LCCC ENGLISH DAILY NEWS BULLETIN
September 25/2019
Compiled & Prepared by: Elias Bejjani

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Bible Quotations For today
I tell you; but unless you repent, you will all perish as they did
Holy Gospel of Jesus Christ according to Saint Luke 13/01-05/:”At that very time there were some present who told him about the Galileans whose blood Pilate had mingled with their sacrifices. He asked them, ‘Do you think that because these Galileans suffered in this way they were worse sinners than all other Galileans? No, I tell you; but unless you repent, you will all perish as they did. Or those eighteen who were killed when the tower of Siloam fell on them do you think that they were worse offenders than all the others living in Jerusalem? No, I tell you; but unless you repent, you will all perish just as they did.’

Titles For The Latest English LCCC Lebanese & Lebanese Related News published on September 24-25/2019
STL President Orders Alternative Service of the Indictment against Ayyash
Future US Sanctions Will Hit Hizbullah Benefactors, Source Says
Berri Says Relayed Message to US Administration Through Bellingslea
Aoun Meets Macron Who Renews Commitment to CEDRE, Lebanon Visit
Aoun meets King of Jordan
Bassil meets Iraqi President in New York
Foreign Ministers of Lebanon, Iraq, Jordan, Turkey meet in New York
Army chief, British Ambassador discuss cooperation relations
Hariri receives IMF delegation
Hariri: Smugglers will be brought to justice
Italian Embassy: Italian participation at IBEF Energy Forum
Cabinet Forms Ministerial Committee to Discuss Budget Reforms
Salameh Brushes Off Concerns about Dollar Availability, Billingslea’s Visit
Lebanese Man Arrested in Greece 'Mistaken' for Hijacker
In Lebanon, Return of 'Collaborators' Reopens Old Wounds
Israeli enemy works over cement wall

Titles For The Latest English LCCC Miscellaneous Reports And News published on September 24-25/2019
Enhanced prospect of a Trump-Rouhani summit on UN sidelines
Trump: Mideast understands need for normalizing ties with Israel
Trump in UN address appeals to international community to respond to Iran
Israel's Main Parties Begin Talks on Coalition Government
Abbas Says Boycott of Trump Administration Will Continue
Merkel to meet separately at UN with Trump, Rouhani: German official
Erdogan compares Israel to Nazi Germany, gives anti-Israel UNGA presentation
US, Turkey Stage Joint Patrols in Northeast Syria
UN Sets Constitution Committee for Syria, But Hopes to End War Muted
Iraq, Egypt, Jordan Express Solidarity With Saudi Arabia
Karen regains tropical storm strength as it churns toward Puerto Rico
Decision to suspend UK parliament was ‘unlawful’: Supreme Court
Singapore detains Indonesian maids for ‘funding ISIS’
At least 40 civilians killed by Afghan forces in southern Helmand province
Trump Says Chaos in Egypt Ended with Sisi’s Arrival to Power
Tunisian Judiciary Rejects All Appeals Against Presidential Elections Results
US Says Removing Sudan From Terror List Could Take a Year
Russia Summons Senior U.S. Diplomat Over UN Visa Row
19 Killed, Over 300 Injured after Earthquake Rocks North Pakistan, Tremors Felt in Parts of India
12 killed in attacks in Mozambique

Titles For The Latest LCCC English analysis & editorials from miscellaneous sources published on September 24-25/2019
Enhanced prospect of a Trump-Rouhani summit on UN sidelines/DEBKAfile/September 24/2019
Latin America: Surging Momentum for Designating Hezbollah a Terror Organization/
Joseph M. Humire/Gatestone Institute/September 24/2019
France Welcomes the Saudis, Condemns Critics of Islam/Giulio Meotti/Gatestone Institute/September 24/2019
Birds Are Vanishing From North America/Carl Zimmer/The New York Times /Asharq Al-Awsat/September 24/2019
Deterring Iranian aggression a priority at UN General Assembly/Abdel Aziz Aluwaisheg/Arab News/September 24, 2019
Surge of Palestinian votes in Israel just the beginning/Dr. Dania Koleilat Khatib/Arab News/September 24/2019

The Latest English LCCC Lebanese & Lebanese Related News published on September 24-25/2019
STL President Orders Alternative Service of the Indictment against Ayyash
Naharnet/Tuesday, 24 September, 2019
The President of the Special Tribunal for Lebanon (STL), Judge Ivana Hrdličková, has ordered today that the service of the indictment against Salim Jamil Ayyash relating to the attacks against Marwan Hamade, Georges Hawi and Elias El- Murr (Prosecutor v. Salim Jamil Ayyash, Case No. STL‑18‑10), be effected in an alternative manner, including through public advertisement, the STL said in a press release on Monday. This follows the President’s finding that reasonable attempts have been made by the Lebanese authorities to effect personal service on the accused in this case, and those efforts have been unsuccessful to date. Specifically, Judge Ivana Hrdličková orders the STL Registrar to provide a form of public advertisement to the Lebanese authorities; and the Lebanese authorities to take all reasonable steps to provide notification to the public of the existence of the indictment and call upon Ayyash to surrender to the Tribunal or in any case to submit to its jurisdiction. Additionally, the Registrar is ordered to consider other means of disseminating the indictment for this purpose, including in the media and social media. Both the Lebanese authorities and the Registrar are required to report back on the results of their efforts. The Lebanese authorities have the continuing obligation to search for, serve, arrest and detain Ayyash, and to transfer him to the seat of the Tribunal. If within 30 days from the start of the advertisement of the indictment the accused is not under the Tribunal’s authority, the Pre-Trial Judge shall ask the Trial Chamber to initiate proceedings in absentia.

Future US Sanctions Will Hit Hizbullah Benefactors, Source Says
Agence France Presse/Naharnet/Tuesday, 24 September, 2019
A US official warned Lebanese politicians that future US sanctions would target any party suspected of providing "material" support to the Iran-backed Hizbullah movement, a Lebanese source told AFP. Treasury Assistant Secretary for Terrorist Financing Marshall Billingslea met Prime Minister Saad Hariri and parliament Speaker Nabih Berri on Monday during a two-day visit to Lebanon. During the meetings, Billingslea warned that US sanctions may extend beyond direct affiliates of Hizbullah, according to a source present at talks. "The US will sanction any group that provides material support to Hizbullah, be it through supplying weapons or money," the source quoted Billingslea as saying. But sanctions "will not target groups who are only tied to Hizbullah politically," he added, easing concern that the group's political allies, including President Michel Aoun's Free Patriotic Movement and Berri's Amal Movement, could be targeted. As well as maintaining a large paramilitary force that has fought both Syrian rebels and Israel, Hizbullah is a key political force in Lebanon.  Billingslea, who arrived in the country on Sunday for meetings with banking and government officials, aims to "encourage Lebanon to take the necessary steps to maintain distance" from the group, said a statement released by the US embassy in Beirut. The Iran-backed movement has been a US-designated terrorist group since 1997 and fights alongside the regime of Syrian President Bashar al-Assad in the country's civil war. Since US President Donald Trump took office, the US has tightened sanctions against the group as well launching a campaign of "maximum pressure" against its main external sponsor, Iran. In early September, the group exchanged cross-border fire with key US ally Israel. On September 12, Washington's Assistant Secretary of Near Eastern Affairs said future US sanctions could extend beyond the Shiite movement. "In the future, we will designate, because we have to, individuals in Lebanon who are aiding and assisting Hizbullah, regardless of what their sect or religion is," David Schenker told Lebanon's LBCI network. On August 29, heavy financial sanctions took force against the Jammal Trust Bank in Lebanon, which was accused of acting as a key financial institution for Hizbullah. In July, the US imposed sanctions on three senior Hizbullah officials in Lebanon, including two lawmakers, in the first such move against members of parliament.

Berri Says Relayed Message to US Administration Through Bellingslea
Naharnet/Tuesday, 24 September, 2019
Speaker Nabih Berri told the US Treasury Assistant Secretary for Terrorist Financing Marshall Billingslea during a meeting on Monday that Lebanon “won’t compromise its national interest,” the National News Agency reported on Tuesday. Berri said in a statement released by his media office: “We heard (from Bellingslea) ideas about the measures taken by the US administration towards Lebanon. We in turn, said what must be said and conveyed to his (US) administration what our supreme national interest dictates towards Lebanon, its institutions, its people and constants,” he said. Berri stressed that Lebanon’s national interest “won’t be compromised.”The US official is in Lebanon on a two-day visit. He met Prime Minister Saad Hariri and Berri on Monday, and warned that future US sanctions would target any party suspected of providing "material" support to the Iran-backed Hizbullah movement.

Aoun Meets Macron Who Renews Commitment to CEDRE, Lebanon Visit
Naharnet/Tuesday, 24 September, 2019
President Michel Aoun and French President Emmanuel Macron agreed on the importance of continuing to strengthen cooperation between Lebanon and France and the commitment to consolidate Lebanese-French relations, the National News Agency reported on Monday. Aoun stressed that Lebanon is proceeding with structural reforms due to national considerations not linked to any other agreement, because one of the titles of his presidential term is reforms in the financial and economic systems. For his part, Macron reiterated his country's commitment to support Lebanon, promising to accept the invitation of Aoun to visit Lebanon in 2020 to mark the centennial of Greater Lebanon, said NNA. The positions of the two men came during their meeting held at 6:00 pm (New York time) at the French Pavilion at the United Nations, it added. The meeting was attended by Lebanese Minister of Foreign Affairs Jebran Bassil, Minister of State for Presidency Affairs Salim Jreissati, Head of Lebanon's Permanent Mission to the UN Ambassador Amal Medalli, Lebanese Ambassador to Washington Gabi Issa and Presidential Advisor Mireille Aoun al-Hashem. On the French side, Foreign Minister Jean-Yves Le Drian attended the meeting along with diplomatic adviser Emmanuel Boone, chief of staff of French President Admiral Bernard Rogel, and Presidential Advisor Alice Ruffo, head of Middle East affairs at the French Foreign Ministry, Christophe Farno. Sources close to Lebanon’s delegation said the meeting addressed issues of importance for both sides, most notably focusing on the reactivation of CEDRE conference decisions. Aoun and Macron also discussed the issue of Syrian refugees in Lebanon and the obstacles that prevent them from returning to their country, said NNA. Macron expressed his country's understanding of the Lebanese position and the damage inflicted on the Lebanese economy because of the refugees’ presence, hoping that progress will be made in solving the Syrian crisis politically through the formation of the Constitutional Committee. NNA said that Aoun and Macron were in full agreement on the need to activate CEDRE and strengthen bilateral relations. Macron reiterated what has already been announced in terms of his country's commitment to support Lebanon in all fields, promising to meet Aoun's invitation to visit to Lebanon in 2020 to mark the centenary Greater Lebanon.

Aoun meets King of Jordan
NNA - Tue 24 Sep 2019
President of the Republic, General Michel Aoun, met with King Abdullah II of Jordan at the United Nations in New York.

Bassil meets Iraqi President in New York
NNA -Tue 24 Sep 2019
Foreign Minister Gebran Bassil on Tuesday held a series of meetings on the sidelines of the UN General Assembly in New York. In this framework, Minister Bassil met with his Italian counterpart Luigi Di Maio, with whom he discussed the bilateral relations, current developments in Syria and the impact of the Syrian displacement crisis. Bassil also met with Iraqi President Barham Salih, in the presence of Iraqi Foreign Minister. Bassil later met with Bahamas Minister of Transport, Ricardo Wells.

Foreign Ministers of Lebanon, Iraq, Jordan, Turkey meet in New York
NNA - Tue 24 Sep 2019
On the sidelines of the United Nations meetings in New York, a quartet ministerial meeting was held on Tuesday comprising the foreign ministers of Iraq, Jordan, Lebanon and Turkey, to discuss the issue of the displaced Syrians.
The meeting took place in the context of a joint initiative by the Lebanese Foreign Minister, Gebran Bassil, and Turkish Foreign Minister, Mevlut Cavusoglu. They agreed to form a committee of experts tasked to prepare a joint working paper to be later discussed by the ministers, who in turn will take up with the countries and parties concerned with the displaced Syrians' dossier. Attending foreign ministers fully agreed on the principle of displaced Syrians' return as the sole final solution to this crisis, provided that the conditions are secured, notably the support of the states and parties responsible for financing the return.

Army chief, British Ambassador discuss cooperation relations
NNA - Tue 24 Sep 2019
Army Commander General Joseph Aoun, on Tuesday welcomed at his Yarzeh office British Ambassador to Lebanon, Chris Rampling. Discussions reportedly touched on cooperation relations between the armies of both countries.

Hariri receives IMF delegation
NNA - Tue 24 Sep 2019
The President of the Council of Ministers Saad Hariri met this evening at the Grand Serail with a delegation from the International Monetary Fund, headed by the Deputy Director of IMF’s Middle East and Central Asia region, Thanos Arvanitis, in the presence of former Minister Dr. Ghattas Khoury and advisers Nadim Mounla and Hazar Caracalla. The meeting focused on the latest developments related to the discussion of the 2020 draft budget, in addition to the economic situation in Lebanon and the support that the IMF can provide to Lebanon in this field.

Hariri: Smugglers will be brought to justice
NNA - Tue 24 Sep 2019
The President of the Council of Ministers Saad Hariri said that smuggling is a real problem and the government is working seriously to close all illegal crossings. He announced that "soon the Lebanese will hear that a large number of smugglers, whether state employees or traders, are brought to justice", adding that the judiciary today is much better than it was in the past, and there will be no interventions in favor of the smugglers who will be arrested. Hariri was addressing this afternoon the participants in the Lebanon Agriculture Development Conference 2019, organized by the Ministry of Agriculture, the Economic Office at the Council of Ministers, the Union of Agricultural Syndicates and the Federation of Chambers of Commerce, Industry and Agriculture in Lebanon, in cooperation with Al-Iktissad Wal-Aamal, at the Phoenicia Hotel. He said: "There is no doubt that the state is not doing enough for the agricultural sector and the main problem is that the policy of agriculture is floundering. There is no clear strategy for the farmer to know what crops he should focus on so that they are an added value to what is found in neighboring and distant countries. The government problem is that it does not help farmers achieve these specifications." He added that the government is ready to support the agriculture that gives the country and the farmers an added value, and said that the government is working on a project with the ministries of finance and agriculture to complete the assessment of Lebanese lands, especially agricultural ones.
He said: "This sector cannot wait anymore for an integrated strategy, and we cannot go halfway and then stop. The strategy must be integrated in everything we do today, whether in electricity, telecommunications, agriculture or industry. Closing our markets to some foreign products is closing on ourselves, because this prevents us from exporting our products to these countries. There are already some free trade agreements that need to be reviewed, but there is a workshop that will take place at the Grand Serail, organized by the ministry of agriculture with FAO and the World Bank, to establish a strategy for the sector as part of the McKinsey Study. Some infrastructure is lacking, but the advantage we have today is the projects approved at the CEDRE Conference, which will advance the agricultural sector and its infrastructure in all Lebanese regions, which will develop various other sectors. In CEDRE, there is funding for all projects from A to Z in an integrated manner. Last week, I had a meeting with the interior and defense ministers and all the military and customs leaderships about smuggling. Smuggling is a real problem. For example, with the start of the war in Syria in 2012, our smuggling dropped to 2 percent. Now that things in Syria calmed down, smuggling has risen again to 30 and 40%, which is unacceptable, so we held these meetings and are working to close all illegal crossings. The government will approve the issue of scanners and other detectors to focus on all land, sea and air ports."
Hariri concluded by noting that the proposals that will come out of this conference will be discussed, and most of them should be part of the plan to be adopted by the government in the field of agriculture. We have to develop ourselves, and this conference is one of the ways to develop, in order to reach solutions to the problems facing the agriculture sector in Lebanon, and to develop an integrated strategy for the promotion of agriculture, and thus the economy.

Italian Embassy: Italian participation at IBEF Energy Forum
NNA -Tue 24 Sep 2019
In a press release by the Italian Embassy in Beirut, it said: "The Italian Trade Agency-ICE Agency coordinates the participation of a delegation of Italian entrepreneurs in the field of renewable energy and energy efficiency at the International Energy Forum of Beirut -IBEF. The scope of the mission is the development of industrial and commercial partnerships between Italian and Lebanese companies to seize the opportunities that the Lebanese government energy plan foresees to achieve the ambitious goal of 30% of energy production from renewable sources by 2030.
The Italian delegation was supported by the Ministry of the Environment, Land and Sea (IMELS), UNIDO-ITPO and the Federation of National Associations of Mechanical Industry (ANIMA). The initiative was also carried out with the collaboration of the Italian Embassy in Beirut.
The Italian delegation is composed of 14 companies and groups of companies covering a wide range of services, advanced technologies and products related to renewable energy, energy efficiency, energy infrastructure and green buildings. IBEF is an important platform for learning about government programs in the field of renewable energy and energy efficiency. In order to reinforce the Italian participation in the forum, ICE-Agency organizes, as part of the forum's work, a session devoted to opportunities for industrial cooperation between Italy and Lebanon to be held on Thursday, September 26, from 12:00 to 1:30 pm entitled "Italy: case studies on Italian technologies and solutions in the renewable energy and energy efficiency sector". A special session of 244 B2B bilateral meetings will be scheduled in the afternoon, at 14:00, between companies from both countries."

Cabinet Forms Ministerial Committee to Discuss Budget Reforms
Naharnet//Tuesday, 24 September, 2019
The Cabinet formed on Monday a ministerial committee led by Prime Minister Saad Hariri to discuss the budget reforms, in one of successive sessions devoted to discussing the country’s 2020 budget finances. Following the cabinet meeting chaired by Hariri at the Grand Serail, Minister of Information Jamal Jarrah made a statement about the decisions taken. “We discussed budget articles and there was significant progress. Practically all articles were completed except for some, which were postponed for further discussion. There are, of course, measures and reforms that will accompany the budget,” said Jarrah. “A seven-member ministerial committee, that includes the Deputy Prime Minister and is headed by Hariri, was formed to discuss all procedures and reforms that should go alongside the budget, but are not necessarily within the budget. They can be through decrees that would be referred to the Parliament. With the end of the budget discussion, the procedures and reforms would have been discussed and approved and after that would be sent to the Parliament,” he added. Whether they will submit the work of the ministerial committee to the Council of Ministers and then to Parliament, Jarrah said: “The normal course is for the committee to present the outcome of its work to the Council of Ministers for approval. It would either be included in the budget if it includes reforms or through a draft law referred to Parliament.”Jarrah said the committee is not necessarily opt for new taxes or fees, “we have important topics for reform that we all know and this committee will work on drafting them and putting them into effect.”

Salameh Brushes Off Concerns about Dollar Availability, Billingslea’s Visit
Naharnet//Tuesday, 24 September, 2019
Central Bank Governor Riad Salameh on Monday appeased concerns about the availability of the dollar currency in Lebanon’s banking sector, and brushed off fears about the visit of a US government official to Lebanon. “The dollar is available in the Lebanese banking sector. There is a lot of exaggeration,” assured Salameh. “BDL has its assets in dollars and there is no need for special measures or media intimidation,” he added. On concerns that the visit of Treasury Assistant Secretary for Terrorist Financing Marshall Billingslea to Lebanon could carry US sanctions on more Lebanese banks after sanctioning Jammal Trust Bank. Salameh said: “Billingslea’s visit is most welcome and it does not aim to tighten the noose on Lebanon. It aims to explain the motives behind sanctions at JTB”He stressed: “We are in constant contact with the US Treasury. It is in Lebanon's interest to have good relations with it.”

Lebanese Man Arrested in Greece 'Mistaken' for Hijacker
Agence France Presse/Naharnet//Tuesday, 24 September, 2019
The arrest in Greece of a Lebanese man accused of involvement in a 1985 plane hijacking is a case of mistaken identity, Lebanese officials said on Monday. Greek authorities detained the 65-year-old man last week on the island of Mykonos. They said there was a European arrest warrant issued by Germany against him for his suspected involvement in the hijacking of TWA Flight 847 and the murder of an American passenger. A Lebanese diplomatic official and a security official, neither of whom wanted to be named, identified the man in Greek custody as Mohamed Ali Saleh. Saleh has a nearly identical name to the suspected Lebanese hijacker, but his father's name does not match that of the suspect, the diplomatic source said. Both sources told AFP the arrest was a case of "mistaken identity." Lebanese authorities have already reached out to Athens to clarify the situation, the diplomatic official said. Germany is expected to announce a decision regarding Saleh's release later on Monday, the same source said. Greek police on Monday told AFP that they have asked Germany to confirm the identity of the arrested man. TWA Flight 847 was travelling from Cairo to San Diego with stops in Athens, Rome, Boston and Los Angeles. It was hijacked on June 14, 1985 after it took off from Athens. Over a horrific 17 days, TWA pilot John Testrake was forced to crisscross the Mediterranean with his 153 passengers and crew members, from Beirut to Algiers and back again, landing in Beirut three times before he was finally allowed to stop. The hijackers' demands included the release of Shiite Muslims held by Israel. On June 15, 1985 during the first stop in Beirut, one of the passengers, 23-year-old US Navy diver Robert Stethem, was severely beaten, shot point blank in the head and his body thrown onto the tarmac. Greek media said the wanted man had been arrested in Germany two years after the hijacking but was later exchanged with two Germans who were abducted in Beirut. He has remained a fugitive ever since.

In Lebanon, Return of 'Collaborators' Reopens Old Wounds
Agence France Presse/Naharnet//Tuesday, 24 September, 2019
"Collaborators not welcome" reads a roadside placard in southern Lebanon, where debate has flared once again over the return of thousands who collaborated with Israel's 22-year occupation. The warning stood next to the road leading to Qlayaa, a village nestled among lush, green fields and flowing olive groves. It was once a bastion of the South Lebanon Army, a Christian-led militia allied to Israel and opposed to the now-dominant Shiite Hizbullah movement. When the Israeli army withdrew from southern Lebanon in 2000, thousands of SLA members and their families chose to cross the border too and settle in Israel or elsewhere. In Qlayaa, those residents who remain don't like to talk to journalists, and many homes are abandoned. "There's more than 100 of them that are shuttered up," says one man, refusing to give his name. "Entire families left and we haven't heard from them since."When they die, "only a few bodies get repatriated to be buried in the village," he says. For some, including Hizbullah supporters, SLA members are traitors. Others, mostly from Christian parties, say they are exiles who should be allowed to return.
'Right to return' -
Ever a hot-button issue, the argument erupted again this month when a notorious former SLA member unexpectedly entered Lebanon. Amer al-Fakhoury, who had been a senior warden at the infamous Khiyam prison, went into exile more than two decades ago and was sentenced in absentia for collaborating with Israel. He was detained shortly after his arrival. A committee comprised of relatives of exiled SLA members estimates that between 2,400 and 2,700 Lebanese still live in Israel, around 1,200 of them Christians from Qlayaa. Others moved on from Israel and resettled in third countries including Sweden, Germany and Canada. Most of them had left Lebanon as the Israeli army retreated, for fear of reprisals from the groups they once fought -- particularly Hizbullah. Years have passed but cross-border tensions still run high between Hizbullah and Israel, such as a cross-border exchange of fire early this month that sparked fears of a broader conflagration. Those who sided with the occupation are not widely welcomed in the south. Some residents claim they have severed all ties with their exiled relatives because they "don't want trouble" and fear being accused of spying. "Every Lebanese has the right to return to their homeland," argued Amin Said, a local official from Qlayaa who has relatives in Israel. "Let those who have blood on their hands face trial, whatever their affiliations."But Said admitted that his case is rarely heard. "The issue of the exiles is a forgotten one," he says. "We have no leverage here, nor do we represent any kind of electoral opportunity." In 2011, parliament passed a bill enabling the return of Lebanese citizens residing in Israel, but its implementation mechanisms are still under scrutiny at the justice ministry.
'Traitors'
Less than five kilometres from Qlayaa lies Khiyam, a mostly Shiite village where Israel and its SLA proxy used to run the prison whose name became a by-word for abuse and torture. The prison now lies in ruins and Fakhoury is in detention. Survivors and relatives of former detainees accuse him of torture against Lebanese and Palestinian inmates. The SLA was formed in 1976 as a splinter from the Lebanese army, whose ranks were divided a year after the start of the civil war. Initially it was called the Free Lebanon Army. The conflict shifted dramatically when Israel invaded the south in 1978 and the militia started taking its orders from the Israeli army. The wounds that created, especially in the south, are still fresh. Fakhoury's return to Lebanon immediately prompted protests, including one in the yard of the old Khiyam prison where demonstrators denounced "the return of the collaborators". "They're not exiles, they're traitors," snapped Sekna Bazzi during the small protest, which was held on September 15, four days after Fakhoury's arrest. A woman now in her fifties, she was detained in the Israeli-run prison for four years for "collaborating with the resistance" -- a reference to Hizbullah -- and eventually released in 1991. "All those who call for their return are also traitors," Bazzi told AFP, wearing a head scarf and a long black garment. "They have no right to return. We don't want them here, and we don't want their children."

Israeli enemy works over cement wall
NNA - Tue 24 Sep 2019
Israeli enemy forces on Tuesday installed electrical cables and carried out maintenance work on the surveillance towers above the concrete wall separating Lebanon from occupied Palestine on the road leading from Kfarkila to Adeisseh.

The Latest English LCCC Miscellaneous Reports And News published on September 24-25/2019
Enhanced prospect of a Trump-Rouhani summit on UN sidelines
DEBKAfile/September 24/2019
White House and Iranian teams at the UN General Assembly are making good progress towards setting up a meeting between US President Donald Trump and Iran’s Hassan Rouhani, DEBKAfile’s sources report.
On Tuesday, Sept. 24, the Iranian President Rouhani said at UN Center in New York that he is open to discussing small changes to the Iran nuclear deal if sanctions are lifted. Trump, in his speech on Tuesday to the UN Assembly, railed against Iran’s policy of “blood lust,” singling out Tehran’s “anti-Semitic hate” for Israel, and vowed to keep sanctions in place. At the same time, the US president noted: “The United States doesn’t believe in permanent enemies. America knows that anyone can make war, but only the most courageous can choose peace.”DEBKAfile’s sources emphasize that those phrases by the two presidents provide the key to the significant progress made in the undercover talks taking place between Washington and Tehran and the enhanced prospects of them culminating in a bilateral summit between them on the sidelines of the current General Assembly session in New York. Our sources stress that Rouhani’s suggestion that even minor changes are possible in the 2015 nuclear accord opens the door to negotiations on the scale of those changes and ways in which US sanctions may be eased.

Trump: Mideast understands need for normalizing ties with Israel
Reuters/Tuesday, 24 September, 2019
Speaking at United Nations General Assembly, U.S. president urges all nations not to 'subsidize Iran's blood lust'; calls on the 'free world' to reject globalism, embrace national foundations and tells North Korea to denuclearize U.S. President Donald Trump on Tuesday said there is a growing recognition in Middle East that countries must battle extremism, must have normalized relations between Israel and its neighbors.Speaking at the the United Nations General Assembly, the president also called on nations around the world to tighten the economic noose around Iran's economy, saying no country should support Iran's "blood lust." "All nations have a duty to act," Trump told the United Nations General Assembly. "No responsible government should subsidize Iran's blood lust. As long as Iran's menacing behavior continues, sanctions will not be lifted. They will be tightened.""We want partners, not adversaries," he said.
Trump went on to urge nations around the globe to reject globalism, saying wise leaders put their own people and countries first. "The free world must embrace its national foundations. It must not attempt to erase them or replace them," he said. "The future does not belong to globalists, the future belongs to patriots." The 73-year-old also said the policies pushed by what he termed as "open border activists" were hurting the very people they supposedly aim to help, as he called illegal immigration one of the world's must crucial challenges. "Today I have a message for those open border activists who cloak themselves in the rhetoric of social justice: your policies are not just. Your policies are cruel and evil," Trump told UNGA. "You are empowering criminal organizations that prey on innocent men, women and children. You put your own false sense of virtue before the lives, wellbeing and countless innocent people," he said. "When you undermine border security, you are undermining human rights and human dignity." Trump also had a stern message for China and its president, Xi Jinping, in what was his third annual appearance at the U.N. saying the world is watching how Beijing handles mass demonstrations in Hong Kong that has raised concerns about a potential Chinese crackdown. "How China chooses to handle the situation will say a great deal about its role in the word in the future. We are all counting on President Xi as a great leader," he said. The president then addressed North Korea, saying the country must denuclearize to realize its full potential.

Trump in UN address appeals to international community to respond to Iran
Emily Judd, Al Arabiya English/Tuesday, 24 September 2019
US President Donald Trump appealed to the international community to respond to Iran’s escalating aggression and warned Iran's leadership during an address to the UN General Assembly on Tuesday. Trump described the “repressive” regime in Iran as “one of the greatest security threats facing peace-loving nations” and called on Tehran to put the Iranian people first. “After four decades of failure, it is time for Iran’s leaders to step forward and stop threatening countries and focus on building up their own country,” said Trump. Trump called on other countries to follow the US in taking action against Iran. “In response to Iran’s attack on Saudi Arabia’s oil facilities, we just imposed the highest level of sanctions on Iran’s central bank and sovereign wealth fund. All nations have a duty to act. No responsible government should subsidize Iran’s bloodlust,” said Trump. Trump blamed Iran for the September 14 attacks on key oil installations in Saudi Arabia, an accusation Tehran has denied. “If Iran were behind this attack, nothing would have been left of this refinery,” Iran’s Foreign Minister Mohammad Javad Zarif told reporters in New York on Monday. US intelligence shows that the attack originated from Iran and the Arab Coalition’s preliminary findings showed the weapons were made by Iran. Zarif also said he had no reason to believe Yemen’s Houthis were lying when they claimed responsibility for the attack that knocked out more than half of Saudi Arabia’s oil production and damaged the world’s biggest crude processing plant. Britain, Germany, and France, joined the US on Monday in blaming Iran for the attack. “It is clear to us that Iran bears responsibility for this attack. There is no other plausible explanation,” the three governments said in a joint statement. The European leaders urged Tehran to agree to new talks with world powers on its nuclear and missile programs and regional security issues. “The time has come for Iran to accept a long term negotiation framework for its nuclear program, as well as regional security issues, which include its missile programs,” the three leaders said. Iran blasted the European accusations over the attacks as “ridiculous” and said it has ruled out the possibility of negotiating a new deal with the powers. The Trump administration has implemented economic sanctions on Iran to pressure the country to give up its nuclear program and halt its support for terrorist and proxy organizations across the Middle East. Trump announced new sanctions on Iran’s central bank on Friday, describing the measures as “the highest sanctions ever imposed on a country” by the US. Zarif said the announcement “closed the door to negotiations.” Iran’s President Hassan Rouhani is expected to propose a new Hormuz Peace Initiative, a regional cooperation plan purportedly focused on non-intervention and non-aggression, to the UN this week. Both Trump and Rouhani have said that no meeting between the leaders is on the agenda for the UNGA.

Israel's Main Parties Begin Talks on Coalition Government
Reuters/Tuesday, 24 September, 2019
Israel's two largest parties met Tuesday to discuss the possibility of forming a unity government, in a long-shot effort to solve the political paralysis that has emerged from last week's deadlocked national elections. The meeting between party representatives comes a day after Blue and White leader Benny Gantz and Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu of the rival Likud party held their first working meeting since the vote. Israeli President Reuven Rivlin brought them together in hopes of breaking an impasse that could send the nation into months of political limbo and potentially force a third election in less than a year.
"We took a significant step this evening, and now the main challenge is building a direct channel of communication out of trust between the two sides," Rivlin told the two rivals, according to The Associated Press. "People expect you to find a solution and to prevent further elections, even if it comes at a personal and even ideological cost." Israel's president is responsible for choosing a candidate for prime minister after national elections. That task is usually a formality, but it is far more complicated this time since neither of the top two candidates can build a stable parliamentary majority on his own. Rivlin summoned Gantz and Netanyahu for another summit Wednesday before making his decision. No breakthrough is expected, and it is unclear which way Rivlin is leaning.
Gantz's centrist Blue and White came in first in the elections, with 33 seats, trailed by Netanyahu's Likud with 31. With smaller allied parties, a total of 55 lawmakers have thrown their support behind Netanyahu, against 54 for Gantz, leaving both men short of the required 61-seat majority.
A unity deal between the large parties, with a rotating leadership, is seen as perhaps the only way out of the gridlock. That's what Avigdor Lieberman, the kingmaker leader of the ultra-nationalist Yisrael Beitenu, party is insisting upon. Lieberman, who controls eight seats, has refused to endorse either candidate and is demanding they join him in a broad, secular unity government that excludes the ultra-Orthodox parties — Netanyahu's long-time partners. A former aide and ally of Netanyahu, Lieberman forced the September 17 repeat vote by refusing to join Netanyahu's coalition and robbing him of his parliamentary majority. Both Netanyahu and Gantz have expressed theoretical support for a unity deal between their parties but have deep disagreements over its agenda and who should lead it. Gantz insists he should go first and has vowed not to partner with Likud so long as Netanyahu is at the helm, citing the prime minister's legal predicament. Israel's attorney general has recommended charging Netanyahu with a series of corruption-related charges and is expected to make a final decision following a hearing with the prime minister early next month. Netanyahu, seeking protection from prosecution, believes he should remain as prime minister and has signed a deal with his smaller allies, including ultra-Orthodox parties, to negotiate as a "bloc," further signaling that there was more jockeying than real negotiating involved in the latest developments. "It is going to be very hard, if not downright impossible, to form a government based on the two larger parties, when one of them drags its satellite parties along with it," wrote columnist Nahum Barnea in the Yediot Ahronot daily. "That's like a bride who wants to bring her brother, cousin, neighbor and rabbi along with her to the consummation of her marriage. It won't work."

Abbas Says Boycott of Trump Administration Will Continue
Ramallah- Asharq Al-Awsat/Tuesday, 24 September, 2019
The Palestinian Authority’s boycott of the US administration will continue until the White House changes its policies toward the Palestinians and honors international resolutions pertaining to the Israeli-Arab conflict, PA President Mahmoud Abbas said on Monday. Abbas, who was speaking during a meeting in New York with members of the Palestinian-American community, accused US President Donald Trump’s administration of being “biased” in favor of Israel. The Palestinians, he added, won’t accept the US policy of imposing “dictates” on the Palestinians. He said no contacts will be made with the US administration until it goes back on its destructive decisions on the peace process, including its recognition of Jerusalem as the capital of Israel and moving its embassy from Tel Aviv to Jerusalem. He slammed other US decisions, such as halting US financial aid to the United Nations Relief and Works Agency for Palestinian Refugees (UNRWA). The US policy has encouraged Israel to continue carrying out its hostile practices against the Palestinian land and the Islamic and Christian holy sites, in addition to its continued settlement expansion, the President explained. He accused the Israeli government of seeking to undermine any chances to achieve a just peace based on international legitimacy and international law by continuing its settlement policy, incursions, arrests, and seizure of lands as well as continuing to seize Palestinian funds. “We will not accept any deduction from the salaries of our martyrs, our families and wounded.” He threatened to end all the UN-sponsored agreements signed with Israel if it decides to annex any of the Palestinian lands. Abbas also stressed that Palestine wants to achieve permanent and just peace in accordance with UN and international resolutions, leading to the establishment of an independent Palestinian state with East Jerusalem as its capital on the 1967 borders. The PA President arrived in New York on Sunday to participate in the activities of the 74th session of the United Nations General Assembly after he ended an official visit to Norway. He is supposed to deliver a speech in the event to reaffirm the Palestinians' desire for peace and statehood and reiterate his rejection for the US peace plan.

Merkel to meet separately at UN with Trump, Rouhani: German official
Reuters/Tuesday, 24 September 2019
German Chancellor Angela Merkel will on Tuesday hold separate talks with US President Donald Trump and Iranian President Hassan Rouhani on the sidelines of the United Nations General Assembly, a government spokesman said. Merkel “will today hold bilateral meetings on the sidelines of the General Assembly - one with President Trump and the other with President Rouhani,” the spokesman said.

Erdogan compares Israel to Nazi Germany, gives anti-Israel UNGA presentation
Netanyahu urges the Turkish president to 'stop lying' after Erdogan holds up map of Israel during address to world leaders, claiming it shows 'shrinking Palestine'; shortly before the speech he compared murder of Jews in WWII to events in Gaza
Ynetnews/Tuesday, 24 September, 2019
Turkish President Tayyip Erdogan on Tuesday compared Israel's actions in Gaza to the Holocaust and provided a show and tell presentation, similar to the ones favored by Israeli leader, condemning what he described is an Israeli occupation of Palestine. Speaking at the United Nations General Assembly attended by world leaders, the Turkish president said the only solution to Israeli-Palestinian conflict is an "immediate establishment" a Palestinian state. "The immediate establishment of an independent Palestinian state with homogeneous territories, on the basis of the 1967 borders with East Jerusalem as its capital, is the only solution," he said. "Any other peace plan will never be implemented."Shortly before his speech at UNGA, the president met with Turkish natives living in New York, where the General Assembly is located, where he compared the murder of Jews during the Holocaust to the "genocide" committed by Israel in the Gaza Strip. "When we look at the genocide Nazis committed against Jews, we should look at the massacre happening in the Gaza Strip from the same point of view," Erdogan is quoted as saying by the Turkish Anadolu news agency. In his UN speech, Erdogan went on to hold up a map showing Israel through the years from 1947 to the present day, revealing what he claims are "shrinking" Palestinian territories. "Where are the borders of the State of Israel?" Erdogan said, adding the Jewish state is one of the most racist countries in the world.
Visual presentations have in the past been a tool favored by Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu, who during his UNGA address last year used a map revealing what he claimed was "another atomic facility in Iran."
"He who does not stop lying about Israel, who slaughters the Kurds in his country, and who denies the awful massacre of the Armenian people – should not preach to Israel," said Netanyahu in a statement following the Turkish president's speech. "Erdogan, stop lying."The 65-year-old then took another thinly veiled shot at Israel, saying nuclear power should either be free for all states or banned completely, and warned that the "inequality" between states who have nuclear power and who do not undermines global balances. Erdogan has hinted in the past that he wanted he same protection for Turkey as Israel, which foreign analysts say possesses a sizable nuclear arsenal. Israel maintains a policy of ambiguity around the nuclear issue, refusing to confirm or deny its capabilities. "The position of nuclear power should either be forbidden for all or permissible for everyone," Erdogan told the United Nations General Assembly annual gathering of world leaders. Turkey signed the Nuclear Nonproliferation Treaty in 1980, and has also signed the 1996 Comprehensive Nuclear-Test-Ban Treaty, which bans all nuclear detonations for any purpose.

US, Turkey Stage Joint Patrols in Northeast Syria
Agence France Presse/Naharnet//Tuesday, 24 September, 2019
The US and Turkey launched a second round of joint patrols in northeastern Syria on Tuesday as part of plans to create a "safe" buffer zone, the Turkish defence ministry said. Four Turkish armoured vehicles crossed the border to join US forces in Syria, state news agency Anadolu said, for patrols around the town of Tal Abyad.The ministry said drones were also deployed. Washington and Ankara reached a deal last month to establish a safe zone between the Turkish border and Syrian areas east of the Euphrates river controlled by the Syrian Kurdish People's Protection Units (YPG). The first joint patrols were conducted on September 8.  The United States views the YPG as a close ally in the fight against the Islamic State (IS) group. But Ankara says the YPG is a terrorist militia linked to the outlawed Kurdistan Workers' Party (PKK), which has waged an insurgency inside Turkey since 1984. The PKK is blacklisted as a terrorist group by Ankara, the US and the European Union. Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdogan has repeatedly threatened to launch a cross-border offensive against the YPG. He said at the weekend that plans for a unilateral operation had been completed in case there was not adequate progress in establishing the buffer zone by the end of September. The Turkish military, supporting Syrian opposition fighters, has conducted two offensives in northern Syria against IS and the YPG in 2016 and 2018.

UN Sets Constitution Committee for Syria, But Hopes to End War Muted
Agence France Presse/Naharnet//Tuesday, 24 September, 2019
The United Nations announced Monday the long-awaited creation of a constitution-writing committee on Syria that will include the government and opposition, but it remained to be seen if the step could finally end the civil war.
UN Secretary General Antonio Guterres hailed the committee as the first step toward finding a political settlement to the conflict, which has killed hundreds of thousands of people in more than eight years of fighting. But experts encouraged caution, questioning how much it is likely to achieve with Russian-backed President Bashar al-Assad's grip on power appearing to get stronger and stronger with each passing month. "I firmly believe that the launching of a Syrian-organized and Syrian-led Constitutional Committee can be the beginning of a political path towards a solution," Guterres told reporters.
He said on the sidelines of the 74th UN General Assembly in New York that his envoy to Syria, Geir Pedersen, would bring the committee together in the coming weeks. The committee is to include 150 members -- a third picked by the regime, an equal number by the opposition, and the remaining third by the United Nations.
"While much work remains to be done, this is an encouraging step toward reaching a political solution to the Syrian conflict," the US State Department said, while demanding that Assad "accept the will of the Syrian people to live in peace."The European Union's foreign policy chief Federica Mogherini welcomed the announcement and said it "gives back hope to the Syrians.""We look forward to the inaugural meeting of the Constitutional Committee at the earliest possible opportunity and expect that this should represent the start of a process ultimately leading to peace that Syrians so clearly need and deserve," she said in a statement. The UN first backed the idea of a committee at a conference hosted by Russia in January 2018 but Assad's government delayed over the makeup of the body. Monday's announcement came after Guterres said last week that an agreement had been reached concerning "the composition of the committee."Arguments over who would take on which roles on the body also delayed the process. A sticking point had been the 50 members selected by the UN.
'Unjust'
Pedersen told reporters in Damascus Monday that he had held "successful" talks with Syrian Foreign Minister Walid Muallem on forming the committee. The UN diplomat also said he had "good discussions" with Nasr al-Hariri, the head of the Syrian Negotiation Commission opposition grouping. However, the Kurdish administration that effectively controls northeast Syria on Monday decried its exclusion from the committee as "unjust," saying it undermined the principles of democracy. It is unclear what the committee might achieve. Damascus hoped to amend the current constitution, while the opposition wants to write a new one from scratch. Western countries hope it will pave the way for free and fair elections and will also allow millions of Syrians, many of whom are hostile to Assad, to return home. But analysts say Assad is unlikely to agree to anything that threatens his position. Julien Barnes-Dacey, of the European Council on Foreign Relations, said there were "enormous questions" surrounding the committee. "The Syrian government will undoubtedly continue to obstruct this process. We must not expect a fair political settlement or substantial reforms on its part," he said.Numerous rounds of UN-led peace talks have failed to end a war that has killed more than 370,000 people and displaced millions since erupting in 2011 with the repression of anti-government protests. In recent years, a parallel negotiations track led by Russia and rebel backer Turkey has taken precedence.With military backing from Russia, Assad's forces have retaken large parts of Syria from rebels and jihadists since 2015, and now control around 60 percent of the country.

Iraq, Egypt, Jordan Express Solidarity With Saudi Arabia
Baghdad- Hamza Mustafa/Asharq Al-Awsat/September 24/2019
A tripartite Arab summit was held in New York on the sidelines of the UN General Assembly, gathering Iraqi President Barham Saleh, his Egyptian counterpart Abdel Fattah el-Sisi, and Jordan’s King Abdullah II. The summit was held following a meeting in Cairo last March between the Egyptian president, the Jordanian monarch and Iraqi Prime Minister Adel Abdul Mahdi. While the Cairo summit underscored the firm beliefs of the three countries’ leaders in the fight against terrorism and the escalation of the Iran-US conflict, the New York Summit stressed in its final statement the importance of playing a greater role in confronting the mounting tension in the region. “The three leaders emphasized the need to build on the recent victories in the fight against terrorism, and to completely eradicate all terrorist organizations, and to confront all those who support them politically, financially or through the media,” the statement read.
They also renewed their full support for the Iraqi efforts to complete reconstruction plans and the return of displaced people to areas liberated from ISIS. Expressing their solidarity with Saudi Arabia in dealing with the attacks on its oil facilities, the three leaders said that safeguarding Gulf security was integral to the national security of Arab countries and underlined the importance of avoiding further escalations that would negatively affect stability in the region. The three leaders reaffirmed their support for a comprehensive political solution to the Palestinian Cause that guarantees the rights of the Palestinian people, foremost of which is their right to an independent, viable Palestinian state with East Jerusalem as its capital, based on the two-state solution, international law and relevant UN resolutions, and the Arab Peace Initiative. The leaders said resolving the conflict was the only means to ensure peace in the region. They called on the international community to take action in order to put an end to illegal settlements and attempts to change the historical and legal status quo of Jerusalem and its Islamic and Christian holy sites.

Karen regains tropical storm strength as it churns toward Puerto Rico
Reuters/Tuesday, 24 September 2019
Tropical storm Karen was gaining strength and threatening to come ashore in Puerto Rico on Tuesday, bringing severe winds and flooding rains, forecasters said.
It regained its classification as a tropical storm, after briefly being downgraded to a tropical depression on Monday. Packing winds of 40 mph (65 kph), Karen is expected to dump 2-4 inches of rain on the US island territory with some areas getting upwards of 8 inches (20.3 cm), the Miami-based National Hurricane Center (NHC), said in an advisory. “There are flash flood watches and warnings across Puerto Rico,” said Marc Chenard, a forecaster with the National Weather Service (NWS). “Eastern and southern Puerto Rico will be the hardest hit areas, especially the hills and mountainous areas. There's a risk of serious mudslides and floods.” Tropical storm-force wind gusts are expected to hit the island as Karen moves near or over land by Tuesday afternoon, before heading out towards western Atlantic overnight, the NHC said. Tropical storm warnings remained in effect for Puerto Rico, as well as the adjacent US and British Virgin Islands for the next 24 hours. Karen, the 11th named storm of the 2019 Atlantic hurricane season, formed on Sunday afternoon east of the Lesser Antilles. Puerto Rico, beset with financial woes and political turmoil, was spared a potential new disaster last month when Hurricane Dorian skirted past it before laying waste to the northern Bahamas. Two years ago, Puerto Rico was still recovering from Hurricane Irma when it took a direct hit from Hurricane Maria. Some 3,000 people perished in that storm, the deadliest in the island’s recorded history. To the north of Karen, a separate Atlantic tropical storm named Jerry was on track to skirt by Bermuda on Tuesday night or Wednesday morning. Jerry was packing maximum sustained winds of 65 mph (100 kph) but was also expected to gradually weaken. Yet a third tropical storm, Lorenzo, formed on Monday in the far eastern Atlantic near the Cape Verde Islands, off Africa. Lorenzo was forecast to reach hurricane strength by Tuesday night as it churned across the ocean but posed no immediate threat to land, the NHC said.

Decision to suspend UK parliament was ‘unlawful’: Supreme Court
Agencies/Tuesday, 24 September 2019
Britain’s Supreme Court on Tuesday said that parliamentarians could reconvene “as soon as possible” after ruling that a decision by Prime Minister Boris Johnson to suspend parliament was unlawful. “It is for parliament, and in particular the Speaker and the Lord Speaker, to decide what to do next. Unless there is some parliamentary rule of which we are unaware, they can take immediate steps to enable each House to meet,” the ruling said. The ruling Tuesday is a major blow to the prime minister who had suspended Parliament for five weeks, claiming it was a routine closure. Britain’s highest court ruled that Johnson’s government had actually shut Parliament to squelch debate on its Brexit policy. Senior judge Brenda Hale said the suspension “was unlawful because it had the effect of frustrating or preventing the ability of Parliament to carry out its constitutional functions without reasonable justification.”Meanwhile, Britain’s main opposition Labour Party leader Jeremy Corbyn called Tuesday on Boris Johnson to resign as prime minister and call an early election after the Supreme Court made the ruling. “I invite Boris Johnson... to consider his position, and become the shortest serving prime minister there has ever been,” Corbyn told Labour’s party conference, calling on the Conservative party leader to “have an election to elect a government that respects democracy.”

Singapore detains Indonesian maids for ‘funding ISIS’
AFP, Singapore/Tuesday, 24 September 2019
Singapore has detained three Indonesian maids without trial under tough security laws over allegations they donated funds to support ISIS, authorities said. It is the latest case of allegedly radicalized foreign domestic helpers arrested in the city-state, and the government said it highlighted the continued appeal of the extremists’ “violent ideology.” The trio, who worked as maids for between six and 13 years in Singapore, became supporters of ISIS after viewing online material last year, including videos of bomb attacks and beheadings, the interior ministry said. Anindia Afiyantari, 33, Retno Hernayani, 36, and 31-year-old Turmini became acquainted around the time they were radicalized and developed a network of foreign contacts online who shared their pro-ISIS ideology. “The three of them actively galvanized support online for ISIS,” said the ministry in a statement late Monday. “They also donated funds to overseas-based entities for terrorism-related purposes, such as to support the activities of ISIS and JAD. Turmini believed that her donations would earn her a place in paradise.”Officials did not say how much they contributed. JAD refers to Indonesian militant outfit Jamaah Ansharut Daulah, which has pledged allegiance to ISIS. The women are being held under the city-state’s Internal Security Act, which allows for detention without trial for up to two years. ISIS lost the last scrap of its self-declared “caliphate” this year but remains influential. There are fears that foreign fighters returning from the Middle East could rejuvenate terror networks elsewhere, including in Southeast Asia. There has been a steady stream of such cases reported in Singapore. Before the latest three cases, authorities had detected 16 radicalized foreign domestic workers since 2015, though none were found to have plans to carry out violent acts in Singapore. They were repatriated after investigations. About 250,000 domestic helpers from other parts of Asia work in affluent Singapore.

At least 40 civilians killed by Afghan forces in southern Helmand province
Reuters, Kabul/Monday, 23 September 2019
An Afghan official says that at least 40 civilians have been killed during an Afghan special forces raid and airstrikes conducted against of Taliban in southern Helmand province. Abdul Majed Akhand, deputy provincial councilman, says that the majority of the dead are women and children who were at a wedding ceremony in Musa Qala district. Akhund said that 12 other civilians were wounded and are in the hospital in Lashkar Gah, the capital of the province.

Trump Says Chaos in Egypt Ended with Sisi’s Arrival to Power
Asharq Al-Awsat/Tuesday, 24 September, 2019
US President Donald Trump held talks on Monday with Egypt’s President Abdul Fattah al-Sisi on the sidelines of the United Nations General Assembly in New York. Trump gave strong backing to Sisi as he grapples with protests at home, saying the United States and Egypt have a great long-term relationship. “Everybody has demonstrations. No, I’m not concerned with it. Egypt has a great leader,” he remarked according to Reuters. He noted that Egypt was mired in chaos before Sisi came to power, but now, not anymore. Egyptian presidential spokesman Bassam Radi said that Trump underscored his administration’s keenness on bilateral cooperation between Cairo and Washington and on bolstering and developing the current strategic cooperation between them. Sisi stressed to Trump Egypt’s keenness on boosting the special relations between their countries. This partnership plays an important role in bolstering peace and stability in the Middle East, he added. Discussions focused on countering terrorism with Trump saying that Cairo was a vital partner in the war on terror. They covered various regional developments, including the situation in Libya, Syria, Yemen and Sudan. They also discussed the Palestinian cause and ways to revive the peace process.

Tunisian Judiciary Rejects All Appeals Against Presidential Elections Results
Tunis - Mongi Saidani/Asharq Al-Awsat/September 24/2019
The Administrative Court in Tunisia rejected six appeals by former presidential candidates who lost in the first round of elections, limiting the second round to candidates Kais Saied (Independent) and Nabil Karoui for Qalb Tounes (Heart of Tunisia Party).
Tunis Administrative Court's spokesperson Imed Ghabri told Asharq Al-Awsat that Seifeddine Makhlouf, Abdelkrim Zbidi and Slim Riahi’s demands were rejected for not meeting the formal requirements to file the appeal. Neji Jalloul, Hatem Boulabiar and Youssef Chahed’s demands were also rejected. Thus, the administrative court, which specializes in resolving electoral disputes, has initially legitimized the results of the first round of the presidential race, pending the possibility of appeal by appealing candidates. The appeals submitted against the results of the first round accused the winning candidates of relying on political publicity in the election campaign as well as violating the rules of the campaign. While announcing the election results on Sunday, Independent High Authority for Elections (IHAE) President Nebil Baffoun said violations committed are not election crimes and don’t affect the results announced. The first round of the presidential elections resulted in the victory of law professor Saied, who was ranked first among 26 candidates and won 18.4 percent of the votes, and Karoui, ranked second with 15.6 percent of the votes. They will both compete during the second round, which is scheduled to be held on October 6 or 13. On the other hand, Chahed suggested forming an alliance with Zbidi, the resigned defense minister who is backed by Nidaa Tounes party, following their loss in the first round of the elections. Observers say both parties need one another to return to the competition in the parliamentary elections, during which power-sharing will be determined for the next phase.

US Says Removing Sudan From Terror List Could Take a Year
Khartoum- Ahmed Younes and Mohammed Amin Yassine/Asharq Al-Awsat/September 24/2019
US officials have informed Sudan that removing it from the terror list is complicated because it is tied to Congress and could take nine months to a year, announced Finance Minister Ibrahim el-Badawi. Speaking at a press conference in Khartoum, Badawi said Prime Minister Abdalla Hamdok, who is participating at the UN General Assembly meetings in New York, will ask the World Bank for $2 billion in funding. The Minister noted that Sudan has so far been unable to tap the International Monetary Fund (IMF) and World Bank for support because the US still lists the country as a state sponsor of terrorism.
He noted that the ministry is in the process of forming a committee to recover the looted funds outside the country, noting that Khartoum received pledges from the United Nations and some organizations to help in this issue. Meanwhile, the Sovereignty Council of Sudan discussed the security situation in the country and solutions to address it, according to the Council’s spokesman Mohamed Alfaki Suleiman. Suleiman told Asharq Al-Awsat that the Council decided to hold its regular meeting next Thursday in Nyala, the capital of South Darfur state, to discuss current situations and ensure citizens’ safety. On Sunday, dozens of students took it to the streets of Nyala to protest the bread crisis which led to clashes with the government forces causing the injury of several citizens. The spokesman said that the meeting of the Sovereignty Council also addressed the issue of the various departments that were affiliated with the Republican Palace during the previous regime. The Council agreed to keep three departments under the Sovereignty Council and transfer the rest to the government as stipulated in the constitutional document.

Russia Summons Senior U.S. Diplomat Over UN Visa Row
Reuters/Tue 24 Sep 2019
NNA - Russia on Tuesday summoned a senior U.S. diplomat in Moscow to protest over what it said was Washington's unacceptable refusal to issue visas to members of a Russian delegation traveling to the United Nations General Assembly. The Kremlin promised a tough response and said Jon Huntsman, the U.S. ambassador in Moscow, had been summoned to the Foreign Ministry, but Russian news agencies said that Huntsman's deputy had gone instead. Moscow said 10 members of a Russian delegation traveling to attend the United Nations General Assembly in New York had not been issued visas by U.S. authorities. Maria Zakharova, a spokeswoman for Russia's Ministry of Foreign Affairs, said U.S. officials had returned the relevant visa application documents saying they had been submitted too early. There was no immediate comment from the U.S. Embassy. Zakharova said Russian Foreign Minister Sergei Lavrov would raise the issue with U.S. Secretary of State Mike Pompeo in New York. She described the U.S. move as a violation of Washington's international commitments. "This is an outrageous example of disrespect by the United States of America for members of the United Nations, as well as a failure to fulfill its obligations as host country to the world organization," Zakharova said on Facebook. "Another act of disregard for the rights of sovereign states and international organizations and the inability to somehow comply with their own international legal obligations will be the central theme of the conversation between Lavrov and Pompeo in New York."U.S.-Russia ties remain strained by everything from Syria to Ukraine as well as allegations of Russian interference in U.S. politics, which Moscow denies.

19 Killed, Over 300 Injured after Earthquake Rocks North Pakistan, Tremors Felt in Parts of India
NNA -Tue 24 Sep 2019
At least 19 people were killed and more than 300 injured after a 5.8-magnitude earthquake jolted several cities in the northern parts of Pakistan, including capital Islamabad, on Tuesday. The tremors were felt in parts of India like Delhi and NCR region, Chandigarh, Dehradun and Kashmir.
Deputy Inspector General (DIG) of police in Mirpur, Sardar Gulfaraz Khan, said at least 19 people were killed and over 300 injured in Mirpur and its surrounding areas. The quake struck 23 km north of Jhelum in Pakistan at a relatively shallow depth of 10 km, the United States Geological Survey (USGS) reported, adding that the magnitude of the earthquake was 5.8 on the Richter scale. Jhelum is located in northeastern Pakistan roughly 120 km southeast of Islamabad. Mirpur is on Pakistan's side of the disputed territory of Kashmir. "The epicentre was near the India-Pakistan border. The closest big city to the epicentre is Rawalpindi (in Pakistan's Punjab province)," said JL Gautam, head of operations at the National Centre for Seismology (NCS). "The (most) damage is in areas between Jhelum and Mirpur," said the chief of Pakistan's National Disaster Management Authority, Lieutenant General Mohammad Afzal. "So far we have reports of the death of a girl child and injuries to nearly 50 people." Some houses collapsed in Mirpur following the earthquake, Deputy Commissioner Raja Qaiser said. Parts of a mosque also collapsed in the area, which is severely affected by the quake. Emergency has been declared in hospitals across the region. Television channels showed the footage of heavily damaged roads in Mirpur, with many vehicles overturned. Several cars fell into the deep cracks on the roads. The quake was powerful and created panic as people ran out of building, eyewitnesses said. Several cities, including Skardu, Kohat, Charsadda, Kasur, Faisalabad, Gujrat, Sialkot, Abbottabad, Mansehra, Chitral, Malakand, Multan, Shangla, Okara, Nowshera, Attock and Jhang, felt the tremors. Pakistan Army chief General Qamar Javed Bajwa directed "immediate rescue operation in aid of civil administration" for victims of the earthquake. Army troops with aviation and medical support teams have been dispatched, the media wing of the army tweeted. Lieutenant General Muhammad Afzal, chairman of the National Disaster Management Authority, said that most of the damage was done in Mirpur and Jhelum. "We are assessing the damage to life and property," he said. People rushed out of their homes and offices in panic in several parts of Jammu and Kashmir, Punjab, Haryana, Himachal Pradesh and Rajasthan. However, no casualty was reported on this side of the border.

12 killed in attacks in Mozambique
NNA/AFP-Tue 24 Sep 2019
Twelve people were killed late Monday in fresh attacks by suspected jihadists in northern Mozambique ahead of elections next month, officials said. Ten people were murdered in the village of Mbau, in Mocimbao da Praia district, and half of the homes in the locality were burned down, along with the offices of the ruling Frelimo party, a local official said on Tuesday. "They entered the village and came across a group of young people who were drinking alcohol. Many were killed," the official, Assane Issa, told AFP. "The villagers then fled into the forest." Police then intervened, forcing the assailants out after a gun battle that finished at around 1 a.m., Issa said.--AFP

The Latest LCCC English analysis & editorials from miscellaneous sources published on September 24-25/2019
Latin America: Surging Momentum for Designating Hezbollah a Terror Organization
جوزيف م. هومير/معهد جيتستون: زخم متزايد في أميركا اللاتينية لتصنيف حزب الله منظمة إرهابية
Joseph M. Humire/Gatestone Institute/September 24/2019
http://eliasbejjaninews.com/archives/78809/%d8%ac%d9%88%d8%b2%d9%8a%d9%81-%d9%85-%d9%87%d9%88%d9%85%d9%8a%d8%b1-%d9%85%d8%b9%d9%87%d8%af-%d8%ac%d9%8a%d8%aa%d8%b3%d8%aa%d9%88%d9%86-%d8%b2%d8%ae%d9%85-%d9%85%d8%aa%d8%b2%d8%a7%d9%8a%d8%af/
https://www.gatestoneinstitute.org/14905/latin-america-hezbollah
"Transnational terrorism poses an immediate threat to us here in the Western Hemisphere. Although the perceived center of gravity seems far away, groups like ISIS, al-Qa'ida, and Lebanese Hizballah operate where they can find recruits, raise support, operate unchecked, and pursue their terrorist agendas." — U.S. Deputy Secretary of State John J. Sullivan; ministerial conference on counterterrorism, December 11, 2018.
[W]hen the Department of Justice (DOJ), on October 15, 2018, designated Hezbollah as one of the world's top five transnational criminal organizations, many Latin American governments turned their attention to Hezbollah's illicit networks.
Argentine President [Mauricio] Macri's leadership and political will have succeeded in establishing tremendous momentum for other Latin American governments to think critically about Hezbollah, as evidenced in President Abdo's recognition of the Lebanese terror group in Paraguay last month.
At this moment, President Jair Bolsonaro of Brazil, and President Ivan Duque of Colombia, are working potentially to designate Hezbollah as a foreign terrorist organization.
Recent Hezbollah-related cases in Peru and Paraguay show that [Hezbollah's] crime-terror actions in Latin America are far from over.
The counterterrorism conversation in Latin America is changing. On July 16, the Macri government of Argentina made history by becoming the first country in Latin America to officially designate Hezbollah a terrorist organization. Less than one month later, on August 9, the Paraguayan government followed suit and also officially recognized Hezbollah as a terror organization. Now, at least two other countries in the region are seriously considering issuing the same counterterrorism designation in the near future.
Regardless of how long it takes, the proverbial train has left the station in Latin America and regional governments are waking up to the fact that Hezbollah is a terror threat in the Western hemisphere.
It is important to note that these policy shifts do not happen in a vacuum. Regional counterterrorism cooperation is catalyzed by conversations that take place behind the scenes about Iran and Hezbollah's malign influence in the region. I have been fortunate enough to take part in some of these conversations, and here are the top five takeaways:
1. Financial intelligence and oversight are paramount.
During the recent Hezbollah terror designation in Argentina, the role of its financial intelligence unit was imperative in shaping internal government perspectives on Hezbollah and establishing the legal mechanisms for making the formal designation.
One year prior to the formal designation, the Financial Intelligence Unit of Argentina (Unidad de Inteligencia Financiera or UIF-AR by its Spanish acronym), led by Mariano Federici, froze the assets of 14 individuals belonging to the Barakat Clan, a powerful Lebanese crime family with ties to Hezbollah. One of the conduits for these Hezbollah money launderers was a casino in the city of Iguazú on the Argentine side of the Tri-Border Area (TBA). The UIF press release stated that "clan members allegedly collected money at the casino in Iguazú for fake prizes totaling more than $10 million, without declaring the funds when crossing the border." This Argentine action on July 11, 2018 was more than symbolic: it was a legal precedent to prove that Hezbollah's financiers and facilitators are still active in Argentina.
This successful financial intelligence operation, coordinated with the U.S. Treasury's Financial Crimes Enforcement Network (FinCEN), was the first government action taken by President Mauricio Macri against Hezbollah. One year later, on July 16, 2019, President Macri signed Executive Decree 489, officially creating the "Public Registry of Persons and Entities linked to Terrorism and its Financing" or RePET, by its Spanish acronym. The registry has been filled with more than 1,000 entries, many of them members, facilitators, or financiers of Hezbollah.
In the U.S. the Treasury Department, through its Office of Terrorism and Financial Intelligence, led by Assistant Secretary Marshall Billingslea, has made historic advances, sanctioning more than 50 Hezbollah-related persons or entities since 2017 as part of a larger effort at dismantling Hezbollah's global financial network. The synchronization of these efforts by the U.S. and Argentina is a model for understanding how FIUs are a valuable tool to help regional governments build cases against Hezbollah in Latin America.
2. Countering the convergence of crime and terror is critical.
While Latin America may be relatively new to the intricacies involved in combatting Islamist terrorism, the region is certainly not new to countering transnational organized crime (CTOC). In most countries in Latin America, in fact, CTOC is among their top national security priorities. That is why, when the Department of Justice (DOJ), on October 15, 2018, designated Hezbollah as one of the world's top five transnational criminal organizations, many Latin American governments turned their attention to Hezbollah's illicit networks. The relatively new Hezbollah Financing Narcoterrorism Team (HFNT) at the U.S. Department of Justice, led by Principal Deputy Assistant Attorney General John Cronan, is doing critical work coordinating Hezbollah-related prosecutions across the country, and assisting foreign prosecutors in Latin America through training opportunities and workshops.
One of these training opportunities took place a month before Argentina designated Hezbollah as a terror organization, on June 12, 2019, when the U.S. and Argentina teamed up for a two-day workshop on Hezbollah. Law enforcement officials, prosecutors, and financial practitioners from six countries in South America traveled to Buenos Aires to discuss various techniques to constrain and counter Hezbollah's illicit activities. These efforts are led in Argentina by Security Minister Patricia Bullrich, who has also partnered with the U.S. Department of Defense (DoD) in examining the convergence of crime and terror.
The National Defense University (NDU) has provided the intellectual horsepower on the topic and has already published two books on it. On July 15-16, 2019, the week of the 25th commemoration of Iran's bombing of the Jewish community center, AMIA, in Argentina, NDU's regional center, the William J. Perry Center for Hemispheric Defense Studies, partnered with Minister Bullrich and her team at the Argentine Ministry of Security for a workshop on the convergence of crime and terror, in which Hezbollah's role in Latin America was discussed at length. The approach of discussing Hezbollah as equal parts of crime and terror, allows the U.S. and Latin America to gain a full picture of the organization's transnational threat.
3. Regional forums on counterterrorism cooperation are key.
For the past two years in Latin America, the Trump administration has been spearheading counterterrorism conferences, workshops, and events that allow the governments of the region to interact with one another and share their best practices on countering Hezbollah's crime and terror networks. A series of ministerial counterterrorism conferences have proven to be among the most prominent in the Western Hemisphere.
The first ministerial conference on counterterrorism in many years took place on December 11, 2018, when senior officials from 13 countries in Latin America came to Washington D.C. to work together to address regional gaps to counter terrorist threats. As U.S. Deputy Secretary of State John J. Sullivan said at the time:
"... transnational terrorism poses an immediate threat to us here in the Western Hemisphere. Although the perceived center of gravity seems far away, groups like ISIS, al-Qa'ida, and Lebanese Hizballah operate where they can find recruits, raise support, operate unchecked, and pursue their terrorist agendas."
Later in his speech, Deputy Secretary Sullivan called on our regional partners to do more as "our safety depends on working with all of you [in Latin America] on security as we continue to improve our own."
His call was answered at the Second Hemispheric Counterterrorism Ministerial Conference in Buenos Aires, on July 19, 2019, when an additional five countries joined the event, and Brazil moved from being an observer to a member. At the Second Ministerial Conference, 18 regional governments signed a joint communiqué on counterterrorism cooperation, acknowledging, and expressing concern for, Hezbollah's regional presence. U.S. Secretary of State Mike Pompeo attended to show solidarity with Argentina's terror designation of Hezbollah and encourage other regional governments also to designate Hezbollah as a terrorist organization. Colombia will host the third ministerial counterterrorism conference, scheduled to take place in Bogota in mid-January 2020.
It did not take long for the impact of these summits to prompt Argentina's neighbors. Just a few weeks after it, on August 9, 2019, Paraguayan President Mario Abdo Benitez signed Executive Decree 2307, officially recognizing Hezbollah as a terrorist organization in Paraguay, and accentuating the Lebanese terror group's presence in the Tri-Border Area (TBA). Later that month, on August 22, 2019, regional officials traveled to the TBA for the inaugural inter-agency Trinational Security Conference in Foz do Iguaço, Brazil. All of the senior actors involved in designating Hezbollah a terror group in Argentina and Paraguay took part in it, as did important security officials from Brazil's Ministry of Justice and Federal Police, thereby placing additional impetus on Brazil also to designate Hezbollah as a terrorist organization.
4. Congressman and Parliamentarians shape the narrative.
Many regional forums helped shape the narrative and increased cooperation in countering terrorism in Latin America, prior to the official ministerial conferences. Among the most significant was the Parliamentary Intelligence Security Forum (PISF), organized by Robert Pittenger, a former Congressman from North Carolina. Congressman Pittenger has been organizing the PISF for several years; he held the first regional forum in Buenos Aires on November 21, 2016, with the UIF and the National Congress of Argentina. It was at this 2016 forum, almost three years ago, that initial conversations took place about the need to designate Hezbollah as a terrorist organization in Argentina.
Fast forward a few years, and a more recent regional PISF was in Asuncion, Paraguay, on January 14, 2019; it was this event that prompted Paraguay's recent terror designation of Hezbollah. Above all, the parliamentarians who attended these forums worked diligently to help fellow legislators in their countries understand the legal vacuum in Latin America regarding international terrorism.
This was certainly true for Argentine Congressman Luis Petri, the head of the National Security Commission in the Argentine Congress, who worked closely with Macri's government to find the political and legal path toward designating Hezbollah a terror organization. Prior to the designation, Congressman Petri carefully communicated the Macri government's efforts with regional and extra-regional allies, and after the designation, amplified the news in Brazil, Paraguay, and the United States.
Congressman Petri also took part in the initial PISF in 2016, the ministerial in Buenos Aires in 2019, and recently presented at the Trinational Security Conference in Foz do Iguaço, Brazil, as well as an event organized by the Center for a Secure Free Society (SFS) at the U.S. Senate. His efforts have been vital in shaping the narrative as to why the terror designation of Hezbollah is important for Latin America.
5. Public awareness and education are needed to ensure that the designations are sustainable.
Argentine President Macri's leadership and political will have succeeded in establishing tremendous momentum for other Latin American governments to think critically about Hezbollah, as evidenced in President Abdo's recognition of the Lebanese terror group in Paraguay last month. At this moment, President Jair Bolsonaro of Brazil, and President Ivan Duque of Colombia, are working potentially to designate Hezbollah in their own countries for what it is -- a foreign terrorist organization.
What happens, however, when political winds shift, and new politicians come to power in Latin America who may have less political will to tackle this problem?
That is why it is incredibly important to raise the public's awareness and educate Latin Americans on the nature of Hezbollah's crime and terror networks. Several efforts have been made for several years by like-minded non-governmental organizations and think tanks, such as the Gatestone Institute, Middle East Forum, Fuente Latina, Foundation for Defense of Democracies, American Foreign Policy Council, and many more, that have been at the forefront of catalyzing a region-wide conversation on the issue. I also have worked diligently alongside these organizations and with my own, the Center for a Secure Free Society (SFS), to educate Latin American leaders and the public on the transnational terror threat that Hezbollah poses to their countries, but far more needs to be done.
Malcolm Hoenlein, CEO of the Conference of Presidents of Major American Jewish Organizations, emphasized this point in a moving speech at a recent SFS event on Capitol Hill when he reminded us that "while Jews are often the first victims [of Hezbollah attacks] we are never the last..." The AMIA attack may have taken place 25 years ago, it may be perceived as simply an attack on Jewish-Argentines, not the country of Argentina. But this is wrong. The AMIA attack serves to remind us that the threat is close to home, and recent Hezbollah-related cases in Peru and Paraguay show that their terror actions in Latin America are far from over.
The recent designations in Argentina and Paraguay of Hezbollah as a terrorist group are just the beginning. A window is open for other Latin American countries to follow in their footsteps and now, thanks to Argentina, we have a roadmap for how to do it. 2019 is critical because as political winds often shift in Latin America, the momentum throughout the region must not be stopped.
The time is long overdue for Latin America to catch up to the world in counterterrorism cooperation to stop Hezbollah from taking root and spreading its influence in our hemisphere.
*Joseph M. Humire is the executive director of the Center for a Secure Free Society (SFS), a Distinguished Senior Fellow at Gatestone Institute, and a writing fellow at the Middle East Forum. He is co-editor of Iran's Strategic Penetration of Latin America (Lexington Books, 2014).
© 2019 Gatestone Institute. All rights reserved. The articles printed here do not necessarily reflect the views of the Editors or of Gatestone Institute. No part of the Gatestone website or any of its contents may be reproduced, copied or modified, without the prior written consent of Gatestone Institute.

France Welcomes the Saudis, Condemns Critics of Islam
Giulio Meotti/Gatestone Institute/September 24/2019
https://www.gatestoneinstitute.org/14907/france-saudis-critics
"Mohammed Al-Issa, who heads the World Islamic League, is credited for more than 500 executions when he was Minister of Justice of Saudi Arabia from 2009 to 2015, and countless orders of torture including the conviction of the famous Raif Badawi with 1.000 lashes." — Michel Taube, Le Figaro, September 16, 2019.
Raif Badawi has just launched a hunger strike over mistreatment by the Saudi prison officials. "As part of their cruel crackdown, they've just confiscated his books & crucial medication." — Irwin Cotler, former Canadian Justice Minister and head of the Raoul Wallenberg Centre for Human Rights, in a tweet.
How can France, the country of "liberty, equality, fraternity," welcome the former Saudi minister who was in charge of Badawi's torture and imprisonment... who condemns apostates to death and inflicts public flagellation on dissidents such as Badawi?
Right after the extremist massacre at the weekly Charlie Hebdo, then-French President François Hollande invited the Saudis to join the march of solidarity in Paris. When the Saudis returned home, they started flogging Badawi.
Among the French Muslims, political Islam is rapidly increasing. Instead of embracing the West where they were born, the youngest generations are rejecting it.
Éric Zemmour, apparently, was found "guilty" by a French court of saying that Muslims should be given "the choice between Islam and France" and that "in innumerable French suburbs there is a struggle to Islamize territory". Freedom of expression... [is] under threat in France.
The Saudi dissident and reform activist Raif Badawi has just launched a hunger strike over mistreatment by the Saudi Arabian prison officials. "As part of their cruel crackdown, they've just confiscated his books & crucial medication," wrote former Canadian Justice Minister Irwin Cotler, who is head of the Raoul Wallenberg Centre for Human Rights. Pictured: Raif Badawi. (Image source: Ensaf Haidar/PEN/Wikimedia Commons)
The French Institute of Muslim Civilization opened in Lyon on September 19, in the presence of the French Minister of the Interior, Christophe Castaner. He welcomed the project for an "open Islam" dedicated to the "fight against prejudice". The building, of five stories and 2,700 square meters, which now adjoins the Grand Mosque, will offer courses in Muslim civilization and languages, along with symposia, conferences and debates. The project is co-funded by the World Islamic League, the diplomatic and religious arm of Saudi Arabia, which has "ties" with the Federation of French Muslims.
A few years ago, in 2016, the president of the Auvergne-Rhône-Alpes region, Laurent Wauquiez, sparked a heated debate by refusing to finance the project; he said he feared interference by Islamist countries. He was right.
This month, Mohammed Al-Issa, general secretary of the World Islamic League, was in Lyon at the inauguration of the institute. "As everyone knows, the World Islamic League is a Saudi organization based in Mecca", wrote the scholar Razika Adnani in the weekly Marianne.
"The principles of Wahhabism and its consequences on the world and especially the Muslim world are not a secret. It is therefore difficult to admit that the Wahhabis have suddenly become people who advocate a language of peace and solidarity, denouncing Islamic terrorism and obscurantism. If the World Islamic League denounces terrorism, how does one explain that men and women are beheaded publicly in Saudi Arabia? Why are human beings being bullied because they have different opinions about Islam and society than Wahhabis?"
The daily newspaper Le Figaro reveals even more: "Mohammed Al-Issa, who heads the World Islamic League, is credited for more than 500 executions when he was Minister of Justice of Saudi Arabia from 2009 to 2015, and countless orders of torture including the conviction of the famous Raif Badawi with 1,000 lashes".
Raif Badawi has just launched a hunger strike over mistreatment by the Saudi prison officials. "As part of their cruel crackdown, they've just confiscated his books & crucial medication", tweeted former Canadian Justice Minister Irwin Cotler, who serves also as head of the Montreal-based Raoul Wallenberg Centre for Human Rights. How can France, the country of "liberty, equality, fraternity", welcome the former Saudi minister who was in charge of Badawi's torture and imprisonment -- a minister of "justice" who forbids any practice other than Sunni Wahhabi Islam on Saudi soil, who condemns apostates to death and inflicts sessions of public flagellation on dissidents such as Badawi?
It seems that French authorities never learn from their mistakes. Right after the massacre at the weekly Charlie Hebdo, then-French President François Hollande invited the Saudis to join the march of solidarity in Paris. When the Saudis returned home, they started flogging Badawi. The Saudis play it smart: they are both "the arsonists and the firefighters". The day before the inauguration of the institute in Lyon, the Saudis were in Paris to attend the "International Conference for Peace and Solidarity", where they were greeted by placards from Badawi's wife and friends. French president Emmanuel Macron first accepted then declined an invitation to join the Saudis at their conference in Paris.
Last April, Macron declared that "political Islam wants to secede from our republic" -- but giving the keys of French Islam to the Saudis is the best way to accelerate that secession.
Among the French Muslims, political Islam is rapidly increasing. Instead of embracing the West where they were born, the youngest generations are rejecting it. This revelation is the result of a sensational cover story by Jerome Fourquet in the weekly Le Point:
"The percentage of people participating in Friday prayers at a mosque has more than doubled, from 16% in 1989, to 38% today. It is spectacular. We note a drop in the percentage of people drinking alcohol, from 35% in 1989 to 21% today. Only 41% believe that Islam must conform to secularism, compared to 37% who believe that, on the contrary, it is secularism that must adapt to Islam. Among those interviewed, 27% agreed with the idea that 'sharia should prevail over the laws of the Republic'".
In their mission to Islamize Europe, the Saudis know no borders. The eminent French scholar of Islam, Gilles Kepel, wrote:
"The [World Islamic League] played a pioneering role in supporting Islamic associations, mosques, and investment plans for the future. In addition, the Saudi ministry for religious affairs printed and distributed among the world's mosques millions of Korans free of charge, along with Wahhabite doctrinal texts, from the African plains to the rice paddies of Indonesia and the Muslim immigrant high-rise housing projects of European cities. For the first time in fourteen centuries, the same books (as well as cassettes) could be found from one end of the Umma [Islamic community] to the other... hewed to the same doctrinal line and [which] excluded other currents of thought that had formerly been part of a more pluralistic Islam."
A few weeks ago, the Saudis showed up in Chechnya to open "Europe's largest mosque". The ceremony was also attended by the World Islamic League's chief Mohammed Al-Issa, who came from Italy, where he had attended the Meeting of Rimini, a Catholic festival held every year. It is a historic ideological mission all over Europe, where the Saudis already control many large mosques, from Nice to Lyon, and from Rome to Brussels, where the Grand Mosque was recently handed back to the government over concerns that it was promoting extremism. An investigation by The New York Times noted:
"There is a broad consensus that the Saudi ideological juggernaut has disrupted local Islamic traditions in dozens of countries — the result of lavish spending on religious outreach for half a century, estimated in the tens of billions of dollars."
Shamefully, the day after the Saudis were in Lyon along with France's highest officials for the ceremony, in Paris, French judges condemned the journalist Éric Zemmour -- who is under heavy police protection for his criticism of Islam -- for "religious hate." Zemmour, apparently, was found "guilty" by a French court of saying that Muslims should be given "the choice between Islam and France" and that "in innumerable French suburbs there is a struggle to Islamize territory." Freedom of expression and the freedom to criticism of Islam are under threat in France. Recently, Philippe Val, the former editor of the magazine Charlie Hebdo, declared: "It is certain that no one today would publish the cartoons of Muhammad."
In France, mega-mosques have opened with the blessing of the Minister of Interior; leading journalists have been condemned in court for daring to speak the truth about Islam, and there has been mass self-censorship regarding "insensitive" cartoons. What else could the Saudis could dream up to ask of their French friends?
*Giulio Meotti, Cultural Editor for Il Foglio, is an Italian journalist and author.
© 2019 Gatestone Institute. All rights reserved. The articles printed here do not necessarily reflect the views of the Editors or of Gatestone Institute. No part of the Gatestone website or any of its contents may be reproduced, copied or modified, without the prior written consent of Gatestone Institute.

Birds Are Vanishing From North America
Carl Zimmer/The New York Times /Asharq Al-Awsat/September 24/2019
The number of birds in the United States and Canada has declined by 3 billion, or 29 percent, over the past half-century, scientists find. The skies are emptying out. The number of birds in the United States and Canada has fallen by 29 percent since 1970, scientists reported on Thursday. There are 2.9 billion fewer birds taking wing now than there were 50 years ago.
The analysis, published in the journal Science, is the most exhaustive and ambitious attempt yet to learn what is happening to avian populations. The results have shocked researchers and conservation organizations. In a statement on Thursday, David Yarnold, president and chief executive of the National Audubon Society, called the findings “a full-blown crisis.” Experts have long known that some bird species have become vulnerable to extinction. But the new study, based on a broad survey of more than 500 species, reveals steep losses even among such traditionally abundant birds as robins and sparrows.
There are likely many causes, the most important of which include habitat loss and wider use of pesticides.
“Silent Spring,” Rachel Carson’s prophetic book in 1962 about the harms caused by pesticides, takes its title from the unnatural quiet settling on a world that has lost its birds: “On the mornings that had once throbbed with the dawn chorus of robins, catbirds, doves, jays, wrens, and scores of other bird voices, there was now no sound.” Kevin Gaston, a conservation biologist at the University of Exeter, said that new findings signal something larger at work: “This is the loss of nature.” Common bird species are vital to ecosystems, controlling pests, pollinating flowers, spreading seeds and regenerating forests. When these birds disappear, their former habitats often are not the same.
“Declines in your common sparrow or other little brown bird may not receive the same attention as historic losses of bald eagles or sandhill cranes, but they are going to have much more of an impact,” said Hillary Young, a conservation biologist at the University of California, Santa Barbara, who was not involved in the new research. A team of researchers from universities, government agencies and nonprofit organizations collaborated on the new study, which combined old and new methods for counting birds. While some species grew, the researchers found, the majority declined — often by huge numbers.
“We were stunned by the result — it’s just staggering,” said Kenneth V. Rosenberg, a conservation scientist at Cornell University and the American Bird Conservancy, and the lead author of the new study.
“It’s not just these highly threatened birds that we’re afraid are going to go on the endangered species list,” he said. “It’s across the board.” Weather radar offered another way to track bird populations. Dr. Rosenberg and his colleagues counted birds recorded on radar at 143 stations across the United States from 2007 to 2018. They focused on springtime scans, when birds were migrating in great numbers.
The team measured a 14 percent decline during that period, consistent with the drop recorded in the bird-watching records. “If we have two data sets showing the same thing, it’s a home run,” said Nicole Michel, a senior quantitative ecologist at the Audubon Society who was not involved in the study. Among the worst-hit groups were warblers, with a population that dropped by 617 million.
There are 440 million fewer blackbirds than there once were. Dr. Rosenberg said he was surprised by how widespread the population drop was. Even starlings — a species that became a fast-breeding pest after its introduction to the United States in 1890 — have dwindled by 83 million birds, a 49 percent decline. Europe is experiencing a similar loss of birds, also among common species, said Dr. Gaston, of the University of Exeter. “The numbers are broadly comparable,” he said.
The new study was not designed to determine why birds are disappearing, but the results — as well as earlier research — point to some likely culprits, Dr. Rosenberg said. Grassland species have suffered the biggest declines by far, having lost 717 million birds. These birds have probably been decimated by modern agriculture and development. “Every field that’s plowed under, and every wetland area that’s drained, you lose the birds in that area,” Dr. Rosenberg said. In addition to habitat loss, pesticides may have taken a toll.
A study published last week, for example, found that pesticides called neonicotinoids make it harder for birds to put on weight needed for migration, delaying their travel. The researchers found some positive signs. Bald eagles are thriving, for example, and falcon populations have grown by 33 percent. Waterfowl are on the upswing. For the most part, there’s little mystery about how these happy exceptions came to be. Many recovering bird species were nearly wiped out in the last century by pesticides, hunting and other pressures.
Conservation measures allowed them to bounce back. “In those cases, we knew what the causes were and we acted on that,” Dr. Rosenberg said. “They’re models of success.” But some thriving populations are harder to explain.
Tiny warbler-like birds called vireos are booming, with 89 million more birds than in 1970 — a jump of 53 percent. Yet warblers, which share the same habitats as vireos, have suffered a 37 percent decline. “I have no idea why vireos are doing well,” Dr. Rosenberg said. “I’d love to do a study of vireos and discover what their secret is.” The sheer scale of the bird decline meant that stopping it would require immense effort, said Dr. Young, of the University of California, Santa Barbara. Habitats must be defended, chemicals restricted, buildings redesigned.
“We’re overusing the world, so it’s affecting everything,” she said. The Audubon Society is calling for protection of bird-rich habitats, such as the Great Lakes and the Colorado River Basin, as well as for upholding the Migratory Bird Treaty Act, which the Trump Administration is trying to roll back. The society and other bird advocacy groups also suggest things that individuals can do. They urge keeping cats inside, so they don’t kill smaller birds.
Vast numbers of birds die each year after flying into windows; there are ways to make the glass more visible to them. To some birders, the study’s findings confirmed a dreaded hunch. Beverly Gyllenhaal, 62, a retired cookbook author, and her husband, Anders, have spotted 256 species in parks in the eastern United States. But when she visited her mother in North Carolina in recent years, it seemed there weren’t as many birds as she recalled from her childhood there. And when she talks to people around the United States on her birding travels, many say the same thing.
“Oftentimes people will tell you, ‘It’s nothing like it used to be,’” she said. The estimated losses have left her appalled. “If the cardinals and the blue jays and the sparrows aren’t doing well,” she said, “that’s really scary.”

Deterring Iranian aggression a priority at UN General Assembly
Abdel Aziz Aluwaisheg/Arab News/September 24, 2019
While the world awaits the results of the forensic investigation into the Sept. 14 attacks against Saudi oil installations, the preponderance of evidence has already persuaded many world leaders that Iran was responsible. There were press reports this week that Supreme Leader Ali Khamenei personally approved the attacks on the condition that Iran’s involvement could be denied.
This week, key European leaders, who had avoided taking a stand on Iran’s responsibility, were compelled by the evidence to blame Tehran. On Monday, French President Emmanuel Macron, German Chancellor Angela Merkel and British Prime Minister Boris Johnson met in New York on the sidelines of the UN General Assembly (UNGA) and afterwards issued a statement saying: “It is clear for us that Iran bears responsibility for this attack. There is no other explanation.”
The brazen aggression has left Iran’s few remaining friends with no choice but to conclude the obvious. Former US Secretary of State John Kerry, who has maintained friendly ties with Iran’s leaders, said this week: “I believe that Iran, one way or another, was behind the attacks.”
In the face of the mounting evidence and worldwide condemnation of the attacks, Iranian leaders have been all over the place, lashing out at the US, dismissing concerns about their rogue behavior, and insisting that their proxy the Houthis were behind the attacks. In New York, as the 74th session of the UN General Assembly started, Iran’s president and foreign minister spoke to incredulous audiences about their peaceful intentions. They bombarded the media with suggestions that were neither here nor there in order to change the subject and divert attention from their culpability in the attacks on Saudi oil infrastructure and shipping in the Gulf.
While avoiding discussions about the issue at hand, they hinted at some flexibility on the nuclear deal. Foreign Minister Mohammed Javad Zarif raised the prospect of a new nuclear agreement with the US. He suggested that Iran could agree to complete denuclearization and sign an additional protocol allowing for more intrusive inspections of the country’s nuclear facilities at an earlier date than that set out in the 2015 deal.
Despite Iran's protestations, however, there was universal condemnation of the attacks as the UN general debate kicked off on Tuesday. They see it as an attack on the world economy and the global rules-based system in general, for which the UN is the main guardian. Most countries are already convinced of Iran’s responsibility. Some are awaiting the results of the investigation, in which the UN is taking an active part. The questions on many delegates’ minds revolve around how to respond to the attacks and how to deter further Iranian attacks. Here are some suggestions.
In New York, Iran’s president and foreign minister spoke to incredulous audiences about their peaceful intentions.
First, bolster the air defense systems of Saudi Arabia and other Gulf countries threatened by Iran. While Saudi Arabia has built robust defenses to deal with conventional threats and ballistic missiles, the Abqaiq and Khurais attacks underscored the need for defense against small missiles and drones, which are difficult to detect with conventional radars. There is a flurry of activity between the US and its Gulf Cooperation Council allies to close the gaps in their defenses.
Second, encourage more countries to join the US-led International Maritime Security Construct (IMSC). On Sept. 16, representatives from member states of the IMSC, along with representatives from 25 additional countries, met in Florida to discuss Iran’s threats to international shipping. They “reaffirmed their nations’ continued commitment to safeguarding freedom of navigation in the Arabian Gulf, Gulf of Oman, the Red Sea, and the Straits of Hormuz and Bab Al-Mandab, and discussed multinational efforts aimed at enhancing maritime security throughout key waterways in the region,” according to the statement issued at the conclusion of the meeting. The IMSC is enabling cooperative work to promote the free flow of commerce and deter threats to shipping. The IMSC Task Force is headquartered in Bahrain. Saudi Arabia and the UAE joined the IMSC last week.
Third, accelerate the implementation of the Middle East Strategic Alliance (MESA). Since the Sept. 14 attacks, Washington has convened MESA meetings to speed up the implementation of its promise of working together to “confront extremism and terrorism, and achieve peace, stability and development on regional as well as international stages.” Building on the meetings held in Washington last week, MESA foreign ministers are meeting on the margins of the UNGA to discuss the new threats from Iran and how to deter them.
Fourth, the US and its allies should stay the course of applying maximum pressure, especially on the Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps’ (IRGC) vast military and financial network in Iran and abroad. More work needs to be done to limit IRGC activities in the region by applying economic pressure, in addition to augmented covert action and bolstering cyber defenses.
Fifth, UN institutions, including the General Assembly and the Security Council, should shoulder their responsibilities in safeguarding the world economic and political order, which is being undermined by Iran’s attacks on shipping in the Gulf and civilian infrastructures in Saudi Arabia. International law, including the Geneva Conventions and their Additional Protocols, is clear in prohibiting attacks against civilian infrastructures. The case is quite compelling in the case of oil installations that provide energy to hundreds of millions of people around the world. Both the UNGA and Security Council are expected to debate and approve strong measures to express the world’s solidarity with Saudi Arabia.
The objectives of this diplomatic activity should be clear: To deter further Iranian attacks, bring Tehran to the negotiating table to discuss all issues of concern to the world at large, and persuade it to change its behavior and live peacefully with its neighbors according to the globally recognized principles of the UN Charter.
*Abdel Aziz Aluwaisheg is the GCC Assistant Secretary-General for Political Affairs and Negotiation, and a columnist for Arab News. The views expressed in this piece are personal and do not necessarily represent GCC views. Twitter: @abuhamad1

Surge of Palestinian votes in Israel just the beginning
Dr. Dania Koleilat Khatib/Arab News/September 24/2019
The message “We kicked you out Netanyahu” went viral on Palestinian social media after last week’s Israeli elections. The Arab vote was the main factor causing Benjamin Netanyahu’s defeat to Benny Gantz. The surge of the Arab voice will also have an impact in the long run.
Palestinian voters have come a long way. What is interesting is that this time, when they went to vote, they went as Palestinians, not as voters for the left or the right. Previously, their votes were scattered and so was their voice and their representation. However, now they have proved to Israeli society and the political community that their voice can make or break a candidate.
Netanyahu’s racism played in their favor. He was good for them because his racism awakened their latent activism. No longer does the average Palestinian living in Israel want to bow his head and just get by. Racism under Netanyahu reached a new level and triggered them to action and confrontation. The racist Likud leader took aim at the Arabs, trying to mobilize his base using fear. He targeted the Palestinians and painted them as an enemy of the state. He encouraged his base to cast their vote with the aim of outvoting their Arab counterparts. He used to say that Arabs would go to the ballots “in droves.” And he recently accused them of trying to “annihilate all of us,” meaning the Jews. But his racist comments actually encouraged Palestinians to go in their droves and fight back using democratic tools, exercising the rights granted to them by the law.
Palestinians learned from the April elections. Then, the Palestinian candidates were spread over two lists due to internal divisions. Palestinian voters did not feel the seriousness of the people who were supposed to represent them; hence the turnout at the ballot box was weak. However, penalizing the Palestinian candidates paid off. This galvanized the candidates to coalesce and overcome their personal differences.
In last week’s elections, the Arab Joint List was able to get 432,741 votes, or 10.72 percent of the total votes cast. As many as 81.3 percent of Palestinians who voted backed the Joint List.
Though they will not join the government, the Joint List’s success will give an impetus to Palestinian activism inside Israel.
“Now we are a key player in Israeli politics. We have 13 members of the parliament, this is our chance to make a difference,” Mansour Nasasra, a Palestinian academic based in Jerusalem, told me. He added that even Al-Naqab, the most disfranchised Arab community, witnessed a high turnout. The Joint List, which is an aggregation of four initial lists, used the slogans “More common, more effect,” and “Our unity is our power.” Palestinian candidates, who used to hide in the shadow of Zionist lists, now have a list of their own. They did not even join Meretz, the left’s list, but decided to have a list of their own under the leadership of Ayman Odeh.
The Joint List’s leaders this week met with President Reuven Rivlin and announced their support for Gantz as prime minister. Nevertheless, the Joint List will not join the government coalition. If it joins the government with the current laws, it will be giving legitimacy to the racist laws that discriminate against them as a minority in Israel. Though they will not join the government, their success will give an impetus to Palestinian activism inside Israel. The Arab community will expect more from the Joint List.
In a piece published by the New York Times, Odeh wrote: “We will decide who will be the next prime minister of Israel.” He added that change would have been impossible without the Palestinians and that the center-left should accept they have a place in Israeli politics. This is the first time since 1992 that the Palestinians have endorsed a prime minister and taken an active role in Israeli politics.
The Joint List will now be expected to put pressure on the government to freeze the nation-state law that basically legalizes racism against Palestinians, marginalizes them and deprives them of their civic rights. According to this law, Israel is a Jewish state that only allows Jews to enjoy the full rights of citizenship. It also marginalizes the status of the Arabic language. The community will also expect the opposition to pressure the government to reverse the Kaminitz Law that legalizes the demolition of Arab houses and prohibits Arab villages from expanding. Since 1948, the growing Palestinian population has been confined by law to an ever-decreasing space.
So far, Gantz has not been clear on these two laws, but it is unlikely he will respond to the Palestinian aspirations and alienate a large part of Israeli society. However, the surge of Palestinian votes is the beginning, not the end. It is the beginning of a change inside Israel. Following this success, the Palestinian component will be able to drive change in the Israeli political discourse. In the absence of international pressure, which could force Israel to embrace the two-state solution, the hope instead lies in a change in Israeli public opinion, which could force a policy change. Today, members of the Joint List are the champions of this hope — the hope that Israel will evolve toward becoming a more equitable society; a society that will accept a two-state solution. After all, who would have thought that the Palestinians could kick out Netanyahu?
*Dr. Dania Koleilat Khatib is a specialist in US-Arab relations with a focus on lobbying. She holds a Ph.D. in politics from the University of Exeter and is an affiliated scholar with the Issam Fares Institute for Public Policy and International Affairs at the American University of Beirut.