English LCCC Newsbulletin For Lebanese, Lebanese Related, Global News & Editorials
For June 13/2020
Compiled & Prepared by: Elias Bejjani

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Bible Quotations For today
If I had not come and spoken to them, they would not have sin; but now they have no excuse for their sin
Holy Gospel of Jesus Christ according to Saint John 15/22-27/:”If I had not come and spoken to them, they would not have sin; but now they have no excuse for their sin. Whoever hates me hates my Father also. If I had not done among them the works that no one else did, they would not have sin. But now they have seen and hated both me and my Father. It was to fulfil the word that is written in their law, “They hated me without a cause.” ‘When the Advocate comes, whom I will send to you from the Father, the Spirit of truth who comes from the Father, he will testify on my behalf. You also are to testify because you have been with me from the beginning.”

Titles For The Latest English LCCC Lebanese & Lebanese Related News & Editorials published on June 12-13/2020
MoPH confirms 20 new Covid-19 cases in Lebanon
Question: "What does it mean to pray in Jesus’ name?"
Protesters clash with security forces as roads blocked across Lebanon
Lebanon central bank to inject dollars into market: President
Lebanon gov't will dump dollars into market: Minister
Lebanese President, US Ambassador Discuss New Sanctions
Aoun Says Thursday's Dollar Surge May be Part of 'Plot'
Aoun confers with AUB President over educational situation
Tripartite meeting at Baabda Palace
Al-Rahi Urges Protesters to be Peaceful after Meeting Aoun
Berri Meets Aoun and Diab, Rules Out Sacking of Salameh
Report: Salameh Still Enjoys Berri's Support amid Calls for Firing Him
Cabinet Holds Emergency Session after Night of Raging Protests
Diab Says Citizens Livelihood 'Red Line', BDL to Pump Dollars into Market
Govt. Forms Crisis Cell to Enforce Financial and Monetary Decisions
Hariri Warns that Firing Salameh would 'Slaughter' Economy
Halawi announces agreement to inject cash dollar into market
Geagea Says Lebanese to Hear 'Bad News' Daily if Hizbullah, Bassil Keep Ruling
Lebanon: Months of Protests
Diab’s meeting decides to open Rafik Hariri International Airport as of July 1, 2020
UNIFIL‘s Del Col to NNA: Rotation of troops to resume as of June 15, 2020
Bukhari meets Baasiri
Abdel Samad after cabinet session says pumping USD not enough to remedy economic crisis
Neshan TV episode: Turkish embassy calls for intervention of Foreign Ministry
Lebanese Take to Streets as Pound Hits New Low
Lebanon PM faces challenge with renewed demonstrations, financial crisis
Destroying Lebanon to Save It/Michael Young/Carnegie MEC/June 12/2020
New US sanctions set to hit Syria likely to have knock-on effect in Lebanon/Abby Sewell/Al Arabiya English/June 12/2020

Titles For The Latest English LCCC Miscellaneous Reports And News published on June 12-13/2020
Transmission of COVID-19 by asymptomatic cases
After Soleimani and Muhandis, pro-Iranian factions in Iraq are weakened, divided
Looming U.S. Sanctions Shake Syria, Hasten Economic Meltdown
U.S. Pledges to Reduce Iraq Troops as Tensions Ease
Seattle Mayor Tells Trump to 'Go Back to Your Bunker'
Putin says 'majority' back plan to change Russian constitution
Britain abandons plan to introduce full border checks with EU on Jan 1
California man charged with videotaped poisoning of homeless people
Bomb explodes in Kabul mosque, at least 4 killed
US Recommends Designating Badr Organization's Leader, PMF Factions as Terrorists
Assad dismisses PM, top military as Caesar Act set to bite
US Pledges to Reduce Troops in Iraq
PLO Member Says 8 European Countries Ready to Recognize Palestine
Aboul Gheit Warns of ‘Religious War’ over Israel’s Annexation Plan

Titles For The Latest LCCC English analysis & editorials from miscellaneous sources published
 on June 12-13/2020
Facts About the Caesar Act/Akram Bunni/Asharq Al Awsat/June 12/2020
Powers Play with Fire in Libya/Amir Taheri/Asharq Al Awsat/June 12/2020
The US Elections and the Minneapolis Story of Mr. Chauvin/Eyad Abu Shakra/Asharq Al Awsat/June 12/2020
America’s Great(er) Recession Will Last for Years/Noah Smith/Bloomberg/June, 12/ 2020
A Brief History of Antifa: Part I/Soeren Kern/Gatestone Institute/June 12/2020
You Are Finished!”: Turkey’s Growing War on Christians/Raymond Ibrahim/Gatestone Institute/June 12/2020
Washington offers aid to Baghdad in exchange for curtailing pro-Iranian factions/Hammam Latifhe Arab Weekly/June 12/2020

The Latest English LCCC Lebanese & Lebanese Related News & Editorials published on June 12-13/2020
MoPH confirms 20 new Covid-19 cases in Lebanon
NNA /June 12/2020
Lebanon has recorded 20 new Covid-19 cases within the last 24 hours, the Ministry of Public Health said in a statement on Friday, raising the total number of infected people in the country to 1422.

Question: "What does it mean to pray in Jesus’ name?"
GotQuestions.org/June 12/2020
Answer: Prayer in Jesus’ name is taught in John 14:13-14, “And I will do whatever you ask in my name, so that the Son may bring glory to the Father. You may ask me for anything in my name, and I will do it.” Some misapply this verse, thinking that saying “in Jesus’ name” at the end of a prayer results in God’s always granting what is asked for. This is essentially treating the words “in Jesus’ name” as a magic formula. This is absolutely unbiblical. Praying in Jesus’ name means praying with His authority and asking God the Father to act upon our prayers because we come in the name of His Son, Jesus. Praying in Jesus’ name means the same thing as praying according to the will of God, “This is the confidence we have in approaching God: that if we ask anything according to his will, he hears us. And if we know that he hears us—whatever we ask—we know that we have what we asked of him” (1 John 5:14-15). Praying in Jesus’ name is praying for things that will honor and glorify Jesus.Saying “in Jesus’ name” at the end of a prayer is not a magic formula. If what we ask for or say in prayer is not for God’s glory and according to His will, saying “in Jesus’ name” is meaningless. Genuinely praying in Jesus’ name and for His glory is what is important, not attaching certain words to the end of a prayer. It is not the words in the prayer that matter, but the purpose behind the prayer. Praying for things that are in agreement with God’s will is the essence of praying in Jesus’ name.

Protesters clash with security forces as roads blocked across Lebanon
Reuters/Friday 12 June 2020
Lebanese protesters set fire to roadways and clashed with security forces on a second night of unrest on Friday, according to witnesses and Lebanese media. Protests erupted on Thursday in several Lebanese cities after a crash in the pound currency, which has lost about 70 percent of its value since October, when Lebanon was plunged into a financial crisis that has brought mounting hardship. The pound appeared to halt its slide on Friday after a government announcement that the central bank would inject dollars into the market on Monday. However, protesters returned later on Friday for a second night, throwing fireworks and stones at security forces in central Beirut and the northern city of Tripoli, prompting them to spray tear gas and rubber bullets to push them back. The unrest comes as Beirut holds talks with the International Monetary Fund for a reform program it hopes will secure billions of dollars in financing and put its economy back on track. The crisis, rooted in decades of corruption and waste, has brought soaring food prices, unemployment and capital controls that have severed Lebanese from their hard currency savings.

Lebanon central bank to inject dollars into market: President
Reuters, Beirut/Friday 12 June 2020
Lebanon's central bank will begin injecting dollars into the market beginning on Monday in order to strengthen the Lebanese pound, President Michel Aoun said on Friday. Speaking at the start of a cabinet session, Aoun said huge losses to the financial system should not be borne by depositors but instead by the government, central bank and commercial banks. The Lebanese pound has seen its value fall quickly in recent days, slipping to about 5,000 to the dollar from about 4,100 a week earlier, sparking protests across the country. Lebanese parliament speaker Nabih Berri said earlier that the government was aiming to reduce the dollar price to about 3,000-3,200 pounds through steps agreed on Friday, without specifying what they were. The pound has lost some 70 percent of its value since October, when protests first erupted and the country plunged into a financial crisis that has seen dollars dry up and the economy grind to a halt. Lebanon’s central bank has tried to rein in the currency's collapse, agreeing last week with money changers to set a unified daily price that would be gradually reduced to 3,200 pounds, but importers have said dollars at this reduced price are unavailable. The heavily indebted country has maintained an official dollar peg of 1,507.5, but dollars at this level have been rationed exclusively for imports of fuel, medicine, and wheat. nBerri also said there was agreement reached on speaking tothe International Monetary Fund in "one language", amid disagreement between MPs, the central bank and government officials engaged in talks with the Fund for an economic reform program. Beirut is hoping to secure billions of dollars in financing, but the talks have been stalled by internal disagreements over the value of huge losses in the financial system and proposals for how to cover them. Aoun said on Friday financial sector losses should not be borne by depositors but instead by the government, central bank, and commercial banks.

Lebanon gov't will dump dollars into market: Minister
Lauren Holtmeier/ Al Arabiya EnglishFriday 12 June 2020
Following a night of protests in Beirut as the local currency met new lows, businesses across Lebanon are closing planning weekend closures due to rapid currency fluctuations.
In response, the Minister of Industry Imad Hoballah announced on Friday it will dump fresh dollars in the economy in an attempt to stabilize the exchange rate. Also on Friday, the Syndicate of Money Changers said it would commit to selling the dollar at 3,940 Lebanese lira, local news station MTV reported.
“These administrative decisions and controls don't address the economic fundamentals,” said Nasser Saidi, former minister of Economy and Trade and Minister of Industry of Lebanon.
Central Bank Governor Riad Salameh speaking to a delegation of money changers said that there is “a sufficient amount of dollars to meet the needs of citizens, provided that we rationalize the sale and we will not sell the dollar to those who are trying to reduce the value of the Lebanese pound.”
The Lebanese lira, which is officially pegged to the US dollar at 1507 to $1, has lost over 60 percent of its value in recent months. The central bank has tried to manage the spiraling rate by setting the exchange rate at 3,850 to $1, but has done so unsuccessfully with the value reaching close to 6,000 to $1. One individual in the country’s Bekaa Valley east of Beirut reported rates closer to 7,000 to the dollar, Al Arabiya English reported Thursday. Wednesday, exchange dealers were buying dollars at 4,600, Reuters reported.One business owner, Tarek Hassan, in Batloun, a mountain town near the middle of the country, told Al Arabiya English that he had decided to close his hardware store until the exchange rate stabilized. “When the currency goes up and down like this in a matter of hours, no one can handle it,” Hassan said. He said that his business that employs 30-35 people would remain closed until the rate stabilizes. Businesses across the country have said they will close until the exchange rate stops fluctuating rapidly. “There is no anchor for expectations of the future course of lira, given the collapse of the peg. [The central bank] does not have the reserves to support the lira,” Saidi told Al Arabiya English. “There is great uncertainty concerning the macroeconomic outlook, economic, fiscal and monetary policies, because none of the promised reforms have been undertaken.”For years, the government has failed to make necessary reforms to receive much-needed foreign assistance, and informal capital controls have made it difficult to impossible for individuals and importers to access dollars in their bank accounts, which importers need to pay for goods. Since the onset of the crisis in October, Hassan said he has not received a new shipment of supplies and materials from China, but prior to the economic downturn, he received a shipment every 30 days. The current situation has forced employees to work only part-time. “This month I was going to pay the whole salary and be open the whole month, but now I don’t know what to do,” he said. Compounded crises, including the further blow coronavirus has dealt to an already deteriorating economy, have left many Lebanese businesses struggling to stay afloat, with many already forced to close shop. The country is currently facing its worst economic crisis since the end of its 15-year civil war in 1990, and recent further devaluation of the lira indicate that economic pressure will not ease soon..

Lebanese President, US Ambassador Discuss New Sanctions
Beirut - Khalil Fleihan/Asharq Al-Awsat/Friday, 12 June, 2020
Lebanese President Michel Aoun has discussed with US Ambassador Dorothy Shea a wave of new tighter US sanctions on Syria, a diplomat told Asharq Al-Awsat. Shea on Thursday handed Aoun a letter that includes the text of the US Caesar Syria Civilian Protection Act, which takes effect later this month, the diplomat said. Shea stressed to the Lebanese president that the new law is on Syria, saying her country continues to back Lebanon, the source added. The ministers of foreign affairs, information, economy and justice and their director generals, in addition to Central Bank Governor Riad Salameh, met on Thursday to discuss the Caesar Act’s repercussions on Lebanon. One of the conferees described the meeting as "consultative." The Caesar Act targets companies dealing with Damascus. The sanctions are expected to worsen the already dire economic situation in Syria.
Syria's economy has been battered by nine years of war compounded by a financial crisis in Lebanon, which had served as a conduit to bring dollars into regime-held areas despite international sanctions.

Aoun Says Thursday's Dollar Surge May be Part of 'Plot'
Naharnet/June 12/2020
President Michel Aoun on Friday suggested that Thursday’s dramatic rise in the dollar exchange rate on the black market could have been part of a “planned plot.”“Financial experts stressed that the dollar or any other currency cannot jump to this extent within hours. This removes the spontaneousness label from everything that happened and indicates the presence of a planned plot against which we must show solidarity,” the president told a Cabinet session in Baabda. “What happened yesterday as a result of the unjustified rise in the dollar exchange rate makes us wonder whether the number given to the price of the dollar was a rumor that was circulated to push people into the streets and spark confrontations, and whether it was a political ploy, a banking ploy or something else,” Aoun added. He also noted that authorities will start implementing a “measure” as of Monday under which the central bank will supply the market with dollars and the exchange rate will “gradually drop.”Aoun also pointed out that “the government, the central bank and banks should bear the financial losses, not depositors.”Prime Minister Hassan Diab for his part said the country “cannot withstand further shocks.”“Harsh measures are required against any individual or side that resort to this approach and practical measures should be taken in order to grant bigger immunity to the government and the state,” Diab added.

Aoun confers with AUB President over educational situation
NNA/June 12/2020
President of the Republic, General Michel Aoun, received on Friday at Baabda presidential palace the President of the American University of Beirut (AUB), Dr. Fadlo Khuri, in the presence of former Minister Salim Jreissati. Discussions reportedly touched on the educational conditions in the country and the circumstances endured by educational institutions, in general, and universities, in particular, notably AUB. The AUB president hoped that the current situation will be addressed responsibly and delicately for a better future.

Tripartite meeting at Baabda Palace
NNA/Naharnet/June 12/2020
President of the Republic, General Michel Aoun, held a meeting which included Speaker, Nabih Berri and Prime Minister, Dr. Hassan Diab, in which the financial situation and recent developments in the country were deliberated. After the meeting, Speaker Berri spoke to reporters, saying: "Normally, I do not like to talk to the media in order not to disturb you, but after what happened yesterday and the danger it loomed in the country, we must speak. I had the honor to meet with His Excellency the President and the Prime Minister, and it was agreed during this meeting that: First, lowering the dollar rate against the Lebanese currency starting today, but in reality it will start from Monday, to below 4,000 pounds per dollar, reaching 3,200. This will happen, and the procedures were agreed upon in the cabinet session that took place before noon. Second, the second topic agreed upon is to address the International Monetary Fund with united points of view, under the auspices of the Parliament”.Asked if the discussion dealt with the dismissal of the BDL Governor, Berri replied "We need all people today, and we do not need to dispense anyone”.
Oath:
On the other hand, a number of appointees in the public and financial departments made their oaths in front of President Aoun, who wished them success in their new duties. The head of the Civil Service Council, Nisreen Machmouchi, took the oath before President Aoun and the Prime Minister, in the presence of the head of the State Shura Council, Judge Fadi Elias, head of the Audit Bureau, Judge Muhammad Badran, and head of the Central Inspection Department, Judge George Attia. Then, the four Vice-Governors of the BDL Governor: Wasim Mansouri (First Deputy), Bashir Yaqzan (Second Deputy), Salim Shaheen (Third Deputy), and Alexander Moradian (Deputy Fourth), and the Director General of the Ministry of Economy and Trade Muhammad Abu Haidar in his capacity as a member of the Central Council of the Bank of Lebanon, made their oaths before the President of the Republic and the Prime Minister, in the presence of the Central Bank Governor Riad Salameh. Finally, Adel Drake, Kamel Wazani, Joseph Haddad, Marwan Mikhael, and members of the Financial Markets Authority: Walid Al-Qadri, Wassab Qansu and Fouad Shukair, swore their oaths.—Presidency Press Office

Al-Rahi Urges Protesters to be Peaceful after Meeting Aoun
Naharnet/June 12/2020
Maronite Patriarch Beshara al-Rahi held talks Friday in Baabda with President Michel Aoun, in the wake of a night of raging protests that engulfed Lebanon over a dramatic rise in the dollar exchange rate on the black market. “Neither through vandalization nor though burning tires we would get anything. We support a civilized revolution and it is unacceptable to tarnish Lebanon’s cultural and civilized face,” al-Rahi said after the meeting. “We respect the ruling authorities’ decisions and they must shoulder their responsibility towards the people,” the patriarch added. “We feel people’s pain and we went through bigger problems in the past, and my words are not meant to anesthetize (the people) but are rather responsible words,” he went on to say. Defending President Aoun, al-Rahi added: “President Aoun was the first who said ‘all of them means all of them’ and I call for pinpointing responsibilities instead of blaming them on one person.”

Berri Meets Aoun and Diab, Rules Out Sacking of Salameh
Naharnet/June 12/2020
A tripartite meeting was held Friday in Baabda between President Michel Aoun, Speaker Nabih Berri and Prime Minister Hassan Diab, following a dramatic crash of the Lebanese currency that sparked raging nationwide protests. The meeting preceded a Cabinet session in Baabda. "It was agreed with President Aoun and PM Diab to lower the dollar exchange rate as of today to below LBP 4,000 and gradually to 3,200, but the results will not begin appearing before Monday,” Berri said after the talks. "This thing will happen and it was agreed on the measures during the Cabinet session that was held in the morning," the Speaker assured. He added that he also agreed with Aoun and Diab on "addressing the International Monetary Fund with a unified language."Asked about the possibility of the government sacking veteran Central Bank Governor Riad Salameh, Berri said: “We need all people and we don’t need to give them up.”

Report: Salameh Still Enjoys Berri's Support amid Calls for Firing Him
Naharnet/June 12/2020
Several parties who are part of Hassan Diab’s government have called for sacking Central Bank Governor Riad Salameh over the unprecedented currency crash and the subsequent protests, media reports said. “As angry protesters were chanting slogans overnight, political forces taking part in the government were hold consultations under two titles: preventing the government’s downfall and the need to address the dollar crisis,” al-Akhbar newspaper, which is close to Hizbullah, reported on Friday. “The need to fire Salameh was raised by several parties who are part of the government,” the daily said. But “Speaker Nabih Berri has not yet given up his support for Salameh and he prefers that Prime Minister Hassan Diab pressure the central bank governor to control the exchange rate,” al-Akhbar said. It also reported that there are disagreements over who should succeed Salameh.

Cabinet Holds Emergency Session after Night of Raging Protests

Associated PressNaharnet/June 12/2020
Prime Minister Hassan Diab held an emergency Cabinet meeting Friday morning after a night of raging protests that saw demonstrators shut down roads across the country with burning tires in renewed protests spurred by a plunging national currency. Scuffles with security forces broke out in several locations Thursday night as people spontaneously took to the streets after the pound tumbled to a new low against the dollar. Protesters in central Beirut pelted police and soldiers with rocks and smashed some storefronts, drawing volleys of tear gas. Some protesters set fire to a private bank, while others threw stones at the offices of other banks in an expression of anger at their perceived role in deepening their economic malaise. "Three glass windows were broken in the front and the back, the fridge and the phones. And they broke the photocopy machines and the chairs. ... I am not sure yet what is the estimated material loss," said the owner of a travel agency in downtown Beirut. Security forces reopened blocked roads early Friday as the protests calmed. Diab canceled his scheduled meetings for the day and called for an emergency session to discuss the crisis. Riad Salameh, the governor of the central bank who has been singled out by Diab for his mishandling of the situation, was taking part in the meeting. The renewed demonstrations amid calls for Diab's resignation are a huge challenge for the prime minister who took over in December after his predecessor, Saad Hariri, resigned amid nationwide protests late last year. His government is supported by Hizbullah and its allies and has been weakened by the crisis. Despite efforts to control the currency depreciation in recent weeks, the Lebanese pound tumbled to more than 6,000 to the dollar on Thursday, down from 4,000 on the black market in recent days. The pound had maintained a fixed rate of 1,500 to the dollar for nearly 30 years. The crash appeared to reflect the growing shortage of foreign currency on the market amid the crisis. It also signaled panic over new U.S. sanctions that will affect neighboring Syria in the coming days as well as lack of trust in the government's management of the crisis.
The heavily indebted Lebanese government has been in talks for weeks with the International Monetary Fund after it asked for a financial rescue plan but there are no signs of an imminent deal.
Lebanon's financial crisis predates the virus pandemic that put the country in a total lockdown for months, further compounding the crisis. Years of corruption and mismanagement have left the tiny country with depleted resources, while shrinking investment in the war-riddled region and falling remittances from Lebanese abroad only increased the shortage of foreign capital.

Diab Says Citizens Livelihood 'Red Line', BDL to Pump Dollars into Market
Naharnet/June 12/2020
Prime Minister Hassan Diab emphasized Friday that the government will not allow anyone to "tamper with citizens' livelihood," warning that "this issue is a red line." He voiced his remarks during an emergency Cabinet session he chaired at the Grand Serail in the wake of a night of raging nationwide protests over a historic Lebanese currency crash. The emergency session was attended by Central Bank Governor Riad Salameh, Association of Banks chief Salim Sfeir and the deputy head of the money changers union, Mahmoud Halawi. After the session, Industry Minister Imad Hoballah announced that the central bank "will immediately start to pump dollars into the market," describing the meeting's outcome as "positive." Halawi for his part assured that an agreement was reached on "pumping dollars to support basic goods and meet citizens' needs."
"We will be disciplined in selling the dollar and we will sell it at LBP 3,940," he added. He also warned citizens that buying and selling dollars from and to the unlicensed black market will lead to "the exit of dollars from the country."
LBCI TV meanwhile reported that Salameh and the money changers have pledged that the dollar will be sold at the LBP 3,940 rate and that the governor has vowed to supply money exchange shops with dollar banknotes.
LBCI also said that Diab called Speaker Nabih Berri to "put him in the picture of the discussions."

Govt. Forms Crisis Cell to Enforce Financial and Monetary Decisions
Naharnet/June 12/2020
Cabinet on Friday approved a number of measures aimed at reining in the rapid devaluation of the Lebanese pound. A statement issued after a Cabinet session in Baabda said the justice minister has been tasked to ask the state prosecutor to conduct investigations over “fabrications and false claims aimed at devaluing the national currency.”A crisis cell led by the finance minister will also be formed and tasked with “following up on the developments of the financial and monetary situations and enforcing decisions.”It will convene twice a week and submit periodic reports to the prime minister and the Council of Ministers. Security agencies were also asked to be stricter in “suppressing all violations” related to financial and monetary crimes. Earlier in the day, the government pledged to inject dollars into the market, after a night of angry protests triggered by the currency plumbing, new black market lows and the worst recession in decades. Lebanese media reported that the exchange rate had touched 6,000 pounds per dollar on the black market on Friday, compared to the official peg of 1,507 in place since 1997. Parliament Speaker Nabih Berri, who held a tripartite meeting with President Michel Aoun and Prime Minister Hassan Diab, said the government's measures aim to bring the exchange rate to stronger than 4,000 pounds to the dollar.

Hariri Warns that Firing Salameh would 'Slaughter' Economy
Naharnet/June 12/2020
Former premier Saad Hariri warned Friday against sacking long-running Central Bank Governor Riad Salameh, describing any such move as “madness.” “The threat to fire Riad Salameh is economic, political and constitutional madness that would slaughter the Lebanese economy,” Hariri said in a tweet.
“The Presidency and its government are leading the Lebanese into the unknown by turning the economy into a hostage and settling political scores,” he added. “This is a mentality of spite and vengeance that is looking for a scapegoat to contain people’s rightful anger and the screams of hunger across all regions,” Hariri went on to say. “They are looking for an exit to rescue themselves from the consequences of their decisions and actions, not for a solution to rescue the economic and stop the lira’s deterioration,” the ex-PM charged.

Halawi announces agreement to inject cash dollar into market

NNA/June 12/2020
Vice-president of the Money Changers Syndicate, Mohammad Halawi, announced at the end of the Cabinet session held at the Grand Serail, that an agreement had been reached between the conferees on the injection of cash dollar into the market, in view to facilitate the import of raw materials and to meet the needs of citizens. "We are committed to the selling of dollar at an exchange rate of LBP 3,940," he said, calling on people not to resort to the black market.

Geagea Says Lebanese to Hear 'Bad News' Daily if Hizbullah, Bassil Keep Ruling
Naharnet/June 12/2020
Lebanese Forces leader Samir Geagea on Friday blamed Hizbullah, Free Patriotic Movement chief Jebran Bassil and "their allies" for the country's economic pain. "As long as Hizbullah, Minister Jebran Bassil and their allies are in power, prepare to hear bad news and witness a new deterioration with every sunrise," Geagea tweeted. His tweet comes after a night of raging protests across the country that evoked the first days of the October 17 uprising. Protesters took to the streets, blocked most of the country's roads and clashed with security forces in some areas after reports said that the dollar was selling for a historic high of LBP 7,000.

Lebanon: Months of Protests

Agence France Presse/Naharnet/June 12/2020
Lebanon, mired in an economic crisis, has been rocked since October 2019 by angry protests over government corruption and incompetence.
Here is a recap:
'WhatsApp tax' anger
On October 17, the government announces a tax on messaging applications, including WhatsApp.
Seeing it as the last straw, thousands take to the streets in Beirut and other cities, some chanting "the people demand the fall of the regime".
The government of Saad Hariri scraps the tax the same day, but protests continue.
Demos grow
On October 18, thousands of demonstrators bring the capital to a standstill in unprecedented cross-sectarian mass protests.
They demand an overhaul of the political system, citing grievances from austerity measures and state corruption to poor infrastructure and regular electricity cuts.
Demonstrations swell over the following days and dozens are arrested.
Government resigns
On October 29, Hariri submits his resignation and that of his government, prompting celebrations in the streets.
On November 12, President Michel Aoun announces plans to form a new government including technical experts.
Foreign aid appeal rebuffed
On December 11 at a Paris conference, France, the United States, Russia and other countries rebuff Lebanon's urgent aid appeal, making assistance conditional on the formation of a new reform-minded government.
The economic crisis worsens with mass layoffs, drastic banking restrictions and a strong depreciation of the pound.
New prime minister
On December 19, the president finally names a new prime minister: little-known academic Hassan Diab, who is backed by powerful Shiite movement Hizbullah.
Protesters immediately regroup to condemn the appointment, which outrages members of the Sunni community. Protests continue the following day with roads blocked across the country.
Escalation in Beirut
On January 11, 2020, protests resume after a pause over the holidays. Days later, clashes take place in Beirut and several banks are vandalized. On January 18-19, at least 546 people, demonstrators, but also members of the security forces, are injured in clashes in central Beirut. Human Rights Watch accuses the police of firing rubber bullets at protesters' eyes.
New government
On January 21, a new government is unveiled, made up of a single political camp, the pro-Iranian Hizbullah and its allies, who have a parliamentary majority.
Demonstrators respond by torching tires and blocking several roads in mainly Sunni towns across the country.
On February 11, parliament votes its confidence in the new government, despite attempts by hundreds of protesters to block the session. The clashes leave more than 370 injured.
Default
On March 7, Lebanon, whose debt burden is equivalent to nearly 170 percent of its gross domestic product, says it will default on a $1.2-billion Eurobond.
On the 23rd, it says it will discontinue payments on all dollar-denominated Eurobonds.
Rescue plan
On April 30, after three nights of violent clashes in Tripoli, Diab says Lebanon will seek help from the International Monetary Fund, after the government approves a plan to rescue the economy. On May 13, Lebanon launches talks with the IMF.
Currency plunges
On June 11, after the Lebanese pound hits a new low on the black market, protesters take to the streets after sundown, blocking roads, including in Beirut.
The currency plunge goes alongside the closure of shops and massive layoffs due to the coronavirus. Protesters blast Central Bank Governor Riad Salameh's failure to halt the depreciation. On the 12th, the government holds crisis talks on the currency plunge.

Diab’s meeting decides to open Rafik Hariri International Airport as of July 1, 2020
NNA/June 12/2020
Prime Minister, Dr. Hassan Diab, chaired a meeting devoted to discussing the issue of reopening Rafik Hariri International Airport.
Attending the meeting had been Deputy Prime Minister and Minister of Defense Zeina Akar, Ministers of Foreign Affairs and Emigrants Nassif Hatti, Interior and Municipalities Mohammad Fahmi, Public Health Hamad Hassan, Information Dr. Manal Abdel Samad Najd, Social Affairs and Tourism Ramzi Musharrafieh, Secretary General of the Higher Defense Council Major-General Mahmoud Al-Asmar, PM’s Advisor for Health Affairs Petra Khoury, Political Affairs Chief at the Ministry of Foreign AffairsAmbassador Ghadi Khoury, and the Secretary General of the Presidency of the Council of Ministers, Judge Mahmoud Makie.
It was agreed to reopen the airport as of July 1, 2020, with an operating capacity equivalent to 10 percent of the traffic compared to July 2019, with the resumption of private flights starting from June 24.
It was decided that upon arrival of passengers to Rafik Hariri International Airport fromcountries that perform PCR tests, a sample will be taken for a second examination, and that passengers will be informed of the result within 24 hours by the examining entity. Upon arrival of expatriates from countries that do not conduct PCR tests, a sample will be taken for them and they will be notified of theresults within a period of 24 hours.
In the event that any positive results for those entering Lebanon, relevant travelers must observe home quarantine and follow the insturctions of the Ministry of Public Health until they recover as per the approved medical protocol.
As for non-Lebanese wishing to travel to Lebanon, they must have a valid insurance policy for the duration of their stay in Lebanon, covering all treatment costs for the coronavirusepidemic on the Lebanese territory, and this service will also be available by insurance companies operating in Lebanon.-- PM Press Office

UNIFIL‘s Del Col to NNA: Rotation of troops to resume as of June 15, 2020
NNA/June 12/2020
Interviewed by the National News Agency on Friday, UNIFIL’s Head of Mission and Force Commander, Major General Stefano Del Col, said that as of 15 June 2020, UNIFIL would start a partial resumption of uniformed personnel rotations under extraordinary transitional measures, based on a rigorous quarantine regime and in accordance with WHO guidelines and Lebanese Government policies. “In April 2020, Secretary-General António Guterres had suspended – with rare exceptions – all rotations, repatriations and deployments of uniformed personnel until 30 June 2020 to mitigate the transmission of COVID-19 Coronavirus.  On 5 June 2020, in a letter to Member States, the Secretary-General announced temporary and extraordinary transitional measures for a partial resumption of uniformed rotations, deployments and repatriations for six months with effect from 1 July 2020. These temporary measures with a rigorous and effective quarantine regime will be reviewed in October 2020. These transitional measures will continue to be guided by four central objectives: to protect UN personnel and their capacity to perform critical operations; to help contain and mitigate the spread of the virus within Lebanon and globally, ensuring that UN personnel are not a contagion vector; to support national authorities in their response to COVID-19, as requested and possible; and to help protect vulnerable communities and continue to deliver on our mandates,” Del Col explained. Responding to a question whether UNIFI will resume work as usual any time soon with the easing down of the lockdown measures, Del Col reiterated the fact that UNIFIL personnel would continue to strictly follow the robust precautionary measures that have been in place since the very beginning of the virus outbreak in order to prevent its spread.
“Such measures will apply to all of our personnel: those living in UN positions and communities, those returning home, newly incoming personnel and those returning from leave. All the precautionary measures and decisions on this issue have been coordinated in close consultation with the Lebanese authorities,” he added.  As for UNIFIL’s resumption date of the rotation of troops, the UNIFIL chief said that as of 15 June 2020, UNIFIL would start a partial resumption of uniformed personnel rotations under extraordinary transitional measures, based on a rigorous quarantine regime and in accordance with WHO guidelines and Lebanese Government policies. “Consistent with the precautionary measures required by WHO health guidelines, during the rotation period all uniformed personnel shall be required to undergo a quarantine period in their home country before deploying to Lebanon, and also in the mission area, upon their arrival in Lebanon. UNIFIL is making all the appropriate arrangements for the secure transportation of the incoming units and personnel to their designated quarantine facility inside our UNIFIL bases in south Lebanon. UNIFIL will ensure that the quarantine measures are effective and strictly observed by all personnel,” he added. Touching on UNIFIL’s operational activity, Del Col said that UNIFIL personnel continued to carry out operational activities in support of the Mission’s mandate in accordance with the UN Security Council resolution 1701.

Bukhari meets Baasiri
NNA/June 12/2020
Saudi Ambassador to Lebanon, Walid bin Abdullah Bukhari, on Friday welcomed at the Embassy, former Banque du Liban (BDL) Vice Governor, Dr. Mohammed Baasiri. The pair exchanged views on a number of issues of mutual concern.

Abdel Samad after cabinet session says pumping USD not enough to remedy economic crisis
NNA/June 12/2020
In the wake of Friday’s urgent cabinet session at Baabda Presidential Palace, Minister of Information, Dr. Manal Abdel Samad Najd, said that discussions mainly focused on the country’s financial and monetary conditions, as well as on the measures that ought to be taken to remedy the situation.
"The Minister of Justice has been tasked to request of the Attorney General of the Court of the Cassation to follow-up on the fabricated rumors and false allegations which have led to a sharp decline in the national currency, and consequently shaken trust in the state’s monetary power,” said Abdel Samad.
She disclosed a decision to form a crisis cell — to be headed by the Minister of Finance — who’s been tasked to follow up on the country’s financial and monetary conditions. “The crisis cell, through which the Central Bank Governor will submit a detailed report on the latest developments, will be meeting twice a week. A periodic report, detailing the cell’s activities, will be handed to the Prime Minister.”“Pumping currency [USD] into the market is not enough. Therefore, measures must be taken to curb illegal operations in a bid to prevent attempts to smuggle hard currencies or tamper with monetary stability,” Abdel Samad added.

Neshan TV episode: Turkish embassy calls for intervention of Foreign Ministry
NNA/June 12/2020
The Turkish Embassy in Lebanon called, in its statement this Friday, for the intervention of the Lebanese Foreign Ministry into the affair of the TV program "Ana Heik" by Neshan Derharoutynian, broadcast on the al-Jadeed channel on 10/6/2020, during which the presenter interviewed former Minister Wiam Wahab. "During this episode, Wahab and Derharoutynian publicly and directly offended the President of Turkey, Recep Tayyip Erdogan, as well as the Turkish people. Such insults can in no case be defended under the pretext of freedom of expression," said the press release.
"The Turkish Embassy in Lebanon strongly condemns the verbal insults against President Erdogan and requests the intervention of the Ministry of Foreign Affairs with the competent Lebanese authorities in order to guarantee the respect of the Turkish President in all Lebanese media," it added.
Accordingly, the Secretary General of the Ministry of Foreign Affairs, Hani Chmeitli, called upon the Ministry of Information to take the necessary measures, in accordance with the laws in force, knowing that such attacks would disturb the relations of Lebanon with foreign countries.

Lebanese Take to Streets as Pound Hits New Low
Asharq Al-Awsat/Friday, 12 June, 2020
Protesters took to the streets across Lebanon on Thursday as reports said the dollar sank to a new low on the black market, despite the authorities' attempts to halt the plunge of the crisis-hit country's currency. Lebanon is in the grip of its worst economic turmoil in decades and holding talks with the International Monetary Fund to secure billions in aid. A prolonged economic downturn was the major grievance that sparked unprecedented mass protests in October last year against the political class, accused of corruption and incompetence. Protests broke out again on Thursday, with roads blocked across the country, and security forces fired tear gas to disperse demonstrators. A throng of protesters blocked a key road in the center of the capital Beirut, an AFP journalist reported. "Thief, thief, Riad Salame is a thief!" demonstrators chanted, referring to the governor of the central bank. Demonstrators also chanted slogans of national unity, after sectarian clashes shook Beirut during protests last weekend. "People can't take it anymore, that's enough," said Haitham, a protester in central Beirut. "People have no work, no food to eat. They cannot buy medicines, nappies, or milk for their children."In the center of the capital, near Riad al-Solh square, security forces fired tear gas to disperse protesters who threw stones, according to local television. In the northern city of Tripoli, the army also fired tear gas to disperse demonstrators who had tried to take over the local branch of the Central Bank, according to the state news agency ANI, adding that eight people were wounded. A Molotov cocktail set fire to trees in front of the building, an AFP correspondent witnessed. Also in Sidon protesters hurled Molotov cocktails at the city's central bank branch, setting its outer entrance ablaze. Demonstrators also tried to storm the central bank's branches in Tyre.
Tumbling currency
The Lebanese pound remains officially pegged to the US currency at a rate of 1,507 per dollar but its value has tumbled on the black market. Rates from three money changers on Thursday morning indicated it had lost almost 70 percent of its value compared with the official rate. One money changer who asked to remain anonymous said he was selling dollars at a rate of 5,000 pounds and buying them at 4,800. Another in Beirut's Dahiya neighborhood was buying dollars for 4,850 pounds. Rumors spread on social media platforms claiming that the dollar was selling at a historic rate of LBP 7,000 on the black market.
The new nadir came despite government pledges to halt the pound's devaluation, and the money changers' union issuing a maximum daily buying rate of 3,890 and selling rate of 3,940. On Thursday evening, a central bank statement cited by local media hit out at "baseless" information on social media of "exchange rates at levels far from reality, which mislead citizens". The office of Prime Minister Hassan Diab announced an urgent cabinet meeting would be held on Friday to discuss the situation. Lebanese banks have gradually restricted dollar withdrawals since late last year, forcing those in need to buy them at a higher rate on the black market. An AFP photographer said on Thursday that many money-changing shops had closed, citing a lack of dollars. In an apparent bid to better oversee the exchange market, the central bank is set to launch an online platform on June 23 through which changers will be asked to register all operations.
Buying power battered
Lebanon's economic crunch has caused poverty to soar to 45 percent of the population and pushed unemployment up by 35 percent. It has also sparked steep inflation, including on imported products. Nabil, a retired 64-year-old, said his buying power had taken a blow. "Yesterday I went to a home appliance store to buy a fridge, and the salesman asked me for $1,200 in cash, or the equivalent at an exchange rate of 5,000, which is six million pounds," he said. "That's twice my monthly pension." Lebanon needs "emergency external assistance to ward off the worst social consequences of the crisis", analysts from the International Crisis Group warned on Monday. The country defaulted on its debt in March for the first time in its history.

Lebanon PM faces challenge with renewed demonstrations, financial crisis
The Arab Weekly/June 12/2020
BEIRUT--Lebanon’s Emergency and Relief Corps announced Friday that more than 36 people were injured as a result of the clashes that broke out a day before between the security forces and demonstrators.
Meanwhile, Lebanese local media reported in breaking news that hundreds of protesters had tried to storm the home of Prime Minister Hassan Diab. The escalation of the anti-government protests came as the pound sank to a record low on the black market despite the authorities’ attempts to halt the plunge of the crisis-hit country’s currency. Lebanon is in the grip of its worst economic turmoil in decades and holding talks with the International Monetary Fund to secure billions in aid. A prolonged economic downturn was the major grievance that sparked unprecedented mass protests in October last year against the political class, accused of corruption and incompetence. Protesters spontaneously took to the streets again on Thursday, with roads blocked across the country, and security forces fired tear gas to disperse demonstrators. A throng of demonstrators blocked a key road in the centre of the capital Beirut, a journalist reported. “Thief, thief, Riad Salame is a thief!” protesters chanted, referring to the governor of the central bank. Demonstrators also chanted slogans of national unity, after sectarian clashes shook Beirut during protests last weekend. In the centre of the capital, near Riad al-Solh Square, security forces fired tear gas to disperse protesters who threw stones, according to local television. In the northern city of Tripoli, the army also fired tear gas to disperse demonstrators who had tried to take over the local branch of the Central Bank, according to the state news agency ANI. As the protests calmed on Friday, security forces reopened blocked roads. Prime Minister Hassan Diab cancelled his scheduled meetings for the day and called for an emergency session to discuss the crisis. Salameh, the governor of the central bank who has been singled out by Diab for his mishandling of the situation, was taking part in the meeting. The renewed demonstrations amid calls for Diab’s resignation are a huge challenge for the prime minister who took over in December after his predecessor, Saad Hariri, resigned amid nationwide protests late last year. His government, supported by the Iran-backed Hezbollah group and its allies, has been weakened by the crisis. The Lebanese pound remains officially pegged to the US currency at a rate of 1,507 per dollar but its value has tumbled on the black market.
Rates from three money changers on Thursday morning indicated it had lost almost 70 percent of its value compared with the official rate. The crash appeared to reflect the growing shortage of foreign currency on the market amid the crisis.
It also signalled panic over new US sanctions that will affect neighbouring Syria in the coming days as well as lack of trust in the government’s management of the crisis. The new nadir came despite government pledges to halt the pound’s devaluation, and the money changers’ union issuing a maximum daily buying rate of 3,890 and selling rate of 3,940. On Thursday evening, a central bank statement cited by local media hit out at “baseless” information on social media of “exchange rates at levels far from reality, which mislead citizens”. Lebanese banks have gradually restricted dollar withdrawals since late last year, forcing those in need to buy them at a higher rate on the black market. In an apparent bid to better oversee the exchange market, the central bank is set to launch an online platform on June 23 through which changers will be asked to register all operations. Lebanon’s economic crunch has caused poverty to soar to 45 percent of the population and pushed unemployment up by 35 percent. It has also sparked steep inflation, including on imported products. Lebanon needs “emergency external assistance to ward off the worst social consequences of the crisis”, analysts from the International Crisis Group warned June 8. The country defaulted on its debt in March for the first time in its history. Lebanon’s financial crisis predates the coronavirus pandemic that put the country in a total lockdown for months, further compounding the crisis. Years of corruption and mismanagement have left the tiny Mediterranean country with depleted resources, while shrinking investment in the war-riddled region and falling remittances from Lebanese abroad only increased the shortage of foreign capital.

Destroying Lebanon to Save It
Michael Young/Carnegie MEC/June 12/2020
مايكل يونغ: تدمير لبنان لإنقاذه
شرح مفصل لمشروع القانون الأميركي الذي هو قيد الإعداد ويهدف إلى خنق إيران اقتصادياً وأيضاً لبنان الذي يهيمن عليه حزب الله ويتحكم بحكمه وحكامه وأطقمه السياسية والحزبية المستسلمة والمتورطة في الفساد والصفقات والسمسرات. مشروع القانون يطالب بوقف كل المساعدات عن لبنان بمن فيها الجيش وبفرض عقوبات على كل من يساند حزب الله من المسؤولين والسياسيين ويخص بالذكر نبيه بري وجبران باسيل. مفهوم إسرائيل وكثر في أميركا يقول بأن لا مجال لإضعاف حزب الله دون اضعاف حكم لبنان نفسه ومعاقبة المسؤولين عن مساعدة ومساندة حزب الله أو الساكتين خدمة لمصالحهم عن تمدده وهيمنته.
http://eliasbejjaninews.com/archives/87217/michael-young-destroying-lebanon-to-save-it-%d9%85%d8%a7%d9%8a%d9%83%d9%84-%d9%8a%d9%88%d9%86%d8%ba-%d8%aa%d8%af%d9%85%d9%8a%d8%b1-%d9%84%d8%a8%d9%86%d8%a7%d9%86-%d9%84%d8%a5%d9%86%d9%82%d8%a7%d8%b0/
Lebanon will have to pay close attention to a report released on June 10 by the Congressional Republican Study Committee (RSC), containing recommendations on a variety of foreign policy questions. The RSC is a conservative group of members of the House of Representatives, and what it wrote about the Middle East in general, and Lebanon in particular, should cause great anxiety in Beirut.
The recommendations are focused on containing Iranian power in the region through a hardening of the maximum pressure campaign against Tehran. But what is new is the inclusion of Lebanon in that effort. The report calls for two things with regard to the country.
It asks, first, that security assistance to the Lebanese army be ended. In the same passage it also requests that, because of what it calls Hezbollah’s control over Lebanon, Congress should pass legislation “prohibiting any taxpayer money to the [International Monetary Fund] from going to a bailout of Lebanon,” which would “only reward Hezbollah at a time [when] protesters in Lebanon are demanding an end to corruption and standing against Hezbollah’s rule.”
A second recommendation is that the United States should sanction Hezbollah’s allies in Lebanon. The report names President Michel Aoun’s son in law Gebran Bassil and Speaker of Parliament Nabih Berri as two people who should be targeted.
The fate of the recommendations is unclear. There is a Democratic majority in the House of Representatives and this is an election year, so there are serious obstacles to turning these ideas into actual legislative measures. Moreover, even within the administration Secretary of State Mike Pompeo has opposed suspending aid to Lebanon. Yet there is a deeper issue here that cannot be ignored. The recommendations are firmly in line with Israel’s interpretation of the Lebanese situation, which can contribute to their bipartisan appeal.
Israeli officials and their U.S. allies, several of them quoted in the report, have long believed, perhaps reasonably, that Hezbollah’s missile arsenal poses a strategic threat to Israel. They subscribe to the view of the former Israeli defense minister, Avigdor Lieberman, that “Lebanon = Hezbollah,” therefore believe that only by crippling Lebanon can the United States weaken Hezbollah.
Ironically, a Lebanese-American think tanker associated with the campaign, and quoted in the RSC report, neatly summed up the prevailing logic in an article he wrote in 2017: “Lebanon’s stability, insofar as it means the stability of the Iranian order and forward missile base there, is not, in fact, a U.S. interest.”
Certainly, Lebanese officials bear a significant share of the responsibility for what is happening. By allowing Hezbollah to turn Lebanon into an Iranian outpost, the country’s political leadership has shown criminal indifference to what this would mean for the country. They may not have had a margin to do much about it, but nor did they sound the alarm bells of how this could place Lebanon in the American and Israeli crosshairs. Bassil, previously the foreign minister, was so eager to secure Hezbollah’s support for his presidential bid, that he failed to do his job and warn the government of the perilous shift in Washington. If he is sanctioned, he will have asked for it, even if keeping a U.S. knife above his head without using it would surely be more useful in forcing concessions from him.
Admitting all this, however, the RSC recommendations would go much further than containing Hezbollah. If Lieberman’s equating Lebanon with Hezbollah were true, then the RSC would not have mentioned the many Lebanese who oppose the party’s agenda. To judge, and punish, all the Lebanese because one party has imposed its will on them through its arms is something worth rethinking.
Furthermore, preventing an IMF bailout would lead to nothing less than Lebanon’s social and economic destruction, since the country could soon run out of hard currency to import vital necessities such as food, medicine, and fuel. Things will be made worse by Washington’s implementation of the Caesar Act, legislation to sanction the Assad regime in Damascus and those dealing with it, which will close a safety valve allowing Lebanon to conduct transactions through Syria. Lebanon could soon find that it has become a Venezuela on steroids.
If the RSC is truly concerned about those Lebanese who have demanded an end to corruption and have stood against Hezbollah’s rule, then impoverishing them, denying their children a future, and creating a situation that could lead to civil conflict, perhaps even sectarian conflict, is hardly the way to help. That’s unless, deep down, the unmentioned calculation is that a new civil war would be an ideal way of neutralizing Hezbollah, much as the civil war of 1975–1990 damaged the Palestine Liberation Organization. If that’s the reasoning, then U.S. policymakers and their amoral ideological facilitators should be prepared to cope with the potential repercussions of another failed state in the region, one that would surely have negative consequences for the West.
If Lebanon had a government with minimal competence, it would make these points to members of the U.S. Congress. Foreign Minister Nassif Hitti has considerable diplomatic experience and surely grasps what is at stake. But it is Bassil who placed his people at the Foreign Ministry. He and his appointees are hardly credible in persuading House members that collective punishment of the Lebanese would so undermine those opposed to Hezbollah, that the party would probably come out of the ensuing trauma relatively reinforced.
It is a national trait in Lebanon that we only see a problem when it is already upon us. The RSC recommendations are not policy yet, but they have made their way into the mainstream of the current administration’s party. The Lebanese government has to act quickly, by making the case in Washington against Lebanon’s devastation, and by reaching an agreement quickly with the IMF before a bailout is blocked. However, it is also necessary for those in Washington or other capitals, above all Paris and Berlin, who can sense the genuine risks involved, to warn that wantonly destroying Lebanon to save it from Iran’s influence is really the most insane path of all.

New US sanctions set to hit Syria likely to have knock-on effect in Lebanon
Abby Sewell, Al Arabiya English/Friday 12 June 2020
Lebanon’s frail economy now faces another potential blow from the implementation of wide-reaching US sanctions targeted at the Syrian regime set to take effect next week.
The Caesar Act will begin to take effect on June 17, threatening sanctions against all those who “provide significant support or engage in a significant transaction with the Syrian government or those acting on behalf of Syria, Russia, or Iran,” the legislation says.
The Lebanese government, which currently faces a collapsing currency and dire economic situation, has not yet taken an official stance on the act, with a government committee set to meet Monday to discuss it.
Lebanon and Syria’s economies are inextricably linked, with money and goods moving across the border – legally and illegally – and Lebanon’s political class is divided between pro- and anti-Syrian regime camps.
“Lebanon and Syria are very much hooked at the waist when it comes to the impact of these sanctions,” Firas Maksad, a Washington-based consultant on Middle East policy and adjunct professor at George Washington University’s Elliot School for International Affairs, told Al Arabiya English. That opens up the potential that “the impact Caesar will have on Syria will pull Lebanon down with it,” he said.
Some analysts linked the sudden acceleration in the devaluation of the Lebanese currency on the black market over the past few days to anxieties about the upcoming Caesar implementation, as Syrians worried about an impending squeeze on foreign currency have been buying up dollars in Lebanon.
“Panic is now rife now because of the impending implementation of the Caesar Act. People are trying to hedge against inflation and the depreciation of the Syrian pound,” economist and former Minister of Economy and Trade and Minister of Industry of Lebanon Nasser Saidi told Al Arabiya English.
The Lebanese lira, officially valued at around 1,500 to the dollar, had been going at around 4,000 to the dollar on the black market, when suddenly the rate spiked to above 5,000 Thursday. Maksad noted that, in addition to the fluctuations of Lebanese and Syrian currencies impacting each other, the smuggling of imported commodities like fuel and wheat from Lebanon to Syria has put further pressure on Lebanon’s dollar reserves.
More electricity shortages could be on the horizon
The threat of sanctions could also impact Lebanon’s power supply. With long running chronic shortages in its own electricity system, Lebanon imports up to 276 megawatts of power from Syria.
Without that potential supply, Lebanon would have to rely more heavily on the diesel generators that provide power for most of the country when state-provided electricity is cut, noted Marc Ayoub, a researcher in the energy policy and security program at the American University of Beirut’s Issam Fares Institute for Public Policy and International.
During the summer, when demand usually spikes, Ayoub said, the country might see an additional 100- to 150-megawatt power deficit if the option to import from Syria is not there. As of now, there is no option to fill that gap apart from relying on costly generators.
“And if there is another problem with the fuel and diesel imports because of the financial situation, this means that we will be facing a very bad situation in terms of supply,” he said. “…We will be having more electricity shortages and cutoffs, etc., because the diesel generators will not be able to supply this unmet capacity.”The sanctions could also halt plans to reactivate a gas pipeline running from Egypt to Syria and then to Lebanon, Ayoub noted.
It remains unclear whether the electricity sector might be exempted from the Caesar sanctions.
A US State Department spokesperson declined to comment on the question but said in an emailed statement that the law “seeks to deny the Assad regime the financial resources that his regime uses to fuel its campaign of violence and destruction that has killed hundreds of thousands of civilians, and is meant to send a clear signal that no external actor should enter into business with or otherwise enrich such a regime.”Maksad said any proposed exemption would likely be reviewed by attorneys before a political decision was made but added, “I’d have to say that the political climate in DC is not conducive for trying to help the Lebanese government out.”
Increasing hardline on Hezbollah
The US has taken an increasingly hard line on Hezbollah, an ally of the Syrian regime which, along with its allies in government, including the Free Patriotic Movement headed by former Foreign Minister Gebran Bassil, has been pushing for Lebanon to normalize political relations with the Syrian regime. With the Caesar Act now in play, that looks less likely, analysts said. “I think politically this will make it incredibly difficult now for Hezbollah, or Gebran Bassil, for that matter, to continue pushing for normalization with Syria,” said Maha Yahya, director of the Carnegie Middle East Center.
She noted that the sanctions will also stymie Lebanese businessmen who had set up companies in hopes of profiting from the post-war rebuilding of Syria.
Nasser Yassin, interim director of AUB’s Issam Fares Institute, said while the Lebanese government may be reluctant to announce that it will cooperate with the Caesar Act in practice, “they have no choice.”
“I think they’re going to come up with the usual gray language about ‘we take note of it,’ but deep inside, I guess they have to [comply].”
Meanwhile, given Hezbollah’s ties to Syria and Iran, there are questions as to whether the sanctions might be applied to politicians and government ministries controlled by Hezbollah and allies.
When asked about the potential for sanctions against party members, the State Department spokesperson said Hezbollah’s actions “demonstrate that it is more concerned with its own interests and those of its patron Iran, than what is best for the Lebanese people,” adding, “US sanctions targeting Hizballah and other corrupt actors are undertaken in solidarity with the Lebanese people who since October of last year have called for leaders to implement reforms and to fight corruption.” 
The mass protests initially brought together people of all sects and political leanings, but since then, tensions between protesters and counter-protesters have taken on a sectarian element at times. Last week, after a protest in which some groups participating called for Hezbollah to be disarmed, clashes broke out between protesters and supporters of Hezbollah and allied groups and later between Sunni and Shia youth in some Beirut neighborhoods, raising fears of an escalation of sectarian violence.
While on Thursday night, Hezbollah supporters joined protesters from other groups expressing outrage over the currency crisis, Yassin said that the Caesar Act could play into increased tensions in the future.
“With all this pressure, the economic pressure, with all this political instability…and an inability to come up with something, a way out from this big hole we are in, I’m sure it’s going to be translated on the streets,” he said, with potential outbursts of localized violence. But he added, “I don’t see a fullscale civil war. Civil war needs money, it needs financing. We don’t have the recipe for a civil war. Or we have it – all the elements are there, sadly – but we don’t have the means.”

The Latest English LCCC Miscellaneous Reports And News published on June 12-13/2020
Transmission of COVID-19 by asymptomatic cases
NNA/WHO Lebanon/June 12/2020
Global research on COVID-19 continues to be conducted, including how the severe acute respiratory syndrome coronavirus 2 (SARS-CoV-2) is transmitted. Current evidence suggests that most transmission occurs from symptomatic people through close contact with others. Accordingly, most recommendations by WHO on personal protective measures (such as use of masks and physical distancing) are based on controlling transmission from symptomatic patients, including patients with mild symptoms who are not easy to identify early on.
Available evidence from contact tracing reported by countries suggests that asymptomatically infected individuals are much less likely to transmit the virus than those who develop symptoms. A subset of studies and data shared by some countries on detailed cluster investigations and contact tracing activities have reported that transmission by asymptomatically-infected individuals are much less likely to transmit the virus than those who develop symptoms. Comprehensive studies on transmission from asymptomatic patients are difficult to conduct, as they require testing of large population cohorts and more data are needed to better understand and quantified the transmissibility of SARS-CoV-2. WHO is working with countries around the world, and global researchers, to gain better evidence-based understanding of the disease as a whole, including the role of asymptomatic patients in the transmission of the virus. --

After Soleimani and Muhandis, pro-Iranian factions in Iraq are weakened, divided
LONDON - Earlier this year, Iran-backed militia factions in Iraq expected their usual cash handouts when the new head of Iran’s Quds Force made his first visit to Baghdad, succeeding the slain Qassem Soleimani. But to their disappointment, Esmail Ghaani brought them only silver rings.
For his second visit, Ghaani had to apply for a visa, something unheard of in Soleimani’s time — a bold step by Baghdad’s new government effectively curtailing Iran’s freedom of movement inside Iraq.
The episodes, according to several Iraqi officials, illustrate Iran’s struggles to maintain sway over Iraqi militias six months after the United States killed Soleimani and top militia leader Abu Mahdi al-Muhandis in a drone strike.
Iran, at the same time, is grappling with the economic fallout from US sanctions and the impact of the coronavirus pandemic.
The collapse of the oil market has marked an even dimmer outlook for the Iranian government, with many intelligence analysts saying that Iranians will try to hold out until November, when, they hope, a potential defeat of US President Donald Trump in presidential elections will mean the easing of US sanctions.
On June 10, the US's top commander in the region said the killing of Soleimani had reshaped the geopolitical reality, deterring Iran from attacking the assets of the US and its Middle East allies.
“I think [killing Soleimani] has had a significant effect in establishing and reestablishing a rough form of deterrence in the theatre,” said General Kenneth F. McKenzie Jr., commander of United States Central Command (CENTCOM), during a webinar at the Middle East Institute.
The US general’s assessment of Iran's recent activities was at odds with initial fears many harboured about the potential ramifications of assassinating a powerful Iranian general in a region already mired in turmoil.
Iran, however, seems intent on shifting its strategy to deal with new challenges and changing dynamics in Iraq and elsewhere.
In Iraq, the absence of imposing figures like Soleimani and Muhandis to unify disparate factions has left the door open for divisions within the ranks of the Popular Mobilisation Forces (PMF), the umbrella group of mainly Shia forces.
Their deaths also disrupted the path to institutionalising the militias, which Muhandis had been meticulously planning with Soleimani’s blessing.
“With al-Muhandis gone, there is an absence of an anchor around which [PMF] politics revolves,” said Iraqi researcher Fanar Haddad.
Among Iraq’s Shia political and militia factions, Soleimani, a chief architect of Iran’s proxy groups across the region, held almost legendary status.
Charismatic and fluent in Arabic, his rapport with Iraqi officials was unmatched. He slipped in and out of Iraq regularly to plan, mediate and give out cash assistance. One surprise visit by him was sufficient to broker agreement between rival factions, officials said. ince his death, Shia factions have shown discord, arguing over a premier candidate twice before they settled on Mustafa al-Kadhimi.
Soleimani’s successor as Quds Force commander, Ghaani, is less familiar with Iraqi militia leaders and speaks to them through an interpreter. Meetings in Iraq have increasingly been handled by Iranian Ambassador Iraj Masjedi, himself a former Quds Force member.
Ghaani’s gift of silver rings — symbolically important in Shia Islam — rather than cash came during a meeting in April with leaders of several militia factions, according to three officials. Ghaani told them that, for the moment, they would have to rely on Iraqi state funding, they said, a sign of Iran’s economic crisis.
The PMF are paid primarily through the state — $2 billion in the 2019 budget — but the funds are not dispersed equally. Smaller Iranian-backed groups rely on other informal means of revenue and receive extras from Iran, roughly $3-9 million, two Iraqi officials close to the militias said.
The PMF was created in 2014 as a framework to organise and pay the thousands who volunteered to fight ISIS after a fatwa by Iraq’s top cleric, Grand Ayatollah Ali al-Sistani. Since then, its political and military might has soared. Under the staunchly pro-Iranian Muhandis, it became a channel for Tehran’s influence. The death of Muhandis opened the door for factions opposed to that influence — particularly ones associated with Sistani — to break from the PMF leadership. Militias complain that Iran-friendly groups receive preferential treatment.
The man seen as Muhandis’ likely successor, Abdulaziz al-Mohammadawi, known as Abu Fadak, drew opposition from factions who saw him as the Iranian-backed choice. He has not been officially recognised by the prime minister, though he has assumed some administrative duties, according to officials.
Some of the most Iran-friendly militias under the PMF have shown signs of splintering. Attacks against US forces in March were claimed by a purported new group, Usbat al-Thairen, believed to have emerged from the powerful Katai'b Hezbollah, which the US accused of previous attacks.
Recently, four militias affiliated with the shrines connected to Sistani said they would take orders directly from Iraq’s premier, bypassing the PMF leadership.
A senior official from Katai'b Hezbollah said the move has weakened the PMF and its legitimacy with the public. For many Iraqis, the group’s credibility is derived from Sistani’s fatwa. The fissure was plain to see when, weeks into his leadership, Kadhimi visited the PMF headquarters. To his right, sat figures friendly with Tehran, to his left, those affiliated with Sistani.
It marks a “major wrench” by the Shia establishment led by Sistani into Iran’s broader plans, said Randa Slim, director of the Conflict Resolution and Track II Dialogues Program at the Middle East Institute.
“They are basically saying we do not want an organ that takes its orders from Iran,” she said. A larger question looms over the future of the PMF.
Muhandis had been directing plans to transform a band of independent militias into a more professional force. Those plans remain unfinished, said three militia commanders on a recent visit to Mosul.
Under Muhandis, the PMF began referring to its units by brigade numbers rather than faction names and made moves toward imposing military rank structures and disciplinary courts. He oversaw the creation of engineering units providing services such as roadworks. He held immense influence over militias and their supporters.
When protesters attacked the US Embassy in Baghdad last December in response to US strikes on Katai'b Hezbollah targets, it was Muhandis and not Iraqi security forces who was ultimately called upon to have them pull back, according to two Iraqi officials.
“Hajj Abu Mahdi made us an official group, it’s the most important thing he did,” said Mohammed al-Mousawi, a PMF commander. For the years ahead, he had planned greater training for fighters, academies and recruitment to improve management, Mousawi said. Iran appears to be taking a back foot in Iraq, but experts said this is likely to be short-lived. “Iran has proved that it learns and evolves,” said Slim. “Now it’s in the learning phase.”
The major blows suffered by Iran in Iraq and the high cost of its operations there do not mean that the Islamic Republic is pondering an imminent abandonment of its plans for expanding control in the country. Iran, of course, knows the risks but, according to the Islamic regime, they are worth taking, even if that means a constant shift in strategy.
Since his death, Shia factions have shown discord, arguing over a premier candidate twice before they settled on Mustafa al-Kadhimi. Soleimani’s successor as Quds Force commander, Ghaani, is less familiar with Iraqi militia leaders and speaks to them through an interpreter. Meetings in Iraq have increasingly been handled by Iranian Ambassador Iraj Masjedi, himself a former Quds Force member. Ghaani’s gift of silver rings — symbolically important in Shia Islam — rather than cash came during a meeting in April with leaders of several militia factions, according to three officials. Ghaani told them that, for the moment, they would have to rely on Iraqi state funding, they said, a sign of Iran’s economic crisis. The PMF are paid primarily through the state — $2 billion in the 2019 budget — but the funds are not dispersed equally. Smaller Iranian-backed groups rely on other informal means of revenue and receive extras from Iran, roughly $3-9 million, two Iraqi officials close to the militias said.The PMF was created in 2014 as a framework to organise and pay the thousands who volunteered to fight ISIS after a fatwa by Iraq’s top cleric, Grand Ayatollah Ali al-Sistani. Since then, its political and military might has soared. Under the staunchly pro-Iranian Muhandis, it became a channel for Tehran’s influence.
The death of Muhandis opened the door for factions opposed to that influence — particularly ones associated with Sistani — to break from the PMF leadership. Militias complain that Iran-friendly groups receive preferential treatment.
The man seen as Muhandis’ likely successor, Abdulaziz al-Mohammadawi, known as Abu Fadak, drew opposition from factions who saw him as the Iranian-backed choice. He has not been officially recognised by the prime minister, though he has assumed some administrative duties, according to officials.
Some of the most Iran-friendly militias under the PMF have shown signs of splintering.
Attacks against US forces in March were claimed by a purported new group, Usbat al-Thairen, believed to have emerged from the powerful Katai'b Hezbollah, which the US accused of previous attacks.
Recently, four militias affiliated with the shrines connected to Sistani said they would take orders directly from Iraq’s premier, bypassing the PMF leadership.
A senior official from Katai'b Hezbollah said the move has weakened the PMF and its legitimacy with the public. For many Iraqis, the group’s credibility is derived from Sistani’s fatwa.
The fissure was plain to see when, weeks into his leadership, Kadhimi visited the PMF headquarters. To his right, sat figures friendly with Tehran, to his left, those affiliated with Sistani.
It marks a “major wrench” by the Shia establishment led by Sistani into Iran’s broader plans, said Randa Slim, director of the Conflict Resolution and Track II Dialogues Program at the Middle East Institute.
“They are basically saying we do not want an organ that takes its orders from Iran,” she said. A larger question looms over the future of the PMF.
Muhandis had been directing plans to transform a band of independent militias into a more professional force. Those plans remain unfinished, said three militia commanders on a recent visit to Mosul.
Under Muhandis, the PMF began referring to its units by brigade numbers rather than faction names and made moves toward imposing military rank structures and disciplinary courts. He oversaw the creation of engineering units providing services such as roadworks. He held immense influence over militias and their supporters.
When protesters attacked the US Embassy in Baghdad last December in response to US strikes on Katai'b Hezbollah targets, it was Muhandis and not Iraqi security forces who was ultimately called upon to have them pull back, according to two Iraqi officials.
“Hajj Abu Mahdi made us an official group, it’s the most important thing he did,” said Mohammed al-Mousawi, a PMF commander. For the years ahead, he had planned greater training for fighters, academies and recruitment to improve management, Mousawi said.
Iran appears to be taking a back foot in Iraq, but experts said this is likely to be short-lived. “Iran has proved that it learns and evolves,” said Slim. “Now it’s in the learning phase.”The major blows suffered by Iran in Iraq and the high cost of its operations there do not mean that the Islamic Republic is pondering an imminent abandonment of its plans for expanding control in the country. Iran, of course, knows the risks but, according to the Islamic regime, they are worth taking, even if that means a constant shift in strategy.

Looming U.S. Sanctions Shake Syria, Hasten Economic Meltdown
Associated Press/Naharnet/June 12/2020
In scenes not witnessed for years in government-controlled parts of Syria, dozens of men and women marched through the streets this week, protesting a sharp increase in prices and collapse of the currency, some even calling for the downfall of President Bashar Assad and his ruling Baath party. "He who starves his people is a traitor," some of the protesters chanted at the protest in the southern city of Sweida. In Syria nowadays, there is an impending fear that all doors are closing. After nearly a decade of war, the country is crumbling under the weight of years-long Western sanctions, government corruption and infighting, a pandemic and an economic downslide made worse by the financial crisis in Lebanon, Syria's main link with the outside world. Syria faces near complete isolation as the toughest U.S. sanctions yet start to come into effect next week. While Assad may have won the military war against his opponents with the help of allies Russia and Iran, he now faces an even bigger challenge of governing while more than 80% of his people live in poverty. In government-held areas, prices go up several times a day, forcing many shops to close, unable to keep up with the chaos. This week the Syrian currency dropped to a record 3,500 pounds to the dollar on the black market -- compared to 700 at the beginning of the year. Some staples such as sugar, rice and medicine are becoming hard to find. "The Syrian economy has spiraled out of control and the regime cannot control the Syrian pound anymore," said Osama Kadi, a Canada-based Syrian economic adviser. The pain is likely to grow under the new U.S. sanctions, which Washington says aim to punish Assad and his top lieutenants for crimes committed during the country's conflict. Effectively, the sanctions prevent anyone around the world from doing business with Syrian officials or state institutions or participate in the war-ravaged country's reconstruction. They also target anyone involved in smuggling to Syria, mostly from Iraq and Lebanon. The U.S. has already imposed sanctions on Assad and a number of his top officials. The new authority, known as the U.S. Caesar Syria Civilian Protection Act, allows foreign companies to be targeted, including in neighboring Lebanon, Jordan and Iraq.
"This legislation will close all the doors on the Syrian regime and any person that deals with it," said Nizar Zakka, a Lebanese citizen who is a member of the Caesar Act team, a group that advises U.S. authorities on implementing the sanctions. The first wave of sanctions will be imposed on June 17. Three other stages will follow before the end of August, he said. Caesar is the code name of a Syrian forensic photographer who graphically exposed the brutality of the government crackdown by smuggling out thousands of photos of torture victims. Experts say the new sanctions will be a heavy blow to a country where 80% of the population already live below the poverty line, making less than $100 a month, according to the United Nations. The Syrian government called the sanctions "economic terrorism."Some of the repercussions have already been profound.
Bread prices increased nearly 60% in the rebel-held northwestern province of Idlib, even though the territory is not included in the new sanctions. Its population, many of them unemployed and living in displaced camps, have also been hit hard by the collapse of the pound, since it is the main currency used in Idlib.
As a result, protests erupted this week calling for the ouster of the "Salvation Government" administering Idlib, led by al-Qaida-linked Hayat Tahrir al-Sham. The Syrian pound -- which had been at 47 to the dollar at the start of the conflict -- had held steady at around 500 to the dollar from 2014 until last year.
It started crumbling from a number of factors: the coronavirus lockdown, Lebanon's financial crisis, new rules requiring use of the Syrian pound and a feud between Assad and his cousin Rami Makhlouf, one of Syria's richest men.
The Syrian government has lost major income from resources in areas outside its control, including oil fields in the east held by U.S.-backed fighters and farmlands that produced much of the country's wheat. Most damaging, perhaps, has been the financial turmoil in Lebanon. Banks there have served as a gateway to the world for Syrian businessmen, officials and average people. Now Lebanon's tight capital controls lock away billions of dollars in their accounts.
"Lebanon was not only Syria's economic get-out-of-jail card, but it is the beating heart of Syria's business community," Danny Makki, a Britain-based Syrian journalist and political analyst, wrote recently for the Middle East Institute.
Lebanon is also panicking about losing Syria, particularly the electricity it still buys from the war-torn country. In recent weeks, the Lebanese army has begun closing some smuggling routes to and from Syria where fuel, diesel, medicine and other goods flow. Syria and its allies say the Caesar Act aims at starving the Syrian people. The U.S. Embassy in Syria -- closed since the beginning of the conflict -- tweeted on Sunday: "The regime's destructive war has crushed the Syrian economy, not U.S. or EU sanctions."
Amid the turmoil, Assad fired Prime Minister Imad Khamis on Wednesday in a move that appeared aimed at deflecting public anger. Khamis told parliament this week that the government was discussing with allies ways to boost the pound's value. He said the government was also taking steps to avoid any shortage of pharmaceuticals.
Samer Aftimos, a pharmacist in Damascus, said shortages are already taking place, in part because of people hoarding medicine. Drug companies have stopped supplying some medicines, he said. Syrian legislator Muhannad Haj Ali, who has been under European and American sanctions for years, said Syria survived past economic crises and will overcome the Caesar Act. "What the terrorists and the Americans couldn't take on the battlefield, where we paid with our blood and wounds, they won't be able to gain politically, no matter how much pressure they exert," he said.

U.S. Pledges to Reduce Iraq Troops as Tensions Ease
Agence France Presse/Naharnet/June 12/2020
The United States said Thursday it would reduce troops in Iraq in the coming months as friction between the two countries eased under a new U.S.-friendly premier in Baghdad. The United States also promised support to prop up the struggling Iraqi economy as the two nations held their first strategic dialogue in more than a decade. Tensions skyrocketed following a US strike on Baghdad in January that killed Iranian general Qasem Soleimani and Iraqi commander Abu Mahdi al-Muhandis, with lawmakers in Baghdad demanding the expulsion of the roughly 5,200 U.S. troops in the country. President Donald Trump responded by threatening crippling sanctions and, according to US military sources, Washington began planning a vast bombing spree against groups blamed for the rockets. In a joint statement, the United States said that the reason for its military's return to Iraq in 2014 -- defeating extremists from the Islamic State group -- had made major headway. "The two countries recognized that in light of significant progress towards eliminating the ISIS threat, over the coming months the US would continue reducing forces from Iraq," a joint statement said. "The United States reiterated that it does not seek nor request permanent bases or a permanent military presence in Iraq." The coalition has already consolidated to just three bases in recent months, down from a dozen. The joint statement, hashed out ahead of time, did not give figures and Thursday's dialogue was brief, with David Schenker, the top U.S. diplomat for the Middle East, telling reporters the delegations did not discuss a timeline for reducing troops.Due to coronavirus travel restrictions, top-level talks expected to take place in Baghdad were demoted to a brief online kick-off session.
New PM changes tone
Tensions have calmed substantially since Mustafa Kadhemi -- an ex-spy chief with close ties to the US and its allies in the region -- took the reins as Iraq's premier in May. Two Iraqi officials said Kadhemi has been invited to the White House this year, a diplomatic olive branch his predecessor Adel Abdel Mahdi had never received. "There was a lack of confidence in the relationship with the previous government," one of the officials said. Iraq in the joint statement promised to protect US bases that have seen a barrage of rocket fire blamed on paramilitary groups tied to Iran, a top adversary for the Trump administration.
The United States said it would look to encourage investment and promote economic reform in Iraq, which was rocked last year by major protests against unemployment and corruption. "We will support the new government through the international financial institutions to help it meet the challenge of COVID-19 and declining oil revenues," Schenker said. Iraq's economy relies almost exclusively on oil exports, with faltering prices and low demand drastically shrinking the government's ability to pay wages, pensions and welfare to eight million Iraqis.
After Kadhemi took charge, the United States extended a waiver from American sanctions to let Iraq keep importing needed gas from Iran, although the exemption runs out in September. "The entire US-Iraq bilateral relationship will not be fixed in a single day," said Robert Ford, an analyst at the Middle East Institute and a U.S. diplomat in Baghdad during the last round of strategic talks in 2008, which ironed out the U.S. drawdown from the occupation that began after the 2003 invasion to topple Saddam Hussein. "But for once, we seem to have the right people in the right place at the right time," he said.
Eyes on troop future
A dramatic or sudden drop could hamper the coalition's efforts to back an Iraqi fightback against IS sleeper cells, which have escalated attacks in recent weeks.
"Whatever comes out of the dialogue is going to set the future of our strategic relationship," a top American official from the coalition told AFP. "Am I still going to fly surveillance drones or not? Do you still want our intelligence?" he added.
Other coalition countries are watching closely. "The ability of non-US members of the coalition to be in Iraq depends on whether the US can stay. We're tied down by this dialogue, too," a Western diplomat told AFP. The spokesman for the pro-Iran Fatah bloc, Ahmad al-Assadi, has insisted on a six-month deadline for foreign troops' departure. On Monday and Wednesday, two rockets hit near Baghdad airport and the American embassy, after weeks of calm. But the rhetoric was more tempered than usual, with even the hardline Kataeb Hezbollah saying it would take a formal stance on the talks only after the first session. "These groups are retrenching, which gives Kadhemi some space with the Americans," Ford said.

Seattle Mayor Tells Trump to 'Go Back to Your Bunker'
Agence France Presse/Naharnet/June 12/2020
Seattle's mayor told Donald Trump to "Go back to your bunker" Thursday, escalating a spat after the president threatened to intervene over a police-free autonomous zone protesters have set up in the western U.S. city. The reference to a "bunker" was a nod to reports Trump was rushed by Secret Service agents to a secure area in the White House as demonstrations against racism and police brutality sparked by the death of George Floyd reached the president's residence.  Trump sparked the spat when he threatened to intervene in the neighborhood in Seattle dubbed "Capitol Hill Autonomous Zone," or CHAZ, which was agreed upon by demonstrators and the city's police department. "Take back your city NOW. If you don't do it, I will," Trump warned mayor Jenny Durkan and Washington state governor Jay Inslee -- both Democrats -- in a tweet late Wednesday, calling the protesters "domestic terrorists" who have taken over Seattle. "This is not a game. These ugly Anarchists must be stooped (sic) IMMEDIATELY. MOVE FAST," he continued in another tweet. Mayor Jenny Durkan replied, urging Trump to "make us all safe. Go back to your bunker", with Inslee joining in the Twitter mockery of Trump.
"A man who is totally incapable of governing should stay out of Washington state's business. 'Stoop' tweeting," Inslee wrote. Protests have taken place across the country following the death of Floyd, an unarmed black man killed in police custody in Minneapolis on May 25. Officials in Seattle have denied reports that left-wing activists are behind the setting up of the autonomous zone.
'Peaceful as hell'
In the CHAZ area Thursday there were tents with supplies for volunteer medics as well as free gourmet food donated by local restaurants, along with fruit, snacks, and water bottles for the taking. The sunny afternoon gathering had a relaxed air, with people of all ages, including mothers with children, milling around the car-free streets. At one point a crowd locked arms and prevented two police officers from reaching a boarded up police station in the area. The officers failed to break in when they tried to enter through a different road. "The scene here is peaceful as hell," said a demonstrator who identified herself as Jahtia B. She wondered aloud what Trump meant by tweeting 'take back the city.'  "This is our city. I was born and raised in this damn city. Let's give it to the people, the people who live in Seattle and have been thriving here," she told AFP. An African-American demonstrator, Rich Brown, said he was scared on Sunday when police used tear gas and flash bang grenades in an attempt to clear the area. "Today I feel supported, welcomed," he said. "We're able to speak, it's what we've been wanting to do this whole time, without intimidation, without fear."

Putin says 'majority' back plan to change Russian constitution
NNA /AFP/June 12/2020
Russian President Vladimir Putin said Friday an "absolute majority" of Russians backed his controversial plan to change the constitution, as he made his first public appearance after weeks of lockdown. Russia, which has the world's third-largest coronavirus caseload, this week lifted tight restrictions as Putin set the stage for a vote on July 1 that could extend his hold on power until 2036.Putin greeted his compatriots at an open-air flag-raising ceremony in western Moscow to mark Russia Day, a public holiday. He was surrounded by allies, including prominent paediatrician Leonid Roshal. Appearing without a mask and smiling in the bright sunshine, the 67-year-old leader praised the spirit of the Russian people as well their traditions and culture. He said it was only natural that Russians wanted to see these "fundamental, basic premises" reflected in the constitution. "I am sure that an absolute majority of our citizens share and support such a position," Putin said. During the ceremony, he also bestowed labour awards on Roshal, popular Soviet-era actor Yury Solomin and other figures.--

Britain abandons plan to introduce full border checks with EU on Jan 1
NNA /Reuters/June 12/2020
The United Kingdom has abandoned its plan to introduce full border checks with the European Union on Jan 1 as British ministers face pressure from businesses not to increase chaos already caused by the coronavirus outbreak, the Financial Times newspaper reported. nInstead, Britain will introduce a temporary "light-touch regime" at ports such as Dover for incoming EU goods, the newspaper reported, adding that this will happen whether or not there is a Brexit free trade agreement with the EU. The newspaper said that officials have conceded, however, that goods flowing to the EU from the UK could face full checks as they enter France.--

California man charged with videotaped poisoning of homeless people
NNA/Reuters/June 12/2020
A California man has been arrested on charges he poisoned eight homeless people by giving them food laced with a caustic substance derived from hot chili peppers in a string of attacks videotaped for his own enjoyment, prosecutors said on Thursday. William Robert Cable, 38, a handyman from the northern California town of San Andreas, was taken into custody on May 22 and has since been jailed on $500,000 bond as police continue their investigation, the Orange County district attorney’s office said in a statement. The victims, all poisoned in the coastal town of Huntington Beach, south of Los Angeles, had been tricked into ingesting oleoresin capsicum, a chemical compound from which the active ingredient in pepper spray is extracted, prosecutors said. “These human beings were preyed upon because they are vulnerable,” District Attorney Todd Spitzer said in a statement. “They were exploited and poisoned as part of a twisted form of entertainment, and their pain was recorded so that it could be relived by their attacker over and over again.” The victims survived but suffered a variety of severe reactions, including convulsions, breathing difficulty, vomiting, and intense mouth and stomach pain, according to the district attorney’s office. Several required hospitalization. The attacks spanned a little more than a week beginning in mid-May. Many victims were unaware the food had been tampered with, while several were given other food and beer to entice them to eat the tainted offerings, Spitzer said. Some were told they were participating in a “spicy food challenge” as part of the ruse, prosecutors said. Cable was charged with eight counts of felony poisoning, one count of elder abuse and eight misdemeanor counts of contributing to the delinquency of a minor. If convicted, Cable faces up to 19 years in prison. His attorney did not immediately respond to a Reuters’ request for comment.

Bomb explodes in Kabul mosque, at least 4 killed
NNA/ AP/June 12/2020
A bomb exploded Friday inside a mosque in west Kabul killing at least four people, including the prayer leader, and wounding eight others, an Afghan government official said. Interior Ministry spokesman Tariq Arian said a bomb had been placed inside the mosque but had no additional details. Police cordoned off the area and helped move the wounded to ambulances and nearby hospitals. No one took immediate responsibility but a mosque attack earlier this month was claimed by the Islamic State group affiliate. Mofleh Frotan was among the city's more prominent prayer leaders. Violence has spiked in recent weeks in Afghanistan with most of the attacks claimed by the IS affiliate, headquartered in eastern Afghanistan's Nangarhar province. Earlier this month, IS planted explosives at a mosque in Kabul's posh Wazir Akbar Khan neighborhood, killing the prayer leader and wounding eight others. The United States blamed the IS affiliate for a horrific attack last month on a maternity hospital in the capital that killed 24 people, including two infants and several new mothers. The hospital was located in the city's Shiite dominated area of Dasht-e-Barchi. The IS group, which reviles Shiites as heretics, has declared war on the country's minority Shiite Muslims, but has also attacked Sunni Muslim mosques. The mosque targeted Friday is Sunni. The IS affiliate also took responsibility for an attack on a bus carrying journalists in Kabul on May 30, killing two. Also it claimed credit for an attack on the funeral of a warlord loyal to the government last month that killed 35 people. Washington's peace envoy Zalmay Khalilzad was in the region earlier this week trying to resuscitate a U.S. peace deal with the Taliban, which is expected to eventually be enlisted in the fight against the IS affiliate. The peace deal signed in February to allow U.S. and NATO troops to leave Afghanistan includes a commitment by the Taliban to fight terrorism and a vow that Afghanistan would not be used to attack the United States or its allies. Washington previously said the Taliban have been instrumental — along with Afghanistan's National Security and Defense Forces and U.S. air strikes — in reducing the IS's strength in eastern Afghanistan.

US Recommends Designating Badr Organization's Leader, PMF Factions as Terrorists
Baghdad - Asharq Al-Awsat/Friday, 12 June, 2020
The Republican Study Committee (RSC) in the US Congress has recommended designating the “Badr Organization” and its head and secretary-general Hadi al-Ameri, in addition to several factions of the Popular Mobilization Forces (PMF) as terrorists. Al-Hurra news station revealed that the report published by RSC stressed that Badr Organization, Ameri, and factions of Kataib al-Imam Ali, Kataib Sayyid al-Shuhada, Liwa Abu al-Fadhal al-Abbas, Jund al-Islam, among others should be classified as terrorists. For his part, Ameri pinned high hopes on the Iraqi negotiators that they will not disappoint the Iraqi people who took to the streets demanding the departure of foreign forces and the achievement of full  national sovereignty. Meanwhile, Prime Minister Hisham Daoud's advisor affirmed that Iraq shares friendly and strong ties with the US as well as other countries in diverse fields such as military, security, energy, culture, and education.Daoud stressed that the US is a key state and Iraq needs to be on good terms with countries of strong economies. Earlier, Iraq asked for Washington’s help in the fight against ISIS but Mustafa al-Kadhimi’s government affirms now that Iraq has military capabilities and potentials to face internal risks and terrorism, he noted. Speaking to Asharq Al-Awsat, MP and committee member Aras Habib Karim said that what matters in the current Iraqi-US talks is that it outlines a roadmap for future ties between the two countries. "It is my belief that the government of Iraq is going to want to retain US and coalition forces," General Kenneth McKenzie, the commander of US forces in the region, said in an online conference sponsored by a Washington think tank. "And as you know, from my perspective, we're in Iraq to finish the defeat of ISIS and to support Iraq as they finish that defeat and come to a final, final victory against it," he said.

Assad dismisses PM, top military as Caesar Act set to bite
The Arab Weekly/June 12/2020
DAMASCUS-- In a move to distance himself from the deep economic crisis gripping Syria, Syrian President Bashar al-Assad sacked Prime Minister Imad Khamis and replaced him with the Minister of Water Resources Hussein Arnous, who is from Idlib.
The dismissal of the Prime Minister was accompanied by significant changes in the top echelons of the military command, including the Special Forces and the Republican Guard, with the aim of controlling any movement of the active forces whose primary task is to protect the existing regime.
Khamis's open “dismissal”, and not the customary declaration of “having accepted the resignation of the Prime Minister and of his government” which is made when making a government change in Damascus, came against the backdrop of widespread protests and a rapid deterioration of the economic conditions in the areas under the regime's control, and less than a week before the famous Caesar Act of the Trump administration comes into force. There have been widespread protests in all areas of Syria, but the most virulent ones were in the Druze city of Suwaida, near Daraa, where citizens have been demonstrating for the fourth consecutive day, demanding the “departure” of Bashar al-Assad from the presidency.
Demonstrations have erupted as US dollars disappeared from the streets of Damascus and many other Syrian cities, accompanied with unprecedented inflation that the Imad Khamis government could not control. Suwaida residents said the demonstrators, who had gathered near a main square in this southwestern city, called for the overthrow of al-Assad, picking up slogans and chants heard at the start of the pro-democracy protests in 2011. The protests have not abated since last Sunday. Protesters were also demanding an end to rampant corruption and the removal of Iranian militias and Russian forces, whose support has helped Assad recover most of the territory from the hands of his opponents. “The protesters are calling for freedom and the overthrow of the regime as a result of popular anger over the deteriorating economic, social, security and political conditions,” said resident and activist Nora al-Basha.
And for the first time since the protests began, dozens of government supporters staged a counter-demonstration in front of the city’s city hall, and criticised another wave of new and tougher US sanctions, known as the Caesar Act, that will be coming into force this month.
Sources in Damascus told The Arab Weekly that the Syrian security services launched a campaign of arrests in the past few days that included a large number of money changers, with the aim of bringing down the price of the dollar.
These sources revealed that the security forces confiscated large amounts of dollars from a number of money changers who were receiving support from the centres of power, which led the authorities to announce that the price of the dollar fell from 3,500 to 1,800 Syrian pounds. The US currency, however, was still missing from the markets.
The same sources stated that merchants in Damascus were forced, by direct threat, to keep their stores open after a large number of them had decided to stop selling the goods in their possession because of the high prices of the US dollar on the one hand, their fear of not being able to replace theirs stocks in the future on the other hand. Moreover, Syrian political sources revealed that the "dismissal" of the Syrian Prime Minister had been planned for some time now, but al-Assad had to wait before announcing his decision given that several personalities that were contacted for the position of the new Prime Minister turned it down under various pretexts, showing their unwillingness to bear any governmental responsibility at this stage. This eventually led the Syrian president to secure the cooperation of Minister Hussein Arnous from the dismissed government and appointed him prime minister.
Arnous, 67, was born in Idlib and is a veteran statesman who held several government positions, including that of Governor of Deir Al-Zour, which borders Iraq, and Governor of Quneitra in the south of the country. He figures on the US and the European Union lists of Syrian officials targeted by sanctions.
In related news, Syrian political sources talked about major changes having taken place in the top echelons of the Republican Guard and the Special Forces in light of fears of any military moves targeting the regime. They said in this regard that rather young Alawite officers, most of them with the rank of brigadier general, were recently appointed to important military positions so that any movement of forces would be under the direct supervision of these officers whom Bashar al-Assad considers loyal to him and not to anyone else, especially his cousin Rami Makhlouf.
In this context, Brigadier General MiladJadid became Commander of the Special Forces, Brigadier General Mondher Ibrahim as Chief of Staff of the Special Forces, Brigadier General Kamal Sarim as Chief of Staff of the Republican Guard, and Brigadier General Amin Asamander as Chief of Staff of the 30th Division of the Republican Guard.

US Pledges to Reduce Troops in Iraq
Asharq Al-Awsat/Friday, 12 June, 2020
The United States promised Thursday to reduce troops from Iraq over the coming months after talks with Baghdad, where lawmakers have pushed for their withdrawal. "The two countries recognized that in light of significant progress towards eliminating the ISIS threat, over the coming months the US would continue reducing forces from Iraq," a joint statement said. The joint statement, hashed out ahead of time, did not give figures and Thursday's dialogue was brief, with David Schenker, the top US diplomat for the Middle East, telling reporters the delegations did not discuss a timeline for reducing troops. Due to coronavirus travel restrictions, top-level talks expected to take place in Baghdad were demoted to a brief online kick-off session. "The United States reiterated that it does not seek nor request permanent bases or a permanent military presence in Iraq," the statement said. Iraq, in turn, promised to protect bases housing US troops after a series of rocket attacks blamed on pro-Iranian paramilitary groups. The two countries on Thursday held their first strategic dialogue in more than a decade, months after Iraqi lawmakers demanded that US forces withdraw in the wake of a US drone strike in Baghdad which killed a top general from neighboring Iran. The United States said it would look to encourage investment and promote economic reform in Iraq, which was rocked last year by major protests against unemployment and corruption. "We will support the new government through the international financial institutions to help it meet the challenge of COVID-19 and declining oil revenues," Schenker said. Relations have since stabilized under a new US-friendly Iraqi prime minister, Mustafa Kadhemi, and the dialogue was held virtually due to coronavirus precautions. Two Iraqi officials said Kadhemi has been invited to the White House this year, a diplomatic olive branch his predecessor Adel Abdel Mahdi had never received. "There was a lack of confidence in the relationship with the previous government," one of the officials said. Iraq's economy relies almost exclusively on oil exports, with faltering prices and low demand drastically shrinking the government's ability to pay wages, pensions, and welfare to eight million Iraqis.

PLO Member Says 8 European Countries Ready to Recognize Palestine
Ramallah - Kifah Zboun/Asharq Al-Awsat/Friday, 12 June, 2020
Member of the Palestine Liberation Organization (PLO) Executive Committee Azzam al-Ahmad said that eight European states have expressed willingness to recognize a Palestinian state on the lines prevailing before the 1967 war in response to Israel's annexation plan. The European Union rejects Israel’s plan to annex parts of the West Bank and the Jordan Valley and has threatened to impose sanctions on Israel in case it goes ahead with the annexation, Ahmad added.
Palestinian officials told the Israeli Kan public broadcaster that several European countries, including Ireland, intend to recognize the Palestinian state if Israel goes ahead with its plan. The officials say France, Spain, Belgium, Luxembourg, and Portugal have yet to respond. A committee in the House of Representatives of the Belgian Parliament passed a draft-law calling on the government to recognize a Palestinian state. It will be debated by the parliament in the coming 15 days. Ahmad also said that Palestine "plans to hold a series of meetings in the United Nations to exert pressure on Israel to withdraw its annexation" plan. He stressed that Riyadh remains a backer of the Palestinian people and leaders, lauding the Saudi government for its constant stance from the Palestinian cause as well as the meeting outcomes of the Organization of Islamic Cooperation. Following a meeting, Palestinian Prime Minister Mohammad Shtayyeh has urged German Foreign Minister Heiko Maas to increase pressure on Israel to stop its destructive plan. The talks, via videoconference, were attended by Jordanian Foreign Minister Ayman Safadi. Shtayyeh said: “We have affirmed our position of categorically rejecting annexation as an existential threat to the Palestinian entity and the Palestinian state, a violation of international law and agreements and a threat to regional security."He added: "We have asked Germany, which will chair the Security Council and the European Union, to convey this message to the world and increase its pressure on Israel on behalf of the European Union to back down from the annexation plan. It is very clear that if there is no serious cost for the annexation to Israel, it will not back down from its plan."Maas restated his country’s opposition to unilateral Israeli annexation. Safadi warned it was “imperative to stop annexation because ultimately it is a path to institutionalize apartheid of Palestine and that is not a recipe for peace.”

Aboul Gheit Warns of ‘Religious War’ over Israel’s Annexation Plan
Cairo - Sawsan Abu Hussein/Asharq Al-Awsat/Friday, 12 June, 2020
Arab League Secretary General Ahmed Aboul Gheit warned on Thursday against the eruption of a “religious war” over Israeli attempts to annex parts of the occupied West Bank.
“Israel’s annexation of Palestinian lands constitutes a new brutal aggression on the Palestinian people and their sovereignty on their territories,” he stressed in a statement. This would be a hostile move against Arab and Islamic nations and would undermine the chances for establishing peace in the region, Aboul Gheit said. He added that this “dangerous development may lead to confrontation and religious wars that the international community shall not allow us to slip into.”“The annexation plan is a blatant violation of international laws and the UN charter.”Aboul Gheit pointed out that the whole world is responsible for defending Palestinian rights. He urged the preservation of the international system that is based on respect for international law and on mutual respect between countries and peoples. The Arab League called for maintaining Arab support for the Palestinian educational process and alleviating the suffering of Palestinian students. This would allow future Palestinian generations to confront and challenge Israel to end its occupation and establish the Palestinian state with Jerusalem as its capital. AL Assistant Secretary General for Palestine and the Occupied Arab Territories Saeed Abu Ali made these remarks during the virtual session of the Educational Programs Committee for Arab students in the occupied Arab territories. Abu Ali affirmed that committee members are determined to continue supporting and following up the developments of the educational process in Palestine, especially in light of the extremely difficult circumstances that Palestine and the entire world are passing through due to the coronavirus outbreak. He pointed to Israel’s policies to exploit the current circumstances and implement its colonial settlement plans by annexing large parts of the West Bank and the Jordan Valley. Israel is preventing the implementation of measures, especially in Jerusalem and its environs, to confront the pandemic, he noted. Abu Ali also highlighted Israel’s continued demolition, displacement, arrest, and targeting of educational and health facilities.

The Latest LCCC English analysis & editorials from miscellaneous sources published on June 12-13/2020
Facts About the Caesar Act!

Akram Bunni/Asharq Al Awsat/June 12/2020
Beyond the exaggeration that the Caesar Act is like a declaration of war to overthrow the Syrian regime and beyond undermining the implications this Act will have on an exhausted regime that is in an economic and political crisis, while always undermining the impact of sanctions, five facts deserve reflection to understand the limits and implications of this law.
The first fact is the new and persistent role that the diverse Syrian diaspora in the United States had played to push for this law. This includes formulating and lobbying for it for over three years until it was passed a few months ago in both the House of Representatives and Congress. The Syrian people, both men and women, have suffered the aggression of the regime or influential Syrian figures in US life while only being supported by a few US-Syrian non-governmental organizations which spent a lot of money, time, and effort to fight for this law. They had to resort to the grotesque and horrifying images that were leaked of thousands of Syrian detainees who died under torture in the regime’s prisons and detention camps. They then backed these images with evidence and by citing new crimes that were committed against Syrian civilians to garner more supporters in US legislative and executive bodies. This surprised the regime, which still believes that it does not deserve this kind of aggression from the US and gives no weight to those whom it displaced around the globe and undermines their capacity to form a center of power and influence in the positions and policies of western governments to support their people and nation.
The second fact is the added value of fighting for justice. The Caesar Act provides the US Department of State with vast powers to support institutions that gather evidence and follow legal prosecutions against those who committed war crimes in Syria with an explicit demand to cease all arrests, release prisoners, reveal the fate of those missing, and enabling international monitors to visit and evaluate Syrian detention camps and prisons. It is worth noting that such crimes against humanity do not die out and are not subject to the statute of limitations; it puts all those incriminated, however long it takes, under questioning and holds them accountable, telling them that however long their transgressions and tyranny and however much they try to conceal their crimes, they will be punished and will reap what they have sown. This compels Syrian rights activists who have cooperated with European judicial institutions in Germany, France, and Austria to follow up and prosecute war criminals in Syria and to punish those who tortured, raped, and killed civilians.
The third fact is that this Act definitively frustrates the regime’s appetite for reconstruction after claiming victory and aborts plans and projects with Syrian and non-Syrian investors, including European, American, Chinese, Russian and Iranian companies that want to split the reconstruction project. The sanctions that the Caesar Act issues reach all foreign institutions and figures that are seeking to enable the regime or anybody that provides financial or technical support or even goods to the regime; it also implicates anyone who strikes a deal with the Syrian regime to help restore its rule over the country and its people. Additionally, it sends a warning to many countries that have recently tried to normalize political and diplomatic relations with the Syrian regime such as Hungary, Cyprus, and Italy, and prevents the Lebanese authorities from re-establishing relations with the rulers in Damascus and risking deepening its economic crisis as a result of the intersection between their two economies and the withdrawal of Lebanese capital from the reconstruction project in Syria.
The fourth fact: The Caesar Act reactivates the US’s role in the Syrian issue after the White House’s hasty decisions to leave it be and withdraw from its implications, turning this Act today into a card in Washington’s hand against Russian hegemony and to partake in drawing the future of Syria. What makes things more clear is the return of US forces to East and North Syria, returning an international alliance led by the US east of the Euphrates, controlling strategic resources such as oil and gas, signaling an intention to stay there for a long time.
We admit that the US administration came very short in protecting Syrian civilians and had neglected and disavowed the Caesar Act that had been formulated under Obama’s term just like it neglected and disavowed the famous definitive response it warned the Syrian regime with, in case it used chemical weapons again. We also admit that this Act was not adopted by the US for humanitarian or moral reasons alone, but was also subject to a calculation of interests and a political agenda illustrated by the fact that the US president provided a margin for maneuvering around its implementation and even suspending it if he found that those in control in Syria were serious about finding a political solution, leaving the door open for a compromise over the Syrian struggle according to the outcomes of the Geneva Conference that limit Iran’s influence and guarantees a substantial share for Washington.
The fifth truth: The sanctions imposed by the Caesar Act will indeed be reflected in more damage and harm to the Syrian people who are already damaged by the oppression and corruption of the regime, and, indeed, it will not be too harmful to a regime that has no direct economic and financial links with Washington and whose leaders live in luxury while putting all of the responsibility for starving and impoverishing the Syrian people on western countries. However, the implications of this law will no doubt weaken the diverse sources of income that used to help those in power to maneuver around sanctions that were imposed on them. Additionally, it will weaken their capacity to reproduce their social base and to profit from the negative implications of their bloody war. It is likely to also contribute to heightening the tension and disagreement between different centers of power in light of the suspension of the reconstruction project and the free fall of the Syrian pound, one manifestation of which is the dispute between the head of the regime and Rami Makhlouf. It will also motivate the majority of Syrians who are hungry to rebel and push them to stand against this regime that has pushed them into poverty and neediness. Perhaps the news of the return of peaceful demonstrations demanding the overthrow of the regime in As-Suwayda and Daraa is only the tip of the iceberg.

Powers Play with Fire in Libya
Amir Taheri/Asharq Al Awsat/June 12/2020
With coronavirus lockdown gradually whittled down, last week we started working on a series of conferences on the greater Middle East region for one of the local universities. As we suggested topics we came to Libya where a forgotten war has been going on for almost a decade.
The response from committee members was almost unanimous: Who cares about Libya? Evil tongues might suggest that, coming from French and British academics, this “who cares” sounds like an attempt to hide a shameful family secret.
After all, the tragic mess we witness in Libya today is, in good part, a result of policies pursued by French President Nicholas Sarkozy and British Premier David Cameron who took on the job of toppling Col. Muammar Gaddafi without knowing what they would need to do next.
Cameron’s friends tell me that he and Sarkozy were both pushed into the Libyan adventure by then US President Barack Obama who wished to test his “leadership from behind” theory which, in turn, flattered the European midgets.
One argument in favor of “who cares about Libya” is that there are many forgotten wars in the world, the longest being in Congo-Kinshasa which, in a sense, started in 1960 and, with brief lulls, continues to this day. Another argument is that, with economic recession ahead, Libya’s oil resources may be more like a Cinderella than a seductive princess.
However, what is going on in Libya should be of interest to the so-called international community for at least three reasons. The first is that Libya is currently the largest theater of proxy wars in the Greater Middle East. More foreign powers are involved in the Libyan proxy war than in Syria.
At last count, apart from Britain and France that have remained involved in a homeopathic dose, Italy is also engaged in some shenanigans, albeit mostly in diplomatic form. Then we have Turkey, with Qatar acting as “deep pockets”, and the international network of Muslim Brotherhood providing the personnel supporting the Government of National Accord (GNA) in Tripoli.
Led by Fayez al-Sarraj, a technocrat, the GNA also enjoys formal backing from the European Union and the United Nations’ bureaucracies. Recently, Turkey has supplied the GNA forces with home-made drones, known as Bayraqdar (Flagbearer) copied from an outdated American model. Ankara has also recruited an estimated 6,000 Syrian former rebels, most with Muslim Brotherhood background, to fight for the GNA.
Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdogan tries to justify all that by pointing to more than $30 billion in Turkish investments in Libya under Gaddafi when almost a million Turks worked there. Though Gaddafi had granted Libyan citizenship to many Turks, most immigrants returned home after his fall.
Now, facing mass unemployment at home, Erdogan hopes to see some of those who still have Libyan citizenship, to return there. In 2019 Turkey signed a series of accords with the Tripoli-based GNA under which Ankara was granted a swath of claims over the Mediterranean. That would enable Turkey to challenge the construction of oil and gas pipelines to ship new offshore resources shared by Israel, Greece, Cyprus and Lebanon. Despite attempts at gaining a foothold, Iran has bene reduced to a bit player in the Libyan drama on the side of Turkey and Qatar.
At the other end of the spectrum, we have Russia, Egypt and several other African states siding with the Libyan National Army of Khalifa Haftar based in Benghazi and loosely in control of the eastern half of what is the world’s 18th largest country.
According to Moscow sources, Russian President Vladimir Putin hopes to gain a pause-and-resupply base for his navy on Libya’s 1,770-kilometer-long Mediterranean coast to compliment the aero-naval base he has obtained in Tartus, Syria. Reluctant to get involved with boots-on-the ground, Putin has been generous with military supplies including Pantsir air defense systems. More importantly, perhaps, he has given the green light to four Russian private security firms to send military trainers, advisers, technicians and even combat troops to Libya. Haftar who goes around with the grade of a Marshall is also discretely backed by China which supplies his forces with Wing Loong drones, needed to provide air cover for ground forces.
The second reason why this mini-world war is worthy of attention is that Libya, with the longest shoreline on the Mediterranean, is also neighbor on land to six countries all of which could be de-stabilized or worse. It is no surprise that, thanks to Egyptian efforts, the Libyan dossier is slated to come up in the African Union as a threat to security across the continent.
The third reason for not forgetting Libya is that it is the key transit route for millions of migrants seeking to enter Europe. At a time that coronavirus and its concomitant economic meltdown has focused public attention control of borders and halting immigration, the prospect of millions pouring out of deepest Africa into Libya on the way to Europe is bound to invite some reflection.
It seems that both camps are now aiming at prolonging the status quo under which neither the GNA nor the Libyan National Army (LNA) are capable of delivering the knockout blow and imposing their control over that vast but thinly populated land. A series of seesaw battles, in some of which Haftar’s forces scored tactical gains, has shown that without military intervention by a bigger player, neither side is able to kick the other out of the game.
And that brings us to the fourth reason why Libya must not be forgotten. With both GNA and LNA locked in a fratricide struggle, terrorist groups, starting with ISIS and African offshoots of Al-Qaeda have already secured footholds in Libya. To these may be added a dozen ethnocentric groups seeking to carve their own fiefdoms and ready to join either side according to their own advantage. The prospect of Libya being Syrianized must be taken seriously. Sadly, along with others, Erdogan, obsessed with his neo-Ottoman strategy, is playing with fire in Libya.

The US Elections and the Minneapolis Story of Mr. Chauvin!
Eyad Abu Shakra/Asharq Al Awsat/June 12/2020
It is a painful irony that an African American is killed under the knee of a white police officer in Minnesota, the ‘most Scandinavian US state’.
It is also ironic that this predominantly white state lies in the country’s cold northern borders with Canada, not in the southern ‘Cotton Belt’ noted for its hot weather and race relations, and evangelical conservatism. In the latter, the grandfathers of its present-day African Americans were originally brought as slaves to work in the vast cotton plantations; while their descendants have barely accepted the virtues of the anti-segregation ‘Civil Rights Movement’ of the 1960s.
A third irony is that the police officer who committed the crime is called Derek Chauvin. Yes …‘Chauvin’; and the crime itself happened at a time of heated ‘Chauvinist’ rhetoric with the countdown of the presidential, legislative and gubernatorial elections next November.
In fact, the relationship between the police and activists and demonstrators, almost everywhere in the world is not perfect; and although democratic governments recognize the right of expression as a basic ingredient of democratic practice, ‘emotional’ street demonstrations are rarely immune to violent confrontations. A recent salient example has been the French ‘Yellow Vests’ demonstrations in the streets and squares of Paris, before Covid-19 managed to turn them into deserted landscapes.
Usually, the security forces’ task is containment; however, sometimes certain policemen become tempted to make use of the superiority of being armed, and also being shielded by the command structure, to go all out in defense of law and order, as well as private and public property.
On the other side, with the exception of anarchists and ‘embedded saboteurs’, honest believers in a certain cause only take to the streets because they are committed to a cause, defending against injustice, or fighting hunger. This keeps clashes within accepted limits, but it is never the case when the overall picture is far from this innocent reality. In such cases, accumulated prejudices and animosities – many of which lying dormant – come in the open, with tragic consequences.
The history of America, is colorful and diverse, enriching this great country with a multitude of races, cultures, religions, and sects that immigrated from all corners of the world. The young country grew gradually, expanding westwards, through wars and purchases of land; hence, bring in more and more diversity.
The original 13 states – symbolized in the American flag by the red and white stripes – were originally settled by immigrants from the British Isles (the states of ‘New England’, as well as Maryland, Virginia, the Carolinas and Georgia), Germany (the states of the ‘Midwest’ south of the Great Lakes, and the Netherlands -New York and Pennsylvania). At that time Florida was Spanish, while the Scandinavians settled first in New York and then in Minnesota. As for the French, they colonized the vast area west of the Mississippi River towards the Rockies, with New Orleans (named after the city of Orleans in France) as their main hub in the present-day state of Louisiana. Indeed, many cities and towns in this huge area, which once extended well into northeast Canada, still have French names.
As the wealth, power, and political clout of the USA continued to grow, more immigrants and refugees arrived, settled and assimilated, each according to abilities, circumstances, and interests. Furthermore, along with immigration, technological advances hugely contributed to the change in the young country’s demographic and interest-based fabrics.
Here, it is worth mentioning that although the real political rivalry between the Democratic and Republican Parties began in the early 19th century; its seeds were sown in the early days of founding the country.
Today, the two great parties embody the rivalry between the Right-wing Conservatives (represented by the Republican Party) and Centrists and Center-Left Liberals (represented by the Democratic Party), but this scene has little to do with the original division. In the beginning, as the founding fathers were laying the foundations of the new country, the differences were centered around whether to have a strong central government, as the future Republicans wanted, or that state rights should be highly respected, as the future Democrats advocated. Eventually, a federal deal was agreed by the two sides that balanced out a strong ‘federal government’, strong ‘state governments’ that enjoyed wide rights and powers each with its state. The American Civil War (1861-1865), indeed had a lot to do with a conflict of interests between these two levels of authority, with the issue of slavery as a catalyst.
In the 20th century, as booming trade and industry further enhanced the status of America, the political orientations of two major parties gradually began to change. The Republican Party became more and more associated with free enterprise, closer ties with the church, and stronger pragmatic and conservative nationalism, the Democratic Party became the stronghold of ethnic and religious minorities, trade unionism and idealistic peaceful foreign policies.
The Minneapolis incident, in Minnesota’s largest city, had everything to do with the old-new divide in America; which has become more complicated after the Covid-19 pandemic.
It is worth noting here, that President Donald Trump was elected in the autumn of 2016, on a nationalist conservative platform, by a clear majority of the white vote. He managed, before and after his election, to provoke the anger of many minorities, including those who opposed his project of building a wall along the borders with Mexico, and his restriction on immigration.
Then, when Covid-19 struck, major urban centers like New York City and Detroit, bore the brunt, particularly, their poor African American and Hispanic (Latino) neighborhoods; and while Democratic governors turned their attention to caring about patients, vulnerable people and medical and public health workers, President Trump and Republican leaders were more interested in helping the economy and saving businesses.
On this issue, the old conflict between the power of the Center – i.e, the federal capital Washington D.C. – and the state governments; between a rich, white and right-wing president and the inhabitants of poor neighborhoods many of whom are ‘minoritarians’!
Faced with this scenario, promoters of racists and white supremacists, exploited Trump’s nationalist and protectionist policies, and took to the streets in armed protests against the lockdown; as unemployment figures exceeded 40 million people claiming benefits.
In Minneapolis, nationwide anger and chaos erupted when a white officer technically ‘strangled’ with his knee an African American suspect called George Floyd. The officer, Derek Chauvin would not ease his fatal squeeze of Floyd’s neck despite the latter’s pleading for breath. This brutal behavior took place not only during a tense period but also during an election year.
No doubt that ‘Chauvinism’ is dangerous, and chaotic violence is even more dangerous. But what may be the most worrying development, would be the possibility that dubious and adventurers may gamble on creating deeper divisions and conflict in order to influence the results of the November elections.

America’s Great(er) Recession Will Last for Years
Noah Smith/Bloomberg/June, 12/ 2020
The National Bureau of Economic Research on Monday confirmed what everyone already knew: The US is in a recession. But there is some good news too: the employment situation improved a bit in May, with the unemployment rate falling to 13.3%, from 14.7% in April.
There’s a bit of controversy about the true unemployment level -- counting workers who are still getting paid but not actually showing up for work, the unemployment rate was actually 19.7% in April and 16.3% in May. Many of those workers are probably on temporary paid leave during the pandemic; this is just what the Paycheck Protection Program was designed to encourage. But this ambiguity doesn’t matter very much because counting these temporarily idled workers as unemployed substantially increases the size of the May improvement.
This rapid switch from economic deterioration to recovery -- even as Covid-19 cases continue to pile up -- has raised spirits across the country. In the last recession, employment continued to deteriorate for more than a year after the 2008 collapse of Lehman Brothers; now, things seem to be on the upswing only a few months after the virus hit. There’s at least the glimmer of hope that the coronavirus recession will turn out to be like the Spanish Flu of a century before -- a ferocious onslaught followed by a quick rebound. Top macroeconomists such as Ben Bernanke and Paul Krugman have suggested that a rapid V-shaped recovery is a possibility.
But optimists should be cautious; May’s uptick might be just a dead-cat bounce. State reopenings are restoring some jobs, but fear of the virus will likely persist until treatments or a vaccine are available. That means reopenings will only partially restore business activity.
Job gains may slow down when workers on temporarily leave all return; those who worked for businesses that have now gone bankrupt will not be able to get their old jobs back. Jed Kolko, an economist at job search site Indeed, estimates that permanent unemployment is still rising. This is particularly troubling because people who are out of work for a long time can lose their skills, connections and work ethic, making it harder for them to find new jobs later.
So the economy may experience a V-shaped bounce, but it could be an incomplete one; unemployment might fall more but still remain unacceptably high, then begin a slow descent more characteristic of a U-shaped recession.
The question is how long that recovery will take. The typical culprit in slow recoveries -- a financial crisis -- seems unlikely to happen, thanks to swift and decisive action by the Federal Reserve. But there are other factors that might prolong the economic pain over several years.
One of these factors is human psychology -- what economists call animal spirits. The unprecedented speed and depth of the economic devastation from coronavirus might create pessimism among American businesspeople, consumers, and investors that lingers for years. Irrational fear of pandemics might long outlast this particular disease simply because coronavirus looms so large in recent experience.
A second long-term drag on the economy could come from structural adjustment. The pandemic has pushed people from brick-and-mortar businesses to online shopping; from working in offices to working remotely; and from consuming entertainment outside to consuming at home. Those demand shifts might never fully reverse themselves. If so, it means many retailers, restaurants and commercial property owners will shrink or go out of business. Vendors of online and digital goods will boom, but it will take some time for resources to shift from the old to the new.
Structural adjustment will also happen on an international scale, as supply chains and patterns of import demand shift. That could hit US exporters, as well as companies that are dependent on foreign producers.
And the pain of structural changes might be worsened by what economists call local externalities. If 50% of the storefronts on a street are shuttered, it makes that street a less attractive place to eat, drink or shop. That can reduce foot traffic, causing other businesses in the area to fold. Some neighborhoods and cities may never recover from coronavirus, especially when the impact of recent anti-police brutality protests is added in.
Finally, the recession could be prolonged by policy mistakes. There are already are reports that Congressional Republicans plan to go slow on additional relief measures, or even block them. That could force cash-strapped states to make deep, damaging budget cuts, or leave many unemployed workers suddenly unable to pay rent. Letting up on relief measures while unemployment is still higher than at any time since the Great Depression would be a grave mistake.
So even with a partial bounce-back and no financial crisis, there are reasons that this downturn might drag on into the mid-2020s. Policy makers should not become complacent just because of one good month.

A Brief History of Antifa: Part I
Soeren Kern/Gatestone Institute/June 12/2020
Empirical and anecdotal evidence shows that Antifa is, in fact, highly networked, well-funded and has a global presence. It has a flat organizational structure with dozens and possibly hundreds of local groups.
Antifa's stated long-term objective, both in America and abroad, is to establish a communist world order. In the United States, Antifa's immediate aim is to bring about the demise of the Trump administration.
A common tactic used by Antifa in the United States and Europe is to employ extreme violence and destruction of public and private property to goad the police into a reaction, which then "proves" Antifa's claim that the government is "fascist."
Antifa is not only officially tolerated, but is being paid by the German government to fight the far right. — Bettina Röhl, German journalist, Neue Zürcher Zeitung, June 2, 2020.
"Out of cowardice, its members cover their faces and keep their names secret. Antifa constantly threatens violence and attacks against politicians and police officers. It promotes senseless damage to property amounting to vast sums." — Bettina Röhl, Neue Zürcher Zeitung, June 2, 2020.
A common tactic used by Antifa in the United States and Europe is to employ extreme violence and destruction of public and private property to goad the police into a reaction, which then "proves" Antifa's claim that the government is "fascist." Pictured: A senior citizen flees after being brutally beaten by members of Rose City Antifa on June 29, 2019 in Portland, Oregon.
U.S. Attorney General William Barr has blamed Antifa — a militant "anti-fascist" movement — for the violence that has erupted at George Floyd protests across the United States. "The violence instigated and carried out by Antifa and other similar groups in connection with the rioting is domestic terrorism and will be treated accordingly," he said.
Barr also said that the federal government has evidence that Antifa "hijacked" legitimate protests around the country to "engage in lawlessness, violent rioting, arson, looting of businesses, and public property assaults on law enforcement officers and innocent people, and even the murder of a federal agent." Earlier, U.S. President Donald J. Trump had instructed the U.S. Justice Department to designate Antifa as a terrorist organization.
Academics and media outlets sympathetic to Antifa have argued that the group cannot be classified as a terrorist organization because, they claim, it is a vaguely-defined protest movement that lacks a centralized structure. Mark Bray, a vocal apologist for Antifa in America and author of the book "Antifa: The Anti-Fascist Handbook," asserts that Antifa "is not an overarching organization with a chain of command."
Empirical and anecdotal evidence shows that Antifa is, in fact, highly networked, well-funded and has a global presence. It has a flat organizational structure with dozens and possibly hundreds of local groups. Not surprisingly, the U.S. Department of Justice is currently investigating individuals linked to Antifa as a step to unmasking the broader organization.
In the United States, Antifa's ideology, tactics and goals, far from being novel, are borrowed almost entirely from Antifa groups in Europe, where so-called anti-fascist groups, in one form or another, have been active, almost without interruption, for a century.
What is Antifa?
Antifa can be described as a transnational insurgency movement that endeavors, often with extreme violence, to subvert liberal democracy, with the aim of replacing global capitalism with communism. Antifa's stated long-term objective, both in America and abroad, is to establish a communist world order. In the United States, Antifa's immediate aim is to bring about the demise of the Trump administration.
Antifa's nemeses include law enforcement, which is viewed as enforcing the established order. A common tactic used by Antifa in the United States and Europe is to employ extreme violence and destruction of public and private property to goad the police into a reaction, which then "proves" Antifa's claim that the government is "fascist."
Antifa claims to oppose "fascism," a term it often uses as a broad-brush pejorative to discredit those who hold opposing political beliefs. The traditional meaning of "fascism" as defined by Webster's Dictionary is "a totalitarian governmental system led by a dictator and emphasizing an aggressive nationalism, militarism, and often racism."
Antifa holds the Marxist-Leninist definition of fascism which equates it with capitalism. "The fight against fascism is only won when the capitalist system has been shattered and a classless society has been achieved," according to the German Antifa group, Antifaschistischer Aufbau München.
Germany's BfV domestic intelligence agency, in a special report on left-wing extremism, noted:
"Antifa's fight against right-wing extremists is a smokescreen. The real goal remains the 'bourgeois-democratic state,' which, in the reading of left-wing extremists, accepts and promotes 'fascism' as a possible form of rule and therefore does not fight it sufficiently. Ultimately, it is argued, 'fascism' is rooted in the social and political structures of 'capitalism.' Accordingly, left-wing extremists, in their 'antifascist' activities, focus above all on the elimination of the 'capitalist system.'"
Matthew Knouff, author of An Outsider's Guide to Antifa: Volume II, explained Antifa's ideology this way:
"The basic philosophy of Antifa focuses on the battle between three basic forces: fascism, racism and capitalism — all three of which are interrelated according to Antifa.... with fascism being considered the final expression or stage of capitalism, capitalism being a means to oppress, and racism being an oppressive mechanism related to fascism."
In an essay, "What Antifa and the Original Fascists Have In Common," Antony Mueller, a German professor of economics who currently teaches in Brazil, described how Antifa's militant anti-capitalism masquerading as anti-fascism reveals its own fascism:
"After the left has pocketed the concept of liberalism and turned the word into the opposite of its original meaning, the Antifa-movement uses a false terminology to hide its true agenda. While calling themselves 'antifascist' and declaring fascism the enemy, the Antifa itself is a foremost fascist movement.
"The members of Antifa are not opponents to fascism but themselves its genuine representatives. Communism, Socialism and Fascism are united by the common band of anti-capitalism and anti-liberalism.
"The Antifa movement is a fascist movement. The enemy of this movement is not fascism but liberty, peace and prosperity."
Antifa's Ideological Origins
The ideological origins of Antifa can be traced back to the Soviet Union roughly a century ago. In 1921 and 1922, the Communist International (Comintern) developed the so-called united front tactic to "unify the working masses through agitation and organization" ... "at the international level and in each individual country" against "capitalism" and "fascism" — two terms that often were used interchangeably.
The world's first anti-fascist group, Arditi del Popolo (People's Courageous Militia), was founded in Italy in June 1921 to resist the rise of Benito Mussolini's National Fascist Party, which itself was established to prevent the possibility of a Bolshevik revolution on the Italian Peninsula. Many of the group's 20,000 members, consisting of communists and anarchists, later joined the International Brigades during the Spanish Civil War (1936–39).
In Germany, the Communist Party of Germany established the paramilitary group Roter Frontkämpferbund (Red Front Fighters League) in July 1924. The group was banned due to its extreme violence. Many of its 130,000 members continued their activities underground or in local successor organizations such as the Kampfbund gegen den Faschismus (Fighting-Alliance Against Fascism).
In Slovenia, the militant anti-fascist movement TIGR was established in 1927 to oppose the Italianization of Slovene ethnic areas after the collapse of the Austro-Hungarian Empire. The group, which was disbanded in 1941, specialized in assassinating Italian police and military personnel.
In Spain, the Communist Party established the Milicias Antifascistas Obreras y Campesinas (Antifascist Worker and Peasant Militias), which were active in the 1930s.
The modern Antifa movement derives its name from a group called Antifaschistische Aktion, founded in May 1932 by Stalinist leaders of the Communist Party of Germany. The group was established to fight fascists, a term the party used to describe all of the other pro-capitalist political parties in Germany. The primary objective of Antifaschistische Aktion was to abolish capitalism, according to a detailed history of the group. The group, which had more than 1,500 founding members, went underground after Nazis seized power in 1933.
A German-language pamphlet — "80 Years of Anti-Fascist Actions" (80 Jahre Antifaschistische Aktion)" — describes in minute detail the continuous historical thread of the Antifa movement from its ideological origins in the 1920s to the present day. The document states:
"Antifascism has always fundamentally been an anti-capitalist strategy. This is why the symbol of the Antifaschistische Aktion has never lost its inspirational power.... Anti-fascism is more of a strategy than an ideology."
During the post-war period, Germany's Antifa movement reappeared in various manifestations, including the radical student protest movement of the 1960s, and the leftist insurgency groups that were active throughout the 1970s, 1980s and 1990s.
The Red Army Faction (RAF), also known as the Baader-Meinhof Gang, was a Marxist urban guerrilla group that carried out assassinations, bombings and kidnappings aimed at bringing revolution to West Germany, which the group characterized as a fascist holdover of the Nazi era. Over the course of three decades, the RAF murdered more than 30 people and injured over 200.
After the collapse of the communist government in East Germany in 1989-90, it was discovered that the RAF had been given training, shelter, and supplies by the Stasi, the secret police of the former communist regime.
John Philip Jenkins, Distinguished Professor of History at Baylor University, described the group's tactics, which are similar to those used by Antifa today:
"The goal of their terrorist campaign was to trigger an aggressive response from the government, which group members believed would spark a broader revolutionary movement."
RAF founder Ulrike Meinhof explained the relationship between violent left-wing extremism and the police: "The guy in uniform is a pig, not a human being. That means we don't have to talk to him and it is wrong to talk to these people at all. And of course, you can shoot."
Bettina Röhl, a German journalist and daughter of Meinhof, argues that the modern Antifa movement is a continuation of the Red Army Faction. The main difference is that, unlike the RAF, Antifa's members are afraid to reveal their identities. In a June 2020 essay published by the Swiss newspaper Neue Zürcher Zeitung, Röhl also drew attention to the fact that Antifa is not only officially tolerated, but is being paid by the German government to fight the far right:
"The RAF idolized the communist dictatorships in China, North Korea, North Vietnam, in Cuba, which were transfigured by the New Left as better countries on the right path to the best communism....
"The flourishing left-wing radicalism in the West, which brutally strikes at the opening of the European Central Bank headquarters in Frankfurt, at every G-20 summit or every year on May 1 in Berlin, has achieved the highest level of establishment in the state, not least thanks to the support by quite a few MPs from political parties, journalists and relevant experts.
"Compared to the RAF, the militant Antifa only lacks prominent faces. Out of cowardice, its members cover their faces and keep their names secret. Antifa constantly threatens violence and attacks against politicians and police officers. It promotes senseless damage to property amounting to vast sums. Nevertheless, MP Renate Künast (Greens) recently complained in the Bundestag that Antifa groups had not been adequately funded by the state in recent decades. She was concerned that 'NGOs and Antifa groups do not always have to struggle to raise money and can only conclude short-term employment contracts from year to year.' There was applause for this from Alliance 90 / The Greens, from the left and from SPD deputies.
"One may ask the question of whether Antifa is something like an official RAF, a terrorist group with money from the state under the guise of 'fighting against the right.'"
Germany's BfV domestic intelligence agency explains Antifa's glorification of violence:
"For left-wing extremists, 'Capitalism' is interpreted as triggering wars, racism, ecological disasters, social inequality and gentrification. 'Capitalism' is therefore more than just a mere economic order. In left-wing extremist discourse, it determines the social and political form as well as the vision of a radical social and political reorganization. Whether anarchist or communist: Parliamentary democracy as a so-called bourgeois form of rule should be 'overcome' in any case.
"For this reason, left-wing extremists usually ignore or legitimize human rights violations in socialist or communist dictatorships or in states that they allegedly see threatened by the 'West.' To this day, both orthodox communists and autonomous activists justify, praise and celebrate the left-wing terrorist Red Army Faction or foreign left-wing terrorists as alleged 'liberation movements' or even 'resistance fighters.'"
Meanwhile, in Britain, Anti-Fascist Action (AFA), a militant anti-fascist group founded in 1985, gave birth to the Antifa movement in the United States. In Germany, the Antifaschistische Aktion-Bundesweite Organisation (AABO) was founded in 1992 to combine the efforts of smaller Antifa groups scattered around the country.
In Sweden, Antifascistisk Aktion (AFA), a militant Antifa group founded in 1993, established a three-decade track record for using extreme violence against its opponents. In France, the Antifa group L'Action antifasciste, is known for its fierce opposition to the State of Israel.
After the fall of the Berlin Wall in 1989 and the collapse of communism in 1990, the Antifa movement opened a new front against neoliberal globalization.
Attac, established in France in 1989 to promote a global tax on financial transactions, now leads the so-called alter-globalization movement, which, like the Global Justice Movement, is opposed to capitalism. In 1999, Attac was present in Seattle during violent demonstrations that led to the failure of WTO negotiations. Attac also participated in anti-capitalist demonstrations against the G7, the G20, the WTO, and the war in Iraq. Today, the association is active in 40 countries, with more than a thousand local groups and hundreds of organizations supporting the network. Attac's decentralized and non-hierarchical organizational structure appears to be the model being used by Antifa.
In February 2016, the International Committee of the Fourth International advanced the political foundations of the global anti-war movement, which, like Antifa, blames capitalism and neoliberal globalism for the existence of military conflict:
"The new anti-war movement must be anti-capitalist and socialist, since there can be no serious struggle against war except in the fight to end the dictatorship of finance capital and the economic system that is the fundamental cause of militarism and war."
In July 2017, more than 100,000 anti-globalization and Antifa protesters converged on the German city of Hamburg to protest the G20 summit. Leftist mobs laid waste to the city center. An Antifa group called "G20 Welcome to Hell" bragged about how it was able to mobilize Antifa groups from across the world:
"The summit mobilizations have been precious moments of meeting and co-operation of left-wing and anti-capitalist groups and networks from all over Europe and world-wide. We have been sharing experiences and fighting together, attending international meetings, being attacked by cops supported by the military, re-organizing our forces and fighting back. Anti-globalization movement has changed, but our networks endure. We are active locally in our regions, cities, villages and forests. But we are also fighting trans-nationally."
Germany's domestic security service, in an annual report, added:
"Left-wing extremist structures tried to shift the public debate about the violent G20 summit protests in their favor. With the distribution of photos and reports of allegedly disproportionate police measures during the summit protests, they promoted an image of a state that denounced legitimate protests and put them down with police violence. Against such a state, they said, 'militant resistance' is not only legitimate, but also necessary."
*Part II of this series will examine the activities of Antifa in Germany and the United States.
Soeren Kern is a Senior Fellow at the New York-based Gatestone Institute.
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You Are Finished!”: Turkey’s Growing War on Christians
Raymond Ibrahim/Gatestone Institute/June 12/2020
Islamic terror attacks that target Christians in Turkey are not uncommon. Around Christmas of 2011, a large-scale al-Qaeda plot to bomb “all the churches in Ankara” was exposed.Right before Christmas 2015, ISIS issued death threats, including “upsetting videos and pictures,” to at least 20 Protestant churches, and warned that “Koranic commandments… urge us to slay the apostate like you.”
More spectacularly, a gunman dressed as Santa Claus entered a nightclub in Istanbul during New Year celebrations, 2017, and massacred 39 people. A “heroic soldier of the caliphate,” the Islamic State (“ISIS”) later claimed, “attacked the most famous nightclub where Christians were celebrating their pagan feast.” The statement further characterized the government of Turkey as being the “servant of the cross.”
What to make of this? Are attacks on Christians limited to clandestine terrorist organizations operating in Turkey, a nation which otherwise behaves as a “servant of the cross”?
In fact, hate for Christians in once secular Turkey has come to permeate every segment of society—from the average Muslim citizen to the highest levels of government. The examples are many; a few follow.
In late 2019, a Muslim boy, aged 16, stabbed a Korean Christian evangelist in the heart several times; the 41-year-old husband and father died shortly thereafter. Months earlier, an “86-year-old Greek man was found murdered in his home with his hands and feet tied”; he was reportedly “tortured.”
Before that, an 85-year-old Armenian woman was stabbed to death in her Istanbul apartment. Lest anyone mistake the motive, her murderer carved a crucifix on her naked corpse. According to the report, that “attack marks the fifth in the past two months against elderly Armenian women (one has lost an eye).”
Perhaps most notoriously, in 2009, a group of young Turks—including the son of a mayor—broke into a Bible publishing house in Malatya. They bound, sadistically tortured for hours, and eventually slaughtered its three Christian employees. “We didn’t do this for ourselves, but for our religion,” one of the accused later said. “Let this be a lesson to enemies of our religion.” They were all later released from prison on a technicality.
Much more common than the targeted killing of Christians—but no less representative of the hate—are church related attacks. Most recently, on May 8, 2020, a man tried to torch a church in Istanbul; the church had been repeatedly attacked previously, including with hate-filled graffiti.
Similarly, when a man opened fire on the Saint Maria Catholic Church in Trabzon in 2018, it was just the latest in several attacks on that church. Weeks earlier, a makeshift bomb was thrown at its garden; in 2016 Muslims crying “Allahu Akbar” (Allah is greater) vandalized the church, including with sledgehammers; in 2011 the church was targeted and threatened for its visible cross; and in 2006 its priest, Andrea Santoro, was shot dead while conducting church service.
Also while shouting “Allahu Akbar” and “Revenge will be taken for Al-Aqsa Mosque,” another Muslim man hurled a Molotov cocktail at another church, Istanbul’s Aya Triada Orthodox Church, partially setting it on fire. In another incident, four Turks banged and kicked at the door of Agape Church in the Black Sea region—again while shouting “Allahu Akbar!” According to the holed up pastor, they wanted “to go inside and hit someone or attack in some other way.”
The growing brazenness of such attacks was on full display when a random gang of Muslims disrupted a baptismal church service in Istanbul. They pushed their way into the church, yelling obscenities; one menacingly waved a knife at those in attendance. “It’s not the first, and it won’t be the last,” a local Christian responded.
Threatening and/or defacing churches is especially common. In late 2019, while shouting abuses and physical threats against Christians gathered at the Church of St. Paul in Antalya, a man said he “would take great pleasure in destroying the Christians, as he viewed them as a type of parasitism on Turkey.”
In early 2019, hate-filled and threatening graffiti—including “You Are Finished!”—was found on the Armenian Church of the Holy Mother of God in Istanbul. Commenting on it, an Armenian activist tweeted, “Every year, scores of hate attacks are being carried out against churches and synagogues.”
One of the most alarming instances occurred in 2015: as many as 15 churches received death threats for “denying Allah.” “Perverted infidels,” one threat read, “the time that we will strike your necks is soon. May Allah receive the glory and the praise.” “Threats are not anything new for the Protestant community who live in this country and want to raise their children here,” church leaders commented.
Rather than threaten or attack churches, Turkish authorities have the power to simply confiscate or close them (here, here, and here, for examples). In one instance, police, not unlike the aforementioned thugs, interrupted a baptismal ceremony while raiding and subsequently shutting down an unauthorized church. “Turkey does not have a pathway for legalization of churches,” the report explained.
Other tactics are resorted to when no pretexts can be found. For example, in an apparent attempt to conceal the online presence of at least one church, authorities labeled it “pornographic,” and blocked it. The ban was “horrible,” responded a church representative. “It’s a shame. It really pains us at having this kind of accusation when we have a high moral standard.”
Even ancient churches that predate Islam by centuries—including Stoudios monastery, the oldest Christian place of worship in Asia Minor, founded a millennium before its Islamic conquest in the fourteenth century—are being transformed into mosques. After explaining how the Turkish government built nearly 9,000 mosques over one decade, while banning liturgy in the Sumela monastery—another historic site inaugurated in 386, about a 1,000 years before Asia Minor became “Turkey”—a report adds, “This arbitrary ban seems to be yet another demonstration of the ‘unofficial’ second-class status of Christians in Turkey.”
Hate for Christians in Turkey has reached the point that it pursues these “infidels” beyond the grave: attacks on Christian cemeteries are on the rise, prompting one frustrated Christian to ask: “Is it now the turn of our deceased?” According to a March, 2020 report, 20 of 72 gravestones in just one Christian cemetery in Ankara were found destroyed. In another recent instance, the desecraters broke a cross off a deceased women’s grave; days earlier, her church burial service was interrupted by cries of “Allahu Akbar!”
What is behind all these attacks on anything and everything Christian—people, buildings, even graves? An “environment of hate” was the recent response of a journalist in Turkey:
But this hateful environment did not emerge out of nowhere. The seeds of this hatred are spread, beginning at primary schools, through books printed by the Ministry of National Education portraying Christians as enemies and traitors. The indoctrination continues through newspapers and television channels in line with state policies. And of course, the sermons at mosques and talk at coffee houses further stir up this hatred.
In other words, once “secular,” Turks are now born and bred on hating Christians.
Interestingly, even this is not enough to prevent ISIS from accusing Turkey of being a “servant of the cross,” which prompts an important question: Just what, exactly, do so-called “radical” Muslims—between 63 and 287 million Muslims in just eleven nations support ISIS—deem as the “proper” treatment of Christians?

Washington offers aid to Baghdad in exchange for curtailing pro-Iranian factions
Hammam Latifhe Arab Weekly/June 12/2020
BAGHDAD –Informed political sources in Baghdad said the government of Iraqi Prime Minister Mustafa al-Kadhimi received indications from Washington during the first round of strategic dialogue talks that it is willing to support a comprehensive development campaign in Iraq in exchange for cooperation in curbing the role of pro-Iranian militias.
The sources did not rule out the possibility that Washington is exploiting Iraq’s urgent need for external support to overcome its salary crisis that threatens to ignite another round of social unrest by pressuring Baghdad into going after Iran-linked Iraqi figures accused of corruption and terrorism
The sources said the United States is looking to increase its support to Iraq, but is wary of it falling into the wrong hands, even as there are indications that Kadhimi’s appointment as PM is a step in the right direction.
Despite Iraqi government figures’ optimism about the first round of the US-Iraq talks, observers warn that Washington could still introduce sanctions against Baghdad if it is convinced it is not seriously looking to disengage from Tehran.
The Iraqi premiere said that the outcome of Iraq’s dialogue with Washington will ultimately depend on the opinion of the religious authority and the parliament, as well as the needs of the state. He stressed that the talks are being conducted on the basis of mutual interests and will cover many issues, including on security, culture, economy and trade.
Meanwhile, Iraqi political and armed groups loyal to Iran have harshly criticised the Iraqi-American dialogue, hoping to undermine their success and further their own interests.
Hisham Dawood, a political advisor to Kadhimi, said the Iraqi-American dialogue sessions will continue for two days.
He said it would be “wrong to think of the United States as just a source of weapons,” noting that “the dialogue will discuss prospects for cooperation in the fields of economy, culture and agriculture, as well as the security and military files.”
Just after Dawood made the remarks early Wednesday, warning sirens sounded in the Green Zone in central Baghdad, as the US Embassy was apparently targeted by a short-range missile.
Dawood said that “Iraq will deal with the military part of the dialogue based on its sovereignty, and will try to bank on its distinguished relations with the United States in all fields,” stressing that “what is happening today, is just the beginning of a dialogue that will develop in the coming stages until it reaches higher levels.”In a separate press conference, US Secretary of State Mike Pompeo emphasised the importance of the “strategic dialogue” between the United States and Iraq. He announced that his assistant for political affairs, David Hill, will head the American delegation, which will also include representatives from the ministries of defence, energy, treasury and other agencies.
“With the global COVID-19 pandemic raging and plummeting oil revenues threatening an Iraqi economic collapse, it’s important that our two governments work together to stop any reversal of the gains we’ve made in our efforts to defeat ISIS and stabilize the country,” Pompeo said. “All strategic issues between our two countries will be on the agenda, including the future presence of the United States forces in that country and how best to support an independent and sovereign Iraq.”
Political sources in Baghdad said that the military and political escalation by parties and militias loyal to Iran reflects Tehran’s great concern over the US-Iraq talks.
Tehran fears that by engaging with Washington, Iraq will gain greater political independence and could stand against pro-Iranian militias in the country.
Iraqi official military sources reported that a Katyusha rocket had hit the Green Zone on Wednesday at dawn, with no casualties reported. The Green Zone in Baghdad houses embassies of major countries such as the United States and the United Kingdom, as well as the main compound for the presidency of the Iraqi government and the offices of the House of Representatives.
Witnesses said that fire broke out after the rocket landed on a building near the American embassy. Damages are still unknown.
This missile attack coincided with a coordinated campaign led by political groups to pressure the Iraqi negotiator to limit the dialogue to the issue of removing American forces from the country, a demand that tops Iran’s agenda in the region.
“The departure of foreign troops from Iraq and respect for its national sovereignty and supreme interests must top the files of the strategic dialogue between Iraq and the United States,” declared the Iraqi Supreme Islamic Council, an organisation that was established by the Iranians in the 1980s and composed of Iraqi fighters fighting against the Iraqi army in the Iran-Iraq war.
This organization, which was accused of dominating the office of the resigned Prime Minister Adel Abdul Mahdi and managing the affairs of state through him, believes that the chances of a successful dialogue between Iraq and the United States “depend on the commitment of the Iraqi negotiating delegation to the national principles and the strategic interests of Iraq,” in a clear attempt to question the loyalty of a number of the members of the Iraqi delegation.
The now familiar strategy of questioning the loyalty of the Iraqi team was started by Iraqi journalists receiving funds and orders from the Islamic Radios and Televisions Union of the Iranian Revolutionary Guard, to launch a smear campaign against members of the Iraqi negotiating delegation, accusing them of subordination to the United States and Israel.
The Iraqi Islamic Supreme Council, headed by Shiite cleric Hammam Hammoudi, groups some of the most prominent hawks of Shiite extremism, such as Baqir Jabr Solagh and Jalal al-Din al-Saghir. It has been insisting that “the topic of the departure of foreign forces” from Iraq must be “the focal point of the negotiations” between Baghdad and Washington, although the Iraqi government has repeatedly announced that the negotiations will cover economic and cultural cooperation as well as other fields.
The council had argued that it was important to “include military and security figures in the Iraqi delegation since the issue of the exit of foreign forces is the focus of negotiations,” noting that “in the event of any failure” of the negotiations, the government of al-Kadhemi and the members of the negotiating delegation “will bear the responsibility of that failure before the people, the parliament and the executive branch.”
In conjunction with the council’s statement, Hadi al-Amiri, leader of the so-called Alliance of Conquest, the largest gathering of political representatives from the pro-Iranian Shiite militias in the parliament of Iraq, called on members of his country’s delegation to “bear in mind the vote by the Iraqi House of Representatives requiring the departure of foreign forces from Iraq and the achievement of full national sovereignty.”
Al-Amiri warned that any “negligence, delay or failure, God forbid, will be a stigma of disappointment and setback in the history of the negotiating delegation and the history of Iraq.” “You’ll be bearing the blame of that failure forever, and we do not wish that for you,” he told the delegation.
An Iraqi official said that the Iraqi side does not have details about the number of American troops in Iraq, but “the US proposal mentions reducing the number of these troops.”
Nevertheless, this significant reduction appears to be highly unlikely, as the jihadist threat still exists in Iraq and the region, as also seen by other coalition countries that are not party to the US-Iraqi dialogue.
On the eve of the strategic dialogue between the two governments, General Kenneth McKenzie, commander of the US Central Command in the Middle East, expected that the Iraqi government would ask to keep an American military presence in the country to combat ISIS. “I think the government of Iraq will ask to keep American and coalition forces,” he said at an online seminar organised by a studies centre in Washington.
“As you know, from my point of view, we are in Iraq to accomplish the task of defeating ISIS and to support Iraq in the accomplishment of that task and achieve a final victory over it,” he added.
Amid increasing speculations about the outcomes of the dialogue, Robert Ford of the Middle East Institute considered that “the entire US-Iraqi relationship will not be redefined overnight.”
A former US diplomat who had participated in the last US-Iraq “strategic dialogue” of 2008, Ford added that “For the first time there are the right people in the right place at the right time.”
In the long term, the strategic dialogue can secure contracts for US companies in the areas of ​​construction and energy and encourage aid from the Gulf or the World Bank. But Ford asserts that “Washington cannot give money, but it can only offer not to apply its sanctions” that may deprive Iraq of its Iranian energy supplier, and that “does not solve Kadhimi’s top problem.”