LCCC ENGLISH DAILY NEWS BULLETIN
December 03/2019
Compiled & Prepared by: Elias Bejjani

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Bible Quotations For today
Let all bitterness, wrath, anger, outcry, and slander, be put away from you, with all malice. And be kind to one another, tenderhearted, forgiving each other, just as God also in Christ forgave you’”
Paul’s Letter to the Ephesians 04/24-32: “and put on the new man, who in the likeness of God has been created in righteousness and holiness of truth. Therefore putting away falsehood, speak truth each one with his neighbor. For we are members of one another. 4:26 “Be angry, and don’t sin.”* Don’t let the sun go down on your wrath, neither give place to the devil. 4:28 Let him who stole steal no more; but rather let him labor, working with his hands the thing that is good, that he may have something to give to him who has need. Let no corrupt speech proceed out of your mouth, but such as is good for building up as the need may be, that it may give grace to those who hear. Don’t grieve the Holy Spirit of God, in whom you were sealed for the day of redemption. Let all bitterness, wrath, anger, outcry, and slander, be put away from you, with all malice. And be kind to one another, tenderhearted, forgiving each other, just as God also in Christ forgave you’”

Titles For The Latest English LCCC Lebanese & Lebanese Related News published on December 02-03/2019
STL Schedules Public Hearing on Connected Case against Ayyash
Report: International Support Meeting on Lebanon Postponed
Trump administration quietly releases Lebanon military aid
US releases $105m of withheld aid to Lebanon's armed forces
Aoun meets President of Beirut Bar Association: The Movement has removed a lot of red lines
Citizen kidnapped in West Bekaa
Rahi, UN's Kubis tackle current situation
Aoun Promises Measures that Will 'Satisfy All Lebanese'
Suicide of Unemployed Man Strikes a Chord in Crisis-Hit Lebanon
Bustani Delays Gasoline Tenders to 'Enable More Competition'
Oil Syndicates Agree to Share Losses Resulting from Dollar Shortage
Bteish Rejects Calls for Hiking Bread Price
Austerity budget to be re-upped in 2020
Teachers Strike after Private Schools Cut Salaries
Lebanon Energy Ministry Delays Petrol Tender One Week to Enable 'Competition'
New Lebanese Government Looming on the Horizon
Army Stops Migrant Boat Carrying 34 Syrian Refugees
In Death and Life, Lebanese Woman Shows Religious Law Fight

Titles For The Latest English LCCC Miscellaneous Reports And News published on December 02-03/2019
Pompeo Says Iran the Common Villain in Middle East Protests
Amnesty puts Iran death toll above 200 as US says Tehran target of regional anger
Iranian Authorities Continue to Arrest Demonstrators
Iran says it continues to sell oil despite US sanctions: State TV
Iran illegally arrested students who did not take part in protests: Iranian MP
Trump Speaks with Netanyahu About Iran
Trump and Netanyahu confirm US-Israel military coordination against threatened Iranian attack
Netanyahu Slams Europe for Pursuing Trade with Iran
Israel slams new European recruits to Iran barter system
At Least 10 Dead in Idlib Airstrike
Iraq Issues 1st Death Sentence for Officer who Killed Protesters
Turkey: Purchase date for new S-400 Russian missiles is just a technicality: RIA
Turkish Soldiers Killed in Ras al-Ain Explosion
Greece to Ask for NATO Support over Deal between Turkey, GNA
Fatah Official Warns Israel-Hamas Deals Lead to Establishment of a Statelet
13 Pakistanis Killed in Jordan Farming Village Fire
Sudanese PM Heads to Washington to Discuss Sanctions
Syrian Pound at New Low as Crisis Roils Neighboring Lebanon

Titles For The Latest LCCC English analysis & editorials from miscellaneous sources published on December 02-03/2019
US releases $105m of withheld aid to Lebanon's armed forces/Joyce Karam/The National/December 02/2019
In Death and Life, Lebanese Woman Shows Religious Law Fight/Associated Press/Naharnet/December 02/2019
Will Hezbollah survive the Lebanese revolution/Makram Rabah/The Arab Weekly/December 02/2019
US’ Lebanon policy should not be guided by Israeli perspective/Dr. Dania Koleilat Khatib/Arab News/December 02/2019
*Islamic State Alive and Well in Europe/Soeren Kern/Gatestone Institute/December 02/2019
Durham Needs to Bring Indictments/Chris Farrell/Gatestone Institute/December 02/2019
Saddam Asked Me: Have You Read About Welayat al-Faqih?'/Ghassan Charbel/Asharq Al Awsat/December 02/2019
Worse Than World War I/Brian Chappatta/Bloomberg/December 02/2019
Will the New EU Commission Be French or German/Leonid Bershidsky/Bloomberg/December 02/2019
World must not forget Iran’s detained protesters/Dr. Majid Rafizadeh/Arab News/December 01/2019
Protesting Iraqi youths send clear message to Iran/Dr. Mohammed Al-Sulami/Arab News/December 02/2019

The Latest English LCCC Lebanese & Lebanese Related News published on December 02-03/2019
STL Schedules Public Hearing on Connected Case against Ayyash
Naharnet/December 02/2019
Trial Chamber II of the Special Tribunal for Lebanon (STL) issued Monday an order scheduling a public hearing on 13 December 2019 at 10:00 A.M. (CET) to hear arguments from the Office of the Prosecutor and the Head of the Defense Office on initiating in absentia proceedings against Salim Ayyash over the Murr, Hawi and Hamadeh attacks, the STL said. Trial Chamber II has also invited the Registrar to make submissions on his efforts to publicize the indictment and the service of the indictment on the Accused. This step comes after the Pre-Trial Judge Daniel Fransen seized Trial Chamber II, on 21 November 2019, to determine whether to initiate proceedings in absentia Ayyash, following the outstanding arrest warrant against him. Trial Chamber II will have to determine whether the required conditions have been met in order to start the proceedings in absentia whilst preserving the rights of the Accused. It will issue a decision in this regard in due course based on the oral submissions it hears on December 13.
BACKGROUND INFORMATION:
On 16 September 2019: The STL Pre-Trial Judge Daniel Fransen lifted the confidentiality of his decision confirming an indictment against Ayyash. The indictment, dated 14 June 2019, alleges Ayyash is involved in the 1 October 2004 attack against Marwan Hamadeh, the 21 June 2005 attack against Georges Hawi and the 12 July 2005 attack against Elias Murr. These attacks were found to be “connected” to the 14 February 2005 attack that killed ex-PM Rafik Hariri. These attacks constitute a new case dubbed STL-18-10. Judge Fransen also made public the arrest warrants issued against Ayyash.
On 17 September 2019, the STL President Judge Ivana Hrdličková issued a statement calling the accused to surrender and to participate in the proceedings, informing him of his rights before the Tribunal and notifying the public of the new indictment.
On 24 September 2019, the President further ordered that the service of the indictment against Ayyash be effected in an alternative manner, including through public advertisement.
On 07 October 2019, the poster was published in five Lebanese newspapers.
On 08 October 2019, the STL released an audio-visual and audio public service announcement as well as a poster with the biographical information of Ayyash as part of the STL public advertisement campaign.
On 06 November 2019, the STL President issued an order convening the Trial Chamber II in the connected case STL-18-10.
On 21 November 2019, the STL Pre-Trial Judge requested Trial Chamber II to determine whether proceedings in absentia should be initiated in Connected Case STL-18-10.
On 29 November, STL Trial Chamber II unanimously elected Judge Nicola Lettieri as Presiding Judge for a term of 18 months.

Report: International Support Meeting on Lebanon Postponed
Naharnet/December 02/2019
There were no regional or international positions regarding the latest developments in protest-hit Lebanon, but a “friendly” tripartite American-British-French meeting on Lebanon has been postponed, al-Joumhouria daily reported on Monday. The meeting, orchestrated by French President Emmanuel Macron, was expected to be held this week in London to discuss the situation in Lebanon. Macron aims to relay a strong message to Lebanon's political class urging it to address the rightful demands of the protesters, expedite the formation of a government and implement reforms, paving the way to unlock billions in investments agreed at CEDRE aid conference in April 2018. “It has been postponed to a later date until contacts about the developments in Lebanon are complete,” diplomatic sources who spoke on condition of anonymity told the daily. It brings together the heads of Middle East departments in the three foreign ministries - the American David Schenker, the French Christophe Farnaud and the British Stephanie al-Qaq - which was held last month in Paris. Macron suggested the meeting in a bid to showcase international support for Lebanon’s stability, as the Mediterranean country grapples with nationwide protests since October 17.
With demonstrations continuing well into their second month demanding an overhaul of the entire political class, President Michel Aoun has yet to call for binding parliamentary consultations after the resignation of PM Saad Hariri. Hariri resigned on October 29 bowing to the people’s demands.

Trump administration quietly releases Lebanon military aid
Associated Press/December 02/2019
WASHINGTON: The Trump administration has quietly released more than $100 million in military assistance to Lebanon after months of unexplained delay that led some lawmakers to compare it to the aid for Ukraine at the center of the impeachment inquiry. The $105 million in Foreign Military Financing funds for the Lebanese Armed Forces was released just before the Thanksgiving holiday and lawmakers were notified of the step on Monday, according to two congressional staffers and an administration official. All three spoke on condition of anonymity because they were not authorized to speak publicly to the matter. The money had languished in limbo at the Office of Management and Budget since September although it had already won congressional approval and had overwhelming support from the Pentagon, State Department and National Security Council. The White House has yet to offer any explanation for the delay despite repeated queries from Congress. Lawmakers such as Rep. Eliot Engel, the chairman of the House Foreign Affairs Committee and Sen. Chris Murphy, D-Conn., had pressed the administration since October to either release the funds or explain why it was being withheld. The State Department had notified Congress on Sept. 5 that the money would be spent.
Earlier this month, the delay came up in impeachment testimony by David Hale, the No. 3 official in the State Department, according to the transcript of the closed-door hearing. Hale described growing consternation among diplomats about the delay. The White House and the Office of Management and Budget have declined to comment on the matter. The State Department had offered only a cryptic response to queries, defending the assistance but also calling for Lebanese authorities to implement economic reforms and rein in corruption. As with the Ukraine assistance, OMB did not explain the delay. However, unlike Ukraine, there has been no suggestion that President Donald Trump is seeking “a favor” from Lebanon in exchange for the aid, according to officials familiar with the matter. The delay had frustrated the national security community, which believes the assistance that pays for U.S.-made military equipment for the Lebanese army is essential, particularly as Lebanon reels from financial chaos and mass protests. The aid is intended to help counter Iran’s influence in Lebanon, which is highlighted by the presence of the Iranian-supported Shiite Hezbollah movement in the government and the group’s militias, officials have said.
Some pro-Israel members of Congress have long sought to de-fund the Lebanese military, arguing that it has been compromised by Hezbollah, which the U.S. designates as a “foreign terrorist organization.” Republican Sen. Ted Cruz of Texas has long advocated cutting the assistance and is expected to introduce legislation that would bar such aid as long as Hezbollah is part of Lebanon’s government. The Pentagon and State Department reject that view, saying the army is the only independent Lebanese institution capable of resisting Hezbollah.

US releases $105m of withheld aid to Lebanon's armed forces
Joyce Karam/The National/December 02/2019
A senior US official confirmed the news
The Trump administration told Congress on Monday that it has released the $105 million in annual aid to the Lebanese Armed Forces, which had been withheld after a White House request. “The United States remains committed to strengthening the capacity of the Lebanese Armed Forces to secure Lebanon’s borders, defend its sovereignty and preserve its stability,” a US State Department official said. The official said the armed forces was the only legitimate defence arm of the government of Lebanon. Last month it was reported that the Trump administration was withholding the amount and had informed Congress.
There was no official explanation given for the hold, which some officials attributed privately to “bureaucratic measures”.On Monday, congressional staffers confirmed the release of the aid and said there had been no delay in any deliveries. Since 2005, the US has provided $2.29bn in military assistance to Lebanon. A US defence official also confirmed the continuity of the Train and Equip aid programme for the Lebanese forces. “There is no change to Section 333 assistance at this time,” a Pentagon official told The National.
Hanin Ghaddar, a senior fellow at the Washington Institute for Near East Policy, attributed the release of the aid to pressure from Congress, the State Department and the Pentagon, against what was seen as a White House push to freeze the aid. Ms Ghaddar said there was also “a general realisation in Washington that this is the worst time to hold the aid". US Senator Chris Murphy visited Lebanon last week and heavily criticised the administration for the aid freeze, calling it “the dumbest thing we could do to weaken Hezbollah”.
Ms Ghaddar said: “Despite violations of the military intelligence [against the armed forces], it has been generally doing a great job at protecting the protesters and challenging Hezbollah’s plans." Lebanon has been swept with anti-corruption protests since mid-October, which have toppled the government of Saad Hariri and have been met with opposition from Hezbollah. Firas Maksad, an adjunct professor at George Washington University, said the release of aid was a boost to the armed forces at a critical time. “The military, with a good but imperfect record of dealing with peaceful protesters, has been resisting significant pressure from Hezbollah to forcefully reopen major highways and stand aside as its supporters attack the demonstrators,” Mr Maksad told The National. “Despite its shortcomings and much room for improvement, the US aid to the Lebanese army remains key for maintaining some US leverage in Beirut and preventing near total Iranian dominance." US Secretary of State Mike Pompeo called on the Lebanese army and security services “to continue to ensure the rights and safety of the protesters".Washington’s ambassador to Lebanon, Elizabeth Richard, is preparing to leave her post and the Trump administration has nominated career diplomat Dorothy Shea for the position.

Aoun meets President of Beirut Bar Association: The Movement has removed a lot of red lines
NNA/December 02/2019
President of the Republic, General Michel Aoun, on Monday affirmed that "We all want reform, despite the obstacles in front of the course of events", saying that the "Movement" came today to "Break a lot of reserves and remove a lot of red lines, and you will witness what satisfies you, and the Lebanese people, in the next stage".
"We are not confronting the corrupt people in the Government or who were in it only, but the protection of a society for them because those who are affected do not complain, but only speak in salons. We cannot prosecute people for corruption without evidence, and we want the people to resist with us," President Aoun said.
In addition, the President stressed the need to prosecute those who negatively promote national currency in accordance with the laws, pointing to the existence of some problems in the judicial laws, which lead to delay the course of lawsuits and must be amended.
President Aoun's stances came during his meeting with the President of the Lebanese Bar Association, Melhem Khalaf, who was accompanied by former Captains, and members of the retirement committee.
At the outset of the meeting, Captain Khalaf, delivered the following speech:
"On November 17, the General Assembly of the Bar Association took us to the responsibility and honor to serve it, and today we are in the traditional visit to your esteemed office. It is a matter of joy and pride, not coincidence, that the percentage of the Bar Association, which was founded in 1919 coincides with the percentage of the State of Greater Lebanon, which was announced in 1920. Indeed, it was the Bar Association that was the first tributary of the men of the state at the time. Today, I am delighted to be accompanied, along with the dear members of the Bar Association and the Committee of the Retirement Fund, by Captains who have been in charge for nearly 40 years. These are among the followers of the great men, the fathers of the profession, on whose sleeves the glory of the law is built in Lebanon.
Mr. President, we come to you today, while you are in your inclusive position as the custodian of all Lebanese, entrusted with the maintenance of the Constitution and the application of laws, the guarantor of the constitutional institutions. I am deeply impressed by the interest that the Lebanese people have shown in the Bar Associations elections, this year, and with the sincere sentiments expressed by the Lebanese people in general, and the younger generation in particular. Today, electoral competition is over and union brings us together.
Mr. President, my conviction is that the Bar is the crane of a homeland. It is the crane of a homeland, because it is keen to support the state, the state of law and regulations. It is the crane of a homeland, because it is also keen to regularize the work of constitutional institutions, the essence of democratic work and the secret of its existence.
It is the crane of a homeland since lawyers only adapt with the rule of law, and combine themselves with it.
It is the crane of a homeland, along with an independent, effective, impartial, scholarly, fair, anti-corruptive, and accountable judicial authority. In any case, the Bar Association is the natural avant-garde campaign for the independence and justice of the judiciary.
It is the crane of a homeland, because justice is not without lawyers.
It is the crane of a homeland, because it feels the pain of the people and knows their worries and cries. It is the crane of a homeland, because it is the first defender of public freedoms and human rights, whatever the circumstances
It is a crane of a homeland, because it is the natural refuge for every oppressed.
Mr. President, the Lawyers Syndicate knows that Lebanon today, in the difficult circumstances imposed by the financial, economic and social crisis, needs an effective, rational, and salivary approach to keep up with the people who have peacefully emerged in all its categories, in all its ages, and in all regions, showing the strength of its faith, its solid will and its commitment to the homeland and to life. It is a people created by its history, and individuality, capable of changing the bitter reality, lying on the forehead and creating a process of renewal that does not stop or collapse. It is one of the greatest roles of the Bar Association to erase the distortions of hatred and distort on the face of this homeland, and to restore its true face, the face of love, tolerance and respect, the face of good and beauty, the face of freedom and joy.
Mr. President, maybe someone would ask: What can we do? and why?
I answer what Volney said more than two hundred and fifty years ago, who was amazed by the Lebanese peoples' cultural and economic progress. Volney said: "How can we explain such prosperity in such a narrow land? After contemplation and reflection, I find no reason except the ray of freedom that shines there". Mr. President, there is no fear of the freedom of this people, no fear of its rightful demands, no fear of its uprising, which comes from the womb of the wombs. And at all, there is no fear of renewed powers, today before tomorrow, to consolidate our democratic system.
The Bar Association is committed to the Constitution and constitutional institutions and its symbolism. Its first concern is to insert democracy into these institutions, starting with filling the vacuum within the procedural authority, in accordance with the constitutional mechanisms and demands of the people, the source of all powers.
Mr. President, the Bar Association has the will, determination, ability and courage to keep up with those concerned, at the right time and in the appropriate means, to fortify the homeland and protect the state in accordance with the hopes of the people. It is well aware of the accuracy of its role in being a crane of the homeland.
In turn, President Aoun responded by welcoming the President of the Bar Association and the accompanying delegation, pointing to the great appreciation he holds for the Association because "There is no judiciary in the absence of a lawyer who is the third pillar in justice after the Public Prosecution and the judiciary.""It is important that these three pillars are far from corruption, which has become a common disease in Lebanon," the President added.
The President of the Republic said: "The movement has come today to break a lot of reserves and remove a lot of red lines, and you will see in the next stage what satisfies you and all the Lebanese".
"We have made three appeals to those in charge of the Movement for dialogue, and to identify the demands accurately to help resolve things. The answer was that no one has the character to talk to us" President Aoun said.
The President added that "We are not only confronting corrupt people in the Government or those who were in power, because this is commonplace, but we are confronted with the protection of society for them, because those who are harmed do not complain but speak in salons. Can we prosecute people for corruption without evidence? No, we can't. We want people to resist with us. Sometimes there are those who do not complain because they are benefitting from the situation, and there are some who share the benefit with the employee, through tax manipulation. This is an important kind of corruption. There is also legal corruption, such as when a piece of land is sold and registered with the notary more than once without paying the tax. For this I tell you objection alone is not enough".
President Aoun then touched on the issue of freedoms in Lebanon and considered that it had reached anarchy. Noting that there are no journalists in prison because they are guaranteed freedom of expression.
"They are exposed to us on social media, and no one is exposed to them. But the freedom that we defended exceeded its limits, after insult became part of the freedom of the media, which is unacceptable. Lawyers can help control public morals".
Regarding the current financial and economic crisis, the President pointed out that it has grown considerably as a result of accumulation of tens of years, explaining that he warned of the explosion on more than one occasion.
"I talked a lot about corruption, and the most important thing I mentioned, on this subject, was on the 14th of May this year, in a speech at the "Iftar" of Ramadan, in the presence of all state activities. I pointed out, at that time, that Lebanese rejection of taxes reflects mistrust in the state, and warned that the voice of the people will rise one day rejecting the fait accompli" President Aoun said. The President saw that rumor defeats truth today, and pointed to the existence of a large number of laws which are not implemented, including what has been issued since 1943 related to bad promotion of the national currency, and those who do should be prosecuted.
President Aoun pointed out that there are some problems in judicial laws that lead to delaying the course of calls, and must be amended, such as the issue of submitting defenses more than six times, the delay in the holding of hearings, and the accumulation of cases. "I hope that we will help together to correct our society from the diseases it suffers from," the President concluded.

Citizen kidnapped in West Bekaa
NNA/December 02/2019
Masked gunmen in a dark-glass Jeep Cherokee without a license plate number on Monday abducted a citizen from the town of Kamed al-Louz in the western Bekaa, as he was driving a pickup truck on Jabal al-Bireh, Kamed al-Louz road to inspect a construction site of his. Meanwhile, the security forces have kicked off their investigations to unveil the identity of the kidnappers.

Rahi, UN's Kubis tackle current situation
NNA/December 02/2019
Maronite Patriarch Cardinal Bechara Boutros Rahi, received this Monday in Bkirki the United Nations Special Coordinator for Lebanon, Jan Kubis, with whom he discussed the current situation in the country.

Aoun Promises Measures that Will 'Satisfy All Lebanese'
Naharnet/December 02/2019
President Michel Aoun on Monday noted that the protest movement that has been sweeping the country since Oct. 17 has “breached a lot of (sectarian) protectorates and eliminated a lot of red lines.”“In the coming period, you will witness things that will satisfy you and all Lebanese,” Aoun told a delegation from the Beirut Bar Association led by its newly-elected chief Melhem Khalaf – a prominent civil society figure who is backed by the protest movement. “We are not only being impeded by the corrupts who are in power, or those of them who were in power, because this has become familiar, but we are also being impeded by the protection they are receiving from society,” the president added. Lamenting that “a large number of laws are not being implemented, including some that have been in place since 1943,” Aoun called for prosecuting those who “talk negatively about the national currency.”

Suicide of Unemployed Man Strikes a Chord in Crisis-Hit Lebanon
Agence France Presse/Naharnet/December 02/2019
A suicide in Lebanon committed over a small debt sparked a social media outcry in the protest-hit country, where weeks of political and economic turmoil have raised alarm. Naji Fliti, a 40-year-old father of two, committed suicide outside his home in the eastern border town of Arsal on Sunday because he could not pay outstanding medical bills for his cancer-stricken wife, his relative told AFP on Monday. The death resonated with many on social media, who blamed the country's under-fire political class for failing to address a months-long economic downturn that has resulted in inflation, swelling unemployment and fears of a currency devaluation. "He is a victim of this regime, of this political class and their financial and monetary policies," Doumit Azzi Draiby, an activist, said on Twitter. An unprecedented anti-government protest movement has gripped Lebanon since October 17, fueled in part by deteriorating living conditions.
The World Bank has warned of an impending recession that may see the number of people living in poverty climb from a third to half of the population. Unemployment, already above 30 percent for young people, would also go up, it said. Prime Minister Saad Hariri's cabinet resigned two weeks into the protest movement, bowing to popular pressure. But the country's deeply divided political class has yet to form a new cabinet, frustrating demonstrators who have remained mobilized. Public fury was fueled further following Fliti's death. "Our anger is as strong as our determination to change this deadly and corrupt state," Ghassan Moukheiber, a former lawmaker, said on Twitter, attaching a picture of the deceased. Fliti, a former stone quarry worker, had been unemployed for the past two months because of a crunch in demand for one of the town’s main exports, his cousin Hussein told AFP on Monday. "He is a victim of the economic situation," Hussein said. "The blame is squarely on the corrupt political class that brought us here."

Bustani Delays Gasoline Tenders to 'Enable More Competition'
Naharnet/December 02/2019
Caretaker Minister of Energy Nada Bustani on Monday postponed a fuel tender to import gasoline by one week “to pave way for more competition.”Bustani was set to publicly open bids from private fuel companies on Monday following the strike of gas station owners last week that paralyzed the country.
The Ministry “received two gas tenders and two requests to delay the tender for one week until next Monday. This way, we would allow more competition,” said Bustani in remarks she made in a press conference. The Ministry “initiated the tender for fuel imports in a bid to control prices from rising and avoid fuel shortages,” she said. She urged private companies to step forward and submit their documents before next week “for better competition and better prices.” Knowing that around 14 companies submitted their documents to partake in the tender, she said: “In the last 48 hours pressure was exerted on (some) companies. Having only two companies does not mean the tender failed,” she added. The Ministry “decided to enter the competition after the fuel crisis. We decided to get involved when the current oil companies said they were incapable of opening letters of credit (in dollars) from the bank,” to import fuel.
Lebanon’s fuel crisis emerged last week against the background of a shortage in dollars. The Lebanese pound is pegged at around 1,500 pounds to the dollar, and both are used interchangeably in everyday transactions. But banks in Lebanon have been rationing dollar withdrawals, forcing those in need to resort to money-changers and pushing the unofficial exchange rate above 2,000 pounds to the greenback. The central bank last month said it would help fuel importers with access to the dollar at the lower official exchange rate. But petrol stations say they are making losses because they are forced to buy dollars at the higher rate to pay importers demanding the foreign currency. The government stepped down on October 29, less than two weeks after the October 17 demonstrations erupted, but the country's deeply divided political parties have failed to form a new one.

Oil Syndicates Agree to Share Losses Resulting from Dollar Shortage
Naharnet/December 02/2019
Caretaker Energy Minister Nada Bustani on Monday announced that all oil sector syndicates have agreed to share losses resulting from the country’s dollar shortage crisis. After a meeting with the heads of the syndicates, Bustani said each stakeholder will contribute a certain share.
The minister however noted that the contributed shares will not be sufficient to cover the entire exchange rate losses. “The prices schedule will be issued on Wednesday,” Bustani said. “I will not allow the credit mechanism that the central bank has imposed on gas station owners to be turned into a burden on citizens. The burdens will be distributed on the syndicates so that citizens don’t bear them,” the minister added. Gas station owners had staged a strike on Friday, bringing the country to a standstill and drawing angry reactions from citizens, especially taxi drivers and delivery workers. On September 30, the central bank said it would facilitate access to dollars for importers of petroleum products, wheat and medicine. "Banks that issue letters of credit for the importation of petroleum products (petrol, fuel oil and gas), wheat and medicine will be able to ask the Banque du Liban to ensure the value of such credits in U.S. dollars," the central bank said. The mechanism requires that a "special account" be opened at the central bank, and at least 15 percent of the value of the credit be deposited in it in U.S. dollars, as well as the full value in Lebanese pounds, it said, adding that the central bank would take 0.5 percent from each transaction. Lebanon has been grappling with widespread anti-government protests since October 17, a free-falling economy, and an escalating liquidity crisis. The dollar exchange rate in the parallel market has shot up from the pegged rate of 1,507 pounds to the greenback to around 2,250.Banks have meanwhile imposed restrictions on withdrawals and transfers.

Bteish Rejects Calls for Hiking Bread Price
Naharnet/December 02/2019
Caretaker Economy Minister Mansour Bteish on Monday reiterated his rejection of any increase in the price of bread amid the economic and financial crises in the country. Bteish’s stance came in two separate meetings with delegations from the association of mill owners and the association of bakery owners. During the meeting, bakery owners demanded “hiking the price or slashing the weight” of the standard pack of Lebanese pita bread. Bteish rejected the demand and briefed the delegation on an agreement he reached with mill owners under which they would sell wheat to bakeries for the price of LBP 565,000 per ton. The minister also cited a study conducted by the Directorate General of Grain and Sugar Beet and international sides. Weeks ago, the central bank said it would facilitate access to dollars for importers of petroleum products, wheat and medicine. The Lebanese pound has been pegged to the greenback at around 1,500 for two decades and the currencies are used interchangeably in daily life. But amid a deepening economic crisis, banks have gradually been reducing access to dollars in recent months, forcing importers to resort to money changers offering a higher exchange rate and sparking price hikes. On the open market, the dollar has been selling for more than 2,000 pounds.

Austerity budget to be re-upped in 2020
Annahar Staff/December 02/ 2019
MP Ibrahim Kanaan said the measures would decrease the spending of all institutions except those "concerned with social or health care."
BEIRUT: Lebanon will re-up its austerity budget in 2020 with the aim of reducing the deficit by another LBP 453 billion according to the head of Parliament Finance and Budget Committee. MP Ibrahim Kanaan said the measures would decrease the spending of all institutions except those "concerned with social or health care." “All unexplained spending and compensations and aid for organizations that are not concerned with social and health care must be crossed out or have a big part of it eliminated," he said. New taxes or cuts to public sector wages will not be introduced, he said. The committee has been holding around the clock meetings to complete the 2020 budget and refer it back to parliament before the constitutional deadline. The draft budget also includes the series of measures approved by the Cabinet before caretaker Prime Minister Saad Hariri submitted his resignation.
A reduction in electricity subsidies, minister wage cuts and other reforms were agreed hours after nationwide protests gripped Lebanon. On paper. the budget deficit was also reduced to 0.6 percent of GDP, down from 11.1 percent in 2018.
Meanwhile, caretaker Energy Minister Nada Boustani extended a tender to import 150,000 tons of gasoline by week to "allow for more competition."
Only two companies submitted offers for the tender, Boustrani said, despite being received by another 12. On Saturday, owners of gas stations in Lebanon suspended a one-day strike that paralyzed the country and raised fears over a possible shortage of fuel.  Sami Brax, the head of the Syndicates of Gas Station Owners, announced suspending the strike "after holding contacts with the Energy Ministry,” said LBCI. The tender, offered by the state, looks to import that amount of gasoline in an attempt to avert any fuel shortages and "ensure that prices do not rise for Lebanese consumers," Boustani said.
Lebanon has been rocked by nationwide protests for the better part of a month, kicked off initially by a proposed WhatsApp tax. Demonstrators have been decrying increased living costs and high unemployment, while a shortage in dollar liquidity has raised fears of a possible default.
Speaking on Monday, President Michel Aoun on Monday praised certain aspects of the movement, saying that protestors had “breached a lot of (sectarian) protectorates and eliminated a lot of red lines.”“In the coming period, you will witness things that will satisfy you and all Lebanese,” Aoun told a delegation from the Beirut Bar Association led by its newly-elected chief Melhem Khalaf – a prominent civil society figure who managed to defeat the establishment's candidates last month. “We are not only being impeded by the corrupts who are in power, or those of them who were in power, because this has become familiar, but we are also being impeded by the protection they are receiving from society,” the president added.

Teachers Strike after Private Schools Cut Salaries
Naharnet/December 02/2019
A number of private school teachers went on strike Monday to protest cuts to their salaries, amid a dire economic and financial crisis in the country. LBCI television said the teachers stopped teaching after schools withheld portions of their salaries. “Each teacher was paid 1 million Lebanese liras and was promised to get paid when parents pay tuition installments,” LBCI said. Lebanon has been grappling with widespread anti-government protests since October 17, a free-falling economy, and an escalating liquidity crisis. The dollar exchange rate in the parallel market has shot up from the pegged rate of 1,507 pounds to the greenback to around 2,250.Banks have meanwhile imposed restrictions on withdrawals and transfers.

Lebanon Energy Ministry Delays Petrol Tender One Week to Enable 'Competition'
Beirut- Asharq Al-Awsat/Monday, 2 December, 2019
Lebanon's energy ministry delayed a fuel tender by one week on Monday to allow for more competition as it seeks to stave off supply shortages during the worst economic crisis in decades. The ministry is trialing a state tender for 150,000 tons of 95 octane gasoline and has received offers from two companies.
The tender, which aims to supply around 10% of the country's needs, is a first in import-dependent Lebanon, where private companies usually procure fuel. Gas stations suspended a strike on Friday to hold talks with authorities, after shutting down across the country and complaining of losses from buying dollars on the black market. Caretaker Energy Minister Nada Boustani has said private buyers recently sought to hike petrol pump prices to compensate for the rising cost of dollars on the parallel market, now the main source of hard currency. The country's economic crisis has been long in the making and now come to a head. The Lebanese pound has slumped as much as 40% below the official dollar peg rate in recent days on the parallel market and a hard currency crunch has left many importers unable to bring in goods, forcing up prices. Since protests erupted on Oct. 17 and with political gridlock over forming a new government, pressure has piled on the financial system. Banks have curbed US dollar withdrawals and blocked nearly all transfers abroad. The central bank said in September it would prioritize foreign currency reserves for fuel, medicine, and wheat, though buyers must still supply 15% of their dollar needs. Fuel imports had since resumed, but traders were asking for 100% of the bill in US dollars to keep buying.Boustani said on Monday she hoped the central bank would re-evaluate its plan to deal with the ministry under the same mechanism that covers 85% of the dollar need for importing fuel, rather than all of it. "We took the decision (to postpone) to guarantee more competition and get the best prices for the Lebanese state," she told a press conference.

New Lebanese Government Looming on the Horizon
Asharq Al-Awsat/Monday, 2 December, 2019
Several sources confirmed on Sunday that Lebanon is close this week to reaching a solution to the cabinet crisis. Sources from al-Mustaqbal and Amal movements and the Free Patriotic Movement predicted that the deadlock could be solved this week. Development and Liberation Parliamentary Bloc Member MP Anwar el-Khalil anticipated the formation of the new government this week, saying it would reflect the aspirations of citizens and anti-government protesters. "There’s indication that the naming of a PM will be followed by the formation process. If this was true, then the Lebanese should expect the good news that they have been awaiting for,” he said. “We hope that this government will meet the expectations of the people and protesters,” he added. For his part, FPM deputy Ibrahim Kanaan said if intentions are true the cabinet would be formed this week. “The PM-designate is required to swiftly form a government quickly,” the deputy told a local radio station. "President Michel Aoun is trying within his constitutional powers to secure the conditions for this rapid formation."Amid those assertions, Hezbollah deputy Mohammed Raad said Sunday that the Lebanese crisis would only be solved after the formation of a “national unity government based on the Taef Accord.”“If not the case, the country will remain ruled by a caretaker government. We will push ministers to continue their work and we will punish those who will not,” he said. Prime Minister Saad Hariri resigned on Oct. 29 amid nationwide protests accusing the political elite of corruption and mismanagement of the economy.

Army Stops Migrant Boat Carrying 34 Syrian Refugees
Agence France Presse/Naharnet/December 02/2019
Lebanon's army on Sunday said it stopped a boat carrying 34 Syrian refugees who were trying to leave the protest-hit country. It stopped the boat near the coast of the northern city of Tripoli on Saturday, it said in a statement. The army said it arrested a Lebanese citizen who was trying to smuggle them out of the country, adding that there were five Lebanese on board the vessel. The boat's final destination was not immediately clear. Lebanon, a small Mediterranean country of some 4.5 million people, says it hosts around 1.5 million Syrian refugees. Those escaping Lebanon by boat have often tried to cross into Europe through Turkey or Cyprus, some 100 kilometres (62 miles) away. In October, Lebanon said it agreed to work with Cyprus to prevent migrants from reaching its shores. Lebanon has been rocked by unprecedented anti-government protests since October 17. The government resigned two weeks after demonstrations started, bowing to popular pressure. The country's deeply divided political parties have yet to form a new one.

In Death and Life, Lebanese Woman Shows Religious Law Fight
Associated Press/Naharnet/December 02/2019
Nadyn Jouny's sister taped up two messages in her memory inside a closet at the family home — one of motherly love tinged with pain, another of defiance.
The first Jouny wrote to her 9-year-old son on the one day a week she was allowed to see him under a custody ruling by a Shiite religious court. "Peace be upon the holy nights when you fall asleep near me," she wrote. "Peace be upon the trace of love painted on your face and features ... This is my night."
That night, Oct. 4, would be her last with her son. Two days later, Jouny was killed in a car accident at age 29. The second message, written by a relative, has a photo of a smiling Jouny with her son's arms wrapped around her neck. "They think your voice has disappeared. Nadyn, we are your voice; get some rest...we will fight for you," it declares. In death as in life, Jouny — affectionately called Om Karam, Arabic for "mother of Karam" — has showcased the struggles of Lebanese women who are battling laws that give religious courts say over many aspects of their lives. Lebanon allows its many religious sects to govern personal status issues in their communities, resulting in 15 different sets of laws over such things as rules for marriage, divorce and custody and visitation of children. In cases of divorce for Shiite Muslims like Jouny, the Shiite religious courts usually grant custody of children to the fathers at age two for sons and age seven for daughters. Jouny waged a campaign — online and in street protests — against the laws ever since she lost custody of her son and was given visitation rights of only 24 hours a week.
Supporters of the system say it reflects the country's plurality of faiths. Critics say it discriminates against women of all faiths and means women are treated differently based on their sect. For example, divorced Sunni mothers can keep sons and daughters until age 12.
"Women have really borne the brunt of the sectarian system of governance and we see that in the personal status laws," said Lama Fakih, Human Rights Watch Beirut office director. "These are egregious abuses that are resulting in violence against women, that are resulting in outcomes where children are not being taken care of by the parent that is most suited to take care of the child, where families are really not well served."
Multiple solutions and demands have been put forward: reform or oversight of the religious courts, an option of a civil system for those who don't want to use religious courts, or a unified civil personal status law for all.
Protests convulsing Lebanon for more than a month have given a new platform for those demanding change. The protests erupted over proposed new taxes and escalated into calls for the removal of Lebanon's entire political elite and its sectarian power-sharing system.
Zoya Rouhana of the feminist organization KAFA said the myriad of personal status laws is intertwined with sectarian politics.
"Unfortunately, this renaissance that we've witnessed and seen on the streets lately through the leadership of women ... is not reflected in the laws," she told a small group who had gathered to discuss a KAFA-proposed draft for a civil personal status law.
Jouny died just before the current protests. But her face or name have at times appeared on protesters' signs and banners. "The beautiful revolutionary ... Your soul is present here with us," read one. At a memorial marking 40 days since her death, candles spelling out her name in Arabic lit up a main Beirut protest square. "We cannot delay issues of women's rights ... Death does not wait," read a pin on her sister Nada's chest. Badia Fahs, a 49-year-old who has turned out for the current round of protests, first met Jouny at a protest years ago. She remembers a young woman, her hair down, wearing — Fahs thought disapprovingly — too much red lipstick. Jouny was chanting, "Corruption, corruption, it's underneath the turbans," a controversial slogan she became known for, referring to allegations against some religious judges.
Fahs, who covers her hair with a scarf, said she was so amazed she broke into tears. "What a way to shatter taboos. I couldn't believe it," she said. "Even our men cannot talk like that."
"I would look at her and think here's this young girl who feels like she can change the world and she is not afraid — not of a sect or of clerics ... What am I lacking?" Fahs said.
Lawyer Fadia Hamzeh said she often hears criticism from her Shiite community that she is scandalizing them. She founded a Facebook page called "Revolution of a Shiite woman" to educate women about their rights in the Shiite courts, share their stories and let them know that "if you don't rebel, you won't get your rights.""We opened the door. Most families are suffering from tragedies. I didn't create this," she said. "We must offer an example for other sects because just like we have injustices in religious courts, other sects do too."
Hamzeh was inspired by the ordeal of her sister, who made news in 2016 when she was arrested and held for a few days over her refusal to turn over her son to his father. Jouny, she said, was one of the people who helped her sister's case become public and led chants in a march to the police station where she was taken. "Where are we headed when our mothers die feeling oppressed and when we are depriving our children of their mothers when they're still alive?" she said.
Sheikh Moussa al-Sammoury, a judge who sits on one of the Shiite courts, said, "Religious matters are not subject to street pressure. The issue has to do with God's satisfaction; God wants this or doesn't want this," adding, "The judge is not acting on a whim or on what he wants."
But, he said, he and his fellow judges have room to consider the children's best interest on a case-by-case basis. "If he's a bad father and is not to be trusted, we don't award him custody," he said.
Ahmad Taleb, a Shiite cleric, said the solution is to reform the rules of religious courts, noting that there is more than one opinion on the custody issue in Shiite jurisprudence. He supports raising the maternal custody age to at least seven while allowing judges to leave the kids with the mother longer when it's in their best interest. "Religion in its essence is mercy, not plastic texts," he said. "People who are religiously devout, and I am one of them, demand change." He said failing to provide solutions within the religious context could drive people to look elsewhere. "Today in Lebanon, there are complaints about religious courts of all sects, Muslim and Christian."
Zeina Ibrahim, who founded a campaign to raise the age of maternal custody, said she supports the idea of a unified civil law for personal status but believes it is a "far dream." A more attainable goal, she said, is to raise the age to seven for boys and nine for girls.
She remembered Jouny, with whom she worked for years, as "extremely enthusiastic" and extremely "hurt." In many of her photos, Jouny flashes a wide, seemingly carefree smile that belies the anguish her family says she kept private. "She would tell me, 'Mama, I'm burning from the inside. My son is getting older and I know nothing about him,'" her mother Majida said. Married before she turned 19, Jouny's relations with her husband and in-laws soured early on. There was violence. Her sisters said they saw bruises. One day after a fight with her husband, she tried to leave only to have her husband and his mother yank Karam away, her family said. Her activism on the custody issue was born.
"She considered her cause one for all women," her father said. Her family said she advocated for many causes, including helping street children and refugees and campaigning against sexual harassment and the marriage of minors.
In the Beirut square where Jouny's family and friends gathered to commemorate her death, Zainab Kawtharani, 25, lit a candle. "Your cause is safe with us. We will continue till the end," she said she wanted to tell Jouny.
She then clutched a sign: "Your voice has been and will continue to be a revolution, Nadyn."

Will Hezbollah survive the Lebanese revolution?
Makram Rabah/The Arab Weekly/December 02/2019
Contrary to Hezbollah’s aspirations, neither missiles nor funds can reverse the revolution that has unfolded nor can violence address the economic crisis at hand.)
Over 40 days have elapsed since the start of the Lebanese revolution, October 17, and many uncertainties and challenges still face the people of Lebanon.
There is the bleak economic outlook. Equally menacing perhaps is the predicament of Iran’s Lebanese proxy, Hezbollah, which declared early on that the Lebanese revolution and anyone participating in it were part of an American and Western conspiracy that uses the streets to encircle and ultimately neutralise the so-called “axis of resistance.”
Unquestionably, Hezbollah is right to dread the revolution, as it is a direct blow to the sectarian and clientelist system that allowed it to abduct the Lebanese state and use it as a cover to legitimise its Iranian arsenal and be able to deploy across the region in Syria, Iraq, Yemen and beyond.
Hezbollah is believed to have instigated the initial wave of protests against the Hariri government in the first few days of the revolution in an attempt to undermine and rein in Prime Minister Saad Hariri and force him to take a firmer position against the US sanctions.
Hezbollah, however, underestimated the popular rage that has been brewing within the public, which felt that the corrupt governance system coupled with Hezbollah’s infinite regional ambitions made the chances of Lebanon’s economic recovery virtually impossible.
Consequently, what was supposed to be a simple government shakedown by Hezbollah sprouted an existential threat to both the political class and Hezbollah.
In his recurrent TV appearances since the start of the US sanctions against Iran, Hassan Nasrallah, the secretary-general of Hezbollah, never misses the chance to declare that his organisation is unaffected by the revolution or by the sanctions, affirming that “Hezbollah is stronger than ever and that they [Hezbollah] are able to make payroll.”
Nasrallah’s “business as usual” mentality, however, reveals the predicament that Iran’s militias are facing across the region as the popular uprisings in the streets of Lebanon, Iraq and Iran place them and their budgets as well as their arms under scrutiny. They stand accused of protecting as well as partaking in the corruption of these crumpling states.
Hezbollah might indeed be able to make payroll and keep its fighters and bureaucrats orderly for a few months but it certainly cannot cater to the vast social services network it operates, simply because this network relies on the Lebanese government and its subsidies to keep its clientelist network operative.
More importantly, the Lebanese revolution does not only threaten Hezbollah’s Lebanese operation but also has direct economic implications on Syria’s Assad regime, which for years has been using the Lebanese banks as well as Hezbollah’s dark channels to escape sanctions, especially getting access to hard currency, which, in turn, caused the rush on US dollars a few months ago.
The ability of Hezbollah to wreak havoc and destruction is clear, be it in Syria or throughout the region but this Iranian proxy, or any other Iranian entity for that matter, has never shown any ability to deploy any model of soft power nor to lead any sustainable efforts to develop any of the economies it feasts on. Lebanon, Syria, Iraq and Iran are cases in point.
The Lebanese revolution has so far wisely shied away from directly challenging the legitimacy of Hezbollah weapons. Instead, the Lebanese are demanding better services, good governance, judicial reforms and rule of law — all items that are more dangerous and deadly to Hezbollah than any potential Israeli military campaign.
Both as a militia and as an ideology, Hezbollah stands as the antithesis of the Lebanese revolution. While Hezbollah strives on sectarianism and might, the revolution celebrates diversity and unity and abhors violence.
While Hezbollah might have prepared itself for a doomsday scenario and stocked up on weapons and, more importantly, dollars to soldier through the rough times ahead and to fight and defeat the popular protests which, it sees as directly targeting it, this might not be enough for Hezbollah to survive the revolution.
Contrary to Hezbollah’s aspirations, neither missiles nor funds can reverse the revolution that has unfolded nor can violence address the economic crisis at hand. But what is certain is that time is not on the side of Hezbollah nor Iran, which time and again have proven that they are no different from the tyrants that they claim to oppose.

US’ Lebanon policy should not be guided by Israeli perspective
Dr. Dania Koleilat Khatib/Arab News/December 02/2019
Israel, which has an important voice in Washington, is constantly trying to influence US policy toward Lebanon. The main problem is that Israel looks at its northern neighbor only in terms of Hezbollah. However, Lebanon is much more than that and this misguided view will lead to further instability, as it will erode US influence inside the country.
Unfortunately, Israel seeks to stop any aid to Lebanon as it is short-sighted by the view that the nation is a breeding ground for Hezbollah and that the Lebanese Armed Forces (LAF) provide cover for the armed group. However, US experts on Lebanon know this is not the case and that the LAF are actually the only counterbalance to Hezbollah. Any weakening of the army will play into the hands of the Shiite Hezbollah militia, Sunni militants, Iran and Russia. The pro-Israel groups try to make any US aid to Lebanon conditional on a confrontation between the LAF and Hezbollah. However, experts on Lebanon like former US Ambassador Jeffrey Feltman know that such a precondition is a recipe for civil war. He clarified this point during his testimony to the House Subcommittee on the Middle East, North Africa, and International Terrorism last month.
Pro-Israel think tanks constantly promote the idea that the LAF are “colluding” with Hezbollah. Tony Badran, the Lebanon-born and raised scholar, and Jonathan Schanzer published an article in Mosaic, the pro-Israel outlet, saying that the LAF work “hand in hand” with Hezbollah. Building on this narrative, Israel has tried to block a $105 million State Department aid package to the LAF. Since June, Israel’s allies in the US, including Christian evangelicals who are the core supporters of President Donald Trump, have lobbied Congress and the National Security Council to stop the aid to Lebanon. Sen. Ted Cruz introduced a bill over the summer requiring the army to disarm Hezbollah before the aid is released. When protests erupted in Lebanon in October and a few sporadic clashes occurred between protesters and members of the army, Cruz found it a good opportunity to renew his pitch.
However, the State Department and the Pentagon are well aware of the importance of the LAF. Less than two weeks after the White House announced that the military aid had been frozen, Assistant Secretary of State for Near East Affairs David Schenker told reporters in Jerusalem that an Israeli request to withhold aid to the LAF had been rejected. “We consider the funding to the LAF to be a good investment,” he said. Schenker’s statement coincided with the vision of Feltman, who said in his testimony that, when dealing with Lebanon and its armed forces, the US should think long term. This view contradicts the Israeli perspective that pushes for the US to deal with the armed forces in a transactional and conditional manner. Tel Aviv also views the current difficult situation in Lebanon and the LAF’s need for external support as an opportunity to pressure the armed forces to confront Hezbollah.
At the same hearing as Feltman, Hanin Ghaddar, Friedmann Visiting Fellow at the pro-Israel Washington Institute for Near East Policy, said in her recommendation that the LAF had “vacated” Shiite towns and areas. She added that the LAF should be present in those areas to allow the Shiite protesters to speak up against Hezbollah. However, the situation is very delicate and, in this moment of high tension, such a confrontation would be a recipe for disaster. She also accused the military intelligence of human rights violations and recommended that they be deprived of the overall aid. Nevertheless, such a policy would not allow the armed forces to operate smoothly as one organization and could create a fracture that would ultimately benefit Hezbollah.
Pro-Israel think tanks constantly promote the idea that the LAF are ‘colluding’ with Hezbollah.
The US State Department, Congress and the Pentagon all have seasoned experts in regional politics who realize that the LAF are the only hope for Lebanon. The army has been protecting protesters. In more than 40 days of demonstrations, only one protester has been killed, whereas in countries like Iraq and Iran hundreds of peaceful protesters have been targeted and killed by the army and security forces. Those numbers show that the Lebanese army has been respecting citizens’ right to protest peacefully. It has also been protecting them from belligerent factions who are trying to break the demonstrations by force.
However, the US policy depends on Trump’s whims. As Secretary of State Mike Pompeo congratulated Lebanon on the occasion of its independence day on Nov. 22, he did not offer any clarification on the release of the aid. This transactional manner of conducting foreign policy, heavily influenced by the narrow perspective of the domestic pro-Israel interest groups, will not allow the US to build any significant alliance with Lebanon. It will also prevent Washington from building capital with Lebanon’s most important institution, and the only institution that enjoys popular legitimacy — its armed forces.
*Dr. Dania Koleilat Khatib is a specialist in US-Arab relations with a focus on lobbying. She holds a Ph.D. in politics from the University of Exeter and is an affiliated scholar with the Issam Fares Institute for Public Policy and International Affairs at the American University of Beirut.
Disclaimer: Views expressed by writers in this section are their own and do not necessarily reflect Arab News' point-of-view

The Latest English LCCC Miscellaneous Reports And News published on December 02-03/2019
Pompeo Says Iran the Common Villain in Middle East Protests
Asharq Al-Awsat/Monday, 2 December, 2019
US Secretary of State Mike Pompeo said Monday that Iran was the uniting factor behind protests around the Middle East, saying demonstrators in Iraq, Lebanon and Iran itself opposed the clerical regime.While acknowledging diverse local reasons for the unrest that has swept the Middle East as well as other regions, Pompeo pointed the finger at Iran, considered an arch-enemy by President Donald Trump's administration. Iraqi premier Adel Abdel Mahdi resigned "because the people were demanding freedom and the security forces had killed dozens and dozens of people. That's due in large part to Iranian influence," Pompeo said, according to AFP. "The same is true in Lebanon, the protests in Beirut," he said at the University of Louisville. "They want Hezbollah and Iran out of their country, out of their system as a violent and a repressive force," he said. He said that protests inside Iran -- which Amnesty International says have killed more than 200 people -- showed that Iranians were also "fed up." "They see a theocracy that is stealing money, the ayatollahs stealing tens and tens of millions of dollars," he said. In both Iraq and Lebanon, protesters have primarily called for an end to corruption, greater efforts to create jobs and a restructuring of the political system. In Iraq, Abdel Mahdi had close ties with fellow Shiite-majority Iran but also enjoyed support from the United States. Protesters last week torched the Iranian consulate in Najaf. In Lebanon, the United States has been seeking to isolate the Iran-backed Hezbollah party that is also a political party with berths in the previous government. The Trump administration has put a priority on curbing Tehran's regional influence including by imposing sweeping sanctions.

Amnesty puts Iran death toll above 200 as US says Tehran target of regional anger
Arab News/December 02/2019
LONDON: At least 208 people are believed to have been killed during a crackdown on protests in Iran last month, Amnesty International said Monday.  The steep increase in the number of dead came as the US said the clerical regime in Tehran was the uniting factor behind protests in Iraq, Lebanon and Iran itself. “The number of people believed to have been killed during demonstrations in Iran that broke out on 15 November has risen to at least 208, based on credible reports received by the organization,” Amnesty said, adding that the actual death toll was likely to be higher. The new toll ups the number of deaths according to Amnesty by almost 50, with the organisation saying dozens were recorded in Shahriar city in Tehran province, “one of the cities with the highest death tolls.”
Protests erupted on Nov. 15 after the shock announcement of a fuel price hike of up to 200 percent but were quickly quashed by authorities who also imposed a week-long near-total internet blackout. Philip Luther, Amnesty's research and advocacy head for the Middle East, called the number of deaths “evidence that Iran's security forces went on a horrific killing spree,” and called on the international community to ensure those responsible are held accountable. “The deaths have resulted almost entirely from the use of firearms," Amnesty said previously. Amnesty added that, according to collected information, “families of victims have been threatened and warned not to speak to the media, or to hold funeral ceremonies for their loved ones.
“Some families are also being forced to make extortionate payments to have the bodies of their loved ones returned to them.” US Secretary of State Mike Pompeo said Monday that the protests in Iran and demonstrations in iraq and Lebanon, where Tehran has significant influence, showed people across the regime were fed up with the mullahs. While acknowledging diverse local reasons for the unrest that has swept the Middle East as well as other regions, Pompeo pointed the finger at Iran. Iraqi premier Adel Abdel Mahdi resigned “because the people were demanding freedom and the security forces had killed dozens and dozens of people. That's due in large part to Iranian influence,” Pompeo said. “The same is true in Lebanon, the protests in Beirut”" he said at the University of Louisville. “They want Hezbollah and Iran out of their country, out of their system as a violent and a repressive force,” he said.
He said that protests inside Iran showed that Iranians were also “fed up.”
“They see a theocracy that is stealing money, the ayatollahs stealing tens and tens of millions of dollars,” he said. In both Iraq and Lebanon, protesters have primarily called for an end to corruption, greater efforts to create jobs and a restructuring of the political system. In Iraq, Abdel Mahdi had close ties with fellow Shiite-majority Iran but also enjoyed support from the United States. Protesters last week torched the Iranian consulate in Najaf. In Lebanon, the United States has been seeking to isolate Hezbollah, the Shiite, pro-Iranian militant movement that is also a political party with berths in the previous government. The Trump administration has put a priority on curbing Tehran's regional influence including by imposing sweeping sanctions.

Iranian Authorities Continue to Arrest Demonstrators
London, Tehran- Asharq Al-Awsat/Monday, 2 December, 2019
Iran’s security services continued arresting demonstrators despite existing controversy over deaths caused by their usage of excessive force. In light of the contention, Revolutionary Guards commander Mohammad Reza Yazdi announced opening an investigation into shootings and the possibility of “innocent people having been targeted.” Walking back from an earlier harsher statement, Yazdi, who is in charge of security in Tehran, has admitted that some protesters may have been "wrongly targeted and killed" by security forces. He said due to the chaotic situation "it is not currently possible to confirm or refute such reports with any degree of certainty." Yazdi's remarks followed reports that said many of those killed during the protest had been shot in the head or chest, showing an intention to kill. However, Yazdi claimed that some protesters were shot from behind by fellow protesters but was not able to substantiate his claim. Meanwhile, some government officials such as presidential aide Hesamoddin Ashna, who had previously branded all protesters as thugs and demanded severe punishment for them, is now saying not all protesters were "rioters." He said that "innocent people have been shot to death." Critics have said on social media that it was too late for such remarks by officials who have already made harsh statements against protesters. Iranian authorities have not released an official toll on the number of dead and detained, but official IRNA reports showed that the arrests continued in the provinces of Tehran, Fars, East Azerbaijan and Hormozgan between Friday and Sunday. Some opposition websites, such as Kalemeh, have reported that over 150 protesters shot dead have been buried in only one cemetery in Tehran. Other reports say over 100 bodies of those shot to death were taken away from a medical center in Shahryar near Tehran. In another development, a number of Iranian artists, mainly filmmakers, have issued a statement in condemnation of the government's violent suppression of the protest. The artists' statement also came following two weeks of silence which was harshly criticized by Iranians on social media.

Iran says it continues to sell oil despite US sanctions: State TV
Reuters, Dubai/Monday, 2 December 2019
Iran continues to sell its oil despite US sanctions on Tehran’s oil exports, the country’s Vice President Eshaq Jahangiri was quoted on Monday as saying by state TV, adding that Washington’s “maximum pressure” on Tehran had failed. “Despite America’s pressure ... and its imposed sanctions on our oil exports, we still continue to sell our oil by using other means ... when even friendly countries have stopped purchasing our crude fearing America’s penalties,” Jahangiri said. Protests swept Iran last month after the government hiked prices for gasoline, with the country hit by the “maximum pressure” US sanctions campaign.The US recently removed sanctions waivers on Iran’s nuclear program in response to reports from the UN nuclear watchdog, which found unexplained uranium particles in the country.

Iran illegally arrested students who did not take part in protests: Iranian MP
Yaghoub Fazeli, Al Arabiya English/Monday, 2 December 2019
Iranian authorities illegally arrested students during their crackdown on recent anti-government demonstrations despite them not having taken part in the protests, said an Iranian MP on Monday. “The arrest of students who were not present at the protests but were arrested as part of a preventive measure must be investigated as it has no legal basis whatsoever,” MP Mahmoud Sadeghi told the semi-official Iranian Labour News Agency (ILNA). Between 40 to 50 students were arrested from the University of Tehran during the first week of protests, according to the Iranian Students’ Union.
The unrest began on November 15 after Tehran announced gasoline price hikes. The protests quickly turned political, with demonstrators demanding the removal of top leaders as security forces brutally cracked down on the demonstrations. Sadeghi called out the Iranian government’s handling of the situation, saying that the “right” way to deal with the people’s anger is to “convince the people and provide justifications” for government decisions. According to Sadeghi, who represents a Tehran constituency, Iranian MPs did not have “permission” to discuss the government’s decision to increase fuel prices in parliament. Sadeghi also warned the government that if it does not release an official death toll for the protests, MPs will release “the statistics available based on the people’s reports.” Iran is yet to release an official death toll, but opposition groups have put it in the hundreds, as Iranian security forces cracked down on demonstrators in cities across the country. “Warning to officials! If the relevant authorities do not provide the exact statistics of those killed, injured and arrested, MPs will have to release the statistics available based on the people’s reports,” tweeted Sadeghi.

Trump Speaks with Netanyahu About Iran
Asharq Al-Awsat/Monday, 2 December, 2019
US President Donald Trump spoke on Sunday with Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu about Iran and other issues, the White House said in a brief statement. "The leaders discussed the threat from Iran, as well as other critical bilateral and regional issues," the White House said in an email statement. Relations between Iran and the United States have worsened since last year when Trump pulled out of Tehran's 2015 nuclear deal with world powers and reimposed sanctions on the country. Netanyahu on Sunday denounced six new European members of a barter mechanism with Iran, saying it encouraged Tehran's repression of protests. "While the Iranian regime is killing its own people, European countries rush to support that very murderous regime," the embattled leader said in a statement. "These European countries should be ashamed of themselves."Protests broke out across Iran on November 15, hours after a sharp fuel price hike was announced. The 2015 international agreement set out restrictions on Iran's nuclear program in exchange for the lifting of Western sanctions. The Paris-based INSTEX functions as a clearing house allowing Iran to continue to sell oil and import other products or services in exchange.
The system has not yet enabled any transactions.

Trump and Netanyahu confirm US-Israel military coordination against threatened Iranian attack
DEBKAfile/December 02/2019
The Trump-Netanyahu conversation on Sunday night, Dec. 1, finalized the arrangements for military coordination against Iran that were set up during recent US generals’ talks in visits to Israel, DEBKAfile reports. The exchange between the US President and Israeli Prime Minister, covering “the threat from Iran” and “other critical bilateral and region issues,” took place ahead of the NATO summit in London this week and against the background of fresh threats from Tehran against the US and Israel. DEBKAfile’s military sources note that senior US generals have been in and out of Israel in recent weeks. They included Gen. David Goldfien, head of the US Air Force, Gen. Jeffrey Harrigan, head of US Air Forces in Europe-Air Forces Africa, and Gen. Kenneth McKenzie, commander of US forces in the Middle East. Finally, Gen. Mark Milley, Chairman of the US chiefs of Staff, arrived last week to put the final cap on the program of operational cooperation against Iran drafted by the US and Israeli generals. No details were released from Gen. Milley’s conversation with IDF Chief of Staff Lt. Gen. Aviv Kochavi, except for a terse statement: “The two generals discussed operational questions and regional developments.”
All these tense talks were accompanied by a significant movement: The USS Abraham Lincoln Carrier Strike Group sailed from the northern Arabian Sea into the Gulf for the first time since June. It passed through the Strait of Hormuz to take up position opposite central Iran.
On Nov. 23, Gen. McKenzie said in reference to Iran’s Sept. 14 missile attack on Saudi oil: “My judgement is that it is very possible they will attack again.” He made it clear that Tehran will be aiming at US and/or allied targets, including Israel.
This threat was spelled out on Friday, Nov. 29, in a speech by Gen. General Allahnoor Noorollahi, adviser to the commander of the Iranian Revolutionary Guards (IRGC) Officers College. He said that 21 of the US bases in the region are in the sights of Iran’s missiles and “Iran has prepared itself for the greatest war against the greatest enemy.”President Trump goes into NATO summit meetings this week after America and Israel have wound up their estimates and military preparations for a showdown, in an effort to deter Iran from going through with its planned offensive – or else to be ready for counter-attack.

Netanyahu Slams Europe for Pursuing Trade with Iran
Asharq Al-Awsat/December, 02/2019
Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu on Sunday lashed out at European countries for joining a body that would allow some trading with Iran despite US sanctions. Netanyahu said in a video statement that European countries “should be ashamed of themselves” for seeking to trade with Iran. He said the countries were enabling Iran to develop nuclear weapons. Last week, Belgium, Denmark, Finland, the Netherlands, Norway and Sweden said they were joining INSTEX, a body designed to facilitate European trade with Iran. INSTEX was created by Germany, France and Britain to coordinate import and export payments so European companies can do business with Iran despite US pressure, and thereby convince Tehran to stick to a 2015 deal that limits its nuclear efforts. Iran has given INSTEX a cool reception in part because it doesn’t include vital oil trade. Tehran has in recent months taken several steps away from the nuclear deal with world powers. Its moves could push tensions with the US even higher more than a year after President Donald Trump unilaterally withdrew America from the agreement and imposed sanctions now crushing Iran's economy.

Israel slams new European recruits to Iran barter system
AFP, Jerusalem/Monday, 2 December 2019
Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu on Sunday denounced six new European members of a barter mechanism with Iran, saying it encouraged Tehran's repression of protests. “While the Iranian regime is killing its own people, European countries rush to support that very murderous regime,” the embattled leader said in a statement. “These European countries should be ashamed of themselves.”Protests broke out across sanctions-hit Iran on November 15, hours after a sharp fuel price hike was announced. Reports of deaths and arrests emerged as security forces were deployed to rein in demonstrations which turned violent in some areas, with dozens of banks, petrol garages and police stations torched. London-based human rights group Amnesty International has said 161 demonstrators were killed. “Belgium, Denmark, Finland, the Netherlands, Norway, and Sweden could not have picked worse timing,” said an English-language statement from the Israeli foreign ministry. “The hundreds of innocent Iranians murdered during the latest round of protests are rolling in their graves.” A 2015 international agreement set out restrictions on Iran's nuclear program in exchange for the lifting of Western sanctions. The Paris-based INSTEX functions as a clearing house allowing Iran to continue to sell oil and import other products or services in exchange. The system has not yet enabled any transactions. Last year Washington unilaterally withdrew from the deal and reinstated crippling sanctions against Tehran. “We ask these European countries - what message are you sending to the Iranian people?” the foreign ministry statement said. “Would it not be more effective and ethical to designate the regime officials responsible for the murder of innocent civilians?”

At Least 10 Dead in Idlib Airstrike
Asharq Al-Awsat/Monday, 2 December, 2019
Syrian opposition activists said an airstrike on a market in an opposition-held town in the country’s northwestern province of Idlib has killed at least 10 civilians. The Britain-based Syrian Observatory for Human Rights said Monday’s airstrike on the market in Maaret al-Numan killed 10 and wounded others. The Aleppo Media Center, an activist collective that covers rebel-held areas in northern Syria also said 10 civilians were killed and dozens were wounded. Syrian troops launched a four-month offensive earlier this year against Idlib, which is the country’s last opposition stronghold. The Syrian regime offensive forced hundreds of thousands of civilians to flee their homes. A fragile ceasefire halted the advance at the end of August, but in recent weeks it has been repeatedly violated.

Iraq Issues 1st Death Sentence for Officer who Killed Protesters
Baghdad - Fadhel al-Nashmi/Monday, 2 December, 2019
The criminal court in the Iraqi province of Wasit has sentenced a police officer, Tariq Malik Kathem, to death by hanging for the killing of protesters, the first such sentence since mass anti-government protests began two months ago. Another officer, Omar Raad Amer, was given a seven-year prison sentence on charges of neglect. Lawyer Sajjad Salem, who represents the families of the slain demonstrators, Hussein Jabbar al-Kinani and Mu'amil Tareq al-Khafaji, said the death sentence was based on the “premeditated homicide” clause in the penal code. “The families of the victims collected evidence related to the videos documenting Malik targeting demonstrators,” Salem told Asharq Al-Awsat. According to Salem, the seven-year prison sentence issued against Amer came “against the backdrop of article 340 of the penal code on dereliction of duty.”
Although there was no evidence that he had deliberately killed any demonstrators, he is being charged on the grounds of neglecting to monitor officers operating under his command. He stressed that Sunday’s verdicts are only on two cases, and that there are three other outstanding cases on the killing of demonstrators.

Turkey: Purchase date for new S-400 Russian missiles is just a technicality: RIA
Reuters, Moscow/Monday, 2 December 2019
Turkey’s presidential administration has said that the purchase date for more S-400 missile systems from Russia is just a technicality and that it thinks the deal will happen before too long, the RIA news agency reported on Monday. Moscow hopes to seal a deal to supply Turkey with more S-400 missile systems in the first half of next year, the head of Russian state arms exporter Rosoboronexport said last month. Such a move could further sour ties between Turkey and the United States, which has suspended Ankara from the F-35 stealth fighter jet program, in which it was a producer and buyer, to punish it for buying S-400 batteries earlier this year.

Turkish Soldiers Killed in Ras al-Ain Explosion
Ankara - Saeed Abdelrazek/Monday, 2 December, 2019
A number of Turkish soldiers and members of armed factions local to them have been killed in an explosion in the Syrian town of Tal Half in the northwestern countryside of Hasaka, media reports said Sunday. The Syrian news agency SANA said the Turkish personnel and their backed factions were killed and others were injured in an explosion of unknown causes in a building in Tal Half. It said the injured were later transported to Turkey. According to the news agency, the Turkish soldiers were killed after an infighting among factions operating under the command of the Turkish Army in Ras al-Ain and its countryside over disputes on goods stolen from locals. Meanwhile, the Turkish forces began establishing new military points. Local sources said Turkish personnel were transporting prefabricated rooms to the villages of Unaiq al-Halawa, Khirbet Jammo, and al-Mahmoudiya in Abu Rasen area in the northwestern countryside of Hasaka. They added that 20 trucks loaded with logistical supplies entered Syria from Iraq and were sent to the areas where these forces are located in the Hasaka province. Earlier, reports said the Turkish army was preparing to establish the largest air base in the countryside of Ras al-Ain on an agricultural land controlled by the Turkish military, including a helicopter landing pad near the village of Hawass. Last month, Turkish Defense Minister Hulusi Akar said that Turkish forces had taken control of 600 residential areas in a geographical area estimated to be 4,300 kilometers. The minister also said the Turkish army has established checkpoints on the M-4 highway, and that operations have resulted in the “neutralization of about 1,200 terrorists” since the beginning of the operation to clear the border area from Kurdish forces.

Greece to Ask for NATO Support over Deal between Turkey, GNA
Asharq Al-Awsat/Monday, 2 December, 2019
Greece will seek support from NATO at the alliance's summit in London this week following a military deal signed by Turkey and Libya's Government of National Accord (GNA), Greek Prime Minister Kyriakos Mitsotakis said on Sunday. Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdogan met with GNA leader Fayed al-Sarraj on Wednesday to sign agreements on security and military cooperation, as well as maritime jurisdictions. The agreements have also raised hackles in Egypt and Cyprus, according to the UN's Libya envoy Ghassan Salame. "An alliance cannot remain indifferent when one of its members openly violates international law and aims (to harm) another member," Mitsotakis said in a speech to his New Democracy party on Sunday. Athens last week expressed its dissatisfaction with the accord and summoned the ambassadors of Turkey and Libya in Greece to ask for information on its content. Greek Foreign Minister Nikos Dendias on Sunday met his Egyptian counterpart Sameh Shoukry in Cairo to discuss the matter. “We agreed that that Mr. Sarraj most likely lacks the mandate to sign (two agreements with Turkey), which anyway function as destabilizing factors in the area,” Dendias said after the meeting. “We also agreed with (Shoukry) to accelerate talks between teams of experts to define and delineate Exclusive Economic Zones between Greece and Egypt,” Dendias added. The deal comes despite calls from the Arab League -- which includes Libya -- to end cooperation with Turkey in protest of its military offensive against Kurdish forces in Syria last month. Located in the southeastern Mediterranean, Greece -- a NATO member like Turkey -- maintains a delicate relationship with its neighbor, which has become a gateway to Europe with thousands of asylum-seekers flocking to the Greek islands.

Fatah Official Warns Israel-Hamas Deals Lead to Establishment of a Statelet
Ramallah - Asharq Al-Awsat/Monday, 2 December, 2019
Recent truce agreements between Israel and Hamas as well as statements of Israeli ministers on the establishment of a port off the Gaza Strip are a sign on continued attempts to establish a state within the state in the Palestinian territory, said Fatah Central Committee member Hussein al-Sheikh. He warned that the possible establishment of the State of Gaza aims "to kill the project of the Palestinian state ... and consecrate the occupation in Jerusalem and the West Bank."Israeli Defense Minister Naftali Bennett has instructed his army chiefs to carry out a security feasibility study on the possibility of establishing an artificial port and airport in Gaza, according to Channel 12. Last week, Bennett met with Israeli Foreign Minister Yisrael Katz, who originally suggested the idea of a seaport off the coast of Gaza. It is assumed that the army will submit, within a maximum period of eight weeks, an assessment paper in this regard.
The idea of establishing the seaport was repeatedly discussed in the agreements between Israel and Hamas. However, Tel Aviv linked it to agreeing on advanced stages, including the issue of prisoners and detainees held by Hamas. Egypt has been working for years on a long-term truce in the territory, but multiple rounds of clashes have caused setbacks. Israel deals with Hamas as the government of Gaza, although it says it does not sign agreements with “terrorist” organizations. Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu said at the start of the weekly cabinet meeting on Sunday that Hamas is responsible for attacks on Israel launched from Gaza because it rules the territory. Netanyahu said: “We act according to this principle.”
Meanwhile, Hamas leader Ismail Haniyeh and Islamic Jihad Sec-Gen Ziyad al-Nakhalah are due to arrive in Cairo this week for talks with Egyptian officials. Channel 13 announced that these visits come within the framework of progress in negotiations with the Israelis on the comprehensive truce.
Fatah warned of the dangers of such deals secretly and publicly concluded by Hamas with the far-right government, and the US administration, wondering if a particular organization can conduct agreements on behalf of the entire Palestinian people. Fatah issued a statement Sunday condemning Hamas’ actions, saying the movement insists to remain part of the Muslim Brotherhood, not part of the Palestinian political system. The statement indicated that Hamas wants to present itself as an alternative to the Palestinian Liberation Organization (PLO). Fatah called on the Palestinian people in the homeland and the diaspora, and the Palestinian national factions, to be cautious and alert to the dangers that would result from Hamas engaging with the “deal of the century.” It warned that Hamas' deals only serve the Muslim Brotherhood and they will be at the expense of the Palestinians legitimate national rights.
Fatah warned that Hamas is making deals with parties that the Palestinian leadership has refused to deal with. It noted that Hamas agreed with the US administration to establish a hospital in the Gaza Strip, knowing that this administration declared Jerusalem as the capital of Israel and legalized settlements in the West Bank and Jerusalem.

13 Pakistanis Killed in Jordan Farming Village Fire
Asharq Al-Awsat/Monday, 2 December, 2019 - 10:45
A fire has killed 13 Pakistanis in a farming community, Jordanian officials said Monday. The fire broke out early Monday in a shack where two Pakistani families live in the village of al-Shuna al-Janobia, the Jordanian civil defense said in a statement. Three others were injured. It said the dead included eight children, four women and a man — all said to be Pakistani nationals. According to the civil defense, an electrical fault caused the fire. An investigation has been launched. The village sits along the Jordan Valley.

Sudanese PM Heads to Washington to Discuss Sanctions
Washington- Asharq Al-Awsat/Monday, 2 December, 2019
Sudanese Prime Minister Abdallah Hamdok kicked off a six-day visit to Washington on Monday for talks with US officials focused on seeking to lift sanctions against his country. Sources expect Hamdok to meet the US President Donald Trump, upon his return from London where he is attending the meetings of NATO leaders. Ahead of his visit, Hamdouk urged the US to immediately remove Sudan from the list of “states sponsor of terrorism.” Speaking to The Independent, the PM said that if the intentional community allows Sudan to become a failed state, the ensuing chaos would spawn multiple regional “caliphates”. The PM is accompanied by his foreign, justice, defense, and sports ministers. Earlier in October 2017, Washington lifted some trade sanctions against Sudan under the rule of former President Omar al-Bashir, as part of countering terrorism and allowing humanitarian aid to reach the affected areas. Despite toppling the regime of Bashir in April, the terrorism listing and restrictions related to the war-torn region of Darfur remain in place, crippling the economy. Washington named Sudan a state sponsor of terrorism in 1993 under Bashir, who was indicted by the International Criminal Court (ICC) for genocide. He angered western states for playing host to terrorists such as Osama Bin Laden in the 1990s. As relations improved, Washington began a formal process to remove Sudan from the list of state sponsors of terrorism in January 2017, but this was put on hold when Sudan’s mass protests erupted last year.
Eventually, the uprising forced Sudan’s military into a power-sharing agreement with civilians. For the next 3 years, an 11-member supreme council will oversee the ruling of the country headed up by army chief Lieutenant General Abdel Fattah Al-Burhan, alongside five civilians including Sudan’s first Christian leader in half a century. Hamdok will head the civil government. Despite these changes, the US kept Sudan on the list, which has locked the economy in a stranglehold, making it next to impossible for businesses to operate in dollar transactions, work with foreign banks, and access loans from international institutions. Sudanese officials have repeatedly complained of the slow response from Western governments over the issue of sanctions, and in September, PM Hamdok said he was expecting a “big breakthrough”, but nothing has changed.

Syrian Pound at New Low as Crisis Roils Neighboring Lebanon
Associated Press/Naharnet/December 02/2019
The Syrian pound hit a record low Monday amid the country's grinding civil war, now in its ninth year, and as a financial and political crisis roils neighboring Lebanon, Syria's economic lung. When Syria's conflict erupted in March 2011, a dollar was valued at 47 pounds. On Monday, it traded at over 920 Syrian pounds at some exchange shops in the capital of Damascus -- a sharp drop from recent days. The currency's collapse could throw more Syrians into poverty as prices of food and commodities increase sharply, putting more pressure on Syrian President Bashar Assad's government, already reeling under international sanctions. Eight out of 10 Syrians make less than $100 a month, according to the U.N. For decades, Lebanon with its open market economy and free banking has served as Syria's main economic and financial gateway to the world. Many Syrians have kept their money in Lebanese banks, particularly since the Syrian conflict erupted in 2011 with mass protests against Assad. Lebanon is also home to tens of thousands of Syrian workers who regularly transfer much of their earnings to families back home. The Syrian pound began losing some of its value earlier this year as Western countries tightened sanctions on Damascus. Drop in remittances also affected the pound and many Syrians started buying dollars to preserve their savings. In November, the financial crisis in Lebanon worsened amid mass protests against the government, leading Lebanese banks to impose capital controls and preventing many Syrian depositors from withdrawing large sums from their accounts. The Lebanese crisis has also affected Syrians working in the tiny Arab country.
"We no longer eat meat or chicken. We live only on rice and bulgur," said Donia Othman, 39, a mother of two and an employee at a five-star hotel in Damascus who saw her purchase power dramatically drop over the past months. The Syrian pound went into free fall last month, dropping from about 700 to 820 to the dollar on the black market. Last year, it stayed stable at around 500 per dollar. The official rate has remained stable at 434 pounds to the dollar. Demand for basic foodstuffs has gone down because people are only buying essential needs. A minimarket owner in Damascus said sales dropped dramatically, more than 50% as prices rose between 20% and 25% in recent weeks. "A customer who used to buy two kilograms (4.4 pounds) of sugar is now buying only one kilogram," said the man who spoke on condition of anonymity, fearing retribution. He added that the price of a kilogram of sugar increased from 300 pounds to 400 pounds. The crash of the pound comes at the onset of winter, raising concerns of a spike in prices of diesel, which many Damascus residents rely on for heating. Although each family is allotted 400 liters of diesel during the winter season at a subsidized price, those who want more will have to get from the black market, where the price is more than double.
Economist Abdul-Qader Azzouz said the Lebanese crisis has negatively affected the situation in Syria. "There are many issues in common between Syria and Lebanon," he said, adding that one of the initial reasons behind the pound's decrease in value was that many Syrians transferred their money from Syrian banks to those in Lebanon. Political analyst Taleb Ibrahim said many of those Syrians who deposited money in Lebanese banks now regret it and are eager to get their money back as soon as possible. Also, the difference in the exchange rate between the official and the black market one has prompted many expatriates to refrain from sending dollars to their families through the central bank. In late November, Assad granted all civil servants, militants and retirees their first salary raise in three years. "Wars are always exhausting and devastating for the state. It's normal to suffer economically," said Syrian lawmaker Nidal Hamideh. "I think that those who had endured eight years of wars, killing, shells and death, can endure the economic siege."

The Latest LCCC English analysis & editorials from miscellaneous sources published on December 02-03/2019
Islamic State Alive and Well in Europe
Soeren Kern/Gatestone Institute/December 02/2019
"I think that the practice of automatic, early release where you cut a sentence in half and let really serious, violent offenders out early simply isn't working, and you've some very good evidence of how that isn't working, I am afraid, with this case." — UK Prime Minister Boris Johnson November 30, 2019, after the ISIS attack on London Bridge a day earlier.
At least 1,200 Islamic State fighters, including many from Western countries, are being held in Turkish prisons. Another 287 jihadis have been captured by Turkish forces since the start of an offensive that began on October 9 against the Syrian Democratic Forces (SDF) in northeastern Syria.
Turkish Interior Minister Süleyman Soylu announced that Turkey would begin repatriating captured Islamic State fighters back to their countries of origin — even if their citizenship had been revoked.
"We could soon be facing a second wave of other Islamic State linked or radicalized individuals that you might call Isis 2.0." — Jürgen Stock, Secretary General, Interpol.
"From my point of view, it is better to know that these people are prosecuted in France rather than leaving them in the wilderness. How can we protect ourselves if we do not have them in custody? The best method is to judge and control them." — David De Pas, French anti-terrorism judge.
ISIS has claimed responsibility for the November 29 attack at London Bridge, where a terrorist stabbed two people to death and injured three others. Pictured: A Metropolitan Police officer stands guard near Borough Market shortly after the attack. (Photo by Chris J Ratcliffe/Getty Images)
The Islamic State has claimed responsibility for the November 29 jihadi attack at London Bridge, where a Pakistani Islamist stabbed two people to death and injured three others. The suspect, 28-year-old Usman Khan, a convicted terrorist, was subsequently shot dead by police.
Khan, from Stoke-on-Trent, was convicted in February 2012 of plotting — on behalf of al-Qaeda — jihadi attacks against the London Stock Exchange and pubs in Stoke, in addition to setting up a jihadi training camp in Pakistan. He was sentenced to an "indeterminate sentence," meaning that he could have been kept in prison beyond his original minimum term of eight years due to the danger he posed to national security.
In April 2013, however, the Court of Appeal revised that sentence with a fixed term of eight years. Khan, a student of the Islamist extremist Anjem Choudary, who co-founded the now banned Al-Muhajiroun group, was released from prison in December 2018, before the end of his sentence, after agreeing to wear an electronic tag.
Khan's early release and subsequent attack prompted a row between the Conservatives and Labour over the practice of reducing prison terms for violent offenders. British Prime Minister Boris Johnson said that people convicted of terrorism offenses should not be allowed out of prison early:
"I think that the practice of automatic, early release where you cut a sentence in half and let really serious, violent offenders out early simply isn't working, and you've some very good evidence of how that isn't working, I am afraid, with this case."
Meanwhile, German authorities have arrested three suspected members of the Islamic State who were allegedly planning an attack with explosives and firearms in the Frankfurt Rhine-Main area. Prosecutors said that the men had wanted to kill as many "infidels" as possible.
This plot — and others like it that have been foiled in recent months — comes as the Turkish government has started repatriating European jihadis who fought with Islamist groups in Syria and Iraq.
Observers warn that while the Islamic State may have been "defeated" in the Middle East, it remains a potent danger to Europe.
On November 12, more than 150 German police officers raided three apartments in Offenbach and arrested a 24-year-old Macedonian-German and two Turkish citizens aged 21 and 22. Frankfurt Prosecutor Nadja Niesen said that the 24-year-old was the main suspect:
"The men are accused of plotting to commit a religiously-motivated crime in the Rhine-Main area by means of explosives or firearms to kill as many so-called infidels as possible.
"We have evidence that the 24-year-old has already procured chemicals to make explosives and that he continued to try over the internet to obtain firearms. We have secured various materials and equipment for making explosives."
A week later, on November 19, German police arrested a 26-year-old Syrian jihadi at his apartment in the Schöneberg district of Berlin. The man, who had been in Germany since 2014, was employed at a Berlin primary school as a cleaner. He had been under surveillance for at least three months after German authorities received a tipoff from a "friendly foreign intelligence service." Police said that the man had acquired chemicals to produce explosives to "kill as many people as possible."
The plots in Frankfurt and Berlin are, respectively, the eighth and ninth jihadi attacks that German police have foiled in the country since a rejected asylum seeker from Tunisia murdered 12 people by ramming a truck into a Berlin Christmas market in December 2016.
Germany's security challenge is about to increase yet further. On November 4, Turkish Interior Minister Süleyman Soylu announced that Turkey would begin repatriating captured Islamic State fighters back to their countries of origin — even if their European citizenship has been revoked:
"We will send back those in our hands, but the world has come up with a new method now: revoking their citizenships. They are saying they should be tried where they have been caught. This is a new form of international law, I guess. It is not possible to accept this. We will send back Daesh (Islamic State) members in our hands to their own countries whether their citizenships are revoked or not."
At least 1,200 Islamic State fighters, including many from Western countries, are being held in Turkish prisons. Another 287 jihadis from at least 20 different countries have been captured by Turkish forces since the start of an offensive that began on October 9 against the Syrian Democratic Forces (SDF) in northeastern Syria.
Approximately 100 German Islamic State supporters are believed to be in custody in Turkey, according to the German news agency, Deutsche Presse-Agentur. The German Interior Ministry said that although the identity of the jihadis being held by Turkey was not known, they could not be denied entry to Germany if they indeed were German citizens.
A German government spokesman, Armin Schuster, insisted that the German returnees were not "serious cases" and warned against "media-fueled hysteria." He explained: "They did not take part in the fighting. They won't be sent to prison, but they must be kept under surveillance."
On November 11, Turkey officially began repatriating Islamic State detainees to the West by deporting a German, an American and a Dane.
On November 14, Turkey repatriated another eight Islamic State fighters: seven Germans and one Briton. One man, a German-Iraqi father of a family of seven named Kanan B., was accused by Turkey of being a member of the Islamic State. German authorities allowed the man and his family to return to their home in Lower Saxony. They said that although he is a member of the Islamist Salafist movement, they do not believe that he ever joined the Islamic State.
On November 15, two female jihadis arrived in Frankfurt on a flight from Istanbul. German authorities arrested a 21-year-old Nasim A., whose origins are Somali. She moved from Germany to Syria as a minor in 2014 and, according to German investigators, married a jihadi fighter in late 2015. German authorities reportedly want to charge her with the offense of supporting the Islamic State. The other woman, 27-year-old Heida R. from Lower Hesse, had her fingerprints taken, but was released because she reportedly attended a deradicalization program.
Meanwhile, on November 7, Germany's Higher Administrative Court (OVG) in Berlin-Brandenburg ruled that Germany must repatriate three children and their Islamic State-affiliated mother. The German Foreign Ministry had said that it was prepared to repatriate the children, but, citing risks to national security, it refused to bring back the mother. The woman entered an Islamic State-controlled part of Syria in 2014 with the two older children; the third child was born there. In its ruling, the OVG said the children — now aged 8, 7 and 2 — were traumatized and would need their mother after being repatriated from the Kurdish-run Al-Hawl detention camp in northern Syria.
German opposition parties have been critical of the government's failure to face the problem of jihadi repatriations sooner. The deputy leader of the Free Democratic Party (FDP), Stephan Thomae, said that Berlin had little choice but to accept German citizens deported by another country:
"The government kept its head in the sand for a long time and didn't want to have anything to do with these cases. That is coming back to bite them now. It would have been better if the government had contacted Turkey much earlier to discuss such processes."
The Secretary General of the International Criminal Police Organization (Interpol), Jürgen Stock, warned that Europe faces a new wave of Islamic terrorism as radicalized individuals return to the continent:
"We could soon be facing a second wave of other Islamic State linked or radicalized individuals that you might call Isis 2.0.
"A lot of these are suspected terrorists or those who are linked to terrorist groups as supporters who are facing maybe two to five years in jail. Because they were not convicted of a concrete terrorist attack but only support for terrorist activities, their sentences are perhaps not so heavy.
"In many parts of the world, in Europe but also Asia, this generation of early supporters will be released in the next couple of years, and they may again be part of a terrorist group or those supporting terrorist activities."
Austria
Approximately 320 people from Austria are known to have traveled to the war zones of Syria and Iraq, according to the Austrian Interior Ministry. Of those, 93 have returned to Austria; 58 were most likely killed. More than 100 so-called foreign fighters from Austria are believed still to be in the Middle East.
On October 18, a court in Graz sentenced four Turkish jihadis to prison terms ranging from five months to seven years for recruiting for the Islamic State. The men were all members of a mosque in Linz. Prosecutors explained how mosques across Austria are working together in their support for the Islamic State. "We must stop with false tolerance," said the Graz prosecutor. "Islamism supplants the rule of law if we are not careful. Do not be afraid to impose severe punishments."
Denmark
Danish authorities estimate that at least 158 people from Denmark have joined jihadi groups in Syria or Iraq; about 27 remain in the conflict zone. On October 14, Prime Minister Mette Frederiksen announced fast-tracking legislation that would strip Danish nationality from people with dual citizenship who have gone abroad to fight for jihadi groups such as the Islamic State:
"These are people who have turned their backs on Denmark and fought with violence against our democracy and freedom. They pose a threat to our security. They are unwanted in Denmark."
On November 17, Foreign Minister Jeppe Kofod said that Denmark would withhold consular assistance to citizens who travelled abroad to fight for extremist groups:
"We owe absolutely nothing to foreign fighters who went to Syria and Iraq to fight for the Islamic State. This is why we are now taking measures against foreign fighters accessing consular assistance by the foreign ministry and Danish representations abroad."
France
France has approximately 200 adult nationals and 300 children currently in Kurdish-controlled camps and prisons in northern Syria. The French government has said that Islamic State fighters should be judged as close as possible to where they committed their crimes. Only a handful of them, mostly orphans, have been repatriated.
On October 17, Foreign Minister Jean-Yves Le Drian travelled to Iraq to convince the government in Baghdad to prosecute French jihadis after their transfer from Syria. The Iraqi government rejected that request.
On October 19, a French anti-terrorism judge, David De Pas, urged the French government to repatriate French jihadis or "risk creating an infernal cycle." In an interview with the AFP, he explained:
"The geopolitical instability of the region and the porosity of what is left of the Kurdish camps leave two problems: on the one hand, the uncontrolled migration of jihadis towards Europe with the risk of attacks by highly ideologized people; and on the other hand, the reconstitution of particularly seasoned and determined combatant terrorist groups in the region.
"From my point of view, it is better to know that these people are prosecuted in France rather than leaving them in the wilderness. How can we protect ourselves if we do not have them in custody? The best method is to judge and control them.
"If in 15, 20, 30 years, these people still pose a threat when leaving prison, they will remain under the control of the intelligence and justice services. If they are tried in Iraq, we will not be able to monitor them when they leave prison. I would feel responsible for not saying it."
Other recent Islamist-related cases in France include:
October 3. Mickaël Harpon, a 45-year-old convert to Islam and IT specialist at Paris police headquarters, killed four of his colleagues during a 30-minute stabbing spree before he was shot dead by another officer. Interior Minister Christophe Castaner said that Harpon, who held a top-level security clearance, had "never shown any warning sign." It was later revealed that Harpon had caused alarm among his colleagues as far back as 2015, when he defended the jihadi attack on the newspaper Charlie Hebdo. Anti-terror prosecutor Jean-Francois Ricard subsequently revealed that Harpon adhered to "a radical vision of Islam" and that he had been in contact with adherents of Salafism, an ultra-conservative branch of Sunni Islam.
October 10. French journalist Clément Weill-Raynal was threatened with disciplinary action by his superiors at France Télévisions for "prematurely reporting" that the October 3 jihadi attack at Paris police headquarters could have been "an act motivated by radical Islam." Weill-Raynal, one of the first journalists to arrive at the scene of the search of the killer's home in Gonesse, was the first to reveal on air that the killer had "converted to Islam." His managers criticized his "lack of control" and threatened punish him. Weill-Raynal said: "I mentioned a hypothesis and today I am told about professional misconduct. It is Kafkaesque."
October 14. Five members of an all-female Islamic State jihadi cell were sentenced to between five and 30 years in prison over a failed attempt to detonate a car bomb outside the Notre-Dame cathedral in Paris in November 2016.
October 17. Interior Minister Christophe Castaner revealed that French intelligence services had arrested a man for planning a jihadi attack inspired by airplane attacks on the World Trade Center in New York in September 2001. He added that there had been 60 attempted jihadi attacks in France since 2013.
October 28. In Paris, a man shouted "Allahu Akbar!" ("Allah is the greatest!") at the Grand Re, the largest movie theater in Europe, during a screening of the American film "Joker." A witness said that the man "put his hands on his chest and began shouting 'Allahu Akbar!'" The witness continued: "Some people panicked and ran to the exits, but the doors were blocked. Some were crying. A mother was looking for her daughter." Another witness said, "The guy, who was sitting in the 10th row, started screaming and muttering in Arabic. Someone said that he had a weapon. There was total panic. These are images that I will not forget. People climbed over their seats. There were women on the floor and others were stepping over them."
October 30. Paris Police Prefect Didier Lallement revealed that seven police officers suspected of Islamic radicalization have had their weapons confiscated since the October 3 jihadi attack at Paris police headquarters. He said that a total of 33 police officers were being investigated for Islamic radicalization.
Italy
Approximately 140 Italian citizens or residents have travelled to fight in war zones in the Middle East, according to official estimates, and 26 have returned to Italy. Although the numbers are low in comparison to France and other European countries, Italy's geographic location makes it vulnerable to jihadis who cross the Mediterranean Sea and enter Europe posing as refugees.
In April 2019, the Italian Interior Ministry issued a directive aimed at dealing with jihadis arriving from Libya. The measures included increased border controls. The move came after Libyan Deputy Prime Minister Ahmed Maiteeq warned that 400 Islamic State fighters held in Tripoli and Misrata were poised to flee to Italy.
In September, Interpol revealed that during a six-week operation, it had detected more than a dozen suspected "foreign terrorist fighters" crossing the Mediterranean Sea.
Other recent Islamist-related cases in Italy include:
November 20. The Genoa Assize Court of Appeal confirmed a reduced prison sentence for Nabil Benamir, a 31-year-old Moroccan would-be Islamic State suicide bomber. Prosecutors had asked for a sentence of eight years and eight months; the appeals court confirmed a reduced sentence of five years and ten months handed down in November 2018. Benamir, a so-called lone wolf living in Italy illegally, was arrested in Genoa in December 2017 on charges of terrorism after he was heard, on an intercepted cellphone call, vowing to carry out a suicide attack. He is being held at a the high-security prison on the Italian island of Sardinia.
November 7. An 11-year-old boy who was taken to Syria by his jihadi mother when he was six was returned to Italy after being found at the Al-Hawl detention camp in northern Syria. In December 2014, the mother, an Albanian, left behind her husband and her two other children at the family home in Barzago to join the Islamic State. She is believed to have died in Syria.
August 21. Salma Bencharki, the wife of Abderrahim Moutaharrik, a Moroccan professional kickboxer who was jailed in 2017 over alleged links to the Islamic State, was deported from Italy to Morocco. An Italian court had sentenced the man and his wife to six and five years in prison, respectively. They were arrested in April 2016 for planning to leave for Syria with their children to join the Islamic State. The court suspended the couple's custody of their two children. Moutaharrik, who was heard in wiretapped conversations that he would attack the Vatican, had his Italian citizenship revoked.
June 28. Samir Bougana, a 25-year-old Italian jihadi with Moroccan roots was brought back to Italy after being arrested in Syria. He allegedly first fought with militias close to al-Qaeda and then with the Islamic State. Bougana, who was born near Brescia and lived in Italy until he was 16 before moving to Germany with his family, surrendered to Kurdish-Syrian forces in August 2018.
Netherlands
At least 55 Islamic State jihadis from the Netherlands and another 90 children with Dutch parents are in northern Syria, according to the Dutch intelligence agency AVID.
In 2017, the Netherlands enacted a law that allowed the state to revoke Dutch citizenship for people who joined the Islamic State. Since then, the Netherlands has revoked the Dutch nationality of 11 jihadis and is considering the same for 100 others, according to the Reuters news agency.
Application of the Dutch law has been inconsistent. On September 23, for instance, the Council of State (Raad van State) restored Dutch nationality to five Moroccan jihadis who had lost it after joining the Islamic State.
On September 16, however, a court in The Hague upheld the revocation of Dutch nationality of a Moroccan man who was convicted of committing terrorist crimes in Syria. He was prohibited from re-entering the Netherlands for ten years.
October 25. Dutch police arrested a 29-year-old Syrian alleged former commander of the Ahrar al-Sham jihadi group on suspicion of having committed war crimes. The unnamed man was arrested in a center for asylum seekers in Ter Apel, a village in the northern Netherlands. He had registered as an asylum seeker in Germany in late 2015 but was thought to have returned to Syria. He is said to have recorded videos of himself armed with a machine gun and posing with and kicking the dead bodies of enemy fighters. Some of those videos were posted to YouTube. The Ahrar al-Sham, a former al-Qaeda affiliate, has fought both with and against the Islamic State.
November 11. A court in The Hague ruled that the Netherlands must actively help repatriate the young children of women who joined Islamic State in Syria. The mothers themselves, however, do not need to be accepted back in the Netherlands, the court said. Lawyers for 23 women from the Netherlands who joined the Islamic State had asked a judge to order the state to repatriate them and their 56 children from camps in Syria.
Judge Hans Vetter said that while the women were not required to be repatriated, the state must make "all possible efforts" to return the children, who have Dutch nationality and are under 12 years old. "The children cannot be held responsible for the actions of their parents," the court said in a statement. "The children are victims of the actions of their parents."
Norway
About 100 Norwegian citizens or residents are believed to have traveled to Syria and Iraq to join extremist Islamist groups, according to the Norwegian Interior Ministry. Approximately 20 are still in the Middle East.
In May 2019, the Norwegian Justice Ministry issued a directive preventing foreign nationals with Norwegian residency and who are associated with the Islamic State from returning to Norway. "These are people who pose a serious security threat to our lives and our values," Justice Minister Jøran Kallmyr said. "They will not return with Norwegian help."
Kallmyr said that while orphaned Norwegian children of Islamic State fighters would be allowed to return, the government will withdraw the residence permits of those who have traveled from Norway to join the Islamic State.
On September 13, Kallmyr said that 15 Islamic State jihadis with Norwegian residency permits have been permanently expelled from Norway:
"These are mainly Islamic State fighters and mothers who have traveled out of our country to participate in the Islamic State. They have been abroad for more than two years after leaving Norway. There is an opening in the asylum rules so that the residence permit can be withdrawn. If they enter the Schengen area, they will be arrested for violating the Immigration Act."
Spain
Of the approximately 235 Spanish jihadis who traveled to Syria, around 50 have returned, according to Spain's leading terrorism analyst, Fernando Reinares. At least 57 are imprisoned in Syria, according to Iraqi security forces quoted by El Confidencial.
Recent Islamist-related cases in Spain include:
November 26. Police in Tenerife arrested a 26-year-old jihadi from Mauritania who was attempting to acquire homemade explosives, including TATP, an explosive known as the "Mother of Satan."
November 22. A Spanish-Moroccan businessman named Nourdine Ch. was arrested in Majorca for supporting the Islamic State.
November 6. A 71-year-old Iraqi was arrested in Madrid for channeling "large amounts of money" to the Islamic State.
October 5. A 23-year-old Spanish-born Moroccan was arrested in Madrid for publishing Spanish-language jihadi videos and also for procuring chemicals to build explosives devices.
September 21. A 51-year-old Moroccan man was arrested in Algeciras for allegedly belonging to the Islamic State.
August 30. A 25-year-old Moroccan man was arrested in Alicante for allegedly belonging to the Islamic State.
August 2. A 35-year-old Spanish convert to Islam was arrested in Gran Canaria for allegedly photographing the headquarters of an LGTBI association on the island. The detainee had maintained contact with other converts who were arrested in Colombia and Argentina in 2018 based on information provided by Spanish police.
June 18. Ten jihadis were arrested in Madrid for allegedly financing the Islamic State.
April 17. Zouhair el Bouhdidi, a 23-year-old student at the University of Seville, was arrested in Morocco on charges of plotting a massacre in Seville on behalf of the Islamic State. The man, who was found to possess a large amount of explosives, was allegedly planning to attack Holy Week festivities in Seville.
Switzerland
At least 93 jihadis have travelled from Switzerland to conflict zones, according to the Swiss Federal Intelligence Service. Of these, 31 have a Swiss passport and 18 are dual nationals.
Recent Islamist-related cases in Switzerland include:
September 11. The State Secretariat for Migration (SEM) revoked the Swiss citizenship from a dual national who had been sentenced to several years in prison for recruiting fighters for the Islamic State. Swiss authorities did not release the other nationality of the man. SEM said that this was the first time that it has stripped the nationality of a Swiss jihadi.
October 29. More than 100 police officers in the cantons of Bern, Schaffhausen and Zurich raided the homes of 11 jihadis suspected of being members of al-Qaeda and the Islamic State. Six of the individuals were adults, including one returning jihadi already been tried for ties to the Islamic State, according to the Office of the Attorney General. The other five are youths.
October 21. The Federal Criminal Court extended the pre-trial detention of a man accused of attempted murder and supporting the Islamic State. The man, a citizen of the Canton of Vaud, was arrested in June 2017 police, who raided his home in Lausanne, found a handbook for urban guerrilla warfare, a knife, a bottle containing petrol and a Koran. While in detention, the defendant attacked a prison employee and shouted "Allahu Akbar" while threatening to kill him.
United Kingdom
An estimated 850 British jihadis have travelled to Iraq and Syria to fight for the Islamic State, according to an estimate by the International Center for the Study of Radicalization (ICSR) at King's College London. Approximately 400 British jihadis have returned to Britain, and around 250 to 300 are still in Syria. The others are presumed to have died on the battlefields.
The British government has resisted the repatriation of its jihadis. It said that they should face justice in the countries where their crimes were committed, not be returned home to face trial in the UK. In a written statement, a spokesperson for the British Foreign Office said:
"Our priority is the safety and security of the UK and the people who live here.
"Those who have fought for or supported Daesh [Islamic State] should wherever possible face justice for their crimes in the most appropriate jurisdiction, which will often be in the region where their offences have been committed.
"We are working closely with international partners to address issues associated with foreign terrorist fighters, including the pursuit of justice against participants in terrorism overseas."
Several jihadis have been stripped of their British citizenship, including Jack Letts, who was raised in Oxfordshire by British and Canadian parents. He left home to join the Islamic State five years ago but has been held a prisoner in Syria since 2017. Canada, where Letts qualifies for a passport through his father, accused the British government of "offloading its responsibilities."
International law forbids people from being rendered stateless, but British law allows the UK to strip terror suspects abroad of their citizenship if they are a dual national or able to obtain citizenship of another country.
Other recent Islamist-related cases in Britain include:
November 17. Mamun Rashid, a 26-year-old man from East London, was arrested after arriving in London on a flight from Turkey. He was charged with preparation of terrorist acts and will appear at Westminster Magistrates' Court. Turkish authorities said that Rashid was a member of the Islamic State.
October 22. Metropolitan Police Commissioner Cressida Dick revealed that police in London have foiled 16 jihadi plots during the past two years.
October 16. Safiyya Amira Shaikh, a 36-year-old female jihadi from Hayes, Middlesex, was charged with terrorism offenses for attempting to bomb a London hotel as well as St. Paul's Cathedral. She was arrested on October 10 after reconnoitering the hotel and church and preparing the words of a pledge of allegiance to the Islamic State.
October 1. Aseel Muthana, a 22-year-old who worked as an ice cream seller in Cardiff before he joined the Islamic State, said that he wants to return to the UK. ITV television found Muthana, who was presumed dead, at a secret prison in northern Syria. "Back then when I first came to ISIS, you have to understand I came way before the caliphate was pronounced," he said. "Before all of these beheading videos, before all of the burnings happened, before any of that stuff. We came when ISIS propaganda and ISIS media was all about helping the poor, helping the Syrian people." Muthana's mother urged the British government to allow him back into the UK: "My little boy went seduced and brainwashed with ideas that were not his. Have compassion for our situation."
Soeren Kern is a Senior Fellow at the New York-based Gatestone Institute.
© 2019 Gatestone Institute. All rights reserved. The articles printed here do not necessarily reflect the views of the Editors or of Gatestone Institute. No part of the Gatestone website or any of its contents may be reproduced, copied or modified, without the prior written consent of Gatestone Institute.

Durham Needs to Bring Indictments
Chris Farrell/Gatestone Institute/December 02/2019
The alternative to a purely domestic intelligence operation targeting a major political party's candidate for the presidency (and later, president) was to manufacture a foreign counterintelligence (FCI) "threat" that could then be "imported" back into the United States.
Plausible deniability, the Holy Grail of covert activities, was in reach for the plotters if they could develop an FCI operation outside the continental United States (OCONUS) involving FBI confidential human sources (Halper, Mifsud, others?) that would act as "lures" (intelligence jargon associated with double agent operations) to ensnare Trump associates.
We have evidence of these machinations from December 2015 when FBI lawyer Lisa Page texts to her boyfriend, the now infamous FBI Special Agent Peter Strzok, "You get all our oconus lures approved? ;)."
The coup plot failed, but the chief coup conspirators are free, crisscrossing the country on book tours and appearing as paid contributors to CNN and MSNBC.
U.S. Attorney John Durham's mandate from Attorney General William Barr (pictured) -- to uncover the seditious plot behind the Trump-Russia hoax, if pursued vigorously, will uncover the single greatest threat to the Constitution since the nation's founding.
There is new evidence that U.S. Attorney John Durham is getting to the root of criminal abuses by senior U.S. law enforcement and intelligence officials in their conspiracy to undermine the Trump campaign, transition and presidency. Mr. Durham's mandate from Attorney General William Barr -- to uncover the seditious plot behind the Trump-Russia hoax, if pursued vigorously, will uncover the single greatest threat to the Constitution since the nation's founding.
Mr. Durham's apparent interest in FBI source Stefan Halper and the contract vehicles available to the Pentagon think tank, the Office of Net Assessments, for whom Halper worked, is an important clue.
Likewise, Mr. Durham's travel to Italy for talks with the Italian government and their intelligence service points to another possible clue concerning the mysterious Maltese academic, Joseph Mifsud.
For the purposes of the manufactured Trump-Russia hoax, one need only remember the associations of Halper with Trump campaign volunteer Carter Page -- and Joseph Mifsud with George Papadopoulos, a foreign policy junior advisor -- to the Trump campaign.
The intelligence agencies of the federal government are prohibited from targeting American organizations in the United States. Executive Order 12333, Section 2.9 states:
Undisclosed Participation in Organizations Within the United States. No one acting on behalf of agencies within the Intelligence Community may join or otherwise participate in any organization in the United States on behalf of any agency within the Intelligence Community without disclosing his intelligence affiliation to appropriate officials of the organization, except in accordance with procedures established by the head of the agency concerned and approved by the Attorney General. Such participation shall be authorized only if it is essential to achieving lawful purposes as determined by the agency head or designee. No such participation may be undertaken for the purpose of influencing the activity of the organization or its members except in cases where:
(a) The participation is undertaken on behalf of the FBI in the course of a lawful investigation; or
(b) The organization concerned is composed primarily of individuals who are not United States persons and is reasonably believed to be acting on behalf of a foreign power.
This prohibition on running penetration operations against domestic political organizations is a legal and political "hangover" from the 1960s civil disturbances that saw (among a host of other covert action programs) US Army Counterintelligence agents working undercover against the militant Leftists organizations such as Students for a Democratic Society. The U.S. Senate Select Committee to Study Governmental Operations with Respect to Intelligence Activities, better known as the "Church Committee," was empaneled in 1975 under the leadership of Sen. Frank Church (D-ID) to review and make recommendations on intelligence operations. The Church Committee was controversial. Critics claimed the committee exposed the "crown jewels" of U.S. intelligence and hobbled our ability to conduct legitimate collection activities. Today's Foreign Intelligence Surveillance Act and Court were inspired by the final reports of the Church Committee.
The seditious coup plotters working against Trump knew the legal prohibitions on what they planned to do. How to target Trump & Co. in a "legal" manner? Was it possible, or more importantly, desirable, to have a legal finding from Attorney General Loretta Lynch justifying their plan to frame-up Trump & Co.? That would authorize their operation -- but would Lynch support it? Could Lynch be counted on? Did they want a piece of paper like that floating around Washington D.C.? No, there had to be a better way to pull off the coup.
The alternative to a purely domestic intelligence operation targeting a major political party's candidate for the presidency (and later, president) was to manufacture a foreign counterintelligence (FCI) "threat" that could then be "imported" back into the United States. Plausible deniability, the Holy Grail of covert activities, was in reach for the plotters if they could develop an FCI operation outside the continental United States (OCONUS) involving FBI confidential human sources (Halper, Mifsud, others?) that would act as "lures" (intelligence jargon associated with double agent operations) to ensnare Trump associates.
We have evidence of these machinations from December 2015 when FBI lawyer Lisa Page texts to her boyfriend, the now infamous FBI Special Agent Peter Strzok, "You get all our oconus lures approved? ;)."
To inoculate themselves from further charges of misconduct and criminality, the FBI's mutually agreed upon lie is that their investigation of Trump/Russia began on July 31, 2016 with the improbable name "Crossfire Hurricane." That coincides nicely with their manufactured FCI "event," allowing the full-bore sabotage of all things and persons "Trump." The coup plotters used a July 2016 event at the University of Cambridge as the opportunity for Carter Page to meet and develop a friendship with Stefan Halper. This is roughly the same time period that Australian diplomat Alexander Downer reported the supposedly drunken ramblings of George Papadopoulos concerning the Russians having Hillary's emails to the FBI. Papadopoulos had already serendipitously met the mysterious Joseph Mifsud in Rome during the second week of March 2016. Learning that Papadopoulos would be joining the Trump campaign, Mifsud let Papadopoulos know that he had many important connections with Russian government officials.
In July 2019, Special Counsel Robert Mueller was questioned closely by Rep. Jim Jordan (R-OH) concerning the persons and sequence of events detailed above.
The summation of Mueller's testimony was, "Well, I can't get into it."
The coup plot failed, but the chief coup conspirators are free, crisscrossing the country on book tours and appearing as paid contributors to CNN and MSNBC. A bright note in the so far grim saga is that one of the collateral casualties has filed a civil lawsuit in the Eastern District of Virginia against Stefan Halper and MSNBC for defamation, conspiracy and tortious interference. It's the closest thing we've seen to justice to date. The complaint makes remarkable and insightful reading.
It is now time for Mr. Durham to "get into it," in a manner Mr. Mueller was either unwilling or unable to do. Time is of the utmost importance. The American public needs to see action. Indictments and trials are the only antidote for the poison of treasonous sedition.
*Chris Farrell is a former counterintelligence case officer. For the past 20 years, he has served as the Director of Investigations & Research for Judicial Watch. The views expressed are the author's alone, and not necessarily those of Judicial Watch.
© 2019 Gatestone Institute. All rights reserved. The articles printed here do not necessarily reflect the views of the Editors or of Gatestone Institute. No part of the Gatestone website or any of its contents may be reproduced, copied or modified, without the prior written consent of Gatestone Institute.

Saddam Asked Me: Have You Read About Welayat al-Faqih?'
Ghassan Charbel/Asharq Al Awsat/December 02/2019
One day, Iraqi State Minister for Foreign Affairs Hamid al-Jubouri was surprised by a question from President Saddam Hussein: “Have you read about Welayat al-Faqih?" The minister’s response was no.
Saddam said: “It is a small book that you must read.” Then he began to talk about “the bad things about Khomeini and his greed for power”.
Jubouri had no other choice but to read. When he told Saddam that he did, the latter replied: “I wanted you to know.”Jubouri knew the president well, as he was Saddam’s office manager when he was vice president. He felt that the issue of Welayat al-Faqih was worrying the decision-maker in Baghdad.
I published the words of Jubouri and later met the man and asked him again. He said that two expressions worried Saddam, namely, “Welayat al-Faqih” and “exporting the revolution.” He might have concluded that confrontation with Iran was inevitable, and that it was better for him to fight it early and along the border, rather than in the streets of Baghdad.
Jubouri reiterated that Saddam “was not sectarian unlike some narrow-minded people around him, but he feared for Iraq, its system and social fabric and the possibility of part of the Shiites be dragged into the Iranian religious project.”
The two words were deeply rooted in Saddam’s mind. In September 1979, he led his country’s delegation to the Non-Aligned Summit in Havana. Iranian Foreign Minister Ebrahim Yazdi asked to see him. He received him in the presence of Salah Omar al-Ali, Iraq’s representative to the United Nations. Yazdi was very flexible and suggested exchanging visits between the two countries to reduce tension on the border. Following the meeting, Salah said that the meeting was positive and could be built upon.
“Diplomacy seems to have corrupted you,” Saddam replied. “Do not repeat such words. Such opportunity is available only once every hundred years. I will break the head of the Iranians and get back every inch.”Saddam was referring to what Iran had obtained under the Algiers Accord he signed with the Shah to ensure that Iranian support for the Kurdish movement would cease.
A third story I heard from Lieutenant General Ibrahim al-Daoud, member of the Revolutionary Command Council and Minister of Defense. He said the Iranian ambassador came to present his credentials to President Abdul Salam Arif, but the meeting turned into a crisis in relations. Everything was normal until the ambassador uttered an explosive phrase.
He said to Arif: “His Majesty the Shah sends you his greetings and asks you to look after the people of Najaf and Karbala.”Arif was bursting in anger and replied: “Shame on you! The Shah of Iran is asking me to take care of my people!” He threw the credentials and expelled the ambassador.
Another story I heard from Major General Abdul Ghani al-Rawi, who oversaw the “trial” and execution of President Abdel Karim Kassem. Rawi confirmed that the Iranian embassy in Baghdad encouraged him in 1969 to leave Iraq to organize a coup against the Baath rule. He said he held talks in Tehran with the head of the SAVAK at the time, Nematollah Nasiri, culminating in a meeting with the Shah. He obtained military and financial support. But Saddam succeeded in uncovering the conspiracy and executed a number of officers.
Scenes transmitted by satellite channels of the wave of bloody Iraqi protests reminded me of the stories I heard in the past years during my follow-up on Iraqi affairs. The fiercest wave of protests began in southern Iraq, from a Shiite region, where pro-Iranian parties have the final say. Protesters targeted the two Iranian consulates in the cities Karbala and Najaf, which the Shah had once asked Arif to take care of their people.
Iraqis called for boycotting Iranian goods, saying that their flow into the Iraqi market severely damaged local products. But one of the most dangerous remarks by the protesters was that Tehran appointed the current Iraqi officials.
Realistically, the dominant Iranian role was not the only or the first cause of the uprising. The protests were triggered by widespread corruption, looting of state funds, rising unemployment and the failure of institutions. But the protesters considered that the “Iranian tutelage” participated in producing this reality and covering it. Another issue is the widening gap between the positions of the Iraqi and Iranian spiritual authorities, which renewed the debate on the old rivalry between the Najaf and Qom authorities. The dispute has taken a new dimension due to the divergence in the position over Welayat al-Faqih.
Geography is an unchangeable fate. Iran is a large and ancient country in the region. Its neighbors have also been present since ancient times. The only realistic option is coexistence. But this coexistence will remain difficult and threatened unless it is based on a new language that respects international borders, away from the policy of infiltration and meddling with the maps of others. Any state has the right to seek a role and influence; but the question remains about the means. The new role is created by an attractive model, economic success and improvement of people’s living conditions. Germany has a role in Europe, but it does not try to gain veto power in Paris or create parallel armies in Madrid.
It is impossible for you to build normal and stable relations with your neighbors if you retain in your constitution a provision that makes the export of the revolution a duty of your military, security and diplomatic institutions. Iran’s success in curbing the protests remains a temporary victory. In the end, the rules of the world will apply to you regardless of your specific situation.
In the end, the young Iranian, armed with his smartphone, wants what his fellow Iraqis and Lebanese are seeking - education, work, dignity and freedoms. It is clear that the current Iranian role in Baghdad is greater than Iraq’s ability to tolerate. The same can be said of Lebanon, taking into consideration the geographical and demographical differences of course.
You have the right to choose what you want within your borders, but you do not have the right to impose yourself on the maps of others.

Worse Than World War I
Brian Chappatta/Bloomberg/December 02/2019
Those who fear an impending cold war between the US and China need only look to the bond market to see evidence of a potential thaw.
In the midst of a holiday-shortened week for American markets, China easily sold a record $6 billion of dollar-denominated bonds, accumulating $20 billion of investor orders that allowed it to tighten yield spreads for a lower borrowing cost, Bloomberg News reported. While hardly unexpected — this is the third straight time the country has borrowed in the US currency around this time of year — it nevertheless sends a clear signal to global investors that the ongoing trade dispute with the US isn’t going to stop China from integrating itself and local issuers into worldwide financial markets. And it likely suggests a limit to how far any sort of lasting tensions between the two largest economies can go.
China’s Ministry of Finance has said one goal of its dollar-debt sales is to help build a benchmark yield curve for Chinese issuers. That would serve two functions: It would allow its multi-national firms to raise funds in the US currency more easily, while simultaneously giving Chinese banks a local option to allocate dollar deposits. Thanks to this week’s deal, which had portions due from three years to 20 years, China will have now have dollar debt that matures from 2022 all the way to a small portion in 2096.
It’s important to remember that China doesn’t need to do this. It has all the access to the greenback it would likely ever need in the form of its $1.1 trillion of US Treasury holdings. Selling a sliver of its Treasuries would effectively serve the same purpose as a dollar-bond sale, only it would somewhat weaken the link between the two countries. Creating the foundation for a more robust dollar-debt market in China, on the other hand, does the opposite. Already, that market exceeds $740 billion, with sales in 2019 on pace to reach an all-time high.
Even at this massive size, Chinese dollar bonds (and those from other countries, too) are still ultimately subject to the whims of US officials. Earlier this year, the Trump administration was reportedly discussing ways to limit US investors’ portfolio flows into China, such as by delisting Chinese companies from US stock exchanges and limiting Americans’ exposure to China’s market through government pension funds. They cited Beijing’s restrictions on the release of some financial information and unusual influence over private companies.
Many investors view such a move by the US as mostly self-destructive, similar to how they react to any fear-mongering over China dumping its Treasuries and causing a sharp spike in yields. The vastly integrated financial markets, in other words, are seen as the red line that neither country will want to cross in a long-lasting standoff.
na’s further foray into dollar bonds only strengthens that thesis. For as much as the country throws its weight around, its financial system is simply nowhere near that of the US. The yuan is not a major foreign currency. Its bond market is comparatively underdeveloped and opaque, and, on top of that, S&P Global Markets predicts that onshore corporate-debt defaults will reach a record high in 2020. Relative to other developed-market economies, China lacks large institutional investors such as insurance companies and pension funds.
For those reasons, it’s questionable to conclude that the US and China are truly in the “foothills of a cold war” that could morph into something worse than World War I, as Henry Kissinger described it earlier this month.

Will the New EU Commission Be French or German?
Leonid Bershidsky/Bloomberg/December 02/2019
The new European Commission under President Ursula von der Leyen received overwhelming support from the European Parliament on Wednesday. Born of French President Emmanuel Macron’s improvisation and German Chancellor Angela Merkel’s acquiescence, the commission will have to navigate the inclement waters of the Franco-German relationship.
In July, Macron boldly proposed von der Leyen for the commission presidency over the party candidates who had campaigned for the job. Merkel assented, though she’d backed the political process: None of the campaigning candidates appeared capable of commanding a majority in the parliament. That body took it as a slight, and von der Leyen was approved only by a thin margin. Legislators then took barely veiled revenge on Macron by rejecting his chosen candidate for France’s European commissioner, Sylvie Goulard. Macron was forced to name tech businessman and former minister Thierry Breton instead, who managed to squeak by.
After the parliament spent weeks interviewing proposed commissioners and rejecting some — a demonstration to von der Leyen that she wasn’t getting a free pass — it was finally ready on Wednesday to let her and the commissioners take office, a month later than previously scheduled. This doesn’t mean it won’t be a hurdle for von der Leyen going forward. The Greens, who abstained during the confirmation vote, will always demand more from the commission, and keeping the other centrist factions satisfied won’t be a breeze given the growing rift between the center-left and the center-right even in Germany, where they govern together.
But the von der Leyen commission will probably have a bigger problem with the European Council, comprised of national leaders, than with the parliament. There, France and Germany, the two countries meant to take the EU forward after Brexit, have been at loggerheads lately. Macron has blocked the opening of accession talks with potential new EU members, Albania and North Macedonia, and pushed a plan to make Europe militarily more independent from the US Germany disagrees on both counts. On Wednesday, Merkel responded forcefully to Macron’s criticism of the North Atlantic Treaty Organization as undergoing “brain death.” She said to the German parliament: “Europe cannot currently defend itself alone, we are dependent on this transatlantic alliance and that’s why it’s right for us to work for this alliance and take on more responsibility.”
Macron’s open bid for sole leadership in Europe is an irritant to Germans. According to a recent article in the New York Times, at a recent dinner to mark the 30th anniversary of the fall of the Berlin Wall, Merkel told Macron she was “tired of picking up the pieces” after his attempts at creative disruption. “I have to glue together the cups you have broken so that we can then sit down and have a cup of tea together,” Merkel reportedly said.
This marks a low point in what generally has been a constructive relationship. In such a situation, von der Leyen’s commission faces the likelihood of deadlock in the European Council on its key proposals. France and Germany will each try to use the commission’s power to draft policies, and the large workforce that comes with that power, to back up their positions — that is, to satisfy Macron’s impatience and Merkel's compromise-seeking caution.
Merkel, of course, has promised to retire from politics in 2021 — but a more assertive German leader probably would clash even more energetically with Macron.
In such a situation, the sheer balance of nationalities in key staff positions can be important. On Wednesday, Politico’s Brussels Playbook, a well-informed newsletter about EU politics, reported that five commissioners’ heads of cabinet (or chiefs of staff) — including Breton's — will be German, and not one will be French. Breton hasn’t officially picked his head of cabinet yet, but even if the Politico report on him proves false, the balance would appear troubling for Macron. The senior staff positions are extremely powerful in EU decision-making, and if there's a strong German influence on the chief-of-staff level, it won’t be easy for Macron to push his proposals.
On the other hand, as things stand today, France has a disproportionately large number of senior EU bureaucrats and Germany a disproportionately small one. Of the 30 officials holding the top administrative grade, AD 16, five are French and only two German. More generally, 12.8% of the 2,600 officials in the top four grades are French and 12.6% are German, even though, based on the countries’ populations, Germany’s quota should be higher and France’s lower.
A balance of influence is difficult to achieve in the EU when there’s little agreement on key issues, such as the bloc’s future geopolitical role, its adherence to the transatlantic alliance, and key expansion and immigration policies. A lack of broad agreement and personal harmony among leaders turns the complex bureaucratic and inter-institutional processes into a series of mini-battles. Macron may have helped von der Leyen into the top EU job, but he appears intent on making it impossible for her to do anything meaningful as he keeps trying Merkel’s patience with his escapades.

World must not forget Iran’s detained protesters
Dr. Majid Rafizadeh/Arab News/December 01/2019
Although demonstrations against the Islamic Republic generally grab international attention, less focus is placed on the situation after the protests end and the policies the Iranian regime pursues following its successful suppression of widespread demonstrations.
Every wave of protests has further questioned the legitimacy of the regime and challenged its hold on power. Nevertheless, from the perspective of the Iranian leaders, protests are a good opportunity to unleash a sweeping crackdown on their opponents. For example, during the 2018 protests, about 7,000 people were arrested but, soon after the regime silenced the protesters with brute force, the international community appeared to have forgotten about the plight of those captured by the authorities.
The Iranian leaders have declined to report how many people were arrested and killed during last month’s protests. This is a classic strategy employed by the authorities in order to hide the scope of the ongoing crackdown and to impose fear in society. Michael Page, deputy Middle East director at Human Rights Watch, accurately pointed out that: “Keeping families in the dark about the fate of their loved ones while ratcheting up an atmosphere of fear and retribution is a deliberate government strategy to stifle dissent.”
The regime is attempting to extract forced confessions by threatening detainees and their families
Human rights groups believe that at least 140 people were killed and thousands were arrested during the recent public display of discontent in more than 100 locations across Iran. Iranian officials have announced that at least 97 people identified as “leaders” or “influential actors” have been arrested. Those arrested are most likely to be among the younger members of the population, women and university students.
The international community must pay close attention to the domestic situation in Iran after protests are violently crushed. It is also critical to continue shedding light on the fate of the detainees. The regime generally labels protesters as rioters, foreign conspirators or political dissidents. This gives the authorities the power to send them to the Revolutionary Courts and keep them in notorious political jails such as Evin Prison.
Iran’s Revolutionary Courts are known for their lack of due process and for denying detainees access to lawyers. Detainees generally face ambiguous charges such as endangering the national security of the government, attempting to overthrow the government or conspiring with “enemies” and foreigners.
These courts are also known for passing harsh sentences, which range from long-term solitary confinement to execution. Several Iranian officials have already recommended the government sentence protesters to death. The representative of Supreme Leader Ali Khamenei’s office in Khuzestan Province, Mohammed Ali Mousavi Jazayeri, told the official Persian language IRNA news agency that “rioters who used the increase in fuel prices to come to the street and damage public property were trained by foreigners and… should be executed.” The Persian language newspaper Kayhan, whose editor-in-chief is appointed by Khamenei, wrote: “There are reports that suggest judicial authorities consider execution by hanging as the destiny for the rioters.” It is worth noting that the act of insulting Khamenei or chanting “Death to Khamenei” is punishable by death.
The Iranian regime is most likely also resorting to various methods of torture. For example, following the extensive protests in 2009, reports emerged from a specific detention center, Kahrizak, where detained protesters were tortured and raped. Several detainees died there, according to human rights groups. Two major institutions will be playing crucial roles in this regard: The Ministry of Intelligence and the judiciary, which are both dominated by hard-liners.
In addition, the regime is attempting to extract forced confessions by threatening detainees and their families. In such situations, detainees are normally required to state that they were cooperating with foreign governments, spying, and inciting anti-government protests. These “confessions” are videotaped and broadcast to the rest of the world in order to justify the harsh sentences and buttress the Iranian regime’s argument that the demonstrations were acts of foreign “sedition,” while proving that the regime continues to enjoy a high level of domestic popularity. Iran’s state television channels have already broadcast several such coerced confessions.
Some people also die in detention centers because of the torture, and the regime attempts to brush off these deaths as “suicides” without providing any details.
Other detainees will most likely be lashed in public in order to send a strong message to their peers that demonstrations against the regime will not be tolerated. Family members will also be threatened and warned against speaking to the media or writing posts about their situation on social media.
As the Iranian regime is unleashing its sweeping crackdown, the international community must put pressure on the authorities to stop their campaign of oppression and release innocent detainees.
*Dr. Majid Rafizadeh is a Harvard-educated 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

Protesting Iraqi youths send clear message to Iran
Dr. Mohammed Al-Sulami/Arab News/December 02/2019
Since early October, Iraq has been witnessing a continuous and growing wave of protests against the administrative, financial and political corruption that is plaguing the country. These protests are directed toward the entire political elite with no exceptions. In addition to protesters expressing their resentment about corruption, the younger generation is focusing its anger on the Iranian regime’s deep-rooted interference in every level of Iraq’s internal affairs. These protests are likely to be a source of several expensive lessons for the Iranian regime.
Firstly, it appears that Iraq is going through a phase of national awakening after years of simmering anger over worsening corruption, with the wealth of the country being stolen by corrupt political elites loyal to Iran, leading to the Iraqi people living in dire poverty. This awakening is led by a generation of young men, most of whom have grown up in the post-Saddam Hussein era.
This younger generation has witnessed the nature and extent of the Iranian regime’s interference and the slavish political and economic loyalty shown by most of the ruling elite in Iraq to the theocratic regime in Tehran. The recent leak of more than 700 Iranian regime documents further confirming and underlining the extensive nature of its meddling in Iraq has increased the conviction of the younger generation of the poisonous nature of the Iranian regime’s subversive role in the country.
Secondly, the younger generation has transcended and rejected Iran’s sectarian ideological and theocratic brainwashing, which had been a hallmark of previous years. The younger generation has expressed its rejection of the central role of the Shiite “marjaia” or religious guides in the politics of the country, seeing this as part of the problem that has held Iraq and the region back. Also, this younger generation has rejected the politicization of Islam, whether by Sunnis or Shiites. This, in turn, means that the younger generation has transcended ideological affiliations and rejected other sources of differences or schisms to create a stronger sense of cohesive loyalty to the Iraqi nation state, rather than to any single individual, party or religious sect.
Finally, longstanding frustration has erupted in regards to the brutality of Iran’s regime and its proxies, as well as their policies in Iraq, especially after the recent remarks by Iranian Supreme Leader Ali Khamenei, in which he accused the Iraqi and Lebanese protesters of being loyal to “foreign agendas” and seeking to implement these in their countries, apparently forgetting that Iran is a foreign, non-Arab country too. Following Khamenei’s ill-judged comments, Iraqi protesters stepped up the pace of their demonstrations and their expressions of hostility toward Tehran. Protesters in Najaf and Karbala, two predominantly Shiite cities with a venerated religious status among the Shiite, targeted the Iranian diplomatic missions, sending a clear message to Iran’s regime that it had crossed a red line with all Iraqis, including with those who had been more tolerant to Tehran in previous years due to sectarian-religious affiliation.
Iranian pilgrims have been prevented from accessing religious shrines in Najaf, with many of the posters, billboards and banners displayed by Tehran’s local proxies showing Iranian political figures being burnt, along with Iranian flags. Most of those involved in these displays of public rage are Iraqi Shiites, clearly demonstrating the extent of their anger, especially the younger generation, toward the Iranian regime’s unwelcome interference in Iraq.
Such clear messages from the Iraqi people toward Iran’s regime underline the point that there is no possibility of a return to the earlier status quo. The same also applies in Lebanon, which has witnessed a similar uprising against the political elites in the country, headed by the Iranian regime’s two key proxies: Hezbollah and the Amal Movement. The best demonstration of this new situation was a comment made by the former secretary-general of Hezbollah, Sheikh Sobhi Al-Tufayli, who said that the protesters’ slogans for change should be raised against all parties, including the Amal Movement and Hezbollah. “All means all,” said Al-Tufayli, citing a popular slogan used by the protesters. He pointedly added that the Amal Movement and Hezbollah are at the top of the list as they are perceived as the causes and guardians of corruption in Lebanon. If it was not for Hezbollah and the Amal Movement, he asserted, corruption would have been addressed and resolved a long time ago.
It is clear the Iranian regime’s so-called ‘Islamic Republic’ project has already begun to collapse at home and overseas.
In the end, then, it seems that the Iranian regime’s Wilayat-e Faqih (Guardianship of the Islamic Jurist) extremist theocratic ideological project and its attempts to impose this across the region are facing severe domestic and external challenges. It has suffered a significant decline in popular support at all levels, coupled with rapidly dwindling support for any form of political Islam among both Sunnis and Shiites in the region.
It is clear that the Iranian regime’s so-called “Islamic Republic” project has already begun to collapse at home and overseas, and the wave of anger toward Iran’s meddling in the region and its efforts to brutally enforce political and ideological subordination to Tehran is rising quickly. It is also clear that, as this mood of defiance continues to escalate, the possibility of an Arab uprising against the Iranian regime’s ideology in the southernmost part of the Arab world — Yemen, especially in the areas controlled by the Houthi militias loyal to Iran — is impossible to rule out as more and more people assert their right to freedom from external Iranian intervention.
It is very apparent, wherever one looks in the region, that the Iranian regime is now living on borrowed time.
*Dr. Mohammed Al-Sulami is Head of the International Institute for Iranian Studies (Rasanah). Twitter: @mohalsulami