English LCCC Newsbulletin For Lebanese, Lebanese Related, Global News & Editorials
For October 07/2020
Compiled & Prepared by: Elias Bejjani

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Bible Quotations For today
Beware of the yeast of the Pharisees, that is, their hypocrisy. Nothing is covered up that will not be uncovered, and nothing secret that will not become known.
Holy Gospel of Jesus Christ according to Saint Luke 12/01-05/:”Meanwhile, when the crowd gathered in thousands, so that they trampled on one another, he began to speak first to his disciples, ‘Beware of the yeast of the Pharisees, that is, their hypocrisy. Nothing is covered up that will not be uncovered, and nothing secret that will not become known. Therefore whatever you have said in the dark will be heard in the light, and what you have whispered behind closed doors will be proclaimed from the housetops.‘I tell you, my friends, do not fear those who kill the body, and after that can do nothing more. But I will warn you whom to fear: fear him who, after he has killed, has authority to cast into hell. Yes, I tell you, fear him

Titles For The Latest English LCCC Lebanese & Lebanese Related News & Editorials published on October 06-07/2020
Ministry of Health: 1261 new coronavirus case, 10 deaths
President informed about path of reform laws by MP Kannan
Aoun Inclined to Hold Consultations Next Week, Miqati Likely Candidate
Report: No Govt 'Breakthrough' after Plane Meeting between Senior Officials
Report: LF, FPM ‘Go to Battle’ over Electoral Law
Israeli Merkavas Trespass Technical Fence in Adaisseh
Witnesses from Interior Ministry Testify in Port Blast Probe
Lebanon Affirms Deal to Take Back Migrants Sailing to Cyprus
Strong Lebanon Urges Govt. Deal before PM Designation
Protesters Enter Oil Directorate, Complain about Fuel Shortage
Damascus Refuses to Demarcate Syrian-Lebanese Borders
Lebanon: Criticism Mounts Over Delay of Port Explosion Investigations
Lebanon’s Unions to the Streets If BDL Stops Subsidizing Basic Goods
Lebanon’s Maronite Patriarch saddened by leaders’ neglect of people
Details of the scattered flying dialogue between the three presidents
Ship’s captain held in Lebanon over border plot to smuggle fuel to Syria/Najia Houssari/Arab News/October 07/2020
Lebanon's 'Marshal Petain'/Alberto M. Fernandez/MEMRI Daily Brief/October
DM to dad in Heaven/Dr. Walid Phares/Face Book/October 07/2020
In Lebanon, Dutch Disease hangs over the torn country/Abdullah Malaeb/Al Arabiya/Tuesday 06 October 2020

Titles For The Latest English LCCC Miscellaneous Reports And News published on October 06-07/2020

Out of hospital but still sick with coronavirus, Trump abruptly cancels aid talks
US elections: Trump plans to attend debate, Biden says no if president has COVID
Armenian PM Blames Turkey for Deadly Karabakh Escalation
Israel Strikes Hamas Sites in Gaza Following Rocket Attack
A new era towards security and prosperity': UAE and Israeli foreign ministers meet in historic first
Israel may halt its weapons sale to Azerbaijan, Armenian ambassador says
Russia may sell S-400 to Iran after UN embargo expires, ambassador says
Third, final Iranian tanker arrives in Venezuela
US ambassador to Israel warns Biden win could undermine consensus on Iran
Turkey’s Erdogan will visit Qatar and Kuwait on Wednesday
Canada/Joint statement by François-Philippe Champagne, Minister of Foreign Affairs of Canada, Dominic Raab, and U.K. Foreign Secretary on situation in Nagorno-Karabakh region
18 Killed in Bombing in Turkish-Controlled Syrian Town
Global Coalition-led Operation Arrests 3 ISIS Leaders in Deir Ezzor
Abkhazia to Open Embassy in Damascus
Syrian Victims of Chemical Attacks File Case With German Prosecutors
Erdogan, Sarraj Discuss Resignation
Israel Strikes Hamas Sites in Gaza Following Rocket Attack

Titles For The Latest LCCC English analysis & editorials from miscellaneous sources published on October 06-07/2020

Erdogan's Turkey: Drunk on power/Emily Schrader/Jerusalem Post/October 06/2020
The Public's Right to Know about the President's Health vs. the President's Right to Medical Confidentiality/Alan M. Dershowitz/Gatestone Institute./October 06/2020
CIA Director Gina Haspel and the British Role in the Anti-Trump Plot/Chris Farrell/Gatestone Institute/October 6, 2020
White House Deceptions Don’t Help Trump/Jonathan Bernstein/Bloomberg/October, 06/2020
Turkey’s rising role as a regional disrupter/Osama Al-Sharif/Arab News/October 06/2020
Even with new peace deals, Iraq seems a long way from normalizing ties with Israel/Hussain Abdul-Hussain/Al Arabiya/Monday 05 October 2020

The Latest English LCCC Lebanese & Lebanese Related News & Editorials published on October 06-07/2020

Ministry of Health: 1261 new coronavirus case, 10 deaths
NNA/October 06/2020
The Ministry of Public Health announced 1261 new coronavirus infection cases, which raises the cumulative number since February 21 to 46,918 confirmed cases. Ten deaths have been registered over the past 24 hours.

President informed about path of reform laws by MP Kannan
NNA/October 06/2020
President of the Republic, General Michel Aoun, met the Chairman of the Parliamentary Finance and Budget Committee MP, Ibrahim Kannan, today at the Presidential Palace. MP Kannan briefed the President on the list of reforms including draft laws, law proposals and decisions prepared by the Parliamentary Finance and Budget Committee, to put them legally into effect and follow-up through the Parliament. MP Kannan also stated that the meeting tackled the course of recently issued laws which fall within the framework of combatting corruption, especially the law of illicit enrichment, lifting bank secrecy, and recovering looted funds, which was accomplished by the sub-committee emanating from joint committees.Finally, MP Kannan considered that “What has been achieved gives a positive signal at international and local levels, and ends the paralysis at the level of accountability and judiciary, especially regarding constitutional and political authorities which are covered by recent legislations”. ----Presidency Press Office

Aoun Inclined to Hold Consultations Next Week, Miqati Likely Candidate
Naharnet/October 06/2020
President Michel Aoun is inclined to schedule the binding parliamentary consultations for picking a new PM for next week, media reports said on Tuesday. “In light of the proposal made by (ex-PM Najib) Miqati, which did not face any objections, Miqati is one of the likely candidates,” sources informed on the governmental file told LBCI television. The sources also noted that the reactivation of the caretaker cabinet is out of the question and that Aoun might carry out quick contacts ahead of the official consultations. Moreover, the sources said Russian Foreign Minister Sergei Lavrov will visit Lebanon on October 29 for talks with Lebanese officials.

Report: No Govt 'Breakthrough' after Plane Meeting between Senior Officials
Naharne/October 06/2020
The meeting between President Michel Aoun, Parliament Speaker Nabih Berri, and outgoing PM Hassan Diab on board the plane forth to Kuwait and back to Beirut again, did not produce a “magic bullet" for the government formation after the resignation of PM-designate Mustafa Adib, al-Akhbar daily reported on Tuesday. But, according to information obtained by the daily, the three officials “almost agreed to hold a round of consultations for a short period, in an attempt to revitalize the French initiative.”Shall these endeavors fail to lead to a solution, one of the alternatives calls for the formation of a “one-sided” government similar to the cabinet of Diab, said the daily. It added that the above suggestion was discussed before between Hizbullah and Amal Movement on one hand, and the Free Patriotic Movement on the other “based on concerns that the country must not be left in a state of chaos and total collapse,” said al-Akhbar.

Report: LF, FPM ‘Go to Battle’ over Electoral Law
Naharnet/October 06/2020
At a stage open to all possibilities for “changing the system” in Lebanon, Parliament Speaker Nabih Berri has called for a joint meeting of the parliamentary committees on Wednesday to study draft laws related to the parliamentary elections, al-Joumhouria daily said on Tuesday.
Upon Berri’s invitation, the joint session will be held for the committees of: Budget and Finance, Administration and Justice, National Defense, Interior and Municipalities, to study the following electoral draft law proposals:
-An election draft law proposal submitted by MPs Anwar el-Khalil and Ibrahim Azar
-An election draft bill presented by MPs Najib Miqati, Nicolas Nahhas and Ali Darwish
-An election draft bill to elect a Senate submitted by MPs Anwar el-Khalil and Ibrahim Azar
In remarks to the daily, Lebanese Forces MP Wehbe Qatisha of the Strong Republic bloc said the “LF refuse discussing an (new) election law. Our position will be clear inside and outside the joint session tomorrow, and that is to study draft law proposals related to the parliamentary elections."
He said shall the Free Patriotic Movement agree on that “we will be together on the ground.”For his part, Free Patriotic Movement MP George Atallah of the Strong Lebanon bloc said: “If some want an electoral law to benefit from while keeping everything else the same, then this is not an option for us.
“On the other hand, we are open to any proposal that leads us all to an understanding on the concept and form of a civil state,” he added.
Atallah said his bloc is ready for negotiations if the concept involved aims for “development and progress,” otherwise “we won’t agree” on any change in the current proportional representation electoral system for the mere reason that some believe it “inappropriate for their own interests.”

Israeli Merkavas Trespass Technical Fence in Adaisseh
Associated Press/October 06/2020
Two Israeli Merkava tanks trespassed the technical fence in the town of Adaisseh without crossing the Blue Line, the National News Agency reported on Tuesday. Earlier on Tuesday, an Israeli reconnaissance plane violated the Lebanese airspace and flew at low altitude above the southern town of Nabatieh and Iqlim Touffah. Israeli and Lebanon are technically at war. Israel violates Lebanon’s airspace on an almost daily basis.On Friday, Lebanon and Israel have reached an agreement on a framework of indirect, U.S.-mediated talks over a longstanding disputed maritime border between the two countries. But U.S. Assistant Secretary of State for Near Eastern Affairs David Schenker had assured that talks have nothing to do with the establishment of diplomatic relations or normalization between Lebanon and Israel.

Witnesses from Interior Ministry Testify in Port Blast Probe
Naharnet/October 06/2020
Judge Fadi Sawan, the Judicial Investigator into the Beirut port blast, on Tuesday heard the testimonies of two more people, the National News Agency said. NNA said Sawan questioned two officials from the Interior Ministry’s “gunpowder department” as witnesses. He will on Wednesday and Thursday hear the testimonies of two chemical experts, two explosives experts and a pyrotechnic expert, also as witnesses.

Lebanon Affirms Deal to Take Back Migrants Sailing to Cyprus
Associated Press/October 06/2020
Cyprus and Lebanon on Tuesday reaffirmed an agreement for Lebanese authorities to take back migrants aboard boats trying to reach Cypriot shores.
Cypriot Interior Minister Nicos Nouris said Lebanese and Cypriot police and naval forces will intercept migrant boats departing from Lebanon. He said European Union member Cyprus and Lebanon would also seek assistance from the bloc's border agency Frontex in coastal surveillance.
"We're sending out a clear message that we won't tolerate anyone engaging in the trafficking of human beings and that we're defending the interests of our two states," Nouris said after talks with Lebanon's General Security chief Major-General Abbas Ibrahim. The two officials said all migrants aboard boats attempting to reach Cyprus will be returned. "Any person who leaves Lebanon, in accordance with the deal reached with Cyprus, should be returned home in coordination between the two countries," Ibrahim said. In recent weeks, numerous boatloads of migrants have sailed to Cyprus -- approximately 172 kilometers from Tripoli, Lebanon -- alarming Cypriot authorities that say the island can't handle any more migrants seeking asylum for economic reasons. Ibrahim said that most of the migrants trying to reach Cyprus by boat aren't Lebanese and may be trying to flee worsening economic conditions in Lebanon.
"Living conditions in Lebanon have become more difficult because of the economic crisis that we are passing through and this is what is maybe making these people migrate to nearby countries," Ibrahim said. The Lebanese official said international agencies usually praise Lebanon for the way it treats more than 1 million migrants now living on its territory, but a worsening economy may be prompting many to flee. Cyprus has come under fire by Human Rights Watch for allegedly pushing back 200 migrants and refugees arriving from Lebanon aboard boats last month without heeding their claims for asylum while in some instances using violence and coercive tactics. Nouris said the Cypriot government has received no such complaints and that Cypriot authorities acted lawfully and in line with EU directives. He said all migrants were returned to Lebanon safely under a Cypriot police escort.

Strong Lebanon Urges Govt. Deal before PM Designation
Naharnet/October 06/2020
The Strong Lebanon parliamentary bloc said Tuesday that efforts aimed at guaranteeing that a new cabinet will be formed should precede the designation of a new PM. “There is a pressing need to form a government that would be in charge of the needed reform process,” the FPM-led bloc said in a statement issued after a weekly e-meeting chaired by FPM chief Jebran Bassil. “Experiences have proved that this formation cannot be secured through the mere designation of a premier, but rather that the issue needs prior efforts to guarantee formation after designation,” the bloc added.
It accordingly called on parliamentary blocs to “understand the seriousness of this period and facilitate the formation of a productive, efficient and reformist government that would commit to implementing the reform program agreed on as part of the French initiative.” The bloc’s stance comes after resigned PM-designate Mustafa Adib failed to form a government due to hurdles that emerged during the formation process -- mainly a standoff related to Shiite representation in the new cabinet, especially in connection with the finance portfolio.

Protesters Enter Oil Directorate, Complain about Fuel Shortage
Naharnet/October 06/2020
Amid a looming fuel and diesel crisis, a group of protesters entered the General Directorate of Oil protesting a shortage of gasoline, pushing Lebanese to stand in queues at fuel stations. “Smuggling fuel into Syria must be stopped. Officials are required to take a strict decision on this,” the protesters said.They engaged in arguments with Director General of Oil, Aurore Feghali, who told protesters that the “crisis is having its toll” on herself too and her family. The Central Bank is expected to end subsidies on fuel, wheat and medicine which heralds a sharp increase in prices, in light of an economic crisis and depleting local currency. Since the local currency’s collapse, the bank has been using its depleting reserves to support imports on these basic goods. Already, after the blow of the financial crisis, half the Lebanese population is below the poverty line. Lifting subsidies will further fuel inflation and could be a trigger for food riots. Smuggling fuel into neighboring Syria adds to the country’s woes. In May, the Lebanese army removed around 30-meter fuel smuggling pipeline at the country’s northern border with Syria. A video recording of trucks smuggling fuel into Syria has gone viral on social media. Aware of smuggling routes between the two countries, authorities did little to stop the fuel drain.

Damascus Refuses to Demarcate Syrian-Lebanese Borders
Beirut - Mohammed Choucair/Asharq Al-Awsat/Tuesday, 6 October, 2020
Banque du Liban’s determination to lift fuel subsidies as of January opens the way for talks about Lebanon’s attempts to demarcate the common borders with Syria, which extend over a length of 357 kilometers.
The issue was publicly raised for the first time during the national dialogue conference, which was hosted by parliament Speaker Nabih Berri in April 2006. At that time, Damascus did not respond to Lebanon’s request, despite the fact that Hezbollah Secretary General Hassan Nasrallah had pledged to communicate with the Syrian leadership over the matter. Demarcating or delineating the Lebanese-Syrian borders remained unresolved until it was decided to raise it again following a visit by then-Prime Minister Saad Hariri to Damascus in 2010 in response to a Saudi mediation. Accordingly, then-Minister of Administrative Development, Jean Hogassapian, was assigned the task of preparing the second visit that Hariri undertook at the head of a ministerial and administrative delegation that included 12 ministers, during which he met with his Syrian counterpart Muhammad Naji Al-Atri and the concerned Syrian ministers. The meeting ended with the signing of 28 agreements. However, the Syrian side, represented by Foreign Minister Walid al-Muallem, requested to postpone the discussion on the border demarcation file, saying that Damascus was busy demarcating the Syrian-Jordanian border. Al-Muallem also suggested that the disputed Shebaa Farms should not be included in the process.Until now, the regime in Damascus has been refraining from demarcating the common border between the two countries. Only two meetings were held during Hariri’s assumption of the premiership: the first between the governor of North Lebanon and the governor of Tartous, and the second between the governor of the Bekaa and his Syrian counterpart, the governor of Homs. Al-Muallem has explicitly refused to start the demarcation process, in response to the IMF demand to close all illegal crossings and demarcate the common borders in order to stop smuggling operations from Lebanon to Syria. Consequently, the issue was raised again after BDL’s announcement of lifting subsidies and the continuous smuggling of fuel across the border. In this context, sources told Asharq Al-Awsat that local parties in the Bekaa are sponsoring smuggling operations, thus circumventing the American Caesar Act, which imposes sanctions on Syria. Therefore, Damascus has no interest in demarcating the borders or in cooperating with the Lebanese authorities to stop organized smuggling operations.

Lebanon: Criticism Mounts Over Delay of Port Explosion Investigations
Beirut - Asharq Al-Awsat/Tuesday, 6 October, 2020
Lebanese President Michel Aoun said he would not sign any of the draft decrees to dismiss three public directors, who are under investigation over the Beirut port explosion, without a formal cabinet decision.
“Pursuant to the provisions of the constitution and the laws in force, the President of the Republic will not sign any of these draft decrees, as long as no decisions regarding them have been issued nominally and individually by the Council of Ministers,” the presidential office said on Monday. For his part, the head of the Progressive Socialist Party (PSP), Walid Jumblatt, criticized the stalling in the investigations. “The heroes of the fire brigade and civil defense are left behind. Beirut municipality does not exist. Customs officers and agents with their fancy cars are like crows over a carcass. The army alone is trying to collect the rubble in a ground soaked in burning oils. The silos are full of contaminated wheat and corn, which merchants are trying to steal and sell,” he said in a tweet. Resigned MP Paula Yacoubian, also criticized the delay in the probe, saying: “Two months have passed since the explosion and the investigations are blown into the unknown. Unfortunately, the result is expected. The mafia does not condemn itself.”The families of the victims of the fire brigade in the port explosion threatened to escalate their moves in response to the stalling in the probe.
“If our call is not met, we will not be silent. We will not rest until the truth is known… We will not allow corruption to obscure our rights,” a representative of the families of the victims told a news conference on Monday.
“We call for an urgent parliamentary session to lift the immunity of those involved in the case. We want to see the course of the investigation, lift its secrecy, and announce August 4 as a national day of mourning,” she added.
The Judiciary has so far arrested 25 persons in the case, including the Customs Director General Badri Daher, the director of land and maritime transport, Abdel Hafiz Kaissi and the port’s director-general Hassan Koraytem.

Lebanon’s Unions to the Streets If BDL Stops Subsidizing Basic Goods
Beirut- Asharq Al-Awsat/Tuesday, 6 October, 2020
Lebanon’s labor syndicates and unions threatened on Monday to take to the streets if the Central Bank (BDL) stops subsidizing basic goods, including fuel oil, medicine, and wheat. “We hold the caretaker government responsible for any decision to stop subsidizing basic goods, particularly fuel oil, because this step would be the spark to ignite the country,” the Land Transport Union said Monday. Last week, BDL Governor Riad Salameh said he can no longer exhaust the remaining foreign currency reserves to subsidize fuel oil, wheat, and pharmaceutical products in a few months. “I informed the government not to use BDL’s compulsory reserve in foreign currencies for the purpose of subsidies. We can continue supporting fuel, wheat, and medicine for another two or three months at an exchange rate of LL1,500 against the dollar,” he said. In a press conference held by the heads of the relevant sectors from the land transport sector federations and unions, head of the land transport sector federations and unions Bassam Tlais said that lifting the subsidies on goods, foodstuffs, fuel, medicine, and wheat would lead to a major social explosion. “The lifting of subsidies on gasoline and diesel will raise the price of a gasoline plate to 70,000 Lebanese pounds (today its price is about LL25,000) and diesel to between 45 and 50 thousand pounds, which will lead to a social disaster in light of the difficult economic conditions the country is going through,” he said. Tlais stressed that according to the information available to him, the beginning of the lifting of subsidies on gasoline will be the end of this month. He warned the government not to take this step because it will be the spark to ignite the country. For his part, President of the General Labor Union, Bechara Asmar, said, “As soon as any step to lift support is announced, we will immediately take to the streets, because what is happening is unacceptable and is a call to displace the Lebanese people.”He said the Unions will not agree to the decision to lift the subsidy. Last August, an official source told Reuters that Lebanon's central bank will only subsidize fuel, wheat, and medicine for three more months.

Lebanon’s Maronite Patriarch saddened by leaders’ neglect of people
MEM/October 06/2020
Lebanon’s Maronite Patriarch Bechara Al-Rai said he was deeply saddened by the ruling elite’s neglect of the Lebanese people and their pain. “We are deeply hurt by the political authority’s neglect of its people and control of our country and the powerful people’s relentlessness to thwart the government formation, after they succeeded in forcing the Prime Minister-designate to resign, despite the friendly initiative which was kindly proposed by French President Emmanuel Macron,” Al- Rai said during Mass yesterday. Al-Rai also called to preserve Lebanon’s neutrality and distance it from regional conflicts. He added that two months have passed since the Beirut port blast on 4 August, yet the forensic investigation has not yet yielded any results. The explosion happened when 2,750 tonnes of ammonium nitrate, stored unsafely in Beirut port’s warehouse 12 for six years prior to the explosion, ignited. Nearly 200 people were killed in the blast which injured thousands more and made at least 300,000 of Beirut residents homeless. In the aftermath of the blast, letters written by Daher and sent to Lebanon’s “judge of urgent matters” were unearthed, detailing how the custom chief was aware the highly explosive substance was stored unsafely in the port. In letters sent in 2014, 2015, 2016 and 2017, Daher warned of the “dangers if the materials remain where they are affecting the safety of (port) employees”, according to the Associated Press (AP). It was later revealed both Aoun and caretaker Prime Minister Hassan Diab were warned by security officials the dangerous substance was stored in the port but failed to take action. In a secret letter to the pair sent on 20 July, Aoun and Diab were warned of the security risk the chemical posed. The pair admitted they knew the substance was stored in the port but claimed the port was not under their authority when asked why they took no preventative action.

Details of the scattered flying dialogue between the three presidents
AlKhaleej Today/October 06/2020
Al-Gomhoria wrote: In the midst of the current stalemate, the tripartite presidential visit that took Presidents Michel Aoun, Nabih Berri and Hassan Diab together to Kuwait yesterday, where they offered condolences to the Emir of Kuwait, Sheikh Nawwaf Al-Ahmad Al-Jaber Al-Sabah, to the late Emir Sheikh Sabah Al-Ahmad Al-Jaber Al-Sabah. The Emir of Kuwait assured the Lebanese presidential delegation that “during his term, Kuwait will remain alongside Lebanon and continue its march of support for the good of its people and its revival, indicating the position of Lebanon and the Lebanese in the hearts of Kuwaitis.”It is noteworthy in this context that this visit coincided with internal “expectations”, which considered that the opportunity for a meeting in the air, specifically between Presidents Aoun and Berri, might lead to the emission of white smoke regarding binding parliamentary consultations, to choose the Sunni figure to form the new government. According to the information of the “Republic”, the air meeting between the three presidents is the first between Aoun and Berri since the French president’s visit to Beirut, and the failed assignment stage of Mustafa Adeeb, and it is the first between them also after Berri announced an agreement within the framework of negotiations to demarcate the southern sea and land borders. It is also the first face-to-face meeting between Berri and Diab since before Hassan Diab resigned. Consequently, the “flying dialogue”, whether on the trip to Kuwait or on the return trip to Beirut, was general and dispersed between the inside and outside, leading to Trump’s health. Consequently, he did not go into the depth or details of any file. And that the common tendency was for the caretaker government to be present effectively in this period, until the formation of the new government.
And if the government file has been passed over, specifically between Presidents Aoun and Berri, and from the angle that it is not permissible to remain in the status of commentator indefinitely, but what is certain in this context is that the priority is to agree on the personality that will head the government, and therefore not President Aoun and Berri possess neither of them alone, the key to this file, especially in front of the “tight lock” that has confused this file until now, which is represented in the absence of a Sunni figure to assign it to form the government. The candidates’ club for this responsibility is completely empty, according to what is confirmed by the various political levels on both sides of the government vacuum, which means that the final word in proposing this personality, and with specifications that are supposed to be consensual, is in the court of the main Sunni forces, whether political or non-political.
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Ship’s captain held in Lebanon over border plot to smuggle fuel to Syria
Najia Houssari/Arab News/October 07/2020
BEIRUT: A ship’s captain and a shipping agent were arrested in Lebanon on Tuesday on charges of trying to smuggle 4 million liters of petrol into Syria.
The arrests have shone a light on flagrant violations in Lebanon of the US Caesar Act, which targets trade with the Assad regime and imposes sanctions for noncompliance. Bashir Matar, head of Al-Qaa border municipality, told Arab News that smuggling was rife on Lebanon’s border with Syria, with illegal transport of fuel as well as people trafficking, and that rival gangs fought over lucrative routes. “On the outskirts of the Al-Qaa plain on the border, battles broke out … between Syrian and Lebanese families and clans over a plot of land used as a crossing for smuggling,” he said.
“We are witnessing attempts by several groups to seize land close to the borders to be used for smuggling.”Security sources told Arab News the Panamanian-registered Jaguar S was intercepted off the Lebanese coast at Zahrani, a notorious stronghold for the Iran-backed Hezbollah group and the Amal Movement. Investigators believe the ship’s crew intended to circumvent the Caesar Act, and Lebanese military intelligence and police suggested the two detainees had confessed to planning to unload the fuel in Lebanon before smuggling it into Syria.
The vessel’s journey began in Istanbul, and it sailed to the Greek island of Crete before arriving off Lebanon at the end of September. “The ship switched off its GPS device before entering Lebanese waters so that its movement could not be monitored via satellites,” a security source told Arab News.
“Upon docking, its cargo was supposed to be unloaded in cooperation with complicit parties and transported in installments by land to Syria, protected by forces that benefit from this operation and control the illegal crossings between Lebanon and Syria.
“An inspection of the manifest by Lebanese customs showed that the ship, which is flying the flag of Panama, had changed its name more than once in the past years.
“The Syrian Al-Naem Co., based in Harasta, Damascus, is communicating with influential people in Lebanon to get the shipment of petrol through Lebanese territory in order to be smuggled into Syria by land to bypass the Caesar Act.”

Lebanon's 'Marshal Petain'
Alberto M. Fernandez/MEMRI Daily Brief/October 06/2020
البرتو فرنندس/ممري: مارشال بيتان لبنان
October is a fateful month for Michel Aoun. Four years ago this month he was elected Lebanon's president by the country's parliament.
Thirty years ago this month, he survived an assassination attempt, and was later forced out of the Lebanese Presidential Palace by an invading Syrian Arab Army supported by allied Lebanese militia.[1] That was the end of two years of Aoun serving as interim Lebanese prime minister ruling over mostly Christian-populated parts of East Beirut and Central Lebanon. Aoun's career recalls that of France's Marshal Petain, a World War One hero turned World War Two villain, a man of consequence certainly, but much of it bitter.[2]
Today derided by activists – with considerable evidence – as senile and bumbling, Aoun was once a military hero. During the Lebanese Civil War, he is best remembered for his leadership in 1983, during the battle of Souq Al-Gharb, when his 8th Infantry Brigade of the Lebanese Armed Forces (LAF) held off repeated attempts by Syria-supported Druze and Palestinian militiamen to take that strategic hill town. Aoun's victory was helped immeasurably by naval artillery from the U.S. 6th Fleet off Lebanon's coast. Aoun's unit was mostly Christian, but included soldiers from Lebanon's other faiths as well, so at the time then Brig.-Gen. Aoun was not seen as a particularly sectarian figure.
With Syria's allies in Lebanon blocking the selection of a new president, outgoing President Amin Gemayel took the constitutional but unusual step in September 1988 of naming an interim military government, placing it under then-LAF Commander Aoun whose primary role would be to engineer the selection of a new president. It would be a fateful decision, fateful certainly for Aoun and disastrous for Lebanon.
Aoun would reveal himself as an adept demagogue whose brusque strongman style would play well with a segment – particularly Christian – of Lebanon's population. The general's own unique brand of Levantine Poujadism would eventually enable him, in 1989, to loose fanatical mobs on Lebanon's Maronite Catholic Patriarch, ransacking his residence at Bkerke.[3] During his rule as interim prime minister – and simultaneously serving as Minister of Foreign Affairs, Interior, and Education and Fine Arts – he would announce the launch of two bloody, dramatic, and totally inconclusive wars. Both appealed to at least some part of popular sentiment.
In March 1989, he launched the "Liberation War" against the brutal Syrian regime which had controlled much of Lebanon since 1976.
In January 1990, he launched the "Elimination War" against his allies in the Lebanese Forces (LF) militia, aiming to "unify" Christian military ranks.
Both conflicts led to thousands of dead and wounded, billions of dollars in damages, and a wave of emigrants, mostly from the ranks of Lebanon's beleaguered Christian population.
Aoun did not gain a single inch of Syrian-controlled territory, nor did he absorb the LF. Seeking help against Syrian President Hafez Al-Assad, he allied with Iraq's Saddam Hussein, who offered Aoun everything from "bullets to FROG-7 missiles" against his Baathist rival.[4]
Assad would counter by using the world's biggest mortars against East Beirut's civilian population.[5] After Saddam became an international pariah following his 1990 invasion of Kuwait, Aoun stood alone. He had bet on Saddam and chosen poorly in the deadly game of Middle East power politics. Even though he had boasted that he would fight alone until the end and be buried in the rubble of his command center, when that end came, on October 13, 1990, he abandoned his troops and fled to the French Embassy.[6] Hundreds of his soldiers were killed by the Syrians. Aoun would spend the next 15 years in gilded exile in France, returning in 2005 after the Syrian military withdrawal.
Feeling that he did not get his due from the anti-Syria and anti-Hizbullah March 14 Alliance, the aging Aoun – still proud and ambitious – would, in February 2006, forge a political alliance with Hizbullah that would not waver even during an astonishing series of events. This included Hizbullah's destructive 2006 war with Israel and a string of assassinations, blamed on Hizbullah, of opposition figures journalists and military officers, many of them Christians (none of them Aounists, of course).
This sturdy alliance was notable more for what it was against than what it was for: against the March 14 Alliance, against the Lebanese Sunnis represented by Hariri, and against any Christian voice other than General Aoun. The alliance has proven to be more valuable than the old relationship with Saddam, despite fraying a bit in recent months. It endures to this day, but probably reached its peak with the 2016 election of Aoun as president.
Surprisingly for a figure who wraps himself not only in the mantle of Lebanese nationalism, but also in a type of chauvinistic Lebanese Christian populism, Aoun has now presided over two waves of accelerated Christian emigration. He even mocked Lebanese citizens who demonstrated for their rights and a better economic future, telling them to leave if they didn't like it.[7] Since those remarks in 2019, Lebanon has only sunk deeper into a vicious cycle of economic collapse, runaway inflation, and administrative incompetence.
Some Lebanese observers tell me that the 85-year old Aoun is only sufficiently alert to work a couple of hours a day – a charge denied by Aoun's partisans. His chief collaborator and heir is, of course, his son-in-law and former Lebanese foreign minister, the widely reviled Gibran Bassil, the man who negotiated the 2006 Mar Mikhail agreement with Hizbullah.
As recently as 2018, Aoun's presidency, and this alliance, had not seemed to have hurt him much. The pro-Aoun coalition did quite well in parliamentary elections that year, allying with Sunni and Shia parties in different areas.[8] An objective observer might conclude that Aoun's six years in power have been nothing short of disastrous. "Strong Lebanon" has never looked so weak. But as a politician and a mobilizing political force, the Aoun phenomenon has been a resounding success, if measured in cynical terms of political survival and in aggressively climbing the ladders of power in this fragmented country.
Whether he is today only a passive symbol or still a willing collaborator in the catastrophic Lebanese status quo, Aoun, the brash champion of Lebanon's Christian rights since 1989, has become the undertaker of the historic Christian presence in this country. He did not accomplish this on his own, of course.
Lebanon's implosion was a multi-confessional multi-party conspiracy bringing down the entire country. But since 2006, his alliance with Hizbullah has given that terrorist group an extensive sectarian and political cover that it might not have had otherwise – only making a bad situation worse.
*Alberto M. Fernandez is Vice President of MEMRI.
[1] Youtube.com/watch?v=9tkSykwB0z4, November 28, 2019.
[2] Forward.com/news/134313/the-name-of-petain-hero-and-villain-is-cleansed-fr, December 29, 2010.
[3] Youtube.com/watch?v=TnN5wJtL6i0, April 19, 2009.
[4] Youtube.com/watch?v=yShfyFruOp0, April 24, 2019.
[5] Nationalinterest.org/feature/the-russian-armys-super-gun-city-destroyer-17416, August 20, 2016.
[6] Youtube.com/watch?v=9tkSykwB0z4, November 28, 2019.
[7] Alhurra.com/archive/2019/11/13/%D9%8A%D8%B1%D9%88%D8%AD%D9%88%D8%A7-%D9%8A%D9%87%D8%AC%D9%91%D9%88%D8%A7-%D9%85%D9%88%D8%AC%D8%A9-%D8%BA%D8%B6%D8%A8-%D8%AA%D8%B5%D8%B1%D9%8A%D8%AD-%D8%B9%D9%88%D9%86-%D8%AA%D8%AC%D8%A8%D8%B1-%D8%A7%D9%84%D8%B1%D8%A6%D8%A7%D8%B3%D8%A9-%D8%A7%D9%84%D8%AA%D9%88%D8%B6%D9%8A%D8%AD, November 13, 2019.
[8] Washingtoninstitute.org/policy-analysis/view/what-does-hezbollahs-election-victory-mean-for-lebanon, May 8, 2018.

DM to dad in Heaven
Dr. Walid Phares/Face Book/October 07/2020
Today is the 30th anniversary of your last journey on Earth. You left us on that October 3rd in 1990, while in the hospital in Batroun, Lebanon, surrounded first by my mother then by the rest of the family, except me. Between us were armies and militias blocking me from the last palabra with you. I did everything I could to be present at the last goodbye, but destiny decided otherwise. Had I walked behind the casket for your last ride on Earth, I would have had to relinquish all the thought I had developed, all the books, all the articles, and pledge allegiance to totalitarians. You passed in an occupied zone while I was living my last days the country in the free zone. Had I satisfied my emotions and come to pay respects, I would never have had a second chance in my life to promote freedom, this time in my adopted country America, the world’s symbol for liberty. It was a choice that kept a wound open in my heart for thirty years, but that was destiny too, decided by higher powers.
When you passed, I had no idea that ten days later I would leave the mother country for my adopted one. During that red October, I thought liberation of the old country was finally close and I would soon be praying at your grave. But your unexpected death was an omen of another unexpected death, the death of liberty in the country of my birth. On October 13, the invasion spread across the free areas, forcing me to make another decision. Live under occupation or leave to freedom.
Our peaceful life as a family stretched for over 30 years between the old quarters of Beirut and the sunny hills of Mount Lebanon. Nothing could have compelled me to emigrate during the golden years of our daily lives in Peace. Visiting the world, yes, but uprooting myself, no. But lives of millions, before and after my personal journey to the new world, have experienced a similar destiny: Leaving everything dear to remain free. That is the story of large swaths of humanity, and it is the story of welcoming nations like America and its sister host countries in the free world.
Since you left, Dad, the world has changed many times. The Cold War ended, the War on Terror started, social media was born, the Arab Spring exploded, mass violence reemerged, regional wars spread, but no, we haven’t yet landed on Mars, even three decades later. In the old country, tragedies deepened: 15 years of occupation followed by 15 years of terror. It is worse now than when you were alive.
In my adopted country, we have oscillated between war and peace. The 1990s were calm and peaceful, but the following 20 years were rough. America was badly hit on 9/11 by Jihadists. It responded twice in the East, with very long wars, which in many respects are still ongoing. But politicians in America split into two camps. One camp was determined to overcome the threat, and the other camp preferred to turn their eyes away hoping to postpone the clash. With the presidential election in 30 days, we are hurtling headlong toward a huge choice.
You were a sensitive man, lived under Peace throughout your life and had to live a war during your most senior years. You preferred poetry and prose over the sharp diatribes of politicians. I inherited a difficult gene combined from you and mother, who joined you in heaven in 2007: Sensitive on the inside, determined to fight for truth on the outside. I acted more like your uncle, Reverend Joseph Phares, the Jesuit social worker and intellectual advisor to decision makers. Yes, in my American life, I literally spent 30 years trying to spread awareness around me and across the nation. I published books, lectured, and advised leaders and governments. I inherited your fairness and justice-seeking heart and mind, and unfortunately the default of trusting too fast.
Yes, I became an American, and for most of my adult life, not because I had to, but because I wanted to. I am keen to remember my roots, and yours, as long as I live, but I have adopted and was adopted by the greatest country in the world, and despite its follies at times, it remains my homeland and the home of the brave and the land of the free.
Until we meet again, Dad.
Virginia, October 3, 2020

In Lebanon, Dutch Disease hangs over the torn country
Abdullah Malaeb/Al Arabiya/Tuesday 06 October 2020
French President Emmanuel Macron addressed the Lebanese political class after they failed to form a cabinet within two weeks, accusing the political elite of betraying their promises to the French initiative that Macron laid out after the deadly Beirut port explosion in August.
In his speech, Macron also offered another chance for the Lebanese leaders to form a government and begin work on the roadmap, giving them four to six weeks. However, Lebanon has been struck by a case of Dutch Disease – a paradox in which good news, typically the discovery of oil, has negative implications at a macroeconomic level.
While Lebanon has not discovered oil or gas, even though it has begun offshore exploration for gas reserves, another Dutch Disease is present today in the country.
And Macron has failed to realize or addressed the country’s deeply rooted problems that hinder macroeconomic development.
Further, the French president has called for the restoration of the political system that created the import-dependent and service economy that lacks industrial and agricultural production.
The Taif agreement, which ended the civil war in 1989, reconstructed the politics of the country, authorizing Syria’s control over Lebanon in exchange for Hafez al-Assad’s acceptance to participate in the peace process with Israel.
The unprecedented power given to the Syrian state gave it control over the reconstruction process that was led by Lebanese Prime Minister Rafik Hariri who brought the country several economic and financial projects, attracted direct foreign investments, and rebuilt the shattered economy.
But Lebanon remained in Syria’s backyard. The Taif Accord ensured that militias disbanded – with the exception of Hezbollah that refused to turn in its arms – and organized the Lebanese army. But it also fitted it with an internal police that had to coordinate with the Syrian security and military apparatus, including Syria’s intelligence agency, the Mukhabarat.
It is true that Hariri’s policies brought the country vast economic gains. But these gains had limitations as another stipulation under the Taif Accord was the assurance that power was balanced among sects. A form of power sharing that preserved Syria’s supremacy was institutionalized, thus prohibiting Lebanon from having an independent and strong economy.
Building a proper agricultural sector and strengthening Lebanese industry would have harmed the Syrian economy and threatened Assad’s grip over Lebanon by decreasing the Syrian influence over the country, which was directly maintained by Lebanese President Emile Lahoud at the time.
The system set up allowed for all kinds of foreign meddling, and further had no means to strengthen domestic sectors.
Many in Lebanon saw coming the economic crisis that erupted at the end of 2019. At the time, Lebanon was facing economic instability and many felt the country had been on the brink for years as a result of failed policies. These decisions created a country of extreme libertarianism where privatization is forced upon the economy. Lebanon’s economy today operates on loans, grants, and donation conferences. The country has never had a rigid economic plan to build a sturdy, self-sufficient economy.
In an interview at a Lebanese TV station three months ago, Ahmad Fatfat, a former Lebanese parliamentarian belonging to the Future Movement bloc, said that resigned Hezbollah parliamentarian Nawaf Al-Moussawi told him that Hezbollah replaced the former Syrian control, becoming the new security regulator in Lebanon. Hezbollah has abused several provisions in the Taif Accord, and in turn, the Iran-backed group has heavy control over state institutions. This has been the state of play in Lebanon for decades.
Yet, Macron erroneously assumes the previous period was a golden age. Where he calls for a government that would strengthen the ties between the ruling elite and its protector Hezbollah, what is needed is a government of transition. This transitional government would need to adopt a new economic approach. It is about time that Lebanon creates an economy that can stand on its own through the formation of a non-sectarian political system that diversifies the economy and improves productive sectors of the economy, without measuring these improvements on the scale of sectarian benefit or having to be limited by Hezbollah’s calculations. If President Macron really wants to set Lebanon down the path of reformation, he has to understand that the economic growth of the previous era was at the expense of the social and economic wellbeing of many Lebanese.
Quality education, social protection, favorable work conditions, and scientific progress are internationally known to be rights, not privileges. These rights will not be preserved nor protected by attempts to reinstall and upgrade the current political and economic system.

The Latest English LCCC Miscellaneous Reports And News published on October 06-07/2020

Out of hospital but still sick with coronavirus, Trump abruptly cancels aid talks
Reuters/Wednesday 07 October 2020
President Donald Trump, still being treated for COVID-19, on Tuesday broke off talks with Democrats on an economic aid package for his pandemic-hit country and drew rebukes from Facebook and Twitter for spreading misinformation about the coronavirus. His tweet ending talks for a new round of stimulus spooked Wall Street, sending stocks down as much as 2 percent from their session highs, a serious hit at one of the metrics that the Republican president has held up as a sign of success. Visit our dedicated coronavirus site here for all the latest updates. Trump's action drew immediate criticism from congressional Democrats and at least one Republican, who said more was needed to help the millions who have lost their jobs in a health crisis that has killed more than 210,000 Americans. After days of conflicting messages from doctors and aides about his condition, Trump, 74, showed he still had what it takes to fire off his signature tweets while being treated with powerful medications including steroids. Trump returned to the White House on Monday after three nights in the hospital. Officials said he was working from makeshift office space in the residence rather than the Oval Office, with only a few senior staff gaining face-to-face access. Support for his Democratic rival Joe Biden has grown by about four percentage points since mid-September, according to Reuters/Ipsos polling from Oct. 2 to 6, with 52 percent of likely voters backing Biden compared to 40 percent for Trump. In his first major policy pronouncement since returning to the White House, Trump abruptly called off negotiations with Democratic lawmakers on coronavirus relief legislation until after the election, even as cases of the virus are on the rise across much of the country. "I have instructed my representatives to stop negotiating until after the election when, immediately after I win, we will pass a major Stimulus Bill that focuses on hardworking Americans and Small Business," Trump wrote on Twitter.
'Showed his true colors'
"Today, once again, President Trump showed his true colors: putting himself first at the expense of the country," Democratic Speaker of the House Nancy Pelosi said, adding, "the White House is in complete disarray." In a call with fellow Democrats, Pelosi suggested Trump's judgment had been affected by one of the drugs he was taking, the steroid dexamethasone, which is normally used in the most severe cases of COVID-19. "There are people who thought, who think that steroids have an impact on your thinking," Pelosi said, according to a person who had been on the call. Trump's doctor said on Tuesday that the president reported no COVID-19 symptoms and was doing "extremely well."Republican Representative John Katko also criticized the decision to break off talks. "With lives at stake, we cannot afford to stop negotiations on a relief package," Katko said on Twitter. "I strongly urge the President to rethink this move." The bipartisan House Problems Solvers Caucus released a statement condemning the end of talks. But Senate Majority Leader Mitch McConnell, a Republican, said he agreed with Trump's decision, telling reporters that "his view was that they were not going to produce a result and we need to concentrate on what’s achievable." Democrats' chances of capturing a Senate majority inched higher in recent days as three nonpartisan US elections analysts added Lindsey Graham's seat to the list of now-10 Senate seats in play, which includes eight potentially vulnerable Republicans and two vulnerable Democrats. Republicans hold a 53-47 majority in that chamber. McConnell aims to keep his focus on pushing through with confirming Trump's third Supreme Court nominee, Amy Coney Barrett, which would cement a 6-3 conservative majority. That nomination presented Trump and his fellow Republicans with an opportunity to turn the focus of the presidential campaign away from the coronavirus, prior to Trump's illness.
Downplays risk
Trump tested positive for coronavirus last week after months of playing down the deadly infection, and he stood by that message on Tuesday. "Many people every year, sometimes over 100,000, and despite the Vaccine, die from the Flu. Are we going to close down our Country? No, we have learned to live with it, just like we are learning to live with COVID-19, in most populations far less lethal!!!" Trump wrote on Twitter and Facebook. Twitter Inc responded by putting a warning label on the post, saying it included potentially misleading information. Facebook Inc removed the Trump post for breaking its rules on COVID-19 misinformation, according to CNN. Anthony Fauci, the nation's top infectious disease expert, said the threat from COVID-19 was "very, very much different" than influenza's reach. The United States has the world's highest death toll from the pandemic, with more than 210,000 deaths. By comparison, influenza typically kills between some 22,000 and 64,000 people a year in the United States, US government statistics show. Trump had no public events listed for Tuesday and it was unclear when he would resume a full schedule of presidential duties and campaigning ahead of Election Day, Nov. 3. He has not been seen in public since Monday night but tweeted that he was looking forward to a scheduled second debate with Democratic election opponent Joe Biden on October 15. Many Trump aides and confidants have been diagnosed with the disease since he revealed Friday that he had tested positive, intensifying scrutiny and criticism of the administration's handling of the pandemic. The top US military leaders are isolating after the Coast Guard's No. 2 tested positive for the coronavirus, Pentagon officials said.

US elections: Trump plans to attend debate, Biden says no if president has COVID
Joseph Haboush, Al Arabiya EnglishTuesday 06 October 2020
US President Donald Trump is planning to take part next week’s presidential debate with Democratic nominee Joe Biden, but the former VP said Tuesday the debate should not take place if the president still has the coronavirus.
“The President intends to participate in person,” Tim Murtaugh, the director of communications for Trump’s 2020 re-election campaign, told Al Arabiya English in an email.Questions are being asked about the fate of the second debate, scheduled for Oct. 15 in Miami, Florida, following the hospitalized of Trump after he and First Lady Melania Trump tested positive for the coronavirus last week. Trump was discharged from the Walter Reed National Military Medical Center on Monday evening after being admitted on Oct. 2. After the president’s positive test results, several White House officials, staff and politicians close to Trump also tested positive. But Biden said Tuesday night that next week’s debate should not take place if the president still has the coronavirus. “If he still has COVID we shouldn’t have a debate,” Biden told reporters traveling with him.The vice-presidential debate slated for Wednesday night between VP Mike Pence and Biden’s running mate, Senator Kamala Harris, may have plexiglass barriers separating the two.

Armenian PM Blames Turkey for Deadly Karabakh Escalation
Agence France Presse
Armenian Prime Minister Nikol Pashinyan said Tuesday that Turkey's encouragement of Azerbaijan was to blame for the outbreak of fighting over the disputed Nagorno-Karabakh region, as Ankara renewed its support for Baku.
"Without Turkey's active engagement this would not have begun," Pashinyan told AFP in an interview in Yerevan, after a tenth day of fighting over a decades-long territorial dispute that has claimed nearly 300 lives.
"The decision to unleash a war was motivated by Turkey’s full support," he said. Earlier Tuesday, Turkey's Foreign Minister Mevlut Cavusoglu urged world leaders to back Azerbaijan, questioning the point of a new ceasefire during a visit to Baku. Armenian officials meanwhile reported further shelling of Karabakh's regional capital, Stepanakert. AFP journalists heard explosions in the city after days of intermittent shelling and saw residents walking past an unexploded shell wedged in a street in the city center, which was strewn with glass and debris. Cavusoglu's comments came a day after Russia, the United States and France urged an "unconditional" halt to the fighting, calls echoed Tuesday by Britain and Canada, which voiced particular concern over the shelling of civilian areas.  The fierce clashes that erupted on September 27 between Armenian-backed separatists and Azerbaijani forces over the disputed Nagorno-Karabakh region show no sign of letting up, with both sides vowing to continue the fight.
- 'Those who are right' -
Western powers are urging Turkey, a longstanding ally of Azerbaijan, to use its influence to restore calm, but Cavusoglu said world leaders should instead throw their weight behind Azerbaijan. "To put these two countries on equal footing means rewarding the occupier," the Turkish foreign minister said. "The world must be on the side of those who are right, namely on the side of Azerbaijan." The territorial dispute over Nagorno-Karabakh dates back to the 1990s when the ethnic-Armenian enclave broke away from Azerbaijan, sparking a brutal conflict that has never been fully resolved.Neither side has shown any inclination to slow the recent hostilities despite mounting civilian deaths. Azerbaijan has repeatedly  said it will not agree to a ceasefire until Armenia withdraws its troops, a line reiterated Tuesday by Foreign Minister Jeyhun Bayramov who added: "We will be fighting until the end."
- 'Fighting until the end' -
As Azerbaijan heard supportive rhetoric from its loyal patron Turkey on Tuesday, Pashinyan said he was confident that his country's longtime backer Russia would rally if fighting escalated. Christian-majority Armenia is in a military alliance of former Soviet states led by Moscow, which has a permanent base in the country, but Russia has shown no appetite for military escalation. Pashinyan told AFP he was sure Russia would come to Armenia's defense if necessary and that "Russia will uphold its treaty obligations." On Tuesday, Azerbaijan's defense ministry and Karabakh's foreign ministry both said fighting was continuing on several fronts on Tuesday. During a call with Iranian leader Hassan Rouhani, Azerbaijani President Ilham Aliyev claimed his forces had captured territory bordering Iran and planned soon to set up border posts and deploy frontier troops. Both sides continued to claim to have inflicted heavy losses in manpower and equipment, and to accuse each of other of targeting civilian areas. The conflict has expanded in the last few days with the shelling of big cities, including the regional capital Stepanakert and Azerbaijan's second-largest city, Ganja. Azerbaijan's defense ministry claimed the separatists had incurred major losses and been forced to retreat. It said its forces had destroyed an ammunition depot near Stepanakert as well as rocket launchers and artillery.
Rising deaths -
The two sides have reported a total of 286 deaths since the fighting erupted, including 46 civilians -- but the real total is expected to be much higher.  Most of the confirmed deaths are from the Armenian side, which has reported 240 fatalities among separatist fighters. Azerbaijan is not releasing any figures on its military deaths. Turkey is a loyal ally of Azerbaijan, a fellow Muslim and Turkic country, and has been accused of dispatching mercenaries from Syria and Libya to join the fighting. Moscow and leaders in several Western capitals have condemned the reported deployment of foreign fighters via Turkey and urged Ankara to work instead towards a political settlement to the fighting.
The director of Russia's Foreign Intelligence Service, Sergei Naryshkin, said that fighters from terror groups including al-Qaida-linked Jabhat al-Nusra were fighting in Karabakh while the Kremlin said the situation was deteriorating.
"People are still getting killed, which is absolutely unacceptable," Russian President Vladimir Putin's spokesman Dmitry Peskov said. Karabakh's declaration of independence from Azerbaijan during the collapse of the Soviet Union sparked a war in the early 1990s that claimed 30,000 lives. Talks to resolve the conflict -- mediated by Russia, the United States and France -- have made little progress since a 1994 ceasefire agreement.

Israel Strikes Hamas Sites in Gaza Following Rocket Attack
Asharq Al-Awsat/Tuesday, 6 October, 2020
An Israeli aircraft struck what the it claimed said was a Hamas military target in the southern Gaza Strip late Monday, shortly after a rocket was fired from Gaza into Israel. The rocket landed in an open area and did not cause any damage or injuries, however it broke a weeks-long lull in the area, The Associated Press (AP) reported. There was no immediate claim of responsibility for the rocket fire. But Israel holds Gaza's Hamas rulers responsible for all fire out of the territory and usually responds to rocket attacks with airstrikes on Hamas targets.
There were no reports of casualties from the Israeli airstrike. In the Israeli-occuped West Bank, meanwhile, the Israeli army said it opened fire at three Palestinian men who were throwing firebombs at troops near the settlement of Einav. It said one of the suspects was hit, while the two others managed to flee. According to AP, there were no further details on the condition of the man who was shot.

A new era towards security and prosperity': UAE and Israeli foreign ministers meet in historic first
James Haines-Young and Mina Aldroubi/The National/October 06/2020
Sheikh Abdullah bin Zayed said he and Gabi Ashkenazi discussed co-operation on energy and scientific research. The UAE hopes its burgeoning relationship with Israel will "strengthen international stability", Sheikh Abdullah bin Zayed, Minister of Foreign Affairs and International Co-operation, said on Tuesday.
Sheikh Abdullah was speaking alongside Israel's Foreign Minister Gabi Ashkenazi after a meeting on Tuesday as the two countries begin to forge relations. "Our meeting today is filled with hope," he said, adding the pair had discussed co-operation in energy and scientific research.
Both ministers said the accord heralded a new era of stability in the Middle East.
Sheikh Abdullah said that "tolerance and pluralism" must be strengthened in the region. "Dialogue with the UAE contributes to solving regional issues," Mr Ashkenazi said. "The peace treaty signed also contributes towards the region's stability and challenges, most notably the coronavirus pandemic."
Sheikh Abdullah affirmed the UAE's support for a two-state solution to the Israel-Palestine conflict.
German Foreign Minister Heiko Maas hosted the first face-to-face sit down between Sheikh Abdullah and Mr Ashkenazi since the Abraham Accord was signed. Under the agreement, the UAE and Israel, and Bahrain and Israel, began to normalise ties. The accord was signed at an event hosted by US President Donald Trump on the White House lawn on September 15.
Sheikh Abdullah bin Zayed and his Israeli counterpart Gabi Ashkenazi visit the Holocaust memorial together with German Foreign Minister Heiko Maas prior to their historic meeting in Berlin, Germany. Reuters
The UAE hopes its burgeoning relationship with Israel will "strengthen international stability", Sheikh Abdullah bin Zayed, Minister of Foreign Affairs and International Co-operation, said on Tuesday.
Sheikh Abdullah was speaking alongside Israel's Foreign Minister Gabi Ashkenazi after a meeting on Tuesday as the two countries begin to forge relations. "Our meeting today is filled with hope," he said, adding the pair had discussed co-operation in energy and scientific research.
Both ministers said the accord heralded a new era of stability in the Middle East.
Sheikh Abdullah said that "tolerance and pluralism" must be strengthened in the region. UAE Foreign Minister Sheikh Abdullah bin Zayed al-Nahyan speaks during a news conference with his Israeli counterpart Gabi Ashkenazi and German Foreign Minister Heiko Maas (not pictured) following their historic meeting at Villa Borsig in Berlin, Germany. Reuters
"Dialogue with the UAE contributes to solving regional issues," Mr Ashkenazi said. "The peace treaty signed also contributes towards the region's stability and challenges, most notably the coronavirus pandemic."
Sheikh Abdullah affirmed the UAE's support for a two-state solution to the Israel-Palestine conflict.
German Foreign Minister Heiko Maas hosted the first face-to-face sit down between Sheikh Abdullah and Mr Ashkenazi since the Abraham Accord was signed. Under the agreement, the UAE and Israel, and Bahrain and Israel, began to normalise ties. The accord was signed at an event hosted by US President Donald Trump on the White House lawn on September 15.
Earlier on Tuesday, the three foreign ministers visited the Holocaust Memorial in central Berlin. Wearing masks in line with coronavirus guidance, they bumped elbows in greeting before taking a tour of the memorial.
Sheikh Abdullah left a long message in the visitor book at the site, including the words "never again", a phrase used to remember the holocaust and prevent such an atrocity happening again.
"This very important place immortalises the memory of the falling of a constellation of human beings who were victims of extremism and hatred," he wrote. Sheikh Abdullah wrote that it "advocates and at the same time emphasises noble human values that call for co-existence, tolerance, empathy, acceptance of others, and respect of all religions and beliefs.
"My country has established these values that will always remain a main driving force for its development journey."
Mr Maas said before the visit: “It is a great honour that the Israeli and Emirati foreign ministers have chosen Berlin as the location for their historic first meeting.
"We are doing everything we can to be good hosts for the dialogue between the two countries on how to shape their future bilateral relations.”
The visit comes as part of Sheikh Abdullah's tour of European capitals. after visiting French and British officials in recent days. The accords are the first between Arab states and Israel since 1994, when Jordan became the second state to make peace with Israel. The only other state with official ties is Egypt, having signed another US-brokered peace agreement in 1979.
The latest move was hailed by international figures as a major step that could build momentum in the stalled Palestinian-Israeli peace process and promote regional harmony.
The UAE says the deal with Israel is contingent on a stop to annexation of lands in the Jordan Valley and West Bank, which are crucial to the viability of a future independent Palestinian state. Arab League chief Ahmed Aboul Gheit said last week that the deal ended the “certainty” of annexation.
“I fully understand Palestinian concerns but on the other hand, I have personally focused on a very specific point, and that’s that the UAE and the US reached an understanding that was forced upon the Israeli side to suspend the annexation of Palestinian lands," Mr Aboul Gheit said.
– Additional reporting by agencies

Israel may halt its weapons sale to Azerbaijan, Armenian ambassador says
Jerusalem Post/October 06/2020
Renewed hostilities broke out between Armenia and Azerbaijan on September 27, over the contested Nagorno-Karabakh territory. Israel may halt commercial weapon sales to Azerbaijan, Armenian Ambassador to Israel Armen Smbatyan told The Jerusalem Post, as fighting intensified for the ninth day between the two countries. “I believe that due to the appeal by the international organizations and many individual states for an immediate de-escalation, Israel may halt its arms sales to Azerbaijan,” Smbatyan said.“There is no alternative to a peaceful negotiated solution to the Nagorno-Karabakh conflict and all regional countries should bring their contribution to stabilize the situation in Nagorno-Karabakh,” he added. “The number of casualties is increasing every day, including the civilian population. Azerbaijan should cease hostilities and get back to negotiations to find a peaceful resolution to this conflict,” Smbatyan said. He had made similar comment to the Armenian news outlet Factor. Last week, Armenia recalled Smbatyan for consultations to protest the sale of Israeli made weapons, including drones, to Azerbaijan, which have been used against its forces. The Foreign Ministry said it would not comment on Smbatyan’s words or on Jerusalem’s export policy with regard to defense matters. Renewed hostilities broke out between Armenia and Azerbaijan on September 27, over the contested Nagorno-Karabakh territory.
Israel has strong ties with both counties and has sought to remain neutral in the conflict, but it receives 40% of its oil supply from Azerbaijan, making its ties with that country particularly important. The commercial Israeli weapons sales to Azerbaijan have also made it hard for Jerusalem to maintain a position of neutrality, in a conflict that has threatened to involve the larger parties of Russia, which backs Armenia, and Turkey, which supports Azerbaijan. Fuad Akhundov, head of sector for work with foreign media in the administration of the president of the Republic of Azerbaijan, told The Jerusalem Post that any reports that sales would be halted were “fake news” and he lauded the tight ties between his country and Israel. “Israel is our partner,” as part of that partnership Azerbaijan had contracts with Israel to purchase military hardware, but that the contracts only dealt with hardware and did not involve greater involvement.
Akhundov confirmed Azerbaijan was using Israeli drones in its battle with Armenia, which he called the aggressor in the situation. Azerbaijan, once provoked by Armenia, was simply reclaiming its territory and that its right to that land was supported by international law, Akhundov said.
“We are fighting not against the Armenian people,” he said.
It was his presumption that Armenia sought to involve both Russia and Turkey in the conflict, Akhundov said. Armenia has a military pact with Russia, through the Collective Security Treaty Organization (CSTO), by which Moscow is bound to come to its aid in certain situations.
BOTH ARMENIA and Azerbaijan accused each other on Monday of attacking civilian areas on a ninth day of fighting, the deadliest in the south Caucasus region in more than 25 years. Hundreds of people have been killed in the latest outbreak of war over Nagorno-Karabakh, a mountain enclave that belongs to Azerbaijan under international law but is populated and governed by ethnic Armenians. The fighting intensified over the weekend, and prospects for a ceasefire appeared remote after an uncompromising speech from Azerbaijan’s President Ilham Aliyev on Sunday.
In a televised address to the nation, Aliyev said Azeri forces were advancing and retaking lands that they lost to ethnic Armenians in the early 1990s – though Armenia disputes these gains. He demanded that Armenia set a timetable for withdrawing from Nagorno-Karabakh and surrounding Azeri territories, and said Azerbaijan would not cease military action until that happened. “Azerbaijan has one condition, and that is the liberation of its territories,” he said. “Nagorno-Karabakh is the territory of Azerbaijan.”Speaking immediately afterward, Armenian Defense Ministry official Artsrun Hovhannisyan said: “I don’t think that there is any risk for Yerevan [the Armenian capital], but anyway we are in war.” The fighting has raised international concern about stability in the south Caucasus, where pipelines carry Azeri oil and gas to world markets, and about the possibility that other regional powers – including Russia and Turkey – could be dragged in.
*Reuters contributed to this report.

Russia may sell S-400 to Iran after UN embargo expires, ambassador says
Al-Monitor/October 06/2020
Russia’s ambassador to Iran said Saturday that the Kremlin may sell its S-400 missile defense system to Tehran after the UN arms embargo expires later this month. “We have provided Iran with the S-300. Russia does not have any problem to deliver the S-400 to Iran, and it did not have any problem before, either,” Ambassador Levan Dzhagaryan told Tehran-based Risalat newspaper, according to Iran’s semi-official Fars News Agency. “We have said since the very first day that there will be no problem for selling weapons to Iran from Oct. 19,” Dzhagaryan said, adding that Russia is not concerned with US threats. Why It Matters: The seriousness of Dzhagaryan’s suggestion remains unclear. The Kremlin has floated the proposal before, though no formal request by Iran has been publicized. But if Iran were to obtain the S-400, it would be a slap in the face to the Donald Trump administration and is unlikely to be taken kindly by Israel. Russia already delivered its S-300 missile defense system to Iran in 2016 after the signing of the Joint Comprehensive Plan of Action during the Barack Obama US presidential administration.The Trump administration failed to convince even its major European allies Germany, Britain and France to support the renewal of the yearslong arms embargo. The S-400 long-range air defense system is highly advanced and could pose a threat to US-built aircraft flown by the United States and its regional allies in case of conflict with Iran. What’s Next: The UN arms embargo is set to expire on Oct. 18, and the United States has said it will unilaterally “snap back” international sanctions on Tehran, despite opposition from Russia and China and objection from US allies. Despite the setbacks, the Trump administration shows no sign on of letting up its thrust to isolate and economically cripple Iran in hope of bringing its leaders back to the negotiating table. Know More: Russia’s sale of the S-400 to Turkey has helped push Washington’s relations with Ankara to one of the lowest points since Turkey joined NATO in 1952, but the Pentagon says it has no plans to give up on its presence in Incirlik just yet. And Anton Mardasov explains how Russian leaders may weigh possible arms sales to Iran with regard to the Kremlin’s broader interests in dealing with the United States and the Middle East.

Third, final Iranian tanker arrives in Venezuela
Al-Monitor/October 06/2020
The final fuel tanker in a series of Iranian ships has reached Venezuela. The safe arrival of the fuel is a success for Iran and its South American ally amid continued pressure from the United States. The Iran-flagged tanker Faxon docked in Venezuela’s Puerto La Cruz port on Sunday, according to data from the Marine Traffic website. Earlier last week, two other Iranian fuel tankers reached Venezuela. Together, the three tankers brought more than 800,000 barrels of fuel to the country. Venezuela is suffering from gasoline shortages. Though it has a wealth of oil reserves and is a member of the Organization of Petroleum Exporting Countries, Venezuela’s oil refining industry, which turns oil into usable materials such as gasoline, has fallen into disarray, in part due to underinvestment and lack of maintenance. Harsh US sanctions prevent Venezuela, which has a socialist government that Washington opposes, from importing fuel from many countries. Iran must also contend with US pressure and sanctions when selling its fuel internationally. As a result, the Islamic Republic has stepped up to meet Venezuela’s energy needs and the two have developed a strong political and economic relationship.
The tankers’ delivery shows Iran is still able to conclude fuel deals with Venezuela. In August, the United States seized a group ships for allegedly bringing Iranian fuel to the country. The owners of the tankers challenged the move in court but did not complete their shipment. Faxon and the other two tankers arrived without US interference this time.

US ambassador to Israel warns Biden win could undermine consensus on Iran
Al-Monitor Staff/Al-Monitor/October 06/2020
US policy toward Iran could take a turn for the worse from the perspective of Israel's government and Washington’s Gulf allies if Joe Biden is elected president in November, US Ambassador to Israel David Friedman said on Sunday, in the latest example of a sitting Trump administration official vouching for the current president’s policies ahead of his reelection bid. “Joe Biden was part of the Obama administration, which negotiated and implemented the Iran deal, something that President [Donald] Trump — and I share his view — thinks was the worst international deal the United States has ever entered into,” Friedman said in an interview with the United Arab Emirates’ al-Ain news site. “It created a pathway for Iran to gain a nuclear weapon. It did nothing to restrain Iran from its malign activity, whether supporting terrorists throughout Syria, Lebanon, Iraq, Yemen,” Friedman said. “It did nothing to restrain their building of ballistic missiles.” Friedman went on, “If we continue on this path, we think Iran will ultimately have no choice but to end its malign activity. … I’d hate to think that a new administration would undermine that, but regrettably, if Biden wins, I think they might.”Why it matters: Friedman — who previously advised the 2016 Trump campaign and legally represented Trump in his bankruptcy battles over his Atlantic City casinos — is the latest administration official treading on longstanding norms by promoting the president’s policies ahead of the November election.
Last week, Secretary of State Mike Pompeo spoke to a conservative pro-life organization in the key swing state of Florida, touting the administration’s record on immigration, North Korea, the Islamic State and assassinating Iranian commander Qasem Soleimani as examples of the administration “respecting life.”During a visit to Israel last month, Pompeo addressed the Republican National Convention back in the United States moves that raised concerns about potential violations of the 1939 Hatch Act, which bars officials in the executive branch from engaging in certain political activities. What’s next: The Biden campaign has said it could renegotiate the 2015 deal with Iran, with additional provisions to inhibit Tehran's ballistic missile program. The position has raised concerns in Israel that a Biden administration may not be tough enough on Iran’s ambitions in the region. Biden has called the Trump administration’s Iran policy a failure, pointing out its inability to rally even the United States' closest allies to reimpose the UN arms embargo on Iran, despite evidence of Tehran’s exportation of ballistic missile and drone technology to conflict zones in the region.
Earlier this year, Iran successfully launched a satellite into space. US officials say Iran’s space program could be a front for long-range ballistic missile research. Last month, an anonymous senior US official said Iran could obtain enough fissile material to build a nuclear weapon by the end of the year and that Iran’s government was working with North Korea on long-range weapons. Know more: Ben Caspit lays out Israeli officials’ concerns and hopes ahead of the election as speculation grows that Iran may be waiting out the election to reapproach the negotiation table.

Turkey’s Erdogan will visit Qatar and Kuwait on Wednesday
Tuqa Khalid, Al Arabiya English/Wednesday 07 October 2020
Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdogan will visit Qatar and Kuwait on Wednesday, his office said on Tuesday.“As part of his visit to Kuwait, President Erdogan will meet with Emir of Kuwait Sheikh Nawaf al-Ahmad al-Jaber al-Sabah, who has taken office after the late Emir of Kuwait Sheikh Sabah al-Ahmad al-Jaber al-Sabah, and extend his condolences. All aspects of the bilateral relations will be addressed and views on regional developments will be exchanged at the talks,” the Turkish Presidency statement read. During Erdogan’s visit to Qatar he will meet Emir Sheikh Tamim bin Hamad al-Thani. “The two leaders are expected to review the opportunities aimed at further enhancing the current cooperation between Turkey and Qatar, and to discuss regional and international issues,” the statement added. Ankara and Doha have grown increasingly close in recent years since Saudi Arabia, the UAE, Bahrain and Egypt cut ties with Qatar in 2017, accusing it of supporting terrorism – a charge Doha denies. Qatar also helped Turkey shore up its foreign reserves with a $15 billion deal announced in May to help Turkey’s struggling economy. Doha also supports Ankara’s intervention in Libya, where it helped the Government of National Accord (GNA) in its clashes against the Libyan National Army (LNA), commanded by Khalifa Haftar and backed by Egypt and the UAE.
 

Canada/Joint statement by François-Philippe Champagne, Minister of Foreign Affairs of Canada, Dominic Raab, and U.K. Foreign Secretary on situation in Nagorno-Karabakh region
October 6, 2020 - Ottawa, Ontario - Global Affairs Canada
The Honourable François-Philippe Champagne, Minister of Foreign Affairs and Dominic Raab, Foreign Secretary of the United Kingdom, today issued the following statement:
“Canada and the United Kingdom reiterate the urgent need to end the continuing military action in and around the Nagorno-Karabakh conflict zone.
“We are particularly concerned by reports of the shelling of civilian areas and wish to express our condolences to the families of those who have tragically lost their lives. The parties to the conflict must stop the violence and respect the ceasefire agreement.
“We firmly support the statements made by the Co-Chairs of the OSCE Minsk Group. We urge all external parties and friends of both states to redouble their efforts in support of an end to hostilities and to refrain from taking actions that risk exacerbating the crisis.
“A comprehensive resolution of the Nagorno-Karabakh conflict is overdue. That can only be delivered through a negotiated settlement and not through military action. All parties must urgently return to the negotiating table to work toward this aim without preconditions.”
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Global Affairs Canada
343-203-7700

18 Killed in Bombing in Turkish-Controlled Syrian Town
Asharq Al-Awsat/Tuesday, 6 October, 2020
An explosives-laden truck ignited Tuesday on a busy street in a northern Syrian town controlled by Turkey-backed opposition fighters, killing at least 18 people and wounding dozens, Syrian opposition activists reported. The blast in the town of al-Bab took place near a bus station where people often gather to travel from one region to another, according to the opposition's Civil Defense, also known as White Helmets. The explosion caused widespread damage to buildings in the area and set vehicles on fire in the town located in Aleppo province, activists said. The victims included a number of women and children, the report by Turkey's Anadolu news agency said. “The blast was in the middle between the (station), residential homes and a small market,” said an activist based in northern Syria who goes by the name of Abu al-Haitham. The Civil Defense said the blast killed 19 and wounded more than 80.
The Britain-based Syrian Observatory for Human Rights, an opposition war monitor, reported that 18 people were killed and 75 others were wounded in the attack. It added that some of the wounded were in critical condition and the death toll could rise. Differing casualty figures are not uncommon in the aftermath of explosions in Syria. It was the latest in a series of attacks in Turkish-controlled areas of northern Syria that have killed and wounded scores of people. Turkey has blamed a Kurdish militia group, known as the People’s Protection Units, for the attacks. There was no immediate claim of responsibility for Tuesday’s attack, but Anadolu said local security officials were looking into the possibility that it was also carried out by Kurdish militants. Last month, an attack on a Turkish Red Crescent vehicle in al-Bab killed a member of the aid agency and wounded another. Armed masked men wearing camouflage clothing traveling in two cars without license plates attacked the Red Crescent vehicle as it traveled through the town. Turkey-backed opposition fighters took control of al-Bab in a military offensive in 2016 that was launched to drive out Kurdish fighters and ISIS group militants from a border area.

Global Coalition-led Operation Arrests 3 ISIS Leaders in Deir Ezzor
Hasakeh - Kamal Sheikho/Asharq Al-Awsat/Tuesday, 6 October, 2020
A security operation led by the Global Coalition to Defeat ISIS in the eastern countryside of Syria’s Deir Ezzor, resulted in the arrest of three ISIS commanders, announced a top Syrian Democratic Forces (SDF) leader. The source said that the detainees are head of Zakat, head of the Finance Diwan and commander of assassinations in Deir Ezzor. He revealed that the forces raided the homes of the suspects in the town of Diban, and arrested them along with eight others on charges of secretly dealing with active cells affiliated with ISIS. Official military spokesman for Operation Inherent Resolve (OIR), Colonel Wayne Marotto announced that the coalition forces conducted a series of strikes on ISIS camps in a remote area of the Syrian Desert, or Badiya, in the early hours of October 4. The desert is a known terrorist safe haven with a large concentration of ISIS fighters, said Marotto, adding that ISIS “uses these desolate, war-torn spaces to train fighters and plot their malicious terrorist attacks throughout the region and abroad.” The spokesman asserted that the coalition and SDF will not stop denying terrorists these safe havens, saying it "remains the most effective force against ISIS in Syria." Meanwhile, the Kurdish Autonomous Administration of North and East Syria, announced it will allow thousands of Syrians, including families of ISIS fighters, in al-Hol camp to leave for their areas. The co-chair of the Syrian Democratic Council, the political wing of Syrian Democratic Council (SDC), Riad Derar said that Syrians will leave al-Hol and only foreigners will remain. Syrian relatives of the extremist group fighters “will be released with guarantees from their families”, Derar was quoted by AFP. The official did not provide a date for the release and said the decision does not include Syrian extremists held by the SDF.

Abkhazia to Open Embassy in Damascus
Damascus- Asharq Al-Awsat/Tuesday, 6 October, 2020
Abkhazia and Damascus signed an agreement Monday on enhancing bilateral relations and on mutual exemption of visas for the citizens in both countries for bearers of diplomatic, official, and private passports. The announcement came during the visit of an Abkhazian delegation to Damascus, chaired by head of the Administration of the President Alkhas Kvitsinia and Foreign Minister Daur Vadimovich Kove, who will participate in the opening ceremony of the Abkhazian Embassy in Syria on October 6. Kvitsinia met Monday with President Bashar Assad, Prime Minister Husein Arnus, and Minister of Foreign Affairs Walid Moallem. The delegation conveyed greetings from President Aslan Bzhania and wishes for peace and prosperity to the people of Syria. Kvitsinia noted that the people of Abkhazia support to the people of Syria in their desire to protect the country from terrorism and to preserve its sovereignty and territorial integrity. The delegation’s meeting with Moallem tackled bilateral relations and means of enhancing them in different areas. Members of the Abkhazian delegation also expressed the importance of the historic decision by the two sides to establish diplomatic relations as a basis of cooperation in all fields, particularly in economy, trade, and investment. Syria recognized Georgia’s two Russian-occupied regions of Abkhazia and Tskhinvali as independent states back in 2018, a step which was condemned by the international community. Since the Russia-Georgia 2008 war, the regions have been recognized as independent states only by Russia, Venezuela, Nicaragua, Nauru, and Syria. The move came one day after Moallem received a copy of the credentials of Turki Mahmood al-Busaidi, the extraordinary and plenipotentiary Ambassador of Oman to Syria, to become the first Gulf ambassador who returns to Damascus since the war erupted in the country in 2011.

Syrian Victims of Chemical Attacks File Case With German Prosecutors
Asharq Al-Awsat/Tuesday, 6 October, 2020
Lawyers representing victims of chemical weapons attacks in Syria say they have filed criminal complaints with Germany's federal public prosecutor against Syrian officials they blame for the deaths of hundreds of civilians in rebel-held areas. Germany, which is home to 600,000 Syrians, has "universal jurisdiction" laws that allow it to prosecute people for crimes against humanity committed anywhere in the world. That offers a rare legal avenue for action against the government of President Bashar al-Assad. Attempts by Western powers to set up an international tribunal for Syria have been blocked by Russia and China at the UN Security Council. The Syrian government denies it has used chemical weapons against its own civilians. A spokesman for Germany's Public Prosecutor General (GBA) was not immediately available to confirm the complaint had been submitted. The complaints are based on what the lawyers say is the most comprehensive body of evidence so far on the use of substances such as sarin gas in Syria in Ghouta in 2013 and in Khan Sheikhoun four years later, which killed at least 1,400 people. They include testimonies from 17 survivors and 50 defectors with knowledge of the Syrian government's chemical weapons program or plans to carry out the two attacks, they say. "Prosecutors may ultimately determine they have sufficient evidence to issue arrest warrants for members of the Assad regime," said Steve Kostas, a lawyer with the Open Society Foundation's Justice Initiative, one of three organizations behind the complaints. "This would be a major step in the longer-term process to secure trials against Syrian officials."
GAS ATTACKS
A UN-commissioned investigation to identify those behind chemical weapons attacks in Syria concluded in 2016 that Syrian government forces had used chlorine and sarin gas. "It is a small step but it gives us hope that maybe one day we could see justice," said a volunteer medic who was injured while rescuing victims of the attack in Ghouta. "The world has started to forget about us and our complaints are a reminder that the world has a moral obligation to help put on trial people who used chemical weapons," added the women, who fled to Germany in 2015 and requested anonymity, citing safety fears. Syrian lawyers and victims of alleged torture are also pursuing cases against former Syrian military and security officials living in Germany and suspected of human rights violations. The first trial of suspected members of Assad's security services for crimes against humanity, including torture and sexual assault, started in a German court in April. The country's prosecutor general has also issued an international arrest warrant for the head of the Syrian Air Force Intelligence on charges of war crimes and crimes against humanity. The Assad government denies it tortures prisoners. "The significance of the complaints is to send a signal to the Syrian regime's main backers - Russia and Iran - that there can be no resolution to the conflict without accountability for crimes against civilians," said Mazen Darwish, director of the Syrian Centre for Media and Freedom of Expression.

Erdogan, Sarraj Discuss Resignation
Ankara - Saeed Abdul Razzak/Asharq Al-Awsat/Tuesday, 6 October, 2020
Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdogan met on Sunday with Libyan Prime Minister of the Government of National Accord Fayez al-Sarraj in Istanbul. During the meeting, Erdogan inquired about Sarraj’s decision to resign and relayed Ankara’s stance on the matter. The two also discussed ongoing Libyan political settlement talks. The meeting comes about two weeks after Sarraj announced his intentions to resign by the end of October, against the backdrop of the declaration of a ceasefire on August 21. Erdogan received Sarraj’s announcement with contempt, saying that Turkey did not feel comfortable with Sarraj's decision to step down. Turkish Presidential Spokesperson Ibrahim Kalin said that the GNA’s Presidential Council could be restructured. Kalin pointed out that Sarraj’s intention to resign from his post will take place at the end of October, adding that his resignation may be a reaction to some controversial issues in Libya. He also stated that Turkish-Libyan relations are not based on certain figures, in an oblique hint at Sarraj’s planned resignation, stressing Ankara’s support for the GNA, and its commitment to all military and security cooperation agreements signed between the two countries. The GNA, for its part, said the meeting took place with the participation of senior officials from both sides. It said the talks dealt with developments in Libya and included enhancing the prospects for joint cooperation with Turkey. Erdogan on Monday also discussed Libya with NATO Secretary-General Jens Stoltenberg. In other news, at least 25 Somali and Libyan soldiers were killed on Sunday in a clash over unspecified dispute in a military base located in the western Turkish city of Isparta. According to a report by the Somali Guardian, the incident follows rising tensions between Somali and Libyan soldiers who have recently received a commando training in Turkey and is the first deadly clash between the two sides since Turkey began offering military training to Libya and Somalia national armies.

Israel Strikes Hamas Sites in Gaza Following Rocket Attack
Asharq Al-Awsat/Tuesday, 6 October, 2020
An Israeli aircraft struck what the it claimed said was a Hamas military target in the southern Gaza Strip late Monday, shortly after a rocket was fired from Gaza into Israel. The rocket landed in an open area and did not cause any damage or injuries, however it broke a weeks-long lull in the area, The Associated Press (AP) reported. There was no immediate claim of responsibility for the rocket fire. But Israel holds Gaza's Hamas rulers responsible for all fire out of the territory and usually responds to rocket attacks with airstrikes on Hamas targets.
There were no reports of casualties from the Israeli airstrike. In the Israeli-occuped West Bank, meanwhile, the Israeli army said it opened fire at three Palestinian men who were throwing firebombs at troops near the settlement of Einav. It said one of the suspects was hit, while the two others managed to flee. According to AP, there were no further details on the condition of the man who was shot.

The Latest LCCC English analysis & editorials from miscellaneous sources published on October 06-07/2020

Erdogan's Turkey: Drunk on power
Emily Schrader/Jerusalem Post/October 06/2020
The raging conflict between Armenia and Azerbaijan over Nagorno-Karabakh has given Turkey another opportunity to expand its violent, imperialist tendencies under the iron fist of President Recep Erdogan.
In fact, the sudden outbreak of violence between Armenia and Azerbaijan is more than likely orchestrated in part by Turkey, given the current Turkish regime’s increasingly aggressive international policies. From Libya to Syria to Greece to Iraq to Azerbaijan, and yes, even to Israel, Turkey’s actions are far beyond acceptable by any standards of international law – or morality. As if the bloody civil war in Syria wasn’t complicated enough, Turkey took advantage of the chaos in Syria and took aggressive military action beginning as early as 2016, and continues until today, occupying parts of Syria in order to oppress the local Kurdish populations, claiming they were clearing “terrorist zones.”Multiple independent organizations reported that Turkey carried out ethnic cleansing and other war crimes against local minority populations. Despite this, international bodies and the United States did nothing to hold Turkey accountable. As frequently happens with human rights violators when they aren’t held accountable, Turkey’s aggression and war crimes haven’t stopped with Syria. Turkey has also begun to recruit local populations in Syria to fight foreign wars in Libya, another brewing violent conflict in which Turkey is meddling, and there also reports of Ankara recruiting Syrians to fight against Armenia as well. Most recently, Turkish involvement expanded to Azerbaijan, as Turkey is backing the violence against Armenia in Nagorno-Karabakh. Turkey has repeatedly bombed Kurdish areas in northern Iraq, and is regularly threatening Greece over maritime access to gas exploration. Its military invasion in Libya and enhanced ties with the war-torn nation have also led to increased tensions with Cyprus and Israel over the EastMed energy deal. Turkey has been on the literal warpath, and no one seems to be paying attention.
Meanwhile, Erdogan’s interests are expanding to Israel. Erdogan is a longtime supporter of the Muslim Brotherhood, and has routinely aligned himself with Muslim Brotherhood-supporting nations such as Qatar. He has provided support to Hamas terrorists repeatedly, including welcoming them to Turkey and even granting them citizenship. Within Turkey as well, Erdogan has brutally oppressed political dissidents and aided in the Islamization of historic sites, such as turning the Hagia Sophia into a mosque.
Unsurprisingly, in response to the United Arab Emirates and Bahraini peace deals, Turkey sided against the Arab world and publicly condemned peace, siding with some the world’s worst human-rights abusers: Iran, Qatar and Palestinian leaders. Despite being allies of Hamas, earlier this month, Erdogan shared a bizarre tweet glorifying Ottoman control over the city of Jerusalem that stated, “Jerusalem is ours,” and claiming the Ottomans “lived with the Palestinian people for centuries.” Ironic, considering the bloody history of the Ottomans in fighting against the local Arab population in order to control the city of Jerusalem.
Erdogan has made his foreign policy intentions crystal clear in recent years, and the international community would do well to heed the warning. Turkey is a bad-faith actor that has committed, and is committing, gross human rights violations – not only against its own population with censorship and oppression of journalists and dissidents, but in Syria, Libya and potentially Azerbaijan. While Israel’s position is extremely complex in dealing with Azerbaijan and Armenia, due to alliances against Iran, Israel too should be very careful in aligning itself with Azerbaijan (and as such, Turkey) in this conflict. We should not ignore Erdogan’s aggression. We must hold Turkey accountable and put an end to its meddling in the region.
*The writer is the CEO of Social Lite Creative LLC.

The Public's Right to Know about the President's Health vs. the President's Right to Medical Confidentiality
Alan M. Dershowitz/Gatestone Institute./October 06/2020
But there is a countervailing right which few in the media have written about. All Americans have the right to medical confidentiality. This right is assured by federal law, state law, medical ethics and the long traditions of the medical profession. What a patient tells his doctor, or what the doctor observes from the patient, are confidential, subject only to a few limited exceptions.
Among these exceptions is the obligation of doctors to report threats to other people, such as a highly contagious disease. It also includes the obligations of doctors and other professionals to report when they learn of abuse of or by the patient. There is no explicit exception for high ranking public officials, including the president.
All current White Houses leak like sieves. Staff members develop quid pro quo relationships with the media: in exchange for leaking information, the media promises to treat them well. That is the reality of contemporary journalism.
Perhaps the law should be changed and government doctors should have their first obligation to the public. But such a change would come with a high cost: presidents would not disclose to these government doctors information that they did not want to be made public. That might have a negative impact on their medical treatment.
The pubic has a right to know the details of the president's medical situation. But the president has the right to keep his medical information confidential. There is a conflict between these rights, even when they involve the president of the United States, who is a candidate for reelection. The reason the public has the right to know about the president's medical history is self-evident. He is the most powerful person in the world and he is seeking a second term. Voters are entitled to know the truth about his medical condition. No one would dispute that.
But there is a countervailing right which few in the media have written about. All Americans have the right to medical confidentiality. This right is assured by federal law, state law, medical ethics and the long traditions of the medical profession. What a patient tells his doctor, or what the doctor observes from the patient, are confidential, subject only to a few limited exceptions. Among these exceptions is the obligation of doctors to report threats to other people, such as a highly contagious disease. It also includes the obligations of doctors and other professionals to report when they learn of abuse of or by the patient. There is no explicit exception for high ranking public officials, including the president.
Most, but not all presidents, have disclosed their medical conditions. Among those who were not fully candid were Grover Cleveland, Woodrow Wilson, Franklin Delano Roosevelt, John F. Kennedy and Richard Nixon. But during those times, the media was not as persistent, and leaks were not as common. Moreover, the media cooperated, particularly with popular presidents, such as John F. Kennedy, in keeping his medical secrets from the public.
Today there are few, if any, secrets. All current White Houses leak like sieves. Staff members develop quid pro quo relationships with the media: in exchange for leaking information, the media promises to treat them well. That is the reality of contemporary journalism.
The law does not currently have an exception to confidentiality by government doctors. All presidents have their own private doctors, but they are also treated by White House doctors who are paid by the government. Although these doctors are employees of the government, their obligation of confidentiality to the patient is as compulsory as it is for private doctors. Perhaps the law should be changed and government doctors should have their first obligation to the public. But such a change would come with a high cost: presidents would not disclose to these government doctors information that they did not want to be made public. That might have a negative impact on their medical treatment.
We know from experience that whenever the law compels disclosure of medical information -- as in child abuse cases -- patients become increasingly reluctant to confide in doctors who are obligated to disclose their secrets. When it comes to balancing privacy and disclosure, there are no free lunches. The obligation to publicly disclose carries the cost of less private disclosure to the doctor. That is simply the reality.
One conclusion that is beyond any dispute is that no doctor has the right to deliberately and willfully mislead the public, even if his patient tells him to. I am not accusing any doctor of doing that in this case. But the rules of the profession are clear: a doctor can refuse to disclose based on patient confidentiality; or a doctor can disclose with the consent of the patient; but a doctor cannot lie to the public even if the patient demands that he do so.
This is a complex area of medical ethics, law and public policy. It requires nuanced solutions that serve both the short-term public interest and the long-term need to maintain medical confidentiality. These issues should be discussed in a non-partisan, non–ideological and non-political manner.
*Alan M. Dershowitz is the Felix Frankfurter Professor of Law, Emeritus at Harvard Law School and author of the book, Guilt by Accusation: The Challenge of Proving Innocence in the Age of #MeToo, Skyhorse Publishing, 2019. His new podcast, "The Dershow," can be seen on Spotify, Apple and YouTube. He is the Jack Roth Charitable Foundation Fellow at Gatestone Institute.
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.

CIA Director Gina Haspel and the British Role in the Anti-Trump Plot
Chris Farrell/Gatestone Institute/October 6, 2020
In the next paragraph, [Washington Post reporter Shane] Harris notes breathlessly: "... Trump has accused the United Kingdom of conspiring with American intelligence to spy on his presidential campaign."
President Trump certainly has made that claim, and one believes for very good reasons that seem to compound weekly.
Having the British run an aggressive intelligence collection operation against Team Trump targets, bypassing US legal prohibitions, and then laundering the intelligence "take" back to US officials via the UK-US liaison relationship is precisely something an "honorary UK desk officer" might be good and adept at accomplishing. Certainly, these subjects and questions deserve closer examination, without the phony prophylactic defense of grave warnings about "sources and methods."
CIA Director Gina Haspel can answer all of those questions, and she does not even have to touch upon classified information to do so. The American public is due her answers.
It appears CIA Director Gina Haspel (while serving as London Chief of Station from 2014 to early 2017) was an active, knowledgeable party to the efforts to target candidate Trump with an FBI-instigated foreign counterintelligence operation. Pictured: Haspel is sworn in before the Senate Intelligence Committee during her confirmation hearing to become the CIA director, on May 9, 2018 in Washington, DC. (Photo by Chip Somodevilla/Getty Images)
We have raised and discussed serious matters of fact and questions about the role of CIA Director Gina Haspel in the Anti-Trump conspiracy. It appears Haspel (while serving as London Chief of Station from 2014 to early 2017) was an active, knowledgeable party to the efforts to target candidate Trump with an FBI-instigated foreign counterintelligence operation. That seditious conspiracy carried forward to a more sophisticated and aggressive plan to carry out a soft coup against President Donald J. Trump.
Looking back on news reporting concerning Haspel, we turn (with caution) to a Washington Post article from July 2019 by Shane Harris, titled: "The quiet director: How Gina Haspel manages the CIA's volatile relationship with Trump". We are supposed to believe that Haspel and her office did not cooperate with the reporter for the article. Harris disclaims Haspel involvement by writing:
"This report is based on interviews with 26 current and former officials who have worked with Haspel in the United States, particularly when she served in senior management roles at headquarters, and in London, where Haspel served two tours as the CIA's top representative — chief of station — a plum post that is usually the steppingstone to the agency's highest ranks."
No Washington Post article in the last decade has contained such a scrupulous sourcing statement. Of course, Haspel had nothing to do with the article. Remember that, won't you?
Haspel, twice-over Chief of Station in London, had close connections with the British intelligence and security services. Given the nature of the "special relationship" between the two countries, that is hardly surprising. Harris's interviews of British intelligence officers take things a step further, however:
"... what she lacked in after-hours sociability she made up for with deep professional ties to the upper echelon of the British security establishment. 'She had access to anyone in our service,' the former British intelligence official said."
Harris goes on to explain:
"Haspel has become the CIA's linchpin to the Secret Intelligence Service, or MI6, its most important foreign partner. Her British colleagues say that she knows them so well — warts and all — that they call her the 'honorary U.K. desk officer.'"
In the next paragraph, Harris notes breathlessly:
"... Trump has accused the United Kingdom of conspiring with American intelligence to spy on his presidential campaign."
President Trump certainly has made that claim, and one believes for very good reasons that seem to compound weekly. Reasons that make the "intelligence community" and 95% of "official Washington" extremely nervous. It is the sort of statement that presidential aides and counsels look nervous about, wring their hands and respectfully, earnestly plead: "But Mr. President, you just can't say that sort of thing!" Truth be damned.
Concurrent with the FBI's anti-Trump foreign counterintelligence operation, launched from the United Kingdom (with Haspel's affirmative "coordination"), keep in mind that the UK's version of the National Security Agency -- the Government Communications Headquarters (GCHQ) -- was engaged in an aggressive Signals Intelligence campaign later codified in UK law as the Investigatory Powers Act (and referred to colloquially as the "Snoopers' Charter"). Having the British run an aggressive intelligence collection operation against Team Trump targets, bypassing US legal prohibitions, and then laundering the intelligence "take" back to US officials via the UK-US liaison relationship is precisely something an "honorary UK desk officer" might be good and adept at accomplishing.
Certainly, these subjects and questions deserve closer examination, without the phony prophylactic defense of grave warnings about "sources and methods." No one examining the coup against President Trump is seriously interested in the precise technical collection techniques of GCHQ -- they just want to know if the Brits were involved in an attempt to subvert a presidential campaign and then overturn the results of an election. CIA Director Gina Haspel can answer all of those questions, and she does not even have to touch upon classified information to do so. The American public is due her answers.
*Chris Farrell is a former counterintelligence case officer. For the past 20 years, he has served as the Director of Investigations & Research for Judicial Watch. The views expressed are the author's alone, and not necessarily those of Judicial Watch.
© 2020 Gatestone Institute. All rights reserved. The articles printed here do not necessarily reflect the views of the Editors or of Gatestone Institute. No part of the Gatestone website or any of its contents may be reproduced, copied or modified, without the prior written consent of Gatestone Institute.

White House Deceptions Don’t Help Trump
Jonathan Bernstein/Bloomberg/October, 06/2020
My immediate reaction to President Donald Trump’s Covid-19 diagnosis on Thursday was to urge the administration to practice full disclosure and avoid factual mistakes. The Washington Post’s Karen Tumulty had the same response, writing: “Starting right now, Americans must demand briefings from the medical personnel — presumably military doctors — treating the president. The medical team should make public the specifics of Trump’s symptoms, test results, vital signs and his treatment regimen.”
One very long weekend later, that obviously hasn’t happened. Instead, we’ve learned that Trump’s first instinct was to try to cover up his illness. It seems quite plausible that had Bloomberg’s Jennifer Jacobs not broken the news that senior adviser Hope Hicks had tested positive, and had Trump’s case proved relatively mild, the public might never have learned of it. Since then, we’ve had a series of statements that had to be walked back, reversed or significantly revised. Several basic questions still haven’t been answered.
The consequences were predictable. Instead of press coverage focused on the world’s concern about the president and wishes for his rapid recovery, we have headlines like: “Trump’s Doctor Delivers Confusion” and “confusion continues over his health” and “Trump Recuperates Amid Questions About His Health and Campaign.”
In other words, no one knows if Trump’s condition is as good as the administration says or a great deal worse. Since neither Dr. Sean Conley nor the White House staff nor Trump himself can be trusted to disclose the truth, they’ve lost the ability to frame the story in a sympathetic way. That means that not only will reporters keep pushing on all the unanswered questions, but they’re also not going to take further statements at face value.
It doesn’t help when Trump stages photos of himself “working” by signing blank sheets of paper, or goes on a ride outside the hospital that practically every doctor and other expert thinks was reckless and irresponsible. It also doesn’t help when he records video addresses to the nation that make no mention of the millions of others who have been sick or died, or that he seems far more focused on the election than on governing.
It’s true that a president falling ill is always going to be a tough story for the White House, particularly a month from Election Day. And even if staffers had been entirely honest and open, there were going to be questions about Trump’s obvious failure to follow safety protocols, and about how his case symbolized the various ways that the administration has botched the pandemic. But the White House has managed to turn a story that might’ve elicited some favorable coverage (and did elicit warm words from many who oppose the president, from Joe Biden on down) into a story about the usual Trump administration falsehoods.

Turkey’s rising role as a regional disrupter
Osama Al-Sharif/Arab News/October 06/2020
With Turkey’s latest intervention in the Armenia-Azerbaijan conflict, President Recep Tayyip Erdogan is extending his country’s foreign adventures from the Caucasus to North Africa, raising questions about Ankara’s controversial role as a major regional disrupter. Erdogan’s populist approach to regional crises reflects a desire to reshape Turkey’s place in the international arena. But what is it exactly that he wants to achieve?
In a speech last week, he complained about the failures of the post-Second World War order, just as he had before about Turkey’s grievances following the First World War, which restricted his country’s maritime access in the Aegean. In his words: “There is no chance left for this distorted order, in which the entire globe is encumbered by a handful of greedy people, to continue to exist the way it currently does.” In almost all of his speeches, Erdogan underlines the so-called Turkish exceptionalism while portraying the country as a victim.
Pundits have talked about Erdogan’s obsession with reviving Turkey’s Ottoman past. His foreign adventures betray a desire to reshape the region’s geopolitical status under an emerging, militarized Turkey. Even as he sides with Azerbaijan over the Nagorno-Karabakh dispute, he does so out of a superior approach as the titular head of the Turkic peoples, egging Azeri President Ilham Aliyev not to accept an unconditional cease-fire. By sending Syrian mercenaries and weapons to Azerbaijan — an allegation denied by Aliyev — Erdogan is demonstrating how he views the region and its people: Former Ottoman territories and subjects that he can manipulate.
His unconventional approach to regional conflicts has put Turkey in a unique, albeit difficult, position. Despite being a major NATO member, he has built a shaky alliance with Russia’s Vladimir Putin, as well as with Iran over Syria, where his ultimate objectives remain vague and suspicious. Against US warnings, he has obtained the Russian S-400 air defense system, thus forcing Washington to cancel its F-35 fighter jet deal with Ankara and impose sanctions.
While being an ally of Moscow in Syria, Erdogan has taken the side of the Government of National Accord (GNA) in Libya as Putin backs the Libyan National Army of Khalifa Haftar. His support for the GNA has gone beyond diplomatic backing: He has violated UN resolutions by sending weapons and mercenaries to support Tripoli’s fragile government. Erdogan also signed a controversial maritime deal with GNA Prime Minister Fayez Al-Sarraj that encroaches on Greece’s territorial sovereignty. Top aides have described Libya as a former Ottoman territory and have pledged never to leave.
In the ongoing intra-Libyan peace discussions, the main stumbling block is the removal of all foreign players. Ankara’s position on this crucial issue is vague and the risks of the talks collapsing because of this are high.
In Syria’s Idlib, Turkey continues to provide support to extremist groups, while Erdogan has pledged that Turkey will wipe out the groups it deems to be terrorist — i.e., the Syrian Kurds — if others fail to keep their promises. Turkey has become part of the problem that is preventing a political solution to the nine-year-old Syrian conflict. It has been accused of transferring Syrian refugees to populate abandoned Syrian Kurdish towns in the north of the country. In both Syria and Libya, Erdogan’s kinship to the Muslim Brotherhood has been a key ideological factor in charting his policy.
Last week, the EU threatened Turkey with sanctions over its dispute with Greece in the eastern Mediterranean. Relations between Ankara and the EU, particularly France, have been tense over Syria, Libya and now Greece. After weeks of heightened tensions, Turkey agreed to recall an exploration vessel from the Aegean and begin talks with Athens. Turkey’s grievances over maritime borders may be reasonable, but its maverick style of violating Greek and Cypriot waters does not help its case.
Today, Ankara is involved in active disputes with all of its neighbors and beyond. Erdogan’s foreign adventures have hurt the Turkish economy and reversed much of its gains. His popularity at home has been dented. The main question remains: What does Erdogan really want? His alliances with Moscow and Tehran are temporary, as the agendas of these countries intersect with his at times and contrast at others. Turkey’s policies have polarized the Sunni world and isolated it from its neighbors. Now Erdogan finds himself on the opposite side to Putin over Nagorno-Karabakh, while their agreement in northern Syria faces collapse.
Erdogan is demonstrating how he views the region and its people: Former Ottoman territories and subjects that he can manipulate.
With all these conflicts, which reflect badly on Turkey’s economy, currency and human rights, Erdogan is overreaching and he may soon find himself facing multiple foreign policy challenges. It is ironic that, in the course of the past few years, he has failed to respond to calls for, or even suggest, peaceful engagement. Syria’s Kurdish minority is not the issue, but Turkey’s Kurds are. He has squandered multiple opportunities to fix this problem peacefully.
In the end, while complaining about a distorted world order, Erdogan has become a major disrupting force in that very same order.
*Osama Al-Sharif is a journalist and political commentator based in Amman. Twitter: @plato010

Even with new peace deals, Iraq seems a long way from normalizing ties with Israel
Hussain Abdul-Hussain/Al Arabiya/Monday 05 October 2020
Before the biggest Jewish population in the Middle East lived in Israel, it lived in Iraq where its roots go as far back as the Neo-Babylonian dynasty that ended in 539 BCE. If there is any Arab country that a majority of Israelis feels connected to, it would be Iraq. Yet, thanks to the rule of socialist Arab Baathism, followed by the dominance of Iran’s equally authoritarian political Islam, Iraq now seems far away from peace and normalization with Israel.
Compounding the problem is Iraq’s failing state. An Iraqi government that cannot secure the safety of diplomatic missions in Baghdad is not really in charge, and cannot be expected to deliver on any peace treaty that it might sign with Israel, or any other treaty for that matter.
But to give the cabinet of Mustapha al-Kadhimi credit where credit is due, it should be noted that when asked to comment on Emirati-Israeli peace, the Iraqi prime minister said that peace between any Arab country and Israel was a sovereign issue, and that it was up to the Emiratis to decide how to handle its relations with Israel.
Prime Minister Mustapha Al-Kadhimi’s statement reflected growing awareness in Iraq and Lebanon that national interests trump old tired pan-Arabist slogans about Palestine. At the virtual Arab League meeting on Sept. 9, when the Palestinian delegation tabled a motion to denounce the UAE and any other member state that might sign peace with Israel, both the Iraqis and the Lebanese abstained.
Beirut understood that anti-peace populism, as dictated by the Iranian regime, could wait. The UAE houses one of the biggest Lebanese expat communities in the world. Despite slowing heavily, expat remittances is the only lifeline left for Lebanon’s free falling economy.
Weeks later, Lebanon put its interests ahead of Iranian dictates and empty slogans and agreed to talk to Israel to delineate shared borders. Lebanon hopes to produce gas from border areas on a scale big enough to generate foreign currency revenue that can replenish its overdrawn treasury. However, so far, offshore exploration missions have found no gas.
So while signs that the Lebanese are crawling from underneath the Iranian thumb and taking some baby steps on the Israeli issue that are in their national interests, Iraqis have yet to show such awareness. Granted that Al-Kadhimi’s statement on UAE’s sovereign decision and his vote at the Arab League indicate some savviness, yet the Iraqi political establishment remains far from coming to terms with the idea of peace with Israel.
Right after the downfall of the Saddam Hussein regime in 2003, a Shia mob in Baghdad hurled stones on Palestinian refugees, that numbered some 5,000, forcing them to take shelter at a UN camp on the border with Jordan. A majority of the Shia hated late president Hussein and perceived many Palestinians as working as his enablers, hence the Palestine cause never won traction with these Iraqis. But years of Iranian domination shifted the needle, even if Iran’s Iraqi puppets cannot argue their case against peace with Israel.
Qais al-Khazaali, the head of pro-Iran militia Asa’ib Ahl al-Haq, once commented that peace with Zionists means spreading of homosexuality inside Iraq. Other pro-Tehran Iraqi politicians have expressed similar nonsense.
On the other side of the Iraqi political spectrum are Sunni loyalists of Saddam, who styled himself as Saladin, the conqueror of Crusader Jerusalem. In the 1980s, Saddam’s inspiration and uncle, Khairallah Talfah, printed a book in which he argued that three are not worth living: the Jews, the Persians and flies. Talfah was clearly impressed by Nazi propaganda among the Arabs, propaganda that eventually led to Jewish exodus from Iraq.
Unlike how Lebanon and Israel share disputed borders and fought decades of bloody wars, Iraq shares nothing with Israel and does not house Palestinian refugees. In their history, Iraq and Israel clashed only twice, when Tel Aviv bombed Iraq’s nuclear reactor, and ten years later when Saddam fired 39 Scud missiles on Tel Aviv, which resulted in no casualties. Eventually, Hussein agreed to pay Israel $74 million in compensation. The money was taken out of Iraq’s oil-for-food UN program.
Iraq says ‘not happy’ with ‘dangerous’ threat by Washington to pull out troops
Aware of the thin history of aggression between the two, former lawmaker Mithal al-Alusi has been the most outspoken politician openly calling for peace with Israel. After al-Alusi visited Israel in 2005, his two sons were murdered, either by pro-Iran or Baathist militias.
But the mood in Iraq is against both: Shia militias and Sunni ISIS, many of whose leaders are holdouts from Saddam’s regime. The tens of thousands of Iraqis who took to the streets last October are citizens with awareness of benefit and cost, and realize that peace in general, probably including with Israel, means more trade, jobs and opportunity.
Like all other issues in Iraq that depend on restoring state sovereignty and the elimination of ISIS and the pro-Iran militias, Iraqi peace with Israel is incumbent on Iraq ridding itself of Iran’s dominance and becoming, once again, a normal state.