LCCC ENGLISH DAILY NEWS BULLETIN
March 02/2020
Compiled & Prepared by: Elias Bejjani

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Bible Quotations For today
The Healing Of The Leper Sunday
Holy Gospel of Jesus Christ according to Saint Mark 01/35-45/In the morning, while it was still very dark, Jesus got up and went out to a deserted place, and there he prayed. And Simon and his companions hunted for him. When they found him, they said to him, ‘Everyone is searching for you.’ He answered, ‘Let us go on to the neighbouring towns, so that I may proclaim the message there also; for that is what I came out to do.’ And he went throughout Galilee, proclaiming the message in their synagogues and casting out demons. A leper came to him begging him, and kneeling he said to him, ‘If you choose, you can make me clean.’ Moved with pity, Jesus stretched out his hand and touched him, and said to him, ‘I do choose. Be made clean!’ Immediately the leprosy left him, and he was made clean. After sternly warning him he sent him away at once, saying to him, ‘See that you say nothing to anyone; but go, show yourself to the priest, and offer for your cleansing what Moses commanded, as a testimony to them.’ But he went out and began to proclaim it freely, and to spread the word, so that Jesus could no longer go into a town openly, but stayed out in the country; and people came to him from every quarter.

Titles For The Latest English LCCC Lebanese & Lebanese Related News & Editorials published on March 01-02/2020
Lebanon’s Hezbollah holds funeral for five of its fighters killed in Syria
Thousands Bury Hizbullah Fighters Killed in Syria's Idlib
8 Hizbullah Fighters Killed in Syria's Idlib
Woman forbidden from seeing daughter sparks debate over religious law in Lebanon/Abby Sewell/Al Arabiya/01 March/2020
Three new coronavirus cases confirmed in Lebanon, total now 10
Al-Rahi Urges 'More Serious' Anti-Coronavirus Approach
Fadlallah Defends Hizbullah Role in Idlib Battle
Berri Backs Capital Control but Not a 'Haircut'
Lebanese Order of Physicians: To prevent entry of delegations from affected areas
Health Ministry: Three new Coronavirus cases
Diab: Honoring of Maalouf is an additional incentive to restore the bright image of Lebanon
Diab says aim of assassinating Maarouf Saad was to kill the dreams of the Lebanese
Japan to Send Vice Justice Minister to Lebanon over Ghosn Case
Council of Arab Interior Ministers: Adopting an Arab strategy to confront information technology crimes
Raad: The Eurobond deadline will have repercussions on our country
Fahmi at the Arab Interior Ministers Conference: Lebanon is an integral part of the Arab nation
Hussein al-Wajeh appointed as 'Media Affairs Adviser' at Hariri's office
European Chambers of Experts Federation Representative: Not to compromise in containing the risks of Coronavirus
Coronavirus: Iran’s Kiss of Death to the Lebanese/Hanin Ghaddar/Al Arabiya/March 01/2020
Hezbollah adds coronavirus to list of things imported from Iran, imposed on Lebanese/Raghida Dergham/The National/March 01/2020
Hezbollah Cannot Survive Without Iran’s Support, Lebanese Analyst Says/Ahmad Rafat/Kayhan Life/February 29/2020

Titles For The Latest English LCCC Miscellaneous Reports And News published on March 01-02/2020
Nazanin Zaghari-Ratcliffe: British-Iranian prisoner suspected to have coronavirus/Jack Dutton/The National/March 01/2020
Newly elected Iranian MP dies of ‘flu’ amid coronavirus outbreak
Iran raises death toll to 54 from new coronavirus
‘Lick the shrine’ videos in Iran go viral amid coronavirus fears
Coughing pope cancels trip, but it’s just a cold, not coronavirus
Rockets land near US embassy in Baghdad, no casualties reported
Iraq’s Allawi withdraws PM candidacy, President begins talks for replacement
Turkish military strikes airport in Syria’s Aleppo: Report
Turkish forces down two Syrian planes over Idlib: Monitor
Turkey says military operation against Syrian regime underway
Syria to exchange consular missions with Libya’s Haftar government in Benghazi
Iraqi security forces kill one, wound 24 at Baghdad protest: Sources
PM Netanyahu pledges ‘immediate’ annexation steps if re-elected
Israel envoy assails Bernie Sanders as lobby splits Democrats

Titles For The Latest LCCC English analysis & editorials from miscellaneous sources published on March 01-02/2020
US Democrats callously using Iran for politicking, not policy/Hussain Abdul-Hussain/Al Arabiya/March 01/2020
Iranian regime’s deception threatens the region and the world/Dr. Majid Rafizadeh/Arab News/March 01/2020
Pandemic of infighting grips Western ruling classes/Baria Alamuddin/Arab News/March 01/2020
Coronavirus outbreak exposes need for scientific literacy/Nidhal Guessoum/Arab News/March 01/2020
The hard work has just begun in Afghanistan/Michael Kugelman/Arab News/March 01/2020
Turkey needs international support for new Idlib plan/Yasar Yakis/Arab News/March 01/2020

The Latest English LCCC Lebanese & Lebanese Related News & Editorials published on March 01-02/2020
Lebanon’s Hezbollah holds funeral for five of its fighters killed in Syria
The Associated Press, Beirut/Sunday, 1 March 2020
Thousands of mourners thronged the coffins of five fighters from the Lebanese Hezbollah, whose funeral was held on Sunday in southern Beirut after they were killed in neighboring Syria’s northwestern Idlib region.
The fighters were among at least eight Hezbollah members who died on Friday in Turkish attacks amid fierce fighting between Syrian President Bashar al-Assad’s forces and Turkish troops and allied militiamen. The deaths marked the highest for the Iranian proxy group Hezbollah in Syria in years. Hezbollah sent thousands of its battle-hardened fighters into Syria in 2012, a year after the country’s conflict began. They’ve been helping al-Assad’s forces win major battles against opposition fighters, and along with Russian air power have turned the tide of the war. Over the past two years, as the security situation stabilized in many areas, Hezbollah withdrew much of its forces, leaving only a few hundred fighters in several areas across the war-torn country. The funeral was held in Beirut’s southern district of Ghobeiri. A crowd of a few thousand people - relatives and supporters - walked behind five coffins wrapped in yellow Hezbollah flags amid cries of “Allahu Akbar,” meaning “God is great.” Heavy gunfire rang out as supporters fired in the air, a traditional sign of mourning. At least five people were seen being taken on stretchers after they fainted, apparently overwhelmed by emotion. It was not clear exactly how many Hezbollah fighters were killed in Friday’s attacks in Idlib. The Britain-based Syrian Observatory for Human Rights said 14 Hezbollah fighters were killed on Friday afternoon in the village of Talhiyeh when Turkish drones attacked their post as well as others of the Syrian army. The Observatory’s chief, Rami Abdurrahman, said the 14 Hezbollah fighters included 10 Lebanese citizens and four of other nationalities, including at least one Iranian. Hezbollah later released a statement listing the names and photos of eight of its fighters, including an Iranian cleric identified as Sayyed Ali Zengani. It gave no details other than saying that they “were martyred while performing their jihadi duties.”More than a thousand Hezbollah fighters, including several founding members, have been killed in Syria.

Thousands Bury Hizbullah Fighters Killed in Syria's Idlib
Associated Press/Naharnet/March 01/2020
Thousands of mourners thronged the coffins of five Hizbullah fighters whose funeral was held Sunday in Beirut's southern suburbs after they were killed in neighboring Syria's northwestern Idlib region. The fighters were among at least eight Hizbullah members who died Friday in Turkish attacks amid fierce fighting between Syrian President Bashar Assad's forces and Turkish troops and allied militiamen. The deaths marked the highest for Hizbullah in Syria in years. Hizbullah sent thousands of its battle-hardened fighters into Syria in 2012, a year after the country's conflict began. They've been helping Assad's forces win major battles against rebels, and along with Russian air power have turned the tide of the war. Over the past two years, as the security situation stabilized in many areas, Hizbullah withdrew much of its forces, leaving only a few hundred fighters in several areas across the war-torn country. The funeral was held in Beirut's southern district of Ghobeiri. A crowd of a few thousand people -- relatives and supporters -- walked behind five coffins wrapped in yellow Hizbullah flags amid cries of "Allahu Akbar," meaning "God is great."Heavy gunfire rang out as supporters fired in the air, a traditional sign of mourning. At least five people were seen being taken on stretchers after they fainted, apparently overwhelmed by emotion. It was not clear exactly how many Hizbullah fighters were killed in Friday's attacks in Idlib. The Britain-based Syrian Observatory for Human Rights said 14 Hizbullah fighters were killed Friday afternoon in the village of Talhiyeh when Turkish drones attacked their post as well as others of the Syrian army. The Observatory's chief, Rami Abdul Rahman, said the 14 Hizbullah fighters included 10 Lebanese citizens and four of other nationalities, including at least one Iranian.
Hizbullah later released a statement listing the names and photos of eight of its fighters, including an Iranian cleric identified as Sayyed Ali Zengani. It gave no details other than saying that they "were martyred while performing their jihadi duties."More than a thousand Hizbullah fighters, including several founding members, have been killed in Syria.

8 Hizbullah Fighters Killed in Syria's Idlib
Associated Press/Naharnet/March 01/2020
Hizbullah lost at least eight fighters in northwest Syria in skirmishes with insurgents and airstrikes by Turkey's air force, an opposition war monitor and the Iran-backed group said. The casualties followed the death of at least 33 Turkish soldiers earlier this week. The deaths marked the highest for the group in Syria in years as Hizbullah has pulled out many of its fighters from the neighboring country. Hizbullah sent thousands of its battle-hardened fighters into Syria a year after the country's conflict began in 2011, helping President Bashar Assad's forces win major battles against insurgents. But over the past two years, Hizbullah has withdrawn many of its forces, leaving only a few hundred of them in several areas around the war-torn country. The Britain-based Syrian Observatory for Human Rights said 14 Hizbullah fighters were killed Friday afternoon in the village of Talhiyeh when Turkish drones attacked their post as well as others of the Syrian army. The Observatory said 48 Syrian soldiers have also been killed since Thursday in Turkish bombardments and drone attacks in the region. The Observatory's chief, Rami Abdul Rahman, said the 14 Hizbullah fighters included 10 Lebanese citizens and four of other nationalities, including at least one Iranian. Hizbullah later released a statement listing the names and photos of eight of its fighters, including an Iranian cleric identified as Sayyed Ali Zengani. It gave no details other than saying that they "were martyred while performing their jihadi duties."
More than a thousand Hizbullah fighters, including several founding members, have been killed in Syria.

Woman forbidden from seeing daughter sparks debate over religious law in Lebanon
Abby Sewell, Special to Al Arabiya English/Sunday, 1 March
A video of a bereaved mother separated from her daughter’s grave by a fence has reignited the debate over Lebanon’s religion-based personal status law system.
In Lebanon, religious courts govern matters of marriage, divorce, and child custody. Each sect has its own set of rules, most of which give preference to men over women.
In the past week, a widely circulated video showed a woman named Lina Jaber from the Tyre area in southern Lebanon sobbing outside of the fenced private plot where her 14-year old daughter, Maya, is buried, wailing, “Sleep, my little one. You’re a martyr to injustice and wrath … My soul is with you, my darling. I want to die.”As Jaber previously told Al Arabiya she had been forbidden to see her daughter for more than two years after divorcing the girl’s father and had not been allowed to visit her grave after Maya died two months ago – allegedly from an accidental gunshot wound.
The Jaafari court, which enforces civil status issues for the Shia community, to which Jaber belongs, automatically gives custody to fathers at the age of two for boys and at the age of seven for girls when their parents get a divorce.
Activists protest against Lebanon’s personal status law. In the wake of the video’s publication, activists staged protests Friday in front of the Jaafari court in Tyre and Saturday in front of the Supreme Islamic Shia Council in south Beirut, calling for Shia religious authorities to change the custody rules.Meanwhile, advocates have renewed pressure for the introduction of legislation to create a unified, civil personal status law for all sects.
The protest in Tyre – where a tearful Jaber was present, holding her daughter’s picture – was sparsely attended. But Riham Roumieh, an activist with the group Cry of the Women of the South, said the fact that it was held at all was significant.
“This is the first time there has been a protest in Tyre over this issue, the issue of custody,” she told Al Arabiya. “It was a cry to ask for our right to custody -- specifically in front of the Jaafari court because the Jaafari Court is the one making the most unjust decisions regarding the rights of the woman and the child – and to encourage every mother who has a problem with the custody system to speak out and raise her voice because once they see we are not afraid and are speaking out, maybe something will change.”
At the protest in Beirut, protesters chanted, “In the name of the Imam Hussein, where is your justice?” referencing the Prophet Mohammed’s grandson, one of the holiest figures in the Shia sect.
Lina Zahr Eddine, who said she had been separated from her children for six years – eventually winning custody after “a very big fight,” told Al Arabiya, “It’s shameful that this thing is happening in Lebanon. At the least we should raise the age of custody for girl and the boy, and that there should be shared custody for the mother and the father.”
At a time when the attention of political leaders has turned to Lebanon’s economic crisis, activists are hoping that the attention Jaber’s case has received can help to return the spotlight to women’s rights issues.
Layal Awada, an attorney for the women’s rights group KAFA, said the group had been set to launch a proposed draft personal status law on October 18, but the eruption of mass anti-government protests on October 17, 2019, had temporarily derailed the plans. Claudine Aoun Roukoz, president of the National Commission for Lebanese Women, said she supports the draft legislation and is now searching for members of Parliament willing to put it forward.
Under the current system, she said, “Not only there is discrimination between women and men, there is discrimination between women and women” because women of different sects are treated differently. “The solution would be one law for everyone.”In the meantime, Aoun Roukoz said she is advocating for the religious authorities to amend their own laws.
As to whether lawmakers will be willing to make women’s rights issues a priority at a time when most are focused on the country’s economic crisis, she said, “Women’s issues are never priorities in Lebanon, from 100 years to now. It’s never a priority because there’s always something on the political or economic level.”This is despite women’s rights being important for economic growth, according to Aoun Roukoz. “If you want to have economic growth in a country, you need to have equal rights,” she said. “We have to make it a priority -- even if it’s not a priority in the minds of the politicians.”

Three new coronavirus cases confirmed in Lebanon, total now 10
Reuters, Beirut/Sunday, 1 March 2020
Lebanon’s health ministry said on Sunday three more people had tested positive for coronavirus after arriving from Iran, bringing the total in the country to 10. The three patients, who had been in isolation at home, were quarantined at a Beirut hospital after showing symptoms, the ministry said in a statement. Lebanon closed schools this week and halted flights for non-residents from countries with outbreaks, namely China, Iran, Italy and South Korea.

Al-Rahi Urges 'More Serious' Anti-Coronavirus Approach
Naharnet/March 01/2020
Maronite Patriarch Beshara al-Rahi on Sunday called on Lebanese authorities to adopt a “more serious approach” in its measures against the spread of the COVID-19 coronavirus. “The biggest concern is the spread of the coronavirus pandemic, which is threatening the safety of citizens be them young or old,” al-Rahi said in his Sunday Mass sermon. “It requires accurate solutions and a more serious approach,” he urged. Al-Rahi added: “We pray to God to help the officials and inspire them about the best means to overcome the stifling economic and financial crisis. We also plead to God to protect our people from hunger, need and sickness, especially the coronavirus disease.”Lebanon has confirmed seven coronavirus cases and the patients are being quarantined at Beirut’s state-run hospital. The majority of those infected had visited Iran in recent weeks. Lebanese authorities have ordered the closure of all educational institutions and nurseries until March 9 and have banned citizens of China, Iran, Italy and South Korea from visiting Lebanon unless they have residency permits. Religious visits to Iran and Iraq have meanwhile been halted but Lebanese authorities have said that Lebanese citizens in the most affected countries will be allowed to return home.

Rahi calls for courageous political decision to implement reforms
NNA/Sunday, 01 March 2020
Maronite Patriarch, Cardinal Bechara Boutros Rahi, presided over Sunday Mass service in Bkirki. During the ceremony, Rahi indicated that "a courageous political decision is required for the implementation of the needed reforms." He added: "People are waiting for the government to get the country out of its crisis, especially that many projects in this regard are ready, pending the political decision."

Fadlallah Defends Hizbullah Role in Idlib Battle
Naharnet/March 01/2020
Loyalty to Resistance bloc MP Hasan Fadlallah on Sunday defended Hizbullah’s participation in the ongoing battle in the northwestern Syrian province of Idlib near Turkey’s border, hours after Hizbullah announced the death of eight of its fighters there. “The Islamic Resistance martyrs who ascended yesterday were through their blood trying to thwart an attempt by the takfiri groups and the states that back them to spread their presence once again in Syria,” Fadlallah said at a memorial service for one of the slain fighters in the southern town of Kfardounin. “This battle that the resistance is fighting is in the face of a takfiri scheme led by the U.S. and its allies in the region,” the MP added. “We will remain at the heart of the confrontation against it after it faced a major defeat due to the resilience of Syria and its army along with our resistance and Syria’s allies. We will continue this confrontation to prevent these people from seizing control anew of Syria,” Fadlallah went on to say. He added: “We will remain in this battle as much as it needs our presence, at any location or spot, so that booby-trapped cars do not return to Lebanon and so that these groups do not return to our border.”
The deaths in Idlib marked the highest for Hizbullah in Syria in years as the group has pulled out many of its fighters from the neighboring country. Hizbullah sent thousands of its battle-hardened fighters into Syria a year after the country's conflict began in 2011, helping President Bashar Assad's forces win major battles against insurgents. But over the past two years, Hizbullah has withdrawn many of its forces, leaving only a few hundred of them in several areas around the war-torn country. The Britain-based Syrian Observatory for Human Rights said 14 Hizbullah fighters were killed Friday afternoon in the village of Talhiyeh when Turkish drones attacked their post as well as others of the Syrian army. The Observatory's chief, Rami Abdul Rahman, said the 14 Hizbullah fighters included 10 Lebanese citizens and four of other nationalities, including at least one Iranian. More than a thousand Hizbullah fighters, including several founding members, have been killed in Syria.

Berri Backs Capital Control but Not a 'Haircut'
Naharnet/March 01/2020
Parliament Speaker Nabih Berri is in favor of banks imposing capital control on depositors but he does not support a haircut, a media report said. “Speaker Nabih Berri supports capital controls that would preserve the money of depositors through allowing withdrawals in the form of installments,” sources told Kuwait’s al-Anbaa newspaper in remarks published Sunday. But he is against “a haircut which would deduct from deposits or turn them into long-term bonds,” the sources added. Major banks in Lebanon began tightening banking controls in early February, halving the amount of dollars depositors are allowed to withdraw every month, despite growing public anger. Faced with a dollar liquidity crunch, banks have imposed informal controls on dollar withdrawals and transfers abroad since September amid widespread anti-government protests and Lebanon's worst economic crisis in decades. Withdrawal limits differ from bank to bank, but have so far generally been capped at around $600 a month, while most transfers abroad have been halted. The informal controls have sparked public outrage in protest-hit Lebanon, where an anti-government street movement launched on October 17 has grown increasingly angry at banking policies."These new illegal measures by banks come with the political blessing of the new government," said activist Lucien Bourjeily. Experts and demonstrators say banking controls amount to a de facto "haircut" on savings because they are forcing dollar depositors to deal in the nosediving Lebanese pound. The currency has plunged against the greenback on the parallel exchange market, though the official peg of 1,507 pounds to the dollar in place since 1997 remains unchanged. Central bank chief Riad Salameh said in January that he agreed with money exchange houses to cap the parallel rate at 2,000 -- but exchanges continued to charge rates edging towards 2,500. Salameh also asked for special powers to authorize the banks to set withdrawal limits, which had not formally been backed by the government. The finance ministry, however, has yet to publicly respond to his request.

Lebanese Order of Physicians: To prevent entry of delegations from affected areas
NNA/Sunday, 01 March 2020
The Lebanese Order of Physicians organized a workshop on the "Coronavirus Crisis and Ways of Prevention", in the presence of the Ministers of Health, Hamad Hassan, and Social Affairs & Tourism, Ramzi Musharrafieh. At the end of the workshop, the delegates issued recommendations, the most important of which was the prohibition of entry of delegations from the affected areas to Lebanon, except for Lebanese citizens.

Health Ministry: Three new Coronavirus cases
NNA/Sunday, 01 March 2020
The Ministry of Public Health announced, in a statement on Sunday, that "three new laboratory-confirmed cases infected with the novel Coronavirus (COVID-19) have been registered, who were previously aboard planes coming from Iran and were present in domestic isolation, and when they showed symptoms of the disease were transferred to Rafic Hariri University Hospital, and upon confirmation of the positive result of the PCR examination, they were transferred to the Hospital's quarantine section; thus, raising the total number of infected cases to ten."
In the context of combating the epidemic, the Health Ministry called on all expatriates coming from countries experiencing a local spread of the virus, "to strictly adhere to domestic isolation measures, and when any symptoms appear, to immediately contact the number 76/592699."

Diab: Honoring of Maalouf is an additional incentive to restore the bright image of Lebanon
NNA/Sunday, 01 March 2020
Prime Minister Hassan Diab congratulated in a statement on Sunday, Lebanese renowned writer Amin Maalouf, after he was awarded the French National Order of Merit. "Despite the difficult circumstances that Lebanon is going through at the financial, economic, daily living and social levels, the French President Emmanuel Macron's honoring of the Lebanese writer Amin Maalouf with the National Order of Merit in the name of the French Republic, comes to reflect Lebanon's correct and civilized image; the Lebanon of culture, creativity and excellence," said Diab. "We express our pride in writer Maalouf and extend our congratulations to him. This honor adds to our determination to work hard to face challenges and restore the brighter image of Lebanon that all the Lebanese are proud of," Diab corroborated.

Diab says aim of assassinating Maarouf Saad was to kill the dreams of the Lebanese
NNA/Sunday, 01 March 2020
Prime Minister Hassan Diab tweeted Sunday on the commemoration of Martyr Maarouf Saad, saying: "Although 45 years have passed since the assassination of Martyr Maarouf Saad, the crime did not fade over time, for the goal was to kill the aspirations of the Lebanese in a state for all its people."

Japan to Send Vice Justice Minister to Lebanon over Ghosn Case
Agence France Presse/Naharnet/March 01/2020
Japan has said it would send a deputy justice minister to Lebanon after failed attempts to get former Nissan chief Carlos Ghosn to return for trial on financial misconduct charges. Hiroyuki Yoshiie, a deputy to Justice Minister Masako Mori, is to leave Tokyo on Saturday to meet the Lebanese justice minister and other officials, the ministry confirmed. He will return to Tokyo on Tuesday. "The accused (Ghosn) fled to Lebanon. We need to have people there understand Japan's justice system correctly," a justice ministry official told AFP while refraining from saying whether the visit was directly aimed at negotiating Ghosn's handover. "There has been criticism in the international community of Japan's justice system. We need to promote a correct understanding of our system and deepen cooperation with Lebanon," said the official who declined to be named. Ghosn was arrested in November 2018 on financial misconduct charges and spent 130 days in detention. He dramatically jumped bail and fled Japan at the year end, leaving officials red-faced. They have demanded Ghosn return to face trial but Lebanon does not have an extradition treaty with Japan. Ghosn has denied all the charges and claimed he was a victim of a plot by Nissan and Japanese officials. He and his legal team also referred to the extended periods of detention as "hostage justice", arguing the prosecutors were trying to force him to admit charges that he continues to deny.

Council of Arab Interior Ministers: Adopting an Arab strategy to confront information technology crimes
NNA/Sunday, 01 March 2020
The General Secretariat of the Council of Arab Interior Ministers announced, in a statement on Sunday, that the Council has decided at the conclusion of its 37th session held today in the Tunisian capital, to award the Prince Nayef Medal for Arab Security of Excellence degree, in its third session, to the Jordanian King Abdullah II Bin Al Hussein "in appreciation of his support to the joint Arab security work, his pioneering efforts to strengthen brotherhood and cooperation relations between Arab countries, and to the consolidation of peace and security in the region and the world."In its final recommendations, the Council approved the Arab strategy to confront information technology crimes, and decided to establish a unit within the scope of the General Secretariat to combat these crimes. It also approved the executive plan for the project to develop the Arab strategy to combat terrorism and the guidelines for the work of its sub-committees. In their delivered speeches during the conference, a number of Arab interior ministers touched on the security threats facing the Arab region today, in the forefront of which are terrorism, drugs, illegal immigration and other forms of transnational organized crime.
Conferees also stressed on their keenness to continue to work to strengthen and develop the march of Arab joint security work, and reach more achievements in order to provide security and stability for all Arab peoples.

Raad: The Eurobond deadline will have repercussions on our country
NNA/Sunday, 01 March 2020
Head of the "Loyalty to the Resistance" Parliamentary Bloc, MP Mohammad Raad, hoped that "we will take steps, even if they are simple and modest, to confront the upcoming deadline on March 15, where a stance must be taken on the issue of repaying the Eurobond," saying that the deadline "will leave repercussions on our country."Speaking at a memorial service in the town of Bnehran in Koura today, Raad deemed that it is not enough for a person to stand on an uphill and blame those who have dealt with the government's affairs. He, thus, highlighted the need to reassess one's role in contributing to the country's prevailing situation, and assist in a national economic revival. "We still hope that such re-evaluation will take place, because we remain keen on strengthening our internal national unity, which is part of the constituents of the nation's resilience in the face of its enemies," Raad underscored.

Fahmi at the Arab Interior Ministers Conference: Lebanon is an integral part of the Arab nation
NNA/Sunday, 01 March 2020
Interior and Municipalities Minister, Mohamed Fahmi, affirmed that Lebanon is an integral part of the Arab nation, saying, "We will remain united together, God willing, in order to build a better future for our peoples." Delivering Lebanon's address at the 37th Arab Interior Ministers Conference held at the headquarters of the Council's General Secretariat in Tunisia on Sunday, Fahmi stressed that "Lebanon will not abandon its natural bosom, the embrace of its nation and its brothers," adding that "relations will return to their previous status." "There is an integrated challenge system facing our countries and our peoples to destroy what the ancestors built, which can only be confronted with our cooperation, cohesion, and unity," Fahmi underlined. He added that "security interaction and continuous coordination have a positive impact in reaching what has been achieved in terms of security work and proactive security."
Fahmi continued to stress that "the Lebanese government faces a heavy burden of daily living, economic and financial challenges, and also at the political and security levels," describing it as "a government facing the challenges that resulted from the womb of pain and starvation, and is really a government for all the Lebanese."Over the Syrian displacement issue, the Interior Minister indicated that "the insignificant international offerings to the displaced, whose number exceeded a million and a half, has exacerbated the crisis that is still being felt in the country." On the other hand, and pursuing the second day of his official visit to Tunisia, Minister Fahmi held a series of meetings on the sidelines of the conference, where he held talks with the Saudi Interior Minister, Prince Abdul Aziz bin Saud bin Nayef bin Abdul Aziz, on the brotherly relations between the Saudi Kingdom and Lebanon and other matters of mutual interest. Fahmi stressed, herein, "the depth of the strong relations between the Saudi and Lebanese people, and the appreciation of the Lebanese leadership and people to Saudi Arabia, which embraces a major Lebanese community working in the Kingdom."
Fahmi later met with Sultanate of Oman's Interior Minister, Hammoud bin Faisal Al-Bouseidi, with the Lebanese-Omani relations topping their discussion. Fahmi seized the opportunity to wish all success to the new Omani leadership, praising the relation bonds between the two countries.
Later in the afternoon, the Interior Minister met with his Emirati counterpart, Saif bin Zayed Al Nahyan, with talks centering on the strong relations between the Lebanese and the Emirati State, as well as common matters between the two countries. Fahmi praised "the pivotal Emirati role in the region at all levels, and the contributions it makes through Arab programs and organizations for Lebanon," confirming "the depth of ties that unite the Lebanese and Emirati people, and ways to develop them towards a more advanced future to the benefit of both countries."
In his meeting with his Jordanian counterpart, Salama Hammad Al Suhaim, Fahmi also tackled the Lebanese-Jordanian relations and joint coordination at all levels. Additionally, Minister Fahmi held talks with the Minister of Justice in the State of Qatar, Dr. Issa bin Saad Al Juffali Al Nuaimi, on the latest developments in the region, and mutual coordination on matters of common concern in light of the existing challenges. Fahmi expressed his permanent gratitude to the State of Qatar, "which has supported Lebanon in all the difficult stages it has witnessed, especially during the stages of the Israeli aggression." He also praised the role of the Qatari leadership "in embracing the Lebanese community, which plays a prominent role in the interaction between the Lebanese and Qatari people."

Hussein al-Wajeh appointed as 'Media Affairs Adviser' at Hariri's office
NNANNA/Sunday, 01 March 2020
Former Prime Minister Saad Hariri's press office announced in a statement on Sunday, the appointment of Hussein al-Wajeh as "Adviser for Media Affairs" at Hariri's private office, effective March 1, 2020.

European Chambers of Experts Federation Representative: Not to compromise in containing the risks of Coronavirus
NNA/Sunday, 01 March 2020
The representative of the Federation of European Chambers of Experts in Beirut, Counselor at the International Court for Dispute Resolution, Dr. Nabil Bou Ghantous, cautioned against any compromising attempt in containing the risks of the emerging Coronavirus.
In an issued statement on Sunday, Bou Ghantous commended the Education Minister's decision to close schools and universities next week "to protect our children and young adults from the dangers of the Coronavirus", calling for strict control over said decision "after we learned that two of the largest universities in Beirut did not adhere to the closure, in addition to some other educational institutions." Bou Ghantous also deemed the decision to close popular markets as being a "precautionary step" on the right path, and called on officials and all concerned bodies in the public and private sectors to avoid any "leniency, slothfulness or delay in taking urgent measures to contain the risks that may arise from the spread of this epidemic, because the capabilities of confrontation available in Lebanon at present might be traditional, primitive and limited."

حنين غدار: الكورونا هو قبلة الموت الإيرانية للبنانيين
Coronavirus: Iran’s Kiss of Death to the Lebanese
Hanin Ghaddar/Al Arabiya/March 01/2020
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As the Lebanese begin to fear the spread of coronavirus coming from Iran, Lebanon’s Health Minister finally announced a halt to “transportation by air, land, and sea for all persons arriving from countries that witness an outbreak of the coronavirus, with the exception of flights that exclusively carry Lebanese citizens and residents of Lebanon." He listed China, South Korea, Italy, and Iran as the countries currently affected by the ban.
Not only did this decision come late – as Iranian planes have already been landing in Lebanon, bringing confirmed cases of coronavirus with them – but it did not really convey the truth. On the same day that the minister announced the ban, local media reported that a group coming from Iran crossed into Lebanon via the Lebanese-Syrian border. Meanwhile, the Lebanese embassy in Tehran asked Lebanese nationals residing in Iran to return to Lebanon, recommending they book specific flights on March 2 and March 4.
It is not surprising that the Lebanese government is making inaccurate announcements. This is a government that was entirely designed and vetted by Lebanese Hezbollah and will not make decisions that harm the interests of the organization or its Iranian backers. However, the government still had to make assurances – although deceptive – to calm fears in Lebanon, where people are now seriously worried after the health ministry said on Sunday three more people had tested positive for coronavirus after arriving from Iran, bringing the total in the country to 10.
Many of those concerned are Hezbollah’s own community within the Shia population in Lebanon, who are more exposed to the virus coming straight to them from Iran. In addition to Hezbollah’s failure to fight corruption, implement reforms, or form a government that can save Lebanon, now the “Party of God” is utterly embarrassed as the deadly virus comes from Iran, the only place that was supposed to be the savior of Lebanon – not its deathtrap.
Hezbollah is still trying to handle the potential risk coming from Iran, but the repercussions might be more critical than expected. In addition to the reported cases, Syrian sources told local media that many fighters in Iran’s militias fighting in Syria – including Hezbollah fighters – have already been infected with the virus, and they go back to Lebanon regularly. Therefore, the Shia community will eventually realize that it not only will be more exposed to the coronavirus than the rest of the Lebanese, it will also be further isolated from other communities.
Moreover, the Lebanese in general are going to be banned from travel once the virus spreads as it is in Iran. Bahrain has already suspended flights to and from Iraq and Lebanon, and many other countries in the region and the world will follow. In the midst of the ongoing financial crisis in Lebanon, this is the last thing the Lebanese need. Again, fingers will be pointed at Hezbollah and Iran.
Lebanon is apparently unprepared for a large-scale coronavirus outbreak. Asked whether Lebanon could deal with a widespread local transmission of the virus, World Health Organization representative for Lebanon Dr. Iman Shankiti told The Daily Star, “If we have a huge number, no ... with current supplies and capacities it will be difficult.” She added that Hariri University Hospital is able to accommodate 128 mild cases and around 11 severe cases.
Hezbollah seems to be stuck between the Shia community’s fears and potential rage on the one hand, and its relations with the Iranian regime on the other. If Hezbollah halts all travel to and from Iran, and eventually the countries where the Iranian regime’s armies are spread – Syria, Iraq and Yemen – the organization will be isolated from its life source and the core of its strength. But if it doesn’t, Hezbollah will have to face unprecedented outrage from the Lebanese people in general and the Shia community in particular, with discontent already simmering because of the ongoing financial crisis.
With no means to control this situation, Iran and Hezbollah are – probably for the first time – incapable of creating a strategy to giving assurances to the people. This is a virus that has spread universally. It is not a conspiracy by the West. It is not a weapon created by the US or Israel to kill the Iranian and Lebanese people. In fact, it started in China, Iran and Hezbollah’s ally.
Iran is starting to look bad. Not only has it stopped sending money to Lebanon, but it is now sending a deadly virus instead. Hezbollah has barely recovered from the nationwide protests that shook it to its core. It is going to be much more difficult to come back from this crisis once the virus takes hold locally.

راغدة درغام: حزب الله يضيف الكورونا لقائمة ما يستورده من إيران ويفرضه على اللبنانيين
Hezbollah adds coronavirus to list of things imported from Iran, imposed on Lebanese
Raghida Dergham/The National/March 01/2020
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Lebanon’s dysfunction and ongoing disintegration are largely the fault of the country's political class, which has looted its resources and stolen its future. Lebanon is in grave danger, with Iran and Hezbollah directly implicated, as it faces political siege, economic collapse and now a viral epidemic.
A troika system, in which Lebanon's three high offices are shared between religious sects, governs in Beirut. This means that responsibility for political-economic and health crises alike falls on the shoulders of President Michel Aoun, Prime Minister Hassan Diab and parliamentary speaker Nabih Berri to confront Hezbollah – the militant party controlling parliament.
But instead of acting on Lebanon's issues, the leadership is engaged in stalling and horse-trading. If this continues, it must be held accountable at home and internationally. The ongoing shirking of moral and constitutional responsibilities puts the Lebanese people at mortal risk.
At present, Hezbollah's continued rejection of assistance from the International Monetary Fund to bail Lebanon out of its ongoing financial crisis risks causing economic catastrophe. Moreover, the United States has already started preparing new sanctions on Hezbollah allies and associates under the Magnitsky Act. The American law has both security and human-rights dimensions, and empowers US courts with universal jurisdiction to prosecute those involved in serious violations or corruption by freezing assets, imposing travel bans and compelling governments to cooperate on penalty of sanctions.
Europe, for its part, is coddling the Lebanese government by implying
through diplomatic channels that EU policies diverge from American ones. This is misleading, given that European leaders will find it difficult to provide any assistance to the Hezbollah - backed government in Beirut, without American consent.
Instead, Lebanon needs the international community to support a bold position against Hezbollah, as well as clarity from the party on its organisational relationship with Iran – including overlaps within its ranks between its own militants and personnel from Iran's Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps, particularly the latter's elite Quds Force.
These murky political and militant links are not only threatening Lebanon's economy, but also its people's health. Of course, one first hopes that Iran will be able to contain the epidemic there for the sake of Iranians. But in Lebanon, the performance of the health minister Mohammad Hassan, who is affiliated to Hezbollah, has been dismal and dangerous.
All over the Middle East, countries are endeavouring to contain coronavirus by halting flights from Iran – by far the worst-hit country in the region. Mr Hassan and the Hezbollah government are declining to do so, leaving all Lebanese people heavily exposed.
It falls on all three of Lebanon's top leaders to fully disclose the coronavirus-related risks being imposed on the people, and to be transparent about the virus's spread within Lebanese borders. It is widely suspected that Iran is putting itself on a path to self-destruction by covering up the real number of cases. Lebanon cannot afford to do the same.
Hezbollah has already imported a failing revolution from Iran to Lebanon because of its misplaced loyalty to Tehran. It must not allow the import of a viral epidemic on that account as well.
Furthermore, a deepening of Lebanon's economic crisis will only weaken the ability of its medical sector to fight coronavirus.
Mr Diab and his cabinet would do well to ignore Hezbollah’s opposition to an IMF rescue plan, which has been entrenched further by a "fatwa" from the party's deputy secretary general, Sheikh Naim Qassem, barring anything more than "technical assistance". This would earn Mr Diab the confidence of the Lebanese and the global community. It would also render him an ally of the revolution against corruption. But crucially, it would also attract to Lebanon the resources it needs to brace for the other challenges that lie ahead.
It is no secret that US President Donald Trump, Secretary of State Mike Pompeo, and the rest of the US government have resolved that political solutions in Lebanon are the condition for economic ones, and that Hezbollah is the main obstacle standing in the way.
Denial of the necessity to meet these demands has brought Lebanon to the brink. Yet, many in Lebanon – first and foremost those who support the current government – demand that the US and other Western powers “accommodate and adapt” to their country's "special circumstances" of being open to the West yet beholden to Iran. In reality, what the Lebanese must do, in order to save themselves, is demand that Hezbollah accommodate and adapt.
The interests of Hezbollah’s popular base and constituency are better served by fighting corruption and taking practical steps to receive much-needed global support. The party's leaders fear IMF assistance because they think it would undermine their power, and because real reforms would lead to Hezbollah’s financial ruin. For this reason, the issue is almost an existential one for Hezbollah.
Hezbollah would be better off re-conceiving itself as a purely Lebanese entity that does not play along with Iran's regional expansionist policies. Only by engaging with an IMF bailout program, taking a path to real reform and adopting measures that support the healthcare system rather than weaken it will the government in Beirut win the real support of the people it claims to represent.
*Raghida Dergham is the founder and executive chairwoman of the Beirut Institute
https://www.thenational.ae/opinion/hezbollah-adds-coronavirus-to-list-of-things-imported-from-iran-imposed-on-lebanese-1.986178

Hezbollah Cannot Survive Without Iran’s Support, Lebanese Analyst Says
Ahmad Rafat/Kayhan Life/February 29/2020
Tens of thousands of Lebanese marched in the streets of their capital city Beirut earlier this month to protest against the prevailing economic crisis, high unemployment, and widespread corruption in the country. The demonstrators tried to block the entrance to the Lebanese Parliament to prevent members from casting their vote of confidence for the new Prime Minister Hassan Diab and his government.
Footage on social media and several network news outlets showed plainclothes security officers, Hezbollah agents and members of the Shia Amal Movement brutalizing the protesters. According to a report by the Lebanese Red Cross, clashes between the demonstrators and security forces left some 400 people injured.
The Lebanese Parliament ultimately passed the motion with 69 votes cast by members of Hezbollah, the Shia Amal Movement, and President Michel Aoun’s Free Patriotic Movement comprised mostly Christian deputies.
According to Lebanese law, the prime minister must be a Sunni Muslim. Many Sunni groups, Christians and Druze (Arabic-speaking religious sect), however, either rejected the motion or did not vote at all.
Meanwhile, the nationwide protest, which began on October 17 in Lebanon, continues.
The unrest forced former Prime Minister Saad Hariri to resign on January 21. Subsequently, no candidate received the number of votes from various political parties needed to form a government. Hezbollah, the Shia Amal Movement, and the Free Patriotic Movement hold the majority seats in the current Lebanese Parliament.
Mr. Hariri’s government also included members of the Progressive Socialist Party (PSP), Druze, and the Lebanese Forces (a Christian political party and former militia during the Lebanese Civil War.)
The anti-government protesters have been calling for a complete overhaul of the political and economic systems in the country that would end high unemployment, rampant corruption, and sectarianism.
One of the more significant aspects of the recent protest is the large presence of young people from Lebanon’s Shia community.
Since the creation of Hezbollah in 1985, this is the first time that thousands of protesters have poured into the streets in the southern districts of Beirut and other Shia towns that have been under the control of the Iranian-backed groups for many years, including Tyre, Nabatieh and Bint Jbeil.
Besides the slogans against corruption and sectarianism, the young Shia protesters were also shouting “All Means Everyone Including Nasrallah,” referring to the Secretary-General of Hezbollah, Hassan Nasrallah.
Widespread protests and bold slogans show Hezbollah’s declining power and prestige in Lebanon. Even the Beirut-based pro-Hezbollah Al-Manar TV was forced to interview some protesters, some of whom argued that Hezbollah’s involvement in Yemen and Iraq had caused the crisis in Lebanon.
Walid Phares, a Washington-based Lebanese-American conservative political analyst and commentator who worked for the Republican presidential campaign of Donald Trump in 2016, has described the recent protests in Beirut as “a genuine and robust revolution,” which can set a new course for the country if “it follows a correct strategy.” Mr. Phares has published 12 books in Arabic, English, and French.
Phares also published “Background of the Khomeinist Islamic revolution in Iran” in arabic in Beirut 1986. Jaffar Shafizadeh was a commander of a revolutionary tactical unit and a personal bodyguard of the founder of the Islamic Republic Ayatollah Ruhollah Khomeini during his stay in Neauphle-le-Chateau, France in 1978 and afterward in Tehran.
Phares discusses Iranian opposition groups and the Islamic Republic’s efforts to undermine the Arab Spring in his last book, “The Lost Spring: U.S. Policy in the Middle East and Catastrophes to Avoid,” published in English in 2014.
The following is Kayhan Life’s interview with Walid Phares:
Hezbollah was created in the offices of the Iranian Ambassador to Syria Ali Akbar Mohtashamipur in 1985. What role has the organization played in Lebanese politics since then?
Hezbollah was the brainchild of the Islamic Republic. There was no Hezbollah in Lebanon until Khomeini came to power in Iran in 1979. There were only the Shia Amal Movement and the “Movement of the Dispossessed.” Hezbollah is the offspring of the Islamic Republic and the Islamic Revolutionary Guards Corps (IRGC). The bankrupt political system in Lebanon provided a fertile ground for the development of Hezbollah.
With the help of the former Syrian President Hafez al-Assad (1930-2000), Hezbollah gained control over Lebanon in the 1990s. The Lebanese people challenged Hezbollah’s authority for the first time in 2005. The assassination of former Lebanese Prime Minister Rafik Hariri in the same year sparked widespread unrest dubbed “Cedar Revolution,” which ultimately forced Syria to withdraw from Lebanon officially. Subsequently, the United Nations adopted Resolution 1559, which called for the disarmament of Hezbollah.
Hezbollah, however, never disarmed. It is an illegal armed group. It occupied Beirut in 2008 and has been controlling the city ever since. Hezbollah controls the Lebanese government, Parliament, state institutions, and even some segments of the military. It is a mistake to think of the organization as just another Shia militia group because it has been part of Khomeini’s Islamic Revolution for a long time.
Hezbollah enjoyed massive support among Shia and Christian communities in Lebanon until recently. How did it lose its popularity?
Hezbollah did not expect civil unrest — namely the revolution — which started in October 2019 and continues to this day. Back in 2008, Lebanese people had concluded that it was impossible to revolt against Hezbollah because the group had reached a verbal agreement with other parties according to which it left the economy of the country to others to manage while it controlled the military and security affairs. In other words, Hezbollah gained the right to arm itself by receiving a political concession from other political parties.
The organization urged Lebanese people to stay out of politics and enjoy relative economic prosperity instead. What ultimately tipped the balance against Hezbollah was rampant corruption in the country, spearheaded by President Michel Aoun, who has close ties to the group. Lebanon had a massive foreign currency reserve, which is now all but gone. Lebanese people have suddenly realized that they have lost both their freedom and economic prosperity.
Hezbollah and its supporters had hoped that changing the prime minister and the cabinet would put an end to the protests. They were, however, wrong because the unrest is a genuine and robust revolution. Although it is not an armed struggle, the movement has disarmed the government and all political parties.
Lebanese people crave a fundamental change that Hezbollah cannot accept because it would cause the election of an independent government, which will fight corruption and will call for decommissioning the organization. An independent and democratic Lebanon cannot tolerate militias on its soil. If disarmed, Hezbollah will lose its control of Lebanon.
The most significant aspect of the recent protests is the participation of young Shias in the marches. Young people have poured into the streets of Shia towns that have been under the control of the Iranian-backed groups for years, including Tyre, Nabatieh, and Bint Jbeil. Lebanese youth want to live normal lives in a stable country.
Can the death of the former commander of the IRGC’s Qods Force (IRGC-QF) Lieutenant General Ghasem Soleimani signal the end of Iran’s so-called “Resistant Front” with Hezbollah as its principal component?
It will depend on the future foreign policies of Iran and the U.S. As far as Washington is concerned, the Islamic Republic regime and the IRGC have systematically terrorized Iranian people. The Qods Force, under the command of General Soleimani, expanded Iran’s presence and influence in Syria, Iraq, Yemen, and other parts of the region using Shia militias.
When President Barack Obama withdrew the U.S. military forces from Iraq, he handed the country to Shia militias. Subsequently, some groups in the country supported the Islamic State of Iraq and the Levant (ISIS), which prompted the U.S. military to return to that region.
Instead of thanking the Americans for defeating ISIS, General Soleimani, and the troops under his command quickly occupied the territories that had been liberated by the U.S. military.
Soleimani and Shia militias also launched a new wave of attacks against the American military forces in Iraq. Washington had tolerated Tehran’s activities in Iraq and the region up to this point.
The widespread street protests by ordinary Iranians, Iraqis, and Lebanese in the past year have frightened the IRGC and the Qods Force, particularly after young Shia Iraqis joined the Sunni Muslims and Kurdish minorities in the street marches against the presence and influence of Iran in their country.
The Iranian regime can either restart its attacks against the U.S. interests and forces in the region or wait until the November 2020 elections, hoping for a new president in Washington who might adopt a more conciliatory approach toward Tehran.
Does this mean Hezbollah will continue to control Lebanon?
The fate of Lebanon is intrinsically linked to that of the Iranian regime. We will not see any real changes in Lebanon as long as the Islamic Republic continues to fund and arm the organization. Hezbollah will collapse quickly without its military wing. It might survive as a political party by securing a small percentage of the seats in the Parliament, but it will not exert any real influence.

The Latest English LCCC Miscellaneous Reports And News published on March 01-02/2020
Nazanin Zaghari-Ratcliffe: British-Iranian prisoner suspected to have coronavirus
Jack Dutton/The National/March 01/2020
UK Foreign Office is urging prison officials to test her for the illness
Nazanin Zaghari-Ratcliffe, the British-Iranian national that has been detained in Tehran, is suspected to have coronavirus, her family has said. The 41-year-old dual national, who has been held in Evin Prison since 2016, issued a statement via the Free Nazanin campaign on Saturday. “I am not good. I feel very bad in fact. It is a strange cold. Not like usual. I know the kinds of cold I normally have, how my body reacts,” she said. “This is different. I am just as bad as I was. I often get better after three days. But with this there is no improvement. I haven’t got one bit better.” The campaign said it believes she has contracted coronavirus inside the capital's notorious Evin Prison, mainly due due to lack of hygiene materials for inmates. "We are concerned by the prison authorities' refusal to test her, and the wider suppression of coronavirus inside the Iranian prison system," the statement said. Her husband, Richard Ratcliffe, called on the British government to ensure she is immediately tested for Covid-19 by officials at the jail. Ms Zaghari-Ratcliffe was reported to have a sore throat for more than five days, after first experiencing a runny nose and a cough. “Now I have this continual cold sweat, I have a temperature, though not all the time,” she said in the statement. “I have difficulty breathing and pain in my muscles, and fatigue. I do not pant, but I am finding it hard to breathe. And I am just very, very tired. I have a real tiredness, and a heavy head. I am too tired to do anything. She added that she had been shivering every night and her symptoms did not feel like a normal cold. There are no confirmed cases of the virus in the jail but Iran is one of the worst affected countries from the outbreak – 43 people have died out of at least 593 identified cases. But human rights groups have expressed concern at the lack of hygiene provisions for prisoners in Iran. On Friday the Centre for Human Rights in Iran said it was "extremely concerned" by reports that prisoners in Iran lack access to medicines as well as hygiene and sanitary products amid fast rising death toll from the Covid-19 outbreak in the country. Ms Zaghari-Ratcliffe was arrested at Tehran’s Imam Khomeini airport while travelling to visit her family for Nowruz, Iranian New Year, in April 2016. She was sentenced to five years in prison on charges of espionage. The prosecutor general of Tehran said in October 2017 that she was detained for running journalism course and “training people to spread propaganda against Iran". She denies the charges. Commenting on the case, the British Foreign Office said: “We are urgently seeking information from the Iranian authorities on reports that coronavirus is spreading in Evin prison, including to British-Iranian dual nationals. “We call on the Iranian government to immediately allow health professionals into Evin prison to assess the situation of British-Iranian dual nationals there.” Tulip Siddiq, Labour MP for Hampstead and Kilburn, Ms Zaghari-Ratcliffe’s constituency, said on Saturday she was “very concerned” to hear that she may have caught coronavirus in prison. Ms Siddiq later spoke to Mr Ratcliffe, who she said was “very shaken”. Mr Ratcliffe said that the whole family was “terrified for her safety”.
The MP said she will be raising the issue urgently in Parliament on Monday.

Newly elected Iranian MP dies of ‘flu’ amid coronavirus outbreak
Al Arabiya English/Sunday, 1 March 2020
Iranian lawmaker Mohammad Ali Ramazani Dastak died in disputed circumstances on Saturday as coronavirus continued to spread across Iran. Official news agencies say that Dastak died of the flu, but other media reports claim Dastak is the latest Iranian official to have a case of coronavirus. Iran’s deputy health minister and several prominent MPs have all reported cases of coronavirus. Find out more in our dedicated coronavirus section here. Dastak was “hospitalized due to influenza and chemical injuries” dating back to the Iran-Iraq war, according to a report by The Independent, which cited Iran’s semi-official ISNA news agency. But other journalists reported that Dastak, who was elected as one of the MPs in February, died of coronavirus.Watch: Clinic in Iran torched, believed to be coronavirus quarantine. “Newly elected MP Mohammad Ramazani died due to a coronavirus infection,” Iranian journalist Mohamad Ahwaze said in a tweet. Iran confirmed on Saturday 205 new cases of coronavirus within a 24-hour period, according to Iran state TV, bringing the total to 593. There have been 43 officially confirmed deaths in Iran due to coronavirus. However, on Friday BBC Persian reported that the death toll was much higher and has reached 210, citing Iranian hospital sources.

Iran raises death toll to 54 from new coronavirus
AP/March 01/2020
The new cases were confirmed in a number of cities, including Mashhad, which is home to Iran’s most important Shiite shrine
The new figures represent 11 more deaths than reported on Saturday and a whopping 385 new cases of infections
TEHRAN, Iran: Iran’s health ministry raised on Sunday the nationwide death toll from the new coronavirus to 54 as the number of confirmed infected cases jumped overnight by more than half to 978 people. The ministry’s spokesman Kianoush Jahanpour said new cases were confirmed in a number of cities, including Mashhad, which is home to Iran’s most important Shiite shrine that attracts pilgrims from across the region. Calls by Iran’s civilian government to clerics to close such shrines to to the public have not been uniformly followed. The shrine in Mashhad is among those that have remained open. The new figures represent 11 more deaths than reported on Saturday and a whopping 385 new cases of infections. The new numbers, however, bring down the percentage of deaths to infections to around 5.5%. Still, that is much higher than other countries, suggesting the number of infections in Iran may be much higher than current figures show.
Jahanpour said in his daily briefing that the number of cases is “still inclining” across Iran.
Of the 385 newly confirmed cases, 170 are in Tehran, where schools and cinemas have remained closed for the second week. Public buses and the metro are still operating, but are being disinfected daily there. The ministry spokesman said that 44 cases were also confirmed for the first time in the central Markazi province. Also on Sunday, Iran’s state broadcaster said all flights to and from the city of Rasht, the capital of nothern Gilan province, had been suspended. It gave no reasons why. The area of Gilan has some of Iran’s highest number of infections after the capital, Tehran, and the holy city of Qom, the epicenter of the virus outbreak in the country. The Revolutionary Guard said it plans to install mobile hospitals in Qom and Rasht cities, where the virus has infected high numbers of people. The Guard has also been photographed in state media leading disinfection efforts in some cities.
Ali Reza Jalali, the head of the Guard’s medical college, told state TV that Iran is going through a “hard time and dangerous period.” He claimed the group is researching a possible vaccine for the disease. There is currently no vaccine for the novel coronavirus. Researchers around the world are working to find one, but anything widely usable is likely more than a year away. The illness, known as COVID-19 and that originated in central China, has infected at least seven government officials in Iran, including one of its vice presidents and a senior health ministry official.
After days of assurances that the virus was largely under control, officials recently acknowledged Iran is preparing for the possibility of “tens of thousands” of people getting tested for the virus behind the outbreak. The first cases were not reported in Iran until Feb. 19, the same day that the two elderly infected people died. Since then, of the more than 1,100 cases in the Middle East, the majority trace back to Iran. Cases from Iran have been reported in Kuwait, Bahrain, Oman, the United Arab Emirates, Qatar, Lebanon, Afghanistan, Iraq and Pakistan. Starting on Sunday, all nurseries in the UAE licensed by the education ministry were closed for at least two weeks to limit the spread of the virus, and Kuwait suspended school until March 12. The virus has infected more than 86,000 people worldwide and caused more than 2,900 deaths since emerging in China. Iran has the world’s highest death toll outside of China, where there has been 2,870 deaths among close to 80,000 cases. The outbreak in Iran has prompted its neighbors to seal their borders to Iranians, while other Gulf states have halted flights to Iran. On Saturday, the US announced heightened warnings about travel to certain regions of Italy and South Korea, as well as a ban on travel to Iran, due to the virus. Ali Ahmadi, a resident in Tehran, said the US has already made it difficult for Iranians, including its scientists, to travel there.
“Now that the virus has appeared, we expect nothing less from America,” he said, expressing widespread frustration with US policies on Iran. Islam’s holiest sites in Saudi Arabia have been closed to foreign pilgrims to limit the spread of the virus. The kingdom does not have any reported cases of the virus, and has halted all fights to and from China and Iran. One of the most important Shiite shrines in the world in Iraq’s Najaf city has also closed to Iranian pilgrims after a student from Iran studying there was confirmed to have the highly infectious virus.
Saeed Moghaddam, also in Tehran, said Iranians are suffering because of a virus that came from China “We are not the cause of this virus spreading in other countries. We are battling with this ourselves,” he said.

‘Lick the shrine’ videos in Iran go viral amid coronavirus fears
Yaghoub Fazeli, Al Arabiya English/Sunday, 1 March 2020
Videos showing Iranians kissing and licking Shia shrines despite the risks of coronavirus have gone viral online, amid controversy over calls to close access to the shrines as the country continues to suffer from an outbreak of the deadly virus.
Iran has reported the highest number of coronavirus cases in the Middle East, many of them in Qom, home to several Shia shrines. While Saudi Arabia has suspended access to Mecca for pilgrims on Umrah, Iran has not responded to increasing calls to limit access to Qom to halt the spread of coronavirus. Keep track of all breaking coronavirus news in our dedicated section. “Stop scaring the people this much with coronavirus,” said a man filming himself at the Fatima Masumeh shrine in Qom in one of the videos. He attacked those who have stopped visiting the shrine following the coronavirus outbreak, then proceeded to kiss the walls of the entrance of the shrine as well as the shrine itself. “Stop toying with people’s beliefs, coronavirus is nothing in the Shia shrines,” he said in response to calls to close down the shrine. The individuals partaking in the online trend aim to prove that the spread of coronavirus in Iran will not deter them from visiting the shrines, which many Shia consider to have healing affects. The videos were filmed in Qom and Mashhad, Iran’s two main religious cities.
The representative of Iran’s Supreme Leader Ayatollah Ali Khamenei in Qom had previously urged Iranians to visit the Fatima Masumeh shrine, calling it a “place of healing,” despite the coronavirus outbreak in the city.
“I am going to lick here to take in all the coronavirus,” says a man in another video from the same shrine in Qom, before proceeding to lick the shrine. A third video shows a young boy licking and kissing the door of a shrine as an older man films and praises him. Another video from the city of Mashhad, where the Imam Reza shrine is located, showed a man licking the shrine and saying: “I have come to lick the Imam Reza shrine so that I contract this disease and allow others to visit the shrine with peace of mind.” The Shia shrines in Iran, which attract millions of Shia pilgrims every year, have remained open despite coronavirus concerns and are touched and kissed by thousands of pilgrims every day. Iranian Supreme Leader Ali Khamenei’s representative in Qom last week urged pilgrims to continue to visit the shrines.
“We consider this holy shrine to be a place of healing. That means people should come here to heal from spiritual and physical diseases,” said cleric Mohammad Saeedi. Iran’s death toll from the outbreak has reached 43, a health official told state TV on Saturday, adding that the number of infected people across the country has reached 593.

Coughing pope cancels trip, but it’s just a cold, not coronavirus
AP/March 01/2020
VATICAN CITY: A coughing Pope Francis told pilgrims gathered for the traditional Sunday blessing that he is canceling his participation at a week-long spiritual retreat in the Roman countryside because of a cold. It is the first time in his seven-year papacy that he has missed the spiritual exercises that he initiated early in his ponitificate to mark the start of each Lenten season. Such retreats are typical Jesuits, an order to which he belongs. The 83-year-old pontiff, who lost part of a lung to a respiratory illness as a young man, has canceled several official engagements this week as he battled an apparent cold. The Holy See press office has called it a “slight illness” without giving other details. His weekly appearance Sunday to pilgrims from a window high above St. Peter’s Square was the first time he has been seen publicly since Ash Wednesday, when he was seen coughing and blowing his nose during an Ash Wednesday Mass.
Francis paused twice while addressing the faithful.

Rockets land near US embassy in Baghdad, no casualties reported
Souad El Skaf, Al Arabiya English/Monday, 2 March 2020
Two Katyusha rockets have landed on Monday near the US embassy in Baghdad located in the heavily fortified Green Zone of the Iraqi capital, according to Al Arabiya correspondent. No casualties have been reported. The US diplomatic mission has been regularly hit by rockets in recent months. The Green Zone houses government buildings and foreign missions. Last Wednesday, the United States blacklisted a senior member of Iranian-backed Kata’ib Hezbollah militia, punishing it for its attacks targeting US forces, most recently for killing an American contractor in an Iraqi military base near the northern city of Kirkuk. The US State Department said it has designated Ahmad al-Hamidawi as a Specially Designated Global Terrorist (SDGT), Secretary General of Kata’ib Hezbollah (KH), an Iran-backed terrorist group active in Iraq and Syria, which Washington designated as terrorist organization in 2009.
In another development in Iraq, Prime Minister-designate Mohammed Allawi withdrew his candidacy for the prime minister post, and President Barham Salih announced that he will begin consultations to choose a replacement within two weeks. Baghdad is in the throes of mass anti-government protests.

Iraq’s Allawi withdraws PM candidacy, President begins talks for replacement
Tuqa Khalid, Al Arabiya English/Monday, 2 March 2020
Iraq’s Prime Minister-designate Mohammed Allawi withdrew early Monday his candidacy for the prime minister post, and President Barham Salih announced that he will begin consultations to choose a replacement within two weeks. Allawi said on Twitter he submitted a letter to the President in which he apologized for not forming a government and added that he found that “certain political parties were not serious about reform and fulfilling their promises to the nation and had put obstacles in front of the birth of an independent government.”The announcement came hours after the parliament had again failed to approve his cabinet. Saleh said that he will begin consultations to choose a new candidate for prime minister within a period of 15 days, the state news agency reported. Iraq’s current parliament is the most divided in its recent history and Allawi is struggling to secure support from the country’s Sunni Arab and Kurdish minorities. Kurds and Sunnis are also opposed to a non-binding vote passed by parties representing the Shia majority for the immediate departure of the 5,200 US troops stationed in Iraq. Iraq has been without a government since Allawi’s predecessor Adil Abdel Mahdi quit under pressure from the protesters two months ago.- With Agencies

Turkish military strikes airport in Syria’s Aleppo: Report
Reuters, Istanbul/Sunday, 1 March 2020
Turkish military targeted and rendered unusable Syria’s Nayrab military airport in the northern province of Aleppo, Turkey’s state-owned Anadolu agency said on Sunday. Turkey has sharply escalated its attacks on Syrian government forces since Thursday, when dozens of Turkish soldiers were killed a Syrian government air strike.

Turkish forces down two Syrian planes over Idlib: Monitor
AFP/Sunday, 1 March 2020
Turkish forces downed two Syrian war planes over northwest Syria on Sunday, a war monitor said, after Ankara announced a cross-border military operation there. The Syrian Observatory for Human Rights, a Britain-based monitor, said the two Sukhoi jets fell in regime-held territory, likely after being targeted by Turkish F-16 planes. Syrian state news agency SANA said Turkish forces “targeted” two of its planes over northwest Syria. Since December, Russia-backed regime forces have led a military offensive against the last major opposition stronghold of Idlib, where Turkey supports some militant groups. Turkey’s defense ministry also reported the downing Sunday, but did not confirm who was responsible. “Two SU-24 regime planes that were attacking our aircraft have been downed,” it said. Youssef Hammoud, a spokesman for the National Syrian Army - a pro-Turkish group - said two Sukhoi 24 planes were brought down, also without saying who was responsible. The downing come after Turkey announced a military operation in northwest Syria after regime airstrikes on Thursday killed over 30 Turkish soldiers. Retaliatory Turkish drone strikes and artillery fire have killed 74 Syrian soldiers and 14 allied fighters since Friday, the Observatory says. Also on Sunday, Syria’s army downed a Turkish drone over northwest Syria. SANA said the unmanned aircraft was shot down near the town of Saraqeb, publishing footage of a plane tumbling down from the skies in flames. The Observatory confirmed that downing.
The Syrian military had warned it would down any aircraft violating its air space over northwest Syria.“Syrian military high command announces the closure of the airspace for planes and any drone above northwestern Syria and especially above the Idlib region,” SANA reported a military source as saying. “Any aircraft breaching our airspace will be treated as enemy aircraft that needs to be downed and prevented from carrying out its goals,” the source said. The regime offensive against extremist-dominated Idlib has caused almost a million people - mostly women and children - to flee their homes and shelters, the United Nations says. Neighboring Turkey already hosts around 3.6 million Syrian refugees, and is reluctant to let more in. Tensions have also spiked in recent weeks between Ankara and Moscow, whose relationship has been tested by violations of a 2018 deal to prevent a regime offensive on Idlib. Turkey deployed troops to observation posts in northwest Syria under that deal. Syria’s war has killed more than 380,000 people and displaced millions since it started in 2011 with the repression of anti-government protests.

Turkey says military operation against Syrian regime underway
AFP/Sunday, 1 March 2020
Turkey says there is a military operation against the Syrian regime underway, AFP reports. Turkey added it does not want to clash with Russia in Syria.

Syria to exchange consular missions with Libya’s Haftar government in Benghazi
Al Arabiya English/Monday, 2 March 2020
The Syrian government and parallel Libyan authorities opposed to UN-recognized Government of National Accord (GNA), agreed on Sunday to exchange diplomatic missions and confront Turkish “interference,” state media said. A delegation representing Khalifa Haftar - the eastern commander whose Libyan National Army (LNA) forces have been fighting troops of the GNA - met Syrian Foreign Minister Walid Muallem in Damascus, state news agency SANA said. “A memorandum of understanding was signed... for the reopening of diplomatic and consular missions,” SANA said. Libya has not had any representation in Damascus since 2012, following the fall and killing of longtime dictator Muammar Qaddafi in a NATO-backed uprising. Muallem said diplomatic missions would be reopened in Damascus and the eastern Libyan city of Benghazi, controlled by Haftar’s forces. The two sides also pledged to coordinate to “confront Turkish interference and aggression against both countries.” The agreement comes as tensions spiral between the Syrian regime and Turkish forces in northwestern Syria, where bombardment has killed dozens of troops on each side. Turkey backs the GNA in the Libyan capital Tripoli, and has dispatched troops and pro-Turkish Syrian fighters to the North African country. Haftar, backed by the Syrian regime’s main ally Russia, launched an offensive to capture the Libyan capital of Tripoli in April vowing to end the rule of militias that include hardline groups linked to al-Qaeda and others. General Haftar has reportedly received support from international allies opposed to extremism and the Muslim Brotherhood. Syria’s conflict, sparked by the brutal repression of anti-government protests in 2011, has killed more than 380,000 people and displaced millions. The Arab League suspended Syria’s membership in November 2011 as the death toll mounted. Several regional powers, betting on the demise of President Bashar al-Assad’s regime, suspended diplomatic ties with Damascus. Some have since restored those ties. In December 2018, the United Arab Emirates reopened its embassy, followed by Bahrain.
(With AFP)

Iraqi security forces kill one, wound 24 at Baghdad protest: Sources
Reuters, Baghdad/Sunday, 1 March 2020
Iraqi security forces killed one person and wounded 24 at an anti-government protest in Baghdad on Sunday, a police source said. The person was killed by birdshot fired from a hunting rifle and some of the injuries were caused by birdshot and tear gas, the source added.
Earlier on Sunday, Iraq’s parliament adjourned again a session to approve the cabinet proposed by Prime Minister-designate Mohammed Allawi because of a lack of quorum, state TV said. In another development, Iraq’s Ministry of Health reported six new cases of coronavirus on Sunday, bringing the total in the country to 19. Two of the six are in Baghdad, and the other four in Sulaimaniya, and all had recently returned from Iran, according to the ministry’s statement.

PM Netanyahu pledges ‘immediate’ annexation steps if re-elected
AFP, Jerusalem/Sunday, 1 March 2020
A day ahead of Israel’s third election in a year, Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu pledged Sunday that if re-elected he would annex swathes of the occupied West Bank within weeks. In an interview with Israeli public radio, Netanyahu said annexation of the Jordan Valley and other parts of the West Bank was his top priority among “four major immediate missions.” “That will happen within weeks, two months at the most, I hope,” he said in the interview aired 24 hours before polls were scheduled to open. “The joint US-Israeli mapping committee started work a week ago,” he added. US President Donald Trump’s widely-criticized Middle East peace plan, unveiled in late January, gave the Jewish state a green light to annex the area and proposed a committee to set out the exact borders of the territory to be annexed. Netanyahu listed his other priorities as signing an “historic” defense treaty with the United States, Israel’s key ally, and “eradicating the Iranian threat”, without elaborating on his plan for Tehran. He has repeatedly pledged to stop the Islamic republic from developing a nuclear weapon and has not ruled out the use of force. He has also acted to roll back Iranian and allied forces active in neighboring Syria. Israel routinely fires missiles at what it says are Iranian targets in Syria, where elite Iranian forces and allied militia play a key role in the country’s conflict. Netanyahu on Sunday said that his fourth “immediate” goal if he wins another term -- despite facing trial on multiple corruption charges -- would be major economic reform to bring down Israel’s high cost of living. After inconclusive elections in April and September, latest opinion polls put the right-wing Netanyahu and his centrist rival Benny Gantz neck and neck in Monday’s vote.

Israel envoy assails Bernie Sanders as lobby splits Democrats
AFP, Washington/Monday, 2 March 2020
An Israeli envoy on Sunday assailed leading US presidential hopeful Bernie Sanders as a “fool” as the conference of the pro-Israel lobby laid bare divisions over right-wing Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu. Sanders is staying away from the annual conference of AIPAC, saying it offers a platform for “leaders who express bigotry and oppose basic Palestinian rights,” and has denounced Netanyahu as a “reactionary racist.”Israeli Ambassador to the United Nations Danny Danon, a member of Netanyahu’s Likud Party, wasted no time in denouncing Sanders as thousands of AIPAC activists opened their meeting at a Washington conference center. “We don’t want Sanders at AIPAC. We don’t want him in Israel,” Danon said. “Anyone who calls our prime minister a ‘racist’ is either a liar, an ignorant fool, or both,” Danon said. Sanders, who would be the first Jewish US president, lived on a kibbutz in Israel in the 1960s and calls himself a supporter of the country but has voiced alarm at its rightward turn under Netanyahu. Netanyahu has vowed to annex much of the occupied West Bank if he secures another term in elections Monday - the third time Israelis are voting in less than a year amid a political deadlock. Ex-military chief Benny Gantz, Netanyahu’s centrist rival, addressed AIPAC via satellite and, without mentioning Sanders, vowed to rebuild support for Israel in the United States. “I will instill hope and not hate. That is the Israel we know; that is the Israel we need,” Gantz said to applause.
“Israel will never, ever become a partisan issue,” he said. “I will work effectively across both sides of the aisle.”Gantz presented few differences with Netanyahu on security policy and praised a controversial Middle East plan recently proposed by President Donald Trump, which would allow a restricted Palestinian state. But Gantz said he would oppose far-right politicians seeking to enter parliament and, in an issue important to many American Jews, promised to ensure inclusion at the Western Wall, Judaism’s holiest site where women are restricted. Howard Kohr, the head of AIPAC, which stands for the American Israel Public Affairs Committee, warned of dire risks for the lobby’s agenda in November elections, without naming Sanders. “A growing and highly vocal and energized part of the electorate fundamentally rejects the value of the US-Israel alliance,” saying the alliance’s foundation “is in danger of being rocked as it has never been before,” said Kohr.

The Latest LCCC English analysis & editorials from miscellaneous sources published on March 01-02/2020
US Democrats callously using Iran for politicking, not policy
Hussain Abdul-Hussain/Al Arabiya/March 01/2020
The Iranian lobby in Washington has completely hijacked the Democratic Party, making its officials give statements on Iran that are irrelevant to unfolding events. Whatever the situation with Iran, the Democrats now have one-size-fits-all solution: Restore the 2015 nuclear deal, known as the Joint Comprehensive Plan of Action (JCPOA).
If anything, the JCPOA shows that it never brought the Iranian nuclear program to its end, but rather put it on hold. Whenever Iran pleases, it can reactivate its program, as Tehran has openly demonstrated. The deal effectively froze Iran’s nukes, but only until the expiration of sunset clauses, which would lift several restrictions on advanced nuclear activity.
The Iranian lobby in Washington has managed to make the nuclear issue so central that it started using it to deflect attention away from all other issues, first and foremost Iran’s “destabilizing activity in the region,” a phrase that former US President Barack Obama coined, but seems to have been long forgotten in Democratic quarters.
In Democratic presidential debates, frontrunner US Senator Bernie Sanders has repeatedly express his distaste of world tyrants, from Russia to Nicaragua. Sanders, however, has never mentioned Iran alongside the regimes he detests. When it comes to Iran, Bernie has only one answer: Restore the nuclear deal.
In the New Hampshire debate, all Democratic presidential candidates responded that they would not have killed Iran Revolutionary Guards Corps General Qassem Soleimani in Baghdad, except for the only candidate who had fought in wars, Pete Buttigieg. Buttigieg said that he would not rule out killing Soleimani without having access to the classified intelligence that US President Donald Trump had access to.
In the meantime, pro-mullah lobbyists in Washington have managed to paint whatever negative statements against the Iranian regime as American warmongering, further narrowing the debate. The only way forward with Iran is restoration of the deal, and anything else drags America into a quagmire worse than Iraq’s, the lobbyists claim.
With Iranian lobbyists breathing down their necks, Democrats and the mainstream media close to them, have yet to regret their past prophecies that were never fulfilled. After Trump ordered the drone strike that killed Soleimani, Democrats insisted war with Iran was inevitable. War never happened, and the Democrats never apologized for their erroneous prediction.
Major US media outlets close to Democrats also insisted that Baghdad had asked Washington to withdraw its forces fighting ISIS in Iraq and Syria. No such thing ever happened. In the absence of the Sunni and Kurdish blocs, Iraqi Shia lawmakers could barely obtain a quorum, and then only voted on a resolution - not a legislation - recommending that Baghdad requests the withdrawal of US troops. A few days later, Iraq’s president, speaker and prime minister issued a joint statement in which they proclaimed Iraqi neutrality. A week later, Iraqi President Barham Saleh met with President Donald Trump and never brought up the troop withdrawal issue.
Democratic politicking went as far as meeting with Iranian officials. On the sidelines of the annual Munich Defense Conference that he was attending, Democratic Senator Chris Murphy agreed to sit with Iranian Foreign Minister Mohammad Javad Zarif. The meeting was arranged by Iranian US lobby, and was exploited by Iranian media, which tried to depict Trump’s hawkish position on Iran as unrepresentative of America.
The meeting backfired, however, and Murphy was forced to disclose — in an article — all that he and Zarif had discussed, probably in a bid to show that he, and the Democrats, were not conspiring with Iran against America. The readout showed Democratic amateurism in foreign affairs, and suggested that that Tehran was using them as useful idiots.
According to his article, Murphy wanted to make sure that Iran’s reaction to Soleimani’s killing was concluded with its missile attack on a US base in Iraq, and wanted to relay to his Iranian interlocutor that America will respond forcefully against any Iranian targeting of US troops. Murphy also said that he took the meeting because communication minimizes the risk of confrontation.
However, any beginner in the field of foreign affairs knew that, after Soleimani’s death and Iran’s theatrical response, Iranian attacks across the region subsided and the regime also stopped harassing tankers in the Gulf. Even pro-Iranian Iraqi militias have cut their attacks on US targets in Iraq to a minimum and Iran is unlikely to repeat its direct attack on Saudi Arabian oil facilities. By killing Soleimani, Trump restored the long shattered deterrence with Iran, only Murphy and the Democrats — consumed by their partisan politics — have been unable to read the new situation.
It is understandable that, like the National Rifle Association (NRA) and other networks, the Iranian lobby does buy members of Congress, especially in districts where some Iranian-Americans confuse their love of Iran with their support of the regime. Yet it is regrettable that on an issue of such national importance, the Democrats are clearly and callously using Iran as part of politicking, not policy.
*Hussain Abdul-Hussain is an Iraqi-Lebanese columnist and writer. He is the Washington bureau chief of Kuwaiti daily al-Rai and a former visiting fellow at Chatham House in London. He tweets @hahussain.

Iranian regime’s deception threatens the region and the world
Dr. Majid Rafizadeh/Arab News/March 01/2020
د.مجيد رافيزادا: خداع النظام الإيراني يهدد المنطقة والعالم
http://eliasbejjaninews.com/archives/83707/%d8%af-%d9%85%d8%ac%d9%8a%d8%af-%d8%b1%d8%a7%d9%81%d9%8a%d8%b2%d8%a7%d8%af%d8%a7-%d8%ae%d8%af%d8%a7%d8%b9-%d8%a7%d9%84%d9%86%d8%b8%d8%a7%d9%85-%d8%a7%d9%84%d8%a5%d9%8a%d8%b1%d8%a7%d9%86%d9%8a-%d9%8a/
The Iranian regime has been caught red-handed being deceptive and attempting to cover up its lies.
The Iranian regime has been caught red-handed being deceptive and attempting to cover up its lies.
In the first week of February, the Iranian authorities claimed that the country was not experiencing a crisis with respect to the coronavirus, and that no one in Iran had contracted the disease. Then, the regime’s deputy health minister, Iraj Harirchi, who is ironically in charge of a task force that is battling the virus, appeared on state-owned TV looking ill and feverish, wearing no mask, and constantly wiping his forehead. Many viewers were alarmed that he might have some serious health issues. He and other ministry spokesmen claimed that the issue was under control in Iran. But, the next day, Harirchi tested positive for the virus. So far, two Iranian officials have tested positive, as well as a member of the Iranian parliament, Mahmoud Sadeghi.
Soon, the world came to realize that the Islamic Republic had the highest number of deaths resulting from the coronavirus outside of China. Iranian officials were eventually forced into providing information about the outbreak. So far, at least 54 Iranian citizens have died out of a reported total of 978 positive cases. But it is important to point out that these are the official figures and the actual numbers are most likely much higher.
Some Iranian authorities have even admitted they are not allowed to report the actual number of people who have been infected or died. The head of the Medical Sciences University in Qom, Mohammad Reza Ghadir, said on state television that the Health Ministry had issued a ban on disclosing statistics on the coronavirus outbreak in the country.
Not only is the Iranian regime not giving the public or the international community a full and accurate picture of the coronavirus outbreak, it is also not taking the necessary steps and precautions to prevent the crisis from spreading. For instance, the regime is not providing services across Iran to test people for the virus. Ghadir confirmed that “most of the tests have to be done in Tehran, and Tehran announces it.”
The regime could have disclosed the outbreak at the beginning of February, but it decided to hide it.
The regime is also not conducting full examinations on patients. After one person died in Kamkar Hospital in Qom last week, a hospital employee said: “Precise statistics cannot be said because we had suspected fatalities from about 10 days ago and, until two days ago, all were buried without careful examination and there is a high probability that they were infected with the coronavirus.” Hospital staff members are frightened and some are failing to show up at work.
The situation has become so perilous in some cities that members of the Iranian parliament have finally come forward and criticized the government for failing to address the issue adequately. Ahmad Amirabadi revealed important information when he spoke with the state-run Iranian Labour News Agency, which quoted him as saying: “Qom is not doing well in terms of the spread of the coronavirus, and I think the government’s performance in controlling the virus has failed. Nurses currently lack proper quarantine clothing and are caring for patients with fear and anxiety. There are many problems for nurses and there are few facilities, and Qom also lacks laboratory kits.” He added: “It is true that we must keep calm, but we should not observe the scale of the crisis as if nothing had happened.”
Surprisingly, Amirabadi went on, admitting that about 10 people are dying on a daily basis due to the coronavirus. “Until last night, about 50 people died because of the coronavirus infection. And the Ministry of Health is responsible for this subject. Unfortunately, the coronavirus outbreak has been in Qom for three weeks and this has been announced late,” he said.
The regime could have disclosed the outbreak at the beginning of February, but it decided to hide it, most likely for two key reasons. First of all, the parliamentary elections were coming up in late February and the regime was probably concerned that, if it released information about the outbreak, people might not go out and vote. This would bring the voter turnout down and result in questions being raised over the legitimacy of the theocratic establishment around the world. Secondly, the regime likely wanted to continue doing business with other countries, and the disclosure of the outbreak would have prevented that.
Iran’s lies about the coronavirus outbreak are not only threatening the Iranian population, but also people in the wider Middle East and around the world.
*Dr. Majid Rafizadeh is an Iranian-American political scientist. He is a leading expert on Iran and US foreign policy, a businessman and president of the International American Council. Twitter: @Dr_Rafizadeh

Pandemic of infighting grips Western ruling classes
Baria Alamuddin/Arab News/March 01/2020
In justifying their decision not to remove President Donald Trump from office, moderate Republican senators expressed their expectation that the impeachment process would encourage a chastised president to govern in a more rules-based, normalized manner. They couldn’t have guessed they would be proved wrong so quickly and dramatically.
Trump emerged from impeachment fists swinging, mobilizing his subordinates to act decisively against all those perceived to have wronged him. One example was the summary dismissal of State Department official Alexander Vindman, who was vilified by the pro-Trump media for his courageous appearance during the Congress investigation. He testified about how the US administration had pressured Ukraine’s president to open an investigation into entities associated with Trump’s political rivals. In recent days, Trump has used his Twitter feed to influence ongoing Justice Department investigations and declare himself to be America’s “chief law enforcement officer.”
Such actions have a chilling impact overseas, where the US traditionally has a normalizing influence for standards of good governance. What hope, then, for international pressure on states like the Philippines, Russia, Turkey, Egypt, Brazil, Israel and Hungary?
During his India trip last week, we were treated to Trump’s love-in with Prime Minister Narendra Modi. This coincided with India’s worst outbreak of religious violence in years — triggered by Modi’s Hindu supremacist policies, which undermine the citizenship rights of Muslims. Yet Modi is celebrated by a US administration that has taken a similarly cavalier approach to the rule of law.
This globe-straddling lawless environment is compounded by the neutering of international law and conflict resolution institutions. While China and Russia block UN Security Council actions, the Trump administration subverts international law by handing over hotly disputed Arab territories to Israel.
I see an ominous parallel to Trump’s hollowing-out of his administration in Britain’s civil service. Senior British officials largely blame the “poisonous, horrible atmosphere” across government on Prime Minister Boris Johnson’s chief hatchet man, Dominic Cummings. While the famously lethargic Johnson has been almost invisible since the December general election, Cummings has incurred hatred from across the political spectrum for waging a one-man guerrilla war against the principal departments of state.
Targets on Cummings’ “hit list” were reported to include the heads of the Foreign Office, the Treasury and the Home Office (Simon McDonald, Tom Scholar and Philip Rutnam, respectively) due to personal grudges or ideological differences over issues like Brexit. Rutnam was finally forced out on Saturday, when he announced he would sue the government for constructive dismissal due to the “vicious and orchestrated campaign” against him.
Governing institutions require perpetual modernization, but through considered, painstaking reforms — not with a sledgehammer.
Chancellor Sajid Javid was ousted in the latest Cabinet reshuffle after refusing to sack his entire advisory staff.
UK civil service appointments traditionally tend to be relatively independent of political influence, with officials remaining in their posts even during changes of the ruling party. While ministers (particularly in recent months) have come and gone with confusing rapidity, officials are expected to provide the necessary continuity.
Former officials expressed to me their horror at the prospect of moving toward a politicized US system, with “Stalinist purges” of officials not known to be staunch loyalists. Britain’s civil service risks losing its traditions of speaking truth to power and providing impartial advice on policy options. In the Johnson premiership — underpinned by Cummings’ reign of terror — the slavish loyalty of nonentities is valued over competency, experience and decency.
Governing institutions require perpetual modernization, but through considered, painstaking reforms — not with a sledgehammer. One can agree with elements of the policy agendas of Johnson or Trump, while feeling horrified at the havoc wreaked upon institutions to achieve their goals.
Johnson is again hinting at an economically ruinous no-deal Brexit as the next phase of EU trade negotiations loom, possibly as a route to sidestepping Europe-wide legislation on workers’ rights and food standards. Johnson’s reckless demand to end these highly complex talks by June — by which time they will hardly have got started — could have a colossal impact, given Britain’s dependence on Europe for more than 60 percent of its food exports and imports.
Everywhere we look, the world’s oldest democratic systems appear to have entered an age of senility, where established practices and safeguards are ignored or maliciously sabotaged at the behest of political and personal agendas. Climates of hyper-partisanship and pandemics of online conspiracy-mongering favor fringe agendas, populist xenophobes, and political mavericks. Across Europe, the proliferation of populism is having a disproportionate impact, with the resulting political fragmentation and polarization in states like Italy, Austria and Spain threatening to render some nations effectively ungovernable.
Thus, coronavirus isn’t the only highly contagious epidemic threatening civilization in 2020. Emergence from these populist dark ages may also be more traumatic and lengthy than people anticipate. US Democrats spent three years awaiting a charismatic, unifying figure who would win their candidacy and slay the Trump dragon. The farcically divisive Democratic primaries have dispelled this hope.
Considered and meticulously planned reform must always be preferred over the iconoclastic institutional vandalism of figures like Trump and Cummings or the self-serving constitutional rewrites of Vladimir Putin, Xi Jinping and Recep Tayyip Erdogan. Because, after years of global systems tearing themselves apart and firebrand populists doing their worst, there may be so little left of our rules-based political norms that simply resetting the clock may not be an option.
To prevent all this being swept away, citizens must stand up in defense of the rules-based systems that have enshrined our rights and freedoms, and provided more than 70 years of relative global peace, progress and prosperity.
*Baria Alamuddin is an award-winning journalist and broadcaster in the Middle East and the UK. She is editor of the Media Services Syndicate and has interviewed numerous heads of state.

Coronavirus outbreak exposes need for scientific literacy
Nidhal Guessoum/Arab News/March 01/2020
The coronavirus (officially named COVID-19) has now affected more than 85,000 people in at least 56 countries and killed close to 3,000 of them. Serious and sometimes unprecedented measures are being taken in many places, including the quarantining of entire cities and the cancelations of numerous flights and events.
People are scared and, in such cases, rumors of all kinds spread fast and add to the confusion and the irrational behavior. One of the most dangerous ideas being shared on social media is the (falsely claimed) efficacy of some seeds and other “traditional” treatments. Others are dismissing the epidemic as much less dangerous than the flu and recommend to just “keep calm, be rational and let the storm pass.”
This is where the importance of “scientific literacy” manifests itself. Scientific literacy is the minimum scientific knowledge that all citizens need to have in order to deal with today’s world, where it is important, sometimes vitally so, to know the difference between a virus and a bacterium, what type of radiation is dangerous, what genetic modifications do to organisms, the characteristics of vitamins, vaccines, the nuclear, and many more such topics.
For many years I have been campaigning for the dissemination, promotion and study of scientific literacy in our part of the world. There are regular, extensive studies in a number of countries, mostly in the West but also in places like Malaysia, but very little, if any, work has been done on this subject in the Arab world. The coronavirus has just exposed the public’s lack of basic knowledge and understanding of viruses, bacteria, vaccines, prevention measures and treatments, etc. Let me offer some essential information in this regard.
First, what is a virus? It is a biological “agent” that invades a cell and reproduces inside it (making numerous copies of itself) at a very high rate. Because a virus doesn’t reproduce by itself, it is usually not considered a living organism. In contrast, a bacterium (the plural is bacteria) is a single-cell organism that does not have a nucleus but does reproduce by splitting into two identical daughter cells. Most importantly, bacteria that invade our bodies and organs can be killed using antibiotic drugs, but these cannot be used against viruses, which are dealt with using antiviral medications.
If the virus starts to spread more widely and quickly across the globe, our lack of an available and effective treatment may lead to calamitous consequences.
It is also important to know that our “immune system,” which is a complex system of cells and proteins in our body, naturally combats foreign and dangerous infections, whether bacteria or viruses. It keeps track and records information about past “invaders” so that it can quickly and easily destroy them the next time they invade our bodies. And that is how almost half of the people who have so far been infected by the coronavirus have recovered, as there are as yet no drugs that can effectively be used against COVID-19.
Now, how different is the coronavirus from the flu? Both are viruses that attack our respiratory system (lungs, throats, noses, etc.) and produce similar symptoms (coughing, sneezing, headaches, etc.), but the flu is rarely so severe as to require hospitalization, whereas the coronavirus is much more potent.
But here’s what is confusing people: It is widely reported that the flu kills tens of thousands of people each year. In the US, the 2018-2019 flu season affected 35 million people, led to 490,000 hospitalizations, and killed 34,000 people. Looking at the flu hospitalization and death numbers, the coronavirus looks like a much smaller disaster. However, the ratio of flu deaths to infection cases is very small (0.1 percent), likewise for hospitalizations (1.5 percent), whereas the coronavirus death rate is about 3 percent and the hospitalization (severe symptoms) rate is between 10 and 20 percent.
The moral of the story is: The coronavirus is much more potent, and the death numbers are still much lower than the flu’s only because, so far, it has been relatively contained. If, however, the virus (God forbid) starts to spread more widely and quickly across the globe (a bona fide pandemic), our lack of an available and effective treatment may lead to calamitous consequences (in fatalities, economic activity and other areas of society).
It is hoped that the coronavirus will be contained and most people will either not catch it or have their immune system successfully overcome it. In that case, the spread will slow down and the crisis will subside and die down within a few months. In the meantime, everyone should follow the basic hygiene prescription to prevent further contaminations: Washing hands often with soap and water for at least 20 seconds; not touching one’s eyes, nose and mouth with unwashed hands; avoiding contact with people who exhibit characteristic symptoms; cleaning and disinfecting objects and surfaces that are frequently touched by many people, etc.
To go back to the importance of scientific literacy in general, and particularly in such cases, I call upon experts (physicians, biologists and scientists) in our region to participate more in the efforts that must be made to inform and educate the public. Surely we can spend, say, a few minutes a day on Twitter or Facebook, or one hour a week on YouTube or other media, to spread correct information and dispel misconceptions. It is not only our role as scientists, educators and members of humanity, it is our responsibility in such times of need.
*Nidhal Guessoum is a professor at the American University of Sharjah, UAE. Twitter: @NidhalGuessoum

The hard work has just begun in Afghanistan
Michael Kugelman/Arab News/March 01/2020
It is surreal, even unbelievable, to be writing about a signed troop withdrawal agreement between the US government and the Taliban in Afghanistan.
There have been many false starts and unsuccessful attempts to launch and sustain negotiations with the insurgents. And, as those attempts floundered, the war intensified, leading to so much tragedy for a country that had experienced conflict for many years even before US forces arrived in 2001.
And yet here we are, with a US-Taliban accord in place. The deal creates a path to launch a formal peace process — an intra-Afghan dialogue — that is meant to end an endless war. It is a tremendous opportunity. But it also entails incredible amounts of hard work.
Indeed, as tough as it was to get to the finish line with the US-Taliban deal, launching and carrying out a successful Afghan peace process will be even harder. The US-Taliban negotiations, as fraught as they often were, represent the low-hanging fruit of the broader peace and reconciliation process in Afghanistan.
For the Afghan government and other non-Taliban entities, a key initial step of the intra-Afghan dialogue will be to cobble together a negotiating team. This may sound simple, but in the current toxic and divisive Afghan political environment, it’s no walk in the park. The recent announcement of the Afghan presidential election results, which declared current President Ashraf Ghani as the winner, has exacerbated a bitter rivalry between Ghani and his most powerful rival, Abdullah Abdullah, who served as chief executive in the prior national unity government.
Abdullah has signaled his support for the peace process, but rejected the election results and threatened to establish a parallel government. At a moment when the Afghan political class needs to present a common and united front to chart a path toward peace, a post-election crisis has amplified and intensified an incredibly divided political scene. Putting together a negotiating team, and crafting a negotiating strategy, will be fraught with challenges under these circumstances.
Zalmay Khalilzad, the top US negotiator who has worked exhaustively for more than a year to get a deal with the Taliban, has one more major assignment: To mediate these rising political tensions so that they don’t imperil a fledgling peace and reconciliation process. This is what he has been trying to do in Kabul in recent days.
For the Taliban, violence is leverage, and it won’t easily relinquish that leverage.
And then there’s the Taliban side to all this. Even the most starry-eyed optimist about the peace process must acknowledge there are very real questions about the Taliban’s commitment to negotiate, conclude and maintain peace. The Taliban has long rejected the Afghan political system. This raises the question as to whether it would truly be interested in sharing power — the most likely outcome of a successful peace negotiation — within a political system that it has long vowed to overthrow by force. For Kabul and other non-Taliban Afghan negotiators, and for the US and other key actors likely to have some type of indirect consulting role in an intra-Afghan dialogue, the big question is how to create an incentive structure that convinces the Taliban that laying down its arms is the right thing to do.
Incentivizing the Taliban in this way will be even tougher if US forces start withdrawing from Afghanistan in the early stages of the intra-Afghan dialogue. Such a prospect would give the Taliban a huge battlefield advantage, and a strong motivation to take up arms and try to overthrow the Afghan government by force.
What can be done to maximize the early chances of success in talks? As a first step, the US government should refuse to start withdrawing troops until the Taliban has agreed to another, longer reduction in violence — or, even better, a cease-fire — as part of the intra-Afghan dialogue. If the insurgents do so, this would suggest a real willingness to work toward peace. It would also be a major confidence-building measure early on in a dialogue process that promises to be long and fraught.
A Taliban commitment to curbing violence or agreeing to a cease-fire would be an appropriate quid pro quo following a potential move by Kabul to release thousands of Taliban prisoners — a step the Taliban would like Kabul to take in advance of an intra-Afghan dialogue.
Of course, for the Taliban, violence is leverage, and it won’t easily relinquish that leverage. And, if Kabul refuses to launch talks without a violence reduction or cease-fire, the Taliban could happily return to the battlefield.
The bottom line: Peace truly is a process. Getting there will be a long, hard slog — which is no consolation for long-suffering Afghans. Still, this is by far the best opportunity that Afghanistan has had to end the war. Here’s hoping the country and its government are able to seize it.
*Michael Kugelman is deputy director of the Asia Program and senior associate for South Asia at the Woodrow Wilson International Center for Scholars. Twitter: @michaelkugelman

Turkey needs international support for new Idlib plan
Yasar Yakis/Arab News/March 01/2020
The Syrian army on Friday attacked a Turkish army detachment in Idlib, killing 33 soldiers and wounding another 32. After the attack, statements by Turkish officials avoided directly accusing Russia, but both the pro-government newspapers and the remainder of the Turkish media insisted that such an operation could not have been carried out without Moscow’s acquiescence. The Russian Defense Ministry released a conciliatory statement saying that the attack was not carried out by its air force.
Turkish authorities point out that Russia was informed beforehand that the Turkish detachment was at the location where the attack took place. The Kremlin does not deny this, but says they were not supposed to be there. This means that Moscow does not want the Turkish soldiers to be deployed outside the areas designated for them. The Russian authorities further say that Syrian intelligence received information that terrorists were preparing an attack against its army and that it decided to carry out a pre-emptive attack. This claim insinuates that the Turkish army was cooperating with the terrorists.
Despite efforts made by both Turkish and Russian authorities not to directly accuse each other, mutual confidence seems to be bruised.
Turkish Defense Minister Hulusi Akar released the inventory of the attacks carried out against the Syrian army: 200 Syrian military targets hit, 329 Syrian soldiers “neutralized,” 23 tanks destroyed, and five trucks and three ammunition stores hit.
After the attack, Turkey called an emergency NATO meeting. NATO Secretary-General Jens Stoltenberg generously praised Turkey as a very important member of the alliance and said it would continue to support Ankara if Syria attacked it. In practice, this means that NATO is not willing to take part in any operation to be carried out by Turkey within Syrian territory.
Turkey’s relations with NATO have faced several setbacks, including when Ankara decided to buy the Russian S-400 air defense system. The US Congress went as far as imposing sanctions on Turkey because of this purchase. In such an atmosphere, there is little hope that Ankara will be supported wholeheartedly by its NATO allies. On the contrary, they may be tempted to use the present situation to press Turkey to give up its deployment of the S-400.
On Friday, Erdogan spoke to several leaders, including Russian President Vladimir Putin, US President Donald Trump, German Chancellor Angela Merkel, Bulgarian Prime Minister Boyko Borisov, Hungarian Prime Minister Viktor Orban, and European Commission President Ursula von der Leyen, to explain what Turkey had in mind as a solution for the Idlib question. The details of these conversations were not released, but they must have demonstrated the complexity of the Idlib imbroglio. We do not know whether any of the leaders asked for concessions from Erdogan in exchange for supporting Turkey’s proposal.
A quadrilateral summit had been scheduled for Thursday in Istanbul, with the participation of Putin, Merkel and French President Emmanuel Macron. However, Kremlin spokesman Dmitry Peskov on Saturday said that no talks have been scheduled between Putin and Erdogan for that date. After Erdogan’s phone call with Putin on Friday, news was leaked from the Turkish presidential office that a meeting might take place this week. There is no confirmation of participation by Merkel and Macron. It is not surprising to see, in such a tense atmosphere, that news changes from one day to the next.
There is little hope that Ankara will be supported wholeheartedly by its NATO allies
Many political parties in Turkey — including the main opposition Republican People’s Party, the far-right Nationalist Movement Party (MHP), and the IYI Party — have for years criticized the government’s Syria policy. But, after last week’s attack, all of them, with the exception of the pro-Kurdish Peoples’ Democratic Party, demonstrated strong solidarity with the government. This may help Erdogan to negotiate with the leaders of other countries from a position of strength.
The main bargaining will probably take place between Turkey and Russia. On the day of the attack, a Russian delegation had concluded its third round of negotiations in Ankara. But, after the news of the attack broke, the delegation held another meeting with its Turkish hosts. The deadlock could not be overcome in this additional session, and the delegations decided to report to their respective presidents.
Turkey has proposed an immediate and sustainable cease-fire in Idlib and the establishment of a no-fly zone. Erdogan must be raising this issue with the leaders he is talking to. The idea looks feasible, but it remains to be seen whether Turkey will be able to persuade Russia to support it and gather sufficient backing from other countries, especially with the current isolated situation it finds itself in. If not, the Idlib question may remain unanswered for a long time.
*Yasar Yakis is a former foreign minister of Turkey and founding member of the ruling AK Party. Twitter: @yakis_yasar