LCCC
ENGLISH DAILY NEWS BULLETIN
June 22/2018
Compiled & Prepared by: Elias
Bejjani
The Bulletin's Link on the
lccc Site
http://data.eliasbejjaninews.com/newselias18/english.june22.18.htm
News Bulletin Achieves Since
2006
Click Here to enter the LCCC Arabic/English news bulletins Achieves since 2006
Bible
Quotations
He that honors his
father will make atonement for sins: And he that gives glory to his mother
is as one that lays up treasure
Sirach 03/01-31/: "Hear me your father, O my children, And do thereafter,
that you may be saved. For the Lord has given the father glory as touching
the children, And has confirmed the judgement of the mother as touching the
sons. He that honors his father will make atonement for sins: And he that
gives glory to his mother is as one that lays up treasure. Whoso honors his
father will have joy of his children; And in the day of his prayer he will
be heard. He that gives glory to his father will have length of days; And he
that listens to the Lord will bring rest to his mother, And will do service
under his parents, as to masters. In deed and word honor your father, That a
blessing may come upon you from him. For the blessing of the father
establishes the houses of children; But the curse of the mother roots out
the foundations. Glorify not yourself in the dishonor of your father; For
your father’s dishonor is no glory to you. For the glory of a man is from
the honor of his father; And a mother in dishonor is a reproach to her
children. My son, help your father in his old age; And grieve him not as
long as he lives. And if he fails in understanding, have patience with him;
And dishonor him not while you are in your full strength. For the relieving
of your father will not be forgotten: And instead of sins it will be added
to build you up. In the day of your affliction it will remember you; As fair
weather upon ice, So will your sins also melt away. He that forsakes his
father is as a blasphemer; And he that provokes his mother is cursed of the
Lord. My son, go on with your business in meekness; So will you be beloved
of an acceptable man. The greater you are, humble yourself the more, And you
will find favor before the Lord. For great is the potency of the Lord, And
he is glorified of those who are lowly. Seek not things that are too hard
for you, And search not out things that are above your strength. The things
that have been commanded you, think thereupon; For you have no need of the
things that are secret. Be not over busy in your superfluous works: For more
things are showed to you than men can understand. For the conceit of many
has led them astray; And evil surmising has caused their judgement to slip.
A stubborn heart will fare ill at the last; And he that loves danger will
perish therein. A stubborn heart will be laden with troubles; And the sinner
will heap sin upon § sin. The calamity of the proud is no healing; For a
plant of wickedness has taken root in him. The heart of the prudent will
understand a parable; And the ear of a listener is the desire of a wise man.
Water will quench a flaming fire; And almsgiving will make atonement for
sins. He that requites good turns is mindful of that which comes afterward;
And in the time of his falling he will find a support."
Titles For Latest LCCC Bulletin analysis & editorials from
miscellaneous sources published on June 21-22/18
The Lebanese state: Hostage or Iranian lackey/Makram Rabah/Al Arabiya/June
21/18
It’s Now Clear Why the Iran Agreement Was a Bad Deal/Moshe Arens/Haaretz/June
21/18
Horrific Details on Syria Chemical Attacks Left Out, for Now, From U.N.
Report/Rick Gladstone and Maggie Haberman/ The New York Times/June 20/18
Will Merkel survive to lead an unwieldy coalition/Dr. Mohamed A. Ramady/Al
Arabiya/June 21/18
End of Iran nuclear deal: No more business as usual/Faisal Al-Shammeri/Al
Arabiya/June 21/18
Analysis New U.S.-Russia-Saudi Oil Alliance Could Also Have Implications for
Israel and Iran/Anshel Pfeffer/Haaretz/June 21/18
Trying to Read Into the Crises of Refugees and Immigration/Eyad Abu Shakra/Asharq
Al Awsat/June 21/18
Hardliners Learn That Democracy Can Pay Off/Tyler Cowen/Bloomberg/June 21/18
Titles For The
Latest LCCC Lebanese Related News published on
June 21-22/18
Merkel Arrives in Beirut on Two-Day Official Visit
Hariri: I am optimistic and we will solve the obstacles within days
"Strong Lebanon" parliamentary bloc meets under Geagea's chairmanship:
Cooperation needed to accelerate government formation
Army commander inaugurates barracks and training center in Arsal, pledges
Army support for people of Bekaa
Hariri holds talks with Merkel on Lebanese, regional developments
Jumblatt, Iranian ambassador discuss local, regional developments
New Apostolic Nuncio arrives to Lebanon carrying "Pope Francis' blessings to
inhabitants of the land of cedars"
Rahi briefs Foucher on Paris visit atmosphere
Foucher awards Matar National Order of the Legion of Honor: A fierce
defender of Francophonie
Trump to meet Jordan's King Abdullah at White House June 25
EU Adopts Package to Lebanon to Help It Cope with Refugees
Hizbullah, Iran Withdrawing from Golan Border, Monitor Says
Anxious Berri Says Hariri Dragging His Feet on Govt. Formation
FPM Denies Report Claiming Bassil-Hariri Talks weren't Positive
Hariri Denies Delaying Govt. Formation, May Submit Line-Up 'Tomorrow'
Berri Says Some Aim to ‘Distort’ Bekaa’s Image, Urges Aoun to Take Action
Ex-Minister to Asharq Al-Awsat: Heads Should Roll to Resolve Lebanon's
Illicit Arms
Lebanon: Suicide Attempt Every Six Hours
The Lebanese state: Hostage or Iranian lackey?
Titles For Latest LCCC
Bulletin For Miscellaneous Reports And News published
on June 21-22/18
Bolton Headed to Moscow to Discuss Trump-Putin Meeting
Top Iraq Court Rules in Favor of Manual Election Recount
Bahrain Opposition Leader Acquitted in Qatar Spy Case
Prosecutor Charges Netanyahu's Wife with Fraud
Yemen Rebels Vow to Fight on after Losing Hodeida Airport
US National Security Adviser Set to Visit Moscow- Kremlin
Thousands Flee Regime Shelling on South Syria
Baghdad: Clashes between Iraqi Hezbollah, Police
Iraq Court Endorses Manual Election Recount, Rejects Invalidation of Some
Votes
Germany’s Merkel calls for solutions to Iran’s ‘aggressive tendencies’
US security chief Bolton to visit Moscow for talks on Trump, Putin
Iran women’s activist says blocked from protesting at Russia World Cup
Trump backs down on separating immigrant children, signs executive order
US mulls plans to hold Congressional hearing on the Muslim Brotherhood
Gazan dies of border protest wounds
Erekat: Washington is a Partner in Israel’s Practices
Israeli-Palestinian Escalations Could Lead to New War on Gaza
UAE: Hodeidah Operation Aims to Break Political Deadlock
Libya: UK Hints It Would Impose Int'l Sanctions against Armed Militia Leader
Baghdad: Clashes between Iraqi 'Hezbollah', Police
Egyptian Parliament Mulls New Taxes on Higher Earners
Latest LCCC Lebanese Related News published on
June 21-22/18
Merkel Arrives in
Beirut on Two-Day Official Visit
Naharnet/June
21/18/German Chancellor Angela Merkel arrived Thursday afternoon in Lebanon
on a two-day official visit. This is the second visit to the country by a
top German official within six months. German President Frank-Walter
Steinmeier had visited Lebanon in January. Merkel will meet President Michel
Aoun, Speaker Nabih Berri and Prime Minister-designate Saad Hariri for talks
on “the general political situations in Lebanon and the region and means to
develop bilateral relations between the two countries with Syrian refugees
and the economic situation at the top of the agenda,” al-Liwaa newspaper has
reported. According to the visit's official program, the German leader will
meet at 6:30 pm with Hariri over a work dinner. On Friday she will visit
Berri in Ain el-Tineh before taking part along with Hariri at 12:30 pm in a
Grand Serail seminar bringing together Lebanese and German businessmen. A
joint press conference will be held with Hariri at 1:00 pm after which a
lunch banquet will be thrown in her honor at the Grand Serail. Merkel will
finally meet with Aoun in Baabda before leaving Beirut at 4:00 pm.
Hariri: I am
optimistic and we will solve the obstacles within days
Thu 21 Jun 2018/NNA - NNA - Prime Minister-designate Saad Hariri attended
today a lunch hosted in his honor in Zaytuna Bay by former MP Mohammad
Kabbani and attended by Minister Nohad Mashnouk and MPs: Fuad Makhzoumi,
Faisal Sayegh, Nadim Gemayel, Adnan Trabulsi, Toni Pano, Nicolas Sahnaoui,
Mohamed Khawaja, Jean Talouzian and Paula Yacoubian. Prime Minister Hariri
was asked: Are you capable of bringing together all factions in a national
unity government? And Speaker Berri is asking why are you moving slowly
He replied: I am entitled to a vacation. I went to see my family and now we
"opened the turbo" to form a government as soon as possible. And we will
certainly gather everyone, it is my duty to do so, and I am optimistic and
within days we can accomplish all these things.
Question: Are the obstacles external or internal?
Hariri: There are no external obstacles but internal ones, but they are
solvable.
Question: Berri says that the formation does not have a time limit, and this
is a loophole in the constitution. Did you set a deadline for yourself or
are you taking it slowly?
Hariri: No, I am not taking it slowly, but I do not know why we want to
hurry things up. First, I was designated three weeks ago, and second there
was the holy month of Ramadan and then the Eid. We are consulting with all
the political parties. There are some obstacles, but we solve them through
dialogue and time. I wish that the country had been, in my absence or during
the holidays, quieter on the media level so we could form a government.
Question: Is there a difficulty regarding the "Lebanese Forces"
representation in the formation process?
Hariri: No difficulty, neither with the Lebanese Forces nor with others.
These things happen in any formation of a government. This is normal, but I
am optimistic. God willing, we will end the matter within days. We should
not exaggerate things because they are not really huge.
Question: How would you describe your meeting with Minister Gebran Bassil?
Hariri: He said it was a positive meeting, I say the same.
Question: Will you accept the nomination of Sunni ministers from outside the
Future movement?
Hariri: We talk to everyone, and when I have a proposal, I will go to the
President of the Republic, and that may be tomorrow.
Question: It is said that the Free Patriotic Movement demands seven seats,
and five for the President of the Republic. Will the government be able to
meet all these demands?
Hariri: We are conducting negotiations, and everyone will be satisfied.
Everyone knows that we will form a government of thirty ministers, who
should represent the largest number of political blocs. As you know, in any
negotiations, everyone starts with a high ceiling, and then negotiations are
conducted, I am not afraid.
Question: Is it said that Saudi Arabia has no interest in a government at
present because it is betting on regional developments?
Hariri: Who says that? I always hear this talk and then I hear a different
talk. I went to Saudi Arabia and they are keen that the government be formed
yesterday before today, so this issue is not true. No one spoke to me about
it.
Question: Do you set a time limit for yourself to form a government?
Hariri: I am working as fast as possible.
Question: Can the blockade on the Lebanese Forces lead you to apologize from
forming the government?
Hariri: No one is besieging anyone and no one is putting a veto on anyone.
As I tell you: Those who go to the negotiations put a high ceiling.
Question: There is no veto on a sovereign portfolio for the Lebanese Forces?
Hariri: There is no veto from me and the Free Patriotic Movement says the
same thing. Thus what I am saying is that we have to take things positively
and I hope the media will also be positive because the country cannot afford
tensions and I am confident that everyone is cooperating.
Bukhari
Hariri received this afternoon at the Center House the Saudi Charge
d'affaires in Lebanon Waleed Bukhari who said after the meeting that he
congratulated Premier Hariri on the occasion of Eid al-Fitr and discussed
with him the situation.
Hariri also met with Caretaker Minister of Finance Ali Hassan Khalil in the
presence of Minister Ghattas Khoury. He also received the leader of Marada
Movement Sleiman Frangie accompanied by Minister Youssef Finianos in the
presence of Minister Ghattas Khoury. He then met with MP Wael Abu Faour.
Hariri also met with Minister Melhem Riachi. Discussions focused on the
general situation and the formation of the government. -- Press release
"Strong Lebanon" parliamentary bloc meets under
Geagea's chairmanship: Cooperation needed to accelerate government formation
Thu 21 Jun 2018/ NNA - Lebanese Forces party leader, Samir Geagea, presided
over a meeting in Maarab for the "Strong Republic" parliamentary bloc,
attended by Vice President of the party, MP George Adwan, MPs: Strida Geagea,
Eddy Abi Lamaa, Wehba Qatisha, Fadi Saad, Ziad Hawat, Shawki Daccache,
Georges Oqais, Antoine Habshi, Imad Wakim, Cesar Maalouf and Joseph Isaac.
Attending the meeting are former deputies Antoine Zahra, Elie Kayrouz, Fadi
Karam and Shant Gengnian, Secretary-General Dr. Chantal Sarkis and Head of
Media and Communication, Charles Jabbour, in the absence of Deputy Prime
Minister, Ghassan Hasbani, due to illness, and caretaker Minister of
Information, Melhem Riachy, due to previous commitments at Beit Al-Wasat.
Also absent from the meeting were deputies: Pierre Bou Assi, Jean Talouzian
and Anis Nassar, as well as former MPs Antoine Abou Khater and Joseph Al-Maalouf
and that for personal reasons.
Following the meeting, the secretary of the bloc, former deputy Fadi Karam,
said that "bloc leader Samir Geagea had briefed conferees on the ongoing
negotiations to form the government and the existing contacts with President
Michel Aoun and Prime Minister-designate Saad Hariri and other political
forces."
In its statement, the bloc reiterated support for “the efforts exerted by
Prime Minister Hariri who is the first person involved in forming the
government,” stressing “the need to differentiate between the urgency of
forming the government the soonest possible so as to meet the economic,
living, reform and political challenges, on the one hand, and some parties'
attempt to hold the Premier-designate responsible for the delay and exert
pressure on it by insinuating external complications, on the other hand.”
"What is needed is that all political forces cooperate in order to speed up
the formation instead of questioning and circulating negative vibes," the
statement said. The bloc maintained "adherence to the results of the
parliamentary elections and the rejection of any attempt to circumvent the
will of the people and their vote," rejecting "some parties' unyielding
attempts to restrict the representation of the Lebanese forces within the
government, contrary to the popular will." The bloc also "regretted all that
accompanied the decree of naturalization of errors both in form and in
content," and wished it would be withdrawn soon. "The bloc will continue to
challenge the decree until the end," the statement read.
Conferees also called on the President of the Republic and the Prime
Minister "to give the Ministries of Interior, Defense and Justice the
necessary instructions to fully assume their responsibilities in the
Baalbek-Hermel region by imposing security with an iron fist and holding all
security and stability violators accountable, because the situation is no
longer tolerable and the prestige of the state is at stake."They also
stressed "the need to make the file of displaced persons top priority for
the upcoming government which is expected to put in place, immediately after
its formation, a clear plan for the return of displaced persons to their
country as soon as possible," upping calls to close all illegal crossings
and to take the necessary measures on the legitimate crossings to stop the
smuggling of fuel and agricultural crops between Syria and Lebanon, thus
negatively affecting the Lebanese treasury and Lebanese farmers who suffer
heavy losses.
Army commander inaugurates barracks and training center
in Arsal, pledges Army support for people of Bekaa
Thu 21 Jun 2018/NNA - Army Chief, General Joseph Aoun, attended this
Thursday the inauguration of the training center of Dahr al-Jabal in Arsal,
funded by the Canadian authorities, and the opening of the Capt. Ahmad
Tabikh barracks in Labweh, in the presence of the Canadian Ambassador to
Lebanon, Emmanuelle Lamoureux and senior officers from the Lebanese and
Canadian sides. General Aoun thanked the Canadian authorities and their
embassy in Lebanon for "financing the establishment of the training center
in Arsal; a major step towards improving the military level and enhancing
cooperation between the two countries and the two armies."He also praised
"the sacrifices of Capt. Ahmed Tabikh in confronting the threat of
terrorism," stressing the "importance of the Bekaa area (...) which has
formed a fortress to upholding conviviality. The Army was and will forever
be next to the people of the Bekaa, and will support them to achieve full
security."For her part, Ambassador Lamoureux stressed "the importance of
partnership between the two friendly countries," and underscored the role of
the military institution in achieving stability in the country and facing
internal and external challenges.
Hariri holds talks with Merkel on Lebanese, regional developments
Thu 21 Jun 2018/NNA - Prime Minister-designate Saad Hariri held talks with
German Chancellor Angela Merkel on the latest developments in Lebanon and
the region and ways to bolster bilateral relations in various fields,
especially at the level of economy and trade. The talks were attended by
caretaker minister Ghattas Khoury and the Lebanese ambassador to Germany
Mustafa Adib, as well as the German ambassador to Lebanon Martin Huth and
advisors Nadim A-Munla and Hani Hammoud. In the wake of the Grand Serail
meeting, Chancellor Merkel inked the register of honor, and then stepped out
with PM Hariri to the balcony of the Serail, where he briefed her on the
landmarks of the capital. Hariri is currently hosting a dinner in honor of
Chancellor Merkel attended by members of the Lebanese and German
delegations.
Jumblatt, Iranian ambassador discuss local, regional
developments
Thu 21 Jun 2018/NNA - Head of the Progressive Socialist Party, Walid
Jumblatt, received this Thursday at his residence in Clemenceau the Iranian
ambassador to Lebanon, Mohammad Fathali, on a farewell visit to mark the end
of his diplomatic missions. The meeting touched on the latest political
developments in Lebanon and the region.
New Apostolic Nuncio arrives to Lebanon carrying "Pope Francis' blessings to
inhabitants of the land of cedars"
Thu 21 Jun 2018/NNA - The newly appointed apostolic nuncio in Lebanon,
Monsignor Joseph Spiteri, arrived in Beirut, coming from Rome, to take over
his diplomatic duties and submit a copy of his credentials to Lebanese
officials. "I am very pleased to be here and I am overwhelmed with feelings.
(...) I met last Monday with Pope Francis who relays his blessings to the
Lebanese people and to all the inhabitants of the land of cedars," said the
new Nuncio.
Rahi briefs Foucher on Paris visit atmosphere
Thu 21 Jun 2018/NNA - Maronite Patriarch, Cardinal Mar Bechara Boutros Rahi,
received this Thursday in Bkirki the French Ambassador to Lebanon, Bruno
Foucher, with talks featuring high on the official visit made by Rahi to
France last month upon the invitation of French President Emmanuel Macron.
Foucher said he met with Rahi for a briefing on the outcomes of his Paris
visit and his meetings with various French officials. "The French
authorities have renewed their confidence and hopes in his beatitude and in
the historical relations with the Maronite Church in Lebanon," Foucher said,
noting that "discussions have touched on the Lebanese economy, the Syrian
crisis, the issue of schools and the financial difficulties of applying Law
46, in addition to discussing the upcoming visit of the French President to
Lebanon.""The Patriarch's visit to France (...) was done in a timely manner
due to the current situation that imposed a number of subjects to deliberate
on," he added, underlining President Macron's happiness of having held talks
with Patriarch Rahi.
Foucher awards Matar National Order of the Legion of Honor: A fierce
defender of Francophonie
Thu 21 Jun 2018/ NNA - French President Emmanuel Macron awarded Archbishop
of Beirut, Boulos Matar, the French National Order of the Legion of Honor in
the rank of Commander, “in recognition of his contributions to
Lebanese-French relations.”
The French ambassador to Lebanon, Bruno Foucher, handed this order over to
the Archbishop during a ceremony held at the Maronite Diocese in Achrafieh,
in the presence of Caretaker Minister Cesar Abi Khalil, representing
President Michel Aoun, MP Ibrahim Azar, representing Speaker Nabih Berri,
and Caretaker Minister Ghattas Khoury, representing PM-designate Saad
Hariri. Ahead of granting Bishop Matar the said decoration on behalf of
President Macron, Ambassador Foucher delivered a statement in which he
reminded that fourteen years ago, Ambassador Lecourtier, had granted Matar
the Order of Honor in the rank of knight. "Today, France wishes to honor you
once again for your extraordinary role at the service of your church, your
country, its people and the Francophonie," he said, underlining the
deep-rooted trust between France and the Maronite Church, and underscoring
Matar's commitment to dialogue."You have enthusiastically defended the
'Lebanese feature' of peaceful coexistence, which is the wealth of this
country," he told Matar, reminding how the latter was "chosen to carry the
banner and the Lebanese model at the Islamic-Christian dialogue sessions
launched by the President of Al-Azhar University, Sheikh Ahmed Al-Tayeb."
"This dialogue is necessary as sectarianism and intolerance are becoming
more and more spread in the region," Foucher went on to say, noting that
"Christians of the East are a key element in the region, without which part
of its identity would disappear. France is convinced with this idea and will
remain committed to defending it. This was a message recently reiterated by
President Emmanuel Macron during Patriarch Rahi's visit to Paris.""The
promotion of the Francophonie is one of our President's priorities, and he
is set to visit Beirut to sign an ambitious road map in that regard," he
added.
"Your role in spreading the French language in Lebanon makes you a true
partner of France. As a man of dialogue and culture, you represent
diversity, which is the wealth of this country," the ambassador concluded.
Bishop Matar, in turn, gave a speech that expressed utter appreciation for
the "respect bestowed upon him by the French State for the third time in a
row."He thanked President Macron for granting him this honor and for
congratulating him personally "during his visit to the Elysee, two weeks
ago, within the framework of the official visit by His Beatitude, Patriarch
Bechara Rahi.""This is not a personal reward, no matter my services. It
falls within scope of historical relations between France and Lebanon,"
Matar said, adding that "serving our homeland is an obligation to us
all."Archbishop Matar expressed his appreciation to the French President,
stressing that “the Christians of the East and its Muslims have to overcome
the differences and create a peaceful and beneficial rapprochement.”"Neither
the Christians nor the Muslims can make a destiny independent of each other.
The time of isolation is far gone," Matar affirmed. "Pluralism and unity in
French society are met by pluralism and unity in the Arab world, which is a
level of thinking that requires firm and sincere action and determination,"
he said.
Trump to meet Jordan's King Abdullah at White House June 25
Thu 21 Jun 2018/NNA - U.S. President Donald Trump will welcome King Abdullah
of Jordan to the White House on June 25, the White House said in a statement
on Thursday.
"Trump looks forward to reaffirming the strong bonds of friendship between
the United States and Jordan. The leaders will discuss issues of mutual
concern, including terrorism, the threat from Iran and the crisis in Syria,
and working towards a lasting peace between Israelis and Palestinians," it
said. -- REUTERS
EU Adopts Package to Lebanon to Help It Cope with
Refugees
Associated Press/Naharnet/June 21/18/The European Union has adopted a
support package to Lebanon of 165 million euros ($191 million) to help the
country cope with hosting Syrian refugees. In a statement released to mark
World Refugee Day, the EU said the package aims to support Lebanon's public
education and social assistance systems. Lebanon is home to a million Syrian
refugees, who amount to nearly a quarter of the country's population. Of the
package, 100 million euros ($116 million) were allocated to strengthen the
public education system and guarantee that all children "have access to
inclusive and quality education." A further 52 million euros ($60 million)
went to equally provide socio-economic support to vulnerable Lebanese
populations and Syrian refugees, while 13 million euros ($15 million) were
earmarked to support Palestine refugees from Syria.
Hizbullah, Iran Withdrawing from Golan Border, Monitor
Says
Naharnet/June 21/18/Hizbullah and Iran have started withdrawing their forces
from Syria's border with Jordan and the occupied Golan Heights, in line with
Russian demands, a war monitor said on Thursday. Citing “credible sources,”
the Britain-based Syrian Observatory for Human Rights said “the forces of
Iran and Lebanon's Hizbullah and militants loyal to them have started the
process of pulling out from south Syria.”Under the new arrangements, these
forces will move 40 kilometers away from Syria's border with Jordan and
Israeli-occupied Golan, the Observatory said. The development comes in line
with “Russian demands” and following “Russian consultations with regional
parties,” the monitor added. “The Russians have given a chance to the
Jordanian and American sides to negotiate with the (rebel) factions about
the possibility of reaching a solution for the south Syria region, whereas
regime forces have intensified their shelling of the Daraa province and
areas in Quneitra's countryside,” the Observatory went on to say. Israel,
which has carried out dozens of airstrikes against Iranian and Hizbullah
posts in Syria, had recently expressed alarm over the presence of Iranians
and Hizbullah forces near Golan's border.
Anxious Berri Says Hariri Dragging His Feet on Govt. Formation
Naharnet/June 21/18/Parliament Speaker Nabih Berri has lamented what he
called the absence of “any serious cabinet formation efforts.”In an
interview with al-Akhbar newspaper published Thursday, Berri said he does
not have an idea about what is going in Premier-designate Saad Hariri's mind
other than that “he is dragging his feet on the formation process.”“What we
know is the news that we are hearing. One time we hear about agreements and
another we hear that there are no agreements but rather obstruction,” Berri
added. “We no longer know the source of the problem that is causing this
procrastination. If it is external they should tell us and if it is domestic
they should also tell us. I had insisted that the government be formed
before Eid al-Fitr but no one listened,” the Speaker went on to say. He
warned that even after the formation of the new cabinet, the ministerial
policy statement is expected to take “a month” in the making. Asked how to
end the country's recurrent problem of protracted cabinet formation
negotiations, Berri said: “This issue indicates the presence of real flaws
in the Constitution.” “When a person is tasked with forming a government,
this does not mean that they have as much time as they want. They should
only have some time to carry out consultations and reach agreements on the
line-up. Right now we are in a totally different situation,” the Speaker
lamented. He added: “It is not the foreign pressure that is worrying me,
seeing as it can be contained, but rather the domestic pressure, especially
the economic issue, which is now combined with the security problem in
northern Bekaa.”
FPM Denies Report Claiming Bassil-Hariri Talks weren't
Positive
Naharnet/June 21/18/Sources from the Free Patriotic Movement's Strong
Lebanon bloc have denied a media report claiming that FPM chief MP Jebran
Bassil's latest Paris meeting with Prime Minister-designate Saad Hariri “was
not positive.”MTV had described the meeting as futile and quoted sources
close to Hariri as saying that “should Hizbullah insist on representing the
anti-Mustaqbal Sunni opposition, let them find someone other than Hariri to
lead the government.”Other obstacles delaying the new government are
reportedly the number of seats that should be allocated to the Lebanese
Forces and whether or not MP Talal Arslan should be given a portfolio.
Hariri was tasked with forming the new government on May 24.
Hariri Denies Delaying Govt. Formation, May Submit
Line-Up 'Tomorrow'
Naharnet/June 21/18/Prime Minister-designate Saad Hariri on Thursday denied
that he is delaying the formation of the new government, revealing that he
might submit a draft line-up to President Michel Aoun on Friday. “I'm not
neglecting the formation process but I have the right to have a vacation and
I traveled to see my family. We have now 'pressed the turbo button' in order
to form a government as soon as possible,” Hariri told reporters when asked
about remarks by Speaker Nabih Berri. “We will certainly bring all people
together (in the new government) and it is my duty to do so. I'm optimistic
and we can finalize all these things within days,” Hariri added. Asked
whether the obstacles are external or domestic, the PM-designate said:
“There are no external obstacles but rather domestic ones, but they can be
resolved and nothing is impossible to resolve.”“I'm not taking my time but I
don't know why would we want to rush things. First, I was designated around
three weeks ago and second we marked the holy month of Ramadan and
afterwards the Eid. We are consulting with all political parties,” Hariri
stressed.
He added: “I wish the rhetoric in the country had been calmer during my
absence or during the Eid holiday so that we can form the government.”Asked
whether there is an obstacle related to the Lebanese Forces' representation,
Hariri said: “There are no obstacles with the LF or other parties. Such
matters happen in any cabinet formation process. This is normal but I am
optimistic and, God willing, we will finalize the issue within days. We must
not blow things out of proportion because they're really not that
enormous.”As for his latest meeting with Free Patriotic Movement chief MP
Jebran Bassil, Hariri said: “He said that it was a positive meeting and I
will also say that.”Asked whether he will accept the appointment of Sunni
ministers from outside his al-Mustaqbal Movement, Hariri added: “We are
talking to everyone and when the line-up becomes ready I will visit the
President and this might happen tomorrow.”
Told that Saudi Arabia “has no interest currently in the formation of a
government” because it is “betting on regional developments,” the
PM-designate answered: “Who exactly is saying this? I always hear such
remarks and then I hear different remarks. I went to Saudi Arabia and they
are keen on a speedy government formation. That's why such claims are
incorrect and baseless. No one (in Saudi Arabia) spoke to me about this.”
Later on Thursday, Hariri's office announced that he met at the Center House
with Marada Movement chief Suleiman Franjieh, caretaker Information Minister
Melhem Riachi of the LF and MP Wael Abu Faour of the Progressive Socialist
Party. “Talks focused on the government issue,” the office said. The main
obstacles delaying the new government are reportedly the number of seats
that should be allocated to the Lebanese Forces and whether or not MP Talal
Arslan should be given a portfolio. Hariri was tasked with forming the new
government on May 24.
Berri Says Some Aim to ‘Distort’ Bekaa’s Image, Urges
Aoun to Take Action
Naharnet/June 21/18/Speaker Nabih Berri on Wednesday urged
President Michel Aoun to put the efforts needed in order to impose the
State’s control in the cumbersome northern region of Bekaa, criticising
years of “idleness” and attempts to “distort” its image. “Our people in
Bekaa need a State to carry its identity,” said Berri in a statement.
Attempts have been going on for years to distort the image of Bekaa and
showing it as seeking to escape the rule of law. All of that was happening
while Lebanon was watching. What is the main goal behind all of this?” Berri
asked. The Speaker also said: “It is not convincing that the security
apparatuses, the Lebanese army and State are unable to arrest the
outlaws.”Security conditions occasionally deteriorate in the Bekaa district
of Baalbek-Hermel where reports of crime, theft and gunfire are not
uncommon. Residents of the area have long demanded a solution for the
rampant chaos in their city. Conditions deteriorated further in May and
reports of shootouts, and revenge operations --a phenomenon that tribes
cling to as one of the old customs-- were reported. On Wednesday, media
reports said the Lebanese army was preparing a strict plan for the region to
put things into order.
Ex-Minister to Asharq Al-Awsat: Heads
Should Roll to Resolve Lebanon's Illicit Arms
Beirut - Asharq Al-Awsat/Thursday, 21 June, 2018/Former Interior Minister
Marwan Charbel told Asharq Al-Awsat on Wednesday that “big heads should
start rolling” if the Lebanese authorities want to end the proliferation of
weapons in Lebanon. Charbel said political parties should promote stability
and development projects in the country instead of providing protection to
people using illegitimate weapons. “The government should be decisive on
this matter and launch a plan capable of ending the chaos caused by the
spread of weapons through cooperation with all Lebanese” factions, he said.
The former minister explained that arms not falling under the authority of
the Lebanese state have spread in the country since 1860. At first, the use
of such weapons were limited to isolated and security incidents. But they
increased in number with the spread of Palestinians and militias during the
Civil War. Illicit arms “re-emerged after the assassination of PM Rafik
Hariri when some parties were accused of committing the crime,” he said. But
Lebanese authorities are incapable of limiting the use of such arms, which
have turned their owners from vendetta seekers to people resorting to the
use of illegitimate weapons in hopes of facilitating the smuggling of goods,
a drug trade and the theft of vehicles. During Eid al-Fitr holidays, the
number of victims from such arms increased in Lebanon, particularly in the
eastern Bekaa Valley when a vendetta left several innocent people dead.
Zeina Bassil Chamoun, founder of the Don’t Forget Us (Ma Tensouna) Movement
told Asharq Al-Awsat that “there is no official data on the number of
innocent people killed by stray bullets and proliferated arms.” She said
concerned security forces shy away from releasing transparent information on
the matter to avoid showing their failure in handling it or be blamed by any
political party. "Ma Tensouna" was founded in July 2017 after a gunman
killed Roy Hamouche, a student from the Holy Spirit University of Kaslik,
during a car chase while on his way back home after celebrating his birthday
with friends. Chamoun explained that after conducting modest researches on
previous crimes committed through illicit weapons, she found out that all
criminals had been on the run or were released shortly after their arrest.
Lebanon: Suicide Attempt Every Six Hours
Beirut - Caroline Akoum/Asharq Al-Awsat/Thursday, 21 June, 2018/Lebanon is
witnessing frequent suicide attempts among its youth, revealing mounting
cases of depression, which, according to specialists, are closely linked to
the deteriorating social and economic situation. Last week, more than four
cases of suicide were reported in several Lebanese areas, while official
data indicates that, up to May 2018, 100 cases were registered at a time
when the number of cases last year reached 143, 128 suicides in 2016 and 138
in 2015. Based on these figures, Dr. Elie Karam, director of the Idraac
Association (Center for Research and Development of Applied Therapy), and
Mia Atwi, a psychologist and co-founder of the Embrace Association for
Mental Health Awareness, said that the situation in Lebanon was not at a
dangerous stage, especially as the rate is estimated at 2 percent of the
total population at a time when in other countries the rate can reach 15
percent. Atwi pointed out that suicide has turned into a major concern for
public health in Lebanon, noting that Internal Security Forces data
indicates a case of suicide every two and a half days in Lebanon, and
suicide attempt every six hours. She told Asharq Al-Awsat that the
association has allocated a hotline for assistance, noting that from
September to February, the association received 200 calls from people
reporting possible cases of suicide attempts, while between February and May
there were about 400 calls. On the other hand, Karam underlined the need to
wait until the end of the year to find out the final figures and whether the
suicide rates have indeed increased. “If the situation continues as it
is, it means that at the end of 2018 the number of suicides may reach 250,
and then we can talk about an increase in this phenomenon”, he said in
remarks to Asharq Al-Awsat.
Family, moral and social support constitutes a key element in helping a
person overcome psychological problems. In this regard, Atwi said that the
hotline was aimed at providing such support, assessing the patient’s suicide
risk and communicating with the family. Causes of suicide in Lebanon are not
different from those in other countries, especially Arab countries,
according to Karam and Atwi. Those are mainly due to mental illness,
depression, deteriorating social and economic factors, and genetic factors.
Karam points out that suicide is the world’s second leading cause of death
of young people between 18 and 25, after traffic accidents.
The Lebanese state:
Hostage or Iranian lackey?
الدولة اللبنانية: هل هي رهيننة إيرانية أم خادمة للنظام الإيراني
Makram Rabah/Al Arabiya/June 21/18
http://eliasbejjaninews.com/archives/65472/makram-rabah-the-lebanese-state-hostage-or-iranian-lackey-%d9%85%d9%83%d8%b1%d9%85-%d8%b1%d8%a8%d8%a7%d8%ad-%d8%a7%d9%84%d8%af%d9%88%d9%84%d8%a9-%d8%a7%d9%84%d9%84%d8%a8%d9%86%d8%a7%d9%86%d9%8a/
The Lebanese experiment at state building has been one of many ebbs and
flows, mired with many complications several of which self-inflicted by the
Lebanese themselves.
During the 15 years of civil war (1975-1990) and despite the many burdens
and foreign occupation of its lands, the Lebanese state fought hard to
prevent its total collapse, and succeed in sustaining a somewhat healthy
relationship with the international community as well as its Arab
surroundings.
At present, the same cannot be said about Lebanon and its defunct state,
which has hit rock bottom due to the failure of its political elite to
address a number of key issues that are pivotal for Lebanon’s future. These
menacing challenges involve an abysmal response to the failing economy but
more importantly to Iran’s growing influence over all aspect of the Lebanese
state.
Iran’s Lebanese allies, among them the incumbent president Michel Aoun, have
often dismissed these allegations as trivial refusing to acknowledge the
fact that his relationship with Iran and the laxity he has exhibited towards
Iran’s expansions has further alienated Lebanon and exposed it to potential
sanctions.
A recent Foreign Policy article has blatantly accused the Lebanese
authorities of trying to sway the Paraguay to extradite a Nader Mohamad
Farhat accused of operating a drug trafficking and money laundering network
in South America with direct ties to Hezbollah.
According to the US publication, Lebanese charge d’affairs in Asunción,
Hassan Hijazi, sent an official letter to Paraguay’s attorney general trying
to influence his decision to extradite Farhat to the US where he will stand
trial.
Faced with this grave accusation, the Lebanese Ministry of Foreign Affairs
headed by Aoun’s son-in-law and political heir, Gebran Bassil, simply
released an official statement denying the charges put forth by the article,
without providing any logic or proof to the contrary.
Iran and its militias might have more missiles and men than the Lebanese
state, but if the latter truly wants to survive this gale, it has to adopt a
truly steadfast policy
Discretion and foresight
Such a feeble denial would have been satisfactory had the Lebanese state
practiced more discretion and foresight in some of its recent activities.
Most of the affairs mentioned above when juxtaposed with these recent
allegations portrays the Lebanese state as a culprit rather than a victim of
Iran and Hezbollah’s expansionist agenda.
First of these measures is a presidential decree which granted Lebanese
nationality to around 400 individuals some of whom are shrouded with
corruption charges and have acted as facilitators and fronted for the Assad
and Iranian regime.
While Aoun has full authority to grant these people citizenship, such a
measure threatens Lebanon’s national and financial security as it invites
sanctions form the international community, particularly the US, which will
cripple Lebanon’s central banking sector.
An equally controversial issue shortly followed both these drug and
naturalization scandals, as news spread that Iranian nationals entering
Lebanon were no longer required to stamp their passports.
This simple bureaucratic measure was construed by many as mainly
facilitating the entry of members of the Iranian Revolutionary Guards Corps-
IRGC that have been using the Beirut Airport as a hub for their Syrian
operations.
The Rafik Hariri International Airport is of particular interest not because
it is Lebanon’s only functioning airport but also because it was the pretext
Hezbollah used to try to violently overthrow the Siniora government in May
of 2008.
This failed coup came as a response to allegations that Hezbollah had
installed surveillance equipment to monitor the airport in addition to using
it to smuggle weapons and ammunitions.
Iranian exemption
Consequently, this recent controversy surrounding the exemption of the
Iranian from passport stamping only complicates matters further and
reinforces the notion, to both the Lebanese and the entire world, that
Lebanon is not only an unfortunate hostage of Iran but also rather a keen
partner. Perhaps the crux of the problem goes beyond the fact that the
Lebanese state is totally silent over much of these infringements on its
sovereignty, but perhaps that the Iranian regime is extremely vocal and
unashamed of its control over Lebanon. Qasem Soleimani’s, the commander of
the IRGC’s Quds Force, recent conceited statement that Hezbollah has
clinched 74 out of 128 seats in Parliamentary elections is in itself a
blatant disrespect for Lebanese sovereignty.
However, what is far worse is that none of
the senior members of government including President Aoun and PM Saad
al-Hariri felt the need to condemn this dangerous transgression. The
Lebanese state might perhaps be innocent of many of the charges that have
been thrown at it over the past years, yet what is certain is that the
Lebanese political establishment has failed to realize that part of
pretending to be a state involves having the insight and instinct of
self-preservation.
Iran and its militias might have more missiles and men than the Lebanese
state, but if the latter truly wants to survive this gale, it has to adopt a
truly steadfast policy that would restore Lebanon as a member of the
international community and consequently relinquish all ties with Iran’s
so-called axis of resistance.
*Makram Rabah is a lecturer at the American University of Beirut, Department
of History. He is the author of A Campus at War: Student Politics at the
American University of Beirut, 1967-1975. He tweets @makramrabah.
Latest LCCC Bulletin For Miscellaneous Reports And News
published
on June 21-22/18
Bolton Headed to
Moscow to Discuss Trump-Putin Meeting
Agence France Presse/Naharnet/June
21/18/U.S. National Security Advisor John Bolton will travel to Moscow next
week to discuss a possible meeting between President Donald Trump and
Russian leader Vladimir Putin, the White House said Thursday. "On June
25-27, U.S. National Security Advisor John Bolton will meet with U.S. allies
in London and Rome to discuss national security issues, and travel to Moscow
to discuss a potential meeting between Presidents Trump and Putin," the
White House said in a statement.
Top Iraq Court Rules in Favor of Manual Election Recount
Agence France Presse/Naharnet/June 21/18/Iraq's supreme court on Thursday
ordered a manual recount of last month's legislative elections that resulted
in a surprise victory for a populist Shiite cleric. The court found that the
decision by parliament to order a manual recount in response to allegations
of electoral fraud did not violate the constitution, its president Medhat
al-Mahmud told a news conference. All of the roughly 11 million ballots,
including those of voters living abroad, displaced persons and security
forces, must be recounted, Mahmud said. The May 12 vote was won by cleric
Moqtada Sadr's electoral alliance with communists, as long-time political
figures were pushed out by voters hoping for change in a country mired in
conflict and corruption. The result was contested -- mainly by the political
old guard -- following allegations of irregularities in the election, Iraq's
first since the defeat of the Islamic State group. The vote saw a record
number of abstentions as Iraqis snubbed the corruption-tainted elite that
has dominated the country since the US-led invasion of 2003 toppled Saddam
Hussein.
Bahrain Opposition Leader Acquitted in Qatar Spy Case
Agence France Presse/Naharnet/June 21/18/Iraq's supreme court on Thursday
ordered a manual recount of last month's legislative elections that resulted
in a surprise victory for a populist Shiite cleric. The court found that the
decision by parliament to order a manual recount in response to allegations
of electoral fraud did not violate the constitution, its president Medhat
al-Mahmud told a news conference. All of the roughly 11 million ballots,
including those of voters living abroad, displaced persons and security
forces, must be recounted, Mahmud said. The May 12 vote was won by cleric
Moqtada Sadr's electoral alliance with communists, as long-time political
figures were pushed out by voters hoping for change in a country mired in
conflict and corruption. The result was contested -- mainly by the political
old guard -- following allegations of irregularities in the election, Iraq's
first since the defeat of the Islamic State group. The vote saw a record
number of abstentions as Iraqis snubbed the corruption-tainted elite that
has dominated the country since the U.S.-led invasion of 2003 toppled Saddam
Hussein. A Bahraini court acquitted the jailed head of the Shiite opposition
of all charges Thursday in his trial for alleged spying for regional rival
Qatar, prompting the kingdom's attorney general to announce he would appeal.
Sheikh Ali Salman, head of Bahrain's largest -- and now banned -- Shiite
opposition group Al-Wefaq was found not guilty along with two of his aides,
who were tried in absentia, a judicial source said on condition of
anonymity. Groups including the Bahrain Institute for Rights and Democracy,
and the Bahrain Center for Human Rights, confirmed his acquittal. "Sheikh
Ali Salman was found innocent," Sheikh Maytham al-Salman of the Bahrain
Center for Human Rights told AFP. "We hope this ruling opens the way for
dialogue and reconciliation."Bahraini attorney general Ousama al-Awfi said
he would appeal the verdict in a statement released by the public
prosecutor's office. Sheikh Ali Salman has been behind bars since 2014
serving a four-year jail sentence on charges of inciting hatred. He is now
expected to be released on December 28, according to Amnesty International.
In November, Sheikh Ali pleaded not guilty to charges of communicating with
a foreign state to commit acts hostile to the state of Bahrain --
specifically Qatar. The charges came after Bahrain and its Gulf allies cut
ties with Qatar last June over allegations the emirate supported Islamist
extremist groups and was too close to Iran. Qatar has denied the
allegations.
- Dissent crushed -
Tiny but strategic Bahrain has a Shiite majority but is ruled by a Sunni
royal family that dominates all top government posts. It has been gripped by
civil unrest since 2011, when authorities bloodily crushed protests calling
for a constitutional monarchy and an elected prime minister. Both religious
and secular opposition groups have since been banned and dozens of
high-profile clerics and activists thrown behind bars. Al-Wefaq was the
largest bloc in parliament before the 2011 protests. When they were crushed,
all its members resigned their seats. The group was dissolved by court order
in 2016. Bahrain's main secular opposition group, the National Democratic
Action Society (Waad), has also been outlawed. Waad's leader Nabeel Rajab is
currently serving jail time in two separate cases linked to criticism of
Bahrain's three-year-old military intervention in Yemen alongside its Gulf
allies and of its treatment of prisoners at home. Bahrain's courts have come
under heavy criticism from human rights groups, including Amnesty and Human
Rights Watch, for failing to meet the standards of fair trials. The groups
identify Salman and other dissidents as prisoners of conscience. King Hamad
last year ratified a constitutional amendment that gives military courts the
authority to try civilians charged with terrorism, a term that is loosely
defined in the Bahraini penal code. Bahrain accuses Shiite-ruled Iran of
fanning the protests in a bid to overthrow the government. Iran says it is
merely criticizing the repression of peaceful protests, as Bahrain's Western
allies have also done. Bahrain is home to the U.S. Fifth Fleet and also
houses a British naval base that opened in April.
Prosecutor Charges Netanyahu's Wife with Fraud
Agence France Presse/Naharnet/June 21/18/Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin
Netanyahu's wife Sara was charged on Thursday with fraud and breach of trust
after a long police probe into allegations she falsified household expenses,
the justice ministry said. "The Jerusalem district prosecutor a short time
ago filed charges against the prime minister's wife," the ministry said. The
allegations announced last year are that she and an aide falsely declared
there were no cooks available at the prime minister's official residence and
ordered from outside caterers at public expense. The cost amounted to "over
350,000 shekels ($97,000))," the justice ministry said. She has denied any
wrongdoing. Her husband is himself under investigation on suspicion of
corruption offenses. In one case, he and family members are suspected of
receiving one million shekels ($285,000, 240,000 euros) worth of luxury
cigars, champagne and jewelery from wealthy personalities in exchange for
financial or personal favors. In the other case, investigators suspect the
premier of trying to reach an agreement with the owner of Yediot Aharonot, a
top Israeli newspaper, for more favorable coverage. Netanyahu has protested
his innocence and vowed to remain in power, saying he is the victim of a
"witch-hunt". He also faces suspicions of government favors that allegedly
saw regulatory breaks go to Israel's largest telecom firm Bezeq, in return
for favorable coverage of him and his wife by a news website. Despite his
troubles, opinion polls suggest Netanyahu's right-wing Likud party would
remain the largest in parliament if elections scheduled for November 2019
were held now.
Yemen Rebels Vow to Fight on after Losing Hodeida
Airport
Agence France Presse/Naharnet/June 21/18/Yemen's Huthi rebels have vowed to
fight on after pro-government forces seized Hodeida airport from them on
Wednesday, in a major step towards retaking the port city following a
week-long battle. Rebel leader Abdulmalik al-Huthi called for reinforcements
to repel the advance of the UAE-backed government forces, after ongoing
fighting left nearly 350 people dead. "We will face all of the incursions on
the ground. Our determination will never be dented," he said via the rebels'
Al-Masirah news outlet. Pro-government forces announced the capture of
Hodeida airport on Wednesday morning, a day after breaking through the
perimeter fence. The airport was disused but it housed a major rebel base
just inland from the coastal road into the city from the south. Fresh
clashes later erupted between UAE-backed government forces and the
Iran-allied rebels on a road linking the airport to Hodeida port on the Red
Sea coast, a Yemeni army source said. Yemeni President Abedrabbo Mansour
Hadi said military "operations will continue on various fronts until (the
capital) Sanaa and the whole territory" are retaken from the rebels. On June
13, Yemen's army and its allies launched their offensive to clear Hodeida of
rebel fighters who have held it since 2014, raising U.N. concerns for vital
aid shipments and food imports through the city's docks. At least 156 Huthis
and 28 soldiers were killed in the fight for the airport, according to
Hodeida hospital sources. That raised the death toll in the battle for the
city to 348. No civilian casualties have yet been confirmed. The United Arab
Emirates and other members of a Saudi-led coalition that intervened in
support of the government in 2015 have accused regional arch foe Iran of
using Hodeida as the major conduit for arms smuggling to the rebels. Tehran
has denied the allegation. UAE Foreign Minister Anwar Gargash said the
"liberation of Hodeida is the beginning to ending the war. "The choice in
Yemen is between the state and militia, between order and violence, between
peace and war," he wrote on Twitter, referring to Huthi militiamen.
Water supply disrupted
Three-quarters of Yemen's imports pass through the port, providing a
lifeline for some 22 million people dependent on aid. U.N. envoy Martin
Griffiths held four days of talks in rebel-held Sanaa in a bid to avert an
all-out battle for Hodeida but flew out on Tuesday without announcing any
breakthrough. The United Nations has described Yemen as the world's gravest
humanitarian crisis and warned any attack on Hodeida port could cripple aid
shipments. The Norwegian Refugee Council said the fighting had already hit
water supplies, putting people at high risk of contamination. "As of 19
June, the water supply has been disrupted in several areas and people are
reportedly relying on water from mosque wells," it said in a statement.
"Access to adequate and safe water is now a major concern, particularly in
light of the ongoing cholera emergency."Hodeida's residents are bracing for
what they fear will be devastating street fighting, as tanks and buses
carrying uniformed troops roll through the empty streets of the
once-bustling city. Some 5,200 families fled their homes this month as
pro-government forces advanced up the Red Sea coast, according to the U.N.
The Hodeida offensive, dubbed Operation Golden Victory, is the most intense
battlefront in the already-brutal Yemen war which has left millions
displaced. The 2015 Saudi-led intervention came after Hadi fled into exile
as the rebels overran much of the country. The conflict has since killed
nearly 10,000 people, most of them civilians, while more than 2,200 others
have died from cholera. The coalition has helped pro-government forces
regain control of the south and much of the Red Sea coast, but the rebels
still control Sanaa and most of the north. Multiple rounds of U.N.-brokered
peace talks have all failed to achieve any breakthrough. The Yemeni
government and its allies have insisted that the Huthis must fully withdraw
from Hodeida and turn over the port to U.N. supervision. The rebels have so
far agreed only to share control of the port with the United Nations.
US National Security Adviser Set to Visit
Moscow- Kremlin
Asharq Al Awsat/Thursday, 21 June, 2018/The Kremlin said Thursday that US
President Donald Trump's national security adviser is to visit Moscow. Asked
to comment on an Interfax news agency report that John Bolton is due to
visit Russia next week as part of preparations for a US-Russian summit,
President Vladimir Putin's spokesman Dmitry Peskov confirmed the expected
visit. Responding to media reports that Putin's meeting with Trump may take
place next month, Peskov said Thursday that "we have nothing to say yet, and
if and when we are ready we will make the relevant statement." Russian
Foreign Minister Sergey Lavrov emphasized that "we are ready for contacts,"
adding that "if the agreement on a high-level meeting is reached, it will be
announced." The Kremlin added that there were no plans for a meeting between
Trump and Putin before the NATO summit, Interfax reported. Trump is expected
to attend the NATO summit in Brussels on July 11-12. Last Friday, Trump
hinted at the possibility of meeting Putin this summer.
Asked whether he was planning to meet with Putin this summer, Trump said it
was possible.
“It’s possible that we’ll meet, yeah,” Trump told reporters. As for the site
of the potential US-Russian summit, the Austrian capital, Vienna, was under
consideration, two sources familiar with the discussions said on Monday.
Thousands Flee Regime Shelling on South Syria
Agence France Presse/Naharnet/June 21/18/Thousands of civilians have fled
regime bombardment on rebel-held areas in Syria's southern province of Daraa,
the Syrian Observatory for Human Rights monitor said Thursday. "More than
12,000 civilians have fled their homes in the last three days after regime
forces intensified their shelling and air strikes on eastern areas and
villages of Daraa," said Rami Abdel Rahman, head of the Britain-based
Observatory. The civilians fleeing areas including Al-Herak and Basr al-Harir
were "heading to nearby villages under rebel control not affected by the
bombardment near the Jordanian border" to the south. The U.N. humanitarian
coordination office reported that 2,500 people had fled one of these areas
in the eastern countryside of the province as of Wednesday. Opposition
fighters control around two-thirds of Daraa but the regime holds a sliver of
territory in the center of the province, which borders Jordan. The areas in
eastern Daraa bombarded in recent days lie on a strip of land flanked by
regime-held territory to the east and west. State news agency SANA, using
its customary term for rebels, said the army was shelling positions of
"terrorists" in Al-Herak and Basr al-Harir on Thursday, and had killed a
number of them. After a string of military victories against rebels earlier
this year near Damascus, the regime has set its sights on retaking
rebel-held areas of southern Syria -- whether through negotiations or a
military operation. In an interview with Iran's Al-Alam television channel
last week, Syria's President Bashar al-Assad said contacts were ongoing
between Russia, the U.S. and Israel over the southern front. Syria's war has
killed more than 350,000 people and displaced millions since it started in
2011 with the brutal repression of anti-regime protests.
Baghdad: Clashes between Iraqi Hezbollah, Police
Baghdad – Asharq Al-Awsat/June 21/18/Iraqi police arrested on Wednesday a
member of Iraqi Hezbollah for being involved in a shooting that killed a
policeman and wounded at least two people in central Baghdad, an interior
ministry official said. Iraqi police surrounded the Baghdad headquarters of
the Hezbollah Brigades in Palestine Street, after 5 hours of an armed clash
with law enforcement. No one was allowed into or from the region until the
members responsible for the attack were handed over.
Interior Ministry sources told Asharq Al-Awsat that the handover was carried
out under the supervision of Interior Minister Qasim al-Araji and the
presence of the head of the parliamentary security committee, Hakam al-Zamili.
Dozens of vehicles and armored vehicles near the headquarters of "Hezbollah
Brigades", which fought among the Shiite factions in the Popular
Mobilization Forces (PMF) during the war against ISIS. A security source
told Asharq Al-Awsat that clashes erupted after a police patrol tried to
stop a civilian car in the Palestine Street in Baghdad carrying armed
members. Later on, a five-vehicle convoy of Hezbollah arrived and clashed
with the police forces before fleeing the scene.
The source, who asked not to be named, indicated that government forces
demanded handing over the members that attacked the security control and
killed of one of its elements, which initially the brigades refused to do.
He pointed out that "the armed faction required the presence of PMF
representative during the extradition of the element accused of killing the
policeman, but government forces required the member be handed to the police
station in the new neighborhood of Baghdad, where the incident
occurred.”Despite assertions made by Prime Minister Haider al-Abadi about
ending proliferation of illegitimate arms, the problem of illegal armed
groups resurfaced with the recent incident.
The Iraqi Shiite group Hezbollah and other pro-regime forces is fighting in
Syria, and on Sunday, Israel attacked their site during which several of its
members were killed.
Hezbollah faction, along with other pro-Iranian factions, are part of PMF
which was formed in 2014 at the request of the highest Shiite authority in
Iraq. It was noteworthy that a statement issued by the Ministry of the
Interior, on Wednesday, did not mentioned Hezbollah Brigades but rather
reported that two Iraqi policemen were wounded in a shootout with a PMF
member in Baghdad on Wednesday. The shooting started when a police patrol
tried to arrest the driver of a stolen car which belonged to the PMF, the
ministry added in a statement. Police later arrested the shooter with the
help of reinforcements. It pointed out that, along with the car and the
weapon used in the incident, the defendant was placed in a police station in
Baghdad in preparation for taking legal action against him.
Iraq Court Endorses Manual Election Recount, Rejects Invalidation of Some
Votes
Asharq Al-Awsat/Thursday, 21 June, 2018/Iraq's supreme court on Thursday
ordered a manual recount of last month's legislative elections but rejected
the invalidation of ballots from abroad and from voters displaced by the
conflict with ISIS. The court found that the decision by parliament to order
a manual recount in response to allegations of electoral fraud did not
violate the constitution, its president Medhat al-Mahmud told a news
conference. The May 12 vote was won by cleric Moqtada Sadr's electoral
alliance with communists. The result was contested -- mainly by the
political old guard -- following allegations of irregularities in the
election, Iraq's first since the defeat of ISIS. But the court ruled that
the cancellation of overseas, displaced, and Peshmerga ballots was
unconstitutional. Parliament had cancelled some results such as overseas and
displaced votes by amending the election law this month. The recount process
has already begun after judges took over leadership of Iraq's Independent
High Elections Commission. But it's not clear whether it would change the
outcome of the vote. Thursday’s verdict is final and not subject to appeal.
Germany’s Merkel calls
for solutions to Iran’s ‘aggressive tendencies’
Agencies/Thursday, 21 June 2018/German Chancellor Angela
Merkel on Thursday said European countries shared concerns over Iran’s
ballistic missile program and called for solutions to its “aggressive
tendencies” in the Middle East. “Iran’s aggressive tendencies must not only
be discussed, but rather we need solutions urgently” she said after meeting
Jordan’s King Abdullah in Amman. Germany remained party to the Iran nuclear
deal, which lifted sanctions on Tehran in exchange for curbing its atomic
program, after US President Donald Trump withdrew from it in May. Merkel
said on Thursday that while European countries wanted to maintain the 2015
accord, they shared concerns over Iran’s ballistic missile program, its
presence in Syria and its role in the war in Yemen. In Syria, Iran is a big
military supporter of President Bashar al-Assad, sending some of its own
forces there and backing Shi’ite militias from Lebanon and Iraq who are
fighting on the ground. Gulf and Western countries accuse Tehran of arming
the Houthi group in Yemen, which it denies. She also voiced support for
Jordanian concern about Iranian activity in southwestern Syria, near its
border and that of the Israeli-occupied Golan Heights, where Tehran’s ally
Damascus is ramping up a military operation. “You live not just with the
Syria conflict, but also we see Iran’s activities with regard to Israel’s
security and with regard to Jordan’s border” she said. Merkel said earlier
this month after meeting Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu that the
question of Iran’s regional influence was “worrying, especially for Israel’s
security”. Merkel promised a $100 million loan to troubled Jordan. (Reuters)
Abdullah, who met Netanyahu on Monday and spoke by phone with Trump’s
son-in-law and regional envoy Jared Kushner on Tuesday, said there could be
no peace in the Middle East without a Palestinian state with Jerusalem as
its capital. The United States is preparing a new peace plan, which has not
yet been made public, but has already angered Palestinians by recognizing
Jerusalem as the capital of Israel. Abdullah this month appointed a new
prime minister after the country’s biggest protests in years over taxes and
price increases pushed by the International Monetary Fund. Merkel said
reforms should be balanced and “not hit the wrong people”, as reported by
Reuters. In another development, Merkel promised a $100 million loan to
troubled Jordan, where mass protests over austerity measures forced the
prime minister to resign earlier this month. the Associated Press reported.
The chancellor said Germany will provide the $100 million loan in addition
to bilateral aid of 442 mln US dollars this year, as reported by the
Associated Press. She said she hopes the additional funds will help Jordan
carry out economic reforms sought by the International Monetary Fund. The
IMF is seeking such reforms to lower Jordan’s public debt-to-GDP ratio,
which has risen to about 96 percent, in part because of the continued
economic fallout from Syria’s civil war and other regional crises.
US security chief Bolton to visit Moscow for talks on
Trump, Putin
Reuters, Moscow/Thursday, 21 June 2018/US National Security Adviser John
Bolton plans to visit Moscow next week to prepare for a possible meeting of
US President Donald Trump and Russian President Vladimir Putin, Interfax
news agency reported on Thursday, citing sources.
The Kremlin said on Tuesday there are no plans for a meeting between Trump
and Putin before the NATO summit, Interfax reported. Trump is expected to
attend the NATO summit in Brussels on July 11-12.
Iran women’s activist says blocked from protesting at
Russia World Cup
Reuters, BeirutThursday, 21 June 2018/An Iranian women’s activist said she
was stripped of a banner at the World Cup in Russia on Wednesday and blocked
from a stadium for two hours after an earlier demonstration drew
international headlines. Maryam Qashqaei Shojaei said she was held for two
hours by security officials at the main stadium in Kazan ahead of the match
between Iran and Spain, having planned to raise a banner to protest Iran’s
ban on women attending stadium matches. “When I was trying to get in with my
banner security told me I can’t take it in,” she told the Thomson Reuters
Foundation by phone from Kazan. “I showed them my approval. They searched me
and held me two hours and took the banner.” Anton Lisin, a spokesman for
Russia’s World Cup Local Organizing Committee (LOC), said he was aware of an
incident involving Shojaei but had no further details.
A spokeswoman for FIFA said world football’s governing body was looking into
the matter as were the LOC and Russian public security authorities. “We can
confirm that banners supporting female presence in the stadiums in IR Iran
were approved by FIFA and the LOC through the formal procedure ahead of the
2018 FIFA World Cup and have already been displayed in the match Morocco vs
IR Iran in Saint Petersburg,” the spokeswoman said in emailed comments. “The
banners are considered by FIFA to express a social appeal as opposed to a
political slogan and were therefore not prohibited under the relevant
regulations.”
Iranian women protest ban
Shojaei made headlines during Iran’s first match against Morocco on Friday
when she raised a banner in the St. Petersburg stadium with the slogan:
“Support Iranian women to attend stadiums #NoBan4Women”. Ahead of the
tournament - which is taking place in 11 cities and runs until July 15 -
Shojaei launched an online petition urging FIFA President Gianni Infantino
to put pressure on Iran to end the ban. The Islamic Republic has long barred
women from attending male soccer matches and other sports fixtures, partly
to protect them from hearing fans swear.
Infantino said in May that Iranian President Hassan Rouhani had told him
there were plans to allow women to attend matches in the country soon. In
April, female football fans donned fake beards and wigs to attend a major
game in Tehran’s Azadi Stadium. The Iranian group OpenStadiums, which is
campaigning for women to be allowed to attend sports fixtures, said some
women were arrested near the stadium in March during the Esteghlal-Persepolis
match. Iran’s team captain Masoud Shojaei said on Tuesday that the World Cup
was the wrong place to discuss the issue, although he has previously backed
lifting the ban, according to media reports in Iran.
Trump backs down on separating immigrant children,
signs executive order
Reuters, Washington/Thursday, 21 June 2018/US President Donald Trump on
Wednesday backed down and abandoned his policy of separating immigrant
children from their parents on the US-Mexico border, after images of
youngsters in cages sparked outrage at home and abroad.
Trump signed an executive order requiring immigrant families be detained
together when they are caught entering the country illegally for as long as
their criminal proceedings take. While that may end a policy that drew a
rebuke from Pope Francis and everyone else from human rights advocates to
business leaders, it may also mean immigrant children remain in custody
indefinitely. The Trump administration still faces legal challenges because
of a court order that put a 20-day cap on how long immigration authorities
may detain minors, and trigger fresh criticism of Trump’s hardline
immigration policies, which were central to his 2016 election campaign and
now his presidency. Administration officials were unable to clarify whether
family separations would end immediately or when and how families now
separated would be reunited. “It is still very early and we are awaiting
further guidance on the matter,” Brian Marriott, a spokesman for the Health
and Human Services Department’s Administration for Children and Families.
“Reunification is always the ultimate goal of those entrusted with the care
of” unaccompanied children and “the administration is working towards that”
for those in custody. The Trump order, an unusual reversal by him, moves
parents with children to the front of the line for immigration proceedings
but it does not end a 10-week-old “zero tolerance” policy that calls for
prosecution of immigrants crossing the border illegally under the country’s
criminal entry statute. “It’s about keeping families together while at the
same time making sure that we have a very powerful, very strong border,”
Trump said as he signed the order in a hastily arranged Oval Office
gathering.
US mulls plans to hold Congressional hearing on the
Muslim Brotherhood
Staff writer, Al Arabiya English/Wednesday, 20 June 2018/The United States
is mulling plans to hold a Congressional hearing on the Muslim Brotherhood,
sometime between July and early August before the summer recess, according
to two sources who spoke to Al Arabiya English. The Muslim Brotherhood, a
banned group in several Arab countries, will be the central topic of the
hearing in which several Washington DC-based analysts are expected to speak
as witnesses. According to political observers, the possibility of the
hearing comes as no surprise especially given the current US
administration’s stance against hostile groups in the Middle East and North
Africa. John Bolton, the National Security Advisor under President Donald
Trump’s administration, said in July 2017 that one of the ways to force
Qatar to halt its support for the Muslim Brotherhood, the US must designate
the group as a terrorist organization.
“My reaction is, ‘Great, let’s take this opportunity and do what we should
have done anyway. Let’s declare the Brotherhood a terrorist organization.’
Having done that, we turn back to Qatar and say, ‘Now, you follow suit,’”
Bolton told Breitbart News at the time. The same goes for current US
Secretary of State Mike Pompeo, who as a congressman in the past fought and
co-sponsored legislation to designate the Muslim Brotherhood a terrorist
organization. In 2014, several countries among them Saudi Arabia and Egypt,
formally declared the Muslim Brotherhood as a terrorist organization. Among
its members include many who are listed as terrorist supporters or
financiers as per lists released in countries like the United Arab Emirates
and Bahrain.
Gazan dies of border protest wounds
AFP, Gaza/Thursday, 21 June 2018/A Palestinian shot by Israeli forces last
month during protests on the Gaza border has died of his wounds, the health
ministry in the Hamas-ruled territory said late on Wednesday. “Mohammed
Ghassan Abu Daqqa died... on Wednesday evening from his wounds, after he was
shot by the Israeli occupation east of Khan Yunis on May 14,” the ministry
said. It described him as a “young man” but did not give his precise age.At
least 133 Palestinians have been killed in clashes since mass protests broke
out along the Gaza border on March 30. No Israelis have been killed. The
protests peaked on May 14 when at least 62 Palestinians were killed as
thousands approached the heavily guarded border fence on the same day the
United States moved its Israel embassy from Tel Aviv to Jerusalem. Israel
says its use of live fire is necessary to defend its borders and stop
infiltrations. It accuses Gaza’s Islamist rulers Hamas of seeking to use the
protests as cover for attacks.
Erekat: Washington is a Partner in Israel’s Practices
Ramallah - Kifah Ziboun/Asharq Al-Awsat/Thursday, 21 June, 2018/The
Palestinian Authority strongly criticized the US decision to withdraw from
the UN Human Rights Council, and considered it as sufficient proof of US
bias towards Israel. “The decision of the administration of US President
Donald Trump to withdraw from the UN Human Rights Council shows that
Washington chose occupation, settlement and the law of force instead of the
force of law, international legitimacy and international law,” Erekat said
on Wednesday. Responding to the US State Department’s statement, which
justified its decision by the resolutions adopted by the Council against
Israel, the Palestinian official said: “The denial of the facts does not
negate their existence. The international community stands against
occupation and colonization, collective punishment, siege, closure,
executions, arrests, especially children, house demolitions, ethnic
cleansing and blatant violations of the 1949 Geneva Conventions.”He stressed that Trump’s administration considered “these criminal policies
and practices as self-defense”, which made the US a partner in those Israeli
practices.
“The Palestinian leadership will continue to work with the international
community and organizations, including the International Criminal Court, the
International Court of Justice and the Human Rights Council’s facts finding
mission on the crimes against Palestinian civilians in Gaza, despite the
threats and tactics of intimidation and extortion by the Trump
Administration,” Erekat added. Meanwhile, the Palestinian foreign ministry
said that the US withdrawal from the UN rights council “exposes the extent
to which this administration is willing to go to shield Israel from
accountability.”In a statement on Wednesday, the ministry expressed its
“full confidence that this step will not affect the integrity and
effectiveness of this Council and the determination of its members to
promote and uphold the principles of international law, especially
international human rights law and the international humanitarian
Law.”Israel welcomed the US decision, describing it as a “courageous
decision against the hypocrisy and the lies” of the UN rights council.
“For years, the UNHRC has proven to be a biased, hostile, anti-Israel
organization that has betrayed its mission of protecting human rights,” the
office of Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu said in a statement.
Israeli-Palestinian Escalations Could Lead to New War on Gaza
Ramallah- Kifah Zboun/Asharq Al-Awsat/Thursday, 21 June, 2018/Israeli
fighter jets hit 25 Hamas targets in Gaza Strip early Wednesday, in an
overnight escalation with around 45 rockets fired from Gaza towards Israeli
targets. The Israeli offensive on Gaza began when flaming kites were
launched from the enclave at Israeli targets, causing fires.
Israeli officials threatened they would not succumb to the situation since
the "March of Return" began at the end of March. While the army hinted at a
wide ground operation “if necessary”.
Palestinian factions responded by insisting that they would respond to
shelling by shelling and that they were the ones to determine the rules of
engagement. Israeli spokesperson said the overnight Israeli strikes on Hamas
targets in the Gaza Strip were more intense and could increase if the
Palestinian group continues to launch “arson balloons” into Israeli
territory.
The military said Palestinians fired about 45 rockets and mortars at Israeli
targets. Seven projectiles were intercepted by the defense system and at
least three fell prematurely, landing inside Gaza, it said. Fighter jets
targeted about 25 Hamas targets overnight in response to the heavy
Palestinian fire, the spokesman said. “The Hamas terror organization
targeted Israeli civilians throughout the night with a severe rocket attack
and is dragging the Gaza Strip and its civilians down a continually
deteriorating path,” the military said. The spokesman said so far the army
has fired near those launching the devices and at infrastructure but added
Israel has warned it “will not tolerate” the current situation of daily
airborne attacks on its territory. There were no Israeli casualties, but
five Palestinians were injured in Israeli raids. The new escalation, third
in a month, has raised fears of a collapse of the current truce which Egypt
set up last month in the Gaza. Speaking at the same event, Israeli Chief of
Staff Gadi Eisenkot said the army is working “around the clock” to fend off
attacks and protect Israeli citizens. “We will continue to strike those who
wish us harm and will bring back security to the residents of the south, as
it is in other parts of the country. I am convinced that we will achieve
this quickly, with wisdom and determination,” Eisenkot said.
Israeli media quoted a senior Israeli officer warning Hamas that Israel
would not hesitate to enter into a military conflict. An army official
stressed that kites and balloons will not be allowed if the price is to go
into a comprehensive confrontation. The Israeli army decided to respond to
flaming kites by carrying out raids in Gaza, hours after Israeli Defense
Minister Avigdor Lieberman warned Hamas that Israel would not allow Gaza
residents to continue firing kites and balloons, which led to hundreds of
fires in recent months."
On Wednesday, an Israeli fighter jet fired warning shots at a group of
Palestinians preparing to fly incendiary kites toward Israel from Gaza, for
the second time of the day, the army said.
Member of cabinet, Minister Zeev Elkin, said that Israel can not allow
firing of balloons and burning kite to continue.
Minister Yisrael Katz warned that the army has set a red line, and considers
any flaming kite as a rocket or tunnel. He asserted: "Israel's message is
clear: calm will be met by calm and fire by fire,” adding: "the ball is now
in Hamas' court." Hamas spokesman Fawzi Barhoum praised the attacks, calling
them “a legitimate right” and asserting that bombings would be “met with
bombings,” but did not take direct responsibility for them. He tweeted that
Hamas will “determine the rules of engagement,” and added that his group
“will not allow the enemy to single out our people or impose any new
equation, and it must bear the consequences.” A spokesperson for Islamic
Jihad insisted that “the resistance” would retaliate against any Israeli
strikes on Gaza. “The time in which Israel army operated unimpeded in Gaza
is over,” he said, indicating: “Gaza is not an F-16 firing range and the
resistance has the right and duty to respond as it sees fit.” The Joint
Chamber of Palestinian resistance factions issued a statement confirming
that it will not allow the enemy to impose its aggressive equations on “our
people and its resistance. The enemy's leadership will take full
responsibility for any aggression and will pay for its aggression."
UAE: Hodeidah Operation Aims to Break Political Deadlock
New York– Ali Bardi/Asharq Al-Awsat/Thursday, 21 June, 2018/The UAE said
that the operation to liberate Yemen’s Hodeidah port aimed to “end the
deadlock in the political process”, due to the Houthis’ continuous
violations of UN Security Council Resolution 2216. UAE State Minister for
International Cooperation Reem Al-Hashemi addressed a letter to the current
president of the Security Council, Russian Permanent Representative to the
United Nations Vassily Nebenzia, saying that the operation to liberate
Hodeidah, carried out by the Coalition for the Support of Legitimacy in
Yemen and the legitimate Yemeni government, was aimed at ending the
stalemate in the political process resulting from three years of
intransigence and obstruction by the Houthis, and their continued violations
of Security Council Resolution 2216. She added that the UAE “is committed to
international humanitarian law and affirms its humanitarian commitment to
the Yemeni people, regardless of their location or affiliation.”The minister
noted that the current humanitarian situation in the area was stable,
explaining that as the result of collective efforts by UN entities and the
Arab coalition, 120 thousand metric tons of food have been stored in
Hodeidah. “This is enough to cover the food needs of 6.6 million people for
at least one month,” Hashemi said, quoting the World Food Program (WFP).
Libya: UK Hints It Would Impose Int'l Sanctions against Armed Militia Leader
Cairo - Khalid Mahmoud/Asharq Al-Awsat/Thursday, 21 June, 2018/UK ambassador
to Libya, Frank Baker, hinted on Wednesday that the UN Security Council
might impose punitive measures against Ibrahim al-Jathran, commander of the
armed militias that attacked the Crescent oil region, revealing that his
country is contacting members of the Security Council in this regard.
Meanwhile, Libyan National Army (LNA) continues to mobilize its forces in
preparation for a military operation, as high-ranking military sources told
Asharq Al-Awsat that the army is very close to regaining control over the
region. The British Ambassador said Britain is discussing with the
international community about taking joint action to help Libya on recent
clashes in the oil crescent region. He made his remarks following a meeting
with Chairman of the Libyan National Oil Corporation (NOC) Mustafa Sanalla.
"We are discussing with our international partners, including our friends in
the (UN) Security Council, actions that we can take collectively to help
Libya in this matter," he asserted. Baker implicitly described Jathran as a
terrorist saying: "These are resources that belong to all Libyan people, and
they are being destroyed by a terrorist leader and a number of people around
him, including foreign nationals.”In the meantime, Jathran continued his
attack on Command General of Libyan Armed Forces Field Marshal Khalifa
Haftar, accusing him of trying to control the government in Libya and using
its resources for the benefit of certain countries supporting him. He also
accused the army of bombing the Crescent area with an explosive barrel and
targeting oil tanks. Jathran renewed his invitation to the Libyan Oil
Corporation to operate in the oil crescent area, provided that his militias
secure it.
In turn, oil installation guards service, led by Jathran, called upon the
Libyan Red Crescent to receive a number of captives of the army, claiming
that they surrendered themselves to the service.
In a brief statement, the guards service confirmed that the prisoners are
being treated well and the “Red Crescent has to communicate to receive them
officially." The statement indicated that this is the second batch of
prisoners released. Ras Lanuf company for oil and gas announced that the
fire was extinguished in the reservoir of the al-Hurouj company, after the
collapse of reservoir No. 12. Ras Lanuf’s storage tank No. 2 was set on fire
on Sunday, three days after another storage tank, No. 12 caught ablaze
during an attack by an armed group. Libya’s oil output has been slashed
between 600,000 and 700,000 barrels per day (bpd) from more than one million
following clashes at its Ras Lanuf and Es Sider oil terminals, a Libyan oil
source said on Wednesday. The National Oil Corporation (NOC) is looking at
options to divert some oil exports from Ras Lanuf to Brega and Zueitina
terminals, the source said.
Ras Lanuf and Es Sider have been closed since June 14, when armed factions
opposed to Khalifa Haftar’s Libyan National Army (LNA) attacked the two
ports, forcing the NOC to close them and declare force majeure on exports.
The LNA has said it is preparing a counter offensive to take back Ras Lanuf
and Es Sider, launching a series of air strikes against their rivals in the
area. US Africa Command denied reports alleging civilian casualties
resulting from an operation done in coordination with the Libyan Government
of National Accord (GNA). The statement explained that US forces conducted a
precision airstrike near Bani Walid, Libya, on June 6, killing four ISIS
militants, as previously released. It asserted: “US Africa Command performed
a thorough review and determined the allegations of civilian casualties to
be not credible.” As with any allegation of civilian casualties, US Africa
Command reviewed all available relevant information concerning the incident.
“The command complies with the law of armed conflict and takes all feasible
precautions to minimize civilian casualties and other collateral damage,”
concluded the statement. Meanwhile, four members of security forces loyal to
Libya's eastern-based commander Haftar have been killed in Derna after an
attacker drove his booby-trapped vehicle toward a group of soldiers. LNA
spokesman, Ahmed al-Mismari, said the assailant was bearing a white flag as
he drove toward the troops on Wednesday. He added that the white Chevrolet
approached the troops in central Derna and asked to leave the combat zone,
but the bomber set off explosives packed into the vehicle when he got close.
Baghdad: Clashes between Iraqi 'Hezbollah', Police
Baghdad/Asharq Al-Awsat/Thursday, 21 June, 2018/Iraqi police arrested on
Wednesday a member of Iraqi 'Hezbollah' for being involved in a shooting
that killed a policeman and wounded at least two people in central Baghdad,
an interior ministry official said. Iraqi police surrounded the Baghdad
headquarters of the Hezbollah Brigades in Palestine Street, after 5 hours of
an armed clash with law enforcement. No one was allowed into or out of the
region until the members responsible for the attack were handed over.
Interior Ministry sources told Asharq Al-Awsat that the handover was carried
out under the supervision of Interior Minister Qasim al-Araji and the
presence of the head of the parliamentary security committee, Hakim al-Zamili.
Dozens of armored vehicles were seen by witnesses near the headquarters of
"Hezbollah Brigades", which fought among the Shiite factions in the Popular
Mobilization Forces (PMF) during the war against ISIS. A security source
told Asharq Al-Awsat that clashes erupted after a police patrol tried to
stop a civilian car in the Palestine Street in Baghdad carrying armed
members. Later on, a five-vehicle convoy of Hezbollah arrived and clashed
with the police forces before fleeing the scene.
The source, who asked not to be named, indicated that government forces
demanded handing over the members that attacked the security control and
killed one of its elements, which the brigades initially refused to do. He
pointed out that "the armed faction required the presence of PMF
representative during the extradition of the element accused of killing the
policeman, but government forces required the member be handed to the police
station in the new neighborhood of Baghdad, where the incident occurred.”
Despite assertions made by Prime Minister Haider al-Abadi about ending
proliferation of illegitimate arms, the problem of illegal armed groups
resurfaced with the recent incident. The Iraqi Shiite group Hezbollah and
other pro-regime forces is fighting in Syria, and on Sunday, Israel attacked
their site during which several of its members were killed. Hezbollah
faction, along with other pro-Iranian factions, are part of PMF which was
formed in 2014 at the request of the highest Shiite authority in Iraq. It
was noteworthy that a statement issued by the Ministry of the Interior, on
Wednesday, did not mention Hezbollah Brigades but rather reported that two
Iraqi policemen were wounded in a shootout with a PMF member in Baghdad on
Wednesday. The shooting started when a police patrol tried to arrest the
driver of a stolen car which belonged to the PMF, the ministry added in a
statement. Police later arrested the shooter with the help of
reinforcements. It pointed out that, along with the car and the weapon used
in the incident, the defendant was placed in a police station in Baghdad in
preparation for taking legal action against him.
Egyptian Parliament Mulls New Taxes on Higher Earners
Cairo - Mohamed Nabil Helmy/Asharq Al-Awsat/Thursday, 21 June, 2018/The
House Planning and Budget Committee in Egypt is mulling to amend the Income
Tax Law by adding a new tax amounting to 25 percent on high income earners,
or those with annual salaries of more than EGP 500,000 (approximately
$28,000). According to the income tax law, Egyptians pay taxes based on
their annual income. The first segment includes income holders of no more
than EGP8,000 who are fully exempted from taxes, the second segment involves
those with an annual income ranging between EGP8,000 and 30,000, who pay a
10 percent tax. Egyptians with incomes ranging between EGP30,000 and 45,000
pay a 15 percent tax, while the fourth segment (EGP45,000 to 200,000) pays a
20 percent tax and the last segment, which receives more than EGP200,000,
pays taxes amounting to 22.5 percent. MP Mervat Alexan, who submitted the
proposal, told Asharq Al-Awsat that the amendment aims "to achieve justice
by letting higher income earners contribute to the finance of the country's
tax revenues, which account for the bulk of the total state revenues, nearly
80 percent." “High-income earners should contribute to help those with
low-income,” Alexan explained. According to Alexan, the proposal will be
presented to the parliament, which in turn will review it and prepare a
report to vote on it. A date will later be set to include the draft-law on
the Parliament's agenda for discussion.
Latest LCCC Bulletin analysis & editorials from miscellaneous
sources published
on June 21-22/18
It’s Now Clear Why the Iran Agreement Was
a Bad Deal
بات واضح جداً أن الآتفاق الإيراني النووي كان سيئاً للغاية
Moshe Arens/Haaretz/June 21/18
http://eliasbejjaninews.com/archives/65463/moshe-arens-haaretz-its-now-clear-why-the-iran-agreement-was-a-bad-deal-%D8%A8%D8%A7%D8%AA-%D9%88%D8%A7%D8%B6%D8%AD-%D8%AC%D8%AF%D8%A7%D9%8B-%D8%A3%D9%86-%D8%A7%D9%84%D8%A2%D8%AA%D9%81%D8%A7/
While focusing on Iran’s nuclear development, the U.S. and the other
signatories missed the main target: Iran’s aggressive plans in the Middle
East
Three years have passed since the signing of the nuclear agreement by the
permanent members of the UN Security Council plus Germany with Iran. It was
opposed by Israel’s Prime Minister Binyamin Netanyahu, by most of the
Republican members of the U.S. Senate, but nevertheless signed by U.S.
President Barack Obama. Netanyahu was accused of going too far in voicing
his opposition before a combined session of the U.S. Congress and of
endangering the U.S.-Israeli relationship.
In the past three years many, including some of the signatories, have begun
reevaluating the implications of the agreement. U.S. President Donald Trump
has decided to reject it, calling for a new really comprehensive agreement.
It is becoming clear that the agreement was really a “bad deal,” and
U.S.-Israeli relations are better now than ever.
At the time of the signing of the agreement Iran was already on the verge of
completing the development of a nuclear device that could be mounted on a
ballistic missile. All that was missing to make it a nuclear power was the
completion of its ballistic missile development program. The agreement
placed no restriction on the development of ballistic missiles by Iran.
It was free to continue this program, while the lifting of sanctions which
was part of the agreement provided it with some badly needed resources. In
effect the agreement brought Iran closer to becoming a nuclear power – on
the verge of being able to assemble a nuclear device and completing the
ballistic missile program needed to complement it.
Obama and the other signatories to the agreement did not seem to realize
that Iran’s immediate and most urgent aim was the expansion of its influence
in the Middle East and that it was looking for the resources that would
enable it to pursue these plans. The lifting of the sanctions that was part
of the agreement provided these resources and the Iranian involvement in
Syria and Yemen followed almost immediately. This may have been of little
concern to Obama, who on occasion, acknowledged the right of Iran to be a
regional power, which was part of his declared desire to reach out to the
Islamic world.
While focusing on Iran’s nuclear development, the U.S. and the other
signatories missed the main target: Iran’s aggressive plans in the Middle
East. They did not understand who they were dealing with. The result was an
agreement that provided Iran with the resources to continue its expansion
into the Middle East, while leaving Iran on the threshold of having nuclear
warfare capability.
Three years after the signing of the agreement some of the signatories are
having second thoughts as they realize the full implications of the accord.
While Trump has rejected it outright, keeping American sanctions in place,
Germany, France, and Britain are suggesting that the agreement needs to be
amended and that Iran’s ballistic missile program has to be addressed.
Tehran is rejecting such suggestions. But the continued sanctions seem to be
having an effect on the Iranian economy, which may yet bring Tehran to the
table for further negotiations. Israel’s strikes against Iranian targets,
and Russian calls for the Iranians to stay away from Israel’s borders may be
the beginning of a process that will rectify some of the deficiencies of the
“bad deal” signed with Iran three years ago.
Iran remains the major danger facing Israel and the Sunni Arab states. For
Israel the massive arsenal of rockets and missiles in the hands of
Hezbollah, Iran’s proxy in Lebanon, constitutes a constant and immediate
danger to Israel’s civilian population. Neutralizing that danger remains a
first priority for Israel and all those interested in peace in the Middle
East. The nuclear agreement with Iran just ignored the real danger that Iran
poses to the countries of the Middle East
Horrific Details on Syria Chemical Attacks Left Out,
for Now, From U.N. Report
تفاصيل مرعبة عن استعمال النظام السوري للأسلحة الكيماوية التي لم ترد في تقرير
الأمم المتحدة
By Rick Gladstone and Maggie Haberman/ The New York Times/June 20/18
http://eliasbejjaninews.com/archives/65467/rick-gladstone-and-maggie-haberman-the-new-york-times-horrific-details-on-syria-chemical-attacks-left-out-for-now-from-u-n-report-%d8%aa%d9%81%d8%a7%d8%b5%d9%8a%d9%84-%d9%85%d8%b1%d8%b9%d8%a8/
At least twice this year, the Syrian military fired Iranian-made artillery
shells filled with a chlorine-like substance that oozed poison slowly,
giving victims just a few minutes to escape.
In another attack, Syrian forces dropped a chemical bomb on the top-floor
balcony of an apartment building, killing 49 people, including 11 children.
Their skin turned blue.
These details and others blaming Syria for atrocities in eastern Ghouta, a
suburb of Damascus, were uncovered by a United Nations commission
investigating and documenting possible war crimes in the seven-year-old
conflict. But when the commission issued a report on Wednesday, the details
were omitted.
Seven pages that had been in an earlier draft, provided to The New York
Times, were summarized in two paragraphs in the final document.
The commission’s report examined how the government of President Bashar
al-Assad recaptured eastern Ghouta, the rebel stronghold near the capital,
in the first four months of 2018. Mr. Assad’s forces laid siege to the area,
using bombardments, mass starvation and chemical weapons.
The materials in the leaked draft paint a far more frightening picture of
chemical weapons use in eastern Ghouta than had been previously reported.
And they assert without qualification that Syrian forces and their allies
were responsible, rebutting repeated denials by Mr. Assad’s government and
his backers in Russia and Iran.
A member of the commission explained the omissions, saying that many of the
details in the early draft needed additional corroboration or clarification
and might be included in another report, perhaps by September. There was no
outside pressure to withhold the information, said the member, Hanny Megally,
an Egyptian human rights lawyer.
“We thought we need to do some more work on this, it’s an ongoing
investigation,” Mr. Megally said. “So we thought, let’s keep it short.”
But the conclusions in the omitted information seemed unambiguous.
The leaked draft stated: “In one of the most grim patterns of attack
documented during the period under review, Government forces and/or
affiliated militias continued to use chemical weapons in densely populated
civilian areas throughout eastern Ghouta.”
In meticulous detail, the draft enumerated six chemical weapons assaults on
civilians from January through April 7, the date of the deadliest assault.
In what appeared to be a first, it implicated Iranian-supplied weaponry.
In attacks on Jan. 13, Jan. 22 and Feb. 1, the draft said, government forces
fired chemical agents, “most probably chlorine,” into a residential part of
eastern Ghouta’s Douma neighborhood, near a sports stadium, roughly 800
yards from the front lines, between 5 a.m. and 6:30 a.m.
Some witnesses described a “slow-acting agent” that smelled like chlorine,
the draft said, and they had sufficient time “to rouse the victims, obtain
wet cloths to serve as makeshift face masks, and evacuate the affected
areas.”
In the Jan. 22 and Feb. 1 attacks, the draft said, the commission had
evidence identifying the bomb delivery devices as surface-to-surface
industrially produced Iranian artillery rockets, “only known to have been
used by Government forces and, rarely, affiliated militias.”
“In relation to the munitions used on 22 January and 1 February, the
Commission obtained and assessed material evidence including metadata
analysis, and identified a surface-to-surface craft-produced rocket (IRAM).
While IRAMs have been employed by a range of actors across Syria, the
particular design of observed during these two attacks is only known to have
been used by Government forces and rarely, affiliated militias.
Specifically, IRAMs documented were built around industrially-produced
Iranian artillery rockets known to have been supplied to Syrian Government
forces.”
The draft said that the eastern Ghouta attacks had followed “a pattern
previously documented by the Commission concerning the use of chemical
weapons by Government forces,” and that none of them had suggested “the
involvement of armed groups.”
Thirty-one people, including 11 children, were sickened in the first three
attacks, but none died. Two other episodes of possible chlorine use, on Feb.
25 and March 7, caused more extensive casualties, killing two children,
including an infant, and injuring 18 civilians.
The worst was yet to come, following the collapse of negotiations between
Russian military officials and an insurgent group, Jaish al-Islam, to
evacuate the Douma neighborhood and end the siege. On April 7, the draft
said, an improvised explosive delivered from the air hit a multistory
residential building roughly 200 yards from the Rif Damascus Hospital, the
last functioning hospital in Douma.
The draft described the explosive as a “single industrial gas cylinder” with
fins that struck the top-floor balcony and appeared to have “rapidly
released large amounts of a substance into the interior space of the
residential apartment building.”
“Positions and physical symptoms displayed by victims of the attack support
witness claims that the agent acted rapidly,” the draft stated, “and likely
indicate that a high concentration of the chemical sank downwards.”
Based on witness statements and “material evidence received and analyzed by
the Commission,” the draft stated, the dead showed “an array of symptoms
consistent with exposure to a choking agent, including signs of foaming at
the mouth and nose, blue skin indicating impaired blood circulation, meiosis
(constriction of the pupils), as well as some cases of dilated (wide open)
pupils.”
“Statements and material evidence received and analysed by the Commission in
relation to the deceased within the apartment building revealed an array of
symptoms consistent with exposure to a choking agent, including signs of
foaming at the mouth and nose, blue skin indicating impaired blood
circulation, meiosis (constriction of the pupils), as well as some cases of
dilated (wide open) pupils. Numerous victims unable to flee the building
collapsed shortly after exposure.”
Mr. Megally declined to go into detail over why such information was
withheld from the report published on Wednesday. But he said that with the
April 7 attack in particular, more information was needed, including
precisely what killed the 49 people.
“If we’re not sure what the cause of death was, we may be looking in the
wrong place,” he said. “It’s better we finish the investigation, rather than
release it in dribs and drabs.”
The official version of the report was far more cautious about the chemical
weapons incidents in question. In two attacks, for example, the report said
the commission was “unable to obtain sufficient material evidence to
conclusively identify the weapons delivery systems.”
While the circumstances in the April 7 attack were “largely consistent with
the use of chlorine,” it said, the symptoms were more consistent with the
use of “another chemical agent, most likely a nerve gas.”
The official version also condemned rebel forces for indiscriminate shelling
of civilian areas.
The commission, which has been compiling evidence of atrocities in the Syria
conflict since shortly after the war began in 2011, has developed an
extensive array of ways to gather information, even though Mr. Assad has not
allowed its investigators into the country. Led by Paulo Sérgio Pinheiro, a
Brazilian diplomat and rights activist, the commission has even compiled a
confidential list of Syrian officials and others who may be held accountable
in a court some day.
The earlier draft of its report on eastern Ghouta was shared by a person
close to the commission, who had been consulted on the report and who
declined to be identified.
The leak suggested some internal dissension in the commission about the
strength of its evidence concerning the Syrian government’s use of chemical
weapons in eastern Ghouta. It was also possible that the commission wanted
to exercise caution ahead of an expected report on the April 7 attack in
Douma by the Organization for the Prohibition of Chemical Weapons, which
sent investigators to the site.
Chemical weapons are banned by an international treaty that Mr. Assad signed
under pressure in 2013, when his government was first accused of having used
chemical weapons in the conflict — also in eastern Ghouta.
The April 7 attack in Douma caused widespread international fury,
particularly because many victims appeared to have been children shown
gagging and choking, based on videos disseminated by witnesses and
activists. The attack drew retaliatory missile attacks and airstrikes by
Britain, France and the United States.
Mr. Assad’s government, backed by Russia and Iran, sought to cast doubt
about the Douma attack, suggesting it had been faked or carried out by
insurgents.
The Syrian government and its allies took control of eastern Ghouta two
months ago after imposing what the commission’s report described as “the
longest siege in modern history,” displacing more than 140,000 people from
their homes and unleashing bombardments that destroyed hospitals, markets
and schools, and forced residents to live in cellars and basements.
Those bombardments — mainly airstrikes by Syrian and Russian planes — killed
1,100 civilians and injured 4,000 others in a period of less than a month
from Feb. 18, the commission said in its report, which is to be delivered to
the United Nations Human Rights Council next week.
Tens of thousands of those who fled are still being held unlawfully by the
government, which pursued a policy of blanket internment that the panel
called “reprehensible.”
Sieges are permitted under international humanitarian law. But, in a
departure from established practice, the panel said it considered the way
pro-government forces had conducted the siege of eastern Ghouta unlawful.
“Certain acts perpetrated by pro-government forces during the siege laid to
eastern Ghouta, including the deliberate starvation of the civilian
population as a method of warfare, amount to the crime against humanity of
inhumane acts, causing serious mental and physical suffering,” the panel
concluded.
A version of this article appears in print on June 21, 2018 of the New York
edition with the headline: U.N. Report Left Out Horrific Details on Syria
Chemical Attacks.
https://www.nytimes.com/2018/06/20/world/middleeast/un-syria-eastern-ghouta.html
Will Merkel survive to lead an unwieldy coalition?
Dr. Mohamed A. Ramady/Al Arabiya/June 21/18
The recent Italian and Austrian elections have brought in populist parties
and seem to be opening up cracks in the European Union, especially on
immigration issues.
The same strains are now affecting the German coalition government and
Merkel’s future after 13 years in office. With stakes for Germany and for
the European Union that could not be higher, the fate of German Chancellor
Angela Merkel will be decided in the next few weeks with far reaching
implications for the Euro and European Central Bank policies.
German Interior Minister and Christian Social Union (CSU) leader Horst
Seehofer, Merkel’s coalition party partner, has won the support of the CSU
rank and file in a special party meeting to proceed with his unfortunately
named “Master Plan” to sharply crack down on immigration into Germany,
including a refusal to allow entry by migrants who have already applied for
asylum in other EU countries.
While the probability of success is still doubtful, as Interior Minister,
Seehofer has threatened to proceed with a ministerial decree, in response to
which Merkel would almost certainly sack him. That would, in turn, all but
ensure a full rupture between Merkel’s Christian Democratic Union (CDU) and
the CSU, and very likely trigger a collapse of her government.
More likely, however, is a compromise in which Seehofer wins CSU support for
his defiant showdown with Merkel, but with implementation delayed until
after Chancellor Merkel goes to Brussels for the European Summit meeting on
June 28 and 29, where she has promised to “do the utmost” to reach
“bilateral agreements” with” the most relevant EU member states.”
Seehofer’s move may in fact give Merkel some tailwind in those negotiations,
especially with the staunchly anti immigrant Italian leader Conte. But maybe
not enough. If Merkel fails to win enough concessions in Brussels, she may
be forced to return to Berlin to call for a vote of confidence for what she
did bring home, which may be her last play left.
A majority of Bundestag deputies are probably fearful of losing their seats
in a new federal election, especially in Bavaria where the CSU is facing a
resurgent right wing German anti immigration party the AFD. But a loss of
the confidence vote would mean asking German President Frank Walter
Steinmeier to dissolve the Bundestag.
Merkel is only too aware of the fragility of European unity and that a full
consensus is going to be a hard battle for her as the EU has been sorely
tested over the refugee crisis
The asylum row
But even success on a compromise with the CSU as Horst Seehofer, has
signalled he is open to giving more time to reach a deal with Germany’s EU
partners over an asylum row that has threatened to bring down her
government, or another in Brussels still would not mean an end to the German
political crisis: Merkel still needs the backing of her junior coalition
partner, the Social Democrats, who could still reject the compromise carved
with the CSU and in Brussels; that too would almost certainly lead to a
serious crisis, if not collapse of the Merkel-led government.
A vote of no confidence is the probable outcome - Merkel herself cannot
resign per se but only leave office through a so-called “constructive” vote
of no confidence on behalf of a challenger – is more likely than snap
elections. In a lost confidence vote, President Steinmeier would be likely
to grant the CDU as the largest party another shot at forming a new
government before resorting to calling for new elections.
Just like in the Italian elections, when the populist parties choice of
Finance Minister was blocked by the Italian President, the role of Bundestag
President Wolfgang Schaeuble then becomes pivotal.
Schaeuble gave a rousing speech to rally the CDU to Merkel’s side after the
failure of a four person, near three-hour negotiation between Merkel and
Seehofer who emerged from emergency talks with his CSU saying he had no
intention of toppling Merkel.
But his conditions for staying with Merkel are clear – he wants police
stationed at borders to turn back refugees and migrants arriving from other
EU countries but signalled he would give Merkel two weeks’ grace to reach
migration agreements with EU partners.
Seehofer has said these migrants should be turned away at the German border
whereas Merkel has said this can only happen with the agreement of the
relevant EU states. Merkel is only too aware of the fragility of European
unity and that a full consensus is going to be a hard battle for her as the
EU has been sorely tested over the refugee crisis.
She fears a situation in which people are sent from country to country, with
countries like Greece and Italy continuing to bear the brunt of the crisis.
Defying Merkel
By comparison, Schaeubale would never openly defy Merkel, though
interestingly, TagesSpiegel, an influential newspaper in which his daughter
is a chief editorial writer, has been consistently taking a highly critical
line against Merkel, for the sake of political neutrality of course.
There is the possibility that Schaeuble is positioning himself to step into
the breach to replace Merkel as CDU party leader if she resigns or loses a
vote of confidence, and to lead negotiations to form a CDU/CSU minority
governing coalition with the Free Democrats.
The Free Democrats – under its leader Christian Lindner – has shifted to the
right and aligned with the CDU right faction led by Health Minister Jens
Spahn and the CSU’s Bavarian Prime minister Martin Soeder, who is the power
behind Seehofer.
The threat for the CSU to join an “Axis of the Willing” with Austria and
Italy that so bizarrely invoked not only the Nazi alliance with Italy in the
Second World War but President Bush’s invasion of Iraq has added an almost
surreal quality to the political crisis.
But the warning lights have been there all along – ever since the elections
last September it showed how fragile Chancellor Merkel’s government was
going to be due to the strains to her right with the Christian Social Union
and a minority faction within her own Christian Democrats.
That now seems to be playing out, although it has been somewhat surprising
how quickly Seehofer’s gambit over the immigration issue has escalated into
a political crisis.
Whether the Iron Lady of Germany will once again survive intact to lead an
unwieldy coalition in the face of both inter European immigration issues or
facing down President Trump on tariffs is an open question, although in a
perverse way.
The latest Trump tweet criticizing European immigration policy, and
implicitly Merkel, might give the German Chancellor some support from her
countrymen.
End of Iran nuclear deal: No more business as usual
Faisal Al-Shammeri/Al Arabiya/June 21/18
With the end of the Iranian nuclear deal it becomes important to consider
what actions will be taken by the clerical regime. What are the conditions
facing Tehran at the moment and what might their next steps look like?
The fact that the deal was so well received by Iran should be enough for
anyone to have a moments pause. We can determine that since its inception
that the behavior of Iran has only become more destabilizing and more
ambitious. It has not given any incentive for a moderation of posture and
under President Rouhani there is only a more interventionist policy in Yemen
and Syria.
The thinking in some quarters was that with the deal the framework
articulated and agreed upon would allow Iran to be “brought into the
community of nations,” and that further integration into the global
marketplace would provide it with inducements to moderate.
There is the way we would like things to be and then there is the way things
are. Iran took the access to European markets, multinational corporations,
foreign currency to provide a sizable expansion for its involvement in
Syria, Yemen, Lebanon, and Iraq. These were the results of the nuclear deal
and the efforts to reach out and accommodate Iran, which gave it more
legitimacy than it deserved.
However, it is clear that it is not business as usual anymore. Washington
has rejected the thinking that led to the nuclear deal and all efforts to
accommodate Iran as fallacy. It has looked at the actions of the regime and
assessed them for what they are. With a span lasting nearly 40 years Tehran
under its ruling state ideology of Khomeinism is judging Tehran on what it
has done and continues to do.
So with the nuclear deal no longer in existence, a strategic realignment
with the Arabian Gulf and Israel, the occupation of nearly 40 percent of
Syria, an absolute domination of the Euphrates River Valley, a sizable
presence in Northern Iraq under American control quietly, and quickly, the
United States has redrawn the strategic balance sheet in the Middle East in
dramatic order.
Washington has rejected the thinking that led to the nuclear deal and all
efforts to accommodate Iran as fallacy. It has looked at the actions of the
regime and assessed them for what they are
Involvement in Syria
It has not been re-edited to favor Tehran. There is no end to it’s
involvement in Syria. Despite all of its efforts it has done a great deal to
keep the Assad regime in power but there is no clear way to a victory
obtained by military supremacy.
Irrespective of Moscow and Tehran’s ongoing efforts there will not be a
final diplomatic and political outcome that will be recognized by the
international community.
And with the regime in Damascus nearly out of manpower it no longer has the
means to retake the Euphrates River Valley, or remove the Turkish Army from
the northwest, or eliminate the pockets of terrorists that remain in the
country that, ironically enough, it played a role in creating during the
initial uprising against the Assad regime.
If Tehran were to leave, the Assad regime would collapse. If Tehran stays
indefinitely, it is making a commitment that it cannot financially sustain.
There is not one country in the Middle East that would be indifferent to, or
for that matter is now, Syria as an Iranian province stuffed to the brim
with sectarian militias, Hezbollah, along with medium and long range
ballistic missiles.
So what now? The clerical regime cannot survive in its current format. It’s
only lifelines are those multinational companies and nations who are
insistent on doing business with Tehran despite its radical nature.
These relationships provide Iran with vitally needed foreign currency and
markets it would not otherwise have access to. And if Tehran were to
accommodate, or remove its radical tendencies, then it would lose the
initiative that it has possessed since 1979.
Unless a Soviet Union-Cold War type containment policy is implemented then
its only course of action is to become more bellicose. To lose Syria would
be a strategic defeat that Iran could not survive.
To stay in Syria while Israel carries out surgical strikes anywhere inside
the country at its own choosing makes it look weak with every day it doesn’t
respond. To leave Syria with The United States, Turkey, the SDF and Kurdish
elements still occupying vast swathes of the country would make all its
expenditure of treasure and lives pointless and Assad completely helpless.
This is not to make the case that the nuclear deal made them restrained or
accommodative. Again their actions since its implementation have become more
bold and more destabilizing for everyone in the region.
The regime under Khamenei, with the IRGC and Quds Force, has to stay the
course it has set out on. There is no turning back. Therefore, it falls to
the United States, the Arabian Gulf, and strategically allied partners of
the Middle East to confront Tehran, head on, diplomatically, economically,
and militarily when called for.
An Iran, free from the grip of the Ulema, purged of Khomeinism, sponsoring
humanity instead of terrorism, sending goods instead of proxies across
borders, is the objective. The regime is against that at all costs. It’s own
actions are all anyone needs to verify that.
Analysis New U.S.-Russia-Saudi Oil Alliance Could Also
Have Implications for Israel and Iran
التداعيات المحتملة على إسرائيل وإيران بنتيجة التحالف الأميركي والروسي
والسعودي الجديد
Anshel Pfeffer/Haaretz/June 21/18
http://eliasbejjaninews.com/archives/65476/anshel-pfeffer-haaretz-new-u-s-russia-saudi-oil-alliance-could-also-have-implications-for-israel-and-iran-%d9%87%d8%a2%d8%b1%d8%b1%d8%aa%d8%b3-%d8%a7%d9%84%d8%aa%d8%af%d8%a7%d8%b9%d9%8a%d8%a7%d8%aa/
A reported deal between Putin and the Saudi crown prince means they will
have members of OPEC over a barrel when they meet in Vienna this weekend –
but Jerusalem will be an interested spectator as well
Saudi Crown Prince Mohammed bin Salman didn’t look like someone whose
national team was losing 5-0 to Russia last Thursday. The broad smiles as he
sat beside Russian President Vladimir Putin in the VIP box at Moscow’s
Luzhniki Stadium indicated the opening match of the World Cup was just an
excuse for their meeting.
According to briefings by Russian officials after the crown prince had left
Moscow, he and Putin had agreed on a joint policy worth more than any sports
trophy.
The two governments – also two of the world’s major energy producers – had
reportedly agreed to “institutionalize” the relationship between Russia and
the Organization of the Petroleum Exporting Countries (OPEC). Does this
include all the OPEC members who are meeting in Vienna on Friday? Almost
certainly not.
OPEC exists in theory to ensure its members’ market share of the global
energy market and to try and boost oil prices, ensuring their major source
of income remains lucrative. But it depends on consensus and coordination
between the members. And geopolitics can intrude – in this case, the
deepening enmity between two of the major oil producers: the Saudis and
Iran.
In 2016, following a prolonged dip in oil prices (which saw the price of a
barrel of crude drop to below $30), OPEC’s 14 members – along with OPEC
Plus, a second group of associated nations, including Russia – agreed to cut
back production. Along with the rise in global financial activity, this has
gradually pushed oil prices back to over $70 a barrel.
Now, though, some nations – led by the Saudis and Russia – are calling for
an increase in production. They are losing market share to U.S. shale oil
producers and argue that, since demand is currently high, putting more oil
on the market will not dramatically affect prices. They calculate that any
dip in prices will be offset by the increase in production.
But not all OPEC members are capable of boosting production.
Iran, about to come under stiff new sanctions from the Trump administration,
is already losing orders worth hundreds of thousands of barrels. In
Venezuela, production is already plummeting due to political turmoil and the
economic meltdown under the Maduro government, which also faces U.S.
sanctions. For both countries, lower oil prices will only compound their
financial woes.
Iran and Venezuela – along with Iraq and Libya, who are also suffering
production problems – have resolved to resist the Russian-Saudi plan at
Friday’s Vienna meeting. But Putin and Crown Prince Mohammed’s meeting at
the World Cup heralds a new alliance they will be powerless to oppose.
Does this mean the end of the Russian-Iranian alliance cemented on the
battlefields of Syria?
In the Israeli intelligence community, there have been two views on the
strength of the alliance between Moscow and Tehran, and the possibility of
driving a wedge between them. Skeptics feared that Putin saw Iran as a
strategic partner, one that would continue working with Russia to expand its
presence in the region – which in turn would allow Iran to realize its grand
“Shia Crescent” design: a land corridor controlled by its proxies from Iran
all the way to the Mediterranean.
The opposing view saw the Iran-Russia nexus as nothing more than a tactical
and temporary arrangement that would last only as long as Russia needed
“boots on the ground” in Syria, in the shape of Shi’ite militias fighting on
the side of its client, the Assad regime. With Assad’s rule ensured, they
argued, Russia’s interests would begin to diverge from those of Iran.
This school of thought is now being vindicated.
On May 9, Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu was Putin’s guest of honor at
the Victory Day Parade in Moscow. That was the signal for Russia’s support
for Israeli demands that Iranian-supported troops not be allowed close to
Israel’s border with Syria. The support was emphasized by Russia’s silence
over Israel’s attacks on Iranian positions in Syria.
This was hardly the conduct of an ally – unless Putin was signaling that
although Iran may be its tactical ally, as far he is concerned Israel is an
ally as well, and perhaps one of even greater strategic value.
This month, it was the crown prince’s turn to be welcomed by Putin in
Moscow. It was another ominous signal to the Iranians that they may have
served their purpose and are not at the center of Russia’s strategic
interests.
Putin is determined to restore Russia’s superpower status. The crown prince,
preparing for what he believes will be long decades on the Saudi throne, is
eager to establish his kingdom’s status as the preeminent power in the
region. Both men plan to use their energy assets as a tool in building up
geopolitical power, while at the same time pushing long-term plans to reduce
their economies’ dependability on oil.
For both of them, the joint agreements of OPEC are now more a hindrance than
a help. MBS also sees Iran as a mortal enemy and rival for influence. A
month before Netanyahu was in Moscow, Crown Prince Mohammed was on a
thee-week charm offensive in the United States, which also included meetings
with Jewish-American organizations.
The crown prince is happy to take part in President Donald Trump’s
much-vaunted Middle East peace plan, which will have the endorsement of the
Saudis and other Sunni regimes. No one expects the plan – which has been
rejected in advance by the Palestinians – to get anywhere, but MBS has much
bigger targets in his sights. A three-way deal between the Saudis, Russia
and a consortium of U.S. oil producers would be more advantageous to him,
and Putin, than the old OPEC framework. It would also push Iran even further
into a corner.
For Putin and Trump, there are both economic and political benefits for such
an alliance between the world’s three largest oil producers. It would allow
them to ensure their market shares, while keeping gas prices at the pump –
so important to American voters – at a reasonable level.
A U.S.-Saudi-Russia axis could increase the Trump administration’s economic
clout, especially when it is anticipating trade wars with Europe and China.
It would also lock the United States into a new power partnership, separate
from its traditional alliances in NATO and with the European Union,
fulfilling Putin’s long-cherished dream of undermining the postwar Western
alliances that prevailed over the Soviet Union. Now it seems he wants to
undermine OPEC as well.
The losers from such a new alliance would be the other OPEC members,
especially Iran and Venezuela, the EU – which is already weakened by
internal division and political arguments among its members – and the rising
Far Eastern powers with their oil-reliant economies.
Netanyahu could also be one of the winners, with Iran further weakened and
the EU, which is still trying forlornly to keep the Iran deal alive and
remain involved in the Israeli-Palestinian diplomatic process, further
marginalized.
OPEC’s meeting this weekend in Vienna could have much wider implications
than just future oil prices.
Trying to Read Into the Crises of Refugees and
Immigration
Eyad Abu Shakra/Asharq Al Awsat/June 21/18
Gradually, taboos have disappeared.
For the first time since the defeat of Hitler’s Nazis and Mussolini’s
Fascists, it is no longer ‘shameful’ to use racist arguments in
self-proclaimed ‘civilized’ societies. No ‘shame’ in classifying people
according to color, religion, race, gender and wealth.
It is true that after the end of WWII, the USA went through the era of
‘McCarthyism’ as a reaction against the ascendence of the victorious Soviet
Communism in eastern Europe, the ‘Yellow Giant’ created by Mao Zedong in
China and its reverberations in Indochina after Dien Bien Phu as well as the
Korean war. But, it is also true that soon afterward the Civil Rights
Movement emerged in the USA, and ‘wise’ European leaders strived to give
Europe - as a bloc - a political clout that transcended pure economic
interests in order to stop being a ‘theatre of confrontation’ between Moscow
and Washington.
No doubt, too, that Western ‘alliances’ - led by NATO - went beyond the
classic European ‘nation-state’ model, bolstering the ongoing economic
cooperation that developed the European Steel and Coal Community (1951) and
European Economic Community (1957) into the European Union. However, the
political boundaries were not drawn precisely along ethnic lines, thus, they
contained several minorities, while other minorities were scattered over
more than one independent entity.
This was the case in Western Europe; while in eastern Europe, the Soviet
Union (USSR) attempted a pioneering experiment that was designed to
recognize the racial, linguistic, and religious specificities of its
minorities. The country was horizontally subdivided into 15 ‘Soviet
Republics’, below which there were ‘Autonomous Republics’ followed in lower
level ‘Ethnic Departments’ known as ‘Oblasts’ or ‘Krais’. However, this
idealist principle did not always work out. Furthermore, historical
relations between the peoples scattered over the vast lands of the country
under the Tsarist rule were rarely peaceful; indeed, the Russians were
always the dominant group throughout most of the ‘internationalist’ and
‘inter-communal’ Soviet entities. Hence, ‘demographic engineering’ became
one of the main causes of the USSR’s fragility, and later of ethnic friction
within its ‘Soviet Republics’.
As for the USA, which has always been a ‘nation of immigrants’ with a
federal structure rather than a classic example of a ‘nation-state’, a
feature of which has been the ease of internal movement across the states
with no linguistic or ethnic hurdles or sensitivities. However, Donald
Trump’s USA under the rule of the ultra-conservative Right seems worried
about the future, given the rapid population growth of the Hispanics that
has reached around 58 million. They are now the country’s second fastest
growing ethnicity after the Asians, compared to the slow growth of the
‘white European’ majority. During the Trump election campaign, as well as
those of other extreme Right candidates, there were many claiming that
“America was at a watershed” and that the 2016 elections were “its last
chance to save itself from the unknown”.
Since the end of WWII, the USA witnessed three major changes that affected
its economy and demography:
The first has been the fast technological change and the massive move from
classic industries to advanced hi-tech ones requiring less employment.
The second has been the population change and distribution, whereby the
population center has moved steadily from the northeast towards the
southwest. ‘Anglo-Saxon/Germanic’ states of the northeast, such as New York,
Pennsylvania, New Jersey, Massachusetts, Ohio and Illinois were the major
states. Today, however, the most populous, fastest growing and richest are
the three major ‘Latino/Hispanic’ states of California (west), Texas
(southwest) and Florida (south).
The third is the huge effect of ‘globalization’ that has brought down
America’s economic ‘defences’. One simple example is the automobile
industry. During the early 1950s, the USA had no less than 10 automakers
producing around 30 marques, and American-made automobiles almost
monopolized the national market. The situation is quite different now; as
there are only 3 automakers producing only 10 marques. After the first
‘foreign’ breakthrough by the German makers led by Volkswagen in the 1950s,
the Japanese penetrated the market in the 1960s, followed by the South
Koreans in the late 1970s; and it may not be long before we see the
globally-advancing Chinese forcing their way in.
Thus, as the winds of ‘globalization’ blow hard, immigration – not excluding
refugees – increases Europeans’ and Americans’ worries and fears, and shake
what were, until recently, fixed givens, including the concept of a ‘nation’
and the distinction between ‘Right and Left’.
In Europe, the concept of the ‘nation-state’ is under threat as secessionist
movements are becoming stronger in many countries among which are Spain and
the UK. Isolationists and ‘Populists’ in Italy, in the meantime, have made a
qualitative shift as the ‘Lega’ (former Lega Nord) ‘moderated’ its
secessionist position in order to broaden the appeal of its new pan -
Italian xenophobic anti-immigration strategy; while, the racist Right in
Germany, Denmark, Austria and Hungary is unequivocally living by its
slogans.
As regards the distinction between ‘Right and Left’, it is a fact that many
supporters of the extreme Right ‘National Front’ in France came during the
last few decades from the traditionally Left-voting, blue-collar worker
constituency and former radical Leftist groups. Many of the Labour
‘Leftists’ in the UK voted in favor of leaving the EU (Brexit) because they
feared the influx of East European workers. In Italy, even Matteo Salvini,
the new deputy Prime Minister (and de facto leader) and the staunchly
anti-immigrant ‘Lega’ leader, is an ex-Communist!
In the USA, one notices a similar trend. Traditionally pro-Democrat
blue-collar workers began supporting the Right when they voted for Ronald
Reagan in the 1980 presidential elections, deserving the sobriquet ‘Reagan
Democrats’. In November 2016, Donald Trump won after carrying Pennsylvania,
Michigan and Wisconsin; three northern states with strong blue-collar
unemployment, and attracted to his protectionist anti-foreign business
slogans. Incidentally, it is worth recalling that Trump’s campaign speeches
- especially his protectionist agenda – were closer to those of the
traditional European Left than to the policies of the monetarist
laissez-faire Right.
We are, thus, at a historic intellectual and existential crossroads, in
terms of defining the binary of ‘us’ and ‘them’. Unfortunately, we are
living its worrying consequences in our Arab World.
Hardliners Learn That Democracy Can Pay Off
Tyler Cowen/Bloomberg/June 21/18
“What have been the really major advances of the past 20 years?” is one of
the most common debated questions in my circles. The smartphone is probably
nominated most often, while Google, Facebook and fracking have their
advocates too. Yet we hardly ever talk about one of the most important
developments, perhaps because it raises uncomfortable political issues: the
governance technologies and strategies of authoritarian regimes have become
much more efficient.
I recall the 1970s, when there were many fewer democracies and communism was
still a major scourge. Apart from what at the time was called the free
world, led by the U.S. and its closest allies, most countries were abysmally
governed. In the Soviet Union people waited in lines for hours to buy
consumer goods, if they were available at all, and were locked behind the
Iron Curtain that kept them from fleeing to the West. China was an
impoverished country and it had just recovered from a major famine. Ethiopia
was the poster country for thin, emaciated children, suffering and on the
verge of death.
Since that time, governance in those regions has become much, much better,
even though China, Ethiopia and Russia still are not democracies in the
Western sense. China for instance has built one of the world’s most
impressive economic growth miracles ever, with the Communist Party still
firmly in power. Ethiopia is coming off of some years of double-digit
economic growth and is developing its manufacturing. Yet the country is
autocratic and has a history of censoring the internet. Putin rules Russia
with a firm hand, but today consumer goods of virtually all kinds are widely
available and most Russians are free to leave whenever they want.
What led to these beneficial changes? In the 1970s and 1980s, it was a
common view that if authoritarian or totalitarian regimes liberalized, it
would bring an end to their rule. The collapse of Soviet and Eastern
European communism over 1989-1992 seemed consistent with this prediction, as
perestroika and relaxed travel restrictions caused those regimes to implode.
The big innovation in authoritarian governance has been this: subsequent
autocratic leaders, most of all in China, have found ways of both
liberalizing and staying in power. The good news is that people living under
authoritarian governments have much, much better lives than before. The
corresponding bad news is that autocracy works better than it used to and
thus it is more popular and probably also more enduring. The notion that
autocratic government would fade away, either in practice or as an
ideological competitor to Western liberalism, simply isn’t tenable any more.
So how exactly did authoritarian governments make this transition toward
stable and indeed power-enhancing liberalizations? Singapore in its early
years showed it could be done, as the nation’s founding prime minister, Lee
Kuan Yew, found growth-enhancing, pro-business reforms that strengthened his
party’s hold on power. Since that time, Singapore has transitioned to a much
more democratic system, but other countries picked up on the broader lesson,
namely that liberalization could be strategic.
A second development was when authoritarian leaders realized that absolute
prohibitions on free speech were counterproductive, and they learned how to
manage an intermediate solution. Allowing partial speech rights is useful as
a safety valve, it allows major dissidents to be identified and monitored,
and absolute speech prohibitions tended to wreck the economy and discourage
foreign investment, leading to unpopularity of the government. At the same
time, an autocratic government could come down hard on the truly threatening
ideas when needed.
Scientific public opinion polling has been another advance in authoritarian
states. In 1987, the Economic System Reform Institute of China conducted the
first Chinese public opinion survey, a breakthrough event. Under Chairman
Mao in contrast, the incentive was to report only the good news. In the
1990s, however, Chinese public opinion surveys boomed and also became much
more scientific.
These days, the Communist Party monitors public opinion closely, to learn
what people are unhappy about (e.g., forced resettlements, pollution), so
those problems can be ameliorated, or at least the government can position
its failings appropriately. The Chinese government also knows on what issues
it is pretty popular, namely most of them. At the end of the day the Party
still does what it thinks is best, but it is no longer crazy to suggest that
the Chinese government is, along many dimensions, more responsive to public
opinion than is the U.S. Congress.
I, for one, only wish to live under a vibrant democracy. Democracies do more
to protect human rights, they avoid the very bad outcomes of tyranny more
easily, and they handle political succession more smoothly. In spite of
these loyalties, I cannot ignore the relative shift in efficacy that has
happened over the past few decades, as authoritarian government has made
big, innovative strides forward. At the end of the day, I cannot help but
notice America’s governance innovations have not been nearly so effective,
and that is one reason why liberalism seems to be in retreat. America, and
that extends to Washington too, is wallowing in a long, ongoing productivity
slowdown.