LCCC ENGLISH DAILY NEWS BULLETIN
March 31/2020
Compiled & Prepared by: Elias Bejjani

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Bible Quotations For today
The world cannot hate you, but it hates me because I testify against it that its works are evil
Holy Gospel of Jesus Christ according to Saint John 07/01-13:”After this Jesus went about in Galilee. He did not wish to go about in Judea because the Jews were looking for an opportunity to kill him. Now the Jewish festival of Booths was near. So his brothers said to him, ‘Leave here and go to Judea so that your disciples also may see the works you are doing; for no one who wants to be widely known acts in secret. If you do these things, show yourself to the world.’(For not even his brothers believed in him.). Jesus said to them, ‘My time has not yet come, but your time is always here. The world cannot hate you, but it hates me because I testify against it that its works are evil. Go to the festival yourselves. I am not going to this festival, for my time has not yet fully come.’After saying this, he remained in Galilee. But after his brothers had gone to the festival, then he also went, not publicly but as it were in secret. The Jews were looking for him at the festival and saying, ‘Where is he?’ And there was considerable complaining about him among the crowds. While some were saying, ‘He is a good man’, others were saying, ‘No, he is deceiving the crowd.’Yet no one would speak openly about him for fear of the Jews.”

Titles For The Latest English LCCC Lebanese & Lebanese Related News & Editorials published on March 30-31/2020
Lebanon: Coronavirus cases rise to 446
Lebanon Registers 8 New Coronavirus Cases, One More Death
Hariri Hospital: 3 More Virus Patients Recover, 4 Still Critical
Health Minister demands “maximum sentence” against those who neglected
ISF: No coronavirus cases among Roumieh inmates
Lebanese Applaud Virus-Battling Health Workers from Balconies
IMF Says ECB, ESM Support Key to Strong EU Coronavirus Response
Covid-19 tops Berri’s talks with ministers
Lawsuit Filed against Man who Transmitted Coronavirus to Others
Lebanese Embassy in London launches "Let’s Stand Together" initiative
Deputy Michel al-Murr’s Press Office: Michel al-Murr is in good health condition
Geagea criticizes government over appointments
Hezbollah Holds onto Lebanon’s Cabinet in Message to its Allies
PSP Warns of 'Dangerous Social Explosion'
ABL Says Committed to Facilitating Transfers to Expat Students
Former PMs Criticize ‘Shady’ Administrative Appointments
Minister Urges Home-Grown Food During Crisis
Wazni, Hitti meet with ABL delegation
Lebanon Banks Halt Dollar Withdrawals over 'Airport Closure'
The assassination of an ex-militiaman in Lebanon is President Aoun’s failure/Hussain Abdul-Hussain/Al Arabiya/March 30/2020

Titles For The Latest English LCCC Miscellaneous Reports And News published on March 30-31/2020
Prisoners Riot in Iran, Region's Worst Virus Outbreak
Iran’s coronavirus death toll reaches 2,757 with 41,495 confirmed cases
Iran's Basij Force turns US Embassy building into mask factory, sends masks to US
Coronavirus: Iraqi PM-designate urges lifting of sanctions on Iran to protect Iraq
France Reports Record 418 Coronavirus Deaths in 24 Hours
Italy Extends Lockdown until 'at Least' April 12
Merkel Again Tests Negative for Coronavirus
Israel National Unity Govt Could Be Formed Under Knesset Guarantees
Uncertainty over Iraq Confidence Vote amid Virus Outbreak
US-Led Coalition Hands Over Kirkuk Base to Iraqi Security Forces
Iraq: Cautious Optimism About Govt Ability to Contain Coronavirus
ISIS Prisoners Riot in NE Syria Jail, Some Escape
Sudan’s Prosecution Refuses to Release Bashir and his Aides
Netanyahu, Aides under Precautionary COVID-19 Quarantine
Country music star Joe Diffie dies of coronavirus

Titles For The Latest LCCC English analysis & editorials from miscellaneous sources published on March 30-31/2020
Remembering Islam’s Christian Martyrs/Raymond Ibrahim/March 30/2020
Bernie Sanders between the Personal and the Political/Hazem Saghieh/Asharq Al Awsat/March 30/2020
Coronavirus: How "Progressive" Ideology Led to Catastrophe in Spain/Soeren Kern/Gatestone Institute/March 30/2020
Sweden: Culture of Silence/Judith Bergman/Gatestone Institute/March 30/2020
The coronavirus pandemic puts pregnant women at risk – let’s take care of them/Dr. Luay Shabaneh/Al Arabiya/March 30/2020
As Netanyahu uses coronavirus to consolidate power, Israel's opposition leader has given in/Jonathan Cook/The National/March 30/2020
Iran regime using superstition and mythology to evade responsibility/Dr. Mohammed Al-Sulami/Arab News/March 30/2020
Russia may revive Astana talks amid virus distraction/Dr. Dania Koleilat Khatib/Arab News/March 30/2020

The Latest English LCCC Lebanese & Lebanese Related News & Editorials published on March 30-31/2020
Lebanon: Coronavirus cases rise to 446
Annahar/March 30/2020
Three new patients recovered, bringing the total up to 35 recovered cases, and eight cases are in a critical condition.
BEIRUT: According to the Ministry of Public Health, 8 new coronavirus cases were recorded in the last 24 hours, bringing the total number of confirmed cases up to 446. Additionally, Rafic Hariri University Hospital has recorded yet another death; a woman in her 80s suffering from previous medical problems, increasing the number of confirmed deaths to 11. Three new patients recovered, bringing the total up to 35 recovered cases, and eight cases are in a critical condition. The National Operation's Room report also stated that most cases were recorded in El Metn (84), Beirut (69), followed by Kesrwane (53). Also, while 44% of the patients are females, the male percentage remains higher at 56%. As for the age group, 22% of the patients are 20-29 years of age, while only 3% are above 80. The health minister Dr. Hamad Hasan also stated in an earlier meeting today that ten hospitals are now ready to treat COVID-19 patients. In accordance with the Indian Health Ministry as well as the World Health Organization (WHO), the Ministry of Health also released guidelines on how to wrap and transport the bodies of the deceased coronavirus patients in order to avoid transferring the virus to others. The ministry has yet again stressed the importance of staying home as a civil and humanitarian duty that the Lebanese people owe to each other. As a token of salutation, the Lebanese people all across Beirut stood on their balconies last night clapping and cheering for all the doctors and nurses that are saving lives every day. The number of infected people globally is continuously rising, with the number now exceeding 700,000 and more than 30,000 deaths, with the United States being the new epicenter for the virus (exceeding China). This comes as Anthony Fauci, an American physician, and immunologist, warns that the virus could kill “between 100,000 and 200,000 Americans."

Lebanon Registers 8 New Coronavirus Cases, One More Death
Naharnet/March 30/2020
Lebanon’s confirmed coronavirus cases surged to 446, as one elderly virus patient passed away, the Health Ministry said on Monday. In a statement, the Ministry said the tally includes cases reported by the state-run Rafik Hariri University Hospital and private hospitals and laboratories. It also said that the patient who died was in her eighties and suffering from underlying chronic illnesses. The patient died at the RHUH, which raises the death toll to 11. Lebanon has imposed a four-week lockdown in a bid to contain the spread of the virus while closing the country’s air, land and sea ports of entry. It upped the measures on Friday by ordering grocery shops, supermarkets, and restaurants offering delivery services to close at 5pm. It has also declared a curfew that starts at 7:00 pm, asking citizens and residents not to leave their homes unless it is extremely necessary.
Pharmacies, bakeries, mills and medical factories were meanwhile allowed to operate during the curfew.

Hariri Hospital: 3 More Virus Patients Recover, 4 Still Critical
Naharnet/March 30/2020
Three more coronavirus patients have recovered and four out of 64 patients at state-run Rafik Hariri University Hospital are in a critical condition, the hospital said on Monday. The three recoveries raise the total to 35, RHUH said in a statement. “All those infected with coronavirus are receiving the necessary treatment at the isolation unit and are in a stable condition except for four who are critical,” the hospital added. A statement issued by the Health Ministry at noon said Lebanon has so far confirmed 446 coronavirus cases among them 11 deaths. The Ministry later announced that the eight cases reported on Monday do not include numbers from private laboratories which had been closed on Sunday, suggesting that the real Sunday-Monday tally is likely higher.

Health Minister demands “maximum sentence” against those who neglected
NNA/March 30/2020
Minister of Public Health, Hamad Hassan, on Monday referred to the Court of Cassation’s Prosecutor General’s office the dossier of deceased Syrian patient, 40-year-old Majida Zoueir, who sought on March 17 several hospitals in North Lebanon to receive treatment for serious illness but was unfortunately denied this service by all. Hassan stressed that failure to assist an endangered patient was a crime stipulated by the criminal law and the law of exercising the medical profession. He called for an investigation, and the imposition of a maximum sentence against those who neglected this patient, leading to her death.

ISF: No coronavirus cases among Roumieh inmates
NNA/March 30/2020
The Internal Security Forces on Monday denied social media news claiming the novel Covid-19 has hit several inmates in the Metn-based Roumieh prison. "Certain social media sites have been sharing news about the contamination of Roumieh inmates with coronavirus, alongside a document showing test results issued by the Rafik Hariri University Hospital," the ISF communiqué read. "The ISF General Directorate is keen to clarify that such news is completely untrue, and that the attached document is fake," it said. "All prisoners in all cells are safe and sound," it added, stressing that there are no coronavirus cases within the facility. The ISF also indicated that it would take legal action against rumormongers. For its part, the RHUH has earlier denied to have issued the aforementioned document. It said the document had been falsely attributed to the hospital and that it features forged signatures.

Lebanese Applaud Virus-Battling Health Workers from Balconies
Agence France Presse/Naharnet/March 30/2020
Cheering erupted from balconies and windows in Lebanon on Sunday evening, as the country's citizens celebrated their "heroic" medical workers battling the coronavirus pandemic. The initiative spread online with the Arabic hashtag "a cheer for the heroes", shared by public figures including journalists, actors and the Arab pop star Ragheb Alama. In one Beirut neighbourhood, a woman draped in a Lebanese flag sang the national anthem as her neighbours drummed on pots and pans, an AFP journalist said. Elsewhere, Lebanese played drums and blew vuvuzelas, sharing videos of the street performances online. Similar initiatives have gained attention from Italy to France but they have remained rare in the Arab world. Lebanon has reported 438 COVID-19 cases to date, with 10 deaths. To try to contain the spread of the virus, Lebanon has imposed isolation measures on its population until April 12, with a nighttime curfew in effect. Schools, universities, restaurants and bars are closed. Many fear the country's healthcare system could be overwhelmed by cases.

IMF Says ECB, ESM Support Key to Strong EU Coronavirus Response
Reuters/March 30/2020
The International Monetary Fund said on Monday the relaxation of the euro zone's fiscal rules and support from the European Central Bank and the European Stability Mechanism is critical to a strong regional response to the coronavirus pandemic. "The determination of euro area leaders to do what it takes to stabilize the euro should not be underestimated," IMF European Department Director Poul Thomsen said in a blog post on the IMF website. He said large-scale interventions by the ECB and European leaders' call for the ESM to supplement national fiscal efforts can allow countries with high public debt to react forcefully to the crisis. Europe's major economies are losing 3% of GDP output for every month that key sectors are shut down to try to slow the spread of the virus, and "a deep European recession this year is a foregone conclusion," Thomsen said. On Friday, IMF Managing Director Kristalina Georgieva said the global economy was already in recession and countries must respond with "very massive" spending to avoid a cascade of bankruptcies and emerging market debt defaults.

Covid-19 tops Berri’s talks with ministers
NNA/March 30/2020
Speaker of the House, Nabih Berri, on Monday discussed with a number of cabinet members the country’s general developments, especially the conditions of Lebanon’s health sector in its fight against the novel Coronavirus. In this vein, Minister of Health, Hamad Hassan, briefed Berri on the Ministry of Public Health’s efforts facing the pandemic’s outbreak.  “We discussed the plan of the Ministry of Health to contain this pandemic, which is an outright challenge; the virus has toppled many global health systems in many countries, yet with all humility, we have managed to date, and with the support of official references and the plan approved by the Ministry of Public Health, of which the civil society is deemed the first partner, to respond to all the statements and instructions issued by the Ministry of Public Health,” Minister Hassan said on emerging. The Health Minister also noted that talks with the House Speaker had touched on the issue of expatriates and their safe return back home as per regulations established by the Ministry of Public Health. “We have seen from the President keenness to protect the local community, as well as his concern for expatriates to return to their homeland,” Hassan added. Separately, Berri has an audience with Minister of Finance, Ghazi Wazni, and Minister of Agriculture and Culture, Abbas Mortada, with whom he discussed general issues, especially the financial and economic situations. Later in the afternoon, Berri received Minister of Information, Dr. Manal Abdel Samad Najd, who gave him a briefing on the Ministry's work at the current stage. Finally, Berri reviewed the latest political and security developments with Deputy Prime Minister, Minister of Defense, Zeina Akar.

Lawsuit Filed against Man who Transmitted Coronavirus to Others
Naharnet/March 30/2020
Akkar Governor Imad al-Labaki on Monday filed a lawsuit against a young coronavirus patient who infected several people after refusing to isolate himself. “Akkar young man Y.F. did not abide by the instructions given to him by the health and medical sides that examined him, in terms of pledging to stay in preventative home isolation pending additional lab tests to confirm his infection with the COVID-19 virus,” the National News Agency said. “He dishonored the pledge and mixed with a lot of his relatives in his town and in other regions after which tests revealed that he had the novel coronavirus and that he transmitted it to several people,” NNA added, noting that he was tested after being arrested by the Intelligence Branch of the Internal Security Forces. His behavior “sparked a state of anxiousness in his town and among all those he mixed with and the municipality concerned did not commit to monitoring him and obliging him to stay in home isolation as required,” the agency said. The governor filed a lawsuit against him on charges of spreading an infectious disease, NNA added, noting that the penalties range between a few months to three years in jail in addition to a fine.
Labaki also decided to refer the municipal chief to the Higher Disciplinary Commission, the Interior Ministry and the relevant judicial authorities over “his negligence and failure to carry out the missions he’s entrusted with under the law.” Lebanon has so far confirmed 446 coronavirus cases among them 11 deaths. The government has imposed a four-week lockdown, shuttering non-essential businesses, public administrations and educational institutions and the air, land and sea ports of entry. It has also asked citizens to stay home unless it is urgent while imposing a night curfew.

Lebanese Embassy in London launches "Let’s Stand Together" initiative
NNA/March 30/2020
The Embassy of Lebanon in London on Monday announced in a statement the launch of “Let’s Stand Together" initiative.
Lebanese Ambassador to the United Kingdom, Rami Mortada, said that the initiative aimed to provide financial and emergency life resources to Lebanese students and citizens affected by the conditions resulting from the current travel ban to Lebanon. “The initiative provides emergency assistance that will allow Lebanese Nationals stuck in London to secure life essentials until the travel crisis to Lebanon ends,” the diplomat explained. “The initiative was designed in a manner that takes into account the best practices in transparency, impartiality, and speed of responding to needs in accordance with objective criteria, and under the management of embassy officials and members of the Lebanese community,” Mortada added. The statement indicated further that the initiative was the result of exemplary cooperation between the Lebanese Embassy in London and LIFE and BLA associations."In this vein, the embassy of Lebanon in the UK has called on Lebanese students in British universities, who endure life difficulties as a result of the current circumstances, to contact the embassy’s hotline on 07741260919, and to submit requests to benefit from the initiative or download the application on the embassy’s website.

Deputy Michel al-Murr’s Press Office: Michel al-Murr is in good health condition
NNA/March 30/2020
The Press office of Deputy Michel al-Murr on Monday issued a statement, in which it refuted circulated news about the death of MP al-Murr, affirming that he is in good health condition and circulated rumors are untrue.

Geagea criticizes government over appointments
NNA/March 30/2020
Lebanese Forces' leader, Samir Geagea, on Monday criticized the government's failure to abolish clientelism within the state administrations and to adopt competence and integrity as key criteria for appointments. "Despite all expectations, the current government is about to make appointments on the same basis that used to be followed previously," Geagea said in a statement, accusing a tripartite camp of standing behind such failure. "Look for the trio," he said. He added that there could not be any solution as long as this trio continued to grab power in Lebanon.

Hezbollah Holds onto Lebanon’s Cabinet in Message to its Allies
Beirut - Mohamed Choucair/Asharq Al Awsat/March 30/2020
Hezbollah Secretary General Hassan Nasrallah's strong support has salvaged the government of Prime Minister Hassan Diab from a shakeup, politicians with close ties to the March 8 alliance told Asharq Al-Awsat.
Last week, Speaker Nabih Berri expressed anger over the government's delay in bringing back Lebanese expatriates who were stranded in their countries of residence following the closure of Beirut’s airport as part of the coronavirus lockdown measures.
The Speaker threatened to suspend his support for the government if it did not act to bring the expatriates back home. "If the government holds onto its position on the issue of expatriates … we will suspend our representation in the government," Berri said in a statement released by his office. Political sources told the newspaper on Sunday that Diab was concerned that Berri’s warning was in line of a Shiite decision for a government change. However, the sources asserted that the PM’s concerns dissipated after a meeting with the Hezbollah leader’s political aide Hussein Khalil, who delivered Diab a message from Nasrallah. Khalil eased tension between the Speaker and the PM. The cabinet is scheduled to meet on Tuesday to agree on a mechanism for the return of the Lebanese expatriates from Africa, and Arab and European states. According to opposition sources, Nasrallah is deciding the fate of the cabinet. The sources told Asharq Al-Awsat that the Hezbollah secretary general acts on behalf of President Michel Aoun and Diab. “He is the only person allowed to set the government’s priorities and determine its fate,” they said. Nasrallah’s televised speech on Saturday aimed to deliver a message to the party’s allies before its opponents. “The Hezbollah leader does not see any justifications for overthrowing the government,” they said. The sources added that Nasrallah insists that the cabinet tackles two main issues during Tuesday’s session - placing a swift mechanism to secure the return of expatriates to Lebanon and exerting pressure on banks to allow small depositors to withdraw their money from their accounts. Hezbollah holds the banks responsible for the dire financial situation in the country.

PSP Warns of 'Dangerous Social Explosion'
Naharnet/March 30/2020
The Progressive Socialist Party on Monday warned that the growing economic and financial crisis which has been aggravated by the coronavirus lockdown risks to trigger a “dangerous social explosion.”
Slamming “the absence of any governmental vision that could give hope,” the PSP announced in a statement its solidarity with “the various marginalized and poor segments, low- and daily-income citizens and those laid off from their jobs or forced to close their institutions.”
Accordingly, the party said it warns “the government and all political forces, be them in the majority or the opposition, and the civil society and Economic Committee of the possibility of a dangerous social explosion,” calling for “launching the executive mechanism for the program of supporting poor families in a transparent, clear and effective manner.”
It also called for “a quick reform process that opens the door to international aid” and urged governmental support for the industrial and agricultural sectors and for the local initiatives and funds in the towns and villages. And addressing authorities, especially the Ministry of Economy and Trade, the PSP called for prosecuting merchants who monopolize and hike the prices of essential goods and suggested that security forces issue painful fines over the matter.

ABL Says Committed to Facilitating Transfers to Expat Students
Naharnet/March 30/2020
The Association of Banks in Lebanon on Monday announced that Lebanese banks are “committed to transferring the appropriate amounts of money to Lebanese students residing abroad, if these students or their families have bank accounts in Lebanon.”
In a statement, ABL said it will shoulder its “national, professional and humanitarian responsibilities” amid the current circumstances as Lebanon and the world battle the coronavirus pandemic and its repercussions.
“The Association also announces that should Lebanese authorities decide to return willing students to Lebanon due to the current situations, the banks will be fully ready to transfer the costs of travel tickets in US dollar to the Middle East Airlines company,” it added.
The government is expected to approve a plan Tuesday to repatriate Lebanese students and expats seeking to return home due to the COVID-19 crisis. Many political leaders have in recent days urged the government to approve the plan as soon as possible, warning that expats and students abroad are facing health and financial woes.

Former PMs Criticize ‘Shady’ Administrative Appointments
Naharnet/March 30/2020
Former Prime Ministers Saad Hariri, Najib Miqati, Fouad Seniora and Tammam Salam issued a joint statement on Monday denouncing what they said were “goals to monopolize the State’s positions," as the government opts for a batch of key administrative appointments.
"At a time when Lebanon is enduring political, economic, financial, administrative and sectoral crises, the pandemic of coronavirus comes to deepen and complicate further the nation's crises. The Lebanese can see how their government tends to make appointments sensing an intention to grasp control of administrative, financial and monetary positions in the Lebanese state without adhering to the rules of competence and merit, as well as neglecting the reform demands of young women and men of the uprising,” the PMs said in their joint statement.
Lebanon is facing “serious risks which call for reformative steps to reflect a strong picture of the Lebanese state that must be seeking to achieve practical and effective reform achievements that qualify it to be worthy of restoring the confidence of the Lebanese citizens, the trust of Arab brothers and the confidence of the international community, which enables the Lebanese state to obtain the assistance it needs.”“The situation in Lebanon can no longer tolerate more hesitation and distraction. Lebanon cannot face the current conditions and risks at various levels with the policy of distribution of quotas,” added the statement.
The PMs urged the government to initiate a “correct rescue and reform plan that contributes to re-positioning Lebanon on the right path to restore consideration for the Taif Agreement, the constitution and respect for the Lebanese state away from desires for dominance, revenge and control of the state’s positions

Minister Urges Home-Grown Food During Crisis
Naharnet/March 30/2020
Agriculture Minister Abbas Mortada on Monday urged Lebanon’s farmers and citizens to grow their “own gardens if the crisis of the novel coronavirus drags on.”Mortada said: “The “nation is going through a very difficult crisis. Farmers are invited to grow their fields and Lebanese are invited to grow their own gardens because food security is very important especially if the crisis persists.”Mortada made his remarks during a tour of the vegetable market in Beirut.He said the price of goods and products must take into account the crisis we are all going through. “There should not be a monopoly or exorbitant price hikes,” he stressed.

Wazni, Hitti meet with ABL delegation
NNA/March 30/2020
Ministers Ghazi Wazni (Finance) and Nassif Hitti (Foreign Affairs) on Monday highlighted the necessity to repatriate the Lebanese students abroad, and to raise the ceiling of financial transfers to help them return to Lebanon. These remarks came during a meeting held today at the Ministry of Finance with a delegation of the Association of Banks in Lebanon (ABL), who chairman, Salim Sfeir, vowed to allow the needed transfers to students as of today.

Lebanon Banks Halt Dollar Withdrawals over 'Airport Closure'
Agence France Presse/Naharnet/March 30/2020
Banks in cash-strapped Lebanon have suspended dollar withdrawals until the airport reopens, a banking source said on Monday, after authorities grounded flights to halt the spread of the novel coronavirus. The country's international airport in Beirut has been closed for almost two weeks as part of measures to stem COVID-19 in Lebanon, where 446 official cases and 11 deaths have been reported. The flight hub is to remain closed until at least April 12, a date until which all non-essential workers have been told to remain at home across the country. A member of the Lebanese banking association, who asked to remain anonymous, said all dollar withdrawals would be halted "pending the airport reopening.""Dollars are imported and this is no longer possible because of the coronavirus," the source told AFP. "Dollar importers have suspended work."On Monday, long queues formed outside several banks north of the capital as monthly salaries came through after two weeks of ongoing home confinement, an AFP photographer said.
A least two banks told clients that dollar withdrawals had been halted.
Coronavirus is the latest crisis to hit Lebanon, already reeling from mass anti-government protests and in the grips of the worst economic crunch since its 1975-1990 civil war. For decades, the Lebanese pound has been used interchangeably with the dollar at a fixed exchange rate of 1,507 pounds to the greenback. But a liquidity crisis had seen banks gradually restrict access to dollars and halt transfers abroad since fall 2019, leading the value of the Lebanese pound to plummet on the black market. On Monday, however, the banking association agreed to allow dollar transfers to Lebanese students abroad to help them face the coronavirus pandemic, the finance ministry said in a statement. A dollar is now worth more than 2,700 pounds on the black market and prices have shot up in recent months, but the banks have maintained the old exchange rate. Those with dollar accounts are frustrated at their inability to take out most of their cash to exchange it at a better rate from unofficial money changers, with some banks before Monday already capping withdrawals at as low as $400 a month. Lebanese banks stand accused of transferring millions of dollars abroad while preventing others from doing so after the start of mass protests against the political elite last October.

The assassination of an ex-militiaman in Lebanon is President Aoun’s failure
Hussain Abdul-Hussain/Al Arabiya/March 30/2020
Last week’s story of two ex-militiamen in Lebanon – one released, the other shot dead – shines a spotlight on President Michel Aoun’s incompetence – and his ally Hezbollah’s brutality. Together they have made life more precarious for Christians in the country.
The release of Lebanese-American Amer Fakhoury from a Beirut prison last week was welcomed by US President Donald Trump, who thanked the Lebanese government for its role in his release and return to the US. Fakhoury had been a member of the pro-Israel, majority Christian South Lebanon Army (SLA), a now disbanded militia which fought against Hezbollah in the south of the country before Israeli forces withdrew in 2000.
Hezbollah – which has the final nod on any issue related to Israel in the country – allowed Fakhoury’s release to save its ally, President Michel Aoun, and his circle from the threat of US sanctions. However, granting Aoun this favor came with a price tag. Shortly after Fakhoury’s release, Antoine Hayek – an-other former pro-Israel militiaman who had repented decades ago and was living a normal life in Lebanon — was killed.
Fakhoury’s initial arrest was due to Aoun and his circle, who had reached out to Lebanese diaspora members like Fakhoury – only for him to be arrested on arrival when he returned to Lebanon for the first time since 2000.
Fakhoury had previously immigrated to the US, where he became a US citizen, and opened a restaurant in New Hampshire. In the US, Fakhoury connected with a network of Lebanese-Americans who, be-tween 1992 and 2005, lobbied Washington to support the now President Michel Aoun, who was then a former military commander living in exile in France following his unsuccessful fight against the Syrian occupation at the end of the Lebanese civil war.
Aoun eventually appeared before Congress, and participated in panels at a few pro-Israel groups, with whom he shared animosity toward Hezbollah, an ally of the Syrian regime. The political landscape changed after the assassination of Lebanese Prime Minister Rafic Hariri in 2005, widely believed to be at the hands of the Syrian regime and Hezbollah. Syrian President Bashar al-Assad became increasingly isolated internationally, and began to reach out to Aoun to form an alliance to retain Syria’s influence in the country after it withdrew its troops in 2005.
In isolation and having lost Hariri’s regional and international network, al-Assad probably thought he could lean on Aoun’s network in Washington to repair his shattered image. The Aounist network obliged.
But having struck a deal with al-Assad, Aoun’s American network splintered, and many, like Fakhoury, abandoned the general. Those who stayed with Aoun lost all credibility and became isolated in the US, so much so that Aoun’s son-in-law and presidential hopeful Gebran Bassil visited Washington three times over the past year, while serving as Lebanon’s foreign minister, but was not granted any meetings with US officials.
To shore up Bassil’s chances of becoming president after him, Aoun’s network reconnected with Lebanese-Americans like Fakhoury, who had withdrawn their support for Aoun and still carried favor in Washington. Even after becoming president in 2016, Aoun maintained an old promise of “bringing home all Lebanese exiles,” mainly former SLA militants, the majority of whom are Christians like Aoun.
Aoun and Bassil then invited Fakhoury back to Lebanon, promising him safety. But when Fakhoury arrived in Beirut he was arrested and tortured. His release only came after the threat of US sanctions on Aoun’s inner circle, who begged Hezbollah to let the court release Fakhoury.
But Fakhoury’s release, and his extraction via a US military helicopter that picked him up from the US embassy compound north of Beirut, caused Hezbollah immense embarrassment. Revenge against any former SLA militant, therefore, seemed to be Hezbollah’s surest way to repair its anti-Israel image.
Hayek was found dead with two bullets in his head on March 22, just three days after Fakhoury’s realease.
Like all previous murders, including the assassination of Hariri in 2005, no credible party has claimed responsibility for the crime, which is in Hezbollah’s interest. Lebanese police, usually competent at solving crimes, reportedly have no leads on Hayek’s assassination.
Hayek had severed his connection with Israel and the SLA as early as 1992, when he defected, was reintegrated in Lebanon, and joined the police force. He served in the force until his retirement, after which he opened a grocery store. Despite being a Christian, Hayek never left south Lebanon, which is dominated by Shia partisans of Hezbollah and its junior partner Amal.
Hayek’s death could have been avoided, had Bassil been savvy enough to understand that he can only become Lebanon’s president on the dead bodies of Christians. While Aoun and Bassil have always depicted themselves as the ones who restored “Christian rights in Lebanon,” it is because of Aoun and Bassil that life has become more difficult not only for Christians in Lebanon, but for Christians across the Levant and anywhere in the region under the influence of the Iran-led axis.
The “minority alliance” that Aoun and Bassil are trying to sell to Christians as their only security guarantee is no alliance at all, but Christian submission to Iran and its proxies. The mullahs are not known for looking for partners, but only for subordinates.
*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.

The Latest English LCCC Miscellaneous Reports And News published on March 30-31/2020
Prisoners Riot in Iran, Region's Worst Virus Outbreak
Asharq Al-Awsat/Monday, 30 March, 2020
Prisoners in southern Iran broke cameras and caused other damage during a riot, state media reported Monday, the latest in a series of violent prison disturbances in the country, which is battling the most severe coronavirus outbreak in the region. Iran's death toll from the new coronavirus has increased to 2,757 with 117 new deaths in the past 24 hours, a health ministry spokesman told state TV on Monday, adding that the total number of cases has climbed to 41,495. "In the past 24 hours we had 117 new deaths and 3,186 new confirmed cases of people infected with the coronavirus," Kianush Jahanpur told state TV, calling on Iranians to stay at home.Iran had temporarily released around 100,000 prisoners as part of measures taken to contain the pandemic, leaving an estimated 50,000 people behind bars, including violent offenders and so-called “security cases,” often dual nationals and others with Western ties.
Families of detainees and Western nations say Iran is holding those prisoners for political reasons or to use them as bargaining chips in negotiations. The state-run IRNA news agency quoted Gov. Enayatollah Rahimi of the southern Fars province as saying a riot broke out at Adel Abad Prison, the main lockup in the city of Shiraz. Rahimi said prisoners broke cameras and caused other damage in two sections housing violent criminals. No one was wounded and no one escaped. IRNA reported Friday that 70 inmates had escaped Saqqez Prison in Iran’s western Kurdistan province. Prisoners beat guards during the chaos, a local prosecutor said. Several inmates later returned on their own to the prison. Since the beginning of the year, riots have broken out in prisons in Aligudarz, Hamedan and Tabriz as well, with some prisoners escaping, IRNA reported. The virus causes mild symptoms, including fever and cough, in most patients, who recover within a few weeks. But it is highly contagious and can be spread by people showing no symptoms. It can also cause severe illness and death, particularly in older patients or those with underlying health problems. The virus has infected more than 720,000 people worldwide, causing more than 34,000 deaths, according to data gathered by Johns Hopkins University. More than 150,000 have recovered.

Iran’s coronavirus death toll reaches 2,757 with 41,495 confirmed cases
Reuters/Monday 30 March 2020
Iran's death toll from the new coronavirus has increased to 2,757 with 117 new deaths in the past 24 hours, a health ministry spokesman told state TV on Monday, adding that the total number of cases has climbed to 41,495.
“In the past 24 hours we had 117 new deaths and 3,186 new confirmed cases of people infected with the coronavirus,” Kianush Jahanpur told state TV, calling on Iranians to stay at home.

Iran's Basij Force turns US Embassy building into mask factory, sends masks to US
Yaghoub Fazeli, Al Arabiya English/Monday 30 March 2020T
Iran’s Basij Force has offered to send medical supplies to those in need in America after converting the former US embassy in Tehran into a mask production workshop. The Basij Force, the paramilitary arm of the Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps (IRGC), launched a mask production workshop in the former US embassy in Tehran, Iran’s official IRNA news agency reported on March 14. For more coronavirus coverage, visit our dedicated section. The workshop produces 5,000 masks daily, according to IRNA. The head of the Basij Force Brig. Gen. Gholamreza Soleimani paid a visit to the workshop on Sunday.
“We have prepared a shipment of medical supplies to send to the poor American nation which we will present to the Swiss embassy today,” an official of the Basij Force said on Sunday during Soleimani’s visit. “We are ready to help the Americas who today cannot meet their basic needs,” said Mohammad Javad Nikravesh. “It may be impossible for Americans to imagine that such youth would rise to help them from their former embassy in Iran,” he added. The head of the IRGC Maj. Gen. Hossein Salami had also previously offered help to the US against coronavirus. Read more: Coronavirus: Iran and allies call for the US to waive sanctions. “I say to [US officials] that if the people of America need help, we are ready to help them, but we do not need their help,” he said last week. As of Monday, 2,640 in Iran have died from coronavirus, and there are 38,309 confirmed cases. In the US, 2,471 have died and there are 141,136 confirmed infections.

Coronavirus: Iraqi PM-designate urges lifting of sanctions on Iran to protect Iraq
Tuqa Khalid, Al Arabiya English/Monday 30 March 2020
Iraq’s prime minister-designate Adnan al-Zurfi called on the international community to help Iran face the coronavirus pandemic by ‘lifting or easing’ sanctions on the Islamic Republic, as the outbreak in Iran has health and security repercussions on Iraq. “Helping Iran face the coronavirus will help prevent a humanitarian catastrophe that the Iranian nation is suffering from in a frightening way, and the international community must help them by lifting or easing the sanctions and providing medical treatments, as this has health and security repercussions on Iraq, being that it is the most closely tied neighbor to the Islamic Republic,” al-Zurfi said in a tweet on Sunday.Visit our dedicated coronavirus site here for all the latest updates. Iraq is deeply concerned about its exposure to the Iranian outbreak. It has cultural and religious ties with its neighbor and receives millions of Iranian pilgrims each year at holy festivals. Iran, the worst-hit Middle Eastern country so far, has the highest number of coronavirus cases and death toll in the region, with the country reporting 41,495 confirmed cases and 2,757 deaths as of Monday. Meanwhile, Iraq, which shares an almost 1,500-kilometer-long porous border with Iran, has reported 630 confirmed cases and 46 deaths as of Monday. The first coronavirus case detected in Iraq was reported February 24 in an Iranian theology student in Najaf, who entered the country before it banned the entry of non-Iraqis coming from Iran. A day later, an Iraqi family of four who returned from Iran tested positive for the coronavirus in Kirkuk province. They were the first Iraqis known to have caught the disease.

France Reports Record 418 Coronavirus Deaths in 24 Hours
Agence France Presse/Naharnet/March 30/2020
France on Monday reported its highest daily number of deaths from COVID-19 since the coronavirus epidemic began, saying 418 more people had died in hospital to bring the toll to 3,024. There are now 20,946 people hospitalized in France with COVID-19, with 5,056 of them in intensive care, the government said in its daily update. The French death toll includes only those who died in hospital and not those who died at home or in old people's homes. France has been in lockdown since March 17 in a bid to slow the spread of the epidemic and officials have repeatedly warned it will take time for the measures to bear fruit. Top French health official Jerome Salomon told reporters that the figures "are in no way going down, we are in the midst of the epidemic."He noted that the growth in infections in neighboring Italy had seen a "relative slowing" in the last days and expressed hope that the figures in France could show signs of improvement at the end of this week. "The aim of the confinement is to massively reduce the contacts between people," he said.  "Our aim every day should be to have as few contacts as possible. If we reduce contacts, the virus can no longer pass from one person to another and the number of people infected should fall." According to Salomon, the most reliable indicator of the virus' spread is the daily admissions to hospital and intensive care. "From the end of this week, we should have less people who are arriving at hospital and going into intensive care," he said.
He said that 44,450 people had been tested positive as being infected in France, while the actual number could be much higher as only those deemed at high risk are currently being tested.

Italy Extends Lockdown until 'at Least' April 12
Agence France Presse/Naharnet/March 30/2020
Italy on Monday extended an economically crippling lockdown until "at least" mid-April to stem coronavirus infections that have claimed a world-leading 11,591 lives. Prime Minister Giuseppe Conte said any easing of containment measures would be done incrementally to ensure Italy does not give up gains it has made against the extraordinary disease. The near three-week shutdown "had been very tough economically," Conte told Spain's El Pais newspaper. "It cannot last very long," he said. "We can study ways (of lifting restrictions). But it will have to be done gradually."Health Minister Roberto Speranza later announced that "all containment measures would be extended at least until Easter" on April 12. Business closures and a ban on public gatherings were to have expired on Friday.
'Flattening of the curve'
Italy was the first Western nation to impose sweeping restrictions to stem a pandemic that has claimed more than 36,000 lives worldwide. Its own toll grew by 812 on Monday and the number of infections reported by the civil protection service surpassed 100,000. But fresh evidence also suggested that COVID-19 was spreading more slowly than when the first victim died in Italy on February 21. The daily rate of new infections dropped to 4.1 percent -- a fraction of the 62 percent level registered a month ago. The number of people suffering from the illness at its epicenter in the northern Lombardy region also dropped for the first time. And the number of people who have recovered from COVID-19 across the nation of 60 million people hit a new high. "We saw 1,590 people recover in the past 24 hours," civil protection service chief Angelo Borrelli told reporters. "This is the highest number of recoveries recorded since the start of the pandemic." Deputy Health Minister Pierpaolo Sileri said the latest data showed that Italy might see "a drop in the number of people infected within seven to 10 days". Italy's ISS public health institute chief Silvio Brusaferro also felt the infection rate was approaching its peak. "We are witnessing a flattening of the curve," Brusaferro told the La Repubblica daily. "There are no signs of a descent yet, but things are improving."'Picture has improved a lot'  Health officials said one of the most encouraging figures was a drop from 25,392 on Sunday to 25,006 on Monday in the number of people in Lombardy testing positive for COVID-19. The figure had grown continuously for more than a month. "The picture has improved a lot over the past four days," Lombardy's chief medical officer Giulio Gallera said. The latest data was released nearly three weeks into a national lockdown that has emptied cities and paralyzed most business activity. Store and restaurant closures were reinforced last week by a shutdown of "non-essential" factories. Forecasts by several global banks and analysts point to Italian economic output shrinking by seven percent this year.

Merkel Again Tests Negative for Coronavirus
Agence France Presse/Naharnet/March 30/2020
Chancellor Angela Merkel's third coronavirus test has come back negative but the German leader will stay in home quarantine for the coming days, her spokesman said Monday. Merkel, 65, has been in self-isolation at her Berlin flat for just over a week, after learning on March 22 that a doctor who gave her a vaccination two days earlier was infected with the virus. "The chancellor's third test also turned out negative. The chancellor will continue to carry out her official business from her at-home quarantine in the coming days," spokesman Steffen Seibert said in a statement.
It was not immediately clear if Merkel would undergo further testing.  People who have come into contact with confirmed COVID-19 cases are generally advised to self-isolate for 14 days. While in isolation, Merkel has kept working and held government meetings via video link.
On Saturday she released an audio message thanking Germans for heeding the country's unprecedented confinement measures and avoiding unnecessary social contacts. She also pleaded for patience, saying it was too soon to say when the restrictions could be eased.
Germany has recorded over 57,000 coronavirus cases and 455 deaths, according to the Robert Koch Institute for disease control.

Israel National Unity Govt Could Be Formed Under Knesset Guarantees
Tel Aviv- Nazir Majli/Asharq Al-Awsat/Monday, 30 March, 2020
Following intensive sessions over the weekend, Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu and opposition leader Benny Gantz agreed to announce the formation of a unity government to be presented to the Knesset within the next few hours or days. In a joint statement on Sunday, Netanyahu and Gantz announced “reaching fundamental understandings through efforts to form a unity government,” stressing that some minor issues will be agreed upon during the next session. Based on the agreement, the unity government’s term would be three years, extendable for one and a half year. In the first half, Netanyahu will assume the premiership, with Gantz taking the position of acting Prime Minister. The two officials will exchange posts in September 2021. The acting premier will have the capacity to veto the decisions of the Prime Minister, whether they pertained to political matters or senior appointments. The agreement also stipulates that the two sides share the ministries equally, so the right-wing camp, which has 58 parliamentary seats, gets 15 portfolios, including finance and health, while Gantz gets 15 other ministries, including security, foreign affairs, the judiciary, and communications. The new agreement shows that Gantz has taken the Justice portfolio to prevent Netanyahu from hampering his trial process, and the ministry of Communications to stop the latter from interfering with the media. The two leaders also decided that the agreement would be formulated as a law enacted in the Knesset, so that Netanyahu would abide by the rotation after a year and a half of the government formation.While the opposition leader considered the deal as a big gain, his former colleagues in the Kahol Lavan party saw it as another deception by Netanyahu. Yair Lapid said that he did not believe that Netanyahu would concede to the rotation and that he would seek a fourth election after several months.

Uncertainty over Iraq Confidence Vote amid Virus Outbreak
Baghdad - Hamza Mustafa/Asharq Al-Awsat/Monday, 30 March, 2020
The coronavirus outbreak in Iraq has led to uncertainty over the parliament’s ability to hold a session and vote on the new government next month. Prime Minister-designate Adnan al- Zurfi’s constitutional deadline to form his government ends on April 16, four days after the imposed curfew in Iraq expires.
However, statements made by Health Minister Jaafar Sadiq Allawi, who heads the Iraqi crisis committee to contain the COVID-19 disease, on the possibility of extending the curfew mean that the parliament cannot hold its scheduled session.
Legal expert Ahmed al-Abadi told Asharq Al-Awsat that the curfew doesn’t affect the constitutional deadline, since nothing hinders the PM-designate or the political parties from holding consultations on the government formation. Abadi stressed that no article in the constitution indicates measures or emergency plans to be implemented in such case. He explained that if the designated figure completes his government formation, but the parliament fails to hold its session as scheduled due to the coronavirus outbreak, no constitutional measure shall be taken against Zurfi. National Coalition MP Kazem al-Shammari told Asharq Al-Awsat that the bloc doesn’t object Zurfi’s designation in principle but has expressed some reservations and made some demands. Shammari stressed the formation of a court to bring into trial those involved in the killing of demonstrators, and requested a clear position on the armed factions that are not part of the Popular Mobilization Forces. He also raised questions on Zurfi’s position from the security agreement and calls for coalition forces to leave Iraqi territories. Kurdish and Sunni blocs, however, ae still waiting for Shiite blocs to reach a consensual agreement on Zurfi before announcing their final stance from his nomination as PM-designate. Iraqi Forces Alliance MP Mohammed al-Karbouli told Asharq Al-Awsat that Sunnis will back Zurfi once he persuades at least half of the Shiite blocs to support him. The positions of the two main Kurdish parties remain unclear pending the announcement of the majority of Shiite blocs’ final stance. However, they maintained the standards for preserving the Kurdistan region’s rights, implementing the agreements concluded between the federal government and the Kurdistan Regional Government, and being represented in the new cabinet.

US-Led Coalition Hands Over Kirkuk Base to Iraqi Security Forces
Baghdad/Monday, 30 March, 2020
The US-led coalition in Iraq withdrew Sunday from a military base in the country's north, military sources told the German news agency on Sunday. The sources said the operation was completed during a military ceremony held in the presence of Iraqi military officers and Coalition forces operating at the base. The military base is the third that Iraq has received from the international coalition forces this month.A few days ago, US troops with the coalition fighting ISIS in Iraq officially handed over the Qayyarah airbase to the Iraqi military as part of their redeployment plan in the country.
Iraq’s news agency, NINA, quoted the Joint Operations Command as saying: "Based on the results of the fruitful dialogues between the Iraqi government and the international coalition, the site that was occupied by the international coalition mission inside the K1 camp in Kirkuk Governorate was returned today to the Iraqi forces after the international coalition withdrew from it, according to its commitment to return the sites it had occupied to the Iraqi forces.”Meanwhile, the German army announced it would withdraw from Iraq some of its soldiers present in the country as part of the US-led international coalition to fight ISIS, following the COVID-19 pandemic spreads in Middle Eastern countries. Soldiers who are not essential for ongoing missions on the ground will return to Germany, Bundeswehr commanders confirmed on Sunday. Some troops already landed in Germany on Sunday morning, according to Germany's DPA news agency. Iraq has 506 confirmed cases of COVID-19, with 42 deaths. Last week, the US-led coalition said it has suspended training of Iraqi forces over coronavirus fears. It said the Coalition is evacuating non-essential staff from Iraq.

Iraq: Cautious Optimism About Govt Ability to Contain Coronavirus
Baghdad- Fadhel al-Nashmi/Asharq Al-Awsat/Monday, 30 March, 2020
Iraqis are cautiously optimistic that authorities will be able to contain and overcome the coronavirus pandemic, given the relatively low number of infected people declared by the crisis cell throughout the country a month after the virus was first registered in Najaf Governorate. Iraq witnessed a significant decrease in the number of casualties, and recorded no deaths, with the total number of infected people reaching 506, including 42 deaths and 131 recoveries, according to the Ministry of Health's latest figures. Currently, there are only 333 persons in hospitals infected with the virus.
The positive attitude was reinforced by the assessments issued by the World Health Organization (WHO) on dealing with the epidemic in Iraq, along with reassuring official statements issued by the Health Ministry regarding the measures taken. Health Minister Jaafar Allawi told the semi-official al-Iraqiya TV that the situation in the country is under control and the numbers are strictly monitored by WHO, noting that the financial allocations of the crisis cell are completely adequate. Minister Allawi stressed that Iraq can overcome this crisis within a period not exceeding a month if it sees a full popular commitment to the lockdown. He warned against a complete collapse in the event of noncommitment by some social segments, as that could lead to declaring a state of emergency. Meanwhile, a video circulated on social media showing a citizen in Basra Governorate threatening health teams with a gun after they were called to transport his wife suspected of contracting the virus. On Sunday, Supreme Judicial Council issued a statement in which it stated that the Basra Investigation Court confirmed the statements of the defendant who threatened the medical team and attempted to fire at them.
The Council said that the accused threatened to shoot at the medical unit if they returned to his house to follow up with his wife because she recovered and there was no justification for their visit. The man was arrested after he escaped to a neighboring house. Many welcomed the arrest of the man by the security forces, while others criticized the way he was arrested and videotaped. Meanwhile, the United Nations High Commissioner for Human Rights (OHCHR) urged citizens to abide by the directions of the competent authorities and observe religious and social ceremonies in the burial of the coronavirus victims. OHCHR regretted the current situation in the country, given the health authorities inability to bury coronavirus victims, in Baghdad in particular, due to the failure of allocating an appropriate place for burial.
Relatives of the deceased refused to bury their dead ones indicating that the burial methods did not follow the religious ways.

ISIS Prisoners Riot in NE Syria Jail, Some Escape
Asharq Al-Awsat/Monday, 30 March, 2020
ISIS inmates, held in a major prison in northeastern Syria run by the US-backed Syrian Democratic Forces (SDF), rioted on Sunday, with some managing to escape, said SDF spokesman Mustafa Bali.
The prisoners wrestled control from guards on an entire floor in the facility, he said. North Press Agency, a media platform operating in the Kurdish-administered areas, said at least four ISIS militants escaped, quoting a security official inside the prison known as Geweran.
One unnamed and masked member of the anti-terrorism force told reporters in Hassakeh late Sunday that the prisoners smashed walls between their cells while some managed to smash a wall leading to the outside, enabling them to escape. He said the numbers are still unclear.
The SDF mounted an operation to capture those who fled as security forces sent reinforcements to crush the mutiny in Hassakeh prison, Bali added in a tweet. “The situation is tense inside the prison currently and we sent anti-terror forces and additional troops to control the situation,” he said. Earlier, Syrian state television said 12 militants had fled from the prison toward the southern outskirts of Hassakeh. A US led coalition spokesman confirmed a riot had taken place, adding the facility held only low level ISIS members. “The coalition is assisting our Syrian Democratic Forces partners with aerial surveillance as they quell an uprising at Hassakeh detention facility,” US-led coalition spokesman Col. Myles B. Caggins III said in a tweet. Arab tribal figures in touch with residents in the area said US coalition planes were seen flying overhead in the vicinity of the prison following the incident. There were unconfirmed reports that several inmates had been killed in the uprising, the latest of several recent attempts to flee from SDF prisons, according to residents. It was not clear how many inmates were in the prison, one of several where the SDF has kept thousands of detainees, many of whose relatives say are young children and others arrested on flimsy charges or for disobeying the SDF’s policy of forcible conscription. Bali said so far there is no connection between the riot and fears of the fast-spreading, new coronavirus. There are concerns over an outbreak of the virus inside overcrowded prison facilities in Syria and elsewhere in the region. But so far there are no reports of infection in Kurdish-administered northeastern Syria or in any detention facilities. “Riots often break out in prisons. But this time the scale of the riot is large,” Bali said in a text message to the Associated Press.
US-based Human Rights Watch says the SDF holds about 12,000 men and boys suspected of ISIS affiliation, including 2,000 to 4,000 foreigners from almost 50 countries. The inmates are held in overcrowded prisons where conditions are inhumane in many cases, according to Human Rights Watch and other rights groups. The Kurdish-led forces also hold about 100,000 Syrian and foreign women and children who are family members of militant suspects in squalid camps across the areas they control. With crucial US air and ground support, the SDF defeated the extremists across north and east Syria. ISIS has resorted to guerrilla attacks since losing its last significant piece of territory in Syria last year.

Sudan’s Prosecution Refuses to Release Bashir and his Aides
Khartoum - Ahmed Younis/Asharq Al-Awsat/Monday, 30 March, 2020
Sudan’s general prosecution said the decision to release of prisoners amid the coronavirus outbreak does not include former president Omar al-Bashir and his aides. It informed their families that they will not be released because they are facing charges without the possibility of bail. The general prosecutor met with the representatives of the former regime and listened to their demands for their release or putting them under house arrest. The country's top prosecutor, Taj al-Ser al-Hebr said the release order applies to convicts, not members of the former regime, who are facing charges without bail. Following Bashir’s ouster in a revolution in April 2019, a number of regime figures have been detained in Kober Prison in Khartoum, including Bashir, former First Vice President Ali Osman Mohamed Taha, Assistant Nafi Ali Nafi, former Vice President Bakri Hassan Saleh, former head of the ruling National Congress Party (NCP) Ahmed Haroun, and Deputy Secretary-General of the Popular Congress Party Ali Al Haj Mohammed. Some are being held over their 1989 coup that brought Bashir to power, in addition to other charges related to human rights violations and corruption.
Meanwhile, a major prison witnessed rioting that left one prisoner dead and the intervention of police to restore order. The violence was blamed on the decision to release prisoners as a precaution over the coronavirus, prompting outrage among inmates not included in the order. A government statement said prisoners had rioted in the prison, forcing the police to intervene and use tear gas and “necessary force” to contain such situations. Order was restored and no prisoners managed to escape. Sudan released 4,217 prisoners on Wednesday as a precaution against the spread of coronavirus, state news agency SUNA said, citing a health ministry official who said those freed had been tested for possible infections.

Netanyahu, Aides under Precautionary COVID-19 Quarantine
Agence France Presse/Naharnet/March 30/2020
Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu and his close aides have been placed under quarantine after a staffer within his office tested positive for COVID-19, a statement and Israeli media said. "Before the epidemiological investigation was completed and to dispel any doubts, the prime minister decided that he and his close staff would be in confinement until (tests) were completed," said a statement from Netanyahu's office. The statement did not mention the positive test of a staffer, but multiple Israeli media outlets have reported the case, which was confirmed to AFP by separate sources.

Country music star Joe Diffie dies of coronavirus
AFP/March 30/2020
Joe Diffie, a Grammy award-winning country music singer who had several chart-topping hits in the 1990s, has died of coronavirus. He was 61. Diffie's death was announced on his Facebook page, which said he died on Sunday "from complications of coronavirus."His death came just two days after he had announced that he had tested positive for the virus and was receiving medical care. "My family and I are asking for privacy at this time," he said. "We want to remind the public and all my fans to be vigilant, cautious and careful during this pandemic."Diffie, who was from Oklahoma, had several hit songs during the 1990s including "Pickup Man," "Prop Me Up Beside the Jukebox (If I Die)" and "John Deere Green."His first album, "A Thousand Winding Roads," was released in 1990 and including his hit song "Home." Nearly 137,000 people have tested positive for coronavirus in the United States and there have been more than 2,400 deaths.

The Latest LCCC English analysis & editorials from miscellaneous sources published on March 30-31/2020
Remembering Islam’s Christian Martyrs
Raymond Ibrahim/March 30/2020
A memorial for the 21 Christians martyrs who were slaughtered by the Islamic State for refusing to renounce their faith was inaugurated last February 15, on the five year anniversary of the tragedy, which took place in Libya, 2015. Pictured above, it consists of 21 kneeling statues, each fashioned after the appearance of one of the martyrs, with a large statue of Christ behind them, his arms open in an embrace of salvation. This memorial stands in the Egyptian village of Al Our, where many of the slain Coptic Christians came from.
The day after the Islamic State had released the video of their slaughter, Coptic Orthodox Bishop Anba Antonios Aziz Mina, said: “[I]n that diabolic product of bloodthirsty play-acting and horror, some martyrs can clearly be seen to say at the moment of their barbarous execution ‘Lord, Jesus Christ!’ The name of Jesus was their last word. Like the passion of the early martyrs, they entrusted themselves to He, who moments later, would welcome them into his embrace. This was how they celebrated their victory, a victory of which no executioner could ever rob them. With that name, whispered at the very last, their martyrdom was sealed.”
The slain are ultimately modern day reflections of an ancient (and ongoing) phenomenon that permeates nearly fourteen centuries of history: Muslims slaughtering Christians who refuse to renounce Christ and embrace Muhammad.
Indeed, earlier this month, on March 6, the martyrdom of 42 other Christians was commemorated. They too were beheaded—1,171 years before half their number (the 21 martyrs of 2015) were executed under very similar circumstances. Known as the 42 Martyrs of Amorium, their dramatic story follows:
In 838, Caliph al-Mu‘tasim—at the head of eighty thousand slave-soldiers—burst into Amorium, one of the Eastern Roman Empire’s largest and most important cities. They burned and razed it to the ground and slaughtered countless; everywhere there were “bodies heaped up in piles,” recalled a chronicler. The invaders locked those who sought sanctuary inside their churches and set the buildings aflame; trapped Christians could be heard crying kyrie eleison—“Lord have mercy!” in Greek—while being roasted alive. Hysterical “women covered their children, like chickens, so as not to be separated from them, either by sword or slavery.”
About half of the city’s seventy thousand citizens were slaughtered, the rest hauled off in chains. There was such a surplus of human booty that when the caliph came across four thousand male prisoners he ordered them executed on the spot. Because there “were so many women’s convents and monasteries” in this populous Christian city, “over a thousand virgins were led into captivity, not counting those that had been slaughtered. They were given to the Moorish and Turkish slaves, so as to assuage their lust,” laments the chronicler.
When the young emperor, Theophilus (r. 829–842), heard about the sack of Amorium—his hometown, chosen by the caliph for that very reason, to make the sting hurt all the more—he fell ill and died three years later, aged 28, reportedly from sorrow. Meanwhile, the Muslim poet Abu Tammam (805‐845) celebrated the caliph’s triumph, since “You have left the fortunes of the sons of Islam in the ascendant, and the polytheists [Christians] and the abode of polytheism in decline.”
Among the many captives carted off to Iraq were forty-two notables, mostly from the military and clerical classes. Due to their prestigious status and in order to make them trophies of Islam, they were repeatedly pressured to convert:
During the seven years of their imprisonment, their captors tried in vain to persuade them to renounce Christianity and accept Islam. The captives stubbornly resisted all their seductive offers and bravely held out against terrible threats. After many torments that failed to break the spirit of the Christian soldiers, they condemned them to death, hoping to shake the determination of the saints before executing them. The martyrs remained steadfast…
Interestingly, some of the arguments used by Muslims indicate that they acknowledged Christ as the Prince of Peace and Muhammad as the Lord of War—and played it to great effect. One Theodore, a Christian cleric who fought in defense of Amorium, was goaded as follows: “We know that you forsook the priestly office, became a soldier and shed blood [of Muslims] in battle. You can have no hope in Christ, whom you abandoned voluntarily, so accept Mohammed.” Theodore replied: “You do not speak truthfully when you say that I abandoned Christ. Moreover, I left the priesthood because of my own unworthiness. Therefore, I must shed my blood for the sake of Christ, so that He might forgive the sins that I have committed against Him.”
In the end, none would recant; and so, on March 6, 845, after seven years of torture and temptation failed to make them submit to Muhammad, all 42 Christians were—like their 21 spiritual descendants, the martyrs of 2015—also marched to a body of water, the Euphrates River, ritually beheaded, and their bodies dumped into the river.
When it comes to the Muslim persecution of Christians, past and present, some things apparently never change.

Governments Caught Between Their Image, Safety of Citizens
Abdulrahman Al-Rashed/Asharq Al-Awsat/March 30/2020
The coronavirus disease (COVID-19) pandemic has revealed a political crisis no less serious than the disease itself. Some governments have been presenting false statistics regarding the number of cases and deaths in their country and even filtering information issued by hospitals. All this is being done in an attempt to preserve a positive image, both internally and externally.
The disaster has been even greater in countries that not only kept silent but also refrained from taking decisions that could tarnish their touristic or media image, and instead issued statements of reassurance, denial, and mockery while promoting conspiracy theories. These practices were not only harmful to the peoples of those countries, but also to other countries, especially those with large populations in other parts of the world.
As the world seeks cooperation and puts differences aside to prevent a greater disaster that may further threaten mankind, the Americans and Chinese have plunged themselves into a major propaganda war. Social media is full of news on the huge medical achievements and successes from China, met by a smear campaign from the US; even though President Donald Trump says that he has called his Chinese counterpart and they have agreed to cooperate. This cooperation came after last week’s G20 videoconference, which was chaired by King Salman and attended by both the American and Chinese leaders. This summit was the major framework for collective international action. Saudi Arabia requested to convene the meeting seven months earlier than the official G20 summit due to the exceptional circumstances. International cooperation is necessary because the pandemic is neither a Chinese nor a Western plot, but a threat to humanity everywhere.
Many governments are now retracting from their initial stance, after realizing the high price of lying and obfuscation the crisis with false information. Most countries have also taken decisive actions, such as closing their borders, after having abstained from doing so because they were afraid of a certain image; looking under siege or as administrative failures in the world's eyes.
As a result, the pandemic has spread more in countries that were less willing to come forward, although this does not mean that other countries are immune. Iran, after two months of obfuscation and lies, is now revising its decisions and official rhetoric, but it still refuses to stop its activities in Iraq, Syria, Lebanon, and Yemen. In the meantime, the Americans were quick to withdraw their forces from several military bases and areas. They also withdrew some of their diplomats from Iraq to reduce the risk of casualties.
In January, the American administration also took the pandemic lightly, before realizing that it posed a real threat, and so moved to fix the situation. The decisions in the US are complicated by the limited power of the federal state. Nevertheless, in a rare move, the two competing political parties, the Democrats and the Republicans, have agreed to put their differences aside and work together under the dome of Congress, issuing a set of decisions to save the country’s health and economic situation. This is not a time for tight competition.
Governments that still hide the correct figures and avoid taking difficult decisions will pay a high price because we do not yet know the depth of the crisis or how long it is going to persist. It is possible that the pandemic will continue for a long time or make a comeback later on.
Thus, honesty is not only a virtue but also a necessity. Due to the fact that available medical equipment is limited, the World Health Organization and other international organizations will give priority to the countries that declare that they are more affected than others. This has prompted some of these countries to open up and choose to protect their citizens, rather than their own image.

Bernie Sanders between the Personal and the Political
Hazem Saghieh/Asharq Al Awsat/March 30/2020
Bernie Sanders, whose bid to become the democratic nominee for president is likely to fail, seems “un-American” to many. This does not stem exclusively from his politics and his identification as a “socialist”. It is also because the personal in him is neglected to a large extent. In the midst of a political culture that is extreme in its celebration of itself, in which the family, wife, home and personal history are openly and festively displayed, Sanders seems extremely reserved and reticent about sharing anything concerning his own personal life.
The Irish writer and critic Fintan O’toole "sneaked" into his personal life, through what Sanders had written and what had been written about him, and published one of the few articles linking Bernie the person and Bernie the politician for the bimonthly magazine 'New York Review of Books'.
The article, invoking the title of Sanders' book, focuses on him as an 'outsider'. For in 1991, when Bernie was elected to the House of Representatives, he became the first member who is not affiliated with either of the two main parties in forty years.
Nevertheless, paradoxically, Sanders represents the 'self-made' that American conservatism flaunts far more than does Trump, the wealthy son of a wealthy father.
For in 1976, after three failed attempts at becoming the governor of Vermont, Sanders decided to retire from political life and set up a small business selling homemade films about socialist American politicians and leaders to universities. This made him a small fortune, and he came to personify the dignified and organized small businessman who hates squander, despite being, politically, amongst the most emphatic supporters of expanding federal spending. When he was elected a mayor of Burlington, he was known for his frugality and efficiency, as well as his boring reiteration of his positions.
Then, in 1997, he published his book 'Outsider in the House' and later reissued it with the (optimistic) new title 'Outsider in the White House'.
In his writings, and this also is 'un-American', he downplayed two of his identities: the first is his being a Jew from Brooklyn: he does not deny it, but he does not stress it either. For he rarely refers to his family, childhood, youth and religion, restricting himself to only discussing what is political and ideological.
His modest family was attached to Roosevelt’s New Deal. His father emigrated from Poland in 1921, and his mother was born to Jewish immigrants from Poland and Russia who were killed by the Nazis. His wife is Irish.
Although he mentioned that he had lived in Israel for months in his youth, and that he was "very proud" of his Jewish heritage, at a 'J Street' conference, in 2018, he does not say in his book anything about his childhood, during which he spoke Yiddish, and studied in Hebrew or why he went to Israel. He refers to his experience in the Kibbutz, which he presents as an example of socialism, not ethnic or religious solidarity. He only began discussing his family’s relationship with the Holocaust a few years ago. He first visited Slopnice, his father’s village in southern Poland, in 2013, after which he said that the Holocaust had more influence on him than any other event.
Generally speaking, Sanders did not identify with his ethnic and religious background and prioritized social class as the marker of identify of groups and individuals, considering anti-Semitism and Islamophobia as two sides of the same coin.
The second identity that he hid was that of a hippy. After spending four years in Chicago, during which he obtained a degree in political science in 1964 from its university, he joined a hippy group. However, he did not live in a commune, grow a beard or do any drugs, except for Marijuana. Still, Sanders was the son of the sixties and the intellectual counter culture, even believing that psychosexual repression is the root of all evil.
In 1969 he published an article on the sexual oppression of women, loaded with William Reich quotes, linking women's illness with their emotional and sexual health. In another article, in 1972, he criticized gender inequality in sexual imagination. Dr. Spock, a pioneer in the teachings of non-repressive education, participated in the campaign he had launched at the time to become governor of Vermont.
However, Sanders abandoned these ideas, or he at least wanted to seem to reject them in building his political image, and he rejected everything personal along with them, affirming how disciplined and "balanced" he is. In his memoirs of the contest in Vermont, in which he garnered one percent of the vote, he stressed the degree of his self-control watchfulness over behavior, scolding himself for being unable to express his feelings to those he was addressing. Speaking about a subsequent episode, when he wanted to introduce himself on television, he says "I was so nervous that my knees shook, literally bouncing uncontrollably against the table"; the sound engineer even heard the noise made by his knees and warned him about it.
The fact is that the political extremism he seemed to have obscured his timid and self-repressed side. As he gradually went from mayor to house member to senator to presidential candidate, he was keen to gradually move to the center as well and to clarify that Cuba is not a model for America's future, social-democratic Denmark is. Nevertheless, he shifted political themes a little to the left, presenting himself as the heir of the radical politician and trade unionist Eugene Dibs, not Roosevelt. He also pushed most Democrats to embrace some of his ideas on education and healthcare. As for his current campaign to become the Democratic Party's nominee for president of the United States, this remains another story.

Coronavirus: How "Progressive" Ideology Led to Catastrophe in Spain
Soeren Kern/Gatestone Institute/March 30/2020
A class action lawsuit filed on March 19 accuses the Spanish government — highly ideological by any standard, as the Communist coalition partner, Podemos, was founded with seed money from the Venezuelan government — of knowingly endangering public safety by encouraging the public to participate in more than 75 feminist marches, held across Spain on March 8, to mark International Women's Day.
The Spanish government's main point man for the coronavirus, Fernando Simón, claimed in a nationwide press conference that there was no risk of attending the rallies on March 8. "If my son asks me if he can go, I will tell him to do whatever he wants," he said.
"Honestly, it seems to me a joke that the government has waited until today, clearly for political reasons, to make this announcement. The Socialist-Communist government has once again put its political interests above the common good. This gross negligence should lead to resignations. — Elentir, Contando Estrelas, March 9, 2020.
A class action lawsuit filed in Spain accuses the government of knowingly endangering public safety by encouraging the public to participate in more than 75 feminist marches on March 8, to mark International Women's Day, in the midst of the coronavirus pandemic. Pictured: A demonstration during International Women's Day on March 8, 2020 in Madrid, Spain.
The Spanish government, comprised of a coalition of Socialists and Communists, is facing legal action for alleged negligence in its handling of the coronavirus pandemic. The government is accused of putting its narrow ideological interests ahead of the safety and wellbeing of the public, and, in so doing, unnecessarily worsening the humanitarian crisis now gripping Spain, currently the second-worst afflicted country in Europe after Italy.
A class action lawsuit filed on March 19 accuses the Spanish government — highly ideological by any standard, as the Communist coalition partner, Podemos, was founded with seed money from the Venezuelan government — of knowingly endangering public safety by encouraging the public to participate in more than 75 feminist marches, held across Spain on March 8, to mark International Women's Day. The nationwide rallies were aimed at protesting the government's perennial bugbear: the alleged patriarchy of Western civilization.
Hundreds of thousands of people participated in those marches, and several high-profile attendees — including Spain's deputy prime minister, as well as the prime minister's wife and mother, and also the wife of the leader of Podemos — have since tested positive for Coronavirus Disease 2019 (COVID-19). It is unknown how many people were infected by the coronavirus as a result of the rallies.
The lawsuit, involving more than 5,000 plaintiffs, accuses Spanish Prime Minister Pedro Sánchez and his representatives in Spain's 17 autonomous regions of "prevarication" — a Spanish legal term that means lying and deceiving. The government was allegedly so determined to ensure that the feminist marches took place on March 8 that it deliberately downplayed warnings about the pandemic. These warnings include:
September 2019. The Global Preparedness Monitoring Board, an international panel of experts convened by the World Bank and the World Health Organization (WHO), warned of a "very real threat of a rapidly moving, highly lethal pandemic of a respiratory pathogen killing 50 to 80 million people and wiping out nearly 5% of the world's economy.
December 31. China alerted WHO to several cases of unusual pneumonia in Wuhan, a port city of 11 million people in the central Hubei province. The virus was unknown.
January 7. China identified the new coronavirus as the cause of a mystery disease in Wuhan.
January 21. WHO confirmed human-to-human transmission of the virus.
January 29. Spanish pharmaceutical cooperatives warned that pharmacies were running out of masks due to a surge in demand. Sales of masks surged by 3,000% in January compared to the year before.
January 30. WHO Director-General declared the coronavirus outbreak a public health emergency of international concern.
January 31. The first known case of COVID-19 in Spain was confirmed in La Gomera, Canary Islands, where a German tourist tested positive and was admitted to a local hospital.
February 12. Mobile World Congress, the world's largest mobile phone trade fair, which draws more than 100,000 participants from 200 countries, was cancelled due to fears of coronavirus. The financial loss to Barcelona and the city's hospitality industry was estimated to be €500 million ($560 million).
February 24. More than 1,000 guests and employees at the Costa Adeje Palace hotel in Tenerife, Canary Islands, were quarantined after an Italian citizen tested positive for COVID-19.
February 27. A 62-year-old man from Seville tested positive for COVID-19. His was the first case of local transmission of the virus in Spain. The man said that he believed he was infected during a banking conference in Malaga, where he sat next to a partner who traveled to the Canary Islands on vacation and had had contact with people from Asia. Doctors said that the diagnosis was of "great importance" because it proved that COVID-19 has been circulating in Spain without detection.
March 2. The European Center for Disease Control and Prevention advised European countries to cancel mass gatherings of people to prevent the transmission of coronavirus.
March 2. The Spanish Medical Agency sent a letter to pharmaceutical distributors to restrict the marketing of masks and to block their distribution across Spanish pharmacies. The agency's objective, on the advice of the Ministry of Health, was to ensure the supply of masks to hospitals and health centers at a time when the number of confirmed cases was beginning to multiply. The measure blocked sales to Spanish pharmacies, as well as sales abroad.
March 3. The regional health ministry in Valencia announced that the first coronavirus fatality in Spain died on February 13. Health authorities did not know he had the virus until 19 days after his death — an indication that Spanish authorities have been slow to understand the outbreak. Since coronavirus cases that end in death last between two and eight weeks, in addition to a 14-day incubation period, it is possible that the man was infected as early as the beginning of January.
March 3. Spanish authorities ordered major football and basketball matches to be held behind closed doors with no spectators allowed to prevent the spread of coronavirus.
March 6. The Spanish Ministry of Health advised: "The precautionary principle must prevail. The emergence of a hitherto unknown virus means that precautionary measures must be taken based on the existing scientific knowledge regarding viruses."
On March 7, despite these warnings, the Spanish government's main point man for the coronavirus, Fernando Simón, claimed in a nationwide press conference that there was no risk of attending the rallies on March 8. "If my son asks me if he can go, I will tell him to do whatever he wants," he said.
The intrepid, Spain-based journalist Matthew Bennett discovered that the Spanish government failed to report new coronavirus cases between March 6 and March 9, apparently in an effort to downplay the danger to the public of attending the rallies.
On March 9, after the number of confirmed coronavirus cases in Madrid doubled in one day, the President of the Autonomous Community of Madrid, Isabel Díaz Ayuso, ordered all schools in the capital to be closed for at least two weeks. The decision by the regional government caught the central government by surprise and effectively forced it to act.
March 10. Spanish Health Minister Salvador Illa, a Catalan philosophy major with no experience in medicine, said: "Today's situation may be different from yesterday's, it is changing, and this will continue to be so until we overcome this situation."
March 11. The Spanish government acknowledged that it knew on March 8, before the feminist rallies took place, that the coronavirus outbreak in Madrid was out of control.
March 12. Prime Minister Sánchez, defending himself against criticism that he allowed the marches to go ahead, said that his government was responding to the "dynamic" situation of the coronavirus by "adapting" to the "hourly" recommendations of scientific experts.
March 14. The central government announced a nationwide state of emergency that effectively placed 46 million people in lockdown for at least 15 days. All non-essential travel has been prohibited and people are confined to their homes except in cases of emergency or to purchase food or medicine. All schools and universities in the country are closed.
March 29. The lockdown, the strictest in all of Europe, was extended until April 11.
The lawsuit has been forwarded to the Spanish Supreme Court due to the prime minister's immunity.
Article 404 of the Penal Code establishes a penalty of between nine to 15 years of disqualification for public office for public officials convicted of the crime of prevarication.
Víctor Valladares, a Madrid-based lawyer who is leading the lawsuit, said:
"The result of the calls for these demonstrations and their direct approval by government delegations and by the inaction of the central government chaired by the accused, Prime Minister Pedro Sánchez, could not be more antagonistic to what the EU indicated in its report. Why was not an order issued to prevent any type of mass event?"
Meanwhile, the Association of Doctors and Medics of Madrid (AMYTS) and the Confederation of Medical Trade Unions (CESM) also filed lawsuits against the government. The complaint demands that the federal and local governments provide hospitals in Madrid with masks, protective glasses and waste containers within 24 hours.
The Spanish blogger Elentir, who operates the blog Contando Estrelas, a politically astute website that is essential to understanding contemporary Spanish politics, wrote:
"As we found out, 16 days late, the first death from coronavirus had occurred in Spain on February 13. Faced with the risk that the massive feminist mobilizations on Sunday, March 8 could be cancelled, Fernando Simón commented: 'We have no specific recommendation on the suspension of the rally on March 8.'"On March 9, one day after the feminist marches, Health Minister Salvador Illa expressly recommend that all people with chronic diseases or multiple pathologies do not leave their homes except for emergencies.... He said this immediately after the feminist rallies held on March 8.
"Honestly, it seems to me a joke that the government has waited until today, clearly for political reasons, to make this announcement. The Socialist-Communist government has once again put its political interests above the common good. This gross negligence should lead to resignations."
Criticism of the Spanish government's handling of the coronavirus crisis has also come from members of the Socialist Party itself. On March 22, Juan Luis Cebrián, a co-founder of the newspaper El País, a notorious mouthpiece of the Socialist Party, wrote:
"The crocodile tears of so many political leaders who claim that no one could have imagined such a thing such as the coronavirus do not make any sense. There were not only those who imagined it: they foresaw it, and they seriously warned about it. There has undoubtedly been negligence on the part of the various health ministers and their bosses, and in France three doctors have already filed a complaint against the government for this reason. The consequence is that most Western nations today are overwhelmed in their abilities to fight the epidemic. They reacted late and erroneously. Lacking is: hospital beds, medical personnel, respirators and transparency in official information.
"On February 24, WHO officially declared the probability that we would be faced with a pandemic. Despite this and knowing the magnitude of the threat, which has already been fully realized in several countries, hardly any measures were taken in most of the potential scenarios for the spread of the virus. In the case of Spain, attendance at gigantic demonstrations was encouraged, the holding of massive popular festivals was promoted, urgent funding for research was delayed, the threat was minimized, and even the official still in charge today of the scientific recommendations dared to say between smiles that there was no risk to the population.
"This is not the time to open a debate on the subject, but it is legitimate to assume that in addition to political responsibilities, citizens... will have the right to demand legal redress if there is guilty negligence."
Spain is one of the European countries most affected by the virus: As of March 29, more than 80,000 people had been diagnosed with Coronavirus Disease 2019 (COVID-19) and more than 6,500 had died as a result. The actual number of people infected may be ten times higher due to the lack of testing of asymptomatic cases. As the pandemic runs its course, Spain is on track soon to overtake Italy as Europe's hardest-hit country.
*Soeren Kern is a Senior Fellow at the New York-based Gatestone Institute.
© 2020 Gatestone Institute. All rights reserved. The articles printed here do not necessarily reflect the views of the Editors or of Gatestone Institute. No part of the Gatestone website or any of its contents may be reproduced, copied or modified, without the prior written consent of Gatestone Institute.

Sweden: Culture of Silence
Judith Bergman/Gatestone Institute/March 30/2020
"The interviewee realized that the conclusions would be politically unpopular, but had nevertheless written them... Other former employees have pointed out that it was clear that there were political reasons why they were pressured to change content in reports..." — Report by Linköping University about the Swedish National Council for Crime Prevention (Brå), "Can Brå be trusted?"
"One employee reported, among other things, that a director-general expressed that 'there is a reality and a political reality' when the director-general demanded that an employee change a report..." — Report by Linköping University, "Can Brå be trusted?"
"If results were not liked then censorship was used, correction of results, toning down results and highlighting other parts of [the] study that were not so sensitive or that could show positive results". — Report by Linköping University, "Can Brå be trusted?"
"After I was hired at Brå, it took me a short time to understand that working at Brå is a big challenge. As an employee of Brå, you should write and think in a certain way. Brå is extremely controlled from the top. There are some people at Brå who control with an iron hand. If one were to be a little harsh then one could liken it to a sect. I don't think they really understand what kind of culture they have created" — Another employee, from the report by Linköping University, "Can Brå be trusted?"
The report also found that Brå appears to strive to hire employees that will "act as obedient bureaucrats at an authority, rather than people who have accepted a researcher's role".
Meanwhile, Sweden continues its downward spiral.
A recent report published by Linköping University about the Swedish National Council for Crime Prevention (Brå), has claimed that Brå's reports are politically biased. Pictured: Linköping University's Valla Campus in Linköping, Sweden. (Image source: Anna Nilsen [LiU]/Wikimedia Commons)
A recent report published by Linköping University about the Swedish National Council for Crime Prevention (Brå), "Can Brå be trusted?" has claimed that Brå's reports are politically biased.
According to Brå's own website, "Brå is an agency under the auspices of the Ministry of Justice and a knowledge centre for the criminal justice system. The agency's mandate is to contribute to the development of knowledge within the criminal justice system and the criminal policy area, as well as to promote crime prevention work. Brå is responsible for the official criminal statistics and other statistics, which includes producing, following, analysing, and reporting on criminality and the criminal justice system's responses to crime".
It is therefore crucial that Brå fulfill its obligations in a factual and objective manner, not least in the current environment, when Sweden is experiencing a veritable crime wave, including shootings, bombings and other gang-inspired violence that some commentators have likened to "war".
According to the Linköping University report, the results of which were based primarily on interviews with former and current employees and managers of Brå, in addition to a number of former police chiefs and ministers of justice, Brå's work is politically biased due to political pressure from the Ministry of Justice as well as the management of Brå. The report states: "For example, a former employee said that he, together with the Director-General [of Brå] was called to the Ministry of Justice for a conversation with the requirement of a report to be 'corrected'. The report consisted of an evaluation of a government proposal, concluding that the proposals were harmful. The interviewee realized that the conclusions would be politically unpopular, but had nevertheless written them... Other former employees have pointed out that it was clear that there were political reasons why they were pressured to change content in reports even though these researchers were not called to the Ministry... One employee reported, among other things, that a director-general expressed that 'there is a reality and a political reality' when the director-general demanded that an employee change a report..."
The Linköping University report goes on to say:
"Interviews show that adaptation of content in reports has taken place in different ways. A former employee made the following summary: 'If results were not liked then censorship was used, correction of results, toning down results and highlighting other parts of [the] study that were not so sensitive or that could show positive results'".
Another employee said: "After I was hired at Brå, it didn't take me long to realize that working at Brå is a big challenge. As an employee of Brå, you have to write and think in a certain way. Brå is extremely controlled from the top. There are some people at Brå who run [the organization] with an iron hand. If one were to be a little harsh then one could liken it to a sect. I don't think they really understand what kind of culture they have created".
The Linköping report states that there appears to be a culture of silence by which is meant, "norms that create silence among employees, when they do not dare to bring up certain viewpoints, questions or criticism, whether internal or external".
Ironically, this culture of silence has been symptomatic of Swedish society, where most have been afraid to speak publicly about the problems caused by unfettered migration for fear of being ostracized.
The report also found that Brå appears to strive to hire employees that will "act as obedient bureaucrats at an authority, rather than people who have accepted a researcher's role".
The report has caused consternation in Sweden. The Swedish Parliament's judicial committee has now invited the authors of the report, as well as the general director, to their next meeting. Johan Forsell, the legal spokesman of the Moderate party, said:
"Very serious allegations and accusations are made in the report. Brå is, after all, an expert authority that is supposed to deliver facts that objectively reflect society. We need, quite simply, to get to the bottom of this... Regardless of when it happened and under what political color, the very suspicion of influence is serious enough. But that responsibility now falls on Justice Minister Morgan Johansson".
Meanwhile, Sweden continues its downward spiral. Last year there were 257 reports of explosions -- including attempted explosions -- an increase of 59% compared to 2018, according to SVT Nyheter. Yet, only seven people were convicted for any of those 257 crimes. In 2020, at least 10 explosions have already taken place.
According to Stefan Hector, head of the National Operative Unit (NOA):
"Earlier we saw that hand grenades were used. Now we see how homemade explosives are used instead as weapons in conflicts. Either to injure or to terrorize but with a new ruthlessness where they bomb wherever the public is without caring that the public might get hurt".
According to SVT News, the police and other authorities "do not know" where all the explosives come from. "The issue of explosives as weapons in conflicts is relatively new. This means that we have considerable uncertainty as to where the parts for the explosive charges come from", Hector said.
"Unless the integration of the newcomers succeeds better, in the long run, the social glue that makes a democratic welfare society of our kind possible risks being torn apart", professor in political science at the University of Uppsala, Tommy Möller, recently wrote in an op-ed.
Gatestone Institute has described the serious economic, welfare, crime and other challenges that Swedish society now faces as a result of migration into the country, for example here, here, here, here and here.
One issue that Swedish figures of authority are now admitting to having neglected over the years is anti-Semitism. Municipal managers in Malmö, for instance, Sweden's third-largest city, where immigrants constitute one-third of the population, now say that it took a long time before they "saw the extent" of the problem. Anders Rubin was school council member of the Malmö municipality from 2013 to 2018. "Many students who have a background in the Middle East, and in several Muslim countries, have notions of Jews that are not at all compatible with democratic values," he told Sydsvenskan recently. He also confessed that the municipality had not taken the complaints of its Jewish citizens seriously. According to Sydsvenskan:
"Anders Rubin says he and the other leading Social Democrats initially underestimated the alarm from the city's Jews about a growing amount of threats and harassment. He describes it as the municipality management having had their 'guards down'."
"It was not felt that there was an established anti-Semitic attitude more than in extremely peripheral right-wing groups. I think we understood that the problem was marginal" admitted Rubin to Sydsvenskan. The newspaper also recounts how in 2009, Malmö's then-mayor, Ilmar Reepalu, responded to attacks on a Jewish demonstration by saying that Swedish Jews ought to distance themselves from Israel.
"It was only when we began to realize that in some of our immigrant groups there were ideas that were problematic, that we realized that we were forced to do something", Rubin said. He said there are probably limits to what municipal authorities can do about anti-Semitism.
"To think that we could achieve the frictionless city is a utopia. In such a diversified city as Malmö, one cannot change those types of attitudes by coming from the top and being forceful and telling people what to think. Somehow, it is extremely difficult to drive this down to a municipal political level. I think it is a complicated question, how we as representatives of the majority society should act to influence the attitudes of minorities. It easily becomes counterproductive".
Perhaps unwittingly, Rubin made a crucial point here: namely, that for years authorities swept serious problems related to migration under the rug, making them taboo and then vilifying those who dared to talk about them in public. The Linköping University report about the culture at Brå, sadly, exposed this pattern.
Judith Bergman, a columnist, lawyer and political analyst, is a Distinguished Senior Fellow at Gatestone Institute.
© 2020 Gatestone Institute. All rights reserved. The articles printed here do not necessarily reflect the views of the Editors or of Gatestone Institute. No part of the Gatestone website or any of its contents may be reproduced, copied or modified, without the prior written consent of Gatestone Institute.

The coronavirus pandemic puts pregnant women at risk – let’s take care of them
Dr. Luay Shabaneh/Al Arabiya/March 30/2020
Mariam, 35, is pregnant in a time of uncertainty. Every day, she spends hours on social media trying to get answers on how to protect herself and her unborn baby. Mariam worries that she may get infected with COVID-19 when she goes to a health care facility, the market or even at home. She is confused by the overload of information about the spread of the coronavirus, much of it from non-official sources and accompanied by rumors that stoke fear and worsen her anxiety.
As a pregnant woman, Mariam is also concerned about how the virus may affect the hormonal and physical changes to a woman’s body that take place during pregnancy, including on her respiratory and immune systems. She is aware that social distancing and self-isolation are both crucial to prevent the spread of the disease, but this situation is a nightmare for her. Mariam is completely overwhelmed by having her three sons and her husband staying at home, on top of her usual chores.
Mariam’s anxiety is legitimate. Sexual and reproductive health is a significant public health issue during epidemics, and woman face additional challenges that make them even more vulnerable to the disease. In many societies, women are not only expected to be caregivers for the immediate and extended family; they also clean and cook for everyone, putting them at more risk of getting sick.
While there is no current evidence of adverse effects on pregnant women from COVID-19, pregnancy itself is nevertheless a risk factor for the immune system.
To make matters even worse, as more countries lock down to contain the spread of COVID-19, more breadwinners will likely lose their jobs. Extended home confinement and despair over the future can lead to gender-based violence.
In this time of uncertainty for everyone, we need to protect women and girls. They cannot be left behind, no matter how bleak the situation becomes. The pandemic is likely to compound existing gender inequalities in countries globally, and the Arab States region is no exception.
There is ample evidence that crises increase the risk of gender-based violence and sexual exploitation. To counter that threat, the vulnerability of women and girls must be at the center of national and global responses.
Safe pregnancies and childbirth right now depend on functioning health systems, with 24/7 access to emergency obstetric care and strict adherence to infection prevention and control measures. Surveillance and response protocols need to include disaggregated data on sex, age, gender and pregnancy status.
To protect pregnant women, health facilities must ensure that women stay safe from infection when getting antenatal care, delivery care, post-natal care and family planning services. Emergency obstetric care services in particular may be hit hardest, with limited facilities to isolate women in labour and newborns. We cannot downplay the importance of physically separating areas for pregnant women and for treating respiratory illnesses.
Finally, let’s not forget to offer mental health and psychosocial support for pregnant women struggling to deal with the hardships of curfews and quarantines.
UNFPA, the United Nations sexual and reproductive health agency, along with the World Health Organization and other UN sister organizations, is working round the clock with all its partners to respond to the pandemic. Our stepped-up response to prevent infections and support treatment includes ensuring that only correct messages based on facts reach the population, and standing up against discrimination and stigma. Both are crucial to defend people’s well-being, safety, dignity and human rights. UNFPA is also concerned about the uninterrupted provision of family planning information and services like contraceptives as global supply chains are disrupted due to COVID-19.
We salute all health workers, including midwives and OB-GYNs, in this challenging time. Women, who represent 70 per cent of the global health care workforce, are our heroes.
As the world prepares for the dire economic consequences of the coronavirus outbreak, we cannot ignore its current and future impact on women and girls’ wellbeing. Any stimulus program must take this into account.
UNFPA realizes that the world is at a critical crossroads in human history, one in which the only way forward is to promote collective solidarity and global cooperation. Let’s work together make sure women and girls are not an afterthought in our battle against this invisible enemy.
*Dr. Luay Shabaneh is the Regional Director for Arab States in UNFPA, the UN agency for sexual and reproductive health.

As Netanyahu uses coronavirus to consolidate power, Israel's opposition leader has given in
Jonathan Cook/The National/March 30/2020
Last week, Benny Gantz, a fomer Israeli general turned opposition leader, agreed to join his rival, incumbent Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu, in an “emergency government” to deal with coronavirus.
Two weeks ago, Mr Gantz won a thin majority in parliament, giving him first right to form a coalition government. Now he has conceded to Mr Netanyahu, who will remain in power for the next 18 months.
Over the past year, Mr Gantz fought three hotly contested – but indecisive – elections to end the Prime Minister's 11-year rule. He had promised supporters he would never sit in government alongside Mr Netanyanhu, who is due to stand trial for corruption.
Predictably, Mr Gantz’s U-turn tore apart his Blue and White alliance; two of its three constituent parties will now join the opposition. Governmental paralysis has increased in the past year, with neither Mr Gantz nor Mr Netanyahu able to cobble together a majority coalition with other parties.
The reason was the Joint List party, representing Israel’s Palestinian Arab citizens – a fifth of the country's population – which held the balance of votes. None of the main Jewish parties wanted to be seen relying on its 15 seats.
Mr Netanyahu’s “emergency government” should now occupy more than 70 seats in the 120-member parliament – a safe majority. Renowned for his ability to pull off political miracles, Mr Netanyahu gradually wore down his rival’s resistance over the past year. Coronavirus proved to be the final straw.
The Prime Minister has exploited justifiable fears about the virus to cement his status as a kind of ‘Father of the Nation’. In regular addresses, he has presented himself as an Israeli Winston Churchill, the British wartime leader who helped to vanquish the Nazis. He has now served longer as prime minister than Israel's founding father, David Ben Gurion. Mr Gantz, it seems, assessed that there was no practical way to hold a fourth election, given the lockdowns. And in any case, Mr Netanyahu, who completely dominates the airwaves, would have cast him as recklessly endangering Israel’s health and security by refusing to join him in government. Mr Gantz also may have blanched at the prospect of another no-holds-barred election campaign that would unleash more of the dirty tricks at which Mr Netanyahu and his allies excel.
As Mr Netanyahu has grown more desperate to stay in power – and fearful of being put on trial – the gloves have come off. In the last two elections, his officials have questioned Mr Gantz’s mental health and spread unverifiable rumours that a phone stolen from him contained compromising photos.
Further, because his path to power depended upon backing from the Joint List, Mr Gantz was the subject of endless smears from Mr Netanyahu, accusing him of getting into bed with “supporters of terrorism”.
Mr Netanyahu’s other strategy has been to undermine the judiciary and the Parliament – the two main checks on the executive he controls. Amir Ohana, his justice minister, has partially shut down the courts, which postpones Mr Netanayhu’s March 17 trial until the end of May. It may be delayed even further.
To deal with the resulting logjam of hearings, the cabinet passed emergency regulations last week to run court cases over video instead. But it exempted those facing indictment, including Mr Netanyahu.
The Prime Minister has also allowed his senior officials to unleash a torrent of incitement against Israel’s Supreme Court, in an effort to intimidate judges and turn the public mood against the legal system. Yuli Edelstein, the speaker of the parliament from Mr Netanyahu’s Likud party, suspended the legislature on March 18 and refused to hold a vote for his successor because Mr Gantz’s bloc had a narrow majority.
The fear was that a new speaker would help pass legislation to prohibit criminal suspects under indictment from serving as prime minister, ousting Mr Netanyahu from power. The Supreme Court ruled that Mr Edelstein had committed “an unprecedented violation of the rule of law”, demanding that he allow the vote to go ahead. Rather than carry out the ruling, Mr Edelstein resigned.
Mr Netanyahu’s closest allies, including the justice minister, rounded on the judges. Yariv Levin, the tourism minister, accused the chief justice, Esther Hayut, of launching a judicial “coup”. As veteran Israeli analyst Ben Caspit observed: “The coronavirus outbreak allows Netanyahu to keep undermining the rule of law for his own survival, almost unchallenged.”
Defending his decision to join the government, Mr Gantz said: “These are not normal times and they call for unusual decisions.” He hopes to persuade his supporters that he has not capitulated completely. If things go to plan – a big ‘if’ – Mr Gantz should become the prime minister in 18 months’ time.
Mr Gantz reportedly has also insisted that one of his allies becomes justice minister – to ensure Mr Netanyahu cannot evade trial indefinitely.
In the meantime, Mr Gantz will likely serve as foreign minister – where he may help to burnish, as a supposed “moderate”, Israel’s “democratic” credentials abroad. It may not be easy. This year, Israel scored record lows in global democracy surveys. Freedom House noted that it suffered “an unusually large decline for an established democracy” even before the latest events, partly due to Mr Netanyahu's “anti-democratic tendencies”.
Israel’s president, Reuven Rivlin, from Mr Netanyahu’s own party, has similarly warned that the country’s democratic institutions are under threat. Convoys of cars have defied lockdowns to protest Mr Netanyahu’s flouting of norms.
The test now for the emergency government will be whether Mr Gantz’s inclusion stays the demonstrators’ hand for the time being or inflames yet more protests.
*Jonathan Cook is a freelance journalist in Nazareth

Iran regime using superstition and mythology to evade responsibility
Dr. Mohammed Al-Sulami/Arab News/March 30/2020
Iran’s leadership is well skilled in adapting its rhetoric depending on its target audience. For external audiences, it uses diplomatic language full of concern about human rights and humanitarian issues. Meanwhile, domestically, its rhetoric is largely reliant on conspiracy theories, sorcery and superstition. The latter is the focus of this article.
The contradiction between the leadership’s various rhetorical styles and claims has become even more strikingly clear during the current coronavirus disease (COVID-19) crisis. Instead of acknowledging and genuinely confronting the root causes of the spread of the virus across Iran and the resulting overspill into neighboring nations such as Iraq, Syria, Lebanon and the Gulf states, the ruling elites in Iran have displayed contradictory positions. On the one hand, they have boasted that Iranian doctors are close to creating a vaccine and there is no need for external help; while, on the other, they have requested foreign support and the lifting of US sanctions.
Supreme Leader Ali Khamenei, typically, cited a conspiracy theory, accusing the US of creating COVID-19 explicitly to target Iran. He claimed that the virus “is specifically built for Iran using the genetic data of Iranians, which they (the US) have obtained through different means.” Khamenei has also claimed that the human and supernatural antagonists of Iran have united to help each other accelerate the crisis in the country. He asserted that the country’s enemies had attempted to use demonic forces to infiltrate Iran’s political system, but had failed to do so.
Senior officials and clerics, such as Hojatoleslam Valiollah Naghipourfar, regularly make similar statements, indicating that the theocratic elite adopts policies built on magic, sorcery and conspiracy theories. The fact is that the Iranian leadership is seemingly incapable of holding individuals accountable; instead attributing any crisis in the country to wild conspiracy theories, sorcery and evil spirits.
This rhetoric is deep-rooted in the theocratic elite’s worldview. Former President Mahmoud Ahmadinejad irritated the religious elite when he amplified the idea of the Hidden Imam Mahdi’s imminent return and cited it in most of his speeches. His political loyalists produced a film, in which Khamenei and Ahmadinejad were hailed as soldiers heralding the Mahdi’s return. Some clerics, such as Naser Makarem Shirazi, voiced opposition to the film at the time, arguing that it dealt a blow to the Iranian people’s beliefs and their faith in Mahdism.
In a recording of the former president purportedly in conversation with senior cleric Ayatollah Abdollah Javadi-Amoli, Ahmadinejad said that, during a speech at the UN, he sensed the presence of Imam Mahdi and felt as though an aura of divine light was surrounding him. While this prompted many clerics to accuse Ahmadinejad of exploiting the Iranian people’s beliefs for political gains, rhetoric of this nature is not unusual.
Similarly, a representative of Khamenei appointed to run the affairs of the Jamkaran Mosque in Qom claimed that he had personally witnessed secret meetings between the supreme leader and the Mahdi. This startling claim did not surprise anyone in Iran, with this rhetoric similar to that of Shah Ismail, the 16th century Safavid leader who claimed to have met the Hidden Imam in a cave near Tabriz city and to have told him: “It is time to come out. Go, I have given you the authority.”
The Iranian leadership seemingly attributes any crisis to wild conspiracy theories, sorcery and evil spirits
Given the regularity of such rhetoric, it seems that this is a hallmark of Shiite political factions — attempting to coerce believers into greater loyalty through exploiting their religious devotion in order to enhance their legitimacy.
Bearing all this in mind, it seems that loyalist clerics like Shirazi are utilizing the same cynical calculus in their approach to the coronavirus crisis. For example, they urged the public to visit sacred shrines and tombs in order to be divinely healed. Ayatollah Mohammed Saeedi, Khamenei’s representative in Qom, said: “We consider this sacred place as a haven for healing. Accordingly, this place should remain open. The people should flock to it en masse.”
Similarly, a post on the website of the famous Fatima Masoumeh Shrine criticized the decision of the provincial council in Qom to suspend congregational prayers and sterilize the shrine’s tomb, falsely claiming that the structure of the shrine is antibacterial.
Due to this metaphysical and mythical rhetoric, playing on the public’s heartstrings, exploiting their desperation and appealing to their religious devotion, people took to the streets to protest the closure of the Fatima Masoumeh Shrine. Some stormed the shrine, while others professed their belief in its miraculous powers by licking it, rather than listening to medical advice that such places are hotspots for the virus to spread.
All these facts lead us to the inescapable conclusion that, by embracing such rhetoric, the Iranian elite seeks to evade responsibility for the precarious political and economic realities its policies have caused and the obligations for which it is responsible, while attempting to enhance its legitimacy and political standing through appeals to superstition and mythology. At a time of multiple crises, of which COVID-19 is the latest, Iran’s theocratic elite is finding that its customary superstition-based metaphysical excuses and conspiracy theories may not be enough to sedate the worries and anger of the long-suffering Iranian public. While the religious elite attributes every failure to abstract causes and blames external factors regionally and internationally, as always, more and more Iranians are no longer gullible, especially as the government’s failure in dealing effectively with the coronavirus is clearly apparent to all.
• Dr. Mohammed Al-Sulami is Head of the International Institute for Iranian Studies (Rasanah). Twitter: @mohalsulami

Russia may revive Astana talks amid virus distraction
Dr. Dania Koleilat Khatib/Arab News/March 30/2020
Russian Defense Minister Sergei Shoigu last week met with Syrian President Bashar Assad to discuss the cease-fire in Idlib. While the West is scrambling to manage the coronavirus pandemic and Syria is not on its radar, Russia might find an opportunity to revive the stalled Astana talks — the parallel course to the Geneva process — and to impose new realities on the ground that can dictate the future of Syria.
The Syrian issue still represents a danger for Europe in the years to come, as the Assad regime threatens to create several new waves of refugees from the areas it recaptures. However, the current measures the EU has taken to close its external borders to non-EU citizens in the short to medium term will likely minimize, if not remove, the pressure of waves of Syrian refugees arriving on European shores. This makes Syria less important an issue, at least for the moment. In this period, when the old continent is consumed by the instinct of self-preservation, Assad’s human rights abuses can go unnoticed.
The residents of Idlib include many people who rejected the “reconciliations” or, more properly, the capitulations dictated by Assad and enforced by the Russians in other parts of the country. They preferred to get on the green buses and take refuge in Idlib, away from Assad’s brutality. They have witnessed multiple displacements and fled their worst nightmare, which is to be placed under the rule of Assad. They are unlikely to accept any reconciliation with the regime.
Some of those who accepted the reconciliation in Daraa Al-Balad in the country’s southwest returned to protest early this year after one young man was found dead after being kidnapped by the political security services. The city was recaptured by the regime in 2018, but Assad did not keep the promises he made to residents despite Russian guarantees. The Syrian regime has failed to pacify the areas it has recaptured for many reasons, including the brutality and revenge mentality with which it governs, and its failure to provide basic services to residents.
Though Russia is a major player, it failed to coerce the international community into accepting its conditions; the main one being reconstruction in the absence of a proper political transition that would remove Assad from power. It launched the Astana talks in an attempt to compete with the Geneva process in deciding the future of Syria. However, the negotiations held in Kazakhstan were stillborn. Though the three participating countries — Iran, Russia and Turkey — agreed on the territorial integrity of Syria, arguably for different reasons, they have irreconcilable disagreements, particularly regarding the fate of Assad.
Coronavirus has given Assad the perfect opportunity. He started to accelerate his attempts on Idlib as news of the outbreak in Europe started emerging. Now that Europe and the US are at the center of the virus crisis, Assad can have a free hand.
The various agreements between Russia and Turkey on Idlib have generally not held. Recep Tayyip Erdogan was recently “humiliated” by Vladimir Putin, who kept him and his delegation waiting before their meeting. Meanwhile, Turkey’s latest discussions in Brussels did not result in any material help. While Erdogan does not want to turn Idlib over to the Assad regime, he does not seem to have the help he needs from NATO and Europe to push back against the regime’s offensive.
Now that Europe and the US are at the center of the virus crisis, Assad can have a free hand in Idlib.
Ankara might find it a safer bet to enter into an agreement, though halfheartedly, with Russia and Iran, Assad’s sponsors. This might be a test for Turkey, which will have to choose between its affiliation with the West and its ties with Russia. There is also a concern that, the more Assad recaptures, the more violence will erupt due to his reprisal strategy. There is also the Kurds, who may be willing to enter into a deal with the regime and Russia — though this might be their last resort, as there is no trust in the regime. The Kurds know that Assad will not keep his promises. However, a deal might be their only option to fend off Turkey, especially as Erdogan hopes to relocate refugees into the zone between Tal Abyad and Ras Al-Ain, creating a demographic imbalance between Arabs and Kurds in the latter’s disfavor.
The Russians have adopted a policy of frozen conflict, meaning they favor not having any major clashes, while at the same time maintaining a situation that allows them to have a strategic position from which they can negotiate with the different parties: Israel, the Gulf, the Iranians, the Europeans, and the US. However, now that the international environment allows, Russia may be encouraged to take a step further and seek to bridge the differences between the three lead actors in the Syrian conflict. If it succeeds in doing so, it will have a much better bargaining position with the West and will have the final word in deciding on the future of Syria.
*Dr. Dania Koleilat Khatib is a specialist in US-Arab relations with a focus on lobbying. She holds a PhD in politics from the University of Exeter and is an affiliated scholar with the Issam Fares Institute for Public Policy and International Affairs at the American University of Beirut.