LCCC ENGLISH DAILY NEWS BULLETIN
August 31/17
Compiled &
Prepared by: Elias Bejjani
The Bulletin's Link on the
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Bible Quotations For
Today
when you give a banquet, invite the poor, the crippled,
the lame, and the blind. And you will be blessed, because they cannot repay you,
for you will be repaid at the resurrection of the righteous
Holy Gospel of Jesus Christ according to Saint
Luke 14/12-15/:"He said also to the one who had invited him, ‘When you give a
luncheon or a dinner, do not invite your friends or your brothers or your
relatives or rich neighbours, in case they may invite you in return, and you
would be repaid. But when you give a banquet, invite the poor, the crippled, the
lame, and the blind. And you will be blessed, because they cannot repay you, for
you will be repaid at the resurrection of the righteous.’One of the dinner
guests, on hearing this, said to him, ‘Blessed is anyone who will eat bread in
the kingdom of God!’"
I write to you, not because you do not know the truth, but because you know it,
and you know that no lie comes from the truth.
First Letter of John 02/21-29/:"I write to you, not because you do not know the
truth, but because you know it, and you know that no lie comes from the truth.
Who is the liar but the one who denies that Jesus is the Christ? This is the
antichrist, the one who denies the Father and the Son. No one who denies the Son
has the Father; everyone who confesses the Son has the Father also. Let
what you heard from the beginning abide in you. If what you heard from the
beginning abides in you, then you will abide in the Son and in the Father. And
this is what he has promised us, eternal life. I write these things to you
concerning those who would deceive you. As for you, the anointing that you
received from him abides in you, and so you do not need anyone to teach you. But
as his anointing teaches you about all things, and is true and is not a lie, and
just as it has taught you, abide in him. And now, little children, abide in him,
so that when he is revealed we may have confidence and not be put to shame
before him at his coming. If you know that he is righteous, you may be sure that
everyone who does right has been born of him."
Titles For Latest LCCC Bulletin analysis & editorials from miscellaneous sources
published on August 30-31/17
The dream deal between Hezbollah and ISIS/Mashari Althaydi/Al
Arabiya/August 30/17
Why did Syria, Hezbollah bus ISIS fighters near Iraq/Seth J. Frantzman/Jerusalem
Post/August 30/17
Face Book Comments by Roger Bejjani/August 30/17
Russian-Syrian airborne radar covers all of Israel/DEBKAfile Special Report
August 30, 2017
Dismantling the Dictatorship of the Highly Educated/Justin Fox/Bloomberg/August
30/17
The Danger of a Jihadist Pakistan/John R. Bolton/Gatestone Institute/August
30/17
The Fake News Media of Sweden/Nima Gholam Ali Pour/Gatestone Institute/August
30/17
Europe: Jihadists Exploit Welfare Benefits/Soeren Kern/Gatestone
Institute/August 30/17
Does Astana format still have the same importance for Russia/Alexey Khlebnikov/Al
Arabiya/August 30/17
Titles For Latest LCCC Lebanese Related News published on
August 30-31/17
Aoun declares victory over terrorism
Aoun in front of Lebanese Diaspora: For supporting Lebanon's quest to be center
for dialogue of civilizations, religions
Aoun meets Minister of State for Combating Corruption
Aoun Urges 'National Rapprochement' to Protect Border 'Victory'
Votel congratulates Army Commander on Fajr Jouroud operation's success
Hariri starts official visit to Paris tomorrow
MPs challenge tax law enacted to fund salary scale
Berri: Imam Sadr and his two companions are still alive
U.S. Blasts Deal that Removed IS from Lebanon-Syria Border
DNA Tests Reportedly Identify Bodies of Six Slain Soldiers
Sami Gemayel, 9 MPs Appeal Tax Law before Constitutional Council
Report: U.S. to Halt Support for Army over Hizbullah-Led Border Deal
U.S.-Led Strike in Syria Blocks IS Fighters Evacuated from Lebanon
Berri Urges Cooperation with Syria, Defends Salam, Qahwaji and IS Negotiations
Nasrallah Defends IS Deal as 'Only Way' to Unveil Captive Troops Fate
The dream deal between Hezbollah and ISIS
Why did Syria, Hezbollah bus ISIS fighters near Iraq?
Face Book Comments by Roger Bejjani
Titles For Latest LCCC Bulletin For Miscellaneous Reports
And News published on
August 30-31/17
Russian-Syrian airborne radar covers all of Israel
At Least 18,500 Rohingya Flee to Bangladesh as Rakhine Unrest Rages
Jordan, Iraq Reopen Only Border Crossing
New Venezuelan Assembly to Try Opposition Leaders for Treason
Abadi Says IS Evacuation from Lebanon to Iraq Border 'Unacceptable'
U.N. Chief Calls for Lifting of Gaza Blockade
64 Dead in Clashes between Syria Regime and IS
Call for Inquiry into Syria War Missing, Mass Graves
Major London conference to discuss Qatar democracy, press freedom and
counter-terrorism
Lavrov: Gulf States’ cooperation is the most appropriate solution to Qatar
crisis
US President discusses Qatar with King Salman
Qatari media inciting Qataris against GCC, says Bahraini minister
Latest Lebanese Related News published on
August 30-31/17
Aoun declares victory over terrorism
NNA - President of the Republic, General Michel Aoun, said in a statement
tackling the Fajr Al-Jouroud battle that "revealing the fate of the abducted
military men was among the main goals of the battle, and this goal has been
achieved. However, we wish we were celebrating their liberation alive." "When I
met the Army Chief in Yarzeh, I told the military that we expect them to win
over terrorism and, today, we declare our victory over terrorism," he said. "We
congratulate the Army Command and all the military personnel who made this
victory possible. We bow before the martyrs who fell," he said. The President
urged the Lebanese to avoid letting the atmosphere of political tensions and
polarizations, as well as the trade of accusations that prevailed in recent
days, to undermine the victory that has been achieved. "It is incumbent upon us
all- officials, parties and various segments of society- to protect and underpin
this victory through national rapprochement, and build upon it while looking
towards the future," the President stressed. Earlier, Aoun held a meeting with
National Defense Minister, Yacoub Sarraf, and Army Commander, General Joseph
Aoun, who briefed him on the course of the end of the battle and the current
situation in the outskirts of Ras Baalbek and Qaa, in terms of the army
deployment in that area. In his delivered word, Army Chief, Joseph Aoun,
announced that "Fajr al-Jouroud" battle has ended, saying it has achieved its
objectives, notably the expulsion of Daesh and uncovering the fate of the
military abducted servicemen.
Aoun in front of Lebanese Diaspora: For supporting
Lebanon's quest to be center for dialogue of civilizations, religions
Wed 30 Aug 2017/NNA - President of the Republic, General Michel Aoun, called on
the Lebanese Diaspora to support Lebanon's quest to be a center for dialogue of
civilizations and religions, since "it is best to run such dialogue in light of
its abundant sects, cultures, potentials and diversity." President Aoun's fresh
stance on Wednesday morning came during his meeting with a delegation of the
Lebanese Diaspora in the world, including expatriates from the United States of
America, Gabon, Austria, Ghana, France and Sydney.
Aoun meets Minister of State for Combating Corruption
Wed 30 Aug 2017/NNA - President of the Republic, General Michel Aoun, on
Wednesday afternoon received at the Baabda palace the Minister of State for
Combating Corruption, Nicolas Tueni, who briefed him on the work of his Ministry
and corruption reports. On emerging, Minister Tueni said he presented to Aoun a
report on Lebanon's participation in the conference held recently in Vienna to
combat corruption and the points raised in light of the experiences of a number
of countries and organizations concerned in eradicating this scourge. In reply
to a question, Tueni said his ministerial tasks aim to put an end to corruption
in a number of state departments and institutions, in order to activate their
work in complementarity with the tasks of the supervisory bodies.
Aoun Urges 'National Rapprochement' to Protect
Border 'Victory'
Naharnet/August 30/17/President Michel Aoun on Wednesday called on Lebanese not
to allow “political bickering” to make them forget the Lebanese army's victory
against Islamic State militants on the eastern border. Addressing soldiers in a
speech from the Baabda Palace, the president said: “We were hoping to celebrate
with your kidnapped comrades, but what consoles us is that we have found them,
especially that knowing their fate was one of the battle's most important
objectives.”Aoun was referring to human remains likely belonging to nine
Lebanese troops abducted by the IS in 2014 and eventually killed that have been
located in recent days near the border as part of a Hizbullah-led deal with the
jihadist group. Saluting the residents of the border areas “who stayed in their
land and confronted terrorism,” the president pledged to address their needs and
vowed that “development will be an objective.”“Lebanon has triumphed over
terrorism and its victory has been huge and honorable. The army has proved that
it is the only army that has managed to fight Daesh (IS),” Aoun added.
Addressing the Lebanese people, the president said: “Don't allow the atmosphere
of political bickering to make you forget the victory that has been achieved and
know that your army has accomplished something that certain countries have
failed to achieve.” “It is our duty as officials and political parties to
protect this victory through national rapprochement, and to continue protecting
Lebanon from the repercussions of the ongoing events,” Aoun added.
Votel congratulates Army Commander on Fajr Jouroud
operation's success
Wed 30 Aug 2017/NNA - Army Commander Gen. Joseph Aoun on Wednesday received a
phone call from the Commander of the United States Central Command, General
Joseph Votel, congratulating him on the success of the "Fajr el-Jouroud"
Operation. General Votel hailed the performance of army units which partook in
said operation. Votel stressed his country's continual support for the Lebanese
army with weapons and equipment, aimed at developing its capabilities and
strengthening its missions. General Aoun, for his part, thanked the General for
the US continual support for the Lebanese army, noting that the American aids
provided to the army played an effective and crucial role in the success of this
operation.
Hariri starts official visit to Paris tomorrow
Wed 30 Aug 2017/NNA - The President of the Council of Ministers Saad Hariri
starts tomorrow morning an official visit to France, during which he will meet
with the French President Emmanuel Macron at the Elysée Palace. Hariri will also
meet with the French Prime Minister Edouard Philippe, the President of the
Senate Gérard Larcher, the Minister of Foreign Affairs Jean-Yves Le Drian, the
Minister of Economy Bruno Le Maire and the Minister of Defense Florence Barley.
MPs challenge tax law enacted to fund salary scale
Wed 30 Aug 2017/NNA - Kataeb MPs Sami Gemayel, Nadim Gemayel, Samer Saadeh, Elie
Marouni, and Fadi Al Haber and Deputies Khaled Daher, Dory Chamoun, Boutros Harb
and Salim Karam submitted to the Constitutional Council an appeal against Law
No. 45 issued on August 21, 2017 and published in the Official Gazette no. 37
dated 21/8/2017, which provides for the amendment and introduction of some tax
legal provisions for the purpose of funding the salary scale.
Berri: Imam Sadr and his two companions are still
alive
Wed 30 Aug 2017/NNA - The Amal
movement celebrated the 39th anniversary of the disappearance of Imam Musa al-Sadr
and his two companions at a popular and political rally in the southern suburb
of Beirut - Airport Road. Speaker of the Parliament and leader of the Amal
movement, Nabih Berri, addressed in a word he delivered on this occasion the
overall political situation in the country. He stressed that "Imam Sadr and his
two companions are still alive. We say this with all responsibility,"
underlining the difficulty of sending the investigating committee tasked with
this dossier to Libya due to the country's shaken situation. "I have asked the
committee to wait until the situation there is settled," he said. Speaker Berri
began his speech by asking the audience to observe a minute of silence on the
souls of the Lebanese Army and the Resistance martyrs. "We salute Imam Sadr for
breaking the wall of silence. (...) We salute him for he made us realize that
Israel's terror and Takfiri terrorism were two sides of the same coin," he said.
"He has taught us how to build the nation, and that the human wealth of Lebanon
and the strength of this nation lie in its unity, its Army, its people and its
Resistance," he went on. The House Speaker congratulated Lebanon's people, Army
and Resistance on the Fajr El-Jouroud achievement and the liberation of the
eastern mountains from terrorists, parallel with the Resistance's battle in
western Qalamoun area, in cooperation with the Syrian Army. He also hailed "the
security services, their role, their martyrs and their vigilant elements."As for
the relationship between Lebanon and Syria, he solicited everyone's "attention",
saying "It is not a matter of subordination or violation of independence; it is
a strategic need for the benefit of the two countries."
"Syria represents the geographic depth of Lebanon, and its only land
exit.""Lebanon and Syria are the two goals of the Israeli enemy and just and
comprehensive peace for the Palestinian people start with the establishment of a
Palestinian State and the right of the return of its people to the land of
Palestine," he said. Criticized "those who are trying to disavow victory by
accusing the Resistance of making a deal at the expense of the State," Berri
assured that "Victory by negotiation has always been more important than victory
by war."The ceremony was attended by the Representative of President Michel Aoun,
Minister of Defense Yaacoub Sarraf, the representative of Prime Minister Saad
Hariri, Minister of Interior, Nuhad Al-Mashnouk, and ranking dignitaries and
officials.
U.S. Blasts Deal that Removed IS from Lebanon-Syria Border
Associated Press/Naharnet/August 30/17/ A U.S. official has blasted a deal that
led to the evacuation of hundreds of Islamic State group fighters and civilians
from the Lebanon-Syria border to areas close to Iraq, saying the extremists
should be killed on the battlefield. The evacuation agreement, the first such
publicized deal, had already angered many Iraqis who accused Syria and Lebanon's
Hizbullah of dumping the militants on the Iraqi border rather than eradicating
them. The top U.S. envoy for the international coalition against IS, Brett
McGurk, tweeted on Wednesday that it is "irreconcilable" that IS "terrorists
should be killed on the battlefield, not bused across #Syria to the Iraqi border
without #Iraq's consent."McGurk added that the anti-IS coalition will help
ensure that "these terrorists can never" enter Iraq.
DNA Tests Reportedly Identify Bodies of Six Slain
Soldiers
Naharnet/August 30/17/DNA tests in Lebanese hospitals have identified the bodies
of six troops executed by the jihadist Islamist State group, LBCI television
reported on Wednesday. Nine bodies have been located and recovered as part of a
Hizbullah-led deal with IS that also involved the evacuation of the jihadists
and their families to eastern Syria and the handover of a Hizbullah captive and
the bodies of several Hizbullah fighters. The agreement followed separate but
simultaneous anti-IS offensives by the Lebanese and Syrian armies and Hizbullah
on both sides of the Lebanese-Syrian border which ended with the militants'
surrender. “After the identification of all bodies through DNA testing, the
identities will be announced and a national funeral will be organized for the
martyrs,” LBCI said. The soldiers had been abducted during a 2014 invasion of
the eastern border town of Arsal and their fate had been shrouded in mystery for
more than two years.
Sami Gemayel, 9 MPs Appeal Tax Law before
Constitutional Council
Naharnet/August 30/17/Kataeb Party chief MP Sami Gemayel and nine other
lawmakers file an appeal Wednesday with the Constitutional Council against the
tax law that was approved to fund a new wage scale for civil servants and the
armed forces. The Council will convene Thursday at 10:00 am to look into the
appeal, reports said. In addition to Kataeb's five MPs Sami Gemayel, Nadim
Gemayel, Samer Saade, Elie Marouni and Fadi al-Haber, the appeal was signed by
National Liberal Party chief MP Dori Chamoun, Marada bloc MP Salim Karam,
Democratic Gathering MP Fouad al-Saad and independent MPs Khaled al-Daher and
Butros Harb. Sami Gemayel was among the first MPs to slam the new tax law and he
had urged President Michel Aoun not to sign the bill. “I stress that the appeal
will not harm the wage scale, because the Lebanese state is capable of securing
funds for it without taking them from the pockets of citizens,” Gemayel told
reporters Wednesday outside the Constitutional Council. Gemayel had warned that
the taxes that have been approved would lower citizens' purchasing power “by 10
to 20%” and would also push “more than 100,000 citizens below the poverty line,”
citing studies by the American University of Beirut. Gemayel also quoted Father
Butros Azar, the secretary general of Catholic schools, as saying that school
tuitions would rise an average of 27%. “The prices of apartments will also rise
and our youths will suffer,” the young MP cautioned. “An economic disaster has
been created without any economic feasibility study for the taxes to rely on,”
Gemayel lamented. The new taxes involve hiking the VAT tax from 10% to 11%,
fines on seaside violations, and taxes on cement, administrative transactions,
sea imports, lottery prizes, tobacco, alcohol, travel tickets, financial firms
and banks. Authorities have argued that the new taxes are necessary to fund the
new wage scale but opponents of such a move have called for finding new revenues
through putting an end to corruption and the waste of public money.
Report: U.S. to Halt Support for Army over Hizbullah-Led
Border Deal
Naharnet/August 30/17/The U.S. administration has been dismayed by Lebanon's
“submission to an agreement led by the Syrian regime and Hizbullah” that led to
the evacuation of Islamic State militants from the eastern border region, and
has accordingly decided to halt its military support for Lebanon, a media report
said on Wednesday. Washington has decided to “cease military support to Lebanon
and retrieve around 50 modern tanks that it had convinced Riyadh to pay for and
supply to the Lebanese army to support it in its battle against terrorism,” An
Nahar newspaper said. “These tanks deployed in several posts and took part
strongly and effectively along with other weapons in the army's battle in the
outskirts of al-Qaa and Ras Baalbek,” the daily added. The army had launched an
unprecedented military offensive to oust IS militants from the eastern border
region on August 19. Separately but simultaneously, Hizbullah and the Syrian
army began an assault to remove IS from the Syrian side of the border.
Simultaneous ceasefires were announced on both sides of the border on Sunday
morning to allow for negotiations over the fate of nine Lebanese troops abducted
by IS militants in 2014. The Lebanese army has insisted that it has not
coordinated any move with Hizbullah or the Syrian army. The Hizbullah-led
agreement resulted in the recovery of nine bodies likely belonging to the
captive troops, the evacuation of hundreds of IS militants and their families
from the Lebanese-Syrian border to eastern Syria, and the handover of a
Hizbullah captive and several corpses to the Iran-backed group. President Michel
Aoun and Army Commander General Joseph Aoun declared victory over IS on
Wednesday morning, two days after Hizbullah chief Sayyed Hassan Nasrallah
described the removal of IS' militants as Lebanon's "Second Liberation Day."
U.S.-Led Strike in Syria Blocks IS Fighters Evacuated
from Lebanon
Agence France Presse/Associated Press/Naharnet/August
30/17/ The U.S.-led coalition has carried out an air strike to block Islamic
State group fighters evacuated from Lebanon from reaching eastern Syria, its
spokesman told the AFP news agency on Wednesday. Hundreds of IS fighters were
evacuated Monday from the border region between Lebanon and Syria under a
ceasefire deal and were headed to an IS-held town near Syria's eastern frontier
with Iraq. "Irreconcilable #ISIS terrorists should be killed on the battlefield,
not bused across #Syria to the Iraqi border without #Iraq's consent," wrote
Brett McGurk, the U.S. presidential envoy to the anti-IS coalition. "Our
@coalition will help ensure that these terrorists can never enter #Iraq or
escape from what remains of their dwindling 'caliphate'," he wrote on Twitter.
Coalition spokesman Ryan Dillon confirmed to AFP on Wednesday that a U.S.-led
bombing raid had blocked the convoy's route. "To prevent the convoy from moving
further east, we cratered the road and destroyed a small bridge," Dillon said.
"IS is a global threat; relocating terrorists from one place to another for
someone else to deal with is not a lasting solution," he said. "We are
monitoring their location in real time" and the coalition "will not rule out
strikes against IS fighters being moved," Dillon added. "We are not party to any
agreements that were made by the Lebanese Hizbullah and ISIS or the (Syrian)
regime," he went on to say. He added that any strike will be in "accordance of
the law of armed conflict and if we are able to do so and can discriminate and
discern the difference between fighters and civilians."The evacuation deal was
negotiated between IS and Lebanon's Hizbullah, which has intervened in the war
in neighboring Syria to prop up the Damascus government. Hizbullah had been
fighting a week-long offensive against IS on the Syrian side of the border with
Lebanon, coinciding with a simultaneous assault by Lebanese troops on their side
of the frontier. The battles ended Sunday with the announcement of a deal that
would see IS forces bussed hundreds of kilometers from Syria's western border
with Lebanon to its eastern frontier with Iraq. Jihadists and civilians,
including children, left the border region two days ago, but on Wednesday their
buses were still held up at the entrance to Deir Ezzor province. The Syrian
Observatory for Human Rights confirmed that there was a delay but did not
specify why and Syrian military sources reached by AFP declined to comment.The
United States considers Hizbullah to be a "terrorist" organization.
Berri Urges Cooperation with Syria, Defends Salam,
Qahwaji and IS Negotiations
Naharnet/August 30/17/Speaker Nabih Berri on Wednesday stressed that cooperation
in all fields between Beirut and Damascus is vital for the two countries, as he
defended ex-PM Tammam Salam and former army chief General Jean Qahwaji in the
face of criticism over the 2014 anti-jihadist clashes.
“Lebanon and Syria are a strategic need for each other... Syria represents
Lebanon's only land route to the world... and we're still seeking its help as a
source for electricity,” said Berri in a speech marking the 39th anniversary of
the disappearance of AMAL Movement founder Imam Moussa al-Sadr and his two
companions. “We have treaties and agreements with it and we need to build a
partnership the same as we did with Egypt,” the speaker added.
“Lebanon and Syria lie on the border of the Palestinian cause and are both
targeted by Israel. Both countries aspire to liberate their occupied land in
Golan, the Shebaa Farma and the Kfarshouba Hills, and to achieve just and
comprehensive peace,” Berri noted.
His remarks come after controversy in the Council of Ministers about economic
cooperation with Syria and after calls by Hizbullah chief Sayyed Hassan
Nasrallah for military and security cooperation with Damascus were met with
strong opposition from Lebanese parties opposed to the Syrian regime.
“The same as our war on terror required our participation in international
alliances and we thanked the U.S., Britain and France for their support, we
should coordinate between the two countries (Lebanon and Syria) to dry up the
sources of terrorism,” Berri added.
“No one voiced criticism when we received U.S. and British aid. Instead of being
in a national festival, they (some political parties) are even trying to
dissociate themselves from a victory that was achieved by the army and the
resistance,” Berri went on to say, referring to offensives by the Lebanese army
and Hizbullah on both sides of the Lebanese-Syrian border that ended with the
surrender and withdrawal of Islamic State militants from the region.
“They are saying that the resistance engaged in negotiations without informing
the state, but (General Security chief) Maj. Gen. Abbas Ibrahim was not
negotiating on behalf of 'his father or my father.' He did not do any move
without coordinating with the president and the premier,” Berri added.
The speaker also congratulated “the people, the army and the resistance on the
achievements of the army's operation and the liberation of the outskirts, and on
the operations of the brave resistance that liberated the outskirts of Arsal,
Flita and Qalamun, in cooperation with the Syrian army.”
Nine bodies likely belonging to Lebanese troops abducted by IS in 2014 and
eventually executed have been located and recovered as part of a Hizbullah-led
deal with the jihadist group. The deal also involved the evacuation of the
jihadists and their families to eastern Syria and the handover of a Hizbullah
captive and the bodies of several Hizbullah fighters. The agreement sparked
major controversy in Lebanon, which prompted Hizbullah, the Free Patriotic
Movement and some of their allies to slam parties in Tammam Salam's 2014
government as well as former army chief Qahwaji, accusing them of inaction that
led to the abduction of around 30 Lebanese troops and policemen during the 2014
Arsal battle against IS and the Qaida-linked al-Nusra Front. Berri defended
Salam and Qahwaji on Wednesday and urged an end to the political bickering. “The
martyrs of the army and the resistance died for us all. They had loved ones,
relatives, children and dreams. They were martyred for you and for your parents
and children, so why should we abandon them?” Berri said. “Why should we pin the
blame on PM Salam or General Qahwaji while the current government is the same
previous government albeit for the exit of the Kataeb Party and the
participation of the Lebanese Forces?” the parliament speaker wondered.
Nasrallah Defends IS Deal as 'Only Way' to Unveil
Captive Troops Fate
Agence France Presse/Associated Press/Naharnet/August 30/17/ Hizbullah chief
Sayyed Hassan Nasrallah on Wednesday defended a deal his group negotiated to
evacuate Islamic State militants from the Lebanon-Syria border, saying it was
the "only way" to resolve the "national and humanitarian" case of determining
the fate of Lebanese soldiers captured three years ago by IS and later killed.
Nasrallah was responding to criticism of the deal, which was to allow over 300
militants and their families to relocate to an IS-held area in eastern Syria,
near the border with Iraq. The U.S.-led coalition and Iraq criticized the deal.
Coalition warplanes disrupted the transfer by bombing a small bridge, cratering
a road and striking another group of IS militants who were traveling to meet the
convoy, which is now stuck in Syrian government-held territory. Nasrallah said
in a rare written statement that the evacuation will not change the battle for
the largely IS-controlled Deir Ezzor province, where thousands of fighters are
based. He said Hizbullah fighters and Syrian troops are engaged in the battle
for the province. "We transported those defeated militants from one front we
fight in to another front we also fight in," he said.
"Our fight and our fate are one," Nasrallah added, addressing Iraqi officials.
Lebanese opponents to the deal were angry that IS fighters were traveling "on
air-conditioned buses" after having been suspected of killing Lebanese troops.
The dream deal between Hezbollah and ISIS
Mashari Althaydi/Al Arabiya/August 30/17
Following battles, media and political maneuvers, a bunch of speeches by
Hezbollah leader Hassan Nasrallah, the end result was disappointing or rather
shocking. This was more so as we saw ISIS fighters board huge “air-conditioned”
buses from the Lebanese-Syrian border toward the far East in Syria, near Iraq,
under the protection of Syrian forces and facilitations from the Lebanese
Khomeini party accompanied with Red Crescent convoys. The deal angered the
families of the Lebanese soldiers who have been abducted for years. After ISIS
guaranteed that its demands to safely exit under the regime’s protection to Abu
Kamal and Deir az-Zour in East Syria will be met, it told Hezbollah where the
dead Lebanese soldiers are buried. The Khomeini party then told the army command
and the general security where the tombs are. All this is happening amid the
families’ shock! According to Hezbollah’s media, the ceasefire agreement
stipulates that ISIS fighters and their families will be allowed to board buses
to go to Syria. The convoys arrived to an exchange point in East Syria and from
there, they will go to ISIS-controlled areas.What’s more provoking is that
following the Lebanese army’s presence in the Jroud battles, the army was
deprived of this glorious moment
Welcomed as heroes
Details about these strange negotiations continue to reveal more and more. For
example, we learnt that Hezbollah imposed its decision on the state to hand over
three convicts from the Roumieh Prison in exchange of releasing a number of its
fighters who were welcomed as heroes. Iraqi troops are currently fighting ISIS
on the borders with Syria where ISIS fighters have been warmly allowed to head
as they exit the Lebanese Qalamoun area. This of course angers the Iraqis. Prime
Minister Abadi rejected the deal and many Iraq writers and activists are furious
and feel that Iraq’s interests are being disregarded.
All this shows a truth that some have always overlooked, and it’s that “all”
armed Islamized groups that operate outside the state’s authorities, whether
Sunni or Shiite, act the same and share the same culture that violates the
state’s sanctity, sovereignty of law and prestige of the entity that governs
everyone according to the constitution which is the only authority to abide by
towards all of the society’s components. This deal also signifies the Lebanese
state’s weak control and sovereignty under the presidential term of Michel Aoun
in particular – as it was claimed he will restore the republic’s power.
What’s more provoking is that following the Lebanese army’s honorable presence
in the Jroud battles, the army was deprived of this glorious moment and
Hezbollah, the armed religious group, appeared as the stronger party as it was
the one who negotiated with the Syrian regime and arranged the deal’s details.
This scene truly exposes quite a lot.
Why did Syria, Hezbollah bus ISIS fighters near Iraq?
Seth J. Frantzman/Jerusalem
Post/August 30/17
Iraqi politicians condemn agreement allowing ISIS fighters to leave besieged
Qalamoun.
In 2009, before the Syrian civil war, a bus ride from Homs to Deir al-Zor on the
Euphrates River would take around five or six hours. There was a stop for
refreshments just outside of the historic city of Palmyra. Now fighters from
Islamic State are taking that bus route.
Under an agreement with the Syrian regime they are being evacuated from the
pocket they have held on the Lebanese-Syrian border for several years to areas
ISIS controls near the Euphrates Valley between Deir al-Zor and Albukamal on the
Iraqi border.
The victory over ISIS during a joint offensive by the Syrian regime, Hezbollah
and the Lebanese Army, and ISIS’s decision to evacuate, was trumpeted by
Hezbollah leader Hassan Nasrallah on Monday. In a speech he attacked Israel and
the United States, claiming that Hezbollah’s war against ISIS was a
“continuation of the campaign against Israel.”
According to Reuters the ISIS convoy included 308 ISIS members with their small
arms and 331 civilians. As part of the agreement ISIS agreed to tell the
Lebanese government about the whereabouts of nine Lebanese soldiers the
extremists captured in 2014.
These kinds of deals, in which Syrian rebel fighters have been evacuated and the
regime allowed to take control of areas they held, have become a common feature
of the Syrian civil war. For instance in December 2016 thousands were evacuated
from besieged Aleppo to Idlib province, which is held by the rebels. This marks
the first time an agreement has been made with ISIS to let its men evacuate.
Jonathan Spyer, director of the Rubin Center for Research in International
Affairs at the Interdisciplinary Center Herzliya, says that it is not surprising
that the regime has extended its practice of allowing Syrian rebel groups to
evacuate areas under cease-fire agreements.
“In my view ISIS doesn’t fundamentally belong to another category to other Sunni
fighters. So maybe the regime doesn’t think so either, but it confirms what’s
urgent for the regime is in western Syria, and eastern Syria is less of an
urgent priority.”
Spyer also argues the move may be related to the upcoming post-civil war period.
“It [the battles around Qalamoun] had already dragged on for ages. It may well
be that in a context where ISIS is set to be destroyed as a quasi-sovereign
entity further east, Hezbollah and Lebanon are trying to preempt any new ISIS
focus closer to them.”
In Iraq the decision to transport ISIS gunmen to eastern Syria has been
criticized as dumping the fighters on Iraq’s doorstep. Muhammad al-Karbouli, a
member of Iraq’s Security and Defense Committee in parliament, was quoted by Al-Sumaria
TV as condemning the decision. He said the Iraqi government should investigate
the “mysteries” and “secrets” of the deal as to why ISIS fighters might then be
able to cross into Iraq via Abu-Kamal on the border into the area of al-Qaim and
terrorize Iraq, bolstering some 3,000 ISIS fighters he claimed were in that area
of Anbar province.
Another Iraqi politician was quoted as saying “the blood of our youth and our
people is not cheaper than the blood of the Lebanese.”
In a statement to the press on Tuesday posted on Twitter, Iraqi Prime Minister
Haider al-Abadi said the transfer was unacceptable.
The Iraqi media appear to be suggesting that the Hashd al-Shaabi, a collection
of Shia militias that, like Hezbollah, are close to Iran, should have objected
to the transfer. There was also discussion of whether the US-led coalition
should have struck the convoy, since it includes armed ISIS fighters.
Questions remain about whether the ISIS fighters will end up near Deir al-Zor or
Al-Bukamal. Assad forces are advancing on both places, and it seems that the
fighters will end up fighting the same regime that has just allowed them transit
through its areas.
The US-led coalition did not respond by press time to a query about its reaction
to the movement of the ISIS fighters and families.
http://www.jpost.com/Middle-East/Analysis-Why-did-Syria-Hezbollah-bus-ISIS-fighters-near-Iraq-503721
Face Book Comments by Roger Bejjani
August 30/17
*Don't get over exited with Aoun's statement. Give him few hours or a couple of
days, he will balance it with another one caressing the terrorists of Hezbollah.
**If I am relentlessly criticizing the LF for the absurdity of January 18, 2016
it is out of frustration. The LF have always represented hope for me in this
estranged country. On that date January 18, 2016, the LF have denied all the
principles it fought and militated for.
There is still time for redemption though. Samir Geagea should orderly retreat
from the mascarade he dragged this great party into. He should first send this
moron Melhem Pakradouni home and pull the ressources of the LF, the real ones,
consolidate its political agenda and get back to the fundamentals.
**Unfortunately the LF have lost their credibility the moment they partnered
with the vassals of Hezbollah and sat at the same table as Hezbollah. They were
even trying to broker a meeting with Chief terrorist Nasrallah. Melhem
Pakradouni harmed the LF as much as MICHEL Aoun did back in 1989.
*Are Lebanese and the morons Ministers aware that the country is being ruled by
an organization considered and labeled by 180 countries (including the Arab
countries excluding Syria's oppressive regime) as terrorist!!?? How can they
even make plans to rebound the country when we are about to be doomed as a
consequence of a multi-lateral series of sanctions??
*Tomorrow if the Army sends a representative at the nauseous tragi-comedy
organized by the terrorists of Hezbollah to celebrate Daesh road trip to Deir el
Zor, we should consider the Army as an accessory of Hezbollah.
Gebran Bassil is an accessory, a vassal, a blower of HeZb. Same as his in law
and all the morAouns. This we know.
*Resistance against Hezbollah is the only legitimate resistance
*But in what galley samir geagea has been boarded by melhem pakradouni??
*Ya Di3an The 5 soldiers fallen to the field of honor during the battle. On the
one hand, it seems that the state, as the army, knew that our poor kidnapped
soldiers were killed in 2015, and the punitive expedition for the establishment
of justice was short-Circuité by the hezbollah terrorist organization with the
consent of The Army.
Shame always shame.
Latest LCCC Bulletin For Miscellaneous Reports And News published on
August 30-31/17
Russian-Syrian airborne radar covers all of Israel
DEBKAfile Special Report August 30, 2017
The Russian air force has recently deployed to Syria four of its most highly
advanced early warning and control aircraft, the Beriev A-50 SRDLO (“Mainstay”),
which is rated the most sophisticated AWACS in operation. Several A-50s were
spotted flying over Syria in recent months, but they all turned around and
headed back to Russia. Four are now installed in the hangars of the Russian
Khmeimim Air Base in Syria’s Latakia province. The plane’s Shmei-M radar is
capable of pinpointing targets across a distance of 600km. While in flight, it
covers all parts of Israel and can detect every aerial and military movement.
Moscow has deployed the A-50 in support of the unification of Russian and Syria
air defense systems going forward in recent weeks. Henceforth, both their air
defense systems will be controlled from a single command center at the Khmeimim
air base, with the B-50 living up to its name as operational mainstay.
The Russian and Syrian air defenses will no longer need to swap information in
the event of a US or Israeli air or missile attack over Syria before
coordinating their operations. All incoming information will be channeled to the
Russian joint command, which will determine how to respond and manage any combat
which may result. This development limits the freedom enjoyed hitherto by the US
and Israeli air and naval forces over Syria and in the eastern Mediterranean and
makes their operations far more hazardous. The Russian air defense commander in
Syria now has at his fingertips a wide range of tools for several synchronized
maneuvers. He can, for instance, issue a direct order to simultaneously launch
three sophisticated weapons systems with deadly effect, such as the Pantsir-S1
tactical, mobile surface-to-air missiles posted outside Damascus, also called
the SA-22 Greyhound; the S-400s, installed on the Dhahaer ram Ahmed hilltop
northwest of Latakia; and the anti-ship P-800 Oniks-Yakhont cruise missiles
which guard Syria’s coast. These days, America would find it hard to repeat the
Tomahawk cruise missile attack President Donald Trump ordered on April 4 in
reprisal for the Syrian army’s used of poison chemicals against civilians. That
massive assault knocked out Syria’s Sharyat air base and a large part of its air
force. Israel will likewise not have an easy ride for another air strike like
the one conducted on May 17 against an Iranian arms shipment for Hizballah near
Damascus. Then, Syria tried for the first time to down the Israeli
bomber-fighters with anti-air fire. It failed, but only because Israel was
forced to send an Arrow missile into its first operation to prevent Syrian
missiles from hitting the returning warplanes over Israeli territory. In future,
Israel will have to adjust its tactics to the powerfully enhanced Russian-Syrian
defenses.
The newly arrived A-50 also enables the Russian command in Syria to keep a
controlling eye on the de-escalations zones gong up in Syria, including the one
taking shape on Syria’s southwestern border opposite the Israeli Golan.
At Least 18,500 Rohingya Flee to Bangladesh as Rakhine
Unrest Rages
Agence France Presse/Naharnet/August 30/17/ At least 18,500 Rohingya have
crossed into Bangladesh since fighting erupted in Myanmar's neighboring Rakhine
state six days ago, the International Organization for Migration said Wednesday.
Plumes of smoke billowed from several burning villages in the worst-hit section
of the state, according to an AFP reporter on a government-led trip to the area,
as the violence showed little sign of abating despite security sweeps by
Myanmar's police and troops. The streets of Maungdaw -- northern Rakhine's
largest town -- were virtually deserted as fires flickered among charred remains
of houses and the occasional burst of gunfire echoed in the distance. The
clashes began on Friday after militants from Myanmar's Rohingya Muslim minority
community staged deadly surprise raids on police posts. At least 110 people,
including 11 state officials, have been confirmed dead and thousands of Rohingya
have poured across the border to Bangladesh despite Dhaka's attempts to stop
them. "As of last night, 18,500 people have come across," Chris Lom, the IOM's
Asia-Pacific spokesman, told AFP, adding an unknown number were still stuck on
the Myanmar side of the border. An estimated 6,000 Rohingya on Tuesday massed at
the "zero line" border with Bangladesh, days after the area came under mortar
and machine gun fire by Myanmar security forces. The Rohingya, the world's
largest stateless minority and subject to severe restrictions on their
movements, are barred from officially crossing. Bangladeshi authorities on
Wednesday toughened patrols in a bid to prevent more arrivals in a country that
already hosts an estimated 400,000 Rohingya, albeit in abject conditions.
Rohingya have sneaked across the land border in large number or swum the Naf
River which marks part of the frontier.But tragedy befell some of them. The
bodies of two Rohingya women and two children washed up on Bangladeshi soil on
Wednesday, an official there told AFP, drowned after their rickety boat
capsized.
Fight and flight
Among the dead and displaced are also ethnic Rakhine Buddhists and other tribal
groups, who say they are being targeted by Rohingya militants. Five ethnic
Buddhist men were found stabbed to death early Wednesday in Maungdaw, which is
under curfew, Ye Htut, the town's district chief told AFP. With information
trickling out, a picture has emerged of a cat-and-mouse game between militants
and security forces played out in remote hamlets, fields and forest hideouts.
The office of de facto leader Aung San Suu Kyi said militants have repeatedly
detonated homemade explosives and attempted to firebomb police posts and ambush
patrols. Myanmar classes the militants as "Bengali terrorists" and blames them
for setting fire to both their own and other community's houses. Rohingya
arriving in Bangladesh have told a different story, saying their homes had been
set on fire by security forces and Buddhist mobs.
"Villagers are running away... where do we have to live now?" one Rohingya from
a village near Maungdaw told AFP by phone, speaking on condition of anonymity.
It was not immediately possible to verify his account.
Maximum restraint?
Rakhine has been beset by religious violence since 2012. Analysts say the
emergence of organized militancy is a game-changer in an already volatile
situation. Displaced Rohingya reaching Bangladesh have told AFP some men are
heeding a call to arms by the militants and staying behind to fight in their
villages.
The Arakan Rohingya Solidarity Army (ARSA) claims its men launched Friday's
surprise attacks on police posts, killing 11 state officials, with knives,
homemade explosives and a few guns. After years in which the Rohingya largely
avoided violence, the group emerged last October to carry out deadly attacks on
police posts. That prompted a months-long security crackdown by Myanmar's army
which left scores dead and forced 87,000 people to flee to Bangladesh. The U.N.
believes those operations may have amounted to ethnic cleansing of the Rohingya
-- allegations denied by the army. On Sunday Pope Francis led mounting
international calls for the protection of "our Rohingya brothers." The U.N. has
also urged Myanmar to protect civilians during its operations and called on
Bangladesh to allow the displaced into its territory. With pressure mounting, a
Myanmar government official on Tuesday said security forces would use "maximum
restraint" in coming days but insisted on the country's right to defend itself
from "terrorists." Rights groups say the reports of Rohingya villages being
torched fit the counter-insurgency playbook of Myanmar's army. "These are the
sort of tactics we've seen before," said Phil Robertson of Human Rights Watch.
Jordan, Iraq Reopen Only Border Crossing
Agence France Presse/Naharnet/August 30/17/Jordan and Iraq on Wednesday reopened
their only border crossing, saying security had been restored three years after
the Islamic State group seized control of frontier areas. In a joint statement,
the two countries' governments said the crossing, called Turaibil in Iraq and
al-Karameh in Jordan, was reopened after it was "secured... against attacks by
criminal gangs."The border crossing is part of a crucial route linking the Iraqi
and Jordanian capitals, and its reopening comes after Iraqi forces managed to
retake most of the territory seized by IS in 2014. The route passes through the
vast desert province of Anbar, where IS maintains some of its last bastions,
including the towns of Rawa, Aanah and al-Qaim, more than 200 kilometers (125
miles) north of the border post. The reopening of the post is a sign of
increasing stability in the area and the restoration of commercial traffic will
be important for the economies of both countries. The post is 370 kilometers
(230 miles) from Amman and 570 kilometers (350 miles) from Baghdad. Iraq is
bordered by Jordan and Syria to the west, Iran to the east and Saudi Arabia to
the south.
New Venezuelan Assembly to Try Opposition Leaders for
Treason
Agence France Presse/Naharnet/August 30/17/Venezuela's all-powerful new
constituent assembly said Tuesday it will hold treason trials for opposition
leaders it said are promoting economic sanctions imposed by the United States.
The assembly approved a decree in which it announced a "historic" trial against
"those who involved in promoting these immoral actions against the interests of
the Venezuelan people."The assembly did not give any immediate word on which
opposition figures it might put on trial. On Friday, the White House unveiled
tough new financial sanctions against Caracas, which it said were aimed at
stemming vital funding to the "dictatorship" of Venezuelan President Nicolas
Maduro. Moscow on Monday slammed the U.S. sanctions, saying they were aimed at
damaging the Latin American nation's economy and aggravating tensions. But
French President Emmanuel Macron accused Maduro of creating a "dictatorship" in
one of the harshest condemnations yet of the South American regime by a European
leader. U.S. President Donald Trump's threat of military force meanwhile has
bolstered Maduro's oft-repeated claim that Washington is plotting to topple him
and wants to grab control of Venezuela's oil -- the largest proven reserves in
the world.
Abadi Says IS Evacuation from Lebanon to Iraq Border
'Unacceptable'
Agence France Presse/Naharnet/August 30/17/Iraqis have denounced a deal allowing
Islamic State group fighters to evacuate a Syrian-Lebanese frontier region
towards the Iraqi border. Hundreds of jihadists started leaving the area on
Monday, heading by bus for Syria's eastern province of Deir Ezzor, which borders
Iraq and is the only Syrian province still under IS control. Iraq's Prime
Minister Haider al-Abadi said the deal was "unacceptable" and an "insult to the
Iraqi people."He said Iraq was fighting the jihadists, not sending them to
Syria. Iraqi forces, who reseized second city Mosul from IS in July after a
nine-month battle, are fighting the last pocket of jihadists in the northern
province of Nineveh. Abadi has said Iraqi forces expect to announce victory in
the city of Tal Afar within days. That would see it dislodged from all but a few
scattered Iraqi towns -- including several close to the border with Syria's Deir
Ezzor. Iraqi social media users expressed outrage at the evacuation deal, which
came a week into a Lebanese army offensive against IS and a joint Syrian army
and Hizbullah operation against the group on Syrian territory. In a video posted
on Facebook, activist Stephen Nabil called it an "injustice."He said it would
allow hundreds of jihadists to deploy along an "insecure" border, close to three
Iraqi desert towns still under IS control. "These are not normal people, and we
know what a single car (bomb) or one suicide bomber can do in Baghdad," he
wrote. On Monday, an IS-claimed bombing in the Iraqi capital killed 11 people.
Iraqi analyst Hisham al-Hashimi called the evacuation deal "unjust.""The selfish
ally is throwing Daesh from Lebanon into Iraq," he said, using an Arabic acronym
for the group. "They know that Iraqis destroyed their second biggest city
(Mosul) so that Daesh fighters would not escape and Iraq's neighbors would not
be harmed," he wrote in a Facebook post. Journalist Salma al-Khafaji said the
evacuation could allow a "restructuring and reorganization of Daesh, throwing
them into a new battle against Iraq."
U.N. Chief Calls for Lifting of Gaza Blockade
Agence France Presse/Naharnet/August 30/17/U.N. chief Antonio
Guterres called for the blockade of Gaza to be lifted Wednesday as he visited
the Palestinian enclave enduring "one of the most dramatic humanitarian crises"
he had seen. The secretary general's comments came as he wrapped up his first
visit to Israel and the Palestinian territories since taking office. Repeatedly
throughout the visit he has called for a two-state solution to the
Israeli-Palestinian conflict, long the focus of international diplomacy but
currently under threat. On Wednesday in Gaza, Guterres said he had been struck
by humanitarian conditions in the overcrowded and impoverished enclave, where an
electricity crisis has worsened and clean water is lacking. "I am deeply moved
to be in Gaza today, unfortunately to witness one of the most dramatic
humanitarian crises that I've seen in many years working as a humanitarian in
the United Nations," Guterres said.He later said it was "important to open the
closures," in a reference to Israel's decade-long blockade of Gaza and its
border with Egypt that has remained largely closed in recent years. Guterres
made the comments at a school run by the U.N. agency for Palestinian refugees,
UNRWA, in the northern Gaza Strip.At least 70 percent of Gazans are dependent
upon international aid. UNRWA plays a major role in the strip, with the same
percentage of the population classified as refugees. Palestinian militants in
Gaza and Israel have fought three wars since 2008. Israel says the blockade is
necessary to keep Islamist movement Hamas, which runs the enclave, from
obtaining weapons or materials that could be used to make them. The blockade
also serves to isolate Hamas. U.N. officials say the enclave is fast becoming
unlivable due to deteriorating humanitarian conditions. Hamas welcomed Guterres'
trip, calling on him to make "all efforts to lift the siege on the strip and end
the suffering for two million Palestinians living in the largest prison in the
world." U.N. officials' contact with Hamas is limited, with the group considered
a terrorist organization by the United States and the European Union.
Imperiled two-state solution
Demonstrations also occurred during Guterres' visit to the strip.
At one protest, around 25 people held a fake coffin with a sign that said
"Welcome to the largest prison in the world". Dozens of people also demonstrated
as Guterres' convoy crossed the border with Israel into Gaza, calling for action
in support of Palestinian prisoners held by Israel. They included prisoners'
relatives.Before crossing into the Gaza Strip, Israeli officials gave Guterres a
tour of the Gaza border area and he was shown a tunnel crossing from the Gaza
Strip into Israel. Such tunnels, used by Hamas for attacks in the past, are a
major concern for Israel. Guterres held talks with Israeli and Palestinian
leaders in Jerusalem and Ramallah on Monday and Tuesday and gave a speech in Tel
Aviv later Wednesday. He was due to depart later in the day. His trip was meant
in part to express strong support for the imperiled two-state solution to the
Israeli-Palestinian conflict.Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu heads
what is seen as the most right-wing government in his country's history, and has
signaled he has no intention of evacuating settlements in the occupied West
Bank.Israeli settlements are built on land the Palestinians see as part of their
future state. Prominent members of Netanyahu's government advocate annexing most
of the West Bank, which would make an independent Palestinian state impossible.
U.S. President Donald Trump has said he wants to reach the "ultimate deal", but
he himself has cast doubt on the two-state solution, saying he could support a
single state if this meant peace. Palestinian President Mahmoud Abbas is
meanwhile unpopular and likely incapable of making major concessions, many
analysts say.His Fatah party, based in the West Bank, also remains deeply
divided from Hamas.
64 Dead in Clashes between Syria Regime and IS
Agence France Presse/Naharnet/August 30/17/ Fierce fighting between Syrian
government forces and the Islamic State group has killed 64 combatants in Raqa
province over a 24-hour period, a monitoring group said Wednesday.The clashes
come with the army pressing an advance through Raqa, in northern Syria, towards
neighboring Deir Ezzor, the only remaining province of the war-ravaged country
still in the hands of IS jihadists. The Syrian Observatory for Human Rights, a
Britain-based monitor, said the fighting had claimed the lives of 38 jihadists
and 26 pro-regime combatants since Tuesday morning. It takes to 145 the overall
death toll in six days of fighting in villages on the banks of the Euphrates
River in the east of Raqa province, near Deir Ezzor. IS said in a statement on
Tuesday that its members had killed dozens of regime combatants in "intense
fighting lasting hours."Observatory director Rami Abdel Rahman told AFP that the
regime was fighting to secure a foothold in Raqa province "in order to advance
in Deir Ezzor." The jihadists have laid siege to government forces and civilians
in the provincial capital of Deir Ezzor since 2015. Earlier this month,
government troops and allied fighters arrived at the outskirts of Madan, the
last IS-held town in the countryside of eastern Raqa province before Deir Ezzor.
But IS launched a counterattack last week that pushed the regime forces back,
and fighting has since continued. The Syria army operation in the area, backed
by air support from ally Russia, is separate from the battle for provincial
capital Raqa city. The effort to oust IS from the city is being led by the
Syrian Democratic Forces, a U.S.-backed alliance of Kurdish and Arab fighters.
Call for Inquiry into Syria War Missing, Mass Graves
Agence France Presse/Naharnet/August 30/17/Human Rights Watch called Wednesday
for an independent inquiry to probe the fate of thousands of people who have
disappeared in Syria's war and to identify mass graves. The Syrian war began in
March 2011 when waves of peaceful demonstrations were repressed by the security
forces, eventually leading to an all-out conflict involving many sides. More
than 330,000 people have been killed and millions displaced, but HRW says the
exact number of those missing could not be determined as most detention
facilities were off-limits to outsiders.
"An independent institution in charge of investigating the fate and whereabouts
of the disappeared, as well as unidentified human remains and mass graves in
Syria, should be created immediately," said HRW. The New York-based rights
watchdog issued the appeal in a statement coinciding with the International Day
of the Victims of Enforced Disappearances. Last year, a team of U.N. experts
raised the alarm over enforced disappearances and called for the situation to be
referred to the International Criminal Court. "Syria will not be able to move
forward if negotiations fail to adequately address the horrors of detention and
disappearance," said Sarah Leah Whitson, Middle East director at HRW. "This
should not be ignored. Without progress, each day that passes will likely see
more of the disappeared tortured or executed," she said. The watchdog said the
inquiry "should have a broad mandate to investigate, including by reviewing all
official records and interviewing any official."Thousands of peaceful activists
were arrested during the first years of the Syrian conflict, and some are still
languishing in prisons, according to non-governmental organizations. Earlier
this month, the death of prominent computer scientist Bassel Khartabil Safadi
was confirmed two years after his execution by the regime. Safadi had been
arrested in March 2012 in the wake of the crackdown.
Major London conference to discuss Qatar democracy, press
freedom and counter-terrorism
Staff writer, Al Arabiya EnglishThursday, 31 August 2017/Hundreds of political
figures, policy makers, academics, commentators and Qataris are to convene on
the September 14 in London to discuss democracy, human rights, press freedom and
counter-terrorism in Qatar. The Qatar, Global Security & Stability Conference
takes place three months into the Qatar crisis in the Middle East, with Qatar
facing a boycott by members of the Gulf Cooperation Council, creating
considerable political and economic implications in the Arabian Gulf region,
Middle East and the world. The conference is the first of its kind and is being
organized by the Qatari businessman and reformist, Khalid al-Hail, along with a
number of exiled Qataris, who are seeking a resolution to the regional crisis
and a more stable future for Qatar. Daniel Kawczynski MP, member of the Foreign
Affairs Committee in the UK House of Commons and expert of Gulf affairs said
that given the severity of the allegations against Qatar, it is imperative for
British politicians and media to call on Qatar to make the reforms and change
its policy. “I welcome the efforts of the organizers, and it is an opportunity
to hear more about the crisis, given the huge Qatari investment in Britain. We
need to be able to have confidence in the Qatari government. This is a unique
initiative and a chance to hear from Qatari reformists such as Mr. Khalid
Al-Hail’,” Kawczynski said. Al-Hail, Official Spokesperson of the Qatari
Opposition, said: “The world has to listen to us, as the government of Qatar
persistently refuses to allow anyone to discuss its policies or activities in
the region. “There is escalating regional consensus and increasingly
international concern of the Qatari government policies that pose a threat to
international security and stability. If the world honestly wants to put an end
to violence, terrorism and chaos, then it must end to Qatari policies that fund,
nurture and instigate them,” al-Hail said. The organizers of the conference are
also publishing a number of exclusive research papers into the situation within
Qatar.
Lavrov: Gulf States’ cooperation is the most appropriate
solution to Qatar crisis
Staff writer, Al Arabiya EnglishThursday, 31 August 2017/Russian Foreign
Minister Sergey Lavrov said on Wednesday that his country does not play the role
of the mediator between Qatar and the four boycotting countries (Saudi Arabia,
UAE, Bahrain, Egypt), and that the solution of the crisis must be sought within
the GCC. He explained that the most appropriate way is to settle the crisis
within the framework of the Gulf Cooperation Council, saying that Russia is not
part of the mediation, as there is the Kuwaiti one. Lavrov also stressed the
need to find a resolution based on compromises acceptable to all. He said that
Russia affirmed its support for the mediation mission of the Emir of Kuwait, and
is ready to contribute to these efforts if the parties demanded it.Lavrov
arrived in Doha from the United Arab Emirates where he met with the Crown Prince
of Abu Dhabi after having earlier held talks with officials of Kuwait, the Gulf
state handling the mediation efforts between Doha and the boycotting countries.
US President discusses Qatar with King Salman
Staff writer, Al Arabiya EnglishThursday, 31 August 2017/King Salman Bin
Abdulaziz and US President Donald Trump discussed the need to defeat terrorism,
cut off terrorist funding, and combat extremist ideology in a phone call on
Wednesday.The US President urged a diplomatic resolution to the Qatar crisis
that follows through on their commitments made at the Riyadh Summit, to maintain
unity while fighting terrorism. The two leaders also addressed the threat Iran
poses to the region. King Salman offered his condolences President Trump after
hurricane Harvey struck Texas and caused a number of casualties.
King Salman and President Trump praised the resilience of the communities
affected by Hurricane Harvey, the White House said in a statement.
Qatari media inciting Qataris against GCC, says Bahraini
minister
Staff writer, Al Arabiya EnglishWednesday, 30 August 2017/Qatari media is trying
to distort the image of the Gulf Cooperation Council (GCC) and attempting to
drum up popular support to encourage a withdrawal from the six-country bloc,
Bahrain’s information minister has said. “The current Qatari media policy
deliberately concocts claims and fabricates historical and political fallacies
in order to build up resentment among Qataris against the GCC and reduce its
stature,” Ali Bin Mohammad Al Romaihi, the Bahraini minister, told the pan-Arab
Asharq al-Awsat. “The media wants the Qatari citizen to believe that the
measures taken against Qatar’s negative policies are in fact directed at
him.”Qatar has been a member of GCC – which includes Bahrain, Kuwait, Oman,
Saudi Arabia and the United Arab Emirates – since it was established in May
1981.Bahrain, Saudi Arabia and the UAE, and Egypt, in June severed their
diplomatic and trade ties with Qatar, accusing it of supporting extremists and
funding terrorism. “We find it highly deplorable that the Qatari media is
working on mobilizing the street through blatant lies and outrageous deceptions
and on involving people in a political crisis to which they were not party,” Al
Romaihi said in his remarks published by Bahrain News Agency. The minister said
that the attempts by the Qatari media in this regard were started when Al
Jazeera was launched and that they have been incorporated in several programs,
news and reports under various appellations that have been broadcast on the news
channel. “Al Jazeera has never been an advocate of Gulf unity or of Gulf
integration. Since its launch, Al Jazeera has broadcast news programs and
reports questioning the significance of establishing the GCC, and has allowed
guests on talk shows to attack the Council and its leaders,” Al Romaihi said.
“The campaign orchestrated by Al Jazeera and promoted through social media is
trying to show that there is a popular movement in Qatar calling for withdrawal
from the GCC. It is highly regrettable that some Iranian media are involved in
this dubious campaign. These media have been highlighting the gains that Qatar
will make by pulling out of the GCC and have been pushing for the formation of a
Qatari-Iranian-Syrian axis. One Iranian official even suggested calling on other
countries to withdraw from the Council,” the minister added.
Latest LCCC Bulletin analysis & editorials from miscellaneous sources published
on
August 30-31/17
Dismantling the Dictatorship of the Highly
Educated
Justin Fox/Bloomberg/August 30/17
In the affluent nations of northwestern Europe, people with university
educations have taken over politics. Cabinet ministers with fancy degrees are
nothing new, but more and more parliamentary seats have been going to college
graduates. In some countries, the highly educated’s share of seats is completely
unprecedented. In others, it hasn’t been this high since the 1800s, when
politics was still an explicitly elite activity.
This data is from an important and surprisingly engaging new book, “Diploma
Democracy: The Rise of Political Meritocracy,” by Dutch political scientists
Mark Bovens of the University of Utrecht and Anchrit Wille of the University of
Leiden. 1 Their focus is on a few countries in Europe, but similar trends are of
course apparent in the US as well.
Part of the reason for this is entirely benign: Lots more people have been going
to college, so of course more college-educated people are going into politics.
Also, modern governments deal with really complex policy choices. It can’t be
bad to have skilled, educated people making those choices, can it?
Well, it depends on which choices. Bovens and Wille argue that while domination
of executive and administrative posts by the highly educated might be warranted,
it’s highly problematic for them to dominate representative politics as well.
Consider the makeup of the lower house of the Dutch parliament. Of the 150
members elected in 2012, Bovens and Wille report that 145 (97 percent) attended
college or graduate school and 137 (91 percent) had at least the equivalent of a
bachelor’s degree. This in a country where only 39 percent of people aged 25
through 54 have a college degree 2 — and where the most important political
leader of the 20th century was a guy with a high school diploma who had taken
some stenography courses on the side. The shares did fall to 90 percent and 86
percent after this year’s election, but Bovens and Wille figure it’s too early
and the sample size too small to declare a trend reversal just yet.The problem
with this mismatch between representatives and population is that, as Bovens and
Wille write:
Educational qualifications are important indications of social status and they
are very closely correlated with lifestyle, cultural attitudes, and political
preferences. Like class or religion, educational background is an important
source of political and social divides.
There are indications, in fact, that educational background is becoming the most
important source of political and social divides. It has certainly become one of
the best predictors of how people vote in some countries, the ranks of which the
US appears to have belatedly joined in the 2016 presidential election. Some of
this can possibly be chalked up to the highly educated holding more
sophisticated, nuanced views than their less-well-informed fellow citizens. But
a lot of it has got to be just that they increasingly live in different
communities, send their children to different schools, work in different kinds
of jobs, and spend their free time differently than those without college
degrees.
That educational qualifications would replace older class distinctions is
something that British sociologist and Labour Party activist Michael Young
predicted in 1958. As I wrote in a column last year, the term that Young coined
to describe this state of affairs — “meritocracy” — has gone on to be used with
mostly positive connotations. But the world he described in his satiric novel
“The Rise of the Meritocracy” was a dystopia, with the divide between those
deemed to possess merit and the rest of the population (the “morons,” as Young’s
narrator puts it) much starker and less forgiving than traditional social class
divisions.
Bovens and Wille are well aware of this negative potential of meritocracy, and
reference Young repeatedly in their book. They also cite Plato’s “Republic,”
which seems to endorse putting highly educated philosopher-kings in charge of
government. But they note that Plato had some interesting ideas for how to keep
these “guardians,” as he called them, from hardening into a permanent ruling
class: They couldn’t own property, and they weren’t allowed to know their
children. Short of such draconian measures, what can be done to address this
rise of diploma democracy? One of the biggest stumbling blocks is that the
less-educated are so much less likely to participate in or even pay attention to
politics. One of the only forms of political activity in which there aren’t
clear differences by education level, Bovens and Wille report, is watching
political news on television. Efforts to increase public involvement in the
political process have for the most part only widened these gaps, as the highly
educated are by far the most likely to take part in public meetings, contact
their political representatives, participate in social media discussions, and
the like.
This difficulty leaves Bovens and Wille with a grab-bag of disparate proposals
for fixing things. Their suggestions include more civic education in secondary
schools, more referendums, limits on lobbying, compulsory voting, direct
elections for some governing officials (as opposed to electing representatives
who choose the governing officials, as is customary in most of Europe), and even
choosing some representatives by lottery.
When I asked them by email how the US stacks up versus the European countries
they studied in “coping” with education-based political cleavages, they
responded:
That of course depends on what you mean by coping. One way to look at it is
through the lens of issue congruence between politicians and voters:
Lesser-educated white Americans, for once, have a president who addresses issues
they find important (whether he will fix them may of course be something else
entirely). Recent research in the Netherlands has shown that issue congruence
between the cabinet and the lesser educated electorate rose when LPF and PVV
[populist, immigration-skeptic parties] took part in the coalition — resulting
in higher levels of political trust among the lesser-educated.
Another way to look at it would be through the lens of political stability.
Majoritarian systems, such as in the US or in the UK, suffer from instability
and inefficiency because of abrupt shifts. Proportional systems with coalitions,
such as in the Netherlands, Denmark and Germany, are a bit more boring, but in
the long run they are better able to cope with newly emerging political
cleavages and to absorb them more smoothly.
A key theme that runs through the book is that the political views of the
less-educated deserve to be heard — even if some of them are offensive to, say,
political science professors at leading universities. In the US, much elite
discussion of the populist, nationalist, and sometimes outright racist attitudes
unleashed by Donald Trump’s candidacy and presidency remains focused on how to
make those attitudes go away. Bovens and Wille, whose own country’s populist
revolt is now more than 15 years old, seem more interested in finding ways to
accommodate such views without endangering liberal democracy. Perhaps we could
learn something from that.
The Danger of a Jihadist Pakistan//اخطار باكستان الجهادية
John R. Bolton/Gatestone
Institute/August 30/17
http://eliasbejjaninews.com/?p=58308
https://www.gatestoneinstitute.org/10913/jihadist-pakistan
Almost certainly, the war in Afghanistan will be won or lost in Pakistan.
President Trump's announcement last week that he will send more U.S. troops—some
sources say another 4,000—to Afghanistan represents a change in tactics from
President Obama's policy. But the ultimate objective is still opaque, and even
once the specifics are articulated, what may ultimately matter more is the
still-undeveloped "South Asia policy" promised by Defense Secretary Jim Mattis.
That means dealing with Pakistan. Islamabad has provided financial and military
aid, including privileged sanctuaries, to the Taliban, the Haqqani network,
Gulbuddin Hekmatyar, Islamic State, al Qaeda and other malefactors, allowing
them not just to survive but flourish. President Trump rightly says this must
stop and is encouraging Pakistan's principal adversary, India, to increase its
economic assistance to Afghanistan.
But the task isn't so straightforward. The Bush and Obama administrations also
criticized Pakistan's support for terrorists, without effect. Putting too much
pressure on Pakistan risks further destabilizing the already volatile country,
tipping it into the hands of domestic radical Islamicists, who grow stronger by
the day.
Peter Tomsen, a former State Department regional expert, once described Pakistan
as the only government he knew consisting simultaneously of arsonists and
firefighters—often the same people, depending on the situation. Pakistan has
teetered on the edge of collapse ever since it was created in the 1947 partition
of British India. Its civilian governments have too often been corrupt,
incompetent or both. The ouster last month of Prime Minister Nawaz Sharif —he
stepped down after the Supreme Court disqualified him for not having been
"honest"—is no reassurance. If anything, it shows the judiciary's excessive
politicization, which further weakens constitutional governance.
Islamabad's military, sometimes called the country's "steel skeleton," is
equally problematic. It recalls the old remark about Prussia: Whereas other
countries have armies, Pakistan's army has a country. The military is also
becoming increasingly radicalized, with Islamicists already in control of its
intelligence services and now working their way through the ranks of the combat
branches.
In this unstable environment, blunt pressure by the U.S.—and, by inference,
India—could backfire. Just as America must stay engaged in Afghanistan to
prevent the Taliban and other terrorists from retaking control, it is also
imperative to keep Islamabad from falling under the sway of radical Islamicists.
Hence the danger of inadvertently strengthening their hand by supplying a
convenient narrative of overt U.S. dominion. Such a blunder might help
Pakistan's radicals seize power even as the U.S. battles terrorists in
Afghanistan.
The aftermath of a Taliban terror bombing attack at the Pearl Continental hotel
in Peshawar, Pakistan on June 10, 2009, which killed 11 people. (Photo by Paula
Bronstein/Getty Images)
Remember that Pakistan has been a nuclear state for nearly two decades. The
gravest threat is that its arsenal of nuclear warheads, perhaps up to 100 of
them, would fall into radical hands. The U.S. would instantly face many times
the dangers posed by nuclear Iran or North Korea.
If American pressure were enough to compel Pakistan to act decisively against
the terrorists within its borders, that would have happened long ago. What
President Trump needs is a China component to his nascent South Asia policy,
holding Beijing accountable for the misdeeds that helped create the current
strategic dangers.
Of all the external actors, China bears primary responsibility for Pakistan's
and North Korea's possession of nuclear weapons and ballistic missiles. For its
own strategic reasons, China gave both countries direct financial, scientific
and technological assistance and then flew political cover at the United Nations
and elsewhere. Empowering Islamabad was a hedge against India, China's biggest
threat in South Asia. Helping Pyongyang was a play against the U.S. and its
Asian allies. (And, increasingly, against the wider world, since North Korea
appears to have sold its technology.)
In both cases China recklessly disregarded the risks of proliferation and
breached its obligations under the Nuclear Non-Proliferation Treaty. By
comparison, Beijing's flagrant violations of its World Trade Organization
commitments are trifles. China was hardly unaware that Pakistan has fostered and
aided Islamic terrorists in Kashmir, threatening Indian control. Yet Beijing has
done nothing to stop it, thus indirectly keeping Indo-Pakistani relations tense.
China has also made Pakistan a considerable beneficiary of the massive
transportation infrastructure and other projects related to its "One Belt, One
Road" initiative. Clearly Beijing intends to bind Islamabad ever more tightly
into its modern-day "co-prosperity sphere."
It must, therefore, be core American policy to hold China to account, even
belatedly. The U.S. can use its leverage to induce China to join the world in
telling Pakistan it must sever ties with terrorists and close their sanctuaries.
The Trump administration should make clear that Beijing will face consequences
if it does not bring to bear its massive interests in support of this goal.
Washington could also point out that this is in Beijing's own interest, lest the
terrorists rise next among the Uighurs in China's Xinjiang province, what was
once "East Turkestan."
Whether Beijing truly intends to be a "responsible stakeholder" in international
affairs, as its U.S. advocates insist, should be put to the test—and not merely
on monetary and trade issues. Fighting international terrorism and nuclear
proliferation requires determination and action, not the kind of smiling
repetition of bumper-sticker phrases that the People's Liberation Army and
China's political leadership blithely ignore.
Starting now in Afghanistan and Pakistan, China should be told its bona fides as
a state engaging in a "peaceful rise" are on the line. If real proof of that
conceit does not emerge, Washington will be entitled to draw the appropriate
conclusions.
John R. Bolton, former U.S. Ambassador to the United Nations, is Chairman of
Gatestone Institute, a senior fellow at the American Enterprise Institute, and
author of "Surrender Is Not an Option: Defending America at the United Nations
and Abroad".
**This article first appeared in The Wall Street Journal and is reprinted here
with the kind permission of the author.
© 2017 Gatestone Institute. All rights reserved. The articles printed here do
not necessarily reflect the views of the Editors or of Gatestone Institute. No
part of the Gatestone website or any of its contents may be reproduced, copied
or modified, without the prior written consent of Gatestone Institute.
https://www.gatestoneinstitute.org/10913/jihadist-pakistan
The Fake News Media of Sweden
Nima Gholam Ali Pour/Gatestone Institute/August 30/17
https://www.gatestoneinstitute.org/10838/sweden-fake-news
In most democratic countries, the media should be critical of those who hold
power. In Sweden, however, the media criticize those who criticize the
authorities. Criticism is not aimed at the people who hold power, but against
private citizens who, according to the journalists, have the "wrong" ideas.
TV4 and all other media refused to report that it was Muslims who interrupted
the prime minister because they wanted to force Islamic values on Swedish
workplaces. When the Swedish media reported on the event, the public were not
told that these "hijab activists" had links with Islamist organizations. Rather,
it was reported as if they were completely unknown Muslim girls who only wanted
to wear their veils.
The Swedish media are politicized to the extent that they act as a propaganda
machine. Through their lies, they have created possibilities for "post-truth
politics". Instead of being neutral, the mainstream Swedish media have lied to
uphold certain "politically correct" values. One wonders what lifestyle and
political stability Sweden will have when no one can know the truth about what
is really going on.
In February 2017, after U.S. President Donald Trump's statements about events in
Sweden, the journalist Tim Pool travelled to Sweden to report on their accuracy.
What Tim Pool concluded is now available for everyone to watch on YouTube, but
what is really interesting is how the Swedish public broadcasting media
described him.
On Radio Sweden's website, one of the station's employees, Ann Törnkvist, wrote
an op-ed in which Pool and the style of journalism he represents are described
as "a threat to democracy".
Why is Pool "a threat to democracy" in Sweden? He reported negatively about an
urban area in Stockholm, Rinkeby, where more than 90% of the population has a
foreign background. When Pool visited Rinkeby, he had to be escorted out by
police. Journalists are often threatened in Rinkeby. Before this incident, in an
interview with Radio Sweden, Pool had described Rosengård, an area in the
Swedish city of Malmö heavily populated by immigrants, as "nice, beautiful,
safe". After Pool's negative but accurate report about Rinkeby, however, he
began to be described as an unserious journalist by many in the Swedish media,
and finally was labeled the "threat to democracy."
One might think that this was a one-time event in a country whose journalists
were defensive. But the fact is that Swedish journalists are deeply politicized.
In most democratic countries, media are, or should be, critical of those who
hold power. In Sweden, the media criticize those who criticizes those who hold
power.
In March 2017, the public broadcasting company Sveriges Television revealed the
name of a person who runs the Facebook page Rädda vården ("Save Healthcare").
The person turned out to be an assistant nurse, and was posting anonymously only
because he had been critical of the hospital where he worked. Swedish hospitals
are run by the local county councils, and thus when someone criticizes the
healthcare system in Sweden, it is primarily politicians who are criticized.
Sveriges Television explained on its website why it revealed the identity of the
private individuals behind Facebook:
"These hidden powers of influence abandon and break the open public debate and
free conversation. Who are they? What do they want and why? As their impact
increases, the need to examine them also grows."
It is strange that Sveriges Television believes that an assistant nurse who
wants to tell how politicians neglect public hospitals, is breaking "the open
public debate and free conversation". This was not the only time that the
mainstream Swedish media exposed private citizens who were criticizing those who
hold power. In December 2013, one of Sweden's largest and most established
newspapers, Expressen, announced that it intended to disclose the names of
people who commented on various Swedish blogs:
"Expressen has partnered with Researchgruppen. The group has found a way,
according to their own description, without any kind of unlawful intrusion, to
associate the usernames that the anonymous commentators on the hate websites are
using to the email addresses from which comments were sent. After that, the
email addresses have been cross-checked with registries and authorities to
identify the persons behind them."
The term "hate websites" (hatsajterna) is what that the mainstream media uses to
describe some of the blogs that are critical of Islam or migration.
It is one thing to be critical of bloggers who you may consider have racist
opinions. But exposing the people who have written in comments sections of
various blogs in one of Sweden's biggest newspapers is strange and terrifying.
Researchgruppen has clear links to Antifascistisk Aktion (Antifascist Action), a
group which, according to the Swedish government, consists of violent left-wing
extremists. For their efforts to expose private individuals in the comments
section, Researchgruppen received the Guldspaden, a prestigious journalistic
award in Sweden.
Jim Olsson was one individual exposed in Expressen simply because he wrote
something in a blog's comments section. A 67-year-old docent in physical
chemistry, Olsson received a home-visit from Expressen with a camera and
microphone present. A private citizen with no connection to any political party
or organization, he exposed by Sweden's media because he had written the
following in the comments section:
"The Swedish asylum system rewards swindlers with a permanent residence permit.
There are, of course, swindlers flooding Sweden."
The Swedish newspaper Expressen accessed databases of website commenters,
targeted critics of immigration, and confronted them at home. The above
screenshot is taken from a video on the Expressen website, published under the
headline "Jim Olsson writes on hate sites."
Another private individual, Patrik Gillsvik, with no political links, was
exposed and fired from his job because, in a blog's comments section, he wrote:
"I would like to join the structural prejudices of the majority in society and
state that gypsies are inventive and witty entrepreneurs who can enrich our
culture -- yes, and then they steal like ravens, of course!"
Although the statement can be criticized for being unacceptably racist, what is
unique is that the mainstream media in a Western democracy can expose private
individuals because they wrote something in a blog's comments section. Criticism
is not aimed at the people who hold power, but against private citizens who
according to the journalists have the "wrong" ideas.
Moreover, each of these private citizens, who have had their lives ruined
because they wrote something distasteful in a comments section, serves as a
warning, so that others will not dare to make the mistake of posting something
politically incorrect on a blog.
It is shocking that in a democracy, the media acts this way, but that is how
Swedish -- and, increasingly, other Western media -- operate these days.
In addition to punishing private individuals who, according to the them,
communicate "wrong" ideas, the media celebrate and support people who have the
"right" ideas. On May 1, 2017, Sweden's Prime Minister Stefan Löfven was
interrupted by a number of hijab-wearing activists who were protesting a verdict
of the Court of Justice of the European Union that employers are entitled to
prohibit staff from wearing a hijab. Given that Sweden's prime minister cannot
directly influence the Court, and that one should not interrupt the country's
prime minister when he speaks, one would think that these "hijab activists"
might be criticized in the media.
TV4, a national TV-channel and one of the first media outlets to report this
incident, refused to say that those who interrupted the prime minister were
wearing the Islamic veil. The title of TV4's clip was "Demonstrators Interrupted
Löfven speech". The sub-headline read as follows: "Female protesters screamed
out their anger against the prime minister and wondered where the feminist
government was."
From the text, it is not clear that these activists demonstrated against the
verdict of the Court of Justice of the European Union; that all activists wore a
hijab, or that they screamed, "Stand up for Muslim women's rights!" However,
information that these activists were wearing hijabs and protesting the verdict
of the Court of Justice of the European Union was on their Facebook page and
YouTube. Nevertheless, TV4 and all other media refused to report that those who
interrupted the prime minister were Muslims who were interrupting the prime
minister because they seemingly wanted to force Islamic values on the Swedish
workplace.
The day after their protest, in an interview with Radio Sweden, these activists
had the opportunity to explain why they protested -- but were not asked any
critical questions. The next day, an Expressen columnist, Maria Rydhagen,
compared one of the hijab-activists glowingly with one of the founders of the
Swedish Social Democratic Party, Axel Danielsson. Rydhagen wrote the following
about Jasmin Nur Ismail:
"Then, on Monday, the protest of the girls was perceived as only an incident.
But imagine if it was the start of something big? Perhaps history was being
written, there and then? Imagine if Jasmin Nur is the Axel Danielsson of 2017.
Hero and rebel. In that case: Was it not a pity to remove her with the help of
the police?"
As the media refused to write anything negative about the protest against the
prime minister, this author began to investigate the matter. It took half an
hour to find out several important things which were never mentioned by the
Swedish mainstream media. Jasmin Nur Ismail had written about the incident on
her Facebook page shortly after the protest. Who was behind the protest was not
a secret.
The demonstration had been organized by the Hayat Women's Movement and a network
called, "The Right to Our Bodies". The Hayat Women's Movement was founded by
Aftab Soltani, who in March 2017 was one of the speakers at a much-criticized
annual Islamic event in Sweden, Muslimska Familjedagarna (Muslim Family Days).
The event was blamed by both the left and the right for inviting hate preachers,
anti-Semites and Muslim radicals as speakers. Another speaker at this Islamic
event in March 2017 was Jasmin Nur Ismail, a heroine of the Swedish media.
Muslimska Familjedagarna was organized by the Islamist Ibn Rushd Educational
Association, the Islamic Association of Sweden (Islamiska Förbundet i Sverige)
and Sweden's Young Muslims (Sveriges Unga Muslimer).
Jasmin Nur Ismail, hailed as a heroine in Expressen, is a public figure.
Southern Sweden's largest newspaper, Sydsvenskan, described her in an October
2016 article as an "activist, anti-racist and writer". According to Sydsvenskan,
Jasmin Nur Ismail's political role-model is Malcolm X. During the Swedish Forum
for Human Rights in 2016, Jasmin Nur Ismail was, in a panel discussion, the
representative for Malmö's Young Muslims -- in turn, a subdivision of an
Islamist organization, Sweden's Young Muslims.
Swedish newspapers did not write a single word that the person and organizations
behind the protest against Sweden's prime minister had links with Islamist
organizations. When the Swedish media reported about the event, the public were
told that these hijab-activists were completely unknown Muslim girls who only
wanted to wear their veils.
Mainstream Swedish media outlets simply do not report some things. When the
largest mosque in Scandinavia was opened in Sweden's third largest city, Malmö,
the news about this was first published in the Qatar News Agency and The
Peninsula on May 3, 2017. The reason that Qatar's media wrote about it was
because Qatar financed a large part of the mosque. On May 5, an article about
this mosque was published in Breitbart. On May 6, one day after Breitbart
reported the news and three days after the Qatari media reported the news, the
Swedish terrorist expert Magnus Ranstorp sent a tweet about this mosque, but he
linked it to the Qatari media. At this time, there are still no Swedish media
outlets that have reported anything about the largest mosque in Scandinavia.
On May 8, the Swedish blog Jihad i Malmö wrote about the mosque and its Qatari
financing. On May 9, the Swedish blog Pettersson gör skillnad wrote about the
mosque. At the same time, the Norwegian author and activist Hege Storhaug, who
is critical of Islam, wrote about the mosque and noted that the Swedish media
had not yet written about it:
"I had expected that the Swedish media at the very least would mention the
opening of Scandinavia's largest mosque with positive words. But no, not a word
in Swedish mainstream media, as far as I have noticed. You have to go to the
English version of Arabic media to get some limited information, like Qatar News
Agency."
By the time I tweeted about it on May 10, the mainstream Swedish media still had
not widely reported it. On May 15, I wrote an article on it for the news website
Situation Malmö, run by the Sweden Democrats party branch in Malmö. With one
hour's research, I managed, through what the mosque had published on Facebook,
to discover that one of the leading Social Democrat politicians in Malmö, Frida
Trollmyr, a municipal commissioner with responsibility for culture, recreation
and health, had been at the mosque's opening. Representatives of the Qatari
government also attended, but the mainstream Swedish media still had not
reported anything about it.
On May 17, two weeks after the Qatari media had written about the opening of
Scandinavia's largest mosque in Malmö, 12 days after Breitbart had written about
the event, and two days after my article, the Sydsvenskan newspaper wrote about
the mosque opening. You could not read the article, however, if you had not paid
for "premium membership" to this newspaper.
One can see this omission as an unfortunate coincidence, but it is strange when
Breitbart succeeds in communicating more information about Malmö than southern
Sweden's largest newspaper, which is headquartered in Malmö. Why would the
Swedish media not write about the mosque? It was certainly not a secret. There
was no explanation from the Swedish media or anyone else. Yet, these same media
outlets did not hesitate to expose the names of private citizens who wrote
inappropriate opinions on a public comments page.
There are journalists in Sweden who change their views as soon as the government
changes its opinion. Göran Greider, a journalist and editor, active in the
public debate in Sweden for more than 30 years, wrote the following in August
2015, about migration policy:
"The European governments who say no to increasing the number of refugees
received not only show a shameful lack of solidarity. They are also silent when
they decline to rejuvenate their populations."
In November 2015, only three months later, when the Swedish government was
forced to change its migration policy because of the migration crisis, Göran
Greider wrote:
"But even the left, including many Social Democrats and members of the Green
Party, have sometimes been characterized by an unwillingness to discuss the
great challenges that receiving refugees, in the quantity we have seen lately,
implies for a society. No one wants to be a nationalist. No one wants to be
accused of running the errands of Sweden Democrats, or racism. But in this way,
people on the left, who are so broadly for bringing in refugees, have often
locked themselves out of a realistic discussion."
There is nothing wrong in reconsidering one's opinion. But it has become common
for Swedish journalists frequently to have opinions that favor certain political
parties -- often the Social Democrats, the Left Party and the Green Party. The
issue is not even about values. People who work for the mainstream Swedish media
are ready to reconsider their values so long as it helps certain parties to stay
in power. This is far from what is presumably the media's main task in a
democracy.
How is it that no newspaper is rebelling against this order? It would be a good
business proposition; such a media outlet could gain financial benefits.
Sweden's political establishment is, after all, not popular. Well, we can look
at the example of someone who tried. In February 2017, a financier, Mats Qviberg,
bought a free daily newspaper, Metro, usually distributed in subways and buses
in Sweden. In May, he gave an interview to the newspaper Nyheter Idag,
considered by the Swedish establishment to be "right-wing" or "populist". In his
interview, Qviberg gave a slight playful hint that Metro might in some way
cooperate with Nyheter Idag.
The consequence of the playful statement was that the Green Party in Stockholm
County Council threatened that Stockholm County would stop handing out Metro in
Stockholm's subways. A columnist stopped writing for the paper. Other media
outlets started to wonder out loud if Metro were becoming a racist platform.
Before the month of May was over, Qviberg had sold his shares in Metro. That
politicians would punish a newspaper owner who had "wrong" views did not
surprise anyone in Sweden; the situation was not worth mentioning. In Sweden,
even owners of newspapers are supposed to follow the political order.
In June 2017, the leader of the Sweden Democrats (SD), Jimmie Åkesson, spoke in
Järva, a district in Stockholm dominated by immigrants. The Sweden Democrats is
a social-conservative party in the Swedish parliament; it supports, among other
matters, a restrictive migration policy. While Åkesson was speaking, there were
protests against him; and among the protesters were various placards. A
photograph of Radio Sweden's van showed an anti-SD placard inside it. On it, one
could read "Jimmie = Racist". The explanation from Radio Sweden was:
"Someone put a sign on Ekot's (a Radio Sweden news program) car in Järva on
Sunday evening. It was taken down and put into the car and then thrown away on
the way from there."
You can have a discussion about why Radio Sweden spends its time discarding
placards that left-wing protesters use. Is that what journalist are supposed to
do when they are covering a story? In the end, however, it does not matter. The
people's confidence in the mainstream media in Sweden is being eroded as we
write.
A new study from Institutet för Mediestudier shows that 54% agree, or partly
agree, that the Swedish media are not telling the whole truth about problems in
society linked to migration. Instead of the media accepting that they are biased
and starting to change their ways, the media continue to attack citizens who
appear critical.
In June 2017, the editorial writer of the daily Aftonbladet, Anders Lindberg,
wrote an editorial titled, "Hitler Did Not Trust the Media Either," in which he
equated the critics of the Swedish media with Nazis. Anders Lindberg, after
working 10 years for the Social Democrats, resigned as the Communications
Ombudsman for the Social Democrats in 2010, to start working as an editorial
writer for Aftonbladet. He is so well-known for what his critics view as unusual
versions of the truth that he has the privilege of writing for Sweden's largest
newspaper. In 2015, he described the issue of organized begging, a visible
problem in northern Europe, as "legends and folklore". Today there is no party
that denies that organized begging is a real problem.
I often have difficulty explaining to many of my American friends and colleagues
how the Swedish media work. Often, there may be clear examples of anti-Semitism
and other unsavory behavior. The first question I always get is: Why is the
media not writing about this? The answer is simple. The Swedish media are
politicized to the extent that they act as a propaganda machine. It is not a
propaganda machine in the traditional sense of the word, with an official
Ministry of Propaganda. But in Sweden, many journalists and editors are either
old established political party employees, as Anders Lindberg, or simply
ideologically indoctrinated and therefore extremely biased. The Swedish
propaganda machine punishes those who have the "wrong" opinions and celebrates
those who have the "right" opinions.
What happened to Tim Pool was a part of how media works in Sweden. As long as he
said the "right" things, the Swedish media gave a positive picture of him. When
he started to have the "wrong" opinion, the propaganda machine started doing its
work and Pool became "a threat to democracy".
There are, of course, more examples that show how sick the Swedish debate- and
media-climate has become. In such a negative environment, there are many
casualties. The first casualty is, obviously, the truth. When people start to
understand that the mainstream media are lying, they turn to alternative media.
Alternative media outlets, however, also usually have political agendas. A
democracy cannot survive well only on biased media. A democracy desperately
needs mainstream media outlets that inform its citizens and criticize people who
hold power. That is something Sweden does not have today.
A large portion of the Swedish population are apparently aware of this and do
not trust the media. Through its lies, the Swedish media have created
possibilities for "post-truth politics" in Sweden. Instead of being a neutral
party, the mainstream Swedish media have lied to uphold certain "politically
correct" values. The result is an atmosphere where many people believe that
everything that the media says has a political agenda. When the mainstream media
in Sweden lie shamelessly, where can one go to find the truth? One wonders what
lifestyle and political stability Sweden will have when no one can know the
truth about what is really going on.
**Nima Gholam Ali Pour is a member of the board of education in the Swedish city
of Malmö and is engaged in several Swedish think tanks concerned with the Middle
East. He is also editor for the social conservative website Situation Malmö, and
is the author of the Swedish book "Därför är mångkultur förtryck"("Why
Multiculturalism is Oppression").
© 2017 Gatestone Institute. All rights reserved. The articles printed here do
not necessarily reflect the views of the Editors or of Gatestone Institute. No
part of the Gatestone website or any of its contents may be reproduced, copied
or modified, without the prior written consent of Gatestone Institute.
Europe: Jihadists Exploit Welfare Benefits
Soeren Kern/Gatestone Institute/August 30/17
https://www.gatestoneinstitute.org/10916/jihadist-welfare-benefits
While taking money from Swiss taxpayers, Abu Ramadan, a well-known Salafist,
called for the introduction of Sharia law in Switzerland and urged Muslims to
avoid integrating into Swiss society. He also said that Muslims who commit
crimes in Switzerland should not be subject to Swiss laws.
"This scandal is so huge that it is difficult to believe. Imams who preach hate
towards Christians and Jews, and who criticize the depravity of the West, are
granted asylum and are living comfortably as refugees on social welfare. All
this with the complicity of cowardly and incompetent authorities who give carte
blanche to the complacent and naive assistants of the asylum and social welfare
system." — Adrian Amstutz, Swiss parliamentarian.
City officials in Lund remain undeterred: They have launched a pilot project
aimed at providing Swedish jihadists who are returning from Syria with housing,
employment, education and other financial support -- all thanks to the Swedish
taxpayers.
A Libyan imam who called on Allah to "destroy" all non-Muslims received more
than $600,000 in welfare payments from the Swiss government, according to the
Swiss broadcaster SRF.
Abu Ramadan arrived in Switzerland in 1998 and was granted asylum in 2004 after
claiming that the Libyan government was persecuting him for his affiliation with
the Muslim Brotherhood. Since then, Ramadan has collected 600,000 Swiss Francs
($620,000) in social welfare payments, according to SRF.
Although Ramadan has lived in Switzerland for nearly 20 years, he can barely
speak French or German, and has never held a steady job. Ramadan, 64, will soon
be entitled to receive a Swiss state pension.
While taking money from Swiss taxpayers, Ramadan, a well-known Salafist, called
for the introduction of Sharia law in Switzerland and urged Muslims to avoid
integrating into Swiss society. He also said that Muslims who commit crimes in
Switzerland should not be subject to Swiss laws. In a sermon Ramadan recently
preached at a mosque near Bern, he said:
"Oh, Allah, I ask you to destroy the enemies of our religion, destroy the Jews,
the Christians, the Hindus, the Russians and the Shiites. God, I ask you to
destroy them all and to return to Islam its ancient glory."
Saïda Keller-Messahli, a Swiss-Tunisian human rights activist, said that Ramadan
is dangerous because of his opposition to Muslim integration: "This is someone
who does not call directly to jihad but creates the mental breeding ground for
it."
Adrian Amstutz, a federal parliamentarian, blamed the situation on Swiss
multiculturalism:
"This scandal is so huge that it is difficult to believe. Imams who preach hate
towards Christians and Jews, and who criticize the depravity of the West, are
granted asylum and are living comfortably as refugees on social welfare. All
this with the complicity of cowardly and incompetent authorities who give carte
blanche to the complacent and naive assistants of the asylum and social welfare
system."
Beat Feurer, a municipal counselor in Biel, the Swiss town where Ramadan has
lived for 20 years, called on Swiss authorities to open an investigation:
"Personally, I am of the opinion that such people have nothing to do here. They
should be expelled."
The Ramadan scandal is being repeated in countries across Europe, where
potentially thousands of violent and non-violent jihadists are using welfare
payments to finance their activities. A guide for jihadists in the West — "How
to Survive in the West" — issued by the Islamic State in 2015 advised: "If you
can claim extra benefits from a government, then do so."
In Austria, more than a dozen jihadists collected welfare payments to finance
their trips to Syria. Among those detained was Mirsad Omerovic, 32, an extremist
Islamic preacher who police say raised several hundred thousand euros for the
war in Syria. Omerovic, a father of six who lives exclusively off the Austrian
welfare state, benefited from additional payments for paternity leave.
In Belgium, several of the jihadists in the Brussels and Paris attacks that
killed 162 people in 2015 and 2016 received more than €50,000 ($59,000) in
social welfare benefits, which they used to finance their terror plots. Fred
Cauderlier, a spokesman for the Belgian prime minister, defended the payments:
"This is a democracy. We have no tools to check how people spend their
benefits."
In Flemish Brabant and Brussels alone, dozens of jihadists who fought in Syria
received at least €123,898 ($150,000) in unlawful benefits, according to the
Justice Ministry.
Previously, the Flemish newspaper De Standaard reported that 29 jihadists from
Antwerp and Vilvoorde continued to receive €1,000 ($1,200) per month in social
welfare benefits even after they had traveled to Syria and Iraq to fight for the
Islamic State. Antwerp Mayor Bart de Wever said: "It would be unjust for these
people to benefit from social programs and use, for example, their unemployment
payments to finance their fight in Syria."
In February 2017, the RVA National Employment Agency revealed that 16 jihadists
who had returned to Belgium after fighting in Syria were receiving unemployment
benefits. RVA spokesperson Wouter Langeraert said:
"We live in a constitutional state. Not every returned Syrian warrior is in
prison. Some meet all legal conditions: they are not in prison, they have
re-registered in their municipality and they are job seekers and so on."
In Britain, taxpayers bankrolled Khuram Butt, the ringleader of the London
Bridge and Borough Market terror attack in which eight people were murdered and
48 others injured.
Salman Abedi, the Manchester suicide bomber, used taxpayer-funded student loans
and benefits to bankroll his terror plot. Abedi was given at least £7,000
($7,000) from the taxpayer-funded Student Loans Company after beginning a
business administration degree at Salford University in October 2015. He is
believed to have received a further £7,000 in the 2016 academic year even though
by then he had already dropped out of the course. Abedi is also thought to have
received housing benefit and income support worth up to £250 a week.
David Videcette, a former Metropolitan police detective who worked on the 7/7
London bombing investigation, said of the student loans' system:
"It is an easy way for a terrorist to move forward and finance their activities
at the expense of the taxpayer. All you have got to do is get yourself into
university and then off you go. Often they have got no intention of turning up."
Professor Anthony Glees, director of Buckingham University's Centre for Security
and Intelligence Studies, said: "The British system makes funds readily
available to jihadist students without checks on them. There needs to be an
inquiry into this."
Meanwhile, Shahan Choudhury, a 30-year-old Bangladeshi-origin jihadist who was
radicalized in a British prison, used government welfare money to pay for taking
his entire immediate family, including three young children, to join the Islamic
State in Syria. The family disappeared overnight, leaving all of their
possessions in their East London apartment, according to their landlady.
In 2015, it emerged that three sisters from Bradford who had travelled to Syria
were still claiming benefits. Khadija, 30, Zohra, 33, and 34-year-old Sugra
Dawood who travelled to Syria with their nine children used Income Support and
Child Tax Credits to finance their trip.
More recently, a freedom of information request revealed that Anjem Choudary, an
Islamist who is serving a five-and-a-half year sentence for urging support of
the Islamic State, received more than £140,000 ($180,000) in taxpayer-funded
legal aid for his unsuccessful bid to avoid prison. The figure is set to rise as
his lawyers continue to file claims. The father-of-five has claimed up to
£500,000 ($640,000) in benefits, which he has referred to as "Jihad seeker's
allowance."
Choudary believes that Muslims are entitled to welfare payments because they are
a form of jizya, a tax imposed on non-Muslims as a reminder that they are
permanently inferior and subservient to Muslims.
Anjem Choudary, a British Islamist who is serving a prison sentence for urging
support of the Islamic State, believes that Muslims are entitled to welfare
payments because they are a form of jizya, a tax imposed on non-Muslims as a
reminder that they are permanently inferior and subservient to Muslims. He
received up to £500,000 ($640,000) in benefits, which he has referred to as
"Jihad seeker's allowance." (Photo by Oli Scarff/Getty Images)
British media reported that before his incarceration Choudary was taking home
more than £25,000 ($32,000) a year in welfare benefits. Among other handouts,
Choudary was receiving £15,600 a year in housing benefit to keep him in a
£320,000 house in Leytonstone, East London. He also received £1,820 council tax
allowance, £5,200 income support and £3,120 child benefits. Because welfare
payments are not taxed, his income was equivalent to a £32,500 ($42,000) salary.
By comparison, the average annual earnings of full-time workers in Britain was
£28,200 ($36,500) in 2016.
More examples of welfare abuse by jihadists in Britain can be found here.
In Denmark, the Security and Intelligence Service (PET) reported that jihadists
too sick to work but healthy enough to fight for the Islamic State were
receiving disability, sickness and early retirement benefits from the Danish
state.
Previously, a document produced by the Employment Ministry revealed that that
more than 30 Danish jihadists continued to receive welfare payments, amounting
to 672,000 Danish Krone ($92,000), even after they had joined the Islamic State
in Syria.
Employment Minister Troels Lund Poulsen said:
"It is totally unacceptable and a disgrace. It must be stopped. If you travel to
Syria to participate in jihad, to become an ISIS warrior, then you of course
should not have any right to receive benefits from the Danish government."
In France, the government has cut welfare benefits for around 300 individuals
identified as jihadists. France is the largest exporter of foreign fighters to
Iraq and Syria, with more than 900 jihadists travelling abroad.
In Germany, Anis Amri, a 23-year-old Tunisian who carried out the deadly attack
on the Christmas market in Berlin, used multiple identities to illegally collect
welfare payments. German authorities apparently knew of the fraud but failed to
act.
Meanwhile, a jihadist residing in Wolfsburg who took his wife and two small
children to Syria continued to receive German welfare payments, amounting to
tens of thousands of euros, for one year after leaving Germany. Local
authorities said that German privacy laws made it impossible for them to know
that the family had left the country.
Overall, more than 20% of the German jihadists fighting in Syria and Iraq were
found to be receiving state welfare benefits; jihadists are also eligible to
begin receiving benefits again after they return to Germany. Bavarian Interior
Minister Joachim Herrmann said:
"It should never come to this. German taxpayers' money should never directly or
indirectly finance Islamist terrorism. The benefits of such terrorist parasites
should be eliminated immediately. Not working and spreading terror at the
expense of the German state is not only extremely dangerous, it is also the
worst provocation and disgrace."
In the Netherlands, the government stopped welfare payments to dozens of
jihadists a Dutch fighter named Khalid Abdurahman appeared in a YouTube video
with five severed heads. Originally from Iraq, Abdurahman was living on social
welfare benefits in the Netherlands for more than a decade before he joined the
Islamic State in Syria. Dutch social services declared him to be unfit for work
and taxpayers paid for the medication to treat him for claustrophobia and
schizophrenia.
The law to terminate welfare payments to jihadists does not extend to student
loans: Deputy Prime Minister Lodewijk Asscher said that such a ban would be
counterproductive because it would make it more difficult for returning
jihadists to reintegrate.
In Spain, Saib Lachhab, a 41-year-old Moroccan jihadist residing in the Basque
city of Vitoria, accumulated €9,000 ($11,000) in welfare payments to finance his
plan to join the Islamic State in Syria. Each month he received €625 ($750) from
the central government and €250 ($300) from the Basque government. He also
received €900 ($1,075) a month in unemployment benefits.
Samir Mahdjoub, a 44-year-old Algerian jihadist residing in the Basque city of
Bilbao, received €650 ($780) each month in welfare support and €250 ($300) in
housing support. Redouan Bensbih, a 26-year-old Moroccan jihadist residing in
the Basque town of Barakaldo, received welfare payments of €836 ($1,000) a month
even after he was killed on a Syrian battlefield. Police eventually arrested
five Muslims in the Basque Country who intercepted the payments and wired them
to Morocco. Basque authorities said the payments continued because they were not
notified of his death.
Ahmed Bourguerba, a 31-year-old Algerian jihadist residing in Bilbao, received
€625 ($750) a month in welfare payments and €250 ($300) in housing support until
he was incarcerated for terrorism offenses. Mehdi Kacem, a 26-year-old Moroccan
jihadist residing in the Basque city of San Sebastian, received €800 ($950) a
month in welfare payments until he was arrested for belonging to the Islamic
State.
Previously, a Pakistani couple residing in Vitoria were accused of falsifying
identity documents to obtain social welfare payments fraudulently for ten
fictitious individuals. Police said that the couple defrauded the Basque
government of more than €395,000 ($475,000) over a period of three years.
In Sweden, a report produced by the National Defence University found that 300
Swedish citizens continued to receive welfare payments even after they had left
the country to fight for the Islamic State in Syria and Iraq. In most instances,
the jihadists used friends and family members to manage the paperwork to create
the illusion that they were still in Sweden.
Muslim convert Michael Skråmo, for example, received more than 50,000 Swedish
kronor ($5,000) in welfare payments after he moved to Syria with his wife and
four children. It was not until a year after Skråmo had left Gothenburg that his
benefits were terminated.
Magnus Ranstorp, one of the report's authors, said that the payments exposed the
weakness in Sweden's control mechanisms:
"Michael Skråmo has been one of the most well-known IS sympathizers for quite
some time. Police should be able to somehow sound the alarm and inform all the
authorities when someone has journeyed down there."
Meanwhile, the state employment agency, Arbetsförmedlingen, ended a pilot
project aimed at helping migrants find jobs after it emerged that Muslim
employees at the agency were recruiting Swedish jihadists. Islamic State
operatives allegedly bribed — and in some instances threatened — agency
employees in efforts to recruit fighters from Sweden.
City officials in Lund remain undeterred: They have launched a pilot project
aimed at providing Swedish jihadists who are returning from Syria with housing,
employment, education and other financial support — all thanks to the Swedish
taxpayers.
**Soeren Kern is a Senior Fellow at the New York-based Gatestone Institute.
Follow Soeren Kern on Twitter and Facebook
© 2017 Gatestone Institute. All rights reserved. The articles printed here do
not necessarily reflect the views of the Editors or of Gatestone Institute. No
part of the Gatestone website or any of its contents may be reproduced, copied
or modified, without the prior written consent of Gatestone Institute.
Does Astana format still have the same importance for
Russia?
Alexey Khlebnikov/Al Arabiya/August 30/17
Sixth round of Astana Syria talks initially planned for the last week of August
is now postponed for the mid-September. The recent negotiations in Kazakhstan’s
capital which took place on July 4-5 did not produce any result as parties still
had some technical differences with regard to the practical implementation of
the de-escalation zones plan.
Russia, Turkey and Iran, which are the three sponsors of the format, did not
sign a single agreement defining the practical parameters of the four
de-escalation zones that were proposed in May. However, reports about Russia,
Turkey and Iran constantly discussing de-escalation zones could be found easily.
Surprisingly, right after the fifth round of negotiations in Astana the United
States and Russia brokered the new ceasefire deal on July 7, establishing a
de-escalation zone in southwest Syria which included areas of Quneitra, Suweida
and Deraa.
The deal was signed in the framework of Amman format by Jordan, Russia and the
United States and came as a result of months-long preliminary talks between the
parties. It was announced July 9 after presidents Donald Trump and Vladimir
Putin met in Germany on the sidelines of the G-20 summit. This naturally puts
necessity and effectiveness of Astana format into question.
Interestingly, that agreements on functioning the other two de-escalation zones
in eastern Ghouta and northern Homs were also struck outside of the Astana
format – in Cairo by the end of July. During the recent visit of Egyptian
foreign Minister Sameh Shoukri to Moscow, Lavrov praised Cairo’s constructive
role in establishing de-escalation zones in eastern Ghouta and Homs in Syria.
Egypt hosted several rounds of talks between representatives of Russia’s defense
ministry and different Syrian opposition groups which resulted in establishing
two more de-escalation zones.
Moreover, Jaysh al-Islam and Faylaq ar-Rahman, two major Islamist opposition
groups operating in eastern Ghouta, also signed agreements with Russia’s defense
ministry joining the ceasefire and de-escalation regime outside Astana format.
It happened on July 22 and August 18 in Cairo and Geneva respectively. Thus,
Astana format was sidelined again.
One of the key questions about all these above-mentioned agreements signed
outside of the Astana format is whether they are holding effectively. So far,
they all are holding pretty well.
Regardless of every good thing Astana format has produced, postponing the next
round of talks is just another confirmation that the parties still did not reach
a consensus
Lines of contact
The southwestern de-escalation zone agreed by Russia, the United States and
Jordan, is holding effectively. On July 21-22 Russia deployed its military
policy units along the approved lines of contact (Jordan, US, Israel were
informed in advance) near the southwestern de-escalation zone.
Moreover, on Aug. 23 Russia announced the launch of joint Russia-US-Jordan
monitoring center in Jordan’s capital Amman. The center’s main objectives are to
monitor the ceasefire regime in the southeastern de-escalation zone, secure
humanitarian access and provide medical and other assistance to the population.
The other two de-escalation zones also seem functioning successfully. On July
24, Russia deployed its military police units to east Ghouta zone and on August
4 to northern Homs zone to monitor the ceasefire regime and ensure access of
humanitarian and medical aid to the devastated areas.
That were also negotiated during talks in Cairo. According to the Russian
defense ministry 14 humanitarian convoys of the UN and International Committee
of Red Cross have entered de-escalation zones including 10 convoys in August.
As a result, Russia comes out as the sole force so far that monitors three
existing de-escalation zones in Syria (not counting joint monitoring center in
Amman). Iran with its significant number of forces on the ground and rising
influence in the country seems to be effectively sidelined by Russia in order to
appease the US, Jordan and Israel.
Growing Iranian influence
The southwest de-escalation zone deal with the US and Jordan took into account
Jordanian and Israeli concerns about growing Iranian influence in Syria,
especially in its south as both countries share border with it.
Most likely Moscow made Iran to pull out its forces deployed close to the
southwest de-escalation zone and Russian military police posts along the zone’s
border keep Iranian forces in check, thus, making Jordanians and Israelis
satisfied. It is logical to assume that Moscow made some trade off with Iran.
But it seems that Moscow decided to go further with its own approach of
excluding Iran and Turkey from the talks on functioning of de-escalation zones
which holds certain risks for Russia.
If Moscow had offered Iran a stake in other two central de-escalation zones in
eastern Ghouta and Homs after it ignored its interests in southwest Syria, that
would have been a fair trade. But eventually, Russia did not do that, instead
getting control over the central de-escalation zones (east Ghouta and Homs)
where Iranian forces intended to gain momentum.
As a result, the last de-escalation zone in Idlib province has left. But that
area is already under Turkey’s interest. Thus, such situation ultimately makes
it way more difficult for Moscow, Ankara and Tehran to compromise, especially
given that Syria’s north has other forces – Syrian Kurds and the US. In
addition, it can also push Iran closer to Turkey threatening Russia’s interests
in Syria.
On Aug. 16, Iran’s armed forces chief visited Turkey for the first time since
1979 to discuss with Erdogan and his defense minister ways of boosting bilateral
defense ties, and reconciling the two countries’ policy differences in Syria and
Iraq.
They also discussed Russia-sponsored de-escalation zones mechanism. Ankara and
Tehran have no agreement on the checkpoints to be established inside Syria to
ease the access of humanitarian aid and the return of Syrians to their lands. It
sends Russia a signal – Turkey and Iran might unite to oppose Russia if it is
needed.
Legitimized status
As a result, it complicates functioning of the Astana format and makes its
guarantors to postpone the next round. This format remains to be important for
all three actors as it legitimized their status of the most important actors in
Syria, allowed them to create conceptual framework for the ceasefire and
de-escalation zones, and demonstrated their effective approach internationally.
The only drawback appeared when subsequent talks on de-escalation zones details
were conducted outside of the format. This is why if Russia, Turkey and Iran
fail to compromise on the fourth de-escalation zone in Idlib and demonstrate
workability of Astana format it might soon cease to exist, paving the road for
alternatives in Amman and Cairo.
All recent reports coming from the Russia’s foreign ministry and its partners
say that Russia, Turkey and Iran are currently working on setting up the final
de-escalation zone in Syrian Idlib province. But regardless of every good thing
Astana format has already produced, postponing the next round of talks is just
another confirmation that the parties still did not reach a consensus and have
nothing to come with. In the end, it adds nothing to the Astana format
effectiveness.
Therefore, the main challenge which Russia, Turkey and Iran need to address over
the next three weeks is whether they are ready to compromise and prove Astana
format to be successful.