LCCC
ENGLISH DAILY NEWS BULLETIN
April 25/2018
Compiled & Prepared by: Elias
Bejjani
The Bulletin's Link on the
lccc Site
http://data.eliasbejjaninews.com/newselias18/english.april25.18.htm
News Bulletin Achieves Since
2006
Click Here to enter the LCCC Arabic/English news bulletins Achieves since 2006
Bible
Quotations
What, then, shall we say in response to these things? If God is for us, who
can be against us?
Romans 08/31-39/"What, then, shall we say in response to these things? If
God is for us, who can be against us? He who did not spare his own Son, but
gave him up for us all—how will he not also, along with him, graciously give
us all things? Who will bring any charge against those whom God has chosen?
It is God who justifies. Who then is the one who condemns? No one. Christ
Jesus who died—more than that, who was raised to life—is at the right hand
of God and is also interceding for us. Who shall separate us from the love
of Christ? Shall trouble or hardship or persecution or famine or nakedness
or danger or sword? As it is written : “For your sake we face death all day
long; we are considered as sheep to be slaughtered.” No, in all these things
we are more than conquerors through him who loved us. For I am convinced
that neither death nor life, neither angels nor demons, neither the present
nor the future, nor any powers, neither height nor depth, nor anything else
in all creation, will be able to separate us from the love of God that is in
Christ Jesus our Lord."
Titles For
Latest LCCC Bulletin analysis & editorials from miscellaneous sources
published on April 24-25/18
Germany: Migrant Crisis Delusions/Vijeta Uniyal/Gatestone Institute./April
24, 2018
Spain: Jihad Continues/Soeren Kern/Gatestone Institute./April 24, 2018
Should Robert Mueller Be Investigated for Violating Civil Liberties/Alan M.
Dershowitz/Gatestone Institute./April 24, 2018
What do we know about Alek Minassian, arrested after Toronto van attack/The
Telegraph Rob Crilly,The Telegraph/April 24/18
Lieberman: If Syrians use Russian missiles against us, we'll strike
back/Alexandra Lukash, Nir Cohen|/Ynetnews/April 24/18
Senior military official says Revolutionary Guards will not stay within
Iran’s borders/Masoud Al Zahid/Al Arabiya.net/April 24/18
The unhidden agenda of Turkey and Iran in the region/Abdullah bin Bijad Al-Otaibi/Al
Arabiya/April 24/18
Iranian ‘toman’ currently falls against the dollar/Mohammed Al Shaikh/Al
Arabiya/April 24/18
Titles For Latest LCCC Lebanese Related News published on
April 24-25/18
Al-Amine: Hezbollah to 'Appoint' Lawmakers in 'Democratic' Polls
Lebanon: Elections Watchdog Will Audit Candidates’ Accounts
Lawmakers seek to overturn residency law for property investors
Gemayel: We are People's Servants, Neutrality Achieves Economic Growth
Aoun Urges Reevaluation of Article 49, Gemayel Appeals Before Constitutional
Council
ISF Arrest Islamic State Militant in North Lebanon
Berri Says Hizbullah-AMAL Alliance Targeted by Local, Foreign 'Sectarians'
Hizbullah Member Killed in Blast inside His Home
Tensions flare up before Lebanon legislative election
Report: Hariri to Brussels for Aid Conference
Syria Security Chief Refuses to Appear in Lebanon's Military Court
IMF Projects Lebanon's Economic Growth up Until 2023
Hariri Arrives in Brussels to Attend Syria Aid Conference
Lebanon Accused of 'Evicting' Syrian Refugees as It Seeks Aid Abroad
Titles For Latest
LCCC Bulletin For Miscellaneous Reports And News published on
April 24-25/18
Hosting Macron, Trump
Calls Iran Deal 'Insane, Terrible, Ridiculous'
As Trump and Macron meet, Iran’s Rouhani warns on nuke deal
Hosting France’s Macron, Trump calls Iran nuclear deal ‘a disaster’
Israel to destroy Russian S-300 air defense system in Syria if attacked
U.N. Aid Chief Says $8 Billion Needed for Syria
Toronto Van Driver Charged with 10 Counts of Premeditated Murder
10 Killed after Van Plows through Pedestrians in Toronto
U.N. Envoy Warns Syria's Idlib is 'Big New Challenge'
At Mass Grave in Raqa, Bodies and Bad Memories Resurface
EU, UN Seeks Aid Boost for Syria at Major Conference
G7 ministerial meeting: Building a more peaceful and secure world
More than 800 US Figures, Including Kushner, Ivanka, to Attend Embassy
Opening in Jerusalem
ISIS Beheads Three Brothers in Afghanistan
Former President George H.W. Bush Hospitalized for Blood Infection
Trump Praises Kim Jong Un as 'Very Open, Very Honorable'
Latest
Lebanese Related News published on
April 24-25/18
Al-Amine: Hezbollah to
'Appoint' Lawmakers in 'Democratic' Polls
Kataeb.org/ Tuesday 24th April 2018/Journalist Ali Al-Amine, who is running
for the Shitte seat in Bint Jbeil, said that Prime Minister Saad Hariri was
the only official who contacted him following the attack that targeted him
on Sunday, voicing regret that neither the Syndicate of Journalists nor the
Press Federation has issued a condemnation statement so far. Al-Amine was
attacked by around 40 men while helping members of his electoral campaign
hang posters and banners in the southern town of Chakra. Speaking to the
Kataeb website, Al-Amine deplored the fact that Lebanon is being ruled by
"thugs", saying that the state has become totally passive. "We are
struggling so as to prevent the Hezbollah militia from further undermining
the state," he said, expressing utter indignation that Lebanon is now in the
grip of Hezbollah. "They consider the South to be their turf. It is as if we
are not allowed to run for parliamentary elections against them or to have
any stance that is goes against theirs," he stressed. "We assure them that
we will not surrender and we will continue to confront them by exposing
their schemes and harmful behavior to Lebanon."Al-Amine warned that
Hezbollah's militia-style practices will lead Lebanon to collapse, adding
what happened to him proves that the polls on May 6 will not be transparent.
“Hezbollah will appoint lawmakers using its arms, while making the elections
look democratic," he said.
Lebanon: Elections
Watchdog Will Audit Candidates’ Accounts
Beirut- Asharq Al Awsat/Tuesday, 24 April, 2018/The head of the Elections
Supervisory Commission, Judge Nadim Abdel Malek, said that the commission
would establish contracts with auditors to follow up the electoral spending
and audit the monthly accounts of candidates, to find out they exceeded the
electoral ceiling. “We had some simple obstacles and we are addressing
them,” he said. “There are no longer any serious obstacles hindering the
proper work of the commission.” Candidates, who exceed the expenditure
ceiling, will have their candidacies rescinded, according to the official.
In a news conference on Monday, Abdel Malek noted that the commission’s
budget had been approved following complains that failure to allocate the
necessary funds had hampered their ability to do their job. Last week, a
member of the commission, Sylvana Lakkis, submitted her resignation, due to
the body’s “inability” to carry out its responsibilities. Addressing
reporters at the news conference, Abdel Malek said: “We are still trying to
overcome some difficulties that Lakkis mentioned, but it won’t force us to
resign.” He noted in this regard that the commission was surprised at Lakkis’
decision and that following consultations with Interior Minister Nouhad
Machnouk, he contacted the resigned member asking her to go back on her
decision. “There is no return from my resignation,” Lakkis responded in a
statement following the news conference. She thanked Abdel Malek and wished
the committee luck. Abdel Malek said that the commission would soon contact
auditors to begin assessing candidates’ campaign spending.
Lawmakers seek to overturn residency law for
property investors
MP Sami Gemayel filed a motion with Lebanon's constitutional council in an
attempt to overturn Article 49 of the 2018 state budget after securing the
signatures of 10 other MPs.
Georgi Azar/Annahar/April
24/2018/BEIRUT: Kataeb leader and MP Sami Gemayel spearheaded a campaign
Tuesday to overturn a law that grants foreigners residency status through
the purchase of real estate property.
Gemayel filed a motion with Lebanon's Constitutional Council in an attempt
to overturn Article 49 of the 2018 state budget after securing the
signatures of 10 other MPs. The 2018 state budget was ratified by Parliament
last month following two expedited sessions, as pressure mounted on
lawmakers ahead of the 'Cedre' donor conference in Paris which was held on
April 6. A budget was seen as a prerequisite for Lebanese officials vying to
secure a wide array of pledges and loans to shore up the country's ailing
infrastructure and declining economy. The article in question stipulates
that any foreigner purchasing a property worth a least USD 300,000 would
receive a residency along with his family. The residency would remain valid
as long as he or she retains ownership of the property. The article has
stirred controversy as opponents of the bill have argued that it would open
the gate for collective nationalization of Syrian refugees, while some have
voiced concerns in regards to the near 300,000 Palestinians residing in
Lebanon. Palestinians, however, are barred from acquiring land or property
after the Lebanese government passed law 296 in 2001, adjusting the rules on
foreign ownership of property. The law does not specifically mention
Palestinians, but it prohibits “any person who is not a national of a
recognized state… acquiring real estate property of any kind”. In a
statement released after submitting the motion, Gemayel expressed hope "in
the Constitutional Council overturning this law and prevent such laws from
coming into effect in the future." The motion was signed by Gemayel, Samer
Saadeh, Elie Marouni, Fadi Haber, Nadim Gemayel, Serge Torserikisan, Gilbert
Zwein, Joseph Khalil, Dory Chamoun and Elie Aoun. In the wake of the appeal,
President Michel Aoun asked Speaker Nabih Berri to withhold reading his
letter asking MPs to reconsider the law at the next Parliamentary session
until the Constitutional Council issues its ruling. The President delivering
a letter is one of the constitutional powers granted to him in order to try
and overturn a law that he opposes; MPs would listen to the letter, read out
by the Speaker, but are not required to heed to the request. Lebanon's
Constitutional Council is a 10-member committee established under Article 19
of the Lebanese Constitution to review the constitutionality of laws and to
adjudicate any challenges on presidential and parliamentary election
results. Five of the ten members are appointed by parliament and the other
five by select members of the Cabinet.
Gemayel: We are
People's Servants, Neutrality Achieves Economic Growth
Naharnet/April 24/18/Kataeb Party chief MP Sami Gemayel on Tuesday described
his party's lawmakers as “the servants of the Lebanese people,” as he
pointed out that Lebanon's “neutrality” in the region would lead to
“economic growth” in the country. “We are in Lebanon's service and we are
the servants of the Lebanese people and we are not ashamed of this,” Gemayel
said during a ceremony for the signing of a book about his parliamentary
career, titled “My Parliamentary Struggle”. “We are offering a new approach
in political conduct that is based on accountability, inspection,
performance evaluation and commitment to a platform. We rejected the de
facto situation and withdrew from the government to work for real change,”
Gemayel added. “We are betting on people and on free citizens who have
placed their confidence in us... We have put our future and the future of
the country in the hands of the people and the ball is in their country.
They must decide what future they want for Lebanon,” the young leader went
on to say. Commenting on Lebanon's chronic power supply problem, Gemayel
described the prolongation of the crisis as “laughable yet lamentable.”“The
solution that we have proposed is not fictional and it is being applied in
all countries. It is based on partnership between the public and private
sectors,” Gemayel said. Turning to the issue of Lebanon's approach towards
regional conflicts, the Kataeb leader added: “We have suggested a
constitutional proposal for Lebanon to endorse an internationally-recognized
permanent neutrality in order to liberate ourselves from conflicts.”He said
Lebanon's neutrality would “secure stability, draw investments and achieve
economic growth.”“Our concern is provide job opportunities,” Gemayel added.
He noted that it would be easy to achieve growth in Lebanon because it has a
“small economy that only requires small steps.” “But what is needed is a
will,” Gemayel added. He also stressed that “there can be no democratic life
without accountability, a plan and vigilant citizens.”
“Our struggle is for the sake of people from all sects who abide by the law
and general ethics,” Gemayel added.
Aoun Urges Reevaluation of Article 49, Gemayel
Appeals Before Constitutional Council
President Michel Aoun has asked the Parliament to reevaluate a state budget
article which stipulates granting residence permits to every Arab or foreign
who buys a housing unit in Lebanon, the National News Agency reported on
Tuesday. NNA said Aoun has sent a letter to Parliament, through its Speaker
Nabih Berri, urging “reconsideration of Article 49 of the state budget
regarding residence permits for each Arab or foreigner who buys an apartment
in Lebanon.” Several political parties have warned over the Article urging
its revocation. Aoun’s move came after the Kataeb party chief, MP Sami
Gemayel, lodged an appeal Tuesday before the Constitutional Council to
challenge the 2018 state budget law and its controversial Article 49.
The motion bears the signature of nine other lawmakers. They are: Nadim
Gemayel, Samer Saade, Elie Marouni, Fadi Habr, Serge Tor Sarkissian,
Gilberte Zouein, Joseph Khalil, Dori Chamoun, and Elie Aoun.
"The goal behind the appeal is to stop a mistake that has been made and to
put the country's finances back on track," the Kataeb leader said to
reporters.
"The Constitutional Council is now before a chance to restore public
financial order and to restore to the Parliament its role of monitor," he
added.
Article 49 of the budget allows foreigners buying property in Lebanon to be
granted temporary residency.
ISF Arrest Islamic State Militant in North
Lebanon
Naharnet/April 24/18/The Internal Security Forces announced in a statement
on Tuesday the arrest of an Islamic State group militant in the northern
town of Zgharta, who admitted to having infiltrated Lebanon early in April.
The ISF statement said: “As part of a preventive security strategy adopted
by the ISF Intelligence Division in order to focus on the infiltration of
cadres and militants from terrorist organizations from Syria to Lebanon, the
division was able to identify and arrest an IS military and field officer,
shortly after he entered Lebanon." It added that the arrest was made “before
the suspect was able to carry out any actual activity or any kind of
communication with IS cadres,” identifying him by his initials as M.Kh,
Syrian. During interrogation, the suspect confessed that he belongs to the
IS military cadres, and has illegally entered Lebanese territories, coming
from Syria, early in April. He said he took military training courses, and
has participated in several battles as a military and field commander,
mainly in attacks at the Syrian city of Palmyra. He appeared in a video
footage filmed by the IS after the city fell under the IS control, he said.
He said he came to Lebanon with the purpose of “staying out of sight” after
the Islamic State's defeat, awaiting any future orders from his superiors.
He was referred to the related authorities.
Berri Says Hizbullah-AMAL Alliance Targeted by
Local, Foreign 'Sectarians'
Naharnet/April 24/18/Parliament Speaker Nabih Berri on Tuesday announced
that the Hizbullah-AMAL Movement alliance is being targeted by “sectarians
inside and outside Lebanon.”“We pride ourselves and we are not ashamed of
what some call a 'Shiite duo', which is in fact a patriotic duo. It
represents the only remaining immunity to protect Lebanon, alongside the
army-people-resistance equation,” Berri said during a Msayleh meeting with a
delegation from the southern town of Kfar Dunin. “We would have been ashamed
of any duo had it been against national unity, Lebanon's Arab identity and
its pan-Arab causes, topped by the Palestine cause,” Berri added. “As long
as this alliance is a patriotic confessional alliance, it's normal and
expected for it to be a permanent target for the attacks of sectarians
inside and outside Lebanon,” the Speaker went on to say, noting that “the
Israeli enemy is also annoyed and concerned over this alliance.”Berri added:
“As long as the enemy is this concerned and annoyed, we will work on
reinforcing and strengthening this alliance and let them be annoyed and
concerned.”The Speaker's remarks come eleven days ahead of the May 6
parliamentary elections in which Hizbullah and AMAL will be allied across
all districts.
Hizbullah Member Killed in Blast inside His Home
Naharnet/April 24/18/A Hizbullah member was killed on Tuesday in a blast
inside his home in the Sidon neighborhood of Haret Saida. A terse Hizbullah
statement only said that the militant, Bilal Ahmed Hassan, was killed in "an
explosion inside his house." A Lebanese Army expert said the blast was
caused by a rocket-propelled grenade, according to the National News Agency.
Hassan was taken to the Labib Medical Center in Sidon for treatment but
shortly died after. Quoting Hizbullah sources, LBCI TV said the man was
killed in "a house accident."On the other hand, security sources described
the incident as “mysterious,” saying: “Bilal Hassan has died as a result of
a mysterious explosion in Haret Sidon. He is a member of
Hizbullah.”Officials from the Internal Security Forces told The Associated
Press that Hizbullah members inspected Hassan's house after the blast and
were later followed by policemen who opened an investigation in the case.
Tensions flare up before Lebanon legislative election
Arab News/April 24, 2018/BEIRUT: Incidents of
political violence including an assault on one candidate and an attack on
the office of another are casting a shadow over Lebanon's first general
election in nine years.
The May 6 vote will take place using a complicated new electoral law. It is
not expected to cause major changes to the government or its policies.
Analysts expect Prime Minister Saad al-Hariri will head the next cabinet.
But the law has made the outcome less predictable in some places. This has
sharpened local rivalries and is encouraging parties to campaign extra hard.
"The threats to candidates, men and women, are escalating. We expect more of
them as we approach the election, and we expect an increase in violence,"
said Omar Kabboul, the executive director of the Lebanese Association for
Democratic Elections (LADE), a group of independent electoral observers.
"The outcome of the elections is uncertain. The more uncertain the outcome,
the more fear there is within the parties and the bigger the agitation in
speeches."Some 28 years after Lebanon's civil war, nobody expects any major
strife, but the country has been plagued by repeated bouts of political
instability that have weighed on its economy. The Lebanese system divides up
power according to strict sectarian quotas, with parliament's 128 seats
split evenly between Christian and Muslim groups. The flare-ups reported so
far have pitted rivals from the same sect against each other. The army
intervened on Sunday night to break up a confrontation between supporters of
rival Druze parties south of Beirut in which guns were fired in the air, a
security source said. The standoff spiralled from a row over electoral
posters. Also on Sunday, an independent Shi'ite candidate said Hezbollah
supporters beat him up in their southern Lebanon stronghold, where he is
standing against the two dominant Shi'ite parties Hezbollah and Amal. Ali
al-Amin said a group of more than 30 Hezbollah supporters accosted him while
he was hanging an election poster in his home village of Shaqra in Bint
Jbeil district. "I accuse... a political side, which is Hezbollah, of
arranging this incident and I hold it mainly responsible," he said, adding
that the group "could not tolerate the presence of one photo or poster of a
candidate who is against them". Ali Saleh, the pro-Hezbollah head of the
local council, said it was an "individual incident" that was now in the
hands of the judiciary and security forces. "Ali al-Amine is a candidate ...
and every candidate has the right to practice his media campaign and his
electoral campaign," he said.
CONFRONTATION
The heavily armed, Iran-backed Hezbollah, which gained legitimacy among many
Shi'ites by fighting Israeli forces that occupied the south until 2000, has
taken part in Lebanese elections since the early 1990s, enjoying an
effective duopoly of the Shi'ite vote with Amal. The parliamentary election
has been postponed three times, chiefly because Lebanon's fractious
politicians could not agree on the new election law that was demanded by
Christian parties. It has redrawn constituency boundaries and introduced a
new proportional representation system that experts say has been engineered
to suit the dominant political players but has still left a good deal of
uncertainty at the local level.
Report: Hariri to Brussels for Aid Conference
Agence France Presse/Naharnet/April 24/18/Prime Minister Saad Hariri will
travel Tuesday for a two-day conference in Brussels on Supporting the Future
of Syria and the Region, and to rally support for countries hosting Syrian
refugees, An Nahar daily reported. Lebanon is counting on this conference
for financial, logistical and material assistance in order to enable it to
continue to bear the huge burden of the displaced Syrians, said the daily. A
ministerial delegation traveled a day earlier to Brussels and is comprised
of: Education Minister Marwan Hamadeh, Social Affairs Minister Pierre Bou
Assi, State Minister for Displaced Affairs Moein Merhebi, and
Director-General of the Ministry of Education Fadi Yark. The delegation will
hold meetings with government ministers and highlight the situation of
displaced people in countries neighboring Syria, seeking to increase
international contributions to support the displaced and host countries in
light of increasing needs of Syrian refugees in Lebanon. The EU and UN on
Tuesday begin a two-day conference to drum up fresh aid pledges for wartorn
Syria and reinvigorate the faltering Geneva peace process as the conflict
enters its eighth year. Donor countries, aid organisations and UN agencies
will gather in Brussels for the seventh annual conference on Syria's future
as international inspectors probe a suspected gas attack in the town of
Douma, highlighting the brutal nature of the war. EU officials hope to beat
the $6 billion (5.6 billion euros) pledged at last year's gathering, as a
fierce offensive launched by President Bashar al-Assad, backed by key ally
Russia, intensifies the crisis.
Syria Security Chief Refuses to Appear in
Lebanon's Military Court
Agence France Presse/Naharnet/April 24/18/Syrian security services chief Ali
Mamluk has refused to appear before a military tribunal in Lebanon to face
terror-related charges, a court source told the AFP news agency Monday.
Mamluk, a member of President Bashar al-Assad's inner circle, was accused in
2013 by Lebanon's government of "attempting to murder politicians and other
citizens, and carrying out terrorist acts."The charge is linked to a case
that saw Lebanon's former information minister Michel Samaha sentenced to 13
years in prison after he was caught transporting explosives from Syria for
use in attacks in Lebanon. Samaha admitted early on in his trial that he was
plotting the attacks with Mamluk's help. Since 2013, Lebanon has had an
arrest warrant out for Mamluk, 72, and has been serving subpoenas to Syria
in his name, but it was unclear if he was receiving them. Monday's hearing
marked a rare acknowledgment of an attempted delivery. "During a hearing by
the military court on Monday, the subpoena returned (from Damascus) without
the accused's signature," the source told AFP. "But it included a note
saying the accused would only agree to appear in court in front of a
commission made up entirely of major generals," said the court source,
speaking on condition of anonymity. Without Mamluk's signature, the subpoena
could not be considered successfully delivered by the court, which set a new
hearing for October 29. Mamluk has rarely traveled outside of Syria -- or
even appeared publicly -- since the conflict in his country erupted in March
2011. He was appointed as the head of national security in 2012 after a
major explosion in Damascus killed four top security officials. Another
legal source told AFP it would be impossible to honor Mamluk's request to
appear before a special military court. "It would require a special law, and
there aren't seven major generals in Lebanon. Only the heads of security
agencies have that title," the source said.
IMF Projects Lebanon's Economic Growth up Until
2023
IMF and Credit Libanais Economic Research Unit/April
24/18/The
International Monetary Fund's (IMF) economic growth estimates for Lebanon
were downwardly revised to 1.2% for the year 2017 (down from an estimated
1.5% in its October 2017 report) and 1.5% for 2018 (down from 2.0%), with
said growth expected to reach 1.8% in 2019 and 2.8% in 2023. The IMF report,
published in the latest Credit Libanais Market Watch, predicted that Lebanon
will witness a worsening of the current account deficit in the coming period
of 25.0% of GDP in the year (compared with 18.0% in the October version of
the report) to 25.8% in 2018 (compared with 16.8%), falling back to 25.2% in
2019 and 23.4% in 2023. In terms of price inflation, the report estimated
the average growth rate of the consumer price index in Lebanon at 4.5% in
2017, 4.3% in 2018 and 4.0% in 2019.
Hariri Arrives in Brussels to Attend Syria Aid
Conference
Naharnet/April 24/18/Prime Minister Saad Hariri arrived Tuesday evening in
Belgium to lead Lebanon's delegation to the second Brussels Conference on
Supporting the Future of Syria and the Region, the National News Agency
said. “The conference will begin its works tomorrow morning and Hariri will
deliver a speech during the opening session in which he will tackle the
issue of Syrian refugees in Lebanon and the international community's role
in aiding Lebanon to cope with the burden of this refugee presence,” NNA
added. Hariri is accompanied by an official delegation comprised of Deputy
Premier and Health Minister Ghassan Hasbani, Education Minister Marwan
Hamadeh, State Minister for Refugee Affairs Moein al-Merehbi, Social Affairs
Minister Pierre Bou Assi, and the premier's advisers Nader Hariri and Nadim
al-Monla. An Nahar newspaper reported Tuesday that Lebanon is counting on
the conference for financial, logistical and material assistance in order to
enable itself to continue to bear the huge burden of the displaced Syrians.
The Lebanese delegation will hold meetings with foreign government ministers
and will highlight the situation of displaced people in countries
neighboring Syria, seeking to increase international contributions to the
effort of hosting the refugees. The head of the U.N. aid agency said Tuesday
$8 billion need to be raised at the conference. Mark Lowcock, the head of
the United Nations Office for the Coordination of Humanitarian Affairs (UNOCHA),
said resources for work inside Syria and with refugees in neighboring
countries were "desperately short." Programs may have to be cut back if
funds are not forthcoming, he warned. Donor countries, aid groups and U.N.
agencies are meeting for the seventh international conference on Syria's
future as the conflict, now in its eighth year, shows no sign of letting up.
Ministers will gather to make financial commitments on Wednesday, with EU
and U.N. officials hoping for to do better than the $6 billion pledged last
year. "We're looking for $3.5 billion for urgent humanitarian assistance
inside Syria for 13 million people and then $5.6 billion to help those
countries bordering Syria who are hosting refugees," Lowcock told AFP,
saying around $1.2 billion had already been raised. "Overall tomorrow what
we're looking for is $8 billion." In 2017 and 2016 UNOCHA managed to raise
only half of the money it needed for work in Syria, with donor countries
increasingly under pressure to help out in other crises rather than the
protracted, bloody Syrian civil war.
Lebanon Accused of 'Evicting' Syrian Refugees as It
Seeks Aid Abroad
Associated Press/Naharnet/April 24/18/Three years ago, Ahmad Mohsin was
forced to relocate his campsite in Lebanon's Bekaa Valley after soldiers
raided the community of Syrian refugees where he lived and smashed their
belongings. The message was clear, he said: they were not wanted.
On Tuesday, Mohsin, 39, was preparing to break down his camp again, after an
order came from the security services to move once more. Even as donor
nations raise money for Syria's neighbors to host refugees of the country's
civil war, a leading international rights group and the U.N.'s refugee
agency say Lebanese authorities are evicting refugees from towns and camps
in the country on questionable legal grounds. Mohsin, from Syria's third
largest city Homs, said on the second order to move he went to a local
official to ask for help. "He said, go back to Syria," said Mohsin. Neither
the local official nor the military could be reached for comment.
Human Rights Watch said it documented evictions in 13 towns and villages
putting more than 3,600 Syrians on the streets since 2016. It said the
Lebanese Army uprooted another 7,500 refugees near a military base around
Christmas 2017. Meanwhile, the country's General Security apparatus, which
handles border security, arranged for 500 refugees in the Shebaa farms area
to return to their villages in western Syria, one week ago. The U.N. did not
participate in the operation, saying it did not believe Syria was safe
enough for returnees. (The refugees said on Lebanese media they were
returning voluntarily.)
In Lebanon's eastern Bekaa Valley, the Army can designate areas as military
zones and close them off to campsites. Their boundaries are rarely clear and
appear to shift without notice. Mohsin said he was informed by military
intelligence that his campsite sits on a "military corridor." The camp is
approximately 8 kilometers (5 miles) from the Riyaq air base linked to the
Christmas evictions. In 2015, soldiers raided the camp in its old location
looking for Mohsin, the camp's foreman, and announced they wanted the tents
moved immediately. Afraid, Mohsin denied his own identity. "The soldiers
went through the homes, beating down the doors, breaking things," he said.
"Then he started saying things to us, things I don't know how to repeat now,
things that really bothered us." They moved to their present site, just a
few hundred meters (yards) away, and along the same dirt road now deemed
off-limits. A local business owner who is developing a private park along
the same road said he was aware the area was designated as a 'military zone'
but said he didn't expect any restrictions on his venture.
Omar Elmais said he hoped to pave the road and light it along the way to his
park, which he said would include a pond and an entertainment area.
Ibrahim Samaha, the owner of the land where Mohsin's community keeps camp,
said he received the necessary permits to let the Syrians move to another
spot of land away from the road. He also confirmed that the military had
uprooted the community in 2015.
According to the U.N.'s refugee agency, UNHCR, 1,300 Syrian families were
evicted from their camps and homes in the Bekaa Valley in 2017. It said
close to sixty percent of the evictions were ordered by the military
intelligence. Another 30 percent were ordered by local officials.
Ziad El Sayegh, an adviser to the Lebanese minister of refugee affairs, said
new campgrounds were found for the refugees evicted from around Riyaq air
base.
"In fact the army undertook to protect these refugees, like it protects the
Lebanese people," he told The Associated Press. There are nearly a million
Syrian refugees living in Lebanon, according to the U.N., and an estimated
70 percent of them live in poverty. Though President Bashar Assad in
neighboring Syria appears to have put down the revolt against him, the U.N.
and rights groups say the country is still not safe for refugee return. The
country has suffered catastrophic damage, and many men say they are afraid
they will be arrested when they return, on charges of fleeing military
conscription. Meanwhile, Lebanese politicians say their country has been
strained under the weight of the refugees, who together with a Palestinian
refugee population of 175,000, make up roughly one fifth of the country's
population — the highest portion in the world.
And with national elections less than two weeks away, politicians are making
the refugees into a ballot box issue. Foreign Minister Jebran Bassil, who
leads President Michel Aoun's Free Patriotic Movement party and is the
president's son-in-law, said in January it was time for refugees to return
home.
It is a common refrain among the country's Christian politicians, who are
playing on fears in Lebanon that the overwhelmingly Muslim Syrian refugee
population is a threat to Lebanon's national identity. Meanwhile, local
officials in Lebanon are throwing Syrians out of their towns in a violation
of their rights as refugees and residents, said Human Rights Watch. The
rights group said it was a worrying trend, at the time of an international
donors' summit in Belgium to support Lebanon and other countries neighboring
Syria. Local officials in several municipalities ordered Syrians out en
masse, posting eviction notices on their doors, and sometimes sending the
police to physically intimidate the refugees if they did not comply, said
Human Rights Watch. The evictions did not appear to have the formal support
of the government, nor any legal basis. Human Rights Watch called on
national authorities to step in and stop the evictions. Syrians face
numerous barriers to employment, education and housing in Lebanon, with many
forced to live under the radar because Lebanon ordered the U.N.'s refugee
commission to halt refugee registrations in 2015. "Right now, Syrian
refugees do not have the guarantee that they are safe in their homes," said
Bassam Khawaja, a Lebanon researcher for Human Rights Watch.
Latest LCCC
Bulletin For Miscellaneous Reports And News published
on April 24-25/18
Hosting Macron, Trump Calls Iran Deal
'Insane, Terrible, Ridiculous'
Agence France Presse/Naharnet/April 24/18/U.S.
President Donald Trump pilloried the Iran nuclear deal as "insane" Tuesday
and threatened "problems" if Tehran restarts controversial programs,
exposing a deep rift with European allies. Hosting French President Emmanuel
Macron in the Oval Office, Trump punctured a carefully choreographed display
of trans-Atlantic camaraderie with an angry tirade against the three-year
old nuclear accord. The U.S. leader groused that the agreement -- inked by
the United States, Iran, Europe, Russia and China -- does nothing to tackle
Tehran's ballistic missiles program or support for militant groups across
the Middle East. "People know my views on the Iran deal. It was a terrible
deal. It should have never ever been made," Trump railed. "It's insane. It's
ridiculous." The agreement, still backed by Europe, gave Iran massive
sanctions relief and the guarantee of a civilian nuclear program in return
for curbs on programs that could be used to develop a nuke. It did not
tackle western complains about Iran's ballistic missile programs or support
for militant groups across the Middle East. Trump faces a May 12 deadline to
decide on the fate of the accord and is demanding changes that European
capitals believe would represent a legal breach. Iran, meanwhile, has warned
it will ramp up enrichment activities if Trump walks away from the accord,
prompting Trump to issue a blunt warning. "They're not going to be
restarting anything. If they restart it, they're going to have big problems,
bigger than they ever had before. And you can mark it down," he said. Macron
is visiting Washington, in part, to convince Trump not to walk away from the
deal and scuttle years-worth of hard won diplomatic gains. "The Iran deal is
an important issue but we have to take a far broader picture which is
security in the overall region," he said Tuesday at the White House. "What
we want to do is to contain Iran and its presence in the region."For months
American and European officials have been working behind the scenes to
trying to find a compromise over Trump's demands to change the agreement.
Officials have toyed with the idea of a separate joint declaration:
promising to tackle non-nuclear issues, while searching for a tougher
successor agreement. The challenge, they say, is to find a solution that
allows the mercurial U.S. president to claim a public victory, while keeping
the deal intact. More hawkish American officials accuse Europeans --
particularly Germany -- of putting business interests ahead of security, and
of opposing a tougher stance against Iran to safeguard investments in the
Islamic Republic.
As Trump and Macron meet, Iran’s Rouhani warns on nuke deal
The Associated Press, Tehran/ 24 April 2018/Iran’s president reiterated his
warning against a US pullout from the landmark nuclear deal between Tehran
and world powers as meetings between President Donald Trump France’s
Emmanuel Macron got underway in Washington. Hassan Rouhani said the United
States will face “grave” consequences if Washington decides to withdraw from
the 2015 agreement that curbed Iran’s controversial nuclear enrichment
program in exchange for lifting international sanctions on the Mideast
nation. “If someone wants to betray our nation and the deal, grave
consequences will affect them,” Rouhani told supporters in the city of
Tabriz during a visit to the area. State TV broadcast the speech.
The Iranian nation and government will “strongly resist” any plots by those
who sit in the White House, he added but did not elaborate, only saying that
Iran has prepared for “various scenarios” while it abided by its commitments
under the deal. Also Tuesday, Ali Shamkahni, the secretary of the country’s
Supreme National Security Council, signaled that one option for Tehran would
be to quit the nuclear non-proliferation treaty if Trump scraps the nuclear
deal.
“Signatory countries have right to quit if they feel their national
interests are not safeguarded,” Shamkhani said before leaving for a visit to
Moscow. “This is one of the choices Iran has.” He added that Tehran would
consider any move by the US to pull out of the accord or attempts to modify
it as a “collapse” of the deal. Trump did not re-certify the deal in January
but extended the main sanctions waivers and gave the Europeans until the
next waiver deadline on May 12 to come up with fixes to the deal.
Hosting France’s Macron, Trump calls
Iran nuclear deal ‘a disaster’
Arab News/Agecies/April 24/18 /WASHINGTON: US
President Donald Trump described the Iran nuclear deal as "a disaster" and
"insane" as he hosted French President Emmanuel Macron in the Oval Office
Tuesday, puncturing a carefully choreographed display of pomp and
camaraderie. The US leader groused that the accord -- inked three years ago
by the United States, Iran, Europe, Russia and China -- does nothing to
tackle Tehran's ballistic missiles program or support for militant groups
across the Middle East. Macron is in Washington, in part, to convince Trump
not to walk away from the deal and scuttle years-worth of hard won
diplomatic gains. Trump faces a May 12 deadline to decide on the fate of the
accord. President Donald Trump welcomed French President Emmanuel Macron to
the White House in a formal arrival ceremony.The president and first lady
greeted Macron and his wife, Brigitte Macron, on a rolled-out red carpet on
the South Lawn. The arrival was heavy on pomp, with nearly 500 US
service-members from all five military branches participating in the
ceremonial welcome, which included a “Review of the Troops.”Vice President
Mike Pence and several members of Trump’s Cabinet, lawmakers, and military
families were in attendance. The audience included students from the Maya
Angelou French Immersion School in Temple Hills, Maryland. The two leaders
are spending the morning in meetings and then will hold a joint news
conference. The pageantry of Macron’s official state visit, the first of the
Trump presidency, comes Tuesday night with a lavish state dinner at the
White House. About 150 guests are expected to dine on rack of lamb and
nectarine tart and enjoy an after-dinner performance by the Washington
National Opera. Monday night was more relaxed, featuring a helicopter tour
of Washington landmarks and a trip to the Potomac River home of George
Washington for dinner. Pomp and ceremony aside, Trump and Macron disagree on
some fundamental issues. A prime dividing point is the multinational Iran
nuclear deal, which Trump wants to abandon.
Israel to destroy Russian S-300 air defense system in Syria if
attacked
Arab News/April 24, 2018/LONDON: Israeli Defense Minister
Avigdor Lieberman warned Tuesday that if Syria uses Russian-made air defense
system against Israeli warplanes, then Tel Aviv will destroy them. In an
interview with Israel’s Ynet, Lieberman commented on the Russian plans to
supply Damascus regime with improved air defense system. “What’s important
to us is that the defensive weapons the Russians are giving Syria won’t be
used against us,” Lieberman Said. Israel Defense Minister warned Damascus
that if they were to target Israeli planes Tel Aviv will retaliate and take
out the S-300 supplied by Moscow. “If they’re used against us, we’ll act
against them.” Lieberman reiterated his country’s position not to interfere
in Syria’s internal affairs, but he warned against Iran’s efforts to flood
the country with advanced weapon systems that could be aimed at Israel.
U.N. Aid Chief Says $8 Billion Needed for Syria
Agence France Presse/Naharnet/April 24/18/The head of the U.N. aid agency
said Tuesday $8 billion needs to be raised at a donor conference in Brussels
to help Syrians affected by the country's bloody civil war. Mark Lowcock,
the head of the United Nations Office for the Coordination of Humanitarian
Affairs (UNOCHA), said resources for work inside Syria and with refugees in
neighboring countries were "desperately short." Pprograms may have to be cut
back if funds are not forthcoming, he warned. Donor countries, aid groups
and U.N. agencies are meeting for the seventh international conference on
Syria's future as the conflict, now in its eighth year, shows no sign of
letting up. Ministers will gather to make financial commitments on
Wednesday, with EU and U.N. officials hoping for to do better than the $6
billion pledged last year. "We're looking for $3.5 billion for urgent
humanitarian assistance inside Syria for 13 million people and then $5.6
billion to help those countries bordering Syria who are hosting refugees,"
Lowcock told AFP, saying around $1.2 billion had already been raised.
"Overall tomorrow what we're looking for is $8 billion."In 2017 and 2016
UNOCHA managed to raise only half of the money it needed for work in Syria,
with donor countries increasingly under pressure to help out in other crises
rather than the protracted, bloody Syrian civil war. Lowcock called on
President Bashar al-Assad and his international allies, particularly Russia,
to do more to help Syrians suffering the effects of the conflict."The
government of Syria obviously has a responsibility -- which they accept --
for their own people, and the more they can use their own resources for
meeting basic needs rather than dropping bombs the better," Lowcock said.
"The second is there are a number of countries that provide bilateral
assistance to Syria, like Russia, and the more of that that can happen on a
larger scale the better as well."Moscow, along with Iran, is Assad's key
ally and Russian military intervention in Syria is widely seen as having
tipped the balance of the civil war in his favor.
Toronto
Van Driver Charged with 10 Counts of Premeditated Murder
Agence
France Presse/Naharnet/April 24/18/A van driver who ran over 10 people when
he plowed onto a busy Toronto sidewalk was charged with murder Tuesday, as
Canadian Prime Minister Justin Trudeau urged a rattled nation not to live in
fear after the "senseless attack."
Police said the suspect, 25-year-old Alek Minassian, was not known to them
before Monday's carnage in Canada's most populous city, which also left 15
people injured. He also was not in the crosshairs of intelligence and
security agencies, leading Public Safety Minister Ralph Goodale to sideline
the theory of a terror attack such as those carried out by extremists in
London, Nice and other major cities. "On the basis of all available
information at the present time, there would appear to be no national
security connection to this particular incident," Goodale said. But
authorities said the incident during the busy lunch hour Monday was
undoubtedly deliberate, and Minassian -- his head shaved, and in a white
police jumpsuit -- was charged with first degree murder in a brief court
appearance. He also faces multiple counts of attempted murder over those
injured in the incident. Two South Koreans were among the dead, a foreign
ministry official in Seoul told AFP, adding that another of the country's
citizens seriously injured. As the wounded recovered in local hospitals,
federal, provincial and local investigators were probing the case, Toronto
Police Chief Mark Saunders said. "Canadians across the country are shocked
and saddened by this senseless attack," Trudeau told a news conference. But,
he added: "We must not start living in fear and uncertainty every day as we
go about our daily lives."
Kill me
Students who attended a Toronto vocational school with Minassian described
him as withdrawn and a bit awkward. The suspect lived with his father in the
Toronto suburb of Richmond Hill, and attended Seneca College, according to
his LinkedIn social media profile. Minassian kept mostly to himself at
school, and seemed to constantly rub his head or hands -- a sign of
obsessive-compulsive disorder (OCD), classmates told local media. Ari Blaff,
one of the students, told public broadcaster CBC that Minassian's behavior
"was usually quite strange." But he'd "never noticed anything violent" --
the suspect just "made people feel uneasy around him." Minassian, who has an
imposing physical build, defied a police officer during his arrest. Wielding
an object in his left hand, standing near the van with its front end
smashed, the suspect shouted "kill me" to the police officer with his gun
drawn, according to an amateur video posted on social media. The police
officer approached the suspect as he knelt and handcuffed him. The city's
police chief later said Minassian was unarmed. For 30 minutes prior, panic
struck along the nearly kilometer-long (half-mile) stretch of Yonge Street
where the driver had jumped the curb onto the sidewalk. "He was going really
fast," witness Alex Shaker told CTV television. "All I could see was just
people one by one getting knocked out, knocked out, one by one," Shaker
said. "There are so many people lying down on the streets."On Tuesday,
police continued to comb the crime scene for evidence, while crowds gathered
at a makeshift memorial to leave messages of condolences and flowers. "We
must remain a country that is open and free and comfortable with its values,
and we will continue to do that," Trudeau said. Officials will "reflect on
the changing situations in which we are in, and do everything we can to keep
Canadians safe," he added.
10 Killed after Van Plows through Pedestrians
in Toronto
Asharq Al-Awsat/Tuesday, 24 April, 2018/After initially announcing that
eight to ten people were wounded when a van plowed through pedestrians on
Monday, police later revealed that ten people were in fact killed in what
they said was a deliberate attack. "The actions definitely looked
deliberate," Toronto Police Chief Mark Saunders told journalists. Ralph
Goodale, the minister of public security, added that "on the basis of all
available information at the present time, there would appear to be no
national security connection to this particular incident." "Horrible day in
Toronto," he had posted earlier on Twitter. "Senseless violence takes heavy
toll." The incident took place in broad daylight around 16 kilometers (10
miles) from a conference center hosting a meeting of G7 ministers, but
officials said they had no evidence of a link to the event. Police arrested
a suspect at the scene -- who police identified later as 25-year-old Alek
Minassian from a northern Toronto suburb -- of the attack. The suspect and a
police officer faced off, their guns drawn. The suspect eventually
surrendered his weapon and was taken into custody. A white rental van with a
dented front bumper was stopped on the sidewalk of a major intersection,
surrounded by police vehicles. "He was going really fast," witness Ali
Shaker told CTV television. "All I could see was just people one by one
getting knocked out, knocked out, one by one," Shaker said. "There are so
many people lying down on the streets."Another witness, Jamie Eopni, told
local Toronto television station CP24: "It was crashing into everything. It
destroyed a bench. If anybody was on that street, they would have been hit
on the sidewalk."Authorities so far had not disclosed a possible motive or
cause.
Fifteen people remained in hospitals throughout the city, Saunders said,
adding that local, provincial and federal investigators were probing the
case. He said Minassian, who lives in the Toronto suburb of Richmond Hill,
had not been known to police previously. An online social media profile
described him as a college student. Two South Koreans were among the dead, a
Seoul foreign ministry official told AFP, with another of its citizens
seriously injured.
At the scene, at least three bodies could be seen under orange sheets and a
long stretch of road was sealed off with police incident tape. Prime
Minister Justin Trudeau expressed his sympathies for those involved. "We
should all feel safe walking in our cities and communities," he said. "We
are monitoring this situation closely, and will continue working with our
law enforcement partners around the country to ensure the safety and
security of all Canadians."Police said the suspect was scheduled to appear
in court at 10 a.m. Tuesday, and that information on the charges against him
would be released at that time. Vehicle attacks have been carried out to
deadly effect by extremists in a number of capitals and major cities,
including London, Paris, New York and Nice. Canada's Foreign Minister
Chrystia Freeland said the G7 meeting would continue as planned into
Tuesday, with officials discussing ways to secure democratic societies from
foreign interference. "The work of the ministers obviously goes on. This is
a very sad day for the people of Toronto and the people of Canada," she
said. Though the act seemed "deliberate," officials did not identify a
terror link. Canada has only rarely been the scene of terror attacks. In
October, a man stabbed a police officer in the western city of Edmonton
before slamming his van into a group of pedestrians, hurting four people.
And in Quebec in October 2014, a Canadian man ran over two soldiers in a
parking lot with his car, killing one of them. The driver was shot dead by
police when he attacked them with a knife. In March 2016, a Canadian who
claimed to have radical sympathies attacked two soldiers at a military
recruitment center in Toronto.
U.N. Envoy Warns Syria's Idlib is 'Big New Challenge'
Agence France Presse/Naharnet/April 24/18/U.N. Syria envoy Staffan de
Mistura on Tuesday urged the international community to prevent a fresh
humanitarian disaster in the rebel-held region of Idlib, the likely next
target of the regime's fightback. Mistura told a donor meeting in Brussels
that Idlib risked suffering the same fate as Aleppo, seized in a
Russian-backed Syrian offensive in 2016, and Eastern Ghouta, retaken by the
regime shortly after an alleged chemical attack in early April. "We were and
are concerned on the humanitarian side by Idlib. Because Idlib is the big
new challenge, 2.5 million people," Mistura told a press conference with EU
diplomatic chief Federica Mogherini. "And you will not believe that all of
them are terrorists of course. There are women, children, civilians, and
this is looming up there," he added.
"So we hope that this would be an occasion for making sure that Idlib does
not become the new new Aleppo, the new Eastern Ghouta, because the
dimensions are completely different," Mistura added.
The EU and U.N. on Tuesday began a two-day push to drum up fresh aid pledges
for war-torn Syria and reinvigorate the faltering Geneva peace process as
the conflict enters its eighth year. The meeting comes in the wake of
strikes by the United States, France and Britain on Syrian military
installations in response to the alleged chemical weapons incident in Douma
which has been widely blamed on Damascus. Mistura said a U.N. Security
Council retreat in a secluded farmhouse in Sweden at the weekend called in a
bid to overcome its paralysis on Syria had lowered the "temperature" but
failed to find a political solution. "After two weeks of terribly tense and
rhetorically intense meetings, there was a need again to bring down the
temperature," Mistura said.
"Has this avoided or completely resolved the division which exists in the
Security Council on Syria, which is the biggest problem the U.N. has... no,"
he added. "Has the atmosphere gone down and the understanding that there are
common issues that can be faced together, yes," Mogherini and de Mistura
both called on Russia, Iran and Turkey -- the three powers involved in the
so-called Astana process seeking peace in Syria -- to do more to reach a
ceasefire. "The main message is that Syria is not a chessboard, it's not
geopolitical game," former Italian foreign minister Mogherini told the news
conference."I believe they (the three Astana process countries) have not
only a responsibility but also an interest in making the ceasefire work."
At Mass Grave in Raqa, Bodies and Bad Memories
Resurface
Agence France Presse/Naharnet/April 24/18/The stench is overwhelming, but
Fawaz does not let it stop him. Stepping around the blue body bags, he
searches for his brother's remains in the largest mass grave uncovered in
Syria's Raqa. The sacks are lined up on an otherwise bare football pitch
neighboring Raqa's national hospital, where jihadists from the Islamic State
group made their last stand for their withering "caliphate." U.S.-backed
forces ousted IS from the devastated city in October, leaving the Raqa Civil
Council to run it.
Around a week ago, the RCC discovered dozens of bodies buried in the vast
courtyard and have begun carefully retrieving them. One worker pulls back a
piece of sky-blue tarp. Fawaz Hamadeh puts his hand over his nose, and leans
in over the decomposing body. The thin 21-year-old is searching for any
signs of his brother, fatally wounded in heavy bombardment during the
battle's final days. "My parents were able to leave, and he was supposed to
flee too -- but he couldn't find a car and it was too late," Hamadeh says.
He heard his brother was buried in the yard, but the body he is looking at
is unfamiliar.
"I'm feeling so much pain because I can't find my brother's body or that of
his wife," says Hamadeh. He looks around at the rows of dead, the rusting
carcasses of cars, the crumbling multi-story buildings. "It's indescribable,
the size of this disaster we're living," he says.
Children, women, fighters
IS captured Raqa in 2014 and made it the de facto Syrian capital of the
infamous "caliphate" across which it imposed a rule of terror. The bodies
found outside the hospital appeared to be from a makeshift cemetery used in
the final stages of the Raqa offensive, local officials say, and not the
result of a group execution. Under the blistering sun, first responders
wearing white surgical masks and plastic gloves dig straight, shallow
trenches using shovels and their bare hands. Six workers retrieve a thick,
maroon-colored blanket holding a decomposing body. "A woman, looks to be in
her forties," one notes, as he writes in a red notebook. Around 60 bodies
have been retrieved since the mass grave was found around a week ago, says
Yasser al-Khamis, who heads the RCC's first responder team. "We've seen
children's bodies, women, and fighters, too. We saw bodies with hands or
heads cut off. Most are civilians," he says. Of the recovered corpses, 10
have been identified by relatives. But as many as 200 could be buried there
in total, estimates Abdullah al-Arian, who heads the RCC's reconstruction
committee. "After we extract the body, the forensics doctor examines it. If
their loved ones are there and can identify it, we hand it over," he says.
"Otherwise, we take pictures -- teeth, bones, any anatomical identifiers --
and bury them with a number so we can identify them later," Arian says. The
RCC has been retrieving bodies from the rubble across Raqa, left in ruins by
the months-long assault to oust IS. Arian says 655 have been found so far.
"We're still searching for bodies, finding them through resident reports,
the smell, or the flies," he tells AFP.
Indescribable grief
Ali Hassan, 52, has been trekking to the pitch for days, hoping each
newly-uncovered corpse is his brother's. "Every time they pull out a body,
we check if it's him. We know his clothes, the documents he would have had
in his pajama pockets," says Hassan. For Mohammad Abdulhameed, seeing the
mass grave was like being sent back into a nightmare. The 32-year-old lawyer
remembers how IS would bring groups of dead from the nearby hospital to be
buried there. "Daesh wouldn't let anyone bury their dead," he recalls, using
the Arabic word for IS. "My friend died and I took him to the hospital, but
they forbade me from burying him or even being present during the burial,"
says Abdulhameed. Instead, he watched from behind a nearby wall and is now
back, searching for the grave. "They robbed us of our most basic human
rights. Our memories are scattered. It's a grief I can't describe."
EU, UN Seeks Aid Boost for Syria at Major Conference
The EU and UN on Tuesday begin a two-day conference to drum up fresh aid
pledges for wartorn Syria and reinvigorate the faltering Geneva peace
process as the conflict enters its eighth year. Donor countries, aid
organisations and UN agencies will gather in Brussels for the seventh annual
conference on Syria's future as international inspectors probe a suspected
gas attack in the town of Douma, highlighting the brutal nature of the war.
The meeting comes in the wake of strikes by the United States, France and
Britain on Syrian military installations, carried out in response to the
Douma incident which has been widely blamed on Damascus. EU officials hope
to beat the $6 billion (5.6 billion euros) pledged at last year's gathering,
as a fierce offensive launched by President Bashar al-Assad, backed by key
ally Russia, intensifies the crisis.
"We've seen the situation get dramatically worse since the beginning of the
year. We've had inside Syria some 700,000 displaced during a period of four
months," one senior EU official said. Some 6.1 people are now internally
displaced, more than five million Syrians have fled their country and 13
million people are in need of aid, according to the EU. Top UN and EU
officials will hold talks with aid groups working in Syria and neighbouring
countries on Tuesday to get their views before government ministers arrive
on Wednesday. Save the Children International chief executive Helle Thorning-Schmidt
urged donors to focus on education, saying a third of Syrian youngsters are
out of school and a third of Syrian schools are unusable because of the war.
"We have let Syrian children down. This is the seventh year and they're
still being let down," Thorning-Schmidt told AFP. "2018 has been a very
bloody year for Syrian children and one of the things they are missing out
on enormously is education." UN children's agency UNICEF said some 2.8
million Syrian children had missed out on education, warning that in parts
of the country simply going to school "has at times become a matter of life
and death".
Pledges exceeded
According to EU figures, the total given by the international community
after last year's conference was $7.5 billion -- 25 percent more than
pledged -- with Germany, the US and EU institutions leading the way.
Alongside the aid drive, the EU's diplomatic chief Federica Mogherini will
hold talks with the UN special envoy for Syria, Staffan de Mistura, on
Tuesday as part of efforts to restart peace talks. Eight rounds of talks
under UN auspices in Geneva have made little headway, with Assad's
government paying little interest while Russia, Iran and Turkey launched a
rival process in the Kazakh capital Astana last year.
Russia and Iran are Assad's key allies and their military intervention in
Syria is widely seen as helping him stay in power and tipping the balance in
the civil war. Ankara has called for Assad's removal throughout the war, but
has worked increasingly closely with Moscow and Tehran in recent months in
seeking to find a solution to the conflict. But the EU still insists the
Geneva process is the best way to bring an end to the war. "The only way to
avoid that the Syrian crisis spirals into wider conflict is to put pressure
on all parties including the Syrian regime to come to Geneva for meaningful
discussions," Mogherini said last week. EU foreign ministers last week said
the conference should be used to "reinvigorate" the Geneva process, but it
is not clear how effectively the gathering will be able to do this. As with
previous editions of the conference, neither the Syrian government nor
opposition groups will be represented. It also remains unclear who, if
anyone, will come for Russia, Turkey and Iran.
G7 ministerial meeting: Building a
more peaceful and secure world
This ministerial meeting is co-chaired by the
Honourable Chrystia Freeland, Minister of Foreign Affairs; and the
Honourable Ralph Goodale, Minister of Public Safety and Emergency
Preparedness.
Joint statement of foreign and security ministers
Under the theme of “building a more peaceful and secure world,” the foreign
and security ministers of Canada, France, Germany, Italy, Japan, the United
Kingdom and the United States of America, and the European Union High
Representative for Foreign Affairs and Security Policy, together with
European Commissioners in charge of Migration, Home Affairs and Citizenship
and the Security Union, met jointly in Toronto on April 23, 2018. We
discussed collective efforts towards reinforcing democracy by addressing
destabilizing behaviour, including interference in countries’ democratic
systems, including through digital technologies and unacceptable actions.
, we discussed Russia and emphasized the need to protect and promote a
rules-based international order. We also looked at how best to manage the
risks associated with foreign terrorist fighters, and associated travellers.
It was noted that special attention must be given to the challenges
associated with returning family members, including women and youth. We
issued “Toronto Commitments” on defending democracy and managing foreign
terrorist fighters and associated travellers.
Commitments
Defending democracy – Addressing foreign threats
Managing foreign terrorist fighters and associated travellers
G7 foreign ministers joint communiqué
G7 foreign ministers gathered in Toronto on April 22 and 23, 2018, to
exchange views and coordinate action with respect to building a more
peaceful and secure world. Bound together by respect for human rights,
fundamental freedoms, democracy and the rule of law, they discussed four
broad themes: (1) a rules-based international order, (2) non-proliferation
and disarmament, (3) transnational threats to security and (4) conflict
prevention and support for United Nations efforts and reform. The ministers
reaffirmed their belief in open economies, open societies and open
governments where diversity is respected and inclusion is valued and
embraced.
Read G7 foreign ministers joint communiqué.
https://g7.gc.ca/en/g7-presidency/themes/building-peaceful-secure-world/g7-ministerial-meeting/g7-foreign-ministers-joint-communique/
Co-chairs
The Co-chairs set the agenda of the ministerial meeting and deliver a
summary of the discussions. The Honourable Chrystia Freeland, Minister of
Foreign Affairs will chair the discussion sessions on foreign affairs with
her G7 counterparts. The Honourable Ralph Goodale, Minister of Public Safety
and Emergency Preparedness will chair the discussions sessions on security
with his G7 counterparts. Ministers will co-chair a joint session on April
23rd .
More than 800 US Figures, Including Kushner,
Ivanka, to Attend Embassy Opening in Jerusalem
Tel Aviv- Asharq Al Awsat/Tuesday, 24 April, 2018/Political sources in Tel
Aviv revealed on Monday that a massive delegation from the United States
will arrive in Israel on May 14 to participate in the official celebration
of the transfer of the US embassy from Tel Aviv to West Jerusalem. The
sources said the number of members of the delegation will reach 800,
including the daughter of US President Donald Trump, Ivanka, and her husband
Jared Kushner, senior adviser to Trump.
The sources confirmed that during a meeting on Monday, the administration of
the Israeli foreign ministry prepared a work plan to receive the delegation,
which will be headed by Secretary of Treasury Steve Mnuchin, and will
include 25 members of the House of Representatives and the Senate, a number
of state governors, heads of departments in the White House, and the
Departments of State, Defense and Finance. According to sources at the US
embassy in Tel Aviv, the embassy will be transferred in the first phase to
the consulate building in the Arnona neighborhood, south of West Jerusalem.
US Ambassador to Israel, David Friedman, and a small diplomatic team will
work from inside the building until the permanent embassy is built in
another neighborhood west of the city. Last month, Israeli Prime Minister
Benjamin Netanyahu called on Trump to attend the embassy’s opening ceremony,
but the US president apologized for other commitments on the White House
agenda. The decision to relocate the embassy was announced by Trump on Dec.
6, sparking outrage among Palestinians and Arab and Muslim countries, as
well as criticism by Western countries and the European Union in particular.
Meanwhile, a US news agency reported on Monday that during a telephone call
late last year, Trump asked Netanyahu if he really “cared about peace,”
following the Israeli government’s decision to launch large-scale settlement
projects.Axios quoted a senior White House official as saying that “the
President has an extremely close and candid relationship with the Prime
Minister of Israel” and although the conversation was cordial all the time,
Trump asked Netanyahu: “Say frankly: Do you want peace or not?”
ISIS Beheads Three Brothers in Afghanistan
Kabul- Asharq Al Awsat/Tuesday, 24 April, 2018/Militants from ISIS terrorist
group have beheaded three brothers, all working in the medical profession,
in Afghanistan’s eastern province of Nangarhar, an official told Reuters on
Monday. Attaullah Khogyani, spokesman for the governor of Nangarhar, the
main stronghold of ISIS in Afghanistan, said the brothers were killed in
Chaparhar district on Saturday night. The eldest brother Nisar Tareliwal,
27, was a doctor at a private clinic, the middle brother Nayeem, 24, was
working as a vaccine campaigner and the youngest Abdul Wahab, 19, was a
medical student. Khogyani said the father of the victims, a doctor was
beheaded last year by ISIS, which has acquired a reputation for brutality in
the province, beheading prisoners on a number of occasions. In a separate
incident, ISIS kidnapped 11 farmers in Rodat district of Nangarhar province,
although they later released two of them. There was no claim by ISIS about
the two incidents. Nangarhar, on the porous border with Pakistan, has become
a stronghold for ISIS, generally known as Daesh in Afghanistan, which has
grown to become one of the country’s most dangerous militant groups since it
appeared around the start of 2015. Lal Mohammed Durrani, deputy chairman of
the provincial council in Nangarhar, said the abduction took place when the
farmers were working in poppy fields. The process to harvest poppy crop has
kicked off in provinces across Afghanistan, the world’s top opium producer.
Meanwhile, grieving Afghans buried their loved ones in Kabul on Monday amid
growing anger over a suicide attack on a voter registration center in the
city that killed at least 57 people including children and wounded more than
100.
The bomber blew himself up on Sunday morning in a large crowd queuing to
collect their national ID certificates so they could register to vote in
long-delayed legislative elections scheduled for October. The force of the
blast, which was claimed by ISIS, caused carnage in the street in the
heavily Shi'ite-populated neighborhood in the west of the Afghan capital.
Pools of blood and body parts mixed with shattered glass, blood-stained ID
documents and passport-sized photos on the ground. Anguish turned to anger
on social media as ordinary Afghans blamed the Kabul government for failing
to protect its people – a constant refrain after such attacks. "They (the
government) arrests them and then releases them to kill innocent people,"
Ahmad Ahmadi wrote on Facebook. A Facebook user called Aminullah posted:
"This government is intentionally creating chaos to continue their term
illegally. The only way forward is to vote and get rid of this corrupt
government."
Former President George H.W. Bush Hospitalized
for Blood Infection
Asharq Al-Awsat/Tuesday, 24 April, 2018/Former US President George H.W. Bush
was admitted to hospital on Sunday, a day after laying to rest his wife
Barbra of 73 years. His office announced on Monday that he was being treated
for a blood infection. A spokesman Jim McGrath said he is "responding to
treatments and appears to be recovering."Barbara Bush had died on Tuesday.
The 41st president greeted and shook hands with numerous attendees of the
event during the invitation-only funeral. It was attended by former
presidents Bill Clinton, Barack Obama, George W. Bush and their wives, along
with current first lady Melania Trump. More than a thousand people attended
the ceremony. "I always knew Barbara was the most beloved woman in the
world, and in fact I used to tease her that I had a complex about that
fact," Bush said after his wife's passing. George H.W. Bush uses a
wheelchair and an electric scooter for mobility after developing a form of
Parkinson's disease, and he has needed hospital treatment several times in
recent years for respiratory problems. McGrath did not elaborate Monday
night on the specifics of Bush's condition, saying additional updates would
be issued "as events warrant." But he said he was eager to get well so he
can get to his summer home in Kennebunkport, Maine. "He's the most
goal-oriented person on this planet," McGrath said. Former Florida Gov. Jeb
Bush indicated during his eulogy Saturday that his father had been
hospitalized recently at the same time Barbara Bush was in the hospital for
the last time. Those hospitalizations were not publicly disclosed at the
time. "I think Dad got sick on purpose so that he could be with her," Jeb
Bush said. Melania Trump tweeted Monday evening that she was sending
"healing thoughts of strength, along with prayers, for President George HW
Bush tonight."
Trump Praises Kim Jong Un as 'Very Open, Very
Honorable'
Agence France Presse/Naharnet/April 24/18/U.S. President Donald Trump
praised Kim Jong Un as "very open" and "very honorable" on Tuesday, adding
the North Korean leader wants to meet "as soon as possible.""We are having
very good discussions," Trump said, ahead of a summit with the mercurial Kim
expected sometime before the end of June. "He really has been very open, I
think -- very honorable." "Now, a lot of promises have been made by North
Korea over the years, but they have never been in this position," added the
US leader, as he hosted his French counterpart Emmanuel Macron at the White
House. "We have been told directly that they would like to have the meeting
as soon as possible," Trump said, adding: "We think that's a great thing for
the world.""We'll see where that will all go," he said. Trump also
reiterated that he would walk away from the talks with North Korea if they
are not fruitful.
"Unlike past administrations, I will leave the table," he said. "But I think
we have the chance to do something very special."North Korea pledged last
week to halt nuclear and missile tests as it prepares for a summit between
Kim and Trump, but has not committed to giving up its atomic weapons --
which Pyongyang views as a shield against the Western overthrow of its
government. Kim is set to meet later this week with South Korean President
Moon Jae-in -- the highest-level encounter yet in the whirlwind of nuclear
diplomacy.
Latest LCCC Bulletin
analysis & editorials from miscellaneous sources published on
April 24-25/18
Germany: Migrant Crisis Delusions
Vijeta Uniyal/Gatestone Institute./April 24, 2018
https://www.gatestoneinstitute.org/12182/germany-migrants-coverup
A report commissioned by the German
government found that newly-arrived asylum seekers were behind more than 90%
percent of the increase in violent crimes in the state of Lower Saxony.
As of December 2017, an estimated 600,000 able-bodied asylum seekers in
Germany were on the welfare dole, according to Die Welt. "More than half of
the able-bodied unemployment benefit receivers at present are of foreign
descent," wrote Der Spiegel on April 10, 2018.
Meanwhile, poverty in Germany, especially among elderly pensioners, has
reached a historic high.
While the number of Salafists in Germany reaches a record high and
machete-wielding gangs riot on the country's streets, the establishment
media not only covers up the fallout from Chancellor Angela Merkel's open
door migration policy, but continues to paint a false picture of the
country's current state.
"Cool Germany," a cover story on Britain's magazine, The Economist, claims
that, "Germany is becoming more open and diverse" and "[m]any of the
country's defining traits" including "its ethnic and cultural homogeneity,
conformist and conservative society" are "suddenly in flux."
conomist attributes this change to Chancellor Merkel's migrant policy. "The
biggest change comes from Mrs. Merkel's "open door" policy towards refugees,
which brought in 1.2 million new migrants in 2015-16. The magazine
celebrates the sudden outburst of diversity as its transforms
"once-homogeneous Germany" into a "melting-pot" and claims that the
"patriarchal culture has become more gender-balanced."
The Economist also advocates the urgent necessity of the open-door policy
for refugees, and alleges that the "flow of newcomers to Germany" will
"cushion the demographic crunch."
Since the onset of the migrant crisis, which began in the autumn of 2015,
much of the mainstream media has been peddling the idea of an influx of
hundreds of thousands of migrants from Arab and Muslim countries as a silver
bullet for Europe's economic woes. Young and sturdy immigrants were going to
bolster Europe's shrinking labor force and usher in the next economic boom,
a miracle comparable to Germany's post-war Wirtschaftswunder ("economic
miracle").
"Refugees to pay our pension," an editorial headline the newspaper
Frankfurter Rundschau in February 2016 promised. The migrant "influx ensures
rejuvenation that is so urgently needed" and the refugees "will soon pay
into our public welfare system," the newspaper pledged.
"The German business community views the recent influx of refugees as an
opportunity to help companies grow and ensure long term prosperity," the Der
Spiegel reported in its August 2015, issue, just ahead of Merkel's decision
to open the country's borders to mass migration. "The business community
urgently needs workers," it added.
"What the refugees bring to us is more valuable than gold," said Martin
Schulz, Merkel's main political rival and the leader of Germany's Social
Democrats (SPD). "Many [migrants] are in integration courses or waiting to
get in them. So I think we will need to show some patience," Merkel said in
September 2016. Unfortunately, these claims and assurances now seem like
nothing more than liberal pipe-dreams to push through a pro-immigration
policy in Germany.
Instead of lining up to join the German workforce, as the political elite
and most of the media were asking us to believe, these young immigrant men,
in the hundreds of thousands, took refuge in the Germany's generous welfare
system.
"More than half of the able-bodied unemployment benefit receivers at present
are of foreign descent," Der Spiegel reported on April 10, 2018. "According
to latest numbers complied in September 2017, out of 4.3 million able-bodied
welfare recipients, 55.2% were of an immigrant background. In 2013, that
figure was 43%."As of December 2017, an estimated 600,000 able-bodied asylum
seekers in Germany were on the dole, the newspaper Die Welt revealed in
December, 2017. For the first time in post-war German history, the number of
foreigners living on unemployment benefits has crossed the
2-million-mark.All this has happened, moreover, at time when poverty,
especially among elderly pensioners, reached a historic high. Under Merkel's
watch, nearly 20% of Germans are threatened by poverty, according to the
German Federal Statistical Office. The current level of poverty is "higher
than ever since the unification of the Federal Republic and the [Communist]
German Democratic Republic," the German public broadcaster Deutsche Welle
reported.
Contrary to what the establishment media would have people believe, there is
no evidence that the hundreds of thousands of young migrant men pouring into
Germany are going to relieve the country's aging work force or become
productive citizens in other ways.
Not only are these newly arrived immigrants a strain on Germany's finances,
but since their arrival, there has been a surge across the country in
violent crime. A recent report commissioned by the German Ministry of Family
Affairs found that the newly arrived asylum seekers were behind more than
90% percent of the increase in violent crimes in the northern state of Lower
Saxony. Similar trends can be witnessed throughout the country.
According to the country's annual crime report of 2017, compiled by the
Federal Crime Bureau (BKA), Germany saw a 50% year-on-year rise in migrant
crimes. This tiny but growing minority, that presently makes up less than 2%
of the German population, was charged for nearly 15% of all violent crimes,
such as rapes and aggravated assaults, the BKA report revealed.
In March, Turkish and Arab gangs "armed with machetes, clubs and baseball
bats" clashed on German streets in violent attempts to demarcate gang
territories. The country is also in the grip of a stabbing epidemic, with
the attackers often turning out to be "unaccompanied minors" holding refugee
status. While media outlets such as The Economist are busy touting Merkel's
Germany as "model for the West" for its newly-acquired "diversity," the
country is sinking ever deeper into a social, economic and demographic bog.
With their collective heads buried in sand, many in the establishment and
the media seem to want the rest of the Western world to follow Germany's
example by opening their borders to unregulated mass immigration. Sadly, the
current result of Germany's open-door policy indicates that all those rosy
reports seem to have been nothing more than an elaborate campaign of deceit
or misinformation.
*Vijeta Uniyal, a journalist and news analyst, is based in Germany.
© 2018 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.
Spain: Jihad Continues
Soeren Kern/Gatestone Institute./April 24, 2018
https://www.gatestoneinstitute.org/12202/spain-jihad
Since the March 2004 attacks on Madrid's trains, Spanish authorities have
arrested more than 750 jihadis in 243 counter-terrorism operations,
according to the Interior Ministry.
Jihadis remain undeterred. A recent Islamic State document included a list
of grievances against Spain for wrongs allegedly done to Muslims since the
Battle of Las Navas de Tolosa on July 16, 1212.
"There is little doubt that the autonomous region of Catalonia has become a
prime base of operations for terrorist activity. Spanish authorities tell us
they fear the threat from these atomized immigrant communities prone to
radicalism, but they have very little intelligence on or ability to
penetrate these groups." — US diplomatic cable, October 2, 2007.
Ten members of an Islamic State jihadi cell have been sentenced to combined
prison terms of nearly 100 years for a plot to bomb landmarks and behead
infidels in Barcelona.
The cell, composed of five Moroccans, four Spaniards and a Brazilian, was
separate to and independent of the jihadi group that killed 16 people in
Barcelona and nearby Cambrils in August 2017.
The case shows that Spain continues to be a prime target for jihadis, many
of whom are striving to reconquer al-Andalus, the Arabic name given to those
parts of Spain, Portugal and France occupied by Muslim conquerors (also
known as the Moors) from 711 to 1492. Many jihadis believe that territories
Muslims lost during the Christian Reconquest of Spain still belong to the
realm of Islam, and that Sharia law requires them to re-establish Muslim
rule there.
The court heard how the jihadi cell — called "Islamic Fraternity, Group for
Preaching Jihad" — was created in 2014 at a mosque in Terrassa, a city
located 30 kilometers from Barcelona, with the objective of creating a
global Islamic Caliphate.
Prosecutors said the cell's "sole purpose and motive was to fulfill and
serve the objectives of the Islamic State and to carry out, at any time, an
attack on institutions such as the police, banks or Jewish interests."
The cell's leaders — Antonio Sáez Martínez (a Spanish convert to Islam also
known as "Ali the Hairdresser") and Lahcen Zamzami and Rida Hazem, both of
Moroccan nationality — reportedly believed they could reach paradise "by
attacking institutions, entities, organisms and symbols of Western culture."
The group had originally intended to join the Islamic State in Syria, but
after three members were arrested at the Bulgarian border with Turkey, its
efforts were refocused on Spain.
The 98-page court ruling describes the so-called Operación Caronte (in Greek
mythology, the ferryman of Hades), in which Spanish and Catalan
counter-terrorism police meticulously tracked and surveilled the cell
members, some of whom were observed taking photographs of Barcelona's most
emblematic locations, including train stations, luxury hotels, shopping
malls and police stations, as well as the Catalan parliament.
Sáez Martínez also plotted to kidnap random members of the public, and,
emulating the Islamic State, dress them in orange jumpsuits and behead them.
The crime was to be filmed and shared on social media.
During police raids, police found explosives, and vast amounts of literature
on jihad and bomb-making, as well as on European terror groups. These
included the Basque separatist group ETA and Germany's far-left Red Army
Faction.
The cell's three ringleaders were each sentenced to 12 years in prison,
while the other seven cell members were each sentenced to terms between
seven and eight years.
With two notable exceptions — the March 2004 attack in Madrid and the August
2017 attack in Barcelona — Spanish counter-terrorism police have been
successful at thwarting violent jihad by identifying, surveilling and
arresting Islamists in the country before they attack.
Since the March 2004 attacks on Madrid's trains, Spanish authorities have
arrested more than 750 jihadis in 243 counter-terrorism operations,
according to the Interior Ministry.
In 2017, 84 jihadis were arrested in 51 operations, according to the
International Observatory of Terrorism Studies (Observatorio Internacional
de Estudios sobre Terrorismo, OIET). This compares to 76 arrests in 2016 and
102 arrests in 2015.
Of those jihadis detained in Spain in 2017, 78 were male and six were
female; 57% were Moroccan nationals and 28% had a Spanish passport. Algerian
nationals followed with 4% and Egyptians with 3%. Catalonia had 29 arrests,
followed by Madrid (16), Melilla (7), Gerona (5), Ceuta (4) and Mallorca
(4). In all, there were arrests in 21 Spanish provinces.
Jihadis remain undeterred. A recent Islamic State document included a list
of grievances against Spain for wrongs allegedly done to Muslims since the
Battle of Las Navas de Tolosa on July 16, 1212, when the Christian forces of
King Alfonso VIII of Castile routed the Almohad Muslim rulers of the
southern half of the Iberian Peninsula. More than 100,000 Muslims were
killed in the battle, which was a key victory in the Catholic Monarchs' "Reconquista"
of Spain.
The Islamic State document stated that since the establishment of the
Spanish Inquisition in 1478, Spain "has done everything to destroy the
Koran." It said that Spain tortured Muslims, including burning them alive.
Therefore, according to the Islamic State, "Spain is a criminal state that
usurps our land." The document calls on jihadis to "reconnoiter airline and
train routes for attacks." It also calls on followers to "poison food and
water" with insecticides.
The document concluded: "The actions of your ancestors are the reason for
our actions today."
An armed, masked Islamic State jihadist appears in a propaganda video, where
he warns Spain that it would "pay a very heavy price" for expelling Muslims
from al-Andalus hundreds of years ago. The Spanish subtitle above reads "Oh
dear Andalus! You thought we forgot about you. I swear by Allah we have
never forgotten you. No Muslim can forget Córdoba, Toledo or Xàtiva."
The epicenter of jihadism in Spain is in independence-minded Catalonia,
which has the highest Muslim population in Spain and is one of the most
Islamized regions of the country. Catalonia has 7.5 million inhabitants,
including an estimated 510,000 Muslims, who account for around 7% of the
total Catalan population. In some Catalan towns, however, the Muslim
population is above 40% of the overall population.
A five-page American diplomatic cable, dated October 2, 2007, described the
link between mass immigration to Catalonia and the rise of radical Islam in
the region: "Heavy immigration — both legal and illegal — from North Africa
(Morocco, Tunisia, and Algeria) and Southeast Asia (Pakistan and Bangladesh)
has made Catalonia a magnet for terrorist recruiters. ... The Spanish
National Police estimates that there may be upwards of 60,000 Pakistanis
living in Barcelona and the surrounding area; the vast majority are male,
unmarried or unaccompanied, and without legal documentation. There are even
more such immigrants from North Africa. ... They live on the edges of
Spanish society, they do not speak the language, they are often unemployed,
and they have very few places to practice their religion with dignity. ...
Individually, these circumstances would provide fertile ground for terrorist
recruitment; taken together, the threat is clear....
"There is little doubt that the autonomous region of Catalonia has become a
prime base of operations for terrorist activity. Spanish authorities tell us
they fear the threat from these atomized immigrant communities prone to
radicalism, but they have very little intelligence on or ability to
penetrate these groups."
In his book "Jihadism: The Radical Islamic Threat to Catalonia," Catalan
terrorism analyst Jofre Montoto estimated that at least 10% of the Muslims
in Catalonia are "hardcore believers in the doctrine of jihadism."
Many of Catalonia's problems with radical Islam are self-inflicted. In an
effort to promote Catalan nationalism and the Catalan language, Catalonian
pro-independence parties have for decades promoted immigration from
Arabic-speaking Muslim countries, in the belief that these immigrants
(unlike those from Latin America) would learn the Catalan language rather
than speak Spanish.
Spain's leading terrorism analyst, Fernando Reinares, has warned that the
separatist movement in Catalonia is impeding cooperation at the national
level in the fight against jihadism:
"There is a problem in the management of Muslim communities, which I think
has been aggravated by separatist tensions; a real problem of cooperation is
in the detection of radicalization processes and in the pursuit and
dismantling of cells, groups and networks that has also been complicated in
the context of the current political tension in this autonomous community."
As details emerged of the August 17, 2017 jihadi attack in Barcelona, the
evidence pointed to one overarching conclusion: the carnage could have been
prevented if a series of red flags had not been either missed or ignored.
On December 20, 2016, one day after a Tunisian jihadist drove a truck into a
Christmas market in Berlin, killing 12 people and injuring 56, Spanish
National Police issued a circular ordering all central, regional and
municipal police departments in Spain to "implement physical security
measures to protect public spaces" to prevent jihadi attacks "in places with
high numbers of people." The circular advised:
"Municipalities should protect these public spaces by temporarily installing
large planters or bollards at access points to hinder or prevent the entry
of vehicles."
The measures were never implemented in Barcelona because the leaders of the
Catalan independence movement did not want to be seen as taking orders from
the central government in Madrid.
**Soeren Kern is a Senior Fellow at the New York-based Gatestone Institute.
© 2018 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.
Should Robert Mueller Be Investigated for Violating
Civil Liberties?
Alan M. Dershowitz/Gatestone Institute./April 24, 2018
https://www.gatestoneinstitute.org/12215/mueller-investigation-civil-liberties
Just as the first casualty of war is truth, so, too, the first casualty of
hyper-partisan politics is civil liberties.
Many traditional civil libertarians have allowed their strong anti-Trump
sentiments to erase their long-standing commitment to neutral civil
liberties. They are now so desperate to get Trump that they are prepared to
compromise the most basic due process rights. They forget the lesson of
history that such compromises made against one's enemy are often used as
precedents against one's friends. As Robert Bolt put it in the play and
movie A Man for all Seasons:
Roper: So now you would give the Devil benefit of Law!
Thomas Moore: Yes, what would you do? Cut a great road through the law to
get after the Devil?
Roper: I'd cut down every law in England to do that?
Thomas Moore: And when the last law was down, and the Devil turned round on
you, where would you hide, Roper, the laws all being flat? This country's
planted thick with laws from coast to coast — man's laws, not God's — and if
you cut them down — and you're just the man to do it — d'you really think
you could stand upright in the winds that would blow then? Yes, I'd give the
Devil benefit of law, for my own safety's sake.
But today's fair weather civil libertarians are unwilling to give President
Trump – who they regard as the devil -- the "benefit of law" and civil
liberties.
Consider the issue of criticizing Robert Mueller, the Special counsel. Any
criticism or even skepticism regarding Mueller's history is seen as
motivated by a desire to help Trump. Mueller was an Assistant US attorney in
Boston, the head of its criminal division, the head of the criminal division
in Main Justice and the Director of the FBI during the most scandalous
miscarriage of justice in the modern history of the FBI. Four innocent
people were framed by the FBI in order to protect mass murdering gangsters
who were working as FBI informers while they were killing innocent people.
An FBI agent, who is now in prison, was tipping off Whitey Bulger as to who
might testify against him so that these individuals could be killed. He also
tipped off Bulger allowing him to escape and remain on the lam for 16 years.
What responsibility, if any, did Robert Mueller, who was in key positions of
authority and capable of preventing these horrible miscarriages, have in
this sordid incident? A former member of the parole board – a liberal
Democrat who also served as mayor of Springfield, Massachusetts – swears
that he saw a letter from Robert Mueller urging the denial of release for at
least one of these wrongfully convicted defendants. When he went back to
retrieve the letter, it was not in the file. This should surprise no one
since Judge Mark Wolf (himself a former prosecutor), who conducted extensive
hearings about this entire mess, made the following findings:
"The files relating to the Wheeler murder, and the FBI's handling of them,
exemplify recurring irregularities with regard to the preparation,
maintenance, and production in this case of documents damaging to Flemmi and
Bulger. First, there appears to be a pattern of false statements placed in
Flemmi's informant file to divert attention from his possible crimes and/or
FBI misconduct...
Second, contrary to the FBI's usual policy and practice, all but one of the
reports containing Halloran's allegations against Bulger and Flemmi were not
indexed and placed in an investigative file referencing their names. Thus,
those documents were not discoverable by a standard search of the FBI's
indices. Similar irregularities in indexing and, therefore, access occurred
with regard to information that the FBI received concerning an extortion by
Bulger of Hobart Willis and from Joseph Murray concerning the murder of
Brian Halloran, among other things.
Third, when documents damaging to the FBI were found by the Bureau, they
were in some instances not produced to the defendants or the court at the
time required by the court's Orders."[1]
Judge Wolf also made a finding that directly references Mueller's state of
knowledge regarding the "history":
"The source also claimed to have information that Bulger and Pat Nee had
murdered Halloran and Bucky Barrett. The source subsequently said that there
was an eyewitness to the Halloran shooting who might come forward, and
elaborated that: "there is a person named John, who claims he talked to
Whitey and Nee as they sat in the car waiting for Halloran on Northern
Avenue. He sits in a bar and talks about it. He saw the whole operation".
The source added that the person providing the information to the source
"will be willing to talk to you (authorities) soon." On February 3, 1988,
Weld directed Keeney to have the information that he had received sent to
the United States Attorney in Boston, Frank McNamara, and to the Strike
Force Chief, O'Sullivan. Weld added that: "Both O'Sullivan and [Assistant
United States Attorney] Bob Mueller are well aware of the history, and the
information sounds good."[2]
It is not the beyond the realm of possibility therefore that Mueller wrote
this letter, even if it is no longer in the files. If in fact Mueller wrote
such a letter, without thoroughly investigating the circumstances, he surely
bears some responsibility. Moreover, it is widely believed among Boston law
enforcement observers that the FBI was not really looking for Whitey Bulger
during the years that Mueller was its Director. It is believed that the FBI
was fearful about what Bulger would disclose about his relationship with
agents over the years. It took a member of the US Marshall's office to find
Bulger who was hiding in plain view in Santa Monica, California.
Recently, a former federal judge, who used to be a civil libertarian, rushed
to Mueller's defense, declaring "without equivocation" that Mueller "had no
involvement" in the massive miscarriage of justice. Her evidence is the lack
of evidence in the files. But no civil libertarian should place such great
trust in government files, especially in light of Judge Wolf's findings.
They should join my call for an objective investigation by the Inspector
General of the Justice Department before they assure the public "without
equivocation" that Mueller had absolutely "no involvement." But these "Get
Trump At Any Cost" partisans have rejected my call for an investigation, out
of fear that it may turn up information that might tarnish the image of the
Special Counsel who is investigating Trump. Instead they criticize those of
us who point out that Mueller was "at the center" of the Justice Department
and FBI, while this miscarriage of justice occurred. All civil libertarians
should want the truth about this sordid episode -- and Mueller's possible
role in it -- regardless of its impact, if any, on the Trump investigation.
Mueller too should welcome an objective investigation, which might eliminate
any doubt about his role in this travesty. But too many former civil
libertarians are prepared to sacrifice civil liberties and the quest for
truth on the altar of "Get Trump."
This is all too typical of the about-face many civil libertarians have taken
since Trump became president. I have previously written about the ACLU's
abdication of its traditional role in challenging governmental overreaching.
For the new ACLU getting Trump trumps civil liberties.
It is ironic to see many right-wingers being the ones to criticize overreach
by law enforcement, while many left-wingers now defend such overreaching.
Hypocrisy and selective outrage abounds, as neutral principles take a back
seat. Conservatives used to say that "a conservative is a liberal who has
been mugged." I would respond that "a liberal is a conservative who is being
audited or whose kid was busted for pot." Today a civil libertarian is a
conservative whose candidate is being investigated, while a law-and-order
type is a liberal who wants to see Trump charged or impeached.
I am a liberal who voted against Trump but who insists that his civil
liberties must be respected for all of our sake.
*Alan M. Dershowitz is the Felix Frankfurter Professor of Law Emeritus at
Harvard Law School and author of Trumped Up, How Criminalization of
Political Differences endangers Democracy.
This article first appeared in The Hill.
[1] United States v. Salemme, 91 F. Supp. 2d 141, 154 n.3 (D. Mass. 1999).
[2] Id. at 256-57.
© 2018 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.
What do we know about Alek Minassian, arrested after
Toronto van attack?
The Telegraph Rob Crilly,The Telegraph/April 24/18
The Toronto attack suspect was named by police last night as Alek Minassian,
a 25-year-old student. The Toronto van attack suspect is a socially awkward
student who graduated from college last week, his former classmates say.
Alek Minassian, a 25-year-old student, was arrested after 10 people were
killed by a van in northern Toronto on Monday evening. He was taken into
custody after the rented vehicle ploughed into a crowd, leaving a further 15
people hospitalised. Video footage showed a suspect being handcuffed after a
tense stand-off with armed police. Authorities are still attempting to
establish a motive for the attack.
The Globe and Mail spoke to three of Minassian's former classmates who
described him as being socially awkward, believing he may have suffered from
a social or mental disability. Minassian lives in nearby Richmond Hill and
has been a student at Seneca College, according to his LinkedIn page. One
classmate said he graduated from the college only last week.
Another student, who worked with Minassian on a school project in 2015,
expressed his surprise that the suspect was even capable of hiring and
driving a vehicle, adding he didn’t know how a steering wheel worked when he
knew him. Other classmates suggested he had never exhibited any indication
of possessing extremist views or violent tendencies and was described by one
couple as being “friendly”. One student said Minassian did not interact
particularly well with other students, but would not describe him as a
loner.
Ari Bluff, who went to secondary school with Minassian, recalled that “he
wasn’t overly social” when she knew him. “I'm not sure if he had any very,
very close friends, at least publicly,” he told CBC News. “I never saw him
with a group of friends, generally. But whenever we would see him in the
hallways, we'd always speak to him or say hi to him or whatnot.
“I remember seeing him probably just walking down the halls, usually by
himself, or in the cafeteria by himself.”
Minassian was also regarded as an IT expert with comprehensive knowledge of
computers chips, according to his former classmates. His name is listed as a
developer on a number of apps, including one that found parking spots in the
Toronto area.
He is believed to have attended the college for seven years while also
working in several software development jobs. Officers were searching his
home on Monday night.
Mark Saunders, Toronto police chief, said the suspect had not been known to
police previously.
"Based on what we have there's nothing that has it to compromise the
national security at this time," he told a news briefing after being asked
if there was any like to international terrorism.
Investigators are still working to establish a motive for the van rampage,
Mr Saunders declined to speculate but said the driver’s actions “definitely
looked deliberate”.
“We are looking very strongly to what the exact motivation was for this
particular incident to take place,” he told a press conference. “At the end
of the day, we will have a fulsome answer, and we will have a fulsome
account as to what the conclusion of this is.”
Witness Ali Shaker, who was driving near the van at the time, told Canadian
broadcast outlet CP24 that the driver appeared to be moving deliberately
through the crowd.
“He just went on the sidewalk,” he said. “He just started hitting everybody,
man. He hit every single person on the sidewalk. Anybody in his way he would
hit.”Witness Peter Kang told CTV News that the driver did not seem to make
any effort to stop.
“If it was an accident he would have stopped. But the person just went
through the sidewalk. He could have stopped.”
NBC news cited American and Canadian law enforcement officials saying that
mental illness was the leading theory for a motive, rather than terrorism.
They also said the suspect had been involved in an online discussion about
Elliot Rodger, the man accused of carrying out a 2014 shooting rampage, near
Santa Barbara, California, that killed six people.
A Facebook post by a man with the same name and the same photo as the one
that appears on the LinkedIn profile refers to the "Supreme Gentleman Elliot
Rodger".
In a video posted before the attack, Rodger had ranted about women turning
down his advances, turning him into an "incel" - an abbreviation for
"involuntarily celibate".
Minassian is due to appear in court at 10am local time on Tuesday.
Lieberman: If Syrians use Russian missiles against us,
we'll strike back
Alexandra Lukash, Nir Cohen|/Ynetnews/April 24/18
Defense minister says Russian air defense systems already deployed in Syria
but don't act against Israel, warning that if Syria uses advanced S-300s to
attack IAF aircraft, Israel will retaliate; also rejects Nasrallah
accusations about killing Arab scientists.
Defense Minister Avigdor Lieberman warned Tuesday that if Syria uses
Russian-made air defense missiles against Israel, the IDF will strike back.
"What's important to us is that the defensive weapons the Russians are
giving Syria won't be used against us," Lieberman told Ynet. "If they're
used against us, we'll act against them."
Russia’s daily Kommersant newspaper, citing unnamed military sources,
reported earlier on Monday that Russia might start supplying the
anti-aircraft missile systems to Syria in the near future.
Kommersant said that experts believed that Israel would react negatively to
any decision to supply the missiles and might bomb the area where they would
be deployed.
A Russian diplomat told Reuters on Monday that Israel has asked Moscow not
to supply the Syrian military with the advanced S-300 missile systems.
Lieberman: If Syrians use Russian missiles against us, we'll strike back
Defense minister says Russian air defense systems already deployed in Syria
but don't act against Israel, warning that if Syria uses advanced S-300s to
attack IAF aircraft, Israel will retaliate; also rejects Nasrallah
accusations about killing Arab scientists. Defense Minister Avigdor
Lieberman warned Tuesday that if Syria uses Russian-made air defense
missiles against Israel, the IDF will strike back. "What's important to us
is that the defensive weapons the Russians are giving Syria won't be used
against us," Lieberman told Ynet. "If they're used against us, we'll act
against them."
Russia’s daily Kommersant newspaper, citing unnamed military sources,
reported earlier on Monday that Russia might start supplying the
anti-aircraft missile systems to Syria in the near future.
Kommersant said that experts believed that Israel would react negatively to
any decision to supply the missiles and might bomb the area where they would
be deployed. A Russian diplomat told Reuters on Monday that Israel has asked
Moscow not to supply the Syrian military with the advanced S-300 missile
systems.
"I hear and read most of these reports, (but) they have no basis in
reality," Lieberman said. "One thing should be clear—if anyone's shooting at
our planes, we'll destroy them."
The defense minister went on to say that while Israel "doesn't interfere in
Syria's internal affairs, but on the other hand we won't allow Iran to flood
(the country) with advanced weapons systems that would be aimed against
Israel."
He argued that Iran was the problem and not Russia, as Russian air defense
systems have already been stationed in Syria and have not been used against
Israel. "We have an open line; we really do have discourse (with the
Russians). Sometimes it's a complicated discourse, but it is open," he
explained. "For several years we've been constantly in coordination and able
to avoid friction with the Russians."
"The only ones to act against us are the Syrians. When the Syrian systems
acted against us, we destroyed them," the defense minister stressed.
Hezbollah Secretary-General Hassan Nasrallah blamed Israel for the
mysterious assassination of Palestinian Hamas electrical engineer Fadi
Albatsh in Malaysia over the weekend
This is an expression of the ongoing Israeli plan that does not spare any
Arab mind—a mind that contains knowledge, expertise, experience, or a mind
that may one day be part of the Arab nation,” Nasrallah said in a speech.
According to the Hezbollah leader, “this is the reason that they are
pursuing Arab scientists and academics, from Iran to Tunisia to Malaysia.
Even a number of Lebanese minds were killed in the last weeks and months
under mysterious circumstances around the world.”
Lieberman rejected the allegation, saying "I have no idea what he's talking
about. He's in the middle of a campaign (for Lebanese parliament elections
in May—ed)... I don't know what they made up. He needs to give some speech,
make some headline every now and again, I wouldn't treat it very seriously."
US President Donald Trump is set to decide next month whether to withdraw
from the nuclear deal signed with Iran. Lieberman said the US "doesn't ask
us" what to do, "and it'll act based on its own considerations.""The US
president will make his decision regardless of pressures put on him, and
there is a lot of pressure," the defense minister added, noting current and
upcoming visits to Washington by French President Macron, German Chancellor
Merkel and likely British Prime Minister May.
Regardless of the decision, "We're prepared for any scenario," he said.
Senior military official says Revolutionary Guards will
not stay within Iran’s borders
Masoud Al Zahid/Al Arabiya.net/April 24/18
Although President Hassan Rouhani said few days ago while marking Iran’s
Army Day that Iran wants brotherly and strong relations with neighboring
countries and rejects interfering in other countries’ internal affairs and
noted that “dialogue is the only means towards peace in the region,” the
Iranian Revolutionary Guards has contradicted him by stating that it will
not commit to staying within Iran’s borders.
In an interview with the Persian-speaking Jamaran website on Monday, Rear
Admiral Ali Fadavi, the commander of the Islamic Revolution Guards Corps
Navy, said the Revolutionary Guards’ activities “are not limited to Iran,”
noting that the guards’ forces are currently fighting thousands of
kilometers away from Iranian borders.
Fadavi added that this military apparatus’ actual name is the “Islamic
Revolutionary Guard Corps” refusing the appendage “Iranian.”
Commenting on why the Revolutionary Guards’ forces are present in other
countries specifically in Syria and Iraq, Fadavi said: “Guarding the Islamic
revolution does not only mean guarding one country and one government, i.e.
Iran. The Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps does not have any appendage
attached to it and these were the orders of Imam Khomeini.”
“Imam Khomeini named it as such because the Islamic Revolution is not
limited to geography. And today, you can see how (people’s) passions follow
the same context of the Islamic Revolution and how the Revolutionary Guards
are present everywhere to protect it,” he added.
Exporting revolution
Relations between the Iranian regime and neighboring countries have been
tense since 1979 as a result of raising slogans to export the revolution.
The Iraqi-Iranian war, which lasted for eight years, was one of the most
significant results of attempting to incite revolutions in neighboring
countries.
Fadavi commended the presence of Iranian forces in Syria and Iraq and
Tehran’s support of militias in Yemen and Lebanon and said this is
“necessary” to defend the Islamic revolution.
On the Revolution Guards Corps Navy’s presence in international waters, he
said: “We have been present in Gulf water and Sea of Oman for a long time,
and in the future we will have presence in international waters.”
On April 18 while marking Army’s Day, Rouhani commended the army for not
interfering in political affairs. (Al Arabiya)
Praising the army
Fadavi also commented on Rouhani’s recent remarks in which he indirectly
criticized the Revolutionary Guards and said: “All I can say is that the
Revolutionary Guards is a stable apparatus while others come and go. The
Revolutionary Guards act according to the goals of the revolution. It’s
unfortunate that some friends in Iran sometimes repeat what the US, which is
extremely hostile to the Revolutionary Guards, says.”
On April 18 while marking Army’s Day, Rouhani commended the army for not
interfering in political affairs. Commentators said Rouhani was thus
indirectly criticizing the Revolutionary Guards for interfering in the
country’s domestic and foreign political affairs.
“Although the army understands politics well, it was not dragged into the
political game and it remained committed to the imam’s will. We do not see
the name of any army commander in corruption cases, and this confirms the
purity of the Islamic Republic’s army,” Rouhani said. The Revolutionary
Guards responded to Rouhani and said his remarks “destroyed unity, (incited)
divisions and conveyed ingratitude.”
Fadavi concluded his interview by saying: “During the sacred (Iranian-Iraqi)
war, we were fighting the enemy in the city of Khorramshahr and in the midst
of our homes but today we are fighting the enemy thousands of kilometers
away from our borders.”
The unhidden agenda of Turkey and Iran in the region
Abdullah bin Bijad Al-Otaibi/Al Arabiya/April 24/18
Events in the Middle East are rapidly unfolding as alliances are becoming
more intense and it is being recreated and formed again. Although such a
situation was usual in the past, the speed today has clearly intensified as
current affairs have become a major base of a new Cold War that has in fact
begun and can easily be detected.
The new Kingdom of Saudi Arabia led by the Custodian of the Two Holy Mosques
and Crown Prince Mohammed bin Salman is at the center of all these events.
Saudi Arabia influences these events and it’s also affected by them. What is
happening today is the result of decades of tension and pressure, but the
new Saudi Arabia displays its strength in every facet, enunciates its
positions more clearly and protects the rights of the state and the people,
as well as the rights of the Arab and Islamic nations in a categorical
manner.
The Crown Prince’s historic visit to the kingdom’s allies, namely Egypt,
Britain, the United States, France and Spain, reinforced old ties and
promoted the interests of Saudi Arabia and its allies in the Gulf region as
well as of Arab and Muslim countries.
Arab summit
As soon as the Crown Prince returned from his visit, King Salman bin
Abdulaziz was receiving the guests of the Arab summit in Dhahran — a summit
the King called the Jerusalem Summit because of its emphasis on the status
of Jerusalem. The kingdom has historically supported Jerusalem ever since
the era of the founding king and up until the formulation of the Saudi
initiative, which eventually became the Arab initiative after the Arab
League endorsed it. The kingdom has also provided unlimited political,
diplomatic, moral and financial support to the Palestinian cause on a
permanent basis.
The Dhahran Summit demonstrated two important facts. The first one is that
Saudi Arabia never exploits the Palestinian cause as a bargaining chip nor
for the furtherance of any agenda. The second one is that Saudi Arabia will
expose all those who are exploiting the Palestinian cause to achieve their
own aims, whether it’s the Iranian sectarian project or the Turkish Islamist
project, or the Gulf state of Qatar which supports the projects of the above
countries or the Muslim Brotherhood and all political Islam groups.
There is no place in Arab countries for a Muslim Brotherhood caliphate, an
Ottoman caliphate or an ISIS caliphate or a Persian or Turkish colonist. All
of them have been thrown into the waste bin of history.
A day after the summit concluded, King Salman and his guests who consisted
of leaders and representatives of Arab and Muslim countries, witnessed the
biggest military exercise in the history of the region, which lasted a whole
month. The drill clearly showed the kingdom’s military capabilities which
are still being developed and enhanced.
Forces advancing in Yemen
In parallel, there is a rational openness towards Arab countries which Iran
thought they’ve become fully dependent on it, such as Iraq and Lebanon. This
is in addition to engaging in a fierce confrontation in Yemen and to
achieving political stability in Syria whose crisis has become international
and is no longer just regional. The kingdom is also building tight
international cases against rivals in Yemen and Syria and against Iranian
militias and countries that are submissive to Iran and that have ambitions
in the region.
Forces have clamped down on the Houthi militia in Yemen while the Saudi
Crown Prince has confirmed that the national army, popular resistance and
the Arab coalition are closer than ever to the capital Sanaa. The reason
behind the slow progress is the fact that Saudi forces are the savior and
friend of the Yemeni people and not their violent enemy. Coalition spokesman
Colonel Turki al-Maliki recently said that Saudi Arabia's response to the
Iranian ballistic missiles launched by the Houthi militia on Saudi Arabia
would be “cruel, strong and painful”. This shows that Saudi Arabia has begun
to run out of patience and that it may repel the aggression on its borders
and against its security and safety via an unprecedented method that speeds
up finalizing the conflict faster than the enemies might imagine.
The Turkish agenda
The Turkish, Qatari and Brotherhood fundamentalist agenda is not in any way
less dangerous than the Iranian terrorist sectarian project. However, if
this project transforms into a plan to occupy Syria, then it would be a
different matter. Leaders’ attempts to transform this project into a bloody
colonization and an electoral plan that guarantees a long political future
for those who are full of contradictions harm all balances, regardless of
the size of slogans or political discord.
Those who are affected by the delusions of grandeur commit repeated
political sins without any awareness of the extent of damage they put their
countries through. Muammar Gaddafi and Saddam Hussein are prime examples in
this respect. There are also similar models from the fundamentalist Muslim
project in the region and the Gulf.
The issue is clear in the case of Turkey, whose dream of grabbing more power
has become more obvious than ever. As a result, there have been continuous
contradictions in its political statements, slogans and speeches. The
megalomania has reached its peak after inaugurating the new presidential
palace, which was constructed for the cost of over $3 billion. The writer of
these lines doesn’t forget the first official visit of a political guest in
the new palace and the pictures taken with soldiers standing in the
background on both sides wearing clothing that remind one of different
phases of Turkish history.
Revival of Arab League
Under the leadership of Saudi Arabia, the UAE, Egypt and Bahrain, Arab
states are restoring their leadership, and the Arab League is slowly
regaining its glory. We are witnessing a new phase in the region – a phase
in which old balances are thrown behind our backs and a brighter and more
exquisite future is built. Mature dreams, wishes and hopes are in the
process of realization at a time when the past’s speeches of Arabism,
Nasserism, leftism and the Muslim Brotherhood have become a source of
ridicule.
There is no place in Arab countries for a Muslim Brotherhood caliphate, an
Ottoman caliphate or an ISIS caliphate or a Persian or Turkish colonist. All
of them have been thrown into the waste bin of history.
Turkey, like Iran, seems to have little knowledge of modern history of the
region. The Ottoman Pashas of the Arab world can only be called assassins,
criminals and murderers. This is a historical fact that must not go
unnoticed. According to Reuters, Russian Deputy Foreign Minister Sergei
Ryabkov said: “We don’t know how the situation is going to develop on the
question of whether it is possible to keep Syria as a single country.” This
statement implies a lot.
Iranian ‘toman’ currently falls against the dollar
Mohammed Al Shaikh/Al Arabiya/April 24/18
I strongly believe that it is only a matter of time before the Iranian
Republic of Mullahs collapses because it is an underdeveloped polity of
clerics that cannot cope with the civilized world or needs of modernity.
Despite their different orientations and approaches, most contemporary
regimes depend on the capitalist system of economy, specifically the free
market economy, especially following the collapse of the socialist eastern
bloc’s states of which one or two states are left standing. Economy is thus
the main artery of states. If anything happens to the economy, the entire
state will be affected and vice versa.
Philosophical excesses
The Islamist political experiment, be it of the Shiite or Sunni variety,
does not concern itself with the state of the economy nor with individual
welfare or social services. Its primary concern is the spread of its
ideology, irrespective of the high cost it may entail. Thus, ideology is the
main priority for the Islamist countries, just as in the Middle Ages. For
all these reasons, I am certain that states which borrow their understanding
and conditions solely from the past cannot survive.
The latest Iranian news states that: The Iranian currency ‘toman’ recently
fell against the dollar by more than 37 percent compared to its level in
early 2018. US President Donald Trump intends the US to withdraw from the
nuclear agreement, signed between Iran and the US and the rest of
superpowers, unless the Iranian theocratic state accepts modifying it.
If the US withdraws from it, economic sanctions that had a telling effect on
Iran’s economy would be back in place (as they were before signing the
agreement) which would cause the Iranian currency to flounder, thus
automatically increasing the prices of goods and services, especially
imported products, to the extent that the majority of the Iranian population
would not be able to bear it.
If Iran wishes to survive, it must abandon its expansionist project and
expenditure on wars outside its borders, or else its collapse is inevitable
Action against currency traders
The theocratic regime in Iran has tried to control the dollar exchange rate
and arrested many currency traders and enforced the official dollar price.
However, all these measures have failed to check the falling currency, which
makes the possibility of a huge revolution against the Iranian regime just
around the corner. Iran’s only solution to avoid this is to comply with
Trump’s conditions.
Probably, the so-called reformists in Iran might reluctantly accept US terms
and conditions, led by the current President of Iran, Hassan Rouhani.
However the hardliners and fundamentalists, who are practically led by
Khamenei, firmly oppose any concession that might diminish Iran’s capability
to produce a nuclear bomb in the future. They justify this in accordance
with their fundamentalist outlook which supports exporting the Khomeinist
revolutionary concept on which they have been spending billions of dollars.
Thus, they believe the renunciation of the revolution is tantamount to
giving up on the expansions they achieved during the revolution – expansions
which they consider part of their loyalty to what they call the Imam's Line.
On top of these hardliners is the Revolutionary Guards which has controlled
a large percentage of Iran’s financial revenues, particularly oil and gas
revenues, ever since the revolution. The Revolutionary Guards will thus
fight fiercely to defend these earnings, even if they have to do what Bashar
al-Assad did in Syria.
The price of ‘toman’ now is the standard through which the future of the
theocratic sate can be predicted. Neither the Supreme Leader, who is biased
in his support for the fundamentalists, nor the Revolutionary Guards, no
matter what their repressive practices are, can overcome hunger, poverty,
and the collapsed service infrastructure forever. Therefore, if the Islamic
Republic of Iran wishes to survive, it must abandon its expansionist project
and expenditure on wars outside its borders, or else its collapse is
inevitable.