LCCC ENGLISH DAILY NEWS BULLETIN
May 01/17

Compiled & Prepared by: Elias Bejjani

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Bible Quotations For Today
I am sending upon you what my Father promised; so stay here in the city until you have been clothed with power from on high.’
Holy Gospel of Jesus Christ according to Saint Luke 24/44-49/:"Then he said to them, ‘These are my words that I spoke to you while I was still with you that everything written about me in the law of Moses, the prophets, and the psalms must be fulfilled.’Then he opened their minds to understand the scriptures, and he said to them, ‘Thus it is written, that the Messiah is to suffer and to rise from the dead on the third day, and that repentance and forgiveness of sins is to be proclaimed in his name to all nations, beginning from Jerusalem. You are witnesses of these things. And see, I am sending upon you what my Father promised; so stay here in the city until you have been clothed with power from on high.’

If you endure when you do right and suffer for it, you have God’s approval
First Letter of Peter 02/18-25/:"Slaves, accept the authority of your masters with all deference, not only those who are kind and gentle but also those who are harsh. For it is to your credit if, being aware of God, you endure pain while suffering unjustly. If you endure when you are beaten for doing wrong, where is the credit in that? But if you endure when you do right and suffer for it, you have God’s approval. For to this you have been called, because Christ also suffered for you, leaving you an example, so that you should follow in his steps. ‘He committed no sin, and no deceit was found in his mouth.’When he was abused, he did not return abuse; when he suffered, he did not threaten; but he entrusted himself to the one who judges justly. He himself bore our sins in his body on the cross, so that, free from sins, we might live for righteousness; by his wounds you have been healed.
For you were going astray like sheep, but now you have returned to the shepherd and guardian of your souls.

Titles For Latest LCCC Bulletin analysis & editorials from miscellaneous sources published on May 01/17
On the importance of relations with Vatican, other religionsظAbdulrahman al-Rashed/Asharq Al Awsat/April 30/17
A Chance For A Russian-American Accord To Tackle the Libyan Crisis/Raghida Dergham/April 30, 2017
The Judeo-Christian Community"/Amir George/Gatestone Institute/April 30/17
Ethnic Slaughter in Bangladesh/Arnab Goswami/Gatestone Institute/April 30/17
Europe: What Happens to Christians There Will Come Here/Giulio Meotti/Gatestone Institute/April 30/17
Trump’s Doctrine is ‘military-backed diplomacy’/Pierre Ghanem/Asharq Al Awsat/April 30/17
Jordan abolishes rape law, it must follow suit with honor killing law/Yara al-Wazir/Asharq Al Awsat/April 30/17

Titles For Latest Lebanese Related News published on May 01/17
Kataeb Chief Says Country Is Ruled by 'Dictatorial' Group Seeking to Stay in Power
Laborers drive nationwide development: Aoun
Qaouq Says Hizbullah Has Offered Concessions on Electoral Law, Urges Others to Follow Suit
Abu Faour: Sectarian Electoral Laws May Lead to Political, Geographic Partition
Al-Rahi from Tyre: Extension Usurps People's Will, Vacuum Destroys Institutions
Bike-Sharing Launched in Congested Beirut
Franjieh Says 'Christians Strength in Openness', Warns against 'Isolationism' in Electoral Law
Roads Blocked after Lebanese Man Killed in al-Beddawi Camp Gunfight
Berri's Proposed Senate Consists of 64 Members with Druze Chairman
Ibrahim inaugurates General Security center in Tibeh: We shall not hesitate in tracking Takfri terrorism and organized crime
Arslan: Fenianos initiative a huge step towards reform
Joint force in Ain alHilweh strengthens its deployment in Tairi district
Bassil: FPM is working on new consensual electoral law
Hariri inaugurates Beirut's Bike Sharing System project

Titles For Latest LCCC Bulletin For Miscellaneous Reports And News published on May 01/17
Iran: Vicious Assassination of Saeed Karimian and His Colleague Was Carried out by IRGC Upon Order of Iran Regime's Supreme Leader
Mysterious crime in Istanbul: Iranian TV executive, Kuwaiti businessman killed
U.S.-Backed Syria Force Advances against IS in Tabqa
Airstrike in Syria’s Hama kills eight White Helmets rescuers
‘Unidentified militias’ kidnap around 100 Iraqis fleeing Mosul town
Donald Trump tells America: ‘Get ready for great, great battles to come’
Saudi Arabia arrests 46 suspects involved in Prophet's Mosque attack
Saudi Arabia’s King Salman holds talks on Yemeni conflict with President Hadi
King Salman, Angela Merkel set to discuss G20 agenda, bilateral cooperation
Iran: Political Prisoner Calls for Boycotting the Elections
Iran: Response Letter of Political Prisoners in Iran About Accusations on Ms. Asma Jahangir
S Korea, U.S. Conduct Military Drills despite Pyongyang Threats
New leadership of Palestinian Hamas to be announced soon

Latest Lebanese Related News published on May 01/17
Kataeb Chief Says Country Is Ruled by 'Dictatorial' Group Seeking to Stay in Power
Sunday 30th April 2017/Voice of Lebanon/Kataeb leader Samy Gemayel on Sunday said that the country is being ruled by a "dictatorial" group of corrupt people who agreed to share and partition the state's incomings, adding that some are seeking to either keep the 1960 law or find a tailor-cut alternative in order to stay in power. "Political ethics have reached an alarming level that one must either become part of it or reject it," Gemayel said in an interview on Voice of Lebanon radio station. "Had we chosen to cope with this system, we wouldn't have joined the opposition ranks."The Kataeb chief stressed that the party's current political alignment provides a chance for the country to have an effective and real opposition force, reiterating that the Kataeb always does what is in Lebanon's best interest.Gemayel asked how the same company that is suspected of being corrupt has been awarded the airport's duty-free zone tender once again, urging the judiciary to intervene so as to enforce accountability. He also said that it's the duty of any politician to speak up against corruption, assuring that the Kataeb's past in so clean and transparent that it doesn't fear to confront any wrongdoings. "We are facing a big challenge. But we have pledged to fight this battle until the end."Gemayel noted that the political rift in the country is no longer based on sectarian grounds, explaining that it's now about making a change or keeping the situation unchanged. He reiterated his commitment to foil any plans to extend the Parliament's term, whether explicitly or implicitly by setting out a vote law that would keep the same political class. Gemayel voiced reservation over the proposed qualification voting system, saying that it prevents a segment of the people from casting their ballot and illogically limits the race to two candidates in the second round. The Kataeb chief regretted that the Parliament extension has become inevitable, blaming the ruling political class for the failure to hold the polls on time. Source: Kataeb.org

Laborers drive nationwide development: Aoun
The Daily Star/April 30, 2017/BEIRUT: Laborers drive nationwide development, said President Michel Aoun Sunday on the occasion of International Labor Day.Aoun saluted all Lebanese working men and women in all industries on the Eve of Labor Day on May 1. “On your day, we salute you, appreciate you, and offer you our commitment [to your cause],” a statement from Aoun’s media office said. Aoun said that the everyday struggle of laborers to earn their living and protect their dignity “is the basis that make us [Lebanese] enrooted in our land.” Aoun stressed that his vision for Lebanon stipulates commitment to laborers as they are “a key component and driver for the national revival process and comprehensive development.” He also promised to turn the aspirations of Lebanese workers into reality.

Qaouq Says Hizbullah Has Offered Concessions on Electoral Law, Urges Others to Follow Suit
Naharnet/April 30/17/Hizbullah central council member Sheikh Nabil Qaouq announced Sunday that his party has offered “concessions” for the sake of reaching an agreement on a new electoral law, urging others to follow suit. “Time is running out and the margin for maneuvering has ended. Lebanon will be at a crossroads two weeks from now. We either head to the abyss or we rescue Lebanon and take it to the safe shore,” Qaouq warned. “There is no time left for maneuvers and wrong calculations and there is no escape from a settlement among the political forces and from an agreement on a new electoral law,” Qaouq added. “Out of its keenness on rescuing the country from the political dilemma that may threaten accord and social and economic stability, Hizbullah has offered the possible concessions in order to open the door to political consensus over a new electoral law that ensures correct representation, and the rest of the forces must offer new concessions in order to overcome the dilemma,” the Hizbullah official went on to say.

Abu Faour: Sectarian Electoral Laws May Lead to Political, Geographic Partition
Naharnet/April 30/17/MP Wael Abu Faour of the Progressive Socialist Party warned Sunday that sectarian electoral laws may eventually lead to a political and geographic partitioning of Lebanon. “Proposing some laws that are based on sectarian segregation is the beginning of partitioning in Lebanon. Today we are speaking of electoral segregation in Lebanon and who knows perhaps in the future we will start speaking of political and geographic partitioning,” Abu Faour cautioned. “This approach leads to the partition of Lebanon and this is something that we can never accept,” the MP added, noting that “Iraq is divided, Syria is on the path of partitioning, Palestine is partitioned, so what prevents the winds of partitioning from reaching Lebanon?”“What is being proposed is not a technical choice but rather a segregationist choice, that's why we cannot accept the approach of segregation,” Abu Faour added. Turning to the growing debate about the establishment of a Senate, the lawmaker said “the new debate about the Senate might become a gateway to sedition, firstly about the powers of the Senate and secondly about the presidency of the Senate.” “Being the party that is most concerned with the Senate's presidency, we say that we will not be dragged into an additional controversy over it. There is no need to create another sectarian conflict over the presidency and powers of the Senate,” Abu Faour added. Free Patriotic Movement chief Jebran Bassil has recently proposed a hybrid electoral law that involves sectarian voting in the first round, dubbed the “qualification system.” The second round involves non-sectarian voting and a proportional representation system.

Al-Rahi from Tyre: Extension Usurps People's Will, Vacuum Destroys Institutions
Naharnet/April 30/17/Maronite Patriarch Beshara al-Rahi on Sunday issued a strong new warning against a new extension of parliament's term and against the possibility of reaching a so-called parliamentary “vacuum.”“Throughout twelve years, our political officials have not been able to approve a new electoral law, due to failure to endorse the same principled standards and because each group wants the law that suits it regardless of others,” al-Rahi said during a mass in the southern city of Tyre. “Despite of this, we are still hoping and praying... that they will be able to agree on the appropriate law,” the patriarch added. “Beware of an extension of parliament's term, because that is a usurpation of the legislative authority and people's will and a grave violation of the constitution, and beware of vacuum, because it would destroy state institutions,” al-Rahi warned. He added: “Anyhow, the constitution remains the cornerstone to which we must always return, seeing as only the constitution can guarantee the safety of institutions and the life of the republic.”Al-Rahi had recently announced that it is better to hold parliamentary elections under the current law than to extend the legislature's term anew or plunge the country into parliamentary “vacuum.”

Bike-Sharing Launched in Congested Beirut
Agence France Presse/Naharnet/April 30/17/Lebanon launched a bike-sharing program in its capital Beirut on Sunday, hoping to cut down on the congested city's notorious traffic and pollution. The scheme aims to eventually allow users to rent and return bicycles at 25 automated stations distributed across the city. For now, a single station is operating in central Beirut, with limited cyclist lanes available to those looking to beat the traffic. Prime Minister Saad Hariri officially inaugurated the scheme, participating in a bike ride and pledging to organize car-free days to prioritize cycling in the city. Around half a million cars clog Beirut's streets on a daily basis, according to experts, causing enormous traffic jams and contributing to air pollution. But only a handful of cyclists brave the roads, where drivers regularly ignore traffic signals and lanes are virtually an unknown concept. The bike program has already started in the northern city of Byblos, and there are plans to expand it to other coastal cities, including Tripoli and Batroun in the north, and Sidon and Tyre in Lebanon's south. The scheme will charge around $3 an hour for bike rental, with monthly subscribers paying a lower rate. Bike-sharing programs have proved popular in many major cities, including Paris and London.

Franjieh Says 'Christians Strength in Openness', Warns against 'Isolationism' in Electoral Law
Agence France Presse/Naharnet/April 30/17/Marada Movement chief MP Suleiman Franjieh has emphasized that “the strength of Christians lies in endorsing the thought of openness, national integration, coexistence and the creation of a civil state.” “But isolationist thought is a segregationist thought, even without an announcement, and the proof is what is being raised today about the electoral law regardless of the many formats,” Franjieh added. “What's important is to reflect people's will and respect it regarding the choice of their representatives, regardless of the candidate's affiliation,” he went on to say. Franjieh also noted that Marada Movement's thought is “spreading” across Lebanon.

Roads Blocked after Lebanese Man Killed in al-Beddawi Camp Gunfight
Naharnet/April 30/17/Relatives of Lebanese citizen Ali Shatleh blocked roads with burning tires at the al-Beddawi Palestinian refugee camp in northern Lebanon on Sunday after the man was killed by stray gunshots during an overnight gunfight. Saturday's clash pitted drug dealers and members of the Joint Palestinian Security Force. “Cautious calm has been engulfing the camp since dawn, amid a heavy security deployment,” state-run National News Agency said. “The streets are totally empty and all shops are closed,” NNA added, noting that the Lebanese army has upped its security measures at the camp's entrances and in its vicinity.

Berri's Proposed Senate Consists of 64 Members with Druze Chairman
Naharnet/April 30/17/Speaker Nabih Berri's proposal for the creation of a Senate as part of efforts to resolve the electoral law crisis calls for forming a body consisted of 32 Muslim senators and 32 Christian senators and for allocating its presidency to the Druze community, a media report said on Sunday. “Should an agreement be reached on allocating its chairmanship to the Greek Orthodox community, the Druze community would be given either the deputy speaker post or the deputy premier post,” al-Mustaqbal newspaper quoted Berri's visitors as saying in remarks published Sunday.
“The proposed Senate would take some powers from Parliament, especially those related to crucial issues, in line with the Taef Accord,” the visitors added. Berri's proposal calls for electing a Senate under a sectarian voting electoral system and a Parliament under an electoral law fully based on proportional representation.

Ibrahim inaugurates General Security center in Tibeh: We shall not hesitate in tracking Takfri terrorism and organized crime
Sun 30 Apr 2017 /NNA - General Security Director General, Abbas Ibrahim, stressed on Sunday that "the State shall not allow Lebanon and the Lebanese to be exposed to any threat or danger," adding that "we shall not hesitate in tracking takfiri terrorism and organized crime."
General Ibrahim's words came during his inauguration of the new General Security regional center in the town of al-Tibeh in Marj'Ayoun district. Ibrahim confirmed Lebanon's "adherence to international legitimacy resolutions and abidance by its stipulations and obligations, most prominently Resolution #1701, although it remains the scene for Israeli violations of land, air and sea."Moreover, Ibrahim warned that "Lebanon is on the line of danger, which intersects with the Israeli intimidation and Takfiri threats," and thus, stressed on the priority of "activating the areas of meeting and dialogue, achieving national understandings and reducing regional and international repercussions."

Arslan: Fenianos initiative a huge step towards reform
Sun 30 Apr 2017/NNA - "The decisive step by Public Works and Transport Minister, Youssef Fenianos, with regards to proposing a duty free market tender is highly appreciated and respected," said Lebanese Democratic Party Head (LDP), Talal Arslan, via Twitter on Sunday. Erslan described Fenianos's initiative as "a giant step towards reform and eliminating the rampant corruption in the country."

Joint force in Ain alHilweh strengthens its deployment in Tairi district
Sun 30 Apr 2017/NNA - The joint force in Ain al-Hilweh refugee camp began, on Sunday, to reinforce its deployment in al-Tairi district, in continuation of the plan agreed upon by the political leaderships of the national and Islamic forces and factions inside the camp, NNA correspondent in Sidon reported.

Bassil: FPM is working on new consensual electoral law
Sun 30 Apr 2017/NNA - The Free Patriotic Movement (FPM) Leader, Minister Gibran Bassil, said that the issue of decreeing a new electoral law is a matter of life or death. Bassil, whose words came during an annual dinner for the FPM partisans in Abrin, Batroun district, revealed that the FPM was currently studying a new proposal for a new electoral law that would include and guarantee representation to all political counterparts. Bassil also commended Prime Minister Saad Hariri's stances in refusing the extension of the parliamentary mandate.

Hariri inaugurates Beirut's Bike Sharing System project
Sun 30 Apr 2017/NNA - Prime Minister Saad Hariri inaugurated on Sunday the Beirut Bike Sharing System project in Downtown in presence of Deputy Nadim Gemayel, Beirut Governor, Ziad Chbib and Beirut Municipality head, Jamal Itani. During a tour on a bicycle, Hariri wished to make Beirut beautiful the way citizens wished it to be, an eco-friendly city.

Latest LCCC Bulletin For Miscellaneous Reports And News published on May 01/17
Iran: Vicious Assassination of Saeed Karimian and His Colleague Was Carried out by IRGC Upon Order of Iran Regime's Supreme Leader
NCRI/Sunday, 30 April 2017 /The Iranian Resistance strongly condemns the vicious assassination of Saeed Karimian, the chairman of Gem TV and his colleague in Istanbul that was carried out by the Islamic Revolutionary Guards Corps (IRGC) on IRGC Day upon Khamenei’s order. The Iranian Resistance calls for the prosecution of the perpetrators and masterminds of this hideous crime, bringing them to justice, and blacklisting the IRGC.
The clerical regime is more than ever in need of domestic repression and resorting to these sorts of anti-human crimes on the verge of its sham presidential election and intensification of factional feuding.
It is worth noting that from a while ago, the media outfits affiliated to the IRGC and the Ministry of Intelligence (MOIS) were setting the stage for this assassination and attributing it to the People’s Mojahedin Organization of Iran (PMOI).
Immediately following the assassination, the news agencies affiliated to the IRGC and its terrorist Quds Force (Fars and Tasnim) and web sites affiliated to the MOIS in a coordinated and concerted way, rehashed and propagated these lies and absurdities.
The IRGC and the MOIS had fabricated a series of lies, photos, and videos to claim that Saeed Karimian had been collaborating with the PMOI on TV productions, had grown up in Camp Ashraf as a child, and was raised there. They had also claimed that his father was one of the martyrs of the Eternal Light operation who had secretly taken all his family to Camp Ashraf. None of these claims are true. These absurd and blatant lies had actually been denied by Saeed Karimian on November 29, 2012.
Another of the dirty tricks by the IRGC was to doctor Karimian’s image next to Mrs. Maryam Rajavi on a photograph regarding her meeting at the Belgian Senate on March 27, 2013, and replacing the photo of Belgian MEP, Mr. Gerard Deprez, with that of Karimian. Both the original and the fake photos are attached for comparison.
The forged photo, and the actual photo, which has Mr. Deprez’s name in front of him as the chair of the meeting - March 27, 2013.
Secretariat of the National Council of Resistance of Iran
April 30, 2017

Mysterious crime in Istanbul: Iranian TV executive, Kuwaiti businessman killed
The Associated Press, Dubai Sunday, 30 April 2017/The Iranian founder of a Farsi-language satellite television network was shot dead in Istanbul alongside a Kuwaiti business partner, Turkish media reported Sunday, just months after reportedly being convicted of spreading “propaganda” against the Islamic Republic. Gunmen opened fire on Saeed Karimian of GEM TV after cutting off his car with an SUV in Istanbul late Saturday night, Turkey’s Hurriyet newspaper reported. Police later found the SUV abandoned and burned, the newspaper said. The private Dogan news agency identified the dead Kuwaiti by the initials M.M. Kuwait’s state-run KUNA news agency, quoting the consul general in Istanbul, confirmed a Kuwaiti citizen was gunned down, without elaborating. GEM TV, which has offices in Dubai, Turkey and elsewhere, rebroadcasts Turkish soap operas and other entertainment shows dubbed into Farsi. A website for Karimian describes the network as being set up in 2001 in London and later moving to the United Arab Emirates. A man who answered the telephone at GEM TV’s office in Dubai declined to comment. Hurriyet reported that Karimian was a dual Iranian-British national. The Foreign Office declined to immediately comment. While satellite television is popular in Iran, owning a satellite dish is illegal. Police and security forces occasionally smash dishes and seize receivers as authorities routinely denounce the Western pop culture shown on satellite channels as decadent and un-Islamic. Iran’s semi-official Tasnim news agency, considered to be close to the country’s hard-line paramilitary Revolutionary Guard, described GEM as an opposition network and said that Karimian had been given a prison sentence for “propaganda,” without elaborating. Tasnim also reported that both Karimian and his father had ties to the Mujahedeen-e-Khalq. That Iranian exile group, known by the initials MEK, sided with Iraqi dictator Saddam Hussein during the Iran-Iraq war in the 1980s.In a statement, the MEK denied the Iranian claims that Karimian and his father had links to the group. The MEK blamed the Revolutionary Guard for the killings, noting they were carried out on the eve of a day honoring the Guard. It offered no other evidence to support the assertion.

U.S.-Backed Syria Force Advances against IS in Tabqa
Agence France Presse/Naharnet/April 30/17/A U.S.-backed Kurdish-Arab alliance is advancing against the Islamic State group in the key town of Tabqa near the jihadist bastion of Raqa in northern Syria, a monitor said Sunday.The Syrian Democratic Forces now control over half the town of Tabqa, including most of its heart, the Old City, the Syrian Observatory for Human Rights monitor said. Observatory director Rami Abdel Rahman said fighting was continuing in the town on Sunday morning. The SDF published photos Sunday it said showed items retrieved from newly captured parts of the town, including at least a dozen guns, as well as missiles, ammunition, and an IS flag. The SDF entered Tabqa on Monday as part of their offensive against Raqa, IS' de facto Syrian capital. Supported by U.S.-led coalition air strikes and special forces advisers, the SDF surrounded Tabqa in early April. The town sits on a strategic supply route about 55 kilometers (35 miles) west of Raqa, and served as an important IS command base, housing the group's main prison. It is also adjacent to the Tabqa dam, another important strategic prize which remains under IS control. The assault on Tabqa began in late March when SDF forces and their U.S.-led coalition allies were airlifted behind IS lines.The city is home to an estimated 85,000 people, including IS fighters from other areas. IS has put up fierce resistance, including using weaponized drones, a tactic the group perfected in neighboring Iraq. The group is also fighting street-to-street and using suicide attackers and car bombs to slow the SDF's advance, according to the Observatory. The assault on Raqa, dubbed "Wrath of the Euphrates," was launched in November and has seen SDF fighters capture large swathes of countryside around the city.
More than 320,000 people have been killed in Syria since the country's war began with anti-government protests in March 2011.

Airstrike in Syria’s Hama kills eight White Helmets rescuers
The Associated Press, Beirut Sunday, 30 April 2017/Airstrikes struck a center of Syria’s rescuers known as the White Helmets in a rebel-held area in the country’s center, killing eight volunteers, opposition activists said Saturday. The airstrike was one of the deadliest against the rescuers who operate in opposition-held areas and who have garnered world attention for operating in extreme conditions, pulling survivors out of recently struck areas. The volunteers have often been targeted by government airstrikes, in what are known as ‘double tap’ attacks, as they work to rescue others.
The local White Helmets in the central Hama province said an air raid on one of their centers in Kfar Zeita killed eight members of the team. The group said five bodies were lifted from the rubble and the rescuers continued to look for the others. The Britain-based opposition monitoring group, the Syrian Observatory for Human Rights, said the number of those killed is likely to rise as the search mission continues. It was not clear who carried out the airstrikes, as Syrian government and Russia aircraft have targeted opposition-held areas. The central Hama province have been scene to intense violence in recent weeks, as the government attempts to push back a rebel offensive. Separately Saturday, Syria’s military said its troops and allied fighters repelled an attack by the ISIS group on a strategic area held by the government in southern Aleppo province. The attack took place in Khanaser, southeast Aleppo - a strategic region that links Aleppo with central and western Syria. The area has changed hands many times during the conflict. But last year, government troops and allied fighters wrested control of Khanaser from ISIS. The military media arm said ISIS attacked Um Mayyal village near a mountain range in Khanaser and other areas. The Observatory said ISIS fighters launched the attack on military posts in the area, triggering intense clashes and leaving many casualties. ISIS-affiliated Aamaq news agency claimed ISIS fighters killed 30 government soldiers in the attack.
Near the capital, hundreds of Syrians from the rebel-held suburbs of eastern Ghouta near Damascus protested against infighting between the insurgent groups that began Friday and left dozens killed in the area. The infighting came amid an intensified government offensive in the area near Damascus, which the rebels have controlled for years but has been increasingly squeezed by government advances. “God rid us of all leaders,” the protesters chanted, criticizing the head of the insurgent groups for diverting their weapons from the front line with the government.
The infighting is pitting the powerful Army of Islam group against al-Rahman Corps and al-Qaida-linked group the Levant Liberation Committee, or Hayat Tahrir al-Sham. Each side blames the other for triggering the fighting in the power struggle over control of eastern Ghouta. Some activists have called on Army of Islam to rid eastern Ghouta of the powerful al-Qaida-linked group. The Observatory said shots were fired at the protesters in one area, leaving five injured. In 24 hours of fighting, the Observatory said at least 38 insurgents from the warring sides were killed. Damascus-based Shaam News Network put the number at 60, in addition to six civilians killed because of the clashes. For the past three years, the government has been unable to regain control of the eastern suburbs of Damascus. But in recent weeks, an intensified offensive points to a new determination to retake the area.On Saturday, activists reported a heavy air campaign against the area’s Qaboun neighborhood.

‘Unidentified militias’ kidnap around 100 Iraqis fleeing Mosul town
Staff writer, Al Arabiya English Sunday, 30 April 2017/Ali al-Saleh, an official at Al-Hadar district south of Mosul, said on Saturday that around 100 young men were kidnapped after they fled to the town of Hamam al-Alil. Saleh told Al-Hadath television channel that these men were abducted by militias, adding, however, that it’s not clear whom these militias are affiliated with. Meanwhile, other sources said that more than 250 young men have been abducted by Popular Mobilization forces after they fled to Hamam al-Alil. Al-Hadr district was recently liberated from ISIS.

Donald Trump tells America: ‘Get ready for great, great battles to come’
AFP, Harrisburg Sunday, 30 April 2017/Donald Trump on Saturday hailed his "very productive" first 100 days as America's president and told a cheering crowd of supporters "great battles" lay ahead. In an enthusiastic, campaign-style rally in Pennsylvania -- a key state in his election win -- Trump said the record of his first 100 days "has been very exciting and very productive," ticking off a list of what he said were his achievements. He said he was now to "get ready for the great, great battles to come and that we will win in every case." The crowd often interrupted Trump with cheers of "USA!, USA!"
"So I have a question for you. You've been to a lot of rallies. First of all, is there any place like a Trump rally, in all fairness?", Trump said after one burst of cheers. Signs held up by the crowd had slogans such as "Promises made. Promises kept." Trump said major accomplishments in his first 100 days included seeing a Supreme Court nominee confirmed by the Senate, pulling the US out of the Trans-Pacific Partnership trade accord, a rising stock market and the easing of regulations on exploration for energy.

Saudi Arabia arrests 46 suspects involved in Prophet's Mosque attack
Staff writer, Al Arabiya.net Sunday, 30 April 2017/Saudi Arabia said on Sunday it had arrested 46 members of a militant cell responsible for a deadly suicide bombing attack on the Prophet's Mosque in the holy city of Medina last summer widely blamed on ISIS, according to the spokesman of the Saudi Interior Ministry. The suspects, who included foreign and Saudi citizens, were detained in the Western port city of Jeddah. The spokesman said that investigations with members of the recently dismantled ‘Al-Harazat cell’ proved that they have connections to other terrorist operations. He said that one of these terrorist acts was the attack that targeted the worshipers at the Prophet's Mosque, by providing the explosive belt which was used in this crime and handing it over to the suicide bomber.The cell was also found to be involved in the terrorist act that took place in the courtyard of Suleiman Fakih Hospital in Jeddah. He said that the cell decapitated one of its members for suspecting that he was intending to surrender himself to the authorities. The investigations have confirmed that the dead man was a Saudi wanted by the authorities and was an expert in the making explosive belts. He added that the number of arrested members associated with the criminal activities of this cell so far have reached 46, including 32 Saudis, and 14 foreigners of various nationalities (Pakistani, Yemeni, Afghan, Egyptian, Jordanian and Sudanese).

Saudi Arabia’s King Salman holds talks on Yemeni conflict with President Hadi
Staff writer, Al Arabiya English Sunday, 30 April 2017/Saudi Arabia’s King Salman bin Abdulaziz met with Yemeni President Abdrabbo Mansour Hadi in Jeddah on Saturday and reaffirmed the kingdom’s commitment to Yemen’s legitimate government. According to a statement from the Saudi Press Agency, King Salman reiterated his keenness on “supporting the brotherly people of Yemen as well as Yemen's legitimate government in order to achieve security and stability in Yemen.”The statement added: “The meeting addressed a number of issues of common interest as well as the latest developments in Yemen.” The meeting was attended by Minister of State and Member of the Cabinet Dr. Musaed bin Mohammed Al-Aiban, President of General Intelligence Khalid bin Ali Al-Humaidan and Director of the Yemeni President's Office Dr. Abdullah Al-Alaimi. A Saudi-led coalition is battling against Houthi militias and bolstering Yemeni government forces after a Houthi takeover of the capital Sanaa and surrounding areas in recent years. The military intervention launched by Saudi Arabia and a coalition of Arab countries in 2015 was codenamed Operation Decisive Storm.

King Salman, Angela Merkel set to discuss G20 agenda, bilateral cooperation
Staff writer, Al Arabiya English Sunday, 30 April 2017/King Salman bin Abdulaziz Al Saud received at Al-Salam Palace in Jeddah on Sunday Dr. Angela Merkel, the Chancellor of the Federal Republic of Germany. Crown Prince Mohammed bin Naif bin Abdulaziz, Deputy Premier and Minister of Interior, was also present. An official reception ceremony was held for Chancellor Merkel, the national anthems of the two countries were played and she reviewed the guard of honor. Merkel then she shook hands with Prince Saud bin Abdulmohsen bin Abdulaziz, Special Advisor to the Custodian of the Two Holy Mosques, Prince Khalid bin Bandar bin Abdulaziz, Advisor to the Custodian of the Two Holy Mosques, Prince Dr. Mansour bin Miteb bin Abdulaziz, Minister of State, Cabinet Member and Advisor to the Custodian of the Two Holy Mosques, Prince Miteb bin Abdullah bin Abdulaziz, Minister of National Guard, other ministers and senior officials.
Luncheon banquet
King Salman shook hands with members of the official delegation accompanying the German Chancellor, and held a luncheon banquet in her honor and her accompanying delegation. The reception and the banquet were attended by Prince Khalid al-Faisal bin Abdulaziz, Advisor to the Custodian of the Two Holy Mosques and Governor of Makkah region, and a number of princes. According to agency reports, Merkel’s visit focused on bilateral relations and preparations for the next G20 meeting. Merkel was expected to discuss the agenda for the G20 meeting in July, including the Paris climate accord and G20 decisions on energy, according to a German official. “There will be for sure a discussion over how Germany could support Saudi efforts to diversify its economy and reduce its dependency on fossil energy,” the official said ahead of the visit. “Economic relations are solid but not shining. The volume of commercial exchange stood at eight billion euros ($8.72 billion) in 2016. German investments in Saudi were around 1.2 billion euros ($1.3 billion),” the official said. Merkel travels on Monday to the UAE, where German investments stand at around 2.4 billion euros ($2.6 billion), the German official said. (With agencies)

Iran: Political Prisoner Calls for Boycotting the Elections
NCRI/Sunday, 30 April 2017 /Political prisoner Shahin Zoghi Tabar, called for boycotting of the clerical regime’s fake elections. Under the title of “the strength or weakness”, he wrote: The strength or weakness; some animals when faced with danger, to scare and to maintain their own security, try to pretend they are more powerful and bigger than what they are. Just like the clerical regime, which once wanted to portray itself as powerful by obtaining a nuclear bomb and meddling in the region, and now with the sham elections wants to gain legitimacy for its rule. But everyone knows that the elections is an intellectual posture for the velayat-e faqih, because he chooses the candidates, and even if there is no fraud between various gangs and factions of the regime, people can just choose one of the options set by the Supreme Leader and have no other option.
Now on the eve of the regime’s presidential elections, differences between internal factions of the regime that are due to people’s dissatisfaction and external pressures from the sanctions, have surfaced more than any other time. At a time when the regime is incapable of solving internal problems such as economy, closure of factories, the environment and lack of water, and external crises such as failure of JCPOA and pressure of the sanctions, and at a time when the regime is plunged in the sinkhole of three external wars in Syria, Yemen and Iraq, and is frustrated with Russia for securing its interests and is faced with the coalition of countries in the region, and the Iranian Revolutionary Guards is on the verge of being put on the terrorist list, vali-e faqih (Supreme Leader) not only cannot use the elections to his own benefit, on the contrary it has caused him more weakness and inability…
Ahmadinejad, who was the regime’s President for 8 years and was a confidant of the Supreme Leader, is disqualified, various factions and gangs of the regime are concerned about getting a bigger share of power, they attack each other in the media and expose each other, and on the other hand since maintaining the regime is their priority, constantly warn each other about a repeat of 2009 uprising and explosion of public anger, express doubt about live debates and at the end decide to cancel one on one debates and to hold collective debate…
Among their candidates is on the one hand the imposter mullah Rouhani, who not only did not open any lock with his promised key but with the JCPOA added another lock to other locks of the regime, and of course with a posture of moderation, about 3000 executions took place under his tenure including massacre of Sunni Kurds opposed to the regime and the execution of at least five people last week in the Gohardasht prison. Another main candidate is the executioner mullah Raisi, who was a key player in the death of thousands of political prisoners in the 80’s especially in the summer of 1988 and now with his candidacy, has made the flame of justice movement of 1988 brighter and more luminous…
So in these circumstances, as someone who has imprisoned more than 4 years in the prisons of the mullahs, and closely witnessed their injustice and criminality, I ask the youths and students and all people in Iran not to participate in the regime’s sham elections, which is only their infighting for power and plundering the people, and instead to increase the scope of their protests so the world knows that the Iranian regime is completely separate from the Iranian people.
Shahin Zoghi Tabar
Gohardasht prison – April 28, 2017

Iran: Response Letter of Political Prisoners in Iran About Accusations on Ms. Asma Jahangir
NCRI/Sunday, 30 April 2017 /In a letter to the U.N. Secretary General, Antonio Gueteres, political prisoners in Gohardasht prison revealed the nature of the Iranian regime’s plots against Asma Jahangir.
Find this letter below:
Honorable Antonio Guteres,
Secretary General of the United Nations,
With all our respect we would like you to pay attention to the recent insults and accusations in Iran against Mrs. Asma Jahangir.
We, ourselves, are facing these sort of accusations through several years and we are constantly witnessing that the Iranian citizens are facing execution, prison or exile after any minor opposition to this regime and they have no right to defense.
Therefore these accusations against special rapporteur on Iran is nothing unusual.
But this time the Iranian regime is not targeting a defenseless Iranian citizen. It wants to undermine with its accusations the special rapporteur of the U.N. that has the credit of the international community, Human rights council and the United Nations and is the only shelter of Iranian victims in face of injustice. Therefore, we, the political prisoners assure you that these accusations against her is to force her towards silence, appeasement or at least ignoring mass human rights violations by the regime ruling Iran and we urge you to take serious and effective action against this immoral and inhuman approach against U.N. Special rapporteur (Mrs. Asma Jahangir).
Defending her independence and her respect for justice and righteousness vis-a-vis this brutal regime that does not respect any right of its citizens is in fact defending all political prisoners and victims of human rights violations in Iran. With this example you can clearly imagine what this regime is able to do without any fear against its own citizens. Particularly when the international community has chosen silence and appeasement vis-a-vis this regime.At the end we again expect you to take a serious and effective action.
With all our respect
A group of political prisoners in Gohardasht prison – Karaj/27 April 2017

S Korea, U.S. Conduct Military Drills despite Pyongyang Threats
Agence France Presse/Naharnet/April 30/17/South Korea and the United States wrapped up their annual large-scale military drills on Sunday, but continued a separate joint naval exercise that has triggered dire threats from nuclear-armed North Korea. Tensions on the Korean peninsula have been running sky-high for weeks, with signs that the North might be preparing a long-range missile launch or a sixth nuclear test -- and with Washington refusing to rule out a military strike in response. The massive "Foal Eagle" drill, which the defense ministry in Seoul said was ending as scheduled on Sunday, involved around 20,000 South Korean and 10,000 U.S. troops. Another annual joint exercise known as "Key Resolve" ended last month. Both play out scenarios for a conflict with North Korea, but Seoul and Washington insist they are purely defensive in nature, despite Pyongyang's claims that they are provocative rehearsals for invasion. Their conclusion normally signals a period of relative calm in North-South tensions, but this year the situation looks set to remain highly volatile.  US President Donald Trump has warned of a possible "major conflict" while Pyongyang has carried out a series of failed missile tests, including one on Saturday, and a massive live-fire military exercise. The South Korean defense ministry confirmed Sunday that a joint naval drill with a U.S. strike group, led by the aircraft carrier USS Carl Vinson, was still ongoing in the Sea of Japan (East Sea). The exercise, aimed at verifying the allies' capability to track and intercept enemy ballistic missiles, is expected to continue until sometime next week. Through state media, North Korea has threatened to attack the Carl Vinson, and a state-sponsored website on Sunday also warned of a possible strike against a U.S. nuclear-powered submarine dispatched to the area. China is "putting pressure" on its ally North Korea to curb its weapons programs, Trump told the CBS television network's "Face the Nation" program. If North Korea carries out another nuclear test "I would not be happy," he said. "And I can tell you also, I don't believe that the president of China, who is a very respected man, will be happy either," Trump said in excerpts of the interview released Saturday. Asked if "not happy" signified "military action," Trump answered: "I don't know. I mean, we'll see."
'Catastrophic consequences'
Pyongyang's show of defiance included a failed missile test on Saturday that came just hours after U.S. Secretary of State Rex Tillerson warned the U.N. Security Council of "catastrophic consequences" if the international community -- most notably China -- failed to pressure the North into abandoning its weapons program. Military options for dealing with the North were still "on the table," Tillerson said. China has repeatedly pushed back at the idea that it alone holds the solution to curbing the North's nuclear ambitions, and warned that any use of U.S. force would only lead to "bigger disasters".
Pope Francis this weekend called for negotiations to resolve tensions over North Korea. "There are plenty of mediators in the world who are putting themselves forward. Norway, for example which is ready to help," he said. The tensions have also triggered some friction between Seoul and Washington, with Trump suggesting in a recent interview that the South should pay for the $1.0-billion dollar THAAD anti-missile system that the U.S. is deploying on its ally's territory. But on Sunday South Korea said U.S. National Security Adviser H.R. McMaster had spoken by phone with his counterpart in Seoul and both sides had reaffirmed that Washington would bear the cost of the THAAD deployment, as initially agreed. Trump's interview remarks "were made in a general context, reflecting the American public's hopes for (defense) cost sharing," McMaster was quoted as saying by the South's presidential office. The two countries have had a security alliance since the 1950-53 Korean war, and more than 28,000 U.S. troops are stationed in the South. Beijing has been infuriated by the THAAD deployment, which it says upsets the regional security balance.

New leadership of Palestinian Hamas to be announced soon
AFP, Gaza Sunday, 30 April 2017/The new leadership of Palestinian group Hamas will be announced in the coming days, officials said Sunday, while it also prepared to unveil a new version of its charter. Ismail Haniya, until recently head of Hamas in the Gaza Strip, said the results of internal elections will be announced “in the coming days”. A high-ranking Hamas official told AFP that the new leadership will be announced before May 15. The official said Haniya is likely to be named the new head of the movement, replacing Khaled Meshaal who lives in Doha in exile and has completed the maximum two terms in office.
Supplementary charter
Hamas runs the Gaza Strip, while the Palestinian Authority dominated by president Mahmud Abbas’s Fatah party controls the occupied West Bank. On Monday in Qatar, Hamas will unveil a supplementary charter that will formally accept the idea of a state in the territories occupied by Israel in the Six-Day War of 1967. Some analysts say the move is a bid to ease Hamas's international isolation. The original 1988 charter will not be dropped, just supplemented, and there will be no recognition of Israel, as demanded by the international community.

Titles For Latest LCCC Bulletin analysis & editorials from miscellaneous sources published on May 01/17
On the importance of relations with Vatican, other religions
Abdulrahman al-Rashed/Asharq Al Awsat/April 30/17
http://eliasbejjaninews.com/?p=54844
The Pope’s visit to Egypt was preceded by a critical and hostile campaign. People affiliated with political groups, like the Muslim Brotherhood, are behind these campaigns which were aided by ISIS attacks on two Coptic churches earlier this month.
The Pope insisted on visiting Egypt as scheduled despite all threats. Meanwhile, Al-Azhar sheikh also defied threats made against him and against his institution and publicly received his guest.
Actually, the message which extremists want to send through this hateful campaign and through explosions is not directed against the Pope or against Egypt’s Copts but against the Egyptian authority and Arab governments which support it.
The underlying message the extremists seek to convey is that they are the decision-makers and will confront any foreign relations with entities that are opposed to them.
During the current times of religion-based tensions, the world will benefit if people who call for co-existence rather than bigotry dominate the arena. We need people who spread the spirit of tolerance in places where there are tensions or possibilities for conflicts, like in France whose majority is a Christian Catholics and where there is a large Muslim community.
Muslim Brotherhood members who are criticizing the pope’s visit used to brag that they are civilized people who believe in co-existence with the Christian West. During closed-door meetings, they used to clear themselves from what they described as “underdeveloped” Gulf governments that restrain the followers of other religions. When the Muslim Brotherhood government collapsed, they opted for politically sabotaging others and so they launched hostile campaigns against Al-Azhar and Copts in Egypt, and their followers stirred up an uproar over the Pope’s visit.
Global religious forums
Some may wonder why we should care about dealing with global religious forums. Communicating with the Vatican and other major religious institutions in the world has, for decades, been an important part of the continuous and permanent relation among nations. The aims behind this policy is to organize relations and combat hatred against other religions.
Major religions, like Islam, Christianity and Hinduism, need to organize relations among their followers as they are present in almost all countries.
During the current times of religion-based tensions, the world will benefit if people who call for co-existence rather than bigotry dominate the arena.
We need people who spread the spirit of tolerance in places where there are tensions or possibilities for conflicts, like in France whose majority is a Christian Catholics and where there is a large Muslim community.
The Pope is thus a religious figure of great significance as he influences his followers and to end national and religious extremism which advocates racial supremacy and political divisions.
There are more than 8 million Copts in Egypt and they were never a target before religious extremism emerged. They were never a target during the reign of the monarchy or during the presidential terms of Gamal Abdelnasser and Anwar al-Sadat but they became one after extremist ideologies surfaced.
Those who condemn relations with the Vatican or think it’s recent or criticize Muslim clerics who support such cooperation are in fact ignorant, if not hypocrites and instigators. These relations have always existed and even Saudi Arabia has good relations with the Pope of Rome. King Faisal, may he rest in peace, who politically revived the Muslim league set the foundations for a relation based on respect. When he received the cardinals in Riyadh, they handed him a letter from the Pope.
The pope said he and the Ecumenical council appreciate King Faisal who is the “man with the major influence in the Arab and Muslim world.”
In 1974, the King dispatched then-Minister of Justice Sheikh Mohammed al-Harkan and a delegation of Saudi clerics to visit Pope Paul VI and communicate with the Vatican. However, this communication must not only be with Christians in the West as there are other influential religions, like Hinduism, Buddhism and others, whose interests intersect with Arabs and Muslims.
We must not let them be victims of their perceptions about Islam that is linked to ISIS and politicized Islamic groups.

A Chance For A Russian-American Accord To Tackle the Libyan Crisis
Raghida Dergham/April 30, 2017
Many this week will set out to scrutinize the policies implemented by President Donald Trump, one hundred days after he took office. His presidency is crucial to the world, perhaps more so than for the Americans themselves, especially as far as foreign policy is concerned. North Korea currently tops the list of foreign policy priorities, amid growing escalation with the US, while calm diplomacy between Washington and Beijing continues to take its course. Syria remains on the priorities’ radar in both its own and its Iranian dimensions, extending from Syria to Lebanon, Iraq, and Yemen. US-Russian relations are also of crucial importance, because they go beyond their bilateral concerns and carry implications for the balance of power with NATO, the future of the EU, and their often-conflicting strategic interests around the world. Russia is probing and prospecting its interests in places the US appears to be disinterested in, at least for the time being, such as in oil and gas rich Libya, the African gateway to Europe. But Libya deserves America’s attention, because it has been the victim of ambiguity that accompanied its liberation from the Gaddafi regime, while there was deliberate neglect of what the country needed in terms of developing its institutions. This was probably the result of the Obama administration’s culture of appeasement, which was based on the belief that “moderate Islamism” would take power in North Africa, from Egypt to Tunisia via Libya. Today, we are in an era of radically different policies, in which Libya deserves American attention as well as European attention, currently led by Italy and Britain, because of the implications for US interests and strategic positioning. Libya can be tackled with joint US-Russian cooperation and with the accord of the five permanent members of the UN Security Council, as well as neighboring countries and the Gulf countries concerned, perhaps though a new approach by the UN envoy that factors in this shift in US policy.
The US envoy to the UN, Nikki Haley, has proven to the other Security Council members this week that she is a leading shaper of US foreign policy alongside the National Security Adviser H.R. McMaster. The US secretary of state, Rex Tillerson, was absent from the meeting of the ambassadors of the permanent fives with President Trump in the White House earlier this week, attended by Jared Kushner and Ivanka Trump. The ambassadors came out with the clear impression that Haley has special influence on the president and Congress, according to one Western envoy, and that the UN is not unimportant to Washington as some have suggested. The president is ready to listen, they further said, which is why he has responded well to a proposal by the Swedish envoy to continue supporting UN peacekeeping forces, because they carry out missions that would otherwise require deployment of US ground troops.
Nikki Haley can revive US and international attention in the Libyan issue, through her influence and through collective regional and international diplomatic engagement. This would be a chance to spare North Africa from slipping further into extremism and terrorism, and to spare Europe and even America from radical immigration and threats to their national security. Moreover, human rights, including women’s rights, are collapsing in Libya, and the vacuum could further destabilize Libya, the region, and Europe itself if the country falls completely to terrorism.
On May 10, a conference will be held in Washington organized by the National Council on US Libya Relations and the National Council on US-Arab Relations with support from several think tanks including the Beirut Institute. The conference, titled New Vision, Hope, and Opportunities, will be attended by former Libyan prime ministers, representatives from the governing presidential council, the foreign minister, and the UN envoy Martin Kobler. The conference will review the past six years, as a necessary basis for launching into the future, once mistakes are recognized and obstacles are identified.
The conference will address the fate of the Sukhayrat Agreement, which had proposed a roadmap for Libya, to explore the prospects of it succeeding in the coming period and whether it needs amendments. The meeting will also tackle the security complexities in Libya and the region, with experts making interventions on regional roles, militias, ISIS, and the Libyan National Army led by General Khalifa Haftar.
“Frankly, we are very pessimistic about the Europeans leading on the Libyan issue, especially by the Italians and the British who were leading on this issue, from the Sukhayrat Agreement to the Security Council,” said Dr. Hani Shunaib, founding president of the National Council on US-Libyan relations. “We want to raise the Libyan issue from the bottom of priorities to [a level where it could] become worthy of the interest of the new US administration and Congress, by adopting realistic and serious proposals,” he added.
These proposals include pushing for strong US leadership to gather all Libyan parties in one room for prolonged discussions, parties that include both those who support the Sukhayrat Agreement and those who oppose it, in order to amend its clauses and impose the amended version on the parties – including parliament, Haftar, and the Islamists in Tripoli”, according to Shunaib. “Parliament must be included in the dialogue,” he continued, or it “will continue to reject the government led by Fayez Sarraj formed on the basis of the Sukhayrat agreement, and Sarraj will continue to steer the Libyan ship without parliamentarian legitimacy out of a naval base outside Tripoli.” The Libyan dinar will continue to slump, the economy will continue to deteriorate, and the risk of a military confrontation between the army loyal to the Islamists and between Haftar’s army will increase, especially in the south, Shunaib explained.
No one is saying the Libyan issue is not astoundingly complex. The UN and the US under Obama had backed the Sukhayrat Agreement, and considered prime minister Sarraj as the only international recognized leader. But at the same time, the Libyan parliament remains internationally recognized as the legitimate legislative authority in the country.
The regional complications are also noteworthy. The UAE, for example, is backing Haftar as a spearhead against radical Islamic expansion in Libya. The UAE has not concealed its fight against extremism in Egypt and elsewhere too, because it sees it as an existential threat. Qatar does not share this view, and has supported Islamists in Tripoli either directly or via Turkey, because it believes Islamist parties have the right to participate in government everywhere.
Egypt sees Libya as an important strategic depth, relies significantly on Libyan oil imports, and has an army of workers across the border. Yet the top priority for Cairo remains the threat of Islamic extremism, which it wants to head off in Libya, but without becoming directly involved militarily and become drawn into the Libyan quagmire. The other important neighbor is Algeria, which has had prolonged differences with Libya over borders and oil. Algeria in turn does not want vacuum and a loophole through which terrorism can slip into its homeland.
Saudi Arabia is leaving the Libyan issue to the UAE and Qatar, proposing itself as a neutral party trying to resolve the Libyan crisis. However, according to the Libyans, the kingdom can play a role to stop the “export of extremist Salafists to North Africa, Libya in particular.” One of them said that there are “very worrying signs in the eastern region, where Islamic extremism has made a comeback through the Salafists, to impose restrictions on civil rights.” One example he cited is how the religious authorities in Barqa have recently imposed a decision on the military governor in the eastern region to prevent women in Libya from leaving the house without a male guardian.
Libya will not become a modern state unless it adopts the constitution of 1969 as the basis of a secular constitution, and rejects the amendments that impose an Islamic state in the constitution. The international community can help fundamentally in this regard. The Obama administration had adopted so-called centrist Islam as acceptable way to introduce religion in the Arab states without opposition from the international community. However, the Trump administration does not share this view, which opens up an opportunity to think of new ways to address the Libyan crisis. The Trump administration does not believe in appeasement, which had marked Obama’s approach to this issue, and prefers the separation of religion and state.
Some have accused the Trump administration of seeking the partition of Libya based on positions made by some advisers but not on the basis of declared policies. Those advisers are talking about a new US policy that takes into account the possibility of adopting federalism in Libya.
Dr. Hani Shunaib said the Sukhayrat agreement could be amended to take into account “historical backgrounds that were not accommodated before,” including the fact that Libya comprises three historical states, Barqa (Cyrenaica), Tripoli, and Fezzan. A decentralized federal system must be seriously considered, with more than three states – five or six – because the centralized system is inconsistent with Libya’s history, he believes.
Shunaib recalled that before 1969 and Gaddafi’s regime, Libya had two capitals, in Benghazi and Tripoli, due to historical differences, and that Gaddafi had “punished the eastern region, completely neglecting Barqa.” Therefore today, “another city should be considered practically, such as Sirte, to be a provisional capital that can be protected.” Such a neutral capital should be one of the important amendments to the Sukhayrat agreement, he believes.
The Libyan figure also called for guaranteeing the sovereignty of institutions, especially the oil corporation and the central bank, with a UN Security Council resolution. He also called for seriously considering the creation of a new army, which could be a federal army. He added: “Haftar must be coopted into political dialogue rather than be excluded, while Islamists should be made to choose something that is in their interest, since they historically comprise the merchant class in Tripoli and Misrata.”
These ideas will no doubt be met with opposition and criticism from some circles, but they are helpful as a basis to revive the Libyan issue in the US and internationally. There is a chance for a Russian-American dialogue that could lead to accord or cooperation in Libya, where the two countries have shared interests that go beyond terrorism, and include economic interests, especially after reports of the discovery of the largest gas basin in North Africa and possibly the Mediterranean in the Gulf of Sirte.
Russia has shown a special interest in Libya, why the US has yet to do the same. But the time has come for Washington to change tack. Indeed, Libya is crucial for the security of North Africa and Europe, and the US and Russia as well, because the ongoing vacuum in Libya will lead to eventual Afghanization and Somalization so close to the European continent. Libya, Dr. Shunaib was keen to recall, is a resource-rich country whose oil has special qualities that make it ideal for petrochemical industries, and therefore has a special value for the US different from its value for Europe.
The Libyan state was born with a UN resolution in 1951 but was never a state in the modern sense. It is time to re-create Libya as a modern state based on a realistic vision based on respecting the constitution and institutions, and not on mutual appeasement. The international community owes it to Libya and stands to gain from helping the Libyans and investing in preventing further power vacuum and collapse.

The Judeo-Christian Community"
Amir George/Gatestone Institute/April 30/17
https://www.gatestoneinstitute.org/10239/judeo-christian-community
"We hear day and night, 'the Muslim community' and 'Muslim-majority nations.'"
"Why, then, cannot we use 'the Judeo-Christian community' or 'Judeo-Christian majority nations'?"
"If we do not look after us, someone else will. But we may not like what comes out."
Seeing Turkey's election this month, in which the Turks used their democratic freedom to vote themselves out of their democratic freedom -- just to throw it out -- should remind us that the Judeo-Christian values which we take for granted are more fragile than we may have thought.
Shortly after the liberation of Iraq in 2003, the only way to get into immediate postwar Baghdad was to get a ride in Amman, Jordan, and take it across the desert to Iraq.
A bulletin board in Jordan's Amman Intercontinental Hotel would list who was going to Baghdad and we all hitched rides with whomever we could get.
So, on a crazy trip, the well-known "Baghdad Dash," three of us crammed into a tiny, not so cool-looking car and made our way across the desert.
Halfway, the engine stopped. In typical Mohammedan fashion, the driver said "Insha' Allah" ("God's will"), got out of the car and walked off.
The Iraqi desert (illustrative). Image source: U.S. Marine Corps/Lance Cpl. James B. Hoke.
My fellow-strandee, a Russian doctor, said he had been going to Iraq to help.
"I was going into Iraq to offer my services," he said.
"You are going to help as well. Our faith is what has called us to assist. The Judeo-Christian nations of the world need to band together to stand up for our freedoms, our nations, the values we care about: free speech, equal justice under law, separation of church and state, freedom of religion, independent judiciary, independent education -- things like that -- our whole humanitarian code of conduct."
I had never heard this thought expressed quite like that.
"We hear day and night, 'the Muslim community' and 'Muslim-majority nations,'" he said.
"Why, then, cannot we use 'the Judeo-Christian community' or 'Judeo-Christian majority nations'? Look at Europe, the Philippines, Israel, Africa, Australia, North and South America...This is our identity. We need to stop seizing on foolish and petty divisions and band together."
We found a satellite telephone and reached someone who rescued us and took us to Baghdad.
As we got of the car and asked if anyone had seen the driver, he said:
"It is time for the Christian world to stand up for our history, values and worldview along with our brothers, the Jewish community -- not only in Israel, but the world over. If we do not look after us, someone else will. But we may not like what comes out."
Amir George, an Assyrian Christian, is the author of "Liberating Iraq: The Story of the Assyrian Christians of Iraq."
© 2017 Gatestone Institute. All rights reserved. The articles printed here do not necessarily reflect the views of the Editors or of Gatestone Institute. No part of the Gatestone website or any of its contents may be reproduced, copied or modified, without the prior written consent of Gatestone Institute.

Ethnic Slaughter in Bangladesh
Arnab Goswami/Gatestone Institute/April 30/17
https://www.gatestoneinstitute.org/10296/bangladesh-ethnic-slaughter
Last year, the police themselves set fire to about 3,000 houses of minority people.
Most recently, the Bangladesh Army killed Romel Chakma, an indigenous student leader. He was only 18 and had one eye. The government forced the media to bury the news.
What is most perplexing is the silence of the international media and so-called humanitarian organisations.
The Bangladesh government at present is carrying out atrocities against religious and ethnic minorities. Some foreign organisations helped me to flee to safety in Germany after nine of my colleagues were hacked to death by extremists.
Unfortunately, all the minorities of the country are not as fortunate. Last year, the police themselves set fire to about 3,000 houses of minority people. Most recently, the Bangladesh Army killed Romel Chakma, an indigenous student leader. He was only 18 and had one eye. The army decided to pour Kerosene over his dead body and set it on fire.
The government forced the media to bury the news. It is different in Bangladesh; nobody cares about minority people anyway.
What is most perplexing is the silence of the international media and so-called humanitarian organisations. Please let the world know about the realities in Bangladesh.
This is an article on the murder. It contains the links to the murder news covered.
I know this will not be a popular news, but it is important news. People need to know it.
*Arnab Goswami is a Bangladeshi blogger in exile in Germany.
© 2017 Gatestone Institute. All rights reserved. The articles printed here do not necessarily reflect the views of the Editors or of Gatestone Institute. No part of the Gatestone website or any of its contents may be reproduced, copied or modified, without the prior written consent of Gatestone Institute.

Europe: What Happens to Christians There Will Come Here
by Giulio Meotti/Gatestone Institute/April 30/17
http://eliasbejjaninews.com/?p=54840
https://www.gatestoneinstitute.org/10230/europe-christians
"Be careful, be very careful. What has happened here will come to you." — An elderly priest in Iraq, to Father Benedict Kiely.
Last year, more than 90,000 people chose to drop out of the Church of Sweden -- almost twice as many as the year before. Meanwhile, in one year, 163,000 migrants, most of them Muslim, entered the country.
"Shouldn't the issue of Middle Eastern Christians wake up European civilization to its core identity? Shouldn't we in Europe and the West be telling ourselves that these attacks are also aimed at us?" — Mathieu Bock-Côté, in Le Figaro.
"I fear we are approaching a situation resembling the tragic fate of Christianity in Northern Africa in Islam's early days", a Lutheran bishop, Jobst Schoene, warned a few years ago.
In ancient times, Algeria and Tunisia, entirely Christian, gave us great thinkers such as Tertullian and Augustine. Two centuries later, Christianity has disappeared, replaced by Arab-Islamic civilization.
Is Europe now meeting the same fate?
In the Middle East, "Christianity is over in Iraq" due to Islamic extremism; in Europe, Christianity is committing suicide.
Within 20 years, more babies will be born to Muslim women than to Christian women world-wide; it is just the latest sign of the rapid growth that seems to be making Islam the world's largest religion by the end of the century, according to a new study released by the Pew Research Center.
"Christianity is literally dying in Europe," said Conrad Hackett, the head of the researchers who worked on the Pew report.
According to it, between 2010 and 2015, the Muslim population increased by more than 150 million people to 1.8 billion.
In Europe, how many Christians have been "lost"? Between 2010 and 2015, "deaths outnumbered births by nearly 6 million during this brief period".
At this pace, Christianity will vanish in Europe.
In the same time frame, in most European countries -- including Britain, Germany, Italy and Russia -- Christian deaths outnumbered Christian births. "In Germany alone, for example, there were an estimated 1.4 million more Christian deaths than births between 2010 and 2015, a pattern that is expected to continue across much of Europe in the decades ahead", Pew discovered. There are clear patterns of demographic trends, church attendance, closures of parishes and the declining number of priests.
These patterns are why Islamic leaders, such as Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdogan, have been waging a demographic war against Europe. "Have not just three but five children", Erdogan said to Muslims in the old continent. "You are the future of Europe". This plan is called, in Islam, hijrah: expanding Islam by migration, based on Mohammad's flight from Mecca to Medina in 622.
Christianity in Northern Europe has already been weakened by atheism, a trend possibly accelerated by modern gains in science and medicine. The American sociologist Phil Zuckerman, after spending more than a year in Scandinavia, published a book, Society Without God. Recently, after a nationwide advertising campaign by the Atheist Society thousands of people left the Church of Denmark. Norway's state church lost more than 25,000 members in a month. Last year, more than 90,000 people chose to drop out of the Church of Sweden -- almost twice as many as the year before. Meanwhile, in one year, 163,000 migrants, most of them Muslim, entered the country.
Christianity is also collapsing in the UK. Across Greater Manchester, 20 churches will soon close. According to some reports, Anglicanism will disappear from Britain by 2033. The Catholic Church's Archdiocese of St Andrews and Edinburgh is planning to cut the number of parishes from more than 100 to 30. The Archdiocese of Glasgow, by far the country's largest, will soon -- within two decades -- have only 45 priests and probably shut down half its parishes. Imagine, a huge Catholic community will close half its churches.
The Catholic Archdiocese of St Andrews and Edinburgh, headed by Archbishop Leo Cushley (right), is planning to cut the number of parishes from more than 100 to 30. (Image source: Lawrence OP/Flickr)
Catholics in the Netherlands are also embracing a "future without churches". Cardinal Willem Eijk, Archbishop of Utrecht, announced that by 2025 about a thousand Catholic parishes would close. "We predict that a third of Catholic churches will be closed by 2020 and two-thirds by 2025", he said.
Most churches in Brussels will be also closed-- 108 of them. Vienna Archdiocese in Austria will also liquidate most of its parishes -- 660 of them -- in the next 10 years. Instead, the Archdiocese will merge them into 150 larger parishes.
One finds similar numbers everywhere in Europe, from Catholic Spain to the Protestant United Kingdom.
Father Benedict Kiely, a Catholic priest who founded nasarean.org, which helps persecuted Christians in the Middle East, recently met some Christians persecuted by ISIS in Iraq. As he left the country, another elderly priest, himself a refugee, gripped Kiely's hand and told him in Arabic: "Be careful, be very careful. What has happened here will come to you".
As the attacks against two Coptic Christian churches in Egypt on Palm Sunday reminds us, the war of extermination being waged against Christians in the Middle East is very real indeed.
Canadian philosopher Mathieu Bock-Côté writes in Le Figaro:
"The Western world has long gotten used to the persecution of Christians in the Middle East, as if their bad lot is inevitable and has to simply be accepted. Shouldn't the issue of Middle Eastern Christians wake up European civilization to its core identity? Shouldn't we in Europe and the West be telling ourselves that these attacks are also aimed at us?"
Europe has, for some time, been experiencing this war against Christianity on its own soil: the terror attack at a French church in Normandy, in which Islamic extremists murdered a priest before the altar; the terror plot against the Cathedral of Notre Dame; the threat by ISIS to turn Saint Peter's Cathedral into a mosque; the deadly terror attack at a Christmas market in Berlin, to name just a few of them.
"The mother tongue of Europe is Christianity", said the great German writer Johann Wolfgang von Goethe -- not a Pope. Maybe that language will again be strong in the future. Maybe priests will keep Christianity alive in London, Brussels and Paris. Maybe. But that is not what happened in North Africa.
By now, Goethe's "mother tongue" has, in Europe, been reduced to a barely-discernible whisper. Instead, one can hear, instead, the "Islamic tongue" getting stronger every year.
*Giulio Meotti, Cultural Editor for Il Foglio, is an Italian journalist and author.
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Trump’s Doctrine is ‘military-backed diplomacy’
Pierre Ghanem/Asharq Al Awsat/April 30/17
US President Donald Trump has been in the White House for 100 days and has made a huge achievement by adopting a clearly defined foreign and security policy based on “military-backed diplomacy”. Perhaps the best expression of this doctrine is the words by some officers in the US military leadership to their friends: “If we had to shoot down two Russian planes over Syria, we have to do it”.
There are many aspects to Trump's doctrine, including sending an American fleet to Korea to counter Pyongyang's missiles in every direction, as well as the bombing of the Syrian regime’s Shayrat Airfield and then discussing the consequent solutions with Moscow.
Team accomplishment
The achievement of the “political doctrine” goes back to a sequence of important incidents. The United States president entered the White House with a group of key aides and when the National Security Council was formed under General Michael T. Flynn, Trump ruled out senior officers and intelligence chiefs and appointed Steve Bannon as his political adviser.
Several weeks later, General Flynn would resign and Trump would appoint another national security adviser, General McMaster, who reorganized the National Security Council, reinstated the intelligence chiefs and the Joint Chiefs of Staff and “expelled” his political adviser.
When the Syrian regime attacked Kha Shaykhoun with sarin gas, the new team was already in place. The US president came to the decision to bomb the Shayrat Airfield with Tomahawk missiles.
When North Korea fired its missiles, Trump decided to send one of America’s own fleet to South Korea. The US declared that all options were on the table, including sending Terminal High Altitude Area Defense (THAAD) anti-missile systems to protect South Korea and Japan.
All this is because of the team in place, which mainly consists of the National Security Adviser General McMaster, Secretary of Defense James Mattis, Secretary of State Rex Tillerson and intelligence chiefs, CIA Director Mike Pompeo and National Intelligence Director Dan Coates.
This team was highly professional which prompted some of the Republican members in the Congress to say, “Now we can rest assured!”. The Congress members were skeptical about Trump's ability to understand and manage national security, but now realize that he is surrounded by a rational group that adopts his “military-backed diplomacy” doctrine.
Hostile Russia
Trump during the campaign, and even the first few weeks of his presidency, seemed to favor Russia which irritated many inside Congress, especially the heads of the armed and foreign forces committees. Senator John McCain considered Russia's actions hostile and said that the Russian president “believes that reaching his goal of restoring Russia as a superpower means weakening US power”.
During his short time in the White House, Trump discovered that Russia and its president, Vladimir Putin, were not the friends he initially envisioned, but that Russia was a threat to US power and interests.
But the truth is that the new president understands the Russian threat and decided to face it through NATO. Trump now considers that NATO’s weakness was not because of the alliance that existed since 1949, but because of the weakness of the US leadership under former President Barack Obama. He insists to revive it under his own leadership.
During a press conference with NATO’s secretary-general, Trump retracted saying that “NATO is outdated” and said the argument was not serious because of the way in which Trump announced the adoption of his new policy when he announced: “I said that it was outdated but it is not anymore”.
But the truth is that the new president understands the Russian threat and decided to face it through NATO. Trump now considers that NATO's weakness was not because of the alliance that existed since 1949, but because of the weakness of the US leadership under former President Barack Obama. He insists to revive it under his own leadership.
The US National Security Council now considers it necessary to improve NATO's military capabilities to counter Russia. Trump’s request for an increase in the Pentagon's military budget comes as part of this escalation. Senior officers even say that “if the United States had to make some difficult or bad choices, so be it”.
This American expression reflects a “revenge” on the American military elite of the Obama administration and now that they consider that Russia poses a distinct threat as it has vast land control and can influence all its neighbors from Japan to China, Mongolia to Central Asia, and to the Middle East and Western Europe. There is no country in the world that resembles Russia in its alignment with other countries. Russia has military capabilities and has millions of its citizens living outside its territory and it wants to use them to expand its network of influence.
There is a saying echoed by members of the US National Security Council, that Russia has studied the United States and now wants to defeat it. “Every time the Americans leave the room; Russia intervenes”.
But the National Security Council under General McMaster considers the Russian leadership a false one that must be confronted.
Iran confrontation
Iran must be confronted. The new National Security Council and Trump are placing the Iranian threat within the strategic threat posed by Russia.
The Americans see Iran's actions and goals as similar to those of Russia’s. Both Tehran and Moscow want to replace US influence. In addition, the Americans see Iran as a “potential for Russia”. It is difficult for Russia to keep Bashar al-Assad without Iran. Iran can help Russia gain wider influence in Iraq at the expense of the Americans.
Since his campaign, the US president has decided to confront the Iranian influence, and now this confrontation has become clearer. The Trump Doctrine does not want to change the Iranian regime. It wants the Iranians to mind their own business and stop interfering in the affairs of the neighboring countries and particularly, they want to prevent Iran from repeating Hezbollah-style interference in Iraq and Yemen.
The United States is now conducting a comprehensive review of Iran’s policy, including the Iranian nuclear deal. It is necessary to see that the US president still considers the Iranian agreement as a bad one. But the main problem in the agreement is that Iran has taken advantage of the removal of sanctions to receive funds, and used the money to continue its interference in the affairs of its neighbors and to fund the organizations that Washington has placed on the terrorist list, such as the Hezbollah.
Syria and Iraq
The third axis in Trump's foreign policy is North Korea. The ‘rogue state’ resembles Russia and Iran. Whenever it fires a missile, it threatens its neighbors. It also threatens to launch nuclear-tipped intercontinental missile capable of reaching the United States.
The policy of the US President and the National Security Council in Syria and Iraq is governed by strategic boundaries, and the Americans want to address the problems of Syria and Iraq as well those of Iran and Russia.
It is clear that the American president was deeply affected by the scenes of the children killed in Khan Chikhon, and he completely reversed his situation towards Bashar al-Assad because he repeatedly attacked his people with chemical weapons.
Trump and his team are opposed to Assad remaining in power and are now convinced that his continuation at the helm would mean the continuation of the Syrian crisis.
US is intensely opposed to Assad’s presence because they are convinced that all the efforts to defeat ISIS would go in vain if Assad remained and the Iraqis did not reach political consensus.
The Americans have drawn up a three-phase plan to solve the problems of Syria and Iraq: firstly to eliminate terrorism, then to establish neutral zones like Manbaj, and third to reach a comprehensive solution.
There is now a conviction among the Americans that the mistake of leaving Iraq in 2011 cannot and should not be repeated. Their departure, in the absence of solid government institutions and national consensus in Iraq, paved the way for extremism and political oppression.

Jordan abolishes rape law, it must follow suit with honor killing law
Yara al-Wazir/Asharq Al Awsat/April 30/17
Earlier this week, Jordan’s cabinet finally moved to abolish a law that exempts rapists from prosecution if they marry their victims. The proposal was endorsed by King Abdullah and is a result of years of campaigning by women’s rights groups. Although the proposal must now be debated in parliament before the article is abolished, a process that can take months, it is a major step forward for Jordan and is setting the precedent for the region.
Jordan has truly pioneered in the region by setting the standard in abolishing this rape law. Similar articles exist in the law in Algeria, Iraq, Kuwait, Lebanon, Libya, Palestine and Syria. While the root of the law stems from colonial rule by the French, which saw French law adopted, the article is outdated. Some argue that marrying the rapist actually protects women form possible honor killings that their families may undertake if the law didn’t exist. There is nothing that rips honor straight out of a woman than marrying her rapist.
Two further steps are needed for this law to be effective
Abolishing the law is only the first step in reform and protecting women’s right to exist. There are two major steps that must follow suit. The first step comes through abolishing the exemption clauses that give lenient sentences to murders in the cases of honor killings. The second step that must follow suit is reforming society and public opinion and perception of victims of rape.
Article 340 of Jordan’s Penal Code reduces the penalty if a man kills or attacks a female relative if she commits adultery. This is a further extension under article 98 of the penal code, which reduces the penalty for murder if the killer is in a “state of great fury”. These two articles are prime examples of abominations to women’s rights. Further to the vilification that women receive from society for adultery, the law is fundamentally designed with loopholes that would allow their partners and family to literally get away with murder.
The region’s obsession with “honor” is outdated and easily misconstrued. There is honor and pride in a woman achieving her dreams, purchasing her first home, and seeking education – the honor of a woman is not a currency, and is most definitely not a function of her ‘purity’ or ‘virginity’, at least it shouldn’t be in this day and age. If society continues to value a woman by her virginity, then society needs a major reality and priority check.
The region’s obsession with “honor” is outdated and easily misconstrued. There is honor and pride in a woman achieving her dreams, purchasing her first home, and seeking education – the honor of a woman is not a currency, and is most definitely not a function of her ‘purity’ or ‘virginity’, at least it shouldn’t be in this day and age. If society continues to value a woman by her virginity, then society needs a major reality and priority check.
According to Human Rights Watch, 2016 saw a 53 per cent increase in the rates of honor killings. Addressing Article 340 and 98 in conjunction with Article 308 (which addresses this rape law) is key to creating a safe environment for women.
No precedent for rape or honor killing under Islamic Law
Fundamentally, a killing is a killing. The Quran quotes a monumental verse ‘if anyone killed a person not in retaliation or murder… it would be as if he killed all of mankind”– the same is true for honor killings: murder is murder, regardless of the context. Honor killings must be treated for what they are: murder.
From an Islamic Law perspective, there is no Islamic-legal precedent to forgive a man if he marries his victim; cases of sexual assault during the life of the Prophet lead to the punishment of the man, with no mention of an exception being made if the rapist marries his victim.
Jordan has taken the first major step in protecting the rights of women to exist and live freely; this step must be heavily encouraged so that other countries follow-suit. Jordan must now continue this great plight and work to abolish outdated clauses that protect murders. Given enough time, this will inevitably lead to societal reform and allow women to regain control of their lives and ensure they have the right to live and love as they wish.