LCCC ENGLISH DAILY NEWS BULLETIN
May 27/2019
Compiled & Prepared by: Elias Bejjani

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Bible Quotations For today
‘Go into all the world and proclaim the good news to the whole creation
Holy Gospel of Jesus Christ according to Saint Mark 16/15-18:”‘Go into all the world and proclaim the good news to the whole creation. The one who believes and is baptized will be saved; but the one who does not believe will be condemned. And these signs will accompany those who believe: by using my name they will cast out demons; they will speak in new tongues; they will pick up snakes in their hands, and if they drink any deadly thing, it will not hurt them; they will lay their hands on the sick, and they will recover

Titles For The Latest English LCCC Lebanese & Lebanese Related News published on May 26-27/19
Politicians, Parties & Clergymen
Hezbollah’s bogus Liberation & Resistance Day
Lebanon's PM Says New Budget Will Lead Lebanon to Economic Safety
Lebanon: No to naturalization of 'Palestinian refugees'
Jumblat Slams 'Foreign Ministry Orientalists' after Bassil Remarks
FPM Says 'Positive Atmosphere' Allows Approving Budget Monday
Hariri: Deficit Reduction is a Message in All Directions
Mustaqbal Says Arsal Resident Tortured, Killed by Syria
Saudi Held at Beirut Airport with 10 Kgs of Captagon
Nadim Gemayel Pledges Steadfastness During Keserwan Tour
Kataeb leader's legal adviser, Lara Saade,Says Failure to Annul Electricity Plan Would Be an 'Unforgivable Sin'
Lingering economic woes cast huge uncertainties over Lebanon’s future
The 11 trillion lira optical illusion
Israel Reveals Details of Kuntar’s Assassination near Damascus
Hezbollah: US plan could naturalize Arab ‘refugees’
The Lebanese government’s proposed budget exposes its corruption
Paris-Based Lebanese Journalist Maya Khadra: French Politicians Adopt Islamist Rhetoric To Win Favors Of Muslim Majority In Parisian Suburbs; Qatar Funds Muslim Brotherhood In France, Europe

Titles For The Latest English LCCC Miscellaneous Reports And News published on May 26-27/19
Pompeo Defends Arms Sales to Saudi Arabia, UAE, Jordan
US Suspects 2 Iran Proxies in Baghdad Embassy Attack
Zarif: Iran Will Defend Itself against Any Aggression
Iraq Warns of 'Danger of War' as Iranian FM Visits
Europe Warns US of New ‘Russian Deception’ in Syria
Syrian Regime Steps Up Air Strikes in Northwest
Egypt: Accused in Nusra Front Case Sought to Target Christians
Fatah Stresses its Rejection of ‘Deal of the Century’ Even If Under Threat
Israel Eases Fishing Restrictions in Gaza
Gaza Suffers Worst Medicine Shortage with Deficit at 52%
As Deadline Looms, Netanyahu Says Coalition Deal Still Possible
Czech Republic Will Not Relocate its Embassy to Jerusalem
Turkey: Kurdish Leader Urges Jailed Supporters to End Hunger Strike'
Casualties in W. Libya Militias Clash over ‘Turkish Spoils’
Haftar Vows to Continue Tripoli Operation until Militias Disarm
UN Chief to Hadi: Yemen Envoy to Redouble Efforts in a Balanced Manner
Venezuela's Guaido Says Will Send Representatives for Talks with Govt.
Final Votes Cast as Europe Chooses Future Course

Titles For The Latest LCCC English analysis & editorials from miscellaneous sources published on May 26-27/19
Our People In Israel versus the Dhimmitude Lebanese Maronite, Officials, Politicians, Parties & Clergymen/ Elias Bejjani/May 26/2019
Hezbollah’s bogus Liberation & Resistance Day/Elias Bejjani/May 25/19
Lebanon: No to naturalization of 'Palestinian refugees'/Arutz Sheva/May 26/2019
Lingering economic woes cast huge uncertainties over Lebanon’s future/Simon Speakman Cordall/The Arab Weekly/May 26/2019
The 11 trillion lira optical illusion/Dan Azzi/Annahar/May 26/2019
Israel Reveals Details of Kuntar’s Assassination near Damascus/Asharq Al-Awsat/May 26/2019
Hezbollah: US plan could naturalize Arab ‘refugees’
AFP, Arutz Sheva Staff,/May 26/2019
The Lebanese government’s proposed budget exposes its corruption/Makram Rabah/Al Arabiya/26 May/2019
Paris-Based Lebanese Journalist Maya Khadra: French Politicians Adopt Islamist Rhetoric To Win Favors Of Muslim Majority In Parisian Suburbs; Qatar Funds Muslim Brotherhood In France, Europe/MEMRI/May 26/2019
Genocide of Christians Reaches "Alarming Stage"/Raymond Ibrahim/Gatestone Institute/May 26/2019
Analysis/Trump's Peace Plan Offers Palestinians a Severance Package for the Occupation/Zvi Bar'el/Haaretz/26.05.2019
A Swiss diplomat & Iraq’s President – go-betweens for first, US-Iranian talks/
Debka File/May 26/2019
The Shia Militia Mapping Project/Phillip Smyth/The Washington Institute/May 27/2019
Iranian regime must act to de-escalate tensions with US/Dr. Majid Rafizadeh/Arab News/May 26/2019
How much further can Brexit Britain fall/Baria Alamuddin/Arab News/May 26/2019
Modi faces array of foreign policy challenges/Ranvir S. Nayar/Arab News/May 26/2019
Implications of Russian S-400 deal continue to haunt Turkey/Yasar Yakis/Arab News/May 26/2019

Latest English LCCC Lebanese & Lebanese Related News published on May 26-27/19
Our People In Israel versus the Dhimmitude Lebanese Maronite, Officials, Politicians, Parties & Clergymen

 Elias Bejjani/May 26/2019
 http://eliasbejjaninews.com/archives/75194/elias-bejjani-our-people-in-israel-versus-the-dhimmitude-lebanese-maronite-officials-politicians-parties-clergymen/
 “Lift your drooping hands and strengthen your weak knees, and make straight paths for your feet, so that what is lame may not be put out of joint, but rather be healed”.
 Saint Paul’s Letter to the Hebrews 12/12-21
 Yesterday, our patriotic Lebanese people who are taking refuge in Israel since year 2000, were again and again stepped in the back, betrayed and abandoned by all those Lebanese (Maronite and Christian) parties, politicians and clergymen who are supposed to carry and defend their just case of resistance and patriotism.
 With no shed of doubt, and with a fully relaxed conscience, one can feel sad, ashamed and disappointed in regards to the shy rhetoric and cowardice stances that were not taken, adopted, or declared yesterday in the Iranian occupied Lebanon in regards to our Southern people who against their will still taking refuge in Israel and are not allowed to return back to their beloved country, Lebanon.
 These shameful stances of silence, abandonment, denial and Iscariotism were taken publically yesterday by the majority, if not actually by all the Lebanese Maronite and Christian politicians, political parties, clergymen and officials on all levels.
 With no self respect, gratitude, witnessing to the truth, or reverence to the martyrs’ sacrifices they either completely remained mute and silent, or hailed and glorified the terrorist Iranian Hezbollah who is falsely portrayed as a liberator of South Lebanon from the Israeli occupation in year 2000 .
 They did so on the annual event of the big lie and bogus that is called “The Liberation Day Of South Lebanon”
 Sadly 99% of our Lebanese Maronite and Christian politicians and clergymen in particular have lost their faith and national obligations, as well as their memory in regards to our Southern heroic people who were forced by Hezbollah in year 2000 to take refuge in Israel.
 Those leaders and clergymen did yesterday practically and openly downtrodden and crush intentionally all that is gratitude to our martyrs and to our Southern people heroism. Their stances were totally disgraceful, pathetic, pitiful and disgusting.
 They hailed and glorified the Iranian occupier, Hezbollah who forced their own people to escape to Israel.
 In conclusion, these Maronite and Christian leaders at all levels who hailed yesterday the lie of “The Liberation Day) or were cowardly silent and did not stand up for their own oppressed Southern people, they actually do not represent the National Lebanese conscience, dignity, history and identity, and accordingly are not worthy of their current leadership status.
 And definitely history will not have mercy on them.
 May almighty God and His angles be with out Southern people who are still against their will taking refuge in Israel.

Hezbollah’s bogus Liberation & Resistance Day
Elias Bejjani/May 25/19
http://eliasbejjaninews.com/archives/75168/elias-bejjani-hezbollahs-bogus-liberation-resistance-day-3/
Believe it or not, on May 25 each year since 2000 Lebanon has been celebrating the so-called “Liberation & Resistance Day.”
Sadly, this celebration commemorates a bogus event, and a phony heroism that did not actually take place.
On May 22, 2000 the Israeli Army unilaterally and for solely Israeli domestic reasons withdrew from the security zone of South Lebanon in accordance with UN Resolution 425.
This miscalculated and hasty withdrawal was a fatal Israeli decision that has inspired the Hamas terrorism acts and the on-going havoc in the Palestinian Gaza strip.
During the last 19 years many Israeli officials and politicians from all parties openly and harshly criticized Barak’s Government (Barak was PM at that time) hasty and unwise decision through which Israel’ abandoned its ally the South Lebanon Army (SLA) and gave Hezbollah all south Lebanon and the entire Lebanon on a plate of sliver.
The unilateral Israeli withdrawal created a security vacuum in south Lebanon.
The Syrians who were occupying Lebanon at that time and fully controlling its government, did not allow the Lebanese Army to deploy in the south and fill this vacuum after the Israeli withdrawal.
Instead Syria helped the Hezbollah militia to militarily control the whole southern region, and even patrol the Israeli-Lebanese border.
It is worth mentioning that the Israeli army’s withdrawal was executed without any military battles, or even minor skirmishes with Hezbollah, or the Lebanese and Syrian armies.
The Syrian regime, in a bid to justify both its on going occupation of Lebanon and the avoidance of disarming Hezbollah, came up with the “Shabaa Farms occupation big lie” and declared Hezbollah a Liberator, alleging it had forced Israel to withdrawal from South Lebanon.
Syria, in the same camouflaging and devious context, dictated to both its puppet Lebanese parliament and government to declare May 25th a National Day under the tag of “Liberation & Resistance Day”.
In reality Hezbollah did not force the Israeli withdrawal, and did not play any role in the Liberation of the southern Lebanese region.
In fact both Hezbollah and Syria deliberately hindered and delayed the Israeli withdrawal for more than 14 years.
Every time the Israelis called on the Lebanese government to engage in a joint, serious effort under the United Nations umbrella to ensure a safe and mutually organized withdrawal of its army from South Lebanon, the Lebanese government refused to cooperate, did not agree to deploy its army in the south, and accused the Israelis of plotting to divide and split the Syrian-Lebanese joint track.
This approach to the Israeli calls was an official Syrian decision dictated to all the Lebanese puppet governments during the Syrian occupation era.
Since then, Hezbollah has been hijacking Lebanon and its people, refusing to disarm and advocating for the annihilation of Israel.
This Iranian mullahs’ terrorist army stationed in Lebanon, is viciously hiding behind labels of resistance, liberation and religion.
Hezbollah has recklessly jeopardized the Lebanese peoples’ lives, safety, security and livelihood.
It has been growing bolder and bolder in the last 19 years and mercilessly taking the Lebanese state and the Lebanese people hostage through terrorism, force and organized crime.
Sadly, Hezbollah is systematically devouring Lebanon day after day, and piece by piece, while at the same time marginalizing all its governmental institutions in a bid to topple the Lebanese state and erect in its place a Shiite Muslim regime, a replica of the Iranian Shiite mullahs’ fundamentalist republic.
Meanwhile the free world and Arabic countries are totally silent, indifferent, and idly watching from far away the horrible crime unfolding without taking any practical or tangible measures to put an end to this anti-Lebanese Syria-Iranian scheme that is executed through their spearhead, the Hezbollah armed militia.
Who is to be blamed for Hezbollah’s current odd and bizarre status?
Definitely the Syrians who have occupied Lebanon for more than 28 years (1976-2005).
During their bloody and criminal occupation, Syria helped the Iranian Hezbollah militia build a state within Lebanon and fully control the Lebanese Shiite community.
But also the majority of the Lebanese politicians, leaders, officials and clergymen share the responsibility because they were subservient and acted in a dire Dhimmitude, selfish and cowardly manner.
If these so-called Lebanese leaders had been courageous and patriotic and had not appeased Hezbollah and turned a blind eye to all its vicious and human rights atrocities, intimidation tactics, crimes and expansionism schemes, this Iranian Shiite fundamentalist militia would not have been able to erect its own mini-state in the southern suburb of Beirut, and its numerous mini-cantons in the Bekaa Valley and the South; nor would Hezbollah have been able to build its mighty military power, with 70 thousand militiamen, or stockpile more than 200 thousand missiles and force the Iranian “Wilayat Al-Faqih” religious doctrine on the Lebanese Shiite community and confiscate Lebanon’s decision making process and freedoms.
Since Hezbollah’s emergence in 1982, these politicians have been serving their own selfish interests and not the interests of the Lebanese people and the nation. They went along with Hezbollah’s schemes, deluding themselves that its militia and weaponry would remain in South Lebanon and would not turn against them.
This failure to serve the people of Lebanon allowed Hezbollah to make many Lebanese and most of the Arab-Muslim countries through its terrorism propaganda to blindly swallow its big lie of theatrical, faked resistance and Liberation.
Hezbollah would not have been able to refuse to disarm in 1991, like all the other Lebanese militias in accordance to the “Taef Accord,” which called for the disarmament of all militias.
Hezbollah would not have become a state inside the Lebanese state, and a world-wide terrorism Iranian-Syrian tool which turned against them all after its war with Israel in year 2006 and after the UN troops were deployed on the Lebanese – Israeli borders in accordance with the UN Resolution 1701.
On May 7, 2008 Hezbollah invaded Sunni Western Beirut killing and injuring in cold blood hundreds of its civilian citizens, and too attempted to take over by force Mount Lebanon.
Hezbollah’s General Secretary Sheik Hassan Nasrallah called that day (May 7, 2008) a great and glorious victory for his resistance, and keeps on threatening the Lebanese that a replicate of that day will take place if they do not succumb and obey his Iranian orders.
Hezbollah is a deadly dragon that the Lebanese politicians have been allowing him to feed on sacrifices from the southern Lebanese citizens, especially on those who were living in the “Security Zone” and who fled to Israel in May 2000 after the Israeli withdrawal from south Lebanon.
This dragon who enjoyed devouring his southern sacrifices has now turned on all the Lebanese and if they do not stand for their rights and dignity, he will keep on devouring them all one after the other.
We call on the Lebanese government, the Lebanese Parliament and on all the free and patriotic Lebanese politicians and leaders to cancel the May 25 National Day, because it is not national at all, and also to stop calling Hezbollah a resistance, put an end for its mini-state, cantons and weaponry, and secure a dignified, honorable and safe return for all the Lebanese citizens who have been taking refuge in Israel since May 2000.
N.B: The original version of the above article was first published in 2010..It is republished with minor changes.

Lebanon's PM Says New Budget Will Lead Lebanon to Economic Safety
Asharq Al-Awsat/Sunday, 26 May, 2019/Lebanese Prime Minister Saad Hariri said Saturday that the draft state budget for 2019 is the start of a “long road” and shows Lebanon is determined to tackle public sector waste. The cabinet had on Friday wrapped up marathon talks on the plan. The budget finalized by the government cuts the deficit to 7.5% of GDP from 11.5% in 2018. It is seen as a critical test of Lebanon’s will to launch reforms that have been put off for years by a state riddled with corruption and waste. Lebanon’s bloated public sector is its biggest expense, followed by the cost of servicing a public debt equal to some 150% of GDP, one of the world’s heaviest debt burdens. “The 2019 budget is not the end. This budget is the beginning of a long road that we decided to take in order to lead the Lebanese economy to safety,” Hariri said in a speech at a Ramadan iftar meal.
The government, which groups nearly all of Lebanon’s main political parties, met 19 times to agree on the budget. Hariri said the budget for 2020 would not take that much time “because now we know what we want to do”. “The 2019 budget is the beginning of the process of what we want to do in 2020, 2021, 2022 and 2023,” he said, according to a transcript of his remarks sent by his office. The cabinet is due to meet on Monday at the presidential palace to formally seal the process before the budget is referred to parliament. The budget could help unlock some $11 billion in financing pledged at a Paris donors’ conference last year for infrastructure investment, if it wins the approval of donor countries and institutions. Hariri said the budget was a message to the Lebanese, financial markets and friendly foreign states that Lebanon was determined to “address the weakness, imbalance and squander in the public sector”. Measures to rein in the public sector wage bill include a three-year freeze in all types of state hiring and a cap on extra-salary bonuses. State pensions will also be taxed. A big chunk of the deficit cut stems from tax increases including a 2% import tax and a hike in tax on interest payments.
The government also plans to cut some $660 million from the debt servicing bill by issuing treasury bonds at a 1% interest rate to the Lebanese banking sector. Fears the budget would lead to cuts to state salaries, pensions or benefits triggered weeks of strikes and protests by public sector workers and military veterans.

Lebanon: No to naturalization of 'Palestinian refugees'
Arutz Sheva/May 26/2019
/Lebanese Foreign Minister Gebran Bassil on Saturday stressed the need to work for the return of “Palestinian” and Syrian refugees residing in Lebanon to their countries of origin. Speaking at an Iftar meal at the conclusion of the daily Ramadan fast, Bassil said that Lebanon is determined to thwart any plan aimed at naturalizing the “Palestinian” and Syrian refugees in its territory. “The danger of resettlement has expanded today and there is a clear desire that they remain in our country, while our duty is to return them to their country after the difficult period passes," added Bassil.
Earlier on Saturday, Hezbollah leader Hassan Nasrallah claimed that the US peace plan could see “Palestinian refugees" permanently settled in host countries across the region. He claimed the conference's focus on economic issues "may open the door wide open to the question of naturalizing the Palestinian brothers in Lebanon and the countries where they are located." The PA demands Israel allow over 700,000 refugees who fled the area during the creation of the State of Israel in the late 1940s -- and uniquely, their descendants -- to return to Israel under the "right of return."According to a census by national authorities in 2017, an estimated 174,000 "Palestinian refugees" live in Lebanon. The UN estimates there are tens of thousands more. However, even though the international definition of "refugee" does not include refugees' descendants, the when it comes to "Palestinian" refugees, the definition has been unilaterally expanded in order to ensure the numbers continue to grow.

Jumblat Slams 'Foreign Ministry Orientalists' after Bassil Remarks
Naharnet/May 26/2019/Progressive Socialist Party leader ex-MP Walid Jumblat on Sunday blasted remarks by Foreign Minister Jebran Bassil on the Syrian and Palestinian refugees in Lebanon. “We remind the orientalists at the Lebanese foreign ministry that Zionism displaced most of the Palestinian people under the slogan that Palestine is a land without people, and the ‘deal of the century’ might displace the rest,” Jumblat tweeted. “The Syrian regime has displaced a lot of people, turning a part of Syria into a land nearly without people, and each of them (Israel and Syria), in its own way, considers that it is fighting terrorism,” he added. “This is a remark for history,” he went on to say.Bassil had announced Saturday that Lebanon will “defeat the naturalization scheme.”“The Palestinians and Syrians will return to their land, states and homelands and this is our determination,” he added.

FPM Says 'Positive Atmosphere' Allows Approving Budget Monday
Naharnet/May 26/2019/The "positive atmosphere" among the political parties "allows approving the state budget tomorrow," a senior Free Patriotic Movement official said in remarks published Sunday. "The happy ending was reached after 18 cabinet sessions in which the budget was heavily scrutinized and discussed," the official told Asharq al-Awsat newspaper, saying the budget was endorsed in a "format approved by all parties."The official also ruled out any changes or amendments "unless the President finds articles that target the poor class.""The budget is largely acceptable and it has managed to lower deficit to around 7% in a first" in Lebanon's history, the official added.

Hariri: Deficit Reduction is a Message in All Directions
Naharnet/May 26/2019/Prime Minister Saad Hariri has described the deficit reduction in the draft 2019 state budget as a "message in all directions." "Yesterday, we finished the budget and with it we ended the bet of some people on the failure of the government to reduce the deficit and expenses and control squander," Hariri said at an iftar banquet. "The percentage of deficit reduction is a message in all directions, to the Lebanese in the first place, to the economic sector, the financial markets and our friends in the international community. The message is that the Lebanese government is determined to address the weakness, imbalance and squander in the public sector and that it insists on the highest degree of transparency in implementing the CEDRE program," he added. "The 2019 budget is not the end. This budget is the beginning of a long road that we decided to take in order to lead the Lebanese economy to safety," the premier went on to say. He added: "We have two choices: either we continue as we are and wait for the World Bank to impose impossible conditions on us, as happened in Jordan, Egypt and Greece, and then we will be obliged to implement the conditions. Or we do what we are doing today, do our internal reform before reaching the danger zone."Noting that this phase "will not be long," Hariri reassured that "one or two years after implementing CEDRE, things will move forward.""We had to meet 19 times to approve the budget. Some think that there was some waste of time. Yes, there was in some places. But in others no, because for the first time, we were working as a group to reach the best figures and projects to reduce the deficit. It is not easy, especially that many political groups gathered to prepare the budget, and each has its economic ideas and wants to come out as the winner," Hariri noted. He however said that "Lebanon is the winner from this budget, and not any political team.""The Lebanese are the winners and this is what was important to me. This is why I took time and was very patient. But the 2020 budget will not take that much, because now we know what we want to do. The 2019 budget is the beginning of the process of what we want to do in 2020, 2021, 2022 and 2023," Hariri added.

Mustaqbal Says Arsal Resident Tortured, Killed by Syria
Naharnet/May 26/2019/A Lebanese man from the northeastern border town of Arsal was tortured before being killed by Syrian forces, al-Mustaqbal Movement’s Arsal department said on Sunday. “Arsal bids farewell at noon to its martyr Hussein al-Hujeiri, who was killed by the Syrian regime’s criminality after its troops made an incursion into Lebanese territory in Arsal’s hills, where they kidnapped Hujeiri and his companions Wissam Kranbi and Nayef Rayed,” the department said in a statement. “They took them into Syrian territory after assaulting them as they were on a hunting trip in the Wadi al-Shahout area,” it added. It noted that Hujeiri’s body, which was retrieved by Lebanon’s General Security agency on Saturday, carried “torture” marks. “He was hit on the head with a sharp object while the fate of his two companions is still unknown,” Mustaqbal said. “We are exerting efforts with General Security to unveil their fate, liberate them and return them safe to their families and country,” it added. Describing the incident as a “dangerous attack on Arsal and its people,” the department lamented that “the Lebanese border is being violated daily by the Syrian regime’s army.”“Arsal cannot accept the continuation of this dangerous situation on its border and it calls on the Lebanese state to pay attention anew to its border area and to activate the Lebanese Army’s missions in controlling the border and preventing the violation of Lebanese sovereignty,” Mustaqbal’s department in Arsal urged.

Saudi Held at Beirut Airport with 10 Kgs of Captagon
Naharnet/May 26/2019/A Saudi man was arrested Sunday at Beirut’s Rafik Hariri International Airport as he was attempting to smuggle Captagon narcotic pills to the United Arab Emirates. The National News Agency said the man, H. al-Roueily, was detained in a joint operation between the Airport Security Apparatus and the army’s Intelligence Directorate. He had around ten kilograms of Captagon in his possession.

Nadim Gemayel Pledges Steadfastness During Keserwan Tour
Kataeb.org/May 26/2019/MP Nadim Gemayel stressed unwavering commitment to his political constants and positions, pledging to work constantly for the unity of the Lebanese, notably the Christians, in order to build the state that martyr President Bachir Gemayel had long aspired to. Gemayel carried out a tour in several Keserwan villages, namely Hayyata, Ghebaleh and Aaramoun where he listened to the residents' complaints and concerns.

Kataeb leader's legal adviser, Lara Saade,Says Failure to Annul Electricity Plan Would Be an 'Unforgivable Sin'
Naharnet/May 26/2019/Kataeb leader's legal adviser, Lara Saade, on Sunday noted that any Constitutional Council decision that does not include the annulment of the electricity plan would be an "unforgivable sin" and deal a harsh blow to the reputation and standing of said institution. “Unfortunately, we have been hearing that tremendous pressure is being put on the Constitutional Council so that the Law 129 would not be annulled," Saade said in an interview on Voice of Lebanon radio station. "We also came to know that one of the council members had visited the Baabda palace to inform the President of the body's work," she pointed out. “We know that the two appeals that the Constitutional Council is examining are the one that contests the win of MP Dima Jamali in the parliamentary by-elections and the electricity plan challenge. Therefore, the Constitutional Council’s work should not be discussed with any of the other constitutional authorities."Earlier this month, Kataeb leader Samy Gemayel submitted to the Constitutional Council a challenge contesting the electricity plan approved last month by the government, after garnering the ten requisite signatures. Saade pointed out that the power plan violates mainly the Article 36 of the Constitution which stipulates that votes in Parliament should be cast verbally or by the members rising and sitting, except in case of elections when the ballot shall be secret. With respect to laws in general, the vote shall always be taken by roll-call and in an audible voice; something that did not take place during the ratification of the plan in the Parliament. Saade said that the plan also goes against Article 89 of the Constitution which clearly states that "no obligation nor concession to exploit the natural resources of the country, nor any service of public utility, nor any monopoly may be granted except according to law and for a limited time."

Lingering economic woes cast huge uncertainties over Lebanon’s future
Simon Speakman Cordall/The Arab Weekly/May 26/2019
TUNIS - A draft policy statement in February predicted a “difficult and painful” time for Lebanon because, after nine months of wrangling over forming a new government, it outlined measures that would halt the country’s slide further into debt.
That proposal was still a work in progress at the end of May. After 12 sessions, Lebanon’s cabinet adjourned until May 27, the day a multimillion-dollar Eurobond matures, as works on a fiscal reform plan to reassure foreign donors while providing the ground for growth is hoped to be agreed upon.
The task ahead is daunting. Retired soldiers picketed the central bank over rumoured reductions to their pensions, the same institution whose staff members recently suspended a strike over fears of cuts in benefits. That the Lebanese economy is failing is unlikely a surprise. In 2011, the Financial Times warned that, despite that year’s 8% growth in GDP, Lebanon’s reliance on domestic consumption and hard currency remittances from the diaspora imperilled the country’s financial future.This year, with much of the region in chaos, hard currency remittances relatively stagnant and foreign reserves dwindling, the Financial Times’ warning is looking prescient.
Like much in Lebanese politics, attributing responsibility for the financial situation is far from straightforward.
“There is a deep disagreement today on who bears the cost of the austerity,” Ayham Kamel, head of Middle East and North Africa research at Eurasia Group, told Bloomberg News. “Is it the financial sector, the government and the public sector or politicians and their related enterprises?”
Despite the long-running nature of the difficulties assailing the Lebanese economy, some are attributing part of the responsibility for the difficulties on the August 2017 pay increase given public sector workers. At the time, the pay rise was estimated to cost the country around $800 million per year.
However, this was an undervaluation because, with retirement benefits and end-of-service indemnities factored in, the cost outstripped government estimates. Also, the tax hike that accompanied the wage rise garnered lower than anticipated revenues.
Lebanese Foreign Minister Gebran Bassil, posting on Twitter in April, stated: “If a reduction is not implemented, no salaries will be left for anyone.”
Irrespective of any wage rise, Lebanon’s books don’t add up. The Ministry of Finance said the country had revenues of $12.5 billion last year but spent more than $16.5 billion. This included $2 billion in subsidies to the state-owned electricity company. In addition, servicing its debt increased an annual 8% to $5.5 billion in 2018.
Lebanese Prime Minister Saad Hariri’s plan is to cut nearly $800 million in spending to reduce a budget deficit that reached 11% of GDP last year. The country’s public debt, estimated to reach more than 160% of GDP in 2019, is projected to rise to nearly 180% of GDP by 2023, the International Monetary Fund said. Growth is vital in offsetting the effects of such cuts. However, confidence that reforms, needed to spur growth, would be enacted is low. US bank JPMorgan recently revised its 2019 forecast for Lebanon’s economic growth down 1.3% for 2019 and cautioned against “significant downside risks” surrounding any fiscal reforms.
“[D]elays in the execution of much needed reforms could dent confidence against the background of large fiscal and external deficits and high debt,” JPMorgan Securities Chief Economist Giyas Gokkent wrote in a note.
At stake is the $11 billion in international funding for Lebanon secured at the CEDRE Conference in April 2018, all of which is dependent on the government following through with reform.
Some hope exists that the country’s debts will be met in the short term. A source told Reuters the government should be able to meet the May 27 $650 million Eurobond deadline by drawing upon a foreign exchange transaction with the central bank, an unusual method of financing but one the Lebanese government has relied on previously. How the government will meet further bonds due this year is uncertain.
However, problems exist. Both the central and commercial banks, which hold more than 85% of the country’s debt, recently demanded reforms to reduce public spending and address corruption endemic in Lebanon in return for continuing to fund the government.
Beyond short-term measures, the position is far from clear and restoring international confidence in Lebanon’s economy will prove vital. Following the drawn-out budget process and with optimism low, the cost of insuring Lebanon’s debt has climbed to its highest level since January 22, when the country was ostensibly without a government.
That the forthcoming budget will likely be the most austere in Lebanon’s history has been assumed. Which sections of Lebanon’s society will bear the brunt of those cuts is unclear.
“We have our salaries and we have arranged our lives accordingly,” Abbas Awadeh, head of the employees’ syndicate at Lebanon’s central bank, told Al-Monitor. “Any salary cuts will definitely affect my family and my life. That’s what we are defending.”

The 11 trillion lira optical illusion
Dan Azzi/Annahar/May 26/2019
Previously, the swap between the Ministry of Finance and BDL, as well as all the financial engineering transactions, increased government dollar debt in exchange for printing Lira.
There’s talk in the market about banks being “asked” to subscribe to 11 trillion Lira ($7.3 billion) at 1% interest. Naturally, the banking community is enraged, because it’s around a $600 million hit to their bottom line.
On the positive side, this would denominate our government’s liabilities in its own currency. Previously, the swap between the Ministry of Finance and BDL, as well as all the financial engineering transactions, increased government dollar debt in exchange for printing Lira. This changed the composition of our debt from mostly Lira, a currency we control, to dollars, a currency we don’t, thereby reducing our flexibility and options. Thus, even though this debt is internal, i.e. funded by Lebanese depositors, sooner or later, we need to import dollars to pay them back, and this is now becoming a challenge.
It also decelerates the increase in the Lira money supply (printing money) which came out of the Financial Engineering transactions (Swaps) over the last three years. To understand this better, let’s go back to 2016. You might remember in the second half of 2016, you saw a lot of ads about Lira credit cards, 20-year mortgages at 0% in Lira (lower than dollars!), and other seemingly crazy offers. This was due to the market distortions caused by the first huge swap, when the central bank gave the banks the Lira from the swap, which swamped the market. This dilemma was resolved in subsequent swaps by keeping the Lira deposited in the central bank (at a high-interest rate), so it doesn’t drown the market. Of course, when (or if) this eventually paid back, we’ll run into the same problem again, at a much larger scale, creating huge pressure on the currency, but that’s a problem for another day. In the meantime, this 11 trillion would be equivalent to reversing (in some ways, “un-printing”) some of this excess Lira owed to the banks.
However, the real problem is the balance of payment deficit. Dollars flow in through things like Expat remittances, Direct Foreign Investment, UN aid to support the refugees, and our exports. Dollars flow out to buy imports, like cars from Japan, phones from Korea, clothes from France, toys from China, and cigars from Cuba. Dollars also flow out through our vacations in Turkey or the Champs-Élysées. Net dollars are what’s left after adding up all the dollars flowing into the country and subtracting all the dollars flowing out. These net dollars are technically referred to as the Balance of Payment Surplus (if it’s positive) or Balance of Payment Deficit (if it’s negative). Because our exports are tiny, and progressively dwindling, and because our demand for imports has grown markedly over the years, we have been having a Balance of Payment Deficit, with an estimated $20 billion walking out of the country since 2010. This has now gotten to a critical stage, because it’s been negative every single month, totaling $7.3 billion since June (see above screenshot from BDL website). In other words, real dollars are flowing out of the country.
While deposits are increasing artificially due to the high interest being paid, the available real dollars are decreasing. This curtails every bank’s ability to meet demands for cash withdrawal or transfers overseas (including for the purposes of buying imports). You might have witnessed small manifestations of this dollar shortage, like when your regular ATM machine is empty, or they limit your cash withdrawal amount, or they make you split the amount of an overseas transfer over several periods, or you tried to cash a dollar check and they ask you if you’ll take Lira instead.
The balance of payment deficit is dangerous, because, if not reversed, this would lead to either a currency devaluation or a haircut on deposits or a government default.
These are tiny cracks in the system, but they’ve been happening more frequently, which is why they’ve suddenly become so draconian about the government budget, for the first time in decades.
The 11 trillion Lira issuance by the government funded by banks doesn’t alleviate this problem because it doesn’t import new dollars to counterbalance the outward flow. The big glob of cash in the country stays the same (or increases, due to interest, i.e. fake money or mere accounting entries on a computer). This new issuance simply moves money from one pocket (banks) to the government. When the government spends it, most of it ends up converted to dollars and leaking out of the country, in the same vicious BOP deficit cycle. What this means is that there are fewer “real” dollars to meet potential liabilities (which are progressively increasing) that come up through people withdrawing money.
But couldn't they sell Eurobonds to foreigners and raise dollar cash? Well, if they could do that, they would have issued new ones already, wouldn’t they?
*Dan Azzi is a regular contributor to Annahar. He has recently been invited to be an Advanced Leadership Initiative Fellow at Harvard University, a program for senior executives to leverage their experience and apply it to a problem with social impact. Dan’s research focus at Harvard will be economic and political reform in a hypothetical small country riddled with corruption and negligence. Previously, he was the Chairman and CEO of Standard Chartered Bank Lebanon.

Israel Reveals Details of Kuntar’s Assassination near Damascus
Asharq Al-Awsat/May 26/2019
A former Israeli army officer confirmed Tel Aviv’s responsibility for the assassination of “dean of liberated detainees from Israeli prisons” Samir Kuntar in Jaramana, near Damascus, in late 2015. Kuntar, who spent nearly 30 years in Israeli prisons and was involved in fighting with the Syrian regime forces and Lebanese Hezbollah party in the ongoing war in Syria, was killed in an air strike targeting him. The Israeli official said the operation was carried out by two planes that bombed a building with four long-range missiles after receiving information from “one of the leaders of the Syrian opposition factions.”Israeli political and military officials at the time welcomed his assassination, but Tel Aviv did not claim responsibility for the operation. “Samir Kuntar, the longest serving Arab prisoner in Israeli jails, was killed in a terrorist rocket attack targeting a building in the southern parts of Jaramana, Damascus countryside,” the Sana news agency reported at the time. Before his assassination, six members of Hezbollah and an Iranian military official were killed in an Israeli raid on Quneitra, southern Syria in early 2015. Among those killed was Jihad Mughniyeh, son of the group's late military leader Imad Mughniyeh, who was assassinated in Damascus in 2008. Syrian opposition officials at the time said that the victims of the raid were members of Kuntar’s unit. The Syrian Observatory for Human Rights had previously said that Kuntar was the target of various failed Israeli assassination attempts in Syria. The details of his assassination had remained a mystery until they were revealed by former Israeli army officer, Lt. Marco Morno, on Thursday. He explained that one of the opposition leaders in Syria had relayed to Israeli military intelligence the information that contributed to Kuntar’s liquidation. Israel’s Mfzak Life website reported on Friday that Israel did not acknowledge this operation at the time despite reports that confirmed its involvement. The website said the information disclosed by Morno was allowed to be published under military censorship. It said Morno was a former officer in Unit 504 and was responsible for communicating with Syrian opposition factions. Kuntar was the longest-serving Lebanese prisoner held in Israel. He was released on July 16, 2008 as part of a prisoner swap between Hezbollah and Israel.

Hezbollah: US plan could naturalize Arab ‘refugees’
AFP, Arutz Sheva Staff,/May 26/2019
The head of Lebanon’s Shiite terrorist organization Hezbollah on Saturday said a long-delayed US peace plan could see Palestinian Authority (PA) “refugees” permanently settled in host countries across the region.Speaking days after the US announced a May conference in Bahrain to lay out economic aspects of its long-awaited Israeli-Palestinian Authority peace plan, Hezbollah chief Hassan Nasrallah said it is an “ominous deal aimed at eliminating the Palestinian cause.”
He claimed the conference’s focus on economic issues “may open the door wide open to the question of naturalizing the Palestinian brothers in Lebanon and the countries where they are located.”
The PA demands Israel allow over 700,000 refugees who fled the area during the creation of the State of Israel in the late 1940s — and uniquely, their descendants — to return to Israel under the “right of return.”
According to a census by national authorities in 2017, an estimated 174,000 “Palestinian refugees” live in Lebanon. The UN estimates there are tens of thousands more. However, even though the international definition of “refugee” does not include refugees’ descendants, the when it comes to “Palestinian” refugees, the definition has been unilaterally expanded in order to ensure the numbers continue to grow. Last year, the true number of “Palestinian” refugees was estimated to be around 20,000. Hezbollah has long championed the “refugees'” cause, but the “refugees'” presence is controversial in Lebanon, where many blame them for causing the bitter civil war that ravaged the country between 1975 and 1990.
Lebanon’s still-temporary refugee camps suffer poverty, overcrowding, unemployment, poor and dangerous housing conditions and a lack of infrastructure.
Today, “it’s not enough to say we’re all against naturalization — the danger of naturalization is approaching,” Nasrallah said during a televised address marking the 19th anniversary of Israel’s withdrawal from southern Lebanon.
He called for an urgent meeting between government and Palestinian Authority officials in Lebanon to “develop a plan to confront the danger.”
The PA leadership has said it will boycott the June 25-26 meeting in Manama, where the declared aim is to promote PA prosperity as part of Trump’s “deal of the century.” The Trump administration is expected to unveil its long-awaited plan possibly as early as next month. The Bahrain conference could see large-scale investment pledges for the PA but is unlikely to focus heavily on the political issues at the core of the conflict, such as the question of the so-called refugees.

The Lebanese government’s proposed budget exposes its corruption

Makram Rabah/Al Arabiya/26 May/2019
The cabinet of Lebanese Prime Minister Saad Hariri has to date met 19 times, working late into the night to try to hammer out the country’s budget. But the result thus far has been disappointing. The passing of an annual budget is one of the routine duties of any cabinet, and yet Hariri has managed to fall short – hastening Lebanon’s economic collapse.
With $80 billion national debt, the Lebanese economy and the government face many challenges, the primary one being the implementation of structural financial reform and strict austerity measures. Once these measures are in place, the way would be paved for the release of the $11 billion in pledges from the CEDRE conference held in Paris in the spring of 2018.
In reality, however, most of the cabinet’s proposed austerity and fiscal measures expose the incompetence of the Hariri government to draft a budget while avoiding a social uprising, one that would destroy what remains of the Lebanese state.
In order to augment government revenues, and instead of taxing the wealthy, the Hariri government plans to slash the salaries and benefits of its public servants. This measure also extends to government pensioners, including veterans of the armed forces and other security agencies. Naturally, this evoked the anger of those concerned, who refused to relinquish their rights, demanding that the government change its whole approach to the matter – a plea which was ignored by the ruling elite.
As a result, public sector workers and military veterans took to the streets, blockaded the government headquarters, and ultimately tried to storm it, a move that led security forces to violently suppress their fellow public servants. It was a sight that will surely do irreparable damage to the state’s morale.
Some voices from within the government were critical of these protests, reminding the public that such emergency measures were taken out of urgency rather than convenience, and that if they are not routinely implemented then the whole government and economic system is subject to collapse. While the government’s concerns are warranted, the public rightly has no confidence in their political elite, who have once again shown, via their proposed budget, that they are unwilling to reform.
The Hariri government plans to cut down the budgets of important institutions such as Lebanese University, the country’s only public university, while retaining millions of dollars in funding for stationary and office supplies, furniture, transportation fees, and even bonuses. It has also proposed a set of superfluous taxes on smoking water pipes in restaurants, gun permits, and tinted car windows, reaffirming its economic inaptitude and corruption.
While insisting on burdening underprivileged taxpayers, the political elite through its government representatives has blocked all attempts to impose taxes on lucrative sectors of the economy – those that happen to be owned by them or their clients. On the top of the list is the maritime property tax, which the state leases out to these tycoons for virtually pocket change: Millions of dollars of prime beach real-estate for less than a dollar per square meter, extending up to a duration of 99 years. Likewise and for no justifiable reason, the government continues to exempt ships exceeding 40 feet from taxation, which includes their luxurious yachts docked in Lebanon’s marinas.
Adding insult to injury, the Hariri government has failed to agree on a final draft to send to parliament, mainly due to the insistence of Foreign Minister Gebran Bassil, President Michel Aoun’s son-in-law, who wants to use the budget to lay the groundwork for his bid to become Lebanon’s next president.
Certainly, one of the main obstacles to economic recovery is government corruption. But the real elephant in the room is Hezbollah, Iran’s proxy militia with seats in Lebanese parliament, which Hariri and the rest of the Lebanese are refusing to openly confront. Iran’s total hijacking of Lebanon’s sovereignty has earned Lebanon political and, perhaps more importantly, economic isolation from its Arab brethren. In the past, they have provided Lebanon’s economy with a safety net, but will surely refrain this time around.
The different groups that have fallen victim to the Hariri government’s measures lack the ability to turn their divided calls into one simple and effective ultimatum, and declare these so-called rulers as illegitimate. If veterans, public sector workers, university professors, and the rest of the disenfranchised remain disunited, the ruling elite will simply brush them aside, and dissence against the Hariri government will be doomed. The protesters seem to have forgotten that they are getting what they voted for in the last election, and that reform comes not from politicians but from statesmen, which Lebanon critically lacks.
*Makram Rabah is a lecturer at the American University of Beirut, Department of History. He is the author of A Campus at War: Student Politics at the American University of Beirut, 1967-1975. He tweets @makramrabah.

Paris-Based Lebanese Journalist Maya Khadra: French Politicians Adopt Islamist Rhetoric To Win Favors Of Muslim Majority In Parisian Suburbs; Qatar Funds Muslim Brotherhood In France, Europe

MEMRI/May 26/2019
 Paris-based Lebanese journalist Maya Khadra said in a May 12, 2019 interview on Al-Hurra TV (U.S.) thatThat some French politicians have begun using Islamist rhetoric in order to win favors of the Muslim majority in Parisian suburbs and have even visited Salafi mosques. She said that there are unlicensed organizations that operate "in the shadows" and that spread the ideologies of ISIS and the Muslim Brotherhood, and that Qatar has played a major role in funding Muslim Brotherhood activity in France and Europe. She explained that the Muslim Brotherhood employs modern and progressive rhetoric and that the French government turns a blind eye to the fact that this endeavor receives foreign funding. Khadra added that the Islamists do not recognize the borders or sovereignty of countries and that they view wherever they are as their own "state" where shari'a law should be established.
Following are excerpts: Maya Khadra: "Some officials elected in Parisian suburbs with a Muslim majority – in all the suburbs of Paris there is a Muslim majority now… [The officials] change their rhetoric, and even employ Islamic rhetoric. They visit Salafi mosques.
"The fear and the danger come from institutions that operate in the shadows. They are not licensed and they operate in closed places. Sometimes, they rent a hall and meet there, and they spread the ISIS ideology in France. We saw this with all of the mujahideen who left France in order to wage Jihad in Syria and in Iraq. "Qatar, for example, has played a major role in funding many extremist groups and in funding many movements of the Muslim Brotherhood in France and Europe. They always use the same deception. They employ a very progressive and modern rhetoric in order to disseminate their ideas, which target minorities and make them feel that they suffer injustice in the Western countries, and that [the Muslim Brotherhood] offers them a better, progressive world. The methods of the Muslim Brotherhood are very progressive. This entire operation is funded, but the French state turns a blind eye.
"Now they regret this, because they allowed France to be swept by a big wave of extremism. The percentage of women who wear hijab… I'm talking about the niqab, not the plan hijab… 40% of the women in the suburbs of Paris wear the niqab.
"They do not recognize the borders and the sovereignty of countries. There is what is called the 'Islamic nation.' They want to 'Islamize' it. The more they expand in the country they live in… They start by expanding their neighborhood, their ghetto. Then they reach the capital, and then they expand to other areas… The more they expand, the more they gain. From their point of view, this is their own country. There was once a documentary [filmed] in the suburbs of Paris, and they asked one of the Muslims there: 'The French state assists you because you do not work, so why are you against it?' He answered: 'What they are paying me is the jizya [poll tax].' They have a reactionary logic, which does not respect the sovereignty or the borders of the state. They think that they are in their own country – wherever they may live – and that the shari'a should become the law. This is the real danger."

The Latest English LCCC Miscellaneous Reports And News published on May 26-27/19
Pompeo Defends Arms Sales to Saudi Arabia, UAE, Jordan
Washington - Asharq Al-Awsat/Sunday, 26 May, 2019/US President Donald Trump ignored Congress’ objections and approved the $8 billion arms sales to Saudi Arabia, the United Arab Emirates and Jordan, saying this is a national emergency because of tensions with Iran. The Trump administration informed congressional committees that it will go ahead with 22 military sales to the three countries, infuriating lawmakers by circumventing a long-standing precedent for congressional review of major weapons sales. Secretary of State Mike Pompeo said the administration had decided to proceed with arms sales and bypass Congress because any delay could increase risk for US partners at a time of instability caused by Iran. “These sales will support our allies, enhance Middle East stability, and help these nations to deter and defend themselves from Iran,” he said in a statement.He stressed that he is determined to pursue section 36 of the Arms Export Control Act and directed the Department to complete immediately the formal notification of 22 pending arms transfers to the three countries. The equipment includes aircraft support maintenance; intelligence, surveillance, and reconnaissance (ISR); munitions; and other supplies, revealed the statement. It warned that delaying the shipment could cause degraded systems and a lack of necessary parts and maintenance that could create severe airworthiness and interoperability concerns for key partners during a time of increasing regional volatility. “These national security concerns have been exacerbated by many months of Congressional delay in addressing these critical requirements, and have called into doubt our reliability as a provider of defense capabilities, opening opportunities for US adversaries to exploit.” Pompeo explained that this is a “one-time event”, asserting that Section 36 is a long-recognized authority and has been utilized by at least four previous administrations since 1979, including Presidents Ronald Reagan and Jimmy Carter. He went on to say that this specific measure does not alter the long-standing arms transfer review process with Congress. “I look forward to continuing to work with Congress to develop prudent measures to advance and protect US national security interests in the region.”The United States is, and must remain, a reliable security partner to its allies and partners around the world, noted Pompeo, adding that these partnerships are a cornerstone of the country’s National Security Strategy, which this decision reaffirms. For months, members of Congress had been blocking sales of offensive military equipment to Saudi Arabia and the UAE due to their concerns over the war in Yemen.

US Suspects 2 Iran Proxies in Baghdad Embassy Attack
Baghdad – Fadhel al-Nasmi/Asharq Al-Awsat/Sunday, 26 May, 2019/Iranian proxies in Iraq have not claimed responsibility for the attack against the US embassy in Baghdad a week ago despite Washington’s accusation that Tehran was behind the incident. A senior security official told Asharq Al-Awsat that the US suspects the Sayyed of Martyrs Battalions and Imam Ali Battalions. He revealed that Iraqi authorities have been informed of these suspicions. Moreover, they informed them that the US may resort to arresting members of those factions in Iraq should evidence prove their involvement in the embassy attack. The source explained that armed groups in Iraq are split between those that oppose Iran and refuse to have Iraq turn into an arena for the American-Iranian conflict. They include cleric Moqtada al-Sadr’s Peace Brigades. On the other side of the divide lie factions that enjoy close ties with Tehran, such as the Badr Organization and Asa'ib Ahl al-Haq. Despite their loyalty to Iran, these groups have yet to intervene in the ongoing clash between Washington and Tehran. A third camp also exists. These factions are not represented at parliament and may join the fray on Iran’s side at any moment, said the source. Commenting on the pro-Iran groups’ silence amid the mounting American-Iranian tensions, armed groups expert Hisham al-Hashemi told Asharq Al-Awsat the silence is good for Iraq because it will not drag it into a war from which it has nothing to gain. On May 19, a rocket was fired into Baghdad’s heavily fortified Green Zone, which houses government buildings and diplomatic missions, falling near the US Embassy but causing no casualties, the Iraqi military said. The attack came two weeks after US Secretary of State Mike Pompeo warned Iraqi leaders during a surprise visit to Baghdad that if they failed to keep in check Iran-backed militias, the United States would respond with force. US President Donald Trump has tightened economic sanctions against Iran, and his administration says it has built up the US military presence in the region. It accuses Iran of threats to US troops and interests.

Zarif: Iran Will Defend Itself against Any Aggression
Asharq Al-Awsat/Sunday, 26 May, 2019/Iranian Foreign Minister Mohammed Javad Zarif stressed Sunday that his country would “strongly” defend itself against any military or economic aggression. Speaking during a news conference in Baghdad with his Iraqi counterpart Mohammed al-Hakim, Zarif said his country wanted to build balanced relations with its Arab Gulf neighbors and that it had proposed signing a non-aggression pact with them. He also addressed the nuclear deal signed with world powers in 2015. He called on European states to do more to preserve the agreement his country signed with them. For his part, Hakim said that Baghdad is willing to act as an intermediary between Iran and the United States. He also added that Baghdad does not believe an “economic blockade” is fruitful, a reference to US sanctions. Zarif had arrived in Iraq on Saturday for talks with senior officials amid mounting tensions with Washington and following a decision by the US to deploy 1,500 additional troops to the Middle East. Iraqi Prime Minister Adel Abdul Mahdi warned of the "danger of a war" during a meeting with the Iranian official on Saturday night, his office said.
Abdul Mahdi pleaded for the "stability of the region and the upholding of the nuclear deal.”Iraqi President Barham Salih discussed with Zarif "the need to prevent all war or escalation," his office said. On Saturday Zarif called the deployment of extra US troops to the region "very dangerous and a threat to international peace and security." It follows a US decision in early May to send an aircraft carrier strike force and B-52 bombers in a show of force against what Washington's leaders believed was an imminent Iranian plan to attack US assets. Washington says the latest reinforcements are in response to a "campaign" of recent attacks including a rocket launched into the Green Zone in Baghdad, explosive devices that damaged four tankers near the entrance to the Arabian Gulf and a drone attack by Yemeni Iran-backed Houthi militias on a key Saudi oil pipeline. The US this month ended the last exemptions it had granted from sweeping unilateral sanctions it reimposed on Iran after abandoning the nuclear deal in May last year.

Iraq Warns of 'Danger of War' as Iranian FM Visits
Agence France Presse/Naharnet/May 26/2019/Iraqi leaders have warned of the risks of war during a visit by Iranian Foreign Minister Mohammad Javad Zarif, whose country is locked in a tense standoff with the United States. Zarif's visit to neighboring Iraq -- which is caught in the middle of its two allies the U.S. and Iran -- follows a decision by Washington to deploy 1,500 additional troops to the Middle East. Iraqi Prime Minister Adel Abdel Mahdi warned of the "danger of a war" during a meeting with Zarif on Saturday night, his office said. Abdel Mahdi pleaded for the "stability of the region and the upholding of the nuclear deal," it said, referring to a 2015 agreement between Tehran and major powers. Iraqi President Barham Saleh discussed with Zarif "the need to prevent all war or escalation," his office said.On Saturday Zarif called the deployment of extra U.S. troops to the region "very dangerous and a threat to international peace and security." It follows a U.S. decision in early May to send an aircraft carrier strike force and B-52 bombers in a show of force against what Washington's leaders believed was an imminent Iranian plan to attack U.S. assets. Washington says the latest reinforcements are in response to a "campaign" of recent attacks including a rocket launched into the Green Zone in Baghdad, explosive devices that damaged four tankers near the entrance to the Gulf, and drone strikes by Yemeni rebels on a key Saudi oil pipeline.Iran has denied any involvement. The U.S. this month ended the last exemptions it had granted from sweeping unilateral sanctions it reimposed on Iran after abandoning the 2015 nuclear deal in May last year.

Europe Warns US of New ‘Russian Deception’ in Syria
London - Ibrahim Hamidi/Asharq Al-Awsat/Sunday, 26 May, 2019/The United States wants to maintain the current contact lines between the three Syrian regions that are controlled by Russia, the and Turkey. Washington is also “comfortable” with its agreement with Moscow on the formation of a constitutional committee, returning to a political solution, and withdrawal of all foreign forces, especially Iranian ones. But European allies are warning the US of a new “Russian deception” by giving diplomatic promises and leaving the Russian Defense Ministry to “militarize” the land. US Secretary of State Mike Pompeo had visited Sochi last week, accompanied by Special Envoy to Syria James Jeffrey. They informed officials in Moscow that Russia's interests can not be realized alongside a Syrian regime rejected by its own people and the international community or with an Iranian force emerging in Syria. The US delegation also discussed common interests with Russia, a secure and stable Syria that enjoys normal relations with its neighbors and the world, without the foreign forces that did not exist there before 2011. Jeffrey had told Congress that Russia should join efforts to counter Iran's destabilizing activities and its malicious influence in Syria if it wants to achieve a similar result. The US delegation in Moscow was keen on a “pragmatic approach" and left with a sense of Russia’s readiness to achieve US goals in principle, meaning the political process under UN Security Council Resolution 2254 to agree on a constitutional committee, holding UN-sponsored elections and encouraging the return of refugees and displaced persons. The understanding should also lead to a ceasefire in Idlib, the stabilization of the conflict lines, provision of humanitarian aid, cessation of the flow of refugees to Turkey and the formation of a UN-led constitutional committee. Meanwhile, European sources warned against being optimistic about the deal struck between Washington and Moscow. They cited previous experiences where the Russians agreed with Americans on certain issues, which remained unfulfilled because the Russian Defense Ministry holds final sway over developments on the ground in Syria.

Syrian Regime Steps Up Air Strikes in Northwest

Asharq Al-Awsat/Sunday, 26 May, 2019/The Syrian regime pounded positions in the northwest of the country on Sunday, the Syrian Observatory for Human Rights said, in the heaviest day of air strikes since launching a major campaign against the opposition-held territory nearly four weeks ago. The air strikes along with barrel bombs and artillery shells helped Russian-backed regime forces capture the small town of Kafr Nabouda in northern Hama province, the third time it has changed hands in the latest offensive, sources on both sides said. Government forces first captured Kfar Nabouda on May 8, then lost it on Wednesday. Air and ground strikes killed 12 people in several areas including the town of Maarat al-Numan, the Observatory said. The onslaught since late April, focused mostly on southern parts of Idlib province and adjacent parts of Hama and Latakia, marks the most intense conflict between Bashar al-Assad and his enemies since last summer. The bombardment has killed 229 civilians, injured 727 and forced more than 300,000 people to flee since April 28, according to The Union of Medical Care and Relief organizations (UOSSM), which provides assistance to health facilities.
Rami Abdulrahman, director of the Observatory, said Syrian regime planes and helicopters launched more than 280 strikes on Sunday and Russian jets had carried out 15. Syrian state media said Kafr Nabouda had been taken from militants led by a group known as Hayat Tahrir al-Sham, previously called al-Nusra Front.

Egypt: Accused in Nusra Front Case Sought to Target Christians
Cairo - Asharq Al-Awsat/Sunday, 26 May, 2019/Egyptian prosecutor in the trial of 16 convicts, held in what is known in the media as the Nusra Front case, said Saturday the accused established a terrorist organization in an attempt to disrupt the constitution and laws and prevent state institutions and public authorities from carrying out their work. “The members also sought to target the police and shed Egyptian Christians’ blood by recruiting elements and training them on using firearms to target public and private facilities,” the prosecutor said, noting that terrorism was one of the means used by the organization to achieve its purposes. The Supreme State Security Prosecution (SSSP) ordered that the defendants be referred to the Supreme Emergency State Security Court (SESSC), which adjourned the case to June 8. “From 2011 until 2014, the first accused assumed the leadership of the organization to damage the national unity and social peace while the second funded the organization and its members to commit terrorist crimes,” according to the investigations carried out by the SSSP. The defendants transferred the members to Syria to join the Nusra Front. Its affiliated terrorist cells were divided into groups that monitored the targets to be attacked through terrorist operations and gathered information and logistic support to provide needed equipment. Investigations further showed that a group also promoted the organization’s terrorist and takfiri ideology in order to attract more new recruits. A number of organizational headquarters were also unveiled during investigations. They were used as training camps or arms and explosives warehouses. Elements also used desert areas as hideouts. Separately, the Cairo Criminal Court adjourned to June 9 the retrial of five defendants in the case of the al-Warraq terrorist cell. They are accused of targeting police officers and public institutions and killing two people, including police secretary Amr Ezzat. The Public Prosecution has charged the accused with possessing firearms and provocative leaflets, killing civilians and policemen and joining a terrorist group.

Fatah Stresses its Rejection of ‘Deal of the Century’ Even If Under Threat
Ramallah – Asharq Al-Awsat/Sunday, 26 May, 2019/Threatening, intimidating, cutting off funds and practicing extortion against the Palestinian leadership and its people will not change their position towards the so-called “Deal of the Century” and its economic workshop in Bahrain, the Fatah movement announced on Saturday. “Whoever advised the US administration that exerting more pressure and practicing political extortion against President Mahmoud Abbas will let him change his position, is absolutely wrong,” the movement’s spokesman Osama al-Qawasmi stressed. “They were also wrong when they thought that suffocating and extorting Palestine’s financial institutions and people and then offering them money can lead to concessions on our fixed national rights,” he added. “It seems that this person didn’t read history, doesn’t understand the nature of the conflict and doesn’t know the Palestinian people, Fatah movement and the President (Abbas),” he further noted. “This ploy is obvious and will not pass,” he said. Qawasmi also pointed out that the Palestinians will not trade a single grain of sand from Jerusalem for all the money and treasure in the world. Political efforts based on international legitimacy are the only way to achieve peace and stability in the region and the world, he explained. Fatah’s position came in light of pressure exerted on Abbas to participate in the two-day economic workshop. Dubbed the “Peace to Prosperity” workshop, the gathering will take place on June 25-26 in Manama, during which the administration of US President Donald Trump will unveil the first part of its Palestinian-Israeli peace proposal, dubbed the “Deal of the Century”. The workshop is expected to be attended by finance ministers of concerned countries and business executives from Europe, the Middle East and Asia. Washington aims to encourage Arab donor countries to invest in the West Bank and Gaza Strip before addressing thorny political issues. But Palestinians rejected this attempt and said the economic solution should come as a result of the political one and not the other way round. “It is difficult to understand why the Palestinian Authority would reject a workshop designed to discuss a vision with the potential to radically transform lives and put people on a path toward a brighter future,” said US Peace Envoy to the Middle East Jason Greenblatt.

Israel Eases Fishing Restrictions in Gaza
Asharq Al-Awsat/Sunday, 26 May, 2019/Israel eased on Sunday fishing restrictions it has imposed in the Gaza Strip in order to prevent a deterioration in humanitarian conditions in the Palestinian enclave. COGAT, the defense ministry unit that oversees such regulations, said the fishing zone was being "expanded to 15 nautical miles," back up from 10. "This measure is part of the civilian policy for prevention of deterioration in humanitarian conditions in the Gaza Strip and is consistent with the policy of distinguishing between terrorists and the unimplicated population," COGAT said in a statement. It restores the fishing zone to the limits set in April ahead of Israel's general election, and is the largest allowed in years. The move came just three days after Israel had reduced the offshore fishing limits in response to Palestinians floating balloons fitted with incendiaries over the border. Palestinians in Gaza have frequently floated balloons fitted with firebombs over the border to damage Israeli property and have succeeded in setting fire to large areas of farmland. The additional nautical miles are important to Gaza fishermen as they bring more valuable, deeper water species within reach. Around 80 percent of Palestinians in impoverished Gaza are reliant on international aid, according to the United Nations. Israel and Palestinian factions in Gaza have fought three wars since Hamas assumed power over the enclave more than a decade ago. Four Israeli civilians and 25 Palestinians, including at least nine fighters, were killed in an escalation earlier this month. According to reports, a May 6 ceasefire included Israel taking steps to ease its blockade on Gaza, while Hamas in return would calm border protests.

Gaza Suffers Worst Medicine Shortage with Deficit at 52%
Ramallah – Asharq Al-Awsat /Sunday, 26 May, 2019/The Palestinian Ministry of Health in Gaza Strip warned of the dangerous consequences on Gaza Strip patients due to a severe medicines shortage. The ministry said that the deficit in medicine and medical supplies exceeded 52 percent. Director of Al-Shifa Hospital, the biggest public hospital in Gaza, Medhat Abbas said the facility has run out of several vital medicines and antibiotics. Most of the medical items are unavailable in public and private pharmacies, he revealed, warning that the shortage threatens the lives of patients. He called on all supporters of the health sector to intervene to save Gaza patients.Health facilities in the coastal enclave had not received medicine shipments since the beginning of the year. Earlier this year, the Health Ministry said 45 percent of the essential medicines had run out in Gaza. The ministry had in early May sent a medicine convoy from Ramallah to Gaza. Minister of Health Mai al-Kaila stated that Gaza is in the thoughts of every Palestinian, saying that the 15-truck convoy was dispatched at the orders of Palestinian Authority President Mahmoud Abbas and Palestinian Prime Minister Mohammad Shtayyeh. The convoy included medicine to treat cancer, Haemophilia, diabetes and skin diseases. It included sedatives and antibiotics, dialysis treatment and material needed to perform various surgeries.

As Deadline Looms, Netanyahu Says Coalition Deal Still Possible
Asharq Al-Awsat /Sunday, 26 May, 2019/Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu said Sunday it was still possible to strike a deal to form a new coalition government ahead of a Wednesday deadline. Netanyahu has been unable to reach a deal with potential coalition partners despite results from April 9 elections giving his Likud party and its right-wing and religious allies a majority in parliament. Speculation has mounted over the possibility of fresh elections, reported AFP. Negotiations have broken down over legislation aimed at seeing ultra-Orthodox Jews perform mandatory military service like other Jewish Israelis. "I think that the problem can be solved with good will, if that's what people want," Netanyahu said at the start of a cabinet meeting. "If there's not a desire, and things are being aimed in a certain direction, it's unfortunate. I don't think the country needs to be dragged to another election, but there might be someone who wants that." Avigdor Lieberman, who is likely to become defense minister under a coalition deal, has pushed for a guarantee that a bill he backs on ultra-Orthodox military conscription be passed. The ultra-Orthodox parties have refused to support it. Netanyahu needs both Lieberman's Yisrael Beitenu party and the ultra-Orthodox to form the coalition he is seeking. Likud and its allies hold 65 seats in the 120-seat parliament, including Yisrael Beitenu's five and the ultra-Orthodox parties' 16. A Likud spokesman said Sunday that "if Lieberman continues to insist on taking down the government, the Likud has begun preparations ahead of elections." But he added: "At this stage there has been no decision on dissolving the Knesset (parliament)."Thousands also protested on Saturday night against Netanyahu's reported attempts to seek immunity from prosecution as part of coalition negotiations. Netanyahu faces potential indictment for bribery, fraud and breach of trust in the months ahead.

Czech Republic Will Not Relocate its Embassy to Jerusalem
Ramallah/Asharq Al-Awsat/Sunday, 26 May, 2019/Czech Prime Minister Andrej Babis said that his country will not relocate its embassy from Tel Aviv to Jerusalem, saying that his government respects the European Union stance and United Nations resolutions on this issue. No country in Europe wants to move its embassy at the moment and the Czech Republic will not be the initiator, he continued. The PM affirmed that Israel is a longstanding ally to the Czech Republic, but it is also an EU member and UN agreements in this regard should be respected.
Last year, Czech President Milos Zeman inaugurated the Czech House in Jerusalem in what was interpreted as a precursor to the relocation of its embassy. The United States had moved its embassy to Jerusalem in May 2018 despite widespread condemnation by Palestinians, Arabs and the international community. Guatemala then followed. Honduras and Romania had revealed that they were considering such a move. The Fatah movement welcomed Prague’s refusal to relocate its embassy in spite of American and Israeli pressure.Fatah spokesman Jamal Nazzal said that countries’ ability to withstand such pressure and commit to international law reinforces the Palestinian leadership’s insistence on its rights.

Turkey: Kurdish Leader Urges Jailed Supporters to End Hunger Strike
Asharq Al-Awsat/Sunday, 26 May, 2019/Imprisoned Kurdish leader Abdullah Ocalan called on Sunday thousands of jailed supporters in Turkey to end their hunger strike, which they had started in protest against his detention conditions. Ocalan, the co-founder of the outlawed Kurdistan Workers' Party (PKK) held on Imrali island off Istanbul since 1999, was allowed to see his lawyers this month for the first time in eight years. "I expect the action to come to an end in light of the broad statements to be made by my two lawyers," Ocalan said in a message read by his lawyer Nevroz Uysal during a press conference in Istanbul. The first visit took place on May 2. After Turkish authorities lifted an official ban on lawyers' visits to Ocalan, a second trip by two of his lawyers was made on May 22.His lawyers said during their visit on May 22, Ocalan said the hunger strikes "had achieved their goal" and was insistent in his call for the action to end. Several imprisoned supporters ended their hunger strike soon after his call. Some 3,000 prisoners across different prisons were on hunger strike, the pro-Kurdish Peoples' Democratic Party (HDP) has said, in solidarity with one of the party's lawmakers who launched the action in November. MP Leyla Guven was in custody when she went on hunger strike to protest Ocalan's isolation from his family and lawyers but she was later released. Other detainees then followed suit. Eight people also killed themselves over the issue, according to the HDP. Ocalan's PKK, blacklisted by Ankara and its Western allies as a terror group, has been waging an insurgency against the Turkish state since 1984 during which more than 40,000 people have been killed. Ocalan was caught in February 1999 in Kenya and jailed several months later after he was found guilty of treason, separatism and murder.

Casualties in W. Libya Militias Clash over ‘Turkish Spoils’
Cairo – Jamal Jawhar/Asharq Al-Awsat/Sunday, 26 May, 2019/A bloody clash erupted between pro-Government of National Accord (GNA) militias in western Libya in recent days over a Turkish armored vehicles deal. The vehicles were set to be given the GNA’s Presidential Council that is chaired by Fayez al-Sarraj. Clashes erupted in the western city of Zawiya late on Friday in wake of the death of Firas al-Mukhtar Sharkas, the commander of a militia that is affiliated with the GNA’s Interior Ministry. His cousin was also killed in a clash with another militia over a Turkish weapons shipment. The shipment had arrived in the capital, Tripoli, on May 18. The arms were sent to the GNA militias as they are confronted with an operation by the Libyan National Army (LNA) operation to liberate Tripoli from armed groups. The GNA had acknowledged the Turkish shipment of weapons and armored vehicles, prompting fierce criticism from the LNA and warnings that the delivery violates an arms embargo imposed by the United Nations Security Council against Libya. The militia fighting broke out Friday night after Sharkas seized one of the new Turkish vehicles, sparking a clash with rival militants, said witnesses. The fighting culminated in his death and the death of his cousin. Security commander Mohammed Abdul Salam al-Maseeni told Asharq Al-Awsat that the militias in western Libya have always clashed with each other. Sarraj’s Special Deterrent Force intervened to end the Zawiya fighting. It arrested two gunmen suspected of killing Sharkas and his cousin. An investigation will be opened in the incident. Throughout 2018, hundreds of militants were killed in Tripoli and its suburbs in clashes between rival militias over financial and logistic gains.

Haftar Vows to Continue Tripoli Operation until Militias Disarm

Asharq Al-Awsat/Sunday, 26 May, 2019/Libyan National Army commander Khalifa Haftar vowed that his forces will continue their operation in Tripoli until armed groups lay down their weapons. Political negotiations cannot be resumed as long as the gunmen hold on to their arms, he told France’s Le Journal du Dimanche. He explained that he had commanded his troops to march on the capital after six rounds of negotiations ended in failure. Head of the Government of National Accord (GNA), Fayez al-Sarraj, he added, is incapable of making decisions because he is controlled by the gunmen. “During the last round of talks, I realized that it was not him who was taking decisions,” Haftar remarked. “The political solution remains the main goal, but returning to politics must be preceded with the elimination of gunmen once and for all,” he stressed.

UN Chief to Hadi: Yemen Envoy to Redouble Efforts in a Balanced Manner
London - Asharq Al-Awsat/Sunday, 26 May, 2019/UN Secretary-General Antonio Guterres reiterated his “full confidence” in UN envoy to Yemen Martin Griffiths after the envoy was accused by Yemen President Abdrabbuh Mansur Hadi of committing violations that threaten the political solution. Griffiths has not commented on Hadi’s letter, which he had delivered to the UN chief. “In his letter to President Hadi the secretary-general says that the United Nations commitment to the Stockholm agreement stems first and foremost from our deep desire to alleviate the suffering of the Yemeni people and assist in addressing the humanitarian crisis which continues to beset Yemen,” said Guterres’ spokesman Stephane Dujarric. “He assured President Hadi that his special envoy, Griffiths, will redouble efforts to support the parties on delivering on the commitment made in Stockholm and do so in a manner which is balanced and fully supportive of achieving a peaceful and lasting political solution to this conflict,” he added. In his letter, Hadi said: “We can no longer accept the ongoing violations committed by the UN envoy.” He made his stance after a briefing by Griffiths to the UN Security Council on May 15, which the president deemed as an example of the flagrant violation of the mandate granted to the envoy. “Griffiths insists on dealing with Houthi (militias) as a de-facto government, and as an equivalent to the legitimate government,” he added, accusing the envoy of legitimizing the Iran-backed militants. He also accused Griffiths of sidestepping Security Council Resolution 2216. The letter stated that Griffiths has failed to properly oversee the Stockholm agreement struck last year for a ceasefire and withdrawal plan for the port city of Hodeidah, and has not dealt with issues surrounding detainees and hostages. “It is clear the envoy has a weak understanding of the nature of Yemen’s ongoing conflict, especially the ideological, intellectual, and political elements of the Houthi militias and their fundamental rejection of the principles of democracy and the peaceful rotation of power,” it added.

Venezuela's Guaido Says Will Send Representatives for Talks with Govt.
Agence France Presse/Naharnet/May 26/2019/Venezuela's opposition leader Juan Guaido said on Saturday he would send delegates to Oslo next week for the first face-to-face meeting with representatives of President Nicolas Maduro's government as part of a Norway-led mediation effort.
They "will talk with both the Norwegian government and with representatives of the regime", Guaido said in a statement, after the two Venezuelan sides traveled separately to the Norwegian capital last week without meeting. Guaido, recognized by the United States and dozens of other countries as Venezuela's interim president, said the opposition delegation will be headed by deputy parliament speaker Stalin Gonzalez and the ex-deputy Gerardo Blyde, both of whom were involved in the initial talks with the Norwegians. Media reports said Venezuelan Communications Minister Jorge Rodriguez and the governor of Miranda province Hector Rodriguez represented Maduro's government in the initial talks, but it was unclear if they would participate in next week's meeting. Guaido has appeared cautious about talking with Maduro's representatives since the idea is unpopular with the opposition base that has spent months in the streets trying to push Maduro out. Earlier on Saturday, Guaido told supporters in Carora, Lara state that "nobody is ever going to get us here confused about a false dialogue." He said there had been no "negotiation" in the earlier meetings in Norway, and that any deal should include mediation leading to Maduro's departure and new elections being scheduled.
"We are going to insist," he said, "because today by combining all our strategies, using all the tools we have, we are going to get to that final step," Guaido said, referring to street protests and multiple levels of diplomacy. The bid for talks comes after a months-long power struggle between National Assembly leader Guaido and the socialist president, with sometimes deadly street clashes. Guaido's backers dismiss Maduro's presidency as "illegitimate" following his re-election last year in polls widely labeled as rigged. Maduro has been shunned by much of the international community for presiding over the country's economic collapse, which has led to shortages of basic goods -- forcing millions to flee -- as well as brutally suppressing dissent. He retains the backing of major creditors Russia, China and Cuba, as well as the powerful military. Guaido tried to incite a military uprising against Maduro on April 30 but only about 30 members of the armed forces joined him. The socialist regime has since ramped up pressure on Guaido's allies and supporters, charging 10 lawmakers with treason. The pro-government Constituent Assembly recently stripped 14 opposition lawmakers of their legislative immunity over their support for the failed uprising.

Final Votes Cast as Europe Chooses Future Course
Agence France Presse/Naharnet/May 26/2019/Tens of millions of Europeans will vote Sunday as 21 countries choose their representatives in a battle between the nationalist right and pro-EU forces to chart a course for the bloc. Greece, Hungary, Bulgaria, Romania, Lithuania and Cyprus were the first to open their polling stations at 0400 GMT and France, Germany, Italy and the rest followed over the next two or three hours. Seven EU member states had already voted, but no official results can be published until rest of the union has taken part. The European Parliament will give an estimate at 1815 GMT and provisional results will begin to emerge from 2100 GMT. Euroskeptic parties opposed to the project of ever closer union hope to capture as many as a third of the seats in the 751-member Strasbourg assembly, disrupting the pro-integration consensus. The far-right parties of Italian deputy PM Matteo Salvini and France's Marine Le Pen will lead this charge, and anti-EU ranks will be swelled by the Brexit Party of British populist Nigel Farage. France's President Emmanuel Macron has taken it upon himself to act as figurehead for the centrist and liberal parties hoping to shut the nationalists out of key EU jobs and decision-making. "Once again Macron is daring us to challenge him. Well let's take him at his word: On May 26, we'll challenge him in the voting booth," Le Pen told a rally in France on Friday.
'Extremists are mobilizing'
Meanwhile, the mainstream parties are vying between themselves for influence over the choice of a new generation of top European officials, including the powerful president of the European Commission. And Brussels insiders are closely following the turnout figures, fearing that another drop in participation will undermine the credibility of the EU parliament as it seeks to establish its authority. Britain and the Netherlands were first to vote, on Thursday, followed by Ireland and the Czech Republic on Friday with Slovakia, Malta and Latvia on Saturday, leaving the bulk of the 400 million eligible voters to join in on Sunday. At the last EU election in 2014, Slovakia had the lowest turnout of any country, at less than 14 percent, and centrist president Andrej Kiska is worried that the far-right is poised to profit. "We see that extremists are mobilizing, we see a lot their billboards and activities all over Slovakia. We can't let someone steal Europe from us. It's our Europe," Kiska told reporters. But the right and the far-right have not had everything their own way so far. In the Netherlands, the centre-left party of EU vice president Frans Timmermans won the most votes and added two seats to the Socialists and Democrats (S&D) bloc in parliament, according to exit polls. A day later, the S&D's centre-right rival the European People's Party (EPP) was buoyed by exit polls suggesting that Prime Minister Leo Varadkar's pro-EU Fine Gael party was in the lead in Ireland.
Jobs fair
If Britain leaves the European Union on October 31, the latest deadline for Brexit, then its MEPs will not sit for long in the EU parliament but could still play a role in the scramble to hand out top jobs. Thursday's votes from Britain won't be counted until after polls close in Italy, but Farage's Brexit Party appears on course to send a large delegation to a parliament it wants to abolish. Macron is pinning his hopes on his Renaissance movement joining with the liberal ALDE voting bloc and other centrist groups to give impetus to his plans for deeper EU integration. But much will depend on who gets the top jobs: the presidencies of the Council and the Commission, the speaker of parliament, the high representative for foreign policy and director of the European Central Bank. The 29 EU leaders have been invited to a summit dinner on Tuesday to decide how to choose the nominees, and Germany's Chancellor Angela Merkel is expected to back the lead EPP candidate Manfred Weber for the Commission. Macron and some other leaders oppose both Weber, a German conservative MEP with no executive experience, and the idea that the parliament should get to choose one of its own for Brussels' prime post. But whichever way the leaders' council leans, there will be no immediate decision. Instead, Council president Donald Tusk will take note of how the debate went and draft the nominations before a June 21 EU summit.

Latest LCCC English analysis & editorials from miscellaneous sources published on May 26-27/19
Genocide of Christians Reaches "Alarming Stage"
ريموند إبراهيم/معهد كيتستون: الإبادة الجماعية للمسيحيين تصل ‘إلى مرحلة مقلقة
Raymond Ibrahim/Gatestone Institute/May 26/2019
http://eliasbejjaninews.com/archives/75215/%D8%B1%D9%8A%D9%85%D9%88%D9%86%D8%AF-%D8%A5%D8%A8%D8%B1%D8%A7%D9%87%D9%8A%D9%85-%D9%85%D8%B9%D9%87%D8%AF-%D9%83%D9%8A%D8%AA%D8%B3%D8%AA%D9%88%D9%86-%D8%A7%D9%84%D8%A5%D8%A8%D8%A7%D8%AF%D8%A9-%D8%A7/
https://www.gatestoneinstitute.org/14281/genocide-of-christians

Many of the world's most persecuted Christians have nothing whatsoever to do with colonialism or missionaries. Those most faced with the threat of genocide — including Syria's and Iraq's Assyrians or Egypt's Copts — were Christian several centuries before the ancestors of Europe's colonizers became Christian and went missionizing
The BBC report highlights "political correctness" as being especially responsible for the West's indifference....
Among the worst persecutors are those that rule according to Islamic law, or Sharia -- which academics such as Georgetown University's John Esposito insist is equitable and just. In Afghanistan (ranked #2), "Christianity is not permitted to exist."
"Christian persecution 'at near genocide levels,'" the title of a May 3 BBC report, cites a lengthy interim study ordered by British Foreign Secretary Jeremy Hunt and led by Rev. Philip Mounstephen, the Bishop of Truro.
According to the BBC report, one in three people around the world suffer from religious persecution, with Christians being "the most persecuted religious group". "Religion 'is at risk of disappearing' in some parts of the world," it noted, and "In some regions, the level and nature of persecution is arguably coming close to meeting the international definition of genocide, according to that adopted by the UN."
British Foreign Secretary Jeremy Hunt is also quoted on why Western governments have been "asleep" — his word — concerning this growing epidemic:
"I think there is a misplaced worry that it is somehow colonialist to talk about a religion [Christianity] that was associated with colonial powers rather than the countries that we marched into as colonisers. That has perhaps created an awkwardness in talking about this issue—the role of missionaries was always a controversial one and that has, I think, also led some people to shy away from this topic."
Whatever the merits of such thinking, the fact is that many of the world's most persecuted Christians have nothing whatsoever to do with colonialism or missionaries. Those most faced with the threat of genocide — including Syria's and Iraq's Assyrians or Egypt's Copts — were Christian several centuries before the ancestors of Europe's colonizers became Christian and went missionizing.
The BBC report highlights "political correctness" as being especially responsible for the West's indifference, and quotes Hunt again in this regard: "What we have forgotten in that atmosphere of political correctness is actually the Christians that are being persecuted are some of the poorest people on the planet."
Although the BBC report has an entire heading titled and devoted to the impact of "political correctness," ironically, it too succumbs to this contemporary Western malady. For while it did a fair job in highlighting the problem, it said nothing about its causes — not one word about who is persecuting Christians, or why.
The overwhelming majority of Christian persecution, however, evidently occurs in Muslim majority nations. According to Open Doors' World Watch List 2019 [WWL], which surveys the 50 nations where Christians are most persecuted, "Islamic oppression continues to impact millions of Christians." In seven of the absolute worst ten nations, "Islamic oppression" is the cause of persecution. "This means, for millions of Christians—particularly those who grew up Muslim or were born into Muslim families—openly following Jesus can have painful consequences," including death.
Among the worst persecutors are those that rule according to Islamic law, or Sharia -- which academics such as Georgetown University's John Esposito insist is equitable and just. In Afghanistan (ranked #2) , "Christianity is not permitted to exist," says the WWL 2019, because it "is an Islamic state by constitution, which means government officials, ethnic group leaders, religious officials and citizens are hostile toward" Christians. Similarly, in Somalia, (#3), "The Christian community is small and under constant threat of attack. Sharia law and Islam are enshrined in the country's constitution, and the persecution of Christians almost always involves violence." In Iran (#9), "society is governed by Islamic law, which means the rights and professional possibilities for Christians are heavily restricted."
Equally telling is that 38 of the 50 nations making the WWL 2019 are Muslim majority.
Perhaps the BBC succumbed to silence concerning the sources of Christian persecution — that is, succumbed to "the atmosphere of political correctness" which it ironically highlighted — because in its own report, it did not rely on the WWL. The problem with this interpretation is that the study the BBC did rely on, the Bishop of Truro's, is saturated with talk concerning the actual sources of Christian persecution. In this regard, the words "Islam" and "Islamist" appear 61 times; "Muslim" appears 56 times in this review on persecuted Christians.
Here are a few of the more significant quotes from the Bishop of Truro's report:
"The persecution of Christians is perhaps at its most virulent in the region of the birthplace of Christianity—the Middle East & North Africa."
"In countries such as Algeria, Egypt, Iran, Iraq, Syria and Saudi Arabia the situation of Christians and other minorities has reached an alarming stage."
"The eradication of Christians and other minorities on pain of 'the sword' or other violent means was revealed to be the specific and stated objective of [Islamic] extremist groups in Syria, Iraq, Egypt, north-east Nigeria and the Philippines."
"[T]here is mass violence which regularly expresses itself through the bombing of churches, as has been the case in countries such as Egypt, Pakistan, and Indonesia."
"The single-greatest threat to Christians [in Nigeria] ... came from Islamist militant group Boko Haram, with US intelligence reports in 2015 suggesting that 200,000 Christians were at risk of being killed... Those worst affected included Christian women and girls 'abducted, and forced to convert, enter forced marriages, sexual abuse and torture.'"
"An intent to erase all evidence of the Christian presence [in Syria, Iraq, Egypt, north-east Nigeria and the Philippines] was made plain by the removal of crosses, the destruction of Church buildings and other Church symbols. The killing and abduction of clergy represented a direct attack on the Church's structure and leadership."
"Christianity now faces the possibility of being wiped-out in parts of the Middle East where its roots go back furthest. In Palestine, Christian numbers are below 1.5 percent; in Syria the Christian population has declined from 1.7 million in 2011 to below 450,000 and in Iraq, Christian numbers have slumped from 1.5 million before 2003 to below 120,000 today. Christianity is at risk of disappearing, representing a massive setback for plurality in the region."
The BBC should be commended for (finally) reporting on this urgent issue — even if it is three years behind the times. As the Truro report correctly observes, "In 2016 various political bodies including the UK parliament, the European Parliament and the US House of Representatives, declared that ISIS atrocities against Christians and other religious minority groups such as Yazidis and Shi'a Muslims met the tests of genocide."
At the very least, it appears that the BBC has stopped trying to minimize the specter of Christian persecution as it did in 2013, when this situation was just starting to reach the boiling point.
*Raymond Ibrahim, author of the new book, Sword and Scimitar, Fourteen Centuries of War between Islam and the West, is a Distinguished Senior Fellow at the Gatestone Institute and a Judith Rosen Friedman Fellow at the Middle East Forum.
© 2019 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.

Analysis/Trump's Peace Plan Offers Palestinians a Severance Package for the Occupation
زفي برئيل/هآرتس: خطة ترامب للسلام تعرض على الفلسطينيين رزمة تعويض للإحتلال
Zvi Bar'el/Haaretz/26.05.2019
http://eliasbejjaninews.com/archives/75219/%D8%B2%D9%81%D9%8A-%D8%A8%D8%B1%D8%A6%D9%8A%D9%84-%D9%87%D8%A2%D8%B1%D8%AA%D8%B3-%D8%AE%D8%B7%D8%A9-%D8%AA%D8%B1%D8%A7%D9%85%D8%A8-%D9%84%D9%84%D8%B3%D9%84%D8%A7%D9%85-%D8%AA%D8%B9%D8%B1%D8%B6-%D8%B9/

A political solution in which Israel releases its hold of the Palestinian economy could triple growth in the West Bank and Gaza. But in the meantime, why not take the billions Washington plans to raise in Bahrain?
Participants of the Bahrain “economic workshop” will surely regret that U.S. President Donald Trump was so quick to announce it. Truthfully, what’s so urgent about it? And had he waited another three years, the guests could at least have enjoyed a wonderful stay at the Shangri-La Hotel, which is slated to open in 2022. According to the Bahraini government, this will be a wonderful vacation site by the sea, with luxury villas and the kind of service only Shangri-La knows how to provide.
But the Four Seasons Hotel in Bahrain’s capital, Manama, is luxurious enough. There are plenty of other luxury hotels there as well. And after all, it’s only for two days. Granted, the workshop’s organizers don’t yet know how many rooms to reserve, since the guest list hasn’t been finalized. But there will presumably be plenty of available rooms for last-minute attendees.
The Palestinians have already said they won’t come. The Qataris probably won’t either. Turkey – whose president, Recep Tayyip Erdogan, vehemently criticized the idea – apparently won’t be invited. King Abdullah of Jordan will likely to come just to please Trump and Saudi Arabia, but he’d be happier spending those two days elsewhere.
Bahrain, the host, made its own position clear when Foreign Minister Khalid Al Khalifa said this week that the workshop “serves no other purpose” than supporting the Palestinian economy. There will be no diplomatic plan, no discussion of borders or other core issues of the Israeli-Palestinian conflict.
Bahrain “remains supportive” of the Palestinians “in restoring their legitimate rights on their land as well as establishing an independent state with East Jerusalem as its capital,” the statement added. An independent state? Trump has no intention of even mentioning the words “Palestinian state.”
discussion now is about the economy, development, investments and governmental and administrative reforms of the Palestinian Authority, according to American media reports. Who will invest? How much will they invest? What will the purpose of the investments be? That’s what the workshop is for.
In February, the New York Times reported that the goal is to raise $40 billion, which would be divided among the PA, Egypt, Jordan and Lebanon. This week, media reports bumped the total up to $68 billion over 10 years. That comes to almost $7 billion a year for those four countries combined.
To put this in proportion, Qatar alone recently pledged $500 million a year just for the Gaza Strip, with no connection to Trump’s “deal of the century,” in order to deescalate the conflict between Israel and Hamas. The PA is getting $20 million a month from Saudi Arabia, and Sudan has received a pledge of $3 billion from Saudi Arabia and the United Arab Emirates, of which $320 million was transferred this month. Rehabilitating Gaza alone is expected to cost several billion dollars.
Will Trump and Israel agree to let some of the donated funds go to Hamas, or will the money be only for the PA? And if so, will America unfreeze its own $300 million in aid to the West Bank? Will Israel return the money it deducted from the taxes it collects on the PA’s behalf? Or will Washington and Jerusalem continue their sanctions, but at the same time demand that other countries open their wallets?
Israel will likely refuse to restore the deducted funds unless the PA stops paying salaries to jailed terrorists and the families of slain terrorists. The entire “deal” could well collapse over this issue alone.
For the Palestinians, there’s a much more important issue. If it accepts donations that aren’t accompanied by a credible pledge of a diplomatic solution, it will be deemed to have “sold” the Palestinian problem, betrayed the refugees and even abandoned the dream of a Palestinian state in exchange for a few billion dollars a year.
Palestinian economists says an independent Palestine that could sell its goods in Arab countries and use Israeli ports to sell them in Western countries, all with no restrictions, would produce many more billions than the PA would receive through this deal.
According to a World Bank study, the PA’s growth could triple if the many Israeli barriers to free Palestinian trade were removed – checkpoints that make transporting goods more time-consuming and expensive, massive bureaucracy that requires dozens of forms and permits, the severance of trade between Gaza and the West Bank, import restrictions, limited numbers of Palestinian workers in Israel, and the PA’s complete economic dependence on Israel in general. Alongside these problems, the study also cited the PA’s poor management and corruption.
Will Trump’s economic plan remove all or at least most of these obstacles? We’ll have to wait and see. But if Israel’s total control over the Palestinian economy continues, the donations raised at the Bahrain conference, if there are any, will mainly serve to finance ongoing activities and pay debts. That’s non-trivial, but it’s no substitute for the need to build an independent Palestinian economy.
Granted, Arab states have pledged to give the PA $100 million a month to cover the shortfall in its budget caused by Israel’s deductions from the tax transfers and the PA’s refusal to accept anything less than the full amount. Nevertheless, this pledge so far remains on paper only. Thus it’s reasonable to suspect that the billions pledged in Bahrain also won’t reach Palestinian banks as quickly as needed.
Another source of money could be the European Union. But there’s a difference between ongoing aid from Brussels, which totaled 359 million euros in 2017 and 42 million more than that in 2018, and an investment of billions to grow the Palestinian economy. The EU won’t rush to open its wallet for a dubious plan that doesn’t propose establishing a Palestinian state – not just because it doesn’t even included a detailed economic plan, but mainly because the person proposing it is Trump.
Trump embroiled the EU in a mess when he withdrew from the Iranian nuclear agreement more than a year ago and is now trying to get it to join sanctions on Iran. So he can’t expect to find an attentive ear and an open hand in Brussels on the Palestinian issue. The EU is sticking to the two-state solution, and at best, it will consider joining Trump’s economic plan only if it explicitly defines the final goal as a Palestinian state.
“Without an Israeli commitment to consent to the establishment of a Palestinian state and an American guarantee that Israel will uphold this commitment, the EU will continue supporting the Palestinian Authority to its current extent, but not beyond that,” a European diplomat told Haaretz this week. “And more generally, why doesn’t the U.S. itself participate in financing the project it dreamed up?”
If his comment reflects the EU’s position, there’s no need to hold your breath for the results of the Bahrain conference. Any economic decision made there will be subject to Israel’s willingness to adopt a viable diplomatic program, or at least to relax its control over the PA. This willingness will depend on the composition of Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu’s new government and the political pressure he is subjected to in the month until the conference, and of course afterward.
The conference appears to have been born in the fifth month of a two-year pregnancy. There has been no real preparation and no strategy that would lead to a diplomatic solution, despite the thousands of emails exchanged by Trump’s advisors with Arab and Israeli leaders.
Given all this, it’s reasonable to wonder what the Palestinians gain by refusing to attend it or rejecting any fruits it produces. Palestinian businessmen’s claim that the conference will perpetuate the occupation and play into Israel’s hands isn’t baseless. But the Palestinian position – that the Palestinians’ right to establish an independent state must be recognized before talking about its economic sustenance – may well imprison it in a trap in which it has neither a state nor a functioning economy.
Assuming that right-wing governments continue controlling Israel in the coming years and that Trump is reelected in another 18 months, the dream of establishing an independent Palestinian state will remain a dream. And if a miracle happens and reconciliation between the Hamas and Fatah parties becomes reality, the chances of establishing an independent state will decrease even further, since Hamas objects to recognizing Israel.
In the meantime, the PA could benefit from several billion dollars a year to build an economic infrastructure that would improve its standard of living and be ready in case a state did emerge. True, the occupation won’t end, the settlements won’t be demolished and the arrests, house demolitions and land theft won’t stop. But for five million Palestinians living under occupation, life might be a little better.
It’s worth reminding the Palestinians that even Israel decided to accept reparations from Germany, despite the issues of principle and the moral dilemmas. And that money helped it greatly in building up its state.

A Swiss diplomat & Iraq’s President – go-betweens for first, US-Iranian talks
Debka File/May 26/2019
The two back-channels through which the Trump team sought to initiate exploratory talks with Tehran have run into a blank wall, DEBKAfile’s exclusive sources report. Interpreting this silent treatment as an Iranian ploy for time to prepare more attacks, the administration last week boosted its military deployment in the Gulf with another 1,500 troops.
Plenty of politicians are volunteering to mediate efforts to bring the US and Iran together, notably, Iraqi Prime Minister Adil Abdul-Mahdi and Omani Foreign Minister Yusuf bin Alawi – who is an old hand as this. The Trump administration has not taken up any of their offers. Instead, our intelligence sources reveal, White House advisers have turned to a senior Swiss diplomat and the Kurdish president of Iraq. Arnold Henninger, a high-ranking member of the Swiss foreign service, has long being involved in the interaction between the two governments since the Swiss embassy has represented US interests in Tehran for decades. Iraq’s president Barham Salih has good contacts in the right circles in both Washington and Tehran.
On Saturday, May 25, shortly before Salih boarded a flight fo Saudi Arabia and Turkey, he was confronted by Iran’s Foreign Minister Javad Zarif who had popped over to Baghdad. They held a long conversation.
The main catch in both channels is that no one knows how high in the Islamic regime the two brokers have reached, and on whose desks the US messages addressed to the highest echelons have landed.
The Swiss diplomat Henninger has come closest to supreme ruler Ayatollah Ali Khamenei through Ali Velayati, Khamenei’s senior adviser on international affairs. But he can’t say whether Velayati passed the Trump administration’s messages to his boss.
President Salih is known to be in contact with Zarif and talks regularly with deputy foreign minister Abbas Aragchi. Iranian officials are ambiguous about the final destination of the messages he relayed, although some admit that Iran’s President Hassan Rouhani is in the picture. Without con formation that those messages reached the all-powerful supreme leader or some authoritative affirmation, the American bid to open initial exploratory talks with Tehran is up against an immovable obstacle.

The Shia Militia Mapping Project
Phillip Smyth/The Washington Institute/May 27/2019
http://eliasbejjaninews.com/archives/75223/%D9%81%D9%8A%D9%84%D9%8A%D8%A8-%D8%B3%D9%85%D9%8A%D8%AB-%D9%85%D8%B9%D9%87%D8%AF-%D9%88%D8%A7%D8%B4%D9%86%D8%B7%D9%86-%D9%85%D8%B4%D8%B1%D9%88%D8%B9-%D8%A5%D8%B9%D8%AF%D8%A7%D8%AF-%D8%AE%D8%A7%D8%B1/

Explore a comprehensive interactive map of Shia militias across the Middle East, charting their location, movements, ties to Iran, and involvements in conflicts in Iraq and Syria.
Interactive Website Details Dozens of Iranian-Backed Shia Militias
For decades, Shia armed groups have altered the sociopolitical and military landscape of the Middle East. As of 2019, more than a hundred different Shia groups and subgroups, the primary drivers of Iranian influence, operate in Iraq, Lebanon, and Syria. Yet despite the complexity of fronts, the number of belligerents involved, and Iran’s active participation in these conflicts, most publicly available maps on the subject have neglected or downplayed the need to illustrate important data about specific militias. This approach has fundamentally altered international perceptions of the region’s ongoing wars and, more important, Iran’s propensity for using proxies.
Shia militia activities are often wrapped in a broader narrative about “pro-government forces.” Even when these groups take on dominant roles in a given conflict and pursue goals that differ from those of government forces, they still tend to be described as little more than supportive elements. This further disguises crucial regional and ideological developments related to the militias and their patronage networks.
The Islamic Republic of Iran remains the principal creator and backer of Shia militias throughout the Middle East. As the 2018 U.S. National Defense Strategy noted, “Iran is competing with its neighbors, asserting an arc of influence and instability while vying for regional hegemony, using state-sponsored terrorist activities, a growing network of proxies, and its missile program to achieve its objectives.” The 2019 U.S. Worldwide Threat Assessment added that Iran “probably wants to maintain a network of Shia foreign fighters” in Syria. Its existing proxies there, in Iraq, and in Lebanon have contributed to myriad terrorist activities while maintaining stances that are violently opposed to the United States and its regional allies. A view into how Iran uses these multinational networks can help clarify the state’s ideological and political goals in the region.
At the same time, not every Shia armed group is a proxy of Tehran. Conflicts between Shia militias over ideological, political, and commercial interests are plentiful, and tracking these tensions can help expose key vulnerabilities and trends.
Mapping these militias has become especially important since the Iraqi government’s 2014 creation of al-Hashd al-Shabi (the Popular Mobilization Forces), an umbrella group of mostly Shia militias dominated by Iranian-backed groups. The rise of the PMF has further obfuscated who is actually doing the fighting on the ground and which areas have a significant militia presence. Some of the most powerful PMF elements are also fighting in Syria, while many have established significant political power within the Iraqi government.
Thus, a more comprehensive and detailed mapping method is required. For the benefit of policymakers, area specialists, and observers, The Washington Institute’s Shia Militia Mapping Project seeks to rectify the knowledge gap by providing deep graphical insight into the movements of specific militias, Iran’s expansion of power abroad, Iraq’s efforts to address instability, the Islamic State’s return to insurgency, the manner in which Shia armed groups preserve and increase their power, and the near-term outlook for Syria.
Map Sources
In the past, information of the sort provided by this project has largely been the purview of the intelligence community and regional organizations rather than Western audiences. Moreover, some past reports on the subject have used proprietary sources that lacked cross-referencing with Shia militia sources.
The maps presented here have been compiled mainly from primary source data, including contacts within Shia militia circles and social media analysis collected for nearly ten years. More specifically, the project relies on interviews with a host of Shia fighters, observation of social media accounts belonging to around 200 formal organizations and unofficial fighter networks, messenger app accounts linked with Shia militant groups (including private and publicly available posts), Arabic- and Persian-language news sources, and reports issued by organizations that oppose Shia militias (e.g., Islamic State). The Google Maps platform has been used due to its ubiquity.
The project’s methods include seeking out mappable data closest to where social media and messenger posts claim a given activity occurred. When posts lack specific place names, the information in question can often be traced to general locations with reasonable accuracy based on other data or methods. Locations culled from primary sources have been crosschecked and supplemented by open source articles from Arabic, English, and Persian newspapers, militia webpages, direct interviews with fighters, and/or opposition sources. In other cases, information has been mapped using geolocation methods. Any unconfirmed data is noted in the map entries.
The information illustrated in the maps includes the following:
Internal fighting between Shia militias
Demonstrations and other events held for or against different militias
Militia operations against foes (e.g., Syrian rebel groups, the Islamic State, al-Qaeda)
Special foreign trips taken by armed groups or their leadership
Meetings between leadership elements within or among different groups
Casualties suffered by militias
Funerals for fighters
Force deployments
Construction of fortifications and checkpoints
Social service projects
Which Groups Make the List?
Although the project focuses on Shia militias, some of the organizations covered herein have a more mixed sectarian composition, including Sunni and Christian fighters. Yet majority Sunni, Christian, and Alawite organizations are not included, even if they operate under the same structure as a Shia militia group (though Alawite-majority areas are marked on certain maps). Ethnoreligiously focused Shia groups are featured as well (e.g., Quwat Sahel al-Ninewa, or the Nineveh Plains Forces, whose members hail from Iraq’s Shabak minority but practice Shia Islam). The majority of groups covered are influenced or controlled by Iran, but not all of them.
Specifically, the project studies the movements and activities of
Iraqi PMF groups (whether official or claimed)
Lebanese Hezbollah
Syrian Shia groups organized on the Hezbollah model
Shia militias that claim alignment with the Syrian army
Muqtada al-Sadr’s groups Saraya al-Salam and Liwa al-Youm al-Mawud
Iraqi and Syrian Shia tribal militias
Groups that identify as part of a larger camp under the control of Grand Ayatollah Ali al-Sistani
Newly announced Shia militias
Militias with majority Ismaili (or Sevener Shia) membership, and
Iran’s Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps-Qods Force and its subunits, including the Pakistani Shia group Liwa Zainabiyoun and the Afghan Shia group Liwa Fatemiyoun.
Areas of Focus
The main geographic areas covered include current conflict zones in Iraq, Lebanon, and Syria. If groups or individual fighters from these zones visit other states, such movements are mapped as well. For example, the maps account for reports that veterans of Liwa Fatemiyoun, Iran’s Afghan Shia unit in Syria, have also set up local militias in some neighborhoods of Kabul.
In addition, the project distinguishes between current, former, and potential conflict zones. All of the conflict zones listed directly involve Shia-majority militias.
How are Group Activities Represented?
Activities by specific Shia militias are denoted by each organization’s logo or a surrogate symbol placed on the map. The accompanying description includes an exact or approximate date for the activity. If photographs of the incident are available, they are included as well.
Ethnoreligious and Sectarian Mapping
It is important to get an idea of where Iraq, Lebanon, and Syria’s Shia populations reside and where recruitment occurs. The maps of these locations are based on multiple sources, including historical maps, U.S. government maps, Arabic and English reporting, interviews, and personal trips to the region.
Many communities overlap and can be quite diverse. As a result, the maps are designed to give a general overview of where significant Shia population centers, zones of influence, and points of interest are located. Some of the mapped towns do not have majority Shia populations or are more mixed, but their Shia populations are nevertheless highly influential or consider the towns especially important. The following are also included:
Holy sites. Often described as “shrines,” these special sites normally serve as places of worship and veneration for Shia Muslims. For a number of Shia militias, however, claims of defending such sites constitute the core of their armed activities. In Syria, the “Defense of Sayyeda Zainab”—referring to the mosque and shrine south of Damascus—was used as the casus belli for Iranian-directed Shia groups beginning in 2012. In Iraq, images from the 2006 bombing of al-Askari shrine in Samarra were used to rally Shia fighters into the ranks of many militias. These mosques, shrines, and similar sites are marked and explained on the maps.
Holy sites destroyed in conflict. Some of the Shia religious sites that appear on the maps were deliberately targeted by Sunni jihadists or destroyed during battles.

Iranian regime must act to de-escalate tensions with US

Dr. Majid Rafizadeh/Arab News/May 26/2019
Tensions between the US and the Iranian regime have reached new heights. A leading American lawmaker, Rep. Michael McCaul, who is the ranking Republican on the House Foreign Affairs Committee, has pointed out that the recent intelligence obtained about Iran’s threat to US interests in the Middle East was extremely detailed.
“To the extent I can discuss it, it was human intelligence,” he told USA Today on Friday, adding that: “One of the Hezbollah cells is known for its kidnapping and killing operations, and their directive was to go in and kill and kidnap American soldiers.”
Considering these serious threats, the State Department this month ordered all “non-emergency” personnel to immediately leave Iraq. Bahrain’s Foreign Ministry has also ordered all its citizens to leave Iraq. In addition, the US has taken pre-emptive measures by deploying an aircraft carrier, along with B-52 bombers and other military forces, to the Middle East. Furthermore, President Donald Trump warned the Iranian leaders that, if they threatened the US, Tehran would meet its “official end.”
Iran’s terrorist and militant groups across the region are one of the key reasons for the current heightened tensions
There are several crucial steps that the Iranian leaders can take in order to prevent the heightened tensions from spiraling further and turning the region into a battlefield.
First of all, Iran’s clerical establishment ought to change its political calculations when it comes to its ties to its militias and proxies. This means Tehran must refrain from ordering these groups to inflict harm on nations and governments that the Iranian leaders view as rivals.
However, instead of instructing its proxies to de-escalate tensions, Gen. Qassem Soleimani, the head of the Quds Force — the elite branch of the Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps that is tasked with advancing Iran’s revolutionary and political interests in foreign nations — has told Iran-aligned Iraqi Shiite militias to “prepare for proxy war.”
In order to de-escalate tensions, Tehran also needs to stop shipping advanced weaponries to its militia groups. Instead, reports reveal that the Iranian regime has been increasing its efforts to ship advanced weaponry to its proxies, such as Hezbollah, that can turn unguided rockets into precision-guided missiles. In other words, Iran’s terrorist and militant groups across the region are one of the key reasons for the current heightened tensions.
Secondly, instead of posing serious threats to almost every country in the region, the Tehran regime must act as a normal political establishment. One of Iran’s policies that increases insecurity in the region is linked to its ballistic missile program. The range of existing Iranian ballistic missiles is more than 2,000 kilometers, which would put Eastern Europe within range, as well as countries such as Turkey, Israel, and Yemen.
Iran has fired many long-range ballistic missiles and laser-guided surface-to-surface missiles in recent years. It has also tested a ballistic missile capable of carrying multiple warheads. Iran has repeatedly violated UN Security Council resolution 2215, which “calls upon Iran not to undertake any activity related to ballistic missiles designed to be capable of delivering nuclear weapons, including launches using such ballistic missile technology.” Iran possesses the largest ballistic missile arsenal in the region.
Such activities are provocative and further destabilize the region. By launching ballistic missiles, as well posting a stealth warship in the Gulf, the Iranian regime is further escalating tensions and appears to be seeking every opportunity to project its power in order to reassert its hegemony.
Thirdly, Iran’s leaders must address the threat that their nuclear program continues to pose to other nations in the region. It has become crystal clear that the Joint Comprehensive Plan of Action, which was reached between Iran and the P5+1 (China, France, Germany, Russia, the UK, and the US) did not curb Tehran’s nuclear ambitions. There are many deficiencies in the nuclear agreement, including the sunset clauses that remove restrictions on Iran’s nuclear program when the agreement expires.
On the one hand, the Iranian leaders claim their nuclear program is designed for peaceful purposes. On the other, the regime is repeatedly caught carrying out clandestine nuclear activities. Tehran should come to the negotiating table and, once and for all, legitimately remove the threat that its nuclear program and activities pose to the region. This means allowing the International Atomic Energy Agency to inspect Tehran’s military bases, including Parchin, which is reportedly the core location where the regime conducts its nuclear activities.
In conclusion, the Iranian regime can de-escalate tensions in the region by starting to act as a normal and constructive country. The ball is in Iran’s court.
*Dr. Majid Rafizadeh is a Harvard-educated Iranian-American political scientist. He is a leading expert on Iran and US foreign policy, a businessman, and president of the International American Council. Twitter: @Dr_Rafizadeh

How much further can Brexit Britain fall?
Baria Alamuddin/Arab News/May 26/2019
It is hard to find many Britons with a positive word to say about departing Prime Minister Theresa May. Yet her inability to please all sides was perhaps her strongest attribute. She voted for Remain during the 2016 referendum and then spent three years trying to plow a lonely course between the noisy and dogmatic hard Brexiteers and the half of the country that didn’t vote to abandon Europe. Her failure was arguably the result of conceding too much to the Brexiteer camp, including exiting the EU’s economic and legal structures, and her initial willingness to countenance a no-deal exit.
May broke records for the immensity of her losses in parliamentary votes. Again and again she tried ramming effectively the same rejected Brexit bill through Parliament. What finally broke May’s premiership was an attempt to win the Labour Party’s support by dangling the prospect of a second referendum in front of them; after which even her closest ministerial allies abandoned her.
Although several Conservative heavyweights (including Foreign Secretary Jeremy Hunt) have entered the contest, by far the most likely contender to be the next prime minister is Boris Johnson — Britain’s Donald Trump. Johnson is regarded by many MPs with disdain, disquiet or hilarity, yet the final decision will be made by a relatively small pool of nationwide Conservative Party members, many of whom view Johnson as something of a national savior-in-waiting.
The struggle to appeal to this fervently Euroskeptic grassroots will drag the leadership contest to the right. While other candidates may exercise caution in their promises, Johnson — who clearly believes his moment has arrived — is already basking in bombastic demagoguery. Like a psychotic bus driver revving the engine ahead of plunging his passengers over a cliff edge, Johnson has vowed to let Britain crash out of the EU in October if no deal is agreed. Not that there will be time to renegotiate a deal before the October deadline anyway.
Would high office force a modicum of responsibility upon Johnson? The burden of being foreign secretary never had this effect: He failed to properly read briefings; frequently made embarrassing errors in front of TV cameras; and caused bemusement with his eccentric manner on foreign trips. Prime Minister Johnson is not likely to suddenly mutate into a heavyweight politician.
I am continually shocked by austerity Britain’s chronic and intensifying social hardship. London is awash with people sleeping on the streets; an estimated 14 million people live in relative poverty; and the proportion of children living in poverty is predicted by the UN to leap to an astronomical 40 percent by 2021. Living standards have stagnated, while US and European economies are motoring ahead. Social policies have taken a back seat while politicians endlessly grandstand over Europe.
Under Brexit’s long shadow, a succession of major industries have fled abroad or collapsed: Car manufacturers, financial institutions and, most recently, British Steel. Even blinkered pro-Brexit MPs no longer claim that Trump (whose upcoming London visit will rub further salt into Britain’s political wounds) will offer Britain outstanding trade terms. So what will Britain’s future prosperity be based on once it has severed its connections with the world?
The struggle to appeal to this fervently Euroskeptic grassroots will drag the leadership contest to the right.
Regions like Scotland, Northern Ireland, Wales and Greater London voted strongly in favor of staying in Europe but must face the consequences of the outcome. With Scottish MPs muttering about independence and ongoing confusion over Ireland’s border status, a hard Brexit could precipitate the UK’s disintegration.
Having failed to deliver a Brexit deal, Britain has been obligated to participate in the EU Parliament elections. With the two leading parties hemorrhaging support, the new Brexit Party is likely to be the single biggest beneficiary of public frustration. This entity is led by Nigel Farage, who helped trigger the current Brexit debacle via his previous UK Independence Party.
Europe’s far-right parties are salivating at the prospect of exploiting election wins to further subvert the EU’s agenda to their own ends. We are already witnessing the consequences of a legitimized and rejuvenated far-right in soaring levels of racist violence and social tensions. Johnson would be seen as an ideological stablemate, boosting the number of European states lost to right-wing populism.
Johnson and Farage lied to the nation that Brexit would be painless and easy, allowing Great Britain to blissfully set sail toward utopian isolation. All voices of caution were denounced as “Project Fear.” Britons have “had enough of experts,” insisted Conservative leadership candidate Michael Gove during the 2016 referendum campaign when evidence was cited that wasn’t to his liking.
Despite the fact that a no-deal exit would be economically ruinous, in regions where locals voted for Brexit in their droves a consensus is developing that crashing out represents the most honorable and clear-cut method of departure, having been fed a steady diet of anti-European hysteria by populist, right-wing tabloids.
May’s successor will almost certainly oppose attempts to force a second referendum, but this is arguably Britain’s best possible scenario. The 2016 vote only passed narrowly in a volatile political climate and, three years later, polls show increasing levels of support for Remain. Even among Brexit supporters, there are misgivings that the current trajectory isn’t what they signed up to. Despite populist tabloids denouncing as “traitors” and “enemies of the people” those who question the initial outcome, Britain should not fear resorting to democratic principles and holding a further vote. The losing party should also be bound by the result.
The sad truth is that, amidst all the inevitable political chaos of the coming months, it will be ordinary voters who are most vulnerable to an economic downturn or sharp rise in unemployment should the country’s political leaders choose to press the no-deal self-destruct button.
Standing on this precipice, Britain and the West have never been in greater need of enlightened, far-sighted leadership. But where are these cool-headed voices of wisdom when we need them most?
*Baria Alamuddin is an award-winning journalist and broadcaster in the Middle East and the UK. She is editor of the Media Services Syndicate and has interviewed numerous heads of state

Modi faces array of foreign policy challenges
Ranvir S. Nayar/Arab News/May 26/2019
Soon after he became prime minister in May 2014, Narendra Modi set off on a series of visits to neighboring countries, starting a process not just of getting to know his counterparts around the world, but also recalibrating India’s foreign policy in some cases or simply reinforcing it in others.
Over five years, Modi made foreign policy, especially repositioning India’s image globally, a key objective. This was clearly seen as a significant achievement by voters, even in remote, rural parts of India, when it came to deciding who they would back in the 2019 elections.
While Modi may have achieved his domestic and overseas objectives, the challenges of a continuously evolving global scenario mean that he cannot afford to take his eye off the foreign policy ball, especially since he has been focused on domestic politics since the beginning of the year.
The first challenge will, of course, be Pakistan. After the Pulwama terror attack that claimed the lives of 40 security personnel, India has rejected any talks with Islamabad, despite the efforts of the international community to get the two nuclear-armed neighbors to start talks in order to reduce tension, especially after India’s airstrike inside Pakistan.
Modi very effectively used the strike in the campaign, projecting himself as the only candidate who could protect the nation. But, now that he has been re-elected, it is imperative that he works to reduce the tension and start talks with Pakistan. It could be tricky, as any softening of his tone on this subject would not go down well with either his basic constituents or the more extreme elements of India’s right wing. Nonetheless, Modi will have to reboot the relationship and strike a delicate balance.
He may also need to review ties with other neighbors, notably the Maldives, Sri Lanka and Nepal, which have been developing closer ties with China. Beijing has now replaced India as these countries’ biggest trading and political partner. India has been wary of the growing Chinese influence in its own backyard and Modi will need to move rapidly to reclaim the lost ground.
But the bigger challenges for Modi lie in reinvigorating ties with the two global heavyweights: The US and China. In the first half of his first term, Modi moved India extremely close to the US, becoming almost like an additional member of the NATO alliance, whose foreign policy objectives were dictated by American interests. This extreme proximity was seen by China as a hostile move, aimed at isolating or encircling it. Irked, Xi Jinping, the Chinese strongman president, raised the stakes with India, leading to a standoff between the two countries’ armies at the trilateral border they share with Bhutan.
Modi would be well advised not to follow the dictums of either Trump or Netanyahu.
After months of tension, Modi finally blinked and went on an urgent visit to China to meet Xi, with the two nations agreeing to move their armies back to their normal positions. China was also unhappy with the negative image the standoff created in India, especially with calls to boycott Chinese goods, so Modi went on another visit to calm things.
Since then, tension between the US and China has only increased, especially with regards to their trade dispute. The last few months have also seen US President Donald Trump threaten India with increased tariffs and the withdrawal of its special treatment under World Trade Organization rules. Trump has also accused Modi of taking retrograde and protective measures that are hurting US companies, notably the changed norms of e-commerce and India’s insistence on data hosting within the country. Trump has also been pushing India to change its intellectual property regime, mainly to help US pharmaceutical and technology companies.
As Modi takes charge again, he will have to find India’s way in this triangular relationship, ensuring that he maintains good relations with both Trump and Xi, while protecting Indian interests in ties with both the US and China.
Modi will definitely find it easier to navigate India’s ties with the Gulf Cooperation Council (GCC) nations, notably Saudi Arabia and the UAE, with whose leaders he enjoys very good chemistry. He will use his second term to develop closer ties with these two and the other GCC nations, which are together the biggest employers of Indian expatriates, with nearly 10 million Indian workers across the six nations.
The relationship with Israel, where Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu has also recently won an election, is rock solid and the two right-wingers can only be expected to cement their ties further, going beyond defense, water and agriculture.
Iran could be the pressure point in the region, as India tries to strike a balance between its oil needs, as well as the strategic and historic ties it shares with Tehran, and the mounting pressure from the US and Israel to dramatically tone down its dependence on Iranian oil.
In the EU, India’s relationship with key nations, notably Germany and France, is expected to become stronger, but the odd one out would be the UK in view of the uncertainty over Brexit and the challenges it poses for trade and investment relations in the medium and long terms. Brexit has not only affected the relationship between India and the UK, it has also effectively blocked the long-pending India-EU free trade agreement. Modi will need to find a way to break this deadlock rapidly. His strong mandate could help him take some risks in his dealings with overseas partners, at least in the first half of his new term. He would do well to start on it right away.
*Ranvir S. Nayar is managing editor of Media India Group, a global platform based in Europe and India, which encompasses publishing, communication and consultation services

Implications of Russian S-400 deal continue to haunt Turkey
Yasar Yakis/Arab News/May 26/2019
Turkey and Russia have genuinely cooperated in the difficult terrain of Idlib. It started with Turkey helping to facilitate the evacuation of some armed opposition factions from Aleppo to Idlib. It continued when the three guarantors of the Astana process — Russia, Turkey and Iran — decided to establish four de-escalation zones in Syria: Deraa, Eastern Ghouta, Homs and Idlib.
Turkey was only involved in the Idlib de-escalation zone because it was adjacent to its border with Syria. When Syrian government forces were about to launch a military operation against the armed opposition factions in the province, Turkey asked Russia to use its influence to postpone the operation, as it would push displaced civilians toward and likely across the nearby Turkish border. Media reports say 150,000 civilians have already started to move toward the border. Turkey has reached the limits of its capacity to receive refugees because it already accommodates more than 3.6 million Syrians.
Another reason for Turkey’s initiative to postpone the military operation was that it thought it could persuade some moderate armed opposition factions to lay down their arms, thus avoid unnecessary bloodshed.
Turkey genuinely tried to fulfill these promises, but failed. Jabhat Al-Nusra — now renamed Hayat Tahrir Al-Sham — launched an assault against smaller opposition factions in the province, ousted them from the lands they controlled and occupied more than 80 percent of the province’s territory. Russia appreciated Turkey’s efforts but, after a while, started to grow weary. Russian officials, without directly criticizing Ankara, expressed their uneasiness at Turkey’s failure to fulfill its commitment.
The Syrian government, determined to extend its sovereignty to its entire pre-conflict territory, subsequently resumed its offensive in the rebel-held areas, with Russian air cover. On May 4, two Turkish soldiers were lightly wounded by a Syrian army shell near a Turkish observation post. It was unclear whether this was intentional or accidental.
Upon Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdogan’s telephone conversation with his Russian counterpart Vladimir Putin, complaining about the Syrian government’s violation of the cease-fire, the latter agreed to set up a joint committee to discuss ways to end the hostilities in Idlib. However, it is unlikely that Russia will agree to a solution that would turn Idlib into a lasting safe haven for the armed opposition. Neither Russia nor the Syrian government would settle for a solution that would allow the situation in Idlib to fester.
The Pentagon says that the delivery to Turkey of new F-35 jet fighters would be suspended if the S-400 was deployed.
Russia tries its best to manage Turkey’s sensitivity. As a goodwill gesture, it withdrew its soldiers from Tell Rifaat — a strategically important location that threatens Turkey’s military presence in Afrin. It is also important because there is an area held by Kurdish activists south of the city.
Turkish-Russian relations are also tumultuous because of the American pressure on Ankara to prevent the deployment of the Russian S-400 air defense system in Turkey. Ankara insists that the purchase of the system is a “done deal” and that the delivery of its components will start in July, if not sooner, but Washington is equally insistent that it should not be deployed.
The Pentagon says that the delivery to Turkey of new F-35 jet fighters would be suspended if the S-400 was deployed. A draft bill unveiled by the Senate Armed Services Committee last week made the same commitment. There is a major dilemma here because Turkey is one of the co-manufacturers of the aircraft. As many as 800 different components of the F-35 are manufactured in Turkey and, for some of these, Turkish companies are the sole supplier. The mother company, Lockheed Martin, has already started looking for alternative manufacturers to substitute Turkish companies if the supply comes to an end. The change of suppliers would be likely to delay delivery of the F-35s, potentially by up to two years.
Ankara seems determined not to step back from the deployment of the S-400, while Washington continues to believe that Turkey should do so. Russia enjoys watching this altercation between two NATO allies and is confident that, as the positions have become so sharpened, Turkey will go ahead with the deployment.
For Russia, one side of the exercise is the sale of the S-400 air defense system, and another side is the economic deal of $2.5 billion. But, more important than these two factors, is its success in shaking the solidarity between two NATO allies and between Turkey and the remainder of the alliance.
As a result of this complicated equation, the Idlib dilemma between Turkey and Russia becomes just one part of wider disagreement that transcends the local conflict. Turkey came to this point as a result of a choice it made without considering all the implications of a deal that looked, at the beginning, as a simple commercial transaction. But it looks like this controversy may cause a lot of other headaches for Turkey.
*Yasar Yakis is a former foreign minister of Turkey and founding member of the ruling AK Party. Twitter: @yakis_yasar