, such as the
United Arab Emirates and Bahrain, to meet him half way by reopening their
embassies in Damascus. Instead of reciprocating with an act of good faith, Assad
exerted more pressure on the Lebanese state by derailing the formation of the
next government by Prime Minister-designate Saad Hariri, linking the formation
with Hariri’s acceptance to invite him to the Beirut summit. Such actions prove
that any bid to normalize relations with the Assad regime will simply face the
same fate as its many earlier attempts.
One ought not forget that the late Saudi King Abdullah made the trip to Damascus
in October 2009 and later chaperoned Assad to Beirut in hopes of containing
Iran’s growing influence in the area and to shield the Lebanese government from
Hezbollah’s complete take-over. Ten years have passed since King Abdullah’s
wishful attempt to skew Assad from his joint venture with the Iranian regime, an
attempt that led Assad to cooperate further with Tehran and to allow it more
access to both Lebanon and Syria.
The repercussions of empowering Assad at this particular moment in time, by
re-establishing diplomatic relations or even readmitting him to the Arab League
will only strengthen Iran and come at the expense of Lebanon, Iraq as well as
Yemen; places which the Iranian Revolutionary Guards have won over with blood
and sweat, and will simply not forgo easily. In 1990, Hafez al-Assad was handed
Lebanon in exchange for his participation in the first Gulf War to liberate
Kuwait, a grant that his son Bashar lost after he failed to check Iran’s growing
infiltration of the region. Bashar simply can no longer deliver as a peddler of
security and stability like his equally ruthless father did; as it stands Assad
is merely a finger-puppet as well as a victim of Iran’s ambitious expansion in
the Levant. The challenge to exit the current state of affairs in the next
decade or so is for the future pictures not to include the likes of Assad, nor
should one be fooled that a simple Photoshop or political whitewashing can hide
the fact that Assad and his Iranian patrons are the problem and never the
solution.
Will the Taliban finally sit down with the Afghan government?
Dr. Azeem Ibrahim/Al Arabiya/January 19/19
US Special Envoy to Afghanistan, Ambassador Zalmay Khalilzad said on Wednesday
that direct talks with the Taliban “will happen very soon.”
It was not clear if the ambassador was referring to Taliban-US talks - which
have seen four iterations to date, or direct Taliban-Afghan government talks -
which the Taliban have repeatedly refused. If the latter, then it is a
significant development. The US has held direct talks with the Taliban in
Pakistan, UAE and Saudi Arabia. However, the Taliban have continuously refused
to meet with any Afghan government representatives as they believe the Afghan
government is nothing more than a puppet of the US and holds no legitimacy. In
the last round of talks in the UAE, the Afghan government quietly sent a
delegation hoping to get a seat at the table, but the Taliban refused to meet
with them and broke of the talks. Success with these aims depends on the
support, active or passive, of ordinary Afghan elders, men and women. But the
same is true of the Afghan Taliban. It is ordinary Afghans who, daily, choose to
get involved in the Taliban insurgency
If the Taliban have suddenly had a change of heart, it will not be the first
time. For over a decade they refused to meet with any US representative until
all US forces were fully withdrawn, and until the land was free of “foreign
invaders.” But after seventeen years of conflict even the Taliban decided to
give it a try.
A change of heart. One possible explanation for the about-turn is the additional
pressure on the Taliban from the new government in Pakistan. Last week, a senior
military leader of the Taliban, Hafiz Mohibullah, who has been intimately
involved in talks with the United States, was himself arrested in Peshawar
Pakistan – and subsequently released. It is possible that the Pakistani
intelligence service made it clear to him that Pakistan’s new government is
expecting to adopt a zero-tolerance policy of allowing the use of it’s territory
as a safe haven.
Nevertheless, this new approach is not without its problems. At the heart of the
US mission, is a fight for the allegiance of the Afghan people. It is their
allegiance, which is key to the other priorities: protecting them from Taliban
forces, building up the Afghan national forces, boosting the government’s
legitimacy, and improving the coordination of civilian aid.
Success with these aims depends on the support, active or passive, of ordinary
Afghan elders, men and women. But the same is true of the Afghan Taliban. It is
ordinary Afghans who, daily, choose to get involved in the Taliban insurgency,
or to involve themselves in the US-supported projects such as signing up to join
the new local guardian force operating in the Wardak province, the fledgling
national army, or local or national democracy. If we acknowledge this, we
acknowledge that regarding the war in Afghanistan in simplistic Manichaean terms
- save as many good guys as possible while taking out as many bad guys as
possible - is a mistake. The ‘good guys’ and the ‘bad guys’ are often the same
people. Rather the US must play a game of incentives - maximizing Afghans’
incentive to participate and minimizing their incentive to fight.
Including the Taliban in the political process
There is little the US can do to minimize the incentive to fight, especially for
those Afghans motivated by the mere presence in their country of Western,
non-Muslim forces or by skewed interpretations of a rural conservative brand of
Islam. But there are things they can do to maximize the incentive to
participate.
Foremost amongst them is bringing the Taliban into the political process. I
believe the pros of this approach outbalance the cons. The first con is that it
will mean some unpalatable results. The Taliban’s often brutal form of
conservative justice shocks the liberal sensibilities of the western electorates
paying for the war. Bringing them into the political process will mean conceding
that where, for example, young brides wed older men, US troops are not the right
means to change those customs and attitudes.
The answer to this is that we are getting these unpalatable results already - we
have the worst of both worlds. President Karzai recognized this and made these
kinds of concessions to bolster his legitimacy. Witness the law passed before
the election allowing Shia men to deny their wives sustenance if they do not
satisfy their husbands, and which requires women to get permission from their
husbands to work. These helped to shore up his power, but did not substantially
neutralize the Taliban’s desire to fight by bringing them into the political
process.
The pro is that bringing the Taliban into the political process will mean
setting up a thoroughgoing participative process. One of the problems with the
electoral system we implemented was that traditional power brokers such as
warlords had such a central role in ensuring support for the candidates. For
example, the government paid insurgent leaders in exchange for their agreement
not to attack voters or polling stations, according to the former head of
Afghanistan’s Intelligence service, Amrullah Saleh. Nobody expected an advanced
democratic process. But we can reasonably expect that next time, votes are a
better representation of opinion on the ground, rather than who has been bought
to ‘deliver’ a particular province or area for a candidate. This will require
that the differences over how Afghanistan is governed be expressed in debate,
rather than merely fought over, and this is the real advantage of bringing
ex-militants into the process as much as possible. This process will necessarily
start with negotiating with some people who the US has been fighting. That will
not be easy to accept.
But participation is the first step towards a self-sustaining process. And that
is essential to boosting the legitimacy of the Afghan government.
Is Chechnya Putin’s blueprint for Syria?
Anna Borshchevskaya/The Hill/January 19/19
President Donald Trump’s decision to withdraw from Syria makes Russian President
Vladimir Putin the unchallenged power broker in Syria. Sure, Iran, Hezbollah and
Turkey also have influence, but the Kremlin’s red lines matter. The Kremlin
could barely contain its glee at Trump’s move. Putin praised the decision as
“correct,” and Russian foreign ministry spokeswoman Maria Zakharova said the
U.S. pullout creates good prospects for a “political solution” in Syria. As
Bashar Assad re-consolidates military control over the country with Russian and
Iranian military support, international attention has turned to a “political
solution” in Syria. With the United States largely vacating its remaining
influence, what will Russia’s strategy be? It pays to consider the Chechnya
precedent. It was the Second Chechen War (1999-2009) that launched Putin’s
political career, when in September 1999 a series of apartment bombings in
several major cities shook Russia. Putin, then prime minister, immediately
blamed Chechnya and declared, war which brought him from obscurity into the
presidency.
Decades before providing Assad cover for using chemical weapons and razing large
portions of Aleppo, Putin oversaw a scorched earth campaign in Chechnya, razing
the capital city Grozny to the ground. Against the backdrop of such
bloodletting, the Kremlin engaged in a charade of negotiating with
Kremlin-backed Chechen leaders, largely to assuage the Parliamentary Assembly of
the Council of Europe that was demanding formal peace talks. The Russians wanted
to manage the process, and they essentially only allowed one side to
participate. Simultaneously, in order to crush the Chechen independence
struggle, Putin ignored and marginalized moderate and secular Chechens such as
the legitimately elected president at the time, Aslan Maskhadov. After the
Syrian civil war began, Moscow pursued a similar strategy, seeking to
marginalize any opposition groups that demanded Assad’s departure. In June 2012,
three years before Moscow began its military intervention in Syria, the Geneva
Communiqué outlined a U.N. roadmap for ending the violence and establishing a
transitional governing body. On this basis, Moscow then engaged in peace talks
but only with those groups who did not demand Assad’s departure.
Over the years, Moscow engaged such faux opposition figures as Qadri Jamil — a
Syrian politician who “always hovered on the outskirts of [Assad] regime
politics,” according to Carnegie Middle East Center — and Randa Kassis, leader
of Movement for Pluralistic Society, who publicly supported Putin’s Syria policy
and co-founded the pro-Kremlin Center of Political and Foreign Affairs. Khaled
Mahamid, another member of Syrian opposition, openly supports Moscow’s goals of
restoring Assad’s control across Syria. Putin has long sought to give the patina
of international law to Russian involvement. In 2015, the U.N. Security Council
passed Resolution 2254, which outlines the political transition in Syria. The
Kremlin sponsored many rounds of peace talks in Astana and Sochi, which
ostensibly reaffirmed 2254, but the talks produced little of substance and
mostly marginalized groups friendly to the United States. Often, the Assad
regime’s symbols decorated conference facilities. While the spirit of the 2254
envisions the Syrians choosing their own future, it is easy for Moscow to use it
to legitimize a sham election to restore legitimacy to Assad.
Indeed, Syria’s current electoral law does not allow many in the diaspora to
participate in elections, in effect disenfranchising millions forced to flee as
refugees, many of which after facing barrel bombs, chemical weapons, or death
squads are directed to their towns and neighborhoods because they were deemed
disloyal to Assad. In Chechnya, Moscow’s human rights violations and
marginalization of moderate voices went hand-in-hand with the rise of extremism.
Putin-installed Ramzan Kadyrov has ruled Chechnya with an iron fist, and oversaw
Chechnya’s Islamization.
No amount of reconstruction could erase the tensions that remain beneath the
false calm. And brute force works until it doesn’t. Syria is far more complex
than Chechnya, with multiple actors who pursue different and at times competing
interests. Putin is not guaranteed success.
In Chechnya the Kremlin installed its chosen leader, while in Syria it sees no
alternative to the one who was there from the beginning. But in both cases,
Western policymakers continue to cling to the belief that their goal to reach
genuine conflict resolution aligns with Moscow’s.
The reality is different. Putin, who has been pushing his version of a Syrian
constitution since at least April 2016, is now in a better position to pursue
the Chechnya model in Syria. Far from a genuine resolution, Moscow could preside
over a frozen conflict of its own making. With Putin’s management it is
guaranteed to simmer for many years to come.
**Anna Borshchevskaya is a senior fellow at the Washington Institute for Near
East Policy.
Analysis/Biggest Challenge Facing New Israeli Army Chief: A
Wild Card Thousands of Miles Away
عاموس هاريل من الهآرتس: التحدي الأكبر الذي يواجه رئيس الأركان الإسرائيلي الجديد
هو وضغ شاذ على بعُد ألآلاف الأميال من بلاده
/ أكبر تحدٍ يواجه قائد الجيش الإسرائيلي الجديد: بطاقة بريّة آلاف الأميال
Amos Harel/Haaretz/January 19/19
http://eliasbejjaninews.com/archives/71249/amos-harel-haaretz-biggest-challenge-facing-new-israeli-army-chief-a-wild-card-thousands-of-miles-away-%D8%B9%D8%A7%D9%85%D9%88%D8%B3-%D9%87%D8%A7%D8%B1%D9%8A%D9%84-%D9%85%D9%86-%D8%A7%D9%84%D9%87/
How the attack that killed U.S. forces in Syria could affect Trump’s pullout ■
The question of Iran’s nuclear program is set to make a comeback
The strategic reality facing the new chief of staff of the Israel Defense
Forces, Lt. Gen. Aviv Kochavi, will depend largely on one factor – the political
situation in the United States. More precisely, it will depend on the vagaries
of U.S. President Donald Trump.
At the outset of 2019, the Trump administration continues to convey uncertainty
and instability. The amount of news generated by the president in one week, like
this past one, is equivalent to several months’ worth with previous presidents.
Trump hunkered down in the White House, telling interviewers that he hadn’t
emerged in months, forgetting for a moment his frequent trips. He’s up to his
neck in the crisis resulting from the government shutdown, continuing with his
promises to build his wall on the Mexican border.
But the latest crisis is only a symptom. The deluge of headlines in recent days
included the following.
The FBI investigation into Trump began right after he was sworn in two years
ago, on suspicions he was a spy or acting on Russia's behalf. There was a report
he was considering an American withdrawal from NATO, an idea whose very mention
sends shivers down the spines of strategic experts, Democrats and Republicans
alike. There was also news of a secret plan initiated by the national security
adviser, John Bolton, for attacking targets in Iran.
From Israel’s perspective, Trump’s Middle East policies will be affected by two
interconnected factors: progress by Special Counsel Robert Mueller and the
balance of power between the United States and Russia. The shattering of norms
in Washington may get worse with the Democratic-led House of Representatives
promoting further embarrassing investigations into Trump. It seems that, under
pressure, the president will act even more erratically than during his first two
years in office.
The president will have an even shorter attention span when it comes to foreign
affairs. With the removal of any remaining restraints – after the withdrawal of
generals John Kelly as White House chief of staff and Jim Mattis as defense
secretary – Trump may be tempted to take strategic gambles to deflect attention
from his legal troubles at home.
The timetable for implementing Trump’s decision to withdraw from Syria is still
unclear. In recent trips to the Middle East by Bolton and Secretary of State
Mike Pompeo, there was mention of a process that would take months. The
evacuation of the American base at al-Tanf in southern Syria, near the borders
with Iraq and Jordan, could take even longer.
This is viewed in Israel as critical because the U.S. presence there is seen as
an obstacle against creating a land bridge from Tehran to Iraq, Syria and on to
Beirut. On the other hand, Trump is sticking to the principle of withdrawing.
It’s possible that this week’s attack by the Islamic State, in which four
American soldiers died in the Kurdish town of Manbij in northern Syria, will
give him another reason to speed up the exit of U.S. troops.
IDF Chief of Staff Gadi Eisenkot, who ended his term this week, began his tenure
in February 2015 amid hopes that the big powers’ negotiations with Iran over a
nuclear accord would end well. A deal was then signed in July of that year,
sending Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu into shock.
The IDF actually saw it in a positive light. This was a dramatic turning point,
giving Eisenkot an interlude for launching the multiyear Gideon plan, whose main
component was the diversion of resources from preparations for attacking Iran.
Instead, Israel would contend with challenges closer to home such as Hezbollah
and Hamas.
A second strategic turning point followed almost immediately, in September 2015,
with the dispatch of two Russian fighter squadrons to help the Assad regime in
Syria. This gift to Bashar Assad from Vladimir Putin not only tipped the scales
in the civil war and saved the Syrian tyrant, Russia’s cooperation with Iran on
Assad’s behalf accelerated Iranian moves to dig in militarily in Syria while
smuggling weapons to Hezbollah in Lebanon.
This was confronted by the IDF, under Eisenkot, with considerable success. Last
weekend’s news of airstrikes on thousands of targets in Syria wasn’t very
informative. First, neither the targets nor the achievements were disclosed.
Second, since Syria’s accidental downing of a Russian spy plane in September,
Israel has reduced its number of strikes and is now meticulously avoiding areas
near Russian bases in northwestern Syria.
Netanyahu, in his speech during the chief-of-staff changeover Tuesday, stressed
again his real interest: Iran, Iran and Iran. Eisenkot focused his efforts on
contending with Iran in Syria not terribly far from the Israeli border.
Trump’s decision to withdraw from the nuclear accord, with Netanyahu’s vigorous
encouragement, raises anew the problem of Iran’s nuclear program. It’s likely
that Netanyahu will again ask the military to upgrade its operational plans to
contend with this problem, which requires a considerable investment of
resources. Kochavi must now craft a new multiyear program, taking into account
new directions laid out by Netanyahu in the context of an unpredictable regional
and international situation.
Trump’s future is a big unknown factor in this equation. The Israeli political
arena, with an election coming up on April 9, followed by what looks like a
corruption indictment against the prime minister, doesn’t herald much stability
or certainty.
Analysis/ At anti-Iran Conference, Trump Will Try to Form an 'Arab NATO' – and
Likely Fail
زفي بارئيل من الهآرتس: سوف يحاول ترامب في المؤتمر الخاص بمواجهة إيران أن يقيم
تحالف عسكري عربي كالنيتو الغربي لكنه بالغالب سيفشل
Zvi Bar'el/Haaretz/January 19/19
http://eliasbejjaninews.com/archives/71252/zvi-barel-haaretz-at-anti-iran-conference-trump-will-try-to-form-an-arab-nato-and-likely-fail-%D8%B2%D9%81%D9%8A-%D8%A8%D8%A7%D8%B1%D8%A6%D9%8A%D9%84-%D9%85%D9%86-%D8%A7%D9%84%D9%87/
Next month, Washington will convene 70 world leaders in Warsaw in
an attempt to form an alliance against Iran. But they all remember Trump's
zigzagging policies
Very quietly, without the furor that has accompanied the resignations of senior
officials in the Trump administration, Gen. (ret.) Anthony Zinni resigned last
week from the U.S. State Department, saying his services were no longer needed.
Actually, his services are greatly needed, but he has failed in the difficult
diplomatic assignment Trump gave him.
About 18 months ago, Trump sent him to end the crisis between Saudi Arabia and
Qatar and try to form an “Arab NATO.” The schism, which led Saudi Arabia, the
United Arab Emirates, Bahrain and Egypt to impose harsh economic sanctions on
Qatar in 2017, has to be healed before any such strategic alliance can emerge.
Peace process veterans will remember Zinni from the days when President George
W. Bush asked him to work a miracle on the Israeli-Palestinian issue, and he’s
still considered one of the most talented diplomats to emerge from the armed
forces. But he threw up his hands after realizing that Riyadh, despite the
damage it incurred from the murder of journalist Jamal Khashoggi, still refuses
to reconcile with Qatar, even for the sake of a coalition against Iran.
Zinni has no complaints about the Trump administration, which supported his
mission. But the poisonous relations among the Gulf States defeated him. Now,
Secretary of State Mike Pompeo is trying to use the scaffolding Zinni built to
revive the idea of a strategic alliance.
In less than a month, officials from 70 countries will come to Warsaw for the
anti-Iran show Pompeo is staging. It’s not clear what the conference is meant to
achieve, since the administration has already taken the most important step –
withdrawing America from the nuclear deal. Efforts to persuade the European
Union to follow suit have failed, renewed sanctions have already been imposed,
and even if their full implementation has been postponed until May, the message
has gotten through.
Usually, such a conference is convened prior to some diplomatic or military
move. But this time, it seems to be an effort to maintain the anti-Iranian
momentum, given that threats and pressure haven’t persuaded Iran either to
reopen the nuclear deal or negotiate a separate deal on its ballistic missile
program.
Israel is predictably happy over the conference, especially since it may give
Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu a chance to be photographed shaking hands with
Arab leaders. The anti-Iranian statements that will be made there are just a
bonus.
Nevertheless, it’s hard to imagine this conference persuading the rival Arab
states to take practical steps against Iran.
America’s diplomatic strategy, to the degree that it deserves that term, is
operating on two main tracks. One is aimed at persuading as many states as
possible to join the sanctions on Iran, thereby narrowing the gaping holes
created by Iran’s ties with Russia, China and Turkey. The second is aimed at
building an effective Arab coalition to block Iranian influence in the Middle
East.
The State Department’s efforts against Iran can be seen from a classified cable
sent by the Lebanese Embassy in Washington to Lebanon’s Foreign Ministry. It
said Washington was urging Lebanon and other Arab League members not to invite
Syria to the Arab economic summit in Beirut on January 20, and also urging
Lebanon not to do anything that could provide the Syrian regime with funds, like
investing in Syria or sending money for its reconstruction. The cable warned
that any financial or material aid to the Assad regime or its supporters would
be subject to American sanctions.
This cable, reported this week by the pro-Hezbollah Lebanese paper Al-Akhbar,
was the State Department’s response to Beirut’s question about American policy
on cooperation with Syria.
Lebanon has no power to invite or disinvite Syria; that decision will be made by
the Arab League, which is also still debating over whether to invite Syria to
the league summit in Tunisia in March. But the very fact that Beirut asked this
question shows that Lebanon and other Arab states are confused over America’s
policy.
The request that Syria be barred from the economic summit, and perhaps also from
the Arab League summit, is ostensibly meant to prevent Arab states from
normalizing relations with Iran’s ally and to force Lebanon itself to decide
whether it’s with America against Iran, or whether it obeys orders from
Hezbollah and Tehran – which could result in Washington cutting aid to Lebanon’s
army.
David Hale, the undersecretary of state for political affairs, made this
explicit during his visit to Beirut this week, saying that while Lebanon’s
government is a matter for the Lebanese alone, the type of government it chooses
will affect the country’s economy and stability. That was a warning against
giving Hezbollah representatives senior posts in the still unformed government.
But as Hale, a former U.S. ambassador to Lebanon, knows quite well, there’s no
chance of Lebanon complying with this demand, given the balance of political
forces in the country.
Nevertheless, his demand sparked a political outcry in Lebanon against U.S.
intervention in the country’s internal affairs. Ministers vied with each other
to denounce Hale’s chutzpah.
Lebanon has been spared one difficult decision, since it wasn’t invited to the
Warsaw conference. But America’s demands of the Arab states pose a dilemma for
it.
The State Department’s request/order that Lebanon not help rebuild Syria also
raises concerns that in this administration, one hand doesn’t know what the
other is doing. Just two weeks ago, Trump announced that Saudi Arabia would take
on the burden of Syria’s post-war reconstruction. But who would Riyadh assist if
not Syrian President Bashar Assad, to whose continuation in power Washington has
already acquiesced? And if Riyadh helped Assad, would that stop the flow of
money from Iran?
But quite aside from this internal contradiction, it’s interesting that the
administration has said nothing about Bahrain and the UAE reopening their
embassies in Damascus, and was also mute about Sudanese President Omar al-Bashir’s
visit to the Syrian capital. One can safely assume these steps were taken with
Washington’s consent, or at least its knowledge.
All these countries claim their moves are meant to bring Syria closer to the
Arab world and thereby distance it from Iran. But if that argument holds water,
why haven’t these countries resumed diplomatic relations with Qatar for the same
holy purpose? Evidently, even in the war against Iran, the Arabs have different
priorities than America does.
In any event, Iran gave the Arab rapprochement with Syria its own headline –
“The defeated return to Syria,” as one Iranian newspaper wrote. And judging by
its statements, Iran has no intention of giving up its presence in Syria as long
as “the Syrian government hasn’t asked it to leave.”
Trump has only himself to blame if he discovers that his Gulf allies haven’t
forgotten the tweet in which he announced the withdrawal of U.S. forces from
Syria, or his subsequent statement that the Iranians “can do what they want” in
Syria. Nor is an archives search needed to see the fire sale this tweet forced
on the Kurds.
The flowchart for U.S. policy against Iran in the Middle East requires it first
to effect a reconciliation between the Arab states, then persuade Iraq to reduce
its ties with Iran, push Lebanon to decide whether to make Hezbollah a partner
in the government, see what can be done to end the war in Yemen and persuade
Turkey to abandon its alliance with Iran. So far, each of these tasks has proven
impossible, and accomplishing all of them would evidently require replacing all
the Arab states’ leaders.
In December 2018, six months after Trump fired him, former Secretary of State
Rex Tillerson said the president “doesn’t like to read, doesn’t read briefing
reports, doesn’t like to get into the details of a lot of things.”
Trump, like Martin Luther King Jr., has a dream – that Iran will disappear. And
of course, he knows how to make this happen. But the details, as Tillerson said,
aren’t really important.
Palestinians' Anti-Semitic Stereotyping of Jews
Bassam Tawil/Gatestone Institute/January 19/19
https://www.gatestoneinstitute.org/13572/palestinians-anti-semitic-stereotyping-of-jews
Abbas and the Palestinian leadership are clearly trying to drag Israel into a
religious conflict with all Muslims, not only Palestinians. The Temple Mount has
become their favorite platform for disseminating blood libels....
If anyone is defiling the sanctity of the holy site, it is Abbas and his
representatives in the West Bank.
Were Israel to stop a Palestinian from entering a holy site because of his
clothing, the foreign reporters based in Jerusalem and Tel Aviv would have
rushed to the scene to interview the man and tell the world that Israel is
violating freedom of worship. This is yet another example of how the media gives
the Palestinians a pass and allows them to continue their vicious incitement
against Israel.
Palestinians are continuing to use the Temple Mount, in Arabic known as the
Haram al-Sharif, in Jerusalem, as a platform for incitement against Israel in
general and Jews in particular.
This incitement, which began after Jewish tourists were permitted to resume
their visits to the holy site in 2014, has since taken various forms. The Jewish
visits to the holy site had been suspended for several years during the Second
Intifada uprising, which erupted in September 2000.
Since 2014, the Palestinian Authority leadership, including President Mahmoud
Abbas, have been waging an unprecedented wave of incitement against Israel and
Jews to protest visits to the Temple Mount.
In 2015, Abbas announced that the Palestinians "won't allow Jews with their
filthy feet to defile our Al-Aqsa Mosque."
He went on to praise Palestinians who were ready to sacrifice their lives in
order to stop Jews from visiting the holy site: "We bless every drop of blood
that has been spilled for Allah and Jerusalem. Every martyr (Shahid) will reach
Paradise, and everyone wounded will be rewarded by Allah."
Palestinian incitement and the cynical exploitation of a holy site to spread
lies and blood libels is barely noticed by the mainstream media in the West.
(Photo by Stephanie Keith/Getty Images)
Abbas, his senior officials and media outlets have since been lying to their
people and the rest of the world by claiming that "extremist Jewish settlers
were forcibly and violently invading the Al-Aqsa Mosque." Of course, no Jewish
extremist or settler has "invaded" any mosque on the Temple Mount, certainly not
the Al-Aqsa Mosque. Most of the visitors happen to be religious Jews. The
Palestinians, however, regularly label all religious Jews "extremists" or
"settlers." It seems to be their way of stereotyping Jews as aggressors,
colonialists and extremists.
The Jewish visits to the Temple Mount are conducted in coordination with the
Israel Police and consist of a brief tour of the Temple Mount compound. The
Jewish visitors do not enter the Al-Aqsa Mosque or the nearby Dome of the Rock.
Yet this prohibition has not stopped Abbas and the Palestinian leadership,
careful not to let facts get in their way, from continuing to peddle the lie
that Jews are "storming" the two mosques.
What is dangerous about the Palestinian lies and incitement is that many
Palestinians appear to believe them. The Jewish visitors are often greeted by
angry Palestinian worshippers who hurl abuses at their police escorts and them
Early this week, the Palestinians provided yet another example of how they are
using a holy site to spread lies and blood libels against Israel and Jews. The
Palestinians also showed that their real goal is apparently to instigate a
violent confrontation with Jews at the Temple Mount. That way, the Palestinians
would be able to run and tell the world that Israel is trying to wage a
religious war on Muslims.
The latest Palestinian provocation occurred when an Israeli policeman on a
routine security check tried to enter the Dome of the Rock -- a daily practice
on the part of the Israel Police and mainly aimed at ensuring the safety of
Palestinian worshippers. There was, however, was one small "problem" with this
specific policeman: he happened to be a religious Jew who was wearing a
skullcap.
In keeping with their stereotyping of Jews, the Palestinians claimed that this
policeman was an extremist Jewish settler, so they tried to prevent him from
carrying out his task. Chanting, "Allahu Akbar!" ("Allah is Great!"), guards
belonging to the Wakf Department, the Islamic religious body that manages the
mosques at the Temple Mount, immediately closed the gates of the Dome of the
Rock. The guards and dozens of Muslim worshippers barricaded themselves inside
the mosque and began calling on other Palestinians to converge on the holy site
to "protect" it from the Jews.
Hours later, thanks to negotiations between senior police officers and heads of
the Palestinian religious authorities, an ensuing standoff between the
protesters and the police ended peacefully. The Palestinian Authority,
nevertheless, chose to take advantage of the incident to continue its campaign
of incitement against Israel and Jews. A number of senior Palestinian officials,
including Prime Minister Rami Hamdallah and his Minister for Religious Affairs,
Yusef Edais, issued separate statements in which they condemned Israel for its
"ongoing assaults and violations against the Al-Aqsa Mosque and other Islamic
and Christian holy sites" in Jerusalem.
These statements are total falsehoods that appear in the context of the
Palestinian leaders' daily incitement against Israel and Jews. The policeman was
not part of any Jewish group touring the holy site. He had no intention of
praying or "assaulting" any Islamic religious site. He was on a routine security
patrol to ensure the safety of all visitors to the Temple Mount -- Jews,
Christians and Muslims alike.
The Palestinian uproar over the scene of a religious Jewish policeman can, in
short, best be described as a display of anti-Semitism. Otherwise, how do the
Palestinians explain their non-objection to a non-religious Jewish policeman
patrolling the holy site? Why is it all right for a policeman without a skullcap
to enter the Dome of the Rock, but not all right for one wearing a skullcap to
visit the site?
The Palestinians who protested against the policeman wearing the skullcap were
following the words of their president, Abbas, when he stated that the
Palestinians won't allow Jews with their filthy feet to defile the Al-Aqsa
Mosque." In this instance, though, the Palestinians were disturbed not by the
policeman's "filthy feet", but by the fact that he was a religious Jew. Perhaps
Abbas should modify his statement from 2015 so that it would include, in
addition to "Jews with their filthy feet," also: "Religious Jews wearing a
skullcap."
Abbas and the Palestinian leadership are clearly trying to drag Israel into a
religious conflict with all Muslims, not only Palestinians. The Temple Mount has
become their favorite platform for disseminating blood libels and fabrications
against Israel and Jews. If anyone is defiling the sanctity of the holy site, it
is Abbas and his representatives in the West Bank. Abbas's ruling Fatah faction
played a major role in the protests that erupted over the latest incident at the
Dome of the Rock (involving the policeman with the skullcap. The police later
detained Awad Salaymeh, a senior Fatah official in east Jerusalem, for his role
in the incident involving the policeman. He and other Fatah activists were at
the scene as part of their leadership's ongoing effort to instigate tensions
between Jews and Muslims at the Temple Mount.
Other forms of Palestinian incitement against Israel and Jews at the Temple
Mount include weekly sermons delivered by leading Islamic figures. Almost every
Friday, another senior Islamic cleric uses the podium to deliver inflammatory
sermons against Israel and Jews. One of these clerics is Sheikh Ekrima Sabri,
the former Palestinian mufti of Jerusalem, who last week told his followers that
Jerusalem will never be a Jewish city. Sabri and other senior clerics have also
used the podium to warn Palestinians against selling their properties to Jews.
This Palestinian incitement and cynical exploitation of a holy site to spread
lies and blood libels and stereotype Jews is barely noticed by the mainstream
media in the West. Were Israel to stop a Palestinian from entering a holy site
because of his clothing, the foreign reporters based in Jerusalem and Tel Aviv
would have rushed to the scene to interview the man and tell the world that
Israel is violating freedom of worship. This is yet another example of how the
media gives the Palestinians a pass and allows them to continue their vicious
incitement against Israel. The next time a Palestinian grabs a knife and goes
out to stab a Jew, foreign journalists might consider the last time they failed
to report on the Palestinian leaders, especially their incitement.
*Bassam Tawil is a Muslim Arab based in the Middle East.
© 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.
What next for Iran as the US continues to pile on the
pressure?
Camelia Entekhabifard/Arab News/January 19/19
A week ago, Dr. Ali Akbar Salehi, the head of the Atomic Energy Organization of
Iran, warned the world that Iran might restart its uranium enrichment program.
(Reuters/ File)
Iran has faced a great deal of political pressure over the past 40 years, but
the economic effects of the sanctions recently imposed by US President Donald
Trump are the harshest and the most effective to date.
These sanctions not only target the Iranian economy, they are also designed to
fuel public anger towards the all-powerful, unaccountable leaders who for four
decades have offered their people nothing but systematic repression and
censorship.
Caught between their own angry and frustrated citizens and the might of the
United Sates, the only aim of the Islamic Republic is to survive at any cost.
Tehran seems to think that the best way to achieve this is through threats, both
to their own people and to the West about the potential consequences if Iran
withdraws from the 2015 nuclear deal.
A week ago, Dr. Ali Akbar Salehi, the head of the Atomic Energy Organization of
Iran, warned the world that Iran might restart its uranium enrichment program.
President Hassan Rouhani then said that Iran intends to launch a satellite
within a few months despite western opposition, including clear warnings from
the United States and France. This was followed by an announcement by the head
of Iran’s Revolutionary Guards that they will retain their military presence in
Syria, in defiance of Israeli threats that they might be targeted if they do not
leave the country.
"You should be afraid of the day that our precision-guided missiles roar and
fall on your head," added Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps Commander Mohammad
Ali Jafari.
Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu this week confirmed that there have
already been strikes on Iranian targets in Syria. This was an unusual step, as
Israeli officials rarely confirm or deny attacks.
It remains to be seen how many countries attend the conference in Warsaw but the
Islamic Republic views it as a humiliating, anti-regime gathering, and their
reaction shows how worried they are.
“Just in the past 36 hours, the air force attacked Iranian warehouses containing
Iranian weapons in the Damascus International Airport,” Netanyahu said during a
cabinet meeting on January 13. Such an open admission leaves Iranians in little
doubt that Israel is prepared to attack with no hesitation should it be deemed
necessary.
President Trump withdrew the US from the 2015 nuclear deal, officially known as
the Joint Comprehensive Plan of Action, in May 2018. Since then European Union
nations have been working on developing a financial channel to help Iran’s
banking system survive the reimposed US sanctions, without risking their own
banks falling victim to retaliatory sanctions from Trump, but so far they have
been unable to offer anything to the Iranians.
The EU response, or lack thereof, has left Tehran disappointed and under
internal and external pressure ahead of a recently announced, US-hosted
international conference in Poland next month to discuss peace and security in
the Middle East, with a particular focus on Iran. The Iranian regime is
disturbed by the prospect of further sanctions and the growing unity and
determination among the international community to address Tehran’s activities
in the region, and the global threat posed by its support and financing for
militias and terrorism.
It remains to be seen how many countries attend the conference in Warsaw but the
Islamic Republic views it as a humiliating, anti-regime gathering, and their
reaction shows how worried they are.
Trump’s predecessor in the Oval Office, Barack Obama, gained international
support for increasing the pressure on Tehran and convincing them to negotiate
with the West about their nuclear program. Perhaps this inspired Trump, who
seems to have a similar goal of increasing international pressure with the aim
of forcing the regime to negotiate with the US, this time over its missile
program and regional interference.
Either way, it is a very hard task for the Trump administration and these are
uneasy subjects for Tehran to talk about.
**Camelia Entekhabifard is an Iranian-American journalist, political commentator
and author of Camelia: Save Yourself By Telling the Truth (Seven Stories Press,
2008). Twitter: @CameliaFard