LCCC
ENGLISH DAILY NEWS BULLETIN
March 20/2018
Compiled & Prepared by: Elias
Bejjani
The Bulletin's Link on the
lccc Site
http://data.eliasbejjaninews.com/newselias18/english.march20.18.htm
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2006
Click Here to enter the LCCC Arabic/English news bulletins Achieves since 2006
Bible
Quotations
No one
can serve two masters & you cannot serve both God and money
Luke 16/01-18:/Jesus told his disciples:
“There was a rich man whose manager was accused of wasting his possessions.
So he called him in and asked him, ‘What is this I hear about you? Give an
account of your management, because you cannot be manager any longer.’“The
manager said to himself, ‘What shall I do now? My master is taking away my
job. I’m not strong enough to dig, and I’m ashamed to beg— I know what I’ll
do so that, when I lose my job here, people will welcome me into their
houses.’ “So he called in each one of his master’s debtors. He asked the
first, ‘How much do you owe my master?’ “‘Nine hundred gallons] of olive
oil,’ he replied. “The manager told him, ‘Take your bill, sit down quickly,
and make it four hundred and fifty.’ “Then he asked the second, ‘And how
much do you owe?’“‘A thousand bushels of wheat,’ he replied. “He told him,
‘Take your bill and make it eight hundred.’ “The master commended the
dishonest manager because he had acted shrewdly. For the people of this
world are more shrewd in dealing with their own kind than are the people of
the light. I tell you, use worldly wealth to gain friends for yourselves,
so that when it is gone, you will be welcomed into eternal dwellings.
“Whoever can be trusted with very little can also be trusted with much, and
whoever is dishonest with very little will also be dishonest with much. So
if you have not been trustworthy in handling worldly wealth, who will trust
you with true riches? And if you have not been trustworthy with someone
else’s property, who will give you property of your own? “No one can serve
two masters. Either you will hate the one and love the other, or you will be
devoted to the one and despise the other. You cannot serve both God and
money.” The Pharisees, who loved money, heard all this and were sneering at
Jesus. He said to them, “You are the ones who justify yourselves in the
eyes of others, but God knows your hearts. What people value highly is
detestable in God’s sight.
Titles
For Latest LCCC Bulletin analysis & editorials from miscellaneous sources
published on March 19-20/18
St. Joseph's Day/Elias Bejjani/March 19/18
Saudi Crown Prince: We will eradicate Muslim Brotherhood elements in our
schools/
Joyce Karam/The National/March 19/18
Saudi nuclear bomb justifications/Abdulrahman al-Rashed/Al Arabiya/March
19/18
The early disputes between al-Shirazi family and Iran - Part 2/Hassan Al
Mustafa/Al Arabiya/March 19/18
Qatar, the worst is yet to come/Mohammed Al Shaikh/Al Arabiya/March 19/18
Kurdish Afrin Falls to Turkey...Turkish Government Official: "Europe Will be
Muslim"/Uzay Bulut/Gatestone Institute/March 19/2018
France: Toward Total Submission to Islam, Destruction of Free Speech/Guy
Millière/Gatestone Institute/March 19/2018
James Bond in Stalin’s Bed/Ghassan Charbel/Asharq Al Awsat/March 19/18
Titles For Latest LCCC Lebanese Related News
published on March 19-20/18
St. Joseph's Day
UNIFIL Force Marks Its 40th Anniversary
Aoun: No Victories, Defeats in Upcoming Elections
Interior Ministry over 70% prepared for elections: Machnouk
Lebanese cleric: Revoke Hezbollah leader's citizenship over Iran ties
Aoun-Mashnouq Talk Elections, Rome II Outcome
Berri: I Have No Enemies in Lebanon, Israel Is the Enemy
Arrest Warrant Issued against Ghabash for Framing Army Adjutant
Hamadeh: Parliamentary Elections Remain at Risk from Regional Developments
Hizbullah Official: Lebanese System Rotten, Can't be Radically Reformed
Jumblat Criticizes 'Privatization' Bids of Electricity Sector
Development Bank EBRD Upbeat on Lebanon, Seeks Continued Reform
Titles For Latest LCCC Bulletin For Miscellaneous Reports And
News published on March 19-20/18
Abbas Calls U.S. Envoy 'Son of a Dog', Says Hamas Tried to Kill PM
Israel Accuses French Consulate Worker of Smuggling Guns from Gaza
Russian Poisoning Denials 'Increasingly Absurd', UK's Johnson Says
Syria Kurds Vow to 'Liberate' Afrin after Capture by Turkish Army
EU Criticizes Turkey's Offensive in Syrian Town of Afrin
Turkish forces will not remain in Syria’s Afrin
Paris Urges Tough EU Approach on Iran
Saudi Ambassador to US: Iran Wants to Form Another ‘Hezbollah’ in Yemen
Egypt, Sudan Stress Joint Work to Preserve Mutual National Security
Saudi Crown Prince leaves Riyadh on official visit to Washington
Thomas Friedman says Qataris are parading their power ‘like children’
Arab coalition to show new evidence of Iran arming Yemen’s Houthis
Egypt military says 36 militants, 4 soldiers killed in Sinai
Sisi: Egypt working with Sudan, Ethiopia regarding the Nile
Putin Wins Fourth Term with Record Vote
Trump Prepares for Visit by Saudi Prince Who Has Rocked the Kingdom
Israel Moves to Destroy Jerusalem Attacker's Home
Latest Lebanese Related News published
on March 19-20/18
St. Joseph's Dayعيد ما يوسف البتول
Elias Bejjani/March 19/18
http://eliasbejjaninews.com/archives/63282
The feast day of St. Joseph is celebrated annually on March 19/Our Bejjani
family has proudly carried this name generation after generation for
centuries and still do. May God and His angles safeguard our caring and
loving son Youssef, and our grandson Joseph, who both carry this blessed
name
It is worth mentioning that St. Joseph's Day is a Maronite and Roman
Catholic feast day that commemorates the life of St. Joseph, the step-father
of Jesus and husband of the Blessed Virgin Mary. People with very strong
religious convictions among which are the Lebanese Maronites celebrate St.
Joseph's Day on March 19 and believe that this day is St. Joseph's birthday
too.
Back home, in Lebanon St. Joseph is considered the Family Saint and looked
upon as a family and hardworking father role model because of the great role
that Almighty God had assigned him to carry. His duty was to raise Jesus
Christ and take care of Virgin Mary. God has chose him to look after His
begotten son and Virgin Marry. He fulfilled his Godly assignment with love,
passion and devotion. May Al Mighty God bless all those that carry this
name.
UNIFIL Force Marks Its 40th Anniversary
Associated Press/Naharnet/March 19/18/The head of U.N. peacekeepers in
Lebanon praised their contribution to peace efforts on Monday as the force
marked 40 years since its establishment on the frontier with Israel. Maj.
Gen. Michael Beary, commander of the force known as UNIFIL, said that the
mission "works tirelessly to pre-empt a return to conflict, a return to
turmoil and loss of life, a return to some of the dark days of the past"
between Lebanon and Israel. His comments came amid new threats between
Lebanon and Israel over several issues, including a wall Israel is building
along the border that Beirut says may jut into Lebanese territories, as well
as plans for oil and gas exploration in the Mediterranean. The oil and gas
dispute dates back years, but recently resurfaced when Lebanon invited
companies to bid for exploratory offshore drilling next year along the
countries' maritime border. Israel says some of the drilling would be taking
place in its territorial waters. The peacekeeping force was founded in 1978
after Israel invaded parts of southern Lebanon. Violence has broken out on
several occasions since then, including major wars in 1982 and 2006. UNIFIL
now has about 10,500 soldiers from 41 countries who are mostly deployed
south of Lebanon's Litani river and along the border with Israel. The 2006
war was fought between Israel and Lebanon's Iran-backed Hizbullah group.
Beary warned that conflict "can start in an instant, can take generations to
find a permanent solution.""South Lebanon has enjoyed 11 years of calm since
2006, and the last two years in our areas of operations, in particular, have
been among the quietest on record," Beary said. "UNIFIL works together with
the parties to sustain this calm."
Aoun: No Victories, Defeats in Upcoming Elections
Agence France Presse/Naharnet/March 19/18/President Michel Aoun announced
Monday that “there will be neither victories nor defeats” in the upcoming
parliamentary elections, which will be held in May. “The new electoral law
will regulate political life in the country and there will be neither
victories nor defeats in the elections, but rather a selection of a
majority,” Aoun told a delegation from the Metn town of Roumieh. “There
might be confusion now because the parties and independent candidates do not
know their real political weights, but they will eventually organize
politically and choices will therefore become political rather than being
based on individuals,” the president added. He also noted that “political
commitment” should govern the selection of electoral lists and that “the
preferential vote should go to the person whom every citizen favors at the
personal level.”The May elections will be held under a complex proportional
representation system for the first time in Lebanon's history.
Interior Ministry over 70% prepared for elections:
Machnouk
The Daily Star/March 19, 2018/BEIRUT: Interior Minister Nouhad Machnouk said
Monday that his ministry was 70 percent prepared for upcoming parliamentary
elections, in comments made after a sit-down at Baabda Palace with President
Michel Aoun.
Machnouk also said that heightened politicization was a natural part of the
electoral process, but that it should not continue after the elections,
which are scheduled for May 6. As officials from the country’s various
political parties campaign – touring Lebanon and meeting with supporters –
inflammatory comments have led to some bickering between parties. Machnouk
said that during his meeting with Aoun he had briefed the president on the
results of the recent Rome conference, which was held in support of the
Lebanese Army and security forces. “The international community has
demonstrated its interest in the stability of Lebanon,” Machnouk said,
according to an official statement released by Aoun's press office. France,
the United Kingdom and the European Union all made announcements of funding
for Lebanon during the conference – pledges that appeared to have been
hashed out in their respective capitals after numerous meetings were held
between European and Lebanese officials in Beirut in the preceding weeks.
Machnouk and Aoun also reportedly discussed the National Defense Strategy,
which Aoun has announced will be discussed after the parliamentary elections
are held.
Lebanese cleric: Revoke Hezbollah leader's citizenship
over Iran ties
Jerusalem Post/March 19/18/"Nasrallah's declarations have
harmed the Lebanese state, constitution, and law. This is clear
collaboration of a Lebanese citizen with a foreign country." Muhammad
Ali Al-Husseini, a Shi'ite cleric, called last week for Lebanon to revoke
Hezbollah leader Hassan Nasrallah's citizenship over his ties to Iran. "Just
like the proper action taken by Bahrain, when it revoked the citizenship of
Iran's collaborators who were involved in tarnishing the image of Bahrain, I
call upon the State of Lebanon to revoke the citizenship of Hassan Nasrallah,"
he said in an interview with Saudi-owned TV channel Al Arabiya, translated
by MEMRI. "[Nasrallah's] declarations have harmed the Lebanese state,
constitution, and law. This is clear collaboration of a Lebanese citizen
with a foreign country," he emphasized. Al-Husseini's remarks came in
response to a report by the Iranian Farda News website in which Nasrallah
allegedly said Iran's Rule of Jurisprudent - giving Iranian Ayatollah Ali
Khamenei supreme political power - was above the Lebanese constitution. The
report was later denied by Hezbollah's media office, according to MEMRI.
Head of the Arab Islamic Council in Lebanon and a regular critic of Iran's
regime, Al-Husseini, warned that "what is happening today in our nation is
that Persian Iran is genuinely endeavoring to shatter our Arab nation to
smithereens. Iran wants to divide and infiltrate our nation. "We started to
have a problem in Lebanon when Iran founded Hezbollah, making it and its
members guns for hire, fighting here and there in Lebanon, making threats
against the UAE, Kuwait, and Yemen, and striking in Saudi Arabia." Hezbollah
is backed by Iran and receives large amounts of military aid from the
Islamic republic. The terror group is a crucial part of Iran's 'axis of
resistance' against Israel.
Israel has been concerned about Iranian influence in the region for some
time. Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu said at the Munich
conference on February 18 that Iran was trying to change the status quo
through nefarious moves in Yemen, Iraq, Syria, Lebanon and Gaza. He
emphasized that Israel will act not just against Iran's proxies, but against
Iran itself. Reuters contributed to this report.
Aoun-Mashnouq Talk Elections, Rome II Outcome
Naharnet/March 19/18/President Michel Aoun held talks on Monday with
Interior Minister Nouhad al-Mashnouq who assured that 70 percent of the
preparations for the upcoming parliamentary elections are now complete. “I
assured the President that serious progress has been made in preparations
for the elections. We have completed 70 percent of the work,” Mashnouq told
reporters after meeting Aoun at the Presidential Palace. He also said he
briefed Aoun on “the outcome of the Rome II conference where the
international community has expressed its interest in maintaining Lebanon's
stability.”
“We discussed as well the issue of the defense strategy which reflects the
Lebanese commitment to dialogue,” said the minister. To a question on the
political bickering between political parties as they gear up for the polls,
Mashnouq said: “Tense political atmospheres are part of the electoral
process. They should not linger on after the polls.”Lebanon will stage its
first national referendum in nine years on May 6. For the first time,
Lebanese nationals living overseas will be able to cast ballots in early
voting. The parliament has postponed elections several times over security
reasons. Its term was supposed to expire in 2013 but lawmakers approved
several extensions since then.
Berri: I Have No Enemies in Lebanon, Israel Is the
Enemy
Naharnet/March 19/18/In light of Lebanon's dispute with
Israel over Block 9 oilfield, Speaker Nabih Berri said his “insistence to
adhere” to a gas field to the South of the country is meant to tell Israel
that Lebanon's rights will not be wavered, stressing that “Israel is the
only enemy.”After Israeli claims the gas field belongs to it, the Speaker
said he meant to “give Israel a message that Lebanon will not abandon its
rights.”Israel's defense minister said in a statement early this year the
oil field “is by all accounts ours.”His remarks drew sharp condemnation from
Hizbullah and Lebanese officials, including Prime Minister Saad Hariri, who
described the Israeli minister's comments as a "blatant provocation that
Lebanon rejects."Referring to the Resistance's role in “protecting Lebanon's
oil wealth,” Berri said: “The Resistance is the only deterrent to Israel's
attacks on Lebanon's oil wealth.”Berri, who was speaking to social media
activists at his residence in Msayleh, told them he has no enemies and that
his disputes with some officials was strictly political, “Israel is the only
real enemy,” he stressed. He could have be hinting at his dispute with Free
Patriotic Movement and Foreign Minister Jebran without naming him.
Arrest Warrant Issued against Ghabash for Framing Army
Adjutant
Naharnet/March 19/18/First Examining Magistrate of Beirut Riad Abu Ghida on
Monday issued an arrest warrant for the hacker Elie Ghabash on charges of
“fabricating a spying for Israel case for army adjutant Ishaq Dgheim.”The
National News Agency said the arrest warrant was issued after Ghabash
“confessed to all the charges.”The hacker was arrested a few weeks ago on
charges of framing the comedian Ziad Itani in a similar case. He has claimed
that he had acted on instructions from Lt. Col. Suzanne al-Hajj, the former
head of the anti-cyber crime bureau. Itani was freed around a month ago as
arrest warrants were issued for al-Hajj and Ghabash in the case. According
to media reports, Ghabash's wife has told interrogators that al-Hajj had
offered her a bribe to convince her husband to retract his confession that
he had acted on instructions from the sacked lieutenant colonel.
Media reports say al-Hajj had asked the hacker to fabricate electronic
evidence against Itani to take revenge on him for posting a screenshot of a
'like' she had placed on a tweet by controversial TV director Charbel Khalil.
The 'like' cost al-Hajj her job as head of the ISF anti-cybercrime unit. In
the 2017 tweet, Khalil had quipped that “Saudi women are only allowed to
drive if the car is booby-trapped.”Media reports say al-Hajj and Ghabash are
also involved in other hacking attacks.
Hamadeh: Parliamentary Elections Remain at Risk from
Regional Developments
Naharnet/March 19/18/Education Minister Marwan Hamadeh on Monday said the
parliamentary elections in Lebanon remain at risk shall major developments
in the region take place, noting that political dispute over the electricity
file could bring everything to a halt including the upcoming polls. “The
parliamentary elections remain threatened by any major development in the
region, but the scenario of a “great war” is ruled out. What is happening in
Syria in Afrin and in al-Ghouta is more indicative of deals than wars,”
Hamadeh told VDL (93.3) in an interview. On the controversial electricity
file, Hamadeh said: “It is better to decide on the electricity file under a
new government and after the elections are staged. Disagreements over it
could bring everything in the country to, even the elections.”Lebanon will
stage its first national referendum in nine years on May 6.
For the first time, Lebanese nationals living overseas will be able to cast
ballots in early voting. The parliament has postponed elections several
times over security reasons. Its term was supposed to expire in 2013 but
lawmakers approved several extensions since then.
Hizbullah Official: Lebanese System Rotten, Can't be Radically Reformed
Naharnet/March 19/18/A senior Hizbullah official announced Sunday that the
Lebanese political system is “rotten” and cannot be “radically reformed.”“We
in Hizbullah will be honest with our people in the upcoming parliamentary
elections and we will say things as they are. We will not promise them
things that we cannot achieve,” Sayyed Hashem Safieddine, the head of
Hizbullah's Executive Council, said. “When we call on people to vote for our
candidates and the lists to which we and our allies belong, we do so because
we are convinced that these lists serve the interests of our people, nation
and residents, but this does not mean that these lists can achieve all the
hopes and aspirations,” Safieddine said. “We must be realistic and the
elections must not push us to slogans, illusions and fantasies that cannot
be achieved,” the Hizbullah official added. Noting that “the Lebanese system
is rotten and cannot be radically reformed,” Safieddine said “mistaken are
those who believe they can achieve radical change to get rid of the rampant
corruption in Lebanon.”“Those who promise people to achieve this are
promising them something that they have no ability to achieve, as long as
there is a sectarian Lebanese system that is based on the splitting of
shares and the production of corrupt leaders who legitimize corruption and
have always insisted on it,” the senior Hizbullah official added. He also
stressed that “we should set objective goals and we should talk to people in
a very frank manner.”
Jumblat Criticizes 'Privatization' Bids of Electricity
Sector
Naharnet/March 19/18/Progressive Socialist Party leader MP Walid Jumblat
urged the energy ministry on Monday to implement “confinement” against
Debbas Group, an Electricite Du Liban contractor, after failing to pay the
salaries of its employees for over three months. “Amidst the indifference of
EDL officials and of Debbas Group, the staff have arrived at a state of
hunger due to unpaid salaries for three months. I call on the Ministry of
Energy to put the company in confinement,” said Jumblat in a tweet. Jumblat,
head of the Democratic Gathering bloc, added: “This is the policy of
privatization they preached about.” Contract workers have repeatedly
protested against lack of long-term contracts, working conditions and late
salary payments. Calls for the privatization of electricity production in
Lebanon in a bid to increase energy generation have all went in vain.
Development Bank EBRD Upbeat on Lebanon, Seeks
Continued Reform
Asharq Al Awsat/March 19/18/The European Bank for Reconstruction and
Development sees enormous prospects in Lebanon, but potential investors need
to see progress on reform and, over the border, a process towards a
settlement of Syria’s war, the bank’s president said. On his first visit
since the EBRD began operating in Lebanon in September, EBRD President Suma
Chakrabarti said he saw a role for the bank in financing small and
medium-sized enterprises and renewable energy, energy efficiency and
infrastructure projects, reported Reuters. On Thursday Lebanon agreed its
first two EBRD deals: a 2.51 percent equity investment in Lebanon’s largest
lender Bank Audi and a $50 million trade finance line with Fransabank, the
third-largest. “I think the prospects for the EBRD in Lebanon are enormous,”
he told Reuters, and added that the bank has not set an upper limit on
investment in Lebanon. “It depends on the demand we get from private sector
players.”
While the war in Syria continues, Lebanon’s biggest challenge will remain
regional risk.
“Providing (Lebanon) continues with that (economic) reform process, provided
there is a process towards a settlement in Syria, I think the prospects are
really good,” Chakrabarti said. Set up by governments in 1991 to invest in
the ex-communist economies of eastern Europe and owned mainly by developed
countries, the EBRD has expanded its mandate in the last decade to operate
in almost 40 countries. Lebanon joins Egypt, Jordan, Morocco and Tunisia in
the EBRD’s southern and eastern Mediterranean (SEMED) region, where it has
invested more than 6.5 billion euros ($8 billion) in 170 projects since
2012, said Reuters. Lebanon has one of the highest debt-to-GDP ratios in the
world at about 150 percent. Growth and state revenues have been low for
years, undermined by war in neighbor Syria and domestic political inertia.
To help stimulate the economy, Lebanon is seeking up to $16 billion for
infrastructure this year from investors and donors. Fundraising will begin
with an April 6 conference in Paris.
Chakrabarti said the EBRD will voice support for Lebanon in Paris and is
keen to invest further, especially in public private partnership (PPP)
projects. “The $16 billion cannot be financed unless there are more PPPs,”
he said. Chakrabarti said the EBRD and other lenders will be “very much
focused” on how Lebanon implements promised reforms and projects. “No-one
should believe that just having a conference in Paris is a success in
itself.” After agreeing a president and prime minister in late 2016 after
years of political paralysis, Lebanon has passed its first budget since
2005, signed it first offshore oil and gas deals and signed a long-awaited
PPP law.
Chakrabarti said these developments have made him more confident “than I
would have been a couple of years ago”. “Conversations we’ve had ... suggest
there actually is a consensus building that more reform is going to be
required.”
Lebanon is due to hold its first parliamentary elections since 2009 in early
May. They will be held under a new electoral law, making it harder to
predict the outcome.
“People are talking very openly that they don’t think the parliamentary
elections will derail this process. Even after the election we can expect a
continued push in the right direction.” Through equity in its investment in
Bank Audi, Chakrabarti said the EBRD hopes to establish itself in Lebanon’s
banking sector where it wants to help banks reach new customers. “If Lebanon
is to achieve the rates of growth economic growth that it can do, lending
has to increase in the medium term without a doubt,” he said, according to
Reuters. A group of customers Chakrabarti is passionate about reaching is
women entrepreneurs. “We have our Women in Business programs in 17
countries. We have learned how to do this really well,” he said. Chakrabarti
said the EBRD can work well with Lebanon’s entrepreneurial spirit and its
move towards a private sector-focused development model. Lebanon’s capital
investment plan also focuses on EBRD strengths: energy, infrastructure and
SMEs. Lebanon has hosted over a million refugees fleeing Syria’s conflict,
straining public services around the country. Chakrabarti said the bank has
been talking to the Lebanese government about projects to help host
communities and refugees. But this will require donors to contribute funds
alongside the EBRD’s market-based loans.
Latest LCCC Bulletin For Miscellaneous Reports And News published
on March 19-20/18
Abbas Calls U.S. Envoy 'Son of a Dog', Says Hamas Tried to Kill PM
Agence
France Presse/Naharnet/March 19/18/Palestinian President Mahmoud Abbas
labeled the U.S. ambassador to Israel David Friedman a "son of a dog" on
Monday during a scathing attack on Donald Trump's policies.
"The U.S. ambassador in Tel Aviv is a settler and a son of a dog," Abbas
said in comments to Palestinian leaders in Ramallah. Relations between Abbas'
government and President Trump's U.S. administration have broken down since
the White House recognized Jerusalem as Israel's capital in December. The
Palestinians also see the disputed city as the capital of their future
state. Friedman, who was Trump's personal lawyer before being appointed last
year, is a longstanding supporter of settlement building in the occupied
West Bank, considered illegal under international law. On Monday, Friedman
referred to an attack in the West Bank as "in the north," raising questions
over whether he views it as part of Israeli territory, and accused Abbas'
Palestinian Authority (PA) of failing to condemn it. "Such brutality and no
condemnation from the PA!" he tweeted, referring to a Friday car ramming
that killed two soldiers and a Sunday stabbing in Jerusalem that left an
Israeli dead, both carried out by Palestinians. Israel has militarily
occupied the West Bank since 1967 but Abbas' government has limited autonomy
in parts of it.
Separately, Abbas directly accused Hamas of carrying out a bomb attack
against prime minister Rami Hamdallah in Gaza last week, threatening fresh
sanctions against them. Abbas had previously said the Islamist group was
responsible as it controls security in the Palestinian enclave, but Monday
evening said they were "behind the attack." Hamdallah was uninjured in the
March 13 attack, which saw a roadside bomb explode as his convoy entered
Gaza in what Palestinian officials have called an assassination attempt.
Six of his security guards were lightly hurt. Speaking to Palestinian
leaders in Ramallah, Abbas said if the attack had succeeded it would have
"opened the way for a bloody civil war."
He said the incident would "not be allowed to pass" and announced he would
take unspecified "national, legal and financial measures."Hamas did not
immediately respond to the comments. The Islamists and Abbas' secular party
Fatah have been at odds since 2007 when Hamas seized control of Gaza in a
near civil war. Abbas controls the internationally-recognized Palestinian
government, based in the occupied West Bank which Hamdallah leads. Abbas has
previously taken a series of measures, including reducing electricity
payments for Gaza's two million residents, in what analysts said was an
attempt to punish Hamas. Hamas and Fatah agreed a reconciliation agreement
in October but it has collapsed.
Israel Accuses French
Consulate Worker of Smuggling Guns from Gaza
Agence France Presse/Naharnet/March 19/18/A French consulate worker has been
arrested on accusations of using an official car to smuggle dozens of guns
from the Gaza Strip to the occupied West Bank, Israeli authorities said
Monday. The French citizen was accused of being part of a gun-running
network with Palestinian suspects that eventually sold the weapons on to
arms dealers, Israel's Shin Bet domestic security agency said in a
statement. It said Romain Franck, in his mid-20s, had taken advantage of
reduced security checks for consular vehicles to transport the weapons out
of the Palestinian enclave. The Shin Bet said he acted on his own and was
motivated by money. His superiors were not aware of his actions, the
statement said. "The consulate employee smuggled the arms on a number of
occasions in recent months while using the French consulate's consular car,
which underwent a more lax security inspection at the border crossing, as is
the case with this type of car," the statement said. "The consulate employee
transferred arms on five occasions, during which he transferred some 70
pistols and two automatic rifles." A total of nine suspects have been
arrested and six were to be charged in court later Monday, including Franck.
Gaza, run by Islamist group Hamas, has been under an Israeli blockade for
over a decade but weapons have been smuggled in through tunnels from Egypt's
Sinai Peninsula.
Russian Poisoning Denials 'Increasingly Absurd', UK's
Johnson Says
Agence France Presse/Naharnet/March 19/18/Moscow's denials over its
involvement in the nerve agent poisoning of a former Russian spy in Britain
are growing "increasingly absurd", British foreign minister Boris Johnson
said Monday. The Kremlin has rejected allegations by London and its allies
that Russia was behind the March 4 attack on Sergei Skripal and his daughter
Yulia in the English city of Salisbury as "nonsense". As international
chemical weapons experts were due to arrive in Britain to investigate the
incident, European Union foreign ministers voiced their support for Britain
as they gathered for a meeting in Brussels on Monday. "The Russian denials
grow increasingly absurd," Johnson said as he arrived for the meeting. "This
is a classic Russian strategy of trying to conceal the needle of truth in a
haystack of lies and obfuscation." London says the Soviet-designed military
grade nerve agent Novichok was used to target Skripal and on Thursday
Britain, France, Germany and the United States issued a joint statement
blaming Russia for the first offensive use of chemical weapons in Europe
since World War 2. "What really strikes me, talking to European friends and
partners today, is that 12 years after the assassination of Alexander
Litvinenko in London, they're not fooling anybody any more," Johnson said.
"There is scarcely a country round the table here in Brussels that has not
been affected in recent years by some kind of malign or disruptive Russian
behaviour."Russian dissident Litvinenko was poisoned with radioactive agent
polonium in London in 2006 in an attack Britain also blamed on the Kremlin.
Johnson will update his European counterparts on the investigation, but
Monday's meeting is not expected to agree any measures targeting Russia,
which is already under heavy EU sanctions over its annexation of Crimea and
meddling in Ukraine. The EU's diplomatic chief Federica Mogherini said the
bloc stood in "full solidarity" with Britain over the incident, which she
called "completely unacceptable". EU leaders are also set to discuss the
issue at a summit in Brussels on Thursday. Prime Minister Theresa May on
Wednesday announced the expulsion of 23 Russian diplomats and suspended
high-level contacts, including announcing that British royals and ministers
would boycott this summer's football World Cup in Russia. Moscow has
expelled 23 British diplomats in a tit-for-tat measure and said it would
halt the activities of the British Council in Russia.
Syria Kurds Vow to 'Liberate' Afrin after Capture by
Turkish Army
Agence France Presse/Naharnet/March 19/18/Syria's Kurds vowed to fight to
retake the Kurdish enclave of Afrin after Turkey-led fighters on Sunday
seized control of its main city two months into a offensive. "Resistance...
will continue until every inch of Afrin is liberated and the people of Afrin
return to their villages and homes," authorities in the semi-autonomous
canton of Afrin said in a statement. Turkish forces and allied Syrian rebels
on January 20 launched an operation against the Kurdish People's Protection
Units (YPG) militia in the enclave. As of Sunday afternoon, the whole of the
Afrin enclave was in the hands of Turkey-led forces, said the Syrian
Observatory for Human Rights, a Britain-based war monitor that relies on
sources on the ground for its information. "In all of Afrin's sectors, our
forces will become a permanent nightmare" for pro-Ankara forces, the
statement said. "Our war against the Turkish occupation... has entered a new
phase: a switch from direct confrontation to hit-and-run attacks," it said.
Turkey considers the YPG to be "terrorists", but the Kurdish militia has
also been a key U.S. ally in the fight against the Islamic State jihadist
group in Syria.
EU Criticizes Turkey's Offensive in Syrian Town of
Afrin
Associated Press/Naharnet/March 19/18/The European Union's top diplomat
criticized Turkey on Monday over its military offensive in a northern Syrian
town, calling on Ankara to ensure that fighting eases in the conflict-torn
country. The appeal came as looting was widely reported in the town captured
a day earlier by Turkish troops and allied Syrian fighters, according to
residents and monitors. Meanwhile, Turkey's state-run news agency said 11
people — seven civilians and four Turkish-backed Syrian fighters — were
killed in an explosion in a building in Afrin town center as it was being
cleared of booby traps. Anadolu News agency said the bomb was reportedly
left by Syrian Kurdish fighters. On Sunday, Turkish troops and Syrian
opposition fighters allied with Ankara marched into Afrin, nearly two months
after Turkey began its offensive on the enclave. Turkey considers the Syrian
Kurdish militia in Afrin a "terrorist" group and an extension of its own
Kurdish insurgency within Turkey. "I am worried about this," Mogherini told
reporters in Brussels on Monday, in reference to Turkey's offensive in
Afrin. She said that international efforts in Syria are supposed to be
"aiming at de-escalating the military activities and not escalating them."
Turkey views the local Kurdish militia, the People's Defense Units or YPG,
as a threat to its national security and has vowed to push it out of the
district and away from its borders. The YPG retreated amid the swift Turkish
offensive on Afrin's town center, and vowed to start a "new phase" of
fighting against the Turkish troops and allied fighters. Meanwhile, Afrin
residents and the Britain-based Syrian Observatory for Human Rights reported
widespread looting and pillaging soon after Turkish troops and allied Syrian
fighters marched into the town center. The Observatory said the pillaging
began on Sunday. Images have emerged of torched stores, men in uniforms and
others in civilian clothes walking out of homes with full loads of bales,
while others were seen driving away with tractors and agriculture supplies.
A Syrian commander with the Free Syrian Army, which captured the district
along with Turkish forces, blamed "thieves" for the looting. Moataz Raslan,
a commander with the FSA, said a unit for protection of property has been
formed to prevent further theft. Thousands of Afrin residents, many of whom
had earlier fled from the villages near the border with Turkey to the town
center, streamed out of Afrin before the Turkish troops entered. Lines of
vehicles and civilians on foot headed toward Syrian government-controlled
areas to the south or other Kurdish-controlled areas. Jiwan Mohamed, a
doctor who worked at Afrin hospital, said the news from inside Afrin and
images of looting were disturbing. The central Afrin hospital was bombed
before the town center was captured, he said. The doctor said learned from
contacts with those still inside Afrin that that more buildings were being
burned. Azad Mohamed, an Afrin resident who arrived Sunday in a region in
the east of Syria after two days on the road, said looting began even before
they entered the town center, in adjacent villages. "If they have not yet
stolen my things, they will in an hour," he said. "We knew they would only
leave the walls." Mohamed blamed the Syrian Kurdish YPG militia for failing
to help people evacuate the town earlier with their belongings. Syrian
Kurdish officials have said that more than 800 YPG fighters have been killed
in the 58 days of fighting for Afrin, and estimated that 500 civilians were
killed. The Observatory puts the number of casualties at over 280 civilians,
adding that more than 1,500 Kurdish fighters have been killed since Jan.20.
Turkey says it has taken all measures to avoid civilian casualties. Turkey
says 46 of its soldiers were killed in the offensive.
Turkish forces will not remain in Syria’s Afrin
Reuters/Monday, 19 March 2018/Turkish forces will not remain
in Syria’s Afrin and will leave the region to its "real owners", Ankara’s
main spokesman said on Monday, after Turkey’s military and its Syrian rebel
allies stormed the town over the weekend. Bekir Bozdag, a deputy prime
minister, also told reporters that Turkey had significantly reduced threats
to its borders after capturing the town of Afrin. He said Turkey had
collected "most" of the weapons given to Kurdish fighters by the United
States, after the YPG left weapons behind as they fled the town. More than
200,000 people displaced from Afrin by Turkey-led assault have no shelter,
need aid, a Kurdish official said. (With AFP)
Paris Urges Tough EU
Approach on Iran
Asharq Al Awsat/March 19/18/French Foreign Minister Jean-Yves
Le Drian urged the European Union on Monday to consider new sanctions on
Iran over its involvement in Syria's civil war and its ballistic missile
program. US President Donald Trump has given the European signatories a May
12 deadline to "fix the terrible flaws" of the Iran nuclear deal, which was
agreed under his predecessor Barack Obama, or he will refuse to extend US
sanctions relief on Iran. In response, the three European signatories –
France, Britain and Germany - have proposed new EU sanctions targeting
Iranians who support Syria's regime and Tehran's ballistic missile program,
according to a confidential document seen by Reuters. "We must not exclude
(from consideration) Iran's responsibility in the proliferation of ballistic
missiles and in its very questionable role in the near- and Middle East,"Le
Drian told reporters on arrival for talks with his EU counterparts. "That
must also be discussed to reach a common position." The confidential
document cites "transfers of Iranian missiles and missile technology" to
Syria and allies of Tehran, such as Houthi rebels in Yemen and Lebanon's
“Hezbollah.”
Saudi Ambassador to US: Iran Wants to Form Another
‘Hezbollah’ in Yemen
Asharq Al Awsat/March 19/18/Saudi Ambassador to the United States Prince
Khalid bin Salman bin Abdulaziz stated on Monday that Iran wanted to form
another “Hezbollah” in Yemen through its support of the Houthi militias. He
stressed to CNN that Tehran was the greatest sponsor of terrorism.
The problem with Iran is its behavior and desire to expand, he added. It
does not only want to destabilize Saudi Arabia, but the entire region, said
the ambassador.
Egypt, Sudan Stress Joint Work to Preserve Mutual
National Security
Asharq Al Awsat/March 19/18/Egyptian President Abdul Fattah al-Sisi received
in Cairo on Monday Sudanese President Omar al-Bashir, stressing the need for
cooperation between the two neighbors to serve each other’s security. Sisi
said: “We agreed during our meeting on greater cooperation and coordination
in various fields.”Talks also focused on bilateral ties and ways to bolster
them, while “completely” respecting each country’s sovereignty, he told
reporters at the Itihadiya palace. The two leaders also stressed the need
for joint efforts to preserve their country’s national security. This will
help raise cooperation between them in a manner that reflects the importance
Cairo and Khartoum place on their relations. Sisi and Bashir agreed to
activate various joint committees between them, which covered a range of
issues, such as trade, the Nile River and border crossings.
The Egyptian president said that he agreed with Bashir on holding regular
meetings for these committees in order to bolster the interests of Cairo and
Khartoum. Addressing concerns over the Nile and the Nahda dam, Sisi said
that Egypt and Sudan were determined to work together with Ethiopia to reach
a partnership that will benefit all concerned sides. For his part, Bashir
said that Egypt and Sudan are witnessing a historic moment given the unrest
in the region. He stressed that there was a strong political will for
cooperation to resolve any dispute that may emerge between their neighboring
countries.
Saudi Crown Prince
leaves Riyadh on official visit to Washington
Staff writer, Al Arabiya English/Monday, 19 March 2018/Saudi Crown Prince
Mohammed bin Salman bin Abdulaziz Al Saud left Riyadh on Monday on an
official visit to the United States, during which he will meet with the
President Donald Trump and a number of officials to discuss bilateral
relations and discuss issues of common concern. The official visit to
Washington will be the final leg of his maiden tour as Saudi Arabia’s crown
prince after he visited Egypt and Britain during the past month. The meeting
between Trump and Crown Prince Mohammed on Tuesday will focus on all issues
of concern beginning with the agreement to confront Iran and its meddling in
the affairs of the region’s countries. Other topics on the agenda of talks
include amendment to the Iranian nuclear deal, forcing the Houthi militias
to accept negotiations in Yemen, finding a solution to the Syrian crisis,
reviving the Palestinian-Israeli peace process and combating terror and
those supporting and funding it.
Thomas Friedman says Qataris are parading their power ‘like children’
Staff writer, Al Arabiya English/Monday, 19 March 2018/American author
Thomas Friedman has said he believes that Qataris are trying to “showcase
their power like children do with their toys,” as they are population of
around 300,000 with $300 billion in funds. During a panel on the Saudi Crown
Prince’s upcoming US visit at the Arabia Foundation last week, he said that
Qatar will not be able to change the Middle East. Friedman also said that
the region needs peace between Sunnis and Shiites and noted that it’s enough
to compare graduation photos from Cairo’s University in the 1960s and now to
see how the Islamic revolution in Iran and the Juhayman al-Otaybi incident
in Mecca affected the region. Meanwhile, Princeton University Professor
Bernard Haykel said Qatar funds most of those who oppose Saudi Arabia and
wants to overthrow the regime in Riyadh. He added that Qatar feels empowered
because it is home US army base there and therefore acts freely and “sets
fire” in regional countries.
Arab coalition to show new evidence of Iran arming Yemen’s Houthis
Staff writer, Al Arabiya English/Monday, 19 March 2018 /The Arab Coalition
spokesperson, Colonel Turki al-Maliki, said the coalition will hold a press
conference on Monday to reveal new evidence that exposes Iran’s involvement
in smuggling ballistic missiles and weapons to the Houthis. The press
conference, which will be held at 16:10 KSA time, will show the ballistic
missiles which Iran smuggled to militias in Yemen and detail how Iran
threatens regional and international security and spreads chaos. The
coalition has several times confirmed that Iran was arming the Houthis and
that it threatens international and regional navigation. Iran, however, has
repeatedly denied arming the Houthis as for instance in February it accused
US Ambassador Nikki Haley of presenting “fabricated” evidence that a
November 4 missile fired at Riyadh airport was Iranian-made.
Egypt military says 36 militants, 4 soldiers killed in
Sinai
AFP/Monday, 19 March 2018/Egypt’s military said Monday that 36 militants, an
officer and three soldiers were killed over five days during a sweeping
operation against ISIS group militants in Sinai. The army launched the
campaign on February 9 after Egyptian President Abdel Fattah al-Sisi, who is
standing in elections this month for a second term, gave it a three-month
deadline to crush ISIS in the Sinai. Security forces "eliminated 30 armed
elements during a shootout with raiding forces" in the northern and central
Sinai Peninsula, the military said in a statement. A police shootout also
left six dead and destroyed "an extremely dangerous terrorist cell," it
added. Over the past five days, soldiers also arrested 345 people "including
a number of extremely dangerous militants and fugitives," it said. An
officer and three soldiers were killed in the fighting, while three officers
and five soldiers were injured, it said. Sisi issued his ultimatum in
November after suspected ISIS gunmen massacred more than 300 worshippers at
a Sinai mosque. Security forces have sought to quell attacks by an Egyptian
militant group that later declared allegiance to ISIS. The group has killed
hundreds of soldiers, policemen and civilians, mainly in its North Sinai
stronghold but also elsewhere in Egypt. The militants have also killed
scores of Christians in church bombings and shootings. ISIS claimed the 2015
bombing of a Russian airliner carrying tourists from the South Sinai resort
town of Sharm el-Sheikh, which killed all 224 people on board
Sisi: Egypt working with Sudan, Ethiopia regarding the
Nile
Staff writer, Al Arabiya English/Monday, 19 March 2018/Egyptian President
Abdel-Fattah al-Sisi told a joint press conference in Cairo, on Monday, with
his Sudanese counterpart Omar al-Bashir, that Egypt intends to work with
Sudan as well as with Ethiopia for the sake of the collective benefit of the
Nile River. Al-Sisi announced the efforts to enhance cooperation between
Egypt and Sudan in various fields and activate the joint efforts between the
two countries as represented in a number of bodies and committees. Bashir
stressed Sudan’s will to settle any differences between Cairo and Khartoum.
He said that Sudan is keen on the security of Egypt, referring to the
historical relations between the two countries and people. "We reiterate the
eternal brotherly relations and common links that unite the two peoples of
the Nile valley," Sisi said in a televised news conference following a
meeting with Bashir. In turn, Bashir said as "Egypt is now going through an
election period", his delegation "timed our visit now to reiterate our
support for Egypt's stability and to support President Sisi." The Sudanese
president arrived in Egypt earlier on Monday to discuss the means to
strengthen relations and issues of common concern. Al-Bashir was received at
Cairo airport by the Egyptian President al-Sisi.
"The Sudanese president is paying a visit to Egypt within the framework of
continuing consultations between the two presidents and discussing ways to
strengthen bilateral relations in all fields," Egyptian Presidential
Spokesman Bassam Radhi said Sunday. A handout picture released by the
Egyptian presidency on March 19, 2018 shows Egypt's President Abdel Fattah
al-Sisi (R) during his meeting with his Sudanese counterpart Omar al-Bashir
at the presidential palace in Cairo. (AFP) This comes a few days after the
visit of Major General Abbas Kamil, the acting Egyptian intelligence chief
to Sudan, and his meeting with Sudanese Foreign Minister Ibrahim Ghandour
and Sudanese officials to discuss all outstanding issues and resolve any
differences as well as pave the way to return the relations between the two
countries to the right track. The two leaders met recently on the sidelines
of the African summit in the Ethiopian capital, Addis Ababa, and asserted
Egyptian-Sudanese relations and the historical ties between the two
countries. The meeting was followed by a joint statement on efforts to
achieve and promote common interests, take into account the concerns of both
countries, respect internal affairs and maintain their national security.
The two presidents mentioned future cooperative steps over Nile water
discussions, without providing much detail. "We agreed to start preparing to
hold the joint committee (meeting), to be chaired by the two countries'
presidents, during this year in Khartoum," Sisi said.
Bashir responded that the two countries "don't have any choice but to
cooperate, because truthfully this is the interest and confirmed demand of
our peoples." During the meeting, it was agreed on the importance of working
towards looking for broader horizons for the cooperation between the two
countries in various fields, exploring opportunities and activating the
various joint committees including the consular committee, the trade
committee, the border crossings committee, political consultation mechanism
at the level of foreign ministers, and any other joint committees the two
parties agree upon while overcoming any difficulties or challenges before
those committees. (With AFP)
Putin Wins Fourth Term with Record Vote
Agence France Presse/Naharnet/March 19/18/Vladimir Putin was Monday set for
another six years in power after winning a record victory in Russia's
presidential election but so far only allies have congratulated him as
Moscow's relations with the West disintegrate. Putin, who has ruled Russia
for almost two decades, recorded his best ever election performance with
76.67 percent of the vote but rejected the possibility of staying in power
indefinitely. The opposition said the results were rigged but Putin's
supporters said Western pressure on Putin including Britain's accusations in
a spy row prompted Russians to close ranks behind their leader. Opposition
and independent monitors reported ballot stuffing and other cases of alleged
fraud as the Kremlin pushed for a high turnout to give greater legitimacy to
Putin's historic fourth term. Putin, who is now set to extend his rule until
at least 2024 and is already Russia's longest-serving leader since Stalin,
ruled out remaining president for life.
"Listen to me. It seems to me that what you are saying is a bit funny," he
told reporters Sunday night when asked if he saw himself running for
president again in 2030. "What, am I going to sit here until I am 100 years
old? No." The Russian strongman ran against seven candidates, but his most
vocal opponent Alexei Navalny was barred from the ballot for legal reasons
and the final outcome was never in doubt. "I see in this (result) the
confidence and hope of our people," a beaming Putin told supporters on a
square next to the Kremlin Sunday night. Putin's relaxed mood stood in stark
contrast to the 2012 election night when a teary-eyed Putin claimed victory
despite huge protests against his Kremlin comeback. - 'Demonisation of
Putin' -Spokesman for Putin's campaign Andrei Kondrashov said that at more
than 67 percent, turnout was 8 to 10 percentage points higher than expected.
"Britain should be thanked for that," he told Russian journalists. "They
once again started piling pressure on us when we needed to mobilise.""The
demonisation of Putin in the West has had an opposite effect in Russia,"
tweeted senator Alexei Pushkov. Putin received more than 92 percent of the
vote in Crimea, annexed from Ukraine in 2014. Most of the voters AFP spoke
to said they voted for Putin despite a litany of problems like poverty and
poor healthcare, praising his foreign policies. Russia faces increasing
global isolation over its interventions in Ukraine and in Syria with a fresh
round of US sanctions over election meddling in 2016.
In the runup to the vote, a new crisis broke out with the West as Britain
implicated Putin in the poisoning of former double agent Sergei Skripal with
a Soviet-designed nerve agent. Authorities also used both the carrot and the
stick to boost engagement in the polls.
Selfie competitions, giveaways, food festivals and children's entertainers
were laid on at polling stations in a bid to entice voters. "People went to
polls in festive moods and brought kids along -- like in the old days" in
the Soviet era, wrote Nezavisimaya Gazeta newspaper. But employees of state
and private companies and students reported coming under pressure to vote.
According to central election commission data with 99.8 percent of ballots
counted, Putin took 76.67 percent of the vote, well ahead of his nearest
competitor Communist Party candidate Pavel Grudinin, who was on 11.79
percent. Ultra-nationalist firebrand Vladimir Zhirinovsky took around 5.66
percent, former reality TV presenter Ksenia Sobchak was on 1.67 percent,
while veteran liberal politician Grigory Yavlinsky received just over 1
percent of the vote. 'Demand justice' -Navalny -- who called on his
supporters to boycott the "fake" vote and sent more than 33,000 observers
across the country to see how official turnout figures differed from those
of monitors -- said there had been "unprecedented violations". Navalny's
opposition movement and the non-governmental election monitor Golos reported
ballot stuffing, repeat voting and Putin supporters being bussed into
polling stations en masse. Navalny said his team planned to stage protests
but released few details. The electoral commission dismissed most concerns,
saying monitors sometimes misinterpret what they see. Runner-up Grudinin
said the elections had been "dishonest." NSA whistleblower Edward Snowden,
who has lived in Russia since leaking classified information about the US
government's surveillance programmes, tweeted a video apparently showing
ballot stuffing in a Russian school. "The ballot stuffing seen today in
Moscow and elsewhere in the Russian election is an effort to steal the
influence of 140+ million people," he said. "Demand justice; demand laws and
courts that matter."
- Putin's last term? -Among the few leaders to congratulate Putin so far was
Chinese President Xi Jinping, who has just been handed a second term himself
and has gained a path to indefinite rule after presidential term limits were
lifted last week. "China is willing to work with Russia to keep promoting
China-Russia relations to a higher level, provide driving force for
respective national development in both countries, and promote regional and
global peace and tranquility," Xi said. In Latin America, the presidents of
the leftist regimes in Venezuela and Bolivia both effusively congratulated
Putin on his "overwhelming" victory. Venezuelan President Nicolas Maduro
also commended "the glorious Russian people for its display of civic duty,"
while Bolivia's Evo Morales said Putin's victory "guarantees geopolitical
equilibrium and world peace before the onslaught of imperialism".Since first
being elected president in 2000, Putin has stamped his total authority on
the world's biggest country, muzzling opposition, putting television under
state control and reasserting Moscow's standing abroad. The 65-year-old
former KGB officer used an otherwise lacklustre presidential campaign to
emphasise Russia's role as a major world power, boasting of its "invincible"
new nuclear weapons in a pre-election speech. Putin's previous Kremlin term
was marked by a crackdown on the opposition after huge protests, the Ukraine
conflict, military intervention in Syria and the introduction of Western
sanctions that contributed to a fall in living standards.
"There is no feeling that another six years will become Putin's last in
power," liberal newspaper Vedomosti said in an editorial.
Trump Prepares for Visit by Saudi Prince Who Has Rocked
the Kingdom
Agence France Presse/Naharnet/March 19/18/Donald Trump will host Saudi
Arabia's crown prince in Washington Tuesday, giving the president a
receptive audience to denounce rival Iran and a chance to take stock of
significant changes the prince is engineering in the kingdom. Ten months
after the last face-to-face meeting between Trump and Crown Prince Mohammed
bin Salman, in Riyadh, the 71-year-old president and the 32-year-old
strongman prince are expected to deepen an already warm and congenial
relationship. But they are also expected to take up major developments for
Saudi Arabia, both internally and externally: the end of a ban on Saudi
women driving, the unprecedented detention of dozens of people that was
billed as a high-level anti-corruption purge, Saudi involvement in the war
in Yemen, and the crisis with the Gulf state of Qatar. "It's jaw-dropping
how many policy changes the Saudis have pursued at home and in the region
since that last meeting," said Lori Plotkin Boghardt, a former CIA analyst
now with the Washington Institute for Near East Policy. "Many of these
changes have touched US security interests."One example is the summit that
the administration had hoped to host this year with the six countries of the
Gulf Cooperation Council (GCC), which could be difficult to arrange given
the continuing crisis with Qatar. In June, Saudi Arabia and the United Arab
Emirates (UAE) began an air and sea boycott against Qatar, which they accuse
of financing terrorism and being overly friendly with Iran. Prince Mohammed,
known by his initials MBS, was named crown prince that month by his father,
King Salman. Early on, the prince announced an ambitious "Vision 2030"
initiative to build an economy less dependent on oil, while luring more
foreign investment. Toward that end, Riyadh wants to greatly accelerate the
pace of its civilian nuclear energy program. The goal: to build 16 reactors
over the next 20 years, at a cost of some 80 billion euros ($98 billion),
according to officials and analysts.
As the Saudis pursue the technology needed to undertake the ambitious
project, they are expected to play potential rivals against one another,
reminding their American counterparts that China, Russia and France are also
capable of filling their needs.
"It would be virtually impossible for the Saudi government to accept terms
that are less than what Obama gave the Iranians -- the possibility of future
enrichment," a source close to the Saudi government told AFP, referring to
the nuclear deal between Tehran and world powers that was completed when
Barack Obama was still president.
In an interview with CBS broadcast on Sunday evening, the prince defended at
length his anti-corruption purge which saw many of the kingdom's princes
detained for several weeks inside Riyadh's luxurious Ritz-Carlton hotel.
"What we did in Saudi Arabia was extremely necessary" and legal, he said.
One goal of the operation, which was marked by physical abuse according to a
New York Times investigation, was to recover an amount exceeding $100
billion. "But the real objective was not this amount or any other amount,"
he said. "The idea is not to get money, but to punish the corrupt and send a
clear signal that whoever engages in corrupt deals will face the law." -
Bloody war in Yemen - The United States and Saudi Arabia are historic
allies. Ever since Franklin Delano Roosevelt met with King Abdul Aziz ibn
Saud on a US naval ship in the Suez Canal in 1945, every American president
has carefully nurtured relations with the Saudi royal family. But the
unstinting support Trump offered when he chose Riyadh as the destination of
his first overseas trip as president brought the relationship to a new
level. While Barack Obama said in 2015 that it was important "not to
perpetuate any long-term confrontation with Iran, or to even marginalize
Iran," Trump, who has repeatedly threatened to withdraw from the nuclear
deal reached that year with Tehran, has chosen a very different path.
"Everywhere we go in the Middle East it's Iran, Iran, Iran," he said a few
days ago. "Every problem is Iran."
Even before setting foot on American soil, Prince Mohammed struck a scathing
tone toward Iran in an interview with CBS, comparing the territorial
ambitions of that country's supreme leader Ayatollah Ali Khamenei to those
of Adolf Hitler in Nazi Germany.
And he warned that if Iran were to develop a nuclear bomb, Saudi Arabia
would do the same "as soon as possible." But critics are cautioning the
White House not to blindly embrace every stance taken by the Saudi prince,
particularly as concerns its role in the bloody civil war in Yemen. Fighting
between the Huthi movement, supported by Iran, and Yemeni government forces,
backed by the Saudis and the UAE, has claimed nearly 10,000 lives and left
the country on the verge of a disastrous famine. In an opinion column early
this month in the New York Times, Thomas Friedman, writing in the form of an
open letter to Trump, urged the president not to give in to Prince
Mohammed's "bad impulses" as he seeks to modernize Saudi Arabia's "economy
and religious/social structure." He then adds: "If you think you can just
applaud his anti-Iran stance and religious reforms and all will work out
fine, you're wrong."
Israel Moves to Destroy Jerusalem Attacker's Home
Agence France Presse/Naharnet/March 19/18/Israeli forces are preparing to
demolish the West Bank home of a Palestinian who murdered a Jewish man in
Jerusalem's Old City before being shot dead, the army said Monday. Abdul
Rahmani Faddal, 28, stabbed Adiel Kolman in the torso on Sunday evening
before being shot by police. Kolman died of his wounds a few hours later in
a Jerusalem hospital. "Following the stabbing attack yesterday in Jerusalem
in which Adiel Kolman was killed, troops... surveyed the terrorist's house
in Aqraba before demolition," the army said. "In addition, the terrorist's
family members were questioned." Kolman, 32, was a father of four from
Kokhav Hashahar settlement. He will be buried on Monday at 11:00 am (0900
GMT). The attack came after a Friday car ramming by a Palestinian near Jenin
in the northern West Bank that the army said killed two Israeli soldiers and
wounded two others.
Tensions were high after Palestinian Islamist movement Hamas called for a
day of rage on Friday to mark 100 days since US President Donald Trump's
controversial recognition of Jerusalem as Israel's capital. In
Israeli-annexed east Jerusalem, suspected Jewish extremists punctured tyres
on Palestinian-owned cars and scrawled religious and anti-Arab graffiti on
vehicles and homes, police said Monday. Images released by the police showed
slogans including "there's no room in Israel for foreigners and enemies of
God" and "the Arabs of Jerusalem are terrorists who should be expelled or
killed". The incident, near the Pisgat Zeev settlement neighbourhood, was
being investigated, police said.
Latest LCCC Bulletin analysis & editorials from
miscellaneous sources published on March 19-20/18
Saudi Crown Prince: We will eradicate Muslim Brotherhood
elements in our schools
ولي العهد السعودي:سوف نجتث ونستأصل كل عناصر الإخوان المسلمين من مدارسنا
Joyce Karam/The National/March 19/18
http://eliasbejjaninews.com/archives/63272
Mohammed bin Salman said it is Saudi women’s choice whether to wear an Abaya or
Hijab
Saudi Crown Prince Mohammed bin Salman offered a strong defence of his economic
and social reforms in the Kingdom in his first interview with a US television
outlet, vowing to continue a transformative agenda that “only death” can
barricade.
Prince Mohammed, 32, in a wide-ranging interview with CBS’ 60 minutes aired on
Sunday night, offered a new vision for Saudi Arabia that turns the page on the
harsh interpretation of Islam practice in the Kingdom since 1979. He called
citizens of his generation, “victims” that “suffered from this a great deal.”
The Saudi Crown Prince was particularly critical of the Muslim Brotherhood
ideology, of extremism and the schism with the West created by Al Qaeda and
Osama bin Laden through orchestrating the 9/11 terror attacks.
Asked by journalist Norah O’Donnell about education reforms in the country
toward espousing a more moderate form and curriculum about Islam, the Saudi
Crown prince said: “Saudi schools have been invaded by many elements from the
Muslim Brotherhood organisation, surely to a great extent.”
“Even now, there are some elements left. It will be a short while until they are
all eradicated completely.”
He added that “no country in the world would accept that its educational system
be invaded by any radical group.”
The counter-extremism push was vivid in how he approached the subject of women’s
rights. The Crown Prince who ended his country’s ban on women driving, reopened
film theatres and allowed families and women to attend sports stadiums, spoke in
sentimental terms about Saudi Arabia pre-1979.
“We were living a very normal life like the rest of the Gulf countries. Women
were driving cars," he explained. "There were movie theatres in Saudi Arabia.
Women worked everywhere. We were just normal people developing like any other
country in the world until the events of 1979.”
1979 was a seminal year for the region, with the Islamic revolution in Iran, and
the siege of Mecca in Saudi Arabia. Both events triggered a hard turn to the
religious right in the Kingdom.
“We have extremists who forbid mixing between the two sexes and are unable to
differentiate between a man and a woman alone together and their being together
in a work place” the Saudi leader told CBS. “Many of those ideas contradict the
way of life during the time of the Prophet and the Caliphs.”
Prince Mohammed embraced the Saudi woman’s right to wear “what type of decent
and respectful attire she chooses to wear.”
He said: “The laws are very clear and stipulated in the laws of Sharia: that
women wear decent, respectful clothing, like men. This, however, does not
particularly specify a black abaya or a black head cover.”
Ritz Carlton
The Saudi Crown Prince defended the Ritz Carlton hotel arrests of Princes, high
ranking ministers, and businessmen that were made between November and February
in anti-corruption campaign “What we did in Saudi Arabia was extremely
necessary. All actions taken were in accordance with existing and published
laws.”
He said the money that the government restored, exceeded $100 billion. “But the
real objective was not this amount or any other amount...but to punish the
corrupt and send a clear signal that whoever engages in corrupt deals will face
the law.”
Asked about his personal fortune, he said “as far as my private expenses, I’m a
rich person and not a poor person. I’m not Gandhi or Mandela.” “I’m a member of
the ruling family...we own very large lots of land, and my personal life is the
same as it was 10 or 20 years ago. But what I do as a person is to spend part of
my personal income on charity.” He also said that he spends 51% of his fortune
on people and 49 per cent on himself.
Foreign policy
The foreign policy part of the interview was mostly focused on Yemen, where
Saudi led coalition is engaged in a war against the Houthi militias, and the
country has seen atrocious civil war since 2015. Asked about the humanitarian
toll, Prince Mohammed said “it is truly very painful, and I hope that this
militia [Houthis] ceases using the humanitarian situation to their advantage in
order to draw sympathy from the international community. They block humanitarian
aid in order to create famine and a humanitarian crisis.”
He said that the “Iranian ideology penetrated some parts of Yemen” and justified
Saudi’s military involvement in the war. “I can’t imagine that the United States
will accept one day to have a militia in Mexico launching missiles on Washington
DC, New York and LA while Americans are watching these missiles and doing
nothing” he said.
Prince Mohammed accused Iran of playing a destructive role in Yemen. “The
Iranian regime is based on pure ideology. Many of the Al Qaeda operatives are
protected in Iran and it refuses to surrender them to justice, and continues to
refuse to extradite them to the United States” he said accusing Iran of
harbouring the son of Osama bin Laden. “He lives in Iran and works out of Iran.
He is supported by Iran.”
In comments aired before the interview, the Saudi Crown Prince stood by his
comparison of Iran’s Supreme Leader Ayatollah Ali Khamenei to Adolf Hitler.
He said: “Iran is not a rival to Saudi Arabia. Its army is not among the top
five armies in the Muslim world. The Saudi economy is larger than the Iranian
economy.”
On a more personal side on what he learned from his father King Salman bin Abdul
Aziz Al Saud, Prince Mohammed said the love of history. “The King always says
“If you read the history of a thousand years, you have the experience of a
thousand years.””
Asked if he would run the country for 50 years or if anything can stop him,
Saudi’s Crown Prince answered in two words: “only death”.
Prince Mohammed is due to arrive in the United States on an official visit on
Monday. He will meet Donald Trump on Tuesday, and convene with senior cabinet
members of the administration as well as Congressional leaders in Washington.
Later in the week he will head to Boston, then New York then the West Coast
(Washington State and California), where he will meet the major heads of tech
and film industries. The Saudi Crown Prince is expected to end his two and half
week long trip in Houston, Texas.
Saudi nuclear bomb
justifications
Abdulrahman al-Rashed/Al Arabiya/March 19/18
Saudi Crown Prince Mohammed bin Salman dropped a bombshell when he said
Saudi Arabia will develop nuclear weapons if Iran builds a nuclear bomb.
Before this week, Saudi Arabia’s strategy was either based on not letting
Iran develop nuclear weapons, via international negotiations and pressure,
or depending on the international community – which we know is not reliable
– to deter it. Saudi policy has now changed. Prince Mohammed bin Salman
chose CBS to announce the kingdom’s new policy before meeting with US
President Donald Trump. His statements had tangible consequences in
Washington whose stances are usually divided. The crown prince’s task to
convince legislators in the Congress and the different political powers in
Washington will be difficult.
Washington’s approval to let Saudi Arabia develop nuclear weapons is almost
impossible especially that some countries, like Israel, oppose this.
However, the prince linked this to Iran’s attempt to build its own nuclear
weapons. This resembles the Pakistani scenario with India.
Deterrence
The new Saudi policy conveys to the Europeans and the Americans,
particularly those who seem lenient towards Iran, that they must understand
that Riyadh will not settle with any guarantees if Iran develops its nuclear
weapons and that it will do the same within the context of balance of
deterrence.
First of all, we must ask, is Saudi Arabia capable of building a nuclear
bomb?
No one can confirm that. However, the kingdom does have scientific
competencies. This year, it will set up projects related to reactors,
factories and infrastructure to develop its nuclear capabilities for
peaceful purposes. What distinguishes Saudi Arabia from Iran here is that it
has uranium in its desert. Therefore, the kingdom does not need to buy it,
and it has actually adopted a plan to extract it for development projects
that are part of Vision 2030.
The second question is how will Saudi Arabia confront international
opposition and possible political risks?
I do not think Riyadh will take this step to develop nuclear weapons without
the approval of the concerned superpowers which cannot ignore the fact that
Iran targets Saudi Arabia and that the former has reached an advanced stage
of readiness to build nuclear weapons. If Tehran decided to enrich uranium
and resume its nuclear project for military purposes, the crown prince’s
statement will thus be justified.
Those who oppose the crown prince are not just in Iran but also in
Washington itself. US Senator Ed Markey, also member of the US Senate
Committee on Foreign Relations, immediately responded to the prince’s
statements and said: “Saudi Arabia’s crown prince has confirmed what many
have long suspected—nuclear energy in Saudi Arabia is about more than just
electrical power, it’s about geopolitical power,” adding: “The United States
must not compromise on nonproliferation standards in any 123 agreement it
concludes with Saudi Arabia.” Opponents have noted that Saudi Arabia refuses
to sign the “gold standard” or the “123 agreement” which guarantees that it
does not enrich uranium and does not reproduce plutonium.
It’s worth noting that a week before the crown prince kicked off his tour in
the US, the kingdom announced that it approved its national policy of the
atomic energy program and confirmed its commitment to international
agreements and the principle of transparency while emphasizing the program
aims to serve peaceful purposes. The prince’s recent statements ahead of his
travel to Washington prepared everyone there to understand that keeping
silent and being lenient with Iran, thus allowing it to produce nuclear
weapons, will mean that Saudi Arabia will do the same and possess a nuclear
bomb. His statements may be looked at from two angles. The first one is that
Saudi Arabia does not intend to develop nuclear weapons if Iran commits not
to, and the second one is that the prince is warning of being lenient with
Tehran because he will thus develop nuclear weapons to defend his country
and create “a balance of terror.”
Everyone takes Prince Mohammed bin Salman’s statements seriously. In
addition to announcing its national policy of the atomic energy program,
Saudi Arabia held talks with China around six months ago to establish a
nuclear infrastructure for peaceful purposes. This will probably be among
the topics he will address in Washington. Discussing these matters will not
be easy due to all those skeptics who doubt Saudi Arabia’s aims and
intentions. These skeptics have two choices, to either work seriously to
prevent Iran from building nuclear weapons – in this case Saudi Arabia and
the world will not sense nuclear threats – or approve Saudi Arabia’s right
of readiness to possess weapons like Iran’s. Iran is headed by an extremist
fascist and religious regime which may use any nuclear weapons it builds to
attack its rivals. Even if it does not directly use these weapons, it will
exploit them to blackmail the region and the world and it will threaten to
use them to achieve its expansive activities it’s currently endeavoring.
The early disputes between al-Shirazi family and Iran -
Part 2
Hassan Al Mustafa/Al Arabiya/March 19/18
Part 1 of this article can be read here.
More than five years ago, Sayyid Ahmed Shirazi’s statements about “the
desirable during the month of Rabi’ al-Awwal” stirred controversy and many
condemned them especially as Ahmed’s father Ayatollah Sayyid Sadiq Shirazi
was one of the most prominent Shiite references. Ahmed Shirazi’s statements
were based on an extremist sectarian stance. In January 2013, Doctor Tawfiq
Alsaif commented that Ahmed was “a young cleric” – meaning he had little
knowledge and experience. Alsaif added that Ahmed’s remarks “were void of
wisdom and righteousness and full of superstition and hatred.”
Alsaif, who was the secretary general of the Reform Movement in Saudi
Arabia, had strong ties with late Shiite reference Ayatollah Sayyid Mohammed
al-Shirazi, who is Ahmad’s uncle. Commenting on this relation, Alsaif said:
“I knew Ayatollah Sayyid Mohammed al-Shirazi for years and very closely. I
never heard him say a bad word or make any statements that reflect hatred
towards anyone. His late son, and my friend, Sayyid Mohammed Reza Shirazi,
was also like that.” Alsaif’s remarks reflect the difference between Ahmed
and his nephew. Alsaif believes that Ahmed’s attitude “harms the status of
his father Ayatollah Sayyid Sadiq Shirazi and harms all Shiite.”During the
1980s, a group from the Organization for the Islamic Revolution in the
Arabian Peninsula was visiting Sayyid Mohammed al-Shirazi in his house in
the Iranian city of Qom. One of the members complained and said: “The
reactionaries are restraining our activity and work.” A participant at the
meeting told me that Sayyid Shirazi, who was well-known for his calm
character, got upset and angry. “This was the first time I saw him angry. It
was nothing like him. He rebuffed our friend who made the complaint and
described others as reactionaries and said he must do his work and let
others do their work and that the arena is enough to fit everyone,” he said.
Pharoah-like behavior
Sheikh Abdolkarim Haeri, a teacher at the religious hawza (seminary) in
Iraq’s Karbala, who had attended Ayatollah Mohammed al-Shirazi’s lessons for
around 18 years, criticized the behavior of some members of the Shirazi
Movement. In a lecture posted on YouTube, he said: “The school which is
well-known for its morals collapsed in some aspects as some of the (Shirazi
Movement members) resorted to insults.” Haeri wondered why people see
others’ flaws but not their own, adding that this was a “pharaoh-like”
behavior in an indirect reference to Sayyid Hussein Shirazi’s comments
comparing Ayatollah Khamenei to a “pharaoh.”“How can we say we abide by the
shurat al-fuqaha when we act upon the guardianship of the jurist like others
do? We only make statements opposing the latter but we act upon it!,” Haeri
said and called on Al-Shirazi leaders not to solely make decisions or take
stances that reflect on the entire movement. “Consult your movement members
as three fourth of them are not okay with this,” he added. Haeri’s stance
upset Al-Shirazi “hawks.” Other Al-Shirazi members agreed with him and
voiced their discontent with how Al-Shirazis as a reference changed as in
the past it was a pioneering reference unlike other classical religious
ones. Most of those who voiced their discontent belong to the first
generation of Shirazis, who were engaged in the religious and political work
with founder Sayyid Mohammed Shirazi. The problem here, however, is that
those figures do not form a movement on their own and their critical voices
are still not heard.
Al-Shirazis not identical
The different points of view reflect a reality that goes back to the 1960s.
Truth is, Al-Shirazis are not one identical movement but a group of
followers with different opinions and political, ideological and
jurisprudential stances. They are an “unbalanced” and contradictory bunch of
people – a combination of awareness and backwardness like a former member of
Al-Shirazis once told me. Let’s go back to the beginning when there were two
points of view, one adopted by Sayyid Hassan al-Shirazi and another adopted
by Ayatollah Sayyid Mohammed Taqi al-Modarresi. Sayyid Hassan al-Shirazi,
who was assassinated in Beirut in 1980 by Iraqi Ba’ath gunmen as his
supporters claim, believed that the reference must be in direct contact with
the “ummah” (people). He believed that they can manage people’s affairs and
spread ‘dawah’ without having to establish Islamic organizations and parties
to perform this role. In his book Islam’s Word, he criticized the parties
and laid the basis for a reference that’s linked to followers without
organizational means. Modarresi, however, believed that parties and
organizations are important and that they must work under the umbrella of
the religious reference which in turn will implement its Islamic program
among people. Modarresi further detailed this opinion in his book The
Islamic Leadership. Modarresi’s perspective produced the “Movement of the
Vanguard Missionaries” which included three major parties:
1. The Islamic Action Organization which was mainly concerned about Iraq.
Its secretary general was the late Sheikh Qassem al-Assadi and its spiritual
father was Modarresi.
2. The Islamic Front for the Liberation of Bahrain whose secretary general
was Sheikh Mohammed Ali al-Mahfouz. After he returned to Bahrain, Mahfouz
formed the Islamic Action Society, also known as the Amal Party. The
authorities then dissolved the party and arrested some of its leaders
following protests in February 2011. The spiritual father of the front was
Hadi al-Modarresi, who was well-known for his enthusiastic and revolutionary
rhetoric. 3. The Organization for the Islamic Revolution in the Arabian
Peninsula which was led by Sheikh Hassan al-Saffar. Its name was changed to
the ‘Reform Movement’ and it was later dissolved and its members returned to
Saudi Arabia in 1993.
The several references
Ayatollah Mohammed al-Shirazi, who founded the Shirazi Movement, was highly
respected by his supporters. He had a strong, attractive and persuasive
figure as he was good at controlling differences among his followers.
However, after his death in 2001, the movement suffered from a leadership
void. His brother Sayyid Sadiq could not fill this void, although he assumed
Sayyid Mohammed’s role as a reference. Meanwhile, Sayyid Mohammed’s
followers remained loyal to his memories.
This legacy of Al-Shirazis is currently dispersed as such:
1. The reference of Ayatollah Sayyid Sadiq Shirazi represents the
traditional movement that’s distant from renewal. Most of those who imitated
late Sayyid Mohammed Shirazi in Iran, the Gulf, Iraq, Afghanistan, Pakistan
and other countries refer to it. This reference however lacks modernity and
relies on stories of the Prophet Mohammed and Ahl Al-Bayt without making any
thorough examinations. This is in addition to its “sectarian” or even
“insulting” attitude. However, it does not go as far as accusing others of
infidelity.
2. The reference of Ayatollah Sayyid Mohammed Taqi al-Modarresi represents
around 10%-15% of Al-Shirazi supporters. This movement is closer to
“political Islam” movements. It does not insult those who oppose it or
accuse them of infidelity. It works within the context of Islamic unity.
However, it has lost its ability to present new ideas or develop its
theories about life and jurisprudence.
3. The movement of ideologist “hawks” includes both Kuwaiti cleric Yasser
Al-Habib and Sayyid Mujtaba Hussaini Shirazi, although they disagree on some
religious matters. This movement lacks religious depth, and is quite
shallow. It adopts a sectarian and insulting rhetoric which is uncommon
among Shiite scholars. They do not hesitate to make judgements against Sunni
or Shiite symbols or even against Prophet Muhammad’s (peace be upon him)
companions and go as far as accusing them of infidelity and of misguiding
people.
4. A group of figures have left The Shirazi Movement and became independent.
These figures abided by the reference of Sayyid Mohammed Shirazi for years.
Some left the movement at an early stage, while others did so when Sayyid
Mohammed passed away and decided to engage in new experiences that are more
open and modern. Some of these prominent figures are: Sheikh Ahmad al-Kateb,
Sheikh Sadiq al-Abadi, Sheikh Hassan al-Saffar, Doctor Tawfiq Alsaif and
Sheikh Qassem al-Assadi. Some of these figures became moderate and
enlightened, while others adopted a liberal and civil approach and voiced
critical views. This diversity among the Shirazis means one must not deal
with them as if they are one homogenous movement or representatives of one
phenomenon. There are real differences among them – differences that deepen
every day in the wake of contentious developments and conflicting opinions.
Iranian authorities’ detention of Sayyid Hussein Shirazi stirred a debate
among Shirazi leaders and their followers. Most of them agree on opposing
‘the Guardianship of the Jurists’. However they disagree over the time and
the approach. Following Sayyid Hussein Shirazi’s arrest, Al-Shirazi
followers voiced their objection via media outlets and social media
networks. This raises several questions about their relation with the media
and their historical experience in this field. I will discuss this in my
next topic.
Qatar, the worst is yet to come
Mohammed Al Shaikh/Al Arabiya/March 19/18
There are attempts, particularly by some Qatari media outlets, to make some
helpless Qataris hope that the American authorities will support them and
save them from the crisis which their regime has put them in.
This is wishful and naïve thinking that has nothing to do with the logic and
standards of political interests. It would be stupid to believe that the
Americans would sacrifice their relationships with major countries in the
region, like the quartet (Saudi Arabia, Bahrain, Egypt and the UAE), and
stand with a very small state, like Qatar, which is marginal in terms of
influence and impact. This may have been possible during Barack Obama’s
term; however, the rules of the game have changed during Donald Trump’s
term. Today’s standards are different from the past as the anti-terror
quartet intends to continue boycotting Qatar until the crisis is resolved -
even if this lasts for 10 years. Qatar’s problem will only be resolved via
deeply rooted solutions that revolve around expelling the main source of the
problem: Hamad bin Khalifa from Qatar. The other solution is for destiny to
intervene and take its toll on this spiteful man
Qatar’s art of treachery
Boycotting Qatar does not cost the quartet anything worth mentioning.
However, it costs Qatar a lot. This cost only increases with time. The
crisis with Qatar is also not a priority for us at all. When Saudi Crown
Prince Mohammed bin Salman said that the Qatari issue is minor and not among
his priorities, he meant it. The same applies to the three other countries
that came together with Saudi Arabia to “discipline” this harmful neighbor
that only knows the art of conspiracy, treachery and deception. Qatar only
embraced the Muslim Brotherhood and terrorists to be its arm that implements
its wicked conspiracies. This is what Trump implied to in one of his tweets
when the decision to boycott Doha was first made. This made the Qataris turn
to Turkey and Iran to protect their palaces in Doha.
The Americans, who occupy one third of Qatar's territory in the al-Udeid Air
Base, may remain neutral in case the Qataris took action, like the rational
members of the al-Thani ruling family, to curb this unjustified insanity. By
the way, this is a possible scenario that cannot be ruled out especially
that popular anger is increasing by the day. Qatar’s problem will only be
resolved via deeply rooted solutions that revolve around expelling the main
source of the problem: Hamad bin Khalifa from Qatar. The other solution is
for destiny to intervene and take its toll on this spiteful man. As for the
poor Tamim bin Hamad, he does not make any decisions and only obeys his
father who insists to rule from behind the scenes.
Jeopardizing the 2022 World Cup
The question now is: What if the Qataris insist to be stubborn and do not
submit to the boycotting countries’ conditions and do not expel Hamad bin
Khalifa? The answer is simple: Everything will remain as it is. Boycotting
Doha does not cost the quartet anything, however, it’s exhausting the
Qataris and it will continue to exhaust them. The FIFA World Cup which the
Qataris aspire to host and which they spent a lot of money on, is now at
stake due to the current crisis. Qatar’s place as a host for the 2022 World
Cup is in jeopardy as it may be stripped of holding the tournament if the
country’s isolation lasts till then. Holding the tournament is thus linked
to the boycotting countries. I do not think there will be any solutions
soon. When the Qatari regime began to interfere in the neighboring
countries’ internal affairs, I thought it would have a plan to retreat if
faced by any firm decision, like the boycott. However, the crisis which it’s
going through now, and which it does not know how to solve, shows that this
is an adventurer regime that developed its policies based on wrong
calculations. In politics, those who do not cautiously and carefully foresee
the future and who burn their bridges when taking risks will put themselves
through a catastrophic crisis like the one which the Qatari regime has led
the country and its people to.
Kurdish Afrin Falls to Turkey...Turkish Government
Official: "Europe Will be Muslim"
Uzay Bulut/Gatestone Institute/March 19/2018
http://eliasbejjaninews.com/archives/63287
https://www.gatestoneinstitute.org/12050/turkey-demographic-jihad
Turkey Islamized northern Cyprus through a military invasion in 1974. To
Islamize the much more powerful European continent, however, Turkey has been
promoting demographic, rather than military, jihad.
"The places where you work and live are your homelands and new countries
now... Drive the best cars. Live in the most beautiful houses. Make five
children -- not just three. For you are the future of Europe." — Turkish
President Recep Tayyip Erdoğan, 2017.
Yesterday, while many Europeans are still pilloried for viewing mass
migration from Muslim-majority countries as a threat to Western culture --
and are still accused of "xenophobia," "Islamophobia" and "fear-mongering"
-- the city of Afrin, in the Kurdish area of Syria, fell to Turkey.
At the same time, a prominent Turkish government official has been openly
and proudly declaring that the demography of Europe is changing in favor of
Muslims.
MP Alparslan Kavaklıoğlu, a member of the ruling Justice and Development
Party (AKP) and the head of the parliament's Security and Intelligence
Commission, recently stated:
"The fortune and wealth of the world is moving from the West to the East.
Europe is going through a time that is out of the ordinary. Its population
is declining and aging. It has a very old population. So, people coming from
outside get the jobs there. But Europe has this problem. All of the
newcomers are Muslim. From Morocco, Tunisia, Algeria, Afghanistan, Pakistan,
Iraq, Iran, Syria, and Turkey. Those who come from these places are Muslim.
It is now at such a level that the most popular name in Brussels, Belgium is
Mohammed. The second most popular name is Melih [Malih] and the third one is
Ayşe [Aisha]."
According to Kavaklıoğlu, if this trend continues,
"the Muslim population will outnumber the Christian population in Europe.
This... has increased the nationalistic, xenophobic and anti-Islam rhetoric
there. Hence, marginal, small parties have started to get large numbers of
votes... But there is no remedy for it. Europe will be Muslim. We will be
effective there, Allah willing. I am sure of that."
Kavaklıoğlu is not the first Turkish official to stress the importance of
population growth. In 2009, President Recep Tayyip Erdoğan, who was prime
minister at the time, called on the public to have at least three children
per family. The greater our numbers, he said, "the stronger we will be."
Since then, Erdoğan has been trying to encourage Turkish nationals to
multiply. In 2013, he reiterated his plea:
"We need a young and dynamic population... Right now, the West is in
trouble. But we do not want to put Turkey in the same trouble. I am calling
on my country through mothers: Do not take this sensitivity of ours lightly.
We need to make this widespread, in waves. We need to make this happen. The
[value] of this cannot be measured with money or any other physical wealth."
In 2017, Erdoğan called on Turks residing in Europe to have even more
children:
"The places where you work and live are your homelands and new countries
now. Lay a tight claim to those places. Open more businesses and enroll your
children in better schools. Live with your families in better neighborhoods.
Drive the best cars. Live in the most beautiful houses. Make five children
-- not just three. For you are the future of Europe."
Pictured: Thousands of supporters of Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdogan
rally, waving Turkish flags, in Cologne, Germany, July 31, 2016. (Photo by
Sascha Steinbach/Getty Images)
Erdoğan is now also saying the same thing to Turks in Cyprus. During a
recent meeting with the prime minister and deputy prime minister of the
"Turkish Republic of Northern Cyprus" (recognized only by Turkey), Erdoğan
reportedly said, "Economic growth happens in parallel with population
growth. The population of Greek Cypriots is more than one million. Just make
your own population grow."
Turkey already largely Islamized and Turkified northern Cyprus through a
military invasion in 1974. The Turkish military terrorized the indigenous
Greek Cypriots, causing them to flee to the south. The Turkish government
then imported thousands of illegal settlers from Turkey to northern Cyprus,
to change the demographic structure of the illegally occupied territories.
To Islamize the much more powerful European continent, however, Turkey has
been promoting demographic, rather than military, jihad. This attempt by
Ankara to guarantee that Muslims outnumber Christians globally has been
accompanied by the erection of mosques – "from Europe to Africa, from the
Balkans to the Central Asia" -- by Turkey's government-funded Diyanet
(Religious Affairs General Directorate).
Whose assessments, then, are liberal Europeans to believe regarding
unfettered immigration? Those who consider the mass influx from Muslim
countries a threat to liberty and security, or the honest planners and
perpetrators of demographic replacement and Islamization?
One only needs to look at Afrin, Cyprus and the appalling human rights
record of Muslim-majority societies.
**Uzay Bulut is a Turkish journalist born and raised in Turkey. She is
presently based in Washington D.C.
© 2018 Gatestone Institute. All rights reserved. The articles printed here
do not necessarily reflect the views of the Editors or of Gatestone
Institute. No part of the Gatestone website or any of its contents may be
reproduced, copied or modified, without the prior written consent of
Gatestone Institute.
France: Toward Total Submission to Islam, Destruction of Free
Speech
Guy Millière/Gatestone Institute/March 19/2018
https://www.gatestoneinstitute.org/12051/france-islam-free-speech
The French government and the French justice system claim to treat all
religions equally, but they treat Islam as if it were "more equal than
others" -- able to enjoy special privileges. Those who criticize Islam -- or
who just show the results of Islamic terrorism -- are victims of fierce
prosecution, while hate-filled, racist organizations are never touched.
"Who has the right to say that in thirty to forty years, France will not be
a Muslim country? No one in this country has the right to extinguish our
right to hope for a society that is globally faithful to Islam ". — Marwan
Muhammad, spokesman of the "Collective against Islamophobia in France".
President Macron recently said he wants a law against "fake news". If the
law is adopted, all online magazines in France that do not broadcast what
the government defines as "true news" could be subject to immediate
government suspension. If they are located outside France, access to them
would be blocked. Islamic online magazines and websites are not on the list
of "fake news" providers. What online magazines and websites top the list?
Those that question Islam.
After the murders of much of the staff at the French satirical magazine
Charlie Hebdo in Paris on January 7, 2015, the hostage-taking and slaughter
at a kosher supermarket two days later confirmed what was already obvious:
France was a target of Islamic terrorism. A huge demonstration, organized in
Paris on January 11, brought together a million and a half people, with
politicians from around the world in attendance.
For a brief moment, France seemed to be the country where the multitudes
were ready to stand up for freedom of speech, and the government was ready
to fight for Western values.
Unfortunately, that impression did not last long.
For years, freedom of speech in France has been in the process of being
crushed, particularly regarding Islam and Islamic terrorism. Journalists who
said that Islam often did not look much like a religion of peace but more
like a religion of war were systematically and harshly prosecuted. Charlie
Hebdo's new director and editor-in-chief were also not spared: they were
sued as early as 2006, the year the magazine republished the Danish Mohammed
cartoons. They were sued again in 2007, 2012 and 2013. The writer Michel
Houellebecq was summoned to court in 2010 for saying that Islam is a
"stupid" religion. The first judicial sentence against the polemist Éric
Zemmour dates from 2011. The website Riposte Laïque was established in 2007
to fight censorship, defend secularism, and preserve the right to criticize
Islam. Lawsuits against its founder, Pierre Cassen, immediately became
overwhelming.
Judicial harassment against those who still dared to speak "incorrectly"
about Islam did not stop after the murders at Charlie Hebdo: rather, they
intensified. The terrorist attacks that took place in France in November
2015 and in July 2016 did not lead to any demonstrations; merely to displays
of sadness, fear and resignation. French politicians used empty words, spoke
of the dangers of "fanaticism" and said that France was "at war" -- but they
never named an enemy. Journalists and writers who said that terrorists
attacking France were Muslim, and that "Islamism" was not foreign to Islam,
had to answer for their words in court and were fined thousands of euros.
Both Éric Zemmour and Pierre Cassen have spent hours on trial providing
conclusive evidence -- in vain.
Since the election of President Emmanuel Macron a year ago, the situation
has become worse. On June 20, 2017, at the end of a post-Ramadan iftar
dinner he shared with Muslim leaders, President Macron stated that "...no
one should make believe that Islam is not compatible with the Republic";
that " no one should say that France reject Muslim faith" and that "attempt
to give Islam the image of a religion condoning murder and terror" must be
condemned. Most French critics of Islam got the message and cautiously chose
silence. Riposte Laïque did not, but here were consequences.
On January 20, 2018, Pierre Cassen was convicted of "incitement to hatred
against Muslims" and a fine of $12,000 was imposed on him. He was also given
a three-month suspended prison sentence. He will soon be tried again for
repeating the same "crime", and could be sent to prison.
Several European governments have made it clear that criticizing Islam may
lead to prosecution and conviction. Recently, British, Danish and German
citizens have been handed suspended sentences. If Pierre Cassen is
imprisoned, it will be the first time that someone in a Western democracy is
sent to jail for criticizing a religion.
Worse, Cassen is not even the author of the article targeted by the judges,
and the article only says what is obvious: that extremist Muslims are at war
with France and the West, and that incitement to kill infidels is present in
the Qur'an. Cassen was sentenced as the editor of Riposte Laïque; since
2012, however, Riposte Laïque has been hosted by Switzerland and has a Swiss
editor. Pierre Cassen no longer even has an official role in the
organization. He is just easy prey because he lives in France. Pierre Cassen,
clearly a victim of prosecutorial abuse, is planning to apply for political
asylum in Switzerland.
Two members of the French National Assembly, Gilbert Collard and Marine Le
Pen, a former presidential candidate who secured 35% of votes in the May
2017 run-off, were also recently charged with "inciting violence". They did
not even publish texts criticizing Islam. After a journalist compared their
party (National Front) to the Islamic State, they tweeted photos showing
atrocities committed by the Islamic State, and added under the photos: "This
is the Islamic State". They are also facing serious fines and prison
sentences. The photos they tweeted are not even secret: they are widely
available on the internet.
Originally, Collard and Le Pen were protected by parliamentary immunity.
Their parliamentary immunity, however, was revoked by an almost unanimous
vote in the French National Assembly. This is the first time that members of
a democratic Western government risk being imprisoned for publishing widely
available photos of Islamic crimes.
French laws are being used more and more often by the French justice system
to suppress any criticism of Islam. Furthermore, in a dangerous inversion of
reality, critics of Islamic terrorist violence are now systematically
presented by French judges as examples of incitement to hatred and violence.
The threat of jail time is added to the threat of fines.
Consequently, those who criticize Islam -- or who just show the results of
Islamic terrorism -- are victims of fierce prosecution, while hate-filled,
racist organizations are never touched. The Islamic "Natives of the
Republic" movement, for instance, regularly publishes texts saying that "
greedy Jews control the global financial system" and that "Zionists kill
Palestinian children for pleasure" but are never condemned. Houria Bouteldja,
the spokesperson for the movement, published a book describing Jews as
vicious supporters of "Islamophobia", and stating that the Holocaust is
"infinitely less than a detail" of history. She recently took part in
anti-Israel demonstrations where flags of Hamas and Hezbollah were waved and
portraits of murderers of Jews were held up. Jewish organizations expressed
their indignation and filed complaints -- to no avail.
The French government and the French justice system claim to treat all
religions equally, but they treat Islam as if it were "more equal than
others" -- able to enjoy special privileges.
In France, attacks against Islam are benign and rare, but lead to severe
convictions: in January 2016, a man dropped slices of ham in front of a
mosque. He was immediately sent to jail for several weeks. Attacks against
Christianity, however, are countless, sometimes violent, but almost never
lead to any conviction. French theaters produce anti-Christian shows almost
every year. In a play called "On the Concept of the Face of God," currently
on tour throughout the country, for almost two hours, a large portrait of
Jesus Christ is insulted and covered with matter that is supposed to be
feces. The French Ministry of Culture subsidizes the tour. No theater
director, however, would imagine producing an anti-Islam show.
Six to eight million Muslims live in France, and the number is increasing.
France's 400,000 remaining Jews have not yet left France, but every year
their the numbers shrink. Practicing Christians vanish; churches are often
empty.
Polls show that a significant proportion of the French population thinks
that Islam is a threat, but French authorities choose to harass those who
speak of this threat.
In 2005, the situation was already serious. Muslim riots took place
throughout the country. French President Jacques Chirac asked imams to
restore calm and began to abandon the French government's sovereignty over
many districts. A few years later, President Nicolas Sarkozy claimed to
organize an "Islam of France", based on a structure he had created in 2003
when he was Minister of the Interior. He asked French Muslim leaders to call
for "moderation". He failed: French Muslim leaders said unanimously that
"Islam is not violent" and "does not need moderation". He promised to end
"no-go zones" and to take back the districts abandoned under Jacques Chirac.
He also failed; in 2006 there were already 751 no-go zones in France, and
"as of last count," that number is no different. President François Hollande
did nothing and let the situation rot. President Emmanuel Macron now speaks
of the need to "reorganize the Islam of France" but instead appears to
surrender.
In 2005, Muslim riots took place throughout France. President Jacques Chirac
began to abandon the government's sovereignty over many districts. Pictured:
Riot police watch as a warehouse burns in the Paris suburb of Aubervilliers
on November 4, 2005, on the eighth consecutive night of rioting. (Photo by
Pascal Le Segretain/Getty Images)
Macron recently said he wants to create the post of "Grand Imam of France",
a man who would be the "spiritual leader" of Islam in France. He added that
he would like to see the construction of large "cathedral mosques" in every
important French city. He also wants the Arabic language to be taught in
every high school, to maintain a relationship between Muslims and the
language of their religion. He promises affirmative action in favor of
Muslims and a more resolute fight against "those who attack Islam". He never
uses the words "radical Islam". He speaks of "radicalization", but says that
the main danger is the "radicalization of secularism". He does not hide that
those who defend secularism -- and a clear separation between the government
and Islam (Riposte Laïque, for example) -- are an obstacle on the path he
intends to follow. Clearly, the fight against "radicalization of secularism"
is in high gear!
Marwan Muhammad, spokesman of the "Collective against Islamophobia in
France" said in 2011:
"Who has the right to say that in thirty to forty years, France will not be
a Muslim country? No one in this country has the right to extinguish our
right to hope for a society that is globally faithful to Islam ".
Every day in France, men such as Marwan Muhammad have more reason to hope.
Prominent Islamic preacher Tariq Ramadan is presently being held at the
Fleury-Mérogis prison near Paris: judges could not dismiss the overwhelming
charges against him of rape. Some French Muslims still claim he is being
unfairly accused. Many others say he is an impostor and seem ready to get
rid of him. They say it is urgent to create "authentic French Islamic
institutions" fully "recognized by the French government". President Macron
could not have said it better. The Islamization of France will not stop.
President Macron recently said he wants a law against "fake news". If the
law is adopted, all online magazines in France that do not broadcast what
the government defines as "true news" could be subject to immediate
government suspension. If they are located outside France, access to them
would be blocked. Islamic online magazines and websites are not on the list
of "fake news" providers. What online magazines and websites top the list?
Those that question Islam.
**Dr. Guy Millière, a professor at the University of Paris, is the author of
27 books on France and Europe.
© 2018 Gatestone Institute. All rights reserved. The articles printed here
do not necessarily reflect the views of the Editors or of Gatestone
Institute. No part of the Gatestone website or any of its contents may be
reproduced, copied or modified, without the prior written consent of
Gatestone Institute.
James Bond in Stalin’s Bed
Ghassan Charbel/Asharq Al Awsat/March 19/18
If British intelligence officer Ian Fleming were fated to live during our
time, he would have discovered that he did not exaggerate much when he came
up with the character of James Bond. He would have certainly rejoiced had he
known that the current Russian czar is a fan of his books, which have sold
100 million copies around the world. Fleming would have likely crowned his
career with an amazing book called “James Bond in Stalin’s Bed.”
Fleming was a spy, journalist and author. There are close similarities
between spies and journalists. They both go after secrets, but each in his
own way. The former writes in invisible ink and sends his report to his
handler at the intelligence agency. The latter writes in visible ink and
sends his report to the reader. They both seek to prove the credibility of
their reports to their superiors. They are both dreary professions. The spy
ends up being anonymous and his tale winds up in the drawers of the agency.
The journalist ends up disappointed after his work ends up being forgotten.
This is why both of them, if given the chance, would seek to bring their
story to the light through a book. The game is all about delusions and more
delusions.
Vladimir Putin’s “take over” of the Kremlin at the beginning of the 21st
century doubled my passion for stories about intelligence agents, especially
the KGB. Putin came from this agency, which was more like an empire of spies
that produced more than one James Bond. The name of that empire is
associated with a man who ran it for a long time, Yuri Andropov, who headed
the party and later the state, before he was quickly betrayed by his health.
One cannot understand Putin’s behavior without returning to Andropov, who
acted as his mentor, guide and inspiration.
My work in journalism allowed me over the years to get closer to this
mysterious and intriguing world. I knew spies and men who managed spies. I
occasionally befriended those men, whom I felt came right out of the pages
of espionage books.
A few years ago, I had the chance to meet a man, who was part of the inner
circle of Palestinian leader Dr. Wadi Haddad, whose name has been linked to
an infamous plane hijacker and James Bond-like figure. I am here talking
about Venezuelan terrorist Carlos. I urged the man to divulge to me a secret
that was never published in the newspaper and had evaded nations and their
agencies. After some hesitation, he told me: “The great secret that we kept
from everyone is that Yuri Andropov had covertly met with Wadi Haddad in a
castle in a forest in the suburbs of Moscow in 1974. During the meeting,
Wadi requested arms, ammunition and time. Two weeks later and six miles off
the coast of Aden, we received the complete list.”
It is from this world that is wrapped in secrets, ambushes, puzzles and
mysterious blows that Putin emerged from and arrived in the Kremlin. He
carried with him a deep wound that was the collapse of the Soviet Union, or
what he called “the worst geo-political catastrophe of the 20th century.”
Weeks ago, he revealed that he had hoped that he could have been able to
prevent this fall.
Recent years revealed many indications that the Soviet spirit still controls
the behavior of the master of the Kremlin as demonstrated in the
disciplining of Georgia, annexation of Crimea and destabilization of
Ukraine. He adopts a mixture of rapprochement and intimidation when dealing
with countries that were quick to take off their Soviet cloak. He
practically considers them traitors for opting for the divorce and
establishing ties with the West. They are like spies who are sent out on a
mission before later revealing themselves to be double agents. Intelligence
agencies are not in the habit of being forgiving with those who sell their
secrets for money, a nationality or a safe haven. Whoever commits this sin
deserves the “final solution” or being silenced once and for all.
The West did not open up Putin’s record after former Russian spy Alexander
Litvinenko was killed through polonium poisoning in London in 2006. Britain
responded to the incident, but it did not go so far as to drag Putin himself
into the case. Much uproar was made over the issue, but it was neither a
turning point nor a reason for a wider confrontation. The West was still
banking on the smile of the man who protected Russia from fragmentation and
protected the world from the possible repercussions of that fragmentation.
The crisis took place and then a mediator called time came in and treated
the issue with forget and relations went back to normal.
The assassination attempt against former Russian double agent Sergei Skripal
and his daughter Yulia in Britain earlier this month took place at a time
when Putin’s record has grown much longer. It includes his military
intervention in Syria, success in steering developments in the regime’s
favor and his fighter jets’ violent bombardment of opposition factions that
have nothing to do with ISIS and al-Nusra Front. The hopes that a Russian
Syria will weaken the possibility of the emergence of an Iranian Syria have
waned. Pro-regime factions, accompanied by Russian mercenaries, clashed with
US forces in Syria, prompting Washington to discipline the perpetrators and
killing over a hundred Russians. Putin’s escalatory speech towards the West
where he demonstrated the latest advances in the Russian missile arsenal,
while using terms taken right out of the Cold War dictionary.
Many have wondered what prompted the Russian agencies to attempt to poison
Skripal only weeks before the Russian presidential elections, which saw
Putin succeed Putin for a fourth term. What prompted them to do so during
the year that Russia is hosting the football World Cup. The British agencies
have concluded that the poison used was Soviet-made and Prime Minister
Theresa May severely retaliated to what she considered a hostile military
act on British soil.
British Foreign Secretary Boris Johnson meanwhile threw the ball in Putin’s
court. He declared: “Our quarrel is with Putin’s Kremlin and with his
decision, and we think it overwhelmingly likely that it was his decision to
direct the use of a nerve agent on the streets of the UK, on the streets of
Europe, for the first time since the Second World War.” The Kremlin
spokesman responded by saying: “Any reference to, any mentioning of, our
president in this context is nothing else but a shocking, unforgivable
breach of diplomatic proprieties.”
The United States, Germany and France showed solidarity with Britain in also
accusing Russia. Washington took measures against Moscow as part of its
investigation that it meddled in the US presidential elections.
The Cold War have been awakened and the West senses that the real problem
lies with Putin and his aggressive approach. The problem is that Russia
lives in the shadow of a Soviet president. Weeks ago, a Siberian ice blast
attacked and conquered western capitals. The media called it the “Beast from
the East.” After Skripal’s assassination attempt, talk once again centered
on the “danger coming in from the East.”
The West had long forgotten that Putin originally emerged from under
Andropov’s umbrella. The most important skill the KGB recruits are trained
on is misdirection and hiding real intentions and purposes. They are truly
confronting a Russian James Bond.
Had Ian Fleming been alive today, he would have written an amazing novel
called “James Bond in Stalin’s Bed.”