LCCC ENGLISH DAILY NEWS BULLETIN
June 14/17
Compiled & Prepared by: Elias Bejjani

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Bible Quotations For Today
I do not call you servants any longer, because the servant does not know what the master is doing; but I have called you friends, because I have made known to you everything that I have heard from my Father
Holy Gospel of Jesus Christ according to Saint John 15/15-17/:"I do not call you servants any longer, because the servant does not know what the master is doing; but I have called you friends, because I have made known to you everything that I have heard from my Father. You did not choose me but I chose you. And I appointed you to go and bear fruit, fruit that will last, so that the Father will give you whatever you ask him in my name. I am giving you these commands so that you may love one another."

When they had prayed, the place in which they were gathered together was shaken; and they were all filled with the Holy Spirit and spoke the word of God with boldness
Acts of the Apostles 04/23-31/:"After they were released, they went to their friends and reported what the chief priests and the elders had said to them. When they heard it, they raised their voices together to God and said, ‘Sovereign Lord, who made the heaven and the earth, the sea, and everything in them, it is you who said by the Holy Spirit through our ancestor David, your servant: "Why did the Gentiles rage, and the peoples imagine vain things? The kings of the earth took their stand, and the rulers have gathered together against the Lord and against his Messiah." For in this city, in fact, both Herod and Pontius Pilate, with the Gentiles and the peoples of Israel, gathered together against your holy servant Jesus, whom you anointed, to do whatever your hand and your plan had predestined to take place. And now, Lord, look at their threats, and grant to your servants to speak your word with all boldness, while you stretch out your hand to heal, and signs and wonders are performed through the name of your holy servant Jesus.’ When they had prayed, the place in which they were gathered together was shaken; and they were all filled with the Holy Spirit and spoke the word of God with boldness."

Titles For Latest LCCC Bulletin analysis & editorials from miscellaneous sources published on June 13-14/17
The Israeli Spy Affair Lebanon Is Obsessed With/Jerusalem Post/June 13/17
Two Choices to Resolve the Qatar Crisis/Abdulrahman Al-Rashed/Asharq Al Awsat/June 13/17
Qatar’s Promotion of Regime Change and Mobilization of Finances/Michael Stephens/The Washington Post/June 13/17
Egyptian Writers Debate Possibility That Israel Will Join Arab League After Resolution Of Conflict With Palestinians/MEMRI/June 13/17
How to Send the Wrong Message to Palestinians/Bassam Tawil/Gatestone Institute/June 13/17
Qatar: When a leader fails/Abdullah bin Bijad Al-Otaibi/Al Arabiya/June 13/17
Making sense of the new phase of street terrorism/Dr. Halla Diyab/Al Arabiya/June 13/17
Joint list a new chapter in the war against terror/Turki Aldakhil/Al Arabiya/June 13/17

Titles For Latest Lebanese Related News published on June 13-14/17
Common vision for vote law has been reached: Official
Russian Ambassador To Israel: We Do Not Consider Hamas And Hizbullah To Be Terrorists At All
Cyprus President in Beirut, Calls for Unifying Anti-Terrorism Efforts
Final Agreement Reached on Electoral Law
Bassil Welcomes New Electoral Law, Says It 'Greatly Improves Representation'
Jumblat Slams 'Complicated' Electoral Law as Marada Rejects 'Preferred Vote' Mechanism
Garbage Dumped in Sea Off Lebanese Coast Sparks Outrage
Hariri Says New Electoral Law 'an Achievement for Entire Country'
Mustaqbal Urges Approval of Electoral Law in Wednesday Cabinet Session
Aoun Stresses 'Respect for Constitution' on Eve of Cabinet Meet on Vote Law
'Only prayer' can help with vote law: Berri
Cypriot FM Urges Lebanon to Agree on Vote Law
Judge Indicts Killer and Associates Involved in Hamoush's Murder
Adwan Says 'Turning Back is Impossible', Vote Law Will be Approved
Patriarch Yazegi welcomes Cypriot President
Ogasapian: Election law which discounts women quota is worst possible
Abu Faour: No vote on election law inside Cabinet
Hariri chairs meeting of ministerial panel tasked with devising election law
Geagea meets EU delegation at Maarab
The Israeli Spy Affair Lebanon Is Obsessed With

Titles For Latest LCCC Bulletin For Miscellaneous Reports And News published on June 13-14/17
Three Christians are sentenced to 80 lashes by Sharia court in Iran for taking communion wine
Saudi King Salman, Russian President Discuss Counter-Terrorism in Phone Call
Qatar Ignores Gulf Requests, Stresses Adherence to Kuwait Mediation
Riyadh Condemns ‘Duality’ of Qatari Policy
King Salman to Receive Iraqi PM Wednesday in Jeddah
Qatar Makes ‘Siege’ Claims as its Tries to Counter Diplomatic Crisis
Egypt Urges Interpol to Issue Red Notices for 26 Qatar-Linked Terrorists
Hamas Delegation Returns to Gaza
Ankara Intervenes to Halt FSA Infighting in Syria’s al-Bab
Terrorist Attack in Awamiya Kills One Saudi Soldier, Wounds Two
France and Britain Announce Anti-Terror Action Plan
Qatar Foreign Minister Denounces 'Unfair', 'Illegal' Sanctions
Iraq PM Abadi Says Kurdish Referendum Untimely
Terrified Civilians Hide from Gunfire in Mosul Pre-School
France Launches Probe into LafargeHolcim's Syrian Activities
77 Killed In Bangladesh Landslides: Police
Report: IS chemical weapons capability degraded
North Korea releases U.S. student, Tillerson says
Egypt parliament committee passes Saudi islands deal

Latest Lebanese Related News published on June 13-14/17
Common vision for vote law has been reached: Official
The Daily Star/BEIRUT: The Ministerial Committee tasked with finalizing the vote law Tuesday announced that a common vision for the vote law has been reached, and it will be presented at a Cabinet meeting at the Baabda Palace.
A Ministerial Committee meeting headed by Prime Minister Saad Hariri was held Tuesday evening, bringing together Education Minister Marwan Hamadeh, State Minister for Parliamentary Affairs Ali Qanso, Social Affairs Minister Pierre Abou Assi, Minister for the Displaced Talal Arslan, Interior Minister Nouhad Machnouk, Industry Minister Hussein Hajj Hasan, Foreign Minister Gebran Bassil, Culture Minister Ghattas Khoury, Finance Minister Ali Hasan Khalil, Public Works Minister Youssef Fenianos, and Tourism Minister Avedis Kadanian.
A press release from Hariri's press office announced that the political parties' comments on the draft law were presented in the meeting, reaching a common vision which will be presented at a Cabinet meeting Wednesday at the Baabda Palace.
After the meeting, Fenianos said "All the parties have voiced the observations they have recorded, and they will be presented in the Cabinet."
As the meeting was underway, several politicians denounced the suggested electoral law, saying it is the "worst possible law".Minister of State for Women’s Affairs Jean Ogasapian voiced his opinion via Twitter, saying “some of us have seen this evening that the proposed electoral law is the worst possible. Indeed, a law that ignores the promise of the women’s quota is the worst.”
The National News Agency quoted MP Wael Abou Faour saying “the issue of expatriates has been postponed. There will be no vote on the law, neither in the committee meeting, nor in the cabinet, and whoever has objections, record them. This law is the worst possible.”MP Hussein Khalil was quoted by local media also saying that it is the worst law possible, adamant that it would not be voted on.
Foreign Minister Gebran Bassil confirmed on Tuesday that politicians have agreed on a new parliamentary vote law that is proportional and allows Lebanese in the diaspora to vote for lawmakers. “This law does not rectify representation but has taken us from one place to another,” Bassil said following a Free Patriotic Movement meeting in Beirut’s Sin al-Fil quarter, shortly after rival parties finalized their deliberation on the vote law at the Grand Serail. “There are 15 constituencies that have improved the representation of Christians,” Bassil said, admitting that not all of his demands were approved.
“The big achievement for all the Lebanese was through the increase of six seats for the Lebanese in diaspora,” Bassil said. “The battle of improving representation is continuous.”The agreement also includes a one-year technical extension of lawmakers’ mandate. The agreement also introduces a magnetic voting card that would reportedly allow Lebanese voters living outside their electoral constituencies to vote at their constituency of residence, within Lebanon and abroad.
Unapproved demands included granting servicemen the right to vote, and a quota for women in Parliament, which was reportedly rejected by Hezbollah.
Bassil’s announcement followed a flurry of activity and mixed messages earlier in the day.
Prime Minister Saad Hariri cancelled all of his scheduled appointments for Tuesday to focus on the vote law issue. Five representatives of key political blocs, including the FPM which Bassil leads, Amal Movement, Hezbollah, Progressive Socialist Party, and Lebanese Forces, met as well. Lebanese Forces MP George Adwan sounded positive on his way to the meeting, while Speaker Nabih Berri had earlier seemed relatively pessimistic regarding the vote law agreement.
"You have to pray, as only prayer is beneficial now," Berri was quoted as saying in a Parliament statement Tuesday, when asked for updates about the new electoral vote law.
President Michel Aoun, Berri and Hariri agreed on the basic outlines of the vote law at Baabda Palace last week. Progress was delayed slightly when Bassil demanded to link the vote law with “a political agreement” confirming parity between Muslims and Christians in a constitutional text, as well as the establishment of a Senate as stipulated by the 1989 Taif Accord.
Bassil’s proposal on equal Christian-Muslim standing in the Constitution has been criticized publicly by Berri and implicitly by Hariri’s Future Movement bloc, as both expressed concern that drafting a new foundational text at a time of heightened regional tensions may exacerbate sectarian conflict in Lebanon. The mechanism of a preferential vote and the vote tallying procedures were also approved. “The new electoral law is a key milestone in the national and political life in Lebanon,” Aoun said, adding that it would give the country a new Parliament that “would honestly embody the choices and aspirations of the Lebanese people in shaping the future of their country."

Russian Ambassador To Israel: We Do Not Consider Hamas And Hizbullah To Be Terrorists At All
MEMRI/June 13/17/Russian Ambassador to Israel Alexander Shein said, in a June 9, 2017 interview with the Israeli Russian-language Channel 9 TV, that Russia did not consider Hamas and Hizbullah to be terrorist organizations, since they have not carried out attacks in Russian territory or against Russian interests abroad. Interviewer: "Let me ask you quite a painful question regarding Russia's attitude toward Hamas and Hizbullah. Let me ask you: Do you in Russia understand that from our perspective, Hamas and Hizbullah are terrorists, who are no different from ISIS? They carry out terror attacks and fire missiles at Israel – and let me remind you that we have many Israelis with Russian citizenship – yet Moscow continues to conduct a dialogue with them."
Alexander Shein: "We do not consider these organizations to be terrorist. True, they are radical organizations, which sometimes adhere to extremist political views. Let me explain why we do not – and can not – designate them as terrorist organizations. Russian law – the Supreme Court, following an appeal by the prosecution – defines terrorist organizations as such when they intentionally conduct acts of terror in Russian territory, or against Russian interests abroad – installations, embassies, offices, or citizens. You equate ISIS [with Hamas and Hizbullah], but we think this is wrong."
Interviewer: "I do equate them, because when rockets were fired at Tel Aviv a few years ago, and people were forced to run for shelter, it was indiscriminate [fire], which did not distinguish between Russian, Israeli, or other passports. They all faced the same rocket fire. So what is rocket fire if not an act of terror or of war?"
Alexander Shein: "Of course we condemn such fire."
Interviewer: "That's all you can say? There are bad terrorists and good terrorists?"
Alexander Shein: "No, we do not consider them to be terrorists at all." [...]

Cyprus President in Beirut, Calls for Unifying Anti-Terrorism Efforts
Asharq Al-Awsat/June 13/17/Lebanese President Michel Aoun and his Cypriot counterpart, President Nicos Anastasiades during a joint news conference following talks at the Baabda Palace. (Dalati & Nohra) Beirut – Lebanese President Michel Aoun and his Cypriot counterpart Nicos Anastasiades agreed on Monday to unify efforts aimed at fighting terrorism and stressed the importance of bilateral cooperation between the two countries. In a joint news conference following an extensive meeting at the Baabda Palace on Monday, Aoun encouraged further cooperation between Lebanon and Cyprus in oil and gas, as well as collaboration in the energy sector. “We highly encourage the governments of both of our countries to boost cooperation within the fields of gas and oil,” Aoun said, highlighting the substantial need to bolster fruitful dialogue and cooperation between Lebanon and Cyprus in the field of energy. The Lebanese president also called for facilitating the conditions to export Lebanese agricultural and industrial products to Cypriot markets. Underlining Lebanon’s support for the unity of Cypriot lands, Aoun stressed the need to reach a compromise that guarantees stability all across Cyprus, and among its entire population. The Cypriot president, for his part, hailed the historic ties between his country and Lebanon. “We are working to boost the existing ties between the Cypriot and Lebanese peoples,” Anastasiades said. “Our relationship exceeds the close geographical distance. It is deeply rooted in rigid bonds,” he added. Following his talks with Aoun, the Cypriot president said that he had underlined to need to consolidate relations at all levels in order to reach a mutual vision towards peace and stability. “I assure you that Cyprus will pursue efforts to help Lebanon face looming challenges,” he added. He also praised Lebanon for hosting of more than two million Syrian refugees and pledged more support through European Union channels

Final Agreement Reached on Electoral Law
Naharnet/June 13/17/A final political agreement was reached Tuesday afternoon on the 15-district electoral law and the Cabinet is expected to approve it during its session on Wednesday. "An agreement has been reached on the electoral law and all obstacles have been resolved," LBCI television reported. According to MTV, the draft law splits Beirut into two districts and moves the minorities seat to the first district. The first district contains Ashrafieh, Rmeil, Saifi and Medawwar while the second contains Bashoura, Marfa, Zokak al-Blat, Mazraa, Ras Beirut, Ain el-Mreisseh, Minet el-Hosn and Mousaitbeh. The parties also agreed that any electoral list has to reach a certain threshold to become eligible to win seats. The threshold is determined by the so-called electoral quotient: the total number of voters in a certain district divided by the number of seats. The so-called preferred vote will meanwhile be counted in the administrative district and not in the electoral district, a demand that the Free Patriotic Movement had long called for. An agreement was also reached on other technical details while no agreement was reached on the issues of “allowing the armed forces to vote, lowering the voting age and introducing a women's quota.”The parties also agreed that expat voting will be introduced in the next elections and that the diaspora will be granted six seats. President Michel Aoun and Prime Minister Saad Hariri are meanwhile supposed to agree on the elections date, as per the agreement.
The political parties had intensified their meetings Tuesday to devise a final format. Two simultaneous meetings were held at the Grand Serail according to media reports.
The first meeting gathered PM Saad Hariri, Free Patriotic Movement head Jebran Bassil, Finance Minister Ali Hassan Khalil, Hizbullah secretary-general's aide Hussein al-Khalil and MPs Wael Abu Faour and George Adwan, while the second meeting gathered MPs Ahmed Fatfat and Alain Aoun, Hariri's adviser Nader Hariri and Justice Minister Salim Jreissati. Industry Minister Hussein al-Hajj Hassan, Agriculture Minister Ghazi Zoaiter, Culture Minister Ghattas Khoury and Lebanese Forces secretary-general Chantal Sarkis joined the meetings later, media reports said.The all-party talks were followed by a meeting for the electoral law ministerial panel. The two-hour meeting was dedicated to "hearing the remarks of all political parties regarding the draft law in order to reach a common vision that would be discussed during tomorrow's Cabinet session at the Baabda Palace," the National News Agency said. "The new law's draft is being finalized," Minister Hajj Hassan said after the meeting. Social Affairs Minister Pierre Bou Assi meanwhile said "there are objections, but they won't impede the law.""The atmosphere was positive and everyone was willing to offer concessions," Bou Assi added.
Al-Jadeed television said the AMAL Movement, the Marada Movement and the Lebanese Forces expressed reservations of the issue of counting the preferred vote in the administrative district and not in the electoral district. "We registered our objections and PM Hariri will raise them in Cabinet," Public Works and Transport Minister Youssef Fenianos of Marada said.Hariri had reassured Monday that Lebanon “will have an electoral law on Wednesday.”In remarks published Sunday, MP Adwan had stressed that Parliament will pass the new electoral law in its Friday session. This requires the approval of the draft electoral law during Wednesday's Cabinet session. Adwan has played a key role in promoting the draft electoral law.

Bassil Welcomes New Electoral Law, Says It 'Greatly Improves Representation'
Naharnet/June 13/17/Free Patriotic Movement chief Jebran Bassil welcomed Tuesday the electoral law format that the political parties had agreed on earlier in the day, noting that the new electoral system “will greatly improve representation.” “We have managed to drop vacuum, extension and the 1960 law and the Lebanese will have a law that will greatly improve representation,” said Bassil after the weekly meeting of the Change and Reform parliamentary bloc. “Minorities in Beirut have been done justice and their parliamentary seat has been returned to its place in the first district,” Bassil added.“We had called for proportional representation with restraints and this is what happened through the division of districts,” the FPM chief boasted. He vowed however that “the battle for improving representation will continue” until Christians become able to “elect 64 out of 64 MPs” with their own votes. Bassil also described Tuesday's agreement as “an achievement for all Lebanese.” And while noting that it is up to President Michel Aoun and Prime Minister Saad Hariri to set a date for the elections, Bassil noted that the FPM wants the polls to be held “as soon as possible.” As per the political agreement that was reached earlier in the day at the Grand Serail, the so-called preferred vote will be counted in the 26 administrative districts and not in the 15 electoral districts, a demand that the Free Patriotic Movement had long called for. The FPM argues that counting the preferred vote in the smaller administrative districts would grant Christians a higher ability to choose their representatives with their own votes. The preferred vote is a mechanism through which a voter chooses their preferred candidate on a certain electoral ballot, granting that candidate an advantage during the distribution of seats on winners.

Jumblat Slams 'Complicated' Electoral Law as Marada Rejects 'Preferred Vote' Mechanism
Naharnet/June 13/17/Druze leader MP Walid Jumblat on Tuesday criticized the proportional representation electoral law that the parties have agreed on as “complicated,” as the Marada Movement rejected the mechanism of counting the so-called “preferred vote.”“In Greece, the sun shines creating serenity and beauty, while in Lebanon a complicated and complex electoral law is being born -- a law that is complicated like its makers and fabricators,” Jumblat tweeted sarcastically from Greece. Public Works and Transport Minister Youssef Fenianos of the Marada Movement meanwhile expressed his movement's rejection of the mechanism of counting the so-called “preferred vote.” “We are opposed to counting the preferred vote in the administrative district and we want it to be counted in the electoral district, because we have candidates in all northern districts while the Free Patriotic Movement only has a single candidate in Batroun,” Fenianos said after he took part in an electoral law meeting at the Grand Serail. MP Wael Abu Faour of Jumblat's Democratic Gathering bloc meanwhile described the law that has been agreed on as “the worst possible law.”As per the political agreement that was reached earlier in the day at the Grand Serail, the so-called preferred vote will be counted in the 26 administrative districts and not in the 15 electoral districts, a demand that the Free Patriotic Movement had long called for. The FPM argues that counting the preferred vote in the smaller administrative districts would grant Christians a higher ability to choose their representatives with their own votes. The preferred vote is a mechanism through which a voter chooses their preferred candidate on a certain electoral ballot, granting that candidate an advantage during the distribution of seats on winners.

Garbage Dumped in Sea Off Lebanese Coast Sparks Outrage
Naharnet/Agence France Presse/June 13/17/A "mountain of garbage" dumped at sea off Beirut under a deal between the government and a company has sparked outrage in Lebanon, two years after mass protests over a waste crisis. For the past 10 days, civil society groups have shared images of trucks carrying rubbish and tipping it into the Mediterranean, a process that is ongoing. Activists say the waste from the "mountain of garbage" at Bourj Hammoud in north Beirut is disposed of under an agreement between the government's Development and Reconstruction Council (CDR) and a private company.
"They are taking garbage from this mountain that has been there for 20 years... and throwing it into the sea," said Wadih al-Asmar, an activist from the "You Stink" campaign behind the protests in 2015. Environment Minister Tareq al-Khatib on Tuesday confirmed the existence of an agreement between the CDR and a private firm to dump the waste at sea. Khatib said he had sent letters to the CDR to "rectify" the situation and that he was trying to find the "best way to limit" the damage. But activists vented their anger on social media, branding the situation "shameful." "Waste is thrown into the open sea and the environment minister justifies it... he gives them the green light," said the You Stink campaign. Asmar, the campaign activist, denounced the disposal of the garbage at sea without any treatment, saying it was "killing the marine ecosystem."Lebanon experienced a major waste crisis in mid-2015, with garbage piling up in the streets of Beirut and its surroundings after the closure of the country's main landfill. This crisis triggered mass protests, with many taking aim at politicians in a country that has suffered endemic corruption since the end of the 1975-1990 civil war. In 2016, the government decided to reopen the landfill temporarily and to create two more dumps, one in Bourj Hammoud next to the "mountain of garbage" whose stench fills the air in the capital's northern suburbs.

Hariri Says New Electoral Law 'an Achievement for Entire Country'
Naharnet/June 13/17/Prime Minister Saad Hariri on Tuesday described the new electoral law that the political parties have agreed on as an “achievement for the entire country.”“This is not an achievement for a party or a sect, but rather for the entire country, and in my opinion it was the last controversial essential topic in the country,” Hariri said at an iftar banquet at the Grand Serail. “After this achievement, I can say that there are no more political conflict issues that paralyze the country and obstruct our project for reviving the economy and finding job opportunities for youths,” the premier added. “It is the responsibility of all of us to preserve domestic stability and protect our people and country from the storms that you are all witnessing around us in the region,” Hariri went on to say.A final agreement was reached earlier on Tuesday on a draft electoral law based on full proportional representation and 15 districts and the Cabinet is expected to approve it and send it to Parliament on Wednesday.

Mustaqbal Urges Approval of Electoral Law in Wednesday Cabinet Session
Naharnet/June 13/17/Al-Mustaqbal parliamentary bloc stressed Tuesday that “it is urgent to approve the draft electoral law in tomorrow's Cabinet session.”The new law “should fully respect the Taef Accord, the Constitution and the foundations of Muslim-Christian coexistence,” said the bloc in a statement issued after its weekly meeting. It warned that “failure to approve this law would plunge the country into unknown dangers and would greatly harm legitimate state institutions and the economic and social situations in the country, which have been aggravated by the extraordinary circumstances that the Arab region is going through.”And while voicing “appreciation” of the efforts that have been exerted by the political parties until the moment, “which have led to an agreement on the draft law's general lines,” Mustaqbal hoped “some flaws that are related to the division of some districts will be addressed.”
A final agreement was reached earlier on Tuesday on a draft electoral law based on full proportional representation and 15 districts and a ministerial committee was expected to approve the final draft ahead of Wednesday's Cabinet session, media reports said. Prime Minister Saad Hariri had reassured Monday that Lebanon “will have an electoral law on Wednesday.”In remarks published Sunday, Lebanese Forces deputy head MP George Adwan had stressed that Parliament will pass the new electoral law in its Friday session. This requires the approval of the draft electoral law during Wednesday's Cabinet session. Adwan has played a key role in promoting the draft electoral law.

Aoun Stresses 'Respect for Constitution' on Eve of Cabinet Meet on Vote Law
Naharnet/June 13/17/Ahead of a cabinet meeting scheduled for Wednesday to address the country's controversial electoral law, President Michel Aoun held deliberations with political parties on Tuesday focusing on the final details that need to be discussed before the cabinet convenes, the National News Agency reported. NNA said that the President has focused on the need to “respect the constitution,” assuring that “an electoral law is an important step in Lebanon's political and national life because it will pave way for the beginning of a parliamentary council which is supposed to faithfully embody the choices and aspirations of the Lebanese to shape the future of their country as they wish.”In addition to that, the parliament “is the guarantor of national unity, justice and equality among all Lebanese.”Political parties have agreed on the law's general format but they are still discussing the mechanism of counting votes going for so-called preferred candidates on the electoral ballots and whether it should depend on the electoral districts or the administrative districts. The Free Patriotic Movement argues that counting preferred votes in the smaller administrative districts would grant Christians a higher ability to choose their representatives with their own votes. The term of the parliament ends on June 20.

'Only prayer' can help with vote law: Berri
The Daily Star/June 13/17 /BEIRUT: "You have to pray, as only prayer is beneficial now," said Speaker Nabih Berri Tuesday, when asked for updates about the new electoral vote law, a Parliament statement said. Berri was speaking after a meeting with Cypriot President Nicos Anastasiades in Parliament in Downtown Beirut. President Michel Aoun also commented on the vote law issue, stressing the importance of a new electoral law and respect for Constitution. Aoun was following up on the ongoing talks intended to finalize the new Parliamentary vote law, a statement by his press office said. “The new electoral law is a key milestone in the national and political life in Lebanon,” Aoun said, adding that it would give the country a new Parliament that “would honestly embody the choices and aspirations of the Lebanese people in shaping the future of their country.” The draft vote law under discussion calls for a proportional voting system. Aoun, Speaker Nabih Berri and Prime Minister Saad Hariri agreed on the basic outlines of the new vote law at Baabda Palace last week. The agreement would divide Lebanon into 15 districts, each of which would elect representatives on a proportional allocation. The proposed draft law will be discussed during Wednesday Cabinet meeting in Baabda Palace. The rivals are reportedly trying to work out some differences that emerged after Foreign Minister and Free Patriotic Movement leader Gebran Bassil issued a string of new demands. Talks have been complicated by Bassil’s call to link the vote law with “a political agreement” confirming parity between Muslims and Christians in a constitutional text as well as the establishment of a Senate as stipulated by the 1989 Taif Accord. Bassil is also reportedly demanding that the number of Parliament members be reduced from 128 to 108 in line with the Taif Accord, arguing that the extra 20 seats were added in 1989 at the request of Syria – the main power broker in Lebanon at the time – to consolidate its grip over the country. This is in addition to demanding that Lebanese expatriates be granted six parliamentary seats. Bassil’s proposal on equal Christian-Muslim standing in the Constitution has been criticized publicly by Berri and implicitly by Hariri’s Future Movement bloc, as both expressed concern that drafting a new foundational text at a time of heightened regional tensions may exacerbate sectarian conflict in Lebanon. Other contentious issues that could jeopardize the vote law agreement are the percentage each candidate needs to win an electoral seat in any district, the mechanism of a preferential vote, the duration of a technical extension of Parliament’s term and the vote tallying procedures in a proportional system. Aoun also stressed that the constitution should be respected, adding that "the constitution should be the foundation based on which the constitutional institutions function." “It [Parliament] is the guarantor of national unity, justice and equality among all the Lebanese,” he concluded. A flurry of meetings on the vote law has also spurred activity at the Grand Serail, local media reported.Prime Minister Saad Hariri cancelled all of his scheduled appointments for Tuesday, local MTV Channel said. Hariri’s meetings will be restricted to deliberations with five representatives of the key political blocs, including Free Patriotic Movement, Amal Movement, Hezbollah, Progressive Socialist Party, and Lebanese Forces. On his way to the meeting, LF MP George Adwan was positive about the results of the meeting. “We are used to keep our promises,” he said to MTV. “Hopefully, things are on their way to be resolved,” Haj Hussein Khalil, aide to Hezbollah’s chief Sayyed Hasan Nasrallah, said before the meeting.

Cypriot FM Urges Lebanon to Agree on Vote Law
Naharnet/June 13/17/Cypriot Foreign Minister Ioannis Kasoulides voiced hopes on Tuesday that Lebanon agrees on a new electoral law for its parliamentary elections in order to overcome the obstacles. “We hope that a new vote law is reached soon in order to help solve the problems that Lebanon is suffering from,” said the Minister in a joint press conference with his Lebanese counterpart Jebran Bassil. The Minister also assured that his country will not spare efforts in helping Lebanon in its fight against terrorism, he said: “We can't watch Lebanon suffer from the burden of terrorism without offering the help we can to address it.”Furthermore, the Minister assured that his country will “offer the needed support through the import of Lebanese products and we will work on developing trade commodity and cooperation between the two countries.”For his part, Bassil said: “We are confident that Cyprus will contribute to the discussion with trade authorities within the EU to promote trade exchanges.”

Judge Indicts Killer and Associates Involved in Hamoush's Murder
Naharnet/June 13/17/Judge Ziad Abou Haidar indicted on Tuesday Mohammed al-Ahmar and his associates for the deliberate murder of Roy al-Hamoush and the file was referred to the first investigative judge, media reports said on Tuesday. Al-Ahmar and his two associates, H.M. and A.Gh., were arrested last week in two separate operations after killing Hamoush overnight last Wednesday in the Karantina area. Al-Ahmar, who reportedly shot Hamoush in the head, had been arrested Wednesday evening in the Bourj Hammoud area by the Internal Security Forces Intelligence Branch. VDL (100.5) said the culprits could face a death penalty. According to reports, Roy and his friend Johnny Nassar were in the latter's car when it crashed into the vehicle of the three culprits in the Jal el-Dib area. The accident led to a dispute that soon escalated into a car pursuit. The three suspects then managed to intercept Roy and his friend in the Karantina area where Hamoush was shot dead at the hands of al-Ahmar. Nassar managed to escape and inform authorities of the incident. According to reports, al-Ahmar has a criminal record. President Michel Aoun has called on security and judicial agencies to "probe the real causes of the crime and hand the culprits and instigators the harshest penalties."

Adwan Says 'Turning Back is Impossible', Vote Law Will be Approved
Naharnet/June 13/17/Lebanese Forces deputy leader MP George Adwan emphasized that political parties have no choice but to agree on a new parliamentary electoral law because it has become “impossible to turn back,” al-Joumhouria daily reported on Tuesday. “In spite of everything said, we have no choice but to agree on a new law because all other options are destructive to the country's economy and stability. We have no choice because turning back now is impossible,” Adwan told the daily before he joined an evening meeting at the Grand Serail on Monday. “Mistaken are those who believe that we have other choices, or those who believe that we have a choice to either reach a new law or reach vacuum. Wisdom obliges us to agree because vacuum means there will be no parliament, no government, no economy and no money. Who has a rational mind to work in that direction?” he asked. “For our part, we will push through until an agreement is reached,” pointed the MP. Referring to some details that still need to be discussed, Adwan said the decision will be left to the cabinet to run a vote on the controversial details. “The law will be approved because it is impossible to turn back. Some major technical details still need to be covered, but we won't allow that to obstruct the vote law. We have come a long way. The decision will be left to the cabinet in a manner that simulates voting,” he said. The meeting overnight at the Grand Serail gathered PM Saad Hariri, Foreign Minister Jebran Bassil, Speaker Nabih Berri's aide Ali Hassan Khalil, Hizbullah secretary-general's assistant Hussein al-Khalil, MP George Adwan and Prime Minister Saad Hariri's adviser Nader Hariri. Adwan had stressed in remarks published Sunday that parliament will pass the new electoral law in its Friday session. This requires the approval of the draft electoral law during Wednesday's cabinet session. Adwan has played a key role in promoting a draft electoral law fully based on the proportional representation system and 15 electoral districts. The parties have agreed on the law's general format but they are still discussing the mechanism of counting votes going for so-called preferred candidates on the electoral ballots and whether it should depend on the electoral districts or the administrative districts. The Free Patriotic Movement argues that counting preferred votes in the smaller administrative districts would grant Christians a higher ability to choose their representatives with their own votes.

Patriarch Yazegi welcomes Cypriot President
Tue 13 Jun 2017/NNA - Greek Orthodox Patriarch Youhanna X Yazegi met, at Beirut Orthodox Patriarchate on Tuesday, with Cypriot President Nicos Anastasiades, and an accompanying delegation.
The meeting was attended by Deputy House Speaker Farid Makari, Deputy Prime Minister Ghassan Hasbani, Minister of Defense Yaacoub Sarraf, State Minister Nicolas Tueni, former minister Elias Bou Saad, and a panel of priests and bishops, among whom Orthodox Archbishop Elias Audi.

Ogasapian: Election law which discounts women quota is worst possible
Tue 13 Jun 2017/NNA - Minister of State for Women's Affairs, Jean Ogasapian, on Tuesday said in a tweet that an election law which disregards women's quota is considered the worst possible.

Abu Faour: No vote on election law inside Cabinet
Tue 13 Jun 2017/NNA - Member of the Democratic Gathering bloc, Wael Abu Faour, on Tuesday indicated that there will not be any vote on the election law inside the Cabinet. "This law is the worst possible," he added.

Hariri chairs meeting of ministerial panel tasked with devising election law
Tue 13 Jun 2017/NNA - Prime Minister Saad Hariri chaired at 5:30 pm on Tuesday a meeting of the ministerial panel tasked with devising the election law draft.The meeting was devoted to discussing and putting the final touches on the long awaited election draft law. Attending the meeting had been Ministers: Marwan Hamadeh, Ali Qanso, Pierre Abu Assi, Talal Erslan, Nuhad Mashnouq, Hussein Hajj Hassan, Gebran Bassil, Ghattas Khoury, Ali Hassan Khalil, Youssef Fenianos, and Avedis Guidanian.

Geagea meets EU delegation at Maarab
Tue 13 Jun 2017/NNA - Lebanese Forces party leader, Samir Geagea, on Tuesday met at his Maarab residence with Managing Director for Middle East and North Africa at the European External Action Service Nick Westcott, accompanied by EU Ambassador to Lebanon Christina Lassen and a delegation. Talks reportedly touched on the bilateral relations between the EU and Lebanon, and most recent security and political developments in Lebanon and the broad region. Talks also touched on the persistent impact of the Syrian crisis on Lebanon, especially the brunt of the Syrian displacement. Geagea explained to the EU delegation the repercussions of the Syrian refugees' crisis on Lebanon, stressing that Lebanon can no longer absorb the huge influx of Syrian refugees especially in terms of the deterioration of infrastructure and the simmering economic situation.
"Displacement predicament cannot be addressed at the expense of the Lebanese citizen," Geagea stressed, indicating that the solution lies in the establishment of safe zones in Syria. Geagea pointed out that "99% of the displaced Syrians have shown a desire to live in these safe areas, provided better living conditions are made available."

The Israeli Spy Affair Lebanon Is Obsessed With جاسوس إسرائيلي يشغل لبنان
Jerusalem Post/June 13/17
http://eliasbejjaninews.com/?p=56216
Lebanese media has been intently covering the story of an Iraqi citizen who was allegedly deployed by Israel to spearhead an espionage ring in Lebanon. Lebanon has been engaged in recent days with "the uncovering of a Mossad spy network" in the country. As the reports mount, more and more new details regarding the alleged espionage network are emerging in local media.  The affair allegedly began with the arrest a month and a half ago of "an Israeli security service agent holding an Iraqi citizenship."According to a report by Lebanese media, an investigation of the man masterminding the spy ring revealed that the network was operating for a military security body called TASA ELITE and run by Israeli officers based in Kurdistan. The reports in Lebanese media explained that TASA ELITE's purpose was to gather information throughout the Arab world, specifically in Syria, Lebanon and Iraq, reportedly under the guise of "fighting terrorism" or "nations that support terror."The Iraqi citizen, who was arrested after being closely tracked in Lebanon for a certain period, has been named as Marbin Ben Y, and hails from Dahoc, a region in northern Iraq. He lives in a-Sabtia in Eastern Beirut. According to the reports, the investigation revealed that the suspect in question has been active since 2011, the year the Arab Spring had erupted across the Middle East. It was further claimed that the suspect had joined Kurdish Peshmerga forces in their fighting. He was also accused of "managing security and military cooperation with Israel and... even publicly hosting Israeli security advisers, claiming that they are fighting together against ISIS." The reports alleged that the detained suspect denied the claims that he was fighting with the Peshmerga, and instead explained that he arrived in the country with family members in November 2014. He reportedly also said that since then, he has been working for several companies that dealt in medical equipment and water distribution.
Secret Account
According to Lebanese media, six months ago Marbin received a Facebook friend request from an account under the name of "Ilan Nissim." After corresponding for a while, Nissim disclosed himself to be an Israeli intelligence officer and allegedly told Marbin that "he requested the friendship in light of his opinions, among them hatred for Arabs and Muslims because of the ethnic suffering of the Sarianit sect, that found relief only in Israel." According to the report, he offered Marbin to gather intelligence on Hezbollah, the Lebanese army and the governments in Syria and to enlist agents in Lebanon and Iraq.
Marbin was initially hesitant, fearing that he would be caught by the Lebanese security agency and charged with treason. However, the reports claim that he was eventually persuaded by the Israeli officer, who reassured him that no one would disclose him. In the investigation Marbin reportedly stated that he gathered information about several places as was requested and passed his summary to his operative. Two weeks before his arrest, the agent requested that he gather material about the burial spot of Israeli navigator Ron Arad. "The work took place through the use of secret Facebook accounts that Nissim requested to open," Marbin said.
"I never met the Israeli intelligence officer, even though I traveled between Lebanon and Iraq all the time," he allegedly noted.
He even disclosed that he brought his brother into the network.
The Lebanese security services that looked into the alleged activities of TASA ELITE, discovered that Nissim was the head. As stated, according to the reports, the body is made up of selected officers from several armies around the world, with its aim being to fight terror and illegal trading of civilians that were kidnapped by terrorists or by nations that support terror.  Nonetheless, in the Lebanese media they are claiming that the archives of the company show that the institute is made up of officers and people from the IDF, using IDF equipment and even that activities are similar to Israel security services - the Mossad, the Shin Ben (Israel Security Agency) and the IDF's intelligence unit. From an investigation that was published in the Hezbollah-affiliated Lebanese newspaper Al-Akhbar, Nissim was born in Jerusalem in 1966, and currently resides in new York. According to the report, he is behind operations in Syria, Lebanon, Iraq, Yemen, Afghanistan and more.
Al-Akhbar reported that Nissim was also responsible for training soldiers with combat equipment, assassinations and enlistment of agents for the Mossad, their goal being to gather intelligence. The publication also stated that Nissim managed to visit several countries recently, including Iraq and the UAE, Cyprus, Turkey, Jordan, northern Syria and the Syrian side of the Golan Heights. Lately he was in Kurdistan, Iraq, next to Iraqi Peshmerga on the border. According to the Lebanese army prosecutor, Marbin will stand for trial under the accusation of "cooperation with the Israeli enemy and gathering security intelligence," and his brother will be accused of "suspected cooperation with the enemy." "Enlisting Marbin due to his stance on Facebook emphasizes that the enemy enjoys displays of ethnic and sectarian racism in the region," Al-Akhbar wrote. "Security forces are following the moods of people and groups on social media, utilizing feelings of minorities and displaying Israel as the messiah for those groups, especially with the intensifying battle in Syria and Iraq," the report added. "Israel is exploiting ISIS' strengthening, in order to adopt a role of a partner in 'the fight against terror' on a regional and international level, especially in recent years, with the declaration of the close relationship between several Arab nations and in light of future relations with the Kurdistan province."

Latest LCCC Bulletin For Miscellaneous Reports And News published on June 13-14/17
Three Christians are sentenced to 80 lashes by Sharia court in Iran for taking communion wine
The men are all due to be flogged in public for falling foul of Islamic laws
The three men are all Christian converts from Muslim backgroundsUnder Sharia law it is illegal for Muslims to convert to another religion
By Hannah Al-Othman For Mailoline
Three Christians in Iran have been sentenced to 80 lashes by a Sharia court after they were found guilty of blasphemy for drinking holy communion wine. Yaser Mosibzadeh, Saheb Fadayee and Mohammed Reza Omidi, also known as Youhan, are due to be flogged in public after they were arrested at a house church gathering in Rasht in May. The trio spent weeks in prison before they were finally released on bail, but they will now have to face the cruel and degrading punishment after they were guilty by Islamist judges. The three men are Christian converts from Muslim backgrounds, and the sentence reflects the state’s hard-line refusal to recognise the right of Muslims to change their religion. Three Christians in Iran have been sentenced to 80 lashes by a Sharia court after they were found guilty of blasphemy for drinking holy communion wine at a house church in Iran. Three Christians in Iran have been sentenced to 80 lashes by a Sharia court after they were found guilty of blasphemy for drinking holy communion wine at a house church in Iran .It is not illegal for Christians to drink alcohol in Iran but under Sharia law, Muslims are forbidden from drinking and it is illegal for Muslims to convert to another religion. Security agents also raided the home of their pastor Yousef Nadarkhani and his wife Fatemeh Pasandideh and arrested them at the same time, but the couple were not jailed. The men are appealing against the verdict, but they also face more serious charges of ‘action against national security’, along with Pastor Nadarkhani. There are believed to be about 300,000 Christians in Iran, with indigenous Christian Armenian and Assyrian communities making up about one per cent of the population . There are believed to be about 300,000 Christians in Iran, with indigenous Christian Armenian and Assyrian communities making up about one per cent of the population. They are due to be sentenced at a later date. Iran stepped up its crackdown on Christian activists in 2015, and at least 108 Christians have been rounded up by police in the last year alone, with as many as ninety prisoners currently languishing in jail for their faith.
Many Christian prisoners have been beaten and abused, and some have been threatened with death, according to Christian charity Release International.
http://www.dailymail.co.uk/news/article-3944922/Three-Christians-sentenced-80-lashes-Sharia-court-Iran-taking-communion-wine.html

Saudi King Salman, Russian President Discuss Counter-Terrorism in Phone Call
Asharq Al-Awsat/Asharq Al Awsat/June 13/17/Custodian of the Two Holy Mosques King Salman bin Abdulaziz received on Tuesday a telephone call from Russian President Vladimir Putin, reported the Saudi Press Agency (SPA).The two leaders discussed joint cooperation to confront extremism and terrorism in order to achieve security and stability in the region. They also tackled the latest developments in the region, as well as Saudi-Russian ties and ways to develop them in all fields, said SPA.

Qatar Ignores Gulf Requests, Stresses Adherence to Kuwait Mediation
Asharq Al-Awsat/June 13/17/Paris, Ankara, London, Kuwait – French President Emmanuel Macron held talks on Monday with the Emir of Kuwait to discuss the rift between Qatar and Arab states, the Elysee Palace said in a statement. Kuwaiti Emir Sheikh Sabah al-Ahmad al-Jaber Al Sabah pledged to deploy all efforts to resolve the ongoing crisis in the Gulf.“It is difficult for us, the generation that built the Gulf Cooperation Council (GCC) 37 years ago, to see these disagreements between its members, which may lead to undesirable consequences,” he stated, as quoted by Kuwait’s news agency KUNA. “I personally lived through the first building blocks of this council nearly four decades ago, so it is not easy for someone like me as a leader to stand silent without doing everything I can to bring brothers back together,” he added. Earlier on Monday, French Foreign Minister Jean-Yves Le Drian met with his Qatari counterpart, Sheikh Mohammed bin Abdulrahman Al Thani, who said that his country supported Kuwait’s mediation efforts and was ready to engage in talks in accordance with international law. In a news conference held at the Qatari Embassy in Paris, Sheikh Mohammed said: “Whatever is related to the collective security of the Gulf countries, Qatar is ready to negotiate … but we have the right to react to these accusations that we are interfering in their internal affairs.”The Qatari minister, who earlier met in London with British Foreign Secretary Boris Johnson, stressed that Doha was not interfering in other countries’ internal affairs, adding that it has cooperated with “honesty and transparency” with the different GCC states in all international issues. Sheikh Mohammed’s visit to Paris came within a European tour that took him to London, Berlin, Brussels and Moscow. He noted during the press conference that allegations over Qatar’s support to the Muslim Brotherhood were “false”. The Qatari foreign minister also said that Hamas was a resistance movement and not a terrorist group. In London, Johnson said he would meet this week with his counterparts from Saudi Arabia, Kuwait and the UAE within efforts to resolve the Gulf crisis through mediation. “I have urged all sides to refrain from any further escalation and to engage in mediation efforts,” he said, following his meeting with the Qatari minister. Meanwhile, the ambassadors of Saudi Arabia, UAE and the Bahraini Embassy’s charge d’affaires in Turkey met in Ankara on Monday with Turkish Minister of Foreign Affairs Mevlut Cavusoglu.Turkish diplomatic sources said that discussions during the meeting touched on latest developments in the Gulf and efforts exerted by Turkey to ease tension in the region.

Riyadh Condemns ‘Duality’ of Qatari Policy
Asharq Al-Awsat/June 13/17/Jeddah – The Saudi cabinet renewed on Monday the Kingdom’s praise of US President Donald Trump’s statements that called on Qatar to “stop financing terrorism” as it condemned the emirate’s “duality in policies.” It also hailed Trump’s praise of Saudi Arabia’s leading role in confronting terror and drying up its funding. Custodian of the Two Holy Mosques King Salman bin Abdulaziz chaired the cabinet session held at Jeddah’s al-Salam palace. He informed the gatherers of the results of his meetings with Kuwait Emir Sheikh Sabah al-Ahmed al-Jaber Al Sabah, Bahrain King Hamad bin Issa Al Khalifa and Pakistani Prime Minister Nawaz Sharif and telephone talks with Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdogan, Trump and French President Emmanuel Macron. Following the cabinet meeting, Information Minister Dr. Awadh bin Saleh al-Awadh told the Saudi Press Agency (SPA) that the gatherers addressed the latest regional and international developments. He hailed King Salman’s order to take into consideration humanitarian cases of Saudi-Qatari families in wake of the severing of ties with the emirate. “This recognizes the brotherly Qatari people, who are a natural extension of their brothers in Saudi Arabia,” said al-Awadh. The cabinet also welcomed the announcement of Saudi Arabia, the United Arab Emirates, Bahrain and Egypt to blacklist 59 individuals and 12 organization that are linked to Qatar and “serving suspicious agendas.”“This is an indication of the duality of the Qatari policy that on the one hand announces its fight against terrorism, while financing and supporting it on the other,” explained al-Awadh. On internal developments, the Saudi cabinet condemned the terrorist bombing that targeted a security patrol in al-Qatif. An officer was killed and a security member was wounded in the attack.

King Salman to Receive Iraqi PM Wednesday in Jeddah
Asharq Al-Awsat/June 13/17/Saudi Arabia's Crown Prince Salman bin Abdul Aziz al-Saud meets with Chinese Premier Li Keqiang at Ziguangge Pavilion in the Zhongnanhai leaders' compound in Beijing in this file photo from March 14, 2014. REUTERS/Lintao Zhang/Pool/Files
Jeddah – Custodian of the Two Holy Mosques King Salman bin Abdulaziz will meet Iraqi Prime Minister Haider al-Abadi on Wednesday in Jeddah. Saudi Arabia’s Arab Gulf Affairs Minister Thamer al-Sabhan told Asharq Al-Awsat newspaper that the meeting would see discussions over bilateral relations and regional developments. Abadi’s official trip to Saudi Arabia comes following a visit conducted by Saudi Foreign Minister Adel al-Jubeir to Baghdad on February 25. An official at the Iraqi foreign ministry said the two countries were holding “honest” discussions over regional matters and they were seeking to further boost bilateral relations. In earlier remarks to Asharq Al-Awsat newspaper, Nizar Khairallah, the first deputy of the Iraqi foreign ministry, said that the two countries were facing common challenges, including the fight against terrorism. He underlined in this regard the importance of bilateral cooperation between Baghdad and Riyadh to bolster intelligence efforts.Khairallah noted the presence of shared interests in opening the land borders between the two countries, as well as resuming the direct flight routes between the two capitals.

Qatar Makes ‘Siege’ Claims as its Tries to Counter Diplomatic Crisis
Asharq Al-Awsat/June 13/17/Jeddah – The trips of Qatari Foreign Minister Sheikh Mohammed bin Abdulrahman Al Thani have not ceased. He has traveled to Russia to western Europe in an attempt to exploit the diplomatic row to create a new maneuver to cover the causes of the dispute and the severing of ties by Saudi Arabia, Bahrain, Egypt and the United Arab Emirates and some other Islamic countries. Qatar is now in the realm of the so-called resistance axis that some turbulent countries, such as Iran and Syria, and some groups, such as the Muslim Brotherhood and Hamas, are a part of. It is brandishing slogans that contradict what Saudi Arabia, Bahrain, Egypt and the UAE had announced when they cut their ties with Qatar over its support of terrorism. The media that Qatar backs is trying to create claims under the theme of the “siege” in order to liken the situation in the country to that of the Gaza Strip that is truly besieged by Israel. This is all part of Doha’s attempt to alter several of the facts. The Qatari FM called for an end to what he called the “siege” against his country, saying that it violates international law. According to the United Nations however, the truth is that countries have the right to sever ties and close their airspace. Sieges are military and legal methods that are adopted in North Korea, for example. Saudi Arabia, the UAE and Bahrain have taken into account the Saudi-Qatari families that extend from the Qatari people to the people of these three countries. Doha has however exploited the media to turn the crisis into a humanitarian one. Professor in international relations Abdul Latif al-Salemi told Asharq Al-Awsat that the severing of ties is not much different than the US administration’s demand for Qatar to stop supporting terrorism. Qatar through its maneuvering is demonstrating that it is incapable of abandoning terrorist factions, he added. Doha is attempting to turn its crisis into an international one at a time when Arab countries are focusing on terrorism and ways to stop its funding. Political researcher Aaref al-Masaad said that Qatar is seeking to escalate the situation and it is insisting on continuing its support for terrorism. This stands in contrast to major countries that are seeking to support security and stability in the region. Qatar has therefore turned to its real allies who share its political creed, such as Turkey and Iran, he told Asharq Al-Awsat.

Egypt Urges Interpol to Issue Red Notices for 26 Qatar-Linked Terrorists
Asharq Al-Awsat/June 13/17/Cairo – Egypt has started taking the necessary procedures to demand Interpol to blacklist 26 terrorists linked to Qatar, Egyptian security sources said. It wants them to be added to Interpol’s Red Notice in order to arrest them and hand them to Egyptian authorities. The terrorists are the same ones that were blacklisted three days ago by Saudi Arabia, Bahrain and Egypt.Former aide to the Egyptian Interior Minister Hani Abdul Latif told Asharq Al-Awsat: “Contacting Interpol will confuse the terrorists and leave them little room to maneuver.” Youssef al-Qaradawi, an Egyptian national, who holds a Qatari passport, is among those who have been blacklisted. Director of the Counter-Terrorism Unit in the Strategic Affairs and National Security administration Abdul Mehdi Mutawe told Asharq Al-Awsat that he believed that it would be difficult for Qaradawi to be handed over to Egypt because he holds the Qatari passport. It is believed that dozens of extremist Egyptians have been residing in Qatar, Turkey and other countries since the ouster of former President Mohammed Morsi in 2013. These figures have been inciting violence against Egyptian authorities and financing terrorist operations inside Egypt. Abdul Latif explained that requests to Interpol are first made by the General Prosecution in Egypt and later sent to the international body. Once it received the Red Notice, it examines it with the country that made the request. It may be distributed to all the countries that are part of the Red Notice protocol agreement. The fact that Interpol was approached in the first place will pressure the fugitives, Abdul Latif added. This is all aimed at revealing all terrorist plots and the countries that are backing them, he stressed. “We have always said that terrorism is backed by international intelligence plots. I believe that this has become clear to the whole world. International intelligence fabricates terrorism and uses it to achieve its interests and goals,” he noted.

Hamas Delegation Returns to Gaza
Asharq Al-Awsat/June 13/17/Ramallah- Hamas delegation – led by Yahya Sinwar, Hamad leader in Gaza, – returned to Gaza from Cairo on Monday after a one-week visit that witnessed discussions with security Egyptian officials. Hamas delegation arrived at Rafah crossing between Egypt and Gaza after a series of security agreements – a Hamas source said that the “delegation was highly appreciated and received high-level Egyptian hospitality. All mutual topics were discussed seriously and thoroughly with the Egyptians.”The source added that the dialogue took place between Hamas delegation and Cairo without a third party, pointing out that Cairo showed its keenness to bring the Palestinian cause back to the front. “Hamas delegation talked in Cairo about the Palestinians’ agony and namely Gaza residents. The Egyptian party promised to exert monumental efforts to find solutions for the discussed topics,” he added. Sources told Asharq Al-Awsat that the delegation has agreed with the Egyptian officials on expanding cooperation, developing ties and carrying on meetings — discussions mainly focused on the security field and had no political dimensions at all. Hamas has shown willingness to cooperate and deploy more soldiers on the border as well as to stop the smuggling from and to Sinai. For its part, Egypt promised to enhance the condition at Rafah crossing but linked this to security developments. This is not the first meeting of its kind since Egyptian intelligence officials met previously with Hamas officials several times since March 2016 and asked them to detach themselves from the Brotherhood, control the border, prosecute Salafists, prevent their movement from and to Sinai, cooperate on any information related to the Egyptian national security and stop the smuggling of weapons through Sinai.

Ankara Intervenes to Halt FSA Infighting in Syria’s al-Bab
Asharq Al-Awsat/June 13/17/Beirut – The clashes that erupted between the Free Syrian Army’s Euphrates Shield unit and other factions in the Syrian city of al-Bab and others regions in the northeastern Aleppo countryside have come to a halt. Ankara had reportedly intervened to stop the infighting that has left scored dead and injured. The “Dorar al-Sam” network reported informed sources as saying that Turkey had intervened on Sunday night in order to stop the fighting between the “al-Hamza Brigade” and “al-Sultan Murad” factions on the one side and the “First Regiment” and “Ahrar al-Sham” on the other.
The network reported that clashes erupted when “al-Hamza Brigade” and “al-Sultan Murad” attacked “First Regiment” and “Ahrar al-Sham” positions near al-Bab north of Aleppo. Ten fighters from both sides of the attack were killed in the clashes. The “Ahrar al-Sham” movement issued a statement saying that fighting broke out between the so-called al-Bab military council and first regiment rebels. The movement then intervened to stop the unrest, but they were instead attacked in what was seen as a plan to uproot “Ahrar al-Sham”. It said that its positions in Abla, Awlan and Qabasin were attacked by the “al-Hamza Brigade” and “Sultan Murad” factions. The movement also accused these two Turkish-backed groups of shelling their positions in Awlan near al-Bab, resulting in many injuries among its members. Military sources told the “Ahrar al-Sham” network that there was a plot to remove the movement from areas that have been recently liberated from ISIS. The al-Bab city coordination authority also reported on the infighting among the Free Syrian Army factions, urging calm and restraint. It also demanded the formation of a judicial body that can investigate the claims and accusation made by both sides of the fighting.
It stressed the need for the voice of “reason to prevail over the fighting that creates divisions in society and depletes the revolution.”

Terrorist Attack in Awamiya Kills One Saudi Soldier, Wounds Two
Asharq Al-Awsat/June 13/17/Qatif- A Saudi soldier has been killed and two other security men were wounded in a terrorist attack in the Masoura district in the village of Awamiya, Qatif province. A spokesman of the Interior Ministry said that the incident took place in the Masoura district at around 11:30 on Sunday evening while the officers were on duty and added that an investigation into the terror attack had been launched. The officer who lost his life was identified as Major Tariq Bin Abdul Lateef al-Allaqi. The other two officers are in stable condition, the spokesman said. On May 29, another soldier was killed and five others injured in Masoura after they were hit by a grenade while on patrol, as they were performing their duty in maintaining peace in the same district. In the beginning of June, two terrorists were killed in Qatif after being monitored by the security bodies riding a stolen vehicle that was used in committing criminal and terrorist crimes. Armed men are trying to seek cover in Masoura – an old city that includes hundreds of abandoned houses and of narrow streets that hinder advancement of security forces to purge the district from armed men. As he received a delegation from Awamiya, Prince Saud Bin Naif, emir of the Eastern Province, affirmed that the state is dedicated to implement development plans for all regions and cities in the kingdom and no obstacle would hinder that. Eastern Province emir asserted that terrorists who offended souls and properties only represent themselves and not Qatif residents who are known for their loyalty, fidelity and protection of their country.

France and Britain Announce Anti-Terror Action Plan
Naharnet/Agence France Presse/June 13/17/The leaders of France and Britain on Tuesday announced an anti-terror action plan to crack down on radicalization through social media.
After talks with British Prime Minister Theresa May in Paris, French President Emmanuel Macron said both countries agreed that social networks were not doing enough to stamp out terror propaganda.
Speaking after terror attacks in Manchester and London, Macron said the two countries had worked on a "very concrete" action plan. He said one of the key measures would aim at preventing the incitement of "hate and terrorism" on the internet. May said she and Macron agreed that "more should be done to tackle the terrorist threat online."She said the British and French campaign was aimed to "ensure the internet cannot... be used to host the radicalizing material that leads to so much harm."May said the British government was already working with social media companies "to halt the spread of extremist material and poisonous propaganda that warps young minds," adding: "But we know they need to do more. "Today we can announce that the UK and France will work together to encourage organizations to do more and abide by their social responsibility to step up their efforts to remove harmful content from their networks." The campaign includes exploring the possibility of legal penalties against tech companies if they fail to take the necessary action to remove unacceptable content, May said.
Britain was rocked by a suicide bombing at a pop concert in Manchester on May 22 which killed 22 people, including children, followed two weeks later by a knife and van attack in central London, which left eight dead. France has been a constant target for jihadist attacks since 2015, with more than 230 people killed. After their press conference the two leaders headed to the Stade de France to watch a friendly match between the French and English football teams.

Qatar Foreign Minister Denounces 'Unfair', 'Illegal' Sanctions
Naharnet/Agence France Presse/June 13/17/Qatar on Monday denounced the sanctions imposed against Doha by Saudi Arabia and its allies as "unfair" and "illegal", as Britain announced talks to try to resolve the crisis. "Whatever relates to our foreign affairs... no one has the right to discuss," Foreign Minister Sheikh Mohammed bin Abdulrahman Al-Thani told reporters during a visit to Paris. He called for "dialogue based on clear foundations" over accusations that Qatar supports extremist groups. "Qatar is willing to sit and negotiate about whatever is related to Gulf security," he added.
Saudi Arabia, the United Arab Emirates and Bahrain are among several countries which last week announced the suspension of all ties to Qatar over what they say is the state's support for extremist groups and its political proximity to Shiite Iran.
Qatar denies the allegations. In London, British foreign minister Boris Johnson called for calm and said he would meet this week with his counterparts from Saudi Arabia, Kuwait and the UAE. "I have urged all sides to refrain from any further escalation and to engage in mediation efforts," he said. While praising Qatar's restraint during the crisis, he added: "In finding a resolution, I call on Qatar to take seriously their neighbours' concerns. "Qatar is a partner of the UK in the fight against terrorism but they urgently need to do more to address support for extremist groups, building on the steps they have already taken to tackle funding to those groups."- Kuwaiti mediation welcomed -In Paris, Sheikh Mohammed, who is on a European tour to drum up support for Qatar, said his country had no idea what had provoked the move against it.
"It's not about Iran or Al-Jazeera," he said, referring to the Qatar-based broadcaster. "We have no clue about the real reasons."But he supported moves by Kuwait to act as a mediator in the dispute "with the help of friendly countries such as the United States," he added. Sheikh Mohammed's courting of Europe -- he has also visited Germany and Russia in recent days -- though did not go down well in parts of the Gulf. UAE's foreign minister Anwar Gargash took to Twitter on Monday to claim Qatar had sought to "internationalise the crisis with its brothers".And in Kuwait, which has not joined its neighbours in acting against Qatar, foreign minister Sheikh Sabah al-Khaled Al-Sabah warned that the crisis "may lead to undesirable consequences," according to a quote on state news agency Kuna. - 'Illegal blockade' -Qatar is home to the largest US airbase in the Middle East, Al-Udeid, making it a key ally in the US-led coalition against IS in Iraq and Syria.In Doha, Qatar Airways called on the UN's aviation body to declare the Gulf boycott against the carrier "illegal" and a violation of a 1944 convention on international air transport. In televised interviews on Monday, Qatar Airways outspoken CEO Akbar Al Baker called the move an "illegal blockade" and urged the United Nations' civil aviation branch to intervene. Qatar Airways has made Doha a global hub in just a few years, but industry analysts say banning it from Gulf states' airspace could threaten its position as a major transcontinental carrier.
Al-Baker also criticised US President Donald Trump for comments he has made linking Qatar to supporting terror. "I think that President Trump's comment about my country is ill-placed, ill-informed, and I can again repeat that I'm very disappointed in him." Qatar announced Monday that it had launched direct shipping services to ports in Oman in a bid to bypass the Gulf "blockade".Saudi Arabia has closed the Qatari peninsula's only land border, threatening imports of both fresh food and raw materials needed to complete a $200 billion infrastructure project for the 2022 football World Cup. However, one source told AFP on Monday that Qatar's World Cup preparations continue "as normal". Iran, Saudi Arabia's main regional rival, had announced Sunday that it had sent five planes carrying produce to Qatar. Three ships carrying 350 tonnes of food were also set to leave Iran for the emirate. On Tuesday, Morocco announced it would send food by plane to Qatar.

Iraq PM Abadi Says Kurdish Referendum Untimely
Naharnet/Agence France Presse/June 13/17/Iraqi Prime Minister Haider al-Abadi on Tuesday said he understood the Kurdish minority's statehood aspirations but bemoaned its leadership's decision to hold an independence referendum in September. "Every part of Iraq has aspirations and has a dream, and we respect that, even if we disagree with it," he said, responding to the Kurdish push to achieve statehood. "We live in one homeland and they are our partners," Abadi said, referring to the Kurds.  "We have a constitution that we've voted on, we have a federal parliament and a federal government," he said. "The referendum at this time is not opportune." Abadi was speaking at a press conference in Baghdad nearly a week after the presidency of Iraq's autonomous Kurdish region announced a referendum on independence for September 25. The Kurds had already said they would aim to organise such a vote after the battle of Mosul against the Islamic State group, which appears to be in its final stages, was won. Such a referendum, the positive outcome of which is in little doubt, would be non-binding and leave the approximately five million Kurds of northern Iraq some way away from actual independence. The support of the federal Iraqi government, of key neighbors such as Iran and Turkey and of major players such as the United States is seen as essential to achieving a viable separation. Baghdad's reaction to the announcement was seen internally as relatively meek given that the break-up of the country is at stake. An Iraqi official told AFP on condition of anonymity that an overly antagonistic reaction to the announcement of the referendum would serve only to unite Kurdish factions against Baghdad and give the independence drive more momentum. Internal division is one of the Kurds' main weaknesses as they set the wheels in motion for an independence process that is likely to last years. Washington and other Western partners of the Kurdish administration have taken much the same line as Baghdad, recognizing their legitimate independence aspirations but warning that the timing of the referendum was not helpful.

Terrified Civilians Hide from Gunfire in Mosul Pre-School
Naharnet/Agence France Presse/June 13/17/The bullets of jihadists rain down outside the Mosul kindergarten, where dozens of terrified Iraqi civilians are sheltering from fighting in their northern city. Confused, scared and exhausted, the civilians -- mostly women, including one in a wheelchair -- huddle in the pre-school after Iraqi forces brought them in for protection. The sounds of sniper fire, air strikes, and shelling echo all around them, as Iraqi forces fight to dislodge Islamic State group fighters from a nearby building. Iraqi forces are fighting to retake Mosul from IS, after the jihadist group overran the city in 2014, imposing its brutal rule on its inhabitants. Naja Abdallah, 70, says she didn't dare leave her house until Iraqi forces arrived in her district of west Mosul, and even then fled with family members under heavy fire. "We had no more electricity, no water, no medicine -- nothing but God's mercy," she says, as sniper and artillery fire continue unabated in the al-Shifaa district outside. Iraqi forces have managed to retake most of Mosul since launching the battle for IS' last major Iraqi stronghold seven months ago, but the advance has slowed in the last districts under jihadist control. IS' grip on Mosul has been reduced to the Old City and several nearby areas, but the jihadists are putting up significant resistance and up to 200,000 civilians may be caught in the fighting. Iraqi fighters inside the pre-school have led women to one room, while they check the identities of the men -- young and old -- somewhere else. The anti-IS forces thoroughly screen fleeing civilians in a bid to make sure no jihadists escape among them.
'We won't let IS sleep'
Omran, a 24-year-old who has grown his beard long like all men under IS rule, is one of those who is separated from his family for vetting. "We've lived through tough, terrifying days. We've really been through a lot," he says, just before he is whisked away. The fighting intensified around his home in recent days, he says, and his family escaped to their neighbor’s house after their own was hit in the fighting. "I hope to God it all gets better," Omran says. Women quietly break down into tears after the men are taken away, as an Iraqi commander shouts coordinates over the radio for warplanes and artillery gunmen to target the jihadists. Sniper fire intensifies around the building, where civilians are holed up with journalists and members of the interior ministry's elite Rapid Response force fighting IS. Sniper fire hits and gravely wounds a reporter for a local television station, and Iraqi forces intervene to evacuate him to a medical point. "The sniper will either be killed or flee," says Rapid Response officer Hussein Ali. The jihadists are putting up a fight but it's a weak one, he says, an assault rifle in his hands and another slung over his back. "They have nothing left but snipers and the mines they have been planting.""We won't let the Dawaesh sleep," he adds, using an Arabic name for IS members. When the gunfire subsides after about three hours, the Iraqi forces hold up a curtain across the road to block off the view of any jihadist snipers and gradually lead the civilians out of the pre-school to a nearby building. Iraqi fighters accompany them from building to building all the way to the city's medical school, where the soldiers rest for a few minutes before returning to the frontline.

France Launches Probe into LafargeHolcim's Syrian Activities
Naharnet/Agence France Presse/June 13/17/France has launched a judicial inquiry into the Syrian activities of French-Swiss cement and construction giant LafargeHolcim, Paris prosecutors said on Tuesday. Three judges -- one dealing with anti-terrorism matters and two financial judges -- would handle the probe, which was opened on June 9 and would look into the "financing of a terrorist enterprise" and "endangering lives," the prosecutors said. Earlier this year, LafargeHolcim admitted that it had resorted to "unacceptable practices" to continue operations at one of its now-closed factories in Syria, and an internal probe had confirmed that finding. In January, sources close to the case told AFP that the French government had filed a legal complaint against Lafarge for buying oil in Syria to power the Jalabiya factory, in violation of sanctions. French cement maker Lafarge bought the factory in 2007 and invested some $680 million to get it working by 2010, representing the biggest foreign investment in the country outside the petroleum sector. The plant, located in northern Syria some 150 kilometres (95 miles) northeast of Aleppo, was finally evacuated in 2014, and closed down before Lafarge merged with its Swiss competitor Holcim in 2015. Lafarge is suspected of sourcing oil locally to operate the factory in defiance of a 2012 EU ban on purchases of Syrian oil as part of a sanctions package targeting the regime of Syrian President Bashar al-Assad. According to an investigative piece published in French daily Le Monde last year, Lafarge entered into deals with armed groups in Syria, including the Islamic State group, to protect its business interests there. In April, LafargeHolcim said its chief executive Eric Olsen would step down on July 15, even though the internal probe had determined he was not responsible for any wrongdoings.

77 Killed In Bangladesh Landslides: Police
Tue 13 Jun 2017/NNA - Heavy monsoon rains and landslides have killed at least 77 people in southeast Bangladesh, burying many in their homes as they slept, authorities said Tuesday. Three young children from the same family were among those killed in the disaster, which comes just weeks after a cyclone battered the area, destroying camps housing thousands of Rohingya refugees. Police warned that the death toll would likely rise as emergency workers reached remote parts of the Chittagong Hills, where telephone and transport links had been cut. "The recovery work is still going on. The death toll could rise as many areas still remained cut off," the head of the Department of Disaster Management Reaz Ahmed told AFP. Many of the victims were from poor tribal communities in the remote hill district of Rangamati, close to the Indian border, where 48 people were killed when mudslides buried their homes.--AFP

Report: IS chemical weapons capability degraded
Tue 13 Jun 2017/NNA - A London-based military analysis group says the siege of Mosul and targeted killings of experts in U.S.-led airstrikes have significantly degraded the Islamic State group's ability to produce chemical weapons. In a new report released Tuesday, IHS Markit says there has been a major reduction in IS' use of chemical weapons outside the Iraqi city. It has recorded one alleged use of chemical weapons by the group in Syria this year, as opposed to 13 allegations in the previous six months.All other recorded allegations of IS using chemical agents in 2017 have been in Iraq--all but one of them inside Mosul. Columb Strack, senior Middle East analyst for IHS Markit, says this suggests IS has not established any further chemical weapons production sites outside Mosul. ---AP

North Korea releases U.S. student, Tillerson says
Tue 13 Jun 2017/NNA - North Korea has released Otto Warmbier, a U.S. university student who has been held captive there since January 2016, U.S. Secretary of State Rex Tillerson said on Tuesday.
Warmbier, a University of Virginia student from suburban Cincinnati, is on his way back to the United States, Tillerson said in a statement. The State Department is continuing to discuss the situation of three other detained Americans with North Korea, Tillerson said. ---Reuters

Egypt parliament committee passes Saudi islands deal
Tue 13 Jun 2017/NNA - A controversial agreement for Cairo to hand over two Red Sea islands to Saudi Arabia passed an Egyptian parliamentary committee Tuesday, setting the stage for a vote in the house. Parliament's legislative committee agreed the treaty after heated debate, with opponents even interrupting one session with chanting. The agreement passed with 35 lawmakers for and eight against, member of parliament Mostafa Bakry told AFP. Parliament's defence committee will also examine the accord before it goes to a general vote. Courts had struck down the agreement, signed in April 2016, but a year later another court upheld it. The accord had sparked rare protests in Egypt, with President Abdel Fattah al-Sisi accused of having bartered the islands of Tiran and Sanafir for Saudi largesse.
The government has said the islands were Saudi to begin with, but were leased to Egypt in the 1950s. Opponents of the agreement insist that Tiran and Sanafir are Egyptian.--AFP

Latest LCCC Bulletin analysis & editorials from miscellaneous sources published on June 13-14/17
Two Choices to Resolve the Qatar Crisis
Abdulrahman Al-Rashed/Asharq Al Awsat/June 13/17
Those who know the history of Qatar’s disputes with its neighbors know that finding a solution is easy. I will reveal this solution at the end of the article, but first, here is a brief summary of the history of the crisis.
It began in the late 1990s after Qatar reignited the dispute with Bahrain over the islands. In 1995, the Doha coup took place and new Prince Hamad rejected the Saudi mediation and instead insisted on heading to the International Criminal Court. This ultimately fell in Bahrain’s favor that won a ruling that granted it power over most of the disputed land.
Had Qatar accepted the mediation of late King Fahd, it would have gotten more or at least as much as Bahrain.
The Qatari government then turned against Saudi Arabia and renewed its dispute over new border areas after it had resolved the first dispute through the mediation of former Egyptian President Hosni Mubarak. That settlement saw Saudi Arabia make concessions to Qatar in 1992. The second dispute was resolved in 2001 through appeasing both sides.
Qatar however reneged on its pledges and waged media wars of incitement against Saudi Arabia. It harbored those who oppose the Kingdom and backed al-Qaeda and its leader Osama bin Laden, who in his first speech called for changing the regime in Saudi Arabia by force.
Despite the numerous settlements, Doha continued on financing and supporting opposition groups that want to topple the governments of Saudi Arabia and Bahrain.
After the 2011 Arab Spring revolts, Qatar sought to expand its incitement and began to target the United Arab Emirates because it was backing those opposing Doha. It then turned its attention to Egypt in an unprecedented and blatant way, vowing to topple the regime of Abdul Fattah al-Sisi.
This would all have been understandable if the Qatar government itself accepted change through democracy or by force. The problem however is that it is the least tolerant Gulf state. It had sentenced a Qatari poet to 15 years in prison over a poem!
Four Gulf countries finally said enough and they all announced that they were severing ties with Qatar.
It appears that there a number of conditions that can restore the situation back to normal, but it seems that they will not go with the reconciliation approaches of 2013 and 2014. Qatar had at the time signed in Riyadh a pledge of 20 points, of which only one has been implemented.
The truth is that the four countries can live in peace without having ties with Qatar. It seems however that Qatar is the one who cannot tolerate this situation given its outcry after the June 5 statement on cutting ties.
How can this problem be solved and how will Qatar be able to come out of the crisis?
It wants to repeat its old methods of bringing in mediators and offering pledges and perhaps change its behavior. It will then continue in its attempts to topple the regimes of these four countries or incite strife against them.
It should be noted that Qatar in its last Riyadh agreement had vowed to stop the incitement machine. Indeed, this was witnessed through its al-Jazeera channel that has been adopting a calm approach in the three years that followed the agreement. Qatar had in secret however set up websites and television stations that had taken up the incitement mission.
It may have expelled a number of anti-Gulf figures from Doha, but it gave them homes in Turkey and London. It has continued to finance and support them through secret networks that it set up in those countries.
Qatar has since the eruption of the current crisis been adopting the same old approach. It sought the help of Emir of Kuwait Sheikh Sabah, but these countries have learned their lesson. They announced that they will continue in severing ties and living in peace without Qatar. They will seek to put an end to anything that has to do with it and destroy its internal networks.
Doha is faced with two options for resolving the crisis. It can either completely concede to the demands of the four countries or live in isolation from its surrounding.

Qatar’s Promotion of Regime Change and Mobilization of Finances
Michael Stephens/The Washington Post/June 13/17
The decision by five Arab states to sever ties with Qatar marks another chapter in a multiyear saga of turbulent relations between Qatar and its neighbors. A split between Doha and the Gulf Cooperation Council (GCC) was brewing for years. At the heart of the problem lies an irreconcilable difference between these countries about how to interpret the events of the 2011 Arab Spring and, more important, how to react to them.
In contrast to its GCC neighbors, Qatar actively promoted regime change across the Arab world. The Qataris mobilized finances and offered favorable media coverage to many actors, including the Muslim Brotherhood in Egypt, Hamas in Gaza, the Ennahda party in Tunisia and myriad militias in Libya and Syria.
In response, the United Arab Emirates and Saudi Arabia worked forcefully to block Qatar’s interests in the region, helping to depose Egyptian president Mohamed Morsi, a member of the Muslim Brotherhood, funding rival opposition factions in Syria and supporting the government of Gen. Khalifa Haftar in Libya.
Although the Saudis and Emiratis began to resist Qatar’s regional activities, Qatar’s rulers were no pushover. The emir, Sheikh Hamad Bin Khalifa al-Thani, and his cousin, Prime Minister Hamad Bin Jasim al-Thani, were seasoned operators on the international stage. For 20 years, they built “Brand Qatar” by forming a crosscutting swathe of alliances across the region, stretching from Mauritania to Afghanistan. And so the decision by Hamad to hand power to his son Tamim in August 2013 presented an opportunity for the Saudis and Emiratis to put pressure on the young monarch to force him into line.
In an environment increasingly hostile to Qatari foreign policy, Al Jazeera was hemorrhaging viewers regionally, and Qatari foreign policy increasingly struggled in Libya, Syria and Egypt in the face of GCC pressure.
So, the Emiratis, Saudis and Bahrainis urged Tamim to scale back Qatar’s regional activities. Following six months of failed negotiations, the three countries pulled their ambassadors from Doha in protest in early 2014.
With the help of Kuwait’s emir, Qatar agreed to acquiesce to each of the three countries in a series of bilateral negotiations, leading to a repair in relations by the GCC summit in December 2014. But it was not until December 2016, when Saudi Arabia’s King Salman bin Abdulaziz went to Doha, that the rift was publicly mended.
But for all the goodwill that was shown, the core problem that underlay the split had never healed. While the Qataris had toned down Al Jazeera and evicted a few Muslim Brotherhood members from Doha, their ambition to be a regional actor remained, as did their myriad of friendships with a host of political Islamists across the region — friendships that the UAE in particular found hard to accept.
In recent months, Qatar has once again drifted outside the GCC consensus. Particularly galling for the UAE and Saudi Arabia has been Qatar’s interaction with groups linked closely to the Muslim Brotherhood and al-Qaeda. Worse still to them are its business dealings with Iranian regional affiliates. In April, Qatar was involved in communications with the al-Qaeda-linked Hayat Tahrir al Sham organization to guarantee population transfers in the country. Qatar appeared to have brokered the deal by communicating with Iran, which in return managed to secure the release of 26 Qataris royals kidnapped in Iraq in return for a princely sum to be paid to Iranian client militia Kataib Hezbollah.
Qatar also helped Hamas publicly rebrand itself— and the group launched its new policy objectives at a Doha hotel in May.
The United States has served as a key actor from which the Saudis can take their lead. As Riyadh has moved closer to the United States in recent days, helped with a promise of purchasing more American arms during President Trump’s visit in May, there is little doubt the Saudis felt emboldened to ratchet up the pressure against the Qataris.
The Emiratis also have found themselves in favor with the new Washington administration, whose strong dislike for both Iran and Islamists fits well with UAE policy priorities. Accordingly, there is a newfound confidence in Saudi Arabia and the UAE that strong measures to force the Qataris back into their box will find support in Washington.
Given that diplomatic attempts to isolate Qatar in 2014 seem to have had no long-term effect on Doha’s behavior, it is not surprising that the Saudis have decided to dramatically up the stakes this time around by closing off Qatar’s only land border and— along with the UAE and Egypt— blocking all air travel to the emirate, with Egypt denying Qatar Airways the use of its airspace.
The closure of land borders and the disruption to air traffic will have serious consequences for the Qatari economy and its society that will quickly prove prohibitively expensive, even for a rich state like Qatar. And so, serious concessions will have to be made if relations in the GCC are to normalize to the usual levels.

Egyptian Writers Debate Possibility That Israel Will Join Arab League After Resolution Of Conflict With Palestinians
MEMRI/June 13/17
Following the Arab League summit in Jordan, in late April 2017, Egyptian businessman Salah Diab, owner of the Egyptian daily Al-Masri Al-Yawm who goes by the pen name Newton, published an exchange between himself and Egyptian physician Yahya Nour Al-Din Taraf regarding the possibility of Israel joining the Arab League once the Palestinian-Israeli conflict is resolved. The idea was raised by Dr. Taraf in a letter he wrote to Newton, in which he noted that Comoros had joined the Arab League in 1993 despite its geographical distance from the Arab world and despite the fact that Arabic was only its third official language, while Israel is situated in the middle of the Arab world and Arabic is its second official language. Newton responded favorably to the idea and noted that it corresponded to the Arab Peace Initiative of 2002. He added that it had already been proposed in 1965 by Tunisia's first president Al-Habib Bourguiba as part of his call to end the conflict with Israel.
This exchange, which was published by Newton in his newspaper on April 1, 2017, sparked a critical response from 'Abd Al-'Aal Al-Baqouri, a columnist for the official newspaper Al-Gomhouriyya. He wrote that in raising this idea, Newton and Taraf were ignoring the fact that Israel is an aggressive country that has thwarted a long series of peace initiatives over the years. The official Arab position on the resolution of the conflict with Israel, he stated, demands several things from Israel, adding that there is no justification for making advance concessions, for example by considering Israel's incorporation into the Arab League.
The following are excerpts from the exchange between Newton and Dr. Taraf and from Al-Baqouri's response.
Al-Masri Al-Yawm Owner: "Fifty-Two Years Later, Everyone Finally Sees What Bourguiba Saw" In 1965
In his letter to Newton, Dr. Taraf wrote: "Dear Newton, in your latest article from last Thursday, titled 'On the Summit,' you mentioned the fact that the Arab [League] summit had been held at the Dead Sea, a stone's throw from Israel. I take this opportunity to ask: Is there anything in the Arab League's charter that prevents Israel from joining it? Or, in other words: What qualifies an Arab country to join the League if it wishes? Recently [in 1993,] the Arab League welcomed the Comoros [as a member]; as you know, the Comoros are far to the south and beyond the boundaries of the Arab homeland, and the languages spoken there are Comorian, French, and Arabic. Israel, on the other hand, lies in the heart of the Arab world, Arabic is its second official language after Hebrew, and 20% of Israeli citizens are Arabs. Therefore, would Israel not meet the criteria for membership in the league, if it requested to join it?
"Some may say that Israel is a usurping country that occupies an Arab country that is a member of the [Arab] League – Palestine – and this prevents its joining [the League] according to the League's charter. In that case, if the Israelis and Palestinians reach an comprehensive and just solution to the Palestinian problem, will that remove the obstacles to Israel's joining the league?
"[Signed,] Dr. Yahya Nour Al-Din Tarraf." [1]
Newton responded as follows:
"On September 17, 1965, the Arab foreign ministers, who had convened in Casablanca, rejected the memo sent by [the first president of Tunisia] Al-Habib Bourguiba in April of that year, in which he demanded an end to the Arab-Israeli conflict once and for all, by means of three main moves: Arab acceptance of the principle of partition; an immediate declaration of a Palestinian state; and the admission of Israel as a honorary member of the Arab League.[2]
"At the time, [Egyptian] President [Gamal] 'Abd Al-Nasser harshly attacked this proposal. The entire Arab press blasted Bourguiba for his peace plan. During the Palestinian conference held at League headquarters in Cairo [in 1965], 'Abd Al-Nasser said: 'Bourguiba's statements constitute treason against the Arabs and Arabism, and they do not serve anyone other than Israel and the Zionist movement.' In a press statement responding to the rejection [of his proposal] by the Arab foreign ministers, Bourguiba said: 'What the Arabs can achieve today, they will never be able to achieve tomorrow.'
"Time has proven Bourguiba 100% right. [Saudi] King 'Abdallah bin 'Abd Al-'Aziz made the same proposal [i.e. in the form of the Arab Peace Initiative] at the 2002 Beirut summit, and during the recent summit, on the shores of the Dead Sea, all the Arabs proposed [the same thing]: Comprehensive peace with Israel according to the same conditions that [Bourguiba] put forth. Fifty-two years later, everyone finally sees what Bourguiba saw back then." [3]
Egyptian Journalist Responds: You Are Ignoring Israel's Aggression And Rejection Of Peace
As stated, the exchange between Newton and Dr. Taraf prompted criticism from 'Abd Al-'Aal Al-Baqouri, a columnist for the official Al-Gomhouriyya daily. He wrote: "Dr. Yahya [Nour Al-Din Taraf] can surely answer his own question [as to whether Israel should join the Arab League], for he is familiar with the terms of membership [in it]... As everyone knows, Mauritania, Somalia, Djibouti and Comoro... are sovereign states with established and recognized borders, as required by the terms of membership in the Arab League [as set out in its] charter.[4] How different [these countries are] from Israel in this sense. To which Israel is Dr. Yahya Nour Al-Din Taraf referring? Israel according to the partition plan of 1947? Israel after the 1948 war? Israel after the 1956 aggression or after the occupation of Sinai? Israel after the statement of [David] Ben Gurion, its prime minister at the time, who said to the Knesset: 'We have returned to the Western fatherland?'[5] Israel after the aggression of 1967? Israel after the withdrawal from Sinai? [Israel] after the withdrawal from Gaza and its besieging of it? Israel, some of whose leaders announced today that they want to annex the Jordan Valley or Eastern Jordan or various other parts of Arab countries bordering Palestine, so as to achieve what they call 'greater Israel'?...
"Moreover, in mentioning Bourguiba and reiterating his 1965 statements... [Newton] ignored Israel's imperialist aggression in 1967, the consequences of which burn us to this very day...
"[Some] issues pertaining to the path or paths towards [arriving at] a settlement with the Zionists go back to before the founding of the Zionist entity. This entity was established in 1948, but [unofficial] contacts between the Arabs and Zionists began in the early 20th century. Furthermore, in the period between the two World Wars, there were those among the Jews in Palestine who called for peace and calm, but they encountered refusal and rejection on the part of the extremist Zionists. The 'official' contacts between the Arabs and the Zionists began after 1948, and especially after the aggression of 1967. Despite [the failure of] the numerous attempts [to reach an agreement], the Arab proponents of an agreement, with various approaches, refrained from reassessing their positions, their modi operandi, and their measures. In general, it can be said that they failed to understand the Israeli mentality that has prevailed since 1967, for had they understood it, these people – who are certainly honorable – would not have taken the steps that they did, but would have taken a step back. But that did not happen..."[6]
[1] Al-Masri Al-Yawm (Egypt), April 1, 2017.
[2] Actually, Al-Bourguiba proposed that if Israel complied with U.N. Resolutions 181 and 194, i.e. gave up a third of its territory, allowed the refugees to return to their homes, and agreed to negotiations in which the Arab countries would be represented mostly by the Palestinians, the Arab states would recognize it and then present further demands to it. Michael M. Laskier, "Between Bourgabism and Nasserism: Israel-Tunisia Relations and the Arab-Israeli Conflict during the 1950s and 1960s," Iyyunim Bitkumat Yisrael 11, 2001, p. 47.
[3] Al-Masri Al-Yawm (Egypt), April 1, 2017.
[4] Al-Baqouri is referring to Article I of the Arab League charter, which states: "The League of Arab States is composed of the independent Arab states which have signed this Charter." It should be noted that no definition of "independent Arab state" is given.
[5] Apparently a reference to a November 7, 1956 statement by Ben Gurion, when he announced the conclusion of the 1956 Sinai campaign and said: "We have returned to the place where the Torah was given."
[6] Al-Gomhouriyya (Egypt), April 5, 2017.

How to Send the Wrong Message to Palestinians
Bassam Tawil/Gatestone Institute/June 13/17
https://www.gatestoneinstitute.org/10510/palestinians-wrong-message
In the eyes of many Arabs and Muslims, Trump is no longer the strong leader they feared a few months ago. Rather, he has proven to them that he too is susceptible to blackmail and intimidation. And when Trump caves, US credibility suffers. Had Trump gone ahead and fulfilled his promise to move the embassy, he would have earned the respect of many Arabs and Muslims, who would have looked to him as a proper leader.
A further point ought to be of extreme interest to the US: When the Palestinians and Arabs talk about the possibility that such a move would "harm" US interests in the region and "trigger violence and bloodshed," they are actually threatening to launch terror attacks against American nationals and interests. That is why Trump's recent decision not to move the embassy to Jerusalem is being understood in the Arab world as surrender to terrorism.
Consider what happened when Trump recently ordered a missile attack on Syria. Many Arabs and Muslims took to social media to heap praise on Trump for displaying courage. If and when Trump honors his promises, he will earn even more respect in the Arab and Islamic countries.
US President Donald J. Trump's waiver delaying the relocation of the US embassy in Israel from Tel Aviv to Jerusalem accomplishes two things.
First, it disappoints many Israelis for failing to fulfill his pre-election promise. Second, and perhaps more importantly, it has sent precisely the wrong message to the Palestinians. What the Palestinians and other Arabs heard in this message is that the US president folds under pressure and threats.
This message of weakness and retreat harms not only Trump's credibility, but also that of the US by making it appear a country that caves under threats of violence.
In general, it is Trump's presentation of power that garners respect among many Palestinians and Arabs. The Arabs admire and respect such figures because they have been ruled for decades by ruthless tyrants and dictators such as Saddam Hussein. But the Arabs also respect leaders who keep their promises, even if they disagree with and oppose those promises.
Trump's decision to delay the relocation of the US embassy came after repeated threats by the Palestinian Authority (PA) and some Arabs that such a move would "plunge the entire region into violence and bloodshed." These threats began during Trump's election campaign and escalated after he entered the White House.
President Donald Trump's decision to delay the relocation of the US embassy in Israel (pictured) from Tel Aviv to Jerusalem came after repeated threats by the Palestinian Authority that such a move would "plunge the entire region into violence and bloodshed." (Image source: Krokodyl/Wikimedia Commons)
Palestinian Authority President Mahmoud Abbas and his cohorts in Ramallah spearheaded the campaign of threats and intimidation. They even went as far as threatening to revoke their recognition of Israel's right to exist if Trump dared to fulfill his promise.
Last January, Abbas was quoted as saying that the transfer of the US embassy to Jerusalem would prompt the Palestinians to withdraw their recognition of Israel.
"I wrote a letter to President Trump urging him to refrain from such a move. I made it clear to him that such a move would not only deprive the US of playing any legitimate role in solving the conflict, but would also destroy the two-state solution."
Abbas's mufti, Sheikh Mohammed Hussein, warned Trump that transferring the embassy to Jerusalem would be seen as an "aggression not only against the Palestinians, but against all Arabs and Muslims as well." PLO Secretary-General Saeb Erekat joined the chorus of threats by warning Trump that moving the embassy to Jerusalem would "plunge the Middle East into violence and chaos."
The Palestinian threats were accompanied by threats from some Arab governments and Islamic clerics. They too warned Trump that the transfer of the embassy to Jerusalem would trigger a wave of violence and jeopardize US interests in the Middle East. The former mufti of Egypt, Sheikh Ali Jum'ah, said that moving the embassy from Tel Aviv to Jerusalem would "constitute a grave escalation and threaten US interests in the region." Another leading Egyptian Islamic cleric, Sheikh Ibahim Reda, warned that such a move would "trigger a wave of tensions in the region and constitute an aggression against Arabs and Muslims."
Such threats on the part of Palestinians are nothing new. In fact, Mahmoud Abbas and his colleagues issue similar "warnings" whenever they do not get what they want. This is one of their favored tactics against Israel.
For example, the Palestinians used to warn that Israel's construction of the security barrier in the West Bank would result in violence and anarchy. In reality, however, the security barrier has led to exactly opposite; it has halted suicide bombings against Israel, and saved the lives not only of Jews, but also Arabs who were killed in the wave of terrorism waged by the Palestinians during the Second Intifada.
"Palestinians warn" is one of the most popular results on Google Search.
More recently, for example, the Palestinians "warned" Israel against introducing a new curriculum for Arab schools in Jerusalem by claiming this would lead to the "Judaization" and "Israelization" of Jerusalem.
Last month, the Palestinians came out with another "warning" -- this time, that if Israel does not comply with the demands of Palestinian prisoners who went on hunger strike, there would be a "new intifada."
After 40 days of the hunger strike, the prisoners backtracked and ended their fast -- although most of their demands were not met by Israel.
All this is added to the daily threats Abbas and many Palestinians have been making for the past two years regarding visits by Jews to the Temple Mount in Jerusalem. Hardly a day passes without another threat being issued by the Palestinians about these visits.
The Palestinians work hard to convince the world that routine and peaceful tours of Jewish groups and individuals to the Temple Mount are part of an Israeli "conspiracy" to destroy the Aqsa Mosque and "defile" Islamic religious sites. They have also been warning that the visits would trigger a "religious war" between Jews and Muslims and lead to a "big explosion" and an "earthquake" in the Middle East.
True, the Palestinian incitement over the Temple Mount visits has resulted in a wave of knife and car ramming attacks against Israelis, but no "religious war" has erupted and the Arab and Islamic countries do not seem overly concerned about Jewish visits to the Temple Mount.
These visits, by the way, have been taking place since 1967. The visits were suspended temporarily during the Second Intifada for security reasons, and were resumed about two years ago. It is also worth noting that Christian tourists also continue to tour the holy site -- something that does not seem to bother Abbas and his PA friends.
Israel, for its part, has learned to live with the incessant Palestinian threats and warnings. But the international community continues to take these threats seriously, ignoring the fact that by doing so they are constantly sending the wrong message to the Palestinians. Surrendering to threats of violence only emboldens the extremists and paves the way for more violence and bloodshed.
How moving the US embassy to Jerusalem "destroys" the so-called two-state solution is rather a mystery.
If and when the US embassy is moved from Tel Aviv, it will be set up in the western part of the city and not in East Jerusalem, which the Palestinians are demanding as their future capital. Only one thing can be inferred from this -- that the Palestinians also see the western part of Jerusalem too as part of their future capital.
The Palestinian and Arab threats of violence and chaos in the region sound laughable given the current state of affairs in many Arab countries, including Syria, Iraq, Egypt and Libya, where Muslims have been slaughtering each other -- and Christians -- for the past six years.
The turmoil in the Arab world -- including the recent tensions surrounding Qatar -- is completely unrelated to US policies in particular, and the Israeli-Palestinian conflict in general. Despite the myopia of Arab leaders and Islamic clerics, blood is already spilled at a rather alarming rate in the Arab countries.
The killings in Syria, Iraq and Libya will continue, regardless of whether Trump moves the US embassy to Jerusalem or not.
A further point ought to be of extreme interest to the US: When the Palestinians and Arabs talk about the possibility that such a move would "harm" US interests in the region and "trigger violence and bloodshed," they are actually threatening to launch terror attacks against American nationals and interests.
That is why Trump's recent decision not to move the embassy to Jerusalem is being understood in the Arab world as a surrender to terrorism.
From the Arab world's point of view, it shows the US as cowing under the threat of violence.
Does anyone seriously believe that the leaders of the Arab and Islamic countries really care whether the embassy is located in Jerusalem or Tel Aviv? Don't these leaders have enough to worry about, such as the Iranian threat to undermine the stability of their regimes and the threat of Islamic terrorism?
Does anyone seriously believe that the Arab and Muslim masses, who have to deal with massive unemployment, dictatorships and terrorism, really care whether the US embassy moves from Tel Aviv to Jerusalem?
The Palestinians were hoping that the Arab and Muslim masses would erupt over the Jewish visits to the Temple Mount, but most Arabs and Muslims remain indifferent. In fact, the Arabs and Muslims do not really care about the Palestinians; they have long turned their backs on their Palestinian brothers, who are today almost entirely dependent on American and European funding.
Moving the US embassy to Jerusalem will not lead to more anarchy. Christians in Egypt and Iraq are not being killed because of the Israeli-Palestinian conflict. Syrians are not being systematically slaughtered because of the Israeli-Palestinian conflict. The Islamic State terror group is not butchering innocent civilians in the Arab world and some Western countries because it is upset with Jewish visits to the Temple Mount or settlement construction.
Palestinians and Arabs heaved a sigh of relief upon learning of Trump's decision to delay the transfer of the embassy to Jerusalem. They are now rubbing their hands in satisfaction and saying to themselves that threats of violence work because even someone like Trump will succumb.
In the eyes of many Arabs and Muslims, Trump is no longer the strong leader they feared a few months ago. Rather, he has proven to them that he too is susceptible to blackmail and intimidation. And when Trump caves, US credibility suffers. Had Trump gone ahead and fulfilled his promise to move the embassy, he would have earned the respect of many Arabs and Muslims, who would have looked to him as a proper leader.
Consider what happened when Trump recently ordered a missile attack on Syria, in response to the regime's continued killing of innocent civilians, including the use of poison gas. Many Arabs and Muslims took to social media to heap praise on Trump for displaying courage. If and when Trump honors his promises, he will earn even more respect in the Arab and Islamic countries.
*Bassam Tawil is a Muslim based in the Middle East.
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Qatar: When a leader fails
Abdullah bin Bijad Al-Otaibi/Al Arabiya/June 13/17
People hate to fail. Those who hate it most though are leaders who are responsible for their people, state, interests and country’s future. Allying with losers only leads to failure. Allying with terrorism and fundamentalism also leads to failure because these are the worst in politics and media and in managing affairs as their only successes are represented in bloodshed and murder. Getting addicted to failure is the end result of any person who loses all his bets, whose visions fail over the course of two decades and whom all his allies also fail. In this case, he becomes friends with failure and he becomes addicted to it. This is a general situation but when it comes to leaders and officials, its repercussions are worse and more harmful. Sheikh Hamad bin Khalifa bet on all the rivals of his neighbors in the Gulf Cooperation Council (GCC). He bet on all these rivals from Iran, to the Brotherhood and Turkey. He harmed Kuwait the most by supporting chaotic groups and the Brotherhood and seeking to sow divisions among the family. He did the same and more in Bahrain when he supported the opposition, particularly terrorist opposition groups. He did not value the fact that some Gulf leaders thought well of him regarding some political and media orientations and instead he worked for long to destabilize Saudi Arabia, the UAE and Oman. A failed leader insists on claiming victory when he is defeated and claims he is powerful when weakness prevails. The most failed leader is one who denies facts, ignores changes and insists on practicing politics using the same old methods
Shattered delusions
Thinking so highly of one’s self for no good reason ends up badly. This is what happened after the so-called Arab Spring. Qatar’s delusions shattered and the facts surfaced. The maliciousness and schemes were thus exposed. Scandals and losses were very significant as they could have destroyed Hamad’s small country and weak governance. He then submitted under pressure and agreed to the charade of giving up power. He tested his sons, and he imprisoned the strong ones and granted the emirate to the weak one so he remains in control. In a joint statement last week, Arab countries surrounding Qatar and Egypt announced cutting ties with Qatar. They then issued a terror list linked to Qatar. It included around 60 figures inside and outside Qatar and more than 10 Qatari institutions. The crisis is escalating and not calming down, and it is expanding not receding. How does a failed man think? First, he is persistent then he is stubborn. He then commits mistakes. If it’s an ordinary person, the mistakes affect him and his family but if he’s a leader, the mistakes affect his country, government and people. A failed leader insists on claiming victory when he is defeated and claims he is powerful when weakness prevails. The most failed leader is one who denies facts, ignores changes and insists on practicing politics using the same old methods via the same old vision, which proved to be a failure.
The snowball effect
When you violate international laws and support, fund and sponsor terrorism, then you would be dragging yourself toward failure in an attempt to find yourself a place among major players. Illusions make one think he is capable of overcoming all this but when the time comes and it all backfires, the snowball effect worsens. At this point, one has to sit back and review what happened. He must reconsider the situation and hold himself accountable. The failed leader is the one who only bets on foreign states and organizations, which have their own interests, agendas and ambitions. He ignores his own people while suppressing them and fighting them instead of making them comfortable. He expels an entire tribe and withdraws its members’ nationality and lets a big brotherhood and a generous neighbor grab it. When the time comes, he resorts to sectarian and fundamental centers of gravity in Iran and Turkey as he thinks he is protecting himself from his people using foreigners. When you sponsor terrorism in the region, and the world as part of this game of contradictions which Qatar has been famous for, then an American military base, like the one in Al-Udeid, becomes a threat considering US President Donald Trump’s engagement in the current crisis and hints that Qatar must entirely stop supporting and funding terrorism. Finally, a failed leader fears his people during difficult times as he knows how unjust he was to them. His worries increase and suspicions take over him, thus he ends up trusting no one but foreigners.

Making sense of the new phase of street terrorism
Dr. Halla Diyab/Al Arabiya/June 13/17
The recent London Bridge attack which left seven dead and 48 injured, has raised question marks around whether we are witnessing an era of “street terrorism” in the form of a modern Guerrilla warfare. If this is indeed the case, then this is nothing less than sabotage spreading terror in the streets of Britain. This new face of terrorism is deviated from the established understanding of extremism and takes the shape of militant insurgency of a group of combatants who are taking their fight against the system by spreading terror among the public. The London Bridge attack marks a departure in mechanism from the Westminster attack which was orchestrated and executed by one man; Khalid Masood. While with the London Bridge attack the terrorist “Guerrilla” evolved into a ring of three attackers who went on a rampage on the streets, targeting people at random, ambushing them by either stabbing or running them down in a white van. The three combatants were also wearing hoax suicide vests to spread fear among the public. This rising phenomenon of modern guerrilla warfare does not stop at executing physical violence in public. It aims in the long-run to create more confrontation with the system, including the society, police forces and policies. It invokes public chaos, division among communities and spreads the culture of fear and lack of trust in the system and the ruling authority.
State’s structure and policies
Their idea is to create distrust in the public toward the authorities and have them blame it for the chaos and violence caused by these insurgencies, something which will have an impact on the state’s structure and policies. This is where a departure from conventional terrorism is increasingly apparent. The three perpetrators of the London Bridge attack are taking own law into their own hands, by enacting what they believe to be justice by attacking people on a Saturday night out with an aim to protect their twisted extremist ideology which condemns and frowns upon drinking, and the weekend lifestyle of western people.
This marks the transition of the extremist ideology from rhetoric, a tactic of manipulative debate taunting and social media activism, to commanding an ever larger presence and voice by being physically in the British streets. The dramatic trajectory of Khurram Butt, whose appearance in Channel 4’s documentary sparked controversy. From a hardliner and ideological supporter of ISIS to belligerent insurgent for the terrorist group, his journey highlights the path from silent spectator and ideological follower to an active militant. His case is testimony to the rapid transformation from an ideology to a violent act. Street terrorism gives the impression that the extreme rhetoric is transmitted from the ideological sphere onto a spatial manifestation of territorial conquering
Long praised
“Street terrorism” in the shape of guerrilla warfare is a terror tactic long praised by terrorist groups like al-Qaeda, and today the globally feared ISIS. In April, al-Qaeda leader Ayman al-Zawahiri urged in an audio titled “Syria will only bow to God”, released on the internet armed Syrian opposition to wage guerrilla warfare against the Syrian government and its allies. The spirit of guerrilla warfare travels to ISIS and grows to be a tactic of fusion with its almost singular focus on efforts to take and hold land and simultaneously to win the “hearts and minds,” of the population by means of terrorism.
Scenes staged by insurgency like the London Bridge attack serves the visual component of the terrorist group. Street terrorism gives the impression that the extreme rhetoric is transmitted from the ideological sphere onto a spatial manifestation of territorial conquering.
Dynamic of deviation
The organized violence of the terrorist modern guerrilla warfare works to convey the threats of the extremists, that they can invade the British streets, at any given time or place, spreading horror, anxiety, fear and chaos. The evolution of modern terrorist guerrilla warfare is a dynamic of their deviation. Their manifestations are not static and traditionalist, but rather embryonic and continuously finding shape and form. The new era of street terrorism, with its deviations, not only highlights the dangerous growth of the extremist ideology but also how the shape of this new facet of terrorism can evolve to street insurgency. Within this evolution and multi-layered power, it is their danger embedded. The shock result of the UK elections questions the impact and the prospect of the rise of street terrorism on the trust of the British public in the ruling authority. With these ideological hardliners relinquishing their invisibility, shifting from wielding rhetoric to wielding a machete, the question of how much the British public will continue to trust Theresa May’s government, hangs in the balance.

Joint list a new chapter in the war against terror
Turki Aldakhil/Al Arabiya/June 13/17
A joint statement by Saudi Arabia, Egypt, the United Arab Emirates and Bahrain last week placed several individuals and institutions, either funded by Qatar or are Qatar-based, on a terror list. This is a heavy blow to extremism. Decisive measures will be taken against entities and individuals and the latter will submit to international law. This is a new chapter in fighting terrorism and its sources.
The list did not only include those who are fighting or whose hands are stained with blood but it included those who are accomplices in murder, violence and terrorism. One of them is the godfather of suicide fatwas (religious edict) which are described as “guerrilla” operations.
All organizations have been inspired by these fatwas as they provided them with justifications to kill themselves, murder others and infiltrate civilians to kill as many children, women, men and elderly people as possible. His followers voiced surprise he was listed although a quick look on his fatwas, lectures and seminars have enough of these justifications to make him a terror icon par excellence.
The time we live in today is completely different. American President Donald Trump’s stance from the Muslim Brotherhood is different than the stance of his predecessor Barack Obama. Trump views the Brotherhood as a terrorist group that produced extremist ideologies which inspired terrorism from al-Qaeda to ISIS. Obama, however, thinks the group is a political movement that has the right to participate in governance and he encouraged its leaders and entities.
Neglecting its expansion in the world for eight years greatly influenced the spread of terrorism in Europe, United States and countries in the region because the Brotherhood is against the state and against the concept of citizenship. The Brotherhood thinks homelands are idols and that rulers lack legitimacy as the only one who has the right to rule must be from within the group and must be ideologically affiliated with them, otherwise there is no pledge of allegiance.
The joint list marks the beginning of a strong transformation in the mechanism of combating terrorism. Countries’ silence over terrorism is itself an act of terror by all standards
West infiltrated
The Brotherhood infiltrated the West in an unprecedented manner and contributed to infuriating immigrants and exploited the pains and tragedies of Muslims especially after the Syrian crisis. German Philosopher Jürgen Habermas noticed this particularly as his country hosts the biggest number of refugees and he’s alarmed by this issue.
In the book “Philosophy in a Time of Terror,” Habermas said: “The global terror that culminated in the September 11 attack bears the anarchistic traits of an impotent revolt directed against an enemy that cannot be defeated in any pragmatic sense. The only possible effect it can have is to shock and alarm the government and population. Technically speaking, since our complex societies are highly susceptible to interferences and accidents, they certainly offer ideal opportunities for a prompt disruption of normal activities. These disruptions can, at a minimum expense, have considerably destructive consequences. Global terrorism is extreme both in its lack of realistic goals and in its cynical exploitation of the vulnerability of complex systems.”
Countries’ list of terror allows them to call a spade a spade. For a long time now, the only party held accountable for terrorism has been the murderer while inciters have been ignored and not listed. Inciters are accomplices to murder.
After all that Saudi Arabia, Egypt, Bahrain and the UAE suffered from as a result of these terrorist individuals and cells, it turned out that they had only crushed and eliminated certain terrorists while their groups kept breeding dozens of them. Therefore, they had to dry out these swamps instead of desperately killing insects around them.
The joint list marks the beginning of a strong transformation in the mechanism of combating terrorism. Countries’ silence over terrorism is itself an act of terror by all standards. The same applies to harboring and celebrating terrorists or covering up dangerous terrorist operations.
I hope countries in the region partner up in this war against terrorism. It is no secret that the list was announced few days after Trump, King Salman and Egyptian President Abdel-Fattah al-Sisi inaugurated the Global Center for Combating Extremist Ideology – named “Etidal” or moderation.
What’s more important is for others to think before they act. This is a decisive phase. The times of “half terrorists” and of condemning practices but then explaining and justifying them has come to an end. The world is now uniting against words and deeds related to terrorism. No criminal will get away with his crime.