English LCCC Newsbulletin For Lebanese, Lebanese Related, Global News & Editorials
For June 20/2020
Compiled & Prepared by: Elias Bejjani

The Bulletin's Link on the lccc Site
http://data.eliasbejjaninews.com/eliasnews19/english.june20.20.htm

News Bulletin Achieves Since 2006
Click Here to enter the LCCC Arabic/English news bulletins Achieves since 2006

Bible Quotations For today
I have said this to you, so that in me you may have peace. In the world you face persecution. But take courage; I have conquered the world!’
Holy Gospel of Jesus Christ according to Saint John 16/29-33:"His disciples said, ‘Yes, now you are speaking plainly, not in any figure of speech! Now we know that you know all things, and do not need to have anyone question you; by this we believe that you came from God.’Jesus answered them, ‘Do you now believe? The hour is coming, indeed it has come, when you will be scattered, each one to his home, and you will leave me alone. Yet I am not alone because the Father is with me. I have said this to you, so that in me you may have peace. In the world you face persecution. But take courage; I have conquered the world!’

Titles For The Latest English LCCC Lebanese & Lebanese Related News & Editorials published on June 19-20/2020
Lebanon Records 15 New COVID-19 Cases
Minister of Health after visiting Shebaa Governmental Hospital: Caesar Act will not affect health status negatively
UN in Lebanon deems mental health a priority during COVID-19
Coronavirus Follow-up Committee inspects measures at Beirut airport in preparation for resumption of navigation
Doubts surround drive by Lebanon's Berri to bring together diverse blocs/Sabra Douh/The Arab Weekly/June 19/2020
Lebanon Adviser in IMF Talks Quits, Citing 'No Genuine Will' for Reforms
Ex-Lebanese PM Fouad Siniora: ‘Void’ Better than Aoun’s Presidential Term
US to release Lebanese businessman accused of ties to Hezbollah
IMF: Lebanon Negotiations are ‘Complex’
Berri Received 'No Confirmation' Yet from Invitees to Baabda Meeting
Diab Holds Talks with Berri in Ain el-Tineh
Jumblat Opposes Nasrallah on Iran Cooperation, Slams Federalism Calls
Protesters rally in Baalbek against dire living conditions
Abdel Samad, UN delegation follow up on plan to combat fake news
Embassy of Paraguay's Charge d'Affaires, Selaata Municipality head visit Rahi in Diman
Demonstrators also protested against the hike in the prices of commodities.
Geagea Urges Nasrallah to Take First Step ‘East’
Top DR Congo Court Intervenes in Graft Case Involving Lebanese Mogul
Rise of German terrorist Hezbollah supporters, members in Lower Saxony/Benjamin Weinthal/Jerusalem Post/June 19/2020

Titles For The Latest English LCCC Miscellaneous Reports And News published on June 19-20/2020
WHO Warns World in 'New and Dangerous Phase' of Pandemic
IAEA Passes Resolution on Iran to Provide Access to 2 Old Sites
Jordan Exerts Pressure to Obstruct Israeli Annexation Plan
Palestinians Try Eke Out a Living On World Refugee Day
Oil Prices Gain With OPEC+ Maintaining Supply Cuts
Syria Regime Spearheads Arrest Campaign as ‘Caesar Act’ Comes into Effect
Turkish Strikes Kill Civilian in Northern Iraq
Taliban Reassures West as US Troops Leave Afghanistan
Al-Qaeda North Africa Confirms Chief is Dead
Libyan National Army Vows to Resist ‘Turkish Invaders’
Arab League to Hold Urgent Meeting on Libya
France will renew calls to preserve nuclear deal with Iran, says French FM
Iranian judge accused of corruption in Iran found dead in Romanian capital
Zarif claims solution is possible to allow access to two nuclear sites in Iran
Iran’s Mahan Air took ‘illicit cargo’ to Syria with Soleimani: Pilot, deleted report

Titles For The Latest LCCC English analysis & editorials from miscellaneous sources published on June 19-20/2020
Caesar' and Bashar’s Delusions of Victory/Elias Harfoush/Asharq Al Awsat/June 19/2020
Uses of a Cocktail of Grievances/Amir Taheri/Asharq Al Awsat/June 19/2020
Hafez Assad to Amin Gemayel: There are No State Institutions in Lebanon/Asharq Al-Awsat releases excerpts from the former Lebanese president’s memoirs/Asharq Al-Awsat/June 19/2020
The Palestinians No One Tells You About/Khaled Abu Toameh/Gatestone Institute/June 19/ 2020
Shooting the (Infidel) Messenger/Raymond Ibrahim/American Thinker/June 19/2020
Question: "Does the Bible condone slavery?"/GotQuestions.org/June 19/2020
Syrian chemical weapons agency sought illicit WMD tech in Germany/Benjamin Weinthal/Jerusalem Post/June 19/2020
Germany accuses Iran, Syria, Jordan, Turkey, Russia, China of espionage/Benjamin Weinthal/Jerusalem Post/June 19/2020
Unfinished Business/Emanuele Ottolenghi/The Dispatch/June 19/2020
Erdogan suffers from syndrome of delusional grandeur/Khairallah Khairallah/The Arab Weekly/June 19/2020

The Latest English LCCC Lebanese & Lebanese Related News & Editorials published on June 19-20/2020
Lebanon Records 15 New COVID-19 Cases
Naharnet/June 19/2020
Lebanon on Friday confirmed 15 more COVID-19 cases, raising the overall tally to 1,510.Ten of the cases were recorded among residents and five among expats repatriated from Saudi Arabia, the UK and Guinea.
Six of the local cases have been traced to known sources, the Health Ministry said.

Minister of Health after visiting Shebaa Governmental Hospital: Caesar Act will not affect health status negatively
NNA//June 19/2020
Minister of Public Health, Hamad Hassan, on Friday confirmed during his visit to Shebaa Governmental Hospital that the "Caesar Act" would not negatively affect the country's health status, which is a red line for everyone.
"The Ministry will toil to improve health services in Lebanon in terms of medical equipment, administrative staff, and boards of directors."Hassan also announced a decision to operate Shebaa Governmental Hospital. "Its medical equipments are advanced, yet in need of some rehabilitation," he added.

UN in Lebanon deems mental health a priority during COVID-19
NNA//June 19/2020
The COVID-19 pandemic has hit Lebanon at a time of instability, not only affecting physical health, but also increasing stress and anxiety. Those population with vulnerability during this pandemic today are frontline healthcare workers, older people, adolescents and young people, those with pre-existing mental health conditions and those caught up in conflict and crisis. Within this context, the UN in Lebanon worked closely with the National Mental Health Programme in the Ministry of Public Health towards developing a mental health and psychological support action plan as part of the national response to the COVID-19 outbreak, using an integrated approach to mental health. In line with this action plan and in close coordination with the MOPH-National Mental Health Programme, the UN and partners raised awareness on ways to cope with stress and promote mental Health, integrated mental health awareness within the training materials of health frontlines and non-health front liners, and trained an average of 380 front liners on guidelines for the provision of remote psychosocial support for children and caregivers with key messages related to stigma, coping with stress and safe identification and referral. 31,288 boys, girls and caregivers were sensitized to promote their psychosocial wellbeing and protection of their children. 5,975 children, parents and primary caregivers were provided with remote community based mental health and psychosocial support. The UN also shared psychosocial support kits for children in hospitals and distributed cognitive games for adults during quarantine. Leaflets and posters on coping with stress for persons in quarantine were also developed in partnership with the National Mental Health Programme. During this period where online education became a critical challenge to both students and parents, the UN also worked on addressing the well-being of children by adapting harmonized psychosocial support competencies and turning them into activities for children and their caregivers to better deal with the isolation and distance learning during the COVID-19 outbreak.
Within this context, the World Health Organization Representative in Lebanon Dr. Iman Shankiti highlighted that “Mental health is an integral part of health and we need to safeguard the mental health of our communities, our health care workers, our adults, our women and children and the most vulnerable of our society. We are committed to share credible and evidence-based guidance on mental health to professionals and to the public and to improve access to mental health treatment to those who need it. We will work with our partners and the UN community to make this happen and to maintain mental health during this time of crisis.”To target the youth population, a campaign under the title of “How Are you Doing in Corona Times?” was launched, in partnership with the National Mental Health Programme and the Ministry of Education and Higher Education, to normalize the discussion around youth mental health in such times of uncertainty aiming to lift all taboos around it on one hand, and to help youth identify when they are not feeling well, to accept that sometimes “it’s ok not to be ok” and to encourage them to seek help when they feel they need it. The campaign enabled youth and adolescents to interact around topics that are of importance to their lives and shared experiences in ways that can open discussions and normalize behaviors that will allow them to cope with the COVID 19 impact, and with issues related to it. “There is no health without mental health and youth should be encouraged to take care of their physical and mental health. As a matter of fact, 50% of mental disorders start before the age f 14 and 75% by the mid-20s. The number of youth in Lebanon is abut 520 thousand young men and women, of whom 305 thousand are Lebanese. We believe in the importance of their role and the importance of their participation in developing their societies and will maintain our commitment to to empower young people and enhance their participation and involvement in Lebanon” said UNICEF Representative Yukie Mokuo.—UNIC

Coronavirus Follow-up Committee inspects measures at Beirut airport in preparation for resumption of navigation
NNA /June 19/2020
The Coronavirus Follow-up Committee and Disaster Risk Management on Friday paid an inspection visit to the Rafic Hariri International Airport, to have a closer look at the logistic measures undertaken at the Beirut Airport, in preparation for the resumption of navigation on July 1.The Director General of Civil Aviation, Fadi al-Hassan, and Head of the Airport Security Authority, Brigadier General George Doumit, briefed the Committee on the details of the procedures and measures to be undertaken as passengers begin to arrive at the airport. Al-Asmar hoped that the resumption of air navigation will be a factor to stimulate the economic movement in Lebanon.

Doubts surround drive by Lebanon's Berri to bring together diverse blocs
Sabra Douh/The Arab Weekly/June 19/2020
Sceptics see Berri’s moves as aimed at easing international pressure on Hezbollah.
TUNIS - Lebanese Parliament Speaker and head of the Shia Amal movement Nabih Berri has led a vigorous political campaign to bridge differences between political parties, drawing suspicion as to whether he is trying to ease pressure on Hezbollah. Berri’s efforts, which were given “rare” cover from President Michel Aoun, came just as the US’s Caesar's Act targeting the Syrian regime and its allies took effect. The act is expected to negatively impact Lebanon given the deep commercial and financial ties between Beirut and Damascus. Hezbollah, an ally of Assad, is especially in the crosshairs.
Berri has so far succeeded in bringing together the two major Druze opponents, the head of the Progressive Socialist Party Walid Jumblatt and the head of the Lebanese Democratic Party Talal Arslan.
Berri has also attempted to bring together “enemy brothers” within the March 8 Coalition, notably the Free Patriotic Movement and the Marada Movement, with news of attempts made to organise a meeting between two Christian party leaders Gebran Bassil and Suleiman Frangieh.
The relationship between Frangieh and Bassil has been fraught with tension in recent weeks due to controversial financial and administrative appointments, with the leader of the Marada Movement accusing Bassil of trying to monopolise the share of Christian posts. Frangieh went as far as threatening to withdraw his two ministers from the government of Prime Minister Hassan Diab. Berri intervened to discourage the move. Political circles in Lebanon believe a recent call by Aoun to hold an inclusive conference on June 25 is aimed at bringing together all political parties, parliamentary blocs and former heads of government.
The conference is believed to be the brainchild of Berri, who has worked tirelessly to convince influential political players of the need to attend such a meeting – a burden shared by the general director of the Lebanese General Security, Major General Abbas Ibrahim.
Over the last few days, Berri held a series of meetings with several political figures, notably the leader of the Future Movement Saad Hariri, the head of the Progressive Socialist Party Walid Jumblatt and the leader of the Marada Movement Suleiman Franjieh.
After his visit to Ain al-Tineh, Frangieh said Berri was not the one who called for the Baabda conference but the one who “informed us about it.” “The most important thing today is national solidarity to get out of the current difficult phase and we will decide later whether we will participate in the Baabda conference,” Frangieh said. After meeting with Berri, Frangieh went straight to Beit al-Wasat -- Hariri’s home in Beirut -- to meet with the former prime minister to feel out whether his Future Movement was open to participating in the Baabda Conference.
Rashid Fayed, a member of the Future Movement’s political bureau, told The Arab Weekly that Frangieh's visit to Beit al-Wasat and his meeting with Hariri was an attempt to persuade the leader of the Future Movement to take part in the Baabda conference, which will not be effective unless all major political players take part.  Fayed added that Hariri's decision on whether or not to participate in the conference depends on the meetings he will conduct, as well as the position of the Future Parliamentary Bloc. He pointed out that as the head of a significant political bloc, former PM and leader of a major sectarian constituency, Hariri’s participation in the conference will be decisive.
However, Fayed noted Harir was not enthusiastic about the conference, saying the Future Movement will not make any decision on the matter before next Wednesday. Mounting pressure on Hezbollah In recent months, the relationship between Hariri, Aoun and Bassil’s Free Patriotic Movement has been especially strained. The relationship took a turn for the worse after Hariri submitted his resignation last November following massive protests against the ruling elite. Hariri's resignation was similar to declaring a break with the ruling class in light of the increasing criticism of the Future Movement for its identification and agreement to the agenda of the Free Patriotic Movement and its leader Bassil, who is also Aoun’s son-in-law. Fayed voiced scepticism about Berri’s motives in inviting the Future Movement to the Baabda conference, especially as the Ceasar Act looms.
Fayed believes that the Act will affect Hezbollah at home “as one of the main actors in the war against the Syrian people.” However, he noted that Hezbollah’s decision to participate in the conflict was taken without any popular or political cover, and in defiance of the international community. Fayed did not rule out the possibility that Berri’s political moves could be primarily aimed at easing international pressure on Hezbollah, regardless of the threats posed by the movement and its leaders to Lebanon’s stability and security.

Lebanon Adviser in IMF Talks Quits, Citing 'No Genuine Will' for Reforms
Asharq Al-Awsat/Friday, 19 June, 2020
A financial adviser working with Lebanon’s government in talks with the International Monetary Fund said on Thursday that he had resigned, citing “no genuine will” to reform and attempts to dismiss the size of losses in the financial system. Lebanon began IMF talks in May, aiming to secure aid to steer its way out of a major financial crisis. But the process has been complicated by a dispute over the scale of the losses set out in a government plan presented to the IMF. In a statement, adviser to the ministry of finance Henri Chaoul said politicians, monetary authorities, and the financial sector were “opting to dismiss the magnitude” of losses and embark on a “populist agenda”.“I have come to the realization that there is no genuine will to implement either reforms or a restructuring of the banking sector, including the central bank.”The plan approved by Prime Minister Hassan Diab’s government projects huge losses including $83 billion in the banking system. Chaoul described it as the first time a quantitative diagnosis of Lebanon’s multiple crises had been undertaken. The IMF has said the figures appear to be roughly the correct order of magnitude but that Beirut needed to reach a common understanding to move forward.
The numbers have met opposition from the central bank, the banking sector and a parliamentary fact-finding committee that has challenged the losses and assumptions. Ali Hassan Khalil, a senior aide to parliament Speaker Nabih Berri and a former finance minister, said the plan had been drawn up hastily, mistakes had been made and the fact-finding committee’s numbers were more accurate. Citing issues with the plan, he told broadcaster MTV it assumed Lebanon would be unable to pay its bonds until 2043. This is what led the parliamentary committee “to put its hand on the matter at the request of Speaker Berri”.Berri, who has said depositors’ funds are sacrosanct, is involved in efforts to forge a compromise over the losses, sources said.

Ex-Lebanese PM Fouad Siniora: ‘Void’ Better than Aoun’s Presidential Term
Beirut - Caroline Akoum/Asharq Al-Awsat/Friday, 19 June, 2020
Former Lebanese Prime Minister Fouad Siniora has expressed pessimism on the situation in Lebanon amid a total absence of signs on possible change in the near future. He sees that Hezbollah’s power grip has increased and that President Michel Aoun lives in complete denial. “The phase when Lebanon had witnessed a presidential vacuum was better than (Aoun’s) term,” Siniora said, adding that the Lebanese government lacks any vision. On the final response of political figures concerning their participation in the “comprehensive national meeting” scheduled for June 25 to discuss the political, economic and financial crises, Siniora said, “There is still no final decision about attending it. We are waiting to see the agenda of the meeting.”In talks with representatives of media outlets, including Asharq Al-Awsat, the Sunni leader said the current situation in Lebanon requires decisive action. “We reject to take part in efforts of polishing President Aoun’s term, (and the actions of ) the Prime Minister, Hezbollah and MP Gebran Bassil,” he said. Siniora said that the government of PM Hassan Diab has failed to make any achievements. “Their decisions and wrong measures helped worsen the woes of the Lebanese people,” he said. Commenting on the attempts to remove Central Bank (BDL) Governor Riad Salameh from his post, the former PM said that Diab helped Hezbollah have a say in the bank's affairs through the government’s recent appointment of BDL deputy governors. “Hezbollah’s grip is deepening and increasing,” he said, adding that this would not lead to stability or confidence in the state. Siniora explained that the value of the deteriorating Lebanese currency will not improve by placing the responsibility of its deep plunge on only certain parties. “There’s no confidence in the state and its measures. The President is in denial and unable to see the level the country has reached,” he said. Commenting on the Caesar Act, a US legislation that imposes dire sanctions on the Syrian regime, and its repercussions on Lebanon, Siniora said, “(Hezbollah) got us here and it is taking the country to a bigger collapse.”

US to release Lebanese businessman accused of ties to Hezbollah
Joseph Haboush, Al Arabiya English/Friday 19 June 2020
A Lebanese businessman imprisoned in the US for evading sanctions and accused of ties to Hezbollah will be released soon, his family and another source with knowledge of the matter said Friday. Kassim Tajideen's family said they were looking forward to his return to Lebanon “in the near future.”For all the latest headlines follow our Google News channel online or via the app. The statement added: “We are grateful to the Lebanese and US authorities for facilitating his return home.” Tajideen was arrested in 2017, in Morocco, following an international arrest warrant and then extradited to the US.
Although he was accused of financing Hezbollah, Tajideen only pleaded guilty to charges of evading sanctions imposed on him, not for financing the Iran-backed militia. Asked about ramifications of the release on US-Iran tensions, an authoritative source with knowledge of the matter said it had nothing to do with this. “Iranians will not exchange any prisoner for someone that is not Iranian. Tajideen's release has nothing to do with Iran.”Tajideen is expected to be released before the end of June. Following the US judge's decision on May 27, prosecutors were given one month to appeal. This one-month period will expire on June 27 and the source said, prosecutors will not appeal the decision. The statement from Tajideen's family said the US judge agreed to release the Lebanese businessman “because of the risks of [coronavirus] on his life should he remain in prison.”

IMF: Lebanon Negotiations are ‘Complex’
Naharnet/June 19/2020
A spokesman for the International Monetary Fund said the ongoing negotiations with Lebanon are “complex” and require a joint diagnosis of the source and magnitude of the financial losses, noting on the other hand that the GDP may contract “deeper-than-expected" in the second quarter of 2020.
IMF spokesman Gerry Rice said Thursday that the fund was still in discussions with Lebanon about possible financing arrangements. He said it was too early to talk about the size of any aid program. Rice declined to give any details of the reforms the fund wants in order to approve a program. He said the Lebanese government needed to implement comprehensive and equitable reforms in many areas. “Lebanon needs to reach a common understanding of the source and size of its financial losses,” he said in an online briefing. "Discussions are underway," stated Rice. "These are complex issues that require a joint diagnosis of the sources and magnitude of losses in the financial system, as well as feasible options for their effective and equitable treatment.”Hopes for a quick bailout deal with the IMF were complicated because of a dispute between the government and the Central Bank of Lebanon over the size of the losses in the financial system. Rice's statements made clear that the IMF expects Lebanon to solve these problems and move forward with a series of broad reforms. "There is a need for comprehensive reforms in many areas, which requires acceptance and consensus from the society as a whole," he said.

Berri Received 'No Confirmation' Yet from Invitees to Baabda Meeting
Naharnet/June 19/2020
None of the political figures that Speaker Nabih Berri has met over the past few days confirmed their participation or not in the upcoming talks in Baabda. MP Qassem Hashem said: “The talks that Speaker Berri led were diverse and constructive in a bid to open the doors to dialogue on the ways to preserve Lebanon and establish a major base to steer out of the crisis.”Hashem added that during his talks with political figures he met lately, Berri expressed hopes that an “inclusive” meeting takes place in Baabda regardless of political differences. “Berri prefers the participation of all the parties invited to the meeting, but has not received any reply yet,” said Qassem. In the past few days, Berri held separate talks in Ain el-Tineh with ex-PM Saad Hariri, Marada Movement chief Sulieman Franjieh, Progressive Socialist Party leader ex-MP Walid Jumblat and MP Talal Arslan. President Michel Aoun called for a “comprehensive national meeting” on June 25 to discuss financial and political issues. He called for the meeting after talks with PM Hassan Diab and Berri. Former presidents and prime ministers, the heads of political parties and parliamentary blocs and the deputy speaker were invited. In televised remarks, Deputy Speaker Elie Ferzli said political parties are urged to comply with this invitation taking into consideration the “sensitive” situation in the country.

Diab Holds Talks with Berri in Ain el-Tineh
Naharnet/June 19/2020
Prime Minister Hassan Diab held talks Friday with Parliament Speaker Nabih Berri at the latter’s residence in Ain el-Tineh. LBCI television said the meeting was “part of consultations between the legislative and executive authorities.”
The two leaders discussed “means to unify visions in addressing national files, especially the financial and economic files,” the TV network added.

Jumblat Opposes Nasrallah on Iran Cooperation, Slams Federalism Calls
Naharnet/June 19/2020
Progressive Socialist Party chief Walid Jumblat on Friday said he opposes Hizbullah chief Sayyed Hassan Nasrallah’s call for economic cooperation with Iran. “The Iranian economic model is not convincing,” Jumblat said.
He also reiterated that any U.S. sanctions would weaken Lebanon, not Hizbullah. “The confrontation between the United States and Hizbullah through sanctions, and consequently on Hizbullah and the Shiite sect, will destroy the foundations of the Lebanese entity and the idea of pluralism will end, and here lies the danger,” Jumblat added.

Protesters rally in Baalbek against dire living conditions
NNA/June 19/2020
Baalbek civil movement protesters staged a sit-in at Khalil Moutran's Square in front of the ancient castle of Baalbek, in protest against the dire economic and living conditions and the high exchange rate of the US dollar, NNA reporter said.

Abdel Samad, UN delegation follow up on plan to combat fake news
NNA/June 19/2020
A delegation of the United Nations in Lebanon visited Friday Minister of Information, Manal Abdel Samad, at her ministry office, to follow up on an array of joint projects, especially the plan aiming to combat misleading and fake news.
The delegation comprised UNICEF's Lebanon Representative Yukie Mokuo, WHO Representative to Lebanon Iman Shankiti, and UNDP Resident Representative for Lebanon Celine Moyroud.
The meeting comes within the framework of the partnership the MoI has concluded with the World Health Organization (WHO), the UNICEF, and UNDP, to raise awareness about coronavirus and debunk fake news and misinformation relevant to the novel disease. Besides the awareness campaign, the partnership also consists of making a list of fake news touching on coronavirus, as well as organizing training sessions that involve editors and correspondents from the National News Agency to enhance their fact-checking skills. The trained team will then operate a fact-checking webpage that is being set up by the MoI, and which will be launched in mid-July.

Embassy of Paraguay's Charge d'Affaires, Selaata Municipality head visit Rahi in Diman
NNA/June 19/2020
Maronite Patriarch, Mar Bechara Boutros Rahi, on Friday welcomed at his summer residence in Diman Paraguayan embassy Charge d'Affaires in Lebanon. The Maronite Patriarch later met with Selaata Municipality head, Georges Salloum, who briefed him on the environmental and social hazards of the construction of a power plant in the region. Salloum also handed the patriarch documents supporting the stance of Selaata municipal council, and that of all the residents of the region, who refuse attempts to build a power plant near the residential and industrial area.

Demonstrators also protested against the hike in the prices of commodities.
Cyprus Allows Entry to Arrivals from Lebanon, Italy, Spain
Agence France Presse/Naharnet/June 19/2020
Cyprus further eased its coronavirus entry restrictions Friday, adding hard-hit EU partners Italy and Spain, and nearby Lebanon, to a list of countries allowed entry, but holding back on its two biggest markets.
Flights will now be allowed from over 30 countries across two categories, up from 19 when a commercial passenger flight ban ended earlier this month. According to the Health Ministry, 22 countries are now considered low-risk, including Greece, Germany, Austria, Bulgaria, South Korea and Australia, while another 12, including France, Italy, Belgium, Spain, Lebanon and Israel, are in a higher-risk category. From Saturday, only travelers arriving from countries in the second category will be required to provide proof of a negative COVID-19 test undertaken within 72 hours of travel, or on arrival if unavailable in the departure country. That requirement had previously applied to arrivals from both lists. But Cyprus' two biggest tourist markets, the United Kingdom and Russia, have yet to be included in either category. "It's a dynamic list based on the (epidemiological) data registered for each country," Health Minister Constantinos Ioannou told a press conference Friday.
If novel coronavirus cases rise in a country in the first category, "it will be downgraded to category B, and vice versa."
The categories are updated weekly.
Israel was recently relegated to the higher-risk category after it saw an increase in cases. The health minister said there would also be random coronavirus checks on arrival. "We're expecting 1,500 travelers to arrive daily, so we will carry out around 300 random tests every day," Ioannou said.
"This is to get a better understanding of the situation and to review our decisions concerning some countries, if necessary."Cyprus has reported 985 total coronavirus cases and 19 deaths, and is looking to restart its vital tourism sector. Lebanon has meanwhile registers 1,510 cases and 32 deaths. Transport Minister Yiannis Karousos told state radio that he expected the number of flights to increase to around 500 per week in July. But the government expects visitor numbers to be down by 70 percent this year due to the pandemic, after counting almost four million arrivals in 2019.
As part of a further easing of restrictions, Nicosia said it would reopen most crossings along the divided Mediterranean island's ceasefire line to Cypriot citizens and residents on Sunday. It said those crossing would have to provide proof they were free from COVID-19.

Geagea Urges Nasrallah to Take First Step ‘East’
Naharnet/June 19/2020
Lebanese Forces chief Samir Geagea replied on Friday to Hizbullah leader Sayyed Hassan Nasrallah, urging him to “initiate the first step” and request help for Lebanon’s ailing economy from countries in the East he said were ready to provide Lebanon with assistance.
“Based on Sayyed Hassan Nasrallah’s call to head east: Why doesn’t he take the first step and encourage the states he talked about (in his speech) to place a bank deposit not less than one billion dollars in the Central Bank of Lebanon,” said Geagea in a tweet. Geagea said several Gulf countries, like Saudi Arabia, used to put huge deposits in Lebanese banks before Nasrallah’s “offensive” rhetoric.
The LF chief said Nasrallah should request countries in the East to inject deposits “like Gulf countries friends of Lebanon, Saudi Arabia for example, were doing before he pushed them away? Let’s see how serious is this option to go East?”
In a speech last week, Nasrallah said China and other countries in the East (like Russia) are ready to invest in Lebanon’s infrastructure to help the country steer out of its financial crisis. Nasrallah argued that Lebanon’s ongoing negotiations with the IMF could take more than a year, and that China could offer more rapid funding.

Top DR Congo Court Intervenes in Graft Case Involving Lebanese Mogul
Agence France Presse/Naharnet/June 19/2020
DR Congo's top court has intervened in an unprecedented corruption case involving a key ally of the president, less than a day before a lower court was due to issue a verdict, legal sources said Friday. A court in Kinshasa is scheduled on Saturday to issue its ruling in the fast-moving trial of Vital Kamerhe, 61, a veteran powerbroker in national politics who is also President Felix Tshisekedi's chief of staff. Prosecutors are seeking 20-year terms against Kamerhe and 78-year-old Lebanese businessman Samih Jammal, accused of siphoning off more than $50 million in a case deemed a litmus test of Tshisekedi's anti-corruption drive. But legal sources on Friday said that the country's Constitutional Court had asked the lower court to hand over the judicial dossier "immediately."According to the letter, signed by the Constitutional Court's chief clerk and seen by AFP, the dossier is being sought under "exception of unconstitutionality."This is a term under the Napoleonic judicial system by which a defendant can seek to have a case suspended or annulled if judicial technicalities violate the constitution. Neither the lower court nor Kamerhe's lawyer was able to say whether the scheduled verdict would be affected by the intervention. Kamerhe's defense lawyers had notably raised "exception of unconstitutionality" in the trial's last pre-verdict session, on June 11. The trial began on May 11, just over a month after Kamerhe was arrested.
It has no precedent in the history of the Democratic Republic of Congo, both in terms of political impact and public visibility. Proceedings have been televised live from a court set up in Kinshasa's central prison, and the two key defendants, along with a presidential official who is the third accused, appeared in prison outfits. In one of the twists in the case, the judge who presided over the first two sessions of the trial, Raphael Yanyi, was found dead on May 27. Police declared the case of death was cardiac arrest. But on June 16 the justice ministry said he had been murdered, after an autopsy determined he had died from a brain hemorrhage caused by "blows" to the head. Yanyi's family have contested the autopsy report and say he was poisoned. Kamerhe emerged from DR Congo's civil wars in the early 2000s to become a key figure in national politics.
He was a confidant of former president Joseph Kabila, who appointed him speaker of parliament. After coming under fire for dissenting over a policy issue, he set up his own political party and tried unsuccessfully to bid for the presidency in elections in 2011. When presidential elections loomed in December 2018, Kamerhe and Tshisekedi struck a mutual-support deal that helped Tshisekedi to win. After taking office, Tshisekedi appointed Kamerhe as chief of staff. Kamerhe's supporters say the trial is a plot to prevent him from securing the presidency in the next elections in 2023 -- the quid pro quo in the 2018 deal.

Rise of German terrorist Hezbollah supporters, members in Lower Saxony
Benjamin Weinthal/Jerusalem Post/June 19/2020
بنيامين وينثال/جيروزاليم بوست: صعود في عدد أعضاء-أنصار حزب الله الإرهابيين في ولاية سكسونيا السفلى الألمانية
“The mobilization potential of Hezbollah in Germany should not be underestimated.”
The number of Hezbollah members and supporters in the German state of Lower Saxony increased from 150 in 2018 to 160 in 2019, according to a damning new intelligence report released in late May.
The report said that in “Lower Saxony supporters and sympathizers of Hezbollah are organized in several associations that have specified the care and dissemination of Lebanese culture and the practice of their religion as their purpose and goal in statutes.”
The report said that Hezbollah associations are located in Hanover, the capital of Lower Saxony, the city of Osnabrück and the town Uelzen. Hezbollah members and supporters are also located in South Lower Saxony.
The report added that Hezbollah “activities can also be observed in the area around Bremen in Lower Saxony.” The German Interior Ministry declared Hezbollah a terrorist movement in late April and banned all Hezbollah activity in Germany.
The intelligence document said that “the Lebanese Shi’ite organization Hezbollah (Party of God) uses terrorist means to fight the State of Israel, but also directs its propaganda against Western institutions.”
It is unclear if the German authorities plan to take legal action against the Lebanese Shi’ite Hezbollah members and supporters in Lower Saxony and their mosques and associations. The report did not provide reasons for the increase in Hezbollah members and supporters in Lower Saxony.
The intelligence report said “the associations are mainly financed by membership fees and fundraisers. The connection to Hezbollah is made by officials who come from Lebanon again and again on… occasions such as… the anniversary of the withdrawal of the Israeli army from southern Lebanon or on high Muslim holidays.”
According to the intelligence document, “in Lower Saxony, members of various associations also visit the same mosques. Regardless of a certain sympathy in parts of the Shi’ite Lebanese living here for the political and ideological goals of Hezbollah.” The state of Lower Saxony has a population of nearly 8 million.
The report noted that the Islamic Republic of Iran backs Hezbollah with funds.
“The model for Hezbollah is the revolutionary Iran,” wrote the intelligence officials.
According to various German intelligence reports, there are 1,050 Hezbollah members and supporters in the federal republic.
The Lower Saxony intelligence agency wrote that Hezbollah seeks to propagate a radical system of Islamic law (Sharia) against the liberal, democratic social and political order, adding that "the mobilization potential of Hezbollah in Germany should not be underestimated.”
Hezbollah members and supporters from Lower Saxony have participated in the annual al-Quds rally in Berlin last year that calls for the destruction of the Jewish state, according to the report.
“Among the demonstrators were people who had come from Lower Saxony.” Activists from the German Boycott, Divestment, Sanctions (BDS) campaign targeting Israel were present at the rally. A sign displayed at the rally read: “Boycott Apartheid Israel.” The intersection between BDS and US and EU designated terrorist entities at anti-Israel protests in Germany frequently occurs.

The Latest English LCCC Miscellaneous Reports And News published on June 19-20/2020
WHO Warns World in 'New and Dangerous Phase' of Pandemic
Agence France Presse/Naharnet/June 19/2020
The World Health Organization warned Friday of a "new and dangerous phase" of the coronavirus pandemic with people tiring of lockdowns despite the disease's accelerating spread. The warning came as it emerged the virus was present in Italy in December, months before its first confirmed cases and about the same time as the disease was first reported in China. The virus, which has now killed more than 454,000 people and infected 8.4 million people worldwide, is surging in the Americas and parts of Asia even as Europe starts to ease restrictive measures.
Lockdowns imposed to halt the spread of the disease have caused crippling economic damage, but the WHO said the pandemic still posed a major threat. "The world is in a new and dangerous phase. Many people are understandably fed up with being at home... but the virus is still spreading fast," WHO chief Tedros Adhanom Ghebreyesus told a virtual press conference. A vaccine remains months off at best despite several trials, while scientists are still discovering more about the virus, its symptoms and the extent to which it may have spread before being identified.
Italian sewage
Italian researchers discovered genetic traces of SARS-CoV-2 -- as the virus is officially known -- in samples of waste water collected in Milan and Turin at the end of last year, and Bologna in January, the ISS institute said. Italy's first confirmed cases were not until February.
The results "help to understand the start of the circulation of the virus in Italy," the ISS said. Italy was the first European country to be hit by the virus and the first in the world to impose a nationwide lockdown, in early March. In a sign of the persisting risks, ISS, Italy's top health agency, also urged caution after last week seeing "warning signs" of virus transmission following two outbreaks in Rome. "In certain parts of the country, the circulation of the virus is still significant," ISS said in its weekly report. Many European countries followed Italy into lockdown, and most have only begun reopening this month after painful shutdowns that devastated their economies. Facing the biggest recession in the EU's history, leaders on Friday held a virtual summit on the European Commission's proposal for a 750 billion euro ($840 billion) rescue fund. However they fell short of reaching a deal on a plan seen as a key gesture of the bloc's solidarity and unity. Opposition is fierce from the "frugal four" -- Netherlands, Sweden, Denmark and Austria. But Italy and Spain that were the first and hardest hit by the pandemic were already crippled by overstretched finances.
'Came from Europe'
Chinese scientists have said the virus likely emerged in a market that sold wildlife in the central city of Wuhan in December, but Beijing officials have recently suggested it may have originated elsewhere. After largely bringing the virus under control and easing restrictions, China is now fighting a resurgence after finding a cluster centered on a market in Beijing. Authorities launched a nationwide campaign to inspect food imports, while tens of thousands of people are also being tested and neighborhoods have been locked down. Chinese authorities said studies of genome data, which it had shared with the WHO, suggest the new outbreak in Beijing "came from Europe", but is different from what is currently spreading there. "It is older than the virus currently circulating in Europe," Zhang Yong of the Chinese Center for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) said. He raised the possibility of the virus lurking in imported frozen food or in the wholesale market itself, resulting in similarities to older strains.
'Better control' -
The United States still leads the world in the number of confirmed infections and deaths, with a recent surge in southern states, while the economy has also been hammered in a year when U.S. President Donald Trump seeks re-election. However top U.S. expert Dr Anthony Fauci offered hope as he said in an interview with AFP that he did not see America returning to fresh lockdown. He predicted it would instead focus on "trying to better control those areas of the country that seem to be having a surge of cases". Fauci said he was optimistic the world would soon have a vaccine to end the pandemic, calling early trial results "encouraging". Still, Apple said it was closing some stores in US states experiencing a surge in infections, reversing course after reopening many of its retail locations. The Philadelphia Phillies baseball team also said five players and three staff tested positive for COVID-19 at the club's Clearwater training base in Florida.
French kissing
But normality is returning to cultural and sporting events disrupted by the virus. Football returned to hard-hit South America on Thursday after a three-month hiatus with a Rio state tournament match in Brazil. And in France, the nation of le grand amour, actors have started kissing again on film shoots. "No, the kiss is not over with," French Culture Minister Franck Riester declared when asked if social distancing was in danger of killing off love scenes altogether. Actors must however be tested before they start smooching again.

IAEA Passes Resolution on Iran to Provide Access to 2 Old Sites
Asharq Al-Awsat/Friday, 19 June, 2020
The board of governors at the UN's nuclear watchdog has passed a resolution critical of Iran and demanding access to two old nuclear sites, diplomatic sources said Friday. The first of its kind since 2012, the resolution calls on Tehran to provide inspectors from the International Atomic Energy Agency (IAEA) with access to two sites in Iran in order to clarify whether undeclared nuclear activity took place there in the early 2000s. Iran's allies China and Russia opposed the measure. The text of the resolution submitted by France, Britain and Germany and obtained by Reuters says the board "calls on Iran to fully cooperate with the Agency and satisfy the Agency's requests without any further delay, including by providing prompt access to the locations specified by the Agency." Iran has been blocking access to the sites for months. Earlier this week Iran warned that such a resolution would be "counterproductive" and that it would take "appropriate measures" in response. Even though the sites in question are not thought to be directly relevant to Iran's current nuclear program, the agency says it needs to know if activities going back almost two decades have been properly declared and all materials accounted for.
Despite the row over the two sites, the IAEA says it still has the access it needs to inspect Iran's declared nuclear facilities, as the agency is mandated to do under the landmark deal between Iran and world powers reached in 2015.
However, the latest row comes as that deal continues to unravel, with Iran continuing to breach the limits on nuclear activity in the accord in retaliation for the United States' withdrawal from it and reimposition of sanctions.
The nuclear deal drew a line under what the IAEA and US intelligence services believe was a covert, coordinated atomic weapons program halted in 2003. But Israel's seizure of what is calls part of an "archive" of Iran's past work appears to have yielded new clues on old activities.
Iran has suggested the IAEA is seeking access based on the Israeli information, which it argues is inadmissible. It also says the IAEA file on its old activities has been closed. Britain, France and Germany will on Friday define their Iran strategy for the coming months amid talks at the UN and violations by Tehran of a 2015 nuclear deal, France's foreign ministry said. Under Iran's deal with world powers to accept limits to its nuclear program in return for the lifting of sanctions, a UN weapons embargo is due to expire in October. The United States, which exited the deal in 2018, says it wants to extend the embargo. If the UN Security Council does not extend the embargo, Washington has threatened to trigger a so-called snapback of all UN sanctions on Iran, using a process outlined in the nuclear deal. Such a move would be likely to kill the nuclear accord. "The (foreign) ministers are meeting to see what Europe can do to end these violations by the Iranians, while keeping the deal, but also to discuss how to avoid a snapback in New York," said a European diplomat, according to Reuters. Foreign ministry spokeswoman Agnes von der Muhll said in a in a statement that the ministers, who meet in Berlin, would also discuss Iran's cooperation with the IAEA.

Jordan Exerts Pressure to Obstruct Israeli Annexation Plan
Ramallah- Kifah Zboun/Asharq Al-Awsat/Friday, 19 June, 2020
The Jordanian Foreign Minister, Ayman Safadi, conveyed a message from Jordan’s King Abdullah II to President Mahmoud Abbas on Thursday.
This came during his unannounced visit to Ramallah, as part of the ongoing coordination and consultation process against Israel’s plan to annex large parts of the occupied Palestinian territories. Following his meeting with Abbas, Safadi and his Palestinian counterpart Riyad al-Maliki held a joint press conference, in which the latter said talks focused on coordinating joint efforts and preventing Israel from implementing its annexation plan. “Our Jordanian brothers are making strong and brave efforts all over the world to prevent Israel from going ahead with its plans,” Maliki noted. He pointed to King Abdullah’s contacts with the US Congress and various committees, as well as Safadi’s actions at various levels, stressing that these helped mobilize an international stance against this plan. The Minister further explained that discussions between Abbas and Safadi were important. “Parties affirmed the State of Palestine’s readiness, under Jordan’s support, to negotiate based on the international legitimacy and UN references.” “I conveyed Jordan’s permanent historic position to stand with our Palestinian brothers and their right to freedom and to establish their Palestinian state with Jerusalem as its capital,” Safadi stressed.
“We have said in the past that annexation means that Israel had chosen conflict over peace and it alone bears the responsibility of its decisions,” he added, describing the annexation issue as “an unprecedented danger to the peace process.”“Consequences [of the annexation] are not only on the Israeli-Jordanian ties but also on the entire peace regional efforts,” Safadi said. “Annexation would kill the two-state solution and destroy all the foundations on which the peace process was based. It will deprive the residents of the region of their right to live in peace and stability.”
The Kingdom will move forward in supporting Palestinians and “protecting the region from the consequences of a long and violent conflict if Israel annexes one-third of the occupied West Bank.” “The Palestinian cause remains our central concern, and Jordan was and shall remain committed to every possible effort and everything it can to support our Palestinian brothers,” he added. The Foreign Minister affirmed that his country is “now concentrated on preventing annexation and creating the possibility of returning to serious and effective negotiations.” Sources told Asharq Al-Awsat that Amman’s has expressed full support for the Palestinian Authority’s positions against the annexation, but it also demanded that the PA waits and gives more time before making irreversible decisions. Jordan wants “more time for diplomatic efforts to prevent annexation and to resume the political process,” sources said.

Palestinians Try Eke Out a Living On World Refugee Day
Asharq Al-Awsat/Friday, 19 June, 2020
On the United Nations’ World Refugee Day on Saturday Palestinian Marwan Kuwaik will try make some money by selling snack food on Gaza street. The June 20 event this year comes as a reminder to the world that everyone, including refugees, can contribute to society, the UN said on its website.
In Gaza, Kuwaik earns about 30 shekels ($8.50) a day selling lupin beans from his bicycle. Asked about World Refugee Day, he said: “We remain without a solution ... the situation is miserable but we still have hopes.” The 70-year-old is among 1.4 million Palestinians UN-registered refugees in the poor and crowded enclave, whose economy has suffered from years of blockades. “I support my family, 15 people. I have never stopped my work for 40 years, even during wars, curfews and closures, except when I am sick,” Kuwaik said. His parents were among the hundreds of thousands of Palestinians who fled or were forced to leave their homes in what is now Israel during the fighting that surrounded its founding in 1948, Reuters reported. He was born two years later in Gaza and lives in the outskirts of its Beach refugee camp. The UN registers as refugees the descendants of those Palestinians displaced more than 70 years ago. Kuwaik said his family once owned farmland in Lod, a city in Israel. He visited Lod twice in early 1980s and found a new house of concrete had been built next to his father’s old shelter. The new Israeli owners continued to grow olive trees on the farmland as his family long had, he said. “We will return,” Kuwaik vowed in his house as he filled small plastic bags with lupin beans. “If we die our sons will rise, and if they die then our grandchildren will do it.”

Oil Prices Gain With OPEC+ Maintaining Supply Cuts
Asharq Al-Awsat/Friday, 19 June, 2020
Oil prices rose more than 1% on Friday, adding to gains in the previous session, after OPEC producers and allies promised to meet commitments on cutting supply and two major oil traders said demand was recovering well.
Brent crude futures rose 61 cents, or 1.5%, to $42.12 a barrel by 0639 GMT, the highest in more than a week. US West Texas Intermediate (WTI) crude futures climbed 60 cents, or 1.5%, to $39.44 a barrel. Both contracts rose about 2% on Thursday and are heading for weekly gains of nearly 9%.
Plans by Iraq and Kazakhstan to make up for overproduction in May on their supply cut commitments supported the market. The promises came out of a meeting by a panel monitoring compliance by the Organization of Petroleum Exporting Countries and its allies, a grouping called OPEC+.
Prices are showing "solidity at these levels, as oil markets ignore the concerns rolling across other asset classes at the moment," said Jeffrey Halley, senior market analyst at OANDA. "That suggests that prices are supported by physical buyers (which) is welcome as it implies that physical demand across the globe is recovering, with its implications for economic growth," he added. Brent moved into backwardation on Thursday for the first time since early March, with the August contract rising to 9 cents above September <LCOc1-LCOc2> on Friday.
Backwardation occurs when near-term contracts are trading at higher prices than outer months, compared with a contango market structure where outer months trade at higher prices. Fears about dwindling storage capacity had sent the market into steep contango, as wide as $5, as coronavirus lockdowns hit near-term demand. Comments from global oil traders Vitol and Trafigura on a rebound in oil demand in June, reported by Bloomberg, also buoyed the market, ANZ said. Traders shrugged off another build in US crude inventories to a new record. Crude stocks rose by 1.2 million barrels last week to 539.3 million barrels, compared with expectations from a Reuters poll for a decline of 152,000 barrels. On the technical side, CMC Markets chief strategist Michael McCarthy pointed to strong resistance in the WTI contract between $40 and $41. Analysts see that level as the point at which more US producers will revive shut-in wells. "That militates against aggressive long side trading," McCarthy said.

Syria Regime Spearheads Arrest Campaign as ‘Caesar Act’ Comes into Effect
Moscow - Damascus - Raed Jaber and Asharq Al-Awsat/Friday, 19 June, 2020
As the Caesar Act went into effect, streets in Damascus appeared empty with retail shops closed and sidewalks rendered hollow from walkers. Taxi drivers roamed the empty streets looking for passengers, yet with no avail. The Syrian state news agency SANA reported citizens taking to the streets in Homs city against the US legislation, which will sanction the Syrian government and affect the war-torn country’s national economy. “Participants in a national stand held Thursday at the Martyrs Square at Homs city center expressed rejection and condemnation of the unilateral coercive measures imposed on the Syrian people, and the so-called ‘Caesar Act’,” SANA reported.Government reactions to the legislation burdened the street with an atmosphere of anticipation, fear, and mistrust as it was accompanied by a tightening of market surveillance, and the imposition of fines and royalties on sellers, amid a sharp decline in purchasing power. This comes as the pound hit 2,900 amid a hike in the price of gold. On Thursday, Syrian authorities spearheaded an arrest campaign against retail owners and money changers to prohibit them from closing shop or selling at a price different from the official rate. Backing Damascus, Moscow accused Washington of exploiting civilians in Syria under the excuse of “protecting them against the regime.” Iranian officials, on the other hand, contacted their Syrian counterparts with the aim of “boosting coordination and evading sanctions,” Damascus-based sources reported. A new report released by the World Bank revealed that a decade of conflict in Syria has strangled economic growth among its neighbors and driven poverty higher in Iraq, Jordan and Lebanon. The war has also led to higher debt burdens, deteriorating labor markets, especially for youth and women, and more restricted access to public services such as health care and electricity, the report said.

Turkish Strikes Kill Civilian in Northern Iraq
Asharq Al-Awsat/Friday, 19 June, 2020
Turkish bombardment killed a Kurdish shepherd in northern Iraq, a local official said Friday, the first known civilian victim of Ankara's air and ground assault on the region. "He was a shepherd in Bradost district and was killed at dawn Thursday in Turkish airstrikes," the official from Iraq's autonomous Kurdish region said. On Wednesday, Turkey launched a cross-border operation into the mountainous terrain of northern Iraq where the Kurdistan Workers Party (PKK) has rear bases. In the airborne-and-land operation dubbed “Operation Claw-Tiger,” Turkey airlifted troops into northern Iraq on Wednesday to root out the PKK, which it says maintains bases across the border in Iraq. Turkey regularly carries out air and ground attacks against the PKK in northern Iraq. The operation by commando forces is being supported by warplanes, attack helicopters, artillery and armed and unarmed drones into the border area of Haftanin, some 15 kilometers from the Turkey-Iraq border. The ground operation was launched following intense artillery fire into the area on Tuesday.

Taliban Reassures West as US Troops Leave Afghanistan
Asharq Al-Awsat/Friday, 19 June, 2020
The Taliban on Friday played down concerns that Afghanistan could be used as a launching ground for future attacks on the West, after the US said it had so far upheld its pledge to reduce its military presence in the country. The top US commander for the region said it cut the number of troops to around 8,600 in line with a deal agreed with the insurgents in February, but warned conditions must be met for a full withdrawal by next year. General Kenneth McKenzie, the head of US Central Command, said "conditions would have to be met that satisfy us -- that attacks against our homeland are not going to be generated from Afghanistan". McKenzie said the Taliban were "no friends" of the ISIS group, but that it needs to see "deeds and not words" about what they would do against al-Qaeda -- the group responsible for the September 11 attacks on New York and Washington. "And so we're very focused on what the Taliban is doing, how they're participating in these negotiations as we go forward," he told a panel discussion hosted by the Aspen Institute on Thursday. "The jury is still very much out." The Taliban on Friday said it was committed to the February deal, "especially the US and the West's concern about a threat to them from Afghanistan"."Our country will not be used against anyone. They should not be concerned," Taliban spokesman Zabihullah Mujahid told AFP. The February deal calls for all US and foreign troops to withdraw from Afghanistan by mid-2021, nearly 20 years after Washington invaded the country following the September 11 attacks. Under the agreement, the United States said it would pull out all troops in return for security guarantees from the insurgents and a pledge to hold peace negotiations with the Afghan government in Kabul. However, a recent expert report to the UN Security Council said that Al-Qaeda and the Taliban "remain close" and were in regular consultations over the negotiations with the United States. The Afghan government which has moved closer to talks with the Taliban in recent weeks, has long accused the insurgents of providing a platform to groups such as ISIS and Al-Qaeda to carry out attacks in the country. President Donald Trump, who is running for re-election in November, has said repeatedly that he wants US troops out of Afghanistan as soon as possible.

Al-Qaeda North Africa Confirms Chief is Dead
Asharq Al-Awsat/Friday, 19 June, 2020
Al-Qaeda's North Africa wing has confirmed that its Algerian chief Abdelmalek Droukdel is dead, after France said early this month that its forces killed him in northern Mali. Paris said Droukdel was killed near the Algerian border, where it says the group has bases it uses to carry out bombings and abductions of Westerners. "After nearly two weeks, AQIM (Al-Qaeda in the Islamic Maghreb) has officially acknowledged the death of its long me leader Droukdel (Wadud), with a video eulogy narrated by AQIM's head of media, pledging continued battles against occupying French forces and others in N. Africa and the Sahel," the director of the US watchdog for extremist groups (SITE), Rita Katz, said Thursday on her Twitter account. French Defense Minister Florence Parly said June 6 that many close associates of the Algerian -- who commanded several groups under the AQIM banner -- were also "neutralized."The group has said it has carried out numerous attacks on troops and civilians across the Sahel, including a 2016 attack on an upmarket hotel and restaurant in Burkina Faso that killed 30 people, mainly Westerners. The death of Droukdel -- once regarded as Algeria's enemy number one -- could leave AQIM in disarray, French military sources have said. France has deployed more than 5,000 troops to combat extremist groups in the region, a largely lawless expanse stretching over Burkina Faso, Chad, Mali, Mauritania and Niger.

Libyan National Army Vows to Resist ‘Turkish Invaders’
Cairo – Khaled Mahmoud/Asharq Al-Awsat/Friday, 19 June, 2020
Libyan National Army (LNA) spokesman Ahmed al-Mismari vowed that the military will be “victorious” against the “Turkish invaders.” His remarks were the first statements by the LNA since the surprise visit carried out on Wednesday by a high-ranking Turkish delegation to the capital, Tripoli, where it held talks with officials from the Government of National Accord (GNA). Mismari said the delegation traveled to Tripoli to “reap the spoils”, vowing that the LNA will resist the “takfiri militias and Turkish invaders.” He declared that the region stretching from Wadi Jarf in the west to al-Wishka east of Misrata a military operations zone. “The Turks will not succeed in seizing Libya’s resources, which will only belong to the free Libyans,” he stressed. Mismari also released footage of what he described as grave violations committed by GNA militias and Syrian mercenaries in Libya, such as the use of ambulances to monitor LNA movements and providing Turkish militias with LNA coordinates in order to target them with drone attacks. Meanwhile, head of the High Council of State Khalid al-Mishri, one of the most prominent Muslim Brotherhood officials, used the Turkish delegation’s visit to declare that LNA commander, Khalifa Haftar, will play no role in any way whatsoever in Libya’s future. Moreover, he said ongoing negotiations between Turkey and Russia on Libya are based on “principles” recognized by the council and GNA, underlining the government’s insistence on recapturing Sirte city and the entire Libyan state. Haftar held talks on Thursday with deputy parliament Speaker Ahmed Houma and Foreign Minister of the east-based government Abdulhadi Elhweg, who briefed him on his recent visit to Russia. Elhweg had met with Russian deputy Foreign Minister Mikhail Bogdanov and special envoy to the Russian president. He stated after the meeting that there can be no permanent solution in Libya without the disbanding and disarmament of militias.

Arab League to Hold Urgent Meeting on Libya
Asharq Al-Awsat/Friday, 19 June, 2020
The Arab League on Friday announced plans to hold an urgent virtual foreign ministers meeting to discuss the escalating conflict in Libya. The meeting, to be held at Egypt's request via video conference, comes as fighting continues between rival administrations based in Libya's capital and the east.
"Coordination is currently underway with the current session's head (the Sultanate of Oman) to determine the meeting's date, which is expected to be next week," said Arab League deputy head Hossam Zaki. Egypt, which backs forces of eastern-based commander Khalifa Haftar, is pushing for a peace deal in Libya. Earlier this month, it proposed an initiative calling for a ceasefire and peace talks following a series of military victories for Tripoli's UN-recognised government. Libya has been mired in chaos since the 2011 uprising that toppled and later killed longtime dictator Muammar Gaddafi.

France will renew calls to preserve nuclear deal with Iran, says French FM
Reuters, Paris/Friday 19 June 2020
Britain, France and Germany will on Friday define their Iran strategy for the coming months amid talks at the United Nations and violations by Tehran of a 2015 nuclear deal, France’s foreign ministry said. Under Iran’s deal with world powers to accept limits to its nuclear program in return for the lifting of sanctions, a UN weapons embargo is due to expire in October. The United States, which exited the deal in 2018, says it wants to extend the embargo. If the UN Security Council does not extend the embargo, Washington has threatened to trigger a so-called snapback of all UN sanctions on Iran, using a process outlined in the nuclear deal. Such a move would be likely to kill the nuclear accord. “The (foreign) ministers are meeting to see what Europe can do to end these violations by the Iranians, while keeping the deal, but also to discuss how to avoid a snapback in New York,” said a European diplomat.
Foreign ministry spokeswoman Agnes von der Muhll said in a in a statement that the ministers, who meet in Berlin, would also discuss Iran’s cooperation with the UN watchdog. The UN nuclear watchdog’s 35-nation Board of Governors passed a resolution submitted by the three countries on Friday calling on Iran to stop denying the agency access to two suspected former sites and to cooperate fully with it.

Iranian judge accused of corruption in Iran found dead in Romanian capital
Yaghoub Fazeli, Al Arabiya English/Friday 19 June 2020
Gholamreza Mansouri, an Iranian judge accused of corruption in Iran and of human rights violations by activists, has been found dead outside a hotel he was staying at in the Romanian capital Bucharest on Friday, according to media reports. Mansouri died after falling out of a window in the hotel, RFE/RL's Romanian service reported. It is unclear if the incident was the cause of an accident, whether he committed suicide, or if a crime was committed. Mansouri had fled Iran after being accused of taking 500,000 euros in bribes. He had previously denied he is on the run in a video shared on social media, saying he is abroad to receive medical treatment, and that he will be returning to Iran soon. He did not say what country he was in. “We are waiting for the official report on the cause of this incident and we ask the Romanian authorities to officially inform us of the exact cause of the incident,” the official IRNA news agency reported foreign ministry spokesman Abbas Mousavi as saying. Last week, Iran said Mansouri was arrested in Romania by the Interpol. Judiciary spokesman Gholamhossein Esmaili said Mansouri could not yet be extradited back to Iran due to coronavirus restrictions. Mansouri’s promise to return was not “serious,” which is why Iran took legal action to have him arrested, said Esmaili.The editor-in-chief of Mashreg News, a news website close to the Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps (IRGC), hinted at a possible Iranian involvement in the death of Mansouri. “As of today, Romania is a point of strategic depth [for Iran],” he said in a now-deleted tweet. Iran uses the term “strategic depth” to refer to its military influence beyond Iranian borders. Mansouri is also accused of having been involved in the arrest and torture of dozens of journalists in Iran. This prompted a number of Iranian journalists and human rights activists to demand his arrest in Europe. A judge in Bucharest had temporarily released Mansouri under “certain conditions,” giving Iran until July 10 to present a formal extradition request, Radio Farda reported last week. The judge had also ruled that Mansouri would not be handed over to the Interpol until Romanian authorities could verify that his life would not be in danger following his potential extradition to Iran.

Zarif claims solution is possible to allow access to two nuclear sites in Iran
ReutersThursday 18 June 2020
Iranian Foreign Minister Mohammad Javad Zarif tweeted that "an agreeable solution is possible" for the United Nations nuclear watchdog's request for access to two nuclear sites in the country. France, Britain and Germany, all parties to Iran's nuclear deal with major powers, have submitted a draft resolution to the International Atomic Energy Agency's Board of Governors calling on Iran to stop denying the agency access to two old sites and to cooperate fully with it, diplomats taking part in an IAEA virtual meeting said.

Iran’s Mahan Air took ‘illicit cargo’ to Syria with Soleimani: Pilot, deleted report
Yaghoub Fazeli, Al Arabiya English/Friday 19 June 2020
Iran’s US-sanctioned Mahan Air airline transferred “illicit cargo” to Syria using a civilian airliner with hundreds of passengers on board under slain commander Qassem Soleimani’s supervision, according to a Mahan Air pilot. Mahan Air pilot Amir Assadollahi told a website affiliated with the Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps (IRGC) on Thursday that he once flew a passenger plane carrying seven tons of “illicit cargo” to the Syrian capital Damascus in 2013 with Soleimani in the cockpit. Soleimani, who headed the Quds Force – the overseas arms of the IRGC – was killed in a US airstrike at Baghdad’s international airport on January 3.The interview has since been deleted. While Assadollahi did not give details of the cargo he flew to Syria, Iran has previously exported weapons and military equipment to the country.
Soleimani was the central figure in Iran’s support for the regime of Syrian President Bashar al-Assad throughout the ongoing war in Syria. The IRGC dispatched thousands of Quds Force members to Syria to train and fight alongside the Syrian Armed Forces and al-Assad’s militias.
Mahan Air sanctions
The US had imposed sanctions on Mahan Air in 2011 for its links to the IRGC and for smuggling weapons to Iran’s proxies in the Middle East’s war zones on behalf of the Quds Force. At the time, Iranian officials denied the allegations and strongly criticized the US for sanctioning the airline. In a statement at the time, Mahan Air denied it has any connections to the Iranian military, saying the US sanctions are part of America’s efforts to pressure Iran. Recently, Mahan Air has been accused of being a significant contributing factor to the spread of the coronavirus in Iran because it continued its flights to several cities in China, where the outbreak of the pandemic began, throughout February despite an official Iranian ban on flights to China being announced on January 31

The Latest LCCC English analysis & editorials from miscellaneous sources published on June 19-20/2020
Caesar' and Bashar’s Delusions of Victory
Elias Harfoush/Asharq Al Awsat/June 19/2020
Erroneous policies have a price that the people usually pay, especially when they are unfortunate enough to live under regimes and governments that manage such policies. In regimes such as this, “victories” are measured by the regime’s capacity to survive, regardless of the suffering that the people have to endure as a result.
The Syrian people, or what is left of it, is now under threat of paying a price as huge as the one they paid over the last nine years. The US’s new “Caesar Act” will tighten the grip over the regime’s economy to force it into implementing international resolutions, especially Resolution 2254 that calls for the formation of a transitional government and a peaceful political process that replaces the Syrian authorities. Now, Syrians have to choose between two catastrophes: Submitting to the oppression of this tyrannical regime, and all the killing, oppression and starvation that entails, or endure the implications of the sanctions in the hope that the regime regains its sanity or is forced to surrender to popular pressure and the decisive position of the majority of international powers.
On the other side of the border, the Lebanese face a similar choice. A country that is suffocating from financial distress on one hand, and Hezbollah’s dominance over its political decision, on the other. That the latter two are related is not a secret to anyone except for those who do not want the Lebanese to see the truth. Although the financial crisis is indeed partly the result of the systematic looting of the public treasury and rampant corruption, but it is also due to the linkage between the resources of the two countries and the ongoing smuggling across the borders of basic resources that are subsidized by the Lebanese central bank, draining its monetary reserves, with the state, notoriously incapacitated, unable to prevent it. On top of that, Syrian funders are withdrawing their deposits from the Lebanese banks while Lebanese depositors are unable to withdraw a small portion of their money.
More importantly, the new sanctions on the Syrian regime will make it even more difficult for the Lebanese government to access the aid that it needs from the International Monetary Fund (IMF) and the international powers that influence the IMF’s decision, given how closely related the interests of several high state officials are with high officials in the Syrian regime, placing the former under US monitoring.
Consequently, the formula that the late president Hafez al-Assad had set for his vision of Lebanese-Syrian cooperation, i.e. “One people in two countries”, is now manifesting very clearly. The “one people” are now suffering the same financial distress, paying the price for the “resistance axis’s” so-called “victory”. The magnitude of the uprising that the implementation of the new US sanctions will cause cannot be imagined except as a violent reaction to those who will be harmed by it: The official Syrian media considered the sanctions to be in “contravention of international law” and a “new form of terrorism”, adding that these sanctions will exacerbate the suffering of the people, as if it cared for the Syrian people’s suffering.
The Secretary-General of Hezbollah, Hassan Nasrallah, has realized that the battle of sanctions will be harsh this time, harming his popular base and threatening his ability to defend his weapons. As a result, he escalated, in rather exceptional fashion, a few days ago when he said: “We will kill anyone who tries to force us to choose between dying by arms or starvation; we will not give up our weapons and we will kill you”.
Bashar al-Assad’s regime attempted to insinuate that it was “victorious” against what it described as a “global conspiracy”, especially after being rescued by Russian intervention in 2015. The fact that the price of that victory was the death of no less than 300,000 Syrians, the destruction of Syrian cities, and the displacement of half of the population was irrelevant to it ‒ what mattered was that Bashar remained in al-Muhajirin palace.
Many promoted this notion of “victory”, not only the regime’s allies. Many Arab and international politicians and businessmen were tempted by the reconstruction project in Syria where very lucrative projects were estimated at no less than 400 billion dollars. Nobody cared for the crimes and atrocities that were committed on the way.
The sanctions that the Syrian regime and its allies are facing are a shock that aims to awaken everyone from the delusion that they were living in. Bashar al-Assad’s regime is facing accountability now and it is certain that its network of support, especially Moscow and Tehran, are no longer sufficient to help it against the economic crisis and tightening siege that will impact anyone who deals with it – especially that those who support the regime, not doing so much better than the ruler of Damascus, are now looking for someone to support them.
The Syrian crisis is now entering a new phase of US sanctions. The bet on the US and its western allies “surrendering” before “Bashar’s victory” turned out to be misinformed. The sanctions that the Syrian regime and its allies are going to suffer in the coming phase are much harsher than those that it has faced in the last nine years.
Although Assad’s regime and its constellation of politicians and militants are currently subjected to sanctions that have frozen the assets of the state and hundreds of companies and individuals, and that Americans are already banned from dealing with Syrian companies and businessmen, the new sanctions will now impact all regimes and entities that even think of dealing with the Syrian regime. This will force them to recalculate their interests and appreciate the high costs of supporting this regime.

Uses of a Cocktail of Grievances
Amir Taheri/Asharq Al Awsat/June 19/2020
As the outrage inspired by the death of George Floyd in a botched arrest operation calms down it may be time to consider what has been achieved by the anger it unleashed in dozens of cities across the world.
Sadly, I fear, not only that much of that anger was wasted but that it may have contributed to deeper communitarian ressentiments.
There are at least two reasons for this.
To start with the Floyd’s death was hijacked by merchants of grievances always on the lookout for an excuse to attack Western democracies, especially the United States. They translated Floyd into a “martyr” of American “Imperialism” and pretended that the United States, along with other Western democracies, was a bastion of “racism.”
Using rhetorical tricks, they dubbed Floyd’s death as “murder”, ignoring that the word has a precise meaning that can’t be applied to the unfortunate incident in Minneapolis.
Floyd did die because a police technique used in more than 20 countries went badly wrong. But the policeman who became the agent of Floyd’s death had not wished or planned to murder him. This is why English language has alternative terms such as manslaughter and premeditated murder.
The next trick used was to pretend that Floyd was killed because he was black. They ignored that the same choking technique of arrest in 2019 claimed several other lives, white and black, in the United States and France. Thus the real issue, the need for reviewing and/or dropping a technique of arrest that could lead to the death, was forgotten?
With extrapolation, the self-styled defenders of humanity saw the Minneapolis incident as an example of state- racism. However, racism is one thing and racial prejudice, even hatred, is another.
Racism denotes a world-view developed in the late 18th and early 19th centuries, dividing mankind into five races distinguished by real or imagined color of their skins. Like other monistic world-views that reduce human beings into a single element of their complex existence, racism, though deceptive in its simplicity, served as a barrier to scientific ethnography until the 20th century, preventing serious study of humanity in its rich diversity.
Other monochrome doctrines, for example Marxism with its division of mankind into classes- proletariat good, bourgeois evil- have a similar effect.
The racist world-view was an element in the composition of enduring state structures in all pre-modern Westphalian nations. In that regard the United States is no exception. However, it is something of an exception in being the only major nation-state to have struggled with and, as time went by, against, racism.
The War of Secession, successive civil rights movements, the fight against segregation and methods such as positive discrimination tell the story of a nation seeking to move away from racism. This does not mean that there is no racism in the US; there is, but it would be unfair to present it as a structural ingredient. By claiming that the US is a racist state, one would only encourage the white supremacists who wish that were the case.
Extrapolating further, the merchants of rage linked their claim of racism to the trans-Atlantic slave trade in a bid to cast all Western democracies as the devils incarnate.
However, slavery was a routine part of human existence from the start, and in some lands still is. Nor were black Africans the only human beings to become slaves. According to Xenophon, some 30 percent of the population of Athens, the birthplace of Hellenic civilization, was slaves, all white men and women from the Balkans and Asia Minor.
Even earlier than that, the first states in human history; Sumer, Akkad and Babylon, held slaves, none of them from Africa.
The Roman Empire was a great slave holding power. Crassus, the notorious general, was a leading slave merchant as was Julius Caesar, dealing in slaves from Western and northern Europe, today’s France and Britain.
The famous revolt of slaves led by Spartacus almost exclusively involved captives from the European continent. Crassus had 10,000 of them crucified on the Apian Way. In Russia, slavery took the form of serfdom and again, concerned almost exclusively white and Asian victims.
Slavery was also a major trade in the American continent long before Christopher Columbus ended up there by mistake. Again, none of the slaves there were from Africa which was unknown to Incas and Aztecs.
In Asia, Khan Balugh, the seat of power in medieval China, was a major center for slave trade as was Khiva in what is now Uzbekistan. Again, Africans were not involved in that dastardly trade in Asia that claimed countless victims for more than 1,000 years.
In Persian and Ottoman Empires, slaves came from the Caucasus, Scandinavia, and what is now Russia. Again, no black Africans were involved.
Seizing black Africans as slaves may have started under Ramses II, the Egyptian Pharaoh who needed Nubian laborers to build the Ouaji-Seboua temple.
Next, there was some exporting of black slaves by the Carthaginians to Rome after the dismantling of Hannibal’s empire. Once the Romans had annexed northern Africa they used Garmant and Afri tribes of black warriors to procure slaves for the empire. Within a decade, slave-taking raids were extended beyond Tibesti and close to Lake Chad.
Thus started the history of black African involvement in capturing fellow Africans for sale as slaves.
Without the service of African tribal chiefs and rulers, no outside power would have been able to raid deep into Africa to tap endless sources of slaves.
In 652 AD, Arab general Abdallah bin Sa’id signed a trade treaty, known as “bakht”, with the ruler of Darfur for the supply of 20,000 slaves a year in exchange for gold. The “bakht” remained in operation for 13 centuries.
Black African rulers and tribal chiefs were also deeply involved in the trans-Atlantic slave trade. The Sardona of Sokoto, in West Africa, made his fortune by selling slaves to Portuguese, British and French slave-traders. In his book “Timbuktu School for Nomads”, British author Nicholas Jubber introduces a slave trader from the Sahel who had become the richest man in the world of his time.
It is unfair to demand the removal of Colbert’s status in Paris because he enacted the first slave code designed to impose legal control on the obnoxious trade and ensure some rights for the victims, and forget about African rulers who kidnapped and sold their own people.
Slavery was a common disease of that affected every community on earth; a shameful secret of the whole human family.
In fact, although it lasted four centuries, black Africans of the transatlantic trade accounted for a smaller number than Europeans and Asians victims not to mention Africans “exported” from the Horn of Africa and Zanzibar.
When it comes to slavery we were all involved both as perpetrators and victims. Expiating that shame from our human existence is a task for us all, regardless of color and creed. Only thus the current cocktail of grievances may produce useful results.

Hafez Assad to Amin Gemayel: There are No State Institutions in Lebanon/Asharq Al-Awsat releases excerpts from the former Lebanese president’s memoirs
Asharq Al-Awsat/June 19/2020
In his upcoming memoir, Lebanese former President Amin Gemayel recounts details of three meetings he held with late Syrian President Hafez Assad, Vice President Abdul Halim Khaddam, Prime Minister Abdul Rauf al-Kasm and Foreign Minister Farouk al-Sharaa in the 1980s when Lebanon was in the throes of its 1975-90 civil war. In December 1985, the Tripartite Accord was signed in Damascus between Lebanese Amal movement leader Nabih Berri, who would later become the country’s longest serving parliament speaker, Progressive Socialist Party leader Walid Jumblatt and then leader of the Lebanese Forces, Eli Hobeika.
Gemayel traveled to Damascus in January 1986 to express his reservations over the accord, which introduced major changes in Lebanon’s system of rule. The accord was reached among members of the Syrian leadership without consulting any Lebanese official. The agreement limits the jurisdiction of the president and transfers the executive authority to a “ministerial council” that is formed of militia leaders, who were involved in the war.
The following excerpts are part one of a three-part series on Gemayel’s memoirs:
On January 13, 1986, I traveled to Damascus to hold the 11th summit with the Syrian president. We held three work meetings that took up a total of ten and a half hours. The meetings were attended by Vice President Abdul Halim Khaddam, Prime Minister Abdul Rauf al-Kasm and Foreign Minister Farouk al-Sharaa.
The memoir published excerpts of the meetings, which have been verified by the Lebanese and Syrian presidencies.
“The first of the work meetings was held as soon as I arrived in Damascus. We first spoke of the developments in the al-Metn region” in Lebanon, before Gemayel briefed them on the details of his consultations in Beirut. He also briefed them on legal local and foreign consultations on the accord.
“The Lebanese people appreciate Syria’s efforts in ending the crisis. They are all convinced of the need to benefit from these efforts because the war has stretched for ten years, and it must end based on national constitutional and legal bases,” I said.
I relayed to them the reservations expressed by Lebanese parties on the Tripartite Accord, but they also were quick to explain that their rejection was “not directed against Syria, especially its president.”
“We are before a historic opportunity to primarily reach a solid and permanent solution to the Lebanese situation and secondly, address Lebanese-Syrian relations,” I stated. I was banking on Lebanese-Syrian cooperation and submitted my comments on the accord, which was delivered to me by Sharaa.
I noted that the accord “revises” Lebanese coexistence based on eliminating sectarianism. He told me: “The situation in Lebanon is charged with sectarianism. Syria itself, had experienced the same thing with the Muslim Brotherhood. I support liberating Lebanese society from this obstacle, but this demands finding the natural guidelines. I fear that the speedy and blunt treatment of this issue would backfire.”
“Lebanon is not Syria, which does not suffer from the same problem. Neither is it Iraq, where Islam is the religion of the state. We want to liberate Lebanon from this issue, without embarking on reckless adventures,” Sharaa said.
Assad added: “Does this mean that ending the sectarian system will lead us to the unknown? What does it entail to eliminate political sectarianism?
I responded: “We must find actual guidelines. Those who believe that the president of the republic is in control of the situation are wrong. The prime minister can stop it, and therein lies real partnership. I have no problem in eliminating it, but that will leave behind some problems.”
“What sort of problems?” asked Assad.
I responded: “We cannot accept the elimination of sectarianism as stipulated in the accord. Some consider sectarianism a privilege and others view it as a guarantee. I see it as a means of control.” The accord ultimately aims on ending the “Lebanese state or the Lebanese will.”
“Ending?” Assad asked incredulously.
I responded: “Yes, ending it. This system does not exist anywhere in the world, except in the Swiss cantons. If you do not have a strong ruling leadership, then you cannot implement the agreement. We have not held a vote at cabinet since 1943. It is unfortunate that those who took part in the agreement have never once been part of rule. One of its articles spoke of the jurisdiction of the ministerial council, which takes its decisions through complete quorum. What would happen if one member were absent?”
“I believe during the transitional period,” said Assad.
“Who knows when the transitional period ends! The accord speaks of taking major decisions through the ministerial council and the regular ones through the government. The state ministers who make up the ministerial council are naturally members of the cabinet. Jurisdictions will thereby contradict each other, which will consequently obstruct all state agencies.”
“The accord cannot possibly be implemented and it will produce the exact opposite goals it wants to achieve, which is Lebanon’s unification. It will lead to the emergence of cantons,” I warned.
I then listed other reservations, to which the Syrian president remarked: “So you are baulking at eliminating sectarianism, the collective or consensual leadership and the ministerial council.”
I explained that I had reservations over “collectiveness and consensus. We need a strong authority that can back constitution-building and lead to a strong state. The accord aborts the role of the head of state. Why? The constitution stipulates that the president enjoys wide jurisdiction, as if he were a dictator, but in practice, the situation is very different. Ever since the time of President Riad al-Solh, it is the prime minister who holds procedural authority. No decree can pass without the approval of the prime minister and concerned minister. This is the constitution.”
Khaddam objected to this.
Assad urged me to continued.
“If we want to defend democracy in Lebanon, then it would be a major mistake to have the cabinet appoint lawmakers, especially since we would be naming 200 MPs. We would be subjecting parliament to the will of government,” I continued.
I listed yet another reservation, saying that the accord allows the people who have ruined the country to become its protectors. “This does not resolve the country’s problem,” I noted. “If we allow them to resolve all problems, then we won’t reach a solution. The fighters told us what they want from us, but have we told them what we want from them? Take for example their weapons. Did they buy them from their own money or did they collect the money from the port revenues, state resources and civilian pockets?”
“You bought them and we are buying them from you,” responded Assad.
I continued: “As for bilateral relations … I have reservations over the bilateral relations article stipulated in the accord. Relations should be ratified through bilateral agreements.”
Assad replied, however: “We have been clear. It is through consensus from all parties. We have not asked this since 1976. This is a consensual demand from all Lebanese leaderships.”
“We agree on bilateral relations between a state and another. We are talking here about a constitutional document that should not address these issues, which should be limited to the foreign ministers of both countries. Agreements would then be ratified and submitted to a vote at parliament.”
“So, the relationship with Syria should not be included in this document?” asked Assad.
“It can be referred to, but the details should be included in bilateral agreements,” I urged. “Syria respects itself and as does Lebanon. It is not overeager to impose any relationship with Lebanon … There are no differences over the core issues in this matter.”
This concluded the first round of talks. The second round was resumed later that day at 7:15 pm.
Assad kicked off the meeting by saying: “We tolerated a lot for Lebanon throughout 11 years. We have never dealt with it as a card to control, but approached it from a principled and sentimental position. One people and one country. All the Arab nation is a single country. The colonialists produced these entities. Some 500,000 Lebanese sought refuge in Syria during the latest unrest.”
“Eight hundred thousand,” interjected al-Kasm.
“We contacted the fighters and militias. You recall how I told them to reach an agreement,” said Assad. “The fighters met. You should not be led to believe that we set the agreement. Had we done so, neither Hobeika, Berri, Jumblatt nor Amin Gemayel would have liked it. They agreed and differed. We relayed messages between them … I told them to meet in Beirut and I think they did. They then approached us and the accord was born. I have reservations over it, but I will repeat again that if we were the ones who drafted it, no one would have liked it,” revealed Assad. “Sectarianism? We in Syria have rejected it a while ago. Does the accord call for its immediate elimination?”
“No. That will take place after the transitional period,” replied Khaddam.
“The gatherers agreed on what they described as jurisdictions. We agree to any accord that ends the war, including its good and bad articles. Any attempt to impose a point of view will abort an agreement. This is our political and military view. We sent you the accord when they agreed on it. The accord does not reflect the position of the president, prime minister, ministers, Amal, the Lebanese Forces or PSP. The accord only reflects a form of rapprochement and represents the warring parties,” stated Assad.
He later informed me that he will take my reservations into consideration and relay them to the fighters. He then said: “Sheikh Amin, no Lebanese president has even exercised his authority, neither Franjieh nor Sarkis. You have exercised more than both of them. No one can ignore the historic ties between Syria and Lebanon. They spoke of special relations, so how can you go against a popular agreement? God does not separate Lebanon from Syria.”
“All that is needed is finding factors that preserve the unity of the country. I am not clinging to maintaining sectarianism … The accord stripped the president of his privileges. Regardless of this, a non-harmonious government, possibly one hostile to the president, may be formed. What then happens to binding parliamentary consultations? I would then act as a ballot box? Let parliament do that. I do not understand the point of equally sharing power among three entities. Are we punishing sectarianism in the country? Are the Maronites being punished for supporting the honest Arab position on Syria?” I asked.
Khaddam said the accord will be implemented immediately and that it will be introduced as a “new constitutional norm.”
“The accord has been institutionalized,” echoed Assad.
“Three people have drafted this treaty? Are they now a constitutional entity?” I wondered.
“Under normal circumstances, this would not be acceptable. But given that the current circumstances are not, then anything goes,” remarked al-Kasm.
“Will the constitution be suspended?” I asked.
“The constitution is already suspended,” responded Khaddam.
“This is completely unacceptable,” I declared.
To this al-Kasm asked: “Does the constitution stipulate any where that the president must be Maronite?”
“No, this is just a norm,” said Khaddam. “The accord stipulates that the president will act as head of state and supreme commander of the armed forces. He decides over war and peace, dissolves parliament, approves the budget, issues amnesty … this accord transformed the president from a ruler to a leader.”
“You are practicing more jurisdiction that the Syrian president,” Assad told me.
“The accord will be submitted to parliament, which will approve it and it will become a constitutional norm. This is a political settlement,” added Khaddam. “An agreement can be reached or the fighting will continue. The conflict first emerged as Christian-Muslim, but it has now changed. We can either speak of a settlement or declare one party victor over the other, which would spell disaster.”
At this, I relented for the accord to be submitted to parliament, saying that I will agree to it if the lawmakers do.
“The accord aborts constitutional institutions. This is my opinion and I will stick to it. I am asking the president to keep the bare minimum of this state. Collective leadership will lead to cantons on the ground and eliminating the president from procedural authority will paralyze the state,” I warned.
At this Assad, reiterated that I was exercising more jurisdiction that he does.
The third work meeting was held the next day. I reiterated my objection of the accord, saying it weakens the state. “I cannot agree to it without first referring to the legitimate constitutional authorities.”
“Do these authorities still stand?” asked Assad. “There are no institutions in Lebanon. There is no police and no army. Rather there are several armies. We are not imposing anything. We are not demanding anything. The gatherers reached an agreement. They believe that those who were present when the accord was signed are Lebanon and the state. Why don’t you accept this? They represent 80 or 90 percent of the fighters. According to my information, the majority of leaders in Lebanon are Muslim, except for the heads of the Kataeb party, and Lebanese Forces, which is affiliated with the Kataeb, as well as some Christian and Muslim clergy. Sheikh Amin, the opportunity at hand may not be repeated. The more blood is shed, the wider the divide will grow.”
I replied: “If we consider the notes I submitted yesterday, you will find that they can be applied and that way, we would ease some of the negative aspects of the accord. If my request embarrasses anyone, then we will submit it to parliament, which will relieve me of this responsibility. If the fighters want to occupy Baabda, then I don’t mind. It would be a revolt. I am keen on my duties and I will not take on a responsibility that I do not agree to.”
“If parliament approves it, then will you agree?” asked Assad.
“It will become law and I am bound to implement it,” I replied.
“There are now two options: Discussing it with the fighters or sending it to parliament,” said Assad.
“I will study the accord with you because discussing it with the fighters is pointless. They may not want it and hold me responsible for, which would lead to the resumption of the shelling and fighting,” I noted. “I am ready for any policy you decide on.”
“This is not a policy, but a treaty,” clarified Assad. “We will submit it to the ‘brothers’, because this is an accord between Lebanese parties, not with Syria.”
Before departing, Gemayel said: “I would like to declare my solidarity and sympathy with you. I did not receive anything after my election and now I am being held accountable for everything. We must succeed. Despite this, my conscience is clear because I have performed my duties to my country.”
Assad insisted on accompanying me to the airport despite his poor health. I seized the opportunity while we were alone in the car to assert to him that I was not opposed to reform, on condition that it take into consideration Lebanon’s interests and that they pass through a more representative official authority, rather than an alliance of militias.
Assad listened to me attentively and I believe I convinced him of my great keenness to find a solution to the crisis and maintain good relations with Syria. Khaddam, however, who is less courteous in behavior, declared to reporters at the airport: “Amending the accord is out of the question and those behind it are the ones in control in Lebanon.”
He then added with deliberate goading: “There won’t be a 12th or 13th summit.”
Part two continues on Saturday.

The Palestinians No One Tells You About
Khaled Abu Toameh/Gatestone Institute/June 19/ 2020
"The animals that live in European countries have a better life than us... [The] UNHCR lied a lot to us.... Even the [Israeli] enemy has not acted in this way." — Palestinians in Iraq, Al-Youm newspaper, May 28, 2020.
Before the downfall of Saddam Hussein's regime in 2003, there were about 34,000 Palestinians living in Iraq. Only a few thousand Palestinians are now living there, and many face harassment, threats of deportation, media scapegoating, arbitrary detention, torture and murder.
The Arab states unremittingly subject Palestinians to apartheid and discriminatory measures. Yet the heads of the UN and its member states seem too busy with their obsession with Israel to attend to their pleas of these Palestinians, who are being deprived of basic rights in Iraq and throughout the Arab world.
Iraqis' contempt for Palestinians reached its peak last month during Al-Quds Day ("Jerusalem Day") celebrations in Baghdad. Many Iraqis were unhappy with the event, often used to express Arab and Islamic solidarity with the Palestinians. Pictured: A man rides a bicycle under Palestinian flags in the Iraqi capital Baghdad on May 22, 2020, hung for the celebrations marking Al-Quds Day.
Facing discrimination, poverty, and misery, Palestinians residing in Iraq have finally broken their silence in an attempt to draw the world's attention to their predicament. The Palestinians are accusing the Iraqis and the United Nations of taking a series of measures that have further aggravated the conditions of hundreds of Palestinian families in Baghdad and other Iraqi cities.
In a letter to the Iraqi newspaper Al-Youm, Palestinians complained that "the animals that live in European countries have a better life than us."
These animals, the refugees said, "have someone to defend them, protect them and provide them with housing worthy of human beings. As for us, the Palestinians, there is no local or international official or organization that inspects our conditions."
The Palestinians' complaint was mainly directed against the United Nations High Commissioner for Refugees (UNCHR), after its decision to halt financial aid to Palestinian families in Iraq.
"UNHCR lied a lot to us," the Palestinians wrote. "We have become victims like sheep surrounded by wolves. Even the [Israeli] enemy has not acted in this way."
The Palestinians pointed out UNCHR had informed a large number of Palestinian families in Iraq of its decision to cease disbursement of rental allowances starting March 2020.
Issued at the end of last year, the decision to stop paying for rent and other services threatens to displace about 300 families receiving assistance through a special program approved by UNCHR about 15 years ago.
The Palestinian Authority ambassador to Iraq, Ahmed Akel, warned that the humanitarian condition of the families will deteriorate due to the abrupt removal of the rental allowances. Akel said that the Palestinian Authority embassy contacted the UN offices in order to obtain the lists of families who will no longer receive rent allowances and to learn about the real motives behind the decision.
Despite the ambassador's statement, the Palestinian families said that all Palestinian officials have ignored their appeals for help.
"Are we really Palestinians?" they asked in their letter.
"If we were not Palestinians, our situation would have been better, and we would have seen [Palestinian] officials fighting valiantly to recover our rights. We are not beggars. We only want our legal rights. We are human beings, and all we're asking for is shelter for our children. We don't want any party to trade in us as if we were a flock of sheep."
Before the downfall of Saddam Hussein's regime in 2003, there were about 34,000 Palestinians living in Iraq. Only a few thousand Palestinians are now living there, and many face harassment, threats of deportation, media scapegoating, arbitrary detention, torture and murder.
Iraqis' contempt for Palestinians reached its peak last month during Al-Quds Day ("Jerusalem Day") celebrations in Baghdad. Many Iraqis were unhappy with the event, often used to express Arab and Islamic solidarity with the Palestinians.
Most of the comments by Iraqis on social media platforms included anti-Palestinian insults and held Palestinians responsible for terrorism in Iraq.
Several Palestinians expressed shock and anger over the Iraqis' hateful posts.
"Sometimes they accuse Palestinians of terrorism, and sometimes they accuse us of being Saddam followers," said one Palestinian. "Now they are holding us responsible for the deteriorating situation in Iraq and are claiming that the Iraqi government cares more about the Palestinians than about Iraqis."
"Whoever wants to liberate Jerusalem and Palestine should respect the human rights of the Palestinians," another Palestinian commented. "They should also release Palestinian prisoners and restore payments to widows and children. We say it to our Iraqi brothers: Your priority should be to solve your problems and improve your conditions."
"We want you to stop insulting Palestinians and Palestine," said a third Palestinian, addressing the Iraqis.
Earlier this year, Palestinians living in Iraq took to the streets to demonstrate against UNCHR's decision to stop paying housing allowances to Palestinian families. They also protested an Iraqi government decision to abolish a pre-2003 law that granted Palestinians equal rights to Iraqis.
"The Palestinians [in Iraq] primarily suffer from unemployment and poor living standards," Nabil Samara, a Palestinian activist involved in organizing the protest, said.
"This is not to mention that they are ineligible for government employment under Iraqi law. Since the Saddam Hussein regime was ousted in 2003, the Iraqi government has not kept the promises they made to Palestinian President Mahmoud Abbas. On the contrary, Iraqi authorities withheld food ration cards and cut welfare salaries. Also, the wives of [late] Palestinian employees were denied pensions."
Yonadam Kanna, the first Christian member of the Iraqi parliament since 2003, told The New Arab website that a Palestinian living in Iraq does not have equal rights.
"One of the most important items that we seek to enact is the right to own property, inheritance and retirement," Kanna said. "There are people who have worked in the country for 30 years without any rights."
Palestinian activist Ahmed Abdullah noted that the children of the Palestinian community who are concentrated in Baghdad suffer from extremely poor financial conditions. "Some families are no longer able to provide meat for meals or buy used clothes," Abdullah said.
The Iraqi mistreatment of Palestinians is yet another example of the discrimination Palestinians have long been facing in Arab states, particularly Lebanon. It has "an elaborate racist political system designed to discriminate against Palestinians," according to Palestinian journalist Zaher Abu Hamdeh. Palestinians living there are banned from working in many professions, including medicine, law, and engineering, as well as from holding jobs as taxi drivers and barbers.
Given mounting tensions between the Palestinians and several Arab states, particularly the Gulf countries, it is unlikely that the Iraqis will upgrade their treatment of the Palestinians.
The Arab states unremittingly subject Palestinians to apartheid and discriminatory measures. Yet the heads of the UN and its member states seem too busy with their obsession with Israel to attend to the pleas of these Palestinians, who are being deprived of basic rights in Iraq and throughout the Arab world.
*Khaled Abu Toameh, an award-winning journalist based in Jerusalem, is a Shillman Journalism Fellow at Gatestone Institute.
© 2020 Gatestone Institute. All rights reserved. The articles printed here do not necessarily reflect the views of the Editors or of Gatestone Institute. No part of the Gatestone website or any of its contents may be reproduced, copied or modified, without the prior written consent of Gatestone Institute.

Shooting the (Infidel) Messenger
Raymond Ibrahim/American Thinker/June 19/2020
https://www.americanthinker.com/articles/2020/06/shooting_the_infidel_messenger.html
Whether it’s true or not, if you say the “wrong” thing about Islam, you’re guilty -- even if you’re merely quoting what Muslims themselves say.
Consider the recent case of Professor Nicholas Damask, chairman of the Department of Political Science at Scottsdale Community College in Arizona. Last month, after one of his students, Muhammad Sabra, found -- and shared on social media -- quiz questions which Muhammad felt were in “distaste of Islam,” the professor received a plethora of online death threats to himself and his family and criticism from his college.
Matters eventually turned around in Damask’s favor; his interim chancellor publicly apologized for “the uneven manner in which this was handled and for our lack of full consideration for our professor’s right of academic freedom.”
For those, however, whose core mission revolves around quashing free speech on Islam, notably, “CAIR,” this is unacceptable. Accordingly, on June 3, the Council on American Islamic Relations announced that it was filing a lawsuit against the college. The introductory paragraphs of CAIR’s press release follow:
During a World Politics course at the college with a module on “Islamic Terrorism,” Professor Nicholas Damask repeatedly condemns Islam as a religion that definitively teaches terrorism. The professor also declares that peaceful interpretations of Islam are false: “Contentions that Islam does not promote warfare or violence cannot be supported on either theological or historical grounds.”
The course’s only reading material are articles written by anti-Islam extremists Raymond Ibrahim and Walid Phares.
Right from the start, CAIR lies: it claims that students were required to read an “article” that I wrote; in fact, they were required to read an excerpt from a book written by al-Qaeda in Arabic. I merely translated and included it in The Al Qaeda Reader (Random House, 2007). Moreover, though al-Qaeda leader Ayman Zawahiri wrote the excerpt in question, most of its words are direct quotes from the Koran, Muhammad, and the consensus of Islamic scholars (or ulema).
And those words -- and so many more like them that have been uttered by Muslims over the course of nearly fourteen centuries -- make one thing abundantly clear: “kill the idolaters [non-Muslims] wherever you find them,” to quote Koran 9:5; “capture them, besiege them and sit in wait for them at every place of ambush. But if they should repent, establish prayer, and give zakat, [i.e., if they submit to Islam and become Muslim], let them go their way.”
Indeed, CAIR itself -- an unindicted coconspirator of the largest terrorist funding case in U.S. history that, nonetheless, remains free to go around terrorizing free speech -- was party to a telling document presented as court evidence; it stated that Islamic activism “in America is a kind of grand jihad in eliminating and destroying the Western civilization from within and ‘sabotaging’ its miserable house by their hands and the hands of the believers.”
This goal cannot be achieved so long as the true words and teachings of Islam reach the American public. The problem for CAIR, however, is that trying to censor the words of Allah (the Koran), the words of his prophet Muhammad (the hadith), and the words of Islam’s most revered ulema -- Islam’s three most important sources, whence all the hate originates -- raises a question: what about Islam’s most sacred and honored scriptures are Muslims bent on concealing?
Thus they resort to Plan B: blame the messenger. If someone, especially a non-Muslim, merely quotes the (intrinsically problematic) words of Islam, America’s Islamic subversives will insist that those words are his own -- hence CAIR’s recent lie that a treatise written by al-Qaeda is really an “article” written by me -- or that he is intentionally distorting them to defame Islam.
Here, for example, is another egregious example of this tactic. A few weeks before CAIR’s distortions, on April 30, 2020, the Anti-Defamation League (ADL) published an article titled “Islamophobes React to Coronavirus Pandemic with Anti-Muslim Bigotry.” It opens by saying, “As the coronavirus continues to spread, American anti-Muslim ideologues are propagating a range of conspiracies aimed at stoking fear.” Then comes this:
Islamophobe Raymond Ibrahim… wrote in an April 1 post that Muslims are “encouraging other Muslims to come into contact with each other” and are “protesting the idea of temporarily closing mosques,” adding that Muslims believe “nothing associated with Islam and especially Islamic worship can get them sick.”…. Raymond Ibrahim in his April 1 FrontPage Mag article, attempt[s] to support… Covid-related anti-Muslim rhetoric by claiming that Muslims adhere to theological doctrines which encourage “irrational aversion for ‘infidels’,” making Muslims more likely to willingly spread the disease to non-Muslims.
Interestingly, while the ADL uses several hyperlinks in its article, it fails to include a link to my constantly condemned “April 1” article. The reason is clear; the ADL doesn’t want its readers to consult the actual article itself and thus realize that all of “my” assertions are sourced back and linked to the words of Muslims living in Pakistan, Egypt, Iran, and elsewhere.
The pattern is clear (at least for those with eyes to see and ears to hear with): Muslims say it, and non-Muslims get blamed for repeating it.
*Raymond Ibrahim, author of Sword and Scimitar, is a Shillman Fellow at the David Horowitz Freedom Center, a Judith Rosen Friedman Fellow at the Middle East Forum, and a Distinguished Senior Fellow at the Gatestone Institute.

Question: "Does the Bible condone slavery?"
GotQuestions.org/June 19/2020
Answer: There is a tendency to look at slavery as something of the past. But it is estimated that there are today over 27 million people in the world who are subject to slavery: forced labor, sex trade, inheritable property, etc. As those who have been redeemed from the slavery of sin, followers of Jesus Christ should be the foremost champions of ending human slavery in the world today. The question arises, though, why does the Bible not speak out strongly against slavery? Why does the Bible, in fact, seem to support the practice of human slavery?
The Bible does not specifically condemn the practice of slavery. It gives instructions on how slaves should be treated (Deuteronomy 15:12-15; Ephesians 6:9; Colossians 4:1), but does not outlaw slavery altogether. Many see this as the Bible condoning all forms of slavery. What many fail to understand is that slavery in biblical times was very different from the slavery that was practiced in the past few centuries in many parts of the world. The slavery in the Bible was not based exclusively on race. People were not enslaved because of their nationality or the color of their skin. In Bible times, slavery was based more on economics; it was a matter of social status. People sold themselves as slaves when they could not pay their debts or provide for their families. In New Testament times, sometimes doctors, lawyers, and even politicians were slaves of someone else. Some people actually chose to be slaves so as to have all their needs provided for by their masters.
The slavery of the past few centuries was often based exclusively on skin color. In the United States, many black people were considered slaves because of their nationality; many slave owners truly believed black people to be inferior human beings. The Bible condemns race-based slavery in that it teaches that all men are created by God and made in His image (Genesis 1:27). At the same time, the Old Testament did allow for economic-based slavery and regulated it. The key issue is that the slavery the Bible allowed for in no way resembled the racial slavery that plagued our world in the past few centuries.
In addition, both the Old and New Testaments condemn the practice of “man-stealing,” which is what happened in Africa in the 16th to 19th centuries. Africans were rounded up by slave-hunters, who sold them to slave-traders, who brought them to the New World to work on plantations and farms. This practice is abhorrent to God. In fact, the penalty for such a crime in the Mosaic Law was death: “Anyone who kidnaps another and either sells him or still has him when he is caught must be put to death” (Exodus 21:16). Similarly, in the New Testament, slave-traders are listed among those who are “ungodly and sinful” and are in the same category as those who kill their fathers or mothers, murderers, adulterers and perverts, and liars and perjurers (1 Timothy 1:8– 10).
Another crucial point is that the purpose of the Bible is to point the way to salvation, not to reform society. The Bible often approaches issues from the inside out. If a person experiences the love, mercy, and grace of God by receiving His salvation, God will reform his soul, changing the way he thinks and acts. A person who has experienced God’s gift of salvation and freedom from the slavery of sin, as God reforms his soul, will realize that enslaving another human being is wrong. He will see, with Paul, that a slave can be “a brother in the Lord” (Philemon 1:16). A person who has truly experienced God’s grace will in turn be gracious towards others. That would be the Bible’s prescription for ending slavery.

Syrian chemical weapons agency sought illicit WMD tech in Germany
Benjamin Weinthal/Jerusalem Post/June 19/2020
وكالة سورية متخصصة بالكيماويات تسعى للحصول على تقنيات ألمانية لإنتاج أسلحة كيماوية محرمة دولياً
Both Syria and Iran seek to procure illicit nuclear, biological and chemical weapons of mass destruction technology in southern Germany.
Syria’s Scientific Studies and Research Center (SSRC), an agency the US government says builds chemical weapons for the regime of Bashar Assad, made attempts last year to obtain illegal weapons of mass destruction technology in the German state of Baden-Württemberg.
According to an eye-popping section reviewed by The Jerusalem Post in the new domestic intelligence report for the German state of Baden-Württemberg, the authorities wrote that “There are indications that the Scientific Studies and Research Center (SSRC) has resumed its procurement activities, including for companies in Baden-Württemberg.”
The intelligence document said that “The SSRC is considered the main carrier of the Syrian weapons of mass destruction program. In one case, laboratory equipment from a company in North Baden was to be procured and forwarded to Syria via Lebanon and China. The German export authorities were able to prevent the delivery.”
The report did not identify the company. Both Syria and Iran seek to procure illicit nuclear, biological and chemical weapons of mass destruction technology in the southern German state, according to the report, because there are scores of hi-tech companies and advanced engineering firms in the state.
The intelligence document said that while “Syria joined the Chemical Weapons Convention (CWC) in 2013 and was included in the Organisation for the Prohibition of Chemical Weapons (OPCW) as a members state… there are still unresolved gaps and contradictions with regard to the first Syrian declaration of his chemical weapons inventory.”
In 2017, the US treasury department sanctioned 271 employees of the SSRC “in response to the April 4, 2017 sarin attack on innocent civilians in Khan Sheikhoun, Syria, by the regime of Syrian dictator Bashar Assad. “
US treasury wrote that “These 271 SSRC employees have expertise in chemistry and related disciplines and/or have worked in support of SSRC’s chemical weapons program since at least 2012.”
Treasury Secretary Steven T. Mnuchin said at the time that “These sweeping sanctions target the scientific support center for Syrian dictator Bashar Assad’s horrific chemical weapons attack on innocent civilian men, women, and children. The United States is sending a strong message with this action that we will hold the entire Assad regime accountable for these blatant human rights violations in order to deter the spread of these types of barbaric chemical weapons.”
He added that “We take Syria’s disregard for innocent human life very seriously, and will relentlessly pursue and shut down the financial networks of all individuals involved with the production of chemical weapons used to commit these atrocities.”
The German intelligence report from Baden-Württemberg says Iran’s clerical regime has continued its illicit proliferation activities in the federal republic during 2019. The 181-page Baden-Württemberg state intelligence agency document declares in a section titled “Proliferation” that the states “Iran, Pakistan, North Korea and Syria are still pursuing such efforts. They aim to complete existing arsenals, perfect the range, applicability and effectiveness of their weapons and develop new weapon systems. They try to obtain the necessary products and relevant knowhow, among other things, through illegal procurement efforts in Germany.”

Germany accuses Iran, Syria, Jordan, Turkey, Russia, China of espionage
Benjamin Weinthal/Jerusalem Post/June 19/2020
Syria suspected of using migrants as agents to infiltrate Germany
The intelligence service of the southern German state of Baden-Württemberg on Monday accused Iran, Syria, Jordan, Turkey, Russia, and China of espionage activities.
The Jerusalem Post’s review of the 181-page intelligence document authored by German officials shows that Syria’s regime is believed to have exploited migration waves to maximize its covert activities in Germany. Jordan, which has previously not appeared in prior intelligence documents, engaged in espionage in the federal republic.“With the progressive stabilization of the regime in the civil war, the Syrian intelligence services are again able to work at home and abroad. The main task remains to research opponents of the regime. This includes Islamist groups as well as secular and Kurdish opposition groups. With the migration movements in recent years, both opponents and supporters of the regime have come to Germany. The number of references to spying attempts among Syrians living here has been increasing for years. It can be assumed that the Syrian services will also use the migration movement to infiltrate agents,” said the intelligence report.
The intelligence report wrote that “States such as India or Jordan, which previously had little or no focus on security agencies in Germany, also developed intelligence activities. In Russia and China in particular, the intelligence services are now increasingly turning their attention to people who are there for a long time, professionally or privately. These include, in particular, family members of diplomatic missions and government officials, company representatives, academics or students.”
The report did not outline the nature of the Jordanian state espionage activities.
The head of Germany’s domestic intelligence agency ,Thomas Haldenwang, told a parliamentary committee in 2019 that “Espionage in Germany has reached a level that we have not seen since the Cold War.” The formal name for Germany domestic intelligence service, The Federal Office for the Protection of the Constitution, monitors terrorism and security threats to the country's democratic, constitutional system.
The report said that “The advancing digitization in administration and economy and the increasing networking of industrial production with the latest information and communication technology open up new opportunities for espionage. Various locations in Baden-Württemberg have been in focus in the past year for suspected intelligence-led cyberattacks. Russia remains unchanged in this area; China and Iran are the main players." According to the report, the main actors in the sectors of electronic warfare and cyberattacks are Russia, Iran, China and Turkey.
“In Baden-Württemberg, it became known that suspected Chinese intelligence officials had spied on Uyghur asylum seekers from China in order to transmit the data obtained to the Chinese authorities,” wrote the intelligence officials.
Germany has allowed lax oversight of Iranian espionage activities over the years, according to critics. Iran’s regime uses its vast espionage structure and agents to conduct surveillance on Iranian dissidents and political opponents in Germany, multiple intelligence reports have noted. Prosecutors and Germany's foreign ministry have tended to avoid confrontation with countries that engage in espionage within the territory of the federal republic. Germany has long remained a hotbed of spying activities.

Unfinished Business
Emanuele Ottolenghi/The Dispatch/June 19/2020
How a Department of Justice forfeiture complaint may be an opening gambit against Iranian sanctions’ evasion.
In 2010, at the height of the Iran sanctions regime, Houshang Farsoodeh, Houshang Hosseinpour, and Pourya Nayebi—three hitherto unknown Iranian businessmen—appeared in Tbilisi, capital of the Republic of Georgia, in the South Caucasus, and began to splurge. They bought a local bank, launched a (now defunct) private airline, and created numerous local companies involved in real estate, investment, holiday packages for Iranian tourists, aviation services, microfinance, currency trade, and prepaid credit cards.
The splurge included the unsuccessful purchase of Tbilisi’s Sheraton Metechi Palace hotel, in a botched deal worth $62.5 million, including a $20 million down payment to the Ras Al-Khaimah Investment Authority (RAKIA), the investment arm of the emirate, one of seven principalities forming the United Arab Emirates. The deal unraveled when the three Iranians sought to pay their $20 million deposit with checks issued by obscure, Gulf-based companies that were not signatories to the deal and raised red flags with the deal’s auditors. (The Iranian trio has been trying to recoup the money ever since, through Georgian courts.)
From there on, their activities created suspicion, leading to asset freezes in Georgia and, eventually, U.S. sanctions in February 2014 for sanctions evasion on behalf of Iran. “These three individuals,” the U.S. Treasury Department said at the time, “have established companies and financial institutions in multiple countries, and have used these companies to facilitate deceptive transactions for or on behalf of persons subject to U.S. sanctions concerning Iran.” But the Iran nuclear deal, struck in July 2015, let them off the hook. The three Iranians were delisted and, even after the Trump administration walked away from the agreement, formally known as the Joint Comprehensive Plan of Action (JCPOA), in May 2018, the U.S. Department of Treasury did not reimpose sanctions.
President Trump’s campaign of maximum pressure against Iran seemed to have forgotten them, until last April, when the Industrial Bank of Korea agreed to forfeit $51 million to the New York attorney general in order to close an investigation into money laundering connected to the three Iranians. Then, on June 3, the U.S. Department of Justice filed a forfeiture complaint to seize the $20 million advance payment for the botched purchase deal of RAKIA’s hotel in Tbilisi, which is still being held in escrow, almost a decade later, in a Dubai bank. The Justice Department alleged that the $20 million came from funds laundered on behalf of the regime in Iran. And so, the DoJ has inserted itself in ongoing litigation over the hotel, by intimating that the money for its purchase is a fruit of the poisonous tree of sanctions’ evasion.
Is the DoJ going after the Iranian trio possibly on account of new sanctionable activities, or is this just a shot across the bow, to deal with unfinished business? The answer is unclear.
One reason to assume this is just the tip of the iceberg: The forfeiture complaint labeled the three Iranians as “uncharged conspirators,” an indication that their status vis-à-vis U.S. justice might change. Possible evidence that the hotel is not the DoJ’s ultimate target: Since 2014, at least one of the three Iranians, away from the spotlight, has patiently re-established his Georgian business empire. Another reason: The $20 million escrow account the DoJ is going after is tantamount to an accounting glitch in Iran’s decades-long attempts to defy U.S. sanctions and not worth the effort. The $1 billion scheme that yielded the money for the hotel is another story.
The man at its center was Kenneth Zong, a U.S.-Korean dual national, who partnered up with the three Iranians, established two companies in Korea, and used them as cover for fraudulent sales to companies that Farsoodeh, Husseinpour, and Nayebi controlled in Iran, Dubai, and Georgia.
The money was rerouted to front companies in the Gulf under cover of false invoices for marble tiles, windows, and other construction material. Part of that money was used for the hotel down payment. Zong was arrested in Korea in 2013, lost his U.S. assets to another forfeiture complaint, and was later indicted in the U.S. Much of the public information that emerged from their protracted litigation and spinoffs has helped unveil the nature of the Georgia-based network, as well as its resilience. That, in turn, may have highlighted the need for revisiting Treasury’s 2014 now moot sanctions against the Iranian trio, by taking legal action against their ill-gotten funds.
If Zong and the three Iranians were able to launder $1 billion for Tehran between 2011, when Zong opened his companies in Seoul, and 2013, when he was apprehended, then the Trump administration should be worried about a possible renewal of their activities. The Georgia-based businesses were reconstituted as early as 2014, barely weeks after Treasury took its action against the trio. If new companies were created to mirror the old scheme, this would be more than a minor oversight about $20 million that the DoJ has known about for years anyway.
The combined pressure from U.S. sanctions and local authorities, together with U.S. and Korean proceedings against Zong, should have shuttered this Iranian network once and for all. In fact, in Tbilisi, it is all business as usual. Treasury’s actions against the Iranian trio happened at the height of the sanctions’ regime, when compliance among financial institutions, global businesses, and foreign governments was at its zenith. Once the JCPOA kicked in, the post-sanctions environment made it politically harder for Treasury to target a reconstituted network.
As my colleagues Mark Dubowitz and Reuel Marc Gerecht contended at the time, the Iran deal’s “much-hyped ‘snap-back’ economic sanctions,” the only coercive instrument the nuclear deal envisioned against Iranian noncompliance, would surely fall victim to human greed and limited enforcement. What Treasury called Iran’s evasive action could then be ongoing, at even higher stakes.
That is what appears to have happened in Georgia, and may explain the DoJ’s sudden interest in a long-forgotten dispute over a hotel. A clue that the new activities in Tbilisi may be just a facelift to the old sanctions’ evasion playbook: The new companies mirror the old businesses, only this time, the Iranians placed family members, Georgians, and other foreign nationals as the official owners and managers of the companies, many of whom were the trio’s employees before U.S. sanctions kicked in.
Based on Georgia’s company registry records, companies likely linked to the old network include a new bank, a money exchange, a boutique hotel, a nightclub, a trading company, and an investment management firm that acts as a holding company. Recouping the hotel, for Iran, would add another significant real estate asset on the way to consolidating valuable financial and commercial assets in its near abroad for the purpose of, once again, evading sanctions.
The voluminous body of evidence emerging from sanctions, civil litigation, and criminal proceedings over the years make it abundantly clear that the Georgia-based operation played a significant role in undermining U.S. sanctions. As a lifeline for hard currency to Tehran, it bought the regime time and could do so again. The Trump administration should not avert its gaze from Tbilisi, as it did in 2018 when re-imposed sanctions failed to target the Georgia-based Iranian trio. Their mischief there appears to be alive and well. Going after the hotel down payment should be just the first step.
*Emanuele Ottolenghi is a senior fellow at the Foundation for Defense of Democracies in Washington D.C. Follow him on Twitter @eottolenghi.

Erdogan suffers from syndrome of delusional grandeur
Khairallah Khairallah/The Arab Weekly/June 19/2020
One should not underestimate Turkey’s role in the region, knowing that Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdogan is obsessed with restoring the former glory of the Ottoman Empire. Still, the open questions will always be: Does Turkey really have the means to pursue Erdogan’s foreign adventures currently supported by Qatari money? What will happen when this money runs out one?
The answer is simply that the Turkish president is behaving in a manner characteristic of leaders whose minds have become unstable. It won’t come as a surprise to discover that he is afflicted with the same megalomania that has touched Iran since 1979. Until now, the regime in Tehran believes that it could play the role of the dominant power in the region and persists in its dream of establishing the Persian crescent that links Tehran to Beirut, via Baghdad and Damascus.
And that is not all of Iran’s ambitions. On September 21, 2014, Tehran celebrated the fall of Sana'a into its hands after the Yemini capital was overrun by the Houthis. In the final analysis, the latter are nothing more than one of the sectarian militias managed by the Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps (IRGC), specifically by the Quds brigade that was under the command of Qassem Soleimani before his demise at American hands on January 3, 2020.
Erdogan's moves outside Turkey's borders are also not far removed from marking the 100th anniversary of the San Remo Conference of April 1920, which ended in dividing the Ottoman Middle East, under the supervision of the League of Nations (the international organisation that existed before the end of World War II), between Britain and France. Following that conference that practically killed the Ottoman Empire, Turkey turned its attention to its internal affairs and soon became a secularist republic led by Mustafa Kemal Ataturk.
Ataturk, an army officer, knew how to manage the collapse of the Ottoman Empire with the least possible losses and enabled Turkey to reconcile itself with its new environment and with the new international geopolitical realities, away from the delusions of grandeur that seem to still be entrenched in the mind of Erdogan. It is clear that the Turkish president cannot get rid of the Muslim Brotherhood’s disease of lusting after power and expansion without taking into account the realities and the balance of power in the world.
It is not yet known whether Erdogan will be able to fulfil his ambitions in light of his scoring some points in Libya and in light of the American-Russian-Israeli acceptance of the extension of Turkish hegemony over northern Syria. The Turkish presence in the Syrian north along the border between the two countries has become a reality, just like the Turkish presence in Cyprus, a presence that covers an area of ​​about 35% of the island's area and includes important areas such as Famagusta.
The Turks have been present militarily in Cyprus as an occupying power since the summer of 1974 under the pretext of protecting the Turkish Cypriots, who make up 18% of the local population. This occupation has been in place for 46 years now and Ankara has proven that it will always be there. This also appears to be the expected fate of northern Syria. Trustworthy reports indicated that Ankara was seeking to expand within two months its presence inside the Syrian Arab Republic all the way to the outskirts of Hama.
We will have a clearer picture of Turkish plans in Syria following the expected visit to Ankara by Russian Foreign Minister Sergei Lavrov and Defence Minister Sergey Shoygo.
It is quite possible that Turkey will succeed in its plan in Syria, especially since the Bashar Assad regime is almost finished there after it was found to be an integral part of the Iranian expansion project, a project that is itself on the brink of collapse due to the great difficulties caused by US sanctions. In the end, the mighty Islamic Republic established in 1979 by Ayatollah Ruhollah Khomeini turned out to be no more than a paper tiger. The glaring evidence of this is its inability to respond to the assassination of Soleimani. Each day that passes seems to highlight the important role that this man had played in putting in place Iran’s hegemonic ambitions in the region, whether in Iraq, ​​Syria, Lebanon and even Yemen.
Erdogan can certainly succeed in Syria, but it is unlikely he will achieve any positive results in Libya. Like Iran, he is trying to play a role that exceeds Turkey's ability to survive economically. More than that, he has shoved Turkey into political mazes that greatly trouble Europe. There are limits to blackmailing Europe, even though it does not have a unified position on what is going on in Libya. However, there is, by contrast, a unified European position against allowing Turkey to reach a stage where the continent is subjected to threats of waves of illegal African migrants released from Libyan shores, which are just a stone's throw from Italian coasts. And let’s not forget that Turkey is also directly threatening the interests of two European Union member states, Greece and Cyprus.
The upshot of all of this is that it is very unlikely that Turkey will be allowed to control a large chunk of the Mediterranean Sea, that is to say from the Bosporus to the Gulf of Sidra in Libya. So, this is not the right time to be bringing the Ottoman Empire back to life. It’s more like the right time for Erdogan to focus on Turkey’s internal problems rather than picturing himself at the top of an imperial power whose might can reach all the way to Yemen and Somalia, yes Yemen and Somalia.
Unfortunately, it will be impossible to convince the Turkish president that he is failing inside Turkey itself and that this failure does not allow him to possess any imperial delusions, especially since he is still inhabited by the fear of the ghost of his archenemy, Islamic guru Fethullah Gulen, who is now a refugee in the United States and is quite popular inside Turkey, a popularity greatly resented by Erdogan and the Muslim Brotherhood.
It is indeed this deeply rooted resentment that has recently pushed the Turkish president to launch yet another wave of arrests in the ranks of the army and security forces, doctors, engineers, journalists and members of the House of Representatives. In just one day on June 9, the Turkish authorities arrested 414 people, according to the French newspaper Le Monde. Most of these were military personnel who were arrested for suspected ties to the Gulen movement.
Erdogan accuses Gulen of having ordered the failed coup against him in 2016, and he is not yet over that “personal affront to the emperor” and remains captive of his Gulen complex. Anyone with his complexes cannot go far with his dreams and delusions. The Turkish president may still be able to score a few points in Turkey, at least from his point of view, but conquering Libya and playing a regional role might be a bigger bone for Turkey to chew on. It will just be a repeat of the Iranian syndrome, where poor Iran is no longer cognisant of the existence of red lines that it can’t cross.