English LCCC Newsbulletin For Lebanese, Lebanese Related, Global News & Editorials
For September 25/2020
Compiled & Prepared by: Elias Bejjani

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Bible Quotations For today
‘Truly I tell you, there is no one who has left house or brothers or sisters or mother or father or children or fields, for my sake and for the sake of the good news, who will not receive a hundredfold now in this age houses, brothers and sisters, mothers and children, and fields, with persecutions and in the age to come eternal life.
Holy Gospel of Jesus Christ according to Saint Mark 10/28-31/:”Peter began to say to Jesus, ‘Look, we have left everything and followed you.’Jesus said, ‘Truly I tell you, there is no one who has left house or brothers or sisters or mother or father or children or fields, for my sake and for the sake of the good news, who will not receive a hundredfold now in this age houses, brothers and sisters, mothers and children, and fields, with persecutions and in the age to come eternal life.
 

Titles For The Latest English LCCC Lebanese & Lebanese Related News & Editorials published on September 24-25/2020

Lebanon Records Highest Daily Tally of Covid-19 Cases
Aoun Chairs Security Meeting on Deadly Sea Crossings
Aoun signs decree opening exceptional budget appropriation of 100 billion pounds to compensate those affected by port explosion
Report: Hariri’s Initiative Makes Progress in Cabinet Stalemate
Al-Khalil and Hassan Khalil Meet Adib amid 'Positive Drive'
Liberation and Development' bloc delegation visits Mufti Derian
Rahi discusses developments with French Ambassadors, other Diman visitors
Authorities to Compensate for Beirut Blast Lost Homes, Businesses
Two LF Supporters Detained over Mirna Chalouhi Clash
Judicial Council Vows 'Justice ASAP', No 'Red Lines' in Port Case
Franjieh Sees 'Good Intentions', Says ex-PMs Have No Right to Pick All Ministers
Diab chairs meeting on academic year start
Sami Gemayel meets Turkish, Australian ambassadors
Beirut Businesses Crowdfund to Rebuild after Blast
Lebanon’s stuttering cabinet process may prove to be the easy part
AMCD Applauds US Snap-Back Sanctions on Iran
Lebanon's Aoun asks world’s help ‘trying to rise from its rubble’ at UN General Assembly meeting
Lebanese maneuvers produce same mediocre results/Dr. Dania Koleilat Khatib/Arab News/September 24/2020
New Explosion in Lebanon at Site That Belongs To Affiliate of Hezbollah/Tony Badran/FDD/September 24/2020
Hezbollah Finance in Lebanon...A Primary-Source Review/Tony Badran and Emanuele Ottolenghi/FDD/September 24/2020
 

Titles For The Latest English LCCC Miscellaneous Reports And News published on September 24-25/2020

Israel Airliner Flies to Bahrain after Ties Normalized
No Deal with Israel, but Saudi Pushes Outreach to Jews
Iran Accuses Saudis of Shifting Blame for 'Crimes'
Amnesty: Migrants Face 'Vicious Cycle of Cruelty' in Libya
France Reports Record 16,000 New Daily Coronavirus Cases
Fatah, Hamas Say Deal Reached on Palestinian Elections
In Florida's Election: It May be Legal, but is It Right?
Questioning Supreme Court Nominees about Religion: A Delicate Task
Trump Rebuffed over Comments He Might Not Honor Vote
Canada condemns so-called inauguration of Lukashenko in Belarus

Titles For The Latest LCCC English analysis & editorials from miscellaneous sources published on September 24-25/2020

Saudi-Iran tensions increase as King condemns Tehran/Seth Frantman/Jerusalem Post/September 24/2020
Saudi monarch slams Iran and calls for disarming of Hezbollah/The Arab Weekly/September 24/2020
Israel’s next peace deal will be with Sudan/Jonathan Schanzer/New York Post/September 24/2020
Iran’s Turkey-Based Sanctions-Evasion Scheme More Extensive Than Previously Reported/Aykan Erdemir/FDD/September 24/2020
“The Scene was Horrific”: Persecution of Christians, August 2020/Raymond Ibrahim/Gatestone Institute/September 20/2020
 

The Latest English LCCC Lebanese & Lebanese Related News & Editorials published on September 24-25/2020

Lebanon Records Highest Daily Tally of Covid-19 Cases
Naharnet/September 24/2020
Lebanon on Thursday reported 1,027 new coronavirus cases, its highest daily tally since the first case was detected on February 21. It had reported 1,006 cases and 11 deaths on Sunday amid a sharp rise in infections and fatalities in recent weeks.
Only one death was however reported on Thursday, taking the death toll to 329, while the new cases raise the overall tally to 32,805 including 14,085 recoveries.
In its daily statement, the Health Ministry said 21 of the new cases were recorded among people coming from abroad. 145 of the new cases were recorded in Baabda district, 135 in Northern Metn, 113 in Beirut, 92 in Tripoli, 66 in Aley district, 64 in Keserwan and 56 in Zahle district. The locations of 133 other cases are yet to be determined.

Aoun Chairs Security Meeting on Deadly Sea Crossings
Naharnet/September 24/2020
President Michel Aoun chaired a security meeting at Baabda Palace to address several issues including a recent trend of Lebanese taking dangerous attempts, some deadly, fleeing the crisis-hit country in fishing boats. NNA said the meeting was held in the presence of outgoing PM Hassan Diab, caretaker Defense Minister Zeina Akar, caretaker Interior Minister Mohammed Fahmi and the heads of Lebanon’s security agencies. Aoun said Lebanon must combat parties organizing the illegal crossing of people to the Mediterranean sea from Lebanon. “The matter must be addressed at social and humanitarian levels to know the reasons pushing people to leave Lebanon in illegal ways causing painful accidents and family tragedies,” said Aoun. Some Lebanese have been trying to flee the tiny Mediterranean nation lately, after Lebanon has been shaken by multiple crises, including its worst economic and financial crisis in decades. On Monday, Lebanon retrieved the bodies of four people including a child after they tried to flee the crisis-hit country by sea on an overloaded dinghy, the civil defence said. The U.N. peacekeeping force in Lebanon have earlier this month rescued many people onboard a ship carrying migrants outside Lebanon’s territorial waters.

Aoun signs decree opening exceptional budget appropriation of 100 billion pounds to compensate those affected by port explosion
NNA/September 24/2020
President of the Republic, General Michel Aoun, signed a decree to open an exceptional appropriation in the general budget for year 2020, amounting 100 billion Lebanese pounds, for compensating those affected by the Beirut Port explosion, based on a mechanism established by the Army Command and Beirut Governorate, and based on nominal schedules prepared by the army in accordance with the principle of priority. It is noted that this approval was opened at the request of President Aoun and based on Article 85 of the constitution, which allows the President of the Republic, if urgent emergency circumstances require, to take a decree based on a decision issued by the Council of Ministers to open extraordinary or additional appropriations and transfer funds in the budget, provided that these appropriations do not exceed the limit specified in the Budget Law.

Report: Hariri’s Initiative Makes Progress in Cabinet Stalemate
Naharnet/September 24/2020
Former Prime Minister Saad Hariri’s initiative has made progress in resolving the cabinet formation deadlock, with reports expecting a lineup in the "next two days," the Saudi Asharq al-Awsat reported on Thursday. Hariri had proposed in a statement earlier to help PM-designate Mustafa Adib name a Shiite finance minister (in a move aimed at appeasing the Shiite duo) after the insistence of Amal Movement and Hizbullah to retain the portfolio. The daily added that while “covert” efforts and contacts intensified yesterday, a near consensus emerged among political parties that Hariri’s initiative made a breakthrough.
Well-informed sources following the negotiations told the daily that “a positive atmosphere prevails among political circles.” They said the first step begins with Speaker Nabih Berri presenting ten Shiite names to Adib so he could choose one for the finance portfolio. A government could be formed in the next two days if recent efforts go well as they seem, said the newspaper. Amal leader and Parliament Speaker Nabih Berri, had on Wednesday reportedly revealed that positive developments will take place in the coming hours regarding the formation of the new government. “It won’t take long, because we can no longer withstand the situation,” he was quoted as saying.

Al-Khalil and Hassan Khalil Meet Adib amid 'Positive Drive'
Naharnet/September 24/2020
A meeting was held Thursday afternoon between Prime Minister-designate Mustafa Adib, Speaker Nabih Berri’s aide Ali Hassan Khalil and Sayyed Hassan Nasrallah’s assistant Hussein al-Khalil. MTV said the conferees discussed the standards for naming ministers, noting that al-Khalil and Hassan Khalil did not present any names "although one of them was carrying in his pocket a list of Shiite candidates for the finance portfolio."Hizbullah's al-Manar TV had earlier reported that the meeting aimed to “push the cabinet formation process forward.”Hassan Khalil had earlier in the day said that his movement wants the French initiative to succeed and the new government to be formed quickly. “A positive drive regarding the government’s formation occurred over the past days and we will deal with it with the highest levels of responsibility and openness,” he added, after he met with Grand Mufti Sheikh Abdul Latif Daryan along with an Amal delegation. “Strenuous efforts are being exerted, and it is in everyone’s interest to be optimistic, and this optimism is based on some concrete facts,” Hassan Khalil went on to say. “We are keen on ensuring the success of PM-designate Mustafa Adib and on offering him all support in the coming period,” he added.

Liberation and Development' bloc delegation visits Mufti Derian
NNA/September 24/2020
Grand Mufti of the Republic, Sheikh Abdel Latif Derian, on Thursday received at Dar Al-Fatwa, a delegation from the "Liberation and Development" bloc, headed by MP Ali Hassan Khalil, comprising Ghazi Zoaiter, Mohammad Khawaja and Ali Bazzi. On emerging, speaking in the name of the delegation, MP Khalil relayed the Mufti's keenness on bolstering the climates of Islamic unity, first and foremost, and national unity, in general, adding that they deliberated with the Mufti over all proposed matters amid this stifling situation. MP Khalil said that they conveyed to the Mufti the greetings and appreciation of Speaker Berri for all his efforts in this regard. "We affirmed that we are partners in the battle to save this country and enhance the climate of stability in it," MP Khalil maintained. Khalil also affirmed the bloc and "Amal" Movement's commitment and support for the success of the French initiative in all its components, starting with the swift government formation, far-reaching to the holding of the conference in support for Lebanon and the launching of the reform workshop at the level of the executive authority and the Parliament. MP Khalil also underlined the Bloc's adherence to the charter and the constitution, and its keenness on preserving national unity.

Rahi discusses developments with French Ambassadors, other Diman visitors
NNA/September 24/2020
Maronite Patriarch, Cardinal Mar Bechara Boutros Al-Rahi, on Thursday welcomed at his summer residence in Diman Central bloc member, Jean Obeid, with whom he discussed the general conditions in Lebanon and the region. Director General of the Ministry of Agriculture, Eng. Louis Lahoud, also broached with His Beatitude joint agricultural projects between the ministry and the dioceses in different Lebanese regions. Among Diman’s Thursday visitors had also been French ambassador to Lebanon, Bernard Foucher, who is currently on a pilgrimage visit to the Holy Valley.

Authorities to Compensate for Beirut Blast Lost Homes, Businesses
Agence France Presse/Naharnet/September 24/2020
Lebanese authorities on Thursday unveiled a compensation program for the thousands of homes and businesses devastated by the August 4 mega-blast at Beirut's port. President Michel Aoun signed a decree allocating 100 billion Lebanese pounds (more than $66 million at the official exchange rate, or $13 million on the black market) to the program, his office said.It added that the army and Beirut municipality would be tasked with setting up a mechanism to distribute the funds. The compensation will go to owners of homes and businesses damaged in the explosion that left more than 190 dead and devastated swathes of the capital, a source at the presidency said. According to an assessment by the army, the blast caused by a consignment of ammonium nitrate damaged almost 61,000 homes and over 19,000 businesses. The explosion compounded Lebanon's worst economic crisis since the 1975-1990 civil war. On August 9, the international community pledged around $300 million in emergency aid at a conference jointly organized by France and the United Nations. The U.N. is to coordinate the aid to ensure it reaches those in need directly rather than through Lebanese government bodies, which are widely accused of corruption.

Two LF Supporters Detained over Mirna Chalouhi Clash
Naharnet/September 24/2020
The public prosecution on Thursday continued looking into the rival lawsuits filed by the Free Patriotic Movement and the Lebanese Forces over the recent clash between their supporters in Sin el-Fil’s Mirna Chalouhi area.
After several people were summoned for interrogation, Prosecutor Ghassan al-Khoury ordered the detention of two LF supporters pending further investigations, the National News Agency said. “He will continue later the interrogation of members of the two parties who were involved in the clash,” NNA added.
The September 14 clash took place outside the FPM headquarters. Videos circulated online show gunfire erupting during the presence of a large convoy carrying LF supporters on the highway outside the HQ. The headquarters’ guards fired in the air after the tensions erupted with the LF supporters.
The videos also show the LF supporters shouting insults against the FPM. According to TV networks, the two sides hurled stones and sticks at each other before the army later intervened in force and separated between them.

Judicial Council Vows 'Justice ASAP', No 'Red Lines' in Port Case
Naharnet/September 24/2020
The Higher Judicial Council noted Thursday that Judicial Investigator Judge Fadi Sawan is continuing his investigations in the case of the Aug. 4 port explosion in order to “achieve justice as soon as possible but without hastiness.”
“On August 17, the judicial investigator launched his investigations and interrogations according to a work plan aimed at achieving the desired results and fulfilling the aspired justice as soon as possible but without hastiness,” the Council said in a statement. It added that Sawan’s plan is based on “impartiality and professionalism” and that he will not stand at “any red lines” as he conducts his investigations. “The judicial investigator pledges to the Lebanese people to seek the completion of the investigations he has started all the way to pinpointing responsibilities against the culprits,” the statement said.
“All the measures and actions he is taking are aimed at meeting this objective, and although taking the needed time, they will lead to the desired result and to fulfilling the desired justice,” the Higher Judicial Council vowed.
Some observers have criticized the probe as being too slow while others have demanded an international investigation. Twenty-five people, including top customs and port officials, have been detained in the ongoing probe. Thirty-one others, including caretaker PM Hassan Diab and current and former ministers, have testified as “witnesses.”The catastrophic blast, one of the most powerful in history, killed around 200 people, injured around 6,500 others and devastated swathes of the capital. It has been largely blamed on corruption and negligence after it was determined that around 3,000 tons of explosive ammonium nitrates had been left languishing unsecured at the port for around seven years.

Franjieh Sees 'Good Intentions', Says ex-PMs Have No Right to Pick All Ministers
Naharnet/September 24/2020
There are “good intentions” and we can overcome the crisis, Marada Movement chief Suleiman Franjieh said on Thursday about the cabinet formation process. “The meeting with French President Emmanuel Macron did not witness an agreement on an independent government but rather on an effective government,” Franjieh said on an interview with MTV. “Known for his pragmatism, the French president’s condition was that competence should be the basis in picking the ministers and not political loyalties,” the Marada chief added. Noting that “the former premiers chose the prime minister-designate” and that the other camp agreed to their choice “because they represent the Sunnis,” Franjieh rejected granting the ex-PMs the right to pick all ministers. “Why would they also choose our minister?” he asked. Franjieh also pointed out that Speaker Nabih Berri’s demand to get the finance portfolio is “not new” and had been repeated during the formation of the previous four governments. “He raised it with me when I was a presidential candidate,” the Marada leader revealed. “Back then, I expressed neither approval nor rejection, but why was this demand acceptable in the past while today it has become rejected?” Franjieh asked. As for the latest U.S. sanctions that were imposed on Marada’s ex-minister Youssef Fenianos over alleged shady deals with Hizbullah, Franjieh called the sanctions “political.”“The Americans communicated with us and told us that there is no message to us behind them,” he added. Asked about President Michel Aoun’s warning that the country might “go to hell,” Franjieh described it as a “slip of the tongue.”“Neither circumstances helped him nor luck, but at the same time he did not know how to surround himself with the right assistants,” the Marada chief said.

Diab chairs meeting on academic year start
NNA/September 24/2020
Caretaker Prime Minister Hassan Diab chaired a meeting devoted to discussing distance learning with the start of the academic school year, in light of recent health developments and the surge in coronavirus cases. The meeting was attended by Ministers of Education, Tarek Majzoub, Interior and Municipalities, Mohammad Fahmi, Industry, Imad Hoballah, Telecommunications, Talal Hawat, and Health, Hamad Hassan, in the presence of PM’s Advisors, khodor Taleb, Petra Khoury, and Hussein Kaafarani. After the meeting, Minister Majzoub read out the following decisions:
1- In light of the recommendations of the Coronavirus Follow up Committee, and due to the increase in positive coronavirus cases to 8% over the past two weeks, and since this infection rate is dangerous for physical school attendance, and in order to preserve the health status in Lebanon, we have decided to adjourn the physical school attendance for public and private schools and institutes for the pre-baccalaureate level until Monday, October 12, 2020. A decision will be issued later on, featuring all relevant details. Official exams will resume while observing the necessary health measures.
2- We have also decided to extend the Council of Minister’s decision related to doubling the local internet speed and volume on an extraordinary and provisional basis for landline subscribers, within the limits of available technical capacities and with no additional cost.
3- We have secured free stationary for 150,000 public school pupils from grade 1 to grade 6, in partnership with organizations and donor countries. We are also working to provide remaining additional stationary.
4- We have ensured masks, sanitizers, thermometers and other materials, free of charge, for all public schools and secondary schools.
5- We have fully restored all public educational institutions, including schools, secondary schools and Lebanese University’s faculties, and we have partly rehabilitated private universities affected by the port blast.
6- We have transferred 8 million dollars to the Central Bank of Lebanon, to be deposited in the public schools and middle schools-related funds; this amount will be disbursed at the official platform’s rate. An additional 8 million dollars will be soon transferred to all public schools and secondary schools.
Amidst the current difficult health situation, we invite everyone to benefit from the upcoming two weeks to abide by preventive measures in order to reduce the infection rate so that we can secure school return through blended learning and continue working with other relevant ministries to secure distance learning requirements. We have also agreed with the Minister of Public Health on accompanying physical school attendance by conducting free PCR tests for any suspicious case, according to the defined health and educational protocol.
In sum, public and private schools and institutes for the pre-baccalaureate level will remain closed for physical attendance for two weeks. We call on everyone to respect preventive measures for us to preserve our educational sector.
The Minister of Education added that measures will be taken against schools that do not comply with this decision, especially the two-week closure. -----Grand Serail Press Office

Sami Gemayel meets Turkish, Australian ambassadors
NNA/September 24/2020
Kataeb Party head, MP Sami Gemayel, on Thursday received at his Bikfaya office the Turkish Ambassador to Lebanon, Hakan Cakil, with whom he discussed the latest developments on the local and regional scenes. MP Gemayel also met with Australian Ambassador to Lebanon, Rebecca Grindley, with talks reportedly touching on most recent developments in Lebanon and the region featuring .

Beirut Businesses Crowdfund to Rebuild after Blast
Naharnet/September 24/2020
Standing in the gutted ruins of her bar destroyed by Beirut's massive port blast, Lebanese entrepreneur Gizelle Hassoun said she hopes crowdfunding can help save her business from the rubble.
"This place was my life," the 46-year-old said, standing on top of piles of broken shutters and plaster, on what was once the dance floor. "Then just like that -- bam! -- there was nothing left," she said, a blown-out wall behind her providing a view of the tall cranes at the capital's port.Nestled on the first floor of a blue villa in Beirut's lively Gemmayzeh district, Madame Om was once a popular nightspot famed for its weekend parties and drag shows. But today the walls of the rented venue are cracked, part of its floor has caved in, and its balcony has been blown off. The bar will have to move.
"We're fundraising," Hassoun said, under surviving snapshots of Egyptian diva Umm Kulthum. "So perhaps we can go back to doing something, get back on our feet, re-employ the little staff we had." So far $5,000 of an $85,000 objective has been raised. On August 4, a huge stockpile of ammonium nitrate exploded on the dockside, killing more than 190 people, wounding thousands, and ravaging large parts of the city.
- 'Cannot wait' -
Beirut's nightlife districts of Gemmayzeh and Mar Mikhael, known for their bars, restaurants and art galleries, were some of the hardest hit neighbourhoods. The army last week said it had surveyed 19,115 businesses and 962 restaurants damaged by the explosion. For many, the blast was a knockout punch after months of financial struggle to survive Lebanon's worst economic crisis in decades and a coronavirus lockdown. With little hope of compensation or loans from struggling Lebanese banks, savvy business owners are crowdfunding online to tap into donations from abroad. Hany Bourghol, 37, co-founder of the Cortado cafe, was able to take out a loan from a United Arab Emirates bank to fix his coffee shop and pay salaries. He hopes crowdfunding will help him pay the loan back. "We cannot wait for the army or the government," Bourghol said. "We need to resume work." The online campaign has collected a quarter of the $20,000 requested. A Romanian barista who helped Bourghol set up the cafe rallied coffee houses in Romania to send donations too, while an aid organisation has provided free building materials. "We have had a lot of solidarity," Bourghol said. The campaigns have attracted attention. Days after the blast, actor Russell Crowe pitched in $5,000 to support the Le Chef restaurant on behalf of late celebrity chef Anthony Bourdain, who loved its traditional dishes. "I thought that he would have probably done so if he was still around," Crowe said of the celebrity chef, who died in 2018. "Hope things can be put back together soon."
- Determined -
But it is not just bars and cafes.
After the climbing wall at the Flyp centre where she trained collapsed in the blast, Laura Karam, 24, took to social media. "We were forced to resort to crowdfunding and ask the climbing community outside Lebanon to help us out," she said. Karam took pictures of volunteers in a crane unscrewing colourful climbing grips from the damaged 15-metre (50 foot) high wall to reuse on a new one. "I think rebuilding this place is essential, just like everything else in Beirut," she said. "Beirut wouldn't survive if it weren't for the businesses and everyone coming together."The campaign to rebuild the climbing wall has raked in more than $16,000 of a $30,000 goal. Diala Sammakieh, 46, co-owner of the Flyp centre, said the climbing wall crowdfunder was such a success that she set up a separate campaign for its parkour and trampoline park. There is still far to go, with just $1,000 out of $50,000 pledged. But she hopes part of the money will go towards covering employee salaries for three months. Since the explosion, it has emerged the authorities knew the huge quantity of ammonium nitrate was stored at the port, but took no action to move it. Sammakieh, who also lost her home in the blast, is determined to rebuild her life. "We don't believe the government will do anything for us," even though "they're the ones who blew us up," she said. "Although they want to kick us out of our country, we don't want to go."
 

Lebanon’s stuttering cabinet process may prove to be the easy part
The Arab Weekly/September 24/2020
BEIRUT – Lebanon’s sectarian politicians have overshot one deadline they had agreed with France and missing more may jeopardise a French lifeline to haul the Middle East nation out of its worst crisis since the 1975-1990 civil war.
France has drawn up a timeline for Lebanon to tackle corruption and deliver reforms to help secure billions of dollars in foreign aid to save a country drowning in debt. But the leaders who oversaw years of wasted state spending and corruption have stumbled at the first hurdle by failing to deliver on a promise to French President Emmanuel Macron to form a new cabinet by mid-September.
Yet choosing a cabinet may prove to be the easy part. Once named, the ministers have a mountain of challenges, ranging from reviving a paralysed banking industry to fixing a power sector that cannot keep the lights on in a nation of about 6 million. France on Wednesday urged international pressure on Lebanese politicians as frustration grows with the pace of transition and reform.
“The political forces have still not succeeded in agreeing to form a government,” French Foreign Minister Jean-Yves Le Drian told a video-conference meeting on Lebanon on the sidelines of the United Nations General Assembly. “Strong and convergent pressures are therefore needed from us to push Lebanese officials to respect their commitments,” he added. “These convergent efforts must continue as long as necessary,” he said. The meeting gathered members of the international support group for Lebanon, including UN chief Antonio Guterres, World Bank head David Malpass and world powers including France, Germany, Britain, Italy, the United States, Russia, China, the European Union and the Arab League.
Macron, who has visited the former French colony twice in the wake of a huge explosion on August 4, had repeatedly urged the Lebanese not to waste any more time in forming a government.
Lebanese Prime Minister-designate Mustapha Adib is under pressure to form a fresh cabinet as soon as possible so it can undertake long-sought economic reforms. But Adib’s efforts to form a government have been effectively blocked by the two main Shia groups in Lebanon’s usual power-sharing arrangement — Iran-backed Hezbollah and its political ally Amal.
The August 4 explosion of hundreds of tons of ammonium nitrate at the Beirut port killed more than 190 people, wounded thousands and ravaged large parts of the capital. The disaster sparked new protests over corruption and mismanagement, prompting the previous cabinet to step down.
France is counselling pragmatism to break through the impasse but it has limited room to manoeuvre. The United States and Saudi Arabia are cautious about the French initiative as they are seeking to sideline Hezbollah, which is aligned with their enemy Iran. France, however, said it enjoyed support from Italy, which agreed on the need for a new government to be installed quickly and undertake reforms. “Without reforms, there will not be any international financial support. On the other hand, if they are put in place, we will spare no efforts,” Le Drian said.
Lebanese President Michel Aoun, addressing the General Assembly, appealed for urgent assistance. In addition to the port blast, Aoun said Lebanon was in “unprecedented crisis” from COVID-19 and the influx of displaced Syrians whose numbers now equal one-third of Lebanon’s population. “Lebanon repeats its call on donor countries to honour their pledges and find a mechanism to follow up on their commitments,” Aoun said in a virtual address.
“The latter need to double their financial contributions and provide direct assistance to Lebanese governmental institutions and host communities.”
An international conference in Paris in April 2018 promised $11 billion for Lebanon, but on the condition of reforms that have yet to be put in place.
Aoun said Monday that Lebanon was headed to “hell” unless it could form a new cabinet. Efforts gathered some steam Tuesday as Saad Hariri, a Sunni former prime minister, called for an independent Shia politician to run the finance ministry.
France hailed Hariri’s statement as “courageous.” A UN tribunal recently found a Hezbollah member guilty for the murder of his father, former Prime Minister Rafik Hariri. Observers believe Hezbollah and Amal are insisting on maintaining control of the finance ministry because the militant movements are facing pressure from US sanctions. Hezbollah, whose political influence has grown, and Amal also view moves to shift them out of key cabinet posts as a bid to weaken their sway, politicians say. They have a parliament majority with their Christian and other allies, although the cabinet dispute has put them at odds. Aoun, a Maronite Christian allied to Hezbollah, has said no sect should claim any ministry.

التحالف الأميركي الشرق أوسطي للديموقراطية يثمن غالياً اعادة فرض العقوبات الأميركية على إيران الملالي
AMCD Applauds US Snap-Back Sanctions on Iran
September 23, 2020
http://eliasbejjaninews.com/archives/90690/%d8%a7%d9%84%d8%aa%d8%ad%d8%a7%d9%84%d9%81-%d8%a7%d9%84%d8%a3%d9%85%d9%8a%d8%b1%d9%83%d9%8a-%d8%a7%d9%84%d8%b4%d8%b1%d9%82-%d8%a3%d9%88%d8%b3%d8%b7%d9%8a-%d9%84%d9%84%d8%af%d9%8a%d9%85%d9%88%d9%82-5/

The American Mideast Coalition for Democracy applauds Secretary of State Mike Pompeo for initiating the re-imposition of sanctions on the Islamic Republic of Iran. Under the flawed JCPOA agreement, Iran would be able to begin buying and selling “all manner of conventional weapons” beginning on October 18. Though the UN was obligated to re-impose sanctions due to Iran’s breaking of the agreement by re-starting its nuclear enrichment program, it failed to act. Fortunately, under President Trump, the US acted forcefully through executive order to prevent Iran from acquiring the weaponry it uses to intimidate its neighbors and to foment terror across the region.
“Most Americans do not understand the depth and extent of the apocalyptic fanaticism which governs the thinking of the ruling mullahs of Iran,” said AMCD vice-chair Hossein Khorram. “These are men who deeply believe they would be doing God’s will by destroying the Jewish and Sunni states in the Middle East and killing millions of people in the process. They cannot be allowed to have nuclear weapons. I am very glad President Trump understands this.”
“After the Obama years of appeasement, when the United States’ government bolstered the position of the mullahs and actually financed their terrorist activities, we finally have a State Department which understands the danger and has the courage to do something about it,” added AMCD co-chair John Hajjar. “Secretary Pompeo has exhibited steely determination in handling this dangerous situation.”
“Bravo President Trump!” exclaimed AMCD co-chair Tom Harb. “By diminishing the power of Iran and resetting strategic alliances, Presdient Trump has created a framework for peace and stability in the Middle East that will last for a century or more. He is the greatest peacemaker we have ever seen.”
AMCD applauds the Trump administration, Secretary Pompeo, and the entire foreign policy team for their determination in blocking Iran’s nuclear ambitions. President Trump has the right foreign policy for the Middle East.

Lebanon's Aoun asks world’s help ‘trying to rise from its rubble’ at UN General Assembly meeting
AP/September 23, 2020
BEIRUT: Facing an economic meltdown and other crises, Lebanon’s president on Wednesday asked for the world’s help to rebuild the capital’s main port and neighborhoods that were blown away in last month’s catastrophic explosion.
President Michel Aoun made the plea in a prerecorded speech to the UN General Assembly’s virtual summit, telling world leaders that Lebanon’s many challenges are posing an unprecedented threat to its very existence.
Most urgently, the country needs the international community’s support to rebuild its economy and its destroyed port. Aoun suggested breaking up the damaged parts of the city into separate areas and so that countries that wish to help can each commit to rebuilding one.
“Beirut today is trying to rise from its rubble, and it is with the solidarity of all the Lebanese and your support that it will heal its wounds and rise as it has previously risen repeatedly throughout history,” Aoun said. “There is a great need for the international community to support the reconstruction of destroyed neighborhoods and facilities.”The massive Aug. 4 explosion happened when about 3,000 tons of ammonium nitrates — which had been rotting in a port warehouse for more than six years — ignited. Nearly 200 people were killed, 6,500 injured and a quarter of a million people were left with homes that were not fit to live in. The cause of the blaze that ignited the chemicals still isn’t known, but the explosion is widely seen as the culmination of decades of corruption and mismanagement by Lebanon’s ruling class.
It came on top of an unprecedented economic crisis which has seen the local currency lose up to 80 percent of its value and decimated people’s savings, feeding despair among a population that has long ago given up on its leaders. Poverty and unemployment are soaring, made worse by the coronavirus pandemic.
A local investigation into the blast is underway, but no one has been held accountable so far.
Aroun said Lebanon had requested technical assistance from certain countries, particularly soil samples and satellite images from the moment of the explosion.
“Teams from several countries came for technical assistance and to carry out the necessary research and we are still waiting for their information... as well as the satellite images to clear the ambiguity in this part of the investigation,” he added.
Earlier Wednesday, UN Secretary-General Antonio Guterres called for swift formation of a government to be followed by tangible steps to implement economic, social and political reforms.
Lebanon’s government resigned under pressure in the wake of the port explosion, and Prime Minister-designate Mustapha Adib has been unable to form a new government amid a political impasse over which faction gets to have the Finance Ministry, as well as other disputes.
Guterres said the disastrous port explosion “must be a wake-up call.”
“Without such action, the country’s ability to recover and rebuild will be jeopardized, adding to the turmoil and hardship of the Lebanese people,” Guterres added.
Guterres made his remarks during a meeting of the International Support Group for Lebanon held on the sidelines of the UN General Assembly meetings.
 

Lebanese maneuvers produce same mediocre results
Dr. Dania Koleilat Khatib/Arab News/September 24/2020
In a press briefing on Monday, ailing Lebanese President Michel Aoun, who had problems reading a scripted speech properly, answered a journalist who asked where the country was heading to if a new government was not formed. He answered with a cold tone: “We are heading to hell.”
The gimmick of the formation of a new government will not save Lebanon, as French President Emmanuel Macron is promoting. The problems and the solutions do not end with Prime Minister-designate Mustapha Adib or his predecessor Hassan Diab and their Cabinets, as both men are a cover-up for a corrupt power structure that uses every maneuver possible to stay afloat.
The first maneuver is the apparent rift between the Free Patriotic Movement (FPM) and Hezbollah. The president’s party said it refuses Hezbollah’s claim to the finance portfolio in the next government, stating that the different ministries are not dedicated to a particular confession. However, this show of integrity will not fool a sharp observer. The accord that laid the foundation of the Hezbollah-Aoun alliance will not be broken anytime soon. The FPM is a client of Hezbollah and it is impossible for Aoun to maintain his entourage and his base of supporters without the financial support of the Iran-sponsored group.
Nevertheless, as the ghost of potential sanctions comes to haunt Gebran Bassil, Aoun’s son-in-law, the apple of his eye and the head of his political party, some distancing — at least publicly — and a controlled feud are deemed necessary. This will allow for the formation of a government: A government in which Aoun will have his share and that will have the blessing of Macron, who is supposed to offer legitimacy for this botched project among the international community.
Although Macron knows that none of the parties are really sincere about relinquishing power to allow for the formation of a real government of technocrats that will implement reforms, he still wants to score a win. If he admits defeat in his Lebanon initiative, he will lose clout on the international scene, as well at home. Macron cannot afford a loss of political capital, especially since he is counting on playing a more prominent role in the region as he seeks to lead European politics in the Middle East.
The Hezbollah-Amal Movement alliance has insisted on keeping the Ministry of Finance, hence positioning itself as the agent and legal guardian of the Shiite community. This meant another maneuver was needed. Former Prime Minister Saad Hariri presented an initiative that chimed with the Amal-Hezbollah demands, as he suggested that the finance portfolio be handed to a Shiite minister who would be named by the acting prime minister, rather than the Shiite alliance. They at first refused the initiative, only to later give positive signs and encourage France to push back the latest deadline for government formation that was supposed to expire on Wednesday evening.
One reason why Hezbollah and Amal want a minister of their own is to keep quiet some of their deals with the government. Though Hezbollah has funding from Iran, it has its own companies that are contracted by the Lebanese government. The last round of US sanctions targeted Hezbollah-linked companies. It will not want a finance minister that it cannot control and might uncover the dubious dealings that have been going on for years.
While waiting for the November presidential election, American policy is marked by indifference and a hands-off approach. It is limited to imposing sanctions on Hezbollah and its acolytes while taking a step back to watch the system that harbors the group crumble. So, with this American retrenchment and with the French president looking for a win rather than substance, a true solution is very unlikely. The next three months are leading Lebanon to hell regardless of whether or not a new government is formed. Economists are expecting that, with the depletion of the foreign reserves, the Lebanese pound’s exchange rate with the US dollar will skyrocket, subsidies on essential goods will be lifted and the country will hit rock bottom.
To add to that, the country is witnessing occasional explosions, like the one seen at a weapons depot in Ain Qana this week. Analysts are saying the explosion seemed to carry the imprints of Israel. The problem is that, if Israel is planning to target all the arms warehouses in the country, it will greatly complicate the difficulties Lebanon is currently experiencing.
While Aoun on Wednesday gave a speech to the UN General Assembly and thanked the different heads of states that gave donations following last month’s tragic Beirut blast, he does not realize that Lebanon is not at the center of any regional player’s policy and leaving it to fail will not make any leader lose sleep, except for Macron perhaps. Nobody is really ready to bail out Lebanon unless it conducts reforms, but the current structure creates an inertia preventing that from happening. France might intervene with some aid for the upcoming weak government; however, this will only prolong the suffering of the Lebanese by slowing the meltdown process, rather than reversing it.
Unless there is a radical change, the country is indeed on its way to hell, as it was so bluntly put by Aoun, even if Adib does form a government.
*Dr. Dania Koleilat Khatib is a specialist in US-Arab relations with a focus on lobbying. She is the co-founder of the Research Center for Cooperation and Peace Building (RCCP), a Lebanese NGO focused on Track II. She is also an affiliated scholar with the Issam Fares Institute for Public Policy and International Affairs at the American University of Beirut.

New Explosion in Lebanon at Site That Belongs To Affiliate of Hezbollah
Tony Badran/FDD/September 24/2020

طوني بدران/مؤسسة الدفاع عن الديموقراطية:انفجار جديد في لبنان في موقع تابع لحزب الله

http://eliasbejjaninews.com/archives/90702/tony-badran-fdd-new-explosion-in-lebanon-at-site-that-belongs-to-affiliate-of-hezbollah-%d8%b7%d9%88%d9%86%d9%8a-%d8%a8%d8%af%d8%b1%d8%a7%d9%86-%d9%85%d8%a4%d8%b3%d8%b3%d8%a9-%d8%a7%d9%84%d8%af%d9%81/

There was a large explosion in southern Lebanon yesterday (22 sept/2020) in a built-up residential area controlled by Hezbollah. The explosion underscores the risks associated with Hezbollah’s de facto control of Lebanon and the problem the terror group’s symbiotic relationship with internationally-funded state organs poses for U.S. policy.
The cause of the explosion in the southern town of Ain Qana remains unclear. The nature of the site is also uncertain, although Hezbollah admitted the site belongs to “Peace Generations Organization for Demining” (jam’iyat ajyal as-salam li naz’ al-algham), which it said used the site to store old mines and unexploded ordnance, pending proper disposal. Some reports from Lebanon claimed the site was an arms depot.
Peace Generations is a Hezbollah affiliate that began operating in 2009 as a Lebanese twin of the Immen Sazan Omran Pars in Iran, which funded it. The launch ceremony for Peace Generations was hosted by the head of Hezbollah’s parliamentary bloc, Muhammad Raad, a Specially Designated Global Terrorist. Those in attendance included Brigadier General Muhammad Fahmi, a representative of the commander of the Lebanese Armed Forces (LAF) then serving as director of the Lebanon Mine Action Center (LMAC). Fahmi is currently the caretaker interior minister. A delegation from the United Nations Interim Force in Lebanon (UNIFIL), which supports LMAC, also attended the launch ceremony. Peace Generations was licensed by Lebanon’s Ministry of Interior and Municipalities in 2008 and works directly with LMAC, which operates within the defense ministry.
Mahmoud Rahhal, who headed Peace Generations until his death last July, attributed the organization’s founding to a speech by Hezbollah’s secretary general, Hassan Nasrallah, “in which he declared Hezbollah’s support for the sides that will be working in this field.” This origin story mirrors that of another Hezbollah affiliate, Green Without Borders, a self-described environmental group with which Peace Generations has a close relationship. The two organizations are constantly present at Hezbollah functions. So too is the Islamic Health Association, an affiliate which participates in Peace Generations’ training exercises and operations.
One of the first such exercises was conducted under the supervision of Hezbollah’s then-commander of the southern sector, Nabil Qaouq, who subsequently served as deputy head of Hezbollah’s Executive Council. Hezbollah officials also preside over anniversaries of Peace Generations’ founding, as former Hezbollah minister Muhammad Fneish did in 2015. Other party officials participate as well, such as Hussein Rahhal, the head of the party’s Electronic Media Unit, and Ahmad Safieddine, a previous commander in the southern sector who now holds the position of assistant to the head of the Executive Council.
Representatives of the LAF and LMAC, who liaise with UNIFIL, also attend, and even presented Peace Generations’ late founder, Mahmoud Rahhal, with an appreciation award.
Despite the uncertainty surrounding yesterday’s explosion, Hezbollah clearly stored weapons in a civilian area, an activity with implications under U.S. law. In December 2018, Congress unanimously passed the Sanctioning the Use of Civilians as Defenseless Shields Act (PL 115-348), the result of legislation originally authored by Senator Ted Cruz (R-TX) and Representative Mike Gallagher (R-WI). The law requires the president to impose sanctions on members of Hezbollah or anyone acting on Hezbollah’s behalf who “knowingly and materially supports, orders, controls, directs, or otherwise engages in” the use of civilians as human shields.
At the very least, the United States should consider Peace Generations as a possible sanctions target, along with Nabil Qaouq and Ahmad Safieddine. The United States – which has provided assistance to the LAF’s LMAC – should freeze all LAF assistance until Washington can verify that the LMAC is no longer collaborating with Peace Generations. The United States should also request that any assistance to LMAC from the UNIFIL budget, to which the United States contributes, be suspended.
UNIFIL’s operations in Hezbollah’s stronghold have reduced the force to an aid agency working with and supporting Hezbollah’s municipalities and overall environment. The United States missed an opportunity to revoke UNIFIL’s Security Council mandate this August. Washington would do well to terminate it the next time it comes up for renewal.
*Tony Badran is a research fellow at the Foundation for Defense of Democracies (FDD), where he also contributes to FDD’s Center on Economic and Financial Power (CEFP) and Center on Military and Political Power (CMPP). For more analysis from Tony, CEFP, and CMPP, please subscribe HERE. Follow Tony on Twitter @AcrossTheBay. Follow FDD on Twitter @FDD and @FDD_CEFP and @FDD_CMPP. FDD is a Washington, DC-based, nonpartisan research institute focusing on national security and foreign policy.

Hezbollah Finance in Lebanon...A Primary-Source Review
Tony Badran and Emanuele Ottolenghi/FDD/September 24/2020

دراسة موثقة من مؤسسة الدفاع عن الديموقراطية كتبها طوني بدران وغيمانويل اوتولنجي تحت عنوان: مراجعة أولية لطرق ووسائل ومؤسسات وبنوك تمويل حزب الله
Click Here To read this study on the FDD website
https://www.fdd.org/analysis/2020/09/23/hezbollah-finance-in-lebanon/
INTRODUCTION
The government of Lebanon seeks an international bailout to save its financial system, which will require an estimated $93 billion rescue.1 The amount needed is astronomical. But even if a rescue were feasible, other systemic challenges remain. Lebanon’s financial system is rife with illicit finance. It is a conduit for money laundering schemes that fund Hezbollah and its nefarious activities, generating billions of dollars per year for the terrorist group.
Hezbollah’s illicit financial activities draw upon formal and informal channels. Identifying those channels is not a simple matter. U.S. intelligence agencies investigating Hezbollah’s criminal network do not even have a full picture of its revenue streams. Still, certain basics are known:
Hezbollah generates significant proceeds in cash from criminal activities. The terrorist group relies on complex trade-based money laundering schemes spanning from South America to Africa to the United States. But for Hezbollah to repatriate this money, the funds must transit the formal Lebanese and international financial systems.
The purpose of this research memo is to highlight, drawing from open sources, how the Lebanese and international financial systems have become conduits for Hezbollah’s illicit financial activities. This memo identifies cases that illustrate how Lebanon’s Hezbollah laundromat works, with the Lebanese banking sector and political elite at its center.
HEZBOLLAH’S NODES IN LEBANON’S FINANCIAL SYSTEM
In recent years, the U.S. Department of the Treasury has sanctioned numerous Lebanese financial institutions linked to Hezbollah. These include:
1-Jammal Trust Bank and its subsidiaries, Trust Insurance S.A.L., Trust Insurance Services S.A.L., and Trust Life Insurance Company S.A.L. (designated under Executive Order 13224 on August 29, 2019);
2-Chams Exchange Company SAL and its owner, Kassem Chams (designated under Executive Order 13224 on April 11, 2019);
3-Kassem Rmeiti & Co. For Exchange (designated as a foreign financial institution of primary money laundering concern under Section 311 of the USA PATRIOT Act on April 23, 2013);
4-Halawi Exchange (designated as a foreign financial institution of primary money laundering concern under Section 311 of the USA PATRIOT Act on April 23, 2013);
5-Hassan Ayash Exchange (designated under Executive Order 13224 on January 26, 2011);
6-Ellissa Exchange Company (designated under Executive Order 13224 on January 26, 2011);7
7-New Line Exchange Trust Co. (designated under Executive Order 13224 on January 26, 2011);
8-The Lebanese-Canadian Bank (designated as a foreign financial institution of primary money laundering concern under Section 311 of the USA PATRIOT Act on February 26, 2011).9
Relatedly, the U.S. Treasury Department designated Lebanese banker and businessman Kassem Hejeij in 2015. According to Treasury, Hejeij helped open Hezbollah bank accounts and provided credit to Hezbollah procurement companies.10 Hejeij was chairman of Middle East and Africa Bank (MEAB). After his designation, Hejeij resigned and his son assumed his place.11 Treasury did not sanction MEAB, presumably to avoid destabilizing Lebanon’s banking sector.
In addition, U.S. designations and court cases have implicated a number of individuals in money laundering schemes that allegedly used Lebanese banks as conduits for illicit finance. These include:
*In 2012, Treasury sanctioned Ibrahim Chibli, the Abbassieh branch manager for Lebanon’s Fenicia Bank, for providing material support to Abbas Hussein Harb, who laundered money through Fenicia Bank for the Ayman Joumaa money laundering network.12.
*In 2015, the U.S. Drug Enforcement Administration (DEA) filed a criminal complaint against French-Lebanese dual national Iman Kobeissi, accusing her of conspiring to launder drug money through Lebanon’s BLOM Bank.13 Kobeissi was subsequently convicted as part of a string of cases nicknamed Project Cassandra.14.
*In 2018, Treasury designated Mohammad Ibrahim Bazzi for providing material support to Hezbollah’s money laundering networks.15 Bazzi sued the U.S. Treasury Department to overturn his designation. In a 2020 court filing, his lawyer indicated that one of Bazzi’s companies held an account at Lebanon’s Fransa Bank.16
Treasury has also designated other foreign actors for using Lebanon’s financial system to skirt U.S. financial sanctions on behalf of other illicit actors:
*On June 21, 2011, Treasury sanctioned the Beirut-based North Africa Commercial Bank, owned by the Libyan Arab Foreign Bank, an entity associated at the time with Libya’s Qaddafi regime.17.
*On August 10, 2011, Treasury sanctioned the Commercial Bank of Syria and its Beirut-based subsidiary, the Syrian Lebanese Commercial Bank (under Executive Order 13572).18.
The U.S. Treasury Department has also designated dozens of Lebanese companies used by Hezbollah and its supporters to launder money. The role of Lebanon’s financial sector in these activities is not always evident. The majority of U.S. sanctions and court records name companies in Lebanon implicated in these schemes but do not identify the financial institutions they use. Nevertheless, the implications are grave for the Lebanese banking sector.
Of course, Hezbollah’s illicit financial networks also include institutions outside Lebanon, including in the Gulf, the Far East, Europe, Latin America, and the United States. But even in a scenario wherein the majority of Hezbollah’s funds sit in banks overseas, some funds ultimately return to Hezbollah’s domestic coffers.
HEZBOLLAH’S LAUNDROMAT
Hezbollah relies on a global network of couriers, financiers, businesses, and financial institutions to launder money from organized crime and drugs. These activities generate commissions for Hezbollah. In addition, Hezbollah directly engages in criminal activities, such as drug production and trafficking, human trafficking, gun smuggling, illicit wildlife trafficking, illegal logging, and blood diamonds. The repatriation of funds from these activities is complex, but patterns can be discerned from the aforementioned designations and court documents.
MONEY-EXCHANGE HOUSES TO BANKS
Lebanese money-exchange houses, or “currency exchanges,” are known to move money in bulk for multiple clients, and their transactions are often nearly impossible to trace. Their accounting relies on the hawala system, which moves money via an informal compensation mechanism between currency-exchange nodes. Multiple court cases and Treasury designations point to currency exchanges as key players in Hezbollah’s illicit financial networks.
EXAMPLE 1:
In April 2019, the U.S. Treasury Department sanctioned Lebanese national Kassem Mohamed Chams and his company, Chams Exchange Company SAL (a.k.a. Ali Mohamed Chams and Partner). According to Treasury, “Kassem Chams and his international money laundering network move tens of millions of dollars a month in illicit narcotics proceeds on behalf of drug kingpins and facilitate money movements for Hizballah.” According to Treasury, the money flowed from Australia, Europe, and Latin America – including Brazil, Colombia, and Venezuela – on behalf of a U.S.-designated Colombian cartel as well as the drug-money laundering network linked to Ayman Joumaa.19 U.S. authorities indicted Ayman Joumaa in 2011.20 The U.S. Treasury Department sanctioned him the same year for coordinating “the transportation, distribution, and sale of multi-ton shipments of cocaine from South America and has laundered the proceeds from the sale of cocaine in Europe and the Middle East, according to investigations led by the DEA. Operating in Lebanon, West Africa, Panama and Colombia, Joumaa and his organization launder proceeds from their illicit activities – as much as $200 million per month – through various channels, including bulk cash smuggling operations and Lebanese exchange houses.”21
French Court records identify Chams Exchange as a key partner of Hezbollah’s Europe-based network and one of the largest “compensation chambers” for money laundering operations around the world.22
EXAMPLE 2:
Court records from Nader Farhat’s pending cases in Miami and New York,23 alongside evidence seized by Paraguayan authorities (not yet publicly available) and provided to the Foundation for Defense of Democracies (FDD),24 allege that Farhat offered his money laundering services to a DEA source during a meeting at Cambios Unique S.A., Farhat’s money-exchange house in Ciudad del Este, Paraguay. According to the complaint for the Miami case, “Farhat said that he charges 1.5% for money leaving from Ciudad Del Este; 2% for money leaving from Asuncion, Paraguay; and 3.5% for cash received in the United States or Brazil.” Farhat allegedly offered to pick up $1 million in drug money in Miami every 15 days.25
Evidence seized during raids on Farhat’s offices and obtained by FDD from a confidential source in May 2018 also shows that Cambios Unique S.A. had an account with a money-exchange house in Curitiba, Brazil.26 A confidential source in the banking sector confirmed to FDD that another London-based money-exchange house was the conduit for payments between a U.S. company controlled by Farhat’s co-defendant, Diya Salame, and a Paraguay-based company implicated in the import of counterfeit U.S. brands.27
TRADE-BASED MONEY LAUNDERING
Once money is injected into the formal financial system, Hezbollah transfers value back to its criminal clients by purchasing goods, selling those goods, and remitting proceeds from merchandise sales to the group’s clients (minus commission). This process generates a steady paper trail. Evidence suggests that Hezbollah financiers use classic money laundering techniques, such as under- and over-invoicing, tax evasion, manipulating the weight and value of goods, mischaracterizing merchandise, or simply creating fake paperwork for nonexistent transactions to justify money transfers.
EXAMPLE 1:
As Treasury noted in its aforementioned 2011 designation of Ayman Joumaa, Joumaa laundered up to $200 million per month for drug cartels. Joumaa sent the28 cartels’ cash proceeds to West African used-car businesses, which would then buy used cars from hundreds of dealers in the United States and Europe. After re-selling the cars, Joumaa wired revenues to Lebanese money exchanges held by the now-shuttered Lebanese-Canadian Bank in Beirut. Companies involved in the scheme bought commodities in Asia on behalf of Latin American fronts, using the same financial institutions. Once delivered to buyers in Colombia and Venezuela, the merchandise was sold through retail businesses and the proceeds returned to the cartels, minus commission.29 The 2015 criminal complaint against Iman Kobeissi confirms that Hezbollah financiers continued to rely on used-car businesses in West Africa to launder illicit proceeds, even after Joumaa’s designation and indictment.30 Joumaa’s attempt to have his designation removed also failed. Treasury’s Office of Foreign Assets Control declined to delist him in 2018.31 Joumaa unsuccessfully sued Treasury and had his motion denied in April 2019.32
EXAMPLE 2:
In 2018, U.S. authorities arrested Ali Kassir, a U.S.-Lebanese dual national recently convicted in Miami.33 Kassir is presumed to be part of the Nader Farhat money-laundering scheme. Kassir bought discounted electronics from a Hong Kong-based company owned by a Lebanese national whose cousin, based in Ciudad del Este, would then buy them from Kassir.34
Court records indicate that some of Kassir’s merchandise was counterfeit – including fake Apple accessories. Acting as an unlicensed money remitter, Kassir used his company’s bank account as a pass-through for third-party transactions, ultimately laundering up to $70 million in three years. Some of the money he helped launder moved by courier (cash in suitcases), but most of the payments were wire transfers transiting Florida branches of U.S. banks.35
EXAMPLE 3:
In November 2019, U.S. authorities arrested Diya Salame in Miami. Nader Farhat’s superseding indictment names Salame as a co-defendant. According to Salame’s criminal complaint,
Salame received millions of dollars in third-party wires sent by intermediaries he knew were engaging in money transmitting for a fee, unrelated to the sale or purchase of goods from Salame, to obscure the true origin of the funds. Salame and his co-conspirators created false invoices to conceal the fact that no legitimate goods were being sold to the third-party companies or entities from which Salame was receiving money.
These transactions allegedly included sales of mobile phones to businesses located in the Tri-Border Area of Argentina, Brazil, and Paraguay and linked to the Lebanese community there. Paraguayan customs records from 2019 show declared imports of 8.6 million mobile phones, worth a combined $1.3 billion.36 Salame, according to the criminal complaint, received electronic payments from both U.S.-based and overseas companies.37
These examples illustrate the modus operandi of Hezbollah’s illicit financial network. The group’s financiers use both formal and informal channels to move money globally on behalf of criminal syndicates, generating revenue for Hezbollah in the process. It remains unclear how much money flows back into Lebanon’s financial system via formal banking operations versus cash couriers.
PORTS OF ENTRY
Lebanon’s financial crisis has shined a spotlight on the smuggling of subsidized commodities such as diesel oil and wheat flour across the border into Syria through illegal crossings.38 While overland crossings are essential for Hezbollah, the terror group relies equally on Lebanon’s official ports of entry – the Beirut-Rafic Hariri International Airport and the Port of Beirut – to import goods into the country. In its 2019 designation of Wafiq Safa, the head of Hezbollah’s security apparatus, the U.S. Treasury Department referenced Hezbollah’s use of Lebanon’s ports of entry: “Safa has exploited Lebanon’s ports and border crossings to smuggle contraband and facilitate travel on behalf of Hizballah … while also draining valuable import duties and revenue away from the Lebanese government.”39
THE BEIRUT-RAFIC HARIRI INTERNATIONAL AIRPORT
Hezbollah enjoys access to Lebanon’s international airport by maintaining loyal officials in the airport security apparatus. In fact, in May 2008, Hezbollah used force to prevent opponents from removing the pro-Hezbollah head of airport security, Lebanese Armed Forces Brigadier General Wafiq Ghoucair.40 Subsequent U.S. court filings reveal the extent of Hezbollah’s access and control.
In recorded conversations between Hezbollah procurement agent Iman Kobeissi and an undercover DEA agent, Kobeissi explained that Hezbollah agents could meet the agent at the airport to discuss the details of a proposed transaction. She added that the agent could “send an airplane full of things” to the airport, where airport authorities “will let you land without … anybody knowing. They will send you a clearance. They are professionals there.”41
The DEA’s Operation Cedar42 exposed how luxury goods, watches, and cars, purchased with proceeds from Hezbollah’s drug trade, entered Beirut via the airport. According to court documents, a Lebanese Armed Forces brigadier general commanding the airport’s Inspections Branch acted as a facilitator,43 similar to what Kobeissi revealed to the undercover DEA agent.
Recent U.S. Treasury Department designations of key Hezbollah business figures also allude to the Beirut airport. The 2019 designation of Saleh Assi, a money launderer and Hezbollah supporter based in the Democratic Republic of the Congo, noted that revenue “generated by Assi’s [tax evasion and money laundering] schemes is delivered to Lebanon via bulk cash transfers.”44
THE PORT OF BEIRUT
The explosion of ammonium nitrate at the Port of Beirut in August generated sensational headlines. However, illicit operations at the Port of Beirut have spurred a number of inquiries in Lebanon in recent years. Like the airport, the port’s official apparatus assists in Hezbollah’s import operations. A 2013 report in the Lebanese daily Al-Joumhouria noted that Hezbollah “considers that the port and the airport belong to it, and it brings through them whatever it wants in terms of containers.”45
A 2015 report by the Beirut-based daily As-Safir summarized this system: “[T]he mafias of smuggling and forging customs manifests include brokers, traders and customs clearing agents who belong politically to rival forces, but who cooperate and complement each other in the ‘market,’ as part of tightly managed, organized networks.” This involves multiple administrative levels. As the report explained, “These mafias have ‘partners’ in official departments who divide tasks according to a ‘pyramid’ structure, which starts with political cover and the highest administrative level. It proceeds to include employees at the middle and regular levels, and ends with members and heads of official agencies.” The report estimated that evasion of tariffs and excise taxes totaled $1.2 billion per year.46 A separate 2019 report estimated that manipulation of manifests for imported cars and car parts at the port had resulted in evaded taxes and tariffs worth hundreds of millions of dollars.47
Hezbollah uses other illicit means to evade other port fees. Al-Joumhouria quoted a clearing agent explaining that to avoid the 5 percent fee on televisions imported from China, for example, the importer alters the manifest and lists the televisions as computer monitors, which are exempt.48 The Al-Joumhouria report further noted that surveillance cameras were either non-operational or were facing walls so that illegal activity could be obscured.49
THE PORT OF LATAKIA, SYRIA
In 2009, Hezbollah procurement agents Dani Tarraf and Hassan Hodroj revealed to FBI undercover agents and sources Hezbollah’s unrestricted access to Syria’s Port of Latakia. Tarraf explained that Hezbollah “controlled the port,” meaning that “secrecy was guaranteed, because all cameras could be shut down.” According to Tarraf, who was part of a plot to ship weapons from Philadelphia, “no shipping paperwork was required at all once the items reached Syria.”50 Hodroj, meanwhile, described the port as “ours,” adding that Hezbollah “brings anything it wants into that Port.”51
According to a 2015 Al-Joumhouria report, Hezbollah used Latakia to smuggle commercial goods into Lebanon. After passing through Latakia, the goods traveled overland through the Syrian border town of al-Qusayr – which Hezbollah has directly controlled since 2013 – and into Lebanon’s Hermel region, a Hezbollah stronghold. From Hermel, Hezbollah distributes the smuggled goods in the Lebanese market.52
Last year, Arab media documented the flooding of cheap Iranian steel into the Lebanese market. According to some reports, the shipments came through the Port of Beirut or the Port of Tripoli.53 Other reports noted that Latakia was another port destination for the Iranian cargo, which was then transferred overland into Lebanon and distributed at below-market rates, reportedly by traders close to Hezbollah.54
LEBANON’S BANKS
Hezbollah has endeavored to distance itself from Lebanon’s financial collapse. The group has tried to pin the charges of wastefulness and corruption on other members of the political class and on the banks, while presenting Hezbollah as an anti-corruption force. This characterization grossly distorts the reality of Hezbollah’s relationship with Lebanon’s banking sector.
In August 2019, the U.S. Treasury Department sanctioned Jammal Trust Bank (JTB). While JTB is one of only two Lebanese banks to be sanctioned, the banking sector’s exposure to Hezbollah’s operations goes far beyond these institutions. This is clear from previous U.S. designations.
In October 2018, Treasury designated Muhammad Abdallah al-Amin for his role in supporting Adham Tabaja, a co-manager of Hezbollah’s business affairs component (BAC) who was also under U.S. sanctions.55 Treasury accused Amin of concealing funds for Tabaja, serving “as a liaison between Tabaja and banking officials,” and assisting “Tabaja in circumventing the impact of sanctions.”56 In July 2019, the U.S. Treasury Department designated Amin Sherri, a Hezbollah parliamentarian. According to Treasury, Sherri pressured financial institutions to assist Hezbollah and also “facilitated Tabaja’s access to Lebanese banks.”57
These designations did not identify specific banks aside from JTB, which Treasury asserted had “facilitated hundreds of millions of dollars in transactions through the Lebanese financial system.”58 Treasury’s language makes it clear, however, that other banks are repositories for Hezbollah’s illicit finance.
Claims in civil litigation further assert that Hezbollah has a significant presence in the Lebanese banking system. The most comprehensive claims appear in a civil lawsuit filed in 2019 in the Eastern District of New York (Bartlett et al. v. Société Générale de Banque au Liban et al., or Bartlett) by families of Americans killed or maimed by Hezbollah operations in Iraq between 2004 and 2011.59 The complaint alleges that 12 Lebanese commercial banks “knowingly provid[ed] extensive and sustained material support, including financial services to Hezbollah and its companies, social welfare organizations, operatives, and facilitators.”60
The claims are based on transactions by customers, some with known ties to Hezbollah, and others with alleged links to the terrorist group. The complaint identifies dozens of companies allegedly controlled by Hezbollah at that time or owned by Hezbollah financiers who used the Lebanese banking sector to conduct business. The banks deny the allegations and seek to dismiss the case.
Since the filing of Bartlett in 2019, the U.S. Treasury Department has designated one of the defendant banks, the aforementioned Jammal Trust Bank. Treasury subsequently designated other persons and companies named in the lawsuit, as noted in the list below:
BANK AUDI
The Bartlett complaint alleges that Bank Audi maintained accounts for companies directly controlled by Hezbollah or owned by its financiers. These companies allegedly included:
1-Ovlas Trading (Offshore) SAL and Ovlas Trading SA, the latter of which is owned by Kassem Tajideen, whom the U.S. Treasury Department designated in 2009.61 Treasury sanctioned Ovlas Trading SA in 2010.62
2-Spectrum Investment Group Holding SAL, owned by Hezbollah member and financier Ali Youssef Charara. Treasury sanctioned both Charara and Spetrum in 2016.63.
3-Teltac Worldwide Incorporated (Offshore) SAL, a company in which Ali Youssef Charara was listed as chairman, director general, and authorized signatory.64
4-Premier Investment Group SAL Offshore, owned by Hezbollah financier and Specially Designated Global Terrorist (SDGT) Mohammad Bazzi.
5-Inter Aliment SAL Offshore, owned by Saleh Assi, a facilitator, money launderer, and partner of Adham Tabaja, the designated co-manager of Hezbollah’s BAC. Assi was designated in 2019, along with Inter Aliment SAL Offshore.65
6-Special Operations Group SAL, a company founded by Kamel Amhaz, whom Treasury sanctioned in 2014 for his role in Hezbollah’s procurement network.66 The Lebanese corporate registry currently lists the company as “under dissolution.”67.
7-Info Trust SAL and Info Trust SARL, companies owned by the Halawi network of money launderers.68 Treasury designated Halawi Exchange Co. in 2013 for helping Hezbollah transfer and launder illicit funds.69
8-Atlas Holding SAL, a company subordinate to Hezbollah’s Executive Council and controlled by the Martyrs Foundation, one of the oldest and most important Hezbollah fundraising and service institutions, which Treasury designated in 2007.70 Treasury sanctioned Atlas Holding in 2020.71 Bank Audi also allegedly maintained an account for Medical Equipments and Drugs International Corporation SAL (MEDIC), which was included in Treasury’s 2020 designation of Atlas Holding. 72.
BANQUE DU LIBAN ET D’OUTRE MER (BLOM) BANK
The Bartlett complaint alleges BLOM Bank maintained accounts for some of the same companies as Bank Audi – Ovlas Trading SA, Spectrum Investment Group Holding SAL, and Teltac Worldwide Incorporated (Offshore) SAL – as well as other entities. Those additional entities allegedly included:
1-Ellissa Exchange Company, a money-exchange house that laundered money for drug kingpin Ayman Joumaa’s network. Treasury designated Joumaa and Ellissa Exchange in 2011.73
2-Mustapha Fawaz, whom Treasury designated in 2015, having identified him as a significant donor to Hezbollah and a member of its external security organization, active in Nigeria.74.
3-Car Care Center (CCC), a subsidiary of Adham Tabaja’s Al-Inmaa Group for Tourism Works. Treasury designated CCC in 2015, along with Adham Tabaja, Al-Inmaa Group, and Husayn Faour, a Hezbollah member who worked with Tabaja and who managed CCC. Treasury identified CCC as a front company for Hezbollah.75.
4-Beton Plus SAL, a company founded by Salah Abdul Rauf Izzedin,76 a business associate of Adham Tabaja who sits on the board of a company (called Green City) founded by Tabaja.77.
5-Arch Consulting SARL, formerly known as Research Institute of Jihad al-Bina. Jihad al-Bina is Hezbollah’s construction arm, which Treasury designated in 2007.78 Arch Consulting’s co-founder and director general, Walid Ali Jaber, a former Jihad al-Bina director, owns 40 percent of the company. The company’s other co-founder, Muhammad Haydar Qanso, who owns 30 percent, was a partner in two companies founded by the former commander of Iran’s Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps-Quds Force (IRGC-QF) and director of the Iranian Committee for the Reconstruction of Lebanon, Hassan Shateri (a.k.a. Hessam Khoshnevis),79 who was designated in 201080 and was killed in Syria in 2013.81 The Treasury Department designated Arch Consulting on September 17, 2020. Treasury’s press release identified the company as subordinate to Hezbollah’s Executive Council. It added that as of 2019, Arch Consulting “won bids for Lebanese government contracts worth millions of dollars.” The company “sent some profits from these contracts to Hizballah’s Executive Council.”82.
BANQUE LIBANO-FRANÇAISE
The Bartlett complaint further alleges that Banque Libano-Française maintained accounts for some of the same companies as Bank Audi and/or BLOM Bank, such as Ovlas Trading SA, Inter Aliment SAL Offshore, and a subsidiary of Al-Inmaa Group for Tourism Works. Other Hezbollah-linked companies and persons with accounts at Banque Libano-Française allegedly included:
1-Al-Inmaa Engineering and Contracting SARL, a subsidiary of Adham Tabaja’s Al-Inmaa Group for Tourism Works, which Treasury designated in 2015. Treasury described Al-Inmaa as “one of the largest and most successful real estate businesses in Lebanon since the late 1990s,” which Hezbollah used “as an investment mechanism.”83.
2-United Company for Insurance Services SARL, an insurance and pension funding company co-founded by Adham Tabaja, who was also listed as its managing director.
3-Hoda for Touristic Services & Management Holding SAL, which listed Hezbollah member and financier Ali Youssef Charara as a co-founder and shareholder.84.
4-REEM Pharmaceutical SAL, a pharmaceutical company operating in Iraq and Kuwait that is owned and controlled by Muhammad Abd al-Amir Farhat. The U.S. Treasury Department designated both Farhat and REEM Pharmaceutical in 2017, identifying Farhat as an associate of Beirut-based IRGC-QF official Hasan Dehghan Ebrahimi, who was also designated.85.
5-Primo International SAL Offshore, a company co-founded by Nazem Said Ahmad and part of the Ahmad clan’s money laundering network.86 Treasury designated Nazem Ahmad in 2019, identifying him as a Hezbollah financier and money launderer in the blood diamond trade.87 The Bartlett complaint further alleges, citing Lebanese government findings, that when Hezbollah financier Nazem Ahmad’s personal account at the Lebanese-Canadian Bank (LCB) was closed in 2011, the account migrated to BLOM Bank and Bank Audi, among others.88
*Saleh Assi was designated by Treasury for laundering money through Nazem Said Ahmad’s diamond businesses and for facilitating payments to Adham Tabaja. Assi was also a partner of Kassem Tajideen and Muhammad Bazzi.89 Based on Lebanese government findings (according to the Bartlett plaintiffs), some of Assi’s assets at LCB migrated, following the bank’s 2011 closure, to Banque Libano-Française, MEAB, and Fransabank, among others.90.
FRANSABANK
The Bartlett complaint further alleges that following LCB’s 2011 demise, Fransabank assumed “a substantial portion of LCB’s blacklisted accounts and business with Hezbollah.”91 The complaint claims that Fransabank maintained accounts and provided services for the following entities:
1-Signum International Holding SAL, a company owned by Ali Youssef Charara, a Hezbollah member and financier.92.
2-Compu House SARL, a technology importer founded and majority-owned by Sultan Khalifa As’ad, Hezbollah’s director of municipal affairs and deputy to the chairman of Hezbollah’s Executive Council Hashem Safieddine (SDGT). The Treasury Department designated As’ad on September 17, 2020. As part of his portfolio, As’ad is responsible for “dozens of companies subordinate to the Executive Council,” and provides “project guidance to these companies and was involved in their financial and legal issues.” 93.
3-Euro African Group Ltd., a petroleum and petroleum products company in The Gambia, controlled by U.S.-designated Hezbollah financier Mohammad Bazzi. The U.S. Treasury Department designated the company in 2018.94
Wanour Real Estate SAL, a company founded and controlled by Mohammad Bazzi.95.
4-Kassem Hejeij, the aforementioned sanctioned Hezbollah financier.96
In addition, the Bartlett complaint, citing Lebanese government findings, claims that accounts for the following individuals and entities migrated from LCB to Fransabank:97 Saleh Assi (SDGT); Inter Aliment SAL Offshore (SDGT); Mohammad Bazzi (SDGT); Global Trading Group, a company owned by Bazzi and designated in 2018;98 and Phenicia Shipping Offshore SAL, a Lebanon-based company Treasury designated in 2011 for being owned or controlled by members of the Ayman Joumaa money laundering network.99
BYBLOS BANK
The Bartlett complaint alleges that Byblos Bank held accounts for “a wide spectrum of Hezbollah entities and operatives.”100 These include, inter alia, corporations owned or controlled by the aforementioned Atlas Holding SAL, which is controlled by Hezbollah’s Martyrs Foundation and was designated in February 2020 along with its CEO, Kassem Mohammad Ali Bazzi.101 Other companies for which Byblos Bank allegedly held accounts include:
1-Medical Equipments and Drugs International Corporation SAL (MEDIC), which sells pharmaceuticals and other medical products. Kassem Bazzi serves as its chairman, director general, and authorized signatory. The U.S. Treasury Department designated MEDIC in 2020 for being owned or controlled by Atlas Holding.102.
2-Al-Amana SARL, which owns gas stations in Lebanon and is owned and controlled by Atlas Holding on behalf of the Martyrs Foundation. Kassem Bazzi is listed as founder, director general, authorized signatory, and shareholder.103 Treasury designated Al-Amana in 2020.104.
3-Global Touristic Services SAL, another company owned and controlled by Atlas Holding on behalf of the Martyrs Foundation. Kassem Bazzi and Jawad Nur al-Din (a.k.a. Shawqi Mohammad Shafiq), whom Treasury designated along with Bazzi and Atlas Holding in February 2020, are listed as founders and board members of the company. Jihad Mohammad Qanso, an associate of Adham Tabaja, whom Treasury designated in 2018 for assisting Tabaja “in accounting matters, including resolving bank account issues,”105 is listed as the company’s auditor.106.
4-Société Orientale Libanaise d’Investissement et Développement SAL (SOLID), which lists Atlas Holding among its founders and Jihad Qanso, the U.S-designated Tabaja associate, as its auditor. The chairman of SOLID’s board is the U.S.-designated Lebanese national Hassan Ali Tajideen,107 who is the executive manager of Tajco, a shareholder in Tajco SAE,108 and a son of designated Hezbollah financier Ali Mohammad Tajideen.109.
5-Afrimex (Offshore) SAL, which is part of the Tajideen Africa network and was founded by Youssef Mohammad Tajideen, brother of the designated Hezbollah financiers Kassem and Ali. Other members of the Tajideen family are listed as shareholders.110.
6-Amigo Travel and Transport SAL, part of Adham Tabaja’s network, which lists Jihad Qanso as its auditor. The company was founded by Khodr Ali Abi Haidar,111 manager and partner in Mechalab SARL,112 a company founded by Husayn Ali Faour, a U.S.-designated Hezbollah operative and Tabaja associate.113.
7-Islamic Resistance Support Organization (IRSO), Hezbollah’s fundraising arm, which the U.S. Treasury Department designated in 2006.114 According to the Bartlett complaint, IRSO also maintained accounts at Fransabank, Banque Libano-Française, Jammal Trust Bank, and Lebanon and Gulf Bank.'
LEBANON AND GULF BANK
The Bartlett complaint also alleges that Lebanon and Gulf Bank held accounts for and provided financial services to several entities and individuals listed above, including: IRSO, Ovlas Trading SA, Ovlas Trading (Offshore) SAL, Ali Charara’s Spectrum Investment Group Holding SAL, Adham Tabaja and his company Al-Inmaa Engineering and Contracting SARL, Ellissa Exchange Company, and companies owned by Atlas Holding, such as Al-Amana SARL.115 In addition, Lebanon and Gulf Bank allegedly held accounts for the following entities:
1-Additional companies owned or controlled by Atlas Holding, all designated in February 2020:116
*-Amana Plus Company SAL
*-Shahed Pharm Drugstore SARL
*-City Pharma SARL
2-Leaders of Supply & Products (Offshore) SAL, which the Bartlett complaint alleges is part of the Tajideen family network. The company’s lawyer and auditor is listed in documents of Tajideen family companies, such as Ovlas Trading (Offshore) SAL and Afrimex (Offshore) SAL.117 The company had maintained accounts at LCB prior to the bank’s closure in 2011, after which the company’s accounts migrated to Lebanon and Gulf Bank and Bank Audi.
3-Mecattaf SAL, an exchange house that has not been designated. However, according to a document filed as part of a federal civil proceeding in the U.S. District Court for the District of Columbia, Mecattaf in 2009 sent a payment order through its account at Lebanon and Gulf Bank to the Tajideen-controlled company Afrimex (Offshore) SAL, through Afrimex’s account at Bank Audi’s Tyre branch.118.
4-Fantasy World SARL, a company founded by SDGT Adham Tabaja. One of the company’s co-founders is Muhammad Amin Badr al-Din, a Tabaja associate whom the U.S. Treasury Department designated in 2018.119 Another Tabaja partner and co-founder of the company is Hezbollah legislator Amin Sherri. Treasury designated Sherri in 2019, citing his partnership with Tabaja in an unspecified Lebanese company.120 As mentioned above, Treasury noted that Sherri “facilitated Tabaja’s access to Lebanese banks,” but the department did not identify the banks.121.
The Bartlett complaint notes that LCB held an account for Fantasy World from which Tabaja and Sherri were authorized to borrow funds. The Bartlett plaintiffs allege, citing Lebanese government findings, that after Fantasy World’s account at LCB closed in 2011, the account migrated to Lebanon and Gulf Bank and another bank not identified in the lawsuit. The Bartlett complaint further alleges that among other banks, SDGT Kassem Hejeij’s MEAB also “maintained an account for and provided financial services to Fantasy World SARL.”122
CONCLUSION AND POLICY RECOMMENDATIONS
The list of businessmen and companies presented here is far from comprehensive. It provides a snapshot of Hezbollah’s contamination of the Lebanese financial system.
In a May 2020 address, Hezbollah Secretary General Hassan Nasrallah countered the charge that his group was siphoning dollars out of Lebanon and sending them to Iran and Syria. Instead, Nasrallah made a pointedly detailed assertion: “Go, check, and ask the exchange houses, the banks and the governorship of the Central Bank. They know that we bring in dollars to the country; we don’t export it out of the country. I don’t want to elaborate on this point, as it could lead to negative outcomes.”123
Hezbollah’s importation of U.S. dollars into Lebanon, as Nasrallah boasted, has occurred with the knowledge of the country’s central bank, the Banque du Liban. From its involvement in the dissolution of LCB to abetting banks such as Jammal Trust Bank and MEAB, the central bank has allowed Hezbollah to infiltrate Lebanon’s banks.
In the past, the United States has refrained from targeting Lebanese banks for fear of destabilizing Lebanon’s economy. That fear is now moot given the current financial crisis, which has left the entire sector in ruins. Lebanon’s banking sector needs restructuring. Stakeholders and investors must be able to weed out bad banks and identify banks that can survive and even thrive after restructuring. The U.S. Treasury Department should therefore proactively identify additional bad banks now, either through designations or section 311 of the PATRIOT Act. The United States should also support thorough audits of the banking sector, including the central bank, to say nothing of government agencies, as Lebanon reconciles with its financial collapse. Washington should demand accountability and push to make the results of these audits public.
Lebanon is staring into an abyss entirely of its own making. The country’s corrupt political and financial elite, coupled with Hezbollah’s domination of the system, sealed Lebanon’s fate. For the United States, as much as for the Lebanese people, what matters is to end the current system. Anything less would mean perpetuating the financial crimes that brought Lebanon to this moment in the first place.
 

The Latest English LCCC Miscellaneous Reports And News published on September 24-25/2020

Israel Airliner Flies to Bahrain after Ties Normalized
Agence France Presse/Naharnet/September 24/2020
An Israeli airliner flew to Bahrain on Wednesday, tracking data showed, just days after the two countries inked a normalisation accord backed by the United States.The Israir Airlines jet from Tel Aviv flew over Saudi Arabia to reach the Gulf state, according to data from the FlightRadar24 website.
Israel's Yediot Aharonot newspaper reported senior government officials were on the plane. Neither Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu's office nor the airline would confirm the flight when contacted by AFP. It comes a day after Netanyahu spoke by phone with Bahrain's Crown Prince Salman to map out the two countries' new relationship. They "reviewed potential areas of bilateral cooperation and relevant regional and international developments", the Gulf state's BNA news agency said. Bahrain's decision to normalise ties with Israel followed a similar move by the United Arab Emirates. Both accords were inked at a September 15 ceremony hosted by US President Donald Trump. Only two other Arab states have previously signed agreements with Israel, Jordan in 1994 and Egypt in 1979.
The Palestinians have condemned the latest deals as a "stab in the back" for their aspirations to establish an independent state of their own.

No Deal with Israel, but Saudi Pushes Outreach to Jews
Agence France Presse/Naharnet/September 24/2020
From scrubbing hate-filled school textbooks to a taboo-defying religious sermon, Saudi Arabia is pushing for another kind of normalisation after declining to establish formal relations with Israel -- co-existence with Jews.
Saudi Arabia has said it will not follow its allies Bahrain and the United Arab Emirates in establishing diplomatic relations without a resolution to the Palestinian issue, even as it cultivates clandestine ties with the Jewish state.
Having Saudi Arabia, an Arab powerhouse and epicentre of Islam, forge a similar deal would be the ultimate diplomatic prize for Israel, but the kingdom is wary that its citizens -- sympathetic to the Palestinian cause -- may not be ready for a full embrace. Saudi Arabia, however, is pushing to change public perceptions about Jews with a risky outreach to a community that has long been vilified by the kingdom's clerical establishment and media, laying the groundwork for an eventual recognition. School textbooks, once well-known for denigrating Jews and other non-Muslims as "swines" and "apes", are undergoing revision as part of Crown Prince Mohammed bin Salman's campaign to combat extremism in education, officials say. "The Saudi government has also decided to prohibit the disparagement of Jews and Christians in mosques," said Saudi analyst Najah al-Otaibi."Anti-Jewish rhetoric was common at Friday prayers of the imams in mosques used to address Muslims around the world." In a stunning U-turn, a preacher in the holy city of Mecca triggered a social media storm this month when he spoke of Prophet Mohammed's friendly relations with Jews to advocate religious tolerance.
The sermon was by Abdulrahman al-Sudais, the imam of Mecca's Grand Mosque who courted controversy in the past for strongly anti-Semitic views.
'When, not if'
Mohammed al-Issa, a Saudi cleric who heads the Muslim World League, won praise from Israel in January after he travelled to Poland for events marking 75 years since the Nazi death camp Auschwitz was liberated.
Earlier this year, the kingdom announced the screening of a Holocaust-themed film for the first time at a movie festival, before it was cancelled due to the coronavirus pandemic. The kingdom has also pursued a bold outreach to Jewish figures, including in February when King Salman hosted a Jerusalem-based rabbi, David Rosen, for the first time in modern history. "When it comes to Saudi Arabia and Israel establishing relations, it is a question of 'when', not 'if'," said Marc Schneier, an American rabbi with close relations to Gulf rulers. "Part of the process that all Gulf countries have and are going through on the road to normalisation is first pushing warmer ties between Muslims and Jews and then moving more boldly into discussing Israel and the Gulf." Arab News, the kingdom's main English-language daily, whipped up a social media storm at the weekend when it briefly changed its social media banner on Twitter and Facebook with a greeting in Hebrew for Rosh Hashanah, the Jewish New Year. The newspaper recently published a lengthy series on the Jews of Lebanon, and plans a similar instalment on an ancient Jewish community that lived in what is today Saudi Arabia. The newspaper's editor Faisal Abbas told AFP the coverage "was not tied to Israel" but aimed at connecting with "Arab Jews worldwide".
'Difficult to happen'
The coverage marks a departure for tightly controlled media in the absolute monarchy. Saudi media outlets have previously branded the Jewish state as the "Zionist" enemy, but largely hailed the recent deals struck with the UAE and Bahrain. Fuelling speculation about quietly warming relations with Israel were two television dramas on the Saudi-controlled MBC network during this year's fasting month of Ramadan. In a controversial scene in one of the shows, "Exit 7", one Saudi character brushes aside the taboo of doing business with Israel, saying Palestinians are the real "enemy" for insulting the kingdom "day and night" despite decades of support. The moves indicate that the kingdom is not opposed to normalisation with the Jewish state after having resolutely supported the Palestinians politically and financially for decades, observers say.
But Israel formalising relations with unelected Arab governments "is not the same as Israel making 'peace' with Arab people", said Giorgio Cafiero, the chief executive of Gulf State Analytics. Data from a rare Saudi public opinion poll published last month by the Washington Institute for Near East Policy suggests many Saudi citizens are not in favour of a deal. Despite the Saudi media outreach to Israelis and Jews, "a mere nine percent of Saudis" agreed that people in favour of business or sports contacts with Israelis should be allowed to do so, according to the Institute's David Pollock. "What peace? Peace after all that (Israel) has done, killing and war?" Bader, a young Saudi citizen in Riyadh, told AFP. "It's difficult for this to happen between (Saudis and Israelis). I won't support it."

Iran Accuses Saudis of Shifting Blame for 'Crimes'
Agence France Presse/Naharnet/September 24/2020
Iran on Thursday accused Saudi Arabia of distorting facts and shifting the blame for its own "crimes", after the Saudi king slammed the Islamic republic in a UN address. King Salman alleged in a speech Wednesday to the UN General Assembly that Iran had "targeted" oil facilities in the Sunni-ruled kingdom last year. He also accused Iran of "expansionist activities" and "terrorism".Iran's foreign ministry hit back on Thursday. "Saudi Arabia has for years tried to escape realities and not answer for its crimes by adopting a policy of projecting the blame and distorting the facts," spokesman Saeed Khatibzadeh said in a statement. Riyadh and Washington accuse Tehran of involvement in September 2019 attacks on Saudi oil facilities claimed by Yemen's Iran-backed Huthi rebels. They also allege Tehran arms the Huthis for attacks on the kingdom. Iran denies the charges.
The Islamic republic, for its part, accuses Saudi Arabia of committing war crimes in Yemen, where the kingdom leads a military coalition against the Shiite Huthi rebels. In the statement, Khatibzadeh called Riyadh "the main financial and logistical supporter of terrorism in the region" and the "origin of takfiri terrorist thinking". Officials in Shiite Iran use the term "takfiri" to refer to Sunni jihadists. "Continuous field and political defeats in Yemen have brought Saudi Arabia to delusion," Khatibzadeh said. The foreign ministry spokesman called the kingdom a "wretched creature" among Arab countries over its support for US pressure against Iran and attempts to expand ties with Iran's arch enemy Israel. Saudi Arabia cut diplomatic relations with Iran following 2016 attacks by demonstrators on its missions in Iran after the kingdom executed revered Shiite cleric Sheikh Nimr al-Nimr. Tensions escalated last year over a series of attacks on tankers in sensitive Gulf waters, which Washington blamed on Tehran. The United States has waged a campaign of "maximum pressure" against Iran since 2018, when President Donald Trump unilaterally withdrew from a landmark nuclear agreement and reimposed punishing sanctions.

Amnesty: Migrants Face 'Vicious Cycle of Cruelty' in Libya
Associated Press/Naharnet/September 24/2020
Amnesty International said Thursday that thousands of Europe-bound migrants who were intercepted and returned to Libyan shores this year were forcefully disappeared after being taken out of unofficial detention centers run by militias allied with the U.N.-supported government in the capital, Tripoli.
In its latest report, the group also said that rival authorities in eastern Libya forcibly expelled several thousand migrants "without due process or the opportunity to challenge their deportation." Libya, which descended into chaos following the 2011 uprising that toppled and killed longtime dictator Moammar Gadhafi, has emerged as a major transit point for African and Arab migrants fleeing war and poverty to Europe. Most migrants make the perilous journey in ill-equipped and unsafe rubber boats. In recent years, the European Union has partnered with Libya's coast guard and other Libyan forces to stop the flow of migrants and thousands have been intercepted at sea and returned to Libya. Officials in Libya's east and west did not respond to repeated phone calls seeking comment. Amnesty said about 8,500 migrants, including women and children, were intercepted and brought back to Libya between Jan. 1 and Sep. 14. Since 2016, an estimated 60,000 men, women and children have been captured at sea and taken to Libya where they disembarked, it said. "The EU and its member states continue to implement policies trapping tens of thousands of men, women and children in a vicious cycle of abuse, showing a callous disregard for people's lives and dignity," said Diana Eltahawy, Amnesty's deputy regional director. Thousands have been subjected to enforced disappearances in 2020, after being taken to unofficial detention centers in western Libya, including to the so-called Tobacco Factory in Tripoli, run by a government-allied militia, Amnesty said. There, the migrants and refuges face a "constant risk" of being abducted by militias, armed groups and traffickers. They are "trapped in a vicious cycle of cruelty with little to no hope of finding safe and legal pathways out," the report said. "Some are tortured or raped until their families pay ransoms to secure their release. Others die in custody as a result of violence, torture, starvation or medical neglect." Eltahawy urged the EU to "completely reconsider" its cooperation with Libyan authorities and make "any further support conditional on immediate action to stop horrific abuses against refugees and migrants."In 2020, eastern Libya authorities forcibly expelled over 5,000 refugees and migrants, citing their alleged carrying of "contagious diseases" among reasons cited for the deportations. Amnesty cited an incident, without saying when it happened, in which eastern Libyan forces blocked a bus from entering the southeastern city of Kufra unless three Chadian nationals got off. They were ordered to take a COVID-19 test and left in the desert outside the city, while other passengers, all of them Libyans, were allowed to enter without further checks or testing.

France Reports Record 16,000 New Daily Coronavirus Cases
Agence France Presse/Naharnet/September 24/2020
France reported a record number of new daily cases of coronavirus on Thursday, saying 16,096 fresh infections had been logged in the last 24 hours. The figures from Public Health France also showed that 52 people had died from the disease in hospital over the last day.

Fatah, Hamas Say Deal Reached on Palestinian Elections
Agence France Presse/Naharnet/September 24/2020
Gaza rulers Hamas and their rivals in the occupied West Bank, Fatah, have agreed to hold Palestinian elections after nearly 15 years, officials from both sides told AFP on Thursday. Parliamentary and presidential polls will be scheduled within six months under a deal reached between Fatah's leader, Mahmoud Abbas, and Hamas political chief Ismail Haniyeh. The last Palestinian parliamentary elections were held in 2006 when Hamas won an unexpected landslide.

In Florida's Election: It May be Legal, but is It Right?
Chris Farrell/Gatestone Institute/September 24/2020
Those are 32,000 votes deemed pro-Biden in a state where 537 votes decided the presidential election in 2000. Florida, a critical swing state, has 29 electoral college votes that could determine the presidency.
One is left to wonder about what appears to be a slick, well-financed, lawyered-up, manipulation of the electoral process. It appears to have less to do with a legitimate, grassroots campaign to rehabilitate persons who have paid their legal dues for past misconduct than it does as a cynical, orchestrated, vote buying and manipulation process. Last week, the 11th U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals upheld Florida's law requiring convicted felons in Florida to pay court-ordered fines, fees and restitution before having their voting rights reinstated. Former New York City Mayor Michael Bloomberg, together with the Florida Rights Restoration Coalition, has "paid off monetary obligations for 32,000 felons in Florida" so that they can vote. Pictured: The Elbert P. Tuttle U.S. Court of Appeals Building, home of the 11th U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals, in Atlanta, Georgia. (Image source: Warren LeMay/Wikimedia Commons)
Last week, the 11th U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals upheld Florida's law requiring convicted felons in Florida to pay court-ordered fines, fees and restitution before having their voting rights reinstated. Former New York City Mayor Michael Bloomberg, who raised more than $16 million for this purpose, has, together with the Florida Rights Restoration Coalition, "paid off monetary obligations for 32,000 felons in Florida" so that they can vote.
Those are 32,000 votes deemed pro-Biden in a state where 537 votes decided the presidential election in 2000. Florida, a critical swing state, has 29 electoral college votes that could determine the presidency.
The organization Bloomberg is working with in this reinstatement effort is the Florida Rights Restoration Coalition (FRRC). The FRRC has received an unspecified amount of funding from the Open Society Foundations (OSF). There isn't a specific grant listed in the OSF's 2018 Internal Revenue Service filing, but it identified FRRC as a grantee in an April 2019 Facebook post.
FRRC's partners include the Alliance for Safety and Justice, which is a project of Tides Foundation -- a public charity and financial supporter working to advance "progressive" causes and policy initiatives -- and received $1.2 million from the Open Society Foundations between 2016 and 2018. At present, there is no publicly available documentary connection with George Soros' Safety and Justice PAC, a Florida affiliate.
It is informative to examine the other organizations involved in supporting the objectives of Bloomberg and his colleagues at the FRRC. Other FRRC partners include:
The Center for Community Change, received $2.1 million from OSF in 2016 and 2017.
Southern Coalition for Social Justice, which received $700,000 from OSF in 2017.
Legal Services for Prisoners with Children, which received $410,000 from OSF between 2016 and 2018.
Live Free, a social justice project of Faith in Action. Faith in Action received $3.1 million from OSF between 2017 and 2018, and
The Leadership Conference of Civil and Human Rights, which has received more than $7.3 million from OSF since 2016.
The president of the FRCC, Desmond Meade, is also the chair of the Floridians for a Fair Democracy PAC, which has received significant financial support from the Brennan Center, the ACLU, New Ventures Fund, the Advocacy Fund, the Tides Foundation, Organize Florida and other Soros-funded entities, as well as numerous liberal mega-donors. It has also received funding from the FRRC and the Alliance for Safety and Justice. (Florida's campaign finance database is not particularly user-friendly, but the full list of contributors is there.).
Perhaps this is just one example of "democracy in action?" Perhaps it is not? One is left to wonder about what appears to be a slick, well-financed, lawyered-up, manipulation of the electoral process. It appears to have less to do with a legitimate, grassroots campaign to rehabilitate persons who have paid their legal dues for past misconduct than it does as a cynical, orchestrated, vote buying and manipulation process. Nothing illegal, of course! Just the opposite -- perhaps hyper-legal -- in a way that manipulates the law and the process in ways the Left is most comfortable with when winning is all that counts.
*Chris Farrell is a former counterintelligence case officer. For the past 20 years, he has served as the Director of Investigations & Research for Judicial Watch. The views expressed are the author's alone, and not necessarily those of Judicial Watch.
© 2020 Gatestone Institute. All rights reserved. The articles printed here do not necessarily reflect the views of the Editors or of Gatestone Institute. No part of the Gatestone website or any of its contents may be reproduced, copied or modified, without the prior written consent of Gatestone Institute.

Questioning Supreme Court Nominees about Religion: A Delicate Task
Alan M. Dershowitz/Gatestone Institute/September 24, 2020
When Judge Amy Coney Barrett came before the Senate Judiciary Committee for her nomination to the court of appeals, Senator Diane Feinstein generated considerable controversy when she said to Barrett: "The dogma lives loudly in you." ... Under our Constitution, Senator Feinstein's statement crossed the line. Ours was the first Constitution in history to provide that "no religious Test shall ever be required as a Qualification to any Office or public Trust under the United States." Although Feinstein did not explicitly impose a religious test, she suggested that personal religious views -- which she called dogma -- might disqualify a nominee from being confirmed. That would clearly be unconstitutional.
Religious tests have no place in America. But what does have a place in the confirmation process are questions about whether a nominee will put faith before the Constitution and refuse to apply the Constitution if it conflicts with his or her faith. That issue would be true of any nominee regardless of their faith or faithlessness. President John F. Kennedy assured us that his Catholicism would not determine the nation's policy. Justice Antonin Scalia said the same about his Catholicism and his jurisprudence.
One's religion is a private matter, but one's judicial philosophy is highly relevant in the confirmation process... Let us hope the Senate handles this nomination better than they have handled other recent nominations.
Two of the leading candidates for nomination to the Supreme Court, Judge Amy Coney Barrett and Judge Barbara Lagoa, are Catholic. So, the issue of religion is likely to come up at any confirmation hearing. It must be handled with delicacy and sensitivity to the Constitution's prohibition against religious tests, as well as to the respect we must all pay to people of faith. Pictured: Barbara Lagoa (center) speaks at the event where Governor Ron DeSantis named her to the Florida Supreme Court, on January 9, 2019 in Miami, Florida.
When Judge Amy Coney Barrett came before the Senate Committee on the Judiciary for her nomination to the Court of Appeals for the Seventh Circuit, Senator Diane Feinstein generated considerable controversy when she said to Barrett: "The dogma lives loudly in you." This was a reference to Barrett's deep Catholic faith. Under our Constitution, Senator Feinstein's statement crossed the line. Ours was the first Constitution in history to provide that "no religious Test shall ever be required as a Qualification to any Office or public Trust under the United States." Although Feinstein did not explicitly impose a religious test, she suggested that personal religious views -- which she called dogma -- might disqualify a nominee from being confirmed. That would clearly be unconstitutional.
When Justice Louis Brandeis was nominated to the United States Supreme Court in 1916, numerous leaders of the bar and prominent Americans, including the president of Harvard, opposed his nomination, sometimes implicitly, sometimes explicitly, on the ground that he was Jewish. That was wrong then, and it is equally wrong today with regard to a nominee of the Catholic faith.
Indeed, today's Supreme Court has five justices who are Catholic, two who are Jewish, and one who is Protestant. Religious tests have no place in America. But what does have a place in the confirmation process are questions about whether a nominee will put faith before the Constitution and refuse to apply the Constitution if it conflicts with his or her faith. That issue would be true of any nominee regardless of their faith or faithlessness. President John F. Kennedy assured us that his Catholicism would not determine the nation's policy. Justice Antonin Scalia said the same about his Catholicism and his jurisprudence.
It is impossible, of course, to psychoanalyze a nominee or justice to determine what role if any their faith may play in their jurisprudence. We are all influenced by our personal views, including but not limited to religious views. When Justice Pierce Butler issued the sole dissent in the notorious case of Buck v. Bell -- in which the Supreme Court, led by Justice Oliver Wendell Holmes, permitted the sterilization of supposed "mental defectives" -- many speculated that his dissent, which is now seen by most historians and lawyers as the correct view, may have been motivated consciously or unconsciously by his deep Catholic faith. The Catholic Church was inalterably opposed to sterilization of the mentally disabled, whereas the "progressive view," centered at Harvard University, strongly favored such "eugenic" procedures to "improve" the "race." The church was right and Harvard was wrong on this one, and it was a good thing that there was a religious Catholic on the high court to register a dissent to what we have now come to believe was an outrageous violation of human rights.
The role of religion in judicial decision-making is complex, nuanced and sometimes difficult to discuss. There is no sharp line between ideology and jurisprudence, but a line must be drawn nonetheless, especially when questioning a candidate for the Supreme Court.
Judge Amy Coney Barrett is now the leading candidate, followed by Judge Barbara Lagoa, who is also a deeply religious Catholic woman of Cuban American background. So, the issue of religion is likely to come up at any confirmation hearing. It must be handled with delicacy and sensitivity to the Constitution's prohibition against religious tests, as well as to the respect we must all pay to people of faith.
Several years ago, a United States Senator declared that he would never vote to confirm an atheist to the Supreme Court. Such a position is in direct conflict with the Constitution. But because questions about religion are generally not asked of candidates, it is highly likely that several atheists and agnostics have served on the high court. Oliver Wendell Holmes publicly acknowledged his disbelief in religion and several other justices have privately acknowledged their lack of religious faith. One's religion is a private matter, but one's judicial philosophy is highly relevant in the confirmation process.
The confirmation process has become so politicized, so personal, and often so unfair, that it is especially important to draw careful distinctions with regard to religious beliefs and observance. Let us hope the Senate handles this nomination better than they have handled other recent nominations.
* Alan M. Dershowitz is the Felix Frankfurter Professor of Law, Emeritus at Harvard Law School and author of the book, Guilt by Accusation: The Challenge of Proving Innocence in the Age of #MeToo, Skyhorse Publishing, 2019. He is the Jack Roth Charitable Foundation Fellow at Gatestone Institute.
© 2020 Gatestone Institute. All rights reserved. The articles printed here do not necessarily reflect the views of the Editors or of Gatestone Institute. No part of the Gatestone website or any of its contents may be reproduced, copied or modified, without the prior written consent of Gatestone Institute.

Trump Rebuffed over Comments He Might Not Honor Vote
Agence France Presse/Naharnet/September 24/2020
Top Republicans and Democrats pushed back hard Thursday against President Donald Trump's suggestion he might not accept defeat in the November election, with some comparing him to corrupt dictators. A day after the US leader refused to clearly guarantee a peaceful transfer of power, Republican Senate Speaker Mitch McConnell felt it necessary to assure American voters that the winner of the November 3 election would take office as planned in January. The head of the FBI, meanwhile, implicitly rejected Trump's suggestion that massive fraud was in the works with the surge in mailed-in ballots.
Trump sparked outrage on Wednesday with his comment that he might not honor the results of the election or treat mail-in ballots as legitimate. Asked at a White House press conference whether if he is committed to the peaceful handover of power if he is defeated, Trump replied: "Well, we're going to have to see what happens." "You know that I've been complaining very strongly about the ballots, and the ballots are a disaster," he said.
It's not North Korea
The remarks were seen as a stunning suggestion that Trump is not committed to the most basic tenet of democratic rule in the United States, respect for the ballot box. McConnell, a crucial ally of Trump, felt it necessary to clarify the situation, without directly referencing Trump's remarks. "The winner of the November 3rd election will be inaugurated on January 20th," McConnell tweeted Thursday. "There will be an orderly transition just as there has been every four years since 1792."Other top politicians reacted more brusquely. "Fundamental to democracy is the peaceful transition of power; without that, there is Belarus," Republican Senator Mitt Romney tweeted. Nancy Pelosi, the Democratic House Speaker, said it was necessary to remind Trump, "You are not in North Korea, you are not in Turkey, you are not in Russia, Mr. President." "You are in the United States of America. It is a democracy. Why don't you just try for a moment to honor your oath of office to the constitution of the United States."Hillary Clinton, the former secretary of state who Trump defeated in the 2016 presidential race, called his comments "pathetic.""But because he is the president, we should take his threat seriously,' she said.
Vote-by-mail concerns
Trump's comments echoed unfounded allegations he has made repeatedly that the vote count could be rigged by Democrats taking advantage of a surge in voting by mail due to the Covid-19 pandemic. "What's going to happen on November 3rd?" he asked last week, saying "millions" of ballots will not have been counted the day after the election. "It's a disaster. Everyone knows it," he said, adding: "Where are these ballots going? Who's sending them? Who's signing them?" On Wednesday, he asserted that the mailed-in votes will all be suspiciously for his democratic rival Joe Biden, and should not be counted. "The ballots are out of control," he said.  "Get rid of the ballots and you will have a very peaceful -- there won't be a transfer, frankly. There will be a continuation," he said. His comments highlight real concerns that there will not be a clear winner on the day after the election, as millions of mailed-in ballots continue to arrive at local election offices and will take time to tabulate. The FBI and US intelligence have warned that instigators, domestic and foreign, could take advantage of that period to spread fake news about fraud and political manipulation, stirring up public anger and doubts about the electoral process. However on Thursday FBI Director Chris Wray told a Senate hearing that they had not seen any coordinated effort to manipulate the election results. "We have not seen, historically, any kind of coordinated national voter fraud effort in a major election, whether it's by mail or otherwise," Wray said.
 

Canada condemns so-called inauguration of Lukashenko in Belarus
September 24, 2020 - Ottawa, Ontario - Global Affairs Canada
The Honourable François-Philippe Champagne, Minister of Foreign Affairs, issued the following statement on the so-called inauguration of Alexander Lukashenko in Belarus:
“Since the fraudulent presidential elections of August 2020, Alexander Lukashenko continues to display disdain for the people of Belarus by holding a so-called inauguration ceremony behind closed doors today. The inauguration is as illegitimate as the elections it follows. Canada considers that Alexander Lukashenko lacks the legitimacy to be the leader of Belarus.
“Such gestures only show Lukashenko’s disregard for basic democratic principles and the fundamental human rights of the people of Belarus.
“We will continue to work with our partners to ensure that the voices of people in Belarus are heard and that those responsible for undermining democracy and for violence in that country are held accountable.”

The Latest LCCC English analysis & editorials from miscellaneous sources published on September 24-25/2020

Saudi-Iran tensions increase as King condemns Tehran
Seth Frantman/Jerusalem Post/September 24/2020
Iran has threatened Riyadh in recent years by arming the Houthi rebels in Yemen.
Saudi Arabia’s King Salman called for the international community to take a firm stance against Iran. The remarkable speech seeks to confront the Iranian regime’s threats to international peace and security, he said. He also argued that appeasement would not work with the Islamic Republic.
Iranian media and officials slammed Riyadh’s comments.
What is driving the sudden decision for Saudi Arabia to speak up more strongly from the highest level about Iran’s threats, and what are Iran’s likely responses?
The speech was aimed at the 75th United National General Assembly now taking place until the end of the month, and comes in the wake of the UAE and Bahrain agreeing to normalization with Israel. The decision by regional states to begin a new round of relations with Israel is seen as part of a wider regional strategic consensus that is linked to Riyadh’s own support for its allies working with Israel.
Saudi Arabia has been threatened by Iran for decades and Tehran has increased its rhetoric against Riyadh and its Gulf allies in recent years. The Islamic Republic regularly condemns these states, arguing they have betrayed the Palestinian cause and are working with Israel and the US. Iran views America as a great evil and has vowed to “resist” the United States and the Jewish state. This “resistance” takes the form of attacks across the Middle East.
Iran has threatened Saudi Arabia in recent years by arming the Houthi rebels in Yemen. Tehran provides drone and ballistic missile technology. It also used 25 drones and cruise missiles to attack Saudi Arabia last September. The king’s comments are therefore basically on the one-year anniversary of the attack on Abqaiq. That attack was unprecedented and was an act of war, but the kingdom acted with restraint. Riyadh has acted with less restraint in Yemen, having intervened in 2015 in the conflict there. Saudi Arabia now wants that war to end – and it has shifted to demand more action against Iran.
RIYADH'S COMMENTS come as Iran is working more closely with Russia and China to get around US sanctions. Iran is also waiting for the arms embargo to expire. The US says Tehran is working with North Korea to develop longer range missiles. Iran has rapidly expanded its drone and missile arsenal in recent years. It says that it makes most of its weapons locally and will soon export arms. But Iran is pressured financially by the US.
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Saudi Arabia is concerned that an emboldened Iran, free from the arms embargo, could conduct more attacks. Iran has used proxies in Iraq and Yemen to strike Riyadh, and Saudi Arabia judges that this could get worse. It could also get worse because Iran and Turkey look to be coordinating actions in some areas of the region, especially against Israel. In addition, there are allegations that Qatar may even be funneling money now to the Houthis in Yemen. Recent coverage has accused Qatar of financing drones there. Saudi Arabia led the UAE, Bahrain and Egypt to break relations with Qatar in 2017.
Saudi Arabia is contrasting its policies with those of Iran. "We in the Kingdom, based on our position in the Islamic world, assume a special and historical responsibility, which is to protect our tolerant Islamic belief from attempts to distort them by terrorist organizations and extremist groups," the king said.
Salman also said Hezbollah should be disarmed and called for peace talks with Libya. Turkey has been illegally arming Tripoli-based forces in Libya. He also spoke about his strong support of peace with Israel, but wanted to see the Arab peace plan of the early 2000s as the basis of that peace.
The Islamic Republic condemned the kingdom. "The Saudi regime's support and alignment with the United States is continuing the failed policy of maximum pressure against Iran, trying to expand relations with the occupying Zionist regime and ransoming billions of dollars to others from the pockets of the people of that country,” an Iranian statement said.
SAUDI ARABIA appears to be seeking to preempt more Iranian aggression by warning about Iran’s role in the region. This is also a message to Riyadh’s allies: that they are on the right path in terms of openness to Israel and confronting Iranian aggression. The main challenge for Saudi Arabia will be to confront an Iranian asymmetric attack, like the one on Abqaiq, or one from Yemen and Iraq. The kingdom also wants to be clear prior to the US election on where it stands. criticism of Saudi Arabia has increased in recent years in America amid partisan divides on foreign policy. This means that whereas Washington was once a close ally of Riyadh in the 1990s, there are now more calls for US policy to be colder to the kingdom, or withdrawing more from the Middle East. This policy shift received more headwind during the Obama administration, but the Trump administration reversed things, returning to a close relationship with Riyadh. Saudi Arabia is showing it is not hedging its bets, but wants more close work with the US and also other allies in the region, such as Egypt and the UAE. Iran’s goal is to try to embarrass Saudi Arabia and its allies through using weapons like drones or missiles and exporting those weapons to groups in Iraq, Yemen and elsewhere. Baghdad wants to undermine Riyadh’s traditional role in Lebanon and elsewhere. Similarly, Turkey wants to do the same by displacing Saudi Arabia as a leader of the Islamic world. This is why Turkey has changed Hagia Sophia museum into a mosque and vowed to “liberate Al-Aqsa.”Saudi Arabia’s speech at the UN and calls to confront Iran seek to restore its leadership and draw a line of clarity around Iran’s destabilizing actions. Iran wants to undermine Riyadh and show it can strike at Saudi Arabia’s allies, but it is concerned about US reactions if it harms civilians or US military personnel. The calculations before the American election will include these concerns by Tehran not to provoke the US – which would give the Trump administration an excuse to strike at Iran or its proxies.
 

Saudi monarch slams Iran and calls for disarming of Hezbollah
The Arab Weekly/September 24/2020
RIYADH – Saudi King Salman bin Abdulaziz strongly waged a frontal attack on Iran and called for a “comprehensive war” against it, as he spelled out Riyadh’s priorities at present. Furthermore, he urged that Iran’s ally in Lebanon, Hezbollah, be disarmed,
Moreover, the Saudi monarch expressed his support for the peace process sponsored by US President Donald Trump between Israel and Arab countries, but hinted that Saudi Arabia, as it still adheres to the Arab peace initiative, does not intend to enter this path for now.
King Salman made these statements in his speech to the 75th session of the United Nations General Assembly, via a video connexion, according to the Saudi Press Agency. “The Kingdom has extended its hands in peace to Iran, has dealt with it over the past decades with a positive and open attitude, received its presidents several times to discuss ways to build good-neighbourly relations based on mutual respect, and welcomed international efforts to address Iran’s nuclear program,” King Salman said.
“But again and again, the whole world has seen the Iranian regime’s exploitation of these efforts in increasing its expansionist activities, building its terrorist networks, using terrorism, and wasting the capabilities and wealth of the Iranian people to achieve expansionary projects that only resulted in chaos, extremism and sectarianism,” he added.
The Saudi monarch pointed out that Iran had targeted Saudi oil installations last year, and that “Houthi militias threaten the security of international maritime navigation, and continue to target civilians in Yemen and Saudi Arabia.”
This was the first time that Saudi Arabia has directly accused Iran, at this level, of targeting its oil installations, even though it had already shown material evidence of that by displaying remnants of missiles and drones that are similar to the guided weapons produced by Iran.
A Gulf diplomatic source considered that King Salman wanted to confirm that his country’s priority at the current stage is to secure its national security by moving internationally in order to stop Iranian activities threatening the security of navigation, as well as its military interventions in a number of Arab countries.
The source referred to Riyadh’s refusal of some countries’ attempts to adhere to the nuclear agreement with Iran, an agreement that had allowed Tehran to recover frozen funds and revitalise its economy, and did not subject it to any controls regarding regional security.
The United States withdrew from the Iran nuclear deal in 2018, a deal that President Donald Trump had described as “the worst deal ever.” Washington has since unilaterally imposed sanctions on Tehran, stressing that all countries must also re-impose UN sanctions in an effort to push the Islamic Republic to negotiate a new agreement.
King Salman was even more direct in talking about Lebanon and its problems and held Hezbollah responsible for what is happening in this beleaguered country, stressing that Saudi Arabia stands by the Lebanese people, who were exposed to a humanitarian catastrophe due to the Beirut port explosion.
The painful situation in Lebanon, the Saudi king said, “came as a result of the domination of the pro-Iranian terrorist Hezbollah on decision-making in Lebanon by force of arms, leading to the disruption of the institutions of the constitutional state. Achieving the security, stability and prosperity that the brotherly Lebanese people aspire to requires disarming this terrorist party.”
The Lebanese authorities said the August 4 blast was caused by huge quantities of ammonium nitrate unsafely stored for years in the port of Beirut.
Observers believe that the Saudi monarch sent a precise message to the Lebanese and to the countries wanting a new Lebanese government in Hezbollah’s orbit, to the effect that Saudi Arabia is not considering investments, finances, or grants to Lebanon as long as it remains hostage of Hezbollah. The Saudi position converges perfectly with that of the Trump administration, which continues to put pressure on Hezbollah through financial sanctions that affect companies, accounts and people connected to it inside and outside Lebanon.
For all practical purposes, Riyadh withdrew politically from Lebanon following the deterioration of its relationship with former Prime Minister Saad Hariri. It cut down on its support of anti-Hezbollah figures and withdrew its media financing, which left Hezbollah and Iran with the impression that the Lebanese issue is not one of Saudi Arabia’s priorities.
Regarding peace with Israel, which has become the topic of the day at this stage following the UAE’s and Bahrain’s peace agreements with Israel, King Salman said, “We support the efforts made by the current US administration to bring peace to the Middle East by bringing the Palestinian and Israeli sides to the negotiating table in order to reach a fair and comprehensive agreement.”
It seemed as though the Saudi monarch has deliberately omitted to refer to the latest path taken by Abu Dhabi and Manama, and focused instead on the Palestinian-Israeli track, considering that the 2002 Arab peace initiative was the basis for a “comprehensive and just solution” that guarantees the Palestinians’ access to their independent state with East Jerusalem as its capital.
The king has not gone as far as to bless the last two agreements brokered by the United States and whcih provided for the full normalisation of Emirati and Bahraini relations with Israel.
Middle East analysts believe that King Salman’s signals on peace show that Saudi Arabia is not ready to go down the same path as the UAE and Bahrain, given considerations related to its weight in the Islamic world that push it to postpone taking a daring initiative towards peace with Israel.
The Saudi monarch’s speech before the United Nations General Assembly added to the credibility of the leaks according to which he personally stands against taking the risk of going for a peace agreement whose conditions have not matured in the Saudi context despite an encouraging regional climate.

Israel’s next peace deal will be with Sudan
Jonathan Schanzer/New York Post/September 24/2020
On the heels of the historic peace accords Israel signed last week with Bahrain and the United Arab Emirates, another regional deal is now possible. Sudan, once a terror safe harbor, is openly mulling ties with the Jewish state. Another major diplomatic achievement beckons, provided Washington gives the right nudges.
Team Trump is keen for a domino effect. Sudan is just one possibility. Oman, Morocco and Saudi Arabia are also among states reportedly mulling ties with the erstwhile archenemy. The key is momentum. If Sudan steps forward, Arab states will see a new regional order quickly taking shape, one in which Jerusalem is on the same side as regimes that seek to counter Iran and Sunni Islamists.
But there are other wins to claim, too. Since a coup in 1989, Sudan was governed by ideological extremists who embraced jihadist groups and state sponsors of terrorism. Osama bin Laden and al Qaeda had a home in Sudan until the mid-1990s. The regime held terrorist confabs that attracted Hezbollah, Hamas and myriad other jihadist outfits. As author and journalist Richard Cockett quipped, “It was a Davos in the desert for terrorists.”
After 9/11, Sudan began to cooperate with the United States on Sunni terrorism. But the regime shifted its support to Shiite terrorists. The Islamic Republic of Iran tapped Sudan as a transit hub to ship ammunition to conflict zones across Africa. Much of the Iranian weaponry Hamas amassed in the Gaza Strip was smuggled to the coastal enclave by way of Sudan. This was laid bare by a daring Israeli air raid in 2012 that obliterated an Iranian rocket warehouse in the outskirts of Khartoum.
Sudan was added to the State Department’s “state sponsor of terrorism” list in 1993, and it very much belonged there — until last year, that is.
On April 11, 2019, the country’s strongman Omar al-Bashir was toppled following months of domestic unrest stemming from economic and political frustrations. The new regime, while far from perfect, is a significant upgrade. It’s pragmatic and eschews the ideological impulses of its predecessor. It has separated religion from politics. It has outlawed female genital mutilation.
Somehow, the country remains on America’s terrorism list. It shouldn’t be. The Trump administration now has a remarkable opportunity. Lifting sanctions would convey that Washington has scored a rare diplomatic win in the war on terrorism. We can also make it clear to other suffering Middle Eastern populations, notably in Iran, that America will reward people who reclaim their countries from theocratic dictatorships.
Sudanese leaders Prime Minister Abdalla Hamdok and Chairman of the Sovereignty Council Abdel Fattah al-Burhan met this week in the UAE with American diplomats. They seek some $3 billion in financial assistance and removal from the terrorism list in exchange for normalization with Israel.
Reports out of Abu Dhabi suggest that progress has been slow. The Trump administration is reluctant to dole out that much cash. Some American lawmakers want Sudan to account for its past by compensating victims of al Qaeda’s 1998 terrorist attacks in Kenya and Tanzania (there is a legal judgment to back this up), as well as victims of the 9/11 attacks (there is no judgment for this).
Victims of terrorist attacks undeniably deserve justice. But a major Sudanese payout is unlikely right now. Sudan’s economy is running on fumes. The government can barely afford to feed its people, particularly during the COVID-19 economic downturn.
Washington should move quickly and creatively to find a compromise. Sudan is no longer supporting terrorists. And Khartoum is ready to reach an agreement (Burhan met with Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu in February). A diplomatic victory awaits.
If that’s not enough incentive, it’s worth noting that China is one of Sudan’s largest trading partners. There is an opportunity now to woo Sudan out of Beijing’s sphere of influence. This would be no small feat, as great-power competition escalates in Africa and beyond.
The benefits of a deal with Sudan are clear. Opportunities like this don’t arise often. Your move, Mr. President.
-*Jonathan Schanzer, a former terrorism finance analyst at the US Treasury, is senior vice president for research at Foundation for Defense of Democracies. Follow him on Twitter @JSchanzer.

Iran’s Turkey-Based Sanctions-Evasion Scheme More Extensive Than Previously Reported
Aykan Erdemir/FDD/September 24/2020
Iran’s sanctions-evasion schemes involving Turkey “started earlier, lasted longer, extended further, and involved more people and countries” than previously known, according to a series of deeply researched exposés published on Sunday by a global network of investigative journalists. The revelations show the ease with which Iran and its agents were able to exploit not only the Turkish but also the international financial systems.
The Organized Crime and Corruption Reporting Network (OCCRP), the investigative reporting platform of a global network of independent media centers and journalists, reached its findings based on a 16-month investigation involving more than 400 journalists from 88 countries. The investigation examined 2,100 leaked Suspicious Activity Reports (SARs) that international financial institutions submitted to the U.S. Treasury Department’s Financial Crimes Enforcement Network. The OCCRP then collaborated with other media outlets to analyze the leaked SARs as well as other documents and transaction records – totaling nearly 750,000 items – that U.S. prosecutors used to indict Reza Zarrab, the Turkey-based ringleader of Iran’s sanctions-evasion network.
Authorities arrested Zarrab in Miami in March 2016 for his role in evading U.S. sanctions against Iran and laundering billions of dollars for the Islamic Republic. He then pleaded guilty and turned state’s witness, confessing in federal court to having bribed senior Turkish ministers and top executives of Turkey’s second-largest public lender, Halkbank. The trial resulted in the conviction of the bank’s deputy CEO, Mehmet Hakan Atilla, who received a 32-month prison sentence. During his testimony, Zarrab even implicated Turkish leader Recep Tayyip Erdogan, saying that the then-prime minister had approved the sanctions-busting efforts.
The OCCRP’s research, which included hours of interviews with Adem Karahan, Zarrab’s bodyguard-turned-bagman since 2006, shows that Zarrab’s illicit work for Iran started in 2008, two years earlier than prosecutors told jurors during the 2017 Atilla trial. Karahan confessed that he accompanied Zarrab on a Tehran trip, during which Zarrab, Karahan believes, presented a bribe to then-Iranian President Mahmoud Ahmadinejad, likely a kickback from Zarrab’s sanctions-evasion profits.
Karahan also exposed how Egemen Bagis, Turkey’s former minister of European Union affairs and current ambassador to Prague, intervened with Turkey’s Aktif Bank to reverse the private lender’s decision to reject an application for an account that the Zarrab network had planned to use. Aktif Bank, which Zarrab implicated in his court testimony as a party in his scheme, is part of a conglomerate that Erdogan’s son-in-law Berat Albayrak directed as CEO until 2013, before he became Turkey’s minister of energy and, later, minister of finance and treasury.
The OCCRP’s research further shows that while Zarrab’s sanctions-evasion activity through Turkey received media and court attention, a similar Sweden-based network moved money from Chinese petroleum companies to Iran while escaping scrutiny. The OCCRP’s investigation also indicates that Zarrab, in addition to his work for Iran, laundered over $1.25 billion for Russian clients.
Overall, the OCCRP’s series of exposés shows that reports that international financial institutions submitted to the U.S. Treasury Department concerning suspicious transactions failed to prevent sanctions evasion, money laundering, and other criminal activity. Given that the OCCRP’s report relies on only 2,100 of the 12 million SARs filed between 2011 and 2017, it is fair to assume that this is just the tip of the iceberg. If Washington wants to deny impunity to the likes of Tehran, Ankara, and their illicit networks, it is imperative for the United States to hold accountable financial institutions that knowingly participate in such schemes, while also working with global allies to build institutional capacity to detect and crack down on such malign financial activity in a timely fashion.
*Aykan Erdemir is a former member of the Turkish parliament and senior director of the Turkey Program at the Foundation for Defense of Democracies (FDD), where he also contributes to FDD’s Center on Economic and Financial Power (CEFP). For more analysis from Aykan, the Turkey Program, and CEFP, please subscribe HERE. Follow Aykan on Twitter @aykan_erdemir. Follow FDD on Twitter @FDD and @FDD_CEFP. FDD is a Washington, DC-based, nonpartisan research institute focusing on national security and foreign policy.

“The Scene was Horrific”: Persecution of Christians, August 2020
Raymond Ibrahim/Gatestone Institute/September 20/2020
ريموند إبراهيم/معهد كيتستون: قائمة بحوادت اضطهاد المسيحيين في العالم لشهر آب/2020/ ذبح اعتصاب، تهجير، اعتقال،اجبار على ترك المسيحية واحراق كنائس

http://eliasbejjaninews.com/archives/90713/the-scene-was-horrific-persecution-of-christians-august-2020-%d9%8a%d9%85%d9%88%d9%86%d8%af-%d8%a5%d8%a8%d8%b1%d8%a7%d9%87%d9%8a%d9%85-%d9%85%d8%b9%d9%87%d8%af-%d9%83%d9%8a%d8%aa%d8%b3%d8%aa/

“If we report these cases, the offenders get away with it by apologising and saying that they did it in an unconscious way. Should a Christian do something similar, he is immediately accused of blasphemy and the local Christian community is guilty by association. They rape our women, kill our people, destroy or burn our properties…. [All] we want is for our constitution and the law to treat us as equals, with justice, and for the guilty to be put on trial.” — Rev. Irfan James of Peshawar, AsiaNews.it, August 25, 2020, Pakistan.
You get so disappointed when you see immigrants do that. I’m an immigrant myself. And I don’t get it. Sweden has given them everything they want.” — Naem Sufan, sputniknews.com, August 2020, Sweden.
Maira Shahbaz, a 14-year-old Christian girl, escaped from the home of Mohamad Nakash—her kidnapper, whom the Lahore High Court had recently ruled is her legitimate husband despite her objections—and fled to a police station, where she gave testimony, including on how she was being “forced into prostitution” and “filmed while by being raped,” with threats that the tape would be published unless she complies with the demands of her rapist/husband and friends… — churchinneed.org; August 26, 2020, Pakistan.
In Greece, a 38-year-old migrant from Algeria attacked the Agios Minas Cathedral in Heraklion, Crete twice in less than a week. (Image source: Bernard Gagnon/Wikimedia Commons)
Rape and Forced Conversions of Christians in Pakistan
In late August, Maira Shahbaz, a 14-year-old Christian girl, escaped from the home of Mohamad Nakash—her kidnapper, whom the Lahore High Court had recently ruled is her legitimate husband despite her objections—and fled to a police station, where she gave testimony, including on how she was being “forced into prostitution” and “filmed while by being raped,” with threats that the tape would be published unless she complies with the demands of her rapist/husband and friends. “They threatened to murder my whole family,” the girl said. “My life was at stake in the hands of the accused and Nakash repeatedly raped me forcefully.” In an interview, a friend of Maira’s family described how the family is in hiding and constantly on the run, adding:
“Maira is traumatized. She cannot speak. We want to take her to the doctor, but we are afraid we might be spotted. We are all very frightened, but we place our trust in God.”
In a separate but similar instance, a married Muslim father of four kidnapped Saneha Kinza, the 15-year-old daughter of a pastor, while she was walking to church for early morning prayers. According to the report:
“Saneha’s family fears that their daughter will be added to the growing number of Christian girls who, after a kidnapping and forced conversion to Islam, are married to Muslims… On July 28, Pastor Morris Masih’s family received a call from the kidnapper, who threatened them if they dared to take any action to bring Saneha home.”
In another incident, Muslim employers upbraided and beat Anika Shehzad, 18, a Christian housemaid, after she refused to convert to Islam. A human rights activist explained how such incidents are extremely common in Pakistan:
“Christians in Pakistan are illiterate and poor, and many poor families are forced to take risks such as sending their young daughters to rich Muslim families to work as live in domestic servants for a little money. These young girls are often sexually harassed, tortured and sometimes are asked to convert to Islam. Many times such cases are reported in the mainstream media, like the gruesome torture of 10-year-old housemaid Tayyaba by an additional district and sessions judge, and his wife, in the capital Islamabad which made headlines in 2016. Several girls have even been killed, like Shazia Masih, 12. And several cases are taken to the courts but hardly any family has got justice and the practise still continues because perpetrators are always influential and rich, and sometimes victims are pressurised to withdraw their cases and some victims are compensated with money.”
Finally, a video appeared on TikTok showing a Christian man on the floor being pressured to renounce his faith and embrace Islam. An August 25 report describes it:
“In the video in question, the Christian man is seen being pressured to recite the shahada, the Islamic creed, surrounded by people who are not seen. Despite everything, he refuses, saying that for nothing in the world would he recite the Muslim creed and reject the Christian faith. His tormentors [which include female voices] then begin to threaten him, saying that he will face serious consequences. Even then, the victim says no, stating that it is his right to keep his faith and that he is ready to suffer all the consequences, that he would not give up his religion.”
Commenting on this, Rev. Irfan James of Peshawar said:
“Pakistani Christians suffer many challenges and [endure] persecution. They face difficult situations every day. It is sad that young Muslims, the majority community, constantly threaten Christians and our faith. Time and time again, they make fun of our faith, but neither the government nor law enforcement do anything about it. If we report these cases, the offenders get away with it by apologising and saying that they did it in an unconscious way. Should a Christian do something similar, he is immediately accused of blasphemy and the local Christian community is guilty by association. They rape our women, kill our people, destroy or burn our properties…. [All] we want is for our constitution and the law to treat us as equals, with justice, and for the guilty to be put on trial.”
The Slaughter of Christians
Philippines: On August 24, 15 people were killed in twin suicide bombings. They were carried out by the widows of two terrorists, and targeted a cathedral in the Muslim majority city of Jolo; about 80 others were injured in the blasts. Abu Sayyaf, a jihadi terror group, claimed responsibility. “There were two bombers. A suicide bomber was involved in the first explosion,” a military spokesman confirmed. “The second suicide bomber blew herself up after she was arrested after the first explosion.” “They have died as martyrs witnessing to their Christian faith,” said local Bishop Charlie Inzon, “as they braved to stay in Jolo despite constant intimidation and risks…. [I]t was treacherous, inhuman and an evil act of violence” “This crime,” added a human rights group, Church in Need, “is even rendered more unconscionable because of the hardships our people are going through during the Covid-19 pandemic.”
Ethiopia: At least 500 Christians—”including pregnant women, children and whole families”— were slaughtered between late June and August 27 in what were reported as “relentless door-to-door” attacks. Soon after a popular singer from a Muslim majority tribe was allegedly assassinated on June 29, “extremists arrived in cars and, armed with guns, machetes, swords and spears, sought out and slaughtered Christians.” The report continues:
“Children were forced to witness their parents being brutally murdered with machetes…. An Oromo Christian was beheaded for refusing to deny his faith by tearing off the thread around his neck (worn by many Ethiopian Christians as a sign of their baptism)…. Christians’ business premises and houses were burnt down, vandalised or destroyed by the extremists. Billions of dollars of damage was caused to property… The severity of the atrocities shocked local witnesses who gave accounts of harrowing scenes. In Dera, a witness described how the killers desecrated corpses by ‘dancing and singing, carrying the chopped or hacked body parts of those they slaughtered.’ Another witness reported how the hacked bodies of an elderly Christian couple, who were beaten to death in their home, were dragged through the streets… Thousands of traumatised survivors have fled for their lives, including orphaned children, and many are being sheltered in churches and community centres.”
Cameroon: Late on the night of August 1, the Islamic terror group Boko Haram sent two suicide bombers, one of whom was a girl, into a village, while its residents slept peacefully after a hard day’s work. Their target was the village’s Catholic Mission. At least 28 people —including seven children between the ages of 3-18—were killed. “The scene was horrific,” the leader of the targeted Catholic mission explained.
“I was at home when they came. We heard gunshots and then shouts from the vigilante committee alerting us. So we fled … When they got in, they first fired shots (randomly), and then people started running.”
One of the terrorists, a young girl, concealing her identity and intentions before a group of women and children who were hiding, claimed she was hurt and pleaded for their help. “They were duped,” the church leader said. “She detonated the bomb and killed many people.” According to the report:
“Further details about the bombers, including their origins, are unknown though reports in recent years indicate that Boko Haram has kidnapped thousands of children. Last year, the UN recently stated that since 2009, an estimated 8,000 children have been abducted by Boko Haram. And according to a UNICEF report, at least 117 of these children have been used as suicide bombers since 2017—and more than 80 percent of them are girls.”
Nigeria: Throughout the month of August, the “ignored genocide of Christians” continued at the hands of Muslim herdsmen and Fulani tribesmen. According to an August 4 report, in Kaduna State, at least 171 Christians, many of which were women and children, were slaughtered. On August 10, armed jihadis stormed the Lion of Judah Church in Azikoro and opened fire on worshippers; four Christians were killed. An August 24 report states that “Fulani herdsmen attacked a predominantly Christian village in north-central Nigeria, killing one resident, burning a church building and kidnapping four children among others.”
Uganda: A Muslim family severely beat two cousins for embracing the Christian faith; one died of his wounds. The surviving cousin, Ahmad Waisana, 23, as of the last report, still barely “clings to life,” and suffers severe injuries to a kidney and his head. From a sick-bed at an undisclosed place of refuge, he said:
“I have been spending sleepless nights thinking of my [cousin and] best friend, Jalilu [Kamutono, aged 20]. The whole of my body is aching. I am not sure whether I will get well or die and go to be with Christ.”
Earlier, both cousins, after attending various sermons in late 2019, “made a public confession of faith in Christ.” Word instantly reached their fathers, who are brothers, even before the cousins returned from the event to the house they all lived in. The fathers “angrily chased” the apostates out of the village. After several months of moving around and trying to eke out a living, which became increasingly harder due to COVID-19 lockdowns, “we decided to return back home hoping that we were going to be welcome,” Ahmad continues:
“At home we were questioned whether we were Christians, and we affirmed to them that we were still Christians but pleaded that we be received back. To our surprise, we were received with hostility, and the relatives arrived and started beating us with sticks and blunt objects before burying us in banana leaves.”
According to the report, “Their relatives were about to set them on fire when some cattle herders and Christians happened by,” prompting their violent family to flee. “At the hospital we were diagnosed, and the finding was that Jalilu had internal bleeding, and after two weeks he succumbed [on August 5] to the injury” and died. “I could not remain at the hospital, and so I went to a nearby church.” After the hospital called Jalilu’s family to come and retrieve their son’s corpse for burial, “They were reluctant at first, but pressure from the government and the problem of COVID-19 made them to yield, and they took the body for burial; that was on Aug. 7.”
Germany: Hamzar D., a 25-year-old Muslim migrant from Tunisia, strangled the 28-year-old German mother of his child to death, partially because she had baptized the child into Christianity. They had originally met at a discotheque; by July 2019, she had given birth to his son. “But after the birth, she changed,” he said. According to the report, she “withheld his son from him for a long time, and then she made his boy a Christian too.” This and other disagreements led to his strangling her during one of their meetings.
Attacks on Churches
Greece: A Muslim migrant from Algeria, 38, attacked a Christian cathedral twice in less than a week. First, on Sunday, August 2, he threw rocks at and damaged the stained glass windows of the Metropolitan Church of Agios Minas, in Heraklion, the largest city on the island of Crete. Two days later, on August 4, he returned with a hammer and started to smash down the cathedral’s door. Camera footage helped police identify and arrest the Algerian.
Turkey: Unknown vandals defaced “priceless” Christian frescoes inside the ancient Byzantine monastery of Sumela in Trabzon. Many of the faces of Jesus and the saints were scratched out. The monastery, which was built in 386, is dedicated to the Virgin Mary and visited by many pilgrims on her feast day, August 15—less than a week before the desecration occurred. The monastery had only recently reopened, after being closed for years to repair earlier arson and vandal damages. Despite all the visible damage (pictures here), “Turkish authorities deny the disaster, with the Deputy Director General of Cultural Heritage and Museums of the country’s Ministry of Culture and Tourism stating that there was no recent damage to the frescoes in the Monastery.” Some social media users claimed responsibility for the “sacred” duty of desecrating the monastery.
Also, coming on the heels of an event that shocked and angered many Christians around the world—the transformation of the Hagia Sophia cathedral/museum into a mosque—on August 21, Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdogan announced that another ancient church/museum, renowned for its exquisite Byzantine/Christian mosaics, had been transformed into a mosque. Holy Savior in Chora is a fourth century church that, like most other churches in Constantinople/Istanbul, was turned into a mosque after the Muslim conquest of 1453. Later excavations found that many of the Christian images and mosaics that had been painted over could be restored. Turkey, during its experimentation with secularism in the mid-twentieth century, had made the necessary restorations and in 1958, had turned the church into a museum, as was done earlier, in 1935, with Hagia Sophia. Like the Hagia Sophia, Chora is also a UNESCO World Heritage site. Its “beautiful mosaics and frescoes cover almost all the church’s walls and domes,” a historian noted. “It would be hard to imagine it being returned into a mosque without totally covering [or destroying] them over.” According to a report, “Other church-museums in Turkey, including less notable Hagia Sophias in the towns of İznik and Trabzon, have also been converted back into mosques in recent years.”
Italy: On August 12, an Egyptian migrant broke through Milan Cathedral’s security and sped up to the high altar, where, at knifepoint, he forced a guard to kneel for more than eight minutes. The man was reportedly loitering around the front of the cathedral and had broken in after a patrol asked for his ID (it later came out that he had a criminal record). Police officials rushed to the scene in an attempt to negotiate with the hostage-taker, who was eventually apprehended. Although police did not reveal his identity, the Italian bishops’ news media Avvenire uncritically quoted him during the standoff saying that he had a “room” in the cathedral and that his name is “Christian.” According to a later report, however, the 26-year-old man’s name is Mahmoud Mohamed Zin Elaabdin Elhosary.
Sweden: During widespread immigrant riots believed to be connected to the burning of a Koran in Malmö, Muslims tried to torch a church in the small town of Ronneby. A local, Naem Sufan, said he intervened and prevented its burning, and was also beaten because he “defended the church” by extinguishing the fire with his jacket. His injuries include a broken shoulder and strained neck. “You get so disappointed when you see immigrants do that,” he said. “I’m an immigrant myself. And I don’t get it. Sweden has given them everything they want. We have fled war, so we can not start new wars here.”
Desecration of Christian Cemeteries
Turkey: A Christian cemetery belonging to the Holy Savior Church and another Armenian church was desecrated. According to a report, “the remains were taken out of the graves and the bones of the deceased were scattered everywhere” (pictures here).
Pakistan: On August 17, dozens of armed Muslim men occupied a 70-year-old Christian cemetery. While there, and “according to eyewitnesses,” they “desecrated graves, Christian crosses, and Biblical verses written on walls and tombstones. The men then constructed a wall dividing the graveyard in half.” A local Christian explained their motivation:
“Over 100 Christian families reside in the village. We have remains of our forefathers in this graveyard. However, influential Muslims have grabbed a big portion of the graveyard. They have grabbed the land to use for their cattle…. The Christians had no courage to stop the armed men as they were ready to open fire if the Christians resisted… Very soon the land grabbers will occupy the remaining part of the graveyard. We cannot fight as we are the poor segment of the society.”
As of the last report, local authorities had not responded to the Christians’ pleas, and the land remains occupied by the grave desecraters.
Egypt: Local officials forced Christians to exhume and remove the corpse of a young Christian boy from his resting place behind his church to somewhere else “far from Muslims.” According to the August 21 report,
“The child, Samer Mark Maher, was buried on a piece of land behind Mary Mina Church as per usual practice. The governor, however, claimed that there were no permits and ordered that the Christians remove the body to a place far from Muslims.”
Local authorities and council members are now talking about exhuming all Christian corpses at the church and moving them elsewhere, even though, as one Christian lawyer explained, “The Copts (Christians) there don’t have an official place [other than their church] to bury their bodies. Usually, they were burying the bodies in land behind their church. The nearest village which contains Coptic burials is far, around 100 kilometres [more than 60 miles] from the dead child’s village,” where few of its Christian residents have vehicular access.
In another incident in Egypt, during what are known as “reconciliation sessions,” a government-appointed village mayor ruled that a Christian family must sell its home and leave the village. (In Egypt, local authorities and involved parties of a dispute often meet outside of courtrooms in an effort to resolve matters and restore peace before getting the law involved.) The case involved a young Christian man who accidentally hit and killed a Muslim girl with his motorcycle. Despite the fact that such accidents are very common in the chaotic and near lawless roads of Egypt; despite the fact that even the girl’s father acknowledged that it was an accident; and despite the fact that these sessions are informal and meant to find the most equitable solution before the courts get involved—the Muslim official, Hanni Snofar of Fayum governorate, who was invited to the session, ordered not just the expulsion of the youth, but his entire family, who must sell their home as soon as possible and essentially go in “exile.” The August 15 report inquires:
“It was just another reconciliation session but it turned into a courtroom with the animated mayor ordering the selling of the Christian family’s home and their expulsion. By what right does the mayor judge and issue mandatory decrees to expulse a family, force them to sell their home, and create other problems? Do we no longer have judiciaries to rule on such cases?”
Attacks on Apostates and Blasphemers
Syria: An Islamist group connected to Turkey and operating in northwest Syria seized a 40-year-old Kurdish man for apostasy in the city of Arfin. Earlier, fighters from Failaq Al-Sham ordered Radwan Muhammad to relinquish his school so they could transform it into a madrassa, an Islamic school. Radwan, its headmaster and an English teacher, refused, adding “I will hand you the building in one case only: if Jesus Christ comes down to earth again.” He was promptly apprehended. According to Pastor Nihad Hassan, who is also from Afrin,
“We are extremely worried about Radwan’s life and wellbeing, he is being held at [Failaq Al-Sham’s] Headquarters in Afrin and they may execute him. Those Islamist groups and their Turkish masters are walking in the footsteps of IS. In fact, many of their fighters are former IS and al Qaeda members.”
Moreover, “Mr. Muhammed’s wife died recently, but the group prevented the family from washing and shrouding her body according to the customs of that region. She had converted from Islam to Christianity a while ago.”
According to a separate report from August 19, “Continuing its policies of religious oppression and demographic change, factions of the Turkish-backed Syrian National Army (SNA) — a coalition of militias, several of them with extremist ideologies, formed and funded by Turkey — kidnapped 14 Kurdish youth from occupied Afrin after they converted to Christianity.”
Pakistan: On August 5, after mosque leader Muhammad Abdul complained, police arrested Sohail Masih, a Christian man, on the charge of blasphemy. Earlier, during a Facebook discussion, Masih had written, “It is not possible that the blood of goats and bulls can wash away sins. The incident of Miraj is based on a lie.” (Miraj is a reference to the Islamic tradition that, while mounted atop a supernatural winged creature named Buraq, Muhammad had flown from Mecca to al-Aqsa mosque in Jerusalem, then temporarily ascended into heaven, all in one night.) When local Muslims learned of Masih’s blasphemous post, an “enraged” mob surrounded the police station he was being held in; some “forcefully entered the police station and exchanged angry words with police.” Soon thereafter, police formalized a case against and charged Masih under section 295-C of the Pakistan penal code, for which the maximum penalty is death.
Indonesia: A Muslim convert to Christianity was arrested for “blasphemy.” Apollinaris Darmawan, 70, wrote on twitter that “Islam is not a religion but a heretical teaching that silences and uncivilizes its people.” On August 8, before police could get to him, an angry Muslim mob stormed his home, dragged him outside and stripped him naked. The elderly Apollinaris has a history of criticizing Islam and was released from prison, where he had served four years for another blasphemy accusation just five months earlier. Discussing this incident, the deputy chairman of the human rights group Setara Institute for Democracy and Peace said that “In a democracy, views expressed by Darmawan are natural. In religious life, if people are criticizing our religion, we [should] see it as a challenge, not an insult.” The 70-year-old now faces the maximum penalty for blasphemy in Indonesia: six years imprisonment and a one billion rupiah fine ($72,000).
France: As a reflection of anti-Christian sentiment and fears of apostasy, a Muslim family beat and shaved the hair of a 17-year-old girl for dating a Christian boy. Previously her hair was about two feet long. According to the deputy prosecutor of the case, the family will be tried later this year for “violence against minors”:
“The two families knew each other and (their relationship) was not a problem, but when they started talking about marriage, the girl’s parents told her: ‘We are Muslims, you cannot marry a Christian.'”… The first blow came from the mother, then there was an outbreak of violence. She was taken to a room and beaten. She was shaved, according to her testimony, by her uncle—her father’s brother— while being beaten.”
The August 21 report closes by saying that, “Head-shaving in this context has a particularly shocking context in France. This was the punishment after the Second World War meted out to thousands of women who had relationships with Nazi occupiers in so-called ‘horizontal collaboration.'”
*Raymond Ibrahim, author of Crucified Again and Sword and Scimitar, is a Distinguished Senior Fellow at the Gatestone Institute, a Shillman Fellow at the David Horowitz Freedom Center, and a Judith Rosen Friedman Fellow at the Middle East Forum.
About this Series
While not all, or even most, Muslims are involved, persecution of Christians by extremists is growing. The report posits that such persecution is not random but rather systematic, and takes place irrespective of language, ethnicity, or location.
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