English LCCC Newsbulletin For Lebanese,
Lebanese Related, Global News & Editorials
For September 04/2020
Compiled & Prepared by: Elias Bejjani
The Bulletin's Link on the lccc Site
http://data.eliasbejjaninews.com/eliasnews19/english.september04.20.htm
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Bible Quotations For today
No slave can serve two masters; for a slave
will either hate the one and love the other, or be devoted to the one and
despise the other. You cannot serve God and wealth
Luke 16/13-17: “No slave can serve two masters;
for a slave will either hate the one and love the other, or be devoted to the
one and despise the other. You cannot serve God and wealth.’The Pharisees, who
were lovers of money, heard all this, and they ridiculed him. So he said to
them, ‘You are those who justify yourselves in the sight of others; but God
knows your hearts; for what is prized by human beings is an abomination in the
sight of God. ‘The law and the prophets were in effect until John came; since
then the good news of the kingdom of God is proclaimed, and everyone tries to
enter it by force. But it is easier for heaven and earth to pass away, than for
one stroke of a letter in the law to be dropped.
Titles For The Latest English LCCC Lebanese & Lebanese Related News & Editorials
published on September 03-04/2020
Beirut rescue teams find signs of life under rubble a month after blast
'Pulse' Raises Hope of Survivor at Destroyed Mar Mikhail Building
Anti-Government Group Shifts from Street Protests to Political Opposition
Beirut explosion: Outgoing PM Diab interrogated for lack of action to prevent
blast
Beirut explosion: Lebanese army discovers 4.35 tonnes of ammonium nitrate near
port
Report: Toil and Trouble to Form Non-Partisan Lebanon Cabinet
Italian Vice Minister of Foreign Affairs to Visit Beirut
oPH: 588 new coronavirus cases, 2 more deaths
US dollar exchange rate: Buying price at LBP 3850, selling price at LBP 3900
UNIFIL head chairs Tripartite meeting in Naqoura
Aoun was informed about atmosphere of parliamentary consultations by
PM-designate.
Aoun asks Minister of Public Works to take necessary measures to repair
dilapidated facilities at airport
Army chief meets Schenker
Army: 4.3 tons of Ammonium Nitrate found near gate no.9 outside Beirut port
Cardinal Parolin in Lebanon on solidarity visit
Cardinal Parolin from Saint Georges cathedral: Lebanon is not alone and together
we will rebuild Beirut
Wehbe receives Cardinal Parolin
Airport chief says no fuel leakage at the facility
Loyalty to Resistance' bloc: We're dealing positively with initiatives to help
Lebanon make reforms
Army says aid continues to arrive in Beirut from fraternal, friendly countries
Hariri receives Kuwaiti ambassador
Italian military plane carrying medical, humanitarian supplies arrives in Beirut
If Macron wants to rescue Lebanon, Hezbollah must go/Ruwan Al-Rejoleh/Al Arabiya/September
03/2020
Macron could pressure Iran to disarm Hezbollah, but instead he was weak/Hussain
Abdul-Hussain/Al Arabiya/Thursday 03 September 2020
Lebanon’s Michel Aoun has wasted his presidency/Michael Young/The
National/September 03/2020
A pivotal birthday for Lebanon/The National/September 03/2020
Haniyeh in Lebanon to keep Palestinian factions away from local tensions/The
ArabWeekly/September 03/2020
Titles For The Latest English LCCC Miscellaneous Reports And News published on September 03-04/2020
Airstrike kills 16 pro-Iran fighters in Syria, Israel
suspected as behind it: Report
Bahrain will allow all flights to and from UAE to use its airspace: BNA
The Middle East can achieve peace and stability
Fears of ISIS resurgence as Syria attacks escalate
France, Turkey try to sway Algeria over Libyan crisis
Pentagon warns against impact of pro-GNA mercenaries on Libya’s security
Remaining Taliban Prisoners Freed Except 'Few' Opposed by Foreign Nations
Biden Campaign Raised $364 million in August, Breaking Record
Desperate Search for Crew of Ship Sunk in Typhoon off Japan
Titles For The Latest LCCC English analysis & editorials from miscellaneous sources published on September 03-04/2020
Macron pushes French interests in Iraq, avoids
angering Iran/Hammam Latif/The ArabWeekly/September 03/2020
Iran claims advances in radar that it says can reach Israel/Seth J. Frantman/Jerusalem
Post/September 03/2020
Iran nuclear deal members resolved to preserve agreement/David
Rising/AP./September 03/2020
Iran Nuclear Challenge Looms for the Next U.S. President/Andrea Stricker and
Jacob Nagel/ Insight-FDD/September 03/2020
Justice Department Provides Roadmap to Escalate Pressure on North Korean
Cybercrime/Mathew Ha/Policy Brief-FDD/September 03/2020
Iraq is presented with golden opportunity to strengthen US, Gulf ties, shake off
Iran/Zana Gulmohamad/Al Arabiya/September 03/2020
The Latest English LCCC Lebanese & Lebanese Related News & Editorials published on September 03-04/2020
Beirut rescue teams find signs of life under rubble a
month after blast
Sunniva Rose/The National/September 03/2020
A member of the team said there may be two bodies under the rubble but they have
only detected one pulse.
A team of Chilean rescue workers are sifting through the rubble of a collapsed
building in Beirut after detecting possible signs of life a month after a
massive blast tore through the city.
"These (signs of breathing and pulse) along with the temperature sensor means
there is a possibility of life," rescue worker Eddy Bitar told reporters. A
member of the Chilean team told The National that they had found indications of
possibly two bodies on the second floor of the building in Beirut’s Gemmayzeh
area. The rescue worker, who asked not to give his name, said that there could
be a “triangle of life” if someone had been protected by a supporting wall when
the building fell. He said that in Haiti the team had found someone alive after
28 days under the rubble and that “if they are strong enough, then anything is
possible.”The army and civil defence arrived on the scene and closed the road,
bringing in equipment and floodlights to assist the teams working into the
night. A member of Lebanon’s civil defence said that teams had brought in
thermal cameras and carried out studies of the building when they found
indications of breathing and a pulse.“They found another body and they say it’s
still alive, still breathing but nothing is assumed for sure so we are waiting
to start work again,” said Lt Michel El Mur of Lebanon’s firefighters. “We
worked from 2pm to now and we will continue to find what is giving the pulse.”
He said the Chilean team, who have experience in earthquake zone and mining
disasters, have found people after this length of time even if the possibility
of survival is low. “Even if it’s 1 per cent we hope it is good for us,” he
said. “We have to remove the rubble to arrive at the spot. There is a lot of
danger existing above us and so we have to work slowly,” he said of the fragile
building that still hangs over the spot where rescue teams are working. A
sniffer dog and scanning equipment was seen being used to try and determine if
there were indeed people alive under the rubble.
A crowd also gathered at the police cordon awaiting any news from the rescue
teams. But officials said that the search would likely take hours.
'Pulse' Raises Hope of Survivor at Destroyed Mar
Mikhail Building
Agence France Presse/Naharnet/September 03/2020
Rescue workers dug through rubble in a wrecked district of Beirut Thursday in
search of possible survivors from a mega-blast at the adjacent port one month
ago, after scanners detected a pulse. A sniffer dog used by Chilean rescuers on
Wednesday night responded to a scent from the site of a collapsed building in
the Mar Mikhail area, the city's governor Marwan Abboud told reporters at the
scene. "There could be survivors," he said, explaining that scanners had
detected a pulse, however faint the hope of finding anyone alive more than four
weeks after the explosion. "We hope someone will make it out alive," Abboud
said. Michel Murr of the Beirut fire department also said a pulse was detected
about two meters (six feet) below the rubble. "One person, according to the
(thermal) camera, still has a pulse," Murr said. The building has completely
collapsed as a result of the blast that killed 191 people, wounded more than
6,500 others and destroyed swathes of Beirut. Seven people are still missing,
according to the Lebanese army. Chilean rescuers, Lebanese civil defense teams
and Beirut fire department workers were excavating the site. Speaking to local
broadcaster LBCI, a rescue worker said scanners had picked up a respiratory rate
of "19 breaths a minute." Lebanon on Friday marks one month since the blast that
authorities say was caused by a shipment of ammonium nitrate left to languish
for years at Beirut's port.
Anti-Government Group Shifts from Street Protests to
Political Opposition
Naharnet/September 03/2020
Anti-government civil society group “Red Line” announced on Thursday a shift
from street protests in Martyr’s Square against the ruling elite channeling to
strict political work as opposition. The group said it will join efforts with
several protest groups that emerged after the October 17 anti-government
protests against the ruling elite and corruption. Red Line, one of the popular
movement groups said in a statement that it “will stop participating or calling
for any popular movement in Martyr’s Square,” taking into consideration the
“exhausted, wounded and hungry people” of Lebanon getting down in the street
without a specific goal. It said “any future meaningful move is going to be
distanced from Marty’s Square,” pointing to the fierce protests erupting on
Centennial Day (on Tuesday) “marginalizing the purpose of our moves.”“The
central demonstration organized by the revolution groups on the occasion of the
centenary of Greater Lebanon and the acts of violence marginalized the main
message behind the movement,” said the statement. Protests in Marty’s Square
“are turning into an aimless apocalyptic violence with an assault on private and
public property.”
The group said it will join efforts with several activist groups of the October
17 uprising to form a “political opposition front against the corrupt ruling
authorities to change Lebanon through the parliamentary elections.”
Beirut explosion: Outgoing PM Diab interrogated for lack of
action to prevent blast
AFP/Thursday 03 September 2020
The lead investigator of the catastrophic blast at the Lebanese capital’s port
heard testimony from outgoing prime minister Hassan Diab on Thursday. Diab
became the first senior politician to testify before judicial authorities, who
are not entitled to question incumbents in government or parliament without
recourse to a special body. The premier who resigned in the wake of the August 4
blast that left more than 190 dead had said it was caused by 2,750 tonnes of
fertilizer ammonium nitrate stored in a portside warehouse for years. Judge Fadi
Sawan listened to Diab’s testimony in his “capacity as a witness,” a judicial
source told AFP. Sawan was seeking to determine “how long he knew as prime
minister of the presence of ammonium nitrate in the port,” according to the
source. He also wanted to find out “why he did not instruct the government to
take measures to remove the dangerous (substance) after receiving reports from
security services.” On July 20, Diab and President Michel Aoun both received a
report from the State Security agency warning of the danger posed by the highly
unstable material. After the explosion, the agency confirmed it had alerted
authorities in a detailed report quoting a chemical expert who had visited the
warehouse. If ignited, the ammonium nitrate would cause a huge explosion that
would be especially destructive to the port, warned the report seen by AFP.
Lebanese authorities have launched their own investigation after rejecting calls
for an international probe. wenty-five suspects have so far been arrested,
including port director-general Hassan Koraytem and customs chief Badri Daher.
Also among those arrested are three Syrian workers who carried out welding work
on the warehouse on the day of the blast. Security sources have suggested the
work could have started a fire that triggered the blast, but some observers have
rejected the theory. The Lebanese army said Thursday it has found another 4.35
tonnes of ammonium nitrate stored inside containers at an entrance to the port.
Beirut explosion: Lebanese army discovers 4.35 tonnes
of ammonium nitrate near port
Joseph Haboush, Al Arabiya English/Wednesday 02 September 2020
The Lebanese army said Thursday that it discovered over four tonnes of ammonium
nitrate near the Port of Beirut, almost one month after the deadly Aug. 4
explosions in the same area. “The engineering team is working to deal with the
[ammonium nitrate],” the statement added.
A team of engineers from the army found 4.35 tonnes of the chemicals at the
entrance of the Port of Beirut, near Entrance 9, a statement from the army said.
Earlier Thursday, a rescue dog indicated a possible survivor under rubble
resulting from the Beirut explosion last month. The explosion, caused by a fire
that lit 2,750 tonnes of ammonium nitrate stored at the port on fire killed at
least 190, injured over 6,000, and left 40 percent of Beirut severely damaged.
Why the nitrate was stored in the port for seven years remains unclear, but the
government knew about its presence and for years failed to act.
Report: Toil and Trouble to Form Non-Partisan Lebanon
Cabinet
Naharnet/September 03/2020
At the forefront of challenges facing PM-designate Mustafa Adib is whether
Lebanon’s rival political parties will allow him to form a government of
“experts” excluding political parties or any of their representatives, An Nahar
daily wrote on Thursday. Adib had pledged on Wednesday to form a "government of
experts" to spearhead reforms demanded by France and the rest of the
international community as well as by the vast majority of the Lebanese people.
One more “no less important” challenge facing Adib lies in facilitating his
mission to form a government and testing the parties’ “genuine” willingness to
ditch demands for government portfolios, considering how past “fait accompli”
governments were formed devoting shares and quotas for specific parties over so
many years, added the daily. During Tuesday’s talks between French President
Emmanuel Macron with representatives of Lebanon's top nine political blocs, most
of these parties expressed willingness to accept rotation in the ministries, it
added. But hints and “conditions” began to emerge, said An Nahar, through
“hypothetical and pre-emptive demands heard by the PM-designate from some
political parties, which means that his task will not be easy, as impressions
prevail.”
Italian Vice Minister of Foreign Affairs to Visit Beirut
Naharnet/September 03/2020
Italy’s Vice Minister of Foreign Affairs and International Cooperation, Emanuela
Del Re, arrived in Beirut Thursday bringing more aid for Lebanon after the
colossal Beirut port blast, the National News Agency reported.
The Italian official arrives in Lebanon as Lebanon's Ambassador in Rome, Mira
Daher, carries on efforts to activate urgent aid for Lebanon through meetings
with Italian officials. Daher had met with aide to Prime Minister Giuseppe Conte
who plans to visit Beirut on September 8.
She said Italy expressed “serious” intention to provide humanitarian assistance
for Lebanon through an air and sea bridge established by Italy following the
explosions in Beirut on 4 August.”Italy had offered humanitarian aid and help in
reconstruction to the Lebanese people immediately after the blast.
Italian Navy ship Etna carried humanitarian aid offered by the navy and the
Francesca Rava NPH Italia Onlus Foundation.The Italian commercial ship
“Capucine” carried 10 firefighting vehicles, equipment for 50 firefighters and
food supplies.
oPH: 588 new coronavirus cases, 2 more deaths
NNA/September 03/2020
588 new coronavirus cases and 2 more deaths from the disease have been recorded
in Lebanon in the last 24 hours, as indicated by the Ministry of Public Health's
daily tally on Thursday.
US dollar exchange rate: Buying price at LBP 3850, selling
price at LBP 3900
NNA - The Money Changers Syndicate announced in a statement addressed to money
changing companies and institutions Thursday’s USD exchange rate against the
Lebanese pound as follows:
Buying price at a minimum of LBP 3850
Selling price at a maximum of LBP 3900
UNIFIL head chairs Tripartite meeting in Naqoura
NNA/September 03/2020
UNIFIL Head of Mission and Force Commander Major General Stefano Del Col today
chaired a special Tripartite meeting at a UN position in Ras Al Naqoura. In a
press release by UNIFIL on Thursday, it said: "During the meeting, the third
since the COVID-19 outbreak and held under a curtailed format and agenda due to
the ongoing restrictions, discussions focused on the situation along the Blue
Line, air and ground violations as well as other issues within the scope of
UNIFIL's mandate under UN Security Council resolution 1701. Major General Del
Col expressed strong concerns at the two recent incidents of breach in the
cessation of hostilities between Lebanon and Israel on 27 July and 25 August,
and the generally raised tensions along the Blue Line. He updated the parties on
the status of UNIFIL's ongoing investigations into the incidents, and called for
urgent steps to prevent their recurrence.
"Your actions along the Blue Line should be prioritized towards reducing tension
and de-escalation by availing of our tried and tested liaison and coordination
arrangements and avoiding unilateral actions," he said. Looking forward, the
UNIFIL Head of Mission briefed the delegations on the adoption last week of
resolution 2539 by the UN Security Council, renewing UNIFIL's mandate for one
more year. He said: "The Security Council, in renewing UNIFIL's mandate, has
made its expectations clear - from UNIFIL, but more importantly from both the
parties. It is important now that we work together with renewed energy towards
the mandated objectives and, to this end, I look forward to your proactive
engagement with UNIFIL going forward."
Major General Del Col complimented the parties for the Security Council's
acknowledgement of the "constructive" role played by the Tripartite forum in
facilitating coordination and in de-escalating tensions. He noted that the
Council has encouraged UNIFIL to reinforce the capacities of the Tripartite
mechanism.
He said: "This forum has proven itself by delivering practical localized
arrangements on contentious issues. Let us actively build on this to explore
further avenues for bringing greater stability along the Blue Line."
Tripartite meetings have been held regularly under the auspices of UNIFIL since
the end of the 2006 war in south Lebanon as an essential conflict management and
confidence building mechanism."
Aoun was informed about atmosphere of parliamentary
consultations by PM-designate.
NNA/September 03/2020
President of the Republic, General Michel Aoun met the Prime Minister-designate,
Dr. Mustafa Adib, in the afternoon at Baabda Palace. The Prime Minister
designate briefed President Aounon the atmosphere of the parliamentary
consultations that he conducted yesterday to form the Government.
After the meeting, PM Adib told reporters:
"I met with His Excellency the President and put him in the atmosphere of the
parliamentary consultations that I conducted yesterday with MPs and the
parliamentary blocs, and I felt everyone's cooperation and desire to accelerate
the formation of the upcoming government in order to face the impending
challenges, especially the repercussions of the explosion of Beirut port, and to
start implementing financial and economic reforms.
My conviction and desire is for a homogenous working group and government of
specialists to be formed, which seeks to work quickly and urgently to put these
reforms I mentioned into practice. I agreed with His Excellency the President to
keep in touch, and God willing, we will succeed as soon as possible in forming
this government.
Asked if he wanted the whole government to be of specialists, PM Adib answered
that the goal is to have a coherent work team, which works as quickly as
possible to implement these reforms.--Presidency Press Office
Aoun asks Minister of Public Works to take necessary
measures to repair dilapidated facilities at airport
NNA/September 03/2020
In light of the data available about the existence of dilapidated facilities at
Rafic Hariri International Airport dedicated to providing aircrafts with fuel
which endangers public safety, in addition to wasting public money, the
President of the Republic, General Michel Aoun, asked Minister of Public Works
and Transport, Michel Najjar, to take the necessary measures to repair these
facilities and raise damages which could be caused. Moreover, President Aoun
asked the cassation public prosecutor, Judge Ghassan Awaidat, to investigate
information about the existence of waste of public money in the facilities based
on an opinion issued by the Audit Bureau in this regard.
President Aoun has also assigned whoever needs to follow this issue in the
ministries of works and justice. On the other hand, President Aoun received this
morning at Baabda Palace, the Minister of the Displaced, Mrs. Ghada Shreim, who
briefed him on what was achieved in the ministry during the period of her
assumption, especially in the field of completing the files, their
mechanization, and the effort that was made to end the file of the displaced.
President Aoun also received the British Ambassador to Lebanon, Chris Rampling,
accompanied by the Chargé d'Affaires, Mrs. Alison King, and discussed with him
the Lebanese-British relations, recent political developments, the process of
forming the new government, the issue of criminal audit of the accounts of the
Central Bank and other issues of concern for the two countries.
President Aoun thanked Ambassador Rampling for the support provided by his
country after the explosion in the Beirut port.--Presidency Press office
Army chief meets Schenker
NNA/September 03/2020
Lebanese Army chief, General Joseph Aoun, met Thursday at his Yarze office with
U.S. Assistant Secretary of State for Near Eastern Affairs, David Schenker, who
came in the company of a U.S. Embassy delegation.
Talks reportedly touched on the current situation in the country and the means
to bolster cooperation between the U.S. and Lebanon.
Army: 4.3 tons of Ammonium Nitrate found near gate no.9
outside Beirut port
NNA/September 03/2020
The Lebanese Army indicated in a statement on Thursday, that an Engineering
Regiment team had inspected four containers near gate number 9 just outside
Beirut seaport, and found that they included around 4.3 tons of Ammonium
Nitrate.
Cardinal Parolin in Lebanon on solidarity visit
NNA/September 03/2020
Secretary of State of the Vatican, Cardinal Pietro Parolin, arrived Thursday in
Beirut on a solidarity visit following the Lebanese capital's port blast.
At the airport, Cardinal Parolin was received by Caretaker Foreign Minister
Charbel Wehbe, Apostolic Nuncio to Lebanon Joseph Spiteri, delegation of the
Foreign Minister and Apostolic Nunciature.
Cardinal Parolin from Saint Georges cathedral: Lebanon is
not alone and together we will rebuild Beirut
NNA/September 03/2020
Secretary of State of the Vatican, Cardinal Pietro Parolin, said during a
meeting with several Muslim and Christian clerics at the Saint Georges cathedral
in central Beirut, "Lebanon is not alone, and we solemnly stand by your side in
solidarity to express our affinity towards you."The visiting prelate stressed
that Lebanon should not be abandoned, saying: "Lebanon needs the world; yet the
world needs Lebanon’s unique experience, solidarity and freedom that it
represents, and together we will rebuild Beirut."
Wehbe receives Cardinal Parolin
NNA/September 03/2020
Caretaker Minister of Foreign Affairs and Emigrants, Charbel Wehbe, met Thursday
with the Vatican's Secretary of State, Cardinal Pietro Parolin.
The prelate has been delegated to Lebanon by Pope Francis to convey blessings to
the Lebanese people following the August 4 port blast.
Airport chief says no fuel leakage at the facility
NNA/September 03/2020
Beirut airport chief, Fadi al-Hassan, has denied media claims about a leakage at
the facility, reassuring that there is no risk of explosion. "What has been
disseminated by media means about a leakage of fuel at the airport is untrue;
there isn't any leakage at the airport," he told a news conference on Thursday.
"There is no looming explosion," he stressed.
Loyalty to Resistance' bloc: We're dealing positively with
initiatives to help Lebanon make reforms
NNA/September 03/2020
The "Loyalty to the Resistance" parliamentary bloc held Thursday its periodic
meeting in its Haret Hreik-based office, under the chairmanship of MP Mohammad
Raad. In a statement issued following the meeting, the bloc said that it was
keenly following up on all efforts aiming to help Lebanon, on top of which the
initiative of French President Emmanuel Macron. "In light of our commitment to
and keenness on national sovereignty, we are dealing positively with the
initiatives of brothers and friends, with the purpose of helping Lebanon make
reforms and achieve developmental projects, in a way that preserves our
independence and protects our people's dignity," the statement read. Moreover,
the bloc highlighted the necessity to facilitate the formation of the new
government under the leadership of Prime Minister-designate, Mustapha Adib.
Army says aid continues to arrive in Beirut from fraternal,
friendly countries
NNA/September 03/2020
The Lebanese Army Command on Wednesday issued a statement saying that aid
continued to arrive from brotherly and friendly countries to Beirut.
"In this context, an Italian plane loaded with medical aid landed at Rafic
Hariri International Airport on 3/9/2020 for the Lebanese Red Cross," the Army’s
statement said.
Hariri receives Kuwaiti ambassador
NNA/September 03/2020
Former Prime Minister Saad Hariri received this evening at the Center House the
Kuwaiti Ambassador to Lebanon, Abdel-Al Al-Qenai, in the presence of former
minister Ghattas Khoury. Discussions focused on the political situation in
Lebanon and the bilateral relations between the two countries and continued over
dinner.-- Hariri Press Office
Italian military plane carrying medical, humanitarian
supplies arrives in Beirut
NNA/September 03/2020
An Italian military plane carrying medical and humanitarian supplies, estimated
at seven tons, has arrived at Rafic Hariri International Airport in Beirut.
"The Lebanese army will receive it on the airport grounds and hand it to the
Lebanese Red Cross," our correspondent said on Thursday.
If Macron wants to rescue Lebanon, Hezbollah must go
Ruwan Al-Rejoleh/Al Arabiya/September 03/2020
For too long in Lebanon and across the region, Hezbollah’s malign behaviour has
been given a free pass. Despite naivety from many in the West, Hezbollah’s
‘reform’ is impossible. Since the explosion last month, after decades of
destructive behaviour, it is clear that the corrupt political movement is just
the polished, media-savvy arm of its violent and extremist paramilitaries.
Hezbollah’s contempt for modernity and democracy runs deep. From backroom deals
with political elites, to open support and cooperation with an Iranian regime
determined to destabilise the Middle East. Decades of dialogue have been
pointless. Since reaching an accord with Lebanon’s President Michel Aoun after
the murder of Prime Minister Rafik Hariri in 2005, the group have set about
business as usual, indiscriminately bombing civilians, and provoking Israel and
the US.
The people that suffer most are the Lebanese. Caught in the crossfire,
literally, as Hezbollah embeds its military infrastructure in civilian areas,
let alone its cross borders operations.
The Special Tribunal for Lebanon that investigated the deaths of the former
Prime Minister and twenty-one innocent civilians at the bloodied hands of
Hezbollah should have called for the group to be removed in its entirety from
Lebanon. But it is clear the tribunal shied away, fearing it would spark yet
more bloodshed.
This cowardice is not justice for those suffering from Hezbollah’s crimes.
Justice for these victims and countless others can be served no other way.
Hezbollah has proven over decades it cannot be trusted, much less to govern.
French President Emmanuel Macron was received warmly in Beirut by a desperate
population angry at their lives being blighted by extremism and corruption. But
now he needs to act.
Macron must rectify the tribunal’s glaring omission and attach the full
condemnation of Hezbollah to political reform as a precondition for aid to
Lebanon. A proposal recently delivered by the French Ambassador to Beirut, seen
by Reuters, falls short; and calls only for action on COVID-19, reconstruction
of the port, economic reforms and an early election.
Short-term international support is not enough, failing the restoration of
Lebanon’s ability to self-govern which has proven impossible with Hezbollah.
While investigations into the blast are ongoing, it would be the greatest
injustice of all for a prime suspect of the chemical’s reckless storage to be
handed a role in rebuilding Lebanon today.
Domestic turmoil in Lebanon is mirrored throughout the region. In Syria,
Hezbollah and other Shia militia, fighting alongside their Iranian backers, have
sought to bolster Assad, smuggling weapons and killing thousands of civilians.
Unchecked, Hezbollah’s violence has become emboldened and unbound.
As both a militia and a political movement, Hezbollah will always answer to
hostile foreign powers over the voice of the Lebanese people. Both have put the
interests of Iran ahead of Lebanon openly, at home and abroad, and that false
distinction can no longer be made, nor further excuses given, if the country is
to meaningfully recover from the current crisis.
It should also be no surprise that, as the only militia still refusing to disarm
and the first known Islamist group to use suicide bombers, Hezbollah has yet
again set about wreaking havoc and sewing chaos in Lebanon. Grounded in radical
Shia Islamism, Hezbollah’s 1985 manifesto pledged allegiance to Iran’s Supreme
Leader, vowing to build an Iranian-inspired Islamist regime in Lebanon.
Even before the explosion, Hezbollah saw itself become a target of the mass
protests that have been gathering across the country since the October 17, 2019
, even in the group’s traditional strongholds. While the political elite faces
international scrutiny, Lebanon knows that Hezbollah is also at the heart of the
rot after decades of broken promises and corruption laid bare.
As Al Arabiya English reported and the DC-based think tank the Atlantic Council
have outlined, Hezbollah and their allies in the Free Patriotic Movement (FPM)
have even begun using the courts to undermine the rule of law in Lebanon.
Hezbollah and the FPM have allegedly used FPM-aligned judges to bring
groundless, politically motivated charges against opposition politicians and
entrepreneurs, including the well-known Lebanese businessman Teddy Rahmeh.
Lebanon’s political actors must be trusted to follow the rule of law, from the
prohibitions against murder to the rules of a functioning economy. Yet Hezbollah
has consistently shown it cannot rise to that task. To restore order, President
Macron must listen to Lebanon’s protesters calling from the streets that
Hezbollah can have no role in the country’s future.
Rebuilding Beirut’s port and light-touch reforms are not enough. Macron’s list
of demands must include the complete disarmament of its militia, dismissal of
its politicians, and disavowal of Hezbollah’s ideology to ensure peace,
democracy and economic growth in Lebanon.
Lebanese youth deserve political representation that is not rooted to the civil
war. A real political system should be presented as an alternative to the
current dysfunction. Dealing with Hezbollah is just the tip of the iceberg
especially with its political blocs and alliances. It is not an easy task but
action should have been taken years ago.
The international community has already come to a view. Now is the time for
Macron’s ‘new political pact’ to enact it for the Lebanese people by denying
Hezbollah a seat at the table.
**Ruwan Al-Rejoleh is an independent political consultant and analyst with a
focus on geopolitics and extreme religious groups in the Middle East and North
Africa. A Syrian national born in Washington DC, Ruwan is currently based in DC
and is the Founder and CEO of a geopolitical advisory firm and a former analyst
at the Tony Blair Institute.
Macron could pressure Iran to disarm Hezbollah, but instead
he was weak
Hussain Abdul-Hussain/Al Arabiya/Thursday 03 September 2020
France’s President Emmanuel Macron has taken the wrong approach in Lebanon,
failing to assert French influence to pressure Iran to disarm Hezbollah and
bring about real change.
Nothing shows the toothlessness of French diplomacy in Lebanon more than Macron
telling Politico that, had he insisted on the popular candidate Nawaf Salam
becoming Lebanon’s new prime minister, France would have undermined Salam’s
tenure “because we put him in a system in which the parliament will block
everything.”
So weak is Macron’s influence that the only thing he had to offer was to hold
“frank, long and repeated conversations with the ruling class, threatening to
withhold aid and impose sanctions,” wrote Politico. Even the policy of “long
conversations” assumes that the ruling class – a rubber stamp outfit for the
actual ruler, Hezbollah – can actually decide on anything in the country whose
economy has been in free fall.
Macron seems unaware of the main principle of diplomacy: Speak softly and carry
a big stick. In the Middle East, Macron does not offer a coherent strategy that
gives him enough carrots and sticks to conduct his diplomacy. Even sanctions on
Lebanon’s rulers are an American tool.
In fact, the French president had forfeited his leverage long before the Beirut
port explosion, which prompted a sudden burst of French interest in Lebanon. By
then, it had become common knowledge that Beirut’s decisions are made in Tehran.
Yet instead of formulating a policy that bargains with Iran for an independent
Lebanon – leveraging Tehran’s need of French support for the Iran nuclear deal
for concessions in Lebanon – Macron incorrectly assumed that Lebanon could be
fixed independently like a normal state.
Like Britain and Germany, France has endorsed a policy of appeasement toward
Tehran’s regime. When US President Donald Trump asked that changes be made to
the Iran nuclear deal, the Europeans started a mediation effort that collapsed
under Iranian refusal to make any sunset clauses permanent. When America
reimposed unilateral sanctions on Iran, France and the Europeans ducked.
Then came the expiry of UN arms embargo on Iran. The Europeans supported America
on the need to extend the embargo at the UN, but when Washington put forward a
resolution to that effect before the Security Council, France, Britain and
Germany voted against it.
For some reason, perhaps lucrative contracts (such as the development of Iran’s
Pars oil field by French oil and gas company Total, which was dropped after
Trump reimposed US sanctions), France prefers to appease Iran rather than
confront its destabilizing activities in the Middle East, especially in Lebanon.
When Paris concedes its leverage with Iran, it loses its power in Lebanon.
Macron was correct. With his weak hand, all he could offer was long
conversations.
Macron steered clear from the real reform required to rescue Lebanon – disarming
Hezbollah. The French president justified avoiding this subject by saying that
he opposed whatever leads to military escalation, the same excuse given by Iran
apologists in Washington, who oppose anything other than concessions to Iran
based on the incorrect assumption that twisting Iran’s arm will certainly lead
to war.
Disarming Hezbollah is impossible with war, and only possible through Lebanese
consensus despite Hezbollah’s opposition. Whenever Lebanon’s ruling class spoke
with one voice, it achieved what had previously seemed impossible, such as
ejecting Palestinian militias in 1982, and Syrian troops in 2005.
To cover for his weakness and for the fact that he was only putting some good
spin on an otherwise bad Iranian policy in Lebanon, Macron highlighted the
cultural side of his visit. The French president therefore met with Lebanese
diva singer Fairouz and decorated her with a French medal. He also met with
protesters and took some great photos.
In Paris, intellectuals jumped on Macron’s bandwagon. Historian Henry Laurens
told the French paper Le Monde that while Lebanon was “still important because
of Hezbollah,” he argued that the Iran-backed militia was “no longer a priority
because, in the meantime, Iraq and Syria have collapsed.” Laurens failed to
notice that “collapse” in Iraq, Syria, and Lebanon was due to the exact same
reason: That Iran dominates these countries with its proxy militias.
Laurens said that France’s reasons to care about Lebanon were “more sentimental
than anything else,” a statement unfitting for a historian who knows that
foreign policy is about interests rather than sentiments.
Lebanon needs help, and Macron’s attention is welcome. But help is needed for
fundamental change that includes disarming Hezbollah, a gargantuan task that is
only possible through convincing the ruling class that the party cannot protect
their corruption anymore, but will rather bring them down with it under
international pressure and sanctions. Once the oligarchs gang up on Hezbollah
and sink it, rebuilding Lebanon from scratch, including constitutionally,
fiscally and financially, becomes possible.
Otherwise, by demanding early elections, in a country where a militia can coerce
results in its own favor, Macron is doing Hezbollah a favor by whitewashing a
failing system.
The attention that the president of France gave to Lebanon felt promising at
first. But on his second trip, Macron seemed to have little policy and leverage
and a lot of talk aimed at making more of the same look better.
Macron’s visit to Lebanon certainly took the Lebanese to a nostalgic past, but
did not offer them any promising future.
Lebanon’s Michel Aoun has wasted his presidency
Michael Young/The National/September 03/2020
مايكل يونغ/ذا ناشيونال/ ميشال عون أهدر رئاسته
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The constitution does not grant a president much power, but in Beirut high
office is what a politician makes of it.
On Sunday night, Lebanese President Michel Aoun made a speech on television to
mark the establishment by France of Greater Lebanon on September 1, 1920. In the
speech, Mr Aoun called for a “civil state”, declaring that Lebanon’s sectarian
system “constitutes an obstacle to all progress and reforms and the fight
against corruption”.
At any other moment, such radical remarks should have represented a stirring
call to arms for change, with broader implications for Lebanese society.
However, coming from a largely invisible President, it fell on a mostly
indifferent public. It also does not help matters that Mr Aoun is perceived as
covering for the corruption of his son-in-law, Gebran Bassil, who is also a
politician.
Yet the antagonism directed against Mr Aoun has underlined how the Lebanese
understand that their presidents have considerable influence, even if the
constitution does not accord them very much formally. They can be the object of
significant popular expectations or, alternatively, profound revulsion, despite
the fact that they have little real power to implement decisions.
When Greater Lebanon was established in 1920, France put in place a presidential
system that it very much controlled as mandatory power in the country. At the
time, the competition between two presidential rivals, Bishara Al Khoury and
Emile Eddeh, defined Lebanese politics to a great extent. Ultimately, both men
would become presidents, though Al Khoury perhaps ultimately won out by holding
the office at the time Lebanon became independent in 1943.
Following independence, the presidency would remain a source of competition
between Maronite Christian politicians. According to an agreement known as the
“national pact” between Al Khoury and a leading Sunni Muslim politician, Riad Al
Solh, the president would always be a Maronite, the prime minister always a
Sunni Muslim and the parliament speaker always a Shia Muslim.
At the time, the president had extensive powers, appointing prime ministers,
dissolving governments and having a major voice over ministerial appointments.
That changed in 1989, when constitutional amendments agreed at Taif, Saudi
Arabia, led to a transformation of the system into one where executive power was
vested in the council of ministers. The president’s role was curtailed, even if
he remained head of state “and the symbol of the nation’s unity”.
Many Christians, including Mr Aoun, regarded the transformation of the
president’s role as a defeat for the Maronite community. Mr Aoun for many years
was highly critical of Taif, even as he engineered, with the help of Hezbollah,
his own ascension to the role in 2016. Evidently, Mr Aoun had grasped that, with
or without Taif, in a sectarian system where a president also represents a major
Lebanese religious community, he could play a role larger than what the
constitution mandated.
et what Mr Aoun has also shown since then is that he did not have the acumen to
consolidate the powers of his office. Instead, the President has completely
undermined his position by failing to take the lead in guiding Lebanon out of
its profound economic and financial crisis. He is now seen as part of the
problem, having used his office largely to benefit the personal and political
interests of his family, particularly the widely reviled Mr Bassil.
Things could have been different. Mr Aoun could have exploited the implicit
powers of his office to his advantage since October 2019, when hundreds of
thousands of Lebanese began denouncing the ineptitude and dishonesty of their
political leaders. He could have caught the wave to enhance his authority and
speak for a nation united against politicians who had brought about financial
collapse.
Instead, when appearing on television at the time, Mr Aoun looked disoriented
and out of touch, in part perhaps because Mr Bassil was among those the
protesters had denounced most vehemently. The President paid the price for being
identified too closely with his son-in-law, when a more competent politician
might have used the occasion to garner power at Mr Bassil’s expense.
Similarly, after the massive explosion in Beirut port on August 4, Mr Aoun
should have gone down on the evening of the blast to commiserate with those who
had just lost their homes and loved ones. However, the President only appeared
the next day to survey the blast site, with not a moment wasted on the victims.
Here was a golden opportunity to bolster his appeal, and instead, Mr Aoun came
across as someone indifferent to those who had suffered terrible trauma.
What is so difficult to grasp is why Mr Aoun, who effectively fought a war to
become president in 1988-1990, and who helped create a ruinous presidential
vacuum in 2014-2016 in order to take office, has proven to be such an inert,
mediocre president. He has not brought a single original idea or programme that
he has sought to implement.
If there is one enduring message among many others on Lebanon’s centennial, it
is that the country’s political system creates many informal spaces for the
exercise of constructive power. Even if the presidency is no longer what it once
was, a capable president who wants to make a difference can do so if he tries.
*Michael Young is a senior editor at the Carnegie Middle East Centre in Beirut
and a columnist for The National.
A pivotal birthday for Lebanon
The National/September 03/2020
The Lebanese have found themselves looking to France, their former colonial
ruler, for solutions in the weeks after a devastating blast shattered much of
their capital and claimed nearly 200 lives.
On Monday, on the eve of Lebanon’s centennial, French President Emmanuel Macron
arrived in Beirut for a much-anticipated visit.
This visit is Mr Macron’s second in less than a month; his first was in the
immediate aftermath of the August 4 blasts, caused by an unsecured stockpile of
ammonium nitrate. At the time, he promised to help Lebanon find workable answers
to a host of problems including the investigation into the blast, a disastrous
financial crisis and a dysfunctional political system. As part of that effort,
he gave Lebanese leaders until September 1 to form a “new political pact” to
save the nation.
Mr Macron’s push for change was welcomed by an overwhelming majority of
Lebanese. Last month, a petition even circulated demanding a new French mandate
for Lebanon, garnering 60,000 signatures. Far from suggesting a colonial
renaissance, however, these popular overtures to Paris rather indicate the
extent to which Lebanese politicians have failed.
No political leader has accepted responsibility or even apologised for Beirut’s
man-made tragedy. Nearly a month on from the blast, the cause of the fire that
started it and – importantly – who exactly is responsible for the stockpiling of
flammable materials for years at the port remain unknown. In the hours before Mr
Macron’s arrival, political leaders scrambled to find a suitable replacement for
former prime minister Hassan Diab, who resigned days after the explsion. Later
that day, they settled on Mustapha Adib, a career diplomat who was soon
confirmed as Mr Diab’s successor.
The fact that political leaders were forced to expedite the process is a
positive development. It gives some sense that change is in the air. In Lebanon,
nominating a new prime minister and forming a government can take months, or
even years.
As the Lebanese have often witnessed, however, it can be the case that the more
things change, the more they stay the same.
While Mr Adib has promised change and the swift formation of a new Cabinet of
“experts”, his close ties to the establishment have left many Lebanese sceptical.
Mr Adib was an adviser to former prime minister and billionaire businessman
Najib Mikati. Protesters see his nomination as the continuation of business as
usual, and have greeted Mr Macron with chants of “No to Adib”, urging the French
President not to support the new Cabinet. If France is to continue to play a
positive role in Lebanon, it must refrain from giving automatic legitimacy to
what may become yet another failed government.
There is still hope that Lebanon can view the next 100 years with a sense of
optimism as the start of a new era
International pressure exerted by allies of Lebanon, such as the US and France,
must continue so that the country can come to distance itself from Hezbollah,
the Iran-backed militia whose grip on Beirut has had ruinous effects on the
country. International pressure is also crucial to push the new government to
negotiate a deal with the International Monetary Fund. Hezbollah does not favour
such an agreement, although it is the only way to save Lebanon from economic
collapse and ensure the enacting of much-needed reform.
Local pressure from civil society and protesters advocating better governance
from within has also been a pivotal driver of change. Peaceful protesters must
be protected from violence and arbitrary detention by security forces. They are
Lebanon’s future, and if the international community continues to support them,
there is still hope that Lebanon can view the next 100 years with a sense of
optimism as the start of a new era.
Haniyeh in Lebanon to keep Palestinian factions away
from local tensions
The ArabWeekly/September 03/2020
BEIRUT – Hamas chief Ismail Haniyeh said Wednesday that Palestinian camps in
Lebanon will remain “a symbol of stability and cannot interfere in the internal
Lebanese affairs.”The statements, made during Haniyeh’s meeting with Lebanese
Parliament Speaker Nabih Berri in Beirut, appeared to be an attempt to reassure
the Lebanese side, especially following the escalation of sectarian tensions
between Sunnis and Shias in the country.
Skirmishes broke out in recent days between Sunnis and Shias in the Khaldeh
area, south of Beirut, bringing back to mind memories of the bloody civil war,
in which Palestinians played a major role.
“Our Palestinian people who live in Lebanon are guests here and reject any form
of settlement or displacement,” Haniyeh said, stressing that “camps will always
be a symbol of stability.”“During this meeting, we expressed our solidarity
again with Lebanon, especially after the tragedy of the port of Beirut, and we
emphasised that the pain and grief that Lebanon was subjected to was also felt
in Palestine and by the Palestinian people who live here in the camps on the
land of brotherly Lebanon,” he added.
He pointed out that the talks also dealt with “the political developments that
the Palestinian cause and the region is going through in general, especially the
deal of the century, the annexation and normalisation plan, and the agreements
that are now being concluded between some Arab countries and the Jewish entity.”
The Hamas chief also said that he discussed with Berri “the meeting of the
general secretaries of the Palestinian factions. Besides, we reviewed the facts
that preceded this meeting, and our aspirations for it to succeed.”
Haniyeh is in Beirut for a week-long visit that will see him meet with
Palestinian factions over ties between these factions, the situation of
Palestinians in Lebanon, the impact of US President Donald Trump’s Middle East
“peace initiative” and the dynamic of normalisation between Israel and Arab
states.
Speaking from Ramallah, Ahmad Majdalani, a member of the executive committee of
the Palestine Liberation Organisation (PLO), said the talks also sought to
improve relations between the factions.
They aim “to open a new page, to end divisions, achieve national reconciliation
and build a national partnership between all factions,” he said.
The Palestinian Embassy in Lebanon said that a part of the meeting was organised
in Lebanon because most participating officials were residing either in Beirut,
Syria or Ramallah.
the Islamist movement’s representative in Lebanon, Ali Baraka, justified the
choice of Lebanon by saying the country is a supporter of the Palestinian cause
and has a large population of Palestinian refugees who would be adversely
affected by US President Donald Trump’s peace plan for the Middle East.
The last time most heads of Palestinian factions held joint talks was in 2013 in
Cairo. Haniyeh’s visit, his first to Lebanon in 27 years, comes after an August
13 announcement that Israel and the United Arab Emirates have agreed to
normalise ties. On Thursday, he meets representatives of other Palestinian
factions in rare talks on how to respond to such accords and to a Middle East
peace plan announced by Washington this year, said Baraka.
The meeting at the Palestinian Embassy in Beirut will coincide with talks in
Ramallah between Palestinian President Mahmoud Abbas and representatives of
Palestinian factions there.
Thursday’s joint discussions in Ramallah and Beirut aim to develop “a unified
Palestinian strategy to confront normalisation schemes… and to reject plans to
annex the West Bank as well as (Trump’s) Deal of the Century,” Baraka said.
Under the US president’s plan unveiled last January, Israel would retain control
of the disputed city of Jerusalem as its “undivided capital” and annex about 30%
of the occupied West Bank.
On August 13, Trump announced an agreement between the UAE and Israel to
normalise ties. Under the watershed US-brokered deal, the Jewish state has
suspended, but not permanently dropped, annexation plans.
The UAE became the third Arab country to agree to normalise ties with Israel,
after Egypt signed a peace deal in 1979 and Jordan followed suit in 1994.
Israeli Prime Minister Binyamin Netanyahu said Sunday that “there are many more
unpublicised meetings with Arab and Muslim leaders to normalise relations with
the state of Israel.”
The Latest English LCCC Miscellaneous Reports And News published on September 03-04/2020
Airstrike kills 16 pro-Iran fighters in Syria, Israel
suspected as behind it: Report
AFP/Thursday 03 September 2020
Airstrikes on eastern Syria killed 16 Iran-backed fighters Thursday, a war
monitor said, hours after Damascus said it intercepted Israeli missiles fired at
a central air base. Those killed were “Iraqi paramilitary fighters loyal to
Iran, seven of whom were killed outside the city of Mayadeen,” Rami Abdul Rahman,
head of the Britain-based Syrian Observatory for Human Rights, said. The other
nine were killed in strikes south of the city of Abu Kamal, on the Iraqi border
further east. Abdul Rahman said Israel was “likely” responsible for the attack,
which if confirmed, would mark the second such strike in less than 24 hours and
the third this week. Late Wednesday, Syrian air defenses intercepted missiles
fired by an Israeli warplane at the T4 air base in central Syria, state news
agency SANA reported. “Our air defenses intercepted most of them,” it said,
adding the attack caused only material damage. On Monday, Israeli strikes killed
one civilian, three government troops and seven allied foreign fighters, the
Observatory said. Monday’s strikes hit Syrian army positions south of Damascus
and facilities used by Iran-backed paramilitaries, including fighters of
Lebanese Hezbollah, in the southern province of Daraa, the Observatory said.
Israel has carried out hundreds of air and missile strikes on Syria since the
civil war broke out in 2011, targeting Iranian and Hezbollah forces as well as
government troops. The Israeli army rarely acknowledges individual strikes, but
did confirm on August 3 that it had used fighter jets, attack helicopters and
other aircraft to hit military targets in southern Syria.
Bahrain will allow all flights to and from UAE to use
its airspace: BNA
Joseph Haboush, Al Arabiya English/Thursday 03
September 2020
Bahrain said Thursday that it would begin allowing all flights to and from the
United Arab Emirates to cross its airspace.
“Bahrain will allow all flights coming to and departing from the [UAE] to all
countries to cross its airspace, an official source at the Ministry of
Transportation and Telecommunications has announced,” the Bahrain News Agency
said.
The source told BNA that a request from the UAE was put forward, and Bahrain
accepted. The announcement comes after Saudi Arabia allowed the first direct
Israeli commercial passenger flight to use its airspace to reach the UAE.
The Middle East can achieve peace and stability
The National/September 03/2020
The path to peace requires effort and compromise from all sides, in addition to
strengthening state institutions and stopping extremists
This week, a US-Israeli delegation headed by White House senior adviser Jared
Kushner departed from Tel Aviv and landed in Abu Dhabi aboard a commercial
flight, the first of its kind to the Gulf. The delegation discussed co-operation
in a variety of fields, including trade, agriculture and technology following
the signing of the Abraham Accord on August 13. The agreement states that the
UAE has decided to establish diplomatic ties with Israel in exchange for halting
the annexation of Palestinian land.
The UAE is now the first country in the Gulf to establish formal relations with
Israel. The ensuing agreements stemming from the accord are still being rolled
out, but perhaps the most compelling are the many opportunities the accord can
open. Mr Kushner laid out Washington’s vision for a peaceful Middle East in an
interview with The National. Mr Kushner referred to the Abraham Accord, which he
helped to broker, as a “a big turn for optimism” and repeated Mr Trump’s
commitment to a two-state solution to the Palestinian-Israeli conflict. This
assurance is crucial to peace efforts between Israelis and Palestinians. The
UAE’s commitment to the two-state solution remains unwavering, and preserving it
was among the drivers for the peace accord. In a video addressed to the
Palestinian community of the UAE, Sheikh Abdullah bin Zayed, Minister of Foreign
Affairs and International Co-operation, reaffirmed the Emirates’ support. For
the UAE, peace-building is a “strategic necessity” in a region rife with
conflict, but Sheikh Abdullah maintained that it will never “come at the expense
of our support for the Palestinian cause”.
The US and the UAE have publicly stated their support for a two-state solution
several times since the Abraham Accord was announced. It is now up to Israelis
and Palestinians to build on these efforts for a peaceful resolution of the
conflict, with the mediation of Arab and Western allies. A major part of the
drive for peace lies in empowering Palestinians through investment in the
economy and strengthening their institutions, according to Mr Kushner.
In a joint US-UAE-Israeli communique on August 13, the three nations stated that
they will keep striving to "achieve a just, comprehensive and enduring
resolution to the Israeli-Palestinian conflict" and that the agreement will lead
to "better lives for the peoples of Israel, the UAE and the region".
A major part of the drive for peace lies in empowering Palestinians. Achieving a
peaceful Middle East requires, however, a broader perspective, which includes
supporting reformers, creating opportunities and supporting geopolitical
stability. That means curbing Iranian influence in the Arab world. Tehran’s
armed proxies have wreaked havoc in Yemen, Lebanon, Iraq and beyond,
destabilising entire nations and fuelling extremism. The US’s maximum pressure
campaign has hindered these activities to a great extent, but punitive actions
must also be complemented by diplomatic efforts. This includes building closer
ties with reformers like Iraqi Prime Minister Mustafa Al Kadhimi, as well as
renegotiating a new, better nuclear deal with Iran. The now-defunct Joint
Comprehensive Plan of Action, from which the US withdrew in 2018, had failed to
address Tehran’s destabilising actions. Should he win a second term, Mr Trump
will focus on striking “the right deal” with Iran, according to Mr Kushner.The
path to peace in the Middle East is multi-faceted and requires a holistic
approach. It requires effort and compromise from all sides when it comes to
resolving complex, decades-old disputes. Most importantly, peace and stability
cannot be achieved without strengthening state institutions and curbing the
power of extremists. But the Abraham Accord just gave the region a significant
move towards peace.
Fears of ISIS resurgence as Syria attacks escalate
The National/September 03/2020
More than 35 attacks were carried out by ISIS in August killing 76 pro-Assad
fighters in Syria.
ISIS attacks escalated significantly in August when more than 35 assaults left
at least 76 pro-Assad fighters dead in Syria, marking the largest number of
killings since 2017.According to a new report by the Counter Extremism Project,
Homs saw the greatest number of documented attacks with 12, while 10 assaults
were reported in Deir EZ Zor, followed by Raqqa with nine. Experts monitoring
the situation have warned the increase in attacks shows the group has now
redeveloped a “robust logistical and strategic capability”.
“In August, ISIS militants carried out at least 35 attacks, killing at least 76
pro-Assad regime fighters in the Homs, Deir EZ Zor, Raqqa, Hama, and Aleppo
governorates,” research analyst Gregory Waters, of the Counter Extremism
Project, said. These attacks constitute a major escalation in ISIS’s insurgency.
The overall number of attacks, high-quality attacks and reported pro-government
deaths exceeded those from any month since ISIS lost control of this region in
2017. “The more than two-fold increase in attacks compared with previous months
in Raqqa is overshadowed only by the more than three-fold increase in attacks in
Deir EZ Zor.”The Counter Extremism Project has been conducting monthly
chronicles online in its ISIS Redux: The Central Syria Insurgency on the number
of attacks by the terror group in central Syria.
Mr Waters said for eight days straight in August the militant group carried out
at least two attacks daily. “The rate of documented attacks in August is
unmatched since 2018,” he said. “ISIS’s ability to carry out such frequent
same-day attacks implies that the group has developed a robust logistical and
strategic capability.”In July the militants had been responsible for 23 attacks,
killing at least 29 pro-regime fighters in Homs, Deir EZ Zor, Raqqa, Hama and
Aleppo.
“July marked the third month in a row that ISIS carried out at least one
high-quality attack in all four provinces in which it is active,” Mr Waters
said. “More significantly, July marked the first month of sustained ISIS
activity in regime-held Aleppo province since the terrorist group was expelled
in 2017.”
The figures for June saw 14 attacks carried out, killing 26 fighters and
represented a “continued geographic expansion of ISIS attacks”, Mr Waters added.
Mr Waters said August’s targeting of Deir EZ Zor, focused primarily in the
western urban belt stretching from Deir EZ Zor city along the Euphrates to
Ma’adan, marks a new expansion of ISIS activity.
Where the ISIS attacks are coming from.
The attacks, which are believed to be from cells originating in Jebal Bishri to
the west and Raqqa to the north, culminated in an ambush on August 27 that
killed 30 pro-regime National Defence Fighters (NDF), along with the NDF sector
commander for western Deir EZ Zor. “Most of the men killed, including the
commander, hailed from the local Busaraya tribe,” Mr Waters said.
“The massacre triggered a massive mobilisation of members from the pro-regime
Liwa al-Quds, Qaterji Forces and NDF deploying to the region to conduct their
own anti-ISIS operations in lieu of what one tribal fighter told this author was
an abandonment by the Syrian army.
“The tribal response triggered by the massacre will most likely push ISIS cells
back on to Jebal Bishri where they will hunker down and wait out the operation,”
he said. Their operation, which is currently ongoing, has led to the deaths of
two ISIS fighters to date. Mr Waters has also warned that ISIS’s raid on the T4
pumping station in Homs shows ISIS fighters still have “considerable freedom of
movement close to major regime strategic points”. He believes this month Raqqa,
west Deir EZ Zor, and west Mayadeen will continue to be the main targets for
attacks.
“While it is unlikely that September will see the same growth or severity of
attacks as in August, this month’s trends will likely continue – that is, Raqqa,
west Deir EZ Zor and west Mayadeen will continue to be the hotspots for the near
future,” he added. “In Homs, ISIS will continue its strategy of exerting
pressure around the city of Sukhnah, no doubt seeking some opportunity to raid
the city’s warehouses, while sending out groups to attack regime positions
further west, similar to the T4 attack. “East Hama and south-east Aleppo both
experienced a decrease in ISIS attacks in August, partially owing to the
formation of local defence militias. ISIS will want to renew its activity in
these areas and may take the opportunity to do so while pro-regime forces are so
heavily focused on western Deir EZ Zor.”
France, Turkey try to sway Algeria over Libyan crisis
The ArabWeekly/September 03/2020
ALGIERS – The strong economic and trade partnership existing between Algeria and
Turkey was not enough to guarantee smooth and clear diplomatic relations between
the two countries.
In fact, bilateral cooperation in various sectors conditioned on the resolution
of conflicting positions and interests in the Libyan crisis. Algeria, which is
looking for a political settlement to the crisis without foreign interference,
finds itself clashing with Istanbul’s ambitions in Tripoli and the region in
general.
The Libyan crisis weighed heavily in the diplomatic talks held in Istanbul by
Algerian Foreign Minister Sabri Boukadoum with Turkish President Recep Tayyip
Erdogan and Foreign Minister Mevlut Cavusoglu, in the hope of finding a
political settlement to the crisis away from foreign meddling, especially after
the recent ceasefire agreement announced by the Tobruk Parliament and the
Government of National Accord (GNA), led by Fayez Sarraj in Tripoli.
Algeria is wary of Turkey’s growing ambitions in Libya, especially following
Ankara’s deals with the Sarraj government. Despite the economic interests
binding the two countries, which are expected to reach eight billion dollars in
value, the Turkish military presence in Libya has become an unspoken concern for
Algeria. Algeria’s fear of a Syrian or Somali scenario in Libya that would
result from foreign interference was expressed many times by more than one
Algerian official. The growing Turkish military role only fuels such fears.
In a statement to the press during his visit to Istanbul, Algerian Foreign
Minister Sabri Boukadoum stressed that “his country supports a peaceful solution
in Libya, and that the shared values between Algeria and Libya will support
and vigorously achieve a peaceful solution in Libya.”
Boukadoum departed from his previous declarations about the consensus between
Libya’s neighbours about the crisis in Libya and its resolution and seemed less
optimistic about that settlement track during his press conference with his
Turkish counterpart, when he stated that he “has faith in the ability of Turkey
and Algeria to find solutions to the existing crisis in Libya, through joint
action.”The Algerian FM reiterated his country’s approach to the crisis in
Libya, which is based on “the contribution of the international community and
international bodies to finding solutions to the problems in Libya, and his
country’s readiness to provide all forms of support necessary for that,” which
contrasts sharply with the Turkish approach based on monopolising the settlement
agenda in Libya.
Algeria maintains close relations with both Turkey and France. It seems,
however, that it has come under undeclared pressure from both to side with each
one of them in the escalating crisis between Paris and Ankara in the eastern
Mediterranean. The showdown has been reflected on the positions of the two
parties in the Libyan crisis. While Turkey tries to invest in the historical
rivalries between the Algerians and the French and use them to block the way to
any renewed strong partnership between Algeria and France, the French, for their
part, are seeking to curtail the growing Turkish influence in North Africa, by
focusing on the security and military risks to the countries of the region
caused by the Turkish role in the crisis in Libya.
The crisis in Mali is one of the important cards that Paris can use in order to
win Algeria over to its agenda. Algeria is increasingly concerned about the
security threats on its southern and south-eastern borders, and French influence
in Mali can be an asset for Algeria in ensuring stability in its southern flank,
which represents an opportunity for France to mobilise the Algerian position to
its side in its rivalry with Turkey.
When it comes to terrorism, it seems that the Turks have their own definition of
it and of the jihadist groups invloved. In the joint press conference with his
Algerian counterpart, Mevlut Cavusoglu said that “the two countries have agreed
to increase their cooperation in the fight against terrorism. […] We do not want
terrorist networks like the Gulen organisation in brotherly countries, and we
have conveyed our aspirations in this regard.” The Turkish FM was referring to
unsettled scores between the two countries since the 2016 failed coup attempt
against Erdogan. Many supporters of the Turkish opposition cleric Fethullah
Gulen reside in Algeria and the Algerian authorities have always refused
Ankara’s request to have them deported to their home country.
Things, however, may very likely change in this respect, since Algeria has
managed to recover Captain Qarmi tBounouira, former private secretary of the
late General Ahmed Gaied Saleh, the former army chief of staff and the regime’s
strongman after the fall of Bouteflika. Bounouira had fled to Turkey last March
and is described by some as a real “black box” of the former regime. It is not
far-fetched to imagine that price for Bounouira would be allowing Turkey to take
back its nationals who are affiliated with Fethullah Gulen.
Pentagon warns against impact of pro-GNA mercenaries on
Libya’s security
The ArabWeekly/September 03/2020
CAIRO — A US report said the presence of thousands of Syrian mercenaries sent by
Turkey to Libya to fight on the side of the Tripoli-based Government of National
Accord (GNA), led by Prime Minister Fayez al-Sarraj, was likely to degrade
security and generate backlash from the Libyan public.
The US Defense Department’s inspector general also said in a new report that it
was concerned about the growing presence of Russian mercenaries fighting for the
Libyan National Army (LNA) led by Field Marshal Khalifa Haftar.
The report, which was released Tuesday, said Turkey has sent to Libya at least
5,000 Syrian mercenaries who previously worked closely with Ankara in Syria’s
civil war. They were sent to help Tripoli-allied militias and Islamist militants
fight the forces of east-based military commander Khalifa Haftar.
Turkey also deployed several hundred regular troops to Libya, including
operators and technicians for Turkish air defence systems deployed in western
Libya, the report said.
While the Syrian mercenaries have bolstered the Sarraj government’s position,
“their continued presence will continue to negatively affect the overall
security situation in Libya,” said the report, which covers the second quarter
of 2020.
Libya was plunged into chaos when a NATO-backed uprising in 2011 toppled
longtime dictator Muammar Gadhafi, who was later killed. The country has since
split between rival east- and west-based administrations, each backed by armed
groups and foreign governments.
Haftar’s forces launched an offensive in April 2019 trying to capture Tripoli.
But his campaign collapsed in June when the Tripoli-allied militias, with heavy
Turkish support, gained the upper hand, driving his forces from the outskirts of
the city and other western towns.
Fighting has died down in recent weeks, but both sides were preparing for a
possible battle over the strategic city of Sirte, the gateway to Libya’s major
oil fields and export terminals, controlled by Haftar.
The chaos has worsened in recent months as foreign backers increasingly
intervened, despite pledges to the contrary at a high-profile peace summit in
Berlin earlier this year. Thousands of mercenaries including Russians, Syrians
and Sudanese are fighting on both sides of the conflict.
The US Africa Command, or AFRICOM, described the Syrian mercenaries fighting
with the Tripoli-based government as “inexperienced, uneducated, and motivated
by promises of considerable salary.” It said Turkish private military company
Sadat has overseen supervision and payment to the mercenaries.
Increasing reports of theft, sexual assault and misconduct by Syrian mercenaries
in western areas are likely to further degrade the security situation and
generate backlash from the Libyan public, AFRICOM said.
The report says extremists with militant links have been involved in the Tripoli
fighting, although “it is possible they were fighting for financial and personal
reasons rather than ideological reasons.”
Protests took place over deteriorating economic conditions last month in the
capital and elsewhere in western Libya, which is controlled by forces loyal to
the GNA. Tripoli militias opened fire on demonstrators with rifles and
truck-mounted guns and abducted some of the protesters.
The US military has grown increasingly concerned about Russia’s growing
influence in Libya, where at least 3,000 Russian mercenaries and 2,000
Russia-sponsored Syrian mercenaries backing the LNA, the report said.
A private Kremlin-linked military company known as the Wagner Group has since
its initial deployment to Libya in 2019, provided trained snipers armed drones,
resulting in “significant casualties” to Tripoli-allied militias, the report
said.
In May, the US military accused Russia of sending at least 14 warplanes to a
central Libyan airbase, claiming they were repainted in Syria to hide their
Russian origin. Moscow dismissed the US military’s accusations, insisting “the
Russian military is not involved in any processes in Libya in any way.”
“Analysts have noted that the conflict in Libya has devolved into a proxy war,
or ‘the new Syria,’ with Russia, Turkey, the United Arab Emirates, and Egypt
competing for access and influence,” the report said.
Remaining Taliban Prisoners Freed Except 'Few' Opposed by
Foreign Nations
Agence France Presse/Naharnet/September 03/2020
Afghan authorities said Thursday they have released the remaining 400 Taliban
prisoners agreed in an exchange, except for "a few" opposed by foreign nations,
and expected peace negotiations to start soon.
A drawn-out prisoner exchange including the release of hundreds of hardened
militants has delayed the start of planned negotiations between the two warring
sides, scheduled to take place in Doha. "The Islamic Republic of Afghanistan has
received our commandos held hostage by Taliban, after which the Gov't released
the remaining 400 convicts, except the few for which our partners have
reservations," National Security Council spokesman Javid Faisal said on Twitter.
"Diplomatic efforts are ongoing. We expect direct talks to start promptly."
Biden Campaign Raised $364 million in August, Breaking
Record
Agence France Presse/Naharnet/September 03/2020
Democratic presidential candidate Joe Biden raised more than $364 million in
August, reportedly breaking the record for monthly campaign donations even
though his fundraising efforts were largely online because of the coronavirus
pandemic. The former vice president and the Democratic National Committee pulled
in a total of $364.5 million, of which $205 million were pledged online from
small donors, his campaign team said Wednesday. The previous record was set by
Barack Obama and the DNC in September 2008, when he raised almost $200 million,
according to CBS and New York Times reports. "That figure blows me away," said
the 77-year-old Biden in a statement thanking his supporters. "Over $205
million, or 57 percent of the money we raised, came from online donations, from
people like you, chipping in $5, $10, $20 at a time," the candidate added.Having
prepared his re-election campaign since he arrived in the White House in early
2017, 74-year-old President Donald Trump still has a larger overall war chest,
but Biden has been drawing in ever larger sums since winning the Democratic
primary in April. "We have to keep breaking records if we want to ensure a
fighting chance at winning this thing," Biden urged his supporters. "Trump's
money machine remains and it's bolstered by outside, dark money -- not
grassroots donors like all of you," Biden said. "And you better believe they
will pour it all into attacks and smears against me, against Kamala, and against
our campaign."Biden's pick of California Senator Kamala Harris as his running
mate, making her the woman of color on a major party presidential ticket, fired
up his donor base, raising $26 million in 24 hours, Biden revealed on August
12.In July, Trump and the Republic National Committee raised $165 million,
against $140 million for the Democrats the same month.
Desperate Search for Crew of Ship Sunk in Typhoon off Japan
Agence France Presse/Naharnet/September 03/2020
Japanese coast guard rescuers searched Thursday for the remaining 42 crew of a
ship believed to have sunk in a typhoon, after a lone survivor was found bobbing
in a lifejacket. The Gulf Livestock 1, which was carrying a cargo of nearly
6,000 cows, issued a distress call in the early hours of Wednesday from a
position 185 kilometres (115 miles) west of Japan's Amami Oshima island. Japan's
coast guard dispatched planes and rescue boats to hunt for the ship and late
Wednesday found a sole survivor -- the ship's 45-year-old Filipino chief
officer. Dramatic images released by the coast guard showed the man floating in
the darkness in an orange life jacket and being pulled onto a rescue boat with a
rope. The man told rescuers that he had put on a life jacket and dived into the
sea after a warning announcement on board on Wednesday, when powerful Typhoon
Maysak was passing through the area. He said one of the boat's engines had
stalled and a wave then overturned the ship, which later sank, the coast guard
said in a statement. There were no details on when and where the ship sank, but
the man said he had not seen other crew members while waiting to be rescued. A
rubber boat was spotted late Wednesday in the area being searched for survivors,
but the coast guard said they had not confirmed if it was linked to the ship.
Three coast guard vessels, five planes and specially trained divers are involved
in the search-and-rescue operation.
Japan is currently in its annual typhoon season, and a second massive storm is
on course to arrive in the same area around Sunday, according to local
forecasters, potentially limiting the time the coast guard can continue to
search.
The ship was carrying a crew of 39 Filipinos, two New Zealanders and two
Australians, and was charged by Australia-based Australasian Global Exports to
carry the livestock. It was reportedly travelling from Napier in New Zealand to
the Chinese port of Tangshan. Australasian Global Exports said it was in contact
with the families of some of the crew, as well as with local authorities, but
offered no further details. "Our thoughts and prayers are also with the ship's
officers, crew and other personnel and their families," it added. New Zealand's
Ministry of Primary Industries (MPI) said it was temporarily suspending live
cattle exports after the accident. "MPI wants to understand what happened on the
sailing of the Gulf Livestock 1," it said.
The Latest LCCC English analysis &
editorials from miscellaneous sources published on
September 01-02/2020
Macron pushes French interests in
Iraq, avoids angering Iran
Hammam Latif/The ArabWeekly/September 03/2020
BAGHDAD – During his visit to Iraq, French President Emmanuel Macron steered
clear of the subject of Iran and its proxy militias, while Iraqi officials
seemed to think of the visit as a show rather than an opportunity to obtain
French financial or military aid in accordance with the expectations that
accompanied the “sovereignty” initiative launched by Paris. Macron's statements
in Baghdad were full of expressions of support for Iraq and its full sovereignty
over its territory, which Iraqis interpreted as a rejection of any repeat of
Turkish incursions inside Iraq and a condemnation of the attacks by pro-Iranian
Shia groups on airports, diplomatic missions and military camps. The French
president, however, tended to be vague on these subjects just as he was during
his visit to Lebanon, where he avoided criticising Iran or its proxy, Hezbollah.
An Iraqi official said that Macron’s references to “Iraqi sovereignty” also
constituted an indirect message to Turkey.
Observers believe that Paris is moving according to a strategy that contradicts
Washington's positions against Iran and its proxies in the region, and that it
places French interests above any other international understandings.
Macron was warmly welcomed in Baghdad. He said that he was keen on “visiting
Baghdad considering that such a visit is a French commitment that confirms the
depth of the friendship between the two countries.” He also stressed his
country's desire to keep pace with “the important projects in Iraq, especially
Baghdad’s metro project and energy projects.”
The French president stated that he had discussed with Iraqi Prime Minister
Mustapha al-Kadhimi the subject of “strengthening military cooperation," also
stressing his country's readiness “to commit to securing Iraq’s energy sources.”
By focusing on potential aspects of cooperation in transport and energy,
Macron’s visit could be the starting point for promising French-Iraqi
understandings. But the French President did not announce any special forms of
support for Iraq in implementation of his pledge to launch an “initiative to
support the march of sovereignty” in Iraq, made the day before his visit to
Baghdad. There were no details given on this “sovereignty” initiative, which was
widely debated by the Iraqi people. Some Iraqi officials even expected the
announcement of new financial or military aid from France.
In recent months, France has multiplied its signals of support for Iraq through
a visit by Foreign Minister Jean-Yves Le Drian in July, in which he stressed
“the importance of Iraq distancing itself from the tensions in the region.” Le
Drian’s visit was followed by that of French Minister of the Armed Forces
Florence Parly on August 27, during which she went to Erbil and stressed the
need to continue fighting ISIS.
France is seeking to expand its economic relations with Iraq, which, according
to Transparency International, is among the twenty most corrupt countries in the
world.
“Macron is definitely trying to push for a Middle East that looks towards
France,” said Karim Bitar, a professor of political science based in Paris and
Beirut.
He added that the French president was focusing on Lebanon and Iraq, both of
which have relations with Iran and Saudi Arabia, because he believed that Paris
could play the role of mediator if regional tensions escalated.
At Baghdad airport, Macron was welcomed by his Iraqi counterpart, Barham Salih,
before moving to meet with Kadhimi and then Parliament Speaker Muhammad al-Halbousi.
Salih described his French counterpart as a “dear friend,” stressing his
country's keenness “to establish the best relations with France based on
understanding and coordination and rooted in the depth of the history of their
mutual relations.” Saleh further stressed “Iraq's commitment to its steadfast
approach to building balanced relations with its neighbors, friends and allies,
and to using cooperation and partnership in the economic and investment fields
as a way to build bridges between the peoples of the region, away from the
politics of axes and of imposing wills.”
Salih added that “Iraq looks forward with interest to the support of the
international community for its efforts to consolidate its full sovereignty,
preserve its security and prevent military violations of its territory,” noting
that “our collective efforts must focus on respecting each country’s sovereignty
and not interfering in their affairs as a common interest for all, leading to
the consolidation of regional security.”
Upon receiving Macron, Kadhimi said that “France is an important partner for
Iraq and we want to expand this partnership,” stressing that “there are many
aspects of cooperation between Iraq and France.”
“We seek to activate the document of the strategic understanding between the two
countries,” Kadhimi added while praising France’s support for Iraq in its war
against ISIS.
“We will work to overcome all the challenges facing French companies,” he said
and thanked the French president “for his interest in protecting Iraq’s
sovereignty.”
Kadhimi further stressed that “investment in the field of electricity production
is open to French companies, as Iraq suffers from a problem in the production of
electricity, and so is the possibility of taking advantage of nuclear power
reactors to produce electricity, at a time when Iraq is looking forward to more
joint cooperation between the two countries, especially with regards to the
reconstruction of liberated areas and the program for the return of displaced
persons.”
Iran claims advances in radar that it says can reach Israel
Seth J. Frantman/Jerusalem Post/September 03/2020
Part of the claims of Iran’s defense officials is that its radar can also track
hundreds of threats.
Iranian media claimed this week that it has developed better long-range radar
that has a range of thousands of miles. It came as the regime has boasted it has
long-range drones with precision weapons and as it is continues to build
ballistic missiles and precision guided munitions.
Overall the concept of the regime is to show that it is building more
sophisticated military technology which will make it one of the top producers in
the world. Iran recently put a satellite into orbit as well.
The articles at Fars News are not the first time Iran said it would be able to
create radar with a range of up to 3,000 kilometers. It has made this claim
before, dating back to 2015. It hasn’t shown any evidence that the radar it has
built has this range. Nevertheless radar technology does exist that could give
Iran the ability to produce long-range radar, whether it could reach so far
seems unlikely.
However, the reports persist that it accomplished this “over the horizon” radar
system in the last years, adding to a variety of radars it already had which had
ranges of several hundred kilometers. Part of the claims of Iran’s defense
officials is that its radar can also track hundreds of threats. This is also
designed to show that Iran has built radar that is similar to the latest models
in Russia, the US, Israel or elsewhere, which have capabilities to track threats
at long ranges. Israel is around 1,500 km from Iran.
Of interest is Iran’s report about how this all came about. Fars News looks back
to the period before 1979 and quotes Brig.-Gen. Mohammad Shirazi, the head of
the military office of the Leader of the Islamic Revolution as noting that he
had served with Americans in Iran prior to 1979. He says he once served in the
“same barracks” as Americans when he was in the pro-revolution army and that he
recalls how Iranians felt humiliated because they couldn’t approach certain
areas the US managed, not even to do maintenance. The premise of this
conversation is to show that now Iran has its own indigenous technology and
doesn’t rely on others.
The Iranian officer also discusses the war with Iraq in the 1980s and Iraqi air
raids. He says at the time the radar the Iranians had was limited, reaching only
25 kilometers or more. The point here it so to show how Iran can now project
power throughout the region. Iran today has been exporting technology to allies
in Yemen, Lebanon, Syria and Iraq. It also wants to threaten the US, Israel, the
Gulf states and dissident groups, such as Kurds.
Radar can help Iran monitor aircraft over the Persian Gulf or further away. Iran
shot down a US drone last year over the Gulf of Oman. Iran’s discussion of its
new radar capabilities comes days after Iranian media also reported Israeli
airstrikes on Syria. This could mean Iran is sending a message about deploying
radar to Syria. Iran allegedly deployed a 3rd Khordad air defense system to
Syria in 2018. Iran has sent radar to Syria before, in 2010. It has defense
agreements with Syria as well. In July US jets intercepted an Iranian aircraft
over Syria. In January Iran shot down a Ukrainian airliner by mistake. A foreign
report in the summer of 2019 indicated Iran had sent radar installations to
Syria but that they had actually not been compatible with Syrian air defense.
May reports said that Syria was using Chinese-made radar after Russian radar
were not successfully detecting Israeli airstrikes. Israel has said it struck
more than 1,000 Iranian targets in Syria as of 2019. An August 13, 2020 report
in Haaretz said that airstrikes on “Syrian anti-air systems also struck about a
fifth of the country’s radar systems.”
Iran nuclear deal members resolved to preserve agreement
David Rising/AP./September 03/2020
Representatives of Iran and the world powers working to save the nuclear deal
with Tehran agreed Tuesday in Vienna to do everything possible to preserve the
landmark 2015 agreement in their first meeting since the United States announced
a bid to restore United Nations sanctions against the Islamic Republic.
Helga Schmid, the European Union representative who chaired the meeting, said
afterwards on Twitter that the “participants are united in resolve to preserve
the #IranDeal and find a way to ensure full implementation of the agreement
despite current challenges.”
Iranian representative Abbas Araghchi did not comment after the day of talks,
but ahead of the meeting said the U.S. move would “definitely be an important
discussion” topic with delegates from France, Germany, Britain, Russia and
China.
President Donald Trump pulled the U.S. out of the so-called Joint Comprehensive
Plan of Action unilaterally in 2018, saying that it was a bad deal and needed to
be renegotiated.
The deal promises Iran economic incentives in exchange for curbs on its nuclear
program, but with the reinstatement of American sanctions, the other nations
have been struggling to provide Iran the assistance it seeks.
Complicating the matter, the U.S. announced recently it was triggering a 30-day
process to restore virtually all U.N. sanctions on Iran, invoking a “snapback”
mechanism that is part of the JCPOA agreement. Washington’s argument is that as
an original participant it still has that right, even though it left the deal.
Other signatories to the JCPOA agreement have rejected that argument, setting
the stage for a potential crisis in the Security Council later this month, with
the U.S. claiming to have re-imposed sanctions and most of the rest of the world
saying the Trump administration’s action is illegal and ignoring it.
After U.S. Secretary of State Mike Pompeo traveled to the U.N. to invoke
snapback on Aug. 20, Indonesia’s U.N. Ambassador Dian Triansyah Djani, whose
country held the rotating council presidency, said there was overwhelming
opposition in the 15-member body to the U.S. position. He said it was unlikely
there would be any action on Washington’s demand.
Niger’s U.N. Ambassador Abdou Abarry, who took over the rotating council
presidency on Tuesday, said: “Up until there would be maybe new facts, and I
haven’t seen any yet, we are staying at the level of the Security Council
aligned with this position as expressed by the president, ambasador Djani.”
Chinese representative Fu Cong told reporters after the Vienna meeting that the
member countries all agreed that the U.S. no longer has “the legal ground or
legal standing to trigger snapback” and that in China’s view Washington was
using it to “try to sabotage or even kill the JCPOA.”
He suggested the other countries were also not prepared to “just wait and see”
whether Trump is reelected in November.
“The U.S., even though it is a superpower, is just one country,” Fu said. “So
other countries are moving on.”
The Russian delegate to the JCPOA, Mikhail Ulyanov, took a swipe at the U.S.
ahead of the meeting, tweeting that Tuesday’s talks involved “participation of
all (not self-proclaimed) participants of the nuclear deal.”
Afterward, he tweeted that the meeting “demonstrated that its participants are
fully committed to the nuclear deal and are determined to do their best to
preserve it.”
The ultimate goal of the deal is to prevent Iran from developing a nuclear bomb,
something Iran insists it does not want to do.
However, since the U.S. withdrawal, Iran has been steadily violating its
restrictions on the amount of uranium it can enrich, the amount of heavy water
it can possess, and the purity to which it enriches its uranium. That’s all to
put pressure on the other nations involved to come ahead with more economic
incentives.
It now has enough enriched uranium to make a bomb, but nowhere near the amount —
or the purity — it had before the nuclear deal was signed.
Those working to save the deal also note that despite the violations, Iran
continues to allow inspectors from the International Atomic Energy Agency to
access all sites in the country.
Last week, Iran held out an olive branch to end one issue of contention,
agreeing to allow IAEA inspectors into two sites where the country is suspected
of having stored or used undeclared nuclear material in the early 2000s.
Iran had insisted the agency had no right to inspect the sites, since they dated
to well before the JCPOA came into effect.
*Associated Press writer Philipp Jenne in Vienna contributed to this report.
Iran Nuclear Challenge Looms for the Next U.S. President
Andrea Stricker and Jacob Nagel/ Insight-FDD/September 03/2020
The International Atomic Energy Agency (IAEA) reached an agreement with Iran
last week for the IAEA to inspect two of Tehran’s alleged nuclear sites.
According to the IAEA’s director-general, Rafael Grossi, the inspections will
happen “very soon.” Yet knowledgeable officials do not expect the UN agency to
announce results from its investigation until after the U.S. presidential
election in November. The winner of that election will need to press the IAEA to
continue its robust Iran investigation to ensure Tehran cooperates fully rather
than manipulating the inspections process via superficial compliance.
Grossi heralded the agency’s agreement with Iran, reached after he flew to
Tehran for last-ditch talks with Iranian President Hassan Rouhani and other
high-level Iranian officials. Since January, Iran has refused to cooperate with
IAEA requests to inspect the two sites, which the nuclear watchdog believes are
connected to undeclared nuclear material and activities.
Iran likely acquiesced to the IAEA’s inspection requests to avoid condemnation
at the IAEA’s quarterly Board of Governors meeting from September 14 to
September 18, at which the Board plans to evaluate Iran’s non-compliance with
its nuclear non-proliferation commitments. In June, the 35-member Board passed a
resolution calling on the Islamic Republic to “fully cooperate with the Agency
and satisfy the Agency’s requests without any further delay, including by
providing prompt access to the locations specified.” Thus, if Tehran had
continued to stonewall, it would have risked a Board vote to refer the matter to
the UN Security Council for penalties. Instead, following Iran’s agreement to
inspections, the IAEA’s next safeguards report, set to be released later this
week, is expected to be less strident than previously planned.
The IAEA has new questions about Iran’s past undeclared nuclear weapons efforts
– as well as their connection to Iran’s present-day activities – based on an
archive of nuclear-related information the Israeli Mossad seized in 2018 from a
Tehran warehouse. This detailed information, which Jerusalem provided to the
IAEA, contained Iranian nuclear documents, photographs, and plans that identify
previously unknown nuclear sites and activities that occurred under the Amad
Plan, Tehran’s well-structured nuclear weapons program. After 2003, Iran
downsized and dispersed the program but has never accounted for its efforts.
Tehran set aside all documentation in a well-kept archive, ensuring that the
instructions for developing a nuclear weapon could be used at a future time of
Iran’s choosing, and the program’s technical leaders continued aspects of their
work at research centers and remained on the government payroll.
In its previous quarterly report regarding Iran’s safeguards agreement, the IAEA
obliquely identified three sites of interest, two of which it believed warranted
inspections. The first site is likely the location of a former pilot uranium
hexafluoride production plant aimed at making precursor gas for enrichment of
uranium, the fissile material which Iran planned to use in nuclear weapons.
Tehran demolished the site in 2004, just when its nuclear activities came under
international scrutiny.
Experts believe the second location is called “Abadeh,” or more precisely “Marivan,”
an outdoor test site where, in 2003, Iran conducted large-scale high-explosive
tests relating to nuclear weapons. Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu
publicly warned in September 2019 that Iran had razed the site over the summer.
The IAEA also seeks Iran’s explanation of activities at a third location,
Lavisan-Shian, sited as a former headquarters of Iran’s early nuclear weapons
program. Here, the Islamic Republic may have worked on a neutron initiator,
which triggers an explosion in a nuclear weapon. The IAEA did not request access
to the site, due to Iran’s extensive leveling of it in 2003 – Tehran paved the
area and constructed a recreational park atop it – but the IAEA would still like
to know what occurred.
Despite its professed willingness to allow inspections at two of these three
sites, Tehran likely plans to offer limited cooperation, then claim it has fully
discharged its responsibilities. If Iran does so, the IAEA should document those
tactics in its subsequent report, and the Board of Governors should refer Tehran
to the UN Security Council.
In addition to Iran’s past razing of suspicious sites, delaying IAEA access has
afforded Tehran additional time to remove evidence. While the IAEA carries out
vigorous environmental sampling for nuclear material, absent Tehran’s truthful
explanations and further corroboration, the agency may not be able to determine
conclusively what occurred. Inspections could become a superficial concession
that gives Iran a pretext for refusing deeper cooperation.
Moreover, Iran may assert that after the two inspections, it is freed from
additional IAEA inquiry into matters relating to its nuclear history and from
any further use by the IAEA of the Iranian nuclear archive. The Islamic Republic
still claims that the Board of Governors’ 2015 resolution related to the Iran
nuclear deal formally absolves Tehran of questions into the possible military
dimensions of its nuclear program.
Now, Tehran will likely refer to wording in its recent joint statement with the
IAEA, which reads, “In this present context, based on analysis of available
information to the IAEA, the IAEA does not have further questions to Iran and
further requests for access to locations other than those declared by Iran under
its [Comprehensive Safeguards Agreement] and the [Additional Protocol],” two
IAEA verification agreements.
In a press conference following his visit to Iran, Grossi clarified that he
“could imagine” requiring further questions and accesses in the future. His
statement indicated the IAEA has not agreed to limit its investigation – even if
Tehran may feel differently. Even so, Iran’s permission for access could be a
one-time peace offering designed to fend off a Board of Governors action until
after the U.S. election. Tehran likely hopes it could do so indefinitely if a
Biden administration adopts the Obama administration’s approach and opts not to
press the matter.
There are already signs that the IAEA may be hesitating to confront Iran over
documented misbehavior. According to knowledgeable officials, the IAEA is
sitting on an already completed but separate interim report about its 2019
finding of undeclared refined uranium particles at an outdoor warehouse in the
Tehran neighborhood of Turquz-Abad. Delayed release of that report deprives the
Board of Governors of critical information about this part of the Iran
investigation and Tehran’s cooperation (or lack thereof).
The IAEA needs a firm understanding of what the Iranian nuclear program
accomplished in the past and may continue to do now, but the agency needs the
Board’s full support to obtain it. The IAEA can facilitate this support by
updating the Board regularly and as soon as the agency concludes its findings.
Whoever wins the U.S. election, Washington must urge the IAEA to follow leads
regarding Tehran’s undeclared nuclear sites, material, and activities and
undertake a full investigation into Iran’s nuclear past and present. For its
part, the Trump administration should fortify and broaden U.S. sanctions against
reversal by a potential successor. If former Vice President Joe Biden wins the
election, his administration would be well-served by enhanced sanctions leverage
that could not easily be dismantled as part of another flawed nuclear
agreement.President Donald Trump should also continue pursuing the UN Security
Council’s repeal of United Nations Security Council Resolution 2231, which
implements the 2015 nuclear deal. Ending the agreement would reinstate previous
UN sanctions and resolutions demanding that Iran halt its enrichment program. It
would also preserve an international arms embargo on the Islamic Republic that
is set to expire in October and a missile embargo slated to expire in 2023.
Revoking the nuclear accord would also provide a possible Biden administration
with a clean slate to construct a lasting, more comprehensive agreement with
Iran.World powers cannot allow Iran to once again sweep its nuclear past under
the rug. They should support the IAEA as it seeks to navigate the Iran nuclear
investigation. How events proceed this fall will be a key determinant in
reducing Tehran’s proliferation threat once and for all.
*Andrea Stricker is a research fellow at the Foundation for Defense of
Democracies (FDD), where Brigadier General (Res.) Professor Jacob Nagel is a
senior fellow. They both contribute to FDD’s Center on Military and Political
Power (CMPP), Center on Economic and Financial Power (CEFP), and Iran Program.
For more analysis from Andrea, Jacob, CMPP, CEFP, and the Iran Program, please
subscribe HERE. Follow Andrea on Twitter @StrickerNonpro. Follow FDD on Twitter
@FDD, @FDD_CMPP, @FDD_CEFP, and @FDD_Iran. FDD is a Washington, DC-based,
nonpartisan research institute focused on national security and foreign policy.
Justice Department Provides Roadmap to Escalate Pressure on
North Korean Cybercrime
Mathew Ha/Policy Brief-FDD/September 03/2020
The U.S. Department of Justice (DOJ) filed a complaint last week seeking the
authority to seize 280 cryptocurrency accounts linked to North Korean
cyberheists. This DOJ action not only further exposes North Korea and China’s
ongoing cooperation in criminal sanctions-evasion schemes, but also lays the
groundwork for the U.S. government to ramp up pressure on Pyongyang’s
cybercriminal activity.
DOJ alleges that the 280 listed accounts hold stolen assets from over a dozen
cryptocurrency exchanges in South Korea as well as one in the United States.
This is the first time North Korea-sponsored operations have hacked a U.S.-based
exchange. DOJ did not disclose the target’s name, referring to it simply as
“Exchange 10.”
In March, DOJ filed a similar civil action to seize 113 cryptocurrency accounts
used to launder over $100 million worth of cryptocurrency stolen by North Korean
hackers. There has not yet been a ruling on this earlier complaint. At the same
time it filed the March action, DOJ also indicted two Chinese nationals who
orchestrated the money laundering operation, while the Treasury Department hit
them with sanctions.
The effect of these punitive measures has been limited. In its announcement of
last week’s complaint, DOJ acknowledged that “the same group of Chinese OTC
[over-the-counter cryptocurrency trading] actors” laundered the proceeds of the
latest North Korean cyberheist. In addition, those Chinese actors mitigated the
impact of DOJ’s March complaint by pulling their remaining funds out of the
targeted accounts “within hours” of the filing. While exchanges are responsible
for freezing suspicious accounts, DOJ cannot force a foreign exchange to do so.
Some do comply, however. Last week’s complaint shows that two foreign exchanges,
dubbed Exchange 4 and Exchange 9, did block accounts after being notified that
stored funds were indeed stolen.
Shortcomings aside, the recovery of stolen cryptocurrency from a hostile foreign
power represents a landmark for U.S. law enforcement. In addition to targeting
North Korean and Chinese actors, DOJ in early August seized $2 million worth of
cryptocurrency from 300 accounts operated by terrorist groups, including the
Islamic State, al-Qaeda, and Hamas’ Qassam Brigades.
Both the United Nations and United States have confirmed that North Korea’s
cybercrime operations directly fund the regime’s nuclear weapons program.
Washington’s continuing reluctance to hold China accountable for facilitating
Pyongyang’s sanctions evasion only undermines the efforts of the United States
and its allies to dismantle verifiably North Korea’s nuclear weapons program.
Fortunately, the ample evidence revealed by DOJ provides a roadmap for Treasury
to impose sanctions and other penalties that may deter Chinese institutions from
supporting illicit activities.
In March, DOJ’s indictment revealed that its targets transferred stolen funds
through nine Chinese banks. The United States should continue investigating
those banks’ activities and consider the necessary penalties for repeated
offenses.
Specifically, Treasury should consider sanctioning the leadership of Chinese
banks that continue to allow North Korean money laundering. Treasury could
condition these banks’ resumption of operations on a cessation of illicit
activity and the installation of new leadership consisting of non-designated
individuals.
*Mathew Ha is a research analyst focused on North Korea at the Foundation for
Defense of Democracies (FDD), where he also contributes to FDD’s Center on
Economic and Financial Power (CEFP) and Center on Cyber and Technology
Innovation (CCTI). For more analysis from Mathew, CEFP, and CCTI, please
subscribe HERE. Follow Mathew on Twitter @MatJunsuk. Follow FDD on Twitter @FDD
and @FDD_CEFP and @FDD_CCTI. FDD is a Washington, DC-based, nonpartisan research
institute focusing on national security and foreign policy.
Iraq is presented with golden opportunity to strengthen US,
Gulf ties, shake off Iran
Zana Gulmohamad/Al Arabiya/September 03/2020
Iraqi Prime Minister Mustafa al-Kadhimi’s visit to Washington, DC, where he met
US President Donald Trump last month represents a phase of recovery in the
recently strained US-Iraqi bilateral relationship, but Iraq needs to get serious
about fighting corruption and reining in pro-Iran militias to continue
strengthening ties with the US.
But so far, Iraq has produced no clear roadmap to tackle either of these issues
that the US has said are important for future bilateral relations.
In the first meeting between a US president and an Iraqi prime minister since
2017, official talks focused on combatting ISIS, the presence of US troops in
Iraq and curbing pro-Iran Shia militias’ power in Iraq. Deals on energy
development and electricity and finance and health were signed.
While the US wants to maintain a strategic and close relationship with Iraq, it
wants to do so without Iran’s interference and influence, and Iraq must be
cognizant of the fine line it is walking. The summit supports and reinvigorates
Iraq’s relationships with the Gulf, particularly Saudi Arabia after a few years
of slow progress.
An opportunity to recalibrate Iraq’s regional policy
The successful US-Iraqi summit is a golden opportunity for revitalization of
Iraq’s foreign relations as there are shared interests between the US, Iraq and
the Gulf states, which can solve Iraq’s dire economic, security and energy
dilemma. It comes at a time when Iraq is in dire need of help. Al-Kadhimi
promised sweeping reforms and the best prospect for Iraq to claw its way out of
economic and financial ruin, improve its poor infrastructure, root out
corruption, effectively respond to coronavirus, and to rein in Shia militias is
to align itself with the US and its allies, namely the Arab Gulf states.
The US and Iraq’s final communique statement has shown a glimpse of hope as both
are committed to continuing cooperation with Gulf Cooperation Council (GCC)
member states and the GCC Interconnection Authority on Iraq. Although Iraq’s
relationship with the GCC member states has improved since Haider al-Abadi’s
government from 2014 to 2018, Iraq’s current challenges require these ties to be
developed to deliver rapid tangible outcomes.
Iraq now has the opportunity to build upon Iraqi-Saudi Coordination Council’s
committees and principles that seek to improve bilateral relations on areas
including energy, security, and finance.
At the summit, the US also backed a deal that would accelerate work to connect
Iraq’s electricity grid to those of Saudi Arabia and Kuwait as well as develop
their energy cooperation including in the gas sector, according to the Wall
Street Journal. Connecting Iraq to the Gulf grids would help pull Baghdad out of
multiple problems the country faces on the power supply front.
With US meditation, Iraq can also further develop trade, technology and energy
cooperation with the United Arab Emirates, which over the past few years has
strategically invested in Iraq. The latest project amounts to over $3 billion to
develop the gas sector in the autonomous Kurdistan Region of Iraq.
Iran is not the answer
At present, the US has issued Iraq a sanctions waiver so that it can continue to
import energy from Iran, but the US has meanwhile encouraged Iraq to increase
its strategic cooperation with GCC states to reduce Iraq’s reliance on Iran’s
energy, which has not solved Iraq’s poor electricity supply. The grievances of
Iraqi protesters include chronically poor public services and electricity
supply.
Iran cannot provide sustainable and reliable energy, and there are reports that
indicate Iran has suffered electricity shortages. Moreover, power is used as
political leverage, and on several occasions, Iran has cut electricity from
Iraq, according to Oil Price.
Meanwhile, Saudi Arabia offered Iraq electricity at a quarter of the price that
Iran demands and the Kingdom is developing a joint solar powered system to
supply Iraq with electricity. Across Saudi Arabia’s southern border, the UAE has
one of the most diversified energy supplies in the world. Iraq has the
opportunity to benefit from these reliable energy resources and power
technology.
From improving US-Iraq bilateral ties, the latter also stands to improve ties
with America’s regional allies in the Gulf. Broadening economic and security
ties with the US and the Gulf would shake off Iran’s interference in Iraq,
including curbing pro-Iran militias’ power and combating ISIS in Iraq.
The obstacle for further developing multilateral ties among the US, Iraq and the
Gulf states remains the pro-Iran militias in Iraq. Iran will not watch idly as
Iraq slips from its influence and it will utilize all deep-rooted rapports with
a number of Iraqi politicians, militia leaders and commanders to thwart the
progress and assert Iran’s influence on policymaking.
During al-Kadhimi’s visit to DC, pro-Iran political factions such as Kata’ib
Hezbollah called al-Kadhimi to discuss the US troops’ withdrawal. The Fatah
Alliance also said they will rebuff US orders given to the Iraqi government.
Amid the high-profile visit of a Saudi official to Baghdad, Kata’ib Hezbollah
announced its rejection of the normalization of relations with Saudi Arabia,
Shafaaq reported.
Whether or not Iraq, the US and the Gulf will continue to strengthen their ties,
will depend on how far the Iraqi government can push to follow up the meetings
with actions and to implement reforms, provide services, rein in the Shia
militias, and impede Iranian interference.
Another challenge is that al-Kadhimi’s government is a transitional government
until next year’s snap election and is at the mercy of parliamentary political
blocs, including the pro-Iran Fatah Alliance, which selected al-Kadhimi in May
after two prime ministers were unable to form a Cabinet. Therefore, more
consolidation of ties between Iraq and the US’s allies in the region is
paramount as next year, the competition between Iraqi political elites and
factions will mount and Iran will try to secure its interests.
The successful Iraq-US summit provided a thrust to the shuttle diplomacy between
Iraq and Arab neighboring countries as on August 27 Saudi Arabia’s Foreign
Minister Prince Faisal Bin Farhan al-Saud visited Baghdad to reaffirm the
commitments of previous agreements and discussed the US Iraq summit and Iraq’s
tripartite summit in Amman. Al-Kadhimi referred to Saudi Arabia as a “true
partner.” This shows both sides’ willingness to improve relations.
However, it is now time for Iraq’s policy makers to get serious and follow-up
with their commitments. US-Iraq-Gulf relations are critical for Iraq’s stability
and prosperity, but al-Kadhimi must do more to make good on his promises to root
out corruption and rein in the pro-Iran militias.