LCCC ENGLISH DAILY NEWS BULLETIN

LCCC ENGLISH DAILY NEWS BULLETIN
February 23/19

Compiled & Prepared by: Elias Bejjani

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Bible Quotations For today
You snakes, you brood of vipers! How can you escape being sentenced to hell?
Holy Gospel of Jesus Christ according to Saint Matthew 23/29-39/24,1-2: “‘Woe to you, scribes and Pharisees, hypocrites! For you build the tombs of the prophets and decorate the graves of the righteous, and you say, “If we had lived in the days of our ancestors, we would not have taken part with them in shedding the blood of the prophets.” Thus you testify against yourselves that you are descendants of those who murdered the prophets. Fill up, then, the measure of your ancestors. You snakes, you brood of vipers! How can you escape being sentenced to hell? Therefore I send you prophets, sages, and scribes, some of whom you will kill and crucify, and some you will flog in your synagogues and pursue from town to town, so that upon you may come all the righteous blood shed on earth, from the blood of righteous Abel to the blood of Zechariah son of Barachiah, whom you murdered between the sanctuary and the altar. Truly I tell you, all this will come upon this generation. ‘Jerusalem, Jerusalem, the city that kills the prophets and stones those who are sent to it! How often have I desired to gather your children together as a hen gathers her brood under her wings, and you were not willing! See, your house is left to you, desolate. For I tell you, you will not see me again until you say, “Blessed is the one who comes in the name of the Lord.” ’ As Jesus came out of the temple and was going away, his disciples came to point out to him the buildings of the temple. Then he asked them, ‘You see all these, do you not? Truly I tell you, not one stone will be left here upon another; all will be thrown down.’

Titles For The Latest English LCCC Lebanese & Lebanese Related News published on February 22-23/19
Rai backs Aoun's stance on Syria, refugees
Aoun Signs Decree for Extraordinary Legislative Session
Bodyguard of Mt. Lebanon Prosecutor Held over Bribery Suspicions
Zoaiter Says 'Missing' Swiss Arms Imported for His Guards
Switzerland Freezes Arms Exports to Lebanon
Assailant Throws Hand Grenades in Tripoli
China to continue supporting Lebanon's security, stability: ambassador
Lebanon’s Constitutional Council Removes Mustaqbal MP from Office
85% of Lebanese Don’t Trust Their Politicians
Kataeb Leader and Wife Welcome First Child

Litles For The Latest English LCCC Miscellaneous Reports And News published on February 22-23/19
Revolutionary Guard Foreign Arm Commander Rejects Negotiating Iran’s Regional Role
Iran Launches Navy Drill
Officials: ISIS Widens Reach in Iraq as it Faces Defeat in Syria
First Arab-European Summit to Tackle Immigration, Terrorism, Palestinian File
North Sinai Governor: Terrorism Will Be Defeated
Sarraj Calls for Avoiding Bloodshed in Southern Libya
Iraq: Halbousi, Sairoon Agree on Public Sector Vacancies
Saudi Crown Prince Meets Chinese President, Bags Oil Deal
Iran: We have taken control of 7-8 US drones over Syria, extracted intel

Titles For The Latest LCCC English analysis & editorials from miscellaneous sources published on February 22-23/19
What Government for What Future in What World/Eyad Abu Shakra/Asharq l Awsat/February 22/19
"Make Turkey Great Again" Collides with the U.S./Burak Bekdil/Gatestone Institute/February 22/19
Putin to Join the Mullahs’ Deception Club/Amir Taheri/Asharq l Awsat/February 22/19
Analysis/Saudis Pour Money Into Superpower Dream, but Miss a Key Ingredient/Zvi Bar'el/Haaretz/February 22/19
Syrian regime renders talks with Kurds meaningless/Sharif Nashashibi/Arab News/February 22/19

The Latest English LCCC Lebanese & Lebanese Related News published on February 22-23/19
Rai backs Aoun's stance on Syria, refugees
The Daily Star/February 22, 2019/BEIRUT: Maronite Patriarch Beshara Rai Friday threw his support behind President Michel Aoun’s stance on Lebanon’s ties with Syria and the Syrian refugee issue. Rai met with Aoun Friday, a day after Cabinet’s first postconfidence meeting, at which the president had taken a firm stance on the issues. Noting that the refugee crisis has had economic, social, developmental and security repercussions on Lebanon, the president had said, “I won’t accept this number of refugees in my country,” according to a Baabda Palace source. “The president is the protector of the Constitution and the people, and his position in Cabinet yesterday was honorable,” Rai told reporters after meeting with Aoun. “He [also took an oath] to protect the country’s sovereignty, the unity of the people, the state’s affairs,” he added. “If we wanted to wait for a political solution to the Syrian crisis in order to secure the refugees’ return to their country, then the same thing will happen to us as [happened] with the Palestinian [refugee] issue.”Aoun had reportedly ended Thursday’s session abruptly after Lebanese Forces ministers began a debate over Lebanon’s ties Syria, saying he alone would decide the country’s higher interests. Just a few days before, Minister of State for Refugee Affairs Saleh Gharib had traveled to Damascus to discuss the refugee issue with Syrian officials. Some doubt arose as to whether Gharib’s visit was made with Prime Minister Saad Hariri’s approval. And last week, Defense Minister Elias Bou Saab had said Lebanese ministers were free to visit Syria at will, and emphasized the need for direct communication between both Beirut and Damascus over Syrian refugee returns. The LF ministers, who are among those against normalizing ties with Syria until a political solution to the conflict there is reached, reportedly launched into criticism of Gharib and Bou Saab for what they said was a breach of the policy of dissociation adopted in Cabinet’s policy statement. Aoun responded that the dissociation policy concerned the conflict in Syria and not the 1.5 million Syrian refugees living in Lebanon, the palace source told The Daily Star.

Aoun Signs Decree for Extraordinary Legislative Session
Naharnet/February 22/19/President Michel Aoun on Friday signed a decree calling on parliament to convene an extraordinary legislative session from February 22 until March 18, 2019. According to the decree, the session's agenda will include draft laws already referred to the legislature and drafts that could be referred during this period in addition to any draft laws, proposals or texts that the Parliament Bureau could decide to refer to the body. The decree also carried the signature of Prime Minister Saad Hariri, whose new government won a vote of confidence in parliament last week.

Bodyguard of Mt. Lebanon Prosecutor Held over Bribery Suspicions
Naharnet/February 22/19/The bodyguard of Mount Lebanon Prosecutor Judge Ghada Aoun was detained on Friday on charges of involvement in bribery-related offenses, the National News Agency said. “Based on the confessions of some civilians and security personnel, it turned out that Judge Aoun's bodyguard, State Security Sergeant H.Kh., is among those involved in acts of receiving bribes, so he was summoned for interrogation before the Internal Security Forces Intelligence Branch after informing Judge Aoun of the issue,” NNA said. “She expressed keenness on continuing the investigation until the end, and in light of the preliminary confessions, Judge Hani al-Hajjar ordered him detained along with a number of security personnel and civilians on charges of paying and receiving bribes in return for illegal acts, in addition to abuse of power and the breach of military instructions,” the agency added.

Zoaiter Says 'Missing' Swiss Arms Imported for His Guards
Naharnet/February 22/19/After Switzerland’s announcement it is freezing arms exports to Lebanon over missing weapons it sold to a Lebanese minister, former Public Works Minister Ghazi Zoaiter said on Friday the arms are “at his possession and all that Switzerland needs to do is communicate with him.” In remarks he made to al-Akhbar daily, Hermel MP Zoaiter said he bought the weapons back in 2016 from his own money for his guards located at his two houses in Beirut and in Bekaa’s Hermel-Baalbek. He was a minister back then. According to al-Akhbar, Zoaiter said that last year, when the Swiss military attaché in Beirut arrived for a post-shipment verification of the weapons, he only verified nine weapons in the possession of his companions in Beirut. However, he reportedly did not wish to move to Bekaa to check on the other weapons under the “pretext of time constraints."He reiterated that the weapons, “bought for his personal security, exist and all the Swiss party has to do is communicate with him to arrange a verification visit.”On Thursday, Switzerland said it is halting arms exports to Lebanon due to “inability to account for a Swiss shipment of weapons to Lebanon.”The Swiss Ambassador to Lebanon told LBCI that her country in 2016 has exported 10 assault rifles and 30 sub-machine guns to a Lebanese minister, whom she declined to name, but post-shipment verification in March 2018 was only able to verify nine. Switzerland raised concerns that the weapons might end up in “undesirable hands” which “justifies the freeze.”Later on Friday, the Swiss embassy issued a statement saying that "the decision was taken after a Post-Shipment Verification (PSV) in March 2018 concerning an arms export was unsuccessful.""This PSV did not concern the Republican Guard nor the Lebanese Armed Forces. The two previous PSV’s in 2013 and in 2015 – including the verification of an export to the Republican Guard – were completed successfully," it confirmed. A statement issued by Zoaiter's office meanwhile said the weapons were purchased “in light of the dangerous security threats that the country was facing in 2016, especially the terrorist attacks on the eastern border adjacent to the Baalbek-Hermel province,” stressing that he bought them with his own money and not that of the treasury. “We confirm that the aforementioned weapons are in the possession of MP Ghazi Zoaiter's bodyguards,” the statement said, adding that “the Swiss embassy has refused to make a visit to inspect them.”“They should communicate with us to set up a visit to inspect them and do what is required,” the office added.

Switzerland Freezes Arms Exports to Lebanon
Naharnet/February 22/19/Switzerland has decided to halt arms exports to Lebanon due to “inability to account for a Swiss shipment of weapons to Lebanon,” Swiss authorities have said on Thursday. Head of the Swiss Economics Ministry said Switzerland has exported 10 assault rifles and 30 sub-machine guns to Lebanon in 2016, but post-shipment verification in March 2018 was only able to verify nine. According to news and information platform Swissinfo.ch, Switzerland is still uncertain whether said arms were handed to another recipient. But concerns that the weapons end up in “undesirable hands” justify the freeze, it said. In remarks made to LBCI, the Swiss Ambassador to Lebanon said her country in 2016 had sold a former Lebanese minister, whom she declined to name, forty pieces of arms. She said that under the sales contract he signed and approved the right of the Swiss authorities to send a military mission at successive intervals to verify that the sold weapon was not sold or sent to another party. But a Swiss military delegation that arrived in Lebanon last spring to verify the weapons, found only nine pieces of the 40 pieces sold. Asked about the possibility of amending the official Swiss position, the ambassador said that the decision is currently covering the sale of arms to Lebanese officials and even to the Lebanese army, and that any change in the Swiss position would be linked first and foremost to the fate of the disappeared weapons. LBCI said the Lebanese army has clarified in remarks to the station that Lebanon “has never bought any arms nor received military grants from Switzerland.”

Assailant Throws Hand Grenades in Tripoli
Naharnet/February 22/19/An unknown assailant hurled two grenades at dawn at two private power generators in the northern Tripoli neighborhood of al-Qobbeh, the National News Agency reported Friday. NNA said the assailant tossed the grenades at generators owned by al-Shousha family. One of the grenades did not explode while the other did. The assailant managed to flee. Security Forces arrived at the scene and opened investigations into the incident.

China to continue supporting Lebanon's security, stability: ambassador
BEIRUT, Feb. 22 (Xinhua) -- Chinese Ambassador to Lebanon Wang Kejian said on Friday that China will continue supporting Lebanon's security and stability, according to a statement released by the Chinese Embassy in Lebanon. "China will always support Lebanon's efforts to safeguard national independence, security and stability," Wang said during his meeting with Lebanese President Michel Aoun.Wang's visit came against the background of the formation of a new government in Lebanon. Wang said China is willing to work with Lebanon to continuously consolidate political mutual trust and deepen pragmatic cooperation in various fields under the framework of the China-proposed Belt and Road Initiative. For his part, Aoun said Lebanon attaches great importance to the development of relations with China, while expressing appreciation for China's assistance, saying his country is willing to further expand bilateral cooperation in various fields.

Lebanon’s Constitutional Council Removes Mustaqbal MP from Office
Beirut - Nazeer Rida/Asharq Al-Awsat/Friday, 22 February, 2019/Lebanon’s Constitutional Council annulled on Thursday the parliamentary membership of Dima Jamali, who is from the Mustaqbal Movement of Prime Minister Saad Hariri, declaring Tripoli's fifth Sunni seat in the legislature vacant. The decision was announced by head of the Council Judge Issam Sleiman during a press conference to brief the result of an electoral appeal contesting the results of the May legislative elections. Sleiman said by-elections must be conducted within two months, as per article 41 of the Constitution. Although Hariri did not comment on the decision during a cabinet session held Thursday at the Presidential Palace, observers expressed belief that the PM was unsatisfied with the Council’s finding that reversed the official results of the Interior Ministry. The PM received Jamali at the Center House in Beirut and asked her to run again for the Sunni seat in Tripoli. "After hearing the ruling of the Constitutional Council, we must all respect it, knowing that there was a political intervention ... I would like to thank Prime Minister Hariri for renewing his confidence in me,” Jamali said after the talks. The Council’s decision, which is considered the first of its kind since 2002, opened a debate on suspicious political interference in its decision-making. Informed political sources told Asharq Al-Awsat that after annulling Jamali’s membership, the Council fell short on announcing the immediate victory of her opponent, Tah Naji. Other sources from the Mustaqbal Movement said one of the Council’s members changed his vote by backing the decision to annul Jamali’s membership after coming under political pressure. “Two members of the council had voted against the decision in the first round of the Council’s meeting Thursday, before one of them changing his stance the last minute,” the sources said. The Council requires the votes of seven of its ten members to annul the membership of a lawmaker. Interior Minister Raya El Hassan announced Thursday that by-elections will take place within two months, as stipulated by the Constitution.

85% of Lebanese Don’t Trust Their Politicians
Beirut - Caroline Akoum/Asharq Al-Awsat/Friday, 22 February, 2019/85 percent of the Lebanese do not trust their politicians, according to an opinion poll by Beirut-based Information International. Although the results do not dispute the prevailing public opinion, but paradoxically contradict the outcome of the last parliamentary elections, which brought back to power the same political class. According to a survey conducted by the company on a sample of the Lebanese population about their assessment of integrity and ethics levels among people working in different fields, politicians were considered to have the lowest levels. 85 percent of the Lebanese assessed the levels of integrity and ethics among politicians as “low” and “very low.”MP Paula Yacoubian, the only representative of the civil society in Parliament, and Kataeb MP Elias Hankash, agree that this poll has confirmed that the Lebanese people know very well their politicians, but are still dependent on them for reasons mainly related to their lack of rights. “The Lebanese are well aware that officials are robbing them and each party is blaming the other,” Yacoubian said, adding that the people were unable to something about this. Hankash, for his part, told Asharq Al-Awsat that the contradiction between the views of the Lebanese and the results of the elections was because politicians have stripped people of all the factors of economic and social viability. “There is no doubt that the Lebanese people are aware of this reality and this opinion poll is the best proof of this; but at the same time, they realize that they can only live with the help of those deputies,” he stated. The lack of trust is not limited to politicians. Doctors, judges, lawyers, engineers, construction contractors and media professionals were also included in the survey. In a reading of the results, only 51 percent of Lebanese assess the level of integrity and ethics of doctors with “high - and very high.”The same applies to lawyers and judges, with only 38% and 23% stating that the level of ethics and integrity of lawyers and judges in Lebanon is “very high and high.”Only 50 percent of respondents in Lebanon said that engineers had a “very high and high” level of integrity and ethics, compared with just 20 percent for construction contractors. As for the media, the poll showed that 55% of the respondents assess the level of integrity and ethics in this category in the “medium and low level.”

Kataeb Leader and Wife Welcome First Child
Kataeb.org/Friday 22nd February 2019/Kataeb leader Samy Gemayel and his wife, Carine, have welcomed their first child on Friday. "Baby Joyce is born and her mom is doing great. God bless you all!!" Gemayel wrote on Twitter. The couple had made the pregnancy announcement through a photo showing Gemayel hugging his wife while she is holding a small sign reading "Guess Who Is Going to Be a Daddy?" The Kataeb.org team congratulates the Gemayel couple and wishes the newborn many years of good health and happiness.

Latest LCCC English Miscellaneous Reports & News published on February 22-23/19
Revolutionary Guard Foreign Arm Commander Rejects Negotiating Iran’s Regional Role
London - Asharq Al-Awsat/Friday, 22 February, 2019/Iran’s Revolutionary Guard Quds Force Commander Qassem Soleimani warned the Hassan Rouhani government against negotiating the cleric-led country’s regional agenda in the same fashion they did the Iranian nuclear program. Soleimani, who heads the elite force tasked with running Iranian proxies and operations abroad, has stressed that the Quds Force’s role is not up for negotiation. Solaimani questioned the feasibility of negotiating an international agreement on the regional role of Iran, considering this type of agreement “an attempt to dry out the spirit and movement of Islamic Iran.”Speaking from the Iranian northern village of Babel, the Quds Force commander insisted on using the term “Burjam,” Iranian term used for the a joint action plan on Iran's nuclear program (otherwise known as the Iranian nuclear deal). He also warned of internal disagreements which could affect the cleric-led regime’s regional role, linking the regional agenda to Iran's national interests and refusing to distinguish between the two. He stressed his forces, first and foremost, prioritizing Iranian national interests. Soleimani also credited his forces for expanding Iran’s role in the region —the Quds Force operates and supports proxy militias in each of Syria, Lebanon, Iraq and Yemen. Boasting on Iran's role in the region, Soleimani said he was not considering any move or decision without taking Iran's national interests into account. More so, Soleimani criticized neighboring Pakistan for enjoying great ties with Saudi Arabia and called on the Pakistani army and people to intervene to cutback these ties. He also warned Islamabad against “testing Iran.”"I am warning you: Don’t test Iran’s tolerance,” Soleimani said. Jaish al Adl (Army of Justice), which says it seeks greater rights and better living conditions for ethnic minority Baluchis in Iran, had earlier claimed responsibility for an attack against a Revolutionary Guard convoy near the border with Pakistan. The February 13 attack killed 27 Guards members.

Iran Launches Navy Drill
London - Asharq Al-Awsat/Friday, 22 February, 2019/Iran launched on Friday a three-day annual navy drill in a vast area between the Strait of Hormuz and the Indian Ocean including a sensitive global shipping route. "The drill will be held in the waters of Strait of Hormuz, Oman Sea and the north of the Indian Ocean, covering 2 million square kilometers and going on for three days," Rear Admiral Hossein Khanzadi, Iran's navy commander, said on Thursday. The exercise aims to evaluate the navy's equipment, practice launching weapons and "enable the troops to gain readiness for a real battle," he added. The Strait of Hormuz is crucial to global energy supplies, with about a third of the world's seaborne oil passing through it every day. It is an international transit route where American forces routinely pass and which has seen tense encounters between them and Iranian forces in the past. Dubbed as "Velayat 97," the drill will showcase Iran's submarines, warships, helicopters and drones, according to the admiral. The exercise will also include missile launches from the vessels, Khanzadi added.

Officials: ISIS Widens Reach in Iraq as it Faces Defeat in Syria
Asharq Al-Awsat/Friday, 22 February, 2019/ISIS militants facing defeat in Syria are slipping across the border into Iraq, where they are destabilizing the country's fragile security, US and Iraqi officials say. Hundreds — likely more than 1,000 — ISIS extremists have crossed the open, desert border in the past six months, defying a massive operation by US, Kurdish, and allied forces to stamp out the remnants of the group in eastern Syria, according to three Iraqi intelligence officials and a US military official. Indications of the extremist group's widening reach in Iraq are clear. Cells operating in four northern provinces are carrying out kidnappings, assassinations, and roadside ambushes aimed at intimidating locals and restoring the extortion rackets that financed the group's rise to power six years ago.
"ISIS is trying to assert itself in Iraq, because of the pressure it is under in Syria," said Brig. Gen. Yahya Rassoul, the Iraqi army spokesman. The militants can count between 5,000 and 7,000 among their ranks in Iraq, where they are hiding out in the rugged terrain of remote areas, according to one intelligence official.
In Syria, Kurdish-led forces backed by the US-led coalition have cornered the militants in a pocket less than one square Kilometer in Baghouz, a Euphrates River village near the 600-Kilometer border. The Iraqi army has deployed more than 20,000 troops to guard the frontier, but militants are slipping across, mostly to the north of the conflict zone, in tunnels or under the cover of night. Others are entering Iraq disguised as cattle herders. They are bringing with them currency and light weapons, according to intelligence reports, and digging up money and arms from caches they stashed away when they controlled a vast swath of northern Iraq. "If we deployed the greatest militaries in the world, they would not be able to control this territory," Rassoul said. "Our operations require intelligence gathering and airstrikes."Many fear the militants could stage a comeback despite Baghdad declaring victory over the group in December 2017. The group is already waging a low-level insurgency in rural areas. The Associated Press verified nine ISIS attacks in Iraq in January alone, based on information gathered from intelligence officials, provincial leaders, and social media. ISIS often boasts of its activities through group messaging apps such as Telegram. In one instance, a band of militants broke into the home of a man they accused of being an informant for the army, in the village of Tal al-Asfour in the northern Badush region. They shot him and his two brothers against the wall, and posted photos of the killing on social media. In other instances, ISIS cells have killed mukhtars — village leaders and municipal officials. They have attacked rural checkpoints with car bombs and mortar fire, and burned down militia members' homes. In the town of Shirqat in central Iraq, militants stopped a police vehicle last month and killed all four officers inside.
Other activities have aimed at restoring the group's financial footing. On Sunday, militants kidnapped a group of 12 truffle hunters in the western Anbar province, marking a return to a strategy of intimidating and extorting farmers and traders for financial gain. Naim Kaoud, the head of provincial security, urged locals to suspend truffle gathering, which has just one season a year and is an important source of income for rural families. Other truffle hunters have disappeared in the countryside, according to former lawmaker and Anbar tribal figure Jaber al-Jaberi. He said the militants are taking cuts from truffle hunters in exchange for access to the land, and kidnapping or killing those who refuse to cooperate.

First Arab-European Summit to Tackle Immigration, Terrorism, Palestinian File
Paris, Cairo - Michel Abu Najem, Mohammed Abdu HassaneinAsharq Al-Awsat/Friday, 22 February, 2019/The first Arab-European summit will be held on Feb.24-25 in Sharm El-Sheikh, under the main title of “Investing in Stability.”The summit will be jointly chaired by Egyptian President Abdel Fattah el-Sisi and President of the European Council Donald Tusk. In addition to side events hosted by the International Congress Center, the summit will include two plenary sessions and a closed session devoted to regional issues and challenges, as well as opening and closing sessions. The results will be presented in a joint statement and an Arab-European press conference. European diplomatic sources told Asharq Al-Awsat that the importance of the summit stemmed from two main points: First, it will include “two neighboring groups from 50 countries (28 European and 22 Arab) invited to cooperate and coordinate… on common strategic interests.” Second, “the magnitude of the challenges they face and have to overcome together.”The topics to be discussed, according to the sources, are many and varied, ranging from trade and investment to migration and joint management of thorny files, such as security, the fight against terrorism, and the Palestinian-Israeli conflict. According to Arab diplomatic sources, Egypt “has completed logistical and practical arrangements to host the summit.”The leaders of Saudi Arabia, Kuwait, Bahrain, Iraq, Yemen, Palestine, Djibouti, Libya, Somalia and the Secretary General of the Arab League will attend the Summit, sources told Asharq Al-Awsat. Lebanese President Michel Aoun will be absent, while Lebanon will be represented by its Prime Minister Saad Hariri. Sudanese President Omar Hassan al-Bashir, whose country holds the rotating presidency of the Arab League, will also not attend the high-level Arab-European meeting. Syrian President Bashar al-Assad was not invited. On the other side, the summit will be attended by the president of the European Council, the European Commissioner, EU High Representative for Foreign Affairs and Security Policy, the German Chancellor, the Austrian Chancellor and the Romanian President. Unlike Germany, the French president, the British prime minister and the Spanish prime minister will be represented by their foreign ministers.

North Sinai Governor: Terrorism Will Be Defeated
Cairo - Walid Abdul Rahman/Asharq Al-Awsat/Friday, 22 February, 2019/
Terrorism will be defeated and the residents of Sinai are beginning to enjoy a sense of security due to the efforts of the armed forces and police in combating the phenomenon, said North Sinai Governor Mohamed Abdel Fadil Shousha. Speaking before an audience of reporters and journalists in Sinai, he remarked that life had returned to normal in the region, despite some occasional terrorist operations. He stressed that Egypt is facing a number of challenges and threats that are aimed at destabilizing the state and bringing back the Muslim Brotherhood to the political scene. The group is designated as terrorist by the authorities. Shousha said national security is the ability to provide the greatest protection and stability for national work in all fields in order to safeguard the state, its goals and interests against internal and foreign threats. Moreover, he added that the June 30, 2013 revolution was a landmark changing point in Egypt’s modern history when the army took the side of the people after the Brotherhood attempted to take over state institutions. On Thursday, the armed forces announced that they had killed eight extremely dangerous terrorists in North Sinai. The military had launched an offensive a year ago to rid the country of terrorists, with focus directed on northern Sinai. The development coincided with Minister of Endowments Mohammed Mokhtar Jomaa calling on governors to bar any gatherings near buildings without prior written permission from the authorities. Gatherings will be banned except in urgent cases.

Sarraj Calls for Avoiding Bloodshed in Southern Libya
Cairo – Khaled Mahmoud/Asharq Al-Awsat/Friday, 22 February, 2019/Head of the Government of National Accord (GNA) Fayez al-Sarraj stressed that the security and stability of the residents of southern Libya are priorities over any political tensions. He therefore stressed his keenness on avoiding bloodshed in the South and any clashes between the locals. GNA spokesman Mohammed al-Sallak quoted Sarraj as underlining the need to steer civilian establishments away from any military operations and safeguarding the people’s lives. Fighting terrorism, extremism, organized crime and foreign mercenaries will remain a priority, he declared. In addition, he welcomed the discussions at last week’s Munich security conference, which expressed complete support to the GNA. The situation in the South was at the heart of talks between UN envoy to Libya Ghassan Salame and Higher Council of State chief Khalid al-Mishri. Mishri updated the envoy about his recent visit to the US. The envoy also discussed with a delegation from the city of Mezdah in Tripoli local reconciliation issues and listened to their demands to improve health, water and security services in their region. In the southern city of Oubari, shops are shuttered and tension is palpable, as residents fear an imminent incursion by the Libyan National Army (LNA), reported AFP. We "dread the repercussions of military operations that are unfolding on the edge of town", said 22-year-old hospital administrator Ali Senoussi, speaking on behalf of his Tubu community, while stressing the local’s loyalty to Libya. Many residents in Oubari -- some 900 kilometers (560 miles) south of Tripoli -- are Tubu, a non-Arab ethnic tribe. The LNA launched its ongoing military campaign in mid-January and on Wednesday night entered Murzuk, another southern Libyan city home to many Tubus. LNA spokesman Ahmed al-Mismari confirmed that the forces captured Murzuk. Renowned for a fortress that dates back more than seven centuries, much of the historic settlement now resembles a ghost town. Murzuk's windswept streets are littered with garbage. Like Oubari, shops are closed and people are scared to circulate. Even bakers -- hit by a lack of flour -- cannot raise their blinds. "The city faces numerous problems at the service level, particularly at the hospital where we have only one doctor", deplored municipal councilor Ibrahim Omar.

Iraq: Halbousi, Sairoon Agree on Public Sector Vacancies
Baghdad - Fadhel al-Nashmi/Asharq Al-Awsat/Friday, 22 February, 2019/Iraqi Parliament Speaker Mohammed Al Halbousi met on Thursday with a number of deputies from the Sairoon Alliance at the headquarters of the Sadrist movement’s political committee to resolve the problem of public posts that have been managed by staff in caretaker capacity, in addition to the completion of Prime Minister Adil Abdul Mahdi's cabinet. After the talks, Halbousi asserted during a press conference that the country would settle the issue of state posts by June. The Speaker said Parliament has enough time to hire permanent employees and to offer other competent interim employees permanent positions. Asked whether disputes between Iraq’s political blocs would be an obstacle to resolving the problem, similar to the deadlock in the cabinet, Halbousi said: “Voting on employee classifications is not similar to voting on the cabinet.”
Several key cabinet posts are unfilled as a result of differences between Iraq’s political parties. Nassar al-Rabi'i, head of the Sadrist movement political committee, said that “state institutions have weakened” as a result of the vacant positions, which for years have been filled by acting employees. A few weeks after his election in September, Halbousi promised to resolve the issue within six months. Ihsan al-Shammari, head of the Center for Political Thought, told Asharq Al-Awsat on Thursday that the two main blocs in Parliament, Islah and Bina’, are determined to find a permanent solution to temporary positions in Iraqi state institutions.

Saudi Crown Prince Meets Chinese President, Bags Oil Deal
Agence France Presse/Naharnet/February 22/19/Saudi Crown Prince Mohammed bin Salman met China's President Xi Jinping on Friday and bagged a $10-billion oil deal, pressing on with his diplomatic charm offensive in Asia following a global outcry over the Khashoggi killing. Mohammed arrived in Beijing on Thursday following visits to Pakistan and India, showing the world that his country still has allies after the grisly murder of Saudi journalist Jamal Khashoggi at the kingdom's Istanbul consulate. "China is a good friend and partner to Saudi Arabia," Xi told Mohammed in a meeting in the Great Hall of the People. "Saudi Arabia's relations with China can be traced back a very long time in the past," the crown prince said. "Over such a long period of exchanges with China, we have never experienced any problems with China."He met with Chinese Vice Premier Han Zheng earlier on Friday. "Is the crown prince's tour symbolic of Saudi Arabia's pivot to the East? Yes," Najah al-Otaibi, a senior analyst at the pro-Saudi think-tank Arabia Foundation, told AFP. "Riyadh wants to strengthen alliances in Asia -- especially now with the continuing fallout with the United States over Khashoggi's murder and other issues and attempts by the EU to put Riyadh on a black list over money laundering allegations." Khashoggi, a fierce critic of the prince, was killed at the Saudi consulate in Istanbul in October, a murder that tarnished the image of the kingdom and of the crown prince in particular. Riyadh initially denied the murder, then gave several conflicting accounts of Khashoggi's death, and now claims he was killed in an unauthorised operation that did not involve Mohammed. The murder sparked global indignation, with US lawmakers pushing for Washington to distance itself from the crown prince, but the White House has maintained close relations with Riyadh, a major ally in the Middle East.Separately, the European Commission wants to add Saudi Arabia to a money-laundering blacklist of governments that do too little to thwart the financing of terrorism and organised crime. But China is looking to strengthen its economic ties with the kingdom, as Beijing pursues its ambitious Belt and Road trade infrastructure initiative, while Riyadh rolls out "Saudi Vision 2030" -- the crown prince's major programme to diversify the national economy away from oil. Mohammed told the Chinese President they could join the two projects "to realise more progress and jointly confront challenges".Vice Premier Han suggested during his meeting with the crown prince that the two countries deepen partnerships in energy, infrastructure construction, finance, and high-tech.
Trade and security
Riyadh's national oil giant Saudi Aramco said it had signed an agreement to form a Saudi-Chinese joint venture -- worth more than $10 billion -- to develop a refining and petrochemical complex in northeastern Liaoning province. The Saudi Arabian General Investment Authority also announced the signing of 35 non-binding memorandums of understanding, including deals related to energy, mining, transportation and e-commerce. China is Saudi Arabia's largest trading partner. "As the kingdom diversifies its non-oil economy, it needs a variety of other investors with technical expertise, including the Chinese," Otaibi said. "China steadfastly supports Saudi Arabia pushing a diversification of its economy and societal reforms," Xi told Mohammed, according to state broadcaster CCTV, adding he supported the hard work the kingdom has undertaken to promote stability and safety at home. National security is a potential area of cooperation between the Gulf state and China. The two countries should boost partnerships in counterterrorism and law enforcement, and exchange experience on combating extremism, Han said in his meeting with Mohammed, according to a report by the official Chinese news agency Xinhua.
The Saudis said they "firmly supported" Beijing's efforts to keep the country secure, and opposed "interference by external forces in China's internal affairs", Xinhua added, paraphrasing remarks by the crown prince. Riyadh has remained silent over China's treatment of Uighurs and other mostly Muslim minorities in the far-western region of Xinjiang. Up to one million Uighurs and other minorities are being held in internment camps in Xinjiang as part of a draconian anti-terror and anti-separatist campaign, according to estimates cited by a UN panel.

Iran: We have taken control of 7-8 US drones over Syria, extracted intel
DEBKAfile/February 22/19/“Seven to eight drones that flew constantly over Syria and Iraq were brought under our control and their intel was monitored by us first hand,” claimed Brig. Gen. Amir Ali Hajizadeh, commander of the Iranian Guards Air Force on Friday, Feb. 22. To support the claim, the Iranian FARS agency released a three-minute video called ““one of the many proofs in support of General Hajizadeh’s remarks” with footage from several different incidents that show a US MQ-9 Reaper UAV, known also as Predator B, crash-landing after its operator apparently lost control. The Reaper is one of the larges US Air Force armed drones’ it is capable of high altitudes and speed and operated by pilot teams from a ground station in the United States or a regional US command center. The Predator Bs are in service with US forces in war arenas like Afghanistan, Syria, Iraq and Yemen. The Iranian clip shows the US drone destroyed on the ground by an airstrike to destroy its intelligence instruments. Some aviation sources date this purported incident to 2016 and report that there were no recurrences since then. When asked about the Iranian claim, Pentagon spokeswoman Commander Rebecca Rebarich, said: “We are aware of the report and we have nothing else to add.”The Iranian general’s claim was the first time Tehran had reported taking over the command and control of a US UAV. Eight years ago, Iran captured the top-secret US CIA RQ-170 Sentinel, bringing it down almost intact at one of its western bases on Dec. 5, 2011. DEBKAfile revealed at the time that Chinese army cyber engineers were responsible for the Iranian coup. Tehran claimed then to have controlled not just the RQ-170s command and control system but also its channels of communications to the US military satellites which bounced orders from the ground station. US official sources have never commented on this incident. But there were repercussions. On 2014, Iran showcased Shahed 171 a new drone that was a close replica of the US Sentinel. Another Iranian drone Saeqeh also showed similar features. On Feb. 10, 2018, Iran fired an armed Shahed 171 UAV into Israel. It flew over the Golan towards Tiberias over Beit Shean, the Gilboa and the Valley of the Springs before being shot down by Israeli fighter jets. Tehran chose the third week of February to show off its ability to hack into the control systems of US drones for reasons unknown. Using a high-ranking IRGC general for the purpose indicates to DEBKAfile’s military sources that Iran is building up towards a military engagement with American or Israel forces in the Syrian/Iraqi arena and wants both to know that it is in possession of cyber warfare capabilities for fighting back.

Latest LCCC English analysis & editorials from miscellaneous sources published on February 22-23/19
What Government for What Future in What World?
Eyad Abu Shakra/Asharq l Awsat/February 22/19
أي حكومات لأي مستقبل… في أي عالم؟
إياد أبو شقرا/الشرق الأوسط/17 شباط/19
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The attention of the Middle East’s observers was divided during the last few days between two conferences of important consequences for the region; Warsaw’s International Conference called by the US and hosted by Poland, and the Sochi meeting of the “triumvirate” behind the Astana initiative on Syria, meaning Russia, Iran and Turkey.
The Warsaw Conference, attended by more than 60 countries, was intended to discuss Iran’s escalating threat to most of its Middle East participants, while the Sochi event aimed at moving forward with the three-states “tactical” alliance that is based mainly on exploiting Washington’s inadequate handling of the region’s crises, and both strategic and transient issues affecting the interest of the Russians, Iranians and Turks.
In fact, those two events almost overshadowed everything else in the region, except for the Dubai-hosted the World Government Summit. The Summit was attended by hundreds of leading political, economic, scientific and media personalities, and discussed among other topics, the role of governments in the age of artificial intelligence.
For three days, current and former presidents, prime ministers, ministers, heads of international organizations, academics and experts in various fields took part in panel discussions, lectures and roundtable seminars. Given the number of participants and programmed sessions, it was impossible to attend every event, so those attending had the opportunity to pick and choose their favorites.
Still, among what interested me the most in one of the opening sessions was an expose about the huge growth in the private sector’s investment in research and development compared with that of governments (or the public sector) in many developed countries, led by the US. Amazon, for example, invests more than budgets of major countries.
In another lecture, the topic was the role and future of the media in the age of AI (artificial intelligence) and whether it is going to eliminate the role of columnists and opinion writers in the foreseen future.
Many lectures and sessions ended on a positive note, promising brilliant remedies and solutions. Others, however, expressed concerned as they opened the floodgates to the unknown, which we, as humans, are entitled to fear or treat with caution.
Are we approaching the end of a road of what people – let alone governments – can and will still function under the huge weight of AI? Are we about to lose privacy forever, as many say? Are we soon reaching a stage whereby those who possess the AI’s technical power would think on our behalf; but – either magnanimously or by subterfuge – convince us that we are the ones still thinking?
Are what we would come up with, truly, our own ideas and decisions, or are they the custom-made programmed data, interests and preferences that they have been injecting in us, based on the comprehensive, individualized “profiles” they have built?!
What I have mentioned was just a few examples of the mind-invigorating and soul-searching items during that successful Summit.
However, soon after arriving back in London, a dear relative sent me via WhatsApp a video presentation by Denise Hearn, the co-author of “Myth of Capitalism” (with Jonathan Tapper). In this widespread video, Hearn talks about the “withering away” of the American dream as a result of retreating competition and rapid consolidation, meaning capitalism in America, has become its own victim. Unchecked take-overs and unrestricted and unregulated mergers and acquisitions mean that price-fixing is a fatal threat to American capitalism.
Hearn noted that the success of Donald Trump on the right and Bernie Sanders on the left is a clear reflection of how the public see the situation, as 71 percent of Americans now believe that their economic system is “rigged”. She then added that the US has moved from a free market economy based on open competition to a narrow field in which few giant corporations enjoy a virtual monopoly in vital sectors in the economy.
Citing examples, Hearn mentioned that two groups control 90 percent of beer Americans drink, four airlines dominate air traffic, five banks have more than half the banking assets, Google controls 90 percent of online searches and Facebook controls over 70 percent of social networking searches. These facts point out to the end of competitiveness without which capitalism dies, she concludes. She explains that this phenomenon of “concentration”, indeed, exists not only in the aforementioned sector, but in most of the US economy where a small number of big players dominate the scene, take over smaller competitors without acquisitions and mergers’ government guidelines. This “concentration”, leaves the big players to fix prices without anti-trust intervention or regulation, which, in turn deprives capitalism of all of its virtues.
Actually, I have been thinking about this scenario for some time, linking it with globalization, which a couple of decades ago seemed to be an unstoppable force, before leading businessmen began to express their doubts and worries about the future.
Here, I recall what British businessman, Sir James Goldsmith, once claimed in a TV interview, that the nation-state had become the “last bastion” in the face of globalization. It did not take a long time before the resurrection of nationalist opposition in Europe, taking the shape of rebellion against the idea of the European Union, eventually, leading to Brexit in the UK and the rise of the populist and quasi-racist anti-immigration right throughout Europe.
Even countries that were built on immigration, such as the US, Brazil and Australia, joined the queue and revolted against immigration, not forgetting that in the American case, a separating wall is being built on the borders with Mexico.
For those in the Arab world who are still living on the illusions of the past, it is time to wake up and take a look. This is the real world around you. It is in trouble, deeply doubting itself, its interests and its future. Its animosities, just like its friendships, are short-term and interest-based.
For those who are unwilling to admit it, Moscow is the “capital of Socialism” no more, just as America is no longer the “promised land” for immigrants or the shining example of competitive Capitalism.
Today, both Turkey and Iran raise Islamist banners, but are striving to fulfill imperialist dreams. As for Israel, which has managed for decades to convince the world that it was the “Oasis of Democracy” in “the Arab’s barren desert”, its generals and biblical settlers use ballot boxes as weapons!

"Make Turkey Great Again" Collides with the U.S.
Burak Bekdil/Gatestone Institute/February 22/19
https://www.gatestoneinstitute.org/13788/make-turkey-great-again
One of Erdoğan's regional policy priorities, as U.S. troops in neighboring northern Syria prepare to leave, is to prevent Turkey's south from witnessing the emergence of "a Kurdish belt".
While the U.S. supports the idea of a buffer zone in northern Syria to keep Kurdish militants and Turkish troops at a safe distance from each other, Erdoğan insists on sole Turkish control over the planned 20-mile-deep strip.
If Turkey, a NATO member, goes ahead with purchasing Russia's S-400 air and anti-missile defense system, the U.S. Congressional bill requires the departments to include a detailed description of plans for the imposition of sanctions, pursuant to section 231 of the Countering Russian Influence in Europe and Eurasia Act of 2017 (Public Law 115-44).
If Turkey, a NATO member, goes ahead with purchasing Russia's S-400 air and anti-missile defense system, it risks the imposition of sanctions under United States law, pursuant to section 231 of the Countering Russian Influence in Europe and Eurasia Act of 2017. Pictured: A Russian S-400 missile battery.
The summer peak of the crisis between Turkey and the United States, two NATO allies in theory, has been replaced by cautious pessimism. Few Turks today remember the days of massive Turkish protests against President Donald Trump and his administration, often exhibited in childish ways such as groups gathering to burn fake U.S. dollars or smashing iPhones in front of cameras. This is, however, an extremely fragile tranquility.
On February 25, after keeping the position vacant since October 2017, Washington nominated David Satterfield, a career diplomat, as new ambassador to Ankara, an appointment that still needs to be confirmed by the Senate. In Ankara, a complex puzzle awaits Ambassador Satterfield.
There are no signs that Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdoğan may rethink -- or even recalibrate -- his assertive neo-Ottoman foreign policy calculus. As the country awaits its critical local elections on March 31, his popularity is augmented by supportive masses who want to "Make Turkey great again." A surprise defeat at the ballot box could be the beginning of the end of Erdoğan's 17-year-old rule.
One of Erdoğan's regional policy priorities, as U.S. troops in neighboring northern Syria prepare to leave, is to prevent Turkey's south from witnessing the emergence of "a Kurdish belt". The U.S. troop pullout could expose Syrian Kurds, U.S. allies in the multinational fight against Islamic State, to the risk of a Turkish military incursion. While the U.S. supports the idea of a buffer zone in northern Syria to keep Kurdish militants and Turkish troops at a safe distance from each other, Erdoğan insists on sole Turkish control over the planned 20-mile-deep strip. The Turkish strongman also rejects a plan by the United States for a multinational force to police the area.
Part of the Turkish-American puzzle is about a rigid plan by Erdoğan to make Turkey the first NATO ally to deploy the Russian-made S-400 air and anti-missile defense system. Turkish authorities, including Erdoğan, have repeatedly refused requests by Turkey's Western allies to drop the Russian deal and go for a Western-made defense architecture. Most recently, on February 20, Turkey's Undersecretary for Defense Industries in charge of military procurements, Ismail Demir, said that the S-400 system would become operational in October.
The S-400 issue is potentially another source of crisis between Washington and Ankara. Demir's remarks looked very much like an official Turkish reply to Vice President Mike Pence who just days ago had repeated warnings to Turkey not to proceed with the S-400 purchase. Pence, speaking at the Munich Security Conference, told attendees "we will not stand idly by while NATO allies purchase weapons from our adversaries. We cannot ensure the defense of the West if our allies grow dependent on the East".
Pence's "we will not stand idly by" warning also involves another Turkish plan to purchase military gear, this time from the West. Turkey is part of a U.S.-led, multinational consortium that builds the F-35 next-generation fighter jet, and has committed to buy at least 100 aircraft. On February 19, Trump signed a spending bill that blocks the transfer of F-35s to Turkey. According to the spending bill, delivery of the jets to Turkey will be blocked until the U.S. Secretary of State and Secretary of Defense submit an update to the report regarding Turkey's S-400 purchase.
If Turkey goes ahead with purchasing Russia's S-400 systems, the Congressional bill requires the U.S. departments to include a detailed description of plans for the imposition of sanctions, pursuant to section 231 of the Countering Russian Influence in Europe and Eurasia Act of 2017 (Public Law 115–44).
Turkey's systematic efforts to support various Islamist groups in the nearby Middle East, as well as in the less-nearby corners of the Mediterranean basin, are a cause of concern for Western countries, including the United States, that have a "stabilizing agenda" for the region. As a result of Erdoğan's ideological kinship with groups such as Hamas and the Muslim Brotherhood, Turkey is already in a cold war with a long list of regional countries including Egypt, Saudi Arabia, the United Arab Emirates and Israel. New tensions were recently added to the list when Libya and Algeria slammed Turkish arms shipments to Islamist militants.
In December, Libyan authorities at the port of al-Khoms on the Algerian-Libyan border announced the discovery of two containers that were loaded with arms from Turkey, including rockets and 48 million rounds of ammunition. An Algerian official told the newspaper al-Watan that "the purpose of such [Turkish] activity is to not only destabilize Libya, but send such an arsenal to unstable regions, including Algeria".
Erdoğan's anti-Western ideology often makes strange bedfellows for Turkey. The most recent is Venezuela, after Turkey joined Russia, China and Iran in backing the battered regime of Nicolas Maduro. When, in November, Trump signed an executive order authorizing sanctions on Venezuelan gold -- after sending an envoy to warn Turkey off the trade -- a mysterious Turkish company, Sardes, with just $1 million in capital, had already shuttled $900 million worth of the precious metal out of Venezuela.
With or without an American ambassador residing in Ankara, there is more than enough evidence to expect a badly bumpy road ahead for the former strategic allies that are now allies only in theory or, in a more realistic lexicon, ideological adversaries.
*Burak Bekdil, one of Turkey's leading journalists, was recently fired from the country's most noted newspaper after 29 years, for writing in Gatestone what is taking place in Turkey. He is a Fellow at the Middle East Forum.
© 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.

Putin to Join the Mullahs’ Deception Club
Amir Taheri/Asharq l Awsat/February 22/19
بوتين ونادي الملالي للخداع
أمير طاهري/الشرق الأوسط/22 شباط/19
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“Talk to Iran!” This is the advice some Western politicians have bandied around since 1979 when the mullahs seized power in Tehran. The 40th anniversary of the Khomeinist regime has provided fresh opportunity for that slogan to be promoted again in the European Union and the United States.
The argument is that the alternative to “talk to Iran” is war, something which few would desire. It is also claimed that “talk to Iran” helps a never-defined “moderate reformist faction” to defeat “hardliners” in the power struggle that has raged in the Islamic Republic from the start.
I have exposed those claims as fallacious and need not repeat my arguments here. I thought to return to the topic because the new German Foreign Minister, Heiko Maas, repeated the “slogan” as if he were Columbus discovering the New World.
In the annual Security Conference in Munich last week, Iranian Foreign Minister Mohammed Javad Zarif revived talk of “critical dialogue” to lead a debutant Maas up the garden path.
By the mid-1980s Hans Dietrich Genscher’s “critical dialogue” had morphed into a process in which the Europeans and the mullahs came together to criticize the United States. In Genscher’s “dialogue” the mullahs promised not to conduct terrorism in Europe. They broke their pledge by launching attacks, including assassinations in Austria, France, Britain, Germany, Italy and Switzerland. They also promised not to seize more European hostages but went on doing so regardless. Since then hardly a day has passed without the mullahs holding some European hostages.
“Talk to Iran” was also tried by successive US administrations, starting with Jimmy Carter’s. In 1980 the mullahs signed an accord with Carter not to seize any more American hostages in exchange for de-freezing Iranian assets blocked by Washington after the 1979 capture of the US Embassy in Tehran. Yet, to this day, the Iran has always held American hostages, and today is holding 14.
Western powers aren’t alone in having tried the “Talk to Iran” formula in the hope of forging a modus vivendi with a regime that, because it is not in peace with its own people, cannot be at peace with anyone else. At one point, the Saudis tried to improve ties with the Khomeinist regime.
They helped it organize the Islamic Summit in Tehran, hoping to persuade the mullahs to become part of the normal world. They coordinated oil policies and, as a further sign of goodwill, granted Iran an unprecedented Hajj quota. The reward was the Khomeinist attack on Khobar and, later, the ransacking of the Saudi Embassy and consulates in Iran.
Turkey had a similar experience. It created a security commission with Iran and closed its borders to Iranians fleeing to exile. Iranian opposition figures were expelled or, in some cases, left to be kidnapped by hit squads from Tehran.
Turkey also became a major element in Tehran’s sanctions-busting operations. The mullahs repaid Turkey by granting the Kurdistan Workers’ Party (PKK) bases in the Qandyl Mountain region just inside the Iranian border. They also created a Turkish branch of Hezbollah, smashed by the Turks a decade later.
The “Talk to Iran” slogan reached a summit with the so-called “nuclear deal”.
To concoct it President Barack Obama circumvented the United Nations Security Council, ignored the Nuclear Nonproliferation Treaty (NPT), and sidelined the International Atomic Energy Agency (IAEA), to produce something tailor-made to please the mullahs.
As a further sweetener, he also smuggled cash to Tehran. And, yet, by the time Obama left the White House the mullahs had not fulfilled their commitments under the “historic deal.”
Some analysts affirm that the mullahs wouldn’t dare treat Russia in a cheat-and-retreat way because Russians are not so easily fooled. To back that view, they site an incident in Beirut in 1984 when Tehran ordered Hezbollah agents to capture four Russian hostages to punish Moscow for its support for Saddam Hussein.
The narrative is that the Russians called Ayatollah Ali-Akbar Mohtashami-pour, Khomeini’s ambassador in Damascus, who was also the founder of the Lebanese Hezbollah, and made him an offer he couldn’t refuse: Release the Russian captives or we’ll seize four hostages from your staff!
Not desiring a taste of their own medicine, the mullahs relented and Russian hostages were released. Now here is a scoop: Russia is about to discover the duplicity that has marked the mullahs’ diplomacy for four decades.
Last August President Hassan Rouhani signed the Caspian Sea Legal Status Convention, a text written by Moscow to give Russia a monopoly on military presence in the inland sea. President Vladimir Putin hailed that as a major victory for Russian diplomacy. However, it is now clear that the mullahs have put their machinery of deception in high gear to do to Putin what they did to many American, European, Turkish and Arab leaders.
To start with they refused to present the “convention” to the Islamic Majlis, the ersatz parliament, as a draft law to secure its legal status, something that the other littoral states, Russia, Kazakhstan, Turkmenistan and Azerbaijan have done. The foreign ministry has also withdrawn a Persian translation of the text, promising a more accurate version.
This week the Iranian Foreign Ministry’s legal department declared that the “convention” Rouhani signed becomes “operational only after all littoral states have established their borders in territorial waters”, a process that could take years.
According to Reza Nazar Ahari, Iran’s point man on Caspian issues, negotiations would be held two or three times a year in the five littoral capitals until agreement is reached.
Speaking in Baku, Azerbaijan, Ahari insisted that a common Caspian space, beyond territorial waters, should be established in which activity is possible only with the unanimous approval of littoral states.
Russian military monopoly is made conditional to agreements that may never be reached.
In other words, the “Convention” was just a piece of paper, signed to please Putin who now can join the club of those deceived by the mullahs. There he would find Heiko Maas, an enthusiastic novice.

Analysis/Saudis Pour Money Into Superpower Dream, but Miss a Key Ingredient
Zvi Bar'el/Haaretz/February 22/19
Saudi Arabia has more money than Turkey and Iran, which have managed to make their arms industries a source of major revenue
Andreas Schwer, by his own admission, has a dream job. A year and a half ago he was appointed by Saudi Crown Prince Mohammed bin Salman as CEO of Saudi Arabian Military Industries, the Saudi government umbrella organization responsible for all arms purchases and for developing a broad-based local arms industry for the kingdom.
In an interview with the Defense News website in August, Schwer said the company’s goal was to reach 50 percent local production of Saudi Arabia’s military needs by 2030, as opposed to only 2 percent today.
Meeting this goal would directly provide 40,000 jobs and about another 100,000 jobs indirectly – and would put Saudi Arabia among the world’s 25 largest arms producers. This goal, which comprises part of the reform plan announced by Prince Mohammed two years ago, Vision 2030, whose goal is to diversify the kingdom’s sources of revenues and reduce its dependence on oil – and also possibly reduce the country’s military dependence on Western arms manufacturers. This vision has a firm financial backing: $50 billion a year courtesy of the Saudi defense budget.
But the generous funding is just part of the solution. Schwer says that Saudi Arabia’s military procurement strategy will have to transform from a vendor-client relationship to one of partnership with global suppliers. This will require foreign manufacturers to buy local Saudi products worth 50 percent of the contracts and to transfer manufacturing technology to the country, train local workers and build production lines in Saudi Arabia as a condition for the sales. This is where the real obstacles to the dream of nationalizing defense production lie, as it is for any other manufacturing that requires trained manpower and advanced technological knowledge.
Saudi Arabia suffers from a chronic shortage of technological manpower on which it would be able to build a sophisticated local industry in coming years. Despite the encouragement of technological education and sending delegations of students to Western countries, the gap between what exists today and what the country needs only keeps growing. Saudi universities are finding it difficult to recruit students for their technological departments because they require much harder work than in the social sciences and humanities. Most of the students prefer to study “easier” professions that will allow them to receive comfortable jobs in the government sector, or at least in private businesses.
Private foreign companies that operate in Saudi Arabia complain that Saudi workers find it hard to adopt the companies’ work culture, to meet exacting schedules, implement work plans with precision and even understand what they are asked to do. Sometimes these companies prefer to pay the Saudi employees’ wages and ask them to stay home, because their presence on the job interferes with the work of others. The requirement to hire Saudis is part of the broad legislation intended to nationalize work in the kingdom, but this legislation does not take into account the difficulties it creates for employers – in spite of the benefits they receive in return for hiring Saudis.
Saudi Arabia can only be jealous of the defense industries in countries such as Turkey and Iran, which have turned the sector into a powerful source of revenue. The revenue in turn allows the countries to rely more and more on local production, and as in the case of Iran even almost exclusively – and at the same time profit too. Iran had no choice but to develop its own technological capabilities, which has given it the ability to develop ballistic missiles, remotely-piloted aerial vehicles, warships and a wide range of ordnance – in addition to its nuclear program, which is based on knowledge it bought, but also on local management and development.
Turkey, which up until about a decade ago was dependent on foreign technology and procurement, is an example of a country that decided to change direction and produce a major part of its military needs on its own and even privatize some of its weapons manufacturers. Turkey exported $2 billion worth of arms last year and 2019 has begun with over $175 million in arms sales – a 64 percent increase when compared with sales in January 2018. Turkish Defense Minister Hulusi Akar said Turkey supplies itself with 70 percent of its military needs and intends on increasing this capability.
The difference between the Saudi vision and the Turkish capability is enormous. Turkey may not be able to compete with Saudi Arabia in the amount of money it produces, but the experienced, skilled and educated workers in Turkey give it an advantage that most Arab countries cannot supply. Turkey has markets in the West and Far East that are not open to Iran, and is also obtaining military experience on the ground and learning industrial lessons from it – in a similar manner to Israel’s military experience. Turkey is not the perfect image of a military power, but it has taken a major step forward in producing advanced weapons over the past decade, which attests to its long-term strategic thinking.
Turkey’s problem in the area of skilled manpower now actually lies in the area of the “brain drain.” The military industries are worried by the emigration of at least 200 engineers to Western countries in the past few months. But it is this flow of skilled manpower that reflects the abundance of skilled Turkish workers.
As opposed to Saudi students, in Turkey young people can obtain all their necessary training at local universities and institutes. Turkey also has the advantage of being able to import knowledge, partly because it is a member of NATO. And unlike Saudi Arabia, it does not need to hire foreign pilots to fly or maintain its combat planes. Saudi Arabia will need many more years to equal Turkey in the area of defense production, but at least it can afford to continue paying until then for what it needs.

Syrian regime renders talks with Kurds meaningless
Sharif Nashashibi/Arab News/February 22/19
People are pictured sitting in the Syrian town of Darbasiyah as the Turkish flag flutters on the opposite side of the border crossing with Turkey. (File photo/AFP)
From Syrian Kurds’ point of view, Damascus this week rendered talks between the two sides as meaningless. The talks were given fresh impetus by Turkey’s threat to attack Syrian-Kurdish forces in the wake of the announcement that the US would withdraw militarily from Syria.
Though talks between the Syrian Kurds and Damascus had taken place (without success) prior to the announcement, the former swiftly turned to the latter as a means to thwart the threatened Turkish offensive. The Syrian regime — hostile to Ankara, and sensing an opportunity to extend its authority to the largest piece of territory still outside its control — was happy to oblige.
But this week, the regime flatly rejected Syrian Kurds’ most important goal: Cementing their self-declared autonomy. “Autonomy means the partition of Syria. We have no way to partition Syria,” said Bouthaina Shaaban, a senior adviser to Bashar Assad.
This is not the first time that the regime has rejected Kurdish autonomy — for example, Foreign Minister Walid Muallem did so in October last year. But it is the first time that the regime has done so since the resumption of talks with the Kurds following the US withdrawal announcement in mid-December.
Shaaban said what she said while sitting next to Russia’s deputy foreign minister. This would suggest that Moscow and Damascus are on the same page in this regard. Assad has repeatedly vowed to retake the whole country, and Moscow has repeatedly expressed its support for Syria’s territorial integrity.
For all the enmity between Ankara and Damascus, Turkey’s threatened offensive may prove to be a hugely valuable gift to the Syrian regime.
But if Syrian Kurds had hoped that staunch opposition from Damascus and Moscow to Turkey’s threatened offensive might change their calculus, those hopes have been dashed. Ankara’s threat actually provided Damascus with a golden opportunity to play hardball with the Kurds, who control about a quarter of Syria but are desperate to forestall another Turkish offensive (previous ones having successfully rolled back their territorial gains).
The regime has likely calculated, correctly, that the Kurds would rather accept a negotiated capitulation to it than another — and this time more decisive — military defeat at the hands of Turkey and its Syrian rebel allies. Indeed, just days ago Assad warned the Kurds that the US would not protect them against a Turkish offensive. Following an American withdrawal, he is right.
The presence of US troops is currently impeding such an offensive, and after they leave, Washington would certainly not consider airstrikes against a military advance by Turkey, a powerful regional ally (despite current tensions) and a fellow member of NATO.
Mixed signals and confusing, contradictory statements from the Trump administration following the withdrawal announcement may have given Syrian Kurds hope that the pull-out would not end up taking place. But despite much domestic opposition to his decision, US President Donald Trump seems determined to implement it.
Indeed, the top US commander overseeing American forces in the Middle East, Joseph Votel, said less than a fortnight ago that the start of the withdrawal was likely just weeks away. The US special envoy for Syria, James Jeffrey, last week said the withdrawal will not be abrupt. However, there are no indications that Trump’s decision will be reversed.
The US has urged its allies to send troops to Syria as it withdraws, and has warned that it will sever its military assistance to the Kurdish-led Syrian Democratic Forces (SDF) if it partners with Damascus or Moscow. But US allies have so far shown no interest in sending troops, and Syrian Kurds, feeling a deep sense of betrayal over Washington’s intention to withdraw, are unlikely to heed its warning, particularly if they sense a Turkish offensive in the making.
Shaaban’s words strongly indicate that the regime views its talks with the Kurds purely as a means to negotiate the terms of their surrender. So even if a Turkish offensive does not materialize, the heavy price that Syrian Kurds will have to pay for this will be no cause for them to celebrate. For all the enmity between Ankara and Damascus, Turkey’s threatened offensive may prove to be a hugely valuable gift to the Syrian regime.
*Sharif Nashashibi is an award-winning journalist and commentator on Arab affairs. Twitter: @sharifnash