English LCCC Newsbulletin For
Lebanese, Lebanese Related, Global News & Editorials
For April 14/2022
Compiled & Prepared by: Elias Bejjani
#elias_bejjani_news
The Bulletin's Link on the lccc Site
http://eliasbejjaninews.com/aaaanewsfor2021/english.april14.22.htm
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Bible Quotations For today
Jesus Shares His Desciples The Passover
Meal: For the Son of Man is going as it has been determined, but woe to that one
by whom he is betrayed
Holy Gospel of Jesus Christ according to Saint
Luke 22/01-23./:”The festival of Unleavened Bread, which is called the Passover,
was near. The chief priests and the scribes were looking for a way to put Jesus
to death, for they were afraid of the people. Then Satan entered into Judas
called Iscariot, who was one of the twelve; he went away and conferred with the
chief priests and officers of the temple police about how he might betray him to
them. They were greatly pleased and agreed to give him money. So he consented
and began to look for an opportunity to betray him to them when no crowd was
present. Then came the day of Unleavened Bread, on which the Passover lamb had
to be sacrificed.So Jesus sent Peter and John, saying, ‘Go and prepare the
Passover meal for us that we may eat it.’They asked him, ‘Where do you want us
to make preparations for it?’ ‘Listen,’ he said to them, ‘when you have entered
the city, a man carrying a jar of water will meet you; follow him into the house
he enters and say to the owner of the house, “The teacher asks you, ‘Where is
the guest room, where I may eat the Passover with my disciples?’ ” He will show
you a large room upstairs, already furnished. Make preparations for us there.’So
they went and found everything as he had told them; and they prepared the
Passover meal. When the hour came, he took his place at the table, and the
apostles with him. He said to them, ‘I have eagerly desired to eat this Passover
with you before I suffer; for I tell you, I will not eat it until it is
fulfilled in the kingdom of God.’ Then he took a cup, and after giving thanks he
said, ‘Take this and divide it among yourselves; for I tell you that from now on
I will not drink of the fruit of the vine until the kingdom of God comes.’ Then
he took a loaf of bread, and when he had given thanks, he broke it and gave it
to them, saying, ‘This is my body, which is given for you. Do this in
remembrance of me.’ And he did the same with the cup after supper, saying, ‘This
cup that is poured out for you is the new covenant in my blood. But see, the one
who betrays me is with me, and his hand is on the table. For the Son of Man is
going as it has been determined, but woe to that one by whom he is
betrayed!’Then they began to ask one another which one of them it could be who
would do this.
Titles For The Latest English LCCC Lebanese & Lebanese Related News & Editorials
published on April 13-14/2022
Thursday of the Holy Mysteries & the Last Supper: Rituals, Traditions,
Values & PrinciplesظElias Bejjani/April 14/2022
US report on Lebanon cites political interference with courts, widespread
official corruption
Lebanese remember civil war, as families of 'disappeared' still ask for justice
Bukhari holds talks with Aoun in Baabda
Court of Cassation dismisses one of recusal requests against Bitar
Kuwait envoy says ambassadors return indicates success of Kuwaiti initiative
UNIFIL patrol intercepted by residents in Blida
Lebanese athletes launch #TheUrbanAthletePodcast, in collaboration with UNIC
Geagea says 'Hizbullah disarmament, neutrality, reforms' in LF's electoral
program
Joint committees discuss capital control law, to meet anew next week
Saudi, Kuwaiti Ambassadors Meet with Lebanon’s Political and Religious Leaders
Lebanon Disburses Funds to Temporarily Avert Bread Crisis
Saudi Arabia expresses support for humanitarian aid mechanism for Lebanon
With eyes on the presidency, Bassil reiterates support for Hezbollah’s weaponry
No monetary solution for Lebanon’s economic problem
Hussain Abdul-Hussain/House Of Wisdom/April 14/2022
Titles For The Latest English LCCC Miscellaneous Reports And News published
on April 13-14/2022
Iranian Commander Says Death of All US Leaders Would Not Avenge Soleimani
Killing
Amnesty Accuses Iran of 'Deliberate' Denial of Healthcare to Prisoners
Russia says no escape for last defenders of Ukrainian port, prepares for new
offensive
More than 1,000 Ukraine Marines Surrender in Key Port of Mariupol, Says Russia
Russia Says US Spreading Lies on Possible Chemical Attack in Ukraine
Biden, Zelensky discuss US support for Ukraine
Moscow threatens to strike Kyiv if 'attempts' to attack Russian territory
continue
Fears Rise in Ukraine of Use of Chemical Weapons
Putin Vows War Will Continue as Russian Troops Mount in East
Polish, Baltic presidents see 'pain and suffering' in Ukraine
Palestinian father of 3 gunned down by Israeli forces in West Bank
240 Russian Air Strikes Target ISIS in Syrian Desert
Tunisian Union Opposes Presidential Preconditions for National Dialogue
Reports: US Special Envoy for Horn of Africa to Step Down Soon
Truck Hits Tourist Bus in Egypt, Kills 10
Titles For The Latest LCCC English
analysis & editorials from miscellaneous sources published on April 13-14/2022
Audio/Defense Minister Benny Gantz Discusses Israel's Strategic
Challenges/
Benny Gantz/Washington Insitiute/April 13/ 2022
GOP senators warn Biden against taking Iran's IRGC off terror list/Elizabeth
Hagedorn//Al-Monitor/ April 13/ 2022
Pope Francis Abandons Christ’s Cross to Appease Muslims/Raymond Ibrahim/April
13/ 2022
Egypt hopes Israeli tourists will make up losses from Ukraine war/Mohamed Saied/Al-Monitor/April
13/ 2022
Israel's Ultra-Orthodox not ready to take down Bennett government/Israel
Hershkovitz/Al-Monitor/ April 13/ 2022
Erdogan plays to base with criticism of Tunisia/Fehim Tastekin/Al-Monitor/ April
13/ 2022
Ukraine War: The Moral Corruption of Germany's Political Elite/Soeren Kern/Gatestone
Institute/April 13, 2022
The Ukrainian Conflict between Crimes against Humanity and Stalemate/Charles
Elias Chartouni/April 13/2022
Turkey, Egypt inch toward long-awaited normalization/Yasar Yakis/Arab News/April
13, 2022
Tunisia’s failed development policies/Riadh Bouazza/The Arab Weekly/April
14/2022
The Latest English LCCC Lebanese &
Lebanese Related News & Editorials published on April 13-14/2022
Thursday of the Holy Mysteries & the Last
Supper: Rituals, Traditions, Values & Principles
Elias Bejjani/April 14/2022
On the Thursday that comes before the "Good Friday, when Jesus was crucified,
Christian Catholics all over the world, including our Maronite Eastern Church
celebrates with prayers and intercessions the "Thursday of the Holy Mysteries",
which is also known as the "Washing Thursday ", the "Covenant Thursday", and the
"Great & Holy Thursday". It is the holy day feast that falls on the Thursday
before Easter that commemorates the Last Supper of Jesus Christ with His 12
Apostles as described in the four New Testament gospels. It is the fifth day of
the last Lenten Holy Week, that is followed by the, "Good Friday", "Saturday Of
The Light and "Easter Sunday".
Christianity in its essence and core is Love, Sacrifice, honesty, transparency,
devotion, hard work and Humility. Jesus during the last supper with His 12
Apostles reiterated and stressed all these Godly values and principles. In this
holy and message proclaiming context He executed the following acts :
He, ordained His Apostles as priests, and asked them to proclaim God's message.
“You have stayed with me all through my trials; 29 and just as my Father has
given me the right to rule, so I will give you the same right. 30 You will eat
and drink at my table in my Kingdom, and you will sit on thrones to rule over
the twelve tribes of Israel. (Luke 22/28 and 29)
He, taught His Apostles and every body else, that evil temptation and betrayal
can hit all those who detach and dissociate themselves from God, do not fear
Him, lack faith, lose hope and worship earthly treasures. He showed them by
example that even a disciple that He personally had picked and choose (Judas,
the Iscariot) has fell a prey to Satan's temptation. “But, look! The one who
betrays me is here at the table with me! The Son of Man will die as God has
decided, but how terrible for that man who betrays him!" Luke 22/21)
He, washed His Apostles' feet to teach them by example modesty, devotion and
humility. “So when he had washed their feet and put his garments back on and
reclined at table again, he said to them, "Do you realize what I have done for
you? You call me 'teacher' and 'master,' and rightly so, for indeed I am. If I,
therefore, the master and teacher, have washed your feet, you ought to wash one
another's feet. I have given you a model to follow, so that as I have done for
you, you should also do. Amen, amen, I say to you, no slave is greater than his
master nor any messenger greater than the one who sent him” (John 13/12-16).
Modesty was stressed and explained by Jesus after His Apostles were arguing
among themselves who is the greatest: "
"An argument broke out among the disciples as to which one of them should be
thought of as the greatest. Jesus said to them, “The kings of the pagans have
power over their people, and the rulers claim the title ‘Friends of the People.’
But this is not the way it is with you; rather, the greatest one among you must
be like the youngest, and the leader must be like the servant. Who is greater,
the one who sits down to eat or the one who serves? The one who sits down, of
course. But I am among you as one who serves." (Luke 22/24 till 27)
Thursday of the "Holy Mysteries", is called so because in His Last Supper with
the 12 disciples, Jesus Christ established the Eucharist and Priesthood
Sacraments when "He received a cup, and when he had given thanks, he said, “Take
this, and share it among yourselves, for I tell you, I will not drink at all
again from the fruit of the vine, until the Kingdom of God comes.” "He took
bread, broke it and gave it to the disciples saying: This is my body which is
given for you. Do this in memory of me. And when He Likewise, took the cup after
supper, saying, “This cup is the new covenant in my blood, which is poured out
for you".
Thursday of the Holy Mysteries (Secrets-Sacraments) is the heart of the last
Lenten holy week, in which the Maronite Catholic Church lives with reverence and
devotion the Lord's Last Supper spirit and contemplation through prayers and
deeply rooted religious rituals and traditions:
The Patriarch prays over and blesses the chrism (Al-Myroun), as well as the oil
of baptism and anointing that are to are distributed on all parishes and
churches.
During the mass that is held on this Holy Day, the priest washes the feet of
twelve worshipers, mainly children (symbolizing the apostles numbers). Jesus
washed His disciples feet and commanded them to love each other and follow his
example in serving each other.
Worshipers visit and pray in seven Churches. This ritual denotes to the
completion of the Church's Seven sacraments (Secrets) : Priesthood, Eucharist,
Holy Oil, Baptism, Confirmations, anointing and Service.
This tradition also denotes to the seven locations that Virgin Mary's went to
look for Her Son, Jesus, after she learned about His arrest. The detention
place, The Council of the Priests, twice the Pilate's headquarters, twice the
Herod Headquarters, till She got to the Calvary.
Some Christian scholars believe that this tradition was originated in Rome where
early pilgrims visited the seven pilgrim churches as an act of penance. They are
Saint John Lateran, Saint Peter, Saint Mary Major, Saint Paul-outside-the-Walls,
Saint Lawrence Outside the Walls, Holy Cross-in-Jerusalem, and traditionally
Saint Sebastian Outside the Walls. Pope John Paul II replaced St. Sebastian with
the Sanctuary of the Madonna of Divine Love for the jubilee year of 2000.
The Mass of the Lord's Supper is accompanied by the ringing of bells, which are
then silent until the Easter Vigil. Worshipers used to kneel and pray the rosary
in front of the Eucharist (Blessed Sacrament) all Thursday night. The Blessed
Sacrament remains exposed all night, while worshipers are encouraged to stay in
the church as much as they can praying, meditating upon the Mystery of
Salvation, and participating in the “agony of Gethsemane” (Garden at the foot of
the Mount of Olives) in Jerusalem where Jesus spent his night in prayer before
His crucifixion on Good Friday.
After the homily washing of feet the service concludes with a procession taking
the Blessed Eucharist (Sacrament) to the place of reposition. The altar is later
stripped bare, as are all other altars in the church except the Altar of Repose.
Thursday of the "Holy Mysteries", is called so because in His Last Supper with
the 12 disciples, Jesus Christ established the Eucharist and Priesthood
Sacraments when "He received a cup, and when he had given thanks, he said, “Take
this, and share it among yourselves, for I tell you, I will not drink at all
again from the fruit of the vine, until the Kingdom of God comes.” "He took
bread, broke it and gave it to the disciples saying: This is my body which is
given for you. Do this in memory of me. And when He Likewise, took the cup after
supper, saying, “This cup is the new covenant in my blood, which is poured out
for you".
Jesus ordained His disciples as priests of the New Testament when he said to
them during the Last Supper: "But you are those who have continued with me in my
trials. I confer on you a kingdom, even as my Father conferred on me, that you
may eat and drink at my table in my Kingdom. You will sit on thrones, judging
the twelve tribes of Israel.”
Before Celebrating the Resurrection Day (Easter) worshipers live the "Paschal
Mystery" through the Thursday Of the Sacraments, Good Friday and Saturday Of The
Light.
Because He loves us and wants us to dwell in His Eternal Heaven, Jesus Christ
for our sake willingly suffered all kinds of torture, pain, humiliation and died
on the Cross to pave our way for repentance and salvation.
Let us pray on this Holy Day that we always remember Jesus' love and sacrifices
and live our life in this context of genuine, faith, love, meekness and
forgiveness.
US report on Lebanon cites political interference with
courts, widespread official corruption
Naharnet/April 14/2022
The U.S. department of state has stressed, in a report on Human Rights
Practices, significant human rights issues in Lebanon. The report cited "serious
political interference with the judiciary" and "serious high-level and
widespread official corruption."It also mentioned "serious restrictions on free
expression and media; violence against lesbian, gay, bisexual, transgender,
queer, or intersex persons; and the existence of the worst forms of child
labor.""Although the legal structure provides for prosecution and punishment of
officials who committed human rights abuses and corruption, enforcement remained
a problem, and government officials enjoyed a measure of impunity for human
rights abuses, including evading or influencing judicial processes," the report
said.The report also cited "unofficial detention facilities by Hizbullah, the
assassination of Hizbullah critic Lokman Slim, armed clashes between the group
and Khaldeh Arab tribes, and killing of former prime minister Rafik Hariri."
Lebanese remember civil war, as families of
'disappeared' still ask for justice
Naharnet/Wednesday, 13 April, 2022
April 13 is a gloomy date for the Lebanese seeing as it marks the start of the
1975-1990 Lebanese civil war. Today, families of the disappeared in Lebanon’s
Civil War gathered in Bayt Beirut -- a historic museum that commemorates the
civil war -- to ask for justice, as an independent national commission has
failed to investigate what happened to the disappeared and to question former
officials. An estimated 17,000 Lebanese were kidnapped or "disappeared" during
the civil war of 1975-90, according to Human Rights Watch. HRW also reports that
"scores of citizens and Palestinians disappeared in Lebanon after 1990 during
Syria’s military presence in the country, and are known or believed to have been
transferred to detention in Syria." "At the end of the war, the Taef accord made
no mention to the fate of the thousands of disappeared. In 1991, the militias
were disbanded without being constrained to provide any information about the
persons they had kidnapped or release any prisoners they may be holding," the
Committee of the Families of Kidnapped and Disappeared says. The main goal of
the families is to find and release the people still detained in Syria and
Israel, and to receive the remains of the dead in order to bury them. They have
contacted officials since 1982, "Prime Ministers, Presidents, Ministers of
Justice, the Commission for Human Rights in the Parliament," Committee founder
Wadad Halwani said. In 2014, Lebanon ruled that families had the right to the
truth about what happened to their missing relatives (right to know), but
according to the Committee’s activists, the investigations were "superficial and
fragmented." Meanwhile politicians like Free Patriotic Movement chief Jebran
Bassil, ex-PM Saad Hariri, and Lebanese Forces leader Samir Geagea posted tweets
about the civil war anniversary. "The suffering of the Lebanese is being
repeated in different ways... We will not forget," tweeted Hariri. Geagea posted
a tweet that said "we remember it, while others would love to repeat it." For
his part, Bassil stressed the importance of protecting civil peace through
justice, freedom and dialogue.
Bukhari holds talks with Aoun in Baabda
Naharnet/Wednesday, 13 April, 2022
Saudi Ambassador to Lebanon Walid Bukhari met Wednesday with President Michel
Aoun in Baabda to discuss the latest developments. Aoun and Bukhari reportedly
discussed reviving the Lebanese-Saudi relations as the Saudi Ambassador informed
Aoun about the mechanism of a Saudi-French fund aimed at providing humanitarian
support to Lebanon.Bukhari will also meet today with Prime Minister Najib Miqati
and Parliament Speaker Nabih Berri, media reports said. The Saudi Ambassador had
met with Foreign Minister Bassam Mawlawi as he hosted the incumbent and former
foreign ministers over a Ramadan Iftar banquet on Tuesday at the Saudi Embassy
in Yarze. From Yarze, Mawlawi confirmed Lebanon's commitment to prevent any
harmful act against the Gulf.
Court of Cassation dismisses one of recusal requests
against Bitar
Naharnet/Wednesday, 13 April, 2022
The Fourth Chamber of the Court of Cassation on Wednesday decided to dismiss one
of the recusal requests filed against Beirut port blast investigator Judge Tarek
Bitar, media reports said. The request had been filed by the family of blast
victim Ali Sawwan. Al-Jadeed TV said the chamber rejected the request because it
has no jurisdiction to look into the lawsuit. Bitar’s investigation will however
remain suspended seeing as there are several other legal motions that have been
filed by various parties. The August 4, 2020 monster explosion at Beirut’s port
killed around 231 people, wounded around 7,000 and devastated entire
neighborhoods of the capital.
Kuwait envoy says ambassadors return indicates success of
Kuwaiti initiative
Naharnet/Wednesday, 13 April, 2022
Kuwaiti Ambassador to Lebanon Abdul-Al al-Qinai announced Wednesday that the
recent restoration of diplomatic ties between Lebanon and some Gulf countries
and the return of their ambassadors to the country are “an indication that the
Kuwaiti initiative has succeeded.”This also means that “the two parties in
brotherly Lebanon and the Gulf have agreed that the history and the fate that
bring them together are more important than anything else,” Qinai added, after
talks at the Grand Serail with Prime Minister Najib Miqati. Hoping that the
recent spat has been a “summer’s cloud,” Qinai said the ambassadors’ return
“will lead to further rapprochement and cooperation.”Miqati for his part
stressed “the firmness of the relations between Lebanon and Kuwait,” thanking
the Gulf country and its government for their “permanent support for Lebanon and
their efforts to restore the purity and vitality of Lebanese-Gulf ties.”
UNIFIL patrol intercepted by residents in Blida
Naharnet/Wednesday, 13 April, 2022
A UNIFIL patrol belonging to the French contingent was intercepted Wednesday in
the southern town of Blida, al-Jadeed TV said.
The patrol was passing in a narrow internal road, accompanied by a Lebanese Army
vehicle, when it got stuck in an alleyway, the TV network said. One of the
UNIFIL vehicles then passed over the surface of a water well near the town’s
mosque, which resulted in its collapse, al-Jadeed added.
“Consequently, residents gathered and intercepted the patrol, demanding a
compensation for the damage,” the TV network said, adding that the UNIFIL patrol
was allowed to continue its trip after pledging to compensate for the damaged
well.
Lebanese athletes launch #TheUrbanAthletePodcast, in
collaboration with UNIC
Naharnet/Wednesday, 13 April, 2022
On the occasion of International Day of Sport for Development and Peace, a group
of Lebanese professional athletes launched Wednesday, in collaboration with the
United Nations Information Center in Beirut (UNIC Beirut) a podcast in Arabic
dedicated to sports.
In its 12 episodes, the podcast focuses on the role of physical activity and
sports in improving mental health. It also tackles how the practice of physical
activity is a fundamental right for all and how it contributes to education,
human development, and healthy lifestyles.
The podcast aims at raising awareness about the connection between sports and
education, health, human rights and women empowerment. It also aims at
influencing behaviors and galvanizing action within sports, as well as inspiring
people to consider sports as a valuable tool to overcome any obstacle or crisis.
The host, (2019 Wushu World Champion Michel Zammar) and co-host (his coach Ryan
Merheb), discuss with high-level Lebanese and Arab athletes the challenges they
faced throughout the years, their athletic accomplishments, and give
recommendations to young athletes and sports lovers and fans.
The first episode features Fitness and Health Coach Joanna Salameh with whom
they highlight the benefits of sports for mental health. In this context,
Salameh invited everyone to watch the show, stressing that “wellness is a
journey made up of daily conscious healthy practices and a balanced mindset,”
saying she will be giving tips that will help everyone --including the youth and
elderly -- build a healthy lifestyle. “Being sportsmen ourselves, we are aware
of the struggles that the Lebanese and Arab athletes are facing while chasing
their dreams, so we would like to help them by providing a platform to spread
awareness, educate, and share knowledge and experience in the field of sports,”
the host said. In her turn, UNIC Beirut Director Margo Helou highlighted the
importance of sports and how it has played an important role in all societies
and acted as a strong communication platform that can be used to promote a
culture of peace and encourage social inclusion. Helou invited more women and
girls to participate in sports as athletes and not as spectators only: “Physical
activity can also help foster gender equality and promote equal participation of
girls and women in sports.”
The Podcast can be watched on Railway Station Web TV (http://www.railwaystation.live/)
and on UNIC Beirut’s Youtube Channel (www.youtube.com/UNICBeirut1)
Geagea says 'Hizbullah disarmament, neutrality, reforms' in
LF's electoral program
Naharnet/Wednesday, 13 April, 2022
Lebanese Forces leader Samir Geagea announced Wednesday the LF's program for the
upcoming parliamentary elections, urging the Lebanese voters to hold accountable
those who have been ruling the country by voting against them in the upcoming
polls.
Geagea accused Hizbullah of "dominating the political, strategic and security
decisions in Lebanon," and of "speaking on behalf of the Shiites." "The Shiites
are Lebanese like us and will benefit from our work, because they are the most
deprived despite the heroic victories that Hizbullah talks about," Geagea said.
He added that he is not against a real resistance, accusing Hizbullah of
"exploiting the concept of resistance." Geagea stressed that "only the state
must be armed and only the state must take peace and war decisions." He said
that the solution is in implementing the U.N. resolutions and in the maritime
border demarcation. He added that Lebanon must preserve its "positive
neutrality."Geagea blamed the Lebanese leaders for the crisis, claiming that the
LF had asked for reforms before the crisis and promising that his bloc will work
to implement these reforms. "There are no magical solutions," Geagea said,
citing an agreement with the IMF and a forensic audit as required reforms.
Joint committees discuss capital control law, to meet anew
next week
Naharnet/Wednesday, 13 April, 2022
The joint parliamentary committees convened Wednesday in Parliament to study a
capital control draft law before referring it to Parliament’s general assembly.
The National News Agency said the session ended without the approval of the
draft law as amendments protecting the rights of depositors were introduced to
Article 1. "Another session will be held next Wednesday," NNA added. Hizbullah's
MP Hassan Fadlallah had said at the beginning of the session that essential
amendments were required to make sure the law would protect depositors' rights.
"We support the capital control law, but it requires amendments," Fadlallah
said. MP Ali Darwish had said there is no consensus about the capital control
law, as some MPS are supporting it while others are opposing it. "The law might
be subject to intrinsic amendments," he told al-Jadeed on Wednesday. The
adoption of a capital control law is one of the reforms requested by the
International Monetary Fund to financially help crisis-hit Lebanon. An earlier
version of the draft law had been recently rejected by the joint parliamentary
committees, which prompted the government to send an amended version. On Friday
Parliament Speaker Nabih Berri referred the amended version to the joint
parliamentary committees to study it before referring it to parliament’s general
assembly.
Saudi, Kuwaiti Ambassadors Meet with Lebanon’s Political
and Religious Leaders
Beirut - Asharq Al-Awsat/Wednesday, 13 April, 2022
The Saudi and Kuwaiti ambassadors have visited Lebanon's political and religious
figures to address the country's needs. The Saudi Ambassador, Waleed Bukhari,
and Kuwaiti Ambassador Abdul-Aal al-Qinai arrived in Beirut last Friday after
the Saudi Foreign Ministry announced in a statement that its Ambassador returned
in response to calls by "moderate" Lebanese political forces. The ministry also
explained that its Ambassador was going back to Lebanon after remarks by Prime
Minister Najib Mikati regarding the government's commitment to take the
necessary and required measures to "enhance cooperation with the Kingdom and
Gulf Cooperation Council countries and to stop all political, military, and
security activities affecting the Kingdom and GCC countries." The Kingdom
stressed the importance of Lebanon's return to its Arab origins, represented by
its national institutions and agencies, for the country to enjoy peace and
security and for its people to enjoy stability. The Saudi Ambassador met former
Prime Minister Tammam Salam, while Kuwait's Ambassador visited the Grand Mufti
Sheikh Abdul Latif Derian. Lebanese sources informed Asharq Al-Awsat that
Lebanon would receive a humanitarian aid package from the fund formed in
cooperation with France amid serious discussions on securing the necessary
support for the Lebanese military and security forces. Bukhari briefed Salam on
the efforts to help the Lebanese people in light of the country’s financial and
economic crisis.
Salam pointed out that Bukhari conveyed the greetings and wishes of the
Custodian of the Two Holy Mosques, King Salman, and Crown Prince Mohammed bin
Salman to all the Lebanese because the Kingdom has always had close relations
with Lebanon. The former PM indicated that Saudi Arabia has always helped and
supported Lebanon, and the diplomat briefed him on all the efforts the Kingdom
has been exerting in cooperation with other countries to help the Lebanese.
On the parliamentary elections, Salam said: “We hope that the vote will be an
opportunity for positive change for Lebanon and the Lebanese people.”Salam
asserted that the Lebanese people consider the Kingdom their second country. “We
aspire to boost our relationship with the Kingdom and strengthen our Arab
position on every level and in every field."Bukhari wished "the Arab and Islamic
world, especially our people in Lebanon, all the blessings of the holy month of
Ramadan."The Kuwaiti Ambassador visited the Grand Mufti and affirmed his
country's support for Lebanon, hoping its crises would be resolved. Derian
praised the initiative taken by the Kuwaiti Foreign Minister to restore
fraternal ties between Lebanon, and Arab and Gulf countries. He lauded the
"leading role of Kuwait in Lebanon and the region." Derian extended a greeting
to all the Arab brothers, stressing that Lebanon will remain loyal, honest, and
keen on its national interest and the interest of Arab countries. Kuwait plays a
leading role in uniting Arab countries and ranks to confront regional and
international challenges that threaten the Arab region. The Kuwaiti Ambassador
also visited Foreign Minister Abdallah Bouhabib. After the meeting, he wished
Lebanon and its people prosperity, success, and stability.
Lebanon Disburses Funds to Temporarily Avert Bread
Crisis
Asharq Al-Awsat/Wednesday, 13 April, 2022
Lebanon's government has agreed to disburse $15 million to temporarily resolve
growing bread shortages in the country, Economy Minister Amin Salam told
Reuters, while saying that the funds would only last a few weeks. Long lines had
begun forming outside bakeries across the country since Monday after industry
insiders warned that the government had not extended a long-promised credit line
for the subsidized good. "I've been looking around since the morning but I
couldn't find any bread - there's none at all," Mohammad Mustapha, one shopper
in the southern city of Sidon, told Reuters. "I have small children to feed, and
it's Ramadan," he said, referring to the holy month for Muslims in which
day-long fasts are broken with evening meals. Salam said the government would
disburse $15.3 million in credit to importers as a "solution to the issue of
subsidized bread". "This will give us a period of about two to three weeks
before we need to open another credit line, which we had requested at $21
million," Salam said. He said the government was not currently considering
lifting bread subsidies and would instead seek a $150 million agreement with the
World Bank to improve food security because in the long term "we won't be able
to subsidize anything, much less bread". Lebanon is heavily reliant on food
imports and pays for them in dollars, which have become increasingly difficult
to obtain since its economy crashed in 2019. Since then, the Lebanese pound has
lost more than 90% of its value while food prices have gone up more than
11-fold, according to the World Food Program. The bread shortage has been
exacerbated by the war in Ukraine, which supplies most of Lebanon's wheat, and
Beirut's inability to store wheat reserves as its largest silos were destroyed
in the 2020 Beirut port blast. "We don't have silos and we don't have money,"
said Ghassan Bou Habib, vice president of Wooden Bakery, one of the country's
largest bakery networks. "Bread will become a luxury item – it will become an
expensive commodity,"
Saudi Arabia expresses support for humanitarian aid
mechanism for Lebanon
Najia Houssari/Arab News/April 13, 2022
BEIRUT: Saudi Arabia has expressed its support for the people of Lebanon and its
desire to bolster ties between the two nations following the return of its envoy
to Beirut. Walid Bukhari, the Saudi ambassador to Lebanon, told Lebanese
President Michel Aoun on Wednesday that “the Kingdom is keen on helping the
Lebanese people during difficult circumstances and strengthening relations
between the two countries.” According to the president’s media office, the two
men discussed bilateral relations and Bukhari told Aoun about “the mechanism of
the Saudi-French joint fund aimed at providing humanitarian support and
achieving stability and development in Lebanon.” Saudi Arabia, Kuwait and other
Gulf states recalled their ambassadors from Lebanon in October in protest
against insulting statements made by former Information Minister George Qordahi
regarding the war in Yemen.
Bukhari last met Aoun in March 2021. That meeting took place after a failed
attempt to form a government led by former Premier Saad Hariri and the exchange
of accusations of disrupting the process between Hariri and Aoun.
Since returning to Beirut, Bukhari has held talks with religious authorities,
current and former prime ministers and interior ministers, foreign diplomats and
other politicians.
Kuwaiti Ambassador Abdul-Al Sulaiman Al-Qenaei has also returned to Beirut. He
said after meeting Prime Minister Najib Mikati on Wednesday that “restoring
diplomatic relations and the return of ambassadors indicate the success of the
Kuwaiti initiative.”
He added that both Lebanon and the Gulf states had mutually agreed that their
long history was above everything else and that “what happened is in the past
and the return of ambassadors will lead to further rapprochement and cooperation
that benefit the brotherly countries.”
Wednesday’s developments coincided with the 47th anniversary of the start of the
civil war in Lebanon. Hariri tweeted: “The suffering of the Lebanese is repeated
in different forms.”Meanwhile, the joint parliamentary committees were unable to
approve a draft Lebanese capital control law on Wednesday.
Ibrahim Kanaan, chair of the Finance and Budget Committee, said: “We are making
amendments to the current draft.”Politicians have failed to pass the law since
2019 when Lebanon descended into a financial crisis that has paralyzed its
banking system and frozen depositors out of their US dollar accounts. Formal
capital controls are a policy recommendation of the International Monetary Fund,
from which Lebanon hopes to secure an aid package. Lawmaker Bilal Abdullah said
the draft contained “defects and needs amendments.”He told Arab News: “The
conditions of the IMF are harsh … How will we face people if the flour and
medicines are no longer subsidized? What is the point of competing for
parliamentary seats in a bankrupt country?
“Some people are preventing any progress toward the country’s recovery plan.
However, some are forgetting that the country is bankrupt, and we must not stop
negotiations with the IMF.”Pressure is mounting on last week’s preliminary
agreement between an IMF team and Lebanese authorities to implement the fund’s
conditions to prevent a complete financial collapse. The Depositors Outcry
Association protested in Beirut against the draft capital control law. Alaa
Khorshid, its head, said: “We cannot accept the theft of our money followed by
the enactment of a law to protect the thieves.” In another development, the US
Department of State’s report about human rights in Lebanon referred to reliable
information about “serious political interference with the judiciary and
judicial affairs and imposing severe restrictions on the freedom of expression
and media, including violence, threats of violence, arrests, unjustified
prosecutions against journalists, censorship and the existence of laws
criminalizing defamation, severe restrictions on internet freedom and the forced
return of refugees to a country where their lives or freedom are threatened.”
The report mentioned “the presence of serious high-level and widespread official
corruption” and added that “government officials enjoyed a measure of impunity
for human rights abuses, including evading or influencing judicial processes.”
The report also cited “unofficial detention facilities by the terrorist
Hezbollah party and Palestinian militias.”
With eyes on the presidency, Bassil reiterates support
for Hezbollah’s weaponry
Arab News/April 13, 2022
The head of Lebanon’s Free Patriotic Movement (FPM) Gebran Bassil, voiced his
support for Hezbollah’s weaponry, a day after the reconciliation, led by the
Iran-backed Shia movement, between the FPM and the Marada movement, led by
Suleiman Franjieh. Hezbollah said in a statement Saturday that the movement’s
chief Sayyed Hassan Nasrallah had held a meeting with Bassil and Franjieh over a
Ramadan Iftar banquet in the presence of a number of senior officials. In a
television statement Monday, Bassil said “Hezbollah’s weapons formed a balance
that made us able to negotiate the issue of maritime borders with Israel,”
noting that he is against the use of these weapons when it comes to conflicts
outside Lebanon. Observers said that Bassil is using the issue of Hezbollah's
weapons to boost his electoral chances and serve the interests of his party.
Bassil had previously criticised Hezbollah’s weapons as the political disputes
on government formation raged on between the Shia movement and the FPM.
With the approach of the parliamentary elections scheduled for May 15, Bassil
has, however, adjusted his compass and made yet another shift, by voicing his
support for Hezbollah’s weaponry for fear of angering the Iran-backed Shia
movement. If Bassil loses the support of Hezbollah in the upcoming elections, he
might suffer defeat, observers say. In past elections, Hezbollah’s support for
Bassil and the FPM enhanced the fortunes of what is described as the Lebanon's
largest Christian party in the country. For the upcoming parliamentary
elections, Bassil hopes for continued support that will boost the FPM’s chances
of winning more seats and help him succeed in his aspiration to become the next
president.is successor, observers say, has been a top concern for current
president Michel Aoun, who has not hidden his desire to see Bassil, his
son-in-law, elected in his place. Bassil, who denies his intention to run for
the pesidency, said, "As long as President Michel Aoun is in the Republican
Palace, I will not address this point."Any support for the next presidential
candidate depends on the results of the parliamentary elections. When Hezbollah
backed Aoun, the latter was the head of the largest parliamentary bloc.
Observers expect the Free Patriotic Movement led by Bassil to lose a large
number of seats in the parliamentary elections, after the FPM’s popularity
dwindled among Christians, who are now favouring the Lebanese Forces party led
by Samir Geagea.
Such factors, according to analysts, prompted Bassil to raise pressure on
Hezbollah in the hope of obtaining an advance pledge that he will succeed Aoun,
even if his parliamentary bloc suffers losses in the next parliament. Hezbollah,
however, wants to deal pragmatically with the results of the upcoming elections,
in which the Shia movement is expected to maintain the size of its parliamentary
bloc, while its current ally, the FPM, is unlikely to maintain the same
electoral weight. Many Lebanese hold Aoun and his son-in-law partly responsible
for the disastrous economic and social situation in the country, especially as
Aoun's tenure is nearing its end without any significant achievements. Lebanese
political sources said that Hezbollah's refusal to support Bassil as a candidate
to succeed Michel Aoun, whose term ends next October, has been the main reason
behind the repeated past attacks levelled by the FPM’s leader against Hezbollah.
However, the meeting that brought together Bassil with Nasrallah and Franjieh on
Saturday has reportedly mended fences. A member of the Democratic Gathering
bloc, MP Wael Abu Faour, said that “the head of the Free Patriotic Movement,
Gibran Bassil, will be the March 8 candidate for the presidency, not the head of
the Marada movement, Suleiman Franjieh,” noting, “of course, we will not elect
Gibran Bassil to the presidency.”He revealed that “President Michel Aoun is
exclusively concerned about securing Gebran Bassil's political future.”
Abu Faour's statements came after the meeting that brought Nasrallah together
with Bassil and Franjieh.
No monetary solution for Lebanon’s economic problem
Hussain Abdul-Hussain/House Of Wisdom/April 14/2022
The International Monetary Fund offers Lebanon a roadmap to more misery
Before parliament, late Prime Minister Rafic Hariri repeatedly rebuffed calls
for unpegging the national currency from the US dollar, including calls that
came from the IMF. Last week, Beirut signed an agreement in which it promised to
let go of the peg regime that collapsed in 2019.
The International Monetary Fund (IMF) concluded last week a Staff-Level
Agreement (SLA) with the Lebanese government for a “comprehensive economic
reform program aiming to rebuild the economy.” The IMF plan rehashes older
proposals that Lebanon’s late Prime Minister Rafic Hariri once turned down. The
IMF plan also avoids dealing with the main drag on Lebanon’s economic growth:
The existence of the Hezbollah militia that undermines the country’s
sovereignty, stability and – most importantly for foreign investments –
predictability.
An SLA is concluded at the bureaucratic level and remains subject to the
approval of the IMF management and Executive Board, “pending several critical
reforms” that the Lebanese government promised to undertake “ahead of the IMF
meeting.”
Anyone who knows Lebanon understands that Beirut – with its sovereignty
undermined by Hezbollah that uses the bureaucracy to reward its enablers – is
unlikely to implement meaningful reform. Lebanon’s SLA agreement with the IMF
was most likely inked as an election publicity stunt by incumbent rulers who are
competing in the coming parliamentary elections, scheduled for mid-May.
But even if the IMF plan is ever implemented, it is near impossible to arrest
the free fall of Lebanon’s economy. The plan is premised on Lebanon’s
establishment of a “credible and transparent monetary and exchange rate system,”
economic lingo for unpegging the country’s national currency, the Lira, from the
USD.
Between 1993 and 2019, the Lebanese Central Bank pegged the dollar at 1500
Lebanese Liras. The architect of this policy was Prime Minister Rafic Hariri,
who was assassinated in 2005. A UN tribunal convicted at least three top
Hezbollah officials in the assassination.
Hariri was the most visionary leader that Lebanon ever saw since independence in
1943. He believed he could turn Lebanon into a leading services economy,
exporting engineering, banking, education and healthcare while attracting
Foreign Direct Investments (FDI) and millions of tourists.
Hariri’s vision was incumbent on regional peace, including with Lebanon’s
neighbor to the south, Israel. But if peace was unattainable, the late prime
minister believed he could work with a long-term truce that guaranteed Lebanon’s
security and stability, and therefore economic growth.
Hariri was forced out of government in 1998 and retook the premiership in 2000
on the back of a sweeping electoral victory. Lebanon at the time was facing
economic trouble and the IMF recommended that the country unpeg the lira from
the dollar.
Before parliament in 2001, Hariri stood defiant. He insisted that pegging the
lira was essential for the trust of foreign investors, for a stable business
environment and for national social safety since depreciation would make those
salaried in lira poorer. The Ministry of Finance, under then Finance Minister
Fouad Siniora, released the “the philosophy of the 2001 budget,” in 100 pages,
which stipulated that the cornerstone of Hariri’s economic policy was
“maintaining the stability of the exchange rate.”
Hariri argued that the IMF’s recommendation to unpeg national exchange rate did
not help Argentina and Turkey, and that if unpegging the currency was wise,
Lebanon’s opposition led by then Prime Minister Salim Hoss and Finance Minister
George Qorm should have done so during their two years in power.
But Hariri’s plan was not to peg the currency in the absence of growth, which
grinds to a halt during war or instability. In April 1996, war broke out between
Hezbollah and Israel, instead of rallying behind Hezbollah, a brave Hariri
dissented and said that the only solution was for Israel to withdraw from south
Lebanon. The would end the vicious cycle of war, Hariri said. “If Israel
withdraws, Hezbollah has no legitimate reason to exist and fight,” he told CNN,
adding that “it was time to rein in Hezbollah for the good of Lebanon.”
Israel took Hariri’s advice and withdrew from Lebanon in 2000, but Hezbollah did
not disarm, forcing Hariri to start rounds of dialogue with the party’s leader
Hassan Nasrallah to chart a course of action for the disbanding of the pro-Iran
militia. Instead of heeding Hariri’s advice, Hezbollah killed Hariri in 2005.
Hezbollah’s takeover of Lebanon, its participation in wars in Syria, Iraq and
Yemen and its daily threats of war with Israel, repulsed FDIs and tourism,
depressed the country’s services and caused brain drain.
After 2005, the Lebanese Central Bank maintained the peg, but in the absence of
growth, it was forced to hike interest rates to unsustainable levels to
replenish its Foreign Currency (FX) reserves. Those who bought the central
bank’s bonds were local banks, often using money of their depositors. After this
Ponzi Scheme emptied all pockets, everything came crashing down. The banks
became insolvent and unable to pay back deposits. Most Lebanese families lost
their life savings.
Without foreign currency, the country lost its ability to import its basic
needs, including wheat and energy, causing shortages, long lines at gas
stations, empty drugstores, and severe electricity cuts.
If that’s not enough, the IMF wants the Lebanese government to unpeg the “tariff
dollar.” Beirut still calculates its import tariffs on the old 1500 exchange
rate, not the market rate which hovers around 25,000. If the government does so,
prices in a country that heavily relies on imports will shoot high, making them
even more unaffordable to the general population.
The IMF also recommends that Lebanon restructures its debt, that is to say
“giving Lebanese depositors a haircut” wherein they lose all or most of their
live savings. The government then opens a new page and resumes vacuuming
whatever wealth is left in the hands of the hapless Lebanese.
If Lebanon implements these “reforms,” it will receive $3 billion. Before the
government defaulted on its bonds in March 2020, Lebanon’s national debt stood
at around $100 billion.
Rafic Hariri was right. The problem was not the exchange rate. The problem was
not “reining in Hezbollah for good.” Hariri lost his life when he tried to do
so.
The IMF does seem to have listened to what Hariri once said. Lebanon’s problem
is not monetary. It is economic. The country’s economy needs to grow, and that’s
impossible with the continued existence odf the Hezbollah militia. Monetary
fixes will not change much, but will only make the Lebanese poorer and give a
false illusion of working toward a solution.
The Latest English LCCC Miscellaneous
Reports And News published on April 13-14/2022
Iranian Commander Says Death of All
US Leaders Would Not Avenge Soleimani Killing
Asharq Al-Awsat/Wednesday, 13 April, 2022
The killing of all American leaders would not be enough to avenge the death of
Iranian military commander General Qassem Soleimani, an Iranian Revolutionary
Guards general said. Soleimani was killed in January 2020 by the US military
while on a visit to Iraq. Iran vowed a "crushing revenge" on all those
responsible for his assassination. "If all American leaders are killed, this
will still not avenge the blood of Soleimani. We have to follow Soleimani's path
and avenge him through other methods," Mohammad Pakpour, ground forces commander
of the Revolutionary Guards, said. Soleimani was Iran's most powerful military
commander, leading Tehran's operations across the Middle East. He was killed at
Baghdad airport in a strike ordered by then US President Donald Trump. Pakpour's
comments come as Iran and world powers try to tackle stumbling blocks in talks
in Vienna on reviving the 2015 nuclear deal, which have stalled.One of the
unresolved issues is whether Washington would remove the Revolutionary Guards
from the US Foreign Terrorist Organization (FTO) list, as demanded by Tehran in
order for the deal to be revived.
Amnesty Accuses Iran of 'Deliberate' Denial of Healthcare to Prisoners
Asharq Al-Awsat/Wednesday, 13 April, 2022
Rights group Amnesty International on Tuesday accused Iran of deliberately
denying life-saving medical care to prisoners, saying it had confirmed 96 cases
since 2010 of detainees dying after a lack of treatment, AFP reported. The
report by Amnesty comes after several high profile cases this year alone of
prisoners who died in custody due to what activists say was a failure by Iran to
properly treat their illnesses. These include the Iranian poet and filmmaker
Baktash Abtin who died in January after contracting Covid-19 and Shokrollah
Jebeli, an 82-year-old dual Australian-Iranian national, who died in March after
a succession of medical problems. Amnesty said such deaths by deliberate denial
of healthcare amounted to an extrajudicial execution while the failure of Iran
to provide accountability were another example of the systematic impunity in the
country. "The Iranian authorities' chilling disregard for human life has
effectively turned Iran's prisons into a waiting room of death for ill
prisoners, where treatable conditions tragically become fatal," said Diana
Eltahawy, Deputy Regional Director for the Middle East and North Africa at
Amnesty International. "Deaths in custody resulting from the deliberate denial
of healthcare amount to arbitrary deprivation of life, which is a serious human
rights violation under international law," she added. Amnesty said it had
confirmed the deaths in custody of 92 men and four women in 30 prisons in 18
provinces across Iran in such circumstances since January 2010 but these cases
are "illustrative, rather than exhaustive" and the true number of cases likely
to be higher. The group said it had documented how prison officials frequently
deny prisoners access to adequate healthcare, including diagnostic tests,
regular check-ups, and post-operative care.
"This leads to worsening health problems, inflicts additional pain and suffering
on sick prisoners, and ultimately causes or contributes to their untimely
deaths." It said 64 out of the 96 prisoners died in prison rather than
hospitals. In the vast majority of cases, prisoners who died were young or
middle aged, it said. A large proportion of the deaths took place in prisons in
northwestern Iran that house many inmates from the Kurdish and Azerbaijani
minorities and in southeastern Iran where prisoners mostly belong to Iran's
Baluch minority. Abtin, 47, who had been convicted on national security charges
and was seen by activists as a political prisoner, died of Covid-19 about six
weeks after he first displayed symptoms in Tehran's Evin prison, Amnesty said.
"The authorities caused or contributed to his death by deliberately denying him
timely access to specialized medical treatment at a facility well-equipped to
deal with cases of Covid-19 after he fell ill with Covid-19 in early December
2022," Amnesty said. It said Jebeli had died after being subjected to "more than
two years of torture and other ill treatment through the denial of access to
adequate specialized medical care" for conditions including kidney stones, a
history of strokes, sciatica in his legs, high blood pressure, and an umbilical
hernia. Jebeli, who had been imprisoned in a financial dispute, died in hospital
where he had been transferred after he was found unresponsive by other prisoners
and had lost all control of his bladder and bowel movements, Amnesty said.
Russia says no escape for last defenders of Ukrainian
port, prepares for new offensive
Reuters/April 13, 2022
KYIV/LVIV: Russia said it had taken control of the port in Mariupol on Wednesday
and that more than 1,000 Ukrainian marines had surrendered in the southeastern
Ukrainian city, whose capture would free up forces for a wider offensive. The
capture of the Azovstal industrial district, where the marines have been holed
up, would give the Russians full control of Mariupol, Ukraine’s main Sea of Azov
port, reinforce a southern land corridor and expand its occupation of the
country’s east. Surrounded and bombarded by Russian troops for weeks and the
focus of some of the heaviest fighting in the war, Mariupol would be the first
major city to fall since Russia invaded Ukraine on Feb. 24. Russia’s defense
ministry said 162 officers were among 1,026 soldiers of the 36th Marine Brigade
who had surrendered to Russian and pro-Russian separatist forces near the Illich
Iron and Steel Works. Russian television showed pictures of what it said were
marines giving themselves up, many of them wounded. The defense ministry later
said Mariupol’s trade seaport was under full control and remnants of Ukrainian
forces were blocked and unable to escape, Interfax news agency reported.
Ukraine’s general staff said Russian forces were attacking Azovstal and the
port, but a defense ministry spokesman said he had no information about any
surrender. Reuters journalists accompanying Russian-backed separatists saw
flames billowing from the Azovstal area on Tuesday, a day after Ukraine’s 36th
Marine Brigade said its troops had run out of ammunition.
Chechen leader Ramzan Kadyrov, an ardent supporter of Russian President Vladimir
Putin, urged remaining Ukrainians trapped in Azovstal to surrender. “Within
Azovstal at the moment there are about 200 wounded who cannot receive any
medical assistance,” Kadyrov said in a Telegram post. “For them and all the rest
it would be better to end this pointless resistance and go home to their
families.”
Weapons appeal
Tens of thousands of people are believed to have been killed in Mariupol and
Russia has been massing thousands of troops in the area for a new assault,
Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky said. “We have destroyed more Russian
weapons and military equipment than some armies in Europe currently possess. But
this is not enough,” he said in an online video, adding that if Ukraine did not
get more tanks, jets, and missile systems, other countries in Europe would be
the next targets of Russia. US President Joe Biden announced an extra $800
million in military assistance including artillery systems, armored personnel
carriers and helicopters, taking the total to more than $2.5 billion. France and
Germany also pledged more arms. Ukraine accuses Russia of blocking aid convoys
to civilians marooned in Mariupol. Its mayor, Vadym Boichenko, said Russia had
brought in mobile crematoria “to get rid of evidence of war crimes” — a
statement that was not possible to verify. Moscow has blamed Ukraine for
civilian deaths and accused Kyiv of denigrating Russian armed forces. Moscow’s
incursion into Ukraine has seen more than 4.6 million people flee abroad, killed
or wounded thousands and left Russia increasingly isolated on the world stage.
In the village of Lubianka northwest of Kyiv, from where Russian forces had
tried and failed to subdue the capital before being driven away, a message to
Ukrainians had been written on the wall of a house that had been occupied by
Russian troops.
“We did not want this ... forgive us,” it said. The Kremlin says it launched a
“special military operation” to demilitarise and “liberate” Ukraine, a message
villagers said had been repeated to them by the Russian troops.
“To liberate us from what? We’re peaceful...We’re Ukrainians,” Lubianka resident
Viktor Shaposhnikov said.
Four presidents in Kyiv
Polish President Andrzej Duda said on a visit to Kyiv with his Lithuanian,
Latvian and Estonian counterparts that those who had committed and ordered
crimes must be brought to justice. “This is not war, this is terrorism,” he told
reporters. Germany’s president did not join them as he had planned. Zelensky
said there had been no official approach and one of his officials denied a
newspaper report he had rejected the visit due to Steinmeier’s recent good
relations with Moscow. The Kremlin denounced Biden’s description of Moscow’s
actions in Ukraine as amounting to genocide, with spokesman Dmitry Peskov saying
this was unacceptable coming from the leader of a country he said had committed
crimes of its own. An initial report by a mission of experts set up by
Organization for Security and Cooperation in Europe documents a “catalogue of
inhumanity” by Russian troops in Ukraine, according to the US ambassador to the
OSCE. “This includes evidence of direct targeting of civilians, attacks on
medical facilities, rape, executions, looting and forced deportation of
civilians to Russia,” Michael Carpenter said. Russia has denied targeting
civilians and has said Ukrainian and Western allegations of war crimes are
fabricated. The Kyiv district police chief said 720 bodies had been found in the
region around the capital from where Russian forces had retreated, with more
than 200 people missing. International Criminal Court Prosecutor Karim Khan said
after visiting Bucha, a town where bound bodies of people apparently shot at
close range were found, that Ukraine was a “crime scene” and this was within ICC
jurisdiction. “We have to pierce the fog of war to get to the truth,” Khan said
on Twitter. The major of the northeastern city of Kharkiv, Ukraine’s second
largest, said bombing had increased significantly on Wednesday and satellite
photos from Maxar technology showed long columns of armored vehicles in the
region. At least seven people were killed, including a two-year-old boy, and 22
wounded in Kharkiv over the past 24 hours and Ukrainian forces shot down two
Russian planes attacking towns in the region, regional Governor Oleh Synehubov
said earlier. Reuters could not immediately verify his statement, but filmed
people in Kharkiv quietly carrying bodies from an apartment block hit by
shelling. A woman sat sobbing by the body of her son, lying on the floor in the
room she said she had implored him to leave before a second explosion killed
him.
More than 1,000 Ukraine Marines Surrender in Key Port of
Mariupol, Says Russia
Asharq Al-Awsat/Wednesday, 13 April, 2022
More than 1,000 Ukrainian marines have surrendered in the besieged port of
Mariupol, Russia's defense ministry said on Wednesday of Moscow's main target in
the eastern Donbas region which it has yet to bring under its control. If the
Russians take the Azovstal industrial district, where the marines have been
holed up, they would be in full control of Mariupol, which would allow Russia to
reinforce a land corridor between separatist-held eastern areas and the Crimea
region that it seized and annexed in 2014. Surrounded by Russian troops for
weeks, Mariupol would be the first major city to fall since Russia invaded
Ukraine on Feb. 24, with the battle for the industrial heartland of Donbas
likely to define the course of the war. Ukraine's general staff said that
Russian forces were proceeding with attacks on Azovstal and the port, but a
defence ministry spokesman said he had no information about any surrender.
Reuters journalists accompanying Russian-backed separatists saw flames billowing
from the Azovstal district on Tuesday. On Monday, the 36th Marine Brigade said
it was preparing for a final battle in Mariupol that would end in death or
capture as its troops had run out of ammunition. Thousands of people are
believed to have been killed in Mariupol and Russia has been massing thousands
of troops in the area for a new assault, Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskiy
said. Ukraine says tens of thousands of civilians have been trapped inside the
city with no way to bring in food or water, and accuses Russia of blocking aid
convoys. Russia's defense ministry said that 1,026 soldiers of Ukraine's 36th
Marine Brigade surrendered, including 162 officers.
Chemical weapons warning
Chechen leader Ramzan Kadyrov, an ardent supporter of Russian President Vladimir
Putin, urged remaining Ukrainians holed up in Azovstal to surrender. "Within
Azovstal at the moment there are about 200 wounded who cannot receive any
medical assistance," Kadyrov said in a Telegram post. "For them and all the rest
it would be better to end this pointless resistance and go home to their
families." Russian television showed pictures of what it said were marines
giving themselves up at Illich Iron and Steel Works in Mariupol on Tuesday, many
of them wounded. It showed what it said were Ukrainian soldiers being marched
down a road with their hands in the air. One of the soldiers was shown holding a
Ukrainian passport. Ukrainian Deputy Defense Minister Hanna Malyar has said
there was a high risk of Russia using chemical weapons, echoing earlier warnings
by Zelenskiy, who on Wednesday told the Estonian parliament by videolink Russia
was using phosphorus bombs to terrorize civilians. He did not provide evidence
and Reuters has not been able to independently verify his assertion. Chemical
weapons production, use and stockpiling is banned under the 1997 Chemical
Weapons Convention. Although condemned by human rights groups, white phosphorous
is not banned. Russia denies using chemical weapons, saying it had destroyed its
last chemical stockpiles in 2017. Moscow's incursion into Ukraine, the biggest
attack on a European state since 1945, has seen more than 4.6 million people
flee abroad, killed or wounded thousands and left Russia increasingly isolated
on the world stage. The Ukrainian prosecutor general's office said 191 children
had been killed and 349 wounded since the start of the invasion. The Kremlin
says it launched a "special military operation" to demilitarise and "denazify"
Ukraine. Kyiv and its Western allies reject that as a false pretext for an
unprovoked attack.
Four presidents visiting Kyiv
The presidents of Poland, Lithuania, Latvia and Estonia were on their way to
Kyiv to meet Zelenskiy, an adviser to the Polish leader said on Wednesday. The
four join a growing number of European politicians to visit the Ukrainian
capital since Russian forces were driven away from the country's north earlier
this month. US President Joe Biden said for the first time that Moscow's
invasion of Ukraine amounted to genocide, as Putin said Russia would
"rhythmically and calmly" continue its operation and achieve its goals. Russia
has denied targeting civilians and has said Ukrainian and Western allegations of
war crimes are fabricated. Many towns Russia has retreated from in northern
Ukraine were littered with the bodies of civilians killed in what Kyiv says was
a campaign of murder, torture and rape. Interfax Ukraine news agency on
Wednesday quoted the Kyiv district police chief saying 720 bodies had been found
in the region around the capital, with more than 200 people missing. The General
Headquarters of the Armed Forces of Ukraine said Russian forces were maintaining
attacks on civilian infrastructure in the Kharkiv region in the northeast and
the Zaporizhzhia region in central Ukraine. At least seven people were killed
and 22 wounded in Kharkiv over the past 24 hours, Governor Oleh Synegubov said.
A 2-year-old boy was among those killed in the 53 artillery or rocket strikes
Russian forces had carried out in the region, he said in an online post. Reuters
could not independently verify the information. Russia denies targeting
civilians. Putin on Tuesday used his first public comments on the conflict in
more than a week to say Russia would "rhythmically and calmly" continue its
operation, and expressed confidence his goals would be achieved. Zelenskiy
mocked Putin in an early morning address: "How could a plan that provides for
the death of tens of thousands of their own soldiers in a little more than a
month of war come about?"
Russia Says US Spreading Lies on Possible Chemical Attack
in Ukraine
Asharq Al-Awsat/Wednesday, 13 April, 2022
Russia said on Wednesday that claims by the United States and Ukraine that
Russia could use chemical weapons in Ukraine were disinformation because Moscow
destroyed its last chemical stockpiles in 2017. Ukraine's defense ministry said
on Tuesday that it was checking claims that Russia may have used chemical
weapons in the southern Ukrainian port city of Mariupol. US Department of State
Spokesman Ned Price told reporters on Tuesday that the United States was
concerned Russia may seek to resort to chemical weapons in Ukraine. Russia's
embassy in Washington said Ukrainian radicals were preparing to stage
provocations with the use of chemical weapons and that the State Department's
Price was spreading disinformation. "We call on Washington to stop spreading
disinformation," the embassy said in a statement. "Ned Price once again
distinguished himself by his idle talk, not substantiated by a single piece of
evidence." Russia sent tens of thousands of troops into Ukraine on Feb. 24 in
what it called a special operation to degrade its southern neighbor's military
capabilities and root out people it called dangerous nationalists. Ukrainian
forces have mounted stiff resistance and the West has imposed sweeping sanctions
on Russia in an effort to force it to withdraw its forces. Russia says the West
is gripped by discriminatory anti-Russian paranoia and says Western media have
provided an excessively partial narrative of the war in Ukraine that largely
ignores Russia's concerns about the enlargement of NATO and the persecution of
Russian speakers.
Biden, Zelensky discuss US support for Ukraine
Agence France Press/Wednesday, 13 April, 2022
President Joe Biden called his Ukrainian counterpart Volodomyr Zelensky
Wednesday to update him on "ongoing U.S. support" for Kyiv, the White House
said. Zelensky for his part tweeted that he and Biden had discussed an
"additional package of defensive and possible macro-financial aid."
The hour-long conversation came as Washington was reportedly poised to announce
the delivery of hundreds of millions of dollars worth of new military equipment
to Kyiv.
Moscow threatens to strike Kyiv if 'attempts' to attack
Russian territory continue
Agence France Presse/Wednesday, 13 April, 2022
The Russian military on Wednesday threatened to strike Ukraine's command centers
in the capital Kyiv if Ukrainian troops continue to attack Russian territory.
"We are seeing Ukrainian troops' attempts to carry out sabotage and strike
Russian territory," the Russian defense ministry said in a statement. "If such
cases continue, the Russian armed forces will strike decision-making centers,
including in Kyiv."
Fears Rise in Ukraine of Use of Chemical Weapons
Asharq Al-Awsat/Wednesday, 13 April, 2022
The United States said Tuesday it has "credible information" that Russia may use
"chemical agents" in its offensive to take the besieged Ukrainian city of
Mariupol, reigniting concerns about the use of such prohibited weapons, AFP
reported. While the West and Kyiv have been warning Moscow since the start of
its invasion on February 24 against any use of chemical weapons, fears have
grown this week after unconfirmed reports emerged that such weapons may have
already been deployed. The Organization for the Prohibition of Chemical Weapons
(OPCW) said Tuesday that it was "concerned" by allegations that chemical weapons
had been used in Mariupol, a strategic port city besieged by Russian forces in
the east of Ukraine and the scene of heavy fighting. The OPCW, to which both
Russia and Ukraine belong, referred to "accusations leveled by both sides around
possible misuse of toxic chemicals."
The Ukrainian Azov battalion, which is engaged in the defense of Mariupol, said
Monday that a Russian drone had dropped a "poisonous substance" on soldiers and
civilians in Mariupol. The battalion claimed people were experiencing
respiratory failure and neurological problems. "Three people have clear signs of
poisoning by warfare chemicals, but without catastrophic consequences,"
battalion leader Andrei Biletsky said in a video message on Telegram. He accused
the Russians of using chemical weapons during a strike on the city's large
Azovstal metallurgical plant. The accusation has not been confirmed by any
independent source, although Ukrainians, British and Americans have said they
are trying to verify it. US Secretary of State Antony Blinken said Tuesday he
was "not in a position to confirm" the allegations. But he continued: "We had
credible information that Russian forces may use a variety of riot control
agents, including tear gas mixed with chemical agents that would cause stronger
symptoms to weaken and incapacitate entrenched Ukrainian fighters and civilians,
as part of the aggressive campaign to take Mariupol." "We share that information
with Ukraine... and we're in direct conversation with partners to try to
determine what actually is happening, so this is a real concern," Blinken told
reporters. AFP has been unable to verify the Azov battalion's claims, which were
also shared by Ukrainian lawmakers. Mariupol has been under siege for weeks, and
Ukrainian forces are warning of its imminent fall.
State Department spokesman Ned Price said the United States was "ready to
assist" with the investigation. He said US officials "already have been in
direct conversations with our Ukrainian partners as they are collecting facts
and evidence." "We do stand ready to assist in case we can be useful in terms of
that investigation," he said, adding that the US concerns were based on "recent
information that was available to us before the reports emerged yesterday."
Pavlo Kirilenko, the Ukrainian governor of the Donetsk region, said that several
people had suffered damage to their airways after the drone strike in Mariupol.
"Last night, around midnight, a drone launched an explosive device and three
people who were in the area of the Mariupol metallurgical plant, or near it,
felt unwell" and had to be hospitalized, Kirilenko told the US news channel CNN,
according to a translation provided by the Ukrainian news agency Interfax-Ukraine.
Their lives did not appear to be in danger, he said, but "from the damage to the
airways and skin, we understand that it is a chemical substance. But it is too
early to say that it is a gas and to draw conclusions." Kirilenko said he wanted
to verify "100 percent" the nature of the substance before making more formal
accusations. Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky said he took the threat of
chemical weapons use "very seriously."
Putin Vows War Will Continue as Russian Troops Mount in
East
Asharq Al-Awsat/Wednesday, 13 April, 2022
Russia vowed to continue its bloody offensive in Ukraine as the war neared its
seventh week Wednesday, as President Vladimir Putin insisted the campaign was
going as planned despite a major withdrawal and significant losses. Thwarted in
their push toward the capital, Kyiv, Russian troops focused on the eastern
region of Donbas, where Ukraine said it was investigating a claim that a
poisonous substance had been dropped on its troops. It was not clear what the
substance might be, but Western officials warned that any use of chemical
weapons by Russia would be a serious escalation of the already devastating
war.Russia invaded on Feb. 24 with the goal, according to Western officials, of
taking Kyiv, toppling the government and installing a Moscow-friendly regime. In
the six weeks since, the ground advance stalled and Russian forces lost
potentially thousands of fighters and were accused of killing civilians and
other atrocities. Putin said Tuesday that Moscow “had no other choice” and that
the invasion aimed to protect people in parts of eastern Ukraine and to “ensure
Russia’s own security.” He vowed it would “continue until its full completion
and the fulfillment of the tasks that have been set.”
Meanwhile Wednesday, Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy was expected to
receive the presidents of Poland, Lithuania, Latvia and Estonia — his staunch
European allies.
“We are visiting Ukraine to show strong support for the Ukrainian people, will
meet dear friend President Zelenskyy,“ Estonian President Alar Karis tweeted.
For now, Putin’s forces are gearing up for a major offensive in the Donbas,
where Russian-allied separatists and Ukrainian forces have been fighting since
2014, and where Russia has recognized the separatists’ claims of independence.
Military strategists say Moscow believes local support, logistics and the
terrain in the region favor its larger, better-armed military, potentially
allowing Russia to finally turn the tide in its favor. In Mariupol, a strategic
port city in the Donbas, a Ukrainian regiment defending a steel mill alleged
that a drone dropped a poisonous substance on the city. The assertion by the
Azov Regiment, a far-right group now part of the Ukrainian military, could not
be independently verified. The regiment indicated there were no serious
injuries.
Zelenskyy said that while experts try to determine what the substance might be,
“The world must react now.”
The claims came after a Russia-allied separatist official appeared to urge the
use of chemical weapons, telling Russian state TV on Monday that separatist
forces should seize the plant by first blocking all the exits. “And then we’ll
use chemical troops to smoke them out of there,” the official, Eduard Basurin,
said. He denied Tuesday that separatist forces had used chemical weapons in
Mariupol.
Ukrainian Deputy Defense Minister Hanna Maliar said officials were
investigating, and it was possible phosphorus munitions — which cause horrendous
burns but are not classed as chemical weapons — had been used in Mariupol, which
has been pummeled by weeks of Russian assaults. Western leaders warned that if
chemical weapons are found to have been used, it would amount to a grievous
breach of international law. President Joe Biden for the first time referred to
Russia’s invasion as a “genocide” and said “Putin is just trying to wipe out the
idea of even being a Ukrainian.”
The Pentagon said it could not confirm the drone report but reiterated US
concerns about Russia using chemical agents. Britain, meanwhile, has warned that
Russia may resort to phosphorus bombs, which are banned in civilian areas under
international law, in Mariupol. Most armies use phosphorus munitions to
illuminate targets or to produce smoke screens. Deliberately firing them into an
enclosed space to expose people to fumes could breach the Chemical Weapons
Convention, said Marc-Michael Blum, a former laboratory head at the
Netherlands-based Organization for the Prohibition of Chemical Weapons.
“Once you start using the properties of white phosphorus, toxic properties,
specifically and deliberately, then it becomes banned,” he said. In Washington,
a senior US defense official said the Biden administration was preparing another
package of military aid for Ukraine to be announced in the coming days, possibly
totaling $750 million. The official spoke on condition of anonymity to discuss
plans not yet publicly announced. Delivery is due to be completed this week of
$800 million in military assistance approved by Biden a month ago. In the face
of stiff resistance by Ukrainian forces bolstered by Western weapons, Russian
forces have increasingly relied on bombarding cities, flattening many urban
areas and killing thousands. The war has driven more than 10 million Ukrainians
from their homes — including nearly two-thirds of the country’s children.
Ukraine's Deputy Prime Minister Iryna Vereshchuk said humanitarian corridors
used to get people out of cities under Russian attack will not operate on
Wednesday because of poor security.
She said that in the southeast Zaporizhzhia region, Russian troops blocked
evacuation buses, and in the Luhansk region, they were violating the cease-fire.
"The occupiers not only disregard the norms of international humanitarian law,
but also cannot properly control their people on the ground. All this creates
such a level of danger on the routes that we are forced to refrain from opening
humanitarian corridors today.” Moscow’s retreat from cities and towns around
Kyiv led to the discovery of large numbers of apparently massacred civilians,
prompting widespread condemnation and accusations of war crimes. Zelenskyy said
evidence of “inhuman cruelty” toward women and children in Bucha and other
suburbs of Kyiv continued to surface, including alleged rapes.
“Not all serial rapists reach the cruelty of Russian soldiers,” Zelenskyy said.
More than 720 people were killed in Kyiv suburbs that had been occupied by
Russian troops and over 200 were considered missing, the Interior Ministry said
early Wednesday.
In Bucha alone, Mayor Anatoliy Fedoruk said 403 bodies had been found and the
toll could rise as minesweepers comb the area.
In the Chernihiv region, villagers said more than 300 people had been trapped
for almost a month by the occupying Russian troops in the basement of a school
and only allowed outside to go to the toilet or cook on open fires. Valentyna
Saroyan told The Associated Press she saw at least five people die in Yahidne,
140 kilometers (86 miles) north of Kyiv. In one of the rooms, the residents
wrote the names of those who perished during the ordeal — the list counted 18
people. Villagers say they don’t know the cause of the deaths. Russian soldiers
allowed them to remove the bodies from time to time in order to bury them in a
mass grave at the local cemetery. Julia Surypak said the Russians only allowed
some people to make a short trip home if they sang the Russian anthem. Another
resident, Svitlana Baguta, said a Russian soldier made her drink from a flask
pointing a gun at her face.
Ukraine’s prosecutor-general’s office said Tuesday it was also looking into
events in the Brovary district, which lies to the northeast. It said the bodies
of six civilians were found with gunshot wounds in a basement in the village of
Shevchenkove and Russian forces were believed to be responsible. Prosecutors are
also investigating allegations that Russian forces fired on a convoy of
civilians trying to leave by car from the village of Peremoha in the Brovary
district, killing four people including a 13-year-old boy. In another attack
near Bucha, five people were killed including two children when a car was fired
upon, prosecutors said. Putin falsely claimed Tuesday that Ukraine’s accusation
that hundreds of civilians were killed by Russian troops in the town of Bucha
were “fake.”Associated Press journalists saw dozens of bodies in and around the
town, some of whom had their hands bound and appeared to have been shot at close
range.
Polish, Baltic presidents see 'pain and suffering' in
Ukraine
Associated Press/April 13, 2022
The Polish and Baltic presidents on Wednesday visited the Ukrainian town of
Borodyanka not far from Kyiv, with Lithuanian President Gitanas Nauseda saying
it was "permeated with pain and suffering". "It is hard to believe that such war
atrocities could be perpetrated in 21st-century Europe, but that is the reality.
This is a war we must win," Nauseda said in a statement. "The place is permeated
with pain and suffering. Civilian Ukrainians were murdered and tortured here,
and residential homes and other civilian infrastructure were bombed." Poland had
announced earlier that Nauseda and his fellow heads of state -- Polish President
Andrzej Duda, Estonia's Alar Karis and Latvia's Egils Levits -- had met in the
Polish city of Rzeszow near the Ukraine border before boarding a train for Kyiv.
The Polish president's office later tweeted a photo of their meeting with
Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky. "Our goal is to show support to
President Zelensky and the defenders of Ukraine in a decisive moment for this
country," Polish presidential adviser Jakub Kumoch said in a statement. German
President Frank-Walter Steinmeier visited Poland on Tuesday and said he had
planned to go on to Ukraine but was turned down.
"I was prepared to do this, but apparently, and I must take note of this, this
was not wanted in Kyiv," he told reporters on Tuesday. Steinmeier, a former
foreign minister, is facing criticism at home and abroad for his years-long
detente policy towards Moscow, which he has since admitted was a mistake.
Palestinian father of 3 gunned down by Israeli forces in
West Bank
Mohammed Najib/Arab News/April 13, 2022
RAMALLAH: Israeli forces shot and killed a Palestinian man and injured dozens
more in the West Bank city of Nablus on Wednesday, the Palestinian Health
Ministry said. Mohammed Assaf, 34, secretary of the Fatah movement in the
village of Kafr Laqif near Qalqilya, was killed while driving through the area
as Israeli forces were launching raids in Nablus and the surrounding towns,
officials said. His death was the latest in a wave of Israeli-Palestinian
violence that erupted as Muslims mark the holy month of Ramadan. Ahmed Jibril,
director of the Red Crescent in Nablus, told the Palestinian news agency Wafa
that four civilians were hit by live rounds, one of whom was struck in the chest
and is in a serious condition. Eight others were hit by rubber-coated metal
bullets, including one who sustained an eye injury, while 47 had breathing
difficulties after inhaling tear gas fumes during clashes with occupation forces
in Beita, south of Nablus. Nine young men also suffered bruising after being
knocked over by Israeli patrol vehicles. Israeli forces invaded Beita, Al-Lubban
Al-Sharqiya and Urif, south of Nablus, and the eastern area of Nablus to protect
the settlers who stormed Joseph’s Tomb. The soldiers searched several houses in
the towns and arrested five people. Condemning the Israeli excesses, Palestinian
Prime Minister Mohammad Shtayyeh said “occupation soldiers continue to murder
for the sake of murder, with a license granted by the prime minister of the
occupying state, Naftali Bennett, without the slightest regard for international
laws and norms.”He added: “The martyr, Assaf, the father of three children, was
shot in the chest while he was in Nablus this morning.”Also on Wednesday, three
young men were injured by live rounds and a fourth was arrested when Israeli
special forces stormed the Kadoorie University campus in Tulkarm. Witnesses said
that an undercover unit shot an employee of a private security company at the
university and wounded another. Less than a week after the Tel Aviv shooting
attack, the Israeli army and its internal security agency, Shin Bet, expanded
their operations in the West Bank to other cities and towns. While Bennett has
given the Israeli security forces a free hand in the West Bank and East
Jerusalem, fear remains palpable on Israeli streets with police, border guards
and reservists deployed in large numbers at train stations in central Tel Aviv
and Clock Square in the center of Jaffa where the premier lives.
There have been enhanced security checks in shopping malls and train stations by
private security guards, and some civilians have been seen carrying weapons in
anticipation of an attack. The situation is the same in western Jerusalem. In
the Damascus Gate area, Israeli forces can be seen wearing protective helmets in
preparation to tackle any security threats.
240 Russian Air Strikes Target ISIS in Syrian Desert
Homs - Asharq Al-Awsat/Wednesday, 13 April, 2022
The Russian army has expanded its military operations in the Syrian desert
region since early April, following the decline of its operations in March and
late February, the Syrian Observatory for Human Rights (SOHR). The Observatory
indicated that the Russian fighter jets launched 240 air raids on the Syrian
desert since early April. It stated that Russian fighter jets launched over 55
airstrikes over the past 36 hours, targeting ISIS hideouts and caves in the al-Sokhnah
desert in Homs's eastern countryside, al-Rusafa desert Al-Raqqah, and another
area in Aleppo-Hama-Al-Raqqah triangle, amid confirmed reports on human and
material losses. On Monday, SOHR sources reported that regime security services
arrested three new members of "National Defense Forces" from al-Sokhnah town in
the eastern countryside of Homs for "communicating with ISIS cells." The
security services arrested the commander of the National Defense in al-Sokhnah
town for communicating with ISIS cells earlier. SOHR monitored a security alert
among regime forces and Iranian militias in Palmyra, anticipating sudden attacks
by ISIS cells on military positions in the area. Russian warplanes intensified
their air raids on ISIS hideouts in central and northeastern Syria, including
Homs countryside, Deir Ez-Zor, and Raqqa. ISIS terrorists increased their
attacks against the regime forces and Iranian militias, injuring and killing
dozens, following a drop in Russian airstrikes in March. The opposition's
"Flight Observatories" reported that Russian forces launched hundreds of
warplanes from Hmeimim airbase towards the Syrian airspace between Homs eastern
countryside and Raqqa to the Deir Ez-Zor desert.
The Observatories reported that over 200 air raids were carried out with
high-explosive missiles, targeting ISIS hideouts over the al-Sukhna area.
Earlier this week, unknown armed men launched a guided missile against a
military site of the Iraqi Hezbollah militia, killing four of its members. They
bodies were later transferred to the Deir Ez-Zor Hospital, which is secured by
military units affiliated with the Fourth Division, led by Maher al-Assad.
Meanwhile, Iran sent anti-aircraft missiles to the eastern countryside of Homs,
accompanied by new military reinforcements that reached the "Moheen" military
warehouses and other sites east of Homs, according to Syrian activists. An
opposition observatory official stated that over the past few days, Iran sent
anti-aircraft missiles from the Abu Kamal area in Deir Ez-Zor to Homs
countryside, accompanied by sending new weapons and ammunition in ambulances as
camouflage.
The new movement coincided with further military reinforcements, including
dozens of Iraqi Harakat al-Nujaba militia members, to the Zamlat al-Mahr 1 field
in Homs' eastern countryside. ISIS fighters increased their attacks in the
Syrian desert targeting military sites of the Syrian regime forces, Iranian
militias, and military convoys. Since this year, about 133 members, including
officers, have been killed in various attacks. The regime executed several
combing campaigns to pursue ISIS remnants in the Syrian desert, which did not
yield results. The terrorist organization uses a new military tactic that relies
on the element of surprise and sudden operations against military bases and
convoys of the regime and Iran in the Syrian desert.
Tunisian Union Opposes Presidential Preconditions for
National Dialogue
Asharq Al-Awsat/Wednesday, 13 April, 2022
Tunisia's powerful UGTT union said on Wednesday that any national dialogue on
proposed changes to the constitution must be without preconditions and not based
on the results of public online consultations announced by President Kais Saied.
The position of UGTT, which has more than a million members and can shut down
Tunisia's economy with strikes, broadens opposition to the president's plans to
move forward with fundamental reforms without real dialogue. Saied dissolved
parliament last month, imposing one-man rule. In a move his opponents say is a
coup, he seized control of the executive powers in the middle of last year and
has since ruled by decree. "The Union is pressing for the dialogue to be without
preconditions," Noureddine Taboubi, head of the union, told reporters, adding an
online consultation would be inadequate. Ahead of planned constitutional
amendments in July, Saied said last week the reforms would be based on the
results of an online consultation, in which only 500,000 of a total population
of 12 million inhabitants participated. Saied has denied seeking to impose an
individual rule and said he wanted the people to have sovereignty. In the latest
of a series of unilateral decisions, Saied also said people would vote for
individuals in the next parliamentary elections expected in December rather than
the lists they have chosen from in previous elections. The country's two main
parties Ennahda and Free Constitutional, which are bitterly opposed, have both
said they will boycott any referendum to restructure the political system
unilaterally. The opposition accuses Saied of trying to impose his personal
project and that he only wants dialogue that will support his proposals. A
European Parliament Foreign Affairs Committee said following a visit to Tunisia
that a genuinely inclusive national dialogue is imperative.
Reports: US Special Envoy for Horn of Africa to Step
Down Soon
Asharq Al-Awsat/Wednesday, 13 April, 2022
US Special Envoy for the Horn of Africa David Satterfield will step down from
his role before summer, sources familiar with the matter said on Tuesday, after
less than six months on the job and at a time of persistent political turmoil in
the region. Deputy Special Envoy Payton Knopf will take over the post in an
acting capacity, sources said, adding that Satterfield's departure was not
imminent. Earlier, the State Department announced Satterfield and Knopf were set
to arrive in Ethiopia on Wednesday, for meetings with Ethiopian government
officials, representatives of humanitarian organizations, and diplomatic
partners. The State Department had no official comment when asked about
Satterfield's departure. The news of Satterfield's expected departure, first
reported by the Foreign Policy magazine, comes at a time of multiple crises in
the region. A more than year-long conflict in Ethiopia has sparked accusations
of atrocities on both sides, while Sudan is in economic and political turmoil
following an October coup. The frequent change of personnel also raises
questions about the Biden administration's commitment to the region,
particularly at a time when it is grappling with pressing foreign policy crises
elsewhere, primarily the Russian invasion of Ukraine. The region remains an
"absolute priority" for the administration, a senior State Department official
said, without elaborating further. Satterfield, a long-time career diplomat with
decades of experience, had replaced Jeffrey Feltman, another veteran US diplomat
who had stepped down at the end of last year after about nine months in the job.
Feltman continues to serve in an advisory capacity. Two leading human rights
groups last week accused armed forces from Ethiopia's Amhara region of waging a
campaign of ethnic cleansing against ethnic Tigrayans during a war that has
killed thousands of civilians and displaced more than a million. Amnesty
International and Human Rights Watch (HRW) said in a joint report that abuses by
Amhara officials and regional special forces and militias during fighting in
western Tigray amounted to war crimes and crimes against humanity. They also
accused Ethiopia's military of complicity in those acts. Ethiopia's government
said in a statement last week it was committed to holding all those responsible
for violations of human rights and humanitarian law accountable. Amhara
government spokesman Gizachew Muluneh told Reuters last week the allegations of
abuses and ethnic cleansing in western Tigray were "lies" and "fabricated" news.
Last week, the United States expressed concern about reports of ethnically
motivated atrocities Tigray and called for an end to unlawful detentions based
on ethnicity. In Sudan, the military takeover derailed a transition that had
raised hopes of an end to decades of autocracy, civil conflict and economic
isolation after former president Omar al-Bashir was overthrown in a 2019
uprising.
US Prosecutors Rest Case Against ISIS ‘Beatle’
Asharq Al-Awsat/Wednesday, 13 April, 2022
Prosecutors rested their case Tuesday against an alleged member of the notorious
ISIS kidnap-and-murder cell known as the "Beatles."El Shafee Elsheikh, 33,
declined the opportunity to testify in his own defense at his trial in a federal
court in Alexandria, Virginia.
Asked by Judge T.S. Ellis if he wanted to take the stand, Elsheikh said "No,"
the first time his voice had been heard during the two-week trial. Elsheikh is
charged with the murders of American freelance journalists James Foley and
Steven Sotloff and aid workers Kayla Mueller and Peter Kassig, and suspected of
the kidnapping of nearly 20 other Westerners in Syria. Ten European journalists,
relief workers and Syrians held hostage by the "Beatles" have testified over the
past few days of their brutal treatment at their captors' hands. Elsheikh's
lawyers declined to cross-examine any of the witnesses and presented only 20
minutes of excerpts from interviews he gave to media outlets as his defense. The
interviews were conducted after Elsheikh and another alleged "Beatle," Alexanda
Amon Kotey, were captured in January 2018 by a Kurdish militia in Syria,
according to AFP. Unlike now, Elsheikh acknowledged in the interviews that he
had interactions with the Western hostages, who dubbed the hostage-takers the
"Beatles" because of their British accents. Elsheikh's lawyers contend that he
lied about being a "Beatle" in the interviews so he would be transferred to the
United States instead of being put on trial in Iraq, where he would have faced a
certain death sentence. The final former hostage to testify was Danish
photographer Daniel Rye Ottosen, who recounted how he was given 25 blows for his
25th anniversary. He also recalled having a knife placed against his throat and
a gun thrust into his mouth. The prosecution and defense are to deliver their
closing arguments on Wednesday, and the case will go to the jury. Foley, Sotloff
and Kassig were killed by their ISIS jailers and videos of their murders
released for propaganda purposes. According to witnesses and her family, Mueller
-- the other American -- was turned over to ISIS leader Abu Bakr al-Baghdadi,
who raped her repeatedly. ISIS announced her death in February 2015 and said she
was killed in a Jordanian airstrike, a claim that was disputed by US
authorities. Elsheikh and Kotey were turned over to US forces in Iraq following
their capture. They were flown to Virginia in 2020 to face charges of
hostage-taking, conspiracy to murder US citizens and supporting a terrorist
organization. Kotey pleaded guilty in September 2021 and is facing life in
prison. The other "Beatle," Mohamed Emwazi, the notorious executioner known as "Jihadi
John," was killed by a US drone strike in Syria in 2015.
Truck Hits Tourist Bus in Egypt, Kills 10
Asharq Al-Awsat/Wednesday, 13 April, 2022
A tourist bus collided with a truck on a highway in southern Egypt and burst
into flames on Wednesday, killing at least 10 people including four French and a
Belgian, authorities said. The crash happened some 55 kilometers south of the
ancient city of Luxor, as it was travelling to the temples of Esna on the west
bank of the Nile River, provincial authorities said in a statement. Along with
the tourists, five Egyptians were killed in the crash. At least 14 others were
injured, including eight from France and six from Belgium, they said. Many
bodies were charred, and the injured suffered from burns, bruises and fractures,
according to a health official who spoke on condition of anonymity because he
was not authorized to brief the media. The Associated Press quoted Aswan
Provincial Governor Ashraf Attia as saying the injured were taken to hospitals
and were in stable condition.
Wednesday’s accident came five days after a bus crashed on a highway near the
Red Sea, killing three including two Polish tourists.
The Latest LCCC English analysis &
editorials from miscellaneous sources published on April 13-14/2022
Audio/Defense Minister Benny Gantz
Discusses Israel's Strategic Challenges
Benny Gantz/Washington Insitiute/April 13/ 2022
Benjamin "Benny" Gantz has served as Israel's minister of defense since 2020. He
is the former chief of general staff of the Israel Defense Forces.
Brief Analysis
Watch a conversation with Israel's minister of defense as he shares his insight
into Israel's dramatically changing security environment. Israel's security
environment is undergoing dramatic changes. While Jerusalem is expanding
partnerships and holding landmark summits with a range of Arab countries under
the Abraham Accords, strategic uncertainty persists due to Russia's war in
Ukraine, renewed Palestinian terrorist attacks at home, and Iran's multiple
threats, from nuclear, missile, and drone advances to its support for terrorist
groups along Israel’s northern and southern borders.
To discuss how Israel is meeting the challenge of this evolving security
environment, The Washington Institute hosted a virtual Policy Forum with
Minister of Defense Benny Gantz. Minister Gantz is the leader of Israel's Blue
and White Party, a key pillar of the country’s coalition government, and former
chief of staff of the Israel Defense Forces. He has pursued an active agenda in
office, traveling to Morocco and Bahrain to sign breakthrough security
agreements and meeting with Jordan’s King Abdullah, Palestinian Authority
president Mahmoud Abbas, and U.S. secretary of defense Lloyd Austin. During this
exclusive public event, he will discuss the country's current strategic
challenges in conversation with Washington Institute executive director Robert
Satloff. The Policy Forum series is made possible through the generosity of the
Florence and Robert Kaufman Family.
GOP senators warn Biden against taking
Iran's IRGC off terror list
Elizabeth Hagedorn//Al-Monitor/ April 13/ 2022
The Republican letter comes as nuclear talks remain at a standstill over Iran's
insistence that the United States delist the IRGC as a terrorist organization.
A group of Republican senators warned President Joe Biden on Monday against
lifting the Islamic Revolutionary Guards Corps’ terrorist designation, which
Iran has made a condition of its return to the landmark nuclear accord.
Whether the IRGC remains on Washington’s formal list of terror organizations
remains the principal sticking point in the now-paused talks in Vienna. The
Trump administration imposed the designation a year after it withdrew from the
nuclear pact, marking the first time the United States had ever branded part of
another country’s military as a foreign terrorist organization (FTO).
On Monday, 14 Senate Republicans wrote that dropping the label would be “wildly
misguided” given that the IRGC has "shown no meaningful change in conduct."
Last week, armed groups linked to the IRGC were blamed for attacks in Syria and
Iraq that targeted facilities hosting the US-led international coalition. The
IRGC took credit in March for a ballistic missile attack near the US Consulate
in the Iraqi Kurdish capital of Erbil.
“The removal of this terrorist designation from an organization that continues
to carry out acts of terror will undoubtedly show the world that the United
States’ terrorist designations are political tools that this administration is
willing to barter and trade whenever it suits its political goals,” read the
letter led by Sen. John Kennedy, R-La.
On Friday evening, The Washington Post quoted an unnamed senior administration
official as saying Biden doesn’t plan on meeting the Iranians’ demand for
delisting. The Republican senators called for the Biden administration to go a
step further by “publicly and categorically” rejecting any discussion of taking
the IRGC off the terror blacklist.
Experts point out that if the FTO designation were lifted, the IRGC would remain
sanctioned under other authorities, including the list of specially designated
global terrorists (SDGT). The IRGC’s shadowy overseas arm known as the Quds
Force is also an SDGT.
Recent statements from administration officials have fueled speculation that US
negotiators could offer Iran a compromise whereby the IRGC’s FTO designation
would be revoked in exchange for the Quds Force’s placement on the terror list
as a separate entity.
Last week, Joint Chiefs Chairman Gen. Mark Milley told a congressional hearing
that he believed the Quds Force was a terrorist organization whose delisting he
would not support.
State Department deputy spokesperson Jalina Porter echoed Milley’s remarks,
telling Al-Monitor on Friday that “the president shares the chairman’s view that
IRGC Quds Forces are terrorists.”
Al-Monitor later asked the State Department whether it considered the IRGC in
its entirety to be a terrorist organization, and a spokesperson replied that “we
are not going to negotiate in public.”
“The president has made clear he’ll do what’s in the best interest of US
security — and the onus here is really on Iran at this stage, particularly on
this issue,” the spokesperson said on Monday.
Naysan Rafati, a senior Iran analyst at the International Crisis Group,
cautioned against reading too much into the administration’s parsing. "It could
be a distinction that hints at a wider consideration being made within the
administration to see if those things could be split up. It may not," he said.
"And then even if it is, the question becomes is that a distinction that the
Iranians would be willing to accept?"
Tehran has signaled it is unwilling to budge. An unnamed Iranian diplomat told
Reuters that Iran rejected the idea of branding the Quds Force a terrorist
organization in return for delisting the broader organization. Behnam Ben
Taleblu, a senior fellow at the Foundation for Defense of Democracies, said such
a compromise would amount to “Western mirror-imaging 101.” “If the
administration makes the case that the Quds Force is a terrorist group and the
parent entity — the entire IRGC — is not a terrorist group, this would be a
needless bureaucratic decision not represented by the facts on the ground,” he
said.
Pope Francis Abandons Christ’s Cross to Appease Muslims
Raymond Ibrahim/April 13/ 2022
Pope Francis, a leading advocate of Doormat Christianity, is at it again.
Although it is traditional for papal podiums to depict the crucifix, during his
recent visit to the island of Malta, Pope Francis ditched the cross lest it
offend Muslim migrants. As the archdiocese of Malta openly admitted, “The podium
will not be adorned with a crucifix, given that the majority of migrants are
Muslim.”
Instead, the podium backdrop used by Francis consisted of recycled plastic
bottles with red blobs meant to highlight the two primary reasons Francis was
visiting Malta—to defend migrants and the environment: “When you look deeper,
you will see that the sea is made of recycled plastic bottles, because there is
more plastic than fish in our sea,” artistic director Carlo Schembri explained.
“And the red blobs are life jackets — the lives of people lost at sea.”
While this was meant to highlight the hazards illegal Muslim migrants experience
crossing the Mediterranean, one wonders (but doubts) if Francis remembered the
dozens of Christian migrants who were intentionally thrown overboard and drowned
in the Mediterranean by their Muslim counterparts.
Meanwhile, Dr. Philip Beattie, an economist at the University of Malta,
explained the reality of his island’s migrant situation: “The majority of the
illegal immigrants trafficked to Malta on rickety boats leaving the Libyan
coastline are not genuine refugees, but economic migrants — and are mainly
Muslim young men aged between 18 and 28.”
Beattie also got to the heart of the matter:
Saint Paul preached “Christ crucified — a stumbling block to Jews and
foolishness to Gentiles” [1 Cor. 1:23] when he brought the gospel to Malta. The
Apostle boasted in the scandal of the Cross. Why is the pope ashamed of the
Cross before Muslims, especially during Lent?
Perhaps it’s not just shame; perhaps Francis, whose Maltese mission was in large
part to support the many Muslim migrants who have flooded the tiny island,
removed the cross as a precaution—lest offended Muslims cause a scene and thus
compromise his presentation of them as poor victims in need of more state aid
and concessions. After all, and as is well documented in this article, past and
present, Muslims have engaged in an unwavering pattern of desecrating and
destroying the cross, especially in churches and Christian cemeteries.
The fact that Francis’s shameful conduct took place in Malta is especially
ironic, if not ominous, for Malta was the scene of one of the worst Islamic
invasions of history, one worth remembering.
On May 18, 1565, Muslims, in the guise of Ottoman Turks, savagely besieged
Malta. The defenders of that tiny island were led by the Knights of Saint John
(formerly the Hospitallers).
The Ottomans proceeded to subject the tiny island to, at that time, history’s
most sustained bombardment (some 130,000 cannonballs were fired in total). “I
don’t know if the image of hell can describe the appalling battle,” wrote a
contemporary: “the fire, the heat, the continuous flames from the flamethrowers
and fire hoops; the thick smoke, the stench, the disemboweled and mutilated
corpses, the clash of arms, the groans, shouts, and cries, the roar of the guns
. . . men wounding, killing, scrabbling, throwing one another back, falling and
firing.”
The vastly outnumbered Knights of Christ fought tooth and nail; many of them
were ritually mutilated, their hearts and entrails pulled out to cries of
“Allahu Akbar.” Afterwards—and speaking of the crucifix that Francis is ashamed
of—the Muslim invaders mockingly nailed their bodies to crosses and set them
adrift in the harbor.
Despite this, the Knights and Maltese defenders so persevered that, on September
11, the Muslim invaders raised the siege and retreated.
Today, Islamic invasions of Europe continue, though under the guise of a
“refugee crisis”—one that the head of the Catholic world is doing all he can to
facilitate, not in the name of Christianity, as evidenced by his abandonment of
the cross, but supposed humanism, even as many migrants continue acting like
their invading and conquering forbears, including by destroying the hated cross.
Days prior to the Islamic siege of Malta, Jean Parisot de Valette (1494–1568),
the grand master of the Knights of Saint John—“his disposition is rather sad,”
wrote a contemporary, but “for his age [seventy-one], he is very robust” and
“very devout”—explained to his men what was at stake:
A formidable army composed of audacious barbarians is descending on this island;
these persons, my brothers, are the enemies of Jesus Christ. Today it is a
question of the defense of our Faith as to whether the book of the Evangelist
[the Gospel] is to be superseded by that of the Koran? God on this occasion
demands of us our lives, already vowed to His service. Happy will those be who
first consummate this sacrifice.
Amazingly, everything he said is now explicitly or implicitly rejected by the
current pope—even though Valette’s words are largely still applicable: masses of
people who not infrequently behave like “audacious barbarians” are still
“descending on this island,” as well as all of Western Europe, even though they
are and openly behave as “the enemies of Jesus Christ.” Moreover, “Today it is
[still] a question of the defense of our Faith as to whether the book of the
Evangelist is to be superseded by that of the Koran.”
And in the midst of such an existential struggle, the so-called vicar of Christ
is doing everything in his power to compel Christians to drop their guard and
take in and appease more and more Muslims—even as he abandons the cross of
Christ, lest it offends these selfsame Muslims.
Surely Valette—whom the capital of Malta is named after in honor of his
sacrifice—is turning in his grave.
Raymond Ibrahim is author of the new book, Defenders of the West: The Christian
Heroes Who Stood Against Islam
Egypt hopes Israeli tourists will make up losses from
Ukraine war
Mohamed Saied/Al-Monitor/April 13/ 2022
At a time when Egypt’s tourism sector has suffered a setback due to the war in
Ukraine, the first direct flight from Israel is set to land in Sharm el-Sheikh
this month, which may boost the number of Israeli tourists in the Egyptian
coastal resorts in the Sinai Peninsula.
Egypt is currently looking for alternative tourist markets as part of a
government plan to increase the number of tourists in a bid to save the vital
sector that has been affected by Russia's war on Ukraine.
The war halted the flow of tourists from the two countries, which makes up a
third of the total number of tourists in Egypt annually, pointing to a real
crisis in the tourism sector.
Tourism accounts for nearly 12% of Egypt's gross domestic product and is one of
the main sources of foreign currency in a country whose economy is already under
pressure amid unprecedented inflation.
Meanwhile, Egypt and Israel agreed last month to operate direct flights between
Tel Aviv and Sharm el-Sheikh in the south of the Sinai Peninsula where Egypt’s
top resorts overlook the Red Sea.
While Israeli Prime Minister Naftali Bennett’s office indicated that direct
flights are expected to begin this April, the Egyptian Ministry of Civil
Aviation has not made any official announcement in this regard.
According to Israel, the two countries reached an agreement when an Israeli
delegation led by the Shin Bet visited Egypt in September 2021 to discuss with
the Egyptian side the safety and security of the new flight route.
Egyptian authorities completed in 2021 the construction of a 36-kilometer
concrete and wire wall around the Sharm el-Sheikh resort. The project, which was
announced in 2019, aims to tighten security measures at the popular coastal
attraction in a bid to attract tourists.
Egyptian President Abdel Fattah al-Sisi and Bennett announced the opening of a
flight route during the first official visit by an Israeli prime minister to
Egypt in Sharm el-Sheikh in September 2021.
Tel Aviv believes that increasing the number of flights between the two
countries would further warm relations. EgyptAir, the state-owned carrier of
Egypt, currently operates direct flights between Tel Aviv and Cairo.
Egypt is the first Arab country to have signed a peace agreement with the Jewish
state in 1979 before the two countries started operating direct flights.
EgyptAir is the parent company of Air Sinai, which operated flights between the
two countries without carrying the Egyptian flag or the company's logo.
Since Sisi took office in 2014, he has been keen to strengthen diplomatic and
security relations with Israel, which have reached unprecedented levels today.
Israir Airlines indicated last month that it intends to operate 15 weekly
flights on the Tel Aviv-Sharm el-Sheikh route as soon as it obtains the
necessary approvals.
Israeli tourists wishing to visit Sharm el-Sheikh would usually resort to
private planes, buses or taxis.
Paul Rivlin, a visiting professor of economics in the Middle East at Emory
University, told Al-Monitor that the direct flights between the two countries
have considerable potential to revitalize Israeli tourism to Sharm el-Sheikh and
will help Egypt overcome some of the effects of the Russian war in Ukraine.
The sea resorts in Sinai are the most attractive destinations for Israeli
tourists. More than 700,000 Israeli tourists visited Egypt in 2019, according to
the Israeli Embassy in Egypt.
Egyptian tourism experts who spoke to Al-Monitor believe that the operation of
direct flights between Egypt and Israel will increase the number of tourists
coming to Egypt, but it will not be enough to compensate for the accumulated
losses the tourism sector has incurred over the years.
Egypt’s tourism revenues hit $2.8 billion from July to September 2021, according
to the country’s central bank, compared to $801 million for the same period in
the previous fiscal year.
Egypt had hoped for a better tourism season this year with most of the world
countries easing COVID-19 restrictions. However, the Russian war in Ukraine has
further burdened tourism, which is a key source of national revenues in Egypt.
Egypt was one of the first countries to begin receiving tourists in July 2020
while strict precautionary measures to stem the spread of the coronavirus were
still in place globally, in a desperate attempt to save its ailing sector.
Tourism revenues decreased by 70% in the same year due to the pandemic and the
ensuing closure of many tourism facilities and hotels, and travel and movement
restrictions that affected most of the world's countries.
Despite that, Egypt's tourism revenues reached $4 billion in 2020, and the
country received 3.5 million tourists that year. This is while its tourism
revenues hit $13 billion in 2019, with more than 13 million tourists. Magdy
Sleem, a former official at the Egyptian Ministry of Tourism, told Al-Monitor
that direct flights between Egypt and Israel may promote Israeli tourism in the
country with time, but he also called for the need to target other markets in
Europe, East Asia and Latin American countries.
He added that Israeli tourism alone will not compensate for the Egyptian losses
incurred due to the war in Ukraine and the pandemic. “We will seemingly see the
lowest number of tourists visiting Egypt in years,” he said.
Egypt launched last month the Follow the Sun advertising campaign on social
media, including Facebook, TikTok and Instagram, to attract tourists from the
United Kingdom, Germany, Italy, France and the United States, in an attempt to
bridge the gap that the Russian and Ukrainian tourists left behind due to the
war. Moreover, the Cabinet decided on March 22 that charter flights landing in
Egypt would continue to receive cash subsidies from the government until the end
of October. These sums range from $1,500 to $3,500 to airlines per flight. The
program, which aims to boost tourism, was supposed to end in April.
Sleem anticipated that less than 2 million tourists would visit Egypt this year,
which implies a 50% decrease compared to 2020.
Expectations of a weak tourist season this year may change after the major
Russian tourism company, Biblio-Globus, resumed its flights to Egypt, where 300
Russian tourists arrived in Hurghada on April 3 — the first such trip since the
Russian war began in Ukraine.
The flight was organized directly from Zhukovsky International Airport to
Hurghada International Airport via Red Wings airline, a regional leisure
operator, instead of Russian Airlines. Russian tourists wishing to travel to
Egypt must have a schedule of four days or more. It is expected that Russian
companies will increase their flights to Egypt, coinciding with the decision of
authorities in Moscow to lift coronavirus restrictions on regular and charter
flights to 52 “friendly” countries, including Egypt, starting April 9, Russian
news agency TASS reported Prime Minister Mikhail Mishustin as saying.
Red Wings is offering two flights a week to Hurghada from April 3-10. Beginning
April 13, the flight operator will offer four flights a week.
In 2019, the second-largest number of tourists visiting Egypt came from Ukraine
with 1.6 million people, namely a 32% increase compared with the previous year.
More than 727,000 Ukrainian tourists entered Egypt in 2020, according to the
Ukrainian Embassy in Cairo, which comprised 21% of the total number of foreign
tourists in Egypt that year.
The Ukrainian State Agency for Tourism said in a January report that 1.46
million Ukrainians visited Egypt in 2021, making Egypt its second most popular
tourist destination after Turkey.
Russia has been the first source of tourists in Egypt for years, with nearly 3
million Russian tourists visiting Egypt in 2014, before Moscow ordered a
suspension of flights to Egypt after a Russian charter flight crashed in Sinai
in 2015 killing all 224 passengers on board. In July 2021, Russia decided to
resume flights to and from Egypt. Since then, 700,000 Russians visited Egypt
until the end of 2021, with 125,000 Russian tourists entering the country in the
first two weeks of 2022, according to Russian Ambassador to Cairo Georgy
Borisenko. Sleem said that the repercussions of the war in Ukraine will cast a
shadow on tourism in Egypt for a while, which will affect the 2 million people
working in the sector.
Related Topi
Israel's Ultra-Orthodox not ready to take down Bennett
government
Israel Hershkovitz/Al-Monitor/ April 13/ 2022
Despite the political upset between the coalition and the opposition, the
ultra-Orthodox seem in no hurry to topple the current government.
United Torah Judaism representative Moshe Gafni speaks after a meeting with
President Reuven Rivlin at the president's residence on April 5, 2021, in
Jerusalem, Israel. - Amir Levy/Getty Images
Knesset member Idit Silman quit the coalition and joined the opposition April 6,
ending the government's parliamentarian majority. Silman quit following
instructions by Health Minister Nitzan Horowitz for hospitals to allow
non-kosher food during the upcoming Passover holiday.
Some observers claim that several opposition politicians were involved in
Silman’s decision, while others say that even before the crisis, ultra-Orthodox
politicians approached Defense Minister Benny Gantz to propose he quit the
cabinet and form a government with them and the Likud. Gantz said yesterday, "I
miss the ultra-Orthodox in this government. Nothing will happen in one week
without chametz in hospitals. We in the army will work to find the right balance
between the High Court and the preservation of tradition."
Israel’s two major ultra-Orthodox parties have been exiled from power for nine
months. As members of the Knesset opposition since mid-June 2021, United Torah
Judaism (UTJ) and Shas used filibusters and other tools to exhaust the
eight-party coalition and disrupt its work. Their intense efforts exhausted
them, too. Silman’s announcement did not surprise UTJ’s seven seasoned Knesset
members, who had already identified cracks in the fragile coalition. “We
realized immediately that the weakest link in the coalition was actually the
Yamina party of Prime Minister Naftali Bennett,” one UTJ lawmaker told
Al-Monitor on condition of anonymity, predicting that Silman would not be the
last Yamina member to jump ship.
But before the ultra-Orthodox parties and their so-called “natural partners” in
the Likud could march arm-in-arm back to the seat of government, UTJ leader and
veteran lawmaker Moshe Gafni rained on the parade.
Gafni said he told Silman that “the people of Israel were proud of her for the
fight she was waging and I was glad she had made the move.” However, Gafni added
that the opposition should also engage in soul-searching and ask itself who has
the best prospects of putting together a government without calling new
elections. UTJ was signaling that its support should not be taken for granted.
Gafni himself made clear that his main concern was preventing the premiership
from falling into the hands of Foreign Minister Yair Lapid, who is particularly
reviled in ultra-Orthodox circles over his centrist party’s perceived
anti-clerical bias. Under the power-sharing agreement between Bennett and Lapid,
if Bennett’s government is toppled, Lapid would serve as interim prime minister
until elections are held.
Gafni tried to walk back his comments. “What was published in my name that we
are allegedly not supporting Netanyahu for the premiership is not true,” he said
in a statement. But the damage had been done. Some of his fellow UTJ lawmakers
claimed his remarks were made before he had consulted with the party’s rabbis.
In response, Gafni’s aides posted a photo showing him meeting with Rabbi Gershon
Edelstein, spiritual leader of the UTJ’s Degel Hatorah faction, along with a
report that the two had agreed to work together to prevent Lapid from becoming
prime minister.
What game is Gafni playing? While the ultra-Orthodox legislator certainly wants
to block Lapid from becoming prime minister, he could also be motivated by
personal reasons. The current constellation left Gafni the only senior
ultra-Orthodox politician. Thus, continuing with the current Knesset could work
toward his personal advantage.
To answer lies in the intricate internal divisions and power struggles among the
ultra-Orthodox in the last 30 years. The political representatives of its two
main streams, the Hassidim and the Lithuanians, have long been at odds. In 1988,
the Lithuanians split from the Agudat Israel party that represented both groups
in the Knesset and formed Degel Hatorah, which no longer accepted the authority
of Agudat Israel rabbis. Their independent run netted the new party only two
Knesset seats compared to Agudat Israel's five.
The two parties joined forces once again for the 1992 elections after four
tumultuous years. They have since run together on a single UTJ ticket despite
their rivalry, with the power balance between them strictly maintained – 60% of
the Knesset seats won by the combined list were given to lawmakers representing
the Hassidic Agudat Israel and 40% to the Lithuanian stream’s Degel Hatorah.
The 2018 municipal elections disrupted this delicate balance when Degel Hatorah
trounced Agudat Israel, buttressing claims that when push comes to shove, the
ultra-Orthodox community obeys the Lithuanian leaders. Degel Hatorah's success
heralded dramatic changes on the national level, leaving the two factions on
equal footing and handing Gafni the party’s top leadership position.
Two other dramatic events this past year have made Gafni the ultra-Orthodox's
unchallenged political leader. Aryeh Deri, chair of the other ultra-Orthodox
party Shas, quit the Knesset last January in a plea arrangement with the state
after his corruption indictment. He now runs his party unofficially. Shortly
afterward, Agudat Israel’s political leader Yaakov Litzman signed his own plea
deal in another affair and also announced he would not run in the next
elections.
Gafni finds himself well positioned at a crossroads. The man who barely made it
into the Knesset 33 years ago and has since fought for his faction’s legitimacy
is now single-handedly leading the entire ultra-Orthodox camp.
If Gafni stands firm and refuses to vote to disband the Knesset, it will cost
Netanyahu a shot at the premiership. Perhaps Netanyahu would be consoled by the
thought that Deri and Litzman, the partners who helped him hold onto power, are
also out of the game. The trio worked well together over the years, but there
was never any illusion that given the right opportunity, any of them would
betray the others.
Erdogan plays to base with criticism of Tunisia
Fehim Tastekin/Al-Monitor/ April 13/ 2022
By slamming the dissolution of Tunisia’s parliament, Erdogan may have emboldened
his ideological allies from the Ennahda party, but his criticism might backfire
to further isolate political Islam.
Non-interference in domestic affairs and ending support for the Muslim
Brotherhood have been two major conditions that Turkish President Recep Tayyip
Erdogan has faced in his fence-mending quest with Egypt and other Arab
countries, leading him to tone down his rhetoric on regional issues in the past
couple of years. Yet the Tunisian president’s decision to dissolve parliament
has prompted a fresh outburst by Erdogan, fueling diplomatic tensions between
the two countries.
Erdogan’s condemnation was meant as support for his close friend Rachid
Ghannouchi, speaker of the dissolved assembly and leader of the
Brotherhood-affiliated Islamist Ennahda party. “We see the developments in
Tunisia as the smearing of democracy. The dissolution of a parliament of elected
representatives is … a blow to the will of the Tunisian people,” he said April
4.
Erdogan spoke out after several days of silence following President Kais Saied’s
March 30 decision to dissolve parliament, which he had suspended last year.
Tunisia should stick to its election roadmap, Erdogan said, stressing that the
political transition in the country could succeed “only through an inclusive and
meaningful dialogue in which all segments of society, including parliament, are
involved.”
Erdogan’s criticism generated a harsh response from Tunis. Foreign Minister
Othman Jerandi called his Turkish counterpart to reject Erdogan’s comments, and
his ministry summoned the Turkish ambassador. “Tunisia expresses its
astonishment at the Turkish president's statement … these comments are
unacceptable," the Foreign Ministry said. “Tunisia affirms its keenness on close
relations with friendly countries but adheres to the independence of its
decision and rejects interference in its sovereignty or the choices of its
people," it said. And Saied, referring to Tunisia’s Ottoman past, said his
country was no longer an Ottoman province and “not waiting for orders from any
authority.” The Tunisian people, he added, “will say their word away from any
interference.”
Saied had suspended the parliament and the immunity of its members and dismissed
the government in July 2021 following a wave of anti-government protests. Soon
after, he issued a decree expanding his executive powers. In February, Saied
dissolved the Supreme Judicial Council and appointed a temporary replacement for
the body. He had criticized the council for delaying investigations into
political assassinations in the wake of the 2011 popular rising that had led to
Ennahda’s ascent to power, protecting figures affiliated with Ennahda and
impeding efforts to stamp out corruption.
In a countermove March 30, more than a half of the suspended parliament’s
members held an online session to vote through a bill repealing the president’s
extraordinary executive decrees. Saied immediately convened a meeting of the
National Security Council, at which he announced the dissolution of the
legislature for what he called a “coup attempt.” The deputies faced a probe on
charges of conspiring against state security.
Under a roadmap that Saied announced last year, Tunisia is expected to hold a
referendum on a draft new constitution on July 25 and then parliamentary polls
in December. Tired of corruption of economic woes, many Tunisians had initially
supported Saied’s moves, but the president has come under mounting criticism
that he is becoming a new autocrat.
Ennahda, which was part of the government that Saied dismissed and had the
largest number of seats in parliament, has said it will boycott the referendum
and the elections.
Given Ennahda’s ideological affinity and close ties with Erdogan’s Justice and
Development Party, the political crisis in Tunisia holds the potential to hit
Turkish-Tunisian relations. The Brotherhood’s ouster in Egypt in 2013 had opened
deep rifts between Ankara and Cairo, which have yet to be healed. Ankara and
Tunis had so far refrained from steps that could cause lasting damage to their
ties. But now that Ennahda faces the risk of political isolation as a result of
the transformation that Saied seeks, Ankara is growing concerned that it could
lose Tunisia as well.
Meanwhile, the U-turns that Ankara has recently made to ease tensions with
regional countries have disappointed Erdogan’s Islamist supporters. Hence, he
might have felt compelled to break his silence on Tunisia in a bid to refresh
his leadership credentials, both at home and abroad.
In a string of backpedaling moves, Erdogan has reconciled with the United Arab
Emirates (UAE), which he had accused of financing the 2015 coup attempt in
Turkey; forced the Brotherhood’s Istanbul-based TV channels to tone down their
criticism of Cairo; and accorded a warm welcome to Israel’s president in Ankara.
Eager to reconcile with Saudi Arabia as well, Turkey last week halted the trial
of 26 Saudi nationals over the gruesome murder of Saudi dissident Jamal
Khashoggi in Istanbul and handed the case over to Riyadh.
Yet Erdogan’s criticism of Saied might make things even harder for Ghannouchi,
who has been accused of using his role as parliament speaker to collude with
Turkey and Qatar and advance the Brotherhood’s transnational agenda. Tunisian
anti-terror police questioned Ghannouchi April 1 on charges of having plotted
against state security. Erdogan’s criticism, widely seen as an attempt to save
Ennahda, might backfire also by influencing skeptics to back Saied’s roadmap.
That Tunis responded sternly to Erdogan while mostly fudging over the reactions
of other countries indicates that the row has domestic political implications.
Erdogan is seen as a leader who could embolden Ennahda, and his comments
rekindled debates targeting the party. Arab media accompanied their coverage of
Erdogan’s comments with the following remarks of Ghannouchi: “We are not
isolated from the world. We have inter-parliamentary relations and friends
around the world. We are in contact with all parties with whom we share
objectives.” While Ennahda’s ties with Turkey and Qatar are constantly evoked,
some media outlets have gone as far as to report the outlandish claim that the
Brotherhood had asked the Turkish military to intervene to overthrow Saied.
Al Arab newspaper opines that Erdogan has bowed down to Egypt, the UAE and Saudi
Arabia and is now extending a helping hand to Ghannouchi to reburnish his image
as the defender of Islamist causes. According to the paper, he has reverted to
his old style of interfering in Arab domestic affairs by replacing Egyptian
President Abdel Fattah al-Sisi with Saied as his target.
Zouhair Maghzaoui, secretary-general of Tunisia’s People’s Movement party, sees
Turkey as the “last card” of Tunisia’s Islamists in their quest for external
support. “Erdogan’s statements are part of his Muslim Brotherhood ties in the
region and in response to demands by the Ennahda movement, given that Tunisia is
the last stronghold of Islamists in the region,” he said. For Tunisian analyst
Nabil Rabhi, Erdogan “wants the Brotherhood's return to power.”
In defiant remarks April 9, Ghannouchi said Tunisia was in the grips of “an
unprecedented crisis reinforcing a dictatorial regime that has seized all
power.”
The row has triggered also calls to boycott Turkish goods in Tunisia. Some
observers argue that Tunisia should review or freeze its 2004 free trade
agreement with Turkey because it has favored Turkish interests. Turkish goods
have flooded the Tunisian market and dealt blows to local producers, they note,
stressing that Tunisia’s trade deficit with Turkey is the third largest after
its trade deficits with China and Italy.
Turkey’s diplomatic tensions with Tunisia could cast a pall also on its efforts
for normalization with Arab heavyweights.
For Egypt, which has shown no hurry to advance the normalization offer that
Turkey made last year, Ankara had to be put on a test to show commitment on
non-interference and ending support for the Brotherhood. And though Erdogan has
shown willingness to give concessions on the Brotherhood, Cairo has remained
rather cool to the Turkish leader. Erdogan might feel frustrated and reckon that
he has no reason to soften further now that the Ukraine crisis has helped him
break his isolation on the Western front as well. In sum, the latest episode
with Tunisia suggests that Erdogan would not easily part with his old habits or
turn his back on the Brotherhood unless he gets a meaningful response from the
governments with which he seeks normalization.
Ukraine War: The Moral Corruption of Germany's Political
Elite
Soeren Kern/Gatestone Institute/April 13, 2022
Questions are being belatedly asked — and grudgingly answered — about many
aspects of Merkel's failed Russia policy, including her decisions to block
Ukraine's prospective membership of NATO, gut the German military, undermine the
transatlantic alliance, and institutionalize Germany's overdependence on Russian
energy supplies.
The responsibility for Germany's failed Russia policy goes far beyond Merkel:
German President Frank-Walter Steinmeier and a large cross section of Germany's
business, media and political elite have supported — and continue to support —
pro-Russia (as well as pro-China and pro-Iran) policies that sacrifice
democracy, human rights, and the rule of law on the altar of financial gain.
"The president of Germany is not ready to admit any of his huge personal
responsibility for the failure of Berlin's Russia policy mistake. Even in times
of such a war he wants to build new bridges with Russia." — Ukrainian Ambassador
to Germany Andriy Melnyk, interview with the Los Angeles Times.
"The modus operandi of German & EU politics is the indefinite postponement of
conflicts. This seemed to have worked well in times of peace (though not in
relation to Russia, obviously). The consequences of such an approach in times of
war can be catastrophic." — Stefan Auer, Professor of European studies,
University of Hong Kong.
"The problem in my view is one of mindset.... This Zeitenwende [turning point in
German-Russian relations] will only succeed if it arrives in the heads of an
entire complacent generation of boomer politicians in Germany who have to accept
that their naïveté, egocentrism and smug self-righteous conviction in the
supposed higher morality of their actions has directly contributed to the
greatest catastrophe in European politics since 1945." — Georg Löfflmann, a
German professor of Politics and International Studies at the University of
Warwick
"Germany's stubborn insistence on engaging with the Russian leader in the face
of his sustained aggression (a catalog of misdeeds ranging from the invasion of
Georgia to assassinations of enemies abroad and war crimes in Syria) was nothing
short of a catastrophic blunder, one that will earn Merkel a place in the
pantheon of political naiveté alongside Neville Chamberlain." — Matt
Karnitschnig, Chief Europe Correspondent, Politico.
Russia's invasion of Ukraine is forcing a long-overdue reevaluation of former
German Chancellor Angela Merkel's legacy of appeasing Russian President Vladimir
Putin. Pictured: Merkel greets Putin at the G20 economic summit on July 7, 2017
in Hamburg, Germany. (Photo by Morris MacMatzen/Getty Images)
Russia's invasion of Ukraine is forcing a long-overdue reevaluation of former
German Chancellor Angela Merkel's legacy of appeasing Russian President Vladimir
Putin.
Questions are being belatedly asked — and grudgingly answered — about many
aspects of Merkel's failed Russia policy, including her decisions to block
Ukraine's prospective membership of NATO, gut the German military, undermine the
transatlantic alliance, and institutionalize Germany's overdependence on Russian
energy supplies.
A growing number of commentators in Germany and elsewhere are saying that
Merkel's years-long deference to Putin made his invasion of Ukraine possible,
and some are even accusing Germany of being complicit in the war.
The responsibility for Germany's failed Russia policy goes far beyond Merkel:
German President Frank-Walter Steinmeier and a large cross section of Germany's
business, media and political elite have supported — and continue to support —
pro-Russia (as well as pro-China and pro-Iran) policies that sacrifice
democracy, human rights, and the rule of law on the altar of financial gain.
Some commentators worry that Germany's pro-Russia policies will be difficult to
reverse in the post-Merkel era because, they say, it is ingrained in the
worldview of an entire generation of contemporary German leaders.
Facing intense political pressure after Russia invaded Ukraine, German
Chancellor Olaf Scholz pledged to reverse Germany's pro-Putin policies. A month
later, he is being accused of backtracking or backsliding on many of his
promises. Especially disgraceful is the German government's repeated
excuse-making to deliberately delay promised shipments of weapons to Ukraine.
Even with mounting evidence of Russian war crimes in Ukraine, German policy
toward Russia remains hostage to naïve idealism and the energy dependency it
created. More than half of the gas and coal that Germany imports comes from
Russia, as does a third of its oil, according to the German Ministry of Economic
Affairs.
Some analysts have postulated that Scholz is waiting for the war to end —
regardless of who wins — so that Germany can return to the status quo.
Ukrainian Pressure
In recent weeks, Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy and Ukrainian
Ambassador to Germany Andriy Melnyk repeatedly have called out the hypocrisy of
the German government's Russia policy:
April 3. Zelenskyy rebuked Merkel for enabling Russia's invasion of Ukraine:
"Questions must be asked, not only about Russia, but also about the political
behavior that actually allowed this evil to come to our land. Today is the
fourteenth anniversary of the NATO Summit in Bucharest. At the time there was a
chance to take Ukraine out of the 'grey zone' in Eastern Europe, out of the grey
zone between NATO and Russia, out of the grey zone in which Moscow thinks it can
do anything, even the most dreadful war crimes.
"Under optimistic diplomatic statements that Ukraine could become a member of
NATO, then in 2008 the refusal to accept Ukraine into the alliance, was hidden,
among some politicians, an absurd fear of Russia. They thought that by refusing
Ukraine, they would be able to appease Russia, to convince it to respect Ukraine
and live normally next to us.
"During the 14 years since that miscalculation, Ukraine has experienced a
revolution and eight years of war in Donbas. And now we are fighting for life in
the most horrific war in Europe since World War II.
"I invite Mrs. Merkel and Mr. [Nicolas] Sarkozy to visit Bucha and see what the
policy of concessions to Russia has led to in 14 years, to see with their own
eyes the tortured Ukrainian men and women.
"I want to be correctly understood. We do not blame the West. We do not blame
anyone but the specific Russian military that did this to our people and those
who gave them orders. But we have the right to talk about indecision, about the
path to Bucha, to Hostomel, to Kharkiv, to Mariupol."
April 1. In an interview with the Los Angeles Times, Melnyk said: "The president
of Germany is not ready to admit any of his huge personal responsibility for the
failure of Berlin's Russia policy mistake. Even in times of such a war he wants
to build new bridges with Russia. It clearly sends a clandestine signal to
Moscow: Once the war is over we are still here. We keep the flag flying. We will
restore the historic German-Russian ties."
April 2. Melnyk tweeted: "Dear German government, you can sleep on and worry
about fuel prices, inflation, and recession. Only: by looking the other way,
Russia is committing a genocide in the middle of Europe. And Germany is
dutifully financing these massacres. Good night, German coalition government."
April 3. Melnyk tweeted: "German 'Never Again' is bullsh*t. Pure hypocrisy."
April 4. Melnyk, in an interview with Germany's ARD television, called for an
urgent reappraisal of Germany's Russia policy: "If this German foreign policy
catastrophe is not dealt with then there is a risk that something similar will
happen again and that you will become dependent on Russia again."
April 4. Melnyk, in an interview with Tagesspiegel, said: "For Steinmeier, the
relationship with Russia was and remains something fundamental, even sacred, no
matter what happens. Even the war of aggression makes no difference."
April 5. Melnyk tweeted: "German economy. Economy. Über alles. German
prosperity. Prosperity. Über alles. Morality? Decency? Historical
responsibility? None. So much for the embargo of Russian gas, oil & coal — even
after the massacre at Bucha. Dear German government, how much longer will you
look on?"
April 8. In an interview with Reuters, Melnyk said:
"It's not just Russian gas, it's oil, coal, metals, diamonds and other raw
materials. We (Ukraine) have become the biggest victim of this perverted
relationship. Ukrainians are paying for this failed German policy with their
lives.
"This kind of hypocrisy with Russia dates back to Nord Stream 1 (gas pipeline).
Germany's huge dependence on Russia, at a time of the worst aggression since the
Second World War, is shameful.
"Germany is as far away from giving us the support we need today as it was at
the start of the war. More than 40 days later, the German political elite
apparently still does not believe that Ukraine can win the war."
April 10. Ukrainian Foreign Minister Dmytro Kuleba, in an interview with the
American television news program Meet the Press, said that Merkel's decision in
2008 to exclude Ukraine from NATO was a "strategic mistake." He added: "If we
were a member of NATO, this war wouldn't be taking place."
April 12. German President Frank-Walter Steinmeier abandoned plans to visit
Ukraine after Zelenskyy refused to meet with him. A Ukrainian official in Kyiv
told the German newspaper Bild: "We all know about Steinmeier's close ties to
Russia. He is currently not welcome in Kyiv."
Sorry Not Sorry
On April 4, in a terse statement prepared by an aide, Merkel, who has remained
conspicuously silent since the Ukraine war began on February 24, responded to
Zelenskyy:
"Retired Chancellor Dr. Angela Merkel stands by her decisions in connection with
the 2008 NATO summit in Bucharest."
German journalist Rayk Anders commented:
"Merkel let it be known today 'that it was right not to accept Ukraine into
NATO.' Even in the middle of the war and in front of the bloody shambles of her
foreign policy, she can't see her own mistake. Incomprehensible."
A few hours later, Steinmeier, who was reelected to a second term as German
president just over a week before the Ukraine war began, issued an apology (of
sorts) for his many years of appeasing Putin. The German head of state, who
appears to be extraordinarily close to the Russian government, said:
"My sticking to Nord Stream 2 was clearly a mistake. We held on to bridges that
Russia no longer believed in and which our partners had warned us about.
"My assessment was that Vladimir Putin would not accept the complete economic,
political, and moral ruin of his country for his imperial madness. Like others,
I was wrong.
"The bitter balance sheet: We failed to establish a common European house (ein
gemeinsames europäisches Haus) that includes Russia. We failed to integrate
Russia into a common security architecture.
"With a Russia under Putin, there will be no return to the status quo as it
existed before the war."
Nord Stream 2, a highly controversial energy pipeline, was designed to double
shipments of Russian natural gas to Germany by transporting the gas under the
Baltic Sea. Facing intense international pressure after Putin invaded Ukraine,
Berlin reluctantly halted the pipeline.
Steinmeier, Merkel and others have long ignored concerns that Nord Stream 2
would effectively give Moscow a stranglehold over German gas supplies. The
leaders of many countries in Eastern and Western Europe warned that the pipeline
would subject the continent to Russian blackmail.
German commentators noted that Steinmeier's apology actually sounded like a
non-apology: by using the words "we" and "like others," he was essentially
saying that he is not really to blame because many other German officials also
supported Berlin's disastrous Russia policy.
Jochen Bittner, who writes for the German newspaper Die Zeit, tweeted:
"This 'like others' from Steinmeier is a self-righteousness that is difficult to
bear. First, others weren't chancellery chiefs and foreign ministers. And
second, there were admonishers and warners. They were willingly defamed as
'warmongers' and 'swashbucklers.'"
Steinmeier, who has held many senior positions in the German government since
1999 — including the post of foreign minister between 2005 and 2009, and again
between 2013 and 2017 — did not offer his resignation.
Hans-Jürgen Jakobs, a senior editor with Handelsblatt, a prestigious German
business newspaper, wrote that Merkel and Steinmeier issued their statements
only because they were under political pressure to do so:
"The grand coalition partners Angela Merkel and Frank-Walter Steinmeier worked
together for a good seven years. She as chancellor, he as foreign minister. They
received much applause. With Vladimir Putin turning a civilized country into a
slaughterhouse, however, the duo's performance looks a lot worse than we thought
when they left office. The interwoven energy policy and Ostpolitik (Russia
policy) is literally blowing up in their faces.
"The two politicians were only really motivated to issue their current
statements because of critical voices from Ukraine: Ukrainian Ambassador to
Germany Andriy Melnyk and Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy. The
difference: the Social Democrat [Steinmeier] has regrets, the Christian Democrat
[Merkel] has no regrets.
"If Steinmeier's re-election had been scheduled for April rather than February,
eleven days before the invasion, he would have been more worried about getting a
second term."
In an interview with Deutschlandfunk radio, Melnyk said that Steinmeier's
admission of error was only a "first step" and called for the German president
to back up his words with deeds:
"It is important for us that these statements are now followed by actions, but
these actions are missing. Like many of my compatriots, I would like the German
president not only to show his remorse, but also that, as head of state, he
demands that Germany draw lessons from the Bucha massacre, and from other
atrocities, that we in Ukraine are now experiencing day and night....
"We believe that what has happened here in Germany over the past two decades
urgently needs to be dealt with, not only politically, but also at the level of
society and the media. Everything really needs to be exposed and examined. How
could it come to the point that Germany is almost completely dependent on the
Russian state in terms of energy policy? And that Ukraine has become a hostage
of these relations and has to pay for this suffering with civilian casualties?"
The chief foreign correspondent for Die Welt, Klaus Geiger, wrote:
"Olaf Scholz's change of course on February 27 was driven by fear — not courage.
Ukraine was lied to, the closeness to Russia remained behind the scenes. This is
one of the reasons why the Bucha massacre was possible."
Promoting Failure
German officials responsible for creating and implementing Merkel's failed
Russia policy are now being promoted to positions of even more influence and
responsibility:
Jens Plötner, a so-called Putinversteher (someone who "understands" Putin) who
served as chief of staff to Foreign Minister Steinmeier, is now national
security advisor to Chancellor Scholz. Plötner, a strong supporter of Nord
Stream 2, bears considerable responsibility for the policies that led to
Germany's energy dependence on Russia. He now says that he is leading a "policy
change" to end that dependency.
Christoph Heusgen, Merkel's top foreign policy advisor who served as German
Ambassador to the United Nations from 2017 to 2021 (he managed Germany's
shameful two-year anti-Israel stint on the UN Security Council), has been named
chairman of the Munich Security Conference, a high-profile annual conference on
international security policy. The position will allow Heusgen to continue to
have an outsized voice on German foreign policy and transatlantic relations.
Heusgen has downplayed German policy failures by portraying Merkel as a victim
of Russia. In a recent appearance on German national television, he claimed that
Germany had "misjudged" Putin. This misjudgment occurred despite years of
warnings from Eastern and Western Europe and the United States.
On September 25, 2018, when U.S. President Donald J. Trump addressed the United
Nations General Assembly, Heusgen, German Foreign Minister Heiko Maas and other
members of the German delegation were filmed sneering when Trump warned:
"Reliance on a single foreign supplier can leave a nation vulnerable to
extortion and intimidation. That is why we congratulate European states, such as
Poland, for leading the construction of a Baltic pipeline [Baltic Pipe, a gas
pipeline from Norway via Denmark to Poland] so that nations are not dependent on
Russia to meet their energy needs. Germany will become totally dependent on
Russian energy if it does not immediately change course."
Heusgen is now presenting himself as a Russia hawk, but not everyone is buying
it. Meanwhile:
Thomas Bagger, a long-time senior foreign policy advisor to Steinmeier, has been
appointed to the position of German Ambassador to Poland.
Steffen Seibert, Merkel's long-time spokesman, has been named German Ambassador
to Israel. With a straight face, day in and day out for more than a decade, he
sold Merkel's failed policies to the German public.
Seibert's promotion has been heavily criticized on social media: German author
Alexander Wallasch tweeted: "Steffen Seibert goes to Israel as ambassador. Dear
Israelis, sorry in advance!" Another commentator noted: "Merkel is infiltrating
Israel. I feel sorry for them." Yet another tweeted: "Our former chief liar and
denier falls up the career ladder." Paul-Anton Krüger, Berlin bureau chief for
Süddeutsche Zeitung, reported that Seibert's promotion had been coordinated
beforehand between Merkel and Scholz.
Twitter Takes
Many analysts and commentators from Germany and elsewhere have taken to Twitter
to offer cogent and concise analyses of Germany's failed Russia policy.
German geopolitical analyst Ulrich Speck noted:
"For Germans who invested so much in the partnership with Russia it's hard to
accept that they were wrong. They always thought they were 'rational,' smarter
than the Central Europeans who were warning about Russian aggression, and who
the Germans saw as irrational, 'traumatized.'"
In another tweet, Speck added:
"German Russia policy since 2005 was a co-production of [Germany's two main
parties] the CDU [Christian Democrats] and the SPD [Social Democrats], which is
why both parties do not really want to distance themselves from it, change of
era or not."
Anders Östlund, a Swedish analyst with the Center for European Policy Analysis,
tweeted:
"There is something fundamentally wrong with the value system in the German
political establishment. The acceptance of wars and atrocities and the
unwillingness to take action to stop the wars and atrocities will haunt Germany
for a long time.
"The German leadership cannot claim to be against wars and atrocities when it
passively stands by and watches such events unfold when the German government
has had the power to stop them.
"The last twenty years Germany has acted like a corrupt and morally decadent
policeman. It has looked on as crimes were committed despite having the powers
to interfere and it has up until the last months always expressed more
understanding for the perpetrator than the victim.
Stefan Auer, a professor of European studies at the University of Hong Kong,
tweeted:
"The modus operandi of German & EU politics is the indefinite postponement of
conflicts. This seemed to have worked well in times of peace (though not in
relation to Russia, obviously). The consequences of such an approach in times of
war can be catastrophic."
Bojan Pancevski, Germany correspondent for the Wall Street Journal, noted:
"During the eurocrisis [2009-2012], Germany helped impose austerity on ailing
partners, demanding their immediate pain for a collective gain. Now, however,
Germany is asking the EU for years to correct its policies that made it the
world's biggest buyer of Russian gas."
Marcel Dirsus, a German analyst at the Institute for Security Policy at Kiel
University, tweeted:
"If you're German, please stop saying that nobody could've seen this war coming.
People warned us for years, but we chose to ignore them because doing so was
better for business and we like to think of ourselves as more clever than
everyone else. Turns out we aren't.
"This is not a moment for Germans to throw up their hands and pretend that
everyone is totally surprised by Putin. We should be asking for forgiveness for
our arrogance and try to learn from our allies because they got it right and we
got it wrong."
Czech political analyst Monika Richter wrote:
"The emperor is naked. At the critical moment, Germany has shown itself to be a
feckless, unreliable ally, more deeply corrupted & coopted by its 'commercial'
authoritarian entanglements than many (esp in the US) realized. With friends
like these, you don't need enemies.
"It's time for Biden to stop pussy-footing around Berlin in prostration for his
predecessor's offenses and privileging the bilateral relationship over other
allies and the imperatives of transatlantic security — which, indeed, Germany
has been consistently sabotaging for years.
"Strategic corruption is a disease, and it has weakened the German state to such
an extent that it now clearly jeopardizes the global democratic community. We
need to respond with tough love and public exposure of the disease....
"The rot runs deep, and it has been allowed to fester for far too long. Enough
is enough."
Mareike Ohlberg, a senior fellow at the German Marshall Fund, wrote:
"I am deeply unimpressed by all the figures on German TV currently telling us
that they couldn't have seen coming what Putin would do, that Nordstream 2 would
turn out to be a problem. I was in so many talks where German officials
dismissed CEE [Central and Eastern Europe] warnings.
"The fact that the people who were so fundamentally wrong about everything and
so nasty to their European neighbors are the people we're STILL turning for
advice to now frankly offends me."
German Russia expert Janis Kluge tweeted:
"Personal view: Today, no country in the West should feel more responsibility
for #Ukraine's security than #Germany. Consequently, Germany should do more than
any other country to help Ukraine....
"–We worked hard to keep Ukraine out of NATO.
"–We denied Ukraine arms, even blocked others from doing so.
"–We cooperated directly with Russia's military until at least 2014.
"–We funded Russia's armament more than most.
"–We helped Russia bypass Ukraine's gas transit (NS1&2).
"But most of all, we were [in World War 2] the last ones to invade, bomb and
kill in Ukraine, and vowed 'never again.' It is painful to see that other
countries are stepping up more than Germany at this historic time. I hope that
we can still change course."
Georg Löfflmann, a German professor of Politics and International Studies at the
University of Warwick, concluded:
"The problem in my view is one of mindset.... This Zeitenwende [turning point in
German-Russian relations] will only succeed if it arrives in the heads of an
entire complacent generation of boomer politicians in Germany who have to accept
that their naïveté, egocentrism and smug self-righteous conviction in the
supposed higher morality of their actions has directly contributed to the
greatest catastrophe in European politics since 1945."
Newspaper Commentary
The Chief Europe Correspondent of Politico, Matt Karnitschnig, in an essay — "Putin's
Useful German Idiots" — wrote that Russia's invasion of Ukraine is a repudiation
of a whole generation of German politicians from across the political spectrum:
"Germany's stubborn insistence on engaging with the Russian leader in the face
of his sustained aggression (a catalog of misdeeds ranging from the invasion of
Georgia to assassinations of enemies abroad and war crimes in Syria) was nothing
short of a catastrophic blunder, one that will earn Merkel a place in the
pantheon of political naiveté alongside Neville Chamberlain.
"Slowly but surely, it's begun to dawn on Germans that Merkel's soft-shoe
approach to Russia — which reached its zenith with the 2015 decision to green
light the Nord Stream 2 pipeline despite Russia's annexation of Crimea and its
role in the separatist war in eastern Ukraine — didn't just open the door for
Putin to go further, it effectively encouraged him to do so.
"Russia's invasion of Ukraine is not just a repudiation of Merkel's
chancellorship, however, but of a whole generation of German politicians from
across the spectrum blinded by nostalgia for Ostpolitik and Wandel durch Handel,
the 1970s-era détente policies championed by Chancellor Willy Brandt that
according to German legend led to the end of the Cold War.
"Germany's collective responsibility is why turning the page is easier said than
done. There is no Churchill-like figure in German politics who has been warning
for years of the perils of trusting Putin. While Merkel deserves most of the
blame for falling into the Russian leader's trap, the truth is that Germany's
entire political class is guilty....
"During the Cold War, the term 'useful idiot' became a label for moderates in
the West who fell victim to the communists' credulous arguments.
"From Germany's veto of NATO membership for Ukraine and Georgia in 2008 to its
pursuit of gas deals with Moscow to its resistance to send arms to Kyiv — the
country's leaders have served as Putin's useful idiots.
"All the while, the so-called Russlandversteher, the smug Russian sympathizers
who populate the country's political establishment, rejected criticism of their
course, insisting they knew better while (literally) laughing in Washington's
face.
"No one's laughing anymore."
In an opinion article — "A Failed Generation of Politicians" — Jasper von
Altenbockum, an editor of the Frankfurter Allgemeine Zeitung, wrote that it will
be impossible for Germany to forge a new security policy as long as the existing
generation of politicians remain in office:
"The expectation was to create peace without weapons from Lisbon to Vladivostok.
Anyone who rebelled against this view, mostly Eastern Europeans, were considered
hillbillies. The German debate was thought to be ahead of its time and hid
behind German history. In truth, however, the doubters were the realists and
German idealism was the product of provincial thinking. This was entirely in
line with the West German tradition of having others pay for security, under
whose umbrella it was easy to moralize....
"German idealism is now proving to be a historical error, a deception, the moral
and material failure of a generation....
"It seems unlikely that a new start in German and European foreign and security
policy is possible. It is not to be expected from Germany's governing coalition.
A good start would be if German politicians used the word 'we' sparingly.
Because we didn't fail; we didn't deceive ourselves: That was you."
Writing for Bloomberg Opinion, German commentator Andreas Kluth, in an article —
"Germany's President Embodies the Past Sins of Its Russia Policy" — argued that
Steinmeier is the embodiment of Germany's disastrous policy toward the Kremlin:
"With this and other outbursts of undiplomatic honesty, Andrij Melnyk, Ukraine's
ambassador in Berlin, has come to embody Germany's guilty conscience. When not
seated like a moral phantom in the gallery of the Bundestag and glowering down
at parliament's speakers, he goes from one talk show to another, relentlessly
reminding Germans how they're falling short of the historical responsibility
they're constantly invoking — by not sending Ukraine enough weapons, continuing
to buy Russian gas, or what have you.
"By aiming at Steinmeier, Melnyk has picked what is in some ways the most
obvious and symbolic target....
"As a Social Democrat who's been chief of staff to one former chancellor,
Gerhard Schroeder, and foreign minister to another, Angela Merkel, Steinmeier
played a leading role in almost every misguided gesture Germany has made toward
Putin in the last two decades....
"During all those Schroeder and Merkel years, Steinmeier was saying cheese for
the photographers next to Putin and his cronies. Like other German politicians,
especially Social Democrats, he became an oratorical robot spouting the German
conventional wisdom: the only way to deal with Moscow is dialogue and more
dialogue, as well as more economic and cultural exchange.
"Politely but obstinately, Steinmeier rebuffed the Poles, Estonians, Latvians
and Lithuanians — not to mention the Ukrainians — who worried that Germany was
in hock to the Kremlin. He lectured them that energy dependence was instead
interdependence and would make the Russian Bear cuddly rather than scary. In
2016, when NATO maneuvered near its eastern flank, Steinmeier theatrically
decried this 'saber-rattling and warmongering' by his own country's defensive
alliance. Hear any echoes?
"For Steinmeier, the 'relationship to Russia was and is something fundamental,
even holy,' Melnyk told a German newspaper this week. For decades, he added,
Steinmeier has 'woven a spider's web' of pro-Kremlin contacts. Melnyk then named
some of them, including the current foreign-policy advisor of Chancellor Olaf
Scholz....
"Germany's policy elites and intellectuals will have a lot of soul-searching to
do for years to come. Few are doing so honestly."
The chief correspondent of Deutschlandradio, Stephan Detjen, in an article —
"The Mistakes of the Previous Russia Policy are Deeply Rooted" — concluded:
"Frank-Walter Steinmeier represents the problematic aspects of German Russia
policy over the past decades in three ways: as a social democrat, as a close
companion and long-time confidant of Gerhard Schröder and finally as foreign
minister in two of Angela Merkel's cabinets. This made Steinmeier a symbolic
figure. The biting criticism, which was leveled against him, in particular by
the Ukrainian ambassador Andriy Melnyk, was primarily aimed at the current
German President. But it goes far beyond the person of Steinmeier. It applies to
basic attitudes of German politics that have grown culturally and are
superimposed economically. It's about interests, hopes and illusions....
"The bloody landmarks that Putin left behind in his neo-imperial expansion were
always recognizable without any special German thoughtfulness: Grozny, South
Ossetia, Syria, Crimea, the Donbas. The question is why they were not properly
perceived and interpreted in Germany.
"The search for answers forces one to confront a mentality that goes far beyond
politics. It mixes ... anti-Americanism, unscrupulous lobbying Gerhard Schröder,
the cold sense for German business interests and the hard-nosed rationalism of
Angela Merkel, who was able to visit Alexei Navalny, who had been poisoned by
Putin, in the Berlin Charité one day and dismiss the toxic Nord Stream pipeline
project as a purely private business matter the next.
"The view of the reality of Putin's Russia was obscured not least by a
questionable culture and dialogue policy. Shady sponsors, naïve idealists and
tough ideologues, supported by the state, cultivated the mystically charged
image of a German-Russian special relationship that coolly ignored the
interests, freedom and independence of other Central and Eastern European
countries.
"All of this is food for thought that cannot be left for discussion at some
indefinite time after the war. It is the prerequisite for being able to provide
better answers than in the past to the challenge from Putin now — and in the
future to the challenges from the neo-imperial and autocratic powers in Beijing,
Tehran, Pyongyang and elsewhere."
*Soeren Kern is a Senior Fellow at the New York-based Gatestone Institute.
© 2022 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.
The Ukrainian Conflict between Crimes against Humanity
and Stalemate
Charles Elias Chartouni/April 13/2022
The latest evolutions in Ukraine have amply demonstrated the fallacy of Putin’s
Rhetoric, and his vain attempt at weaving a coherent narrative to justify this
unwarranted bloodshed. The wanton destruction of Ukraine, the savage and
indiscriminate bombardements of dense urban areas, train stations, sheltering
theaters, civilian populations and nuclear sites, the collective massacres
carried out in Mariupol, Ducha, and Kramatorsk train station, the usage of
chemical weapons and fragmentation bombs, are altogether egregious examples
which illustrate the terrorist nature of these deliberate and carefully planned
war massacres, and their attending cortege of indiscriminate gang rape (women,
children, elderly people), vandalism and marauding.
The moral depravity highlighted throughout this extremely destructive war was
particularly illustrated in the crafted narrative (spurious strategic
considerations-NATO beleaguerment, ethnic cleansing targeting Russians in the
Donbas region, Nazi takeover, denial of reality….). The outright forgery was
self defeating and plainly debunked, when the ultimate savagery and its
nihilistic overtones unfolded at full length in the different sequences of this
gruesome and pointless war. The bogging down of this war is no hazard, it’s the
outcome of faked considerations, intentional misrepresentation, conspicuous
miscalculations, and an overarching strategic goal which aims at the destruction
of the post-Cold War geopolitics and the disruption of the EU and the
Transatlantic alliance.
The Ukrainian resistance and political unity were quite effective containing the
military offensive (10.000 dead Russian soldiers), displaying the weaknesses of
a corrupt, undertrained and unmotivated Russian army, and the rickety
foundations of a corrupt autocracy relying on islamist terrorists and criminal
gangs. Putin’s last statement reflects his multiple equivocations, obvious
deadlocks, inevitable downscaling of his military objectives (Donbas vs
Ukraine), moral depravation and psychotic blinders (blaming massacres and random
savagery on British staging and Ukrainian propaganda), and relegating Ukraine to
the paltry status of a “frozen conflict”, which was aptly coined to portray his
modus operandi in different operation theaters ( Georgia, Ukraine, Syria,Lybia…).
When President Biden voiced his moral outrage and called for Putin downfall, he
pointed in the right direction, since this war is the outcome of his deranged
mind, moral delinquency and inability to reengage the consensuses of
contemporary international civility. Putin is a dictator that should be firmly
contained and overthrown, if Russia is to win back its chances of normalization
and democratization.
Turkey, Egypt inch toward long-awaited normalization
Yasar Yakis/Arab News/April 13, 2022
A new semi-concrete step has been taken to further mend Turkish-Egyptian
relations, as Turkey has decided to appoint a senior diplomat to Egypt. The
diplomat, Salih Mutlu Sen, previously served as Ankara’s permanent
representative to the Organization of Islamic Cooperation.
Two details are worth noting in this step. First, news of the appointment came
from neither Turkey nor Egypt — it came from a UK-based media outlet. The second
detail is that, deviating from established practice, the ambassador has been
appointed as a charge d’affaires. Turkish Foreign Minister Mevlut Cavusoglu
said: “The present charge d’affaires in Cairo had completed his term. He is now
being replaced by a new one.” The Egyptian authorities did not make any comment
on the subject.
Nine years ago, when the two countries withdrew their ambassadors from each
other’s capital, the representation was lowered to charge d’affaires level.
Turkey has also resorted to this practice in its relations with Israel. In that
case, Ankara used to send an ambassadorial-level diplomat to Tel Aviv and call
him the charge d’affaires.
Something similar may now be taking place in Egypt. It appears that the two
countries have not yet agreed to return relations to the full ambassadorial
level. Egypt may be insisting on doing everything according to the book, so
there will be records in the archives. Or Cairo may not yet be ready to elevate
the representation to the ambassadorial level. In other words, it may still be
dragging its feet to see if Turkey fulfills some additional conditions.
The main reason for the withdrawal of ambassadors was Turkey’s disproportionate
reaction to the 2013 removal of the Mohammed Morsi-led government in Egypt by
Gen. Abdel Fattah El-Sisi. The reason for Ankara’s strong reaction was the
ideological affinity between the ruling Justice and Development Party and the
Muslim Brotherhood movement. Ankara’s objection to Morsi’s removal was
understandable. However, international practice in this field is that, once law
and order has been established, countries begin to recognize the new government
and establish relations with it, as it is not expected to remain cut off
indefinitely. Last year, Turkey belatedly woke up to the reality that being cut
off from Egypt had detrimental effects on its national interests. So it took
initiatives to mend fences. This time, Egypt has put forward conditions. It
asked the Turkish government to control the activities of Muslim Brotherhood
members operating in Turkey. To meet the Egyptian demands, Ankara asked
Brotherhood activists not to broadcast television programs that criticized the
Abdel Fattah El-Sisi government and instead produce cultural and social
programs. Cairo asked Turkey to extradite these activists to Egypt, but they
were eventually moved to third countries.
Apparently, the Egyptian government was not fully satisfied with Turkey’s
attitude on the way the Brotherhood question was handled. We can see this in the
slow progress of the thaw between the two countries.
Turkish-Egyptian relations will continue to move forward, but hurdles remain.
While the reconciliation process was underway, fighting in Libya broke out.
Turkey and Egypt found themselves on opposing sides in this crisis. Though the
Government of National Unity, which was formed in March 2021, eased the tensions
between the Tripoli and Tobruk governments, Turkey and Egypt still do not see
eye to eye on the Libyan conflict.
When the reconciliation initiative between Turkey and Egypt was launched last
year, Cavusoglu said that Ankara would make some goodwill gestures to Egypt
within NATO. It later turned out that this gesture was the removal of Turkey’s
veto preventing Egypt from forming a partnership with the alliance in the
eastern Mediterranean.The Turkish media last week carried news about possible
cooperation in the field of tourism, originating from Russia. As Ankara did not
join NATO and EU countries in imposing economic sanctions on Russia as a result
of its invasion of Ukraine, Russian tourists may extend their trips from Turkey
to Egypt. Turkish-Egyptian relations will continue to move forward, but hurdles
remain.
*Yasar Yakis is a former foreign minister of Turkey and founding member of the
ruling AK Party. Twitter: @yakis_yasar
Tunisia’s failed development policies
Riadh Bouazza/The Arab Weekly/April 14/2022
The rural population in Tunisia, which has suffered from inadequate development
policies since independence, is trapped in miserable and tragic conditions. It
faces poverty, unemployment, marginalisation and lack of opportunities.
There is no better description for this social and economic reality than to say
that the state has succeeded in anchoring underdevelopment.
For years, the hinterland served only as a labour reservoir for the coastal
areas. We waited for too long for a revolution in the vision of the political
elite and the ruling class in favour the disadvantaged parts of the country.
Nothing materialised. There were steps taken towards the development of these
regions when the population was smaller during the times of the late presidents
Habib Bourguiba and Zine El Abidine Ben Ali. But they were not enough to achieve
the set goals. Post-2011 politicians continued the same pattern. Instead of
ending the practices of those who preceded them, or at least improving on them,
they only used the issue as a slogan in their electoral campaigns. Internal
displacement or migration from the countryside to the cities is a major
determinant of human development, as it reflects the extent to which a region is
able to thrive socially and economically. Most importantly, the exodus rate is a
measure of any region’s ability to offer incentives to its inhabitants to stay
and not to leave.
Indicators are always a key benchmark in matters of development. In the case of
Tunisia, the numbers seem shocking, but not surprising when we see that the
country ranks 95th globally and 9th in the Arab region on the global human
development index out of 170 countries. This is despite the past high scores
that were achieved in many development indicators, before the last decade with
all its strikes and work stoppages.
Political, economic, institutional and administrative factors have stood in the
way of regional development, as the 16 successive governments, with the
exception of the present administration of Najla Bouden, which were in power
during the more than six decades did not care much about the equitable
distribution of material and immaterial resources. This included public budgets
allocated to infrastructure and the concentration of investments and projects
with sustainable economic viability.
But the events of December 2010 to January 2011, although they seemed to be an
uprising against the prevailing development situation, exposed urgent
development flaws and structural imbalances in the management of the economy.
This was illustrated by the state’s inability to achieve balanced and
sustainable growth as a result of a political and social system dominated by an
elite of politicians and businessmen, who reaped personal benefits at the
expense of the rest of the population.
Dozens of government plans have not changed nor left an imprint on the views of
Tunisian politicians as well as businessmen and investors, about what can be
done to reduce socio-economic gaps.
Overall, there has been more mismanagement than erroneous assessment of the
situation. Despite the adoption of the principle of “positive discrimination” in
the 2014 constitution, differences between parts of the country became the main
characteristic of development. Even if we assume that the authorities before
2011 did not carry through their plans to the fullest, the policies of
governments after that date had an opportunity to break with the past. They did
not however offer alternative visions. On the contrary, they contributed to the
widening of the chasm between regions.
As a result, rural discontent worsened. Internal displacement increased as
people left their regions to escape hunger. Even agriculture, which is supposed
to be among the pillars of the state’s national security, could not draw in the
local rural population. This was not because of climate change, nor because of
production costs and prices, but rather because there was no systemic planning
that could turn the country into a bread-basket that benefits everyone. Tunisia
sorely needs to revitalise its countryside, not only through agriculture, but
also by encouraging young people to pursue their own projects while providing
them with means to succeed. The stark contrast in living conditions and
development standards in the north, centre-west, the southwest and the southeast
regions, which have always been neglected by authorities compared to development
in the coastal regions, is a model that must be completely overhauled and
rebuilt from scratch. History will say that the current politicians of Tunisia,
with circumstances beyond their control only when it came to the pandemic, have
deliberately or unintentionally perpetuated the disparities that made the
poverty rate exceed the figure recorded in 2010 by a full percentage point to
reach 21.5 percent, according to the data of the National Institute for
Statistics. Even if it is already frightening, this figure may spike further.
One government after another has made development the basis for their economic
goals, but their planning has failed to keep pace with the requirements of the
future. One can only ask: when will the authorities start moving?
*Riadh Bouazza is a Tunisian writer.