LCCC ENGLISH DAILY NEWS BULLETIN
January 15/19

Compiled & Prepared by: Elias Bejjani

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Bible Quotations For today
Because of your hard and impenitent heart you are storing up wrath for yourself on the day of wrath, when God’s righteous judgement will be revealed.
Letter to the Romans 02/01-08: "You have no excuse, whoever you are, when you judge others; for in passing judgement on another you condemn yourself, because you, the judge, are doing the very same things. You say, ‘We know that God’s judgement on those who do such things is in accordance with truth.’ Do you imagine, whoever you are, that when you judge those who do such things and yet do them yourself, you will escape the judgement of God? Or do you despise the riches of his kindness and forbearance and patience? Do you not realize that God’s kindness is meant to lead you to repentance? But by your hard and impenitent heart you are storing up wrath for yourself on the day of wrath, when God’s righteous judgement will be revealed. For he will repay according to each one’s deeds: to those who by patiently doing good seek for glory and honour and immortality, he will give eternal life; while for those who are self-seeking and who obey not the truth but wickedness, there will be wrath and fury."

Titles For The Latest English LCCC Lebanese & Lebanese Related News published on January 14-15/19
14th Of March Parties & Politicians Betrayal
‘Hezbollah exploiting gold mines in Venezuela,’ politician reveals
Lebanon’s Finance Minister Rules out Discussions over Public Debt Restructuring
Salameh: Money Transfer Firms Must Not Pay in Dollar to Recipients
Lebanon Dollar Bonds Gain after Finance Minister Rules Out Debt Restructuring
Senior US official vows to counter Iran on Lebanon visit
Lebanon's Central Bank takes new measure to protect currency peg
US Hints it Would Impose New Sanctions on Hezbollah
U.S. Under Secretary of State for Political Affairs, David Hale Visits Lebanon to Discuss Latest Developments
Aoun Holds Talks with Hale
In Lebanon, US State Dept official calls Hezbollah ‘unacceptable’
Hale Says Unacceptable for a 'Militia' to Dig Border Tunnels, Have Missile Arsenal
Report: U.S. to Invite Lebanon to Iran Talks as Hizbullah Sanctions Loom
AMAL Supporters Replace Libya Flag with AMAL Flag
Libya withdraws from Arab Economic Summit in Lebanon due to offensive video
Libya Officially Boycotts Beirut Summit, Mulls 'Severing' Ties
Lebanese Embassy in Libya Vandalized
Abul Gheit Urges Lebanon to 'Ensure Respect' for Arab Delegations
Bassil Laments Libya's Beirut Summit Boycott in Letter to Counterpart
Christian Leaders to Meet in Bkirki Wednesday
Home of LF MP Comes under Fire in Deir al-Ahma
Lebanon Tries—Again—to Reassure Markets After Bonds Plunge
Higher Organizing AESD Committee: Seven Arab leaders confirm attendance so far

Litles For The Latest English LCCC Miscellaneous Reports And News published on January 14-15/19
Erdogan and Trump discuss creating security zone in Syria
Trump Threatens Turkey with Economic Devastation if it Attacks Kurds
Pompeo Says U.S. Wants Syria 'Safe Zone' to Protect Turkey, Kurds
Pompeo Says Yemen Rebels Not Complying with Truce Deal
Trump Says 'Never Worked for Russia,' Slams 'Big Fat Hoax'
Turkey Vows to Continue Fight against Kurdish Militia after Trump Threat
Saudi foreign ministry denies opening embassy in Damascus
Qatar Rejects Normalising Ties with 'Criminal' Assad
Jordan King Visits Iraq for First Time in Decade
Iraqi PM Meets Visiting French Foreign Minister
Presence of US Forces Stirs Debate in Iraq
Barak Slams Netanyahu for Breaking Israel Ambiguity on Syria
France agrees 1 bln euro loan to Iraq for reconstruction
Calls for Escalation in Response to Incursions in Ramallah
Egypt Deports Second German Alleged 'Jihadist'

Titles For The Latest LCCC English analysis & editorials from miscellaneous sources published on January 14-15/19
14th Of March Parties & Politicians Betrayal/Elias Bejjani/January 13/19
Lebanon's Central Bank takes new measure to protect currency peg/Georgi Azar/Annahar/January 14/19
U.S. Under Secretary of State for Political Affairs, David Hale Visits Lebanon to Discuss Latest Developments/Kataeb.org/January 14/19
In Lebanon, US State Dept official calls Hezbollah ‘unacceptable/Reuters/Monday, 14 January 2019
Lebanon Tries—Again—to Reassure Markets After Bonds Plunge/Dana Khraiche and Donna Abu-Nasr/Bloomberg/January 13/19,
A Region of Upheaval and Many Foreign Doctors/Ghassan Charbel/Asharq Al Awsat/January 14/19
Iran and Attempts to Revive the Persian Empire/James Stavridis/Bloomberg View/January 14/19
Analysis/Israeli Army Chief’s Parting Message to Soleimani, Nasrallah and Khamenei/Anshel Pfeffer/Haaretz/January 14/19
Investing in AI will determine future world superpowers/Shehab Al-Makahleh/Al Arabiya/January 14/19

Latest LCCC English Lebanese & Lebanese Related News published on January 14-15/19
14th Of March Parties & Politicians Betrayal
Elias Bejjani/January 13/19
The 14th of March political parties and politicians in occupied joined the occupier, Hezbollah, succumbed for its Faramans (Degrees), betrayed the Peoples' revolution of the Cedars, swallowed all their promises and stepped over the Martyrs sacrifices. Meanwhile they are not an option at all. They all failed and ought to resign.

‘Hezbollah exploiting gold mines in Venezuela,’ politician reveals
Staff writer, Al Arabiya English/Monday, 14 January 2019/Lebanese militant group Hezbollah controls gold exploration mines in Venezuela, opposition lawmaker Américo De Grazia revealed this week. In an interview with Miami-based Spanish newspaper Diario las Américas, De Grazia was criticizing President Nicolas Maduro’s Orinoco Mining Arc, a mega-mining project to explore 12 percent of Venezuela’s territory for non-renewable metals and minerals. Venezuela is known to have some of the world’s largest gold reserves, many of which are beneath the soil of the “mining arc,” along with diamonds, coltan, bauxite and other riches. De Grazia said Hezbollah, as well as the National Liberation Army – a Marxism-aligned armed group involved in the continuing Colombian armed conflict – are “exploiting the mega-mining project to dig for gold.”The politician, who serves as National Assembly deputy representing the mining state of Bolivar in southeastern Venezuela, said Hezbollah “controls a number of special mines to finance terrorist operation for the regime it serves,” in reference to Iran. De Grazia said Maduro’s mining project was a “government scam to satisfy Russian, Turkish or Chinese negotiators and get cash.”The legal basis of Maduro’s second presidential term following the elections in May last year was declared as fraudulent by most of the international community, although not Russia, Turkey or China.

Lebanon’s Finance Minister Rules out Discussions over Public Debt Restructuring
Beirut - Asharq Al-Awsat/Monday, 14 January, 2019/Minister of Finance in the Lebanese caretaker government, Ali Hassan Khalil, said that restructuring the public debt was not on the discussion table, underlining the country’s commitment to preserve the rights of depositors, banks and sovereign bondholders. His remarks came in response to the controversy that surrounded the announcement of a plan by the government to deal with public debt. On Sunday, President Michel Aoun chaired a meeting to discuss the financial and economic situation in the country, in the presence of Prime Minister-designate Saad al-Hariri, the finance minister, Minister of Economy and Trade Raed Khoury, the Chairman of the Finance and Budget Committee, MP Ibrahim Kanaan, Central Bank Governor Riad Salameh and the President of the Lebanese Banks Association Joseph Tarabay. A statement read by Khalil following the meeting stressed that the issue of restructuring the public debt was not on the table of discussion whatsoever at the current stage. “The Lebanese state is committed to preserving the rights of depositors, banks and sovereign bondholders,” Khalil added. The minister confirmed that current proposals were focused on “the implementation of the reforms associated with the 2018 budget, on one hand, and the commitments of the Lebanese state made at the Cedre Conference, on the other.”The statement emphasized in this regard the need to achieve partnership between the public and private sectors, control and rationalize public expenditure, reduce the budget deficit and secure financial balance in the country, in addition to strengthening and diversifying the various productive sectors in Lebanon.

Salameh: Money Transfer Firms Must Not Pay in Dollar to Recipients
Naharnet/January 14/19/Central Bank Governor Riad Salameh on Monday called on all money transfer companies operating in Lebanon, such as Western Union and OMT, to exclusively use Lebanese currency when dispensing foreign cash transfers to recipients. Central Bank sources told LBCI TV that the request is aimed at combating money laundering. “All firms that carry out cash transfers with electronic means must pay the value of electronic transfers coming from abroad exclusively in Lebanese lira,” Salameh says in his memo. The memo does not mention or affect bank transfers.

Lebanon Dollar Bonds Gain after Finance Minister Rules Out Debt Restructuring
Reuters/January 14/19/Lebanon’s dollar-denominated bonds rose on Monday after Finance Minister Ali Hassan Khalil said the government was “absolutely not proposing” a restructuring of public debt and was committed to paying all upcoming dues.The bonds rose broadly across the curve with the 2025 issue reaping some of the biggest gains, adding nearly 1.5 cents, according to Tradeweb data. The moves only partially reverse some of the steep losses triggered last Thursday and Friday by comments by Khalil about public debt.

Senior US official vows to counter Iran on Lebanon visit
Associated Press/January 14/19/A former U.S. ambassador to Lebanon, Hale spoke after meetings with Lebanese officials Monday.2
CAIRO: A senior U.S. official says the U.S. will step up efforts to counter Iran’s “dangerous activities” around the region including the financing and activities of proxy organizations such as Lebanon’s Hezbollah. Referring to the Iran-backed group, U.S. Undersecretary of State for Political Affairs David Hale also says it is “unacceptable” to have a militia outside the control of the state and unanswerable to the people of Lebanon digging attack tunnels into Israel and threatening regional stability. A former U.S. ambassador to Lebanon, Hale spoke after meetings with Lebanese officials Monday. He also reiterated that the U.S. will be bringing American troops home from Syria but says America remains committed to ensure the Islamic State group remains unable to remerge.

Lebanon's Central Bank takes new measure to protect currency peg
Georgi Azar/Annahar/January 14/19
This comes against the backdrop of President Michel Aoun attempting to alleviate concerns over the state of Lebanon's coffers and its ability to meet its debt obligations.
BEIRUT: Lebanon's Central Bank issued a circular Monday stipulating that all electronic money transfers from abroad be exclusively paid out in Lebanese pounds, in an attempt to limit the outpour of US dollars. The circular requires that all international electronic money transfers, sent through establishments like OMT and Moneygram, be converted to Lebanese pounds, thus encouraging "the use of the Lira within Lebanon's economy," leading senior debt specialist Jamil Hallak told Annahar. Hallak describes the latest procedure as an incremental measure to support the Lira amid the delicate economic state of Lebanon, while adding an extra layer of "visibility for the Central Bank to further control the outflow and inflow of both Lebanese pounds and US dollars." This comes against the backdrop of President Michel Aoun attempting to alleviate concerns over the state of Lebanon's coffers and its ability to meet its debt obligations.
On Sunday, Aoun met with Prime Minister-designate Saad Hariri and Banque Du Liban officials to discuss the latest developments, with caretaker Finance Minister Ali Hassan Khalil backtracking on his previous comments which suggested that a debt restructuring plan was on the table.
Instead, Khalil hinted at a debt rescheduling proposal, while Aoun vowed that bonds and deposits would be paid on maturity. On Monday, Aoun reiterated that position, maintaining that "we are working hard to confront the difficulties and overcome the risks at hand."
"I want to reassure everyone that the deposits will be paid in full," he said, adding that possible fiscal reforms are currently being examined. Lebanon's bond market being rattled late last week in the wake of Hassan Khalil' unsuspecting comments signaling that a debt restructuring plan was being examined.
As his comments made rounds across Lebanon, causing panic among investors which led to a drop in bond prices and a surge in credit risk. At the height of the confusion, the yield in the 2019 bond spiked to as much as 16 percent while the yield on bonds maturing in 2028 jumped to 56 bps to trade at 11.1 percent.  Khalil's comments were quickly challenged by both caretaker Economy Minister Raed Khoury and Deputy Prime Minister Ghassan, who insisted that no such plan was being considered in an attempt to calm the markets.  Lebanon has found itself in hot water in recent months, with its public debt soaring to more than 150 percent of GDP, constituting the world's third largest public debt-to-GDP ratio. With the servicing cost on this debt expected to absorb 44 percent of the government’s revenues this year, concerns have risen on how Lebanon can continue treading this unsustainable path.
Add to that the almost eight months long Cabinet formation crisis and Lebanese officials have been scrambling to weather the economic storm engulfing the small Mediterranean country and protect the Lira peg against the dollar.

US Hints it Would Impose New Sanctions on Hezbollah
Asharq Al-Awsat/January 14/19/Washington hinted it would introduce new sanctions against Hezbollah and Iran, as part of its escalatory positions against the Shiite party in Lebanon, as US Undersecretary of State for Political Affairs David Hale visited Beirut. Local sources told Asharq Al-Awsat that during his meeting with several Lebanese officials on Sunday, Hale expressed concern over Iran and Hezbollah’s activities, which are causing instability in both Lebanon and Syria. “There are indications that new US sanctions could be imposed on Iran and Hezbollah, and all sides linked to them,” the sources said. They added that Hale’s discussions in Beirut showed that the US would take additional measures against the activities of Tehran and the Shiite party in the region. “While tackling the US sanctions on Iran, Hale informed officials he met on Sunday that Tehran … is failing to market two thirds of its oil output,” the sources explained. They said Washington would invite Lebanon to a global conference focused on the Middle East, particularly Iran, expected in Poland on February 13 and 14. On Sunday, Hale discussed with Lebanese Army Commander General Joseph Aoun military relations between two countries, US military assistance and a new vision for Lebanon’s future, the National News Agency (NNA) reported. The US official later visited General Security Director General Maj. Gen. Abbas Ibrahim. Talks focused on the developments and tension on the southern border caused by the resumption of Israel's building of the separation wall in disputed areas, NNA said. It added that discussions also touched on the maritime boundary between Lebanon and Israel. On Saturday, Hale met with Progressive Socialist Party leader Walid Jumblat.

U.S. Under Secretary of State for Political Affairs, David Hale Visits Lebanon to Discuss Latest Developments
Kataeb.org/January 14/19
U.S. Under Secretary of State for Political Affairs, David Hale, on Monday met with President Michel Aoun as part of his visit to Lebanon to meet with senior officials. According to a Twitter post by the U.S. embassy in Beirut, Hale underscored U.S. support and commitment to a secure, stable, and prosperous Lebanon. For his part, the Lebanese president President Michel Aoun stressed in his meeting with Hale that the more the U.S. supports a fair peace process in the Middle East, the calmer the situation in Lebanon and on the southern border would be. According to his media office, Aoun also informed the visiting guest that Lebanon is undergoing financial and economic reforms, through strengthening the productive sectors and activating anti-corruption actions. Aoun thanked the U.S. for its continuous support for the Lebanese army.
Later, Hale met with Parliament Speaker Nabih Berri who condemned Israel's continuous violations and stressed Lebanon's unwavering commitment to its land and maritime territories. He also stressed the need to restore ties with Syria on all levels.
Hale also held talks with caretaker Prime Minister Saad Hariri at the Center House.
Following the meeting, Hale stressed that it is only the Lebanese State's duty to defend the country, saying that it is unacceptable that a non-state "militia" assumes this task and digs cross-border tunnels.
"Secretary Pompeo also spoke at length about our approach to Iran. We have fostered a common understanding with our allies of the need to counteract the Iranian regime’s revolutionary agenda and thwart Iran’s malign regional ambitions and activities, and that very much includes Lebanon, where only the Lebanese people, through their state, should make decisions of life and death," he stated.
"We are proceeding with our efforts to counter Iran’s dangerous activities around the region, including the financing and activities of proxy terrorist organizations such as Hezbollah," he affirmed. "While Lebanon has, the right to defend itself, that is a right of the Lebanese state alone. It is unacceptable to have a militia outside the control of the state and unanswerable to all the people of Lebanon, digging attack tunnels across the Blue Line into Israel and assembling an arsenal of over 100,000 missiles with which to threaten regional stability."
Hale renewed the US support for the Lebanese institutions, notably the army, as the sole authority that should be in charge of protecting the border and safeguarding Lebanon’s security.
The U.S. official also stressed that the International community is closely watching the government formation in Lebanon, as the country has been struggling to estbalish a new Cabinet over the past 8 months.
"The choice of government is for the Lebanese alone, but the type of government chosen concerns all of us who are interested in a stable and prosperous Lebanon – as does the inability of the Lebanese to make a choice," he stressed.
Hale warned that crucial economic reforms languish while obstructionism drags down the economy, endangering the country, adding that his country encourages the caretaker government to move forward where it can, especially on the economy, to avoid further damage and maintain international confidence.
The U.S. official also met on Monday with Caretaker Finance Minister Ali Hassan Khalil and Foreign Minister Gebran Bassil.
According to a statement issued by the Foreign Ministry, Bassil told Hale that Lebanon is interested in being part of the reconstruction process in Syria, and that the current border tensions with Israel may serve as an opportunity to reach a UN-brokered agreement that helps Lebanon restore its rights and forge stability on the southern border.
The U.S. official also met with Saudi Ambassador to Lebanon, Walid Al-Bukhari, with whom he discussed regional affairs.
He wrapped up his visit by meeting with a group of lawmakers affiliated to different parliamentary blocs, excepted for Hezbollah's Royalty to Resistance bloc, at the residence of MP Michel Mouawad in Hazmieh.
Hale had kicked off his talks in Lebanon by meeting with Progressive Socialist Party leader Walid Jumblat shortly after his arrival in Beirut on Saturday evening.
Hale met on Sunday with Army Commander Joseph Aoun, with talks focusing on the aid that the U.S. is providing to Lebanon's military. He also held talks with General Security chief Abbas Ibrahim, with whom he discussed the ongoing border tensions and the maritime dispute with Israel.
Hale met with UNIFIL Commander Major General Stefano Del Col to discuss the peacekeeping force's role in fulfilling its mandate and maintaining peace and security along the Blue Line.
According to a statement issued by the U.S. embassy in Beirut upon his arrival, Hale is returning to Lebanon to reaffirm strong U.S. support for the Lebanese state, including its legitimate security institutions, as it continues to cope with significant challenges.
"Hale will also underscore U.S. concerns about Hezbollah's destabilizing activities in Lebanon and the region, including the recent discovery of cross-border tunnels, which defy UN Security Council Resolution 1701, jeopardize the security of the Lebanese people, and undermine the legitimacy of Lebanon’s state institutions," it added.

Aoun Holds Talks with Hale
Naharnet/January 14/19/President Michel Aoun held talks at Baabda Palace with U.S. Under Secretary of State for Political Affairs David Hale, in the presence of U.S. ambassador Elizabeth Richard and an embassy delegation, the National News Agency reported on Monday. “The more the United States supports the just peace process in the Middle East, the more calm will prevail in Lebanon on the southern border,” Aoun said. The President also told Hale that Lebanon is "in the process of introducing some financial and economic reforms by strengthening the productive sectors, in addition to activating the fight against corruption.” On demarcating the border between Lebanon and the occupied territories of Palestine, Aoun told Hale: “The demarcation process of Lebanon’s southern border has been delayed, but we hope it will resume soon.”Hale later held talks with Foreign Minister Jebran Bassil, Speaker Nabih Berri and Prime Minister-designate Saad Hariri.

In Lebanon, US State Dept official calls Hezbollah ‘unacceptable’
Reuters/Monday, 14 January 2019
The US State Department criticized Lebanon’s Iran-backed Hezbollah group on Monday for digging tunnels into Israel and stockpiling rockets, as Washington steps up efforts to isolate Tehran. In recent weeks, Israeli forces uncovered tunnels they said were dug by Hezbollah, and Lebanon complained about Israel’s construction of a barrier along disputed parts of the border.
The United States, Israel’s closest ally, regards Hezbollah as a terrorist group and has pledged tougher steps to counteract Iranian influence in the region, but it has also reiterated its backing for the Lebanese government - which includes Hezbollah representatives - and army.
Secretary of State Mike Pompeo last week vowed to expel “every last Iranian boot” from Syria, where Iran has been fighting alongside Hezbollah, and where Israel has been carrying out strikes against both. “While Lebanon has the right to defend itself, that is the right of the Lebanese state alone,” said David Hale, US under secretary of state for political affairs, after meeting Lebanese prime minister designate Saad al-Hariri. “It is unacceptable to have a militia outside the control of the state, and unanswerable to all people of Lebanon digging attack tunnels across the blue line to Israel or assembling an arsenal of over 100,000 missiles with which to threaten regional stability,” he added. A video grab from footage made available by the Israeli military shows what the army says are members of Lebanon's Shiite Hezbollah movement walking inside a tunnel under the border between southern Lebanon and northern Israel. (AFP)
Israel, which regards Hezbollah as the biggest threat on its borders, on Sunday said it had completed efforts to find and destroy tunnels under the frontier that it said the group had dug to infiltrate fighters during a future war. Hezbollah has not commented on the tunnels. Lebanon’s National Security Council last week said an Israeli border wall that crosses into territory claimed by Lebanon, constitutes an act of aggression. However, both sides appear ready to contain matters for now. “Israel’s interest is to keep the (situation) quiet. I think for them (Hezbollah), that interest is even greater,” Lieutenant General Gadi Eizenkot said last week after completing his term as Israeli army chief.
Oil dispute
Hezbollah was set up by Iran in the early 1980s to fight Israel’s occupation of south Lebanon, but it retained its weapons after Israeli forces withdrew in 2000 and has become the strongest political force in the country. The last conflict between Israel and Hezbollah, fought on Lebanese soil, was in 2006. A United Nations Security Council resolution ending that conflict called for work to delineate the border, but the frontier has still not been agreed. The border dispute has also affected Lebanese plans to drill for oil and gas near an area of sea claimed by both countries. Hale’s visit comes as Lebanese politicians continue to jostle over the formation of a new coalition government more than eight months after an election. Hezbollah is part of Lebanon’s caretaker government and is expected to be included in any new coalition formed by Hariri. Lebanon’s failure to form a new government was dragging down the economy and “endangering the country”, Hale said, and urged the caretaker government to move forward on the economy to maintain international confidence.

Hale Says Unacceptable for a 'Militia' to Dig Border Tunnels, Have Missile Arsenal
Naharnet/January 14/19/U.S. Under Secretary of State for Political Affairs David Hale announced after talks with Prime Minister-designate Saad Hariri on Monday that it is “unacceptable” for a “militia” to “dig tunnels” across the border or have an arsenal of thousands of missiles, referring to Hizbullah. "It is unacceptable to have a militia outside the control of the state, and unanswerable to all the people of Lebanon, digging attack tunnels across the Blue Line into Israel and assembling an arsenal of over 100,000 missiles with which to threaten regional stability," he said. Noting that “only the Lebanese people and their state” should make decisions of peace and war, Hale vowed that Washington will seek to curb Iran's activities in the region and Lebanon, “including the financing of proxy terrorist organizations such as Hizbullah.”Turning to the issue of the stalled cabinet formation process, Hale said “the choice of government belongs to Lebanon alone.”"The international community is closely watching the status of Lebanon's government," Hale added. The U.S. official also said that the U.S. encourages "the caretaker government to move forward where it can, especially on the economy, to avoid further damage and maintain international confidence." "Crucial economic reforms languish while obstructionism drags down the economy, endangering the country," he warned. On Twitter, the U.S. embassy in Beirut said Hale “underscored in his meeting with Prime Minister-designate Saad Hariri at the Center House strong U.S. support and commitment to Lebanon and its people on its path towards a more prosperous and secure future.”

Report: U.S. to Invite Lebanon to Iran Talks as Hizbullah Sanctions Loom
Naharnet/January 14/19/Washington has hinted that new sanctions on Hizbullah are coming and it intends to address an invitation to Lebanon to attend an international conference on Iran that will be held in Poland on February 13-14, a media report said. "The conference will bring together the biggest Arab, international and regional gathering in the face of Iran and Hizbullah," Saudi daily Asharq al-Awsat quoted unnamed sources as saying in remarks published Monday. Turning to U.S. Under Secretary of State for Political Affairs David Hale's ongoing visit to Lebanon, the newspaper quoted Lebanese sources informed on the visit that Hale "has expressed Washington's concern over the destabilizing activities of Iran and Hizbullah in Lebanon and Syria.” Hale has also “hinted that there will be new sanctions on Iran, Hizbullah and anyone linked to them,” the sources said.

AMAL Supporters Replace Libya Flag with AMAL Flag
Naharnet/January 13/19/Supporters of the AMAL Movement have replaced a Libyan flag with their movement’s flag near the Seaside Arena venue in Beirut in protest at the invitation of Libya to an Arab economic summit that will be held in the capital later this month. Video footage shows a number of young men surrounding a flag pole near the venue. One of them mounts a ladder and starts removing the Libyan flag, cheered and instructed by his comrades. He then replaces it with an AMAL flag amid calls for “burning” the Libyan one. Tensions have surged in recent days over the issue of Libya’s participation. AMAL accuses the former regime of slain Libyan leader Moammar Gadhafi of kidnapping its revered founder Imam Moussa al-Sadr during a visit to Libya in 1978. The case has strained Libyan-Lebanese ties for the past four decades and in recent days the invitation and talk of the possibility of freeing Gadhafi’s son Hannibal from Lebanese prisons have deepened tensions between AMAL and the Free Patriotic Movement.

Libya withdraws from Arab Economic Summit in Lebanon due to offensive video
Monia Ghanemi, Alarabiya.net/Monday, 14 January 2019/Libya has decided not to participate in the Arab Economic Summit in Lebanon because of insults made by the Amal Movement, a Lebanese political party associated with Lebanon's Shiite community which is led by Parliament Speaker Nabih Berri. The Libyan position comes after an offensive video went viral on social networking sites, showing members of the Amal Movement tearing up the Libyan flag and removing it from a flagpole, replacing it with the party's own flag. On Sunday, Libyan social network users were angered by the recent Lebanese escalation against Libya. The son of former Libyan leader Muammar Al Gaddafi, Hannibal Al Gaddafi, is being held in Lebanon while Libyans are demanding his release. His case has been controversial, with many Lebanese political parties using the case to demand the postponement of the Arab Economic Summit.
"It is true that our country is in a difficult situation, but we are a nation that has dignity and worth, and we do not accept any state to deprive us of that," said Libyan political activist Fadil al-Ameen, calling on Lebanese authorities to release Libyan national Hannibal, who has been held for more than three years. Saleh Fahima, a member of Libyan parliament, said to Alarabiya that "this is an individual act by some demagogues, which does not represent the Lebanese people or the policy of the Lebanese state, and will not affect in any way the relationship between Libya and Lebanon."The Shiite community in Lebanon holds the late Muammar Gaddafi responsible for the disappearance of Imam Musa Al-Sadr, who went missing while visiting Libya in 1978. This is said to be the main reason for the controversy surrounding the summit and Libya's involvement.

Libya Officially Boycotts Beirut Summit, Mulls 'Severing' Ties
Naharnet/January 14/19/Libya has officially decided to boycott Beirut's upcoming Arab economic summit, Libyan Prime Minister Fayez al-Sarraj confirmed on Monday afternoon, a day after AMAL Movement supporters removed Libyan flags and addressed insults to Libya near the summit's venue. "We have been forced to boycott this summit and refuse to participate in its work" because Lebanon was unable to guarantee "the appropriate climate" for it, the Libyan foreign ministry meanwhile said in a statement. The U.N.-backed Government of National Accord (GNA) for its part said the Lebanese government had failed to prevent the attack on Libya's flag. The GNA also asked Lebanon "for a quick explanation of its position." Earlier in the day, Libya’s High Council of State demanded the severing of ties with Lebanon on the grounds of “insulting the flag,” noting that these acts “do not represent the Lebanese people,” media reports said. The statement of the Council of State called on the Arab League to take a clear stance on this incident and to “exclude Lebanon from any Arab event until the Lebanese authorities assume their responsibility and abide by diplomatic norms.” Spokesperson of the Libyan Foreign Ministry, Ahmed Alarbed, announced earlier that Libya would not partake at any level in the Economic and Social Development summit to be held in Beirut on January 19-20, noting that the seat of the State of Libya will remain “vacant.” On Sunday, supporters of the AMAL Movement replaced a Libyan flag with their movement’s flag near the Seaside Arena venue in Beirut in protest at the invitation of Libya to the summit. They also removed another flag in the Zaytunay Bay area. Tensions have surged in recent days over the issue of Libya’s participation. AMAL accuses the former regime of slain Libyan leader Moammar Gadhafi of kidnapping its revered founder Imam Moussa al-Sadr during a visit to Libya in 1978. The case has strained Libyan-Lebanese ties for the past four decades and in recent days the invitation and talk of the possibility of freeing Gadhafi’s son Hannibal from Lebanese prisons have deepened tensions between AMAL and the Free Patriotic Movement.

Lebanese Embassy in Libya Vandalized
Naharnet/January 14/19/After protesting the invitation of Libya to an economic summit and tearing down the country’s flag in Beirut, unknown assailants retaliated in Libya vandalizing the Lebanese embassy in the Libyan capital and smashing its contents, media reports said on Monday. No further details about the assailants were reported. On Sunday, supporters of the AMAL Movement replaced a Libyan flag with their movement’s flag near the Seaside Arena venue in Beirut in protest at the invitation of Libya to an Arab economic summit that will be held in the capital later this month.
Tensions have surged in recent days over the issue of Libya’s participation. AMAL accuses the former regime of slain Libyan leader Moammar Gadhafi of kidnapping its revered founder Imam Moussa al-Sadr during a visit to Libya in 1978. The case has strained Libyan-Lebanese ties for the past four decades and in recent days the invitation and talk of the possibility of freeing Gadhafi’s son Hannibal from Lebanese prisons have deepened tensions between AMAL and the Free Patriotic Movement. Libya’s High Council of State demanded Monday severing ties with Lebanon on the grounds of “insulting the flag,” noting that these acts “do not represent the Lebanese people,” media reports said.

Abul Gheit Urges Lebanon to 'Ensure Respect' for Arab Delegations
Agence France Presse/Naharnet/January 14/19/Arab League chief Ahmed Abul Gheit voiced "deep concern" Monday over the burning of the Libyan flag in Beirut, a few days before an Arab economic summit that will be held at the capital's Seaside Arena venue. He called on Lebanon to "ensure full respect for the delegations of member states from the Arab League who must participate in the summit meetings." On Sunday, supporters of the AMAL Movement replaced a Libyan flag with their movement’s flag near the Seaside Arena venue in Beirut in protest at the invitation of Libya to the summit. They also removed another flag in the Zaytunay Bay area. Tensions had surged in recent days over the issue of Libya’s participation. AMAL accuses the former regime of slain Libyan leader Moammar Gadhafi of kidnapping its revered founder Imam Moussa al-Sadr during a visit to Libya in 1978. The case has strained Libyan-Lebanese ties for the past four decades and in recent days the invitation and talk of the possibility of freeing Gadhafi’s son Hannibal from Lebanese prisons have deepened tensions between AMAL and the Free Patriotic Movement. On Monday, Libya officially announced that it would boycott the summit.

Bassil Laments Libya's Beirut Summit Boycott in Letter to Counterpart
Naharnet/January 14/19/Caretaker Foreign Minister Jebran Bassil on Monday voiced regret over Libya's decision to boycott Beirut's upcoming Arab economic summit, in a letter he addressed to his Libyan counterpart. Bassil also “categorically rejected” the acts in Beirut that have “targeted the State of Libya and its participation,” noting that they “do not reflect” his stance or that of Lebanon. He also stressed his keenness on the ties between the two countries and the need to “put them on the right track,” while underscoring that “Lebanon will not at all relinquish its national duty to unveil the date of disappeared Imam Moussa al-Sadr and his two companions” in order to “resolve this case which has strained ties between the two countries for more than four decades.”Earlier in the day, Libyan Prime Minister Fayez al-Sarraj confirmed that Libya has officially decided to boycott Beirut's summit in protest at the flag incident and the reported barring of Libyan businessmen from entering Lebanon. Libya’s High Council of State has also demanded the severing of ties with Lebanon over the flag incident. On Sunday, supporters of the AMAL Movement replaced a Libyan flag with their movement’s flag near the Seaside Arena venue in Beirut in protest at the invitation of Libya to the summit. They also removed another flag in the Zaytunay Bay area. Tensions have surged in recent days over the issue of Libya’s participation. AMAL accuses the former regime of slain Libyan leader Moammar Gadhafi of kidnapping its revered founder Imam Moussa al-Sadr during a visit to Libya in 1978. The case has strained Libyan-Lebanese ties for the past four decades and in recent days the invitation and talk of the possibility of freeing Gadhafi’s son Hannibal from Lebanese prisons have deepened tensions between AMAL and Bassil's Free Patriotic Movement.

Christian Leaders to Meet in Bkirki Wednesday
Naharnet/January 14/19/A meeting expected on Wednesday between Lebanon’s main Christian parties and MPs in Bkirki, at the invitation of Maronite Patriarch Beshara al-Rahi, “will be held on time” and is expected to discuss the delayed government formation besides other issues, al-Joumhouria daily said. Despite a health condition that prompted the Patriarch’s brief hospitalization, Rahi assured that the “Maronite summit” is going to be held on time, said the newspaper. Unnamed sources told the daily that “Rahi is in good health. The summit is more than necessary and there is no reason for its postponement. The situation in the country is very difficult.” The sources assured that Bkirki invited only the Christian leaders and MPs affiliated with them “not to form a sectarian front, but to press for the resolution of the crises including the crisis of forming the government."After Rahi last week stressed the need for Maronite leaders to meet, the secretariat of the Maronite patriarchate on Saturday officially called for the meeting to discuss Lebanon’s political, economic and social situation.

Home of LF MP Comes under Fire in Deir al-Ahmar
Naharnet/January 14/19/The house of Lebanese Forces bloc MP Antoine Habshi in the Baalbek district town of Deir al-Ahmar came under gunfire at dawn Monday. A statement issued by Habshi said “two bullets” were found inside the house, noting that it was empty at the time of the incident. The lawmaker has filed a lawsuit against persons unknown, calling on the “relevant security agencies and the Lebanese state” to shoulder the responsibilities. The National News Agency said the incident occurred at 5:00 am and that security agencies were analyzing CCTV footage to identify the perpetrators.

Lebanon Tries—Again—to Reassure Markets After Bonds Plunge
Dana Khraiche and Donna Abu-Nasr/Bloomberg/January 13/19,
Top Lebanese officials, including the president, the caretaker prime minister and the central bank chief, are scrambling to reassure bond investors panicking over the risk of debt restructuring after initial efforts at damage-control failed to calm markets.
In a meeting on Sunday at the presidential palace, the officials said Lebanon was discussing how to reduce the budget deficit and implement fiscal reforms -- but would not restructure its debt. “The issue of restructuring the public debt isn’t on the table at all,” caretaker Finance Minister Ali Hasan Khalil read from a statement after the meeting, which was also attended by the minister of economy and the head of the country’s bank association.
Lebanese dollar-denominated bonds began tumbling and the country’s credit risk surged last week after Khalil said in an interview with Al Akhbar newspaper that the country was considering restructuring its debt.
Trying to clear up confusion and calm investor nerves, he said a day later that while a program of fiscal reforms to control one of the world’s highest debt burdens doesn’t include a restructuring, it may entail a rescheduling of debt. Lebanese officials also said the securities in question were local, not Eurobonds.
But the plunge in Lebanese bonds last week showed how just talking about the country’s debt problem -- let alone fixing it -- is proving to be a challenge.
Investors didn’t wait for politicians to work out the semantics, with the price of the 2028 bonds plunging below 72 cents on the dollar on Friday. The surge in the cost to insure the country’s debt through credit default swaps has been among the most in the world over the past year, CMA prices show.
Despite an unblemished record of bond repayment through war and political strife, Lebanon is coming to a reckoning with years of fiscal overreach. While maintaining that an imminent restructuring is unlikely, Goldman Sachs Group Inc. has gone as far as calculating how much investors could recover should Lebanon overhaul its sovereign debt.
Lebanon’s public debt, estimated at over 160 percent of gross domestic product this year, is projected to rise to near 180 percent by 2023, second only to Japan’s, the IMF says. Its “debt affordability” is the weakest of all the sovereigns rated by Moody’s Investors Service.
Still run by a caretaker government eight months after elections, Lebanon has been mired in sectarian and political strife since Syria crisis began in 2011.
The recommendations under consideration by the Lebanese government include spending cuts as well as tax and electricity reforms, according to Khalil.
Lebanon has also committed to reducing the budget deficit by 1 percent annually over five years as part of reforms to unlock $11 billion in aid allocated during a donor conference last year.
Before the government stepped in last month by offering Treasury bonds closer to market rates, the central bank, also known as Banque du Liban, pulled the weight of Lebanon’s debt burden by means of what it called “financial engineering.” Offering commercial lenders above-market rates for deposits, it encouraged them to purchase sovereign notes while buying the government debt that wasn’t absorbed by banks.
While that enabled the central bank to keep interest rates low and stable, its domestic holdings jumped to 50 percent of the government’s total local-currency debt as of last September, from about 27 percent at the end of 2010, according to Moody’s.
Last week “showed there is clearly a lack of coordination within the government as well as no unified strategy on how to deal with the financing issue,” said Ray Jian, London-based portfolio manager and head of emerging markets aggregate debt at Amundi Asset Management.
Liquidity conditions are “a function of confidence,” Jian said. “The restructure word and lack of coordination in the government definitely is not inspiring that.”
— With assistance by Dana El Baltaji, and Selcuk Gokoluk
https://www.bloomberg.com/news/articles/2019-01-13/lebanon-tries-again-to-reassure-markets-after-bonds-plunge?fbclid=IwAR26tvGpFl_9WgYPdDhdxCRDiEGwN-HfNdklsarAXD0s2JZcQg0Tn7Ej_e4

Higher Organizing AESD Committee: Seven Arab leaders confirm attendance so far
Mon 14 Jan 2019 /NNA - The Higher Organizing Committee of the 2019 Arab Economic and Social Development Summit (AESD) on Monday held a press conference at the Summit's venue in Beirut city's seaside arena, to give briefings on all the adopted managerial and logistical measures for the Summit. Head of the Summit's Media Committee and Spokesperson, Rafic Shlala, announced the conclusion of all operational and logistical preparations for the summit, in accordance with the plan set for this purpose by the Summit's Higher and Executive Committees since, in coordination with all concerned ministries and state institutions, as well as the Municipality of Beirut and its suburbs. Asked about the tearing of the Libyan flag incident, Shlala deplored such an act as regrettable. In reply to another question, Shlala said that seven Arab leaders and kings have confirmed their attendance in the Summit so far. Asked about Syria's participation in the AESD Summit, Shlala said this matter is decided upon by the Arab Foreign Ministers' Council.

Latest LCCC English Miscellaneous Reports & News published on January 14-15/19
Erdogan and Trump discuss creating security zone in Syria
Agencies/Monday, 14 January 2019/Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdogan and US President Donald Trump spoke over the phone on Monday night about the creation of a “security zone” in Syria, the Turkish presidency said. The two leaders “discussed the idea of creating a cleared security zone of terrorism in the north of the country,” according to a statement by the Turkish presidency. The two emphasized the need to complete a roadmap regarding Syria’s border town of Manbij, as well to avoid giving any opportunity to elements seeking to block the planned withdrawal of US forces from Syria, the statement said. Trump also discussed with Erdogan the ongoing cooperation in Syria as US forces began withdrawing from the conflict, the White House said on Monday. Trump said he wanted to work with Turkey to address Ankara’s security concerns in northeast Syria and stressed that Turkey should not mistreat the Kurds or other groups “with whom we have fought to defeat ISIS,” White House spokeswoman Sarah Sanders said. Earlier, Trump threatened Turkey with economic devastation if it attacked a US-allied Kurdish militia in Syria, and proposed the creation of a safe zone.

Trump Threatens Turkey with Economic Devastation if it Attacks Kurds
Asharq Al-Awsat/Monday, 14 January, 2019/US President Donald Trump threatened on Monday Turkey with economic devastation if it attacks Syrian Kurdish fighters allied with Washington. “Will attack again from existing nearby base if it reforms. Will devastate Turkey economically if they hit Kurds. Create 20 mile safe zone...Likewise, do not want the Kurds to provoke Turkey,” Trump wrote on Twitter. Relations between the two NATO allies have been strained over US backing for the Kurdish People’s Protection Units (YPG), which Turkey views as an extension of the outlawed Kurdistan Workers Party (PKK) that is waging a decades-long insurgency on Turkish soil. The lira slid as much as 1.6 percent to 5.5450 against the dollar in wake of Trump’s threats. Turkish presidential spokesman Ibrahim Kalin said Trump should respect Washington’s alliance with Ankara. “Mr @realDonaldTrump It is a fatal mistake to equate Syrian Kurds with the PKK, which is on the US terrorists list, and its Syria branch PYD/YPG,” spokesman Ibrahim Kalin wrote on Twitter.
“Terrorists can’t be your partners & allies. Turkey expects the US to honor our strategic partnership and doesn’t want it to be shadowed by terrorist propaganda,” he said on Monday. Trump gave no details about the safe zone proposal. Secretary of State Mike Pompeo said on Monday that Trump’s threat against Ankara would not change plans to withdraw troops from Syria. Speaking from Riyadh, he added that the US message on the Kurds has been straightforward and unchanged since Trump made the decision to withdraw the troops last month. "The administration has been very consistent with respect to our requirement that the Turks not go after the Kurds in ways that are inappropriate," Pompeo said. "If they are terrorists, we're all about taking down extremists wherever we find them. I think the president's comments this morning are consistent with that."Asked specifically about what Trump meant by devastating Turkey's economy, Pompeo replied: "We apply sanctions in many places around the world. I assume he's speaking about those kinds of things but you would have to ask him."
Trump declared US forces had succeeded in their mission to defeat the ISIS group and were no longer needed in Syria. However, US officials have given mixed messages since then. The US-led coalition said on Friday it had started the pullout but officials said later it involved only equipment, not troops. Turkish Foreign Minister Mevlut Cavusoglu said Ankara was not against the idea of a “secure zone” along the border, but added that strategic partners and allies should not communicate over social media. “Nothing can be achieved by threatening Turkey economically. We need to look at how we can coordinate together and how we can solve this,” he said in a news conference with Luxembourg’s foreign minister. The YPG has been a US ally in the fight against ISIS and it controls swaths of northern Syria. Erdogan has vowed to crush it in the wake of Trump’s decision to pull US troops out of the region. Erdogan’s communications director Fahrettin Altun said: “Turkey will continue its anti-terror fight decisively” and that it was a protector of the Kurds, not their enemy. “Terror is terror and it must be eradicated at its source. This is exactly what Turkey is doing in Syria,” he wrote on Twitter. Turkey has swept YPG fighters from Syria’s Afrin region and other areas west of the Euphrates river in military campaigns over the past two years. It is now threatening to strike east of the river, which it has avoided until now - partly to avoid direct confrontation with US forces. An official from the US-backed Syrian Democratic Forces, a coalition of militias led by the YPG, said on Sunday ISIS terrorists were “living their final moments” in the last enclave they hold near the Iraqi border.

Pompeo Says U.S. Wants Syria 'Safe Zone' to Protect Turkey, Kurds
Agence France Presse/Naharnet/January 14/19/U.S. Secretary of State Mike Pompeo said Monday that talks were under way on Washington's proposal to establish a "safe zone" in flashpoint border areas of northeastern Syria, where tensions are rising between Turkey and Kurdish militia. "We want to make sure that the folks who fought with us to down the (Islamic State group) have security... and also that terrorists acting out of Syria aren't able to attack Turkey," Pompeo said. "We want a secure border for all the parties," he said in the Saudi capital Riyadh, the latest leg of a whirlwind Middle East tour. Washington is holding talks with all relevant sides about such a "safe zone," he added. His comments came a day after U.S. President Donald Trump in a tweet pushed for the creation of a 20-mile (30-kilometer) "safe zone", without saying who would create, enforce or pay for it. Trump also did not say exactly where such a buffer area would be set up. Turkish Foreign Minister Mevlut Cavusoglu on Monday said his country was "not against" a "security zone" in Syria. Tensions have been high between the United States and Turkey over the fate of Washington's Syrian Kurdish allies in the fight against the Islamic State group. Ankara has repeatedly threatened a new cross-border operation against the Kurdish People's Protection Units (YPG), which have been working closely with the U.S. in the war on IS jihadists. Turkey views the YPG as a "terrorist offshoot" of the outlawed Kurdistan Workers' Party (PKK), which has been waging an insurgency against the Turkish state since 1984. Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdogan's spokesman Ibrahim Kalin on Monday said Ankara would "continue to fight against them all," referring to IS and the YPG. His comments came after Trump, in Sunday's tweet, warned Turkey of economic devastation if it attacks the Kurds in the wake of a U.S. pullout from Syria. On Sunday Trump also urged the Kurds not to "provoke" Ankara.

Pompeo Says Yemen Rebels Not Complying with Truce Deal
Agence France Presse/Naharnet/January 14/19/US Secretary of State Mike Pompeo on Monday accused Yemen's rebels of failing to comply with a ceasefire agreement for the flashpoint city of Hodeida reached at UN-sponsored talks in Sweden.
"The work that was done in Sweden on Yemen was good, but both sides (need) to honour those commitments," Pompeo said in Riyadh following talks with Saudi King Salman and Crown Prince Mohammed bin Salman. "Today, the Iranian-backed Huthis have chosen not to do that."
The US embassy in Riyadh said Monday that Pompeo and Prince Mohammed "agreed on (the) need for continued de-escalation and adherence to (the) Sweden agreements", especially the ceasefire in the lifeline port city of Hodeida. "A comprehensive political solution is only way to the end the conflict," the embassy tweeted. Pompeo's visit to Riyadh comes as US President Donald Trump faces Congressional pressure to end logistical support to Saudi Arabia, which is leading a military coalition in Yemen on the side of the government.The rebel-held port city -- through which more than 80 percent of imports and humanitarian aid pass -- was for months the main front line in the Yemeni conflict after government forces launched an offensive to capture it in June. The United Nations has said the Hodeida truce has largely held since it came into force on December 18 but there have been delays in the agreed pullback of rebel and government forces. The Huthis control most of Hodeida while government forces are deployed on its southern and eastern outskirts. Since the Saudi-led military coalition intervened in support of the government in March 2015, the conflict has killed nearly 10,000 people and unleashed the world's worst humanitarian crisis, according to the United Nations.

Trump Says 'Never Worked for Russia,' Slams 'Big Fat Hoax'
Agence France Presse/Naharnet/January 14/19/U.S. President Donald Trump declared Monday that he has "never" worked on behalf of Russia after bombshell reports were published on his alleged ties to the Kremlin. "I never worked for Russia and you know that answer better than anybody," Trump told reporters at the White House. "It's a disgrace that you even ask that question. It's all a big fat hoax." Trump's angry comments followed a New York Times report that the FBI investigated suspicions that Trump might be acting on Russia's behalf after he sacked the bureau's director in 2017. A separate Washington Post report said that Trump had also aroused concerns by going to unusual lengths to prevent even his close aides from knowing the contents of conversations he had during summits with President Vladimir Putin. "It's a lot of fake news," Trump said, stressing that he has "those meetings one on one with all leaders." "I have relationships with almost everybody and that's a good thing not a bad thing," he said. He said that the then-leaders of the FBI who decided to investigate him were "known scoundrels, I guess you could say dirty cops."
It is not clear what conclusions the FBI probe reached and what its status might be now. Trump is also at the center of a huge investigation led by special prosecutor Robert Mueller, who is looking into allegations that the Kremlin worked to influence the 2016 presidential election -- and may have colluded with Trump's campaign.

Turkey Vows to Continue Fight against Kurdish Militia after Trump Threat
Agence France Presse/Naharnet/January 14/19/Turkey on Monday vowed to continue fighting a US-backed Kurdish militia which it views as a terrorist group after Donald Trump warned of economic devastation if Turkey attacks Kurdish forces as American troops withdraw. Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdogan's spokesman Ibrahim Kalin said on Twitter that there was "no difference" between the Islamic State extremist group and the Kurdish People's Protection Units (YPG) militia. "We will continue to fight against them all."

Saudi foreign ministry denies opening embassy in Damascus
Staff writer, Al Arabiya English/Monday, 14 January 2019/Saudi Arabia denied on Monday alleged reports circulated by news websites that it has opened an embassy in Damascus. An official source at the Saudi Ministry of Foreign Affairs denied the alleged reports, affirming that this statement is completely untrue and baseless, according to Saudi Press Agency. The official was referring to what has been circulated by some websites on a statement attributed to Dr. Ibrahim bin Abdulaziz Al-Assaf, Saudi Minister of Foreign Affairs, on opening a Saudi Arabia’s embassy in the Syrian capital, Damascus. Last month, the United Arab Emirates announced that it will reopen its embassy in Damascus. The embassy has been shut since the early months of Syria’s conflict, which erupted in 2011. Bahrain also announced in late December that work is continuing at its embassy in Syria and that flights have also continued without any interruption between the two countries.

Qatar Rejects Normalising Ties with 'Criminal' Assad
Agence France Presse/Naharnet/January 14/19/Qatar's foreign minister ruled out on Monday the possibility of re-opening an embassy in Damascus, in line with some other Gulf countries, calling Syrian President Bashar al-Assad a war criminal. "Normalisation (of relations) with the Syrian regime at this stage is the normalisation of a person involved in war crimes, and this should not be acceptable," said Mohammed bin Abdulrahman al-Thani at a Doha press conference. Al-Thani said the reasons why Assad -- who was elected unopposed in 2000 and has stayed in power during nearly eight years of civil war -- was excluded from the international community are still in place. He added that Damascus under Assad should not be allowed back into the Arab League -- its membership was suspended in 2011 -- as "the Syrian people are still under bombardment... by the Syrian regime". His comments come after Gulf neighbours the United Arab Emirates and Bahrain announced late last month they reopened their Damascus embassies. The UAE's foreign minister Anwar Gargash tweeted that his country was doing so in part because of the influence of Iran and one of Qatar's strongest allies, Turkey, in Syria.
Tehran has been a staunch supporter of Assad's government and has expanded its military footprint in Syria throughout the course of the conflict.
That move also emphasised the foreign policy differences between the three Gulf states.
For the past 19 months Qatar has been in a deep diplomatic dispute with the UAE and Bahrain, in part over the direction of Doha's regional foreign policy in recent years. Qatar has been instrumental in the Syrian civil war supplying weapons to rebel groups, according to institutions such as the Stockholm International Peace Research Institute. Syria's opposition leader Nasr al-Hariri has pleaded with Arab leaders not to rebuild relation with Assad as his government now controls almost two-thirds of the country following military backing from Russia and Iran.

Jordan King Visits Iraq for First Time in Decade
Agence France Presse/Naharnet/January 14/19/Jordanian King Abdullah II met Iraq's president and prime minister in Baghdad on Monday, in the monarch's first trip to Iraq in more than a decade. It is the latest in a string of top-level visits to Iraq in recent weeks, which kicked off with a surprise Christmas trip by U.S. President Donald Trump. King Abdullah met separately with Iraqi President Barham Saleh, who had traveled to Jordan in November, and Prime Minister Adel Abdel-Mahdi, their press offices said. They said Jordan and Iraq were looking to strength bilateral ties but did not give additional details. Abdullah's last trip to Iraq was in 2008, when he became the first Arab leader to visit Baghdad after strongman Saddam Hussein was toppled by the U.S.-led invasion in 2003. The two countries share a 179-kilometer (111-mile) border, and Jordan is a major importer of Iraqi crude oil. In 2013, they agreed on a 1,700-kilometer pipeline linking Iraq's oil-rich Basra province to Jordan's Aqaba port, but the Islamic State group's sweep across nearly a third of Iraq put a screeching halt to the plan. Last year, Jordan approved a framework to revive it, but did not give a timeframe for the line's construction. The two states have also discussed plans for Iraq to import around 300 megawatts of electricity from Jordan to cope with widespread power shortages. Currently, Baghdad relies heavily on its eastern neighbor Iran, importing around 1,300 megawatts of electricity and 28 million cubic meters of natural gas to feed power plants. Washington, which sees Tehran as its top foe in the region, is keen to break those ties. It reimposed tough sanctions on Iran in November but has granted Iraq a temporary waiver on energy imports, while urging it to partner with U.S. firms instead. "Everyone is looking to Iraq as a virgin land requiring more investment by regional and international powers," said Iraqi political analyst Issam al-Faily. "Jordan has a real desire to stretch an oil pipeline from Basra to the Aqaba port because it would fulfill its fuel needs," he told AFP.
Diplomatic flurry -
Iraq has witnessed a revolving door of diplomatic visits since Trump went in late December.
U.S. Secretary of State Mike Pompeo made a surprise stop in Baghdad on his regional tour last week, followed by Iran's oil minister then top diplomat Mohammad Javad Zarif. Zarif landed Sunday and met with Abdel-Mahdi on Monday, according to the premier's office.
French Foreign Minister Jean-Yves Le Drian also met Abdel-Mahdi on Monday morning and said the two countries had entered "a new stage" in their ties. The premier said he appreciated France's "support" to Iraq and hoped for greater economic cooperation. Fanar Haddad, an Iraq expert at the National University of Singapore's Middle East Institute, said the flurry of visits showcased Iraq's "major advantage.""From Iran to the United States, Saudi Arabia to Turkey, Syria to Qatar, Iraq can speak to everyone in a region that is otherwise deeply fractured by several strategic fissures," Haddad told AFP. But it also leaves Baghdad vulnerable to regional power struggles. "One of the most potent threats to Iraqi stability today is the danger of U.S.-Iranian tensions escalating and playing out in, and at the expense of, Iraq," said Haddad. That could thwart Iraq's plans to rebuild after three grueling years recapturing urban strongholds from IS. On Monday, two shepherds were found dead after being kidnapped by IS near Tikrit, around 175 kilometers north of Baghdad, according to police sources.
It came a day after seven Iraqis were sentenced to death for "terrorism"-related charges.

Iraqi PM Meets Visiting French Foreign Minister
Asharq Al-Awsat/Monday, 14 January, 2019/Iraqi Prime Minister Adel Abdul Mahdi held talks in Baghdad on Monday with French Foreign Minister Jean-Yves le Drian. Talks focused on bilateral ties, the war on terrorism, regional developments and issue of common interest, said a statement from the premier’s office. It expressed Abdul Mahdi’s eagerness for greater French cooperation and partnership in Iraq, especially on economic, services and cultural levels. He also stressed the importance of coordination and communication between Baghdad and France to support regional security and stability. For his part, le Drian said that his visit reflects France’s will to expand its relations with Iraq as it embarks on its reconstruction phase. He also said President Emmanuel Macron looks forward to making a visit to Baghdad.

Presence of US Forces Stirs Debate in Iraq
Baghdad – Hamza Mustafa/Asharq Al Awsat/January 14/19/Deputy head of the National Axis bloc Mohammed al-Karbouli called on the Iraqi government to be honest with people about its position on the US-Iranian conflict. Since US President Donald Trump announced the withdrawal of his country’s troops from Syria last month, conflicting news has emerged and reaction to their redeployment in Iraq have varied. Iraqi political and parliamentary parties have been working to collect the necessary number of signatures needed to prepare a bill that obligates the Iraqi government to expel foreign troops from the country. Meanwhile, the coalitions of each of former Prime Ministers Nouri al-Maliki and Haidar al-Abadi accused each other of bringing in more US troops into Iraq. Iraqis have been circulating news of the arrival of American forces at Baghdad airport, a claim denied by the Civil Aviation Authority. Karbouli, who is also member of the Iraqi parliament's Security and Defense Committee, told Asharq Al-Awsat that the policy followed by the current government is not transparent when it comes to the events taking place in Iraq, both at the level of the cabinet and the nature of the US-Iranian conflict. “It is best to tell the people what is really happening instead of following the policy of hiding facts because that would only aggravate the situation,” he stressed. Commenting on the frequent news on the nature of US presence in Iraq, armed groups expert Dr. Hisham al-Hashemi told Asharq Al-Awsat that the American troops will be divided between the Erbil, Sinjar base, North Rummaneh camp base and Ain al-Assad base in addition to the northern area in Ar-Rutba district. He explained that among their tasks is keeping the Popular Mobilization Forces away from the region. “This in itself is a problem,” he said. He also pointed out that these troops are moving between the K1 military base south Kirkuk and K2 base north Salaheddine, where they have started to redeploy their forces in disputed areas in the southern Kurdistan region. They are also working on reorganizing joint camps in the areas of Mansuriyah up to Halabja, he said, halting forces and parties close to Iran in order to block its economic movement.

Barak Slams Netanyahu for Breaking Israel Ambiguity on Syria
Associated Press/Naharnet/January 14/19/Former Israeli Prime Minister Ehud Barak is attacking the country's current leader, Benjamin Netanyahu, for breaking with Israel's ambiguity over its strikes against Iranian targets in Syria. Barak's comments on Monday came a day after Netanyahu's abrupt confession that Israel had struck hundreds of Iranian and Hezbollah targets in Syria in recent years, including a weapons facility over the weekend. Israel has generally refrained from commenting about its covert activities for fear of triggering a reaction and being drawn into the deadly fighting in neighboring Syria's civil war. Barak, a former military chief, told Israel's Army Radio that "exposing it was completely unnecessary" and increased the chances of a deterioration. He insinuated that Netanyahu's considerations in doing so may have been political ahead of Israel's upcoming April election.

France agrees 1 bln euro loan to Iraq for reconstruction
Reuters, BaghdadMonday, 14 January 2019/France has agreed to loan Iraq 1 bln euros to help reconstruction of areas devastated by conflict in recent years, Foreign Minister Jean-Yves Le Drian said on Monday. Le Drian made a statement to reporters after meeting his Iraqi counterpart Mohammed al-Hakim in Baghdad. The French foreign minister also met with Iraqi Prime Minister Adel Abdul Mahdi on Monday as the US troop withdrawal has also alarmed western allies who still see ISIS as a threat. Le Drian said that the US withdrawal “raised questions”, adding that ISIS had not been completely destroyed in Syria yet and threatened to return in Iraq. Iraq has signaled it could become more military involved against ISIS in neighboring Syria. It has carried out several air strikes against ISIS in Syria in agreement with Damascus.
The French foreign minister is on a regional tour which took him on Sunday to Jordan.

Calls for Escalation in Response to Incursions in Ramallah
Tel Aviv - Asharq Al-Awsat/Monday, 14 January, 2019/Palestinian factions have called to consider next Friday “a field escalation in areas bordering the occupation and its settlers.”They said their call comes in response to the incursions carried out by the Israeli army in a number of West Bank cities under the pretext of searching for the perpetrators of operations against occupation soldiers and settlers.A statement issued by the National and Islamic Forces in Ramallah and al-Bireh called for “the widest level of participation” in the peaceful marches held weekly in al-Risan, Mugheer, Bilin, Nilin and all points of clashes with the occupation. The statement said these marches will take place to express the factions’ "rejection to the Israeli violations and practices against the people, and incursions into Palestinian cities that fall under PA control.”The forces stressed the need to “respond to successive incursions, especially in Ramallah," calling on the public sector and private sector employees to "resort to the streets during the daytime incursion, hold sit-ins near ministries, institutions and companies and block the streets collectively.”They also suggested destroying surveillance cameras. Israeli soldiers raided on Saturday night many areas of Ramallah, stormed many stores and confiscated surveillance recordings and equipment. The Palestinian Ministry of Foreign Affairs and Expatriates said that the Israeli occupation authorities are destroying elements of the Palestinian state through escalation campaigns against Palestinian citizens as an integral part of “Deal of the Century.”In a statement on Sunday, the Ministry pointed out that Israeli forces continue their systematic confiscation of Palestinian towns, villages and camps. It added that they are spreading their terror and violence against unarmed Palestinian civilians through the heavy firing of live and metal bullets and sound bombs, as was the case recently in several neighborhoods of West Bank cities, in order to threaten and weaken Palestinian official and civil institutions.

Egypt Deports Second German Alleged 'Jihadist'
Agence France Presse/Naharnet/January 14/19/Egypt has deported the second of two young German men who were arrested last month as suspected jihadist militants, the foreign ministry in Berlin said Monday. Eighteen-year-old Issa Ibrahim ElSabagh landed at Frankfurt airport, reported Spiegel Online, following last week's repatriation of Mahmoud Abdel-Aziz, 23.A ministry spokeswoman confirmed that "the person arrived back in Germany last night."Both men had vanished in December in Egypt, where the government only reported their arrests following inquiries by Germany. Their families had raised the alarm and have called the arrests cases of mistaken identity. ElSabagh, a German-Egyptian dual citizen and student in the city of Giessen, was arrested in mid-December after landing in the southern city of Luxor. Egyptian security sources said the two men were suspected of having tried to join the Islamic State group's affiliate in the troubled Sinai peninsula. German prosecutors said last week they were looking into the Egyptian media reports on Abdel-Aziz to investigate whether there were "any indications of criminal offenses." The 23-year-old has since posted a video on Facebook in which he denied he is an Islamist militant who supports violence or has any IS links. The student from the university town of Goettingen also said he had flown to Egypt to visit his grandparents and retracted anything he had said in Egypt "under duress and pressure". Egypt has been battling insurgency in North Sinai, which spiked following the 2013 military ouster of Islamist president Mohamed Morsi.In February, security forces launched a major Sina operation aimed at wiping out an IS affiliate accused of spearheading the insurgency.

Latest LCCC English analysis & editorials from miscellaneous sources published on January 14-15/19
A Region of Upheaval and Many Foreign Doctors
Ghassan Charbel/Asharq Al Awsat/January 14/19
We do not know how Abu Bakr al-Baghdadi welcomed the New Year in his hideout. He is likely plotting his revenge after his so-called “state” was crushed by strikes from various parties, starting with the US-led coalition. He has come to realize that terrorism cannot thrive when it follows traditional measures. This is why he has clearly started to rely on lone wolves.
The “state” has been crushed and several of its terrorists have been killed. Others sought fresh new arenas to go about their terror, while the rest remain surrounded and are awaiting their fate. Gone are the days when convoys of flags cross the Syrian-Iraqi border that were erased by ISIS. Gone are the days when cities and oil wells and fields can be seized. Gone are the days of bloody executions that are broadcast on television.
This does not at all mean that ISIS is no longer a dangerous organization. It is certain, however, that ISIS is no longer the main issue in the sick Middle East. It is no longer the primary danger. The bloody ISIS adventure revealed that the region has been storing a massive amount of ongoing and dormant conflicts. It revealed that the Middle East is passing through a period of collapses and change. The fuel to the fire did not only exist beyond its borders, but it lay within its maps, in countries that are living in an alarming lack of state authority.
The region is maneuvering around a series of sharp turns and it cannot seem to find a guide it can trust. It is passing through a period of fear, blood and uncertainty and border and existential crises. It is passing through a crisis with this era as it still clings to the past. Its countries are forced to live in borders that some believe no longer fit them. Its rulers fear change and seek to eliminate anyone who differ with them.
We would not be exaggerating in saying that the Middle East is in upheaval due to poverty, unemployment, corruption and lack of state rule. It is has been torn apart by countries that believe they have been punished by history and forced to remain confined in their current border. It is plagued by universities and schools that graduate bitter and frustrated students. The Middle East is marked by the injustice against not only the Palestinians and Kurds, but other peoples who are seeking a safe haven beyond their borders. It is suffering due to its tense relations with the world.
It has not been easy to endure what we have and are still experiencing. Syria has witnessed a series of wars, some of which do not appear to have an imminent end. We bore witness to a war between pro- and anti-regime Syrians. We then saw Syria transform into an open wound into which scores of extremists and terrorists poured into. This is when the conflict took on a new turn. We then saw all forms of intervention in a state whose borders have fallen and whose stability has been destroyed.
We saw Iran come forward to defend what it considers the Syrian link in its Iranian crescent. It is a vital connection that ensures that Iran is on another front in the Arab-Israeli conflict. It forms a necessary passage for rockets headed to Hezbollah in Lebanon. Iran has dispatched its “advisors” and militias. The Iranian interference in Syria led to more counter-interference, transforming the country into the primary battleground for sectarian or regional confrontations.
Very few sides took into consideration the Syrian fabric and the difference between the Syrian army and its counterparts in Egypt and Tunisia. They were mistaken when they believed that Syria would be another episode in the “Arab Spring” drama.
Amid this tumult, Barack Obama refused to become embroiled in the Syrian conflict the night he spoke of “red lines” that should not be crossed if the regime carries out a chemical attack against its people. He gave the impression that the US does not believe that Syria was worth shedding American blood for. Vladimir Putin, meanwhile, had other plans. He saw the Syrian wound as an opportunity to advance his coup against what he believes is the United States’ unilateral approach on world affairs. Putin had a score to settle in the “Arab Spring”. The Russian military intervened and saved the region, paving the way for a new chapter in conflicts on Syrian soil. Putin’s war was not limited to fighting ISIS and its affiliates, but it also included opposition factions, especially its fighters who hail from former Soviet states.
Turkey, which had opened the door wide for extremists to fight Bashar Assad’s regime, was soon lured into the country as Syria grew more fragmented. It sent its military to Syrian territories to thwart Kurdish dreams of a state. Ankara has now become a fixed figure at any negotiations table that would determine Syria’s future. Under Trump, the US continued its battle against ISIS and its support of Kurds. It sought to strike some form of balance with the Russian military presence, which has the final word in Damascus. Israel has been meanwhile waging an ongoing war against what it says are Iranian attempts to establish a permanent military foothold in Syria. In return, Trump tore up the nuclear deal with Tehran and returned sanctions against Iran. This has consequently inflamed the situation in Yemen and fueled tensions in Iraq. The Russian doctor does not have the entire cure to the crisis. Neither does the American. The Iranian doctor’s meddling has only deteriorated the patient’s health. The same goes to the Turkish doctor. Amid these wars, US Secretary of State Mike Pompeo arrived in the region to reassure leaders that Trump’s decision to withdraw from the region does not mean that he was leaving it to its fate. Pompeo’s extraordinary mission includes promoting ideas and vows, as well as handing out guarantees and bandages.

Iran and Attempts to Revive the Persian Empire
James Stavridis/Bloomberg View/January 14/19
On the campaign trail in 2007, Senator John McCain sang a parody to the tune of the Beach Boys’ “Barbara Ann”: “Bomb, bomb, bomb … bomb, bomb Iran.” That sentiment resonates in the Donald Trump administration, and it’s understandable. The Iranians continue to push their influence throughout the Middle East: using proxies to threaten US allies; supporting Bashar al-Assad in Syria; fueling the war in Yemen through support for Houthi rebels; and seeking to destabilize Iraq and gain further influence in Lebanon.
Now we face a new twist to Iranian expansionism that demonstrates both Tehran’s ambition and its growing ties to Russia: the Iranian navy announced it will undertake a five-month deployment to the western Atlantic. While it’s unclear how many ships will be involved, Tehran says the flotilla will include a newly built destroyer, the Sahand. Some vessels are expected dock in Venezuela, one of the few countries in the Western Hemisphere that would welcome them.
A handful of Iranian combatants in waters close to the US will not send our navy to general quarters, nor should it. Iran’s ships are a couple of generations behind similarly sized US destroyers, and they have nothing remotely like the powerful strike capability of America’s carriers, nuclear submarines and amphibious warships. Nor do they have sophisticated land-attack cruise missiles comparable to US Tomahawks.
But two aspects of the deployment should strike an ominous chord. First, it will undoubtedly be conducted in cooperation with the Russian navy, which has been increasing its patrols in the approaches to the continental US Second, it is an indication of how Iranians truly believe themselves to be a global power.
One problem in forging an Iran strategy is that we do not understand their history, culture and self-image. We see Iran as a moderate-sized regional power with significant natural resources and a fairly large, growing population. But Iranians see themselves as the inheritors of the Persian Empire, which at its peak ruled nearly half of the world’s population. In a slightly different twist of history’s DNA, the Persians would have conquered the Greek city-states 2,500 years ago and potentially stymied the birth and growth of the Roman Empire.
So, is John McCain’s prescription the right one? Not at the moment, and let us hope we do not need to turn to military action. Instead, we should create a coherent strategy for dealing with Iran that rests of three pillars.
First, we need to increase intelligence collection focused on Iran’s internal debates over global strategy. For example, how do the revolutionary guards and the regular military interact? While a great deal can be collected by overhead surveillance and cyber activity, it makes sense to work more closely with our allies’ intelligence services in the region. And as we collect data in more depth, we should be applying a historical and cultural filter to extract a more sophisticated and nuanced understanding of Iranian goals.
Working militarily with our allies, partners and friends – both in the region and globally – is a second key. Since the Jimmy Carter administration, this confrontation has largely been the US versus Iran, instead of a global community versus Iran. Much of Tehran’s relentless interference and provocation across the larger Middle East and south-central Asia violates international law, to say nothing of its nuclear program. In the region, Saudi Arabia is a pillar of a coalition that could include many of the other Arab states to face Tehran's expansionism. It may be the moment to reopen discussions of an “Arab NATO.”
Third, we must continue to use targeted economic sanctions. Some big nations – including Russia and China – will probably not cooperate. But the US and Europe collectively represent over 50 percent of global GDP. While it remains unclear how the Europeans will ultimately react to the US withdrawal from the Iran nuclear deal, we can bring them back onside by refocusing the international effort on the proxy wars and the ballistic-missile threat.
As for Iran’s navy, it has strong capabilities to create mischief in the Arabian Gulf and the northern Indian Ocean. Iran has stealthy diesel submarines, it employs swarming flotillas of small armed boats to threaten larger warships, and it is very good at employing mines to constrict shipping. But this new deployment to the distant waters off America is a concerning display of advanced capability and ambition. We need to pay attention.
Bombing Iran now would be a grave mistake. Building a more coherent approach that flows from a deeper analysis and understanding of Iranian goals and plans is a better bet. The bombs will be available if that time ever comes.

Analysis/Israeli Army Chief’s Parting Message to Soleimani, Nasrallah and Khamenei
تحليل سياسي من الهآرتس بقلم انشيل بفيفر : رسالة وداع رئيس أركان جيش الدفاع الإسرائيلي إلى سليماني ونصرالله وخامنئي
Anshel Pfeffer/Haaretz/January 14/19
http://eliasbejjaninews.com/archives/71072/anshel-pfeffer-haaretz-israeli-army-chiefs-parting-message-to-soleimani-nasrallah-and-khamenei-%D8%AA%D8%AD%D9%84%D9%8A%D9%84-%D8%B3%D9%8A%D8%A7%D8%B3%D9%8A-%D9%85%D9%86-%D8%A7%D9%84%D9%87/
Gadi Eisenkot has long masked a no-longer secret war with Iran while making it clear to Tehran that all its efforts in Syria have amounted to nothing.
The commanders of few armies of ostensibly democratic countries have as prominent a public role as the outgoing chief of staff of the Israel Defense Forces. Each of them has been intensively conscious of that role, and in the wake of the unsuccessful Second Lebanon War – when part of the national criticism was reserved for the IDF’s exaggerated PR – the three men to have filled the post have reined back their media appearances.
Gabi Ashkenazi, Benny Gantz and Gadi Eisenkot gave only a tiny handful of on-the-record interviews during their terms. The message was, "We’re too busy preparing the IDF for the next war to indulge the media."
It was, of course, a slightly misleading message as all three men regularly briefed journalists off-record; Ashkenazi especially was obsessed by his media image.
One result of this self-imposed purdah is that when the chiefs of staff do decide to give interviews, usually toward the end of their term, they carry more public significance and sum up a prolonged period of operational activity.
Lt. Gen. Eisenkot chose to give a round of television interviews over the past week to the main Israeli channels, to mark the end of his four-year term. And for the first time in over a decade, an IDF chief of staff granted an interview to two foreign media outlets – The New York Times and the Sunday Times. (Full disclosure, I was the interviewer for the Sunday Times.)
The Israeli interviews, naturally, were mainly aimed at the local public. They were a chance for Eisenkot – who ever since the Elor Azaria case (the Israeli soldier was found guilty of manslaughter in August 2017 after shooting a prone Palestinian assailant the previous year in Hebron) has been under intense criticism from right-wing politicians, and their proxies on social media – to respond to his critics.
He may not have been as aggressive as they had wished against the Palestinians, but he had been busy fighting a much more serious adversary. “When you fight for many years against a weak enemy, it also weakens you,” he said, explaining why he had pushed to confront Iran and Hezbollah instead of getting bogged down in unnecessary wars and intifadas in Gaza and the West Bank. Still in uniform, Eisenkot wouldn’t criticize his political masters. But it was also his way of answering them.
Through the foreign media, his message had two main targets: Iran’s Quds Force commander, Qassem Soleimani, and Hezbollah leader Hassan Nasrallah. For the past seven years, Israel’s attacks on Hezbollah and Iranian targets in Syria took place in what Eisenkot calls “an area of deniability,” to reduce their motive to retaliate.
Now the IDF has assessed that the Iranians have given up on their plan to establish permanent bases in Syria, and are instead focusing on trying to improve the accuracy of the missiles Hezbollah holds in Lebanon – and also create a similar proxy missile capability in Iraq – the time has come to disclose how Israel fought a secret war in Syria in these past years.
The details Eisenkot gave for the first time included Israel’s intelligence assessment in late 2016, with the tide turning against ISIS in Syria and Iraq, that Iran was moving to take advantage of the vacuum and establish a permanent force of up to 100,000 Shi'ite fighters under its control within Syria and a permanent presence at all Syrian air force bases.
The assessment and operational plans were presented to the cabinet, which gave the green light.
Up until then, Israel had directed its Syrian operations against Hezbollah weapons convoys and depots. From January 2017, it began directly striking Iranian targets in Syria as well. The attacks were mainly against Iranian “infrastructure,” trying to avoid casualties so as not to give the Iranians further reasons to escalate. Eisenkot said that only “a few dozen Iranians” were killed.
Following the Iranian decision to send an armed drone into Israeli airspace in February 2018, the gloves were taken off and in strikes against the airbase from which the drone had been launched, 10 Iranians were killed, including a colonel in the Revolutionary Guards. Eisenkot said the campaign included “thousands of attacks” on Iranian targets, not only from the air but also special-operations commando raids.
He also confirmed for the first time that Israel had supplied local rebel groups with small arms for "self-defense" – as part of its aid program to the Syrians living near its border on the Golan Heights, in areas where Iran was trying to establish a foothold.
Two years into the no-longer secret war with Iran – and it is still ongoing – Eisenkot mentioned one of the most recent strikes, last week, against an Iranian listening post at Tel el Qudne on the Golan.
The policy of Israeli opaqueness is well and truly over and on Sunday morning Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu got in on the act as well, boasting about an Israeli attack on Iranian arms shipments on Friday night, saying that "the accumulation of recent attacks proves that we are determined more than ever to take action against Iran in Syria" – lest anyone dare forget there is someone above the IDF chief of staff calling the shots.
There’s no point in hiding the campaign any longer. Iran tried to retaliate twice – with an armed drone attack last February and another rocket attack in May: Both were detected by Israel in advance and failed to cause any damage or casualties. And besides, Iran has apparently given up on establishing permanent bases in Syria and has now changed strategy. The Islamic Republic is trying to supply its proxies, Hezbollah in Lebanon and Iraq, with more accurate missiles with which to target Israel.
What was Eisenkot’s message, besides the understandable desire to take a bit of credit for himself after 40 years in uniform?
Eisenkot sought to make it clear to Nasrallah, to his paymaster Soleimani and to Soleimani’s boss back in Tehran, Supreme Leader Ali Khamenei, that they had wasted the last eight years. They may have succeeded in ensuring the survival of the Assad regime, killing half a million Syrians in the process, but it cost them $16 billion, at least 2,000 dead Hezbollah fighters and thousands more poor Shia mercenaries, flown in from Afghanistan, Pakistan and Iraq.
And now they have little to show for it. No Iranian airfields in Syria, no Mediterranean port, no advanced missile launchers. The wider message was to the people of Iran and the Shi'ite community in Lebanon – who bore the financial brunt of the war in Syria – that it simply wasn’t worth it.
This alone, of course, will not bring to an end the Revolutionary Guards' stranglehold over life in Iran and Hezbollah’s hegemony in Beirut. But it will have a lasting effect.

Investing in AI will determine future world superpowers
Shehab Al-Makahleh/Al Arabiya/January 14/19
The world is witnessing a "cold technological war" between major powers that want to control the globe "digitally". International powers are trying to use their Artificial Intelligence (AI) capability to profit and accumulate wealth at the expense of other countries in economic, military and information fields. They are benefitting from the Fifth Generation Technology (G5) which is the source of strength for countries that look forward to ruling the world as this new field is the next axis of competition between international forces.
The volume of international investments in artificial intelligence varies from one country to another. The volume of international investments in AI has increased by about 60 percent since 2010. Global AI investments are estimated to contribute $ 15.7 trillion by 2030, and reach $89.9 billion by 2025. Many countries around the world are confident that artificial intelligence technologies will be the main driver of economic growth over the next few years and that countries will not be able to attract quality investments if they do not create a favorable infrastructure for this hi-tech field.
The coming era is not the epoch of powerful armies but rather, the eon of advanced technologies and smart applications that serve civilian and military objectives since future wars will not be fought by humans, but rather, by AI applications.
Cold War indicators
AI can transform the productivity and potentials of the world’s GDP based on strategic investment in different types of artificial intelligence technology. This can be conducive to improve labor productivity as AI technologies help perform tasks and duties better. Research reveals that up to 46 percent of total economic gains will come from product improvements and stimulating consumer demand through AI by 2030 as artificial intelligence will lead to greater product diversity, with increased customization, allure and affordability over time.
China will top the list as the most to benefit from artificial intelligence as this will add 27 percent to its GDP by 2030, while North America will be second with 15 percent. The volume of AI businesses at the global level is estimated at 20 world economies by the end of 2018. This ratio will increase GDP by 14 percent in 2030. Hypothetically, AI might broaden gaps between countries, buttressing the current digital gulf. Countries might require diverse strategies as AI implementation rates differ.
Developed nations, who are spearheading the adoption of AI, could upturn their lead over developing states by capturing an extra 25 percent in net economic gains. On the other hand, developing nations might only acquire less than five percent. As many developed nations are gearing towards higher productivity growth ratios to GDP, the developing states have to live up to the challenges and adopt the new technological means to not only develop their industries, but also their GDPs by replicating others’ experiences in advanced countries.
The developing countries can win over the developed nations, which have a severe issue with an aging population. More than 70 percent of the population of the developing nations are young generations whose age is less than 33 years old. This can be a very positive leverage to fill the gap between the developed and developing countries in terms of AI adoption.
The major users of AI applications are the moguls of the internet industry such as Google, Baidu (which is a Chinese technology company), Yandex (a Russia technology network company), and others. They have invested more than $39 billion on technology in 2018. Other sectors such as energy, financial services including banking and stock markets, automotive firms, media, transport and logistics entities come next in AI investment. In 2018, developed nations invested more than $10 billion in machine learning, which is part of AI.
Features of the new Cold War
The United States and China are currently the two main research and development powers for AI. Recently, the United States has focused on the establishment of one of the largest academic forces in AI, which is a largely private sector dominated by military or intelligence agencies, such as the IARPA (Advanced Intelligence Research Projects) and the Defense Advanced Research Projects Agency (DARPA). The evidence is not far from Trump’s claims that, since he came to power, he has expressed his intention to develop AI to improve the economy, but also use it for national security purposes.
China has chosen to maintain a strong public investment, estimated at about $7 billion a year in AI projects as part of an ambitious national plan of action to create a $150 billion industry by 2030. Israel has the third-largest market share of AI applications in the world with direct investments estimated at $1 billion in 2017, a year in which seven Israeli-owned companies were listed among the world’s most advanced AI companies. The relationship exists traditionally between the Israeli army and the country’s technological industries as well as the academic structure.
Japan’s budget for AI was estimated at $1 billion in 2018. Canada has embarked on a public and private sector financing route to promote and set up entrepreneurship opportunities in the area of AI, and to develop training, qualifications and research under the responsibility of the Ministry of Finance.
Russia has allocated a budget of $15 billion for AI research in order to develop its civil and military sectors. The European Union will be responsible for the development of AI based on a project entitled ‘Horizon 2020.’ French President Emmanuel Macron also announced an investment of $2billion euros by 2020 in the field of AI.
In April of 2018, German Chancellor Angela Merkel confirmed Germany’s intention to enter the arena of AI by setting up a framework for foreign investment funds led by Amazon. The UK allotted $200 million to support AI projects. Spain is one of the countries that has developed a strategy and budget, and has been working since 2017 on drafting a white paper on AI.
If the developing nations are not ready for the upcoming challenges of technology, they will be lagging behind in their economies and will be following the advanced communities for decades to come. The coming era is not the epoch of powerful armies but rather, the eon of advanced technologies and smart applications that serve civilian and military objectives since future wars will not be fought by humans, but rather, by AI applications.