English LCCC Newsbulletin For Lebanese, Lebanese
Related, Global News & Editorials
For
April 24/2020
Compiled & Prepared by: Elias Bejjani
The Bulletin's Link on the lccc Site
http://data.eliasbejjaninews.com/eliasnews19/english.april24.20.htm
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Bible Quotations For today
Jesus expels out Merchants From The Temple
John 02/13-25: “The Passover of the Jews was near, and Jesus went up to
Jerusalem. In the temple he found people selling cattle, sheep, and doves, and
the money-changers seated at their tables. Making a whip of cords, he drove all
of them out of the temple, both the sheep and the cattle. He also poured out the
coins of the money-changers and overturned their tables. He told those who were
selling the doves, ‘Take these things out of here! Stop making my Father’s house
a market-place!’ His disciples remembered that it was written, ‘Zeal for your
house will consume me.’ The Jews then said to him, ‘What sign can you show us
for doing this?’Jesus answered them, ‘Destroy this temple, and in three days I
will raise it up.’The Jews then said, ‘This temple has been under construction
for forty-six years, and will you raise it up in three days?’But he was speaking
of the temple of his body. After he was raised from the dead, his disciples
remembered that he had said this; and they believed the scripture and the word
that Jesus had spoken. When he was in Jerusalem during the Passover festival,
many believed in his name because they saw the signs that he was doing. But
Jesus on his part would not entrust himself to them, because he knew all people
and needed no one to testify about anyone; for he himself knew what was in
everyone.
Titles For The Latest English LCCC Lebanese & Lebanese
Related News & Editorials published on April 23-24/2020
MoPH announces six news COVID-19 cases
Lebanon Records Six New Coronavirus Cases
3,000 Palestinians under Lebanon lockdown after first camp virus case/Najia
Houssari/Arab News/April 23/2020/
Lebanon's currency crashes amid financial turmoil, coronavirus/The New Arab &
agencies/April 23/2020
Protesters Block Highways, Roads as Lira Continues Downward Spiral
Aoun Meets Central Bank Governor and Education Minister
Aoun tackles monetary situation with Central Bank Governor, fate of academic
year and official exams with Education Minister
Diab chairs coronavirus committee meeting
UN chief: Pandemic is fast becoming 'human rights crisis'
Berri Urges Govt. to Stop Lira Fall instead of 'Standing Idly By'
Lebanese PM Complains About BDL’s Lack of Cooperation
Lebanon PM: Government 'not consulted' on central bank policy/Timour Azhari/Aljazeera/April
23/2020
Nasrallah Describes Lebanon's Coronavirus Situation as 'Good'/Naharnet/April
23/2020
FPM Files Lawsuit over Billions of Dollars Sent Abroad
Lebanon detains man over ‘appalling’ killing of 10 including 2 children
Ministry of Information launches joint initiative with WHO, UNICEF, and UNDP/TK
Maloy/Annahar/April 23/2020
Lebanon still searching for perpetrators of Baakline shooting/Timour Azhari/Al
Jazeera/April 23/2020
Hezbollah’s Gambling and the Forthcoming Wars/Charles Elias Chartouni/April
23/2020
Warning Shots: Israel Spares Hezbollah Fighters to Avert a War/Ben Hubbard and
Ronen Bergman/The New York Times/ April 23 2020
Lebanon arrests suspect for putting Nigerian worker up 'for sale'/Timour Azhari
& Fidelis Mbah/Al Jazeera/April 23/2020
Titles For The Latest English LCCC Miscellaneous Reports And News published on
April 23-24/2020
Coronavirus: The UK says it will create COVID vaccine by autumn – but is it
possible?
China did not hide coronavirus information: Chinese envoy
Oxford University Pushing Science to the Limit in Vaccine Hunt
Spain’s coronavirus death toll surpasses 22,000
Italy Launches Antibody Tests for Virus Immunity
Divided EU Leaders Bicker over Virus Recovery Plan
Oil prices rebound amid rising US-Iran tension/DEBKAfile/April 23/2020
Iran’s History of Naval Provocations/USA
Iran summons Swiss ambassador as US representative in Tehran over Gulf tensions:
IRIB
Iran will destroy US warships if they threaten Iran in the Gulf: IRGC head
As COVID-19 Death Toll Rises, Iran Demands US be Held to Account for 'Cruel'
Sanctions
Iraq: Four Brigades Break Away from PMF Command
Iraq’s Caretaker PM Warns against 'Vacuum, Stalemate'
Syrian activists condemn execution of teenager for 'criticising HTS leader'
Trial of Syrian officers in Germany to shed light on Assad reign of terror:
Lawyers
Egypt Supports a Political Solution that Preserves Syria’s Unity
Abbas Vows Not to Stand Idle if Israel Annexes Land in West Bank
Titles For The Latest LCCC English analysis & editorials from miscellaneous
sources published on
April 23-24/2020
World leaders need to start making tough decisions/Abdulrahman Al-Rashed /Arab
News/April 23, 2020
Perpetual bonds can help the EU win its fight for survival/George Soros/Arab
News/April 23/2020
Are the international oil benchmarks in danger?/Faisal Faeq/Arab News/April
23/2020
Iran's Ayatollahs Will Struggle to Survive the Oil Slump/Con Coughlin/Gatestone
Institute/April 23/2020
Iran using pandemic propaganda to push its agenda/Dr. Majid Rafizadeh/Arab
News/April 23/2020
Turkey: Erdoğan Is Getting Coronavirus Dancing to His Tune/Burak Bekdil/Gatestone
Institute/April 23/2020
Venezuela: Maduro's Cuban Army/Lawrence A. Franklin/Gatestone Institute/April
23/2020
Iranian Regime Circles Criticize Supreme Leader Khamenei: Release The Billions
Of Dollars In Funds You Control To The Desperate Iranian Public/MEMRI/April 23,
2020
The Latest English LCCC Lebanese & Lebanese Related News &
Editorials published on April
23-24/2020
MoPH announces six news COVID-19 cases
NNA/April 23/2020
Six new cases of Covid-19 have been recorded within the last 24 hours, taking
Lebanon's tally to 688, as indicated by the Ministry of Public Health in its
daily report on Thursday.
Lebanon Records Six New Coronavirus Cases
Naharnet/April 23/2020
Lebanon on Thursday confirmed six more COVID-19 coronavirus cases, which raises
the country's tally to 688, the Health Ministry said. Five of the cases were
recorded among residents and one among the Lebanese expats who were repatriated
in recent days, the Ministry added in a statement. It said four of the five
local infections have been traced to identified cases. No deaths were recorded
over the past 24 hours as the death toll stands at 22 and the number of
recoveries at 140. The Ministry added that 1,357 laboratory tests were carried
out over the past 24 hours and that 69 infection clusters have been identified
to date, including 13 that have been active over the past two weeks. It said an
infection cluster involves the presence of two or more related cases. Lebanon
has been observing a lockdown since March 15 in a bid to stem the spread of the
virus.
3,000 Palestinians under Lebanon lockdown after first camp
virus case
Najia Houssari/Arab News/April 23/2020
BEIRUT: A refugee camp in Lebanon was sealed off and under lockdown on Wednesday
after a Palestinian woman from Syria tested positive for the coronavirus. The
woman, who lived in the Wavel camp in Baalbek, known locally as the Jalil or
Galilee camp, was taken to Rafik Hariri Hospital in Beirut for treatment. A
medical team from the UN refugee agency UNRWA and hospital staff tested 146
people at the camp, home to about 3,000 people, including all those who had
recent contact with the woman. Lebanon hosts tens of thousands of Palestinian
refugees and their descendants, mostly in squalid camps with no access to public
services and limited health care. There are also more than 1 million refugees
from the conflict in Syria. Wednesday’s virus case is the first inside one of
the camps, but aid workers have warned for months that if the COVID-19 pandemic
reached the camps it could cause carnage.
“There is always concern of an outbreak in a crowded place like the camps ...
but we hope that the measures we are taking with the ministry and others
concerned will help us avoid an outbreak,” said Huda Samra, communications
adviser for UNRWA in Lebanon. The Popular Committee inside the Wavel camp urged
people to stay at home, close shops, and sanitize neighborhoods, houses and
cars. Lebanon’s Health Ministry reported five new COVID-19 cases on Wednesday,
including two in Rayak in the Bekaa Valley, raising the total to 682. One
patient with underlying health issues died, raising the death toll to 22.
Dr. Iman Shankiti, the World Health Organization (WHO) representative in
Lebanon, urged patience, and said measures taken to prevent the spread of the
virus should continue. The US Embassy offered $13.3 million to help stop the
spread of COVID-19 in Lebanon, including an $8 million donation to UNHCR.
Saudi Arabia recorded 1,141 new cases of COVID-19 on Wednesday, bringing the
total to 12,772. Six patients died, raising the death toll to 114. In the Middle
East’s worst-hit country, Iran, 94 more people died, raising the total 5,391
from 85,996 confirmed cases. Egypt’s parliament on Wednesday amended the state
of emergency law to give President Abdel Fattah El-Sisi power to ban public and
private meetings, protests, celebrations and other forms of assembly, suspend
classes at schools and universities, and quarantine people returning from
abroad. Egypt has recorded nearly 3,500 cases of the virus, with 264 deaths.
Jordan eased movement restrictions on Wednesday in the large and sparsely
populated southern districts of Karak, Maan and Tafileh, where no coronavirus
cases have been reported. In Karak city, 120 km south of Amman, heavy traffic
clogged the streets. Jordan has recorded 428 positive cases of the virus and
seven deaths. Worldwide, the number of people infected with the coronavirus
passed 2.6 million, and the death toll rose to more than 182,000.
Lebanon's currency crashes amid financial turmoil,
coronavirus
The New Arab & agencies/April 23/2020
Lebanon's currency continued its downward spiral against the dollar on Thursday,
reaching a new low amid financial turmoil in the crisis-hit country compounded
by the coronavirus outbreak.
The currency crash came as hundreds of Lebanese – most of them wearing face
masks but few keeping a safe distance - crowded outside money transfer offices
on Thursday, the last day that authorities allowed dollars to be dispensed in
cash to customers following new Central Bank rules. The new rules, detailed in a
bank circular released this week, require banks and money transfer offices to
convert foreign currency transfers and cash withdrawals from foreign currency
bank accounts to the local currency, the Lebanese pound, at market rates
determined daily by the bank.The new rules, detailed in a bank circular released
this week, require banks and money transfer offices to convert foreign currency
transfers and cash withdrawals from foreign currency bank accounts to the local
currency, the Lebanese pound, at market rates determined daily by the bank.
The change is meant to ease demand on the dollar but has instead caused panic
among the Lebanese, who have relied on a stable national currency that has been
pegged to the dollar for nearly 30 years. The tiny Mediterranean country of
about 5 million people has a large diaspora that sends foreign currency home or
relies on transfers from here to students abroad. Also, many Lebanese keep their
savings in foreign currency.The Lebanese pound traded between 3,500 and 3,700 to
the dollar on Thursday, a sharp jump amid general currency depreciation that
began in March. It had been pegged to the dollar at 1,500 pounds since 1990, the
end of the country's civil war. Lebanon is facing its worst economic crisis in
decades, including unprecedented unemployment levels and a severe liquidity
crunch. The crisis has been compounded by a nationwide general lockdown, in
place for over a month, to combat the spread of coronavirus. Since late last
year, banks have taken various measures to stop a run on deposits, including
closing for two weeks last year, limiting withdrawals and money transfers
abroad.
But the latest measure, announced by the Central Bank, allowing only cash
withdrawals in the local currency, appears to have deepened the panic. Lebanese
have been taking to the streets since October denouncing the government and
banks for their inability to address the liquidity crunch and the general
economic malaise, and accusing them of corruption. The coronavirus pandemic has
only intensified the economic slump. "It is a game," said Youssef Abdel-Al, who
stood in line outside a money transfer office in Beirut, accusing the banks and
the political class of ignoring people's rights.
Protesters Block Highways, Roads as Lira Continues Downward
Spiral
Associated Press/Naharnet/April 23/2020
Anti-government protesters on Thursday blocked the vital Dbaye and Jiye highways
and the road outside the central bank in Hamra and started gathering in
Tripoli's al-Nour Square, as Lebanon's currency continued its downward spiral
against the dollar and reached a new low.
“Down with the Rule of the Bank”, chanted the protesters outside the central
bank and demanded the sacking of Central Bank Governor Riad Salameh. Protesters
in Tripoli and Jiye were also denouncing the deterioration of the Lebanese
lira's value. The Dbaye highway was swiftly reopened according to the Traffic
Management Center.The currency crash came as hundreds of Lebanese -- most of
them wearing face masks but few keeping a safe distance -- crowded outside money
transfer offices Thursday, the last day that authorities allowed dollars to be
dispensed to customers following new Central Bank rules.
The rules, detailed in a bank circular released this week, require banks and
money transfer offices to convert foreign currency transfers and cash
withdrawals from foreign currency bank accounts to the local currency, the
Lebanese pound, at market rates determined daily by the bank.
The change is meant to ease demand on the dollar but has instead caused panic
among the Lebanese, who have relied on a stable national currency that has been
pegged to the dollar for nearly 30 years. The tiny Mediterranean country of
about 5 million people has a large diaspora that sends foreign currency home or
relies on transfers from here to students abroad. Also, many Lebanese keep their
savings in foreign currency.
The Lebanese pound traded between 3,500 and 3,700 to the dollar on Thursday, a
sharp jump amid general currency depreciation that began in March. It had been
pegged to the dollar at 1,500 pounds since 1990, the end of the country's civil
war. The Central Bank measure allowing only cash withdrawals in the local
currency appears to have deepened the panic.
Maha Yahya, director of the Beirut-based Carnegie Middle East Center, said the
new rules are an effective float of the currency but it is not yet clear how the
banks will implement them. "Practically they are admitting the market rate. The
problem is when you do it on its own without a broader financial package, and
not part of a larger financial and economic rescue package, you are basically
triggering a rapid inflation," Yahya said. "It is catastrophic for the Lebanese
on multiple fronts. They are seeing their income disappear as well as their
pensions at a much faster rate. This is at a time when the cost of living is
increasing tremendously."
Lebanon is facing its worst economic crisis in decades, including unprecedented
unemployment levels and a severe liquidity crunch. The crisis has been
compounded by a nationwide general lockdown, in place for over a month, to
combat the spread of coronavirus. Prices of basic goods have soared -- sugar for
instance has gone up by nearly 67 percent. Consumer groups recorded a general
58% price increase on basic commodities since October.
The dollar is expected to continue to rise "so everybody now is hedging their
bets and waiting," Yahya said.
Lebanese have been taking to the streets since October denouncing the government
and banks for their inability to address the liquidity crunch and the general
economic malaise, and accusing them of corruption. The coronavirus pandemic has
only intensified the economic slump. "It is a game," said Youssef Abdel-Al, who
stood in line outside a money transfer office in Beirut, accusing the banks and
the political class of ignoring people's rights. Banks have taken other measures
to stop a run on deposits, including closing for two weeks last year, limiting
withdrawals and money transfers abroad. The Cabinet is expected to meet on
Friday to discuss an economic and financial rescue plan that has sparked a
political debate. Lebanon, which has recorded 22 deaths from 688 reported
coronavirus cases, has been in lockdown since mid-March, a measure that will
likely be extended. The national airport and the country's borders have been
shut, as well as public institutions, restaurants and schools.
Aoun Meets Central Bank Governor and Education Minister
Naharnet/April 23/2020
President Michel Aoun met Thursday in Baabda with Central Bank Governor Riad
Salameh and Education Minister Tarek al-Majzoub. The National News Agency said
Aoun and Salameh discussed “the monetary situations in the country and the
central bank's measures to address them.”With the education minister, the
president tackled “the educational situations in the country in light of the
general mobilization measures and the future of the academic year and the
exams.”Following the talks the minister announced that successive meetings will
be held with the parents' committees, school unions and the public sector to
reach an acceptable solution regarding the academic year. “We must take a middle
ground decision that suits parents and schools as to the issue of installments,”
he said. He added that the decision on the official exams will be taken soon.
Aoun tackles monetary situation with Central Bank Governor,
fate of academic year and official exams with Education Minister
NNA/Thursday, 23 April, 2020
President of the Republic, General Michel Aoun, received Education Minister, Dr.
Tarek Al-Majzoub, today at Baabda Palace, and discussed with him educational
conditions in light of Corona spread and public mobilization. After the meeting,
Majzoub told reporters:
"I had the honor to visit His Excellency, President Michel Aoun, and the
discussion was prolonged about the reality of education, the fate of official
exams and the return of school work, in light of public mobilization. Education
is the basis for a promising state. I will not talk too much, and I hope that
things will be clearer for you and for us".
Questions & Answers:
Question: parents are also concerned about school tuition, are there any
solutions?
Answer: "We in the Education Ministry hold successive meetings with family
committees, school and teacher unions, and the main goal is to reach an
acceptable solution in a triangular relationship. We hope the process will be
positive. Neither parents like to destroy the school, nor the school likes to
lose its students or teachers. We are talking about a group of around 100,000
between administrators and teacher in the public and private sectors. These are
helping the Lebanese economy. If this industry is good, then we have a good
citizen, which helps establish the state".
Question: is there a clear decision regarding the fate of the school year and
official exams?
Answer: "The clear decision will not be announced today, and we have made it in
the last phase to announce it. We have an equation which contains a basic
variable, the Corona pandemic which is a two-dimensional variable, the temporal,
i.e. the date of its elimination, and the other dimension related to its
implications for humans, and how to sterilize and repair damages. Therefore, we
are in a clear study of these issues, and we consult those concerned with the
educational process daily, and sometimes we communicate and meet with them late
at night. The main goal is to preserve the lives of every Lebanese student and
we hope that we all succeed in our endeavor, because we face a hidden global
pandemic that we do not know how it developed. We hope to help everyone, and to
be united".
Question: How can the official exams be conducted if distance learning is not at
the same level for all students?
Answer: "Distant learning has never been said to be the alternative, it is only
to keep the student in his study environment. In all countries of the world, the
student reads a book or a story at home. As for us, unfortunately, in our daily
culture, the book is only imposed in schools. We had 3 methods of treatment
available, either traditional, or via television or via internet, knowing that
there are problems of power outages and weakness of internet. We tried, and if
the attempt was not 100% complete, we will work to reform it, but we have to put
it in the framework that this experience has not been matched in Lebanese
history. Note that we preceded other countries despite our modest means, and the
professors who provide lessons on televisions are mostly volunteers".
Question: When will the decision be announced on the fate of the academic year
and official exams?
Answer: "Very soon, because the goal is to relieve people. All scenarios have
been set, and all concerned have been involved in the matter, to reach a result
that most people would be satisfied".
Question: Is the option of giving testimonies to students offered?
Answer: "This option is the most hated".
Question: But in the past some statements were given to students.
Answer: "This happened after the students completed their academic year.
Currently, we are in circumstances that we have not seen before, and a certain
formula must be reached to produce an intellectual and educated generation. The
process is not easy, but if we can, we can".
Central Bank Governor:
President Aoun had also met Central Bank Governor, Riad Salameh, and discussed
with him financial and monetary conditions, Central Bank measures, and circulars
issued in this context. ------Presidency Press Office
Diab chairs coronavirus committee meeting
NNA/Thursday, 23 April, 2020
Prime Minister, Dr. Hassan Diab, on Thursday chaired the Coronavirus Committee
meeting. Attending the meeting were Ministers of Defense, Zeina Akar, Public
Health Hamad Hassan, Foreign Affairs Nassif Hitti, Public Works and Transport
Michel Najjar, Education Tarek Majzoub, Energy Raymond Ghajar, Agriculture Abbas
Mortada, Industry Imad Hoballah, Social Affairs Ramzi Musharrafieh, Economy
Raoul Nehme, Information Manal Abdel Samad, and Labor Lamia Yammine, as well as
Secretary General of the Higher Defense Council, Major-General Mahmoud Al-Asmar,
PM Advisor for health issues, Petra Khoury, Secretary General of the Presidency
of the Council of Ministers Mahmoud Makkieh, and Secretary General of the
Presidency of the Republic Antoine Choukair. Talks touched on the current
general mobilization measures and on establishing a roadmap for the upcoming
phase to examine the possibility of gradually decreasing those measures.
*PM Press Office
UN chief: Pandemic is fast becoming 'human rights crisis'
NNA/Thursday, 23 April, 2020
UN Secretary-General Antonio Guterres warned the global community on Thursday
about the potential for the coronavirus pandemic to become a "human rights
crisis."In a video message posted on his Twitter account, Guterres said that
while the coronavirus does not discriminate, its impacts do. The UN chief
pointed to existing discrimination in the delivery of public services to tackle
COVID-19 and the "structural inequalities that impede access to them."Guterres
released a UN report that is meant to be a human-rights blueprint to respond to
the health, social and economic crisis gripping the world, stressing that "human
rights cannot be an afterthought in times of crisis." "We see the
disproportionate effects on certain communities, the rise of hate speech, the
targeting of vulnerable groups, and the risks of heavy-handed security responses
undermining the health response," Guterres said. The UN report also called on
governments to act to mitigate the worst impacts of COVID-19 on jobs,
livelihoods, access to basic services and family life.
Rising 'authoritarianism'
Guterres expressed concern about what he saw as "rising ethno-nationalism,
populism, authoritarianism and a push back against human rights in some
countries," as a result of the pandemic."The crisis can provide a pretext to
adopt repressive measures for purposes unrelated to the pandemic," he added. The
UN chief's remark comes as governments around the world carry out extraordinary
measures to deal with the pandemic and as activists have denounced state
violence, threats to press freedom, arrests and smartphone surveillance, as many
of the alleged abuses regimes have implemented to fight COVID-19. Guterres said
governments must be "transparent, responsive and accountable," stressing that
press freedom, civil society, the private sector and ''civic space'' are
essential. The UN chief added that emergency measures must be "legal,
proportionate, necessary and non-discriminatory, have a specific focus and
duration, and take the least intrusive approach possible to protect public
health.""Heavy-handed security responses undermine the health response and can
exacerbate existing threats to peace and security or create new ones," Guterres
said. "The message is clear: People and their rights must be front and center."
----Agencies
Berri Urges Govt. to Stop Lira Fall instead
of 'Standing Idly By'
Naharnet/April 23/2020
Parliament Speaker Nabih Berri on Thursday called on the government to “practice
its legal and procedural authorities to halt the dramatic collapse of the
Lebanese lira exchange rate.”“This would be a real social safety umbrella for
the Lebanese,” he said. “The government should not remain standing idly by in
the face of the ongoing financial chaos while claiming that it is keen on
people's food security,” Berri added. The Speaker's stance comes after the
dollar exchange rate crossed the LBP 3,700 mark at a number of money exchange
shops on Thursday. Tensions have surged since Wednesday between Berri, Prime
Minister Hassan Diab and several ministers after quorum was lost during
parliament's debate of a draft law that grants the government LBP 1,200 billion
for its coronavirus economic aid plan. Berri dismissed a request by Diab to hold
an evening session to pass the draft law, telling him: "Neither you nor anyone
else can set the session's time or impose on parliament what it can or should
do."Separately, Berri called for a joint session for several parliamentary
committees on Wednesday to discuss the general amnesty draft laws.
Lebanese PM Complains About BDL’s Lack of Cooperation
Beirut - Asharq Al-Awsat/Thursday, 23 April, 2020
A parliamentary session on Wednesday lost the legal quorum when the government
submitted a request to earmark LBP1,200 billion (USD 800 million based on the
official exchange rate) for a social aid plan. Meanwhile, parallel criticism by
the government and the Free Patriotic Movement (FPM) targeted the governor of
Banque du Liban, Riad Salameh, over recent decisions pertaining to withdrawals.
“There should be more coordination by the Central Bank (BDL) with the
government,” Diab said, at the end of the session. Commenting on a recent BDL
circular regarding LBP withdrawals from USD accounts, the prime minister said:
“The government was not informed about this… The central bank does not
coordinate with the executive authority on the decisions it issues, and I will
have a say on that after the cabinet session on Friday.” In remarks, Former
Minister and FPM Leader Gebran Bassil asked: “How can the central bank issue
circulars that lead to the collapse of the LBP exchange rate (against the
USD)?”Diab noted that the political attack on the government was expected,
hoping that it would not affect social and food security. He expressed regret
over the postponement of discussions on the social aid plan due to lack of
quorum. “The LBP1,200 billion loan is in the form of bonds. The issue was
postponed because quorum was lost,” he said. Wednesday’s session also witnessed
a sharp debate over a draft law to take ministers to trial at ordinary courts.
Al-Mustaqbal bloc deputies underlined the need to achieve the judiciary’s
independence before passing this bill. “There are those who want to blame one
political party for all the crises in the country and want to hold Rafik Hariri
accountable in his grave… We demand a law that defines the responsibilities and
guarantees an independent judiciary,” al-Mustaqbal MP Mohammed al-Hajjar
remarked.
Lebanon PM: Government 'not consulted' on central bank
policy
Timour Azhari/Aljazeera/April 23/2020
Economists warn central bank decision to allow US dollar withdrawals in Lebanese
pounds could trigger hyperinflation.
Beirut, Lebanon - Lebanon's Prime Minister Hassan Diab said Wednesday that the
Banque du Liban, the country's central bank, was going against government policy
by allowing all depositors to withdraw money from foreign currency-denominated
accounts in the rapidly depreciating local currency.
"We were not consulted on this matter," Diab told Al Jazeera, following a
parliament session. He added in remarks to reporters that he would have "strong
words" about the issue after a Friday Cabinet session. Lebanon's central bank
said on Tuesday that all depositors with foreign currency stuck in the Lebanese
banking system due to harsh capital controls could withdraw their money in local
currency, at "a market exchange rate" to be determined by banks. Monetary policy
in the economically ravaged nation has been very fluid of late, and the process
surrounding major changes is opaque, which can and does sow confusion. Adding to
the chaos - Lebanon has at least four exchange rates. There's an official rate
that hasn't changed for 23 years and generously values the Lebanese pound at
1,500 pounds to $1. There's also a legal but parallel market rate that values
the Lebanese pound at a far less forgiving but more realistic 3,200 or 3,300 to
$1. Then there's a black market rate that's even more punishing toward the
Lebanese pound. And finally, a rate of 2,600 Lebanese pounds to $1 set by the
central bank for small depositors who want to withdraw money from their foreign
currency-denominated accounts under $3000.
Tuesday's decision by the Banque du Liban or central bank is significant because
prior to it, depositors were forced to withdraw US dollars in Lebanese pounds at
the official exchange rate, which effectively left half the value of their
savings on the table.
The central bank's new policy now gives all depositors a potential way to unlock
their foreign currency deposits at a rate that more accurately reflects the true
value of the Lebanese pound. However, that rate will be set by banks, and could
still value the Lebanese pound more favourably than prevailing parallel market
rates. But many depositors could seize the opportunity to unlock savings they
have not been able to withdraw. That leads to a real sting in the tail, say
analysts, because when a wave of depositors suddenly converts foreign exchange
savings into a rapidly depreciating local currency, it could feed speculative
attacks on the Lebanese pound, resulting in hyperinflation.
'Hyperinflation is knocking'
Omar Tamo, a Lebanese foreign exchange specialist, told Al Jazeera that the
central bank's Tuesday decision could indeed "decrease the hidden haircut"
depositors were forced to endure when forced to convert savings at the official
exchange rate. But the new directive also pushes Lebanon's economy towards
full-blown liraficaiton (The Lebanese pound is also referred to as the Lebanese
lira) - the process of effectively forcing the conversion of US dollars into
local currency."Hyperinflation is knocking on our doors," Tamo said. Lebanon is
grappling with its worst-ever financial crisis rooted in decades of corruption,
mismanagement and faulty policies. Banks have few real dollars left to match
over $110bn in dollar-denominated deposits, having lent the money to the Banque
du Liban and successive governments, while a portion is also tied up in
nonperforming loans to the private sector. A draft government rescue plan
estimates banks have $83bn in losses and calls for a "haircut" or loss borne by
large depositors to help fill the gap. Diab said last week that 98 percent of
depositors would not be affected. This roughly equates to anyone with an account
under $500,000.
But the central bank's policy change on Tuesday effectively puts Diab's promise
in peril.
Big needs, little aid
Diab said that his government would finalise its rescue plan by next week.
Meanwhile, protests are growing in defiance of a nationwide lockdown over
coronavirus as people struggle to make ends meet. Thousands of Lebanese have
lost their jobs since last year as businesses crumbled along with the economy.
That process accelerated in the wake of COVID-19 containment measures, and few
of the jobless have received any government aid. A number of MPs warned during
Wednesday's Parliament session that Lebanon may soon face a social catastrophe,
but so many had left the chamber by the end of the session that quorum was lost.
This meant that a vote could not be held on the government's proposal for 1,200
billion Lebanese pounds ($400m) in aid for farmers, vocational workers,
industrialists and small to medium-sized businesses.
"This is necessary so that Lebanese society can keep going for the next months,"
Diab said to the remaining MPs.
Nasrallah Describes Lebanon's Coronavirus Situation as
'Good'
Naharnet/April 23/2020
Hizbullah chief Sayyed Hassan Nasrallah on Wednesday said “Lebanon's situation
in the anti-coronavirus fight is good due to the efforts of the government, the
Health Ministry and people's respect for the measures.” “Confronting coronavirus
is a religious duty and abiding by the measures is a religious duty,” said
Nasrallah in a televised speech on the eve of the holy month of Ramadan.
“Commitment to the measures must continue and through patience we can triumph
over coronavirus,” he added. The daily rate of Lebanon's coronavirus cases has
declined in recent days. Five cases were confirmed on Wednesday, taking the
total to 682.
FPM Files Lawsuit over Billions of Dollars Sent Abroad
Naharnet/April 23/2020
The Free Patriotic Movement on Thursday filed a lawsuit over “the billion of
dollars that were sent abroad in 2019, especially after October 17.”“As part of
the continuation of its battle for recovering the funds that have been smuggled
to outside the country and after carrying out several steps towards the central
bank and in parliament, MP Ziad Aswad tasked by the FPM and its head Jebran
Bassil has filed a lawsuit with State Prosecutor Ghassan Oueidat,” the FPM said
in a statement. The lawsuit relates to “the transfer abroad of billions of
dollars in 2019 in a selective manner, especially after October 17,” the FPM
added, noting that the transfers have continued to date, which has “burdened the
economy and harmed depositors especially small ones.”
Lebanon detains man over ‘appalling’ killing of 10
including 2 children
AFP, Beirut/Thursday 23 April 2020
Lebanon has detained a man over the killing of 10 people including his wife, two
brothers and two Syrian children, a judicial source said Thursday, in a crime
that shocked the country. The case has stirred public opinion since the
discovery on Tuesday of the first nine bodies near the village of Baakline in
the Chouf area southeast of Beirut, in what Prime Minister Hassan Diab described
as an “appalling crime.”“Police found the perpetrator at 2 am hiding in the
garden of a home in the area of Ainbal near Baakline and detained him,” the
judicial source said. “He admitted that he suspected his wife was cheating on
him with his brother, so he decided to stab her to death in the marital home,”
the source added. The wife’s family has denied accusations against her, in a
statement published by local media. The man then invited his brother to join him
on a hunting trip to the Baakline river, the judicial source said, where he
killed him with a hunting rifle. His body was the 10th to be discovered. In a
subsequent rampage, the man killed anyone in his path, including six Syrians --
including a man and his two boys -- and another brother, the source said. Local
media said another Lebanese man was also killed.
On social media Thursday, the hashtag #Baakline was trending, with users
condemning the mass killings. “Down with disgusting male excuses. He is a
criminal and a killer,” women’s rights activist Hayat Mirshad wrote on Twitter.
The grisly events come as Lebanon is under lockdown to stem the spread of the
novel coronavirus, and grappling with its worst economic crisis since the
1975-1990 war.
Ministry of Information launches joint initiative with WHO,
UNICEF, and UNDP
TK Maloy/Annahar/April 23/2020
Verify the source and its evidence, double-check with trusted sources like the
websites of the Ministry of Information, Ministry of Public Health, WHO, UNICEF,
and UNDP among others.
BEIRUT: An epidemic of misinformation has been circulating through different
communication channels and in Lebanese communities since the beginning of the
pandemic outbreak preventing people to heed official health warnings, the
Ministry of Information warned Wednesday. To counter the growing volume of fake
news, the MoI is taking further steps and announced a new initiative in
partnership with WHO, UNICEF, and UNDP to flood media and social media with
facts and science. Minister of Information, Dr. Manal Abdel Samad stressed the
risks linked to fake news: “yesterday, (Monday) the drop of the coronavirus
infections was accompanied by a very dangerous rumor, which is the end of the
Corona pandemic in Lebanon. This is a simple sample of misinformation that
creates confusion and false hope. Today we announce a new partnership with the
UN organizations: World Health Organization, UNICEF, the United Nations
Development Program, to tackle the threat of fake news”. She added: “our
partnership includes several phases: a media campaign that we launched today
along with a rumor log and at a later stage a website will be launched to verify
the information.”
COVID-19 drug security in Lebanon: Defining a post-quarantine solution
Rumors linked to COVID-19 are not only circulating in Lebanon but also across
the globe. Conspiracy theories about the origin of the virus and the vaccines
being developed to prevent it still arise daily. Posts or videos that promote
unverified treatments and cures have collected thousands of views, the Minister
noted.With the support of UNICEF, WHO, and UNDP, the Ministry of Information
will develop a rumor log to record locally monitored rumors, verify them and
provide neutral, accurate, trusted information to each shared rumor. A reporting
website will be also available to allow people to report and fact check any news
they’ve heard of. A campaign will be disseminated on media and social media
widely shared fake news along with their accurate answers. “The battle against
the COVID-19 outbreak is a double-fold struggle with the spread of
misinformation that is harmful and could lead to serious repercussions to the
health of individuals and their families,” Dr. Iman Shankiti, WHO Representative
in Lebanon said. “Together with our UN partners and the Ministry of Information,
we will make sure to counter any and every rumor with solid facts putting the
health of the public at the forefront of the fight against the coronavirus
pandemic. “Misinformation leaves children, families, and communities,
unprotected and vulnerable to the disease, and it also spreads fear and
stigmatization”, said Yukie Mokuo, UNICEF Lebanon Representative. “This is a
time for science and solidarity. Our collaboration today with the ministry of
Information is more crucial than ever to spread the correct information and make
it loud and clear amongst families to always consult reliable and trusted
sources”.
“As with the courageous front-line healthcare workers engaged against the spread
of the virus, we can all join the fight against COVID 19 by promoting facts and
science and embracing hope over despair and divisions. As part of our efforts to
counter fake news, we have launched with LBCI the “Count to 10” campaign earlier
last month and today’s partnership with the Ministry of Information, UNICEF and
WHO marks another milestone in strengthening our collective efforts to combat
misinformation, and rumors” said Celine Moyroud, UNDP Resident Representative.
The joint initiative advises, to combat misinformation related to COVID-19,
think carefully before sharing any news. Verify the source and its evidence,
double-check with trusted sources like the websites of the Ministry of
Information, Ministry of Public Health, WHO, UNICEF, and UNDP among others.
Lebanese social media - FB, Twitter, Instagram, and WhatsApp to name several
mediums - are rife with passed along rumors whose origins are murky and have no
clear source of origin.
Once passed along among friends as FYI messages, this misinformation becomes
viral and is perceived as facts. Experts note that the golden rule with any
information is, consider the source.
Lebanon still searching for perpetrators of Baakline
shooting
Timour Azhari/Al Jazeera/April 23/2020
New details emerge of crime that left nine dead, including two children, in mass
shooting.
Beirut, Lebanon - Lebanese security forces and soldiers have been searching for
the perpetrators of a mass shooting that left nine people, including two
children, dead in the mountain town of Baakline. Two children, one woman and six
men - five of whom were Syrian and four Lebanese - were killed in the attack on
Tuesday, believed to be the worst non-conflict shootings in at least two
decades. The state-run National News Agency (NNA) reported late on Tuesday that
two brothers, identified as MH and FH, are suspected of being behind the
multiple murders. The NNA said the motive was "revenge" against a Syrian man,
though further details were not provided. The NNA said MH first killed his
Lebanese wife before going on to kill four Syrians. The wife's brother then went
to calm him down, and MH killed him too. The suspect then headed through an
agricultural area with his brother where he encountered two Lebanese men
ploughing a field. The NNA reported that both were killed. The two brothers then
encountered a Syrian man, and MH shot and killed him too. They then drove their
car to near Baakline's secondary school, parked it, and escaped to an unknown
area, the NNA said, adding that 20 square kilometres (7.7 square miles) had been
searched overnight in an area with rugged terrain.
'No issues' between Lebanese and Syrians
The crime occurred in a remote part of the town near a wooded area where Syrian
labourers have lived for more than 10 years, according to Baakline Mayor
Abdullah al-Ghussaini. He told local media at the crime scene there had been "no
issues" between locals and Syrians, and said the municipality would provide land
for them to be buried. Hundreds of thousands of Syrian labourers have long come
to Lebanon for seasonal work, with many living in the country since the outbreak
of the Syrian war nine years ago. About 900,000 Syrian refugees are registered
with the United Nations High Commissioner for Refugees in Lebanon, though
officials estimate that closer to 1.5 million actually live in the country.
Tensions between some host communities and Syrian refugees have increased over
the past year as the economic situation in the country deteriorates, with some
parties laying part of the blame for the crisis on the large refugee presence.
Tuesday's mass shooting was facilitated by widespread weapon ownership in
Lebanon, with many guns left over from the country's 15-year civil war that
ended in 1990. However, non-conflict mass shootings are not common. In March
2019, an off-duty soldier shot four migrant workers in the Bekaa Valley town of
Zahle, killing one. In 2017, a 14-year-old boy killed four people with a
pump-action shotgun during a rampage in the capital, Beirut. In 2002, an
employee at Lebanon's education ministry opened fire on his colleagues, killing
eight people.
Hezbollah’s Gambling and the Forthcoming Wars
Charles Elias Chartouni/April 23/2020
شارل الياس شرتوني: مقامرة حزب الله والحروب القادمة
The New York Times report on Hezbollah’s active pursuit of war
preparations and impending military confrontations with Israel, is a timely
warning on the hazards of its strategic script and brinkmanship. Hezbollah’s de
facto takeover of the political helm in Lebanon, will provide the Lebanese
government with no more excuses and blame shifting insofar as the cyclical
rounds of violence with Israel. The inherent curbs on Lebanon’s territorial
sovereignty set by regional power brokers ( Syria, PLO, Iran, Saudi Arabia, ...
), and the long-standing inter-Lebanese conflicts over its practical
enforcement, have been at the source of an endemic instability which has
questioned Lebanon’s viability and ability to run itself as an independent
country. Hezbollah’s role in this regard comes on the heels of an abiding
instability, State powerlessness and pliability to Arab and Islamic power
brokers, and an open-ended crisis of national legitimacy and political
despondency. I wonder whether Lebanon is able to deal with the destructive
fallouts of the cyclical rounds of violence with Israel, and tackle the
quandaries of its bankrupted financial and economic system owed mainly to the
aporias of a curtailed sovereignty and its incidence on governance.
One wonders how Lebanon is capable of managing systemic financial and economic
crises without a modicum of stability, integrated decision making, and a working
diplomacy to deal with the imponderables of open-ended regional conflicts and
their impact on its internal political dynamics. How can a subdued government
operate on cumulative reform and reconstruction scenarios, if its projected
plans and movements are undermined beforehand by overriding political and
strategic agendas that tend to upend its scale of priorities with no further
consideration, and to whichever extent can Lebanon accommodate the challenges of
strategic brinkmanship and deal with its foreseeable consequences and their
built-in and recurrent conflict scenarios? Retrospectively there is nothing new,
Lebanon is doomed to live with the congenial defects of curtailed sovereignty,
endemic instability, and their consecutive outcomes. We have to give a due
consideration to the overall strategic landscape while plotting the course of a
projected reconstruction phase with its cohort of paradoxical communication,
contradictory premisses and non consensual reform policy plans. Otherwise, the
tentative success of any projected reformist course requires an "overlapping
consensus" which seems to be deliberately flouted by Hezbollah mapping of its
strategic coordinates and political priorities..
Warning Shots: Israel Spares Hezbollah Fighters to Avert a
War
Ben Hubbard and Ronen Bergman/The New York Times/ April 23 2020
بن هوبارد ورونين بيرجمان/نيويورك تيمز/طلقات تحذيرية: إسرائيل تتفادى مقاتلي حزب
الله لتجنب الحرب
Israel and Hezbollah have adopted informal rules of engagement as
both sides prepare for possible war while trying to avoid setting it off.
BEIRUT, Lebanon — When the missile exploded near the black Jeep Cherokee, three
Hezbollah operatives leapt out and ran for cover.
A moment later, appearing to know they had time, they returned to get their
bags, and strolled away before a second missile obliterated the SUV.
No one was killed or wounded in the Israeli attack on the Hezbollah team in
Syria last week, but that was the point.
According to several current and former Israeli and Middle Eastern officials,
Israel has adopted a policy of warning Hezbollah operatives in Syria before
bombing their convoys to avoid killing them and risking a devastating war in
Lebanon.
The attack, which was caught on closed-circuit video, exposed a new wrinkle in
the informal rules of engagement between Israel and Hezbollah, the Lebanese
militant group, as both sides prepare for what could be the next big war while
trying to avoid setting it off.
Israel’s policy of pre-strike warnings in Syria, which has not been previously
reported, reflects its fear of engaging Hezbollah’s vast rocket arsenal even as
it tries to draw a red line to prevent Hezbollah from acquiring and developing
precision-guided missiles, which it sees as a strategic threat.
The decades-old struggle between Israel and Hezbollah, which is backed by Iran
and committed to the destruction of the Jewish state, has expanded across a
wider swath of the Middle East in recent years, as Hezbollah has stepped up its
involvement in Syria, Iraq and elsewhere, and Israel has continued to pursue it.
But while Israel has not hesitated to kill Iranians in Syria, where the chaos of
a nine-year civil war has allowed a host of powers to operate, it has largely
refrained from killing members of Hezbollah.
Hezbollah operatives in Syria have received surprise phone calls from Israeli
officials warning them to evacuate their bases before they are bombed, according
to an official from the pro-Iran regional alliance. And the first missile fired
at the Hezbollah Jeep last week was a deliberate miss, a warning shot aimed at
forcing the men to flee so their gear could be destroyed, an intelligence
official said. The plan failed in this case because the men retrieved their bags
before the car was hit.
But the idea, a senior Middle Eastern intelligence official said, is to tell
Hezbollah, “We can see you, even if we don’t kill you.”
Hezbollah, too, for all of its heated rhetoric about destroying the Jewish
state, has refrained from killing Israelis in recent years, apparently also
fearing a war that could destroy much of Lebanon.
Two days after the Jeep attack in Syria, Israel accused Hezbollah of cutting
holes in the fence along the Lebanon-Israel border and hanging a poster of its
leaders and of Qassim Suleimani, the powerful Iranian general who supported
Hezbollah and who was killed in an American drone strike in January.
Amin Hoteit, a retired brigadier general in the Lebanese army who is close to
Hezbollah, said the gesture was a way for Hezbollah to send a nonlethal message
to Israel, thumbing its nose at Israel’s attack and demonstrating that its
operatives could cross the border if they chose to.
Since the Israeli strike had killed no one, “Hezbollah’s response came without
casualties,” General Hoteit said.
“This is the new warfare,” said Randa Slim, a senior fellow at the Middle East
Institute in Washington. “There is going to be precise targeting of individuals
and key operatives in what Israel deems an existential threat to its security,
which is the precision-guided missiles of Hezbollah.”
But the tactic of warning shots and efforts to strike equipment instead of
people may get Israel only so far, she said.
“If the precision-guided missile project is going at the rate the Israelis are
saying, eventually they are going to start killing these people.”
Israeli officials believe that Hezbollah has an arsenal of more than 100,000
missiles and rockets that can reach all corners of the Jewish state. Israel’s
Iron Dome missile defense system would be unable to shoot down a large volley of
rockets fired simultaneously, officials say, and Israel’s defense relies in part
on the fact that the rockets are not very accurate.
But Israel contends that Hezbollah is trying to build guided missiles, which
could target key installations such as military bases, government buildings or
power plants, and would be nearly impossible to stop. Israel has carried out
numerous airstrikes in Syria on what it says were convoys of weapons bound for
Hezbollah to drive home the point that it will not accept a fleet of smart
missiles on its border.
Last August, Israel sent an exploding drone into the heart of a
Hezbollah-dominated neighborhood in Beirut to destroy what Israeli officials
described as machinery vital to the precision-missile production effort. But in
order to avoid killing Hezbollah members, the attack took place before dawn when
no one was around, the senior Middle Eastern official said.
The warning tactic is an extension of one that Israel pioneered in Gaza. When
the Israeli military wanted to destroy weapons caches hidden in a civilian home,
it would drop a nonexplosive or low-powered explosive on the roof to warn the
inhabitants to leave before the building was bombed. The tactic is nicknamed
“knock on the roof.”
As Hezbollah moved into Syria, first to bolster the forces of President Bashar
al-Assad against the rebels and later to expand the group’s military apparatus
pointed at Israel, Israel began using the technique there as well. When applied
to vehicles, like the drone strike last week, it is nicknamed “knock on the
bumper.”
The Jeep Cherokee that was struck last week had just crossed from Lebanon into
Syria, despite the border being closed because of the coronavirus pandemic, and
had no license plates.
A senior Hezbollah operative, Imad Kraimi, was in the car, according to the
member of the pro-Iran regional alliance and the senior Middle Eastern official
who, like other officials interviewed for this article, spoke on condition of
anonymity to discuss intelligence matters. Mr. Kraimi works with a Hezbollah
unit in charge of smuggling sophisticated weapons, the intelligence official
said.
Surveillance video of the SUV, verified by The New York Times, shows it stopped
alongside a highway after the first missile strike. The three passengers,
including Mr. Kraimi, flee the car, leaving their doors open, but then return
and unload a number of duffel bags and backpacks before shutting the doors and
moving away again.
Moments later, the second missile hits and the car explodes in a cloud of smoke.
The Middle Eastern intelligence official expressed frustration that the men had
managed to retrieve their gear.
“It looks as if one of them remembers he had forgotten the shopping of milk and
eggs that his wife had told him to get and he even goes back for them,” the
official said. “Is this the might of the strongest power in the Middle East?”
Hezbollah has not commented on the attack.
The tactic has caused a rift between Israel’s military leadership and its spy
service, the Mossad.
The military brass believe that warning Hezbollah militiamen while destroying
their equipment creates a balance of deterrence while avoiding a spiral into
war.
“Adhering to these unwritten rules has allowed us to hit Hezbollah again and
again, alongside the war against other targets across the Middle East, without
being drawn into an all-out war,” a former senior military official said.
But the Mossad chief, Yossi Cohen, doubts that Hezbollah, Iran and their allies
could muster a significant military threat to Israel and argues that Israel
should not establish a balance of deterrence with a militia that Israel and the
United States consider a terrorist organization. Terrorists, he argues, should
be killed based on operational needs and not spared because of fear of a
response.
The only message to send Hezbollah’s leader, Hassan Nasrallah, “is that he must
not try us,” Mr. Cohen said in a discussion with Israel’s military chiefs. “It
makes no difference what he fires against Israel — extended-range Grad missiles,
or M-600 rockets or anything else — the moment that happens, he and his entire
organization will be totally wiped out.”
So far, the military’s caution has mostly won out, although Israel did kill two
Hezbollah operatives last August in an attack that Prime Minister Benjamin
Netanyahu said prevented the imminent launch of “killer drones” from Syria
toward Israel. A spokesman for the Israeli military declined to comment, as well
as the spokeswoman for the Israeli prime minister’s office, to which Mossad
reports.
Israeli airstrikes in Syria in recent years have killed hundreds of Iranians,
Syrians and Iranian-backed militiamen from Iraq and elsewhere. But these strikes
have killed as few as 16 Hezbollah operatives since 2013, according to the
Syria-based member of the pro-Iran axis in the region.
*Ben Hubbard reported from Beirut, and Ronen Bergman from Tel Aviv. Hwaida Saad
contributed reporting from Beirut.
*Ronen Bergman is a staff writer for The New York Times Magazine, based in Tel
Aviv. His latest book is “Rise and Kill First: The Secret History of Israel’s
Targeted Assassinations,” published by Random House.
Lebanon arrests suspect for putting Nigerian worker up 'for
sale'
Timour Azhari & Fidelis Mbah/Al Jazeera/April 23/2020
Facebook post sparks outrage in Nigeria, with the government calling for the
man's prosecution.
Beirut, Lebanon - Lebanese security forces have arrested a man suspected of
putting a Nigerian domestic worker up "for sale" on a popular Facebook page used
to trade everyday items such as furniture, food and shoes.
"Domestic worker of African citizenship (Nigerian) for sale with a new residency
and full legal papers," an account under the name Wael Jerro posted on the page,
named Buy and Sell in Lebanon. The exact date of the post remains unclear.
The suspect was arrested on Thursday by Lebanon's General Security agency, the
country's leading intelligence agency, which also controls entry and exit from
the small Mediterranean nation. General Security said an investigation was under
way in the case, and warned that advertising people online violated the
country's human trafficking laws, subjecting perpetrators to prosecution.
The arrest came after Justice Minister Marie-Claude Najem on Wednesday ordered
the judiciary to follow up on the case, citing Lebanon's anti-human trafficking
law. Lebanon's Ministry of Labour also released a statement saying anyone who
advertises domestic workers online would be prosecuted. Najem said in a
statement that the case represented a "blatant violation of human dignity".
The case has sparked fury in Nigeria, where officials requested the Lebanese
authorities to investigate the incident.
"The government is very angry," said Julie Okah-Donli, director-general of the
National Agency for the Prohibition of Trafficking in Persons (NAPTIP). "The
Lebanese government should prosecute him and rescue other girls that have been
sold or [are] about to be sold into slavery."
Many Nigerians also took to social media to express their outrage.
'Modern-day slavery'
Some 250,000 migrant domestic workers - most from sub-Saharan African countries
such as Ethiopia and Ghana, and southeast Asian countries including Nepal and
the Philippines - reside in Lebanon.
Domestic workers in Lebanon are legally bound to their employers through the
country's notorious kafala system, which only allows them to end their contracts
with the consent of employers.
The system has led to widespread abuse, ranging from the withholding of wages,
to physical and sexual assault. Camille Abousleiman, Lebanon's former labour
minister, has called it "modern-day slavery".
While Lebanon's Ministry of Labour says it is working to improve protection for
domestic workers by amending the contract between them and their employers,
experts say the abuse will continue until the kafala system is entirely
abolished.
"Adopting a revised contract which addresses shortcomings is undoubtedly a step
forward, but it's not enough," Diala Haidar, a Lebanon campaigner at Amnesty
International, told Al Jazeera.
"The Lebanese labour law explicitly excludes domestic workers from labour
protections enjoyed by other workers such as minimum wage, overtime pay,
compensation for unfair dismissal, and social security. The labour law needs to
be amended to recognise domestic workers as workers and grant them full labour
protections," she said.
General Security had said in 2017 that two domestic workers die every week in
Lebanon. Videos often circulate of domestic workers trying to escape the homes
of their employers by climbing down high buildings. Frequently, they are found
dead.
Last month, the body of 23-year-old Ghanaian domestic worker Faustina Tay was
found in a parking lot under the fourth-storey apartment of her employers. In
the days leading up to her death, Tay had alleged repeated abuse by her employer
and the agent who brought her to Lebanon and said she feared her life was in
danger.
The employer has since been blacklisted, meaning he cannot hire any more
domestic workers, while a criminal investigation is ongoing. The high-profile
case, first reported by Al Jazeera, shed light on the conditions migrant workers
face in Lebanon.
Despite the fact that most domestic workers arrive in Lebanon by legal means,
the Facebook post has renewed calls in Nigeria for tougher measures to curb the
activities of those involved in human trafficking - a big problem faced by a
number of African countries.
"As long as traffickers are working about freely, making money, trafficking will
not stop," Abike Dabiri-Erewa, Chairman, Nigerians in Diaspora Commission, told
Al Jazeera.
Last year, the Nigerian government began the repatriation of up to 20,000 girls
who were trafficked to Mali.
The national agency fighting human trafficking said many of these girls ended up
working as sex slaves in mining camps in Mali after they were tricked with
promises of getting jobs in Europe.
In 2018, the government removed some 5,500 Nigerians from Libya following
reports of abuse, slavery and torture. "We shall, after COVID-19, engage
countries where human trafficking is endemic with a view to rescuing and
repatriating victims of trafficking as we did in Libya a few years ago,"
Okah-Donli said, referring to the disease caused by the new coronavirus.
"Human trafficking is a global problem and huge all over the world because of
the large profit. It's an organised criminal network that cuts across local and
international boundaries. more of it is for sexual and labour exploitation and
of course organ harvesting," she added.
The Latest English LCCC
Miscellaneous Reports And News published on
April 23-24/2020
Coronavirus: The UK says it will create COVID vaccine by autumn – but is it
possible?
Alicia Buller, Al Arabiya English/Thursday 23 April 2020
The UK has announced human trials for a coronavirus vaccine it says could be
ready by autumn. Despite a normal development time of 18 months or more for a
vaccine, an Oxford research team believes large-scale production could be
underway as soon as September – about nine months after the novel coronavirus
was first spotted in China. UK health secretary Matt Hancock said the new trial
began on Thursday. Speaking at the British government’s daily press briefing
Hancock said he is “throwing everything at” the country’s efforts to create a
COVID-19 vaccine. Hancock pledged £20 million ($24.6 million) of funding for the
Oxford project, and £22.5 million for clinical trials of another prototype at
Imperial College London. The US, China, and now Germany, which announced
clinical tests on Wednesday, are the only other countries to have begun human
trials. A million doses by autumn? According to Professor Andrew Pollard, a
member of the Oxford team developing the vaccine, it would be possible to
develop millions of doses by autumn – assuming everything went well. “If you had
a sailing wind and absolutely nothing goes wrong in all of that complex
technical process and you have all the facilities available, you could have
millions of doses by the autumn of this year,” Pollard told Sky News. However,
he said it was unlikely that the vaccine could be rolled out on a mass scale
before the end of 2020, even if no problems arose. “But to the very large scale,
there’s a huge technical effort to get there and I think it’s unlikely that that
could happen before the end of this year,” he told Sky News. “If the trials are
successful there’s a big technical hurdle to upscale doses of the vaccine to the
millions, tens of millions or even billions that would be needed for the
world.”“It’s a very different manufacturing process to be able to make such
large volumes of vaccine. The capacity to do that round the world is quite
limited,” he added. Pollard said the Oxford project had been given a head start
by work already done on the SARS and MERS coronaviruses, viruses from the same
family as COVID-19 which experienced outbreaks in recent years.
“When this new virus emerged there was already work going on in Oxford on MERS
coronavirus and a vaccine was being trialed on humans,” he said. “What happened
was that the genetic code from the new coronavirus was discovered in January and
it was possible to go back to that genetic code and make these new vaccines very
rapidly.”
Global vaccine race
In America, the US government has committed to a $1 billion COVID-19 vaccine
deal with Johnson & Johnson, co-financing research through the Biomedical
Advanced Research and Development Authority (Barda). Human trials on the vaccine
have already started in the US – breaking records for the speed with which such
trials can get off the ground. Healthy volunteers in America are being given the
new-generation “genetic hack” after it bypassed standard animal testing as part
of a highly expedited process. It has also been reported that GSK and Sanofi
have teamed up to develop a coronavirus treatment, and plan to have a vaccine
ready for testing by the end of 2020. However, David Nabarro, professor of
global health at London’s Imperial College, has previously warned that it may
never be possible to develop a safe and effective vaccine for the disease, and
that humanity may have to “find ways to go about our lives with this virus as a
constant threat.”The UK’s Hancock has also conceded that the vaccine under
development in Britain may not work out: “Nothing about this process is certain.
Vaccine development is a matter of trial and error and trial again. That’s the
nature of how vaccines are developed,” he said.
Why does it take so long to create a vaccine? The biggest hurdle for vaccine
development is manufacture and distribution at scale. Health experts have warned
that the virus could hit Britain in “multiple waves,” which has led to fears
that some vaccines might not work on mutated strains. But Pollard said it is
“not surprising” to see mutations in the virus due to its genetic makeup. He
added: “So far, there haven’t been new viruses emerging, which are unable to be
prevented by the types of immune responses that we expect to be generated by the
vaccines being developed.”
China did not hide coronavirus information: Chinese envoy
Reuters, London/Thursday 23 April 2020
China did not cover up the novel coronavirus outbreak and so the US should not
seek to bully the People’s Republic in a manner reminiscent of the 19th century
European colonial wars, the Chinese ambassador to London said on Thursday. “I
hear quite a lot of this speculation, this disinformation about China covering
up, about China hiding something - this is not true,” Liu Xiaoming said. “The
Chinese government was transparent and very quick to share data.”“Some other
country - their local courts sued China - it is absurd,” he said. “Some
politicians, some people, want to play at being the world’s policeman - this is
not the era of gunboat diplomacy, this is not the era when China was a
semi-colonial, semi-feudal society.”“These people still live in the old days -
they think they can bully China, think they can bully the world,” Liu said.
“China is not an enemy of the US - if they regard China as an enemy they chose
the wrong target.”US President Donald Trump and members of his White House
Coronavirus Task Force have accused China of circulating disinformation about
the virus. US Secretary of State Mike Pompeo on Wednesday pressed China to allow
inspectors into sensitive laboratories, voicing concern about their security
amid the global COVID-19 pandemic. Pompeo has refused to rule out that the
deadly virus leaked out of a laboratory in the Chinese metropolis of Wuhan, a
scenario strenuously denied by Beijing. “You have to remember -- these labs are
still open inside of China these labs that contain complex pathogens that were
being studied. It’s not just the Wuhan Institute of Virology,” Pompeo told
reporters. He renewed concerns that China has not shared a sample of the
initially detected virus, known scientifically as SARS-CoV-2.
Oxford University Pushing Science to the Limit in Vaccine
Hunt
Agence France Presse/Naharnet/April 23/2020
Oxford University is launching a human trial of a potential coronavirus vaccine,
with the daunting aim of making a successful jab available to the public later
this year. Of the more than 100 research projects around the world to find a
vaccine -- described by the United Nations as the only route back to "normality"
-- seven are currently in clinical trials, according to the London School of
Hygiene and Tropical Medicine. Such trials are already underway in China and the
United States and are due to begin at the end of this month in Germany, where
the federal vaccine authority gave the green light on Wednesday. The British
government strongly supports Oxford University's work, and the first human
trials were to start on Thursday, Health Minister Matt Hancock said. He hailed
the "promising development", pointing out that it would normally take "years" to
reach such a stage of vaccine development.
In its first phase, half of 1,112 volunteers will receive the potential vaccine
against COVID-19, the other half a control vaccine to test its safety and
efficacy. The volunteers are aged between 18 and 55, are in good health, have
not tested positive for COVID-19 and are not pregnant or breastfeeding. Ten
participants will receive two doses of the experimental vaccine, four weeks
apart. Professor Sarah Gilbert's team hopes for an 80 percent success rate, and
plans to produce one million doses by September, with the aim of making it
widely available by the fall if successful. But the teams carrying out this
research say on their website that this timetable is "highly ambitious" and
could change. The government's chief medical officer Chris Whitty acknowledged
on Wednesday that the likelihood of getting a vaccine within the year was
"incredibly small". "If people are hoping it's suddenly going to move from where
we are in lockdown to where suddenly into everything is gone, that is a wholly
unrealistic expectation," he warned.
Financial gamble
The strategy of not waiting for each step to be completed before launching
production is a financial "gamble", according to Nicola Stonehouse, professor of
molecular virology at the University of Leeds. But the current crisis makes it a
necessary gamble, she told AFP. The Oxford vaccine is based on a chimpanzee
adenovirus, which is modified to produce proteins in human cells that are also
produced by COVID-19. It is hoped the vaccine will teach the body's immune
system to then recognize the protein and help stop the coronavirus from entering
human cells. The adenovirus vaccine is known to develop a strong immune response
with a single dose and is not a replicating virus, so cannot cause infection,
making it safer for children, the elderly and patients with underlying diseases
such as diabetes. The government, under fire in the media over its handling of
the crisis, set up a task force last weekend to coordinate research efforts and
to develop capability to mass-produce a vaccine as soon as it is available,
wherever it comes from. It is also supporting research at Imperial College
London, which hopes to start clinical trials in June. Their research focuses on
a vaccine exploiting a different principle, using RNA, the messenger molecules
that build proteins in the cells, to stimulate the immune system. Finding a
vaccine is the only possible way to bring the world back to "normality", U.N.
Secretary-General Antonio Guterres warned last week, calling for an acceleration
of projects. The U.N. on Monday adopted a resolution calling for "equitable,
effective and rapid" access to a possible vaccine.
Spain’s coronavirus death toll surpasses 22,000
AFP, Madrid/Thursday 23 April 2020
Spain said Thursday 440 people died in the past 24 hours from the new
coronavirus, a slight increase for the third day running, bringing the overall
death toll to 22,157. The country has suffered the third-highest number of
deaths in the world from the pandemic after the United States and Italy, with
infections now more than 213,000 cases, health ministry figures showed. Spanish
health officials believe the epidemic peaked on April 2 when 950 people died
over 24 hours, nearly three weeks after the government imposed a strict
lockdown, effectively confining almost 47 million citizens to home to slow the
spread of the virus.
“We have achieved the goal of a deceleration and slowdown for this week but we
remain in a hard phase of the epidemic,” Health Minister Salvador Illa told a
news conference. The March 14 lockdown has been twice extended and parliament
late on Wednesday approved a fresh extension until May 9, although conditions
are to be slightly eased from April 26 to allow children to spend some time
outside. Prime Minister Pedro Sanchez told the assembly on Wednesday he hoped
Spain could begin to ease its restrictions — some of the tightest in Europe —
during the second half of May but warned that “de-escalation will be slow”.
Italy Launches Antibody Tests for Virus Immunity
Agence France Presse/Naharnet/April 23/2020
Italy began conducting antibody tests in the northern region of Lombardy on
Thursday, seeking information about coronavirus immunity to help guide
authorities as they reopen the long locked-down country. Lombardy, the region
hardest-hit by the coronavirus crisis in Europe's worst-affected country, is
betting that the science about "herd immunity" derived from the blood tests will
help the prosperous industrial region return to work faster and safer. Nearly
13,000 people have already died of the virus in densely populated Lombardy,
whose capital is Milan -- more than half of Italy's total dead. Although Germany
has already started nationwide antibody tests and countries such as Finland and
Britain have announced plans to roll them out, many questions remain about how
reliable data derived from the tests will be. Health authorities have said
20,000 tests would be performed every day in Lombardy. First to be tested are
those in the worst-hit provinces: health workers, those under quarantine showing
coronavirus symptoms and those they have been in contact with, as well as others
with mild symptoms. Authorities hope to roll out the tests to the wider region
after April 29. The head of Italy's National Health Council, Franco Locatelli,
said last month that antibody tests would help authorities determine the spread
of the coronavirus. Data would also provide "very relevant information on herd
immunity" which would useful in developing strategies to help restart the
country, he said, such as who could be allowed to go back to work.
Risks remain
The kits, made by Italian biotech firm DiaSorin, look for the presence of
antibodies in the blood. Such antibodies indicate that the person has been
exposed to the virus, pointing to some level of immunity. They differ from the
more common swab tests, which test molecules from nasal secretions to determine
whether a person currently has the virus. Lombardy's swab testing has revealed
that 24 percent of those tested have the virus. Immunity to the virus is little
understood and hopes about its efficacy possibly exaggerated. Lacking data,
virologists and epidemiologists must extrapolate information from past
coronaviruses, such as the SARS outbreak in 2002-2003, to make predictions.
Experts believe at least 60 to 70 percent of a population must be immune to the
virus in order to gradually wipe it out. But recent studies, such as one
conducted in March and April by France's Institut Pasteur, have found that
so-called "herd immunity" was harder to attain than believed. At a high
school in the Oise department of France, site of one of the country's first
outbreaks, researchers found only 26 percent of students, teachers and their
families carried antibodies. Moreover, it is not known for how long immunity to
coronavirus lasts, meaning there is a risk those deemed "immune" may be
re-infected and pass along the virus to others.
- 'No guarantee' -
"There's no guarantee that these antibodies protect from a new infection. We can
only hope so for the moment. We'll know in the future," Guido Marinoni,
president of Bergamo's surgical and dental association, told AFP on Thursday.
Marinoni, who organised local testing in the badly affected province of Bergamo
and plans to study results, also cautioned that a lack of antibodies might mean
the disease was still its early stages and antibodies had not kicked in yet.
Even more risky, a person who has developed antibodies can still carry traces of
the virus, and be contagious. Therefore, experts such as Italy's Locatelli say
antibody tests should be accompanied by swab testing. Immunologist Jean-Francois
Delfraissy, who heads France's scientific council formed to fight coronavirus,
said many doubts remain. "We're currently asking the question whether someone
who has had COVID-19... is as protected as we think," he said. Scientists must
wait until more reliable data is available, said Saad Omer, director of the Yale
Institute for Global Health. "It's too premature," Omer told AFP. "We should be
able to get clearer data very quickly -- in a couple of months -- when there
will be reliable antibody tests with sensitivity and specificity."
Divided EU Leaders Bicker over Virus Recovery Plan
Agence France Presse/Naharnet/April 23/2020
EU leaders are set to haggle on Thursday over a giant package to help their
economies recover from the coronavirus pandemic, but bitter divisions mean
little progress is expected. The situation facing the EU is dire: more than
110,000 confirmed COVID-19 deaths and the economy suffering an unprecedented
collapse according to alarming fresh data. But while the 27 members agree
that a stimulus running into hundreds of billions of euros (dollars) will be
needed, they are split over how it should be funded and shared. The leaders will
meet by videolink to discuss the virus crisis for the fourth time in seven weeks
-- a sign, one senior Brussels official said, of the "seriousness of the
challenge and the importance we attach to a common solution". German Chancellor
Angela Merkel, Europe's most influential leader, gave her firm backing to
beefing up the EU budget, but others are looking for more novel ways to reboot
the economy, including joint borrowing. The fight has reopened the wounds of the
2009 financial crisis, once again pitting northern and southern Europe against
one another. Southern states like Spain and Italy, badly hit by the disease and
heavily indebted, are demanding "solidarity" -- financial help -- from their
richer partners far beyond what the EU budget can provide. "The countries of the
south have the impression that certain states, which are currently economically
stronger, will use this crisis to be even stronger," a senior European official
told AFP. "And those in the north believe that the south will take advantage of
the pandemic to unburden themselves of past debt," the source added. Italian
Prime Minister Giuseppe Conte, has pushed the hardest for mutualized EU debt,
dubbed "coronabonds". He told the Italian parliament on Tuesday he would accept
"no compromises" and would not sign up to a "bargain deal".
On the other side, northern countries led by Germany and the Netherlands refuse
even to entertain the idea of coronabonds and other mooted solutions. Spain has
proposed the idea of "perpetual bonds", usually only used in wartime, that has
already been dismissed by the north.
"The European budget has for decades been the tried and tested instrument for
common tasks in the EU," Merkel told lawmakers in Berlin ahead of the crunch
talks. "In the spirit of solidarity, we should be prepared to make completely
different, that is to say significantly higher contributions to the European
budget over a set period," Merkel said.
Ferocious slump
In a sign of how far apart they are, leaders will not even issue their usual
joint statement after the videoconference, a diplomat told AFP. EU Council
President Charles Michel, the nominal host of the summit, set a low bar in the
invitation letter sent to leaders on Tuesday. He urged them only to "work
towards" creating a European Recovery Fund to rebuild the bloc's economy after
the pandemic eases. The leaders are expected to ask the European Commission, the
bloc's executive in charge of the EU budget, to come back with a proposal. They
will also sign off on a 540-billion-euro ($584-billion) emergency package agreed
by EU finance ministers earlier this month. The summit takes place as a closely
watched business survey said the eurozone economy was living an "unprecedented"
collapse. "The ferocity of the slump has ... surpassed that thought imaginable
by most economists," said the chief economist of IHS Markit Chris Williamson.
The cost of rebuilding will be enormous and various figures have been bandied
around for the recovery fund, though no decision is expected on that by EU
leaders on Thursday. Mario Centeno, head of the Eurogroup of eurozone finance
ministers, has suggested a range of 700 billion to 1.5 trillion euros and French
Finance Minister Bruno Le Maire has mooted one trillion. A senior EU official
acknowledged no plan was likely before the summer but said Thursday's meeting
could see progress on ways to include the recovery fund in the bloc's new
seven-year budget, as wished by Berlin.
But even before the pandemic, months of negotiation of the EU's 2021-27 budget
caused bitter fights among the EU leaders. A summit in February ended in
acrimony with similar north-south divisions over spending priorities.
Oil prices rebound amid rising US-Iran tension
DEBKAfile/April 23/2020
Oil prices spiked from their coronavirus plunge on Wednesday, April 22, after
President Donald Trump ordered the US Navy to shoot and destroy any Iranian
gunboats that harassed US vessels and after Iran put a satellite in orbit.
West Texas Intermediate crude oil gained 19 percent to $13.78 a barrel, up from
$11.37 ahead of the president’s threat. Brent crude was 5.38 percent higher at
at $20.37. Prices had previously tanked up to 60 over lowered demand caused by
the covid-19 pandemic and surging supplies deriving from the price war between
Russia and Saudi Arabia. When prices dropped below zero in the US for the first
time the Trump administration turned to Moscow and Riyadh to negotiate a cut in
production. Smaller oil-producing nations are falling below subsistence level.
DEBKAfile’s sources cite experts as saying that the oil price rebound is likely
just a flash in the pan. While Trump’s comments have provided a short-term lift,
prices are unlikely to rise consistently without production cuts and/or evidence
of global economic recovery from the virus. However, tensions between Washington
and Tehran are a constant and ever ready to erupt even during a world pandemic.
Trump’s threat came after 11 Iranian vessels last week came dangerously close to
US ships in the Persian Gulf. Earlier on Wednesday, Iran’s Revolutionary Guards
Corps – which also run the threatening speed boats in the Gulf – reported the
successful launch of its first military satellite into orbit, after a series of
failed attempts. The two-stage satellite called “Noor” was said to have reached
an orbit of 425km above Earth after taking off from an unnamed site in Iran’s
Central Desert. It was put into space by a hitherto unknown system called Ghased
(Messenger). Western experts have long suspected Iran’s space program as being
the secret cover for its intensive development of intercontinental ballistic
missiles in violation of US resolutions. Israel condemned the launch as “defiant
and dangerous” and called for more international sanctions against Iran.
Iran’s History of Naval Provocations/USA
FACT SHEET/OFFICE OF THE SPOKESPERSON
APRIL 22, 2020
“I have instructed the United States Navy to shoot down and destroy any and all
Iranian gunboats if they harass our ships at sea.”
-President Donald J. Trump, Twitter, April 22, 2020
Iran has long used its naval forces to terrorize the international maritime
community – this is not a new phenomenon. In 2015, during negotiations of the
Iran Deal and after its adoption, the U.S. Navy recorded 22 incidents of unsafe
and unprofessional conduct by the IRGC Navy (IRGCN), many that risked collision.
An additional 36 incidents of unsafe and unprofessional conduct were recorded in
2016.
This includes the January 2016 incident where IRGC naval forces seized two U.S.
Navy riverine boats and detained ten U.S. sailors for a period of 15 hours,
violating their rights under the Geneva Convention by parading them in front of
their propaganda cameras.
When President Trump took office, he initiated a comprehensive review of the
United States’ Iran policy in light of the Iran Deal’s failure to address the
regime’s growing threats to international peace and security. During this review
period, Iran continued its dangerous naval activity.
In March 2017, the USNS Invincible was forced to change course to avoid
collision with multiple approaching IRGCN fast-attack small crafts.
In July 2017, an IRGCN vessel came within 150 yards of the USS Thunderbolt in
the Persian Gulf, forcing it to fire warning shots.
In August 2017, an unarmed Iranian drone flew close to the USS Nimitz as fighter
jets landed at night, threatening the safety of the American pilots and crew.
In October 2017, President Trump announced a new Iran policy that made clear the
United States would not tolerate the status quo from Iran, nor appease their
provocations. Following the President’s announcement, incidents of IRGC naval
harassment sharply declined and remained depressed even after the United States
withdrew from the JCPOA.
In May 2019, Iran began a panicked campaign of aggression to extort the world
into granting it sanctions relief.
On May 12, 2019, IRGC naval personnel placed and detonated limpet mines on two
Saudi, one UAE, and one Norwegian-registered ships while they were harbored in
UAE territorial waters near Fujairah Port.
On June 13, 2019, IRGC naval personnel placed and detonated limpet mines on one
Japanese ship and one Norwegian owned ship while they transited the Gulf of
Oman. The U.S. later released a video showing IRGC naval personnel removing one
of their limpet mines off the side of the Japanese tanker.
On June 19, 2019, IRGC personnel deployed a surface-to-air missile to shoot down
a U.S. unmanned aircraft operating over international waters in the Strait of
Hormuz. IRGC Commander Hossein Salami announced that Iran had shot down the
drone, claiming that it was operating within Iran’s territorial waters.
On July 19, 2019, the IRGC Navy seized the British-flagged, Swedish-owned Stena
Impero tanker while it was transiting the Strait of Hormuz. On the same day, the
IRGC also temporarily detained the Liberian-flagged Mesdar tanker. The Stena
Impero and her crew were detained in Iran for more than two months as
negotiating leverage.
At the same time the Iranian regime is seeking sanctions relief, it focuses its
resources and efforts to harass the international maritime community.
On April 14, 2020, the IRGC Navy forcibly boarded and detained the Hong
Kong-flagged SC Taipei oil tanker in international waters, and sailed the tanker
into Iranian waters.
On April 15, 2020, eleven IRGC Navy small boats disrupted five U.S. naval
vessels conducting a routine exercise by repeatedly engaging in high speed,
harassing approaches. The Iranian vessels repeatedly crossed the bows and sterns
of the U.S. ships coming as close as to within 10 yards of a US Coast Guard
Cutter.
In response to the elevated risk posed to commercial vessels transiting the
Strait of Hormuz, the United States spearheaded the creation of the
International Maritime Security Construct (IMSC), a coalition of eight European,
Middle Eastern, and Asian nations committed to ensuring freedom of navigation
and the free flow of commerce through the strait. Since the IMSC was stood up in
August 2019, Iranian mine attacks have ceased.
President Trump will not tolerate or appease Iran’s foreign policy of violence
and intimidation. Iran must act like every other normal nation, not a nation
that sponsors piracy and terror.
Iran summons Swiss ambassador as US representative in
Tehran over Gulf tensions: IRIB
Reuters/Thursday 23 April 2020
Iran has summoned the Swiss ambassador in Tehran, who represents US interests in
the country, over recent Gulf tensions, Iran’s Foreign Ministry spokesman Abbas
Mousavi said on Thursday, according to the IRIB news agency. The ambassador was
given a message to pass on to the United States that Iran will strongly defend
its maritime rights in the Gulf and respond to any threats.
Iran will destroy US warships if they threaten Iran in the
Gulf: IRGC head
Reuters, video edited by: Leen Alfaisal/Thursday 23 April 2020
Iran will destroy US warships if its security is threatened in the Gulf, the
head of Iran’s elite Revolutionary Guards told state TV on Thursday, a day after
US President Donald Trump warned Tehran over “harassment” of US vessels. “I have
ordered our naval forces to destroy any American terrorist force in the Persian
Gulf that threatens security of Iran’s military or non-military ships,” Hossein
Salami said. “Security of the Persian Gulf is part of Iran’s strategic
priorities.” Trump said on Wednesday he had instructed the US Navy to fire on
any Iranian ships that harass it at sea, but said later he was not changing the
military’s rules of engagement. Earlier this month, the US military said 11
Revolutionary Guards naval vessels from the Guards navy came close to US Navy
and coast guard ships in the Gulf, calling the moves “dangerous and
provocative.” Iran blamed its longtime adversary for the incident.
“I am telling the Americans that we are absolutely determined and serious in
defending our national security, our water borders, our shipping safety, and our
security forces, and we will respond decisively to any sabotage,” Salami said.
“Americans have experienced our power in the past and must learn from
it.”Tensions between Iran and the United States have escalated anew since 2018,
when Trump withdrew from Tehran’s 2015 nuclear deal with six world powers and
reimposed crippling sanctions.
As COVID-19 Death Toll Rises, Iran Demands US be Held to Account for 'Cruel'
Sanctions
Asharq Al-Awsat/Asharq Al-Awsat/Thursday, 23 April, 2020
Iran's coronavirus death toll rose by 90 in the past 24 hours reaching 5,481,
while the total number of confirmed cases rose to 87,026, Health Ministry
spokesman Kianush Jahanpur said Thursday.
The daily rise in the death toll has held below 100 since April 14 as the
country's leaders have pushed to resume ordinary life. Authorities allowed
shopping malls, bazaars and parks to re-open this week and also lifted a ban on
inter-city travel. State TV showed footage earlier this week of highways in
Tehran packed with cars and groups of people out shopping. However, Tehran
called for the US to be held accountable for "cruel" sanctions that have
hampered its efforts to fight a coronavirus outbreak that it said are
responsible for the recent deaths. "Today, the coronavirus has spread not only
in Iran but in almost all countries, and it requires serious effort and
collective action to deal with it," said Iran's deputy foreign minister, Abbas
Araghchi.
"In addition to fighting the virus, Iran faces illegal and inhuman American
sanctions, doubling the pressure on the Iranian people," he was quoted as saying
in a ministry statement, AFP reported. Araghchi added: "The United States' cruel
and unilateral sanctions against Iran constitute a clear violation of Security
Council Resolution 2231, and the United States must therefore be held
accountable by the international community."
In Iran, medicines and medical equipment are technically exempt from the US
sanctions but purchases are frequently blocked by the unwillingness of banks to
process purchases for fear of incurring heavy US penalties.
Iran's coronavirus outbreak, which first emerged in the city of Qom on February
19, is one of the deadliest in the world. Separately, Iran's Revolutionary
Guards chief on Thursday warned the US of a "decisive response" after President
Donald Trump said he instructed the US Navy to "shoot down" Iranian boats that
harass US ships in the Gulf.
"We declare to the Americans that we are absolutely determined and serious...
and that all action will be met with a decisive response that will be efficient
and quick," Major General Hossein Salami told state television.
"We have also ordered our naval units to target (US boats and forces) if they
try to endanger the safety of our ships or boats of war." Trump took to Twitter
on Wednesday after Iran's Revolutionary Guards said they had launched the
country's first military satellite. The US president said he had "instructed the
United States Navy to shoot down and destroy any and all Iranian gunboats if
they harass our ships at sea".
Iraq: Four Brigades Break Away from PMF Command
Baghdad - Fadhel al-Nashmi/Asharq Al-Awsat/Thursday, 23 April, 2020
Iraqi caretaker Prime Minister Adel Abdul Mahdi ordered taking control of four
Popular Mobilization Forces (PMF) combat brigades that fall under the religious
authority in Najaf and Karbala. The four brigades will now fall under the
“command and management” of the commander-in-chief of the armed forces and no
longer under the direct command of the Iran-allied PMF board. The four brigades
include the 2nd, 11th, 26th, and 44th brigades of the PMF, which are all loyal
to Iraq’s highest Shiite religious authority. The four brigades were created in
June 2014 following a fatwa, or religious call to action, from Grand Ayatollah
Ali al-Sistani, in response to the ISIS insurgency. In mid-March, a delegation
representing the four brigades met with the Minister of Defense Najah Al-Shammari,
stressing their keenness on "the unity of Iraq and the independence of its
decision." It was reported at the time that the four brigades were willing to
join the Ministry of Defense. There are frequent reports on Sistani’s concern
with the nature of tasks undertaken by the PMF after the war with ISIS has come
to an end. Many divisions have risen in the 60-paramilitary umbrella as some
factions have pledged their loyalty to Iraq’s highest religious authority and
others to the Iranian Supreme Leader Ali Khamenei. In the past years, several
differences have emerged between the PMF and religious authorities in Iraq. Many
of the divisions involve financial and military issues. Iraqi political expert
Hisham al-Hashemi sees that Abdul-Mahdi’s decision to take over the four
brigades is part of the great disputes between PMF leader Abdulaziz al-Mohammedawi
, also known as Abu Fadak, and the PMF factions loyal to Iraq’s religious
authority.
“This settlement means the administrative and operational disengagement of the
four brigades from the PMF,” AL-Hashemi told Asharq Al-Awsat.
Iraq’s Caretaker PM Warns against 'Vacuum, Stalemate'
Baghdad/Asharq Al-Awsat/Thursday, 23 April, 2020
Iraqi outgoing Prime Minister Adel Abdul-Mahdi issued an ultimatum to the
political forces who failed to form a government five months after his
resignation and warned that he could not remain in his position in light of the
current "vacuum and stalemate."
Abdul Mahdi sent an open letter to the Iraqi president, speaker, and political
parties expressing his dissatisfaction with the delay in government formation.
He “unequivocally” rejected attempts of several political and influential
figures who said they were ready to facilitate his resumption of duties as PM.
“My government, with the current political dynamics, is no longer able to
properly manage the country,” Abdul Mahdi said. This comes amid disputes over
the sharing of portfolios in the government of PM-designate Mustafa al-Kadhimi,
who seeks to get the country out of the economic crisis. A well-informed
politician told Asharq Al-Awsat that Kadhimi wants to include top officials from
parties and political forces to form a strong ministerial team capable of facing
the challenges. However, he is facing several difficulties and pressures, some
of which seem inevitable, especially in terms of maintaining balances between
forces, while others appear to be attempts to limit Kadhimi’s agenda. Asked
about the Kadhimi’s talks with various blocs, the politician said that the
PM-designate may have determined his position with the Sunnis and the Kurds,
including keeping current Minister of Finance Fouad Hussein. However, Shiite
forces seem ready to radically reconsider their position regarding the PM if he
insists on keeping the Finance Ministry with the Kurds. Head of Badr Bloc, MP
Mohammed Salem al-Ghabban, urged the Prime Minister-designate to adhere to the
principles agreed upon by the political blocs. He indicated that political
forces rejected his predecessor, Adnan al-Zurfi, because he was named through a
mechanism that violates the constitution and political norms. Former MP Haider
al-Mulla, told Asharq Al-Awsat that Kadhimi is facing various pressures from
many political blocs, namely the Shiite blocs that named him for this position.
Mulla indicated that the PM is conducting serious discussions with various
forces to complete and present the government’s formation to parliament as soon
as possible, adding that he has a 70 percent success rate. Over the past two
days, PM Kadhimi continued his meetings with the political blocs, in light of
the emergence of disparities within the Shiite blocs regarding several
ministries, at a time when these blocs should have granted him the freedom to
choose independent ministers.
Syrian activists condemn execution of teenager for
'criticising HTS leader'
The New Arab/April 23/2020
The Syrian Islamist militant group Hayat Tahrir al-Sham (HTS) executed a
19-year-old man deported from Turkey who they say was charged with "blasphemy",
however, activists claim the young man was killed over phone messages
criticising the group’s leader.
Mohammed Tano was first arrested six months ago at the Bab Al-Hawa border
crossing between Turkey and Syria’s HTS-controlled Idlib province, according to
local media. Some reported he was one of hundreds of Syrian refugees deported
from Turkey last year, while others said he was returning to
opposition-controlled Syria after his father fell ill. Tano had been in Istanbul
for four years, and had a job at a restaurant.The group said after militants
searched his mobile phone they found evidence of "blasphemy", a crime that
warrants the death penalty according to the extremist group's laws.
However, others have argued that the notoriously brutal HTS security forces
discovered messages between Tano and a friend denouncing the organisation’s
leader, Abu Mohammed Al-Jolani.Tano was from the town of Darat Izza, an HTS
stronghold in northwestern Aleppo province, close to the Turkish border.
A member of Tano’s family told the independent Syria TV channel that the
teenager was killed "in cold blood". "When we asked for verification of the
charges they had handed him, they told us that they burned it," the family
member added, saying they had collected the body at Idlib Central Prison.
HTS, which used to be affiliated to Al-Qaeda, dominates much of Syria's
rebel-held Idlib province and parts of neighbouring Aleppo province, and has its
own security apparatus and courts. It has imposed draconian restrictions on the
local population - many of whom opposition activists fleeing from other parts of
Syria - and has arrested many who oppose its ideology. Protests against its rule
have taken place on numerous occasions. Earlier this month, the group executed
five people in Idlib province, four of whom were accused of murder, theft, and
kidnapping, and the fifth for allegedly spying on behalf of the regime.
More than 500,000 people have been killed since the Syrian conflict broke out in
2011, the vast majority as a result of Bashar al-Assad's regime bombardment of
civilian areas.
Trial of Syrian officers in Germany to shed light on Assad
reign of terror: Lawyers
Lemma Shehadi, Al Arabiya English/Thursday 23 April 2020
Landmark trials of Syrian intelligence officers will reveal new information
about the country’s sprawling security apparatus and its war crimes under the
regime of President Bashar al-Assad, according to lawyers who say they are happy
the trials are finally taking place. “The whole machine will be exposed to the
public,” said Anwar al-Bunni, a Syrian human rights lawyer who will serve as an
expert witness in the trials. “We will see how intelligence officers tortured
detainees and hid their dead bodies. It was a systematic policy implemented by
all branches of the security services, involving the police.” Syria’s
intelligence services are famed for their brutality. At least 127,000 detainees
have gone missing and over 14,000 are known to have died under torture,
according to the Syrian Network for Human Rights. This week, two former
intelligence officers will stand trial at the Higher Regional Court in the
German city of Koblenz for crimes committed in Damascus’ Al-Khatib prison
between 2011 and 2012. The trial will be the first to connect the Syrian
government to crimes against humanity in a court of law. The main defendant,
Anwar Raslan, served as a senior official at Al-Khatib and is accused of
complicity in the torture of over 4,000 detainees, causing at least 58 deaths.
The second defendant Eyad el-Gharib, allegedly hunted and detained demonstrators
and is accused of aiding crimes against humanity. The pair were arrested in
Germany last year where they were living as asylum seekers. “It is a milestone,”
said Patrick Kroker a lawyer with the European Center for Constitutional and
Human Rights who will represent prosecution witnesses at the trial, “We are
happy that these trials are finally happening.”
No more immunity
Despite the mountains of evidence of war crimes by the Syrian government,
prosecuting any of its members has taken years. Attempts to launch an
international tribunal in The Hague failed to gain consensus from the United
Nations Security Council. Eventually, Syrian activists and former detainees got
together to build cases against known criminals now living as refugees in
Europe. The current case is based on hundreds of testimonials, photographs and
other evidence compiled over years by Syrian activists and partner NGOs. The
criminal complaint was submitted to the German Federal Prosecutor in 2017, under
the principle of “universal jurisdiction.” This allows German courts to
prosecute crimes committed anywhere in the world. Further cases have been
submitted in Austria, Sweden and Norway under the same principle. “In Syria,
officials who committed crimes had immunity from the government,” said al-Bunni.
“The trial will send a message to the regime, that they cannot torture and kill
with impunity.
Exposing the system
Syrians have long been terrorized by their secret police. The sprawling security
apparatus was developed over decades with help from the Russian KGB and operates
internally and abroad. “Before 2011, the security services tortured to get
information. After the uprising, they tortured to exact revenge,” said al-Bunni,
who has himself been a prisoner in Syria. The prosecution will draw on its
extensive case file. Former detainees and torture victims will also come forth
as witnesses. “We will show the system that is behind these crimes, and which
has been in use for a long time,” said Kroker, who worked on the case.
Some of the most crucial information will come from the defendants themselves.
“The defendants will likely claim that they followed orders from above,” said
al-Bunni, who hopes their defense will shed led light on the chain of
command.”“We want information from them about is happening in Syria and who is
giving those orders,” he said. “One of the defendants was part of the security
services for over 20 years. He should have very important information,” added
al-Bunni.
A long road to justice
The trial faces challenges, not least from the restrictions imposed by the
current coronavirus pandemic. “This trial deserves to be in the largest
courtroom. We’re sorry that the audience will be limited,” said Kroker. Many
other trials in Germany have been postponed. It will be a difficult time for the
traumatized witnesses, some of whom still fear repercussions from the secret
police on themselves or their families. “Some witnesses may not be brave enough
to testify in front of the media,” said al-Bunni. It is also a long road to
justice, with any decision likely to take months. “We don’t know how long the
trials will last, it could be one or two years, I don’t need to hope that the
transitional justice for Syria will take place here in Germany. We just need to
send a message. That’s enough for now.”
Egypt Supports a Political Solution that Preserves Syria’s
Unity
Cairo - Sawsan Abu Hussein/Asharq Al-Awsat/Thursday, 23 April, 2020
Cairo is moving forward with its diplomatic efforts to boost the political
process in Damascus through its membership in the "Small Group" on Syria that
includes several Western and Arab countries. Egypt’s Foreign Minister Sameh
Shoukry held extensive international calls with various parties to resume the
political track in Syria and activate the work of the Constitutional Committee,
which would lead to presidential elections in June 2021, an Egyptian diplomatic
source told Asharq Al-Awsat. Shoukry discussed in a telephone call Wednesday the
latest developments in Syria with the UN Special Envoy Geir Pedersen. Foreign
Ministry spokesman, Ahmed Hafez, stated that the call comes within the
coordination between Cairo and the UN to support a peaceful settlement in the
war-torn country. The FM asserted Egypt will continue to call for ending the war
and reaching a reconciliation under UN Security Council Resolution 2254. He
hoped this would be done in a way that preserves the unity of Syrian territories
and achieves the aspirations of the Syrian people, which brings the country back
to its natural position in the regional and international arenas. The talks also
addressed Cairo’s evaluation of the latest developments in Syria as well as its
efforts to push forward the political process in the country through Egypt’s
membership in the Small Group, including its talks with the moderate Syrian
opposition groups. The statement noted that both officials asserted that
terrorist and radical organizations and their regional supporters must be
stopped, adding that Syria should be supported during the coronavirus pandemic.
For his part, Pedersen was briefed on the latest developments in Syria and the
continuous efforts with the Syrian parties to move forward with the political
process. The Special envoy expressed his appreciation for the balanced Egyptian
role in supporting the reconciliation efforts and restoring security and
stability in Syria. On Tuesday, Shoukry met with representatives of the Syrian
Opposition High Negotiations Committee (HNC) in Cairo, to discuss recent
developments and ways to boost the political reconciliation process.
The HNC delegation expressed their appreciation of the Egyptian role to reach
out to all Syrian parties and political powers to end the Syrian crisis as soon
as possible. In exclusive statements to Asharq Al-Awsat, HNC member Jamal
Soleiman explained that the meeting with the FM was aimed at coordinating
measures on recent developments in Syria, the situation of the Syrians abroad,
and efforts to activate the Constitutional Committee. Soleiman said opposition
forces would consult with the Syrian government through written messages
exchanged via UN mediator or Egypt itself. He believes the remaining six-months
period is not enough for drafting the constitution, stressing that if the
constitution was not drafted before the elections, the conflict will continue
and no solution will be reached.
Abbas Vows Not to Stand Idle if Israel Annexes Land in West Bank
Asharq Al-Awsat/Thursday, 23 April, 2020
A controversial decision on whether to annex much of the West Bank is the
prerogative of Israel's new unity government, US Secretary of State Mike Pompeo
said Wednesday, adding that Washington would offer it its views privately. A
breakthrough coalition agreement between Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu and
former military chief Benny Gantz had mentioned a role for the United States in
deciding on future moves. "As for the annexation of the West Bank, the Israelis
will ultimately make those decisions," Pompeo told reporters. "That’s an Israeli
decision. And we will work closely with them to share with them our views of
this in (a) private setting." Pompeo also said he was "happy" Netanyahu and
Gantz struck the deal on Monday to form a national emergency government, saying
he did not think a fourth Israeli election was in Israel's interest. "We're glad
that there is a now fully formed government in Israel," he said. Pompeo's
comment drew condemnation from Palestinian President Mahmoud Abbas, who said his
administration would view agreements with Israel and the United States as
"completely canceled" if Israel annexes land in the West Bank. "We have informed
the relevant international parties, including the American and the Israeli
governments, that we will not stand hand-cuffed if Israel announces the
annexation of any part of our land," Abbas said on Palestine TV. US President
Donald Trump earlier this year outlined a plan for the Middle East that gave
Israel the green light to annex Jewish settlements and other strategic territory
in the occupied West Bank. Netanyahu had heralded the Trump plan as a historic
opportunity for Israel but Gantz had been more cautious. Under the coalition
agreement, the Israeli cabinet can take up Trump's plan as well as annexation
starting on July 1. It states that any measures would be executed "in full
agreement of the United States."
The Latest LCCC English analysis & editorials from miscellaneous sources
published on April
23-24/2020
World leaders need to start making tough
decisions
Abdulrahman Al-Rashed /Arab News/April 23, 2020
There are many questions we might feel uncomfortable asking, or even thinking
about, yet they persist in our minds no matter how much we try to ignore or
dismiss them.
We hope to wake up one day soon to learn that a coronavirus disease (COVID-19)
vaccine has been developed so that this nightmare can end, we can leave the
relative safety of our homes, and return to our normal daily lives. So far,
however, this has not happened and even the most optimistic expert analyst
cannot promise that we will have a vaccine before the end of the year.
So we must rethink the issue from scratch. Frequent handwashing and isolating
ourselves at home are acceptable options for one or two months, maybe even
three. But it is, in effect, a form of house arrest that equally restricts the
infected and the healthy.
On the positive side, this home quarantine has encouraged us all to develop new
healthy habits and precautions, such as improved hygiene and social distancing,
which are crucial during a health crisis such as the one we are experiencing.
So, if people could continue to adhere to these less restrictive precautionary
measures, it might be enough to safeguard their health without the need for
people to remain under lockdown in their homes, disrupting their livelihoods.
Non-curative solutions have helped reduce the risk but have failed to end the
pandemic. Take the home quarantine, for example. In theory, if everyone adhered
to it, the pandemic would have ended. It has certainly contributed to reducing
the number of COVID-19 cases, but it has not stopped the pandemic. Then there is
testing. In theory, if the entire population was tested for the virus and those
who are infected were isolated, the spread of the virus could be halted. This
sounds simple, but there is not enough testing equipment. The US, for example,
is carrying out more testing than any other country, yet so far only about 4
million people out of a population of 328 million have been tested.
People all around the world are frustrated and feel helpless in the face of this
pandemic, which continues across borders and oceans. It has even reached the
French territory of Saint Pierre and Miquelon, which is located off the west
coast of Canada. The islands confirmed their first coronavirus case this month.
Many people have already lost their jobs. How many of those who are fortunate
enough to still be working will be able to continue earning a living until a
vaccine is available, perhaps by the end of the year or maybe months after that?
How will governments, especially in less-wealthy countries, and businesses be
able to guarantee salaries for workers when there is little revenue coming in?
How will bakeries work, for example? Who will grow the wheat and who will supply
the flour? The same question can be asked at every step of the supply chain for
every ingredient. If a single link in any of those chains is broken, we have no
bread. The same is true of many other everyday foods and products.
It will be difficult, if not impossible, for global authorities to extend
lockdowns for months on end while scientists work hard to develop a medical
solution. In fact, governments will have to start making some hard decisions in
the next few weeks. They will have to choose between allowing at least a partial
return to normal life, with the awareness that this might cause a public health
disaster, and keeping the lockdown in place until the end of the year, with the
knowledge that this might result in an economic collapse.
Ending the lockdown means transferring responsibility for public health from the
state to individuals, who would have to protect themselves. Currently, the
authorities in many countries are using the force of law and their security
services to protect people — or, rather, to protect people from themselves. If
lockdown orders are removed, it will become the responsibility of every
individual to act with the utmost caution if they want to avoid becoming
infected, or infecting others. In return, the easing of restrictions would
enable them to earn a living. Moreover, it would help to restart the global
economy.
While the economic benefits of this suggestion may seem obvious, the billion
dollar question is whether it would be a safe course of action. The available
research offers contradictory answers. At one end of the scale, studies warn of
the potential for deaths numbering in the tens of millions, possibly hundreds of
millions, and the collapse of health care systems. A more optimistic view
suggests that people are responsible enough to venture out with caution and
co-exist with the danger until the pandemic ends naturally, or until scientists
develop a medical solution.
When the virus emerged, very little was known about its spread and how it
affected people, but researchers have now uncovered information that can help us
make the correct decisions to confront it and reduce the risks.
In the beginning, given the lack of knowledge, mistaken or false information
prevailed, which led many to underestimate the seriousness of the threat posed
by the virus. This helped it to spread.
There were also mistakes in how the emerging outbreak was handled. One of the
biggest was that China kept its borders and airports open when the first
COVID-19 cases began to emerge. More than 7 million people traveled from China
to other parts of the world in those early days, thousands of whom were infected
with the virus. Thus an outbreak turned into a pandemic.
If lockdown orders are removed, it will become the responsibility of every
individual to act with the utmost caution.
It took the world by surprise. There was not enough medical equipment available
to cope with the number of infections, and health authorities were forced to
isolate the majority of patients in their own homes.
Most governments were also very slow to respond to the danger. This was partly
because they believed they were far enough from the outbreak source to be safe
from the worst effects. Even worse than this miscalculation, however, many of
them dismissed the increasingly urgent warnings of scientists as an overreaction
or scaremongering, and took the view that the virus and the disease it causes
were no worse than the seasonal flu.
As a result, vital days and weeks were wasted before it became apparent that the
coronavirus is like a fire: When it starts, it can be extinguished by a cup of
water, but if you ignore it, it will spread, and by then there may not be enough
firefighters to extinguish the blaze.
*Abdulrahman Al-Rashed is a veteran columnist. He is the former general manager
of Al Arabiya news channel, and former editor-in-chief of Asharq Al-Awsat.
Twitter: @aalrashed
Perpetual bonds can help the EU win its fight for survival
George Soros/Arab News/April 23/2020
European Commission President Ursula von der Leyen has announced that Europe
will need about €1 trillion ($1.1 trillion) to fight the coronavirus pandemic.
This money could be used to establish a European Recovery Fund. But where will
the money come from?
I propose that the EU should raise the money needed for the Recovery Fund by
selling “perpetual bonds,” on which the principal does not have to be repaid
(although they can be repurchased or redeemed at the issuer’s discretion).
Authorizing this issue should be the first priority for the forthcoming European
Council summit today.
It would, of course, be unprecedented for the EU to issue perpetual bonds,
especially in such a large amount. But other governments have relied on
perpetual bonds in the past. The best-known example is Britain, which used
consolidated bonds (Consols) to finance the Napoleonic Wars and war bonds to
finance World War I. These bond issues were traded in London until 2015, when
both were redeemed. In the 1870s, the US Congress authorized the Treasury to
issue Consols to consolidate already existing bonds, and they were issued in
subsequent years.
The EU is facing a once-in-a-lifetime war against a virus that is threatening
not only people’s lives, but also the very survival of the union. If member
states start protecting their national borders against even their fellow EU
members, this would destroy the principle of solidarity on which the union is
built.
Instead, Europe needs to resort to extraordinary measures to deal with an
extraordinary situation that is hitting all of the EU’s members. This can be
done without fear of setting a precedent that could justify issuing common EU
debt once normalcy has been restored. Issuing bonds that carried the full faith
and credit of the EU would provide a political endorsement of what the European
Central Bank has already done: removed practically all the restrictions on its
bond purchasing program.
Perpetual bonds have three additional advantages that make them appropriate for
these circumstances.
The EU Recovery Fund is so desperately needed. Financing it with perpetual bonds
is the easiest, fastest and least costly way to establish it
For starters, because perpetual bonds never have to be repaid, they would impose
a surprisingly light fiscal burden on the EU, despite the considerable financial
firepower they would mobilize. The EU, moreover, would not have to refinance
them when they came due, make amortization payments, or even set aside money
(for example, in a sinking fund) for their eventual repayment.
The EU would be obligated only to make regular interest payments on them. A €1
trillion perpetual bond with a 0.5 percent coupon would cost the EU budget a
mere €5 billion per year. This is less than 3 percent of the EU’s 2020 budget.
The second advantage is more technical but almost as important. The market may
not be able to absorb a €1 trillion issue all at once. By issuing a perpetual
bond, the EU could raise this amount in installments, without creating a new
bond each time.
The third advantage is that an EU-issued perpetual bond would be a highly
attractive asset for the ECB’s bond-purchase programs. Since the maturity of a
perpetual bond is always the same, the ECB would not be required to rebalance
its portfolio.
The EU does not need to create any new mechanism or structure to issue the
bonds, because the EU has issued bonds in the past. The proceeds should be used
for investments and grants related to fighting the pandemic. The European
Commission would disperse the funds either directly or through the member states
and other institutions (such as municipal governments) that are directly
involved in fighting the coronavirus pandemic.
The disruption caused by the pandemic should be temporary, but only if Europe’s
leaders take the extraordinary measures needed to avoid long-term damage to the
EU. That is why the EU Recovery Fund is so desperately needed. Financing it with
perpetual bonds is the easiest, fastest and least costly way to establish it.
• George Soros, founder and chair of the Open Society Foundations, is the
author, most recently, of ‘In Defense of Open Society’ (Public Affairs, 2019).
Are the international oil benchmarks in danger?
Faisal Faeq/Arab News/April 23/2020
Although Saudi Arabia is the largest oil exporter in the world, crude oil prices
from the Kingdom are linked to regional international benchmarks: ASCI for the
US, ICE Brent for Europe and the Average of Oman (as traded on the DME) and
Dubai for the Far East.
In early 2018, China launched the Shanghai International Energy Exchange (INE)
as a futures exchange priced in the Chinese yuan.
It is fair to say that the launch did not find support by the industry for spot
or term crude contracts. To support its currency’s internationalization, China
sought to trade the yuan-denominated crude contracts in the non-US dollar
exchange to gradually take a leading role in benchmarking crude oil in Asia and
worldwide.
This year, the market expects Abu Dhabi National Oil Company (ADNOC) to trade
futures contracts of its flagship oil grade in what could eventually become a
new price benchmark.
This is supposed to be done on an independent stock exchange. Seemingly, the
goal of this mechanism is to make “Murban” crude oil a benchmark just like Brent
(ICE) and WTI (NYMEX).
The unforeseen event of an oil contract turning negative for the first time in
history like WTI did this week, will attract scrutiny
Why did the May WTI crude expire negative?
The problem occurred only (and it will only happen) in Cushing, Oklahoma
(pricing point for WTI), which is a landlocked storage facility. What happened
is that storage was full and people that held “May” contracts preferred to sell
rather than taking delivery.
They did not want to take delivery because both storage and pipelines were full.
In addition, the trucks could not be used because of the lockdown due to the
coronavirus pandemic.
Producers, on the other hand, preferred to sell and not to close their
production wells, because it costs about $50-60 per barrel to shut the barrel
and it would cost much more than that to make the well functional again. In
addition, freight rates, to store crude oil on ships, spiked and made storage at
sea impractical.
In light of the current oil glut, supply got much bigger than demand and the US
suffered.
However, this could never happen to the Brent benchmark as the contract does not
envisage physical delivery. Brent is a seaborne crude oil and it is not
landlocked like WTI.
Still, the unforeseen event of an oil contract turning negative for the first
time in history like WTI did this week, will attract scrutiny and may even raise
questions about the viability of some international oil benchmarks.
• Faisal Faeq is an energy and oil marketing adviser. He was formerly with OPEC
and Saudi Aramco.
Iran's Ayatollahs Will Struggle to Survive the Oil Slump
Con Coughlin/Gatestone Institute/April 23/2020
Iranian President Hassan Rouhani has tried to put a brave face on the latest
setback to hit the regime, claiming that Iran is unlikely to suffer as much as
other countries from the oil price drop because it is less reliant than others
on crude exports.
If that were truly the case, then Tehran would not be asking the IMF for a
bailout, and Mr Rouhani, together with Javad Zarif, Iran's Foreign Minister,
would not be begging Washington to remove sanctions.
The truth of the matter is, for all the regime's attempts to claim it has
everything under control, that the country is teetering on the brink of
collapse, and the ayatollahs are fast running out of options to save themselves.
At a time when Iran's Islamic regime is already facing unprecedented pressure
over its handling of the coronavirus outbreak, as well as its disastrous
handling of the economy, the global slump in oil prices could well prove to be
the final straw for the ayatollahs.
Even before this week's dramatic collapse in global oil prices, which saw the
key gauge of U.S. crude prices, the West Texas Intermediate benchmark, tumble
into negative territory for the first time in history, the mullahs were already
under intense pressure over their catastrophic running of the country during
their four decades in power.
A combination of the regime's clumsy attempts to cover up the true extent of the
coronavirus outbreak in Iran, combined with the disastrous impact the US
sanctions are having on the Iranian economy, have resulted in the regime facing
the most sustained period of domestic dissatisfaction since the 1979 revolution.
With the collapse in the global oil market, the pressure on the ayatollahs is
set to increase even further as they risk losing a vital income stream at a time
when the country's economy is already on its knees.
According to recent estimates by the International Monetary Fund (IMF), Iran
needs global oil prices to reach the highly unlikely benchmark of $195 a barrel
just in order to meet its budget requirements for 2020.
With current predictions suggesting oil prices are likely to remain around the
$19 a barrel mark, the ayatollahs are facing the prospect of an economic
Armageddon: the oil slump means there is little prospect of a revival in the
country's economic fortunes for the foreseeable future.
With inflation running at 35%, and the country facing widespread unemployment,
the ayatollahs have become increasingly dependent on the country's oil revenues
to keep the economy functioning. Their ability to generate revenue from oil
sales, though, has already been severely affected by the impact of US sanctions,
with Iranian oil exports declining from their pre-sanctions level of two million
barrels of oil per day to around 300,000 -- a decline of more than 80%. Now,
following this week's slump, even that modest amount is under threat.
The scale of Iran's deepening economic crisis is reflected in the regime's
recent decision to seek $5 billion in emergency funding from the IMF, its first
request for outside help since the 1979 revolution.
Iranian President Hassan Rouhani has tried to put a brave face on the latest
setback to hit the regime, claiming that Iran is unlikely to suffer as much as
other countries from the oil price drop because it is less reliant than others
on crude exports.
If that were truly the case, then Tehran would not be asking the IMF for a
bailout, and Mr Rouhani, together with Javad Zarif, Iran's Foreign Minister,
would not be begging Washington to remove sanctions.
The truth of the matter is, for all the regime's attempts to claim it has
everything under control, that the country is teetering on the brink of
collapse, and the ayatollahs are fast running out of options to save themselves.
One indication of the growing disconnect between the regime and ordinary
Iranians is the claim by the Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps (IRGC) that it
has successfully launched a military satellite into orbit for the first time, an
undertaking that seems completely inappropriate for a country teetering on the
brink of bankruptcy.
In times of crisis, the regime has often resorted to stirring up tensions in the
Gulf, and elsewhere in the Middle East, as a means of increasing pressure on the
US and its allies. To that end, Iran's IRGC have been accused of conducting a
number of confrontational operations in the Gulf this month, including the
temporary seizure of a Chinese tanker in the Strait of Hormuz, which proved to
be deeply embarrassing for Tehran, as China is one of the few countries still
buying its oil.
There has also been an increase in Revolutionary Guard patrol boats harassing US
warships operating in the Gulf, a development which has prompted U.S. President
Donald Trump to order the US Navy "to shoot down and destroy" Iranian gunboats
if they continue with their provocative actions.
The ayatollahs may still believe they can survive the current crisis, but the
reality is that their prospects of overcoming all the obstacles they face, from
coronavirus to the collapse of the Iranian economy, become more challenging by
the day.
*Con Coughlin is the Telegraph's Defence and Foreign Affairs Editor and a
Distinguished Senior Fellow at Gatestone Institute.
© 2020 Gatestone Institute. All rights reserved. The articles printed here do
not necessarily reflect the views of the Editors or of Gatestone Institute. No
part of the Gatestone website or any of its contents may be reproduced, copied
or modified, without the prior written consent of Gatestone Institute.
Iran using pandemic propaganda to push its agenda
Dr. Majid Rafizadeh/Arab News/April 23/2020
Cases of people being infected with the coronavirus disease (COVID-19)
reportedly began emerging in Iran in mid-February. The virus spread rapidly
across the country and the Islamic Republic became the epicenter of the region’s
outbreak in early March. Instead of concentrating on charting a path and
assisting the international community in addressing this grave public health
crisis, Tehran and its agents appear to be spending their political and
financial capital on spreading disinformation and propaganda.
One of the fake news stories that pro-Iran operatives have been propagating is
linked to the narrative that the virus was deliberately created by another
government. For example, when the reports of coronavirus first appeared in Iran,
a pro-Tehran influencing operation, known as the International Union of Virtual
Media (IUVM), began a social media disinformation campaign. It suggested that
the US government created the virus in order to advance and maintain its global
hegemony, according to a new report by social media analyst Graphika. The report
describes the character of IUVM as “a prolific operator that is centered on
websites rather than social media. Its long-running practice has been to create
or copy web-based content that amplifies Iranian government narratives, then
post it to social media accounts that pose as independent news outlets or
journalists.”
The Iranian regime has become masterful at taking advantage of important events
in order to incite antagonism toward its rivals, including the West and Gulf
states. In this case, the objective of the disinformation campaign was most
likely to incite anti-Americanism and hatred toward the US’ allies during these
uncertain times. Graphika pointed out that, through its posts on social media,
the IUVM argued that “it is no coincidence that the virus selectively goes to
countries that are considered enemies of the United States, namely China, Iran,
some EU countries, including Italy.”
It is unrealistic to say that the US or any other government would deliberately
create this virus in order to advance its national interests. It is worth noting
that America has overtaken Italy to have the world’s highest COVID-19 death
toll, with more than 800,000 confirmed cases and about 50,000 fatalities. The
coronavirus-related economic slowdown in the US has also seen the unemployment
rate reach 13 percent, its highest level since the Great Depression of the early
1930s. And the US equities market has lost trillions of dollars in value, while
some economists believe that the long-term negative impact of the virus on the
US economy could be even greater.
Iran’s covert disinformation operations concerning COVID-19 are not only
inciting hatred toward other countries, but are also most likely negatively
impacting the international community’s efforts to fight the virus. The US’
deputy assistant secretary of defense for Russia, Ukraine, and Eurasia, Laura
Cooper, stressed in an April 13 statement: “These are messages that are
endangering global health because they’re undermining the efforts of
governments, of health agencies and of organizations that are in charge of
disseminating accurate information about the virus to the public.”
This is not the first time the Iranian regime’s disinformation operations have
been detected. In August 2018, a cybersecurity firm, FireEye, revealed data
about Iran’s widespread misinformation campaigns. Following the report, the
giant social media platforms took action and removed hundreds of accounts
reportedly linked to the Iranian government. Facebook removed “652 pages, groups
and accounts for coordinated inauthentic behavior that originated in Iran and
targeted people across multiple internet services.” Other popular social media
outlets, such as Twitter and Google owner Alphabet, have also identified and
removed many “inauthentic” accounts that originated in Iran.
The Iranian regime has become masterful at taking advantage of important events
in order to incite antagonism toward its rivals.
These accounts were promoting specific narratives that advanced the regime’s
interests, such as arguing that Iran’s militaristic engagements in Syria, Iraq
and Yemen are for humanitarian purposes; that the Islamic Republic enjoys
legitimacy domestically and regionally; that some of the Gulf states should be
treated as enemies; and that Iran’s nuclear program is solely for peaceful
purposes.
However, whenever social media accounts or websites linked to the Iranian
regime’s disinformation campaigns are exposed and removed, the Islamic Republic
is able to find other outlets or create new accounts to continue spreading its
propaganda. By using the latest technology and employing various methods, such
as generating and disseminating fabricated headlines and videos and propagating
fake news and inaccurate pictures, the regime is able to interfere in the
internal affairs of other nations.
During these critical times, it is incumbent on the international community and
powerful social media outlets to prevent the Iranian regime and its operatives
from spreading disinformation and disseminating fake news concerning the
coronavirus.
*Dr. Majid Rafizadeh is an Iranian-American political scientist. He is a leading
expert on Iran and US foreign policy, a businessman and president of the
International American Council. Twitter: @Dr_Rafizadeh
Turkey: Erdoğan Is Getting Coronavirus Dancing to His Tune
Burak Bekdil/Gatestone Institute/April 23/2020
One of the laws Turkey's rubber-stamp parliament passed before the recess
allowed the release of tens of thousands of common criminals to ease
overcrowding in jails and protect inmates from the coronavirus pandemic. The
amnesty, however, excluded hundreds of political prisoners including
journalists, writers, academics and social media users critical of Erdoğan's
authoritarian regime
In 2020, the collective fear is the coronavirus pandemic. And just as in the
previous instances based on fear, it seems to be working in Erdoğan's advantage.
"The people tend to unite behind strong leaders in times of national crisis like
war, terror, security threats, disasters or pandemic." — Özer Sencar, president
of Metropoll, non-partisan pollster, Hurriyet, April 16, 2020.
In 2020, the collective fear of Turks is the coronavirus pandemic. And just as
in the previous instances based on fear, it seems to be working to the advantage
of President Recep Tayyip Erdoğan. Pictured: Erdoğan speaks at a press
conference addressing the coronavirus crisis in Ankara, Turkey on March 18,
2020. (Photo by Adem Altan/AFP via Getty Images)
When a group of military officers attempted a putsch to overthrow Turkish
President Recep Tayyip Erdoğan in July 2016, the Islamist strongman replied with
two reflexes: survival, and a vigorous political campaign to make political
gains from the failed coup. He succeeded in both.
Most Turks, including Erdoğan's opponents, weary of decades of military coups,
united behind him to resist the putsch that ended up killing 250 people and
wounded more than 2,000. Erdoğan's approval rating rose sharply from 45% before
the failed coup to 67.6% in its aftermath. For many observers, that was not a
surprise. Only a year earlier, Erdoğan had gambled over the Turks' collective
security concerns and won.
In the general elections on June 7, 2015, Erdoğan's Justice and Development
Party (AKP) lost its parliamentary majority for the first time since it came to
power in November 2002.
After the initial shock, and as the AKP was forced into coalition negotiations
with unwanted political partners, Turkey was suddenly gripped by a wave of
terror attacks, including a suicide bombing in the heart of Ankara that killed
more than 100 people -- the worst single terror attack in Turkey's modern
history. For a while, bombs exploding here and there became almost part of daily
life. Erdoğan refused to open coalition talks with any of Turkey's adversaries
and, instead, called a repeat election in November 2015. His gamble paid off:
the AKP easily won a parliamentary majority by increasing its national vote by
8.5 percentage points (to 49.5%) within a span of five months. Once again,
threatened by a lethal force, the Turks united behind their strong leader.
It is therefore not surprising that, other things being equal, the coronavirus
pandemic has the potential to give Erdoğan a similar political boost, although
the next presidential and parliamentary elections are three years away. Who else
would the Turks turn to in these difficult days of quarantine and curfew?
Erdoğan recently suspended parliament for 45 days, citing a national campaign to
fight the coronavirus pandemic. But he did that only after passing bills he had
sponsored.
Kemal Kılıçdaroğlu, leader of the main opposition Republican People's Party
(CHP), accused Erdoğan of abusing the coronavirus crisis to tamper with the
legislative authority. "The suspension of parliamentary sessions is the result
of Erdoğan's one-man rule," he said. "Erdoğan is mistaken if he thinks he can
unilaterally resolve any problem or any crisis."
One of the laws Turkey's rubber-stamp parliament passed before the recess
allowed the release of tens of thousands of common criminals, to ease
overcrowding in jails and protect inmates from the pandemic. The amnesty,
however, excluded hundreds of political prisoners including journalists,
writers, academics and social media users critical of Erdoğan's authoritarian
regime.
In 2015, Turks had a collective scare from terrorists and their bombs. In 2016,
they feared their military officers who fired on civilians and bombed the
parliament building. In 2020, the collective fear is the coronavirus pandemic.
And just as in the previous instances based on fear, it seems to be working to
Erdoğan's advantage.
Metropoll, a non-partisan pollster with no ties to the AKP, found that Erdoğan's
approval rating rose from 41.1% in February (when no coronavirus cases had been
detected in Turkey) to 55.8% in March (when the virus started to spread in
Turkey). According to Metropoll's findings, Erdoğan's coronavirus crisis
management was approved by 19.6% of (main opposition) CHP voters. Before the
coronavirus, only 4.3% of CHP supporters had a favorable opinion of Erdoğan. In
March, Erdoğan's approval rating from the opposition bloc was an impressive
25.8% from voters of the pro-Kurdish People's Democratic Party; 23.8% from the
center-right IYI Party; and 64.7% from the Islamist Felicity Party.
Özer Sencar, president of Metropoll, explains that with a general tendency to
trust Erdoğan's crisis management, "The people tend to unite behind strong
leaders in times of national crisis like war, terror, security threats,
disasters or pandemic."
*Burak Bekdil, one of Turkey's leading journalists, was recently fired from the
country's most noted newspaper after 29 years, for writing in Gatestone what is
taking place in Turkey. He is a Fellow at the Middle East Forum.
© 2020 Gatestone Institute. All rights reserved. The articles printed here do
not necessarily reflect the views of the Editors or of Gatestone Institute. No
part of the Gatestone website or any of its contents may be reproduced, copied
or modified, without the prior written consent of Gatestone Institute.
Venezuela: Maduro's Cuban Army
Lawrence A. Franklin/Gatestone Institute/April 23/2020
The U.S. Department of Justice accuses Maduro of having served as the chief of a
narcotics organization called "the Cartel of the Suns." Maduro's drug cartel is
further alleged to have helped arm an extremist faction of the Colombia-based
Marxist terrorist group, the Revolutionary Armed Forces of Colombia (FARC), in
its decades-long campaign to overthrow Colombia's government. Maduro's cartel
has also allegedly worked with FARC to flood the U.S. with cocaine.
The intensity of Maduro's attack against Trump may indicate a sense of panic at
the possibility that the U.S. drug indictment might be setting the stage for
some kind of military action against the socialist regime that will oust him
from power.
Short of a U.S.-supported invasion by an international coalition, including free
Latin American states, perhaps sometime after the U.S. election, Maduro will
continue to wreck the formerly oil- rich country as its people continue to live
in misery.
The U.S. Department of Justice accuses Venezuelan dictator Nicolás Maduro of
having served as the chief of a narcotics organization called "the Cartel of the
Suns." Maduro's drug cartel is further alleged to have helped arm an extremist
faction of the Colombia-based Marxist terrorist group, the Revolutionary Armed
Forces of Colombia (FARC). Pictured: Maduro speaks during a press conference in
Caracas, Venezuela on March 12, 2020. (Photo by Carolina Cabral/Getty Images)
More than fifty countries in the Euro-Atlantic and Hispanic Free World consider
the Venezuelan regime led by dictator Nicolás Maduro to be illegitimate. This
view also seems to be shared by millions of Venezuelans, more than four million
of whom have fled the country's political oppression and economic depression.
The main reason for the charge of illegitimacy stems from the view that Maduro's
victory for a second six-year term as president in Venezuela's 2018 national
elections was fraudulent. Opposition protests have failed to dislodge the
socialist-led regime, which has so far been sustained by Chinese loans, Russian
weapons and Cuban troops. The Venezuelan people, disenfranchised and disarmed,
have, in addition, been bullied into submission by pro-regime neighborhood
revolutionary leftist gangs called "colectivos."
Despite Venezuela's loss of democracy and rule of law, the US Administration of
President Donald J. Trump has recently offered Venezuela's citizens a glimmer of
hope. On March 26, U.S. Attorney General William Barr, backing a federal
investigation -- in which U.S. attorneys in Washington D.C., New York, and
Florida are cooperating -- unveiled an indictment of Maduro for drug
trafficking, corruption, money laundering and support for terrorists.
The U.S. Department of Justice (DOJ) included in the indictment 14 officials
from Maduro's inner circle. The DOJ also announced a bounty of $15 million for
information leading to Maduro's arrest. The charges against Maduro and his
associates have already prompted a retired Venezuelan General, Cliver Alcala,
named in the indictment, to surrender to U.S. authorities. Two nephews of
Maduro's wife, Cilia Flores, remain in a U.S. prison for attempting to smuggle
cocaine into the United States.
The DOJ accuses Maduro of having served as the chief of a narcotics organization
called "the Cartel of the Suns." Maduro's drug cartel is further alleged to have
helped arm an extremist faction of the Colombia-based Marxist terrorist group,
the Revolutionary Armed Forces of Colombia (FARC), in its decades-long campaign
to overthrow Colombia's government. Maduro's cartel has also allegedly worked
with FARC to flood the U.S. with cocaine.
President Trump followed up Barr's public indictment of Maduro by announcing his
intention to order more U.S. warship deployments off the Venezuelan coast, to
strengthen the U.S. Navy's counter-narcotic mission in the Caribbean. The
increased anti-drug resources will also include an AWACS surveillance aircraft
and the stationing of U.S. Special Forces in the region.
Maduro's response to the DOJ indictment was immediate, personal and vitriolic.
The Venezuelan leader called Trump a "racist cowboy" and threatened that any
military assault on Venezuela would be met by "the Bolivarian fury of an entire
nation that will wipe them all out."
The intensity of Maduro's attack against Trump may indicate a sense of panic at
the possibility that the U.S. drug indictment might be setting the stage for
some kind of military action against the socialist regime that will oust him
from power.
Anxiety might also have contributed to the aggressive action of a Venezuelan
navy vessel that opened fire on and rammed a German cruise ship, the Resolute,
in international waters on March 30, in an apparent attempt to force the ship to
dock in a Venezuelan port. Ironically, the ramming did not sink the cruise ship;
instead it sank the Venezuelan navy vessel. It seems that the Resolute, used for
touring the Antarctic, had a reinforced hull for ice-breaking.
At the moment, according to US officials, "Cuban military advisors are mainstay
of the Maduro regime." One report asserts that there are about 15,000 Cubans in
Venezuela. Some are counter-intelligence officers; their job is to purge any
Venezuelan Army officers whose loyalty to Maduro is found suspect. Another
source claims that Maduro's personal bodyguards are also mostly Cuban.
Venezuela reportedly hosts 4,500 Cuban infantry troops, with the force commanded
by two Cuban generals. Havana has reportedly also dispatched to Venezuela
doctors, teachers, nurses, and engineers to shore up Cuba's depressed economy.
These Cubans are presumably helping to fill the void left by Venezuela's middle
class professionals who emigrated abroad.
Russia's role in helping to buttress Maduro's regime includes arms sales, joint
army and air force exercises, Russian naval warship visits, and stationing
Russian defense advisors inside Venezuela. In turn, Russia receives Venezuelan
oil at below market prices.
China's support of the Maduro regime is financial, and has reached a figure of
$60 billion. Beijing's investments in Venezuela are largely tied to the country
oil industry, reportedly reaching a figure of $250 million. Some of Venezuela's
debt is being serviced by deliveries of petroleum to China. As other sectors of
Venezuela's economy continue to decline, the Maduro government may be forced to
pay back its debts to China by transferring more of his country's sovereign
assets to Beijing.
Maduro and his allies are evidently hoping that that the foreign military,
intelligence and economic support extended to Venezuela's dictatorship will be
enough to keep his clique in power, at least past the U.S. presidential election
in November, when many of the world's less empathetic leaders are doubtless
hoping to see Trump's back. Short of a U.S.-supported invasion by an
international coalition, including free Latin American states, perhaps sometime
after the U.S. election, Maduro will continue to wreck the formerly oil-rich
country as its people continue to live in misery.
*Dr. Lawrence A. Franklin was the Iran Desk Officer for Secretary of Defense
Rumsfeld. He also served on active duty with the U.S. Army and as a Colonel in
the Air Force Reserve.
© 2020 Gatestone Institute. All rights reserved. The articles printed here do
not necessarily reflect the views of the Editors or of Gatestone Institute. No
part of the Gatestone website or any of its contents may be reproduced, copied
or modified, without the prior written consent of Gatestone Institute.
Iranian Regime Circles Criticize Supreme Leader Khamenei:
Release The Billions Of Dollars In Funds You Control To The Desperate Iranian
Public
MEMRI/April 23, 2020
In the past weeks, Iran has been pressing the international community for
financial aid to help it deal with the spread of the coronavirus pandemic in the
country. In March 2020 Iran appealed to the International Monetary Fund for a $5
billion emergency loan to fight the virus.
On April 7, Iranian Supreme Leader Ali Khamenei approved President Hassan
Rouhani's request of a $1 billion withdrawal from the National Development Fund
of Iran for the fight against the pandemic. [1] The fund, established in 2011,
holds Iran's foreign reserves estimated at approximately $90 billion, obtained
from the country’s oil and gas exports.[2]
In light of the severe economic situation of Iranian society due to strict
sanctions prompted by the regime's policy, coupled with the regime's mishandling
of the coronavirus outbreak, there has been criticism within the regime itself
over the failure of its charity funds, whose holdings are estimated in billions,
to come to the aid of the hard-hit Iranian public. The criticism was voiced by
the editor-in-chief of the Jomhouri-ye Eslami daily, Masih Mohajeri, by a former
senior reformist official, Mostafa Tajzadeh, and by Majlis Member Bahram Parsaei.
They urged Khamenei to immediately release the billions he controls for the
benefit of Iranians and to fight the pandemic and the economic crisis. They
pointed out that these funds, which are intended for the wellbeing of the poor
and disadvantaged in Iranian society, do not reach them. These funds, it should
be noted, benefit a small circle of Khamenei's loyalists and his project of
exporting the Iranian revolution – namely of consolidating Iran's influence in
the region and investing in other countries such as Syria and Iraq.[3]
This report reviews the criticism in regime circles of Khamenei's refusal to
release funds under his control for the benefit of the Iranian people amid the
coronavirus outbreak.
The Foundations Under Khamenei's Control
Among the foundations under Khamenei's control mentioned by Mohajeri, Tajzadeh
and Parsaei are the Executive Headquarters of the Imam's Directive (SETAD),
whose holdings were estimated in 2013 at about $100 billion[4], and the
Mostazafan Foundation (Foundation of the Oppressed and Disabled), believed to be
one of the regime's major funds, whose assets are based on seized and abandoned
property. In a March 28, 2018 interview with the Tabnak website, the
foundation’s head, Mohammad Saeedikia, said that it "has a strong presence in
[Iran’s] industry," that "nobody knows the extent of its assets” and that "it
would take two years to estimate its net worth.” He added that its annual income
was 26 billion tomans (about $6 million dollars).[5] Also mentioned by the three
speakers was the Astan-e Quds Razavi Foundation, which manages the assets of the
Imam Reza Shrine in Mashhad, a conglomerate with holdings worth billions in Iran
and abroad.
These foundations, most of which were established after Iran's Islamic
Revolution in 1979 with the stated aim of redistributing wealth to the people
and helping the poor and the war veterans, have effectively become tools for
transferring public funds to private hands, and are entirely unsupervised.
Reformist politician Behzad Nabavi, a former minister and deputy Majlis speaker
and a founder of the Intelligence Ministry, told the Iranian website Alef that
"in our country, there are four institutions which control 60 percent of the
national wealth. They include the Executive Headquarters of the Imam’s
Directive, the Khatam-ol-Anbiya Base [the IRGC’s economic organization], Astan-e
Quds and the Foundation of the Oppressed and Disabled. None of these
institutions are connected to the government or parliament.”[6]
Jomhouri-Ye Eslami Editor Mohajeri: "If [The Foundations] Won't Release Their
Funds To Save The Oppressed, How Can They Justify Their Existence?
In an April 12, 2020 article in Jomhouri-Ye Eslami,[7] the daily’s chief editor
Masih Mohajeri criticized Ali Khamenei and called on the heads of the
foundations under his control to immediately release the funds to the Iranians
harmed by the coronavirus crisis, saying that otherwise they were betraying
their mission. He wrote:
"The point to make… is that, no matter how much aid the people receive, it
cannot meet the needs created by the economic recession brought about by the
pandemic. This aid can heal some of the wounds, but it cannot solve all of the
problems. To fully resolve all of the problems, large economic players, whose
capabilities are vast and whose wealth belongs to the public, must enter the
scene. These financial authorities include SETAD, the [Executive] Headquarters
of the Imam's [Directive], the Foundation of the Oppressed, and Astan-e Quds
Razavi. The vast financial apparatuses and resources available to these
institutions, if transferred to the sectors affected by the coronavirus
[pandemic], can rapidly and fully solve the problems in these [sectors]. These
[funds] belong to the people, and it is precisely in situations like these that
they must be used to solve the public's problems.
"We know that the team managing the Imam Headquarters is taking steps by
providing facilities and cash. These [measures] help, but they are so
insignificant compared to the financial capabilities of these institutions that
they don't count at all. These institutions must step forward with open hands
and without restrictions, and without wasting time, to meet all the needs of the
people who are in profound distress in the current dire economic situation.
"Listening to the heads of these institutions speak of the measures they are
taking to help the sectors harmed [by the pandemic], we come to the conclusion
that they [either] fail to fully comprehend the scope of the harm caused to the
people in this situation, or else do not want to spend their money helping them.
Over two thirds of Iran's population receive no financial help from the
government or from these institutions and organizations. A minority of the
people have the financial means to cope with the present situation, but the rest
– i.e., the majority – have become destitute. Some have also lost their jobs,
and this dangerous situation continues. The government, too, is unable to meet
the needs of the sectors harmed by the coronavirus [pandemic], since it [itself]
faces many financial problems due to the sanctions and the decline in revenues,
and the vast funds it must concurrently expend to curb the [spread] of the
coronavirus.
"It is the responsibility of [Rouhani's] government to defend the health and
wellbeing of the citizens, and it cannot breach the limits decided upon in the
framework [of the budget]. This situation [of the pandemic] is difficult to
fully comprehend, and requires the powerful financial institutions, which belong
to the people, to step forward and fulfill their historic mission. If they won’t
release their funds to save the oppressed, how can they justify their
existence?"[8]
Former Reformist Official Tajzadeh: It's Time For Khamenei To Issue Immediate
Instructions To Rush To The People’s Aid
Mostafa Tajzadeh, a former reformist official who served as a minister in
Khatami's government and as a Majlis member, and was even a political prisoner
at one point, tweeted on April 18: "The sanctions, the coronavirus and now the
plunging oil prices mean that the government is facing immense challenges with
empty coffers. It is time for that the Foundation for the Oppressed, the
Executive Headquarters of the Imam's Directive (SETAD) and the religious
organizations' charity foundations, on the immediate order of the Leader
[Khamenei], to rush to the aid of those suffering harm and deprivation who were
once called the owners of the revolution and [received] the officials’
blessing.”[9]
Mostafa Tajzade's tweet
Majlis Member Bahram Parsaei: The Foundations Must Make The Money Available To
The People
Similar statements were made in an April 4, 2020 Majlis session that was
broadcast live on Iranian TV by Bahram Parsaei, a Majlis member representing the
city of Shiraz. He said that "Institutions and organizations that have always
enjoyed special privileges and exemptions [e.g., from taxes], such as the
Foundation for the Oppressed, the Executive Headquarters (SETAD), the Astan-e
Quds Foundation and [other] charity foundations must all serve the [Iranian]
people for [the next] two months. They must all come forward and put their
assets at the public's disposal."[10]
[1] Fars, April 7, 2020.
[2] Swfinstitute.org.
[3] See also Special Dispatch No. 8668 - Visions Of The Post-Coronavirus World –
Part III: 100 Academics And Political Activists In Iran Tell Supreme Leader
Khamenei: 'You Are The No. 1 Culprit In The National Disaster' – April 1, 2020.
[4] Reuters.com, November 11, 2013.
[5] Tabnak (Iran), March 28, 2018.
[6] Aftab News (Iran), September 21, 2019.
[7] Jomhouri-ye Eslami was owned by Hashemi Rafsanjani, who was the right-hand
man of Islamic Revolution founder Ayatollah Ruhollah Khomeini, served as Iran's
president and head of several regime councils and was known as a critic of Ali
Khamenei.
[8] Khabar Online (Iran), April 12, 2020.
[9] Twitter.com/mostafatajzadeh, April 18, 2020.
[10] Icana.ir, April 7, 2020.