LCCC ENGLISH DAILY NEWS BULLETIN
July 15/2019
Compiled & Prepared by: Elias Bejjani
The Bulletin's Link on the lccc Site
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Bible Quotations For today
Peter said to the lame man, ‘I have no silver or gold, but what I
have I give you; in the name of Jesus Christ of Nazareth, stand up and walk
Acts of the Apostles 03/01-10:”One day Peter and John were going up to the
temple at the hour of prayer, at three o’clock in the afternoon. And a man lame
from birth was being carried in. People would lay him daily at the gate of the
temple called the Beautiful Gate so that he could ask for alms from those
entering the temple. When he saw Peter and John about to go into the temple, he
asked them for alms. Peter looked intently at him, as did John, and said, ‘Look
at us.’ And he fixed his attention on them, expecting to receive something from
them. But Peter said, ‘I have no silver or gold, but what I have I give you; in
the name of Jesus Christ of Nazareth, stand up and walk.’And he took him by the
right hand and raised him up; and immediately his feet and ankles were made
strong. Jumping up, he stood and began to walk, and he entered the temple with
them, walking and leaping and praising God. All the people saw him walking and
praising God, and they recognized him as the one who used to sit and ask for
alms at the Beautiful Gate of the temple; and they were filled with wonder and
amazement at what had happened to him.”
Titles For The Latest English LCCC Lebanese
& Lebanese Related News published on July 14-15/2019
Netanyahu Warns of 'Crushing' Retaliation after Nasrallah's Remarks
Netanyahu Threatens 'Hezbollah' with 'Crushing' Response
Lebanon: Hariri Supports Major General Ibrahim’s Efforts to Solve Jabal Incident
Bassil Urges ‘Christian-Muslim Equality’ on Visit to South
FPM, PSP Ministers in Fresh War of Words
Hizbullah MP Denies Opening Fire at Damour Police Station
Rahi from Diman: Cabinet is barred from convening, constrained by the
contradictory demands of counterparts
Tony Frangiyeh calls on Presidents to provide support for solving waste problem
Mohamad Nasrallah: No Israeli war on Lebanon, cabinet will soon convene and
budget endorsement will not take longer than upcoming Thursday
Bassil from Ain Ibil: Presidency issue out of discussion, FPM supporters to
refrain from dwelling on subject
Qamati says Hezbollah is a security and political force alongside the army, will
not be dragged into any disputes
Titles For The Latest English LCCC Miscellaneous Reports
And News published on July 14-15/2019
Rouhani says Iran ready to talk to U.S. if sanctions lifted
Rouhani Says Iran Ready to Talk to US if it Lifts Sanctions as Europeans Voice
Concern
European Powers Urge Dialogue, End to Escalation in Iran Nuclear Crisis
SNHR: 1995 Barrel Bombs Used, More than 600 Civilians Killed in Bombings Since
April 26
Kuwait Studies Deporting 'Muslim Brotherhood Cell' to Egypt
Egypt Committed to Two-State Solution as US Excludes It
Syria: Militant Attack Shuts Down Gas Pipeline
Libyan MPs Warn against Turkey’s Arming of Militias in Tripoli
Iraq: Abadi Hints at Comeback to Replace Abdul-Mahdi
Palestine: President Meets Egyptian Security Delegation
Fitch Cuts Turkey’s Credit Rating with a Negative Outlook
Macron Showcases Europe Military Prowess at Paris Parade
Titles For The Latest LCCC English analysis & editorials from miscellaneous
sources published
on July 14-15/2019
Macron Showcases Europe Military Prowess at Paris Parade/Agence France Presse/Naharnet/July
14/2019
Tehran is preparing for a showdown with the US/Raghida Dergham/The National/July
14/2019
The Taliban Promise to Protect Women. Here's Why Women Don't Believe Them/ Cora
Engelbrecht/The New York Times/July 14/2019
Acosta's Resignation May Result in More Losses for Prosecutors/Alan M.
Dershowitz/Gatestone Institute./July 14/2019
Iran only a threat if the world allows it to be/Baria Alamuddin/Arab News/July
14/2019
Iran has a history of violating nuclear deal’s terms/Dr. Majid Rafizadeh//Arab
News/July 14/2019
The Latest English LCCC Lebanese &
Lebanese Related News published on July 14-15/2019
Netanyahu Warns of 'Crushing' Retaliation
after Nasrallah's Remarks
Naharnet/Agence France Presse
Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu on Sunday warned Hizbullah chief
Sayyed Hassan Nasrallah that "crushing" retaliation would follow any attack,
after Nasrallah said the group's rockets could reach Tel Aviv. "Over the weekend
we heard Nasrallah's boasting about his attack plans," he said at the start of
the weekly cabinet meeting. "Let me be clear -- if Hizbullah dares to make the
mistake of attacking Israel, we will lay upon it and on Lebanon a crushing
military blow," he added. In a Friday interview broadcast on Hizbullah's al-Manar
television, Nasrallah warned that key Israeli sites along the Mediterranean
coast, including Tel Aviv, are "within range of our rockets." Nasrallah also
said that Israel's arch-foe Iran was "able to bombard Israel with ferocity and
force," but "will not start a war." Last week, Netanyahu said that "Iran has
been threatening the destruction of Israel" and warned that Israel's fighter
jets "can reach anywhere in the Middle East, including Iran."Israel has carried
out hundreds of strikes in neighboring Syria against what it says are Iranian
and Hizbullah military targets. It has vowed to keep Iran from entrenching
itself militarily there. Israel recently uncovered and destroyed six tunnels
passing under the border from Lebanon into Israel. It alleges Hizbullah had
planned to use the tunnels for attacks in Israel.
Netanyahu Threatens 'Hezbollah' with 'Crushing' Response
Asharq Al-Awsat/Sunday, 14 July, 2019
Israel's Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu said he would react with a "crushing"
strike against "Hezbollah" if the Lebanese militant group attempts to make any
attack. Netanyahu's statements came while speaking to his Cabinet on Sunday
during which he criticized what he called Nasrallah's "arrogant" words. He noted
that "if Hezbollah dares to do something stupid and attack Israel, we will
strike it and Lebanon, a crushing military strike," the Associated Press
reported. Nasrallah announced on Friday that his group is much stronger than
during the 2006 war and is capable of striking anywhere in Israel. He also said
Nasrallah he had decreased the number of his movement's fighters in
Syria.Nasrallah's statements came after Washington announced new sanctions
against Hezbollah, targeting elected officials from the movement for the first
time.
Lebanon: Hariri Supports Major General Ibrahim’s Efforts to Solve Jabal Incident
Beirut - Mohammed Choukeir/Asharq Al-Awsat/Sunday, 14 July, 2019
Lebanon’s Prime Minister Saad Hariri refuses to surrender to the obstacles that
continue to prevent the disengagement of security and political repercussions
that resulted from the al-Jabal incident. Hariri wants to overcome the troubles
that are preventing the resumption of the government sessions and to end the
stalemate that could hinder tackling the economic and social issues that are in
urgent need of solutions. Hariri is trying to compensate the non-resumed cabinet
sessions through financial meetings, which he said would ease the negative
repercussions of the inability to hold government sessions. In this context,
Asharq Al-Awsat learned that Hariri is supporting the efforts of General
Director of Security General Major General Abbas Ibrahim, aimed to contain the
repercussions of al-Jabal incident and conditioning the holding of the
government’s session with referring the incident to the Judicial Council.
Ibrahim is also in contact with Walid Jumblatt, head of the Progressive
Socialist Party, whom he met after holding talks with the head of the Lebanese
Democratic Party, MP Talal Arslan, at the presence of Minister of State Saleh
al-Gharib for the first time since the incident. Meanwhile, Hezbollah
Secretary-General Hassan Nasrallah affirmed his support to Arslan in a recent
television interview, supporting Arslan's request to refer the incident to the
Judicial Council. Circles are looking forward to Hariri’s move, in the light of
the government's inability to convene for an emergency session prior to a
parliamentary session to discuss the budget. They do not rule out the
possibility that the premier discussed with the President the post-budget
adoption stage. Some are inquiring about the position of Speaker Berri, in light
of Hezbollah’s support for Arslan, and his battle in settling accounts with the
Progressive Party. Others are also asking about the President’s position
regarding Hariri's insistence on re-activating the government, especially since
ministerial sources suggest that this particular issue may have been discussed
between Aoun and Hariri.
Bassil Urges ‘Christian-Muslim Equality’ on Visit to South
Naharnet/July 14/2019
Free Patriotic Movement chief and Foreign Minister Jebran Bassil on Sunday
called for “equality between Christians and Muslims” during a tour of the South
governorate. “From now until a civil state reached, we must live equality
between Christians and Muslims, according to our system and constitution, but
not to remain captives of sectarianism, seeing as we believe in the civil
state,” Bassil said in the Marjeyon district town of Qlayaa. “National unity
means defending sovereignty first, which is indivisible, and on the anniversary
of the July War, we are living the meaning of sovereignty, and had it not been
for national unity, victory would not have been achieved,” Bassil added. As for
those who fled to Israel in the wake of its withdrawal from southern Lebanon in
the year 2000, Bassil said Justice Minister Albert Serhan has prepared “a draft
decree for devising an implementation mechanism for the law of exiles who have
the right to return.” Speaking later in the town of Ain Ebel, the FPM chief said
“the time now is not for talking about the presidential election, but rather for
work.”Bassil had spent the night hosted by General Security chief Maj. Gen.
Abbas Ibrahim at the latter’s residence in the town of Kawthariyat al-Siyyad.
The southern district of Hasbaya meanwhile witnessed a “war of banners” between
supporters of the Progressive Socialist Party and the Lebanese Democratic Party,
although Bassil is not scheduled to visit it. “The Hasbaya of Walid Jumblat
Despises the Rhetoric of Gravediggers”, a PSP banner read. Bassil’s latest visit
to the Aley district has sparked a major security and political crisis in the
country after a deadly incident in the town of Qabrshmoun. Two bodyguards of
State Minister of Refugee Affairs Saleh al-Gharib were killed and a third was
wounded in a clash with PSP supporters in the aforementioned town. Gharib, a
member of the LDP which is allied with Bassil’s FPM, escaped unharmed as a PSP
supporter was wounded. The PSP supporters were blocking roads to prevent Bassil
from touring the district, accusing him of being “sectarian” and “provocative.”Bassil's
recent visits to Tripoli and Baalbek had also sparked controversy.
FPM, PSP Ministers in Fresh War of Words
Naharnet/July 14/2019
A fresh exchange of tirades erupted Sunday between a minister from the
Progressive Socialist Party and another from the Free Patriotic Movement. “It
was wrong to allocate the Ministry of the Displaced to a movement that does not
believe in the (Mount Lebanon) reconciliation and to a person who does not
believe in coexistence but is rather living the grudges of the past, the tumors
of the present and the paranoia of the future,” Industry Minister Wael Abu Faour
of the PSP said in a statement. Minister of the Displaced Ghassan Atallah, who
belongs to the FPM, swiftly hit back via Twitter. “Everyone knows who displaced
the people and who returned them to the barbaric war scenes on Sunday,” Atallah
tweeted, referring respectively to the Mountain War chapter of Lebanon’s civil
war and the deadly Qabrshmoun incident that occurred on Sunday, June 30. “I will
not be dragged to the level of fanatics who want to stir a strife in Mount
Lebanon… The Lebanese know well who wants the return of the displaced and who
used the ministry for brokering deals and blackmailing people,” Atallah added.
Hizbullah MP Denies Opening Fire at Damour Police Station
Naharnet/July 14/2019
MP Nawwaf al-Moussawi of Hizbullah’s Loyalty to Resistance bloc on Sunday denied
reports claiming that he had “stormed the Damour police station at midnight”
where he “shot a young man.” “Reports that I shot a person from the Mokdad
family are utter lies,” Moussawi told al-Jadeed TV. He explained that his
son-in-law attacked his daughter Ghadir and “started cursing her out.” “No one
hit him with a screwdriver and no one opened fire… I came and took my daughter
from the area outside the station,” Moussawi added. TV networks meanwhile
published a cable sent out by Damour Police Station chief Colonel Joseph
Ghannoum. The cable says Moussawi arrived at the station with 20 men carrying
visible guns around their waists but were prevented from entering the station.
According to the cable, “an altercation erupted between MP Nawwaf al-Moussawi’s
daughter and her divorcee on the Damour-Sidon international highway in
connection with previous disputes and the right to see children.”“They were
taken by a patrol to the Damour police station, where Moussawi’s daughter sought
to file a report against her divorcee,” the cable adds. “As the investigation
got underway, four people arrived at the station and attacked the divorcee of
Moussawi’s daughter with a screwdriver, injuring him in the leg, which prompted
the station’s guards to arrest two of them as two others managed to escape,” the
cable says. “After closing the main door, MP Nawwaf al-Moussawi accompanied by
20 armed men arrived at the station, where they were denied entry by the
station’s guards, who tried to calm him down seeing as he was very nervous,” the
cable adds. “As the wounded person was being offered first aid, unknown
individuals opened fire from outside the station at the office of the station’s
chief, wounding the divorcee of Moussawi’s daughter in the wrist and causing him
severe bleeding, after which MP Moussawi left to an unknown destination,” the
leaked cable says.
Rahi from Diman: Cabinet is barred from convening, constrained by the
contradictory demands of counterparts
NNA - Sun 14 Jul 2019
"The government is prevented from meeting or constrained by the contradictory
demands of counterparts," said Maronite Patriarch Bechara Boutros Rahi during
Sunday Mass service in Diman this morning. He added that "the Government has the
responsibility to take clear-cut decisions," calling on Lebanese officials to
exercise wisdom and vigilance in the face of the dangers confronting Lebanon.
Referring in this context to the turbulence in the region, the economic risks
threatening financial stability and the "Deal of the Century" aimed at
naturalizing Palestinian refugees against their will, the Prelate recalled that
politicians were not allowed to exploit the work of constitutional institutions
for their desires and demands, and subsequently block their action.
Tony Frangiyeh calls on Presidents to provide support for
solving waste problem
NNA - Sun 14 Jul 2019
MP Tony Frangieyh called Sunday on President of the Republic Michel Aoun, House
Speaker Nabih Berri and Prime Minister Saad Hariri to "ensure support and find a
suitable land to solve the waste problem."
He added: "Current efforts are insufficient to provide the urgent solutions we
seek for the waste file."
Mohamad Nasrallah: No Israeli war on Lebanon, cabinet will
soon convene and budget endorsement will not take longer than upcoming Thursday
NNA - Sun 14 Jul 2019
Member of the "Liberation and Development" Parliamentary Bloc, MP Mohamad
Nasrallah, ruled out any Israeli war against Lebanon, adding that the resistance
axis is advancing and growing in the region. Speaking before several popular
delegations who visited him at his West Bekaa office earlier today, Nasrallah
explained that whoever follows closely on the positions of Israeli officials
concerned with war in the Middle East can realize, accurately and calmly, that
Israel is avoiding a war against Lebanon. Over a near cabinet session, Nasrallah
indicated that the government will convene soon and the endorsement of the 2019
annual budget will not take longer than next Thursday. "The government exists,
and there is nothing to shake its entity, despite the critical phases that the
country is going through, which are on their way to a final solution through the
wisdom of the Lebanese in confronting all challenges," said Nasrallah. "The
government shall remain and will play its role, and in the next few days will
approve the budget of 2019, which will not be up to the dreams and aspirations
of the Lebanese and bring about all peace and tranquility, but will serve to
eliminate the theory of a near economic collapse," he maintained. However,
Nasrallah highlighted the need for initiating proper planning and developing a
vision for promoting the national economy in industry, agriculture, tourism,
services and others, and to stop improvising in the management of public affairs
in the country, which is a method that has disrupted the country economically,
socially and administratively.
Bassil from Ain Ibil: Presidency issue out of discussion,
FPM supporters to refrain from dwelling on subject
NNA -Sun 14 Jul 2019
Free Patriotic Movement Chief, Foreign Affairs Minister Gebran Bassil, asserted
Sunday that the issue of the Republic Presidency is not proposed for discussion
and hence, urged all FPM supporters to refrain from dwelling on the subject.
Bassil's words came as he pursued his visit to the southern district of
Marjayoun, where he had two stop overs in the towns of Ain Ibil and Debl.Bassil
commended the people of the region for their steadfastness and attachment to
their lands, saying, "The Free Patriotic Movement will continue to work with the
community for its development and prosperity. We aim to work, yet there are
those who try to hinder our steps...But we must go on despite the false news we
hear every day...""After two days I will be heading to the United States and you
will hear rumors about this visit," he went on. "It comes at the invitation of
the Minister of Foreign Affairs to a conference on religions. It is important
that Lebanon is not absent from this event due to its symbolism...These
conferences bring together a large number of countries and we know their purpose
and achievements, and whenever we may be, we speak of a one united Lebanon,"
assured Bassil. He indicated that time now is a time
of work, since the country is going through difficult economic crises and the
Parliament Council is before a challenge next week which entails taking bold
decisions and working to ease the problems at stake and reach the needed
solutions. "The current stage requires responsibility and action and not giving
up," he maintained. Bassil's next stop-over was in the
town of Jdeidet Marjayoun where he was warmly welcomed by FPM supporters and
partisans. He also attended a Mass serve at Saint George Church in Qlai'aa,
following which he met with townsmen and officials from the region.
Bassil touched on the issue of Lebanese nationals who have been deported
to the occupied Palestinian territories, saying, "We are committed to their
issue as our commitment to sovereignty and we will work on the law that can help
ensure their return." Referring to their right to
return to their homeland, Bassil disclosed that "Justice Minister Albert Sarhan
will submit a draft decree to establish a mechanism for implementing the law
that will aid in the return of Lebanese deportees and start their return
process."Bassil underlined Lebanon's political and military victory over Israel,
while noting that our country still has to win economically over it. 'We have to
ensure an economic resistance," he said. "We, at the Ministry of Foreign
Affairs, have begun to consider ways to promote the export of Lebanese products
abroad, including oil and olives," disclosed Bassil.
Qamati says Hezbollah is a security and political force
alongside the army, will not be dragged into any disputes
NNA -Sun 14 Jul 2019
State Minister for Parliamentary Affairs, Mahmoud Qamati, deemed Sunday that
"the recent US sanctions denote an economic war to push the resistance to
surrender," stressing that "Hezbollah is a security, political and popular force
alongside the army.""We will not be dragged into any conflicts or quarrels, for
we want to build the nation," he underlined. Qamati's words came during his
launching of the "Mount Rihan Honey and Pine Festival" held in the southern town
of al-Rihan earlier today. The Minister called for "confronting all conspiracies
woven against us, whether economic, security, military, political, or those
plotted against the industry and agriculture," stressing "the need to develop
these areas to render them strong in the face of any targets aimed at our
homeland." Qamati also highlighted the need for "addressing the crises
confronting the nation, from electricity to dealing with the waste issue to the
oil and gas dossier, and the completion of the annual budget to activate the
country's economic wheel."
Titles For The Latest English LCCC Miscellaneous Reports And News published on
July 14-15/2019
Rouhani says Iran ready to talk to U.S. if
sanctions lifted
Ynetnews/Reuters/July 14/2019
France, Britain and Germany all parties to the 2015 pact said on Sunday, they
were preoccupied by the escalation of tensions in the Gulf region and the risk
the nuclear deal might fall apart as they called for dialogue betewen the
parties
the United States if Washington lifts sanctions and returns to the 2015 nuclear
deal it quit last year, Iranian President Hassan Rouhani said in a televised
speech on Sunday. U.S. President Donald Trump's administration says it is open
to negotiations with Iran on a more far-reaching agreement on nuclear and
security issues. But Iran has made any talks conditional on first being able to
export as much oil as it did before the United States withdrew from the nuclear
pact with world powers in May 2018. "We have always believed in talks ... if
they lift sanctions, end the imposed economic pressure and return to the deal,
we are ready to hold talks with America today, right now and anywhere," Rouhani
said in his Sunday speech. Confrontations between Washington and Tehran have
escalated, culminating in a plan for U.S. air strikes on Iran last month that
Trump called off at the last minute. Calling for dialogue between all parties to
resume, France, Britain and Germany -- parties to the 2015 pact -- said on
Sunday they were preoccupied by the escalation of tensions in the Gulf region
and the risk the nuclear deal might fall apart. "We believe that the time has
come to act responsibly and to look for ways to stop the escalation of tension
and resume dialogue," they said in a joint statement that was released by the
French president's office.
In spite of calling for talks with Iranian leaders, Trump said on Wednesday that
U.S. sanctions on Iran would soon be increased "substantially". In reaction to
U.S. sanctions, which have notably targeted Iran's main foreign revenue stream
in the shape of crude oil exports, Tehran announced in May that it would scale
back its commitments under the deal. Defying a warning by the European parties
to the pact to continue its full compliance, Tehran has amassed more
low-enriched uranium than permitted and it has started to enrich uranium above
the 3.67% permitted by the agreement. "The risks are such that it is necessary
for all stakeholders to pause, and consider the possible consequences of their
actions," France, Britain and Germany, who have been trying to salvage the pact
by shielding Tehran's economy from sanctions, said in their statement. Iranian
clerical rulers have said that Tehran will further decrease its commitments if
Europeans fail to fulfil their promises to guarantee Iran's interests under the
deal. The nuclear deal aimed to extend the amount of time it would theoretically
take Iran to produce enough fissile material for an atomic bomb -- so-called
breakout time -- from several months to a minimum of one year until 2025. Iran
denies ever having considered developing atomic weapons.
Rouhani Says Iran Ready to Talk to US if it Lifts Sanctions
as Europeans Voice Concern
Asharq Al-Awsat/Sunday, 14 July, 2019
Iranian President Hassan Rouhani said on Sunday that Tehran would be ready to
talk to the United States if it lifts sanctions and returns to the 2015 nuclear
deal. “We have always believed in talks ... if they lift sanctions, end the
imposed economic pressure and return to the deal, we are ready to hold talks
with America today, right now and anywhere,” he said in a televised speech. The
US quit the accord with world powers in May 2018 and reimposed sanctions on
Iran. US President Donald Trump’s administration says it is open to negotiations
with Iran on a more far-reaching agreement on nuclear and security issues. But
Iran has made any talks conditional on first being able to export as much oil as
it did before the US withdrew from the pact. Confrontations between Washington
and Tehran have escalated, culminating in a plan for US airstrikes on Iran last
month that Trump called off at the last minute.
Calling for dialogue between all parties to resume, France, Britain and Germany
— parties to the 2015 pact — said on Sunday they were preoccupied by the
escalation of tensions in the Gulf region and the risk the nuclear deal might
fall apart. "We believe the time has come to act responsibly and seek a path to
stop the escalation of tensions and resume dialogue," said the English-language
version of the statement issued by the Elysee. The statement was published after
President Emmanuel Macron hosted German Chancellor Angela Merkel and senior
British cabinet minister David Lidington at the annual Bastille Day parade in
Paris. "The risks are such that it is necessary for all stakeholders to pause
and consider the possible consequences of their actions," it added. Trump said
on Wednesday that US sanctions on Iran would soon be increased “substantially”.
In reaction to US sanctions, which have notably targeted Iran’s main foreign
revenue stream in the shape of crude oil exports, Tehran announced in May that
it would scale back its commitments under the deal. Defying a warning by the
European parties to the pact to continue its full compliance, Tehran has amassed
more low-enriched uranium than permitted and it has started to enrich uranium
above the 3.67% permitted by the agreement. "We are extremely concerned by
Iran's decision to stockpile and enrich uranium in excess of authorized limits,"
France, Britain and Germany said. "We strongly urge Iran to reverse its recent
decisions in this regard," the statement said. They said they would continue to
support the nuclear deal but said its implementation "was contingent on Iran´s
full compliance."
Mogherini from Kuwait: EU Increasing Its Presence in Middle
East
Naharnet/Agence France Presse/July 14/2019
The EU's diplomatic chief Federica Mogherini said Sunday the bloc is increasing
its engagement in the Middle East, as she opened a new mission in Kuwait City.
The office in Kuwait's tallest skyscraper is the third such EU mission in the
Gulf, after Riyadh and Abu Dhabi. "This also sends a message to the whole
region; the European Union is increasing its presence and engagement in the
Middle East," Mogherini said at the opening ceremony. "What happens to the Gulf
matters to Europe and what happens to Europe matters to the Gulf," she added.
The ceremony in the Al Hamra Tower, which is also home to the French embassy,
was attended by Kuwait's Foreign Minister Sheikh Sabah Khaled Al-Sabah. The
opening, decided several months ago, comes amid a tense standoff between the
United States and Iran which has affected the Gulf. "In a moment of regional and
global tensions, Kuwait is a voice of wisdom and force of peace and this is what
made us natural partners," Mogherini said. Kuwait has strong relations with
Brussels and Washington and, unlike Saudi Arabia and the United Arab Emirates,
it maintains good ties with Tehran.
European Powers Urge Dialogue, End to Escalation in Iran
Nuclear Crisis
Naharnet/Agence France Presse
Three key European powers on Sunday called for dialogue and an end to the
escalation over Iran's nuclear program, as tensions further intensify between
Tehran and the United States. "We think that the moment has come to act in a
responsible way and look for ways to stop the escalation of tensions and to
resume dialogue," said a statement by the leaders of Britain, France and Germany
issued by the Elysee. "The risks are such that is is necessary that all the
parties take a pause and think about the possible consequences of their
actions," it added.
SNHR: 1995 Barrel Bombs Used, More than 600 Civilians
Killed in Bombings Since April 26
London - Asharq Al-Awsat/Sunday, 14 July, 2019
The Syrian Network for Human Rights (SNHR) revealed Friday in its latest report
that 606 civilians, including 157 children and 111 women, have been killed
during attacks launched by Syrian regime forces and its allies in Idlib’s
de-escalation zone since April 26. According to the report, the Syrian regime
killed 521 civilians, including 136 children and 97 women, using 1995 barrel
bombs. It added that victims of the Russian attacks have amounted to 85
civilians, including 21 children and 14 women, pointing out that these attacks
targeted several areas and sites, including educational institutions, health
facilities, roads, gardens, markets, camps and gathering centers. The attacks,
said the report, resulted in at least 294 operations on vital civilian
facilities, including 87 on schools, 62 on places of worship, 43 on medical
facilities, 30 on Civil Defense facilities (centers and vehicles), 10 on
markets, and four on camps. Among these attacks, 211 were carried out by Syrian
Regime forces while 73 were carried out by Russian forces. The report also
documents at least nine massacres since June 12, all committed by the Syrian
Regime forces. It added that at least four medical personnel, including one
woman, have been killed since June 12 by the Syrian Regime forces while three
Civil Defense personnel were killed in the same period by Russian forces. It
urged the international community to take action at both national and regional
levels to form alliances to support the Syrian people and protect them from the
daily killings, to lift the sieges and to increase support for relief efforts.
It also called on the UN Security Council to pass a resolution to stabilize
ceasefire in Idlib and include punitive measures against all violators of the
ceasefire, to genuinely support serious implementation of the peace process in
Syria, to assist in achieving a just political transition that guarantees
security and stability, to refer the Syrian issue to the International Criminal
Court and to ensure that all those involved in these crimes are held
accountable, including the Russian regime.
Kuwait Studies Deporting 'Muslim Brotherhood Cell' to Egypt
Kuwait - Merza al-Khuwaldi/Asharq Al-Awsat/Sunday, 14 July, 2019
Kuwaiti authorities continued on Saturday investigations with members of a
"Muslim Brotherhood" cell who had fled Egypt to Kuwait, one day after the
Interior Ministry said it has detained members of the outlawed group convicted
of terrorism crimes. Sources said Saturday Kuwait is currently looking at some
procedures that would allow the deportation of the convicted men to Egypt. A
Kuwaiti legal expert told Asharq Al-Awsat on Saturday that Kuwait has a legal
framework to deal with the case of the Egyptian cell. In January 2017, both
countries signed in Cairo a legal and judicial cooperation agreement on civil,
commercial, criminal and personal status issues, as well as on the transfer of
sentenced persons. Kuwaiti media sources reported on Saturday that an Egyptian
security delegation arrived to the country to examine details of the case and to
coordinate the deportation of the convicted men to Egypt.
However, such reports were not confirmed. On Friday, the state-run KUNA news
agency said eight members of the group were detained but did not verify if
Kuwait planned on extraditing them to Egypt. The news agency quoted the Kuwaiti
Interior Ministry saying that during investigation the men admitted to carrying
out terrorist attacks in Egypt. On Saturday, sources told Asharq Al-Awsat that
any legal procedures, which might be taken against the eight convicted, would
not happen before Kuwaiti authorities conclude the necessary investigations into
the case. Sources in Egypt said members of this cell had participated in
terrorist acts that previously took place in several Egyptian areas, including
Cairo and Fayoum. The sources also said that one of the suspects was involved in
the 2015 assassination of Egypt's General Prosecutor. Unlike Egypt and Gulf
states like Saudi Arabia and the United Arab Emirates, Kuwait has not branded
the "Muslim Brotherhood" a terrorist organization.
Egypt Committed to Two-State Solution as US Excludes It
Cairo - Mohammed Nabil Hilmi/Asharq Al-Awsat/Sunday, 14 July, 2019
Egyptian President Abdel Fattah el-Sisi reiterated Saturday his country’s
commitment to a “two-state solution” within the framework of settling the
Palestinian issue. His remarks were made following the announcement made by US
President Donald Trump’s envoy to the Middle East Jason Greenblatt that the
awaited Deal of the Century does not include the two-state solution. Sisi spoke
during his visit to the Military Academy about various regional issues and he
pointed to his country’s clear stance regarding the Palestinian cause. “Egypt is
committed to the Palestinian people's rights in accordance with the
international references and resolutions and the two-state solution,” he said.
When asked by Asharq Al-Awsat about the two-state solution, the US envoy said
the peace plan did not mention this term. “The use of this term leads to
nothing,” he noted, adding that a conflict of such complexity could not be
resolved with a two-word slogan. Last month, Egypt participated in the US-led
"Peace to Prosperity” workshop hosted by the Bahraini capital of Manama and was
part of the US administration’s measures taken to implement its new peace plan
between the Palestinian and Israeli sides. An Egyptian delegation led by Deputy
Finance minister will take part in the “Peace to Prosperity” economic workshop,
which will be held in the Kingdom of Bahrain on Tuesday and Wednesday (June
25-26), said the Egyptian Foreign Ministry back then. Foreign Ministry’s
Official Spokesman Ahmed Hafedh stressed his country’s unwavering keenness on
dealing with economic challenges facing the Palestinian people. He also
reiterated Egypt’s steadfast commitment to the achievement of the Palestinians’
legitimate aspirations and the reinstatement of their inalienable rights,
including the establishment of an independent state on the June 4, 1967 borders,
with Eastern Jerusalem as its capital, conducive to the settlement of the
Palestinian-Israeli conflict on the basis of the two-state solution, the
international resolutions and the Arab Peace Initiative.
Syria: Militant Attack Shuts Down Gas Pipeline
Asharq Al-Awsat/Sunday, 14 July, 2019
Syrian state media said a militant attack has shut down a gas pipeline in the
country's center. The official SANA news agency said Sunday that technical teams
are working to fix the pipeline that runs through the central Homs province,
linking the Shaer fields to the Ebla processing plant, Reuters reported. No
further information was provided on the extent of the damage or the nature of
the attack. The pipeline carries about 2.5 million cubic meters of gas to the
processing plant and onward to power stations, SANA added. ISIS militants
briefly seized the Shaer fields in 2014 and 2016 before pro-government forces
recaptured them.According to Reuters, today much of Syria's oil fields and
infrastructure are held by US-backed and Kurdish-led forces in the east.
Libyan MPs Warn against Turkey’s Arming of Militias in Tripoli
Cairo - Jamal Jawhar/Asharq Al-Awsat/Sunday, 14 July, 2019
Libyan MPs warned Saturday against the dangers of the "Turkish role over their
country’s stability,” due to Ankara's arming of terrorist militias in Tripoli.
They also stressed their keenness to “extend bridges of cooperation with Egypt
and bolster means of communication to eliminate terrorism in their country.”This
came during the visit of Libyan parliamentarians to Cairo to participate in the
meeting organized by the Egyptian national committee entrusted with helping
Libyans reach a political solution. Around 80 deputies arrived in Cairo by
Saturday to discuss several issues, mainly the sharp division among MPs, the
financing of armed militias and the fight against terrorism.Since May, around 60
deputies boycotted the parliament sessions in Tobruk, chaired by Libyan
parliament Speaker Aguila Saleh. They began holding parallel sessions at Rixos
hotel in the capital, where they elected Sadiq al-Kahili as the Libyan
Parliament Speaker.
The parliament – elected in 2014 – consists of 188 deputies and it exercises its
tasks besides the interim government headed by Abdullah al-Thani alongside the
National Accord government chaired by Fayez al-Sarraj. Libyan MP Assalheen Abdul
Nabi told Asharq Al-Awsat that his country’s delegation briefed Egypt’s
parliament and its speaker, on Saturday, on the political changes taking place
in Libya. Abdul Nabi pointed out that the Libyan delegation will also head
Sunday to the Arab League to meet officials and discuss several issues
concerning Tripoli. He noted that the upcoming meetings “will focus on means of
ending internal differences and returning cohesion among Libyans within the
framework of common understandings on Libya’s interests.”Meanwhile, Ebtisam al-Rubai,
a member of the Libyan House of Representatives, said: “there is a suspicious
Turkish role in the increase of the Libyan crisis as they are supporting
militias with arms and money.” “The Turkish role is well known to all, causing
casualties and negatively affecting Libya’s security and stability. Our priority
now in Libya is to eliminate terrorism,” she said. Rubai also highlighted the
importance of Egypt’s role in supporting the Libyan people and achieving
security and stability. For his part, Libyan MP Abdul Muttalib Thabit said on
the sidelines of the visit: “We have sought through our meetings on Saturday in
the parliament and the Arab League on Sunday to work on uniting Arab efforts to
counter the Turkish intervention in Libya.” He pointed out that “Arab countries
are able to stop Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdogan’s project in the region,
just as the Egyptian people did in the June 30 revolution.”
Iraq: Abadi Hints at Comeback to Replace Abdul-Mahdi
Baghdad - Asharq Al-Awsat/Sunday, 14 July, 2019
Former Iraqi Prime Minister Haidar al-Abadi is preparing to return to the
political arena, offering himself an alternative to current Prime Minister Adel
Abdul-Mahdi, especially after the public began to feel the disappointment with
the current government’s performance. Speaking to Agence France-Presse (AFP),
Abadi discussed the dangers of sectarian conflict and corruption in a country
ranked by Transparency International as the world’s 12th most corrupt. Abadi's
political mobilization relies on Iraqi protests during summertime and chronic
power outages as well as lack of services, as a way to comeback to politics,
according to a government source. Asked about his ambitions, Abadi told AFP that
“We have good intentions.”He also discussed corruption, saying whoever claims to
fight all corruption at once is really not going to fight any. “There is a new
kind of state corruption now, selling positions, which happened secretly in the
past but now goes on in the open,” Abadi told AFP, adding that “everything has a
price.”Especially as rumors reported during the formation of the government that
prominent parties are pursuing to buy the post of minister by paying other
candidates money to withdraw. Abadi links corruption to sectarianism, which he
fears will make a comeback, if things continue as they are in the political
arena. The former premier said the government should also tackle sectarian
violence, “in the past, sectarianism was used as a weapon in the conflict
between factions to divide up the spoils of war.”
“If ISIS or another terrorist group returns, or if a cocktail of terrorists and
politicians is formed, it'll be so dangerous that everything will completely
fall apart,” he told AFP. Despite its defeat, several ISIS sleeper cells remain
operations in areas near Baghdad and on the borders. By the end of 2017, Abadi
became a national hero when he declared ISIS defeated after a draining
three-year military campaign. In addition, he is the man who regained the
majority of the disputed territories with the Kurdistan region of Iraq, after
the independence referendum, which political observers believe made him win
support in Iraq, but lose the Kurds. Abadi considered there is a problem with
certain Kurdish parties but not the people. "I have no problems with Kurdish
citizens," he said, adding there is a problem with some of the “parties which
control the region, its wealth and its oil.”Abadi believes that the current
government can only return to decisions and steps that he had taken during his
rule. Abadi lauded the Prime Minister’s solutions and encouraged him to rely on
previous decisions, referring to Abdul Mahdi’s recent decision to integrate the
Popular Mobilization Forces (PMF) within the state's security forces by July 31.
Analysts believe Abadi's position in favor of the US sanctions on Iran was
sufficient to end his political career and cost him the premiership, but he says
popular protests that took place in Basra and spread south were a scenario
devised by “some parties ... and the Iranian leadership is far from it.”
Palestine: President Meets Egyptian Security Delegation
Ramallah - Asharq Al-Awsat/Sunday, 14 July, 2019
Palestinian Authority President Mahmoud Abbas met with the Egyptian security
delegation, headed by Major-General Ayman Badee, in Ramallah after the
delegation concluded a round of talks with Hamas leadership.Abbas thanked
President Abdel Fattah el-Sisi, and the Egyptian leadership and people, praising
Egypt's continued efforts to end the division and promote Palestinian national
unity within the framework of the Palestine Liberation Organization (PLO). He
reiterated the importance of Egypt’s efforts in consolidating the Gaza-Israel
ceasefire and bringing about intra-Palestinian national reconciliation,
stressing the joint Arab efforts to protect the unified Arab position regarding
the Arab Peace Initiative, which has been underlined in various Arab summits.
Badee briefed the President on the Egyptian move regarding the situation and
developments in the Arab arena, in light of the current challenges and risks,
and all that concerns the truce with Israel and the reconciliation process.
Badee stressed the Egyptian stance on the Palestinian-Israeli conflict, adding
that the peace process should be in line with the two-state solution,
international legitimacy and the Arab Peace Initiative aimed at ending the
Israeli occupation and creating a Palestinian state on the 1967 borders with
East Jerusalem as its capital. After meeting with Abbas, the security delegation
held a meeting with Fatah movement delegation and reviewed the results of its
meetings with Hamas leaders on the efforts to end the division and establish
reconciliation and establish the understandings of the ceasefire with Israel.
Sources told Asharq Al-Awsat that Egypt had offered the handing over of the Gaza
Strip, then calling for a national unity government and elections. Head of Hamas
politburo Ismail Haniyeh met the Egyptian intelligence delegation twice.
Haniyeh's office said in a statement that during the meeting, the two sides
continued discussing the bilateral relations and common issues, including the
latest developments regarding the Palestinian unity and developments on
understandings with the enemy. Hamas noted that the leadership was willing to
achieve national unity, discussing the dangers targeting the Palestinian cause
and the region. It also reiterated the importance of having a Palestinian
position stemming from the national consensus on the strategy of facing risks,
namely the “deal of the century”. During the meeting, the leadership presented a
detailed explanation of Israeli violations against the Gaza Strip and its slow
implementation of the understandings, stressing that the occupation must
understand that the resistance in Gaza wants to break the siege on Gaza. Fatah
wants comprehensive empowerment in the Strip, including the security forces, the
judiciary, land authority, tax collection and crossings, which are rejected by
Hamas. Hamas wants to lift off the sanctions and secure full salary payment of
its military personnel. The movement also calls for the formation of a new
government that includes all factions and independent parties. The government
should be tasked with finding solutions to the problems in the Strip, foremost
issues of the health and electricity sectors. It also wants ensuring that
security issues are resolved without any exclusion of Hamas security leadership,
as well as any of its employees, and integrate them fully within the framework
of a full security institution operating according to a constant national
doctrine.
Fitch Cuts Turkey’s Credit Rating with a Negative Outlook
Ankara - Asharq Al-Awsat/Sunday, 14 July, 2019
Credit rating agency Fitch downgraded Turkey’s sovereign debt by one notch on
Friday in a move that comes following Moody's lowering of its credit rating for
Ankara in June. The move also came less than one week after Turkish President
Recep Tayyip Erdogan dismissed the country’s central bank chief from his post.
Fitch cited Murat Cetinkaya’s dismissal in its decision to cut Turkey’s
long-term debt rating deeper into junk territory, to BB- with a negative
outlook. “The firing of the central bank governor . . . risks damaging already
weak domestic confidence (evidenced by rising dollarisation), jeopardising the
inflow of foreign capital needed to meet Turkey’s large external financing
requirement, and worsening economic outcomes,” Fitch said. It added: “The move
adds to uncertainties over the prospects for structural reforms and management
of the public sector finances.”Earlier in June, Moody’s lowered its credit
rating for Turkey to B1, bringing it in line with Standard & Poor’s rating of
B+. The Turkish lira was about 0.8 per cent weaker against the dollar at 5.7199
after Fitch’s move. Also, Turkey raised its main rate to 24 per cent in
September 2018 in reaction to a steep drop in the value of the lira and in light
of inflation.
Macron Showcases Europe Military Prowess at Paris Parade
Agence France Presse/Naharnet/July 14/2019
President Emmanuel Macron on Sunday sought to showcase European military
cooperation in France's annual Bastille Day parade at a time of growing tensions
between Europe and the United States. Key EU leaders, including German
Chancellor Angela Merkel and Dutch Prime Minister Mark Rutte, joined Macron in
Paris to watch the parade down the Champs-Elysees that commemorates the July 14,
1789, storming of the Bastille fortress in Paris during the French Revolution.
Some 4,300 members of the armed forces, including regiments from other European
armies, marched down the avenue's famed cobblestones in a tradition that dates
back to the aftermath of World War I. Army dogs festooned with medals, members
of France's celebrated Foreign Legion and mounted cavalry in glittering uniforms
brandishing ceremonial sabers all paraded in front of the high-ranking guests.
Meanwhile, French inventor and entrepreneur Franky Zapata showed off his
futuristic flyboard, soaring above the Champs Elysees and the assembled leaders.
"The army is transforming: it is modernizing for our soldiers, our sovereignty
and our independence," Macron told France 2 television in brief remarks.
Standing in an open-top command car alongside France's chief of staff General
Francois Lecointre, Macron was met with some jeers and whistles from supporters
of the "yellow vest" movement who have staged weekly protests against the
government since last fall. Two prominent members of the movement, Jerome
Rodrigues and Maxime Nicolle, were both detained by the police, sources told AFP.
'Europe never so important'
Closer European defense cooperation has been one of Macron's key foreign policy
aims and the president shows no sign of wavering despite growing political
turbulence in Germany and Britain's looming exit from the European Union. At the
2017 parade, Macron's guest of honor was the newly inaugurated President Donald
Trump as the young French leader sought to take the initiative in forming a bond
with his U.S. counterpart. But since then ties between Trump and Macron have
soured over the US pullout from the Paris climate accord and the Iran nuclear
deal, as well as France's new law for a tax on digital giants, mostly U.S.
companies. "President Trump has been an excellent ambassador for a Europe of
defense," Armed Forces Minister Florence Parly told the Parisien newspaper
Sunday, pointing to "questions, even thinly veiled threats he made towards
Europe or on the durability of American commitment". Macron, who pushed the idea
of the European Intervention Initiative (EI2) to undertake missions outside of
existing structures like NATO, insisted on the importance of European defense
cooperation. "Never, since the end of World War II has Europe been so
important," Macron, who after coming to power in 2017 controversially dispensed
with the president's traditional July 14 television interview, said in a written
statement. Merkel told reporters after the event that the parade was a "great
gesture for a European defense policy" and Germany was "honored" to have taken
part. Forces from all nine countries taking part alongside France in the
initiative -- including Britain and Germany -- were represented at the parade.
In a sign of France's ambition to be a leading modern military power under
Macron, the president Saturday announced the creation of a national space force
command that will eventually be part of the air force.
Eyes on Merkel
A German A400M transport plane and a Spanish C130 took part in fly-bys, as well
as two British Chinook helicopters.
The Chinooks are a major symbol of British-French defense cooperation even as
Brexit looms, with Britain deploying three of the aircraft and 100 personnel for
France's operation in the African Sahel region. Outgoing British Prime Minister
Theresa May had been expected to attend, but Britain was instead represented by
senior cabinet minister David Lidington, the Elysee said. Also present were
members of the 5,000-strong Franco-German Brigade (BFA), which was created in
1989 as a symbol of postwar unity between France and Germany, and celebrates its
30th anniversary this year. Merkel, who is battling to keep her grand coalition
together at home, was again under close scrutiny after she suffered three
episodes of shaking at official events in recent weeks. But she appeared to
suffer no problems and also stepped off the tribune with Macron to greet wounded
veterans.
Titles For The Latest LCCC English analysis & editorials
from miscellaneous sources published
on July 14-15/2019
Tehran is preparing for a showdown with the US
Raghida Dergham/The National/July 14/2019
Iran's escalation has backfired, even with trusted allies, and it
is edging closer to red lines
http://eliasbejjaninews.com/archives/76658/%d8%b1%d8%a7%d8%ba%d8%af%d8%a9-%d8%af%d8%b1%d8%ba%d8%a7%d9%85-%d8%b9%d9%82%d9%88%d8%a8%d8%a7%d8%aa-%d8%a7%d9%84%d8%b9%d8%b2%d9%84-%d9%88%d8%a7%d9%84%d8%ad%d8%b5%d8%a7%d8%b1-%d9%88%d8%a7%d8%b3%d8%aa/
Following US accusations of Iran being behind the recent attacks on tankers in
the Gulf, tensions between the two countries are set to escalate further this
week as decision-makers in Tehran continue to see the status quo as favouring
them, and feel gleeful at the level of panic shown by the Europeans and the
International Atomic Energy Agency. For its part, the US administration has
adopted “strategic patience”, content with its policy of economically strangling
Iran to coerce it into negotiating a new deal that covers both its nuclear
enrichment and its ballistic missiles and possibly its regional expansionism and
regime reforms. Both sides want a deal but have mutually exclusive conditions
and are preparing for the next step as they inch closer to a military
confrontation.
Washington is now in the process of forming a naval alliance that Joseph Dunford,
chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff in the US, said would be ready within a
fortnight with the aim of protecting navigation in the Straits of Hormuz and Bab
al Mandeb. This is while the US and Britain have blamed Iran for attacks on oil
installations and tankers in the Gulf, with London deploying two British
warships so far to the region.
Iran has responded to the formation of this US-led naval coalition by demanding
all foreign forces leave the Middle East. The leadership in Tehran believes
prolonging the current situation serves its interests and thus intends to
escalate further. If the US fires first, Iran might attack US bases in Bahrain
and Qatar. But the Trump administration will also escalate by greatly tightening
the sanctions on Iran and its proxies, according to the US president. Sources
said the sanctions would be tantamount to a full blockade of Iran, with the
assets of Iranians and non-Iranians affiliated to the regime frozen.
Both sides are also preparing for a military showdown. According to sources, the
US needs a week to ensure full readiness to do so, although its current
deployment is sufficient for a swift military strike if necessary. Iran is also
preparing its forces and proxies in the Arab region, from Hezbollah in Lebanon
to the Popular Mobilisation Forces in Iraq. In other words, unless a deal
precludes confrontation, the current trajectory of events indicates pending
military hostilities in the Gulf and Middle East.
From the US perspective, meanwhile, and even from the perspective of some
European countries, Iran’s violation of the cap on uranium enrichment cannot be
ignored.
So far, all mediation efforts have failed to convince Iran to abandon its
demands for an end to sanctions before agreeing to negotiate.
Russian President Vladimir Putin is still trying to play the role of broker with
the Iranians to curb their escalation and attempts to provoke a US military
strike. Mr Putin’s previous attempts have all failed but he continues his quest
to stop military confrontation in its tracks.
Iran’s leaders, however, are dissatisfied with Russia’s "soft" position. Iran
had wagered on Russia, China, and EU powers to help navigate a way out of US
sanctions.
Yet so far, Iran’s escalation has backfired with the Europeans, who have
distanced themselves from Iran and edged closer to the US, especially after
Tehran increased uranium enrichment and exposed the flaws of the nuclear
agreement. Iran also understands now that China is unwilling to enter the fray
on its side. As for Russia, Iran has miscalculated in assuming the alliance with
Russia in Syria would extend to the Gulf or to a US-Israeli-Iranian triangle.
If Iran crosses the threshold of uranium enrichment to 20 per cent in two
months, it would cross an unacceptable red line for Europe, China, and Russia as
well as the US.
The next level of putative sanctions could further rile the Iranian leadership
and drive it either to more escalation or nudge it to adjust its behaviour and
renegotiate the deal. This could take the form of a naval blockade and measures
to prevent all countries from dealing with Iran and its proxies and further
sanctions.
Arab Gulf countries do not want a war and are avoiding escalation. However, they
want to be present at the negotiating table to decide issues affecting their
security and future.
Iran will seek to use the looming US elections to test the American president,
with a view to limiting negotiations only to the nuclear issue and ballistic
missile programme.
If a grand bargain is reached, it is important for Arab countries to be part of
it, or else it will be incomplete and precarious. If Mr Trump achieves the
impossible and concludes such a deal, it might be a historic achievement that
will please everyone.
Until then, Tehran and its allies are preparing themselves for a confrontation.
Hezbollah in Lebanon is waiting for orders from Tehran, poised to respond to an
Israeli strike on nuclear reactors in Iran. In the meantime, the group intends
to respond to recent US sanctions on its senior members, not by directly
attacking US interests but by forcing the Lebanese government to publicly
denounce the sanctions and offer it support. The US has reportedly told the
Lebanese government that such a stance might invite sanctions against the state,
something Lebanese politicians will be keen to avoid.
The Taliban Promise to Protect Women. Here's Why Women
Don't Believe Them
Kabul - Cora Engelbrecht/The New York Times/Sunday, 14 July, 2019
At just 29, Zainab Fayez made herself into one of Afghanistan’s foremost
defenders of women.
As the first and only female prosecutor in Kandahar Province, deep in the
conservative south of the country, she sent 21 men to jail for beating and
abusing their wives or fiancées.
I thought I should speak with her. I had gone to Afghanistan to ask women one of
the most urgent questions hanging over the peace talks now unfolding between
Taliban leaders, the Afghanistan government and American diplomats: After 18
years of gains for Afghanistan’s women, what are these women thinking now that
the Americans might leave, and the Taliban might return?
But as I prepared to travel to Kandahar to meet Ms. Fayez, I discovered that she
had fled the city.
She had received a warning she could not ignore: a handwritten note, tacked to
the windshield of her family car, folded over a bullet.
“From now on, you are our target,” the letter said, “and we will treat you like
other Western slaves.” It was signed “The Islamic Emirate of Afghanistan,” the
formal name the Taliban use for themselves.
Many Afghan women seized on the freedoms that emerged after the American
invasion and collapse of the Taliban government in 2001. They do not want to go
back to the terms of Taliban rule — to the floggings and banishment from public
life.
But as some sort of agreement between the Taliban and American officials appears
likely, many women do not believe the insurgents’ promises to respect the rights
of women this time around.
Take Ms. Fayez, the prosecutor.
I found her in Kabul, the Afghan capital, holed up with her two children in her
relative’s house. Her husband, Fakhruddin, had just driven from Kandahar with
the bullet and threatening letter.
Ms. Fayez has seen enough of the Taliban to know that their promises to treat
women fairly are as empty as the desert outside of town.
“I have never been so terrified,” she said.
Born in the remote province of Ghor in 1990, at the height of the Afghan civil
war, she grew up seeing the bottom line of Taliban rule: No school for girls, no
jobs for women. Transgressors were stoned and flogged.
After the Taliban’s ouster, she enrolled in Kabul University and became a
lawyer. In 2016, she signed up to prosecute men who abused women in Kandahar
Province, where the Taliban movement was born.
One after another, Ms. Fayez sent the abusers to jail. Two of the men she
convicted were police officers. Last year, the government recognized her as one
of the five bravest women in the country, and put her portrait on a billboard in
downtown Kandahar: “Heroes for women’s rights.”
Most important, her dogged reputation empowered more women to come forward with
stories of abuse.
“My caseload grew as more women began trusting the rule of law,” she said. “Then
the threats began.”
On the floor of her living room she displayed printouts and recordings of
previous death threats: emails and messages over WhatsApp, text and voice mail,
commanding her to quit working. For months, she waved off the warnings as part
of her job.
Then in February, her colleague Azam Ahmad, with whom she had worked on many of
her domestic violence cases, was shot and killed by unidentified gunmen on his
way to the office.
“He was a very brave man, and a friend,” she said. “These incidents and threats
affect us mentally and emotionally. But we try our best to keep working.”A few
weeks later, the Taliban letter — and the bullet — showed up on her windshield.
“A Talib is a Talib,” Ms. Fayez said. “They have proven what type of people they
are, what their ideology is. And if they return with the same ideology,
everything will be the same again.”
Afghanistan remains a deeply patriarchal society, but the overwhelming majority
of women I met are unwilling to go back to the way things were. I had a hard
time finding any who believed the Taliban had grown more tolerant in their years
out of power.
I traveled to Kunduz, capital of the northern province of the same name, to
speak with Sediqa Sherzai, a fearless and embattled advocate of women’s
empowerment who directs an all-female radio station on the outskirts of town.
The province is controlled mostly by the Taliban, and the city itself has fallen
to the insurgents twice for short periods.
“Imagine a house surrounded by Taliban,” Ms. Sherzai said. “You would not be
able to live, eat or do work with even momentary peace. People here live in
constant fear that the Taliban will retake the city at any minute.” Since 2008,
she has run Radio Roshani, a small shortwave station that educates women about
their rights and encourages them to share their difficulties and stories. It has
an audience across northern Afghanistan.
The day I visited, Ms. Sherzai’s producers were recording a segment with young
graduates about their challenges finding work in the city. In a room next door,
she sat with a number of women from around the city to discuss the peace
negotiations for an upcoming segment.
“We reach people who cannot read and write,” Ms. Sherzai said. She emphasized
how important it is for women to hear the voices of other women, especially in
areas where literacy rates are so low.
“Listeners trust that the woman speaking is practicing the advice she preaches,
in her own life and on her own children,” she said. “It disarms them.” In 2015,
when the Taliban briefly captured Kunduz, they occupied Radio Roshani’s studio
for five hours, set it on fire and stole the equipment. They seized the phone
numbers and addresses of staff members. Ms. Sherzai’s husband, Obaidullah
Qazizadha, who helped found the station, received ominous telephone calls at
their home.
“Your wife is changing other women,” the voice on the phone said. “We do not
agree with the ways she is changing their mind-set.”
She and her husband fled to Kabul, and the station went off the air. But in
April, Ms. Sherzai decided to restart Radio Roshani. The station’s employees try
to keep their involvement clandestine. Her husband keeps a shotgun in the
control room. She is willing to risk her life to continue, she said, and she has
no intention of making things easy for her enemies.
“The Taliban were right,” she said. “We were changing the mind-set of women.”
But not all the Afghan women I spoke to had lost hope.
As a young mother under Taliban rule in the late 1990s, Hawa Nuristani helped
run a secret school for girls, who were otherwise banned from attending class.
After the Taliban’s fall, Ms. Nuristani emerged as one of the most influential
women in the new Afghan state, becoming a prominent television news anchor and
then moving into politics. She now heads a commission that adjudicates electoral
disputes. At various times, the Taliban imprisoned her husband, kidnapped her
son and tried to kill her: One attack left a bullet in her leg and gave her a
limp. Another attempt on her life, a bomb, demolished her car. In February, Ms.
Nuristani was part of the Afghan delegation that traveled to Moscow to meet with
a group of Taliban leaders — one of only two women in the group. The other was
Fawzia Koofi, a member of Parliament. In her Kabul office, Ms. Nuristani
recalled the meeting with a defiant look in her eyes. But her tone was hopeful.
“I do not think anyone else has ever been as troubled in the Afghan government
as much as I have,” she told me. “But I went to this meeting because I feel like
you cannot wash blood with blood. How long will this war go on?”
For days, she listened to the Taliban leaders promise, among other things, to
honor the rights of women. But when the talk turned to specifics, they froze up.
She recalled them saying that women were too “sympathetic and delicate” for jobs
like commissioner or mayor, where “a woman’s emotions might get in the
way.”Still, Ms. Nuristani said she was choosing to give the insurgents a chance,
if only because she sensed a war-weariness in the negotiators that appeared to
match her own. “People on both sides of the war want peace, and are tired of the
fighting — certainly the Taliban,” she said. “I have heard this from them
directly.”
Acosta's Resignation May Result in More Losses for
Prosecutors
Alan M. Dershowitz/Gatestone Institute./July 14/2019
https://www.gatestoneinstitute.org/14536/epstein-acosta-resignation
Experienced lawyers with whom I have discussed the case -- both prosecutors and
defense attorneys -- worry that the thumb of media and political pressure will
be placed on the scales of justice when it comes to the exercise of
prosecutorial discretion and the decision to try or settle a case.
Consider the situation of a prosecutor today or tomorrow who has a weak federal
case involving sexual allegations. He has two options: the first is he can try
to make a deal based on the relative strength of his case and of the defense
case. But if he makes that deal, he risks criticism for being too soft on sex
offenders. His second option is to take the weak case to trial and risk losing.
But even if he loses, the risks to him personally are less great because he can
blame the loss on the judge or the jury. A deal, on the other hand, is totally
attributed to the prosecutor, as evidenced by the Acosta resignation. So, a
simple cost-benefit analysis will incline a prosecutor to litigate rather than
settle.
In the post-Acosta world, prosecutors will bring cases to trial even if the
likelihood of a conviction is questionable, as it was in the Epstein case. The
result of this change will be more trials, more crowded courtroom dockets and
fewer convictions. That is not good for defendants, victims or for the rule of
law.
The forced resignation of Alex Acosta based on the plea deal that he made with
Jeffrey Epstein's lawyers may have serious unintended effects on our system of
criminal justice. Pictured: President Donald Trump shakes hands with Labor
Secretary Alex Acosta, following the announcement of Acosta's resignation, on
July 12, 2019 in Washington, DC.
The forced resignation of Alex Acosta based on the plea deal that he made with
Jeffrey Epstein's lawyers (of which I was one) may have serious unintended
effects on our system of criminal justice. The criticism of Acosta -- whether
warranted or not -- for making the deal will cause other prosecutors to go to
trial in relatively weak cases in which the chances of losing are considerable.
The deal accepted by Acosta was based on the weakness of the government's
federal case. In order for sex with underage persons to be prosecuted federally,
as distinguished from prosecution by a state, there has to be compelling
evidence of an interstate nexus. Merely having sex with underage females in a
local context does not constitute a federal crime. In the Epstein case, this
would have required credible testimony or documentary evidence proving
transportation of underage females in interstate commerce, or the use of
interstate communications such as telephone calls, emails, or the wiring of
funds. There was scant evidence of such an interstate nexus in the Epstein case
at the time the deal was made. Perhaps there is more now, but that remains to be
seen.
At the time the deal was made, there was a relatively strong state case in Palm
Beach County, but the federal case was chancy, as Acosta said in his statement.
A judge might have dismissed the case or a jury may have found against the
government.
Instead of taking the chance of losing the case, Acosta did what many
prosecutors do: they compromise based on the relative strength of the
prosecution and the defense. The compromise in this case was worked out by
Acosta's assistants and then approved by Acosta and higher-ups in the justice
department. There were few red flags at the time, but with the benefit of
hindsight, Monday morning quarterbacks have piled on Acosta.
This article, however, is not about Acosta. I hold no brief for him. This is
about the impact of Acosta's forced resignation on current and future
prosecutors. Consider the situation of a prosecutor today or tomorrow who has a
weak federal case involving sexual allegations. He has two options: the first is
he can try to make a deal based on the relative strength of his case and of the
defense case. But if he makes that deal, he risks criticism for being too soft
on sex offenders. His second option is to take the weak case to trial and risk
losing. But even if he loses, the risks to him personally are less great because
he can blame the loss on the judge or the jury. A deal, on the other hand, is
totally attributed to the prosecutor, as evidenced by the Acosta resignation.
So, a simple cost-benefit analysis will incline a prosecutor to litigate rather
than settle.
Today, more than 90 percent of federal criminal cases are settled by a plea
bargain. This includes sexual assault cases. In the post-Acosta world, those
numbers may well go down, especially in sexual assault cases. The inevitable
result will be more trials and more acquittals.
It might be argued that the Epstein case is unique and that other prosecutors
will still continue to make deals in weak cases. It will be impossible to
quantify the impact of the Acosta resignation on current and future cases, but
experienced lawyers with whom I have discussed the case -- both prosecutors and
defense attorneys -- worry that the thumb of media and political pressure will
be placed on the scales of justice when it comes to the exercise of
prosecutorial discretion and the decision to try or settle a case.
There are traditions and guidelines in the Justice Department that mandate that
criminal cases should not be brought to trial unless there is a substantial
likelihood of a conviction. That is why federal prosecutors have such a high
rate of success in litigating cases -- over 90%. In the post-Acosta world,
prosecutors will bring cases to trial even if the likelihood of a conviction is
questionable, as it was in the Epstein case. The result of this change will be
more trials, more crowded courtroom dockets and fewer convictions. That is not
good for defendants, victims or for the rule of law.
Alan M. Dershowitz is the Felix Frankfurter Professor of Law Emeritus at Harvard
Law School and author of The Case Against the Democrats Impeaching Trump,
Skyhorse Publishing, 2019. He is a Distinguished Senior 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.
Iran only a threat if the world allows it to be
بارعة علم الدين: إيران هي
تهديد إذا فقط سمح له العالم بذلك
Baria Alamuddin/Arab News/July 14/2019
http://eliasbejjaninews.com/archives/76691/%d8%a8%d8%a7%d8%b1%d8%b9%d8%a9-%d8%b9%d9%84%d9%85-%d8%a7%d9%84%d8%af%d9%8a%d9%86-%d8%a5%d9%8a%d8%b1%d8%a7%d9%86-%d9%87%d9%8a-%d8%aa%d9%87%d8%af%d9%8a%d8%af-%d8%a5%d8%b0%d8%a7-%d9%81%d9%82%d8%b7/
The Iranian Army’s Brig. Gen. Alireza Fard said this month: “Our deterrence and
secret weapons have stopped the filthy enemy 200 miles away in the Strait of
Hormuz.”
President Hassan Rouhani has said: “The White House’s actions mean it is
mentally retarded.”
IRGC aerospace commander Amirali Hajizadeh claimed: “An aircraft carrier that
has at least 40 to 50 planes on it and 6,000 forces gathered within it was a
serious threat for us in the past, but now it is a target and the threats have
switched to opportunities. If they make a move we will hit them in the head.”
Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps (IRGC) deputy commander Ali Fadavi added on
Thursday: “No one dares to fire even a single bullet at our country.”
And IRGC commander Qassem Soleimani has said: “We are near you, where you can’t
even imagine... Come. We are ready. If you begin the war, we will end the war.”
These are just a few of the pugnacious recent threats by Iranian officials,
alongside the Foreign Ministry insisting that “foreign powers should leave the
region.” The mullahs have become so isolated from the real world that they are
deluding themselves with their own fantastical propaganda of being
all-conquering, globe-straddling warlords.
Who do Iran’s leaders think they are — threatening and provoking NATO members
who enjoy a combined force capacity exponentially greater than Tehran’s puny
armed forces? This is not pluckiness. Just like Hezbollah’s Hassan Nasrallah
during the 2006 conflict, the ayatollahs would flee into their underground
bolt-holes, leaving long-suffering Iranians in the line of fire. Nasrallah in
recent days has been bellowing similarly bellicose hyperbole: “Any war will be
bigger than the 2006 war for Israel and it will put it on the brink of
extinction.” But what about the civilian populations caught up in the middle of
Nasrallah’s frenzied apocalyptical fantasies?
Tensions were ratcheted up further last week when, in compliance with
international sanctions, British authorities in Gibraltar impounded an Iranian
tanker illegally conveying oil to the Assad regime. Iran improbably threatened
to retaliate by seizing a British ship. Within hours, they tried their luck
against a British tanker passing through the Strait of Hormuz, but the IRGC’s
wannabe hijackers were sent packing by a naval frigate. Iranian Foreign Minister
Mohammed Javad Zarif blusteringly denied the incident ever happened. Although
Britain is currently further beefing up its Gulf presence, it has indicated its
readiness to release Iran’s tanker — if Tehran pledges no repeat trips to Syria.
This is somewhat equivalent to giving a serial killer his knife back on
condition of promises of future good behavior.
Tehran’s predatory leaders have 40 years’ experience of exploiting the
weaknesses of crisis-wracked states. They sniffed blood in the water, with
Britain enmeshed in a deteriorating political crisis over its relationship with
the EU. However, while British politics has descended into such shambolic farce
that Boris Johnson is the favorite to be prime minister, the UK by far is not
yet Syria or Yemen.
Tehran’s predatory leaders have 40 years’ experience of exploiting the
weaknesses of crisis-wracked states
Despite the US administration’s clumsy attempts to project strength on the
international arena, Western nations have never looked more divided and
ineffectual — with the Europeans seeking to undermine the US by preserving the
2015 nuclear deal at all costs. US President Donald Trump’s confused
vacillations about his own policies haven’t helped: Tweets signaling that the
nuclear issue is the only bone of contention contradict the administration’s
exertions against Iranian regional aggression through paramilitary proxies.
Ceaseless new rounds of sanctions are subject to the law of diminishing returns,
while a leading Iranian export market — Iraq — has again been granted sanctions
waivers. The lack of international consensus gives China, India and others a
green light to ignore oil sanctions.
The final touches are being put to a multinational naval strategy for protecting
Arabian Gulf shipping. A US military expert told me that there would also be a
rapid upgrading of surveillance of IRGC activities: “We’ll deal with them before
they even get close.” Although the operation may benefit from US command and
control, given that much of the shipping is destined for Asian markets, this
must be a broad coalition.
The recent spat between Britain and the US over leaked deprecating comments
about Trump by the British ambassador demonstrates how brittle relations with
the Trump administration can be. If Britain wants to protect its shipping and
overseas assets from terrorism and Iranian threats, it is compelled to fall back
on its traditional international alliances. European states have habitually
stood together when threatened, despite self-defeating British attempts to
render itself the black sheep of the family.
This crisis furthermore draws attention to Iran’s reliance on disputed islands
and waterways, from which it has staged attacks and where it hoards offensive
weapons. What if the international community was to retaliate by confiscating
these maritime launch pads and restore them to their rightful Khaleeji owners?
The risk of losing prime waterside real estate would certainly make Iran’s
leaders think twice.
The ayatollahs are exhilarated by their high-risk game of divide and conquer
against the international community; leaving the US looking highly isolated in
its maximum pressure policy, while turning the heat on individual states like
the UK when they do try and get tough. However, by triggering sharp rises in oil
prices, increased risks to shipping and threats to global energy security, Iran
is biting the hands that feed it. Does Tehran truly believe that energy-hungry
states like China will be sympathetic to its obstructions of shipping?
None of us want war, especially not the Iranian people and certainly not Trump,
who roars like a lion in his tweets but bleats like a lamb when it comes to
holding Tehran accountable. Yet the current pattern of provocations takes us
down a path where some form of confrontation (whether limited strikes or
extended conflagration) becomes inevitable. For China, Japan, Russia, Germany
and France, sitting on the fence and waiting to see how things play out isn’t a
sensible option. Through naked economic necessity, these powers must, sooner or
later, sign up to multilateral efforts to neutralize Iranian saber-rattling.
On the international stage, Iran is an insignificant irritant. Yet, just as the
black rat spread the bubonic plague and the humble mosquito carries malaria,
when global decision-makers fail to introduce appropriate preventive measures,
tiny parasitic menaces are capable of bringing the world to its knees.
• Baria Alamuddin is an award-winning journalist and broadcaster in the Middle
East and the UK. She is editor of the Media Services Syndicate and has
interviewed numerous heads of state.
Iran has a history of violating nuclear deal’s terms
د.مجيد رافيزادا: لدى
إيران تاريخ في مخالفة بنود الإتفاق النووي
Dr. Majid Rafizadeh//Arab News/July 14/2019
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Iran’s state-controlled Persian newspapers last week propagated the idea that
the Islamic Republic has not violated the Joint Comprehensive Plan of Action (JCPOA),
commonly known as the Iran nuclear deal. The Iranian leaders have also been
promoting this misinformation. One particular official who is spearheading this
narrative is Foreign Minister Mohammed Javad Zarif.
In an attempt to obtain concessions from the EU, Zarif told reporters that:
“Actions by the Europeans have not been enough, so we will move ahead with our
plan.” He also tweeted: “We have not violated the JCPOA,” and said: “We had
previously announced this and were transparent in saying what we are going to
do… We consider it our right, reserved in the nuclear deal.”
But such claims are totally absurd. The Iranian leaders need to examine the
terms of the JCPOA instead of issuing statements with no proof. It clearly
states that there are limitations on all enrichment-related activities.
Paragraph A section 7 states: “During the 15-year period, and as Iran gradually
moves to meet international qualification standards for nuclear fuel produced in
Iran, it will keep its uranium stockpile under 300 kilograms.” This demonstrates
that Iran’s announcement that it had surpassed the 300-kilogram cap is in direct
violation of the JCPOA.
While Iran’s Supreme Leader Ali Khamenei and the senior cadre of the Islamic
Revolutionary Guard Corps (IRGC) enjoy the final say in Iran’s domestic and
foreign policies, Zarif and President Hassan Rouhani set the tone on the
international stage to ensure the survival of the Islamic Republic and the
supreme leader. In other words, Iran’s presidential office and foreign ministry
do not pursue policies without first receiving the blessings of Khamenei and the
IRGC. Although Rouhani and Zarif are labeled as moderates, they are loyal
confidants of the supreme leader.
For example, Zarif is a member of Iran’s powerful Supreme National Security
Council — an organization with 12 permanent members who make policy
recommendations to Khamenei in order to advance the revolutionary and
geopolitical interests of the theocratic establishment. This is why, after the
US leveled sanctions on Iran’s supreme leader and eight senior IRGC commanders
for the first time since the establishment of the Islamic Republic in 1979,
Washington last month announced that sanctions would soon be imposed on Iran’s
foreign minister too.
The Iranian leaders need to examine the terms of the JCPOA instead of issuing
statements with no proof
But this is not the first time Iran has violated the nuclear deal and spread
misinformation regarding its nuclear activities. Since the JCPOA was adopted on
Oct. 18, 2015, the Iranian regime has repeatedly test-fired long-range ballistic
missiles and laser-guided surface-to-surface missiles. The nuclear agreement
clearly stipulates that Iran should not undertake any ballistic missile activity
“until the date eight years after the JCPOA adoption day or until the date on
which the IAEA (International Atomic Energy Agency) submits a report confirming
the broader conclusion, whichever is earlier.”
In addition, Germany’s domestic intelligence agency, the Federal Office for the
Protection of the Constitution, revealed in its annual report released in July
2016 that the Iranian government had pursued a “clandestine” path toward
obtaining illicit nuclear technology and equipment from German companies “at
what is, even by international standards, a quantitatively high level.” The
report also stated that “it is safe to expect that Iran will continue its
intensive procurement activities in Germany using clandestine methods to achieve
its objectives.”
Finally, the Iranian opposition group, the National Council for Resistance of
Iran (NCRI), which was the first to reveal Iran’s clandestine nuclear activities
in two major sites, Natanz and Arak, released in 2017 critical information
showing that Iran’s research and development activities, as well as nuclear
activities, were continuing at the military site at Parchin, which is out of
reach of the IAEA’s inspectors.
Due to the NCRI’s influence inside Iran, its information is believed to be
highly credible. Frank Pabian, an adviser on nuclear non-proliferation matters
at the Los Alamos National Laboratory, previously told the New York Times that
the NCRI is “right 90 percent of the time.”
This shows that Iran has been most likely breaching another term of the JCPOA,
which states: “Iran’s long-term plan includes certain agreed limitations on all
uranium enrichment and uranium enrichment-related activities, including certain
limitations on specific research and development activities for the first eight
years, to be followed by gradual evolution, at a reasonable pace, to the next
stage of its enrichment activities for exclusively peaceful purposes.”
This also points to the fact that the IAEA has failed on several occasions to
detect Iran’s nuclear activities, which includes increasing its level of uranium
enrichment above the 3.67 percent limit set by the JCPOA.
In a nutshell, the Iranian regime has long been violating the agreement in order
to achieve its nuclear and hegemonic ambitions. It is incumbent on the UN
Security Council to immediately take appropriate measures.
• Dr. Majid Rafizadeh is a Harvard-educated Iranian-American political
scientist. He is a leading expert on Iran and US foreign policy, a businessman
and president of the International American Council. Twitter: @Dr_Rafizadeh