LCCC ENGLISH DAILY NEWS BULLETIN
April 29/2019
Compiled & Prepared by: Elias Bejjani
The Bulletin's Link on the lccc Site
http://data.eliasbejjaninews.com/eliasnews19/english.april29.19.htm
News Bulletin Achieves Since 2006
Click Here to enter the LCCC Arabic/English news bulletins Achieves since 2006
Bible Quotations For today
But if you had known what this means, “I
desire mercy and not sacrifice”, you would not have condemned the guiltless
Holy Gospel of Jesus Christ according to Saint Matthew 12/01-14: “At that time
Jesus went through the cornfields on the sabbath; his disciples were
hungry, and they began to pluck heads of grain and to eat. When the Pharisees
saw it, they said to him, ‘Look, your disciples are doing what is not lawful to
do on the sabbath.’He said to them, ‘Have you not read what David did when he
and his companions were hungry? He entered the house of God and ate the bread of
the Presence, which it was not lawful for him or his companions to eat, but only
for the priests.Or have you not read in the law that on the sabbath the priests
in the temple break the sabbath and yet are guiltless? I tell you, something
greater than the temple is here. But if you had known what this means, “I desire
mercy and not sacrifice”, you would not have condemned the guiltless. For the
Son of Man is lord of the sabbath.’ He left that place and entered their
synagogue; a man was there with a withered hand, and they asked him, ‘Is it
lawful to cure on the sabbath? ’ so that they might accuse him. He said to them,
‘Suppose one of you has only one sheep and it falls into a pit on the sabbath;
will you not lay hold of it and lift it out?How much more valuable is a human
being than a sheep! So it is lawful to do good on the sabbath. ’Then he said to
the man, ‘Stretch out your hand.’ He stretched it out, and it was restored, as
sound as the other. But the Pharisees went out and conspired against him, how to
destroy him.”
Titles For The Latest English LCCC Lebanese
& Lebanese Related News published on April 28-29/19
Audi Urges Absolute National Allegiance, Stresses Need for State of Economic
Emergency
Maronite Patriarch Calls for Reformist, Austere Budget
Lebanon Launches Campaign to Remove Violations on Power Grid
Jumblat Says Shebaa Farms Maps Manipulated, Vows 'Calm' Confrontation
PSP Reassures on Mt. Lebanon Stability amid Tensions
Lebanese Man, Wife and 5-Year-Old Son Killed in Venezuela
Beirut enters the 'Guinness Book' by setting a world record in the number of
flags raised within 24 hours
Kanaan from Beit Shabab: For closing money waste channels through a reform
budget, sound financial accounts
Daoud says the talk about increasing revenues from the pockets of the poor is
baseless
Geagea praises Boustani's move to curb electricity thefts
Lakkis says there is a unanimous political will to have a wellstudied,
controlled budget
Bassil: 'Balou Balaa' will become a tourist destination
Titles For The Latest English LCCC Miscellaneous Reports And News published
on April 28-29/19
Azhar Celebrates Easter with Copts, Criticizes Use of Religion in Fueling
Conflicts
Damascus, Tel Aviv Exchange ‘Goodwill’ Gestures
Egypt, Italy Discuss Illegal Migration, Counter-Terrorism Efforts
Iran says leaving nuclear treaties possible
Iran Threatens to Quit Nuclear Non-Proliferation Treaty
Iran FM Planning on Visiting North Korea
Israel Frees Two Prisoners to Syria after Russian Mediation
Hamas Leader Ready to Meet Abbas to Confront ‘Deal of the Century’
Gulf Acquisitions, Mergers Grow by 39 Percent
Saudi Royal Advisor in Khashoggi Trial No-Show
Voting Begins in Spain Election Marked by Far-Right Resurgence
Titles For The Latest LCCC English analysis & editorials from miscellaneous
sources published
on April 28-29/19
Annihilation of Christian Life and People:
Where is the Outrage in the West?Meeting Catastrophe with Indifference/Giulio
Meotti/Gatestone Institute/April 28/2019
Building up to the Sudanese Uprising/Hazem Saghieh/Asharq Al-Awsat/April 28/19
International unity a must if Iran is to change course/Baria Alamuddin/Arab
News/April 28/2019
The Latest English LCCC Lebanese & Lebanese
Related News published
on April 28-29/19
Audi Urges Absolute National Allegiance, Stresses Need for State of Economic
Emergency
Kataeb.org/Sunday 28th April 2019/Beirut Greek Orthodox
Archbishop Elias Audi on Sunday demanded the government to turn all its promises
into actions, stressing the need to declare a state of economic emergency and to
have absolute allegiance for Lebanon only. “Corruption has turned into a general
rule and squandering has become permitted," he said in his sermon during Easter
mass. “They have made Lebanon as it is today. The government has become a
miniature replica of the Parliament, all audit bodies are crippled and
accountability is obstructed," he deplored. "Now everyone has suddenly started
preaching about ending squandering after they realized that the state's collapse
will not spare anyone." “Everyone is involved in the weakening of the state and
the marginalization of laws. They all have contributed to the protection of
corruption; some obstructed the state while others hindered major deadlines or
tarnished our democratic system," he said.The Archbishop stressed that what is
needed now is less talk and more seriousness in work, calling on politicians to
put their bickering aside, to strengthen supervisory bodies and track down those
who usurped public funds. “What is needed is to limit expenses and refrain from
cutting the salaries of junior public employees who earn money through hard
work. Tax collection must be enhanced, squandering must be halted and thieves
should be prosecuted." Audi called for a "real revolution" against lies and
empty slogans, urging political and administrative reform that prevents further
degradation of political ethics and purges the Judiciary in order to make it an
independent authority that does not yield to political meddling.
Maronite Patriarch Calls for Reformist, Austere Budget
Kataeb.org/Sunday 28th April 2019/Maronite Patriarch Bechara al-Rahi on Sunday
urged the government and the Parliament to speed up the approval of a new state
budget, adding that it must control squandering and adopt austerity. "The
government must reduce its budget deficit and the parliament must modernize the
laws in order to attract investments,” he said in his Sunday sermon.
Lebanon Launches Campaign to Remove Violations on Power
Grid
Beirut - Youssef Diab/Asharq Al-Awsat/April 28/19/Lebanese Energy Minister Nada
al-Boustani accompanied on Saturday a technical team and security forces to
remove violations on the power grid in Beirut. “There is a political agreement
to support this effort,” Boustani said from the Hamra neighborhood as she kicked
off her campaign to restructure the electricity sector and eliminate violations
on the grid. “The municipality of Beirut supports a decision to tackle any
electricity theft,” she said, adding that next week, the ministry would decrease
the installation fee by more than 75 percent and allow violators to apply for a
power subscription. She said the campaign was not directed against the people,
but aims to help reduce the losses on the grid and better distribute power.
Boustani’s campaign raised several questions over its timing and whether it
would exclude areas where political parties wield significant influence. A
source close to the energy minister told Asharq Al-Awsat that the campaign was
launched after the cabinet approved a plan to restructure the power sector. The
plan includes a central article on removing violations. “The violations are not
limited to a certain area, but they are present everywhere in varying degrees. A
plan has been set to remove them all and warrants are being prepared,” added the
source. He predicted that the campaign will be a success given the political
consensus that was reached over it at cabinet and after it was agreed to remove
political protection off the violators. The campaign aims to ensure equal rights
among all people, increase tax collection and reduce the deficit at Electricite
du Liban and improve power supplies. Economy expert Dr. Sami Nader backed the
ministry’s campaign and said it would help reform the electricity sector, which
remains the first item of a list of conditions set by donor states that pledged
to help Lebanon during the CEDRE conference held in Paris last year.
Jumblat Says Shebaa Farms Maps Manipulated, Vows 'Calm'
Confrontation
Naharnet/April 28/19/Progressive Socialist Party chief ex-MP Walid Jumblat has
announced that the maps of the Israeli-occupied Shebaa Farms had been
"manipulated," amid a war of words in Lebanon over the identity of the
territory. "After this flurry of accusations and attacks, I remind that after
the liberation in 2000 I voiced the same stance, when I called for the
redeployment of the Syrian army," Jumblat tweeted, referring to his call that
Syrian forces withdraw from Beirut and Mount Lebanon towards the Bekaa. "Back
then, treason accusations were launched and today as well. There might be land
lots owned by Lebanese citizens in the Shebaa Farms, Kfarshouba and elsewhere,
but ownership is different than sovereignty, after the maps were manipulated,"
Jumblat added. And reminding that the political parties had agreed during the
2006 national dialogue to "verify the Lebanese identity of the Shebaa Farms" and
demarcate the border in coordination with the U.N., Jumblat said "the Syrian
government refused to give Lebanon papers to confirm the Farms' Lebanese
identity."He added: "This resulted in keeping sovereignty ambigous until the
moment, but we won a (Syrian) embassy (in Lebanon). This is the old new theory
about the unification of the (Lebanese and Syrian) tracks" in the negotiations
with Israel. "Is it prohibited to think and remind? Anyhow, launch treason
accusations and analyze as you wish. We will continue our path calmly and leave
the podiums of libel and slander to you," Jumblat went on to say.
PSP Reassures on Mt. Lebanon Stability amid Tensions
Naharnet/April 28/19/The Progressive Socialist Party has stressed that stability
and security in the Chouf and Aley regions remain a "red line" despite the
rising political tensions between PSP chief Walid Jumblat and his rivals. "The
escalatory stances aim to stir strife in Mount Lebanon, but had it not been for
Jumblat's efforts and wisdom in preventing his party members and supporters from
responding to provocations, we would have witnessed destabilization in Mt.
Lebanon," a PSP source told Asharq al-Awsat newspaper in remarks published
Sunday. "Mt. Lebanon's security and stability are a red line and we in the PSP
and the Democratic Gathering had demanded that security be exclusively
controlled by the Lebanese Army and legitimate security forces," the source
added. "We, in turn, lift the cover off any person, should any incidents
happen," the source went on to say, warning that some are trying to drag the PSP
into a "strife demanded by Bashar al-Assad." Tensions have surged in recent days
after Jumblat's Druze rivals criticized him over his stances on the Syrian
regime and the occupied Shebaa Farms. The situation is also tense between
Jumblat and Hizbullah in connection with the controversy over the cement factory
in Ain Dara.
Lebanese Man, Wife and 5-Year-Old Son Killed in Venezuela
Naharnet/April 28/19/A Lebanese man and his Venezuelan wife and young son of
less than 5 years old were all killed in Venezuela by a theft gang, the National
News Agency reported on Saturday. Youssef Khalil Noureddine, 26, a native of Jeb
Jennin in the Bekaa, and his family were shot dead by a gang of three-member
thieves who broke into their house in Venezuela. The victim tried to stop the
burglars but they opened gunfire killing all three. According to relatives,
Venezuelan police opened an investigation and were able to identify one of the
gangsters, said NNA.
Beirut enters the 'Guinness Book' by setting a world record in the number of
flags raised within 24 hours
Sun 28 Apr 2019/NNA - The Beirut Alive Association successfully completed its
official attempt to break the world record by the number of national flags
raised in 24 hours, thus leading to the capital's breaking of the Waterloo
record in New York and entering the "Guinness Book of World Records".
The initiative began at 9 a.m. on Saturday morning and ended at 1:30 a.m. today.
The organizers, together with a group of volunteers from the "Scouts of Makassed",
"Scouts of Lebanon", "Scouts of al-Jarrah Association" and "Auto Khaled", broke
the Waterloo 25599 record number at around 1:00 a.m. on Sunday, reaching a total
of 26852 raised Lebanese flags by 4 p.m. The event was organized under the
patronage of Prime Minister Saad Hariri, represented by MP Rola Tabsh Jaroudi,
at the Nejmeh Square in downtown Beirut, in the presence of Economic and Social
Council Member, Mohammed Al-Jouzou, the Guinness World Records Monitoring
Supervisor, Ahmed Jabr, and independent witnesses from "Al-IIttihad Law firms"
and various prominent figures.After raising the flag that broke the world
record, MP Tabsh congratulated the Beirut Alive Association for this remarkable
individual and national initiative par excellence, adorning Beirut with
thousands of Lebanese flags and entering the Book of Guinness. "Beirut said its
word today: nothing surpasses the Lebanese flag!" exclaimed Tabsh. She added:
"This flag has been raised through the blood of the nation's sons, the dignity
of its Cedars, and the pride and purity of its heart...with its colors recalling
an unforgettable history.""We are gathered today in this arena at the invitation
of the Beirut Alive Association, which is launching its first activity and
sending a message of peace from the heart of the capital to all, namely that
regardless of the extent of raised flags, there is only one flag for all people
of the nation, which is the Lebanese flag," Tabsh underscored. The President of
the Beirut Alive Association, Bakr Halawi, later received an honorary shield
from the Guinness Committee, amidst the cheers of a large crowd of citizens who
gathered at Nejmeh Square carrying the longest Lebanese flag.
Kanaan from Beit Shabab: For closing money waste channels
through a reform budget, sound financial accounts
Sun 28 Apr 2019/NNA - "Change and Reform" Parliamentary Bloc Secretary, MP
Ibrahim Kanaan, called Sunday for closing the channels of money waste through
endorsing a budget that includes the necessary reforms and sound financial
accounts. "A reform budget and sound financial accounts will allow us to rectify
our financial status, closing all channels of waste expenditure and turning the
state into electoral machines," he said. Kanaan vowed that reform would be
achieved since it is in the interest of the state and all the Lebanese. "The
mandate of President Michel Aoun is one of justice...and from this perspective,
we support righteousness without targeting any innocent side while providing no
cover for the guilty," he assured in response to a question regarding the battle
against corruption. Kanaan's words came during his meeting with partisans at the
"Free Patriotic Movement" branch in the town of Beit Shabab in the Metn region
today. Earlier in the morning, the MP attended a Mass service in the "Church of
Saint Anthony the Great" presided over by Father Badih Hajj, who raised prayers
in his religious sermon for the Lord's success and blessing of the current
presidential mandate and for Lebanon to witness a flourishing and bright future,
overcoming all its crises. Kanaan, in turn, expressed his well-wishes on the
Easter occasion, saying: "We are going through difficult conditions and the
region is on the top of a volcano...yet, with the wisdom of the President of the
Republic and the understandings we have deeply-rooted and our belief in the
country, we can spare the nation many turbulences.""We are the most stable
country in the region and our army is strong and we seek to be up to the
responsibility of improving the economy and avoiding the financial problems, so
as to prevent young citizens from migrating and so that the Lebanese would feel
the state's concern and believe in their future," Kanaan reassured."Together we
win, and divided we lose!" he underscored.
Daoud says the talk about increasing revenues from the
pockets of the poor is baseless
Sun 28 Apr 2019/NNA - "We are not willing to accept that the increase of state
revenues be from the pockets of the underprivileged and those with limited
income, nor through imposing new taxes that would impact people's livelihood and
their social and economic security, nor through tampering with the rightful
gains accorded to state employees through the wage grid," affirmed Culture
Minister, Mohammed Daoud, via his Twitter account today.
Daoud categorically denied all recent talk about such possible measures,
assuring that they have no truthful grounds whatsoever.
Geagea praises Boustani's move to curb electricity thefts
Sun 28 Apr 2019/NNA - Lebanese Forces Party Leader, Samir Gegaea, praised on
Sunday via his Twitter account the initiative of Energy Minister Nada Boustani
to curb the electricity thefts as part of a broader plan to adjust the
electricity sector. "It is an encouraging start for Minister of Energy Nada
Boustani to remove illegal wires to reduce the losses on the electricity
network," he said.
Lakkis says there is a unanimous political will to have a wellstudied,
controlled budget
Sun 28 Apr 2019/NNA - Minister of Agriculture, Hassan al-Lakkis, disclosed
Sunday that a unanimous political will exists among various constituents in the
country, especially Amal Movement, to have a well-studied, balanced and
controlled annual budget so as not to affect the social segments of low and
medium income citizens. Speaking before a number of delegations comprising
agricultural unions and social activists who visited him at his Bouday residence
earlier today, Lakkis said: "Tuesday is the first meeting to discuss the budget
and it might require some time, whereby the President has referred to the need
for holding successive sessions before transferring it [budget] to parliament
for endorsement."He confirmed the determination of various parties to reduce
money waste and public deficit, while trying to find a balance between state
revenues and expenditures. Asked about his recent Jordanian tour, Lakkis
indicated that his meetings with officials focused on the agricultural domain,
noting that he sensed their positive feedback in this respect. "The Higher
Committee has addressed a letter to the Foreign Ministry to arrange a meeting
between Jordan and Lebanon. We will meet with the Agricultural Committee at the
beginning of the month of Ramadan," he added.
Bassil: 'Balou Balaa' will become a tourist destination
Sun 28 Apr 2019/NNA - Foreign Affairs and Emigrants Minister, Gebran Bassil,
said Sunday through his Twitter account that efforts will be exerted to render "Balou
Balaa", located near the Balaa Dam, a famous tourist destination
Bassil attached to his tweet a collection of photographs taken during his visit
to the Bala'a district.
Latest LCCC English Miscellaneous Reports & News published
on April 28-29/19
Azhar Celebrates Easter with Copts, Criticizes Use of Religion in Fueling
Conflicts
Cairo - Walid Abul Rahman/Asharq Al-Awsat/April 28/19/Security
forces intensified their security measures around churches as Coptic Christians
in Egypt prepared for Easter celebrations. The Al-Azhar took part in the
celebrations, underlining coexistence and brotherhood in the country and
criticizing the exploitation of religion in fueling wars and conflicts. Prime
Minister Mustafa Madbouli sent a cable to Pope Tawadros II of Alexandria and
Patriarch of Saint Marks Diocese on Saturday, in which he promoted peace among
Egyptians. Pope Tawadros led the Easter Mass at the Coptic Orthodox Cathedral in
Abbassiya in eastern Cairo. A representative of President Abdel Fattah al-Sisi
and several ministers, ambassadors, statesmen, lawmakers and public figures
attended the event. An Azhar source told Asharq Al-Awsat that the amicable and
mutual visits between Muslims and Christians stem from the guidelines of Islam.
The source added that Azhar teaches its students that “all Abrahamic religions
have one divine source and all prophets are brothers.”Pope Tawadros received on
Saturday Al-Azhar Grand Imam Sheikh Ahmed Al-Tayeb, along with Minister of
Religious Endowments Mohamed Mokhtar Gomaa and Grand Mufti Shawki Allam who
congratulated him on the Easter holiday. Tayyeb stressed that Egypt’s values of
coexistence reflect the real meanings of religions that have brought peace to
their followers. Religions, however, are being abused to fuel wars and conflicts
around the world, he said, referring to recent deadly attacks targeting mosques
and churches in New Zealand and Sri Lanka respectively. In 2017, two bloody
attacks targeted two churches in Tanta and Alexandria that left 160 people dead
and injured. ISIS claimed responsibility for the terrorist attacks.
Damascus, Tel Aviv Exchange ‘Goodwill’ Gestures
Moscow, Beijing, London - Raed Jaber and Asharq Al-Awsat/Sunday, 28 April/
2019/A series of “goodwill gestures” emerged on Saturday between Damascus and
Tel Aviv related to a prisoner exchange. An Israeli official said Tel Aviv
decided in the past few days to release two Syrian prisoners as a goodwill
gesture after the return of the remains of Israeli soldier Zachary Baumel.
Baumel went missing during in a battle between Israeli and Syrian forces in
Sultan Yaqub during the Israeli invasion of Lebanon in 1982. His remains were
recovered by Russian forces in Syria and returned to Israel earlier this month.
A Syrian regime source told Reuters that authorities had pressured Moscow to
secure the prisoners’ release after news emerged that the Israeli soldier’s
remains were being handed over. Israel’s Prison Service identified the two
prisoners as Ahmed Khamis and Zidan Taweel. Khamis, from a Palestinian refugee
camp in Syria, was a member of the Palestinian Fatah group and was jailed in
2005 after he tried to infiltrate an Israeli military base in order to carry out
an attack. Taweel, from the Syrian Druze village of Hader, was jailed in 2008
for drug smuggling. Meanwhile, Syria’s representative to the UN, Bashar al-Jaafari
said on Saturday that “Turkey’s occupation is four times larger than Israel’s
and that Turkey’s negative attitude to Syria is thus four times worst than
Israel.” He compared the Israeli occupation of the Syrian Golan Heights to
Ankara’s “occupation” of Syrian territory in the North. He charged that Turkey
was occupying some 6,000 kms of Syrian land, encompassing Afrin and Idlib. He
also accused it of constructing 70-km wall south of Manbij to separate it from
Aleppo and imposing a Turkish curriculum at schools.
Egypt, Italy Discuss Illegal Migration, Counter-Terrorism Efforts
Cairo - Asharq Al-Awsat/Sunday, 28 April, 2019/Egyptian President Abdel Fattah
al-Sisi discussed with Italian Prime Minister Giuseppe Conte cooperation to
address illegal migration. According to Ambassador Bassam Radi, spokesman for
the Egyptian presidency, Sisi received Conte at his residence in Beijing on the
sidelines of the Chinese Belt and Road project, where they discussed a number of
joint issues. They discussed coordination in combating terrorism and illegal
migration with Sisi stressing that the government’s efforts stem from its
responsibility towards the security and stability of the Egyptian people, as
well as the stability of the region. Sisi and Conte also tackled several
regional files, starting with the Libyan crisis. The Egyptian leader underlined
the importance of a comprehensive political solution in Libya, to preserve the
unity of the country and its territorial integrity, said Radi. The solution will
help restore the role of the state’s institutions and help eliminate terrorism,
he added.
Iran says leaving nuclear treaties possible
Arab News/April 28/19/DUBAI/TEHRAN: Quitting a treaty designed to stop the
spread of nuclear weapons is one of Iran’s “numerous choices” after the United
States tightened sanctions on Tehran, Iranian Foreign Minister Mohammad Javad
Zarif was quoted saying by state media on Sunday.
Washington has decided not to renew exemptions from US sanctions to buyers of
Iranian oil, in an effort to cut Iran’s vital oil exports to zero.“The Islamic
Republic’s choices are numerous, and the country’s authorities are considering
them... and leaving NPT (nuclear Non-Proliferation Treaty) is one of them,”
state broadcaster IRIB’s website quoted Zarif as saying. Meanwhile, Zarif
said he will visit North Korea as both countries struggle under US sanctions.
Iran’s official IRNA news agency quoted him saying that the visit is being
planned and a date will be announced soon.
The United States has ramped up sanctions on Iran since President Donald Trump
withdrew from its 2015 nuclear accord with world powers last year. The US has
tightened sanctions on North Korea to try to persuade it to give up its nuclear
weapons. An Iranian parliamentary delegation visited North Korea in December,
and North Korea’s top diplomat, Ri Yong Ho, visited Iran in August.
Iran Threatens to Quit Nuclear Non-Proliferation Treaty
Asharq Al-Awsat/Sunday, 28 April, 2019/Iran threatened on Sunday to withdraw
from the nuclear Non-Proliferation Treaty (NPT) in response to the United States
tightening sanctions on Tehran. Iran’s “choices are numerous, and the country’s
authorities are considering them ... and leaving NPT is one of them,” state
broadcaster IRIB’s website quoted Foreign Minister Mohammad Javad Zarif as
saying. Tensions between Tehran and Washington have risen since the Trump
administration withdrew last year from a 2015 international nuclear deal with
Iran and began ratcheting up sanctions. Earlier this month, the United States
blacklisted Iran’s Revolutionary Guards (IRGC) and demanded buyers of Iranian
oil stop purchases by May or face sanctions. Iran has threatened in the past to
leave the NPT, as US President Donald Trump moved to scrap the 2015 deal with
world powers - the United States, Russia, China, Germany, Britain and France. On
Wednesday, Zarif called the IRGC blacklisting “absurd”, but suggested Iran did
not plan to respond militarily unless the United States changed the rules of
engagement guiding how it interacts with Iran’s forces. The US military has not
suggested it would alter its behavior after the blacklisting.
Iran FM Planning on Visiting North Korea
Asharq Al-Awsat/Sunday, 28 April, 2019/Iran announced that Foreign Minister
Mohammed Javad Zarif was planning on making a visit to North Korea, state
television reported Sunday. “The date of this trip will be set and announced
soon,” Iran television quoted Zarif as saying. It gave no further details. North
Korea’s top diplomat, Ri Yong Ho, whose country faces international and US
sanctions, visited Iran in August as the United States reintroduced sanctions
against Tehran.
Israel Frees Two Prisoners to Syria after Russian Mediation
Reuters/Sunday 28th April 2019/Israel released two prisoners on Sunday, sending
them back to Syria in what Damascus described as Russian-mediated reciprocation
for the repatriation of the body of a long-missing Israeli soldier. Russia, a
key Damascus ally, this month handed Israel the remains and personal effects of
Zachary Baumel, who was declared missing in action along with two other Israeli
soldiers following a 1982 tank battle with Syrian forces in Lebanon. A Syrian
government source said Damascus then pressured Moscow to secure a prisoner
release by Israel. There was no immediate comment on Sunday from Russia. The
Israeli military said in a statement that two prisoners were transferred to the
International Committee of the Red Cross at Quneitra crossing on the armistice
line with the Syrian Golan Heights. The Israeli military statement described the
two men as Syrians. Israel’s Prisons Service identified them as Ahmed Khamis,
from a Palestinian refugee camp near Damascus, and Zidan Taweel, from the Syrian
Druze village of Hader. Khamis was a member of the Fatah faction who was jailed
in 2005 after trying to attack an Israeli army base, and Taweel was jailed in
2008 for drug smuggling, the Prisons Service said. Israel’s minister for
regional cooperation, Tzachi Hanegbi, said the prisoner release did not
constitute a swap with Syria, an enemy state. But he voiced hope that it might
help with the recovery of other Israelis lost to the Syrians in past wars. “If
with a gesture like this we leave the Syrians with less of a sour taste, then
that is a positive thing,” he told Israel’s Army Radio.
Hamas Leader Ready to Meet Abbas to Confront ‘Deal of the
Century’
Ramallah - Kifah Zboun/Asharq Al-Awsat/April 28/19/Hamas leader Ismail Haniyeh
said he was ready to hold a quick meeting with Palestinian President Mahmoud
Abbas in order to restore national unity to confront the “deal of the century”
US peace proposal. During a national conference on countering the proposal, he
said that if required, he is ready to hold meetings with the Fatah leadership,
headed by Abbas. “In Gaza... or Cairo... or anywhere. We are ready,” he
stressed. “Hamas has no veto on any meeting that would ensure unity and end the
division in order to provide elements of perseverance and confrontation against
the deal of the century,” Haniyeh explained. “Reconciliation and unity are
urgent demands... We don’t want an alternative to the Palestinian Liberation
Organization (PLO),” he added. Haniyeh’s remarks on the PLO were in response to
previous accusations by its officials against Hamas.PLO officials had previously
said that the movement was seeking to form an alternative to the organization.
It had called on all Palestinian factions to boycott a supreme body that Hamas
has been trying to form on the pretext of confronting the deal of the century.
Earlier this week, Hamas announced it would be forming a supreme national
committee to confront the yet undisclosed US peace plan. The council would
include national, regional, and international players. “We are working to
confront the deal of the century and we want to achieve real national unity that
respects all the Palestinians,” Hamas politburo member Salah al-Bardaweel said
Tuesday. In his remarks, Haniyeh insisted that in order to reject and confront
the deal, Palestinians must reach consensus on “the vision of a national
strategy.”The strategy will call for quitting the Oslo Accords, restoring
national unity through specific steps and launching popular movements throughout
Palestinian territories to reiterate their rejection of the proposal. It also
calls for bolstering support and contacts with the entire world to stand against
this suspicious deal, he explained. “The people are determined to protect the
Palestinian cause against all dangers and challenges, especially the deal of the
century, no matter the costs and sacrifices,” he stressed. However, Haniyeh’s
call was met with skepticism by the Fatah leadership. A Fatah official said
Abbas does not need an invitation from anyone because he was the first to
confront the deal and the only one who has been standing against it until this
day. “If Hamas wanted to counter the deal, it must implement the reconciliation
agreement immediately and without delay,” the official told Asharq Al-Awsat,
adding that the movement was helping in fulfilling the US deal through its
prolonging of Palestinian division. Washington is expected to announce its
controversial peace deal after the holy fasting month of Ramadan, which ends in
June.
Gulf Acquisitions, Mergers Grow by 39 Percent
London - Mutlaq Muneer/Asharq Al-Awsat/April 28/19/The number of merger and
acquisition deals (M&As) in the Gulf Cooperation Council (GCC) grew 39 percent
year-on-year during the first quarter of 2019, according to a report released by
Kuwait Financial Center (MARKAZ) on Saturday. The Saudi market topped the
Arabian Gulf markets in terms of M&As in Q1-19, in which the sector witnessed
Aramco's 70 percent acquisition of SABIC in a deal worth USD69.1 billion. In
January, the Kuwait Finance House (KFH) said it gave initial approval for the
average of stock exchange with AUB Bahrain at a rate of 2.33 shares of AUB’s in
return for one share in KFH, added the report. Abu Dhabi Commercial Bank (ADCB),
listed on Abu Dhabi Securities Exchange (ADX), announced last month that its
general assembly approved its merger with Union National Bank (UNB).
Italy’s Eni and Austria’s OMV will collectively acquire a 35 percent stake in
ADNOC Refining for an estimated USD5.8 billion, whereby ADNOC will retain the
remaining 65 percent stake in the company. KKR and BlackRock have acquired a 40
percent stake in ADNOC Oil Pipelines, an entity that will lease ADNOC’s interest
in 18 pipelines for 23 years. GCC acquirers accounted for 60 percent of the
total number of transactions during Q1 2019 and 75 percent during Q4 2018.
Foreign acquirers accounted for 34 percent of the total number of transactions
during Q1 2019 and 17 percent during Q4 2018. Buyer information was not
available for 6 percent of the transactions in Q1 2019. Each of the GCC
acquirers seemed to have a different appetite with regards to M&A transactions
during Q1 2019. Kuwaiti acquirers preferred investing in their home country.
Saudi acquirers mostly invested in their home country and equally between other
GCC countries and outside the GCC. UAE acquirers mostly invested outside the GCC
and within their home country. Bahraini acquirers only invested outside the GCC.
Qatari and Omani acquirers each engaged in one acquisition in their respective
countries.
Q1 2019 witnessed a 70 percent increase in the number of completed transactions
by foreign buyers compared to Q1 2018. In comparison to Q4 2018, the number of
such transactions grew by 89 percent. UAE targets represented 71 percent of the
closed transactions by foreign acquirers during Q1 2019, while Saudi Arabia and
Kuwait represented 23 percent and 6 percent respectively of the transactions
during the same period. Bahraini, Omani and Qatari targets did not attract any
foreign buyers during Q1 2019. As per MARKAZ’s report, the industrial, financial
and consumer sectors in the GCC accounted for 62 percent of M&As in the region
during the first three months of 2019. The media, insurance, telecommunication
services and aviation sectors each accounted for 2 percent of the total closed
transactions during Q1 2019, collectively amounting to 8 percent of the
transactions during the period. There was a total of 14 announced transactions
in the pipeline during Q1 2019, representing a 27 percent increase in the number
of announced transactions compared to Q4 2018. UAE and Saudi Arabia collectively
accounted for 79 percent of the announced transactions during Q1 2019. Oman and
Qatar made up 21 percent of the announced transactions.
Saudi Royal Advisor in Khashoggi Trial No-Show
Agence France Presse/Naharnet/April 28/19/Two top Saudi royal advisors have been
linked to journalist Jamal Khashoggi's murder. One has been labeled the
"ringleader" but questions are swirling over the absence of the other in the
closed-door trial of 11 suspects, multiple sources told AFP. Saudi prosecutors
have said deputy intelligence chief Ahmed al-Assiri oversaw the Washington Post
columnist's killing in the kingdom's Istanbul consulate last October and that he
was advised by the royal court's media czar Saud al-Qahtani. Both aides were
part of Crown Prince Mohammed bin Salman's tight-knit inner circle and have
formally been sacked over the killing but only Assiri has appeared in the five
court hearings since January, according to four Western officials privy to the
information. "Qahtani is not among the 11 facing trial," one of the officials
told AFP. "What does his absence mean? Are the Saudis keen to protect him or
discipline him separately? No one knows."The kingdom's public prosecutor last
November indicted 11 unnamed suspects, including five who could face the death
penalty over the murder. Diplomats from the U.N. Security Council's permanent
members –- the U.S., Britain, France, China, Russia –- as well as Turkey are
allowed to attend as observers of the legal proceedings that are held entirely
in Arabic. They are not allowed to bring interpreters and are usually summoned
at short notice, the sources said. A representative of the Khashoggi family –-
which this month rejected reports of a settlement with the Saudi government –-
has attended at least one court session, they said. Maher Mutreb, an
intelligence operative who frequently traveled with the crown prince on foreign
tours, forensic expert Salah al-Tubaigy and Fahad al-Balawi, a member of the
Saudi royal guard, are among the 11 on trial who could face the death penalty,
the officials said. The defendants are allowed legal counsel. Many of them have
defended themselves in court by saying they were carrying out orders by Assiri,
describing him as the "ringleader" of the operation, according to the officials.
The kingdom's media ministry did not respond to AFP's request for comment. The
defendants' lawyers could also not be reached.
- Where is Qahtani? -
Assiri, lionized in Saudi military ranks as a war hero, does not face the death
penalty, the Western officials added. Believed to have previously worked closely
with U.S. intelligence, he is also not named in two American sanctions lists of
Saudis implicated in the murder. Qahtani, who led fiery social media campaigns
against critics of the kingdom and was seen as a conduit to the crown prince, is
on both lists. He met the Saudi hit squad team before they left for Turkey to
share "useful information related to the mission based on his specialisation in
media," according to the Saudi prosecutor's office.
But he has not appeared publicly since the murder and his current whereabouts
are a subject of fevered speculation. Some Saudis claim he continues to peddle
influence behind the scenes, but others say he is lying low, waiting for the
international outrage over the murder to subside. Washington Post columnist
David Ignatius reported earlier this year that Prince Mohammed continues to seek
his counsel, citing U.S. and Saudi sources. "Qahtani holds a lot of files and
dossiers," Ignatius quoted one American who met the crown prince as saying."The
idea that you can have a radical rupture with him is unrealistic."
Lack of transparency
U.S. Secretary of State Mike Pompeo, who faces intense scrutiny in Congress over
Washington's close relations with Riyadh, has urged the crown prince to snap his
ties with Qahtani, two Western officials told AFP. The CIA has reportedly said
the murder was likely ordered by Prince Mohammed, the de facto ruler and heir to
the throne. Saudi authorities strongly deny the allegation, and in private
conversations with Western officials they have instead criticized Turkish
authorities for failing to stop the murder. "Their intelligence knew that a
(Saudi) hit squad was coming. They could have stopped them!" one of them quoted
a Saudi official as saying. Turkish officials were the first to report
Khashoggi's murder and have continued to press Saudi Arabia for information on
the whereabouts of his dismembered body, which has yet to be found. Agnes
Callamard, the United Nations special rapporteur conducting an independent
inquiry into the killing, last month condemned what she called a lack of
transparency in the legal proceedings and demanded an open trial. The kingdom
"is grievously mistaken if it believes that these proceedings, as currently
constituted, will satisfy the international community," she said.
It was unclear when the Saudi trial will conclude. This month, a coalition of
seven international human rights and press freedom groups called on Britain,
France, and the U.S. to issue public reports on the trial. Secret trial
proceedings "run the risk of enabling the authorities in Riyadh to find a set of
individuals guilty, without due process, while whitewashing the possible
involvement of the highest levels of the Saudi government," the coalition said
in an open letter.
Voting Begins in Spain Election Marked by Far-Right
Resurgence
Agence France Presse/Naharnet/April 28/19/Spaniards began voting in an uncertain
snap general election Sunday marked by a resurgence of the far-right after more
than four decades on the outer margins of politics. Opinion polls give outgoing
Socialist Prime Minister Pedro Sanchez a win but without the necessary majority
to govern alone, meaning he will have to seek alliances in a political
environment that has soured since Catalonia's failed secession bid. Polling
stations opened at 9:00 am (0700 GMT) and will close at 8:00 pm (1800 GMT), with
results announced later Sunday.
Latest LCCC English analysis & editorials from miscellaneous sources published
on April 28-29/19
Annihilation of Christian Life and People: Where is the
Outrage in the West?
Meeting Catastrophe with Indifference
جوليو ميوتي/معهد جيتستون: إبادة الحياة المسيحية والشعوب: أين الغضب في الغرب؟
التقاء الكارثة مع اللامبالاة
Giulio Meotti/Gatestone Institute/April 28/2019
http://eliasbejjaninews.com/archives/74308/%D8%AC%D9%88%D9%84%D9%8A%D9%88-%D9%85%D9%8A%D9%88%D8%AA%D9%8A-%D9%85%D8%B9%D9%87%D8%AF-%D8%AC%D9%8A%D8%AA%D8%B3%D8%AA%D9%88%D9%86-%D8%A5%D8%A8%D8%A7%D8%AF%D8%A9-%D8%A7%D9%84%D8%AD%D9%8A%D8%A7%D8%A9/
https://www.gatestoneinstitute.org/14142/annihilation-christian-life
Islamic extremists have seen that the West has not mobilized to prevent them
from repressing Christians, as if unconsciously there were a strange convergence
between our silence and the ethnic cleansing project of the Islamic State, aimed
at erasing Christians.
"Religious liberty, the core value of western civilisation, is being destroyed
across large parts of the world. Yet the West, myopically denying this religious
war, is averting its gaze..." — Melanie Phillips, British journalist, The Times,
November 17, 2014.
The Duke of Cambridge, Prince William, just visited the Muslim survivors of the
attack on the mosques in Christchurch, New Zealand. Why does the same compassion
not spur the British royal family to stop in Sri Lanka, their former colony, to
meet the Christian survivors, before going back to England?
The appeal of Asia Bibi's daughters to help her mother met a deaf West. The UK
refused to offer asylum to this persecuted Pakistani Christian family.
Sri Lanka after the jihadist massacre of Christians is not just a terrible
succession of crying mothers and little coffins. Unfortunately, it also tells us
a lot about the discouraging state of the West.
"Where is the solidarity for the Sri Lanka's Christians?" asked the British
scholar Rakib Ehsan, a Muslim.
"The differences in tone and nature between the condemnations of the
Christchurch and Sri Lanka terrorist attacks are striking. After Christchurch,
there was no hesitation about stating the religious backgrounds of the victims
and directing emotion and affection towards Muslim communities. Politicians took
no issue with categorising the events in Christchurch as terrorism.
"In contrast, the words 'terrorism' and 'Christianity', along with their
associated terms, have so far failed to feature in much of the reaction to the
attacks in Sri Lanka.
"What is evident is not only a clear reluctance to specify the religious
background of Christians who were killed in Sri Lanka, but also an absence of
heartfelt solidarity with Christian communities across the world, which continue
to suffer grave forms of persecution on the grounds of their faith."
Rakib Ehsan asked the right question. But it might be rewritten as: Where is the
Western solidarity for the Sri Lanka's murdered Christians?
This is a drama in three acts. The first act consists of the Christians and
other non-Muslim indigenous peoples being violated and murdered. The second act
consists of Muslim extremists who create this genocide. And the third act
consists of the indifferent West, which looks everywhere else.
The number of murdered victims in the April 21 Easter Sunday jihadist attacks in
Sri Lanka is too terrible even to think about: 253 dead. Among the victims, 45
children were murdered. Their small faces and stories have begun to emerge. The
Islamic terrorists knew there were many children in the three churches, and they
deliberately targeted them with their bombs. Footage shows one of the bombers
patting a young child on the head before he enters the St. Sebastian's Church in
Negombo, where "everyone has lost someone".
The Fernando family had taken a photograph at the baptism of their third child,
Seth. In Negombo they were all buried together. Father, mother and three
children aged 6, 4, and 11 months. According to the New York Times:
"Fabiola Fernando, 6, was an elementary school student. In a photo posted to her
mother's Facebook page, she showed off a gold medal, a small smile on her face.
Leona Fernando, 4, the middle child in her family, was learning to read and was
holding a copy of "Sleeping Beauty" in the picture. Seth Fernando, 11 months,
was the newest addition to the Fernando family. He was buried alongside his
parents and two sisters."
The silence of the Western intellectual world and the media is particularly
deafening. The new humanitarian conscience seems to see only two groups: those
who have the right to the compassion and protection of the international
community, and those, such as Christians, unworthy of help or solidarity.
The deliberate murder of an 8-month-old baby, Matthew, in a Sri Lankan church
apparently did not upset or chill the West, did not go viral on social media,
did not to become a hashtag, did not to push the Europeans to crowd into their
public squares, did not press the Islamic world to examine its conscience, did
not to induce Western politicians and opinion-makers seriously to reflect on who
killed that child, or on those who foment and finance the Islamist
anti-Christian hatred.
Sudesh Kolonne was waiting outside St. Sebastian's Church when he heard the
blast. He then ran inside and searched for his wife and daughter. It took him a
half hour to find their bodies.
The attacks also killed three children of a Danish billionaire. Another woman
lost her daughter, son, husband, sister-in-law and two nieces. A British father
had to make a choice over which of his two children to save. Another British
family was destroyed. To add horror to horror, the pregnant wife of one of the
terrorists, when police raided her home, detonated a suicide vest, killing her
own children.
The Duke of Cambridge, Prince William, just visited the Muslim survivors of the
attack on the mosques in Christchurch, New Zealand, including children
recovering in the hospitals. It was a gesture of humanity and compassion. Why
does the same compassion not spur the British royal family to stop in Sri Lanka,
their former colony, to meet the Christian survivors, before going back to
England? Entire Christian families were decimated in the attack.
Where is the outrage in the West for the annihilation of Christian life and
people? It feels as if there is no indignation, only silence, interrupted by
bombs and "Allahu Akbar". The history books of the future will not condone this
Western betrayal. If the West had taken seriously the persecutions of
Christians, now the bell would not toll for the death of the Christian presence
-- not only in historic lands of Christianity, but also for the West. Islamic
extremists have seen that the West has not mobilized to prevent them from
repressing Christians, as if unconsciously there were a strange convergence
between our silence and the ethnic cleansing project of the Islamic State, aimed
at erasing Christians.
The British author Melanie Phillips has called this persecution of Christians
"our guilty secret."
"Religious liberty, the core value of western civilisation, is being destroyed
across large parts of the world. Yet the West, myopically denying this religious
war, is averting its gaze from the destruction of its foundational creed in the
Middle East and the attempt to eradicate it elsewhere. It is therefore no
surprise that, faced with jihadist barbarities abroad and cultural inroads at
home, the free world is proving so ineffectual".
The jihadist attack in Sri Lanka was not only "the deadliest attack on
Christians in South Asia in recent memory." It was also the largest massacre of
Christian children. But no newspaper has launched a campaign to raise awareness
of European public opinion, no pro-Christian solidarity movement has arisen, no
Western leader appears to have visited a church in solidarity, no Western church
leaders had the courage to point out the culprits by calling them by name, no
Western mayors hung photographs of the 45 children torn to pieces, no public
square was filled in thousands saying "Je suis chrétien".
A few years ago, at the height of the migrant crisis in Europe, a photograph
conquered public opinion in the West. It was the famous picture of the
three-year-old Syrian boy, Alan Kurdi, who drowned off the coast of Bodrum,
Turkey. That little migrant moved the West. His image went viral. The New York
Times called it "Aylan Kurdi's Europe".
"For historical reasons, Angela Merkel feared images of armed German police
confronting civilians on our borders," wrote Robin Alexander, Die Welt's leading
journalist, in his book, Die Getriebenen ("The Driven Ones"). If photographs of
migrant children spurred Europe's leaders to open their borders, the photographs
of murdered Christian children -- such as the 45 in Sri Lanka -- apparently left
them indifferent.
The appeal of Asia Bibi's daughters to help her mother met a deaf West. The UK
refused to offer asylum to this Pakistani Christian family and take persecuted
Christians.
"It is with indifference that we witness a catastrophe of civilization with no
precedent", wrote the French scholar historian Jean-François Colosimo,
commenting on the destruction of Eastern Christianity. No religion, no
community, is today more persecuted than Christians. Why, then, this silence by
the West? Have we become so foreign to ourselves, to our roots and to our
history, that we can contemplate this outbreak of jihadi violence without
blinking an eye? Or are we so short-sighted that we hoped to buy "peace" with
the Muslim extremists at the cost of abandoning those Christians? The same
jihadi ideology that murdered Christian children in Sri Lanka, targeted European
children in Nice, Manchester and Barcelona.
Sri Lanka after the massacre is not just a terrible succession of crying mothers
and little coffins. Unfortunately, it also tells us a lot about the discouraging
state of the West.
*Giulio Meotti, Cultural Editor for Il Foglio, is an Italian journalist and
author.
© 2019 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.
Building up to the Sudanese Uprising
Hazem Saghieh/Asharq Al-Awsat/April 28/19
The late 1950s marked a landmark period in the politicization of Arab officers.
In 1957, Ali Abu Nuwar carried out a failed Nasserite-inspired coup. In 1958,
Syrian officers headed to Cairo without the knowledge of the president,
government or parliament. There, they agreed with Gamal Abdel Nasser to impose a
status quo called “unity.” Abdul Karim Qasim and Abdul Salam Arif also staged a
coup in Iraq to overthrow the monarchy.
The situation was different in Sudan. Ibrahim Abboud’s 1958 coup, two years
after independence, was not driven by an ideology. It was more of a professional
or “career” coup. It stemmed from the political parties’ failure to reach
consensus under the government of Prime Minister Abdallah Khalil. Partisan life
came to a halt and political leaders, including Khalil, were exiled to Juba. The
army was stripped of its powers, workers unions were dissolved and strikes were
banned.
The coup, which on paper was opposed to democracy, never ideologized itself. It
did not change economic and social policies and did not demand Arab unity. It
was helped by Sudan’s six-decade union with Egypt. It surmised that the union
was similar to being ruled by the Ottomans and later the British.
As the Mahdi supporters advocated for Sudan’s independence, the Khatmi
supporters made due with maintaining friendly relations with Egypt, especially
since Abdel Nasser had a greater appetite than his predecessors. Gaafar Nimeiry,
who seized power in 1969, appeared at first glance, different than his
predecessors. He touted himself as a Nasserite who was allied to the communists.
He sought to replicate the example of the Soviet Union in Khartoum and even
started to work on reforms. That first glance turned out to be very short. Abdel
Nasser passed away soon after and media circulated a now famous photograph of
Nimeiry crying at his funeral in Cairo. However, no sooner had Anwar al-Sadat
turned against the Nasserites, that Nimeiry followed suit. When the Arab League
suspended Egypt’s membership in protest against the Camp David Accords, Sudan
was one of the few countries that did not sever ties with it.
Another push towards ideologization was the dispute with the Communist Party
after officer Hashem al Atta’s coup in 1971, which was aborted by Libyan
intervention. At the time, Communist Party leader Abdel Khaliq Mahjub and union
leader Ahmed al-Sheikh were executed and communism was declared a crime.
Military rulers have since learned from the experience and avoided importing the
Soviet example that had pervaded other Arab countries that were ruled by the
military.
The regime in Sudan therefore, remained less capable of justifying itself.
Omar al-Bashir, who seized power in 1989, also appeared ideologized. He was
however, simply an Islamist officer who ruled by day, while his cleric Hassan
al-Turabi ruled by night. At the latter’s behest, Khartoum became a hotbed for
radical and terrorist groups. Ousama bin Laden even resided there between 1990
and 1996.
This reality did not last. The military officer soon rebelled against his
religious mentor. A dispute erupted between them in 1999 and in 2000, Turabi was
detained according to a warrant signed by his Popular Congress Party and Sudan
People's Liberation Movement in the South.
The major turning point took place in the South. In 2011, Bashir agreed to hold
a referendum even though he knew that the residents would vote in favor of
secession, which is what happened. It was a landmark development that could have
turned Bashir into a glorious historic leader had he recognized the southerners’
right to determine their own fate. Of course, it was not to be. The real reason
for his referendum was to get rid of the “burden” of religious and ethnic
belligerents and US sanctions. The vote cost Sudan more than two thirds of its
oil wealth.
The above-mention military officers enjoyed a common characteristic. When they
ran out of ideas and plans, which was often, they usually turned to the South in
an effort to “Arabize” and “Islamicize” it. Millions of people have been killed
in the ensuing unrest, add to that famine and displacement. Other wars - in
Darfur to the West and southern Kordofan and Blue Nile - soon compounded the
misery. The atrocities amounted to crimes against humanity.
All of the above reflects the “futility of evil” that the Sudanese people have
repeatedly risen up against and are again doing so today.
International unity a must if Iran is to change course
Baria Alamuddin/Arab News/April 28/2019
People often express bemusement to me about why Iran behaves the way it does:
The embroilment in terrorism and militancy, past attempts to build a nuclear
bomb, the way it treats its own people, and so on. Even compared to other pariah
states, Tehran’s behavior is in a league of its own.
There was a fresh reminder of this unacceptable behavior last week, when Iran’s
foreign minister offered a prisoner swap (which was promptly withdrawn) for
Nazanin Zaghari-Ratcliffe, a dual national British-Iranian mum who has been
detained for three years simply because this criminal regime routinely locks up
foreign nationals for political leverage. Further emphasizing Iran’s outlandish
world view, incoming Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps (IRGC) commander Hossein
Salami declared: “The Quds Force of the Iranian Revolutionary Guards has crossed
mountains and plains to end America’s dominance in the Eastern Mediterranean,
and reached the Red Sea, and turned the Islamic land to land of jihad… We have
to expand our capabilities from the region to the world, so the enemy has no
safe point.”
This statement encapsulates the aspirations behind Iranian expansionism; not
just idle meddling in neighboring states, but aggressively exploiting its
paramilitary assets to destabilize the existing international order. While
normal states measure their success on the wellbeing of their citizens, the
Islamic regime has, since 1979, sacrificed the welfare of its people in its
grandiose delusions of confronting the civilized world.
Iran likes its paramilitary strategy because it is relatively cheap. Tehran
tossed impoverished Afghans and Pakistanis into the Syrian frontlines for a
fraction of the cost required to mobilize a standing army. Tehran’s Iraqi
proxies are on the state payroll and, although Hezbollah enjoys relatively
generous Iranian funding, this is supplemented by a complex assortment of
criminal activities. Nevertheless, because of the sheer scale of these
paramilitary forces across multiple states, a high proportion of Tehran’s state
budget is military spending. Yet the accumulated wealth of entities like the
IRGC and leading regime figures is immense, with Ayatollah Ali Khamenei
personally estimated to control between $100 and $200 billion. Paramilitary
proxies are a versatile tool that can be deployed wherever the Islamic Republic
desires. During Iran’s recent flooding crisis, the authorities invited in
hundreds of Iraqi militants to deter any localized unrest, arousing anger among
citizens, who found this Iraqi import an even greater inconvenience than the
flood waters.
The Iranian regime has, since 1979, sacrificed the welfare of its people in its
grandiose delusions of confronting the civilized world.
Western journalists warn that the Trump administration’s policies are locking it
in to a path toward war. Trump the parochial isolationist clearly doesn’t desire
this scenario, though senior hawks like John Bolton may think otherwise.
Escalatory words and actions are likewise putting Iran on a course for
confrontation. Tehran may be able to use its transnational paramilitary
capabilities for menacing citizens in failed states like Yemen and Syria, but
Iran wouldn’t last five minutes in a straight fight with the US, and probably
wouldn’t fare much better in a direct clash with Israel.
Indeed, these multinational paramilitary armies are ultimately available as an
iron shield in defense of the Iranian homeland if Tehran’s enemies threaten it
directly. Nevertheless, Iran’s paramilitary approach means that such a war would
be fought across the wider Middle East, causing untold casualties and
destruction. Iran’s leaders may have megalomaniacal globe-straddling ambitions,
but in reality they have only succeeded in dominating states already broken by
civil conflict.
Yet is the American strategy any more realistic? The approach delineated by Mike
Pompeo and Bolton demands nothing less than total surrender. The aspiration to
reduce Iran’s oil exports to “zero” enjoys limited prospects while Europe is
busy devising a mechanism to allow Iran to evade sanctions and major states like
China and India appear determined to continue importing Iranian oil. Oil experts
suggest that Donald Trump is in denial that such a strategy won’t have a sharp
upward impact on prices. Iran’s Foreign Minister Mohammed Javad Zarif last week
boasted: “We have a Ph.D. in sanctions busting.” Zarif knows what he’s talking
about here: Iran has copious experience of illegal oil smuggling methods, and
there are a plethora of Asian banks and traders with minimal US exposure that
are willing to take the lucrative risks, not to mention the circumvention
opportunities offered by Tehran’s assets in Iraq, Syria and Lebanon.
Short of regional war and full-blown regime change (which may indeed be what
Bolton and Pompeo seek), the US goal has to be forcing Tehran back to the
negotiating table, which there is currently scant prospect of. Tehran’s
ayatollahs thrive on confrontation and are willing to inflict far greater levels
of economic pain on their long-suffering citizens before considering any change
of course, particularly as they hope to wait out Trump in the expectation of new
US leadership after 2020. Successful bouts of international pressure against
Iran (for example, the UN sanctions packages imposed between 2006 and 2009)
required multilateral approval and included incentives as well as threats. It is
difficult to see that unilateral US measures can ever be fully efficacious,
particularly if, for Trump, vacuous posturing and tough rhetoric are desirable
ends in themselves. In the absence of any strategic road map and tangible
endgame, current measures simply provoke Tehran into ever more bellicose
responses. Iranian proxies are already aggressively expanding into eastern Syria
as American forces withdraw, undermining the White House narrative that its
strategy is working.
Both Moscow and Beijing enjoy exploiting Iran as a thorn in America’s side, but
Tehran’s growing dominance in Central Asia and the Middle East obstructs the
interests of these two global powers. If there is to be any hope of forcing Iran
to change course, the US must ditch its unilateral instincts and entice global
powers to support its agenda. Leading nations must, meanwhile, acknowledge that
Iranian aggression threatens their own strategic interests. In the absence of
international unity, Tehran will continue sponsoring foreign militants in the
belief that this makes it stronger. Tehran is willing to tolerate sanctions and
angry, impoverished citizens because it believes that it derives strength from
confrontation. Until they are actually forced to change course, the ayatollahs
will continue believing that they are winning.
*Baria Alamuddin is an award-winning journalist and broadcaster in the Middle
East and the UK. She is editor of the Media Services Syndicate and has
interviewed numerous heads of state.