LCCC ENGLISH DAILY NEWS BULLETIN
October 29/2019
Compiled & Prepared by: Elias Bejjani
The Bulletin's Link on the lccc Site
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Bible Quotations For today
Owe no one anything, except to love one another; for the
one who loves another has fulfilled the law
Letter to the Romans 13/08-14/:”Owe no one anything, except to love one another;
for the one who loves another has fulfilled the law. The commandments, ‘You
shall not commit adultery; You shall not murder; You shall not steal; You shall
not covet’; and any other commandment, are summed up in this word, ‘Love your
neighbour as yourself.’Love does no wrong to a neighbour; therefore, love is the
fulfilling of the law. Besides this, you know what time it is, how it is now the
moment for you to wake from sleep. For salvation is nearer to us now than when
we became believers; the night is far gone, the day is near. Let us then lay
aside the works of darkness and put on the armour of light; let us live
honourably as in the day, not in revelling and drunkenness, not in debauchery
and licentiousness, not in quarrelling and jealousy. Instead, put on the Lord
Jesus Christ, and make no provision for the flesh, to gratify its desires.”
Titles For The Latest English LCCC Lebanese & Lebanese
Related News published on October 28-29/2019
IMF Stresses Urgency of Reforms in Lebanon to Restore Economic Stability
Salameh Denies Warning of Collapse within Days but Urges Quick 'Solution'
Lebanese army arrests several protesters in Sidon as roadblocks continue
Lebanon Protesters Block Roads to Press their Demands
Lebanon Protesters Block Roads to Keep Revolt Alive
Lebanese Protesters Get Creative as They Block Roads
Report: Security Forces Share Plan to Reopen Blocked Roads as Protests Continue
Hariri Refutes Claims on Gulf Funding of Protests
Resignations Ravage Strong Lebanon Parliamentary Bloc
Italy's Churches, Pope Francis Rally Anti-corruption Protests in Lebanon
Hariri Chairs Ministerial Meeting on General Amnesty Law
Banks Association Reassures on Public Sector Salaries, ATM Operations
Strong Lebanon Bloc Meets Berri as Members Lift Bank Secrecy
Kataeb Party chief MP Sami GemayelSays Only Neutral Govt. Can Restore Confidence
Kouyoumjian Says Authority Must Listen to People’s Demand
Unemployment Fuels Unrest in Arab States, Says IMF
Lebanon’s Wild ‘WhatsApp’ Revolution Challenges Hezbollah and the Old Elites
Titles For The Latest English LCCC Miscellaneous Reports
And News published on October 28-29/2019
Remains of Daesh leader Al-Baghdadi buried at sea/Al-Baghdadi was buried at sea
with the appropriate religious rites
Pentagon: US detained two men during al-Baghdadi raid
US President Trump says he may release partial video of al-Baghdadi raid
Over 500 US soldiers, military equipment arrives in northern Syria base: Monitor
Iraqi minister of defense says a missile fell near Taji camp causing no damage
SDF say al-Baghdadi’s underpants were DNA tested before raid
Iraqi cleric al-Sadr calls for early election
Iraqi military declares curfew in Baghdad: State TV
Iraqi parliament votes to revoke privileges for senior politicians amid protests
Five protesters killed in Iraq’s capital: Rights commission
UN envoy to meet Turkey, Iran, and Russia foreign ministers in Geneva
Turkey detains 20 foreigners seen tied to ISIS: Anadolu
French academic held in Iran accused of ‘collusion’: Lawyer
Titles For The Latest LCCC English analysis & editorials from miscellaneous
sources published on October 28-29/2019
Lebanon’s Wild ‘WhatsApp’ Revolution
Challenges Hezbollah and the Old Elites/Jesse Rosenfeld/The Daily Beast/October
28/2019
Daesh leader’s death changes nothing/Chris Doyle//Arab News/October 28, 2019
Modi’s visit ushers in a new era of strategic partnership/Dr. Ausaf Sayeed/Arab
News/October 28, 2019
Consensus on oil price is that it remains range-bound/Cornelia Meyer/Arab
News/October 28/2019
The US: Between being the world’s policeman and trusting regional
partners/Ambassador Dennis Ross/Al Arabiya/October 28/2019
EU Supports Iran - World's Leading Executioner of Children/Majid Rafizadeh/Gatestone
Institute/October 28/2019
Italy: Mass Legalization of Migrants is Suicidal/Giulio Meotti/Gatestone
Institute/October 28/2019
The Latest English LCCC Lebanese & Lebanese Related News
published
on October 28-29/2019
IMF Stresses Urgency of Reforms in Lebanon
to Restore Economic Stability
Reuters/Monday 28th October 2019
The International Monetary Fund (IMF) said it is assessing an emergency reform
package announced by Lebanon’s government last week and stressed reforms should
be implemented urgently given the country’s high debt levels and fiscal
deficits. Lebanon has been swept by over 10 days of protests against a political
class accused of corruption, mismanagement of state finances and pushing the
country toward an economic collapse unseen since the 1975-90 civil war. Last
week the government unveiled a set of measures aimed partly at appeasing
demonstrators and convincing foreign donors it can slash next year’s budget
deficit. But the emergency reform package failed to persuade demonstrators to
leave the streets or investors to halt a plunge in its bonds. “We’re studying
it, we need to see not only what is in the package but also the timeline of the
package for a country like Lebanon that has such high level of debt over GDP
(gross domestic product) and high levels of twin deficits,” Jihad Azour,
director of the IMF’s Middle East and Central Asia Department told
Reuters.Lebanon has one of the world’s highest levels of government debt as a
share of economic output. The IMF has forecast a fiscal deficit of 9.8% of GDP
this year and 11.5% next year. Prime Minister Saad al-Hariri said the emergency
measures introduced last week – which included the symbolic halving of the
salaries of ministers and lawmakers – might not meet the protesters’ demands but
were a start towards achieving some of them. “Fundamental reforms are urgently
needed in Lebanon in order to restore macro-economic stability, bring confidence
back, stimulate growth and provide some solutions to the issues that were raised
by the street,” IMF’s Azour said. The Lebanese government is planning to
accelerate a long-delayed reform of the state-run power sector, which drains $2
billion from the treasury per year while failing to deliver enough power for
Lebanese. Azour said that to restore confidence in the economy some of the
long-awaited reforms in the energy and telecom sectors must be “clearly
implemented with a very articulate timetable.”
He said the fund was in regular discussions with the Lebanese authorities but
that they had not asked the IMF to provide program funding.
Salameh Denies Warning of Collapse within Days but Urges
Quick 'Solution'
Agence France Presse/Naharnet/October 28/2019
Central Bank Governor Riad Salameh on Monday denied telling CNN that Lebanon’s
economy will collapse in a matter of days if the protests continue while noting
that a “solution” to the crisis is needed within days in order to restore
confidence and avoid a collapse. Salameh noted that a CNN headline did not
accurately reflect what he said in an interview with the TV network. “I am not
saying that we are going to have a collapse in a matter of days. I am saying we
need to have a solution in a matter of days to regain confidence and avoid
collapse in the future,” Salameh clarified. In the interview with CNN broadcast
Monday, the governor was asked how much longer the country could avert economic
collapse, given its dwindling foreign reserves. "It's a matter of days, because
the cost is heavy on the country, but more important, we're losing every day
confidence," Salameh said. "Finance and economy, it's all about confidence."
Long before the protests began, Lebanon's economy was already suffering from a
massive budget deficit and rising unemployment. Its debt ratio of $86 billion is
one of the highest in the world, accounting for more than 150% of its gross
domestic product.
The protesters blame the economic crisis on political leaders from various
religious sects and factions who have dominated the country since the civil war.
They say the sectarian power-sharing arrangement that ended the war has spawned
networks of corruption, patronage and nepotism that have depleted the treasury
and gutted public services. Thirty years after the end of the war, power outages
are still frequent, the water supply is unreliable and trash goes uncollected in
many areas.
Lebanese army arrests several protesters in Sidon as
roadblocks continue
Staff writer, Al Arabiya English/Monday, 28 October 2019
Lebanon’s army has arrested several protesters in Sidon on Monday, Al Arabiya’s
correspondent reported, as they used their bodies to block main roads in the
southern city. The exact number of those arrested is unknown.
The roadblocks prompted some pushback from army forces leading to two injuries,
according to the Red Cross. They reported that the two injured were treated and
released. Lebanese demonstrators set up barricades and parked cars across key
roads to protest corruption and press their demands for a radical overhaul of
their country’s sectarian political system. Meanwhile, Lebanese Defense Minister
Elias Bousaab told OTV on Monday that the army is on the roads but does not open
roadblocks by force to avoid any clashes with citizens. “Those who incite
clashes and tension should bear their responsibility,” Bousaab said. “We must
address the situation of road closures quickly, making sure that the army does
not clash with the citizens and we will have a meeting soon to this end,” he
added. On their 12th day of protesting, demonstrators called on people to block
main roads with their cars. Al Arabiya’s correspondent reported that members of
the Lebanese army attempted to urge car owners to remove their cars. According
to the Hezbollah-affiliated al-Manar TV, protesters closed off the municipality
buildings of Tripoli and el-Mina, as well as the water authority in north
Lebanon. Meanwhile, the Association of Banks in Lebanon announced the closure of
banks on Monday, as protests continue across the country. The move comes amid
fears of a huge demand for the US dollar, or a large withdrawal of deposits
abroad, and the deterioration of the lira exchange rate against the dollar. For
12 consecutive days, protests have been sweeping Lebanon against a political
elite accused of corruption, mismanagement of state funds and leading the
country to an economic collapse not seen in Lebanon since the 1975-1990 civil
war. Banks, schools and many businesses remain closed.
Lebanon Protesters Block Roads to Press their Demands
Asharq Al-Awsat/Monday, 28 October, 2019
Lebanese demonstrators set up barricades and parked cars across key roads Monday
to protest corruption and press their demands for the resignation of Prime
Minister Saad Hariri’s government. Defying pleas from Lebanon's top leaders,
protesters sought to keep the country paralyzed by cutting off some of the main
thoroughfares, including the main north-south highway. A poster urging motorists
to block roads with their cars started circulating on social media on Sunday. By
Monday morning, some major routes were closed off by hundreds of angle-parked
vehicles, others by groups of protesters sitting on the road. The Lebanese
security forces had been expected to make a new attempt at reopening the roads
as the country faced more paralysis after 11 days of protests. The army and the
country's top security agencies agreed during talks held at the defense ministry
in Yarze on Sunday to a military-led plan to clear roadblocks, but their efforts
have been met with resistance from demonstrators. Lebanese soldiers forcibly
removed anti-government protesters from a highway linking the southern city of
Sidon to the capital, Beirut, and briefly detained around a dozen of them. No
weapons were used and there were no reports of serious injuries from the
confrontation early on Monday. The unprecedented mobilization was sparked a
proposed tax on voice calls via messaging apps, but quickly morphed into a
massive grassroots push to drive out the ruling class which has remained
virtually unchanged in three decades. The protesters are demanding the
government's resignation, more freedom, better services and an end to corruption
and sectarianism, among other things. Banks, schools and universities remained
closed Monday.
Lebanon Protesters Block Roads to Keep Revolt Alive
Agence France Presse/Naharnet/October 28/2019
Anti-government demonstrators set up barricades and parked cars across key roads
Monday to protest corruption and press their demands for a radical overhaul of
the country's sectarian political system. Defying pleas from Lebanon's top
leaders, protesters sought to keep the country on lockdown for a 12th
consecutive day by cutting off some of the main thoroughfares, including the
main north-south highway. The protesters are demanding better services and an
end to corruption and sectarian politics, among other things. Their
unprecedented mobilization -- sparked by a proposed tax on voice calls via
messaging apps on October 17 -- has quickly morphed into a massive grassroots
push to drive out a political elite which has remained virtually unchanged in
three decades. Lebanon's political leaders have appeared shell-shocked, trying
simultaneously to express sympathy for the protest movement while warning of
chaos in the case of a power vacuum."If the corrupt ruling class doesn't feel
like the country is crippled we will not see any results," said 21-year-old Ali
who was among a group of demonstrators blocking a key road in the capital on
Monday morning.
- Couches & footballs -
A poster urging motorists to block roads with their cars started circulating on
social media on Sunday night. By the next day, some major routes were closed off
by hundreds of angle-parked vehicles, others by groups of protesters sitting on
the road. Schools and banks have been closed for more than a week.
Security forces had been expected to make a new attempt at reopening the roads
as the country faced more paralysis. The army and the country's top security
agencies had agreed at the weekend to a military-led plan to clear roadblocks,
but their efforts have been met with resistance from demonstrators.
In the southern city of Sidon, the army scuffled with protesters blocking the
city's northern entrance on Monday morning, injuring three and making arrests.
The protesters were freed in the evening. In Beirut, activists converted the
Ring highway -- a main artery in the center of the city -- into an open-air
living room, furnished with couches and rugs. They shot footballs across streets
which on a regular Monday would have been jammed with motorists streaming in
from Beirut's northern suburbs. Most residents have backed road closures, and
business owners on Sunday night called for a general strike in solidarity, but
political officials and flustered motorists have in recent days accused
demonstrators of robbing people of their livelihoods.
No going back
"We are not closing all the roads. There are always side roads people can use,"
said Yusra, a 16-year-old in central Beirut. "We don't want to stand against the
people but we also don't want to go back to the way things were before the
revolution," she told AFP. So far, the unprecedented protest movement has been
relatively incident-free, despite tensions with the armed forces and attempts by
party loyalists to stage counter-demonstrations. In one of the most serious
incidents, the army opened fire on Friday to confront a group of protesters
blocking a road in the northern city of Tripoli, wounding at least six people.
The army said it was forced to fire in the air after troops were pelted with
stones in the wake of a clash between road-blocking protesters and passersby.
On Sunday, tens of thousands of protesters joined hands nationwide to form a
170-kilometer (105-mile) human chain stretching from Tripoli to Tyre in the
south. The event drew Lebanese of all ages and backgrounds, many of them draped
in the national cedar flag. Organizers said the event symbolized a national
civic identity that has emerged since the start of the protests on October
17.The rallies have been remarkable for their territorial reach and the absence
of political or sectarian banners, in a country often defined by its
divisions.The leaderless protest movement is driven mostly by a young generation
of men and women born after the 1975-1990 civil war. Lebanon's reviled political
elite has defended a belated package of economic reforms and appeared willing to
reshuffle the government, but protesters have stayed on the streets.
More than a quarter of Lebanon's population lives in poverty, according to the
World Bank.
Lebanese Protesters Get Creative as They Block Roads
Associated Press/Naharnet/October 28/2019
On a main thoroughfare in Beirut on Monday, Lebanese protesters set up a living
room with an area rug, a couch and a refrigerator. On another, they held a
morning yoga class. And on a third road, a band with an accordion player sang
one of the newest slogans of Lebanon's anti-government protests.
"Hela, hela, hela ho, the road is closed, sweetie," the song went — a reflection
of how the protesters have grown more creative as they have blocked roads as
part of massive anti-government demonstrations underway for the last 12 days.
The protests are directed at the political elites who have dominated the country
since its 1975-1990 war, and who many accuse of corruption and economic
mismanagement. "We are all tired, and we understand that people want to get back
to their work, but we cannot stop now," said Dina Yaziji, who joined the
protests because, like many young Lebanese, she cannot find employment. "We
won't stop until the regime steps down. If anyone has a problem with us let them
speak to (President) Michel Aoun and ask him to step down. Then we'll go
home."In many locations, demonstrators have sat or lain in the streets in a form
of civil disobedience, forcing security forces to drag them away by their arms
and legs. In others, they have blocked routes with overturned dumpsters and
burned tires, sending black smoke up into the air. Protesters set fires to block
the airport road in Beirut early Monday before Lebanese troops in armored
personnel carriers arrived to clear the route.
Lebanese soldiers removed protesters from a highway linking the southern city of
Sidon to the capital, Beirut, and briefly detained around a dozen of them. No
weapons were used and there were no reports of serious injuries from the
confrontation. The protests have paralyzed the country but have been largely
peaceful, with security forces exercising restraint. There have been few reports
of arrests or serious injuries since the demonstrations began, and security
forces have stood by during mass rallies held in public squares. On Sunday,
thousands of protesters formed a human chain stretching along major highways in
and around Beirut. Schools, banks and most businesses remained closed Monday,
raising concerns that many Lebanese would not be able to receive their salaries
at the end of the month. There are also fears of a run on the banks that could
further deplete the country's limited supply of foreign currency, potentially
affecting its ability to import wheat, fuel and medicine. Long before the
protests began, Lebanon's economy was already suffering from a massive budget
deficit and rising unemployment. Its debt ratio of $86 billion is one of the
highest in the world, accounting for more than 150% of its gross domestic
product.
The protesters blame the economic crisis on political leaders from various
religious sects and factions who have dominated the country since the civil war.
They say the sectarian power-sharing arrangement that ended the war has spawned
networks of corruption, patronage and nepotism that have depleted the treasury
and gutted public services. Thirty years after the end of the war, power outages
are still frequent, the water supply is unreliable and trash goes uncollected in
many areas.
Report: Security Forces Share Plan to Reopen Blocked Roads as Protests Continue
Associated Press/Naharnet/October 28/2019
The security forces reportedly postponed until Monday a plan set to reopen major
roads and highways blocked by protesters “due to last minute complications,” al-Joumhouria
daily reported on Monday. The daily said the plan implementation was supposed to
take place Sunday at dawn. On Saturday, a security meeting took place at the
army headquarters which included, together with its commander, General Joseph
Aoun, all the leaders of the security and military services. The meeting
discussed the current situation in the country in light of the ongoing
demonstrations and the ongoing blocking of roads and major highways, according
to al-Joumhouria. The security and military forces agreed to share a mission in
order to "restore normal movement in the country without clashing with
demonstrators," sources of the interlocutors told the daily. The tasks were
"distributed among security apparatuses to facilitate the freedom of movement of
citizens on key roads, taking into consideration the safety of demonstrators,"
added the source. Hundreds of thousands of Lebanese poured into the streets
after the government floated a new tax on WhatsApp on the heels of an austerity
package that came in response to an increasingly severe fiscal crisis. The
protests rapidly escalated into an indictment of the entire post-civil war
order, in which a sectarian power-sharing arrangement has transformed former
warlords and other elites into a permanent political class. In the three decades
since the war ended, the same leaders have used patronage networks to get
themselves re-elected again and again even as the government has failed to
reliably provide basic services like electricity, water and trash collection.
Hariri Refutes Claims on Gulf Funding of Protests
Naharnet/October 28/2019
Prime Minister Saad Hariri on Monday refuted claims published in Hizbullah’s al-Akhbar
daily that Saudi Arabia and the UAE are allegedly funding media coverage of the
protests in Lebanon. Hariri’s press office said: “The Premier rejects al-Akhbar’s
allegations that Chairman and CEO of LBCI Pierre Daher admitted in Hariri’s
presence that he and Tahsin Khayyat (Owner of NTV and Michel al-Murr (CEO of
MTV) received funding from SA and UAE to cover the popular protests.”The
statement said all similar allegations are “baseless and unfounded.”
Resignations Ravage Strong Lebanon Parliamentary Bloc
Kataeb.org/Monday 28th October 2019
Following the withdrawal of MPs Shamel Roukoz and Neemat Frem in recent days
from the Strong Lebanon parliamentary bloc, sources indicated that Deputy Agop
Pakradonian is mulling over stepping down from the alliance.
It is reported that other members in the alliance, headed by Foreign Minister
Gebran Bassil, will also resign. Sources mentioned that MP Roger Azar is
negotiating with Pakradonian and other deputies from the Strong Lebanon
parliamentary bloc to halt their resignations.
Italy's Churches, Pope Francis Rally Anti-corruption
Protests in Lebanon
Kataeb.org/Monday 28th October 2019
Italy’s churches rang their bells on Monday in solidarity with Lebanon’s
anti-corruption protests, as reported by the National News Agency. After 11 days
of silence, Italian newspapers alike La Stampa and Avvenire, dedicated pages to
give an account of the recent developments in Lebanon, signaling Pope Francis’
speech on Sunday“Historical ties bind Lebanon and Italy together. We must not
forget this country that is undergoing a difficult crisis,” La Stampa newspaper
wrote. For his part, Pope Francis urged everyone to seek the right solutions in
the way of dialogue in Lebanon asking the country to respect "dignity and
freedom." "I would like to address a special thought to the dear Lebanese
people, in particular to the young who... have made their cries heard in the
face of the social and economic challenges and problems of the country," Pope
Francis said following the Angelus prayer in Saint Peter's Square.
“I hope that with the support of the international community, the country may
continue to be a space for peaceful coexistence and respect for the dignity and
freedom of every person, to benefit of the entire Middle East,” he added.
Hariri Chairs Ministerial Meeting on General Amnesty Law
Naharnet/October 28/2019
Prime Minister Saad Hariri on Monday presided at the Center House over a
ministerial meeting aimed at studying a general amnesty draft law. “The meeting
of the ministerial committee tasked with studying the general amnesty draft law
was attended by the ministers Raya al-Hassan, Albert Serhan, Wael Abu Faour,
Mohammed Fneish, Elias Bou Saab, Salim Jreissati, Youssef Fenianos and Hassan
al-Laqqis,” Hariri’s office said. Hariri’s adviser Ghattas Khoury and several
other aides attended the meeting. Families demanding a general amnesty for their
sons and relatives are taking part in the popular protests that have engulfed
Lebanon since October 17. Families of Islamist prisoners have repeatedly rallied
in recent years demanding the approval of the law. Relatives of inmates held
over drug-related charges who hail from the Bekaa region have also demanded an
amnesty.
Lebanon witnessed one general amnesty after the end of the civil war in 1990.
Banks Association Reassures on Public Sector Salaries, ATM Operations
Naharnet/October 28/2019
The Association of Banks in Lebanon on Monday announced that banks will remain
closed on Tuesday, while reassuring that the salaries of public sector employees
and the armed forces will be paid on time. “Despite the difficult situations and
the blocking of roads, banks are keen on securing the salaries of public sector
employees, especially the officers and personnel of the army and security
forces, who represent the guarantee of the country and the citizens and enjoy
the respect and appreciation of everyone,” ABL said in a statement issued after
an extraordinary meeting for its board of directors. “The central bank has
provided the necessary liquidity for this purpose,” ABL added. Separately, the
association said “ATM operations continue in the various regions,” reminding
that “banks stand ready to answer clients’ inquiries through their call
centers.” “The association emphasizes that the main concern of banks is securing
the necessary and urgent needs of their clients and facilitating their living
affairs, and that it will spare no effort to alleviate the impact of the crisis
on citizens,” ABL added.
Strong Lebanon Bloc Meets Berri as Members Lift Bank
Secrecy
Naharnet/October 28/2019
A delegation from the Free Patriotic Movement-led Strong Lebanon bloc held talks
Monday in Ain el-Tineh with Parliament Speaker Nabih Berri to “discuss the
current extraordinary issues from the angle of parliament’s work,” MP Ibrahim
Kanaan said.“A lot is being said in this period about combating corruption, but
combating corruption, accountability, the recovery of looted funds and the
lifting of immunities are all draft laws presented by our bloc and other blocs,
and I believe that the time has come,” Kanaan said. “Mr. Speaker agreed with us
that a serious step must be taken to approve them,” he said. “We learned from
him that the draft laws will be looked into within days,” Kanaan went on to say,
noting that the bills will be “expedited, not rushed.”The FPM’s political
commission meanwhile held a meeting under FPM chief MP Jebran Bassil after which
it issued a statement announcing that bank secrecy will be lifted off the
accounts of the MPs and ministers of the Strong Lebanon bloc “in line with
President Michel Aoun’s stance” and after “the FPM chief lifted secrecy off his
bank accounts two years ago.”
“All FPM ministers and MPs have signed letters certified by notaries general” in
this regard, the statement added.
Kataeb Party chief MP Sami GemayelSays Only Neutral Govt. Can Restore Confidence
Naharnet/October 28/2019
Kataeb Party chief MP Sami Gemayel on Monday called for the formation of a
“neutral government of experts.” “Only an instant resignation of the government
and the formation of a neutral government of experts can restore the confidence
of people and the international community in the state,” Gemayel tweeted, saying
the move would “rescue the economic and monetary situations.” Central Bank
Governor Riad Salameh has warned that a “solution” is needed within days in
order to restore confidence and avoid a future collapse.
Kouyoumjian Says Authority Must Listen to People’s Demand
Naharnet/October 28/2019
Minister of Social Affairs Richard Kouyoumjian said he was surprised that the
political class continues to ignore the rightful demands of protesters. “How can
the conscience of presidents and ministers not be shaken when they hear the
people’s cries and the roar of the national uprising in all regions,” said
Kouyoumjian in a tweet. The Minister, along with three other LF ministers, quit
from the Cabinet on the third day of protests against tax hikes and alleged
official corruption. He said the political class must listen to the people’s
demands to form a “modern state and a non-corrupt authority."
Unemployment Fuels Unrest in Arab States, Says IMF
Agence France Presse/Naharnet/October 28/2019
Unemployment and sluggish economic growth are fuelling social tension and
popular protests in several Arab countries, the International Monetary Fund said
Monday.The unrest is in turn contributing to slower growth in the Middle East
and North Africa (MENA) region, alongside global trade tensions, oil price
volatility and a disorderly Brexit process, the IMF said in a report on the
regional economic outlook.Earlier this month it lowered the 2019 forecast for
the region -- taking in the Arab nations and Iran -- to a meagre 0.1 percent
from 1.1 percent last year.The IMF slashed its outlook for the region's three
largest economies -- Saudi Arabia, Iran and the United Arab Emirates. The risks
around the forecast of earlier this month "are skewed to the downside and are
highly dependent on global factors," the IMF said in its report on Monday. "The
level of growth that countries in the region are having is below what is needed
to address unemployment," said Jihad Azour, the IMF's director for the Middle
East and Central Asia. "We are in a region where the rate of unemployment at the
youth level exceeds 25-30 percent and this requires growth to be higher by 1-2
percent" in order to make a dent in joblessness, Azour told AFP in an
interview.The IMF report said that the high unemployment was worsening social
tensions in Arab countries. "Unemployment averages 11 percent throughout the
region versus seven percent across other emerging market and developing
economies," it said. "Women and young people are particularly likely to be out
of work, with more than 18 percent of women... without jobs in 2018."
Violent protests have broken out in several Arab countries since early 2010 and
turned into bloody civil wars in Syria, Yemen and Libya.A new wave of
demonstrations erupted over the last year in Algeria, Sudan, Iraq and Lebanon,
typically demanding economic reforms and action against corruption. In Lebanon,
where protesters have brought the country to a standstill with demands for a
full overhaul of the political system, the economy grew at a very slow pace over
the past few years, Azour noted. "The government has to act firmly and swiftly
in order to address those imbalances, bring confidence back by addressing the
fiscal situation, and lower expenditure," he said. The IMF also said that public
debt levels were very high in many Arab countries -- exceeding 85 percent of
gross domestic product (GDP) on average, with rates of more than 150 percent in
Lebanon and Sudan.
"Having built over many years, the cost of public debt burdens has become
sizeable, preventing investments critical to the region's long-term economic
future," it said.
Iran flounders -
The IMF said that Iran, which is subject to crippling US sanctions, has entered
a steep economic recession and faces a battle against spiralling inflationary
pressures. The Islamic republic's economy is projected to contract by 9.5
percent this year after posting negative growth of 4.8 percent in 2018. Iranian
authorities must align "the exchange rate close to the market rate and also
reform the financial sector... and try to address some of the implications of
the high level of inflation," Azour said. As a result of the sanctions, Tehran
is believed to be exporting only around 500,000 barrels per day of crude, down
from over two million bpd before the sanctions. The IMF said that oil-rich Gulf
Cooperation Council (GCC) states, led by Saudi Arabia, are expected to grow by
just 0.7 percent this year from 2.0 percent in 2018 due to lower oil prices and
output. "GCC economies need to diversify and grow out of oil and this requires
them to accelerate the reforms that have been started in the last four to five
years," Azour said.
Lebanon’s Wild ‘WhatsApp’ Revolution Challenges Hezbollah and the Old Elites
Jesse Rosenfeld/The Daily Beast/October 28/2019
https://www.thedailybeast.com/lebanons-wild-whatsapp-revolution-challenges-hezbollah-and-the-old-elites
On the heels of mass protests in Algeria, Sudan, and Iraq, Lebanon has joined a
second wave of social discontent in the Arab world.
BEIRUT—In a country long known for its live-for-the-day parties and grinding
social discontent, both have now come together to spawn Lebanon’s October
Revolution. The Mediterranean air is filled with exhilaration, but also with
fear.
A spiraling economic crisis that ignited spontaneous protests and clashes with
riot police over corruption and the high cost of living has turned into a
popular uprising against the political elite and sectarian political system.
On the heels of mass protests in Algeria, Sudan, and Iraq, Lebanon has joined a
second wave of social discontent in the Arab world emerging in countries that
were not transformed by the mass protests of 2011. They seem undeterred by the
counter-revolutions, repression and civil war that rolled back the victories of
the Arab Spring everywhere but in Tunisia. Discontent with their domestic
political system’s inability to address social demands and economic crises, as
in 2011, has created this new wave of mass social action attempting to transform
society and bring down old leaders.
Tire-fire barricades and protesters blocking main highways and an open-ended
general strike have paralyzed Lebanon. Over a million working- and middle-class
people from across the sectarian divide of this state of 6 million have joined
together in city squares chanting “the people want the downfall of the regime.”
“These words mean freedom, they mean changing the economy,” says 24-year-old Ali
Hassan about the chant made famous during the 2011 uprisings across the region.
Smoking a cigarette on a curb in downtown Beirut, he looks over at a crowd of
protesters standing on the steps of the Al-Amin Mosque who are denouncing the
country’s leaders as thieves.
The building, designed to emulate Istanbul’s Blue Mosque, was erected with a
donation by Rafik Hariri, the former prime minister assassinated in 2005. His
son, Saad Hariri, is prime minister now.
Hassan, here on the curb, hails from the Hariri stronghold of Sidon on the coast
south of Beirut, where he was a supporter of the Hariri-led Future Movement. Now
working in Beirut as a nurse, however, he says his salary of $800 a month can’t
cover the cost of rent let alone finance his staggering student debt from four
years paying the annual $40,000 university tuition.
Hassan blames Lebanon’s confessional political system left by French colonial
rule as the root of the country’s problem. Based on the demography of the early
20th century, it assures the president will be a Christian, the prime minister a
Sunni Muslim, and the speaker of parliament a Shia Muslim.
“We want to be free from Syria, Iran, America and Saudi.”
The result thwarts the power of the electorate by dividing government and civil
service positions along sectarian lines to balance representation of the major
faiths and minorities. In practice it has created a system of patronage where
the parties that fought the 15-year civil war that ended in 1990 use their
governing positions to grant state jobs to their constituents. It has also
facilitated the governing parties’ role as proxies for foreign powers.
“We want to be free from Syria, Iran, America and Saudi,” Hassan says of the
countries that exert influence on the government through their support of rival
political factions. So he joined the hundreds of thousands from around the city
regularly converging on the downtown. Carrying Lebanese flags and condemning all
the establishment leaders as corrupt and inept in equal measure, they are an
unprecedented coalition of people trying to force the collapse of a government
made up of faces that have ruled since the civil war.
The country is mired in an economic spiral, carrying one of the largest per
capita national debts in the world, over $71 billion in total, and facing a
shortage of the dollar to which the Lebanese Lira is pegged. Daily power cuts
and non-potable tap water have been long-term problems resulting from government
infrastructure neglect dating back almost 30 years, when the Hariris’
construction company led the reconstruction that followed the civil war.
According to Sami Nader, the director of the Levant Institute for Strategic
Affairs, 37-percent youth unemployment and private currency traders increasingly
abandoning the official Lebanese exchange rate are signs the country is heading
toward a debt crisis like Argentina in 2001 or Greece in 2008. As a result, he
says, people now feel they don’t have anything left to lose.
“Nasrallah has warned that if his party brings its supporters into the streets,
it will 'change the equation.'”
The protests were sparked by unpopular austerity measures and tax increases in a
country with few public services and the government has been back peddling,
scrambling to cling to power, since they erupted. First the government scrapped
a proposed tax on WhatsApp. Used across Lebanon to avoid paying for calls and
texts in a country with high mobile phone costs, the tax became the final straw
that pushed people from economic despair to political rage. Then, as rival
parties blamed each other, police cracked down on the streets with tear gas and
water cannons.
The protests only grew, forcing Hariri and President Michel Aoun to address the
country in speeches promising economic reforms, vowing to fix long term
infrastructure problems, and to take anti-corruption measures–but refusing to
resign. Hassan Nasrallah, general secretary of Hezbollah (the Party of God) has
also spoken to the country, stating clearly that his party will not accept the
toppling of the presidency or resignation of the government.
Hezbollah’s Iranian-backed “militia” is the largest armed force in the country
and it leverages this power to shape the government to serve its interests.
Nasrallah has warned that if his party brings its supporters into the streets,
it will “change the equation.” However, the government’s refusal to relinquish
power has only boosted the movement.
“This is no longer about the reforms, it’s about the people making the reforms,”
says Nader. “This is a real social and economic revolution.”
In Beirut protesters have shut down highways that connect the capital with much
of the rest of the country. The army is deployed along the main traffic
arteries, watching protesters block them while sporadic barricades around the
city have left streets, normally jammed to the point of gridlock, now virtually
devoid of traffic.
In Dahieh, the mostly Shia majority working class suburb of southern Beirut that
has been a support base for Hezbollah, what normally are bustling alleys are now
quiet, with shops shuttered. In the Sunni majority upscale neighborhood of
Hamra, a key constituency of Prime Minister Saad Hariri in the city’s west,
banking towers are closed and protesters on the streets lined with bars and
cafés blame their PM for making life in the city unaffordable.
It is as quiet as Easter Sunday in the middle-class eastern Christian district
of Ashrafieh, where the right-wing Lebanese Forces party and President Michel
Aoun’s Hezbollah-allied Free Patriotic Movement have battled for support. The
usually booming music emanating from the boisterous nightlife in the district’s
neighborhoods of Mar Mikhael and Gemmayze is overpowered by the echoing chants
of protesters returning from the mass rallies.
“In Beirut’s downtown hundreds of thousands come together in an often festive
atmosphere to curse their leaders, chanting 'all of them means all of them.'”
However, it is in the city’s downtown that hundreds of thousands come together
in an often festive atmosphere to curse their leaders, chanting “all of them
means all of them” in a call for them to go. Rebuilt after the civil war into a
French-influenced, manicured Mediterranean promenade filled with foreign-owned
investment properties, luxury shops, banks and embassies, Beirut’s central
business district is now controlled by protesters.
Standing in the streets outside Parliament amid throngs of young people chanting
“Revolution! Revolution!” 71-year-old Sukaina Salameh is overjoyed. The crowd is
filled with contemporary anti-establishment references. Some protesters don the
Guy Fawkes masks of the Anonymous movement while others prefer the Salvador Dali
masks from the Spanish Bank Heist series “La Casa de Papel.” There are Joker
face-painting stations. But the aged Salameh is perfectly easy with all that. “I
feel like I’m still young and I’m still fighting,” she says.
Salameh is director of NAVTSS, a Palestinian-Lebanese non-governmental
organization that provides educational services in Palestinian and Syrian
Refugee camps and to poor Lebanese communities. Lack of opportunities for poor
and marginalized people in the country has demoralized people, she says,
creating a drop in enrolment in her organization’s education and training
programs.
As a Palestinian who was able to get Lebanese citizenship in the 1990s and has
been an activist all her life, Salameh has lived on multiple sides of Lebanon’s
divide. She was involved in left-wing Palestinian and pan-Arabist struggles in
the 1970s and sees some parallels with the mass protests against the political
establishment then.
“In the details we were fighting for something different when I was younger, but
in the bigger picture we are still fighting for dignity and a better life,” she
says.
In the mid-1970s, Druze leader Kamal Jumblatt’s Progressive Socialist Party led
the struggle against Lebanon’s sectarian system. Now his son Walid, who took
over after his father’s assassination in the civil war, heads the party. He is
seen as a kingmaker in Lebanese politics and has resisted the calls for the
government to quit.
Salameh does not sympathize. “I want the old guard of the civil war to go and
bring in people with new ideas,” she says, admiring the younger generation’s
willingness to criticize the old leaders.
For a woman who saw the civil war from some of its worst front lines, it is the
cross-confessional political unity that has inspired her the most. “This is the
first time in which poor people in every sect are speaking together and making
the same demands,” she says.
The scenes in Beirut are being replicated across the country. In southern
Lebanon, in which Hezbollah fought and defeated Israeli occupation, Shia
majority protests have condemned both the Party of God and its tenuous ally,
Amal, which has been led since the civil war by Parliamentary Speaker Nabil
Berri. Hariri is facing rejection by his own constituents as they rally in the
northern city of Tripoli. And Christian communities from Mount Lebanon to the
Bekaa Valley are saying time is up for President Aoun, Foreign Affairs Minister
Gebran Bassil and Lebanese Forces leader Samir Geagea.
“Protesters worry aloud about the potential for mass violence if the governing
parties call their loyalists into the streets.”
Both Aoun and Geagea have gone from civil war strongmen to leading establishment
politicians. Geagea was one of the few civil war leaders to be convicted and
jailed in Lebanon for crimes committed during the civil war that raged from
1975-1990.
Amid a new optimism there is also looming fear. Early in the protests, when
rioting broke out in Beirut, two people were killed in fires. The following day,
the bodyguard of a former member of parliament opened fire on a crowd in
Tripoli, Lebanon’s second city, killing two people and injuring two others. Amal
members have attacked protesters in the south of the country and Hezbollah
supporters have fought with protesters in Beirut, prompting Nasrallah to call on
Hezbollah supporters to leave the scenes of protest and warning that continued
unrest could lead to civil war. Protesters worry aloud about the potential for
mass violence if the governing parties call their loyalists into the streets.
Lebanon’s political establishment is digging in as a new vision for the country
comes together in the streets. What has become a protracted battle over turning
the page on the political system that lead the country into and out of civil war
is now transforming how people see their future and each other.
The Latest English LCCC Miscellaneous Reports And News published on October
28-29/2019
Remains of Daesh leader Al-Baghdadi buried
at sea/Al-Baghdadi was buried at sea with the appropriate religious rites
Arab News/October 28/2019/WASHINGTON: US authorities have disposed of the
remains of Daesh leader Abu Bakr Al-Baghdadi and have no plans to release photos
or videos of his death at this time, the chairman of the US Joint Chiefs of
Staff, Army General Mike Milley, said Monday. Al-Baghdadi detonated a suicide
vest to kill himself as US forces closed in on him, President Donald Trump said
on Sunday. "The disposal of his remains has been done and is complete and was
handled appropriately," Milley told reporters at a Pentagon briefing. Seperately,
US officials told Reuters that Al-Baghdadi was given a burial at sea and
afforded religious rites.
Pentagon: US detained two men during al-Baghdadi raid
By Staff writer, Al Arabiya English/Monday, 28 October 2019
Chairman of the US Joint Chiefs of Staff Mark Milley said on Monday that the US
detained two men during the raid on ISIS leader Abu Bakr al-Baghdadi in
northwestern Syria. “There were two adult males taken...alive. They are in our
custody and they are in a secure facility,” Milley said in a press conference at
the Pentagon. He also said that the US was not prepared to release photos or
videos related to the raid on al-Baghdadi that resulted in his death, as the
materials were in the process of being declassified. “We do have videos, photos.
We are not prepared at the time to release those, they are going through a
declassification process,” said Milley. Milley said that the disposal of ISIS
leader Abu Bakr al-Baghdadi’s remains has been completed. “Bagdadi’s remains
were transported to a secure facility to confirm his identity with forensic DNA
testing and the disposal of his remains has been done and is complete and was
handled appropriately,” said Milley. US President Donald Trump announced on
Sunday in a televised address that al-Baghdadi died in a US operation. “Last
night, the United States brought the world’s number one terrorist leader to
justice. Abu Bakr al-Baghdadi is dead,” said Trump.
Trump gave a detailed description of the US raid on al-Baghdadi’s compound,
which he said he watched live last night. Al-Baghdadi died by detonating a
suicide vest, having run into a “dead-end tunnel” being pursued by US troops.
US President Trump says he may release partial video of al-Baghdadi raid
AFP, Washington/Monday, 28 October 2019
President Donald Trump on Monday said he could release segments of video from
the dramatic US raid to kill ISIS leader Abu Bakr al-Baghdadi in Syria. “We may
take certain parts of it and release it,” Trump said on departure from
Washington to Chicago, where he was due to address a police officers'
convention.The attack by US special forces deep into Syria took place Saturday,
culminating in the death of the fugitive leader who at his peak headed an
organization that attempted to set up a hardline ISIS state across a huge area
of Iraq and Syria. Trump described the raid in unusually colorful and detailed
terms on Sunday, saying that al-Baghdadi died when he exploded a suicide vest
after being cornered by US soldiers in a tunnel, together with three children.
He died “like a dog,” Trump said in his comments, which differed sharply in tone
from similar announcements by presidents in the past.
A report in The New York Times, quoting military and intelligence officials,
cast doubt on some of Trump's descriptions, including his repeated claim that
al-Baghdadi was “whimpering and crying” in the tunnel. Trump said his account
was based on having watched the whole raid in real time, like “a movie.”
According to the report, Trump would not have had access to audio of the events
at the time, or have been able to see footage from inside the tunnel.
Over 500 US soldiers, military equipment arrives in
northern Syria base: Monitor
Staff writer, Al Arabiya English/Monday, 28 October 2019
Over 500 US soldiers, as well as military and logistical equipment arrived at
bases they had withdrawn from in northern Syria on Monday, the Syrian
Observatory for Human Rights reported. The observatory stated that one of the
bases is located on the M4 highway between Tal Tamr and Tal Baidar, which is
part of an area linking the Iraqi border, Qamishli and Aleppo. It added that US
aircraft have been landing in the city of Srin’s airport for the past five days,
as well as the offloading of cargo from the planes. They also stated that there
were US logistical and military equipment, and vehicles in the planes. The
observatory also noted the entry of two US convoys into Syrian land on Sunday
night, that included over 85 vehicles and trucks carrying military equipment.
The US had announced that it was withdrawing its armed forces from Syria, and
that it will not be involved or support a planned Turkish operation in northern
Syria. US forces “having defeated the ISIS territorial ‘Caliphate’ will no
longer be in the immediate area,” the press secretary had said in a statement.
US President Donald Trump had defended his administration’s decision to withdraw
US troops from northern Syria, saying it was too costly to keep supporting
US-allied Kurdish-led forces in the region fighting ISIS.
Iraqi minister of defense says a missile fell near Taji
camp causing no damage
Reuters, Cairo/Tuesday, 29 October 2019
Iraqi Defense Minister Najah al-Shammari said on Tuesday a missile fell near
Taji camp but caused no damage. Al-Shammari inspected the sprawling Taji base to
see the security situation there, accompanied by the army aviation commander and
senior officers from the defense ministry, Iraq’s news agency said. “Camp Taji
is witnessing security stability, and there is no damage,” he said in a
statement, stressing the need for caution to preserve the safety of all those in
the camp. A curfew was declared in Baghdad on Monday after four people were
killed and 277 wounded in the fourth day of anti-government protests. Medical
and security sources said security forces fired tear gas canisters directly at
protesters. Baghdad’s top military commander declared the curfew because of the
unrest, which is driven by discontent over economic hardship and deep-seated
corruption. Populist Shia cleric Moqtada al-Sadr, who backs parliament’s most
powerful bloc and helped bring Prime Minister Adel Abdul Mahdi to power, called
for early elections after the curfew was announced. Demonstrators vowed to
remain in the square despite the curfew, which they said would provide cover for
security forces to attempt to clear it.
SDF say al-Baghdadi’s underpants were DNA tested before raid
Reuters, Beirut/Monday, 28 October 2019
ISIS leader Abu Bakr al-Baghdadi’s underpants were obtained by an undercover
source and DNA tested to prove his identity before an operation by US forces to
kill him, an adviser to the Syrian Democratic Forces said on Monday. Polat Can,
a senior adviser to the Kurdish-led SDF, gave details on Twitter about how SDF
intelligence work had helped locate al-Baghdadi, whose death was announced by US
President Donald Trump on Sunday. “Our own source, who had been able to reach
al-Baghdadi, brought al-Baghdadi’s underwear to conduct a DNA test and make sure
(100%) that the person in question was al-Baghdadi himself,” Can said. Trump has
said that the Kurds provided some information “helpful” to the operation. Can
said the SDF had been working since May 15 with the CIA to track al-Baghdadi,
and managed to confirm that he had moved from Deir Ezzor in eastern Syria to
Idlib, where he was killed.
Al-Baghdadi had been about to change location to the Syrian town of Jarablus
when the operation happened, he said. “All intelligence and access to
al-Baghdadi as well as the identification of his place, were the result of our
own work. Our intelligence source was involved in sending coordinates, directing
the airdrop, participating in and making the operation a success until the last
minute,” Can said.
Iraqi cleric al-Sadr calls for early election
Reuters, Baghdad/Monday, 28 October 2019
Populist Shia cleric Moqtada al-Sadr on Monday called on Iraqi Prime Minister
Adil Abdul Mahdi to announce early parliamentary elections overseen by the
United Nations and without the participation of existing political parties.
Al-Sadr’s bloc, Saeroon, which came first in a 2018 election and helped bring
Abdul Mahdi’s fragile coalition government to power, said on Saturday it was
going into opposition until the demands of anti-government protesters were met.
On Sunday, four Iraqi parliamentarians resigned in anger at the government’s
perceived failure to respond to mass protests, piling more pressure on embattled
Prime Minister Abdul Mahdi. Saeroon on Saturday announced an open-ended sit-in
to show support for protests. Five protesters were killed on Monday in the Iraqi
capital Baghdad, a rights commission said, bringing the total death toll
nationwide since anti-government rallies erupted this month to nearly 240.
Iraqi military declares curfew in Baghdad: State TV
Reuters, Baghdad/Monday, 28 October 2019
Iraq has declared a curfew in the capital Baghdad from midnight to 6 a.m. local
time “until further notice,” state television quoted the Baghdad Operations
Commander as saying on Monday. Hundreds of protesters remained in Baghdad’s
central Tahrir Square and other provinces on Monday, the fourth day in a renewed
wave of anti-government demonstrations that saw over 200 people killed this
month.
Iraqi parliament votes to revoke privileges for senior
politicians amid protests
Staff writer, Al Arabiya English/Monday, 28 October 2019
Iraq’s parliament voted on Monday to revoke the privileges for the three
political heads and several senior politicians as it sat to discuss protesters’
demands. Parliament voted to revoke privileges for the three heads of state -
the president, the prime minister, and the speaker of parliament - as well as
senior officials after discussing protesters’ demands in a session. It also
approved a measure to form a committee to amend the constitution. More than a
hundred people have been killed by security forces since protests began earlier
this month. Protesters have demanded the fall of the government led by Prime
Minister Adil Abdul-Mahdi.
Five protesters killed in Iraq’s capital: Rights commission
AFP, The Associated Press/Monday, 28 October 2019
Five protesters were killed on Monday in the Iraqi capital Baghdad, a rights
commission said, bringing the total death toll nationwide since anti-government
rallies erupted this month to nearly 240. Ali Bayati of the Iraqi Human Rights
Commission told AFP it was unclear how they had died, but many in Baghdad in
recent days have sustained severe trauma wounds from tear gas canisters fired by
security forces. Earlier reports said that at least two anti-government
protesters were killed and 105 were wounded in clashes with security forces in
central Baghdad on Monday as thousands of students took to the streets in
defiance of a government order and tear gas from security forces. The students
skipped classes at several universities and secondary schools in Baghdad and
across Iraq’s majority-Shia south on Monday to take part in the protests,
despite the government ordering schools and universities to operate normally. It
was not clear how many students were among those killed and wounded. The
demonstrations are fueled by anger at corruption, economic stagnation and poor
public services. “It’s a student revolution, no to the government, no to
parties!” demonstrators chanted in Baghdad’s Tahrir Square, the epicenter of the
protests. Protesters have camped out in the central roundabout and volunteers
have brought them food, hoping to recreate the revolutionary atmosphere of
similar rallies held across the region during and after the 2011 Arab Spring.
Security forces have fired tear gas and stun grenades to keep protesters from
crossing a main bridge leading to the Green Zone, home to government offices and
embassies. At least 72 protesters have been killed since nationwide
anti-government protests resumed on Friday, after 149 were killed during an
earlier wave of protests this month.
UN envoy to meet Turkey, Iran, and Russia foreign ministers in Geneva
Reuters, Geneva/Monday, 28 October 2019
UN Special Envoy for Syria Geir Pedersen said on Monday that he would meet
foreign ministers from Turkey, Iran, and Russia in Geneva on Tuesday, a day
ahead of the first meeting of Syria’s Constitutional Committee. Turkey’s Mevlut
Cavusoglu, Iran’s Mohammad Javad Zarif and Russia’s Sergei Lavrov are due to
meet in the Swiss city before the 150-member Syrian panel convenes under UN
auspices. “We do believe that the fighting going on is just another proof of the
importance to get a serious political process under way that can help sorting
out the problems in all of Syria, including the northeast and also Idlib,”
Pedersen told a news conference.
Turkey detains 20 foreigners seen tied to ISIS: Anadolu
Reuters, Istanbul/Monday, 28 October 2019
Turkish authorities on Monday detained 20 foreign nationals with suspected links
to ISIS, state-owned Anadolu Agency reported. The detentions come a day after
President Donald Trump announced that ISIS leader Abu Bakr al-Baghdadi was
killed in a raid by US special forces in northwest Syria, near the Turkish
border. Domestic operations against people with suspected links to ISIS are
common in Turkey and it was not immediately clear whether Monday’s detentions
were related to Baghdadi’s death. Anadolu said authorities had identified 20
foreign nationals with links to ISIS, who had entered Turkey illegally. It said
the suspects had been detained in dawn raids in the capital Ankara and that they
would be handed to immigration authorities for deportation after processing by
security officials. ISIS has carried out atrocities against religious minorities
and attacks on five continents in the name of an ultra-fanatic version of Islam
that horrified mainstream Muslims. The death of Baghdadi is a severe blow to the
group, which has been in disarray and has no declared successor as leader yet.
But it has in the past proved resilient, continuing to mount or inspire attacks
in the region and beyond despite losing most of its territory in recent years.
French academic held in Iran accused of ‘collusion’: Lawyer
AFP, Tehran/Monday, 28 October 2019
A French academic held in Iran for four months faces charges of collusion after
being arrested alongside a Franco-Iranian colleague accused of espionage, their
lawyer said in a report Monday. Roland Marchal, a researcher at Sciences Po in
Paris, was arrested in June together with Fariba Adelkhah, an academic at the
same university.Marchal had come to Iran to visit Adelkhah and was accused of
“collusion against national security”, Saeed Dehghan said, quoted by the
semi-official ISNA news agency. But the lawyer said the reasons for the charges
were still unknown to him. “Up until this moment, the reasons for my clients’
charges, which according to Article 32 of the Constitution must be given
alongside the charges, have not been mentioned,” Dehghan said.“It seems that Mr
Marchal has been arrested because of his friendship with Ms Adelkhah,” he added.
The lawyer said the two cases were still at the level of prosecutors and had not
yet been sent to court. “We are still in negotiations with judicial authorities
and we hope misunderstandings in this regard will be removed, as up until now no
reason has been given for the levelled allegations,” said Dehghan. The French
government has condemned the arrest of Marchal, a sociologist whose research
focuses on civil wars in Africa. “We urge the Iranian authorities to be
transparent and act without delay to put an end to this unacceptable situation,”
the foreign ministry said on October 16. The arrest of Adelkhah, a specialist in
Shiite Islam, was confirmed on July 16 by Iran’s judicial spokesman
Gholamhossein Esmaili, who gave no further details. Her friends and colleagues
in France have said she was accused of espionage. Tehran, which does not
recognize dual nationality, has criticized Paris for “unacceptable interference”
in its domestic affairs after the French government sought consular access to
Adelkhah. The pair are not the only academics in Iranian custody. On October 1,
Iran confirmed the arrest of anthropologist Kameel Ahmady, reportedly a
British-Iranian dual national.
The Latest LCCC English analysis & editorials from miscellaneous
sources published on October 28-29/2019
Daesh leader’s death changes nothing
Chris Doyle//Arab News/October 28, 2019
Secretary of Defense Mark Esper (3rd R), along with members of the national
security team, watch as US Special Operations forces close in on Daesh leader
Abu Bakr al-Baghdadi, in the Situation Room of the White House. (Reuters)
Donald Trump’s announcement that the Daesh leader was dead followed the same
routine that his predecessor had followed in 2011 with the killing of the leader
of Al-Qaeda, when he too was taken out by US Special Forces. President George W.
Bush also said much the same after Abu Musab Al-Zarqawi was taken out in 2006.
All three presidents used these operations for domestic and international
political gain, to pose as successful leaders, even if the reality is that the
operations were more the result of the sustained efforts of military and
intelligence personnel, not political leaders.
Any sane, rational examination of the whole situation should give all of us
pause for thought. None of us will lose sleep at the demise of such men, but
plenty of sleep should be lost as to why, 18 years after the 9/11 attacks, the
collective effort to deal with them is so pitiful and why so many of the same
mistakes get repeated ad nauseam.
Here is a little exercise in crudely imagining just how the media and
politicians could consider how to treat Daesh and the killing and capture of
their leaders: “In a significant step forward in the struggle against
international organized crime, a mass murderer and his violent thugs have been
killed in a shootout with security forces in northwest Syria. The authorities
released a statement stating that a number of gang members had been arrested and
will face trial.”
I exaggerate for effect, not least because it may be unrealistic to imagine a
trial taking place. But the fact that the US president is basking in the glory
of killing the Daesh leader only adds to this criminal’s fame. Front pages are
devoted to nothing else. Yet why do we even mention his name? To the extent that
the Daesh leader was a symbol, it is because we helped make him one.
To crush the likes of Al-Qaeda and Daesh, we did not embark on a manhunt or a
criminal investigation, we went to war against them. We had a “war on terror.”
Like some hero in the Wild West, the Daesh leader even had a $25 million bounty
on his head. Is it any wonder that every misfit and lunatic wanted to go off and
join this enterprise? These thugs adore the publicity and the status of being
labeled terrorists and the most wanted people on earth. It raises the question
why do we not just refer to them as common criminals and mass murderers? What
else are they?
Much of what Daesh has done over the years was designed solely for publicity;
from lurid videos of beheadings and throwing people off buildings to the video
of the Jordanian pilot being burned alive. The attention given to them only
turbocharged their status and encouraged them to do more. Daesh also worked out
that killing Westerners attracted far more attention than Arabs and Muslims, so
saved their most spectacular and gory executions for their Western captives. The
media saw no issue with circulating the photos of these events and often even
the videos. Social media fanned the flames. Unwittingly, we have all
collectively contributed to what such idiots were seeking to achieve —
notoriety.
Many also played the Daesh game by depicting them as Muslims. More than anyone,
Muslims will be delighted to see the back of this murderer, as so many Muslims
have died and will continue to die at the hands of Daesh. But they are also
painfully aware that the Syrian regime has killed many thousands more civilians
over the last eight years and is now on the brink of resuming control of almost
all of Syria.
By depicting this operation as a huge success, we miss the big picture. The
criminal leader had actually been in US detention in Camp Bucca in Iraq together
with nearly all of those who became his partners in crime. Here, their
mafia-like network developed; contacts were made and skills shared. For Camp
Bucca, now read Al-Hol in northeast Syria, where a similar process is taking
place.
The fact that the US president is basking in the glory of his killing only adds
to this criminal’s fame.
For six years or so, this Daesh leader had evaded capture and death. Much like
the fictional Scarlet Pimpernel, “they sought him here, they sought him there,
(they) seek him everywhere. Is he in heaven or is he in hell? That damned
elusive Pimpernel.” Daesh committed atrocities and even captured entire cities
such as Mosul and Raqqa, yet he could not be tracked down until now.
For most of October, the world had lamented the anti-Daesh strategy, with tons
of criticism leveled at Trump for greenlighting the Turkish invasion of Syria,
betraying the Kurdish allies who fought Daesh, and risking the group’s fighters
escaping. In fact, about 100 did. From our new vantage point, these decisions
may even have put the Idlib operation at severe risk. The killing of the Daesh
leader changes nothing. The criticism is just as valid. New leaderships are
emerging as succession planning is a feature of such groups. Morale will be
crushed, but only in the short-term. The environment in both Syria and Iraq is,
if anything, becoming even more fertile for such extremist groups, as none of
the underlying issues that brought them into being in the first place have been
resolved.
It is all too easy to foresee perhaps Trump or a successor, five or 10 years
hence, huddled in the White House situation room, as President Barack Obama did
before, watching some future operation to take out some fresh new “Enemy No. 1.”
To avoid that undesirable scenario, it is time for a root and branch rethink, to
press the reset button.
*Chris Doyle is director of the London-based Council for Arab-British
Understanding. Twitter: @Doylech
Modi’s visit ushers in a new era of strategic partnership
Dr. Ausaf Sayeed/Arab News/October 28, 2019
Prime Minister Narendra Modi’s official visit to Saudi Arabia heralds a new era
in Indo-Saudi relations, which over the years have developed into a strategic
partnership. Modi’s visit is a follow-up to the series of high-level exchanges
that began in 2006 and strengthened after King Salman’s visit to India in
February 2014.
That visit was followed by Modi’s visit to Saudi Arabia in April 2016, which was
in turn followed by the historic visit of Crown Prince Mohammed bin Salman to
India in February 2019.
During the present visit, Modi will have bilateral discussions with King Salman
and delegation-level talks with the crown prince. These discussions will be in
addition to Modi delivering the keynote address at the third Future Investment
Initiative (FII) forum, widely seen as the most important economic forum in the
Middle East.
Modi’s visit is expected to further strengthen and expand bilateral ties in
various areas such as security and strategic cooperation, defense, energy
security, renewable energy, investments, trade and commerce, small and medium
enterprises, agriculture, civil aviation, infrastructure, housing, financial
services, training and capacity building, culture and people-to-people
engagement. Nearly a dozen government-to-government agreements related to these
areas are expected to be signed, as well as several government-to-business
agreements.
One of the most important outcomes of the visit is expected to be the
establishment of a Strategic Partnership Council (SPC) between the two
countries. India will become the fourth country with which the Kingdom has
formed a strategic partnership, the others being the UK, France and China.
The SPC will have two parallel tracks: Political, security, culture and society,
headed by both countries’ foreign ministers; and economy and investment, headed
by India’s commerce and industry minister and the Saudi energy minister.
Energy security is one of the prime areas of India’s engagement with Saudi
Arabia. New Delhi appreciates the Kingdom’s vital role as a reliable source for
India’s long-term energy supplies; the Kingdom supplies 18 percent of India’s
crude oil requirements and 30 percent of its liquefied petroleum gas needs. Both
countries are keen to transform the buyer-seller relationship in this sector
into a much broader strategic partnership based on mutual complementarity and
interdependence.
Saudi participation in India’s Strategic Petroleum Reserves program could
further strengthen the partnership. A memorandum of understanding (MoU) between
Indian Strategic Petroleum Reserves Ltd. and Saudi Aramco is expected to be
finalized during the visit.
A trilateral partnership has been formed between Saudi Aramco, the Abu Dhabi
National Oil Co. and a consortium of Indian oil majors. The aim is to set up the
world’s largest greenfield refinery in Raigarh district on India’s west coast.
The proposed 1.2-million-barrel-per-day (bpd) refinery is likely to be
commissioned by 2025, and is expected to help India raise its refining capacity
by 77 percent to 8.8 million bpd by 2030.
Renewable energy is another sector in which the two countries are keen to
strengthen collaboration. Saudi Arabia joined the International Solar Alliance
in February 2019 at India’s invitation. The Kingdom plans to generate 9.5 GW of
renewable energy by 2023 under its National Renewable Energy Program. An MoU on
cooperation in renewable energy is expected to be signed during the visit, which
will further increase cooperation in the sector.
Defense cooperation has become robust following the signing of an MoU in
February 2014. The fourth Joint Committee on Defense Cooperation between the two
countries in January 2019 in Riyadh explored several new areas for cooperation.
The two sides are keen to enhance maritime security cooperation in order to
ensure safe passage of international trade and crude supplies. They are also
considering joint naval exercises in the first quarter of 2020.
Both countries are exploring closer cooperation in defense industries. A
delegation from the General Authority of Military Industries visited India in
August 2019 and held meetings with several Indian companies. Training and
capacity building in the defense sector is another area of mutual interest.
There has been an increase in the participation of Saudi Armed Forces personnel
in Indian military courses.
Saudi Arabia and India are huge markets for the airline industry. The civil
aviation authorities in both countries have agreed to progressively increase the
seat capacity of their respective national carriers.
Saudi Arabia is India’s fourth-largest trading partner. Bilateral trade is put
at $34 billion, which includes a non-oil component of $10 billion. Although
trade is growing at a healthy rate of 24 percent annually, there is potential to
double the non-oil component to $20 billion in the next five years.
Concerning investments, the Saudi Center for International Strategic Partnership
and India’s NITI Aayog have identified 40 opportunities in which Saudi
investments could be made.
The ongoing links between the National Stock Exchange of India and the Saudi
Stock Exchange are an important step in integrating both countries’ capital
markets.
The agreement by both countries to launch the RuPay payment gateway in the
Kingdom will facilitate not only the large Indian diaspora, but also Indian
tourists plus Hajj and Umrah pilgrims. The integration of India’s e-Migrate
portal with the Saudi e-Thawtheeq system has been completed, and is expected to
facilitate the smooth movement of workforces between the two countries.
Existing bilateral relations are firmly rooted in people-to-people contacts
between the two countries. The contribution of the 2.6-million-strong Indian
diaspora to the Kingdom’s development is widely acknowledged and appreciated.
Modi’s second visit to the Kingdom will set bilateral relations on a new upward
trajectory and bind the two nations in an even stronger strategic partnership.
*Dr. Ausaf Sayeed is India’s ambassador to Saudi Arabia. Twitter: @drausaf
Consensus on oil price is that it remains range-bound
Cornelia Meyer/Arab News/October 28, 2019
Last week saw a surprise increase in the oil price of 5.2 percent, from its low
point on Tuesday to its high of $61.9 per barrel on Thursday. The price opened
slightly lower at $61.1 in Monday’s early European trading.
The development surprised because it happened the week after the International
Monetary Fund (IMF)/World Bank’s annual meeting, which gave a gloomy economic
outlook. The IMF’s global economic growth forecast for this year was downgraded
to 3 percent, while the World Bank maintained its at 2.6 percent. This means
that the world economy is teetering on the brink of a recession. Both
institutions define the start point of a global recession as when average growth
slows to 2.5 percent, as this signifies that several of the major Organization
for Economic Cooperation and Development economies will have entered into
recession. The IMF quoted trade wars, Brexit and geopolitical tensions as the
main culprits for the global slowdown. Indeed, it looks like Germany entered a
technical recession in the third quarter. The rest of the eurozone performed
above expectations, but the slowdown in China cannot be ignored. We can also see
the onset of a slowdown in the US economy.
The talk of recession and the localization of supply chains due to trade wars
keeps the demand outlook for oil bleak. In its monthly oil market report, the
International Energy Agency (IEA) lowered its demand forecasts for 2019 and 2020
by 0.1 percent to 1 million barrels per day (bpd) this year and 1.2 million next
year. While the world crude balance may be in deficit, it is gloomy demand
outlook and the impending non-OPEC wall of supply that outweighs any other
considerations
After the Sept. 14 attacks on Abqaiq and Khurais, Saudi Aramco had restored its
production by the end of the month. It looks set to do the same for capacity by
the end of November. The fallout from the attacks temporarily dampened the
outlook. However, the IEA still foresees the increase of 1.8 million bpd of
non-OPEC production to hit international oil markets this year, which will go up
to 2.2 million next year, meaning there will be a supply overhang if OPEC+
production stays at current levels.
So what was behind last week’s oil price increase? The US Energy Information
Agency reported that US crude inventories dropped by 1.7 million barrels, which
was in stark contrast to analyst consensus that foresaw an increase of 2.2
million barrels.
While the world crude balance may be in deficit, it is gloomy demand outlook and
the impending non-OPEC wall of supply that outweighs any other considerations.
The situation was not helped by a statement from Russian Energy Minister
Alexander Novak that there have so far been no consultations regarding deepening
the 1.2 million bpd cut, which OPEC+ had decided on in June in Vienna in order
to balance markets.
There are observers who think that the geopolitical premium is not sufficiently
reflected, especially after last month’s attacks on Abqaiq and Khurais. While
they may have a point, markets will decide the actual price level and markets
traditionally act on data that can be forecasted with some certainty.
Geopolitical events are considered outliers and will be priced in as and when
they occur.
This means that the price outlook is muted. At last week’s S&P Global Platts
conference, nearly 50 percent of attendees surveyed thought that the price level
would stay between $55 and $65 per barrel.
Why do these surveys and the general outlook matter now? For one, OPEC+ will
meet at the beginning of December and it needs to decide where to take the
production cuts going forward. Part of the evaluation will have to consider
whether a higher price can offset lower volumes and the sacrifice in market
share. For Saudi Arabia, the price of oil takes on particular significance in
light of the impending Aramco initial public offering. Investors will take price
and volume considerations into account because they will determine the short to
medium-term revenue outlook for the company. This being said, Saudi Aramco
remains the world’s most profitable company by net income.
• Cornelia Meyer is a business consultant, macroeconomist and energy expert.
Twitter: @MeyerResources
The US: Between being the world’s policeman and trusting
regional partners
Ambassador Dennis Ross/Al Arabiya/October 28/2019
The Middle East today is a cauldron of uncertainty and mixed messages. On the
one hand American hard power still exists – as the raid to kill ISIS leader Abu
Bakr al-Baghdadi shows. The raid was an example of the fusing of specialized
military and intelligence capabilities — and US forces have the skill and
wherewithal to carry out such operations. On the other hand, US President Donald
Trump has made it clear he wants to withdraw from the region. We may have much
hard power, but Trump realizes the American people are weary from Middle East
conflicts that appear endemic and have cost the US so much blood and treasure.
Trump’s predecessor President Barack Obama also understood the American public’s
weariness. He once commented that he had been elected to get the United States
out of Middle Eastern wars, rather than into them. No two American presidents
could be more different than Obama and Trump, but they both understood and
reflected the desire to disengage from the region.
Ironically, it was Obama, who in response to the emergence of ISIS, fashioned a
strategy for countering and defeating it. His administration assembled a large
coalition to fight ISIS militarily, diplomatically, and economically.
Notwithstanding his reluctance to be drawn into the conflicts in the area, Obama
understood that ISIS represented an international threat, not just a regional
one. He and his team also identified a local partner willing to fight ISIS - the
Syrian Democratic Forces (SDF), led by the Kurdish YPG militia forces - and
provided the means and the air and artillery support to help them succeed.
The Trump administration’s continued support for the SDF gave local US
commanders more leeway to intensify the use of force in support of the local
militias. But it is also Trump’s leadership that was quick to walk away from the
YPG and effectively gave Turkey a green light to carve out a zone free of the
Kurds in northeast Syria. President Trump may take credit for the US-brokered
ceasefire, but he is not the arbiter of events in Syria. Nor does he want to be
- he is letting Russian President Vladimir Putin fill the vacuum.
American power has been a constant in the region at least since the Gulf War in
1991. While certainly flawed and very costly at times, especially during the
Iraq war which began in 2003, American force has imposed some limits on regional
conflict. It is true that those constraints may not have affected asymmetrical
threats, especially by non-state actors. However, direct, aggressive attacks by
one state against another have largely ceased.
Moreover, the free flow of energy resources has unmistakably been an US
objective, one which the US was previously prepared to implement. The Reagan
Administration reflagged tankers during the Iraq-Iran war to prevent Iranian
attacks designed to disrupt the oil supply and Iraq’s oil revenues.
Now President Trump signals that he is not prepared to impose such limits. He
has already stated that because the US no longer depends on oil supplies from
the region, it is up to those who do to ensure that the Strait of Hormuz remains
open. He also makes clear he does not mind the Russians filling the vacuum - as
seen in his statement that it is up to Russia, Turkey, Syria and the Kurds to
sort things out in Syria – despite the fact that nearly 12,000 SDF fighters died
battling ISIS. Beyond Syria, it is obviously no accident that Putin showed up in
Saudi Arabia and the UAE on the heels of Trump’s decision to withdraw forces
from Syria.
For an area that has suffered from ongoing conflict, regional rivalries, Iran’s
increasing use of Shia militia proxies, and increasing challenges by publics fed
up with terrible governance and widespread corruption, there are a number of
things to keep in mind.
First, there remains no other country like the US in terms of real capability
and hard power. Even now when Trump speaks of bringing his boys home, the US
military retains over 40,000 forces in the area. The US military has just added
more than 2,000 forces in the Arabian Peninsula to enhance defense against
ballistic missiles, drones and cruise missiles. No other power can do what the
US can do—and that includes the Russians. Of course, capability has to be
matched by intention and will. For now, the US posture is likely to be purely
defensive, but its continuing presence does create a reality.
Second, Trump’s position does reflect broader sentiment in America about Middle
East conflicts. But there is also much polling that suggests the American public
will support common sense positions on deterring conflicts, opposing outright
aggression and having allies all around the globe. It is very possible that
Trump’s successor will believe it is important to re-establish American
credibility and the image of being a reliable ally and partner. Indeed, if the
US does not want to be the world’s policeman, it needs allies. The US won’t have
partners if they are berated or betrayed.
Third, regional countries are going to have to come together in an environment
where vacuums are forming and Ankara, Tehran, and Moscow are all seeking to fill
the space. If there is a change in leadership in Washington, the readiness of a
new administration to look at the region differently, and do more with its
partners, will surely be influenced by the reality of demonstrably more
effective local partnerships.
Fourth, the developments in Iraq, Lebanon, Algeria and Sudan are reminders that
frustration with governments ineffective in delivering services, jobs and decent
infrastructure will sooner or later boil over. In Iraq and Lebanon, in
particular, it shows that even if the Iranians have gained enormous leverage,
even veto power of what those governments can do, there may well be a backlash
against the Iranians because of governance failures. While Iranian proxies –
Lebanon’s Hezbollah and Iraq’s Popular Mobilization Units - will go to great
lengths, using force, propaganda and targeted killings, to preserve their power,
there is genuine vulnerability. It will be interesting to see if the Iranian
leadership recognizes this.
Regardless, the lessons for all Arab governments is to produce better governance
and continuing modernization, and reforms that can be seen and felt by their
publics. That, too, is likely to influence American readiness over time to
continue to play a role in the Middle East.
*Ambassador Dennis Ross, a former special assistant to President Barack Obama,
is counselor and William Davidson Distinguished Fellow at the Washington
Institute for Near East Policy. He is the co-author of the new book Be Strong
and of Good Courage: How Israel’s Most Important Leaders Shaped Its Destiny.
EU Supports Iran - World's Leading Executioner of Children
Majid Rafizadeh/Gatestone Institute/October 28/2019
European leaders, of course, who seem never to tire of sanctimoniously posturing
on behalf of human rights, are meanwhile pursuing appeasement policies with a
government that is called the world's leading executioner and torturer of
children -- and others.
Two 17-year-old boys, who apparently did not even did not even know about their
death sentences, were flogged before being executed.
Iran's Islamic Penal Code also allows girls as young as 9 and boys as young as
15 to be executed. Vague charges are generally brought up by the Islamic
Republic's judiciary system or the Revolutionary Court, such as "waging war
against God". These charges can be stretched to allow for presumably lesser
acts, such as criticizing the Supreme Leader, to become a crime, so that that an
order of execution can be carried out.
Earlier this year, the Iranian government was in the process of executing three
Kurdish children: Mohammad Kalhori, Barzan Nasrollahzadeh, and Shayan Saeedpour.
The other two favorite pastimes of which the EU also never seems to tire are:
increasing its censorship and demonizing Israel, the only democracy in the
Middle East, and one that actually implements human rights. When will the EU
finally become nauseated by its own hypocritical self-righteousness?
European leaders, who seem never to tire of sanctimoniously posturing on behalf
of human rights, are meanwhile pursuing appeasement policies with Iran's regime
-- the world's leading executioner and torturer of children and others.
The European Union continues to assist Iran's ruling mullahs in evading US
sanctions through appeasement policies, including a payment mechanism labeled as
INSTEX. The initials stand for Instrument in Support of Trade Exchanges; the
organization is a payment mechanism that will permit European firms and
corporations to continue doing business with the Iranian government in spite of
US economic sanctions against Tehran.
The European Union recently boasted in a statement:
"France, Germany, and the United Kingdom informed participants that INSTEX had
been made operational and available to all EU member states, and that the first
transactions are being processed".
In other words, the EU is legitimizing the despotic theocratic establishment
through trade and diplomatic relationships, as well as empowering the it by
helping Iran's ruling clerics gain more revenues.
European leaders, of course, who seem never to tire of sanctimoniously posturing
on behalf of human rights, are meanwhile pursuing appeasement policies with a
government that is the world's leading executioner and torturer of children --
and others.
Some of the children who have been executed are as young as 12. The United
Nations Special Rapporteur on Human Rights in Iran, Javaid Rehman, recently
pointed to the alarming issue of executions of children and adolescents:
"In 2018, there were seven reported cases of executions of child offenders.
Among the most recent cases, on 25 April 2019, two 17-year-old children, Mehdi
Sohrabifar and Amin Sedaghat, were executed in Adilabad prison in Shiraz, Fars
Province. The two were reportedly forced to confess under torture."
Two 17-year-old boys, who apparently did not even did not even know about their
death sentences, were flogged before being executed. The Iranian authorities did
not even inform the children's families about their executions in advance.
Later, Iran's Legal Medicine Organization told the families to come and collect
their bodies.
It is worth noting that due to the lack of transparency, the official number of
children being executed under the Islamic rule of Iran is believed to be higher.
As Amnesty International acknowledged:
"We have the details of 49 people on Iran's death row who were under 18 at the
time of the crime they are alleged to have committed. The UN says there are at
least 160 such people facing execution in the country. In fact, there are likely
to be many more young offenders on Iranian death rows, as use of capital
punishment in Iran is often shrouded in secrecy."
The Islamic Republic's Penal Code allows executions to be carried out by many
different methods, such as hanging, stoning, and firing squad.
In addition, Iran's Islamic Penal Code allows girls as young as 9 and boys as
young as 15 to be executed. Vague charges are generally brought up by the
Islamic Republic's judiciary system or the Revolutionary Court, such as "waging
war against God" (spreading moharebeh, "corruption on earth"), protesting, or
"endangering the country's national security." These charges can be stretched to
allow for supposedly lesser acts, such as criticizing the Supreme Leader, to
become crimes, so an order of execution can be carried out.
Although Iran ratified the UN Convention on the Rights of the Child, the
government has made no effort to alter the country's Penal Code. According to
the Norwegian-based organization, Iran Human Rights (IHR), which closely
monitors executions in Iran, the country is the world's leading executioner of
children:
"Despite ratifying the United Nations' Convention on the Rights of the Child
which bans the death penalty for offenses committed at under 18 years of age,
Iran stays the world's top executioner of juvenile offenders. According to
reports by IHR, Iranian authorities have executed at least 40 juvenile offenders
since 2013."
Currently, the Iranian government is in the process of executing three more
children. Most recently, the Amnesty International called Iran to stop the
execution of three Kurdish boys, Mohammad Kalhori, Barzan Nasrollahzadeh, and
Shayan Saeedpour. Saleh Higazi, deputy Middle East and North Africa director at
Amnesty International, said in statement:
"The Iranian authorities must act quickly to save these young men's lives.
Failing to stop their execution would be another abhorrent assault on children's
rights by Iran."
It is unclear whether the executions have been carried out.
The other two favorite pastimes of which the EU also seems never to tire are its
increasing its censorship and demonizing Israel, the only democracy in the
Middle East, and one that actually implements human rights. When will the EU
finally become nauseated by its own hypocritical self-righteousness?
*Dr. Majid Rafizadeh is a business strategist and advisor, Harvard-educated
scholar, political scientist, board member of Harvard International Review, and
president of the International American Council on the Middle East. He has
authored several books on Islam and US Foreign Policy. He can be reached at
Dr.Rafizadeh@Post.Harvard.Edu
© 2019 Gatestone Institute. All rights reserved. The articles printed here do
not necessarily reflect the views of the Editors or of Gatestone Institute. No
part of the Gatestone website or any of its contents may be reproduced, copied
or modified, without the prior written consent of Gatestone Institute.
Italy: Mass Legalization of Migrants is Suicidal
Giulio Meotti/Gatestone Institute/October 28/2019
"In my son's kindergarten there is a serious integration problem, I have to take
him away".... At the time of enrollment, Mohamed explained, they had seen
drawings with flags of all nationalities in the school, but, "when we arrived at
school the first day, we found ourselves in a class with all foreign children.
The teachers are even struggling to pronounce the children's names.
The migrant reception center on the island of Lampedusa, the front line of
Italy's migration crisis, is now in a state of "collapse" due to the rapidly
rising numbers of arrivals.
"The lifestyle of the migrants will be ours". — Laura Boldrini, former president
of Italy's Parliament; Il Giornale, 2015.
Will Italians integrate into the new culture of the migrants?
With a native population already shrinking, if Italy is open to the mass
legalization of migrants, we should be aware that it will be culturally
suicidal.
In Italy, last month, the number of migrants arriving from Africa surged. The
migrant reception center on the island of Lampedusa, the front line of Italy's
migration crisis, is now in a state of "collapse" due to the rapidly rising
number of arrivals. The entire south of Italy is now trying to deal with
migrants. Pictured: Migrants crossing from Libya to Europe wait to be rescued
from a boat by crew members from the Migrant Offshore Aid Station Phoenix on May
18, 2017, off Lampedusa, Italy. (Photo by Chris McGrath/Getty Images)
Describing Italy, Gerard Baker, former editor in chief of the Wall Street
Journal, recently wrote:
"In much of the country... depopulation is advancing. Moving into the empty
spaces have been waves of immigrants, many from North Africa and the Middle
East. The migrants have filled vital gaps in the labor force, but the
transformation of Italian towns has left increasing numbers of citizens
resentful, fearful for their identity."
He went on to call this transformation, "a kind of pioneer of Western decline".
Already, the effects of mass migration are becoming dramatically visible in many
of Italy's elementary schools. In just the last few days, examples from two
large cities have surfaced.
The first was in Turin, Italy's fourth largest city, where there are now
elementary school classes with not even one Italian child: "In all classes,
school principal Aurelia Provenza explained, the percentage of foreigners is
very high, equal to 60% of the total number of pupils".
The second example comes from Bologna. "In my son's kindergarten there is a
serious integration problem, I have to take him away," says Mohamed, a
34-year-old of Moroccan origin who arrived in Italy when he was 4 years old.
"I don't want to be seen as a racist myself as I am Moroccan, but the
municipality must know that there is no integration by putting more than 20
foreign children into classes".
At the time of enrollment, Mohamed explained, they had seen drawings with flags
of all nationalities in the school, but, "when we arrived at school the first
day, we found ourselves in a class with all foreign children. The teachers are
even struggling to pronounce the children's names."
We have now reached a paradox: immigrants are taking their children out from
classes where, under multiculturalism, segregation is surging. "School
performance falls when classes exceed 30% foreigners; it is a crucial threshold
that should be avoided or otherwise monitored", said Costanzo Ranci, professor
of Economic Sociology, and author of a recent report.
Both of the above cases have been the subject of much public debate. In Italy,
last month, the number of migrants arriving from Africa surged, after having
declined for most of the last two years. The migrant reception center on the
island of Lampedusa, the front line of Italy's migration crisis, is now in a
state of "collapse" due to the rapidly rising number of arrivals. The entire
south of Italy is now trying to deal with migrants.
According to projections from the UN Population Division, the population of
sub-Saharan Africa will double in 30 years, adding an additional 1 billion
people and accounting for more than half the global population growth between
now and 2050. Italy, which already has the third-largest population of migrants
in Europe, is undergoing an "unbearable" crisis, and now faces the real risk of
an "Africanisation", as Stephen Smith called it in his book, The Scramble for
Europe.
There are many voices of concern. Cardinal Robert Sarah, author of a new book,
The Day Is Now Far Spent, about the crisis of the West, compares the current
influx of migrants to the invasions of barbarians that brought down the Roman
Empire. If Europe's policies toward migrants do not change, Sarah warns, Europe
will be "invaded by foreigners, just as Rome was invaded by barbarians."
"If Europe disappears, and with it the priceless values of the Old Continent,
Islam will invade the world and we will completely change our culture,
anthropology and moral vision".
An Italian think-tank, Fondazione Fare Futuro, also just predicted that due to
mass migration and the different birthrates of Christians and Muslims, by the
end of the century half of the population of Italy could be Muslim. In just ten
years, the number of migrants in Italy has surged by 419%.
The native Italian population is already shrinking rapidly. Without the
foreigners, every year native Italians would die (615,000) at twice the rate of
births (380,000). Eurostat, the European official statistics office, calculates
that by 2080, one-fifth of Italians will come from migration background (11
million of Italy's 53 million).
A recent report by the Italian national statistics office noted that the country
is in a "demographic recession" not seen since the World War I, and 250,000
young Italians have fled the country. "Italy exports young graduates and imports
migrants", wrote Il Giornale. Italy is expected to lose 17% of its population by
2050, and -- even without immigration -- half by the end of the century.
A Caritas-Migrantes report recently documented that since 2014, the decrease in
the number of Italians is equivalent to the population of a large Italian city,
say, Palermo (677,000). The dramatic decrease, however, has so far been offset
by migrants.
Immigration is once again becoming a political question. Just weeks after
forming a government with the Five Star Movement, the Democratic Party is
advancing the so-called "birthright citizenship" -- a pledge to reverse the
stringent migration policy of former Interior Minister Matteo Salvini. In Latin
this right to citizenship is called ius culturae. The new law would allow
foreign minors under the age of 12 to become citizens after just five years at
school in Italy. The bill is being advanced by Laura Boldrini, a former
president of Italy's Parliament, who famously said: "The lifestyle of the
migrants will be ours". Will Italians, as in those elementary schools, integrate
into the new culture of the migrants?
The current government knows perfectly well what is at stake. "From now to 2050
and 2060, we will have to face an epochal question from 50 to 60 million people
who will arrive in the Mediterranean world", MP Nicola Morra, MP in the
governmental majority, recently said.
The government is literally gambling with Italy's future.
Italy is the European country most exposed to migration pressure from Africa.
With a native population already shrinking, if Italy is open to the mass
legalization of migrants, we should be at least be aware that it will be
culturally suicidal.
*Giulio Meotti, Cultural Editor for Il Foglio, is an Italian journalist and
author.
© 2019 Gatestone Institute. All rights reserved. The articles printed here do
not necessarily reflect the views of the Editors or of Gatestone Institute. No
part of the Gatestone website or any of its contents may be reproduced, copied
or modified, without the prior written consent of Gatestone Institute.