LCCC ENGLISH DAILY NEWS BULLETIN
January 30/19

Compiled & Prepared by: Elias Bejjani

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Bible Quotations For today
Blessed rather are those who hear the word of God and obey it
Holy Gospel of Jesus Christ according to Saint Luke 11/27-32: “A woman in the crowd raised her voice and said to him, ‘Blessed is the womb that bore you and the breasts that nursed you!’ But he said, ‘Blessed rather are those who hear the word of God and obey it!’When the crowds were increasing, he began to say, ‘This generation is an evil generation; it asks for a sign, but no sign will be given to it except the sign of Jonah. For just as Jonah became a sign to the people of Nineveh, so the Son of Man will be to this generation. The queen of the South will rise at the judgement with the people of this generation and condemn them, because she came from the ends of the earth to listen to the wisdom of Solomon, and see, something greater than Solomon is here! The people of Nineveh will rise up at the judgement with this generation and condemn it, because they repented at the proclamation of Jonah, and see, something greater than Jonah is here”.

Titles For The Latest English LCCC Lebanese & Lebanese Related News published on January 29-30/19
Watch Out & Strive Not To Be An Obstacle
Rahi Blames Officials for Govt. Deadlock
Hariri 'Cautiously Optimistic' on Govt., Confirms This is 'Decisive Week'
Report: Bassil Affirms ‘Solid’ Hizbullah Ties, ‘Warns’ of Thwarting Govt. ‘Solution’
'Strong Lebanon' Threatens to 'Voice a Different Stance' if No Govt. This Week
Reports Say Govt. in 'Next 2 Days' as March 8 Sunni MPs Meet Hizbullah
Mustaqbal Says This is 'Final Week' before 'New Phase'
Rampling Visits Baalbek and UK Funded Projects
Karami Says No Progress Expected but Wishes Hariri Success
Kardel Concludes Mission to Lebanon, Meets Aoun
ISF Seizes Opioids with Juvenile Inmate in Roumieh
Lebanon to See Govt Birth by Week End, or Face the Unknown
Lebanon: Berri Exerts Pressure on Parties to Form Cabinet
Lebanon: Websites of Institutions in Pirates’ Trap
Complaining' won't fix Lebanon's corruption: Aoun
Khoury briefs Aoun on efforts to enforce installation of generator meters
Time to Talk About Lebanese Debt Restructuring for Templeton

Litles For The Latest English LCCC Miscellaneous Reports And News published on January 29-30/19
Trump Warns Europeans against Shirking Iran Sanctions
Iran Revolutionary Guards Commander Vows to ‘Eliminate’ Israel if Attacked
Iran Denies Contacts with France over its Missile Program
Tehran Signs ‘Strategic Cooperation Deal’ With Damascus
Netanyahu's Toughest Ballot Rival, Ex-General Gantz, to Break Silence
Zarif Slams UAE's 'Unacceptable Approach' Towards Iranian Businesses in Gulf
Macron Calls for Inter-Religious Dialogue at End of Egypt Visit
Attorney General Seeks to Bar Guaido from Leaving Venezuela, Freeze His Assets
Macron Says Brexit Deal 'Best Possible', 'Not Renegotiable'
U.S. Says IS Still Has 'Thousands' of Fighters, Seeking Comeback
Palestinian Government Submits Resignation to Abbas
Regime Bombardment Kills 11 in Syria's Idlib
EU Suspects Iran Will Expand its Cyber Espionage Activities
Tehran rejects talks on its ballistic missile program
Bahrain Upholds Life Sentence against Ali Salman
US Charges Huawei of Violating Sanctions on Iran
Turkey Confirms Continuing Operations Against ‘PKK’ in Iraq
Trial Reopens in Tunisia Beach Resort Terror Attack
France, Egypt Ink Partnership Deals, Debate Human Rights
Yemen: Griffiths Leaves Houthi Meeting Empty-Handed

Titles For The Latest LCCC English analysis & editorials from miscellaneous sources published on January 29-30/19
Watch Out & Strive Not To Be An Obstacle/Elias Bejjani/January 28/19
Personal Agendas' Exacerbate Tension Between Lebanese, Displaced Syrians/Sanaa Al-Jack/Asharq Al-Awsat/January, 29/19
Time to Talk About Lebanese Debt Restructuring for Templeton/Bloomberg/January 29/2019
Analysis/Emerging U.S.-Taliban Deal Will Give Iran Leverage to Expand Influence/Zvi Bar'el/Haaretz/Janusry 29/19
Preparing for Peace - The Palestinian Way/Khaled Abu Toameh/Gatestone Institute/January 29/19
India: The Upper House of Parliament Must Help Muslim Women, Endorse the Bill Banning the Practice of "Triple Talaq"/Jagdish N. Singh/Gatestone Institute/January 29/19
Austria Must Recognize Alevism as Distinct from Islam/Uzay Bulut/Gatestone Institute/January 29/19
Why Facebook Can’t Resist Integrating WhatsApp/Shira Ovide/Bloomberg/January 29/19
Israel-Iran war in Syria could be just one misstep away/Osama Al-Sharif/Arab News/January 29/19

Latest LCCC English Lebanese & Lebanese Related News published on January 29-30/19
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.

Rahi Blames Officials for Govt. Deadlock
Naharnet/January 29/19/Maronite Patriarch Beshara al-Rahi accused officials on Tuesday of hampering the government formation for “individual interests,” adding that Lebanon is suffering from a “Constitutional crisis.”“The crisis in Lebanon is a constitutional one,” said al-Rahi in remarks he made at a meeting with a delegation from Lady of the Mountain Gathering. Denouncing the delay in the formation of Lebanon’s cabinet, now in its ninth month, he lashed out at politicians whom he said are delaying the formation for their own personal ends. “You don’t have the right to keep Lebanon without a government merely for your own personal interests,” he stated.

Hariri 'Cautiously Optimistic' on Govt., Confirms This is 'Decisive Week'
Naharnet/January 29/19/Prime Minister-designate Saad Hariri announced Tuesday that he is “cautiously optimistic” that the government will be formed soon, while confirming that the country has entered a “decisive week” in this regard. “The decision on the formation of the government will be taken this week. Things are positive and I'm optimistic, albeit cautiously,” Hariri told reporters on the sidelines of al-Mustaqbal bloc's weekly meeting. “We will settle things in the next two days and you will see what we will do,” he added. Commenting on Damascus' decision to add al-Mustaqbal Movement to a “terror financing” blacklist, Hariri said: “The Syrian regime's terror list is an honor list to us, because this regime is the biggest terrorist.”

Report: Bassil Affirms ‘Solid’ Hizbullah Ties, ‘Warns’ of Thwarting Govt. ‘Solution’
Naharnet/January 29/19/Free Patriotic Movement chief Jebran Bassil emphasized that a “historic agreement” with Hizbullah still stands on “solid ground,” as he warned of the consequences of thwarting attempts to form a government, al-Joumhouria daily reported on Tuesday. In remarks he made to the daily, Bassil said: “The historical agreement between us and Hizbullah still stands firm. Any other conclusions are unrealistic.” Hizbullah and FPM founder (current President) Michel Aoun signed their memorandum of understanding in 2006 as part of their political alliance.
Answering a question about Hizbullah leader, Sayyed Hassan Nasrallah’s remarks that “friendship ties” connect him with Bassil, the latter said: “I am proud of this friendship.”On the delayed government formation, Bassil said shall the ongoing efforts to resolve the stalemate be obstructed “the whole country will be on the verge of the abyss.”Bassil has held talks with Prime Minister-designate Saad Hariri in Paris lately on ways to end the government gridlock. According to reports, the Hariri-Bassil talks “were not negative” and resulted in an agreement on modifying Bassil's ideas. It has been reported that Bassil was clinging to his “five proposals”--which were not made public-- for overcoming the government formation crisis, while rejecting the 30-minister government format. Sources close to Bassil said “all reports claiming that Bassil has given up the 11-minister demand are baseless.”

'Strong Lebanon' Threatens to 'Voice a Different Stance' if No Govt. This Week
Naharnet/January 29/19/The Free Patriotic Movement-led Strong Lebanon parliamentary bloc warned Tuesday that it would “voice a different stance next week” should the government formation deadlock continue. “We are full of hope to see the government being formed this week,” caretaker Energy Minister Cesar Abi Khalil said after the bloc's weekly meeting. “All the work has been accomplished within FPM chief Jebran Bassil's initiative, which is based on clear ideas and respects the standards of correct representation,” Abi Khalil added. “We believe that amid the clear ideas that have specified clear conditions for representation and mutual concessions, the government can be formed this week, and if after all this work the government is not formed this week, we will voice a different stance next week, because it would become clear that there is an intention to block the formation process,” the minister warned. The issue of representing the Hizbullah-backed Consultative Gathering, a grouping of six Sunni MPs, has delayed the formation of the government for several months now. Previous disagreements over Christian and Druze representation had also hindered the formation process.

Reports Say Govt. in 'Next 2 Days' as March 8 Sunni MPs Meet Hizbullah
Naharnet/January 29/19/The new government is expected to be formed on Wednesday or Thursday, media reports said on Tuesday. “Baabda and Hizbullah expect the government to be formed in the next two days,” al-Jadeed television reported. LBCI TV for its part said that the government will be formed “tomorrow or Thursday unless a new development reshuffles the cards.”TV networks meanwhile reported that a meeting got underway Tuesday evening “between the Consultative Gathering and Hizbullah.”Prime Minister-designate Saad Hariri met earlier in the day at the Center House with Free Patriotic Movement chief MP Jebran Bassil. The issue of representing the Hizbullah-backed Consultative Gathering, a grouping of six Sunni MPs, has delayed the formation of the government for several months now. There are also disagreements over the distribution of portfolios and previous disagreements over Christian and Druze representation had also hindered the formation process.

Mustaqbal Says This is 'Final Week' before 'New Phase'
Naharnet/January 29/19/Al-Mustaqbal parliamentary bloc said Tuesday that it lauds Prime Minister-designate Saad Hariri's decision to “consider the current week a final week” for taking a decisive stance regarding the cabinet formation process. In a statement issued after its weekly meeting, the bloc said Hariri has decided to enter a “new phase,” hoping his move will be “crowned with the issuance of the formation decrees.” “The PM-designate has fully shouldered his political and constitutional responsibilities and he has performed his duties as to forming the government, reconciling viewpoints and reaching a government format that respects the requirements of national accord,” Mustaqbal added. “But that format ran into a series of conditions and stances that have become known by the Lebanese public opinion, which thwarted the formation of the government at the right time and put the country in the face of the threat of a protracting governmental vacuum,” the bloc said. It also noted that Hariri believes that “the continuation of the current situation would be a declaration that the political system has failed to find solutions and is unable to honor the commitments that Lebanon pledged at the international conferences.” “This has prompted his decision to break the deadlock and the stance that he voiced last week on considering this week as a last chance for decisiveness,” the bloc added. It also said that it supports Hariri “in any decision that he might take.”The issue of representing the Hizbullah-backed Consultative Gathering, a grouping of six Sunni MPs, has delayed the formation of the government for several months now. There are also disagreements over the distribution of portfolios and previous disagreements over Christian and Druze representation had also hindered the formation process.

Rampling Visits Baalbek and UK Funded Projects
Naharnet/January 29/19/“The UK no longer advises against travel to Baalbek, and I’m delighted to have explored this remarkable city myself today, hearing about life here, seeing our current support and talking about more,” British Ambassador to Lebanon Chris Rampling said on Tuesday. Rampling visited Baalbek as part of “the UK’s ongoing support to Lebanese communities” and to hear from its residents and officials about their challenges and opportunities, the British embassy said in a statement. He also visited UK funded projects under the Lebanon Host Communities Support Program, a partnership between the Ministry of Social Affairs and the United Nations Development Program. Rampling toured the city’s historical ruins accompanied by the Governor of the Bekaa, Bashir Khodr, MP Antoine Habshi, heads of municipalities and mayors from the Baalbek-Hermel region. At the Social Development Center (SDC), the Ambassador heard how SDC is providing medical assistance for both Lebanese citizens and displaced Syrians living in Baalbek. “This is one of several projects funded between 2014-2018 benefiting thousands of residents. Other examples include the construction of a wastewater network, support to the Qalaa Agrofood Cooperative, and rehabilitation of the local Old Souq where half of the beneficiaries are women,” the embassy said. After the visit, Ambassador Rampling said: “I am pleased to return to the Bekaa and visit the City of The Sun – in December, the UK lifted advice against travel to Baalbek, and I am sure British citizens will visit this spectacular city and learn about its history.”“I want to thank the Governor of the Bekaa Bashir Khodr and city officials for the warm welcome. We recognize the huge challenges facing many local business and municipalities. I am encouraged that since 2014, UKAid’s contribution to the Baalbek Hermel region has been over $3.5 million, reaching over 125,000 beneficiaries, half of which are women. Communities here are doing the best they can to respond to this unprecedented regional crisis,” the ambassador added. “I was pleased to see how the renovated Social Development Center (SDC) is able to offer many medical services including a dentistry clinic, support to pregnant women and their newborn babies, provide food coupons for the needy, and free entrance to vocational training amongst many other activities,” Rampling went on to say.
He also saluted “the generosity and hospitality of the Lebanese population and of the local municipalities given the terrible crisis in Syria -- particularly in the Bekaa region that is hosting the highest number of refugees in Lebanon.”“Through the LHSP program, the UK is supporting over 1 in 5 municipalities by providing financial support of $64.2m to help improve the quality and delivery of basic services, at the local level, in cooperation with the Ministry of Social Affairs and UNDP,” Rampling added.

Karami Says No Progress Expected but Wishes Hariri Success
Naharnet/January 29/19/No positive developments are expected over the next days in Prime Minister-designate Saad Hariri's efforts to put together a new government but the Consultative Gathering wishes him success, MP Faisal Karami said on Tuesday. “We hope he will form a national unity government,” said Karami after talks in Ain el-Tineh with Speaker Nabih Berri. “We don't mind to have a minister representing the Consultative Gathering from the President's share, and normally this minister would cooperate with the President and the PM-designate, but this is something and the demand that he exclusively represent the Consultative Gathering is something else,” the lawmaker added. He also voiced support for Berri's announcement that he would hold a legislative session should the government impasse continue. The issue of representing the Hizbullah-backed Consultative Gathering, a grouping of six Sunni MPs, has delayed the formation of the government for several months now. Previous disagreements over Christian and Druze representation had also hindered Hariri's mission.

Kardel Concludes Mission to Lebanon, Meets Aoun
Naharnet/January 29/19/Acting UN Special Coordinator for Lebanon Pernille Dahler Kardel held talks with President Michel Aoun on Tuesday concluding her 14 months UN mission in Lebanon. “I thanked the President for his continuous commitment to see full implementation of Security Council Resolution 1701, which I believe is such an important element in enhancing stability and to ensure that Lebanon remains on the right course to enhanced peace and security,” said Kardell. “We will be continuing to support the work towards a permanent cease-fire between Lebanon and Israel, and as I said towards a full implementation of resolution 1701. In my meeting, I also as I have done before, reiterated my appreciation of the President’s desire and commitment to convene a national dialogue to start the discussion around a national defence strategy, which I hope will happen soon,” Kardell added.
“One of the great pleasures of my mission in Lebanon has been to witness Lebanon’s diversity and the country’s ability to manage it peacefully. It is one of those things that I really whole-heartedly believe that all the rest of us can learn from Lebanon. I hope this spirit of compromise and national unity will facilitate the formation of a new inclusive government very soon,” she said. Kardell added: “I would also like to reiterate my gratitude to the Lebanese people for their generosity and hospitality in hosting a refugee population that is proportionately unprecedented in size in the 21st century. This is one of those issues that deserves continued commendation and support internationally and is a further testament to Lebanon’s special model of openness and coexistence.”“Finally, I reiterate the UN’s strong commitment to continue working with Lebanese authorities to support Lebanon’s stability, sovereignty and state authority, and to help state institutions deliver more effective governance that yields tangible results and benefits for all, and to promote human rights and the rule of law,” Kardell concluded.

ISF Seizes Opioids with Juvenile Inmate in Roumieh
Naharnet/January 29/19/Stashes of opioids have been found with a juvenile inmate inside Roumieh prison after his hospitalization where he'd been for treatment, the Internal Security Forces said in a statement on Tuesday. "Members tasked with searching the Juveniles' block in Roumieh prison, and in coordination with the Information Branch, seized quantities of opioids with inmate Aa.F., which accounted for 611 Benzhexol and Tramadol pills, in addition to two capsules containing a white powder," the statement read. The inmate was searched thoroughly after he returned from hospital. Police found a plastic bottle, where he stashed the pills in, hidden under his garments. The prisoner admitted to having obtained the opioids from a person from the hospital whom he identified as A.SH.

Lebanon to See Govt Birth by Week End, or Face the Unknown
Beirut- Asharq Al-Awsat/Tuesday, 29 January, 2019/Prime Minister-designate Saad al-Hariri returned to Beirut on Monday to continue his intensive meetings before the expiry of the deadline he set for the formation of the new government. Hariri refused to reveal his other options in the event of the failure of his endeavor, rejecting any talks about the possibility to convene the caretaker government to approve the general budget. Sources told Asharq Al-Awsat that the premier-designate contacted Speaker Nabih Berri to update him on his meetings in Paris with caretaker Foreign Minister Gebran Bassil. They added that he would also meet with President Michel Aoun. The country will either see the formation of a government by the end of the week or will face the unknown, according to the sources who spoke to Asharq Al-Awsat.
They noted in this regard that differences over the distribution of ministerial portfolios were no longer a major obstacle hindering a solution to the issue; but rather the node represented in the share of the pro-Hezbollah Sunni deputies, known as the March 8 Sunni Consultative Meeting.
According to the sources, the current dilemma is to find a minister who can represent Hezbollah’s Sunni allies and be part of Aoun’s share, without provoking any party. They said that Aoun’s team was not launching any initiatives to resolve this matter. Hezbollah bloc MP Nawaf al-Mousawi blamed Hariri for “excluding the Lebanese, who voted for a group of deputies,” adding that the premier-designate has failed to “summarize the results of parliamentary elections in a government that represents all those who were chosen by the people.”
“Why should there be a diversity of representation among Christians, Shiites and Druze, and not among the Sunnis?”, he asked, stressing that it was normal for the Consultative Meeting to be represented in the government.

Lebanon: Berri Exerts Pressure on Parties to Form Cabinet
Beirut - Caroline Akoum//Asharq Al-Awsat/Tuesday, 29 January, 2019/As Lebanese await the outcome of talks currently held between political forces with hopes to end the political stalemate, Speaker Nabih Berri called on the Parliament Bureau to convene next Wednesday. Although Berri did not provide details for the agenda of the Bureau’s session, several observers said the Speaker’s invitation is an attempt to exert pressure on political forces to speed up the formation of the cabinet, or to hold a government session in which ministers discuss the 2019 Budget, currently at a critical phase. Sources from the Free Patriotic Movement, the Mustaqbal Movement and the Lebanese Forces preferred not to comment on the Speaker’s move before circumstances related to the invitation become clearer. Deputy Michel Moussa, a member of Berri’s parliamentary bloc, told Asharq Al-Awsat on Monday that the session might be held to discuss the budget issue. Legal expert Paul Morkos described the Speaker’s move as a “positive pressure.” “Because the cabinet formation process overpassed the reasonable lead time, we reached a political and constitutional situation that allows and requires a cabinet session that could ease the needs of the people and to pass this year’s budget,” Morkos told Asharq Al-Awsat. The Cabinet should meet to approve the draft state budget before sending it to Parliament.“Legally, Berri should wait until the government studies the budget and then refer it to Parliament before calling for a session to discuss it,” the legal expert said. Sources close to the Speaker told the Central News Agency there are several draft laws of a financial nature that should be approved before the birth of a new cabinet. This week would constitute the deadline in the agenda of the Prime Minister-designate Saad Hariri to determine his final say concerning the government formation process.

Lebanon: Websites of Institutions in Pirates’ Trap
Beirut- Youssef Diab/Asharq Al-Awsat/Tuesday, 29 January, 2019/Lebanese government institutions and departments are scrambling to face piracy threats. Several government websites have been breached and their databases stolen, exposing these institutions to the risk of having their confidential information sold to third parties or used in extortion. The judiciary, with the help of the security services, has managed to uncover such attempts and to prosecute the perpetrators for the crimes that harm the confidentiality of government work. Almost every week, a hacking operation is announced, the latest of which is the piracy of the official website of Rafik Hariri International Airport and the manipulation of its data, before the website could be restored. This coincided with a decision issued by Beirut’s Investigative Judge Ghassan Oweidat, who accused three people of hacking sites belonging to Ogero for fixed telephone lines, as well as other websites belonging to companies and institutions in the private sector. The hackers could obtain a map of Ogero’s Internet distribution network, which can enable them to eavesdrop on telephone communications. In remarks to Asharq Al-Awsat, Communications Expert Brigadier Nizar Khalil said the spread of piracy was due to the fact that “electronic devices used in Lebanese sites were mostly old and did not conform to modern protection techniques.”Elie Ghabash, who was arrested for committing hacking of accounts of a large number of ministries, banks, and companies, said during his interrogation before the military court that the systems of websites in Lebanon were weak and fragile and could be easily pirated. He admitted that he “managed to breach the sites of 12 ministries and official administrations in one day,” revealing that he was “working with a number of security agencies to track the accounts of persons suspected of either contact with the Mossad or other terrorist organizations, before being arrested for committing illegal operations.”

Personal Agendas' Exacerbate Tension Between Lebanese, Displaced Syrians
Sanaa Al-Jack/Asharq Al-Awsat/January, 29/19
Videos leaked on social media over the last week showed masked men beating Syrian refugees and destroying their properties in the town of Arsal in northern Bekaa. These images, along with calls through social networking sites to protest against the Syrian presence, have sparked controversy among the Lebanese public opinion. In Arsal, more than 60,000 Syrian refugees are concentrated in 126 camps under harsh living conditions exacerbated by winter, snow, and storms.
“Natural storms that destroyed our camps are more merciful than the security and intelligence storms that are following us. We feel that we are still at the mercy of the Syrian regime. No one feels safe anymore,” a Syrian refugee told Asharq Al-Awsat. “Sometimes they accuse us of terrorism, and other times of competing with the Lebanese and stealing their livelihoods; as if our problems were not enough. We do not know our fate and the fate of our children. The Syrian camps in Arsal are witnessing continuous incursions by Hezbollah and the army it controls to carry out arrests of dozens of young people. Years ago, some of us were killed under torture. No one moved to do us justice,” he stated. A resident from Al-Hujairi family agrees that his town has become open to known and unknown intelligence projects. “It is as if a curse had descended on our town. We are paying the war tax in Syria. They planted among us extremists and agents of the regime and (Hezbollah), and distorted our image. We no longer distinguish between a normal refugee and another who is ordered to implement schemes that will hurt the already stricken town,” he said. Lawyer and activist Nabil al-Halabi told Asharq Al-Awsat: “What happened in Arsal was condemned by the town community. Some have encouraged masked men to infiltrate among residents and Syrian refugees to cause a dispute. The aim is to push them to leave Arsal back into the Syrian regime, which will recruit them and force them to kill more people.”
Halabi noted that recent developments in Arsal were part of plans by the Syrian regime and Hezbollah. “Practically, Hezbollah occupies the areas from which Arsal’s Syrians left, specifically Al-Qassir and Qalamoun. The party wants to consolidate this occupation,” he explained.
“The relationship is good between Arsal residents and the Syrian displaced, as it is good among the people of the Bekaa in general and those refugees,” he affirmed. He recounted that when camps flooded during storms earlier this year, the Lebanese rushed to help the displaced and hosted them in their homes.
However, tension between the Syrian displaced and the hosting Lebanese communities is not limited to Arsal. “I have been working in Lebanon for 15 years,” says Ali, a Syrian farmer working in the vicinity of the town of Riyaq in the Bekaa. “But the circumstances differed from what they were before 2011. I hear many who ask me to return to Syria. I remain silent for fear of losing my job.” Ali said that house rents have greatly increased while work opportunities and salaries were falling. “The competition is not between Lebanese and Syrians, but between the Syrians themselves,” he underlined. Dr. Ziad al-Sayegh, an expert on public policies and refugees, told Asharq Al-Awsat that eight years after the beginning of the refugee crisis, Lebanon is still failing to adopt a unified policy to manage the problem. “Donor countries of the United Nations bodies dealing with refugees, as well as international and local civil society organizations, are tired, while the CEDRE conference on supporting the re-launch of the economic cycle in the host communities continues to be stalled,” Sayegh remarked.

Complaining' won't fix Lebanon's corruption: Aoun
The Daily Star/January 29/19/BEIRUT: Merely complaining about corruption in Lebanon won’t resolve the deep-seated issue, President Michel Aoun said Monday, after MP Anwar Khalil accused the president of surrounding himself with corrupt politicians. Aoun’s remarks did not directly mention Khalil, but appeared to be a response to the MP’s accusations over the weekend that corruption in the country stemmed from people “closest to the top of the political pyramid,” and that Aoun had not done enough to fight it. During a meeting at Baabda Palace with a delegation from the Electoral Supervisory Committee, Aoun said that fighting corruption “happens through documenting and reporting on it,” and not by “complaining,” according to a statement from his office. The president also said that it was “easier to control [corruption] within institutions rather than among individuals.”One tangible way to fight corruption, Aoun said, was to protect the independence of judges “in the face of the political pressures they are subjected to.” He spoke of the importance of judges having legal immunity to shield them from such pressures. The comments from Khalil, who is a member of the Amal Movement’s parliamentary bloc, drew criticism from MPs from the Free Patriotic Movement, which Aoun founded.The FPM Sunday accused Khalil of being ineffective against corruption during his years in power, saying that he was “either being a participant or a witness to corruption for over 28 years.”

Khoury briefs Aoun on efforts to enforce installation of generator meters
The Daily Star/January 29/19/BEIRUT: Caretaker Economy Minister Raed Khoury Monday briefed President Michel Aoun on progress his ministry has been making to enforce the installation of meters on electricity generators, according to a statement from the presidency. After vowing Sunday to push forward with a crackdown on non-compliant generator owners, Khoury assured the president that the Economy Ministry was overseeing the meters’ installation in coordination with State Security and the ministries of Interior, Energy and Justice. The government in October ordered generator owners to install the meters, to enable consumers to pay only for the electricity they consume instead of a flat fee. However, many generator owners complained the pricing did not sufficiently consider the costs of running generators and have refused to install the meters. Authorities have so far confiscated dozens of generators from non-compliant owners. In the latest in the crackdown, two generator owners, identified as Dany Odicho and Joseph Bachaalani, were arrested some time last week, the state-run National News Agency reported Monday. Mount Lebanon Attorney General Ghada Aoun has transferred the cases to First Investigative Judge Nicolas Mansour, the NNA said. Reports in local media have referred to Bachaalani as “the emperor of generators,” suggesting that authorities are likely making an example out of him to convince other owners to fall in line. A security source told The Daily Star that Bachaalani owns more than 300 generators.

Time to Talk About Lebanese Debt Restructuring for Templeton
Bloomberg/January 29/2019
Lebanon should consider a voluntary debt restructuring to avert a financial crisis despite pledges of aid from Gulf benefactors, according to Franklin Templeton Investments, which manages $650 billion in assets worldwide.
A debt overhaul needs to be part of a reform program backed by lenders such as the International Monetary Fund, said Mohieddine Kronfol, the firm’s chief investment officer for global sukuk and Middle East and North Africa fixed income. Even better if that’s accompanied by a change in leadership at the Finance Ministry and the central bank, he said in an interview in Dubai. “My biggest worry is that the runway is getting shorter,” Kronfol said. “The medium-term challenges and the need to create fiscal space through a voluntary debt restructuring or re-profiling remain, as does a multi-lateral backstop to provide credibility for an inevitable structural reform agenda.”Lebanon needed Qatar’s commitment to invest $500 million in its debt and a Saudi pledge to support the economy “all the way” to help its Eurobonds recover after the caretaker finance minister said he was mulling a plan to restructure debt. Top officials, including the minister himself, later denied that such a move was on the cards.
But Kronfol said it would be only “sensible” for authorities to consider a plan to buy short-dated debt and “re-issue discounted securities for longer tenors,” helping slash interest payments. The move should come as part of a comprehensive plan that addresses issues such as tackling the public-sector wage bill, overhauling the electricity sector and curbing corruption, he said.“When you think about the solution for the country, clearly you’re going to need some breathing room to address structural reform,” Kronfol said. “Key among this is to reduce the interest burden. So if Lebanon were to enter into some sort of an agreement with the IMF, or some multilateral institutions or a collection of countries -- that allows it to basically buy some time.”
Despite an unblemished record of bond repayment through war and political strife, Lebanon is coming to a reckoning with years of fiscal overreach. Still run by a caretaker government eight months after elections, the nation’s political discord has deepened with the crisis in neighboring Syria. Government debt is projected to rise to near 180 percent by 2023, second only to Japan’s, according to IMF estimates. Lebanon’s debt risk, measured by credit default swaps, has risen the most in the world over the past year, apart from Zambia and Argentina, according to data compiled by Bloomberg.
Kronfol, who currently doesn’t have any Lebanese investments, said Gulf aid increases “the odds of containing the short-term stress -- to avert a crisis of confidence and stem outflows from the banking system.” It’s not enough to deal with the challenges further into the future, he said.
Lebanon’s dollar-denominated bonds due in 2028 are a case in point.
The securities rallied last week after the aid pledges. But the yield, at just above 10 percent, is still about 300 basis points higher than at the start of November 2017, when the surprise resignation of Prime Minister Saad al-Hariri triggered a political crisis.
Following Hariri’s brief resignation, local lenders raised interest rates to attract funds and have started to impose what Kronfol describes as “soft capital controls” to stem the outflow of deposits. “This is not being disclosed but there are now numerous examples where people are finding it challenging to convert Lebanese pounds into dollars or to transfer dollars out of the country,” he said. Central bank officials weren’t immediately available to comment. In recent remarks carried by local media, Governor Riad Salameh said local banks have enough liquidity to cover demands by 80 percent of depositors to convert their money into U.S. dollars. The central bank is meeting lenders’ need for dollars, according to Salameh, a former Merrill Lynch banker who was appointed to the post in 1993. The current predicament is one of the toughest tests facing the sectarian political system governing Lebanon since the end of the 1975-1990 civil war, which Kronfol says is unlikely to muster enough will to fight corruption and implement difficult measures required to avert a crisis. The challenges are probably beyond what the existing political framework can address, Kronfol said. The central bank, regularly praised by investors for keeping the currency stable, is partly responsible, he said. Still, Kronfol is careful not to call for an abrupt change that could destabilize the fragile system. “I am not advocating things happening tomorrow,” he said. “But I am saying this should be on the cards.”

Latest LCCC English Miscellaneous Reports & News published on January 29-30/19
Trump Warns Europeans against Shirking Iran Sanctions
London - Asharq Al-Awsat/Tuesday, 29 January, 2019/The Trump administration is closely eyeing efforts in Europe to set up an alternative money payment channel to ease doing business with Iran and avoid running afoul of sanctions the US has levied on Tehran. The White House is putting the Europeans on notice, saying that if they try to do an end-run around US sanctions on Iran, they will be subject to stiff fines and penalties. Unfazed, the European Union is marching forward with the plan, which, if implemented, could further strain trans-Atlantic relations.
A spokeswoman for EU foreign policy chief Federica Mogherini said preparations for the alternative system were "at an advanced stage." "I hope that we can announce the launch very soon," Maja Kocijancic told reporters late last week in Brussels.Getting out ahead of a possible announcement, a senior administration official told The Associated Press on Friday that the US will fully enforce its sanctions and hold individuals and entities accountable for undermining them. The official spoke on condition of anonymity to discuss the issue. "The choice is whether to do business with Iran or the United States," Sen. Tom Cotton, told the AP. "I hope our European allies choose wisely." The US joined China, France, Germany, Russia and Britain in signing a pact with Iran in 2015 that offered to lift economic sanctions in exchange for Tehran's pledge to rein in its nuclear weapons program. President Donald Trump called it a "horrible, one-sided deal." He pulled out of the pact last year and restored punishing US sanctions on Iran. Tehran, which denies wanting nuclear weapons, continues to abide by the agreement, and the remaining five nations in the pact are trying to keep it intact. Restoring the sanctions regime is part of the Trump administration's "maximum pressure campaign" on the Iranians to force them to radically alter their policies on developing ballistic missiles, supporting regional militant groups and violating human rights. The US has many concerns about the alternative payment system, according to an outside Trump administration adviser. The adviser spoke on condition of anonymity to discuss the key US worries. Long-term, the US worries that the alternative money payment system could become successful enough to compete with the international bank transfer system known as SWIFT. The fear is that it could eventually supplant SWIFT as the leading global institution for financial institutions to send and receive information about banking transactions. Secondly, the US is concerned that other countries might try to route transactions through the European system just to circumvent US sanctions, the adviser said, according to the AP. Thirdly, while the Europeans have signaled that the alternative money transfer system would be used only for humanitarian transactions, the US is suspicious that it could be used for non-humanitarian transactions to evade US sanctions, the adviser said. "We should oppose efforts to create foreign financial channels that Iran could use to circumvent America's maximum pressure campaign against it, especially when humanitarian exceptions are already in US sanctions laws," Sen. Marco Rubio, told the AP. As the administration prepares for the potential fallout from the possible the European move, it is pressing ahead with its sanctions campaign against Iran and preparing to co-host with Poland next month a conference that will focus on combating Iranian threats. On Thursday, Treasury imposed sanctions on two Iran-backed militias in Syria and on Qeshm Fars Air, an Iranian civilian airline it accuses of ferrying weapons and personnel to Syria to support Bashar Assad's regime. The sanctions block any assets those targeted might have in US jurisdictions and bar Americans from doing business with them.

Iran Revolutionary Guards Commander Vows to ‘Eliminate’ Israel if Attacked
Asharq Al-Awsat//January, 29/2019/Deputy head of the Iranian Revolutionary Guard Corps (IRGC) Brigadier General Hossein Salami vowed on Monday to destroy Israel if it attacks Iran.“We announce that if Israel takes any action to wage a war against us, it will definitely lead to its own elimination and the freeing of occupied (Palestinian) territories,” he was quoted as saying by state television. He made his remarks following an Israeli attack on Iranian targets in Syria last week - the latest in a series of assaults targeting Tehran’s presence there in support of Bashar al-Assad’s regime.

Iran Denies Contacts with France over its Missile Program
Asharq Al-Awsat//January, 29/2019/Tehran announced on Monday it was not holding talks with France over its ballistic missile program. “There has been no talks, whether secret or not secret, about our missile program with France or any other country,” Iranian Foreign Ministry spokesman Bahram Qasemi told a weekly news conference, broadcast live on state TV. He made his remarks after Paris said last week it was ready to impose more sanctions if European attempts to address the program in discussions with Tehran made no progress. French Foreign Minister Jean-Yves Le Drian said on Friday France was ready to impose further curbs if no progress was made in talks over the program, described by Tehran as purely defensive but seen in the West as a destabilizing factor in a volatile region. “Our missile program is a defensive program that we only discuss it inside the country. I cannot confirm holding any secret talks with France over our missile program,” Qasemi said, when asked about Le Drian’s remarks. “We talk about regional and political issues with France ... but our missile capability is not negotiable ... we have repeatedly said that during our political talks with France.” A UN Security Council resolution, which enshrined Iran’s 2015 nuclear deal with major powers in 2015, “called upon” Tehran to refrain for up to eight years from work on ballistic missiles designed to deliver nuclear weapons. Iran says its missile tests are not in violation of the resolution and denies its missiles are capable of carrying nuclear warheads.

Tehran Signs ‘Strategic Cooperation Deal’ With Damascus
Damascus, London - Asharq Al-Awsat/Tuesday, 29 January, 2019/Heading a high-ranking delegation, Iranian First Vice President Eshagh Jahangiri arrived in Damascus on Monday afternoon to meet with Syrian regime officials and sign a long-term strategic cooperation deal. The agreement covers comprehensive cooperation at the financial and banking levels, and contributes to facilitating trade exchange and overcoming obstacles that hinder upgrading the cooperation between the two countries. The official SANA news agency reported that in addition to the strategic deal, Syria and Iran signed 10 other agreements and memoranda of understanding. It said the agreements covered a range of fields, including economy, culture, education, infrastructure, investment and housing. Jahangiri is expected to meet with Syrian Prime Minister Imad Khamis, in addition to head of the Syrian regime Bashar Assad. "We will be by Syria's side in the reconstruction phase as we have been by its side in fighting terrorism," Jahangiri said Monday. Separately, Moscow’s deputy foreign minister Sergey Vershinin and Russian President Vladimir Putin’s envoy on Syria Alexander Lavrentiev arrived in Israel Monday to discuss the situation in Syria with security officials. The two Russian officials met with Foreign Ministry director general Yuval Rotem. Their visit aims to discuss coordination between the two sides, particularly following Israel’s airstrikes on Iranian positions near Damascus last week. Meanwhile, Kurdish-Arab Syrian Democratic Forces (SDF) succeeded in reducing ISIS’ control to a four-square-kilometer pocket, a senior SDF commander told AFP on Monday. “Geographically speaking, there are only four square km left under ISIS control, stretching from Baghouz to the Iraqi border, SDF commander Heval Roni said. He added that a dwindling number of ISIS fighters, led mostly by Iraqi commanders, are now defending only a handful of hamlets in the Euphrates Valley. “There are some high-ranking leaders among them,” he said.

Netanyahu's Toughest Ballot Rival, Ex-General Gantz, to Break Silence
Asharq Al-Awsat/Tuesday, 29 January, 2019/Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu’s toughest rival in Israel’s April ballot, former military chief and political enigma Benny Gantz, will set out his goals on Tuesday in a marker of the center-left opposition’s prospects, Reuters reported. Polls predict a Netanyahu reelection, with his right-wing Likud party taking around 30 of parliament’s 120 seats, and Gantz’s Resilience party coming a distant second with around 15. That would line Gantz up to join a future Netanyahu-led coalition government - unless the ex-general tries to mobilize like-minded factions against the incumbent, now in his fourth term. Much depends on the ideology of Gantz’s newly formed party. On this he has so far been silent. His campaign, meanwhile, has stoked his residual popularity from his term as top general with graphic ads claiming hundreds of enemy deaths in two Gaza wars.
At a launch party on Tuesday Gantz was due to deliver his first political speech, while according to Reuters, voters were watching for combustible policy points like Israeli-Palestinian peace talks, frozen since 2014, or corruption allegations dogging Netanyahu. Tamar Hermann, a scholar with the non-partisan Israel Democracy Institute, predicted Gantz would try to stay “very vague on certain topics: for instance ‘yes to peace but Israel’s security comes first’”. For Netanyahu to be defeated, Hermann said - as reported by Reuters, "Gantz would have to bring together disparate center-left parties". “Anything can happen, but at the moment the most likely outcome of the election would be a (Netanyahu-led) center-right government,” she said. As the election approaches, and facing possible indictment, Netanyahu has highlighted his handling of national security, publicly acknowledging Israeli air strikes against Iranian targets in Syria.

Zarif Slams UAE's 'Unacceptable Approach' Towards Iranian Businesses in Gulf
London- Asharq Al-Awsat/Tuesday, 29 January, 2019/The United Arab Emirates has adopted an “unacceptable approach” toward Iranian businesses operating in this Gulf Arab state, Iran’s Foreign Minister Mohammed Javad Zarif said. The semi-official Tasnim news agency quoted Zarif as saying on Monday the UAE “has entered an unacceptable stage of approach toward Iran". The FM was speaking during a parliamentary session when he was asked about the conditions of Iranian traders and money-changers in UAE after US newly-imposed sanctions. Iran's Supreme National Security Council has approved alternative solutions in response to UAE’s methods in dealing with Iranian traders and money-changers, indicating that aside from usual diplomatic measures, Tehran is looking for a necessary course of action for the economic relations. Despite “extensive economic relations” between the two countries, Zarif indicated that the Gulf federation has had made “strategic and political mistakes, particularly over Yemen.”The FM was hinting at UAE’s support for the internationally-recognized Yemeni government in the country’s ongoing civil war, while Iran supported Houthis. AP reported that many Iranian UAE-based Iranian businesses have moved to Qatar and Oman in recent years. UAE was Iran’s top exporter for decades, and in 2018, it became the second biggest exporter after China. In May, US Treasury imposed sanctions on an exchange network it said had ties to Iran's elite military force, the Revolutionary Guard Corps (IRGC). The Treasury announced that the penalties targeted those who had funneled millions of dollars to the group, funding its "malign activity". “The Iranian regime and its central bank have abused access to entities in the UAE to acquire US dollars to fund the (IRGC's) malign activities, including to fund and arm its regional proxy groups,” the Treasury said in a statement. The Department announced that it intended on cutting off IRGC revenue streams wherever their source and whatever their destination.

Macron Calls for Inter-Religious Dialogue at End of Egypt Visit
Agence France Presse/Naharnet/January 29/19/French President Emmanuel Macron met Tuesday with Egypt's top clerics and called for inter-religious dialogue at the end of a three-day visit aimed at boosting ties while raising human rights concerns. Macron and Pope Tawadros II stressed the need for "dialogue between religions" as he met with Pope Tawadros II at St. Mark's Cathedral, seat of Egypt's ancient Coptic Orthodox Church. "I decided that a new conference will be held in Paris to see how to act more effectively," he said, without giving details. A diplomatic source said the French capital would host a forum on religious minorities in the Middle East, but without giving a date. Macron visited the church adjacent to the cathedral that was the site of a December 2016 jihadist attack which killed 29 people.He also met in Cairo with Ahmed al-Tayeb, the grand imam of Al-Azhar, the most prestigious seat of Sunni Islamic learning in Egypt.Their talks centred on "the training of imams (prayer leaders) in France and the fight against the misguided vision of religion", the French presidency said. On Monday, the human rights situation in Egypt was at the centre of talks between Macron and Egyptian President Abdel Fattah al-Sisi. Their different visions were on show at a joint news conference where Macron said respect of freedoms was inseparable from stability while Sisi said security was the priority for Egypt's 100-million population. During the visit, Macron and Sisi oversaw the signing of some 30 deals worth nearly a billion euros (dollars) including in transportation, education and health. No arm deals were signed. After Egypt, the French president travelled on to Cyprus for a summit of southern EU countries on migration and security.

Attorney General Seeks to Bar Guaido from Leaving Venezuela, Freeze His Assets
Agence France Presse/Naharnet/January 29/19/Venezuela's attorney general asked the Supreme Court on Tuesday to bar Juan Guaido, the self-proclaimed acting president and opposition leader, from leaving the country and to freeze his assets. The move comes after the United States earlier said it has handed control of Venezuela's U.S. bank accounts to Guaido, to prevent President Nicolas Maduro from commandeering them in an eventual exit from power. Guaido had said on Monday he was taking control of Venezuela's foreign assets to stop Maduro from emptying the "coffers."Attorney General Tarek William Saab told the Supreme Court he had come to "ask for precautionary measures" against Guaido to prevent him from leaving the country or moving assets, while also freezing his accounts. Saab, a regime loyalist, said the measures were part of the investigation into the National Assembly ordered by the court last week. That was a response to the legislature officially declaring Maduro a "usurper" over his reelection last May in a poll boycotted by the opposition and widely branded a fraud internationally. Guaido responded by saying he wasn't surprised by the measures and described them as part of a chain of "threats" against himself and the opposition-controlled parliament. "More than a new threat against me, against this parliament, against the acting president of this republic, there's nothing new," he said at the entrance to the National Assembly. "I'm not dismissing the threats, the persecution at this time, but we're here, we're continuing to do our jobs." Backed principally by the U.S., Guaido has been at loggerheads with Maduro and his regime since proclaiming himself the country's acting president January 23. Washington has supported his bid to oust Maduro, who is backed by Venezuela's powerful military, and on Monday slapped sanctions on the state oil company PDVSA, the country's primary source of revenue.

Macron Says Brexit Deal 'Best Possible', 'Not Renegotiable'
Agence France Presse/Naharnet/January 29/19/French President Emmanuel Macron said Tuesday the Brexit deal is the "best agreement possible and is not renegotiable," as Britain's premier pushed to reopen talks with Brussels. Macron's comments during a summit in Cyprus came as Prime Minister Theresa May appealed to British lawmakers to give her a mandate to renegotiate after parliament rejected the accord reached with the European Union.

U.S. Says IS Still Has 'Thousands' of Fighters, Seeking Comeback
Agence France Presse/Naharnet/January 29/19/The Islamic State group maintains a force of thousands of fighters who pose a potent threat in the Middle East as its leaders continue to encourage attacks on the West, a top U.S. intelligence official said Tuesday. The stark warning by Director of National Intelligence Dan Coats came even as acting Pentagon chief Patrick Shanahan announced that IS was poised to lose all its remaining holdout areas in Syria "within a couple of weeks" and the risk of terrorism had been "significantly mitigated." "ISIS still commands thousands of fighters in Iraq and Syria, and it maintains eight branches, more than a dozen networks, and thousands of dispersed supporters around the world, despite significant leadership and territorial losses," Coats said in a new report to Congress, using an alternate name for the group. He added that the jihadists, who once held vast swaths of territory in Syria and Iraq but are now reduced to a shrinking enclave of around four square kilometers, would exploit any reduction in counter-terror operations to stage a comeback. "The group will exploit any reduction in CT pressure to strengthen its clandestine presence and accelerate rebuilding key capabilities, such as media production and external operations. "ISIS very likely will continue to pursue external attacks from Iraq and Syria against regional and Western adversaries, including the United States." Speaking to Pentagon reporters a short while later, Acting Defense Secretary Shanahan said more than 99.5 percent of the territory the jihadists once held has been recaptured and "within a couple of weeks it will be a hundred percent." "The way I would probably characterize the military operations that we've conducted in Syria is that the risk of terrorism and mass migration has been significantly mitigated," he added -- offering what appeared to be a more optimistic assessment than Coats' report.
U.S. withdrawal
President Donald Trump last month said the U.S. and its allies had "beaten" IS, as he ordered an immediate troop withdrawal from the war-torn country.
But observers say the pronouncement was premature, as evidenced by a suicide attack this month in the northern city of Manbij, where four Americans, including two troops, were among those killed. Shanahan, who was previously deputy defense secretary, succeeded Jim Mattis at the start of the year after he quit in the aftermath of Trump's declaration of victory over IS and the withdrawal of forces from Syria. Coats' report said IS was focusing on exploiting sectarian tensions in Iraq and Syria, adding it "probably realizes that controlling new territory is not sustainable in the near term.""We assess that ISIS will seek to exploit Sunni grievances, societal instability, and stretched security forces to regain territory in Iraq and Syria in the long term," he added. On the subject of al-Qaida, the once mighty terror outfit responsible for the 9/11 attacks, the report said that while the group's leaders were encouraging attacks against the West including the U.S., most of its affiliates' "attacks to date have been small scale and limited to their regional areas." It added al-Qaida's affiliates in East and North Africa, the Sahel, and Yemen "remain the largest and most capable terrorist groups in their regions. "All have maintained a high pace of operations during the past year, despite setbacks in Yemen, and some have expanded their areas of influence." Al-Qaida elements in Syria were continuing to undermine efforts to resolve that conflict, while its South Asia branch was providing support to the Taliban.

Palestinian Government Submits Resignation to Abbas
Agence France Presse/Naharnet/January 29/19/The Palestinian government officially submitted its resignation to president Mahmud Abbas Tuesday, a statement said, though it will remain in place while a new government is formed. "The government of Prime Minister Rami Hamdallah submitted on Tuesday its resignation to President Mahmud Abbas," official news agency Wafa said following a cabinet meeting.

Regime Bombardment Kills 11 in Syria's Idlib
Agence France Presse/Naharnet/January 29/19/Syrian regime bombardment killed at least 11 people including nine civilians Tuesday in the northwestern region of Idlib where government and rebel backers agreed a "demilitarized zone," a monitor said. Idlib, the last major part of Syria still outside the control of the regime of President Bashar al-Assad, has been hit by sporadic government shelling for weeks despite the deal between pro-Assad Russia and rebel backer Turkey. Tuesday's bombing of Maaret al-Numan came as Hayat Tahrir al-Sham, an alliance led by Syria's former al-Qaida affiliate, gained full control of the town, said the Syrian Observatory for Human Rights war monitor. "Eleven people -- including nine civilians, two of them children -- were killed by artillery and missile fire" from government forces, said Observatory chief Rami Abdel Rahman. "This was the first government bombing of Maaret al-Numan... since the Russia-Turkey accord" was signed on September 17, he added. The deal was intended to spare Idlib and its three million inhabitants from a potentially devastating government offensive near the Turkish border. Hayat Tahrir al-Sham sealed its grip on Idlib on January 10, when it reached a ceasefire deal with the remnants of a rival alliance following days of deadly fighting. The deal allowed an administrative body created by the jihadists, the "Salvation Government", to extend its grip over most of Idlib province and parts of neighboring provinces of Aleppo and Hama. Monday's implementation of that plan raised tensions between HTS and rebel groups, which left the town as a result, said the Observatory. Syria's complex war has killed at least 360,000 people and displaced millions since it started in 2011 with the brutal repression of anti-government protests.

EU Suspects Iran Will Expand its Cyber Espionage Activities
Asharq Al-Awsat/Tuesday, 29 January, 2019/The European Union warned Monday that Iran will likely expand its cyber espionage activities as its relations with Western powers worsen. “Newly imposed sanctions on Iran are likely to push the country to intensify state-sponsored cyber threat activities in pursuit of its geopolitical and strategic objectives at a regional level,” the European Union Agency for Network and Information Security (ENISA) said in a report. The warning came days after the EU imposed its first sanctions on Iran since world powers agreed a 2015 nuclear deal with Tehran, in a reaction to Iran’s ballistic missile tests and assassination plots on European soil. ENISA lists state-sponsored hackers as among the highest threats to the bloc’s digital security. It said that China, Russia and Iran are “the three most capable and active cyber actors tied to economic espionage”. When Washington imposed sanctions on several Iranians in March 2018 for hacking on behalf of the Iranian government, Iran’s foreign ministry denounced the move as “provocative, illegitimate, and without any justifiable reason”. In November the United States indicted two Iranians for launching a major cyber attack using ransomware known as “SamSam” and sanctioned two others for helping exchange the ransom payments from Bitcoin digital currency into rials. Cyber activities are expected to increase in coming months, particularly if Iran fails to keep the EU committed to the nuclear deal, ENISA said.

Tehran rejects talks on its ballistic missile program
Reuters/January 29, 2019/LONDON: Iran on Tuesday dismissed pressure from France and other Western powers for talks over its ballistic missile program, but said it had no plans to increase the range of the weapons. France said last week it was ready to impose further sanctions on Iran if no progress was made in talks about the missiles, described by Tehran as defensive but seen in the West as a destabilizing factor in a volatile region. “Negotiations over Iran’s missile and defensive capabilities are not acceptable in any way,” Maj. Gen. Hassan Firouzabadi, a top adviser to Iran’s Supreme Leader Ayatollah Ali Khamenei, was quoted as saying by the IRNA news agency. He said French leaders were only raising the issue to distract attention from anti-government demonstrations in their country. Iran on Monday denied that it was holding any talks with France about the missiles. US President Donald Trump pulled out of a nuclear deal with Iran in May and reimposed sanctions, saying the accord did not address the missiles and what he saw as Tehran’s malign influence on the region. France, along with other signatories, stuck with the accord, under which Iran agreed to curb its nuclear work in exchange for sanctions relief. But Paris and other European powers have also raised concerns about the missiles, fearing they could one day reach their territories. “The enemies say Iran’s missile power should be eliminated, but we have repeatedly said our missile capabilities are not negotiable,” Iranian Defense Minister Amir Hatami was quoted as saying by Tasnim news agency, using a phrase usually applied to the US and Israel.
Satellites
The secretary of Iran’s National Security Council said Iran would keep working to improve the missiles’ accuracy. “Iran has no scientific or operational restriction for increasing the range of its military missiles, but based on its defensive doctrine, it is continuously working on increasing the precision of the missiles, and has no intention to increase their range,” Ali Shamkhani, another close aide to Khamenei, was quoted as saying by state broadcaster IRIB. In November 2017, the deputy head of Iran’s Revolutionary Guards warned that it would increase the range of its missiles beyond 2,000 km (1,200 miles), if Europe threatened Iran.A UN Security Council resolution that accompanied the 2015 nuclear deal “called upon” Tehran to refrain for up to eight years from work on ballistic missiles designed to deliver nuclear weapons. But Iran said that call did not amount to a binding order and has denied that its missiles are capable of carrying nuclear warheads. Washington has also told Tehran to stop developing satellite-launching technology, saying it was concerned that the same gear could also be used to launch warheads. Shamkhani said Iran would keep working on the technology “to improve the quality of people’s lives and increase the country's technological prowess.”Telecoms Minister Mohammad Javad Azari-Jahromi said on Tuesday that an Iranian satellite, called Friendship, will be launched soon. Another launch failed earlier this month.

Bahrain Upholds Life Sentence against Ali Salman
Manama - Obaid al-Suheimy/Asharq Al-Awsat/Tuesday, 29 January, 2019/Bahrain’s court upheld life sentence against Sec-Gen of dissolved al-Wefaq Ali Salman on charges of spying for Qatar, announced state-owned Bahrain News Agency (BNA). The supreme court confirmed the verdict against Salman and two of his aides for "spying for a foreign state in order to... overthrow the government," according to a statement released by public prosecutor Osama al-Oufi. He added that Salman and two senior al-Wefaq leaders Hassan Sultan and Ali al-Aswad were sentenced to life imprisonment for having been charged with intelligence contacts with a foreign state to carry out acts against the Kingdom of Bahrain in order to undermine its political and economic status and its national interests and topple the regime.The public prosecutor indicated that the defendants were also charged with revealing defense secrets to a foreign country, accepting money from a foreign state for divulging military secrets and information pertaining to the internal situation in the Kingdom, disseminating false information and inciting allegations abroad in order to weaken financial trust in the Kingdom and undermine its prestige. On November 4, the Court of Appeal trialed the three defendants on charges of intelligence links with Qatar. The trial of the espionage cell began in November, on August 16, 2017, after Bahraini security services revealed a phone call between Qatar’s former Prime Minister, Sheikh Haman bin Jassem Al Thani, and Ali Salman during the incidents in Bahrain that took place in the period from February 14 until March 16, 2011. In related news, Arab Parliament Speaker Mishaal bin Fahm al-Salami praised Bahrain’s human rights strides led by King Hamad Al Khalifa and the efforts in boosting human rights protection nationally, in the Arab region and globally as well. Salmi’s statement came during a letter addressed to the Arab Rights Committee during its discussion of Bahrain’s report on human rights. The Parliament renewed its support to Bahrain and its actions aimed at “standing against anything that might harm its security and stability, interfere in its internal affairs or comment on the judicial decisions issued by its national courts.”The Arab Speaker hailed Bahrain’s efforts as the world’s leading role model for interfaith tolerance and coexistence among the various denominations, winning the international community’s confidence and supporting Bahrain's election as a member of the UN-affiliated Human Rights Council (UNHRC).

US Charges Huawei of Violating Sanctions on Iran
Asharq Al-Awsat/Tuesday, 29 January, 2019/The United States accused Monday Huawei with violating sanctions against Iran as it unveiled a number of charges against the Chinese telecommunications giant. The US Justice Department unveiled 13 charges against chief financial officer Meng Wanzhou -- the daughter of the company's founder who is currently out on bail in Canada -- and three affiliates related to violating US sanctions on Iran. It said the company and Meng conspired to violate the sanctions by doing business through a subsidiary it tried to hide and that was reported on by Reuters in 2012. In addition, 10 US federal charges were filed against two Huawei affiliates for stealing robot technology from T-Mobile. "Both sets of charges expose Huawei's brazen and persistent actions to exploit American companies and financial institutions, and to threaten the free and fair global marketplace," said FBI Director Christopher Wray. Meng -- who was arrested at in Vancouver on December 1 at Washington's request -- is expected to fight extradition to the United States, amid heavy pressure on Canada from Beijing, whose subsequent detention of two Canadians is seen as an act of retaliation for Meng's arrest.
Acting US Attorney General Matthew Whitaker said the extradition request would be sent by a January 30 deadline.
A hearing is set for February 6.
Whitaker said there was nothing in the indictment that alleged Chinese government involvement in either case. However, he added, "As I told Chinese officials in August, China must hold its citizens and Chinese companies accountable for complying with the law."On Tuesday, Beijing accused Washington of waging a politically motivated “smear campaign” against it. "For some time, the US has used state power to smear and suppress specific Chinese companies in an attempt to stifle their legitimate business activities," foreign ministry spokesman Geng Shaung said at a regular briefing. "We strongly urge the US to stop the unreasonable suppression of Chinese companies including Huawei and to treat them fairly and objectively. China will also resolutely defend the legitimate rights and interests of Chinese enterprises."In a statement sent to AFP, Huawei said it was "disappointed" and denied that it committed any of the allegations. It added that it was "not aware of any wrongdoing by Ms. Meng (Wanzhou), and believes the US courts will ultimately reach the same conclusion." Huawei makes equipment including base stations, switches and routers, as well as consumer products such as smartphones, and derives nearly half of its total revenue outside China. Its global reach has come under attack from the United States, which is trying to prevent US companies from buying Huawei equipment and is pressing allies to do the same. US security experts are concerned the gear could be used by China’s government for espionage - a concern Huawei calls unfounded. Australia and New Zealand followed the US lead in restricting market access over the past year. On Tuesday, TPG Telecom Ltd canceled the Huawei-based mobile phone network it was building, in the first commercial casualty of Australia’s move.

Turkey Confirms Continuing Operations Against ‘PKK’ in Iraq
Ankara- Said Abdel Razek/Asharq Al-Awsat/Tuesday, 29 January, 2019/ Turkish Defense Minister Hulusi Akar confirmed on Sunday that his country would continue its military operations against Kurdistan Workers' Party (PKK) north Iraq. He said Turkey has informed Baghdad’s government about this decision. “Our effective operations will continue unabated to clear Iraq's north of terrorists and thwart their provocations," Akar told a news briefing as he inspected Turkish troops stationed on the Syrian border. Terrorists in northern Iraq tried to provoke innocent people, knowing that they cannot fight against Turkish soldiers, Akar stressed. “Since they [PKK terrorists] realized that they cannot fight against Turkish soldiers, they try to provoke the innocent locals,” he said, referring to Saturday’s attack on Turkish base. He said those who were trying to drive a wedge between Turkish soldiers and Iraqi people have failed once again. On Saturday, a base belonging to Turkish Armed Forces in northern Iraq was attacked after PKK terror group's provocation, Akar said, adding the attack caused partial damage to vehicles and equipment. His remarks were made during his visit to troops in Turkey's southeastern Mardin province. Meanwhile, the Iraqi foreign ministry summoned Turkey’s ambassador to Baghdad Fatih Yildiz on Sunday to demand an end to “unilateral” actions in Iraqi territory. “The Foreign Ministry summoned Turkish Ambassador Fatih Yildiz and lodged a letter of protest addressing what caused injury and damage to Iraqi citizens in Shiladze region, Amedi district," read a statement from the ministry. Anadolu agency quoted sources from Turkish embassy in Baghdad as saying that Iraqi foreign ministry’s officials informed Yildiz that Baghdad was disturbed of the raids carried out by Turkey against the "PKK" in Iraqi territory. Yildiz, for his part, said his country expects the friendly and brotherly Iraqi government and people to take action against the PKK threat targeting Turkey, adding that it is a necessity for the security of both Baghdad and Ankara. He highlighted the importance of boosting bilateral coordination and cooperation in the fight against terrorism. "In situations where Iraq doesn't fulfill its responsibility of fighting the PKK, Turkey will continue to do its best to combat the PKK presence in Iraq," he said.

Trial Reopens in Tunisia Beach Resort Terror Attack
Asharq Al-Awsat/Tuesday, 29 January, 2019/The trial of suspects linked to the 2015 terrorist attack on a Tunisian beach resort reopened on Tuesday. The ISIS attack on the Imperial Hotel in the beach resort of Sousse left 38 people dead, mostly British tourists. More than 40 people have been summoned to stand trial. The attacker, a Tunisian student, was killed by police. Among the accused, 14 have been summoned even though they are not currently being held in custody and it is unclear whether they will turn up for the trial. Six others are security agents accused of failing to prevent or stop the attack. The trial has been postponed several times at the lawyers' request. In addition to the massacre at the beach resort, Tunisia suffered two other major attacks in 2015. At the famed Bardo Museum, 22 people died while 12 perished in the center of Tunis on a bus carrying presidential guards. The attacks devastated the country's tourism sector as travel agencies pulled out and governments issued travel warnings. Tourism has since bounced back after Tunisia's government implemented a series of measures aimed at securing popular destinations in the country.

France, Egypt Ink Partnership Deals, Debate Human Rights
Cairo - Mohammed Abdo Hassanein/Asharq Al-Awsat/Tuesday, 29 January, 2019/ Human rights issues dominated on Monday a press conference held by Egyptian President Abdul Fattah al-Sisi and his French counterpart Emmanuel Macron at the end of their discussions in Cairo. The French leader had criticized the diminishing of human rights in Egypt, but stressed that "stability and lasting peace go hand in hand with respect for individual freedoms, dignity of everyone and the rule of law." This prompted a retort by Sisi, who said: “We’re not like Europe, nor the United States, we are a country or a region that has its own characteristics.”“Egypt does not advance through bloggers. It advances through the work, effort and perseverance of its sons,” he declared. He hailed the strength of ties between Cairo and Paris, hailing the recent flurry of contacts between the two sides on political, military, security, economic and cultural issues. He also lauded the high level of coordination between them on regional and international affairs. “Civil society groups in Egypt are exerting efforts to develop human rights on the basis of their deep understanding of historic, cultural and heritage factors,” said Sisi. He stressed the need to tackle rights affairs from a comprehensive standpoint, highlighting the right of the people to life, security and freedom of expression. This includes the right to food and drink, healthcare, education and decent housing. These are issues that Egypt prioritizes towards the citizens, he declared. The Egyptian themselves will assess the extent of political, economic and social rights that they enjoy, he added. “The challenges were are facing, such as terrorism, must not distract us from protecting our people,” he said. Addressing regional affairs, Sisi and Macron discussed the crises in Libya and Syria, as well as the Palestinian-Israeli conflict and situation in the Sahel region. Macron said that Egypt is a main partner for France in the region, saying that the two sides shared common stances on several regional and international affairs. The two sides have been working together for several months to address the situation in Libya, he continued. “We seek to combat terrorism in Libya and support reconciliations efforts,” he added, saying that these two factors are the only way to restore stability in the region. Reconciliation efforts are being coordinated with UN special envoy to Libya, Ghassan Salame, added Macron. Macron had kicked off his three-day visit to Egypt on Sunday. His delegation includes government ministers, two dozen representatives from academic, cultural, and scientific fields, and a dozen business leaders — including the heads of Rafale producer Dassault. During his trip officials signed 40 trade deals and development agreements worth an estimated total of 1.6 billion euros, covering sectors including transport, energy, health and telecoms, Egypt’s investment ministry said in a statement. France extended a 60 million euro loan and a 2 million euro grant to support development projects.

Yemen: Griffiths Leaves Houthi Meeting Empty-Handed
Aden - Ali Rabih/Asharq Al-Awsat/Tuesday, 29 January, 2019/UN envoy to Yemen Martin Griffiths left a meeting Monday with the leader of the Iran-backed Houthi militias in Sanaa empty-handed after their leader, Abdul-Malek al-Houthi, insisted on tackling issues that were not agreed on between warring parties in the Stockholm deal. Among the issues he wanted to address was economic affairs and the reopening of the Sanaa International Airport, official Houthi sources said.“During his meeting with Griffiths, al-Houthi wanted to focus on disputed files to avoid implementing the Stockholm deal,” the sources explained. The UN envoy had arrived in Houthi-held Sanaa on Monday, his third visit in a month, to discuss the situation in an around the port city of Hodeidah. His visit also aims to extend the timeline for the implementation of the UN-brokered deal in Yemen, particularly the file concerning the withdrawal of forces from the coastal city. Under the Stockholm deal, the legitimate government and Houthi militias agreed to a ceasefire in Hodeidah, which went into effect on December 18. It also calls for the withdrawal of all forces from the city's three ports and holding a prisoner exchange. In a tweet Monday, Griffiths’ office wrote: “We have seen the timelines for implementation extended, both in Hodeidah and the prisoner exchange agreement.” “Such changes in timelines are expected. The initial timelines were rather ambitious. We are dealing with a complex situation on the ground.” In an exclusive interview published on the same day, Griffiths told Asharq Al-Awsat there is a political will now more than ever to end the conflict in Yemen. “We are all on the same page that the way to do this is through the negotiations’ table, and not the battlefield,” he said. UN spokesman Stephane Dujarric said Griffiths plans to visit Hodeidah on Tuesday.

Latest LCCC English analysis & editorials from miscellaneous sources published on January 29-30/19
Analysis/Emerging U.S.-Taliban Deal Will Give Iran Leverage to Expand Influence
زفي برئيل/هآرتس/ إبرام صفقة بين أميركا وطالبا في أفغانستان سيعطي إيران هامشاً كبيراً لتوسيع نفوذها
Zvi Bar'el/Haaretz/Janusry 29/19
http://eliasbejjaninews.com/archives/71614/zvi-barel-haaretz-analysis-emerging-u-s-taliban-deal-will-give-iran-leverage-to-expand-influence-%d8%b2%d9%81%d9%8a-%d8%a8%d8%b1%d8%a6%d9%8a%d9%84-%d9%87%d8%a2%d8%b1%d8%aa%d8%b3-%d8%a5%d8%a8/
Cooperation between Iran and the Taliban, although a limited tactical objective that could achieve a quiet withdrawal of U.S. forces, further confounds the theory of the Shi’ite axis that threatens the Middle East.
In the news that emerged from Doha, the capital of Qatar, that apparently there is an agreement between the United States and the Afghan Taliban, the key word is “apparently.”
Appearances, chances, possibilities and cautious optimism have accompanied the innumerable talks that the Americans have held with Taliban representatives since Afghanistan was occupied by the United States in 2001, in response to the 9/11 attacks. Even now, it would be best not to hold one’s breath in anticipation of a cease-fire, let alone a peace agreement, in this divided land, where some 45,000 Afghan fighters and tens of thousands of civilians have been killed since 2014.
The primary American goal in these negotiations is to be able to withdraw most of its roughly 14,000 combat soldiers, and to assure that Afghanistan does not become a new base for Al-Qaida and ISIS activity.
At this stage, the talks are not about reconciliation between Afghanistan’s elected government and the Taliban, or about the country’s political future. It’s a limited tactical objective that if achieved, won’t necessarily guarantee quiet and stability in Afghanistan, but could achieve a quiet withdrawal of the U.S. forces. In Israeli-Palestinian terms, we’re talking about a “tahadiyeh,” a lull, and not a diplomatic agreement.
The Taliban’s agreement in principle still hasn’t been translated into practical terms like a timetable for signing the deal, stages of the American withdrawal, the security arrangements that would accompany the withdrawal, and the measures and security arrangements that will guarantee the Taliban’s commitment to foil the activities of Al-Qaida and ISIS. Nor is it clear what financial and military assistance the organization will get from the United States to implement the agreements, and, no less important, what leverage will remain in U.S. hands if the Taliban don’t uphold the deal.
Nevertheless, the American representatives attribute great importance to the fact that the Taliban’s deputy leader, Mullah Abdul Ghani Baradar, is heading the delegation to the talks. This, they believe, indicates the Taliban take the talks seriously and are seeking to expedite their results, since by virtue of his position Baradar can make decisions without having to consult unnecessarily with a series of leaders in the organizational hierarchy.
In the past, there were times when the Taliban sent dummy representatives on their behalf, likes a store owner who was introduced as a “senior member of the organization” or “a representative of Mullah Omar,” who had been killed a few years earlier. The American representatives who are praising Baradar’s presence refrain from referring to the rest of the Taliban delegation, some of whom spent long periods in Guantanamo prison.
Short memory
Aside from a cease-fire agreement, the United States is seeking to push the Taliban, which controls about half of Afghanistan’s population, into negotiating with the Afghan government, and may link its withdrawal to the start of domestic negotiations. But at this point the Taliban have no intention of conducting such talks, which for them would constitute recognizing a government that was elected under the bayonets of occupation.
On the other hand, the Afghan government headed by President Ashraf Ghani fears that the American desire to bring about internal reconciliation may give the Taliban too many concessions in power sharing, which would lead to serious human rights abuses and constitutional amendments that would nullify many of the government’s achievements in the realms of personal status, the status of women, education and justice. These values, the regime fears, may undergo Talibanization, modeled after the Taliban regime that ruled between 1996 and 2001.
Meanwhile, the United States is evading explanations about how it views the Taliban’s participation in the government in order to avoid a confrontation with the official Afghan leadership. But ahead of the July presidential elections there will be no choice but to formulate an American policy on the Taliban’s status as a legitimate political body. The Taliban may demand that the United States formulate such a policy as a condition for upholding the agreement being drawn up in Doha. Judging by U.S. President Donald Trump’s conduct in other Middle East conflicts, it is doubtful whether he will have any interest in the nature of the Afghan government after he withdraws his forces. Nor will he be the first American president to kick Afghanistan around after achieving his goal. The elder President George Bush “forgot” where Afghanistan was after the Soviet forces withdrew.
Negotiating with the Taliban might seem to represent a fundamental shift in the traditional U.S. policy of not negotiating with terrorist groups, but there’s nothing really new here. Senior officials in the State Department and the CIA met openly with Taliban leaders in the 1990s, when the brutal nature of their regime and their mass murder of civilians whom they believe had “deviated from the true Islam” were already known. In 1997, a Taliban delegation visited the headquarters of U.S. oil giant Unocal in Texas to discuss the construction of a gas pipeline between Turkmenistan and Pakistan that would pass through Afghanistan. The Taliban were supposed to secure the pipeline in exchange for handsome royalties. Although the agreement was not implemented due to public pressure, the American administration saw nothing wrong with promoting other projects with the Taliban until September 11, 2001.
Other parties
The war between the Taliban and Afghan government forces, which dramatically reduced the government’s control over the country’s territory, has drawn in foreign rivals seeking to expand their influence on the country.
During Afghanistan’s war against the Soviet Union between 1979 and 1988, Pakistan armed and financed (with American money) the Mujahideen, which fought against the Soviet forces, and turned the Taliban, the alumni of that war, into its protégés. It would be correct to state that the Taliban as an organization began military activities when they were refugee students who fled the Afghan civil war to Pakistani territory. From there they left in 1992 to conquer their homeland from warlords and Afghan tribal leaders who fought for control of the country after the withdrawal of the Soviet forces. Pakistani intelligence services used the Taliban as political and military agents.
Saudi Arabia, Pakistan’s ally, has also done its part by streaming hundreds of millions of dollars to the coffers of Pakistan and the Taliban as part of its effort to strengthen its influence in the Sunni countries, even though the Taliban cooperated with Al-Qaida. In recent years Saudi Arabia has increased its aid to the Taliban as part of its struggle against Iran.
The involvement of Iran in Afghanistan is nothing new, but recently it has developed broad ties with the Taliban to build a defensive wall against possible ISIS attacks on its territory and to ensure the safety of the Shi’ite Hazara minority that lives in central Afghanistan near the Iranian border. The choice of Qatar to host the negotiations was made in consultation with Iran, after the Taliban refused to conduct the talks in Saudi Arabia, which is pressuring them to reconcile with the Afghan government. The cooperation between Iran and the Taliban confounds the theory of the Shi’ite axis that threatens the Middle East, since the Taliban are radical Sunnis while Iran is a Shi’ite state. It seems that on both sides, interests can overcome ideology.
Afghanistan is no gold mine – “it has no wealth,” as Trump said of Syria. After the withdrawal of American forces it could become a battleground for political and military control between Middle Eastern rivals and could even tempt Russia, which fled from there three decades ago. But after losing more than a trillion dollars and the lives of thousands of American soldiers, one can’t blame the United States for wanting to extricate itself from this swamp, which no country has ever managed to conquer.

Preparing for Peace - The Palestinian Way
Khaled Abu Toameh/Gatestone Institute/January 29/19
https://www.gatestoneinstitute.org/13646/palestinians-preparing-for-peace
If, in the eyes of the Palestinian Authority (PA) leadership, normalization with Israel is an act of "treason," a "crime" and a "big political and national sin," the Trump administration may well be wasting its time and prestige on a peace plan that envisions peace between the Arab countries and Israel, at least at this time.
To achieve peace with Israel, Palestinian leaders need to prepare their people -- and all Arabs and Muslims -- for peace and compromise with Israel, and not, as they are now doing, the exact opposite. Shaming and denouncing Arabs who visit Israel is hardly a way to prepare anyone for peace, or the possibility of any compromise.
Meanwhile, the Trump administration and the international community would be doing a real service to the Palestinians if they start paying attention to assaults on public freedoms, including freedom of the media, in the West Bank and Gaza Strip. Holding Palestinian leaders accountable for their systematic abuses of public freedoms, assaults on journalists and incitement is the only way to encourage badly needed moderate and pragmatic Palestinians and Arabs to speak out.
While the Palestinian Authority continues to arrest and intimidate Palestinian journalists in the West Bank, its loyalists are also waging a campaign against Arab journalists who dare to visit Israel.
While the Palestinian Authority (PA) continues to arrest and intimidate Palestinian journalists in the West Bank, its loyalists are also waging a campaign against Arab journalists who dare to visit Israel.
This month alone, the PA security forces have arrested nine Palestinian journalists, according to the Palestinian Committee for Supporting Journalists.
One of the journalists, Yousef al-Faqeeh, 33, a reporter for the London-based Quds Press News Agency, was taken into custody on January 16. On January 27, a PA court ordered al-Faqeeh remanded into custody for 14 days. His family said that they still do not know why he was arrested.
Al-Faqeeh's wife, Suhad, said that PA security officers raided their house; when Yousef asked whether they had a search warrant, they proceeded to arrest him. "They took him to an unknown destination and did not provide a reason for his arrest," she said. "They also confiscated his computer and mobile phone."
The Committee to Protect Journalists condemned the arrest of al-Faqeeh and called on the PA to release him immediately.
The other journalists targeted by the PA in the past few weeks are: Mu'tasem Saqf al-Hait, Ayman Abu Aram, Mahmoud Abu Hraish, Mahmoud Abu al-Rish, Zeid Abu Arra, Hazem Nasser, Mohammed Dkeidek and Amir Abu Istaitiyeh.
In the Hamas-ruled Gaza Strip, only three Palestinian journalists were detained in the past few weeks: Luay al-Ghul, Executive Director of the Palestinian Journalists Syndicate, Salah Abu Salah, an independent reporter, and Huda Baroud, a female investigative reporter who was summoned for interrogation after she prepared a story about "rape within a single family."
The Committee for Supporting Journalists said that the crackdown on Palestinian journalists was aimed at restricting freedom of the media under the PA and Hamas.
These condemnations, however, do not seem to bother Palestinian leaders, who do not tolerate any form of criticism. The Palestinian leaders clearly seem emboldened by the fact that the international community and media are oblivious to the plight of Palestinian journalists. Or, more accurately, the international community does not care when a Palestinian journalist is arrested or harassed by the Palestinian Authority or Hamas. The only stories that attract the world's attention are those in which Israel is involved.
The silence of the international community has inspired Palestinian leaders to the point where they have now extended their campaign of intimidation to non-Palestinian Arab journalists.
When a group of Arab journalists, who hail from Egypt, Lebanon, Algeria and Morocco, recently visited Israel, the Palestinian Authority Ministry of Information issued a strongly-worded statement accusing the reporters of promoting normalization with Israel.
"Normalization [with Israel] is an unacceptable and unjustified disgrace," the ministry said. "The ministry affirms its rejection of media normalization with the occupation and considers it an unacceptable crime under all circumstances."
The Palestinian Journalists Syndicate, a body dominated by PA President Mahmoud Abbas loyalists, said it is now preparing a blacklist that will include the name of any Arab journalist suspected of engaging in normalization with Israel. The syndicate expressed "shock" over the visit and called for ending all forms of normalization with Israel, including in the media. "What happened was a huge political and national sin."
The journalists, who work in France and Belgium, are now being accused by many Arabs of treason.
The Paris-based magazine Kul Al-Arab said it has terminated all relations with Egyptian journalist Khaled Zaghloul, who was among the group of journalists who visited Israel in December 2018. The editor of the magazine said that his staff, which is "committed to the just and legitimate Arab causes, particularly the Palestinian cause, categorically condemns this unacceptable visit."
Abdel Muhsen Salameh, Chairman of the Egyptian Journalists Union and CEO of Al-Ahram, said that Zaghloul had been fired from the paper in 2011. Ala Thabet, editor in chief of Al-Ahram, distanced himself from the journalist and called on all Arab media outlets to follow suit.
Another prominent Egyptian journalist, Abou Bakr Khallaf, is also facing criticism for visiting Israel. Khallaf, who is based in Turkey, is facing severe criticism after he posted a photo of himself during a visit to the Al-Aqsa Mosque in Jerusalem. His Egyptian colleagues have called for legal and administrative measures against him for engaging in normalization with the "Zionist entity."
Kuwaiti writer Fajer Al-Saeed is also facing condemnations after she took the brave step of calling on Arab countries to normalize relations with Israel.
The Palestinian crackdown on reporters in the West Bank and Gaza Strip is aimed at silencing critics and deterring journalists from reporting on sensitive issues such as financial corruption and human rights violations by the Palestinian Authority and Hamas. For now, it seems that this crackdown has achieved its goal, as most Palestinian journalists living under the PA and Hamas are afraid publicly to voice any form of criticism of their leaders.
The Palestinian incitement against Arab journalists who visit Israel or maintain relations with Israeli colleagues is part of a wider campaign to prevent the Arab countries from normalizing ties with Israel. The Palestinians attach significant importance to their "anti-normalization" campaign, mainly because they believe that US President Donald Trump's yet-to-be-announced plan for peace in the Middle East envisages normalization between the Arab countries and Israel. By waging a smear campaign against Arabs for allegedly promoting normalization with Israel, the Palestinian leaders are hoping to thwart Trump's upcoming peace plan. If, in the eyes of the PA leadership, normalization with Israel is an act of "treason," a "crime" and a "big political and national sin," the Trump administration may well be wasting its time and prestige on a peace plan that envisions peace between the Arab countries and Israel, at least at this time.
To achieve peace with Israel, Palestinian leaders need to prepare their people -- and all Arabs and Muslims -- for peace and compromise with Israel, and not, as they are now doing, the exact opposite. Shaming and denouncing Arabs who visit Israel is hardly a way to prepare anyone for peace, or the possibility of any compromise.

India: The Upper House of Parliament Must Help Muslim Women, Endorse the Bill Banning the Practice of "Triple Talaq"
Jagdish N. Singh/Gatestone Institute/January 29/19
https://www.gatestoneinstitute.org/13648/india-muslims-divorce-law
The All India Muslim Personal Law Board has argued that the bill amounts to interference with religious law, and therefore violates the Constitution of India. This objection might be thought of as disingenuous. According to Article 44 of the Constitution, "The State shall endeavour to secure for the citizens a uniform civil code throughout the territory of India."
By contrast, triple talaq is a unilateral, arbitrary tool in the hands of men against women, a condition what that is simply not acceptable in modern India.
For decades, Indian courts have upheld the precedence of Muslim women's right to equality over Muslim Personal Law. The court ruled in 1985 that the denial of alimony was a violation of Bano's fundamental rights, regardless of her religion, and that triple talaq ran contrary to those rights. In other words, Muslim women must enjoy the same rights as other women in India.
India's Parliament must do the right thing for the country's Muslim women, as it did nearly 64 years ago for the country's Hindu women. Until the passage of the Hindu Marriage Act, 1955, Hindu women in India were not at liberty to divorce their husbands, while Hindu men were free to engage in polygamy. It will be a shattering miscarriage of justice if oppositionist politicians succeed in blocking this much-needed bill.
The Indian Parliament building in New Delhi. (Image source: Shahnoor Habib Munmun/Wikimedia Commons)
The Narendra Modi government in New Delhi deserves applause for passing the Muslim Women (Protection of Rights on Marriage) Bill, 2018, which criminalizes the practice of "triple talaq" -- a medieval, patriarchal divorce procedure still in use in many Muslim communities in India and abroad. All this procedure requires for a man to divorce his wife is to repeat the word "talaq" three times.
In order for the bill -- passed by India's Lower House of Parliament (Lok Sabha) on December 27, 2018 -- to be written into Indian law, it needs approval by the Parliament's Upper House (Rajya Sabha).
In an attempt to keep this from happening, radical Islamist groups, such as the All India Muslim Personal Law Board (AIMPLB), are attempting to join forces with opposition parties to torpedo the bill. Oppositionists on the left have accused the bill of violating fundamental human rights and of constituting "an assault on the Muslim family structure."
Meanwhile, the AIMPLB has argued that the bill amounts to interference with religious law, and therefore violates the Constitution of India.
This objection might be thought of as disingenuous. According to Article 44 of the Constitution, "The State shall endeavour to secure for the citizens a uniform civil code throughout the territory of India."
By contrast, triple talaq is a unilateral, arbitrary tool in the hands of men against women, a condition what that is simply not acceptable in modern India. For decades, Indian courts have upheld the precedence of Muslim women's right to equality over Muslim Personal Law.
Take, for example, the decades-old milestone case of Shah Bano, a Muslim woman whose husband of many years, divorced her through triple talaq and not only banished her and their five children from the family home, but ceased paying her the small sum in alimony that he had promised. In its 1985 judgment on the issue of alimony, the Indian Supreme Court deplored the treatment of Bano by her husband. The court wrote:
"The Muslim husband enjoys the privilege of being able to discard his wife whenever he chooses to do so, for reasons good, bad or indifferent, indeed for no reason at all. And, is the law so ruthless in its inequality that, no matter how much the husband pays for the maintenance of his divorced wife during the period of iddat [period of chastity a divorced woman must observe before she is allowed to remarry], the mere fact that he has paid something, no matter how little, absolves him forever from the duty of paying adequately so as to enable her to keep her body and soul together?"
The court ruled, already in 1985, that the denial of alimony was a violation of Bano's fundamental rights, regardless of her religion, and that triple talaq ran contrary to those rights. In other words, Muslim women must enjoy the same rights as other women in India.
Nevertheless, the then-Rajiv Gandhi government backtracked somewhat and adopted the Muslim Women (Protection of Rights on Divorce) Act, 1986, which restricted alimony to the period of iddat.
More recently, in December 2016, the Allahabad High Court dismissed the writ of an elderly Muslim man who had divorced his first wife by means of triple talaq and felt threatened by his new wife's family. The court called triple talaq "cruel and the most demeaning form of divorce practised by the Muslim community at large. Women cannot remain at the mercy of the patriarchal setup held under the clutches of sundry clerics; personal laws of any community cannot claim supremacy over the rights granted to individuals by the Constitution."
It is unfortunate that successive governments in India have overlooked the need to ban the practice of triple talaq. The Modi government is trying to rectify that.
India's Parliament must do the right thing for the country's Muslim women, as it did nearly 64 years ago for the country's Hindu women. Until the passage of the Hindu Marriage Act, 1955, Hindu women in India were not at liberty to divorce their husbands, while Hindu men were free to engage in polygamy.
The fate of Muslim women in India is now in the hands of the Upper House of Parliament. It will be a shattering miscarriage of justice if oppositionist politicians succeed in blocking this much-needed bill.
*Jagdish N. Singh is a senior journalist based in New Delhi.
© 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.

Austria Must Recognize Alevism as Distinct from Islam
Uzay Bulut/Gatestone Institute/January 29/19
https://www.gatestoneinstitute.org/13647/austria-alevis-religion
"Anyone who studies and researches our faith a little bit would understand that. Alevism is a distinct faith. Alevism has been affected by Christianity, as well. Does that make [it] a branch of Christianity? And Islam has been affected by Judaism. Is Islam a branch of Judaism?" -- Zeynep Arslan, Vice-President of the Austrian Federation of Alevi Unions.
"Although the officials of the lands where we live have signed agreements of international law, they never implement what is required by the law. Our religious rights and freedoms are guaranteed by international law, but our places of worship, cem houses, are not recognized [by the government]; our taxes are collected without our consent to be used to pay the salaries of imams who reject or insult us... Alevi school children still have to enroll in compulsory Islamic courses, in spite of rulings by the European Court of Human Rights." – Public statement by Alevi leaders in Turkey, in support of the Austrian Federation of Alevi Unions, January 3, 2019.
Alevis have been suffering from Islamic intolerance in their home country, Turkey, for a century. They are now struggling against rising Islamic supremacism in Europe. Let us hope that Austria's high court does the right thing this week and accepts their petition to be recognized as a distinct faith.
The Austrian Supreme Administrative Court is set to issue a ruling on a petition by the Austrian Federation of Alevi Unions to have their religion officially recognized as separate from Islam. Pictured: The Supreme Administrative Court building in Vienna. (Image source: Bwag/Wikimedia Commons)
The Austrian Supreme Administrative Court is set to issue a ruling on a petition by the Austrian Federation of Alevi Unions to have their religion officially recognized as separate from Islam -- and not part of the updated version of the 1912 Islam Law, which went into effect in 2015. The new law recognizes two "Islamic religious societies" -- the Islamic Community in Austria, which represents Islam's Sunni sects, and the Islamic Alevi Community in Austria, which is defined as an "Islamic sect."
Austrian Federation of Alevi Unions president, Özgür Turak, told Gatestone about the legal struggle for official recognition of Alevism as distinct from Islam:
"The 1912 law granted the 'Islamic Community of Austria' the right to teach courses at schools and to choose their own teachers, whose salaries would be paid by the state. In 2007, researchers discovered that the 'Islamic Community' teachers who came to Austria from abroad supported sharia law and opposed the European values of human rights and democracy. The Austrian public was outraged by this, and the Austrian Office of Religious Affairs took it upon itself to amend the country's Islam law.
"During that period, our federation was already trying to get official recognition by many European countries, including Austria, of Alevism as an authentic faith. To this end, we reached out to the Austrian Office of Religious Affairs, which told us that if we Alevis were to agree to be included in the new Islam law, we would immediately be recognized as a faith.
"We responded that Alevism could not be defined according to Islamic laws. In 2009, however, one of our federation's members -- the Vienna Alevi Cultural Association – must have seen the Office of Religious Affairs offer as an opportunity, and without informing any other Alevi group, it applied to the Office as the 'Islamic Alevi Faith Society.'
"That year, meanwhile, our federation applied to the Office to be recognized as an authentic faith. Our application was rejected, however, on the grounds that, according to Austrian law, for a faith group to be recognized, the applicant group should have a name and a belief system different from those of the already recognized faith communities. As a result, these 'Islamic Alevis' were recognized by the Office as the 'Islamic Alevi Community of Austria' within the country's Islam's law."
That, said Turak, "is when our legal battle began."
It was then that his federation petitioned the Austrian Supreme Administrative Court. After a long struggle, the federation's first hearing was held a month ago, on December 28.
Turak explained to Gatestone why the issue is of such importance to his community:
"Among the clearest consequences of the lack of recognition of Alevism as an authentic faith in Austria is the fact that the Islamic institutes at universities provide courses explaining Alevism based on Koranic verses and the hadith.
"It is thus that we want the Austrian government to recognize Alevism as an authentic faith outside of the Islam Law, and grant us rights equal to those of other faith communities."
The official website of the federation provides details about the historical background and teachings of Alevism. According to its educational director, İsmail Kaplan:
"Some Turks left their former religion, Shamanism, and some Kurds left their former religion, Zoroastrianism, and in time converted to Alevism. In some cases, when they were forced to convert to Islam, they chose Alevism... Some Armenians, Arabs, Persians and other ethnic groups have also converted to Alevism.
"But Alevi teachings cannot be seen as Zoroastrian, Shamanist or Islamic. Although Alevism has some things in common with all these religions, Alevism is a different and distinctive faith."
According to Federation vice president, Zeynep Arslan, the claim that "Alevism is inside of Islam" is "nonsensical and unscientific."
In a recent interview with Turkey's CAN TV, Arslan noted:
"Of course, Alevism has been affected by Islam in a region where Islam is the dominant religion and reigns over [societies] through authoritarian methods, and where religious and state affairs are intertwined... But Alevism is not to be restricted to Islam! Anyone who studies and researches our faith a little bit would understand that. Alevism is a distinct faith. Alevism has been affected by Christianity, as well. Does that make [it] a branch of Christianity? And Islam has been affected by Judaism. Is Islam a branch of Judaism?"
Referring to the history of Alevis as one of "massacres, genocides, exiles and [forcible] migrations," Arslan continued:
"[Yet] we did not bow down to the Ottomans. In spite of everything, we have not given up on our faith and identity in Turkey, either. We need to struggle for our existence in Austria, as well."
Summarizing challenges Alevis face in Austria, Arslan said:
"A community that calls itself the 'Islamic Alevi community' has emerged in Austria. This group has become an instrument to placing particularly the Alevis supported by Turkey under the mold of Islam... Some officials of that group are trying to stop us from even identifying as Alevis... They have threatened to shut down Alevi associations. We often have to deal with their complaints to the courts."
Several Alevi intellectuals and faith leaders in Turkey recently issued a public statement in support of the Austrian Federation of Alevi Unions, declaring:
"The mythology, philosophy and rituals of Alevism are different from many religions, including Islam. Alevism cannot be seen as a sub-branch, sect or perversion of any other religion."
The statement went on:
"To preserve their societal structure and faith, Alevis struggled for centuries in lands where Islamic sharia was dominant, and they were massacred because they did not accept Islam. That is why Alevis tried to survive by staying away from Islam-dominated institutions. During no period of history have Alevis accepted to be tried according to Islamic sharia.
"We as Alevis do not believe in the 'Adam and Eve' mythology... or in 'heaven or hell.' We believe in immortality. We believe that [when people die], they 'change clothes' [to come back to earth], and that the world is in constant motion. Hence, we do not believe in the concept of 'sin.' We build our lives on [receiving] blessings, and want to complete our lives accordingly."
The statement also clarified Alevism's view of others:
"Alevism regards all nations as equal, and we say that 'good people are good regardless of their language, religion or skin color.' Humanitarian tolerance has for centuries been at the center of our philosophy... We treat other religions, cultures and philosophy with respect. We do not see other religions as inferior or superior to our own faith."
Addressing the oppressive policies of the Turkish government, the statement continued:
"Although the officials of the lands where we live have signed agreements of international law, they never implement what is required by the law. Our religious rights and freedoms are guaranteed by international law, but our places of worship, cem houses, are not recognized [by the government]; our taxes are collected without our consent to be used to pay the salaries of imams who reject or insult us. Our faith was registered as 'Islam' in our ID cards until recently. Alevi school children still have to enroll in compulsory Islamic courses, in spite of rulings by the European Court of Human Rights. Those who refuse to attend those classes are exposed and degraded. Our children who say they are Alevis at schools are insulted by their teachers and suffer affronts.
"Just like what Turkey has been trying to do for years, the first step to melt Alevism under a dominant religion [Islam] in Europe and destroy it has been taken in Austria. This Islamist move should definitely be eliminated. Hence, we the signatories... reject the placing of Alevism under the roof of the Austrian Islamic community."
Alevis have been suffering from Islamic intolerance in their home country, Turkey, for a century. They are now struggling against rising Islamic supremacism in Europe. Their ongoing battle on behalf of human rights and against sharia law and political Islam must not be ignored by the West. Let us hope that Austria's high court does the right thing this week and accepts their petition to be recognized as a distinct faith.
*Uzay Bulut, a Turkish journalist, is a Distinguished Senior Fellow at Gatestone Institute. She is currently based in Washington D.C.
© 2019 Gatestone Institute. All rights reserved. The articles printed here do not necessarily reflect the views of the Editors or of Gatestone Institute. No part of the Gatestone website or any of its contents may be reproduced, copied or modified, without the prior written consent of Gatestone Institute.
Meanwhile, the Trump administration and the international community would be doing a real service to the Palestinians if they start paying attention to assaults on public freedoms, including freedom of the media, in the West Bank and Gaza Strip. Holding Palestinian leaders accountable for their systematic abuses of public freedoms, assaults on journalists and incitement is the only way to encourage badly needed moderate and pragmatic Palestinians and Arabs to speak out.
*Khaled Abu Toameh, an award-winning journalist based in Jerusalem, is a Shillman Journalism Fellow at Gatestone Institute.
© 2019 Gatestone Institute. All rights reserved. The articles printed here do not necessarily reflect the views of the Editors or of Gatestone Institute. No part of the Gatestone website or any of its contents may be reproduced, copied or modified, without the prior written consent of Gatestone Institute.

Why Facebook Can’t Resist Integrating WhatsApp
Shira Ovide/Bloomberg/January 29/19
Facebook Inc.’s “family” of apps is about to get even closer.
The New York Times reported Friday that Facebook is planning to more closely integrate the apps it owns, including its Messenger and WhatsApp instant chat services, as well as photo-and-video-focused Instagram. The decision is both an inevitable end to independence for properties that Facebook acquired and initially left largely alone, and a barrier against calls to split the company apart to limit its power.
Essentially, Facebook, Instagram, Messenger and WhatsApp are set to move to a common technology foundation, the Times reported. The company will keep them as separate apps. This makes all the sense in the world, of course, even if it apparently has been controversial inside of the company, and may make some Facebook users uncomfortable.
Facebook’s advertising system already spans across the company’s various services. McDonald’s, for example, can allocate a pool of advertising money to Facebook, and the company’s computerized system chooses to show some Big Mac commercials on Instagram and others on the main Facebook social network. But surely a move to a single Facebook tech foundation will make it even easier for the social-media giant to gather more data on people as they surf around all the company’s apps, and pinpoint ads to them.
This effort won’t be simple. Facebook requires people to use their real names in their social-network profiles, but Instagram doesn’t. Over at WhatsApp, people sign up using their phone numbers rather than names. It isn’t trivial to connect a single person and her Facebook account to an Instagram profile under a pseudonym, and a WhatsApp account with just a phone number. But unifying people’s identities online and in the real world is a big help to Facebook’s advertising business at a time when it needs a lift.
Facebook will need to squeeze more revenue from more places now that the company’s advertising growth is slowing, in part because the Facebook social network has hit a saturation point in the developed countries that generate the majority of the company’s revenue. That means Facebook will have to try harder to turn Instagram, Messenger and WhatsApp into foundations of its revenue growth. Integrating the apps’ technology goes a step toward achieving this.
The ancillary benefit — or harm, depending on your point of view — is the closer Facebook ties together what Mark Zuckerberg calls its family of apps, the harder it gets to break up the company. Advocacy groups critical of Facebook have asked US regulators to unwind the purchases of Instagram and WhatsApp over what those groups say are violations of consumer-privacy rules. Other critics have said splitting up Facebook’s family is a way to blunt the company’s power by limiting its reach into people’s lives, and giving it less information about people’s online and offline activities. The Facebook breakup was always going to be a long shot. If Facebook binds its apps more closely together, the long shot moves to a practical impossibility. That doesn’t mean Facebook will be free from government scrutiny. European regulators could and should ask Facebook tough questions if it unifies its empire of apps.
The company already got in trouble for providing misleading information to European regulators as they reviewed Facebook’s more than $17 billion purchase of WhatsApp in 2014. Facebook initially told European Union officials that it wasn’t possible to meld WhatsApp data with Facebook’s own stockpile of digital information. It turned out that wasn’t true and Facebook has since started to combine user information. One of WhatsApp’s founders recently told Forbes that he believed Facebook caused him to tell European regulators something that wasn’t true. (Facebook has said it made unintentional errors in a filing to the European Union related to the WhatsApp purchase.)
If there were any doubts before, this app-integration news should signal that the autonomy Instagram and particularly WhatsApp enjoyed under Facebook’s roof is now over. Acquiring companies tend to promise they’ll leave a purchased asset alone, but it never lasts — for mostly good reason. Facebook didn’t splurge billions of dollars on Instagram, WhatsApp and its Oculus virtual-reality company to leave them alone forever. The corporate imperative is to grow, and Facebook now needs its disparate empire to pull together to achieve its mission. There will be grumbling about Facebook unifying its apps. But it was an obvious decision by a company that now has to try much harder to continue to lure more people and advertisers to its digital empire.

Israel-Iran war in Syria could be just one misstep away
Osama Al-Sharif/Arab News/January 29/19
Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu’s admittance last week that Israel had carried out massive airstrikes against Iranian targets in Syria, including a weapons depot in Damascus airport, marked a major change in policy. For years, the Israeli Air Force had been carrying out attacks against suspected Iranian and Hezbollah positions in Syria without claiming responsibility. The Jan. 20 strikes were triggered by the firing of a surface-to-surface missile from inside Syria toward the occupied Golan Heights, according to Israeli sources. It was met with unusual firepower from Israel, which launched tens of missiles from Lebanese airspace toward selected targets. Israel showed videos of a Syrian surface-to-air battery being destroyed, among other objectives. Syria said it had intercepted dozens of missiles — a claim that was corroborated by Moscow.
Following the Israeli attack, Netanyahu was quoted as saying that “whoever tries to hurt us, we will hurt them. Whoever threatens to destroy us will bear the full responsibility.” Going public was seen as a message to the Syrian regime, Iran and the Russians. Moscow had deployed the S-300 anti-aircraft missile system in Syria last October following a series of Israeli attacks.
But Netanyahu, who is fighting for his political survival ahead of crucial elections in April, may be risking more than he can handle. Last week, Russian Foreign Ministry spokeswoman Maria Zakharova said that “the practice of arbitrary strikes on the territory of a sovereign state, in this case we are talking about Syria, should be ruled out.” Israel had claimed in the past that it had reached an agreement with Moscow, under which it made clear that its strikes on Syria would not threaten the regime of President Bashar Assad. In return, the Russians said they would work to limit Iranian influence in the country. Behind-the-scenes negotiations succeeded in driving the Iranian Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps (IRGC) and pro-Iran proxies back from Israel’s borders.But Israel now believes that Hezbollah and fighters belonging to the Quds Force may be repositioning themselves close to the Golan Heights. The launching of a missile into Israeli-occupied territory could be seen as a game-changer. Iran had responded to Israeli threats by saying it was ready for the fight. The Syrian representative at the UN also said that, if the international community does not intervene to stop Israeli strikes, then Syria has the right to bomb Tel Aviv airport. This latest escalation comes at a time when the US is finalizing plans to withdraw its troops from northeastern Syria, and when Moscow is calling on all uninvited foreign military personnel to pull out from that country.
Iranian hardliners see their presence in Iraq and Syria as a major asset in the fight against their enemies
It is difficult to assess what kind of leverage, if any, the Assad regime has on Iranians present in Syria. Certainly, the regime is not looking for a fight with Israel, not now and not in the near future. But the complexity of the Syrian crisis over the past seven years has altered the geopolitical realities of the Eastern Mediterranean. Russia now has permanent military bases in Syria and, in many ways, it is responsible for its security and durability. The Iranians and their proxies believe that their intervention on behalf of the regime has tipped the balance of power in the region.
While Moscow has no interest in seeing an outbreak of open hostilities between Israel and Syria, its ability to control the Iranians is in doubt. Tehran is under pressure from the US and even the Europeans to change its behavior, but hardliners see their presence in Iraq and Syria as a major asset in the fight against their enemies. For Israel, election fever aside, the Iranian presence in Syria, in addition to the present danger of Hezbollah, constitutes a major threat. There are reports that many of the Sunni fighters in the now-disbanded extremist groups in southern Syrian have joined Hezbollah’s ranks. The fact that Hezbollah is seeking to bolster its presence close to the Golan Heights cannot be disputed.
Appearing on a pro-Iran TV station on Saturday, Hezbollah leader Hassan Nasrallah warned Israel over its continued attacks in Syria, saying a miscalculation could drag the region into a war. Claiming that his group was in possession of precision missiles that could hit Tel Aviv, Nasrallah said they could cross into the Galilee, in northern Israel, “in reaction to an Israeli attack” in a future war. He warned that any war could be waged on more than one front, referring to Israel’s threats to Lebanon and Syria. This brinkmanship by both sides has raised the chances of potential confrontation to their highest level since 2006, when Israel and Hezbollah fought a bloody war that tested both. Since then, the geopolitical conditions have changed drastically, with claims that Hezbollah’s missile arsenal could now pose a genuine threat to the heart of Israel. What is happening in Syria is a high-stakes face-off that could easily develop into a major conflagration. The reality is that no outside power has the ability to defuse a febrile situation and prevent a looming war.
*Osama Al-Sharif is a journalist and political commentator based in Amman. Twitter: @plato010