LCCC ENGLISH DAILY NEWS BULLETIN
October 04/2019
Compiled & Prepared by: Elias Bejjani

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Bible Quotations For today
When you give a banquet, invite the poor, the crippled, the lame, and the blind. And you will be blessed, because they cannot repay you, for you will be repaid at the resurrection of the righteous
Holy Gospel of Jesus Christ according to Saint Luke 14/12-15/:”He said also to the one who had invited him, ‘When you give a luncheon or a dinner, do not invite your friends or your brothers or your relatives or rich neighbours, in case they may invite you in return, and you would be repaid. But when you give a banquet, invite the poor, the crippled, the lame, and the blind. And you will be blessed, because they cannot repay you, for you will be repaid at the resurrection of the righteous.’One of the dinner guests, on hearing this, said to him, ‘Blessed is anyone who will eat bread in the kingdom of God!’”.

Titles For The Latest English LCCC Lebanese & Lebanese Related News published on October 03- 04/2019
All Solutions In Lebanon Can start After The End Of Hezbollah's occupation & Not Before that
Soleimani Reveals Details of Role He Played in the 2006 Israel-Hezbollah War
Riad Salameh Vows to Preserve Exchange Rate Stability
Lebanon says rise in imports behind spike in dollar demand
'We Can’t Fail', Aoun Tells Cabinet
Sami Gemayel Calls on Govt. to Leave, Urges Technocrat Cabinet
Mashnouq Denies Being behind NYT's Hariri Model Report
Jarrah from Baabda says LF, FPM affirm need for radical budget reforms
Special Envoy to visit Lebanon to encourage it to take concrete steps towards joining landmark humanitarian disarmament treaty
Maronite Bishops Urge Refugee Repatriation, End to Smuggling
Loyalty to Resistance bloc underlines importance of preserving monetary stability
Hezbollah deputy: Aggression won't be limited to Iran due to spread of US bases
Hariri meets with Kubis, chairs reforms committee
Hariri at the launching of the 2030 SDGs: WE can overcome our differences and develop the country
'Supporting agro-industries' conference draws a new agro-food roadmap for Lebanon

Titles For The Latest English LCCC Miscellaneous Reports And News published on October 03- 04/2019
Four officers killed in knife attack at Paris police headquarters
Russia-Iran special forces conduct first ever joint exercise in E. Syria
Iran Says It Foiled Plot to Kill Quds Chief Soleimani
Khamenei Urges IRGC to Expand Regionally, Be Prepared for Major Events
Russia: Israeli airstrikes in Syria could further destabilize situation
First Arab on ISS Returns to Earth
Death Toll Rises to 19 as Iraq Protests Spread across South
Several Thousand Amass in Baghdad as Protests Swallow Up South
Kurds Protests Exclusion from Constitutional Committee in Qamishli, Syria
Russia Mediates Between Syria, Turkey on Border Region
Palestine: Abbas Forms Committee to Follow Up on Elections
Sudan Sovereign Council Refers Constitutional Declaration to Justice Ministry
Arabs Protest Lax Police Response to Violent Crimes in Israel
Lavrov to Asharq Al-Awsat: Putin’s Visit to KSA Promotes Partnership to New Level

Titles For The Latest LCCC English analysis & editorials from miscellaneous sources published on October 03- 04/2019
All Solutions In Lebanon Can start After The End Of Hezbollah's occupation & Not Before that/Elias Bejjani/October 03/2019
Hariri at the launching of the 2030 SDGs: WE can overcome our differences and develop the country/NNA/October 03/2019
Russia-Iran special forces conduct first ever joint exercise in E. Syria/DEBKAfile/October 03/2019
Anti-Normalization" With Israel: The True Goal/Bassam Tawil/Gatestone Institute/October 03/2019
'Supporting agro-industries' conference draws a new agro-food roadmap for Lebanon/Maysaa Ajjan/Annahar/October 03/2019
In Times of Extremism, Populism Becomes an Alternative to Democracy
Eyad Abu Shakra/Asharq Al Awsat/October 03/2019
EU security crucial to Macron’s Russia initiative/Mark Leonard/Arabic News/October 03/2019
Impeachment inquiry may embolden Iran to escalate/Abdel Aziz Aluwaisheg/Arabic News/October 03/2019
Iran believes Trump is afraid of taking military action/Dr. Majid Rafizadeh/Arabic News/October 03/2019

The Latest English LCCC Lebanese & Lebanese Related News published on October 03- 04/2019
All Solutions In Lebanon Can start After The End Of Hezbollah's occupation & Not Before that
Elias Bejjani/October 03/2019
There will be not even one Lebanese solution being big or small in any Lebanese sector and on all levels as long as Hezbollah occupies Lebanon. All solutions shall start after the occupation is over and not before that. Sadly Lebanon is an occupied country by all means and according to all global and legal standards. The occupier is devouring the country in an evil systematic scheme

Soleimani Reveals Details of Role He Played in the 2006 Israel-Hezbollah War
London - Adil al-Salmi/Asharq Al Awsat/October 03/2019
The Iranian State TV broadcast on Tuesday an exclusive interview with Commander of the Quds Force of the Iranian Revolutionary Guard Commander, Major General Qasem Soleimani, who has given an insight on his role in Lebanon during the 2006 Israel-Hezbollah war.
This is the first interview of Soleimani, who is in charge of foreign operations especially in Syria and Iraq. During the 90-minute interview, Soleimani gave details of his role in Lebanon in advising ‘Hezbollah’ during the 34-day war. He came to Lebanon accompanied by Hezbollah military leader Imad Mughniyeh who was later assassinated in 2008. Mughniyeh was considered the engineer of the 2006 war, which killed 1,200 Lebanese and 160 Israelis. Soleimani spoke about the incident that triggered the war, represented in a group from Hezbollah managing to “attack a vehicle of the Zionists, inside the occupied lands and captured two wounded persons from inside the vehicle as hostages” on July 12. After one week of his arrival to Lebanon, he traveled to Iran to brief Khamenei on the updates in Lebanon -- Soleimani returned on the same day with a message to Hezbollah Secretary-General Hassan Nasrallah.
The Major General remained in the country until the end of the war. He didn’t mention the presence of other Iranians and only narrated his personal experience during the interview. He also recounted how, under Israeli bombardment of Hezbollah's stronghold in Beirut's southern suburbs, he and Mughniyeh moved out Nasrallah from his "operations room" where they were based, and then they returned to the command center. The interview, which was carried out by Iran's Supreme Leader Ali Khamenei's office, came days after it published a photo showing Nasrallah next to Khamenei and Soleimani, in an apparent recent meeting between the three in Tehran.

Riad Salameh Vows to Preserve Exchange Rate Stability
Naharnet/October 03/2019
Central Bank Governor Riad Salameh on Thursday pledged anew to preserve the stability of the Lebanese lira exchange rate, amid an unprecedented dollar shortage crisis in the Lebanese markets. “We remind everyone that the lira is the country’s currency and we will continue to secure its exchange rate stability,” Salameh vowed. “We are entrusted with the lira exchange rate, and today we have found out that the discrepancy that is being talked about regarding the dollar and the lira has always existed. At certain times, the price of the dollar at money changers was lower or higher than the one at the banks, and since June, the money changers’ demand for dollar bills increased, which resulted in a hike in the exchange rate,” the governor added. “We have agreed that banks would allow dollar withdrawal when the client’s account is in U.S. dollar and lira withdrawal when the client’s account is in lira. As for conversion, or dollar withdrawal when an account is in Lebanese lira, we have given banks the freedom to accept or reject that,” Salameh explained. Earlier this week, the central bank announced that it would facilitate access to dollars for importers of petroleum products, wheat and medicine. Local media said last week banks and money exchange shops were rationing dollar sales in the country, where Lebanese pounds and U.S. dollars are used interchangeably in everyday transactions. Petrol station owners threatened to strike over a lack of dollars at a fixed exchange rate to pay for imports, while flour producers complained they had to resort to much higher rates from money changers. Lebanon has had a fixed exchange rate of around 1,500 Lebanese pounds to the dollar in place since 1997.

Lebanon says rise in imports behind spike in dollar demand
AFP/October 03/2019
Lebanon’s central bank governor said that increased imports could have raised the demand for dollars in the country
The country has had a fixed exchange rate of around 1,500 Lebanese pounds to the dollar in place since 1997
BEIRUT: Lebanon’s central bank governor said Thursday that increased imports could have raised the demand for dollars in the country, noting this has pushed money changers to charge higher exchange rates.In a televised speech, Riad Salameh also raised doubts over whether increased imports were being used for local consumption, following reports of smuggling to neighboring Syria. “We don’t know if all of these imports are for domestic consumption,” he said. Lebanon has had a fixed exchange rate of around 1,500 Lebanese pounds to the dollar in place since 1997. But last week, petrol station owners and flour producers who pay importers and suppliers in dollars complained that they had to resort to much higher rates from money changers because banks were not meeting their demand. Exchange rates on the parallel market reached 1,600 Lebanese pounds last week and it has become almost impossible to withdraw dollars from ATMs or to convert large sums in banks. “Since June, the demand for (dollar) banknotes has increased,” Salameh said, adding that shipments of dollar notes used by money exchange houses has “doubled.” “This increased demand could be domestic, from petrol station owners, flour mills, or pharmacies,” who have to pay importers and suppliers in dollars, he said. He explained that the spike in demand is “because of an increase in imports on certain goods,” adding that it has led to a discrepancy of 1 to 3 percent between the exchange rate offered by money changers and the fixed price at banks. The central bank on Monday adopted a measure that would allow importers of petroleum products, wheat and medicine to obtain dollars at the official bank rate to pay for key imports. “Banks that issue letters of credit for the importation of petroleum products (petrol, fuel oil and gas), wheat and medicine will be able to ask the Banque du Liban to ensure the value of such credits in US dollars,” read the decision published by the National News Agency. On Thursday, Salameh said that commercial banks must ensure the central bank credit lines are used exclusively to purchase imports for domestic consumption. “This is an essential matter, not just for Lebanon’s monetary (situation) but also its reputation” and its place in the globalized economy, he added. In August, Lebanon’s Blominvest Bank said oil imports “more than doubled” in the first quarter of 2019.
It said “the smuggling to Syria amid the rationing of oil in the country” could be among the factors leading to the hike.

'We Can’t Fail', Aoun Tells Cabinet
Naharnet/October 03/2019
President Michel Aoun on Thursday warned that the government should not fail in addressing the country’s accumulating crises. “I’m the head of the state and I represent the dignity of the Lebanese and the state’s prestige, and we all represent the executive authority and any failure for us is a failure for all authorities, that's why it is prohibited to fail and we won't fail,” Aoun said at the beginning of a Cabinet session in Baabda. “The time today is not for overbidding, but rather for resolving problems, especially the economic ones, and the first step should be finalizing the state budget,” the president added. Commenting on the latest street protests over the economic crisis and the exchange rate fears, Aoun said: “The right to demonstrate does not stand for the right to hurl insults and the freedom of the press does not mean the freedom of launching malicious rumors that harm the country.”

Sami Gemayel Calls on Govt. to Leave, Urges Technocrat Cabinet
Naharnet/October 03/2019
Kataeb Party chief MP Sami Gemayel on Thursday called on the government to step down while urging the formation of a “cabinet of experts” that enjoys the confidence of the Lebanese and the world. “The government is not doing anything other than trading blame, instead of solidarity and convening night and day to rescue the country,” Gemayel said at press conference. “They only meet once a week and they fail to agree… and if they don’t find anyone to pin the blame on, the theory of a conspiracy against the country surfaces,” Gemayel lamented. Describing the government itself as the real “conspiracy,” the Kataeb leader said all the parties of the political settlement that led to President Michel Aoun’s election are to blame for the deteriorating economic and financial situations. Commenting on the latest protests, Gemayel saluted “all the youths and our people who took to the streets peacefully to express their anger.”“Kataeb’s lawyers will be at the disposal of any citizen who expresses their rejection of the current situation on social media and any person who gets summoned to interrogation,” Gemayel added, saying those who “wasted public money and relinquished the country’s decision and sovereignty” are the ones who should “go to jail.”

Mashnouq Denies Being behind NYT's Hariri Model Report
Naharnet/October 03/2019
Beirut MP and ex-interior minister Nouhad al-Mashnouq has denied allegations accusing him of being behind the New York Times’ report about Prime Minister Saad Hariri’s alleged payment of more than $16 million to a South African bikini model. “I was very surprised that my name was linked to an article published by The New York Time newspaper, which tackled a personal side of PM Saad Hariri’s life, and that I was accused of being behind it,” Mashnouq said in a statement. “I thank those who exaggerated my international media capabilities and my influence on reputable institutions such as the aforementioned American newspaper,” Mashnouq added. “The truth, which everyone knows, is that I have never used personal life in a political conflict with anyone, neither when I was interior minister, nor as an adviser to PM Rafik Hariri nor as a journalist,” the ex-minister went on to say. “I did not act this way with rivals and half enemies, so I will not act this way with PM Hariri, whom I have known for 30 years, despite the public political disagreement over reasons related to my political assessment -- since more than two years -- of the premiership’s role, performance and national position, as well as the deep flaws that are marring the political partnership system in the country,” Mashnouq added. “However, I understand some people’s need to conceal scandals through deviating attention from one subject to another and launching the lie of me being behind the article instead of being preoccupied with the article itself and its content and meanings,” he said. The New York Times had reported Monday that Hariri “gave more than $16 million to a South African bikini model who said they had a romantic relationship” after they allegedly met at a luxury resort in the Seychelles. Citing South African court documents, the NYT said Hariri’s alleged transfers to the model, Candice van der Merwe, were made between his two terms as prime minister and that they started in 2013. Hariri’s name had been mentioned in South African media reports in 2018.

Jarrah from Baabda says LF, FPM affirm need for radical budget reforms
NNA -Thu 03 Oct 2019
Information Minister Jamal al-Jarrah on Thursday said after the cabinet meeting at Baabda Palace that there was an affirmation by the Lebanese Forces and the Free Patriotic Movement on the need to include in the state budget radical reforms leading to the stability of the national economy.
He pointed out that every reform plan should be sent with a bill to the House of Parliament, noting that the work of the reform committee continues. Moreover, the Minister regretted that the rumors that were being spread about the country’s economy had indeed caused great damage to the economy and public finances. “I am not saying that the media is causing chaos. There are also deputies and ministers whose rhetoric is causing instability,” Jarrah added. He finally stressed the principle of freedom of expression; however, he pointed to the limits maintained by the constitution dealing with freedom, especially when attacking the presidential post.

Special Envoy to visit Lebanon to encourage it to take concrete steps towards joining landmark humanitarian disarmament treaty
NNA - Thu 03 Oct 2019
Her Royal Highness Princess Astrid of Belgium, in as Special Envoy of the international treaty that bans anti-personnel mines is set to meet the President of the Lebanese Republic on 4 October to promote the humanitarian aims of the Anti-Personnel Mine Ban Convention (also known as Ottawa Convention).
Princess Astrid’s two-day visit to Lebanon includes a stop in Beirut where she will meet the President of the Lebanese Republic H.E. General Michel Aoun and the Minister of Defence, with a message to encourage the Lebanese leadership to take steps towards joining this important humanitarian disarmament instrument. Currently more than 80% of the world’s States have adhered to the Convention that prohibits the use, stockpiling, production and transfer of anti-personnel mines, mandates their destruction and calls on its members to provide assistance to mine survivors.
“States Parties to the Convention have recognised the need to promote this landmark instrument at the highest of levels as the common understanding amongst its 164 members is that there is no conceivable utility of these weapons that outweighs and justifies their devastating and long-term humanitarian and societal cost,” said H.E. Hubert Cooreman, Ambassador of Belgium in Lebanon a key figure in the organisation of this visit. “This conviction led Belgium to enact national legislation banning the weapon since 1995.”  Her Royal Highness’s visit is sponsored by a Decision adopted by the European Union Council seeking to support efforts to implement the Convention and promote its norms among States that have not yet joined such as the Lebanese Republic. “The Convention is an example of what the European Union stands for. A rules-based international order, rooted in respect for human rights and international humanitarian law,” said H.E. Ralph Tarraf, the European Union’s Ambassador in Lebanon. “Together with partners worldwide, we urge all countries that have not yet done so, including the Lebanese Republic, to accede to the Convention as soon as possible.” In addition to the Belgian representative in Lebanon, Norway in its capacity as President of the Convention represented by H.E. Leni Stenseth Ambassador of Norway to Lebanon, will accompany the Special Envoy in her meeting with the President. The Convention’s States Parties are set to meet from 25-29 November in Norway to discuss next steps in implementing the treaty. The Lebanese Republic has been invited to participate as an Observer.Belgium, the European Union and Norway are longstanding donors in mine action supporting mine clearance and risk education, assistance to victims, stockpile destruction, research and development on mine detection and clearance, and continuously leading efforts to promote the Convention and its norms across the globe. To date, 164 States have joined the Convention destroying together more than 52 million anti-personnel mines. These efforts have saved countless lives and cleared millions of square metres of once-dangerous lands freeing them for their safe use.

Maronite Bishops Urge Refugee Repatriation, End to Smuggling
Naharnet/October 03/2019
The Council of Maronite Bishops on Wednesday lauded President Michel Aoun’s stance at the U.N. on the issue of the Syrian refugee crisis, as they called for an end to smuggling and corruption in Lebanon. The president’s stance “demonstrated the severity of the crisis in Lebanon and the solutions needed for its salvation, especially as to asking world leaders to contribute to the safe and dignified return of the Syrian refugees to their country,” the bishops said in a statement issued after their monthly meeting in Bkirki. “The repatriation conditions have become present in most Syrian regions, according to the international reports,” the bishops added. Separately, the Maronite bishops stressed that Lebanon cannot carry out reforms “unless everyone seeks to end the waste of public funds, halt the smuggling of goods via legal and illegal border crossings, and combat corruption bravely and comprehensively without taking into consideration anything but the public welfare.”

Loyalty to Resistance bloc underlines importance of preserving monetary stability
NNA -Thu 03 Oct 2019
"Loyalty to Resistance" bloc on Thursday held its periodic meeting at its headquarters in Haret Hreik, under the chairmanship of bloc head, MP Mohammed Raad. The bloc discussed most recent developments in Lebanon and the broad region. In a statement issued in the wake of the meeting, the bloc underlined the paramount importance of preserving monetary stability, calling on the government to adopt in-depth economic policies that protect national monetary and economy and safeguard the interests of the Lebanese. While stressing the importance of maintaining monetary stability, the bloc said, "This should be accompanied by the revitalization and strengthening of the Lebanese economy."In this framework, the bloc urged the government to work on reducing inefficient spending, on one hand, and accelerating the implementation of projects that would reduce amassing deficits and serve the public debt. Loyalty to the Resistance said that the implementation of the electricity plan and the waste management plan, as well as the implementation of the partnership law between the private and public sectors to establish vital projects, shall help in extricating out of the current economic and monetary crisis.

Hezbollah deputy: Aggression won't be limited to Iran due to spread of US bases
Al Arabiya EnglishThursday, 03 October 2019
Lebanese Hezbollah’s deputy secretary general said on Thursday that aggression on Iran will not be limited to the Islamic Republic, but will affect the whole region given “the proliferation of American bases and the existence of Israel.”In an interview with Qatar's Al Jazeera television, Naim Qassem said Saudi Arabia “is serving the US in its project against Iran,” calling the Kingdom “an American tool" against Tehran. “It is not true that Saudi Arabia is against Iran and gets help from the US. We have heard Trump’s statements. He always asks for money and criticizes and objects to the performance of Saudi Arabia when it fails in the project [against Iran] and asks the US to give more than it had allocated. Hence, Saudi Arabia today is an American tool against Iran, not the other way around,” said Qassem. Qassem added that the US “usually leads its aggression under the name of a ‘coalition,’ which means all these forces gather to assault.”Saudi Arabia joined the International Maritime Security Construct, a US-led international alliance that aims to protect merchant ships and ensure freedom of maritime navigation and international trade, on September 19, five days after a major attack on two Saudi Aramco oil installations which was claimed by the Iran-backed Houthis and blamed on Iran by Riyadh and Washington.

Hariri meets with Kubis, chairs reforms committee
NNA - Thu 03 Oct 2019
The President of the Council of Ministers Saad Hariri received this evening at the Grand Serail the UN Special Coordinator for Lebanon Jan Kubis and discussed with him the latest local and regional developments. Earlier, Hariri chaired the Ministerial committee tasked with studying the economic and financial reforms, in the presence of Deputy Prime Minister Ghassan Hasbani and Ministers Ali Hassan Khalil, Mohammad Fneish, Jamal Jarrah, Mansour Bteich, Mohammed Choucair, Saleh Gharib, Salim Jreissati, Youssef Fenianos, Camille Abu Suleiman and Adel Afiouni and a number of advisors. After the meeting, Minister Jarrah said: "The committee continued discussing the paper presented by the ministers of the Lebanese Forces and decided to put on the agenda of the Council of Ministers tha draft law on tenders for discussion and approval. We also asked the Minister of Energy to submit a report to the committee or the Council on the development of work on the electricity plan that was approved by the Council last April. We are also in the process of completing the study of the draft customs law that we discussed yesterday, to approve it and send it to the Council of Ministers."He added: "We will also continue studying a number of urgent draft laws in the committee and in the Council of Ministers in order to approve them as soon as possible, the most important of which is the tenders law, which will now be approved and sent to the Parliament as a separate law. We also decided to hold tenders for scanners to be placed at the borders in order to control customs evasion, in addition to other measures that will be approved during the next meeting tomorrow at 2 pm."

Hariri at the launching of the 2030 SDGs: WE can overcome our differences and develop the country
NNA/October 03/2019
President of the Council of Ministers Saad Hariri considered that our problem in the country is our political differences, but this does not mean that we cannot overcome them and develop the country. Hariri stressed that sustainable development must be adopted in all ministries and state sectors to develop ourselves and the country.
Hariri’s words came during his patronage this afternoon at the Grand Serail the launching of the 2030 Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs). He said : “I want to talk about the goals of the SDGs from a different angle. First, why do we want to achieve these goals? What are they? And why are we exerting all this effort and working on them? What is Lebanon’s interest in implementing these goals? We are a small country, and you know all its problems and misfortunes. But what we have today applies to all the countries of the world.
What is required from us today as a government and as Lebanese is to develop ourselves and change some old laws to get the country out of this deteriorating economic situation. The idea of the SDGs started in the United Nations. What applies to Lebanon applies to many countries in the world, even those with tremendous potential and with GDPs in trillions of dollars have their own problems in education, water and all the seventeen points of the GDPs.
What we did in this government and the previous one with Deputy Prime Minister Ghassan Hasbani is that we looked at the SDGs process, formed committees and started work. Now he is preparing to have a joint paper and coordination between all departments.
Our problem in Lebanon is that every ministry works as if it were alone, and this is unacceptable, because all the ministries and all ministers and even I as Prime Minister, the President and the Speaker work to serve the citizen.
Therefore, a standard has been set at the United Nations on how to develop ourselves, and we have to apply this standard, not for the United Nations but to develop ourselves as Lebanese, because we retreated and today we have to redevelop ourselves.”
He added: “In this sense, any non-cooperating ministry is responsible for keeping Lebanon back. For me and for all of you, the SDGs are the main objective. The idea of sustainable development is not charity or philanthropy. All ministries must cooperate to achieve these goals. We used to say that Lebanon is a country of educated people and take pride in the Lebanese wherever they are and say that wherever the Lebanese goes, he succeeds, but not in Lebanon.Our problem in this country is political, our problem lies in our differences, but that does not mean that we cannot advance the country. The work we are doing today in the government and in the committees that I chair is to get the country out of this crisis. But in the medium and long terms, we are moving towards achieving the SDGs.”
He concluded: “I thank Mr. Lazzarini and all the ministers involved in this project, as well as the Parliament, which is heavily involved in this program. The most important thing is cooperation. I will follow with each ministry individually to ascertain the level of its cooperation in implementing these goals, because it is in the best interests of our children.So I thank everyone, all the present ministers, Mrs. Claudine Aoun, the present MPs and general directors. I salute you for working day and night. We want to regain confidence and the only way to do that is to let the world see that procedures are taken, work is being done, goals are implemented and we apply everything we talk about. We must confess when we have delays in achievements, and there must be transparency in the way we work. So thank you all and back to work.”
Lazzarini
For his part, the Deputy UN Special Coordinator for Lebanon Philippe Lazzarini delivered the following speech: I am delighted to take part in the launch of the Lebanon SDG Vision 2030 under the guidance of Prime Minister Saad Hariri, and the leadership of Deputy Prime Minister Ghassan Hasbani. Agenda 2030 is the most ambitious anti-poverty and pro-planet agenda ever adopted by all United Nation Member States. It tackles the root causes of poverty, addresses challenges ranging from poverty and hunger eradication, gender equality, climate change to peace, justice and strong institutions to name a few. “Four years after its endorsement, it has become apparent that we are far from where we need to be. We are off track”. Those were the words of the UN secretary General Antonio Guterres last week during the high-level political forum on sustainable development. He added: “Deadly conflicts, the climate crisis, gender-based violence, and persistent inequalities are undermining efforts to achieve the goals. Indeed, the wealth around the world is held by people who could fit around a conference table. Uneven growth, rising debt levels, heightened global trade tensions are creating new obstacles to implementation. Youth unemployment remains at alarming levels. Global hunger is unfortunately on the rise. No country is on track to meeting the goal of gender equality – without which none of the others will be met, and in fact, the gap in several is growing. One million species are in danger of extinction. And at the current pace, almost 500 million people could remain in extreme poverty by 2030. We must step up our efforts. And we must do it now”. And, Lebanon is no exception: 30% of the Lebanese live under the poverty line, only 37% of the population have access to safe drinking water, 70% of natural water sources in Lebanon are bacterially contaminated. 5% of Parliamentarians are women, one of the lowest in the world, and women’s participation in economic life is only 26%. Lebanon was ranked the 138 least corrupt country out of 180 perceived corrupt countries in 2018. And, Beirut has seen the level of air pollution double the European Environment
Agency’s yearly recommended average, to name few examples. There is no doubt that there is an urgent need for action, for bold action, especially at a time of economic uncertainties and anxiety about the future. In addressing the challenges in Lebanon related to equality, economic growth, governance and the environment, the national SDG Vision 2030 presents a unique opportunity to develop an ambitious but achievable shared aspiration and trajectory, for the next ten years and beyond.
The good news is that a lot of efforts have already been invested in it.
Whilst we have not seen one comprehensive Lebanon development plan for decades, we have over the last two years witnessed the emergence of key initiatives such as: The Government vision for stabilization, growth and employment, which was presented at CEDRE. The McKinsey plan that focuses on the diversification of the productive sectors. And, various sectoral strategies are currently being developed, including water, health and education, electricity, as well as number of national action plans or strategies. 26 such stepping stones were outlined in Lebanon’s Voluntary National review last year.
So, let us make good use of these initiatives. The SDG Vision 2030 provides a unique opportunity to bring all these strategies and plans together under one integrated and prioritized vision. Moving forward, the 2030 SDG Vision should clearly articulate the future Lebanon the Lebanese people would like to live in by 2030 and beyond. It must articulate a clear vision for the future of the country and stress how its rich resources can responsibly be handed over to future generations.
To do so, it must address all facets of sustainable development: whether economic, environmental, and social, as well as the governance and the partnerships required to achieve this. The SDG Vision 2030 must move beyond the unidimensional focus on economic growth, to ensure development gain achieved does not leave anyone behind, and importantly protect environmental resource.
We are living a time of challenges, but also a time of opportunities and a time to think of new solutions. Today it is time to act.
At the climate action summit last week, ambitions were radically elevated. 77 countries committed to cut greenhouse gas emissions to net zero by 2050. Companies committed to shift business operations towards biodiversity protection, regenerative farming, and reversing the damaging deforestation trends caused by food companies. And earlier this month an SDG-linked bond valued at USD 1.5 billion was issued for the first time signaling that the financial market is ready for sustainable investing.
To underline the urgency of taking action, I again refer to the UN Secretary General, who last week issued a global call for a “Decade of Action to deliver the SDGs by 2030”. We all must do more to address the challenges of today and tomorrow and make sure that no one is left behind.
This also applies to Lebanon where reforms and new ways of dealing with resource are urgently needed. There is no time to waste. In our meeting this week, you told me, Prime Minister, that action and delivering is the only way forward.
Lebanon has over the past years demonstrated its commitment to 2030 Agenda. Since endorsing it in 2015, the Government has taken several critical steps, including the establishment of the National Committee on SDGs. The country presented its first Voluntary National Review in June 2018 providing an overview on Lebanon’s progress towards achieving the SDGs. A Parliamentary body on SDGs has been established to enable Parliament to play its legislative and oversight role with the 2030 Agenda at its core.
Moreover, the Global Compact Network in Lebanon is connecting businesses, leaders and experts, pushing for further action towards the 2030 Agenda.
We are meeting today to kick off the process, which will bring together all these initiatives together under the banner - Lebanon SDG Vision 2030.
The SDGs concern all of us and its implementation requires collective action.
While the Government of Lebanon is taking the lead, it cannot do it alone.
Partnerships among Government, Parliament, private sector, civil society and citizens are critical to achieve the desired progress.
Moving forward the SDG Vision 2030 will also rely on having data available to inform policy decisions. Data will also be critical to measure our progress and the positive impact the actions taken have on people.
The UN looks forward to work hand in hand with Lebanon in the development and implementation of the Lebanon SDG Vision 2030, in a close partnership with Deputy Prime Minister Hasbani as well as all line ministries as well as civil society and the private sector. Finally, the SDG Vision 2030 will be the centerpiece guiding for the future partnership between Lebanon and the UN. It will not only set out the vision and priorities for the future of Lebanon, it will also be the platform for how Lebanon wants to use the services of its United Nations. In very practical terms, it will underpin the collective efforts of the UN in Lebanon in line with your agreed national priorities, under a Sustainable Development Cooperation Framework, which will come to effect in 2022. I am happy to be a part of the beginning of such an important process and I am looking forward to the launch next year of the Lebanon SDG Vision 2030.

'Supporting agro-industries' conference draws a new agro-food roadmap for Lebanon
Maysaa Ajjan/Annahar/October 03/2019
The conference served as a platform for the launch of a new agro-food roadmap for Lebanon, which has been developed as part of a broader UNIDO initiative.
BEIRUT: The agro-food industry is a primary sector that links agriculture to the industrial sector. It plays an important and strategic role in the Lebanese industry, as agro-industries account for 23% of total Lebanese exports, and as the sector employs around 33% of the Lebanese labor force and encompasses the largest number of Lebanese factories. Since 2000, the United Nations Industrial Development Organization (UNIDO) has been implementing programs to enhance the competitiveness of the Lebanese industry and its integration into global markets. In addition, UNIDO supported the formulation of a draft food safety law in coordination with the Ministry of Economy and Trade. Under the patronage of the Minister of Industry Wael Abou Faour, a conference titled “Supporting Agro-industries: A Fundamental Choice for a Better Future,” took place at the Grand Serail on Wednesday. Its aim was to explore the key contributions that Lebanon’s agro-food industry makes to the broader economy and UNIDO’s role in expanding its services.
“I thank the stakeholders for the joint efforts to develop the agro-industry sector in Lebanon,” Abou Faour addressed his fellow participants: Philippe Lazzarini, the UN Resident and Humanitarian Coordinator for Lebanon, Roberta Di Lecce, Chargée D’affaires at the Embassy of Italy in Lebanon, Bassel El Khatib, Chief of Arab Regional division at UNIDO, and Fadi Gemayel, president of the Association of Lebanese Industrialists (ALI).  “I’m well aware that the political and social situation in the country is clouded by worry and tainted with pessimism. For this reason, good news are more than welcome,” Abou Faour said. He added that exports have increased by 12% during the first six months of 2019 compared to last year, and this has a positive impact on the overall economy. Exports also increased by 24.6% between 2016 and 2019, which means “that the economy can recover if the right mechanisms to promote productive sectors are adopted.”
Lazzarini said that "the Lebanese industry can compete regionally and internationally,” adding: “In a context of growing economic challenges, bold actions are needed to address challenges facing the sector and to progress according to current global technological developments and standards."
Roberta Di Lecce from the Italian Embassy declared that the Italian aid policy in Lebanon has a clear priority in supporting the productive sectors of the economy, focusing on the creation of employment opportunities and on enhancing those areas where Lebanon has a comparative advantage, and, as she noted, “agro-industry is certainly one of them.”In that light, Marlen Bakalli said that UNIDO is “honored to support the launch of a roadmap for the agro-food sector in Lebanon… We expect this roadmap to play an instrumental role in strengthening our partnership with the government of Lebanon."
The conference served as a platform for the launch of a new agro-food roadmap for Lebanon, which has been developed as part of a broader UNIDO initiative organized under the banner “Strengthening job creation and creativity in the agro-food sector in Lebanon through technology transfer and skills training."
“Today, we’re launching the fifth phase of an initiative called Selep, which is a project designed to help small and medium enterprises and agricultural cooperatives in many areas,” Nada Barakat, national project of UNIDO, told Annahar, adding: “First, it’s in the provision of equipment (new technologies), civil works within the ISO standards, women empowerment, creativity and innovation, and capacity building.”

The Latest English LCCC Miscellaneous Reports And News published on October 03- 04/2019
Four officers killed in knife attack at Paris police headquarters
News Agencies/October 03/2019
An employee armed with a knife attacked officers inside Paris police headquarters, killing at least four before he was fatally shot, a French police union official said. Police union official Loic Travers told reporters Thursday’s attack appears to have begun in an office and continued elsewhere in the large police compound across the street from Notre Dame Cathedral. The number of people injured was not immediately known. Mr Travers said the motive is unknown, but that the 20-year police employee allegedly responsible for the attack worked as an administrator in the intelligence unit and had not posed known problems until Thursday. He said he could not remember an attack of this magnitude against officers. Emery Siamandi, an employee at police headquarters, said he heard gunshots and immediately saw two officers come outside an office weeping. A third officer, who Mr Siamandi described as the person who shot and killed the assailant, came out on his knees, also in tears. The attack came a day after thousands of officers marched in Paris to protest against low wages, long hours and increasing suicides in their ranks. France’s prime minister, interior minister and the Paris prosecutor were on their way to the scene. The Paris prosecutor’s office said no information could be provided at this stage. The neighbourhood, one of Paris’ busiest tourist attractions, was locked down, the Cite metro stop was closed and the bridge between Notre Dame and the headquarters building was blocked off. Extremists have repeatedly targeted French police in France in recent years. In 2017, a gunman opened fire on the Champs-Elysees boulevard, killing one officer before he was shot to death. In 2016, an attack inspired by the so-called Islamic State group killed a police officer and his companion, an administrator, at their home in front of their child.

Russia-Iran special forces conduct first ever joint exercise in E. Syria
DEBKAfile/October 03/2019
Russian, Iranian and Syrian government forces launched their first joint exercise in Syria’s Deir ez-Zour region – or, for that matter, their first combined drill anywhere else in the Mid-East. The exercise, taking place on the western bank of the Euphrates, features their first combined trilateral missile launches and air strikes on fortified targets. Also for the first time, Russian military sources have openly revealed that Iranian Air Force jets and drones as well as special forces have arrived in Syria for the war game. Moscow has also contributed to the exercise mobile air defense Pansir S-1 and Pantsir S-2 missile systems, providing those Iranian forces with a Russian air defense umbrella. Russian and Syrian communiques on the combined exercise omit its starting date – only stating that it is taking place in the western part of Deir ez-Zour province not far from the American base at Al Tanf which controls the Syria-Jordan-Iraq border junction. DEBKAfile’s military sources report that the drill ushers in a prominent feature of the new Russian strategic setup in Syria. Moscow has begun making use of the Al Qaim-Abu Kamal border crossing between Iraq and Syria, which was only reopened three days ago after eight years of war. Heavy Russian military vehicles from Black Sea bases, especially in South Ossetia and Crimea, have begun rolling into Syria through the newly-opened crossing, thereby cementing a land bridge from Russia to the Middle East in addition to Moscow’s air and naval corridors to Syria. Moscow is therefore using the same land bridge as Tehran for cutting through Iraq and Syria to reach the eastern Mediterranean overland. Russia’s shared presence on this route will make it hard for Israel to attack the land corridor forged by Iran when it uses the same border crossing and route as the Russians.

Iran Says It Foiled Plot to Kill Quds Chief Soleimani
London- Asharq Al-Awsat/Thursday, 3 October, 2019
Iran´s semi-official Fars news agency claimed authorities foiled an assassination attempt against the head of the Revolutionary Guard´s foreign wing, or Quds Force, last month. Thursday´s says the attempt against Gen. Qassim Soleimani occurred in September, when Soleimani planned to attend a religious ceremony in the southeastern Kerman province. It said attackers had planned to plant nearly 500 kilograms, about 1,102 pounds, of explosives in an underground tunnel beneath where Soleimani would have been. The report didn´t elaborate on number of the suspects but claimed they were linked to Israeli and Arab intelligence services. Soleimani, the architect of Iran´s regional entrenchment, has been one of the most influential commanders of the Revolutionary Guard and played a key role in fights against the extremist ISIS group in Syria and Iraq.

Khamenei Urges IRGC to Expand Regionally, Be Prepared for Major Events
London- Adel Al Salmi/Asharq Al Awsat/October 03/2019
Iranian Supreme Leader Ali Khamenei has urged senior Iranian Revolutionary Guards Corps’ (IRGC) commanders to be prepared to face major events, not be afraid from enemies, stick to the broad cross-border view, and expand the resistance front. He also stressed that Iran will continue reducing its commitments under its 2015 nuclear deal until it reaches the “desired results.”Khamenei slammed European countries for the second time since the end of the UN General Assembly meetings last week, calling European mediation efforts a “demonstrative.”“Recently, and through their European friends, they also begged to force our president to meet (Trump) to make a symbolic status for making Iran surrender,” Khamenei was quoted as saying during a meeting with elite Revolutionary Guard members. The Iranian leader also pointed out that the Trump administration’s “maximum pressure” strategy, aimed at forcing Iran to negotiate a more stringent agreement curbing its nuclear program, had failed. “The responsibility is with the Atomic Energy Organization and they must be carry out the reduction...in a precise, complete and comprehensive way and continue until the time we reach a desired result,” Reuters reported.
This was Khamenei's first meeting with thousands of IRGC elite leaders following the their inclusion in the US list of international terrorist groups in mid-April, leading to growing tensions between Tehran and Washington. Khamenei said the US imposing sanctions on the IRGC elements proves its rivalry and hegemony. He didn’t elaborate on the internal elements he said had relations with the US but considered the IRGC role in the geography of resistance in the region is a criterion in judging the performance of these forces. Last Thursday, the supreme leader accused European governments of "hostility,” stressing that they haven’t fulfilled their obligations. “There should be no trust in countries that have held the banner of hostility to (Iran's) Islamic system, led by the United States and some European countries, because they are openly hostile to the Iranian people,” Khamenei said. According to British media, France, Germany, and Britain have warned Iran against any further breaches of the international nuclear deal during a meeting on the nuclear deal held on the sidelines of the UN General Assembly. The three countries said they will be forced to withdraw from the 2015 nuclear deal if Tehran continues to breach the terms of the plan. This came two days after they blamed Iran for an attack on Saudi oil facilities, urging Tehran to agree to new talks with world powers on its nuclear and missile programs and regional security issues.

Russia: Israeli airstrikes in Syria could further destabilize situation
Reuters, Moscow/Thursday, 3 October 2019
Israeli airstrikes on the territory of Syria might lead to further destabilization, Russian Foreign Minister Sergei Lavrov said in a newspaper interview. “Such actions ... further destabilize the situation and could lead to an escalation,” pan-Arab daily newspaper Asharq al-Awsat quoted him as saying. “Syria should not become a platform for implementing plans or settling accounts. The main task of all concerned forces must be to help restore peace to Syrian territory,” he added. Russia has been backing the Syrian regime of Bashar al-Assad, which has killed hundreds of thousands and displaced millions in the name of fighting “terrorists” following an uprising which was peacefully demanding regime change in 2011 before turning into an armed opposition.

First Arab on ISS Returns to Earth
Agence France Presse/Naharnet/October 03/2019
A three-man crew including an Emirati who became the first Arab to reach the International Space Station returned to Earth safely on Thursday and were in good shape, the Russian space agency Roscosmos said.
Hazzaa al-Mansoori of the United Arab Emirates touched down in the Kazakh steppes at 1059 GMT along with NASA astronaut Nick Hague and Roscosmos cosmonaut Alexey Ovchinin, who both survived a failed launch to the ISS last year.
"The crew that returned to Earth is feeling well," Roscosmos said immediately after the landing. Hague and Ovchinin completed a 203-day mission aboard the lab while Mansoori's two crewmates from his September 25 launch -- Russia's Oleg Skripochka and NASA's Jessica Meir -- are staying on as part of a six-member team. Although Mansoori's mission was short -- eight days in total -- it has been the source of great pride in the UAE, a newcomer to the world of space with ambitions to send an unmanned probe to orbit Mars by 2021. Mansoori has been active on Twitter where he shared photos of the UAE and Mecca -- Islam's holiest site -- from the space station. On Thursday, he posted a view of space taken from the orbiting station's Cupola panoramic observatory module and paid tribute to UAE founding father Sheikh Zayed. "With fear and pride, I am returning with Zayed's ambition achieved. We are not done yet, and we will never be. To bring back the golden era of Arab astronauts," he wrote. Mansoori's blast-off from the launchpad that sent Soviet cosmonaut Yuri Gagarin into space was roared on by a large crowd at the Mohammed Bin Rashid Space Centre in Dubai, where he has been feted as a hero.
Dubai's Burj Khalifa, the world's tallest skyscraper, was lit up at the moment of the launch. The 35-year-old former military pilot's whirlwind mission has had wall-to-wall coverage in Arab media.
UAE sets sights on Mars
The first Arab in outer space was Saudi Arabia's Sultan bin Salman Al-Saud, who flew on a US shuttle mission in 1985. Two years later, Syrian air force pilot Muhammed Faris spent a week aboard the Soviet Union's Mir space station.  As part of its space plans, the UAE has also announced its aim to become the first Arab country to send an unmanned probe to orbit Mars by 2021, naming it "Hope".While on board, Mansoori donned Emirati dress, treated crew members to local snacks and participated in scientific experiments including a time-perception study that saw him sport a blindfold. In a question-and-answer session with Emirati schoolchildren, the father of four said a call to his mother would be his top priority when he landed back on Earth after a journey lasting just over three hours.The return from space of Ovchinin and Hague came a year after their rocket failed to launch in the first accident of its kind in Russia's post-Soviet history.  The two men took off in a Soyuz rocket for the ISS in October 2018, but an accident minutes after blast-off sent them plunging back to Earth. The pair launched again -- this time without hiccups -- to begin Ovchinin's second and Hague's first mission aboard the ISS in February. The ISS -- a rare example of cooperation between Russia and the West -- has been orbiting Earth at about 28,000 kilometers (17,000 miles) an hour since 1998.

Death Toll Rises to 19 as Iraq Protests Spread across South
Agence France Presse/Naharnet/October 03/2019
The death toll from mass rallies in Iraq against corruption and unemployment rose to 19 on Thursday, as the leaderless protest movement spread to virtually all of the south. Braving live fire, tear gas and local curfews, Iraqis flooded the streets for a third day in the biggest challenge yet to Prime Minister Adel Abdel Mahdi. The embattled premier ordered a ban on all movement across the capital starting at 5:00 am (0200 GMT), but dozens of protesters defied the order and gathered in Baghdad's emblematic Tahrir (Liberation) Square. "We slept here so the police don't take the place," one demonstrator told AFP before riot police fired into the air in a bid to disperse them. The protests began in Baghdad on Tuesday but have since spread to cities across the mainly Shiite south. On Thursday, medics and security sources told AFP that four protesters were shot dead in the southern city of Amarah, another in the province of Dhi Qar and a sixth in Nasiriyah. The deaths bring the overall toll from three days of demonstrations to 19, including one police officer, a figure confirmed by Iraq's Human Rights Commission. Nearly 800 protesters and security personnel have been wounded. Tensions have been exacerbated by a near-total internet blackout, the closure of government offices in Baghdad and calls by firebrand cleric Moqtada al-Sadr for "a general strike."Before dawn twin explosions hit the Green Zone, where some ministries and embassies are located and which was struck by two rockets last week, a security source in the area told AFP. The apparent attack came hours after security forces sealed off the compound "until further notice" just a few months after reopening it to the public, fearing angry protesters would overrun it.
Iraq 'largely offline'
In the city of Kut, two protesters were killed overnight after they tried to storm a local government office, medics and security sources told AFP. Another two demonstrators died further south in Nasiriyah, scene of the deadliest violence so far. Riot police have used water cannons, tear gas, rubber bullets and live rounds in an attempt to force protesters away from main squares or government buildings. The worst violence has taken place at night and Iraqis have braced themselves for larger gatherings once darkness falls on Thursday. The previous evening in Baghdad, marches from different neighborhoods attempted to converge on Tahrir Square. But with internet access virtually shut off, demonstrators have struggled to communicate with each other or post footage of the latest clashes. Approximately 75 percent of Iraq is "offline" after major network operators "intentionally restricted" access, according to cybersecurity monitor NetBlocks. In the Shiite holy city of Najaf and in Nasiriyah on Wednesday, security forces fired on protesters and announced curfews. The protests appear to be largely spontaneous so far, with angry crowds carrying Iraqi flags and shunning any involvement by the country's main political players. Many traditional figures have expressed their support for the movement, with Sadr urging "peaceful demonstrations."He was behind the last round of major protests in Baghdad in 2016, when his supporters stormed the Green Zone, but his involvement appears much more limited this time.
'De-escalation needed'
On Wednesday night, the top United Nations official in Iraq, Jeanine Hennis-Plasschaert, met with some protesters in Baghdad to call for "direct dialogue" between them and government officials. "The ability to preserve the right to protest is a sign of political and democratic maturity. Moreover, the use of force only fuels the anger," she said in a statement. "De-escalation is urgently needed."The violence has drawn criticism from Iraqi President Barham Saleh, and parliament has demanded an investigation. The protests follow months of simmering frustration over chronic power cuts, water shortages and state corruption. But anger over youth unemployment, which stands at around 25 percent, or double the overall rate, according to the World Bank, appears to have set off this particular round of demonstrations. "We want jobs and better public services. We've been demanding them for years and the government has never responded," said Abdallah Walid, a 27-year-old protester.Demonstrations over similar issues engulfed the southern city of Basra last summer and effectively ended Abdel Mahdi's predecessor Haider al-Abadi's chances of a second term. The incumbent now faces a similar challenge just weeks before his government completes a year in power. He called for the curfew after convening his national security council for an emergency meeting on Wednesday. Abdel Mahdi has blamed the violence on "aggressors who... deliberately created casualties," a statement that infuriated protesters.

Several Thousand Amass in Baghdad as Protests Swallow Up South
Asharq Al Awsat/October 03/2019
Several thousand Iraqi protesters faced off against security forces in central Baghdad on Thursday, the third day of mass rallies that have left 19 dead as they engulf the country's south.Defying a curfew in place since dawn, they arrived by truckfuls at the capital's oil and industry ministry to protest against corruption, unemployment and poor services. The apparently leaderless movement has posed the biggest challenge yet to Prime Minister Adel Abdel Mahdi, who has been in power for less than a year. The embattled premier ordered a ban on all movement in Baghdad starting at 5:00 am (0200 GMT) Thursday, but it was almost immediately defied by small groups of protesters.The crowds swelled in the afternoon and pledged to march to the capital's emblematic Tahrir (Liberation) Square. Riot police and army troops linked arms around ministries and other government buildings, firing tear gas and live rounds into the air in a bid to push the crowds back. "We will sacrifice our souls and our blood for you, Iraq!" demonstrators chanted. The protests began Tuesday in Baghdad but have since spread across the mainly Shiite south, including the provinces of Dhi Qar, Missan, Najaf, Basra, Wasit, and Babylon. Several cities have imposed curfews, but protesters flooded the streets regardless.The Kurdish northern regions and Sunni western provinces, meanwhile, have remained relatively calm.
Wounded top 1,000
The grievances echo those of mass demonstrations in Iraq's south a little over a year ago which were prompted by a severe water shortage that caused a widespread health crisis. Since then, southern provinces have accused the central government of failing to address profound infrastructural gaps, chief among them youth unemployment. Tensions have been exacerbated by the closure of government offices in Baghdad and calls by firebrand cleric Moqtada al-Sadr for "a general strike".Sadr was behind the last round of major protests in Baghdad in 2016, when his supporters stormed the Green Zone -- home to some ministries and embassies -- but his involvement appears much more limited this time. If his followers join the protests en masse, particularly as night falls, the rallies are expected to balloon even further. The three days of demonstrations have left 19 people dead including one police officer, a toll confirmed by Iraq's Human Rights Commission. More than 1,000 protesters and security personnel have been wounded. More than half of those killed in the last three days have been in Nasiriyah, about 350 kilometers (200 miles) southeast of Baghdad. The southern city of Amarah has also seen significant bloodshed, with medics and security sources reporting four protesters shot dead on Thursday.
Premier under pressure
With internet access virtually shut off, demonstrators on Thursday struggled to communicate with each other or post footage of the latest clashes. Approximately 75 percent of Iraq is "offline" after major network operators "intentionally restricted" access, according to cybersecurity monitor NetBlocks. The protests appear to be largely spontaneous and de-centralized, with virtually no party flags or slogans spotted. Instead, they brandished Iraqi flags, posters demanding a "real country," and even pictures of an Iraqi general who was recently decommissioned after reported pressure by pro-Iran factions. "The ability to preserve the right to protest is a sign of political and democratic maturity," the top United Nations official in Iraq, Jeanine Hennis-Plasschaert, said after meeting protesters. "De-escalation is urgently needed." The rallies appear to have split Iraqi officials. President Barham Saleh insisted peaceful protest was a "constitutional right" and parliament demanded an investigation into the deaths. But in an unpopular move, Abdel Mahdi blamed the violence on "aggressors who... deliberately created casualties". On Thursday, the premier and the ministers of defense and interior met with the joint operations command but have not made any media appearances, despite swelling pressure. Abdel Mahdi came to power in October 2018 as a consensus candidate, after last year's popular demonstrations effectively ended his predecessor Haider al-Abadi's chances at a second term. He pledged to reform inefficient institutions, eradicate corruption and fight unemployment -- unfulfilled promises that appear to have pushed protesters over the edge this week. In particular, anger has boiled over at the staggering level of youth unemployment, which stands at around 25 percent or double the overall rate, says the World Bank. "We want jobs and better public services. We've been demanding them for years and the government has never responded," said Abdallah Walid, a 27-year-old protester.

Kurds Protests Exclusion from Constitutional Committee in Qamishli, Syria
Asharq Al Awsat/October 03/2019
Thousands of Kurdish demonstrators have descended on United Nations offices in Syria’s northern Qamishli city in protest against the Syrian Democratic Council and Rojava not being excluded from the war-torn country’s constitutional committee, which will be holding its first session on October 30. Protestors raised banners demanding the right for the Kurdish majority bodies to partake in reforming Syria’s constitution. One sign read: “A constitution we don’t participate in drafting does not matter to us.”"It's our right to participate in the drafting of the constitution," read another sign. Kilistan, 50, and who had lost her son in battles against ISIS partook in the protests. “We are here to tell the United Nations and its envoy why you have excluded the Kurds of Syria from the formation, we demand to involve us in writing the future of our country, this step is unfair to the right of two and a half million Kurds,” kilistan told Asharq Al-Awsat. The UN on September 23 announced the long-awaited formation of the committee to include 150 members, split evenly between Syria's government, the opposition and Syrian civil society. Individual Kurdish representatives linked to the Syrian opposition or civil society groups are part of the constitutional committee. But the Kurdish administration in northeast Syria that controls nearly 30 percent of the country has said its exclusion was "unjust". Talaat Younes, a Kurdish administration official, stressed the need to include "all components of Syrian society". Around him, men and women carried portraits of Kurdish fighters who had died battling the ISIS group in Syria. Syria's Kurds led the US-backed fight against ISIS in northern and eastern Syria, expelling the terrorist group from their last major redoubt in the country in March. "Our military force has achieved significant success. We must have representatives on this committee," said Hashem Shawish, one of the protesters.

Russia Mediates Between Syria, Turkey on Border Region
Asharq Al Awsat/October 03/2019
Russian Foreign Minister Sergei Lavrov said that Moscow is working to reach an agreement between Syria and Turkey on the border arrangements. Speaking at the Valdai Forum for Strategic Dialogue in Sochi, Lavrov asserted that Russia wants to keep the border issue active between Syria and Turkey, believing the parties may reach an agreement. Moscow has avoided declaring a clear objection to Ankara's plans to establish a safe zone along the border, saying it understands the legitimate demands to maintain Turkey's security, however, it is necessary to open dialogue with the Syrian government. The United States did not want Turkey to cooperate directly with the Syrian Arab Republic, Lavrov told the forum. He added that Washington wanted to control this issue as well as that of the border, and during the negotiations, it allowed Ankara to form a coalition of some military policemen and observers.
The Minister believes that reaching a deal will be good, but noted that it must be based on full respect for the sovereignty and territorial integrity of Syria. Lavrov added that the US does not respect Syria's territorial integrity, nor does it take into account Turkey's legitimate concerns about border security. President Recep Tayyip Erdogan has long warned that he cannot wait forever without solving the issue, so if there is no agreement with the US according to these principles within a few weeks, he has the right to solve this problem without them, said Lavrov. Despite his strong criticism of Washington, Lavrov spoke of what he described as a glimpse of "sound thinking” that emerged during talks with US and Western officials. Lavrov expressed Moscow's hope that the United Nations will be impartial in its assistance to the Constitutional Commission, noting that the work that awaits everyone in the future is “much harder” than before. He stressed that the Astana trio, meaning Russia, Turkey, and Iran, will not stand idly by and will do its utmost to prevent any outside interference in the negotiations between the Syrians. Lavrov touched on Russia's desire to maintain its military presence in Syria at the Hmeimim Air Base and Tartus naval base, pointing out that this presence comes with the approval of the legitimate government, which is a member state of the UN. Russia intends to use this presence to support security and peace in this country and region only, without trying to impose its will on anyone, he concluded.

Palestine: Abbas Forms Committee to Follow Up on Elections
Asharq Al Awsat/October 03/2019
Palestinian President Mahmoud Abbas has formed a committee from Fatah Central Committee to discuss and follow up on the general elections in the Palestinian territories. Member of Fatah’s central committee, Samir al-Rifai, said the committee was formed at the meeting chaired by Abbas, which is supposed to be followed by meetings of the Executive Committee of the Palestine Liberation Organization (PLO). Rifai stressed that the task of the Commission is to study the elections. Abbas looks forward to a plan for holding the general elections in the Palestinian territories, including in Israeli-controlled Jerusalem and the Hamas-controlled Gaza Strip. The President plans to issue a decree to announce general elections, but he will send the head of the Palestinian elections commission to Gaza for consultations and will wait to assess the position on the possibility of conducting polls there, while the Palestinian Authority (PA) will press for it in Jerusalem. At the beginning of the Fatah meeting, Abbas said: “We will discuss the elections, preparations for holding it and measures that will be taken to achieve this goal.”Members of the executive committee, including Ahmad Majdalani and Wasel Abu Youssef, said holding elections is the best solution to end the division. But the PA faces potential complications in Gaza, with Hamas requiring elections to include the Palestinian National Council, and in Jerusalem where Israel is believed to prevent elections as a sovereign activity. Hamas had agreed to hold the elections, but conditioned it with the reconciliation and the inclusion of the National Council in the elections. Member of Hamas politburo, Khalil al-Hayya, said his movement wants comprehensive general elections, and welcomes both presidential and legislative elections. He pointed out that the elections serve to solve crises and problems, noting that they are ready for such a milestone event and to accept the result given by the ballot boxes. Hayya noted that Hamas would seek guarantees that Fatah will accept election results whatever they may be, hoping they wouldn’t repeat the case of 2006 when Hamas won but results were overturned. He added: “We will support legislative and presidential elections if announced. We prefer these elections to be held following a national consensus and we challenge Fatah and [President] Abbas to announce it.”

Sudan Sovereign Council Refers Constitutional Declaration to Justice Ministry
Asharq Al Awsat/October 03/2019
A joint meeting between Sudan’s Sovereign Council and the cabinet gave a final approval on the Constitutional Declaration during the transitional period. A copy was referred to the Ministry of Justice in order to be published in the official gazette.
Information Minister Faisal Mohammad Saleh said that the 78-articles declaration was approved by the Sovereign Council and the cabinet. Also, the council is anticipated to approve Nemat Abdullah as head of the judiciary and Taj El-Ser as deputy general. Asharq Al-Awsat newspaper learned that the council and the Freedom and Change Forces (FFC) agreed verbally on the candidates for these two major posts. Sovereign Council Member and spokesman Mohamed al-Faki told Asharq Al-Awsat on Wednesday that the council awaits the official candidacies for the two posts by FFC. Upon receiving the names, the assignments will be determined in a meeting on Thursday and announced in the media, Faki added. Meanwhile, Sudanese Prime Minister Abdalla Hamdok briefed the ministers on the outcome of his foreign tour in New York and Paris as well as its positive impact on the Sudanese people, and the international acceptance of Sudan in the 74th Session of the UN General Assembly. Hamdok stressed the importance of the UNGA 74 meetings after this long time, adding that they were “successful” and had been praised by the world. A total of 55 meetings were held, mostly highlighting the lifting of Sudan from the list of State Sponsors of Terrorism. The visit to France was awesome, said Hamdok, noting that the French government expressed readiness to support Sudan and participate in resolving the challenges facing it.

Arabs Protest Lax Police Response to Violent Crimes in Israel
Asharq Al Awsat/October 03/2019
In light of growing violence, civil killings of Arab citizens in Israel, callous police work, and with the death toll reaching around 70 since the start of 2019, the Higher Arab Monitoring Committee in Israel has declared a general strike on Thursday. The planned protest comes after brothers Ahmed and Khalil Mana (30, 23) were killed Tuesday in the Galilee town of Majd al-Krum, apparently hit by gunfire during a brawl. Murders and violence have jumped in the last week. The death of nine more people brought the number of victims to 71, in addition to about 1000 wounded. The Joint List faction announced that its Knesset members would not attend Thursday's swearing-in of the new Knesset, which was elected on September 17, the day of the planned strike in the Arab community. In an emergency meeting, the Higher Arab Monitoring Committee voiced the Arab community’s anger against the wave of violence. Salim Salibi of the Majd Al-Krum town, speaking at the meeting, relayed the fear and anger the Arab sector is living due to the ongoing acts of violence. “I call on the leaders of our society to take bold and courageous decisions to express the anger of the Arab citizens in the country,” he said. Former Member of Knesset Mohammed Barakeh, head of the High Follow-Up Committee for Arab Citizens of Israel, described the situation as “disastrous.”He said that it would be a “second disaster” if the Arab citizens limited their reaction to mere condemnations. We need to defend ourselves,” Barakeh said. Barakeh also accused the Israeli establishment of “being in collusion with crime.” The Israeli government, he said, is “directly responsible for each crime” in the Arab sector. He pointed out that 1,380 Arabs have been killed since 2000. “The issue of crime is at the top of our list of priorities,” Barakeh added. “We hold the authorities responsible; however, we also bear responsibility. But we don’t have the authority to confiscate weapons or indict the criminals. This is the job of the State.”

Lavrov to Asharq Al-Awsat: Putin’s Visit to KSA Promotes Partnership to New Level
Moscow - Ibrahim Hamidi/Asharq Al-Awsat/Thursday, 3 October, 2019
Russian Foreign Minister Sergei Lavrov said President Vladimir Putin’s upcoming visit to Saudi Arabia would strengthen multilateral partnership and promote it to a new level. In an interview with Asharq Al-Awsat, Lavrov noted that relations between Moscow and Riyadh were based on “friendship, diversity of bilateral interests and the principles of equality and mutual respect.”“This approach was personally founded by the leaders of the two countries, President Putin and the Custodian of the Two Holy Mosques, King Salman bin Abdulaziz,” he said. “By maintaining constant communication, they establish the main features of bilateral contacts and follow up the implementation of agreed priority projects.”Lavrov went on to say that Putin’s upcoming visit to the Kingdom had a special importance, adding that he was confident that the talks at the highest level would give “an additional impetus to our multi-faceted partnership, will put it on a new level and enhance mutual understanding between our two peoples.”On a different note, Asharq Al-Awsat asked the Russian foreign minister about the Iranian presence in Syria. He emphasized that the only legitimate basis for external actors on Syrian soil were the ones established on a request by the legitimate authorities, or on the basis of a relevant resolution by the Security Council.“Iran is in Syria at the request of Damascus, unlike the United States. When ISIS’ main elements in Syria are defeated, questions will arise about the purpose of the continued US presence on Syrian soil. There is a strong sense that Washington’s mission is to prevent the restoration of Syria’s territorial integrity, in direct violation of Security Council Resolution 2254,” Lavrov remarked.
He also expressed hope that the United States would fulfill its pledge made by President Donald Trump in December 2018 to withdraw US troops from the country. He emphasized that Russia supported a diplomatic political settlement of the conflict through a comprehensive dialogue among the components of the Syrian people. Lavrov welcomed the formation of the Syrian Constitutional Committee “based on the decision of the Syrian National Dialogue Conference in Sochi” early last year, pointing out that progress on the political track would put forward the file of Syria’s return to the Arab League. “Much will depend on Saudi Arabia’s position, because its voice is heard in the region and beyond,” he said. Asked whether the Russian intervention in Syria was aimed at “saving the regime,” he replied: “With regard to the idea of saving the regime, I have to note the following: our foreign policies have never been to personalize events, we do not hold onto specific people, we do not stand with anyone against another person.”
He added that Moscow “met the request of the Syrian authorities and provided them with assistance in the war on terror.”Commenting on the potential of a major confrontation between Iran and Israel, the Russian foreign minister emphasized that Syria should not become an arena for implementing external agendas. “Regarding arbitrary Israeli airstrikes on Syrian territory, we have never concealed a negative attitude towards such actions that further destabilize the situation and could lead to an escalation,” he noted. “Syria should not become a platform for implementing plans or settling accounts. The main task of all concerned forces must be to help restore peace to Syrian territory,” he added. Lavrov talked about the Russian initiative for Gulf security, saying that the updated version of the proposal was officially presented by the Russian foreign ministry last July. He explained that the initiative provided for the establishment of a positive and unifying regional agenda and mechanisms for joint action to address challenges and risks. “It is intended to launch a targeted and gradual process in which the views of all parties are taken into account. In this sense, our initiative is distinct from the other projects that are based on the principle: ‘with us or against us’,” he remarked.

The Latest LCCC English analysis & editorials from miscellaneous sources published on October 03- 04/2019
Anti-Normalization" With Israel: The True Goal
Bassam Tawil/Gatestone Institute/October 03/2019
https://www.gatestoneinstitute.org/14943/anti-normalization-israel
If greeting a Jew on his or her holiday, cleaning the beach with an Israeli, or working in Israel are considered by many Arabs a "crime," what will be the fate of any Arab who makes peace with Israel?
Those who are calling for boycotts of Israel -- and are threatening and inciting their people against any Arab who dares to host a Jew or send him or her greetings -- are also emphatically opposed to peace with Israel. For them, making peace with the "Zionist entity" is considered an act of treason.
They are worried that an Arab who greets a Jew may one day make peace with Israel. They are worried that an Arab state that hosts Israeli athletes may one day make peace with Israel. They are worried that Arabs who go to work in Israel may fall in love with Israelis and stop thinking of ways to kill them or destroy Israel.
The presence of Israeli athletes at the World Athletics Championships in Qatar (Sept. 27 - Oct. 6) drew sharp criticism from many Arabs, who expressed outrage on social media through a hashtag titled, "Normalization is Treason." Pictured: Lonah Chemtai Salpeter of Israel (left) and Desi Jisa Mokonin of Bahrain during the Women's Marathon at the World Athletics Championships in Doha, Qatar on September 27, 2019.
Arabs who dare to greet Jews in public on the Jewish New Year are being denounced by their fellow Arabs as traitors. Arabs who dare to engage in sports activities with Jews are also being condemned by their fellow Arabs as traitors.
In the past week, many Arabs have taken to social media to express outrage over a Jewish New Year greeting by Sheikh Abdullah bin Zayed Al Nahyan, the Minister of Foreign Affairs and International Cooperation of the United Arab Emirates (UAE).
On September 29, the minister posted on his Twitter account "Shana Tova" ("Good Year" in Hebrew). His greeting to Jews celebrating the Jewish New Year has triggered a wave of condemnations from many Arabs, including Palestinians, who accused the minister of promoting normalization with Israel.
The vicious ad hominem attacks on the UAE foreign minister included prayers that God allow him to burn in hell and several posters comparing him to a monkey. Because of the greeting, the minister is also being denounced as a "Zionist," "war criminal," "dog," "traitor" and "pig."
Some Arabs expressed hope that the UAE will vanish "just like Israel will cease to exist."
Others seized the opportunity to remind the "shameless" minister of the Qur'an verse (Al-Ma'idah, 51) that says:
"O you who believe, do not take the Jews and the Christians as allies. They are allies of one to another (when against you), and whoso from amongst you takes them for allies, is indeed one of them."
The attacks on the UAE foreign minister came as many Arab social media users strongly condemned Qatar for allowing Israeli athletes to participate in the 2019 World Athletics Championship, held at the Khalifa International Stadium in Doha from September 27- October 6.
The presence of the Israeli athletes in Qatar drew sharp criticism from many Arabs, who expressed outrage on social media through a hashtag titled, "Normalization is Treason."
Qatar has been accused by its Arab neighbors, including Saudi Arabia and its Gulf allies, of sponsoring and funding the Islamist Muslim Brotherhood and extremist groups such as Hamas, the Palestinian terror group ruling the Gaza Strip.
Qatar's alleged support and financing of extremist groups, however, has not spared it criticism from Hamas and Islamic Jihad, the second-largest terror group in the Gaza Strip. In recent months, Qatar has been playing a role in preventing all-out war in the Gaza Strip between Israel and Hamas. The Qataris have also been delivering millions of dollars in cash to Palestinians in the Gaza Strip as part of an effort to boost the Palestinian economy there and help poor and unemployed Palestinians.
Hamas and Islamic Jihad now seem to be spearheading the campaign of incitement against Qatar for its decision to allow Israeli athletes to participate in the World Championships in Doha.
Hamas expressed "regret" over Qatar's decision and said it considers the hosting of the Israeli athletes as "a form of normalization that will be used [by Israel] to whitewash its image in front of the world." This is the same Hamas that has been begging Qatar for cash in the past few months.
Similarly, Islamic Jihad issued a statement strongly condemning Qatar and repeating its call for Arabs and Muslims to boycott Israel. The terror group also took Qatar to task for allowing the athletes to raise the Israeli flag in Doha.
Many Arab social media users claimed that the Israeli athletes were "soldiers" serving in the Israel Defense Forces.
Mohammed al-Madhoun, a Palestinian media personality and political activist from the Gaza Strip, commented:
"The presence of an Israeli athletic team in Qatar is a stain of disgrace on the forehead of those who hosted them and allowed to participate. Does the host [Qatar] know that the members of the team are soldiers in the occupation army? I wish you would ask them: Did they participate in the Gaza massacres? How many Palestinians did they kill during their military service? How many times did they storm the Al-Aqsa Mosque [in Jerusalem]?"
Some Arabs posted photos of Israeli runner Adva Cohen, who participated in the World Championships in Qatar, and falsely accused her of "slaughtering" Palestinians. The incitement is directed not only against Qatar, but also against the Israeli athletes who are now being forced to see their photos taken from their own social media accounts in the context of the "Normalization is Treason" online campaign.
Some Palestinians went as far as inciting Arabs to revolt against their leaders for reportedly engaging in normalization with Israel.
The "anti-normalization" campaign is even targeting Jordanian divers who teamed up with Israeli colleagues to clean the beach in the Jordanian Gulf of Aqaba and the Israeli city of Eilat. The divers were participating in the first-ever ecological festival during International Beach Clean-Up Day and the United Nations International Day of Peace.
An anti-Israel group called the Association for Supporting Resistance and Confronting Normalization claimed that Jordanians who work in Eilat and other Israeli cities are often recruited as informants by the Israeli security services. The group accused the Jordanian government of "complying with all the demands of the Zionists on the pretext of cooperation for the sake of peace." The claim that Jordanians who go to work in Israel or help clean the beach are recruited as spies is aimed at painting them as traitors, a charge that is likely to put their lives at risk.
Instead of thanking Israel for allowing Jordanians to come and work in Eilat, the "anti-normalization" activists are inciting the workers to boycott Israel. These activists, of course, are not offering the Jordanian workers jobs and salaries.
In March 2019, Israel agreed to increase by 33% the number of Jordanian day laborers employed at hotels in Eilat from 1,500 to 2,000. The permits for the Jordanians are designed to allow them to work in the hotel industry of Eilat, close to the border with Jordan. The move is part of an agreement signed between Israel and Jordan to advance ties between the two countries through economic and social cooperation initiatives.
As far as the "anti-normalization" activists are concerned, inciting their people against Israel and the Jordanian workers is more important than any economic and social initiatives. These activists hate Israel to a point where they prefer to see 2,000 workers lose their jobs than continue working and earning good salaries in Eilat.
If greeting a Jew on his or her holiday, cleaning the beach with an Israeli, or working in Israel are considered by many Arabs a "crime," what will be the fate of any Arab who makes peace with Israel?
Those who are calling for boycotts of Israel -- and are threatening and inciting their people against any Arab who dares to host a Jew or send him or her greetings -- are also emphatically opposed to peace with Israel. For them, making peace with the "Zionist entity" is considered an act of treason. They are worried that an Arab who greets a Jew may one day make peace with Israel. They are worried that an Arab state that hosts Israeli athletes may one day make peace with Israel. They are worried that Arabs who go to work in Israel may fall in love with Israelis and stop thinking of ways to kill them or destroy Israel.
*Bassam Tawil is based in the Middle East.
© 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.

France: President Macron Must Stop Appeasing Iran's Mullahs
د.مجيد رافيزادا/معهد كايتستون: مطلوب من الرئيس الفرنسي ميكارون التوقف عن التملق لملالي إيران وعن محاولات استرضائهم
Dr. Majid Rafizadeh/Gatestone Institute/October 03/2019
http://eliasbejjaninews.com/archives/79062/%d8%af-%d9%85%d8%ac%d9%8a%d8%af-%d8%b1%d8%a7%d9%81%d9%8a%d8%b2%d8%a7%d8%af%d8%a7-%d9%85%d8%b9%d9%87%d8%af-%d9%83%d8%a7%d9%8a%d8%aa%d8%b3%d8%aa%d9%88%d9%86-%d9%85%d8%b7%d9%84%d9%88%d8%a8-%d9%85%d9%86/
https://www.gatestoneinstitute.org/14941/macron-appeasing-iran
Has French President Emmanuel Macron forgotten that he is helping and appeasing a state leading in human rights violations? In 2018, according to Javaid Rehman, the UN expert on human rights in Iran, at least 273 people were executed in Iran, and 6,000 over ten years, according to Iran Human Rights.
In addition, the use of cruel and inhuman punishment is also on the rise in Iran; according to Amnesty International, the use of various forms of torture such as amputation and flogging has been increasing at an alarming rate.
Macron also fails to recognize that the nuclear deal never contained or adequately addressed Iran's multifaceted threats, which include but are not limited to: The arming and financing of terror and militia groups in the region; intervening in the internal affairs of regional countries; pursing a sectarian agenda by pitting Shiites and Sunnis against each other; carrying out cyber attacks against other nations; and committing human rights violations inside Iran and abroad through its proxies.
French President Emmanuel Macron appears to be following the footsteps of former US President Barack Obama when it comes to appeasing the top state sponsor of terrorism, the Islamic Republic of Iran.
In a recent development, the French government offered $15 billion to bail out the Iranian government from US sanctions, and a plea to "restart negotiations." The Iranian government was most likely thrilled; a headline of a major Iranian state-controlled media outlet, Abrar Eqtesadi read: "Iran to receive $15 billion line of credit!"
This development is evidently exactly what the Iranian regime had been hoping for. Tehran has been blackmailing the EU to provide it with the financial means that would enable it to skirt the US sanctions.
Before the French government's offer, Iranian President Hassan Rouhani, had threatened that if the EU did not assist his government, Tehran will further violate the terms of the nuclear deal. Rouhani stated:
"If Europeans can purchase our oil or pre-purchase it and we can have access to our money, that will ease the situation and we can fully implement the deal... otherwise we will take our third step."
From the mullahs' perspective, France surrendering to Tehran's demand clearly indicated that their blackmailing tactic had worked. On France's part, offering Tehran billions of dollars of credit is a compromise too far: France appears to be bowing to Iran's nuclear extortion. France is submitting to Iran's demands to do more to keep the deal alive, while Tehran is clearly doing less.
In another development, the French government has also effectively been attempting to implement a special-purpose vehicle, INSTEX, that will allow countries to continue trading with Iran, despite US sanctions. Its implementation, however, has been fraught with difficulties.
Has Macron forgotten that he is aiding top state sponsor of terrorism? Has he forgotten that the Iranian government was behind a major bomb plot targeting an Iran opposition rally in Paris in June 2018, which fortunately failed? Is he trying to bribe Iran not to attempt future terrorist attacks on French soil?
After numerous investigation, France's intelligence services acknowledged that Tehran had indeed behind the planned attack:
"Behind all this was a long, meticulous and detailed investigation by our (intelligence) services that enabled us to reach the conclusion, without any doubt, that responsibility fell on the Iranian intelligence ministry."
As Israel's Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu stated recently:
"I call on the leaders of Europe: Stop financing the terrorist regime that is financing terrorism against you on your soil. Enough with the policy of appeasement and weakness regarding Iran."
Has Macron forgotten that he is helping and appeasing a state leading in human rights violations? In 2018, according to Javaid Rehman, the UN expert on human rights in Iran, at least 273 people were executed in Iran, and 6,000 over ten years, according to Iran Human Rights.
The Iranian government ranks second (China ranks first) when it comes to the absolute number of people that it executes, but ranks first for the execution of people per capita. Because of a lack of transparency in the Iranian regime, the unofficial number of those executed is believed to be even higher.
In addition, the use of cruel and inhuman punishment is also on the rise in Iran; according to Amnesty International, the use of various forms of torture such as amputation and flogging has been increasing at an alarming rate.
Macron also fails to recognize that the nuclear deal never contained or adequately addressed Iran's multifaceted threats, which include but are not limited to: The arming and financing of terror and militia groups in the region; intervening in the internal affairs of regional countries; pursing a sectarian agenda by pitting Shiites and Sunnis against each other; carrying out cyber attacks against other nations; and committing human rights violations inside Iran and abroad through its proxies.
Iran's destabilizing behavior and terrorist activities demand a strong response from the French President. By surrendering to Iran's extortion, France is failing to curb the regime's regional and global ambitions and is, in effect, giving it a green light to continue its march toward becoming a nuclear-weapons-breakout force.
Rather than appeasing the ruling mullahs, it is time for Macron to focus his diplomatic and political efforts on countering the clear and present danger with which the Iranian regime's aggressive policies threaten the world.
*Dr. Majid Rafizadeh, is a business strategist and advisor, Harvard-educated scholar, political scientist, board member of Harvard International Review, and president of the International American Council on the Middle East. He has authored several books on Islam and US foreign policy. He can be reached at Dr.Rafizadeh@Post.Harvard.Edu
© 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.

In Times of Extremism, Populism Becomes an Alternative to Democracy
Eyad Abu Shakra/Asharq Al Awsat/October 03/2019
“MPs of all parties must unite to rein in this reckless, divisive government”.
These words were not uttered by a columnist or a Leftist activist, but by John Major, the former British Conservative Prime Minister who governed between late 1990 and mid-1997.
Major believes that the present government, ruling under the name of the Conservative Party, which has already suspended several former senior ministers and current MPs – including the grandson of Winston Churchill – is dividing the country by its extremism, stubbornness, and populism.
“At the moment – Major added – our country is more unsettled, more divided than I can ever recall. Ministers assure us they are moving towards a deal. The European Union tells us they are not – because the British government has put forward no new or viable proposals. The Prime Minister tells us he wishes to have a deal with Europe but we don’t see him sitting down in Brussels to hammer out an agreement.
Major went on to say that “Lip service is paid to the unanimous judgment of the supreme court that it was ‘unlawful’ to prorogue parliament for five weeks, while the prime minister tells us the court was wrong and he was right. Meanwhile, ministers continue to offer fantasy outcomes of what a post-Brexit future holds for people in every corner of our United Kingdom…”.
Well, in respectable democracies, in normal circumstances, a former Prime Minister would expect a proper reply; but the two right wing pro-Conservative newspapers the Telegraph and the Mail, which are also staunchly pro-Brexit, have had a different response. As if by pure coincidence, just after Major’s speech, both papers uncovered his ‘conspiracy’ against his predecessor Margaret Thatcher, in a fashion familiar only in Third World ‘police states’’ propaganda organs, when they resort to character assassinations against political foes.
The UK, however, is not alone in going the way of ‘If you are not with me, then you are against me!’; Donald Trump’s USA, too, has been going this way in a polarization previously unknown in America’s peacetime history. As Trump has succeeded in ‘subjugating’ the Republican Party to his extreme Right current, he has engendered across the political divide a Leftist counter-current within the Democratic Party that not only takes pride in liberalism, but some of its members are now also proudly describing themselves as ‘socialists’!
Given this frightening polarization, there are no more taboos. The supporters of President Trump and the extreme Right are ready to defend his every action, including the alleged Russian meddling in the US presidential election, and later his alleged request from the Ukrainian government to give him information about the business dealings of the son of Joe Biden, his leading Democratic adversary. On the other side, the Democrats have decided that the ‘Ukranian Incident’ rendered any kind of coexistence with Trump impossible, so they have started their campaign to impeach him.
Back in Europe, hours before voting started, opinion polls in Austria prior to its general elections showed former chancellor Sebastian Kurz, of the conservative People’s Party, on his way to returning to power. This would be achieved again by resurrecting his former coalition with the Freedom Party from extreme Right. What is important about the relationship between Kurz and his party with the extreme Right is that it is no more an isolated case in Europe. The European extremists have left the fringe, for the first time since the defeat of Nazism and Fascism, and forced themselves on the mainstream in the leading post - Cold War democracies. Before Kurz and his keenness to rehabilitate Austria’s extreme Right, we recently witnessed a political ‘honeymoon’ in Italy between the extreme Right’s Matteo Salvini and his ‘League’ and their government coalition the anti-establishment populists of ‘The Five Star Movement’. In France, the extremist ‘National Rally’ (former ‘National Front’) has become a leading force, and in Germany as well as other countries, the extreme Right is now an effective ‘player’. While Rightists are already governing Hungary and Poland, the anti-European populist Brexit Party led the British parties in the last European Parliamentary elections.
Meanwhile, outside Europe and the USA, the extreme Right now governs two of the world’s biggest democracies, India and Brazil; and in the Muslim world, under the cloak of religion it rules Iran and Turkey.
How are we to read such a reality? How can we explain it?
I believe that we are living a crisis of concepts and beliefs. As people born and bred in the so-called ‘Third World’ countries, we have been worried that our ‘wounded’ original homelands were still a long way away from the Western ‘value system’ that we admire and desire. However, we are now even more worried because our new homelands to which we escaped from the ailments of the old ones are steadily overthrowing the much-admired values.
The dream of ‘Western Democracy’, which one day we hoped to be fulfilled in our original homelands, is collapsing before us and is fast becoming an illusion. The culture of ‘broad consensus’ that prevents marginalization, apartheid, and exclusion is shrinking at a dangerous pace, leaving the arena to extremists, racists, adventurists, and corrupt populists.
The word ‘democracy’ that implies programs, institutions, devolution of power, and acceptance of the others’ viewpoints is receding before self-aggrandizement, inventing animosities, and inciting hatred and grudges against dissent. All this is happening, ironically, in the name of democracy!
The ‘new despots’ are peddling lies to the masses and making them – in the name of this fake democracy – false witnesses to their cheap populism and disinformation. Those masses are being used as brain-washed tools who vote in elections driven by instinct rather than genuine, rational political agendas that present facts and data. Thus, we are facing a true phenomenon that we can no longer interpret as occasional protest votes, or temporary tiredness of the traditional political parties. Indeed, this a new ‘political culture’ that may continue and even spread further, unless its venom is drained.
Obviously, there are two significant factors behind this phenomenon: First, is the huge technological progress and the advent of artificial intelligence (AI) which are going to minimize the dependence on human labor; hence, increasing unemployment. Secondly, is globalization that is uncovering the structural weakness in capitalism, which, ideally speaking, is based on competitiveness, and the free movement of capital, services, and labor.
The two factors above have awakened the ‘anathemas’ of populism, racism, and Right and Left extremism that all threaten today’s world.

EU security crucial to Macron’s Russia initiative
Mark Leonard/Arabic News/October 03/2019
French President Emmanuel Macron is one of those leaders who want to bend the arc of history. Having upended French politics, he has secured positions for his preferred candidates at the head of the European Commission and the European Central Bank, and is now trying to improve Europe’s relationship with Russia.French officials are comparing Macron’s Russia strategy to US President Richard Nixon’s opening up of China in 1972. But Macron’s diplomatic overture is more like Nixon in reverse. Rather than wooing China in order to contain the Soviets, Macron wants to “ease and clarify (Europe’s) relations with Russia” in order to prevent Moscow from cozying up to China. In so doing, he hopes to secure Europe’s control over its own future.
Macron launched his bid for new security architecture in typically grandiose fashion, mirroring the urban planner Georges-Eugene Haussmann’s project to redesign Paris in the 19th century. His first move was to hold talks with Russian President Vladimir Putin in France’s Fort de Bregancon before the August G7 summit in Biarritz. But the French ministers charged with implementing the plan have since turned it on its head.
Now, rather than starting with a top-down agenda, they are trying to build European security from the bottom up, while pursuing improved relations with Russia one brick at a time. The French road map focuses on five key areas: Disarmament, security dialogue, crisis management, values, and common projects.
In late August, Macron delivered a speech outlining his vision of a system of “concentric circles” comprising varying degrees of European and Eurasian integration. Such an arrangement would have to secure NATO and EU member states’ borders, allow for a more productive relationship with the Russia-led Eurasian Economic Union, and offer ways to manage regional conflicts, not least the one in Ukraine.
The timing of the initiative makes sense. Like Macron himself, Ukraine’s recently elected president, Volodymyr Zelensky, created a political party out of nothing and came to power on the promise of sweeping away a discredited ancien regime. More to the point, Zelensky has made resolving Ukraine’s security situation a top priority.
Macron believes that Russia’s gravitation toward China is at least partly the result of Western mismanagement. He is not naive about the Kremlin’s territorial aggression and election interference, but any country in a position to pose such threats to Europe, he believes, must be engaged face to face. As one French official explained to me: “What is true of Iran and North Korea is also true for Russia. We won’t be able to influence it and lead it to more responsible behavior if we just hide behind a wall of sanctions.”
The EU will never become a global player in the 21st century if it continues to be divided and boxed in by other powers.
Adding further urgency to Macron’s efforts is US President Donald Trump, who has confirmed France’s Gaullist suspicions about America’s unreliability as a guarantor of European security. As the US escalates its conflict with China, it inevitably will pay less attention to Europe and the surrounding neighborhood (the ex-Soviet Union, the Middle East, and North Africa). Worse, the French fear that Trump might pursue a grand bargain with Russia, leaving the EU hemmed in between the US and China.
Macron’s biggest concern is Europe itself. The EU will never become a global player in the 21st century if it continues to be divided and boxed in by other powers. In Macron’s view, recasting Europe’s relationship with Russia is the first step toward securing European sovereignty. “If you don’t have a seat at the great power table,” one French official tells me, “it’s because you’re on the menu.” To be sure, the French understand other Europeans’ support for the sanctions imposed on Russia following its annexation of Crimea and incursion into Eastern Ukraine; but they fear the flimsiness of Europe’s broader security policy.
Ideally, the EU should pursue a two-pronged approach to Russia, combining sanctions and NATO’s deterrence with engagement. The French complaint is that there are no meaningful channels for such engagement, and that sanctions do not address the overall threat that Russia poses. “What would happen to European unity,” French officials wonder, “if Moscow made a move on Ukraine or Syria and some member states decided to block sanctions renewal?” Most likely, it would spell the end of the EU’s Russia policy.
Still, Macron’s initiative raises many questions. Whether Putin has any interest in resolving the Ukraine conflict remains to be seen. And, even if Europe is capable of detaching Russia from China, it is unclear whether the Trump administration would stand by and let the European initiative play out.
But the biggest questions are on the European front. Many Central and Eastern European countries worry that they will be second-class citizens within Macron’s framework of “concentric circles.” Others fear that Macron will sell out Ukraine by forcing it to settle the conflict on Russia’s terms. And it doesn’t help that Macron launched his initiative without first consulting other Europeans, many of whom are already anxious about America’s waning commitment to EU security.
French officials pointed out that Nixon didn’t consult US allies before embarking on his mission to China. But Nixon’s credibility as a security hawk was unquestioned, whereas France is regarded suspiciously by some in Central and Eastern Europe, who fear that their interests might be sacrificed in a neo-Gaullist attempt to claim a spot on the world stage.
If Macron is to succeed, he will have to prove that he is committed to the sovereignty and security not just of Central and Eastern Europe, but also of ex-Soviet countries such as Ukraine, Georgia and Moldova. He will also have to pursue deeper collaboration with the Nordic and Baltic states, as well as with the relevant EU institutions and the new High Representative for Foreign Affairs and Security Policy, Josep Borrell. Above all, Macron’s initiative must create a credible platform for a common approach to security. If it is seen as favoring some countries over others, it and its author will end up on the menu, rather than in the history books.
*Mark Leonard is Director of the European Council on Foreign Relations

Impeachment inquiry may embolden Iran to escalate
Abdel Aziz Aluwaisheg/Arabic News/October 03/2019
Despite strenuous efforts by Emmanuel Macron and other European leaders, the chances of a Donald Trump-Hassan Rouhani meeting at the UN General Assembly (UNGA) were always slim because of the tremendous gap between the two sides. There was probably some agreement, as reported by the Europeans, on the desired outcome — a meeting to explore expanding the nuclear deal and discuss Iran’s regional conduct. However, Iran’s precondition of lifting the sanctions first made a meeting impossible.
Another reason that a Rouhani-Trump meeting was unlikely was the fiery verbal attacks made during their speeches in the general debate at the UNGA. On the first day of the debate, Trump warned the world not to “subsidize Iran’s bloodlust,” having European powers and also Russia and China in mind. He also took Iran to task for sponsoring terrorism and promised more sanctions if Iran continued its malignant behavior in the region.
The next day, Rouhani launched an unintelligible tirade against Trump and American aggression, first accusing the US of committing “economic terrorism” and inciting conflict and violence in the region. There was no hint of irony in Rouhani’s self-pity, despite the fact that, just 11 days earlier, he had ordered unprecedented attacks on Saudi Arabia’s oil installations, and that Iran has engaged in destructive behavior throughout the region. In Syria alone, Iran enabled Bashar Assad to massacre 500,000 of his own people and disperse millions more. In Iraq, Lebanon and Yemen, it weaponized sectarian differences to ignite civil strife.
To meet so quickly after those public putdowns would have caused the Iranians in particular to lose face. It is true that both Trump and Rouhani ultimately raised the possibility of a meeting, but in each case it appeared to be an afterthought, not enough to paper over the differences or erase the stings of their scorching words.
But perhaps the most important reason was the start of the impeachment inquiry in Washington, which understandably became the main issue at the White House. A meeting with Rouhani would have been a distraction and could have backfired if no positive results came out of it.
More alarmingly for the Gulf conflict, Rouhani may have seen the impeachment process as a sign of American weakness. Despite Iran’s obsession with America, Iranian leaders appear at times to be naive about American politics. The prospect of Trump’s impeachment appears to have hardened Iran’s position and may embolden it to escalate, rather than seek an accommodation. Relying on the headlines, President Rouhani, Foreign Minister Mohammed Javad Zarif and the rest of the Iranian leadership betrayed a naivete about the US antipathy toward Iran. Despite some minor differences, longstanding US animosity toward Iran is shared by both political parties and by the public at large. Even Barack Obama, who is considered to be the most dovish president when it came to Iran, used biting sanctions to get Iran to negotiate and was clear-eyed about its malignant and destabilizing activities in the region.
Despite Iran’s obsession with America, Iranian leaders appear at times to be naive about American politics.
Iranians seem to think that, during the impeachment process, Trump’s hands will be tied and he will be unable to wage war or make peace. However, history shows that American presidents have taken decisive actions up until the end of their terms, despite impeachment or electoral loss. If the current inquiry does not result in the impeachment of Trump, he would be strengthened and his electoral chances may improve. If he is impeached, it is not expected that the Republican-controlled Senate would remove him from office. In either case, Trump could dismiss that the whole affair was a “witch-hunt” by the Democratic-controlled House of Representatives.
Considering the antipathy Americans of all political stripes feel toward Iran, challenging it, militarily or by other means, could further help Trump’s chances of winning the 2020 election. If he does win, a second-term Trump would be less shy about standing up to Iran. Even if Trump loses the election, there will be more than two months of his presidency when anything could happen.
For all these reasons, Iran should not miscalculate and choose escalation in the mistaken belief that the US would not react during the impeachment affair, or that the world would look away if Iran continued its attacks on international shipping and Saudi energy infrastructure. It should have been clear from the opening of the UNGA that Iran has very few friends left and it could even lose them if it continues its destructive path.
The building blocks for a global coalition are being assembled in the Gulf by the US and its allies, which should make further attacks futile. The 30-nation Combined Maritime Forces based in the Gulf is on alert. The International Maritime Security Construct is growing in membership and affiliated countries to safeguard international shipping in the Gulf. Saudi Arabia and other Gulf Cooperation Council member states are raising their preparedness levels and closing gaps in their air defenses.
The US and its allies should stay the course to prevent Iran from continuing or escalating its asymmetric warfare in the region, either directly or through its proxies. It is important that the US tightens the sanctions regime to starve the Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps and its proxies of funds. US allies should do the same. Covert activity is also on the table to make it difficult for them to continue spreading mayhem in the region.
*Abdel Aziz Aluwaisheg is the GCC Assistant Secretary-General for Political Affairs and Negotiation, and a columnist for Arab News. The views expressed in this piece are personal and do not necessarily represent GCC views. Twitter: @abuhamad1

Iran believes Trump is afraid of taking military action
د.مجيد رافيزادا: إيران تعتقد بأن ترامب خائف من اتخاذ قرار عسكري
Dr. Majid Rafizadeh/Arabic News/October 03/2019
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Some policy analysts and scholars have found it mindboggling that Iran is risking a war with the US by escalating its military adventurism and aggressive policies in the region.
After all, any war between the US and Islamic Republic would be suicidal for the ruling clerics. The US military budget dwarfs Iran’s, being about 40 times higher — Washington’s is more than $600 billion, accordingto the Stockholm International Peace Research Institute, while Tehran’s is $14 billion. The US, whose air and naval forces are reportedly the most powerfulin the world, indisputably outguns Iran’s forces. America’s fleet of aircraftis nearly 15 times bigger than Iran’s.
Considering the fact that Iran’s military capabilities are vastly inferior to those of the US, why are the Iranian leaders ignoring Washington’s warnings and risking a war with the superpower? They are doing so because Tehran seems to have come to the conclusion that President Donald Trump does not want to be engaged in a military confrontation with the Islamic Republic.
The Iranian leaders did not reach this conclusion the day that Trump took office. Instead, the Islamic Republic has slowly tested the White House over the last two years. At first, it began exploiting its strategic advantage by issuing threats to block the Strait of Hormuz. Then the Iranian regime started harassing and attacking ships in the strait and its surrounding waters.
When the first oil tanker was attacked, Tehran saw that there was no military response to its aggression, even though the targeting of oil tankers poses a significant threat to the national security of European nations and Asian countries, as well as the US. This further emboldened the regime. In the space of a few months, several oil tankers were attacked in the Gulf, including Japanese and Norwegian vessels.
The Islamic Republic subsequently took another risk by shooting down a US Navy RQ-4A Global Hawk drone. Gen. Amirali Hajizadeh even braggedabout the attack, saying: “With the US drone in the region, there was also an American P-8 plane with 35 people on board. This plane also entered our airspace and we could have shot it down, but we did not.”The Islamic Republic has slowly tested the White House over the last two years.
This Iranian test also did not trigger a military response from the US. Instead, Trump tweeted: “We were cocked and loaded to retaliate… Ten minutes before the strike I stopped it, not proportionate to shooting down an unmanned drone. I am in no hurry, our military is rebuilt, new, and ready to go, by far the best in the world.”
The Iranian leaders did not interpret the move as a sign of diplomacy, rather a sign that Trump is afraid of taking military action against Tehran. This made the regime even more emboldened, as the next major move was an unprecedented attack on the world’s energy supply; targeting the world’s biggest oil processing facility at Abqaiq in Saudi Arabia’s Eastern Province, as well as the Kingdom’s second-largest oilfield at Khurais.
The Iranian leaders’ belief that Trump does not want to consider military options was further strengthened when the president’s National Security Adviser John Bolton left the White House. Bolton had a history of advocating for regime change in Iran. A year before he joined the Trump team, he told the Iranian oppositional group known as Mojahedin-e Khalq that: “The outcome of the president’s policy review should be to determine that Ayatollah (Ruhollah) Khomeini’s 1979 revolution will not last until its 40th birthday.”
More recently, some of the Iranian leaders have publicly stated that Trump does not want a military confrontation with Iran. Foreign Minister Mohammed Javad Zarif in July pointed a finger at Trump’s team and his national security adviser in particular, not the president himself. Zarif tweeted: “Make no mistake: Having failed to lure (Trump) into War of the Century, and fearing collapse of his #B_Team, (Bolton) is turning his venom against the UK in hopes of dragging it into a quagmire. Only prudence and foresight can thwart such ploys.”
Iran’s state-owned media outlets have also begun endorsing the idea that the US president does not want to consider a military response. For example, Press TV publishedan article quoting an analyst with the headline: “Trump doesn’t want war with Iran, so (Secretary of State Mike) Pompeo changes tone accordingly.”
From the perspective of the Iranian regime, Trump does not want to go to war with Tehran. The regime tested the Trump administration on several occasions and came to the conclusion that its aggression did not trigger a military response. This is partially why the Islamic Republic is gradually ratcheting up its military adventurism in the region.
*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