LCCC ENGLISH DAILY NEWS BULLETIN

LCCC ENGLISH DAILY NEWS BULLETIN
December 30/17
Compiled & Prepared by: Elias Bejjani

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http://data.eliasbejjaninews.com/newselias/english.december30.17.htm

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Bible Quotations
If I were still trying to please people, I would not be a servant of Christ
Galatians 01/01-24"Paul, an apostle—sent not from men nor by a man, but by Jesus Christ and God the Father, who raised him from the dead— and all the brothers and sisters with me, To the churches in Galatia: Grace and peace to you from God our Father and the Lord Jesus Christ, who gave himself for our sins to rescue us from the present evil age, according to the will of our God and Father, to whom be glory for ever and ever. Amen. I am astonished that you are so quickly deserting the one who called you to live in the grace of Christ and are turning to a different gospel— which is really no gospel at all. Evidently some people are throwing you into confusion and are trying to pervert the gospel of Christ. 8 But even if we or an angel from heaven should preach a gospel other than the one we preached to you, let them be under God’s curse! As we have already said, so now I say again: If anybody is preaching to you a gospel other than what you accepted, let them be under God’s curse! Am I now trying to win the approval of human beings, or of God? Or am I trying to please people? If I were still trying to please people, I would not be a servant of Christ. I want you to know, brothers and sisters, that the gospel I preached is not of human origin. I did not receive it from any man, nor was I taught it; rather, I received it by revelation from Jesus Christ. For you have heard of my previous way of life in Judaism, how intensely I persecuted the church of God and tried to destroy it. I was advancing in Judaism beyond many of my own age among my people and was extremely zealous for the traditions of my fathers. But when God, who set me apart from my mother’s womb and called me by his grace, was pleased to reveal his Son in me so that I might preach him among the Gentiles, my immediate response was not to consult any human being. I did not go up to Jerusalem to see those who were apostles before I was, but I went into Arabia. Later I returned to Damascus. Then after three years, I went up to Jerusalem to get acquainted with Cephas and stayed with him fifteen days. I saw none of the other apostles—only James, the Lord’s brother. I assure you before God that what I am writing you is no lie. Then I went to Syria and Cilicia. I was personally unknown to the churches of Judea that are in Christ. They only heard the report: “The man who formerly persecuted us is now preaching the faith he once tried to destroy.” And they praised God because of me."

Make my joy complete by being like-minded, having the same love, being one
Philippians 02/01-11/: "Therefore if you have any encouragement from being united with Christ, if any comfort from his love, if any common sharing in the Spirit, if any tenderness and compassion, then make my joy complete by being like-minded, having the same love, being one in spirit and of one mind. Do nothing out of selfish ambition or vain conceit. Rather, in humility value others above yourselves, not looking to your own interests but each of you to the interests of the others. In your relationships with one another, have the same mindset as Christ Jesus: Who, being in very nature God, did not consider equality with God something to be used to his own advantage; rather, he made himself nothing by taking the very nature of a servant, being made in human likeness. And being found in appearance as a man, he humbled himself by becoming obedient to death— even death on a cross! Therefore God exalted him to the highest place and gave him the name that is above every name, that at the name of Jesus every knee should bow, in heaven and on earth and under the earth, and every tongue acknowledge that Jesus Christ is Lord, to the glory of God the Father."

Titles For Latest LCCC Bulletin analysis & editorials from miscellaneous sources published on December 29-30/17
How Obama’s Iran policy strengthened Hezbollah/Dr. Azeem Ibrahim/Al Arabiya/December 29/17
Threats of 2017 - Mideast, Terror, Weapons - Will Linger in the New Year/
John R. Bolton/Gatestone Institute/December 29/2017
Clouding the Cause of Islamic Terrorism/A. Z. Mohamed/Gatestone Institute/December 29/2017

Did Putin defeat terrorism/Mashari Althaydi/Al Arabiya/December 29/17
Titles For Latest LCCC Lebanese Related News published on December 29-30/17
Hizbullah Reportedly to Seek End to Aoun-Berri Row in Early January
Aoun Vows to 'Build State', Promises 'Better Future' for Lebanon
Presidency Press Office: Aoun signs officers' promotion decrees for 2018
Aoun to expats delegation: Lebanon's future will be better than its past
Berri, Palestinian delegation tackle Quds situation
Israeli Troops Hurl Stun Grenades at Lebanese Border Protesters
Controversy Grows over Bassil Remarks on Israel
Ain el-Tineh Says Berri's Stance 'Immunizes Army'
Foucher congratulates Lebanese people, French nationals on New Year
Army Commander, interlocutors tackle relevant affairs
UNIFIL Korean Contingent celebrates 'Homecoming Day' Event
Palestinian delegation visits Hariri to thank him for the Lebanese position
LAU Medical Center, Rizk Hospital celebrate Christmas with its employees
Hariri urges restraint in Aoun-Berri faceoff
Lebanon will be more beautiful: Aoun
How Obama’s Iran policy strengthened Hezbollah

Titles For Latest LCCC Bulletin For Miscellaneous Reports And News published on December 29-30/17
Gunman Kills 9 in Attack on Egypt Church
Protests continue in Iran as cleric urges tough action
Several Held at Tehran Demo after 52 Arrested in Mashhad
Fierce Fighting Kills Dozens in Northwest Syria
Cameraman Killed during Fighting in Northwest Syria
Will Washington join Tel Aviv to prevent Iranian expansion in Syria?
Israel strikes Gaza after rocket attack
Saudi Crown Prince discusses bilateral relations with Egypt’s Sisi
Arab Coalition calls UN to review humanitarian coordinator’s biased stance
Saudi Crown Prince Makes Telephone Call to Egyptian President
Several Dead and Injured in Attack on Egypt Church
Saudi Arabia Releases Two Princes after Graft Probe

Latest Lebanese Related News published on December 29-30/17
Hizbullah Reportedly to Seek End to Aoun-Berri Row in Early January
Naharnet/December 29/17/Hizbullah will intervene after the holidays in a bid to put an end to the growing spat between its key allies President Michel Aoun and Speaker Nabih Berri, media reports said. Al-Liwaa daily reported Friday that Hizbullah chief Sayyed Hassan Nasrallah will lead the efforts through his political aide Hussein al-Khalil and the party's Liaison and Coordination officer Wafiq Safa.“The party will begin its endeavor in early 2018 after the holidays,” the newspaper quoted “credible sources” as saying. The sources said Hizbullah will “reiterate its principled stance that supports Speaker Berri's viewpoint” on the controversial decree that has sparked the row with Aoun. “The party will try to convince President Aoun of its stance and of the need to return the decree to the finance minister to sign it before it goes into effect, or else it will propose another compromise solution whose details are still unclear,” the sources added. The Aoun-Berri spat broke out after the president and Premier Saad Hariri signed a decree granting one-year seniority to a number of officers. Berri and Finance Minister Ali Hassan Khalil have insisted that the decree should have also carried the finance minister's signature. Aoun and his aides have argued that the decree did not require Khalil's signature because it did not entail any “financial burden,” a point Berri and officials close to him have argued against. Ain el-Tineh sources have meanwhile warned that the decree would tip sectarian balance in favor of Christians in the army's highest echelons. The officers in question were undergoing their first year of officer training at the Military Academy when Syrian forces ousted Aoun’s military government from Baabda in 1990. They were suspended by the pro-Damascus authorities until 1993 before they resumed their officer training course as second-year cadets.

Aoun Vows to 'Build State', Promises 'Better Future' for Lebanon
Naharnet/December 29/17/President Michel Aoun on Friday reassured that Lebanon's future “will be better than its past.”“Lebanon's future will be better than its near and distant past, because we will build a state no matter how hard things may be,” Aoun told an expat delegation at the Baabda Palace. “Very soon we will be able to revitalize the economic and financial situations in order to restore prosperity,” the president said. “I encourage you to return to Lebanon, because the economy will be revived very soon,” Aoun added, noting that “the tourism sector has seen progress because security is the basis of tourism.”“The other sectors need some time and we will build them,” the president pledged.

Presidency Press Office: Aoun signs officers' promotion decrees for 2018
Fri 29 Dec 2017/NNA - President of the Republic Michel Aoun on Friday signed the decrees related to the promotion of officers from the ISF, General Security, State Security and Customs' Administration to a higher rank for the year 2018, Presidency Press Office said in a statement. The decrees, which carried the signatures of the Prime Minister and the Ministers of the Interior and Finance, bear the following numbers: 2124-2125-2126-2127-2128-2129 dated 29/12/2017. President Aoun's signature on the aforementioned decrees came to preserve officers' rights to promotion, Presidency Press Office said.

Aoun to expats delegation: Lebanon's future will be better than its past
Fri 29 Dec 2017/NNA - President of the Republic, Michel Aoun, on Friday vowed that Lebanon's future shall be better than its latest and remote past, voicing determination to build the State regardless of difficulties. "We will be able very soon to realize advancement in the economic and financial situation," President Aoun told a delegation of the Lebanese associations in Europe, who visited him at the Baabda palace on Friday. The delegation included expatriates from the various European countries, notably from Spain, France, Italy, Luxembourg, Switzerland, Bulgaria, Belgium, Holland, Britain, Denmark and Sweden. "Difficulties are ongoing which might hinder the reform measures... However, we are on the right path," Aoun assured his visiting expats delegation. Aoun noted the presence of a bulky legacy to be dealt with, pledging to continue struggle till a new generation turns up and alters the existing way of thinking. The President also indicated that administrative reforms might be easier to accomplish than financial and economic reforms. Aoun also hailed the Lebanese Diaspora who managed to expand the borders of Lebanon, saying all expatriates are encouraged to return to Lebanon thanks to the successful organizational work by the Foreign Minister who anchored communication between Lebanon and the Diaspora. On the other hand, Aoun met with Economy Minister Raed Khoury, in the presence of Aoun's key Advisor, Mireille Aoun, and the President's Gulf affairs Advisor, Fadi Asli, with talks reportedly touching on an array of economic issues, notably preparations underway for the holding of Paris Conference in support of investments in Lebanon. Aoun later met with the International Monetary Fund's Regional Director, former Minister, Jihad Azour, with whom he discussed the overall economic situation in Lebanon and the region

Berri, Palestinian delegation tackle Quds situation
Fri 29 Dec 2017/NNA - House Speaker, Nabih Berri, on Friday received Fatah Central Committee member Azzam al-Ahmad, the Palestinian Ambassador, Ashraf Dabbour, and PLO Secretary General in Lebanon, Fathi Abu al-Ardat. After the meeting, Al-Ahmad said that the delegation briefed the Speaker on the situation inside Palestine and the steadfastness of the Palestinian people, women, children, old people and men in the face of Israeli occupation and in defense of Jerusalem. Al-Ahmad also noted that they briefed the Speaker on the moves undertaken by the Palestinian Command at the international level, as well as the Arab parliamentary moves to confront the American decision on Jerusalem. On the other hand, Speaker Berri met with Internal Security Forces Chief, Major General Imad Othman, at the head of a delegation of the Command Council, who visited the Speaker to well-wish him on the festive season. Berri hailed the role undertaken by the security forces and the army in maintaining and enhancing
security stability in the country.

Israeli Troops Hurl Stun Grenades at Lebanese Border Protesters
Naharnet/December 29/17/The Israeli army on Friday hurled stun grenades during a Hizbullah-organized demo near the Lebanese-Israeli border, Lebanon's National News Agency said. “Israeli soldiers hurled two stun grenades this afternoon at a number of young men who approached the electronic border fence,” NNA said. The young men were taking part in a rally organized by Hizbullah “in support and solidarity with Jerusalem,” the agency added. The demo was held at the Fatima border wall in the southern town of Kfarkila. Palestinians marked another "day of rage" on Friday in the West Bank and the Gaza Strip in protest at U.S. President Donald Trump's controversial December 6 recognition of Jerusalem as Israel's capital. Tens of thousands of Hizbullah supporters had demonstrated in Beirut's southern suburbs on December 11 in protest at Trump's move.

Controversy Grows over Bassil Remarks on Israel
Naharnet/December 29/17/Foreign Minister Jebran Bassil has sparked controversy in Lebanon by saying that he does not reject Israel's existence and that Israel “has the right to live in security.”“We do not have an ideological problem with Israel. We do not reject Israel's existence and its right to live in security. We are only saying that we want all peoples to lives in security and to acknowledge each other,” Bassil said in an interview with the Beirut-based, pan-Arab al-Mayadeen television. The minister's remarks drew criticism from some politicians and sparked a social media war of words between supporters of the Free Patriotic Movement and Hizbullah. A statement issued by Bassil's press office said a video circulated on social media was “taken out of context.”“This curtailment is aimed at distorting Minister Bassil's stance,” the press office said, noting that Bassil considers Israel “an aggressor entity that practices state terrorism.” “This campaign is aimed at undermining Minister Bassil's stance on Jerusalem at the Arab League,” the press office added.

Ain el-Tineh Says Berri's Stance 'Immunizes Army'
Naharnet/December 29/17/Speaker Nabih Berri's stance on the controversial officers seniority decree “preserves and immunizes the army,” well-informed Ain el-Tineh sources have said. “No one can create a rift between us and this institution which we have always supported and protected seeing as it is the country's security valve,” the sources told al-Akhbar newspaper in remarks published Friday. “We are in around-the-clock contact with the Army Command,” the sources reassured. The sources also noted that Finance Minister Ali Hassan Khalil's decision on Wednesday to refrain from signing officer promotion decrees “was not targeted against the army.”“It rather protects the stance and unity of the institution and prevents discrimination among its ranks,” the sources added. Free Patriotic Movement sources had described the minister's move as “an attack on the military institution and its sacrifices, especially after the institution's achievements in the fight against terror cells and the liberation of the eastern border region.”Berri's stance has created an unprecedented spat with President Michel Aoun, who has signed the seniority decree along with Prime Minister Saad Hariri. The decree grants one-year's seniority to a number of officers. Berri and Khalil have insisted that the decree should have also carried the finance minister's signature. Aoun and his aides have argued that the decree did not require Khalil's signature because it did not entail any “financial burden,” a point Berri and officials close to him have argued against. Ain el-Tineh sources warned last week that the decree would tip sectarian balance in favor of Christians in the army's highest echelons. The officers in question were undergoing their first year of officer training at the Military Academy when Syrian forces ousted Aoun’s military government from Baabda in 1990. They were suspended by the pro-Damascus authorities until 1993 before they resumed their officer training course as second-year cadets.

Foucher congratulates Lebanese people, French nationals on New Year
Fri 29 Dec 2017/NNA - French Ambassador to Lebanon, Bruno Foucher, on Friday congratulated the Lebanese people and French nationals on the advent of the New Year, wishing them further success, prosperity and health. Ambassador Foucher also deemed Year 2017 as fruitful for the French-Lebanese ties, notably with the recent respective visits of President Michel Aoun and Prime Minister Saad Hariri to Paris. Foucher's words came in a letter he issued on the occasion of the New Year, distributed by the French Embassy in Beirut. "2018 will be a very important year for French-Lebanese ties notably with President Emmanuel Macron's forthcoming visit to Lebanon in April," Foucher said, stressing France's continual stand by the Lebanese.

Army Commander, interlocutors tackle relevant affairs
Fri 29 Dec 2017/NNA - Army Commander General Joseph Aoun on Friday received at his Yarzeh office Lebanese Ambassador to Italy, Mira Daher, with talks reportedly touching on the ongoing preparations for the Rome conference on supporting the Lebanese army. General Aoun also met with the Director General of the Civil Defense Brigadier General Raymond Khattar, with whom he discussed joint cooperation between the two institutions.

UNIFIL Korean Contingent celebrates 'Homecoming Day' Event
Fri 29 Dec 2017/NNA - The Korean contingent to UNIFIL invited past participants of the Korea Visiting Program and members of the Korea-Lebanon Friendship Association to the unit's 'Homecoming Day' Event to solidify the friendly relation between Korea and Lebanon.
In a press release, it said: "Since 2008, 333 Lebanese figures from the military, social, and governmental fields have participated in the Korea Visiting Programs, by a joint effort from the Korean contingent to UNIFIL and the Korean embassy in Lebanon, to learn lessons from Korea's development history and to experience Korean culture. The 17th and latest trip of the program visited Korea from December 6th to December 13th. The event, show-hosted by the president of KLM (Korea Lebanon MashAllah, the Korean contingent's support group) and the unit's civil officer Captain SHIN Jong Yong, started with the Korea and Lebanese national anthems, and members of both countries shared emotional bonds through cultural performances such as the Korean traditional drum, and Lebanese traditional dance performances. In a luncheon that followed, a video produced by the unit commemorating the Korea Visiting Programs and the Pyeongchang Winter Olympics promotional video were screened, and the past participants had a moment to reminisce about their trips to Korea." Release added: "Commander of the Korean contingent to UNIFIL, Colonel JIN Chul Ho presented the Pyeongchang Winter Olympics mascot dolls, in an effort to promote the international event hosted by Korea, and memorial books containing the activities of the contingent for its 10 years of deployment to everyone present in the event. The guests were touched by the memorial book, which encapsulates the 10 years of the Korean contingent's deployment and the friendship between the unit and the guests in those 10 years. The memorial book explained why the Korean contingent is praised as the "role model of deployed units" amongst UNIFIL units, consisting of 41 countries, with photos highlighting agile and alert soldiers, the unit's love and care towards the locals, and the endless efforts put into CIMIC operations." Release went on to say: "The mayor of Tyre, Hassan Dbouk, who participated in the 15th trip of the program, commented, "The Korean contingent, which operates within the area of Tyre, is an unparalleled unit that has carried out countless operations successfully for the past 10 years, and no other UN contingent or unit is matched in the praise that it receives." He also went on to add, "We will provide support and encouragement to the contingent in the hopes that it fulfills its mission successfully." For his part, Colonel JIN Chul Ho, who supervised the event said, "The participants of the Korea Visiting Programs continue to maintain friendly relations with the Korean contingent even after returning from their trips and contribute to promoting Korea to the Lebanese local population". "The event became an opportunity through which the Korean contingent, which holds the longest deployment record in the history of the Korean Armed Forces, forms the foundation to fulfill its mission for the next 10 years to come."

Palestinian delegation visits Hariri to thank him for the Lebanese position
Fri 29 Dec 2017/NNA - The President of the Council of Ministers Saad Hariri received today at the "Center House" Fatah Central Committee member Azzam al-Ahmad, PLO secretary-general Fathi Abu al-Ardat and the Palestinian ambassador Ashraf Dabbour. After the meeting, Al-Ahmad said: "We were honored to meet with Prime Minister Hariri. We conveyed to him the greetings and appreciation of the Palestinian President Mahmoud Abbas, the Palestinian leadership and the Palestinian people for the official and popular Lebanese positions, that deserve great respect, and which were received with great satisfaction by the Palestinian people inside and outside the occupied territory. I informed his excellency of the political moves taken currently by the Palestinian leadership to counter the negative effects of the decision of the US administration and President Donald Trump to relocate the US Embassy from Tel Aviv to Jerusalem and recognize it as the capital of Israel, contrary to the UN resolutions that the United States contributed to formulate, approve and vote. We also discussed means of joint coordination at the Arab, Islamic and international levels with the Palestinian leadership to confront the American decision and maintain adherence to the UN resolutions that confirm the two-state solution and the establishment of an independent Palestinian state in the territories occupied in 1967 with East-Jerusalem for capital. We also briefed his excellency on the situation inside Palestine, about the steadfastness of the Palestinian people, women, children, old people and men in resisting the occupation and the settlements and all that may result from the American decision. We discussed what the Palestinian leadership is thinking about before the meeting of the Palestinian Central Council in less than two weeks, and the Palestinian plan of action, which will be presented to our brothers. I also thanked Prime Minister Hariri on the recent achievement of the Lebanese-Palestinian Dialogue Committee and the Lebanese Statistics Center, which is the Palestinian census, and the recommendations that resulted from it."

LAU Medical Center, Rizk Hospital celebrate Christmas with its employees
Fri 29 Dec 2017/NNA - LAU Medical Center - Rizk Hospital celebrated Christmas with all its employees, medical and nursing staffs, in all departments in an open-house celebratory day spreading all the joyful moments for the end of this year. The day started with a mass, then an award ceremony gratifying loyal staffs and employees for their commitment.The celebration was kicked off with a video summarizing the activities and achievements established by the medical center over the past year. A welcome speech was delivered by Saad el Zein, Assistant to the President for Special Projects, who explained the objectives of these awards in terms of motivation and inspiration for all those who are working and providing day after day the best care to the patients. This was followed by a word by Sami Rizk, CEO of the LAU Medical Centre- Rizk Hospital, where he expressed his thanks to all those who contributed for so many years to the progress and betterment of the care, attention and compassion for every patient. "Wishing that the next year as well as the years that follow will continue to be years of successes and achievements, delivered by the commitments of all those who are working in this premier medical center".
The trophies were then distributed to 140 employees who had spent more than 20, 30 and 40 years at the LAU Medical Center - Rizk Hospital. The LAU Medical Center - Rizk Hospital is committed to excellence in patient care while pursuing high-quality teaching, research and innovation.

Hariri urges restraint in Aoun-Berri faceoff
Ghinwa Obeid| The Daily Star/December 29/2017
BEIRUT: Prime Minister Saad Hariri Thursday called for restraint in the escalating dispute over a decree promoting Lebanese Army officers, saying that there are solutions available to resolve the issue. Speaking to delegations from the Baabda and Hazmieh areas on Beirut’s outskirts, Hariri said that the dispute over the controversial decree shouldn’t be taken out of context. “There are legal and constitutional points of view on the decree and there are solutions on the condition that the problem be in its correct context and not exaggerated,” Hariri said. The decree has caused a feud between President Michel Aoun and Speaker Nabih Berri. It promotes the officers who served under Aoun in the late ’80s when he was the Army commander, and was fiercely opposed by Berri. The decree was signed by Hariri and Defense Minister Yaacoub Sarraf, but wasn’t signed by Finance Minister Ali Hasan Khalil – a key political aide to Berri. Visitors who met Berri at his Ain al-Tineh residence said that the speaker reiterated his call for the Constitution to be upheld regarding the matter. “Every crisis has a solution,” visitors quoted the speaker as saying, according to a statement from his office. “What matters is for the country to win, to preserve it and its unity,” Berri said. The dispute between Aoun and Berri escalated this week after the president Monday called on those who have an objection to the decree to take their issue to the judiciary. Berri’s response came the next day whenhe nearly pronounced the 1989 Taif Accord dead and implicitly accused Aoun of violating it by signing the decree. A political source told The Daily Star that the dispute won’t be resolved before the New Year. “We don’t want to minimize the problem and consider it non-existent. The feud is there and we all have a responsibility to solve it,” Hariri said, noting that any political crisis will impact the whole country. In a bid to defuse tensions between Aoun and Berri, Hariri, who also signed the decree, has asked Fouad Fleifel, the Cabinet’s secretary-general, to put off the publication of the decree in the Official Gazette until a resolution is reached.
Aoun made an effort to shield the Army from the backlash Thursday when addressing an Army delegation. He emphasized that the issue was political and called on the military to ignore the ongoing dispute. “Forget what you hear in politics,” Aoun told the delegation headed by Commander Gen. Joseph Aoun. “No one has the right to deduct two years from another’s professional career and we took our decision on this issue with aim of compensation, even if partially, for a fault.”He said that rights will no longer be ignored. “What is meant by the discussion that you are hearing isn’t [related] to your rights,” Aoun said. “The coming days will show that the problem isn’t related to officer’s rights, but rather with a political dispute on other issues. What we want from you is to disregard these things.”Progressive Socialist Party leader Walid Jumblatt warned that the current feud might cause turbulence in the coming months. “The continuation of the fighting and its exacerbation as a result of the officers’ promotions will complicate things,” Jumblatt said in a tweet. “All the optimism that arose after Hariri withdrew his resignation might be lost with the wind as a result of the growing debt that can’t be [resolved] without reforms and ... agreement. And hence, before it is too late, I warn of possible upcoming painful setbacks.”

Lebanon will be more beautiful: Aoun
The Daily Star/December 29, 2017/BEIRUT: President Michel Aoun told visitors Friday that the Lebanese state would be strengthened and the country would see advances at all levels, according to a tweet from the presidency. “We will build the state, whatever the odds, and Lebanon will improve once more, economically and developmentally, and prosperity will return,” Aoun told a delegation representing various associations of Lebanese expats living in Europe. “Lebanon is going to be even more beautiful, and its future will certainly be better than its recent and distant past.”Aoun met separately with Economy Minister Raed Khoury, who was accompanied by the president’s Gulf affairs advisor, Fadi Asli, in addition to the International Monetary Fund’s regional director Jihad Azour. He also met with Lebanese Ambassador to Uruguay Ali Ghazzawi and Lebanese Ambassador to UNESCO Khalil Karam.

How Obama’s Iran policy strengthened Hezbollah/كيف ساعدت سياسات اوباما على تقوية حزب الله
Dr. Azeem Ibrahim/Al Arabiya/December 29/17
http://eliasbejjaninews.com/?p=61424
As the dust begins to settle on the mess that is Syria, certain facts have become evident. One of the most significant for the long term prospects of the Middle East is the fact that Hezbollah has emerged as one of the most powerful forces in the region.
This outcome was preventable. But political choices made by the Obama administration have made it real. The history of Hezbollah is long and bloodied. For most of that history, however, the ‘Party of Allah’ was little more than a normal militia with a penchant for terrorist tactics.
It did cast a long shadow over the region, but it did so in much the same way that Hamas does. They were both influential groups in relatively small but highly volatile conflicts which could have spill over effects into the wider region.
Lebanon, the home of Hezbollah, is a small place with peculiar politics, but the ongoing power struggle between the various opposing factions in the country is taken as a bellwether for the wider sectarian conflicts in the region.
And for good reason: most of these factions are sponsored by opposing powers in the ‘Concert of the Middle East’. Hezbollah was the local Iranian proxy. It largely served the geopolitical interests of Iran in Lebanon, and sometimes, used to project Iranian pressure over the border in Israel – with various degrees of success.
Lebanon is a small place with peculiar politics, but its power struggle is taken as a bellwether for the wider sectarian conflicts in the region
The Syrian conflict
In the Syrian conflict, Hezbollah started out in much the same way: as the local enforcer of Iranian interests, and, by extension, a member of the Shiite coalition fighting to prop up the regime of Assad. But over the course of the conflict, Hezbollah evolved into something much more serious.
They have established themselves as the most competent and successful military operator of all the Shi’a factions, better even than Assad’s armies.
Over the course of the conflict they have grown and expanded the spectrum of their military capacity, grown in battlefield experience, and gained specialist expertise. Continued Iranian support also translated into an expanded arsenal. And its history of success has attracted increasing numbers of recruits.
As the Syrian conflict seems to be drawing to a close, Hezbollah stands not as a militia, but more like a competent standing army. Second only to the Russian armed forces in the Syrian theatre. Except that the Russian forces will retire from the region at some point. Hezbollah will remain. And will continue to project power for decades to come.
Regional balance of power
The consequences of this for the regional balance of power are, as always, hard to anticipate. But given their geopolitical alignment, it should not take a genius to figure out that the outcomes will not be favorable to American interests. Rather, they will be very favourable for Iran.
This is something that should have been anticipated by the Oval Office. Hezbollah did not emerge as a military leader in the Syrian conflict out of nowhere. They have been building up over the years, and the trajectory of their rise should was evident all along.
When Obama failed to enforce his red line of chemical weapons in 2013, and effectively handed over Syria to Russia and Iran, the preconditions of the rise of Hezbollah were baked into that equation.
But the more egregious failure came in 2015. Obama and Iran finally agreed on the shape of a deal to stop Iran’s nuclear programme in exchange for sanctions relief. In many ways, this was a great achievement. And let this be clear: the world is a better place for the deal having been agreed.
What is more, Iran has stuck to the terms of the deal, and has shown that future initiatives like this to stop nuclear proliferation can be made to work even with long-time enemies.
Nuclear program
Yet Iran’s side of the bargain concerned only its nuclear program. Iran did not sign up to being best buddies with the US. They retain their own geopolitical interests, and they retain the unrestricted capacity to pursue those interests by any means they see fit. That the nuclear deal made no reference to Syria and Iran’s role in that conflict is its biggest weakness.
The US could and should have taken a stance on Iran’s involvement in Syria. The nuclear deal concerns Iran’s essential interests. Syria is pivotal for Tehran’s geopolitical play, but in 2015 was significantly less important than sanction relief.
There is every reason to believe that they would have agreed to restrain their involvement in Syria, which in turn would have seriously diminished Hezbollah. But the Obama administration chose to not even try to pursue this option. And American interests in the region will suffer for decades as a consequence.

Latest LCCC Bulletin For Miscellaneous Reports And News published on December 29-30/17
Gunman Kills 9 in Attack on Egypt Church
Agence France Presse/Naharnet/December 29/17/A gunman opened fire on a church south of Cairo on Friday, killing at least nine people before policemen shot him dead, officials and state media said. Health ministry spokesman Khaled Megahed told state television that the gunman who was shot dead had killed nine people and wounded others, including a police officer. The gunman had tried to storm the building when police shot him dead, police officials said. State television reported that a second assailant who escaped had been arrested. Cellphone footage posted on social media appeared to show the bearded gunman wearing a bulky ammunition vest sprawled on a street, barely conscious, as people restrained his arms and then handcuffed him. Police later cordoned off the crime scene as onlookers crowded around the church, while a forensics team combed the area. Congealing blood could be seen at a guard post in front of the church. The Islamic State group's affiliate in Egypt has killed dozens of Christians in church bombings and shootings over the past year, and has threatened further attacks against the minority. Egypt's Coptic Christians make up about 10 percent of the country's 93 million people, and are the largest religious minority in the region. IS had claimed a suicide bombing of a Cairo church in December 2016 followed by bombings of two churches north of the capital in April. A month later, IS gunmen shot dead about 30 Christians south of Cairo as they traveled to a monastery. The jihadists are believed to have also carried out a massacre of Muslim worshipers in Sinai last month, killing more than 300 in an attack on a mosque associated with the mystical Sufi strand of Islam which IS views as heretical. Egypt imposed a state of emergency following the church attacks and shootings, and President Abdel Fattah al-Sisi demanded the army quell the jihadists with "brutal force" following the mosque massacre. The group has been waging a deadly insurgency based in the Sinai peninsula bordering Israel and the Gaza Strip that has killed hundreds of policemen and soldiers. They have increasingly targeted civilians as attacks on the security forces have become more difficult. The army has poured in thousands of troops backed with armor and jets in a bid to crush the Sinai-based jihadists, but attacks have continued. The attack on the church came a day after six Egyptian soldiers were killed in a roadside bombing in the Sinai. Last week, IS claimed responsibility for firing an antitank missile at a helicopter in a North Sinai airport as the defense and interior ministers were visiting. The attack killed an aide to the defense minister and a helicopter pilot, but both ministers returned to Cairo unscathed.

Protests continue in Iran as cleric urges tough action
Al Arabiya/December 29/2017/As protesters continue to take to streets in Iran and shout anti-government slogans against high prices a top cleric in the second largest city of Mashhad has called for tough action by security forces. According to the information provided by the network of the People’s Mojahedin Organization of Iran inside the country, , the anti-regime protests in Iranian cities have continued on Friday. The people of Kermanshah (West Iran) poured onto the streets from the morning hours of Friday, and demonstrators chanted “Death to the Dictator”, “Death to Rouhani”, “Don’t be afraid, we are all united”, and “Political prisoners should be freed.”The number of protesters grew and reached to several thousand. Police arrested 52 people in Thursday’s protests, the semi-official Fars news agency quoted a judicial official as saying in Mashhad. Political protests are rare in Iran but demonstrations are often held by workers over layoffs or non-payment of salaries and people who hold deposits in non-regulated bankrupt financial institutions. The protests have continued even as anti-riot units of the State Security Forces were stationed extensively throughout the city. Special anti-riot forces tried to disperse the protesters with water cannons but the people resisted and stood up to them, chanting “Shame on you”. During the march, the protesters chanted: “The nation is destitute while the leader is acting like God”, “Forget Gaza, forget Lebanon; my life is for Iran”, and “Bread, work, freedom”.The security forces charged at the people but the people resisted and confronted them. In Tabriz, despite extensive mobilization of government forces to prevent mobilisation, people took part in protests and chanted “Death to the dictator”. In Mashhad, fearing resumption of protests, the anti-riot forces and the Revolutionary Guards (IRGC) were deployed extensively on the streets and city squares. Patrols on motorcycles and vehicles were seen, and water cannons were stationed in various parts of the city. In Tehran and Kerman cities, anti-riot forces and motorcycle patrols were being stationed in the main squares to prevent the formation of any protests. “If the security and law enforcement agencies leave the rioters to themselves, enemies will publish films and pictures in their media and say that the Islamic Republic system has lost its revolutionary base in Mashhad,” IRNA quoted prominent conservative cleric Ayatollah Ahmad Alamolhoda as saying. Videos posted on social media showed demonstrators chanting “Death to (President Hassan) Rouhani” and “Death to the dictator”. Protests were also held in at least two other northeastern cities. Alamolhoda, the representative of Supreme Leader Ayatollah Ali Khamenei in northeastern Mashhad, said a few people had taken advantage of Thursday's protests against rising prices to raise slogans against Iran's involvement in regional conflicts. Videos on social media also showed demonstrators chanting “Leave Syria, think about us”, criticizing Iran's military and financial support for President Bashar al-Assad who is fighting opponents of the government in Syria's six-year-old civil war. Vice-President Eshaq Jahangiri, a close Rouhani ally, suggested that hardline opponents of the president may have started the protests. “When a social and political movement is launched on the streets, those who started it will not necessarily be able to control it in the end,” IRNA quoted Jahangiri as saying. “Those who are behind such events will burn their own fingers. They think they will hurt the government by doing so.”
With Reuters inputs.

Several Held at Tehran Demo after 52 Arrested in Mashhad
Agence France Presse/Associated Press/Naharnet/December 29/17/Iran's semi-official ILNA news agency reported Friday that authorities arrested a small number of demonstrators in Tehran protesting price hikes and the president's economic policy. The report quoted the security deputy of Tehran's governor, Mohsen Hamedani, as saying that fewer than 50 people gathered at a public square in Tehran, and that most of them left after a police warning but a few decided to stay on. "A few of them were temporarily arrested," Hamedani said, without elaborating on the exact figure.
Separately Friday, the semi-official Fars news agency reported that around 300 protesters also gathered in the western city of Kermanshah to protest the price hikes, damaging some public property. Earlier on Friday, an Iranian official said that 52 people had been arrested in Thursday's protests in the second city of Mashhad. Hundreds took to the streets of Mashhad, a site of holy pilgrimage in the northeast of the country, with slogans mostly directed at President Hassan Rouhani's government for failing to tackle a range of economic problems. The head of Mashhad's revolutionary court, Hossein Heidari, said people were arrested for chanting "harsh slogans," the Fars news agency reported. "We consider protest to be the people's right but if some people want to abuse these emotions and ride this wave, we won't wait and will confront them," Heidari said. More provocatively, there were also chants of "Death to the dictator" and "Not Gaza, not Lebanon, my life for Iran" -- a reference to anger in some circles that the government is focusing on the wider region rather than improving conditions at home. Similar yet smaller protests reportedly took place Thursday in a few other cities, responding to calls on the Telegram messaging service for a day of demonstrations to say "No to high prices". Egg prices have doubled since last week due to the government's culling of millions of chickens diagnosed with avian flu, government spokesman Mohammad Bagher Nobakht told reporters on Tuesday. But the reasons behind the protests were more deeply rooted, according to one local lawmaker. "There is a major crisis in Mashhad caused by illegal financial institutions," Hamid Garmabi, who represents the city of Neyshabour near Mashhad, told Fars. He was referring to the mushrooming of unauthorized lending institutions under former president Mahmoud Ahmadinejad between 2005 and 2013. A poorly regulated banking sector combined with a construction boom left many credit companies stuck with toxic debts and unable to repay investors. Since coming to power in 2013, Rouhani's government has sought to clean up the financial sector, shutting down three of the biggest new credit institutions -- Mizan, Fereshtegan and Samen al-Hojaj. He has tasked the central bank with reimbursing lost deposits, but progress has reportedly been slow. Mashhad was one of the worst-hit areas by the closure of Mizan, which had around one million accounts, leading to several protests in the city since 2015 according to the official IRNA news agency. Other financial scams have also hit the region, notably the collapse in 2015 of a mega project to a build the new town of Padideh next to Mashhad, which left more than 100,000 investors out of pocket. "The shadow of stagnation in Mashhad and Khorasan Razavi province is more than other places in the country due to the unfortunate investment events in companies such as Padideh, Mizan Financial Institution and other credit funds," a senior housing official in the province told IRNA last year.

Fierce Fighting Kills Dozens in Northwest Syria
Agence France Presse/Naharnet/December 29/17/Intense fighting killed dozens of people on the edge of the last Syrian province entirely outside government control as aid workers completed a series of medical evacuations from another rebel-held area on Friday. Government and allied forces backed by Russian warplanes took on mostly jihadist fighters in an area straddling the border between Idlib and Hama provinces. The fighting, which could signal the start of a major offensive to wrest Idlib province from rebels dominated by a former al-Qaida affiliate, escalated on Thursday. According to the Syrian Observatory for Human Rights, at least 68 people have been killed since then and the clashes, centered around an area called Al-Tamana, continued on Friday.At least 21 civilians were among the dead, said Rami Abdel Rahman, who heads the Britain-based monitoring organization. They were killed in air strikes carried out by Russian warplanes and by barrel bombs dropped by Syrian aircraft, he said. He said 27 soldiers and members of allied paramilitary units were killed in the fighting as well as 20 rebels, from Islamist groups or from former al-Qaida affiliate Fateh al-Sham. Abdel Rahman said the latest deaths brought the number of civilians killed in the area since Monday to 42 and the death toll among combatants to 90. The intensifying fighting in the area appeared to signal the start of a government offensive in Idlib province.
Worst in months
An AFP correspondent near the front line said aerial activity was intense and the entire area rocked by frequent air strikes. Rebel leaders issued warnings through loudspeakers informing remaining civilians in the area that the mainly weekly Muslim prayers were cancelled and all residents should stay home. Hundreds of civilians fled the scattering of villages in the area, creating queues of cars and pickup trucks loaded down with bags and furniture on the roads towards the city of Idlib. "The air strikes haven't been that intense in months in this area," said Abdel Rahman, adding that the immediate goal of the latest regime push was to retake control of the southeast of the province. The Islamic State jihadist group, which proclaimed a caliphate over swathes of Syria and Iraq in 2014, has now lost almost all the land it once controlled. But other factions opposed to the regime of President Bashar al-Assad still control pockets scattered across Syria, the largest one being Idlib province, which borders Turkey. Another is Eastern Ghouta, a small enclave east of the capital Damascus, which is controlled mostly by rebels from the Jaish al-Islam group and where around 400,000 residents still live.
Ghouta swap
The humanitarian situation there has deteriorated sharply in recent months and on Friday aid workers completed a series of medical evacuations of some of the most critical cases. The last 13 in a group of 29 priority patients were evacuated, together with 56 members of their entourage, during the night of Thursday to Friday, a health official in Eastern Ghouta said. They were deemed among the most pressing cases on a list of around 500 people the United Nations said last month could die without urgent treatment outside the enclave, which has been besieged for four years. A crowd of residents gathered at night around the ambulances to see their relatives and neighbors one last time. Red Crescent nurses attended to Marwa, a 26-year-old woman suffering from meningitis, who was being stretchered onboard and given respiratory assistance. Among the patients who made it out were Fahed al-Kurdi, a 30-year-old man with cancer, and Zuheir Ghazzawi, a 10-year-old boy who also has cancer and had a leg amputated. According to the Observatory, the patients were evacuated as part of a deal that saw the rebels who control Eastern Ghouta release hostages and prisoners. There were also 29 of them, including workers who were detained earlier this year and pro-government fighters captured by rebels in the area, in some cases years ago. The ICRC welcomed the evacuation as "a positive step."
"But more needs to be done. The needs of civilians should come first, be it in Ghouta or elsewhere in Syria, and access to aid should be allowed on a more regular basis and without conditions," Syria head of delegation Marianne Gasser said. The deal had raised concern, including from U.N. envoy Jan Egeland, that sick civilians were being used as bargaining chips.

Cameraman Killed during Fighting in Northwest Syria
Agence France Presse/Naharnet/December 29/17/IA Syrian cameraman working for pro-regime TV network Sama was killed Friday while covering clashes on the edge of the northwestern province of Idlib, state news agency SANA reported. "The terrorists targeted a press team from the Sama satellite channel near the village of Umm Haratain," south of the city of Idlib, the agency reported. The channel's Facebook page confirmed Karam Qabisho had died, but it gave no further details on the circumstances of his death. Violence surged in the area this week as regime forces backed by Russian warplanes took on rebels and jihadists on the edge of Idlib province, the only region still out of government control. Government and allied forces there are battling rebels dominated by Fateh al-Sham, a former al-Qaida affiliate. According to the Syria Observatory for Human Rights, a Britain-based monitoring organization, at least 68 people have been killed since Thursday in the fighting.Among them were at least 21 civilians. In October, a journalist working for a pro-opposition television network was killed by shelling in Damascus province and another employed by state TV died when a landmine exploded in Homs province. Reporters Without Borders (RSF) said in March that 211 journalists and citizen journalists had been killed in six years of war in Syria, the world's most dangerous country for journalists in recent years.

Will Washington join Tel Aviv to prevent Iranian expansion in Syria?
Zyad Halabi, Jerusalem /December 29/2017/A strategic cooperation agreement was signed between the US and Israel during a two-day secret discussions held between the Israeli national security counselor, Meir Ben Shabbat, who headed a high-ranking Israeli security delegation, and the US national security adviser Herbert McMaster and his security staff on December 12th. The agreement was focused on ways to counter the Iranian expansion in Syria and to develop strategies to confront it militarily and politically. A joint team was formed to counter Iranian activity in the region, especially to prevent their military presence in Syria. The team will also confront Hezbollah and prepare for the day when the Syrian crisis ends, as well as preventing Iranian support for Hezbollah, Hamas, Islamic extremist groups and other organizations. A second joint team will specialize in ballistic missiles and Iran's attempts to provide Hezbollah with strategic weapons, which is what Israeli raids in Syria are currently targeting. They will also focus on preventing Iran from establishing missile factories in Syria and Lebanon. A third team will handle potential escalation scenarios in the region, in which Iran might intervene, specifically a new war arising with Hezbollah. The fourth joint team will be responsible for secret operations and diplomatic efforts to abort Iran's nuclear resources, and to supervise their nuclear activity.
They will also focus on finding additional diplomatic options outside of the nuclear agreement, in order to impose sanctions on Iran.
US and Israeli sources said that the strategic understanding included a detailed action plan to confront Iran. The Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu, previously said that Israel will not allow Iranian military presence in Syria and will target any precision weapons directed towards it. Since the recent developments on the Golan front, where Assad regime forces and Hezbolllah have quickly gained control of surrounding areas and are approaching the Golan region, Israel has shown signs of concern. Their concerns stem from the possibility of Iran and Hezbollah having a unified fighting front in Golan, making them in control of both Lebanon and Syria.

Israel strikes Gaza after rocket attack
AFP, Jerusalem/December 29/ 2017/Israeli tanks and aircraft hit the Gaza Strip on Friday after rocket fire from the Palestinian enclave targeted a southern community, the army and Palestinian sources said. There were no immediate reports of casualties in the exchange of fire, the first in more than 10 days.
Palestinian militants fired three rockets at southern Israel, two of which were intercepted by the Iron Dome aerial defense system, the army said. Police said the third rocket hit a structure in a community near Gaza, causing damage but no casualties. “In response to the rockets fired towards Israel, IDF (Israel Defense Forces) tanks and IAF (Israel Air Force) aircraft targeted two posts belonging to the terrorist organization Hamas in the northern Gaza Strip,” the army said in a statement. Witnesses said Israeli tanks shelled a position controlled by Gaza’s Islamist rulers east of Gaza City. A spokesman for the Hamas-run health ministry said nobody was injured by the Israeli fire. Both Hamas and fellow militant group Islamic Jihad had labelled Friday a “day of rage”, as in previous weeks. Militants in Gaza have fired more than a dozen rockets or mortar rounds at southern Israel in the latest wave of violence that erupted after US President Donald Trump’s controversial December 6 recognition of Jerusalem as Israel’s capital. Before Friday, the last rockets fired from Gaza were on December 18, one of which hit a home in a border town. Trump’s announcement was followed by protests across the West Bank and on Gaza’s border with Israel, with 12 Gazans killed in clashes with Israeli forces on the border or by Israeli strikes following rocket fire. The rockets are often fired by fringe Islamist groups but Israel holds Hamas responsible for all attacks from the territory.

Saudi Crown Prince discusses bilateral relations with Egypt’s Sisi
Al Arabiya/December 29/ 2017/In a telephone call with Egyptian President Abdelfattah el-Sisi, Saudi Crown Prince Mohammed bin Salman, who is also the Deputy Prime Minister and Minister of Defense, discussed ways of developing bilateral relations between the two countries. They also discussed developments in the region and the prospects of further cooperation in various fields. Sisi last travelled to Riyadh in April for the Arab Islamic American Summit, where he met with Saudi King Salman to strengthen bilateral ties and discuss Arab-American relations. President Donald Trump also attended the summit. In April 2016, Egypt and Saudi Arabia signed their maritime border demarcation agreement, under which Saudi Arabia would have the right to sovereignty over the islands of Tiran and Sanafir in the Red Sea at the Straits of Tiran to the Gulf of Aqaba. (With SPA inputs)

Arab Coalition calls UN to review humanitarian coordinator’s biased stance
Al Arabiya/December 29/ 2017/The Coalition for the Support of Legitimacy in Yemen is expressing regret over the statements made by the UN humanitarian coordinator in Yemen, Jamie McGoldrick. In a statement by the coalition spokesman, Colonel Turki al-Malki, the coalition said that McGoldrick’s statements appeared biased towards the Houthi militias, which was described as the "de facto authority", contrary to UN Security Council resolutions. The spokesman said that the attempt to legitimize the militias in Yemen continues to mislead the international public opinion by repeating what is being stated in Houthi backed media and social media while ignoring the existence of a direct communication channel with the coalition forces to inquire about the information obtained while ignoring the crimes by the Houthi militias and violations against the Yemeni people. "This statement creates a constant state of uncertainty about the information and data on which the United Nations relies on and undermines its credibility, which has been mentioned by the coalition forces in previous statements, most recently in the report of the Special Representative of the Secretary-General for Children and Armed Conflict," al-Maliki said. The official spokesman for the Coalition Forces deplores this biased stance, stressing the need for the United Nations to review the humanitarian mechanism and the efficiency of its staff working in Yemen

Saudi Crown Prince Makes Telephone Call to Egyptian President
Asharq Al-Awsat/December 29/ 2017/Crown Prince Mohammed bin Salman bin Abdulaziz, Vice President of the Council of Ministers and Minister of Defense, made a telephone call to Egyptian President Abdel Fattah el-Sisi, the Saudi Press Agency reported on Friday. During the call, they discussed bilateral relations and ways of enhancing them and prospects of cooperation between the two countries in various fields, SPA said. The phone conversation also focused on the latest developments in the region, the news agency added.

Several Dead and Injured in Attack on Egypt Church
Asharq Al-Awsat/December 29/ 2017/Gunmen killed at least nine people including three policemen in an attack on a Coptic Christian church south of Cairo’s Helwan district on Friday, medical and security sources said. The two attackers opened fire at the entrance to the church of Mar Mina, which was being guarded by police in the run-up to Orthodox Christmas celebrations next week, security sources said. One attacker was shot dead by security forces, the sources and the state-run news agency MENA reported. State television said the second had been captured. A video circulated on social media after the attack apparently shows the gunman lying on the ground. The Health Ministry said that nine people had been killed in addition to the gunman, and five wounded, including two women in serious condition. Local media said the dead attacker had been wearing an explosive belt, and that two other bombs had been defused near the church. Extremists have claimed several attacks on Egypt's Christian minority in recent years, including two bomb attacks on Palm Sunday in April and a blast at Cairo's largest Coptic cathedral last December. Police have stepped up security measures around churches ahead of the Coptic Christmas celebrations on Jan. 7, deploying officers outside Christian places of worship and setting up metal detectors at some of the bigger churches.

Saudi Arabia Releases Two Princes after Graft Probe
Agence France Presse/Naharnet/December 29/17/Saudi Arabia has released two sons of late king Abdullah two months after they were detained in a sweeping anti-corruption purge, a source close to the government said Friday. "They have been released," the source said a day after a family member posted photos of Prince Faisal bin Abdullah, a former head of the Saudi Red Crescent, and Prince Mashal bin Abdullah, a previous governor of Mecca, on Twitter.
Prince Turki bin Abdullah was the only brother left in detention, the source said, without adding if his brothers had reached a cash settlement to be released.
Another brother, influential Prince Miteb bin Abdullah, was freed in late November after three weeks in detention following a "settlement" with authorities reportedly exceeding $1 billion.At the time, the former National Guard chief was seen as the most high-ranking royal to be released. The four brothers were among more than 200 princes, ministers and businessmen rounded up earlier that month, as Crown Prince Mohammed bin Salman tightened his grip on power. Most of those detained have struck monetary settlements in exchange for their freedom, the attorney general said this month.
Other high-profile targets of the crackdown include billionaire Prince Al-Waleed bin Talal, dubbed the Warren Buffett of Saudi Arabia.
Many of the detainees have been held at Riyadh's Ritz-Carlton hotel, which has been turned into a luxury prison. Saudi authorities insist the purge was meant solely to target endemic corruption as the kingdom seeks to diversify its oil-dependent economy.
The attorney general has previously said he estimates at least $100 billion has been lost in embezzlement or corruption over several decades.

Latest LCCC Bulletin analysis & editorials from miscellaneous sources published on December 29-30/17
Threats of 2017 - Mideast, Terror, Weapons - Will Linger in the New Year
جون بولتون: اخطار الشرق الأوسط والإرهاب والأسلحة سوف تستمر في مع السنة الجديدة
John R. Bolton/Gatestone Institute/December 29/2017
http://eliasbejjaninews.com/?p=61420
https://www.gatestoneinstitute.org/11626/mideast-terror-weapons-threats
Domestically and internationally, President Trump finished 2017 in dramatic fashion. Obtaining the most sweeping tax cuts in 30-plus years (and repealing ObamaCare's most philosophically oppressive aspect, the individual mandate) was a landmark achievement. And, by recognizing Jerusalem as Israel's capital, then suggesting major changes in U.S. funding of the United Nations, he disrupted foreign-policy conventional wisdom on both the Middle East and "global governance."
The administration's national security strategy, published this month, centered its foreign policy in the conservative mainstream, but there is little time for complacency. On Inauguration Day, the president inherited acute dangers and longer-range strategic challenges, ignored or mishandled for years. While Trump has emphasized his intention to reverse course, the national security agencies have a mixed record in actually following his lead. Events in 2018 could well determine whether America resumes control of its international fate, or whether it continues to be buffeted by threats it could overcome but chooses not to.
In this article today, we review the administration's 2017 record and 2018 prospects in three critical near-term areas: Middle East turmoil, international terrorism, and the proliferation of weapons of mass destruction. Tomorrow, we consider the longer-term risks posed by China and Russia, and the overarching issue of U.S. sovereignty.
Trump's Jerusalem decision had the virtue of recognizing reality and simultaneously erasing libraries of arid scholasticism on the "Middle East peace process." The long-predicted violent reaction by the "Arab Street" largely failed to materialize, despite palpable efforts by Turkey's President Erdogan and Tehran's ayatollahs to foment trouble. And the inevitable efforts in the U.N. Security Council and General Assembly were essentially charades, ritualistic theater that now makes even the participants weary. The lasting consequences of bashing America in New York will more likely be felt within the United Nations, as we will see tomorrow, rather than in the Middle East.
Moreover, Saudi Arabia and other Arab states are undergoing sweeping changes, the full dimensions of which cannot yet be confidently predicted. These changes have, in Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu's view, opened prospects for resolving the Palestinian and broader regional issues heretofore beyond reach. The behind-the-scenes White House peace initiative, also unconventional, has given the foreign policy establishment a case of the vapors.
Now unleashed, Riyadh's "modernization" efforts, in economic and social policy as well as religion, may appear unstoppable, but it would be a mistake for the administration simply to assume so. The Shah of Iran had far less distance to travel to "modernize" his country, and seemingly lighter opposition than the Saudi monarchy faces today. Nonetheless, the 1979 Islamic Revolution deposed the shah, leaving Iran repressed by the brutal theocratic regime founded by the Ayatollah Khomeini.
Both Saudi reformers and Washington need to remember this catastrophe, primarily to avoid the possibility of radical backlash, but also to put in place contingency plans should there be either a countercoup or a religious eruption similar to 1979 Iran. The last thing we want is history recording we weren't ready, that we didn't try to prevent such a crisis, that the inevitable spiking oil prices and violent global market fluctuations surprised us.
Saudi Arabia's "modernization" efforts in economic and social policy as well as religion, unleashed by Crown Prince Mohammad bin Salman (pictured), may appear unstoppable, but it would be a mistake simply to assume so.
Despite America's 16 years combating radical Islamist terrorism since 9/11, serious threats against friendly Middle East regimes are entirely predictable. These threats underline the unfinished business of eliminating ISIS (following its caliphate's destruction in 2017), Al Qaeda, Hamas, Hezbollah and other, still nascent terrorist groups. Against entrenched resistance from Obama-era judges, Trump has tried protecting the homeland through stricter immigration controls. The Supreme Court will likely resolve several key legal issues in 2018.
The real fight, however, will continue to be in the anarchic regions where the terrorists take root, whether Afghanistan, the hollow shells of Syria and Iraq, Yemen, Libya or the chaotic seam between Saharan and sub-Saharan Africa where Boko Haram and its ilk continue their depredations. America requires what the British once called "forward defense" against the terrorists, at least until the current wave of radical Islamism finally burns itself out in distant decades and until its financial supporters like Iran turn off the flow of money and weapons. Indeed, it is the nuclear, chemical and biological weapons threat from rogue states and their terrorist proxies that was and will continue to be the gravest danger facing America and its friends worldwide.
In 2017, the president acted on his critique of the fatally flawed Iran nuclear agreement by refusing to certify it under the Corker-Cardin legislation. Because, however, Washington did not actually withdraw from the deal, it still provides cover and legitimacy to the terrorist regime of the ayatollahs and allows Europe, Russia and China to trade and invest, thereby subsidizing nuclear proliferation and terrorism. Just a few weeks into 2018, the White House will face yet another certification decision, which will afford the Iran agreement's vociferous supporters within the permanent bureaucracy yet another opportunity to keep it on life support. Trump should abrogate the deal as early as possible and think seriously about how to thoroughly denuclearize Iran.
Trump also jettisoned President Obama's failed "strategic patience" with North Korea, and not a moment too soon. Pyongyang's threat will almost certainly come to a head in 2018. The past year showed dramatic improvements in both the North's nuclear and ballistic-missile programs. China could act decisively, as it has the unique capability to do, to overthrow Kim Jong Un's regime, allowing the Korean peninsula to be reunified or installing a new regime and, with America, jointly denuclearizing the North.
If not, Washington will face an unattractive but unavoidable binary choice: Either we will have to consider using preemptive military force to destroy North Korea's nuclear and missile facilities, or we and our allies will have to endure Kim Jong Un with deliverable nuclear weapons. And it won't just be a threat from the North but from ISIS or Al Qaeda, Iran, and other rogue states with nuclear aspirations and hard currency to which Pyongyang can sell. This year was fraught on all these issues, but 2018 will be even more so. Tomorrow, we consider the long-term strategic threats the Trump administration faced this year — and could confront head-on next year.
**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 Hill 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.

Clouding the Cause of Islamic Terrorism
A. Z. Mohamed/Gatestone Institute/December 29/2017
https://www.gatestoneinstitute.org/11624/islamic-terrorism-whitewash
Religion (in this instance, Islam) plays a smaller part in what makes terrorists tick than "the [human] need for... personal significance... Especially when it comes to violence that is shunned by most religions and most cultures, you need validation from a group of people that would then become your reference group. So the group component is very important, particularly when it comes to antisocial activities that are forbidden or shunned...." — Arie W. Kruglanski, distinguished professor of psychology at the University of Maryland and former co-director of the National Consortium for the Study of Terrorism and Responses to Terrorism.
Many people who need structure prefer every activity proscribed for them. In addition, many people with sadistic wishes might be lured by being given permission to act on these wishes; and not only that, but they are told that these acts are, indeed, obligatory and good, and that the person acting on them is, in the view of many Islamic tenets, heroic.
Responding to findings of a recent study on what motivates both ISIS fighters and those who combat them, Arie W. Kruglanski, distinguished professor of psychology at the University of Maryland and former co-director of the National Consortium for the Study of Terrorism and Responses to Terrorism, said:
"The ideology component addresses individuals' need to matter and feel significant. ... It tells people what to do, such as fight and make sacrifices, in order to gain respect and admiration from others."
Kruglanski, whose 2014 article, "Psychology Not Theology: Overcoming ISIS' Secret Appeal," argues that religion (in this instance, Islam) plays a smaller part in what makes terrorists tick than "the [human] need for... personal significance." He added:
"Especially when it comes to violence that is shunned by most religions and most cultures, you need validation from a group of people that would then become your reference group. So the group component is very important, particularly when it comes to antisocial activities that are forbidden or shunned."
Kruglanski is one of many Western professionals who attempt -- through science -- to gloss over another very real distinction between people who become jihadists in the name of Islam and those who do not. The practice of substituting political correctness for scholarship, namely educating the public in the West about actual the contents of Islam, has become so prevalent that it is undermining our ability to recognize, let alone rectify, any problems.
There seems to be a tendency on occasion to put a finger in the Petrie dish to compel toward a desired result, rather than to follow the scientific evidence where it would lead. As Nathan Cofnas, a doctoral student of philosophy at the University of Oxford, wrote in the journal Foundations of Science, "Some prominent scientists and philosophers have stated openly that moral and political considerations should influence whether we accept or promulgate scientific theories... [M]isrepresenting findings in science to achieve desirable social goals will ultimately harm both science and society."
Where radical Islamism is concerned, this practice of political correctness has proven deadly – literally and figuratively, as in the Muslim Brotherhood document, developed to help convince Muslims in America that
"their work in America is a kind of grand Jihad in eliminating and destroying the Western civilization from within and 'sabotaging' its miserable house by their hands ... so that ... God's religion [Islam] is made victorious over all other religions."
A scholar of Islam, Stephen Coughlin, has asked, "Why hasn't ... leadership/followers in the Republican Party and Democrat Party demanded the Senate and House hold hearings on the plan to destroy America?"
Out of fear of being labelled by their peers as "Islamophobic," many of the people engaged in research on Islamic terrorism overlook or understate certain facts -- such as the call on the part of jihadists to obliterate all that is not Islamic -- such as:
"And kill them wherever you find them, and turn them out from where they have turned you out. And Al-Fitnah [disbelief or unrest] is worse than killing... but if they desist, then lo! Allah is forgiving and merciful. And fight them until there is no more Fitnah [disbelief and worshipping of others along with Allah] and worship is for Allah alone." Quran (2:191-193)
Or the justification of evil through moral equivalence. This is done, in part, by equating the teachings of the Koran with the Bible, and by claiming that no culture is superior to, or more violent than, another.
Contrary to politically correct psychological assessments, there is abundant empirical evidence to suggest that Islamic teachings are central to the radicalization of Muslims. Highlighting terrorists' situational factors and universal human tendencies merely obfuscates the problem and makes the solution even more elusive. Many people who need structure prefer every activity proscribed for them. In addition, many people with sadistic wishes might be lured by being given permission to act on these wishes; and not only that, but they are told that these acts are, indeed, obligatory and good, and that the person acting on them is, in the view of many Islamic tenets, heroic. Confronting and defeating global terrorism is noble and necessary. Scientific study of its roots, triggers, recruitment methods and geographical trends is a crucial tool in the endeavor. Unless such study is completely insulated from the deforming and devastating effects of political correctness, however, it will continue to do far more harm than good.
**A.Z. Mohamed is a Muslim born and raised in the Middle East.
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Did Putin defeat terrorism?
Mashari Althaydi/Al Arabiya/December 29/17
Despite the President Trump warning which was praised by the Russian President Putin at that time, about the preparation of a terrorist attack in St. Petersburg, the Russian capital of culture and history, by mid of December, a terrorist attack took place on a city shop which killed dozens of people amid the preparations for New Year celebrations.
At the same time, Putin was honoring the Russian military personnel who brought victory to Great Russia. “Russia had a vital contribution to defeat the criminal forces that have challenged civilization as a whole and to destroy a terrorist army and a brutal dictatorship," Putin said at the beginning of the ceremony.
However, the “crime” made him return to the real world when innocent victims were killed in St. Petersburg. He responded angrily: “We must act firmly. We would not arrest, but immediately kill the thieves.”
The bitter reality was revealed by the director of the Russian intelligence service, Alexander Portnikov, who pointed out an ominous information that “about 4,500 Russian citizens have left the country to fight with terrorists.”
Many members of ISIS and other terrorist groups in Syria were citizens of Russian republics or which used to belong to Russia - Chechnya, Dagestan and others. Tn the collective conscience of the Caucasus Muslims, “Sham Sharif” had a special emotional position.
Blatant bias against Sunnis
The Russian intervention - whether the head of the Kremlin wanted or not - in Syria is seen as a blatant bias of the Shiites against Sunnis. According to that public conscience along with many of the Syrian people who reject the Bashar regime and his allies from the Khomeini camp.
You can agree or disagree with this frightening view in its simplicity and directness, but this is the reality.
Yes, every rational and conscious person should support Russia’s bid to kill the murderers from ISIS and al-Qaeda militias as these are the sources of crimes and misdeeds against humanity as a whole. But this vision behind the Russian aircraft, and missiles, is an issue and a danger at the same time.
Russia is not new to facing the terrorist weapon covered with religious and revenge claims. In 2017 alone, we have the April 3 bombing in the St. Petersburg metro that killed 15 people and dozens were wounded, which al-Qaeda in Syria claimed responsibility for: “The attack which was carried out by a Kyrgyz young man as “a message to the countries engaged in war against Muslims”.
Yes, every rational and conscious person should support Russia’s bid to kill the murderers from ISIS and al-Qaeda militias as these are the sources of crimes and misdeeds against humanity as a whole. But this vision behind the Russian aircraft, and missiles, is an issue and a danger at the same time.
Would Russia lose what it has gained through this poor approach to the Syrian problem?
The other question is: Are ISIS and al-Nusra, which Lavrov promised to eliminate, a symptom or a disease?
Syria deserves a better future than Putin’s tanks, Khamenei’s militias, Bashar’s barrels, ISIS’ daggers and Al Qaeda’s bombs.