English LCCC Newsbulletin For Lebanese, Lebanese Related, Global News & Editorials
For July 11/2020
Compiled & Prepared by: Elias Bejjani
#elias_bejjani_news

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Bible Quotations For today
Here is my servant, whom I have chosen, my beloved, with whom my soul is well pleased. I will put my Spirit upon him, and he will proclaim justice to the Gentiles
Holy Gospel of Jesus Christ according to Saint Matthew 12/14-21/:”But the Pharisees went out and conspired against him, how to destroy him. When Jesus became aware of this, he departed. Many crowds followed him, and he cured all of them, and he ordered them not to make him known. This was to fulfil what had been spoken through the prophet Isaiah: ‘Here is my servant, whom I have chosen, my beloved, with whom my soul is well pleased. I will put my Spirit upon him, and he will proclaim justice to the Gentiles. He will not wrangle or cry aloud, nor will anyone hear his voice in the streets. He will not break a bruised reed or quench a smouldering wick until he brings justice to victory. And in his name the Gentiles will hope

Titles For The Latest English LCCC Lebanese & Lebanese Related News & Editorials published on July 10-11/2021
Tons Of Doubtful Question Marks Shadow General Abbas Ibrahim’s refusal to Respond To Judge Bitar’s request/Elias Bejjani/July 10/2021
Lebanon power station to restart after fuel delivery
Israel’s IDF: “Troops and the Israeli Police Thwarted a Weapon Smuggling Attempt Along the Blue Line between Israel and Lebanon: 43 Weapons Were Confiscated in the Area of Ghajar*
Dar El-Fatwa: July 20 first day of Adha
Shea, Grillo Urge 'Concrete Actions' from Lebanon Leaders in KSA Talks
Bassil: Those who Wanted to Burn Presidential Tenure Have Burned Entire Country
Baalbek Festival Goes Virtual in Crisis-Hit Lebanon
MPs Stall Lifting Immunity in Port Blast Probe
Army: There was no meeting between Aoun and Bitar
Bassil: Those who wanted to burn presidential tenure have burned entire country
Hezbollah offers a bright future in drugs, crime and terror/Baria Alamuddin/Arab News/July 10/2021
America, France … and Lebanon’s failed state/Khairallah Khairallah/The Arab Weekly/July 10/2021

Titles For The Latest English LCCC Miscellaneous Reports And News published on July 10-11/2021
Pope set to deliver Sunday blessing from Rome hospital
Blinken and his Qatari counterpart discuss the files of Lebanon, Afghanistan and regional security
Russia, US reach deal in UN on aid to north-western Syria
Explosion in Tehran park was stun grenade: Iran state TV
Iran’s exiled opposition protest, demand prosecution of president-elect Raisi
Mleiha in Sharjah launches ‘mobile stargazing experience’
Confederate leader statue removed in Charlottesville, US, over racism concerns
Iraqi security forces free kidnapped activist Ali al-Mikdam
Ethiopia claims victory over Security Council’s support for African mediation in Nile dam row
Afghanistan to Rush Troops to Border as Taliban Extend Gains
Canada welcomes renewal of cross-border humanitarian assistance for Syria
Pfizer, BioNTech to seek authorization for COVID booster shot as Delta variant spreads
Fire at Bangladesh factory kills 52 workers, police open probe
Global food prices fall for the first time in 12 months

Titles For The Latest The Latest LCCC English analysis & editorials from miscellaneous sources published on July 10-11/2021
Biden Must Abandon Nuclear Negotiations with Iran/Con Coughlin/Gatestone Institute/July 10/2021
The US war in Afghanistan is over, but who won?/Amotz ASA-El/MIDDLE ISRAEL/July 10/2021
Biden may succeed in making Israeli-Palestinian peace - opinion/Alone Ben Keir/Jerusalem Post/July 10/2021
Is Iran losing control of its proxies in Iraq?/Qassim Abdul-Zahra and Samya Kullab/The Arab Weekly/July 10/2021
Libya back in a quagmire/Hafed Al-Ghwell/Arab News/July 10/2021
UAE and Israel can build on a year of normality/Yossi Mekelberg/Arab News/July 10/2021

The Latest English LCCC Lebanese & Lebanese Related News & Editorials published on July 10-11/2021
Tons Of Doubtful Question Marks Shadow General Abbas Ibrahim’s refusal to Respond To Judge Bitar’s request
Elias Bejjani/July 10/2021
علامات استفهام كبيرة وراء امتناع اللواء عباس إبراهيم تلبية طلب القاضي بيطار
الياس بجاني/10 تموز/2021
http://eliasbejjaninews.com/archives/100516/elias-bejjani-tons-of-doubtful-question-marks-shadow-general-abbas-ibrahims-refusal-to-respond-to-judge-bitars-request-%d8%b9%d9%84%d8%a7%d9%85%d8%a7%d8%aa-%d8%a7%d8%b3%d8%aa%d9%81%d9%87%d8%a7/
The matter is so simple, if General Abbas Ibrahim is really innocent, and has nothing to do with the Beirut’s Criminal and terrorist port explosion, then why would he refrain from positively and as soon as possible respond to Judge Bitar’s request, and answer bravely, openly and honestly all his judicial questions in regards to the explosion?.
If General Ibrahim is actually innocent, then we really wonder why a very active, loud and extensive public and media campaign is going on openly and suspiciously in advocating for his so called security, intelligence and patriotic roles in Lebanon and in the USA !!!?
In conclusion: In case the General is so confident of his innocence, and that he did not play any illegal role in the terrorist explosion, then he is supposed to even voluntarily respond to the Judge’s official request, and answer all his questions….or otherwise he would be incriminating himself.

علامات استفهام كبيرة وراء امتناع اللواء عباس إبراهيم تلبية طلب القاضي بيطار
الياس بجاني/08 تموز/2021
إذا كان فعلاً اللواء عباس ابراهيم بريئاً ولا علاقة له بتفجير المرفأ، فلماذا يمتنع عن تلبية طلب القاضي بيطار للتحقيق معه، ولماذا الحملة الدعائية والترويجية لشخصه ولأدواره في لبنان وأميركا بشكل لافت!!!؟

Lebanon power station to restart after fuel delivery
AFP/10 July ,2021
A major power station in Lebanon is to resume operations on Sunday, two days after it ground to a halt due to a lack of fuel at a time of constant power cuts and economic collapse. Zahrani in south Lebanon -- one of the country’s four main power plants -- went offline on Friday because the state electricity company was unable to access fuel shipments stuck offshore due to pending payments. Electricity of Lebanon (EDL) said Saturday that foreign correspondent banks had completed payment procedures and preparations were underway to unload the cargo the same day. “Zahrani power plant will be back in service starting tomorrow morning after the entire cargo aboard the tanker is unloaded into its tanks,” EDL said in a statement. The state electricity company did not refer to Deir Ammar power station which also went offline on Friday because it ran out of fuel. Together, Deir Ammar and Zahrani provide about 40 percent of the country’s electricity. Lebanon is mired in what the World Bank has called one of the worst economic crises since the 1850s, and the cash-strapped state is struggling to buy enough fuel to keep the lights on. Power cuts in recent months have lasted up to 22 hours a day in some areas, while even private generator owners have been forced to ration output as fuel prices rise, resulting in periods of complete blackout. This has disrupted work at businesses, government offices and hospitals. The government’s Covid-19 vaccine committee on Friday said it canceled a mass vaccination drive planned for the weekend because of power outages in most centers. The international community has long demanded a complete overhaul of the electricity sector, which has cost the government more than $40 billion since the end of Lebanon’s 1975-90 civil war. Lebanon has been without a fully functioning government since the last once resigned in the wake of a devastating explosion at Beirut port last year that killed more than 200 people. The economic crisis has seen the Lebanese pound lose more than 90 percent of its value against the dollar on the black market, and left over half the population living below the poverty line.

Israel’s IDF: “Troops and the Israeli Police Thwarted a Weapon Smuggling Attempt Along the Blue Line between Israel and Lebanon: 43 Weapons Were Confiscated in the Area of Ghajar*
Jerusalem Post/July 10/2021
Overnight (Friday), IDF observation troops spotted suspects smuggling bags from Lebanon into Israeli territory in the area of the village of Ghajar.
IDF troops spotted the smuggling attempt using a variety of means, in both overt and covert ways. Throughout the incident, in collaboration with the Israeli Police from the Northern District Border Unit, 43 guns worth millions of shekels were confiscated.
Among other things, the IDF is examining the possibility that the smuggling attempt was carried out with the help of the Hezbollah terror organization, and is investigating, along with the Israeli Police, the perpetrators of the weapon smuggling attempt.
IDF troops monitor everything that happens along the Blue Line, and work extensively in order to combat the phenomenon of drug and weapon smuggling attempts from the Lebanese border.
In the past, weapons smuggled from Lebanon into Israel were used for terror activity inside Israeli territory, including Hezbollah affiliated terror activity.
With that being stated, last week, the involvement of Haj Khalil Harb in drug and weapon smuggling attempts along the Blue Line was published. Haj Khalil Harb is a senior member in the Hezbollah terror organization, who served as a security advisor to the Secretary-General of the organization, Hassan Nasrallah, and served as a commander in significant units of the Hezbollah. According to intelligence information, Harb is currently involved in drug and weapon smuggling attempts along the Blue Line between Israel and Lebanon. Harb may have been involved in this weapon smuggling attempt, as well as another smuggling attempt that occurred in the beginning of June, in which 15 guns and dozens of kilograms of drugs worth approximately 2,000,000 NIS were confiscated. IDF troops are continuously monitoring and working towards thwarting Haj Khalil Harb's and others like him that attempt to harm the State of Israel and its sovereignty.”

Dar El-Fatwa: July 20 first day of Adha
NNA/July 10/2021
Dar El-Fatwa announced in a statement this Saturday that Tuesday July 20 will mark the first day of the blessed Eid al-Adha.

Shea, Grillo Urge 'Concrete Actions' from Lebanon Leaders in KSA Talks
Naharnet/July 10/2021
French Ambassador to Lebanon Anne Grillo and U.S. Ambassador to Lebanon Dorothy Shea conducted trilateral meetings with counterparts in Saudi Arabia this week to discuss the situation in Lebanon. “This initiative follows up on the trilateral meetings among U.S. Secretary of State Antony Blinken, French Foreign Minister Jean-Yves Le Drian, and Saudi Arabian Foreign Minister Faisal bin Farhan Al-Saud on June 29 in Matera, Italy on the margins of the G-20 conference,” a joint U.S.-French statement said. During the visit, Grillo and Shea stressed the “desperate need” for “a fully empowered (Lebanese) government that is committed to and able to implement reforms,” the statement said. Noting that the French and U.S. governments, as well as other “like-minded” partners, continue extending “urgent assistance to the Lebanese people, including health, education, and food support,” the ambassadors also emphasized that “concrete actions by Lebanon’s leaders to address decades of mismanagement and corruption will be crucial to unlocking additional support from France, the United States, and regional and international partners.”

Bassil: Those who Wanted to Burn Presidential Tenure Have Burned Entire Country
Naharnet/July 10/2021
Free Patriotic Movement head Jebran Bassil has accused PM-designate Saad Hariri of “slaughtering the country,” while lamenting that “those who wanted to burn the presidential tenure have burned the entire country.”“We have resolves all the domestic (government) formation hurdles at our expense and Saad Hariri must overcome the foreign hurdles so that we can meet him,” Bassil said in an interview with the FPM-affiliated tayyar.org news portal. “If he is inclined to step down, why is he slaughtering the country and contributing more and more to its bleeding?” Bassil added, decrying that “those who wanted to burn the presidential tenure have burned the entire country.” Asked whether the latest U.S.-French efforts might soften the Saudi stance towards Hariri, Bassil said “this scene is the biggest proof that the government’s problem is not domestic.” “The effort that the United States and France are carrying out with Saudi Arabia is sufficient to highlight a key part of the government’s problem,” the FPM chief added, a few days after the U.S. and French ambassadors to Lebanon held talks on Lebanon in KSA. Asked about al-Mustaqbal Movement and its allies’ possible boycott of binding parliamentary consultations should Hariri step down, Bassil said: “If this is truly the intention, the country will not stop and no one can paralyze life in it.” “Harri was named in the consultations without Christian (votes) and we accepted that, and if they decide so, a premier will be named without them,” the FPM chief added.

Baalbek Festival Goes Virtual in Crisis-Hit Lebanon
Agence France Presse/July 10/2021
Lebanon's annual Baalbek Festival was held Friday in virtual form with the famed Roman ruins a part of its backdrop, as an expression of hope in the crisis-hit country. The program of 10 performances, a mixture of jazz, Indie rock, rap, hip rock and electro pop, filmed last month at Roman sites across the Bekaa Valley of east Lebanon, including Baalbek itself, was broadcast on Lebanese television and streamed on the internet. "We are in an economic and health crisis, and we wanted to give young Lebanese artists who continue to produce and show creativity a platform for their art," said the festival's president, Nayla de Freige. "Another message is to offer a moment of happiness and to dream... to show another face of Lebanon, to transform the pain into hope," she told AFP. Festival organizers chose the slogan "shine on Lebanon, defying darkness with music" for its 2021 edition. Lebanon faces what the World Bank says is probably one of the world's worst economic crises since the 1850s, compounded by the coronavirus epidemic and the megablast at Beirut port last August that killed more than 200 people and devastated swathes of the capital.

MPs Stall Lifting Immunity in Port Blast Probe
Agence France Presse/July 10/2021
Lebanese parliamentarians have held up an investigation into the Beirut port blast, less than a month before its first anniversary, demanding more proof before they lift immunity for ex-ministers wanted for questioning. Hundreds of tons of ammonium nitrate fertilizer exploded on the dockside at Beirut port last August 4, killing more than 200 people, injuring thousands and ravaging swathes of the capital. Afterwards, it emerged that officials had known about the explosive substance being stored unsafely at the port for years. Earlier this month, the lead judge in the case, Tarek al-Bitar, said he had demanded that parliament lift the immunity of ex-finance minister Ali Hasan Khalil, former public works minister Ghazi Zoaiter and ex-interior minister Nohad al-Mashnouq. Bitar said he was looking at possible charges of "probable intent to murder" and "negligence." Deputy Speaker Elie Ferzli said parliament's administration and justice committee met and decided to "request all evidence available in the investigation, as well as all documents that prove suspicions."He said the committee would reconvene once it had received a reply, to decide whether or not to waive immunity. Lawyer and activist Nizar Saghieh said the committee's request went against the separation of powers between the judiciary and the legislature, and "violated the confidentiality of the investigation.""They're just trying to buy time," he charged.
'Shameful'
The hashtag #lift_immunity_now began trending in Lebanon as protesters gathered outside the residence of Parliament Speaker Nabih Berri where the committee meeting took place. "Immunity has to be lifted immediately," said Ibrahim Hoteit, a representative of families of those killed in the explosion. The activist, who lost his brother in the disaster, said stalling the decision was "shameful, in view of the size of the crime." Protesters then headed to the Interior Ministry following media reports that the caretaker minister had not allowed Bitar to question General Security chief Maj. Gen. Abbas Ibrahim over the blast. There was no statement from the minister's office. Ibrahim said he was "not above the law," but urged against any "political calculations."The outgoing premier, Hassan Diab, has been charged in the probe and Bitar has called him in for questioning. The judge has also said he is looking at interrogating former public works minister Youssef Fenianos. Rights groups including Amnesty International and Human Rights Watch have called for a U.N. investigation into the explosion.

Army: There was no meeting between Aoun and Bitar
NNA/July 10/2021
The Army Command - Directorate of Orientation issued a statement this afternoon denying the meeting of Army Commander Joseph Aoun with the chief investigator in the Beirut port explosion case, Judge Tariq Bitar. “One of the news websites published a story in which it claimed that a meeting took place between the judicial investigator and the army commander, General Joseph Aoun, in Yarzeh. The army command categorically denies the validity of this news in all its details, and confirms that the military institution is ready at any time to cooperate with the judiciary and provide it with all the information and data it requests which helps in the investigation and uncovering the truth,” the statement said. The statement also called on all media outlets to be careful in publishing news related to the army and to return to those concerned to inquire about any news before publishing it, knowing that all news of the institution, including the receptions of the army chief, are circulated through statements issued by the army and published through its pages on social networking sites.

Bassil: Those who wanted to burn presidential tenure have burned entire country
NNA/July 10/2021
Free Patriotic Movement head Jebran Bassil has accused PM-designate Saad Hariri of “slaughtering the country,” while lamenting that “those who wanted to burn the presidential tenure have burned the entire country.”“We have resolves all the domestic (government) formation hurdles at our expense and Saad Hariri must overcome the foreign hurdles so that we can meet him,” Bassil said in an interview with the FPM-affiliated tayyar.org news portal. “If he is inclined to step down, why is he slaughtering the country and contributing more and more to its bleeding?” Bassil added, decrying that “those who wanted to burn the presidential tenure have burned the entire country.”Asked whether the latest U.S.-French efforts might soften the Saudi stance towards Hariri, Bassil said “this scene is the biggest proof that the government’s problem is not domestic.”“The effort that the United States and France are carrying out with Saudi Arabia is sufficient to highlight a key part of the government’s problem,” the FPM chief added, a few days after the U.S. and French ambassadors to Lebanon held talks on Lebanon in KSA. Asked about al-Mustaqbal Movement and its allies’ possible boycott of binding parliamentary consultations should Hariri step down, Bassil said: “If this is truly the intention, the country will not stop and no one can paralyze life in it.”“Harri was named in the consultations without Christian (votes) and we accepted that, and if they decide so, a premier will be named without them,” the FPM chief added.---

Hezbollah offers a bright future in drugs, crime and terror
Baria Alamuddin/Arab News/July 10/2021
بارعة علم الدين: ما يقدمه حزب الله للبنان هو مستقبل زاهر بتهريب المخدرات والإجرام والإرهاب
http://eliasbejjaninews.com/archives/100520/baria-alamuddin-hezbollah-offers-a-bright-future-in-drugs-crime-and-terror-%d8%a8%d8%a7%d8%b1%d8%b9%d8%a9-%d8%b9%d9%84%d9%85-%d8%a7%d9%84%d8%af%d9%8a%d9%86-%d9%85%d8%a7-%d9%8a%d9%82%d8%af%d9%85/
An excellent new report by Chatham House’s Lina Khatib not only illustrates why Hezbollah poses an existential threat to Lebanon, but is also a timely reminder of how rapidly Hezbollah mutated from being an anti-state critic of corruption to embodying that corruption, and becoming the supreme defender of this rotten-to-the-core governing system.
Hezbollah’s usurpation of the governing system has transformed Lebanon into a bankrupt pariah state, with a basket-case economy dependent on the export of narcotics, weapons and terrorism.
From the moment Hezbollah controlled ministerial posts, these institutions were put into the service of its own partisan goals and those of its Iranian paymaster. Hezbollah’s hold over the Agriculture Ministry was exploited to divert agricultural investment exclusively to Hezbollah strongholds, while controlling the import of chemicals such as ammonium nitrate for use as explosives. Paperwork for the export of agricultural products was falsified to cover up the smuggling of contraband goods.
ezbollah controls the regional trade in explosives, and also controls Beirut’s port. No wonder it is moving heaven and earth to block the investigation into why hundreds of tons of ammonium nitrate stored in the port destroyed half of Lebanon’s capital city, with colossal loss of life.
With the Transport Ministry in the hands of key ally Yusuf Finyanus from 2016 to 2020, Hezbollah’s control of the airport, ports and borders became absolute. One of the reasons Lebanon doesn’t have a functioning government now is that Hezbollah insists on appointing the next Finance Minister, which would allow for the cover-up of the full spectrum of criminality.
Lina Khatib’s report stresses the fact that while such corrupt practices are nothing new among Lebanon’s mafioso factions, Hezbollah and Iran embarked on these corrupt activities in such a systematic manner as to bankrupt and shatter the state. Hezbollah uses its vast intelligence infrastructure to spy on rivals and target its enemies. An immense $300 million a month is lost to the state due to Hezbollah smuggling subsidized diesel into Syria. While half of Lebanon can’t afford to feed itself, Hezbollah makes a killing flogging subsidized wheat across the border.
Hezbollah plunders the state and then scatters a few crumbs from its immense profits to portray itself as the God-given benefactor of its client communities, when in reality it is nothing but an immense predatory parasite draining Lebanon’s lifeblood.
Hezbollah is the principal benefactor from the fact that, out of $3 billion customs duties collected from Beirut’s port, the Lebanese state purse receives a paltry $800 million. Hezbollah is a leading player in the multibillion-dollar Captagon trade, while reaping hundreds of millions through complicity in the Latin American narcotics trade. Hezbollah’s Transportation Unit 112 oversees the movement of weapons, missiles, money and other contraband goods, along with smuggling and money laundering operations in Africa and the Americas.
With Lebanese GDP nearly halving from $55 billion in 2018 to about $30 billion in 2021, Hezbollah’s massive levels of crime and systematic corruption, along with its stipends from Tehran (about $700 millio a year), leave it with a comparable financial turnover to that of the state itself. Hezbollah is profiteering from Lebanon’s demise. With dozens of businesses going bankrupt every day, Hezbollah is establishing its own parallel network of banks, trading outlets and institutions, which undercut rivals due to exemptions from border fees and taxes.
The reality is that when the West and the Arab world step back from weaker states like Lebanon, Iraq, Libya and Afghanistan, the vultures come swooping in.
Lebanon is becoming a proud member of an exclusive club of states where the national infrastructure has been repurposed for smuggling and organized crime. With their monetary systems in freefall, Lebanon and Syria are becoming outright narco-economies. Numerous financial institutions already face international sanctions after Nasrallah’s “Party of the Devil” dragged them into its orbit.
In this dystopian, narco-state future, if you want to prosper and feed your family your career options will be drugs and explosives manufacture and transport, money laundering, human trafficking, terrorism or paramilitarism.
Lebanon’s disintegration poses challenges for Hezbollah, but it will emerge from this implosion ten times stronger than any rival. Boycotting Lebanon has failed. Those banking on Lebanon’s demise as a means of purging the region of Hezbollah have it all wrong: Hezbollah possesses all the arms, the power, the money and the manpower. It will be the last man standing after this Lebanese apocalypse.
Yet let’s not forget that in the 2009 and 2018 elections, Hezbollah candidates won a miserable 13 seats. Hezbollah wields influence only through exploiting corrupt allies. This is a precarious house of cards that would collapse if the entire nation succeeded in mobilizing against it.
Hezbollah’s supposed raison d'être was defending the motherland against Israel, yet such a Hezbollah-dominated terror-exporting state would only make war inevitable. With Israel conducting daily overflights and airstrikes again Iran-aligned targets, Hezbollah appears powerless to act.
The reality is that when the West and the Arab world step back from weaker states like Lebanon, Iraq, Libya and Afghanistan, the vultures come swooping in. Vulture states like Iran and Russia, and non-state actors like Hezbollah, Daesh and the Taliban are highly adept at filling the void when the international community fails to act in support of good governance and stability.
The world has scarcely grasped the consequences of abandoning this cluster of Arab states — Lebanon, Syria, and Iraq — to the vultures and terrorists. The legitimate economies of these nations have imploded, but there are fortunes to be made from exporting drugs, arms, terrorism and anarchy. The entire planet will suffer the consequences, and just as in Latin America, when narco-states become established such criminalized systems quickly gain a veneer of self-sustaining permanence that is almost impossible to eradicate.
This is not alarmism; it is already happening, and will shortly become 100 times worse if citizens and the international community fail to prevent the wholesale emergence of these Tehran-sponsored spawning grounds for chaos and disorder.
*Baria Alamuddin is an award-winning journalist and broadcaster in the Middle East and the UK. She is editor of the Media Services Syndicate and has interviewed numerous heads of state.

America, France … and Lebanon’s failed state
Khairallah Khairallah/The Arab Weekly/July 10/2021
In clearer terms, Lebanon cannot, with its current president or its resigned government, headed by Hassan Diab, a man with no credibility, make contact with any foreign country, especially in the Arab world. In the final analysis, Lebanon is in need of someone who can perform this task in their stead.
What happened set a precedent in the history of relations between states, in addition to the international recognition that Lebanon is a failed state.
The announcement that the US Ambassador to Lebanon, Dorothy Shea, would travel to Saudi Arabia, accompanied by French Ambassador Anne Griot, to hold meetings with Saudi officials, served to illustrate a clear international decision, an American and European decision in particular. The decision is to deal with the Lebanese reality from a new perspective.
The new starting point is that the Lebanese political class is deficient in fulfilling what is required of it towards the country on the one hand, and that President Michel Aoun, on the other hand, cannot deal with the outside world. That is, with the Arab countries that were keen on helping Lebanon in the past, led by the Kingdom of Saudi Arabia.
In clearer terms, Lebanon cannot, with its current president or its resigned government, headed by Hassan Diab, a man with no credibility, make contact with any foreign country, especially in the Arab world. In the final analysis, Lebanon is in need of someone who can perform this task in their stead.
Therefore, the US administration and the French government concluded they had no other choice but to mediate with the Kingdom of Saudi Arabia, so that it may agree to come to Lebanon’s help. This means helping the ordinary Lebanese find a can of petrol or diesel or a pill.
It is also significant that the US and the French have signalled their intent to support of the Lebanese army and security forces. Among all institutions of the Lebanese state only the army is left, after the president of the Republic eliminated every other institution, including the judiciary.
The statement issued by the US embassy noted that “this visit comes after the tripartite meeting on Lebanon of US Secretary of State Anthony Blinken, French Foreign Minister Jean-Yves Le Drian and Saudi Foreign Minister Prince Faisal bin Farhan Al Saud.”
This meeting was held on June 29 on the sidelines of the G20 Summit in Matera, Italy.
During her meetings in Saudi Arabia, Ambassador Shea (together with the French ambassador) planned to discuss the seriousness of the situation in Lebanon and to stress the importance of humanitarian assistance to the Lebanese people, as well as increasing support for the army and internal security forces.
In partnership with her French and Saudi counterparts, Ambassador Shea will continue to work on developing the three countries’ diplomatic strategy which focuses on government formation and the imperative need for urgent and fundamental reforms.
Ambassador Shea used this visit to reaffirm the United States’ commitment to helping the people of Lebanon and highlight the contribution by more than $3.7 billion in economic, humanitarian and security assistance since 2016.”
For its part, the French embassy said in a statement, “The French Ambassador to Lebanon, Anne Griot, will travel on Thursday, July 8, 2021, to the Kingdom of Saudi Arabia, along with the US ambassador to Lebanon, to meet with a number of Saudi officials. “This visit is an extension of the joint meeting of the (French) Minister of Europe and Foreign Affairs and his American counterpart with the Saudi Foreign Minister, which was held in Italy on the sidelines of the G20 Summit.
The French statement recalled that “Ministers Jean-Yves Le Drian and Anthony Blinken indicated together in Paris on June 25 that the Lebanese political leaders have so far been unable to give priority to the public interest of Lebanon over their own interests. They also agreed on the need for France and the states to work united together to get Lebanon out of the crisis.”
The statement added, “The ambassador will explain during her meetings that it is urgent for Lebanese officials to form an effective and credible government that works to achieve the necessary reforms in the interest of Lebanon, in accordance with the aspirations of the Lebanese people.”
“She will express with her American counterpart the desire of France and the United States to work with their regional and international partners to put pressure on those responsible for the blockage.”
“It will also stress the need for the French humanitarian aid provided to go directly to the Lebanese people, the Lebanese armed forces and the internal security forces, which France and the United States will continue to support.”
This means that there is absolutely no trust left in the institutions of the Lebanese state that it will convey this aid to to ordinary citizens!
It was necessary to look at the American and French statements to realise that the international community has lost any hope of saving Lebanon without undertaking an initiative that is out of the ordinary. As serious as it is, the issue is that simple.
The issue relates to the country of President Michel Aoun, a country ruled by “Hezbollah”, i.e. Iran, which sees in Lebanon nothing but one of the many cards in the region with which it wants to blackmail the international community, headed by the United States. In the end, what can we expect from a country where “Hezbollah” decides who is to be the president of the republic. What we are witnessing today in Lebanon, on every level, is a natural result of Michel Aoun’s arrival at Baabda Palace after Hezbollah closed the Lebanese parliament for two years and five months in order to impose him as president.
It did this by raising a slogan: Either Michel Aoun will be president, or there will be a void at the top position of the Lebanese state.
Over time, it turned out that the void would have been a better option. There is a president whose last concern is the future of Lebanon and the Lebanese. Aoun only cares about the future of his brother-in-law, Gebran Bassil, whom he considers his rightful heir despite US sanctions under the Global Magnitsky Human Rights Accountability Act, which targets foreign officials suspected of corruption. Yes, corruption. Will America and France bring back Saudi Arabia to Lebanon? This matter is not certain in light of Michel Aoun’s desire to put all possible obstacles in the way of forming a government that would not be at the mercy of his son-in-law’s whims.
What is certain is that the Iranian response to any attempt to salvage what can be salvaged in Lebanon will be more intransigence, not only in Lebanon, but also in Syria, Iraq and Yemen.
There is more here than two ambassadors’ visit to Saudi Arabia. There is a battle for the future of the regime in Iran. Tehran’s reaction could be very dangerous.
This was recently demonstrated by its militias blowing up the electricity lines in Iraq and bombing the Ain al-Assad base, which has an American presence inside Iraqi territory.

The Latest English LCCC Miscellaneous Reports And News published on July 10-11/2021
Pope set to deliver Sunday blessing from Rome hospital
AP/July 10/2021
Pope Francis will follow in the footsteps of St. John Paul II and deliver his weekly Sunday blessing and greeting from the Rome hospital where he is recovering from intestinal surgery, the Vatican said Friday. The Vatican’s daily medical update said that Francis’ temperature was normal again following the slight fever he ran Wednesday evening. It said his treatment and recovery at Gemelli Polyclinic were proceeding normally, with the pontiff walking, eating, working and celebrating Mass with hospital staff. Francis, 84, had half of his colon removed last Sunday for what the Vatican said was a "severe" narrowing of his large intestine. He is expected to stay at Gemelli, which has a special suite reserved for popes, through the week, assuming there are no complications. The statement said Francis would deliver his noontime Sunday blessing from the 10th floor of the hospital, an appointment that will recall the practice of St. John Paul II, who also delivered the Angelus prayer and greeting from his hospital during his occasional hospital stays.

Blinken and his Qatari counterpart discuss the files of Lebanon, Afghanistan and regional security
NNA/July 10/2021
The head of the media office of the US State Department, Ned Price, said that Secretary of State Anthony Blinken discussed with his Qatari counterpart Mohammed bin Abdulrahman Al Thani many regional files. “Foreign Minister Anthony Blinken spoke today with Qatari Deputy Prime Minister and Foreign Minister Mohammed bin Abdulrahman Al Thani on regional security issues, and Qatar’s recent pledge to help Lebanon and support peace negotiations in Afghanistan,” Price said in a statement issued today, Friday. The statement added that Blinken “highlighted the importance of a strong partnership with Qatar, and thanked the foreign minister for Qatar’s role in advancing peace and security in the region.”

Russia, US reach deal in UN on aid to north-western Syria
The Arab Weekly/July 10/2021
“It shows what we can do with the Russians if we work with them diplomatically on common goals,” said the US ambassador to the United Nations, Linda Thomas-Greenfield.
UNITED NATIONS- New York - The UN Security Council on Friday extended a cross-border aid operation into Syria from Turkey after Russia agreed to a compromise in last-minute talks with the United States, ensuring the delivery of humanitarian help to millions of Syrians for up to 12 months. “Parents can sleep tonight knowing that for the next 12 months their children will be fed. The humanitarian agreement we’ve reached here will literally save lives,” said the US ambassador to the United Nations, Linda Thomas-Greenfield. Russia and the United States, whose relationship has been fraught on a number of issues, both described Friday’s unanimous vote by the 15-member Security Council as an important moment. “We hope that it might be a turning point that is indeed in line with what Putin and Biden discussed in Geneva,” Russia’s UN Ambassador Vassily Nebenzia told reporters after the vote. “It demonstrates that we can cooperate when there is a need and when there is a will as well.”US President Joe Biden had raised the importance of the cross-border aid operation with Russian President Vladimir Putin when they met in Geneva in June. The Biden administration warned that any future cooperation with Russia over Syria would be at risk if cross-border aid deliveries were shut down. “It shows what we can do with the Russians if we work with them diplomatically on common goals,” Thomas-Greenfield told reporters. “I look forward to looking for other opportunities to work with the Russians on issues of common interest.”
The council mandate for the long-running aid operation was due to expire on Saturday. The council first authorised a cross-border aid operation into Syria in 2014 at four points, but that was whittled down last year to one point from Turkey into a rebel-held area in Syria, due to Russian and Chinese opposition. Russia, an ally of Syrian President Bashar al-Assad, did not engage in weeks of talks on a resolution drafted by Ireland and Norway that initially sought aid access from Turkey and Iraq for 12 months. Then on Thursday, Russia proposed a six-month renewal for just the Turkish crossing.
Compromise resolution
After negotiations between Thomas-Greenfield and Nebenzia on Friday, the council unanimously adopted a compromise resolution that asks for a UN report on Syria aid access in six months, but that Thomas-Greenfield said does not require another vote in January to again extend the cross-border operation. However, Nebenzia signalled that the council could have to vote again in January if the United Nations does not report progress on aid deliveries across front lines from within Syria and the transparency of cross-border operations. Russia has said the aid operation is outdated and violates Syria’s sovereignty and territorial integrity. In a swipe at the United States and others, Russia and China have also blamed unilateral sanctions for some of Syria’s plight. Although the United States wanted the Security Council to authorise two crossings from Turkey and one from Iraq, Thomas-Greenfield said Friday’s agreement was still a “success” because while “we wanted more, but we certainly didn’t want less.” UN Secretary-General Antonio Guterres welcomed the council’s renewal of the “lifeline” for more than 3.4 million people in need, including 1 million children. However, Guterres’ spokesman Stephane Dujarric said, “With additional crossings and expanded funding, the United Nations could do more to help the rising number of people in need.”
Organisations’ outcry
Humanitarian and human rights organisations including Oxfam, the International Rescue Committee, Human Rights Watch, Amnesty International and Physicians for Human Rights criticised the Security Council for allowing Russia to only allow aid through a single crossing for six months, with a six-month extension subject to conditions. Oxfam’s Georges Ghali said, “one crossing point for such a short period of time is woefully insufficient for the scale of humanitarian need.” International Rescue Committee President and CEO David Miliband accused the council of again failing to address ”life-saving challenges” in Syria’s northeast where needs have increased up to 40 percent. Human Rights Watch’s UN Director Louis Charbonneau accused Russia of once again “successfully blackmailing” the council and allowing only a single crossing. Amnesty’s UN head Sherine Tadros accused Russia of playing “political games” and “ignoring the humanitarian needs of Syrians.” Physicians for Human Rights’ policy director Susannah Sirkin called the compromise resolution “shameful,” saying “Syrian civilians deserve better.”

Explosion in Tehran park was stun grenade: Iran state TV
Reuters/Published: 10 July/2021
A loud blast heard in north Tehran early on Saturday was caused by a stun grenade exploding in a park and no one was hurt, Iranian state television reported. The stun grenade - a device which explodes with bright light and a loud sound - had been set up to go off in the park near an adjoining hospital building, a TV reporter said. Tehran Deputy Governor Hamid Reza Goudarzi, who is in charge of security issues, earlier visited the site. “Just one explosion took place inside Mellat (People) Park,” he told the semi-official Tasnim news agency. Asked whether the incident was an attack, Goudarzi said: “We are investigating the dimensions and causes of the incident and we will provide information after we are sure.”Attacks are rare in Iran, but a number of sensitive military and nuclear sites have been targeted in recent years. Iran has accused Israel of several attacks on facilities and scientists linked to its nuclear program. Israel has neither denied nor confirmed the allegations.

Iran’s exiled opposition protest, demand prosecution of president-elect Raisi
Reuters/10 July ,2021
Supporters of Iran’s exiled opposition rallied in Berlin and elsewhere on Saturday to demand the prosecution of the Islamic Republic’s newly elected president, Ebrahim Raisi, whom they accuse of crimes against humanity. Flag-waving demonstrators rallied at Berlin’s Brandenburg Gate and other locations as part of a Free Iran World Summit that featured speeches by former US Secretary of State Mike Pompeo and Slovenian Prime Minister Janez Jansa. In a keynote address, Maryam Rajavi, president elect of the National Council of Resistance of Iran, accused Raisi of being the “henchman” responsible for the massacre of 30,000 political prisoners in 1988. Amnesty International and Human Rights Watch have said Raisi’s election was a blow for human rights and called for him to be investigated over his role in what they and Washington have called the extrajudicial executions of thousands of political prisoners.
Iran has never acknowledged the mass executions and Raisi has never publicly addressed allegations about his role. Some clerics have said the trials were fair, praising the “eliminating” of armed opposition in the early years of the 1979 Islamic revolution.
In an online address, Pompeo described the Iranian presidential election as “in fact, a boycott and the regime knows it”. “This is a show laid bare for the entire world to see,” Pompeo said. Pompeo denounced Raisi as a leader who had been hand-picked by Iran’s supreme leader, leader Ayatollah Ali Khamenei, to “inflict pain, frighten, continue to loot, and to plunder” on behalf of the theocracy.

Mleiha in Sharjah launches ‘mobile stargazing experience’
N.P. Krishna Kumar, Al Arabiya English/10 July ,2021
Are you an astronomy enthusiast or love stargazing as a hobby? Sharjah’s Mleiha Archaeological Centre, a premier tourism and leisure destination, has launched a unique ‘mobile stargazing experience’ which can be enjoyed for a group of up to 20 people. Literally, one can explore the night sky in one’s comfort zone! The Sharjah Investment and Development Authority (Shurooq), which has developed the Mleiha Archaeological Centre, has launched the new on-the-move sky watching experience that allows people to organize and enjoy exclusive stargazing sessions at their preferred location. The “mobile stargazing experience’ from Mleiha includes the HD telescope and assistance of an expert guide, to the location that the guests choose. The on-the-move activity is designed for astronomy enthusiasts who want to observe the night sky wonders in their comfort zone. The stargazing experience also brings fun and education together turning it into an unforgettable science lesson for the young ones. The experience can be booked for private sessions, group events, or maybe as a marvelous addition to the special occasion. As a prerequisite for bookings, the location pin needs to be shared in advance to make sure that the location is fit for stargazing activity. The location needs to be accessible by 4x4 and should have a flat area covered in carpet to set up the telescope. The mobile stargazing session will accommodate up to 20 guests at one time will have a maximum duration of two hours after sunset. The bookings can be made 24-hours in advance with the Mleiha team which will finish the preparations at the location before sunset.

Confederate leader statue removed in Charlottesville, US, over racism concerns
The Associated Press/10 July ,2021
A Confederate monument that helped spark a violent white supremacist rally in Charlottesville, Virginia, has been hoisted off its stone pedestal. Work to remove the statue of Gen. Robert E. Lee began early Saturday morning. Crews were also expected to take down a second Confederate monument.
Spectators by the dozens lined the blocks surrounding the park, and a cheer went up as the statue lifted off the pedestal. There was a visible police presence, with streets blocked off to vehicular traffic by fencing and heavy trucks. Charlottesville Mayor Nikuyah Walker gave a speech in front of reporters and observers as the crane neared the monument. “Taking down this statue is one small step closer to the goal of helping Charlottesville, Virginia, and America, grapple with the sin of being willing to destroy Black people for economic gain,” Walker said. The removal of the statue follows years of contention, community anguish and litigation. A long, winding legal fight coupled with changes in a state law that protected war memorials had held up the removal for years. Saturday’s removal of a statue of Lee and another of Gen. Thomas “Stonewall” Jackson will come nearly four years after violence erupted at the infamous “Unite the Right” rally. Heather Heyer, a peaceful counterprotester, died in the violence, which sparked a national debate over racial equity, further inflamed by former President Donald Trump’s insistence tha t there was “blame on both sides.”
Ralph Dixon, a 59-year-old Black man born and raised in Charlottesville, was documenting the removal work Saturday morning, a camera around his neck. Dixon said he was brought to the park where the Lee statue stood as a school-aged child. “All the teachers, my teachers anyway, were always talking about what a great person this was,” he said. He said his understanding of Lee’s legacy and the statue’s message evolved as he became an adult. He said it was important to consider the context of the Jim Crow era during which the statue was erected and said especially after Heyer’s death there was no reason the statue should stay. “It needed to be done,” he said. Only the statues, not their stone pedestals, will be removed Saturday. They will be taken down and stored in a secure location until the City Council makes a final decision about what should be done with them. Under state law, the city was required to solicit parties interested in taking the statues during an offer period that ended Thursday. It received 10 responses to its solicitation. A coalition of activists commended the city for moving quickly to take the statues down after the offer period ended. As long as the statues “remain standing in our downtown public spaces, they signal that our community tolerated white supremacy and the Lost Cause these generals fought for,” the coalition called Take ‘Em Down Cville said. Jim Henson, who lives in nearby Barboursville, said Saturday he came to witness a “historic” event. He said he didn’t have a strong personal opinion on the issue of Confederate monuments but he thought Charlottesville was happy to see the saga come to a conclusion. “Good atmosphere, good vibes, good energy,” he said. The most recent removal push focused on the Lee monument began in 2016, thanks in part to a petition started by a Black high school student, Zyahna Bryant.“This is well overdue,” said Bryant, who’s now a student at the University of Virginia. “No platform for white supremacy. No platform for racism. No platform for hate.”

Iraqi security forces free kidnapped activist Ali al-Mikdam
Rawad Taha, Al Arabiya English/10 July ,2021
Iraqi security forces freed activist and journalist Ali al-Mikdam who was kidnapped on Friday in Baghdad’s Karada neighborhood after receiving threats, local media reported. The security forces have transferred al-Mikdam to a hospital. The disappearance led to the launch of a campaign on social media to demand the authorities to take quick measures to find him. Ali al-Mikdam, a civil activist from Baghdad, worked as a paramedic during the October demonstrations. In a months-long revolt launched in October 2019, hundreds of thousands of demonstrators camped out in Baghdad and southern cities to demand a total overhaul of a political system failing to deliver basic services and salaries. About 600 protesters were killed and 30,000 wounded in clashes with security forces before the movement lost momentum then ground to a halt in the spring due to the coronavirus crisis and rising US-Iran tensions. Al-Mikdam was also known for his repeated calls to the international community, for the necessity of moving against Iran-backed militias and corrupt politicians in Iraq. An Iraqi journalist published a tweet on his Twitter account on Friday evening, confirming the disappearance of al-Mikdam, saying: “We have lost contact with journalist and activist Ali al-Mikdam since five in the evening. His last appearance was in Karada at Ridha Alwan Cafe.” Iraqi Prime Minister al-Kadhemi had pledged to hold the killers of demonstrators and activists accountable, and to stop the kidnappings and assassinations against them. The arrest of the leader of the Iranian Popular Mobilization militia, Qassem Mosleh, for his involvement in the assassination of activists last May sparked confusion in the country, after factions from the crowd mobilized and paraded their weapons in Baghdad, rejecting the matter. The judiciary returned and released him later, due to insufficient evidence against him in the case of the assassination of activist Ihab al-Wazni in Karbala.

Ethiopia claims victory over Security Council’s support for African mediation in Nile dam row
The Arab Weekly/July 10/2021
CAIRO – The results of the UN Security Council session on the Renaissance Dam crisis did not favour Egypt and Sudan, especially after the council returned examination of the dispute to the African Union without specifying a deadline as requested by Cairo and Khartoum. This outcome is considered by experts as being to the advantage of Ethiopia.
In a press conference in the capital, Addis Ababa, Ethiopian foreign ministry spokesperson Dina Mufti stressed, Friday, that the UN Security Council’s support for African mediation to resolve the dispute with Egypt and Sudan is a “major diplomatic victory for the country.”Some in Egypt and Sudan sought to describe what happened in the UN Security Council session, Thursday evening, regarding the crisis of the Renaissance Dam, as achieving a political goal for the two countries while painting Ethiopia into a corner. But the results of the session revealed that Egypt and Sudan have followed a flawed approach since they continued for years to blame Ethiopia alone for the row and used an emotional lexicon without adequate substance that was commensurate with the seriousness of the crisis. Analysts noted that the Tunisian draft resolution that was presented to the UN Security Council was “weak” in certain respects, because it was prepared in haste and without sufficient coordination with the major powers. Moreover, it neglected to flesh out the essence of the Egyptian and Sudanese demand that sought an endorsement for an end to the second filling of the dam. Winning support for this specific demand would have been sufficient to initiate negotiations. The failure strengthened the Ethiopian position, which held on with full confidence to its rejection of all the demands that Cairo and Khartoum made, while Addis Ababa obtained a green-light to continue with the second filling as a fait accompli.
This result constitutes a win for Ethiopia as it clears the way for the continued filling and operating of the dam while effectively putting the negotiations back to the beginning.
Egypt has cornered itself, because it thought that just holding a UN Security Council session would be enough to pressure Ethiopia and press it to back down and sign a binding agreement, or threaten to use of force on the grounds that it had exhausted all other possible moves. Observers point out that holding a Security Council session and listening to the positions of members who unequivocally rejected any recourse to armed action is likely to curb any future military temptations on the part of Egypt. Cairo has now heard the objections of major powers and knows well what to expect if it decides to walk the military path. However, the Egyptian media celebrated their diplomats’ approach at the UN despite perceived setbacks. Foreign Minister Sameh Shoukry in a long speech including a narration of developments in the crisis and emphasis on the flexibility of Cairo, said he presented a realistic portrayal of the dispute to the members of the Council. Nevertheless, Shoukry’s approach suggested that Cairo’s goal was to inform and not to generate some movement in the issue. Ayman El-Sayed Abdel-Wahab, an expert on African affairs, said that Egypt achieved part of what it desired from the session, because it “informed the international public opinion about the nature of intransigent Ethiopian practices,” and about “Egypt’s keenness to communicate with international institutions.” Abdel Wahab told The Arab Weekly that as long as there is no strong international pressure on Ethiopia to force it to end the stalemate in the talks, Cairo will have no option but to try to disrupt the current equation by endeavouring to shake the foreign alliances that back Ethiopia and target the interests of the countries in question in the region. He explained that Cairo has no alternatives but to link the reaching a binding agreement to security threats in the region, in order to put pressure on the powers supporting Addis Ababa. Entering instead into new talks, even if they are agreed upon between the three countries, will not change anything on the ground. Ethiopia will be keen to continue the talks as long as possible without allowing Egypt and Sudan to reach a satisfactory outcome. Egyptian sources said there is no other way but to return to the negotiating table. If Cairo takes unilateral military action, the consequences will be borne by Egypt alone, because Sudan supports the negotiated option and has never threatened to solve the crisis through military action. The sources further told The Arab Weekly that Cairo is unlikely to choose a unilateral course of action after having spared no effort to develop cooperation and coordination ties with Sudan.

Afghanistan to Rush Troops to Border as Taliban Extend Gains
Agence France Presse/July 10/2021
The Taliban claimed to be in control of 85 percent of Afghanistan as authorities Saturday prepared to retake a key border crossing seized by the insurgents in a sweeping offensive launched as US troops pull out of the war-torn nation.
Hours after President Joe Biden issued a staunch defense of the U.S. withdrawal on Thursday, the Taliban said its fighters had seized two crossings in western Afghanistan -- completing an arc of territory from the Iranian border to the frontier with China.
In Moscow, a delegation of Taliban officials said they controlled about 250 of Afghanistan's nearly 400 districts -- a claim impossible to independently verify, and disputed by the government. Taliban spokesman Zabihullah Mujahid separately told AFP their fighters had captured the border town of Islam Qala on the Iranian frontier and the Torghundi crossing with Turkmenistan. Herat governor spokesman Jilani Farhad said the authorities were preparing to deploy new troops to retake Islam Qala port, the biggest trade crossing between Iran and Afghanistan. "Reinforcements have not been sent to Islam Qala yet. They will be sent there soon," he told AFP. The Afghan government has repeatedly dismissed the Taliban's gains as having little strategic value, but the seizure of multiple border crossings along with mineral-rich areas will likely fill the group's coffers with several sources of new revenue. Biden said the U.S. military mission would end on August 31 -- nearly 20 years after it began -- but he admitted it was "highly unlikely" Kabul would be able to control the entire country. "The status quo is not an option," Biden said of staying in the country. "I will not send another generation of Americans to war in Afghanistan." With the Taliban having routed much of northern Afghanistan in recent weeks, the government holds little more than a constellation of provincial capitals that must largely be reinforced and resupplied by air. The air force was under severe strain even before the Taliban's lightning offensive overwhelmed the government's northern and western positions, putting further pressure on the country's limited aircraft and pilots. Biden said the Afghan people alone should determine their future, but he acknowledged the uncertainty about what that would look like. Asked if a Taliban takeover was inevitable, the president said: "No, it is not."But, he admitted, "the likelihood there is going to be one unified government in Afghanistan controlling the whole country is highly unlikely".
- U.S. exit 'positive step' -
Afghan commandos clashed with the insurgents this week in a provincial capital, with thousands of people fleeing Qala-i-Naw in northwest Badghis province.
On Friday the Afghan defense ministry said government forces had "full control" of the city, but a local official said on Saturday the insurgents had attacked the city again during the night. Ismail Khan, a veteran warlord whose militia helped US forces topple the Taliban in 2001, vowed to back government forces in fighting against the insurgents. "We will soon go to the front lines and with the help of God change the situation," Khan told reporters in the western city of Herat. The Taliban have been emboldened by the troop withdrawal and -- with peace talks in Doha deadlocked -- appear to be pressing for a full military victory. Still, on Thursday, Suhail Shaheen, who is also a member of the Taliban negotiating team, insisted the insurgents were seeking a "negotiated settlement."U.S. Defense Secretary Lloyd Austin called for international pressure to force a deal.
"The security situation in Afghanistan only argues more for international pressure to have a negotiated political settlement," Austin said in a tweet on Friday. "The entire world can help by continuing this push." The Pentagon chief did not specify which countries he was urging to help, but Pakistan is widely believed to have significant influence over the insurgents.

Canada welcomes renewal of cross-border humanitarian assistance for Syria
July 9, 2021 - Ottawa, Ontario - Global Affairs Canada
The Honourable Marc Garneau, Minister of Foreign Affairs, and the Honourable Karina Gould, Minister of International Development, today released the following statement:
“Canada welcomes the renewal of the vital Syrian cross-border mechanism for 12 months. The continuation of this mechanism will allow aid to keep flowing to the 3.4 million Syrians in the northwest of Syria who depend on it.
“However, Canada regrets that the mechanism was not expanded in order to meet increasing humanitarian needs. We stress the need for a sustainable solution to assist the most vulnerable Syrians in receiving humanitarian assistance.
“Large-scale cross-border response remains essential to save lives, including by delivering vital COVID-19 vaccines.
“Canada has committed $512 million in humanitarian assistance funding for Syrians between 2016 and 2021. We strongly urge all parties to allow rapid, safe and unhindered humanitarian access to populations in need.”

Pfizer, BioNTech to seek authorization for COVID booster shot as Delta variant spreads
NNA /July 10/2021
Pfizer (PFE.N)and partner BioNTech (22UAy.DE) plan to ask U.S. and European regulators within weeks to authorize a booster dose of its COVID-19 vaccine, based on evidence of greater risk of infection six months after inoculation and the spread of the highly contagious Delta variant.
The U.S. Food and Drug Administration (FDA) and the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) said, however, in a joint statement that Americans who have been fully vaccinated do not need a booster COVID-19 shot at this time. The European Medicines Agency (EMA) said it was too early to determine whether more than the two shots that are currently required would be called for, saying it was confident for now that the established regimen was sufficient. read more  Some scientists have also questioned the need for booster shots. Pfizer's chief scientific officer, Mikael Dolsten, said the recently reported dip in the vaccine's effectiveness in Israel was mostly due to infections in people who had been vaccinated in January or February. The country's health ministry said vaccine effectiveness in preventing both infection and symptomatic disease fell to 64% in June. read more "The Pfizer vaccine is highly active against the Delta variant," Dolsten said in an interview. But after six months, he said, "there likely is the risk of reinfection as antibodies, as predicted, wane." Data would be submitted to the FDA within the next month, he added. Pfizer did not release the full set of Israeli data on Thursday, but said it would be published soon. "It's a small data set, but I think the trend is accurate: Six months out, given that Delta is the most contagious variant we have seen, it can cause infections and mild disease," Dolsten said. The FDA and CDC, in their joint statement, said: "We are prepared for booster doses if and when the science demonstrates that they are needed."Pfizer's own data from the United States showed an erosion of the vaccine's efficacy to the mid-80s after six months, Dolsten said, against the variants circulating there in the spring. He stressed that data from Israel and Britain suggests that even with waning antibody levels, the vaccine remains around 95% effective against severe disease. The vaccine, initially devised by Germany's BioNTech, showed 95% efficacy in preventing symptomatic COVID-19 in a clinical trial the companies ran last year. --- Reuters

Fire at Bangladesh factory kills 52 workers, police open probe
NNA/July 10/2021
At least 52 people were killed and 20 injured after a massive fire raged through a juice-making factory in Bangladesh, officials said on Friday, the latest industrial accident in a country with a track record of poor working conditions.
The fire started late Thursday on the ground floor of a six-story factory building in Narayanganj, southeast of Dhaka, and was still raging Friday evening as firefighters scrambled to control it.Flames rose from the top floors of the building, where many workers had jumped out from to escape, as a key exit out of the working areas was locked, said fire official Abdullah Al Arefin. “Three people died from jumping off the building to escape the fire and 49 charred bodies have been recovered," Mustain Billah, the administrator for the Narayanganj district, told Reuters by phone from the scene.
Dozens of disasters occur in Bangladesh each year due to poor fire and building safety standards. The latest incident is the worst since or August 2016, when more than 100 people fell ill in the southern Chittagong city after inhaling gas that leaked from a fertilizer factory. Past accidents have mired the country's robust textiles sector, which employs millions of people and contributes the most to Bangladesh's economy. Industry officials promised better safety standards after the 2013 collapse of the Rana Plaza garment factory building in Dhaka that killed more than 1,000 workers and injured hundreds. But many factories still fall short. “We demand speedy trial and punishment of those responsible for this tragic murder incident through a fair investigation,” the nonprofit Bangladesh Legal Aid and Services Trust said in a statement. It also sought compensation for impacted workers and a probe into the cause of the fire, including reports of locked exits. The factory is owned by the private firm Hashem Food and Beverage, a unit of Bangladesh's multinational Sajeeb Group. Officials at both companies did not respond to calls and emails seeking comment on Friday.
Al Arefin said each building floor is about 35,000 square feet (3,250 square meters) but they were only accessible by two stairways, which many workers couldn't get to as the fire had spread there. Some escaped to the roof from the stairs and were rescued, but many couldn't, as a door leading to the roof was locked. Dozens of family members protested outside the plant, demanding justice. But some, like Nazma Begum, were still looking for those lost. "There is no justice! Where is my son?" Begum cried out. === Reuters

Global food prices fall for the first time in 12 months
FAO/July 10/2021
Global food commodity prices fell in June for the first time in 12 months, according to a benchmark United Nations report released today.
The FAO Food Price Index averaged 124.6 points in June 2021, down 2.5 percent from May, but still 33.9 percent higher than its level in the same period last year. The decline in June marked the first drop in the Index following twelve consecutive monthly increases.
The FAO Food Price Index tracks changes in the international prices of the most globally traded food commodities. The drop in June reflected declines in the prices of vegetable oils, cereals and, though more moderately, dairy products, which more than offset generally higher meat and sugar quotations.
The FAO Vegetable Oil Price Index fell by 9.8 percent in the month, marking a four-month low. The sizeable month-on-month drop mainly reflects lower international prices of palm, soy and sunflower oils.
The FAO Cereal Price Index fell by a more moderate 2.6 percent from May, but remained 33.8 percent higher than its value in June 2020. International maize prices dropped by 5.0 percent, led by falling prices in Argentina due to increased supplies from recent harvests as a result of higher-than-earlier expected yields. International wheat prices declined slightly by 0.8 percent in June, with a favourable global outlook supported by improved production prospects in many key producers outweighing most of the upward pressure from dry conditions affecting crops in North America.
The FAO Dairy Price Index fell by 1 percent to 119.9 points in June. International quotations for all dairy products represented in the index fell, with butter registering the highest drop, underpinned by a fast decline in global import demand and a slight increase in inventories, especially in Europe.
The FAO Sugar Price Index moved against the overall food price trend, rising by 0.9 percent month-on-month, marking the third consecutive monthly increase and reaching a new multi-year high. Uncertainties over the impact of unfavourable weather conditions on crop yields in Brazil, the world's largest sugar exporter, exerted upward pressure on prices. The FAO Meat Price Index also rose by 2.1 percent over the month to June, continuing the increases for the ninth consecutive month and placing the index 15.6 percent above its value in the corresponding month last year, but still 8.0 percent below its peak reached in August 2014.
World cereal inventories expected to rise for the first time since 2017/18
FAO’s forecast for global cereal production in 2021 has been lowered marginally to 2 817 million tonnes, according to the latest Cereal Supply and Demand Brief released today. However, the figure remains 1.7 percent, or 47.8 million tonnes, higher than in 2020, which would mark a new record high.
Forecasts for world coarse grains production have been cut back to 1 513 million tonnes, 3 million tonnes below last month’s expectation. A large cut to the Brazilian maize production forecast accounts for the bulk of the expected global decline, with prolonged periods of dry weather dragging down yield expectations. World wheat output in 2021 has been lowered by 1 million tonnes to 784.7 million tonnes, still 1.2 percent higher year-on-year, as the dry weather conditions in the Near East cut back yield prospects. By contrast, the forecast of global rice production in 2021 has undergone a slight upward adjustment since June, with a record of 519.5 million tonnes of rice now expected to be harvested in 2021, up 1.0 percent from 2020. World cereal utilization in 2021/22 has been lowered by 15 million tonnes from the previous month to 2 810 million tonnes, nevertheless still 1.5 percent higher than in 2020/21. The downward revision comes largely from lower-than-earlier-anticipated utilization of maize in China for animal feed. World cereal stocks by the close of seasons in 2021/22 are now forecast to rise above their opening levels for the first time since 2017/18, following a sharp upward revision to 836 million tonnes, up 2.4 percent from last year’s relatively tight level. Higher maize stocks foreseen in China account for the bulk of this month’s upward revision to world cereal inventories.
FAO’s latest forecast for world trade in cereals in 2021/22 has been raised slightly since June and now stands at a record 472 million tonnes, driven primarily by likely large maize purchases from China taking global maize trade to record levels.
Food insecurity and COVID-19
The effects of the COVID-19 pandemic, primarily in terms of income losses, have exacerbated vulnerabilities and heightened existing levels of food insecurity according to the latest Crop Prospects and Food Situation Report, which will also be released on Thursday. FAO assesses that globally 45 countries, including 34 in Africa, 9 in Asia and 2 in Latin America and the Caribbean, are in need of external assistance for food, with conflicts and climate-related shocks continuing to underpin the high levels of severe food insecurity. The Crop Prospects and Food Situation report also provides the latest data on Low-Income Food Deficit Countries (LIFDCs). According the most recent assessments, total cereal production of the 47 LIFDCs is forecast to decline by 2.1 percent in 2021, to 190 million tonnes. The drop mostly relates to expected production downturns in Near East Asian countries, notably in Afghanistan and the Syrian Arab Republic, where widespread and prolonged drought conditions cut yields and dampened this year’s production prospects. Among the LIFDCs in Africa, scarce rainfall in Somalia is expected to result in a sizeable production decline, and small reductions are also likely in several West African countries, where conflicts continue to erode farming households’ productive capacities. In Southern African countries, production upturns are expected to boost households’ food availability and partly offset some negative effects from the COVID-19 pandemic.
The 45 countries in need of external assistance for food are: Afghanistan, Bangladesh, Burkina Faso, Burundi, Cabo Verde, Cameroon, Central African Republic, Chad, Congo, Democratic People's Republic of Korea, Democratic Republic of Congo, Djibouti, Eritrea, Eswatini, Ethiopia, Guinea, Haiti, Iraq, Kenya, Lebanon, Lesotho, Liberia, Libya, Madagascar, Malawi, Mali, Mauritania, Mozambique, Myanmar, Namibia, Niger, Nigeria, Pakistan, Senegal, Sierra Leone, Somalia, South Sudan, Sudan, Syrian Arab Republic, United Republic of Tanzania, Uganda, Venezuela, Yemen, Zambia and Zimbabwe. --- FAO

The Latest The Latest LCCC English analysis & editorials from miscellaneous sources published on July 10-11/2021
Biden Must Abandon Nuclear Negotiations with Iran
Con Coughlin/Gatestone Institute/July 10/2021
كون كوغلين/معهد جيتستون: يجب على بايدن التخلي عن المفاوضات النووية مع إيران
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كون كوغلين/معهد جيتستون: يجب على بايدن التخلي عن المفاوضات النووية مع إيران
أحدث تقرير صادر عن صندوق النقد الدولي هو حقيقة قراءة قاتمة بشكل خاص للنظام الإيراني، حيث يظهر أن الاحتياطيات من العملات الأجنبية للبلاد قد انهارت من حوالي 140 مليار دولار في عام 2015 إلى 4 مليارات دولار فقط اليوم. مما لا يثير الدهشة، أن الحالة الاقتصادية المحفوفة بالمخاطر في إيران دفعت إلى اندلاع احتجاجات في جميع أنحاء البلاد على سوء إدارة النظام للاقتصاد بشكل فاضح.
مع انتصار السيد رئيسي في الإنتخابات الرئاسية، حقق المتشددون النصر لرجل يتمتع بالمؤهلات المثالية لسحق المعارضة المناهضة للنظام … على السلطة. في ظل رئاسته يمكن للشعب الإيراني أن يتوقع المزيد من القمع حيث يكثف النظام جهوده لإحكام قبضته على السلطة. أول تعليقات السيد رئيسي جاء فيها “أن آمال بايدن في توسيع شروط الاتفاق النووي ماتت في الماء”. وبالتالي ، بدلاً من الاستمرار في المحادثات النووية في فيينا يجب على الرئيس بايدن أن يوقف خسائره وأن ينهي مهزلة محاولة إحياء الاتفاق النووي غير المدروس مع طهران.
The latest report by the International Monetary Fund makes especially grim reading for the Iranian regime, as it shows the country’s foreign reserves have collapsed from around $140 billion in 2015 to just $4 billion today.
Iran’s perilous economic state has, unsurprisingly, prompted nationwide protests at the regime’s gross mismanagement of the economy.
With Mr Raisi’s triumph, the hardliners have secured victory for a man with the perfect qualifications for crushing anti-regime dissent…. Under his presidency, the Iranian people can expect more of the same as the regime intensifies its efforts to tighten its hold on power.
Mr Raisi’s comments effectively mean that Mr Biden’s hopes of expanding the terms of the nuclear deal are dead in the water. Consequently, rather than persisting with the nuclear talks in Vienna, the US leader should cut his losses, and end the charade of trying to revive the ill-considered nuclear deal with Tehran.
US President Joe Biden must give serious consideration to abandoning his ill-conceived plan to revive the nuclear deal with Tehran following the election victory of Iran’s new hardline president, Ebrahim Raisi. Pictured: Biden (right, by Alex Wong/Getty Images) and Raisi (by Atta Kenare/AFP via Getty Images)
US President Joe Biden must give serious consideration to abandoning his ill-conceived plan to revive the nuclear deal with Tehran following the election victory of Iran’s new hardline president, Ebrahim Raisi.
The appointment of the 60-year-old Mr Raisi as Iran’s eighth president since the 1979 revolution means that, far from being prepared to make any further concessions in the nuclear talks, the regime under his leadership is certain to adopt a far more aggressive and uncompromising stance in its dealings with the US and its allies.
The hardening of Iran’s position can already be detected in the recent upsurge in attacks against US personnel based in Iraq by pro-Iranian militias.
Following the latest attacks by Iranian-made drones against American targets in Iraq, Washington launched air strikes against Iranian-backed militias on the Syrian-Iraqi border this week, killing four members of the Iranian-backed Kataib Sayyid al-Shuhada militia.
US Secretary of State Antony Blinken said the American action was aimed at sending “a very important and strong message” to Iran to prevent further attacks by pro-Iran militias, which Washington believes are being carried out at the behest of Tehran to increase pressure on Washington as negotiations in Vienna continue, aimed at reviving the nuclear deal.
Mr Biden has previously said he wants to “strengthen and extend” the terms of the Joint Comprehensive Plan of Action (JCPOA), the controversial deal negotiated with Iran by the former Obama administration.
Apart from extending the restrictions on Iran’s nuclear enrichment activities, which Western intelligence officials believe are aimed at producing nuclear warheads, the Biden administration has intimated that it would like a revived deal to include other aspects of Iran’s military programme, such as the development of ballistic missiles capable of carrying nuclear warheads.
The prospect of American negotiators achieving any further concessions from Tehran, following Mr Raisi’s election victory, now looks exceedingly remote as hardline supporters of the country’s Supreme Leader, Ayatollah Ali Khamenei, seek to consolidate their grip on power.
Mr Khamenei and his backers in Iran’s Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps have never shown much enthusiasm for the JCPOA, which was negotiated by the country’s outgoing president, Hassan Rouhani, as a means of getting punitive US sanctions lifted. Iran never even signed the deal.
Mr Rouhani’s approach did, initially, achieve its objectives after the Obama administration rewarded Tehran with an estimated $150 billion for signing the nuclear deal.
The agreement quickly unravelled, however, after the hardliners squandered the cash supporting Islamist terror groups throughout the Middle East instead of reviving the Iranian economy.
This failure prompted former US President Donald Trump to withdraw from the deal in 2018 and reimpose a sanctions regime designed to place “maximum pressure” on Tehran.
Mr Trump’s policy has been a resounding success and had a devastating impact on the Iranian economy, with the value of the rial, the national currency, having halved in the past year, inflation running at 50 percent and the country facing widespread unemployment.
The latest report by the International Monetary Fund makes especially grim reading for the Iranian regime, as it shows the country’s foreign reserves have collapsed from around $140 billion in 2015 to just $4 billion today.
Iran’s perilous economic state has, unsurprisingly, prompted nationwide protests at the regime’s gross mismanagement of the economy.
The regime’s response has been to rig the presidential elections to guarantee victory for a hardline candidate who would maintain Tehran’s violent repression of anti-government protesters.
With Mr Raisi’s triumph, the hardliners have secured victory for a man with the perfect qualifications for crushing anti-regime dissent.
Having first come to prominence in the 1980s as a member of Iran’s notorious “Death Commission,” which sanctioned the summary execution of thousands of political activists, Mr Raisi has more recently headed the Iranian judiciary, in which capacity he has supported the brutal repression of anti-regime protesters.
Under his presidency, the Iranian people can expect more of the same, as the regime intensifies its efforts to tighten its hold on power.
Moreover, the emergence of the hardliners as the dominant force in Iranian politics is bad news for the Biden administration, as it makes the likelihood of Tehran making any significant concessions in the nuclear talks even more remote.
This certainly appears to be Mr Raisi’s attitude, judging by the comments he made in his first press conference after his election victory this month. The new Iranian leader says he has no desire to meet with Mr Biden, and ruled out the possibility of expanding the terms of the nuclear deal. Mr Raisi added that neither his country’s ballistic missile programme nor Tehran’s support for militia groups across the Middle East were up for negotiation.
Mr Raisi’s comments effectively mean that Mr Biden’s hopes of expanding the terms of the nuclear deal are dead in the water. Consequently, rather than persisting with the nuclear talks in Vienna, the US leader should cut his losses, and end the charade of trying to revive the ill-considered nuclear deal with Tehran.
Con Coughlin is the Telegraph’s Defence and Foreign Affairs Editor and a Distinguished Senior Fellow at Gatestone Institute.
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The US war in Afghanistan is over, but who won?
Amotz ASA-El/MIDDLE ISRAEL/July 10/2021
The future will begin the morning after America’s departure, and the Taliban, like the guerrillas of Cuba, Lebanon and Vietnam, will fail its test.
Conventional armies lose if they don’t win, and guerrillas win if they don’t lose, said Henry Kissinger.
The fall of Saigon was six years away at the time, but the legendary statesman detected already then the principle that governed multiple guerrilla wars, including the one he helped end.
That principle – goes the conventional wisdom – explains how Israel was defeated in Lebanon and how the US and its allies were defeated not only in Vietnam, but before that in Cuba, and now in Afghanistan.
Well in all these cases, conventional wisdom is wrong.
THE UNFOLDING American retreat from Afghanistan is indeed frustrating.
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America is retreating, and the Taliban, the Islamist militia America dethroned 20 years ago, is filling the vacuum. Government troops are demoralized. Thousands abandoned their outposts and equipment. Some commanders struck deals with the Taliban.
The Afghan Army seems increasingly irrelevant. Fearing the Taliban’s retribution, thousands of the American military’s helpers are scrambling to their homeland’s exit doors – the more ambitious seeking paths to America, others to neighboring Tajikistan. The American investment in building and equipping the Afghan Army is going down the drain.
So yes, if all this brings to mind memories of South Vietnamese citizens pushing each other to climb the last American helicopter atop the embassy in Saigon, or the South Lebanese Army’s officers rushing to Israel’s border fence, it is because the situations are indeed very much analogous.
US President Joe Biden has marked September 11 as the deadline for the withdrawal’s completion, the 20th anniversary of the terrorist attacks that triggered Afghanistan’s American-led invasion.
The odyssey will thus finally end, but the sense of closure will not offset the sense of defeat, especially when viewed with 20 years’ hindsight.
Punched out of the blue in its stomach and nose, the US made big mistakes, strategically, militarily and politically, in autumn 2001.
Strategically, the US went to two wars in two entirely different arenas. It was an overstretch that even superpowers must try to avoid. Militarily, the US underplayed the topographical advantage Afghanistan’s steep mountains would grant its guerrillas. And politically, the assumption that America was in a position to reprogram another county’s government proved unfounded.
The aftermath of all this is more than 2,400 American fatalities, more than 450 other allied fatalities, more than 20,000 American troops wounded, and some $800 billion in overall costs, all in order to see the American-trained army unravel while the Taliban return to Afghanistan’s helm.
How, then, can we say that this is not defeat?
TO UNDERSTAND guerrilla’s ultimate defeat just look to Vietnam.
Yes, in 1974, North Vietnam seemed victorious, having seen South Vietnam collapse, the American military retreat and all foreign embassies relocate to Hanoi. However, by the following decade the cause for which the North fought – Communism – unraveled itself.
And with its guiding idea collapsed, the ostensibly victorious Vietnamese government went down on its knees, begging then-president Bill Clinton to establish diplomatic ties between Washington and Hanoi.
With the Soviet Union gone and the East Bloc vanished, the former guerrillas lost their main trade partners, and sheepishly conceded they would have no future without Uncle Sam. Uncle Sam agreed, and is now a capitalist Vietnam’s friend. So who won?
Yes, as Kissinger observed, the guerrillas had a military edge. However, once it came time to proceed from war to peace, the guerrillas failed, and went hat in hand to the enemy they claimed to have defeated.
The same thing happened with Cuba.
Yes, Fidel Castro’s guerrillas deposed the corrupt Fulgencio Batista, despite his American backing. However, a generation later it turned out that in the bigger war, the war of ideas, Cuba was trounced, as Castro himself legalized business ownership, entrepreneurial credit and usage of the demonized dollar.
The same thing happened in Lebanon.
Yes, Israel retreated, and yes, some Lebanese told themselves that they – unlike Egypt, Syria, Jordan, and the Palestinians – defeated the Jewish state. It was the same delusional thinking that made Cuban and Vietnamese leaders think they defeated America, and its aftermath now emerges similarly grotesque.
The ostensibly victorious Lebanon is a country on its knees. Drivers spend hours in snaking lines outside gas stations, electricity routinely falls for hours, people say they are skipping meals, the government’s foreign currency reserves have evaporated, and the pound, now trading at more than 15,000 per dollar, lost over the past two years alone 90% of its value.
This is the aftermath of a country whose leaders, like Cuba’s and Vietnam’s in their times, invented an enemy and took it to a war that their society and economy could never afford. Is there any doubt Afghanistan is now headed the same way?
Yes, America made mistakes in Afghanistan. It was wrong to install a foreign-powered government, it was wrong to pit a conventional army against guerrillas, and it was wrong to fight simultaneously in Kabul and Baghdad.
But the invasion also had achievements. Al-Qaeda, which the Afghans refused to evict, was routed along with its leader, and America showed the world that if attacked it will retaliate, with its many allies at its side.
Yes, the Taliban will say they evicted America, conveniently forgetting that America never meant to rule Afghanistan. It came there to stem Islamism’s assault not on Afghanistan, but on all of mankind, and that goal was achieved.
As for Afghanistan itself, it will have to fight its cancer by itself. That is what the Cubans learned after John F. Kennedy’s Bay of Pigs fiasco, that is what the Lebanese learned after Menachem Begin’s Operation Peace for Galilee, and that is what the Afghanis will have learned by the time their sorry country emerges from the dark era it will enter the morning after America leaves.
Amotz Asa-El’s bestselling Mitzad Ha’ivelet Ha’yehudi (The Jewish March of Folly, Yediot Sefarim, 2019) is a revisionist history of the Jewish people’s leadership from antiquity to modernity.

Biden may succeed in making Israeli-Palestinian peace - opinion
Alone Ben Keir/Jerusalem Post/July 10/2021
The US president could forge an Israeli-Palestinian peace by restating that 2 states remains the only viable option, and working to create the conditions on the ground to that end.
The US remains the indispensable power that can bring both Israel and the Palestinians to an enduring peace, as no other power can exert the kind of influence on both sides that is needed to reach an agreement.
For the Biden administration to bring this about, it must play an active role by advancing its own ideas and using its vast resources and influence to persuade and/or pressure both sides to make the necessary compromises to conclude a predetermined peace accord based on a two-state solution, following a period of a few years for a reconciliatory process.
Contrary to the view held by most Israelis, the US’s traditional unqualified support of Israel has caused significant damage to the prospect of an Israeli-Palestinian peace. The US’s continued political, military and economic backing – without insisting that Israel bring an end to the occupation – has enabled Israel to maintain the status quo and create new political and physical conditions in the West Bank that have severely undermined the prospect of a two-state solution.
Former president Donald Trump made matters worse by unilaterally advancing a peace plan that substantially favored Israel, and provided a provision that would have allowed Israel to annex an additional 30% of the West Bank, which happily did not come to fruition.
Although the Palestinian Authority believes, and justifiably so, that the US has been biased all along in favor of Israel, it also understands that only the US can exact from Israel the kind of concessions necessary to make peace possible.
However, as the Trump plan has been scuttled and President Joe Biden has taken over, the Palestinians have already indicated that they are willing to resume peace talks with US mediation. Biden should begin by repairing the severe damage that Trump has inflicted on the entire peace process and restore the Palestinians’ confidence in new negotiations that could eventually lead to a permanent solution.
New opportunities
Now that Israel has a new government, led by the nationalist Naftali Bennett, it provides the Biden administration with the opportunity to send a clear message to the Israelis that it is time to exhibit some moderation toward the Palestinians and that a two-state solution remains the only option, to which the US is fully committed. While the Bennett government represents the entire Israeli political spectrum from Left to Right, including the Israeli-Arabs, the coalition’s decision to put the Israeli-Palestinian conflict on the back burner due to a lack of consensus between its partners is shortsighted and extremely damaging. In fact, only such a government that represents the entire Israeli political spectrum stands a real chance of reaching an agreement.
On the Palestinian side, PA President Mahmoud Abbas has taken a hard position in connection with the settlements, Jerusalem and the refugees, and it will be nearly impossible for him to reverse course and retain power. He does not want to leave the political scene accused of having sold out the Palestinian cause. Given Abbas’s untenable position, it is time for the Palestinians to choose new leaders. The PA has not held parliamentary elections for nearly 15 years, and the public has largely lost confidence in the current government. Biden should insist that the Palestinians schedule a definitive date for new elections and pledge to support any freely and fairly elected Palestinian leader, including those affiliated with Hamas, provided that they recognize Israel’s sovereignty and are committed to peace.
To demonstrate his support for the Palestinian cause, Biden has wisely reinstated financial support for the Palestinians. In addition, Biden should establish a US consulate in east Jerusalem serving the Palestinians and invite the Palestinians to reopen their mission in Washington. To show goodwill on Israel’s part, Biden should implore Bennett to release all Palestinian political prisoners, particularly those who have no blood on their hands.
Finally, Biden should make it clear that whereas America stands by its allies and is committed to their security and well-being, they, in turn, must reciprocate by carefully considering the US’s overall geostrategic interests in the region, particularly in relation to Iran.
In this regard, Biden can negotiate a revised deal regarding Iran’s nuclear program, requiring Israel’s support in return for carefully weighing Israel’s concerns over the Iranian nuclear threat and keeping it informed. In fact, a new nuclear deal and progress on the Israeli-Palestinian front will significantly disabuse Iran from exploiting the conflict by arming Arab militants, instigating violence and sowing instability to serve its own interest.
Process of reconciliation
Given the complexity of the Israeli-Palestinian conflict, the ingrained mutual hatred, distrust and hostility, and the growing loss of confidence that peace is attainable, the Biden administration must insist that both parties engage in a process of government-to-government and people-to-people reconciliation. Such a process would certainly mitigate distrust, reduce the level of hostility, and open the door for growing cooperation.
Indeed, under any circumstances, a few years of calm and cooperation between the two sides will go a long way toward building mutual trust and understanding each other’s concerns, and gradually pave the way for a permanent solution.
Since it is expected that Bennett will soon visit the White House, Biden will have the opportunity to explain to the Israeli leader in unequivocal terms that the US:
a) is committed to a two-state solution not only because it is morally correct, but because it is the only solution that will preserve the democratic nature of Israel as well as its Jewish national identity;
b) will oppose the annexation of any Palestinian territory and reject the eviction of Palestinians from their homes in any part of the West Bank as well as east Jerusalem;
c) strongly supports the expansion of security cooperation between the two sides and requires that Israel and the PA immediately engage in the process of reconciliation on all levels;
d) expects the Bennett government to support a revised Iranian nuclear deal, as described above. Once a peace agreement is achieved with the Palestinians and the rest of the Arab Gulf states, the US will consider extending its nuclear umbrella to the region, which may well persuade Iran not to pursue nuclear weapons. With new leadership in the US, Israel, and soon in the PA, there is a rare opportunity to advance the cause of peace. Biden should make it clear to Bennett and his right-wing coalition partners who oppose the creation of a Palestinian state that they are now standing before history; they must face the inevitable and free Israel from the bondage of occupation. This would be the hallmark of statesmanship, in the footsteps of Menachem Begin, especially when Israel’s future well-being and national security are on the line. Biden is well positioned to succeed where his predecessors have failed.
The writer is a professor of international relations at the Center for Global Affairs at NYU. He teaches courses on international negotiation and Middle Eastern studies.

Is Iran losing control of its proxies in Iraq?
Qassim Abdul-Zahra and Samya Kullab/The Arab Weekly/July 10/2021
BAGHDAD — Iran’s expeditionary Quds Force commander brought one main directive for Iraqi militia faction leaders long beholden to Tehran, when he gathered with them in Baghdad last month: maintain calm, until after nuclear talks between Iran and the United States.
But he was met with defiance. One of the six faction leaders spoke up in their meeting: they could not stay quiet while the death of his predecessor Qassim Soleimani and senior Iraqi militia commander Abu Mahdi al-Muhandis in a US drone strike went unavenged.
Militia assaults have only been increasing against the US in military bases in both Iraq and Syria. Three missile attacks in the last week alone resulted in minor injuries, stoking fears of escalation. The details from Esmail Qaani’s visit, confirmed to The Associated Press by three Shia political officials and two senior militia officials, demonstrate how Iranian-aligned Iraqi militia groups are asserting a degree of independence, sometimes even flouting orders from Tehran. Iran now relies on Lebanon’s Hezbollah for support in reining them in and there is potential that Iran’s new president could play a role in doing the same.
The officials spoke on condition of anonymity to discuss the private meetings.
Iran’s influence, sustained by ideological ties and military support, has frayed because of the US killing of Soleimani and al-Muhandis last year, because of differing interests and because of financial strains in Tehran. With nuclear talks restarting following US President Joe Biden’s inauguration this year, these differences have come to the fore. “Iran isn’t the way it used to be, with 100% control over the militia commanders,” said one Shia political leader.
Increasing rocket and drone attacks targeting American troops in Iraq and Syria have alarmed Western and coalition officials. There have been at least eight drone attacks targeting the US presence since Biden took office in January, as well as 17 rocket attacks, according to coalition officials.
The attacks are blamed on the Iranian-backed militias that make up the bulk of Iraq’s state-supported Popular Mobilisation Forces (PMF). The Biden administration has responded by twice targeting Iraqi militia groups operating inside Syria, including close to the Iraqi border.
“What is taking place now is when Qaani asks for calm, the brigade leaders agree with him. But as soon as he leaves the meeting, they disregard his recommendations,” said another Shia political leader.
The loudest of the defiant militia voices has been Qais al-Khazali, leader of the Asaib Ahl al-Haq faction, which also maintains a political party. On June 17, only days after Qaani’s meetings with the militias, he said in a televised address that they would continue to target the US “occupier” and that they will not take into consideration nuclear talks.
“And that decision is an Iraqi one,” he said.
The coalition has formally ended combat operations and reduced troop levels significantly in the last year. Only 2,500 US troops remain in Iraq and discussions are ongoing with NATO to transfer to an advisory mission. Iraq still needs coalition support in surveillance and intelligence gathering and airstrikes against Islamic State (ISIS) extremist group targets. Some argue the ongoing attacks benefit Iran by maintaining pressure on the US.
During talks with Shia political officials during his visit, Qaani said Iran doesn’t interfere in their political work, but that military matters were different. “These must be approved by the Revolutionary Guard,” one political leader recounted him saying.
Still, Qaani did not reprimand the militia groups during the meeting. Instead, he told them he understood their concerns. Iran has struggled to fill in the gap left in the absence of Soleimani and al-Muhandis, who were commanding figures able to push factions into line and resolve disputes among them. “Qaani has a different style and capabilities,” said Michael Knights, a fellow at The Washington Institute. He has a looser framework, establishing broad red lines on some matters, while “other things are ‘don’t ask, don’t tell,” he said. Along with asking for less, cash-strapped Iran has been giving less as well. Assistance to the groups has been significantly downgraded since US sanctions began crippling Iran’s economy last year.
Divisions among factions have deepened, with growing competition among militias and Shia politicians. Qhaani came to meet the militia leaders to mend tensions that were sparked weeks earlier when Iraqi authorities arrested a paramilitary commander, Qassim Mosleh, prompting a standoff between PMF fighters and security forces. Qhaani brought a letter from Iran’s supreme leader, Ali Khamenei, criticising the PMF for its reaction, saying it weakened their position.
To apply pressure on the factions, Iran has come to rely on Hezbollah leader Hasan Nasrallah in Lebanon, a figure the militias highly respect. Almost weekly, various factional leaders hold face-to-face meetings with him in Lebanon, said Shia political leaders. Iranian President Ebrahim Raisi, elected in June, also may be a unifying figure for the militias, which hold him in high esteem, political and militia officials said. When Raisi visited Baghdad in February, he met with PMF commanders and told them, in fluent Arabic, “Our flesh is your flesh, and our blood is your blood.” Qaani communicates with brigade leaders through an interpreter. “The resistance will grow in power and will see its best of times due to the election victory of Raisi,” said Abu Alaa al-Walae, commander of Kataib Sayyid al-Shuhada, in a recent interview.

Libya back in a quagmire
Hafed Al-Ghwell/Arab News/July 10/2021
In the weeks after the appointment of the interim Government of National Unity (GNU) in Libya a few months ago, a rash of developments, endorsements, and new-found optimism suggested a nation finally on the move after years of conflict and division.
Painstaking efforts at conflict resolution by the UN and others culminated in the formation of a shadow parliament in the form of the relatively inclusive 75-member Libyan Political Dialogue Forum (LPDF), and the appointment of a temporary government headed by Prime Minister Abdul Hamid Dbeibah, with the aim of holding legislative and presidential elections by Dec. 24. Unfortunately, despite even rival interests being able to reach a consensus about the importance of holding these elections, the LPDF appears to have succumbed to familiar divisions.
The High National Election Commission (HNEC) set a July 1 deadline to receive formal constitutional assent and documentation it would need to organize the elections. However, after four days of talks in Geneva, the LPDF failed to reach an agreement on their constitutional basis. Even an extra day of talks could not resolve issues surrounding which elections to hold, qualifications for candidates and when to actually hold them.
The disappointing outcome is a stark contrast to the LPDF’s initial successes — establishing a roadmap for elections endorsed by the international community and holding a relatively smooth election of Libya’s provisional government and presidency council. Unfortunately, what was supposed to be an inclusive body, designed and empowered to operate as a representative of Libyan national will, is not unshackled from accusations of corruption and the myriad divisive entanglements that continuously threaten to plunge Libya back into chaos. Regarding the elections, the LPDF has since split into three factions. One group remains committed to the existing roadmap, which the US Support Mission in Libya (UNSMIL) insists on. The second group has called for both elections to be postponed at least until next year, while the third proposes holding only the parliamentary elections this year.
By their nature, these differing preferences are unlikely to find a middle ground, nor are their interlocutors inclined to do so, even with a deadline now extended to Aug. 1. After all, Libya’s lost decade marred with violence, bloodshed, and chaos has always been because political processes are repeatedly thrown into disarray, as is happening now in Geneva.
Should the LPDF fail to do its job, not only will it further undermine its legitimacy and that of the road map it produced, it will imperil any future constructive dialogue, delaying much-needed progress in Libya’s transition.
Ideally, Libya should not hold elections for their own sake or to appease a frustrated and impatient international community. If Libyans are to head to the polls, it should be because they desire them and are galvanized to participate in the democratic process despite the potential risks ranging from attacks on polling locations to results sparking fresh conflicts when known antagonizers reject them. However, reports from Geneva indicate that the divisions within the LPDF are not fueled by good-faith concerns about the constitutionality, security, and logistics of the December polls. They also sidestep credible concerns about the eruption of violence in what would be a very fragile post-election landscape.
Instead, the latest fixations are on controversial proposals that no conditions be placed on presidential candidates, specifically concerning their military rank and dual nationality. This blatant attempt at facilitating warlord Khalifa Haftar’s candidacy is indicative of other influences at work.
There are foreign and domestic interests wary of the elections delivering a crippling blow to strategic years-long efforts to embed foreign interests in Libya’s post-conflict landscape. Several external actors have deployed men, money, and munitions into Libya to influence its first democratically elected government and secure outsize benefits from the lucrative post-war reconstruction. Others have also sought to establish strategic footholds on the Mediterranean and transform Libya’s infrastructure to function as an unchecked thoroughfare into the Sahel and Central Africa, where the French are currently seeking an exit.
The lack of a military solution to Libya's crisis does not impede these objectives. Ironically, a peaceful political process under UN auspices, such as the LPDF and the GNU, actually affords these actors opportunities to influence Libya’s transition. Manipulating constitutional foundations of future elections would be less costly and better serve their limited self-interests, which remain hostile to a fully functioning democracy taking root in Libya, and the re-establishment of its sovereignty. The LPDF’s failure to reach an agreement is therefore unsurprising, given a similar lack of progress on meeting Berlin II demands for the immediate withdrawal of foreign mercenaries from Libyan soil.
A political process in disarray will not just be a major headache for Libyans, frustrated by the pandemic, frequent blackouts, food, and currency shortages. It also sheds light on vulnerabilities engineered into the LPDF by an UN-led process in which the selection of its 75 members prized the inclusion of controversial figures who are now acting as spoilers in service of non-Libyan interests.
Should the LPDF fail to do its job, not only will it further undermine its legitimacy and that of the road map it produced, it will imperil any future constructive dialogue, delaying much-needed progress in Libya’s transition. If Aug. 1 passes without an agreement, it will also impugn the credibility of the UN mission and highlight weaknesses in the international community’s resolve to facilitate Libya’s peace and stability. By then, it will be too late to replace the entire LPDF, let alone induce the notoriously uncooperative parliament and High Council of State to agree on a binding legal document on the elections — leaving a national referendum as the only recourse.
*Hafed Al-Ghwell is a senior fellow with the Foreign Policy Institute at the John Hopkins University School of AdvancedInternational Studies. Twitter: @HafedAlGhwell

UAE and Israel can build on a year of normality
Yossi Mekelberg/Arab News/July 10/2021
With the anniversary of the Abraham Accords fast approaching, the visit of Israel’s foreign minister Yair Lapid to the UAE this month was both timely and symbolic of the rapid pace at which relations between the two countries are developing.
It was the first official visit to the country by an Israeli minister, and to demonstrate the centrality of these relations to Israel’s foreign policy strategy, one of the first visits abroad by the new foreign minister. Lapid also inaugurated Israel’s embassy in Abu Dhabi and its consulate in Dubai, which further epitomises how seamlessly the ties between the two countries are evolving. The red-carpet welcome, both literally and figuratively, had all the hallmarks of two countries who see this budding relationship mutually benefiting their national interests, and enhancing their positions on the international stage.
Lapid, after all, is not only the foreign minister but also leads the largest faction in the government, and is the presumptive prime minister, two years away from taking the reins of power. Lapid’s warm welcome in Abu Dhabi included a meeting with the Foreign Minister, Sheikh Abdullah bin Zayed Al-Nahyan, and was a clear message that both countries are seeking, as Sheikh Abdullah said, a “vision of opening new horizons.”
When the Abraham Accords were announced last August, it was as much a natural evolution of developments that had been taking place behind the scenes for decades, as it was a surprise to see the normalising of relations happen so suddenly and with no forewarning. For nearly a quarter of a century quiet diplomacy between the two countries, in addition to other GCC countries, has built a solid foundation for both formal and informal relations between the Jewish state and the Gulf region. From complete rejection by all countries in the region, Israel has gradually gained acceptance, initially by two of the countries with which it had fought several wars, signing first a peace agreement with Egypt in 1979 and then with Jordan in 1994. These peace agreements, which established and maintained diplomatic relations, are still based solely on common strategic interests, are extremely limited in civilian engagement, and haven’t led to warming of relations between the countries’ populations.
There was a very different feeling right from the outset about the normalising of relations between the UAE and Israel. It was as if a valve had been opened, releasing much stored enthusiasm for fulfilling the full strategic, economic and cultural potential of the two countries’ relationship, and also paving the way for the rest of the Gulf region to follow suit at their own pace. That Israel and the UAE have never been in a direct conflict also contributed to the easy transition to full diplomatic relations, as well as the incremental approaches to first building economic ties in areas such as the diamonds, agriculture and water sectors, and then allowing for a limited diplomatic presence by for instance opening a mission to the UN’s renewable energy agency in Abu Dhabi.
The trajectory of Israeli–UAE relations is of building further on a successful first year of normalized relations. These have passed the first test of conflict between Israel and the Palestinians, but it is inevitable that more are around the corner.
It was under the UN’s auspices, but nevertheless there was a sign and a flag in full view that legitimised an Israeli presence in the UAE. This was followed by visits from high-ranking officials that were supposed to be unannounced but in fact were an open secret. By the time the Abraham Accords were signed not only were the political, security and economic elites ready for it, but civil society and ordinary citizens were curious and eager to discover what normalisation of relations meant for them.
The question of whether relations between Israel and the UAE should remain shrouded in secrecy was never about any outstanding differences between them, but about the absence of a fair and just peace with the Palestinians and the ongoing Israeli occupation of the West Bank and the blockade of Gaza. According to the 2002 Beirut Declaration, which was inspired by the Saudi peace initiative, normalisation of relations between Israel and the region was intended to follow a peace agreement with the Palestinians. In the absence of any resolution to the Israeli–Palestinian conflict, however, commonality of interests between Israel and GCC countries started to take precedence, thus reversing the paradigm of peace first and normalisation to follow, but until last year without official normalisation.
This enabled the development of closer ties, but with obvious limitations and constraints and at a slower pace. Initially, cooperation on security and intelligence sharing was aimed at containing Iran’s nuclear and regional ambitions, and tackling radicalisation — both major incentives that drew both countries closer together. In the immediate aftermath of the Abraham Accords, the Trump administration, which played a crucial role in helping this agreement to materialize, authorised the sale of 50 advanced F-35 fighter jets to the UAE, upgrading its military capability and status in the region and giving the UAE a strategic edge. The other side of the flourishing Israel-UAE ties has been a flurry of economic activity especially in agricultural products and technology, as well in as mechanical and medical equipment and petroleum by-products, all estimated to be worth more than $350 million this year. Scientific cooperation is also on the rise between growing numbers of academic and research institutions. Moreover, despite the current pandemic more than 200,000 Israeli tourists have travelled to the UAE, taking advantage of the newly available flights between the two countries. Rather impressive for a first year of normalised relations.
With the Abraham Accords, the conditionality of the nature and speed of cooperation between the UAE and Bahrain, and later Morocco and Sudan, on peace with the Palestinians was severed. How this is going to affect relations between Israel and the Palestinians remains to be seen, though at least it has helped avert the threat of Israel annexing nearly one third of the West Bank. And for now, Israel–UAE relations have withstood the test of confrontation in Jerusalem and war in Gaza.
The trajectory of Israeli–UAE relations is of building further on a successful first year of normalized relations. These have passed the first test of conflict between Israel and the Palestinians, but it is inevitable that more are around the corner. During Lapid’s visit, both sides repeatedly spoke about the need for peace in the region, and declared that in the conflict between Israel and the Palestinians, the UAE can play a central role together with other GCC countries. If this happens it will contribute immensely to regional stability and see Israeli–GCC relations maturing and reaching their full potential.
*Yossi Mekelberg is professor of international relations and an associate fellow of the MENA Program at Chatham House. He is a regular contributor to the international written and electronic media. Twitter: @YMekelberg