Detailed LCCC English News Bulletin For 06 and 07/June/15

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LCCC ENGLISH DAILY NEWS BULLETIN
June 07/15

Bible Quotation For Today/those who love me will be loved by my Father, and I will love them and reveal myself to them
John 14/21-27: “They who have my commandments and keep them are those who love me; and those who love me will be loved by my Father, and I will love them and reveal myself to them.’Judas (not Iscariot) said to him, ‘Lord, how is it that you will reveal yourself to us, and not to the world?’Jesus answered him, ‘Those who love me will keep my word, and my Father will love them, and we will come to them and make our home with them.Whoever does not love me does not keep my words; and the word that you hear is not mine, but is from the Father who sent me.”

Bible Quotation For Today/What no eye has seen, nor ear heard, nor the human heart conceived, what God has prepared for those who love him’
First Letter to the Corinthians 02/01-10: “When I came to you, brothers and sisters, I did not come proclaiming the mystery of God to you in lofty words or wisdom. For I decided to know nothing among you except Jesus Christ, and him crucified. And I came to you in weakness and in fear and in much trembling. My speech and my proclamation were not with plausible words of wisdom, but with a demonstration of the Spirit and of power, so that your faith might rest not on human wisdom but on the power of God. Yet among the mature we do speak wisdom, though it is not a wisdom of this age or of the rulers of this age, who are doomed to perish. But we speak God’s wisdom, secret and hidden, which God decreed before the ages for our glory. None of the rulers of this age understood this; for if they had, they would not have crucified the Lord of glory. But, as it is written, ‘What no eye has seen, nor ear heard, nor the human heart conceived, what God has prepared for those who love him’ these things God has revealed to us through the Spirit; for the Spirit searches everything, even the depths of God.”

Latest analysis, editorials from miscellaneous sources published on June 06-07/15
Lebanese Shiites could save the day/Khalaf Ahmad Al Habtoor/Al Arabiya/June 06/15

Leaked information: Does Khamenei favor the final nuclear deal/Dr. Majid Rafizadeh/Al Arabiya/June 06-07/15
From defeat to disintegration: reflections on 1967 and afterwards/Hisham Melhem/Al Arabiya/June 06/15
Russia and the danger of conspiracy theories/
Amir Taheri/Asharq Al Awsat/June 06/15

The long-term fallout of religious warfare/Abdulrahman Al-Rashed/Asharq Al Awsat/June 06-07/15
Besieging the Houthis and the humanitarian aid conundrum/Abdulrahman al-Rashed/Al Rabiya/June 06/15

Lebanese Related News published on June 06-07/15
3 fighters killed as Hezbollah advances near Arsal’s outskirts 
Nasrallah vows to expel ISIS from Arsal outskirts 
Sayed Hassan Nasrallah: Hezbollah Will Displace Millions of Israelis in Next War on Lebanon
Lebanon FM: Arab states must not allow Iran’s regional expansion
Lebanese Army Intelligence Apprehends Militant Group Leader in Bekaa
Hizbullah Continues Offensive in Qalamoun, Seizes Hilltop
Dr. Geagea: State Must be Positive With Sunnis to Prevent ISIL from Infiltrating Lebanon
FPM, LF Entrust Al-Rahi with Declaration of Intent: Not Seeking New Political Affiliations
Minister of Social Affairs Rashid Derbas: Failure to Discuss Cabinet Agenda Could Delay Public Salaries
Report: Nusra Front Mulling Options as Hizbullah, ISIL Encircle Group Fighters
Girault to Return Anew to Beirut over Presidential Stalemate
Hariri Tackles Cabinet Crisis with Mustaqbal Senior Officials
Qahwaji Calls for Political Consensus to Ease Burden on Army
Fire reignites in southern suburb warehouses 
FPM co-founder calls Bassil “a kid” 

Miscellaneous Reports And News published on June 06-07/15
Pope Francis in Bosnia with peace message
No trust in Iran nuclear talks: top negotiator
UN council condemns attacks on Syria civilians, barrel bombs
U.S.-led coalition launch strikes on Iraq, Syria
Tariq Aziz’s son criticizes Baghdad’s handling of father’s death
Houthis make list of demands for Geneva talks: sources
Saudi interior ministry denies attack on patrol car in Riyadh
Iraqi troops, militias repel ISIS attacks in Anbar province
How to ‘waive’ goodbye to the Mideast’s tourism slump
Two Russians abducted in Sudan’s Darfur freed: embassy
EgyptAir flight from Riyadh to Cairo makes emergency landing
Turkish PM calls Kurdish rally blasts act of sabotage
Report: Clinton Foundation received money to ease Iran sanctions
Fresh fighting in Syria forces thousands more into Turkey
Heavy Police Presence for G7 as Protesters Stage Colorful Demos
Rebels, Qaida Advance on Regime in Northwest Syria
Egypt Quashes Hamas Terror Blacklisting
Jordan Accepts Family Request for Burial of Iraq’s Aziz
Australia: Islamic State Working to Develop Chemical Weapons
Rebels, Nursa advance on regime in northwest Syria
Recep Tayyip Erdogan, President or sultan

Jehad Watch Latest Reports And News
Islamic State video calls for jihad in Balkans on eve of pope’s visit
Denmark Muslim groups: Islam, democracy incompatible, Muslims shouldn’t vote
CAIR files lawsuit to prevent ICE from asking Muslims entering US about jihad-related activities, relatives
Muslim to plead guilty to plotting jihad suicide bombing at Kansas airport
Islamic State captures power station outside key northeastern Syrian city
Imam, aunt: would-be beheader of Pamela Geller not a terrorist, was ‘murdered’
Feds warn of Muslims using “simple and easily accessible weapons” to wage jihad
Daniel Greenfield: How Islam in America Became a Privileged Religion
No Happy Ending and No Happy Beginning
Texas Muslim gets 82 months for attempt to join the Islamic State

Aoun is an Evil Creature
Elias Bejjani/Any sane peson must not trust Aoun. In reality he is not a man of any ethical or values’ mentality. Simply he is an evil creature and a Maronite cancer. Sadly his cancer is infectious.
Roger Bejjani/A married man can still have a mistress!!! Aoun is married to Hezbollah and is flirting with Hakim. Aoun has no value for undertakings, agreements, shake hands, principles…… He can sign an infinite number of contradictory documents. He assured Hakim in 1988 that he will be dealing with the LF like if they were his children! We know the rest.

3 Hezbollah fighters killed as group advances near Arsal’s
The Daily Star/June 06, 2015 /BEIRUT: Hezbollah’s death toll in the battle against jihadis on Lebanon’s eastern borders has risen to at least 29, with three fighters dying Friday as the group advanced further into Arsal’s outskirts. Meanwhile, Hezbollah and the Syrian army made new advancements in Syrian territory east of the area, capturing a new hilltop. According to The Daily Star’s security sources, three Hezbollah fighters were killed during the battles Friday against Nusra Front militants in the southern part of Arsal’s outskirts. The group has lost at least 29 fighters since it launched a military offensive alongside the Syrian army against jihadis in the Qalamoun hills. The offensive has resulted in the seizure of hundreds of square kilometers of territory and pushed the militants closer to the outskirts of the northeastern Lebanese town of Arsal. On Saturday, Hezbollah’s Al-Manar TV announced that the group’s fighters and Syrian army soldiers captured the hill of Sadr al-Bustan, thus taking control of the outskirts of Flita, a Syrian village east of Arsal. The battles in the village had been going on for weeks between Hezbollah and its Syrian army allies and the Nusra Front. The report said dozens of jihadis were killed during the recent fighting. The Al-Qaeda affiliate has now been forced to retreat to an ISIS-controlled zone named Jarjeer on Arsal’s outskirts, Al-Manar said. ISIS controls most of the areas north of Arsal’s outskirts, as well as large parts of areas bordering the Lebanese towns of Al-Qaa and Ras Baalbek. In Flita’s outskirts, Hezbollah and the Syrian Army seized Al-Thallaja hill Friday, overcoming a key obstacle to controlling the entire area, according to the station.
A series of nearby hills called Shaabat al-Qalaa were also taken Friday. The captured hills, with peaks reaching an altitude of 2300 meters above sea level, allows Hezbollah and Syrian army forces to overlook the Zarmani Crossing, which is currently controlled by ISIS.Al-Akhbar newspaper quoted “field sources” Saturday saying that the Shaabat al-Qalaa hills were a stronghold of Nusra Front in the area, and most likely contained the residence of the group’s Qalamoun leader Abou Malek al-Talleh. In the southern part of Arsal’s outskirts, Al-Manar reported that Hezbollah took control Saturday of Hawd al-Tishrini, a strategic hill in the area. Taking the hilltop has given the group access to the valleys of Al-Haqban, Daleel al-Rahwe and Al-Dabboul in Arsal’s southeastern outskirts, all areas currently controlled by jihadis. The group had also achieved a considerable advance in the area Friday, according to Al-Manar. The channel said the fighters took over the entire area known as Al-Rahwe Valley, and pushed the Nusra Front to retreat into Wadi al-Khayl in Arsal’s outskirts. With the new seizure, the group has taken 100 square kilometers of territory in the past three days from the Nusra Front, according to the station’s field correspondent. In a report made from Arsal’s outskirts on the progress of the battles Saturday, the correspondent said Nusra Front militants were now surrounded in “a very limited geographical area.” As Hezbollah and the Syrian army close in on the Nusra Front’s forces on Arsal’s outskirts from the east and south, the f ate of the militants is highly dependent on the group’s relations with ISIS, which have been tense of late. After a series of provocations by the notorious fundamentalist group, the Nusra Front vowed to “eradicate” ISIS from Qalamoun.Al-Akhbar’s report concluded that Nusra Front militants had three choices in terms of military action in the area: Either to surrender to Hezbollah and the Syrian army, to surrender to ISIS or to attack the town of Arsal guarded by the Lebanese Army. The Nusra Front and ISIS entered Arsal last August and engaged in deadly clashes with the Army, resulting in dozens of deaths and abductions. The two groups now keep 25 Lebanese policemen and Army soldiers hostage in hideouts in Arsal’s outskirts, after eight were freed and four executed.

Hizbullah Continues Offensive in Qalamoun, Seizes Hilltop
Naharnet07/-6/15/Hizbullah seized control Saturday of a hilltop on the outskirts of the town of Fleita in the Syrian al-Qalamoun region. The party’s mouthpiece al-Manar TV station reported that Hizbullah fighters, backed by Syrian regime troops, captured Sadr al-Bustan hilltop. The party also took control of Hawd al-Teshreeni peak, which oversees al-Hoqban valley, al-Rahwa and al-Dboul valley in east Arsal. Tens of al-Qaida-affiliate al-Nusra Front’s militants were allegedly killed in the fierce battles. Al-Manar showed footage of Hizbullah and the Syrian army’s operation in al-Thallaja mountain in Fleita, where fighters were able to unfurl their flags on the mountain top. On Friday, Hizbullah chief Sayyed Hassan Nasrallah claimed that the party managed to “liberate dozens of square kilometers” of land in al-Qalamoun, pushing back al-Nusra Front and its allies. He vowed that Hizbullah will next turn its sights on the Islamic State group which has seized chunks of Syria and Iraq. Hizbullah insists it is fighting in Syria to prevent extremist groups from entering Lebanon. The Syrian army said Friday it had seized numerous villages and strategic hilltops in Qalamoun with Hizbullah’s help, Syria’s state television reported.

Lebanese Army Intelligence Apprehends Militant Group Leader in Bekaa

Naharnet/07/06/15/The army intelligence detained the leader of a terrorist group in the Bekaa as he was heading to the outskirts of Arsal to join armed men, the state-run National News Agency reported Saturday.NNA said that Syrian national Hazem B. was arrested on Friday in the town of al-Labweh. He is allegedly the leader of a terror group. Hazem was heading to the outskirts of the northeastern border town of Arsal to join armed groups.There are fears that jihadists from the Islamic State, which has captured a swathe of Iraq and Syria, would threaten to destabilize the security situation in Lebanon.
The army had bolstered its patrols in Arsal and other border towns “to prevent any attack on the area,” in light of the intensified battles between Hizbullah and al-Qaida-affiliate al-Nusra Front in Syria’s al-Qalmoun area.

Dr. Geagea: State Must be Positive With Sunnis to Prevent ISIL from Infiltrating Lebanon
Naharnet 07.06.15/Lebanese Forces chief Samir Geagea stated on Saturday that the state must behave well with the Sunni community in order to prevent any attempts on their part to engage in the ranks of the Islamic State of Iraq and the Levant.“In order for the state to prevent Daesh from entering Lebanon, it must behave well with the Sunni community to prevent them from joining the ranks of Daesh,” said Geagea after meeting a public delegation from the region of Batroun. “The Assad-Mamluk-Samaha conspiracy was uncovered lately and it aimed to bomb Sunni neighborhoods in Tripoli and Akkar,” he said, adding that “ the soft verdict of four-and-a-half years’ jail term against Samaha could push some Sunnis to extremist organizations and join the ranks of Daesh.”Geagea stressed the necessity to prevent any attempts to infiltrate Lebanon’s border, in reference to the clashes taking place in Syria’s al-Qalamoun which runs close to Lebanon’s northeastern border town of Arsal. The military court set a July 16 date for ex-minister Michel Samaha’s retrial after it accepted an appeal filed by State Commissioner to the Military Court Judge Saqr Saqr, who argued that the four-and-a-half years’ jail term was too lenient in light of the offenses that Samaha was convicted of. The verdict had sparked a storm of criticism from al-Mustaqbal movement, the March 14 forces and civil society activists, who slammed the ruling as too light. The trial had been postponed multiple times because of the absence of Mamluk, who remains in Syria, but after a judge separated the cases against the two men, a first trial session began on April 20. The Lebanese judiciary has issued an arrest warrant for Mamluk and sent Syria a formal notification of the warrant and charges, but received no response.

FPM, LF Entrust Al-Rahi with Declaration of Intent: Not Seeking New Political Affiliations
Naharnet 07/06/15/The Free Patriotic Movement and Lebanese Forces handed over to Maronite Patriarch Beshara al-Rahi a copy of the so-called declaration of intent between the two parties for his review. FPM lawmaker Ibrahim Kanaan and LF official Melhem Riachi stressed after talks with al-Rahi in Bkirki that the declaration isn’t targeting any side but merely to bridge the gap between Christians.
Change and Reform bloc MP Kanaan clarified that the agreement represents a “new page and hope for Christians.”“We are not creating new affiliations,” Kanaan told reporters, pointing out that the FPM and the LF are seeking to generalize the declaration and implement it. He noted that “al-Rahi is the sole guarantee and sponsor for to the declaration.”For his part, Riachi remarked that the social fabric is united again and the “virtual wall that separates the two parties collapsed.”He considered that “positive and fruitful dialogue will take place from now on.”On Tuesday, LF leader Samir Geagea held a landmark meeting with FPM chief MP Michel Aoun after which a joint document was announced.In the so-called declaration of intent, the two parties called for the election of “a strong president who is embraced by his (Christian) community and capable of reassuring the other components of the country.”Since independence, Lebanon’s leadership posts have been distributed among its largest religious sects: Sunni Muslims, Shiite Muslims and Christians, for whom the presidency is reserved. Kanaan and Riachi had held a series of meetings in recent months to prepare for the joint declaration. The rival camps have failed to elect a successor to president Michel Suleiman although around 24 parliamentary sessions have been held for this purpose. A boycott by the MPs of Hizbullah and Aoun’s Change and Reform bloc have stripped the sessions of the two-thirds quorum required to hold a presidential vote.

Minister of Social Affairs Rashid Derbas: Failure to Discuss Cabinet Agenda Could Delay Public Salaries

Naharnet 07.06.15/Minister of Social Affairs Rashid Derbas voiced fears on Saturday that the salaries of the public sector could be delayed if the Free Patriotic Movement continues to reject cabinet discussions and set preconditions that the thorny file of security and military appointments is solved first. “I might not be able to pay the salaries for the employees at my ministry if the cabinet did not discuss the items on its agenda and approve the treasury loans, which could also drag on other ministries,” Derbas told al-Liwaa newspaper on Saturday. “PM Tammam Salam is overturning positions. I believe things must be taken easier for now at least until next week,” the minister said, adding that he cannot predict what will Salam’s stance be. Salam scheduled a cabinet session on Thursday to discuss the items on the agenda, although the ministers of FPM chief Michel Aoun refuse discussions until the government agrees to appoint new security civil servants. Meanwhile, ministerial sources questioned the feasibility of holding a cabinet session next week in light of the FPM and Hizbullah stances not to discuss any item unless the appointments are finalized. Derbas added that Lebanon could lose billions of dollars in investments if Aoun’s ministers remain committed to their stance, saying: “We cannot afford the disruption of the government and the country for more than two weeks.” “On Thursday, we are going to a cabinet session and we will reject Aoun’s formula and his threats to either appoint Roukoz or resort to the streets, and that is when the problem will emerge. It will be up to Salam.”Aoun has been lobbying for political consensus on the appointment of Commando Regiment chief Brig. Gen. Chamel Roukoz, his son-in-law, as army chief as part of a package for the appointment of other top security officers. For his part, Justice Minister Ashraf Rifi eased off the fears on that matter saying: “I have no concern of the obstruction, because despite all the difficulties we face, there are wise men who can maintain the minimum work of the executive institutions.” he told An Nahar daily. The government failed last Thursday to agree on the appointments of high-ranking security and military figures. Following the session, Interior Minister Nouhad al-Mashnouq issued a decree effectively extending the term of Internal Security Forces chief Maj. Gen. Ibrahim Basbous for two more years. His move prompted Foreign Minister Jebran Bassil, who is a member of the FPM, to warn that Change and Reform bloc ministers would block any cabinet decision before security appointments are made.

Report: Nusra Front Mulling Options as Hizbullah, ISIL Encircle Group Fighters
Naharnet07.06.15/Al-Qaida-affiliate al-Nusra Front is reportedly seeking a settlement with the Islamic State of Iraq and the Levant (ISIL) to flee the battles on the outskirts of the northeastern border town of Arsal. According to al-Akhbar newspaper published on Saturday, al-Nusra Front is divided between surrendering to ISIL, which is controlling the outskirts of Ras Baalbek and al-Qaa or entering Arsal and engaging in battles with the Lebanese Army. However, the daily reported that the group is seeking a settlement with Hizbullah through clergymen in the Bekaa. The report continues that Nusra Front fighters on outskirts of Arsal could pledge allegiance to ISIL due to the sharp division among its ranks. Sources close to the group had stressed in comments to al-Akhbar that surrendering to Hizbullah remains a better option than giving up to ISIL. Security sources told the newspaper that the number of male refugees at four Syrian encampments in areas between Wadi al-Hosn and Wadi Hmeid, which are not under the Lebanese army control, soared. The sources estimated that gunmen are hiding among refugees. Despite ideological similarities, the Nusra Front and ISIL are opposed and in conflict with each other, the two groups briefly overran Arsal in August after running gun battles with the army. They withdrew after a ceasefire, but took with them several dozen hostages from the Lebanese army and police, four of whom have since been executed. The Lebanese army had bolstered its patrols in Arsal and other border towns “to prevent any attack on the area,” in light of the intensified battles between Hizbullah and al-Qaida-affiliate al-Nusra Front in Syria’s al-Qalmoun area. The party’s fighters had tightened the noose around the last remaining jihadist pockets along the Lebanese-Syrian border. Hizbullah, which has said it wants to protect Lebanon “from the jihadist menace”, has been fighting in Syria on behalf of President Bashar Assad’s regime for more than two years. The total area of the Qalamoun being contested is about 1,000 square kilometers — of which 340 square kilometers (131 square miles) lie in Lebanon and are under militants’ control. Some observers however fear the Qalamoun offensive could prompt Islamist militants to launch attacks in Shiite areas of Lebanon itself, including Beirut’s southern suburbs.

Qahwaji Calls for Political Consensus to Ease Burden on Army
Naharnet 06.06.15/Army Commander General Jean Qahwaji stressed Saturday that political consensus eases pressure on the military institution and facilitates its battle against terrorism. Qahwaji expressed hope that “politics wouldn’t involve the military institution,” his visitors quoted him as saying in comments published in As Safir newspaper. He pointed out that the army is fully equipped and on high alert to safeguard the country’s borders from the southern occupied Shebaa Farms to the outskirts of the northeastern border town of Arsal. “We are planning defense strategies to avert all options… in particular if the situation along the country’s northern border was stirred.”Qahwaji’s comments come two days after the cabinet tasked the military “with taking all necessary measures to deploy inside Arsal and protect it from attacks and the dangers of armed men.”Hizbullah chief Sayyed Hassan Nasrallah had recently warned that the party’s fighters would intervene against the militants of al-Qaida-affiliate al-Nusra Front and the Islamic State in Arsal’s outskirts if the state failed to do so. Hizbullah, fighting in Syria to support the ruling regime, tightened the noose around the last remaining jihadist pockets along the Lebanese-Syrian border. Al-Nusra Front and IS group briefly overran Arsal last August, and are still holding 25 soldiers and policemen hostage. However, the army declined to comment on Hizbullah’s operations. Last week, the army intensified its patrols in Arsal “to prevent any attack on the area.” Hizbullah, which has said it wants to protect Lebanon “from the jihadist menace”, has been fighting in Syria on behalf of President Bashar Assad’s regime for more than two years.

Hariri Tackles Cabinet Crisis with Mustaqbal Senior Officials
Naharnet 06.06.15/Mustaqbal leader and former Prime Minister Saad Hariri discussed with the movement’s senior officials in Jeddah the latest developments. According to al-Liwaa newspaper published Saturday, Hariri met with head of al-Mustaqbal parliamentary bloc Fouad Saniora and Interior Minister Nouhad al-Mashnouq in presence of his adviser Nader Hariri. The meeting tackled Free Patriotic Movement leader MP Michel Aoun’s threats to paralyze the cabinet, the daily reported. The government plunged in a further crisis on Thursday when it failed to agree on the appointments of high-ranking security and military figures. Following the cabinet session, Mashnouq issued a decree effectively extending the term of Internal Security Forces chief Maj. Gen. Ibrahim Basbous for two more years.
His move prompted Foreign Minister Jebran Bassil, who is a member of the FPM, to warn that Change and Reform bloc ministers would block any cabinet decision before security appointments are made. Aoun has bluntly rejected any attempt to extend the terms of the officials. He has been lobbying for political consensus on the appointment of Commando Regiment chief Brig. Gen. Chamel Roukoz as army chief as part of a package for the appointment of other top security officers. Roukoz is his son-in-law.

FPM co-founder calls Bassil “a kid”
The Daily Star/ Jun. 06, 2015/BEIRUT: An ex-Free Patriotic Movement official who co-founded the group described Foreign Minister Gebran Bassil Saturday as “a kid,” in response to the latter’s comments on the Cabinet crisis two days earlier.“A kid is a kid, even if he ruled a country,” said Maj. Gen. Issam Abu Jamra, using a popular Lebanese proverb. Abu Jamra’s statement came in response to Bassil’s news conference Thursday when he announced that FPM ministers would not allow the Cabinet to make any decisions before it agrees on the appointment of security officers. “We will not allow the endorsement or even the discussion of any Cabinet decision before the issue of security appointments is resolved,” Bassil said at a news conference at FPM leader Michel Aoun’s residence in Rabieh. Bassil said that Interior Minister Nouhad Machnouk had undermined the law by extending Internal Security Forces chief Ibrahim Basbous’ term for two years earlier this week, and that there has been “systematic targeting” of Christian posts in the country. Abu Jamra said Bassil’s principles should have prompted him to push his party into attending presidential election sessions at the Parliament and ending the presidential vacuum in the country. He accused Aoun of wanting both the presidency for himself and the Army Commander position for his son in law Brig. Gen. Shamel Roukoz. The term of Army Commander Gen. Jean Kahwagi, which was renewed in 2013, is set to end on September 23. Abu Jamra left the FPM in 2010 after his calls for drastic reforms within the party clashed with some its leadership. The retired general in March founded a new political party called “The Independent Movement” after accusing mainstream Lebanese political parties of affiliating themselves too deeply with foreign powers. Abu Jamra is a fierce critic of Bassil, who is the son-in-law of Aoun. Abu Jamra accused Bassil of corruption in 2010 and said a “coup” against him should take place inside FPM.

Girault to Return Anew to Beirut over Presidential Stalemate
Naharnet 07.06.15/The Director of the Department of the Middle East and North Africa at the French Foreign Ministry Jean-François Girault will return to Lebanon after he discusses the developments regarding the presidential crisis with major powers. An Nahar newspaper reported that Girault, who left Beirut on Friday afternoon, will return by the end of the month after conducting the necessary contacts with the Islamic Republic of Iran, Saudi Arabia and the Vatican. The French diplomat met during his three-day official visit to Beirut with Speaker Nabih Berri, Prime Minister Tammam Salam, Foreign Minister Jebran Bassil and prominent party leaders. Sources told al-Joumhouria newspaper that Girault also held a meeting with a prominent Hizbullah official on the sidelines of a dinner banquet hosted by the French Ambassador Patrice Paoli in his honor. According to al-Joumhouria newspaper, Girault wasn’t linked to the presidential deadlock but to chair a meeting for French ambassadors in the region, in particular the battle against the Islamic State of Iraq and the Levant (ISIS). Girault is reportedly seeking to bridge the gap between the political arch-foes over the lingering presidential crisis. His latest visit coincided with that of Papal envoy to Lebanon former Foreign Minister Monsignor Dominique Mamberti, who left Lebanon on Thursday morning. Mamberti pressed the importance of ending the presidential vacuum during his meeting with Lebanese officials. Media reports had said that France, the Vatican and Maronite Patriarch Beshara al-Rahi are synchronizing their efforts to end the presidential vacuum. Lebanon has been without a president since May last year when the term of Michel Suleiman ended without the election of his successor. Ongoing disputes between the rival March 8 and 14 camps have thwarted the elections. The French diplomat had been in shuttle diplomacy where he held talks in Riyadh, Tehran, Washington and the Vatican over the presidential crisis.

Nasrallah vows to expel ISIS from Arsal’s outskirts
Hussein DakroubNizar Hassan| The Daily Star/Jun. 06, 2015 /BEIRUT: Hezbollah leader Sayyed Hasan Nasrallah vowed Friday to press on with the offensive to evict Islamist militants from the outskirts of the northeastern town of Arsal, saying the battle at a later stage would also target ISIS fighters based in the volatile area.He staunchly rejected charges that Hezbollah was planning to enter Arsal, accusing his rivals in the Future Movement of spreading such rumors as a scare tactic. “The battle for Arsal’s outskirts has kicked off and will go on until its goals have been achieved. We are not committed to a time limit,” Nasrallah said in a televised speech marking the 30th anniversary of Hezbollah’s youth scouts group, the Mahdi Scouts Association. “We will take our time. This matter will be decided by military commanders on the field because we are concerned with achieving the goal with the least possible sacrifices. We are not in a hurry,” he added, addressing supporters via video link. Hezbollah has been fighting jihadi militants on Arsal’s outskirts in recent days, capturing more than a dozen positions and hilltops from the Nusra Front-led fighters from the north, east and south. The offensive began one month ago on the southern end of the Qalamoun mountain range on Syria’s western border with Lebanon. Fighters from Hezbollah, the Syrian army and their allies slowly moved north toward Arsal’s outskirts, killing hundreds of jihadis and capturing large swaths of territory. Nasrallah said party fighters took over dozens of square kilometers of territory on Arsal’s outskirts over the past few days. He revealed that the battle in Qalamoun, including Arsal’s outskirts, was never planned to be launched this early, but it was prompted by jihadi attacks on Hezbollah and Syrian army positions.
Nasrallah said the next battle will be with ISIS after expelling Nusra Front militants from the area. “The next battle will be with the western part of [Arsal’s outskirts], which is controlled by Daesh,” he said, using the Arabic acronym for ISIS. “Daesh exists on Arsal’s outskirts, above Ras Baalbek and Mashareh al-Qaa and close to an area inside Lebanese territories.”
He stressed that Hezbollah has never threatened to attack Arsal. “Not a single Hezbollah official ever said that Hezbollah had a plan to enter Arsal,” Nasrallah said. “We do not want to enter the town and we do not want to get near it. This is the responsibility of the Army and security forces.”“We are not invaders. We are resistors and liberators,” he added.He said the Cabinet decision Thursday to task the Army with making the right decision on how to protect Arsal was enough of a national decision to leave the town’s security to the official security and military forces.
Nasrallah implicitly lashed out at Future Movement officials who have warned Hezbollah against entering Arsal, saying the town was a red line and attacking it would spark a sectarian war.
“In your satanic mind, you are assuming that there are some people called Hezbollah … who are willing to enter and fight [Arsal’s] people,” he said, reminding viewers of a speech last month in which he described the people of Arsal as brotherly. “[They are] creating lies and illusions to re-establish itself in a certain area and call itself a protector and leader, even at the expense of religious and sectarian incitement,” Nasrallah said. A security source told The Daily Star Friday that Hezbollah had lost 26 fighters since the Qalamoun battle began.
Nasrallah said he salutes the communities from Lebanon’s northern Bekaa Valley for their “awareness and correct understanding of the threats” posed by jihadis, as well as “their willingness to make sacrifices.”However, he ridiculed rumors saying that Shiite militias were being formed in the area following the example of the Popular Mobilization Committees in Iran. “So far we do not need any popular mobilization committees or even any general mobilization,” Nasrallah said. He also responded to a Jerusalem Post report published Thursday that quoted an Israeli military official as saying Israel would “evacuate” south Lebanon of its population in a future war with Hezbollah. Nasrallah warned Israel that if it launched a new war on Lebanon, Hezbollah would displace millions of Israelis.
“What’s new? Ever since [Israel] was founded, this entity has been kept standing through murder, destruction, displacement and massacres. So [the military official] is just stating the obvious,” Nasrallah said. “The times when Israel destroyed our homes while its settlements remained intact, destroyed our infrastructure while theirs remained safe, and displaced our people while their settlers stay in the settlements, was over in 2006,” he said. “Since you are threatening to displace 1.5 million Lebanese, the resistance threatens to displace millions of Israelis in the next war if it is imposed on us,” he said.Meanwhile, Al-Manar TV station said Hezbollah and the Syrian army Friday captured more territory on Arsal’s southern and eastern outskirts, tightening their grip on jihadis struggling to maintain key hilltops in the area. The report said Hezbollah fighters took control of the areas of Sarj al-Mamlaha, Al-Aamana, Al-Minyara and the peak of Tallet Wadi al-Fekhteh to the east and south of Al-Rahwe, an area south of Arsal’s outskirts. The TV said the fighters advanced toward Jabal Shaabat al-Qalaa, which it described as a strategic point on the edge of Wadi al-Debb, on the east of the southern Arsal outskirts of Wadi al-Khayl.

Recep Tayyip Erdogan, President or sultan
Jun. 06, 2015/The Daily Star
Turkey is headed for an especially significant election Sunday, both for itself and its neighbors. Technically speaking, President Recep Tayyip Erdogan’s AK party is in contention – but the head of state has stolen the limelight in his determined bid to win a super-majority and enact sweeping changes in a country divided between ardent secularists and pious Muslims. The term divisive is what crops up next to Erdogan’s name regularly, whether he is at odds with Turkey’s media, other politicians, women, ethnic minorities or his judiciary and intelligence services. With the rise in fortunes of the AK over the years, thanks to a string of election wins, Erdogan seems dead-set on becoming a sultan in the Ottoman mold, and not the president of a constitutional republic. The contradictions are beginning to show in Turkey, where Erdogan’s drive for power and quest to crush all opposition is only producing tension in a system – democracy – that is supposed to let people have their say without fear of retribution.
In recent years, Erdogan and his AK have confronted several key hurdles as they seek to expand their influence, both in Turkey and abroad. Opposition groups haven’t disappeared, despite the best efforts of the ruling party. Kurdish voters have moved away from the AK, and Turkey’s economy is not as dynamic as it was during Erdogan’s rise to prominence. There are wars raging next door, and shaky relations with a number of Arab countries. Turkey’s neighbors should prepare for the various scenarios that unfold after Sunday, because like it or not, Turkey has imposed itself as a state to be reckoned with in a turbulent region. The only certainty about the poll is that whatever the outcome, the consequences won’t be confined to Turkey.

Pope Francis in Bosnia with peace message
By AFP | Sarajevo/Saturday, 6 June 2015
Pope Francis has landed at Sarajevo’s airport at 0700 GMT to start his one-day visit to Bosnia on Saturday aimed at bolstering reconciliation between Serb, Croat and Muslim communities. The trip to Sarajevo comes 20 years after the end of a 1992-95 war that ripped the Balkan state apart and left it permanently divided along ethnic lines. Adding to security jitters, Islamists claiming to be members of the Islamic State (IS) group called for jihad in the Balkans in a video widely reported Friday by local media, although there appeared to be no explicit link to the visit. More than a third of Bosnia’s mostly Catholic Croats have left Bosnia since the war and the country of 3.8 million people is divided in two between a Bosnian Serb republic and a Croat-Muslim federation. Sarajevo, once a beacon of multiculturalism, is also now largely split along ethnic lines. Against that backdrop, Vatican officials believe Francis can have a positive impact by promoting the kind of inter-faith dialogue he holds dear. In a message to the residents of Sarajevo earlier this week, he wrote: “I come amongst you… to express my support for ecumenical and interfaith dialogue, and above all to encourage peaceful cohabitation in your country.” Pietro Parolin, the Vatican Secretary of State who heads up the Holy See’s diplomacy, said Francis would visit in the spirit of a pilgrim, promoting dialogue and peace and hoping to raise spirits among Catholics. “The consequences of war have been felt particularly by the Catholic community. In some parishes there are very few families left, many of them elderly,” he said. “In December the 20th anniversary of the war will be remembered but the traces and the wounds of war are still there.” The highlights of Francis’s 10 hours in Sarajevo will be an open air mass for 65,000 people in the Olympic stadium and a meeting between the pontiff and representatives of the Catholic, Orthodox and Muslim communities, as well as the small Jewish community. Around 40 percent of the population of Bosnia is of Islamic heritage, just over 30 percent are from the Serbian Orthodox tradition and around one in ten, almost uniquely Croats, describe themselves as Catholics. The pope will also hear personal testimony from some of those who suffered during the war, including two priests and a nun. Security will be high in a country that has become fertile ground for homegrown jihadists and the video will heighten concerns, although the Vatican has been insisting they do not see the trip as high-risk. At least 5,000 police will be on duty and a total of 100,000 people are expected to turn out to get a glimpse of the Argentinian pontiff. The visit comes a month after a Bosnian Islamist shot one policeman dead and injured two others in an attack in the northeast. The incident led Security Minister Dragan Mektic to describe the terror threat in Bosnia as serious and growing, partly as a legacy of jihadists having come to the country to help Bosnian Muslim forces during the war.
Francis is the second pope to visit Sarajevo. Jean-Paul II famously visited during a severe snowstorm in 1997 and six years later the Polish pope returned to Bosnia for a visit to the Bosnian Serb capital Banja Luka.

Lebanese Shiites could save the day
Saturday, 6 June 2015
Khalaf Ahmad Al Habtoor/Al Arabiya
Sectarian divisions are the prime cause of Lebanon’s instability and political deadlock. And, tragically, those splits have been cynically used by different groups and parties, under the sway of foreign powers, for their own ends. As long as Lebanese loyalties aren’t directed towards the motherland, the country’s very survival as a unified state is at risk.
It’s beyond time that the Lebanese people understood that they’re being played. Power hungry elements are using religion to manipulate them in a certain direction mirroring the scenario in Iraq where Sunnis, Shiites, Christians and other minorities that once lived in harmony are at each other’s throats. Those who manufacture hatreds are the enemies of peace and tolerance that are the cornerstones of Islam and Christianity.
One could fill a book with Lebanon’s structural problems. But they would not be insurmountable provided the country could count on a united population, one that wasn’t being pulled this way and that by unscrupulous clerics and politicians, whose allegiances are not to the state, but go to their own power bases – or even worse, to foreign capitals.
An armed mini state
Let’s say it like it is. Any country that puts up with the existence of an armed mini state within its borders is destined for ruin. Hezbollah runs the country and takes the decisions that matter. Government officials are little more than administrators. The President (when there is one) has no power and the Prime Minister answers to a parliament dominated by Hezbollah partnered with Amal Movement and their Christian allies.
Hezbollah’s obligation to disarm under the Taif Accord has been trumped by Lebanese Sunni, Shiite and Christian leaders, who, whether by choice or under coercion, back Hezbollah as a Lebanese resistance organisation, independent of the army, with the right to bear arms to defend Lebanese territory.
Those blessings are bordering on traitorous because as Michael Young the veteran Daily Star’s columnist correctly wrote: Hezbollah’s militia “has been shown to be no better than an auxiliary force regionally for both the Iranian and Syrian regimes.”
When Hezbollah and Amal militants have turned their guns on the Sunni population, and when Hezbollah has dragged the country into ruinous wars and is now defending both the Iraqi and Syrian regimes, it can hardly be characterized as patriotic. No responsible leader anywhere on the planet would sign up to such an agreement unless he had a gun to his head, and if he succumbed, in many parts of the world he’d be prosecuted or lynched.
Allegiance
Shiites should put aside the notion that their allegiance should automatically go to a pro-Iranian Shiite paramilitary. During World War II, British Catholics didn’t rush over to Italy to fight alongside Mussolini’s battalions merely because the shared the same faith. British Protestants weren’t given to join-up with their co-religionists, the Nazis. People put the country that bore them first which is how it should be.
Any country that puts up with the existence of an armed mini state within its borders is destined for ruin
Moreover, Iran is not the spiritual home of Shiism, although the less informed might be forgiving for thinking so. Apart from Makkah and Madinah, the most holy Shiite sites are to be found in the Iraqi towns of Najaf and Karbala where Shiite pilgrims flock to worship at the Imam Ali Mosque and at the Imam Hussein Shrine, respectively.
Until comparatively recently, the people of the Arab world made little distinction between Sunnis and Shiites; people’s beliefs simply weren’t an issue. I’ve had Lebanese Shiite friends since the late 1960s. The majority of my closest friends are the sons of the Wazni, Abbas, Khalifa, Murad, Aashi, Moussawi, Dalloul, Baydoun, Fayad, Hoteit, Fawaz and Koteich Shiite families, who were – and still are – some of the most patriotic Lebanese I’ve ever encountered.
I am proud to have known those fine people who’ve enriched my life with good conversation and warm hospitality. But, quite honestly, I’m forced to wonder why they and others have permitted an Iranian armed gang to create a schism between them and their fellow Lebanese? Why are they allowing a militia to brand them with the same brush and to lead them by the nose into a dark future? Hezbollah isn’t ‘the Party of God’ but rather ‘the Party of the Iranian Ayatollahs’.
Standing tall. I would strongly urge Lebanese Shiites to come together to reclaim their Lebanese identity. They should stand courageous and tall as proud Lebanese and persuade their friends, families and colleagues to reject destructive Iranian influence.
Were Shiites to rise up en masse against the pro-Iranian policies of Hezbollah – thus proving to the nation that those who heed the call of Iran’s mullahs are not representative of their sect – that would be an important first step towards bringing the nation together under the cedar flag. A wave of anti-Hezbollah public opinion would likely persuade the Free Patriotic Movement leader, Michel Aoun, to shred his incomprehensible pact with Hezbollah and quit defending its legitimacy.
If Christians, Sunnis and Shiites were committed to joining hands in common cause, a bright new dawn awaits. Hezbollah would be sidelined; its authority diminished. The international community, including GCC states, would be encouraged to help the country get on its feet with financial aid, investments as well as further assistance in strengthening the Lebanese army.
Politicians, currently burying their heads in the sand out of sheer impotence, would be empowered to claw back Lebanon from de facto Iranian control by enforcing a clause within the Taif Accord that demands the disarming of militias. No more would a Maronite presidential candidate have to seek Hezbollah’s approval based on his commitment to Iranian interests. And, hopefully, good people with strong hearts and true Lebanese blood flowing through their veins would be free to restore this tarnished jewel to the glittering gem it once was.

Sayed Hassan Nasrallah: Hezbollah Will Displace Millions of Israelis in Next War on Lebanon
Local Editor /Al-Manar Website
Hezbollah Secretary General Sayyed Hasan Nasrallah Hezbollah Secretary General Sayyed Hasan Nasrallah warned the Israeli enemy on Friday of displacing millions of the Zionist settlers in
any possible war that may be imposed on Lebanon, stressing that the Zionist home front is not immune to wars anymore, and that all the threats waged by a number of Zionist officials lately are part of the psychological war that “we have become accustomed to since the establishment of this entity.”Speaking at the celebration marking the thirty-year anniversary of founding the Imam Mahdi (as) Scouts in the southern suburbs of the Lebanese capital, Sayyed Nasrallah addressed the Israelis, urging them to realize that they have a defeated army that cannot deter the Resistance capabilities. “You are admitting in this drill that you have a defeated army by saying that the resistance is able to reach all the areas where the exercises are taking place,” his eminence said, noting that the enemy leadership and people know this fact very well, stressing that the recent Zionist threats will have no effect on Hezbollah.
“Hezbollah is not preoccupied by the Qalamoun battles. Qalamoun has nothing to do with this matter,” he said, urging the Lebanese not to become afraid of these threats.
Hezbollah fighters have been engaged in fierce battles in the Qalamoun area on border with Lebanon, liberating the Syrian region from the operating terrorist groups by clearing the highest mountain, Moses Hill, from all takfiri operatives.
Sayyed Nasrallah made it clear that “the time in which Israel destroyed our homes and our infrastructure and keep its homes and infrastructure has ended, and that what is coming is greater than the 2006.”
“If you are threatening to deport a million and a half Lebanese, the Resistance will displace millions of Zionists. We are not afraid of your war nor your threats,” he told the Israeli authorities.
“I clearly say to Israel: the Resistance threatens to displace millions of Israelis in the next war if imposed on Lebanon,” his eminence warned, reassuring that such threats are just the loud voice that reflects the enemy’s anxiety and its fear of Resistance.
Touching upon Arsal and Qalamoun battles in the border areas between Lebanon and Syria, Sayyed Nasrallah reviewed how the Lebanese domestic politics tackled the security situation in the area, underlying that Hezbollah was clear from the very beginning and didn’t say that he will enter the town of Arsal. “We always used to say that this town [Arsal] has been occupied and its liberation is the responsibility of the Lebanese state and army,” Sayyed Nasrallah stated, adding that the Lebanese people “are hopeful that the army would bear this great national responsibility.”
“We were very clear regarding Arsal barrens. Here we are standing before a malignant form of political hypocrisy, political disinformation and political recruitment,” his eminence said, recalling that there are people who invented a battle named Arsal and came out to defend it. “They are assuming that Hezbollah wants to enter to the town of Arsal, but this is untrue and hypocrisy,” he stressed, urging those who are resorting to sectarian mobilization to get rid of that action.
As for Arsal barrens, Sayyed Nasrallah stated that the battle occurred early because of the gunmen attack on the posts of Syrian army and the Resistance in Younin barrens “in a direct field attack.”
“We are not invaders, but liberators and resistance,” Hezbollah secretary General emphasized, highlighting that the battles narrate the victories achieved by the Resistance fighters over tens of kilometers of the liberated lands in the area, praising the solidarity expressed by the families and clans of Baalbek who showed their support for the Resistance and their readiness to sacrifice.
Sayyed Nasrallah thanked all people who expressed their solidarity with Hezbollah, and refuted rumors on the party’s intention to form brigades or to declare the popular mobilization, stressing that the battle of Arsal will make the task of Lebanese army easier and will ease its burdens. Moreover, his eminence said he would not talk “about the time for the completion of the battle,” elaborating that Hezbollah “does not want to approach the town of Arsal, and that the battle will continue until the liberalization of barrens.
“Don’t ask us about the time needed. Time is determined by the battle commanders on ground.”
“We launched the battle of Arsal barrens and we are not bound by a specific time, but we are interested in accomplishing the goal with the least human sacrifices possible. We are not in a rush,” his eminence elaborated.
Hezbollah: Celebration marking the thirty-year anniversary of founding the Imam al-Mahdi (as) Scouts across LebanonAddressing the Lebanese government, Hezbollah leader called on the officials and ministers to bear their responsibilities and take things seriously, without waiting for changes in Yemen, Iraq or the region. Turning to the so-called ‘Islamic State of Iraq and the Levant’ (ISIL) takfiri group and the media reports about the party that created it since its emergence, Sayyed Nasrallah expressed surprise after media reports published after the Saudi terrorist suicide bombings to claim that Iran, Syria or Hezbollah have created ISIL and support it. “Is it rational that the Islamic Republic of Iran, which is accused of spreading Shiism and everything related to it, stands behind Daesh (Arabic acronym of ISIL)? his eminence asked. “This talk is senseless… It is very ridiculous,” he went on to say, recalling the history of ISIL which is the Iraqi branch of al-Qaeda terrorist group, but defected over disputes on power in Syria.
“The whole world knows that al-Qaeda was created by the United States, the Saudi Arabia and the Pakistani intelligence… The US admits that, while the world acts as if ISIL is an imminent danger,” Sayyed Nasrallah revealed, hoping that everyone will help in diagnosing the enemy. “ISIL is being fought by the parties that are accused of creating it, i.e. Iran and Syria, while other parties fund it and sell its oil,” he said.
“ISIL is believed to be a threat to the world. However, there are people in Lebanon who argue whether ISIL poses a threat to Lebanon or not,” he added, pointing out that ISIL does not only exist in Palmyra, Raqqa or Mosul, but it is in Arsal barrens as well.
On the Saudi-US aggression on Yemen, Hezbollah Secretary General reiterated the party’s position that supports the people and the army of the Arab state, categorically rejecting the Saudi military intervention that is persistent for 72 days ago. “This aggression is very clear and obvious, and if anyone vetoed it objectively, the Saudi regime would work with all the institutional means and threats to silence such voices. It does not want anyone to open mouth and condemn the aggression.” “In every moment we condemn this brutal and barbaric Saudi-US aggression against the Yemeni people. This position will not change as long as the aggression is persistent,” Sayyed Nasrallah stressed, asking about the horizon that this attack might have later on.
“What is the horizon of this aggression? Destruction, murder and bloodshed are not symbols of strength. All the announced goals were not materialized, and despite his high demands, the [fugitive] Yemeni President is now obliged to go to Geneva because there has no other solution,” his eminence pointed out. Sayyed Nasrallah congratulated all Muslims and audience on the birth anniversary of Imam Mahdi (as), the twelfth Imam of Prophet Mohammad’s household, and Imam al-Mahdi Scouts on their founding anniversary.
His speech was delivered live on a screen and was watched by all leaders and members of the Scouts in several cities across Lebanon, including Beirut, Tyre, Nabatieh and Bekaa.
The speech is broadcast live on Al-Manar TV with a real-time coverage on Al-Manar English website.

UN council condemns attacks on Syria civilians, barrel bombs
By REUTERS/06/06/2015
UNITED NATIONS – The United Nations Security Council on Friday condemned continued indiscriminate attacks on civilians in Syria, including aerial bombardment and barrel bombings that Western powers say only the government is capable of carrying out.
Last week the UN humanitarian chief painted a harrowing portrait of savagery in Syria’s civil war, now in its fifth year, and urged the Security Council to take collective action to put an end to the carnage.
The war has killed more than 220,000 people. Of the country’s roughly 23 million people, some 12.2 million are in need of humanitarian aid, including 5 million children.
“The members of the Security Council expressed their deep concern at the continued high level of violence in Syria and condemned all violence directed against civilians and civilian infrastructure, including medical facilities,” the council said in a statement.
“They expressed outrage at all attacks against civilians, as well as indiscriminate attacks, including those involving shelling and aerial bombardment, such as the use of barrel bombs, which have reportedly been extensively used in recent days in Aleppo,” it said.
Western officials blame aerial and barrel bomb attacks on the government.
Several Western council members noted that the unanimously adopted statement had the backing of Russia, which has strongly supported the government of President Bashar al-Assad.
Russia, backed by China, has vetoed four Security Council resolutions on Syria, three of them threatening the government with sanctions and another calling for referring the war to the International Criminal Court in The Hague for possible war crimes indictments.
The United States wants the council to approve a UN investigation to determine who is to blame for chemicals weapons attacks in Syria. Success of this initiative will ultimately depend on Russia, which blames rebels for chemical attacks. Rebels and Western powers blame Assad’s forces.
The council also “condemned increased terrorist attacks resulting in numerous casualties and destruction carried out by Islamic State, al Nusra Front and other individuals, groups, undertakings and entities associated with al Qaeda.”
The Security Council also voiced support for UN Syria peace mediator Staffan de Mistura, who has started a new attempt to broker negotiations between rebel groups and the government. Western and Arab officials say they have little hope that a breakthrough is imminent.
Last month, Syria’s main political opposition group complained about de Mistura’s decision to include Iran, which, like Russia, has been a strong supporter of Assad.

Iran rejects limited international access to military sites
Reuters/Ynetnews
Published: 06.05.15 / Israel News
Deputy military chief declares Islamic Republic finds access of any kind ‘unacceptable’, reaffirming tough stance taken by Supreme Leader Ayatollah Ali Khameini.
Iran will not allow even restricted outside access to its military sites under any nuclear accord with six powers, the deputy chief of its armed forces said on Friday, reaffirming Tehran’s tough stance on the issue as the deadline for a deal looms.
Access for UN nuclear inspectors to Iranian military sites and the pace and timing of sanctions relief for Tehran are among several major disputes that Iran and the powers need to resolve before the self-imposed June 30 deadline for a final deal.
“Any kind of inspection of Iran’s military sites, including managed and restricted access, is unacceptable,” Brigader General Massoud Jazayeri was quoted by Tasnim news agency as saying.
Some senior Iranian negotiators had raised the possibility of some limited access, with Tehran in control of the process.
“Controlled and managed access (to the military sites) does not mean inspection,” Iran’s senior nuclear negotiator Abbas Araqchi said after arriving in Vienna on Thursday for another round of talks with officials from the six powers.
“We are trying to set some rules for managed access to non-nuclear sites,” Iran’s official IRNA news agency quoted him as saying.
But Jazayeri’s comments reinforced the hard line long taken on the issue by both Iran’s Supreme Leader Ayatollah Ali Khamenei, who has the last say on all state matters, and by top military commanders.
“We will not allow any visits to military sites, whether they be limited, controlled, unfree or in any other form,” Jazayeri said. “Let’s avoid playing with words.”
Western powers have long suspected Iran of planning to build a nuclear bomb. Tehran denies any such intention and says its nuclear program has purely civilian aims.
The six powers — the United States, France, Britain, Germany, Russia and China — want the International Atomic Energy Agency (IAEA) to visit military sites to check on past activities that could indicate attempts to build an atomic bomb.
France has specifically warned against the blocking of a final nuclear settlement over the issue of granting access for inspectors to all installations, including military sites.
Iran’s Foreign Minister Mohammad Javad Zarif has called on the six powers to refrain from making “excessive demands” on his country.

Lebanon FM: Arab states must not allow Iran’s regional expansion
Beirut,  Thair Abbas/ Friday, 5 Jun, 2015Asharq Al-Awsat—Lebanese Foreign Minister Gebran Bassil has called on Arab states to work together and take the initiative to fend off Iranian intervention in the region, warning that Tehran will be successful in expanding its influence in the Middle East unless Arab states stand together. In an interview with Asharq Al-Awsat in the wake of a high-level state visit to Saudi Arabia by Lebanese Prime Minister Tammam Salam, Gebran spoke about the deteriorating political and security situation in the region, particularly the growing presence of the Islamic State of Iraq and Syria (ISIS) and Arab fears of Iranian regional expansion. “Arab states must not permit this Iranian expansion, they must take the initiative. They are the ones who must do this; nobody else will come and do it for them,” Gebran said. “If Iran benefits from any inter-Arab failure or division, then it is the Arabs who are primarily responsible for this. I don’t like seeing anyone from outside the region interfere in regional affairs. The main thing is to ensure that there are no spaces [between Arab states] that Iran can exploit,” he added. Gebran said Iran was using its anti-Israel “resistance” rhetoric as a tool to infiltrate the Arab world and gain supporters. “Iran came to the region to fight Israel, so if the Arabs fought Israel then Iran would not be able to impose its agenda on us.” “If nobody fights Israel, then those who carry the banner of fighting Israel will be prominent and will find supporters,” he said in an implicit reference to ISIS, which also uses anti-Israel rhetoric to gain followers.
He stressed that the region must stand together in its confrontation of ISIS, adding that targeting the terrorist group should be a priority for all Arab states, rather than Arab governments worrying about the political repercussions of opposing the militants.
“We agree that ISIS are terrorists . . . Whatever conflicts are playing out, we cannot say that this [fighting ISIS] benefits the [Syrian] regime or Hezbollah. ISIS is unlike anything we have seen before. The issue is not that you are fighting ISIS to benefit any other side,” he said. “The battleground is not just Syria. It is in Iraq and Saudi Arabia and elsewhere,” he added, referencing twin bombings carried out by ISIS that targeted Shi’ite mosques in Saudi Arabia’s Eastern Province over the past two weeks.
The Lebanese foreign minister also took pains to highlight Lebanon’s historic ties with Saudi Arabia, playing down the effect of criticism of the Kingdom from Lebanese political figures, including Hezbollah chief Hassan Nasrallah, on relations between Riyadh and Beirut. Gebran praised the Riyadh leadership for its commitment and concern for Lebanon and Saudi Arabia’s role in “curbing sectarian conflict in the region.” The Lebanese foreign minister told Asharq Al-Awsat: “Prime Minister Salam’s visit to Riyadh is a new chance for the state of Lebanon to confirm its desire for good relations with Arab states and particularly the Kingdom of Saudi Arabia and to try to reap the benefits of Saudi Arabia’s care and concern for Lebanese stability.”Without directly referencing Hezbollah and recent statements from within the group that criticized Riyadh, Gebran said: “The Saudi leadership’s ability to overcome some of the statements that have been issued in Lebanon is proof of Saudi Arabia’s love for Lebanon,” adding that, “there is an understanding that Lebanon’s official position is expressed by the government only, and we have not heard any attempts for the Lebanese state to be held responsible [for any negative comments].”

Russia and the danger of conspiracy theories
Amir Taheri/Asharq Al Awsat
Friday, 5 Jun, 2015
The way President Vladimir Putin tells it, Russia is the victim of a great conspiracy designed to prevent it from claiming a position within the global networks of leadership. The Europeans are plotting to deny Russia the right to host the 2018 football World Cup. The Americans are trying to throw a lasso around Russia by building up the military forces of nations in its “near-neighborhood”. The French conspire to sabotage plans for the modernization of Russia’s navy by refusing to deliver two aircraft carriers that Moscow has bought and paid for. Last but not least, even the Arab states are trying to damage Russia’s economy by forcing down oil prices.
Even inside Russia, Putin sees things through the prism of “sinister conspiracies.” Non-governmental organizations campaigning for a more efficient disposal of nuclear waste are branded “agents of foreign powers”, supposedly sent to reprobate Russia’s nuclear industry; the Russian branch of Greenpeace is “a hotbed” of conspiracies.
Citizen committees calling for prison reform or more opportunities for women are “specially trained foreign agents” working for the overthrow of the government through a “velvet revolution”. The hundreds of boy bands and girl bands that have mushroomed from the Urals to Kamchatka are vanguards of a frontal attack against Russian music and entertainment.
In the Putin narrative, Russia is surrounded by enemies. China harbors deep resentment at the fact that Russia annexed large chunks of its territory during the Soviet era. The Central Asian republics are trying to put as much blue-water between themselves and Russia as possible.
The Baltic republics go to bed praying for the day that the remainder of the Russian Empire crumbles as did its Soviet version.
What about Ukrainians? Well, need one say more?
Even Belorussia, the last Soviet-style anachronism in Europe is regarded as a crypto enemy of Russia.
There is no doubt that many countries near and far and big and small, are uneasy about Russia in its current manifestation. Russia is simply too big and, by any standards, too powerful to be ignored. However, there is no evidence of a global conspiracy to prevent Russia from claiming is proper place in the emerging patterns of international relations.
It is no surprise that Putin, a professional secret agent for much of his adult life, should believe that international politics works like the Russian Matryoshkas, with each doll nested within a bigger one.
Putin’s conspiratorial analysis may appeal to the narrow nationalist fringe that provides the backbone of his continued popularity. All politically immature societies like to blame their own shortcomings on foreign plots.
In such societies few people could conceive of genuine political differences and legitimate rivalries. Anyone who disagrees with you on anything must be “a foreign agent” and a “traitor.” And any nation that defends its sovereignty and dignity cannot but be a hostile power bent on your destruction.
That kind of mindset is bad for Russia and dangerous for others. Some of its negative effects are already manifest.
In Europe, the conflict over Ukraine has created a festering sore that affects the entire body politics of the continent while draining Russia’s resources. Putin himself created the crisis with a 19th century imperial land-grab against Crimea while supporting, if not actually controlling, old-style secessionists against the government in Kiev.
In the Caucasus the virtual annexation of South Ossetia and Abkhazia, has created a climate of insecurity that affects the whole region beyond Georgia itself.
In Transcaucasia, rather than using its power and prestige to foster peace, Russia’s one-sided support for Armenia has prevented a negotiated settlement of the dispute with Azerbaijan over Nagorno Karabakh.
Against good sense, Russia has done everything in its power to reduce pressure on North Korea’s obnoxious regime, allowing Pyongyang to continue as a ticking bomb in that remote corner of Asia.
In the Middle East, Putin’s Russia has thrown its weight behind Bashar Al-Assad’s doomed regime in Damascus with help from the mullahs of Tehran. The net result has been one of the biggest human tragedies of the past half a century. In the process, Russia has put a great strain on its relations with virtually all Arab and Muslim countries.
Putin’s bizarre chumminess with the mullahs in Tehran has revived old anti-Russian sentiments rooted in Iranian history for more than two centuries. The flirtation with the Houthis was mercifully brief but it did harm the cause of peace in unhappy Yemen by encouraging the hardliners to hang on to their dream of exclusive power.
Putin laments the fact that even the former republics of the Soviet Union are distancing themselves from “Mother Russia’ by adopting the Latin or Arabic-Persian alphabets and replacing Russian with English as the most popular language for the new generations.
Even landlocked Mongolia now does more trade with far-away United States than Russia with which it has almost 3500 kilometers of borders.
In a broader context, Russia’s relations with the European Union and the United States are more strained now than at any time since the 1950s and the start of the Cold War.
Putin has even played with a caricature of James Bond politics by sending Russian fighter-bombers to fly close to the airspace of several NATO nations. Last May Day he evoked the ghost of Brezhnev by presiding over a massive demonstration of military hardware in Moscow’s Red Square.
While there is no doubt that the EU and the US must share part of the blame, there is no escaping the fact that Putin’s penchant for braggadocio and taste for conspiracy theories have also contributed to this lamentable situation.
Russia is a great nation destined to make a major contribution to international peace and understanding. However, that cannot be done by bullying and shaking the iron fist towards weaker neighbors.
These days, people see Russian bombs falling on the heads of defenseless Syrians and Russian rockets hitting civilian targets in eastern Ukraine.
Accommodating Russia within the new emerging pattern of international relations is a major challenge for all concerned. However, little can be achieved in that direction until Putin casts a serious critical look at his core belief that politics equals conspiracy.

The long-term fallout of religious warfare
Abdulrahman Al-Rashed/Asharq Al Awsat
Saturday, 6 Jun, 2015
We are going through a gigantic, chaotic war in the Middle East. It is worse than anything the region witnessed even during the two world wars. All kinds of weapons are being used, from primitive knives to the most advanced military hardware such as drones.
However, the most dangerous weapon of all is religion, because it is capable of mobilizing communities and controlling armies of young people willing to die, and because it is similar to a nuclear bomb: its toxic fallout will last long after the end of the war. Many were killed by radiation caused by the nuclear bombs years after they were dropped on Japanese cities in the Second World War. This is also the case with sectarian wars: their consequences will linger for decades.
Citizens are dragged into civil wars after centuries of coexistence because they are mesmerized by propaganda. If you want to understand your opponent, put yourself in their shoes. Ever since the failure of Iran, Hezbollah and the Syrian government in the Syrian war, and the ever-worsening situation in Iraq, these three players have been keen on spreading sectarian bacteria to the Gulf states, which are modern and comprise a variety of social components.
The Islamic State of Iraq and Syria (ISIS) has done the same, focusing its hate speech against Shi’ites. Uncivilized, religious-oriented people have been dragged into sectarian clashes; clerics, intellectuals and a large audience have fallen for this trick. They started accusing each other of reinterpreting history and settling scores. That is what Iran, the Syrian regime and ISIS want.
Those who are blindly engaged in the war do not understand that they are cheap soldiers, unconsciously fighting against their own interests. They cannot see beyond the end of their noses. Sowing strife inside communities through hate speech on podiums and websites will lead to fighting in the streets, the destruction of countries and the overthrowing of governments. Why do people destroy their homes with their own hands? This is willful ignorance!
It is easy to ignite clashes between villages, regions or communities when evoking historical or religious differences. We have witnessed Sunni, Shi’ite and Alawite conflicts because of the exploitation of religion. Hezbollah, ISIS and Al-Qaeda are all political organizations with jihadist ideologies. They all reflect the state of the region today, which has moved from leftist and nationalist ideologies to sectarian conflict.
Violence is not limited to sectarian groups. It was used by Ba’athist, nationalist and communist parties, which hijacked planes, led suicide operations, booby-trapped cars and plotted assassinations. Most of their battles were directed against their own people, such as the Abu Nidal group, which often targeted Palestinians and Arabs despite claiming to be anti-Israel. This applies to Al-Qaeda and ISIS today.
Despite the similarities between leftist, anarchist organizations and sectarian ones today—including their excessive use of violence and claiming that the end justifies the means—religion-driven groups are the most dangerous. Political disagreements between countries can be resolved in one night, but the use of religion in conflicts causes deep wounds that cannot be easily healed. That is why religious communities affected by war, such as Iraq, will suffer for a long time.
The war in Syria was not religiously motivated until the regime decided to classify it as such. The war against the Iraqi Ba’ath party would have only been against its practices and crimes were it not for Iranian interference that led to a sectarian war. ISIS, which inherited the defeated Al-Qaeda, has used sectarianism as a weapon to mobilize people, as has Hezbollah. The destruction of the Gulf with the same sectarian virus would not be difficult.
Facing sectarian wars requires the awareness of those working in the religious field. They should be warned that they are being used by external forces to destroy their countries. This should not be tolerated.

Besieging the Houthis and the humanitarian aid conundrum
Saturday, 6 June 2015
Abdulrahman al-Rashed/Al Rabiya
Judging by Iranian media reports, from Mehr news agency and Press TV, discussing a complete naval blockade on all Yemen ports by the Saudi-led coalition – thus preventing aid ships carrying fuel, water and petroleum derivatives from reaching their destination – it’s certain that delivering aid to millions of Yemenis in need is not easy. Or rather, it is not possible in some cases where battles do not abide by international wartime laws and where civilians and aid agencies are being targeted.
One source confirmed that more than 200 licensed ships were allowed to deliver their aid and that not all the ships were inspected as many are believed not to be linked to the rebels. The source added that many ships are using the Djibouti port which the United Nations – not Saudi Arabia, Egypt or the U.S. – supervises and grants licenses accordingly.
Despite this, there is a humanitarian crisis in Yemen and naval inspections are not its cause. So what’s the solution to save the millions of people there? Land routes from Saudi Arabia can deliver most aid if the Houthis and Ali Abdullah Saleh’s forces aren’t blocking roads and intentionally killing and robbing Yemeni people who dare to pass. Given these circumstances, international pressure must be exerted on rebels instead of repeating their narrative and holding the naval inspection forces responsible.
The inspection forces may have delayed the passage of the ships but they haven’t prevented them from passing and have not confiscated their cargo. In fact, aid teams from Saudi Arabia and the region’s countries are performing a great job amid extremely difficult circumstances.
Intentionally obstructing aid
The Saudi-led coalition forces know that the rebels are intentionally obstructing aid in order to stir international public opinion at the expense of the Yemeni people, whom they’ve taken hostage. Hospital operations have been disrupted due to rebels obstructing the delivery of fuel. Millions of people in several cities and towns lack drinking water because they ran out of the diesel necessary for generators to pump water. Meanwhile, the military power of the Houthis and Saleh’s forces has not been obstructed as they are stealing fuel to operate their vehicles and are in control of food storage centers. They’ve also seized aid routes in the center of the country and are transferring this aid to areas in their control.
The humanitarian situation in Yemen has become frightening as a result of the complete domination of militias who intentionally and fearlessly shell civilian areas just because they are opposed
When I asked a source concerned in the situation why international organizations do not blame the Houthis and Saleh’s forces for this humanitarian crisis, he said it’s because they do not want to cut ties with them and because they fear for their employees and activities in Yemen, considering that these rebels are gangs that do not hesitate to kill whoever criticizes or defies them. Therefore, it’s wrong to understand the crisis through what is conveyed in Iranian media reports and other media outlets who quote them, even if “neutral” media outlets settle with conveying the Iranian media’s narratives without comprehending the full circumstances of the war in Yemen.
The humanitarian situation in Yemen has become frightening as a result of the complete domination of militias who intentionally and fearlessly shell civilian areas just because they are opposed. The aim of these battles is not to control these neighborhoods but to deliberately destroy them and displace their people. This brutality represents the rebels’ desire for vendettas, but does not necessarily hint that they want to establish their kingdom in these governorates, maybe because they know they will later lose them or that these governorates are outside their sphere of influence no matter how much they try. Or, maybe they will go ahead and establish this kingdom of theirs – out of hatred and retaliation.

From defeat to disintegration: reflections on 1967 and afterwards
Saturday, 6 June 2015
Hisham Melhem/Al Arabiya
How should the Arabs circa 2015 reflect on the 48th anniversary of the 1967 defeat in the war with Israel? Maybe the question should be posed differently. Are the Arabs, particularly those in Egypt, the Levant and Mesopotamia, given their current political and cultural dizzying turmoil even capable of seriously reflecting on a calamitous shock that was considered by my generation of Arabs as a historic milestone and a unique disaster that nothing could surpass?
I was 17 years old then, but I remember distinctly the collective pain and humiliation we felt, when tiny Israel in the span of six days routed three Arab armies to occupy Egypt’s Sinai peninsula, Syria’s Golan Heights and what was left of mandated Palestine, the West Bank and the Gaza Strip. How most Arabs sought refuge in denial, claiming the defeat was only a ‘setback’, and that Israel would not have won the war without Western machinations, since in the view of many Arab nationalists, leftists and Islamists Israel was an extension of Western Imperialism in the region. Little did we know then, that the enormity of the ‘setback’ more than four decades later, would pale in comparison with the disintegration of the state system in Syria and Iraq and beyond that in Libya and Yemen, the marginalization of Egypt, and Lebanon and the attendant meltdown of most of these societies into fractured, infighting sects, ethnicities, tribes and regions.
Today the Palestine issue, known then as the ‘central cause’ of the Arabs, is left to a hapless Palestinian Authority exercising nominal control over a fraction of the West Bank under the thumb of Israel’s military with the Gaza Strip, besieged by Israel and Egypt, is left to decay further under the harsh rule of the Islamist movement Hamas.
The ‘wounded time’
The 1967 defeat brought in its wake a brief legacy of introspection and soul searching, however it was not wide enough or deep enough to shake or undermine the entrenched political, cultural or religious dogmas and orthodoxies. Few could see then that the 1967 debacle was our window to the horrors awaiting us in subsequent years and decades. Even those poets and writers who eloquently bemoaned the ‘wounded time’ الزمان الجريح or the ‘bad time’ الزمان الرديء ) a combination of bad, awful and foul) that have visited the Arabs in those momentous hot days of June 1967, would not be able to imagine the adjectives that should be attached to the word ‘time’ at this particular time in the modern history of the Arabs.
A brief moment of soul searching
In the aftermath of the war, those searching for meaning in that pivotal moment and asking the endless versions of ‘what went wrong’ came to Beirut, the only Arab sanctuary where they could inquire, ponder, debate, publish and act . Other Arab claimants for such position like Cairo, Damascus and Baghdad were mostly neutralized by autocracy. Searing critical books and essays of Arab society, polity and traditions were published and discussed in Beirut by intellectuals from all over the Arab world, particularly from the Levant; with the Syrians having the pride of place. In their courageous, uncompromising and powerful analysis and diagnosis of the ills of Arab politics, society, cultural and religious traditions, the political philosopher Sadeq Jalal al-Azm, the poet and essayist Adonis, and the playwright Saadallah Wannous cut a large swath of scorched earth into the heart of the deep structures that underpin Arab life, toppling the dominant political, cultural and religious deities of the time. Nothing was spared and everything was criticized; society, Arab nationalism, religious traditions, cultural assumptions, popular myths and symbols, and the poverty of intellectual life. Even that most sacred of Arab cows, the Arabic language itself, and how it has been abused by politicians and their hired intellectuals who brandished its flowery clichés, its worn-out classical and ‘sacred’ phraseology and traditions, to perpetuate an ossified order.
After decades of autocracy, failed governance, the hollowing out of civil society and massive theft of national resources by corrupt ruling elites, the brittle foundations of these nation-states began to fray and disintegrate along sectarian, ethnic, tribal and regional lines
Sadeq al-Azm’s book Self-Criticism after the defeat , was the most powerful secular deconstruction of the prevailing values of Arab society and polity. The poet Adonis turned his pioneering literary journal Mawaqif into a powerful vehicle for the new critical voices in the Arab world who published merciless indictments of their decaying world. Adonis was particularly obsessed with the notion of demystifying and deconstructing Islamic and cultural traditions. He wanted to liberate his culture from the clutches of an oppressive and supposedly ‘sacred’ past and to embrace a modern, progressive and secular sensibility. Adonis’ poems and essays in Mawaqif were magnificently powerful, and prescient; they were the stuff that underpins a civilization. Saadallah Wannous` gripping play An evening party for June fifth, first published in Mawaqif then produced to critical and popular acclaim in Beirut was merciless in criticizing the underlying political and social causes of the defeat. The play in which some actors sat among the audience, (I remember how surprised we were) helped revolutionize theatre in the Arab world. That play and subsequent works by Wannous along with the writings of Adonis were the most influential literary works to emerge following the 1967 defeat. It was in the publishing houses of Beirut, its newspapers and magazines, its literary clubs and theatres that most of this political, cultural and artistic ferment were taking place. It was my misfortune to meet Wannous only once in Damascus, shortly before his death in 1997, but I was lucky to have met Adonis and Sadeq al-Azm in my youth in those heady days in Beirut; their work left a lasting impact on my life.
Arab autocracy’s second act
Not only the Arab secularists and leftists saw the 1967 as more than a military debacle, but something that reflects deeper cultural and even moral maladies, this was also the view of some of the Islamist critics, who agreed with the leftists that the defeat was an indictment of Arab nationalism in both of its incarnations, Ba’athisim in Syria and Nasserism in Egypt. It was in the aftermath of 1967, that the Islamists, who were suppressed in Egypt and Syria during the heydays of Arab nationalism, began to reassert themselves intellectually and politically project themselves as the ‘authentic’ alternative to Arab nationalism.
The 1973 war, in which the Egyptian and Syrian armies breached Israeli fortifications and performed relatively well, at least in the early stages of the fighting, allowed these regimes after they regained some of their territories following American mediations, and after receiving financial and political cover from the Arab Gulf states, to claim that they have restored their credibility. The failure of the Palestinian national movement, represented then by the Palestine Liberation Organization, supported by the left to live up to its claim, to represent the ‘secular’ alternative to the humiliated Arab nationalists, and finally the civil war in Lebanon, put an end to that fleeting moment of enthusiasm and promise that I lived through in the years that followed the 1967 defeat. The forces of autocracy and tradition were back in control, and they bargained successfully for another lease on life. But the reassertion of the status quo and tradition, even when it looked resilient behind a shining veneer of stability, could not totally hide the fact that there was something rotten in the world of the Arabs. From the middle 1970’s until the beginning of the Tunisian uprising in late 2010, there were occasional spasms of violence, limited and aborted uprisings in some states, both peaceful (Egypt and Jordan) and armed (Syria, Algeria and Iraq), and both types of protests were suppressed or brutally crushed.
A world of constant sorrows
In 1979 the Islamic Revolution in Iran was another milestone that has changed, and still changing Iran and the region, and its reverberations are now being felt in the ongoing nihilistic war of attrition between the Shiites and the Sunnis. Iran is an old country with civilizational heft. Its pre-Islamic as well as its Islamic eras is rich and distinct. Such a state, with such history, regardless of whether its ruler wears a crown, a turban or a three piece suit will act on what it sees as its natural right to be a regional hegemon. Egypt is the only Arab state with somewhat similar history to Iran; distinguished pharaonic and Islamic histories. But what the Islamic Republic has in some abundance and Egypt lacks demonstrably, is the political will and means to act on its ambitions and the willingness to pay a price. Of course, Iran’s ability to use its Arab satraps in its ongoing conflicts with and within some Arab states gives Tehran a tremendous advantage.
In September 1980, Saddam Hussein began Iraq’s slow descent into the three circles of the inferno by invading Revolutionary Iran, totally oblivious to history’s lessons that those outsiders who meddle with revolutions (the European invasions of revolutionary France and Russia) end up being burned by them. Borrowing from Dante’s Inferno, the first circle was the invasion of Iran, the second was the invasion of Kuwait in 1990, and the third was the (American) invasion of Iraq itself in 2003. One Iraqi observer described this series of invasions as one war giving birth to another, and another.
After decades of autocracy, failed governance, the hollowing out of civil society, massive theft of national resources by corrupt ruling elites, the brittle foundations of those heterogeneous and relatively new nation-states, like Syria and Libya, and later Iraq, began to fray and disintegrate along sectarian, ethnic, tribal and regional lines. Even homogenous and old states with clear cultural identities and a sense of permanency like Egypt, and to a lesser extent Tunisia could not escape the season of discontent that swept the region in the second decade of the 21st century, plunging a brittle world into what looks like a long era of constant sorrows and bloodshed.
The great unwinding
Unlike the1967 war, when three Arab states lost territories to another state, and their existence was not in danger, today’s conflicts are within states, with regional and international powers involved directly or by proxy in various ways and on multiplicity of levels. In these protracted wars, the very existence of some of the states born out of the great violence of the Great War a century ago is in jeopardy. We are currently watching the great unwinding of Syria and Iraq the way we have known them for almost a century. The train of Kurdish independence has already left the station in Baghdad carrying between 5 and 6 million people toward the final station of statehood in Erbil. The current Kurdish leadership in Iraq is the last leadership that speaks Arabic. The majority of Kurds who are under the age of 30 speak rudimentary Arabic or none. The ugly, and at times systematic, religious and ethnic cleansing that Iraq witnessed in recent years in which governments in Baghdad (beginning with Saddam’s regime) and later with the Shiite governments installed with U.S. help, as well as Sunni and Shiite militias, including the Islamic State ISIS, have finally destroyed any semblance of communal coexistence. Baghdad, which a century ago boasted large communities of indigenous Christians and Jews as well as Sunnis, Shiites and Kurds is now about 80 percent Shiite city, and constantly losing its urban soul with rural populations and values smothering its once vibrant cultural life.
The same maladies afflict Syria, and its once great diverse and cosmopolitan cities of Aleppo and Damascus. What was not undone by sectarian cleansing, committed mostly by the Assad regime, but also by ISIS and other radical and Jihadi Islamist groups, was physically destroyed by the regime’s heavy artillery and barrel bombs. Syria’s refugee population is now more than 4 million, the largest in this new century; the number of uprooted Syrians is more than 11 million. The longer the conflict continues the worse are the prospects of saving Syria as a unitary state. The whirlpool of Syria’s unraveling can only drag with it a brittle and fractured Lebanon and possibly Jordan. Even Israel, cannot totally escape the ill winds from Syria, with the possibility of another frightening war between Israel and Hezbollah, (and indirectly Iran) a likely outcome. Libya’s future as a unitary state is not assured. A fractured Libya in war with itself is likely to continue for years, like other African conflicts in the old Sudan and Angola. Yemen’s wars (which never really stopped in recent decades) will continue to fester in the foreseeable future, with the assured involvement of regional powers.
The shadow of the Ayatollah
Almost a half century after the 1967 defeat, the Egyptian army is still fighting in the Sinai; only the enemy this time is from within. There is a low intensity counter insurgency being waged by the Egyptian armed forces against a small but stubborn fanatical Islamist groups benefitting from the chaos in Libya. The Syria army however, is acting again like the Praetorian Guard it was intended to be, and has been waging the most brutal attacks in its history against its own people, including the use of Chemical Weapons and in the process leveling whole cities like Homs. Almost a half century after the 1967 defeat and with the unwinding of Syria and Iraq, the marginalization of Egypt, the Arab East finds itself forced to live in the shadows of its more powerful neighbors; Iran, Turkey and Israel. In the midst of the current unwinding in the Levant, Iraq and Yemen, the shadow of the Ayatollah looms very large and menacing.
A sanctuary named Beirut
The brief intellectual ferment we have seen following the 1967 defeat was possible in part because of the existence of an open and liberal Arab city; Beirut. No such city exists today in the Arab world that would welcome or tolerate the cultural ferment and output that Beirut brought to the fore between the wars of 1967 and 1973. The truly Arab liberals and secularists who are still active openly in the region (outside Tunisia) can probably fill out a large movie theatre; although you could still find liberals and secularists in some cities in the Arab East, but most of them are disillusioned, silenced or opted to lead non-political lives.
The Beirut of 1967 is mostly gone; Today, Hezbollah is trying with Iranian largess, to turn Beirut into a Tehran on the Mediterranean, just as some Sunni Jihadist groups have been trying to turn Tripoli, Lebanon second largest city into a Kandahar on the Mediterranean. I am writing these words on the tenth anniversary of the assassination of my colleague Samir Kassir, an intellectual and activist who embodied the values of liberal democracy, and paid the ultimate price for opposing Syria’s murderous regime and its Hezbollah ally. And while the values of liberal democracy and political diversity have not been fully extinguished, the dominant sectarian discourse and polarization, the diminishing space of political and cultural diversity, the unraveling of society and the political bankruptcy of a parochial political class, could also doom Beirut. Civilizations and cultures are created in vibrant, open cities. Egypt has yet to recover from the loss of its cosmopolitan and creative centers in Alexandria and Cairo. After the twilight of Damascus and Baghdad, if Beirut goes the way of Alexandria, darkness will descent at noon and engulf a world of sorrows, tears and rage.

Leaked information: Does Khamenei favor the final nuclear deal?
Friday, 5 June 2015
Dr. Majid Rafizadeh/Al Arabiya
In less than a month, the Islamic Republic and the six world powers (known as P5+1; the United States, China, Germany, United Kingdom, France, and Russia) will be reaching the end of their marathon nuclear talks, as the June 30 deadline approaches – marking one of the lengthiest international negotiations ever.
The position and opinion of the Islamic Republic’s paramount leader, Ayatollah Ali Khamenei, on the nuclear negotiations and the terms of the final nuclear deal can be characterized as the most crucial elements in determining whether a final deal will be reached by the end of June.
Khamenei’s tactic has always been to show and wield power in pubic while avoid being held accountable
Khamenei’s recent public comments – which indicate that a final nuclear is impossible by the end of June – belie the reality. When it comes to Khamenei’s view, it is crucial to differentiate between what he articulates publicly to the media, and what the supreme leader’s office instructs the senior cadre of Iran’s Revolutionary Guard Corps, the high official of Quds Force, the intelligence (Etela’at) and the nuclear negotiating team discuss behind the scenes.
By analyzing Ayatollah Khamenei’s position on the marathon nuclear talks since the beginning, it becomes easy to draw on the notion, and conclude, that what Khamenei expresses publicly not only misrepresents his real intentions and views, but are not also statements carved into stone.
Leaked information and Khamenei’s recent public statements
Khamenei’s recent public statements represent redlines and total inflexibility towards his terms for the final nuclear deal. But the major question is whether he will be flexible as the deadline inches forward. Recent leaked information suggests that the supreme leader is indeed willing to ignore his redlines and wants the final nuclear deal.
Khamenei recently stated: “We will never yield to pressure … We will not accept unreasonable demands … Iran will not give access to its [nuclear] scientists,” he added, “They say we should let them interview our nuclear scientists. This means interrogation… I will not let foreigners talk to our scientists and to interrogate our dear children … who brought us this extensive [nuclear] knowledge… We will not allow the privacy of our nuclear scientists or any other important issue to be violated.”
In addition, Khamenei clearly stated that the Islamic Republic will not allow foreign inspectors to inspect Iran’s military sites. Nevertheless, when the deputy of Iran’s foreign minister and close advisor to the supreme seader, Abbas Araqchi, was meticulously questioned alongside Iran’s Foreign Minister Mohammad Javad Zarif in a closed door session of the Iranian parliament, Majlis, different points of views were articulated by the close advisor of the supreme leader.
A hardline member of the parliament, Hamid Rasaee, posted Araqchi’s statements to parliament in Persian language on his site, indicating that the Islamic Republic will indeed allow the inspection of its military facilities. According to the leaked information, Araqchi mentioned that he and the negotiating team have the permission to go ahead with the nuclear talks and accept inspection of Iran’s military facilities.
Khamenei gives green light to negotiating team
It is crucial to point out that Araqchi and Zarif would not have made such statements without the supreme leader’s approval. This suggests that Ayatollah Khamenei tells the negotiating team to ignore the redlines that he sets in the public.
The issue of inspection is a major point in the nuclear talks. If the supreme leader’s public statement regarding his rejection to allow inspection were accurate, then a final nuclear deal would be totally impossible and there will be no need for Iran’s nuclear team to go to Vienna because the United States and Western allies would definitely not accept a deal without some kind of inspection.
Afterwards, Araqchi immediately denied that he received such statements. But why? Most likely, Araqchi was not supposed to reveal what the supreme leader had privately instructed. Khamenei does not desire to hold accountability. Since Iranian politicians are cognizant of the fact that Araqchi, or Iran’s negotiating team, will not articulate a word without having been instructed by the supreme leader, Khamenei did not desire to let the public and parliament know that Iran’s religious leader is making double-faced statements; that his announcements in pubic are different from those he instructs behind the scenes. In addition, Khamenei desires to project a picture that he is not desperate for the final nuclear deal, although the reality suggest otherwise. By showing that Iran is not in need of such a deal, Khamenei is giving more leverage to the Iranian negotiating team to obtain more concessions from the West.
Iran’s negotiating team will not take any action without the approval of the supreme leader. He is the final decision-maker. As a result, Araqchi and Zarif would not have made any statements, or continue to negotiate with the six world powers, without being told to do so by the supreme leader.
The fact that Iran’s negotiating team is continuing with the talks, sitting on the same table with American diplomats, and the fact that there is contradiction between what the supreme deader and his advisors stated publicly indicate that Khamenei is indeed giving a green light to the nuclear team in private and he would accept the inspection of military facilities. Nevertheless, he attempts to publicly shows that he is a powerful religious and nationalistic leader who is totally against foreign monitoring of his country.
The supreme leader’s double-standardness and the difference in what he states publicly and what he instructs behind the scenes, indicates that he indeed needs the final nuclear deal and he will likely be willing to allow inspections in order to obtain the deal. Ayatollah Khamenei is cognizant of the fact that the final nuclear deal is geopolitically, economically, and ideologically a win for him. Iran’s nuclear infrastructure will not be dismantled, Iran’s break-time to become a nuclear state will shrink from one year to zero in the next few years, Iran’s economy will be strengthened, the U.S. will likely ignore Iran’s increasing influence and its proxy war in the region because of the nuclear deal.
Khamenei’s tactic has always been to show and wield power in pubic while avoid being held accountable. He utilizes both the hardliners and moderates for this goal. To reach this objective, he also leaves the presidential office to be held accountable by the public and parliament in case there was any gaffe in the nuclear talks, along with domestic and foreign policy. If the nuclear talks succeed, the supreme leader will still be taking the credits while further ensuring his hold on power.