English LCCC Newsbulletin For Lebanese, Lebanese
Related, Global News & Editorials
For June 27/2020
Compiled & Prepared by: Elias Bejjani
The Bulletin's Link on the lccc Site
http://data.eliasbejjaninews.com/eliasnews19/english.june27.20.htm
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Bible Quotations For today
Come to me, all you that are weary and are carrying heavy
burdens, and I will give you rest . Take my yoke upon you, and learn from me;
for I am gentle and humble in heart, and you will find rest for your souls. For
my yoke is easy, and my burden is light.’
Holy Gospel of Jesus Christ according to Saint Matthew 11/25-30/:”‘I
thank you, Father, Lord of heaven and earth, because you have hidden these
things from the wise and the intelligent and have revealed them to infants; yes,
Father, for such was your gracious will. All things have been handed over to me
by my Father; and no one knows the Son except the Father, and no one knows the
Father except the Son and anyone to whom the Son chooses to reveal him. ‘Come to
me, all you that are weary and are carrying heavy burdens, and I will give you
rest. Take my yoke upon you, and learn from me; for I am gentle and humble in
heart, and you will find rest for your souls. For my yoke is easy, and my burden
is light.’
Titles For The Latest English LCCC Lebanese &
Lebanese Related News & Editorials published on June 26-27/2020
Lebanon Records 35 New Coronavirus Cases
Lebanon’s Health Ministry: We Have Not Reached A Dangerous Phase
U.S. Ambassador to Lebanon Shea Says Nasrallah Threatening Lebanon Stability,
Hizbullah Preventing Economic Solution
Fresh Protests as Dollar Reportedly Reaches LBP 7,500 on Black Market
Salameh: BDL Can't Control Black Market, Activity in It Limited
Calls for Lebanese State to Abide by Dissociation Policy
Protests Across Lebanon over Crackdown on Freedoms
Traders, Butcheries Shut Down in South as Economic Crisis Soars
Central Bank Launches Electronic Platform for Foreign Exchange Transactions
Fahmi Says 'Foreign Funding' behind Riots, Vows to Sue Road Blockers
Geagea Ridicules Outcome of Baabda Talks after Dollar Surge
Lebanese-American Mueller Report Witness to be Sentenced on Child Sex Charges
Hezbollah and burned bridges with Gulf have hurt Lebanon, says Gargash
Baabda meeting fails to address issue of Hezbollah’s weapons
Lebanon’s National Dialogue showcases disunity
Chaos hits Lebanese food market, merchants may close stores
Lebanese turn profit selling US dollars in exchange shops, raise hyperinflation
alarm
Titles For The Latest English LCCC Miscellaneous Reports And News published on
June 26-27/2020
US report singles out Iran as ‘world’s worst terror sponsor/Activities of IRCG,
regional proxies put in spotlight.
Gaddafi, extremist preacher discuss going after Saudi wealth, oil in leaked
recording
Iraq Security Forces Arrest Dozens of Kataib Hezbollah Members in Baghdad Raid
Iraq says 13 pro-Iran fighters arrested for anti-US rocket attacks: AFP
Iran-backed Katai'b Hezbollah spokesman threatens Iraqi PM following overnight
raids
Kadhimi Pledges to Prevent Foreign Adventures in Iraq
Iran Threatens to Repudiate Key Nuclear Verification Agreement
Cop among Many Hurt in Scotland Stabbing Attack
Two rockets fired from Gaza Strip towards Israel
Annexation is Declaration of War, Says Hamas’ Qassam Brigades
White House Talks Postpone Israel’s West Bank Annexation Decision
Sudan Warns Window Closing in Nile Dam Dispute
Donors Pledge $1.8 Billion for Sudan
In Turkey, 121 sentenced to life in prison during trial for 2016 coup
Turkey, Sarraj Beat Drums of War in Sirte, Jufra
Libya is battling against terrorism, mercenaries, Turkish colonization: LNA
Canada/Statement by Minister of Foreign Affairs and Minister of Transport on
Iran’s decision to send Flight PS752 black boxes to France
Titles For The Latest LCCC English analysis & editorials from miscellaneous
sources published on June 26-27/2020
Did the Gaddafi Recordings Surprise You?/Salman Al-Dossary/Asharq Al
Awsat/June 26/2020
Slavery: Is there a Monopoly of Suffering?/Amir Taheri/Asharq Al Awsat/June
26/2020
These Syrian militiamen were foes in their civil war. Now they are battling each
other in Libya./Kareem Fahim and Zakaria Zakaria/The Washington Post/June
26/2020
Donald Trump’s Silence on Al-Qaeda Is Deafening/Thomas Joscelyn/The Dispatch/FDD/June
26/2020
China's Undeclared War on India/Vijeta Uniyal/Gatestone Institute/June 26/2020
The Druze of Syria call for freedom, dignity, and social justice/Makram Rabah//Al
Arabiya/June 25/2020
Erdogan's Libya invasion threatens the European Union/Salma Mohamed/Al Arabiya/June
25/2020
With history of killings, abductions Turkey is no safe haven for Iranian
dissidents/
Yaghoub Fazeli/Al Arabiya English/June 26/2020
Question: "What is the unholy trinity in the end times?"/GotQuestions.org/June
26/2020
The Latest English LCCC Lebanese & Lebanese Related News &
Editorials published
on June 26-27/2020
Lebanon Records 35 New Coronavirus Cases
Naharnet/June 26/2020
Lebanon on Friday recorded a significant uptick in the number of confirmed
coronavirus cases. In its daily statement, the Health Ministry said 35 residents
and an expat repatriated from Equatorial Guinea had tested positive for COVID-19
over the past 24 hours. It said 27 of the local cases have been traced to known
infected individuals. The new cases raise the country’s tally to 1,697 --
including 33 deaths and 1,144 recoveries. Eight of the local cases were recorded
in Bourj al-Barajneh, four in Ashrafieh, four in al-Beddawi camp, three in
Tallet al-Khayyat, two in Hay al-Sillom, two in Wadi al-Nahleh and one in each
of Marfaa, Ain el-Rummaneh, Ghobeiri, Bir Hassan, Haret Hreik, Zahle, Barelias,
Majdal Anjar, Taanayel and Bouday.
Lebanon’s Health Ministry: We Have Not Reached A Dangerous Phase
Beirut - Asharq Al-Awsat/Friday, 26 June, 2020
The Ministry of Public Health said that Lebanon did not reach a dangerous phase,
despite the noticeable increase in the number of coronavirus infections over the
past week. Eighteen new infections were recorded on Thursday, including three
among repatriated citizens, which brought the cumulative number to 1,662 cases.
The ministry is currently conducting massive PCR tests in areas that have seen a
high number of infections. In remarks to Asharq Al-Awsat, sources at the Health
Ministry stressed that Lebanon has not reached a dangerous point in the virus
outbreak, saying: “We are still in the containment period; even if there is a
slight increase in the number of cases, this does not mean that we have reached
the point of danger. This is because most cases are asymptomatic, and do not
require hospitalization.”The sources pointed out that stable numbers do not mean
easing preventive measures, “because negligence may lead to bad
repercussions.”Meanwhile, two neighborhoods were isolated in the area of
Ghobeiri within the Baabda district, as more than 20 infections were reported.
The municipality, in cooperation with the Health Ministry, conducted one hundred
PCR tests and distributed antiseptic products for families in home
quarantine.Concern prevailed in the Beddawi refugee camp in northern Lebanon
after four new infections were recorded. Atef Khalil, the secretary of the
Palestinian factions in the north, noted that the PCR tests conducted in the
camp showed that there was no spread of the virus. “There are no coronavirus
cases within the camp, except for four cases from the same family working at the
Tripoli Port and living in Beddawi,” he said. The Tripoli Port administration
announced that a medical team from the Ministry of Public Health carried out PCR
examinations for more than 120 workers and employees, adding all the results
were negative.
U.S. Ambassador to Lebanon Shea Says Nasrallah
Threatening Lebanon Stability, Hizbullah Preventing Economic Solution
Naharnet/June 26/2020
U.S. Ambassador to Lebanon Dorothy Shea on Friday accused Hizbullah chief Sayyed
Hassan Nasrallah of threatening Lebanon’s stability and his party of preventing
a solution for Lebanon’s dire economic and financial crisis.
In an interview with Al-Arabiya’s al-Hadath TV, Shea said Hizbullah is in
control of Hassan Diab’s government, confirming that U.S. sanctions might target
non-Shiite allies and supporters of Hizbullah. She added that Washington would
support any reformist government not controlled by Hizbullah, noting that such a
government should be comprised of experts and that Diab’s government has not yet
achieved the promised reforms. Charging that Hizbullah’s so-called mini-state
has cost the Lebanese treasury billions of dollars, Shea said Washington has
major concerns over the group, which is on the U.S. list of “terrorist”
organizations. Noting that Washington is among Lebanon’s biggest supporters in
terms of aid, the ambassador said the Lebanese are not suffering due to U.S.
policies but rather because of decades of rampant corruption. Shea also said
that the demands of the Lebanese are legitimate, calling on the government to
address the demands of the October 17 uprising. As for the Caesar Act, the
ambassador reiterated that it does not target the Lebanese people or economy but
rather the finances of the Syrian regime.
Fresh Protests as Dollar Reportedly Reaches LBP 7,500 on
Black Market
Naharnet/June 26/2020
Lebanese citizens staged fresh road-blocking protests on Friday, as media
reports said the U.S. dollar was selling for LBP 7,500 on the black market. The
army struggled to reopen the vital Jiye highway which links Beirut to the South.
It eventually managed to reopen by force in the afternoon after removing parked
vehicles and pushing away protesters who came from the adjacent town of Barja.
The National News Agency said some protesters had blocked the highway with
trucks after tearing up the tires and taking away the keys. TV networks said
some protesters had hurled stones at passing vehicles, prompting the army to
intervene. In the North, protesters blocked the Tripoli-Akkar highway in the Bab
al-Tabbaneh area with burning tires and trash bins. Others meanwhile blocked the
el-Mina-Beirut highway with rocks and obstacles in protest at “the rise in the
dollar exchange rate, the hike in the prices of commodities and the dire living
conditions,” NNA said. Taxi drivers meanwhile blocked the Elia intersection in
Sidon, where they parked their cars in the middle of the road.
Salameh: BDL Can't Control Black Market, Activity in It
Limited
Naharnet/June 26/2020
Central Bank Governor Riad Salameh announced Friday that Banque du Liban has no
ability to control the currency black market while downplaying the size of its
transactions. “The Lebanese central bank, like any central bank in the world,
has no ability to control this market, which is receiving undeserved publicity,
seeing as activity in it is limited and unorganized,” said Salameh after meeting
Prime Minister Hassan Diab at the Grand Serail along with Finance Minister Raoul
Nehme and General Security chief Maj. Gen. Abbas Ibrahim. He added that the
central bank’s objective is to reach a situation in which the biggest number of
money exchange operations are carried out within banks and within organized
markets. Noting that the central bank has launched a long-awaited electronic
platform that will organize transactions at money exchange shops, Salameh said
all licensed money changers will be part of the platform.
“During the first session today, sale and purchase transactions worth more than
$8 million took place, at an exchange rate ranging between LBP 3,850 and LBP
3,900,” the governor added. He noted that “this platform will be further
activated and will be the main reference for the money exchange market.”Salameh
also pointed out that banks can join the platform although their official
exchange rate will remain pegged at LBP 1,515. “This issue helps control the
prices of fuel, medicine, foodstuffs and flour,” he added.
Calls for Lebanese State to Abide by Dissociation Policy
Beirut - Nazeer Rida/Asharq Al-Awsat/Friday, 26 June, 2020
All-party talks hosted by President Michel Aoun at the Baabda Palace on Thursday
witnessed disputes over fundamental issues, including Lebanon’s dissociation
from regional conflicts. The country’s main opposition parties boycotted the
meeting, including former President Amin Gemayel, Lebanese Forces Leader Samir
Geagea, and the heads of the Kataeb and Marada Parties, MP Sami Gemayel and
former Minister Sleiman Franjieh respectively. The former prime ministers – Saad
Hariri, Tammam Salam, Fouad Siniora and Najib Mikati, also refused to meet
Aoun’s request. In his address, the president warned of an “atmosphere of civil
war,” referring to confrontations in Beirut earlier this month that opened old
sectarian frontlines. “We touched the atmosphere of civil war in a worrying way.
Movements replete with sectarian tensions were launched in a suspicious manner,”
he said.
Speaker Nabih Berri focused on the importance of resolving the economic
situation, indicating that the economy cannot be separated from politics.
Emphasizing the urgent need for reforms, Berri supported the call of former
Minister Gibran Bassil for the establishment of a civil state, which he said was
not against the constitution, but could be achieved through the Taif Agreement.
Prime Minister Hassan Diab told the conferees that the Lebanese people’s main
concern was the devaluation of the currency. “The Lebanese want the central bank
to control the exchange rate and to preserve the value of their salaries and
savings,” he told the meeting. He continued: “The country is not doing well… The
solution is a national responsibility; and not only the responsibility of a
government that inherited the crisis, and was able to reduce the pressure on the
reserves and contain its repercussions.”Diab went on to say that his government
“came to reveal, boldly and transparently, the accumulated financial losses in
the context of a financial rescue plan, the first in the history of Lebanon.”
Former President Michel Sleiman called on the different political parties to
abide by the Baabda Declaration, which was issued under his term in 2012, and
which underlines Lebanon’s dissociation from regional conflicts.He said that
Hezbollah has violated the declaration, “which prevented the implementation of
the state’s pledges, caused its deadly isolation, made it lose its credibility
and the confidence of friendly countries and Lebanese living abroad, and made it
lose investors, depositors and tourists, which have all contributed to the
decline of the national currency’s value.”The concluding statement, read by
former Minister Salim Jreissati, called for “the cessation of all kinds of
incitement campaigns that would stir strife, threaten civil peace and
destabilize internal security.”
Protests Across Lebanon over Crackdown on Freedoms
Beirut - Asharq Al-Awsat/Friday, 26 June, 2020
Lebanese protesters took to the streets Thursday in peaceful rallies against the
state’s crackdown on freedoms and to call for the release of activists arrested
in anti-government demonstrations. One of the protests was held near the
Presidential Palace in Baabda in response to a call for a sit-in under the
slogan of "No confidence” as leaders held a national dialogue session chaired by
President Michel Aoun to protect the country from discord and unite ranks.
Protesters demanded the implementation of UN Security Council Resolution 1559.
They waved Lebanese flags and brandished banners asking for their demands be met
amid tight security measures by the Internal Security Forces, Lebanon’s
state-run National News Agency (NNA) reported. Resolution 1559 dates back to
2004 and demands that non-state actors disarm. During the all-party talks, the
conferees said freedom of expression, which is protected by the constitution,
should be exercised within the limits of the law that criminalizes insults, and
assaults on other people’s personal freedoms. Also near the Presidential Palace,
another group of protesters urged action to resolve Lebanon’s economic problems,
and called for fighting corruption. In Beirut, demonstrators gathered near the
Justice Palace, demanding the release of 21 activists and describing their
arrest as “politically motivated.”Soon, clashes broke out between them and the
security forces responsible for protecting the palace. One of the protesters was
injured, NNA said. Outside the Jounieh Serail, a number of young men gathered to
protest the arrest of activist Dany Farah, who is under interrogation after his
arrest on Wednesday evening. In Sidon, protesters rallied in rejection of the
ailing economic and financial situation as several shops closed after the
Lebanese pound soared to almost 7,000 in the black market. A number of
protesters also cut off the Masnaa-Rashaya road in the town of Al Rafeed over
deteriorating living conditions. The Lebanese authorities have recently launched
arrest campaigns on activists as part of a political retaliation to silence
opposition parties, and critics of the government, President Michel Aoun and
Hezbollah.
Traders, Butcheries Shut Down in South as Economic Crisis Soars
Agence France Presse/Naharnet/June 26/2020
Lebanon's crippling economic crisis has immensely devalued the local currency
and purchasing power, sending businesses, traders, small shops and even large
institutions to a shutdown and pushing many into poverty. On Friday, a number of
traders, commercial shops and butcheries in the southern town of Marjayoun
closed their shops “until further notice” due to the exorbitant price hikes and
the constant rise in the exchange rate of the U.S. dollar to the Lebanese pound,
LBCI TV reported. Moreover, several private schools in Marjayoun and other
Lebanese regions declared plans to shut down their institutions because many
parents have been unable to pay due tuition fees. Some school administrations
are also in the process of laying off a number of professors and administrative
employees. Earlier in June, reports said that over 25 percent of the shops in
Beirut alone closed in the past six months over the U.S. dollar shortage and
drop in people's purchasing power. Traders say that around 1,200 companies will
soon go bankrupt and over 5,000 families will suffer from unemployment. The
crisis in Lebanon is plunging whole segments of society into poverty. The recent
report about near-empty fridges in many households echoed atmospheres of
"famine." Earlier this year, Lebanon defaulted on its debt and, while the peg to
the dollar remains unchanged, the pound has since nosedived on the black market.
In a country so heavily reliant on imports, the blow is huge and thousands of
businesses were doomed even before the coronavirus lockdown shuttered the
economy. Prices have soared almost as fast as the currency has plummeted,
meaning that a salary of one million pounds is now worth around $200, instead of
almost $700 last year. The crisis is sounding the death knell of a middle class
that is sliding into the half of the population the World bank now estimates
lives under the poverty line. AFP photographers spent several days in June
visiting people's homes in the main cities of Beirut, Tripoli, Byblos, Jounieh
and Saida to ask them how they managed to put food on the table. Those who
accepted to be photographed posed in front of open refrigerators whose bare
shelves often hinted at the leanest of diets.
Central Bank Launches Electronic Platform for Foreign Exchange Transactions
Naharnet/June 26/2020
The Central Bank announced on Friday the launch of the electronic platform
specifically created to carry out foreign exchange operations.
"Money changers must carry out foreign exchange transactions through the
“Sayrafa” (mobile application) electronic platform," a statement released by the
central bank said. “In Friday’s trading, the price was set at 3850-3900 Lebanese
pounds to 1$. Liquidity was secured and operations have taken place based on
today’s trading,” added the statement. The bank assured however, that the
official exchange rate at banks remains stable at 1515 Lebanese pounds to $1.
Adding that the central bank is not responsible for the trading at the parallel
market (in violation of the new rules).
Fahmi Says 'Foreign Funding' behind Riots, Vows to Sue Road
Blockers
Naharnet/June 26/2020
Interior Minister Mohammed Fahmi on Friday said authorities possess “certain and
confirmed information that foreign interference and financial support are behind
the acts of vandalization.”In an interview with al-Manar TV, Fahmi said the
“corruption” of those carrying out the rioting has “spared us a major
disaster.”“They did not spend all the sums of money that they received from the
plotters to spark security incidents,” the minister explained. Revealing that he
had tasked security agencies to communicate with Hizbullah, AMAL Movement, al-Mustaqbal
Movement and Lebanese Forces during the recent sectarian unrest, Fahmi said the
four parties “were positive as to the immunization of civil peace.”Famhi also
warned that “the incidents that are happening in Syria’s Idlib might lead to a
new Syrian exodus towards Lebanon, with the possibility of the infiltration
Daesh members among them with the aim of sparking incidents in the
country.”Reassuring that security is under control, the minister acknowledged
that “the economic and social situation is a ticking bomb.”“Attacks on citizens
and public and private property are prohibited,” Fahmi said, adding that
security forces will prevent the blocking of roads by protesters. “We will file
lawsuits against those who do it. Yes to freedom of expression and assembly but
no to the blocking of roads,” he added, describing the blocking of roads as “a
form of aggression against citizens’ dignity.”
Geagea Ridicules Outcome of Baabda Talks after Dollar Surge
Naharnet/June 26/2020
Lebanese Forces leader Samir Geagea on Friday scoffed at the outcome of the
dialogue meeting held Thursday in Baabda, after the dollar reportedly reached a
new high on the black market. “Baabda’s ‘unifying national’ meeting yielded
immediate results. As soon as the closing statement was recited, the dollar made
an unprecedented jump,” Geagea said in a tweet. Geagea and most opposition
parties had boycotted the meeting, decrying what they called the lack of a clear
agenda and the failure to address the country’s real problems. Media reports
said the dollar was selling for more than LBP 7,500 on the black market on
Friday. President Michel Aoun has said that the meeting was aimed at “immunizing
civil peace” in the wake of the violent protests and sectarian tensions in
Beirut and Tripoli.
Lebanese-American Mueller Report Witness to be Sentenced on
Child Sex Charges
Associated PressNaharnet/June 26/2020
A Lebanese American businessman who was a key witness in special counsel Robert
Mueller's report and who helped broker the release of American hostages is
slated to receive at least a 10-year prison sentence on child sex charges.
George Nader was charged last June and pleaded guilty in January to bringing a
14-year-old boy from the Czech Republic to the U.S. 20 years ago to engage in
sexual activity. He also acknowledged possessing child pornography. Nader's name
appears more than 100 times in the Mueller report. It details Nader's efforts to
serve as liaison between a Russian banker with ties to Russian President
Vladimir Putin and members of President Donald Trump's transition team. The
convictions carry a 10-year mandatory minimum. Prosecutors in federal court in
Alexandria are not seeking a longer sentence than that at Friday's sentencing
hearing, but the judge could still impose one. In the 1990s, Nader served as a
broker to facilitate the release of American hostages held in the Middle East.
Nader also served as an adviser to the United Arab Emirates, a close Saudi ally,
and in 2017 wired $2.5 million to a top Trump fundraiser, Elliott Broidy,
through a company in Canada, The Associated Press reported in 2018. The goal was
to persuade the U.S. to take a hard line against Qatar, a longtime American ally
but now an adversary of the UAE. Nader was previously convicted in the Czech
Republic of 10 cases of sexually abusing minors and sentenced to a one-year
prison term in 2003. Nader also pleaded guilty to a charge of transporting child
pornography images in Virginia in 1991. The current investigation of Nader began
in 2018 when images depicting child pornography and bestiality were found on his
phone after it was confiscated under a search warrant connected to the Mueller
probe.
The images found in Nader's phones at Dulles International Airport ended up not
being the basis for January's child-pornography conviction. Instead, prosecutors
relied on images and videos he received via email in 2012 that in some cases
involved sadistic depictions of infants or toddlers, according to disclosures at
Monday's hearing.
Hezbollah and burned bridges with Gulf have hurt Lebanon,
says Gargash
Reuters/Thursday 25 June 2020
A senior United Arab Emirates official (UAE) said Lebanon was paying the price
of deteriorating ties with wealthy Gulf Arab states as it struggles to cope with
a deep economic crisis. Gulf states have long channeled funds into Lebanon's
fragile economy but they are alarmed by the rising influence of Hezbollah, a
powerful group backed by their arch-rival Iran, and appear loath to help ease
Beirut's worst financial crisis in decades. For all the latest headlines follow
our Google News channel online or via the app. Emirati minister of state for
foreign affairs, Anwar Gargash, told broadcaster CNBC on Wednesday that
Lebanon's “economic meltdown is very worrying” but that the UAE would only
consider offering financial support in concert with other states. “If we see
some of our friends, major powers interested in Lebanon, working in a plan, we
will consider that. But up to now, what we are really seeing here, is a
deterioration of Lebanon's Arab relations and Gulf relations over the past 10
years. Lebanon is partly paying the price for that right now.”Secretary of State
Mike Pompeo said on Wednesday the United States was prepared to support Lebanon
if it carries out reforms and operates in a way that is not “beholden to” the
armed Shia movement Hezbollah, which helped form the current government. “We've
seen an accumulation of problems in Lebanon and we've seen also a dictation of
the political discourse by Hezbollah which really has an army within the state,”
Gargash said. He said the UAE repeatedly warned Beirut about deteriorating ties
with the Gulf: “If you burn these bridges it'll be very difficult for you to use
the huge reservoir of goodwill and the huge reservoir of financial support that
Lebanon needs.”
Baabda meeting fails to address issue of Hezbollah’s
weapons
The Arab Weekly/June 26/2020
اجتماع بعبدا يفشل في التطرق لسلاح حزب الله
Lebanese political experts considered the meeting called for by President Michel
Aoun that was held Thursday at the Presidential Palace in Baabda to be a
half-success for Hezbollah's attempt to preempt any discussion related to the
issue of its weapons.
These experts indicated that if the meeting succeeded in anything, it was in
perpetuating the divisions within Lebanese society over the future of
Hezbollah's weapons, which many, especially Sunni Lebanese, see as the source of
all the calamities that have befallen the country as it suffers an unprecedented
economic crisis. Political circles considered that the fact that there was no
mention of Hezbollah’s weapons or of its role in implicating Lebanon in the war
in Syria in the final statement of the meeting at Baabda Palace to be a relative
victory for the party.
They also noted that the final statement ignored the role Hezbollah played in
making the Lebanese crisis a part of the Syrian crisis, in the sense that the
country is now facing the consequences of the US Caesar Act that imposes
sanctions on anyone dealing with the Syrian regime.
However, these political circles saw in return that, despite Aoun’s efforts to
keep the lid on the issue of Hezbollah’s weapons, the party still failed to
garner a national consensus regarding its weapons, especially in light of the
almost complete Sunni boycott of the Baabda meeting and in the context of an
obvious and profound cleavage in the Christian camp.
They noted that former President Amine Gemayel and his son Sami, the head of the
Kataeb Party, plus Samir Geagea, the head of the Lebanese Forces party, which
has a bloc of 15 Christian deputies in the Lebanese Parliament, boycotted the
meeting.
They also thought that Aoun’s attempt to brandish and exaggerate the spectre of
a “civil war” in Lebanon was insulting to the intelligence of the Lebanese
people.
In this regard, a Lebanese lawmaker wondered how the president could allow talk
of the country coming close to a civil war when he knows very well which side
launched sectarian slogans of the type “Shia, Shia, Shia” and insulted the
Prophet’s wife Sayida Aisha.
This member of parliament added that the president’s talk of the risk of a civil
war revealed his desire to cover up for Hezbollah’s practices and actions, which
include ransacking part of downtown Beirut at a time when the country is dealing
with a multifaceted crises that will be difficult to overcome as long as Aoun
remains president.
Aoun's allusion to a “civil war” was in part a reference to confrontations that
took place in Beirut this month that reignited old sectarian wounds between
Shias and Christians, and Shias and Sunnis.
As the Baabda meeting was taking place, dozens of demonstrators gathered amid
tight security on the road to the presidential palace, denouncing the agenda of
the meeting and security forces' passive response to acts of violence
perpetrated against peaceful demonstrators in different regions of the country.
Social media users criticised the meeting’s theme and title. One Twitter user,
for example, wrote, "An economic collapse, a collapse of the banking system, a
soaring dollar ... severe poverty and Corona. What is the solution? A meeting in
Baabda to emphasise civil peace and stave off sedition!”
But Aoun declared that “we have sensed a disturbing atmosphere of civil war, and
witnessed suspicious moves rife with sectarian provocations.”
He also warned against those who take advantage of people's anger and legitimate
demands to generate violence and chaos, in order to achieve “suspicious foreign
agendas” that intersect with political gains by local parties which he omitted
to name.
The call for the meeting at Baabda Palace came against the backdrop of angry
popular movements a couple of weeks ago that lasted for four days and were
interspersed with acts of vandalism and confrontations with the security forces,
especially in Beirut and Tripoli, in reaction to the free fall of the Lebanese
lira against the US dollar on the black market. Two weeks ago, the dollar had
crossed the threshold of five thousand liras causing widespread unrest, and then
rose again this week to exceed six thousand liras.
President Aoun opened the meeting at the presidential palace saying, “today’s
national meeting has only one item, and that is the protection of stability and
civil peace, in light of recent developments.”
For his part, Prime Minister Hassan Diab said: “The country is not fine, and how
can it be fine when citizens are going hungry? (...) The treatment is a national
responsibility and not just the responsibility of a government that came to be
on the ruins of the crisis.”
The Diab government took office on February 11, after protesters forced the
government of former Prime Minister Saad Hariri to resign on October 29.
“We are going through a crucial stage in the history of Lebanon, which requires
us to join efforts and put forth the country’s interests, so that we can reduce
the damages, which might be disastrous ... Our words have no value if we do not
translate them into action,” Diab added.
Former Prime Ministers Saad Hariri and Najib Mikati said that the real threat to
stability may come from the deteriorating economic and financial situation, “and
this cannot be faced with loose meetings without a clear agenda.”
In a statement released on Monday, they said that Aoun's invitation to meet
“constitutes a waste of the time of the inviter and of the invitees at a time
when the country needs (...) different approaches to extract it from its acute
crisis.”
In recent days, sharp criticisms have been directed at the performance of Aoun
and of the government in the face of the economic crisis and their failure to
introduce practical measures.
Geagea, who was a partner in the political settlement that brought Aoun into
office, told a press conference on Wednesday that “the only solution is for the
ruling band to leave and step aside to let others save the country.”
Lebanon’s National Dialogue showcases disunity
The Arab Weekly/June 26/2020
جلسة الحوار الوطني في بعبدا ظهرت الإنقسام الكبير
BEIRUT –The Lebanese Forces Party joined in boycotting a dialogue meeting in
Baabda, while the Druze leader of the Progressive Socialist Party Walid Jumblatt
chose to hold the stick in the middle and dispatch his son, MP Taymor Jumblatt,
to the conference.
The organisers of the meeting called for by Lebanese President Michel Aoun say
it is intended to protect the country from discord and unite ranks to help
confront the country’s dire financial crisis. However, some political forces
that are boycotting the gathering argue it is simply a brainstorming session to
save the ruling class, especially the Iran-backed Hezbollah group.
Aoun’s call to hold the national conference led to vetting the country’s
political scene, repeating a scenario that happened following the assassination
of former Lebanese Prime Minister Rafik Hariri in 2005.
During that period, Lebanon’s political class emerged as divided into two camps:
Those supporting the withdrawal of Syrian forces and those backing the
Syria-Iran axis.
With current political tensions high, there are signs that the March 14
Coalition, formed after Hariri’s assassination, could be revived, but this time
for different reasons and with a different rationale.
This seems especially likely as opposition parties remain convinced that there
must be deep reform in order to prevent the collapse of the country’s government
and economy at a time when international pressure is piling up on Lebanon to
implement such reforms and take major political steps, including the ouster of
Hezbollah from power.
Speaking in Washington on Wednesday, US Secretary of State Mike Pompeo said real
reforms are necessary before support is extended to the Lebanese government. He
added that it must be a government that is not “beholden to Hezbollah.”
Hezbollah is on the US sanctions list and Washington considers it one of Iran’s
most powerful proxies in the region.
“When that comes, when the government demonstrates, whoever that is,
demonstrates their willingness and capacity to do that I think that not only the
United States, but the whole world will come in to assist the Lebanese
government get its economy back on its feet,” Pompeo said.
Iran-backed Hezbollah, designated by the US and other Arab and Western countries
as a terrorist organisation, has strengthened its political position in recent
years, taking root at the heart of Lebanon’s power structure.
This is one of the main reasons that the international community, especially the
United States, is reluctant to provide financial support to Lebanon.
Speaking to American broadcaster CNBC on Wednesday, UAE Minister of State for
Foreign Affairs Anwar Gargash said that Lebanon’s “economic meltdown is very
worrying” but that the UAE would only consider offering financial support in
concert with other states.
Gulf states have long channelled funds into Lebanon’s fragile economy but, like
Washington, they are alarmed by the rising influence of Hezbollah, a powerful
proxy of their arch-rival Iran.
“If we see some of our friends, major powers interested in Lebanon, working in a
plan, we will consider that. But up to now, what we are really seeing here, is a
deterioration of Lebanon’s Arab relations and Gulf relations over the past 10
years. Lebanon is partly paying the price for that right now,” Gargash said.
“We’ve seen an accumulation of problems in Lebanon and we’ve seen also a
dictation of the political discourse by Hezbollah which really has an army
within the state,” he added.
The international community’s reluctance to come to the rescue of Lebanon raised
alarms among many opposition leaders, with the head of the Lebanese Forces party
Samir Geagea calling for real action and genuine reform while snubbing the
Baabda conference.
“We will not participate in a meeting whose aim is to throw dust in our eyes,”
Geagea said Wednesday, adding that “Lebanese people are at odds with the
authorities.”
“What’s required are decisions, not meetings, and moving the government toward
making its first reform,” Geagea said.
“The problem is not with the government but with the ruling class that imposes
upon the government whatever it wants it to do,” he added, noting that “as long
as this reality exists, there will be no state in Lebanon.”
On the relationship with the former prime minister and leader of the Future
Movement Saad Hariri, the leader of the Forces Party said, “contacts are
constantly taking place.”
Chaos hits Lebanese food market, merchants may close stores
Najia Houssari/Arab News/June 26/2020
تقرير يتناول الكارثة الفوضوية التي تضرب سوق المواد الغذائية في لبنان مما يهدد
باغلاق العديد من المحال والسوبرماكات
BEIRUT: The governor of the Lebanese Central Bank said on Friday that the amount
of hard currency circulating on the black market was very limited.
Riad Salameh, governor of the Banque Du Liban (Lebanese Central Bank), said:
“Pumping US dollars into the market has stabilized the exchange rate of the
Lebanese pound to the US dollar at 3,850 Lebanese pounds to $1.”
Salameh’s statement came as the Banque du Liban launched the “Sayrafa”
electronic platform for exchange operations of US dollars to Lebanese pounds.
The food and basic commodities market saw unusual rigidity as the exchange rate
of the dollar on the black market reached 7,000 Lebanese pounds to $1, while the
official exchange rate remained nominally at 1,515 Lebanese pounds to $1.
Lebanese President Michel Aoun declared during a meeting with a delegation from
a charitable organization that “the capabilities of the state are now very
limited.”
Professor Nasser Yassin, an expert in development affairs, said that there had
been a “huge decrease in the average salary in Lebanon from about $1,333 to $279
dollars per month, based on an exchange rate of 7,000 Lebanese pounds to $1.
Yassin told Arab News that the average salary in Lebanon was now below the
average salary in most countries in the region, with the exception of Iran and
Syria. This was after Lebanon had been ahead of all other countries in the
region.
On Friday, the owners of food shops, supermarkets, restaurants and butchers
closed their stores temporarily due to the spike in the exchange rate of the US
dollar, which left people unable to buy food and goods.
“Sales have fallen by 70 percent. Lebanon buys lamb from Syria, and the majority
of merchants selling lamb are Syrians. They now insist on getting paid in US
dollars after they used to be paid in Lebanese pounds. And even when they accept
payments in Lebanese pounds, they do so according to the US dollar exchange rate
on the black market,” said Mohammad Bayan, an owner of a big meat shop in
Shwayfat.
The price of 1 kg of lamb has increased from 24,000 Lebanese pounds to 85,000
Lebanese pounds, and the price of 1 kg of beef has increased from 17,000
Lebanese pounds to 50,000 Lebanese pounds.
Lebanon imports lamb from Australia and beef from Brazil, the Netherlands and
other European countries.
Bayan said: “Whoever used to buy lamb meat is now buying beef meat, and whoever
used to buy 2 kg of meat per day is now buying only 250 gm.”
Abbas Ali Sleem, the owner of a meat shop in a southern suburb of Beirut, said:
“Butchers have decided to stop selling meat after they sell out their current
stock.”
“The purchasing power of the people has declined, and there are people asking to
buy meat worth 5,000 Lebanese pounds, which is less than $1,” he said.
Protesters continued to take to the streets in various regions and to block
traffic in protest against the deteriorating economic conditions and the high
exchange rate of the US dollar. A number of protesters stormed the Ministry of
Social Affairs on Friday and asked to meet Minister of Social Affairs Ramzi
Musharrafieh, who turned out not to be in his office.
“The ministry is a public facility and they have the right to be in it
especially as its role is very important in these special circumstances, and
that the minister is not doing his duty toward the citizens,” the protesters
said in a statement.
“Merchants are suffering from difficulties in securing the US dollar to purchase
food products, and the situation remains unchanged, causing concern about the
possibility of reaching a crisis in the upcoming months,” said Hani Bohsali,
president of the Syndicate of Importers of Foodstuffs, Consumer Products and
Drinks.Bohsali said: “Merchants are enduring daily losses due to the high
exchange rate of the US dollar and due to their inability to fix the prices of
goods, which gives them two bitter options — either raise the prices of goods
that would render them very expensive, or sell at a loss that might reach 50
percent with further fluctuations in the US dollar exchange rate. The issue is
no longer related to making profit, and it would be better for merchants to
close their stores rather than sell at a loss.”
Father Michel Abboud, president of the Caritas-Lebanon charity, met President
Michel Aoun on Friday and warned of “the dire situation in Lebanon as children
are coming to Caritas asking for food, while new classes of poor people have
emerged. They used to make donations to Caritas and now they are asking for
help.” Meanwhile, Interior Minister Mohammed Fahmy said: “Theft and
pickpocketing have increased steadily in the past few weeks due to the difficult
economic situation and hard living conditions in Lebanon, and the internal
security forces are doing their best to counter this phenomenon.”
Lebanese turn profit selling US dollars in exchange shops,
raise hyperinflation alarm
Lauren Holtmeier, Al Arabiya English/ 26 June 2020
Lebanon’s central bank last week dumped US dollars into the economy in a bid to
stabilize the exchange rate that has spiraled in recent months, but with
multiple exchange rates in place, Lebanese could turn a profit for selling the
freshly bought dollars for a better rate and getting more Lebanese lira for
their buck.
The central bank announced it would dump $4 million a day into the system, with
individuals eligible to get $200. US dollars are used alongside the local
currency in Lebanon, and a shortage of dollars has spurred inflation and left
people scrambling to get their hands on the precious greenbacks. Informal
capital controls placed on bank accounts have made it nearly impossible for
depositors to access dollars in their bank accounts.While technically still
pegged at 1,507.5 to $1, the local Lebanese currency has been subject to sharp
inflation in recent months and has reached as high as 7,000 lira to the dollar
in some areas.
Lebanon could be on a path toward hyperinflation, warned Jamil Chaya, assistant
professor in finance at Rafik Hariri University. Other experts Al Arabiya
English spoke to agreed that hyperinflation could be seen in Lebanon.
Hyperinflation is one part of a worst-case scenario for an economy. People in
countries that have experienced hyperinflation see their purchasing power eroded
and unable to purchase goods as the value of their currency rapidly disappears.
In perhaps the best known example of hyperinflation, Germany experienced
inflation rates in excess of 30,000 percent a month following the World War One,
with photos showing Germans burning money to keep warm as the value of the
currency fell below the cost to purchase wood. But Lebanon is still a long way
from seeing rates fall this far. Where Lebanese could sell lira for 3,950 to the
dollar at the exchange shop, some discovered that they could then sell those
$200 they just bought for a higher rate in lira. Customers could pocket
200,000-400,000 lira, according Chaya.
For families that are already hurting, “it would be worthwhile to wait at the
exchange house to get that extra income for the month,” Chaya said.
The central bank has intervened in an attempt to stabilize the rate by
introducing various rates for exchange shops, importers, cash transfers, and
money received from abroad. Imports of fuel, wheat, and medication are
subsidized at the pegged rate.m Economists say that these multiple pricing
mechanisms create arbitrage opportunities. Officials intervened to try to end
this cyclical pattern, but as long as multiple rates exist, there will be ways
to profit from the system.“It’s all about getting the best rate,” said former
banker Dan Azzi. In theory, arbitrage, the financial term for buying an asset
then immediately selling it in another market for a higher price, if left to its
own devices should force rates to converge. “Arbitrage is the great stabilizer,”
Chaya said.
But when prices cannot move freely, like exchange rates at currency shops in
Lebanon, prices cannot converge, and this disparity is one reason the currency
could continue to devalue, he said.
Deeper problems
Similar loops – another term for when people withdraw dollars and sell them in
the parallel market for profit – also made an appearance in mid-2019, but Nassib
Ghobril, chief economist at Byblos Bank, told Al Arabiya English the country’s
problems are much deeper than these technicalities.
“What we have now is a severe confidence crisis, it’s a crisis that started
toward the end of 2017 between the private sector and the government due to the
government decision to raise taxes on consumption, income, profits and capital
gains, as well as on fees on formalities with the public sector,” he said.
“That results in a redistribution of income from the private sector to the
public sector.”Government solutions so far, like injecting hard currency in the
economy, is merely a “localized measure” but doesn’t tackle the root cause of
the problem, he said. He said any solution must restore confidence and attract
fresh currency into the system, and completing a deal with the International
Monetary Fund – where negotiations are currently ongoing – would be one step
toward pulling the country back from the brink. Last week, a financial adviser
working with Lebanon’s government quit as he said there was “no genuine will” to
reform. The international community for years has demanded reforms from Lebanon
before disbursing loans or other financial aid. Ghobril said that a deal with
the IMF will bring credibility to a reform plan. Before beginning talks with the
IMF, the government adopted a plan that a spokesperson for the IMF has called “a
good starting point.”When asked how to unify the exchange rate, Ghobril said
“It’s a question of confidence, reforms, and credibility,” noting that it was
Lebanon’s deep structural problems that caused the country to fall into its
current economic crisis.
The Latest English LCCC Miscellaneous Reports And News
published on June 26-27/2020
US report singles out Iran as
‘world’s worst terror sponsor/Activities of IRCG, regional proxies put in
spotlight.
The Arab Weekly/June 26/2020
WASHINHTON - The US State Department singled out Iran in its “2019 Country
Reports on Terrorism,” calling the Tehran regime “the world’s worst state
sponsor of terrorism” and accusing it of utilising a vast proxy network to carry
out its “sectarian” agenda. The report accuses Tehran and its proxies of
continuing “to plot and commit terrorist attacks on a global scale” and noted
the US’s multifaceted work to curb their influence. It pinpointed the IRGC’s
elite Quds force as “Iran’s primary mechanism for cultivating and supporting
terrorist groups abroad,” noting that it provides “financial and other material
support, training, technology transfer, advanced conventional weapons, guidance,
or direction to a broad range of terrorist organisations.” The military unit
also engages “in large-scale illicit financing schemes and money laundering to
fund its malign activities,” the report said. Washington’s focus on the IRGC is
a key feature of its campaign to destabilise the Tehran regime. The
Revolutionary Guards maintain a parallel military and economic system that
promotes the regime’s expansionist agenda and benefits top members of the ruling
class.
The US took bold action against the IRGC in early January, killing its leader,
Qassem Soleimani, in a targeted missile strike as he landed at Baghdad
International Airport with a prominent Iran-backed militia commander. The
strike, in direct response to an attack on the US Embassy in Baghdad which the
US said was instigated by Iran, was seen as a devastating blow to the Tehran
regime, forcing it to reevaluate its geopolitical approach in areas of strategic
interest, including Iraq.
Further straining the Revolutionary Guards, the US has imposed near exhaustive
sanctions on connected figures and entities. Most recently, the US introduced
sanctions on 9 Iranian metal export companies that provide revenue to the IRGC.
“Any person doing business with [Revolutionary Guard] or conducting prohibited
transfers of graphite to Iran risks sanctions,” US Secretary of State Mike
Pompeo said after the new sanctions. The US report highlighted Washington’s
moves to designate the IIRGC as a terror group. It said that the IRGC’s
designation– which marked the first time a foreign government branch had been
blacklisted in such a way — “reflected the Iranian regime’s unique place among
the governments of the world in its use of terrorism as a central tool of its
statecraft.”
The report focused also on Tehran’s network of proxies. Whether in Syria, Iraq,
Yemen or Lebanon, Iran was documented as carrying out Tehran’s aggressive agenda
in the region. Among the listed terror groups supported by Iran were Lebanon’s
Hezbollah, Palestinian groups Hamas and Islamic Jihad and Iraqi militia Katai’b
Hezbollah. The Islamic Republic also sent weapons to the Houthis in Yemen and
the Taliban in Afghanistan, the report noted. The report noted that the US had
moved to denounce the entire Hezbollah organisation in Lebanon as a foreign
terrorist group, while taking aggressive action to curb its influence.
“Throughout the year, the United States ratcheted up efforts to degrade and
disrupt Hezballah’s finances, with numerous designations of financial entities,
facilitators, and money launderers tied to the group,” the report noted.
Numerous governments in Western Europe and South America joined the US in
designated all branches of Lebanon’s Iran-backed Hezbollah group as a terror
organisation, it added.
The report defended Washington sanctions policy towards Tehran. The US pushes
hard to extend a UN arms embargo on Iran that is set to end in October. Pompeo,
threatening to seek to impose UN sanctions on Iran if the embargo is lifted,
said it would be “unacceptable” for the embargo to be lifted, allowing Iran to
“become an arms dealer of choice for terrorists and rogue regimes all throughout
the world.”Tensions between the US and Iran increased after US President Donald
Trump pulled out of Iran’s nuclear deal with world power in 2018 and re-imposed
economic sanctions. The US has since sent thousands more troops, long-range
bombers and an aircraft carrier to the Middle East in response to what it saw as
a growing threat of Iranian attacks on US interests in the region and threats to
regional allies. With Washington determined to carry on with its sanctions
strategy, the regime in Tehran is pinning its hopes on a change of the US
administration after November elections.
Gaddafi, extremist preacher discuss going after Saudi wealth, oil in leaked
recording
Al Arabiya English/Thursday 25 June 2020
Former Libyan dictator Muammar Gaddafi and Kuwaiti hate preacher Hakem al-Mutairi
are heard discussing going after Saudi Arabia’s wealth and oil, in an undated
audio recording leaked by a Qatari opposition figure.
In this latest recording, which Al Arabiya English was unable to independently
verify, Gaddafi reportedly encouraged al-Mutairi to use his political
affiliations in Kuwait as “cover” with the ultimate goal being going after Saudi
Arabia’s resources. Gaddafi tells to al-Mutairi: “Now that there is a war of
iron and fire raging in Iraq, why don’t we capitalize on it? Why should Kuwait,
Saudi Arabia, and Bahrain remain safe?”The two also discussed al-Qaeda. Al-Mutairi
reportedly told Gaddafi that al-Qaeda had a “just cause.”Gaddafi, who led Libya
from 1969 until he was overthrown and killed in 2011, promoted a revolutionary
ideology and frequently claimed to want to overthrow other Arab leaders. Al-Mutairi
is the leader of the Kuwaiti Ummah Party, an unrecognized political party with
conservative and allegedly extremist views. He was previously a founding member
of Kuwait’s Salafi Movement and critical of the US and Saudi Arabia. There has
been at least one other recording in which Gaddafi was reportedly talking with
al-Mutairi. In that recording, Gaddafi can be heard promising al-Mutairi
"support" and calling for “radical change to the region.”
The new audio recording is the latest of several which were shared by Qatari
opposition figure Khalid al-Hail on Twitter. Many of the audio clips feature
Gaddafi reportedly talking to Qatari officials. A recording between former emir
of Qatar and Gaddafi was released in 2017, in which the two leaders attacked
Saudi Arabia and the ruling family. In another recording leaked from the same
year, Gaddafi and the Qatari former prime minister can reportedly be heard
discussing plans to carve up Saudi Arabia. Sheikh Hamad bin Jassim did not deny
the recording and said that the issue was discussed to appease Gaddafi. In 2013,
Sheikh Hamad handed over power to his son, current Emir Sheikh Tamim al-Thani.
Hamad bin Jassim stepped down from his positions in government at the time and
reportedly has strained relations with the current emir.
Iraq Security Forces Arrest Dozens of Kataib Hezbollah
Members in Baghdad Raid
Asharq Al-Awsat/Friday, 26 June, 2020
Iraqi security forces raided a headquarters belonging to the Iran-backed Kataib
Hezbollah militia in southern Baghdad late on Thursday, detaining dozens of its
members, government officials and paramilitary sources said. The raid was the
most brazen action by Iraqi forces against a major Iran-backed militia group in
years and targeted the faction, which US officials have accused of firing
rockets at bases hosting US troops and other facilities in Iraq. Iraqi
government officials and paramilitary sources then gave contradicting versions
of what followed. The paramilitary sources and one government official said
those detained were transferred shortly afterwards to the security branch of
Iraq’s paramilitary umbrella grouping, the Popular Mobilization Forces (PMF) A
second government official denied any such transfer and said the militiamen were
still in the custody of other security services. The sources gave different
numbers for those detained. A PMF official said it was 19. A government official
said it was 23. Fifty-three members of the group were arrested, reported Al
Arabiya television on Friday morning. The raid was the first sign that the
government of new prime minister, Mustafa al-Kadhimi, intends to make good on
pledges to take tough action against militia groups that have targeted US
installations. It took place after a number of rocket attacks near the US
embassy in Baghdad and other US military sites in the country in recent weeks.
But the incident also highlighted how difficult it could be to take on the
militias. A senior PMF official said after some negotiation, those detained were
handed over to paramilitary security forces, reported Reuters. One government
official told Reuters three commanders of Kataib Hezbollah had been detained
during the raid, carried out by Iraq’s elite Counter Terrorism Service. One of
those commanders was an Iranian, he said. A second PMF official said no
commanders of Kataib Hezbollah were detained. A spokesman for the US-led
coalition in Iraq and Iraqi paramilitary sources denied any of those detained
had been handed over to the US military, after a government official said three
had been. Tensions between Washington and Tehran especially on Iraqi soil have
been high for at least a year. It nearly spilled into regional conflict in
January after the United States killed Iran’s military mastermind Qassem
Soleimani and PMF deputy chief Abu Mahdi al-Muhandis in a drone strike at
Baghdad airport.
Both Tehran and Washington supported Kadhimi in becoming prime minister in May.
Iraq says 13 pro-Iran fighters arrested for anti-US rocket
attacks: AFP
AFP/Thursday 25 June 2020
Iraqi security forces arrested more than a dozen pro-Iran fighters overnight, in
their first raid against those accused of anti-US rocket attacks, Iraqi
officials told AFP early Friday. Elite fighters from the Counter-Terrorism
Service raided a headquarters in southern Baghdad used by Kata'ib Hezbollah,
arresting 13 of them and confiscating the rocket launchers, three officials
said."Based on intelligence information, a CTS unit raided a base used by
Brigade 45, seizing three rocket launchers and arresting 13 fighters," one of
the officials said. Since October, nearly three dozen attacks have targeted
American interests in Iraq, including a range of military bases, the US Embassy
in Baghdad and US oil companies. They have killed Iraqi, US and UK military
personnel. and military actors in Baghdad.
Iran-backed Katai'b Hezbollah spokesman threatens Iraqi PM
following overnight raids
Joseph Haboush & Joanne Serrieh, Al Arabiya English/Friday 26 June 2020
A security spokesman for an Iran-backed militia issued a statement on Friday
threatening Iraqi Prime Minister Mustafa al-Kadhimi, describing him as an
“American agent,” following an overnight raid on the group by security forces.
The Iran-backed Kata’ib Hezbollah security spokesperson threatened al-Kadhimi
with punishment, or “torture” after the raid that led to the arrest of over a
dozen fighters, which sent a strong message to militias, warning against
attacking Iraqi facilities. “Let this mutant know that the sword of the
resistance is the sword of Ali ‘peace be upon him’ and [the men of the
resistance] will only submit to God,” Abu Ali al-Askari said in a Telegram
statement. “We are waiting for you to suffer from God’s torture, or by our
hands.”Al-Askari also accused al-Kadhimi of attempting to distance himself from
the killing of the “two martyrs,” in reference to the January drone strike which
killed Islamic Revolutionary Guards Corps (IRGC) commander Qassem Soleimani and
deputy commander of the Popular Mobilization Forces (PMF) Abu Mahdi al-Mohandes.
Initial reports circulated that Baghdad’s Green Zone was put under lockdown
following the raids by Iraq’s Counter-Terrorism Service (CTS) on a militia
headquarters in southern Baghdad. According to Al Arabiya sources and videos,
several militiamen carrying weapons took to the streets following the arrests,
causing tension and fear.
Kadhimi Pledges to Prevent Foreign Adventures in Iraq
Baghdad - Asharq Al-Awsat/Friday, 26 June, 2020
Prime Minister Mustafa al-Kadhimi pledged on Thursday to prevent foreign
interventions and adventures in Iraq, affirming his government’s determination
to fight sectarianism. “We will not allow anyone to threaten Iraq,” he said
during a meeting with a group of Iraqi journalists, including Asharq Al-Awsat.
“Regional interventions in Iraq will not succeed unless there is a party inside
working on this. We must not allow meddling that threatens Iraqi sovereignty or
the Iraqi social fabric, and we will not allow adventures for external parties
in Iraq,” he said.
He added that the country’s future comes above everything else.
The PM confirmed that he would not yield to any external blackmailing in his
plans to reform Iraq. He revealed that the state treasury has lost between 3 to
4 billion dollars over the control of armed groups of several border crossings.
Kadhimi also spoke about challenges to the Iraqi identity.
“Let our standard be citizenship, not sectarian or ethnic affiliation. The soil
of Iraq is sacred and we must defend it in every way,” he said. Kadhimi also
told journalists that his government is facing a real challenge in confronting
the coronavirus pandemic as a result of poor infrastructure. The Iraqi health
sector has been worn down by years of war and poor investment.
Iran plans oil exports from the Gulf of Oman to secure crude flow
DUBAI-Reuters/June 26/2020
- Iran plans to export oil from a port on its Gulf of Oman coast by March, the
president said on Thursday, a shift that would avoid using the Strait of Hormuz
shipping route that has been a focus of regional tension for decades.
Tensions have spiked between Tehran and Washington since 2018, when the United
States withdrew from a 2015 nuclear pact between Iran and six major powers and
President Donald Trump reimposed sanctions on Iran, hammering its vital oil
exports.
Iran has often threatened to block the Strait if its crude exports were shutdown
by U.S. sanctions, a move Washington has said would cross a “red line” and would
demand a response. “This is a strategic decision and an important step for Iran
that will secure the continuation of our oil exports,” President Hassan Rouhani
said in a televised speech.
Rouhani said Iran aimed to export 1 million barrels per day (bpd) of oil by
March from Bandar-e Jask, a port on Iran’s Gulf of Oman coast, just south of the
Strait of Hormuz. Hit by U.S. sanctions, Iran’s oil exports are estimated at
100,000 to 200,000 bpd, down from more than 2.5 million bpd that Iran shipped in
April 2018. The Islamic Republic’s crude production has halved to around 2
million bpd.
“This move will assure our oil buyers that Iran will continue exporting oil if
the Strait is closed,” he said. The Strait is a narrow channel at the mouth of
the Gulf through which about a fifth of the world’s oil passes from Middle East
producers to markets in Asia, Europe, North America and beyond.
There have been periodic confrontations between Iran’s elite Revolutionary
Guards and the U.S. military in the area. Last year, Washington and its allies
blamed Iran for attacking international merchant vessels and what they said was
the illegal seizure of a British tanker. Tehran denied the charges. Iran’s oil
revenues, already hit by U.S. sanctions, have fallen further as global crude
demand has tumbled due to the coronavirus crisis. Iran said oil revenues fell to
$8.9 billion in the year to March, Iranian media reported, comparing it to $119
billion earned almost a decade earlier, in 2011.
*Writing by Parisa Hafezi; Editing by Edmund Blair
Iran Threatens to Repudiate Key Nuclear Verification
Agreement
Andrea Stricker/ Policy Brief/FDD/June 26/2020
The Iranian parliament, or Majles, ratified a motion on Tuesday directing the
government to stop implementing a key nuclear verification agreement called the
Additional Protocol (AP). While Iran has already refused to comply with
inspections required by the AP, a formal decision to reject the agreement while
under investigation for violations of the Nuclear Non-Proliferation Treaty (NPT)
could lead to Tehran’s referral to the United Nations Security Council (UNSC)
for sanctions against the Islamic Republic.
The Majles’ bill comes after the Board of Governors of the International Atomic
Energy Agency (IAEA) passed its first critical resolution on Iran in eight
years, which calls on the regime to cooperate with an IAEA probe into the
presence of undeclared nuclear materials and activities. The resolution also
calls on Iran to stop blocking inspectors’ access to two alleged nuclear sites,
which the IAEA requested pursuant to the AP.
The AP is a voluntary supplement to the Comprehensive Safeguards Agreement (CSA)
that NPT signatories conclude with the IAEA, particularly if acquiring or
producing nuclear material. The AP enumerates stronger inspection rights with
specified timeframes for compliance as well as requirements for signatories to
provide more information about nuclear research and activities relevant to
proliferation. The AP won the support of the IAEA Board in 1997 following broad
acknowledgement that states such as Iraq, North Korea, and South Africa had
exploited gaps in their CSAs to further nuclear weapons programs.
Soon after the discovery of covert Iranian nuclear sites in 2002 and the
subsequent launch of an IAEA investigation into Tehran’s possible military
nuclear activities, Iran agreed to implement the AP. From 2003 to 2006, Tehran
implemented the AP provisionally but never formally adopted the agreement. Under
the 2015 nuclear deal, or Joint Comprehensive Plan of Action (JCPOA), Iran
committed to apply the AP provisionally once again and to attempt to ratify it
by 2023. Thus, halting AP implementation would be a further violation of the
JCPOA.
The timing of the Majles announcement harkens back to Iran’s February 2006
decision to stop its provisional implementation of the AP just two days after
the IAEA Board voted to refer Iran’s NPT non-compliance case to the UNSC. By
July 2006, the UNSC passed the first of several rounds of multilateral sanctions
designed to pressure Iran to halt its nuclear programs and cooperate with the
IAEA investigation.
Regardless of whether Iran abides by the AP, its ratification of the NPT entails
a legal obligation to let the IAEA implement comprehensive safeguards. In
February 1992, the IAEA Board affirmed that it retains the right to check the
“correctness and completeness” of Iran’s nuclear material declarations and to
conduct ad hoc and special inspections as well as other safeguards visits as
necessary.
While the Iranian Majles is nominally an autonomous legislative body, its
lawmaking powers are checked by the Guardian Council – a 12-member, unelected
body that screens legislation for fidelity to the regime’s Islamist ideology –
and thus Majles actions rarely diverge from official regime thinking. The
proposed motion to reduce Iran’s cooperation with the IAEA is likely a threat
made on behalf of the highest levels of the regime and intended to ward off
further IAEA Board action.
It remains to be seen whether the remaining JCPOA member states will tolerate an
additional egregious violation of the nuclear deal that could directly impair
the IAEA’s ability to carry out its non-proliferation investigation. Russia and
China, which voted against the IAEA Board resolution, clearly reject efforts to
hold Iran accountable and enforce the NPT. The United Kingdom, France, and
Germany favor accountability in principle, yet in practice they fear that taking
action against Iran to enforce the NPT would lead it to repudiate the JCPOA.
Yet since the JCPOA has been ineffective at addressing Tehran’s past and
possibly ongoing nuclear weapons activities, a stronger agreement is needed to
replace it. First, the international community should focus on upholding the NPT,
which has helped stem proliferation for the past 50 years.
*Andrea Stricker is a research fellow at the Foundation for Defense of
Democracies (FDD), where she also contributes to FDD’s Center on Military and
Political Power (CMPP). For more analysis from Andrea and CMPP, please subscribe
HERE. Follow Andrea on Twitter @StrickerNonpro. Follow FDD on Twitter @FDD and @FDD_CMPP.
FDD is a Washington, DC-based, nonpartisan research institute focusing on
national security and foreign policy.
Cop among Many Hurt in Scotland Stabbing Attack
Agence France Presse/Naharnet/June 26/2020
A police officer was reported to have been stabbed Friday, and several others
injured, in a "serious incident" that shut down central Glasgow. "We are aware
of reports that a police officer has been stabbed in an incident in #Glasgow
city center," the Scottish Police Federation said. Eyewitnesses said four people
were injured.
Two rockets fired from Gaza Strip towards Israel
Agence France Presse/Naharnet/June 26/2020
Two rockets were fired from the Hamas-controlled Gaza Strip towards Israeli
territory on Friday, the army said. "Two rockets were fired from the Gaza Strip
towards Israeli territory," the Israeli military said in a statement, after
earlier saying "sirens sounded in the area surrounding the Gaza Strip."Medics
said the sirens sounded in the Israeli district of Sderot. It was the first
reported rocket fire from the Gaza Strip since early May. It comes the day after
Hamas, an Islamist movement, warned that Israel's planned annexation of parts of
the occupied West Bank amounted to a "declaration of war."Israel's proposal to
annex its settlements in the West Bank and the Jordan Valley form part of a
broader U.S. peace plan published in January. The proposals foresee the ultimate
creation of a Palestinian state on the remaining West Bank territory and the
Gaza Strip. But the plan falls far short of Palestinian aspirations, with a
state on reduced territory and without east Jerusalem as a capital. Hamas and
Israel have fought three wars in recent years, with the latest conflict in 2014
killing 2,251 Palestinians and 74 people on the Israeli side. There are no
official relations between the two sides. The Palestinian Authority, a separate
administration based in the West Bank, cut its cooperation with Israel last
month.
Annexation is Declaration of War, Says Hamas’ Qassam
Brigades
Ramallah - Asharq Al-Awsat/Friday, 26 June, 2020
Hamas’ armed wing said on Thursday that Israel’s decision to annex parts of the
occupied West Bank “a declaration of war against Palestinian people.” “We will
make the enemy bite its fingers in regret for such a sinful decision,” said Abu
Ubaida, spokesman of the Izz el-Deen al-Qassam Brigades.
In a televised speech, Ubaida stressed that “Qassam will not speak much and will
say what is clear for the occupation to understand.”He affirmed the resistance
movement’s commitment and pledge to hold a prisoner exchange deal with Israel,
noting it was a priority for his group.
He also pointed out that no deal will be made without the release of senior
prisoners and prisoners with Israeli blood on their hands. “The resistance will
be the loyal and dutiful guard of the people throughout this war, acting in
defense of our people, our land and our holy sites.”
The Qassam’s threats came two days after Hamas’ call for a massive “popular
revolution” throughout Palestinian territories and the Arab and Muslim worlds to
thwart Israel’s unilateral annexation plan. Tel Aviv fears the situation could
escalate in the Gaza Strip and possibly in the West Bank, and worries that
Palestinian Authority President Mahmoud Abbas is trying to drag Hamas to clash
with Israel. Sources said that the cessation of security and civil coordination
may affect the payment of salaries and the flow of goods to and from Gaza,
stoking tensions in the already-tense coastal enclave. Israeli security forces
are concerned that an escalation in the Strip could coincide with an intifada in
the West Bank.
White House Talks Postpone Israel’s West Bank Annexation Decision
Washington - Heba El Koudsy/Asharq Al-Awsat/Friday, 26 June, 2020
Following three days of discussions at the White House, officials said Thursday
that the US administration has not yet reached a final decision on the Israeli
plan to annex settlements in the occupied West Bank. Senior aides to President
Donald Trump noted that the meetings ended without any final US green light for
Israel's annexation move. The White House meetings were attended by US
Ambassador to Israel David Friedman, Secretary of State Mike Pompeo and Special
Adviser to the President Jared Kushner, as well as US Representative for
International Negotiations Avi Berkowitz. Sources in Washington said discussions
revolved around defining the scope of Israeli moves and the type of sovereignty
under which Israel would implement the annexation through US support. In
exclusive remarks to Asharq Al-Awsat, a senior White House official described as
“fruitful” the meetings hosted by the White House this week on the Trump peace
plan. He said that Friedman and Berkowitz were expected to return to Israel on
Thursday evening to conduct further talks on the planned move. “There is still
no final decision on the matter,” he added. Pompeo had confirmed the Trump
administration’s support for the Israeli plan to annex parts of the West Bank,
despite warnings from the United Nations, the European Union, the Arab League,
and Democrats at the US Congress, from the dire consequences of the unilateral
step that Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu intends to take by July.
Well-informed sources stressed that Washington wanted the Israeli government to
reach a consensus before proceeding with any measures, especially with the
reluctance expressed by Alternate Prime Minister and Defense Minister Benny
Gantz over the annexation.
Sudan Warns Window Closing in Nile Dam Dispute
Asharq Al-Awsat/Friday, 26 June, 2020 -
Sudan has joined Egypt in asking the UN Security Council to intervene in a
dispute over the Grand Ethiopian Renaissance Dam (GERD) on the Blue Nile,
warning that the window for the three countries to reach an agreement “is
closing by the hour.”Sudanese Foreign Minister Asmaa Mohammed Abdalla asked the
council in a letter obtained Thursday by several news outlets to call on leaders
of the three countries “to demonstrate their political will and commitment by
resolving the few remaining issues and conclude an agreement” on the basis of
the draft Sudan submitted June 14. Ethiopia announced last Friday that it would
begin filling the dam’s reservoir in July after last week’s talks with Egypt and
Sudan failed to reach an accord governing how the dam will be filled and
operated. Egypt formally asked the Security Council to intervene in a three-page
letter the same day. The Egyptian letter asked the Council to call Ethiopia back
into talks for a “fair and balanced solution,” and to urge it to refrain from
unilateral acts. The government warned that filling the dam without a deal
“constitutes a clear and present danger to Egypt,” with repercussions that
“threaten international peace and security.”Filling GERD would potentially bring
the years-long dispute between Egypt, Sudan and Ethiopia over the $4.6 billion
mega-project to a critical juncture, with some fearing it could escalate into
military conflict. Ethiopia says the electricity that will be generated by the
dam is a crucial for bringing millions of its people out of poverty. With the
start of the rainy season in July bringing more water to the Blue Nile, the
Nile’s main tributary, Ethiopia wants to start filling the reservoir.Egypt,
which relies on the Nile for more than 90 percent of its water supplies, fears a
devastating impact if the dam is operated without taking its needs into account.
Sudan, which also largely depends on the Nile for water, has been caught between
the competing interests.
Donors Pledge $1.8 Billion for Sudan
Berlin - Raghida Bahnam/Asharq Al-Awsat/Friday, 26 June, 2020
Sudan received Thursday $1.8 billion as direct support from countries and
institutions participating in the Sudan Partners Conference held by video link
in Berlin at the initiative of Germany and in cooperation with the UN, the
European Union and Khartoum. Meanwhile, European countries including France and
Spain called for removing Sudan from the list of countries sponsoring terrorism,
and easing the conditions for obtaining financing from the World Bank and the
International Monetary Fund to help Khartoum achieve economic and development
reforms. The US made the top pledges at the conference after Acting USAID
administrator John Barsa announced that his country alone would give $356.2
million for development aid and democratic transition programs. The European
Union came second, announcing 312 million euros for Sudan in 2020, including 251
million euros in support of economic and social reform programs, and 93 million
euros for family protection programs. The host country, Germany, announced
pledged 150 million euros. "This conference opened a new chapter in the
cooperation between Sudan and the international community to rebuild the
country," German Foreign Minister Heiko Maas said at the conference, attended by
some 50 countries and international organizations. Sudan pledged to achieve
comprehensive and just peace, and to address the economic crisis, and restore
looted assets. Prime Minster Abdalla Hamdok said the conference represents
Sudan’s powerful return to the international community, appreciating the
partners and friends of Sudan, especially, Germany, EU and the UN for organizing
the conference. The PM underlined that his country is now moving from war,
conflict and economic collapse to democratic rule and from isolation to
re-integration in the international community where, it achieved some progress
during the past nine months. “This partnership lays a solid foundation for us
moving forward. We know that there is a lot of work to be done, but with this
type of support, we will certainly move ahead,” Hamdok said. The conference’s
closing statement said "it marks the start of a process, which will be followed
by subsequent engagement by the international community to take stock of the
progress made by Sudan in implementing reforms and to allow its partners to
adapt their support accordingly.”UN Secretary General Antonio Gueterres said:
“We need to mobilize massive financial support,” which, among other things, is
needed to “remove any hiccups that still exist between Sudan and international
financial institutions.”
In Turkey, 121 sentenced to life in prison during trial for
2016 coup
Al Arabiya English/Friday 26 June 2020T
A Turkish court has sentenced 121 people to life in prison for their involvement
in the 2016 coup attempt to take down President Recep Tayyip Erdogan’s
government, state media reported. The court in Ankara sentenced 86 suspects to
“aggravated” life imprisonment for “attempting to violate the constitution”
while 35 individuals were given life sentences for the same crime, the official
Anadolu news agency said. An aggravated life sentence has tougher terms of
detention. It was brought in to replace the death penalty which Turkey abolished
in 2004 as part of its drive to join the EU. A total of 245 suspects were on
trial in the case related to events at the Gendarmerie General Command on the
night of July 15, 2016 in the Turkish capital. Another suspect, former colonel
Erkan Oktem, was given nine aggravated life sentences for “willful murder,”
Anadolu reported. The failed coup left 248 people dead, excluding 24 putschists
killed that night. Turkish Justice Minister Abdulhamit Gul last week said 15
coup-related trials continued out of a total of 289 in what is the biggest legal
process in Turkey's modern history. After a three-month break because of the
novel coronavirus pandemic, trials in Turkey resumed this month including the
main coup trial focused on events at an air base in Ankara seen as the
putschists' hub. That trial began in 2017 and is expected to be completed soon.
For all the latest headlines follow our Google News channel online or via the
app.
In the aftermath, the government blamed Fethullah Gulen, a cleric with a large
following, and Erdogan asked the US to handover Gulen. Gulen, who lives in exile
in the United States, denied claims of his involvement and condemned the coup.
Over the last three years, Erdogan has systematically targeted opposition
figures, including journalists, academics, judges, government figures, and
followers of the Gulen movement. Tens of thousands of people have been arrested
over alleged links to Gulen, while over 100,000 have been sacked or suspended
from the public sector due to similar suspicions.
Turkey, Sarraj Beat Drums of War in Sirte, Jufra
Cairo – Khaled Mahmoud/Asharq Al-Awsat/Friday, 26 June, 2020
The war between the Libyan National Army (LNA), commanded by Khalifa Haftar, and
Turkey-backed Government of National Accord (GNA), headed by Fayez al-Sarraj,
appears imminent as Ankara continued its military reinforcements in the North
African country.Turkish presidential spokesman Ibrahim Kalin announced Thursday
that the GNA was determined to advance on the central cities of Sirte and al-Jufra,
renewing demands that the LNA withdraw from those two areas in order to reach a
ceasefire. As the battle loomed large, the LNA reinforced its deployment around
oilfields in Sirte, dispatching a special forces unit to secure them. GNA deputy
defense minister Salaheddine al-Namroush told Turkey’s Anadolu news agency that
there were no “red lines” before his forces’ advance to “liberate and capture
all of Sirte.”“The liberation won’t be long,” he stressed, saying the forces
were lying just on the outskirts of the city, located 450 kilometers east of
Tripoli. Meanwhile, LNA spokesman Ahmed al-Mismari revealed that a Turkish naval
vessel has been anchored off Libya’s western coast and Turkish jets have been
carrying out flights to the coastal city of Misrata. Turkish military cargo
aircraft have been transporting weapons to the country, he added.He accused
Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdogan of working for the intelligence agencies
of countries he did not name. He also slammed him for “defying” the
international community’s calls for a ceasefire in Libya. Furthermore, he said
Qatar was behind the ongoing unrest in Libya, accusing it of funding the
mercenaries and militias. He stressed that the LNA was ready to handle any
emergency that may emerge in its confrontation against the “Turkish colonial
plot”.On Thursday, France, Germany and Italy called on forces in Libya to cease
fighting and for outside parties to stop any interference in a bid to try and
get political talks back on track. “In light of the growing risks of a
deterioration of the situation in Libya ... France, Germany and Italy call on
all Libyan parties to immediately and unconditionally cease fighting,” the
countries said in a joint statement. “They also urge foreign actors to end all
interference and to fully respect the arms embargo established by the United
Nations Security Council.”
Libya is battling against terrorism, mercenaries, Turkish
colonization: LNA
Tuqa Khalid, Al Arabiya EnglishFriday 26 June 2020
The Libyan National Army (LNA) is fighting an ongoing battle against terrorism
and “Turkish Colonization” in Libya, said LNA spokesman Ahmed al-Mismari said on
Thursday. The LNA official said that the Libyan people comprehend and reject
“Turkey’s expansionist ambitions to extend its influence over our country and
the entire Arab region, with aggressive colonial motives, and to control and
plunder our wealth to address its struggling economic crisis.”Al-Mismari said
that Turkey was able to do this after “agents and traitors opened the way for
them to capture our land and desecrate it, through direct military intervention,
and by sending mercenaries and terrorist fighters from various global terrorist
organizations, via the deal of shame and disgrace.”Tensions have been escalating
in Libya and between the countries which back the two warring parties in it, the
LNA, commanded by Khalifa Haftar, and the Government of National Accord (GNA),
led by Fayez al-Serraj. Turkey, which backs the GNA, has also been ramping up
its military intervention in Libya recently. Ankara has been providing air
support, weapons and allied fighters from Syria to the GNA. In November, Turkey
signed a military cooperation pact with the GNA. The two parties also signed a
maritime demarcation deal, which gives Ankara exploration rights in the eastern
Mediterranean. The maritime deal was rejected as “illegal” by many Mediterranean
countries such Greece and Cyprus. In early in June, Turkish President Recep
Tayyip Erdogan said that his country’s support for the GNA “will increasingly
continue.”On Thursday, Turkey said that the GNA demanded Haftar’s forces to
withdraw from Sirte and Jufra region as a pre-requisite for ceasefire talks.
Egypt’s ‘national security’
Turkey’s intervention in Libya would give it a foothold in the
natural-resources-rich Middle East, where its international ties to many
countries are strained. This is especially significant for Egypt, since it
shares a long border with Libya, backs Haftar’s LNA and its relationship with
Turkey has been tense for years.
On Saturday, Egyptian President Abdel Fattah al-Sisi said that his country has a
legitimate right to intervene in Libya and ordered the army to be prepared to
carry out missions if necessary. He said: “Any direct intervention from the
Egyptian state has now acquired international legitimacy,” adding that Egypt had
received “direct threats” from “terrorist militias and mercenaries” supported by
foreign countries. Earlier in June, Egypt had called for a ceasefire in Libya,
however, in his recent speech Sisi said that Egypt has always been reluctant to
intervene in Libya but “the situation now is different.”“If some people think
that they can cross the Sirte-Jufra frontline, this is a red line for us,” he
said. The LNA spokesman thanked Egypt and Sisi for standing in solidarity with
the people of Libya, and saluted all the Arab countries which supported Egypt’s
stance, which he said “reflected the strength of Arab solidarity in the face of
terrorism, and colonization.”
Canada/Statement by Minister of Foreign Affairs and
Minister of Transport on Iran’s decision to send Flight PS752 black boxes to
France
June 26, 2020 - Ottawa, Ontario - Global Affairs Canada
The Honourable François-Philippe Champagne, Minister of Foreign Affairs, and the
Honourable Marc Garneau, Minister of Transport, today issued the following
statement:
“We welcome today’s announcement at the International Civil Aviation
Organization Council meeting that Iran has finally formally committed to July 20
for the download of the data of the flight recorders of Ukraine International
Airlines Flight PS752 at France’s Civil Aviation Safety Investigation and
Analysis Bureau.
“We will continue to hold Iran to account and seek accountability, transparency,
justice and compensation for the victims of this tragedy, including a thorough,
credible and transparent investigation.”
The Latest LCCC English analysis & editorials from miscellaneous
sources published on June 26-27/2020
Did the Gaddafi Recordings Surprise You?
Salman Al-Dossary/Asharq Al Awsat/June 26/2020
The lines of the Muslim Brotherhood conspiracy, which is led by Qatar, are
growing increasingly clear: From former Emir of Qatar Hamad bin Khalifa to its
former Prime Minister Hamad bin Jassim, and passing through Muslim Brotherhood
leaderships known for their connections to Qatar, the last of whom was Hakim al-Mutairi,
the fugitive Kuwaiti academic in Turkey.
Recent leaked recordings of the above figures with late Libyan leader Moammar
al-Gaddafi have exposed the extent of the conspiracy plotted by the Muslim
Brotherhood members, under Qatar’s guidance, as they seek to ruin their
countries and spread “constructive chaos” in Arab countries, specifically the
Gulf. Of course, these recordings are but an extension of the famous recordings
of Hamad bin Khalifa and Haman bin Jassim that proved their conspiracy to divide
the Kingdom.
The beauty of the new dangerous recordings is that they came as no surprise to
anyone at all. The Qatari regime’s stance is unchanging and known for spreading
chaos and conspiring against countries. The stance of its Muslim Brotherhood
ally is also well-known. This means that the awareness of the receiver has
become quite high in that he knows who his friend is and who his enemy is. In
fact, these recordings confirmed that the billions of dollars being spent on the
Qatari media machine have not been able to change firm facts and damning
evidence: Chaos and strife follow the Qatari regime and Muslim Brotherhood
wherever they go. When the owners of these recordings urged the Muslim
Brotherhood leaderships to explain their conspiracy with Gaddafi, their
justifications were even worse than their deplorable actions. They droned the
same excuse uttered by Hamad bin Jassim in his famous recording: We are humoring
Gaddafi! This means that there is harmony and coordination in not just these
secret conspiratorial meetings, but also in the attempt to wash their hands
clean of them through laughable excuses.
These are not opinions that have been taken out of context, as one has claimed,
but plots to commit crimes against the security and stability of nations. The
other scandal was just how fast the people in the recordings turned against
their ally and partner in the conspiracy. The Qatari regime was among the first
to call for Gaddafi’s ouster in 2011, as did the Muslim Brotherhood. This is the
Qatari-Muslim Brotherhood policy par excellence: Conspire against the friend and
stab the ally in the back and, above all, the miraculous ability to change
positions and adjust to new circumstances.
Recordings such as these may have stirred up political storms had they emerged
in other countries or with other organizations. As for the Qatari regime and
Muslim Brotherhood, they offered nothing new, because revealing dozens of such
recordings will not alter many facts. What we are witnessing is the norm and
anything else would be an exception. It is natural in their policy for them to
conspire against the friend before the enemy. This is a mark of shame that has
been linked to them and will not change regardless of the political
circumstances.
Such revelations only come to underline the historic decision taken by Saudi
Arabia, Egypt, the United Arab Emirates and Bahrain to boycott Qatar in June
2017 and designate the Muslim Brotherhood as terrorist. Meanwhile, Mutairi is an
extremist who was included in the terrorism list announced by Saudi Arabia,
Egypt, the UAE and Bahrain in 2017. It goes without saying that he is one of the
main recipients of Doha’s financial and media support. Today, after more than
three years of the boycott, more and more of Qatar’s conspiracies and meddling
in the internal affairs of its neighbors continue to be exposed. Such damning
evidence and these scandals will continue to come into the light whenever Qatar
attempts to clean its image. I wonder how many decades will it need to polish
its black image?
Slavery: Is there a Monopoly of Suffering?
Amir Taheri/Asharq Al Awsat/June 26/2020
Do Western nations, notably the United States and Britain, owe their wealth to
black slaves from Africa?
This, and related questions, in circulation for years, acquired a new life in
recent weeks thanks to protest marches in the US and Europe.
In 2009 at an international seminar hosted by then French President Nicholas
Sarkozy in Evian we listened with amazement as Reverend Jesse Jackson, a black
rights campaigner in the US, told the audience that African slaves built America
as a home that turned out to be a prison.
In 2016 then US First Lady Michelle Obama told TV audiences how she woke up
every morning in the White House thinking that it was “a house built by
slaves.”Last week London Mayor Sadiq Khan brought his own water to the mill. He
said: “It is a sad truth that much of our wealth derived from the slave
trade.”There are at least three problems with that discourse. The first is that
if the wealthiest societies in history were built by slaves then slavery
shouldn’t be regarded as an absolute evil.
The second problem is that it assumes that the vast majority of people who were
not slaves profited from slavery by sitting pretty, letting slaves do
everything. That would be unfair to millions of non-slave humans who since the
times of the Roman Empire opposed slavery and, on occasions, even fought
alongside slaves, to end it. But the third problem is the key one: Jackson, Khan
and Mrs. Obama are simply wrong.
Let’s start with Mrs. Obama’s claim, the easiest to dismiss. The White House she
lived in for eight years was first rebuilt in 1902 and achieved its present
shape in the 1950s, long after the US abolished slavery in 1865 and granted
former slaves citizenship in 1869. There may have been some blacks, later to be
dubbed African-Americans, among the builders; but they were no longer slaves.
The claim that black slaves built America, by implication almost
single-handedly, is also questionable. To start with, black slaves didn’t have
the numbers to establish control over a huge continent and transform it into the
largest economy in the world.
The 13 British colonies that were to become the United States absorbed around
320,000 African slaves. At the time of the War of Secession, which the Americans
call the Civil War, black slaves accounted for about three percent of the
population concentrated in slave-owning states. It is only after the Civil War
that the black segment of the US population achieves dramatic demographic
growth.
Today, blacks account for 12 percent of the population, with majority coming
from other parts of the world, including the Caribbean, and thus with no slave
ancestry in the US. They include such eminent figures as Barack Obama, Colin
Powell, Susan Rice and one of my favorite singers Harry Belafonte.
American economic power was built on an abundance of natural resources and
endless supply of immigrant workers, until the 1970s mostly from Europe. But the
key to American success was free enterprise which, first nurtured in a chaotic
context, in time allowed for innovation and gigantic projects all of which came
after the abolition of slavery. (True Chinese coolies, semi-slave workers,
played a big role in building the US rail network.)
In the great decades of American economic growth, blacks were not able, partly
because they were hamstrung by persisting racial prejudices and lack of
educational opportunities, to play their full part in building America.
As for Britain, economic growth started with the enclosure movement that meant
land could be transformed into collateral for raising capital, at a time that
there were no blacks in the island. The repeal of the Corn Laws opened the way
for free trade and the transmutation of the buccaneers’ fleet into the royal
merchant navy enabled the English with Scots as their second fiddle set the tune
for global commerce.
Again, almost no blacks were involved.
The trans-Atlantic slave trade and the sugar cane Caribbean plantations linked
to it did produce huge wealth but only for a few dozen families mainly in
London, Liverpool and Bristol. The majority of the English had to subside that
through taxes to keep Britannia ruling the waves and imposing their rule of law
with gunboats. Corrupt parliaments with “pocket boroughs” and “rotten boroughs”
where seats could be bought perverted British democracy in favor of
slave-traders.
Even then the wealth created by slave-trade amounted to less than three percent
of investments in British economy.
The British economy was not the only one adversely affected by the evil of
slavery.
One might even suggest that slavery enslaved the entire global economy until the
Industrial Revolution opened a new era from the 19th century.
In his seminal work, “A Manifesto for Social Progress”, French economist Marc
Fleurbaey shows how the end of slavery released massive productive energies
across the globe.
In the first millennium, when slavery of all colors existed everywhere, global
Gross Domestic Product (GDP) increased 15 folds which means it doubled every 66
years. After the abolition of slavery, global GDP doubled every 15 years. The
first global economic take-off came in 1892 with the Industrial Revolution. But
the second, and more important take-off, began in 1945, after the Second World
War. Between 1950 and 2008, the size of UK economy trebled.
Dubbed the “Golden Era” the period in question released the creative energies of
capitalism as never before.
Capitalism is by nature anti-slavery because it seeks maximum mobility in the
means of production: land, labor and capital. If a piece of land can produce
more profits in another way it would be withdrawn from its current use. If your
investment can make a bigger return you won’t keep it where it is now. Slavery,
in all its forms, including tied-cottages, serfdom, coolies work, scheduled
casts and so on, precludes mobility. It is thus not acceptable to the capitalist
who wants a hire-when-you-need and fire-when-you-don’t system of recruitment.
Other nations also benefited from the end of slavery. Russia started its
industrialization when it came out of the system described in Gogol’s “Dead
Souls, and achieved growth rates of more than 10 percent per annum in the second
part of the 19th century. India did even better and saw the size of its economy
increased fivefold in 60 years after shaking its caste system, a form of
slavery. In Iran slave trade was abolished in 1895 but slaves were not freed and
granted citizenship until 1929 which marked Iran’s revival as a modernizing
nation state.
Slavery was an evil that hampered human progress and thus harmed everyone.
Slaves, most of whom in history were white and not black, were not the only
victims. Even people who were neither slaves nor slave-owners paid a heavy price
in slow economic development and poverty. When it comes to slavery no one has a
monopoly of suffering.
These Syrian militiamen were foes in their civil war. Now they are battling each
other in Libya.
Kareem Fahim and Zakaria Zakaria/The Washington Post/June 26/2020
The Syrian fighter was a teenager when he joined his first militia and a veteran
of two armed groups by age 25, a close relative said. He posted brooding photos
of himself on Facebook wearing fatigues and posing with guns, proud to share his
battlefield exploits.
But there are no posts about Mamdouh’s most recent assignment, in Libya, where
he joined a Russian-backed security force, according to the relative. The
mission was supposed to be secret, but it also carried a whiff of shame. It
transformed Mamdouh from fighter to foreign mercenary and placed him on the
battle lines facing other Syrians, former adversaries in their own country’s
civil war but now squaring off in someone else’s.
When he called his family in Syria last week from Libya to ask for their
prayers, his father called Mamdouh a dog and said he would refuse condolence
calls if the fighter was killed, according to the relative, who lives in Turkey.
The relative asked that his name as well as Mamdouh’s full name be withheld to
prevent retaliation against the family. Thousands of Syrian men have been
recruited for the warring sides in Libya over the past year, coaxed to fight
there by powerful foreign sponsors and promised lucrative salaries or other
incentives, according to a Syrian human rights monitor, Syrian opposition
members, and Libyan and U.S. officials.
The Syrians are not the only mercenaries in Libya. But their preexisting
rivalries have introduced a “bizarre” dynamic into Libya’s already volatile
conflict, said Tarek Megerisi, a Libya expert with the European Council on
Foreign Relations.
“You have the Syrian civil war taking place inside Libya,” he said.
Most of the Syrian fighters in Libya have been hired by Turkey, which sponsors
militias inside Syria opposed to the government of Syrian President Bashar
al-Assad. Turkey also is the main military supporter of Libya’s U.N.-recognized
government, known as the Government of National Accord, or GNA.
Turkey began deploying Syrian fighters to Libya late last year, as Turkish
President Recep Tayyip Erdogan’s government began ramping up its military
assistance to the GNA. The Syrians were viewed as reliable fighters and an
important addition to the GNA’ s defensive lines as it tried to fend off an
attack on the capital, Megerisi said. The deployment of Syrian fighters in
support of Libyan government forces was controversial as soon as it became
public late last year. Syrian opposition figures said at the time they were
furious that rebel fighters had flown off to a foreign war at the worst possible
time — during a fierce Russian-backed Syrian government offensive aimed at
retaking Idlib province, one of Syria’s last rebel-held areas.
In interviews, Syrian rebel commanders, apparently fearful of crossing secretive
Turkish officials, insisted for months that the deployments to Libya were not
happening at all, even as pictures of Syrian fighters in Libya were circulating
widely.
More recently, hundreds of other Syrians aligned with Assad’s government have
been hired to support the rogue Libyan commander Khalifa Hifter, according to
Syrian opposition members who have been tracking the recruitment and Libyan
military officials. Hifter is based in eastern Libya and has waged a long and so
far fruitless campaign to defeat the GNA. The Turkish-backed government dealt
Hifter a major setback this month, repelling his advance on Tripoli, the Libyan
capital, and seizing his last stronghold in the west.
Hundreds of Syrian fighters have been hired to support Khalifa Hifter, a rogue
commander based in eastern Libya. Other Syrians allied with the U.N.-recognized
Libyan government are arrayed against Hifter’s forces.
The latest recruiting inside Syria, including in Syrian government-held and
Kurdish areas, is on behalf of Russian-backed security forces in Libya. Russia
is one of Hifter’s most important backers, and he is supported also by Egypt,
France and the United Arab Emirates.
At a time when the Syrian economy and currency are collapsing, it is difficult
for prospective fighters to pass up the generous financial packages offered for
heading to Libya, offers that include salaries of $2,000 a month, a $500 advance
for families left behind in Syria, and the promise of several thousand dollars
in death benefits.But the transfer of Syrian fighters to both sides of the
Libyan conflict has gone over badly at home. Syrian opposition militiamen are
accused of forsaking the battle against Assad’s government. Fighters such as
Mamdouh who served in pro-Assad militias are being criticized for serving
Russian rather than Syrian interests.
And, for many Syrians across the country’s political divides, the promise of a
payday was no excuse.
“As a journalist and activist in the revolution, I feel ashamed of this, on both
sides,” said Samer al-Ahmed, a pro-opposition Syrian journalist who has been
investigating the recruitment of Syrians to fight in Libya. “I do not accept
Syrians being transformed into mercenaries,” he said.
The Trump administration’s position on Libya has been difficult to pin down.
Trump appeared to endorse Hifter’s attack on Tripoli when it began. More
recently, U.S. officials have strongly condemned Russian intervention on
Hifter’s behalf.
In a briefing in early May, Christopher Robinson, the State Department’s deputy
assistant secretary of the Bureau of European and Eurasian Affairs, said that
Russia and the Assad government had “ferried Syrian fighters to Libya to
participate in Wagner operations in support of” Hifter’s forces. The Wagner
Group is a Kremlin-backed security firm that has sent hundreds of operatives to
fight for Hifter in Libya.
Another State Department official, Henry Wooster, the deputy assistant secretary
for North Africa and Egypt, said during the same briefing that the United States
opposed the deployment of mercenaries by “both sides within the Libyan
conflict.”
Mamdouh, the fighter, was among dozens of men recruited by tribal figures in
northeastern Syria’s Hasakah province in May to go to Libya, according to his
relative and Syrian anti-government activists tracking the deployments to Libya.
Mamdouh did not respond to messages sent to his social media accounts and to a
number he has used to contact his family from Libya.
Many of the recruits had served in the National Defense Forces, a pro-Assad
militia, and were told they were going to guard oil installations in Libya,
according to relatives of the recruits.
But commanders in western Libya said Syrian fighters allied with Russia are
serving in front-line positions. Col. Mahmoud Mustafa, a Libyan commander from
the city of Misurata who is allied with the GNA, said that Russian and Syrian
mercenaries were stationed together in Sirte, a flash-point city on the
Mediterranean coast. Syrian snipers in the city had taken up positions in
high-rise buildings, he said.
Hassan al-Handal, a Syrian opposition member who belongs to the Harb tribe, said
several of his relatives had gone to Libya. He and others said that recruiting
was spearheaded by Russian military officers stationed in Syria along with
employees of the Wagner Group. Intermediaries from Arab tribes collected names
of possible candidates and approached the recruits, according to Handal, who
signed an open letter criticizing the tribal involvement in the Russian
recruiting.
The letter, by the “free men and women of the Harb tribe,” accused the
recruiters of “exploiting” the collapsing currency and using other pressure
tactics, and called on young people to ignore “Russian calls to send them to
inevitable death.”
Arrival of Russian mercenaries adds deadlier firepower, modern tactics to
Libya’s war. Russian Deputy Foreign Minister Mikhail Bogdanov recently denied
reports of Syrian fighters being transported to Libya to fight for Hifter.
Syria’s ruinous and durable conflict was largely to blame: Many of the young men
being recruited were idle, desperate for cash and, after nine years of
devastating civil conflict at home, possessed of little experience but war.
Bogdanov, speaking to the Egyptian daily newspaper Al-Ahram this month, also
rejected reports that members of the Wagner private military company were
operating in Libya, saying such reports were “based mostly on fabricated data
and aimed at discrediting Russia’s policy on the Libyan track.”
Megerisi said Russia appeared to be trying to carve out a sphere of influence in
Libya to counter Turkey’s reach.
“With the collapse of Hifter, the Syrians who were fighting on his side may
become a Russian expeditionary force inside Libya,” Megerisi said. He added,
“The next few weeks will be very telling about whether Russia is in a position
to draw lines or not.”
Also unclear was what would become of the Syrians fighters if intensive
international efforts to tamp down Libya’s fighting were successful. “What
happens when the game is over and they don’t want to go home?” Megerisi asked.
*Zakaria reported from Doha, Qatar. Sudarsan Raghavan in Cairo, Robyn Dixon in
Moscow and Fahmi Igwiaan in Misurata, Libya, contributed to this report.
Donald Trump’s Silence on Al-Qaeda Is Deafening
Thomas Joscelyn/The Dispatch/FDD/June 26/2020
The administration is still going after terrorists even as it claims to be
ending ‘endless war.’
On Saturday, June 13, President Trump delivered remarks at the U.S. Military
Academy graduation ceremony. “We are ending the era of endless wars,” Trump
declared. “In its place is a renewed, clear-eyed focus on defending America’s
vital interests.”
There is a clear disconnect between President Trump’s rhetoric and reality on
the ground.
Hours later that same weekend, an American drone dropped an exotic R9X Hellfire
missile on a Hyundai Santa Fe driving around the northwest Syrian province of
Idlib, a known al-Qaeda stronghold. The target was an al-Qaeda veteran named
Khalid Aruri, who was also known as Abu al-Qassam. Aruri’s jihadist career began
in Jordan in the early 1990s. His childhood friend, a more notorious Jordanian
known as Abu Musab al-Zarqawi, did the same. And the pair traveled together to
Afghanistan, Iraq, and elsewhere in the name of jihad. Zarqawi went on to
establish al-Qaeda in Iraq in 2004 and Aruri served by his side until June 2006,
when Zarqawi perished in a counterterrorism raid. During that same timeframe,
Aruri developed his own dossier of international terrorism. For example,
authorities discovered that he likely financed the May 16, 2003, suicide
bombings in Casablanca, Morocco. Those attacks, which targeted Western tourists,
left dozens dead and wounded more than 100 others.
Sometime after 2006, Aruri made his way to Iran, where he was detained for a
time. He was released as part of a hostage exchange between al-Qaeda and the
Iranian regime in 2015. Aruri then absconded for Syria, where the jihadists have
suffered from several bouts of vicious infighting. Throughout the intra-jihadi
conflict, Aruri remained loyal to al-Qaeda leader Ayman al-Zawahiri.
Finally, sometime on June 13 or June 14, the U.S. caught up with him when that
R9X missile crashed through the roof of his car. Nicknamed the “flying ginsu,”
the R9X is not like other drone-fired missiles. Instead of detonating upon
impact, it unleashes several blades that slice its victims to death. The “ninja
bomb,” as it is also known, is intended to limit civilian casualties and
collateral damage. You can see a photo of Aruri’s car above. Much of the vehicle
remains intact, with only the windshield and the roof destroyed.
Aruri was a high-profile al-Qaeda operative—the latest in a line of al-Qaeda
figures hunted during the Trump years. But President Trump did not mention
al-Qaeda in his West Point speech at all—not once. He did boast that the “savage
ISIS caliphate has been 100 percent destroyed under the Trump administration,”
which is true in so far as the group no longer controls territory. But everyone
knows ISIS fights on as an insurgency in Iraq, Syria, and elsewhere. Trump also
celebrated the fact that Abu Bakr al-Baghdadi, the “barbaric leader” of ISIS “is
gone, killed, over”—as is Iran’s master terrorist, Qassem Suleimani, who was
killed in a U.S. airstrike in Iraq in January. But there was nothing in the
president’s speech about a continued commitment to the fight against ISIS, or
his desire to restrain Iran’s regional ambitions.
At least those threats were briefly mentioned. Trump’s silence on al-Qaeda was
deafening. You’d never know that his administration is still engaged in a
worldwide campaign against the group.
On June 3, for instance, the French military led a counterterrorism raid against
another al-Qaeda target in northern Mali. That manhunt was focused on Abdulmalek
Droukdel, the longtime leader of Al-Qaeda in the Islamic Maghreb (AQIM). The
U.S. military subsequently confirmed that it provided logistical support to the
French in what proved to be a successful mission. Droukdel and some of his
companions were killed.
Droukdel was a major figure in al Qaeda’s global network. Files recovered in
Osama bin Laden’s Abbottabad compound show that he reported directly to al
Qaeda’s senior leadership, requesting guidance on personnel, hostage-taking
operations, negotiations with the government of Mauritania, and other matters.
Zawahiri, then bin Laden’s right hand man, oversaw Droukdel’s operations and
directly corresponded with him.
Florence Parly, France’s minister for the armed forces, explained that Droukdel
was not only AQIM’s emir, but also a member of al Qaeda’s global “management
committee”—meaning he had a say in affairs that occurred far from his
strongholds in North and West Africa. The French military went so far as to
describe Droukdel as Ayman al Zawahiri’s “third deputy”—implying that he was in
al Qaeda’s line of succession should the elderly Zawahiri finally succumb.
Still other al-Qaeda terrorists have perished during the Trump years.
In September 2019, American and Afghan forces killed Asim Umar, the first emir
of al-Qaeda in the Indian Subcontinent, during a raid in the Musa Qala district
of Helmand. Umar and his comrades were embedded within a Taliban stronghold and
they were protected by one of the Taliban’s “shadow governors.” Umar’s courier
was also killed during the raid. According to the Afghan government, that same
courier ran messages back and forth to Zawahiri.
Also in September 2019, Trump’s White House confirmed that Hamza bin Laden,
Osama’s biological and ideological heir, had been killed in a “counterterrorism
operation.” The White House did not explain when or where, only saying that
Hamza had met his demise somewhere “in the Afghanistan/Pakistan region.” The
Trump administration added that Hamza “was responsible for planning and dealing
with various terrorist groups,” but did not name those organizations. It is
likely that Hamza was working with the Afghan Taliban, among other groups. Like
his father and Zawahiri, Hamza swore an oath of fealty to the Taliban’s emir.
A monitoring team that works for the U.N. Security Council recently reported
that a Taliban delegation met with Hamza in the spring of 2019 to “to reassure
him personally that the Islamic Emirate would not break its historical ties with
Al-Qaeda for any price.” The Islamic Emirate of Afghanistan is what the Taliban
calls its totalitarian regime. The Trump administration claims that the Taliban
is going to break with al-Qaeda as the result of the February 29 withdrawal
agreement signed in Doha, but has yet to produce any evidence to this effect.
The Taliban’s reported assurances to Hamza directly contradict the Trump
administration’s claims. Similarly, the U.N. team reported that Zawahiri met
with a Haqqani Network delegation in February 2020 to discuss the agreement
struck between the U.S. and the Taliban. The Haqqani Network is an integral part
of the Taliban.
Then, in January, the U.S. killed Qasim al-Raymi in a drone strike in Yemen. It
is likely that the U.S. redoubled its efforts to get Raymi, the emir of Al-Qaeda
in the Arabian Peninsula (AQAP), after the December 6, 2019, shooting at Naval
Air Station Pensacola. Three U.S. service members were killed and eight other
Americans wounded when 2nd Lt. Mohammed Alshamrani (Al-Shamrani) of the Royal
Saudi Air Force opened fire. Raymi claimed “full responsibility” for the attack
in a video recorded shortly before his death. After finally cracking the
security on Alshamrani’s iPhones, the FBI learned that Raymi’s claim wasn’t
empty bluster. Alshamrani had been communicating with AQAP operatives for four
years, including right up until the night before his attack. Raymi was an
al-Qaeda veteran, whose career began in Afghanistan during the 1990s. The same
is true of his successor, Khalid Batarfi, who is openly loyal to Zawahiri.
Of course, President Trump’s silence on al-Qaeda in his West Point speech is
entirely unsurprising. The president has long expressed his desire to withdraw
American troops from all of the jihadists’ battlefields—from Afghanistan, the
Middle East, and elsewhere. A second Trump term, or a Biden presidency, could
see a large-scale American retrenchment. Trump’s criticisms of the 9/11 wars are
not entirely misplaced. He is right to think that the U.S. military has no plan
for victory in Afghanistan and has been adrift in that country for years. The
U.S. has been trying to stand up the Afghan government, so that it can
eventually subdue the insurgents. That day has not yet arrived, and it looks
like time is finally running out.
But in his West Point speech, the president cavalierly dismissed the wars in
Afghanistan and elsewhere as “ancient conflicts in faraway lands that many
people have never even heard of.” A good many Americans have heard of
Afghanistan—especially after the 9/11 hijackings. That conflict isn’t “ancient.”
Al-Qaeda was founded in the late 1980s. The Taliban took control of Afghanistan
in the mid-1990s. It was the terrorism emanating from that country less than 20
years ago that drew America in.
“We are not the policemen of the world,” Trump declared. Fair enough. But it is
still in America’s “vital interests” to hunt down terrorists—especially those
who directly threaten Americans. Trump implicitly recognized this in his speech,
saying: “But let our enemies be on notice: If our people are threatened, we will
never, ever hesitate to act.”Ayman al-Zawahiri, al Qaeda’s leader, is certainly
an enemy who threatens us. Earlier this month, Gen. Kenneth McKenzie, the head
of CENTCOM, said Zawahiri’s general location was known. McKenzie pointed to the
eastern part of a country you’ve probably heard of.
Afghanistan.
*Thomas Joscelyn is a Senior Fellow at the Foundation for Defense of Democracies
and the Senior Editor for FDD’s Long War Journal. Follow Tom on Twitter @thomasjoscelyn.
China's Undeclared War on India
Vijeta Uniyal/Gatestone Institute/June 26/2020
China's artificial islands in the South China Sea -- equipped with military
bases, naval ports and airfields -- pose a strategic threat to neighboring
countries. In 2018, China landed nuclear strike-capable bombers on these
artificial islands, sending an alarming message to the U.S. and regional powers.
Some commentators ascribe China's stepped-up predations -- on Hong Kong, the
Philippines, Japan, Indonesia, South Korea and Australia -- to a hope that the
world is too distracted by the coronavirus pandemic and the economic devastation
it unleashed to bother confronting China, let alone stop it.
While the U.S. has decreased its nuclear stockpile, China is boosting its
arsenal, according to a report released by the Stockholm International Peace
Research Institute on June 15.
The Free World, if it wishes to remain free, seriously needs to stand with the
world's largest democracy. If China is allowed to succeed in its aggression, it
will only embolden the Communists in Beijing to redraw borders, dictate terms to
other countries in the region, and press on with its plan to dominate the world.
India has been facing its toughest military challenge in nearly six decades
after 20 Indian soldiers were reported beaten to death by Chinese troops in a
border clash. Pictured: An Indian army convoy drives towards Leh, on a highway
bordering China, on June 19, 2020 in Gagangir, India. (Photo by Yawar Nazir/Getty
Images)
India has been facing its toughest military challenge in nearly six decades
after 20 Indian soldiers were reported killed by Chinese troops in a border
clash.
The soldiers were beaten to death with "sticks, fists, rocks and wooden clubs"
during a confrontation in the Himalayan region of eastern Ladakh, Indian sources
said. In keeping with a 1996 bilateral border agreement between India and China,
soldiers are forbidden from firing weapons in the area where the clash occurred.
Chinese troops carried out a "premeditated and planned action that was directly
responsible for the resulting violence and casualties", Indian Foreign Minister
Subrahmanyam Jaishankar said on June 17.
"Based on what I know, Chinese side also suffered casualties," tweeted the
editor-in-chief of the Chinese newspaper Global Times, a Communist Party
mouthpiece.
"Indian intercepts reveal that Chinese side suffered 43 casualties including
dead and seriously injured in the violent face-off," New Delhi-based Hindustan
Times newspaper reported that military sources had said..
Beijing, so far, has not confirmed these figures.
The conflict between the two nuclear-armed powers reignited last month after
12,000 Chinese troops crossed into Indian territory. In May, China's People's
Liberation Army invaded the strategic Galwan Valley, located near India's
northern tip, and occupied over 23 square miles of territory, Indian media
reported. "[T]he capture of Galwan river valley provides the PLA strategic
domination over positions overlooking India's Darbuk-Shyok-Daulat Beg Oldi (DSDBO)
road, which connects Leh to the Karakoram Pass," the Indian news website Print
reported.
In the India-China war of 1962, Chinese troops occupied nearly 15,000 square
miles of Indian territory. China still refuses to recognize large parts of its
2,100 mile-long border with India, and has been demanding an additional 35,000
square miles of territory in India's northeastern region.
Faced with an invasion of strategic heights and the brutal deaths of its
soldiers, India is under pressure to respond to Chinese aggression. Prime
Minister Narendra Modi vowed on June 17 to "firmly protect every inch of the
country's land and its self-respect" in face of Chinese incursion. "I want to
assure the Nation that the sacrifice made by our soldiers will not go in vain,"
Modi said. "India's integrity and sovereignty is supreme for us, and no one can
stop us from defending it. Nobody should have an iota of doubt about this."
Chinese aggression comes as India is in the grip of the coronavirus pandemic.
The country has reported around to 12,000 deaths and 366,946 cases of the virus,
which first surfaced in Wuhan, China late last year.
Some western commentators have argued that China's bullying is an attempt to
punish Indian for deepening strategic ties with the United States. "Chinese
troops pushed over the border into India last month amid border clashes as
Beijing looks to slap down Indian Prime Minister Narendra Modi over his
ever-closer relationship with the United States," Britain's Daily Telegraph
wrote on June 12.
Still other commentators ascribe China's stepped-up predations -- on Hong Kong,
the Philippines, Japan, Indonesia, South Korea and Australia -- to a hope that
the world is too distracted by the coronavirus pandemic and the economic
devastation it unleashed to bother confronting China, let alone stop it.
In 2019, India upgraded its participation in the US-Australia-India-Japan
Consultations ("The Quad"). This Indo-Pacific alliance offers a counterweight to
China's growing naval and military build-up in the region.
Earlier this month, India and Australia signed a series of defense agreements
boosting naval cooperation between the two countries. A military logistics
agreement, signed as part of a bilateral "Comprehensive Strategic Partnership",
gives the Indian Navy "strategic access deep into the Indo-Pacific region," The
Times of India newspaper reported. The agreement signed on June 4 gives
"reciprocal access to each nation's respective military bases," Japan's The
Nikkei added.
Both India and Australia are threatened by China's military build-up. "We are
committed to an open, inclusive, prosperous Indo-Pacific and India's role in
that region, our region, will be critical in the years ahead," Australian Prime
Minister Scott Morrison said while endorsing the bilateral strategic
partnership. "We share an ocean and we share responsibilities for that ocean as
well," he added.
China's artificial islands in the South China Sea -- equipped with military
bases, naval ports and airfields -- pose a strategic threat to neighboring
countries. In 2018, China landed nuclear strike-capable bombers on these
artificial islands, sending an alarming message to the U.S. and regional powers.
Beijing's latest military adventure poses a grave threat to world peace. Both
China and India possess significant nuclear arsenals. With a combined population
of more than 2.7 billion, the Asian powers are home to one third of humanity.
While the U.S. has decreased its nuclear stockpile, China is boosting its
arsenal, according to a report released by the Stockholm International Peace
Research Institute on June 15. According to the report:
"China is in the middle of a significant modernization of its nuclear arsenal.
It is developing a so-called nuclear triad for the first time, made up of new
land- and sea-based missiles and nuclear-capable aircraft."
India and Pakistan, China's key regional ally, have also increased "the size and
diversity of their nuclear forces," the reported found.
Despite China's military superiority and economic clout, an armed conflict with
India would not be a walkover. Apart from the India-China war of 1962, India has
not lost a single military conflict.
While India can withstand Chinese military aggression, the Free World, if it
wishes to remain free, seriously needs to stand with the world's largest
democracy. If China is allowed to succeed in its aggression, it will only
embolden the Communists in Beijing to redraw borders, dictate terms to other
countries in the region, and press on with its plan to dominate the world.
*Vijeta Uniyal, a journalist and news analyst, is based in Germany.
© 2020 Gatestone Institute. All rights reserved. The articles printed here do
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or modified, without the prior written consent of Gatestone Institute.
The Druze of Syria call for freedom, dignity, and social
justice
Makram Rabah//Al Arabiya/June 25/2020
The recent resurgence of the protest movement across Druze areas in Syria
reminded everyone, including the Druze themselves, that the Bashar al-Assad
regime is feebler than it appears, and that Iran is the real existential threat
that Druze face as they are used as pawns in the ongoing struggle between Russia
and Iran over the south of Syria.
The Druze of Syria, like the rest of their compatriots, have been victims of a
perpetuating cycle of violence that has exposed them to physical harm, and as
Assad’s economy collapses, they now face poverty and the UN has recently warned
of possible famine.
Since the onset of the Syrian revolution in 2011 to topple Assad, the regime has
labored to maintain its grip on the Druze, keeping them in the regime’s
apparatus of suppression to be levied against other Syrian communities. However,
thousands of Druze escaped military conscription and refused to join in the
massacres taking place across Syria, something which has earned them the wrath
of the regime and its main ally Iran. In the summer of 2018, the regime allowed
the Druze areas to be targeted by ISIS gangs that left hundreds dead and tens of
women and children held hostage, later to be conveniently liberated through the
Assad regime’s not so good offices.
At first glance, the recent demonstrations in the Druze heartland of As-Suwayda
governorate in southwest Syria, close to the border with Jordan might pass as a
continuation of earlier dissident movements. The current Druze rage, however, is
not merely directed toward Assad, but rather toward his real handlers, Iran and
its various militias that have infiltrated the Druze and have used coercion and
economic pressure to subjugate them and win them over.
The majority of the Druze who have taken to the streets recently are from the
post-2011 generation that grew up during the war and thus have no fear nor
respect to the ruling establishment and are unwilling to carry arms under
Iranian auspices and command.
On the other hand, Iran has worked to establish itself within these Druze areas
through recruiting local hoodlums, many of whom were already implicated in a
number of illicit activities such as narcotics and arms dealing. Iran went even
further by trying to convert the Druze, who are a heterodox Muslim group, to
Shia Islam, something which the Druze forcefully opposed. Equally, Russia has
tried to counter Iran’s move by arming the Fifth Legion, which is composed of
local fighters who they hope will be part of the nucleus of fighters to rebuild
the Syrian Armed Forces. Russia went as far as to appoint Russian liaison
Intelligence officers to communicate with dissident armed factions as well as
the religious authorities.
The Russia-Iran rivalry also extends into the adjacent Sunni region of Daraa, a
region that historically had blood feuds with their Druze neighbors, which the
regime and its allies have tried to exploit time and again. The leaders of the
current Druze uprising are fully aware of the above-mentioned factors, and they
refuse to play any part in the advancement of any of these projects and also
want to avoid being perceived as in line with the Turkish push to establish a
sturdier foothold in Syria.
These young men and women wish for their movement to return to the essence of
the Syrian revolution and to be removed from the dichotomy that has emerged over
the past nine years – an autocratic fascist Assad regime or alternatively a
radical Islamic state. Alternatively, this new generation of activists wish for
a return to the core demands of the revolution, the establishment of a secular
and an inclusive structure that allows all Syrians to partake in governance
regardless of their gender or status as an ethnic minority.
While this might come across as perhaps too utopian, especially with the world
crumpling, it nevertheless is a very dangerous message to the regime and its
allies that forewarns of a new breed of activists who refuse to partake in
violence and believe that change can still be achieved through peaceful means.
As we speak, the leaders of the new Druze uprising are incarcerated in Assad’s
prison and they have been transferred to Damascus and their fate remains
unknown. However, the reaction from their compatriots and the following
demonstration by women that ensued demanding their release reveal that Syrians
are aware of the real hurdle that remains to regain their freedom. The primary
challenge is not the tyrant Assad, but rather an Iran that will stop at nothing
to keep itself bunkered in, even if it means the further destruction of Syria
and its people.
The Druze uprising might be a separate incident and it may well fizzle out, yet
it reminds all people involved that violence and underhanded tactics, like the
ones employed by Russia and Iran can never be a way out of a comprehensive
political settlement that would see Assad and his cronies out of power, and
people like the brave, peaceful activists empowered to lead a new Syria.
Erdogan's Libya invasion threatens the European Union
Salma Mohamed/Al Arabiya/June 25/2020
It has been six months since Turkey entered the fray in war-torn Libya. In early
January, the Turkish parliament, at the behest of President Recep Tayyip Erdogan,
voted on deploying troops to Libya to support the country’s Government of
National Accord (GNA), the transitional body created in 2015 to govern the
embattled nation.Turkey’s military action has been framed from the start as an
effort to prop up the GNA in the face of attacks by the Libyan National Army (LNA)
under the control of Field Marshal Khalifa Haftar. The LNA has stepped up
attacks against GNA forces over the past year in a tremendous escalation of the
long and costly Libyan civil war.
But observers have been quick to point out the more nefarious goals behind
Erdogan’s invasion.
Like many conflicts in the Middle East, one of the central drivers for Turkey’s
military presence in Libya is energy. Shortly before Turkish troops were sent to
Libya, a quorum of the region’s leaders including representatives from Israel,
Cyprus, and Greece met in Athens to discuss a joint framework for the
construction of a massive undersea pipeline project. The purpose of the pipeline
would be to transport gas from new offshore deposits in the southeastern
Mediterranean to continental Europe. Turkey, which has not made any gas
discoveries of its own, was excluded from this venture. Being forced out of the
pipeline project not only strained relations between Turkey and its historical
rivals Cyprus and Greece, but also brought Ankara to a new level of desperation.
After years of unsuccessful – and often illegal – attempts at discovering fossil
fuel deposits, Turkey has turned to partnering with Libya as a way of securing
energy sources. Already in late 2019, Ankara had signed a maritime boundary deal
with the GNA giving Turkey access to Libya’s offshore deposits. Only weeks ago,
the Turkish Energy Ministry announced their intention to begin oil exploration
offshore.
Beyond simply securing access to energy resources, Turkey’s actions in Libya
also form a grand strategy for both exerting its influence in the region as well
as lashing out against the West.
The two main sides of the Libyan civil war have been firmly backed by both
regional and international powers. While the GNA is recognized by the United
Nations, the LNA is backed by the US, Jordan, Saudi Arabia, Egypt, the United
Arab Emirates, Russia, and France. Both sides see the Libyan civil war as a way
of furthering their visions for the Middle East as a whole. Indeed, the more
moderate, pragmatic nations naturally back Haftar, a man dedicated to the
crushing of extremist and militant elements in the country.
Turkey, by backing the GNA, has joined the terror-funding state Qatar and the
extremist Muslim Brotherhood, in propping up a largely ineffective and corrupt
governing body to ensure instability. Turkey’s immediate geopolitical objective
in Libya is to limit the control of its regional neighbors, especially Egypt,
Saudi Arabia, and the UAE who are committed to combating militias in the region.
However, perhaps the most malicious of Turkey’s goals in Libya is to hurt
European stakeholders.
Libya is Europe’s prime exporter of crude oil. For years, the vast majority of
Libya’s oil production has gone to fuel European countries. By controlling
Libya’s energy sector, Turkey is capable of constricting the flow of vital
energy resources to a continent already reeling from economic hardship in the
wake of the COVID-19 pandemic.
In addition to limiting oil supplies, Turkey has also threatened Europe with
ceasing to stem the flow of refugees to the continent. Erdogan has repeatedly
warned Europe that it could unleash a massive influx of migrants if its various
economic demands are not met. Recently, Turkish Foreign Minister Mevlut
Cavusoglu alluded to a resurgence of waves of refugees attempting to reach
Europe as the COVID-19 crisis begins to subside. If Turkey does act on its
threats, Europe will witness a migrant crisis, and its social services will feel
the brunt of it.
Both the energy and refugee issues present serious dangers to European society,
and Turkey knows it. It is not surprising that several European powers have been
increasingly attacking Turkey for its Libyan venture. Europe’s governments have
been taking steps to actively counter Turkey’s policies in Libya with France
seeking NATO assistance on the matter. Reportedly, President Emmanuel Macron has
already met with US President Donald Trump, and more exchanges are expected in
the coming weeks. Russia has taken a step further by discreetly deploying
warplanes to the country’s center, fighters that are more than capable of
countering Turkish military assets currently on the ground in Libya.
To protect European interests, it is vital to safeguard Libya from Turkish
incursions and prevent Erdogan from gaining control over the country's assets.
The EU and the West as a whole must remain steadfast in their positions on
Libya. Only by this way can Turkey’s aggression be deterred.
**Salma Mohamed is a London-based freelance MENA analyst and journalist focusing
on the political and security issues of the region. Originally from the medical
sector, Salma is a graduate of Cardiff University's political science program.
With history of killings, abductions Turkey is no safe
haven for Iranian dissidents
Yaghoub Fazeli/Al Arabiya English/June 26/2020
Iranian dissidents have sought refuge in Turkey since Iran’s 1979 Islamic
Revolution, butwith a long history of assassinations, abductions and
extraditions, Turkey has been far from a safe haven for them.
Not long after the establishment of the Islamic Republic in 1979, it became
clear that Turkey was not a safe destination for the Iranian opposition. The
assassinations and abductions of Iranian political activists that began in
Turkey in the 1980s continue to this day. Most recently, the daughter of Iranian
Kurdish anti-mine activist Eisa Bazyar said on Wednesday that his family have
not heard from him since he left his home in the Turkish city of İzmir on
Monday.
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app.
She later tweeted that Bazyar has been found somewhere two hours away from his
place of residence, adding that police have said he is “not in a good physical
condition.”
But why Turkey, given the risks?
Since 1979, Turkey has become a destination of choice for Iranian dissidents as
it is one of just 41 countries that Iranians can travel to without a visa.
Prior to the 1979 revolution, the Iranian passport was one of the most powerful
in Asia. For instance, Iranians were able to travel to all western and central
European countries, bar Switzerland and Austria, without a visa.
Today, the Iranian passport is among the weakest in the world.
The Iranian passport ranks 101st in terms of travel freedom according to the
Henley visa restrictions index as of April 2020.
This leaves Iranian dissidents looking to flee their home country out of concern
for their safety little choice. Additionally, Turkey shares borders with Iran,
giving those who cannot leave Iran to Turkey by air an option to do so by land.
Recent cases
But over the last few years, Iranians and Kurdish Iranians have gone missing,
with some showing up dead; the fate of others is yet unknown.
Turkey deported 33 Iranian Kurdish activists to Iran last December, and their
fate remains unknown.
Iranian state-affiliated outlets accused the deported activists of collaborating
with the opposition group Komala Party of Iranian Kurdistan, which Tehran
considers a terrorist and separatist group.
In November 2019, Iranian dissident Masoud Molavi was killed after being shot 11
times in Istanbul.
Molavi was a critic of the Iranian regime and posted a message on social media
criticizing the Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps (IRGC) on social media three
months before he was killed.
Reuters reported late March citing two senior Turkish officials that the killing
was instigated by two Iranian intelligence officers based at its consulate.
Iranian activists at the time complained that Molavi’s case did not receive
enough press, comparing it to the murder of Saudi journalist Jamal Khashoggi,
who was also gruesomely murdered in Istanbul.
In April 2017, Saeed Karimian, founder and chief executive of the
Persian-language network Gem TV, was killed alongside Kuwaiti businessman
Mohammad Metab al-Shalahi in Istanbul.
Karimian, who was shot 27 times, was not involved in politics. His company, Gem
TV, dubs mainly Turkish dramas and some Western TV programs into Persian for
Iranians.
As with most foreign-based TV channels that broadcast into Iran, the Islamic
Republic is critical of Gem TV, and accused Karimian of being the cause of the
“deviation” of the Iranian youth and family and going against Islamic values.
A year before he was killed, a Tehran court tried Karimian in absentia and
sentenced him to six years in jail for spreading “propaganda against the state”
and “acting against national security.”
Gem TV believes the Iranian regime ordered the assassination of its founder.
The company recently released a statement revealing for the first time that a
few years before Karimian was killed, his relatives in Iran were harassed in an
attempt to pressure Karimian to shut down Gem TV.
The company said that fugitive Iranian judge Gholamreza Mansouri, who was
recently found dead in the Romanian capital Bucharest under suspicious
circumstances, took Karimian’s family members “hostage” and imprisoned them in
the “worst possible conditions” in 2012-2013.
Gem TV added that the relatives of several others of its employees were also put
under pressure by Mansouri.
The company concluded that these pressures “eventually led to the assassination
of Saeed Karimian in 2017.”
Earlier this month, the Turkish intelligence services in Ankara arrested Iranian
Baloch activist Abdollah Bozorgzadeh.
Activists are fearful Turkey would extradite Bozorgzadeh to Iran where his life
would be in danger.
There is a “high possibility” that Bozorgzadeh has been arrested at Tehran’s
request, Bozorgzadeh’s brother Habibollah Sarbazi told Al Arabiya English on
June 13.
Turkey and Iran have cooperated extensively in recent years on security matters.
Bozorgzadeh, a Baloch activist from the city of Iranshahr in the Sunni-populated
south-eastern province of Sistan-Baluchestan, was arrested in June 2017 for
taking part in protests in support of rape victims in the city.
He was temporarily released on bail in September 2018 and later sentenced to 11
years in prison.
Deporting Bozorgzadeh to Iran could lead to him receiving a longer prison
sentence, or even the death penalty, said Sarbazi.
Older cases
Abolhassan Mojtahedzadeh, a member of the opposition group Mojahedin-e Khalq (MEK),
is one of few Iranian dissidents to survive a regime kidnapping attempt in
Turkey.
In November 1988, Iranian agents kidnapped Mojtahedzadeh in Istanbul and
attempted to take him to Iran by land in a convoy of three vehicles with
diplomatic licenses.
Mojtahedzadeh was rescued after Turkish police stopped and searched the
vehicles. He was found tied up in the trunk of one of the vehicles.
Mojtahedzadeh said that he was interrogated and tortured by members of the
Iranian embassy in Turkey including then-ambassador Manouchehr Mottaki who later
served as foreign minister from 2005 to 2010.
In August 1992, another MEK member was kidnapped and gruesomely murdered in
Istanbul.
Turkish police arrested several people during the investigation.
The arrested individuals, who were members of Islamic Action – an
Iran-affiliated Turkish extremist group – confessed to receiving money from the
Iranian embassy in Turkey to kidnap Ghorbani.
The kidnappers said in their confessions that they handed Ghorbani over to
Iranian agents in Istanbul after kidnapping him and that it was Iranian agents
who tortured and eventually killed Ghorbani.
Tehran denied involvement.
The MEK accuses Iran’s ministry of intelligence as well as the Quds Force, the
overseas arm of the Islamic Revolutionary Guards Corps, of killing Ghorbani.
Ghorbani’s widow also blamed the Iranian regime for her husband’s death.
“My husband’s body was cut into pieces, his nails were pulled out, and he was
strangled with an electric cord after suffering indescribable torture,” she told
reporters at the time.
Later the same year, on December 26, Abbas Gholizadeh, a former officer in
Iran’s imperial army and a member of a monarchist opposition group, was abducted
in Turkey in front of his family.
Gholizadeh’s dead body was found nine months later with visible signs of
torture.
As with Mojtahedzadeh’s case, members of Islamic Action confessed to receiving
money from Iran in return for handing over Gholizadeh to Iranian agents for
interrogation.
In 2007, Frood Fouladvand also disappeared in Turkey. Fouladvand was another
Iranian monarchist and founder of the group Kingdom Assembly of Iran, a royalist
group.
A Kingdom Assembly of Iran spokesman said at the time that Fouladvand and two
companions were “missing and believed murdered” by the Iranian intelligence
services.
In 2008, Fouladvand’s son told Radio Farda that his father is in prison in Iran.
Over a decade later, Fouladvand’s fate remains unclear.
Question: "What is the unholy trinity in the end times?"
GotQuestions.org/June 26/2020
Answer: A common tactic of Satan is to imitate or counterfeit the things of God
in order to make himself appear to be like God. What is commonly referred to as
the “unholy trinity,” described vividly in Revelation 12 and 13, is no
exception. The Holy Trinity consists of God the Father, the Son Jesus Christ,
and the Holy Spirit. Their counterparts in the unholy trinity are Satan, the
Antichrist, and the False Prophet. While the Holy Trinity is characterized by
infinite truth, love, and goodness, the unholy trinity portrays the
diametrically opposite traits of deception, hatred, and unadulterated evil.
Revelation 12 and 13 contain prophetic passages that describe some of the main
events and the figures involved during the second half of the seven-year
Tribulation period. Although many Bible passages allude to Satan in various
forms, such as a serpent or an angel of light, he is described in Revelation
12:3 as a “great red dragon, having seven heads and ten horns, and seven crowns
upon his heads.” The color red indicates his vicious and homicidal personality.
The seven heads symbolize seven evil kingdoms that Satan has empowered and used
throughout history to attempt to prevent God’s ultimate plan from coming to
fruition. Five of the kingdoms had already come and gone—Egypt, Assyria,
Babylon, Medo-Persia, and Greece.
All these kingdoms severely oppressed and persecuted the Hebrews, killing many
of them. Satan’s intent was to prevent the birth of Christ (Revelation 12:4).
The sixth kingdom, Rome, was still in existence during the writing of this
prophecy. Under Roman rule, King Herod murdered Hebrew babies around the time of
Christ’s birth and Pontius Pilate ultimately authorized the crucifixion of
Jesus. The seventh kingdom, which is more fierce and cruel than the others, will
be the final world kingdom that the Antichrist forms during the end times. These
kingdoms were also prophesied in Daniel, chapters 2 and 7. The seven crowns
represent universal rule, and ten horns represent complete world power or
authority.
Revelation 12 indicates many important facts about Satan. Satan and one-third of
the angels were cast out of heaven during a rebellion before the world began
(Revelation 12:4). The Archangel Michael and the other angels will make war with
Satan and his demons, and Satan will be excluded from heaven forever (Revelation
12:7-9). In his attempt to prevent God’s fulfillment of His earthly kingdom,
Satan will attempt to annihilate the Jews, but God will supernaturally protect a
remnant of the Jews in a location outside of Israel for the last 42 months of
the Tribulation (Revelation12:6, 13–17; Matthew 24:15–21).
The second member of the unholy trinity is the Beast or Antichrist described in
Revelation 13 and Daniel 7. The beast comes out of the sea, which typically in
the Bible refers to the Gentile nations. He also has seven heads and ten horns,
indicating his connection to and indwelling by Satan. The ten horns indicate ten
seats of world government that will provide power to the Antichrist, three of
which will be totally yielded to or taken over by the Antichrist (Daniel 7:8).
The number ten also indicates completion or totality, in other words, a
one-world government. The one-world government will be blasphemous, denying the
true God. The final kingdom will possess traits in common with the former “beast
kingdoms” of Babylon, Medo-Persia, Greece, and particularly Rome
(Revelation13:2; Daniel 7:7, 23). Revelation 13:3 seems to indicate that the
Antichrist will be mortally wounded about halfway through the Tribulation, but
Satan will miraculously heal his wound (Revelation 13:3; 17:8–14). After this
wondrous event, the world will be totally enthralled by the Antichrist. They
will worship Satan and the Antichrist himself (Revelation 13:4–5). The
Antichrist becomes emboldened, and, dispensing with all pretenses of being a
peaceful ruler, he openly blasphemes God, breaks his peace treaty with the Jews,
attacks believers and the Jews, and desecrates the rebuilt Jewish temple,
setting himself up as the one to be worshiped (Revelation 13:4–7; Matthew
24:15.) This particular event has been called the Abomination of Desolation.
The final personage of the unholy trinity is the False Prophet, described in
Revelation 13:11–18. This second beast comes out of the earth, not the sea,
possibly indicating that he will be an apostate Jew coming from Israel. Although
he presents himself as a meek, mild, and benevolent person, the horns indicate
that he will have power. Jesus expressly warned believers to watch out for false
prophets that may look innocent but actually can be very destructive (Matthew
7:15). The False Prophet speaks like a dragon, meaning that he will speak
persuasively and deceptively to turn humans away from God and promote the
worship of the Antichrist and Satan (Revelation 13:11–12). The False Prophet is
capable of producing great signs and wonders, including bringing down fire from
heaven (Revelation 13:13). He sets up an image of the Antichrist for worship,
gives life to the image, demands the worship of the image from all people, and
executes those who refuse to worship the image (Revelation 13:14–15). Revelation
20:4 indicates that the method of execution will be beheading.
The False Prophet will also compel each person to receive a permanent mark of
some kind, just as slaves did in John’s day, to show total devotion to the
Antichrist and renunciation of God. Only those who receive the mark will be
permitted to engage in commerce. Acceptance of the mark means eternal death
(Revelation 14:10). The Bible makes clear that humans will fully understand
that, by accepting the mark, they are not only accepting an economic system but
also a worship system that rejects Jesus Christ. Revelation 13:18 reveals the
number of the Beast—666. No one knows precisely what this means. Some believe
that the Antichrist’s first, middle, and last names will have six letters each.
Some believe that the designation refers to a computer chip, since some computer
programs start with 666.
Satan is the anti-God, the Beast is the anti-Christ, and the False Prophet is
the anti-Spirit. This unholy trinity will persecute believers and deceive many
others, resulting in their eternal death. But God’s kingdom will prevail. Daniel
7:21–22 states, “I was watching; and the same horn was making war against the
saints, and prevailing against them, until the Ancient of Days came, and a
judgment was made in favor of the saints of the Most High, and the time came for
the saints to possess the kingdom.”