LCCC
ENGLISH DAILY NEWS BULLETIN
August 02/2018
Compiled & Prepared by: Elias
Bejjani
The Bulletin's Link on the
lccc Site
http://data.eliasbejjaninews.com/newselias18/english.august02.18.htm
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Bible
Quotations
Peace I
leave with you; my peace I give to you. I do not give to you as the world
gives
John 14/27-31: "Peace I leave with you; my peace I give to you. I do not
give to you as the world gives. Do not let your hearts be troubled, and do
not let them be afraid. You heard me say to you, "I am going away, and I am
coming to you." If you loved me, you would rejoice that I am going to the
Father, because the Father is greater than I. And now I have told you this
before it occurs, so that when it does occur, you may believe. I will no
longer talk much with you, for the ruler of this world is coming. He has no
power over me; but I do as the Father has commanded me, so that the world
may know that I love the Father. Rise, let us be on our way."
Titles For The Latest LCCC Bulletin analysis & editorials from
miscellaneous sources published on August 01-02/18
World Bank Official: Lebanon Economy Fragile, Needs Reform/Reuters/August
01/18
As Cabinet formation stalls, Berri alludes to extraordinary parliamentary
sessions/Georgi Azar/Annahar/August 01/2018/
Lebanon's Hash Farmers Fear Going Legal May Hit Profits/Agence France Presse/Naharnet/August
01/18
Russia: Iran-backed forces withdraw from Golan frontier/Associated
Press/August 01/ 2018
Veterans in Congress know what it means to put country first/David
Ignatius/The Washington Post/August 01/18
Spain: New Gateway to Europe for Mass-Migration/Thomas Paul Wiederholen/Gatestone
Institute/August 01/18
Trump heads for summit with Rouhani. Israel caught by surprise/DEBKAfile/August
01/18
Nation-state Law Backlash: Netanyahu Offers Israel's Druze New Legislation
to Enshrine Their Status/Noa Landau and Jack Khoury/Haaretz/August 01/2018
Trump’s surprise: Negotiating with Rowhani/Abdulrahman al-Rashed/Al Arabiya/August
01/18
A new Arab system/Amr Moussa/Al Arabiya/August 01/18
The Brotherhood’s news in German land/Mashari Althaydi/Al Arabiya/August
01/18
The ones who lost the Palestinian cause/Fares bin Hezam/Al Arabiya/August
01/18
Netanyahu Warns Iran: Block Mouth of Red Sea and Be Met by Force/Noa Shpigel/Haaretz/August
01/18
Titles For The
Latest LCCC Lebanese Related News published on August 01-02/18
President Aoun Says He's Determined to End Government Formation Crisis
Aoun Says No Party Will 'Monopolize' Representation in New Govt.
Lebanese Army celebrates 73rd anniversary
World Bank Official: Lebanon Economy Fragile, Needs Reform
Hariri: You Will Never See Me in Syria
South, Mount Lebanon Mayor Visit Bickfaya's Waste Sorting Plant
Lebanese Army Faces Challenge of Protecting Stability
Lebanon's PM-Designate Insists on Forming National Consensus Cabinet
As Cabinet formation stalls, Berri alludes to extraordinary parliamentary
sessions
Maronite Bishops: To overcome differences, agree on government formula
capable of facing challenges
Hariri receives a delegation from the Association of Building Traders in
Lebanon
Mikati from Diman: Talks about legislation in absence of executive authority
not serious
Shamsi, Bukhari offer condolences to Jumblatt on Sweida martyrs
Berri: Council has full right to legislate in present situation
World Bank Warns Some Lebanon Projects May be Canceled
Hariri, Jumblat and Geagea Insist on Govt. Demands, Backed by Berri
Lebanon's Hash Farmers Fear Going Legal May Hit Profits
Titles For The Latest LCCC
Bulletin For Miscellaneous Reports And News published
on August 01-02/18
Iran death penalty charges in economic crisis ‘breach international law’:
Amnesty
Iranian Forces Pulling Back From Israel Border, Says Russia
Iran says Trump offer of talks is ‘humiliation’, without value
US slaps sanctions on Turkey ministers over detained pastor
Russia: Iran-backed forces withdraw from Golan frontier
Sochi Focuses on Aid, Return of Syrian Refugees
IS Ambush Kills 4 Regime Fighters near Damascus
Videos Released of Japanese, Italian Captives in Syria
UN Plans September Talks on New Syria Constitution in Geneva
'Victory is Near,' Assad Tells Troops
ISIS Routed in Syria’s Yarmouk Basin
Debate Rages among Shiite Iraqi Powers over Largest Parliamentary Bloc
Egypt: 4 Brotherhood Members Get Life Sentences for Torching Giza Church
Ban on Face Veil Takes Effect in Denmark
Investigation Report on Malaysian Plane Crash Disappoints Families
Growing Protests Against UNRWA’s Policies
Palestinians Call for Massive Flow to Khan al-Ahmar
Israeli military faces Druze uproar over Jewish nation bill
Israeli Court Jails Arab Woman over Facebook Poem
Yemen: Houthis to Halt Red Sea Attacks for Two Weeks
Yemen Rebels Announce Temporary Red Sea Ceasefire
U.S. to Urge Pressure against N. Korea at Asia Talks
Trump Calls on U.S. Attorney General to End Russia Probe 'Disgrace'
Egyptian forces kill five suspected militants north of Cairo
The Latest LCCC Lebanese Related News published on August 01-02/18
President Aoun Says
He's Determined to End Government Formation Crisis
Kataeb.org/Wednesday
01st August 2018/ Wednesday 01st August 2018/President Michel Aoun on
Wednesday stressed his determination to pull the country out of the crisis
resulting from the government formation delay in cooperation with
PM-Designate Saad Hariri, hoping that all political factions would
contribute to ending this stalemate. In a speech delivered at the Shukri
Ghanem barracks in Fayyadieh marking the 73rd Army Day, Aoun said that the
votes cast by the Lebanese in the recent parliamentary polls should be
reflected in the new government, adding that it shouldn't be controlled or
dominated by any faction. "We are determined to have an all-inclusive
government without excluding or eliminating the role of any of the local
political components, and without monopolizing the representation of any of
the sects," he said.
Aoun Says No Party Will 'Monopolize' Representation in New Govt.
President Michel Aoun announced Wednesday that the new government will
“bring together the Lebanese components” without any “marginalization” or “monopolization.”“Some
demands have so far delayed the formation of the government,” Aoun said in a
speech marking Army Day. “I reiterate my determination, in cooperation with
the PM-designate, to pull out the country of the government delay crisis,
counting on the cooperation of all parties and their patriotic sense,
because any regress in this period of our history would be betrayal of the
country and the people's aspirations,” the president added. He underlined
that the new government should “bring together the Lebanese components
without marginalizing any component... or monopolizing the representation of
any sect.” “The voice of the Lebanese which has been represented in
parliament should also be reflected on the new government's line-up,” Aoun
went on to say, stressing that he will seek to prevent “any hegemony of one
camp over another.”“It should not achieve the interest of a certain party
seeking to monopolize its decisions or to impede the state's rise,” the
president added. PM-designate Saad Hariri was tasked with forming a new
government on May 24. The main obstacle hindering his mission is political
wrangling over Christian and Druze representation.
Lebanese Army
celebrates 73rd anniversary
The Daily Star/August 01/18/BEIRUT: The country’s top brass
gathered at the Shukri Ghanem barracks in Fayyadieh Wednesday morning to
celebrate the Lebanese Army’s 73rd anniversary.
Army Commander Gen. Joseph Aoun led the ceremony, which was attended by the
president, speaker and prime minister-designate. President Michel Aoun
issued the graduating class of officers their sabers. The class is named
“Fajr al-Joroud,” after last year saw the Army push out terrorists, who had
been holed up since the beginning of the Syrian war, from Lebanon’s
northeastern border. During a speech at the ceremony, the president called
for continued cooperation with the United Nations peacekeeping force in
Lebanon to protect the country. "Your role is always paramount in protecting
our south from Israel's covetousness, as part of a complete and coordinated
cooperation with international forces," Aoun said. He also commended the
Army for "safeguarding Lebanon's commitments, including the implementation
of [UNSC] Resolution 1701, while Israel continues to violate this resolution
and still occupies part of our territories." Aoun praised the Army as the
country's most stable bulwark in times of crises. "In times of war, the Army
defends the borders, preserves the land, restores the dignity and
sovereignty and repairs the loopholes in the wall of national unity and
coexistence,” he said. “In times of peace, the Army has to shoulder the
responsibility of preserving the security, the gains of stability as well as
the aspirations of the Lebanese citizens."
World Bank Official:
Lebanon Economy Fragile, Needs Reform
Reuters/Wednesday 01st August 2018/
Lebanon’s economy is fragile, unsustainable and needs the state to enact
reforms, a senior World Bank official said on Tuesday as the country neared
three months without a government since parliamentary elections in May.
“Lebanon has been defying gravity for quite some time,” World Bank Group
Vice President for the Middle East and North Africa Ferid Belhaj said, and a
day would come when “gravity materialises”.“Clearly this is not a situation
which is sustainable and things need to be done,” he told journalists at the
World Bank’s offices in Beirut, though he added that the central bank has a
good buffer of foreign reserves. “I’m not worried about the economy, but it
is in a state of fragility,” Belhaj added. Lebanon has been suffering weak
growth since 2011, hit by regional turmoil. The IMF has estimated growth
rates of 1-1.5 percent in 2017 and 2018, saying traditional drivers of the
economy - construction and real estate - remain subdued. The IMF has also
called for “an immediate and substantial” fiscal adjustment to improve the
sustainability of public debt, which stood at more than 150 percent of gross
domestic product (GDP) at the end of 2017. Leaders from across Lebanon’s
divided political establishment have said they recognise the urgency of the
situation and the need to start reforms, but a new unity government has yet
to be agreed following parliamentary elections on May 6. In April
international donors meeting in Paris pledged more than $11 billion of
investment for Lebanon, but they want to see reform first. At that meeting
Prime Minister Saad al-Hariri promised to reduce the budget deficit as a
percentage of GDP by 5 percent over five years. The World Bank has a $2.2
billion investment portfolio in Lebanon, but the lack of government means
$1.1 billion of that amount — to be spent on jobs, health and transport
projects — is still awaiting approval by Beirut before it can be used. “We
need to make sure these projects move forward. Not only is it a loss for
Lebanon having these investments stay idle, but the government is paying
commitment fees on these,” Belhaj said, adding there may come a time when
those projects have to be cancelled.
Hariri: You Will Never See Me in Syria
Kataeb.org/Wednesday 01st August 2018/Prime Minister-designate Saad Hariri
on Tuesday renewed his hard-line position against the Syrian regime, saying
that he would never visit Damascus. “It’s impossible to see me in Syria even
if the whole political equation in the region changes. Should this be in
Lebanon's interest, then you will have to search for someone other than me,”
Hariri told media reporters following the Future bloc's weekly meeting.
Hariri voiced determination to form a national consensus government, adding
that he did not get nominated by 112 lawmakers so that he would form a
majoritarian one.
"The consensus that we gained and the political settlement that we made are
aimed at having an all-inclusive government. Otherwise, we would be
jeopardizing an effective thing [settlement] that allowed us to hold the
parliamentary elections, approve a new voting law and achieve the CEDRE and
Rome conferences." Hariri deemed the ongoing obstruction of the government
formation as "intentional", noting, however, that some of those hindering
this process may have justified demands. Hariri said that he "had not yet
the chance" to meet with FPM leader Gebran Bassil, praising the latter's
meeting with Speaker Nabih Berri as good for the country.
South, Mount Lebanon Mayor Visit Bickfaya's Waste Sorting Plant
Kataeb.org/Wednesday 01st August 2018/The mayors and members of
municipalities in several towns and villages in the south and Mount Lebanon
visited Bickfaya’s Bi-Clean waste sorting plant, in a tour organized in
collaboration with ACTED organization. ACTED is an international
non-governmental organization committed to immediate humanitarian relief to
support those in urgent need. The visiting group was given an in-depth
insight into the work mechanism at the sorting plant. Bi-Clean is an
initiative launched by Bickfaya's municipality, and is aimed at handling
waste management according to the system of integrated waste management. The
Bi-Clean waste management center is now treating eight tons of daily waste
sorted from source. “The determination and perseverance to complete what
we’ve started are the two main catalysts for our success, despite all the
hardships facing us,” Bickfaya Mayor Nicole Gemayel said, noting that the
center was established because Bickfaya refused to yield to the garbage
crisis that plagued the country. “We must refuse the status quo through our
willpower and our efforts to address the problems facing us,” Gemayel
concluded.
Lebanese Army Faces
Challenge of Protecting Stability
Beirut - Youssef Diab/Asharq Al-Awsat/Wednesday, 1 August, 2018/Lebanon
celebrates this first of August the 73rd anniversary of the establishment of
its army. This year’s celebration has a special meaning as it coincides with
major achievements by the army in the fight against terrorism and the
ousting of terrorist groups from the eastern Lebanese borders. The Lebanese
Army has proved its combat effectiveness, starting with the battle against
Fatah al-Islam in the Nahr al-Bared camp in northern Lebanon in 2007,
leading to the fierce battle against ISIS which took place in Arsal on the
eastern borders in August last year. In the last three years, the army has
recorded a series of achievements that have raised the interest of major
international powers, which are now seeking to strengthen the Lebanese
military institutions by providing it with training, arms and information
capabilities.
The qualitative operations carried out by the army in recent years are the
result of the bulk of military, security and intelligence work that the
organization has achieved. A military source told Asharq Al-Awsat that the
most significant achievement under the leadership of General Joseph Aoun was
in the battle of “Fajr al-Jouroud” in Arsal, in addition to stopping the
flow of car bombs inside the country and easing the security pressure on
Lebanon. The sources emphasized that the army’s fast victory in Arsal has
allowed it to focus its efforts on the protection of internal security, by
chasing terrorist networks and uncovering dormant cells in successful
preemptive operations. Although the achievements of the army are a source of
confidence for the Lebanese, the army has many challenges ahead, according
to its leader General Joseph Aoun. The military sources noted that among
important challenges facing the army were security concerns and the
protection of the borders, to prevent the risk of the infiltration of armed
militants into Lebanon. The army is also facing the threat of any Israeli
attack on Lebanon’s southern border, and chasing espionage networks
operating for Israel. The director of the Middle East Institute for
Strategic Affairs, Dr. Sami Nader, said that the army “has become the last
resort for the Lebanese and is constantly present to protect national
sovereignty, and thus lacks a single political decision to extend its
absolute authority over the entire Lebanese territory.”Since 2006, Lebanon
has been trying to develop a defense strategy that would give the state a
decision on war and peace, and prevent any weapons from being left outside
the legitimacy. However, all dialogues have so far failed because Hezbollah
refuses to handover its weapons.
Lebanon's PM-Designate Insists on Forming National Consensus Cabinet
Beirut - Asharq Al-Awsat/Wednesday, 1 August, 2018/Prime Minister-designate
Saad Hariri has said that the problems facing the formation of the
government are fabricated by all those who put obstacles in its way. In
remarks to reporters following al-Mustaqbal parliamentary bloc’s meeting at
the Center House in Beirut, Hariri stressed that he received the votes of
112 deputies to form a national consensus government. He said: “I am not
with a majority government. On the contrary, the consensus we obtained and
the compromise we made is to have all the parties in the government, and we
all bear the responsibility of what happens in the country.”“Or else we
would be neglecting an important issue that allowed us to carry out the
elections, the electoral law and CEDRE and Rome conferences. Thus, we would
be losing our credibility.”Hariri rejected criticism that President Michel
Aoun is demanding a majority government, asserting that the only criterion
for him is the national partnership and national accord. As for the
obstructing parties, Hariri said that the parties he supports may be among
those hindering the formation, “but they have rightful demands.” Stressing
that no side has pressured him to make a decision, he said: “If some want to
hold me responsible, the Lebanese people know who is actually responsible
for the obstruction.” As for the anticipated meeting with Caretaker Foreign
Minister Jebran Bassil, Hariri said: “We didn’t have the chance to meet
yet.”
As Cabinet formation
stalls, Berri alludes to extraordinary parliamentary sessions
Georgi Azar/Annahar/August 01/2018/
Speaker Nabih Berri prefaced his comments by maintaining the "importance of
forming a new Cabinet in light of the delicate times we live in."
BEIRUT: Amid the lack of progress in the
formation of a new Cabinet, House Speaker Nabih Berri alluded Wednesday to
the possibility of calling Parliament to extraordinary legislative sessions
in line with the Consitution.
Berri prefaced his comments by maintaining the "importance of forming a new
Cabinet in light of the delicate times we live in.""I hope that everyone
deals with this situation responsibly and facilitate the process [of forming
a new Cabinet] to lift the country out of this state." The Speaker based his
argument on Article 66 of the constitution, which states that if "the
Council [Cabinet] resigns or is considered resigned, the Chamber of Deputies
[Parliament] shall automatically be considered convened in extraordinary
session until a new Council [Cabinet] has been formed and has gained the
Chamber's [Parliament] confidence."Lebanon's Cabinet entered its caretaker
mode on May 21, 15 days following the conclusion of the country's
parliamentary elections on May 6. Despite the possibility of calling
extraordinary sessions, Berri stressed that he would "rather wait until a
new Cabinet is formed in order to avoid any frictions."Prime
Minister-designate Hariri has been tasked with forming an all-inclusive
Cabinet comprising of the country's different political factions yet has
faced several hurdles in the process, mainly in respect to the Lebanese
Forces and Free Patriotic Movement's demands. The LF, who saw their bloc
expand to 15 MPs, have been pushing for a significant share of ministries
including one of four key portfolios (Interior, Defense, Foreign and Finance
Ministries) to rival the FPM. The FPM, with its 29 MPs however, remains the
biggest Christian coalition in Parliament. President Michel Aoun has been
adamant in his refusal to grant the LF's wishes and limit their
representation despite Hariri's commitment to an all-inclusive Cabinet. The
President has also been trying to secure at least three other ministries to
go alongside the FPM's seven, including that of the deputy premier position
which is currently occupied by the LF.
Maronite Bishops: To overcome differences, agree on
government formula capable of facing challenges
Wed 01 Aug 2018/NNA - The Maronite Bishops held their monthly meeting at the
Diman Patriarchate under the chairmanship of Maronite Patriarch, Cardinal
Mar Bechara Boutros Rahi, with talks touching on church and national
affairs. At the end of the meeting, participants issued a statement in which
they congratulated the Lebanese on the Army Day, and relayed congratulations
to the Army leadership, officers and soldiers. Bishops commended the efforts
and responsibilities of the army and the security forces in their quest to
defend the homeland, fight terrorism and safeguard the wellbeing of all
citizens.
Bishops regretted "the passage of more than two months on the designation of
a Prime Minister to form the government, without consultations and political
contacts leading to results as to forming that new government, while the
economic conditions are deteriorating, and regional developments are
crucial."
They thus called on official and political references "to overcome disputes
arising from quotas, the distribution of ministerial portfolios and others,
and to accelerate the agreement on a formula for a government capable of
facing the most pressing challenges."
Moreover, Bishops tackled the issue of legalizing the cultivation of
cannabis for medical use and to help the State treasury. Accordingly, they
"deemed this issue extremely dangerous for various social and ethical
reasons and called to approach it in a more objective, scientific and
practical way and study the negative aspects of this agriculture as well as
its advantages, so as to avoid harming the health of the citizens,
especially the younger generations."
Hariri receives a delegation from the Association of
Building Traders in Lebanon
Wed 01 Aug 2018/NNA - Prime Minister-designate Saad Hariri received today at
the "Center House" a delegation from the Association of Building Traders in
Lebanon, headed by the President of the Association, Elie Soma, in the
presence of Hariri's Advisor for Development Affairs, Fadi Fawaz. After the
meeting, Souma said: "We were honored to visit Prime Minister Hariri today,
after our visit to the President of the Republic and the Speaker of the
Parliament to inform them about the difficult situation in the country,
especially the construction sector, which is the mainstay of the economy.
This sector is facing stagnation and we are doing our best to bring the
economic wheel back into the country. There are some difficulties we are
facing from the banks and the suspension of housing loans, but fortunately,
the three presidents have shown their willingness to keep housing loans, as
promised, and this will make the economic wheel turn. We are relying on PM
Hariri who was positive and assured us to follow up things to make the ship
reach the safety shore. We are satisfied with the atmosphere of our visit to
Prime Minister Hariri and we will remain in constant contact with him to
convey our concerns. We consider him as the protector of the construction
sector, which is the mainstay of the Lebanese economy, there are sixty
professions related to this sector, and we are very hopeful about the views
of his Excellency to reach the safety shore."
Mikati from Diman: Talks about legislation in absence of executive authority
not serious
Wed 01 Aug 2018/NNA - Former Prime Minister, MP Najib Mikati visited on
Wednesday the Maronite Patriarch Cardinal Mar Bechara Boutros Rahi at his
summer residence in Diman in the presence of members of the "Center
Independent" Parliamentary bloc: Jean Obeid, Nicolas Nahas and Ali Darwish.
In the wake of the meeting, Mikati delivered a statement in which he said
"Everyone is talking about quotas and not about competencies and policies
that should be followed in the future in the light of the great challenges
that await the upcoming government.""No one can launch any warnings to the
premier-designate, who was tasked by the majority, and looks forward to
forming a government that is at the level of challenges," he said. "It is
normal for the government to represent different political groups and
bodies."Pertaining to the possibility of holding parliamentary sessions in
the presence of an outgoing government, Mikati said "We do not want to get
into this controversy because I think Speaker Berri has the wisdom not to
raise such an issue at the present time. In principle, the constitution
confirms the separation of powers. I believe that when the House of
Representatives convenes under Strong legislative authority and in the
absence of an executive authority because of resignation, this means
imbalance. I also believe that Speaker Berri is keen not to cause any
imbalances in Lebanon."Asked whether this proposal was serious, Mikati
replied: "This is something I do not regard as serious."
Shamsi, Bukhari offer condolences to Jumblatt on Sweida martyrs
Wed 01 Aug 2018/NNA - The UAE Ambassador to Lebanon, Hamad Saeed al-Shamsi,
and Saudi Minister Plenipotentiary Charge d'Affaire, Walid Bukhari, on
Wednesday afternoon visited Progressive Socialist Party head, Walid Jumblatt,
at his residence in Clemenceau, to offer condolences on Sweida's fallen
martyrs.Both Shamsi and Bukhari expressed solidarity with the sons of Jabal
al-Arab at these intricate times.
Berri: Council has full right to legislate in present
situation
Wed 01 Aug 2018/NNA - Speaker of the House, Nabih Berri, reiterated during
his Wednesday parliamentary meeting "the importance of working with all
means to speed up the formation of the government due to the delicacy of the
situation in which we all live, hoping that "everyone will deal flexibly and
responsibly with this issue so as to facilitate the process of formation and
thus the exit from the state of stagnation experienced by the country."As
for what is raised by some media outlets with regard to legislation, Berri
was quoted as saying: "Article 69 of the Constitution is clear in terms of
the right of the House of Representatives to legislate in similar
situations.""Despite this unambiguous right, according to the text of the
Constitution, I do prefer to follow the policy of slowdown, so as not to
interpret matters outside their context," he said at the Wednesday
Gathering. On the other hand, Speaker Berri telephoned Paraguayan Congress
President, Silvio Adalberto Ovelar Benitez, congratulating him on his
election. He also received a cable from German Chancellor Angela Merkel.
World Bank Warns Some
Lebanon Projects May be Canceled
Associated Press/Naharnet/August 01/18/A senior World Bank official has said
that the Lebanese economy is "not doing great" and urged the country's
leaders to approve some $1.1 billion worth of projects put forward by the
international lender, saying otherwise they could be canceled. Ferid Belhaj,
the bank's vice president for the Middle East and North Africa, told
reporters in Beirut that the economy is "in a state of fragility." Lebanon's
economy has suffered from the seven-year civil war in neighboring Syria,
which has caused occasional spillovers of violence and has sent more than 1
million refugees across the border. Syrian refugees now make up about a
quarter of Lebanon's population. The refugees' presence has been a burden on
Lebanon's already crumbling infrastructure. Power outages are common, and
many residents must have water brought to their homes by tanker truck.
Belhaj said Lebanon should take steps to reform the electricity sector,
where the state-owned provider operates on a $1.5 billion annual deficit.
Corruption-plagued Lebanon has one of the highest debt ratios in the world,
worth $80 billion, or 152 percent of the gross domestic product, and growth
has been slow since 2011. Belhaj said the World Bank has a portfolio of more
than $2 billion of projects in Lebanon, including about $1.1 billion which
is still "not converted into actual investment, meaning they are sitting
with parliament and the council of ministers."He said the World Bank wants
to make sure that projects move forward, not only because Lebanon needs
them, but because the government is paying commitment fees on them. He said
that if the projects are not approved by the government and parliament they
will have to be canceled. "This is not our preference, obviously. We would
really want to have these projects move ahead as soon as possible," he said.
Saroj Kumar Jha, the World Bank's regional director for the Mashreq, or
Middle East, said the projects include improving roads in rural areas,
building rapid bus transit across Beirut and improving the electricity
sector. Prime Minister-designate Saad Hariri has been trying to form a
Cabinet since after the May 6 parliamentary elections, with no success due
to political bickering. On Tuesday, Lebanese media reported that Iraqi
intelligence in collaboration with the Lebanese General Security have
revealed a scam network spreading false information to blackmail a number of
Lebanese banks, including one of the country's largest. Investigations were
continuing, and the head of Lebanon's General Security, Maj. gen. Abbas
Ibrahim, told reporters in Beirut the plot was to undermine Lebanon's
banking sector, one of the country's economic pillars. Iraqi intelligence
has reportedly arrested some members of the network, who had falsely claimed
they had accounts in Lebanese banks worth millions of dollars.
Hariri, Jumblat and Geagea Insist on Govt. Demands,
Backed by Berri
The new government will not be formed soon and PM-designate Saad Hariri,
Lebanese Forces leader Samir Geagea and Progressive Socialist Party chief
Walid Jumblat have closed ranks in their endeavor to get the shares that
they want in the Cabinet, a media report said.
“The three parties enjoy the support of Speaker Nabih Berri, who is
sympathizing with their reasonable, rational and normal demands,” MTV quoted
high-ranking political sources as saying. “Saudi Arabia is not interfering
to resolve the crisis and Iran is not making any initiative,” the sources
added, noting that Tehran is “preoccupied with the Syria file and with the
November 4 date for reimposing the U.S. sanctions on it,” the sources added.
“Inside the country, the local parties are confident that there will be no
government in the near future,” the sources went on to say. Turning to
Hariri's relation with Free Patriotic Movement chief MP Jebran Bassil, the
sources said the PM-designate is “refusing to give Bassil 10 or 11
ministers” in a bid to prevent the new presidential tenure from getting a
so-called “one-third veto power” in Cabinet. “He largely agrees on this with
Berri, because the parliamentary sizes do not entitle them to such a number
of seats,” the sources added. As for Bassil's visit to Ain el-Tineh on
Tuesday, the sources said the move “reflects the dilemma that the new
presidential tenure and the FPM chief are facing,” noting that Bassil
decided to “show openness to Berri after he severed his communication
channels with Maarab, Clemenceau and the Center House.”
Lebanon's Hash Farmers Fear Going Legal May Hit Profits
Agence France Presse/Naharnet/August 01/18
The sun-soaked cannabis fields
are just out of reach of a nearby army checkpoint. Its production is
lucrative in Lebanon, but growers fear legalizing its medical use could
slash profits. The remote territory surrounding the northeastern Lebanese
town of Yammouneh is blanketed in the potent plant, harvested and sold by
powerful families. "All these red-shingled houses around us have been built
with marijuana money," says a local grower, speaking on condition of
anonymity to avoid legal troubles. Lebanon bans growing, selling, and
consuming cannabis, but the underground trade developed over decades into a
multi-million dollar industry pumping resin into other countries. Lawmakers
are now considering legalizing its medical use, following a recommendation
this year by consulting firm McKinsey that doing so could boost Lebanon's
faltering economy. But growers and distributors fear government regulation
would eat away at their revenue, or see bigger corporate players run them
out of business altogether. "We don't have a problem with legalization, but
the primary beneficiary must be the grower," says Yammouneh's deputy mayor
Hussein Shreif.
He spoke to the AFP news agency during a tour of the town, where many
residents are involved in the trade. Growers prefer the current "free
market" system, Shreif says, because they can sell to "big traffickers to
make 10 times more money.""If the state gets involved, the profit won't be
the same."
Taking root
Cannabis production blossomed during Lebanon's 1975-1990 war, and
authorities struggled to clamp down on the trade after the conflict ended.
Security forces regularly bust attempted drug exports at Beirut airport and
have even gone to the source, destroying thousands of acres of cannabis
fields. U.N.-backed programs have tried to persuade farmers to switch those
fields into vineyards, with little success. Cannabis cultivators claim that
no other crop can survive the arid climate of Lebanon's eastern Bekaa. "If
you tossed hashish on a pile of pebbles, it'd take root. You see it on the
roadside and on piles of trash," says the grower. In Lebanon, cannabis is
typically planted in spring and harvested in September, then sun-dried for
three days, chilled and pressed. Yammouneh's farmers say they sell their
product to distributors at an average of $400 (340 euros) per kilo, more if
it is of a higher quality. Distributors then either sell to local consumers
for several times that price, or export it. In 2016, the United Nations
Office on Drugs and Crime ranked Lebanon as the third main source of
cannabis resin after Morocco and Afghanistan, which are both much larger.
Lebanon's exports go mainly to nearby markets in Syria, Jordan, Egypt,
Cyprus, Turkey, and even arch-foe Israel. Some of those countries have
legalized medical marijuana, which can be used to relieve chronic pain or
anxiety, nausea among cancer patients, or symptoms of epilepsy. While
cannabis is usually smoked, for medical purposes it can be consumed in pills
or concentrated oils. A growing number of governments are allowing its
prescription, including countries across South America, Europe, and most US
states.
Let us grow it
The details of potential legalization in Lebanon remain hazy, but growers
are already setting a few conditions. "If cannabis production must become
legal, it should at least be limited to areas it's currently growing in,"
says Jamal Shreif, another local official in Yammouneh. "If someone buying
from us now can grow it himself, then he'll stop coming to us."Residents of
Lebanon's Bekaa Valley are also hoping that a legalization bill would come
with an "amnesty" for more than 30,000 people wanted on drug-related
charges, says the deputy major, Hussein Shreif. The charges usually end in
jail time, but earlier this month a Lebanese Army raid on a high-profile
trafficker's home in the Bekaa left him and seven others dead. It came just
days after Parliament Speaker Nabih Berri announced lawmakers were preparing
to discuss legalizing cannabis for medical use to boost the economy.
Lebanon's economy has been in a downward spiral for years, with political
divisions paralyzing the government. The outbreak of war in neighboring
Syria in 2011 added to those woes, keeping tourists away and triggering an
influx of refugees that strained services. Public debt stands at $80.4
billion, equivalent to 150 percent of GDP, the third highest worldwide after
Japan and Greece. "If you really want to legalize cannabis, then let us grow
it and export it," says the deputy mayor. "Drug traders could close out the
public debt in a year." Lebanon is also ranked by Transparency International
as one of the most corrupt countries in the world, and cannabis croppers
fear that will seep into their trade if it is regularized. "They've stolen
everything in Lebanon -- there's only cannabis left, and now they want to
steal that too," says Jamal Shreif.
The Latest LCCC Bulletin For Miscellaneous Reports And News
published
on August 01-02/18
Iran death penalty
charges in economic crisis ‘breach international law’: Amnesty
Agencies/August 01/18/LONDON: Iran’s application of the death
penalty to individuals arrested during the country’s economic crisis would
be in “direct breach of international law,” the world’s leading human-rights
organization has said.
At least 29 people have been arrested for “economic disruption,” Iranian
officials announced last weekend, with many facing charges that carry the
death penalty.
Amnesty International on Wednesday expressed “alarm” over the arrests,
saying that the application of the death penalty for non-violent crimes
would be “in direct breach of international law.”
The plunging value of the Iranian currency and worsening economic situation
has prompted a string of public protests this year. In an apparent attempt
to be seen to be tackling the crisis, officials announced dozens of arrests
and blamed unnamed “enemies” for the rial’s decline. “Amnesty International
is alarmed at the judiciary’s announcement that it has charged individuals
arrested in relation to the country’s economy and currency crisis with
‘corruption on earth’ (efsad-e fel arz), which incurs the death penalty,” an
Amnesty spokesperson told Arab News. “This would be in direct breach of
international law, which restricts the use of the death penalty to only the
‘most serious crimes’ — those involving intentional killing. Amnesty
International’s research has shown that basic fair trial guarantees are
absent in death penalty cases in Iran.” The statement follows warnings from
other campaign groups over the human-rights situation in Iran. “In recent
weeks and months we’ve had many protests,” Mahmood Amiry-Moghaddam,
spokesman for the Oslo-based Iran Human Rights group, told Arab News on
Tuesday.
“Human rights are suffering … and every day they suffer more. Iran is among
the biggest violators of human rights in the world today.”
Harvard scholar and Iranian affairs expert Dr. Majid Rafizadeh said that the
arrests connected to the economic crisis amounted to a PR exercise by the
Iranian government. “The arrests by the regime are mostly cosmetic actions
aimed at projecting that the Islamic Republic is taking actions to address
corruption and address people’s grievances,” he said. “The regime is also
trying to point (the) finger at some individuals rather than on the
systematic financial corruption within the political establishment.” Amid
widespread public anger, demonstrations spread to the historic city of
Isfahan on Tuesday, with protesters demanding an end to the Iranian regime’s
costly interference in the affairs of neighboring countries in the region.
Video footage showed hundreds of protesters shouting: “No to Gaza, no to
Lebanon, my soul is Iran’s redemption.” The slogan refers to Tehran’s
military adventures in Syria, Iraq and Lebanon, at the expense of the
domestic economy. “The protests in Isfahan are significant because they
highlight people’s ongoing and growing outrage and frustration with the
theocratic establishment, as the economy is in shambles,” said Rafizadeh.
“Despite the regime’s crackdown, people continue to take to streets as they
can’t make ends meet.”
Iranian Forces Pulling
Back From Israel Border, Says Russia
Reuters and Jack
Khoury/Haaretz/August 01, 2018
Russia's envoy to Syria says the Iranians withdrew 85 kilometers from the
Golan Heights ■ Assad says his regime is headed for 'crushing victory'
Iranian forces have withdrawn their heavy weapons to a distance of 85 km (53
miles) from the Golan Heights frontier between Israel and Syria, TASS news
agency quoted Russia's envoy to Syria as saying on Wednesday. Backed by
Russia, Iran, and the Hezbollah's Shi'ite militia, Syrian President Bashar
Assad has retaken territory in southern-western Syria from rebels, bringing
the pro-Assad forces in proximity to the Israeli border. "The Iranians
withdrew and the Shi'ite formations are not there," the agency quoted
Alexander Lavrentiev, President Vladimir Putin's special envoy to Syria, as
saying.
Lavrentiev said Iranian service personnel whom he described as advisors
could be among Syrian army forces who remain closer to the Israeli border.
"But there are no units of heavy equipment and weapons that could pose a
threat to Israel at a distance of 85 km from the line of demarcation,"
Lavrentiev said.
In the meantime, Assad said on Wednesday that his army is about to regain
control over the divided country: "We are about to announce a crushing
victory," he wrote in a letter on the occasion of the 73rd anniversary of
the establishment of Syria's army."We have reached stability and security in
most regions, from Homs to Palmyra... and other areas where terror was
established with logistical and financial support over seven and a half
years ago," he added. On Monday, the Syrian government regained control of
the frontier with the Golan Heights for the first time in seven years after
Islamic State-linked militants gave up their last pocket of territory in the
area, reported by state media and an opposition-linked war monitoring group.
Israeli officials see Iranian forces and Hezbollah as a direct threat to
their country's security. An Israeli official deemed the pullback
insufficient. "What we have laid down as a red line is military intervention
and entrenchment by Iran in Syria, and not necessarily on our border,"
Regional Cooperation Minister Tzachi Hanegbi told Israel Radio, citing the
longer-range threat posed by Iranian missiles or drones positioned in Syria.
Israel rejected the offer, which was made during a meeting between Prime
Minister Benjamin Netanyahu and visiting Russian Foreign Minister Sergei
Lavrov. In an apparent riposte, Russia's ambassador to Israel, Anatoly
Viktorov, said on Monday that Moscow could not compel Iran to leave Syria.
"There'll be no compromises nor concessions on this matter." Last week an
Israeli official, who spoke on condition of anonymity, said Russia had
offered to keep Iranian forces at least 100 km from the Golan Heights
ceasefire line. But Viktorov also signalled that Russia would continue to
turn a blind eye to Israeli air strikes against suspected Iranian and
Hezbollah arms transfers or emplacements in Syria. Hanegbi said Israel
wanted to prevent Iran and Hezbollah from effectively extending their
Lebanese front against it. "We are not ready to see a new Hezbollah front on
our northern border between Israel and Syria. This is something that is
dangerous. This is something that, if we don't prevent it today, when still
at its outset, will a exact a heavy price of us down the line," he said.
Iran says Trump offer of talks is ‘humiliation’,
without value
Reuters, London/Tuesday, 31 July 2018/Senior Iranian officials on Tuesday
rejected US President Donald Trump’s offer of talks without preconditions as
worthless and “a humiliation” after he acted to re-impose sanctions on
Tehran following his withdrawal from a landmark nuclear deal.
Separately, Iranian President Hassan Rouhani said Trump’s repudiation of the
accord reached in 2015 was “illegal” and Iran would not easily yield to
Washington’s renewed campaign to strangle Iran’s vital oil exports. In May,
Trump pulled the United States out of the multilateral deal concluded before
he took office, denouncing it as one-sided in Iran’s favor. On Monday, he
declared that he would be willing to meet Rouhani without preconditions to
discuss how to improve relations. The head of Iran’s Strategic Council on
Foreign Relations said on Tuesday Tehran saw no worth in Trump’s offer, made
only a week after he warned Iran it risked dire consequences few had ever
suffered in history if it made threats against Washington. “Based on our bad
experiences in negotiations with America and based on US officials’
violation of their commitments, it is natural that we see no value in his
proposal,” Kamal Kharrazi was quoted as saying by the semi-official Fars
news agency. “Trump should first make up for his withdrawal from the nuclear
deal and show that he respects his predecessors’ commitments and
international law,” added Kharrazi, a former foreign minister. The council
was set up by Iranian Supreme Leader Ayatollah Ali Khamenei to help
formulate long-term policies for the Islamic Republic.
Trump’s move to force Iran into fresh negotiations has for now reunited
Iranian hardliners who opposed the nuclear deal and moderates like Rouhani
who championed it to end the Islamic Republic’s economically crippling
stand-off with Western powers. Ali Motahari, the deputy speaker of Iran’s
parliament who is seen as part of Iran’s moderate camp, said that to
negotiate with Trump now “would be a humiliation”. “If Trump had not
withdrawn from the nuclear deal and not imposed (new) sanctions on Iran,
there would be no problem with negotiations with America,” he told state
news agency IRNA. Iran’s interior minister chimed in that Tehran did not
trust Washington as a negotiating partner. “The United States is not
trustworthy. How can we trust this country when it withdraws unilaterally
from the nuclear deal?” Abdolreza Rahmani Fazli was quoted as saying by the
semi-official Fars news agency. A senior aide to Rouhani said the only way
back to talks was for Washington to return to the nuclear agreement.
“Respecting the Iranian nation’s rights, reducing hostilities and returning
to the nuclear deal are steps that can be taken to pave the bumpy road of
talks between Iran and America,” Hamid Aboutalebi tweeted on Tuesday. Under
the 2015 deal, the fruit of Rouhani’s efforts to ease Iran’s international
isolation to help revive its economy, Iran curbed its shadowy nuclear
program and won relief from UN and Western sanctions in return.
Nuclear pact in jeopardy
Trump condemned the deal in part because it did not cover Iran’s ballistic
missile program and involvement in Middle East conflicts. He reactivated US
sanctions, the most all-encompassing measures against Iran, and warned
countries to stop importing Iranian oil from Nov. 4 or risk US penalties.
The three major European signatories to the 2015 deal have been searching
for ways to salvage it but cautioned Tehran that they may not be able to
persuade many major investors not to bolt from business with Iran to avoid
US punishment. Rouhani said during a meeting with Britain’s ambassador on
Tuesday that after what he called the “illegal” US withdrawal from the
nuclear deal, “the ball is in Europe’s court now”. He added, “The Islamic
Republic has never sought tension in the region and does not want any
trouble in global waterways, but it will not easily give up on its rights to
export oil.” Rouhani and some senior military commanders have said Iran
could disrupt oil shipments from Gulf states through the Strait of Hormuz if
Washington tries to choke off Iranian oil exports. Reiterating Tehran’s
official stance, Iranian Navy Commander Rear Admiral Hossein Khanzadi was
quoted as saying by Tasnim news agency on Tuesday that the strait would
remain open “if Iran’s national interests are preserved”.
US slaps sanctions on Turkey ministers over detained
pastor
Staff writer, Al Arabiya English/Wednesday, 1 August 2018/The US Treasury
Department on Wednesday hit Turkey's justice and interior ministers with
sanctions over the case of an American pastor being tried on terror charges.
“We believe he's a victim of unfair and unjust attention by the government
of Turkey,” White House spokeswoman Sarah Sanders told journalists,
referring to Andrew Brunson, an American pastor at the center of a bitter
diplomatic spat between NATO allies. Brunson, who led a Protestant church in
the Aegean city of Izmir, was placed under house arrest last week after
nearly two years in jail. “Pastor Brunson’s unjust detention and continued
prosecution by Turkish officials is simply unacceptable,” said Treasury
Secretary Steven Mnuchin in a statement. “President Trump has made it
abundantly clear that the United States expects Turkey to release him
immediately.”(With AFP)
Russia: Iran-backed forces withdraw from Golan frontier
Associated Press/August 01/ 2018
Israel occupied the Golan Heights in the 1967 Mideast war.
BEIRUT: Russian President Vladimir Putin's envoy to Syria said Wednesday
that an agreement with Israel that includes Russian guarantees ensures that
Iran-backed fighters will remain more than 80 kilometers (50 miles) away
from Syria's frontier with the Israeli-occupied Golan Heights. Alexander
Lavrentyev told the Russian Interfax news agency the agreement was reached
in order not to "irritate" Israel. He didn't elaborate on when the agreement
was forged or for how long. Russian-backed Syrian forces regained full
control of the frontier on Monday after a six-week offensive in the area
that expelled Syrian armed opposition and an affiliate of the Islamic State
group that had been deployed along the frontier with the Golan. "The
agreement is still in effect. Iranian forces have actually been withdrawn
from (the southern de-escalation zone in Syria) in order not to irritate the
Israeli administration, which has increased the number of attacks on Iranian
sites in this territory," Lavrentyev said. He said the pro-Iranian forces
have withdrawn to 85 kilometers (53 miles) from the area with "our
assistance," he said. Israel has escalated its attacks against targets
inside Syria suspected of being linked to Iran, insisting that it won't
allow Iran to establish a permanent military presence near the frontier.
Iran has military advisers in Syria and backs Shiite militias fighting
alongside Syrian troops, including Lebanon's Hezbollah. Israel occupied the
Golan Heights in the 1967 Mideast war. The frontier was quiet for decades
following a 1974 disengagement agreement.
With the start of Syria's civil war in 2011, fighting erupted along the
frontier, bringing rebels to the area. In 2014, a U.N. peacekeeping force
deployed along the disengagement lines withdrew when rebels took control of
the frontier.
Sochi Focuses on Aid,
Return of Syrian Refugees
Moscow - Raed Jabr/Asharq Al-Awsat/Wednesday, 1 August, 2018/The guarantors
of the Astana process have failed to converge their views on the main issues
raised in Sochi talks, while wide opposing views over the situation in Idlib
hampered an agreement over joint steps of action. On the other hand, Moscow
succeeded in maintaining the file of the refugees on the agenda of
subsequent discussions, based on its call to lift international sanctions
and help the Syrian regime receive the displaced. Russian Presidential envoy
Alexander Lavrentyev read a short report at the end of the second day of
talks in Russia, emphasizing the key elements contained in the final
statement signed by the guarantor countries. The statement did not mention
the situation in Idlib, but focused on the agreement of the guarantor
countries to call on the international community to help Syrians restore
their normal lives and launch a negotiation over the return of the refugees.
The statement also pointed to an agreement by the guarantors to “complete
the confidence-building efforts between the parties to the Syrian conflict,
also with regards to the issue of detainees.” It renewed the commitment of
the three parties to preserve the unity and sovereignty of the Syrian
territories and reject division plans aimed at “undermining the unity of
Syria and neighboring countries.”The next round of talks would be held in
November, according to the statement. Meanwhile, well-informed sources told
Asharq Al-Awsat that extensive discussions on the situation in Idlib have
ended without any sensible agreement, while Russia confirmed during the
talks that it would no longer tolerate the continued attacks from Idlib
towards the base of Hmeimem and other areas, and that it would respond to
future attacks. On the other hand, briefs delivered by Lavrentyev and the UN
envoy to Syria, Staffan de Mistura, have emphasized some progress in the
file of constitutional reform, in an attempt to cover up the failure of the
round of talks. In this regard, source told Asharq Al-Awsat that De Mistura
did not participate in discussions on the various files, adding that his
role was limited to discussing the constitutional committee. Lavrentyev, for
his part, said he was satisfied with the progress achieved in this file.On
the issue of refugees, the Russian presidential envoy underlined the need
for fast international support, by working to lift sanctions on Syria and
contribute to reconstruction efforts in order to facilitate the return of
refugees.
IS Ambush Kills 4 Regime Fighters near Damascus
Agence France Presse/Naharnet/August 01/18/Four Syrian regime fighters were
killed east of the capital, a monitor said on Wednesday, in an ambush
claimed by the Islamic State group. The jihadists struck on Tuesday in a
hilly area about 50 kilometers from Damascus, the Syrian Observatory for
Human Rights said. "There were four regime fighters killed, including three
officers working in the Dumeir area," Observatory head Rami Abdel Rahman
said. IS had a presence in the industrial area of Dumeir for several years
but was eventually ousted by rival rebels, who lost the area to the
government this year. In a statement posted on its propaganda channels on
Tuesday, IS said "soldiers of the caliphate" ambushed pro-government
fighters, killing three of them. The jihadist group once controlled swathes
of territory straddling Syria and Iraq which it declared an Islamic
"caliphate", but has since lost nearly all of that territory. It is largely
confined to the Badiya, the vast desert that stretches from the populous
central region all the way to the eastern border with Iraq. "The area
attacked lies close to the Badiya but it is not clear if the attackers were
hiding in sleeper cells there or came in from the desert," Abdel Rahman told
AFP. Last week, IS fighters reportedly based in the desert made a
devastating foray into the southern province of Sweida, killing more than
250 people in coordinated suicide bombings, shootings and stabbings.
Videos Released of Japanese, Italian Captives in Syria
Agence France Presse/Naharnet/August 01/18/A jihadist group has released
videos of a Japanese journalist and an Italian man held captive in Syria in
which they appeal for their release, U.S.-based monitors have said. The two
men -- Japanese freelance journalist Jumpei Yasuda and Italian national
Alessandro Sandrini -- appear in two separate videos that are nonetheless
similar in their staging and were released by the SITE group, which tracks
white supremacist and jihadist organizations. SITE did not say which group
was responsible for the videos. Both men are shown kneeling in front of a
wall wearing orange jumpsuits while armed men dressed head-to-toe in black
stand behind them. Jumpei is thought to have been abducted by the Al-Nusra
Front, a former al-Qaida affiliate, in northern Syria in 2015. He identifies
himself as Korean in the video but speaks Japanese, giving the recording
date as July 25, stating that he is in a bad situation and asking for help.
Sandrini gives a different date, July 19, and says that it is his last
request to the Italian government. The Italian hostage was kidnapped in
Turkey in October 2016 before being taken to Syria, according to reports in
the Italian media. He is believed to be from Brescia and is said to be
around 32 years old.
UN Plans September
Talks on New Syria Constitution in Geneva
Geneva - Asharq Al-Awsat/Wednesday, 1 August, 2018/The United Nations said
Tuesday its Special Envoy for Syria is planning talks with Iran, Russia and
Turkey in September to draft a new Syrian constitution. Staffan de Mistura
held informal talks in Sochi with Russian, Iranian and Turkish
representatives and has received lists from the Assad regime and opposition
on proposed candidates for the Constitutional Committee, according to a UN
statement. “The Special Envoy looks forward to holding formal consultations
(with the three countries) ... very early in September in Geneva, in order
to begin to finalize the constitutional committee,” the statement added. In
June, de Mistura held a similar meeting at UN headquarters in Geneva but had
only received a list of 50 nominees for the constitutional committee from
the Syrian regime and was awaiting a similar one from the opposition. The
special envoy was tasked with setting up the committee during a
Russian-backed congress held in Sochi in January.
'Victory is Near,' Assad Tells Troops
Agence France Presse/Naharnet/August 01/18/Syrian President Bashar al-Assad
told his troops on Wednesday they were close to winning the country's
seven-year war after inflicting a succession of defeats on rebels. Early
last year, government forces held just 17 percent of national territory but
a series of blistering offensives has since forced the rebels out of many of
their strongholds, putting Assad's government back in control of nearly
two-thirds of the country. "Our date with victory is near," Assad wrote in
an open letter to the rank and file. "They (the rebels) were ultimately
forced to leave -- humiliated, rolled back, their tails between their legs
-- after you gave them a taste of bitter defeat."Much of the territory was
recaptured without any ground fighting as the rebels reluctantly agreed to
leave their bombed out enclaves in Russian-protected convoys. The army has
been bolstered in its offensives by Russian air strikes, Iranian military
advisers and militiamen from Lebanon, Iran, Iraq and Afghanistan.Government
troops are now mopping up the remaining rebel pockets in the south, and last
week Assad promised a similar offensive against the rebels' last major
stronghold -- Idlib province in the northwest.
ISIS Routed in Syria’s Yarmouk Basin
Beirut - London - Asharq Al-Awsat/Wednesday, 1 August, 2018/ISIS has been
cornered in a pocket of southern Daraa province following clashes between
Syrian regime forces and the militants, the Syrian Observatory for Human
Rights said, which also confirmed that the terrorist group was routed in the
Yarmouk Basin. Tuesday afternoon's violence came amid talks between the
regime and ISIS to release about 30 Druze women and children it kidnapped
last week as a bargaining chip, demanding its fighters be allowed to
evacuate to their stronghold in the Badiya, the Observatory said. The Badiya
refers to the vast desert stretching from central Syria to the eastern
border with Iraq, and where ISIS still holds territory. ISIS abducted the
civilians from a remote village in Sweida, a province directly east of Daraa,
during a deadly rampage on July 25 that left more than 250 people dead. ISIS
claimed responsibility for the killings but has made no mention of the
kidnappings on its propaganda channels. However, a video published by local
news outlets appeared to show one of the female hostages demanding Syria's
regime halt its assault on the ISIS-held part of Daraa. In Daraa, nearly 100
militants are surrounded in their last redoubt, the Observatory said, with
the regime and its Russia targeting it with air raids. "Army units are
carrying out fierce fighting in the last pockets of the ISIS terrorist
group" in a village in the area, Syrian state television reported.
Debate Rages among Shiite Iraqi Powers over Largest Parliamentary Bloc
Baghdad - Hamza Mustafa/Asharq Al-Awsat/Wednesday, 1 August, 2018/Iraq's
Fatih bloc, headed by Hadi al-Amiri and the Sairoon bloc, backed by the
Sadrist movement, each claimed that they were close to forming the largest
parliamentary bloc.
The Fatih bloc had announced that it has become the largest bloc as it
garnered 60 seats at parliament through various alliances, while spokesman
for the Sairoon bloc, Qahtan al-Jabouri told Asharq Al-Awsat that its
alliance remains the largest. The Sairoon alliance had emerged as the victor
in the May parliamentary elections. These conflicting stances were announced
in wake of Shiite Religious Authority in Najaf Ali al-Sistani’s call last
week for the formation of an Iraqi government as soon as possible. The
conflict among Shiite parties over the largest bloc is still centering on
who the next prime minister should be, not the government program, according
to political observers. It is crucial that the program meet protest demands,
which now have Sistani’s “green light” to continue to pressure the
government. Protests had erupted in southern Iraq in early July over
corruption, poor services and a lack of jobs. Top Sadrist official, Amir al-Kanani,
told Asharq Al-Awsat that the situation among Shiites cannot be described as
a conflict between two parties, but rather a competition between
parliamentary blocs, each of which believes it is most suited to provide
services to citizens. “This conflict is in line with the nature of this
stage, which requires competition to provide better performance. In
addition, competition is healthy in emerging democracies, including Iraqi
democracy,” he noted.An informed Iraqi politician, speaking on condition of
anonymity, told Asharq Al-Awsat that the US has informed important Iraqi
parties that its only choice for prime minister is current PM Haidar al-Abadi,
regardless of the size of the bloc or who joins his alliance. Some US
messages appeared to be a warning to blocs, parties and officials that their
insistence on candidates, who are not accepted by Washington, could put them
under US sanctions, according to the politician. The source explained that
this is largely linked to the development of the American-Iranian conflict
and the impending sanctions on Tehran. "The US administration may impose
sanctions on Iraqi parties, not the Iraqi state,” he added. He added that
Amiri is a candidate, among others, to head the new government. However, the
US insists on Abadi and thus, the Fatih bloc leader is unlikely to be named,
especially since he is considered close to Iran. He noted that the biggest
player in determining Iraqi prime ministers since 2003 and until this day
has been Washington, which used to welcome “Iran’s partnership, however,
this time, it alone wants to choose the next premier." In a related context,
the United Nations Assistance Mission in Iraq (UNAMI) insisted on the
formation of a comprehensive and pro-reform government that is capable of
meeting the people’s demands. "Secretary-General of the Council of Ministers
Mahdi Al-Alak received head of UNAMI Jan Kubis and exchanged views on the
upcoming government reforms and means of achieving development and economic
progress to ensure stability in Iraq,” said a government statement.
Egypt: 4 Brotherhood Members Get Life Sentences for
Torching Giza Church
Cairo - Asharq Al-Awsat/Wednesday, 1 August, 2018/An Egyptian
court on Tuesday sentenced four members of the outlawed Muslim Brotherhood
to life in prison for burning a church in Giza, southwest of Cairo. The Kafr
Hakim church was set on fire in August 2013 in a wave of violence in Egypt.
The prosecution accused the defendants of joining an illegal group, the
Muslim Brotherhood which is officially classified as a terrorist
organization. They were also accused of possessing unlicensed firearms and
ammunition, deliberately setting fire to a church and looting it, blocking
the road and disturbing the public order and resisting authorities. The
convicted Ahmed Abdelkhalek, Bandari Yehia Bandari and Hussein Mohammed and
Abdullah Najem were also finned 20,000 Egyptian pounds ($1,119) each.
Ban on Face Veil Takes Effect in Denmark
Asharq Al-Awsat/Wednesday, 1 August, 2018/A ban on the face veil, or niqab
or burqa, went into force in Denmark on Wednesday. Danish lawmakers approved
the law in May, which was presented by the center-right governing coalition
that is known for tightening asylum and immigration rules in recent years.
The ban also covers ski masks, face masks and false beards. The law allows
people to cover their face when there is a "recognizable purpose" like cold
weather or complying with other legal requirements, such as using motorcycle
helmets required under Danish traffic rules. First-time offenders risk a
fine of 1,000 kroner ($157). Repeat offenses could trigger fines of up to
10,000 kroner or a jail sentence of up to six months. Anyone forcing a
person to wear garments covering the face by using force or threats can be
fined or face up to two years in prison. Supporters and opponents of the ban
clashed verbally later on Wednesday as the law took effect. Marcus Knuth of
the ruling liberal party Venstre, says the dress worn by some conservative
Muslim women is "strongly oppressive." Sasha Andersen of the "Party Rebels"
activist group, is planning a demonstration later in the day against what
they called a "discriminatory" measure against a minority group. Groups that
back the ban also plan to rally. Popularly known as the "Burqa Ban," it is
mostly seen as being directed at the niqab and burqa. Few Muslim women in
Denmark wear such full-face veils. Amnesty International condemned the law
as a “discriminatory violation of women’s rights,” especially against Muslim
women who choose to wear the full-face veils. “Whilst some specific
restrictions on the wearing of full-face veils for the purposes of public
safety may be legitimate, this blanket ban is neither necessary nor
proportionate and violates the rights to freedom of expression and
religion,” the organization's Europe director Gauri van Gulik said in a
statement following the vote. “If the intention of this law was to protect
women’s rights, it fails abjectly. Instead, the law criminalizes women for
their choice of clothing and in so doing flies in the face of those freedoms
Denmark purports to uphold,” she added.Austria, France and Belgium have
similar laws.
Investigation Report on Malaysian Plane Crash
Disappoints Families
London - Asharq Al-Awsat/Wednesday, 1 August, 2018/After more than four
years on the biggest mystery in the modern civil aviation world, relatives
of the Malaysian airplane’s passengers that was lost in 2014, criticized the
report of the investigation team, saying it gave no new clues. The relatives
of 239 passengers on board flight MH3 370 hoped the official report would
provide information that would allow them to mourn their family members.
Some of them criticized the report at a meeting held at the Malaysian
Ministry of Transport earlier this week, where they received the report
before it was officially published. They considered it a technical report.
The 400-page paper concluded that the investigation team "is unable to
determine the true cause behind the flight's disappearance." Intan Maizura
Othman, whose husband was on MH370 that disappeared on March 8, 2014,
shortly after taking off from Kuala Lumpur to Beijing, said the meeting
between relatives and officials descended into a "shouting match" as family
members expressed their frustration. G. Subramaniam, who also lost a son on
the flight, said: “Many asked questions but unsatisfactory responses left
many angry.” According to satellite-based analyses for the possible path of
the plane, no trace of the jet was found in a 120,000 square kilometer
search zone in the southern Indian Ocean facing the Australian coasts. In
January 2017, the largest sea exploration in history, which kicked off after
the 2014 crash led by Australia, in coordination with Malaysia and China,
was suspended. About 20 pieces of wreckage were found on the western shores
of the Indian Ocean facing the East African coasts, far from the search
zone. The authorities confirmed that the remains may refer to the Malaysian
plane, but that did not solve the mystery.
Growing Protests Against UNRWA’s Policies
Gaza - Asharq Al-Awsat/Wednesday, 1 August, 2018/Protests in the Gaza Strip
have intensified against measures adopted by the United Nations agency for
Palestinian refugees to cut its services to refugees and to dismiss dozens
of its employees in the sector. More than 2,000 Palestinians took part in a
protest on Tuesday, the largest since the start of demonstrations against
UNRWA’s recent policies. Participants raised banners calling for more
pressure on the agency to stop its actions. Representatives of factions and
national forces, dignitaries, mukhtars, UNRWA staff, and school students
participated in the protest. Hussein Mansour, a leader of the Popular Front
for the Liberation of Palestine (PFLP), called on the agency’ administration
to reverse its actions against the refugees. Mansour accused UNRWA of
rejecting the solutions presented to it to solve the problem of the
employees and failing to take action to lay off dozens of foreign advisers
who receive large sums of money from the agency. The head of the union of
Arab staff at UNRWA, Youssef Hamdouneh, described as “alarming” the
international agency’s recent measures to dismiss employees, close down
supply centers and warn that the new academic year would not start on time.
He stressed in a speech that he would not allow the implementation of a
decision to dismiss 956 employees who were recruited under an emergency
program. He also accused UNRWA of attempting to spread rumors among
Palestinian officials and refugees about the closure of the regional office
in Gaza, with the aim of threatening staff to retreat from their peaceful
sit-in in the building. These moves came in the wake of statements made by
UNRWA Director Matthias Schmale, who said that there were no solutions so
far to the financial crisis facing the agency. Schmale pointed out that the
new academic season might not start on time if the financial deficit is not
resolved. He also noted that various international movements were underway
in an attempt to save the current situation after the United States stopped
supporting UNRWA’s general budget.
Palestinians Call for Massive Flow to Khan al-Ahmar
Ramallah - Asharq Al-Awsat/Wednesday, 1 August, 2018/The Palestinian
Authority and Fatah Movement called for the widest possible flow towards the
Bedouin Khan al-Ahmar, one day before an Israeli court’s decision on the
fate of the area. On Tuesday, the Wall and Settlement Resistance Committee
announced a state of alert until further notice in the Khan al-Ahmar village
east of Jerusalem. The committee made the announcement a day before the
Israeli Supreme Court’s decision regarding the appeal to either approve or
reject the demolition of the village. Fatah Movement called for a permanent
and intensive presence in the area, in anticipation of any decision by the
Israeli occupation court. “The failure of the Occupation plans in Khan al-Ahmar
and the gates of the blessed Al-Aqsa Mosque is a failure of Israeli
expansionist plans and a halt to its projects for a unified Jerusalem as the
capital of the occupation state,” said Osama al-Qawasmi, a spokesman for the
movement. “Jerusalem was and will remain the capital of the State of
Palestine.”The Palestinians appealed for a halt to an Israeli decision to
destroy Khan Al-Ahmar, and a number of Israeli Knesset members, on the other
hand, sent a letter to the Supreme Court asking it not to surrender to
Palestinian demands. On July 13, the Supreme Court issued a decision to
freeze the demolition until August 15, but Palestinian lawyers appealed for
entirely abolishing the demolition decision. Residents of Khan al-Ahmar
arrived from the Negev desert in 1953. Since then, they lived in conditions
that lacked the most basic necessities, until Israel decided to expel them
ten years ago. Bedouins in the area have been engaging in a peaceful
confrontation since 2009 against demolition orders. Some 200 Bedouins face
the threat of being deported from their land, while hundreds of students
from nearby communities have been prevented from taking advantage of the
school built in the village years ago.
Israeli military faces Druze uproar over Jewish nation bill
The Associated Press, Jerusalem/Wednesday, 1 August 2018/Israel’s military
chief is pleading to keep politics out of the army amid protests by the
Druze minority against a recent bill to enshrine the state’s Jewish
character. Lt. Gen. Gadi Eisenkot has called on “all commanders and soldiers
to keep controversial political issues” out of the military. In a statement
Wednesday, he reaffirmed “our shared mission and camaraderie” with the
Druze, an Arabic-speaking minority that serves in the military. Like other
minorities, the Druze have been outraged by the bill, which they say renders
them second-class citizens. Two Druze officers recently said they would stop
serving in response to the bill. The Druze, who follow an offshoot of Shiite
Islam, have been fiercely loyal to the state and have risen to high office
in the military and politics.
Israeli Court Jails Arab Woman over Facebook Poem
Ramallah / Asharq Al-Awsat/Wednesday, 1 August, 2018/The Nazareth District
court has sentenced Palestinian poet Dareen Tatour to five months in prison
over a video clip of herself, which she posted on Facebook in October 2015,
reading her poem. The Israeli prosecution accused Tatour of inciting
violence and supporting a “terrorist” organization through her poem "Resist,
my people, resist them." The indictment said that the woman posted the video
clip in October 2015, accompanied by pictures of clashes between
Palestinians and Israeli forces. The posts came as a wave of
Israeli-Palestinian violence was erupting, including Palestinian knife
attacks. The poem contains the following lines: "For an Arab Palestine, I
will not succumb to the 'peaceful solution,' Never lower my flags, Until I
evict them from my land, Resist the settler's robbery." Judges said that
35-year-old Tatour has expressed support for Islamic Jihad and has incited
violence. Tatour, from the Arab village of Reineh near Nazareth, was
arrested on October 11, 2015. She has since been under house arrest. She
belongs to Israel's Arab minority, which comprises mainly descendants of the
Palestinians who remained on their land after the 1948 creation of the state
of Israel. She is expected to start her sentence on August 8 but her lawyer
Gaby Lasky would likely appeal the verdict. "I wasn't expecting justice to
be done. The case was political from the start, because I am Palestinian and
support freedom of speech," she told reporters at the court following the
sentencing. Her prosecution has drawn international criticism. International
writers group Pen has defended Tatour, saying she "has been convicted for
doing what writers do every day -- we use our words to peacefully challenge
injustice."
Yemen: Houthis to Halt Red Sea Attacks for Two Weeks
Sanaa - Asharq Al-Awsat/Wednesday, 1 August, 2018/Yemen's Houthis said
Tuesday it is unilaterally halting attacks in the Red Sea for two weeks.
Meanwhile, the group's top leader has ordered several entities to terminate
all actions against leaders and elements accused of financial corruption and
resource looting. Observers described the Houthi initiative an anticipation
to any security and military measures the Yemeni government, backed by the
Arab Coalition, could take to secure the Red Sea. They believe the proposal
aims to appease the international community following repeated Houthi
attacks on oil supplies and international trade through Bab al-Mandeb
Strait. Head of so-called "Supreme Revolutionary Committee" Mohammad Ali al-Houthi
published a series of tweets announcing the group’s move. “The unilateral
halt in naval military operations will be for a limited time period and
could be extended and include all fronts if this move is reciprocated by the
leadership of the coalition,” Houthi asserted. The official stressed his
group's willingness to return to dialogue, form a national reconciliation
committee and to vote for a president and a parliament that represent all
Yemeni factions. The Houthi offer doesn't refer to the group's
intention to end the coup, reflecting its desire to implement a peace
agreement under its authority, which it considers as legitimate. It also
doesn’t indicate any intentions to hand over weapons or to withdraw from
cities and government institutions as stipulated by Security Council
Resolution 2216. Last week, Houthis targeted two Saudi oil tankers in the
Red Sea, which according to Yemeni observers, reflects the group’s implicit
rejection of international efforts led by Special Envoy for Yemen Martin
Griffiths to resolve the country's crisis. Griffiths’ proposal also includes
Houthis’ withdrawal from Hodeidah, its ports and other ports under their
control on the Red Sea, in preparation for resuming negotiations with the
legitimate government. Meanwhile, well-informed sources in Sanaa told Asharq
Al-Awsat that head of the Supreme Political Council Mahdi al-Mashat summoned
Central Organization for Auditing and Accountancy Chief Ali al-Imad, asking
him to end the prosecution of any leader in the group on charges of
corruption. Mashat stressed that, aside from any Houthi leader, pre-coup
corruption cases involving any party leader must be investigated and quickly
referred to the prosecution and the judiciary, according to the sources.
Mashat informed Imad that any attempt to prosecute any leader of the
militias is a personal insult to the leader of the Houthi group, they said.
Local sources in Sanaa reported that Abdul Khaleq al-Houthi, brother of the
group’s leader and military commander of the militias, received huge monthly
sums from merchants and businessmen in exchange for their protection and
allowing them to continue their business activities. The sources accused a
number of senior Houthi leaders in Sanaa of obtaining huge royalties every
month from traders in exchange for protecting them from blackmailing and
threats of Houthi commanders, such as head of intelligence Abu Ali and
commander Abdul Hakim al-Khaiwani, the group’s deputy interior minister. The
group arrested dozens of shop owners in Sanaa who refused to pay royalties
and the “Khums” in an attempt to force them to comply with its demands.
Yemen Rebels Announce
Temporary Red Sea Ceasefire
Agence France Presse/Naharnet/August 01/18/Yemen's Huthi rebels announced a
two-week pause in Red Sea operations Wednesday, after attacks against Saudi
tankers last week prompted Riyadh to suspend oil shipments through a key
waterway. "The unilateral suspension of our naval operations is for a
limited period," the rebels said in a statement released by their defense
ministry. The Huthis' Twitter and Facebook accounts said the suspension will
last two weeks. But "it can be renewed and expanded to other fronts if this
initiative is well-received and reciprocated," the statement said. The
Huthis are fighting a Saudi-led military coalition that backs Yemen's
government. A spokesman for the coalition did not immediately respond to a
written request for comment on the Huthis' unilateral truce. On July 26,
Saudi Arabia said it was temporarily suspending oil shipments through the
Bab al-Mandab Strait -- one of the world's busiest shipping lanes -- after
two oil tankers operated by Saudi shipping group Bahri were attacked,
slightly damaging one vessel. The pro-Huthi Al-Masirah television said at
the time that the rebels had targeted a Saudi warship named Al-Dammam,
without providing further details. The Huthis, allied with Saudi Arabia's
regional arch-rival Iran, control Yemen's capital Sanaa and Hodeida port,
the entry point for around three quarters of the impoverished country's
imports. The coalition on July 1 paused a ground offensive against Hodeida,
in what coalition partner the UAE has described as a bid to give United
Nations-led peace efforts a chance. The head of the rebels' revolutionary
council, Mohammed Ali al-Huthi, said Wednesday's offer of a temporary
maritime truce came as "support for U.N. mediation and peace efforts."U.N.
envoy to Yemen Martin Griffiths has been pushing for a deal which envisions
the rebels ceding control of Hodeida port to a U.N.-supervised committee.
Saudi Arabia and its allies joined Yemeni President Abedrabbo Mansour Hadi's
fight against the Huthis in 2015. Yemen's war has killed nearly 10,000
people and triggered what the U.N. calls the world's largest single
humanitarian crisis, with more than eight million Yemenis at risk of
starvation.
U.S. to Urge Pressure against N. Korea at Asia Talks
Agence France Presse/Naharnet/August 01/18/The U.S. will urge the
international community to keep up sanctions pressure against North Korea at
a security forum in Singapore this week, as concerns mount that Pyongyang
has made little progress towards denuclearization.
Secretary of State Mike Pompeo and his North Korean counterpart will attend
the gathering in the city-state where U.S. President Donald Trump and the
North's leader Kim Jong Un held their historic summit two months ago. Pompeo
and top diplomats from other countries involved in trying to curtail
Pyongyang's nuclear ambitions will scrutinize whether the North has taken
concrete steps towards abandoning its nuclear weapons. At his landmark talks
with Trump in June, Kim signed up to a vague commitment to "denuclearization
of the Korean Peninsula" -- a far cry from long-standing U.S. demands for
complete, verifiable and irreversible disarmament. While there have been
small signs of progress, news reports indicate Pyongyang is continuing to
build rockets, and there are mounting concerns that the enforcement of
United Nations sanctions on the North is being relaxed by some member
states. A US official said Washington was "concerned" by North Korean
violations of U.N.-approved sanctions, including illegal shipments of oil by
sea. Gatherings like Saturday's ASEAN Regional Forum are "an opportunity to
remind all countries of their obligations in adherence" of U.N. Security
Council resolutions, the official said.
Lasting peace, stability
The annual forum, hosted by the Association of Southeast Asian Nations
(ASEAN), brings together top diplomats from 26 countries and the European
Union for talks on political and security issues in Asia-Pacific. The
foreign ministers from all nations involved in stalled "six-party"
negotiations with North Korea aimed at reining in Pyongyang's nuclear
program will be at the gathering: the U.S., China, Russia, Japan and South
Korea. Cutting off oil and fuel to the North would require enforcement
primarily by China, which supplies most of North Korea's energy needs, but
also by Russia, which delivers some oil to Pyongyang. Despite the concerns
about the North's progress toward abandoning its nuclear weapons, ministers
at the forum are expected to strike an upbeat note about the agreement
between Trump and Kim. They will encourage the U.S. and Pyongyang "to
continue working towards the realisation of lasting peace and stability on a
denuclearised Korean Peninsula", according to a draft copy of the chairman's
statement obtained by AFP. U.S. officials have not said if Pompeo will meet
his North Korean counterpart, Ri Yong Ho, on the sidelines of the forum. But
even if he does, Sung-Yoon Lee, a Korea expert at the Fletcher School of Law
and Diplomacy at Tufts University, was sceptical that there would be any
fresh signs of progress when it came to denuclearisation. "Pompeo shall gain
nothing substantive other than North Korea's amenability to further talks
about talks," he said.
'Free and open'
The U.S. secretary of state will also focus on another major regional
flashpoint at the forum -- rival claims in the South China Sea and China's
growing presence there. China claims nearly all the strategically vital sea,
including waters approaching the coasts of ASEAN members Vietnam, the
Philippines, Malaysia and Brunei.Beijing has in recent years expanded its
presence in the sea by building artificial islands capable of holding
military bases. Ahead of his trip to Southeast Asia, which will also take
him to Malaysia and Indonesia, Pompeo called for a "free and open"
Indo-Pacific region and will expand on the theme at the Singapore meeting,
according to the State Department. The disputed waters will be in focus when
the 10 ASEAN foreign ministers hold talks among themselves during a working
dinner on Wednesday, with the regional bloc and China expected to announce
some progress in long-running talks aimed at coming up with a code of
conduct for the sea. They are expected to announce that they have agreed on
a single draft text that reflects the starting negotiating positions of
countries towards a code. Analysts however stressed it would be another
small step coming over 15 years after negotiations began. Hoang Thi Ha, an
analyst at the ASEAN Studies Centre in Singapore, said the development
represented "some initial progress" but noted that drawing up the code "will
continue to be a painstaking and painfully slow process."
Trump Calls on U.S. Attorney General to End Russia
Probe 'Disgrace'
Agence France Presse/Naharnet/August 01/18/U.S. President Donald Trump
called Wednesday on Attorney General Jeff Sessions to end the investigation
into Russia's interference in the 2016 U.S. elections, calling it "a
disgrace to USA."The president's latest tweet on the probe led by special
counsel Robert Mueller came on the second day of a trial of former Trump
campaign chairman Paul Manafort on unrelated bank and tax fraud charges.
"This is a terrible situation and Attorney General Jeff Sessions should stop
this Rigged Witch Hunt right now, before it continues to stain our country
any further," Trump said, calling Mueller's probe "a disgrace to USA."
Egyptian forces kill five suspected militants north of Cairo
Reuters, Cairo/Wednesday, 1 August 2018/Egyptian security forces killed five
suspected militants in a shootout in Qalyubiya province, north of Cairo, the
interior ministry said in a statement on Tuesday. The ministry said the
militants were members of the Hasm group who were instructed to conduct
“terrorist operations aimed at destabilizing the country” by movement
leaders abroad. Egypt accuses Hasm, which emerged in 2016 and has claimed
several attacks on security forces, of being a militant wing of the outlawed
Muslim Brotherhood. The Brotherhood denies this. Hasm has sometimes released
statements claiming attacks against security forces. It has not claimed
links with the Brotherhood. Hasm did not immediately issue a statement about
the shootout.Police also arrested five other suspected militants during a
separate raid in the al-Salam neighborhood in Cairo and confiscated weapons
at a third location, the ministry said. Egypt has been fighting an extremist
insurgency in the northern part of the Sinai Peninsula since the ouster of
Mohamed Mursi of the Muslim Brotherhood in 2013 following mass protests
against his rule. The ISIS militants in North Sinai have not signaled any
connection to Hasm, which has operated mostly in the Nile Delta region. The
military launched an offensive against militants in February which has
focused on Sinai, but which it said was country-wide. As well as Hasm and
ISIS, security forces have faced attacks in its Western desert by Egyptian
militants linked to al-Qaeda who security sources say are based in Libya.
The Latest LCCC Bulletin analysis & editorials from miscellaneous
sources published
on August 01-02/18
Veterans in Congress know what it means to put country
first
David Ignatius/The Washington Post/August 01/18
Heading toward the midterm elections, President Trump is playing the politics of
division more recklessly than ever. But there is a movement taking root in both
parties this year that seeks to unite the country by building on the bedrock
values of military service.
This coalescence of young veterans of Iraq and Afghanistan may be the most
positive trend on the political horizon. These young men and women have been
through the nightmare of combat in the most challenging environments; they know
what it means to serve the country, beyond flag-waving and sloganeering.
“My military experience gave me humility,” says Rep. Mike Gallagher, a
first-term Republican from Wisconsin who served in Iraq as a Marine intelligence
officer. “At the point of the spear, neat solutions never survive contact with
the enemy.”
Gallagher is a member of a bipartisan group of young veterans called “With
Honor” that hopes to have 20 of its members in the next Congress. The group has
contributed $10 million to races so far this year and hopes to push that total
to $30 million by year-end. Donations are split, 50/50, between Republicans and
Democrats.
Bipartisan cooperation is not optional. Candidates who receive support must sign
the following pledge, and it speaks so directly to what ails our country these
days that I’ll quote it in detail. Maybe voters could ask all candidates to make
the same promise:
“1. Integrity: I will always speak the truth and prioritize the public interest
above my self-interest. . . . 2. Civility. I will respect my colleagues, focus
on solving problems and work to bring civility to politics. . . . 3. Courage. I
will defend the rights of all Americans and have the courage to collaborate
across the aisle and find common ground.”
The bipartisan group has backed some veterans who have had big victories in
primaries this year, often running against party establishment candidates: Amy
McGrath, a former Marine fighter pilot, bested a well-funded local mayor for the
Democratic nomination for a Kentucky House seat; Michael Waltz, a much-decorated
former Army Green Beret who served in Afghanistan, is running for the Republican
nomination for a Florida House seat despite having taken a “Never Trump”
position in 2016.
With recent polls and analysis forecasting a likely Democratic takeover of the
House, Democratic veterans may play a pivotal role in the next Congress. One of
their leaders, Rep. Seth Moulton (Mass.), who served as a Marine officer in
Iraq, argues that Democrats should resist the temptation to settle scores if
they win back the House.
Instead, Moulton says, they should become a true governing party, under a “big
tent” that can embrace progressive candidates such as Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez,
a former community organizer who won a Democratic House nomination in a liberal
New York City district, and Mikie Sherrill, a former Navy helicopter pilot who
won a Democratic House nomination in a more centrist New Jersey district.
To Moulton, the choice is simple: “If we want to become a narrow party — far
left or moderate — we can, but we’re not going to win.” To encourage Democratic
veterans to run, Moulton has formed a political action committee called “Serve
America” that has raised about $2.75 million and backed 36 veterans for Congress
and state and local races.
Moulton cites two charismatic female veterans in Texas who bucked the
establishment to win Democratic nominations this year: M.J. Hegar, a decorated
former Air Force helicopter pilot who won the nomination in a House district
near Austin; and Gina Ortiz Jones, a former Air Force intelligence officer who
won the nomination for her district along the West Texas border.
Veterans in Congress seem less afraid than some colleagues to challenge their
parties’ leadership and more willing to work across the aisle — qualities that
are badly needed these days. Moulton bluntly criticized House Minority Leader
Nancy Pelosi (D-Calif.), arguing she is “arrogant” and out of touch. Gallagher,
too, expresses a willingness to buck GOP leadership, when necessary.
What encourages me about these Iraq and Afghanistan veterans in Congress is that
they understand what it means to put the nation’s interests first. Moulton
shared with me a sermon he gave at Harvard last November. It’s worth reading
carefully:
“I believe we can drive the divisive politics of the day out of our daily lives.
But when we do, there will be many in the opposition — the ‘resistance’ as it’s
now proudly called — who will want to sing out in triumph with great moral
righteousness. . . . This would be a terrible mistake. It would not heal our
country but reopen our wounds.”We are overwhelmed by bad news these days, but I’ll be honest: Talking to these
congressional veterans gives me hope that better times are ahead.
Spain: New Gateway to Europe for Mass-Migration
Thomas Paul Wiederholen/Gatestone Institute/August 01/18
https://www.gatestoneinstitute.org/12792/spain-mass-migration
Spain's socialist government, under Prime Minister Pedro Sánchez, has
promised free healthcare to migrants and says it will investigate every
asylum claim individually.
"[A] majority of irregular migrants rescued in the Central Mediterranean are
most likely not refugees in the sense of the Geneva Convention, given that
some 70 % come from countries or regions not suffering from violent
conflicts or oppressive regimes." — From a 2017 report by the European
Commission.
"We have created refugee shelters for tens of thousands of people, but there
are hundreds of thousands of illegal migrants in our country. This has
heavily impaired the security situation. They include terrorists, criminals,
and human traffickers who do not care about human rights. It's horrible." —
Libyan leader Fayez al-Sarraj.
On July 26, some 800 migrants from sub-Saharan Africa violently stormed the
border fence between Morocco, where they were living illegally, and the
Spanish enclave of Ceuta. According to Spanish authorities:
"In an attempt to stop the Guardia Civil getting close to the break-in area,
the migrants ... [pelted] officers with plastic containers of excrement and
quicklime, sticks and stones, as well as using aerosols as flame-throwers."
Many people were wounded in the clash, and 602 migrants succeeded in
entering Spanish territory.
Two weeks earlier, the rescue ship Aquarius, operated by the French NGO Sos
Méditerranée, picked up 629 Sub-Saharan migrants off the coast of Libya.
After both Italy and Malta refused to take in the migrants, with Italian
Interior Minister Matteo Salvini declaring, "No to human trafficking, no to
the business of illegal immigration," Spain welcomed the ship, and two other
vessels carrying illegal migrants, at the port of Valencia.
Prime Minister Pedro Sánchez, the head of Spain's newly-formed socialist
government -- which has promised free healthcare to the migrants and says it
will investigate every asylum claim individually -- said in mid-June: "It is
our duty to help avoid a humanitarian catastrophe and offer a safe port to
these people, to comply with our human rights obligations."
According to a July 27 report about Spain in The Telegraph:
"The country is now the largest gateway for migrants crossing the
Mediterranean to Europe, with 20,992 people landing on its shores so far
this year... Arrivals to Italy now trail Spain by almost 3000 - a gap that
just a week ago was 200."
This, the report says, has completely "overwhelmed" the Spanish coastguard,
which is issuing an urgent call for additional resources to help deal with
the massive influx.
According to a 2017 report by the European Commission:
"The geographic distribution clearly reveals that a majority of irregular
migrants rescued in the Central Mediterranean are most likely not refugees
in the sense of the Geneva Convention, given that some 70 % come from
countries or regions not suffering from violent conflicts or oppressive
regimes."
Absorbing the large numbers of migrants is not the only problem that Spain
has to contend with, however. According to a December 2016 report in the
Financial Times, based on confidential reports it obtained, the European
Border and Coast Guard Agency (Frontex) accused some charitable
organizations that support rescues in the Mediterranean of collaborating
with human traffickers. This claim was also made by the pan-European think
tank, Gefira, which posted a YouTube video listing the NGOs that have been
abetting – regardless of their "high-minded intentions" – the criminal
practice of smuggling people into Europe for financial gain.
According to The Independent: "At the last European Council summit in
Brussels at the end of June, EU national leaders agreed on the need to set
up secure centres to process asylum claims, as well as agreeing a raft of
hardline stances on migrants – such as condemning NGO-operated rescue boats
operating off the Libyan coast."
"Leaders also in principle agreed another proposal for "disembarkation
platforms" based in North Africa where EU officials could process asylum
claims outside EU territory ..."
However, despite the agreement between EU members, "no north African country
has yet agreed to host migrant screening centres to process refugee claims,"
according to Dimitris Avramopoulos, the European commissioner for migration.
The Speaker of Egypt's House of Representatives, Ali Abdel Aal, told the
German newspaper Welt am Sonntag on July 1, "EU reception facilities for
migrants in Egypt would violate the laws and constitution of our country."
Abd al-Aal recalled that a high number of migrants are already living in his
country. "We already have about ten million refugees from Syria, Iraq,
Yemen, Palestine, Sudan, Somalia and other countries," said Ab al-Aal. In
Egypt, all refugees have a right to health care and education. "This means
that our capacities are already exhausted today. It is therefore important
that Egypt receives support from Germany and the EU."
In an interview with the German news outlet Bild on July 19, Libyan Prime
Minister Fayez al-Sarraj said:
"We have created refugee shelters for tens of thousands of people, but there
are hundreds of thousands of illegal migrants in our country. This has
heavily impaired the security situation. They include terrorists, criminals,
and human traffickers who do not care about human rights. It's horrible. In
order to improve the situation, we must fight these structures. But we also
need more international help for this. It begins with our country's borders.
It is imperative that they be better controlled."
"We are strictly against Europe officially placing illegal migrants who are
no longer wanted in the EU in our country. We also won't agree on any deals
with EU money about taking in more illegal migrants. The EU should rather
talk to the countries that people are coming from and should put pressure on
these countries instead. There won't be any deals with us.
"I am very surprised that while nobody in Europe wants to take in migrants
anymore they are asking us to take in further hundreds of thousands."
In an article for Gatestone in March 2018, Uzay Bulut sheds light on why the
migrant crisis has become a problem that many European governments are
beginning to recognize: "demographic jihad." Bulut cites Turkish MP
Alparslan Kavaklıoğlu, a member of President Recep Tayyip Erdogan's ruling
Justice and Development Party (AKP), and the head of the parliament's
Security and Intelligence Commission, who stated:
"... Europe is going through a time that is out of the ordinary. Its
population is declining and aging... So, people coming from outside get the
jobs there. But Europe has this problem. All of the newcomers are Muslim.
From Morocco, Tunisia, Algeria, Afghanistan, Pakistan, Iraq, Iran, Syria,
and Turkey. Those who come from these places are Muslim. It is now at such a
level that the most popular name in Brussels, Belgium is Mohammed... [If
this trend continues], the Muslim population will outnumber the Christian
population in Europe... Europe will be Muslim. We will be effective there,
Allah willing. I am sure of that."
The Turkish leadership's assessment echoes a sermon delivered at the Al-Aqsa
Mosque in Jerusalem on September 11, 2015 (the 14th anniversary of the 9/11
attacks) by Imam Sheikh Muhammad Ayed, who stated, in part: "They
[Westerners] have lost their fertility... We will give them fertility! We
will breed children with them, because we shall conquer their countries.
Whether you like it or not, oh Germans, oh Americans, oh French, Oh
Italians, and all those like you. Take the refugees! We shall soon collect
them in the name of the coming Caliphate... We will say to you: These are
our sons. Send them or we will send our armies to you."
The act of migration has a strong basis in the Qu'ran. For example, Verse
9:20 states:
"The ones who have believed, emigrated and striven in the cause of Allah
with their wealth and their lives are greater in rank in the sight of Allah.
And it is those who are the attainers [of success]."
Verse 22:58 states:
"And those who emigrated for the cause of Allah and then were killed or died
- Allah will surely provide for them a good provision. And indeed, it is
Allah who is the best of providers."
None of the above, however, appears to have put a dent in the policies or
ideology of the left-wing parties supporting the new Spanish government. On
June 29, following the European summit, Sanchez tweeted: "...The EU is
beginning to move in the right direction: to give a European perspective to
a European challenge such as migration." Sanchez was correct, but for all
the wrong reasons. The "European perspective" that he and fellow EU members
should be embracing is that of democracy and freedom, not one that allows
the unfettered entry of millions of penniless and unskilled illegal
migrants, among whom are radical Islamists whose beliefs are antithetical to
European values.
In case Sanchez has not been paying attention, the influx of illegal
immigrants from the Middle East and Africa has been taking a serious toll on
Europe. According to a recent Heritage Foundation report: "Over the past
four years, 16 percent of Islamist plots in Europe featured asylum seekers
or refugees... Radicalization of plotters generally occurred abroad although
in the most recent plots, more commonly within Europe itself. Europe's
response to migration flows has been inadequate and inadvertently increased
the terrorist threat dramatically..."
In the book Europe All Inclusive by former Czech President Václav Klaus,
co-authored by the Arabic-speaking economist Jiří Weigl, the authors sum up
the role that the Left plays in the migrant crisis: "Europe, and especially
its 'integrated' part, is riddled with hypocrisy, pseudo-humanism and other
dubious concepts. The most dangerous of them are the currently fashionable,
and ultimately suicidal, ideologies of multiculturalism and humanrightism.
Such ideologies push millions of people towards resignation when it comes to
concepts like home, motherland, nation and state. These ideologies promote
the notion that migration is a human right, and that the right to migrate
leads to further rights and entitlements including social welfare hand-outs
for migrants... Europe is weakened by the leftist utopia of trying to
transform a continent that was once proud of its past into an inefficient
solidaristic state, turning its inhabitants from citizens into dependent
clients."
As the "largest gateway" for migrants now entering Europe, Spain has a
particularly great responsibility to wake up to and deal with reality.
Thomas Paul Wiederholen is based in Europe.
© 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.
Trump heads for summit with Rouhani. Israel caught by
surprise
موقع دبيكا: ترامب يتجه لعقد قمة مع روحاني وإسرائيل متفاجئة
DEBKAfile/August 01/18
http://eliasbejjaninews.com/archives/66448/debkafile-trump-heads-for-summit-with-rouhani-israel-caught-by-surprise-%D9%85%D9%88%D9%82%D8%B9-%D8%AF%D8%A8%D9%8A%D9%83%D8%A7-%D8%AA%D8%B1%D8%A7%D9%85%D8%A8-%D9%8A%D8%AA%D8%AC%D9%87-%D9%84%D8%B9/
President Donald Trump said Tuesday night July 31: “I have a feeling they’ll
be talking to us pretty soon. And maybe not, and that’s OK too.” He sounded
exactly as he did before meeting Kim Jong-un in Singapore on June 7. Israel,
caught by surprise, reported an assurance from “a senior US official” that
“there is no change in the tough policy against Iran.”
This development should not have come as a surprise. He led up to it two
months ago. On June 7, Trump came out with this comment: “Iran is a
different place than it was two months ago, And we’ll see what happens. And
maybe, ultimately, something will happen with Iran.” On another occasion, he
said: “Iran is acting a lot differently. They’re no longer looking so much
to the Mediterranean. They’re no long looking so much to what’s going on in
Syria, what’s going on in Yemen and a lot of other places.” Then, in a broad
hint to his intention, he said: “They’re a much, much different group of
leaders. And I hope at some point they’ll come to us and we’ll sit down.”
These were no meaningless, off-the-cuff comments, as Trump’s utterances are
often treated by news media, including those of Israel – until they are fed
official briefings. They offered a window to a solid diplomatic process that
was quietly gaining momentum. From early June, US and Iranian emissaries
have been holding exploratory talks through Oman’s good offices. Israel’s
diplomatic and intelligence eyes and ears missed what was going on, because
they took it for granted that the Trump administration would not embrace an
initiative as far-reaching as this without letting Jerusalem know.
But that’s exactly what happened. Israel should have been alerted by the
comings and goings of Omani Foreign Minister Yusuf bin Alawi bin Abdullah
between Washington and Tehran, and Iranian Foreign Minister Muhamed Javad
Zarif’s visit to Muscat in early July. The two ministers were the live wires
in the two years of back-door diplomacy which culminated in the Obama
administration signing the 2015 nuclear deal with Iran.
On Monday, July 30, DEBKAfile first revealed that such contacts were afoot
under the caption: “Iran secretly explores Trump’s terms for negotiating new
nuclear deal.” The next day Trump said quite openly that he was ready to
meet President Hassan Rouhani with no prior conditions.
Still, Jerusalem was so taken aback by the news that it was officially
struck dumb for two days. Then, on Tuesday night, an anonymous Israel
official offered a terse, initial statement: “Senior US officials conveyed
to Israel that there is no change in the tough policy against Iran.” This
sentence, which showed Jerusalem to be still off-balance over the news, left
three questions still unanswered:
Did the Trump administration let Israel know about the start of secret
diplomatic exchanges with Iran for setting up negotiations on an amended
nuclear pact that would also cover ballistic missiles and other issues? Or
was Jerusalem left in the dark? DEBKAfile’s sources believe that the first
heads-up came from the White House no earlier than Tuesday night, i.e., two
months after the process began.
Even that single sentence contained an inaccuracy. The very fact that Trump
is willing to sit down with Rouhani is in itself a change of policy.
Negotiations inevitably lead the parties concerned into policy changes for
the sake of reaching common ground. So what will the American side cede for
an accord?
At the same time, it may be noted that, along with Trump’s liking for
summits with America’s adversaries, he did not lift the tough US sanctions
on North Korea before meeting Kim in Singapore, or on Russia, before sitting
down with President Vladimir Putin in Helsinki. The process with Iran may,
or may not, turn out differently.
Nation-state Law
Backlash: Netanyahu Offers Israel's Druze New Legislation to Enshrine Their
Status
من الهآررتس: نيتانياهو يعرض على دروز إسرائيل إقرار قوانين جديدة تحفظ وضعيتهم
الخاصة عقب اقرار قانون يهودية إسرائيل
Noa Landau and Jack Khoury/Haaretz/August 01/2018
http://eliasbejjaninews.com/archives/66451/haaretz-netanyahu-offers-israels-druze-new-legislation-to-enshrine-their-status-%D9%85%D9%86-%D8%A7%D9%84%D9%87%D8%A2%D8%B1%D8%B1%D8%AA%D8%B3-%D9%86%D9%8A%D8%AA%D8%A7%D9%86%D9%8A%D8%A7%D9%87/
Some Druze representatives say Netanyahu is trying to implement a policy of
'divide and conquer' ■ Netanyahu: anyone who serves in the military should
be eligible for benefits
Following the protest sparked by the nation-state law, Prime Minister
Benjamin Netanyahu offered the representatives of the Druze community to
pass a law which would enshrine the status of the Druze and Circassian
communities. The document also states that the law will include "enshrining
eligibility for the benefits of minority members of all religions and
communities who serve in the security forces, for the purpose of closing
gaps and promoting social equality."
According to the plan submitted by the prime minister's representatives,
"the law will recognize the contribution of the Druze community to the
security of the state, and will include support for community institutions
(religion, education and culture), will strengthen Druze residential
settlements, and establish new towns if needed. It will also preserve and
cultivate Druze heritage."
The negotiating team of the Druze community, which includes their spiritual
leader, Sheikh Muwafak Tarif, former security officials and civil servants,
has had strong disagreements over the proposal. One of the team members told
Haaretz that the representatives who have security backgrounds tend to
accept the spirit of the plan, while others – including local council heads
– oppose it.
The source added that some of the representatives accused the prime minister
of trying to implement a policy of "divide and conquer." They said that they
would settle only for annulling the nation-state law or adding to it the
value of equality. The source added that the Prime Minister's Office is
concerned about the protest rally scheduled for Saturday night, and
therefore is exerting heavy pressure on the representatives of the community
to accept the plan and cancel the rally.
The plan was drafted by a team formed by the prime minister on the issue of
the Druze, headed by the acting Chief of Staff of the Prime Minister's
Bureau, Yoav Horowitz, and including Sheikh Tarif, ministers Ayoub Kara and
Yariv Levin, MK Hamad Amar (Yisrael Beiteinu), former MK Shakib Shenan,
heads of the Druze local authorities and the forum of reservist senior
officers.
The prime minister's office called the plan "historic" in a press release,
saying it "represents a revolution in the legal status of minority group
members who serve in the security forces, and members of the Druze community
in particular." Sheikh Tarif welcomed the work of the team and thanked the
prime minister for his quick and serious activity. The plan will be
presented to the Druze community's dignitaries.
The plan offers to enshrine in law the status of the Druze and Circassian
communities, "paying respect to the contribution of the Druze community to
the State of Israel in building the land, strengthening security and shaping
the face of Israeli society as an egalitarian and diverse society."
The plan also suggests enshrining in law that members of minority groups,
from all religions and ethnic groups will be eligible for benefits if they
serve in the security forces. The law will also recognize their contribution
if they serve.
In addition, the acting Chief of Staff of the Prime Minister's Bureau
announced the formation of a ministerial committee to deal with the issue of
the Druze community, to be headed by the prime minister, which will work to
promote the plan and to supervise its implementation - among other things.
Details of the plan will be formulated and worded within 45 days, in the
context of a joint team of the cabinet and representatives of the community,
all subject to the instructions of the law and the approval of the attorney
general. Legislative activities will begin immediately with the convening of
the coming winter session of the Knesset and will be concluded within 45
days from the start of the session.
The Basic Law on Israel as the Nation-State of the Jewish People, also known
as the nation-state law, approved by the Knesset on July 19, affirmed that
only Jews have the right to self-determination in Israel. It also downgraded
Arabic to a language with “special status,” among several other
controversial measures that affect the Israeli Druze.
The nation-state law is designed to alter the application of the Basic Law
on Human Dignity and Liberty in court rulings, and permits judges to give
priority to Israel’s Jewish character in their rulings. Earlier this month,
Druze lawmakers were the first to file a High Court of Justice petition
against the legislation. A hundred Druze Israel Defense Forces reserve
officers added their voices to that effort on Wednesday, prompting Education
Minister Naftali Bennett to speak out in support of “our blood brothers” on
Twitter. Finance Minister Moshe Kahlon echoed similar sentiments, telling
Israeli Army Radio, "The enactment of the nation-state law was done
hastily," and adding: "We were wrong and we need to fix it."
Trump’s surprise: Negotiating with Rowhani
Abdulrahman al-Rashed/Al Arabiya/August 01/18
This is not the first time that the American president has surprised
political circles with new stances, which are not necessarily contradictory,
but are rather different from common political practice. The time span
between the violent tweet in which he threatened Rowhani and the tweet
calling on him to negotiate is just one week.
I think the past weeks have been filled with mediations and indirect
contacts between the two parties, especially by Iran considering that it is
the harmed party. These contacts propose ideas and promises and this is what
Trump talked about recently where he said: “I know they will bow and will
come to me with a better deal than the one the former American
administration signed.”
Trump quickly legislated the imposing of sanctions and made them gradual to
give a chance to Iran’s customers, who include some of America’s allies, to
settle their situation and exit Iran, and at the same time this gave a
chance to the Iranian regime to offer the best concessions it can make.
Perhaps the clear and frank mediation, which the Omani minister carried out,
prepared for such a public frank exchange. Oman has been used to conveying
messages between Tehran and Washington in the past.
Regarding the Trump administration, it may have enough information about
Tehran’s desire to concede, and Trump’s invitation to Rowhani to negotiate
without preconditions is just a move to save the face of the Iranian regime
Jumping to conclusions
We must not jump to conclusions and announce victory or defeat. The
submissiveness of the Iranian regime or Trump’s retreat is not a football
game. What’s certain is that there is one party that must make concessions,
and that would be Tehran – although it has been defiant and said it will not
concede.
The Khamenei regime does not have plenty of options because if it does not
take action and make concessions, it will collapse from the economic
sanctions, the signs of domestic rebellion and the high cost of its military
adventures.
The American administration itself did not say that its final aim was to
change the regime, but to amend its behavior. It said it wants to reach a
better nuclear deal that prohibits Iran from manufacturing nuclear weapons,
and not a deal like Obama’s which only prevents Iran from enriching uranium
for 10 years.
Regarding the Trump administration, it may have enough information about
Tehran’s desire to concede, and Trump’s invitation to Rowhani to negotiate
without preconditions is just a move to save the face of the Iranian regime,
which Trump has placed in a difficult corner then opened the door wide for
it.
In the past months, governments and organizations in support of Tehran and
those supporting it in the region were overcome with fear as a result of the
rapid and systematic escalation of the Trump administration against
Rowhani’s government. Even the conditions of American reconciliation seemed
impossible, in reference to the 12 conditions which US Secretary of State
Mike Pompeo announced on May 12. These conditions seemed like a roadmap
aimed at toppling the regime, but wrapped in talks about changing the
regime’s behavior only.
With or without pressure from Trump’s administration, the Iranian regime’s
behavior or the Iranian regime itself will change, because this is the cycle
of a violent regime’s life, and this is their maximum age. The supreme
leader’s regime is the last extremist regime of its kind in the world, after
North Korea, which voiced its desire to change. Similar regimes have
disappeared, like those of Saddam in Iraq, Qaddafi in Libya and Castro in
Cuba have ended and before that the Soviet Union, other eastern European
regimes and plenty of others.
Communism in China collapsed as a system, even though the communists have
stayed in power. Iran did not change and did not deviate one inch since the
establishment of its extremist security theological regime in 1979. This
regime has reached the phase of old age, and it will not be capable of
controlling the domestic situation if it does not change. It will collapse
in a few years without any foreign attacks on it.
A new Arab system
Amr Moussa/Al Arabiya/August 01/18
The current situation in the Arab world is very fragile and cannot tolerate
another blow, otherwise it will break apart to such an extent that it will
be difficult to put back together, at least not in the near future. This
situation cannot continue for eternity and several Arabs realize this
danger. Experts believe that it is time to draft a vision for a new Arab
system that can overcome this fragile state. It must take into consideration
several central issues, such as:
- Past experiences and the need to avoid
committing old mistakes. - The Arab system cannot be isolated from modern
global life and the demands of the 21st century. It cannot be separated from
current regional developments. The new proposed system must be attractive,
not repellent, and set guidelines to allow us to interact with the world
around us.
- The new system must be built on the basis of “joint interests”, not “joint
emotions.” The interests may include tourism, trade, investment and job
opportunities among others.
- It must focus on economic reform in all Arab countries. Arab cooperation
must support these reforms on the basis of providing legal protection for
trade and investor capital and encouraging small and medium enterprises.
- It must take a firm stance and launch a joint comprehensive campaign to
combat corruption that is rampant in several parts of the Arab world. This
entails establishing a legal framework for Arab efforts to fight corruption
and set up the necessary agencies to achieve this goal.
- Arab civil society organizations must be given the opportunity to act
freely in supporting societies and the economic and social development
process.
Arabs make up the majority of the residents and they should determine the
identity of this region, which will boast nearly half a billion people in
the coming years
Regional system
I say this, while taking into consideration that the new Arab system must
maintain communication with the regional system, which will ultimately grow
in wake of recent strategic developments, such as those linked to Iran,
Israel and Turkey’s policies towards the Arab Gulf, Fertile Crescent region
and its surrounding regions. Ethiopia’s new policy in the Horn of Africa,
migration policies in Europe and terrorist organizations must also be taken
into account.
At the same time, the new Arab vision must propose a modern approach on
human rights, freedoms and responsibilities. It must link central concepts
with the world’s advancement in a way that does not infringe on the former
and become isolated from the latter.
In this regard, we should rebuild positive ties with different religious
sects and movements, especially between Sunnis and Shiites. We must realize
that the conflict between these two sects has weakened Islam as a whole and
rendered it vulnerable to criticism and defamation.
We must also restore harmony between Muslims and Christians on the basis of
a sense of national belonging, which is a right entitled to everyone. This
is the solid foundation on which a society that cares about mental health
and a sound mind can be built.
Moreover, this is an Arab world that includes Arabs, Kurds, Berbers, Turkmen
and others. It also includes Muslims, Christians and others. Arabs make up
the majority of the residents and they should determine the identity of this
region, which will boast nearly half a billion people in the coming years.
Leaders and planners will not be able to develop an effective equation for
the new Arab regional system without a certain degree of social security and
internal unity. This can only be established through wise economic and
social policies that are able to achieve a qualitative shift in the
healthcare, education, housing and other vital sectors that our people
deserve.
Effective policy
Foreign policy, meanwhile, has long been an extension of internal ones,
whether on the national or regional levels. This demands us all to set a
strong foundation for an effective regional policy through bolstering the
competency of the national Arab state and unleashing its potential.
This is a new vision for our region, which has been torn apart by chaos and
which is bracing for more surprises. Whether or not several of us accuse
foreign conspiracies and meddling in playing a major role in tearing apart
our region, we must acknowledge that the failure of the Arab system was one
of the main reasons that allowed this chaos to spread and for this
interference to take place. In order to transform this current fragile state
into a healthy one, I call on the Arab society, especially research and
science centers, to begin to study a vision for a new Arab system. They
should not wait for instructions, but instead take the initiative to call
for a general discussion and present ideas and documents among each other.
These centers can consult and coordinate with each other so that they can
come up with a single vision. This general discussion must include Arab
civil society institutions in the Gulf, Levant, North Africa and Horn of
Africa so that all positions and common and different interests are taken
into consideration.
The Brotherhood’s news in German land
Mashari Althaydi/Al Arabiya/August 01/18
Many do not know or do not accurately realize the depth of the influence
that the Muslim Brotherhood has in western countries after it has been
almost three generations since the first batch of the group’s envoys arrived
to European countries, especially to Germany and Switzerland, around seven
decades ago.
Their sons and grandsons, Egyptians, Syrians and Iraqis, along with the
Islamists from Turkish parties since the days of “Khawaja” Necmettin Erbakan
till the days of Sultan Recep Erdogan, became part of the German and
European fabric and accurately chose to work in the institutions that
establish public opinion and in lobbying institutions. They became “Troy’s
soldiers” from within the depths of Europe itself, and an advanced line of
defense to defend the Muslim Brotherhood, its allies and its policies under
a European imprint.
Many do not know or do not accurately realize the depth of the influence
that the Muslim Brotherhood has in western countries after it has been
almost three generations since the first batch of the group’s envoys arrived
to European countries, especially to Germany and Switzerland, around seven
decades ago
German complaints
Recent German reports have addressed the problem of the deep Brotherhood
influence inside the country. These reports came after the German Federal
Office for the Protection of the Constitution, which is the country’s
domestic security agency, examined the activities of a Brotherhood
association called the “Saxony Forum” that manages a mosque called Al-Taqwa
in the city of Rastatt in Baden-Wurttemberg.
The German news agency quoted an official in the security agency as saying
that the new Brotherhood activities continue to focus on the communities of
Arab and Muslim refugees for the purpose of recruiting more people.
The German daily Die Welt said that more of the group members fled to
Germany after Mohammed Mursi was ousted in Egypt. It quoted the security
agency’s report as saying: “The Islamic Community of Germany includes around
13,000 members and its activities cover the entire country.” Die Welt added
that the Brotherhood has been exploiting the Islamic community in Cologne
for political incitement purposes for more than three years and for the
purpose of whitewashing the Brotherhood’s reputation in the West.
Anyway, the story of the Brotherhood immigration to Germany is old. Some
attribute it to the son-in-law of the Brotherhood founder Hassan al-Banna,
the group’s dangerous man Said Ramadan who is considered the group’s first
envoy to Europe and the leader of the “Brotherhood immigration” to Germany.
In 1958, Ramadan established the strongest Islamic institution in Germany,
the Islamic Community of Germany (IGD). Dozens of other organizations and
the organizations that are currently affiliated with the Brotherhood
branched from the IGD, and according to news sources, they’re about 30.
In his book ‘The New Muslim Brotherhood in the West’, Dr. Lorenzo G. Vidino
said: “Many of the Brotherhood cadres occupied prominent posts in Germany
which strengthened their influence and made Germany a base (to launch their
work) in Europe.”
After all this, when we read a report by a German media outlet or a human
rights organization that speaks in favor of the Brotherhood, we must search
for the fingerprints of the successors of the “first Brotherhood European
envoy” Said Ramadan and other similar figures who are Syrians, Turks and
Iraqis.
Germany is speaking the Brotherhood language!
The ones who lost the Palestinian cause
Fares bin Hezam/Al Arabiya/August 01/18
When the world stood against Hitler in the 1940s, Palestinian leader Hajj
Amin al-Husseini chose to stand with Hitler against the world. The Nazis
were defeated in 1945 and the victors supported the establishment of the
state of Israel.
During the Tripartite Aggression carried out by Israel, France and Britain
on Suez in 1956, American President Eisenhower took Egypt’s side and stopped
the aggression. Gamal Abdelnasser was revived and he overturned against
Washington and allied with Moscow. Israeli Prime Minister David Ben-Gurion
then inaugurated the “Tel Aviv-Washington” highway because he believed that
the future was with Washington and not with London. These political choices
were decisive in the path of the occupation state’s establishment and
expansion. These were not Saudi options but the options of whoever handled
the affair directly inside and outside Palestine. These political choices
were decisive in the path of the occupation state’s establishment and
expansion. These were not Saudi options but the options of whoever handled
the affair directly inside and outside Palestine. Hajj Husseini and
afterwards President Abdelnasser chose to be on the side of imagined
victory. Arabism voices were still loud with defiance and wanting to expel
the invader. Victory in “the language of Arab steadfastness” is originally
linked to defeat. Loss alone is repeated; therefore, there’s no shame in
creating Arab victory our own way. The victory of defeat is the filthiest of
thing to live on.
It is as malicious as cancer’s harm in one’s body. The substantial
difference is that this ‘victory’ controls all the power, and receives
voluntary, insistent surrender. What further strengthens it is denying the
defeat and shaming others. The victory of defeat is a hideous thing that
even the filthiest history books in human biographies cannot tolerate.
Saudi Arabia's role
For the past decades, Palestinian parties sought to devise one role for
Saudi Arabia, which is to first handle paying money and provide political
support when it’s asked to. President Yasser Arafat’s path was familiar with
this approach after he became the sole political and military decision maker
and after he transferred the Palestinian affair from extremist ideological
regimes to moderate states. Saudi Arabia maintained its role in supporting
the Palestinian cause. It did not impose anything on the authority, the
country’s legitimate representative, or any political or military option. It
respected the desire of the cause’s leaders, to provide financial support
and political support. It supported them when they revolted, and it
facilitated their task when they sought peace. Saudi Arabia was with the
cause at each step despite the temptations of the solo peace, which many
countries in the region drooled over.
It’s Saudi Arabia’s fate, when you grow considering your responsibilities
and status throughout history and, not just in your surrounding areas but
also in the wider scene, you must bear the whims of the little ones before
those of the peers. When you’re responsible for more important matters, and
one day in your tally is like an era being built, you have to get busy with
what’s higher and safer for the house’s ceiling. Ever since our early years
and throughout the rich memories conveyed to us, we have known the kingdom
as dauntless in its politics. This is true based on the kingdom’s history
and honor that it’s the country of the two holy mosques and the leader of
many international balances that safeguard world peace and security in an
international system, while maintaining the 2002 initiative as the only
solution.
Netanyahu Warns Iran: Block Mouth of Red Sea and Be Met by Force
نيتانياهو يحذر إيران بأنها ستواجه بالقوة في حال حاولت أغلاق باب المندب
Noa Shpigel/Haaretz/August 01/18
http://eliasbejjaninews.com/archives/66456/haaretz-netanyahu-warns-iran-block-mouth-of-red-sea-and-be-met-by-force-%D9%85%D9%86-%D8%A7%D9%84%D9%87%D8%A2%D8%B1%D8%B1%D8%AA%D8%B3-%D9%86%D9%8A%D8%AA%D8%A7%D9%86%D9%8A%D8%A7%D9%87%D9%88/
Prime minister's remark comes days after Yemen's Iran-backed Houthi rebels
attacked Egypt-bound Saudi oil tanker ■ Defense minister: 'The IDF is ready
to respond'
Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu said Wednesday that any attempt by Iran to
block the Straits of Bab al-Mandab at the mouth of the Red Sea would be met
by an international coalition that would include Israel.
"Earlier this week, we witnessed a sharp clash with Iran's satellites who
tried to sabotage international shipping in the Straits at the mouth of the
Red Sea," Netanyahu said at a graduation ceremony for naval officers.
A huge tanker with a shipment of oil from Saudi Arabia bound for Egypt was
damaged by a missile attack from the Bab el-Mandab strait on Thursday. The
Houthi rebels in Yemen, armed and financed by Iran, were responsible for the
attack, which took place in the wake of a renewed exchange of threats
between the U.S. and Iran.
"If Iran tries to block the Straits of Bab al-Mandab, it will find itself
facing an international coalition determined to prevent it from doing so,
and this coalition will also include the State of Israel and all its arms,"
Netanyahu warned.
Defense Minister Avigdor Lieberman also spoke at the graduation ceremony,
saying, "recently, we have heard of threats to harm Israeli ships in the Red
Sea."
Lieberman continued: "I would like to emphasize: the Israeli military is
ready to respond simultaneously on two fronts, and also on the Red Sea. Only
in that case we would be less selective and the harm to our enemies would be
greater. I hope they take that into account."
The tanker that was hit last week, the Arsan, was flying a Saudi flag and
transporting some 2 million barrels of oil to Egypt. It was struck by
missiles near the port of Hodeida in Yemen where Saudi Arabia and the United
Arab Emirates have been attacking the Houthis for the past few months.
According to the Washington Institute the tankers were hit by a rocket fired
from a fast-attack vessel or a ground-to-sea missile fired from Yemen,
possibly a C-802, which Iran supplies to the rebels. The Houthis claimed
responsibility for the attack and the Saudis announced that they were
suspending tanker shipments in the Red Sea until the situation was sorted
out and marine traffic was safe again. The Washington Institute researchers
wrote that the Red Sea is the third most important shipping lane in the word
(the first is Hormuz in the Persian Gulf).
The incident happened in the midst of a typical Twitter duel between U.S.
President Donald Trump and the Iranian leadership, during which the Iranians
threatened to disrupt international oil shipments if the United States
imposes sanctions that hurt the Iranian oil industry. The commander of the
Revolutionary Guards Quds Force, Gen. Qasem Soleimani, has accused Saudi
Arabia over the past few days of responsibility for the “unsafe” conditions
in the Red Sea.