LCCC ENGLISH DAILY NEWS BULLETIN
June 10/2019
Compiled & Prepared by: Elias Bejjani

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Bible Quotations For today
For it is better to suffer for doing good, if suffering should be God’s will, than to suffer for doing evil
First Letter of Peter 03/13-22:”Now who will harm you if you are eager to do what is good? But even if you do suffer for doing what is right, you are blessed. Do not fear what they fear, and do not be intimidated, but in your hearts sanctify Christ as Lord. Always be ready to make your defence to anyone who demands from you an account of the hope that is in you; yet do it with gentleness and reverence. Keep your conscience clear, so that, when you are maligned, those who abuse you for your good conduct in Christ may be put to shame. For it is better to suffer for doing good, if suffering should be God’s will, than to suffer for doing evil. For Christ also suffered for sins once for all, the righteous for the unrighteous, in order to bring you to God. He was put to death in the flesh, but made alive in the spirit, in which also he went and made a proclamation to the spirits in prison, who in former times did not obey, when God waited patiently in the days of Noah, during the building of the ark, in which a few, that is, eight people, were saved through water. And baptism, which this prefigured, now saves you not as a removal of dirt from the body, but as an appeal to God for a good conscience, through the resurrection of Jesus Christ,who has gone into heaven and is at the right hand of God, with angels, authorities, and powers made subject to him.”

Titles For The Latest English LCCC Lebanese & Lebanese Related News published on June 09-10/2019
Khamenei Pardons 691 on Eid, but Zakka Excluded
Iran considers request for release of Lebanese prisoner Nizar Zakka
Ibrahim Heads to Iran for Zakka Release Arrangements
AlRahi calls for approving draft budget, ending waste expenditure and corruption, ceasing interference in state administrations and judiciary
Hariri: ISF Offering Martyrs for the Sake of Lebanon, Lebanese
Hariri patronizes Tripoli's Half Marathon featuring more than 20,000 participants
Jumblat Slams Mustaqbal Ministers over Phone Networks Outage
Bassil says it is normal to defend the Lebanese labor force against any other
Abu Faour promises 'zero pollution' in the Litani River by summer's end; Jarrah says problem lies not in funding, but in file management
Jabak on Pharmacist's Day: Price reduction will include 3,200 medicines, efforts are pinned on supporting local industry, closing phantom infirmaries, establishing a central laboratory
Kouyoumjian from Jezzine: To keep developmental projects away from political differences
Hassan Says ISF ‘Extremist’ against Terror, Othman Defends Remarks, Institution
Tension forces evacuation of Syrian refugee camp in Lebanon
Political horse-trading weakens Lebanon

Titles For The Latest English LCCC Miscellaneous Reports And News published on June 09-10/2019
Iran threatens Europe with unspecified 'action' if it does not 'normalise' economic ties
Pope Francis appeals for peace, dialogue in Sudan
New US ambassador meets with Iraqi FM in Baghdad
Qatar admits having different ‘assessment’ to US on Iran threat
Qatari Foreign Minister Sheikh Mohammed bin Abdulrahman Al-Thani said Qatar respected US policy on Iran, but added: “We have our ow
Goalkeeper Turned Iconic Rebel Fighter Dies in Northwest Syria
4 Killed on First Day of Sudan 'Civil Disobedience'
Sudan’s protesters launch general strike after crackdown
India's Modi Makes Unscheduled Stop at Bombed Sri Lanka Church
Israeli navy boards ship from Turkey that was set on fire
German FM in Jordan in bid to ease US-Iran tensions

Litles For The Latest LCCC English analysis & editorials from miscellaneous sources published on June 09-10/2019
Political horse-trading weakens Lebanon/Makram Rabah/The Arab Weekly/June 09/2019
The Mystery of God /June 09/2019
"Europe Will Not Be Europe"/Guy Millière/Gatestone Institute/June 09/2019
The US-Iran showdown after Mecca summits/Khattar Abou Diab/The Arab Weekly/June 09/2019
Qatar enters third year of crisis but no lessons learnt/Iman Zayat/The Arab Weekly/June 09/2019
Iraq should care about Arab Gulf security, not fret about Iran/Tallha Abdulrazaq/The Arab Weekly/June 09/2019
Russia is playing an increasing role in the Afghan peace process/Rahimullah Yusufzai/Arab news/June 09/2019
Daesh’s demonic second coming … stronger than ever before?/Baria Alamuddin/Arab news/June 09/2019
Special relationship in calmer waters after a successful state visit/Zaid M. Belbagi/Arab news/June 09/2019

The Latest English LCCC Lebanese & Lebanese Related News published on June 09-10/2019
Khamenei Pardons 691 on Eid, but Zakka Excluded
Naharnet/Agence France Presse/June 09/2019/Iran's supreme leader pardoned hundreds of prisoners on the occasion of the end of Ramadan, but a Lebanese national who Lebanon expected to be released was not among them, authorities said Sunday. In total, the sentences of 691 prisoners were either commuted or deferred as decided by Ayatollah Ali Khamenei, as a gesture for the Eid al-Fitr holidays, said the jucidiary's Mizan Online news website. Last week, Lebanon said one of its nationals condemned in 2016 to 10 years' jail in Iran after being found guilty of spying for the United States would be on the pardon list. The Lebanese foreign ministry, quoted by the country's official NNA news agency, said Nizar Zakka would be pardoned at the request of Beirut as a gesture for Eid. But Zakka's name was not on the list, said Iran's judiciary spokesman Gholamhossein Esmaili. "The individual was sentenced and the president of Lebanon had -- in letters to judicial officials -- requested a conditional pardon," he said, quoted by Mizan. "This request has been in the judicial process and, in case any decision is taken by the judicial apparatus, information will be provided." A resident of the United States in his 50s, Zakka was arrested in September 2015 during a visit to Iran, where he was convicted the following July. At the time of his arrest, state television in Iran charged Zakka had "deep ties to military and intelligence services of the United States," Iran's arch-foe. It broadcast photographs of a man in military uniform it said was of Zakka at an American base. At the end of 2017, Iranian courts confirmed his 10-year sentence on appeal, as well as that of an American and two Iranian-Americans accused of "collaboration" with the United States. Iran and the United States broke diplomatic ties in 1980, and their relations have deteriorated significantly since U.S. President Donald Trump took office in January 2017.

Iran considers request for release of Lebanese prisoner Nizar Zakka
Reuters, LondonSunday, 9 June 2019/Iran has received an amnesty request from Beirut for a Lebanese citizen who was detained in 2015 for “collaborating against the state” but has yet to make a decision on the case, an Iranian judiciary spokesman said on Sunday. Lebanon state news agency NNA last week quoted the foreign ministry as saying that Iran had agreed amnesty for Nizar Zakka, an information technology expert who was sentenced to 10 years in prison in 2016 and fined $4.2 million. NNA also quoted media representatives on behalf of Zakka’s family as saying the initiative to release him had been successful and thanking President Michel Aoun and Foreign Minister Gebran Bassil. “We have received a request filed by the accused and other Lebanese officials to grant amnesty and release him. We are looking into this request as a special case,” Gholamhossein Esmaili, a judiciary spokesman, was quoted as saying by Fars news agency. Iranian state media reported on Sunday that Supreme Leader Ayatollah Ali Khamenei pardoned about 700 prisoners, but Esmaili said Zakka’s name was not on the list of those pardoned. Zakka, who also has permanent US residency, had been invited to Iran by a government official in 2015 but then disappeared after attending a conference in Tehran.State media announced later that year that he had ties to US military and intelligence services and had been detained by the Revolutionary Guards.

Ibrahim Heads to Iran for Zakka Release Arrangements
Associated Press/Naharnet/09 June/2019/General Security chief Maj. Gen. Abbas Ibrahim on Sunday left for Tehran to follow up on ongoing preparations to release from prison Lebanese citizen and U.S. green card holder Nizar Zakka, the security agency said. Zakka is serving a 10-year sentence on espionage charges. Iran’s semi-official Fars news agency on Sunday confirmed that Tehran is considering Zakka’s release. It quoted Iranian judiciary spokesman Gholamhossein Esmaili as saying that authorities were conducting a "special review" of the request by Zakka and "Lebanese political officials," without elaborating.
Zakka is a U.S. permanent resident from Lebanon who advocated for internet freedom and has done work for the U.S. government. He was arrested in September 2015.The request could be part of a Lebanese effort to ease recent tensions between Washington and Tehran.

AlRahi calls for approving draft budget, ending waste expenditure and corruption, ceasing interference in state administrations and judiciary
Sun 09 Jun 2019/NNA - Maronite Patriarch, Cardinal Bechara Boutros Al-Rahi, urged Sunday the members of Parliament to speed-up the endorsement of the annual draft budget and to work on ending waste expenditure and corruption in the country. Additionally, he highlighted the need to stop all interferences in the state's administrations and judiciary, and to develop a plan for economic advancement and structural reform. Al-Rahi added that the country's political leaders ought to find the best ways to secure public goodness by competing in coming-up with suitable choices, rather than engaging in a vicious verbal battle that only fuels strife and sectarian spirit, triggers an atmosphere of tension and undermines mutual trust, cooperation and respect for law and justice. Patriarch Al-Rahi's words came as he presided over Sunday Mass at the Basilica of "Our Lady of Lebanon" in Harissa marking the Feast of Pentecost, coinciding with the 29th anniversary of Tele Lumière and the 18th anniversary of Noursat, alongside the launching of their satellite channels' group. "Every time Lebanon reached the brink of political, security and financial abyss, the hidden hand of the Virgin Mary protected it and prevented its downfall," said the Patriarch, referring to the Virgin's call on all political leaders of Lebanon in particular, and citizens in general, to demonstrate solidarity, unity of efforts and cooperation to protect their homeland. Al-Rahi commended the valuable contributions of both Christian TV Channels in adhering to the teachings of Jesus Christ and the Church, respecting other religious beliefs, addressing various issues of life in light of the Gospel and promoting the building of a culture of love and peace throughout the world and working together for a free and dignified human being. He added that both Stations strive to make their programs an essential means of disseminating Christian, human, ethical, cultural, artistic and national values and principles. The Patriarch concluded by renewing the dedication of Lebanon and the countries of the Middle East to the pure heart of the Virgin Mary, raising prayers to the Lord Almighty to bless the region and its inhabitants so that they may all enjoy complete salvation on Earth and in Heaven.

Hariri: ISF Offering Martyrs for the Sake of Lebanon, Lebanese
Naharnet/09 June/2019/Prime Minister Saad Hariri on Sunday threw his support behind the Internal Security Forces institution, in the wake of the latest criticism that has targeted it. “I salute the ISF and its director general, officers and personnel on the 158th anniversary of its establishment,” Hariri said. “It is a vigorous institution in the state of law. It is protecting the security of citizens and the safety of the society, offering sacrifices and martyrs for the sake of Lebanon and the Lebanese,” Hariri tweeted. An Islamic State-inspired gunman had killed two ISF members and two army troops in an attack in Tripoli on Monday.

Hariri patronizes Tripoli's Half Marathon featuring more than 20,000 participants
Sun 09 Jun 2019/NNA - The city of Tripoli witnessed Sunday morning a major sports event marked by the "Half Marathon" race that set out in the early hours of the day, under the auspices of Prime Minister Saad Hariri represented by his Advisor, Abdul-Ghani Kabbara. More than 20,000 athletes from Lebanon and numerous Arab and foreign countries took part in the Marathon, with the participation of Maher Dennawi representing former PM Najib Mikati, Northern Governor Ramzi Nohra, Tripoli's deputies and prominent figures and various youth, social and trade unions and associations, student bodies and a crowd of citizens. The four-hour race took place in a smooth and tranquil atmosphere, while strict security measures were adopted by the Internal Security Forces and main roads leading to the race track were closed off to traffic which was diverted to other roads, so citizens can easily move around the city. In his delivered word on the occasion, Kabbara conveyed PM Hariri's greetings to all the participants in the race and to the people of Tripoli, considering that "this sports festival reflects the true image of the capital of the North." Kabbara hoped that "efforts would be united to ensure the rise of Tripoli economically and developmentally," stressing that "the painful and denounced terrorist incident that hit the city was an individual act that happens in most Arab, European and American states." He called herein on the Army, the Internal Security Forces and all other security apparatuses to "strike with an iron fist against anyone who wishes to tamper with the security of Tripoli or any other region in Lebanon." Kabbara emphasized on unity and solidarity to save the country from its current ordeals.

Jumblat Slams Mustaqbal Ministers over Phone Networks Outage
Naharnet/09 June/2019/Progressive Socialist Party leader ex-MP Walid Jumblat on Sunday launched a fresh jab at al-Mustaqbal Movement, amid a new row between the two parties. “Why did mobile networks witness an outage yesterday morning in the Aley-Chouf region,” Jumblat tweeted. “We hear about these large sums of money that get earmarked for the so-called fiber optic cables, from the tenure of (ex-telecom minister Jamal) al-Jarrah to the tenure of (incumbent Telecom Minister Mohammed) Shqeir, and suddenly we get disconnected from the world,” the PSP leader added. “Even the landlines were affected,” Jumblat lamented, wondering if “someone from the security agencies is eavesdropping or jamming the signals.”The head of the OGERO state-run telecom company, Imad Kreidieh, later responded to Jumblat’s tweet. “The severing of the fiber optic cable between Btater and Rishmaya has caused an internet outage and maintenance crews are working on restoring normalcy,” Kreidieh tweeted. He said the affected towns are Majdal al-Meoush, Btater and Rishmaya.

Bassil says it is normal to defend the Lebanese labor force against any other
Sun 09 Jun 2019/NNA - Addressing the dinner attendees at the closing of the sixth round of the Diaspora Energy Conference on Saturday, Foreign Minister Gebran Bassil stressed that "our belonging is what brings us together," and "one form of this belonging is the Lebanese nationality, or Lebanity, which we considered to be the highest affiliation and is the real common denominator between us."He added: "Lebanon wants to give you, not to take away from you. This is a basic equation."Bassil indicated that in spite of all that people hear about Lebanon, the deposits in Lebanese banks reach 200 billion dollars, which is four times the size of the national production, and 80 percent of these deposits belong to residents because the Lebanese believe in their homeland and deposit their money here. "Some people accuse me of being racist and I understand them because their Lebanese affiliation is not strong enough to feel what we feel, and because they consider that a second affiliation may be more important to them," Bassil went on. "It is normal for the state to distinguish its citizens from others, i.e. from foreigners, and this is not racism," he explained, pointing to the content of the International Convention against Racial Discrimination which indicates that the local law prevails."It is normal to defend the Lebanese labor force against any other labor, whether Syrian, Palestinian, French, Saudi, Iranian or American," Bassil maintained, stressing that "the Lebanese come first!""Our economy and our banking system are still resisting, and are still a role model for many other countries. What harms Lebanon is the distorted image that some people convey, and this is the biggest pollution, namely the insistence on not revealing the positives," Bassil concluded.

Abu Faour promises 'zero pollution' in the Litani River by summer's end; Jarrah says problem lies not in funding, but in file management
Sun 09 Jun 2019/NNA - Minister of Industry, Wael Abu Faour, confirmed Sunday "the commitment to reach zero industrial pollution in the Litani River by the end of this summer."He stated that the final deadline will not be extended and on June 28, the interval given to industrial establishments of the fourth and fifth degrees will expire, whereby measures will begin to be implemented. "No Lebanese can claim, or be certain that he is immune from the current health and environmental damage caused by the current state of the River," Abu Faour said, stressing on addressing this issue as a "legitimate need."His words came during a meeting held at the West Bekaa Country Club in the town of Khirbet Qanafar in Western Bekaa earlier today, at the invitation of the Ministry of Industry, to discuss with various industrialists and municipalities ways of treating the pollution of the Litani River and its tributaries. The meeting was attended by Minister of Information Jamal Al-Jarrah, and Future Parliamentary Bloc Members, Deputies Mohammad Al-Qaraawi and Henry Shdid, and former MPs Antoine Saad and Nasser Nasrallah. "There is a great effort undertaken by Prime Minister Saad Hariri, with the Committee in charge of addressing this pollution problem, not only at the industrial level, but at all levels," disclosed Abu Faour.
"The problem at large is at the level of sanitation," he added, referring to the tragic and urgent situation that requires immediate action and shortening of deadlines given to industries and speeding up implementation in order to eliminate the damages. Abu Faour pointed out that "industrial damage according to statistics is a small quantity, but the most harmful aspect is in terms of health and environment, because industrial wastes, including heavy metals, are the most harmful to citizens' health." "The municipalities are responsible like us," he corroborated, stating that all municipalities of the Litani basin shoulder the same responsibility of trying to keep the river clean. In turn, Minister Jarrah considered that "the focus should basically be on industrial decontamination, and other contaminants such as sanitation, because this water is used in agriculture while being polluted, and there are large contaminants that lead to serious diseases."
"This affects agriculture, our economy and exports, and the excessive use of chemicals and agricultural medicines reaches our underground waters," he added. "We managed to get $25 million from the Development and Reconstruction Council to clean the Litani, because the amount of waste in the river is incredible," Jarrah said, noting that the problem lies not in securing of funds but rather in the management of the dossier.
He called on municipalities to "prevent people from throwing waste into the river, and to create a culture of protection of the Litani River and the preservation of such important natural resources, which are the basis of our livelihood, especially agriculture."

Jabak on Pharmacist's Day: Price reduction will include 3,200 medicines, efforts are pinned on supporting local industry, closing phantom infirmaries, establishing a central laboratory
Sun 09 Jun 2019/NNA - Public Health Minister, Jamil Jabak, outlined Sunday his Ministry's policy on regulating the pharmaceutical sector in terms of lowering prices, raising the quality level and activating inspection to ensure proper health among citizens. This came during his patronage of the Pharmacist's Day reception organized by the Pharmacists' Syndicate at the Phoenicia Hotel in Beirut, devoted to tackling the role of pharmacists in the rationalization of the drug bill. Jabak disclosed that "the reduction of prices will include 3,200 medicines," adding that his Ministry accords "special priority to restructuring the pharmaceutical sector, thus leading to the provision of great support for high quality medicine at very reasonable prices that are accessible to patients.""We have made a commitment and promise to advance the medical, pharmacological and pharmaceutical status in Lebanon, and we have taken the initiative to begin doing so," vowed Jabak. He disclosed that efforts will be focused on supporting the local pharmaceutical industry and closing of all "phantom infirmaries" while working to establish a central laboratory to examine medicines, food supplements, water, air and all components related to modern pharmaceutical tests that are very sophisticated and of high quality, in light of the country's urgent need at the health and environmental level.

Kouyoumjian from Jezzine: To keep developmental projects away from political differences
Sun 09 Jun 2019/NNA - Social Affairs Minister, Richard Kouyoumjian, called Sunday for keeping developmental projects away from political difference in the country. "Democracy in Lebanon is represented by municipal and mayoral elections because the voter has direct contact with his constituents. I hope that your local projects and the development of your areas will be joint projects away from political differences," he said, addressing citizens and officials in Jezzine during his visit to the region earlier today. "I am calling from Jezzine today on my fellow ministers, my brethrens at the Parliament House, the three Presidents and all officials, to rescue the associations and institutions that have reached the red line, being on the verge of bankruptcy," he went on. "The citizen of Jezzine should stay in his land and residents of Beirut must be invited to visit Jezzine during weekends and occasions...I congratulate you on living together in this region," he added. Kouyoumjian planted a Cedar tree in a land belonging to the Lebanese Forces Party in the area of Jezzine during his tour, following which he headed to the building of the Union of Municipalities of Jezzine where he had a meeting with Union President, Khalil Harfoush, and heads of municipalities of the region.

Hassan Says ISF ‘Extremist’ against Terror, Othman Defends Remarks, Institution
Naharnet/09 June/2019/Interior Minister Raya al-Hassan on Sunday said the Internal Security Forces institution is “extremist” in its efforts against terrorism, as ISF chief Maj. Gen. Imad Othman clarified his remarks about the Islamic State-inspired gunman who killed four troops in Tripoli.
“The ugly crime that hit Tripoli was made by the remnants of the terrorism which Lebanon has succeeded in the fight against it,” Hassan said in a speech marking the anniversary of the ISF’s creation. “The ISF is extremist in its efforts to eradicate the black terrorism, and it is a security valve that is cooperating with the other security institutions to preserve the country’s stability,” she added. Othman for his part explained what he meant by saying in the wake of the attack that the militant was “psychologically unstable.” “Anyone who thinks of carrying out any act of terror is a mentally- and psychologically-ill creature and we meant that no sane person can murder people,” Othman said. In a possible jab at Free Patriotic Movement chief MP Jebran Bassil, the ISF chief added: “No matter how much schemers try to fight your institution, we will remain proud of what we have accomplished, because we were the first to launch the spark of the fight against corruption.” “We will remain proud of what we are doing and our conscience is clear with our reasonable and firm stances that we have taken in the most difficult circumstances,” Othman went on to say.

Tension forces evacuation of Syrian refugee camp in Lebanon
The Associated Press, Deir al-Ahmar/Sunday, 9 June 2019/Dozens of Syrian refugees dismantled their tents, filled trucks with belongings and left a camp they lived in for years in eastern Lebanon on Sunday after local authorities ordered them to evacuate in the aftermath of a brawl with local firefighters. Lebanese officials say the decision to evacuate is to prevent revenge attacks and further tension after residents of the town threatened to storm the camp. A curfew on the Syrian refugees living in Deir al-Ahmar, estimated at 6,000, was put in place for two days and police patrolled the area. “This is to ensure their safety and to stop the bloodshed,” said Jean Fakhry, a Lebanese municipality official in Deir al-Ahmar told The Associated Press. The evacuation of more than 90 tents reflects the growing tension in Lebanon over hosting more than 1 million Syrian refugees since 2011.
A country of nearly 5 million, Lebanon’s infrastructure and economy has been overwhelmed by the arrival of those fleeing the war next door. Mostly impoverished and dispossessed, many settled in the country’s east, living in squalid camps and struggling to work and survive in the area known for its harsh winters and sizzling summers. As Lebanon deals with an economic crunch, many Lebanese politicians and groups turned to Syrians, calling for them to go home saying the violence there is winding down. In the scorching sun of the early afternoon, Syrian men, women and children pulled down cloth and carpets covering the wooden structures that served as their temporary homes. They piled mattresses, pots and pans into trucks headed to a new location miles away. Local officials say 600 lived in the camps but UN estimates said it was closer to 400 people. It is at least the second time the refugees, most of them from Idlib province, had to pack their lives into boxes to find new, safer areas. Samar Awad, a 27-year old Syrian, said the camp’s residents are being sent to a new site with no electricity or water. She said it may be equally dangerous as their reputation as troublemakers will precede them. “We have been living here for seven years,” said Awad. “It has become like home, and more.”Awad hails from Saraqeb, a town in Idlib, the last area controlled by the opposition to Syria’s President Bashar al-Assad.
Seasonal farmers from Syria, like Awad, used to come to Lebanon even before the war. But after the violence, many of them stayed, overwhelming the local communities. Last week, a fire broke out on the hill overlooking the camp sparking panic. When firefighters arrived, residents pelted their vehicle with stones over what they said was the rescuers’ late arrival. A brawl ensued and a firefighter was injured and tents were damaged. The army arrived on the scene and arrested more than 30 Syrians. The camp residents fled and later, unknown assailants set three of the tents ablaze. The tensions led to the evacuation order and the lockdown on refugees in the area. “There was local anger and revolt,” Fakhry, the Lebanese official said. “We decided they should not come back to avoid another problem and bloodshed.”The UN refugee agency was on the scene on Sunday as the Syrians prepared to leave. In a statement, the agency said all perpetrators should be prosecuted as an investigation is underway. “A collective punishment of Syrian refugees in Lebanon will further escalate the situation,” the UNHCR said. “All refugees in Lebanon should not be punished over one incident and outside the justice system.”

Political horse-trading weakens Lebanon
Makram Rabah/The Arab Weekly/June 09/2019
The end of Ramadan and the Eid al-Fitr celebration were tragic for the Lebanese because festivities were interrupted by terrorism in Tripoli, leaving four law enforcement officers dead and a country in shock.
Yet the dreadful act, which was carried out by a local jihadi lone wolf who briefly fought with the Islamic State in Syria, fuelled a more violent verbal dispute, one that has been raging between factions of Lebanese Prime Minister Saad Hariri and Foreign Minister Gebran Bassil, President Michel Aoun’s son-in-law and president of the Free Patriotic Movement (FPM).
This intense and ferocious debate is not new but resurfaces every time Bassil, ever aspiring to the Lebanese presidency, openly challenges the position of the Sunni prime minister, an act that takes a sectarian undertone and convulses an already polarised nation.
Such political bickering has been the norm the last few years, yet the level to which politicians have sunk and their willingness to exploit their power are at a record low.
The abuse of power is palpable in the showdown between Bassil and Hariri’s faction, the Future Movement, with Bassil vying to depose the Director of the Internal Security Forces (ISF) Major-General Imad Othman, a Sunni officer whom Bassil accuses of usurping power and operating without oversight.
Bassil and his faction are very clear that Aoun’s term is one that will see the reinstatement of the Maronite hegemony over power, a status they lost to the Sunnis following the end of the Lebanese civil war in 1990 and the adoption of the Taif Agreement.
The power feud between Bassil and the Future Movement recently moved to the judiciary with Bassil allegedly instructing military prosecutor Peter Germanos to exonerate Major Suzan Hajj, who was accused of falsifying evidence leading to the unlawful detention of actor Ziad Itani.
Hajj, the former head of the Lebanese Anti-Cybercrime and Intellectual Property Bureau who enjoys Aoun’s patronage, made news when the ISF Intelligence Branch provided evidence allegedly implicating her in framing Itani.
The Itani affair provided both sides with an arena to exchange blame with each side accusing the other of trying to subdue the judiciary and law enforcement agencies to serve their own goals.
However, following the Tripoli incident, the FPM took its assault further, accusing Othman and the Sunni community of harbouring terrorism and providing protection for jihadists.
This dangerous sectarian undertone and the reaction of the Hariri faction go beyond merely instigating strife but dangerously erode the base of the Lebanese state and transforms the judiciary and the police into sectarian pawns that lack the confidence and support of the general public, rendering them ineffective.
While true that all aspects of governance have been traditionally controlled by the ruling elite, the brazen way Bassil, as well as Hariri, are taking liberties by declaring high-ranking bureaucrats as part of their political fiefdom is utterly disgraceful.
What is more appalling is that this outrageous tug of war has become recurrent. Yet both Hariri and Bassil seem to be sticking with their sacred alliance, which led to the election of Aoun as president two years ago.
Despite these brief falling outs, the Bassil-Hariri political and allegedly financial arrangement has persisted and used the populist feuds to justify and perhaps reinforce their alliance vis-a-vis their supporters. Remarkably, every time Hariri had to make a major concession or a lucrative deal with Bassil this would be preceded by a mock verbal fight such as the current one while failing to address the deficiencies.
Time and again, Hariri has been criticised by his Sunni supporters and his political allies for not properly assuming the reins of the premiership and instead allowing Aoun and Bassil to infringe on his constitutional prerogatives. Interestingly, throughout this recent feud, Hariri has not properly responded to Bassil’s attacks but preferred to stay somewhat silent on the matter and allow for Bassil’s rampage to run its course.
Wishing to divert attention from the abysmal budget passed by his cabinet, Hariri’s only way to muster support is to lean on his sectarian Sunni power base, a tactic Bassil also uses with his Christian power base.
Hariri and Bassil have major obstacles to overcome, including senior bureaucratic appointments that their opponents and allies will try to sway to their side. Having this tense atmosphere allows them to play both sides.
As long as Hariri and Bassil have their arrangement, which includes sanctioning Hezbollah’s continued hegemony over all other Lebanese matters, the Lebanese state will become increasingly weaker, resulting in a potentially dangerous political vacuum that threatens stability and makes it easier for terrorists and lone wolves to operate.
**Makram Rabah is a lecturer at the American University of Beirut, Department of History. He is the author of A Campus at War: Student Politics at the American University of Beirut, 1967-1975.

The Latest English LCCC Miscellaneous Reports And News published on June 09-10/2019
Iran threatens Europe with unspecified 'action' if it does not 'normalise' economic ties
Reuters/June 09/2019/Iran said on Sunday Europe was in no position to criticise Tehran for its military capabilities and it called on European leaders to normalise trade ties with the Islamic Republic despite US sanctions, or face consequences. President Donald Trump last year withdrew the United States from world powers' 2015 nuclear deal with Iran and reimposed sweeping sanctions. The west European signatories to the deal - France, Britain and Germany - share the same concerns as the United States over Iran's ballistic missile development and regional activities. However, they have defended the nuclear accord as the best way to limit Iran:s enrichment of uranium, a potential pathway to nuclear weapons, and a basis for future negotiations on a broader palette of security and other longstanding disputes. "Europeans are not in a position to criticise Iran for issues outside the JCPOA," Foreign Minister Mohammad Javad Zarif was quoted as saying by the state broadcaster, using the acronym for the nuclear deal. "The Europeans and other signatories of the JCPOA should normalise economic ties with Iran...We will halt our commitments or will take action in accordance with their measures." Last month, Iran scaled back some commitments under the 2015 deal and warned that in 60 days it would resume enriching uranium to a higher degree than that permitted by the accord if the Europeans failed to shield it against the U.S. sanctions, which aim to cripple its oil-dependent economy. German Foreign Minister Heiko Maas will visit Iran this week to explore options for preserving the fraying nuclear non-proliferation pact. Iranian Parliament Speaker Ali Larijani on Sunday criticised French President Emmanuel Macron for saying last week in a meeting with Trump that they shared the same objectives on Iran.
Macron said France wanted to make sure Tehran will not get nuclear weapons: "We had an accord until 2025 and we want to go further and have full certainty in the long run... (Then) reduce ballistic activity and contain Iran regionally." Tehran unveiled on Sunday a new "domestically-produced" air defence system with the capability to trace six targets - including fighetr jets, bombers and drones at the same time and destroy them with missiles. "Iran will increase its military capabilities to protect its national security and interests, and it will not ask permission from anyone on this matter," Defence Minister Amir Hatami said at an unveiling ceremony for the system.

Pope Francis appeals for peace, dialogue in Sudan
Reuters, Vatican CitySunday, 9 June 2019/Pope Francis on Sunday appealed for peace in Sudan following a bloody crackdown by security forces on pro-democracy protesters in Khartoum last week. “The news coming from Sudan is giving rise to pain and concern. We pray for these people, so that the violence ceases and the common good is sought in the dialogue,” the pope said in his weekly address to crowds in St Peter’s Square. Opposition medics say 113 people were killed in this week’s violence in the Sudanese capital, while the government has put the death toll at 61, including three members of the security services. Sudan’s main alliance of opposition groups and protesters have urged workers and employees to stay home on Sunday, launching what it called a campaign of civil disobedience to force military rulers to hand over power to civilians.

New US ambassador meets with Iraqi FM in Baghdad
AFP, BaghdadSunday, 9 June 2019/The new US ambassador in Baghdad submitted his credentials to Iraq’s top diplomat, the foreign ministry announced Sunday, joining the embassy just weeks after Washington brought “non-essential” diplomatic staff home. Matthew Tueller has served as US ambassador to both Yemen and Kuwait, and had been previously posted in Baghdad as a political adviser at the American embassy. On Sunday, Tueller submitted his diplomatic credentials to Iraqi Foreign Minister Mohammed Ali al-Hakim, who said Baghdad would “guarantee all necessary conditions for the success of his mission.”The US Senate confirmed Tueller’s appointment in Iraq in mid-May, a day after the State Department announced it was withdrawing all “non-essential” members from its embassy in Baghdad and consulate in Erbil. The move came amid escalating tensions between the United States and Iran that have repeatedly seen Iraq - an ally of both countries - caught in the middle. The US withdrew from the landmark 2015 nuclear deal with Iran last year, then reinstated tough sanctions on the Islamic Republic. In April, it designated Iran’s Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps as a “terrorist organization,” prompting Iran to slap US troops across the region with the same designation. And last month, the US deployed a carrier group and B-52 bombers to the Gulf over unspecified Iranian “threats” and a rocket landed in Baghdad’s high-security Green Zone, where the US embassy is based. It sparked fears of a spillover into Iraq, which relies heavily on Iran for energy and consumer goods and where various Shiite armed groups have close ties to Tehran.

Qatar admits having different ‘assessment’ to US on Iran threat
Qatari Foreign Minister Sheikh Mohammed bin Abdulrahman Al-Thani said Qatar respected US policy on Iran, but added: “We have our own
Arab News/09 June/2019/LONDON: Qatar has its "own assessment” different to the US on policy towards Iran, the country’s foreign minister said Sunday.The comments are expected to alarm members of the Trump administration, which has beefed up America’s military presence in the region after an increased Iranian threat.  Qatar hosts the biggest US military base in the Middle East but has become increasingly close to Iran despite Washington viewing Tehran as the world’s largest state sponsor of terror. Since withdrawing from the 2015 agreement to curb Iran’s nuclear program, President Donald Trump has ramped up sanctions and vowed to curb Tehran’s destabilizing activities in the region. Speaking in London, Qatari Foreign Minister Sheikh Mohammed bin Abdulrahman Al-Thani said Qatar respected US policy on Iran, but added: “We have our own assessment.”“There is a big pressure on Iran’s economy, but Iran lived under sanctions for 40 years. It’s never been like this but they survived. We don’t see the repetition of the same way will create a different result,” he said. “They don’t want to have a continuation of the sanctions at the same level and enter negotiations. They believe there was an agreement and US was part of the agreement.” Sheikh Mohammed said Qatar and other countries have been talking to both Iran and the United States about de-escalation, urging both sides to meet and find a compromise. “We believe that at one point there should an engagement – it cannot last forever like this,” he said. “Since they are not willing to engage in further escalation, they should come up with ideas that open the doors.”Qatar’s close ties with Iran, along with its support of extremist groups, was one of the reasons Saudi Arabia, the UAE and other Gulf and Arab countries cut ties with Doha two years ago.
The comments from Qatar on a differing approach to Iran come after the US last month deployed an aircraft carrier strike group and B-52 long-range bombers to the region to tackle escalatory action by Iran. The US has also said Iran was almost certainly behind an attack on four oil tankers, including two Saudi ships, off the coast of the UAE.  Sheikh Mohammed also spoke about the Trump administration's impending Middle East peace deal, saying there was a disconnect between the Palestinians and the US over the blueprint. "It cannot be a solution like, sort of, imposed on the Palestinians – no country in the Arab world can accept that," Sheikh Mohammed said, of the deal to end decades of confict with Israel.*With Reuters

Goalkeeper Turned Iconic Rebel Fighter Dies in Northwest Syria
Naharnet/Agence France Presse/June 09/2019/A Syrian goalkeeper turned rebel fighter who starred in an award-winning documentary has died of wounds sustained fighting regime forces in northwestern Syria, his faction said. Abdel-Basset al-Sarout, 27, was among dozens of fighters killed since Thursday in clashes on the edges of the Idlib region. Some 215 fighters from both sides have been killed in the fighting, according to the Syrian Observatory for Human Rights. That number includes 65 regime fighters, as well as 48 jihadists and allied rebels on Saturday alone. The region, dominated by an alliance led by Syria's former al-Qaida affiliate, is supposed to be protected by a months-old buffer zone deal. But it has come under deadly regime bombardment in recent weeks, sparking fears for its roughly three million residents. Before Syria's eight-year civil war, Sarout, from the central city of Homs, was a goalkeeper for the country's youth football team. When peaceful demonstrations broke out against President Bashar al-Assad's regime in 2011, he joined in and soon became a popular singer of protest songs. Following a brutal government crackdown on the protests, he took up arms. Sarout starred in the documentary "Return to Homs" by Syrian director Talal Derki, which tracked his evolution from protest leader to fighter, and won a top prize at the Sundance Film Festival in 2014. Jameel al-Saleh, commander of the rebel faction Jaish al-Izza, announced Sarout's death in a message on Twitter, describing him as a "martyr".Another of the group's commanders, Mahmoud al-Mahmoud, also confirmed the fighter's death. "He was a well-mannered young man and one of the fiercest fighters I have known," he told AFP. He said the fighter had been wounded two days previously in the battle for Tal Maleh, a village in the north of Hama province.
'Goalkeeper, bard' and fighter
The Syrian Observatory for Human Rights said Sarout was wounded in overnight battles Thursday to Friday while fighting in the ranks of Jaish al-Izza. "He died of his wounds on Saturday," said the head of the Britain-based monitor, Rami Abdel Rahman. Sarout was evacuated from Homs in 2014 under a surrender deal with the regime to end a two-year siege of its historical centre, according to the Observatory. His father and four of his brothers were killed during bombing and clashes in Homs, it said. On Saturday, Syrian activists and opposition figures took to Twitter to mourn him. "The goalkeeper of freedom, the icon of Homs, the bard of the squares, the unforgettable sound of the Syrian revolution has been martyred," wrote researcher and opposition supporter Ahmad Abazeed. Hadi al-Bahra, a member of the opposition Syrian Negotiations Commission, posted: "He died hoping to realise the dreams of Syrians." Since 2011, the conflict has killed 370,000 people and displaced millions. Today, Assad's forces are in control of almost 60 percent of Syria, after a series of Russian-backed victories against rebels and jihadists. A large northeastern swathe of the country remains in Kurdish hands, while the Idlib region is dominated by the Hayat Tahrir al-Sham alliance.
'Totemic figure'
Syria analyst Shiraz Maher described Sarout as "a totemic figure within the revolution". "His trajectory reflects the many twists and turns of this constantly mutating conflict," said the director of the International Centre for the Study of Radicalisation in London. "The symbolism of his loss is huge. It's another loss for the stalled and stunted revolutionaries of 2011," he told AFP. Almost half of the Idlib region's residents have been displaced from other parts of the war-torn country, including under deals to hand back those areas to government control. The region, also spanning slivers of neighboring Latakia, Aleppo and Hama provinces, is nominally protected by a September buffer zone deal signed by Russia and rebel backer Turkey. But the regime and their allies have upped their deadly bombardment of the region since late April, killing more than 330 civilians, according to the Observatory. The violence has also forced more than 270,000 people to flee their homes and hit 24 health facilities, the United Nations says. Late Thursday, HTS and rebel allies launched a counterattack against government forces in the area of Tal Maleh to the southwest of the Idlib region. Analysts predict the regime will continue to chip away at the Idlib region, but say it is unlikely to unleash a major assault.

4 Killed on First Day of Sudan 'Civil Disobedience'
Agence France Presse/Naharnet/09 June/2019/Four people were killed in Sudan on Sunday on the first day of a "civil disobedience" campaign by protesters, a doctors' committee linked to demonstrators said. Two people were shot dead in the capital Khartoum and its twin city of Omdurman just across the Nile river, the Central Committee for Sudanese Doctors said, adding two others died in a hospital in Omdurman after being stabbed. The committee blamed the ruling military council and paramilitary forces for the four deaths.It said a total of 118 people have been killed since a crackdown was launched on June 3 to disperse a sit-in protest outside the military headquarters in the Sudanese capital.

Sudan’s protesters launch general strike after crackdown
The Associated Press, Khartoum/Sunday, 9 June 2019/Shops are closed and streets are empty across Sudan’s capital on the first day of a general strike called for by protest leaders demanding the resignation of the ruling military council. The Sudanese Professionals Association (SPA) had called on people to stay home Sunday in protest at the military’s deadly crackdown last week, when security forces violently dispersed the group’s main sit-in outside the military headquarters in Khartoum. The SPA spearheaded months of mass protests that led to the military overthrow of President Omar al-Bashir in April, and had called on people to remain in the streets until a full handover of power to civilians.The group posted photos it said were of an empty Khartoum International Airport. It says airport workers and pilots are taking part in the civil disobedience.
US envoy’s annexation comments show ‘extremist’ approach: Palestinian leaders
AFP, RamallahSunday, 9 June 2019/Palestinian leaders say a US envoy’s comments on Israel having the right to annex at least parts of the occupied West Bank show “extremists” are involved in White House policy on the issue. In a statement late Saturday in response to US ambassador to Israel David Friedman’s comments in a New York Times interview, a Palestinian government spokesman said some leading US policy on the issue were “extremists” lacking in “political maturity.” The Palestinian foreign ministry said it was looking into filing a complaint with the International Criminal Court on the issue. Palestine Liberation Organization secretary general Saeb Erekat on Twitter called Friedman an “extreme ambassador of the settlers.” “Their vision is about annexation of occupied territory, a war crime under international law,” he said. Erekat also renewed a Palestinian call for countries to boycott a June 25-26 conference in Bahrain to discuss economic aspects of a peace deal the White House has been working on. In the interview published Saturday, Friedman said some degree of annexation of the West Bank would be legitimate. “Under certain circumstances, I think Israel has the right to retain some, but unlikely all, of the West Bank,” he said. Israel occupied the West Bank in the 1967 Six-Day War and its construction of settlements there is viewed as a major stumbling block to peace as they are built on land the Palestinians see as part of their future state. Friedman has in the past been a supporter of Israeli settlements, as has the family of Jared Kushner, US President Donald Trump’s son-in-law and adviser leading efforts to put together the peace deal. Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu pledged ahead of April elections to begin annexing West Bank settlements. Bringing settlements under Israeli sovereignty on a large-scale could end any remaining hopes for a two-state solution to Israel’s conflict with the Palestinians. More than 600,000 Jewish settlers now live in the West Bank and annexed east Jerusalem among some three million Palestinians. On the long-delayed peace plan, Friedman said it was aimed at improving the quality of life for Palestinians but would fall well short of a “permanent resolution to the conflict.”Publication of the plan looks set to be further delayed after the Israeli parliament called a snap general election for September, the second this year. The plan is regarded as too sensitive to release during the campaign. The Palestinian leadership has already rejected the plan, saying Trump’s moves so far show him to be blatantly biased in favor of Israel. Those moves include recognizing the disputed city of Jerusalem as Israel’s capital and cutting hundreds of thousands of dollars in aid to the Palestinians.

India's Modi Makes Unscheduled Stop at Bombed Sri Lanka Church
Agence France Presse/Naharnet/09 June/2019/India's Prime Minister Narendra Modi Sunday made an unscheduled stop at a Catholic church bombed during the Easter suicide attacks ahead of his official welcome to Sri Lanka. Modi's entourage made a detour to St Anthony's shrine on their way to President Maithripala Sirisena's office, where a red carpet military parade awaited. "I am confident Sri Lanka will rise again," Modi said on Twitter while posting photos of himself at the church. "Cowardly acts of terror cannot defeat the spirit of Sri Lanka. India stands in solidarity with the people of Sri Lanka." Modi is stopping in Colombo on his return home after an official visit to neighbouring Maldives, where he inaugurated a coastal radar system and military training centre. His brief but politically significant visit to the two neighbours comes as New Delhi seeks to fend off Chinese influence on the strategic nations. The Maldives, a low-lying archipelago of more than a thousand tiny coral islands south of the Indian subcontinent, straddles the world's busiest east-west maritime route. Sri Lanka is located at a halfway point on the same sea route. India, the traditional ally of both Sri Lanka and the Maldives, had watched with unease as former governments of strongman leader Abdulla Yameen of the Maldives and Sri Lanka's Mahinda Rajapakse leaned towards Beijing for political and financial support. Yameen's election loss last September, however, has seen the new administration under President Ibrahim Mohamed Solih swing back towards New Delhi. Colombo too has moved back to New Delhi after the defeat of Rajapakse in January 2015.Last month, Colombo announced entering into partnership with India and Japan to develop a deep-sea container terminal next to a controversial $500-million Chinese-run facility in the capital.
A memorandum of cooperation (MOC) had been signed between the three countries to develop what is known as the East Terminal of Colombo port. China owns 85 percent of the adjoining Colombo International Container Terminal, which was commissioned in 2013. The state-owned Sri Lanka Ports Authority owns the remaining 15 percent.More than two thirds of transhipment containers handled by Colombo originated from or was destined for India. Sri Lanka, unable to repay a huge Chinese loan, handed over another deep-sea port in the south of the island to a Beijing company in December 2017 in a deal that raised concerns at home and abroad.

Israeli navy boards ship from Turkey that was set on fire
The Associated Press, Jerusalem/Sunday, 9 June 2019/The Israeli military says naval forces boarded a cargo ship off the coast that had been set on fire.The military says it was alerted early Sunday to an anchored ship off northern Israel whose hull was ablaze. At the request of the ship’s captain, Israeli forces boarded and searched the ship. Hours later, the military said it apprehended a hidden passenger and transferred him to police for questioning. Local media say the ship was making its way from Turkey to an Israeli port and that a stowaway tried to set the vessel ablaze, causing damage. The ship was said to have sailed under a Panamanian flag. The military says the incident is over and would provide no further details

German FM in Jordan in bid to ease US-Iran tensions
The Associated Press, Amman/Sunday, 9 June 2019/German Foreign Minister Heiko Maas met on Sunday with Jordanian Foreign Minister Ayman Al-Safadi in the Jordanian capital Amman. Mass and Al-Safadi discussed regional security, countering ISIS extremist group, the Israeli-Palestinian conflict, the Syria crisis, funding for the United Nations Relief and Works Agency for Palestine Refugees (UNRWA) and bilateral relations. The talks also focused on the economic challenges facing the kingdom. Maas said Germany will support Jordan with an unconditional loan of 100 million US dollars. Al-Safadi said both countries were in agreement that the two-state solution is the only solution to ending the Israeli-Palestinian conflict. Maas’ visit to Jordan is part of a wider trip to the Middle East seeking to de-escalate tensions between Iran and the United States.
The German foreign minister visited Iraq on Saturday and expected in Iran on Monday.

The Latest LCCC English analysis & editorials from miscellaneous sources published on June 09-10/2019
The Mystery of God /June 09/2019
In the Name of the Father and the Son and the Holy Spirit; immediately, the faithful starts with sign of the Cross. Many would question that, how they are related the sign of humiliation and the sign of victory and the faithful raise his head to summarize his faith by the sign of the Cross. The speech of Paul to the people of Corinth is very simple. it was similar to a mother would like to teach her baby many things by using a simple language that would convince his mind and approach his heart to understand his mother who approaches her child with love. The Apostle of the Nations was very faithful to the inspiration of the Spirit of God to carry out the personal experience to receive the Good News that plant the seed of faith in the hearts of the People of God. The simplicity of the mystery of God has been hidden from the wise of the World to be revealed to humble people. This is the plan of salvation that has been established by the Heavenly Father before the Creation of the world. His plan is that, to communicate the life of God to all human being. “as he chose us in him, before the foundation of the world, to be holy and without blemish before him In love, he destined us for adoption to himself through Jesus Christ, in accord with the favor of his will, for the praise of the glory of his grace that he granted us in the beloved. The Mystery of Salvation of God has been established in the Church who is the Pillar and the Foundation of the Truth. The Mystery of God and his act of Salvation are hidden from the wise and the power of the world. In the end of the ages, God has revealed them to a special people like his disciples and those who believe in Jesus Christ. John expressed highly this revelation the Jesus Christ who became a victim to come eagerly according to his free will to save the World.
“Through divine revelation, God chose to show forth and communicate himself and the eternal decisions of his will regarding the salvation of men.” (DV 6) 5. "The obedience of faith" (Rom. 13:26; see 1:5; 2 Cor 10:5-6) "is to be given to God who reveals, an obedience by which man commits his whole self freely to God, offering the full submission of intellect and will to God who reveals," (4) and freely assenting to the truth revealed by Him. To make this act of faith, the grace of God and the interior help of the Holy Spirit must precede and assist, moving the heart and turning it to God, opening the eyes of the mind and giving "joy and ease to everyone in assenting to the truth and believing it." (5) To bring about an ever deeper understanding of revelation the same Holy Spirit constantly brings faith to completion by His gifts.
When Jesus, comforted his disciples , he promised that he would not live them orphans ; he will continue to stay with them not similar to what they had promise the Spirit of God will establish a strong relationship to have more confidence the Father and the Son with the holy Spirit are living in the hearts of the faithful.
Many people would ask if what Jesus says is real.
Much time we would look around to see everything is gloomy and dark, the world is deteriorating to become vacant of love and mercy. This is a sign of the absence of the Spirit of God. We are bubbling words from stories or quotations from the scriptures without understand the meaning of that. Most of the time we are hopeless because of different reasons one of them, we prefer the world that is consuming our love and our energy to compete the others.
I would like to change starting with myself, my prayers. How to pray do I ask the presence of the kingdom of God in my life as the Scriptures promise to day: “Whoever loves me will keep my word, and my Father will love him, and will come to him and make our dwelling with him.”
The revolution is not accusing the others but seeking the kingdom of God inside of me have my heart a special place for God and the whole body is the temple of the Holy Spirit.
Many would say how we start?
Saint Paul says: “The Word is near you, in your mouth and in your heart.” Many times we repeated it and we memorize it because of proclamation in catechism, radio, TV and preaching in the Church. This word is sterilized for many reasons. it needs the presence of the Holy Spirit to be ready to sprout and become effective in the hearts like those who were present listening to the proclamation of St. Peter as the book of the acts says: “Now when they heard this, they were cut to the heart, and they asked Peter and the other apostles, “What are we to do, my brothers?”
Peter [said] to them, “Repent and be baptized,* every one of you, in the name of Jesus Christ for the forgiveness of your sins; and you will receive the gift of the Holy Spirit.
For the promise is made to you and to your children and to all those far off, whomever the Lord our God will call.”
many of our saints whom we honor head one thing in their lives is to live the promises of God that seeking his kingdom and they became the temple of the Spirit. Many would be amazed to see the tomb of a Saint to be a source of graces and inspirations, such as St Sharbel Padre Pio St Therese and others.
The humble body has been transformed to be a chosen vessel of graces.
This marvelous grace that came upon the apostles through Christ and the out pouring of the Holy Spirit would overflowing over the faithful through the proclamation of the Good News and the receiving the power through their communion.

"Europe Will Not Be Europe"
Guy Millière/Gatestone Institute/June 09/2019
https://www.gatestoneinstitute.org/14353/europe-will-not-be-europe
In the United Kingdom, the Brexit Party victory at 31.6% of the vote was a remarkable achievement that showed the persistent willingness of millions of Britons to leave the European Union. The "populist" positions -- the defense of national sovereignty and European civilization, refusal of uncontrolled immigration and diktats of Brussels technocrats -- have gained ground.
The parties that have ruled Europe for decades obtained weak results, but, with rare exceptions, did not collapse -- and will continue to dominate the European Union.
The Greens may gain more influence – along with its consequences. To anyone who read the Greens' programs, it is evident that they are essentially leftists with an environmental green mask. They support unrestricted immigration and multiculturalism. They are...resolutely hostile to any defense of Western civilization, to free enterprise and free markets. They are often in favor of zero growth. Most of them support an apocalyptic vision of climate change and say that the survival of humanity will be at stake around the corner if Europe does not take drastic measures to "save the planet". All of them are in favor of authoritarian decisions imposed from Brussels to all of Europe.
A European parliament placed under the influence of the Greens will almost certainly accelerate the slide towards more power given to the unelected members of the European Commission, and a phasing out of nuclear energy and fossil fuels. Policies favorable to still more immigration already are in preparation.
On the evening of May 26, Italian Deputy Prime Minister and Minister of the Interior Matteo Salvini commented on the results of the European elections, "A new Europe is born." The party he leads, the League, had just won with 34.3% of the vote. Other parties defined in Europe as "populist" also won: in Hungary, the Fidesz-KDNP alliance (Hungarian Civic Alliance and the Christian Democratic People's Party) received 52.3% of the vote. In Poland, the PiS (Law and Justice) party won 45.4% of the vote. Sebastian Kurz's Austrian People's Party (ÖVP) won 34.6% of the vote and the Freedom Party of Austria (FPÖ), his ally, was awarded 17.2%, despite a recent scandal that led to the resignation of Heinz-Christian Strache, chairma of the FPO, from his post as Vice-Chancellor of Austria (the Kurtz government fell on May 27). In the United Kingdom, the Brexit Party victory -- at 31.6% of the vote -- was a remarkable achievement that signaled the persistent willingness of millions of Britons to leave the European Union. There, the "populist" positions -- the defense of national sovereignty and European civilization, refusal of uncontrolled immigration and diktats of Brussels technocrats -- gained ground.
In many European countries, however, the results of the "populists" were mixed. In France, Marine Le Pen's National Rally finished first, but with 23.3% of the vote: only 0.9% more than The Republic on the Move, created three years ago by Emmanuel Macron. The extreme unpopularity of the French President apparently did not cost him much. In Sweden, the Sweden Democrats received only 15.4%, or two percent less than in the 2018 Swedish general elections. The Alternative for Germany (AfD) received 11%. In Belgium, the Vlams Belang received 11.2% of the vote. In Spain, Vox, with 6.2%, had to deal with even more disappointing results. In the Netherlands, the Forum for Democracy got 10.9% and Geert Wilders's Party for Freedom, which fell to 3.5%, no longer has a seat.
The "populist wave" often mentioned in recent weeks did not overwhelm Europe. "Populist" parties will have only a little more than twenty percent of the seats in the European Parliament: enough to be heard, but not enough to exert influence.
The parties that have ruled Europe for decades obtained weak results, but, with rare exceptions, did not collapse -- and will continue to dominate the European Union. The crushing defeat of the British Conservative Party (8.9%, the lowest in its history) seems to have been the result of Theresa May's inability to deliver Brexit. In France, the sharp downfall of The Republicans (8.5%) and the Socialist Party (6.2%) can be explained by most of their leaders (Republicans and socialists) having joined Macron's The Republic on the Move party two years ago. In Germany, the CDU-CSU alliance obtained only 28.9% of the vote, but it was enough to win nevertheless. The socialist SPD received an honorable score, 15.8%.
In several Western European countries, socialist parties prevailed, indicating that apparently socialism is not losing ground. The Spanish Socialist Party triumphed (32.8%), as well as the Portuguese Socialist Party (33.4%). In the Netherlands, the Labor Party (18.9%) finished first. In Italy, socialists obtained 22%; in Denmark, 21.5%, and in Sweden, 23.6%.
The center-right European People's Party (EPP) and the Party of European Socialists (PES), however, lost ground. Their alliance will have only 43% of the seats. For the first time since 1979, when the first European Parliament elections were held, they will not be able to form a majority, although they nevertheless remain dominant. All the same, they will need allies and will likely find them in ALDE (Alliance of Liberals and Democrats for Europe), a group composed of center-left parties that support still more abandonment of sovereignty as well as an even more centrally-controlled European Union.
The EPP-PES alliance will also likely find allies in the real winners of the elections: the green parties. The German Greens (20.5% of the vote) finished second. In France, the EELV (Europe Ecology, The Greens), with 13.5% of the votes, finished third. The Greens also showed strength in the Netherlands (10.9%), Sweden (11.4%), Denmark (13.2%), Austria (14.1%) and Belgium (15.2%). As the EPP-PES alliance will rely on those parties to counter and isolate the populist parties, the Greens may gain still more influence -- along with its consequences.
To anyone who has read the Greens' programs, it is evident that they are essentially leftists with an environmental green mask. They support unrestricted immigration and multiculturalism. They are seemingly blind to the dangers arising from the Islamization of Europe and resolutely hostile to any defense of Western civilization, to free enterprise and free markets. They are often in favor of zero growth. Most of them support an apocalyptic vision of climate change and say that the survival of humanity will soon be at stake if Europe does not take drastic measures to "save the planet". All of them are in favor of authoritarian decisions imposed from Brussels on all of Europe.
A European parliament placed under the influence of the Greens will almost certainly accelerate the slide towards more power given to the unelected members of the European Commission, and a phasing out of nuclear energy and fossil fuels. Policies favorable to still more immigration already are in preparation.
Hungarian Prime Minister Viktor Orbán continues to emphasize the dangers of Islamic mass immigration into Europe and has defined Hungary as "the last bastion against Islamization of Europe." Italy's Salvini has said that "Europe is threatened by Islamization" and could become an "Islamic caliphate". Most other "populist" leaders, however, did not take risks and chose not to address that issue. France's Marine Le Pen spoke about "extremist Islamism", but immediately added that most European Muslims integrate. In Britain, Brexit Party leader Nigel Farage did not say a word on the subject. Tommy Robinson, who made Islamic danger the main theme of his campaign, was subjected to constant harassment and barely received 2% of the vote. In the Netherlands, the leader of the Forum for Democracy party, Thierry Baudet, defended the same positions as Wilders, but avoided talking about Islam, and Wilders's party was basically defeated.
Europe's severe demographic problems were barely mentioned during the campaign. The idea that a change in population could occur was treated as if it were just a "rightist" fantasy. Facts, however, are hard to ignore. Fertility rates in almost all European countries are well below the replacement level of 2.1 children per woman. The figure for Italy is 1.45. In Germany it is 1.48; in Spain 1.5; in Hungary 1.4, and in Poland 1.38. The only country in continental Europe where a higher figure exists is France (1.97) -- but France also has the largest Muslim population in Europe, and all available data show that birth rates are far higher in Muslim families. The population of most European countries is decreasing. Italy is losing 250,000 inhabitants a year, equivalent to almost the population of Venice. Germany decided to welcome millions of immigrants to stop its population decline; today, 12% of German citizens are foreign-born. The massive influx of hundreds of thousands of Muslim immigrants in 2015 was a societal disaster. Integration did not occur. Most of the newcomers are still jobless and rely on welfare to survive. In addition, sexual assault cases increased.
Anti-Semitic attacks have also increased. The situation has now grown so toxic that Felix Klein, the Commissioner for Jewish Life in Germany and the Fight against Anti-Semitism, recently urged Jews not to wear skullcaps in public. Chancellor Merkel said that, "there is to this day not a single synagogue, not a single day care centre for Jewish children, not a single school for Jewish children that does not need to be guarded by German policemen." Although investigations so far show that most anti-Semitic attacks come from Muslim immigrants, she preferred to speak of the "specters of the past."
The situation in France is not much different. Sammy Ghozlan, director of the National Bureau of Vigilance Against Anti-Semitism (BNVCA), alleges that all the anti-Semitic attacks in the country have one thing in common: "the culprit is Muslim". The French government claims that it fights anti-Semitism, but it points only to "rightist and leftist anti-Semitism." It never speaks of Muslim anti-Semitism.
Commenting on the results of the European elections -- and noting that: "populist" movements will have no weight in the European Parliament; that the Greens are gaining ground; that Islamization will not stop, and that anti-Semitism will probably continue to rise -- the journalist Éric Zemmour said on television that Europe is probably on the road to an irreversible decline. The author Renaud Camus also noted in his diary that the European people seem to be choosing euthanasia.
In the first paragraph of The Strange Death of Europe, Douglas Murray stated: "By the end of the lifespan of most people currently alive, Europe will not be Europe".
Despite the enthusiasm of some commentators on the results of "populist" movements, signs seem to show that European elections have not stopped Europe's barreling towards decline. If nothing changes, in a few decades Europe truly could no longer be Europe.
*Dr. Guy Millière, a professor at the University of Paris, is the author of 27 books on France and Europe.
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The US-Iran showdown after Mecca summits
Khattar Abou Diab/The Arab Weekly/June 09/2019
The Gulf, Arab and Islamic summits in Mecca were a last-chance call to protect peace and security in the Gulf and the Middle East.
Amid the escalation between Washington and Tehran, the Gulf and Arab leaders rejected Iran's interference and its threats to stability in the region.
Indeed, the entire region is affected by the muscle flexing illustrated by US President Donald Trump's strategy of "extreme pressure" on Iran and by Iran’s reactions wavering between military posturing and ambiguous, vague and non-constructive diplomatic proposals.
With mounting tensions, the summer promises to be hot. It is unlikely the escalation will reach the level of military confrontation but the growing likelihood of a dead end on the diplomatic level could lead to a limited military conflict because it is difficult for Trump, despite his sometimes conciliatory tweets and statements, to back down after two years of harsh measures against Iran.
The case of the Iranian regime is more complex. Its problem has become chronic because, for four decades, Iran has not been behaving as a nation-state. It has been driven by ideological revolution instead.
Therefore, the conflict cannot be considered a traditional struggle between two states because the ideological dimension also exists in Washington's calculations. The intensification of the US pressure campaign is pushing Iran into a tight corner and could lead to a conflict that carries great risks in a region that is vital for the production and transit of the world’s energy resources.
It seems that the United States believes that its harsh sanctions and the noisy political and military campaigns will either convince or force Iran to return to the negotiating table.
The escalation of US sanctions resulted in tangible results in their first month. Iran's oil exports fell to 400,000 barrels per day in May. Before the sanctions exports of Iranian oil totalled 2.5 million barrels per day. The situation stands to worsen for Iran when China switches to Russian oil by the end of its exemption period.
Contrary to Iran's desire to rely on the European troika -- Germany, France, the United Kingdom -- to complete the financial mechanism to circumvent US sanctions, the private sector in Europe is reluctant to go along and European decision makers hesitate, not only because of the US threat of sanctions against specific individuals and entities but also because Tehran has not shown flexibility concerning its ballistic missile programme and its role in regional crises.
Israeli Prime Minister Binyamin Netanyahu's announcement of a tripartite security meeting between the United States, Russia and Israel in June hints at Russia distancing itself from Iran and working to develop regional understandings with Washington, all with Israeli encouragement.
This American effort in economic and political pressure and military intimidation does not necessarily mean that Trump's success is imminent because Iran reads the situation differently.
Tehran does not trust the US administration enough to return to negotiations. Iranian Supreme Leader Ali Khamenei, the country’s top decision maker, openly refused to negotiate under the pressure of sanctions.
Khamenei’s position does not make the mission of Iranian President Hassan Rohani and Foreign Minister Mohammad Javad Zarif easier. On the contrary, their manoeuvres of openness and suggestions of a non-aggression treaty with Gulf countries -- a suggestion that came too late -- is a reminder of negative precedents in the region and the world and have lost their credibility.
So, the threats by the leaders of Iran’s Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps can be considered a reflection of Tehran’s real position, especially when they are linked with sabotage operations in Saudi Arabia and off the coast of the United Arab Emirates and with rattling the Iranian sabres in Iraq. At the beginning of the escalation between the two sides, observers agreed that war was not inevitable because Trump understands that wars are bad for business and seldom go as planned.
Iran's rulers may prefer to wait for the end of Trump's first term and the prospect of a more lenient Democrat president in his stead. This may be wishful thinking but Iran knows the heavy price of war and that resorting to war by proxy may provoke a US military retaliation, exactly the outcome it wants to achieve.
However, it seems these indicators were gone after the attack on international shipping off the UAE coast. After May 12, the reading of the situation changed and the degree of danger went up.
Therefore, it won’t be possible to curb the escalation without an Iranian concession. Perhaps the inner circles of velayat-e faqih in Tehran can remind Khamenei of the truce strategy of Imam al-Hasan Ibn Ali with his rival Caliph Muawiya Ibn Abi Sufyan to find a precedent justifying flexibility and return to the negotiation table for a new deal with the Trump administration.
However, the rhetoric from Tehran about the defeat awaiting the United States from now until 2050 shows that calculations based on wishful thinking can lead to adopting the worst choice and that resorting to pointless manoeuvring, hollow language, double discourse, twisted tactics, subversive messages and threats, will intensify Iran's conflict with Washington and neighbouring countries.
*Khattar Abou Diab is a professor of geopolitical sciences at the Paris Centre for Geopolitics.

Qatar enters third year of crisis but no lessons learnt
Iman Zayat/The Arab Weekly/June 09/2019
The way Qatar is dealing with a regional dispute that has left it weakened and isolated from its Arab neighbours is beyond strange. As Doha loses regional influence and sees its relationships with Arab countries dwindle, it continues to insist that all is well that ends well.
Of course, this is largely because Doha has weathered the crisis by becoming economically self-sufficient, particularly through its dairy and fresh poultry products. Does an abundance of cows, chickens and hydroponic tomatoes really mean that the tiny Gulf emirate has emerged from a 2-year boycott victorious? Of course not, unless it is believed that a country needs only food to thrive and meet the needs of its people.
The reality is that Qatar’s economy has taken a turn for the worse, with its real estate and retail sectors reeling from the effects of the boycott. Reports from inside Doha say shopping malls and hotels have been nearly abandoned in the absence of wealthy tourists from Saudi Arabia and the United Arab Emirates.
Qatar’s housing market also remains depressed because of a supply glut ahead of the 2022 FIFA World Cup that is to be hosted there. To stimulate the gas-rich country’s economy last October, Qatari Emir Sheikh Tamim bin Hamad al-Thani issued a new law allowing foreigners to own property in the country.
Doha’s economic woes do not stop there. Qatar Airways, once touted as one of the fastest growing carriers in aviation history, reported its second consecutive annual loss in March. The company’s troubles began when it was barred from entering the boycotting countries’ airspace, forcing it to reroute many flights at a high cost.
Still, Doha insists that it has emerged stronger than ever from its crisis. Isn’t that curious?
Qatar’s misinformation strategy has not been particularly effective but it seems determined to stick to the famous propaganda law often attributed to Nazi Minister of Propaganda Joseph Goebbels: “Repeat a lie often enough and it becomes the truth.”
In psychology, this phenomenon is known as the illusory truth effect: People tend to believe statements to be true if they are told them repeatedly. To believe or not to believe is not the question. What is at stake is the future of a whole country and population that has been suffering from two plagues: First, the Qatari state’s policies, which are informed by desperate leaders who refuse to learn from mistakes and, second, a systematic campaign to deepen division between families, tribes and peoples with common roots in culture and history.
Sure, Doha may continue its costly public relations campaign in the United States, Europe and elsewhere to combat the accusations of its rivals but this will in no way help resolve its dispute with Arab neighbours or help it strengthen its standing after losing influence in Syria, Libya, Sudan and Egypt, where it mistakenly backed failed or failing Islamist groups.
Indeed, Qatar can continue tossing money out the window. It does have plenty of that to spare — although not thanks to the wisdom or good governance of its leaders but to the country’s huge gas reserves. None of that money will buy Doha friends or allies in the Arab region, especially following its rapprochement with Tehran and its obstinate efforts to resuscitate Islamist groups in the region.
Unlike Doha, other Arab countries cannot afford to see their governments fail or to conceal domestic problems, whether political, economic or social, through quasi-religious camouflage. Qatar should have learnt this lesson long ago, when people in Tunisia, Syria, Libya and Egypt resisted its sponsored drive to install political Islam in their countries. These people yearned for justice, freedom, democracy and dignity, not Doha’s Islamist vision.
Somehow, Qatar has not learnt this lesson. Even today, Doha feverishly tries to revive political Islam in places such as Tunisia, Egypt, Libya and Sudan. Qatar’s insistence on meddling in the affairs of other countries, including those striving for freedom and democracy, puts it on the wrong side of history — the side of autocracy, oppression, censorship, bribery and enslavement, all of which are defining elements of Qatar’s regime.
Just as foolish as thinking it can pull the Arab world back into religious fundamentalism is Qatar’s belief that rapprochement with Iran is an effective strategy for the future. The closer Qatar edges towards Tehran, the further it moves away from the Arab world and the more isolated it becomes.
Arab countries that are boycotting Qatar would consider Doha’s rapprochement with their arch-rival to be further confirmation that Doha is acting with hostility and in bad faith. This was again made clear during the recent Mecca summits, when Qatar expressed reservations with the meetings’ unified stance against Tehran. Two years into the crisis, Doha’s house of cards is crumbling. Its few regional allies — Turkey and Iran — are facing their own problems, while old Islamist allies such as the Muslim Brotherhood have effectively been knocked on their back.
As such, it won’t be long before the winds of change blow the last card from Doha’s hands. When this happens, no one will go to the rescue of a regime that played one party against another, antagonised its neighbours and maintained its rule by fanning the flames of regional division and fear.

Iraq should care about Arab Gulf security, not fret about Iran
Tallha Abdulrazaq/The Arab Weekly/June 09/2019
When Saudi King Salman bin Abdulaziz Al Saud called the Mecca summits involving members of the Organisation for Islamic Cooperation, the Arab League and the Gulf Cooperation Council, the idea was to forge Arab and Islamic unity and understanding.
Saudi Arabia, the United Arab Emirates and the wider Arab and Islamic world have suffered because of Iran’s unceasing expansionist agenda but none have suffered more as a result of Iranian sectarianism than the people of Syria and Iraq.
It must surely come as quite an insult, then, when Iraq and Qatar opposed the Mecca summit’s final statement that emphasised Iran’s responsibility to cease its hostile and destabilising actions and that the countries of the Arabian Gulf deserved to have their peace, security and stability respected. These two countries prioritised their own narrow, short-term and selfish interests over the obviously great need to push Iran back into its box and to compel it to respect its neighbours and their security needs.
Qatar balked at adopting the final statement on grounds that it was apparently not consulted on its wording and that it contradicted Qatari foreign policy imperatives. As to the first point, Qatar was fully represented at the summit by a senior delegation. It is not as though the final declaration could have come as a surprise to Doha.
Further, it would seem obvious that Qatar’s decision to support Iran stems directly from the fact that it has moved ever closer to the Islamic Republic, despite Tehran launching a veritable sectarian campaign of slaughter against Doha’s fellow Sunni Arabs.
Iraq’s stance is slightly more nuanced in that Iraqi President Barham Salih’s rejection of the final declaration reflected the fact that Iraq is almost entirely an Iranian colony.
Salih was a long-time Patriotic Union of Kurdistan (PUK) member and the PUK has been an Iranian client for decades. Iraqi Prime Minister Adel Abdul-Mahdi similarly has strong and lasting ties to hard-line Shia Islamist factions that were incubated and supported by Iran. Iraqi security services are riddled with infiltrators who are loyal to Iran’s Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps (IRGC) and not to Iraq. Other IRGC Shia jihadist proxies run amok across Iraq with impunity.
What is striking about Salih’s reasoning in rejecting the final declaration of the Mecca summit is that he stresses how Iran’s security and stability are of critical importance to the security and stability of other Muslim and Arab states. Salih said: “Honestly, the security and stability of a neighbouring Islamic country [Iran] is in the interest of Muslim and Arab states.”This is astonishing. Is Salih saying that Saudi Arabia, the United Arab Emirates and other countries threatened by Iranian meddling and its sectarian genocidal tendencies are not neighbouring Islamic countries?
Salih is essentially arguing that Iran’s security and stability trumps the need for any other country’s stability. Why? Are Saudi Arabia and the United Arab Emirates unworthy of peace, stability, security and the right to not be attacked by Iranian proxies or have their internal affairs meddled in by Tehran’s agents?
The Iraqi president claimed he fears an uncontrollable war breaking out in the region. He is right — no one wants war to happen. However, his reasoning for wanting to avoid this war has less to do with the sanctity of human life and the avoidance of mass destruction of civilian infrastructure and livelihoods than because he is afraid that a war on Iran would topple Iraq’s inherently unstable and corrupt system due to its reliance on Tehran’s goodwill. Rather than fret about Iran’s security, perhaps these countries should think about peace and stability across the entire region.

Russia is playing an increasing role in the Afghan peace process
Rahimullah Yusufzai/Arab news/June 09/2019
Russian Foreign Minister Sergei Lavrov and former Afghan President Hamid Karzai posing with the participants of a conference last month marking a century of diplomatic relations between Afghanistan and Russia. (Russian Ministry of Foreign Affairs / AFP)
Russia hosted the second intra-Afghan meeting in less than four months as it continues to seek a role as a credible mediator for ending the Afghan conflict.
The first meeting, which brought together Taliban leaders and Afghan opposition politicians, was held in Moscow in February. It was a landmark event because the commencement of intra-Afghan dialogue is considered essential for national reconciliation.
The second intra-Afghan dialogue organized on May 28-29 was a repeat of the previous one, but with a crucial difference. It was the first time Mullah Abdul Ghani Baradar, the Taliban deputy leader and head of the movement’s political commission in Qatar, came face to face with prominent Afghan politicians, including Hamid Karzai, Hanif Atmar, Ata Mohammad Noor, Younas Qanooni and Mohammad Mohaqiq, following his release last October after spending eight years in Pakistani custody. It was also his first visit to Russia, which has used its growing contacts within the Taliban to step up its own diplomatic initiative for ending the Afghan war.
Moscow timed the intra-Afghan conference with the 100th anniversary celebrations of diplomatic relations between Afghanistan and Russia. This is a remarkable turnaround in the relations between the two countries as the invasion of Afghanistan by the erstwhile USSR in December 1979 to prop up a struggling Afghan communist regime had fueled a fierce war of resistance until 1989.
The Taliban took home happy memories from the first intra-Afghan conference in Moscow as the joint declaration issued on the occasion endorsed major Taliban demands. It called for the complete withdrawal of US-led foreign forces from Afghanistan, the release of Taliban prisoners and the removal of Taliban leaders’ names from the UN Security Council blacklist. Moscow timed the intra-Afghan conference with the 100th anniversary celebrations of diplomatic relations between Afghanistan and Russia
The second intra-Afghan meeting in Moscow, however, didn’t reach any agreement, and caused disappointment as Afghan politicians unsuccessfully pushed the Taliban to agree to a cease-fire. As some delegates reported, the two sides worked on a 12-article joint statement, but disagreement about the cease-fire caused them to merely issue a short press release.
The statement said both sides discussed important issues linked with the destiny of the Afghan people including the continuation of intra-Afghan talks, cease-fire, release of prisoners and women’s rights, among others. Without elaborating, it noted that some progress had been made on a number of issues, but no agreement was made “because reaching agreements needed more discussions.”
So the discussions will continue in the next round of intra-Afghan talks likely to be held in Qatar. An earlier plan to convene a broader intra-Afghan conference in Qatar involving representatives of the Afghan government didn’t materialize as the Taliban objected to the large size of the delegation coming from Kabul. The Taliban also did not want the Afghan government to play the lead role in finalizing a list of 250 delegates to attend the Doha meeting. Besides, they had imposed the condition that all participants, including Afghan government officials, would participate in their personal capacity.
Though Russia has twice managed to hold an intra-Afghan dialogue in Moscow, the process was incomplete due to the absence of the internationally recognized Afghan government.
Despite facing isolation at home due to growing internal opposition and abroad on account of his government’s non-representation in the Taliban-US talks in Doha and intra-Afghan meetings in Moscow, President Ashraf Ghani made the point that only his elected government had the mandate to make decisions about the peace process and Afghanistan’s future.
It cannot be kept out forever, even though the twice delayed presidential election, now due on Sept. 28, has created uncertainty about who will eventually represent the government in the peace process.
Russia has an abiding interest in Afghanistan due to its regional proximity. As former Afghan president Karzai noted, relations between the two countries are among the oldest and most important.
Though the Taliban are officially a terrorist organization in Russia, that didn’t stop Moscow from engaging with the group and inviting its leaders to meetings in a bid to make itself relevant to the Afghan peace process.
The US also made an effort in April to engage its rivals, Russia and China, to reach a consensus on efforts to end the Afghan conflict. But global politics and regional rivalries could pose problems as the US, Russia and China, as well as Pakistan, Iran and India, vie for influence in determining Afghanistan’s future.
Rahimullah Yusufzai is a senior political and security analyst in Pakistan. He was the first to interview Taliban founder Mullah Mohammad Omar and twice interviewed Osama bin Laden in 1998. Twitter: @rahimyusufzai1

Daesh’s demonic second coming … stronger than ever before?
Baria Alamuddin/Arab news/June 09/2019
Allow me to make a bold prediction: Within a few years, not only will Daesh return to prominence, but it will become exponentially more vigorous and difficult to defeat.
Daesh continues to be the wealthiest terrorist organization in history, with hundreds of thousands of dollars stashed away in readiness for its re-emergence. Tens of thousands of Daesh personnel may still be at large, or deployed as sleeper cells across Iraq and Syria. Meanwhile, about 100,000 detainees with various levels of Daesh affiliation languish in mass camps. Their status is problematic, because of their multinational character: Should their home countries reluctantly accept them back, or leave them to rot or hang? Let us not forget that Daesh perpetrated the worst crimes known to humanity: Burnings, stonings, beheadings, rape, genocide and other systematic atrocities. Yet its ideology remains potent, with wide-reaching propaganda capabilities: A few symbolic victories (the recapture of a town, a spectacular terrorist attack…) could inspire thousands of confused and sick individuals to flock back into its ranks.
It is tempting to assert that because Daesh’s actions were self-evidently evil, all those who lived under it must be evil too. Our failure to recognize why many ordinary Iraqis and Syrians tolerated Daesh (other than simply out of fear) will be a major factor in allowing this menace to return.
Daesh’s rule varied markedly across its so-called caliphate. While foreign jihadists brutally imposed alien theocratic models upon major cities, in small rural towns Daesh leaders were predominantly locals. The result was an organic hybrid between local traditions and Daesh’s rigid asceticism. When Daesh was purged, local jihadists simply melted into the mountains, using their exhaustive knowledge of the landscape to embark on a war of attrition against security forces.
By 2011 Al-Qaeda in Iraq was a defeated force. Yet Nouri Al-Maliki’s sectarian policies, his purge of Sunni politicians, and his reliance on brutal paramilitaries to entrench his power alienated Sunnis and other communities. By 2013, Iraq was awash with a furious ferment of protest movements and anti-state forces — Islamists, tribes and Baathists. Daesh swept to power out of this complex milieu. Daesh will aspire to be more geographically dispersed to avoid presenting an easy target, it will consolidate its strength in the shadows to avoid provoking a decisive response, and it will avoid unnecessarily alienating local people. The fight-back against Daesh was partly franchised out to Iran-aligned paramilitaries who have today been put back in control of localities reduced to ashes by coalition bombing campaigns. Iraqis are squeezed between two evils: “Hashd” militants and Daesh are equally guilty of sectarian atrocities. Before the 2018 elections, Sunnis in areas liberated from Daesh were widely prevented from accessing documentation allowing them to vote, access benefits and travel around the country. Paramilitaries terrorized returnees into fleeing back into exile. Thus, a high proportion of the population have effectively become non-persons, with the stigma of Daesh association branded upon entire communities. Aside from discredited allies of the Hashd, few respected Sunnis are allowed to hold political posts. It is dangerous for Iraq’s national unity that Sunnis are left feeling more alienated and angry than ever.
Deprived of core territories in Syria and Iraq, Daesh has become more dangerous. Thousands of foreign fighters who avoided capture have dispersed, either quietly heading home or migrating to new battlefields, pledging to wreak mayhem and attract new recruits wherever they end up. There have been recent deadly Daesh assaults in northern Lebanon and the Sinai, along with horrific attacks against Sri Lankan churches a couple of months ago that killed over 250 worshippers. We can guarantee more such attacks, whether against Egyptian Copts, Asian tourist resorts, overcrowded African malls, or Western stadiums and other public places.
Already, in a dozen states across northern and sub-Saharan Africa, a resurgent Daesh is carving out something resembling a new trans-continental “caliphate.” Last week it claimed attacks in Mozambique and the Democratic Republic of Congo, two states not known as hotbeds of Islamist extremism. The group also reported pledges of loyalty from other Sahel factions, further indications of an ambitious pan-Africa strategy. Daesh Mark II has learned a lot from defeat. It will aspire to be more geographically dispersed to avoid presenting an easy target, it will consolidate its strength in the shadows to avoid provoking a decisive response, and it will avoid unnecessarily alienating local people. Daesh is also seeking to overcome past enmities with rivals such as Al-Qaeda, which had weakened the jihadist movement. The knee-jerk racism and Islamophobia of an emergent European far-right will leave disaffected young Western Muslims increasingly vulnerable to the blandishments of extremists. Without radical efforts to address sectarianism, militancy, injustice and social exclusion in Iraq and other priority states, most experts concur that the necessary prerequisites are in place for Daesh to again achieve breakout capacity. However, Daesh in 2019 it is a greatly more experienced, globe-straddling and organically integrated force than it ever was in 2014. Affiliated factions in Libya, Western Africa, Egypt, Yemen, Afghanistan, Indonesia and elsewhere will act in concert to make Daesh’s second coming a truly globalized phenomenon. Where is the globalized response to an entity that is consolidating its strength across dozens of states?
In 2014 the world feigned astonishment when a hitherto unknown terrorist horde swarmed across much of Iraq and Syria. Yet Daesh’s expansion had already been obvious for over a year to those who cared to pay attention. If history is condemned to bloodily repeat itself, it will be through criminal lack of foresight and leadership in failing to eradicate a menace that should never have been allowed to reconstitute itself as an existential global threat. When grievances are addressed, citizens’ voices are represented and a culture of tolerance is cultivated, society becomes effectively immunized against the nihilistic, hateful propaganda of both right-wing and Islamist extremists. Prevention is a thousand times better than cure. We know this, yet instead we choose once again to leave the hen-house door wide open for the wolves.
*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.

Special relationship in calmer waters after a successful state visit
Zaid M. Belbagi/Arab news/June 09/2019
As concrete blocks were dragged across Regent’s Park to fortify the US President Donald Trump’s temporary headquarters, many expressed concern as to the status of the alliance between the UK and the US. Mr. Trump’s off-the-cuff style, the spectre of a Conservative Party leadership contest and differences over Huawei and Iran were set to test the resolve of the so-called “special relationship”. Despite the visit being fraught with the possibility of diplomatic peril, as the president departed aboard Airforce One his trip was applauded as a great success from the perspective of all those involved.
Prime Minister Theresa May invited the controversial US leader as she fought for the future of her premiership. Dogged by troublesome negotiations with the EU, cabinet mutiny and parliamentary division, the invitation of the world’s greatest superpower seemed an excellent idea to bolster her fortunes. However, following the announcement of her resignation a week beforehand, the visit was suddenly extraordinarily badly timed. Had the palace been browbeaten into inviting only the third US president (of the 12 in office during the Queen’s reign) for a state visit, the diplomatic awkwardness of the trip’s timing was not lost on Foreign Office insiders.
First coined by Prime Minister Winston Churchill in 1946, the special relationship was born out of the US and UK having overcome the global turmoil, terror and loss of life of World War II together. A shared language, continued military cooperation and strong commercial ties have characterised the relationship. Concern has steadily grown as at first the Obama administration did not see eye to eye with No. 10, and then the Trump White House began rewriting post-1945 geopolitical realities. The president’s combative approach to traditional Western allies since his first G20 and NATO engagements has represented a significant shift in US foreign policy. Separately, the UK visit came during a growing number of trade disputes with countries across the world that demonstrate the severe economic consequences of the US president’s “America First” approach to bilateral partnerships.
With Xi Jinping gearing to announce his agenda for global governance at the St. Petersburg International Economic Forum, it was reassuring to see the special relationship back on track, critical to a Western alliance system that underpins international peace and security.
It was therefore significant that President Trump left the UK with the Prime Minister heralding “positive discussions” about an ambitious trade agreement. Trump added that the deal would be “phenomenal,” leading to trade that would be “two and even three times of what we’re doing right now.” This was welcome news for British business as the prospect of Brexit is the most significant geopolitical move for the UK since World War II, making London more reliant on the US as ties loosen with the other 27 members of the EU. Though thousands of people protested in central London on Tuesday against Mr.Trump’s glitzy state visit, numbers were far down from the tens of thousands who gathered to oppose his working visit last year. There is little doubt that to many, this visit had to succeed and that differences that Trump has had with European allies, provided an opportune moment for the UK to focus on similarities with its American cousins.
Building strong commercial ties was not even beyond the Queen as she charmed a clearly dazzled President, lauding how the two countries were the largest investors in each other’s economies. The role of palace in the visit provided a masterclass in how experienced political figures have an institutional memory which inspires awe and confidence. The President nodded politely as the Queen reminded him of his Scottish roots and of how the Special Relationship once saved the world from tyranny. The centerpiece of the visit was a very poignant open-air ceremony in celebration of the 75th anniversary of the D-Day landings. By drawing the US president into an event of this nature, both the Foreign Office and the palace very publically reminded him of the two country’s special partnership and indeed the wider family of western alliances. There was never a more important moment to remind American decision makers of historical realities, as the post-war global order looks ripe for strategic reconfiguration. It was appropriate, therefore, that while much of the Western media scrutinized the relationship between the United States and the United Kingdom, another close — and growing — geopolitical and economic bond was also being built upon. As China’s President Xi Jinping makes a state visit to Russia to meet his counterpart Vladimir Putin, the two countries are increasingly at odds with the United States. As they feel the long arm of US trade and foreign policy hurting their interests, they have actively sought to undermine the international community, exploiting tensions between the US and its allies. With Xi Jinping gearing to announce his agenda for global governance at the St. Petersburg International Economic Forum, it was reassuring to see the special relationship back on track, critical to a Western alliance system that underpins international peace and security.
• Zaid M. Belbagi is a political commentator, and an adviser to private clients between London and the Gulf Cooperation Council (GCC). Twitter: @Moulay_Zaid