LCCC ENGLISH DAILY NEWS BULLETIN
January 28/19

Compiled & Prepared by: Elias Bejjani

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Bible Quotations For today
You are no longer a slave but a child, and if a child then also an heir, through God.
Letter to the Galatians 04/01-07: “My point is this: heirs, as long as they are minors, are no better than slaves, though they are the owners of all the property; but they remain under guardians and trustees until the date set by the father. So with us; while we were minors, we were enslaved to the elemental spirits of the world. But when the fullness of time had come, God sent his Son, born of a woman, born under the law, in order to redeem those who were under the law, so that we might receive adoption as children. And because you are children, God has sent the Spirit of his Son into our hearts, crying, ‘Abba! Father!’So you are no longer a slave but a child, and if a child then also an heir, through God

Titles For The Latest English LCCC Lebanese & Lebanese Related News published on January 27-28/19
Watch Out & Strive Not To Be An Obstacle
Macron Visit to Lebanon Hinges on New Govt.
Nasrallah: All of Israel will be struck by Hezbollah rockets
Netanyahu: Nasrallah embarrassed by Israel's successes
Paris Warns Lebanon: Govt. before Macron's Visit
Hariri to Meet Aoun after 'Futile' Bassil Meeting
Hariri, Jumblat to 'Coordinate in Face of Syrian Escalation'
Aswad 'Disagrees' with Nasrallah on Corruption
Nasrallah Says Israel Took 'Years' to Find Tunnels, Warns It against Continuing Syria Raids

Litles For The Latest English LCCC Miscellaneous Reports And News published on January 27-28/19
Venezuelan Military Attache to Washington Announces Break with Maduro
Iran Senior Cleric Denies Naming Candidates to Replace Khamenei
ISIS Claims Abduction of Coptic Man in North Sinai
Fatah Eyes More Power in New Govt. that Excludes Hamas
Israel OKs Transferring Qatari Funds to Implement Humanitarian Projects in Gaza
Syria’s UN Envoy Arrives in Cairo
Turkey Resumes Flights to Kurdistan’s Sulaymaniyah Airport
Baghdad Summons Turkish Envoy over Death of Kurdish Protester
Kurdish Protesters Storm Turkish Camp in Iraq over Recent Raids
Algerian ‘Islamist’ Party Announces Candidate for Presidency
Lavrov in Tunisia, Warns of Threats Posed by Terrorist Groups in Libya
Egypt Says 2 Local Terrorist Commanders Killed in N. Sinai
UN: Mortar Shelling Destroys Hodeidah Grain Silos
Canada condemns bomb attacks on a church in southern Philippines

Titles For The Latest LCCC English analysis & editorials from miscellaneous sources published on January 27-28/19
Watch Out & Strive Not To Be An Obstacle/Elias Bejjani/January 28/19
Nasrallah: All of Israel will be struck by Hezbollah rockets/Jerusalem Post/January 27/19
Netanyahu: Nasrallah embarrassed by Israel's successes/Jerusalem Post/January 27/19
Nasrallah Says Israel Took 'Years' to Find Tunnels, Warns It against Continuing Syria Raids/Naharnet/January 27/19/
Bombing of Roman Catholic cathedral in southern Philippines kills at least 20/Fox News/January 26/19
Davos and the End of Khashoggi’s Crisis/Salman Al-dossary/Asharq Al-Awsat/January 27/19
The Danger of Calling Out Cyberattackers/Leonid Bershidsky/Asharq Al-Awsat/January 27/19
Brexit and Pressure on Finances of England’s Universities/Chris Bryant/Bloomberg View/January 27/19
"We Will Teach You a Lesson": Extremist Persecution of Christians, November 2018/Raymond Ibrahim/Gatestone Institute/January 27/19
New Year, Same Old Turkey/Burak Bekdil/Gatestone Institute/January 27/19
Trump: In Third Year with Three Charges/Amir Taheri/Asharq Alk Awsat/January 27/19

Latest LCCC English Lebanese & Lebanese Related News published on January 27-28/19
Watch Out & Strive Not To Be An Obstacle
اجتهد بتقوى وإيمان حتى لا تكون عثرة لأحد
Elias Bejjani/January 28/19
http://eliasbejjaninews.com/archives/71585/watch-out-strive-not-to-an-obstacle-%D8%A7%D8%AC%D8%AA%D9%87%D8%AF-%D8%A8%D8%AA%D9%82%D9%88%D9%89-%D9%88%D8%A5%D9%8A%D9%85%D8%A7%D9%86-%D8%AD%D8%AA%D9%89-%D9%84%D8%A7-%D8%AA%D9%83%D9%88%D9%86-%D8%B9/
Almighty God sees and knows every thing and He is the One who shall Judge those who are righteous, as well as those who set traps for others and inflict pain on them.
He will put on trial those who mislead, deceive, create divisions, and enjoy being obstacles for any thing and every thing that is peace, tranquility or harmony.
He will make accountable all those who worship earthly treasures, hold onto grudges, harbour intentions of revenge, and know no love or forgiveness.
Because “Faith without Acts is a dead faith, like the body without a soul”, we all must keep an eye on all those hypocrites and chameleons who viciously sneak into our lives and do all their best to lead us into temptations.
We have to be very cautious when dealing with these trouble makers and corruptors because they pretend to be religious and Samarians, while in reality they are possessed and obsessed with hatred, revenge and grudges.
They love nobody, and care about nobody but themselves.
“Woe to you, teachers of the law and Pharisees, you hypocrites! You clean the outside of the cup and dish, but inside you are full of greed and self-indulgence”. (Matthew 23:25)
The Godly and courageous people can not even engage into a fruitful debate with these impulsive narcissists who are boastful and full of arrogance.
They hear only their own voices, see only themselves, and have no human insight or understanding for the consequences of their venomous conduct.
They think and act with wicked motives and are driven by deeply rooted revenge, hatred and grudges.
They are obnoxious, cowards, ashamed to witness for the truth and alienate themselves from every thing that is moral , righteous, gratitude and ethical obligations.
They possess no love for their own countries, families and people, and do not fear God. They continuously cause pitfalls for the meek and faithful.
Because evil always contains the seeds of its own destruction, these people always reap what they sow and are cursed, damned and condemned.
Almighty God warns them of harsh judgment.
“If anyone should cause one of these little ones to lose his faith in me, it would be better for that person to have a large millstone tied around his neck and be drowned in the deep sea. How terrible for the world that there are things that make people lose their faith! Such things will always happen—but how terrible for the one who causes them” (Matthew 18/06-07)
When people become slaves to their instincts, abandon God and renegade against His commandments and become evil and do every thing that is evil.
Saint Peter has depicted vividly the conduct of such people.
“Remember that there will be difficult times in the last days. People will be selfish, greedy, boastful, and conceited; they will be insulting, disobedient to their parents, ungrateful, and irreligious; they will be unkind, merciless, slanderers, violent, and fierce; they will hate the good; they will be treacherous, reckless, and swollen with pride; they will love pleasure rather than God; they will hold to the outward form of our religion, but reject its real power. Keep away from such people. Some of them go into people’s houses and gain control over weak women who are burdened by the guilt of their sins and driven by all kinds of desires, women who are always trying to learn but who can never come to know the truth. As Jannes and Jambres were opposed to Moses, so too these people are opposed to the truth—people whose minds do not function and who are failures in the faith. But they will not get very far, because everyone will see how stupid they are. That is just what happened to Jannes and Jambres”
As the Holy Bible teaches us, these wicked hypocrites will be judged on the Day of Judgment and thrown into Gehenna. There, the fire is unquenchable, torture has no end, the worm dieth not, and there will be endless lamentation, weeping and grinding of teeth”. (Peter’s second letter to Timothy (3/01-08).
Among these evil doers are numerous high ranking clergy, politicians and officials. These liars and savages abandon their people, their countries, their families, the martyrs and all that is righteous and Godly.
They do not worship God, but money and perishable earthly treasures like power, fame, property etc.
They fall into the devil’s hands and traps and end worshiping money and not God.
“You cannot be a slave of two masters; you will hate one and love the other; you will be loyal to one and despise the other. You cannot serve both God and money.” (Matthew 06/24)
In their hearts is venomous lust, deceit, malice, licentiousness, envy, arrogance, folly, greed and evil thoughts. Because of the lowliness of their hearts and minds they have sided with Satan.
They have no conscious, no values, and no code of ethics. Accordingly, they act with the mentality of ruthless merchants of death who are willing to sell absolutely everything for the price of silver.
Nothing is off limits in what they will sell for an earthly profit, including their self-respect, dignity, honour and their own countries and people.
They happily accept their status as merchants of death and have no problem selling their souls to whomever offers the highest price.
They change loyalties as they change their clothes because they do not fear God. Their hearts are petrified and the humanity in them that was created on God’s image has died. Their punishment is God’s work.
“Do not take revenge, my friends, but leave room for God’s wrath, for it is written: ‘It is mine to avenge; I will repay,’ says the Lord.” (Romans 12/19).
Hell and its demons will be eagerly waiting to swallow those of us who do not know what is love, do not fear God, do not do His work, hurt others and enjoy seeing every body else but themselves entrapped and suffering.
Meanwhile these same ones who mercilessly and vigorously fight for earthly riches, become mere slaves for their instincts, and commit all kinds of deadly sins will have no choice but to leave all that is earthly on the earth once God takes back the gift of life from them. Although they might delude themselves that they are strong, winners and rich, but in fact they are big time losers and will not be able to carry with them to the Judgment Day, but their deeds according to which they will be accountable.
Do we gain anything if we win the whole world but lose our life? Of course not!
Let us sincerely pray for the salvation of all those who are entrapped in evil temptations and have failed to understand that God is love and that love knows no hatred, no grudges, no revenge and no selfishness.



 

Macron Visit to Lebanon Hinges on New Govt.
Asharq Al-Awsat/Sunday, 27 January, 2019/French President Emmanuel Macron may scrap a visit to Lebanon, scheduled for February, if the country fails to form a new government. French sources told Asharq Al-Awsat that Lebanese authorities had received a warning from France that Macron may cancel his trip if the current stalling in the formation of a cabinet persists. French Foreign Minister Jean-Yves Le Drian has given Beirut a week at most to reach an agreement to form a government, they revealed. Moreover, he warned that failure to form a new cabinet will force Paris to renege on its financial and economic pledges towards Beirut. Macron will kick off a visit to Egypt Sunday. Despite holding parliamentary elections in May, Lebanon has failed to form a new government due to political bickering among various rival powers. Le Drian also included Iran in his warning, pointing to repercussions it will incur if it continues to develop its missiles program and to destabilize the region. The minister highlighted Tehran’s arms and rocket shipments to armed groups in the Middle East, specifically Hezbollah in Lebanon. Lebanese sources were not surprised with the escalation in French rhetoric against Iran, wondering if it was directly linked to recent talks held Wednesday between Macron and Israeli President Reuven Rivlin. This week Prime Minister-designate Saad al-Hariri said after meeting other senior political figures that matters were “positively crystallizing” and he hoped to resolve the issue next week. The credit ratings agency Moody’s this week downgraded Lebanon’s sovereign debt, citing the uncertain movement toward forming a government, and Lebanese bonds have suffered in recent weeks. Lebanon is one of the world’s most indebted countries and its finance minister has warned it is already in an economic crisis, which has started to turn into a financial crisis and which he hopes will not become a monetary crisis.

Nasrallah: All of Israel will be struck by Hezbollah rockets
Jerusalem Post/January 27/19
The secretary general of Hezbollah spoke Saturday night for the first time since November.
“We call on [Prime Minister Benjamin] Netanyahu and the new chief of staff to not make mistakes in their assessments. They’ll regret it,” said Hassan Nasrallah, the secretary-general of the Lebanese political and paramilitary party Hezbollah. “The price of aggression will be greater than they estimate,” said Nasrallah, speaking on Saturday night for the first time since the beginning of November. Any Israeli aggression, whether it is war or the assassination of Hezbollah fighters in Lebanon or Syria, we will respond to it.Any attack or aggression is, in our view, a declaration of war.”
In an interview with the Lebanese Al-Mayadeen station, Nasrallah said that the tunnels in the North, which Israel targeted during its recent Operation Northern Shield, had existed for years and Israeli intelligence had not succeeded in uncovering them. Nasrallah denied that he had not spoken up publicly for so long due to his poor health.“All that is published are lies, which are disconnected from reality,” he said. “My heart, my head and my body are in good shape.” Nasrallah said that he chooses to speak “when there’s something to talk about.” He said that he could have spoken up in the first few days of Operation Northern Shield, but that he left the propaganda campaign for Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu and then-chief of staff Gadi Eisenkot. “I did not want to help them with their campaign,” Nasrallah said. He noted that “even though they announced that Operation Northern Shield had ended, they continued until yesterday to search for tunnels, and Eisenkot took credit for an operation that has not yet ended.” He said he did not want to admit that Hezbollah dug the tunnels.
“Israel claims that Hezbollah dug them, and I do say there are tunnels in southern Lebanon, and they were exposed, but they were dug before the Lebanon War,” Nasrallah claimed. “It took Israelis a long time to expose them.”He said Israeli intelligence failed for 14 years to expose these tunnels. “One of the tunnels discovered recently is 13 or 14 years old,” he said, “and was located entirely in Israeli territory, meaning all of Israel’s technology and capabilities failed to detect this tunnel.” “I confirm that some of these tunnels are older than United National Security Council Resolution 1701,” he continued, noting that he would not confirm or deny whether or not all of the tunnels in northern Israel had been discovered. “My question to the settlers is how do they know that Netanyahu and their other leaders are correct when they say that all the tunnels have been destroyed?” Nasrallah excused Netanyahu for his ignorance – “Netanyahu is not a general” – but said Eisenkot should have been able to think militarily.
“Is it logical that Hezbollah would enter the Galilee with thousands of fighters through four tunnels?” Nasrallah said mockingly. “I do not know whether we will attack the Galilee by sea, air, land or tunnels. All of Netanyahu’s goals failed, and he also helped us in the realm of psychological warfare. Netanyahu’s only achievement was to expose four tunnels. Eisenkot’s only achievement is an illusion.”He continued, “I admit the enemy’s generals are smart, but sometimes their personal interests overcome their intelligence.”Nasrallah said Hezbollah is taking all necessary measures to protect Lebanon in the face of threats by Israel.
He said that the terrorist organization has had the ability to conquer the Galilee for years.
“After our experience in Syria, entering the Galilee will be easier,” he said. “Even the fences Israel has set up – we have a solution for them.” He said it is in the organization’s war plan to invade the Galilee, but when and how will depend on Israel. “If Israel attacks Lebanon, they will regret it,” he said.
“Our response will be one they never expected.” Nasrallah strongly attacked Netanyahu, claiming his impending indictment for corruption is leading the prime minister to falsely present himself as a hero. He accused Netanyahu of using the success of Operation Northern Shield to improve his situation in the courts.
“He is ready to sacrifice anything to remain prime minister and out of prison,” Nasrallah said. “We warn Israelis that this man, Netanyahu, could carry out many miscalculations between now and Election Day in order to save himself.” The interviewer asked why Nasrallah thinks Netanyahu chose to openly admit Israel’s recent attacks on Syria. “Israel has failed intelligence in Syria,” the secretary-general said. “We must expect such an ill-advised move on the part of Netanyahu on the eve of the elections.” Nasrallah added that he did not foresee Israel making a mistake with regard to Lebanon, but more likely with Syria or Gaza. He said a miscalculation in Gaza could push the people in the Strip too far. “Gaza will not tolerate continued aggression,” he said. “You saw what happened when one rocket from Gaza hit Ashkelon. Imagine if rockets started falling on Tel Aviv.
In a future war, all of occupied Palestine will be struck by our rockets.”Nasrallah also spoke about US withdrawal from Syria and said US President Donald Trump’s decision led to a conflict between US allies and the Turkish army. However, he noted that Trump is a stronger president that former president Barack Obama. “Obama spoke about human rights and Trump talks about American interests only,” he said.
*The Jerusalem Post’s Hebrew sister publication, Maariv, contributed to this report.

Netanyahu: Nasrallah embarrassed by Israel's successes
Jerusalem Post/January 27/19
Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu took a jab at Hezbollah leader Hassan Nasrallah on Sunday, saying the terrorist leader was “very embarrassed because of our tremendous success in Operation Northern Shield.” Netanyahu said Israel’s six-week operation that uncovered tunnels dug from Lebanon “completely deprived” Hezbollah of a strategic weapon. He said Nasrallah is also embarrassed due to looming financial challenges the terrorist organization is facing as a result of sanctions the US has clamped on Iran, which he said are “severely damaging the financing from Iran to its proxies, first and foremost Hezbollah.”Finally, he said, Nasrallah is embarrassed by Israel’s determination. “Hezbollah has come up against the lethal force of the IDF.”Netanyahu added regarding Nasrallah that “he has good reasons not to want to meet Israel’s fist, which will come down on his head.”
Netanyahu’s comments were in response to a speech delivered Saturday by Nasrallah in which he threatened the State of Israel. Earlier in the day, Knesset Foreign Affairs and Defense Committee chairman Avi Dichter warned that Hezbollah may have additional cross-border attack tunnels which Israel has yet to discover along the northern border, after Nasrallah hinted in his speech that Israel has not discovered all of the organization’s tunnels. Dichter told KAN News that Nasrallah’s long silence leading up to the Saturday night interview showed that the IDF’s Operation Northern Shield, meant to identify and destroy all of the terror tunnels along the Israel-Lebanon border, had been a success. “I think that we do not need to ask why he spoke,” Dichter said, “but rather why he stayed silent. This months-long silence is not typical – not in Lebanon, not on Arab issues, not in Iran, and surely not when it comes to Israel. His silence was clearly a response to the difficulty that he was in. For years, Hezbollah was building an offensive project – the tunnels – that was very problematic for the State of Israel. And neither Nasrallah nor his people, who kept this secret for years, were ready for the blow that they received from Northern Shield. “It is a good idea for the IDF and the security services to continue checking as we go forward if there are other tunnels. It is always good and I am saying this as an intelligence expert with a great deal of experience. “Israel has the means to find other tunnels, just as we discovered the six tunnels thus far,” said Dichter, a former head of the Shin Bet (Israel Security Agency). “If these are just part of Hezbollah’s operation that means there is another part, and that should concern us no less.“But Hezbollah knows that moving from planning to execution of an attack will invite an unprecedented response,” he added. “We will not allow Hezbollah to have precision missiles. When Hezbollah fires on civilian targets, when Hamas and Islamic Jihad in Gaza fire, this is barbaric and unacceptable to the world and to us.”

Paris Warns Lebanon: Govt. before Macron's Visit
Naharnet/January 27/19/France has warned that President Emmanuel Macron could call off his visit to Lebanon that is scheduled for the second half of February should the new Lebanese government not be formed within a week, media reports said. “Lebanese authorities have received a warning from the French state which included the possibility that the French president might cancel his visit to Beirut should the government not be formed within a week,” Asharq al-Awsat daily quoted senior French sources as saying in remarks published Sunday. The sources said French Foreign Minister Jean-Yves Le Drian has given Lebanon a one-week ultimatum to reach consensus that would allow for the formation of the cabinet.“The passing of this deadline will prompt President Macron -- who begins a tour that includes Egypt and Cyprus tomorrow -- to postpone his visit to Lebanon seeing as it would be unnecessary in light of the continuation of the current situation that is impeding the government’s formation,” the sources added.

Hariri to Meet Aoun after 'Futile' Bassil Meeting
Naharnet/January 27/19/Prime Minister-designate Saad Hariri is expected to return to Lebanon in the coming hours to continue his cabinet formation efforts. “Once he arrives in Lebanon, he will meet with President Michel Aoun to put him in the picture of the developments and take the right decision on the government,” informed sources told al-Hayat newspaper in remarks published Sunday. Sources informed on Hariri’s meeting in Paris with Free Patriotic Movement chief MP Jebran Bassil meanwhile told the daily that the talks did not yield any positive outcome. “Bassil proposed the old five ideas which he had recently raised with the PM-designate, which were not positively received when they were suggested two weeks ago,” the sources said.

Hariri, Jumblat to 'Coordinate in Face of Syrian Escalation'
Naharnet/January 27/19/Prime Minister-designate Saad Hariri and Progressive Socialist Party leader ex-MP Walid Jumblat have agreed to coordinate their actions in the face of the latest Syrian “escalation” against them, media reports said. “They have agreed to coordinate, especially in the face of the Syrian escalation against them, and specifically after the Syrian regime’s claims that Hariri, Jumblat and Lebanese Forces leader Samir Geagea were financing terrorism,” informed sources told Asharq al-Awsat newspaper in remarks published Sunday. The two men held a meeting in Clemenceau on Wednesday after which Hariri announced that “a lot of attacks have been launched” against him and Jumblat in recent months and noted that they were “closing ranks.”Jumblat meanwhile lashed out at the pro-Damascus, Hizbullah-backed Consultative Gathering – a new grouping of six Sunni MPs which has insisted on getting a seat in the new government. “It seems that some forces who have revived themselves do no care about the economy and it seems that these forces want to weaken Lebanon's economic and social structure but we will not allow them,” Jumblat added. The Consultative Gathering has repeatedly criticized Hariri since it was formed several months ago, whereas Jumblat sees the reconciliation between his pro-Syria Druze leaders Wiam Wahhab and Talal Arslan as being targeted against him. Jumblat, Hariri and their two parties have also claimed that the latest security incidents in the Chouf region had been orchestrated by Damascus.

Aswad 'Disagrees' with Nasrallah on Corruption
Naharnet/January 27/19/MP Ziad Aswad of the Strong Lebanon bloc announced Sunday that he “disagrees” with Hizbullah chief Sayyed Hassan Nasrallah on the issue of finding the best way to fight the rampant and chronic corruption in Lebanon. “There is no doubt that the resistance is prepared to repel any military action against Lebanon and we won’t hesitate regarding what’s in the interest of defending Lebanon. Here we integrate and unite with it,” Aswad tweeted, in comments on Nasrallah’s Saturday night TV interview. “But on the issue of curbing corruption, I believe that naming the corrupts and isolating them politically would be more useful than any legislation, with quicker and better results for the Lebanese,” the MP added. “One can’t fight the corruption of yesterday or the corruption of tomorrow through turning a blind eye… I’m sorry Your Eminence, Sayyed (Nasrallah), but I don’t agree with you on curbing corruption in this manner, because it will encourage the persistence of corrupts, who would take advantage of your tolerance over what has been stolen,” Aswad went on to say.

Nasrallah Says Israel Took 'Years' to Find Tunnels, Warns It against Continuing Syria Raids
Naharnet/January 27/19/
Hizbullah chief Sayyed Hassan Nasrallah has warned Israel against continuing strikes in Syria targeting mainly Iranian positions, saying it could fuel war in the region. Israel's army has since 2013 claimed hundreds of attacks on what it says are Iranian military targets and arms deliveries to Tehran-backed Hizbullah, with the goal of stopping its main enemy Iran from entrenching itself militarily in neighboring Syria. In the latest strikes nearly a week ago 21 people were killed, the majority of them Iranians, according to the Britain-based Syrian Observatory for Human Rights monitor. Addressing Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu directly, Nasrallah said in an interview with al-Mayadeen television: "Don't make an error of judgement and don't lead the region towards war or a major clash.""At any moment the Syrian leadership and the axis of resistance can take a decision to deal with the Israeli aggression in a different manner," he said, referring to the alliance between Syrian President Bashar al-Assad's government, Iran and its ally Hizbullah. When asked whether a retaliation could take the form of air strikes on Tel Aviv, Nasrallah said "anything is possible," adding that Hizbullah possessed "high-precision missiles" capable of hitting anywhere in Israel. The Israeli army announced the strikes against facilities it said belonged to the Iranian Revolutionary Guards' Quds Force on Monday as they were occurring. It said they were in response to a medium-range missile the Quds Force fired from Syria at the Israeli-occupied Golan Heights on Sunday, which Israeli air defenses intercepted. Israel has caried out hundreds of air strikes in Syria and its warplanes have been targeted by anti-aircraft fire during such raids, but it has rarely faced surface-to-surface missile fire in response.
Risk of escalation
Israel has warned it will continue to target positions in Syria held by Iran and its ally Hizbullah. Netanyahu and other Israeli officials have been speaking more openly about the country's strikes in Syria in recent days, which some analysts partly attribute to the premier wanting to burnish his security credentials ahead of April 9 elections. Others say it carries a strategic military purpose as well by sending a stronger message. But Israel also risks an escalation with Syria and Iran, as well as possibly further angering Russia at a time when the United States is seeking to withdraw its forces from Syria. Nasrallah said Israel has failed to realize what he said are its goals in Syria: undermining the Syrian government, forcing Iran from Syria and preventing Hizbullah from acquiring precision missiles. He also said Netanyahu is the person "most disappointed" by U.S. plans to withdraw from Syria and cited the pullout as another "failure."
Nasrallah's appearance followed news reports in Israel and elsewhere that his health was failing. He dismissed the reports as "lies.""I don't suffer from any health problems," said Nasrallah, who seemed relaxed and at times joked with his interviewer and sipped on tea and water. "I have been active, and I also lost weight," he said with a giggle. The Hizbullah leader regularly addressed his supporters and made TV appearances about pressing issues in the region and Lebanon. But the 59-year-old Nasrallah, who has led his group through different wars with Israel for nearly three decades, had not appeared since November despite Israeli escalation in Syria and along Lebanon's borders. Nasrallah described his silence as intentional, saying Hizbullah chose not to address Israel's attacks so as not to feed what he called an Israeli "publicity stunt."Nasrallah also said that Israel took "years" to discover cross-border tunnels from Lebanon. "The Israelis discovered a number of tunnels after many years, and it's not a surprise, the surprise is that these tunnels, they took some time to find," he said. Earlier this month Israel concluded an operation to unearth and destroy tunnels which the army accused Hizbullah of digging across the border from Lebanon.
"Yes, there are tunnels in southern Lebanon," Nasrallah said, in his first comments on the issue since Israel announced the operation on December 4. The Hizbullah leader refused to specify whether they were built before the 2006 war between his group and Israel, or who had constructed them. The month-long war killed more than 1,200 Lebanese, mostly civilians, and more than 160 Israelis, mostly soldiers.

Latest LCCC English Miscellaneous Reports & News published on January 27-28/19
Venezuelan Military Attache to Washington Announces Break with Maduro
Agence France Presse/Naharnet/January 27/19/Venezuela's military attache to Washington broke ranks with Nicolas Maduro on Saturday, urging his "brothers in the military" to back the head of the National Assembly Juan Guaido as interim president, he told AFP. "This defense attache does not recognize Nicolas Maduro as president, considering him a usurper, and recognizes Juan Guaido as the legitimate interim president," Colonel Jose Luis Silva said. "This position is consistent with the constitution and laws of Venezuela and I call upon my brothers in the military to join in supporting Guaido."

Iran Senior Cleric Denies Naming Candidates to Replace Khamenei
London - Asharq Al-Awsat/Sunday, 27 January, 2019/Member of the Iranian Assembly of Experts Ahmed Khatami confirmed that no candidate has been named to succeed current Supreme Leader Ali Khamenei, the semi-official ISNA news agency reported. Khatami, speaking at the celebrations marking 40 years since the 1979 cleric-led Iran Revolution, debunked rumors suggesting that Khamenei is ill and that the Assembly of Experts is racing against time find his successor. The body is tasked with monitoring the performance of the Supreme Leader, as well as finding his replacement in the in the event of failure or death. In addition, Khatami played down the importance of reports on the formation of a special committee to discuss the likely candidate to succeed Khamenei. Speculation has been widespread in Iran concerning Khamenei’s successor before the May 2017 presidential election. Among the candidates rumored to possibly replace him were his son Mojtaba Khamenei, Mahmoud Hashemi Shahroudi, who passed away last month, head of the Judiciary Sadeq Larijani and President Hassan Rouhani. Many of those interested in Khamenei's succession believe that the Revolutionary Guards Coprs, as well as the Leadership Experts Council, will be critical in determining the identity of the next leader. Khamenei was appointed by the Assembly of Experts in 1989 as successor to Khomeini. A major controversy was sparked in Iran after a video recording surfaced during the 2017–18 protests, in which Khamenei is seen before the assembly saying he was not religiously qualified to be Supreme leader. “We must weep for a society where the prospect of leadership and leadership like me is raised,” Khamenei was seen as telling council members at the time.

ISIS Claims Abduction of Coptic Man in North Sinai
North Sinai - Asharq Al-Awsat/Sunday, 27 January, 2019/Egypt’s ISIS affiliate claimed responsibility for abducting a Coptic man in Sinai about one week ago, a website supporting ISIS in North Sinai said on Saturday. The relatives of Adib Nakhla, 45, learned of his kidnapping a week ago, but could not confirm that he was held by ISIS, said a source that is close to the family. Unknown armed men stopped a car Nakhla was traveling in, the source said, explaining that he was on his way from Qantara city in Ismailia (west Sinai) to Arish city in North Sinai. They forcibly grabbed him from among a group of passengers in the bus after checking their personal IDs, he added. “Nakhla is among a group of Copts living in Qantara city. He was on his way to visit his family and friends who live in Arish when they lost contact with him.”“His family were surprised to see his picture published with a statement asserting his abduction by terrorists without further details about his fate” the source noted. The terrorist group posted a statement on social media along with a picture of someone holding papers and facing an unknown person, without mentioning his name. Gunmen ambushed an area west of Arish and captured the forensic expert, one of Egypt’s Christians, the statement said. On Tuesday, the military said Egyptian security forces had killed 59 militants in the Sinai peninsula recently and had lost seven of their own men. The military launched in mid-February the Comprehensive Operation − Sinai 2018 to restore security in the mountainous and densely populated governorate. Bishop of North Sinai Anba Qazman announced during Christmas celebrations in Arish’s Archdiocese earlier this month that local authorities in North Sinai have assured him of the return of all Copts to North Sinai during 2019. Copts have fled north Sinai after being targeted by ISIS over the past three years. According to security and church sources, only about 40 Coptic families remain in northern Sinai and live in secured houses within Arish.

Fatah Eyes More Power in New Govt. that Excludes Hamas
Ramallah - Kifah Zboun/Asharq Al-Awsat/Sunday, 27 January, 2019/The West Bank ruling party, Fatah, has arrived at a consensus to appoint the prominent official Mohammad Shtayyeh as the future head of government, as the Palestinian Authority prepares to announce a new cabinet. The new government will be known as the “PLO cabinet”. Its expected formation will put an end to the government of accord, headed by Rami al-Hamdallah since 2013, that was formed in consensus with Hamas. “The central committee has agreed on Shtayyeh’s candidacy and will submit its recommendations to President Mahmoud Abbas for further processing,” a well-informed source told Asharq Al-Awsat. Shatayyeh’s assignment follows the dissolution of the government of national accord formed between the two main Palestinian parties, Fatah and Hamas. Reconciliation talks have failed to bring the two sides together and calls have been made to a form a new government that excludes Hamas. “A second complementary meeting is supposed to be held on Sunday,” the Fatah source told Asharq Al-Awsat, stressing that a series of meetings would be held before an expanded leadership meeting, chaired by Abbas, to discuss and decide on a final government. The president is expected to make a final decision on Shtayyeh and members of the government before the meeting. If Shtayyeh accepts the hire, he will undertake forming a functional and inclusive government includes all factions of the Public Liberation Organization.
If Abbas rejects Shtayyeh’s nomination, which is rather unlikely, other candidates are available. Shtayyeh served as minister of public works and housing, and minister of the Palestinian Economic Council for Development and Reconstruction. He holds a doctorate in economic development from the University of Sussex in the UK. He worked as a professor and dean at Birzeit University and has published several books on economics, politics and history. Abbas, according to Fatah officials, is determined hold a government reshuffle in preparation for parliamentary elections in after the dissolution of the Legislative Council. According to these officials, Abbas has asked members of the Fatah Central Committee to contact members of other political factions and parties, such as the Democratic Alliance, the Palestinian National Initiative and others, to see if they would be part of the new government. Hamas, for its part, rejected the decision to dissolve the Legislative Council.

Israel OKs Transferring Qatari Funds to Implement Humanitarian Projects in Gaza
Ramallah - Asharq Al-Awsat/Sunday, 27 January, 2019/Israel approved the agreement between Qatar and Hamas to transfer grant funds to humanitarian projects in Gaza Strip in coordination with the United Nations, Israeli sources according to public broadcaster, KAN.
It quoted security sources as saying that Israel will be part of the mechanism that monitors how these funds are used. "Israel is very happy with the new agreement regarding the transfer of Qatari funds," said Alon Ben David, a military analyst on Israeli television, adding that senior Israeli officials regard this as a very important achievement. He added that the agreement allows the transfer of funds for humanitarian aid in the Gaza Strip instead of paying salaries for Hamas employees. The third tranche of the Qatari grant to Gaza Strip will go to humanitarian and infrastructure projects and impoverished families after the Palestinian movement refused to receive the money, Qatari envoy Mohammed al-Emadi announced from Gaza on Friday. He explained that in addition to going to families in need, the funds will also be aimed at bolstering medical services and electricity in the coastal enclave. The Qatari envoy noted that Doha intends to create new workplaces in Gaza and is already in contact with the UN to sign on an initial agreement to provide $20 million for such projects. "The Qatari grant comes as part of the urgent assistance that Emir Sheikh Tamim is giving to Gaza residents in light of the difficult conditions and on the basis of UN resolutions on the issue," Emadi said, rejecting claims that the purpose of the aid transfer is to harm the unity of the Palestinian people in the West Bank and Gaza. "There was a rumor that this was an exchange of money for calm in order to break the Palestinian people and question the right of the factions [to resist], but this is not so. This is money transferred to the Palestinian people to alleviate their distress," he stressed. On Thursday, Hamas announced its refusal to receive the Qatari grant soon after Israel confirmed that it had approved the transfer. It accused Israel of exploiting the issue to politically blackmail the Palestinians and failing to abide by its agreement to permit the funds to enter the enclave every month. Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu had earlier this week suspended the third Qatari installment, worth $15 million, following a flare-up in attacks in Gaza. The installment was supposed to be transferred to the coastal enclave on Wednesday.Israeli sources said that the security agencies agreed to go through with the transfer in order to avoid any escalation.

Syria’s UN Envoy Arrives in Cairo
Tunis, London - Asharq Al-Awsat/Sunday, 27 January, 2019/New United Nations envoy to Syria arrived in Cairo on Saturday as part of a tour of the region. Geir Pedersen landed in the Egyptian capital for a three-day visit. He is set to hold talks with officials on the latest developments in Syria and efforts to reach a final political solution to its conflict. Informed sources said that he will meet with senior officials, Arab League members and Syrians residing in Egypt. Pedersen is scheduled to travel to Lebanon on Tuesday. Earlier this week, the envoy had held talks with Saudi Foreign Minister Ibrahim al-Assaf on the sidelines of the World Economic Forum in Davos. On Monday, he met in Moscow with Russian Foreign Minister Sergei Lavrov, stressing the need to implement Security Council resolution 2254 to ensure the safe return of refugees to their homes. Pedersen had kicked off his duties last week by holding talks with Syrian officials in Damascus.

Turkey Resumes Flights to Kurdistan’s Sulaymaniyah Airport
Erbil, Baghdad – Ihsan Aziz and Asharq Al-Awsat/Sunday, 27 January, 2019/After a halt of 15 months, Turkish airlines resumed direct flights to the Sulaymaniyah International Airport in the Iraqi Kurdistan Region. A Turkish Airlines flight landed in the airport at dawn local time with 28 passengers on board. Flights to the facility were suspended in September 2017 four days after a Kurdish independence referendum that was opposed by Ankara and Baghdad. The vote ultimately failed in achieving its goals due to regional and international meddling. Director of the Sulaymaniyah airport Taher Abdullah welcome the resumption of Turkish flights. “It is really a happy day to see a return of Turkish flights,” he told Asharq Al-Awsat, crediting Iraqi President Barham Salih for persuading Ankara to resume operations to the Kurdish region. The Iraqi leader had paid a visit to Turkey earlier this month. Public relations official at Sulaymaniyah airport Dana Mohammed revealed to Asharq Al-Awsat that the facility will receive seven Turkish Airlines flights per week at a rate of one per day. European carriers are also expected to resume regular flights to the airport starting next week, he added. Fly Germany will make its first flight to Sulaymaniyah on February 21.

Baghdad Summons Turkish Envoy over Death of Kurdish Protester
Asharq Al-Awsat/Sunday, 27 January, 2019/Baghdad announced on Sunday that it will summon the Turkish envoy following the death of a Kurdish protester over the weekend after angry demonstrators stormed a Turkish military camp. The Turkish troops opened fire at the Kurdish demonstrators, who were protesting the deaths of four civilians they said were killed last week in Turkish bombardment. Witnesses said Turkish troops opened fire on the demonstrators, causing casualties and damage. Iraq's foreign ministry on Sunday denounced the incident, saying one person was killed and several others wounded when Turkish forces "opened fire on citizens in the Shiladzeh area". "The foreign ministry will summon the Turkish ambassador to hand a protest note about the incident and demand that it not be repeated," it added. Turkish forces are deployed in Iraq's northern autonomous Kurdish region and often carry out raids and air strikes against the Kurdistan Workers Party (PKK), seen as a "terrorist" group by Ankara. What originally started as a peaceful protest Saturday turned violent when the protesters stormed the Turkish camp. A number of protesters were wounded when the troops fired rubber bullets and tear gas at the crowd. The mob managed to burn two tanks and other vehicles, residents and Kurdish officials said. Turkey's defense ministry said one of its bases was attacked after "provocation by a PKK terror group," resulting in some damage to vehicles and other equipment. On Sunday, Turkish Foreign Minister Mevlut Cavusoglu said the PKK was "troubled" because Ankara was hitting its "terror nests". "They are provoking the local community. And we know that the PKK is behind this (the attack)," he told reporters in the southern city of Antalya. Cavusoglu said he had spoken to the prime minister of autonomous Kurdistan, Nechirvan Barzani, who reportedly told him authorities would conduct a "comprehensive investigation". The Kurdish government in Erbil in northern Iraq condemned the storming of the camp, accusing "saboteurs" of instigating the incident, a veiled reference to the PKK, a rival of the Kurdistan Democratic Party (KDP) that dominates the Erbil government and has a working relationship with Turkey. Erbil said it had sent its forces to the area to calm the situation. In December, Baghdad summoned the Turkish ambassador to protest Ankara's "repeated" air strikes as a "violation of its sovereignty". Turkey has pressed Iraq to play a bigger role in fighting the PKK, and last month announced deeper bilateral cooperation on the matter.

Kurdish Protesters Storm Turkish Camp in Iraq over Recent Raids
Erbil, Baghdad – Ihsan Aziz and Asharq Al-Awsat/Sunday, 27 January, 2019/Angry protesters, taking part in an anti-Ankara rally, stormed a Turkish military camp near Dohuk in Iraq's semi-autonomous Kurdish region on Saturday following the death of four villagers in Turkish raids on villages in the region earlier in the week. Witnesses said that protesters expressed their condemnation of the arbitrary Turkish strikes on the region. The operations have been ongoing for years under Ankara’s pretext of combating the Kurdistan Workers Party (PKK) positions on the Iraqi-Turkish border. Saturday’s demonstration was expected to end in the afternoon, but some protesters, swept up in their anger, headed towards the nearby Turkish camp and stormed it, leading to a clash with troops stationed there. One person was killed and a number of protesters were wounded when the troops fired rubber bullets and tear gas at the crowd. The mob managed to burn two tanks and other vehicles, residents and Kurdish officials said. Several soldiers threw down their weapons and gear and fled the scene. Kurdish Peshmerga forces soon arrived at the scene to contain the unrest. The Kurdish government in Erbil in northern Iraq condemned the storming of the camp, accusing "saboteurs" of instigating the incident, a veiled reference to the PKK, a rival of the Kurdistan Democratic Party (KDP) that dominates the Erbil government and has a working relationship with Turkey. Erbil said it had sent its forces to the area to calm the situation. Turkey said the attack was carried out by members of the PKK who disguised themselves among civilians to fuel conflict between Turkish forces and local residents. "We are committed to maintaining our close partnership with the people of Dohuk and doing everything in our power to prevent civilian casualties in the area," Fahrettin Altun, communications director for the Turkish Presidency, told Reuters.

Algerian ‘Islamist’ Party Announces Candidate for Presidency
Asharq Al-Awsat/Sunday, 27 January, 2019/Algeria's main Islamist party, the Movement for the Society of Peace, announced that it will field Dr. Abderrazak Makri as its candidate in the upcoming presidential elections. During the night of Friday to Saturday "the consultative council decided by an overwhelming majority to take part in the presidential election and to present Makri as the party's candidate," the MSP's head of communications Abdellah Bouadji told AFP. Presenting itself as Islamist and moderate, the MSP had supported ageing incumbent President Abdelaziz Bouteflika within a governing alliance, before going its own way in 2012. Bouteflika, 81, who uses a wheelchair and has rarely been seen in public since a stroke in 2013, is due to complete a fourth term in office on April 28. The election is set for April 18. Despite his advanced age and poor health, some of Bouteflika's supporters have called for him to stand for a fifth term. But the president himself is yet to make his plans clear. By law, would-be candidates have until March 4 to register with the constitutional court. Ahead of the last presidential election in 2014, Bouteflika only declared his intention to run a few days ahead of the deadline.

Lavrov in Tunisia, Warns of Threats Posed by Terrorist Groups in Libya
Tunis - Al-Monji al-Souaidani/Asharq Al-Awsat/Sunday, 27 January, 2019/Russian Foreign Minister Sergei Lavrov warned on Saturday of the "continued threat of terrorist groups in neighboring Libya." He revealed during a joint press conference with his Tunisian counterpart Khemaies Jhinaoui that Moscow and Tunis agreed to bolster cooperation on counter-terrorism efforts. "Today we agreed to boost our anti-terrorism cooperation, both within the United Nations and through bilateral ties," he stressed. For his part, Jhinaoui called on Russia to invest in Tunisia, especially in the field of infrastructure. He highlighted the importance of the flow of Russian tourists to Tunisia and efforts to increase their numbers. Some 600,000 Russians visited the North African country in 2018. Lavrov had arrived in Tunis Saturday after making stops in Morocco and Algeria. His trip follows up on a visit made by Jhinaoui to Moscow in March 2016. The Tunisian Foreign Ministry noted that it marks an opportunity to discuss means of boosting bilateral cooperation, especially in tourism, trade, investment, culture, transport and finance. Both parties are also scheduled to review the program of the seventh session of the Tunisian-Russian Joint Committee, which will be held this year. The political and security crisis in Libya has topped bilateral talks with Russia due to Tunisia’s strategic position with its neighbor. Tunis can wield its influence in convincing Libyan parties to hold fair and transparent elections to end their country’s eight-year conflict. Russia, meanwhile, is seeking to play a role in resolving Libya’s protracted crisis, as well as contribute in its reconstruction. It will compete with many western countries, notably France and Italy, over reconstruction projects in the country. Moscow is also eyeing Libya’s vast natural resources and opportunities to invest in them.

Egypt Says 2 Local Terrorist Commanders Killed in N. Sinai
Asharq Al-Awsat/Sunday, 27 January, 2019/Egypt announced Sunday that its military has killed several suspected militants, including two local commanders, in northern Sinai as it continues its operation against terrorists in the peninsula. Several terrorists were killed in an air strike on a militant outpost, confirmed the military spokesman on his official Facebook page. He stressed that the armed forces will continue their efforts to eliminate terrorism in northern Sinai and bolster security efforts to develop the peninsula. The army has been battling a long-running insurgency in the northern Sinai. The fighting intensified after the ouster in 2013 of President Mohammed Morsi, of the outlawed Muslim Brotherhood. The military launched in February 2018 a comprehensive operation to eliminate terrorism from northern Sinai.

UN: Mortar Shelling Destroys Hodeidah Grain Silos
Jeddah - Asmaa al-Ghaberi/Asharq Al-Awsat/Sunday, 27 January, 2019/A UN report confirmed that relief warehouses in Yemen’s Hodeidah city were set ablaze by mortar shelling. The report published by the UN official website revealed that the fire destroyed the two silos, but it was unable to ascertain the circumstances and blamed no party for the attack. The legitimate government had blamed the Iran-backed Houthi militias for firing the mortar shells.Majid Fadayel, Undersecretary of the Yemeni Human Rights Ministry, told Asharq Al-Awsat that the flagrant violation is not surprising and falls in line with the conduct of the terrorist militias that commit civilian abuses daily. He said the crime “is collective punishment exercised against citizens who do not support their (Houthi) presence in the Red Sea port city,” labeling international silence as indirect support of militia activities and “encourages them to commit further violations.”The UN’s World Food Program (WFP) supplies at the burned down facility represent a quarter of its grain stock in the country – enough to feed 3.7 million people for a month, an official statement said. "The situation in Yemen is heartbreaking," said UN Humanitarian Coordinator for Yemen Lise Grande, in the statement. The UN food agency, for its part, called for safe access to the grain silos to assess the damage from the fire, according a statement from the UN Office for the Coordination of Humanitarian Affairs (OCHA) on Saturday. "We are very concerned that some of our wheat stocks at the Red Sea Mills have been damaged," said WFP's Yemen director Stephen Anderson.The WFP has been unable to access the site since September last year, due to fighting, the statement revealed. "WFP urgently needs to get access to the Red Sea Mills so we can assess the level of damage and begin transporting the unaffected wheat stocks to areas of Yemen where it is desperately needed," Anderson added. "A quarter of a million people are in a catastrophic condition, facing near starvation if assistance doesn't get to them. We need this wheat."Sources confirmed that militias targeted the silos moments after the first shelling to prevent civilians from removing any surviving supplies. The second attack targeted paramedics treating those injured onsite. Ali Naji, 30, who sustained an abdominal injury, died on arrival at al-Khokha hospital.

Canada condemns bomb attacks on a church in southern Philippines
January 27, 2019 - Ottawa, Ontario - Global Affairs Canada
Global Affairs Canada today issued the following statement:
“Canada condemns the bombings on a church in the southern Philippines that killed at least 20 people, injuring dozens of others.
“We convey our deepest sympathies to the victims and their families and wish a prompt recovery to the injured. These reprehensible acts will not undermine the desire of the Filipino people in Mindanao and throughout the country for peace and security. Freedom of religion or belief, including the ability to worship in peace and security, is a universal human right.”

Latest LCCC English analysis & editorials from miscellaneous sources published on January 27-28/19
Bombing of Roman Catholic cathedral in southern Philippines kills at least 20
تفجير ارهابي في كنيسة كاثولوكية في الفلبين يوقع ما يزيد عن 20 ضحية وعشرات الجرحى
Fox News/January 26/19
http://eliasbejjaninews.com/archives/71533/bombing-of-roman-catholic-cathedral-in-southern-philippines-kills-at-least-20-%D8%AA%D9%81%D8%AC%D9%8A%D8%B1-%D8%A7%D8%B1%D9%87%D8%A7%D8%A8%D9%8A-%D9%81%D9%8A-%D9%83%D9%86%D9%8A%D8%B3%D8%A9-%D9%83/
MANILA, Philippines – Two bombs minutes apart tore through a Roman Catholic cathedral on a southern Philippine island where Muslim militants are active, killing at least 20 people and wounding 81 others during a Sunday Mass, officials said.
The first bomb went off in or near the Jolo cathedral in the provincial capital, followed by a second blast outside the compound as government forces were responding to the attack, security officials said. The blasts blew away the entrance to the cathedral and ripped through the main hall, shredding to pieces the pews and toppling other doors.
Police said at least 20 people died and 81 were wounded. The fatalities included 15 civilians and five troops. Among the wounded were 14 troops, two police and 65 civilians.
Photos showed debris and bodies lying on a busy street outside the Cathedral of Our Lady of Mount Carmel, which has been hit by bombs in the past. Troops in armored carriers sealed off the main road leading to the church while vehicles transported the dead and wounded to the hospital. Some casualties were evacuated by air to nearby Zamboanga city.
"I have directed our troops to heighten their alert level, secure all places of worships and public places at once, and initiate pro-active security measures to thwart hostile plans," said Defense Secretary Delfin Lorenzana in a statement.
"We will pursue to the ends of the earth the ruthless perpetrators behind this dastardly crime until every killer is brought to justice and put behind bars. The law will give them no mercy," the office of President Rodrigo Duterte said in Manila.
Bomb victims receive treatment in a hospital after two bombs exploded outside a Roman Catholic cathedral in Jolo, the capital of Sulu province in southern Philippines where militants are active Sunday, Jan. 27, 2019. (WESMINCOM Armed Forces of the Philippines Via AP)
It said that "the enemies of the state boldly challenged the government's capability to secure the safety of citizens in that region. The (Armed Forces of the Philippines) will rise to the challenge and crush these godless criminals."
Jolo island has long been troubled by the presence of Abu Sayyaf militants, who are blacklisted by the United States and the Philippines as a terrorist organization because of years of bombings, kidnappings and beheadings. A Catholic bishop, Benjamin de Jesus, was gunned down by suspected militants outside the cathedral in 1997.
No one has immediately claimed responsibility for the latest attack.
It came nearly a week after minority Muslims in the predominantly Roman Catholic nation endorsed a new autonomous region in the southern Philippines in hopes of ending nearly five decades of a separatist rebellion that has left 150,000 people dead. Although most of the Muslim areas approved the autonomy deal, voters in Sulu province, where Jolo is located, rejected it. The province is home to a rival rebel faction that's opposed to the deal as well as smaller militant cells that not part of any peace process.
Western governments have welcomed the autonomy pact. They worry that small numbers of Islamic State-linked militants from the Middle East and Southeast Asia could forge an alliance with Filipino insurgents and turn the south into a breeding ground for extremists.
"This bomb attack was done in a place of peace and worship, and it comes at a time when we are preparing for another stage of the peace process in Mindanao," said Gov. Mujiv Hataman of the Autonomous Region in Muslim Mindanao. "Human lives are irreplaceable," he added, calling on Jolo residents to cooperate with authorities to find the perpetrators of this "atrocity."
Security officials were looking "at different threat groups and they still can't say if this has something to do with the just concluded plebiscite," Albayalde, the national police chief, told ABS-CBN TV network.
A soldier views the site inside a Roman Catholic cathedral in Jolo, the capital of Sulu province in the southern Philippines after two bombs exploded Sunday, Jan. 27, 2019. (WESMINCOM Armed Forces of the Philippines Via AP)
A soldier views the site inside a Roman Catholic cathedral in Jolo, the capital of Sulu province in the southern Philippines after two bombs exploded Sunday, Jan. 27, 2019. (WESMINCOM Armed Forces of the Philippines Via AP)
Aside from the small but brutal Abu Sayyaf group, other militant groups in Sulu include a small band of young jihadis aligned with the Islamic State group, which has also carried out assaults, including ransom kidnappings and beheadings.
Abu Sayyaf militants are still holding at least five hostages — a Dutch national, two Malaysians, an Indonesian and a Filipino — in their jungle bases mostly near Sulu's Patikul town, not far from Jolo.
Government forces have pressed on sporadic offensives to crush the militants, including those in Jolo, a poverty-wracked island of more than 700,000 people. A few thousand Catholics live mostly in the capital of Jolo.
There have been speculations that the bombings may be a diversionary move by Muslim militants after troops recently carried out an offensive that killed a number of IS-linked extremists in an encampment in the hinterlands of Lanao del Sur province, also in the south. The area is near Marawi, a Muslim city that was besieged for five months by hundreds of IS-aligned militants, including foreign fighters, in 2017. Troops quelled the insurrection, which left more 1,100 mostly militants dead and the heartland of the mosque-studded city in ruins.

Davos and the End of Khashoggi’s Crisis
Salman Al-dossary/Asharq Al-Awsat/January 27/19
“We have long since dealt with the Khashoggi case. We talked about this issue and will naturally keep it in mind. But we will not prolong it to a hundred years to come.”From the world-famous Davos forum, this is how Swiss President Ueli Maurer described the end of the case that has occupied the world in an exceptional and unprecedented manner. It is as if the world got preoccupied with one cause, while thousands of issues are shaking the stability of nations. Every day, hundreds of children are killed. Innocent people are harmed. Women are raped. Governments shut down. Coups break out. States terrorize. Then, all of a sudden, all this is forgotten and only one case remains in memory. The irony here is not because there is no heinous crime in the killing of Khashoggi, or that the crime is not reprehensible. On the contrary, Saudis are the first to denounce it before everybody else; but because the case was exploited in a disgusting manner. Investigations are underway and the Saudi trial of the accused is in full swing. The Attorney General charged 11 detained suspects with murder, and a criminal case was brought against them, with a demand to put to death those who ordered and executed the crime. Thus, the issue is now in the past, and bringing it up again is nothing but cheap political exploitation that has been unprecedented in modern history.
The positive news this time came from Davos, where it was clear that there are those who want to move towards overcoming Khashoggi’s case and avoid sensational reporting. Western officials stressed their desire to move passed the case and return relations to their natural course. Apart from the Swiss president, Total CEO Patrick Pouyanne urged the attendees of an event held on the sidelines of the forum to put the bad case of Khashoggi's death behind them. “Let's look more positively and move forward.”
Saudi Arabia’s Finance Minister, Mohammed al-Jadaan, said international investors had regained their confidence in the Kingdom by proof of the demand for $7.5 billion worth of Saudi bonds when the offer was significantly oversubscribed.
This indicates that the issue no longer occupies the world as it was meant for it to do. Countries, governments, investors, and even the people, turned to their interests and to matters that are more important to them, despite all Turkish attempts to keep the ongoing media campaign, which has already become a boring Turkish drama series, the appropriate end of which is not even known to the director. There is no doubt that the case of Jamal, May God Have Mercy on him, is nothing more than a mean to undermine the Saudi project of development and modernization. But despite all the fierce campaign, the project did not stop, but became more powerful, immunized and able to reach the long-awaited happy ending. It is true that developments did not unfold in an ideal way as everyone hoped for, but at the same time, any transformation has its own challenges and obstacles. It is not reasonable for a country of 30 million people to be confined to a case - no matter how ruthless - while a major shift in the country will have a great impact on the region and the world. The Kingdom is moving ahead with its project, and has thrown the Khashoggi crisis behind it, as has the world. Its challenges are bigger than a single crisis with its legal and judicial track. It is important to emphasize that the Saudis will not forget all those who objectively and rationally stood by them. They will be rewarded in kind, while the appropriate retaliation will be in store for those who exploited the crisis.

The Danger of Calling Out Cyberattackers
Leonid Bershidsky/Asharq Al-Awsat/January 27/19
The $100 million lawsuit that Mondelez, the maker of Oreos and Cadbury chocolate, has brought against Zurich Insurance Group shows that governments should be more careful about identifying the would-be culprits in putative cyberwars: Such claims can have unintended consequences, and can sometimes harm businesses. In June 2017, a malware program dubbed ExPetr or NotPetya wreaked havoc at Danish shipping giant Maersk, US pharma titan Merck, Russian state-owned oil company Rosneft and a number of other big corporations, including Mondelez. NotPetya used an exploit known as EternalBlue, created by the US National Security Agency and leaked earlier in 2017. In February 2018, the UK officially blamed Russia for the unusually powerful cyberattack. The US, Canada and Australia quickly followed as part of what was revealed later to be a coordinated diplomatic action. The official statement from the White House called the malware “part of the Kremlin’s ongoing effort to destabilize Ukraine” and said it demonstrated “ever more clearly Russia’s involvement in the ongoing conflict.” Cybersecurity companies found that the attack had first struck in Ukraine. The official attribution to Russia by Western governments fits the naming-and-shaming pattern established in recent years. They don’t feel compelled to provide any proof: That’s unnecessary if the idea is to tell Russia, “We know what you’re doing.” Russia invariably denies involvement, so the consequences are usually limited to a publicity blast.
But not in this case: The Mondelez-Zurich dispute could set a nasty precedent, raising the question of whether the rules of business need to be changed to take into account the brave new world of cyberattacks.
Mondelez claimed $100 million on its insurance policy because it believed the permanent damage to 1,700 of its servers and 24,000 laptops, inflicted by NotPetya, plus the theft of thousands of user credentials, unfulfilled customer orders and other losses fell under the provision of its insurance policy that covered “physical loss or damage to electronic data, programs, or software” caused by “the malicious introduction of a machine code or instruction.”In June 2018, Zurich countered that NotPetya fell under an exclusion in the policy covering “hostile or warlike action in time of peace or war,” which meant the insurer didn’t have to make good on the claim. Mondelez sued, asserting that Zurich’s application of the exclusion to a cyberattack or, indeed, to anything but conventional warfare was unprecedented. The burden of proof in a case like this is with the insurance company. Cyberattacks are notoriously difficult to attribute, and even evidence collected by cybersecurity companies may not be convincing to a court.
In this particular case, however, Zurich can refer to a number of official statements by Western governments describing NotPetya as part of a Russian hostile action against Ukraine. But, as is usual with disclosures from intelligence agencies, no proof was offered to back up the accusation. The lawsuit raises the question of whether the claims from official sources should be admissible as evidence, even when they lack substantiation. The US and other governments should think hard about whether the questionable benefits they get from the public accusations are worth the potential fallout: What if courts and lawyers actually start believing the cyberwar narrative and acting as if any damage caused to Western companies is uninsurable war damage? Does the language of war really provide a good description of the current cyberspace rivalries? What will happen to the insurance of cyber risks if any attack could potentially be declared part of a war? The cyberwar narrative is titillating, but it’s also rather pointless. Perhaps it’s time to tone it down, or at least think twice before using such strong language.

Brexit and Pressure on Finances of England’s Universities
Chris Bryant/Bloomberg View/January 27/19
April is the cruelest month. It’s not just English literature professors who’ll tell you that: Their university’s treasurers probably think T.S. Eliot had a point too. Nowadays most of the English universities’ income arrives via student fees, instead of direct government grants. Half the money is released to them by the UK’s Student Loans Company each May, whereas costs for stuff like paying lecturers and keeping the lights on are spread out over the year; so things are often pretty tight by April. This all creates an inherent imbalance in how cash flows in and out of the institutions, which isn’t helping to ease the pressure on the finances of England’s universities (with Brexit partly to blame). One unnamed establishment has already had to go cap in hand to the regulator, the Office for Students, for a temporary loan. If the universities’ latest published accounts are any guide, it won’t be the last. While large institutions have gone on a 12 billion-pound ($15.4 billion) borrowing binge, it’s the smaller, less well-funded ones we really need to worry about.
In an apparent effort to lift standards by fostering competition, English universities are free nowadays to recruit as many students as they can. As I’ve explained before, this process of turning higher education into a market-based business has created unhappy consequences, including massive pay-hikes for university bosses, easier admission requirements and rampant grade inflation. With each student representing about 28,000 pounds of potential income over a three-year course, there’s been an almighty battle to boost their numbers. Hence universities are spending hundreds of millions of pounds on shiny new equipment, lecture halls and sports complexes, which the largest have financed in part by issuing long-duration public bonds at extraordinarily low yields. (Others have turned to private placements).
The trouble is, there aren’t enough students to go around right now. A British demographic dip doesn’t bode well for the overall undergraduate intake between now and 2021. Lower recruitment is doubly painful because it reduces rental income from student lodgings too. Meanwhile, Brexit will probably dry up EU research funding and put off European students. Wage inflation and giant pension deficits are another drag. This perfect storm could get worse. The government has already put a stop to fees rising in line with inflation, and a review of university funding might result in the 9,250-pound maximum fee being slashed. Students would love that, but it’s not clear how universities would fill the funding gap. Unlike in the US, most British institutions don’t have big endowments — with two-thirds of the assets held by just eight institutions. Oxford and Cambridge are in no danger of going bust.

"We Will Teach You a Lesson": Extremist Persecution of Christians, November 2018
Raymond Ibrahim/Gatestone Institute/January 27/19
https://www.gatestoneinstitute.org/13578/christian-persecution-november
After it was announced that Asia Bibi -- a Christian women who had spent nearly a decade on death row for allegedly "blaspheming" against Islam -- had been acquitted, Muslims rioted throughout early November; in one march, more than 11,000 Muslims demanded her instant and public hanging. A leading Muslim party announced that the judges who had acquitted her deserved death. The lawyer who represented her fled the nation due to many death threats. — Pakistan.
While under arrest, he asked police to allow him to "kill the infidels... otherwise you will become infidels like them." Authorities later said the man had mental problems and was under the influence of drugs. The Christians replied that the media always present such Muslims who attack churches and Christians as suffering from mental illnesses. — Egypt.
[A]t least 350 Christian owned properties have illegally been seized. The government has stopped only 50 of these properties from being sold... Iraqi Christians have long complained about the disproportionate targeting of their properties for illegal seizures. These seizures often occur in waves which follow violent incidents of persecution." — Iraq.
[T]he government... protect the aggressors and leave the victims mercilessly helpless... The devastation in terms of massacre of lives and destruction of property is unimaginable." — Rev. Dacholom Datiri, President of the Church of Christ in Nigeria.
A 22-year-old Muslim man, "holding a Koran and sharp tool," entered the St. George Church in Cairo (pictured) during Sunday worship service on November 11. While shouting Islamic slogans including "Allahu Akbar!" ("Allah is greater!"), he wounded two Christian men. Witnesses reported that they "heard him say that he wanted to kill them because they were Christians." (Image source: Terry Feuerborn/Flickr)
The Slaughter of Christians
Egypt: On November 2, heavily armed Islamic terrorists ambushed and massacred Christians returning home after visiting the ancient St. Samuel Monastery in Minya. Seven pilgrims—including a 12-year-old girl and a 15-year-old boy—were shot to death. More than 20 others were left injured, with bullet wounds or shards of broken glass from the buses' windows. "I pray for the victims, pilgrims killed just because they were Christian," Pope Francis said after the attack.
Pictures posted on social media revealed "bodies soaked in blood and distorted faces of men and women." In one video posted, a man can be heard crying, "The gunshot got you in the head, my boy!" and repeating, "What a loss!" One of the female survivors, shot in the legs, recalls that an explosion of gunfire suddenly opened on all sides of their bus; by the time she could register what was happening, she saw pieces of her brother-in-law's brain splattered on her lap. Another woman, after realizing that her husband and daughter had been killed, begged the jihadis to kill her, too. "No," they said, "you stay and suffer over your husband and daughter." Then they shot her in the ankles. In a separate report, another survivor said the terrorists told her, "We will kill the men and children and leave you to live the rest of your lives in misery." Coptic Bishop Anba Makarios of Minya confirmed that, "The pilgrims were killed in such a savage and sadistic way, as if they were enemy combatants, when they were just simple Christians come to get a blessing from a monastery." The attack was almost a duplicate of another that occurred on May 26, 2017: then, extremist Muslim gunmen ambushed buses full of Christians returning from the same monastery. Twenty-eight Christians—ten of whom were children, including two girls, aged two and four—were massacred. "Who can accept these incidents?" asked another Christian. "Every day, there are many incidents harming Christians. We must leave our land and get out of here. I'm so exhausted... it's so dull and dark these days."
Central African Republic: A militant Islamic group raided a Catholic church compound and massacred dozens of Christians, including two priests, in the small town of Alindao, on November 15. According to the report, the group, which consists of "mainly Muslim and Fulani militia, stormed the cathedral and the nearby refugee camp hosting more than 26,000 people displaced following previous attacks in the town and its surrounding villages." Pictures and testimonials "revealed the scale of the devastation as dozens of bodies littered the ground, mixed with the burned debris of tents ... Some of the victims were burned beyond recognition, while others had been shot or dismembered with machetes. Bishop Juan Jose Aguirre Muños provided more details: "The men of Ali Darassa assaulted, looted and set fire to the displaced camp and killed women and children; they burned down the cathedral where they killed the two priests." Immediately afterwards, the terrorists "allowed groups of young Muslims of the western part to enter the eastern part of Alindao and looted the bishop's residence and burned the presbytery and the centre of Caritas." The same Christian town suffered from a similar attack on May 8, 2017; then, between 130 and several hundred "Christian townspeople and villagers" were butchered. Due to these ongoing attacks, on November 16 the Central African Episcopal Conference issued a statement, saying that the Catholic Church "has become the target of armed groups in Central Africa." In 2018, five Catholic priests were killed by the Muslim militants in various attacks.
Democratic Republic of Congo: An Islamic militant group slaughtered seven Christians during a late night raid on their village. In the raid, which began on November 10 and continued into the early morning hours of November 11, three children, aged between eight and 13, were among the slain, as well as two pastors, and the daughter of one of them. The terrorists also kidnapped 13 Christians, children among them. "At about 10pm they [Muslim militants] got into the pastor's house and attacked his daughter with machetes," a local church leader explained. "When she started screaming for help, her father came out ... to rescue her. They shot him dead, and then shot her dead too. One of his grandchildren remains missing." "I was in my house when they attacked," another survivor recalled. "From my window I could hear the attackers discussing that the area where they operate belongs to the Muslims, and not to Christians, and that every Christian found in it is an enemy."
The Murder and Persecution of Muslim Converts to Christianity
Uganda: A Muslim man poisoned and killed his friend for apostatizing to Christianity. After Abdul Hamza converted, his wife "threatened him that leaving Islam would attract grievous measures from their family," explained his pastor, the Rev. Canon Kainja. Although he was ostracized from the Muslim community, some Muslims still remained on friendly terms with him. "One evening, Abdul Hamza and his friends went out to the local market to have some tea and snacks," continues Kainja.
"Not suspecting anything, he sipped his tea, amidst catching up [on] the days' occurrences. He immediately complained of pain in the stomach followed by vomiting. I was informed about his sudden sickness and asked my fellow pastor, Rev. John Murabyo, to help me take Hamza to the hospital. He succumbed to the stomach pain and vomiting, which the doctor later confirmed was food poisoning."
Hamza's father, Ibrahim Masereka, was later interviewed:
"Everybody in the family was shocked by the conversion of Hamza and we were left with no option other than letting him leave and settle elsewhere because we could not bear the shame. I was pained a lot, but tolerant. Thoughts of killing him never crossed my mind. His wife was so upset, even contemplating a divorce. Later on, Hamza was poisoned and died at the hospital."
"His wife did not mourn him," adds Kainja. "A day after laying to rest Hamza, she left the matrimonial home and their two young boys and got married off to Abdul's friend, who is suspected of poisoning him." His orphaned sons currently live with the Rev. Canon Kainja.
In a separate but similar incident in Uganda, a Muslim man who converted to Christianity died from wounds sustained during a severe beating on the orders of his father. The following account concerning the story of Juma is made up of quotes from various interviewed family members: In April 2018, "He informed his wife that he ... felt that he needed to put his trust in Christ. A few days later, he stopped going to the mosque and began attending Bible studies and church services. Juma's father was very upset after learning about Juma's new faith. He called all of us and led the meeting that excommunicated Juma, his wife, and his child." Eventually Juma "went to live in another district far away from home. During this time, he was not able to take care of the wife and young Rehema [his daughter]. Eventually, his wife informed him that she was not ready to suffer for a decision she did not make, and thus left him and Rehema. Until now, nobody knows where she disappeared to." Soon thereafter, Juma's "father called some relatives and friends and went to engage Juma. A discussion that was to be amicable turned chaotic when Juma's father started cursing him and asking the group to beat him. He suffered several injuries in the head and the spine. They also demolished his house and took Rehema back to her grandmother.... He later succumbed to the injuries" and died. His orphaned daughter, Rehema, "has been struggling to pay for her school fees and uniform. She is also lacking quality shoes and clothing." Described as "distraught and lonely," she said "I miss my father so much. I also want to become a Christian, but I fear my grandmother and other family members. I don't know where my mama is and I hope that she is fine and she will come back home soon."
Kenya: After a Muslim father, mother, and two children embraced Christianity on November 4, "We were given a day to either recant the Christian faith or face the sword, as well as lose all the privileges the Muslims had given to us," Abdul Abuk-Bakr, the father, explained.
"It reached the mosque at Sera that I had converted to Christ, and that very day I received threatening messages that the Muslims were planning to kill all of us and take away both the rented house and the two acres of land on which we had planted food crops—maize and beans."
The family instantly sought refuge at a church. During Friday, November 9 mosque prayers, a leading cleric announced the penalty for apostasy: "The family of Abu-Bakr are now infidels and have become apostates, and they deserve to die." Since then, the family has been on the run, living at various Christian households: "Life for us is now very difficult—the Muslims are monitoring our movements," said the father:
"We have decided to take our two children, ages 4 and 5, to a good Samaritan's home. Though they are missing our love at their tender age, their security is more important.... We are at crossroads, not knowing what to do—no home, no food, life-threatening environment and children away from us. At times we are missing peace. My wife has been having sleepless nights thinking about the children. We really need prayers to remain in the Christian faith and the peace that comes from God."
Sudan: More details concerning the October 13 arrest and beating of Christians who were attending a house church in Darfur emerged in a November 6 report. According to a local contact, after entering the house and asking "Are you Christians" and receiving a reply in the affirmative, security agents "tortured them beating them a whole day and night and telling them you face death because you changed your religion." The report continues:
"Ten of the Christian converts were later released after reportedly being tortured into recanting their faith. Pastor Tajdeen, who is also a convert from Islam but refused to deny Christ, was held for several more days and has since been released. All eleven were required to report daily to authorities, but have gone into hiding for their safety. Under Islamic sharia law, Muslims who abandon their religion face severe punishment. According to all schools of sharia, men face the death penalty.... Sudan is one of the few countries in the world today where people have been executed for apostasy.... In 2014, a Christian Sudanese woman was sentenced to death for apostasy. Meriam Yahya Ibrahim was raised as a Christian by her mother, but because her estranged father was a Muslim, authorities claimed she was a Muslim by birth and was therefore guilty of apostasy. An international outcry led to her eventual release....."
The Persecution of Christian Blasphemers and Preachers
Pakistan: After it was announced that Asia Bibi—a Christian women who had spent nearly a decade on death row for allegedly "blaspheming" against Islam—had been acquitted, Muslims rioted throughout early November; in one march, more than 11,000 Muslims demanded her instant and public hanging. A leading Muslim party announced that the judges who had acquitted her deserved death. The lawyer who represented her fled the nation due to many death threats. Fearing a backlash from the UK's large Muslim community, Theresa May blocked the long tormented Christian woman's asylum application, "despite UK playing host to [Muslim] hijackers, extremists and rapists," read one report headline. Last reported, Asia Bibi was still in custody and apart from her family on Christmas Day.
Uganda: Police arrested a pastor and five other Christians in eastern Uganda after hundreds —one source says 1,800— of angry Muslims chanting "Allahu Akbar!" ("Allah is greater!") surrounded the local police station and insisted that the men be arrested for publicly debating—called, blaspheming—about Islam, on November 24. As police forced the Christians into their van, Muslims shouted, "Away with these pastors and their families for blaspheming the Koran and Hadith." A local church leader expressed his disappointment at the double standards: "When Muslims alleged that Jesus is not the son of God, we Christians did not pick up stones to attack the Muslims, and we are shocked that the Muslims and police officers have taken such a wild move." One of the arrested pastors, Tom Palapande, offers more details:
"The Muslims came in the company of their Sheikhs and disrupted our open-air market preaching as the police watched. We were then arrested and taken to Soronko district police headquarters for questioning. We were charged with causing public disturbance and inciting violence, offenses [to which] we responded not guilty. The police locked us up from Saturday to Monday so as to investigate the matter. We were not causing any violence. We are evangelists known across eastern Uganda for... answering questions on Islam and Christianity. When the Sheikhs fail to answer questions, they usually turn their disappointment to us because we know how to handle the Quran and the Bible. We also hold public debates with them and they hate us because, through our ministry, many Muslims have converted to Christianity."
The Christians were released "with conditions: not to hold and discuss the Quran." Last reported, they were still getting threatening text messages: "The struggle is not yet over, we will teach you [Christians] a lesson," read one. Another read, "Know that disrespecting the Koran means a punishable crime, which is death." Earlier in June, Pastor Tom was stoned by Muslims while preaching the Gospel in Kuwait. "The injury almost blinded me, but [I was saved] thanks to my small local church that contributed some little money for me to seek treatment."
Malaysia: After angry Muslims filed complaints, police arrested four Finnish nationals—two men and two women between the ages of 27 and 60—on November 20 for reportedly passing out Christian literature on the streets of Langawi Island the day before. Police further confiscated 336 Christian pamphlets from their hotel room. According to the November 28 report:
The four Christians remain in custody today on the charges of "disturbing religious harmony." If they are found guilty in court, they could face up to five years in a Malaysian prison. This is the third report of foreigners or Malay nations being arrested for Christian activities in recent weeks. Earlier, five Nigerians were arrest[ed] for Christian activities followed by six locals for similar activities. In Malaysia, it is illegal to convert from Islam to Christianity and therefore it is against the law to evangelize in Malaysia.
Indonesia: A Muslim organization accused Grace Natalie, a Christian and founder of the Indonesian Solidarity Party, of blasphemy, after she told reporters that "The implementation of religion-based bylaws [a reference to Sharia] victimize women and I have become a victim as well for criticizing such regulations." The Indonesian Muslim Workers' Brotherhood was so offended by this remark that it lodged a blasphemy complaint: "Her comments appeared hostile [to Islam] and was considered hate speech against religion," a representative of the Islamic group said.
Attacks on Christian Churches and Buildings
Egypt: A little over a week after the November 2 slaughter of seven Christians traveling from a monastery (see above), a 22-year-old Muslim man "holding a Koran and sharp tool," to quote an eyewitness, entered the St. George Church in Cairo during Sunday worship service on November 11. While shouting Islamic slogans including "Allahu Akbar!" ("Allah is greater!"), he wounded two Christian men, one of whom he struck on the head with his sharp object. Other witnesses report they "heard him say that he wanted to kill them because they were Christians." Police came and restrained the invader. While under arrest, he asked police to allow him to "kill the infidels... otherwise you will become infidels like them." Authorities later said the man had mental problems and was under the influence of drugs. The Christians replied that the media always present such Muslims who attack churches and Christians as suffering from mental illnesses. "The media uses words which don't reveal the truth," Ehad, a local Christian said. "Now we have discovered that ... he was holding a Koran and sharp tool [while] injuring some people on their heads. The media's role is to reveal the reality and not to hide information to make the Copt[ic Christians] calm down." Another local Christian, Majeed, added, "Lies and lies and lies... I'm sure that this criminal will not be punished." "Mentally ill, what?! How the media manipulates us!" exclaimed another Christian, Hani.
Nigeria: Muslim youths are suspected of torching Christian school on the night of November 21. "[T] the school was completely burnt down leaving only rubbles," states the report. Fortunately, "the security man at the school however escaped death... [E]verything was completely razed, especially books and other learning materials."
Algeria: Authorities closed down another Christian church, which was first opened in 2015 and had about 200 members, on November 14. They said the church did not have the required permission from the National Committee for Non-Muslim Worship. According to the report, "The repression of Algerian churches has intensified over the past year, with several closed for vague reasons despite their membership with the officially recognized Protestant Church of Algeria (EPA)." This is "part of a systematic strategy by the authorities to increase restrictions on Christians.... A decree in 2006 stipulates that permission must be obtained before a building is used for non-Muslim worship. However, the authorities have failed to respond to almost all applications."
General Persecution of Christians
Iraq: "[A]t least 350 Christian owned properties have illegally been seized," an investigative report found. "The government has stopped only 50 of these properties from being sold." Although illegal seizures have happened elsewhere in Iraq, the "problem primarily exists in the Nineveh Plains," where most Iraqi Christians are located. "Iraqi Christians have long complained about the disproportionate targeting of their properties for illegal seizures. These seizures often occur in waves which follow violent incidents of persecution."
A separate report, on November 18, highlights the extortion and threats that Christians experience in Ankawa, the Christian quarter of Erbil, which is governed by the Kurdistan Regional Government (KRG):
"Christians do face a number of challenges when living in areas controlled by the KRG. Peshmerga militias, affiliated with the KRG, did not protect Christians when ISIS advanced through the Nineveh Plains. Christians living in the KRG repeatedly report harassment from the broader Muslim community, especially during Islamic holidays such as Ramadan. The recent extortion attempts against Ankawa Christians also highlights [sic] another problem: while charges are brought against the defendants, they do not necessarily reflect the nature of the compliant."
Nigeria: During a meeting with President Muhammadu Buhari, a number of leading Christian pastors accused the nation's military of being complicit in the ongoing Muslim Fulani attacks on Christians. After documenting how 646 Christians in Plateau State alone were killed—as well as 30 church buildings and 4,436 Christian homes destroyed, and 38,000 Christians were living in 10 camps for displaced persons from March through October—the Rev. Dacholom Datiri, president of the Church of Christ in Nigeria, said:
"The narrative has been that these people are killed by unknown gunmen, or suspected herdsmen, or that there have been farmer-herders clashes. All these are deceptive narratives deliberately framed to conceal the truth and continue to perpetrate the evil."
He pointed to the fact that these supposedly impoverished Muslim herdsmen often attack and kill Christians with sophisticated guns, including assault rifles, machine guns, and rocket-propelled grenades. Rev. Datiri continued:
"The proficiency and mode of operation in all of these attacks, as testified by the surviving victims, leaves us in no doubt of the complicity of the military being used as hired mercenaries by the Fulani militias. On this, we are disappointed, and sadly so, that the government has not delivered on her constitutional responsibility of protecting lives and property... The implication is that they protect the aggressors and leave the victims mercilessly helpless... The devastation in terms of massacre of lives and destruction of property is unimaginable. Pastors and members in their thousands have been killed in cold blood, either shot dead or slaughtered like animals or burned to death. Houses and businesses have been burned or looted and farmlands have been destroyed... And yet, despite the huge government intervention in that area, very little relief has come to COCIN [Church of Christ in Nigeria] and her members, if any. We are aware that a lot of government intervention in terms of relief material has gone to the [Muslim-majority] northeast. Unfortunately, our members in that zone have been left out of the distribution."
Although Prince Charles and his wife had planned to go to Jos, the administrative capital of Nigeria's Plateau State, in efforts to talk about conflict resolution and peace building with local authorities during their November visit to the west African nation, a British foreign spokesperson announced that, "we have decided at this time not to include Jos during their royal highnesses'" visit to Nigeria. "The decision was taken upon advice from the Nigerian government and others involved in security and operational aspects of the visit." As explained above by the Rev. Datiri, however, more Christians have been killed in Jos and Plateau by Muslim Fulani herdsmen than anywhere else in Nigeria, including the northern states where the Islamic terror group Boko Haram is active. Responding to the cancelation, one Christian leader in Jos said:
"We would have liked Prince Charles to visit Jos and hear from Christians affected by the violence directly. But now we have been robbed of an opportunity to create awareness about our travails with a prominent world figure."
"Many lives have been lost," added Dr. Soja Bewarang, the chairman of the Plateau state chapter of the Christian Association of Nigeria, "[along with many] properties, church buildings have been destroyed. Many People have been displaced. People are living in fear, not knowing when death and destruction will visit their community."
*Raymond Ibrahim, author of the new book, Sword and Scimitar, Fourteen Centuries of War between Islam and the West, is a Distinguished Senior Fellow at the Gatestone Institute and a Judith Rosen Friedman Fellow at the Middle East Forum.
About this Series
While not all, or even most, Muslims are involved, persecution of Christians by extremists is growing. The report posits that such persecution is not random but rather systematic, and takes place irrespective of language, ethnicity, or location.
*Follow Raymond Ibrahim on Twitter and Facebook
© 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.

New Year, Same Old Turkey
Burak Bekdil/Gatestone Institute/January 27/19
https://www.gatestoneinstitute.org/13598/new-year-old-turkey
The joke goes: One day a political prisoner asks his guard if he could borrow from the prison library a certain work of fiction written by a certain author. The guard answers: We don't have that book in our library. But if you want, I can bring you its author. He is here."
HSBC Turkey's Chief Executive Officer, Selim Kervancı, is being investigated by the prosecutor's office over a video he retweeted during the Gezi protests five years ago. Kervancı is being charged with insulting Erdoğan for retweeting a video clip from the 2004 German movie "Downfall," set during Adolf Hitler's last days and depicting the collapse of Nazi Germany.
Recently, Erdoğan claimed that the Turkish businessman and philanthropist Osman Kavala, currently detained and awaiting trial, was working for "the famous Hungarian Jew George Soros." By adding the "famous Hungarian Jew" to his conspiracy theories, Erdoğan apparently wanted to demonize Kavala and remind the judges that the suspect has a Jewish connection.
In December, a prosecutor launched an investigation into prominent Fox News (Turkey) journalist Fatih Portakal for "openly inciting others to commit a crime," because he asked his viewers a perfectly realistic question: "Let's have a peaceful protest [in Turkey], a protest against... rising natural gas prices. Could we do it [without getting arrested]?" (Image source: Fox News Turkey video screenshot)
Democratic anomaly became the new Turkish normal several years ago. The anomaly, sometimes, offers entertaining moments, too. Take, for instance, Parliament Speaker Binali Yıldırım, President Recep Tayyip Erdoğan's most important political confidant (and former prime minister), who became the joke of the day when he declared: "Animals, too, are living beings". Someone teased him on social media: "He is right. And I am adding: Plants, too, are living beings." A few days later Yıldırım, under fire from the opposition because he refuses to resign as parliament speaker although he would run for mayor of Istanbul in nationwide local elections on March 31 (they cite the constitution which bans the impartial parliament speaker from engaging in any political activity), amused a whole nation when he said: "Elections are not political activity". Not all Turkish anomalies are as entertaining as this one.
What most Turks thought was a joke in the past few years now appears to be bitter reality. The joke goes: One day a political prisoner asks his guard if he could borrow from the prison library a certain work of fiction written by a certain author. The guard answers: We don't have that book in our library. But if you want, I can bring you its author. He is here."
A journalist recently uncovered the true story behind what millions of Turks mistakenly thought was just a joke. An academic, Mehmet Altan, detained on charges of "giving subliminal messages for a coup," asked a guard if he could borrow a book written by his brother, Ahmet. "We don't have that book," said the guard, "but the author is here."
So, the Turkish witch-hunt goes on. As of October 31, there were 239 Turkish journalists under detention or in jail. One of them was Max Zirngast, an Austrian journalist and social activist, detained by the Turkish anti-terror squads in September. Like a political thriller from a Latin American country in the 1970s, Zirngast's interrogators sought to know details about books he had and his ties with the Kurds, as well as with left-wing organizations in Turkey. Zirngast was released on December 24, pending trial.
In the past couple of years, 29 publishing houses have been shut down. Tens of thousands of books have been confiscated and destroyed. Thousands of libraries have banished books banned by the government. Bookstores visited by police officers have expelled unwanted titles from their shelves, as well.
In January, Turkish law enforcement officials invented a new crime for journalists: Doing journalism against the state. The new crime, reminiscent of Hitler's Germany or Stalin's Soviet Russia, came into being when Turkish prosecutors filed a lawsuit against journalist Esra Solin Dal on charges of "being a member of a terrorist organization" and "doing journalism against the state". Dal, a reporter for the pro-Kurdish Mezopotamya news agency, had been arrested along with 141 people in Turkey's predominantly Kurdish Diyarbakır province. Turkish police on October 9 arrested Esra Solin Dal, a reporter of the pro-Kurdish Mezopotamya Agency, along with 141 people, in the southeastern province of Diyarbakır. She was released later, but the authorities launched an investigation nevertheless. Finally, a court in Diyarbakır accepted the indictment.
In December, a prominent television news presenter, after covering the Yellow Vest protests in France, asked his viewers a perfectly realistic question: "Let's have a peaceful protest [in Turkey], a protest against... rising natural gas prices. Could we do it [without getting arrested]?" asked Fox News (Turkey) journalist Fatih Portakal, who has six million followers on Twitter. After President Erdoğan lambasted Portakal, a prosecutor immediately launched an investigation into him. The prosecutor's office said it was investigating Portakal for "openly inciting others to commit a crime" after the journalist speculated whether Turks could protest like those in France.
The Turkish witch-hunt does not target only journalists. Turkish actor Levent Üzümcü, for instance, known for his dissident views said his theatrical production was cancelled due to political pressure by the authorities. In a sarcastic video released, Üzümcü said:
"These days, which art and artists are as free as they have never been, democracy has been improved as much as it has not been before, our stage that we were planning to present our play on was taken from us due to political pressure."
Üzümcü took part in the Gezi Park protests in 2013, when millions of Turks took to the streets for months to protest Erdoğan's government. He was fired from his job at Istanbul's City Theater in 2015 after criticizing the government's heavy-handed suppression of protests that had spread across the country.
The Gezi Park protests apparently remain unforgettable in Turkey's official memory. HSBC Turkey's Chief Executive Officer Selim Kervancı is being investigated by the prosecutor's office over a video he retweeted during the Gezi protests five years ago. As the senior Turkish official of one of the world's biggest banks, he is among the highest-profile executives targeted in the government's crackdown on dissent. Kervancı is being charged with insulting Erdoğan for retweeting a video clip. from the 2004 German movie "Downfall," set during Adolf Hitler's last days and depicting the collapse of Nazi Germany.
In defiance of his country's colossal democratic deficit, Erdoğan is evidently trying to find new foes. Erdoğan's conspiracy theory that Turkey would have been a global power if not secretly battled by a clandestine network of Jews is not hidden. Recently, Erdoğan pointed a finger at the American entrepreneur George Soros for apparently conspiring against his government. He claimed that the Turkish businessman and philanthropist Osman Kavala, currently detained and awaiting trial, was working for "the famous Hungarian Jew George Soros". By adding the "famous Hungarian Jew" to his conspiracy theories, Erdoğan apparently wanted to demonize Kavala and remind the judges that the suspect has a Jewish connection.
Kavala was arrested in October 2017 on charges of sponsoring and organizing the Gezi protests. He has remained in jail since then, with no indictment. He says he is waiting to see the indictment against him in order to prove his innocence. Now that Erdoğan linked him with "that famous Hungarian Jew," this feat may not be easy.
**Burak Bekdil, one of Turkey's leading journalists, was recently fired from the country's most noted newspaper after 29 years, for writing in Gatestone what is taking place in Turkey. He is a Fellow at the Middle East Forum.
© 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.

Trump: In Third Year with Three Charges
Amir Taheri/Asharq Alk Awsat/January 27/19
https://www.gatestoneinstitute.org/13629/trump-third-year
Those who opposed the creation of the US as an independent nation claimed there was collusion between the Founding Fathers and the French, who wished to prevent the English from extending their empire to the whole of North America.
The second charge brought against Donald Trump by is arrogance. Have we forgotten Barack Obama, who claimed that the start of his presidency meant "oceans receding " to end climate change? Or his boast that he would solve the Israel-Palestine problem in one year?
The claim that "foreign interests", including European, Latin American, Arab and Iranian (during the Shah's time) have tried to buy influence in the US by financing candidacies up to the presidency has been a routine part of the political war in America for decades.
Theoretically, we have another year before the next American presidential campaign gets underway. And yet those who follow US policies more closely know that the 2020 presidential campaign has already started. In a sense, at least as far as the two main political parties are concerned, the campaign started the day Donald Trump took the oath of office.
In his first two years in office, Trump has attended at least 30 rallies across the United States that could best be described as campaign sorties. Add to that more than two dozen media interviews, not to mention thousands of tweets designed to create the image of a successful president running for a second term. For their part, Trump's Democrat rivals have campaigned against him in a guerrilla-style, hoping to kill his hope of a second term with a thousand cuts.
Unable or unwilling to confront his policies or lack thereof, Democrats have focused their strategy on destroying the persona that Trump has tried to forge for himself. They have done this with three charges.
The first is incompetence. Two years after entering the White House Trump has not yet succeeded in filling some 34 percent of the positions in his administration. In the same period, he has lost almost all the top figures of his initial administration, including a handful of prestigious generals who gave his presidency the gravitas many claimed it lacked.
However, Trump's supporters may claim that he has not rushed to fill the posts with cronies mainly because, coming from the private sector, he did not have a political entourage. As for the heavyweight fellows who left or were kicked out, Trump was perhaps right in not keeping them even after he and they had found out they cannot work together. And that was in contrast with many previous administrations, in which people who couldn't abide one another stuck together, saying 'cheese' in front of the cameras to hide their clenched teeth. One recent example was the cohabitation between President Barack Obama and his first Secretary of State, Hillary Clinton.
The second charge brought against Trump by is arrogance.
There is little doubt that Trump's opinion of himself seems to be higher than justified by reality. But then, considering his surprise ascendancy to the presidency in just a few months, would others have felt differently?
Have we forgotten Obama, who claimed that the start of his presidency meant "oceans receding" to end climate change? Or his boast that he would solve the Israel-Palestine problem in one year?
The third charge against Trump sounds potentially more serious but is surely more bizarre. That is the claim that Trump may be a kind of Manchurian candidate working with, if not for, Russia or even Vladimir Putin himself.
This charge is incompatible with the first two. An incompetent agent would be of little use to anyone and liability for everyone. And if Trump is afflicted by the sin of arrogance how would he accept to work for a son of Stalin's cook?
Accusing senior leaders, including presidents, of being agents of foreign powers is nothing new in the United States' short history.
Those who opposed the creation of the US as an independent nation claimed there was collusion between the Founding Fathers and the French, who wished to prevent the English from extending their empire to the whole of North America.
Even today, the French still boast of how they sent 6,000 troops commanded by General Rochambeau "to help American colonists led by George Washington against British forces." And that is not to mention General Lafayette, whom legend has upgraded into an American national hero.
Aaron Burr, the third US vice president under Thomas Jefferson, was accused of colluding with Napoleon to seize Florida from Spain, capture Texas and create an empire of his own by annexing chunks of American territory. He was also suspected of being a Manchurian presidential candidate for the British.
The 10th US President, John Tyler, was suspected of shenanigans in negotiating trade deals with the German states of the Zollverein (customs' union) and China. He was later threatened with impeachment for a range of other reasons.
More recently, Charles Lindbergh, a famous aviator and spokesman of the America First Committee, was the subject of similar suspicions. Many saw him as a standard-bearer for the Republican Party to defeat President Franklin D Roosevelt and keep the US out of the Second World War. But his hopes were dashed when his Nazi sympathies were revealed. He later renounced his pro-Nazi sympathies.
Needless to say, evil tongues also accused Roosevelt of colluding with the British to get the US involved the Second World War.
Throughout his presidency, Obama had to cope with claims that he was not a genuine US citizen and had been propelled into the presidency thanks to unnamed foreign powers.
The claim that "foreign interests", including European, Latin American, Arab and Iranian (during the Shah's time) have tried to buy influence in the US by financing candidacies up to the presidency has been a routine part of the political war in America for decades.
A relatively new nation, the US may appear rather vulnerable to the conflict of loyalties among the numerous ethnic and religious groups composing it. The use of double-barrel identities, such as African-American or Irish-American, to cite just two, may reinforce that impression. However, anyone familiar with the US would know of the mysterious, not to say a mystical, bond that holds Americans of all ethnicities, creeds, and colors together, making the betrayal of America unimaginable.
My guess is that the much-heralded Mueller report, likely to appear long before the next presidential campaign is put in high gear, will exonerate Trump of the third charge while the other two charges fade into background noise.
But, even if, when the next presidential election comes, Trump faces nothing but the three charges leveled by Democrats, he would have a good chance of sailing through to a second term. By making themselves prisoners of these charges, the Democrats may have blocked the path for serious debate on key issues of domestic and foreign policies. And that is bad for American democracy.
**Amir Taheri was the executive editor-in-chief of the daily Kayhan in Iran from 1972 to 1979. He has worked at or written for innumerable publications, published eleven books, and has been a columnist for Asharq Al-Awsat since 1987.