English LCCC Newsbulletin For Lebanese, Lebanese Related, Global News & Editorials
For March 31/2022
Compiled & Prepared by: Elias Bejjani
#elias_bejjani_news

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Bible Quotations For today
God did not give us a spirit of cowardice, but rather a spirit of power and of love and of self-discipline. Do not be ashamed, then, of the testimony about our Lord or of me his prisoner.
Second Letter to Timothy 01/06-14: "For this reason I remind you to rekindle the gift of God that is within you through the laying on of my hands; for God did not give us a spirit of cowardice, but rather a spirit of power and of love and of self-discipline. Do not be ashamed, then, of the testimony about our Lord or of me his prisoner, but join with me in suffering for the gospel, relying on the power of God, who saved us and called us with a holy calling, not according to our works but according to his own purpose and grace. This grace was given to us in Christ Jesus before the ages began, but it has now been revealed through the appearing of our Saviour Christ Jesus, who abolished death and brought life and immortality to light through the gospel. For this gospel I was appointed a herald and an apostle and a teacher, and for this reason I suffer as I do. But I am not ashamed, for I know the one in whom I have put my trust, and I am sure that he is able to guard until that day what I have entrusted to him. Hold to the standard of sound teaching that you have heard from me, in the faith and love that are in Christ Jesus. Guard the good treasure entrusted to you, with the help of the Holy Spirit living in us.".

Titles For The Latest English LCCC Lebanese & Lebanese Related News & Editorials published on March 30-31/2022
IMF team launches 2-week mission in crisis-hit Lebanon
Cabinet approves capital control law after introducing amendments
Aoun vows timely polls, criticizes U.N. report on displaced Syrians
Miqati says some trying to 'topple govt., torpedo elections'
President discusses process of negotiations with IMF delegation head
President Aoun meets UN’s Wronecka, “American Task Force for Lebanon” Head, receives letter from his Armenian counterpart
Rahi: We’re destined to collapse for as long as we don’t “diagnose” our problems
U.N. launches online survey targeting agri-food sector in Lebanon
UK ambassador visits Baalbek and AUST Zahle campus
U.N. says Lebanon is facing an education 'emergency'
Nasrallah meets with Palestinian Islamic Jihad chief
Ministry of Foreign Affairs: Evacuation process of Lebanese nationals residing in Ukraine completed
Free Speech in 2022 Election Campaign: SKF’s First Report
Central bank governor extends circular no. 161 till end of April
Bou Habib discusses parliamentary elections with UN’s Wronecka, meets Italian Ambassador
The Sovereigntist Front for Lebanon denounces the course of action of an “Iranian system/Amine Jules Iskandar/Ici Beyrouth/March 30/2022
Iran’s Role in Persecution of Mideast Christians Is Overlooked, Expert Says/Raymond Ibrahim/JNS/March 30/2022

Titles For The Latest English LCCC Miscellaneous Reports And News published on March 30-31/2022
Herzog meets Jordanian king in first visit by Israeli president
Israeli Forces Arrest 5 in Connection with Deadly Shooting
US sanctions Iran ballistic missile program supplier after Saudi Aramco, Erbil attack
Raisi Approves Iran’s New Public Budget
Borell: Russia Wants to Prevent Sanctions on Iran Being Lifted
Arab Coalition Suspends Military Operations in Yemen to Ensure Success of Consultations
Blinken Says Supports King Mohamed VI’s Reform Agenda
Egyptian-Qatari Relations Reach Advanced Reconciliation Phase
UNHCR: More Than 4 Million People Have Fled Ukraine
Russia hits near Kyiv, other city despite vows to scale back
Russian Units Suffering Big Losses Pull Out of Ukraine, Says UK Military Intelligence
Lavrov Makes First China Visit Since Ukraine War
Russia and China Condemn Western Sanctions on Moscow over Ukraine
Iraqi MPs try for third time to elect new president
Tunisia president dissolves parliament, orders investigation against MPs

Titles For The Latest LCCC English analysis & editorials from miscellaneous sources published on March 30-31/2022
Arabs: Biden Administration Harming US interests/Khaled Abu Toameh/Gatestone Institute./March 30/2022
Spain Changes Course On Morocco And Western Sahara/Alberto M. Fernandez/MEMRI Daily Brief/March 30/2022
If World Happiness Reports Make You Miserable, Join the Club/Noah Feldman/Bloomberg/Asharq Al-Awsat/March, 30/2022
The Intra-Yemeni Consultations: Yemen under the GCC Umbrella/Dr. Abdulaziz Hamad Al-Aweisheg/Asharq Al-Awsat/March, 30/2022
The Attacks on Jeddah and Erbil/Abdulrahman Al-Rashed/Asharq Al-Awsat/March, 30/2022

The Latest English LCCC Lebanese & Lebanese Related News & Editorials published on March 30-31/2022
IMF team launches 2-week mission in crisis-hit Lebanon
Agence France Presse/March 30/2022
An International Monetary Fund (IMF) delegation kicked off talks in Beirut Wednesday as part of a two-week mission aimed at securing progress towards funding for crisis-hit Lebanon. The government is hoping to secure a rescue package to exit a deep financial crisis that started in 2019 and has seen most of the country's population fall into poverty. "We hope that a preliminary deal will be reached after two weeks of discussions," Deputy Prime Minister Saadeh al-Shami, who heads Lebanon's delegation to the IMF, told AFP. Lebanon defaulted on its foreign debt for the first time in 2020. The IMF, which sent a technical team to Lebanon last month, has noted progress towards an aid program but said more work was needed on the reform front, nearly two years after initial talks between the two parties. On Wednesday, the IMF delegation, headed by Ernesto Ramirez, met with President Michel Aoun to discuss progress in the talks, a statement from the Presidency said. Even if Lebanon and the IMF reach an initial agreement this month, implementation will be a key challenge, said financial analyst Mike Azar. Parliament, which must approve the aid program, could opt to block a deal in the same way it recently rejected a draft capital control law widely viewed as a prelude to an IMF agreement, Azar said. "Reforms will have to be passed and executed before the IMF seeks Board approval for the financing package," Azar told AFP. Lebanon's ruling elite, beset by internal rifts that have repeatedly left the country without a government, has yet to reach consensus on a way out of the crisis. Prime Minister Najib Miqati had pleaded with members of parliament to fully cooperate with the government toward finding a solution, calling IMF talks an "obligatory path." "The political will to pass a comprehensive... reform package may not be there," Azar said, warning that any deal agreed in principle this month could be rendered meaningless.

Cabinet approves capital control law after introducing amendments
Naharnet/March 30/2022
Cabinet on Wednesday approved the capital control draft law after introducing amendments to it based on the observations of some ministers.The ministers of Hizbullah and Amal meanwhile objected to the final format of the draft law in terms of the powers of the committee that will look into withdrawal requests, NBN television said.
Below are some of the amendments approved by Cabinet according to LBCI TV:
Excluding the economy minister from the committee that will oversee the enforcement of the law, while two economists and a judge will be named as members of the committee
Reducing the law’s duration from five to two years
Adding university students who study abroad or their parents to the list of parties allowed to transfer money out of the country

Aoun vows timely polls, criticizes U.N. report on displaced Syrians
Naharnet/March 30/2022
President Michel Aoun on Wednesday stressed that Lebanon is “determined to hold the parliamentary elections on time on May 15, after having secured the necessary funding and accomplished a lot of related preparations.”Aoun voiced his remarks in a meeting in Baabda with U.N. Special Coordinator for Lebanon Joanna Wronecka. Separately, the President told the U.N. official that “Lebanon was hoping that U.N. chief Antonio Guterres’ report on the implementation of Resolution 1701… would focus on the repercussions of Syrian displacement on Lebanon, especially that the U.N. secretary-general had visited Beirut and closely inspected the situation.”“Some of what was mentioned in the report about the situations of the displaced Syrians did not reflect the reality of what Lebanon is suffering at the various levels due to the presence of around 1.5 million displaced Syrians on its territory,” Aoun added. “Lebanon can no longer bear such a situation,” the President warned. He accordingly called on the U.N. to “provide aid to the Syrians inside Syrian territory to encourage them to return home,” arguing that offering them assistance in Lebanon would encourage them to stay in the country.
Aoun also asked why “this repeated Lebanese demand has been ignored by the international community,” wondering whether some countries intend to keep the displaced Syrians in Lebanon “despite the return of security and stability to most Syrian regions.”

Miqati says some trying to 'topple govt., torpedo elections'
Naharnet/March 30/2022
Prime Minister Najib Miqati has said that some parties are trying to topple the government to torpedo the parliamentary elections. Miqati told al-Joumhouria newspaper, in remarks published Wednesday, that he will not get dragged into resigning. "I am raising the alarm and I will not accept what is being done on the expense of the country and the Lebanese," Miqati said. He added that "some people" are mixing up the draft budget and the recovery plan "at the expense of the government and the presidency," accusing them of "populist and theatrical practices." Miqati had asked Parliament Speaker Nabih Berri on Tuesday to turn an ongoing legislative session into a general discussion session that would involve a vote of confidence over the government’s policies, but Berri refused. The PM mentioned afterwards in a press conference "useless attacks" that are harmful to the country, and a lack of cooperation between Cabinet and Parliament.

President discusses process of negotiations with IMF delegation head
NNA/March 30/2022
President of the Republic, General Michel Aoun, met the head of the International Monetary Fund mission, Ernesto Rigo Ramirez, at the head of a delegation from the IMF. The stages of the negotiations with the Lebanese government were addressed, and the vision that the Fund possesses in order to contribute to Lebanon's overcoming the crisis it is suffering from. President Aoun was briefed by Mr. Ramirez on the results of the ongoing contacts with the Lebanese government on the financial and economic recovery plan. The delegation also noted progress in the negotiations that would lead to the initial signing of a memorandum of understanding before signing the final contract. Moreover, the IMF delegation requested a commitment from the President of the Republic, Parliament Speaker and the Premier, to move towards the completion of the required reforms for the entire plan, especially the adoption of “Capital Control” and the introduction of amendments to the banking secrecy law, and the restructuring of the financial and banking sector, including the Central Bank, to meet the level of governance standards. ----Presidency Press Office

President Aoun meets UN’s Wronecka, “American Task Force for Lebanon” Head, receives letter from his Armenian counterpart
NNA/March 30/2022
President of the Republic, General Michel Aoun, met the United Nations Special Coordinator in Lebanon, Mrs. Joana Wronecka, today at Baabda Palace.
The President told Wronecka that Lebanon had hoped that the report of the Secretary-General of the United Nations would focus on the implementation of Resolution 1701, which was discussed a few days ago in New York within the framework of the periodic briefing, on the repercussions of the Syrian displacement to Lebanon, especially since the Secretary-General of the United Nations visited Beirut and closely examined the reality of the Syrian displacement and listened to the views of Lebanese officials in this regard.
President Aoun also pointed out that some of what was mentioned in the report on the situation of the displaced Syrians did not reflect the reality of what Lebanon suffers from at various levels due to the presence of about 1.5 million Syrian refugees on its lands, noting that Lebanon can no longer tolerate such a situation, and that the report which spoke about "the necessity of addressing the roots of the economic and financial crisis that is afflicting Lebanon" did not refer to the negative repercussions of this displacement on the economic, social and humanitarian conditions, as well as the high level of crime.
In addition, the President hoped that the next report would note these basic points of concern to Lebanese officials and citizens, reiterating the call to secure aid to Syrians inside Syrian territory to encourage them to return, because receiving aid while they were in Lebanon would encourage them not to return.
Moreover, the President wondered about the reason for the lack of international response to this Lebanese demand, which was repeated on more than one occasion without receiving any positive reaction, which raises question marks about the intentions of some countries to keep the displaced in Lebanon despite the return of security and stability to the majority of Syrian regions.
On the other hand, President Aoun reiterated his determination to hold the parliamentary elections on the scheduled date on May 15, after securing the necessary funds for them and completing many related arrangements.
For her part, Ambassador Wronecka briefed President Aoun on the deliberations that took place in the Security Council during the briefing by the Secretary-General of the United Nations on Resolution 1701, and the observations made by members of the Council on the situation in Lebanon, the expected benefits, and the relationship between the army and the international forces operating in the south.
Wronecka also briefed the President on the meetings she held with a number of Arab and foreign officials on the sidelines of her participation in the Doha Forum.
Head of Task Force for Lebanon:
President Aoun received, in the presence of the US Ambassador to Lebanon, Dorothy Shea, head of the American Task Force for Lebanon (Task Force for Lebanon), Ambassador Edward Gabriel, as part of his visit to review the situation in Lebanon and convey his observations to members of the group. President Aoun briefed Ambassador Gabriel on his view of the development of events in Lebanon and the Lebanese-US relations and ways to develop them in all fields.
The meeting also tackled regional and international developments and their repercussions on the situation in Lebanon and the region.
Armenia's Ambassador
The President received the Ambassador of Armenia to Lebanon, Mr. Vahagen Atabekian.
The Armenian Ambassador handed President Aoun a written message from the President of the Republic of Armenia, Vahagen Khachaturian, which included his thanks for the congratulations that President Aoun addressed to him on the occasion of his election as President of the Republic of Armenia.
In his message, the Armenian President said:
“On the occasion of the 30th anniversary of the establishment of diplomatic relations between Lebanon and Armenia, I would gladly note the mutual benefit of the partnership relations between our two countries, which are constantly developing in various fields.
I also express Armenia's desire to consolidate and deepen the bonds of cooperation with Lebanon in the interest of the two peoples, and I wish you abundantly health and success, as well as peace and prosperity for the Lebanese people”. The meeting also addressed Lebanese-Armenian relations and ways to develop them, as well as the latest developments at the regional and international levels. -- Presidency Press Office

Rahi: We’re destined to collapse for as long as we don’t “diagnose” our problems
NNA/March 30/2022
Maronite Patriarch, Mar Bechara Boutros Al-Rahi, on Wednesday warned that “for as long as we do not ‘diagnose’ our problems in Lebanon, we are going to collapse… just like a patient."The Patriarch's words came during his patronage of a dialogue seminar titled "Christian Presence in the Middle East: Challenges, Options, and Policies", organized by the "We Choose Life" association. "I am pleased to inaugurate this seminar, and I am pleased to declare that we fully adopt the ‘We Choose Life’ document: a document of three chapters that deals with the Christian presence in the Middle East,” Al-Rahi said. "Unfortunately, we will not find a way out of our problems if we fail to identify what is wrong with us. If we do not look for solutions, we will get more bogged down in problems, and they will only become bigger,” Al-Rahi warned.

U.N. launches online survey targeting agri-food sector in Lebanon
Naharnet/March 30/2022
The U.N. Productive Sectors Development Program (PSDP) funded by the Government of Canada is launching an online survey for women and men farmers, entrepreneurs, and Medium and Small to Medium industries and cooperatives working in the agri-food sector in Lebanon.
The survey aims to select beneficiaries in the PSDP’s activities, which will include technology transfer and technical skills training in the agricultural and agri-food sectors, training on environmental sustainability, and in-kind support, with a specific focus on female youth skills’ upgrade, and innovations promotion. "Filling out the survey does not guarantee that participants will be selected for support. The answers will be collected and evaluated based on specific selection criteria as mentioned in the following link; an automated formula will generate scores and the selection will be based on the said scores. Only selected beneficiaries will be contacted to take part in the program’s activities," the U.N. said in a statement. The deadline for participating in the survey is April 24nd, 2022: https://nivine.surveycto.com/collect/PSDP_farmers
ABOUT PSDP
The PSDP is jointly implemented by the U.N. Industrial Development Organization (UNIDO), the Food and Agriculture Organization (FAO), the U.N. Development Program (UNDP), International Labor Organization (ILO), U.N. Women, and the U.N. Children's Fund (UNICEF). The program aims to support gender-responsive job creation and help create economic opportunities in the agricultural and agri-food sectors in Lebanon. The PSDP targets all stages within the value chain of fruits, vegetables, nuts, and pulses from farm to fork, mainly in the North and Akkar governorates. Individual Youth, women and men farmers, entrepreneurs, women, and men workers in the selected MSMEs and cooperatives will be provided with training on women empowerment principles, business development and apprenticeships.

UK ambassador visits Baalbek and AUST Zahle campus
Naharnet/March 30/2022
British Ambassador to Lebanon Ian Collard has visited Baalbek ‘the City of the Sun’ and joined students at the American University of Science and Technology in Zahle. "The Ambassador’s visit to Baalbek (on Tuesday) was an opportunity to hear from Baalbek-Hermel Governor Bachir Khodr, local officials, dignitaries and NGOs about the important work they are doing to support their communities during very difficult times," the British Embassy in Beirut said. Ambassador Collard met the Head of the Union of Municipalities of Deir El Ahmar, Jean Fakhry, the Mufti of Baalbek-Hermel, Sheikh Bakr Rifai, Maronite Archbishop Hanna Rahme of Baalbek-Deir El Ahmar and the President of the Lebanese Organization for Studies and Training, Dr. Rami Lakkis. "The Ambassador was delighted to visit the Community Farm in Baalbek," the Embassy said. The farm works to improve and develop the region’s agricultural sector. It provides training courses and guidance for hundreds of farmers, in addition to distributing thousands of natural seedlings. It also provides a market for vegetables, healthy and natural crops, and manufactured food products for wholesale and retail markets. During his visit the Ambassador toured the city’s famed historical ruins. Ambassador Collard said before leaving Baalbek that he is pleased to finally make it to Baalbek. "I have been looking forward to this since I arrived in Lebanon last summer. It was an opportunity to hear from Governor Khodr, NGO representatives and local dignitaries about the important work they are doing and the many challenges they face in very difficult times. In our discussions, I reiterated the UK’s ongoing support to the people of Lebanon and the importance of implementing urgent reforms to secure an IMF deal. This is key to move Lebanon forward. We also discussed the importance of delivering transparent, fair, inclusive and timely parliamentary elections in May,’ Collard added. Earlier in the day, Ambassador Collard visited the American University of Science and Technology (AUST) in Zahle. He joined AUST International Affairs and Business students in a round-table discussion. "The Ambassador was interested to hear their concerns and aspirations for their country. He reiterated the importance of upcoming parliamentary elections as an opportunity for young people to participate fully and make their voices heard. He also gave an overview of what the UK is doing in Lebanon to support the people of Lebanon, the country’s security and stability," the British Embassy said.

U.N. says Lebanon is facing an education 'emergency'
Agence France Presse/March 30/2022
Lebanon is grappling with an education "emergency," a United Nations official said, as years of economic collapse weigh heavily on students and teachers. "We are now in an emergency situation. Education in Lebanon is in crisis because the country is living in crisis," Maysoun Chehab of the U.N. education and culture body (UNESCO) told AFP. She has spoken on the sidelines of an event celebrating the completion of a $35-million UNESCO project to rehabilitate 280 education centers damaged by a 2020 blast. The explosion caused by haphazardly stored fertilizer at Beirut port killed more than 200 people, destroyed swathes of the capital and disrupted the education of at least 85,000 youths. UNESCO chief Audrey Azoulay visited Beirut weeks later, driving efforts to restore heritage sites and damaged schools. Students and teachers now have brand new classrooms but they are still suffering from the twin effects of an unprecedented economic crisis in Lebanon and the coronavirus pandemic. Since late 2019, the Lebanese pound has lost over 90 percent of its value, pushing most of the population into poverty. Daily power cuts lasting more than 20 hours and soaring petrol prices mean many students can neither afford to reach their classes nor study from home. "Schools do not have enough funds to operate as they should, teachers do not have sufficient salaries to live in prosperity, students do not have transportation means due to high fuel prices," said Chehab, UNESCO's education chief for Lebanon. "This is all affecting the quality of education."The minimum wage once worth $450 is now valued at $28. The crisis has forced students to quit school or university to make ends meet. Enrolment in educational institutions slumped from 60 percent last year to 43 percent in the current academic year, a U.N. Children's Fund (UNICEF) report found. The cash-strapped state has been unable to enact substantial reforms, a requirement to access billions of dollars from international lenders. Support has been largely limited to humanitarian aid. UNESCO Assistant Director-General for Education Stefania Giannini, however, said she was optimistic the international community will keep supporting education in Lebanon. "This is my third visit to the country in a year and a half," she said. "I know the economic crisis is still very much affecting (the country), but I am also confident Lebanon will not be left behind in the bigger picture of crises in the world."

Nasrallah meets with Palestinian Islamic Jihad chief
Naharnet/March 30/2022
Hizbullah chief Sayyed Hassan Nasrallah has met with the visiting secretary-general of the Palestinian Islamic Jihad movement, Ziyad al-Nakhalah, and an accompanying delegation, Hizbullah announced on Wednesday. The two men discussed “the latest situations in the Palestinian arena, the development of the jihadist operations within the territories occupied in 1948, and the operations that took place over the past days,” the party said in a statement. Nasrallah and Nakhalah also “carried out a general evaluation of the situations in the region in light of the regional and international developments and their repercussions, especially on the Palestinian cause,” the statement added.

Ministry of Foreign Affairs: Evacuation process of Lebanese nationals residing in Ukraine completed
NNA/March 30/2022
Lebanon’s Ministry of Foreign Affairs on Wednesday affirmed in a statement that the evacuation process of Lebanese nationals residing in Ukraine has been completed in cooperation with the Lebanese embassies in Ukraine, Poland, Romania, Russia, and the Higher Relief Committee “despite encountering some difficulties on the ground at the absence of safe routes.”Following up on the latest developments, Lebanese Ambassador to Ukraine, Ali Daher, visited Beirut to brief concerned officials on the latest developments.

Free Speech in 2022 Election Campaign: SKF’s First Report
NNA/March 30/2022 
The Samir Kassir Foundation (SKF) is issuing its first monitoring report on how parties concerned with the 2022 parliamentary elections are approaching issues and matters pertaining to free speech and democratic frameworks. “SKF stresses that this study not only aims to provide citizens, in the short term, with a clearer picture on the policy priorities of these various forces, but also contributes to the overall literature on free speech and democracy discourse in the country. Furthermore, centering elections and political contestation on conversations revolving around policies and ideas specifically stems from the call for a new way of doing politics echoed by hundreds of thousands of protesters and demonstrators during the October 17, 2019 uprising. In the pursuit of promoting a culture of accountability and critical investigation, this study first begins with a brief description of the prevailing socio-political and economic context in the country. We then put forth the methods through which data is collected and examined. Afterwards, we display much of the secondary data, followed by a set of analytical statements and findings.”Full report: https://www.skeyesmedia.org/en/News/2022-Elections/28-03-2022/9942

Central bank governor extends circular no. 161 till end of April
NNA/March 30/2022
Central bank governor Riad Salameh on Wednesday announced the extension of circular no. 161 related to the exceptional measures for cash withdrawals from banks, until the end of April.
According to Salameh, this extension is renewable.

Bou Habib discusses parliamentary elections with UN’s Wronecka, meets Italian Ambassador
NNA/March 30/2022
Minister of Foreign Affairs and Emigrants, Dr. Abdallah Bou Habib, on Wednesday received in his office at the Ministry the United Nations Special Coordinator for Lebanon, Joanna Wronecka, with discussions touching on the recent consultations that took place at the UN Security Council in New York on Resolution 1701. Discussions also dwelt on the parliamentary elections and the outcome of the Doha Forum. Minister Bou Habib also met with Italian Ambassador to Lebanon, Nicoletta Bombardiere, with whom he discussed the bilateral relations between the two countries.

The Sovereigntist Front for Lebanon denounces the course of action of an “Iranian system”
Amine Jules Iskandar/Ici Beyrouth/March 30/2022
At the end of an extraordinary meeting last weekend held at the headquarters of the National Liberal Party, in Sodeco, the Sovereigntist Front published a press statement stressing that the latest proceedings against the leader of the Lebanese Forces are nothing more than public manipulations orchestrated by an Iranian securitarian lobby, which is reminiscent of the practices of the Lebanese-Syrian security apparatus at the time of the Syrian occupation.
By Amine Jules Iskandar for Ici Beyrouth – In its extraordinary meeting, the Sovereigntist Front for Lebanon discussed “the excesses perpetrated by the Iranian security regime and its total hegemony over the judicial system”. Last Friday’s indictment, filed by the deputy military prosecutor, Fadi Akiki, against the leader of the Lebanese Forces, Samir Geagea, hence came as a shock.
While justice is obstructed everywhere, ranging from the case of the Beirut port explosion to the arbitrary and appalling arrests of several young people from Aïn Remmené, “the security regime of the Iranian militia of Hezbollah and its collaborators within the government, allow themselves the luxury of initiating a new extortion, or rather judicial acrobatics, against the camp of sovereigntist parties”, one of the officials of the Sovereigntist Front pointed out bluntly.
The Front, which includes the Lebanese Forces party, “could not remain silent in the face of such politico-judicial extortions and manipulations of the security system”, declared the official. Especially since the content of the complaint against Mr. Samir Geagea was based on the words of a “witness” who claims to be a member of the National Liberal Party. Now it just so happens that the Central Office of this party in Sodeco also serves as the headquarters of the Sovereigntist Front. The latter is therefore highly concerned about the new case against the person of Mr. Samir Geagea.
A securitarian regime
The extraordinary meeting that the Front held at Sodeco was opened by lawyer Elie Mahfoud, leader of the Change Movement. He emphasized the serious implications of such a legal blunder. He explained that the reason for the outrage of the members of the Front is independent of the person of Dr Samir Geagea since such a slip could potentially extend to any Sovereigntist, whoever it is. It should not be forgotten that the slander had already intensified only recently, i.e., a few days before, in response to the visit of the Maronite Patriarch, Mgr. Béchara Boutros Rai, to Egypt.
It is the Syrian securitarian system all over again. It is trying to reinstall itself in an Iranian version “with the help of collaborators within the current regime”. Lawyer Elie Mahfoud further indicated that the lawyers of the Front intend to ask the prosecutor Ghada Aoun what happened to the dossier of the complaint filed against Hassan Nasrallah. While anticipating a deterioration of the situation in the coming weeks, Elie Mahfoud announced the formation of a task force whose mission will be to follow the files related to the events in Aïn Remmené.
The press statement
At the end of the meeting, the Sovereigntist Front issued a statement read by NLP Secretary General Camille Joseph Chamoun. After announcing the Front’s “surprise” of the complaint lodged by the assistant prosecutor at the military court against Samir Geagea in the case of the Aïn Remmené attack, the Front focused on the playing of the media in preparation of the complaint.
“This complaint, underlines the press statement, was preceded by a media campaign, fabricated testimonies and articles in yellow newspapers (of Hezbollah) which clearly confirm the existence of a Lebanese-Iranian securitarian regime which targets the free people in Lebanon by fabricating false files and publicly spewing accusations. These same newspapers, the press statement recalls, are also the ones which defamed the Maronite Patriarch, His Beatitude Bechara Boutros Raï, and who have launched a slander campaign bringing about the collapse of all the institutions of the state and of the private sector”.
Orchestrated attacks by the Iranians
For the Sovereigntist Front it is clear that, “these all-out attacks against the Sovereigntists are orchestrated by the Iranians with the cover of collaborators in the presidential palace”. And the Front acknowledges that “the current situation in 2022 cannot be fully compared to that of 1994”. Therefore, it appeals to “the judicial authority represented by the Superior Council of the Judiciary to put an end to the irregularities committed by the judges affiliated with the regime, in order to safeguard what remains of the authority of the judiciary” .
The Front also wonders in this regard how it can be that in the case of Aïn Remmené, “the aggressor can become the victim, and the victim the executioner”.
The Sovereigntist Front explicitly accuses the military court of having become “a tool in the hands of Hezbollah, which has built a securitarian media and judicial system at the heart of the state, with a network of agents in all administrative levels and institutions”. The press statement indicates that “the modus operandi consists of the initial publication of articles which turn into investigations by the security agencies and then into legal complaints”. “This Lebanese-Iranian security system,” adds the press statement, “is reminiscent of the Lebanese-Syrian model, and is a real threat to freedoms in Lebanon”.
In conclusion, the statement did not fail to condemn, once again, the arbitrary detention of the assaulted residents of Aïn Remmené, knowing that “not a single one of the armed aggressors, whose photos have appeared by the hundreds on social networks, has been the subject of any investigation”. The Sovereigntist Front reminded “the Lebanese public opinion, the Superior Council of the Judiciary and the magistrates” that it filed a criminal complaint against the Secretary General of Hezbollah, which however ended up in the prosecutor’s drawer of oblivion at the Court of Appeal of Mount Lebanon.
An agonizing regime
The president of the National Liberal Party, Camille Dory Chamoun, addressed the attendees and press after the reading of the press statement, in which he denounced such misuse of the Lebanese securitarian system which in no way improves the situation in the country. On the contrary, it has all the signs of a headlong flight forward. “This contempt for all the values of justice, law and freedoms shows us that the actual regime is collapsing,” Chamoun said.
Peter Germanos: a procedural defect
The technical aspects of the filed complaint were presented by former attorney general at the military court, Judge Peter Germanos. According to his clarification, once the deputy prosecutor at the military prosecutor’s office, in this case Fadi Akiki, has submitted the file of a case to a military investigating judge, the latter becomes objectively the sole owner of the file. The prosecution no longer has the prerogatives that allow it to intervene by adding a new complaint. Only the investigating judge has the right to do so.
The complaint filed by deputy prosecutor Fadi Akiki against Samir Geagea, is therefore a procedural defect. It should also be noted that the office of attorney general at the military court has been vacant since the resignation of judge Peter Germanos in 2020 following a conflict which had put him opposite the Hariri-Bassil tandem.
The Sovereigntist Front was formed on September 29, 2021. It brings together some 20 sovereigntist organizations from civil society, distinguished personalities, and political parties such as the Lebanese Forces, the National Liberal Party, the Universal Syriac Union Party and the Guardians of the Cedars. The purpose of this Front is to openly denounce the disruptive role and stranglehold of Hezbollah on Lebanon, its state, and institutions, and to expose its role as the armed wing of the Islamic Republic of Iran.
*Dr Amine Jules Iskandar is an architect and the former president of the Syriac Maronite Union – Tur Levnon. Amine Jules Iskandar has written several articles on the Syriac Maronites, their language, culture, and history. You can follow him @Amineiskandar2
*This article was originally published by Ici Beyrouth on March 27, 2022. The original can be found here. For the article in Spanish see Maronitas.org.

ريموند إبراهيم/النظام الملالوي في إيران يضطهد المسيحيين في الشرق الأوسط بمنهجية مخيفة تهدف إلى جعل حياتهم مستحيلة واجبارهم على الهجرة
Iran’s Role in Persecution of Mideast Christians Is Overlooked, Expert Says
Raymond Ibrahim/JNS/March 30/2022
http://eliasbejjaninews.com/archives/107471/raymond-ibrahim-jns-irans-role-in-persecution-of-mideast-christians-is-overlooked-expert-says-%d8%b1%d9%8a%d9%85%d9%88%d9%86%d8%af-%d8%a5%d8%a8%d8%b1%d8%a7%d9%87%d9%8a%d9%85-%d8%a7%d9%84/
The West is missing a critical component of the story when it comes to the persecution of Middle East Christians, said Farhad Rezaei, a visiting lecturer at Toronto-based York University, during a Zoom presentation on Feb. 22. And that missing element is Iran.
In the presentation — sponsored by The Philos Project, a Christian group advocating for pluralism in the Near East — Rezaei explained that Iran plays a central role in the destruction of Christian communities, specifically in Iraq, Syria, Lebanon and Yemen.
The mainstream Western media narrative is that “only jihadists,” such as Al-Qaeda and ISIS, are behind the persecution of Christians in the region, said Rezaei, who is also a senior fellow at the Philos Project.
“The reality is much more complex than the simple image that jihadists came around and killed Christians,” he said.
According to Rezaei, what distinguishes Iran when it comes to persecution of Christians is that it is pursuing a “strategy of eliminationism” — an organized, unrelenting, Nazi-like campaign to reduce the Christian presence in the Middle East. “Eliminationism” means shrinking the Christian communities by making life for them unbearable, including through confiscation of private property, arbitrary detention, torture, public incitement, abduction and killing, explained Rezaei, who spent seven months researching this subject and will be releasing a report with his findings in the coming weeks.
Rezaei provided an overview of the dramatic decline in the Christian population in the aforementioned countries.
In Iraq, before 2003, the Christian population stood at 1.5 million. It is currently between 141,000-171,000, or 0.3% of the population. He noted that most of the Christians were pushed out by Shi’ite militias. He described the Christians in Iraq as “the undisputed losers of the sectarian conflict.”
In Syria, before 2011, the Christian population was 2.3 million. It’s now 677,000. Before Syrian President Bashar al-Assad was forced to rely on Iranian help during the Syrian Civil War, he left his Christian minorities alone. Rezaei said it was the Iranians acting as military advisors to the Syrian army who introduced the eliminationist strategy into Syria. “In some cases, the Iranians and the Lebanese Hezbollah wore the uniform of the Assad regime army [to hide their identity], but the local people understood that they were from Hezbollah and Iranians by their accent,” he told JNS.
Rezaei noted that in Yemen, where the Iranian-supported Shi’ite Houthis have taken over large swaths of the country, the Christian population has dropped from 40,000 to 3,000. In Lebanon, where the Iranian-supported Hezbollah dominate, the Christian population has been reduced from 54% to 34% of the total population.
Rezaei cites two main reasons why the Iranians are implementing their eliminationist plan. One is strategic. Iran wants to build a land bridge to the Mediterranean, and Christian communities sit squarely along that route.
The second is ideological — Khomeinism or “new Shi’ism” views Christians and Jews as “pollution,” Rezaei said. While he said it is true that Shi’ism contains anti-Christian and anti-Jewish elements, it was “quietist” and minorities were largely left alone if they paid a jizyah tax, a yearly per capita levy on non-Muslims. This changed with Khomeini’s rise. Khomeini and another important cleric, Ayatollah Mohammad-Taqi Mesbah-Yazdi, were strongly influenced by Egypt’s Sayyid Qutb, the leading member of the Muslim brotherhood and “father of Salafi Jihadism, or global terrorism,” Rezaei said.
Mesbah-Yazdi opened the Haghani seminary. “Most of the senior members of the IRGC (Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps) are disciples of Ayatollah Mesbah-Yazidi. They are all graduates of the Haghani school,” he said.
Mesbah-Yazdi rejected the concept of universal human rights, considering it a product of the Judeo-Christian tradition. “He developed his own version of Islamic human rights and obligations. And according to this version of human rights, Muslims basically have the right to kill their religious enemies,” Rezaei said.
He said the Iranians learned from the Nazis. “Although they deny the Holocaust, they have learned a lot from the Holocaust. However, they understood that they cannot destroy Christians and Jews by the same methods that the Nazis implemented in Germany, like using gas chambers and genocide, so they came up with a different scheme. And that was the strategy of eliminationism.”
Raymond Ibrahim, a distinguished senior fellow at the Gatestone Institute and author of Sword and Scimitar: Fourteen Centuries of War between Islam and the West, agreed that “we shouldn’t focus too much on ISIS and the radical groups because they’re just the tip of the iceberg,” and that Iran is one of the worst actors. But he noted that when looking at the global picture, the lion’s share of Muslim persecution goes on in Sunni countries, if for no other reason than that there are more of them.
Citing the recently released report “2022 World Watch List,” by the pro-Christian NGO Open Doors, which ranks the top 50 worst countries for Christian persecution, Ibrahim noted that Iran ranks ninth. Most of those ranking higher are either Sunni countries or countries with large Sunni populations.
Rezaei told JNS the purpose of his report isn’t to deny the persecution committed in Sunni countries. “What I’m trying to say is that the Iranians persecute Christian minorities in an organized way, just like the Nazi Germans persecuted Jews,” he said, noting that in Sunni countries like Pakistan, for example, the persecution may be intense, but it’s not a top-down, nationally organized effort.
Both Ibrahim and Rezaei agree that the larger, mainstream human rights groups fail to address the problem. Ibrahim suggested that one possible reason for this failure is that they’re eager to prove that they’re not “tribalistic,” leading them to shy away from helping fellow Christians.
“Also, I think a lot of it is their internal animosity for their own heritage, upon which has been heaped all sorts of sins, both real and imagined. There’s an animosity for Christianity amongst descendants of Christians,” Ibrahim said.
Rezaei said there’s still hope for the Christian communities plagued by Iran and its proxies, but a united effort by Western nations is essential. He expects that little headway can be made in the current climate, in which the Biden administration seeks to appease Iran, but “that said, it doesn’t mean we should stay silent.”
https://www.raymondibrahim.com/2022/03/30/irans-role-in-persecution-of-mideast-christians-is-overlooked-expert-says/

The Latest English LCCC Miscellaneous Reports And News published on March 30-31/2022
Herzog meets Jordanian king in first visit by Israeli president
AFP/The Arab Weekly/March 30/2022
Jordan’s King Abdullah called for calm following a historic summit with Israeli President Isaac Herzog on Wednesday. Experts believe Jordan is interested in playing an active role in the new Arab Israeli peace dynamic and not just working to prevent wider escalation ahead of the holy Muslim month of Ramadan. Abdullah told Isaac Herzog after receiving him in the Husseiniya Palace in the first official visit by an Israeli head of state, that peace was more pressing now to end a conflict that he said had “lasted too long”. A palace statement said the king condemned “violence in all its forms” including the latest attack on Tuesday in which an Arab gunman killed at least five people in a Tel Aviv suburb. “This conflict has lasted for very long and the violence it is has resulted in continues to cause much pain and creates a fertile soil for extremism,” the monarch was quoted as saying in the statement.
The Israeli-Palestinian conflict, including Israel’s nearly 55-year-old occupation of the West Bank and East Jerusalem, has long weighed on relations between Israel and Jordan, who have been peace partners since 1994. An Israeli statement said Abdullah offered Herzog his condolences to the victims’ families amid fears in both countries of a surge in assaults in the run-up in April to the holy month of Ramadan. His visit comes after Israeli Defence Minister Benny Gantz met King Abdullah in Amman on Tuesday. It was his second this year. “I always say, the fact that Muslim leaders are meeting together Jewish leaders and Israeli leaders is an alternative to the abyss of hatred and bloodshed,” Herzog was quoted as saying in a statement. “As we enter these holy days … we must move towards enabling everyone to practice their beliefs in safety, in security, in calm circumstances. This is what we need to work towards,” Herzog added. Israeli security forces were on high alert on Wednesday after the Tel Aviv shooting, the latest in a string of fatal attacks in the past week, the sharpest spike in attacks on city streets in years. Both countries have engaged in a flurry of top-level diplomatic and security talks in recent days. A number of experts believes the contacts are part of a new dynamic between Jordan and Israel that goes beyond de-escalation of tensions on the eve of the Muslim fasting month. According to Ghaith al-Omari, a senior fellow at The Washington Institute, recent top level contacts between Jordan and Israel have less to do with appeasing tensions in Jerusalem before Ramadan than about the larger picture of the pace process. “Jordan also became more willing to engage with dynamics surrounding the Abraham Accords, the Arab-Israel normalisation agreements that garnered a tepid reaction from Amman when they were unveiled in 2020, “ said Omari. “Washington should welcome this reinvigorated Jordanian engagement, which can be harnessed to advance the current US policy of addressing immediate economic and security challenges, while keeping a long-term eye on the two-state solution", he said, adding “The kingdom might also be able to help dilute the PA’s opposition to the Abraham Accords”.
In the meanwhile, attention is focused on avoiding a conflagration around the Jerusalem issue. Last year, clashes erupted between Israeli police and Palestinians around Jerusalem’s Al-Aqsa mosque at the height of the Ramadan fasting month. The violence helped ignite an 11-day war in May between Gaza militants and Israel. In his meeting with Herzog, Abdullah urged Israel to allow freedom of prayer to Muslim worshippers, an official, speaking on condition of anonymity, told Reuters. The king also asked that Israeli police stop provocations by Jewish worshippers in the Al-Aqsa mosque compound. Jerusalem is a particularly sensitive issue for Jordan’s royal Hashemite family, which has custodianship of Muslim and Christian holy sites in the eastern part of the city, an area controlled by Jordanian forces from 1949 to 1967.

Israeli Forces Arrest 5 in Connection with Deadly Shooting
Asharq Al-Awsat/Wednesday, 30 March, 2022
Israeli forces operating in the West Bank on Wednesday arrested five Palestinians allegedly involved in a deadly shooting attack in central Israel, where a Palestinian gunman on a motorcycle used an assault rifle to kill five people. Police identified the shooter as Diaa Hamarsheh, 27, from the Israeli-occupied West Bank village of Yabad. Police shot and killed him late Tuesday, putting an end to the shooting rampage. In a statement, the military said the suspects were being questioned. The Palestinian Prisoner's Club, a group that represents current and former Palestinian prisoners, said those arrested were Hamarsheh's relatives. The incident Tuesday was the third attack of its kind ahead of the Muslim holy month of Ramadan. The previous two attacks, carried out by Palestinian citizens of Israel who were inspired by ISIS, have raised concerns of a new round of violence ahead of a sensitive period where three major Muslim, Jewish and Christian holidays converge. Israel ramped up its security presence both in Israeli cities as well as around the West Bank in a bid to snuff out any further violence, The Associated Press reported. Prime Minister Naftali Bennett was set to hold a meeting of his Security Cabinet later Wednesday, after convening his top security officials shortly after Tuesday's attack. “We are dealing with a new wave of terror,” Bennett said in a statement. “As in other waves, we will prevail.”Israeli authorities have not yet determined whether the attacks were organized by militant groups or whether the attackers acted individually. Tuesday's shootings occurred at two locations in Bnei Brak, an ultra-Orthodox city just east of Tel Aviv. Police said a preliminary investigation found the gunman was armed with an assault rifle and opened fire on passersby before he was shot by officers at the scene.

US sanctions Iran ballistic missile program supplier after Saudi Aramco, Erbil attack
Joseph Haboush, Al Arabiya English/30 March ,2022
Washington slapped new sanctions related to Iran’s Revolutionary Guards on Wednesday despite reports suggesting the Biden administration may soon remove the group from the US foreign terrorist organization blacklist. The sanctions targeted Iranian national Mohammad Ali Hosseini and his “network of companies” for procuring materials needed for the IRGC’s ballistic missile program. “This action reinforces the United States’ commitment to preventing the Iranian regime’s development and use of advanced ballistic missiles,” said Brian Nelson, the undersecretary of the Treasury for Terrorism and Financial Intelligence. The US and Iran are currently holding indirect talks in Vienna to reactivate the now-defunct 2015 nuclear deal, which Democrats say curbed Iran’s nuclear program in return for access to billions of dollars in sanctions relief. Former President Donald Trump withdrew from the deal in 2018, citing Iranian-backed attacks on US interests in the region and saying the agreement was “decaying and rotten.”The deal does not address Iran’s support for proxies and other terrorist groups, nor does it handle its ballistic missile program.
While US and Iranian officials have repeatedly said a deal was close to being finalized, Tehran is demanding that the terror designated be lifted off the IRGC. “While the United States continues to seek Iran’s return to full compliance with the Joint Comprehensive Plan of Action, we will not hesitate to target those who support Iran’s ballistic missile program,” Nelson said after Wednesday’s sanctions announcement. The Treasury Department said it was imposing the new sanctions after Iran’s missile attack on Erbil, Iraq on March 13 and the “Iranian enabled” Houthi missile attack against a Saudi Aramco facility on March 25. The attacks are a “reminder that Iran’s development and proliferation of ballistic missiles continues to pose a serious threat to international security,” the Treasury Department said. Nelson added: “We will also work with other partners in the region to hold Iran accountable for its actions, including gross violations of the sovereignty of its neighbors.”

Raisi Approves Iran’s New Public Budget
London/Asharq Al-Awsat/Wednesday, 30 March, 2022
Iranian President Ebrahim Raisi approved on Tuesday the public budget for the Persian year which started on March 20, the semi-official ISNA news agency reported. Raisi presented an upbeat state budget previously that aimed for 8 percent economic growth and increased crude oil sales of 1.2 million barrels per day (bpd) priced at $60 per barrel, despite continued US sanctions. On January 9, Iranian lawmakers approved the generalities of the proposed budget bill for the next Iranian fiscal year. However, they did not put the bill to vote for final approval. The MPs only discussed the budget’s items in specialized committees behind closed doors. According to Iranian media, the country’s balanced budget is 15,052 trillion rials, which equates to 50.2 billion dollars at the free-market exchange rate of 300,000 rials to every dollar. It assumes a 10 percent average increase compared to last year’s budget. Iran's top budget official has said the fiscal plan for this Iranian year was drawn up on the assumption that the US sanctions would persist, Reuters reported. It quoted analysts as saying that a failure of efforts to restore a 2015 accord, which would curb Tehran's nuclear program in exchange for lifting sanctions, risks raising political tensions in the Middle East and further increasing world oil prices.

Borell: Russia Wants to Prevent Sanctions on Iran Being Lifted
London - Asharq Al-Awsat/Wednesday, 30 March, 2022
Talks between world powers and Iran on reviving the 2015 nuclear deal are stuck, EU foreign policy chief Josep Borrell said on Monday. He accused Russia of wanting to prevent sanctions on Iranian oil being lifted “because if Iran started producing oil there will be more supply in the markets, and that’s not in its interest.” “It seems that two weeks ago, we almost had it. Then Russia came, Russia was obstructing,” by withholding approval of what seemed a done deal because Moscow was looking for leverage over the West in its war in Ukraine, Borrell told the European Parliament after returning from a trip to the Gulf.
After the West gave confidential guarantees related to Russian trade with Iran, Moscow lifted its objection. “The JCPOA, it’s not getting to an end,” he added, referring to the accord formally known as the Joint Comprehensive Plan of Action. “It would be a shame not to reach some sort of an agreement when we’re so near to reaching one. But I cannot guarantee that we will reach an agreement,” he said. Iran began rolling back on most of its commitments under the accord after the United States unilaterally withdrew in 2018 and began reimposing crippling economic sanctions. Since last year, efforts have been made to bring back the deal, with Borrell’s deputy Enrique Mora leading coordination efforts. Borrell’s downbeat assessment of the JCPOA talks on Monday came after comments he made to reporters on the sidelines of the Doha Forum on the weekend, when he said that an agreement could happen in “a matter of days.”However, Borrell said “now we have others related that at the end are not part of the nuclear deal — they are collateral, like the status of the Revolutionary Guard in Iran.”That referred to Tehran demanding that Washington remove Iran’s Revolutionary Guard Corps (IRGC) from a US terror blacklist. Speaking after Mora traveled to Iran on Sunday to try to close the gaps, Borrell said: “My teams are shuttling between Tehran, Vienna, Washington trying to find a solution.”He added: “Sometimes they think they’re almost there. And other days not.”The US State Department last week said it believed a possible deal with Iran could be close. But a spokesman warned it was “neither imminent nor is it certain” — and stressed Washington was ready to move to a “Plan B” if Tehran didn’t budge.

Arab Coalition Suspends Military Operations in Yemen to Ensure Success of Consultations
Asharq Al-Awsat/Wednesday, 30 March, 2022
The Joint Forces Command of the Saudi-led Arab coalition announced on Tuesday it was suspending military operations in Yemen, starting Wednesday morning, to ensure the success of the intra-Yemeni consultations that will kick off in Riyadh. Dr. Nayef Al-Hajraf, Secretary-General of the Gulf Cooperation Council (GCC), which is sponsoring the meetings, appealed for a ceasefire on Tuesday. He called for a halt in operations so that a positive environment can prevail over the talks during the holy month of Ramadan, which begins in early April. Arab coalition spokesman Turki Al-Malki said the suspension aims to support efforts to reach a comprehensive and sustainable political solution to the crisis in Yemen. He added that the coalition forces will commit to the ceasefire and take the necessary steps to ensure it is upheld. He stressed that the coalition stands by the Yemeni people and their aspirations to build a state and restore security and peace. The consultations will kick off at the GCC headquarters in Riyadh on Wednesday and are set to run through April 7.

Blinken Says Supports King Mohamed VI’s Reform Agenda
Rabat - Asharq Al-Awsat/Wednesday, 30 March, 2022
US Secretary of State Antony Blinken visited Rabat on Monday and met with Moroccan Prime Minister Aziz Akhanouch, Foreign Minister Nasser Bourita and civil society leaders. His official visit to Morocco was the first since President Joe Biden has taken office.
In a joint press conference with Bourita, Blinken said the United States supports King Mohammed VI’s ambitious reform agenda to strengthen Morocco’s institutions and ensure the government is responsive to its people. “The US is committed to working with Morocco to make concrete progress in key areas, advancing the right to freedom of expression and association, criminal justice reforms, women’s rights and gender equality, government transparency.”Commenting on the Western Sahara issue, Blinken said the US administration “very much supports the work of the United Nations Personal Envoy of the Secretary-General, Stefan de Mistura, in leading the political process for Western Sahara, under the auspices of the UN, to promote a peaceful and prosperous future for the people of Western Sahara and the region.”“We appreciate Morocco’s support for this mission,” he said, adding that the US continues to view the Kingdom’s Autonomy Plan as “serious, credible, and realistic,” and one potential approach to meet the aspirations of the people of Western Sahara. Blinken said he discussed with his Moroccan counterpart security matters. According to the Secretary, the US recognizes the important role that Morocco plays in maintaining regional security and stability, as well as its contribution to peace and prosperity in the region. “We’re collaborating closely on addressing regional issues like the Sahel and Libya, the fight against terrorism, where Morocco has demonstrated sustained leadership to the Global Counterterrorism Forum and the Global Coalition to Defeat ISIS,” he told reporters. Bourita, for his part, said he discussed with Blinken various issues aimed at bolstering bilateral partnership, including political dialogue, human rights, the free trade agreement and Millennium Challenge Corporation programs. Discussions also tackled security and military cooperation mechanisms, while Bourita affirmed that their partnership can adapt to various external challenges, especially in the Middle East. In response to a question on whether Morocco is concerned that the US will not meet its commitment to open a consulate in Western Sahara, Bourita said Morocco is fully confident that all aspects pertaining to the three-party agreement signed in December 2020 can be applicable as part of agreements and as different parties deem relevant and appropriate. He affirmed that the US position with regard to the autonomy under Moroccan sovereignty is firm and stable under different administrations. “Autonomy under Moroccan sovereignty is the only solution supported by the US and by other countries, and you have also seen recently Spain and Germany joining and other African and Arab countries,” he further noted.

Egyptian-Qatari Relations Reach Advanced Reconciliation Phase
Cairo - Mohammed Abdo Hasanein/Asharq Al-Awsat/Wednesday, 30 March, 2022
The Egyptian-Qatari relations have entered a new advanced stage within the framework of reconciliation that followed a regional political rift that lasted several years. This was marked by agreeing on investments and partnerships estimated at $5 billion.
On Tuesday, Egyptian President Abdel-Fattah el-Sisi met with Qatar’s Minister of Foreign Affairs Sheikh Mohammed bin Abdulrahman Al Thani, heading a high-profile delegation that included Finance Minister Ali bin Ahmed Al-Kuwari and Abdullah Al-Khulaifi, head of the Qatari State Security Service, in the presence of Salem bin Mubarak Al Shafi, Qatar’s ambassador to Cairo. Observers described the visit as “the most prominent real embodiment of the two countries’ efforts towards the return of normal relations.”Egypt, Saudi Arabia, the UAE and Bahrain agreed in January 2021 to end the boycott against Qatar, which they accused in 2017 of “supporting terrorist groups,” which Doha had denied. The Egyptian president valued what he considered “tangible progress” in the course of Egyptian-Qatari ties, which would “serve the goals and interests of the two countries and peoples, and enhance efforts to maintain security and stability in the Arab region,” according to a statement by the Egyptian presidency. The statement quoted Sheikh Mohammed bin Abdulrahman Al Thani as saying that “the Emir of Qatar, Tamim bin Hamad Al Thani, was keen to consolidate the close brotherly relations between the two countries in a way that enhances security and stability in the region,” emphasizing “his appreciation for President Sisi’s efforts to advance joint Arab action… during the current delicate stage.”
Dr. Sama Suleiman, Undersecretary of the Foreign Affairs Committee in the Egyptian Senate, attributed the rapid development in the Egyptian-Qatari relations, to Cairo’s success in confronting political Islam groups. “The previous boycott period, as well as the current global developments, showed the need to activate reconciliation between the two countries, for economic reasons on the one hand, and political motives related to regional alliances on the other,” she told Asharq Al-Awsat. Suleiman added that Egypt’s foreign policy was based on coordination and joint action with all Arab countries to confront the challenges and dangers facing Arab security. During Tuesday’s meeting, Sisi underlined “the link between the Gulf and Egyptian national security,” praising “the important role Qatar plays in facing challenges facing the Arab nation.”According to a statement by the Egyptian Cabinet, the meeting saw an agreement on a set of investments and partnerships in Egypt totaling $5 billion. The statement did not provide details of the announced investments, while Egyptian Foreign Minister Sameh Shoukry said that the two countries will form a joint committee to enhance cooperation in various fields. The committee will help advance cooperation relations, “as the most prominent real embodiment of the efforts of the two countries,” as noted by Abu Bakr Al-Deeb, head of the Arab Thought Research Forum. He expected that the next stage would witness important steps in favor of bilateral cooperation, in light of a common desire to push relations forward. The Egyptian-Qatari bilateral consensus was reflected in the two countries’ vision over regional issues. Sheikh Mohammed Abdul Rahman Al Thani said in this regard: "We have overcame the previous stage - which was marred by some tensions - with open hearts and a future outlook in the interest of our countries and peoples.” He pointed to broad prospects for cooperation, in terms of expanding economic partnership and enhancing communication, which he said will have positive repercussions on joint Arab action through the exchange of views on various issues. Egypt and Qatar exchanged ambassadors last year, in a sign of improving relations. Since the reconciliation was completed, Sisi has met the Emir of Qatar on more than one occasion, the last of which was in February, on the sidelines of the opening of the Winter Olympics in Beijing.

UNHCR: More Than 4 Million People Have Fled Ukraine
Asharq Al-Awsat/Wednesday, 30 March, 2022
The number of Ukrainians fleeing abroad is now 4,019,287, the United Nations' Refugee Agency (UNHCR) said on Wednesday. Ukrainian officials reported shelling around the capital Kyiv and the northern region of Chernihiv on Wednesday, despite a promise by Moscow to scale down military operations there. Russian forces were also shelling nearly all cities along the front line separating Ukrainian government-controlled territory from areas held by Russian-backed separatists in the eastern Donetsk region, the regional governor said, and heavy fighting was reported in the southern port city of Mariupol.
Oleksiy Arestovych, an adviser to President Volodymyr Zelenskiy, said Russia was transferring forces from northern Ukraine to eastern areas to try to encircle Ukrainian troops there. He said Russia would keep some troops near Kyiv to try to prevent Ukrainian forces reinforcing the eastern front. He said Russia would keep some troops near Kyiv to try to prevent Ukrainian forces reinforcing the eastern front.

Russia hits near Kyiv, other city despite vows to scale back
Associated Press/Wednesday, 30 March, 2022
Russian forces pounded areas around Kyiv and another Ukrainian city overnight, local officials said Wednesday, just hours after Moscow pledged to scale back military operations in those places. The shelling further tempered optimism about possible progress in talks aimed at ending the punishing war. Russia did not spell out what exactly a reduction in activity would look like, and while the promise initially raised hopes that a path toward ending the bloody war of attrition was at hand, Ukraine's president and others cautioned that the commitments could merely be bluster. Moscow, meanwhile, reacted coolly Wednesday to Kyiv's proposed framework for a peace deal, with Kremlin spokesman Dmitry Peskov saying it was a "positive factor" that Ukraine has submitted its written proposals but adding that he saw no breakthrough. The British Defense Ministry said heavy losses have forced some Russian units to return to Belarus and Russia to regroup but that Moscow would likely compensate for any reduction in ground maneuvers by using mass artillery and missile barrages. And the Russian military reported a new series of missile strikes on Ukrainian arsenals and fuel depots over the past 24 hours. As the war unleashed five weeks ago by Moscow ground on, so, too, did the fallout beyond Ukraine's borders. The United Nations said the number of refugees fleeing the country has now surpassed a staggering 4 million, while European industrial powerhouse Germany issued a warning over its natural gas supplies amid concerns that Russia could cut off deliveries unless it is paid in rubles.
Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy reacted with skepticism to Russia's announcement at talks in Istanbul on Tuesday that it would reduce military activity near the capital and the northern city of Chernihiv. "We can call those signals that we hear at the negotiations positive," he said in his nightly video address to the Ukrainian people. "But those signals don't silence the explosions of Russian shells."That skepticism appeared well placed by Wednesday morning. "The so-called reduction of activity in the Chernihiv region, was demonstrated by the enemy strikes including air strikes on Nizhyn, and all night long they were shelling Chernihiv," said the regional governor, Viacheslav Chaus. "Civilian infrastructure facilities, libraries, shopping centers, many houses were destroyed in Chernihiv."Oleksandr Pavliuk, the head of the Kyiv region military administration, said Wednesday that Russian shells targeted residential areas and civilian infrastructure in the Bucha, Brovary and Vyshhorod regions around the capital.
They weren't the only attacks by Moscow.
Russian Defense Ministry spokesman Maj. Gen. Igor Konashenkov said Wednesday that the military targeted fuel depots in two towns in central Ukraine with air-launched long-range cruise missiles. Russian forces also hit a Ukrainian special forces headquarters in the southern Mykolaiv region, he said, and two ammunition depots in the eastern Donetsk region. Donetsk is in the eastern industrial heartland of Donbas, where the Russian military says it has shifted its focus. Top Russian military officials have said twice in recent days that their main goal now is the "liberation" of Donbas, where Moscow-backed rebels have been battling Ukrainian forces since 2014. Some analysts have suggested that the Kremlin's apparent lowering of its aims and the pledge to reduce activity around Kyiv and Chernihiv may merely reflect the reality on the ground: Its ground troops have become bogged down and taken heavy losses in their bid to seize the capital and other cities. Still, the outlines of a possible deal to end the war came into view at the latest round of talks Tuesday in Istanbul. Ukraine's delegation offered a detailed framework for a peace deal under which a neutral Ukraine's security would be guaranteed by a group of third countries, including the U.S., Britain, France, Turkey, China and Poland. Among other things, the Kremlin has demanded all along that Ukraine drop any hope of joining NATO. Russian delegation head Vladimir Medinsky said negotiators would take them to Russian President Vladimir Putin and then Moscow would provide a response, but he did not say when. Russian Deputy Defense Minister Alexander Fomin said Moscow would in the meantime "fundamentally ... cut back military activity in the direction of Kyiv and Chernihiv" to "increase mutual trust and create conditions for further negotiations." The talks had been expected to resume on Wednesday, but with what Turkish Foreign Minister Mevlut Cavusoglu called "meaningful" progress made, the two sides decided to return home for consultations. Despite the apparent signs of progress, Zelenskyy warned the world and his own people not to get ahead of themselves. "Ukrainians are not naïve people," he said. "Ukrainians have already learned during the 34 days of the invasion and during the past eight years of war in the Donbas that you can trust only concrete results." Western countries also expressed doubts about Russia's intentions. "We judge the Russian military machine by its actions, not just its words," British Deputy Prime Minister Dominic Raab told Sky News on Wednesday. "There's obviously some skepticism that it will regroup to attack again rather than seriously engaging in diplomacy."
He added that "of course the door to diplomacy will always be left ajar, but I don't think you can trust what is coming out of the mouth of Putin's war machine."
An assessment from Britain's Ministry of Defense said that Russia's focus on the Donbas region "is likely a tacit admission that it is struggling to sustain more than one significant axis of advance." "Russian units suffering heavy losses have been forced to return to Belarus and Russia to reorganize and resupply," the ministry said in a statement Wednesday. "Such activity is placing further pressure on Russia's already strained logistics and demonstrates the difficulties Russia is having reorganizing its units in forward areas within Ukraine." Pentagon spokesman John Kirby said the U.S. has detected small numbers of Russian ground forces moving away from the Kyiv area, but it appeared to be a repositioning of forces, "not a real withdrawal." In response to Moscow's pledge, U.S. President Joe Biden and his secretary of state, Antony Blinken, said they would wait to see what Russia's actions are. Blinken added that Russian indications of a pullback could be an attempt to "deceive people and deflect attention." It wouldn't be the first time. In the tense buildup to the invasion, the Russian military announced some units were loading equipment onto rail cars and preparing to return to their home bases after completing exercises. At the time, Putin signaled interest in diplomacy. But 10 days later, Russia launched its invasion. Western officials say Moscow is now reinforcing troops in the Donbas in a bid to encircle Ukraine's forces there. And Russia's deadly siege in the south continues, with civilians trapped in the ruins of Mariupol and other devastated cities. The latest satellite imagery from Maxar Technologies showed hundreds of people waiting outside a grocery store in besieged Mariupol amid reports of food and water shortages. Even as negotiators gathered Tuesday, Putin's forces blasted a gaping hole in a nine-story government administration building in a strike on the southern port city of Mykolaiv, killing at least 14 people, emergency authorities said. "It's terrible. They waited for people to go to work" before striking the building, said regional governor Vitaliy Kim. "I overslept. I'm lucky."

Russian Units Suffering Big Losses Pull Out of Ukraine, Says UK Military Intelligence
Asharq Al-Awsat/Wednesday, 30 March, 2022
Some Russian units suffering heavy losses in Ukraine had been forced to return home and to neighboring Belarus, British military intelligence said a day after Russia promised to scale down military operations around Kyiv and another city. Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskiy reacted with skepticism to the offer made by Russia during negotiations in Istanbul aimed at de-escalating a conflict now in its fifth week. His forces have halted the invasion on most fronts, and some analysts noted that Russia's promise to reduce fighting mostly covered areas where it has been losing ground, even as civilians remained trapped in besieged cities in the south and east. Heavy losses and the withdrawal of some troops was impacting Russian operations, said Britain's defense ministry. "Such activity is placing further pressure on Russia´s already strained logistics and demonstrates the difficulties Russia is having re-organizing its units in forward areas within Ukraine," it said in an assessment on Wednesday. Russia is likely to continue to compensate for its reduced ground maneuver capability through mass artillery and missile strikes, the ministry added. Russia has failed to capture any major city in its month-long invasion, while Ukrainian forces have made advances, recapturing territory from Russian troops on the outskirts of Kyiv, in the northeast and in the south. One recaptured area on a road towards the village of Rusaniv was littered with burnt-out tanks and bits of Russian uniforms. Surrounding houses were destroyed. Russia calls its assault a "special operation" to disarm and "denazify" Ukraine. The West says it launched an unprovoked invasion. The largest attack on a European nation since World War Two has killed or injured thousands, forced nearly 4 million to flee abroad and pummeled Russia's economy with sanctions.
Russian Deputy Defense Minister Alexander Fomin said the offer to scale back some military operations was a confidence building step for the ongoing negotiations with Ukrainian officials in Istanbul. "In order to increase mutual trust and create the necessary conditions for further negotiations and achieving the ultimate goal of agreeing and signing (an) agreement, a decision was made to radically, by a large margin, reduce military activity in the Kyiv and Chernihiv directions," Russian Deputy Defense Minister Alexander Fomin told reporters. Fomin made no mention of other areas that have seen heavy fighting, including around Mariupol in the southeast, Sumy and Kharkiv in the east and Kherson and Mykolaiv in the south. "Ukrainians are not naive people," President Zelenskiy said late on Tuesday. "Ukrainians have already learned during these 34 days of invasion, and over the past eight years of the war in Donbas, that the only thing they can trust is a concrete result."
Major offensive possible
Russia has started moving very small numbers of troops away from positions around Kyiv in a move that is more of a repositioning than a retreat or a withdrawal from the war, the Pentagon said on Tuesday. "We all should be prepared to watch for a major offensive against other areas of Ukraine," spokesman John Kirby told a news briefing. "It does not mean that the threat to Kyiv is over."Britain's Ministry of Defense earlier said: "It is highly likely that Russia will seek to divert combat power from the north to their offensive in the Donetsk and Luhansk regions in the east". Reuters could not immediately verify the claims made by either side. The Moscow-backed self-proclaimed Donetsk People's Republic in eastern Ukraine may consider joining Russia once it controls all of Ukraine's Donetsk region, its leader was quoted as saying. Kyiv has said any such move would have no legal basis. In Ukraine's besieged seaport Mariupol, thousands of civilians may have died, the head of the United Nations human rights mission in the country told Reuters on Tuesday. Those who remain are suffering. "We are eight people. We have two buckets of potatoes, one bucket of onions," said Irina, an engineer, in her apartment where windows had been blasted out. In the southern city of Mykolaiv, a missile blasted a hole through the main administrative building. Authorities said at least 12 people were killed and 33 injured. The Russian military accused Ukrainian forces in cities under attack of using ceasefires to restore their combat readiness and set up firing points in hospitals and schools, Interfax news agency said. The leaders of Germany, the United States, France, Britain and Italy agreed in a phone call on Tuesday afternoon to keep pushing Russia for a ceasefire and for the withdrawal of its troops from Ukraine, a German government spokesman said. Russian President Vladimir Putin and his French counterpart Emmanuel Macron discussed developments in the situation around Ukraine, including the latest round of Russia-Ukraine talks in Istanbul, in a phone call on Tuesday, the Kremlin said.Russian Foreign Minister Sergei Lavrov and US deputy national security adviser for economics, Daleep Singh, will both visit India to lobby New Delhi, which has called for a ceasefire but has refused to explicitly condemn Moscow.
Proposals
Ukrainian negotiators said that under their proposals, Kyiv would agree not to join alliances or host bases of foreign troops, but would have security guaranteed in terms similar to "Article 5", the collective defense clause of the transatlantic NATO military alliance. The proposals, which would require a referendum in Ukraine, mentioned a 15-year consultation period on the status of Crimea, annexed by Russia in 2014. The fate of the southeastern Donbas region, which Russia demands Ukraine cede to separatists, would be discussed by the Ukrainian and Russian leaders. Kyiv's proposals also included one that Moscow would not oppose Ukraine joining the European Union, Russia's lead negotiator Vladimir Medinsky said. Russia has previously opposed Ukrainian membership of the EU and especially of NATO. Medinsky said Russia's delegation would study and present the proposals to president Putin. To prepare a peace agreement, Medinsky later told the TASS news agency, "We still have a long way to go".

Lavrov Makes First China Visit Since Ukraine War
Asharq Al-Awsat/Wednesday, 30 March, 2022
Russian Foreign Minister Sergei Lavrov arrived in China on Wednesday in his first visit to the key ally since Moscow launched its invasion of Ukraine last month. In a post on its Weibo social media account, the Russian embassy in Beijing confirmed Lavrov had landed in the eastern city of Huangshan, posting photos of delegates descending from a plane and being met by health officials in hazmat suits. Lavrov will attend a series of meetings hosted by China to discuss ways to help Afghanistan. Diplomats from the United States and the Taliban-led country's neighbors are also expected to attend.
But Russia's bloody assault on Ukraine is likely to loom large over proceedings. Unlike many Western nations, China has refused to condemn the invasion and has lagged behind many other countries in providing humanitarian aid to Ukraine. Beijing has said Foreign Minister Wang Yi will collectively meet with representatives at the meeting, but it is not clear whether he will meet one-on-one with Lavrov.

Russia and China Condemn Western Sanctions on Moscow over Ukraine
Asharq Al-Awsat/Wednesday, 30 March, 2022
Foreign ministers from Russia and China on Wednesday condemned what they called illegal and counter productive Western sanctions imposed on Moscow over its action in Ukraine, the Russian foreign ministry said in a statement. Chinese Foreign Minister Wang Yi held talks with his Russian counterpart, Sergei Lavrov, in the eastern Chinese province of Anhui, where China was set to host two days of meetings on Afghanistan. The meeting comes a little over a month after Russia sent tens of thousands of troops into Ukraine in what Russia calls a special operation, triggering unprecedented Western sanctions.
Russia is looking to China for support and partnerships as it becomes ever more isolated from global financial systems and supply chains. "The ministers had a thorough exchange of views on the situation around Ukraine. The head of the Russian foreign ministry informed his Chinese counterpart about the progress of the special military operation ... and the dynamics of the negotiation process with the Kyiv regime," the Russian foreign ministry said in a statement. "The sides noted the counterproductive nature of the illegal unilateral sanctions imposed on Russia by the United States and its satellites."
The ministry said the two ministers had agreed that Russia and China would continue to strengthen their strategic partnership and to speak on global affairs "with a united voice". "It was agreed to further strengthen foreign policy coordination and to widen cooperation on the bilateral track and in various multilateral formats," the ministry said. Wang said Chinese and Russian relations had "withstood the test of international turbulence" and there was an increased willingness by them to develop relations that had "grown resiliently", China's Phoenix TV reported. "There is no limit to China-Russia cooperation, no limit to our efforts to achieve peace, safeguard security and oppose hegemony," a Chinese foreign ministry spokesman told a media briefing in Beijing. "China-Russia relations are non-aligned, non-confrontational and not targeted at any third party," the spokesman said. Lavrov, who on Monday said Russia's relations with China were at their strongest level ever, had arrived earlier in China for talks hosted by Wang that were set to include representatives from Afghanistan's ruling Taliban as well as Pakistan, Iran, Tajikistan, Turkmenistan and Uzbekistan. Afghanistan is suffering an economic and humanitarian crisis worsened by a financial aid cutoff following the Taliban takeover as US-led troops departed in August.

Iraqi MPs try for third time to elect new president
Agence France Presse/Wednesday, 30 March, 2022
Iraqi lawmakers were Wednesday set to try for a third time to elect a new national president after two previous attempts failed because of boycotts by a Shiite Muslim coalition. Half a year after October 2021 legislative elections, Iraq still does not have a new president or prime minister, keeping the war-scarred country in a state of political paralysis. Parliamentarians must first elect the head of state, by convention a member of the Kurdish minority, with a two thirds majority. The president then appoints the head of government, a post now held by Mustafa al-Kadhemi. Among the 40 candidates for the presidency, two are considered the frontrunners: incumbent Barham Saleh, of the Patriotic Union of Kurdistan (PUK), and Rebar Ahmed of the rival Kurdistan Democratic Party (KDP). Last Saturday, the lack of a quorum -- set at two-thirds of the house's 329 members -- held up the vote for a second time since February, a turbulent month when the Iraqi judiciary intervened. On February 13, Iraq's supreme court had ruled out a presidential bid by KDP-backed veteran politician Hoshyar Zebari, after a complaint filed against him over years-old, untried corruption charges.
New boycott threat
Iraqi politics were thrown into turmoil following October's election, which was marred by record low turnout, post-vote threats and violence, and a months-long delay before the final results were confirmed. The largest political bloc, led by firebrand Shiite cleric Moqtada Sadr, had backed Zebari for the presidency and has now thrown its weight behind Ahmed. Saturday's failed session underscored the sharp divide in Iraqi politics between Sadr, the general election's big winner, and the powerful Coordination Framework, which had called for a boycott. The Coordination Framework includes former premier Nuri al-Maliki's party and the pro-Iran Fatah Alliance -- the political arm of the Shiite-led former paramilitary group Hashed al-Shaabi. Sadr supports Ahmed for the presidency and intends to entrust the post of prime minister to his cousin and brother-in-law Jaafar Sadr, Iraq's ambassador to Britain. This is unbearable for the Shiite bloc of the Coordination Framework. "There have been no serious negotiations so far... If there is no agreement, we will boycott Wednesday's session," lawmaker Bahaa al-Nuri, spokesman for Maliki's State of Law coalition, told AFP. Iraq's federal court has given MPs until April 6 to choose a new president. If that deadline is missed, said political scientist Hamza Haddad, "we could reach a point where new elections are decided to break the deadlock".

Tunisia president dissolves parliament, orders investigation against MPs
The Arab Weekly/March 30/2022
Tunisian President Kais Saied fired back at the Tunisian parliament’s move, Wednesday, to challenge his authority by dissolving the legislature without specifying a date for early elections. Analysts said, however, Saied is likely to keep his already scheduled date for early legislative elections, in December, so as to introduce electoral reforms prior to that. The president’s move takes the political crisis in the country to a new stage in the process started, last July 25, by Saied when he sacked the government of former Prime Minister Hichem Mechichi, suspended the assembly, then later moved to rule by decree. The president announced the disbanding of the assembly, on Wednesday, during a speech he delivered at a national Security Council meeting held at the Carthage Palace and attended by senior security and army officials.
In the speech broadcast by national television, a clearly irritated Saied also announced the judicial prosecution of MPs involved in today’s online session, on charges of “conspiring against domestic and external state security,” after parliament decided in its virtual session, by 116 votes out of 217, to cancel all decisions and decrees issued by Saied since July 25.There were social media reports, Wednesday night, about the possible arrest of Tarek Fetini, deputy parliament speaker, who chaired the Wednesday session instead of Ghannouchi. Saied called the online session “absolutely without legitimacy” and likened it to a “failed coup attempt” aimed at “dividing the country and sowing sedition.”
In announcing the dissolution of parliament, he invoked article 72 of the Constitution, which entrusts the president with “guaranteeing the independence and continuity of the state and ensuring respect for the constitution.” The article says nothing about elections. But jurists point out that in the absence of a constitutional court, the article gives the president the sole power of interpreting the constitution. Saied implicitly blamed the Islamist Ennahda party for the new phase of political turmoil faced by Tunisia saying that those behind it believe in notion of “jama’a” (a term often used in reference to the tight-knit organisation of Islamist groups) and not in the authority of the state. Parliament speaker Rached Ghannouchi, head of the Islamist Ennahda party, had called Monday for a plenary session on Wednesday to discuss Saied’s “exceptional measures” imposed since July. He made his call during a virtual meeting on Monday bringing together heads of some of the parliamentary blocs. His move was described by Tunisian analysts as a “provocative step” aimed at embarrassing Saied at home and showing him to be blocking the country’s “democratic process.”
Ghannouchi appeared to be seeking an opportunity in the crisis to break out of isolation and shore up his ratings. According to opinion polls, he enjoys little trust from the public. He also faces mounting dissent within his own party. He seemed nonetheless buoyed by occasional criticism of the Tunisian president from abroad, especially from the United States.
His sudden escalation of moves against Saied could have been motivated by a desire to preempt the president’s political agenda, which includes the adoption of a presidential system, instead of the quasi parliamentary system currently in place, and modification of election rules by referendum
Saied had announced a political roadmap including a referendum on the political system, set for next July 25, and early legislative elections, for December 17, 2022. Besides Islamist activists and their allies who stood against the presidential rule by decree and the suspension of parliament, some of Saied’s early supporters had voiced reservations about his slow pace of reform and his unwillingness to establish dialogue with political parties and trade unions since he assumed all powers. His move to dissolve the parliament and put a definitive end to the Ennahda-dominated legislative era is likely to be welcomed by many of his secularist critics. The MPs cooperating with Ghannouchi had also decided, Monday, to hold another plenary on Saturday to discuss Tunisia’s deteriorating economic situation and public finances.
Tunisia’s powerful UGTT trade union criticised parliament’s planned meetings. Such moves threaten to “drag the country into conflict,” union spokesman Sami Tahri said. Noureddine Taboubi, head of the UGTT said dissolution of the parliament could offer a solution to the crisis.
Late Tuesday, a Tunis court rejected an urgent request by the anti-Islamist Free Destourian Party (PDL) to block the virtual parliamentary session scheduled for Wednesday. The PDL has for months called for the dissolution of the parliament. Some Tunisia experts had expressed concern that the face-off could ratchet up tensions and create a perception of “two competing legitimacies” similar to the one prevailing in Libya. They said this could muddle the image of the country while it sought to clinch a crucial loan package with the International Monetary Fund. Wednesday evening, experts noted that Saied’s move was motivated, at least partly, by such considerations.

The Latest LCCC English analysis & editorials from miscellaneous sources published on March 30-31/2022
خالد ابو طعمة/معهد جيتستون: العرب يرون أن إدارة بايدن تضر بالمصالح الأمريكية
Arabs: Biden Administration Harming US interests
Khaled Abu Toameh/Gatestone Institute./March 30/2022
http://eliasbejjaninews.com/archives/107466/khaled-abu-toameh-gatestone-institute-arabs-biden-administration-harming-us-interests-%d8%ae%d8%a7%d9%84%d8%af-%d8%a7%d8%a8%d9%88-%d8%b7%d8%b9%d9%85%d8%a9-%d9%85%d8%b9%d9%87%d8%af-%d8%ac%d9%8a%d8%aa/
“In 1979 Iranian students established their own group, which over time turned into an extremist military organization under the name of the Iranian Revolutionary Guard. The group seized control of the US Embassy in Tehran. Two years later the Iranian Revolutionary Guard…. struck buildings in Lebanon that housed American… soldiers, killing of 307 individuals, including 241 Americans…. In 1996, terrorists linked to Iran and the Revolutionary Guards, and their Hezbollah proxy attacked a residential complex in Al-Khobar, eastern Saudi Arabia, killing and wounding many American experts and other innocent people. Since 1990, Iran has turned into an incubator for Al-Qaeda and ISIS.” — Mohammed Al-Saed, Saudi writer, Okaz, March 24, 2022.
“The events of September 11 [2001] came on top of those crimes, which were committed by Osama bin Laden and Al-Zawahiri, all of whom had the support of Iran. In the aftermath of the US invasion of Iraq in 2003, Iran fueled the horrific killings and bombings that affected the US Army through different cells that were driven by the Iranian Revolutionary Guard. Thousands of American soldiers were killed.” — Mohammed Al-Saed, Okaz, March 24, 2022.
“[T]he Democratic administration headed by Barack Obama is not happy with what Trump did….” — Mohammed Al-Saed, Okaz, March 24, 2022.
“The Houthis bomb Jeddah, Biden rewards Iran….The Biden administration knows that Iran finances the Houthi group and supplies it with missiles.” — Sawsan Al-Sha’er, Bahraini journalist, Al-Watan, March 22, 2022.
“[T]here is no American policy in Syria other than placing Syria entirely in the hands of Iran.” — Nadim Koteich, Lebanese TV presenter and journalist, Asharq Al-Awsat, March 22, 2022.
The Houthi militia rejects any settlement to the civil war in Yemen and seeks to assist Iran in establishing a foothold in the Arab region. “This is what the US administrations could never comprehend… It encouraged Iran to turn Yemen into a base for Iranian missiles and drones. — Kheirallah Kheirallah, veteran Lebanese journalist, Al-Arab, March 28, 2022.
The crisis between the Biden administration and the Arab countries, especially the Gulf states, is so deep that it could take years, if not decades, to repair the damage caused to America’s interests in the Middle East.
Many Arabs are continuing to express deep disappointment with the policies of the Biden administration in the Middle East, especially regarding Iran’s role in destabilizing security and stability in Arab countries. These Arabs say that President Joe Biden is following in the footsteps of former President Barack Obama, who preferred to reach a nuclear deal with Iran at the expense of Washington’s allies in the Middle East. (Photo by Chip Somodevilla/Getty Images)
Many Arabs are continuing to express deep disappointment with the policies of the Biden administration in the Middle East, especially regarding Iran’s role in destabilizing security and stability in Arab countries that once trusted the US as a reliable and trustworthy ally.
These Arabs say that President Joe Biden is following in the footsteps of former President Barack Obama, who preferred to reach a nuclear deal with Iran at the expense of Washington’s Arab friends and allies in the Middle East.
The Arabs are further saying that the policies and actions of the Biden administration are harming not only America’s allies, but also the interests of the US.
“The notorious agreement unleashed Iran’s hand, allowing it to tamper with the security and stability of the region,” wrote Syrian political analyst Rami Alkhalifa Alali.
“Tehran began spreading havoc and destruction throughout the region. Meanwhile, Washington neglected the region and started talking about its interest in Southeast Asia, so the situation in Syria deteriorated and became an arena for Iranian militias. The scenario was repeated in Iraq, where the US forged an alliance with Iran’s militias on the pretext of striking at Islamic State (ISIS), a situation that created instability in Iraq. In Lebanon, it turned a blind eye to the expansion of the Hezbollah terrorist organization…
“It is true that Washington has the right to search for its interests, but there are several options to achieve interests… It is simply possible to choose the best method that does not harm the interests of the [Arab] partners. The American message has arrived, so the countries of the region are also searching for their interests. Perhaps the biggest test is the Ukrainian war and energy policy. The Arab countries are proving that their interests are at the top of their priorities. Washington must lay real foundations to restore traditional partnerships with Arab countries, if it wants a better understanding and fruitful results.”
Saudi writer Mohammed Al-Saed expressed concern over reports that the Biden administration was considering removing the Iran’s Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps (IRGC) from the list of terrorist organizations “and recognize it as a peaceful organization that serves humanity.”
“It is understood that the Biden government wants to atone for the killing of Qassem Soleimani,” Al-Saed wrote, referring to the former IRGC commander who was assassinated in a US drone strike in Baghdad two years ago.
The Saudi writer described the decision taken by former President Donald Trump to assassinate Soleimani as “huge, important and courageous.”
The Biden administration, he said, wants to send a message to Iran and its leaders that “the Democratic administration headed by Barack Obama is not happy with what Trump did and apologize for the elimination of the terrorist Soleimani.”
Al-Saed predicted that the Revolutionary Guards will soon become an organization whose chiefs are received in Washington by the heads of the US security services.
“Let us remember and remind the Americans of a number of the crimes of the terrorist Iranian Revolutionary Guards and its tyranny in their blood, as well as the shedding of innocent blood,” he remarked.
“In 1979 Iranian students established their own group, which over time turned into an extremist military organization under the name of the Iranian Revolutionary Guard. The group seized control of the US Embassy in Tehran. Two years later the Iranian Revolutionary Guard carried out a direct operation against the American Army and the Marines. Two truck bombs struck buildings in Lebanon that housed American and French soldiers, killing of 307 individuals, including 241 Americans and 58 French soldiers and innocent civilians. In 1996, terrorists linked to Iran and the Revolutionary Guards, and their Hezbollah proxy attacked a residential complex in Al-Khobar, eastern Saudi Arabia, killing and wounding many American experts and other innocent people. Since 1990, Iran has turned into an incubator for Al-Qaeda and ISIS. The events of September 11 [2001] came on top of those crimes, which were committed by Osama bin Laden and Al-Zawahiri, all of whom had the support of Iran. In the aftermath of the US invasion of Iraq in 2003, Iran fueled the horrific killings and bombings that affected the US Army through different cells that were driven by the Iranian Revolutionary Guard. Thousands of American soldiers were killed.”
Al-Saed said that in light of Washington’s policy of appeasing the mullahs in Tehran, “no one should be surprised if the Biden administration presents letters of apology to the terrorist Osama bin Laden and the criminal [slain ISIS leader] Abu Bakr Al-Baghdadi. Moreover, no one should be surprised if we see the leaders of IRGC, Al-Qaeda and the [Iranian-backed] Houthi militia welcomed at the White House as allies. This is what the extreme Left in the US has produced.”
Sawsan Al-Sha’er, one of Bahrain’s most influential journalists, pointed out that while the Houthi militia was bombing the Saudi city of Jeddah last week, US Secretary of State Antony Blinken congratulated Iran on the occasion of Nowruz, a holiday marking the arrival of spring and the first day of the year in Iran.
“The Houthis bomb Jeddah, Biden rewards Iran… The Biden administration knows that Iran finances the Houthi group and supplies it with missiles. The Biden administration congratulates Iran and wants to remove the Revolutionary Guards from the list of terrorism. What kind of an ally are we talking about? Does this administration realize how far it is from us? Does it realize the impact of this on the future of its relations [with the Arabs] and even on the interests of the Americans themselves?”
Lebanese television presenter and journalist Nadim Koteich noted the hypocrisy of the Biden administration in opposing the recent visit by Syrian President Bashar Assad to Abu Dhabi.
The US State Department said it was “deeply disappointed and disturbed” by Assad’s visit.
Koteich acknowledged the “brutality” of the Assad regime, but said that the Biden administration, which is “disappointed” by the Arab normalization with Assad, is “desperate for normalization with the Iranian regime, without taking into account the atrocities that the Revolutionary Guards practiced against the Syrians.”
“The fact of the matter is that Iran’s share of the Syrian bloodbath is immeasurably greater than that of Assad himself, who would not have remained at the head of the regime had it not been for the intervention of Iran’s militias… How can Washington’s speech and political behavior be consistent with a smooth openness to Khamenei and a willingness to remove the Revolutionary Guards from the terrorist list on the one hand, and objecting to opening up to Assad on the other hand? The American objection could have been understood if there was a well-defined and clear American policy in Syria. But there is no American policy in Syria other than placing Syria entirely in the hands of Iran.”
Koteich pointed out that Assad’s visit to the Gulf state came on the eve of a prospective nuclear agreement with Iran, which will release huge cash that will allow the mullahs to use it to gain more influence with the Syrian regime.
“The visit takes place at a moment of unprecedented collision between major Gulf capitals and Washington as a result of a growing impression that America is withdrawing from the Middle East, leading to the destruction of the foundations of stability. The breakdown of trust between the moderate Arab countries and America began in 2011, when the administration of President Barack Obama abandoned the support of its strategic ally in Egypt. What does Washington want?”
Veteran Lebanese journalist Kheirallah Kheirallah wrote that the Houthi drone and missile attacks on Saudi Arabia “are nothing but evidence of the Biden administration’s ignorance of the Houthis, their role, and the depth of the ties between them and the Iranian regime.”
Kheriallah noted that the Houthi militia rejects any settlement to the civil war in Yemen and seeks to assist Iran in establishing a foothold in the Arab region.
“This is what the US administrations could never comprehend… The Biden administration went further than others in placating the Houthis. It encouraged Iran to turn Yemen into a base for Iranian missiles and drones. This is more than enough reason for the Arab countries in the region to take a cautious stance on US policy. There is a deep American misunderstanding of what happened and is still going on in Yemen. The basis for this misunderstanding is ignorance of the nature of the Houthi movement, which has a very close relationship with the Iranian Revolutionary Guard.”
Echoing the growing anxiety of many Arabs, Kheirallah expressed fear that the Biden administration is ready to capitulate to Iran in a deal related to its nuclear program.
“This means that America, whose president declares that he is ready to confront Russia in case it attacks any member state of NATO, is not concerned with what Iran is doing in the Gulf region. On the contrary, we see that this administration is emboldening Iran.”
The voices emanating from the Arab world demonstrate the degree to which many Arab countries feel that their confidence in the US has been crushed. These Arabs believe that their daily warnings against the Biden administration’s policy of appeasement towards Iran and its terrorist proxies are falling on deaf ears at the White House. What is coming through loud and clear, however, to other observers, is that the crisis between the Biden administration and the Arab countries, especially the Gulf states, is so deep that it could take years, if not decades, to repair the damage caused to America’s interests in the Middle East.
*Khaled Abu Toameh is an award-winning journalist based in Jerusalem.
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https://www.gatestoneinstitute.org/18376/arabs-biden-us-interests

Spain Changes Course On Morocco And Western Sahara
Alberto M. Fernandez/MEMRI Daily Brief/March 30/2022
What a difference a year makes. It was actually less than a year ago. On May 18, 2021 Morocco unleashed a flood of migrants – up to 10,000 in one day – on the Spanish North Africa enclave of Ceuta.[1] The move was in response to Spain welcoming the head of the leftist Western Sahara guerrilla group POLISARIO to Spain, supposedly for health reasons. Morocco regards the Algerian-supported POLISARIO as little better than terrorists.
Now on March 18, 2022, the Moroccan government revealed that Spain had changed its long-standing policy on Western Sahara, which was a Spanish colony until 1975. Spain has now accepted Morocco's 2007 autonomy plan over Western Sahara, essentially endorsing Morocco's continued rule over the region. Spain followed the path recently hewed by the Trump Administration and Israel in 2020, policy shifts favoring Morocco on Western Sahara in return for improvement in bilateral relations. In the case of the U.S. and Israel, the policy shift resulted in a formalizing of diplomatic relations between Israel and Morocco as part of the Trump Administration's Abraham Accords. Spain's letter to Morocco agreeing to the change in policy seems to have been rushed, filled with grammatical and typographic errors.[2]
For Madrid, the policy shift caused anger within the ruling leftist coalition of Prime Minister Pedro Sanchez. The Sahrawi cause has traditionally been a cause particularly supported among the Spanish Left in the same way that the European Left has supported Palestinian revolutionaries and other left-wing "national liberation" movements. Sanchez's junior partners in government, the communist Unidas Podemos (Podemos-IU or UP) alliance, were furious to learn of the shift in Spanish government policy, a government they are a part of, from the Moroccans.[3] UP deputies would later break out the POLISARIO flag in protest in the Spanish parliament.[4] But the Socialist Sanchez had picked his moment well. His key communist allies are unhappy (also unhappy with Spain's support for NATO on Ukraine) but polls show that if national elections were held today, the scandal-ridden UP would lose heavily in the polls, losing votes to their PSOE Socialist allies and even to the surging right-wing VOX party.[5] So, all the communists can do is complain while keeping the current government in place.
Although Morocco has not and will not change its position that the Spanish enclaves in North Africa should be part of Morocco (the Spanish diplomatic note mentions neither Ceuta nor Melilla), the deal seems to give Spain temporary relief from further Moroccan use of migration (coming from both Morocco and sub-Saharan Africa) as a tool of statecraft. Not only did the wave of migrants to Ceuta and Melilla and the Canary Islands threaten to overwhelm local Spanish governments, it also helped the Spanish political opposition. Sanchez lauded the agreement as solving a problematic situation which was "unsustainable."[6]
Sanchez sought to reassure Algeria, which is not only the principal patron of the Sahrawi revolutionaries but also a major supplier of natural gas to Spain. Spain's electricity prices are the highest in the European Union and the issue has surged in the public discourse in 2021. Like Joe Biden, Sanchez has sought to blame Putin for the surge in energy costs, but Spaniards, like Americans, can read a calendar and few accept this excuse. Algerian analysts see Spain's policy shift on Western Sahara as an "inexplicable" betrayal, "a stab in the back" coming only two weeks after Sanchez had spoken to Algerian President Tebboune. And like the Spanish communists, the Algerians learned of the policy change from their Moroccan rivals. The sense is that the Algerians will certainly not stop pumping natural gas to Spain, there is a contract and Algeria is making money (a large part of Spain's LNG comes from Algeria but the percentage has declined over the past year, replaced by American gas imports to Spain).[7] Rather it is likely that Algeria will respond by favoring Italy over Spain as a major transshipment point for its future energy exports to Europe.[8] And in contrast with Rabat, Algeria will certainly continue to allow its territory to be used by smuggling networks bringing in thousands of migrants into Spain by fast launches from Oran to Almeria.
Indeed, the use of the migration weapon by Algeria will not only put pressure on Spain but relieve pressure on Algeria as at some of those leaving for the Spanish coasts are local youth (these migrants are overwhelmingly young men) caught up in opposition demonstrations and frustrated by the lack of economic opportunity and political space in Algeria.[9] Syrians, Egyptians and Bangladeshis are also using the Algerian track to get into Europe, considered less dangerous than the Libyan one.
In the end, Spain's decision seems a fateful one, offering short term migration relief but revealing an essential weakness that will be exploited by both Morocco and Algeria. The Algerians said that they will review or revise all agreements with Spain as a result of the policy change. And Morocco has learned in a very graphic way the power of the "migration bomb" which it can use in future crises with Spain or, like the Algerians, to address internal concerns and export restive populations north. In this the two North African states are not so much outliers as pioneers. In Tunisia and Libya, revolution and chaos led to migration north across the Mediterranean Sea. But neither Morocco nor Algeria is in chaos or in a war situation, both are functioning states. In this they join countries like Turkey and Cuba that have and will continue to use migration and refugee flows as one more part of a foreign policy toolkit against their adversaries.
*Alberto M. Fernandez is Vice President of MEMRI.
[1] MEMRI Daily Brief No. 280, Ceuta Countdown: Morocco's Hybrid Struggle With Spain, June 1, 2021.
[2] Elpais.com/espana/2022-03-27/la-carta-de-sanchez-a-mohamed-vi-escrita-en-frances-y-bajo-presion.html, March 26, 2022.
[3] Elperiodico.com/es/politica/20220319/sahara-marruecos-complica-podemos-gobierno-psoe-13397675, March 19, 2022.
[4] Efe.com/efe/espana/politica/podemos-protesta-en-el-pleno-del-congreso-con-banderas-saharauis/10002-4767221, accessed March 29, 2022.
[5] Blogs.elconfidencial.com/sociedad/espana-is-not-spain/2019-02-17/podemos-vox-izquierda-ultraderecha_1829922, February 17, 2019.
[6] Youtube.com/watch?v=kvYK01jt5mQ, March 23, 2022.
[7] Cincodias.elpais.com/cincodias/2022/03/25/companias/1648220770_971042.html, March 26, 2022.
[8] Elindependiente.com/espana/2022/03/27/argelia-considera-una-gran-traicion-el-giro-de-espana-en-el-sahara-italia-sera-su-nuevo-socio-energetico, March 27, 2022.
[9] Elconfidencial.com/mundo/europa/2021-07-13/inmigracion-mediterraneo-argelia-marruecos_3181112, July 13, 2021.

If World Happiness Reports Make You Miserable, Join the Club
Noah Feldman/Bloomberg/Asharq Al-Awsat/March, 30/2022
The annual World Happiness Report came out this month and, sure enough, the usual rich Nordic and northern European countries clustered at the top. Finland and Denmark ranked as the happiest and second-happiest corners of the planet, and the top eight were all in northern Europe. Afghanistan, Lebanon and Zimbabwe brought up the rear, as war-torn and impoverished countries always do. Data for the survey, issued by the Sustainable Development Solutions Network, a United Nations affiliate, was compiled before the Feb. 24 invasion of Ukraine (No. 98) by Russia (No. 60) presumably reduced human happiness pretty much everywhere. The US was No. 16, about where it usually shows up. For a country supposedly dedicated to “the pursuit of happiness” — not to mention self-boosterism — the result is always a bit disappointing. Americans wonder at it, shake their heads and ruminate in their political silos about the causes. There’s often a big difference between how people feel about their individual well-being and what they think about the state of the nation. And every year I gnash my teeth. Ranking happiness like a medal count at the Olympics makes little sense. To begin with, ranking comparative happiness is only logically coherent if we have an agreed-on conception of what it is. We don’t. It isn’t an abstractly measurable quantity. To talk about it, much less purport to measure it, is to express a belief about what it should mean. Self-reporting from different countries therefore doesn’t reflect standards that are common from place to place. It reflects the way people in those countries conceptualize happiness and the way they measure themselves against their own conceptions.
Today, in ordinary American English, “happiness” means something more like smiling joyfulness, whether deeply felt or merely passing. Americans are a smiley people, judged by the world’s cultural norms.
If we applied the American definition of happiness to a world index, the Scandinavians would not come out on top. Their version of happiness is different. The most important observation about true happiness is that it is very different from the simple feeling of pleasure or enjoyment. The word itself has a complex history in English. But when we speak of it as a human ideal, we are, or should be, referring to a specific meaning: happiness as well-being or human flourishing or thriving.
This is what Aristotle called “eudaimonia” and defined as living well and faring well. It is what Thomas Jefferson was referring to in the Declaration of Independence when he put the pursuit of happiness alongside life and liberty in his troika of inalienable rights. His 18th-century “happiness” was meant as a translation of Aristotle’s notion, via the Latin felicitas. Jefferson’s ideal happiness was something deeper than the smiliness of today.
To be sure, there are different ideas about what constitutes human flourishing or thriving. How important is it, for example, to be contented with your lot? Some people would say that it’s the secret to flourishing. Others would say that accepting the world around you makes you less likely to be motivated to improve it, or yourself, or your circumstances.
The second important aspect of the word happiness in English is its etymological association with luck or fortune. The word “hap” means luck, as in happenstance. To be happy once meant to be lucky or fortunate, at least to English speakers.
Luck obviously plays a big role in the various conceptions of happiness measured in the world report. No one chooses where they are born or whether they are enter the world rich or poor. The luck of being well fed and healthy undoubtedly explains some of why citizens of richer countries on average tend to say they are happier than those of poor ones.
Even the human connections that we forge over a lifetime have a big component of fortune to them. We may choose our non-familial relationships, but it takes luck to be in a position to cultivate them. In fact, it takes fortune to be born into a situation where you have the capacity to try to make yourself happy, whether by forging bonds to others or by other means. Acknowledging the good-fortune component of happiness — as Aristotle himself did — gives a reason to look askance at the typical interpretation of the global surveys. Ordinarily, the point of these indices, whether for freedom or gross domestic product or literacy, is to motivate policy makers to improve their ranking. The nominal idea is that no country wants to be lower in the rankings than it “should” be. This is the ideology of simpleminded meritocracy. We rank all the pupils from first to last on the dubious theory that the ranking will motivate everyone to work harder, especially those at the bottom.
But to the extent that luck contributes significantly to the happiness index, the ranking isn’t going to motivate anyone. People in Rwanda (No. 143 and a perpetual low finisher) know that they are struggling with violence and poverty. Presumably they want to improve their lot — but not because they want to rank higher on the happiness index. The Finns may enjoy being told they are the happiest people on earth. But they won’t set their social policy to win this race in particular.
Ranking happiness, or trying to, expresses a fantasy that it is some attainable quantity — and that someone else might have more than we do. Happiness as well-being is a wonderful goal to set for ourselves, individually and collectively. But ranking it, for a person or a country, misses the point of happiness itself.

The Intra-Yemeni Consultations: Yemen under the GCC Umbrella
Dr. Abdulaziz Hamad Al-Aweisheg/Asharq Al-Awsat/March, 30/2022
The Gulf Cooperation Council is hosting intra-Yemeni consultations over the next few days, which could be a critical turning point. These consultations could advance peace if the participants want it to and engage in honest and determined dialogue aimed at advancing Yemen’s interests rather than their personal, partisan, and tribal ones.
The GCC has invited to the consultations a few hundred officials, parliamentarians, and representatives of various political groups, including the Houthis and their supporters, economists, legal experts, journalists, and leading social and intellectual figures.
They are not official negotiations, which the United Nations is currently in charge of. Instead, the aim of these consultations is to create an atmosphere conducive to constructive intra-Yemeni dialogue, discuss the situation in Yemen, and develop roadmaps for ending this destructive war and reestablishing a state of peace. The primary goal is to help the participants develop a shared approach to understanding the situation in Yemen, politically, economically, humanitarian, socially, and with regard to security. That will be followed by grounded dialogue about the challenges facing Yemen on all of those fronts, which will render solutions tenable, allowing for the next step of establishing the framework for walking away from the abyss of war and destruction to pursue peace.
Once the Yemenis agree on the future of their country and allow it to reclaim its cultural and civilizational place in the world, they will have an opportunity to revitalize state institutions and allow them to provide basic services, as well as creating a climate suitable for reconstruction.
The role of the GCC is to facilitate these consultations and give advice when asked. To this end, several experts and specialists from universities and research centers in GCC countries were invited to take part and contribute to the effort to reconcile the divergent views of Yemenis across the political and social spectrum. Our Yemeni brothers and others have repeatedly called on the GCC to hold such consultations, given the close partnership between the two sides and the role that the Council had played in previous talks, including the 10-month National Dialogue Conference in Sanaa that began in March 2013. There are a few similarities between the current consultations in Riyadh and the National Dialogue Conference. In both, all the Yemeni communities took part, and both are primarily intra-Yemeni consultations. But the framework and objective are different.
The main difference between the Riyadh consultations and the National Dialogue Conference is that the latter comes after years of destructive war in Yemen. It created imbalances that hindered the implementation of the agreements of the National Dialogue Conference and the realization of the Yemeni people’s aspirations. Thus, the focus of the Riyadh consultations will be on how to stop the war and the death and communal hostility it’s breeding, as well as convincing all parties to prioritize the national interests.
Another difference is the horrific humanitarian situation, economic paralysis, and the collapse of the welfare programs, which, however limited, had made a difference in many Yemenis’ lives before the 2014 war began and, for a brief time, after the Sanaa National Dialogue Conference. Despite these differences, the consultations are likely to reach conclusions derived from and supportive of the National Dialogue Conference’s outcomes.
In fact, despite the plethora of talks held over the past five years, organized by various Yemeni institutions, the United Nations, Arab and Western countries, and the GCC, none were as broad in their scope or as comprehensive in terms of political and social representation. These consultations touch on all of all the Yemeni people’s concerns, and this fact alone renders the Riyadh consultations crucial. However, there is also a state of emergency that demands swift intervention, as the humanitarian situation and living standards in Yemen have severely exacerbated after nearly eight years of war.
Despite the escalation seen over the past weeks, during which the Houthis attacked civilian targets in Saudi Arabia and the United Arab Emirates, they have been invited to take part in the Riyadh consultations. The decision stems from the GCC countries’ determination to end the war and create an atmosphere conducive to the resumption of negotiations.
The facts of history, geography, lineage, and kinship obliged the people of the Arabian Peninsula to cooperate throughout history, as the Arabs originated from Yemen. Despite the divergences in some political proclivities that have arisen from time to time in the modern era, the cultural, commercial and social exchanges between the people of the peninsula, by both the states and populations, endured.
From a strategic point of view, Yemen and the GCC are facing similar political, developmental, and economic challenges. Their shared interests demand cooperation within a comprehensive strategy for overcoming those challenges.
Thus, it is natural for the Council to strive to cooperate with Yemen in the establishment of special strategic partnerships. This process began 20 years ago when the GCC approved, in December 2001, Yemen’s membership in several Gulf bodies. In 2002, the Sanaa Agreement was signed, which aimed to render Yemen’s economic laws more compatible with those of the GCC countries, and this process is ongoing.
In 2006, the Gulf Cooperation Council adopted a 20-year plan aimed at developing the Yemeni economy and facilitating its integration into the GCC that was to be implemented in two phases. Between November 2006 to September 2012, the Council, in cooperation with Yemen and international organizations, organized three international conferences that generated around $15 billion to support development programs in Yemen, 70 percent of which came from GCC states and regional funds.
With the 2011 Gulf Cooperation Council Initiative for Yemen, the GCC worked alongside Yemenis of all stripes to compel former President Ali Abdullah Saleh to resign in order to avoid further bloodshed and facilitate the formation of a transitional national unity government and the organization of presidential elections. Those steps were followed by the comprehensive National Dialogue Conference, which was also supported by the Gulf Cooperation Council. However, the September 2014 Houthi coup against the legitimate government in Yemen undermined the reconciliation process and plunged Yemen into a cycle of war and destruction which it has not yet escaped.
Over the past few decades, the Council has been Yemen’s primary economic partner and the source of about 80 percent of foreign direct investment. Yemeni-Gulf integration is absolutely inevitable, and the steps will be taken as soon as the Yemenis reach a political solution.
Thus, the consultations currently being hosted by the GCC are an attempt to use this partnership to facilitate the emergence of an agreement among our brothers that helps them end the war wreaking havoc in their country, firstly, by ensuring a suitable and safe venue where they can discuss matters freely and secondly, by supporting the agreement that will emerge from the consultations. Based on the outcomes, the GCC will be ready to facilitate future efforts to implement them and render them sustainable.

The Attacks on Jeddah and Erbil
Abdulrahman Al-Rashed/Asharq Al-Awsat/March, 30/2022
As the nuclear deal inches toward revival, the Houthi attacks on airports and oil depots in the Saudi cities of Jizan and Jeddah in the last few days are a call for consideration, not wonder. Aside from the question of Iran’s aggressive behavior in general, why does Tehran demand that Washington lift sanctions, yet simultaneously arrange, through its proxy in Yemen, attacks that threaten oil facilities and global oil prices and cause damage to states sitting across from it on the negotiating table?
Iran is redolent of a scorpion who asked a frog (the West, in this case) to carry it on its back so they can cross the river, vowing not to sting the frog as that would cause both of them to drown, yet still stinging it mid-way across the river. The reason? That’s just how Iran’s regime is. Whether or not Tehran signs the deal, attacking regional friends and allies of the United States is in the nature of Iran’s extremist religious system. Iran took over Lebanon and turned it into a center of operations in the north of the Arabian region. It took over Yemen and turned it into an Iranian base from which to target Saudi Arabia and the Gulf, threaten international maritime traffic in Bab al-Mandib on the Red Sea, transfer militants and weapons to troubled East African nations, and carry on with destroying the Iraqi government system put in place by the US and threatening Gulf states and Israel. This is the nature of the extremist regime that’s been ruling Iran with an iron fist since the early 1980’s, one that regards the Vienna deal as a triumph that will add to its offensive capabilities and appetite.
What happened in Yemen was not a case of Yemeni infighting, but rather a chapter of the regional power conflict. Yemen’s woes began in the summer of 2014, when the Houthi Ansarullah militia attacked and captured the capital. At the time, all but a few in the region truly comprehended the danger that the Houthis would pose to Yemen, Saudi Arabia, and the whole region. With the Houthis in power, Iran gained a foothold in Sanaa and indirectly took over, through its proxy, a country about three times the size of Syria and 50 times the size of Lebanon, both of which had already fallen prey to the grip of Iran’s regime.
Contrary to popular belief, the war was only waged by Saudi Arabia and the Coalition after it became clear that Yemen was not in the clutches of an internal conflict between local Yemeni forces during the so-called “Spring Revolution”, but rather in the hands of a proxy of Tehran’s regime, who stormed the Presidential Palace, held the interim President at gunpoint, then occupied one city after the other until it surrounded Aden, the last stronghold. As such, the war happened because the Houthis are merely an extension of Iran and not an independent Yemeni component.
Ever since, the Iranian regime has held the reins in Yemen, as it has in Lebanon, using the force of weapons, threatening local civilian leaders and their families until all but a few of them left for Riyadh, Cairo, or elsewhere. As it did in Lebanon in 2005, when it assassinated then-Prime Minister Rafik Hariri through its proxy, Hezbollah, Iran also decided to get rid of former Yemeni President Ali Abdullah Saleh, who, like Hariri in Lebanon, enjoyed wide political and tribal support on the ground. Saleh was killed in December 2017 at the hands of Iran’s proxy, Ansarullah.
The war in Yemen falls within the context of the regional conflict, and the targeting of Saudi cities is part of Iran’s plan against regional powers standing up to it. Today, Tehran’s regime is almost completely in control of Iraq, Syria, and Lebanon. Rarely does it find anyone to stand up to it, except for the Coalition and the Kingdom in Yemen. But standing up to Iran’s regime everywhere is a collective necessity, in order to ensure that Tehran pays dearly for its occupations and rein in its control over the region.
The attacks on oil storage facilities in Jeddah and the bombing of the Iraqi Kurdish city of Erbil within two weeks puts negotiators in Vienna before a practical test, away from theory. This is the regime they plan to remove from the sanction list. This is the regime they plan to re-allow as an ordinary state into the international community. It is not only Saudi Arabia that stands before real risks in the future, but all the states of the region. Iran’s intents know no boundaries or limits. Tehran is only moving forward with no intention to stop, contrary to the common belief that Iran only has its eyes set on Iraq, or that its boundaries end at the shores of Lebanon. The leniency it found in Syria and Lebanon has only paved the way for Tehran to march toward Iraq and Yemen.