English LCCC Newsbulletin For
Lebanese, Lebanese Related, Global News & Editorials
For September 22/2020
Compiled & Prepared by: Elias Bejjani
#elias_bejjani_news
The Bulletin's Link on the
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Bible Quotations For today
Whoever is not
against us is for us. For truly I tell you, whoever gives you a cup of water to
drink because you bear the name of Christ will by no means lose the reward.
Mark 09/38-50: “John said to Jesus, ‘Teacher, we saw
someone casting out demons in your name, and we tried to stop him, because he
was not following us.’But Jesus said, ‘Do not stop him; for no one who does a
deed of power in my name will be able soon afterwards to speak evil of me.
Whoever is not against us is for us. For truly I tell you, whoever gives you a
cup of water to drink because you bear the name of Christ will by no means lose
the reward. ‘If any of you put a stumbling-block before one of these little ones
who believe in me, it would be better for you if a great millstone were hung
around your neck and you were thrown into the sea. If your hand causes you to
stumble, cut it off; it is better for you to enter life maimed than to have two
hands and to go to hell, to the unquenchable fire. And if your foot causes you
to stumble, cut it off; it is better for you to enter life lame than to have two
feet and to be thrown into hell.+t,+u And if your eye causes you to stumble,
tear it out; it is better for you to enter the kingdom of God with one eye than
to have two eyes and to be thrown into hell, where their worm never dies, and
the fire is never quenched. ‘For everyone will be salted with fire.”Salt is
good; but if salt has lost its saltiness, how can you season it? Have salt in
yourselves, and be at peace with one another.’”
Titles For The Latest English LCCC
Lebanese & Lebanese Related News & Editorials published on
September 21-22/2021
Health Ministry: 652 new Corona cases, 6 deaths
Aoun meets delegation of US Evangelical Churches, receives two congratulatory
cables on government formation
Mikati to visit France on Thursday, meet Macron Friday
Mikati meets ambassadors of France, Jordan, U.S.
UNIFIL marks International Day of Peace
Aoun, Miqati Discuss Measures against Israel's Disputed Oil Drilling
Has Wafiq Safa Threatened Judge Bitar?
Brax: Gasoline Shortage to Improve by Midweek
Army Arrests IS-linked Terrorist Cell in Tripoli
Jumblat Asks about Iraqi Oil, Slams 'Diesel Invasion'
UNRWA Head Alarmed by Incidents at Two Lebanon Palestinian Camps
FPM Praises Miqati, But Says Won’t Cover Up Govt. Mistakes
UNRWA Head Alarmed by Incidents at Two Lebanon Palestinian Camps
Reports: Paris Betting on Govt. Success, West Warns over Obstruction
Army command holds ambassadorial meeting to follow up on Paris conference
outcomes
Bassil discusses political developments with Australian ambassador
To those who are placing all their bets on the upcoming elections if
elections/Jean-Marie Kassab/September 21/2021
Investigation in shackles/Sally Abou AlJoud/Now Lebanon/September 21/2021
Titles For The Latest English LCCC
Miscellaneous Reports And News published on
September 21-22/2021
Libya Lawmakers Pass No Confidence Vote for Transition Govt.
Poll Finds Nearly 80% of Palestinians Want Abbas to Resign
UAE Welcomes Regional Rivals at Major Natural Gas Conference
Tunisian President Vows New Electoral Code, Transition Team
Military General who Ruled Egypt after Mubarak Ouster Dies
European Court: Russia Responsible for Litvinenko Killing
Ballot-stuffing Videos Taint Russian Election
A coup attempt in Sudan "failed"
Trudeau’s Liberals win Canada election, but miss majority
German FM Calls US Submarine Actions 'Irritating,' 'Disappointing'
Egypt's ex military ruler Tantawi, key figure in 2011, dies at 85
Titles For The Latest The Latest LCCC
English analysis & editorials from miscellaneous sources published on
September 21-22/2021
The Sudanese Inattention Trap/Alberto M. Fernandez/MEMRI/September 21/2021
Egypt and Israel on path toward a warmer peace/Yossi
Mekelberg/Arab News/September 21, 2021
Jordan, Egypt and Israel offer hope on Palestinian conflict/Osama Al-Sharif/Arab
News/September 21, 2021
UN efforts stymied by discord among its members/ Dr. Abdel Aziz Aluwaisheg/Arab
News/September 21, 2021
The Latest English LCCC Lebanese &
Lebanese Related News & Editorials published
on September 21-22/2021
Health Ministry: 652 new Corona cases, 6 deaths
NNA/September 21/2021
In its daily report on the COVID-19 developments, the Ministry of Public Health
announced on Tuesday the registration of 652 new Coronavirus infections, which
raised the cumulative number of confirmed cases to-date to 619,232. The report
added that 6 deaths were recorded during the past 24 hours.
Aoun meets delegation of US Evangelical Churches,
receives two congratulatory cables on government formation
NNA/September 21/2021
President of the Republic, General Michel Aoun, met a delegation representing
Evangelical Churches in the United States, headed by Archbishop, Raffoul Najem.
Archbishop Najem thanked the President for meeting the delegation, and expressed
his happiness for visiting Lebanon. “We are very worried about the Lebanon we
love, Lebanon whose name is mentioned 77 times in the Holy Bible. Lebanon in our
view, represents an important strategic place, not only in the Middle East, but
in the whole world, from a spiritual point of view and not from a political
context. We strongly believe that it is a safe haven for the Church in the
Middle East” Archbishop Najem stated. “We represent hundreds of churches, and we
came to express our solidarity with Lebanon and help its people. After the
tragic Beirut Port explosion, we were able to collect generous donations and
sent them to 256 Evangelical Churches in Lebanon, to help them survive and
continue” Najem added. Archbishop Najem also indicated that the delegation cam
to Lebanon with aid, especially medicines, foodstuffs and goods which were
distributed in various regions, from Beirut to Baalbek. In addition, Najem
asserted that “The most important thing is that we were able to gather 55
priests representing 55 churches of different sects. Our main goal is to unite
the Church in Lebanon, and to work on the basis of mercy and love to help in the
reconstruction. We are here to listen to you and to represent your voice in the
US”.
Afterwards, Bishop Joseph Matera thanked the President for receiving them, and
praised the stances of President Aoun. Bishop Matera said that he heads a group
whose goal is to press for change, and it is linked to an international alliance
of around 3000 network leaders, in 50 or 60 countries. Bishop Matera addressed
the Lebanese saying “We started collecting money to help the people, and we are
here today aiming to provide support to the evangelical churches which
constitute a minority. We will do all we can to convey this image to the whole
world”.
Matera also emphasized that the system operated away from any association with a
political entity. “We extend our hands for partnership and cooperation” Matera
said.
President Aoun:
For his part, the President welcomed the delegation and praised their work,
especially as its goal is to help the Lebanese people “Which shows solidarity
with Lebanon in light of this difficult crisis and with good spirit and love to
help the other”.
“This love is the core of the Christian religion, which considers that a person
is a human being no matter the difference in religion, especially since Lebanon
is a model for coexistence, and is different from other races, peoples and
countries” President Aoun said.
“We mustn’t forget that the Lebanese area today represents the area of the world
with the Lebanese in the diaspora who have not forgotten their homeland. The
Lebanese, through their culture and civilization, can adapt in different
continents, because their culture represents the quality of civilizations due to
its spread in all parts of the world, and mastering different languages” the
President added.
Statement:
After the meeting, Archbishop Najem expressed his happiness to be with the
delegation in Lebanon, and pointed out that the purpose of the visit, which
represents around 15 US states, is to help Lebanon and extend a hand to its
people of all sects without discrimination, in addition to uniting churches of
different sects.Head of the Association of the Legion of Honor:
President Aoun met the Head of the Legion of Honor Association in Lebanon,
Ambassador Khalil Karam.Ambassador Karam congratulated the President on the
formation of the new government, and conveyed a verbal message from the
President of the Association in France, Rear Admiral Alain Koldivy, who will
visit Lebanon with a delegation next January 17, on the occasion of the
centenary of the Assembly, and will participate in several activities.
Moreover, Ambassador Karam will represent the Lebanese branch of the Association
in the celebration which will be held on September 28 in Paris, in the presence
of French President, Emmanuel Macron.
For his part, President Aoun conveyed his greetings to President Macron and
praised the assistance provided by the association to Lebanon, especially after
the Beirut Port explosion.
Congratulation Cables: President Aoun received congratulatory telegrams on
forming the new government, from the Qatari Prince, Sheikh Tamim Bin Hamad II.
The Qatari Prince expressed his “Sincere congratulations and best wishes”,
wishing the President good health and wellness, and hoping that the new
government succeeds in achieving peoples’ aspirations, development, progress and
prosperity. In addition, President Aoun received a congratulation cable from
Deputy Emir of Qatar, Sheikh Abdullah Bin Hamad II, who wished the government
all the success. -- Presidency Press Office
Mikati to visit France on Thursday, meet Macron
Friday
NNA/September 21/2021
Prime Minister Najib Mikati will pay an official visit to France on Thursday,
and French President Emmanuel Macron is scheduled to receive him on Friday.
Mikati meets ambassadors of France, Jordan, U.S.
NNA/September 21/2021
Prime Minister Najib Mikati met Tuesday at the Grand Serail with French
Ambassador to Lebanon, Anne Grillo, over the current general situation and the
bilateral relations. He later received Ambassador of Jordan Walid al-Hadid, with
whom he discussed the Lebanese-Jordanian ties. U.S. Ambassador Dorothy Shea also
visited the Prime Minister today. Mikati had earlier met with a delegation of
the International Chamber of Commerce.
UNIFIL marks International Day of Peace
NNA/September 21/2021
UNIFIL today marked the International Day of Peace with a ceremony at its
headquarters in Naqoura, south Lebanon. On the occasion, UNIFIL Head of Mission
and Force Commander Major General Stefano Del Col paid tribute to civilian and
military peacekeepers for their sustained efforts – with support of the parties
– to maintain security and stability in south Lebanon and along the Blue Line.
“While we are fortunate in south Lebanon to have enjoyed a decade and a half of
relative stability, events in recent months have shown us that peace is fragile,
and should never be taken for granted,” the UNIFIL head told the ceremony,
attended by LAF representatives, mayors and fellow peacekeepers. Maj. Gen. Del
Col hailed UNIFIL’s work with the parties and the partnership with the LAF to
accomplish the mission’s mandate. “UNIFIL is committed to work with Lebanese
authorities, to support the LAF and the people of south Lebanon. In so doing, we
pave the way for all political and diplomatic efforts to take root, towards a
lasting solution and a permanent ceasefire,” the UNIFIL chief said. He was
referring to the recent Security Council Resolution 2591, adopted on 30 August
renewing UNIFIL’s mandate for one more year, which asked UNIFIL to take
“temporary and special measures” to extend logistical support to the LAF for six
months. Noting the deteriorating situation in Lebanon due to the compounded
effects of the COVID-19 pandemic and the unprecedented socio-economic crises,
Maj. Gen. Del Col said UNIFIL and its troop-contributing countries are doing
their best to support and protect the people of south Lebanon. “We are helping
local communities build capacity to halt the spread of COVID-19; donating
medical equipment, expertise, PPEs (personal protective equipment), PCR tests;
and providing training to hospitals, schools and communities,” UNIFIL chief
added. On the occasion, members of UNIFIL leadership team and LAF representative
Brigadier General Maroun Kobayati awarded 28 military staff officers with the UN
Medal for their contribution to fulfilling the Mission’s mandate. The UN General
Assembly established the International Day of Peace in 1981 in order to
strengthen the ideals of peace, through observing 24 hours of non-violence and
cease-fire. The UN invites all nations and people to honour a cessation of
hostilities during the Day, and to otherwise commemorate the Day through
education and public awareness on issues related to peace. The global theme of
this year’s observance is “Recovering better for an equitable and sustainable
world.”
Aoun, Miqati Discuss Measures against Israel's Disputed
Oil Drilling
Naharnet/September 21/2021
President Michel Aoun held a meeting Tuesday in Baabda with Prime Minister Najib
Miqati and Foreign Minister Abdallah Bou Habib. The Presidency said the meeting
tackled the developments “after Israel tasked an American firm with offering
evaluation services for the drilling of gas and oil wells in the disputed
(offshore) area.”“The meeting was dedicated to studying the repercussions of the
Israeli step and the measures that Lebanon will take following the letter that
it addressed to the U.N. in this regard,” the Presidency added.
Has Wafiq Safa Threatened Judge Bitar?
Naharnet/September 21/2021
LBCI TV reporter Edmond Sassine has posted a tweet alleging that Hizbullah
official Wafiq Safa has threatened the judge probing the Beirut port blast Tarek
Bitar. "Hizbullah through Wafiq Safa has sent a threatening message to Judge
Tarek Bitar," Sassine tweeted. "We're totally fed up with you. We will go with
you until the end in the legal course and if it doesn't work out we will uproot
you," Sassine quoted Safa as telling Bitar. TV networks meanwhile said that
State Prosecutor Ghassan Oueidat has asked Bitar to prepare a report about
"what's being circulated about a verbal message that he indirectly received from
Mr. Wafiq Safa."
Brax: Gasoline Shortage to Improve by Midweek
Naharnet/September 21/2021
A number of importing companies will start distributing gasoline to the local
market, Georges Brax – member of the syndicate of gas stations owners – said on
Tuesday. Brax told the National News Agency that many gas stations will re-open
successively and that “we will witness a remarkable improvement” in the coming
days. He added that “three ships carrying more than 100 million liters of
gasoline will unload their cargo by Wednesday, which will cover the market needs
for at least two weeks.”Brax urged the competent officials "to announce the
process that will be adopted to permanently lift fuel subsidies” in order to
prevent what could create “confusion” or “a new crisis of another kind."
Army Arrests IS-linked Terrorist Cell in Tripoli
Naharnet/September 21/2021
The Military Intelligence arrested in Tripoli “a number of people who formed a
cell supporting the terrorist Islamic State organization,” the Army Command said
in a statement Tuesday. The cell had purchased individual weapons and ammunition
in order to carry out terrorist attacks. “The cell members sought to recruit
other people to help them,” the statement said. According to the Army command,
the cell had started its activity last June and carried out the assassination of
the retired first adjutant Ahmed Murad in Tripoli on August 22, 2021.The
detainees are being interrogated under the supervision of the competent
judiciary, the Army stated.
Jumblat Asks about Iraqi Oil, Slams 'Diesel Invasion'
Naharnet/September 21/2021
Progressives Socialist Party leader Walid Jumblat on Tuesday tweeted about
Lebanon’s electricity crisis and the diesel that Hizbullah brought from Iran.
“As if everything is calculated. An announcement is made about Jordanian
electricity and Egyptian gas, which is a chance for beginning to address the
electricity crisis, after which comes a diesel invasion,” Jumblat tweeted. “One
asks about the Iraqi oil and the ambiguity surrounding its replacement and
receives no answer. And finally there is the farce of parliament’s power cut,
the subsequent bravados and the Iranian oil excavation,” the PSP leader added.
“Where is the state of Lebanon?” he wondered.
UNRWA Head Alarmed by Incidents at Two Lebanon Palestinian
Camps
Naharnet/September 21/2021
Phillipe Lazzarini, the head of the U.N. Palestinian refugee agency UNRWA, has
said that he is “very alarmed” by two “major” security developments that
happened at two Palestinian refugees camps in Lebanon over the weekend. On the
morning of September 19, protesters from the temporary housing units near the
Nahr al-Bared refugee camp broke into the UNRWA construction site office,
causing severe damage to the premises and to seven Agency vehicles. No one was
injured. “This incident came in the aftermath of a series of thefts in our
installations in the camp over the last few weeks. Palestinian faction leaders
condemned the incident and the thefts and pledged their support to ensure these
incidents would not occur again,” Lazzarini said in a statement. On the same
day, in the Ain al-Hilweh camp, in the south of Lebanon, fighting between the
Fatah and Jund al-Sham armed factions erupted, and fighters “entered four UNRWA
schools,” Lazzarini added. Seven people were injured because of the fighting
there, including two civilians in Sidon. Lazzarini said Palestinian faction
leaders have condemned the incident and have committed to investigate it. “I
strongly condemn these incidents, which severely undermine the neutrality and
inviolability of our premises and put at serious risk the protection and
security of Palestine refugees, UNRWA personnel and property. UNRWA is
requesting that all parties commit to respect the Agency’s neutrality and the
inviolability of its installations at all times and to take all measures
necessary to ensure that incidents to the contrary are not repeated,” he added.
Lazzarini also said that he continues to be “extremely concerned” about the
deteriorating situation in Lebanon as a whole and its “significant impact on
Palestine refugees who were already among the most vulnerable communities.”
“UNRWA is a front-row witness to the immense needs and the high level of poverty
among Palestine refugees in Lebanon. The Agency is sparing no effort to advocate
for additional support to the Palestine refugee community in Lebanon,” he said.
“In order to continue to deliver critical services, UNRWA needs both additional
financial support and full respect for the safety of its personnel as well as
for the inviolability of its installations at all times,” he added.
FPM Praises Miqati, But Says Won’t Cover Up Govt. Mistakes
Naharnet/September 21/2021
Even though the Free Patriotic Movement granted confidence to the government,
“this doesn’t mean we will support it if it doesn’t commit to its obligations,”
an FPM informed source said. The source told al-Joumhouria newspaper, in remarks
published Tuesday, that the “FPM will loudly oppose the government when
needed.”The source pointed out that the final judgment will be “on actions not
words.”“We will certainly not cover up mistakes,” the source stressed, “even if
the culprit is a minister affiliated with President Michel Aoun, we will
confront him like we confronted former economy minister Raoul Nehme.” “We could
build upon the new intersections between the bloc and Prime Minister Najib
Miqati in the future,” the source said, adding that Miqati “doesn’t need to
create a fight with Aoun to enflame the Sunnis sentiments.”“The man is capable
of dealing with pressure; he preferred to be a Prime minister in the (Grand)
Serail over being a hero in the ex-prime ministers’ club,” the source went on to
say.
UNRWA Head Alarmed by Incidents at Two Lebanon Palestinian
Camps
Naharnet/September 21/2021
Phillipe Lazzarini, the head of the U.N. Palestinian refugee agency UNRWA, has
said that he is “very alarmed” by two “major” security developments that
happened at two Palestinian refugees camps in Lebanon over the weekend. On the
morning of September 19, protesters from the temporary housing units near the
Nahr al-Bared refugee camp broke into the UNRWA construction site office,
causing severe damage to the premises and to seven Agency vehicles. No one was
injured. “This incident came in the aftermath of a series of thefts in our
installations in the camp over the last few weeks. Palestinian faction leaders
condemned the incident and the thefts and pledged their support to ensure these
incidents would not occur again,” Lazzarini said in a statement. On the same
day, in the Ain al-Hilweh camp, in the south of Lebanon, fighting between the
Fatah and Jund al-Sham armed factions erupted, and fighters “entered four UNRWA
schools,” Lazzarini added. Seven people were injured because of the fighting
there, including two civilians in Sidon. Lazzarini said Palestinian faction
leaders have condemned the incident and have committed to investigate it. “I
strongly condemn these incidents, which severely undermine the neutrality and
inviolability of our premises and put at serious risk the protection and
security of Palestine refugees, UNRWA personnel and property. UNRWA is
requesting that all parties commit to respect the Agency’s neutrality and the
inviolability of its installations at all times and to take all measures
necessary to ensure that incidents to the contrary are not repeated,” he added.
Lazzarini also said that he continues to be “extremely concerned” about the
deteriorating situation in Lebanon as a whole and its “significant impact on
Palestine refugees who were already among the most vulnerable communities.”
“UNRWA is a front-row witness to the immense needs and the high level of poverty
among Palestine refugees in Lebanon. The Agency is sparing no effort to advocate
for additional support to the Palestine refugee community in Lebanon,” he said.
“In order to continue to deliver critical services, UNRWA needs both additional
financial support and full respect for the safety of its personnel as well as
for the inviolability of its installations at all times,” he added.
Reports: Paris Betting on Govt. Success, West Warns over
Obstruction
Naharnet/September 21/2021
Paris is pleased by the Lebanese government’s announcement that it will abide by
the French initiative but it is waiting for a “practical and urgent
materialization of this commitment,” French diplomatic sources said. France is
pinning great hopes on “the government’s success in implementing the mission
program specified for it,” the sources told al-Joumhouria newspaper in remarks
published Tuesday. A senior Lebanese official meanwhile told the daily that
“Western and European messages and embassies in Lebanon have warned against
obstructing the government’s course and besieging the government by political
interferences as happened in the past.”
Army command holds ambassadorial meeting to follow
up on Paris conference outcomes
NNA/September 21/2021
The Army Command, in cooperation with the Office of the Special Representative
of the United Nations Secretary-General in Lebanon UNSCOL, organized a meeting
at the ambassadorial level to follow up on the results of the Paris Conference
held on June 17 in support of the Lebanese Army.
The meeting was attended by Armed Forces Commander General Joseph Aoun, UN
Special Coordinator Joanna Wronecka, UNIFIL Commander General Stefano Del Col
and the ambassadors, chargé d'affaires, and military attaches of: the United
Kingdom, the United States of America, Italy, France, Germany, Canada, Russia,
China, Netherlands, Finland, Turkey, Spain, Belgium, Sweden, Denmark, South
Korea, European Union, Egypt, United Arab Emirates, Iraq, Qatar, Oman, Bahrain,
Kuwait, Morocco, Jordan, Tunisia, India, Mexico, Norway, Nigeria, and
Kazakhstan.
In an address at the meeting, Wronecka said "the crisis in Lebanon affects the
operational capabilities of the Lebanese Army. Therefore, the need to support it
is more urgent than ever."
"Resolution 2591, which was adopted by the UN Security Council, includes in its
tenth paragraph a call for more international support for the army. Therefore, I
call on colleagues to adhere to this resolution in seeking to do everything
possible to assist the Lebanese army and security institutions," she added.
"In this context, the United Nations is seeking to adopt a mechanism to
facilitate the transfer of cash assistance to the LAF and the other Lebanese
security services," Wronecka said. Aoun, in turn, thanked the "participating
countries for their support and aid to the army, in light of the difficult
circumstances that Lebanon is experiencing," and said: "You were our partners in
our battle against terrorism. Today, the army is fighting a battle of a
different nature, perhaps more dangerous than conventional military war, which
is how to deal with the current economic crisis while continuing to carry out
our operational tasks and provide the minimum necessities of life for our
soldiers and their families, which has become our priority today." He stressed
that "the army will remain the backbone of Lebanon and the guarantor of security
and stability, not only for Lebanon, but for the region as a whole."
Bassil discusses political developments with
Australian ambassador
NNA/September 21/2021
Free Patriotic Movement leader, MP Gebran Bassil, on Tuesday welcomed Australian
Ambassador to Lebanon, Rebekah Grindlay, with whom he discussed the most recent
political developments and the relationship between the two countries, according
to a statement issued by Bassil's office.
To those who are placing all their bets on the upcoming elections if elections
Jean-Marie Kassab/September 21/2021
http://eliasbejjaninews.com/archives/102641/%d8%ac%d8%a7%d9%86-%d9%85%d8%a7%d8%b1%d9%8a-%d9%83%d8%b3%d8%a7%d8%a8-%d8%a5%d9%84%d9%89-%d8%a3%d9%88%d9%84%d8%a6%d9%83-%d8%a7%d9%84%d8%b0%d9%8a%d9%86-%d9%8a%d8%b6%d8%b9%d9%88%d9%86-%d9%83%d9%84/
To those who are placing all their bets on the upcoming elections if elections
will ever happen. To those day dreamers who live in Lalaland and think they
could possibly win .
Remember Vichy. Read about Petain. Look at the electoral results of Assad ,
father and son . Remember Saddam's scores.
We are living in a simulacrum of democracy , a puppetry show.
We are living in an Iranian province called Lebanon.
And what if you win and get a couple seats, do you think they will let you
reign or make a change ?Are you dreaming that they will let you get out of the
circle that you are allowed to play within.
And those fond of demonstrations , do you dare to organize one and head towards
the Iranian or the Syrian embassy and chant your stories such as Iran Out? Or
hold a banner printed with your stupid photoshopped images of Nasrallah in
Dahia and think you will get away with it? Get 1 km close to the Baabda palace
and say one word about Michel Aoun and see what will happen.
You know why ? Because we are occupied and living under a masked Iraniam
dictatorship .
And because nobody stood up to the occupant the way it should be.
Because heroes are dead or old and the current generation wants their problems
to be solved via an app they download.
Because courage is history .
Because we have no leader(s).
Because we are rotten and part of the problem.
Pity the country.
Investigation in shackles
Sally Abou AlJoud/Now Lebanon/September 21/2021
Faced with a flawed domestic investigation, families of victims and survivors of
the Beirut blast, supported by human rights groups, turn to the international
community for a helping hand to uncover the truth. However, more advocacy work
is needed to convince at least one state to file an official request with the UN
Human Rights Committee.
The European Parliament heeds calls from Beirut port blast survivors, relatives
of the victims, and multiple human rights groups and takes the lead in stepping
forward with a resolution calling for an independent international fact-finding
mission, within the framework of the United Nations, into the largest explosion
in Lebanon’s history that wreaked carnage, killed at least 218 and reduced large
swathes of the city to smithereens.
Labeling the situation in Lebanon as a “man-made disaster,” the resolution also
calls for the European Union to impose targeted sanctions on Lebanese officials
should they continue stonewalling reforms and barring the Beirut port
investigation from yielding tangible results.
“Member states claim that they’re waiting to see the results of the Lebanese
investigation, it’s been more than a year now yet we have absolutely no results
and no reason to be optimistic, on the contrary, we see time and time again the
political class obstructing, delaying and undermining the investigation,” said
Aya Majzoub, a researcher at the Human Rights Watch.
The well-knitted, corrupt political establishment, the same entity who vowed to
deliver justice within five days after the explosion, keeps boldly encroaching
on the domestic investigation’s progress, jeopardizing the independence of the
process, and has held no one accountable 13 months later.
Families of victims, and Lebanese and international human rights organizations
have called for an international UN-backed inquiry into the blast and advocates
say that many countries are ready to support such a decision. However, experts
say, the international probe or fact-finding mission is possible only if a state
or a group of states initiates the motion and officially puts it on the UN Human
Rights Council agenda.
Appeal to the UN
The United Nations Human Rights Council is currently holding its 48th regular
session which began on September 13 and continues until October 8. But Lebanon
is not on the agenda.
“It’s not on the agenda as a stand-alone issue, unfortunately, but many states
said they will be mentioning Lebanon in various sessions in their item remarks
to UN special rapporteurs,” Majzoub said. “We hope that a lot of states will
have very strongly-worded statements toward Lebanon particularly regarding the
lack of accountability for the Beirut blast more than a year after the
explosion.”
A second urgent appeal was made last week to the HRC in a joint letter endorsed
by 145 international and regional rights groups, as well as survivors and
families of the victims, to establish a one-year-fact-finding mission into the
August 4 Beirut explosion.
With at least 30 more groups and individuals on board, compared to the joint
letter sent in June 2021, and given the continuous determination to block the
domestic investigation, the letter expressed broader support and reiterated the
calls for an international and impartial inquiry.
“It’s not on the agenda as a stand-alone issue, unfortunately, but many states
said they will be mentioning Lebanon in various sessions in their item remarks
to UN special rapporteurs.”
Aya Mazjoub, HRW
“We had more signatories this time than we had in June,” Majzoub said. “This is
important in showing the increasing lack of faith in the domestic process as it
drags on and as the political class makes it very clear that they’re not going
to lift immunities – they’re not going to allow for senior security officials to
be questioned.”
She added that the letter also aids in demonstrating it’s not solely the HRW
urging for an international investigation. “This is a call from most of the
families of the firefighters that were killed in the explosion, from a very
significant number of survivors and families of the victims of the blast and a
large number of regional and international rights groups.”
Diala Haidar, Lebanon’s campaigner at Amnesty International, said multiple
Lebanese authorities foresaw a significant loss of life by criminally failing to
take measures when warned about the grave danger posed by the ammonium nitrate
cargo stored at the Beirut port for seven years.
She explained the demand for an international probe posits “the right to life,”
enshrined in Article 6 of the International Covenant on Civil and Political
Rights, according to which Lebanon has an obligation to investigate the causes
of the explosion.
Yet, Lebanese authorities have spared no effort in obstructing the victims’
families seeking truth and accountability by shamelessly hampering justice at
every turn and shielding political and security officials from scrutiny, Haidar
added.
Protestors join families of the August 4 victims during a symbolic funeral
procession from Beirut port on August 8, 2021, days after the first anniversary
of a vast dockside explosion that left more than 200 people dead. (Photo by
ANWAR AMRO / AFP)
Investigation hindered
Twisting the knife in the wound, riot police fired tear gas at and beat
relatives of victims with clubs on July 13 when the families stormed the
building of the previous caretaker interior minister, Mohamed Fahmi, protesting
his decision to overrule a request by the judge investigating the port explosion
to interrogate one of Lebanon’s most senior generals, the head of General
Security, Major General Abbas Ibrahim.
A month later, parliamentary police and unidentified men dressed in black and
armed with batons viciously charged at families of the Beirut blast victims, who
flocked toward the UNESCO Palace to peacefully stage a camp out ahead of a key
parliamentary session on the investigation, according to Amnesty International.
Two journalists were hospitalized, several people were injured and the session
aimed at ousting the judiciary probe and replacing it with a parliamentary one,
which meant potential further protection for politicians in question, was
postponed.
“They have resorted to violence against the families of the victims who are
still leading a tireless campaign for accountability which only shows the
authority’s disdain for justice and their unwillingness to deliver any kind of
decent investigation into the explosion,” Haidar said, referring to the ruling
political class.
The Discriminatory Public Prosecution leaked inaccurate investigation documents
about eight months ago to create suspicion around the judge, said Ibrahim Hoteit,
a spokesperson for a committee representing the relatives of some of the
victims. His brother is one of the 10 firefighters who were dispatched to put
out the fire at the port and perished in the explosion that followed.
“We are not living under a state, we live among gangs who form what they
consider a state,” Hoteit said. “Consequently, these people will never admit the
truth. They don’t sympathize with our pain and suffering, with the mothers’
tears, which until this day are still not dry.”
Lebanese authorities insistently refuse to lift immunities safeguarding
prominent political and security figures summoned in the Beirut port blast probe
who keep evading questioning.
Tarek Bitar, the lead judge investigating the blast, astounded those tracking
the process by pursuing a range of high-level politicians and senior security
officials, who have been indicted with criminal negligence causing death.
“The Lebanese legislature granted immunities to politicians to protect their
rights and eliminate the possibility of being coerced upon exercising their duty
by fear of prosecution.”
Mohammad-Ziad Jaafil, Lawyer
Bitar has been confronted with fierce accusations of contravening state laws and
transcending the sphere of his authority.
The investigation’s findings don’t only impact the families of victims, Hoteit
said. “We might’ve been more affected by the Beirut port blast, as families of
victims, but the blast’s outcome extended to everyone, in one way or another. If
a case in this size, that left behind this much destruction and that many
numbers of victims, didn’t stir a change in Lebanon, then don’t bother, nothing
will change it.”
Charged officials, namely former prime minister Hassan Diab, who learned about
the ammonium nitrate around a month before the explosion, and former public
works minister Youssef Fenianos, who supervised the port, have failed to appear
for their interrogation sessions. The former traveled to the U.S., allegedly on
a pre-planned trip to visit his kids, despite a subpoena from the judge who then
postponed Diab’s interrogation until October 4, the state-run National News
Agency said Monday.
Bitar issued an arrest warrant for Fenianos after he missed his interrogation
last week to which he replied that he was “subjected to great injustice.”
“Even if Bitar is doing a good job, the purpose of the international
investigation would be to support the domestic investigation and not to hinder
it,” Haidar said.
Meanwhile, the Iran-backed political group Hezbollah’s leader, Hasan Nasrallah,
accused Bitar of being politically biased in early August. Former prime
ministers, Saad Hariri, Najib Mikati, Tammam Salam and Fouad Saniora, who
constitute the mini unofficial prime ministers’ club, along with Lebanon’s Grand
Mufti, the highest Sunni Muslim cleric in the country, persist on supporting the
implicated politicians.
“We have seen statements by the leader of Hezbollah, by the prime ministers’
club, various political parties, all saying that [Judge Bitar] is politicized,
casting doubt on his impartiality,” Majzoub said. “We’ve seen them not recognize
his authority saying that he doesn’t have the authority to charge or subpoena
them — they’re using every tool at their disposal to block him.”
An international investigative body can be formed when a country or a group of
states take the lead in outlining a resolution and demand establishing such a
body. Photo: UN Photo, Jean-Marc Ferré.
A precedent for the future
Lawyer Mohammad-Ziad Jaafil is convinced political factors govern the local
investigation, primarily because every official who has been summoned to court
is backed by political and sectarian reinforcement impeding the progress with
feigned excuses.
“The Lebanese legislature granted immunities to politicians to protect their
rights and eliminate the possibility of being coerced upon exercising their duty
by fear of prosecution, “Jaafil said.
He added the immunities politicians are granted weren’t intended to be used as
means to obstruct justice.
An international investigative body can be formed when a country or a group of
states take the lead in outlining a resolution and demand establishing such a
body to which then the 47 members of the HRC vote on, Majzoub said.
The HRW’s team in Geneva, whose primary job is advocacy with the UN bodies
including the HRC, has been pushing this advocacy task for many months,
according to Majzoub.
“They have resorted to violence against the families of the victims who are
still leading a tireless campaign for accountability which only shows the
authority’s disdain for justice and their unwillingness to deliver any kind of
decent investigation into the explosion.”
Diala Haidar, Amnesty International
“So far nobody is in opposition to this request. All of the states that we’ve
spoken with would support such an initiative if it was proposed at the Human
Rights Council but no state so far is willing to take the lead in drafting the
resolution,” she added.
The resolution would not entail Lebanon’s consent as most inquiry missions have
been established regardless of the consent of the host country, Majzoub said.
“For example after the latest round of hostilities in Israel and Palestine, the
council created a new commission of inquiry to look into abuses and it went
ahead despite the opposition of Israel.”
“Let’s give the Lebanese investigation a chance” is the statement being echoed
by many states according to Majzoub, mainly after the new government was formed
after 13 months of deadlock.
However, in the shadows of political complications, conflicting laws,
overlapping powers and deep-rooted sectarianism, there is no hope of uncovering
the truth, Jaafil believes.
Majzoub added the ruling political establishment knows if the probe moves
forward it will be a precedent for future investigations and it’ll bear witness
that they are not untouchable — that they can be held accountable.
Sally Abou AlJoud is a multimedia journalist with @NOW_Leb. She is on Twitter
@JoudSally.
The Latest English LCCC Miscellaneous Reports And News
published on September 21-22/2021
Libya Lawmakers
Pass No Confidence Vote for Transition Govt.
Associated Press/September 21/2021
Libyan lawmakers on Tuesday passed a vote of no confidence in the country's
transitional government, an official said, a move that throws long-waited
elections late this year into further uncertainty. The vote took place in the
parliament's headquarters in the eastern city of Tobruk, said Abdullah Ablaihig,
a spokesman for the legislature. He said 113 lawmakers attended the session,
with 89 of them voting in favor of withdrawing confidence in the government of
Prime Minister Abdul Hamid Dbeibah. Ablaihig said Dbeibah's government would
work as a caretaker government without giving a timeframe for the appointment of
another government three months before parliamentary and presidential elections
on Dec. 24. There was no immediate comment from the prime minister. A spokesman
for the government said Dbeibah would issue a speech to the nation shortly.
Tuesday's vote of confidence is another challenge to holding the December
elections and impedes efforts to unite the oil-rich North African nation after a
decade of turmoil. Dbeibah, a powerful businessman from the western city of
Misrata, was appointed last month to lead the executive branch of an interim
government that also includes a three-member Presidential Council chaired by
Mohammad Younes Menfi, a Libyan diplomat from the country's east. The
transitional government replaced two rival administrations — one based in the
country's east and another in the west — that had ruled Libya for years.
Oil-rich Libya was plunged into chaos after a 2011 NATO-backed uprising toppled
and killed longtime dictator Moammar Gadhafi.
Poll Finds Nearly 80% of Palestinians Want Abbas to
Resign
Associated Press/September 21/2021
A new poll has found that nearly 80% of Palestinians want President Mahmoud
Abbas to resign, reflecting widespread anger over the death of an activist in
security forces' custody and a crackdown on protests over the summer.
The survey released Tuesday found support for Abbas' Hamas rivals remained high
months after the 11-day Gaza war in May, when the Islamic militant group was
widely seen by Palestinians as having scored a victory against a far more
powerful Israel while the Western-backed Abbas was sidelined.
The latest poll by the Palestinian Center for Policy and Survey Research found
that 45% of Palestinians believe Hamas should lead and represent them, while
only 19% said Abbas' secular Fatah deserved that role, showing only a slight
shift in favor of Fatah over the last three months.
"This is the worst polling we've ever seen for the president," said Khalil
Shikaki, the head of the center, who has been surveying Palestinian public
opinion for more than two decades. "He has never been in as bad a position as
today."
Despite his plummeting popularity and refusal to hold elections, the
international community still views the 85-year-old Abbas as the leader of the
Palestinian cause and a crucial partner in the peace process with Israel, which
ground to a halt more than a decade ago.
His Palestinian Authority administers parts of the occupied West Bank under
interim agreements signed with Israel at the height of the peace process in the
1990s. Hamas drove Abbas' forces out of Gaza when it seized power there in 2007,
a year after winning parliamentary elections.
Abbas' latest woes began in April, when he called off the first Palestinian
elections in 15 years as Fatah appeared to be headed for another embarrassing
loss. Hamas' popularity soared the following month amid protests in Jerusalem
and the Gaza war, as many Palestinians accused the PA of doing nothing to aid
their struggle against Israeli occupation. The death of Nizar Banat, a harsh
critic of the PA who died after being beaten by Palestinian security forces
during a late-night arrest in June, ignited protests in the occupied West Bank
calling on Abbas to resign. His security forces launched a crackdown in
response, beating and arresting several demonstrators. The poll found that 78%
of Palestinians want Abbas to resign and just 19% think he should remain in
office. It found that 63% of Palestinians think Banat was killed on the orders
of PA political or security leaders, with only 22% believing it was a mistake.
The PA recently announced that 14 security officials who took part in the arrest
will stand trial. Sixty-nine percent of those polled felt that was an
insufficient response. Sixty-three percent of Palestinians support the
demonstrations that broke out after Banat's death, and 74% believe the PA's
arrest of demonstrators was a violation of liberties and civil rights, the poll
found. The PCPSR says it surveyed 1,270 Palestinians face-to-face in the West
Bank and Gaza, with a margin of error of three percentage points.
UAE Welcomes Regional Rivals at Major Natural Gas
Conference
Naharnet/September 21/2021
Energy officials from Qatar and Turkey, long-standing foes of the United Arab
Emirates, descended on Dubai along with hundreds of other executives on Tuesday,
flocking to the world's largest gas expo and the industry's first in-person
conference since the pandemic began. In a scene that would have been unthinkable
just a year ago, the Emirati oil minister held forth from a crowded conference
room beside the Qatari minister of state for energy, the first such visit since
the UAE and three other Arab states imposed an embargo on Qatar in 2017. Also
present was the deputy energy minister from Turkey, similarly at odds with the
UAE over the Turkish government's support for Islamist groups in the Middle
East. But there was no mention of those long-simmering political differences at
Tuesday's event. Instead, the carpeted halls buzzed with cheery talk of the
importance of natural gas in the world's looming energy transition. The
exhibition came as world leaders prepare for a crucial U.N. climate summit, in
Glasgow in November. "We think gas is definitely going to be part of the
solution ... I think we need to join hands to make sure that this mammoth task
that we're embarking on can be practically achieved," declared Saad al-Kaabi,
minister of state for energy affairs in Qatar, home to some of the world's
largest gas reserves. When asked by a crush of reporters about the economic
yield of improved relations with the UAE, al-Kaabi kept it brief. "Our
relationship is good with the UAE and any business dealings we're doing ... will
not be discussed," he said. The officials refrained from shaking hands or
bumping elbows but the group photo alone revealed a foreign policy shift, as the
UAE seeks to bury the hatchet with its regional rivals. Last month, the
influential Emirati national security advisor Sheikh Tahnoun bin Zayed Al Nahyan
met Turkish President Tayyip Erdogan in Ankara, before flying to Qatar for talks
with its ruling emir. The flurry of diplomacy aims to mend ties that frayed over
Turkey and Qatar's support for the 2011 Arab Spring uprisings that empowered
Islamists across the region. The rift between Turkey and Qatar on one side and
Gulf Arab powerhouses on the other has fueled wars from Libya to Syria as well
as the ultimately unsuccessful boycott of Qatar, which ended earlier this year.
The backdrop for the detente was fitting, with each energy-dependent country
increasingly preoccupied with how to fuel a post-pandemic economic recovery. The
officials discussed a crunch in natural gas supply that has led prices to surge
and scores of tankers to line up off Qatar's coast. They expressed skepticism
about the frenzied push to eliminate carbon emissions when fossil fuels remain
key to supplying the world's electricity. "I think we have to be realistic, but
unfortunately there is a drive now for being emotional about net zero and its
pace," said Emirati Energy Minister Suhail al-Mazrouei. Turkey, which has
sparred with neighbors over drilling rights in the eastern Mediterranean in its
push to become an energy hub, has similarly sought to cool tensions with
long-time rivals like Egypt. Alparslan Bayraktar, Turkey's deputy energy
minister, told reporters he hoped the country's gas discoveries and projects
would "help us to solve some of the regional conflicts, our conflicts between
neighbors." The modest optimism even extended to the prospect of more Iranian
oil coming on the market in the future after years of U.S. sanctions throttling
Iranian oil sales. "(Iran) looks forward to coming back to the market to play
their constructive role," said OPEC Secretary-General Mohammad Sanusi Barkindo.
But negotiations between Iran and world powers on reviving their nuclear deal
have stalled for months, and Barkindo admitted he could offer no timeline for
Iran's return. "We have to take everything step by step," he said.
Tunisian President Vows New Electoral Code,
Transition Team
Associated Press/September 21/2021
Tunisia's president has announced plans to draft a new electoral code and
appoint a transitional leadership — and to hang on to the exceptional powers
that he seized in July, throwing the country's young democracy into question. In
a speech Monday night, President Kais Saied promised that the new initiatives
would respect Tunisians' hard-fought rights and freedoms and democratic
constitution. Saied's actions have sidelined Tunisia's long-governing Islamist
party, which accuses him of a coup, and worried Islamist groups around the
region. While many Tunisians welcome his moves, human rights groups and some
others are concerned about the future of the only country to emerge from the
turbulent Arab Spring uprisings with a new democratic system. Saied spoke to
supporters in the impoverished town of Sidi Bouzid, the birthplace of the Arab
Spring, where many people are disillusioned with the country's failure to solve
economic and social problems since overthrowing its repressive leaders a decade
ago. He defended his July 25 decision to suspend parliament, fire the prime
minister and seize executive powers, which he said was needed to save the
country amid unrest over financial troubles and the government's handling of
Tunisia's coronavirus crisis. He invoked a special constitutional article
allowing such measures in the event of imminent danger to the nation, and said
they would be in place for 30 days. But they have been extended until further
notice. "Danger still hangs over the country and I cannot leave it like a puppet
in the hands of those who act in the shadows, and of corrupt people," Saied said
Monday. He accused unidentified players of "conspiring to cause chaos and
confusion" in Tunisia, and said, "There is no question of going back."He
promised a new electoral code to hold lawmakers more accountable to
constituents, and transitional arrangements to run the country before he names a
new prime minister. He did not detail them. Several lawmakers and prominent
figures have been jailed since his power grab. In the face of criticism from
international human rights groups, he insisted that "rights and freedoms will be
respected," and that no one is being jailed for political views. The North
African nation was widely seen as a model for budding democracies but has failed
to cure chronic unemployment and other social ills, especially in neglected
provinces.
Military General who Ruled Egypt after Mubarak Ouster Dies
Associated Press/September 21/2021
Hussein Tantawi, the Egyptian general who ruled the country following the Arab
Spring uprising that removed longtime autocrat Hosni Mubarak, died on Tuesday,
Egypt's presidency said. He was 85. Field Marshal Tantawi was Mubarak's loyal
defense minister for some 20 years. But it was Tantawi who led the country after
the then-chief spy Omar Suliman announced on state television on Feb. 11, 2011,
that Mubarak was stepping down after the 18 days of protest against his
government. Tantawi went on to chair the Supreme Council of the Armed Forces,
which took power. Under his leadership, the military strengthened its tight grip
on the country, outlawing dissent, and largely returned to using the same
tactics that were in place under Mubarak and that protesters had decried. Born
in October 1935, Tantawi, who suffered from age-related health problems in
recent months, died in a hospital in Cairo, according to a person close to his
family, who spoke on condition of anonymity because he was not authorized to
talk to the media. His death came 19 months after Mubarak died in a Cairo
military hospital in February last year. Tantawi, appointed defense minister in
1991, ran Egypt for 17 months until the election in June 2012 of Islamist
President Mohammed Morsi, Egypt's first democratically elected leader. Morsi
removed Tantawi and the country's chief of staff, Sami Enan, in August that
year, following a deadly militant attack in the Sinai Peninsula. Abdel Fattah
el-Sissi, now president, was the head of the military intelligence at the time.
Morsi named el-Sissi defense minister, replacing Tantawi, his longtime mentor.
El-Sissi would eventually oversee Morsi's removal from power in 2013, amid more
street protests against the Islamist's brief rule. Under Tantawi and el-Sissi,
rights groups have accused the country's security apparatus of repeated
violations, including the targeting of protesters and the arrest and detention
of political opposition members and dissenting citizens.
European Court: Russia Responsible for Litvinenko
Killing
Associated Press/September 21/2021
The European Court of Human Rights on Tuesday backed the conclusion of a British
inquiry that Russia was responsible for the killing of Alexander Litvinenko, who
died in London in 2006 after drinking tea laced with a radioactive material. A
former agent for the KGB and the post-Soviet successor agency FSB, Litvinenko
defected from Russia in 2000 and fled to London. While in Britain, Litvinenko
became involved in exposing corruption and links to organized crime in the
Russian intelligence service. He fell violently ill on Nov. 1, 2006, after
drinking tea with two Russian men at a London hotel, and spent three weeks in
the hospital before he died. His tea was found to have been laced with
radioactive polonium-210. The British inquiry concluded in early 2016 that
Russian agents Andrei Lugovoi and Dmitry Kovtun had killed Litvinenko, and that
President Vladimir Putin had "probably approved" the operation. Litvinenko's
widow, Marina, took the case to the Strasbourg-based court. The European court,
which is not a body of the European Union, backed the British conclusion in its
verdict on Tuesday but rejected Marina Litvinenko's claim for "punitive"
damages. "The Court found in particular that there was a strong prima facie case
that, in poisoning Mr. Litvinenko, Mr. Lugovoi and Mr. Kovtun had been acting as
agents of the Russian State," it said. It also noted that the Russian government
had "failed to provide any other satisfactory and convincing explanation of the
events or counter the findings of the U.K. inquiry." Both Lugovoi and Kovtun
deny any involvement in the killing. Kremlin spokesman Dmitry Peskov brushed
aside the European court's verdict. "We're not ready to take such rulings on
board," he told reporters.
Ballot-stuffing Videos Taint Russian Election
Associated Press/September 21/2021
In one surveillance video, a hand appears from behind a Russian flag to stuff
ballots into a box. In another, a woman is seen removing ballot papers from
under her clothes and, with the help of another woman, puts them into the box
amid sounds of giggling. And then there's the mop being raised by someone to
cover a camera in a room where workers were reviewing documents after the
polling place in southern Russia had closed. A clean election? Russian
authorities maintained that there were fewer violations in the three days of
voting for a new parliament than the last election in 2016, but multiple videos
and photos of incidents of ballot fraud have emerged since Friday. Critics
argued that without the ballot manipulation, the Kremlin-backed United Russia
party couldn't have won enough votes to hold its supermajority in the
parliament, which is particularly important for the next balloting in 2024.
That's when President Vladimir Putin's current term expires, and he is either
expected to seek reelection or choose some other strategy to stay in power. In
any case, a State Duma that the Kremlin can control would be key.
Over the weekend, election monitors and opposition activists shared photos of
thick, folded piles of ballots in transparent ballot boxes that obviously were
put in in one piece. Videos from polling surveillance cameras at polling
stations showed people trying to shove multiple ballots into boxes, to various
degrees of success. There was also footage from several regions of scuffles and
confrontations between poll workers and election monitors trying to expose
violations. In one video published by activists from the liberal Yabloko party,
reportedly shot Friday in the Siberian region of Kemerovo, a woman subtly steps
in front of a ballot box, blocking it from the view of a camera. But a hand can
still be seen reaching to the box from behind a Russian flag next to it. The
hand puts ballots in several times and the woman then walks away. Russia's
prominent independent election monitoring group Golos pointed to another video
depicting ballot box stuffing in the Bryansk region, which borders Belarus and
Ukraine. In the video, a woman takes ballots from under her clothes. Together
with another woman, they put them into the box. Giggling can be heard on the
video as poll workers at their desks go about their business as if nothing is
happening. In a St. Petersburg precinct, a piece of cardboard appeared in front
of a surveillance camera shortly after a man opened a safe with ballots that was
supposed to remain sealed, local news outlet Fontanka reported, showing the
video. Police were investigating the incident.
The video from the southern region of Stavropol, showed two poll workers
handling documents in polling station No. 1085 in the city of Pyatigorsk.
Suddenly, a mop is raised to the lens of the surveillance camera, blocking the
view of ballot manipulation. The incident drew the attention of Russia's Central
Election Commission, where its head, Ella Pamfilova, fired the polling station
chief. Still, she insisted at a teleconference with Putin on Monday that the
number of complaints the commission has received this year was "minimal as
ever." Election officials said more than 25,000 ballots were invalidated —
including those from the polling station in Bryansk. On Saturday, Pamfilova
alleged that videos were being fabricated. She showed a video, in which police
confronted a group of people in an apartment containing video equipment, ballots
and a ballot box. The video showed the group had photos of imprisoned opposition
leader Alexei Navalny among other papers. Golos, which has been exposing Russian
election problems since 2000, disagreed with Pamfilova's assessment of the scale
of violations this year."Violations during the vote and the vote count, the
three-day voting procedure and the way the vote count went in some regions,
during which, in our opinion, results have been significantly distorted, don't
allow us to talk about the veracity of the results the system of election
commission is demonstrating right now," the group said in a statement Monday.
A coup attempt in Sudan "failed"
NNA/September 21/2021
A coup attempt in Sudan "failed" early Tuesday, state media reported, as the
country grapples with a fragile transition since the 2019 ouster of longtime
president Omar al-Bashir. Top military and government sources told AFP that the
attempt involved a group of officers who were "immediately suspended" after they
"failed" to take over the state media building. "There has been a failed coup
attempt, the people should confront it," state television said, without
elaborating. Senior member of Sudan's ruling body, Taher Abuhaja, said "an
attempt to seize power has been thwarted." Another senior ruling body member,
Mohamed al-Fekki said: "Everything is under control and the revolution is
victorious." Traffic appeared to be flowing smoothly in central Khartoum, AFP
correspondents reported, including around army headquarters, where protesters
staged a mass sit-in that eventually led to Bashir's ouster in a palace coup.
Security forces did however close the main bridge across the Nile connecting
Khartoum to its twin city Omdurman.
Two years under transition -
Sudan is currently ruled by a transitional government composed of both civilian
and military representatives that was installed in the aftermath of Bashir's
April 2019 overthrow and is tasked with overseeing a return to full civilian
rule. The August 2019 power-sharing deal originally provided for the formation
of a legislative assembly during a three-year transition, but that period was
reset when Sudan signed a peace deal with an alliance of rebel groups last
October. More than two years later, the country remains plagued by chronic
economic problems inherited from the Bashir regime as well as deep divisions
among the various factions steering the transition. The promised legislative
assembly has yet to materialise. The government, led by Prime Minister Abdalla
Hamdok, has vowed to fix the country's battered economy and forge peace with
rebel groups who fought the Bashir regime. In recent months, his government has
undertaken a series of tough economic reforms to qualify for debt relief from
the International Monetary Fund. The steps, which included slashing subsidies
and a managed float of the Sudanese pound, were seen by many Sudanese as too
harsh. Sporadic protests have broken out against the IMF-backed reforms and the
rising cost of living, as well as delays to deliver justice to the families of
those killed under Bashir. On Monday, demonstrators blocked key roads as well as
the country's key trade hub, Port Sudan, to protest the peace deal signed with
rebel groups last year. ---
Trudeau’s Liberals win Canada election, but miss
majority
AP/September 21/2021
Canadians gave Prime Minister Justin Trudeau’s Liberal Party a victory in
Monday’s parliamentary elections, but his gamble to win a majority of seats
failed and nearly mirrored the result of two years ago. The Liberals won the
most seats of any party. The 49-year-old Trudeau channeled the star power of his
father, the Liberal icon and late Prime Minister Pierre Trudeau, when he first
won election in 2015 and has led his party to the top finish in two elections
since. Trudeau’s Liberals were leading or elected in 156 seats — one less than
they won 2019, and 14 short of the 170 needed for a majority in the House of
Commons. The Conservatives were leading or elected in 121 seats, the same number
they won in 2019. The leftist New Democrats were leading or elected in 27, a
gain of three seats, while the Quebec-based Bloc Québécois remained unchanged
with 32 seats and the Greens were down to two. “You are sending us back to work
with a clear mandate to get Canada through this pandemic,” Trudeau said. Trudeau
entered the election leading a stable minority government that wasn’t under
threat of being toppled. The opposition was relentless in accusing Trudeau of
calling an unnecessary early vote — two years before the deadline — for his own
personal ambition. “Trudeau lost his gamble to get a majority so I would say
this is a bittersweet victory for him,” said Daniel Béland, a political science
professor at McGill University in Montreal. “Basically we are back to square
one, as the new minority parliament will look like the previous one. Trudeau and
the Liberals saved their skin and will stay in power, but many Canadians who
didn’t want this late summer, pandemic election are probably not amused about
the whole situation,” he said.—AP
German FM Calls US Submarine Actions 'Irritating,'
'Disappointing'
AFP/September 21/2021
German Foreign Minister Heiko Maas, who has developed close ties with US
President Joe Biden's administration, voiced solidarity Tuesday with France over
Australia's cancellation of a massive submarine contract. "I can understand our
French friends' anger," Maas told reporters at the United Nations, where leaders
are meeting for the General Assembly. "What was decided, and the manner in which
it was decided, was irritating and disappointing, and not only for France," he
said. "What we're seeing makes things much more complicated and I think it's
going to stay that way for a while." Maas, like many Europeans, has not hidden
his joy at Biden's defeat of Donald Trump, a sworn unilateralist who openly
criticized outgoing German Chancellor Angela Merkel on issues including
immigration. But "I was never under any illusion that we wouldn't have problems
with the new American president," Maas said. "We need to reflect in Europe on
ways to bolster European sovereignty. It's ultimately up to us to do it or not."
France was infuriated last week when Australia cancelled a multi-billion-dollar
contract for conventional submarines, saying it wanted to upgrade to US-made
nuclear versions as it entered a new alliance with the United States and
Britain.
France accused Canberra of back-stabbing and Washington of behavior unbecoming
of an ally, with Foreign Minister Jean-Yves Le Drian not scheduling a one-on-one
meeting with US Secretary of State Antony Blinken while in New York.
Egypt's ex military ruler Tantawi, key figure in 2011, dies at 85
Reuters/September 21/2021
NNA - Field Marshal Hussein Tantawi, the former head of the military council
that ruled Egypt temporarily after its 2011 uprising, has died at the age of 85,
Egypt's presidency said on Tuesday, declaring three days of national mourning.
The Latest LCCC English analysis & editorials published on
September 21-22/2021
The Sudanese Inattention Trap
Alberto M. Fernandez/MEMRI/September 21/2021
Fifteen years ago, hundreds of thousands of American citizens took to the
streets in rallies across the United States for the sake of a faraway cause. At
precisely the same time that the United States was directly and deeply embroiled
in conflicts in Iraq and Afghanistan, thousands of idealistic young people
rallied to "Save Darfur." In retrospect, this looks like other passing Western
enthusiasms for causes such as Free Tibet or "Kony 2012," a type of Western
therapy generating intense, fleeting emotions about distant causes lending
themselves to a simplified moralistic narrative. The biggest Darfur rally in
2006 was on the National Mall in Washington, D.C., and featured hip-hop
entrepreneur Russell Simmons, Al Sharpton, George Clooney, Elie Weisel, and a
young U.S. Senator named Barack Obama. The overwhelmingly white middle class
audience was called upon to "speak out," "raise awareness," to avoid silence and
indifference to genocide in Darfur, comparisons were made to the Holocaust and
to the massive killings a decade earlier in Rwanda which were mostly ignored by
the Clinton Administration.
Eastern Sudan tribal leader Muhammad Al-Amin Turk at a recent press conference.
Did any of this attention make a difference on the ground in Sudan? Probably not
much. The bulk of the genocidal actions of the Bashir regime in Darfur from 2003
to 2005 had already taken place by the time of the rallies, although the killing
never actually stopped completely. An ineffective African Union peacekeeping
force (AMIS) was on the ground by 2004 and would be replaced by a larger, much
more expensive UN peacekeeping force (UNAMID), only slightly more effective, in
2007. UNAMID would finally end in 2020. If the Darfur War had any real effect in
Sudan, it was to lead to the end of the much bloodier, more intractable
decades-long war with the South Sudanese. The conflict that broke out in Darfur
in early 2003 would contribute to the Bashir regime signing a peace treaty with
the Sudan Peoples' Liberation Movement (SPLM) of Dr. John Garang in 2005 and
this agreement would lead to the independence of South Sudan in 2011. Another
result of the Darfur conflict would be the institutionalization of local Darfur
Arab militias into the Sudanese military as a separate rapid reaction or shock
force with unintentional consequences years later.
Western attention is fleeting and variable, and seems to be becoming even more
fleeting in recent years. Western attention on Sudan is waning and will continue
to do so. The West is deeply distracted by its own internal conflicts, its
culture wars and controversies, and when the Western gaze looks abroad it sees a
multiplicity of flaring interminable conflicts. The great human rights cause of
the last decade, Syria, is all but forgotten as Assad, Iran, and Russia won that
war in which they (and their adversaries) encouraged the rise of a thoroughly
Islamized armed opposition. What once seemed like a black and white conflict
between good and evil became a gray zone, and gray zones are discarded and
forgotten.
With the fall of the Islamist Bashir regime in Sudan in 2019, a convenient
villain passed the stage, Sudan entered its period of renewed international
attention, one that is now passing and will likely end long before elections
scheduled for 2024. Sudan's myriad problems pale compared to those of its
neighbors. In Ethiopia, a new genocide rages at the hands of the Abiy Ahmed
regime and his Eritrean allies. South Sudan is a near failed state and nearby
Chad is volatile. Until recently both Libya and Yemen were at war.
A lot has been accomplished in Sudan since Bashir's fall. Sudan is finally off
the U.S. terrorism list and that has led to a flurry of positive consequences in
terms of integrating the country back on the world stage and in the global
economy. It has a hardworking civilian government that is sensitive to the
country's daunting problems and works from a realistic reform agenda. Sudan is
less repressive and more at peace than it has been in fifty years.
But things are not going so well. News agencies recently reported as good news
the fact that inflation had slowed to 387.6% in August, the first decline in
inflation since 2019, as the country implemented tough economic measures in line
with IMF guidelines.[1] The decline is good news for any country not named South
Sudan, Venezuela, or Lebanon but shows the challenge that Sudanese policymakers
face in managing dire economic and political challenges that don't quite rise to
the level of the catastrophic.
If Sudan is managing painful economic conditions as well as can be expected,
other challenges seem to constantly appear. While the interim government has
signed several peace deals with rebel groups, incorporating them into the
government (Sudan's finance minister is a former Darfur rebel), regional and
political instability remain just under the surface, and not just under it. On
September 17, a dangerous civil revolt in Eastern Sudan threatens to unravel the
country's fragile progress as thousands of members of the region's Beja people
blocked transport from the country's main port on the Red Sea to Khartoum and
called for dissolving the civilian government and having the military rule in a
new transitional council.[2] The rebels, led by Hadendowa tribal leader Muhammad
Al-Amin Turk, also blocked access to the country's oil export terminal.[3]
While the action has an ethnic and economic component, it also has a political
one as several of the leaders of the blockade are connected to the dissolved
Islamist party of the Bashir regime, the National Congress Party (NCP).[4] So
far, the Sudanese government has resisted calls to use force to put down the
uprising which has attracted not just Islamists and tribal elements but even
supposed reformers unhappy with the slow pace of reform in Sudan. The rebels are
expressing respect for Sudan's generals while focusing their ire on Sudan's
civilian administrators.[5]
Compared to ongoing genocide in Tigray and terrorist drone strikes from Yemen,
this looks like small potatoes. Eastern Sudan is, however, a strategic zone
facing Saudi Arabia across the Red Sea and bordering Eritrea, the North Korea of
Africa, in the South. The Sudanese region also hosts thousands of Eritrean
refugees and opponents of the regime in Asmara. During the Bashir regime, Iran
used the same region to smuggle rockets across the border into Egypt on their
way to Hamas in Gaza.
The conflict threatens to militarize the situation in Sudan, which is the
ultimate danger. The question becomes whether military intervention will be
nationalist, Islamist, or reformist. As if on cue, Sudanese media informed
audiences on September 21 of a "small, failed coup attempt" by a SAF Major
General Abdel Baqi Al-Bakrawi, in connection with exiled elements of the former
Islamist regime. It was not the sixth known foiled plot during Sudan's
transition period and it will not be the last. Al-Bakrawi is a tank officer and
Sudan's armored units seem to be a hotbed of support for the previous regime. He
had recently returned from medical care in Egypt where he may have been in
contact with former regime elements.[6]
As the civilian government of Abdullah Hamdok undertakes the grim, difficult
work of reform, of cleaning up 30 years of Bashir regime disasters and
atrocities, it also runs the danger of wearing itself out, absorbing popular
discontent and so discrediting the causes of reform, secularism and democracy
that will make an eventual return to outright military rule in Sudan even more
likely. And by the time this happens, Western attention will be elsewhere. Even
if the civilian government is able to calm the situation in Eastern Sudan and
appease demonstrators, it is likely that this pattern of regional/tribal
agitation + economic discontent + political agitation behind the scenes will
continue somewhere else and each time that it is repeated the dangerous
temptation of cracking down too hard or allowing things to get out of hand will
appear.
Sudan is trapped by its own history and reality. Away from the glare of
spectacular awfulness of situations elsewhere, there is nothing for the
government to do but doggedly persevere, avoiding excess and overreaction,
continue the path of reform. But the fact that Sudan is doing many of the right
things the so-called international community calls for, and that it has not
exploded, does not make it a success story no matter how much worse things may
seem to be elsewhere.
[1] Reuters.com/world/africa/sudan-inflation-slows-38756-august-2021-09-14,
September 14, 2021.
[2] 3ayin.com/eastern-sudan-3, September 19, 2021.
[3] Sudantribune.com/spip.php?article70088, September 20, 2021.
[4] Youtube.com/watch?v=7mFbZN6VnCM, September 14, 2021.
[5] Youtube.com/watch?v=3_dBiQY6OJk, September 19, 2021.
[6] Mc-doualiya.com/%D8%A7%D9%84%D8%B4%D8%B1%D9%82-%D8%A7%D9%84%D8%A3%D9%88%D8%B3%D8%B7/20210921-%D9%85%D9%86-%D9%87%D9%88-%D8%A7%D9%84%D9%84%D9%88%D8%A7%D8%A1-%D8%B9%D8%A8%D8%AF-%D8%A7%D9%84%D8%A8%D8%A7%D9%82%D9%8A-%D8%A8%D9%83%D8%B1%D8%A7%D9%88%D9%8A-%D8%A7%D9%84%D9%85%D8%AA%D9%87%D9%85-%D8%A8%D8%A7%D9%84%D9%88%D9%82%D9%88%D9%81-%D8%AE%D9%84%D9%81-%D8%A7%D9%84%D9%85%D8%AD%D8%A7%D9%88%D9%84%D8%A9-%D8%A7%D9%84%D8%A7%D9%86%D9%82%D9%84%D8%A7%D8%A8%D9%8A%D8%A9-%D9%81%D9%8A-%D8%A7%D9%84%D8%B3%D9%88%D8%AF%D8%A7%D9%86,
September 21, 2021.
Egypt and Israel on path toward a warmer peace
Yossi Mekelberg/Arab News/September 21, 2021
Relations between Egypt and Israel have endured many ups and downs since the
countries signed a peace agreement in 1979. However, ties between the two have
proved to be robust enough and, based on the solid ground of common interests,
sufficient to overcome trials and turbulence along the way.
For most of the intervening years, it has been more a matter of peace between
governments than peace between peoples, especially as many Egyptians are opposed
to a warm relationship with Israel so long as there is no fair and just solution
to the Palestinian cause.
In recent years, however, other issues have taken precedence and closer
strategic ties between the two countries have developed apace, though these have
hardly been matched by economic or civil society engagement.
Last week’s meeting between Egyptian President Abdel Fattah El-Sisi and Israeli
Prime Minister Naftali Bennett in Sharm El-Sheikh was the first in more than a
decade between leaders of the two countries and was significant both for the
range of issues fundamental to both sides that were discussed and, equally
important, for the warm reception Bennett received from his Egyptian host.
Cairo is becoming more comfortable in moving beyond business-like relations and
this was clearly evidenced by a meeting that lasted longer than scheduled, the
wide media coverage the visit enjoyed, and the Israeli flags that decorated the
occasion for all to see. It might also be the case that last year’s Abraham
Accords gave relations between these two neighbors a tailwind.
In recent years, Egypt has faced serious domestic security threats and it sees
cooperation with Israel as an important element in rooting out extremist groups
such as Ansar Bayt Al-Maqdis, which pledged allegiance to Daesh in 2014. This
extremist movement seeks both the establishment of an Islamist entity in the
Sinai Peninsula and the destruction of Israel, and has proved itself capable of
carrying out many deadly operations, frequently targeting Egyptian military
convoys with improvised explosive devices and assaulting police checkpoints. It
has killed hundreds of soldiers, police officers and civilians.
Collaboration in containing this and similar movements that operate in the Sinai
has become an important pillar of Egyptian-Israeli relations. It has even led
Israel to abandon a taboo, enshrined in the 1979 peace agreement, on its assent
to a growing Egyptian military presence in Sinai — a presence that now far
exceeds the limitations agreed in that treaty. Additionally, it was Egypt,
according to more than one source, that turned to Israel for assistance with its
air force, including the use of drones, helicopters and jets, in targeting the
Islamist insurgents.
Equally, Israel requires Egypt’s assistance in its dealings with Hamas. Since
Hamas came to power in Gaza, Cairo has brokered ceasefires on each of the
occasions that deadly hostilities broke out along the Israel-Gaza border. For
Israel, Hamas in Gaza poses a critical and continuous, though not existential,
challenge in a conflict in which Egypt is the most willing and capable broker of
any long-term solution.
Hamas, in the eyes of Israeli strategists, is not a threat in the same league as
Iran or even Hezbollah, but it is a constant one that also improves its
capabilities in each round of confrontations.
Moreover, the harsh blockade of Gaza continues to stoke hatred against Israel,
attract criticism from the international community and jeopardize hopes of
improved relations with other Arab countries. Under these circumstances, another
clash between Israel and Hamas is always just around the corner — a fact that
influences the domestic conversation in Egypt and provides ammunition to those
who oppose closer relations with Israel. But the new Israeli government appears
more receptive to an agreement on Gaza that would improve living conditions
there in exchange for calm along the border, especially an agreement brokered by
Egypt, which would avoid the need for direct contact with Hamas.
Egypt is keen to play the mediator in Gaza and, possibly, in any wider-ranging
negotiations between Israel and the Palestinians, because this would ease
pressures at home, reduce the risk of another flare-up between Hamas and Israel
that might fuel extremism in the region and, equally importantly, improve
Cairo’s image in Washington. For the latter, El-Sisi is looking for Bennett’s
support.
Cairo is becoming more comfortable in moving beyond business-like relations and
this was clearly evidenced by a meeting that lasted longer than scheduled.
To this end, the Israeli government could prove to be useful; hence Egypt’s
improved relations with Israel and its cooperation in preventing
Israeli-Palestinian relations from deteriorating could go down well with the
Biden administration.
Another issue that has barely begun to be addressed is the potential for
increased economic and trade relations between Egypt and Israel. After 40 years
of peace, the volume of trade between the two countries is less than a fifth of
Israel’s trade with the UAE only a year after the normalization accords were
signed.
Egypt has not been averse to close and beneficial economic relations with
Israel, but Cairo is wary of public reaction to such developments, which so far
has resulted in only limited tourism opportunities, not to mention insufficient
scientific, cultural and civil society collaboration.
For Israel, the public side is what it is longing for, as this would mean
validation, recognition and acceptance of the country. The summit in Sharm
El-Sheikh could be a first step toward transforming the cold peace between Egypt
and Israel into a warmer one, but it will require both sides to remain cognizant
of each other’s domestic and international needs and sensitivities, and to be
prepared to make concessions in accordance with these.
*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
Jordan, Egypt and Israel offer hope on Palestinian conflict
Osama Al-Sharif/Arab News/September 21, 2021
The post-Netanyahu era is heralding a state of rapprochement between Israel on
the one hand and Jordan and Egypt on the other. It could also bring some badly
needed benefits for the ailing Palestinian Authority. Since he managed to form a
broad coalition government in June, Prime Minister Naftali Bennett has been able
to mend ties with neighboring Jordan and Egypt while keeping his allies at bay.
Under Benjamin Netanyahu, relations with Jordan declined to an unprecedented
level, while ties with Egypt witnessed little improvement. And when Donald Trump
took over as US president, Netanyahu saw an opportunity to build an alliance
with Gulf countries at the expense of Israel’s strategic ties with its two Arab
neighbors.
Relations with Jordan reached a low last year when Netanyahu announced plans to
annex the Jordan Valley. King Abdullah warned that the two-decades-old peace
treaty could be affected if Israel went ahead with annexation. Peace talks with
the Palestinians had been stopped for almost 10 years and Trump’s proposed peace
plan was rejected by both Palestinian leader Mahmoud Abbas and Jordan.
The Netanyahu era represented a bleak phase for the prospects of peace between
Israel and the Palestinians. Not that Bennett’s arrival will make much
difference. But his allies in the coalition government may change the current
trajectory. Defense minister and coalition partner Benny Gantz had a rare
meeting with Abbas in Ramallah last month — the first official encounter between
a high-ranking Israeli official and Abbas in almost 10 years. The meeting
focused on improving the economic status of Palestinians in the West Bank and
did not cover political aspects.
On three separate occasions, Israel announced that Bennett, Israeli President
Isaac Herzog and Gantz had visited Amman and met with King Abdullah between July
and August. That indicated a major shift in relations and an Israeli keenness to
improve ties with Jordan after years of tension. Talks focused on bilateral
relations, especially economic cooperation, and on supporting the PA. An
informed source told this writer that Jordan now considered relations with
Israel to be in their best ever phase.
Egypt, too, sought to capitalize on its diplomatic success in negotiating a
ceasefire between Israel and Hamas in May. Its mediation role has improved its
standing with the Biden administration, as well as with Israel. Egyptian
President Abdel Fattah El-Sisi last week invited Bennett to Sharm El-Sheikh, a
move that was seen as a landmark in bilateral ties. Talks focused on Egypt’s
role in reaching a long-term truce between Israel and Hamas that could include a
prisoner exchange.
Israeli Foreign Minister Yair Lapid has visited Cairo before and, on Sunday, had
a phone call with his Egyptian counterpart Sameh Shoukry. Egypt said the
exchange focused on reviving peace talks, while Lapid’s office pointed to an
offer to allow major Gaza reconstruction projects in return for mutual security.
Jordan and Egypt are coordinating their positions with regards to Gaza and the
PA. Earlier this month, Egypt hosted both King Abdullah and Abbas in a bid to
support the PA and its president. But a source told this writer that both
leaders put pressure on Abbas to carry out much-needed reforms and appoint a
deputy. Abbas’ popularity has dipped following May’s showdown between Israel and
Hamas and the killing of a Palestinian activist while in PA custody. His
indefinite postponement of presidential and legislative elections has polarized
Palestinians further. Meanwhile, Egyptian efforts to conclude a reconciliation
deal between Fatah and Hamas appear to have reached a dead end.
While Jordan and Egypt call publicly for the resumption of peace talks between
the Palestinians and Israel, it is clear that Bennett is in no position to
launch such a process.
While Jordan and Egypt call publicly for the resumption of peace talks between
the Palestinians and Israel, it is clear that Bennett is in no position to
launch such a process. He is ideologically opposed to a Palestinian state and
his coalition will fall apart if he initiates a political process.
On the other hand, he and the US administration are in agreement that the daily
livelihood of Palestinians in the Occupied Territories must be improved. Lapid
is pushing for a deal to allow major reconstruction projects in Gaza in return
for a long-term truce with Hamas. Beyond that, he and his boss hope to shift
attention from the West Bank to Gaza as the future Palestinian entity.
For Jordan and Egypt, managing the conflict at this stage is a delicate effort.
Egypt hopes to endear itself to the Biden administration by helping Hamas and
Israel reach a long-term truce that could include a prisoner swap. Such a deal
would embolden Hamas’ position in Gaza and among Palestinians. On the other
hand, all parties want the PA to survive while preparing for a post-Abbas era.
Although a political process remains elusive at this point, Palestinians can
expect a major improvement in their daily lives. This is the most Israel can
offer at this stage, and the least Jordan and Egypt can support as they seek to
manage the conflict in the absence of a genuine political process.
*Osama Al-Sharif is a journalist and political commentator based in Amman.
Twitter: @plato010
UN efforts stymied by discord among its members
Dr. Abdel Aziz Aluwaisheg/Arab News/September 21, 2021
For the second year in a row, the UN General Assembly’s high-level general
debate is being held under a thick COVID-19 cloud. UN officials admit that the
pandemic has slowed down their work, with Secretary-General Antonio Guterres
saying on Saturday: “We were not able to make any real progress in relation to
effective coordination of global efforts.”
Last year, the organization’s plans to celebrate its 75th birthday were derailed
by the pandemic and the high-level debate was muted — conducted virtually for
the first time in its history. This year, while restrictions have been eased,
the pandemic has still forced some changes in the way this annual event is
handled, including limiting the number of delegates in the UN building and
assembly hall. Proof of vaccination is required, although some leaders, such as
Brazilian President Jair Bolsonaro, are flouting such restrictions.
In preparatory meetings preceding this week’s main event, the UN identified
dozens of global issues it wanted its member states to tackle. Guterres
underlined three particular major issues: COVID-19, climate change, and the
fallout from America’s hasty withdrawal from Afghanistan.
On the pandemic, Guterres said that the world had failed to take unified action,
calling it “totally unacceptable” that 80 percent of the population in a country
like Portugal has been fully vaccinated, while in many African countries the
figure is less than 2 percent. “It’s completely stupid from the point of view of
defeating the virus, but if the virus goes on spreading like wildfire in the
Global South, there will be more mutations,” he said.
On climate change, Guterres also sounded disappointed. He said: “One year ago,
we were seeing a more clear movement in the right direction, and that movement
has slowed down in the recent past. So we need to re-accelerate again if we are
not going into disaster.”
And on Afghanistan, Guterres dismissed as “fantasy” any hope that UN involvement
would be “able all of a sudden to produce an inclusive government, to guarantee
that all human rights are respected, to guarantee that no terrorists will ever
exist in Afghanistan, that drug trafficking will stop.” If the US and its allies
could not do it with thousands of soldiers and trillions of dollars, and even
made the situation worse, how could the UN succeed with far fewer resources, he
asked.
In theory, the failure of America’s ill-considered adventure in Afghanistan
could strengthen the UN’s role and, with it, the international rules-based
system. Afghanistan and other intractable problems can now be addressed under
those rules, instead of great powers trying to solve them by themselves.
However, the prospect of the international community working together any time
soon is dimmed by increasing discord among some of the great powers.
In an interview with the Associated Press this week, Guterres also warned of a
potential new cold war and called on China and the US to repair their
“completely dysfunctional” relationship and “re-establish a functional
relationship” to address pressing global issues. “Unfortunately, today we only
have confrontation,” he lamented.
In theory, the failure of America’s ill-considered adventure in Afghanistan
could strengthen the UN’s role.
For the past two years, Guterres has been warning of the risk of a global split,
with the US and China creating rival internets, currency, trade, financial rules
and “their own zero-sum geopolitical and military strategies.” His new warnings
are louder, fearing that this rivalry threatens to divide the world. “We need to
avoid at all cost a cold war that would be different from the past one, and
probably more dangerous and more difficult to manage,” he said.
The US in particular has pushed back against such warnings and in particular
does not believe in the notion of a new Cold War but instead sees that its
strong competition with China should not turn into conflict. However, the
discord is too obvious to ignore. The China-US rivalry is now dividing the
Western alliance, as can be seen in the raging dispute over Australia’s
canceling of a military deal with France, a deal meant to bolster Australia’s
defenses against China. Paris has blamed the US for Canberra’s change of heart.
French Foreign Minister Jean-Yves Le Drian angrily said last Thursday:
“President Biden’s method resembles that of President Trump without the tweets.”
He also said that the US was acting according to its own narrow “core interests”
and linked the matter with the crisis in Afghanistan.
Usually, this high-level week has hundreds of side events, but because of the
COVID-19 pandemic only a limited number are being held, mainly virtually or
outside the UN headquarters. These include events on vaccines, on children as
the invisible victims of the coronavirus and conflict, on multilateralism and
democracy, and on global hotspots including Yemen, Somalia, Afghanistan and
Iraq.
There are also high-level meetings on energy and the nuclear test ban treaty,
and a summit on the nexus between producing, processing, distributing and
consuming food, which is responsible for a third of greenhouse gas emissions,
according to the UN. On Wednesday, US President Joe Biden is hosting a virtual
summit on the pandemic. He is expected to ask global leaders to boost their
commitments to sharing vaccines and addressing oxygen shortages around the
world, among other issues.
This is Biden’s first UN participation as president — an occasion that usually
helps a new president to cultivate new relationships with counterparts from
around the world and strengthen existing ones. However, the chaos of last
month’s withdrawal of US forces from Afghanistan has raised questions about US
leadership and reliability as a partner. Close allies that had committed blood
and treasure to the mission in Afghanistan have decried the lack of
consultation, the hasty withdrawal without a comprehensive peace deal, and the
disorganized evacuation.
While the UN secretary-general and many other observers expressed low
expectations ahead of this year’s UNGA, the South Korean pop group BTS managed
to inject some optimism. On Monday, they took part in an effort to promote the
UN’s Sustainable Development Goals, held at the renowned General Assembly Hall,
where they performed an inspiring tune (“Permission to Dance”), garnering tens
of millions of online views in less than a day, demonstrating that young people
around the world still believe in the UN promise.
• Dr. Abdel Aziz Aluwaisheg is the GCC Assistant Secretary-General for Political
Affairs & Negotiation, and a columnist for Arab News. The views expressed in
this piece are personal and do not necessarily represent GCC views.
Twitter: @abuhamad1
]